From gars@speakeasy.org Thu Jan 31 14:38:13 2002 Date: 30 Jan 2002 01:03:02 -0000 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews10.005 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 Wotanging Ikche and Native American News Copyright c. 1996-2002 nanews.org ==>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 10, ISSUE 005 | Country than is reported in | O o o o o O | this weekly newsletter. For | O o O February 2, 2002 | For daily updates & events | O o O | go http://www.owlstar.com/ | O | dailyheadlines.htm | Mvskogee wind moon +-----------------------------+ Passamaquoddy piyatokonis/moon when spruce tips fall <================<<<< >>>>================> This issue contains articles from www.pechanga.net; www.owlstar.com; www.indianz.com; ndn-aim and Innu-L Mailing Lists; UUCP email; newsgroup: alt.native 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.'" "Out of the Indian approach to life there came a great freedom, an intense and absorbing love for nature, a respect for life, enriching faith in a Supreme Power and principles of truth, honesty, generosity, equity and brotherhood as a guide to mundane relations." __ Chief Luther Standing Bear, Oglala +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! Let me first say how grateful I am to actually be able to turn on the television and see a program that addresses concerns of the First Peoples of Turtle Island. We have "The Dish" installed at our house and the programs are available Thursday night at 7pm Pacific/10 pm Eastern on channel 9410/WorldLinkTV. WorldLinkTV is also available on DIRECTV channel 375. The Thursday program is also rebroadcast at the same times the following Sunday. The program last week, "Drumbeat for Mother Earth" is part of the "First People's TV" series made possible by DreamCatchers, a non-profit organization working to bring Native films to a wider audience. This past Thursday Harlan McKosato (Sauk/Ioway) of "Native America Calling" hosted a call-in on POPs, Persistant Organic Pollutants, chemical substances that persist in the environment, bioaccumulate through the food web, and pose a risk of causing adverse effects to human health and the environment. It was noted the Penobscot, Oneida of Wisconsin and other tribes can no longer catch fish, one of their treaty rights, due to Polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs) accumulating in the fish. When the PCBs are incinerated the resultant dioxin is transported great distances, affecting natural cycles globally. Furthermore, because of the tendency of POPs such as PCBs to "sink", or gather, in cold regions the Innuit, G'wichin and other cold region People are now suffering cancer and related diseases in ther 30s and 40s. There is an article in this issue noting that American Indians may have suffered more exposure to radiation from the Hanford nuclear reactor than was previously estimated. Only now are we beginning to realize how pernicious and devastating the effects of the uranium mines are to the Navajo. Many of them have for decades lived in hogans constructed, in part, from uranium mine tailings (rubble and stones piled outside as a mine is dug.) Similar horror stories arose from iron ore tailings in Minnesota polluting the waters a few years ago. Several naturalists accounted for the disappearance of many varieties of fish due to pollution from mining. Must the dominant society kill Earth and all that dwell on her before these irresponsible activities, borne of industrial greed, cease? Clip this and make your congressional representatives aware of what their lack of conscience is doing to our entire world, and especially to the First Peoples. ** Note: This Thursday (repeated Sunday) the "First People's TV" program will be the initiative in the Yukon to bring together traditional sentencing circles with the Canadian justice system. In sentencing circles the focus is on healing, rather than punishment. 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 ---------- - Crossings - Guest Editorial: - Radiation Doses Alcohol Problem on Reservations may have been Underestimated - Group plans to fight EPA - Telescope prompts - Karigan Projects nearly Complete Indian Lands Protest - New Mexico Indian Affairs - Natives fear Trust Plan Official Ousted would hurt Villages - Threat forces Closure: - Guest Opinion: Navajo Our Youth Tribes Struggle with Welfare Cuts - New Evidence halts - Interior to begin Saskatchewan Inquest making Some Payments - Native Prisoner - Guest Opinion: -- IRONHOUSE: Visit With Hawk Norton/Century of Mistakes -- New Mexico: - Tribes prepare Alternate Trust Plan Adviser Support Considered - Indians seek `Marshall Plan' -- New Prisoner Contact Site on Reservations - John Rustywire: - Allottees Royalty Payments Problems The Sweet Taste of Freedom - A Year of Backsteps under Bush - Poem: One Acorn - GOP targets Tribal Status - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - Nault pushed to revise - Kid-run Radio Station Controversial Policy starts up on Reservation - RCMP spent $2.8 Million - Native Speakers helping Policing Burnt Church Preserve Indian Languages - Flaherty: - Dedication of Native Health-care Comments Tribal Health Facility - Ontario vows Dialogue - Native America Calling after Flaherty Insensitivity - Upcoming Events --------- "RE: Crossings" --------- Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2002 08:07:13 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CROSSINGS" January 24, 2002 David Allen Mousseaux PINE RIDGE - David Allen Mousseaux, 37, Pine Ridge, died Saturday, Jan. 19, 2002, in Pine Ridge. Survivors include his parents, Owen and Oletha Eagle Elk, Pine Ridge; one son, Vincent Mousseaux, Pine Ridge; one daughter, Elizabeth Mousseaux, Pine Ridge; three brothers, Walter Mousseaux and John Mousseaux, both of Pine Ridge, and Darrell Eagle Bull, Calico; and one sister, Lejtoi Eagle Bull, Pine Ridge. A one-night wake will begin at 3 p.m. today at Billy Mills Hall in Pine Ridge. Mass of Christian Burial will be at 1 p.m. Friday, Jan. 25, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Pine Ridge, with the Rev. Bill Pauly officiating. Burial will be at St. Anne's Catholic Cemetery in Wolf Creek. Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements. Vincenthia Kate Brings Plenty PINE RIDGE - Vincenthia Kate Brings Plenty, 34, Pine Ridge, died Saturday, Jan. 19, 2002, in Pine Ridge. Survivors include her fiance, Jack Harrowa, Rapid City; two sons, Tony Vocu Jr. and Vincent Mousseaux, both of Pine Ridge; one daughter, Elizabeth Mousseaux, Pine Ridge; her parents, Vincent and Lucille Brings Plenty, Pine Ridge; one sister, Madeline Janis, Pine Ridge; and five brothers, Donroy Brings Plenty, Darrell Brings Plenty, Duane Brings Plenty, Darren Brings Plenty and Delano Brings Plenty, all of Pine Ridge. A two-night wake will begin at 4 p.m. today at Billy Mills Hall in Pine Ridge. Services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 26, at Billy Mills Hall, with David Brings Plenty officiating. Wilmer Mesteth will officiate over traditional services. Burial will be at Holy Cross Episcopal Cemetery in Pine Ridge. Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements. January 25, 2002 Charles W. Swallow RAPID CITY - Charles W. Swallow, 71, of Rapid City, died Wednesday, January 23, 2002, at Rapid City Regional Hospital. He was born June 30, 1930, at Oelrichs, S.D., to Charles Swallow and Zoe Monroe Swallow. He grew up and attended school in Pine Ridge, S.D. He served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean Conflict and traveled around the world on a goodwill tour. On July 25, 1952, he married Gladys Gray Day and together they raised two children. Charles worked for the Federal Home Loan Bank Board as a bank examiner in Denver, Colo., where he was the only Indian Bank Examiner in the United States. Next, he accepted the position of Area Supervisory Investment Company Examiner for the Small Business Administration in San Francisco, Calif. In 1970 he relocated to Washington, D.C. where he worked as the Division Chief for Finance and Credit for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He retired from the U.S. Government in 1973 and accepted a position with the American Indian National Bank in Washington, D.C., where he later became their President and CEO. Seven years later, Charles retired to Phoenix, Ariz. He and his wife were avid golfers and he won many golfing tournaments in Arizona and North and South Dakota, including the Cave Creek Men's Club Senior Club Championship in Arizona in 1992 and two Hole-in-One trophies. He was preceded in death by his parents and wife. Charles will be greatly missed by his family and friends. Survivors include his sisters, Berniece Swallow Stone of Pine Ridge, S.D., and Marie Scherer of Monrovia, Calif.; his brothers, Woodrow "Babe" Swallow of Houston, Texas, and James Swallow of Green Briar, Ark.; his son, Michael T. Swallow of Bismarck, N.D. , and daughter Adrienne Swallow of Sedona, Ariz.; two grandchildren and one great-grandchild; and numerous nephews and nieces. Visitation will be from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday, January 27, at Behrens Funeral Home. A graveside service will be held at Holy Rosary Mission, Red Cloud Indian School in Pine Ridge, S.D., on Monday, January 28, 2002, at 11 a.m. January 26, 2002 Kraig Black Horse Farland WAKPAMNI LAKE - Kraig Black Horse Farland, infant son of Frederick and Nora Farland of Phoenix, was born and died Saturday, Jan. 19, 2002, in Phoenix. Survivors include his parents; his paternal grandparents, Ned and Nadine Farland, Phoenix; his maternal grandparents, William and Nadine Blue Bird, Batesland; and one brother, Kane Farland, Phoenix. A one-night wake began Friday, Jan. 25, at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Wakpamni Lake. Services will be at 10 a.m. today at the church, with the Rev. Cordelia Red Owl officiating. Burial will be at St. Andrew's Episcopal Cemetery. Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements. Copyright c. 2002 The Rapid City Journal. -=-=-=- January 28, 2002 Harry H. Yazzie Harry H. Yazzie, 79, of Shiprock died Friday, Jan. 18, 2002, at San Juan Regional Medical Center in Farmington. He is survived by his wife, Isabelle; two sons, Duane "Chili" Yazzie and Teddy W. Yazzie; and two daughters, Phyllis Ashike and Shirley Yazzie. Funeral services are pending with Chapel of Memories Funeral Home in Kirtland, (505) 598-9636. Copyright c. 1999-2002 MediaNews Group, Inc./Farmington Daily-Times. -=-=-=- January 23, 2002 Alanna Nicole Archie FORT DEFIANCE, Ariz. - Service for Alanna Archie, 17, will be held at 10 a.m., Thursday, at the Western Indian Ministries, Tse Bonito. Pastor Lawrence Harper will officiate. Burial will follow in Fort Defiance Community Cemtery. Visitation will be held one hour prior services. Archie died Jan. 20 in Phoenix. She was born March 25, 1984 in Gallup into the Bitter Water People Clan for the One Who Walks Around Your People Clan. Archie attended Window Rock High School and Tempe High School. Her hobbies included poem writing, listening to music and swimming. Survivors include her parents, Melissa Archie of Phoenix and Gerald Notah of Tucson, Ariz.; brothers, Leland Archie and Marklen Keeto both of Fort Defiance, Ariz.; sisters, Ashleigh Keeto of Fort Defiance, Ariz. and Victoria Notah of Tuscon; and grandparents, LeVerne Archie of Fort Defiance, Teresa and David Notah of Hunters Point, Ariz. Archie was preceded in death by her grandfather, William L. Archie and great-grandmother, Louise D. Manuelito. Pallbearers will be Steven Archie, Phillip Notah, Franco Brown, Steven Sanderson, Lawrence Notah and Darren Nez. The family will receive friends and relatives after the burial services at Fort Defiance Chapter House. Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Grace Teller Craig CROWNPOINT - Services for Gracie Craig, 65, will be held at 10 a.m., Thursday, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Crownpoint. President Montson will officiate. Burial will follow at Crownpoint Comunity Cemetery. Craig died Jan. 20 in Crownpoint. She was born April 16, 1936 in Crownpoint into the Black Streak People Clan for the Edge Water People Clan. Survivors include her husband, Johnson E. Craig of Crownpoint; son, Jackson Craig of Crownpoint; daughters, Coleen Arviso of Columbus, Ohio, Jacqueline Bates and Joleen Craig both of Crownpoint; sisters, Marle Mariano of Crownpoint, Bernice Martin of Tohatchi, Alice Collins, Kathy Marianito and Lilly Thomas of Iyanbito; brothers, Charley Teller Jr. of Crownpoint, Milton Teller of Fort Wingate, Clark Teller and Glen Teller both of Pinedale and nine grandchildren. Craig was preceded in death by his parents, Mary and Charley Teller Sr. and brothers, Ernest Teller Sr. and Sammie Teller. Pallbearers will be Jason Arviso, Alfred Bates Jr., Boyd Benn, Marvin Collins, Jackson Craig and Shawn Mariano. Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Jessie Gorman Franklin GALLUP - Services for Jessie Franklin, 87, will be held at 11 a.m., Thursday, Jan. 24 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Snow Flake, Ariz. Burial will follow in Snow Flake Community Cemetery. Franklin died Jan. 19 in Gallup. He was born Feb. 24, 1914 in Casa Butte, Ariz. into the Red Runing into the Water People for the Cliff Dwellers People. Survivors include his son, Bennie Franklin of Phoenix; daughter, Bernice Curtis of Sanders, Ariz.; 26 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. Frankin was preceded in death by his wife, Beatrice White Franklin; mother, Bah Franklin; son, Tom Franklin; daughter, Marie Franklin; brother, Tillman Franklin and sisters, Bella Preston, Mary Silversmith and Helen Thomas. Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Victor Etsitty NASCHITTI - Services for Victor Etsitty, 86, will be held at 10 a.m., Thursday, Jan. 24 at the Christian Reformed Church, Naschitti. Phillip Destea will officiate. Burial will at Naschitti Community Cemetery. Etsitty died Jan. 20 in Gallup. He was born Aug. 15, 1915 in Naschitti into the He Who Walks Around for the Towering House People. Etsitty was employed with the Pacific Railroad,as a silversmith and carpenter. He was a chapter official for the Naschitti Community. Survivors include his son, Edison Etsitty of Naschitti; daughters, Roseanne Kellywood of Shiprock, Edith Nelson of Rio Rancho, Caroline Etsitty, Ella E. Becenti and Clara Etsitty-Hoskie all of Naschitti; 17 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren. Etsitty was preceded in death by his wife, Susie Etsitty; son Arthur Etsitty and sisters, Edith Begay and Stella Begay. Pallbearers will be Lyle Merle Becenti, Jerry Begay, Jonthan Kellywood, Vernaniel Lee, Andres Perry and Max Kellywood Jr. The family will receive friends and relatives after the burial services at Naschitti Chapter House. Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements. January 24, 2002 Marcus Begaye NASCHITTI - Services for Marcus Begaye, 30, will be held at 10 a.m., Friday, at Naschitti Christian Reform Chruch. Rev. Jerome Sandoval will officiate. Burial will follow at Naschitti Community Cemetery. Begaye died Jan. 21 in Shiprock. He was born April 27, 1971 in Shiprock into the Salt People Clan for the Water Flows Together People Clan. Begaye graduated from Tohatchi High School, attended Haskell Junior College, Tuff Hedeman, Lyle Sankey and Ted Nuce Bullriding Schools, Iron Worker's School, Chicago, Ill. and the UNM-Gallup for a certificate in Auto Mechanics. He served in the U.S. Army. His trade was iron work. Survivors include his wife Gloria Tom of Towaoc, Colo.; daughters, Athena Naomi and DoyJean House both of Towaoc; mother, Linda Livingston of Naschitti; brothers, Lucius Begay of Naschitti and Christopher Begaye of Lake Valley; sisters, Lucinda Lou Tailfeathers of Browning, Mont., Louise ThreeIrons of Lodge Grass, Mont., Samantha Begaye of Naschitti and Samuelita Begaye of Teec Nos Pos, Ariz.; grandmother, Victoria Livingston of Naschitti and two grandchildren. Begaye was preceded in death by his father, Samuel Begaye; and grandparents, Tony Livingston, Joe Dineh Yazzie. Pallbearers will be Lucius Begaye, Ernie Henry, Christopher Begaye, Cameron Three Irons, Ronald Tailfeathers, Keith Pine, Luther Livingston and Raymond Smith. Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements. January 25, 2002 Emerson Jerry John PINEDALE - Services for Emerson John, 33, will be held at 1 p.m., Saturday at Tse Bonito Chapel. John died Jan. 22 in Gallup. He was born Dec. 17, 1968 in Gallup into the Dark Streak in Wood or Forest People Clan for the Red Running into the Water People Clan. John graduated from Hillcreast High School, Sandy, Utah. He received the Eagle Scout Award and appeared in the movie, The Windwalker. Survivors include his sons, Preston Emerson John and Emerson Jerry John Jr. both of Gallup; parents, Anita and Harry Pete both of Pinedale; brothers, Gary J. John of Chinle, Ariz., Jim J. John of Albuquerque and Larry J. John of Window Rock; sisters, Marie Showie of Fort Defiance, Ariz. ., Julia Baloo of Pinedale and Rosita Smith of Mentmore. Pallbearers will be Gary J. John, Jim J. John, Larry J. John, Terry J. John Jr., Timothy Showie and John R. Rodriquez. Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Copyright c. 2002 the Gallup Independent. --------- "RE: Radiation Doses may have been Underestimated" --------- Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2002 09:10:18 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="RADIATION DOSES" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.montanaforum.com/rednews/2002/01/25/build/tribal/hanford Radiation doses may have been underestimated for Indians The Associated Press Friday, January 25, 2002 KENNEWICK, Wash. (AP) - A new report suggests that American Indians may have suffered more exposure to radiation from the Hanford nuclear reservation than was previously estimated. "There's always been that big concern," said Bill Burke, one of the leaders of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon. Indians may have eaten more fish from the Columbia River, which borders Hanford, than white farmers and other people living in the area and prepared it in a way that exposed them to more potentially cancer-causing radiation, according to a draft report prepared for the U.S. government by Risk Assessment Corp. The federal government spent $25 million in the 1990s to develop comprehensive estimates of the amounts and types of radiation people were exposed to during the four decades that Hanford made plutonium for the nation's nuclear arsenal. The study was presented Wednesday at the Inter-Tribal Council for Hanford Health Projects. No new estimates have been made on the potential exposure levels for tribal members, but the study did conclude that earlier estimates may have been too low. Much of the Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction project was devoted to estimating the exposure rates for people living downwind from the nuclear reservation when radioactive iodine was released into the atmosphere in the 1940s and early 1950s. But the project also examined the contamination in the Columbia River by radioactive isotopes from water that had been used to cool fuel rods at the plutonium-making nuclear reactors. The dose reconstruction project concluded, and the new study confirmed, that most of the danger from the river contamination would be from eating fish that had accumulated radiation. The project assumed that people ate about 90 pounds of fish per year, said Ed Liebow, a cultural anthropologist and consultant on the new study. But historians and representatives of tribes that fished downstream from Hanford said that fish were so central to the diet of many Columbia River Indians that they might have been consuming as much as 11/2 pounds daily. "We agree it is an upper boundary, but it is realistic," Liebow said. The fish estimates in the dose reconstruction project did not consider radioactive strontium which concentrates in the bones of the fish rather than the flesh. "How fish was consumed was different from tribe to tribe," Liebow said. But typically during the fishing season, Indian families would camp along the river and smoke on alder frames the fish they had caught. The leftover parts might be put in a stew pot and boiled to have food ready for people working around the clock, and boiling fish releases radioactive strontium from the bones. In the winter, dried fish would often be stewed before being eaten, he said. The new report looks at fish consumption and radiation releases from 1944 to 1972. Releases were particularly high during the 1960s when many of Hanford's nine reactors were operating. New estimates suggest that about two-thirds of the fish in a typical Columbia River Indian diet would be from salmon or steelhead returning to the river from the Pacific Ocean. Anadromous, or migrating, fish might not have been as heavily contaminated as species that live in the river year-round, such as trout and whitefish. Copyright c. 2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 2000-2001 Helena Independent Record and Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Telescope prompts Indian Lands Protest" --------- Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2002 08:22:31 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TELWSCOPE TEEPEE" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/1119647.html Telescope prompts Indian lands protest at Yudof's house Mary Jane Smetanka Star Tribune Published Jan 24 2002 Protesters who want the University of Minnesota to pull out of the Mount Graham telescope project in Arizona are holding a 24-hour prayer vigil outside the university president's house. The group, including representatives of the American Indian Movement (AIM), the Mount Graham Coalition and local activists, set up a red tepee Wednesday afternoon outside the fence bordering Eastcliff, the St. Paul home of university President Mark Yudof. They say construction of the telescope threatens the environment and desecrates land that is sacred to the Apache Indians. Dwight Metzger, a representative of the coalition, said that while construction on the telescope may not stop if the university pulls out, the withdrawal would send an important message. "The Apaches view this as active desecration of their mountain, and they are appealing to the university not to participate," he said. "It would send a message of respect for religious freedom and the integrity of the laws of this country." A year ago, the university's Astronomy Department announced that it had received a $5 million gift from broadcaster Stanley Hubbard to buy time on the telescope. University astronomers were elated, saying access to the world's most powerful telescope would put the department at the forefront of astronomy research. The department's chairman has said the telescope development uses only 8.6 acres of Mount Graham's roughly 200,000 acres, and that tribal concerns have been addressed along the way. But Clyde Bellecourt of AIM said Wednesday that joining the telescope project would be "putting resources to exploit Indian land and Indian resources . . . and desecrate everything that is sacred to Indian people." Rachel Nuetzel, a university junior and board member of the American Indian Student Cultural Center, said her group also opposes the proj ect. "We feel it is destruction to our culture, our religious beliefs and freedom, and we also believe it is wrong because of the environmental impact," she said. Sandra Gardebring, university vice president for university relations, said Yudof is happy to meet with Indian leaders from Minnesota and Arizona. The university also will consult with American Indian students and faculty members and interested university committees, she said. "Part of our agenda is to get a clearer picture of what is going on down there, and whether there is any mitigation or accommodation that can occur," she said. "Can this scientific research and Indian spiritual life live on the mountain together? That will be part of our discussion." The Board of Regents is expected to deal with the telescope contract sometime in the next three months. It is not on the agenda for next month's meeting. Last week, the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council unanimously passed a resolution asking the university not to participate in the telescope project and Apache and coalition representatives spoke before the university's American Indian Advisory Committee, which will advise Yudof on the project. That group has not issued an opinion. -- Mary Jane Smetanka is at smetan@startribune.com. Copyright c. 2002 Star Tribune. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Natives fear Trust Plan would hurt Villages" --------- Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2002 09:10:18 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ALASKAN TRIBES" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.adn.com/alaska/story/754986p-805048c.html Tribal ire Natives fear Indian Affairs plan would hurt villages By Tom Kizzia Anchorage Daily News (Published: January 25, 2002) Alaska's tribes joined others across the country this week in opposing a Bush administration proposal to reorganize the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The reorganization was proposed last November by Interior Secretary Gale Norton as a way for the government to gain better control of trust accounts mismanaged in the past by the BIA. The government has been sued by Indians claiming as much as $10 billion in royalties owed to individual Indians was lost because of faulty bookkeeping and theft. But opponents of the reorganization plan, which would remove trust operations from the BIA, say it could lead to dissolving the main federal agency dealing with Native Americans. They also say the government should have consulted with tribes before announcing the huge overhaul. "There's a sense that this becomes the first step toward termination of the relationship with tribes," said Jim LaBelle, executive director of the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council. On Wednesday, Alaska's tribes added their voices to the criticism. At a meeting in Anchorage with Neal McCaleb, the assistant interior secretary for Indian Affairs, dozens of tribal representatives from around the state said the government should come up with a new plan. For Alaska Natives, the cure seems much worse than the disease. The trust account problem has been relatively minor here. BIA officials have said about $11 million was handled on behalf of individual Alaska Natives. But the case has rocked the federal government. Court rulings have repeatedly gone in favor of the Indian plaintiffs. Former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt was held in contempt of court for not fixing the problem. And under Norton, the Interior Department's computer system remains shut down by court order because it allowed outsiders to reach computer records of individual trust accounts. "Some think the secretary has overreacted with this plan," LaBelle said. Alaska tribal representatives told McCaleb they were concerned about supervision of Native allotments under the new plan. They were also worried that reorganization would affect federal contracts with tribes for services to Native Americans. Those contracts, for hundreds of millions of dollars every year, have grown to be a cornerstone of village economies in many parts of Alaska. Critics worry that tribal contracts for health and social services, now managed through the BIA, would eventually be parceled out to other non- Indian agencies. The meeting in Anchorage was one of several being held by Interior around the country to get reactions from tribes. McCaleb told the Alaska tribes no final decisions had been made about how to repair the BIA's trust management program. Native American tribes have proposed forming a task force to come up with an alternative plan for handling the trust funds. The Indian plaintiffs in court have asked that the money be handled by a court- appointed receiver. Alaska tribes also said they opposed appointing former assistant interior secretary Ross Swimmer to lead the proposed Indian trust agency, which would be known as the Bureau of Indian Trust Assets Management. They said he failed to deal with the problems effectively during his previous tenure in the Reagan administration. Reporter Tom Kizzia can be reached at tkizzia@adn.com. Copyright c. 2002 The Anchorage Daily News. --------- "RE: Guest Opinion: Tribes Struggle with Welfare Cuts" --------- Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2002 08:18:33 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WELFARE REFORM" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.montanaforum.com/rednews/2002/01/23/build/tribal/struggle Guest Opinion: Montana tribes struggle with welfare cuts, reforms By JONATHAN WINDY BOY Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council Wednesday, January 23, 2002 In 1995, the administration of former Gov. Marc Racicot implemented Families Achieving Independence in Montana (FAIM). This massive change in the welfare system drastically alters the way in which state, county and tribal governments interact with each other. The old AFDC program would be gone and Montana would adopt a "Work First" philosophy. There would be more local control of welfare systems within the county offices, with the hope of getting people into the workforce and off welfare. For tribal government there was limited information and consultation so that tribes could prepare for potential impact of such massive systems change. Tribes face the lowest economic growth within Montana, maintain the state's highest unemployment rates and have limited access to economic industry and job placement. Within the first year of FAIM, Montana government said that FAIM was a great success and caseloads began to decline with people leaving the welfare rolls. Montana even received a bonus from the federal government for the caseload reduction and the success of FAIM. Little success However, for tribal governments, FAIM was a different story. Over the last five years, welfare caseloads among tribal reservations has remained constant. There has been limited, if any, changes for tribal communities. In fact, while the state of Montana receives $44 million dollars per year the tribal governments have only received $290,000 of the total budget, which the tribes had to divide by seven (number of reservations in the state) based on the level of caseload that each tribe was carrying. In addition, from inception to current levels, tribes have always maintained the highest caseloads. This level of funding equates to less then .03 percent of the entire state TANF (temporary assistance to needy families) budget. With under-funded programs and with tribes maintaining 53 percent of Montana's caseload, tribes had limited ability to build a positive response to such devastating changes in the welfare systems. The impacts to tribal members personally are devastating. Under welfare reform, for the first time, tribes are given a choice to develop, implement and administer their own welfare program, which would be beneficial for tribes. The problem with this option is that tribal governments often do not have the financial infrastructure to co-fund such a program change. During the last legislative session, tribes testified about the profound impacts, on limited services to tribal members and on the unmet needs to tribes and their members. As a result, the tribes were successful in attaining $5.7 million dollars, which is the largest dollar amount since inception even though tribes carry 53 percent of the entire welfare caseload in Montana. Even so tribal leaders felt there had been headway made on behalf of tribes and tribal members. Yet this would not last. Within six months (in October 2001), the tribes would be facing devastating news that budget cuts would again effect FAIM. The state reports that because of the increase in welfare caseload in Montana, the budget had to be cut by 33.5 percent in each program area. This would mean that tribes would face a massive cut from $5.7 million down to $3.5 million dollars. Within weeks of that announcement, Montanans would discover that the Department of Public Health and Human Services that produced the cut would be facing audit questions. What further devastating changes will tribes face? Will tribes face yet another budget cut? What relationship does the DPHHS audit discrepancy play in program budgets presently? What type of policy will be implemented without tribal consultation and will tribal members be impacted? Seeking answers One must continue to seek answers to ensure the health and well being of Montanans receiving welfare benefits and for tribal members and tribal communities. On the congressional level, Sen. Max Baucus chairs the Senate Finance Committee and has expressed support for tribal concerns. The tribal agenda will continue to gain stronger support under reauthorization of the welfare reform bill scheduled for August. The tribal agenda will include strong language regarding economic development for tribes and Montana's economy as a whole. The tribes will continue to implement innovative and creative approaches when it comes to working with the state on welfare reauthorization as it impacts the tribes and Montana as a whole. Jonathan Windy Boy of Rocky Boy Reservation is a member of the Chippewa- Cree Tribal Council and chairman of the Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council. Copyright c. 2000-2001 Missoulian and Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Interior to begin making Some Payments" --------- Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2002 00:03:01 -0800 From: Jess Hansen Subj: "Interior gets permission to begin making some payments to Indians" Mailing List: ndn-aim http://www.al.com January 24, 2002 19:57 "Interior gets permission to begin making some payments to Indians" WASHINGTON (AP) -- "Thousands of Indians who have not been paid in more than two months for allowing grazing on their land may soon get their checks, the Interior Department said Thursday. The payments had been delayed since U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ordered the Interior Department to pull the plug on the its Internet connections Dec. 5. The move was meant to protect the accounting system that manages the royalties from Indian lands. A court monitor found holes in the system's security, potentially leaving the system, which collects $500 million annually, vulnerable to hackers. The department has said 43,000 Indians did not receive an estimated $15 million in December. January's payments also have not been made. The department said it hopes to start processing grazing payments by Friday. Payments for oil and gas leases, which total a much larger amount, cannot be paid until the department proves that accounting system is secure. "We look forward to the day when we'll be operating at 100 percent capacity," said Neal McCaleb, head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. "Our people are working around the clock and I commend them for their efforts." Attorneys for 300,000 Indians suing the government for mismanaging the trust fund said the department had purposely stalled paying their clients, creating a hardship for Indians who rely on the money. "They have acted so irresponsibly that anything they do now is a day late and a dollar short," said Keith Harper, attorney with the Native American Rights Fund." Copyright c. 2002 AL NewsFlash. --------- "RE: Guest Opinion: Norton/Century of Mistakes" --------- Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2002 08:18:33 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PAY THE PIPER" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.montanaforum.com/rednews/2002/01/19/build/tribal/bianorton Guest Opinion: Norton's taste for bureaucracy won't fix a century of mistakes By Tim Giago Saturday, January 19, 2002 There is not an Indian nation in America that has not expressed its views in the strongest terms against the idea cooked up by Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton to create a new bureau to straighten out the financial mess made by the old bureau. This new entity, the Bureau of Indian Trust and Management will undertake the trust-related functions of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the non-trust oversight functions of the Office of Special Trustee for American Indians. This bureaucratic process is euphemistically called "reorganization." As a part of this reorganization, $100 million will be taken from the Office of the Special Trustee and $200 million from the BIA, along with an "unspecified" amount for administrative and financial functions, in order to facilitate the reprogramming process. Democratic Sen. Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia, chairman of the Subcommittee on the Interior and Related Agencies, in a letter to Norton dated Dec. 18, specifically addressed the need for Norton to consult with the Indian nations. "An open and positive dialogue with those most directly affected by this reorganization is fundamental to its success, and the committee looks forward to hearing the results of these important meetings," he wrote. Secretary Norton took it upon herself to start the reorganization process and to create a new office to implement it without consulting the leaders of the Indian nations. She chose a defrocked bureaucrat, the former assistant secretary of the interior Ross Swimmer, to head up the new agency. While serving as assistant secretary, Swimmer knew of the trust fund boondoggle but did nothing to seek a solution to the problem, and, indeed, is charged by many tribal leaders as having contributed to the problem. It was not until Elouise Cobell, a member of the Blackfeet Nation, challenged the U.S. government with a lawsuit in the name of 300,000 Indians that the Interior Department began to take a serious look at this horrific situation. It is quite evident that department had no choice except to face the situation when they were finally backed into a corner and threatened with contempt by Judge Royce Lambert, the judge assigned to the case. And even in the face of this threat, the Interior Department still found ways to destroy pertinent records and computer files. BIA trust fund records were found waterlogged and stored in garages and warehouses. Many were ruined beyond repair or redemption. What is the fuss about the trust fund management system that is finally under challenge from so many Indian individuals and tribes? For the last 100 years (or more) the Bureau of Indian Affairs, an arm of the Interior Department, has collected money for land leased by individual Indians and tribes to farmers and ranchers throughout the West. The BIA has collected money for timber sales on Indian lands and extraction of minerals; has made contracts with coal companies; and has been involved in nearly all monetary transactions that involve Indian individuals and tribes. It is estimated that several billion dollars have gone through the accounting system of the BIA in the name of Indians. When a land claims settlement is made, it is the BIA that takes control of the monetary award. They supposedly invest it and oversee it until it can be handed over to the tribal governments. For instance, the BIA is sitting on the Black Hills Claims Settlement money for the tribes of the Great Sioux Nation that amounts to nearly $600 million. Seasoned stockbrokers believe this amount should have been much, much more if it had been invested wisely. There are also questions among attorneys for the Sioux tribes if the BIA used any of the money allocated for the Black Hills for other purposes. As many of us know now, the tribes of the Great Sioux Nation have refused to accept the settlement money. The money was awarded 20 years ago. The Interior Department has Tommy Thompson, Office of Special Trustee, in Albuquerque, N.M., controlling a slush fund of $80 million and he doesn't even have an office as yet. Since 1996 the Senate Appropriations Committee has provided more than $600 million to the Interior Department to ensure that its fiduciary obligations to trust beneficiaries are met. And yet, despite this financial support, the system is still in chaos. The Aberdeen (S.D.) Area Office of the BIA put a financial system together several years ago they called the Management Accounting Distribution System. It was organized by the Indian employees of the Aberdeen Area. The funny thing is, it works. The system has made payouts to the individual Indian accounts and to the tribal accounts a snap. There is no backlog of accounts payable in their region and they handle nearly 20,000 accounts annually. The Indian employees at Aberdeen have floated their idea to Interior for the past several years, but the bureaucrats have turned their noses up. Many Indian employees of the BIA believe their proven system has been pushed aside simply because the non-Indian leaders, the people who were supposed to fix the problem, do not want to be embarrassed by the Indians. But this system only solves the problems of the here and now. What happened prior to this is where the problems lie. The Bush administration has not stepped forward with an "Indian Policy" yet. The Democrat-controlled Senate will not, in all probability, allow Secretary Norton to proceed with her reorganization until she has proved she has the full consent of the Indian nations. The meetings that are now taking place in several places in America to address the "consultation" problem were scheduled after the fact. It is this cavalier attitude by Norton that has so angered the leaders of the Indian nations. Norton had already set the wheels in motion to reorganize and to form a new bureau to handle the Indian trust money. There are many tribal leaders who believe that no court or new bureau will ever solve this terrible problem. The question to be answered in the next few weeks is: Can the secretary of the Interior move forward with a plan to reorganize the BIA without the approval of the leaders of the Indian nations? And will the lawsuit brought by Cobell result in victory for the belabored Indian tribes? The time to pay the piper is fast approaching. Tim Giago is editor of the Lakota Journal and a columnist. Copyright c. 2000-2001 Helena Independent Record and Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Tribes prepare Alternate Trust Plan" --------- Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2002 08:18:33 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRIBES PREPARE PLAN" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://indiancountry.com/?1011626931 Tribes prepare alternate trust plan January 22, 2002 - 11:00AM EST by: David Melmer/Indian Country Today RAPID CITY, S.D. - After weeks of lambasting the BIA and its trust fund proposals, tribal leaders are regrouping to see if they can come up with a better idea. A debate is already emerging on new ideas for administering the BIA's imploding trust account function while maintaining its other services. Outlines of the discussion emerged in the aftermath of the fourth of the 11 scheduled "consultation" meetings on the BIA reorganization plan, convened here at the Holiday Inn Rushmore Plaza. It drew the largest crowd and was alleged to be the most contentious by some who have attended all of the meetings. But it was also the first in which alternatives were presented to the trust account spin-off proposed by Interior Secretary Gale Norton. Tribal officials argued that the tribes and the BIA at the agency level can manage the trust funds better than another agency or the BIA trust funds office. "Let us create a model we can live with, ourselves. We oppose any plan that has a reduction in funding," said Alvin Windy Boy. "When that young mother needs Pampers give us that ($300 million)." The tribes at previous meetings gave a resounding no to the creation of a Bureau of Indian Trust Asset Management (BITAM), to take over the Individual Indian Monies (IIM) accounts and other BIA trust accounts. Not only were the tribes in unison against the plan, they informed Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb that they didn't like the person chosen to head the new agency, former BIA head Ross Swimmer. Tribal leaders said Swimmer's history with the government was an attempt to dismantle the BIA and not improve it. But the unity broke down as different tribes proposed alternatives. The next phase, all agreed, was formation of a task force chosen by tribes to study the ideas emerging in the rest of the consultations. The Task Force The task force will consist of 24 members, two from each of the regions. The members will be chosen by the tribes in each of the 12 regions. The task force will be an association of the governments of the sovereign tribes and nations. It will collect information from the tribes and organizations and present an alternative plan to the Interior Department. A number of tribal organizations will provide technical support to the task force. Mentioned so far were the National Congress of American Indians, Mni Sose, Northwest Fisheries and the Intertribal Monitoring Association. Tex Hall, president of the NCAI, said the task force could take from a few weeks to a year and a half to come up with a plan backed by the consensus of the tribes and acceptable to the administration. Differences at the meeting arose over the proposed membership of the task force. Some organizations that represent landowners or other groups on reservations were not included as technical support groups. But Hall said the list is not complete and will grow as the task force gets organized. One of the most contested features of the task force project was McCaleb's offer to use BIA funds to pay for travel and expenses for its members. Gregg Bourland, chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, strongly opposed that offer. He said that 20 years ago the BIA paid for tribal leaders in a similar situation when McCaleb was part of a committee to reorganize the BIA. "This was under Dr. Eddie Brown. Three tribal members were paid. We watched them rubber stamp document after document for the secretary," Bourland said. McCaleb said the offer was to help those tribes with few resources send their delegates to the meetings. Alternative plans The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and the Oglala Sioux Tribe brought alternative plans to the table. The CRST plan backed by Bourland suggested bringing the Office of Trust Fund Management and the Minerals Management Services under the BIA and consolidating all of the activities under the existing Director of Trust within the BIA. It suggested allowing the tribes input into the architecture of the High Level Implementation Plan (HLIP), a plan that had been shelved for some time after about 10 years of work. The Cheyenne River Tribal Council recommended implementing the revised HLIP under the newly consolidated trust management program. The HLIP was put forward by the special trustee as a new plan for trust management. "Revise this plan that was years in the development and implement it. Then the BIA doesn't have to be dismantled," said Bourland. "Tell Norton there are alternatives. Then march to the drum of Native America and not to Gale Norton's drum," he said. The plan included two controversial components, the Trust Fund Accounting System and the Trust Asset Accounting Management System. The plan also asked funding from Congress to make any reorganization successful. Another plan, submitted by the Oglala Sioux Tribe, asked that a full cabinet level office be created for Indian Affairs. "The treaty is the foundation of trust in government. The Secretary is reforming a trust. We propose a more sweeping change to a Department of Indian Affairs at the cabinet level," said Johnson Holy Rock, fifth member of the Oglala executive council. He said the new department would insure that what is owed to the Individual Indian accounts and the tribes would be paid. It would also manage more efficient management of policies and activities between the federal government and tribes, Holy Rock said. "Creating the Department at the Cabinet level would reaffirm the separate and sovereign status of Indian tribes, consolidate the authorities of the United States into one prime agency for the trustee, and remove conflicts of interest currently faced by the Secretary of the Interior in administering Interior policy and programs," a printed proposal stated. The OST plan would maintain the usual offices of the department; General Counsel, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Office of Rights Protection, Judicial, Economic Development, Office of Trust Funds and others. Attendees at the Rapid City consultation meeting supported both of the alternative plans. The two will be given to the task force for consideration. Bourland also circulated his plan to the press and other tribal councils, complaining that the Great Plains Region Chairman's Association had not adopted it. The Rapid City Meeting Meanwhile participants at the Rapid City meeting continued the theme that the sessions were not true consultations. "This is the third of these sessions I have attended and I feel like a McCaleb groupie," said Michael Jandreau of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe. "At each one of these sessions you (McCaleb) heard the same thing. You've heard the opposition; you've heard the individuals who are going to give plans and how the reorganization should happen. "You have heard the ideals of victimization. The difference is that we victims want an opportunity to develop a bureau that really works for us. As individuals working for an agency you have a responsibility and part of your responsibility is being chastised here today. "You are not the problem. The real problem is how effective we are in developing these plans that have been put forth to you and supporting these plans to the highest level possible." Jandreau said if the tribes don't get together with the bureau and put together plans that work and are able to sell to the government, all of the talk will be hollow. "We can be very vocal, very strong in what we say, but the practicality is that we must do and put together what we want and support one another in making it work," Jandreau said. Opposition to the BITAM among the Great Plains tribes was strong and at times harsh. McCaleb sat on the dais taking the barrage of criticism and suggestions. At each of the four meetings he heard the same opposition to the plan. Tribes do not want more separation in the BIA. The trust funds management office should be run from under the BIA and each agency must have the records where people can easily find out the status of their leases, tribal leaders said. Getting through to the BIA and Interior is like disciplining children when you continue to tell them not to do something, said John Black Hawk, chairman of the Winnebago Tribe. "When are you going to get it? "I have heard, I don't know this for a fact, but Neal I have heard you have a difficult time not responding to things that are said. I would like to ask a few questions - you don't have to respond," Black Hawk said. "We talked about Mr. Swimmer. I know you have worked with him in the past and he is a friend of yours and he has been a part of this team that was created. I would like to know how you take the message back, as an advocate for Indian people, I am curious about that? And, what is the threshold, how many tribes have to say no, do half the tribes have to say no before it is no, or is it 75 percent or 90 percent or 100 percent?" Blackhawk said. McCaleb assured the gathering that it was being heard. "The message is clear, the Secretary heard it in Albuquerque, and there was very little doubt in her mind what the proposed plan was. She is anxious to hear an alternative plan and what is useful today is there are alternative plans laid on the table. "What was said here today is not turned over to me, the comments will be given to the Secretary, but what is important is who will work with those in the task force composed of tribal leaders," McCaleb said. "One of the things that came through very clearly in Albuquerque and at every meeting since then in addition to the fact that there is no acceptance of the plan as proposed was that there needed to be a change. It's not entirely productive to say we are against the original plan. What we need is what happened today is for some alternative plans to be put on the table," he said. The proposed plan would require $300 million for implementation. The Senate Appropriations Committee froze that funding until an alternative plan and proper consultations are completed. The cost is also an issue with tribal leaders. There are many needs for that kind of money in Indian country, like help with a major short-fall in health care, education and housing. "You are going to take dollars from programs we have in place and transfer them to a new department," said Tom Ranfranz, chairman of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe. "I've never heard of anything so crazy. It's created huge hardships. This reorganization is not just one of our concerns, we have concerns in health care, we have concerns in housing, and we have concerns in education. "This is just one issue. We are talking today about reorganization, but we have a lot of problems here in Indian country." Copyright c. 2002 Indian Country Today. --------- "RE: Indians seek `Marshall Plan' on Reservations" --------- Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2002 08:18:33 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MARSHALL PLAN" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.montanaforum.com/rednews/2002/01/23/build/tribal/rebuild Indians seek `Marshall Plan' on reservations By JAMES HAGENGRUBER Billings Gazette Staff Wednesday, January 23, 2002 Tribal leaders from Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas are calling for a federal "Marshall Plan" to deal with the growing health crisis on High Plains Indian reservations. "They've rebuilt Germany, they've rebuilt Japan and now they're going to rebuild Afghanistan," said Alvin Windy Boy Sr., chairman of the Chippewa Cree Tribe's Business Committee on the Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation. "We've been annihilated by the turn of the century, but we've never been rebuilt." The leaders met Tuesday in Billings during the first day of a three-day conference on health disparities. About 50 people attended the conference at the Holiday Inn Grand Montana. This isn't the first conference on Indian health problems, but tribal leaders say this conference is different. The burgeoning rates of diabetes, alcoholism, suicide and disease are forcing tribes to come together - even traditional enemies. Leaders from every reservation in Montana and Wyoming were at the conference and pledged to work together. "I can't remember the last time we were all together," said Gordon Belcourt, executive director of the Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council, which sponsored the conference with the Indian Health Service. Although the group spent little time discussing specifics of the health problems - reams of data have already been published on the topic - a few facts are worth repeating. Indians in Montana and Wyoming are nearly twice as likely to commit suicide than the rest of the U.S. population; almost twice as likely to be murdered; six times more likely to die from diabetes; three times more likely to die from the flu or pneumonia; and have an average life expectancy nearly a decade lower than the rest of the country, according to the Billings Area Indian Health Service Office. Substance abuse problems are equally staggering. The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services published a unique study in September consisting of 1,821 personal interviews conducted by tribal members. Most other surveys have been conducted over the telephone by non-Indians. On some Montana reservations, fewer than 50 percent of the homes have phones. The study shows alcohol dependency is three times higher on Montana's reservations versus Montanans living off the reservation. Drug dependency is four times as high. About one in every four pregnant women on Montana's reservations needs treatment for alcohol abuse. One in seven young adults on the reservation are considered addicted to marijuana. Although one in every four adults needs substance abuse treatment, only one in 30 is seeking or able to receive treatment. More money is needed to help the tribes address the problem, Windy Boy said. The federal government spends about $3,300 on each person receiving Medicare and Medicaid, Windy Boy said. The health spending drops to $1,500 for Indians, he said. "We are actually living in third world conditions." Indians were forced to give up their land for white settlers, said Tim Lame Woman, a Northern Cheyenne from Busby. In exchange, the U.S. government promised to care for the tribes. "Health, education and the general welfare of our people are not gifts from the government," said Lame Woman, a member of his tribe's Health Board. "They are hard fought for and they are treaty rights." The U.S. Congress needs to remember their obligations, he said. "In the backyard of their country, we are begging, pleading." Conference-goers plan to issue a report and lobby their state's representatives. The only member of Congress represented at the meeting was a staff member from the office of Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont. If more money ever arrives, tribal officials hope it does not end up mired in federal bureaucracy, said Ivan Posey, chairman of the Eastern Shoshone Business Council. "It almost becomes like a broken record when we talk about getting adequate funding levels," Posey said. "I think we really have to plan our own destiny and not remain in a system that doesn't adequately serve us." Posey said tribal leaders are frustrated with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He serves on a task force aimed at reforming the BIA, a task he likened to "trying to rotate four bald tires." Tribes are better able to determine where the money is directly needed, Windy Boy said. He told a story as an example of how Indians have a history of trying to work with what little they receive. In 1915 the Chippewa Cree were starving, Windy Boy said. Their land had been chopped up by fences and the great herds of buffalo were dead. A train load of government food arrived one day. One of Windy Boy's ancestors took some of the strange new food to her tent. She tried frying it, but the food tasted horrible. She tried boiling it, but the results were no better. She later learned that melons are best eaten raw. "We take what the government gives us," Windy Boy said. "We take it and try to do the best we can with it." Copyright c. 2000-2001 Helena Independent Record and Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Allottees Royalty Payments Problems" --------- Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2002 08:18:33 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ALLOTTEES ROYALTY PROBLEMS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.gallupindependent.com/todaysnews.html#anchor3 Delegate sees solution to allottees royalty payment problems Jim Maniaci Dine' Bureau NAGEEZI - A tribal council delegate said Sunday a way exists - one the Bureau of Indian Affairs uses it for its employees - to pay Indian allottees their natural resource royalties. Delegate Ervin Keeswood said the necessary information could be copied onto computer discs and hand-carried to each agency involved in the process. Keeswood discussed the solution during another rally at the Nageezi Boys and Girls Club. Many allottees have gone without their royalties since Nov. 17 and for some the royalties are their only income. The initial rally on Feb. 11 drew a similar crowd of about 300 people going into their third month without royalty checks. Allottees represent Navajo families with about 16,000 men, women and children, according to Cecelia Belone, tribal Social Services Division director. They have at least $500,000 tallied at the Farmington Indian Minerals Office, Manager Kevin Gambrell said. The office is overseen by four federal agencies as a one-stop center. Its parents are the U.S. Mining and Minerals Service, the BIA, the Office of Trust Fund Management and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's New Mexico office. Gambrell said the royalties were paid mainly by oil and gas producers leasing individual Indian allottees' land, but can't be distributed until a solution is found, principally an order from the federal judge who shut down the system. Increasingly Washington, D.C., District Court Judge Royce Lambreth is being blamed for ordering the U.S. Interior Department to unhook its Internet connection on Dec. 6 and causing a near financial disaster for allottees. The department used the Web to transmit royalty information so Doug Lords of the Office of Trust Fund Management in Albuquerque could write and mail the checks. He explained to the crowd that only Navajo allottees receive their checks from Albuquerque; all others come from Anadarko, Okla. Judge Lambreth ordered the disconnection when a court-appointed computer hacker broke into the BIA files and set up a sample account. Concluding the Denver-based computer was too vulnerable, the judge shut out all Interior Department bureaus from using it. Dine' allottees and their growing chorus of supporters maintain the BIA should have been given top priority, not the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Park Service, which the judge allowed to be reactivated. That chorus brought Navajo President Kelsey Begaye, Council Speaker Ed T. Begay, and tribal presidential candidate Joe Shirley to the chilly gymnasium Sunday, along with key aides of New Mexico's Congressional Delegation. Belone's Eastern Agency staff set up tables and hand-carried a stand- alone computer to sign people up for general assistance checks, which President Begaye told the audience won't have to be repaid when the royalty checks do arrive. "G.A.," as the checks are almost universally called, technically is "family financial assistance" for those "without resources to meet their basic needs for food, clothing and shelter costs," according to a division pamphlet. Applications can be filled out at division offices in Crownpoint, Gallup, Pueblo Pintado, Dzilth Na O Dithle and To' Hajiilee. Begaye announced he will assemble a team to try to keep the issue alive so a long-term solution can be found. He also wants to be certain the allottees receive both interest on their delayed funds and a penalty from the U.S. government for causing some to lose homes and vehicles to repossession and starving livestock from a lack the money to buy feed. The president said he will ask the Navajo Nation Council for emergency grants to allottees who don't qualify for "G.A." but who have been hurt financially. During Friday's management board meeting of the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry in Albuquerque, it was suggested the tribally owned and operated enterprise supply hay and feed, especially to elderly animal owners, he said. Speaker Begay wanted to know why allottees couldn't get paid every two weeks, like BIA or tribal employees. The speaker cautioned that although everyone insists on a quick solution, it will take time to resolve the problem and "that's why we have General Assistance (checks)." Instead of complaining about the past, "We need to move forward so this doesn't happen again. We need to show the federal government we mean business," Begay said. He also revealed that federal workers were ordered to stay away from the first meeting. Eloise Chicharillo, Navajo Region BIA director in Gallup, told the crowd, "We're all in this together, and we are as frustrated as you are." She said the decisions were being made at a higher level than her office. Joe Trujillo, a key staff member for Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., charged Judge Lambreth with overreacting and said "the wrong people are paying the price." The senator's aide said that if the situation continues it will, indeed, become a true national emergency with some 40,000 individual Indian allottees are affected. Pete Valencia read a letter from his boss, Congressman Tom Udall, to U.S. Interior Department Secretary Gale Norton, whom the judge blames for the problem, although her predecessor, Bruce Babbitt, couldn't solve the trust fund mismanagement during his 8-year term as Bill Clinton's head of the Interior Department. Because of his constituents difficulty in paying bills, buying food, clothing, and "other basic necessities...I would like to see the department be more aggressive to address the concerns of system security and restore operations, while ensuring compliance with the court order," Udall wrote. The New Mexico Congressman, whose district includes the Navajo allottees, is pleased that a Congressional oversight hearing will be held on Feb. 6 about the trust fund. "I look forward to hearing the department's justification, as well as have my concerns and those of my colleagues, answered," his letter concluded. Copyright c. 2002 The Gallup Independent. --------- "RE: A Year of Backsteps under Bush" --------- Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2002 08:18:33 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="A YEAR OF BUSH" http://www.indianz.com/News/Year/2001/show.asp?ID=bush2001 A year of backsteps under Bush TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2002 President George W. Bush took office a year ago this week with little to go on in terms of Indian policy. All he had promised during his campaign was to increase tribal school construction funding by nearly $1 billion. It turned out that the pledge, as Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.), chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, later found out, was not entirely fulfilled. Outdated facilities for 50,000 Indian students will get the money they need -- over the next four years, when an entirely new backlog of bad plumbing, moldy walls and crumbling buildings will rise up to pose new challenges, and new promises, for another electoral cycle. But schools weren't the only area of Indian affairs affected by Bush. Upon taking control of the White House, his administration immediately moved to halt a number of policies, decisions and regulations finalized during the last months of the Clinton administration. Some of these rollbacks had an impact on Indian Country. Roadless forests, arsenic in drinking water and a global warming treaty all touched tribes and Native people in one way or another, and in some cases, brought benefits to those who allied with the industry interests that suddenly found new friends in the Bush administration. A great number more, however, were dealt what has been seen as a raw deal. First up were the Nipmuc Nation of Massachusetts and the Duwamish Tribe of Washington, whose federal status remained in limbo for eight months until a political appointee, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Neal McCaleb, decided neither deserved recognition as an Indian tribe even though his predecessor thought otherwise. A similar blow was felt by tribal leaders whose two years of work on standards to restore the diminished tribal land base were discarded by the administration after a ten month scuttle. "We worked long and hard, countless hours, in transportation costs and everything else, to work with tribes throughout the country to accept the regulations," said Tex Hall, president of the National Congress of American Indians. The rescinding a legal opinion that protected sites sacred to the Quechan Nation of Arizona, the softening of a policy used when states refuse to negotiate with tribes over gaming rights and the move to change a policy that gives states and local government more input into trust land decisions were other actions which weighed against Indian Country. Indian trust asset management was an entirely different debacle of its own, worthy of separate scrutiny. Still, not every Bush administration decision was a step back. After cutting the budgets of a number of agencies, he proposed -- and received - - an increase, albeit small, in funds for Indian programs at the Department of Interior and the Department of Health and Human Services. The positives, however, were tempered by slashes in community policing at the Department of Justice and environmental cleanup at the Department of Energy, and no increases for Indian programs at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Environmental Protection Agency. Other policies which were touted heavily at the onset of the year didn't pan out for Indian Country, but not for a lack of trying. The administration pushed energy development for tribes but couldn't convince a Democrat-controlled Senate to act on them. The same went for a faith- based initiative which could have directed more money to Native community organizations but fell to the wayside amid constitutional concerns. Where Bush did succeed was bringing the nation and the international community together after the September 11 terrorist attacks, and again during the following military engagement in Afghanistan. Tribes poured in their hard-earned money to the recovery effort and Native families sent their loved ones overseas in a long tradition of service and protection of the earth which Bush himself honored by paying respect to the Navajo Code Talkers twice last year. That success is now being touted as Bush celebrates his one-year anniversary in the Oval Office. Already, the administration has begun leaking "good news" about next year's budget in hopes of preparing the public for the cuts being made to offset increased funding for national security. Whether that same news will come to Indian Country will be known in the coming weeks, as tribes work through another year under Bush. Copyright c. 2000-2001 Noble Savage Media, LLC/Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: GOP targets Tribal Status" --------- Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 08:44:11 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GOP TARGETS STATUS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/ GOP targets tribal status Alaska leaders want it reconsidered Sunday, January 27, 2002 - 4:59:27 AM MST ANCHORAGE--Republican leaders in the state Legislature want the Bush administration to reconsider the formal status granted tribal governments in 1993. In a letter, Senate President Rick Halford and House Speaker Brian Porter asked the Interior Department to reverse the Clinton-era decision, saying federal recognition of sovereign tribes creates problems for state laws. They said tribes in Alaska are on shaky legal and historical ground and should be acknowledged primarily as a vehicle for funding Native American programs. The Halford-Porter letter has sparked outrage among tribal leaders in recent days. The letter was written Dec. 10 but began circulating widely a week ago. In a meeting with Interior Department officials, tribal leaders said their governments are long-established. They said they are vital to Bush governance and safely erected on legal precedent, the Anchorage Daily News reported. "I view this letter as a paintball attack on the Alaska Native people," said Joe Williams of Saxman, vice chairman of the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council. Neal McCaleb, the assistant Interior secretary for Indian Affairs, told the tribes he personally opposes any review of Alaska tribal status that could undermine their powers, which already are limited under a 1998 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. However, he added, a final decision at Interior on the Halford-Porter request had not been made. "They're poking the beehive, and it's not necessary," said Mike Williams, who chairs the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council. "They should have contacted us and talked instead of declaring war once again." Williams, a long-distance dog musher from Akiak, said he wants to meet with legislative leaders to "put their concerns to rest." Halford said Friday he would welcome such a meeting. "I am not trying to fan those flames and I am sorry if they feel that way," Halford said. "I want to define the powers of tribes. It's difficult for us to know what we can do when we don't know what the ground rules are." In Juneau, Native legislators were drawing up a response, telling Interior Secretary Gale Norton that the letter did not speak for them. "There's nothing they can accomplish with this letter, except make Alaska Natives a little more uncomfortable in our own state," said Rep. Albert Kookesh, D-Angoon. Copyright c. 1999-2002 MediaNews Group, Inc. and Fairbanks Publishing Company, Inc. --------- "RE: Nault pushed to revise Controversial Policy" --------- Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2002 14:08:44 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NAULT POLICY" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canoe.ca/NationalTicker/CANOE-wire.First-Nations-Finances.html January 25, 2002 First Nations and businesses to push Nault to revise controversial policy WINNIPEG (CP) -- A Cash Only sign could soon face many First Nations across Canada when they try to do business with business. That was the warning Friday as First Nations and business leaders got together to look for ways to challenge -- or at the very least clarify -- Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault's policy of intervening when bands get into financial difficulties. Of particular concern is the way the department imposes third-party management on such bands and tells creditors essentially to go fly a kite. "In this room today there's millions of dollars that are outstanding, and some businesses are hurting and some businesses are threatened whether they can continue," said Don Pearson, a private municipal planner and consultant. He was one of more than two dozen business people who turned up for a meeting with Ken Young, a vice-chief of the Assembly of First Nations, which ended with a plan to send a joint delegation to meet Nault in Ottawa. "It's something that I don't ever recall having happened before, for the First Nations and the business community to have gotten together to try and jointly do anything," said Brian Fox, director of financial services for the North West Co. "From that perspective, I think it's a great step forward. Whether we'll have any success or not, who knows?" It's of more than passing interest to his company, which inherited the Hudson's Bay Co.'s role as major supplier to many remote First Nations across Canada. "We have stores in about 150 locations across the country, and about half of them are on or near reserves. So obviously we have very intimate ties with First Nations." Fox said businesses really don't understand the Indian Affairs policy or how and why it is put into practice. On paper, it would appear to require the imposition of a third-party manager on First Nations with deficits in excess of eight per cent of annual funding. But business leaders like Fox said third-party management appears to be imposed more at the whim of the minister. "The policy has only recently been enforced (in Manitoba) in our understanding, from the beginning of December 2001," he said. "It's caught everybody off guard. "It's still in the initial stages, and everyone's trying to figure out where do we go from here. What do we do to continue to do business?" Manitoba has been hit hard by the policy, since it has many of the bands that are under third-party management. Eleven Manitoba First Nations, out of 25 to 35 across the country, are being run by a manager. Pearson said uncertainly over the policy is already having an impact. "It really has put a halt to most capital projects," he said. "You can't do large million-dollar or $2-million projects on a cash basis." Many of the business people at the meeting also said they haven't been getting straight answers from Indian Affairs officials. "What does this mean for the future between business between First Nations and the outside community?" asked Victor Kolynchuk, an architect with Smith Carter Architects and Engineers Inc. Indian Affairs Department officials were not immediately available for comment. The meeting was put together by Al Isfeld, an aboriginal businessman and consultant with first-hand experience of what the policy can do to a business. He was involved with Wing Construction of Thunder Bay, Ont., and its contract to build a school on the Sagkeeng First Nation north of Winnipeg. Despite the fact that Wing got involved with the blessing of then Indian affairs minister Jane Stewart, the company has been unable to collect $3 million it was owed after the project stalled. Sagkeeng is $17 million in the red and under third-party management, so it has no money. But Nault told Wing if it wants to collect, it must sue the First Nation. Isfeld said Nault is big on holding First Nations accountable for their actions yet doesn't seem eager to extend the same principle to his own department. One of the most controversial cases of third-party management involves the Pikangikum First Nation in northwestern Ontario. Leaders there say Nault imposed a manager on the community even though they were not in financial difficulty. Copyright c. 2002, Canoe, a division of Netgraphe Inc. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: RCMP spent $2.8 Million Policing Burnt Church" --------- Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2002 09:10:52 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BURNT CHURCH" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canoe.ca/NationalTicker/CANOE-wire.NB-Native-Fishery.html January 19, 2002 RCMP spent $2.8 million policing Burnt Church fisheries dispute BURNT CHURCH, N.B. (CP) - The RCMP spent $2.8 million trying to keep the peace on the waters of the Miramichi Bay during the disputed Mi'kmaq lobster fishery last year. The money was spent on salaries, overtime, travel, accommodations, and rental vehicles, reported the ATV television network on Saturday. The amount was $300,000 more than the previous year. Non-natives have clashed repeatedly with aboriginal fishermen in Burnt Church, who have fished for lobster out of season and without official Fisheries Department tags. Tempers flared there in the last two years, with shots ringing out over Miramichi Bay as Fisheries Department officials pursued native fishermen and non-natives tried to stake their claim to the disputed waters. The incidents were triggered by a Supreme Court of Canada decision that said East Coast natives have a treaty right to hunt and fish for a moderate livelihood. Ottawa tried to resolve the dispute at Burnt Church last year, calling in a mediator and offering a deal to give the impoverished reserve more boats and a limited number of fishing tags. Burnt Church has demanded the treaty right to fish under its own management plan. Copyright c. 2002, Canoe, a division of Netgraphe Inc. --------- "RE: Flaherty: Native Health-care Comments" --------- Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2002 08:38:19 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="FLAHERTY" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canada.com/news/story Flaherty slammed by opposition over native health-care comments TERRY PEDWELL Canadian Press Monday, January 21, 2002 OTTAWA (CP) - The federal government could boost health-care funding for "real people in real towns" by cutting the bureaucracy that serves only aboriginals, Ontario Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Monday. The remark had Ontario's opposition parties calling for his head, saying it was insensitive to natives. Flaherty, who is campaigning to succeed Premier Mike Harris, suggested Health Canada has thousands of employees who deliver services to natives only. The provinces, on the other hand, must provide services to everyone else, he said. "They've got more than 7,000 people working in the Department of Health," Flaherty said during a campaign stop in Ottawa. "The federal Department of Health delivers health-care services only to aboriginals. All the provinces have the responsibility for delivering health-care services to real people in real towns, hospitals, doctors, nurses." Charles Fox, vice-chief of the Assembly of First Nations for Ontario, was surprised by Flaherty's comments. "If we're not real people, I have a real problem with that," Fox said. Flaherty later issued a statement apologizing for his remarks. "I am deeply saddened by the way my comments are being interpreted," he said. "As many people in aboriginal communities in Ontario will attest, I have always had positive and mutually respectful relationship with them... "The purpose of my comments about the federal bureaucracy was simply to point out that the federal government should redirect its resources towards actual health-care services and away from a bloated bureaucracy... "I apologize if I have offended anyone in any way." Flaherty also said he planned to meet soon with Fox to discuss the matter. Mike McGuire, president of the Ontario Metis Aboriginal Association, backed up Flaherty. "He is a friend to aboriginal communities across Ontario," McGuire said. "I know that Jim would never say anything negative about aboriginal people, and that his comments have been misinterpreted." But Howard Hampton, Ontario's NDP leader, called on Flaherty to resign. "This is not a campaign slip-up," he said. "It's very clear that this is aimed at garnering Mr. Flaherty votes at the expense of native people. "You've got, within the Reform party, the Canadian Alliance, a group of people who denigrate, vilify and attack native people at every opportunity. And it's very clear Mr. Flaherty is trying to appeal to that very nasty right-wing fringe." Gerry Phillips, Ontario's Liberal native affairs critic, said Flaherty's remark "goes beyond insulting people." "I just don't know what was in Mr. Flaherty's mind, but it's an extremely insensitive remark and indicates some bad judgment by the minister." Fox challenged the notion that thousands of bureaucrats are devoted to aboriginal health services. A spokeswoman at Health Canada said the department has 7,500 full-time employees, of which about 1,400 work on First Nations health issues. Ottawa is also responsible for health promotion and policy matters involving veterans, military personnel, federal prison inmates and the RCMP. Flaherty urged the federal government to give the provinces more money to pay for medicare. He said the funding shortfall is hurting other provincial services. "We're already in the provinces - including the province of Ontario - squeezing out funding for other programs," he told a news conference. "It's a question of priorities." Flaherty maintains the federal government owes Ontario $2 billion this year for health. Fox argues that aboriginals don't get their fair share of federal funding when it comes to provincial health services. "In terms of transfer payments, the dollars that go to the provinces that are earmarked for aboriginal or First Nations, we don't see that, we don't see those monies," he said. Fox plans to meet with Flaherty in the next couple of days and said he'll raise the issue with him. Copyright c. 2002 The Canadian Press. --------- "RE: Ontario vows Dialogue after Flaherty Insensitivity" --------- Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2002 08:18:33 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="FLAHERTY DAMAGE CONTROL" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canoe.ca/NationalTicker/CANOE-wire.Ont-Flaherty-Aboriginals January 22, 2002 Ontario vows dialogue with natives after Flaherty accused of insensitivity TORONTO (CP) -- A day after Ontario's deputy premier found himself in hot water for suggesting aboriginals are not "real" people, the provincial government expressed regret and pledged more dialogue with First Nations leaders. Attorney General David Young, who is also responsible for native affairs, distanced himself Tuesday from Jim Flaherty's remark, saying in a release that it does "not reflect government policy. "Both (Flaherty), and I, speaking on behalf of the Ontario government, sincerely regret any hurt that may have resulted from the interpretation of Mr. Flaherty's comments," he added. Flaherty sparked an outcry Monday while in Ottawa when he said that the federal government could boost health-care funding for "real people in real towns" by cutting the bureaucracy that serves only aboriginals. Flaherty, who is also Ontario's finance minister, made the comment while campaigning to succeed Premier Mike Harris, who is stepping down for personal reasons. Young said Tuesday he had signed a letter of intent that would result in more meetings and co-operation between First Nations communities and the government. "This letter of intent follows from discussions that the ministers and First Nations leaders had earlier this year," he said. "The letter commits us to co-operate with First Nations on a wide range of issues." Earlier in the day, Charles Fox, vice-chief of the Assembly of First Nations for Ontario, said Flaherty's remarks had almost scuttled the agreement. "Unfortunately that statement was made. It almost derailed this process," Fox said on CTV's Canada-AM. By afternoon, Fox had nevertheless signed the agreement. Flaherty has apologized for his remarks, saying he only meant to point out that the federal government should redirect its resources towards actual health-care services and away from a bloated bureaucracy. Young said Flaherty plans to meet with Fox as well. Copyright c. 2002, Canoe, a division of Netgraphe Inc. --------- "RE: Guest Editorial: Alcohol Problem on Reservations" --------- Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2002 08:18:33 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ALCOHOL" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.montanaforum.com/rednews/2002/01/19/build/tribal/liquor Guest Editorial: Alcohol problem on reservations a complicated, painful issue TIM GIAGO, Editor Lakota Journal Wednesday, January 9, 2002 Not only have we all seen them, but many, many of us have been there ourselves. I'm talking about those Indians who give rise to the stereotypical thinking that all Indians are drunks. We see them as individuals or in groups drinking from bottles concealed in brown, paper bags. We see them staggering down the streets or sitting under bridges near liquor stores. We see them panhandling for enough money to buy that next bottle of cheap wine by selling anything they can borrow or steal. They will even sell their own spirituality for that next bottle. Yeah! Medicine man or woman in a bottle! Just pop the cork and they will take you on a spiritual journey. What most non-Indians seldom or never see are those hardworking, deeply religious, non-drinking Indians who make up the majority. Once the image of the drunken Indian is implanted in the subconscious mind of the wasicu (white person), every Indian becomes that person to them. Don't you know that most Indians are as ashamed of those drunken derelicts you see staggering down the street as those drunks should be of themselves? Yes, we are ashamed, but we know many of the root causes for this disease that was, at one time, epidemic amongst our people. How many times do you suppose tribal governments have asked the Indian Health Service or the Department of the Interior, through its agent, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, to give them the funds to fight this dreadful disease? And how many times were they either turned down or given a pittance that would not even scratch the surface of the problem? From Gallup, N.M., to Rushville, Neb., there are liquor stores that thrive on the miseries of these addicted Indians. Oh yes, there are large sums of money to be made dispensing the liquid the white trappers, Indian agents and settlers once called "Fire Water." Probably the most stilted words used to describe alcohol among the Lakota was "Mni Wakan," which meant "Holy Water" because "holy" it was not. Of course there are many reasons this evil product caused such damage to the Indian people. In the early days hard liquor was dispensed, along with "mazaska" (literally means `iron' for the coins of the realm) as a bargaining tool. If the people at the trading post could get the Indian customer, usually a trapper or hunter, intoxicated, they could bilk them out of their furs for little or nothing. Later, when the Indian women came to the trading post to buy food stuffs, pots and pans, or turtle shell combs for their hair, they too were encouraged to have a drink to celebrate their purchase. It wasn't a social affair. The Indians were not invited to sit at a table and drink slowly and socially. They were simply handed a bottle of hard liquor and told to take a big gulp. As the settlers advanced Westward and the lands of the Indian people diminished by hook and crook, Indian men were stripped of their weapons, their horses and their dignity, handed shovels and hoes, and told to till the land. Their children were taken from them and placed in boarding schools, where they were shorn of their hair, their tradition, culture, spirituality, language and self-esteem. Taught that everything about their past was wrong and evil and often subjected to brutal punishment the overseers hoped would speed them into losing the old ways, the children often left the boarding schools and Indian missions confused, angry and forlorn. Many turned to alcohol in order to feel good about themselves, if even for a short time. The men, unable to support their families through their traditional ways, also became disillusioned. They wanted to feel like the warrior once more; the provider, the man of the family. The man who garnered respect. Too often they felt this way only when they were intoxicated. It was a means of escaping the reality of a life they learned to hate. Of course, the drinking to feel good about oneself soon led to addiction. When a child grows up and sees alcohol as part of the family life, it is something that soon becomes normal to them. They see their parents drinking day and night and they soon become a part of it in order to belong. There are probably many more reasons that Indians learned to imbibe. But, the reasons I just named are a part of those reasons that are intangible. Who is to say how one will react when everything they own, everything they believed in, and everything they are, is taken from them? There are thousands upon thousands of Indians of many tribes who have taken this problem head on. They are finding new ways, traditional ways to fight it. There is the "Good Red Road" method devised by Gene Thin Elk of the University of South Dakota. It is the traditional way of moving the alcoholic from the bad road to the good road. But each and every Native American man and woman must come to grips with the problem in their own way. I think each of us must look at ourselves in the mirror and determine whether our actions are bringing harm to our family, friends or to ourselves. The prisons in Indian country are overloaded with Indians who stole a car, got in a deadly fight, tried to sell drugs, or killed a friend or family member while under the influence of alcohol. They have done things they would never dream of doing while sober. It's as simple as that. In order not to do these things ever, or again, the solution is to leave the addiction known as alcoholism behind. It can be done. As I said, there are thousands of examples out there to follow. The highways on or near many Indian reservations are littered with the bodies of those who chose alcohol over good sense. The jails are full of those who thought they would become more intelligent, braver, a better dancer, better looking or more filled with self-esteem if they consumed enough alcohol. Yes, we have all seen them staggering along the highways of this land. Tim Giago is an Oglala Lakota from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and editor of the newspaper Lakota Journal in Rapid City, S.D. Copyright c. 2000-2001 Missoulian and Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Group plans to fight EPA" --------- Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2002 08:22:31 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="COEUR d'ALENE/EPA" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story Group plans to fight EPA, tribe influence CdA Tribe spokesman doubts sovereignty the only issue Wednesday, January 23, 2002 Winston Ross - Staff writer, The Spokesman-Review A fledgling group of property tax owners has lofty plans to take on two powerful entities in Benewah County: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Coeur d'Alene Tribe. Members of the Property Owners and Citizens Rights Organization met Tuesday to choose directors and plot a course of action. They cite a host of complaints: There's the EPA's hovering over creosote contamination problems, and the threat of other meddling on the Coeur d'Alene River and the lake. There's the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, asserting its sovereignty as a nation, talking of cross-deputization, claiming long-lost rights to land and water ownership. This subversion of locals' rights must be stopped, say members of the organization. The group held its second meeting Tuesday night, to form a board. What happens next is a little less specific. "We'll start working with local governments, entities in trying to solve some of the issues involved around our area," said Jon Furbee, one of the group's organizers. Furbee said such actions would be up to the board, but the group's members, who met once in November, want to tackle a wide range of controversial issues, most involving the tribe and the EPA. Furbee cited, for example, talks of cross-deputizing Coeur d'Alene tribal officers and Kootenai County sheriff's deputies, meaning both entities would have the authority to arrest tribal and nontribal people. The tribe would be overstepping its authority if that happened, Furbee said. "As somebody that lives in and around the reservation area down there, we don't have a voice in tribal government," he said. Tom DuHamel, another member of the group, took the argument a step further, saying that Indians shouldn't enjoy sovereignty at all. "I think all Americans ought to be Americans, period," DuHamel said. DuHamel cited the tribe's claims of ownership rights on Lake Coeur d'Alene, which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld this summer. "I don't have any objection to their presence here," DuHamel said. "It was their land. But I'm not about to be held accountable for trespasses and aggressions that took place 100 to 150 years ago." Tribe spokesman Bob Bostwick said he'd be surprised if the group's issues truly stemmed just from sovereignty. "They'll have to convince us that they just oppose sovereignty per se," Bostwick said. "They'll have to convince us that their opposition doesn't go a little deeper, and involve race. "They're always the first ones to shout that that's not the case, but these kinds of people, their targets are so often -- and too often -- people of color." Bostwick also cited the vast amount of good that tribal presence has done in the community, such as millions of dollars in new construction and infrastructure improvements, the creation of new manufacturing and producing industries, and more. "The job growth here, in the decade I've been here, has gone from about 100 employees to over 1,300," Bostwick said. He wondered how Furbee, who's lived in the county for four or five years, could question that commitment. "The tribe has been here for untold thousands of years," Bostwick said. "This is someone who's just come in recently. Why did they come here, if they dislike Indians so much, dislike the concept of tribal sovereignty? Why did they come here?" As for the EPA, group members say the community isn't as involved as it should be in the agency's endeavors. In Benewah County, the EPA has been involved in talks of cleaning up a creosote-contaminated log yard in St. Maries. The debate has centered on how to pay for it. "I don't think the amount of damage is sufficient to warrant bankruptcy of the company to try and fix it," DuHamel said. "Who's died? What has died?" EPA spokesman Mark MacIntyre, puzzled at how to respond to the charges of a group that hasn't yet contacted his agency, said the EPA would work with whatever groups want input on its activities. "One of the first things we do is make sure we have a good contact with the group, with whom we can share and exchange information," MacIntyre said. "The best we can do is simply have that communication in place." Winston Ross can be reached at (208) 765-7132 or by e-mail at winstonr@spokesman.com. Copyright c. 2002, The Spokesman-Review. --------- "RE: Karigan Projects nearly Complete" --------- Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2002 08:18:33 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="KARIGAN PROJECTS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.gallupindependent.com/todaysnews.html#anchor3 Karigan projects nearly complete Larry Di Giovanni Staff Writer ST. MICHAELS - Navajo Nation employees who work inside the creaky Division of Economic Development trailers along Highway 264 can't wait for the promise of spring, when they'll move across the road beyond the highway's north side. There, they expect by May to be able to enter and stay inside the two- story Karigan Professional Office Complex, a 29,000-square-foot structure to contain four suites on the lower floor and division offices on the upper floor. The complex is just west of the Indian Health Service administration building. Inside the current trailers division employees have occupied since the 1980s, one secretary who works at her desk types away on a computer knowing that a bulge in the ceiling above her wants to come down. "We're trying to get out of here, these dilapidated and dangerous trailers," said Tony Perry, the division's Project Development Department director. The Karigan office complex, coordinated by project manager Jeannette Jones, is an L-shaped structure perched on a hill that looks larger than two stories. The tribe is hoping to have one or two private business tenants occupy part of the lower floor suites. "We're still working out the negotiations," Perry said. Jerry Silver, superintendent of the Chuska Development Corp. of Tohatchi, said it will be the first large-scale tribal administration building constructed in the area since the 1980s. Columns with corn-stalk symbols will round out its unique design. Brick work is to start Monday. The 116-acre Karigan projects site involves much more than the Karigan Professional Office Complex, which only takes up a little more than two acres. The tribe envisioned a first-class subdivision for Navajos with medium- to upper-incomes, which would be as high-quality as any housing tract outside a large city in the southwest. Also offered would be a large child care center, apartments and other developments. Those plans are coming to fruition. The Navajo Nation purchased the entire acreage from a trustee of the Karigan family in 1994 for about $500, 000, DED Chief Financial Officer Phil Scott said. There are also plans to restore the small Karigan Trading Post, built around the 1920s. Karigan Estates, with three separate paved entrances already built along Highway 264, will be a unique housing project in Indian Country. There are 181 homes planned using nine different designs and varying lot sizes. The homes will range from about $92,000 to $156,000. Karigan Estates and the overall 116-acre site is located on fee-simple land, meaning it's an island of private land within the Navajo Nation. Jim Pullaro, representing Evans Southwest of Scottsdale, Ariz., the project developer, said the most unique aspect of Karigan Estates is that it will offer conventional financing for American Indians on fee-simple land within a reservation. He expects the prospective buyers who should be able to start viewing model homes in March - to be "98 percent Navajo." There is also a chance that a small number of homes may be sold to non-Navajos considered "essential" to the reservation, such as doctors and teachers. An opportunity exists for "100 percent financing," which would mean no down payment, but the typical Karigan home will be 90 percent financed, Pullaro said. Interest rates are at 6.5 to 7 percent, which creates a great buyer's market. The list of interested buyers is already at 159. "The rates are phenomenal, about the lowest we've seen in 40 years," Pullaro said. Evans Southwest is believed by Pullaro and Scott to be the largest builder of homes in Indian Country. The company usually works with funds provided by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. This will be Evans Southwest's first "for-profit" housing complex, though $6.9 million was obtained from the Native American Housing and Self- Determination Act (NAHASDA) for project roads and other infrastructure. Scott said one of the main hindrances to economic development on the Navajo Nation will be addressed by the subdivision and its owners. Off reservation, home buyers can build equity against their homes and borrow against it later, such as for refinancing or as leverage to purchase a new home. This is a very difficult prospect in Indian Country, where it's also difficult to find land for commercial development and housing purposes due to restrictions such as grazing rights and lack of water delivery systems. Karigan Estates will be marketed entirely on the reservation, Pullaro said. Marketing and home-showing is being handled by the non-profit Navajo Partnership for Housing in St. Michaels. Two child care planners from the Crownpoint Institute of Technology, visiting the already finished Karigan Child Care Center on Friday, called it the most impressive children's center they have seen on the reservation. Completed in September and set to open in March, the 15,000 square-foot center can accommodate 200 children ages infant through fifth grade and more than 30 staff. "There's probably nothing like this on the reservation," said project planner Wava Begaye, a division administrative services officer. The center has 16 classrooms, a large playground with equipment ready for use, and a spacious cafeteria. The $2.8 million pricetag was paid almost entirely from funding by the federal Department of Health and Human Services. Design was by Weller Architects, with construction completed by Arviso Construction Co. of Iyanbito. Begaye said the center will be started for business by Valerie Lee, whom the division is working with to lease the facility. Copyright c. 2002 The Gallup Independent. --------- "RE: New Mexico Indian Affairs Official Ousted" --------- Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2002 08:22:31 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="OFFICIAL OUSTED" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.sfnewmexican.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=3072502 Indian Affairs official ousted By JENNA NARANJO/The New Mexican January 24, 2002 The New Mexico Commission on Indian Affairs has voted unanimously to fire its staff director if he won't resign. The commission placed executive director Terry Aguilar on paid leave on Dec. 3 while the state Risk Management Division investigated allegations that he sexually harassed a co-worker. Stacey Sanchez, who chairs the 10-member commission, said the panel decided Friday to permanently remove Aguilar from his $53,000-a-year position as head of the Office of Indian Affairs. "The reason given in that motion was for reasons of mismanagement and included under the umbrella were concerns by the commission of sexually inappropriate behavior by Mr. Aguilar," she said. The state agency, which has a $3.5 million annual budget and a staff of 16, was established in 1955 to act as a liaison between state government and New Mexico tribes. "Initially the commission gave him until Saturday (Jan. 19) by 5 p.m. to reply but since then we've been informed by Fred Martinez, his attorney, that Mr. Aguilar is involved in religious ceremonies," Sanchez said, referring to Wednesday's feast-day ceremonies at San Ildefonso Pueblo, where Aguilar has served as lieutenant governor. Several attempts to reach Aguilar this week were unsuccessful. Aguilar's attorney said he had no comment until he could further discuss the matter with his client. Sanchez said she was not at liberty to speak about the findings of the investigation. George Marquez, spokesman for the state General Services Department said a private contractor was hired to do the investigation. He was not sure if the report had been finalized or who conducted the investigation. However, he said the commission is not required to follow the recommendations of the investigation. As for naming a permanent replacement for Aguilar, Sanchez said,"We haven't even begun the process of a search. We haven't had the opportunity to address that." Since Aguilar was placed on leave, Sam Cata has taken over operations at the office and is currently the acting director. Sanchez said of Cata, "He will definitely be there through the end of February, and at that point if we need his services longer we will take it up at another meeting." Copyright c. 2002 Santa Fe New Mexican. --------- "RE: Threat forces Closure: Navajo Our Youth" --------- Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2002 10:52:39 -0800 From: "Jess Hansen" Subj: "Threat forces closure: Navajo Our Youth, Our Future employees moved" Mailing List: ndn-ain http://www.daily-times.com Friday, January 25, 2002 "Threat forces closure: Navajo Our Youth, Our Future employees moved" By JIM SNYDER, Staff writer SHIPROCK - "Our Youth, Our Future, a nonprofit organization based in Farmington, pulled its last remaining 10 employees - nine Navajos and one Hopi - out of Shiprock Thursday in response to a threat received earlier this week, said Hoskie Benally, chief executive officer. The threat was made in a phone call to a current Our Youth, Our Future employee working at the old chapter house, now called the Grant building, on U.S. 666. That threat, Benally added, came from a former Our Youth, Our Future employee who now works for the Navajo Nation Department of Behavioral Health Services in Shiprock. Nelson Chee, with Our Youth, Our Future, said he took a call Tuesday from the Navajo Nation Department of Behavioral Health Services employee, whose voice he immediately recognized. During the conversation, the Navajo Nation Department of Behavioral Health Services employee told Chee "we're going to bomb you out of there." Chee, a veteran, worked in military communications during the Gulf War in '91 in Operation Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia and later Kuwait. "I've had training regarding these types of calls," he said. "I knew who she was." The bomb threat claim was quickly rebuffed by Ron Curtis, Navajo Nation Department of Behavioral Health Services director in Shiprock Thursday. "I feel Our Youth, Our Future is trying to discredit our own program by leveling a bogus accusation," he said, during a phone interview from Washington where he is attending meetings. "Our Youth, Our Future is still very upset and angry that we've taken over the operation and are proceeding to hire their former staff," Curtis added. "We don't condone, or support, or advocate any kind of threats made to another organization. It's an accusation, a very flimsy one at that. When I get back I will investigate the matter further," Curtis said. However, Our Youth, Our Future stands by their claim and filed a police report Wednesday. They are calling for the FBI to investigate. This latest salvo between Our Youth, Our Future, which operated the Four Corners Regional Adolescent Treatment Center in Shiprock for 13 years, and the Navajo Nation Navajo Nation Department of Behavioral Health Services, has raised tensions to an all-time high on both sides. Both groups have said the other is trying to discredit their programs. The Navajo Nation Health and Social Services Oversight Committee decided last year they would not renew Our Youth, Our Future's annual $1.3 million contract for 2002, citing Navajo Nation sovereignty and self-determination laws. Instead, the Navajo Nation has decided to keep the money themselves in order to open their own adolescent treatment facilities in Chinle, Ariz., and in Shiprock. One Oversight Committee member, Shiprock Council Delegate Lula Jackson, was also a former member of the board of directors at the Four Corners Regional Adolescent Treatment Center in Shiprock. She has stated Benally should be removed from his position and was against renewing the Our Youth, Our Future contract. Delbert John, a former employee of Our Youth, Our Future who had been fired by Benally and is now a Navajo Nation Department of Behavioral Health Services employee, has been chosen by Navajo Nation Department of Behavioral Health Services to head the new yet-to-open Shiprock treatment facility. Benally argued until late December the Our Youth, Our Future center in Shiprock should stay open, at least on a quarterly-contract basis, until the new tribal facility was ready in Chinle. Despite having the support of Navajo Nation President Kelsey Begaye and Vice President Taylor McKenzie for the transition plan, the Navajo Nation Department of Behavioral Health Services in Window Rock, Ariz., did not follow through with the idea. The Four Corners Regional Adolescent Treatment Center in Shiprock closed its doors Dec. 31. The Navajo Nation's Chinle facility currently operates on an outpatient basis, while the new Shiprock facility hasn't opened yet. Our Youth, Our Future has kept its Farmington office and is working on securing off-reservation contracts. Employees at Our Youth, Our Future helped movers load a U-Haul truck with office equipment Thursday morning at the Grant building. Benally and Candice Stewart said the building was being closed for the safety of their employees. "A threat is a threat, especially when you are the target. (When someone says) 'We're going to bomb you,' I take it very seriously," Our Youth, Our Future employee Denise Lee said. "I will feel more comfortable off the reservation," she added. Her sentiment was echoed by several other Navajo Our Youth, Our Future employees who stated they would feel safer in Farmington than on their own reservation. "It's better to get away from the Navajo Nation," Chee, a full-blooded Navajo said. "This gives the Navajo Nation a bad name, it stereotypes them. But I'm proud to have a good Nation within the four sacred mountains." "The tribe says they need more treatment centers, then they drive us out," Our Youth, Our Future employee Eleanor Jones said. "I feel so much more safer in Farmington. Our safety is at risk (in Shiprock) when we come to the office." LePrensa Ellison said it was frustrating, because the Navajo Nation said they are against violence and yet there was a threat from Navajo Nation Department of Behavioral Health Services. "Can't we all just get along? We're all people. There's so much violence on the Navajo Nation as it is. We have to work together." All bomb treats are serious, Shiprock Criminal Investigations Chief Lt. Douglas Joe said Thursday. Joe said he had not yet received the report from the patrol division. Shiprock Police Capt. Randy John and Lt. Clarence Hawthorne were in Window Rock Thursday and could not be reached for comment." Copyright c. 2002 Media News Group ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> 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: New Evidence halts Saskatchewan Inquest" --------- Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2002 08:22:31 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="FREEZING INQUEST" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/view.cgi?/news/2002/01/23/ New evidence halts inquest into Saskatchewan freezing death Last Updated Thu Jan 24 08:52:34 2002 SASKATOON - An inquest into the mysterious freezing death of an aboriginal man came to an abrupt halt Wednesday, when new information in the case suddenly surfaced. Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations spokesperson Darcy Mackenzie said Wednesday two men claim to have witnessed Lawrence Wegner being put into a police cruiser shortly before he was found frozen to death - wearing only jeans, a T-shirt and socks - south of Saskatoon two winters ago. The revelations caused Chief Coroner Hugh Harradence to suspend the inquest into Wegner's death for two weeks, while RCMP officers investigate the new statements. Both the FSIN and the RCMP have been investigating the freezing deaths of several aboriginal men on the outskirts of Saskatoon, and allegations of mistreatment at the hands of Saskatoon police. The inquest into Wegner's death was ordered after an RCMP probe showed there wasn't enough evidence to lay charges. An inquest into the freezing death of another aboriginal man, Rodney Naistus, led to several recommendations that were critical of police, even though there was never any evidence of police involvement in his death. And two police officers were convicted last year of dumping a third aboriginal man, Darrell Night, in the area where Wegner was found. Night survived, and is suing the two former officers. Mackenzie said the new witnesses were friends of Wegner's, who turned up during the federation's own investigation into his death. The information has been passed on to the RCMP, he said. Greg Curtis, the lawyer for Wegner's family, said it was appropriate that the inquest be suspended while the new information is checked out. "It has to be investigated now, before we go any further," Curtis said. The inquest was about to hear from several police witnesses when proceedings were halted Wednesday. Written by CBC News Online staff Copyright c. 2002 CBC. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Native Prisoner" --------- Date: Sun Jan 27, 2002 10:57 PM From: "Janet Smith" Subj: Prisoner Issues from IRONHOUSE/Support -helping the Native American prisoner- Barbara Fortier, coordinator bdyingswan@aol.com http://www.ironhousesupport.f2s.com POB 262 Villa Rica, GA 30180-0262 Our Visit With Hawk 1-22-02 Texas prisons seem to be very nice places. A row of trees on either side line the long freshly paved drive welcoming the visitor onto the grounds. Carpets of thick green grass are laid out as far as the eye can see. A turn into the parking lot leads one to the outside buildings that are freshly painted with sparkly windows. Like with a hot cup of steamy tomato soup on a cold chilly day, a taxpayer can feel warm all inside knowing that his money is well spent and "prison can't be all that bad." Except Eastham Unit at Lovelady, Texas. Out of the 3 prisons of Texas' 113 that I have been to, Eastham unabashedly shows off its proud vulgarity. No outside frilly primping for us the visitor, rather punishment that begins with the eyes and ends in the lower bowels of the gut. I suppose that I should respect Eastham for their candor, as they did not even try to hide the segregation unit from me. They position this glaring eye sore of a structure as the first building one would see. I had to cock my head and re-cock my head and blink a few times to figure out what it was. A series of what looked like dog yards lined up, each equipped with its own fencing and mini guard tower. I looked around for any signs of the dogs that would be housed there. The ground was torn up and muddy just like how big untrained, unhappy digging dogs do to yards. The building was neglected and gloomy with nondescript brown or grey or otherwise peeling paint. If it were not for my mental notes on how segregation yards have been described to me by segregation prisoners, I would not have guessed that these were the yards that segregation prisoners try to exercise in. The tone was set for our visit. Maryjane had flown from San Jose, California to my home outside Atlanta, Georgia. We rented a car and drove from Georgia to Lovelady, Texas to see Hawk. We were excited because we had a special 4 hr visit scheduled for Saturday, December 22 and another 4 hrs for Sunday the 23rd. Visitors from out of town are gifted with this extra time. We had been working with Hawk well over a year, helping him on his various projects and we really looked forward to meeting him in person. Our disappointment peaked when we were told in a monotone voice by one of the many monotone female guards that we were not approved for our special 4hr / 4hr visit but rather would be doled a one 2hr visit that day only. It did not matter that I had been told specifically on the phone that we had been approved by the warden because there, clearly scribbled in their log book, was her signature and a note stating "not approved" and dated the same date that I had gotten her approval. Hunger strike retaliation was my only thought and truly I was not really surprised. (When I had gotten home and called up the prison to question their handling of our cheated visit, I was told by the warden herself that special visits do not nor have ever existed for segregation prisoners. Knowing that special visits do exist for segregation prisoners I further pressed her on the matter. But she had me where she wanted me -- in a half nelson over my visiting privileges.) So we made the best of it as our measly 2 hours seemed like 10 minutes. Hawk sitting inside on his side of the black grated-iron / dirty glass barrier and we sitting outside on ours. Putting aside the Prison Security Policy for moving a segregation prisoner, it is shocking to see segregation prisoners handled. Two guards are required on either side of the handcuffed prisoner. He is guided into the enclosed area with the other prisoners but placed further into his own special cage because he is a seg. Once they secure the door to this special cage they open a slot in order to unlock his handcuffs. Then the prisoner can sit down for his visit. I have seen this special cage resembling the size and shape of a telephone booth but Hawk's was a roomy "twice as big." For some odd reason, unknown to man, Eastham's handcuff slot is very low, so even a short man would have to place his back against the cage door and bend his knees in order for his hands to be on the level of the slot. Hawk being rather tall, or at least seemed tall, had to degrade himself to an awkward bend/ crouch / twist position. At the end of our "10 minute visit, " Hawk had to resume this same back-against-door in order to be handcuffed behind and be pulled out backwards by the two guards. I am writing this piece about our visit to let all who have contacted and read Hawk's writings that our efforts to support him are well-invested. Hawk is a very articulate, interesting, self-educated man. A self- rehabilitated man with the insatiable desire to not only learn more but to give back. All of us who recognize our Creator-kissed blessings know that by giving back we take THE important step to further our spiritual development as a human. Welcome to our circle of the human family. To contact Hawk you may write him at: Sid Byrd #872404 POB 16 / Lovelady, TX 75851 ----------------------------------- http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.daily-times.com/Stories/0,1002,6574~362481,00.html House considers a spiritual matter Sunday, January 27, 2002 - 2:35:47 AM MST SANTA FE (AP) - Legislation in the House would allocate $75,000 to pay for two American Indian spiritual advisers to travel to all prisons in New Mexico. "This is vital and beneficial for the spiritual recovery ... of Native American inmates," said Lenny Foster, director of the Navajo National Correctional Project. The advisers would conduct traditional ceremonies with inmates, including a sweat lodge, in hopes of reducing recidivism among Indian prisoners, he said. The bill was endorsed Friday by the House Judiciary Committee. Copyright c. 2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 1999-2002 MediaNews Group, Inc./Farmington Daily-Times. ----------------------------------- New Prisoner Contact Site Many of you have seen Kim Foltz's USP Atlanta Pen Pal site. Since she started it, a number of inmates from that prison have been relocated to other institutions around the country. Wherever they'd go, they'd tell their new Native circle about the Atlanta site, and they've asked "can you do one for the rest of us? She has, in response created the Native American Prisoner Pen Pal Network (NAPPPN) at http://members.tripod.com/~foltz.k/napppn/napppnhome.html. It's a good resource and a great-looking site. Thanks Kim! Here's what Kim writes about NAPPPN : The Native American Prisoner Pen Pal Network site is for Native American (First Nations) inmates. The inmates on these pages are from various tribes, incarcerated in different facilities throughout the United States. Many are incarcerated far from home, from family and/or friends, from their tribes. While some do have family they remain in contact with, many have no family or friends, no contact with the outside. On the enclosed pages you will find native inmates' pages, displaying their personal information, photos, artwork, writings, etc. Go through the information, photos, artwork and/or writings samples and choose an inmate to correspond with. Let them know they are not forgotten - remember them on their birthday and other holidays ----------------------------------- 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: John Rustywire: The Sweet Taste of Freedom" --------- Date: 22 Jan 2002 19:12:36 -0800 From: rustywire@yahoo.com (john rustywire) Subj: the sweet taste of freedom Newsgroup: alt.native A long time ago. It was summer once, where all those that lived in the valleys, hills and mountains enjoyed the long days of summer. The flowers grew, the nuts, plants and grasses tasted sweet, and the warmth of the sun brought life to everything. There is nothing like the quiet of a valley meadow with a cool breeze and the rush of mountain stream nearby. One can sit and enjoy the slow movement of cloud across the blue sky, and watch the flight of the eagle dancing on the wind way up so high it is a mere speck in the sky. It is the time of youth, of hopes, dreams and feeling that somewhere in the world everything is alright for those moments where time stands still. In the lull of sunshine, dreams and rest, there came a stiff wind, blowing from the south and east. A slight coolness in the air came upon the land and the creatures stirred feeling the chill of a brisk wind. It is nothing but air, nothing more some said, let it be and the sun will bear down on us and all will be well. Some of the animals looked to the wind as a sign of change, not quite knowing what the next day would bring, but kept a watchful eye and ear for the subtle things that mark the beginning of the end of summer. Summer comes and goes, the sun always shines, a few days of stormy weather that blows itself out always appear on the horizon, the sound of thunder brings he