From gars@speakeasy.org Tue Oct 9 21:55:25 2001 Date: 10 Oct 2001 00:46:34 -0000 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews09.041 + 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 041 O o O + Es'te Opunvk'vmucvse + October 13, 2001 O o O + Ximopanolti tehuatzin, Cherokee nvda udatanv/nut moon O inin Mexika tlahtolli + Potawatomi e'sksegtukkisis/moon of the first frost ( N A T I V E A M E R I C A N N E W S ) ==>If you want your Nation represented in the banner of this newsletter<== email gars@nanews.org with the equivalent of "News of the People" in your tribal language along with the english translation +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | Much more happens in Indian Country than is reported | | in this weekly newsletter. For daily updates check | | http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm - also events | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ This issue contains articles from www.pechanga.net; www.owlstar.com; ndn-aim and Big Mountain mailing Lists; 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.'" "The establishment of religion clause means at least this: Neither a state nor the federal government may set up a church. Neither can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another. Neither can force a person to go to or to remain away from church against his will or force him to profess a belief or disbelief in any religion....Neither a state or the federal government may, openly or secretly, participate in the affairs of any religious organizations or groups and vice versa." __ Court decision in Everson v Board of Education (1947) +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! On March 8, 1970, about 100 members and sympathizers of United Indian People's Council (later United Indians of All Tribes) confronted the 392nd Military Police Company, who were armed with riot gear, while attempting to claim part of Fort Lawton, a 1,100 acre army post in Seattle Washington's Magnolia neighborhood. The Native American protesters, who were armed with sandwiches, sleeping bags, and cooking utensils, wanted to create a cultural center for Indians and Alaska natives. The native occupiers, many who had scaled the steep cliffs of the adjacent sound, were violently ejected, amidst riots and chaos. March 18, 1970 the events of Ft. Lawton were lost to the news media when the first mass work stoppage in the 195-year history of the Post Office Department began with a walkout of letter carriers in Brooklyn and Manhattan, soon involving 210,000 of the nation's 750,000 postal employees. With mail service virtually paralyzed in New York, Detroit, and Philadelphia, President Nixon declared a state of national emergency and assigned military units to New York City post offices. The stand-off culminated two weeks later, but the postal strike had obliterated the impact of the Fort Lawton occupation. In November of 1969, an historic event occurred in the San Francisco Bay which would leave a profound impact on the lives of Native American people. Beginning in the early afternoon of November 9, and continuing later that evening, a flurry of activities ignited the hopes and dreams of reclaiming Alcatraz Island in the name of Indian people. Finally, in the early morning hours of November 20, approximately 90 Native American students and Bay Area Native community members gathered in Sausalito to begin the third and successful journey to reclaim the island. The occupation continued well into 1971. This two year event should have emblazened the needs of Native Peoples into the collective minds of the American public; but the war on their televisions, Viet Nam, obscurred even the Native re-occupation of Alcatraz. On Feb. 27, 1973, the American Indian Movement (AIM) seized control of Wounded Knee. The occupation began to protest the reservation's officially sanctioned government under the leadership of Dickie Wilson, and the highly despised GOON (Guardians of Oglala Nation). Two people were killed (officially) during the 71-day occupation, 12 were wounded, including two marshals, and nearly 1,200 were arrested. June 26, 1975 a firefight broke out at the Jumping Bull ranch. Grandmother Cecelia Jumping Bull had dedicated her entire life to the Native Struggle. Grandma Jumping Bull was the first to offer her ranch to AIM. It was on her ranch that the 1975 firefight erupted which resulted in the incarceration of Leonard Peltier. Leonard Peltier rots in prison 26 years later for the murder of two FBI agents, although in 1992 even the prosecutor, Lynn Crook, publicly admitted that the government could not prove Leonard committed the crime. Many Native brothers and sisters died, despite the official body count of two. As momentous as Wounded Knee 1973 was, it was completely shrouded by the murder (yes, murder) of student anti-war protestors at Kent State University by the Ohio National Guard. The events of September 11, 2001 are tragic beyond words. The loss of innocents, fire - police and EMS personnel can never be atoned for. No amount of regret or revenge can erase this act of hate. The reprisals now being brought to Afghanistan have the focus of the entire world. All I ask is don't let this day, as awful as it was, bury the needs of American Indians along with the rubble of the Pentagon and the World Trade Center. Leonard Peltier, Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, uranium poisoning of Dine', substandard housing, education and health services, the theft of the Sacred Black Hills and the "Pope Scope" on Dzil Nchaa Si An, Sacred Mountain of the San Carlos Apache (Mount Graham) are but the tip of a 500 year old iceberg that MUST be melted by the First People of Turtle Island. Our languages and our ways are being lost. It is no secret the occupation forces want nothing more than the "final solution" to the "Indian Question" to be "What Indians?". - It is time we resolve the war on our homelands. -- - - - If you have names and addresses of trustworthy collectors of food, money and clothing gifts at the various reservations please forward them soon. The winter winds already have come down from the north. 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 ---------- - Joe Hilario Herrera - Native American Support of Cochiti Pueblo of Museum Slipping - Leaders light Eternal Flame - Anti-Columbus Day Rally for Warriors draws 1,500 - Navajo Day of Remembrance - Earth Care gets - Why We'll Fight... Lyons' Share of Attention - Recommends Norton - State ordered to pay be held in Contempt of Court $248M Land Claim - Brazil: - Local Officials not happy Deni Demarcation of Their Lands with Cayuga Settlement - Ecuador: Zapara beat Extinction - Indian Ag Lawsuit - Brazil: Indians take 13 Hostages to be Class Action - Harris ordered - Company Sues over Tobacco Seizure to sign Ipperwash Affidavit - A Pursuit of Purity - Treaty Process polarizes BC - Jennifer Harbury Statement - Algonquin Protesters say - New Peltier Campaign They'll disrupt Logging - Native Prisoner - Court will hear Metis -- Pen Pals Needed Hunting and Fishing Case - Rustywire: The King and His Men - Mohawks bring Supplies - Poem: I Know One Thing to New York City Rescue - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - Senate spares ANWR - Upcoming Events --------- "RE: Joe Hilario Herrera of Cochiti Pueblo" --------- Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2001 07:03:53 -0700 (PDT) From: Paul Pureau Subj: Cochiti Painter, Advocate Dies at 80 Mailing List: ndn-aim http://www.abqjournal.com/paperboy/text/news/465728news10-05-01.htm ABQjournal: 505-823-7777 Friday, October 5, 2001 Cochiti Painter, Advocate Dies at 80 By Morgan Lee Journal Northern Bureau Artist Joe Hilario Herrera of Cochiti Pueblo - an influential painter who served as a news radio host, Cochiti governor and vigorous advocate for Native American education and economic development - died Sept. 26. He was 80. Archbishop Michael Sheehan, the Rev. Jose Suparaiso and the Rev. Anthony Martinez presided at a funeral Mass on Sept. 28 at St. Francis Cathedral. Burial was in the Santa Fe National Cemetery. Herrera received his first painting lessons at home from his mother, Tonita Pena, or Quah-Ah, herself a well-known painter. At the Santa Fe Indian School, Herrera studied with Dorothy Dunn, a mentor for many successful Indian artists. In 1941, Herrera enlisted in the military and served in the U.S. Air Force in the Caribbean. After the war, he farmed and used the G.I. Bill to earn a bachelor's degree from the University of New Mexico. He then worked for the Albuquerque Public Schools as an art teacher at Highland High School. He resigned to teach Indian high school students across New Mexico for the state Department of Education. Herrera's painting gained widespread recognition in the 1950s, when his work was shown at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The French government recognized Herrera with its Les Palmes Academiques award in 1954. "At the beginning, he painted kind of traditionally, and, after he went to the University of New Mexico, and studied under Raymond Jonson, he got into abstract and splatter painting," explained painter Pablita Velarde of Albuquerque, whose daughter Helen Hardin studied under Herrera. Herrera's interest in public affairs would eventually eclipse his interest in art. He served as secretary to the All Indian Pueblo Council from 1953 through 1967, before the council had an office. Herrera's daughter Yvonne Lewis of Santa Fe remembered her father working from home and traveling to council chapters across the state. "They moved from pueblo to pueblo as they were trying to make decisions," said Lewis, who sometimes went along for the ride. During that time, Herrera traveled to Washington to testify before Congress in support of legislation for Indian economic development. "For too long, it has been the practice to do the planning without consulting the Indians, who are the ones most vitally concerned," testified Herrera, who would later help plan the Cochiti Lake project on the Cochiti Development Committee. After the bill was signed by President Johnson, Herrera received the signing pen, Lewis said. In 1968, Herrera was appointed to lead a program at the State Employment Commission, supervising 21 employees who helped find jobs for Native Americans. He was also active with the National Congress of American Indians. Herrera's voice was once well known as a newscaster on KTRC, where he broadcast Indian Country news for seven years. Retiring in 1983, he returned to painting and lectured at the Heard Museum in Phoenix. He stopped painting in the early 1990s when his eyesight began to fail, appearing at a final solo exhibition at the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum in 1993. He is survived by the mother of his two children, Julia P. Herrera, his daughter, one son, Joe Herrera Jr., seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Copyright c. 2001 Albuquerque Journal ====== 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: Leaders light Eternal Flame for Warriors" --------- Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2001 08:10:38 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ETERNAL FLAME" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.thenavajotimes.com/ Leaders light eternal flame for warriors By Marley Shebala The Navajo Times WINDOW ROCK (Sept. 26, 2001) - The eternal flame at the Navajo Nation Veterans Memorial Park was dedicated on Tuesday in support of the Navajo men and women who have been called into active military duty by President George W. Bush to fight international terrorism. And Bush, on Tuesday, activated 3,000 more members of the National Guard and Air Force Reserves, which brings the total number of guardsmen and reservists to about 14,000. Delegate Harold Wauneka (Fort Defiance), a member of the council's Government Services Committee (GSC), noted on Tuesday that the Theodore Roosevelt and the Bataan, which are guided missile cruisers, sailed to the Persian Gulf last week. The GSC sponsored the lighting ceremony at the veterans memorial to remember and honor "our fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and children in the armed services." The committee also had a prayer and minute of silence in remembrance of the victims of the terrorist attacks and their relatives, spouses, children and friends. Wauneka added that the other warships, such as the USS Enterprise and Kitty Hawk, are on standby. He said Navajo Nation Veterans Affairs director Leo Chischilly reported that there more than 2,000 Navajo men and women enlisted in the various branches of the armed services. But Wauneka said they are more than just military people, they are Navajo relatives - fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, etc. He noted that some of these Navajo men and women have probably already been deployed to foreign countries. Committee Chairperson Ervin Keeswood (Hogback) said the GSC organized the lighting ceremony to also unite people on the reservation. Keeswood said committee members are becoming more and more aware of how the tragic events in New York City and Washington are making the Navajo people anxious. And now he said the nation's children are going to war. Keeswood said history shows that the nation's warriors have always answered the call to protect their homeland and freedom. But he said sometimes the nation and its leaders forget these warriors of the past and present. So the lighting of the eternal flame is to reassure the nation's veterans, military personnel and their relatives, spouses, friends and children that their leaders have not abandoned them, Keeswood said. Keeswood said the flame would remain lighted until all the children of the nation returned, which they will be praying for every day. Keeswood said there might be an elder that depended on their son or daughter or grandson or granddaughter to help them with hauling water or fuel and suddenly that individual was called into active military service. And so he said the community must step in and fill that void. The committee emphasized its belief that the decision to join the military is an individual choice in a meeting with Begaye last week. Committee members informed Begaye that his statement after the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon could be misinterpreted as an invitation to the federal government to draft Navajo men and women and utilize the reservation's natural resources, such as coal and uranium, for the war effort. Begaye, in a written statement on Sept. 11, said, "From one government to another, the Navajo Nation government also condemns in the strongest terms possible these horrible and we can only hope that the perpetrators are brought to justice. "The men and women of the Navajo Nation have always been among the first who have answered the call to serve the United States in time of need and we stand ready to do so right now," Begaye said. Begaye, in a Sept. 19 memorandum to the Government Services Committee, said he was puzzled about how his Sept. 11 could imply any specific commitment by the Navajo Nation government. Begaye on Tuesday said 38 Navajos who are stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C. recently telephoned his office for a prayer of support, which was provided for them over the phone. The GSC is also asking for the names of Navajo people called into military duty in response to the terrorist attacks so the committee can send letters of appreciation to them and their families, especially their children. The Navajo Nation Veterans Affairs office is asking for similar information so they can keep track of the Navajo people in the service. Copyright c. 1999-2001 Navajo Times/Navajo Nation. --------- "RE: Navajo Day of Remembrance" --------- Date: Sat, 6 Oct 2001 07:10:13 +0000 From: Robert Dorman Subj: PRESS RELEASE: NAVAJO NATION DAY OF REMEMBRANCE ------- FORWARD, Original message follows ------- From: "Merle Pete" THE NAVAJO NATION Office of the President and Vice President (Window Rock, Navajo Nation, Arizona) For Immediate Release October 4, 2001 Contact: Merle Pete (520) 871-6352 merlepete@visto.com PRESS RELEASE NAVAJO NATION LEADERS PROCLAIM OCTOBER 15, 2001 AS "NAVAJO NATION DAY OF REMEMBRANCE FOR THE VICTIMS OF TERRORIST ATTACKS ON AMERICA" Window Rock, Navajo Nation (Arizona)--On Tuesday, October 3, 2001, the Branch Chiefs of the Navajo Nation issued a Proclamation honoring the victims of the terrorist attacks on America. The Navajo Nation proclaims October 15, 2001 as "Navajo Nation Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Terrorist Attacks on America." The Navajo Nation leadership urges Navajo citizens to continue to aid the American Red Cross with donations of blood, supplies and monetary contributions, as well as to take this day to observe the intentions of the proclamation. [Text of Proclamation]: THE NAVAJO NATION Proclamation HONORING THE VICTIMS OF THE TERRORIST ATTACKS ON AMERICA OCTOBER 15, 2001 WHEREAS, the Navajo Nation continues to grieve with the families and loved ones of the victims of the tragedies that occurred in the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001; and WHEREAS, the Navajo Nation denounces such violent activities that would horribly disrupt the lives of American families and affect innocent lives; that would disrupt peace and harmony on our Mother Earth; and WHEREAS, the Navajo Nation expresses enormous gratitude for the brave men and women of the many fire, safety and rescue crews who have worked and continue to work around the clock in the recovery efforts at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the crash site in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, and expresses great remorse for the heroes who perished in these recovery efforts; and WHEREAS, the Navajo Nation supports United States President George W. Bush, the United States Congress, the United States Intelligence Community, and the United States Armed Forces for responding to terrorist activities in a just, meaningful and responsible manner, and for leading the United States in healing and recovery efforts; and WHEREAS, the Navajo Nation further acknowledges the service and bravery of those Americans who have been called to active duty in the United States Armed Forces in response and preparation for the "War on Terrorism"; and WHEREAS, the Navajo Nation urges its citizens to continue their support of the relief efforts by contacting their local American Red Cross to donate blood and supplies, and to make financial contributions; and WHEREAS, the Navajo Nation is encouraged and humbled by the increased extension of humanity and brotherhood among the American people and the world over; and WHEREAS, the Navajo Nation will forever remember the lives that were lost on this tragic day, September 11, 2001. The stories of the victims have touched our lives and will always be remembered. NOW, THEREFORE, WE, THE LEADERS OF THE NAVAJO NATION, do hereby proclaim October 15, 2001 "Navajo Nation Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Terrorist Attacks on America." THEREFORE, we urge all Navajo Nation citizens to recognize the honor and courage of those who perished as a result of these tragic incidents through appropriate public ceremonies and private prayers. THEREFORE, we call upon the 110 Navajo Nation Chapters and other agencies to display the flag of the United States and the Navajo Nation, and to encourage participation in local activities to honor the victims and heroes of these tragic incidents. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this third day of October, in the year of our Lord, two thousand one, here in Window Rock, Navajo Nation, Arizona. /s/ Kelsey A. Begaye, President /s/ Edward T. Begay, Speaker /s/ Robert Yazzie, Chief Justice ### 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: Why We'll Fight..." --------- Date: Wed, 03 Oct 2001 12:01:01 -0700 From: John Berry Subj: Why We'll Fight... To all, Hoping that this finds you all well as can be and happy. I got hit w/ the: "Why would Indians fight?" question - as tho' any one of us can speak for all of us - well you know how that goes. Anyway - here is something that I wrote towards that answer... =============== Why Indians Will Fight This Evil - Just "One" Opinion October 1, 2001 Our Indian Veterans are among the most highly respected individuals within our tribes and communities. The degree to which we honor them is seldom more apparent, than at powwows. In Grand Entry, the Veterans are asked to carry the flag(s), and the Eagle staff, and they are the first to enter the circle. The history of Indian commitment and contributions to, and within, the United States Military services, indeed in government service, often amazes others. While many may find the numbers that are serving and that have served a surprise, considering the conflict ridden historical relationship of Indian people as members of sovereign nations within the U. S. They should not be surprised. Indians are not only defending America as it is, but America as it was, and perhaps as we hope it will be. Indian Nations have signed treaties with the United States, many of these treaties commit us to defend the United States. While the U.S., may and has broken it's word to us - Indian Nations will honor their word. To do any less would make us oath breakers, and that we will not do, or become. Indians have served in the United States military since the American Revolution; they saved Washington's army at Valley Forge from starvation, among other efforts. During the Civil War, there were several Confederate units and Union units, primarily made up of Indians from the Oklahoma tribes alone. Two of the Indian military leaders at that time were; Ely S. Parker and Stand Watie. Ely S. Parker, (Seneca), from New York, was the military assistant to General Ulysses S. Grant. Stand Watie, (Cherokee), was the last Confederate Brigadier General to surrender to the Union. In World War I, many Indians enlisted in Canada, before the United States even entered the war. Over 6,000 of the more than 8,000 who served during that war volunteered. It was that effort, and acts of patriotism, that persuaded the U.S. Congress to give Indian Veterans the vote in 1919, and later to pass the Indian Citizenship Act in 1924. Prior to this Indians were not considered citizens of this country, which was and is their own. During World War II, over 25,000 Indian men and women fought on all fronts, and received approximately, 70 Air Medals, 45 Bronze Stars, 30 Distinguished Flying Crosses, 50 Silver Stars, and two Congressional Medals of Honor. These counts may actually be low. In the Vietnam War, more than 41,000 Indians enlisted to serve in the United States Armed Forces. Of those, approximately 90% were volunteers, giving Indian people the highest percentage of those serving, in relation to their population numbers, out of all of the ethnic groups in this ountry. In 1990, prior to Operation Desert Storm, some 24,000 Indian men and women were in the military. Approximately 3,000 of these men and women served in the Persian Gulf. One out of every four Indian males is a Veteran, and tens of thousands more men and women have served, and are serving within the Civilian cadre of U.S. Government employees. Indians have gone into the military for a variety of reasons. To uphold the warrior tradition or for economic, educational and personal reasons. Sometimes, because of the draft as in the past, or a combination of all of these factors. Among those who were or are ineligible to enlist, either because of age, health, or language skills; hundreds of thousands have served or are serving here at home, in civilian jobs, in factories, within the government, or on military bases. They have served in all capacities, and given hundreds of thousands of dollars towards war efforts from a population where the average earnings are often less than 5 figures. In the latest crises alone, since September 11, 2001, Indian Tribes and peoples, have raised and/or contributed, more than $2 million dollars to date, it is now October 1, 2001. This is Indian land, as well as American land that we fight for, our own cultures and history, as well as those of the dominant culture, that we serve and fight for. It is our families, friends, relations, tribes and nations, which we serve and fight for. For you see, we believe that some things are greater than the individual. There are beliefs worth fighting for, and worth dying for if need be. In the end, we will always welcome our warriors home, in a time of healing, as well as a time of honoring. They are warriors, but they are also peacekeepers and guardians of our nations, and our honor. John D. Berry, M.A., M.L.S.,(Choctaw/Cherokee) Native American Studies Librarian, Ethnic Studies Library, UC Berkeley Past President of the American Indian Library Association American Library Association - Councilor at Large --------- "RE: Recommends Norton be held in Contempt of Court" --------- Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2001 08:10:38 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NORTON CONTEMPT" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.imdiversity.com/Article_Detail.asp?Article_ID=7174 Investigator Recommends Norton Be Held In Contempt Of Court by AP, The Associated Press By Robert Gehrke, Associated Press Writer Washington (AP) - Interior Secretary Gale Norton should be held in contempt for not complying with a court order meant to protect whistle- blowers, an investigator says. In February, court-appointed investigator Alan Balaran ordered the Interior Department to notify employees that they could contact him directly and anonymously with concerns about government efforts to fix a trust fund that squandered royalties from American Indian lands. But Interior was slow to notify employees they would be protected from reprisal and issued memos undermining the open dialogue, Balaran said. "Senior management neglected to marshal its resources, impose its authority and demand the results needed" to comply with the order, Balaran wrote in his opinion, submitted to U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth late Friday. A class-action lawsuit filed in 1996 on behalf of 300,000 American Indians claims the government mismanaged at least $10 billion from the trust accounts. The fund was established in 1887 to manage royalties from grazing, logging, mining and oil drilling on Indian lands. An estimated 1,000 of the individual trust accounts, worth about $11 million, belong to Alaska Natives. The government admits that the accounts were mismanaged, with much of the money due the Indians lost, stolen or never collected. Lamberth ordered Interior to piece together how much the Indian account holders are owed and appointed Balaran as special master to keep the court apprised of the progress of trust reform. Interior spokeswoman Stephanie Hanna said the department has never retaliated against employees and has worked to comply with Balaran's orders. "We've encouraged employees to speak with the special master, and if employees are not comfortable speaking with the special master, we've provided other avenues ... where they can address their concerns," she said. Plaintiffs' attorney Dennis Gingold said Balaran's protest shows that reform efforts are faring no better under Norton than they did under her predecessor, Bruce Babbitt. "Many people in the Department of Interior are doing whatever they can to undermine and obstruct" trust reform, said Gingold. "It's a violation of the law, it's a violation of court orders and it has to stop." In February, Balaran recommended Babbitt and others be held in contempt for retaliating against an employee. Lamberth has not ruled on that motion. Other pending contempt motions have alleged that Interior allowed documents in the case to be destroyed and misrepresented the department's progress in trust reform. In 1999, Lamberth held Babbitt and former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin in contempt and fined them more than $600,000 for failing to turn over documents related to the case. At a hearing in April, Lamberth said he was willing to take the same steps if the government doesn't cooperate with the court. "I don't want it to come to that again, but I am prepared to do what is necessary to get trust reform accomplished," said Lamberth. Copyright c. 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c.2001 iMinorities, Inc. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Brazil: Deni Demarcation of Their Lands" --------- Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2001 08:10:38 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="AMAZON" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.greenpeace.org/pressreleases/forests/2001oct2.html AMAZON INDIANS REJECT GOVERNMENT ORDER TO STOP CUTTING BORDER AROUND THEIR LANDS TO KEEP OUT ILLEGAL LOGGERS Greenpeace and Brazilian organisations continue their support of the Deni people's demarcation of their lands 2 October 2001 Manaus, Amazon, Brazil - In the face of Brazilian government attempts to shut them down, the Deni Indian chiefs pledged that they would continue to physically cut a border around their lands to keep out illegal loggers. Three Brazilian non-governmental organisations, including Greenpeace, who have been supplying logistical support, such as cooking, transport and communications, to the Deni, have declared their continued support. Last Friday, 17 days after the Deni started the demarcation of their lands in the Amazon rainforest 1000 kilometers southwest of Manaus, Greenpeace received a letter from FUNAI, the Federal Government Indian Agency, ordering the immediate suspension of the demarcation of the Deni Indian land until the Minister of Justice formally acknowledges Deni ownership. "We have being waiting for the Government to demarcate our lands since they said they would in 1985. They haven't kept their promises so we had to do it. Why are they trying to stop us now?" said Chief Biruvi Deni by satellite phone from the Deni Lands to the Greenpeace ship the Arctic Sunrise in Manaus. The Arctic Sunrise is in the region to highlight the impact of illegal and destructive logging on the future of the Amazon rainforest. Greenpeace Amazon Project Coordinator Paul Adario said: "the Brazilian Government must be very embarrassed as the Deni have shown that they can do the physical and technical demarcation process themselves. Now all they ask is for the government to sign the decree which makes legal the work the Deni have already done, to formally protect the land from illegal loggers waiting to step in and tear down the forest." Located on the Cuniua and Xerua river valleys (tributaries of the Purus and Jurua rivers, in Amazonas State), the Deni land is under threat from the Malaysian logging company WTK that purchased over 313,000 hectares of rainforest. More than 50 percent of this area overlaps with the Deni land. It is illegal in Brazil to log on Indian land. The Deni were first informed in May 1999 that a part of their lands had been purchased by WTK, when a Greenpeace expedition went to the area to investigate illegal logging activities in the region. The Deni people were unaware of this sale and the plans to log their land. At this point the Deni asked Greenpeace to help them with their demarcation process. Greenpeace is working closely with CIMI and OPAN, organisations experienced in Amazon Indian issues, to assist the Deni in the process. In further discussions with Greenpeace, WTK subsequently stated that they will not challenge the demarcation. A team of Brazilian experts and an international team of 12 Greenpeace volunteers are providing logistical support to the Deni people during the demarcation process. Volunteers from Brazil, Chile, the UK, Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, Greece, Germany, Austria, the US and China have been filing daily reports to Greenpeace's website, and doing interviews from the jungle, to make it known that the Brazilian government must support this process for the Deni lands to be protected. Once demarcation is recognized by the government, permits for logging and other destructive industrial activities cannot be issued for these lands. According to CIMI, it is the Minister of Justice, not the Deni, who is wrong. "By law, the Minister was obliged to either sign the decree, reject the application, or request additional information from FUNAI before the 21st of August. Nothing was done. The government also failed to respect the constitutional mandate for demarcation of all Indian lands by 1985," said Chico Loebenz, from CIMI. According to Loebenz, it would be a moral disaster for the Deni if the government stops them from protecting their own land. "The government should go there and help them, instead of destroying the Deni's dreams by weakening their borders," he said. This project is part of Greenpeace's campaign to protect the world's remaining ancient forests. Some 80 percent of the world's ancient forests have already been degraded or destroyed, and only 20 percent remain intact. Time is running out for the last 20 percent unless governments around the world take swift action to ensure their future. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: In Manaus Paulo Adario, +55 92 9985 5001, In Amsterdam Natalia Truchi +31 62 129 6908 Photos & video available from Lucas de Freitas in Manaus +55 92 9603 4801 --------- "RE: Ecuador: Zapara beat Extinction" --------- Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2001 08:10:38 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ZAPARA" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://itn.co.uk/news/20011004/world/04tribe.shtml Ecuador's Zapara tribe beat extinction A tribe from the Amazon basin, once declared extinct by historians and anthropologists, is making a come back in what remains of its ancestral territory in Ecuador. An estimated 200 members of the Zapara tribe still continue to eke out a simple existence in what remains of Ecuador's once vast rainforest. Their territory extends along the heads of the Conambo and Pindoyacu rivers in the province of Pastaza. They were one of the most numerous indigenous nations of the northwest Amazon Basin of South America with 39 different linguistic groups. But after years of subjugation and disease brought on by rubber companies and religious missionaries reduced the Zapara nation to just one linguistic group which was violently divided in the war of 1941 between Ecuador and Peru. At that time many of the tribal families were captured and forced to live on the other side of the border in Peru, while the majority of Zapara remained in the ancestral territory located within the borders of Ecuador. Now the Zaparas are reviving and reaffirming their identity. On May 18, 2001 the culture of the Zapara nation of Ecuador and Peru was recognised by UNESCO as a masterpiece of the "intangible heritage of humanity" for its oral traditions and other cultural manifestations. This recognition has strengthened efforts to reunify the Zapara people and preserve their centuries-old culture. The remnants of this once mighty people believe their survival serves as a message to the entire world that indigenous cultures are created in, and sustained by, specific territories, and that their preservation depends upon autonomy. They cite the need for ongoing respect for the Zapara ancestral rights, including the right of ownership of tribal land and the protection of the environment from destruction as crucial to their future existence. Their message to all Indigenous peoples of the world is that nature and culture are inseparable. Copyright c. Independent Television News Limited 1998 --------- "RE: Brazil: Indians take 13 Hostages" --------- Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2001 08:10:38 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HOSTAGES" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.startribune.com/stories/670/733173.html Brazil Indians Take 13 Hostages Associated Press Oct 3 2001 RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) -- Indians took 13 reporters hostage and closed a highway Wednesday demanding that the government make good on a land grant. Officials said about 200 Terena Indians had blocked traffic on the highway periodically for three days before grabbing the reporters covering the standoff. Four hostages were released later in the day. Most of the hostages were from two local television crews. Television news showed the Indians, dressed in war paint and feathers, setting fire to two trucks, during the blockade on Tuesday. "Taking the reporters hostage is a pressure tactic the Indians use when they feel the government is not attending to the concerns fast enough," said Cid Furtado, spokesman for the Federal Indian Bureau. He said the Indians had been promised land on a farm near Rondonopolis, 980 miles northwest of Rio de Janeiro, late last year. That deal was struck after Indians blocked the same highway and took several reporters hostage for five hours. The land handover was delayed after workers for the Land Reform Ministry, which oversees settlements, went on strike, tying up the process. "The Federal Indian Bureau is making every effort to see the reporters are released and the Indians get their land," Furtado said, adding that officials from his bureau, the Land Reform Ministry and the Federal Highway Police were negotiating with the Indians. Copyright c. 2001 Star Tribune. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Harris ordered to sign Ipperwash Affidavit" --------- Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2001 08:10:38 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="IPPERWASH" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canoe.ca/CNEWSPolitics0110/04_harris-cp.html Harris ordered to sign affidavit Thursday, October 4, 2001 By LOUISE ELLIOTT-- The Canadian Press TORONTO (CP) -- Ontario's privacy commission has ordered Premier Mike Harris to sign a sworn affidavit regarding a meeting he had with cabinet ministers and police the day a native protester was shot and killed in Ipperwash Provincial Park. Assistant privacy commissioner Tom Mitchinson has also ordered more than 40 people to sign affidavits about meetings held Sept. 6, 1995, just hours before a police tactical squad stormed the park where a handful of natives were protesting the desecration of a sacred burial ground. "The institutions took what I would describe as a broad and often shallow approach to search activities," Mitchinson wrote in the order. "As a consequence I have concluded that significant questions remain unanswered, that reasonable search activities have not been undertaken." Also named in the order are two cabinet ministers, Chris Hodgson and Robert Runciman; one former minister, Charles Harnick; three deputy ministers; five former and current police officers; and more than 30 others. Mitchinson's request is a response to Liberal native affairs critic Gerry Phillips, who appealed information provided to him by the government about the events in Ipperwash in a Freedom of Information request. Attorney General David Young said his government would comply with the order. "It is a document we will pay serious attention to," Young said. "We will reply to the commission within the period of time prescribed." Phillips told the legislature the order has vindicated his request for more information about Harris's meeting. "In my opinion it's the most significant development yet to date on Ipperwash," Phillips told the legislature during question period Thursday. "It has the potential to be a dramatic breakthrough." Phillips asked Young whether the government had deliberately suppressed information, but the attorney general called the allegation unfounded. Copyright c. 2001, Canoe Limited Partnership. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Treaty Process polarizes BC" --------- Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2001 08:10:38 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BC TREATY" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canoe.ca/WesternTicker/CANOE-wire.Aboriginal-Hearing.html Presenters at Aboriginal referendum hearing say treaty process polarizes BC October 4, 2001 SMITHERS, B.C. (CP) -- The treaty process will further polarize British Columbians in the urban south and rural north parts of the province, a presenter at a hearing on an upcoming provincewide referendum said Thursday. "I can put a face to the people I deal with," said Bob Henderson, a guide-outfitter. "My urban neighbours have no way of doing this. They have no way of understanding the impacts." Henderson suggested the committee help find ways for people in rural areas to have their views reported in urban media outlets. "Otherwise, yet again, old ladies in tennis shoes in West Vancouver are going to rule the day," Henderson said. "People in this area are tired of having everything directed from the south," he said at the hearing by the Select Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs. Smithers, B.C., in the north central part of the province, was the second of 15 locations slated for hearings that are set to conclude in Victoria on Nov. 2. As for a referendum question, Henderson said it should be concise and clear. Bill Munroe of Smithers said the Liberals should not be concerned about asking more than one question. "Five or six questions would not be out of context," Munroe said. However, few presenters, including those from several local municipal governments, had concrete suggestions on what questions should be asked in a referendum or how to phrase them. Mary Dalen, a First Nations woman, said the referendum should also address native people living off reserves. And while most people agreed treaties need to be settled, they also said the current process isn't working. Richard McLaren of Kitimat, B.C., said any agreement based on race is doomed to fail. "A country cannot claim to have racial equality and have special rights for any racial group," McLaren said. "It will eventually lead to social unrest." Cor Van Der Muelen, a local farmer who is also on the B.C. Agricultural Council, questioned policies regarding compensation for third parties affected by treaties. "There is a lot of distrust in this community because they are not sure that governments of the day will not leave them high and dry," Van Der Muelen said. "There can be no acceptance or finality of treaties if all people are not treated fairly." Copyright c. 2001, Canoe Limited Partnership. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Algonquin Protesters say They'll disrupt Logging" --------- Date: Sat, 6 Oct 2001 09:20:22 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ALGONQUIN" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canoe.ca/NationalTicker/CANOE-wire.Algonquins-Protest.html October 5, 2001 Algonquin protesters say they'll disrupt logging to spur government action OTTAWA (CP) -- Algonquin protesters, spurned by federal officials, vowed Friday to block all logging around their traditional territory in northern Quebec until their demands are met. These include improved living conditions and federal funds to complete a land management agreement that respects Algonquin traditions. "It looks like the community is going to deal with this right in the forest," said Carol McBride, grand chief of the Algonquin Nation Secretariat. "We'll stop all logging." After just 11 days, about 100 chilled and rain-weary Alonquins of Barriere Lake dismantled a camp they'd said would remain "indefinitely" on an island in the Ottawa River near Parliament Hill. They headed home, about 350 kilometres north of Ottawa in La Verendrye Park, after Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault and other officials refused to meet them. "I'm just shocked to see how this minister is putting these people aside, " McBride said after a Parliament Hill demonstration on Thursday, including elders and children, was largely ignored. "It's terrible. He's supposed to be here for the native people. "There's a lot of frustration. And the disrespect the minister has shown the elders of Barriere Lake -- it's not being taken lightly." Residents will meet next week to discuss when and where the logging operations of Domtar Inc. and other companies will be disrupted to increase pressure on the government, McBride said. Logging occurs in various sections of the 7,000-square-kilometre park, of which the Algonquins of Barriere Lake occupy a 23-hectare reserve. Nault said he acted as he always does. "I don't meet with people who are protesting," he said outside the Commons. Barriere Lake members should pass their complaints on to regional Indian Affairs staff back home, Nault said. The remote community of 450 people had earlier expressed its concerns in writing to Indian Affairs with no results, McBride countered. More than 40 houses are needed to ease overcrowding of up to 18 people living in a single home, and the reserve must rely on diesel-powered generators because it's not hooked up to the Quebec electrical grid, she said. A logging dispute has also been simmering since the federal government pulled its funding last summer toward finalizing a land-management plan. The plan, first proposed in 1991, is to ensure commercial logging, tourism and other activities around Barriere Lake respect Algonquin traditions. Ottawa has declined to inject any new cash to finalize the plan, citing $4.5 million in federal funds so far spent on related studies and other costs. "They'll have to find another venue for those resources," Nault said, adding the federal government has spent 10 years working on forestry issues that are really the Quebec government's responsibility. "We've funded a process we should not even have been at the table for." Marc Lafreniere, the deputy minister of Indian Affairs, advised the protesters in a letter Sept. 25 to come up with a more efficient way to finalize the plan. "Once a practical solution is found for (its) completion . . . I will be available to meet with you to discuss other issues," he wrote. Barriere Lake residents don't have the money to finish on their own, said McBride. Copyright c. 2001, Canoe Limited Partnership. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Court will hear Metis Hunting and Fishing Case" --------- Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2001 08:10:38 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="METIS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canoe.ca/NationalTicker/CANOE-wire.SCOC-Metis-Hunters.html October 4, 2001 Top court will hear landmark case on hunting, fishing rights of Metis OTTAWA (CP) -- The man who sparked a landmark case on Metis hunting rights, now headed for Canada's top court, is fretting about his food stocks. "I'm going to get my meat for the winter," Steve Powley, a Metis from Sault Ste. Marie in northern Ontario, vowed Thursday. "I have no choice. I'm on a fixed income and I rely on it." Powley and his son, Roddy, successfully argued in 1998 that as Metis people -- those of mixed aboriginal and European descent -- they have a constitutional right to hunt for food unlicensed and outside provincial hunting seasons. The Ontario Court of Appeal upheld that ruling last February, staying the judgment for one year so the province could change its rules in consultation with the Metis. But on Thursday, the Ontario government won leave to appeal that decision at the Supreme Court of Canada, where the case won't likely be resolved before 2003. Meanwhile, Powley says he still plans to hunt without a provincial licence -- despite a local enforcement officer's warning that Powley's meat and guns could be seized if he follows through on his hunting plans. "Any Metis person found in contravention of the regulations will be investigated, facts will be reviewed case by case and charges may be laid, " said Jolanta Kowalski, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Natural Resources in Toronto. Talks between Metis leaders and Ontario negotiators have so far failed to produce an interim agreement for this fall's hunting season. "I know there's a lot of hard feeling with our people out there," said Powley, a diabetic. "It's spiteful -- harass the Metis people." Powley uses a wheelchair and collects a disability pension after losing half his right leg when a cut sustained on a remote hunting trip became infected, he said. To make matters worse, he later lost half his left foot, also to an infection that developed in part because of poor medical attention, he said. Powley, 53, and his son Roddy, 27, were charged in 1993 under the Ontario Game and Fish Act after they shot and killed a bull moose near Sault Ste. Marie without a moose-hunting licence. Status Indians in the same region have a treaty right, recognized under the act, to hunt for food. But Ontario government lawyers argued that native hunting rights can't be granted to Metis across Canada without a clear, accepted definition of who they are and without jeopardizing conservation efforts. The total Metis population in Canada is estimated at about 300,000, with at least 10,000 adults living in Ontario. In a watershed ruling, the trial judge dismissed the charges against Powley and his son after hearing expert testimony on Metis history, culture and practices along with the government's contention that any infringement of an aboriginal right was justified in this case. As is usual in such applications, the country's high court gave no reasons Thursday for agreeing to hear the case. It generally considers matters of national scope with the power to set far-reaching precedents. "I think the Supreme Court has actually been waiting for a case like this to come up to them," said Jean Teillet, Powley's lawyer. "What we have right now is a big (legal) vacuum for the Metis people and the Supreme Court is aware of that. They'll take this opportunity to set the broad principles down." Teillet is also the great-grandniece of Louis Riel, the famous Metis leader who was hanged in 1885 in Regina for leading the Northwest Rebellion against Ottawa. "The case is obviously close to my heart and to my people." Copyright c. 2001, Canoe Limited Partnership. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Mohawks bring Supplies to New York City Rescue" --------- Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2001 09:25:54 -0700 (PDT) From: Paul Pureau Subj: itc:Mohawks bring supplies to New York City rescue Mailing List: ndn-aim Mohawks bring supplies to New York City rescue Trauma counseling planned for the ironworker volunteers October 03, 2001 - 07:00 est by: Jim Adams/Indian Country Today HOGANSBURG, N. Y. - Driving a van-load of supplies and $11,000 in donations to Manhattan, St. Regis (Akwesasne) Mohawks continued their support for the rescue efforts at the World Trade Center attack site. Michael Swamp, business manager of Ironworkers Local 440, and three retired union members made the 8-hour drive Sept. 24, bringing work gloves, work boots, urgently needed respirators and other supplies to the hiring hall of their sister local in New York City. The delegation also presented a tribal donation of $10,000 and another $1,000 of individual contributions. Expenses for the trip will be partially underwritten by the Oneida Indian Nation, Swamp said. Sept. 25, the ironworkers toured lower Manhattan. Although they were kept five blocks from Ground Zero, they received a warm welcome while visiting fire stations along Canal Street. "Once they found out we were ironworkers, the firemen came out of the woodwork to shake our hands," Swamp said. "Everybody heard about our volunteers going down." He said the rescue was still going on in "a pretty tense atmosphere." Fears of new truck bombs had tightened security. "They're watching everything," he said. "Even when steel is going (in the debris removal), they're timing the trucks. They're frisking them when they come back in." Although guards stopped the group a distance from the former World Trade Center, Swamp said "we could see the site fine. It was still smoldering." "It looked like a war zone. Steel was piled up. It was smoking. It was devastating." Swamp also talked to Mohawks on the cleanup crews, including Richard Otto who saw the terrorist hijacked airliners fly right by his work site before they rammed the Twin Towers. "Everybody came down for lunch," Swamp said, adding he could see firsthand the emotional stress of the past two weeks. "It affected a lot of people," he said. "It affected our guys. They kept looking over there at the towers, and there was nothing there." Swamp said the tribe would provide trauma counseling for the ironworkers when they returned to the reservation on the weekend. The St. Regis Tribal Council and the Mohawk Council are cooperating to provide a session that would combine both traditional and modern psychological support. "We'll have a couple of different types." Although the cleanup has moved from a volunteer to a contractor operation, Swamp said he expected more ironworkers from Akwesasne to be called down as the current crews tire out. The contractor operation "was better than volunteers. You get more done," he said. "It's still chaos down there." This article can be found at http://www.indiancountry.com/?article=1798 ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> 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: Senate spares ANWR" --------- Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2001 03:45:07 -0700 (PDT) From: Paul Pureau Subj: Sparing ANWR, Senate approves defense bill Mailing List: ndn-aim http://www.indianz.com/SmokeSignals/Headlines/showfull.asp?ID=pol/1032001 Sparing ANWR, Senate approves defense bill WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2001 The Senate approved a $345 billion defense spending bill on Tuesday night, rejecting a controversial amendment that would have opened up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas drilling. By a vote of 99 to 0, the Senate authorized funds for the Department of Defense and military spending at the Department of Energy. Earmarked for fiscal year 2002, which began on Monday, the money represents an 11 percent increase of $34.2 billion over last year's level. Approving the package had been a top priority due to September 11's terrorist attacks. But there were fears the bill would be delayed by pro- drilling advocates seeking to force the Senate into debating energy policy. Last week, Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska), the ranking Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, was threatening to stall Senate action. "I am prepared to hold up normal legislative business to get an energy bill to the floor," he said. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) wanted to go a step further and have the defense bill include ANWR provisions. In an opinion piece published in The Washington Times yesterday, he said drilling in the refuge was not just an energy issue but a national security one. "My purpose is not to block the necessary defense bill, but rather to advance a similarly necessary energy security measure," he argued. Arguments against drilling in ANWR are "out-of-date and out of touch with reality," he continued. As the day wore on, however, action on energy never occurred. Lawmakers like Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a member of the Armed Forces Committee, urged fellow members to act in a spirit of national unity. "I'm worried that in a few minutes, the Senate may undo all that good work of the past three weeks, and bring an end to the bipartisan cooperation that has distinguished this institution, and give the public a reason to be ashamed of us," said McCain. The message appeared to have worked. In the early afternoon, the Senate by unanimous consent agreed to advance the defense bill, as Majority Leader Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) called a vote to limit debate. By that time, Inhofe had softened his stance. "There is nobody on this floor who wants to have a defense authorization bill more than I do," he said. Among those who have opposed development is the Gwich'in Nation, who fear drilling will disturb the Porcupine caribou herd on which they subsist. Assurances by Secretary of Interior Gale Norton and others that development can occur in an environmentally sensitive way have not swayed their position. Inupiat Eskimos who own land in ANWR's coastal plain, the area targeted for development, have supported drilling. They predict financial and other benefits should the land be opened up. The House has already approved a comprehensive energy bill that allows exploration in 2,000 acres of ANWR. Senate leaders have given no indication on when the chamber would consider its own version of the bill. Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), 98, did not vote yesterday. After collapsing on the Senate floor, the oldest member of Congress was taken to an area hospital, and is said to be doing fine. ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> 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: Native American Support of Museum Slipping" --------- Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2001 08:11:07 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MUSEUM PROBLEMS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.lafayettejc.com/news20011007/200110071local_news1002456624.shtml Native American support of museum slipping with time Critics: Backing of tribal groups was overstated, misrepresented Sunday, October 7th 2001At the turn of the 19th century, the Shawnee leader Tecumseh squared off with territorial governor William Henry Harrison over the transfer of large swaths of Indian land to the federal government. Tecumseh questioned Harrison's method of acquiring land by signing treaties with individual Indians. Tecumseh claimed that individuals had no right to cede lands used by all Indians for hunting, growing crops and raising families. Almost 200 years later, similar feelings of mistrust swirl around the Museums at Prophetstown, a multimillion dollar project aimed at preserving the memory of Tecumseh and his Woodland Indian brethren. Critics allege that Nick Clark, the former director of the Museums at Prophetstown, exaggerated the level of support among Native American groups by working with individuals instead of tribes -- some of which never formally endorsed the project. "He was doing the same thing that land speculators did a long time ago," says Clarence Syrette, an Ojibwe and former spiritual adviser to the Museums at Prophetstown. Clark denies that, saying he dealt with individual tribe members in good faith. Challenges ahead Regardless, support among Native Americans for the project has cooled since the project was founded in the mid-1990s. And that's just one of several hurdles the Museums at Prophetstown backers face. Consider: + Museum directors have yet to find a replacement for Clark, who resigned under a cloud nearly a year ago after some members of the board of directors questioned the way he handled finances and other matters. Clark denied any wrongdoing, and no charges were ever filed. + With millions left to raise, private donations are coming in slowly. In addition, the amount of public funding available for the project is dwindling because of the slowed state economy. While Clark left hard feelings among some Native Americans, the project still has the backing of some of the 23 original tribes who belonged to the federation of Indians led by Tecumseh and his charismatic brother, The Prophet. They occupied a village named after The Prophet near present day Battle Ground. "We do want to be a part of it if they're going to talk about Delawares, " said David Schoales, a cultural/historical preservationist and member of the Bartlesville, Okla.-based Delaware. But even those who support the project wonder what's going on. "I don't see much going on with the project. I don't know what they're doing," Schoales said. He and other supporters believe the Museums at Prophetstown is an opportunity to tell the story of Indian resistance from their point of view. Don Greenfeather, former tribal chairman with the Oklahoma-based Shawnee tribe, is among them. "One thing that impressed me about Prophetstown was its telling of the other side of the story," he said. "There's a lot of meaning there for Shawnee people. There are Shawnee people buried there who were killed by Harrison, along with other native people. It's sort of a sacred or holy ground for us." In addition to a Woodland Indian complex, the Museums at Prophetstown is developing a living history farm on land the group leases, at no charge, within the Prophetstown State Park. The museum project gained momentum soon after its start-up in 1995. A log council house of the type Native Americans would have used was constructed on park land. Even though the state park is at least a year from opening, numerous school and tour groups have visited the council house and toured the surrounding prairie, replanted with native grasses by dozens of volunteers. Another popular feature has been a two-story reproduction of a turn-of- the-century farmhouse, which is the centerpiece of a planned living history farm. All of which takes money, about $30 million in all. So far, Museums at Prophets-town is about 10 percent toward that goal. Looking to community Faced with the daunting task of raising the rest amid an economic slowdown, Museums at Prophetstown board members are turning to the community with a renewed sense of urgency. Jim Bodenmiller, board vice president, says that aside from the roughly $30 million needed in the long run to build the full museums complex, short-term operating revenue is dwindling. "There's not all that much money on hand, not a lot of reserve funds for operating," he said, noting it takes at least $25,000 a month to pay salaries and meet all overhead costs. "We had a retreat .... and agreed there's going to be an appeal to the general community to step forward and support this project." Bodenmiller made that statement before the Sept. 11 terror attacks on New York and the Pentagon. Last week, he said the flow of charitable donations likely will be diverted to aid in relief efforts associated with the tragedy. "The whole nonprofit sector in this country is just beginning to see some of this," he said. "We don't yet know the full impact." A state budget deficit also casts uncertainty over whether the state's rate of land acquisition for the adjoining Prophetstown State Park, and whether Build Indiana Fund earmarked for the Museums at Prophetstown will remain intact, he said. "We're probably going to have to do some reassessment of the whole vision, the whole project, timing issues, the scope of the whole thing," Bodenmiller said. One legacy of Clark's tenure has been a gradual decline in Native American membership on the Council for Preservation of Great Lakes Native American Culture, a board that advises the Museums at Prophetstown. In a 1998 Museums at Prophetstown brochure, 22 member tribes were listed as members of the council. Currently, the MAP Web site lists nine members. Of those nine: + Five confirmed to the Journal and Courier that they still support the project. + Three did not return phone calls. + One had never been asked to formally endorse the project. Not formally asked John Blackhawk, tribal chairman of Winnebago Indians of Nebraska, said his tribe has never formally endorsed the Museums at Prophetstown project even though his group is listed as a member of the group's advisory board. Blackhawk has been chairman for 10 years. "I also don't think we'd object to it, we just haven't been formally asked," Blackhawk said. "We'll contact them and tell them what happened. Somehow we've been thrown into the pot without our knowledge." Frank Ettawageshik, who was tribal chairman of the Petoskey, Mich.-based Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians from 1991 to 1999, said he was surprised to see his tribe's name appear on the museum group's letterhead several years ago. For one year during the early 1990s, Ettawageshik's tribe did pay membership dues to an advisory body Clark formed in 1986 as director of the Minnetrista Cultural Center, a Native American-oriented nonprofit organization in Muncie. Clark resigned from the Minnetrista Cultural Center in 1995 to take the Prophets-town job. At the time, he changed the name of the advisory council to reflect his new affiliation with Prophetstown. "All of the sudden this thing turns into the Museums at Prophetstown, and we had no idea how we'd gotten there," Ettawageshik said. Wesley Andrews, cultural and historic preservation officer of the band, said he attended four Prophetstown Council meetings from 1995 through 1997. Andrews said he asked questions and tried to have input in the decision- making process. "I made several efforts to speak with Nick Clark about these issues, and he would not communicate with me," Andrews recalled. "I even set up meetings for him to talk with the northern tribes here in the Great Lakes region, but again he would not respond." Consequently, Andrews asked Clark not to identify his tribe as a supporter of the Prophetstown fund-raising efforts. "I concluded that he was looking to the tribal representatives to only get a rubber stamp for the ideas and plans that he and the executive council had already decided." Surprised by reaction Clark said he had no idea Andrews was dissatisfied. "I thought he was a willing and interested participant in every meeting we had, and he never voiced any dissatisfaction to me nor was I aware he was interested in a meeting of Northern Tribes," Clark said. He said individual tribal members who attended meetings signified support of those tribes for the project whether or not the tribes formally endorsed it. "Each of those representatives was appointed by their tribal government to come," Clark said. "I didn't select them. As far as I'm concerned, if the tribal government appointed them to come, and they're representing their tribe and voting for their tribe, then they're supporting the project." Bodenmiller, who is not Native American, realizes he and other board members have a difficult task ahead of them -- marshaling community support for a project that has yet to win over many Native Americans themselves. "This is a very worthwhile project. It's not my project. It's not the board's project. It's the community's project. We need to communicate that this has a great value to the community." Prophetstown's current mission -------------------------------------------------------- The Museums at Prophets-town is a private, nonprofit foundation dedicated to preserving and interpreting Woodland Native American and Wabash Valley agricultural history, culture, and traditions. Its mission includes restoring examples of Indiana's natural prairie and savanna ecosystems. Although subject to change, here are the major components of the Museums at Prophetstown project, according to the group's Web site: + The Kampen Eagle Wing Visitor and Education Center. It will offer educational programs and exhibits for all ages. A 180-seat theater, educational classrooms, gift shop and food service will welcome visitors and provide an orientation and entry point to each of the three mission- based complexes. + The Wabash Valley Living History Farm. This is a working family farm of the 1920s, a period that witnessed rapid increases in farm productivity and improvements in rural life. + The Native American Cultural Complex will highlight the traditions of the Woodland people who populated the banks of the Wabash for 10,000 years. Two living history villages are planned. One is a Middle Woodland, precontact village depicting Native American culture of the 1000 A.D. time period. + The "Prophetstown Living History Village" will focus on the pivotal period from 1808 to 1811 when more than two dozen Indian tribes joined forces with the Shawnee leader, Tecumseh, and his brother, The Prophet, to resist U.S. government actions to take possession of land that later became Indiana. -- Staff Reports By Jeff Parrott, Journal and Courier Copyright c. 2001, Federated Publications, Inc. A Gannett Site. --------- "RE: Anti-Columbus Day Rally draws 1,500" --------- Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2001 08:49:11 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ANTI CD" Sat - October 7 http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_840960,00.html Anti-Columbus Day rally draws 1,500 By Judith Kohler, Associated Press About 1,000 marchers from four directions Saturday converged at one of the city's busiest intersections and streamed up a hill to the steps of the state Capitol, where they called for an end to Columbus Day. American Indians and other activists organized the "Transform Columbus Day" rally to protest a holiday for someone they say was a slave trader whose explorations set off centuries of abuse for indigenous people in this hemisphere. "We know the legacy of Columbus. The legacy of Columbus is something Indian people live with every day: the federal laws, the loss of 96 percent of our land base," said Glenn Morris of Denver, a college professor and member of the American Indian Movement. The crowd of roughly 1,500 yelled "No more Columbus Day," and joined in songs and prayers, some in the Lakota language. Some beat drums and chanted. Others carried red, black, white and yellow flags and banners to represent the four directions and the spiritual power Plains Indians associate with them. Hundreds of police, including SWAT officers, wary because of past clashes over Columbus Day, were on guard throughout downtown and on the Capitol grounds. Protests stopped Columbus Day parades in 1991, and 140 arrests were made during the event's revival last year. Police Capt. Marco Vasquez said there had been no arrests by early afternoon Saturday. No counter-protesters were visible, although an elderly man was trying to sell U.S. and Italian flags to marchers. He waved away a reporter: "I'm not going to talk." Police Sgt. Tony Lombard said there would be several hundred police on duty Monday during the Columbus Day parade in case of demonstrations. American Indian and Hispanic activists have said they will protest any event with Columbus in its name. A parade is planned despite a decision by a committee of 10 Italian- American organizations to scrap it in place of a fund-raiser and candlelight vigil in a north-Denver park. Proceeds will go to the victims of the terrorist attacks. "After the Sept. 11 tragedy, the parade committee decided it was not appropriate to have a parade and further tax the police and fire departments," said David Sprecace, committee spokesman. But committee member C.M. Mangiaracina plans to go ahead with a parade on his own and is calling it "Columbus Day 2001: A National Day of Mourning." "We are completely committed to having a Columbus Day parade next year, to celebrating the good qualities of Columbus," Sprecace said. "The Transform Columbus Day group wants to protest all the bad qualities of Columbus. We can do all this on the same day and that's what makes this country great." Colorado has recognized Columbus Day as a state holiday since 1905. Speakers, including some state legislators, said the state should drop it as a holiday. "Columbus does not stand for honor and dignity, nor do those who honor him as a national hero," said the Rev. Gary Tinker of Denver. Rocky Mountain News. Copyright c. 2001 The E.W. Scripps Co. --------- "RE: Earth Care gets Lyons' Share of Attention" --------- Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2001 08:11:07 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="OREN LYONS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.syracuse.com/news/syrnewspapers/index.ssf?/newsstories/ Earth care gets Lyons' share of attention Importance of peace to Iroquois also noted at first Oren Lyons Award ceremony. Sunday, October 7, 2001 By Mark Weiner On a night when more than 350 people turned out to honor Oren Lyons, the Onondaga Nation faithkeeper, artist, educator and advocate for the environment tried to turn the attention elsewhere. Lyons, who lectures internationally about the environment and Native American issues, told an audience Saturday night at Drumlins Country Club in DeWitt that the Earth needs some urgent care. "There has to be some serious consideration by everybody on what we can do with, and what we can do without," Lyons said. "We've had enough warnings. But soon you will see." The tribute to Lyons, "Celebrating the Journey," was part of the inaugural Oren Lyons Award ceremony. The award will be given annually to two Native Americans at a black-tie optional dinner. The $150 per-person event benefits the Native American Service Agency of Upstate New York, a nonprofit organization that serves hundreds of urban Native Americans in the area. This year's award-winners are singer Joanne Shenandoah, an Oneida who was a Grammy Award nominee this year, and Samantha Jacobs, a Seneca from Cattaraugus who is a freshman at Hawaii Pacific University. Jacobs will receive a $3,000 scholarship. Two other students will receive $1,500 scholarships. They are Annie Jacobs of Le Moyne College and Pam Darwish of the Onondaga Nation, said Irving Lyons Jr., executive director of the Native American Service Agency and nephew of Oren Lyons. An emotional Shenandoah told the audience the award means a lot to her. "I'd like to say, this is a whole lot better than the Grammys," she said before performing two songs, including one with Oren Lyons. Both Lyons and Shenandoah talked about the importance of peace to the Iroquois people, and how important that message is in light of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. "As Oren knows, it's difficult to bring a message of peace to a world that wants war, and there's nothing more important to the Iroquois people than peace," Shenandoah said. Lyons, 71, is a former star athlete at Syracuse University, where he helped the lacrosse team win a national championship and was a member of the last SU boxing team in 1956. He thanked former Syracuse University lacrosse coach Roy Simmons Jr. for introducing him. Then he credited much of his success to Simmons' father, Roy Simmons Sr., who served as SU's lacrosse coach from 1931 to 1970. "If it wasn't for his father, I probably wouldn't be standing here," Lyons said. "I learned a lot from him." Copyright c. 2001 The Post-Standard. Used with permission. --------- "RE: State ordered to pay $248M Land Claim" --------- Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2001 08:10:38 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CAYUGA" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyKey=66927&category=Y State ordered to pay $248M in land claim case Albany -- District judge awards Cayuga Indians rent, future losses and interest for land near Cayuga Lake By JAMES M. ODATO, Capitol bureau Wednesday, October 3, 2001 In a ruling that could set a costly precedent for New York taxpayers, a federal judge Tuesday declared that the state must pay the Cayuga Indians almost $248 million for the improper taking of reservation land at the northern borders of Cayuga Lake. Senior U.S. District Judge Neal P. McCurn penalized the state an extra $211 million above the nearly $37 million awarded by a jury in Feb. 17, 2000. It included $1.9 million in rent since 1795 and $35 million for future losses. In July and August of 2000, McCurn conducted a nonjury trial to consider more damages. The additional $211 million represents interest on the rental award. The total -- $247.9 million -- falls short of the $1.7 billion the tribe's experts calculated as the state's debt for more than 200 years of improper use of the Finger Lakes reservation land. "I think that it goes a long way toward compensating the Cayugas for all the wrongs done to them over the generations by the state of New York," said Manhattan lawyer Martin Gold, who represents the tribe." I think they're owed substantially more but this is a major step in the right direction." A spokesman for Gov. George Pataki said the state will appeal the case, which was handled by the attorney general's office. "It's outrageous for $211 million in interest to be awarded on a jury verdict of $1.9 million - - a verdict that itself is highly questionable," said spokesman Joseph Conway. The 188-page ruling comes from a judge who has heard countless arguments on several land claim cases pending against the state. Gold said the decision will have a bearing on the suits by the St. Regis Mohawk, Seneca and Oneida, and others that may arise. Gold said that if the state insists on appealing or doesn't offer to settle the case out of court, the Cayuga tribe will cross-appeal and call for the full $1.7 billion. He said the tribe would also exercise its right to to eject owners now on the property -- by taking titles to the real estate, though not necessarily removing current occupants. The Cayugas' 21-year-old case involves the improper taking of 64,000 acres in Seneca and Cayuga counties. Like the other pending cases, the Cayugas claimed the state violated federal laws created in the late 18th century to prevent unfair land-grabbing from Native Americans. The state declined last year to settle the case for $130 million -- half paid by the federal government -- and the tribe's right to acquire 13,000 acres in reservation property. McCurn also criticized the federal government, which joined the Cayugas in the suit, for failing to protect the tribe's interests and giving conflicting information to the state. Copyright c. 2001, Capital Newspapers Division of The Hearst Corporation, Albany, N.Y. --------- "RE: Local Officials not happy with Cayuga Settlement" --------- Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2001 08:49:11 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CAYUGA SETTLEMENT" Sat - October 7 http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=2448552&BRD=1709&PAG=461&dept_id=68844&rfi=6 Local officials not happy with Cayuga settlement By:CLIFF DROUGHT, Dispatch Staff Writer October 04, 2001 WAMPSVILLE - Madison County officials - still facing their own land claim fate - expressed some measure of disappointment with a decision by U.S. District Judge Neal McCurn Tuesday that awards $211 million of state money to the Cayuga Indian Nation. The money, an addition to $36.9 million awarded to the Nation by a federal court jury more than a year ago, stems from a prior McCurn ruling that the state illegally acquired Cayuga land in both Seneca and Cayuga counties between 1795 and 1807. At that time, the state failed to receive Congressional approval for the acquisitions. "I'm a little disappointed by the amount, and it's all state money," said county Board of Supervisors Chairman Rocco DiVeronica, R-Lenox, whose county is joined with Oneida County in a 250,000-acre land claim brought by the Oneida Indian Nation. "This is all interest," DiVeronica said, "and it's far-fetched to give that much money in interest." DiVeronica said he is unsure of the eventual impact McCurn's ruling w ill have on the decades-old claim locally. "I haven't followed it (Cayuga claim) too close, but I believe there claim was different than ours," he said. DiVeronica added that he "still believes all the treaties were legal" and would like the federal government to assume some of the responsibility. Madison County, he added, was not even established until 1806. The Cayuga claim includes more than 64,000 acres and is the first of several claims pending against the state to reach the trial stage. Attorneys at both the state and county levels said they would appeal the amount McCurn awarded to the Cayugas. An economist called in by the state to testify during a non-jury trial last year, calculated the interest at between $2.6 million and $12.1 million. An expert called by the Cayugas calculated the interest $1.7 billion for the entire 204-year period. "I imagine it will be appealed," DiVeronica said. "It will be a long drawn out thing like ours. I still believe negotiations are the best rem edy." DiVeronica said there have not been any negotiations between Madison County and Oneida Nation officials of late. There have been, he said, negotiations with the state recently on such issues as gaming rights. Copyright c. 2001 The Oneida Daily Dispatch. --------- "RE: Indian Ag Lawsuit to be Class Action" --------- Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2001 08:10:38 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="AG LAWSUIT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?section=local&display Indian ag lawsuit to be class action The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - American Indian farmers' discrimination claims against the U.S. Department of Agriculture will be heard as a single lawsuit, a federal judge has ruled. More than 800 Indians are suing the USDA, saying they were unfairly denied loans and other farming aid. They are seeking damages of up to $19 billion. In a Sept. 28 ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan certified the Indians as a class, meaning they could save time and money in making their argument against the federal government. "It's an important milestone," Greg Kirschner, a Washington lawyer for the Indians, said Thursday. "It's not the end of the case, but it does allow us to present classwide claims, instead of individually making each case." Kirschner said the class could grow to include thousands of Indian ranchers and farmers. The Justice Department has until Oct. 12 to decide whether to file an appeal of Sullivan's decision, said Charles Miller, a spokesman for the Justice Department. In arguments a year ago, lawyers defending the USDA had argued against certification as a class. In a hearing last October, lawyers for the Department of Justice said the complicated status of Indian land ownership meant each discrimination claim was too different from the others to be lumped together. Similar allegations by black farmers led to a settlement last year in which the Agriculture Department agreed to pay them $50,000 apiece or to reverse aid decisions that hurt them. The payments to black farmers are expected to cost taxpayers about $1 billion. About 22,000 farmers have filed claims, 11,000 of which have been approved. In earlier statements, the USDA has claimed that the department has significantly changed the way it treats minority farmers. New employees undergo mandatory civil rights training and workers are graded on their compliance with civil rights rules as part of their performance evaluations. Copyright c. 2001 Associated Press. Copyright c. 2001 The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Company Sues over Tobacco Seizure" --------- Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2001 08:10:38 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TOBACCO SEIZURE" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.imdiversity.com/Article_Detail.asp?Article_ID=7175 American Indian-Owned Company Sues Over Tobacco Seizure by AP, The Associated Press Houghton, Mich. (AP) - A dispute between American Indians and the state over tobacco-tax revenue has intensified with a federal lawsuit filed against the Michigan Department of Treasury. The suit is the second of its kind against the department, The Daily Mining Gazette reported Monday. It came after the seizure of about 5,000 cartons of untaxed cigarettes from a truck speeding through Alberta last month. The driver was an employee of New York-based International Native Company, which distributes wholesale cigarettes between Indian nations. Two of its retailers include the Chippewa Trading Post and The Pines, both located on the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community reservation in Baraga County. "KBIC has been trying to work with the state," said James LaPointe, the community's chief executive officer. "I was shocked when I found out about (the seizure)." The seizure was the largest ever made in the Upper Peninsula, officials said. But tribes contend their sovereign status prohibits the state from imposing a state tax on tobacco. The Indian-owned company filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids, where it filed a similar suit in mid-August alleging Michigan State Police are unfairly targeting Indians in moving trucks. The department of treasury maintains the seizure was legal. Despite the tribes' sovereign status, officials contend all cigarettes must bear a Michigan tax stamp, which the seized cigarettes lacked. The tribes would be reimbursed for cigarettes sold to tribal members. "There is a compact that defines how tribes and the state are to negotiate (such matters)," said Stephanie Van Koevering, spokeswoman for the Department of Treasury. Copyright c. 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 2001 iMinorities, Inc. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: A Pursuit of Purity" --------- Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2001 08:11:07 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CHINO" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.latimes.com/tcn/ontario/news/la-iv0017495oct08.story October 8, 2001 A pursuit of purity Young inmates discard their prejudices, learn to manage anger and pray during a weekly Native American sweat lodge ceremony. By Joanna Corman / joanna.corman@latimes.com On the outside there is suspicion. There is prejudice, anger and hate. Outside the chain link fence you have to watch your back. You can't share a cigarette or a drink with a person of another race. Inside the gates, the men say they feel like brothers. This is Red Tail Lodge, a Native American ceremonial ground at the Heman G. Stark Youth Correctional Facility in Chino that houses men, ages 18 to 25. Every Thursday, up to 50 prisoners pray in the Native American way. They've done horrific things to earn a place here. As one guard puts it, you name it and they've done it -- murder, rape, arson, robbery. But at Red Tail Lodge, there are no guards. Once a week, for about three hours, the inmates talk about their feelings. They pray to the creator, to their ancestors. They honor nature and the women in their lives. It is the only place, they say, where there is no racial tension and where they feel free. In the sweat lodge, said Curtis Garcia, a ward from Arizona, "We can be one when we pray together. We draw no boundaries of any race." The sweat lodge ceremony is about 25,000 years old but at the California Youth Authority in Chino it started in 1991, said Jimi Castillo, the prison's Native American chaplain. It is a form of group therapy. The men are asked to voice their feelings. But they are not allowed to talk about their anger, Castillo said. "You must be careful with your words because your words are your prayers," he said. There are weapons everywhere -- a path of shorn grass lined with rocks. Tools for moving fire-scorched rocks -- a rake, a shovel, a hoe -- are on the ground. There's a stack of cut wood, too. But there has never been any violence at the lodge, Castillo said. "If blood ever spilled on these grounds," he said he tells them, "we would do a ceremony to burn the lodge and close it out." The only form of self-defense a visitor has is a prison-issued panic button. When the wards enter Red Tail Lodge, they pass through two gates. The men circle the lodge, a low-slung dome made from willow branches, covered in cloth, "to show respect to our church. It's the womb of our mother, our earth," Castillo said. Some of the wards play drums, sing and dance in the corner. This is a form of prayer, Castillo said. One man trims a topiary of a turtle, a symbol of protection, and other wards tend a small garden. Now it is filled with Indian corn but they've also grown onions, radishes, beans and other vegetables. During one recent session, some wards started a fire in a pit in front of the sweat lodge. When the wood ignited, the ceremony had started. It began with the talking circle. Behind the sweat lodge and under a giant tree, the inmates sat in plastic chairs. Many were shirtless, tattoos covering their arms, backs and chests. They handed each other a stick of burning sage. Each ward passed it over his head, under his arms, around his back and his legs. The sage is medicine, to cleanse oneself of evil in order to welcome the good. Then they spoke, a process that is supposed to rid themselves of negativity. In the sweat lodge, they will purify themselves. Castillo called a ward over and pointed to the necklace he was wearing. It was red, white, black and yellow. "The creator gave us those colors to pray with and he did not make any one [race] better than the other," Castillo told the men. "They're all equal." When asked if most of the men are Native American, Castillo, who is part Tongva and part Acjachemen, both Southern California tribes, doesn't answer directly. "The way we think it, everyone's native," he said. "We draw no color lines out here." Several of the inmates said Red Tail Lodge is the only place at the prison where racial lines disappear. Outside the fence, the wards might stab each other with homemade shanks, said one ward, his skin the color of onyx, a choker of elk bone fastened to his neck. Prison officials allowed only two wards to use their names and faces for this article. "There might be prejudice on the outside of these gates, but when you get in here, you're free," he said. "Everywhere else it's chaos. ... What more they got to do than rumble, jack people, steal from each other. If you don't stick with your own kind, you don't survive." Two days after the East Coast terrorist attacks, Castillo stood in the talking circle holding a stick to try to put things in perspective. Only the holder of the stick is allowed to speak. "Nothing can be resolved by retaliating with hate," he said. "You can not resolve issues as long as you are angry." When he was finished -- just as when anyone is done speaking -- the men replied, "A-ho!" to acknowledge the thought. Some offered prayers to the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks. Others just threw tobacco into the fire. The smoke, Castillo said, is supposed to carry each person's prayers to the creator. If the wards "abuse it [the tobacco] and they get busted with it, I will not support it," Castillo said. "Whether they sell it or trade it for drugs, anything other than praying with it, I will not support it." When Robertjohn Knapp arrived, the men formed a line and hugged him. Knapp, part Seneca from the East Coast and part Tubotolobol from the Central Valley, led the sweat lodge ceremony. Knapp and Castillo teach the men Native American philosophy. "Give all things respect," Castillo said. "You hurt nothing. You hurt no one." Before the men enter the sweat lodge, they must bow and ask Knapp permission to enter. There were four rounds of prayer. They sat in darkness, body pressed against body around a pit of rocks. First, the men prayed for themselves. Each round brought more rocks, more heat. Water infused with sage was poured on the rocks. Sweet-smelling heat billowed out. The door opened and Knapp told them, "No other animals do this [destroy each other]. No other life forms do this. Be careful how you think ... when you hear those people calling for revenge. If you hurt me, I'm going to absorb it and not take it personally. I'm not going to take it as an insult. So with that, we're going to begin to pray." They prayed for the women in their lives. They prayed for loved ones. By the last round, the wards near the door sprawled on the ground. Sweat and mud covered them. Finally they gave thanks for what they have been given. When Nicholas Myers lived in North Las Vegas, he said he ran with gangs and did drugs. When he got to the Youth Authority in 1999, he said he hung out with gang members. "I wasn't into spiritual things," he said. But he started coming to the sweat lodge in May. "The brothers that are in here made me realize things like that [gangs] are childish and selfish," he said. "I put my mom, my family through a lot of things. I'm just trying to grow up." He and others said the ceremony helps them manage their anger. It has "taught me to think about other people," Myers said. When the ceremony ended, the wards crawled out. They formed a receiving line to the right, completing another circle. They embraced each other. They looked shaky and weak. They held hands and then raised them up and cried out. One ward didn't want to sweat. He said he had done drugs that day and didn't want to show disrespect to Castillo or Knapp, whom the men call uncle. "You've got to suffer for your prayers," the inmate said. "It makes you humble." Copyright c. 2001 Los Angeles Times. --------- "RE: Jennifer Harbury Statement" --------- Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2001 18:11:30 -0500 From: "LPDC" Subj: Jennifer Harbury Statement Mailing List: LPDC "ATTACK ON AMERICA": INTELLIGENCE GATHERING AND HUMAN RIGHTS RESTRICTIONS RESPONSE OF JENNIFER K. HARBURY September 18, 2001 In the wake of the tragedy and horror which occurred last week in both New York City and Washington D.C., I find myself compelled to write and comment upon the reaction of certain government officials. There can be no doubt that an enormous lapse in our national intelligence efforts has occurred, resulting in the simultaneous hijacking of four separate passenger jets, the destruction of the World Trade Towers, an outright attack on the Pentagon, and unimaginable human suffering. In response to public criticism, some officials have decried certain human rights restrictions which they claim have impeded the ability to taken action and to obtain needed information from "unsavory persons". Specifically, they are referring to U.S. legal prohibitions against assassinations, and the more recent requirements that before our CIA agents may hire a known human rights violator as an informant, they must notify and obtain clearance from their superiors. The last restriction was imposed after my husband, a Mayan resistance leader, was secretly detained and tortured for two years, then executed without trial, by Guatemalan military officers on CIA payroll. I wish to begin my response by expressing my own deep shock and sadness over last week's savage actions against the civilians of New York and Washington. As an attorney born and raised in the northeast, I had many friends in offices all too near to the World Trade Center, and have agonized over their safety for many days now. More searing still for me have been the stories of those who are still missing, and the pain of their desperate friends and families. My heart goes out to each and every one of them, for I remember such pain all too well. It took me three long years and several dangerous hunger strikes to learn what had become of my own husband. By then, of course, it was too late to save his life. I most certainly understand and share the rage we must all feel over this national tragedy. However, revenge is indeed best served cold; and we should take care not to worsen the security of our own citizenry by lashing out blindly instead of thinking clearly. As I have stated in the past, I certainly agree that under emergency circumstances involving the imminent loss of human life, such as a possible bombing or hijacking, greater flexibility should be permitted to our intelligence gathering personnel. However, precisely such flexibility is built into the current rules. Our CIA agents are not prohibited from purchasing information from unsavory characters. They are simply required to inform their superiors, who in turn will ascertain that such connections are justified. In cases involving international terrorism, there is little question that such justification exists. It is thus difficult to see how our intelligence was hampered in this context; and indeed, CIA spokespersons themselves say that they have continued to use such operatives without difficulties. The complained of human rights restrictions are not designed to obstruct government efforts to protect us from terrorist actions. To the contrary, they are designed to prevent our own agencies from themselves aiding and abetting and collaborating in terrorist-like actions against the citizens of other countries. Sadly, there is no shortage of well documented examples to illustrate this need. In 1973 the people of Chile watched in horror similar to our own, as their capitol building was bombed, their elected President assassinated, and their friends and family herded into the National Stadium and other detention centers, then battered and killed by the thousands. U.S. Agency files more than establish the deep involvement and responsibility of the CIA for the Pinochet coup and its violent aftermath. The CIA is also responsible for the bloody 1954 coup in Guatemala, and the frightening repression which followed. The United Nations Truth Commission report of 1999 severely criticized our intelligence community for its close collaboration with and support for the Guatemalan military throughout its counter-insurgency campaign. The army was found responsible for some 93% of the war crimes, which included the torture, murder and "disappearance" of some 200,000 civilians and the massacre of some 660 Mayan villages. The U.N. also ruled that the army was guilty of genocide; the same army the CIA had chosen as its close friend and partner. These actions were not taken to protect American lives from terrorists, but rather, to coldly guard our cash flow. This is hardly a record of which we, the citizens of this nation, can be proud. Nor is our own security increased by fomenting such hatred against us abroad. It is because of excess and abuses of this nature that the human rights restrictions in question, flimsy though they may be, are now in place. They are in place to protect the sanctity of human life, ours as well as our friends' and neighbors'. I worry greatly that as our intelligence and military agencies sow, so shall we the citizens reap. Let us not, as we plunge towards war, toss aside the human rights protections so hard won during the last hundred years, whether the Geneva Conventions or the ban upon torture. I speak from experience. My husband was detained in complete isolation for two years. He was battered, drugged, injected with toxins, and held in a full body cast to prevent his escape, then either flung from a helicopter or dismembered. His body has yet to be returned to me. Who among us could ever accept such a fate for any of the young men and women in our armed forces, should they fall captive? The answer , of course, is no one. For this very reason we had best hold firm to our most basic human rights restrictions. Let us not inflict what we would not wish to suffer. Jennifer K. Harbury Leonard Peltier Defense Committee PO Box 583 Lawrence, KS 66044 785-842-5774 www.freepeltier.org To subscribe, send a blank message to lpdc-on@mail-list.com > --------- "RE: New Peltier Campaign" --------- Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2001 12:17:44 -0500 From: "LPDC" Subj: New Peltier Campaign: Oct 12 Mailing List: LPDC LEONARD PELTIER DEFENSE COMMITTEE TO RELEASE NEW CAMPAIGN ANNOUNCEMENT ON "COLUMBUS DAY" OCT. 12 Dear Friends, Despite these difficult and uncertain times, we plan to move forward with the new campaign to free Leonard Peltier. We have identified some new avenues by which to seek justice and your continued support will be important. We will release the new campaign announcement on "Columbus Day" October 12, and we hope you will enter with us into the next phase of the struggle. We cannot leave Leonard behind. Thank you for your strength and understanding. In Solidarity, LPDC P.S. Several people have continued to report that their messages to us are being bounced back. As of yesterday, the problem was supposed to have been permanently fixed. If you e-mail us and your message does not go through, please notify us by phone, or fax the bounced message to us: P.785-842-5774 / F.785-842-5796. Thank you. Leonard Peltier Defense Committee PO Box 583 Lawrence, KS 66044 785-842-5774 www.freepeltier.org To subscribe, send a blank message to lpdc-on@mail-list.com > --------- "RE: Native Prisoner" --------- Date: Tuesday, October 9, 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 -- - - - Date: Thursday, October 04, 2001 11:35 PM From: "Catrel" Subj: Please add to WI - Pen Pals Needed >To: "Janet Smith" Would you please post the following inmates in the Prisoner section of WI again? I know a few especially are NOT getting mail and are really needing some. Steven Chee #04062-051 Navajo U S P Atlanta Box PMB 601 McDonough Blvd. S.E. Atlanta, GA 30315 Ed Brady #28270-008 Navajo U S P Beaumont P O Box 26030 Beaumont, TX 77720 Steven J. Hado #06274-152 4-A Apache U S P Allenwood P O Box 3000 White Deer, PA 17887 Morgan McKee #26842-048 Shoshone Federal Correctional Institution C 3 - Cell 311 P O Box 724 Edgefield, SC 29824 Dale Ray #15726-074 Cherokee Federal Correctional Institution PMB 100 - Gamma A Talladega, AL 35160 Lloyd Thomas Jr #160211 Cocopah AZ State Prison Complex - Yuma Cheyenne-South 9-D-5 P O Box 13006 Yuma, AZ 85364-3006 Jesse Young #36977 Lakota -- in the hole Gerald Dismounts Thrice #34104 Lakota -- in the hole David Burgess #32391 Lakota all at SD State Penitentiary P O Box 5911 Sioux Falls, SD 35160 and a new brother: Everett J. Pierce #21939-018 Pottawattamie C-3 Rm 403 Federal Correctional Institution P O Box 724 Edgefield, SC 29824 ----------------------------------- Standing Deer's new address: Robert H. Wilson #640539, Estelle Unit, 264 FM 3478, Huntsville, TX 77320-3322 ----------------------------------- If you know of a Native American inmate who would like to correspond with brothers or sisters on the outside - please drop me a line with whatever information about them they'd like shared. Janet Smith Owlstar Trading Post http://www.owlstar.com owlstar@speakeasy.org --------- "RE: Rustywire: The King and His Men" --------- Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 08:19:28 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="RW-KING & MEN" http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Nook/1574/ Navajo Spaceships, Star Mountain and Rez Memories An Online Writing Journal, Prose & Poetry by John Rustywire, Navajo The King and His Men by Johnny Rustywire Let me see...how to start this...maybe from the beginning... There was a Navajo man and his group who travelled to Santa Fe in the 1800's to sue for peace, they entered the plaza and spoke with with the Governor there. They spoke about the need to have Navajo children and women taken from their homeland and sold as slaves in Mexico. The group was made up of family men, I guess in some ways like myself wondering about the day to day things of survival. How to provide some basic necessities and wanting a future for their children. These Navajo men were invited to eat, and as they did so sat in a circle with a Sante Fe citizen seated between them. They probably thought the words spoken were true. That maybe the Governor was a family man like themselves and that there might be some truth in his words. They were mistaken. Each was slain by his dinner partner and their bodies thrown into a wash outside the city. One of the men was able to escape and spoke of the happenings there. Today things are much different. We don't kill each other or make slaves of one another; after all we are men like others. We as natives are now US citizens, it was granted to us in 1924. We have the right to vote, even though some counties and states did not provide the vote until the 1960's. We are born free, to choose our own life and way of living. Those of us born on reservations know a little about life there. Those of us who weren't have heard of the experiences of growing up there. Maybe some went to boarding schools, some of the experiences there were bad, but in the end we learned to be self sufficient. Originally that is what they were created for so that we could learn to be better educated persons in the world. The one thing that comes to mind is that times have changed, we are now in a new millenium. The words to seek a better life, to know, to understand and get that sheepskin, a diploma will open some doors and a better life. It is in the end what we stribe for, to make a place for ourselves like any other people. It is with this mind that I grew up listening to the council of my fathers, my mothers and family to do better than them, to not be like them uneducated in the ways of the world. I remember my first experience in eating at a fancy restaurant, not konwing how to use the forks, and spoons that lined the table. Not knowing anything about skiing or tennis, or some other things that I have not experienced. In some ways I had come far, with wide open eyes and wonder at the world where I was born. I learned that you can get from here to there if you put in the effort. Maybe not always but that you keep going to try to make it better for yourself and then your children. I expected to be myself, what ever that maybe. The possibilities were endless. It came to me one time that as I was doing some curious searching at the library that there was a Navajo scout at Fort Defiance, Arizona, who was killed and buried near the fort there. It happened during the 1870's. I went looking for it go do a story for the tribal paper as correspondent meaning I was not a reporter but paid $2.00 a column inch for what was printed. As s young struggling parent it was extra money so I found myself looking for the location of the grave. Now days Fort Defiance is not a fort, not like in the old days, the old fort is gone, just one or two rock buildings are there. If you were to go there you would find the old Fort Defiance Agency buildings, a motor pool and education building and the old Fort Defiance hospital built in the 1930's. There is housing for the doctors, nurses and support people who work there. It sits in a small valley next to a place called Blue Canyon. It was near here I thought the grave might be found. I spoke to the old people around there and some said it was there on the northside. I found a fenced in yard where there were old Bailey pantoon bridges from World War II stacked in the yard. I thought it was strange to see them since there is no water around the place. Anyway I looked for someone to let me in and found a secretary in an office and she said I couldn't go in there. It was against goverment regulations. I went up on the hill and after a bit crawled under the fence and walked around. Near the middle of the yard amongst old 55 gallon drums, I found a headstone, that said Hoskie, Navajo Scout. I had found it there. I studied the rock, it was carved out of hard stone, with lichen covering it making it soft green colored. It surprised me to see it that way. I left the place and wrote a story about it for the Navajo Times and left it at that. I got a call from someone at the Bureau of Indian Affairs and was asked to show them where it was at, since I reported it was in the road shed yerd of the road department. I had a little time so I went up there and was asked to wait by the gate and that someone would be there. The day was warm, a hot summer day. I stood there and saw the gate was in need of repair and waited. After a little bit, I saw three men come out of a building at the agency. They were White men, dressed in work slacks and dress shirts. As they walked across the dirt parking lot, I could see them. They were all the same size, but the two on the side were talking to the man in the middle. He was the center of attention. I thought he looked like a minor king, with two valets escorting him. As they came closer I heard the speaking. "If there is a grave, what will we do?" "Let's see if there is one first." "Yes, you are right, we will have to see." "Is this the guy that wrote the story about it?" "I think so, maybe it is, yes I think it is." One of the men said to me, are you the reporter? No I said, I just wrote a story. One of the men ran to the gate and opened the lock. The middle man walked in first. The last one followed close behind. If the middle man had a robe, this third man would have been carrying it. "Can you show us where you found it?", he added, "You know you were tresspassing on goverment property, don't you?" "Yes, I crawled in and found it right over there." I pointed it out. The middle man pulled out a cigar, and one the men lit it. I thought this guy must be the Superintendent for the agency. He looked at me his eyes were gray, he studied me, took a puff of his cigar. "How do you know this is the grave?" I said, his name is written on it, on this side. They couldn't fit between the stacks of metak but craned their heads to look at it and saw the name. The middle man, looked at the one on his right, who looked guilty. He said to him with a raised voice, "Did you know this was here!" The man on the right mumble something, the middle man said, we will take care of it, when I asked about how they were going to preserve and protect it. The middle man, said. "You are tresspassing on government property, you know that is a federal offesne don't you." His voice was stern. He spoke to me as child. I brought up that I was writing for the paper, he smiled at me and said, come to my office and we will talk about it. The one on the right had a worried look on his face, he was going to be in trouble. His other counterpart made a point, to let him know it as they followed their boss back across the parking lot. They ran after him as if to somehow keep the reservation dust off his shoes. I was not a factor in the their conversation, until I got into the office where he made sure he explained they would fix it. He smiled at me and talked friendly as he gave me his name, making sure I got it right for the paper. As he sat there, one of the men sat attentively at his desk just across from him, waiting to hear some need he could fulfill. His face and emotions hung on every word of the middle man. I felt sorry for them, but little did I know. I finished the story and it was printed. After all these years, the grave is still there with the same Bailey bridges sitting against it. I learned that the Superintendent of the agency is a king, he controls through roughly 2000 laws, rules and regulations, how I conduct my use of the land, my home, my family matters, what law and order code applies to me, where I can cut firewood and how much. He has set up a sanctuary for the Mexican Spotted Owl that prevents my children from going into the forests whre I played as a child. In disputes he has final authority to sya what happens in land disputes, water use, livestock grazing and my education. His authority extends to his designate signing my certificate of Indian blood. He can say whether or not I can look at my birth records, family history and census data. It is April 2001, and I am an entolled Indian. This definition of Indian means literally that I can not take care of my own affairs, he is keeper. No where is there a place like this on earth, where like in the old Soviet satellite nations, where I can exist that I can never own the land I live on or sell my own home without his permission. I am by law incompetant. This was made moreso by the recent amendments to the code of federal regulations that deal with Indian probate, Indian lands, rights of way, mineral leasing, where changes allow him to "make determinations in my best interest. If I have a piece of allotted Indian land, and don't want to lease to a white man, the king and his men can look at me and say....we decide what is in your best interests...you are an indian and nothing more. You are incompetant. We are the BIA and these changes to the regulations that govern your life give us greater power than we had before. If you should die and be buried at some future date when a young man crawls over a fence to look at your grave we will decide what is best for you. All the talk about self determination, and self sufficiency is like pouring water on sand. Copyright c. 1999, Johnny Rustywire, all rights reserved. --------- "RE: Poem: I Know One Thing" --------- Date: Sun, 28 May 2000 10:29:08 -0400 From: "Dreamwalker" Subj: Poems I Know One Thing Strange as the shadows lengthen as time meets itself coming back as days amass and fall away there is more Once an Old Man told me Fear not for fear will rob you Fear will steal your Spirit In the days that wander in and out I have learned his singular Wisdom What we fear what we most fear is ourselves our failings Yet if ever we were honest we have none we are beings of the Grandfathers and as such are pure Too much do we give over to fear too many days do we sacrifice to fear too much lost forever I say live I say live well your Heart your Spirit Live so you have no regrets I can still see His face as he spoke these words Live so you have no regrets It is a tall order and Honest retreat a life's journey met It is not so hard really to live by Creators word you must but give up Sacred Ego Sacred Ego As Arvol, says the single downfall of us all One let go once unfettered simple pleasures rise consume self Not such a Mystery after all it is never about self it never was it is about the People Only always and forever about the People Crys The Tears/Dreamwalker~Lakota copyright 2000 --------- "RE: Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days" --------- Date: Mon, 01 Oct 2001 06:14:32 -1000 From: Debbie Sanders Subj: Hawaiian Book of Days A HAWAIIAN BOOK OF DAYS, week of October 15-21 OKAKOPA (October) (Ikuwa) 15 How much more interesting is the tapestry woven of many colors than that woven of only one hue. 16 The wind whispers over the mountains and through the leaves of the trees below. 17 The land trembles -- Pele is awakening! 18 The ocean is the source of all life. 19 We bless the earth ... and are blessed by it. 20 If you would see all the world, climb to the mountain's pinnacle. 21 The solitude of the wilderness helps me find myself. (c) Copyright 1991 by D. F. Sanders Me ke aloha i ka nani, ... Moe'uhanekeanuenue (With love and beauty, ... Rainbow Dream) --------- "RE: Upcoming Events" --------- Date: Sun, 14 Oct 2001 15:39:14 -0 From: Gary Smith (gars@speakeasy.org) Subj: Upcoming Events =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= EVENTS ARE FEATURED IN ODD NUMBERED ISSUES ONLY =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= =================================== date: thu, 23 aug 2001 11:47:15 edt from: bkm12345@aol.com subj: powwow 1st annual crazy water pow wow saturday, october 13, 2001 2pm - 11:30pm crazy water hotel, downtown mineral wells, texas come join us for authentic american indian food, arts & crafts, jewelry, cake walks, raffles, auctions and more. head staff master of ceremonies & ad--lance carney, ponca head singer--roger perdasofpy,kiowa/apache/comanche head man dancer--dennis begay, navajo (dineh) head gourd dancer--byron komah, comanche head lady dancer--sharon perdasofpy, comanche/cherokee 2pm-- opening prayer, flags posted 2pm-5pm--gourd dancing 5pm-6:30--supper break 6:30-7pm--gourd dancing 7:30pm-- grand entry 7:30-11:30pm--inter-tribal dancing all drums, singers, dancers and arts & crafts welcome! for arts & crafts contact jeani red eagle 972-675-8532 or for general info contact tom simmons 972-412-7119. vendors may open early as street parade begins at 9am and hotel doors will be open then. host motel--days inn, 1106 w. park, i20 exit 406, dennis rd, weatherford, texas tel 817-594-3816 pow wow is sponsored by the crazy water festival committee of mineral wells, the texas district of the northern cherokee tribe of indians, by western petro corporation and by red eagle creations. *no alcohol or drugs allowed* ===== tom j. simmons (gadoga) p.o. box 794371 dallas, texas 75379 member: board of directors-american indian chamber of commerce of texas tel. 972-412-7119 email gadoga@yahoo.com member: american indian arts council =================================== date: wed, 11 jul 2001 00:41:29 -0500 (cdt) from: susanbates@webtv.net (susan bates) subj: day of mourning >to: gars@speakeasy.org (gary night owl) the medicine society to which i belong is going to hold a day of mourning on october 13, 2001, in springfield, missouri. the purpose of this event is to remember all the people who were murdered, kidnapped, raped, tortured, infected with disease and ripped from their culture since the arriving of columbus. it is my intention to gather as many names of these people as possible. the names will be read slowly with the beat of a drum to mark their presence. if you know the names of any of your ancestors who died in this manner, please send them to me and i will see that they are honored. if you don't know the name, you may say something like, " in memory of my great-great grandfather who died on the trail of tears," or "in memory of the 50 people who were murdered at ... by....." now is the time to honor our ancestors. it is up to you. you can e-mail me at susanbates@webtv.net or write to me at susan bates, rr 3 box 654, cabool, mo 65689 =================================== date: wed, 12 sep 2001 08:18:47 -0500 from: gary smith subj: na news item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="aboriginal festival" international aboriginal festival all nations under one sky - preventing racism november 30'th to december 2'nd 2001 lansdowne park - aberdeen pavilion and coliseum build ottawa, ontario canada official website: http://iafcan.tripod.ca/page2.html the international aboriginal festival is a non-political, cross-cultural family event that offers something for everyone. it is a time for all nations to share and learn about aboriginal people from all over the world. people of all ages and nationalities will enjoy the many activities this festival has to offer. ++admission-passports +general passport elder's gathering and women's support group workshops/seminars, international powwow & market adults passport 10.00 per day children's passport under 5-12 yrs 5.00 per day crafters/artists/food/tourism providers marketplace only adults 5.00 per day children under 5-12 yrs 3.00 per day +international talent showcase adults 12.00 children under 5-12 yrs 8.00 school day - (invited teachers and children only)-free all events elders over 65 (be honest) and children under 5 free tickets available by calling (613) 247-0413 or by email at iafcan@home.com and put 'tickets' in the subject line =================================== 4th annual doc holliday days and native american festival 2001 saturday, november 10th, 9am til 9pm sunday, november 11th, 9am til 6pm storytellers, arts & crafts, games, food and fun! experience the excitement of the dance and culture of the native americans host drum - tba head man - scott crisp head lady - monica arrington m/c - gary smith a/d - tba math fields, griffin, ga for more information: contact mark or ruth davis (256) 820-6315 a $5.00 donation to the doc holliday society gets you a million $$$ worth of fun!!!!!!!!!!! western reenactments - living history at its very best - old car cruise on sat. at 1 to 5 =================================== whispering winds powwow dates http://www.whisperingwind.com/ email us your dates whiswind@i-55.com for dates to appear in whispering wind magazine, dates need to be submitted at least 3 months in advance. last update: july 11, 2001 these dates are published as a public service and are gathered from flyers, emails, phone calls. whispering wind or its publisher written heritage, inc., are not responsible for incorrect dates or locations. it is always a good idea to contact the sponsoring organization for verification. october 2001 12-14 powwow. agriculture center, hagerstown, md. info: (252) 257-5383 12-14 2nd annual pony meeks memoriam. chikamaka-cherokee indian festival. tracy ball park, tracy city, tn. info: (615) 907-0308 or email: eagleheart47@hotmail.com 13 4th annual american indian powwow. omaha civic center,omaha,ne. info: (402) 444-5066 13 post 408 powwow. methodist church, pearland, tx. info: (281) 485-3919. 13 5th annual intertribal powwow. east side park, hearne, tx. info: (979) 828-4977. 13-14 the spirit of this place powwow indian festival and powwow. pembroke, nh. info: (603) 485-5070 or e-mail: pempowwow@aol.com 13-14 harvest moon powwow. francis farms, rehoboth, ma. info: (508) 336-8426. 13-14 american indian powwow. walker county civic center,