From gars@speakeasy.org Wed Dec 5 17:43:56 2001 Date: 28 Nov 2001 02:35:30 -0000 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews09.048 WOTANGING IKCHE -- Lakota -- Common News Kanoheda Aniyvwiya -- Cherokee -- Journal of the People Otapi'sin Atsinikiisinaakssin -- Blackfeet -- News for All the People Es'te Opunvk'vmucvse -- Creek -- People's New News Aunchemokauhettittea -- Naragansett -- Let Us Share News Ni-mah-mi-kwa-zoo-min -- Ojibwe -- We Are Talking About Ourselves Ha-Sah-Sliltha -- Ditidaht Nation -- News of the People Un Chota -- Susquehannic Seneca -- The People Speak Ximopanolti tehuatzin, inin Mexika tlahtolli -- Nahuatl -- For you we offer these words It-hah-pe-hah Ah-num pah-le -- Chickasaw -- Together We Are Talking Sho-da-ku-ye -- Teehahnahmah -- Talking Birchbark Native American News -- Language of the Occupation Forces ==>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 O +-----------------------------+ O o O | Much more happens in Indian | O o O VOLUME 09, ISSUE 048 | Country than is reported in | O o o o o O | this weekly newsletter. For | O o O December 1, 2001 | For daily updates & events | O o O | go http://www.owlstar.com/ | O | dailyheadlines.htm | Mohegan wolf moon +-----------------------------+ Assiniboine wicogandu-sungagu/center moon's younger brother <================<<<< >>>>================> This issue contains articles from www.pechanga.net; www.owlstar.com; www.indianz.com; Minnesota Indian Affairs and ndn-aim mailing Lists; newsgroup: alt.native; UUCP email IMPORTANT!! ----------- In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, all material appearing in this newsletter is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for educational purposes. <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters who share our Spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the Red Road. ++ It may be subscribed to via email by sending a request from your own internet addressable account to gars@speakeasy.org ++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org <================<<<< >>>>================> As historian Patricia Nelson Limerick summarized in The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West, "Set the blood quantum at one-quarter, hold to it as a rigid definition of Indians, let intermarriage proceed as it had for centuries, and eventually Indians will be defined out of existence. When that happens, the federal government will be freed of its persistent 'Indian problem.'" "We are mothers of our nations and have a responsibility to make a difference now so that our children - and especially our daughters - don't have to put up with the type of discrimination we have had to." __ Flora Bone +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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 issue includes a couple more articles with Thanksgiving as the topic. The difference is they have only a first People perspective, and nothing to do with telling the truth about what the date really means. There are also articles about the ongoing Trust Fund fiasco and the attempted "slight of hand" by the Attorney General in British Columbia. The common thread in these is the total lack of honor displayed by the governing bodies of the dominant society. What the dominant society cannot comprehend is that, in spite of their efforts over the past 500 plus years, the People who stood on this land at the start of the invasion are still standing strong and proud. When the last highrise crumbles into the sea and the last polluted river is washed clean we will still be here. =================================== 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. -=-=-=- I send thanks to my friend, Crazy Bull, for passing along a contact for those who wish to donate food, clothing or fuel money to elders in need on the Rez's. Wopila Russell. Evelynn Charging P O Box #170 Lower Brule, SD 57548 if no answer call Grandmother Charging at Phone: 605-473-5377 the Golden Buffalo Casino 605-473-5577 -=-=-=- From: "Kay" For those of you who wish to 'Give A Gift,' here is the address: Eastern Cherokee Alliance 5411 Laureltree Place Louisville, Ky. 40229 Marty Soaring Eagle said he would distribute/deliver. 1-502-966-8046 Thank you Kay -=-=-=- From: "Nimchira" I am collecting items for the Rosebud Reservation if anyone is interested. Below is a small list of items needed before first snow fall. The first part of the list is what they need now, they have plenty of clothing so far....however there is a shortage of warm jackets, food is also an important need right now...... again, I thank you.... Nim Toiletries: Bath Soap Shampoo and Conditioner Deodorants Tooth brushes, Paste Feminine products Mens Shaving items Bath Towels and wash cloths Non-perishables Food items: Boxed goods Canned goods Bottled Water Baby foods Warm Clothing: Childrens Winter Wear in good repair Men and Womens Winter coats or jackets Gloves, mittens, scarves, hats [knit or crocheted] Other items of warm outer wear. Baby items, diapers Blankets, lots of blankets. For more information you can call Nimchira Webb at: 1-620-278-3842 Items can be left in care of: J. Porter Selman 217 So. 2nd. St. Sterling, Kansas -=-=-=- From: "Brigitte Thimiakis" Subj: Lame Deer Reservation Greetings Gary, I hope this finds you well. I have just received the address for your list(Lame Deer Reservation). I hope it is not too late!=20 There are a couple of thousand children there, many single mothers too. There is a shelter for children up to 15-16 years old. Ann gives them all the assistance she can. Beside toys, warm clothes like jackets, gloves, hats, socks, coats, etc for children and blankets, would be much appreciated. The toys will be distributed during the Christmas give away but the clothes and blankets will be distributed right away. Address for Truck (only): GPTA Building Cheyenne Ave and Ridgewalker Lame Deer, MT Please ask for Ann Booker Only Monday through Friday 9:00a.m. to 5:00p.m. Someone looking for the building could ask anyone they see where the GPTA Building is and they should be able to direct them. Ann Booker works in the office where they work with assistance, etc. [If needed please contact thimiakischool@the.forthnet.gr before the boxes arrive at the office and we can let Ann know in advance.] - Address for shipping items by mail: Ann Booker P.O. Box 1004 LAME DEER MONTANA 59043 Ann's home address is available off list for anyone who would like to send items by UPS (United Parcel Service), at the above email address. -=-=-=- From: dfinstead@setaim.com Elders and children will suffer this winter if they don't receive help. Warm clothing and blankets are needed as well as money for fuel. Also personal needs, soap, toothbrushes, diapers, etc. Please remember to send toys to the children for Christmas. PLEASE DO WHAT YOU CAN TO HELP AND PASS THIS ON TO OTHER LIST, FRIENDS AND FAMILY. >>>>>>> Bonnie Whitesinger Box 1073 Hotevilla, AZ 86030 Would be able to handle fuel donations for Big Mountain. > >>>>>>>>>>>>> There is a needs list on www.blackmesais.org/needslist.html Black Mesa Indigenous Support P.O Box 23501 Flaggstaff Arizona 86002 >>>>>> New Mexico Southwest Indian Foundation, 100 W. Coal, Gallup, NM 87301. > >>>>>> Eastern Cherokee Alliance 5411 Laureltree Place Louisville, KY 40229 Taking clothing, food, and toys >>>>> PINE RIDGE PTI Propane P,O, Box 1987 PIne Ridge, SD 57770 Ph: 1-605-867-5199 >>>> Bennett County Coop P.O. Box T Pine Ridge,SD 57551 ph: 1-605-685-6711 Fuel >>>> I have several families that I buy fuel for in Wanblee.(Pine Ridge) If you'd like to help out with that, it would be appreciated. The money goes directly to the Co-op in Martin, and they deliver the amount paid for, either by credit card, check or M.O. Contact me off list if you want to be a part of that. jdkc@woptura.com J. D. CHIPPS >>>>>> ROSEBUD RES. Alfred Bone Shirt P.O. Box 283 Mission, S.D. 57555, I can be contacted at this email address or by telephone 605-747-4443, For fuel >>>>>>>>> J. Porter Selman [Nim] 217 So. 2nd. St. Sterling, Ks 67579 All donations go to Rose Bud res. >>>>>>>>> ANGEL HAVEN MISSION C/OF GRACE DEEL RT 1 BOX 433 VANSANT VA >>>>> St. Bridgets Catholic Church General Delivery Rosebud Res., SD >>>>>>>>>>>>> ndn-aim list fund (Erth handles it, reciepts sent and amounts posted) For emergency assistance and fuel fund. ndn-aim fund c/o box 1334 Rapid City, SD 57709 I also have address to send clothing, food, etc, to Pine Ridge and Rose Bud (Carter Camp), I will give out off list. These are individuals who can be trusted to distribute to those with needs. You may contact me at dfinstead@setaim.com for these address. Dodie === To subscribe to this group,send an email to: ndn-aim-subscribe@egroups.com -=-=-=- From: "Carter " Ah-Ho Relations, A couple of weeks ago Dodie asked me if I could help some list members by distributing some gifts they had gathered. I said I could because my wife and I know plenty of needy people. After thirty years as a Sundance society leader it seems like hundreds of people call me 'Uncle' or 'Grampa' around here. Anyway both Maureen and Ken have sent some very nice things up and Linda has distributed them. Yesterday she was happy because she had taken a box of things to a young single mother who said her car was broken down and the baby was on her last diaper(in the box was some pampers). She has three kids, no husband and is trying to go to school so she could use the entire box of assorted kid stuff. It was great for Linda and I too, our kids are grown so making these kids happy feels good. Anyway, yesterday I read an article on some lady who delivered a whole semi-truck load of things to Pine Ridge. Along with it was an article comparing the rez to Afghanistan, with starving malnourished elders and children shivering in their log cabins. That is just not true, we are poor here but we're American poor not Afghanistan poor. There's a big difference, our kids have the basics even if their folks have to scramble for it. Our elders do too though they are often too proud to seek help. Our needs aren't for rice or wheat in bulk or for left-over, used clothing. Our needs are for basics but not THAT basic. The new coats and baby things Maureen sent and the pretty little girls outfit that Ken and his wife sent are the kinds of gifts needed. So far, Linda said, all those we have passed these things on to are single parents. My wife has a gift for befriending young mothers so we serve as emergency babysitters and such. If some of you on this list want us to distribute gifts for you we'll do it if you keep what I said in mind. We can't handle a big truckload but we do know many people who are in need, mostly young and with several children. And most of them are from the circle of traditionals that I know from the Sundance. If you want me to pass your gifts along make sure they're things you would give face to face and it will be fine. Winter clothes and toys for xmas. What we don't give to acquaintances we'll give to the various communities and vets center. Carter 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 ---------- - Chief Mel Isnana - Full-Blood to vie - Ruth Myers for Oklahoma Governor - Crossings - Dine'tah: The Original Homeland - Native Groups Mourn - Native Wisdom benefits Biologists on Thanksgiving Day - Former Employment Rights - Mohawk Thanksgiving Address Official Sentenced - Haskell Professor - Bill to open ANWR Thanksgiving Differences - Kids Sue Province: - B.C. Attorney General No Access to Child-Protection defends getting Options - Miccosukee Sues - Media turns a Blind Eye to Limit Flooding on Tribal Lands - Norton to fight Contempt Charge - Tribes studying - Indian trust Fund Manager Named Shooting in Miller - Indians criticize - Whiteclay Vendor pleads Guilty Changes in Trust Fund - Native Prisoner - Judge holds Secret -- Pen Pals Wanted Trust Fund Hearing - History: Carlisle Indian School - Tribal Fate in Hands - Rustywire: Nacho of a Few Federal Employees - Poem: Hahepi Unci - Cayuga: Justice, 200 Years Later - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - Takeover marks Crow New Beginning - Makah: Electricity - Nez Perce want to mark from Power of Waves Real End of Trail - Reclaiming the Words of Ancestors - Crazy Horse would fight Monument - Four Reservations - Idaho Indians to Revitalize Languages pull out of 2002 Games - Native America Calling --------- "RE: Chief Mel Isnana" --------- Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2001 08:34:09 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CHIEF ISNANA" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://sask.cbc.ca/editorServlets/View?filename=isnan011122 Native leader dies of heart attack REGINA - The Standing Buffalo Dakota First Nation has lost a visionary leader. Chief Mel Isnana died yesterday of a heart attack. Nov 22 2001 06:21 PM EST The longtime chief played a big role in getting a long term care home built on the Standing Buffalo reserve, north-west of Fort Qu'Appelle. The project created 15 full-time jobs. It also permitted many elders to move back onto the reserve. Isnana got the project done a decade after the federal government stopped building long term care facilities on reserves. Copyright c. 2001 CBC. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Ruth Myers" --------- Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2001 11:53:25 -0600 From: Rick J. Smith Subj: Ruth Myers walks on Mailing List: Minnesota Indian Affairs Dear Friends of Ruth Myers, Ruth walked on yesterday about 4:15 p.m. to be with the Creator, friends and family who went before her. Ruth was 75 years old. She was a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, auntie, mentor and friend to many people. Most of us will remember her for her generosity and willingness to help everyone who asked for her assistance. Many will remember her as a strong and vocal ogichidaakwe for Indian education, locally, regionally and nationally. She was one of a few that made Indian education in Minnesota a model for the rest of the country. Dr. Ruth A. Myers, received a Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters in 1994 from the University of Minnesota. She graciously accepted this award as she did so many other awards for her civic duty as an Anishinaabe leader. She officially retired in 1994, yet she was still called for her guidance from local and national education leaders, both Indian and non-Indian alike until her passing. There are plans for a memorial service in Duluth on December 1, the time and location will to be announced on Monday. "Your life is a gift from the Creator. How you live it is your gift back." Irene Mitchell, Chippewa-Cree Rocky Boy Reservation ********************* Rick J. Smith, Director UMD American Indian Learning Resource Center 209 BohH 1207 Ordean Court Duluth, MN 55812 Phone: 218-726-6293 Fax: 218-726-6370 http://www.d.umn.edu/ailrc e-mail: rsmith1@d.umn.edu 1-800-232-1339 --------- "RE: Crossings" --------- Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2001 08:47:17 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CROSSING" November 24, 2001 John Little Eagle ALLEN - John Little Eagle, 55, Allen, died Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2001, in Rapid City. Survivors include his wife, Deb Cedar Face Little Eagle, Allen; one son, Christopher Little Eagle, Allen; three daughters, Faith Richards, Lucy Cottier and Louise Little Eagle, all of Allen; one brother, Cecil Little Eagle, Red Scaffold; three sisters, Eldeona Willis, Dallas, Texas, Delores Anderson, Arlington, and Elizabeth Owl King, Eagle Butte; 11 grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. A two-night wake will begin at noon today at St. John's Church Hall in Allen. Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10 a.m. Monday, Nov. 26, at Yellow Bear Camp Cemetery in Allen, with the Rev. Joe Damhorst officiating. Adam Little Elk and Mike Fairbanks will officiate at traditional services. Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements. Copyright c. 2001 The Rapid City Journal. -=-=-=- November 20, 2001 David C. Bia GREASEWOOD SPRINGS, Ariz. - Services for David Bia, 76, will be held at 10 a.m., Wednesday, Nov. 21 at Lady of the Rosary, Greasewood Spring. Father Flann O'Neil will officiate. Burial will follow at Greasewood Community Cemetery. Bia died Nov. 16 in Gallup. He was born May 1, 1925 in Greasewood Springs into the Coyote Pass People Clan for the Mexican People Clan. Survivors include his sons, Arnold Lynch and Sammy Lynch, both of Greasewood Springs, and Edison Spencer of Dilcon, Ariz.; daughters, Louise Burke of Montezuma Creek, Utah, Euphemia Clendon, Lenora Sangster, and Gloria Shirley all of Greasewood Springs; sister, Teresa Salabiye of Greasewood Springs; 19 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren. Bia was preceded in death by his wife, Marie C. Bia and parents, Chee and Alice C. Bia. Pallbearers will be family members. Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Rita T. Begay ROCK POINT, Ariz. - Services for Rita Begay, 45, will be held at 10 a.m., Wednesday, Nov. 21 at Rock Point Lutheran Church. Begay died Nov. 17 in Chinle, Ariz. She was born Oct. 7, 1956 in Rock Point into the Folded Arm Clan for the Red House Clan. Begay was employed as a teacher with Rock Point Community School. Her hobbies included rug weaving, and arts and crafts. Survivors include her husband, Mark Begay; sons, Randy Manygoats, Zachary M. Begay, Kendrick M. Begay and Tristan M. Begay; brothers, Sam T. Begay, Dezwood T. Begay, Nelson T. Begay, Keith T. Begay and Micheal T. Begay; sisters, Daisy T. Begay and Annarose T. Begay; and one grandchild. Pallbearers will be Randy Manygoats, Nealwood T. Begay Jr., Nezwood T. Begay, Olivintino Osceola, Micheal T. Begay and Dion Taylor. The family will receive friends and relatives after the burial services at Mark Begay's residence. Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. November 23, 2001 Andrew A. Begay PINEDALE - Services for Andrew Begay, 45, will be announced at a later date. Begay died Nov. 21 in Gallup. He was born Dec. 4, 1955. A family meeting will be held at 5 p.m., Monday, Nov. 26 at the PineDale Chapter House. Copyright c. 2001 The Gallup Independent. --------- "RE: Native Groups Mourn on Thanksgiving Day" --------- Date: Thu, 22 Nov 2001 08:16:12 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MOURN" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/1121-03.htm Published on Wednesday, November 21, 2001 by the Inter Press Service Native Groups Mourn on Thanksgiving Day by Leila Day NEW YORK, Nov 20 (IPS) - On the annual Thanksgiving holiday, commemorated this Thursday, millions of U.S. families gather to eat turkey and sweet potatoes. Another crowd, distinctly less festive, assembles in the state of Massachusetts to mourn. This gathering overlooks Plymouth Rock, where European settlers landed in 1620, and is called yearly to condemn continuing violence and discrimination against Native American people. The U.S. Thanksgiving holiday dates back to the time when early European settlers, known here as Pilgrims, settled on land belonging to the Wampanoag tribe, whose name means "people of the dawn". The tribe believed land was for all humans to share and taught the newcomers to plant corn and other crops after the Pilgrims' efforts to grow food had repeatedly failed. When the crops were a success, the Pilgrims invited their Native American neighbors for a celebratory dinner. Shortly afterwards, a series of land disputes erupted as more settlers arrived from Europe. Native tribes were forced to relocate and gruesome battles ensued. "We want the public to see that not everybody agrees with the celebration of Thanksgiving," says Mahtowin Munro of United American Indians of New England (UAINE). Munro and other organizers emphasize that the event is not only "a day of mourning" in the United States but also "a day to remember history and the injustices'' suffered by Native groups in other countries. Guest speakers from Guatemala and Mexico will be attending the event Thursday, as will representatives from Native American tribes across the country. This year, the organizers plan to give special attention to the case of Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist jailed since 1976. Peltier, a Lakota indigenous rights activist, is serving a life sentence for the murder of two Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents. The human rights group Amnesty International has declared Peltier a political prisoner on the basis of contradictory evidence in his trial and the withholding of some 5,000 police documents related to his case. The National Day of Mourning was launched in 1970 after prominent activist and Wampanoag leader Frank B. Wamsutta James was invited by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to a state dinner celebrating the 350th anniversary of the Pilgrims' arrival at Plymouth. Wamsutta James, known in the community for his wide-brimmed black hat and outspoken nature, prepared a powerful statement for the event. "Time and time again, in the white man's society, we Indians have been termed 'low man on the totem pole'," Wamsutta James wrote. He referred to the Thanksgiving harvest festival as "the beginning of the end." Wamsutta James was asked to rewrite his speech before presenting it, which he refused to do. Instead of attending the dinner, James formed a gathering of Wampanoag and other tribes to declare the day of thanksgiving one of mourning instead. The leader, whose name means "a kind and loving heart", was a retired music director and vibrant man who drove an old Corvette with a bumper sticker that read "Custer had it coming" - a reference to George Armstrong Custer, who was killed by Plains Indians in 1876 while commanding the 7th Cavalry Regiment at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, in what is now the U.S. state of Montana. Wamsutta James died in February and is to be honored at the Day of Mourning gathering, which starts at noon Thursday. The organizers expect hundreds of participants to meet on top of a small hill near a plaque that reads "Many Native Americans do not celebrate the arrival of the Pilgrims and other European settlers. To them, Thanksgiving Day is a reminder of the genocide of millions of their people, the theft of their lands, and the relentless assault on their culture." The plaque and a statue next to it are the outcome of a court settlement awarded to the UAINE. The group ran into trouble in 1997 when protesters were arrested on charges ranging from parading without a permit to assault of a police officer. All charges were eventually dismissed and the group is now able to hold its yearly protest without seeking permission. In addition, town officials settled with UAINE for 100,000 dollars to be invested in their Medecom Education Fund, and 15,000 dollars for the erection of the plaque and statue. Come Thanksgiving Day, Plymouth also will host an annual re-enactment known as the Pilgrim's Progress: Players don long black robes and white ribbons reminiscent of the original pilgrims' attire and march along a route from the Mayflower - the ship that brought the settlers - through the town to the sound of beating drums. At the same time, on a nearby hill overlooking the town, another drum will be pounding a heavy rhythm as Native Americans mourn the lost lives of their people. Copyright c. 2001 IPS-Inter Press Service. --------- "RE: Mohawk Thanksgiving Address" --------- Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2001 08:15:54 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MOHAWK THANKSGIVING ADDRESS" http://www.cradleboard.org/sites/mohawk/maddress.html Ohenten Kariwatkwa "Words that come before all else" Mohawk Thanksgiving Address The People: Today we have gathered and we see that the cycles of life continue. We have been given the duty to live in balance and harmony with each other and all living things. So now, we bring our minds together as one as we give greetings and thanks to each other as People. Mother Earth: We are all thankful to our Mother, the Earth, for she gives us all that we need for life. She supports our feet as we walk about upon her. It gives us joy that she continues to care for us as she has from the beginning of time. To our Mother, we send greetings and thanks. The Waters: We give thanks to all the Water of the world for quenching our thirst and providing us with strength. Water is life. We know its power in many forms - waterfalls and rain, mists and streams, rivers and oceans. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to the spirit of Water. The Fish: We turn our minds to all the Fish life in the water. There were instructed to cleanse and purify the water. They also give themselves to us as food. We are grateful that we can still find pure water so, with one mind we send our greetings and thanks to the fish in our waters. The Plants: Now we turn toward the vast fields of Plant life. As far as the eye can see, the Plants grow, working many wonders. The sustain many life forms. With our minds gathered together, we give thanks and look forward to seeing Plant life for many generations to come. Food Plants: With one mind, we turn to honor and thank all the Food Plants we harvest from the garden. Since the beginning of time, the grains, vegetables, and berries have helped the people survive. Many other living things draw strength from them too. To the three sisters, corn, beans and squash, we express our appreciation for sustaining us. We gather all the Plant Foods together as one and send them a greeting and thanks. The Medicine Herbs: Now we turn to all the Medicine Herbs of the world. From the beginning, they were instructed to take away sickness. They are always waiting and ready to heal us. We are happy there are still among us those special few who remember how to use the plants for healing. We send greetings and thanks to the medicines and to the keepers of the Medicines The Animals: We gather our minds together to send greetings and thanks to all the Animal Life in the world. They have many things to teach us. We see them near our homes and in the deep forests. We are glad they are still here and we hope that it will always be so The Trees: We now turn our thoughts to the Trees. The earth has many families of Trees who have their own instructions and uses. Some provide us with shelter and shade, others with fruit, beauty and other useful things. Many people of the world use a tree as a symbol of peace and strength. With one mind, we greet and thank the Tree Life. The Birds: We put our minds together as one and thank all the Birds who move and fly about over our heads. The Creator gave them beautiful songs. Each day they remind us to enjoy and appreciate life. The Eagle flys highest in the sky and was chosen to be their leader. To all the Birds from the smallest to the largest - we send our joyful greetings and thanks. The Four Winds: We are all thankful to the powers we know as the Four Winds. We hear their voices in the moving air as they refresh us and purify the air we breathe. They help to bring the change of seasons. From the four directions they come, bringing us messages and giving us strength. With one mind, we send our greetings and thanks to the Four Winds. The Thunderers: Now we turn to the west where our Grandfathers, the Thunder Beings, live. With lightning and thundering voices, they bring with them the water that renews life. We bring our minds together as one to send greetings and thanks to our Grandfathers, the Thunderers. The Sun: We now send greetings and thanks to our eldest Brother, the Sun. Each day without fail he travels to the sky from east to west, bringing the light of the day. He is the source of all the fires of life. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to our Brother, the Sun. Grandmother Moon: We put our minds together and give thanks to our oldest Grandmother, the Moon, who lights the night time sky. She is the leader of all females across the world, and she governs the movement of the ocean tides. By her changing face we measure time, and is the Moon who watches over the arrival of children here on Earth. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to our Grandmother, the Moon. The Stars: We give thanks to the Stars who are spread across the sky like jewelry. We see them in the night, helping the Moon to light he darkness and bringing dew to the gardens and growing things. When we travel at night, they guide us home. With our minds gathered together as one, we send greetings and thanks to all the stars. The Enlightened Teachers: We gather our minds to greet and thank the Enlightened Teachers who have come to help throughout the ages. When we forget how to live in harmony, they remind us of the way we were instructed to live as people. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to these caring Teachers. The Creator: Now we turn our thoughts to the Creator, or Great Spirit, and send greetings and thanks for all the gifts of Creation. Everything we need to live a good life is here on this Mother Earth. For all the love that is still around us, we gather our minds together as one and send our choicest words of greetings and thanks to the Creator. Closing Words: We have now arrived at the place were we end our words. Of all the things we have named, it was not our intention to leave anything out. If something was forgotten, we leave it to each individual to send such greetings and thanks in their own way. --------- "RE: Haskell Professor/Thanksgiving Differences" --------- Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2001 08:34:09 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DIFFERENCES IN THANKSGIVING" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.ljworld.com/section/citynews/story/74327 Haskell professor explains differences in Thanksgiving By Greg Hurd Thursday, November 22, 2001 Dan Wildcat, professor of American Indian Studies at Haskell Indian Nations University, recently heard a student say: "We don't celebrate Thanksgiving Day because that's not our holiday." Though surprising to many who have been raised on the image of the original Thanksgiving as a harmonious feast shared by native and immigrant Americans, Wildcat understood the student's sentiment. A Euchee member of the Muscogee Nation, Wildcat's ancestors came to Oklahoma from Georgia with the Creeks on the Trail of Tears in the 1830s. Growing up in Coffeyville, then steeping himself in Western philosophy while attending college and graduate school, Wildcat has learned how to understand the interplay of indigenous and Western traditions. His recent book, "Power & Place: Indian Education in America," co- authored with Vine Deloria Jr., addresses the philosophical similarities and divergences between Western and native world views. "Giving thanks is the preeminent feature of American Indian traditions," Wildcat said. But many American Indians see two problems with the Thanksgiving Day holiday: historical accuracy and an indigenous understanding of giving thanks that varies from the Western view. "First, I think the nearly fictitious account of the first Thanksgiving between the pilgrims and the indigenous Wampanoag people in 1621 explains part of the problem," he said. Too often, the first Thanksgiving has been "sanitized," removing the context of conflict between "colonists and indigenous people during the early New England colonial period." Different world views Wildcat also struggles with a Western view of giving thanks. Rather than being linked to one particular day of the year, Wildcat said, "Every day is a thanksgiving day where I live. I have come to understand this through experience." The Western view, Wildcat said, encourages rationalistic expressions of thanksgiving that rely on "abstract philosophies or theologies" while moving away from "the power of the experience itself." An indigenous approach to thanksgiving, Wildcat said, is one of active participation through attentiveness to the world around us. What comes out of that attentiveness "absolutely includes that sense of the sacred that surrounds us." We do not have the power to change past history, but we do have the power to acknowledge what happened between our cultures," Wildcat said. "A formal public apology from the president for the whole history of injustice and mistreatment perpetrated by the U.S. government, that apology would go a great distance in bringing peoples together." More realistic celebration of other U.S. holidays, such as Columbus Day, could also help improve mutual understanding. Copyright c. 2001, the Lawrence Journal-World. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: B.C. Attorney General defends getting Options" --------- Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2001 08:34:09 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="REFERENDUM" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canoe.ca/NationalTicker/CANOE-wire.B.C.-Legis-Reform.html November 22, 2001 B.C. Attorney General defends getting options on native referendum costs VANCOUVER (CP) -- Attorney General Geoff Plant defended Thursday the government's decision to canvass cost options on its planned referendum on native treaties, saying the choice has to be fair as well as affordable. Elections B.C. told the government this week that the referendum would cost $9 million to $18 million. A mail-in vote would be cheaper at $9 million while holding a vote in a similar manner to a provincial election would double costs, the organization told the government. During the May election campaign, the Liberals promised to hold the referendum within a year of forming government. During a question period that followed Plant's luncheon speech, Alliance MP Randy White told Plant he was "disturbed" to learn the government was considering a mail-in ballot on the referendum question. "The vote has to be seen to be valid and perceived to be valid," White said. "So what on earth was the thinking behind any idea that you could run a mail-in ballot?" Plant, who was speaking to a Fraser Institute forum on government reform, said the province felt obligated to examine all options. "The government is thinking about what is the most effective, efficient, fair and affordable way to give effect to that commitment and in that regard we asked Elections B.C. to give us options on costs." The attorney general also noted that Oregon "does electorally sound voting by mail so it's not something that is completely unique." He told reporters later that the referendum's "next important step" is to await the report of the all-party committee that is to determine the question on the ballot. That report is due by Dec. 30. Plant reiterated again that a referendum was necessary, even though it's been criticized by some, including First Nations. He said British Columbians have invested hundreds of millions of dollars over eight years "in a process that has not had many success stories and we think it's urgent to find a way to reconnect the public with treaty- making." Plant was also asked about possible free votes in the legislature, given the overwhelming majority of Liberal caucus, and how that would be reflected in non-confidence versus confidence voting. "It's easy to say we're going to provide a free vote for all non- confidence votes and then make all subsequent votes, confidence votes," Dave Elton, a director of the Canada West Foundation, told Plant. "How are you going to determine . . . which are confidence votes and which are non-confidence?" Plant said the "starting point" was that confidence votes traditionally include debate on the throne speech and budget. "We have also determined that it did not make much sense to encourage people to run for office on the (party platform) and then say they could vote against elements of that platform when they were elected." The Liberals promised several reforms to the way government works, including free votes on non-confidence matters. What that means, "time will tell," said Plant. He told reporters afterwards that, despite the government's pledge to significantly reduce the size and cost of most of the ministries, its commitment to electoral reform would not cost taxpayers. "Most of our commitments to electoral reform can be implemented without increasing the cost of government," said Plant. "That's one of the virtues of that part of our platform that we can deliver better government to B.C. without making that government more expensive." Copyright c. 2001, Canoe Limited Partnership. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Media turns a Blind Eye" --------- Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2001 08:11:22 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BLIND EYE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.ammsa.com/windspeaker/windeditorials.html#anchor447669 Media turns a blind eye Publisher's Statement AMMSA Publications The Sept. 5 edition of the Globe and Mail went far to define the history of the media's coverage of the relationship between Aboriginal and non- Aboriginal peoples in Canada. On the top of page A14 (the editorial section) is the paper's assessment of the Ontario premier's actions related to the death of an unarmed Native protester, Dudley George, at the hands of the provincial police at Ipperwash Provincial Park six years ago (Pressure is Building for an Ipperwash Inquiry). On the bottom of the opposite page is columnist Jeffrey Simpson's assessment of Assembly of First Nations National Chief Matthew Coon Come's remarks at the United Nations anti-racism conference in Durban, South Africa (It's Time to Put Down the Guilt Tool). One page examines the killing of an unarmed Native man by an on-duty Canadian police officer, and Premier Mike Harris' efforts to stonewall any investigation of his role in that unfortunate action. The next page tells Canadians that the cries of institutional racism and charges that authorities stack the deck against marginalized minorities are over-blown. The juxtaposition of those two pieces overflows with irony. The death of Dudley George is, in fact, evidence that Native people are subject to the kind of treatment that non-Native people would never be asked to tolerate in Canada. Canadians can walk a picket line or stage a peaceful protest without fear of being fired upon by police for exercising their right of free expression. Native people can not. Canadians expect that the establishment should not be allowed to hide behind its closed ranks to protect the people who may be responsible for the police opening fire on unarmed citizens who pose no immediate threat. Native people can have no such expectation, because neither Ontario nor Canada is willing to call a public inquiry into the Dudley George killing. Shortly after George was killed, Ontario civil servants stormed the legislature and were met with force by security guards. A couple of bruises and a sprain or two later, a full public inquiry was called into the actions of the Queen's Park security personnel. Native people across the country were amazed. Are a few bruised civil servants more important than a dead Indian? Canada's answer is yes. And because Canadians seem content to go along with this inequity, it reveals an unpleasant truth: there is much more racism in Canadian society than Canadians are willing to admit. Canada's preferred view of itself is as a progressive land free of racial inequality in the present day, a claim Jeffrey Simpson and so many others have been asserting since the festivities in Durban began. Canada's image as a progressive, tolerant, liberal democracy is proved, is it not, because it funds groups such as the AFN, such as women's advocacy groups, poverty advocates, etc., to critique Canada's approach to these interests? This would be high moral ground, indeed, if Canada did not squeal with outrage when the critique offered is something that questions its sanctified self-image. Can Canada be all that it claims if it does not, even for one moment, consider the charge? It is intellectually dishonest to challenge the fact that racism is a problem in this country. Only incredibly determined denial keeps that wolf from the door of the Canadian consciousness. In Durban, Coon Come said the unspeakable, offending the sensibilities of a citizenry whose eyes aren't willing to see the mountain of evidence before them. Chief Coon Come, vilified in editorials in every paper in this country, has shown us that Canadians can't handle the truth. And Canada's media are not prepared to do their job and look at that as a very important news story. Not convinced? Last year the police in Saskatoon were charged with driving a Native man to the outskirts of town and abandoning him in minus 30 degree temperatures. While several Native women where holding a candlelight vigil for other Native men they believed died because of this practice, a female friend of the police officers on trial attacked the women with the worst kind of racist abuse. It was caught live on tape, shown on the evening news that day and then forgotten. No discussion of what was really going on there. No debate about what it said about Canada's relationship with Native people. What we did hear a lot about, however, was hockey goon Marty McSorley's attack on Donald Brashear. We watched it replayed over and over, ad nauseam, on Canada's news networks. But racism in Canada, caught on tape in all its ugliness? The silence was deafening. The difference, of course, is Canadians love their hockey. Respectfully, Bert Crowfoot Copyright c. 1983-2001 by The Aboriginal Multi-Media Society (AMMSA). --------- "RE: Norton to fight Contempt Charge" --------- Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2001 08:15:54 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NORTON/CONTEMPT" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.daily-times.com/Stories/0,1002,6572%257E231951,00.html Monday, November 19, 2001 - 10:52:04 PM MST Norton to fight contempt charge By Bill McAllister/MediaNews Washington Bureau Chief WASHINGTON - Interior Secretary Gale Norton is planning to vigorously contest contempt of court proceedings and an effort to remove her from control of the billions of dollars in Indian trust accounts her department has managed. In a series of papers filed in federal court here last week, Justice Department lawyers argue that Norton should not be held in contempt because she hasn't disobeyed any specific court order. The lawyers also warn a federal judge that he doesn't have the power to place receiver over the accounts. The filings set the stage for a contentious Nov. 30 hearing at which U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth is to consider a number of motions against the former Colorado attorney general. Lawyers in the class action lawsuit against Interior have won orders requiring a full accounting of the trust accounts - something the department hasn't done for decades. Norton disclosed Thursday she was reorganizing the trust operations, removing them from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and placing them under a single individual who will report directly to her. Former Cherokee chief Ross O. Swimmer of Oklahoma, the BIA director in the first Bush administration, is reported to be the leading candidate for the job. Government attorneys conceded that Interior's handling of the accounts "has not been a model." The lawyers also told Lamberth, who has threatened to hold Norton in contempt, that the problems with the trust funds "are even more intractable" than Interior realized when it began to implement trust reform legislation in 1994. Norton's lawyers made their strongest arguments in resisting a motion to have a court-appointed receive take charge of the more than 300,000 accounts. They maintained that Lamberth cannot Constitutionally name a receiver. That would violate the separation of powers concept, by placing a judicial officer over what is an executive branch operation. "Shifting these duties from the executive branch to an officer of the judicial branch would contravene the (Constitution's) appointment clause, general principles of separation of powers," as well as three articles of the Constitution, the lawyers said. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., has given Norton's trust plan a lukewarm endorsement. "I tentatively support it, though I also suggested to Secretary Norton that she send representatives out to every tribe in order to get their input," Campbell said. Bill McAllister: bmcallister@denverpost.com Copyright c. 1999-2001 MediaNews Group, Inc./Farmington Daily-Times. --------- "RE: Indian trust Fund Manager Named" --------- Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2001 08:15:54 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRUST MANAGER" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.newsok.com/cgi-bin/show_article?ID=786503 Indian trust fund manager named despite controversy 2001-11-20 By Robert Gehrke Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON -- Ross Swimmer, a former chief of the Cherokee Nation and a Reagan-era official who advocated private accounting of $500 million a year in historically mismanaged royalties from Indian land, will help craft the government's new accounting system. Swimmer, head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs under President Reagan, will shape the Bureau of Indian Trust Assets Management, created last week by Interior Secretary Gale Norton. "It's an absolutely enormous task, and you either have to be masochistic or really enjoy public service" to take the job, Swimmer said. The bureau's birth came under the threat of contempt of court citations against Norton and nearly 40 other past and present officials for their failure to reform the trust fund, which manages mining, grazing, logging and other royalties from Indian land. For more than a century, the funds have been mismanaged. A class-action lawsuit on behalf of 300,000 Indians claims more than $10 billion has been squandered. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ordered the Interior Department to piece together how much it owes the Indians, and to fix its accounting system, but neither has happened, according to reports by a court- appointed watchdog. Frustrated with the progress, Lamberth last month called the Interior Department's actions "clearly contemptuous." In response, Norton moved trust fund management. As Reagan's BIA director, Swimmer proposed turning over part of the mismanaged Indian trust fund to private contractors, a move opposed by Indian tribes and later forbidden by Congress. Swimmer said Monday that privatization should not be ruled out as a way to repair the trust fund. Dennis Gingold, attorney for the Indian plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said appointing Swimmer, who failed to fix the Indian trust fund, is unacceptable. "We don't think anyone who has been involved in creating the problem should be appointed as the solution to the problem," Gingold said. Copyright c. 2001, Produced by NewsOK. --------- "RE: Indians criticize Changes in Trust Fund" --------- Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2001 08:34:09 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRUST FUND CHANGES" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/breaking/1123indiantrusts23.html Indians criticize changes in trust fund Gannett News Service Nov. 23, 2001 WASHINGTON - Interior Secretary Gale Norton's decision to create a new bureaucracy to fix the Indian trust fund is drawing fire from two prominent American Indian groups. Officials with both the Native American Rights Fund and the National Congress of American Indians blasted Norton for setting up the Office of Indian Trust Transition without consulting them. They say Norton's decision, announced Nov. 14, flies in the face of her promises to consult with citizens before taking action. The new office, to be headed by Ross Swimmer, the assistant secretary of Indian affairs under President Ronald Reagan, will take over the Bureau of Indian Affairs' responsibility for managing Indian trust fund accounts and for correcting decades of mismanagement of those accounts. The accounts collect gas, mining, grazing, logging and other royalties from Indian lands. "This move is a throwback to the old days when the BIA functioned in a mode of high-handedness and paternalism," said NCAI President Susan Masten, whose organization represents 250 tribal governments across the country. Keith Harper, a senior staff attorney for the Rights Fund, objected to Swimmer's appointment to head the new bureau, which will report directly to Norton. Swimmer had the opportunity to straighten out the accounts during his three years as assistant secretary but did nothing, Harper said. The Rights Fund represents 300,000 Indians in a lawsuit alleging that the Interior Department lost $10 billion in royalties. "When it comes to Indian trust accounts, he was another do-nothing secretary," Harper said. But Swimmer, a member of the Cherokee Nation and a lawyer in private practice in Tulsa, Okla., urged his critics to be patient and said tribes and other interested parties will have a say in how the new bureau does its job. Norton is simply trying to counter criticism that no one is in charge of fixing the situation, Swimmer said, and to show that she's serious about moving forward. Swimmer and Norton's assistant secretary for Indian affairs, Neal McCaleb, will travel to NCAI's annual convention, which starts Sunday in Spokane, Wash., to explain what is happening and to mend fences. "We'll start the work of not just consulting but planning with the tribes, working through a broad outline of how this effort will come together," said Swimmer, who has a background in banking. "Hopefully we can reach a point where the tribes are satisfied." Swimmer said that when he was assistant secretary, he tried to take the first step in fixing the problem by contracting with a bank to set up an accounting and investment system that would manage the trust accounts. Congress scuttled the plan because of concerns that the BIA would forget to track down missing money owed to Indians, he said. Harper said his organization will try to head off Norton's action in federal court. U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth will hold a hearing Nov. 30 on whether he will launch civil or criminal contempt proceedings against Norton, who is accused of misleading the court on the progress her agency has made in fixing its accounting system and figuring out how much it owes the Indians. The Rights Fund has asked the judge to appoint a receiver to sort things out, which could take years. Interior officials can't begin to say how much money is owed to Indians, and records are scattered around the country. Harper said some tribes fear that permanently taking away the BIA's responsibility to manage the trust accounts would be the beginning of the end of the agency. Once the trust accounts are gone, it's only a matter of time before the BIA's other responsibilities - education, health and social services, among other things - are farmed out to other non-Indian agencies, he said. Copyright c. 2001, azcentral.com. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Judge holds Secret Trust Fund Hearing" --------- Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2001 09:27:17 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SECRET MEETING" http://www.indianz.com/SmokeSignals/Headlines/showfull.asp?ID=law01/ Judge holds secret trust fund hearing FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2001 The federal judge overseeing the individual Indian trust fund held a private hearing on Wednesday to discuss critical computer security issues at the Department of Interior. According to a court order filed on the same day, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth held the secret session with two Department of Justice attorneys who are part of Secretary Gale Norton's defense team. The attorneys, Sandra P. Spooner and John T. Stemplewicz, are from Justice's civil division and are responsible for arguing Norton's opposition to a trust fund receiver and other related issues. Noticeably absent were representatives from the U.S. Attorneys office in Washington, D.C. The office is defending Norton from contempt charges. Also not present were attorneys for the class action Cobell v. Norton lawsuit. What was said during the secret, one-sided hearing is not known. Lamberth had the session recorded but has temporarily filed the transcript under seal, indicating he may make it public soon. But according to Wednesday's order, several issues were discussed, all related to computer security. They were: - Norton's desire to file certain parts of report prepared by EDS Corporation, a consulting firm she paid nearly $3 million to assess trust reform, under seal. These parts would discuss security of not only the individual trust but also tribal ones. - Norton's opposition to the publication of an investigation into computer security by special master Alan Balaran. He finalized a report earlier this month, which Lamberth temporarily placed under seal, again indicating he may make it public. - Norton's request to speak with a third-party contractor about security issues raised by Balaran. - Norton's opposition to a temporary restraining order being proposed by the Cobell plaintiffs. The plaintiffs filed the request under seal in response to Balaran's report. Lamberth has ordered the Interior to file its oppositions by next Wednesday, November 28. At this time, he will give the plaintiffs an opportunity to present their views. A key part of the fixing the trust fund involves placing tribal and individual trust account information on an Internet-like network known as the Trust Fund Accounting System (TFAS). The Interior converted approximately 1,400 tribal and 300,000 individual accounts to TFAS more than two years ago. Together, the trusts represent about $3.1 billion in assets gained from oil, gas, timber and other natural resource leasing on tribally-owned and individually-owned Indian lands. The Department of Interior had no immediate comment on the judge's latest actions. Copyright c. 2000-2001 Noble Savage Media, LLC/Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: Tribal Fate in Hands of a Few Federal Employees" --------- Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2001 09:27:17 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRIBAL FATE" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/local/48049_duwamish24.shtml Tribal fate in hands of a few federal employees Saturday, November 24, 2001 By PAUL SHUKOVSKY SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER On a sunny spring day in 1979, a lawyer for the federal government began the 2 1/2-hour drive from Portland to Tacoma in a race against time. He needed to see U.S. District Judge George Boldt right away. When he arrived at Boldt's office, he found the judge packing boxes. jWhat no one knew was that a year earlier, Alzheimer's disease had started eating away at the judge's reasoning and memory. On that day, his last on the bench, Boldt virtually rubber-stamped a government order stripping treaty fishing rights from the Duwamish, the Samish and three other Puget Sound tribes. Today, Boldt's ruling remains the legal basis for determining whether Indian tribes should be recognized or consigned to extinction. Years later, the events of March 23, 1979, would play a pivotal role in helping the federal government decide that the indigenous people of Seattle -- the Duwamish -- should not be recognized as a tribe. That determination, made Sept. 27, illustrates how the decisions that affect so many Native Americans are made by a small group of federal employees whose competence and fairness have been questioned in federal court. In the case of the Duwamish, it has resulted in name-calling and accusations of wrongdoing by those on both sides of the issue. And it has prompted the Interior Department's inspector general to launch a criminal investigation into allegations that Kevin Gover and Mike Anderson, two former assistant secretaries of the Interior for Indian affairs who worked on the Duwamish's request, may have stood to gain financially from their decisions. Despite the recommendations of the small group of anthropologists, historians and genealogists working for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Gover and Anderson thought the Duwamish, among others, deserved to be recognized. The decision, ultimately made by Anderson on President Clinton's last day in office, was later overturned by the Bush administration. Gover and Anderson deny the allegations against them. The criminal inquiry is drawing to a close, and so far, investigators have found no wrongdoing, according to a source close to the investigation. Gover and Anderson, though, still maintain that the federal recognition process, which essentially decides the life and death of America's Indian tribes, is rife with problems. Gover, for instance, questions the objectivity of those working in the BIA's Branch of Acknowledgment and Research, also known as BAR. "They give the decision maker a very skewed view," he said. "I thought they were wrong a lot of the time." Anderson, who replaced Gover after he returned to a private law practice, maintains that the actions by the Bush administration contain "significant legal and procedural errors," and is prepared to testify on behalf of the Duwamish. The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Interior Department are standing by their decision. Officials did not return telephone calls to comment on this story. In the meantime, the Duwamish Tribe -- which greeted Seattle's first pioneers 150 years ago off Alki Beach -- is preparing for what is likely to be a protracted legal battle, said tribal Chairwoman Cecile Hansen. The tribe had already challenged the order signed by Boldt, questioning his mental competence, but was rebuffed by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals -- even though it acknowledged that Boldt's verbatim adoption of the order called for "close scrutiny." A set of complex rules For Indian tribes, federal recognition is critical: It brings money for housing and health care, education and cultural programs; it allows tribes to put land into protected status for a reservation; and it permits them to open casinos and use the profits to pay for tribal projects. Without recognition, the chances are greatly increased that some tribes, such as the Duwamish, could eventually disappear. So in the 1970s, the BIA decided it wanted a set of rules to determine what constitutes an Indian tribe. Those rules, and the qualifications and objectivity of the people who helped draft and implement them, have been questioned. The rules were crafted by John Shapard, a BIA employee, who has a master's degree in recreation administration. In a deposition in a case involving the Samish Tribe, he said he was selected for the job because "I think nobody else wanted it." Shapard sought help from Dr. George Roth, an anthropologist who became a senior researcher at the Branch of Acknowledgment and Research. In an Aug. 31, 1995, deposition in the Samish case, Dr. William Sturtevant, curator of North American ethnology for the Smithsonian Institution and general editor of its encyclopedia, "Handbook of North American Indians," called Roth's work "kind of sloppy and unprofessional." Another key architect of the tribal litmus test is Scott Keep, a government attorney, who was sanctioned by a judge for misconduct in a case involving the north Puget Sound's Samish Tribe. Russel Barsh, a legal scholar at New York University on the rights of indigenous people, calls Keep "the shadow secretary of the Interior." Keep helped develop the litmus tests of tribal purity used in both the Boldt decision and in the federal acknowledgment process. The complex rules consider, among other factors, whether a group: - Has been continuously identified as an Indian entity by scholars, other Indian tribes, newspapers, or federal, state and local authorities. - Has continuously existing, distinct community from historical times as exemplified by social relationships within the group, ritual activity, shared language, marriage to other Indians. - Has maintained continuous political influence or authority over its members by settling disputes, allocating resources and establishing and enforcing norms of behavior. Case's 'tortured history' In the case of the Duwamish, those opposed to the tribe's recognition wondered why the political decision makers initially overruled the BAR professional staff. Part of the answer can be found in federal court records that call into question the staff's professionalism. And it's not the first time a local tribe has been dealt a potential death blow based on the work of BAR's staff. In 1996, after years of having its constitutional rights deprived by the BIA, the Samish Tribe finally won recognition as a result of a lawsuit. In ruling in favor of the Samish, U.S. District Judge Thomas Zilly of Seattle slammed the BIA for denying the Samish its Fifth Amendment right to due process. He cited the case's "protracted and tortured history ... made more difficult by excessive delays and governmental misconduct." Zilly wrote that he had "no confidence in the agency's ability to decide the (Samish) matter expeditiously and fairly." And the judge reserved special disdain for Keep, the Interior Department lawyer representing the BIA in the Samish case. Keep, said Zilly, showed an "apparent disregard for ... traditional standards of fair play." The judge ruled Keep in contempt of court. Although he later lifted the contempt citation, he left in place sanctions preventing Keep from ever again "taking any action" involving the Samish Tribe. Barsh, who represented the Samish in the case, argued that Keep was so invested in protecting the integrity of the tribal litmus test that he had prejudged the Samish petition to be recognized as a tribe. Zilly agreed. But Keep also played a role in the decision that may ultimately consign the Duwamish Tribe to extinction. Decision 'contaminated' Although a secretary in Keep's office said another lawyer has been assigned to handle the Duwamish case, four attorneys have told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that they have discussed the case with Keep. Calls to Keep and Neal McCaleb, the assistant secretary of the Interior who reversed the Duwamish's federal recognition, were not returned. But Anderson, the former assistant secretary of the Interior who made the ruling in favor of the Duwamish, said Keep participated in meetings on the Duwamish case. Another attorney, Mike McKay, the former U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington, said he spoke to Keep on the Duwamish case while representing the Muckleshoots, who were fighting the Duwamish's recognition. And Dennis Whittlesey, an attorney representing the Duwamish, said that another BIA lawyer told him that Keep was present in the room as he was having a conference call about the Duwamish case. Indian law expert Don Juneau, who was hired by the BIA as a consultant to help draft the decision, also confirmed Keep's involvement. Barsh, the lawyer who successfully sought sanctions against Keep for misconduct in the Samish case, said: "I'm very sure that the same circumstances contaminated the Duwamish decision-making process. "I would have to see some very convincing evidence that Mr. Keep had stayed away from BAR to reach the conclusion that he wasn't doing the same thing with all the landless tribes of the Pacific Northwest." Investigation continues After Gover and Anderson decided to recognize the Duwamish, the Chinook of southwest Washington and some tribes in New England, Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut's attorney general, filed suit to stop the recognition of two tribes in his state. He also excoriated Gover for overruling the BAR staff and said recognition "irreversibly establishes a new sovereign entity, removing property from local taxing powers, land-use control, zoning authority and state and local legal enforcement." At about the same time, The Boston Globe published a series of newspaper articles suggesting that in "spurning" BAR's recommendations, Gover and Anderson rewarded campaign contributions to the Democratic Party and tried to create lucrative new clients before they returned to private law practices. The Globe wrote that the two men "quietly reversed the findings of Interior Department staff historians to recognize three groups as Indian tribes, thus giving them the right to open casinos, a privilege often worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Then the two officials stepped directly ... into lucrative positions representing gaming tribes." Gover, though, does agree with his critics that the acknowledgment process needs to be reformed. For years, he said, tribes have complained "that the BIA is too slow in processing petitions, and that it invents standards of proof that are not in the regulations." TRIBAL HISTORY Here's a look at some key events in the history of the Duwamish Tribe: - 1851: First white settlement on land that later became Seattle. - 1855: The United States signs a treaty with the Dwamish, Suquamish and other tribes. - 1916-1917: Ballard Locks and Government Cut are opened, lowering water level in Lake Washington by 9 feet. Black River disappears and the Duwamish are forced to abandon their village. - 1925: Duwamish pursue a land-claims settlement with the United States. - 1979: U.S. District Judge George Boldt says the Duwamish are not entitled to treaty fishing rights because they no longer exist as a tribe. - Jan. 19: The Duwamish get tentative tribal recognition in the last hours of the Clinton administration. - Sept. 27: The Bush administration reverses the decision. P-I reporter Paul Shukovsky can be reached at 206-448-8072 or paulshukovsky@seattlepi.com Copyright c. 1999-2001 Seattle Post-Intelligencer. --------- "RE: Cayuga: Justice, 200 Years Later" --------- Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2001 08:47:17 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CAYUGA/JUSTICE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.com http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/26/opinion/26HERB.html November 26, 2001 IN AMERICA Justice, 200 Years Later By BOB HERBERT Perseverance. Fortitude. The Cayuga Indians are a tiny, poverty-stricken, widely scattered tribe that lost its ancestral home in western New York more than 200 years ago. Most of the Cayugas' 64,000 acres of land (in what are now the counties of Cayuga and Seneca) were ceded to the State of New York in a decidedly shady deal known as the Cayuga Ferry Treaty in July 1795. Another three square miles, the last of the tribe's land, was ceded in 1807. Although the Cayugas were paid a small sum for the land, there were problems. The deal was illegal. It did not have the required approval of the federal government. George Washington, who was president at the time of the initial transfer, expressed unease with what the state was doing, but the federal government did not intervene. The Cayugas endured extreme hardship. Many drifted away - some to Canada, others to various parts of the American West. Over many decades the tribe was reduced in number to only a few hundred families. But as one struggling generation followed another, there remained a dream among the Cayugas that they would someday reclaim the land lost in New York. Or, at least, its fair value. New York State has always been vulnerable to the Cayugas' claims because of the patent illegality of the land transfers. The U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1789, specifically and unequivocally forbade the type of treaties under which the state obtained the Cayugas' land. Sporadic efforts to settle the Cayugas' continuing claims failed, and in 1980 the tribe filed a federal lawsuit against the State of New York. Four years later a special panel recommended that the tribe be given 8,000 acres in Cayuga and Seneca Counties for a reservation, and a cash settlement of $15 million. Most of the land was publicly owned, and no private owners would have been required to give up their property against their will. The bitterness provoked by that proposal was stunning. As The Times's Michael Winerip reported in an article in August 1984, local residents threatened to use guns to keep Indians off the land. People complained at public meetings that they did not want their children going to school with "dirty" Indians suffering from dysentery and infected with lice. The opposition was led by a retired Tufts University professor named Wisner Kinne, who said, "People have no conception how frightening it was fighting them when the country was new." Pointing to a visitor, he remarked, "It was nothing for them to pick up someone like you, and put you in a fire, slowly, a couple of inches at a time until you'd be dead." The lawsuit was not settled and the Cayugas pressed on. In 1992 the federal government joined the suit on the side of the Cayugas. In 1994 Judge Neal McCurn ruled that the tribe had a valid claim to the 64,000 acres because the acquisition by the state was never ratified by Congress, as required by federal law. The case dragged on. In 1999 a court-appointed mediator proposed a settlement in the range of $125 million, to be split between the federal and state governments. The Cayugas accepted. But the state would not go along. Whether it realized it or not, the state was in a bind. The Cayugas had the law and the weight of history on their side. On Feb. 17, 2000, a federal jury in Syracuse returned a verdict in favor of the Cayugas, awarding them $36.9 million for the loss of their ancestral lands. But that did not include the interest that had accrued. Last month, in a ruling that got very little press coverage, Judge McCurn ordered the state to pay the Cayugas a total of $247.9 million, which is believed to be the largest resolution of an Indian land claim in U.S. history. This was a case that was based on bad faith from the very beginning and the shame is that it should have taken more than two centuries to correct the wrong. In the period immediately following the Revolutionary War, New York disagreed with the notion, embodied in the Constitution, that the federal government and not the individual states would have ultimate legal jurisdiction over the Indians. When the Cayuga land issue arose, the state simply ignored the law, said Martin Gold, a Manhattan attorney who represented the Cayugas in their lawsuit. "The state went out on its own," he said, "and did what it wanted to do, which was take the Indians' land for a song." Copyright c. 2001 The New York Times Company. --------- "RE: Takeover marks Crow New Beginning" --------- Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2001 08:37:42 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CROW TAKEOVER" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?section=local Takeover marks Crow `new beginning' By JAMES HAGENGRUBER Of The Gazette Staff CROW AGENCY - As employees of the Crow Tribe attended inauguration ceremonies for a newly formed legislature, the tribal headquarters were left largely empty and were taken over by an opposition group. Two groups now claim control of the tribe. Bureau of Indian Affairs police stood by as about 100 Crow peacefully took control of the locked building at noon Monday. The group used a key to enter the building and vowed not to leave until federal officials issue a decision on recent changes to the tribe's 53-year-old constitution. "These people are here because they do not accept the so-called new constitution," said Arlo Stray Calf-Dawes, one of the group's leaders. "It was adopted by means of lies and illegal acts." About a mile away, at the inauguration, Crow officials were surprised to learn their offices had been taken over. "We don't know what's going on, we're all here," said spokesman Leroy Not Afraid, who declined to comment further. Keynote speaker at the inauguration, Bill Yellowtail, congratulated Chairman Clifford Birdinground for his "radical, aggressive change" in implementing a new constitution. The new document transferred powers from the tribe's council, in which 6,000 adult members of the tribe had a vote, to an 18-member legislature. The legislature more accurately reflects the tribe's distinct clan systems and will reduce the winner-takes-all system currently in place, supporters say. It also creates an independent legal system. "You have had the courage to relinquish a great deal of power," Yellowtail told the chairman. Yellowtail is a tribal member, former state senator and former regional administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "We have now launched ourselves into the 21st century with a form of government I believe will be well-suited for our tribe," Yellowtail said. "Today is a celebration of your beginning. ... I think we have an opportunity to create a future here." Yellowtail urged the new lawmakers to hold public hearings and allow the press to observe meetings. Immediately after taking office in 2000, Birdinground barred reporters from attending tribal council meetings. "Always let business be conducted in the full light of day," Yellowtail said. Criticism is to be expected, he continued, but the new legislators need to work so the debate is focused on the "merits of the decisions, not by the quality of the process. ... You will have the trust and respect of the people to the extent you are willing to involve the people." Too late, said those occupying tribal offices. The takeover is a last-ditch effort to derail changes from the new constitution, said Tilton Old Bull, the deposed tribal secretary who is now considered leader of the tribe by the opposition group. The last time tribal offices were taken over was about 15 years ago. "We're the northern alliance. We're after the Taliban," Old Bull said. "We're going to corner them now. We've got to." Current tribal leaders passed the constitution in July without using the required secret ballot system and later changed the rules requiring sign- off by the federal government, said Faron Iron, a longtime critic of the administration. Current tribal leaders also doubled their terms of office. "This is something that was done behind closed doors," Iron said. Although the tribal council was no longer officially meeting, about 700 Crow refused to recognize the constitutional changes and held a council meeting in October. Votes were cast at the meeting to suspend current leaders and organize an interim government until new elections can be held in May, said Dexter Fallsdown, former public safety director of the tribe. Unless the Department of Interior says otherwise, opponents vow to follow the old constitution and occupy the tribal offices. "There's a proper way of doing it, and we're doing it the proper way," Fallsdown said. About three-quarters of the tribal headquarters were occupied by opponents of the Birdinground administration Monday afternoon. Three security officers loyal to Birdinground stood guard before a doorway leading to one wing of the building. Despite minor arguments, the two sides acted peacefully Monday, said BIA Police Chief Benito Morrison. Telephones at tribal offices were not being answered Monday evening and tribal officials were not available for comment. Morrison is asking for additional officers to help keep peace at the scene. When asked which government the BIA recognizes, Morrison responded: "I don't know." ------- James Hagengruber can be reached at 657-1232 or at jhagengruber@billingsgazette.com Copyright c. The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Nez Perce want to mark Real End of Trail" --------- Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2001 08:23:16 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRADITIONAL NEZ PERCE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp?date=111301&ID=s1053238 Nez Perce want to mark end of trail Center to teach tribe's children about culture, history, language John Craig - Staff writer NESPELEM, Wash.- A proposed cultural center here would mark what many believe is the real end of the Nez Perce trail. Officially, the Nez Perce National Historic Trail ends in Montana's Bear Paw Mountains, where Chief Joseph ended his tribe's famous 1,200-mile running battle with the U.S. Army in 1877. It was there, near Havre, where the reluctant warrior became the humanitarian who spared his hopelessly trapped and outnumbered people with a pledge to "fight no more forever." But the Nez Perce odyssey continued long after that. "We do believe that the true end of that 1877 war trail is in Nespelem, where the tribe ended up in exile," said Paul Wapato, treasurer of the Nez Perce National Historic Trail Foundation. The nonprofit organization of history buffs is lending its support to the idea of a cultural center that would present the history that followed the surrender. "There is some terrifically interesting history that ought to be presented over there," Wapato said. A Spokane resident, Wapato is a member of the Colville Confederated Tribes, which incorporates the Chief Joseph Band of the Nez Perce. But, like many in the historic trail organization, he is not Nez Perce. Those who are, like Nespelem rancher Charlie Moses, dream of a center that uplifts the present as well as the past. "We call it a cultural center because we don't want it to be just a museum," Moses said. He serves on a committee that represents members of the Joseph Band to the government of the Colville Confederated Tribes. The government serves a dozen tribes or bands, including the Joseph Band of the Nez Perce. The band numbered about 150 when it came to the Colville Reservation, and now has at least 350 members. By one estimate, the number might be closer to 1,000 if more detailed records had been kept over the years. Survivors of the Nez Perce war split at Wallula, Wash., in 1895 when they were returned to the Northwest after a seven-year exile in the Midwest. "It was basically a religious split," Wapato said. "According to Yellow Wolf (one of Joseph's lieutenants), all 278 were asked one simple question: Do you want to go to Lapwai (where the Nez Perce Reservation is based in Idaho) and be Christians or go to Nespelem and be yourself?" The government ordered Joseph to go to Nespelem, and more than half of the group followed him there. Moses and other descendants of the group that went to Nespelem envision a center in which Nez Perce children can work on their futures while others study the past. "We think it would be a really good place to have a library where the students in Nespelem could go to study," Moses said. "We think education is the key to our success." Besides being a visitor center and museum, and possibly a library, the proposed facility would have classrooms to teach tribal culture and the Nez Perce language. An offshoot of the Sahapatin language of other Plateau tribes, the Nez Perce language is distinct from the Salish languages spoken by natives of northeastern and north-central Washington. Originally from the Wallowa Valley of northeast Oregon, the Nez Perce have more in common with many Yakamas -- with whom they share a religion called Walasat. Moses said about 150 people on the Colville Reservation practice Walasat, which non-Indians know as the Seven Drums religion. Walasat ceremonies usually have seven drummers and someone to ring a bell that communicates with the spirit world. "We're singing a lot of Yakama songs up here these days, and some of the Yakamas have volunteered to come up here and interpret the songs for us," Moses said. Moses said the cultural center proponents hope to break ground in 2004, the centennial of Chief Joseph's death. "The most important thing is to let the world know that the Chief Joseph Band is alive and lives here in Nespelem, Wash.," he said. Copyright c. 2001, The Spokesman-Review. --------- "RE: Crazy Horse would fight Monument" --------- Date: Mon Nov 26, 2001 1:09 am From: "Jess Hansen" Subj: "Crazy Horse Would Fight Monument" Mailing List: ndn-aim Sunday, November 25, 2001 "Crazy Horse Would Fight Monument" By ERIN M. TWEEDY "In South Dakota, the proud faces of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Lincoln, chiseled into the Black Hills, overlook the vast lands that once belonged to the proud Lakota Nation. They represent a monument to honor white success through the early 1900s. Nearby, another monument will one day stand. Beginning in the 1940s, sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski worked to construct the Crazy Horse Monument in the Black Hills. Even after Mr. Ziolkowski's death, his family and associates work to make a gargantuan statue of the famed Oglala Sioux war chief, Crazy Horse, astride a brave horse. Despite Mr. Ziolkowski's intentions, however, his life's work does not honor the great war leader. Instead the monument is but another way to desecrate the sacred Black Hills. The Black Hills have historical importance to the Plains Indians. In 1868, the Lakota Nation signed the Fort Laramie Treaty that proclaimed the "Paha Sapa, the Black Hills, will forever and ever be the sacred land of the Indians" for "as long as the grass shall grow and rivers flow." As a result of this treaty, the Lakota and kin believed nothing and nobody would enter Indian Country let alone take the Paha Sapa from them, ever. However, in 1874 a young lieutenant colonel, George Armstrong Custer, led a gold-searching expedition into the Paha Sapa. Unfortunately for the Lakota, the expedition proved to be successful, with accurate reports of mass quantities of gold. Custer reported that gold could be found in the rivers and streams, and gold-hungry immigrants soon flooded Indian Country. This invasion prompted Crazy Horse and many other American Indians to pick up weapons to defend their land and families. Most Americans do not understand the importance of the Black Hills for the many different tribes' religions. For the Lakota, the Black Hills represented religious grounds. Many young warriors sought their visions there, where their ancestors would lead and teach them. They believed their dead wandered those Paha Sapas for eternity, a safe refuge for those who had gone to the Spirit World. In so many ways, the Black Hills represent a Lakota Church. The Crazy Horse Monument group may seem to make a commendable effort to honor that great war leader. However, for someone who had invested his life, so much money and time, Mr. Ziolkowski should have investigated the significance of those Paha Sapas to the Plains Indians. To chisel Crazy Horse's face and to destroy a portion of the Black Hills shows another example of how little white Americans know of Native Americans. The monument represents another example of white desecration to those hills. Crazy Horse so adamantly fought off the white invaders because he and many other Indians believed the European-Americans would desecrate this holy land of the Paha Sapas. Native Americans, even today, have several good reasons to distrust our government. U.S. history holds so many examples of when the government broke treaties, including the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty. For Crazy Horse and the other American Indians to bravely laid down their lives to prevent the infiltration of white immigrants into the Black Hills only points to their importance. Even today, Crazy Horse would likely again fight off white invaders. The Crazy Horse Monument group should respect those wishes, even now, to preserve those picturesque and irreplaceable mountains. Ironically, the Crazy Horse Monument will not even be a replica of what Crazy Horse looked like in life. Crazy Horse never sat for a photograph. He may be considered one of the most influential and respected American Indians of his time, and even today many people know of him. However, no one alive has any idea what he looked like. He refused to have his picture taken. He believed that the photograph would capture his soul, forever, and he would not be able to go to the spirit world. Crazy Horse obviously did not wish to be remembered for his likeness, but as a fighter for the Native American way of life. To this day, ownership of the Black Hills remains questionable. The grass still grows and the rivers flow, but American Indians no longer "own" the Paha Sapa. The 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie clearly grants ownership to the Native Americans, for ever and ever. The government has since acknowledged its thievery of the land and placed money in a trust fund in the Treasury Department for those tribes involved in the treaty. However, the tribes demand the return of their land. The Black Hills still occupy an important part in Lakota life even today. Evidence can be found in that the money has grown into billions of dollars and continues to grow. Even in extreme cases of poverty, however, most Indians refuse to accept those checks. For example, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, home to many Oglala Sioux in southwestern South Dakota, the annual income averages $3,400. Most natives would much rather have the Paha Sapa back instead of the much-needed money from the Black Hills' trust fund. The Crazy Horse Monument group attempts to honor that great Oglala leader, but instead it continues to desecrate those sacred Paha Sapas. Perhaps a more fitting tribute to Crazy Horse and other American Indians would be to preserve those Black Hills for future Americans." [Erin M. Tweedy, a senior majoring in American Studies at the University of Notre Dame, is a member of the Assiniboine Tribe of Fort Belknap in Montana.] Copyright c. 2001, The Salt Lake Tribune _________________________________________________________________ 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: Idaho Indians pull out of 2002 Games" --------- Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2001 22:04:13 -0800 From: "Jess Hansen" Subj: "Idaho Indians Pull Out of 2002 Games" Mailing List: ndn-aim http://www.sltrib.com/11162001/utah/149378.htm Friday, November 16, 2001 "Idaho Indians Pull Out of 2002 Games" By LORI BUTTARS The Salt Lake Tribune "For more than a year, officials from Idaho's Shoshone Bannock tribe have operated on the notion they would be the host American Indian tribe at the 2002 Winter Games, only to learn there is no such title. "This is a major disappointment to the tribe that this didn't pan out," said tribal Chairman Blaine Edmo on Thursday. "We had given a sum of money we believed was going to the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, but it turns out we were misled by representatives of the Native American 2002 Foundation." As a result, Edmo said, the tribe is pulling out of the Games all together. Earlier this month, Edmo fired off a memo to Salt Lake Organizing Committee officials expressing frustration over the Shoshone Bannocks not getting major roles in the Opening Ceremony and having to put up more money to cover the costs of Games-time hospitality and transportation -- all things they felt had been promised to them in return for $15,000 they had given to the Native American 2002 Foundation, a liaison group between SLOC and dozens of North American Indian tribes. SLOC attorney Brian Katz responded with a memo of his own informing Edmo>that "SLOC does not have a 'Host Tribe.' We have steadfastly refused to name one." In his memo, Katz explained that SLOC officials first learned of the host tribe designation in October 2000 but were assured by foundation President Larry Blackhair that the title was meant only for the foundation and not the organizing committee. Blackhair did not return calls Thursday seeking comment. But Katz, in a memo dated Nov. 3, 2000, chastised Blackhair for making the host tribe designation. "For the record, you have no right to make this appointment. . . ," Katz wrote. "You have put us in an untenable position. We now have to notify the Shoshone-Bannock Nation that it is not the 'host tribe,' and in fact, there is no host tribe. This is embarrassing to all of us." Edmo said that information never made its way back to the Shoshone Bannocks. In the ensuing months, tribe members went about building a Web site to recruit performers for the Olympic ceremonies and spent a weekend filming a documentary with photographers of International Sports Broadcasting Co., the broad- casting company sanctioned by SLOC to provide primary footage for the Games. "The implication was that we would be the host tribe for the Olympics, then we find out that we are being given head of state status, along with eight other tribes, and our role would be limited," Edmo said. "To avoid further embarrassment and difficulties for our people, we have decided not to participate in the Games." Edmo said tribal officials plan to ask Blackhair to give back the $15,000, which was to be the first installment of a "two- or three-year agreement" the Shoshone Bannocks had with the foundation. "We are just lucky we didn't get any further into this," Edmo said." Copyright c. 2001, The Salt Lake Tribune. ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> 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: Full-Blood to vie for Oklahoma Governor" --------- Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2001 09:27:17 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HANEY FOR GOV/OKLA" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.boston.com/dailynews/328/region/Oklahoma_state_senator_becomes Oklahoma state senator becomes first full-blooded Indian to vie for state's governor By Jennifer L. Brown, Associated Press, 11/24/2001 06:05 OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) An award-winning artist whose ancestors followed the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma seven generations ago has become the first full-blooded American Indian to vie for the state's highest office. State Sen. Enoch Kelly Haney, the nephew of the current chief of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and the grandson of a former chief, announced Friday he is running for governor. "Oklahoma has the potential to become a worldwide destination for business, education and culture," Haney said in announcing his bid. The senator, of Seminole and Muscogee descent, is the third Democrat to enter the race to succeed Gov. Frank Keating, who cannot run again next year because of term limits. Three Republicans have also announced their candidacies. The early favorite in next year's election is GOP Rep. Steve Largent, a former football star with the Seattle Seahawks. Haney said Friday that he would propose new incentives to encourage business development in small towns, improve education and entice production companies to make films in the state. He said he believes he will have widespread support from tribal leaders and businessmen. Still, he acknowledged that beating Largent would be difficult. "If it were an easy race," he said, "a lot more people would be in it." Haney has served in the Legislature since 1980, when he was first elected to the House. He now chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee. Haney also is an acclaimed artist whose work has been shown around the world. One of his sculptures, titled "The Guardian," will sit atop a new Capitol dome now under construction in Oklahoma City. It depicts an Indian warrior holding a shield. The circular shield represents the "wheel of life," based on an Indian belief that all things are equal in value. Although Haney's candidacy is unique in Oklahoma history, American Indians have run for governor in other states. Most recently, Indian activist Russell Means announced last month that he is running for governor of New Mexico. After New Mexico and South Dakota, Oklahoma has the largest percentage of American Indians in its population of any state. According to the 2000 Census, 7.3 percent of Oklahomans were American Indian. Copyright c. 2001 Boston Globe Electronic Publishing Inc. --------- "RE: Dine'tah: The Original Homeland" --------- Date: Sun, 18 Nov 2001 17:19:58 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DINE'TAH" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.thenavajotimes.com/Tribal_News/tribal_news.html# Dine'tah: The original homeland Navajo Nation museum hosts traveling exhibit By Nathan J. Tohtsoni The Navajo Times WINDOW ROCK (Nov. 15, 2001) - Few Navajos have experienced the sounds and sites located in the isolated area known as Dine'tah. Yet, Navajo songs and stories are filled with references to the area and the people who once resided there. The "Of stones and stories: Pueblitos of Dine'tah" traveling exhibit was unveiled Nov. 1 at the Navajo Nation Museum and Library here. Organizers hope visitors leave the exhibit with a small understanding of the area and a desire to visit the ancestral home of the Navajo people. It is believed that early Navajos called the numerous canyons and mesas home from 1700 to 1750. Droughts, sheep overgrazing, water shortages and raids from rival tribes and Spanish invaders eventually were too much as the Navajos abandoned the pueblitos and hogans that now reminisce of an agricultural livelihood. Left behind are pictographs and rock art that give a glimpse of the flourishing community. The vast area is located anywhere from 40 to 60 miles east of Bloomfield, N.M. It's a place of entangled dirt roads, no signs and few residences. While the pueblitos are difficult to locate and in some areas require a strenuous hike, the trip is worthwhile because the area was home for First Man, First Woman, Changing Woman, Shell Woman and Gambling Boy, the young man who defeated the gambler in Chaco Canyon. It is also the home of Gobernador Knob, the grandmother who watches over the Dine'. "Traditionally, those places are in our oral history," said Steven Begay, of the Navajo Historic Preservation Department. "It's a place that wasn't just discovered recently. The places that are named in stories and songs are there." The Historic Preservation Department and Archaeology Department co- sponsored the exhibit. Clarenda Begay, museum curator, first visited Dine'tah in 1994. When she returned three years later, the pictographs she took photos of were no longer there. Robbers had cut them out of the canyon walls or intruders destroyed them by shooting bullets. "A lot of them are no longer there to be seen by the public," she said. "That's a reason we really wanted to show this exhibit. When you walk through it, it's like you're back in time - that's how it's set up. One of the reasons we got the exhibit was it's an opportunity for people to learn about Dine'tah because you always hear the stories of the people who once lived there." The exhibit was rented from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the Museum of New Mexico's traveling exhibitions program. It will remain on display until Jan. 25. Clarenda Begay said the museum added its own pieces to the exhibit such as a basket that was removed from Dine'tah in the 1960s and was only returned - anonymously - to the Navajo Nation recently. A commentator's voice takes the visitor through a tour of the artifacts, displays, pictures and storyboards of the exhibit. There are some displays of interest like pottery, a cradle board, moccasin and Spanish weapons but none more interesting than a 17th Century Chinese porcelain bowl from the Ch'ing Dynasty. The bowl's path to Dine'tah was traced from China to Manila, Philippines, and Acapulco, Mexico, before traders exchanged the bowl for items found in the region. Dine'tah contains about 130 pueblitos and remnants of over a thousand hogans. Archaeologist have found traces of cornfields, sheep pens and rock art, which have similarities to contemporary sand paintings. Clarenda Begay said the Dine'tah exhibit is on par with the museum's mission of "making the museum an educational environment in regards to exhibits and activities we do here," she said. "Also to get the local people involved in heightening and protecting cultural resources and awareness of these areas." "Of stones and stories" joins an exhibit on the Treaty of 1849 and Treaty of 1868 and a Navajo Code Talker exhibit that runs until the end of January. "We're trying to develop exhibits we can utilize in our permanent exhibit," she said. "We're not bringing in exhibits that don't pertain to our permanent exhibit." A permanent exhibit is still a long ways from becoming reality, she added. It's estimated it would cost $5 million to develop a state-of-the- art exhibit that can be utilized by tribal residents, schools and non- Navajo visitors. To get a better understanding of Navajo life, she said elders are welcomed to schedule an interview with a museum staff member on all issues relating to Navajo culture, history and tradition. She added that lecturers and a one-day visit to Dine'tah could be planned later in relation to the exhibit. Copyright c. 1999-2001 Navajo Times/Navajo Nation. --------- "RE: Native Wisdom benefits Biologists" --------- Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2001 08:34:09 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NATIVE WISDOM" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.adn.com/alaska/story/736769p-784615c.html Native wisdom benefits biologists RESEARCH: Scientists use Eskimo know-how, high-tech tools to study ringed seal. By Doug O'harra Anchorage Daily News November 23, 2001 How do you follow a fast-swimming, deep-diving seal across polar ice? The initial ingredients are simple: Patience. A breathing hole. More patience. Follow that with a sheet of plywood, a secondhand transmitter, a dab of epoxy and at least one orbiting satellite. In a feat that married Inupiat seal-hunting know-how with Space Age gadgetry, villagers from Little Diomede Island worked with biologists last spring to capture and then track a ringed seal more than 400 miles through the frozen Chukchi Sea during the seal's annual northward migration. This unique collaboration between modern science and traditional knowledge marked the first time anyone has ever successfully followed a ringed seal through open sea ice by satellite tracking. It offered the first detailed glimpse of where the animals go and how deep they dive as they move offshore in the spring, according to project scientists. Between early May and mid-June, the seal traveled northeast from Diomede, sometimes diving as deep as 164 feet in search of food, according to a paper about research in the Bering Strait by seven scientists from the University of Tennessee, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and the University of Maryland. When the transmitter stopped working on June 19, the animal had reached a location about 100 miles northwest of Barrow. "It was fairly stout ice," said state biologist Gay Sheffield, one of the study's authors. "That's where they live." Unlike many polar studies involving complicated logistics and expensive expeditions, capturing this ringed seal was remarkably low-tech and economical, made possible by the common-sense ingenuity of several Native hunters from the village, according to Sheffield. "It's all about sharing," she said. "They came up with the idea on how to do it. And they were gracious enough to let me try." The project was just one offshoot of a broader effort to monitor marine life in the Bering Strait, where the Bering Sea flushes into the Arctic Ocean to create some of the richest marine environments on the planet. With support from the National Science Foundation, the Arctic Environmental Observatory has been sampling seawater and gathering tissue samples during the past two summers with help from villagers in Little Diomede and Shishmaref, the U.S. and Canadian coast guards, and investigators from Fairbanks, Maryland and Tennessee. "Little Diomede is a challenging, but rewarding place to work," said oceanographer Lee Cooper, the observatory's lead scientist, in a NSF release. "We couldn't have made any significant progress up there without the community's support." Each July, the scientists have sampled the water column and ocean bottom at productive locations while traveling as guests aboard the Canadian Coast Guard vessel Sir Wilfrid Laurier. For two seasons, the team has laid a temporary pipe about 600 feet into the strait and pumped seawater into a shed under the Little Diomede school to record temperature, salinity and other ocean characteristics. Ice tears out the pipe each fall, but the team hopes to install a permanent facility next year. "The whole idea of this is to get a sampling regime going 24-seven," Sheffield said. But some of the most innovative work focused on seals, a dietary staple for the 146 people who live on the small, mountainous island tucked in the middle of the Bering Strait about 680 miles from Anchorage and about 21/2 miles from Russia's Big Diomede Island. "What was rewarding about all this was having the hunters involved," Sheffield said. "These guys are tremendously resourceful." The smallest and most common of the four seal species associated with the sea ice, the chunky 150-pound ringed seals maintain breathing holes and raise pups in lairs. They eat Arctic cod and, in turn, provide tasty meals for foraging polar bears. Although biologists believe they number in the millions and serve a critical role in the marine ecology, no one has much concrete data on migration, feeding habits or population trends. During the first week of May, a pair of hunters rigged up an ice blind near a breathing hole on the sea ice a few hundred yards off the village, Sheffield said. When a seal emerged to bask in the midday sun, the hunter deftly pulled a sheet of plywood across the hole with a rope, preventing the seal from escaping into the ocean. "This was an adult, male ringed seal in rut," Sheffield said. "It was very mild mannered." Using five-minute epoxy, Sheffield took a small transmitter tag that had originally been used to track harbor seals in Prince William Sound and glued it to the seal's fur. The tag, which uploads data to the satellite when the seal surfaces, eventually falls off during the summer molt. When the animal was properly equipped, the hunters slipped the plywood off the hole. The people stepped back. "Down it went, and that was it," Sheffield said. "It stayed in the area for two weeks, and then it moved north." Doug O'Harra can be reached at do'harra@adn.com and 907 257-4334. Copyright c, 2001 The Anchorage Daily News. --------- "RE: Former Employment Rights Official Sentenced" --------- Date: Thu, 22 Nov 2001 08:16:12 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WHITE EARTH EMBEZZELMENT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=2678024&BRD=2174&PAG=461 Former official at White Earth Employment Rights Office November 21, 2001 Roderick Bernard HighElk, the former director of the Tribal Employment Rights Office (TERO) on the White Earth Indian Reservation, was sentenced Friday, Nov. 16 in United States District Court in Minneapolis for embezzling from a tribal organization. HighElk, age 57, from White Earth, was sentenced to 12 months and a day, by Judge Ann Montgomery in Minneapolis. One of the functions of TERO was to find part-time and temporary employees for various programs operated by the Tribal Council, including the Shooting Star Casino. During his guilty plea hearing in August 2001, HighElk admitted that from approximately May 1999 through July 2000, he diverted a total of $70, 200 TERO received from the casino as reimbursement to the White Earth Tribal Council for wages paid to part-time and temporary employees at the casino. HighElk admitted that he deposited the checks received from the casino into a bank account he opened at the White Earth Reservation Federal Credit Union under the TERO name that listed only himself as the authorized signatory. He used the proceeds for his personal use. The case is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney James Lackner. Copyright c. Detroit Lakes Tribune 2001. --------- "RE: Bill to open ANWR" --------- Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2001 08:10:38 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="OPEN TO OPEN ANWR" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.adn.com/alaska/story/735713p-783649c.html Bill to open ANWR looks for ride MURKOWSKI: Senator wants to tack measure onto economic bill. By Liz Ruskin Anchorage Daily News (Published: November 15, 2001) Washington -- Sen. Frank Murkowski, in his continuing endeavor to show there is broad support for drilling in ANWR, assembled black and Latino business leaders, Orthodox Jews, organized labor, seniors, veterans and Inupiat Eskimos for a press conference Wednesday on the Capitol lawn. Environmentalists drew a larger crowd to an anti-drilling press conference a block away at the same hour. They had Robert Redford. The political backdrop for these theatrics was the economic stimulus bill. Sen. Ted Stevens recently described it as the last train leaving the station that might open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. But it now appears unlikely to move with ANWR as a passenger. The bill itself is stuck in a partisan standoff between Senate Democrats, who favor help for the unemployed, and Republicans, who want to emphasize tax cuts. Neither side has enough votes to overcome procedural hurdles, even without the complications of ANWR. Murkowski, R-Alaska, took to the Senate floor Wednesday to argue there is no better boost for the economy than opening the refuge, which will generate federal lease revenues and create many jobs. One of his allies, Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, did offer the House energy bill, which includes an ANWR provision, as an amendment to the stimulus package. But his own party leadership is prepared to pull the plug on this strategy. Senate Republican leader Trent Lott of Mississippi said that if leaders can negotiate a bipartisan compromise on the stimulus bill, he'd urge dropping the energy amendment. The Senate majority leader, Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said if Republicans press for adding ANWR it will only prove they aren't serious about passing a stimulus bill. Craig said he has only Republican support to pin ANWR onto Daschle's version of the stimulus bill, the version even supporters say is doomed. But Murkowski and Craig say they have alternatives. One is the farm subsidy bill. "Most of our farmers understand that good farm policy is good energy policy, or vice versa, because they use energy in a very extensive way, so that is not an incompatible relationship," Craig said. The farm bill, though, is troubled by its own controversies, and a spokesman for the National Farmers Union said he wouldn't welcome adding a new one over drilling in the Arctic. "We're not really very receptive, especially since it has the possibility of making the farm bill less viable. And we need a farm bill this year," said spokesman Clarence White. The agriculture bill is of great interest to senators from farm states, and even the mention of attaching ANWR to it seems to get results, Murkowski said. "We've had preliminary discussions on a staff level with the majority leader that suggest that they would be willing to enter into some kind of an agreement to allow us to take up (the House energy bill) if we don't add it to the agriculture bill," Murkowski said. "That's very interesting." Another option, Murkowski said, is that the House might include its energy bill in the defense spending measure it sends to the Senate. A spokeswoman for Stevens said the senator had heard of the House bill option, although she did not mention any specific bill. Reporter Liz Ruskin can be reached at 1-202-383-0007 or lruskin@adn.com. Copyright c. 2001 The Anchorage Daily News. --------- "RE: Kids Sue Province: No Access to Child-Protection" --------- Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2001 08:34:09 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="KIDS SUE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canoe.ca/OntQueTicker/CANOE-wire.Native-Discrimination-Lawsuit November 21, 2001 3 native kids sue province for creation of native Children's Aid Society TORONTO (CP) -- Three aboriginal siblings are suing the Ontario government for discrimination because they don't have access to native child-protection services. The identities of the siblings, eight, six and two years old, will not be disclosed and they will be represented by a litigation guardian before the court in December, lawyer Jeffery Wilson told a news conference on Wednesday. "Why is it that there is a Children's Aid Society for Catholic families in the city of Toronto? Why is it that there is Jewish Children's Aid Society for Jewish families in the city of Toronto?" Wilson said. "And why is it that there is no similar Children's Aid Society for native persons in the city of Toronto?" Wilson pointed to affidavits by former Ontario premiers Bill Davis and Bob Rae stating that, in 1985, the provincial government amended the Child and Family Services Act to provide specific services for aboriginal children. "The only group that is specifically delineated in the governing legislation is Indian and native persons . . . because we, as a community, had done such an awful, miserable job in providing child-care services to native and Indian persons," Wilson said. The only way to provide such specific services to aboriginal children would be to create an autonomous agency to deal with their concerns, Wilson said. Currently, Native Child and Family Services of Toronto, which provides social services for natives, has to work under the higher authority of the Children's Aid Society. The fact that the Children's Aid Society ultimately decides the fate of native children "is a model that is systematically unfair and colonial, and teaches the community and our children that we are still subservient," said Mae Maracle, president of the Native Child and Family Services board. "You trust the people you know, and the history that aboriginal people have had with the non-aboriginal society has not been a good one, and is not one that has been built on trust." The native agency has been trying to become autonomous for years. Social Services Minister John Baird only heard of the lawsuit on Wednesday and said he had to review the documents before commenting on the case. But he said there is a "huge amount of change going on" within his ministry and that he was receptive to the idea of creating a separate agency for aboriginals. "I'm trying to focus all my energies right now on the existing reform that is currently under way," Baird said. "A wise person once told me: 'Don't bite off more than you chew."' Copyright c. 2001, Canoe Limited Partnership. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Miccosukee Sues to Limit Flooding on Tribal Lands" --------- Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2001 08:46:43 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MICCOSUKEE" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/miami/sfl-ptribe08nov08.story Miccosukee sues to limit flooding on tribal lands By Neil Santaniello Staff Writer November 8 2001 MIAMI -- The Miccosukee Tribe is again asking a federal judge to order the Army Corps of Engineers to ease flooding on tribal lands by opening water-control gates that have been shut to help an endangered sparrow. The closing of those gates along the Tamiami Trail on Nov. 1 made tribal lands in the central Everglades too waterlogged, the tribe argues in a motion filed Wednesday in federal court. In taking such "emergency" action, the Corps deviated from lawful water- management rules and violated the National Environmental Policy Act, the tribe argues. The tribe first brought the issue to U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore in an emergency hearing Saturday, when Hurricane Michelle and heavy rains appeared to be bearing down on South Florida. Tribal representatives said the storm threatened to further inundate Water Conservation Area 3A, just north of Tamiami Trail, where water levels are already higher than the norm for water management. In shutting the gates, the Corps said it was following protocol established to protect the Cape Sable seaside sparrow, which dwells inside Everglades National Park, just south of Tamiami Trail. The tiny bird nests near the ground and cannot reproduce when its breeding terrain is too sodden. Under its current rules, the Corps does not intend to release water until it rises high enough to spill over the gates. Ruling on Sunday, Moore said the tribe failed to prove the storm would cause immediate and irreparable harm to Everglades tree islands and wetland vegetation on tribal lands. The tribe responded by filing a second motion for a preliminary injunction and another complaint in federal court, this time without the hurricane as the impetus. The new complaint says existing high water will damage tree islands and wetland vegetation in the tribe's swath of Everglades, which also is critical habitat for another endangered bird, the snail kite. The Natural Resources Defense Council, which is fighting for the sparrow's survival, supports keeping the gates closed. When they are opened, "water drops right down on the most imperiled subpopulation of sparrows" in the western Shark River Slough, said council senior attorney Bradford Sewell. Copyright c. 2001, South Florida Sun-Sentinel --------- "RE: Tribes studying Shooting in Miller" --------- Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2001 08:34:09 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SHOOTING" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.argusleader.com/news/Fridayarticle2.shtml Tribes studying shooting in Miller By LEE WILLIAMS Argus Leader published: 11/23/01 Councils pass resolutions, write letters urging action Several tribal councils in South Dakota are weighing in on the handling of an incident in Miller earlier this month in which a shotgun was fired at a pickup occupied by five Lakota girls and their 20-year-old friend. The Crow Creek High School students were not injured in the Nov. 1 shooting, and two white youths from Miller have been charged in juvenile court. But some tribal leaders and Native American groups are angry about the delay in arrests and prosecution. They also say the Miller teen-agers should face prosecution for more serious crimes. Some tribal councils have passed resolutions supporting the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, whose Lady Chieftains girls basketball team played a game against Wessington Springs in Miller hours before the shooting. Other councils have sent letters to U.S. Attorney Michelle Tapken, asking for a federal investigation. And the Oglala Sioux Tribe on Pine Ridge is conducting its own informal investigation. "People need to know that all of Indian Country is looking at this case," said Jake Thompson, vice-chairman of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe. "And a lot of non-Indian folks are looking at it as well." Police later recovered a semiautomatic 12-gauge shotgun and one spent shell. Two weeks after the incident, Hand County State's Attorney Jim Jones charged two unnamed Miller teens in juvenile court with aggravated assault. Jones later said he will try to get the case moved to adult court. Jones did not return telephone messages seeking comment on the tribes' recent actions. Thompson said the shooting was on the agenda at a recent meeting in Bismarck that was attended by every tribal council in North Dakota and South Dakota and by delegations from two Nebraska tribes. "All the chairmen were there. All the BIA superintendents were there," Thompson said. "People are angry. We're all waiting to see what's going to happen. They have to be sent a message." On Nov. 20, five days after the meeting, the Sisseton-Wahpeton tribal council sent a letter to Tapken, expressing outrage and asking for federal intervention. "In response to the described incident, we request that the District of South Dakota United States Attorney's Office initiate an investigation and determine whether there has been a violation of the laws enacted by Congress that provides criminal and civil remedies to victims of bias- motivated crimes," the letter states. Tapken did not return telephone messages seeking comment on the letter. Thompson said all the tribes have children attending Crow Creek High School, which operates as a boarding school. "That's why it's so important to us," he said. "We're all Chieftains." The Oglala Sioux Tribe decided it needs more information about the shooting before deciding upon a course of action and is conducting its own investigation. At least one of the tribe's enrolled members was in the pickup that night. "It was brought to the council floor Tuesday and approved," said Lyle Jack, a tribal councilman. "We sent a person to collect affidavits from the participants, and we approved assistance for Crow Creek. We're going to have our own attorney look into the matter." Tom Iron, vice-chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, said the shooting's aftermath reminds him of the tense years following the occupation of Wounded Knee. "We live in a society where there's so much tension," Iron said. Iron said a different approach may be called for. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the city of Mobridge went through tense times following the death of Robert "Boo" Many Horses, who died in 1999 after being stuffed into a garbage can by four white youths following a night of drinking. After Many Horses' death, the Department of Justice sent two community relations specialists to the area to mediate problems between tribal members and the town. "They did an excellent job," Iron said. "We had a lot of racial issues, and I invited them to come down. We stood up and worked together. That could work here." Reach reporter Lee Williams at lwilliam@argusleader.com or 331-2318 Copyright c. 2001 Argus Leader. --------- "RE: Whiteclay Vendor pleads Guilty" --------- Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2001 10:24:27 -0000 From: "anne.bates" Subj: Whiteclay vendor pleads guilty Mailing List: ndn-aim http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u_div=3&u_hdg=0&u_sid=242511 November 15, 2001 Whiteclay vendor pleads guilty LINCOLN (AP) - A Whiteclay beer store owner has pleaded guilty to a state liquor violation that could result in a fine of up to $1,500. Don Schwarting, owner of the Arrowhead Inn beer store, faxed the guilty plea Wednesday to the Liquor Control Commission. The store was charged with selling alcohol on credit. The issue will be considered at the group's Dec. 12 meeting. He was scheduled to appear Tuesday before the commission, but canceled due to health problems stemming from a recent heart attack. If found guilty, the store could be fined between $500 and $1,500. The Arrowhead Inn is one of four stores in the tiny border town that sells millions of cans of beer each year to residents of the nearby Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Alcohol is banned on the reservation, which has one of the nation's highest alcoholism-related mortality rates. ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe to this group,send an email to: ndn-aim-subscribe@egroups.com Archived on line at: http://www.eScribe.com FREE LEONARD PELTIER --------- "RE: Native Prisoner" --------- Date: Tuesday, Nov 27, 2001 7:48 PM From: "Janet Smith" Subj: Native Prisoner News Subj: Prison Pen Pals I am grateful to the Native American Inmates and Families Support Group for allowing me to access their database of Native American inmates requesting pen pals. The full list can be found at http://www.angelfire.com/wy/nainmatessupportgrp/PEN, along with a good basic discussion of what you can send, and what is forbidden (customized to several different states and institutions, as requirements differ). Charles Hoke #861206 ISP P.O. Box 41 Michigan City, Indiana 46361 Looking for Native American pen pals to learn more of our traditions, culture and heritage. (A way of life) But will answer all. Herb Boyd #45062 Willard-Cybulski C.I. P.O. Box 2400 Enfield, Ct. 06082 Tribe: Pequot Clarence Lenocher #98862 P.O. Box 41 Michigan City, In. 46361 I am 21 and looking for new friends. I like music, poetry, boxing, animals and people.Release date:12/18/64. John Jaqade #772328-02116 Union Correctional Institution P.O. Box 221 Raiford, Florida 32083 John has NO family and needs pen pals badly. Lonnie Dickerson #29808 E Dorm E 53 ISP PO Box 41 Michigan City, In. 46361 B/D May 11,1957:Rel. Date:2023 Looking for life long friends. ----------------------------------- If you know of a Native American inmate who would like to correspond with brothers or sisters on the outside - please drop me a line with whatever information about them they'd like shared. Janet Smith Owlstar Trading Post http://www.owlstar.com owlstar@speakeasy.org --------- "RE: History: Carlisle Indian School" --------- Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2001 20:43:58 -0500 From: Barbara Landis Subj: OCTOBER 26, 1888 INDIAN HELPER, Carlisle Indian School. [Editorial Note: These reprints are being included in this newsletter so that you might know the mind of those who ran institutions like Carlisle.] THE INDIAN HELPER ----------------------------- ~~ FOR OUR BOYS AND GIRLS ~~ ============================== VOLUME IV CARLISLE, PA. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1888 NO. 11 ============================== WHAT though dark clouds surround us, And shadows cloud our way What though the winter's with us It will not always stay! The summer soon returning With sunshine fills the land, God scatters blessings round us With free and bounteous hand. Though sunlight of the spring-time Will radiance bright impart By far the brightest sunshine, Is sunshine in the heart. ---------- PETER POWLASS. --------- ONEIDA, WISCONSIN, Oct. 11th, 1888. DEAR FRIEND AND TEACHER: --I am well with the exception of the bad cold which I have recently taken. I visited the state that you represent (Michigan) this summer, and to say I enjoyed myself immensely will only be telling the truth. Agent Jennings, of late, called at Oneida and told us that there is an appropriation made to buy Oneida Indians some farming implements; this will be entirely new victuals to the Oneidas and I don't know but that their stomach is in no condition for it. This is my view, of course I am no old doctor by any means. Quite a number of the Oneidas have put in their winter wheat. The price of wheat is over a dollar a bushel I just built me a corn-crib and it is now very nearly full. Levi Elm, Miss Dittes' pupil while at Carlisle, has bought of me a brand new wagon. He seems right well and intends keeping up. Miss Electa Cooper has spent most of her time with a white family near DePere. Martin Hill, Jr., is around here looking as well and strong as a blacksmith. Miss Lucy Jordan is on the reservation making acquaintances and visiting her relatives Our missionary, the Rev.J Howd is moving this week out of the Reserve to take residence in DePere. I am told that Mr. H. was here some twenty years ago, and was liked by all as a missionary, and when he came back to be their missionary again the people looked forward to the near day when things relative to Church affairs would be greatly improved. He has done a good deal for the people within the last three years that he has been with them, with the assistance of his kind-hearted wife. Mr. H has been afflicted more or less with rheumatism during the winter. I pitied the old soldier but could do him no help. His farewell sermon last Sunday was very touching and instructive. The good wishes of his many friends go with him. We expect the new missionary, Mr. Pike, to preach in place of Mr. H__ next Sunday. I am only having ten scholars now-a-days on account of the larger ones being at work, harvesting corn. Thk news of Jemima's illness caused a great deal of anxiety in our minds and we do most sincerely hope that she will recover should the Almighty see fit. I learn through the HELPER that the Debating Societies are being re-organized at the school. Good for you, I say to all the m