From gars@speakeasy.org Wed Oct 17 14:01:10 2001 Date: 17 Oct 2001 01:00:01 -0000 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews09.042 + 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 042 O o O + Es'te Opunvk'vmucvse + October 20, 2001 O o O + Ximopanolti tehuatzin, Mvskokee big chestnut moon O inin Mexika tlahtolli + Blackfeet sa'aiksi itaomatooyi/moon when ducks leave ( 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; www.indianz.com; www.indiancountry.com; Frostys AmerIndian, ndn-aim, LPDC and First Nations 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.'" "We Indians kept together that time and we avoided the worst. No eagle came, but we survived." "Doing my best to keep my brothers safe and out of harm's way bought me a long stay in the Shoe, of course. Hey, listen, I'm used to paying for crimes I didn't commit. I can tell you, I don't like being in the Shoe one bit. You spend twenty-three hours a day in a small cage inside a larger cage. For exercise you're allowed into the larger enclosing cage for one hour a day. Its whole intent is to break you. I'll avoid it if I can. But they'll never break me in there." "Not a chance." __ Leonard Peltier "Prison Writings...My Life Is My Sun Dance" +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Indian Pledge of Allegiance | The Indian Pledge of Alleg- | | iance was first presented | I pledge allegiance to my Tribe,| on 2 December '93 during the | to the democratic principles | opening address of the Nat- | of the Republic | ional Congress of American | and to the individual freedoms | Indian Tribal-States Relat- | borrowed from the Iroquois and | ions Panel in Reno, NV. NCAI | Choctaw Confederacies, | plans distribution of the | as incorporated in the United | Indian Pledge to all Indian | States Constitution, | Nations. | so that my forefathers | | shall not have died in vain | Walk in Beauty! Night Owl +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Journey | In the summer and early fall | The Bloodline | of 1998 the Treaty Unity Riders | | rode a thousand miles on horse- | For all that live and live by law | back, carrying a staff and | We Stand, we Call, We Ride | praying each step of the way. | For All that fear and fear by sight | | We Hear, we Listen, we Ride | These prayers were offered for | For all that pray and pray by strength| each of us, and that the Unity | We Feel, we Move, we Ride | of all Peoples might happen. | For all that die and die by greed | | We Hurt, we Cry, we Ride | Tatanka Cante forwarded this | For all that birth and birth by right | poem on behalf of all the Unity | We Smile, we Hold, we Ride | Riders that we might stop and | For all that need and need by heart | ask if the next words we say, the | We Came, we Went, we Rode. | next act we make is for the good | | of the People or is it from ego | Treaty Unity Riders | for self. +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ O'siyo Brothers and Sisters! This week's editorial is very short; but, as a Vietnam vet, from my heart. This past weekend, at a festival, which has become known as a healing circle for vetarans I talked to a friend...who also is the Mom of a corporal in the Marine Corps. Her son already been in one hostile situation about a year ago. Corporal Joe, like the rest of his Recon Unit, is now on 2 hour alert status... equipment pack by his rack, ready to jump into enemy territory. Monday, I talked to another friend, whose cousin, Melvin, is a Master Sergeant already deployed and doing his job in hostile territory. Corporal Joe is a Cherokee. Master Sergeant Melvin is a Navajo. There are a lot of Joes and Melvins doing what they were trained to do. They are not all Cherokee or Navajo or even Native. They - and their families - all do need our prayers. And when their job is done, those who return must find places and people who will honor them and their service, and offer gratitude, support, and a safe place to heal from the harm done to them while they protected the rest of us. -- - - - 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 ---------- - Cherokee Nation Tribal Councilor - Court to Decide on Dorothy McIntosh Pumping Water to Everglades - Crossings - Confederated Tribes - ICT Editorial: Termination unveil Neighborhood by Denial/Columbus - Air Force donating Homes to Group - Anti-drill Ad in Theaters - Pima Indians: A Case Study - Bush promotes ANWR - Lights still on as Home Security at Red Cloud Building - OIN expands Health Center - Seattle Tlingit Potlatch - HHS Awards Native American - Burnt Church Boat Seized Elders Caregiver Grants - Excessive Force used - Program May Pay to stop Fishing Boat Tribal Healer Costs - Welfare-to-work challenges Tribes - Algonquins of Barriere Lake - Two Arrested on Charges - Dissident Crow Council of Demanding Money passes Agenda Items - Charges against Officer Dropped - Native American Bank - Alaskan Prisoners ready to Launch - Standing Deer returns Home - Acquisition of Browning, Mont. - Leonard Peltier Statement Bank gains Approval - Native Prisoner - Sokaogon Chippewa keep -- Pen Pals Needed Authority to Regulate - Rustywire: - Navajos/State Engineer For the Love of an Indian Woman ask for Fed Water Team - Poem: Borrowed Keyboards - Effort to Provide Water - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days for Lower Klamath - Indian Tribes - Tribe/Water Board pinning Tourism Hopes on Olympics seal Irrigation Deal - First American Indian - Tribe regains Ancestral Lands rides to orbit in August - We want to see Our Land Cleaned Up - Native America Calling --------- "RE: Cherokee Nation Tribal Councilor Dorothy McIntosh" --------- Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2001 08:11:12 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ELDER" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=2471366&BRD=1825&PAG=461&dept_id=129120&rfi=6 Cherokee Nation Tribal Council member dies By:Betty Smith October 09, 2001 Dorothy McIntosh's memorial services will be Saturday. Cherokee Nation Tribal Councilor Dorothy Jean McIntosh of Ochelata died Saturday. "She had a fatal heart attack," said Mike Miller, communications coordinator for the Cherokee Nation. Memorial services for McIntosh will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Ramona High School gymnasium. Ochelata Methodist Church will hold a fellowship dinner in her honor. McIntosh will be missed, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chad Smith said. "She was the personification of a free spirit who cared about Cherokee people," Smith said. "Though we didn't always agree, she always maintained the highest level of statesmanship. She was extremely diligent in her duties, and out of all the council members she was probably the most earnest about her community meetings." Councilor John Ketcher said McIntosh's death came as a surprise. He learned of her death upon his return from a trip to North Carolina for the Eastern Cherokees' Octoberfest. "I saw her just before I left, never realizing that on my return I would get this news," he said. He recalls McIntosh as someone dedicated to her district and to her tribe - plus someone who could inject a moment of humor into even the most serious deliberations. "She was always pleasant, had a dry sense of humor, and was very dedicated to her position," he said. "She worked hard, kept her people informed, and was always bringing us information about how people were thinking in her district." She also made sure documents produced by the council carried correct grammar. "She was always bringing up any incorrect spelling," Ketcher said. McIntosh was learning the Cherokee language and was dedicated to this task, he said. She was making contributions as co-chair of the language, cultural and heritage committee where Ketcher worked along with her. McIntosh was serving her first term on the tribal council. Ketcher said it will be up to the council to seek her replacement. There are several options, he said. Councilors could contact the person getting the second highest number of votes in the election that placed McIntosh in office, and see if that person is interested in service. Or councilors could appoint someone from that district after interviewing candidates. They also will discuss the matter with Principal Chief Chad Smith. Copyright c. Tahlequah Daily Press 2001 --------- "RE: Crossings" --------- Date: Mon 15 Oct 2001 08:10:50 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CROSSINGS" Gallup Independent Obituaries October 9, 2001 Mae D. Watchman FORT DEFIANCE, Ariz. - Services for Mae Watchman, 86, will be held at 1 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 10 at Tohatchi Christian Reformed Church. Rev. Paul Redhouse will officiate. Burial will follow at Tohatchi Community Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 2-7 p.m., today at Rollie Mortuary-Memorial Chapel. Watchman died Oct. 6 in Albuquerque. She was born Sept. 8, 1915 in Crystal into the Folded Arm People for the Red Streak People. Survivors include her daughter, Shirley Mae Becenti of Fort Defiance; nine grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren and two great-great- grandchildren. Watchman was preceded in death by her husband, Joe Watchman; parents, John Bone and Bitnidzizbah Dennison; son, Eugene J. Watchman; sisters, Casbah Ben, Pauline Chischilly, June Dennison and Elizabeth Howard; and brothers, Arkie Dennison, Frank Dennison, George Dennison and Tsosie Dennison. Pallbearers will be Deb Becenti, Roc Becenti, Samuel Becenti, Harold Redhouse, Gary Watchman, Kevin Watchman and Christopher Yazzie. Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Lillie Becenti MEXICAN SPRINGS - Services for Lillie Becenti, 91, will be held at 10 a.m., Wednesday, Oct. 10 at Rollie Mortuary Palm Chapel. Pastor John Kostelyk will officiate. Burial will follow at Tohatchi Cemetery. Becenti died Oct. 5 in Albuquerque. She was born April 10, 1910 into the Edge Water People for the Hairy People. Survivors include her daughters, Terri Becenti of Tsaile, Ariz. and Anita Edsitty of Mexican Springs; 11 grandchildren and 14 great- grandchildren. Becenti was preceded in death by her husband, Howard Becenti Sr.; parents, John and Irene Betsoi, son, Leon Betsoi; and brother, Peter John Betsoi. Pallbearers will be Larry Edsitty, Nelson Edsitty Jr, Nelson Edsitty Sr, Walt Jones, Roland Skeet and Arnold Wilson. Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. October 10, 2001 Helen Notah Benito GALLUP - Services for Helen Benito, 86, will be held at 10 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 11 at Cope Memorial Chapel. Rev. Keith Bulthuis will officiate. Burial will follow at Rehoboth Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 3-5 p.m., today at Cope Memorial. Benito died Oct. 8 in Gallup. She was born April 30, 1916 in Mexican Springs into the Charcoal Streaked Division of the Red Running into the Water for the Red House People Clan. Benito was a rug weaver, homemaker and a sheepherder. She attended First Indian Baptist Church. Survivors include her daughters, Lena McKenzie of Shiprock, Dorothy Yazzie of Gallup; Mary Lee of Ganado, Ariz., Lillian Johnson of Gallup, Marlene Bitsilly of Tohatchi, Katherine Miles of Fort Defiance, Ariz. and Brenda Joyce of Albuquerque; sisters, Gladys Notah and Leona Notah both of Mexcan Springs; 19 grandchildren and 26 great-grandchildren. Benito was preceded in death by her husband, Lee Kee Benito and son, Jimmie Herman Benito. Pallbearers will be Wes Benito, David Yazzie, Billy B. Yazzie, Donny Carey, Julius Miles and Harold Johnson. Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements. Marie K. Jim KLAGETOH, Ariz. - Services for Marie K. Jim, 49, will be held at 11 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 11 at St. Anne Catholic Mission. Burial will follow at Klagetoh Community Cemetery. Jim died Oct. 7 in Fort Defiance, Ariz. She was born March 6, 1952 in Ganado into the Big Water People Clan for the Honeycomb People Clan. Jim attended Greasewood Springs School and Fort Wingate High School. Survivors include her sons, Albern Jim, Alden Jim and Alvin Jim of Albuquerque; daughters, Lolita Jim of Fort Defiance, Ariz. and Melissa and Lisa Jim both of Albuquerque; mother, Ruth K. Tsosie; brothers, Edward K. Tsosie of Greasewood Springs, Daniel K. Tsosie of Wide Ruins, Ariz. and Thomas K. Tsosie of Klagetoh, Ariz.; sisters, Lena Holmes of Glendale, Ariz. and Ceceila K. Lee of Fort Defiance, Ariz. and two grandchildren. Jim was preceded in death by her father, Ben Tsosie; brother, William K. Tso. Pallbearers will be Alvin Jim, Albern Jim, Thomas K. Tsosie, Thomason K. Tsosie, Nathan K. Tsosie and Danley K. Tsosie. The family will receive friends and relatives after the burial services at Klagetoh Chapter House. Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. October 13-14, 2001 Mary Begay Yazzie BLUEWATER LAKE - Services for Mary Yazzie, 82, will be held at 10 a.m., Monday, Oct. 15 at Rollie Mortuary Palm Chapel. Pastor Mark Thomas will officiate. Burial will follow at Gallup City Cemetery. Yazzie died Oct. 9 in Albuquerque. She was born Sept. 15, 1919 in Houck, Ariz. into the People Who Walks Around You Clan for the Bitter Water People Clan. Survivors include her son, Tommy Yazzie of Bullhead City, Ariz. and Jimmy Yazzie of Canoncito; daughters, Marie Singer, Ernestine Yazzie and Helena Yesslith all of Bluewater Lake; 15 grandchildren and 20 great- grandchildren. Yazzie was preceded in death by her husband, Peter Yazzie; daughter, Louise Yazzie; parents, Charlie and Mary B. Hunter; and brothers, John Begay and Dan Kee Hunter. Pallbearers will be Benjamin Begay, Clifford Jarvison, Johnny Singer, Bennet Smith and Juan Wilson. Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Copyright c. 2001 Gallup Independent. -- - - - Rapid City Journal Obituaries October 9, 2001 William Joseph Hernandez KYLE - William Joseph Hernandez, 49, Kyle, died Sunday, Oct. 7, 2001, at Rapid City Regional Hospital. Survivors include three sons, William Hernandez and Wade Hernandez, both of Kyle, and Patrick Hernandez, Provo, Utah; four daughters, Yvette Hernandez and Stella Hernandez, both of Kyle, Lisa Hernandez, Rapid City, and Patula Hernandez, Provo; four sisters, Ann Montileaux, Eunice Lavado and Geraldine Lujan, all of Kyle, and Linda Aguilar, McCook, Neb.; one brother, Steven Hernandez, Kyle; and one grandchild. A two-night wake will begin at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 10, at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Hall in Kyle. Services will be at 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 12, at the hall, with the Rev. Cordelia Red Owl officiating. Burial will be at a later date. Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements. October 10, 2001 Gerard Wayne Eagle Bull PORCUPINE - Gerard Wayne Eagle Bull, 37, Porcupine, died Friday, Oct. 5, 2001, in Minneapolis, Minn. Gerard Wayne Eagle Bull, "Hehaka Mani," was born January 4, 1964, in Aberdeen, S.D., to Harry Eagle Bull and Donna Eagle Bull-Tuttle. He attended school in Aberdeen, S.D., and graduated from Roncalli High School in 1982. He attended Northern State University and the University of Minnesota. He worked most of his life in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is survived by his parents of Porcupine; two younger sisters, Tammy Eagle Bull-Hesson, Phoenix, Ariz., and Annette Eagle Bull, Porcupine, S.D. ; one brother, Jake Eagle Bull, Minneapolis, Minn.; his brother-in-law, Todd Hesson; one niece, Isabelle Hesson; two nephews, Charlie Eagle Bull and Jack Hesson; and numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins. Gerard was preceded in death by his maternal grandparents, Dave Tuttle and Lillian Iron Cloud-Tuttle, and his paternal grandparents, Lloyd Eagle Bull Sr. and Alvina Big Crow-Eagle Bull. A two-night wake will begin at 4 p.m. Thursday, October 11, at Our Lady of Lourdes Gymnasium, Porcupine, S.D. Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, October 13, 2001, at Our Lady of Lourdes Gymnasium, Porcupine, S.D. Rev. Peter Klink, S.J., and Rev. Jim Ryan, S.J., will be officiating. Interment will be at Christ the King Cemetery, Porcupine, S.D. Sioux Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. October 11, 2001 Garould Gayle American Horse GORDON, Neb. - Garould Gayle American Horse, 45, Gordon, died Monday, Oct. 8, 2001, in Pine Ridge, S.D. Survivors include two sons, Brandon American Horse and Emil American Horse, both of Gordon; his mother, Martha American Horse, Gordon; and one grandchild. A two-night wake will begin at 2:30 p.m. today at the Martha American Horse residence in Gordon. Services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 13, at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Gordon, with the Rev. Cordelia Red Owl officiating. Burial will be at Messiah Episcopal Cemetery in Wounded Knee, S.D. Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements. October 13, 2001 Gloria Ann Pettigrew PINE RIDGE - Gloria Ann Pettigrew, 60, Pine Ridge, died Thursday, Oct. 11, 2001, at Wounded Knee. Survivors include four sons, James Pettigrew, Michael Pettigrew, John Pettigrew and Jason Pettigrew, all of Wounded Knee; three daughters, Michelle Pettigrew, Rapid City, Susan Pettigrew, Pine Ridge, and Sandra Pettigrew, Wounded Knee; four brothers, Clifton Clifford and Joseph Clifford, both of Pine Ridge, Patrick Clifford, Manderson, and Phil Clifford, Wounded Knee; four sisters, Theresa Perkins and Anita Ecoffey, both of Wounded Knee, Dorothy Lafferty, Pine Ridge, and Mary Wilson, Payabaya Community Number Four; and 13 grandchildren. A one-night wake begins at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 14, at Billy Mills Hall in Pine Ridge. Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10 a.m. Monday, Oct. 15, at Billy Mills Hall, with the Rev. Jim Ryan officiating. Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements. October 14, 2001 Mary Louise Charge On Him WOLF CREEK - Mary Louise Charge On Him, 64, Wolf Creek, died Monday, Sept. 24, 2001, in San Francisco. Survivors include one son, Daniel Cruz, Yerington, Nev.; one daughter, Rosalyn Kim, Honolulu, Hawaii; two brothers, Virgil Charge On Him, Fremont, Calif., and Donroy Charge On Him, Wolf Creek; and two sisters, Theresa Charge on Him and Annie Charge On Him, both of Rosebud. Services will be at 2 p.m. today at The House of Jacob Church in Wolf Creek, with the Rev. Frank Hill and Mr. William Red Bear officiating. Burial will be at Wolf Creek Cemetery. Sioux Funeral Home in Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements. October 15, 2001 Leona F. Limeburner RAPID CITY - Leona F. Limeburner, 69, Rapid City, died Friday, Oct. 12, 2001, at her home. Survivors include six daughters, Shauna Redding, Hopkinton, Mass., LeeAnn Groves, Albuquerque, N.M., Lori Limeburner, Phoenix, Susan Stull, Grand Junction, Colo., Ellen Key, Kingman, Ariz., and Beth Brockman, Rapid City; one sister, Jo-Ann Coyle, Troy, N.Y.; and 11 grandchildren. Christian wake services will be at 7 p.m. today at Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 16, at the church, with the Rev. Tim Castor as the celebrant. Services are under the direction of Osheim-Catron Funeral Home in Rapid City Copyright c. 2001 Rapid City Journal. --------- "RE: ICT Editorial: Termination by Denial/Columbus" --------- Date: Mon 15 Oct 2001 08:10:50 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ICT: TERMINATION" http://www.indiancountry.com/?2669 ICT Editorial: Termination by denial and hello Columbus October 15, 2001 - 07:00am EST One undeniable effect of the conquest and colonization that Columbus ushered into the Americas 509 years ago this week has been the disappearance and assumed extinction of many Indigenous nations. Beaten down, dispersed, introduced to horrendous diseases, tribes were dissipated, decimated and some among those who suffered the worst of war and cultural destruction, were judged to have become extinct. Nevertheless, culture and genetic continuity are quite resistant. While chiefs or caciques, and many matriarchs were exterminated under the theory of "cut the head and the body dies," in fact, among many Native peoples, the body did not die. The Maya have a saying, "They cut the flower, they cut our branches, they cut the trunk of our tree, but they could not yank out our roots." This past week, when one more wheel in that extinction-making process moved again to grind over Native American tribal identities, came another indicator of how extinction can occur by bureaucratic decision, which often can go this way or that, depending on who weighs them, and are always likely to leave the broader realities aside. Reversing decisions that recognized two tribes, issued in the final days of the Clinton administration, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Neal McCaleb last week moved to deny federal recognition to two branches of the Nipmuc, while also making a final determination against the Duwamish. As a result of McCaleb's decision, and other factors, these tribal peoples are allegedly denied, (terminated from?) status as American Indian governments before U.S. federal law - while, previously - these cases had been judged by a wide array of opinion, to be deserving of such recognition. While perhaps governance may not have been highly visible, enough range of tribal ethnicity, continuous cultural bases and adaptations over centuries had been presented to convince serious professional American Indian legal minds that these peoples did actually exist and had continued to exist. Now the factor of continuity of sustained "government-to-government" relationships takes prominence. One interpretation means, yes, you have a right to continue to exist as a people; the other moves to put the final ax to the official identity of a people having the right to govern themselves. Sorting out issues of identity, Indigenousness, making a well-documented case of tribal continuity, reestablishing a sense of peoplehood, these are not easy efforts. Much has been made in the mainstream press that the Nipmucs were primarily interested in achieving federal recognition to establish lucrative gaming enterprises. But their struggles for recognition began long before the Indian Gaming Rights Act was even imagined. Nevertheless, any interest in pursuing economic recovery models, so vital for the rebuilding of Native peoples and nations, should not be considered a disqualifier of existence. Many nations were run over by the thrust of western civilization on this hemisphere. Added to the usual charges of savagery, primitiveness and barbarism, which nearly always precipitated armed force, came the declaration against many nations that they had simply ceased to exist. As historians are wont to repeat the assertions of official documents, the label of extinction, once applied, takes on a life of its own. As witnessed by McCaleb's rulings it is a label nearly impossible to overcome. For example, in the Caribbean, for the Taino, the people who first greeted Columbus, malice and ignorance have conspired to keep the myth of extinction alive. Despite a substantial continuity of evidence to the contrary, from the 1600s to the present, any assertion of Taino survival can expect to be formally greeted with hostility, derision, even hatred, by many officials. While many scholars have accepted the reality of considerable Indigenous-derived culture among the Greater Caribbean populations and while recent DNA testing (in Puerto Rico) provides evidence of significant Amerindian mitochondrial DNA among the island's contemporary population, and while in Cuba, Dominica and elsewhere communities exist that have well-documented continuity in place, the efforts by peoples of Indigenous heritage to reconstitute their societies are more often attacked than seriously considered. We know that the term "indio" was purposely dropped from the official census language by the Spanish sometime in the late 1700s. Instead, the term "pardo" or "darkie" was employed. The reason: to disallow any potential claim to lands or goods taken from the Indigenous population. When outright killing became too difficult and costly, a simple declaration that the Indigenous had ceased to exist proved just as effective to the fundamental mission of dispossession and the forceful taking of Indian lands and resources. Such it is today, when tribes appear denied the right to existence, at least in part, because they might use such status to press for economic recovery options, properly formalized under federal law. During this past week when so many celebrated Christopher Columbus's intrepid and ill-fated voyages, it appears peculiarly of interest that the federal bureaucracy would still move to destroy rather than respect and assist tribal continuities. Whatever problems the Nipmucs or Duwamish have had in the course of their histories, these were largely brought about by the very interests that now seal their fates. The Nipmucs and Duwamish deserve to be who they are. We wish them well in their continued legal struggles for federal recognition. And we are mindful that during this tragic event, the deadly stroke was this time delivered by another American Indian, Chickasaw Neal McCaleb. Copyright c. 2001 Indian Country Today. --------- "RE: Anti-drill Ad in Theaters" --------- Date: Fri 12 Oct 2001 18:19:12 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ANTI-DRILL" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.adn.com/alaska/story/719395p-759274c.html Anti-drill ad in theaters By Liz Ruskin Anchorage Daily News October 11, 2001 Washington -- President Bush wants to allow drilling rigs in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but President Josiah Bartlet is campaigning to keep them out. Martin Sheen, the actor who plays the fictional president on the TV show "West Wing," has taped an ad for an environmental group that is showing in movie theaters in Washington, D.C., and in 12 key states. "The Arctic Refuge," Sheen intones, as golden-hued footage of musk oxen, caribou and bears plays on the screen. "Is it worth destroying forever, for six months of oil? This is Martin Sheen. Please act now. . . . Together, we can save what's left." The ad, sponsored by the Alaska Wilderness League, has been running for several weeks. Campaign director Adam Kolton said 300 theaters have agreed to run it for free, and Sheen didn't charge for his voice-over. The oft-repeated "six months of oil" argument drives drilling proponents crazy. ANWR's oil wouldn't come out all at once and would last 20 years or more, they say. By the way, in case you missed the season premiere of "West Wing" Wednesday night, Bartlet announced he is running for re-election. Copyright c. 2001 The Anchorage Daily News --------- "RE: Bush promotes ANWR as Home Security" --------- Date: Fri 12 Oct 2001 18:19:12 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BUSH/ANWR" http://www.indianz.com/ SmokeSignals/Headlines/showfull.asp?ID=pol/10122001-1a Bush promotes ANWR as home security FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2001 Opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas development is even more necessary to protect homeland security, President Bush said on Thursday. "[A]n energy bill is not only good for jobs, it's important for our national security to have a good energy policy," Bush told reporters after a Cabinet meeting. "The less dependent we are on foreign sources of crude oil, the more secure we are at home." "I urge the Senate to listen to the will of the Senators and move a bill," he added. Bush's remarks come after Democratic leaders in the Senate halted consideration of an energy bill. Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) this week pulled the proposal from the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, causing anger among drilling supporters. Bingaman, who chairs the committee, said the action was necessary to avoid caustic debate. The nation doesn't need squabbling to hold up a national energy policy, he said. "At a time when Americans all over the world are pulling together with a sense of oneness and purpose," Bingaman said in a statement, "Congress has an obligation at the moment to avoid those contentious issues that divide, rather than unite, us." But the move to suspend committee consideration and send the matter directly to Daschle was tied to concerns by Democrats that the panel would approve drilling in ANWR. Bingaman and most other Democrats oppose development in the refuge's coastal plain, but two party members on the committee were prepared to support it. Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) had been lobbied to oppose drilling by the Gwich'in Nation but his spokesperson later noted he would support development if done in an "environmentally responsible way." Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) frequently sides with the energy industry, coming from an oil-friendly state. Knowing their votes have been cast aside angered Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska), the ranking Republican on the committee. He had lashed out at the Democrat action but yesterday had hopes after Bush made his remarks. "The President's comments will have a very strong impact in the U.S. Senate in light of the events of Sept. 11," Murkowski said in a statement. "I'm optimistic that we are gaining strong ground in this battle." With Democrats from New England threatening a filibuster if a pro- drilling amendment is brought to the Senate floor, Murkowski and supporters would need 60 votes to break it. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) told reporters yesterday the votes might not be there. The House has already approved an energy bill that will allow for development 2,000 acres of ANWR's coastal plain. Home to the Native village of Kaktovik, Inupiat Eskimos widely support drilling, citing economic benefits, both locally and to Arctic Slope Regional Corp., an Inupiat-owned corporation with mineral rights. Opposed to development are the Gwich'in, who live both in Alaska and Canada. Tribal members depend on the Porcupine caribou herd in the refuge and fear drilling will disrupt their spiritual, cultural, economic and food center. Of the House action, Bush said it was a "good energy bill." Copyright c. 2000-2001 Noble Savage Media, LLC/Indianz.Com --------- "RE: OIN expands Health Center" --------- Date: Mon 15 Oct 2001 08:10:50 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ONEIDA" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=2469123&BRD=1709 OIN expands health center October 09, 2001 VERONA - The Oneida Nation Health Center's summer expansion project has been completed. The finishing touches are being put on the newly renovated, 7,800-square-foot building. It is more than three times the size of the original facility, built in 1991 to treat Oneida Nation members and other Native American clients. The expansion was a response to the Nation's growth and increasing need over the last decade for more space dedicated to medical and dental services. Nelson Associates, an architecture firm out of Clinton, developed designs for the new facility. The general contractor was G.M. Crisalli Associates Inc. of Syracuse. Several other local subcontractors were used. The structural appearance of the refurbished health center and the Nation's new cookhouse, including landscaping and roofing, complement each other, said project manager Michael Murphy. The expanded area includes increased dental staff space, a nurse's station and a medical lab. There is enough room for five exam rooms and four dental operatories. Part of the old 2,400-square-foot building will serve as a reception area for patient intake. It also will include a larger waiting area, space for medical records and a conference room, which will be used for workshops on such topics as diabetes prevention, prenatal care and child health programs. The expansion is expected to improve patient flow and employee productivity and allow for increased on-site services. In other health news, a new podiatrist recently joined the Nation's Health Center. Reed Burk joined the medical staff part-time in July, seeing patients two Fridays a month. Originally from Schoharie, Burk also works with Indian Health Services (IHS) with the Creek Nation in Oklahoma. The need for foot specialists is great among Native Americans, who have a high incidence of diabetes and, as a result, have the highest amputation rate of any group in the country. Copyright c. The Oneida Daily Dispatch 2001 --------- "RE: HHS Awards Native American Elders Caregiver Grants" --------- Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2001 08:53:11 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HHS AWARDS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://politics.yahoo.com/politics/features/us_newswire/20019/0925-116.html HHS Awards Native American Elders Caregiver Grants WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 /U.S. Newswire/ -- HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced today the award of nearly $5 million in grants to 119 tribal organizations to implement the new Native American Caregiver Support Program. "This new program will make real and lasting differences improving the quality of life for some of America's most vulnerable citizens, our Native American elders and their caregivers," said Secretary Thompson. "Strengthening access to health care and social services to better serve hard-to-reach and rural communities is a priority of this department." Grants were awarded to 110 tribal organizations to provide families of Native American and Native Hawaiian elders with access to information, respite care, counseling, training, and supplemental services to help them meet their real-life caregiving challenges. In addition, nine tribal organizations each received $100,000 demonstration grants in the following areas: -- "Starting at the Beginning" grants were awarded to the Central Council, Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska; the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribal Center in Washington; and the Blackfeet Tribe of Montana. These grants will be used to identify and prioritize the most critical needs of family caregivers, and then develop and demonstrate the benefits of services that address those needs. -- "Coordination and Leverage" grants were awarded to four tribal organizations: the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin; the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of Montana; the South Puget Intertribal Planning Agency for Chehalis and Nisqually in Washington; and the Hana Community Health Center in Hawaii. These grants will be used to demonstrate the benefits of coordinating and leveraging all the family caregiver support programs and services in these four tribal areas. -- "Quality Standards and Mechanisms of Accountability" grants were awarded to Alu Like Inc. in Hawaii and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe of South Dakota to design and test quality standards and assurance mechanisms for multifaceted systems of supportive services for family caregivers. "We have worked with the Tribal leaders to make sure that this vitally needed program provides the most culturally appropriate and proficient services that address the needs and expectations of the families and other caregivers of the Native American elders we serve," said HHS Assistant Secretary for Aging Josefina G. Carbonell. The grants are administered by the Administration on Aging, the HHS agency that administers the Older Americans Act, which provides funding to states and communities for critical home- and community-based services for older persons and their caregivers. The new Native American Caregiver Support Program was created as part of the National Family Caregiver Support Program, launched earlier this year. The list of the 110 tribal organizations receiving the formula grants is available online at: http://www.aoa.gov/pressroom/pr2001/naecaregivers.html Copyright c. 2001 Yahoo! Inc. All Rights Reserved. Copyright c. 2001 U.S. Newswire All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Program May Pay Tribal Healer Costs" --------- Date: Mon 15 Oct 2001 08:10:50 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HEALER COSTS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.sltrib.com/10142001/utah/140179.htm Victim Compensation Program May Pay Tribal Healer Costs Sunday, October 14, 2001 BY STEPHEN HUNT THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE When American Indians in New Mexico and Arizona become victims of crime and want counseling to help them recover, their states will reimburse them for the cost. If they instead seek healing ceremonies performed by tribal healers, the states -- convinced the ceremonies help -- will pay for those expenses as well. Now, Utah's Crime Victim Reparations (CVR) program is considering making the same offer to Utah crime victims. American Indian healing ceremonies often are cheaper than therapy by licensed psychologists, primarily because healing ceremonies are usually one-time events, completed in one to three days. "A one-time expense might be $300 for a session," said Henry Thompson, an Apache Indian who is the victim advocate for the Apache County Attorney's Office in Arizona. "That might seem like a lot of money compared to Western therapy. But the medicine man doesn't say, 'I'll see you next week, same time, same place.' "When people go to these ceremonies, it's usually once or twice, at most." Most importantly, Thompson said, he believes the healing ceremonies work: "I've been approached by victims a year after [the crime], who say they are very thankful that we have helped them -- and it was just one ceremony." Larry Tackman, director of New Mexico's crime victim reparation program, said healing ceremonies have proven worthwhile and effective. "It's often the best thing to do for the victim," he said. Utah's CVR is exploring offering reimbursement to Utah crime victims for broader, nontraditional treatments, including American Indian healing ceremonies. Under current policy, CVR has limit of $2,500 for counseling by licensed mental-health workers. Dan Davis, director of Utah's CVR, said the number of requests for such "nontraditional" counseling methods in Utah are few, but he added: "There is a need for a policy about what we can and can't do." The office also is also considering a proposal to cover the cost of counseling for jurors who sit through traumatic homicide trials. In the 14 years since it opened, CVR has given more than $42 million to nearly 25,000 victims of violent crime in Utah. The bulk of the money -- restitution and fines paid by defendants, plus federal grants -- covers medical, mental health, funeral and burial expenses. But the program also pays for lost wages and travel, as well as rent and relocation costs for victims of domestic violence. "We're interested in helping crime victims put their lives back together as best we can financially," Davis said. "It's not the total answer, but it's a step in the right direction to get people back on their feet." Larry Cesspooch, public relations director for Utah's Ute Tribe, said financial assistance with healing ceremonies would probably be welcomed by American Indian crime victims. However, Cesspooch said government officials need to be aware that paying for such ceremonies can be "a touchy issue." While it is all right to compensate a healer for time, travel and ceremonial expenses such as fire wood, the actual help he renders is considered to be free. "The 'medicine' is free. It's not ours to give. It comes from the creator," Cesspooch said. "You're not paying for the ceremony. You're paying for [the healer's] time." Thompson said his office reimburses according to a predetermined fee schedule that lists healing ceremonies ranging from $75 for a crystal- gazing ceremony to $300 dollars for a blessing-way ceremony. Tribal healers often accept payment in the form of sheep, cattle or horses, which requires a reparations staff to work out reimbursement in a culture where invoices are seldom used. "It's not like a medicine man is going to produce a computer-generated bill," said Tackman, adding that he must occasionally translate the value of livestock into dollar amounts in order to reimburse American Indian crime victims. "We go through the county extension person to find out what 12 sheep are worth, and pay that amount," he said. Forrest Cuch, director of the state Division of Indian Affairs, said the CVR's willingness to consider healing ceremonies is "a gesture, a step in the right direction" toward resolving the ongoing strife between whites and American Indians. But Cuch suggested that to guard against impostors, the CVR should reimburse only for ceremonies performed by healers who have been approved by tribal governing bodies. Copyright c. 2001, The Salt Lake Tribune. --------- "RE: Algonquins of Barriere Lake" --------- Date: October 9 12:58 pm From: frosty@frostys.qc.ca (Frosty) Subj: The following item appears on Boyce Richardson's personal web site Mailing List: Frostys AmerIndian The following item appears on Boyce Richardson's personal web site (magma.ca/~brich) today: October 9 2001 Algonquins of Barriere Lake, ignored by minister, vow to stop all logging of their lands The Algonquins of Barriere Lake, a small reserve 280 kilometres north of Ottawa, who have been in the capital city for the last two weeks trying to force either the minister or deputy-minister of Indian Affairs to meet with them, have had to retreat to their home base, without having gained the meeting they sought. They have now decided to forbid all logging in 10,000 square kilometres (3,861 square miles) of their traditional lands, covering most of the La Verendrye wildlife reserve (which, although it does not in any way preserve wildlife, is maintained under that name by the Quebec government). The issue between the Algonquins and the federal government is the completion of the so-called Integrated Resource Management Plan (IRMP), a detailed inventory of the boreal forest in which the Algonquins have lived, and from which they have obtained their livelihood, for countless generations. This forest has been progressively clear-cut over the last 40 years, thus hacking the heart out of the Algonquin economy, and their way of life. The Algonquins decided in the late 1980s to protest, blockade and prevent this process from continuing. At that time their protests were so effective that they persuaded the Quebec and federal governments to join them in a so-called Trilateral Agreement, whose object was to create a plan under which the Algonquin interest in the forest should be taken into account by other users. Until that time, their interest had been simply swept aside by hydro use of the Ottawa river (the heartland river of the Algonquins), and by progressively brutal clear-cut logging. Work on the IRMP, which would identify the areas of essential interest to Algonquin life, has been going on ever since 1991, when the Trilateral Agreement was signed. It has been a checkered experience, often interrupted. It began in an atmosphere of hostility and indifference towards the Algonquins by both governments and the logging companies. But gradually the atmosphere has improved as the major players have come to realize the importance of the work being done. Since work on the plan resumed three years ago, both the Quebec government and the loggers have become more sympathetic. The IRMP has been completed and has operated successfully in one area, and what remains is to complete the work to cover the remaining part of the 10,000 square kilometres. Suddenly the federal government --- perhaps alive to the implications for land claims of Algonquin interest having been recognized in the large area, since their reserve is only 59 acres --- have withdrawn their support and funding for the finishing of the IRMP. It is estimated the government has spent $5 million so far, and would be required to spend another $700,000 to complete the plan. A federal government release on October 3 has acknowledged the many achievements of the work so far done: - developing a database - studying wildlife and forest - gathering traditional scientific knowledge - completing individual maps that identify hunting, fishing, trapping and land-use, that have been digitized into a Geographic Information System (GIS). Other elements are the completion of - sensitive area study maps - a major harvesting study, - a topography study - a social customs study - a traditional ecological study - measures to harmonize processes established to identify, conserve and protect Algonquin cultural/heritage resources - a study on the sustainable development of natural resources - and a first draft IRMP report on the Gull Lake Area. This is a formidable list, whatever the difficulties that may have been encountered in achieving it. It is the kind of work that should be done throughout Canada's boreal forest wherever Aboriginal people are still living and subsisting on the produce of the land, before other uses are permitted. And it seems almost inconceivable that the federal minister should not only withdraw when the work is so nearly completed, but carry his indifference to the length of refusing to meet with the Algonquins to discuss his decision. I was present when the first Algonquin blockades of logging were mounted in the late eighties and early nineties. (I made an NFB film on the subject). At that time they were able to prevent work being done close to the major road that runs north-south through the park; but they were not able to prevent clear-cut logging that continued in the far reaches of the park to the east. Now, the Algonquins, armed with more precise information about the needs of the logging companies, believe they can shut down the entire logging operation if called upon to do so. Some of the half dozen companies involved realize that if this happens, the large mill at Grand Remous, a nearby town to the south, might be forced to close for lack of wood. A group of Montreal architects who have been working with the Algonquins on housing and other schemes, Wade Eide and Peter Fianu of Atelier BRAQ, have written to the minister recently begging him to meet the Algonquins. "We believe that this plan will prove to be a milestone in Canadian history and will serve as a model for sustainable resource management in Canada and around the world," they wrote. "The plan will integrate traditional indigenous knowledge with modern science and technique and will benefit not only the Algonquins, but all Canadians, as well." Their letter noted that "the bush and the rivers were managed under a system that did not recognise the Algonquins' tenure on the land. The management system did not recognise that they held a body of traditional knowledge of how to use the true abundance of the land, not just how to exploit it for the maximum short-term profit provided by hydro power, wood and recreational hunting. The tremendous wealth of the bush that they once enjoyed is no longer there for them and they do not even share in the profits garnered by its commodity exploitation." Indeed, the Algonquins have claimed recently that $100 million of production is being taken off their traditional lands every year, and they are getting nothing from it. Not only is the minister turning his face against one of the most far-sighted schemes for Aboriginal improvement (not to mention resource management) ever undertaken in Canada, but he even seems indifferent to the problems of the logging companies. The fact that the Algonquins are among the poorest people in the country appears to count as nothing to him. He has taken refuge in the old jurisdictional question, so familiar in Canadian issues: "We have 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," Minister Robert Nault has said. As the Algonquins withdrew from Ottawa Chief Carol McBride, chosen by the Algonquins to represent them in negotiations with the governments, commented: "I'm just shocked to see how this minister is putting these people aside. 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" --------- "RE: Dissident Crow Council passes Agenda Items" --------- Date: Mon 15 Oct 2001 08:10:50 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DISSIDENT CROW" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php Dissident Crow council passes agenda items Gazette Staff The 695 Crow Indians who attended an alternate tribal council meeting Saturday voted to reject the tribe's proposed new constitution and strip power from the tribe's top elected officials. Tribal officials have called the meeting illegal, but participants said they will continue to meet until new elections are held to decide the fate of a proposed new tribal constitution. The new constitution strips power from the tribe's council, which was made up of every adult member of the tribe. Opponents of the document say it was adopted illegally. Bob Kelly, a spokesman for the opposition and an elected member of the alternate council's leadership delegation, said he hopes tribal and federal officials do not ignore the votes. "They need to take a serious look at those numbers," Kelly said. "It has to appear to them that the majority of the tribe is not accepting the new constitution as legal." Previous tribal council meetings typically had between 600 and 700 participants, Kelly said. Although Saturday's meeting had to be held in an unheated building, 695 people turned out because of the importance of the political changes happening with the tribe. "They came to vote their heart and conscience," he said. "We didn't give anybody gas money. We didn't promise any jobs. We just asked them to come and vote by secret ballot." After numerous recounts, the ballots were in favor of the agenda presented at the meeting. Although all items passed, the issues with the least division surrounded the management of the tribe. Members voted 574 to 17 to fire the tribe's attorneys, the Elk River Law Offices; 576 to 13 to ask for a federal audit of tribal funds; 526 to 51 to strip powers from the tribe's top three officials. Not all participants voted on every item, Kelly said. Copyright c. The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Native American Bank ready to Launch" --------- Date: Sat, 6 Oct 2001 09:20:22 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NA BANK" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://denver.bcentral.com/denver/stories/2001/10/01/daily50.html Native American bank ready to launch Native American Bancorporation of Denver has finally gotten the regulatory approval and capital it needs to launch the Native American National Bank. The bank has been in the works for several years and is designed to help meet the financial needs of Indian communities around the country. The first bank, created by a merger with Blackfeet National Bank in Browning, Mont., will open in a few weeks. The Montana bank is owned by the Blackfeet tribe. The holding company's executive offices and national marketing efforts will be based in Denver. The bank was created because Indian communities, which are often poor, have not been able to get the capital they need for development and other improvement elsewhere. The holding company has already set up a nonprofit subsidiary, the Native American Community Development Corp., to fund things such as financial education, special housing and small businesses. "This is a giant step for Indian Country and for the rest of the United States," said Tex Hall, Native American Bancorporation's chairman. "Lack of access to capital continues to plague many tribal people, and having our own bank will work to alleviate that. This is a form of tribal unity that will benefit all tribes economically and will ensure our sovereignty." Copyright c. 2001 American City Business Journals Inc. --------- "RE: Acquisition of Browning, Mont. Bank gains Approval" --------- Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2001 14:19:08 -0700 From: "Jess Hansen" Subj: "Acquisition of Browning, Mont., Bank Gains Approval" Mailing List: ndn-aim Saturday, October 13, 2001 "Acquisition of Browning, Mont., Bank Gains Approval" By MARK FOGARTY Denver, CO. (Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News) -- "The Federal Reserve Board has approved the application of Native American Bancorporation Co. here to acquire Blackfeet National Bank of Browning, Mont., giving a green light to startup of the first nationwide American Indian bank. NABC, in the process of organizing the operation for several years, will change the Blackfeet National name to Native American National Bank. Its office will remain in Browning under the new name and will continue banking and community development efforts on the Blackfeet reservation. In acquiring the $18 million asset Blackfeet National, NABC will become a holding company and is getting a $16.4 million depository base for its operations, the Federal Reserve reported. The bancorporation also announced it has raised necessary initial capital to get the project off the ground, more than $10 million. Through a community development corporation (CDC) unit, Native American National Bank plans to focus on financial education, specialized housing and small business finance, and trust land recovery and utilization. It will specialize in Indian country finance around the nation but not be limited to that to avoid reverse discrimination concerns, the Fed said. Its investors are a consortium of about 15 American Indian tribes and Alaska Native corporations. Tex Hall, chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes of North Dakota, a founding tribe, is chairman of the board. Other founding tribes are the Mashantucket Pequot of Connecticut, the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa, Michigan, the Oneida of Wisconsin, the Mille Lacs Ojibwe Indians of Minnesota, the Blackfeet, the Chippewa-Cree of Montana, the Mountain Ute of Colorado, the Arctic Slope Regional Corp. and Sealaska Corp. Blackfeet National and NABC are linked by the fact that Blackfeet activist Elouise Cobell has been a prime mover in starting both of them. In the late 1980s, she helped found Blackfeet National and served as chairwoman. She is an interim board member for Native American Bancorporation. As tribal treasurer in the late 1980s, Cobell helped Blackfeet National get its charter after the only local bank in Browning failed. It is currently the 70th largest depository in Montana. In late September, she referred questions on the deal to NABC chief executive John Beirise, except to comment, "We're very delighted" about the approval. "It couldn't come at a more opportune time." Cobell is lead plaintiff in the historic lawsuit against the Department of the Interior over mismanagement of tribal and individual American Indian trust funds. Beirise, with 30 years of experience with such firms as Continental Bank, Chicago, and Mercantile Bank, St. Louis, said his Denver office plans to employ some 25 people (17 now work for Blackfeet National). In its approval order, the Federal Reserve "concluded that consummation of the proposal likely would not have a significantly adverse effect on competition or on the concentration of banking resources in any relevant banking market." It also noted Blackfeet National's "outstanding" rating under the Community reinvestment Act and its status as a CDFI (community development financial nstitution) as favorable factors in its approval. And it said "the financial and managerial resources and future prospects of ancorporation and Blackfeet Bank are consistent with approval." The board took note, without adjudication, of objections to the merger raised in a comment letter signed by Alvin Reevis and other members of the Blackfeet tribe, and said they did not prevent the approval. Reevis alleged that Blackfeet National Bank, 94 percent owned by the Blackfeet tribe, was founded with tribal members' money but controlled by non-Blackfeet and non-Indians, that fraud may have been committed against the Blackfeet people, that the tribe could not sell its interest in the bank without consent of a majority of tribal members, and that the NABC is being founded to manage money that may be awarded as a result of the Cobell lawsuit. Jeanne S. Whiteing, counsel for the Blackfeet Tribe, responded by writing to the Fed "Mr. Reevis' objections are without merit." She pointed out that the tribe controls 94 percent of the shares, and that individual Blackfeet also own stock. She said the overwhelming majority of shares were voted in favor of the acquisition by NABC. As to requiring a majority consent on sale of tribal assets worth more than $10,000, Whiteing said that referred only to cases where the tribe was acting under its corporate charter. In this case, the tribe was acting under its governmental capacity and thus did not require the referendum, she said. Beirise said NABC was not established to manage trust suit money, but he didn't rule it out if a favorable ruling brings billions of dollars into Indian country. "Indian people should have more choices with respect to how their money is invested." Data from the Office of Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates national banks, show Blackfeet, as of June 30, was well capitalized with a core capital ratio of 7.73 percent and a risk-based capital ratio of 18.93 percent. It also was showing a favorable net interest margin of 5.98 percent. This reflects the difference between what it pays for money (3.92 percent) and what it earns on that money (9.9 percent). However, it has booked a $1 million loss year to date, meaning it has a negative return on assets and equity, and for the first half of 2000 it lost $396,000. It also had $693,000 in noncurrent loans and leases as of June 30, 2001. However, that figure was down from $1,399,000 the year before." Copyright c. 2001 Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> 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: Sokaogon Chippewa keep Authority to Regulate" --------- Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2001 08:32:18 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WATER RIGHTS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www2.startribune.com/stOnLine/cgi-bin/article?thisStory=85016975 Published Tuesday, September 25, 2001 Tribe keeps authority to regulate waters on reservation By The Associated Press / Statewire A northern Wisconsin American Indian tribe has full authority to regulate the water quality on its reservation downstream from a proposed zinc and copper mine, a federal court ruled. The ruling by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago could put another obstacle in the path of the proposed mine south of Crandon. The court ruled Friday the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency can allow the Sokaogon Chippewa band to regulate waters on its reservation because tribal members have shown the waters are essential to their survival. "This decision means that this ecosystem, which has sustained the tribe for all these centuries, will survive," the tribe's attorney, Glenn Reynolds of Madison, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel." Any upstream activity cannot produce change of water quality on tribal lands." Nicolet Minerals Co. wants to open the zinc and copper mine in Forest County. Company spokesman Dale Alberts said the company understood the tribe's high water-quality standards before acquiring mining rights from Exxon in 1998. "They have their standards and we're going to meet them," Alberts said. The tribe's tough rules could strain Nicolet's resources, said Tina Van Zile, tribal vice chairwoman. "All we want to do is protect what we have," Van Zile said." Our resources are everything to us. We're taught to respect them and we want them to be there for our generations to come." Nicolet Minerals is a subsidiary of BHP Ltd., headquartered in Australia. The company wants state, federal and local permits to mine 55 million tons of zinc and copper ore. Opponents of the mine argue toxic chemicals from it will damage the environment, especially Swamp Creek and Rice Lake, which waters the tribe's wild rice beds. Those who support the mine say it can operate responsibly and will create much-needed jobs. The court rejected the state's appeal that argued only Wisconsin officials can regulate water quality because the state owns streams and lakebeds. The court said the EPA has the power to regard Indian tribes as states under the Clean Water Act. The EPA, not the state or the tribe, can issue permits for the mine, the court said. The state will decide whether to appeal by Oct. 5. Copyright c. 2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 2001 Minneapolis Star Tribune. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Navajos/State Engineer ask for Fed Water Team" --------- Date: Mon 15 Oct 2001 08:10:50 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WATER" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.cia-g.com/~gallpind/todaysnews.html#anchor2 Navajos, state engineer ask for fed water team Larry Di Giovanni Staff Writer GALLUP - Two years to the day after their letters requested a federal assessment team to oversee San Juan River settlement negotiations, the Navajo Nation and New Mexico State Engineer recently sent letters to Washington requesting higher assistance through a federal negotiating team. State Engineer Tom Turney's and Navajo President Kelsey Begaye's Sept. 14 letters are requesting appointment of a federal negotiating team for a two-year period only. At stake is the Navajo Nation's share of San Juan River water. The tribe currently does not have any reserved water rights on the San Juan, but its water rights negotiating team members as well as Turney acknowledge that its potential rights are huge. During an interview with the Independent Thursday, Turney was asked if the Navajos' San Juan River claim was in the vicinity of 300,000 acre-feet. "I've heard numbers that are many times beyond that magnitude," he responded... Copyright c. 2001 Gallup Independent. --------- "RE: Effort to Provide Water for Lower Klamath" --------- Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2001 08:53:11 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="KLAMATH" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://politics.yahoo.com/politics/features/us_newswire/20019/0926-129.html Secretary Norton Announces Cooperative Effort to Provide Water for Lower Klamath and Tulelake National Wildlife Refuges WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Department of the Interior announced today that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has identified additional water for the Lower Klamath and Tulelake National Wildlife Refuges in a cooperative effort with local irrigators to assist migrating Klamath Basin waterfowl. The refuges will need about 5,200 acre-feet of water during October in addition to the 6,300 acre-feet supplied during September. Reclamation has identified sufficient well water to satisfy October's refuge needs from area irrigators willing to participate in the effort. Tulelake and Klamath Irrigation Districts have promised to deliver the additional supplies to the refuges through their facilities. Also, in late July, Norton made about 75,000 acre-feet of water available to Klamath farmers in desperate need. "I commend the generosity of local irrigators and the assistance of the Tulelake and Klamath Irrigation Districts in helping provide this critical water for the refuge," Interior Secretary Gale Norton said. "Their contributions will be an enormous boost for the refuge water supply and the bald eagles and other precious wildlife that historically inhabit the area in the late fall and winter." Norton also praised the hard work and good faith efforts of those involved in finding long-term solutions to allow Klamath farmers to receive much needed irrigation water, to help meet trust responsibilities to Klamath Basin Tribes and to protect threatened and endangered species. "It is only by working together that we can reach long-term and fair solutions to these complex issues. With hard work and good faith, we can find answers and move beyond suffering and conflict and toward solving the problems affecting Klamath Basin families," Norton said. Reclamation is currently working on routing 800 acre-feet of the October supply through the Ady Canal system to the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge later this month to make it available to migrating waterfowl that will soon arrive at the refuge. Copyright c. 2001 Yahoo! Inc. All Rights Reserved. Copyright c. 2001 U.S. Newswire. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Tribe/Water Board seal Irrigation Deal" --------- Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2001 08:11:07 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WATER AGREEMENT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.thedesertsun.com/news/stories/local/1002429231.shtml Tribe, water board seal irrigation deal Agua Caliente to water golf course with recycled water By Benjamin Spillman The Desert Sun October 7th, 2001 A deal between the Agua Caliente Development Authority and the Desert Water Agency will result in recycled water being used to irrigate the Canyon South Course. The water recycling project is the first for the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. If successful, the tribe hopes it will help replenish the aquifer underneath the tribe's reservation and the city of Palm Springs. "We have been in overdraft for a number of years," said Michael Kellner, the tribe's environmental manager, of the Coachella Valley. "Any amount of recycling will help." Dan Ainsworth, general manager of Desert Water Agency, said an application for a $1 million grant from the state to pay for the pipeline is pending. The entire project is expected to cost around $4 million and take as long as 18 months to build. It is part of a new effort by the water agency to find new users for reclaimed water, Ainsworth said. "For years and years, we have waited for golf courses and developers to come to ask for reclaimed water," Ainsworth said. Now, "We've made efforts to market it." The golf course is due to be remodeled beginning next summer. It is part of a tribal redevelopment of the Canyon Hotel site. The entire development will include the new course, a 450-room hotel and 150 to 200 time shares, according to the development authority. The tribal group is not paying for installing the pipeline but has negotiated a contract to buy water from Desert Water Agency. "It costs a little bit more than pumping it out of the ground," said Fred Razzar, executive director of the Agua Caliente Development Authority. "The environmental concerns ... are worth a few extra bucks." Ainsworth said the tribal group will pay between $100 and $150 per acre- foot of reclaimed water. Razzar estimated that the course will use between 1,000 and 1,200 acre- feet of water annually. He said it costs about $100 per acre foot to pump directly from the ground. Kellner reviewed the plan that will involve building a pipeline to send the reclaimed water from a wastewater treatment plant on Gene Autry Trail in Palm Springs to the golf course near the mouth of the Indian Canyons. Ainsworth said about a third of the golf courses in the Desert Water Agency's district use reclaimed water. Kellner said a key element of the program is that it involves distributing the water upstream from Palm Springs so that it will drain through the soil and back into the aquifer. Much of the existing reclaimed water from the treatment plant is used downstream and percolates into wells in Cathedral City and Rancho Mirage, Kellner said. "The idea is to get the water back up toward Mount San Jacinto," he said. Reclaimed water is preferable to well water for uses such as irrigation, according to water managers. By using lower-quality water discharged from sewer plants after being treated, high quality ground water is preserved for other uses. The water is also high in nitrates that are then filtered out by grass instead of manual methods required if the water is simply discharged from the sewer plant. "That is one of the things we want to do with reclaimed water," Ainsworth said. "Replenish people's ground water." In addition to Canyon South, Ainsworth said Desert Water Agency hopes to add other users to the new pipeline. Benjamin Spillman can be reached at 778-4643 or by e-mail at Benjamin.Spillman@thedesertsun.com Copyright c. 2001 The Desert Sun. --------- "RE: Tribe regains Ancestral Lands" --------- Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2001 08:11:12 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TIMBISHA" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.sacbee.com/news/projects/reparations/20011009_main.html Ancestral lands Tribe regains some treasured soil By Stephen Magagnini, Bee Staff Writer Oct. 9, 2001 FURNACE CREEK -- To the casual observer, Death Valley is a desolate tundra of mauve rocks and mirages, salt flats and sandstone. Summer temperatures routinely break 120 degrees, turning the valley into a blast furnace that saps the will of all but the hardiest European tourists. To Pauline Esteves, it is the most beautiful hell on earth. Where others see only sunburnt mountains, she sees a treasure trove of pine nuts. Where others see endless mesas stubbled with parched desert plants, she inhales the sacred scent of purple sage. In this place seemingly devoid of life, Esteves, the 76-year-old spiritual leader of the Timbisha Shoshone Indians, sees everything she holds dear: the land and the legends that nourished her people for centuries before the first Europeans came. "Everything comes from the land," she says. "Nearly every word in our language is related to nature." Even the tribe's name "Timbisha," which is what the Indians call the valley itself, comes from the red ore found in the Black Mountains above Furnace Creek. In 1933, when Death Valley became a national monument, the National Park Service tried to drive the Indians out. But Esteves and a handful of others stubbornly hung on in sand-swept trailers and adobe cabins that had no air conditioning or indoor plumbing until the 1970s. Her 279-member tribe won a dramatic victory last fall when Congress approved the unprecedented giveback of 314 acres near the Death Valley National Park headquarters and an additional 7,200 acres on the outskirts of the park. The Indians also won the right to co-manage 300,000 other acres within the 3.4 million-acre park. John Reynolds, the Park Service's Pacific-West regional director who brokered the Timbisha deal, said he was delighted to "right a 65-year-old wrong." The Park Service decision is part of a sea change in federal Indian policy, as more tribes are given a say in how to manage forests, rivers and wilderness. Many see it as a way to make reparations to American Indians who were forced off their land by bullets or broken treaties. But some conservationists question the wisdom of turning over national park lands to Indians who, they say, often put economic and cultural survival ahead of natural preservation. And it may be too little, too late to help the Timbisha, an impoverished band scattered across hundreds of miles of mountains and desert. Only 45 hardy members remain at the Timbisha tribal headquarters, a trailer village a mile from the visitor center. It's 60 miles to the nearest high school, 53 miles to the supermarket. Furnace Creek has long since dried up, and much of the water in nearby Travertine Springs is sucked up by the privately owned Furnace Creek Inn and Ranch resort with its two swimming pools and golf course. And the mountain spring that fed the tribe's pinyon pine groves in the Panamint Mountains now is barely a trickle. "It's been overgrown by willows, and when Pauline tried to clean it out, she was nearly arrested by a Park Service ranger," said anthropologist Kay Fowler, who has worked with the tribe since 1990. "By law, you're only supposed to take photographs and leave footprints -- you don't take or cut or pick anything. It's a good philosophy, but landscapes that have evolved with a human presence often need more than that." The tribe is trying to restore a stand of honey mesquite bushes once pregnant with beans used to make sweet flour, but this year's crop is almost as barren as the terrain around it. Death Valley Park Superintendent J.T. Reynolds (no relation to John Reynolds) says hydrologists believe water that once fed the mesquite has been diverted by a trench dug by the Pacific Borax Co. -- which built the Furnace Creek Inn -- "to keep the water from flooding the road as well as their property." Indian gaming was sold to California voters as a way to right past wrongs. But to get the Furnace Creek land, the Timbisha Shoshone had to waive their right to build a casino, and so far, no one has come forth with an offer to develop other tribal acreage at Scotty's Junction and Death Valley Junction. Perhaps most disheartening of all, the return of ancestral land, rather than pulling the tribe together, has torn it apart. In June, several tribal council members based in Bishop -- 190 miles from Timbisha -- wrested control of the council and ousted the feisty Esteves as chairman. She was officially deposed for opposing a $50,000 home loan to Spike Jackson, now the acting chairman. But Jackson, who works for an Indian social service agency in Bishop, says the rift was really about a fundamental difference in tribal philosophy. Esteves often spoke Shoshone with other tribal elders, excluding Jackson and some of the younger council members. Jackson says she refused to teach them: "If she'd taught me one word each council meeting, I'd be fluent by now." And Jackson would like to see tribal membership based on descendancy, rather than blood -- now, only those who are one-quarter Indian can become members, which means that Jackson's six nieces and nephews, who are one- eighth Indian, don't qualify. Federally recognized tribes, as sovereign nations, determine their own membership criteria. "At one-quarter Indian, I'm the last of my tribe," he says. "It's the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life and they want to keep it that way. I've got blue eyes, but my heart's Timbisha." Esteves responds, "I can't help it if they turned white." American Indian nations -- including the eight tribes in the Grand Canyon, the Yosemite Valley Miwok, and the Miccosukee in the Florida Everglades -- are following the Timbisha deal intently, hoping they, too, will get more control of ancestral lands in public parks. Superintendent Reynolds says he's even spoken with aboriginal park managers from Australia about how park rangers and indigenous peoples "can benefit from each other's knowledge." Park Service official John Reynolds, who pioneered the Timbisha agreement, understands native peoples' sacred connection with their ancestral lands. Though the Timbisha didn't gain title to all the acreage they claimed was theirs, "they got recognition that they had a cultural relationship to the land, not just a legislative relationship -- that's unique anywhere," he says, and adds that he hopes the Timbisha deal can be a model. But even Jackson wonders whether the Timbisha Shoshone, after decades of having their culture suppressed, are equal to the task. "To take us back to our homeland now is as devastating as removing us to begin with, because we're so far behind," Jackson says. "There's no infrastructure, no water, no electric, no jobs. It's just barren land." It doesn't help that the newly reacquired tribal land is virtually in the shadow of Yucca Mountain, the proposed site of a high-level nuclear waste dump the Indians fear could leach radioactivity into the groundwater. "Although," Jackson says, "we'll do the best with what we got -- it beats nothing." The tribe would like to build 50 homes, along with its own desert inn, cultural center, restaurant and shops featuring genuine Indian handicrafts. The shops at the Furnace Creek resort sell fake Indian trinkets made overseas, and the visitor center barely mentions Indians. But Frank Buono, a retired Park Service official who opposes the transfer of public park lands to Indians, says any new resort would further deplete the underground water supply at Furnace Creek. "The Timbisha ... will now become part of the problem," Buono said. "That doesn't sound like good stewardship to me. At what point do we wrong the future by trying to correct the wrongs of the past?" Buono says the Park Service instead should have bought the Furnace Creek Ranch and Inn and turned it over to the Indians. Driven from homes Historians say indigenous peoples have lived in Death Valley for at least 10,000 years, starting when a lake filled the valley. It got its morbid name when the Gold Rush-era forty-niners ventured in and nearly perished from hunger and thirst. The Indians loathe the name Death Valley -- "We're not supposed to talk about death," Esteves says -- and instead call it Timbisha. Their ancestors would paint their faces with "timbisha," the local red iron ore they believed had magic healing powers. The National Park Service gradually took over American Indian lands and used a variety of methods to drive the Indians out, says J.T. Reynolds. "In the Grand Canyon, they were burned out; here, when they used to leave for the mountains in the summer, the government hosed down their adobe structures. But these people were persistent. They stuck it out." In 1983 the government finally recognized the Timbisha Shoshone as an official tribe, giving them sovereign nation status, but no land to go with it. The tribe's first real break came in 1994. The federal Desert Protection Act transferred millions of acres of desert to the Park Service on the condition that the Timbisha Shoshone be consulted on the creation of a reservation. The tribe hired Steve Haberfeld and Jon Townsend of the Sacramento-based Indian Dispute Resolution Services to train Esteves and 14 others in the art of negotiation. At first, the gap between the tribe and the Park Service could have filled Death Valley -- the Indians wanted 750,000 acres in the park; the federal government wanted the Indians out of the park altogether, and offered them a few acres of desert "homeland" 30 miles away. One of the first negotiating sessions took place in a room without air conditioning in 127-degree heat, Haberfeld said, and Esteves and other Indian leaders were forced to sit on buckets. By the spring of 1996 the Indians -- fed up with being treated worse than tourists on land they believed belonged to them -- joined forces with the Navajo, native Hawaiians, the Miccosukee and several other nations, who publicly accused the Park Service of "ethnic cleansing." In 1997, Haberfeld went to Washington, D.C., to meet with John Reynolds, the new Western regional director for the Park Service. Reynolds became the first U.S. official to treat Esteves with the respect befitting her status as the head of a nation. They reached a historic "nation-to-nation" agreement that became law last November. Land sustains life At 7 a.m., Pauline Esteves meets some visitors outside a trailer that serves as the tribal office. "Let's go," she growls. "It's too darn warm." She stops at the mesquite grove near the tribal village. It seems nothing moves here after sunup except the flies, but Ken Waterson, the tribe's environmental technician, says the land still sustains jack rabbits, pack rats, gray kit foxes, sidewinders and red racers. When Esteves' mother was a girl, she says, the spring above the Furnace Creek Inn flowed in all directions, creating ponds green with arrowweed and mesquite and flush with migrating birds. Before Esteves was 10, the Park Service moved the Indians several times, first to a dried-up ditch near the borax company, then to what is now the visitor center, and then finally to the present tribal headquarters, "where all the sand was blowing in our direction." Esteves lives alone, always has. "I've never been married, never shacked up, either -- they couldn't corrupt me," she says. Indian men were in short supply, and none lived up to her standards. Except for the decade she spent as an electronics assembler in Pasadena, Esteves has lived here, often as an employee of the resort. She cleaned bathrooms, made beds, prepared the salad bar, cleared tables and worked as a cultural interpreter until, she says, her tales of Indian mistreatment became too controversial for the Park Service. She was born in what is now the post office at the Furnace Creek Ranch. Her grandfather worked for the Pacific Borax Co., mining the "white gold" used in cleaning and later to make fiberglass. Her father, a Basque from Spain, mined gold at nearby Skiddoo. He died of lung disease. Esteves says that as children she and her friends would climb the Black Mountains that frame the village, digging clay they'd shape into dolls. In the old days, she would occasionally dine on 2-foot-long chuckwalla lizards. "They were a food source, a medicine source. All the goodness was in the tail." Today, Waterson, the tribe technician, finds a rare mesquite pod and chews on the sweet beans, which the Indians believe have a calming effect. "He's tranquilized now," says Esteves. Cool mountain respite When Esteves was a girl, she says, as many as 200 people would harvest mesquite beans, but there hasn't been a nice, fat crop since the late 1980s. "So much for the mesquite," she says. She herds the party into her '99 Ford SUV, for which she "saved, saved, saved," she says, "I sat on boxes and slept on the floor with no mattress." They drive north past Stovepipe Wells, a watering hole immortalized in the 1950s television show "Death Valley Days." The desert highway is lined with scraggly creosote bushes. Esteves says she knows three elderly sisters who still drink a spoonful of creosote tea every day -- even though it tastes like turpentine -- because they believe it will ward off old age. Esteves heads into the Panamint Mountains above Skiddoo and Wildrose stations on the western edge of the park. Here, it's 40 degrees cooler than the valley floor. Before the mountain spring began to shrink in the 1960s, several hundred Indians would camp here from May through September, living on squirrel, quail, berries, wild spinach, cabbage, roasted cactus and the staple, pine nuts. "A handful was sufficient for one meal," she says. But in the 1950s, the Park Service began cracking down on mountain camping, making it illegal for the Indians to stay for more than two weeks at a time. In the 1970s, while Esteves was gone for the summer, her adobe home burned. The basic structure was still standing, but the Park Service hosed what was left into a river of mud. Such callous treatment "made our people stop going up to the mountains," says tribal administrator Barbara Durham. "We had a role in the ecosystem up there -- when our way of life ended, so did our role in the circle of life." As part of the new giveback agreement, the Timbisha Shoshone have won the right to camp in the mountains again and collect their native herbs. Durham is 45 -- old enough to remember the days when air conditioning consisted of a burlap bag her grandmother hung in the yard and hosed down. And she remembers that day when everybody in the trailer village crowded around TVs to watch C-Span as the bill approving the land transfer reached the Senate floor. President Clinton signed the bill into law last November. "It's a new beginning," says Durham. "We fought the U.S. government and won. It was a great victory, not only for the Timbisha, but other tribes who have lived and owned land in national parks." Durham wants the Park Service to get rid of the salt cedar, tamarisk trees, palms and other "exotics" that are consuming the water supply. The deal includes plans for 50 homes, and now that the tribe has land, it qualifies for a variety of federal funding. Durham already has secured a $250,000 grant to establish laws and a tribal court system. The tribe has applied for grants for a senior building, a family resource center and a bigger library where Esteves and other elders could teach Shoshone to the children. "A lot of our people are taking an intense interest in the council -- we have six people running for one position," she says. "But it has to happen here" -- not 190 miles away in Bishop. "If it wasn't for the people staying here, there wouldn't be a Timbisha tribe, we wouldn't have 7,500 acres, we wouldn't be a thorn in the Park Service's side." Hoping for water Esteves finds a walking stick and hikes up to the old Indian camp, now littered with rusty cans. "That's Indian artifacts," she deadpans. She closes her eyes and inhales air rich with the scent of pine, sagebrush and purple mountain mint. "You need to gather your senses before you can be aware of what's around you," she says. She picks a bunch of purple mountain tea shoots. "These are nice big ones," she says happily. As part of the agreement, she hopes the Park Service will help restore this mountain camp's spring-fed glory. On the drive back, as the mercury climbs to 117, Esteves weaves around six wild burros, descendants of those brought by the forty-niners -- then stops alongside a sandstone cliff and hikes to a native rock etching of bighorn sheep, thought to be more than 2,000 years old. She points in the direction the sheep are facing. "It could be a sign that there's water over there. They say everything's related to water." Trouble is, the wild burros are gulping up the water supplies of the remaining bighorn sheep. At home in the valley That evening, Esteves sits in her swamp-cooled trailer, sipping naturally sweet purple mountain mint tea and contemplating which of her stash of videos she'll watch again. A dog wails somewhere in the village, and Esteves declares, "The coyotes will do their song and dance soon." She tells the story of how a coyote brought the Indian people here in a basket on his back, and named all the places in the valley. The land giveback came "almost too late," she says. "Almost, because I'm still alive. It could be a real good thing if the people would only do the right thing." The Bee's Stephen Magagnini can be reached at (916) 321-1072 or smagagnini@sacbee.com. Copyright c. 2001 The Sacramento Bee. --------- "RE: We want to see Our Land Cleaned Up" --------- Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2001 08:10:38 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CLEAN THE LAND" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/local/41093_indians02.shtml 'We want to see our land cleaned up' 72 million tons of toxic goop are at bottom of lake revered by the Coeur d'Alene tribe Tuesday, October 2, 2001 By ROBERT McCLURE SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER PLUMMER, Idaho -- Cliff SiJohn gazes out on the water before him with obvious reverence. "The lake was considered the mother, because everything would come from there," says SiJohn, an elderly member of the Coeur d'Alene tribe. "That is what nursed us, nourished us. It kept us alive. It kept us in balance." Today the Coeur d'Alenes feel their world is out of balance because of the 72 million tons of toxic goop that washed into Lake Coeur d'Alene from upstream lead and silver mines. For 10,000 years, the lake was central to the tribe's life. Newborns were bathed here, and the bodies of deceased elders were washed in the lake, wrapped in mats made from the lake's cattails and then buried in the hills overlooking these waters. Things changed when outsiders arrived and pushed the tribe onto a reservation around a lake that became a dump. Cliff SiJohn's son, Frenchy, once recounted his grandfather's stories of eating water potatoes, then a staple of the tribe's autumn diet, that were bigger than a baseball. In modern times, water potatoes harvested from the lake look more like stunted carrots, he said. "Something isn't right," SiJohn told an anthropologist during an interview. "...As messengers they're telling us, 'Hey, I'm hurting. There's something wrong here. I'm sick.'" In 1991, the 1,800-member tribe struck back, taking Idaho and the mining companies by surprise with a lawsuit seeking to force a cleanup of the lake. "You had a small tribe in North Idaho taking on all the heavyweights, unflinching," said tribal spokesman Bob Bostwick. It took five years, but eventually the federal government joined the tribe. In January, the lawsuit became the largest of its kind ever to go to trial. Last month lawyers wrapped up their case before Judge Edward Lodge, who will determine if the mining companies can be held liable and, if so, will later decide how much they should pay. "The tribe has lived at the bottom of a sewer pipe for 100 years," tribal attorney Brian Cleary told Lodge during the trial. In preparation for the case, which cost the federal government at least $32 million to prosecute, government-hired scientists documented widespread damage: Hundreds of tundra swans have died from lead poisoning. Among other effects on the birds, lead closes off their windpipes, causing them to starve to death because they can't swallow. Eagles, kestrels, trumpeter swans, mallards, Canada geese and other birds also have been harmed. Mink, muskrat, raccoon, beaver, deer and mice have been poisoned. Plants also are killed off. At the most polluted creek in the region, only two kinds are found where 39 would be expected. Sections of the Coeur d'Alene River and several creeks cannot support fish or most other aquatic life. Yet when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed making the lake a massive Superfund toxic-waste site, the plan was blasted by business leaders across the lake from the reservation, in the resort town of Coeur d'Alene. Now the agency is prepared to endorse a plan that leaves the 72 million tons of mining waste on the lake floor. By keeping additional pollution out of the lake, authorities believe they can neutralize a chemical reaction that releases toxins into the water. Federal officials have pegged the total cleanup cost in court documents at $1.3 billion to $3.8 billion, and the lawsuit that went to trial in January sought damages from four mining companies. One, Sunshine Mining and Refining Co., had filed for bankruptcy and settled the case before trial, agreeing to give the government and the tribe partial ownership of the company once it is reorganized. Partway through the trial, Coeur d'Alene Mines settled out of court, agreeing to pay about $3.9 million. Both Coeur d'Alene and Sunshine might have to make some additional future payments if metals prices rise high enough. In August, Hecla and the government announced another out-of-court settlement: Hecla would pay $138 million over the next 30 years. The tribe objected, in part because much of Hecla's money would be spent cleaning up two Hecla mines in Southern Idaho, not the lake. The matter is not resolved. That leaves only Asarco Inc., actively fighting the tribe and the government in court. Although the Indians have been portrayed as unyielding, they say they don't want to put the mining companies out of business. And the tribe backs Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo's efforts to obtain $250 million in federal money for the cleanup job, saying it's only right that the government share some of the burden. In that, it agrees with a key contention of the mining companies: The government is partly to blame for the mess because it pushed the mining companies to produce lead and zinc, no matter the environmental cost, during World War II. "We want to see our homeland cleaned up. Very simply, that's what we want," said Chuck Matheson, vice chairman of the tribal council. "We're not extremely picky about how that happens. ... Get it done in a practical way, but get it done." P-I reporter Robert McClure can be reached at 206-448-8092 or robertmcclure@seattlepi.com Copyright c. 1999-2001 Seattle Post-Intelligencer --------- "RE: Court to Decide on Pumping Water to Everglades" --------- Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2001 08:10:38 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="EVERGLADES WATER" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.naplesnews.com/01/10/florida/d682053a.htm Court to decide on pumping suburban water to Everglades Tuesday, October 2, 2001 By CATHERINE WILSON, Associated Press MIAMI - An appellate judge told South Florida water managers Monday that they had an uphill battle trying to avoid getting a federal permit to pump polluted water from Broward County suburbs into the endangered Everglades. J.L. Edmondson, one of three federal judges hearing an appeal by the South Florida Water Management District, indicated he was swayed by the other side's arguments in favor of the discharge permit. "Your water is more polluted than the receiving body of water," said Edmondson, who presided at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals hearing. "Tell me why you're not covered by these regulations?" James Nutt, representing the district, responded that the U.S. Clean Water Act does not apply to flood-protection facilities like the district's pump station, which sends canal water from sprawling bedroom communities west into the Everglades. The Miccosukee Indian tribe, which lives in the Everglades, and the conservation group Friends of the Everglades have been battling the district for years over water policies that hurt the River of Grass. Other disputes have focused on water quality in Lake Okeechobee, which feeds the Everglades. This unrelated appeal challenges a pumping system that reroutes drainage water west rather than into the Atlantic Ocean, the traditional dumping ground. In the appeal, the tribe and conservation group want the judges to support a lower court decision requiring the district to get a permit for westward discharges from the S-9 pump station. A $7.8 billion Everglades restoration law enacted last year authorized a 25-year project to restore the natural flow of water by changing water policies for the lower third of the Florida peninsula and backtracking on a century of drainage work. The S-9 discharges are a small part of the planned reengineering. More than $100 million already has been spent by the district on a pollution control plan for the canal water from 52,000 acres of western Broward County, but the district does not want to be covered by federal permit requirements. "Expense is not really the issue here," John Fumero, the district's lead attorney, said outside court. A ruling against the district "will have an adverse impact affecting any and all forms of government involved in flood control for people." But Edmondson said he tends to rule on narrow grounds even though attorneys prefer wide-ranging decisions for their value as precedents. Dexter Lehtinen, who represents the tribe, said outside the court that he was pleased with the hearing. He sued the district over its Everglades management practices while serving as U.S. attorney. He said the state water district, which is based in West Palm Beach, has taken the position that it's easier to pollute the Everglades than enforce anti-pollution laws against high-powered Broward developers. "It's the reason why the Clean Water Act was passed - because states were sitting around and not doing anything," Lehtinen said. "Politically, what you're talking about is you take on the urban developers or you take on the Miccosukees and Friends of the Everglades." The most dangerous pollutant to the Everglades is phosphorus. The common ingredient in fertilizer feeds exotic plant life that displaces the low- nutrient natural prairie, hardwood hammocks, cypress swamps and mangrove shorelines of the Everglades, including Everglades National Park. Phosphorus levels in the canal water sometimes hit 173 parts per billion, compared to the 10 ppb level that Lehtinen says the Everglades can tolerate. Copyright c. 2001 Naples Daily News. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Confederated Tribes unveil Neighborhood" --------- Date: Mon 15 Oct 2001 08:10:50 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="Q'AHAS HOUSING" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.theworldlink.com/display/inn_news/news05.txt Confederated tribes unveil neighborhood Friday, October 12, 2001 By Josh Belzman, Staff Writer Many of the pastel colored homes in a quiet North Bend neighborhood on Pine Street have been occupied for months, but that's not stopping the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians from celebrating the grand opening of the first housing development on Saturday. Proud residents of Q'axas Heights (pronounced ka-has) plan to open their homes to fellow tribe members and the public during a ceremony at 11 a.m. The open house coincides with the week-long commemoration of the federal government's recognition of the Confederated Tribes and will feature cultural displays, a blessing of the community by Chief James Lott Sr. and fry bread and tacos prepared by residents. Huckleberry bushes will be planted at each of the neighborhood's 12 homes, in keeping with "Q'axas," which means huckleberry. "I'm pretty proud of our neighborhood here," said Kimberly Mathew, a single mother of four who moved into a three-bedroom home in Q'axas Heights in April. "I think people will enjoy (the open house)." The $2.5 million development marks the tribe's first foray into low- to moderate-income housing, said Laurie Voshell, Housing Director at the Clusha Indian Housing Authority. Construction of the neighborhood began a year ago and Q'axas Heights is now home to 14 families. The project was funded through a 1997 grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, one of the last sources of funding for traditional Indian housing developments, Voshell said. "There's a preference for tribal members, then other Native Americans, then the public," she said of the neighborhood's residency criteria. Residents pay rent based on their income and may be eligible for low- interest mortgages and down-payment assistance through other programs. "We don't want to make a profit, but want to make enough that we can explore other developments in areas of need," she said. In addition to the Bay Area, the tribes have identified a need for housing developments in Florence and Eugene, said Lott. "Our goal is for every tribal member to own a home," he said. "In our tribes it took a village to raise a family. That's the kind of thing we're trying to get up there ... to be like a village again." The two duplexes and 12 single-family homes at Q'axas Heights are occupied by senior citizens, young working families and those in the middle of the spectrum. Debra Hall has seen her own children grow up to raise their own families. She moved from Portland into a three-bedroom home at Q'axas Heights in February and is now raising a 6-year-old boy. The neighborhood is great for kids, she said. "We have 27 children in the housing, so there's always someone to play with," Hall said. In addition to the low-cost housing opportunity, Q'axas Heights is allowing residents to develop closer ties with the tribe. Hall grew up in the Bay Area but moved away and was involved in tribal activities only "sporadically" over the years. The move back to North Bend changed that. "It just allows us to be closer to the tribe," she said. "It wasn't happening in Portland, but here, it happens a lot." Lott said the development is not only a source of pride, but an ideal way to build and sustain the tribal community. "It not only keeps them in the area, but it brings them back," he said. "We're real proud of it." Q'axas Heights is located at the corner of Connecticut Avenue and Pine Street in North Bend. For more information about the grand opening ceremony, those interested can call the Confederated Tribes at 888-9577. Copyright c. 2001 - Southwestern Oregon Publishing Company - Coos Bay, OR --------- "RE: Air Force donating Homes to Group" --------- Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2001 08:11:12 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HOUSING" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-black-mold Air Force Donating Homes to Group By BRIAN WITTE, Associated Press Writer BISMARCK, N.D. -- The Air Force is donating 100 homes to a nonprofit group that will use them to replace mold-infested housing on an American Indian reservation. The Tustin, Calif.-based Walking Shield American Indian Society hopes to get the first 50 homes to the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in north- central North Dakota before Christmas. "We will then close down because of the weather, and then next spring we'll install the next 50 units," said Phil Stevens, the group's founder. He wants to start moving the homes from the base near Minot, N.D., this month. Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa officials estimate at least 320 federally subsidized homes on the reservation are infested with mold. The tribe estimates that about 220 homes must be destroyed. "This will be a tremendous help," said Charles Trottier, a planner for the tribe. "We do have a great need." The tribe also hopes to build 40 modular units by Christmas, he said. Tribal officials say at least seven deaths are related to the mold, and that scores of people have been sickened by it. The infestation is blamed on the flooding of crawl spaces under the houses. The Department of Housing and Urban Development will help pay to transport the homes, Stevens said. It will cost about $12,000 to move each duplex and Stevens hopes to move about five a week, he said. Minot Air Force Base is also donating 197 homes to other reservations with housing problems. Each of the homes are 1,200 square feet with three bedrooms, two baths and new roofs, windows and steel siding. They are being replaced with housing that meets new Air Force standards. The homes were built in the 1960s and are still in good shape, said Kevin Nelson, deputy civil engineer of Minot Air Force Base. "We're either moving out these homes or tearing them down and then building new ones in their place," Nelson said. In July, Congress approved $5 million to help with housing. Two reports commissioned by the tribe found high numbers of toxic molds, including black stachybotrys mold, which can cause skin rashes, inflammation of the respiratory tract and suppression of the immune system. A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers report also found toxic molds. The relief effort is part of Operation Walking Shield, a civil-military program established in 1994 that has provided more than 550 housing units to more than 3,300 homeless American Indians on 14 reservations in North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Minnesota. Copyright c. 2001 Associated Press. Copyright c. 2001 Los Angeles Times. --------- "RE: Pima Indians: A Case Study" --------- Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 06:56:41 -0700 From: "Jess Hansen" Subj: "Pima Indians: A Case Study" Mailing List: ndn-aim http://www.ctnow.com September 18, 2001 "Pima Indians: A Case Study" By GREG MORAGO The Hartford Courant "It's in the blood. The blood of ancestors that carries a time bomb. The blood of my mother, both my grandmothers, my sister and dozens of relatives bound by an inherited disease. It's in my blood, too - a genetic predisposition to obesity, which is a major risk factor for diabetes. Diabetes has marked generations of my family and my tribe, the Pima Indians of southern Arizona. We Pimas - cruelly targeted by a genetic quirk that has caused us to have the highest rate of diabetes in the world - have long lived with the kidney disease, blindness and amputations that attend diabetes. And, of course, the death. For decades, researchers have focused on our tribe to understand why the Pimas are at such an alarmingly high risk of getting diabetes. With the help of Pima volunteers, scientists have learned that diabetes develops when a person's body doesn't use insulin effectively. Volunteers from our tribe continue to help support research not unlike the recent clinical trials that linked lifestyle changes to preventing diabetes. The very people living through, and dying from, diabetes have been in the forefront of diabetes prevention - willing subjects for scientists studying a disease that is blossoming into a health epidemic. I'm proud of my people. People like my aunt, Viola Johnson, head of health services on our reservation, who has worked with hundreds of researchers who have descended on our tribe to learn more about the disease. People like friends and relatives on our reservation who have been poked, prodded, weighed and measured in an effort not only to stave off health complications of their own disease but to help others who might get diabetes. Then again, the Pimas - who have lived in the Sonoran Desert near the Gila River for at least 2,000 years - have always been helpful. They were trusted scouts for the U.S. Cavalry. Expert farmers, they shared their bounty with travelers and neighboring tribes long before we had reservations. Today, they are sharing the knowledge of living with diabetes in order to prevent it. And yet, despite all we know about diabetes, we continue to court disaster. Inactivity and bad diet continue to deliver Pimas to the disease. I am a glaring example: an overweight, out-of-shape smoker who wines and dines recklessly. I am the perfect candidate for adult-onset diabetes. Although my mother constantly asks that I be tested, I have yet to let a doctor draw blood. As far as I know, I don't have diabetes, but I'm constantly on the watch for the warning signs - the genetic smoke signals of my ancestors. I have many inducements to be more careful. There's my grandmother, who lost toes on both feet last year after an infection. There's my mother, who pricks her fingers every day to test her blood sugar levels. There's my younger sister, who last year got diabetes and whose teenage son only recently learned he's borderline diabetic. At least a dozen of my childhood friends are already dead. I've watched people who were overweight waste away. My uncle is on dialysis because diabetes has wrecked his kidneys. But after years of attempting diets and making vows to get more exercise, I remain overweight - the highest risk factor for diabetes. One-half of Pima adults have diabetes and 95 percent of those with diabetes are overweight. Why are so many Pimas overweight? In the '60s, the "thrifty gene" theory helped explain. For thousands of years the Pimas, who relied on farming, hunting and fishing for food, experienced alternating periods of feast and famine. To adapt to these extreme changes in caloric needs, the Pimas developed a thrifty gene that allowed them to store fat in times of plenty in order to survive in times of famine. The gene was helpful as long as there were periods of famine. But when the Pimas adopted a Western lifestyle - a higher-fat diet and physical inactivity - the gene began to work against them. Scientists believe the gene that protected Pimas from starvation now also contributes to retaining unhealthy amounts of fat. Scientists studying Pimas have determined that diabetes runs in families, along with insulin resistance and obesity. In other words, diabetes, for Pimas, is an inherited disease. Today, our tribe prefers to see the positive side of living with the disease. Casino revenue pouring into our reservation is paying for wellness centers that promote exercise and health care education. It has already paid for a new hospital and more doctors not only treating Pimas but members of far-flung tribes without the medical care and facilities we enjoy. It has paid for sophisticated treatment off the reservation, as well. And maybe, if I'm not careful, it will end up paying for my diabetic health care. I hope not." Copyright c. 2001 Hartford Courant ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> 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: Lights still on at Red Cloud Building" --------- Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2001 08:10:38 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="OST POWER" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://indiancountry.com/?article=2030 Despite notices, lights still on at Red Cloud Building October 03, 2001 - 15:57 est by: David Rooks / Today Staff / Indian Country Today PINE RIDGE, S.D. - Another deadline to pay the Oglala Sioux Tribe's electric bill for the Red Cloud building passed in early June. Still, the lights continued to work. The building, subject to a Jan. 16 takeover by a group that calls itself the Grassroots Oyate, remains occupied. Tribal government services have been moved to various offices around the town of Pine Ridge. Marlene Heiting, customer service representative for the power company, said the tribe's other accounts are paid in full. The disconnect notice is the fourth issued by the Nebraska Public Power District in as many months. The notice stated payment was past due on May 30, with a final due date of June 4. The billing also asserted, in bold letters, that it was a "final notice" and promised, that if ignored, service would be disconnected. As of June 14, the notice had been ignored with apparent impunity, like those that preceded it. All the switches produce light in the building. The unpaid balance for service to the building since the takeover is $4, 899.23. OST Vice Chairman Wilbur Between Lodges declined comment on the unpaid bills except to say he referred the matter to Finance Committee Chairman Mike Her Many Horses. Heiting also declined comment, referring the matter to Between Lodges. "Nebraska Public Power did come here, and they inquired about who was going to pay for the bill," Grassroots Oyate spokesman Dale Looks Twice said. "So then we addressed the issue to the BIA superintendent since (he) does have a trust responsibility to the membership of the tribe." Looks Twice said the matter was referred to a group of elders called the General Counsel which the Grassroots Oyate asserts is the legitimate governing body of the tribe. Looks Twice said the General Counsel met with Superintendent Bob Ecoffey in late May about the questions posed by Nebraska Public Power. "The BIA superintendent told (the General Counsel) that no one is going to turn the lights off and that he will take care of this situation," Looks Twice said. In a related matter Golden West Telephone Co. spokesman Dwight Flatt said phone service would continue to the Red Cloud Building in light of a tribal court order Jan. 21. The order enjoins the phone company to continue to provide service to the building. Ecoffey said he met with the Grassroots Oyate a few weeks ago, but denied saying he would take care of it. "That's not true. I did meet with them, but I did not make a commitment. They called me over there. They were all excited, saying Nebraska Public Power came. And they wanted to know who was going to pay the bill, were they going to shut the lights off?" Ecoffey said."Basically, it was Dale (Looks Twice) kind of creating an uproar. "What I committed to was to check on it to see what was going on, because I hadn't heard that either the tribe or Nebraska Public Power had made any motion or done anything to shut the lights off. In the end,the superintendent said he assumed it was a rumor. "You know, it's been a couple of weeks now and they haven't turned the lights off. Really, it's going to be more of a civil dispute between the tribe, the Grassroots Oyate and the power and phone companies when it comes time to pay the bill." Copyright c. 2001 Indian Country Today. --------- "RE: Seattle Tlingit Potlatch" --------- Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2001 20:04:51 -0700 From: "Ray Levesque" Subj: Seattle Tlingit Potlatch Brings Native Elders and Church Leaders Together >To: gars@nanews.org http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/134351775_potlatch10m.html Wednesday, October 10, 2001 - 12:00 a.m. Pacific 'A new way of doing church' By Sara Jean Green Seattle Times staff reporter ANDREA J. WRIGHT / THE SEATTLE TIMES Richard Jack Strong of the Tlingit Tribe performs yesterday with the Kuteeya Dancers, a Seattle-based Tlingit troupe, at a potlatch at Seattle's First Presbyterian Church. The gathering was intended to foster unity and call for greater recognition of Native American rights and sovereignty. They fed their guests salmon and fry bread, honored them with songs of welcome, gave each of the 150 people who gathered in the basement of Seattle's First Presbyterian Church gifts of tobacco and sage, bundled in red felt. A potlatch hosted yesterday by the Tlingit Tribe - originally from Alaska and now dispersed throughout the Seattle area - brought together Northwest Indian elders and church leaders from across the country. It was the first time area Native Americans who follow the teachings of Christ were able to address congregants of "the majority church" through their own cultural traditions, said Ray Levesque. "These people don't have people inviting them except in token, white situations like, 'Oh, come to our church on Native American Sunday,' " said Levesque, a Tlingit who belongs to 1,000 Tipis, a group of Indian cultural pastors in the U.S. and Canada. "This was the first Native environment where we could do it in a Native way." More than 500 Christians from across the country are in Seattle for a four-day interdenominational conference, "Soularize: A Learning Party," sponsored by The Ooze, a ministry based in California. The point of the conference is "to connect people who have a dream of a new way of doing church" so that it is more inclusive and tolerant, said Neil Tibbott, who trains pastors through the Church Resource Ministries and teaches theology classes at the Northwest Graduate School of Ministry, both based in Kirkland. The potlatch was held so Christian Native Americans could talk about similarities between the gospel and traditional beliefs and the need for Native American churches free of Eurocentric biases. But the potlatch also helped bridge factions within the Indian community. Carol Williams Hunter, a judge for the Tulalip Tribes, apologized on behalf of her people to Cecile Hansen, chairman of the Duwamish Tribe, and Mary Ann Hinzman, the Snoqualmie Tribe's vice chairwoman, for opposing their bids for federal recognition. The Snoqualmies were recognized as a tribe two years ago. Less than two weeks ago, Hansen learned the Bush administration was denying recognition for the Duwamish, the indigenous people of Seattle. "It just moved me to tears," said Hansen, a Catholic, who gave permission to hold the potlatch on Duwamish territory. "The Tulalips have been opposing us for years, and to have one of their people come and say 'sorry' ... " A potlatch is a ceremony traditional to Northwest tribes in which hosts honor their guests with food and gifts. Potlatches are meant to establish relationships but can be a call to action - in this case, asking for church support in fighting for rights and sovereignty. When Europeans brought Christianity to North America, missionaries were told to "civilize these savages, to Christianize these heathens and to do it through famine and cultural repression," said Tsani GroseVnor, an Echota-Cherokee and director of the Native ministry for the Northwest district of the Church of the Nazarene, based in Spokane. He apologized for his anger, his voice trembling as he spoke of Indian children beaten in Christian boarding schools for speaking their languages and laws forbidding Indian ceremonies that were enforced until 1965. "Since Christianity came to these shores," GroseVnor said, "there was collusion between the church and government to take Indian land, to rob indigenous people of their identity. "I urge you to learn about our issues, to learn about treaties and land rights. Don't get in the way, and don't try and speak for us, but stand beside us." Responding to GroseVnor's words, Phil Graf apologized for his church's legacy of oppression. "I only know of some of the injustices we participated in, and I know many of the injustices we look away from intentionally," said Graf, a member of The Bridge, a multidenominational church in Oxnard, Calif. "I ask for your forgiveness and offer a singular effort to rid myself of blissful ignorance and act proactively to do something for your children and my children that wasn't done for you." Later, Graf pulled a ribbon shirt over his black T-shirt. The ribbon shirt, traditionally worn by Native men during ceremonies, was a gift from a Swinomish woman. He and others who spoke in behalf of church leaders were also given eagle feathers - the highest honor in Native culture. "I'm overwhelmed," Graf said. "It's humbling, and there's a responsibility now to grow into this garment." Copyright c. 2001 The Seattle Times Company -- Ray Levesque (206)362-6461 Seattle/Vancouver --------- "RE: Burnt Church Boat Seized" --------- Date: Fri 12 Oct 2001 18:19:12 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BURNT CHURCH SEIZURE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canoe.ca/NationalTicker/CANOE-wire.Native-Fishing.html October 11, 2001 Seizure of native boat raises fears in final days of Burnt Church fishery BURNT CHURCH, N.B. (CP) -- Federal fisheries officers seized a native boat off this reserve in northeastern New Brunswick, raising fears of more confrontations in the final days of the Mi'kmaq lobster fishing season. Officials with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans said Thursday the native boat was seized Wednesday night after it was spotted outside a Mi'kmaq food fishery zone in Miramichi Bay. "They were observed fishing outside the fishing zone," said Wayne Thompson, a supervisor with the department. "At some point, you have to take action to stop this type of activity." However, a spokesman for the Burnt Church reserve said the boat was within the fishing limit decreed by the federal government. "They weren't outside the boundary," said band Coun. Leo Bartibogue, adding the native boat was rammed by two high-speed fisheries patrol vessels. He said no one was injured during the incident and the two native men on the boat were taken to a nearby wharf and released. Thompson said an investigation was underway and the two native men could be charged. Bartibogue said the seizure has increased tensions at Burnt Church, the flashpoint in the dispute over native treaty rights and federal control of the lobster fishery. "Everybody was starting to pull out their traps; we were getting ready to end the season," he said. "But when people witnessed this, it opened a lot of wounds." The federal government has issued a food fishery licence for Burnt Church, allowing for an unlimited amount of traps to be set within a narrowly defined zone close to the reserve shoreline. The licence expires Oct. 20. Bartibogue said people on the reserve were already annoyed this week over the acquittal of a local commercial fisherman on assault charges arising out of confrontations at Burnt Church in 1999. Leigh Morrison was found not guilty of assaulting six native men from Burnt Church. The jury agreed with defence arguments that Morrison acted reasonably and out of fear when he rammed a truck carrying the native men and attacked two with a baseball bat. Morrison believed the native men intended to steal his lobster traps to replace those which non-native fishermen had destroyed. Bartibogue said the jury verdict has reserve residents believing there are two levels of justice in Canada, one for non-natives and a harsher version for natives. "It doesn't look good for us," said Bartibogue. "I just got fined $1,000 and given a year's probation for obstruction. But apparently it's OK in Canada to beat First Nations' people on the head with baseball bats." Copyright c. 2001, Canoe Limited Partnership. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Excessive Force used to stop Fishing Boat" --------- Date: Tue 16 Oct 2001 07:44:19 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="EXCESSIVE SHORT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://nb.cbc.ca/editorServlets/View?filename=dfo011012 Excessive force used to stop fishing boat, says band Melissa Friedman reports for CBC radio People in Burnt Church are claiming Department of Fisheries Officers used excessive force to stop a native fishing boat in the waters off the reserve. D.F.O. seized the boat Wednesday and briefly held two men on board. Wayne Thomson, an official with D.F.O., says his officers had every right to stop the native fishing boat. "We observed the vessel from Burnt Church fishing outside the designated lobster zone," he says. Band councillor Leo Bartibogue disagrees. Bartibogue says he watched the entire incident and says the boat was well within the zone. He says the men were only fishing for traps cut from their lines several weeks ago. But regardless of why the boat was stopped, Bartibogue calls the encounter violent and dangerous. "Two D.F.O. Zodiacs pursued them and they had no way of getting away because they kept getting rammed over and over repeatedly," he says. "They kept getting tossed around in their boats and the boat took some damage." But Wayne Thomson tells a different story. "The boats have to come together for the officers to get aboard," he says. "It was really without incident." When the native boat was seized, Thomson says there was one trap on board. He says six other traps were also seized from the water outside the zone. But he says it's not clear who they belong too. No charges have been laid so far against the two men on board the fishing boat. Copyright c. 2001 CBC. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Welfare-to-work challenges Tribes" --------- Date: Mon 15 Oct 2001 08:10:50 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WELFARE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/breaking/1012welfare12.html Welfare-to-work challenges tribes Tom Zoellner The Arizona Republic Oct. 12, 2001