From gars@speakeasy.org Tue Feb 5 21:11:54 2002 Date: 6 Feb 2002 02:09:28 -0000 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews10.006 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 Acimowin -- Plains Cree -- Story or Account 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 006 | Country than is reported in | O o o o o O | this weekly newsletter. For | O o O February 9, 2002 | For daily updates & events | O o O | go http://www.owlstar.com/ | O | dailyheadlines.htm | Blackfeet piitaiai/Eagle moon +-----------------------------+ Potawatomi mnokesis/moon of rabbit conception <================<<<< >>>>================> This issue contains articles from www.pechanga.net; www.owlstar.com; www.indianz.com; ndn-aim and Native Rights & First Nations 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.'" "They've rebuilt Germany, they've rebuilt Japan and now they're going to rebuild Afghanistan," "We've been annihilated by the turn of the century, but we've never been rebuilt." __ Alvin Windy Boy Sr., Rocky Boy Chippewa Cree business chairman "Health, education and the general welfare of our people are not gifts from the government," "They are hard fought for and they are treaty rights." __ Tim Lame Woman, Northern Cheyenne +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! Life is a circle. Our choices guide our movements on the path we follow. Four leggeds make choices. We two leggeds make choices. Governments and corporations make choices. Like ripples on a pond the choices made touch and affect those around us. Sometimes these choices and their effects can be quite profound. If a mother bear chooses to enter an open field in search of food, in spite of senses that tell her evil lurks on the other side of the field she can die at the hands of a hunter, leaving orphans of her cubs. If I choose to consume alcohol, knowing one drink is not enough, I will get drunk; and stand a very real risk of bringing injury to myself or others. I know before the first drink what the consequences are, and that is when I face the moment of choice. If I choose to drink, and injure others it falls to me to bring healing to those I harm... if I have any honor. The United States Government has made some shameful choices regarding management of the Indian Trust Fund. Secretary of Interior Norton continues to make choices that obstruct, rather than heal. It cannot be only Native People who see the dishonor she brings to herself, her Department and the U. S. Government she is sworn to serve. In Canada, Harris continues to deny culpability for the death of Dudley George and Nault continues to try to bend the Indian Act to suit his sense of what is right for the First Nations. Both should develop the honor they obviously lack and let the healing begin. We all, each one of us, must remember our choices have consequences. It is our obligation to bring healing where we have brought harm, wherever our ripples in the pond of life have touched those around us. If we choose to forget this simple truth, Creator does not. ===== Personal thanks for the additional Native Language in the banner: From: Alexon Group Date: Monday, February 04, 2002 12:10 PM Subj: "news" The word for news in Plains Cree (Saskatchewan, Canada) is "acimowin" which means story or account or report. 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 ---------- - Andrew Cuellar - Native Trust Fund Account - Crossings Contempt Trial Resumes - Urgent Needs of Cheyenne Children - Bush will seek More Funds - Court to Decide for Indian Land Trust Indian Land Dispute - Tribes ask Norton to - Rift could stop scrap New Agency Plan Coal Mining on Hopi Land - Tribal Task Force - Apaches warn School demands better Rez Roads against Telescope Role - Ho Chunk refuses to Pay - Elementary Students learn 1 Million to Slot Winner Oregon's Indian Origins - $500,000 OK'd for Allottees - Closing the Door on College Dreams - Native Holiday Long Overdue - Miller School Board, - Indians Urged to fight Racism Crow Creek Tribe Resolution - Means weighs in on - Sovereignty: American Indian Mascots Tribes issue Call to Action - Faxes Needed: Zuni Salt lake - Editorial: Union Decision - Judge agrees to limit Federal Claim upholds Self-government - Oneida Land Claim Negotiations Begin - Senator backs GOP - Tribal Official fired Tribal Status Inquiry in Investigation - Dispute puts Sacred Pottery - Indian Voting-bias Claim at Risk nixed by Federal Court - Potawatomi Elder relates - Grand Ronde Court Long History in Area respects Tribal Traditions - Group opposes bringing Buffalo - Tribal Cop shoots Man holding BB Gun to Plains - Native Prisoner - Cape Breton Natives -- IRONHOUSE: David Antelope speak out against Gas Wells - John Rustywire: Marion's - Nisga'a Nation Annual Report - Poem: February shows Some Progress - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - Indian Act: - Animals come to Life Coon Come ready to lead Fight in American Indian Tales - Tribal Leaders - Handy's Vocabulary of Miami taking Trust to New Level - Indigenous Language Institute --------- "RE: Andrew Cuellar" --------- Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2002 22:25:34 -0500 From: Barbara Landis Subj: Carlisle Indian School Alumnus Passes. Sad news. Andrew Cuellar passed away last Sunday. For more information, http://www.epix.net/~landis/andrew.html The Circle, Indian Country Today, Native Americas, and News From Indian Country have all been notified, along with the local Harrisburg/Carlisle PA papers. Please feel free to pass along. Take care, Barbara -=-=-=- February 1, 2002 "Andrew Cuellar: last known surviving graduate of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School" "Andrew Cuellar, the last known surviving graduate of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, died Monday at home in Maryland. He was 103. An Oklahoma native, Cuellar attended the Shawnee Indian Mission School at Tecumseh before enrolling in Carlisle, which was the model for a nationwide system of government-run boarding schools for American Indians. The schools taught Indian children farming and trades while squelching their language and traditions. Cuellar, a member of the Absentee Shawnee tribe, was the treasurer and valedictorian of Carlisle's last graduating class in 1918. After graduating from Carlisle, Cuellar went to the Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kan., then moved to Detroit and worked for the Ford Motor Co. After leaving Detroit in 1934, Cuellar joined the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He and his family lived on the Menominee Indian Reservation during his first BIA assignment. Cuellar then transferred to Aberdeen, S.D., to work in the BIA area field office, and later transferred to Albuquerque, N.M., where he retired in 1970." Copyright c. 2002 ABC NEWS. --------- "RE: Crossings" --------- Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 08:40:17 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CROSSINGS" January 30, 2002 Elizabeth D. Francis MANUELITO - Services for Elizabeth D. Francis, 77, were held at 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 1 at Rollie Mortuary Palm Chapel. Burial followed at Sunset Memorial Park. Francis died Jan. 28 in Gallup. She was born Nov. 12, 1924 into the Black Sheep People Clan for the Bitterwater People Clan. Survivors include her son, Johnnie Francis of Window Rock, Raymond Francis of Gallup and Johnny Thompson Jr. of Tohatchi; daughter, Shirley Francis-Burbank of Gallup; sisters, Nora Nelson of Lupton, Ariz., Emma Dayea, Esther Francis, Marion Francis, Marie Lewis and Irene Tsosie all of Manuelito; 18 grandchildren; 26 great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren. Francis was preceded in death by her husband, Charley Francis; parents, Charlie and Nasbah Day; daughters, Stella F. Begay, Dorothy Goldtooth and Diane Thompson and sister, Julia Dayea. Pallbearers were Roger Bradley, Clinton Burbank, Ronald Burbank, Terrance Burbank, Colin Francis and R.D. Francis. Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. January 31, 2002 Nelson Alfred Jim Sr. SUNDANCE - Services for Nelson Jim Sr., 51, were held at 10 a.m., Monday, Feb. 4 at Rollie Mortuary-Palm Chapel. Pastor Nathaniel Begay and Asst. Pastor Robertson Jackson were officiated. Burial followed at Gallup City Cemetery. Jim Sr. died Jan. 30 in Sundance. He was born Jan. 1, 1951 in Rehoboth into the Towering House People Clan for the Black Streak People Clan. Survivors include his wife, Irene Jim of Sundance; sons, Nelson Alfred Jim Jr. of Shiprock and Ferlin Ben of Gallup; parents, Annie and John Yazzie of Sundance; brothers, Edison Jim of Phoenix, Raymond Jim of Kirtland, Daniel Jim and Albert Jim both of Sundance; sisters, Maira Cowboy of Tucson, Ariz., Emma Jim of Sundance, Lorraine Jim of Church Rock and Marita Padilla of Kirtland; and three grandchildren. Jim Sr. was preceded in death by his father, Alfred Jim. Pallbearers were Darin Jim, Ernest Jim, Manuel Jim, Raymond Jim, Derrick Smith and Michael Smith. Rollie Mortuary was in charge of arrangements. Bahe Chee Beall MANY FARMS, Ariz. - Services for Bahe Beall, 75, were held at 10 a.m., Monday, Feb. 4 at St. Anthony Catholic Church, Many Farms, Ariz. Father Blein officiated. Beall died Jan. 30 in Flagstaff, Ariz. He was born Dec. 15, 1927 in Many Farms, Ariz. into the Folded Arm People Clan for the Water Flowing Together Clan. Beall was employed with Chinle Unified School District #24 as a custodian. He was a member of the NAC of Navajoland, was a roadman He belonged to the Medicine Man Association. Survivors include his wife, Grace Beall of Many Farms; sons, Tommy Beall of Chinle, Ariz. and Fred Beall of Many Farms; daughters, Rose Ann Dalgai of Phoenix and Annie Beall of Many Farms; brothers, Yahe Chee Beall of Many Farms and Tom Robert Chee of Tsaile, Ariz.; sisters, Bessie Taylor and Stella Byjoe both of Many Farms; and 11 grandchildren. Beall was preceded in death by his parents, John Haye and Mary Beall. Pallbearers were family and friends. Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Johnnie Paul Benally IYANBITO - Services for Johnnie Benally, 65, were held at 11 a.m., today, in Many Farms, Ariz. Burial followed on family plot, Rough Rock. Benally died Jan. 29 in Gallup. He was born Sept. 6, 1935 in Rough Rock into the Bitter Water Clan for the Tachiini' Clan. Benally attended school in Oklahoma City, Okla. He was employed with Coyote Canyon School, Chuska school, Wingate Elementary School and Iyanbito Head Start. He was a member of the NAC. Survivors include his wife, Etta K. Benally of Iyanbito; son, Shelton Benally of Iyanbito; daughters, Brenda Benally, Jenny Benally and Eva Benally all of Iyanbito; brothers, Leo Benally and Michael Benally both of Rough Rock, Ariz.; sisters, Elizabeth John of Ganado, Ariz., Kathrine Sells, Agnes Benally and Rita Wagner all of Rough Rock; and 16 grandchildren. Benally was preceded in death by his parents, Bluecoat Benally and Sally Begay; brothers, Raymond Benally and Sam Benally and sister, Hilda Benally. Pallbears were Leo Benally, Michael Benally, Vince Yazzie and Delfred Wauneka. Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Mirandy Bitsoi PHOENIX - Services for Mirandy Bitsoi were held at 1 p.m. today, at the Sheep Springs Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.Brother Emerson Louis officiated. Burial followed at Sheep Springs Community Cemetery. Bitsoi died Jan. 28 in Phoenix. Bitsoi attended school in Navajo and Newcomb High School. While in high school he was a member of the youth counselor, National Honors Society and peer educator, football, basketball, cross country running, track, wrestling and attended Young Marines Boot Camp. His hobbies included fishing, riding horses, music, acting, weight lifting and running. He was employed with Hertz Rental Car, Sky Ute Casino, Western States Security and San Juan County Detention Center, the Phoenix Police Department and a member of the Marine Corps Reserves. Survivors include his son, Sheldon Shean Bitsoi of Phoenix; parents, Mabel Bitsoi of Kirtland and Andy Bitsoi, of Navajo, NM; sister, Brenda Nadine Grey of Kirtland; grandmothers, Mae K. James of Sheep Springs and Sadie Bitsoi of Naschitti. Bitsoi was preceded in death by his brother, Alex Bitsoi and grandfathers, Kitso K. James and Max Bitsoi. Pallbearers were officers of the Phoenix Police Department. February 1, 2002 Kenneth Geno Antonio CHURCH ROCK - Services for Kenneth Antonio, 60, will be announced at a later date. Antonio died Jan. 30 in Gallup. He was born April 24, 1941 in Crownpoint into the Mud People Clan for the Edge of the Water People Clan. A family meeting will be held at 6 p.m., tonight at Church Rock Chapter House. Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. February 2-3, 2002 Samuel W. Thomas Sr. CHINLE, Ariz. - Services for Samuel Thomas Sr., 64, were held at 10 a.m., Monday, Feb. 4 at Chinle Christian Center. Pastor Artie Aragon officiated. Burial followed at Chinle Community Cemetery. Thomas died Jan. 27 in Albuquerque. He was born Aug. 11, 1937 in Canyon de Chelly, Ariz. into the Coyote Pass People Clan for the Tangle People Clan. Thomas Sr. attended Intermountain School. He worked at the Old Sawmill, Sawmill, Ariz. and in Navajo, NM. He was a bull rider, saddle bronc, bareback rider and rancher. His hobbies included tending to livestock, art drawing, building horses, playing guitar and singing. Survivors include his wife. Louise Agnes Thomas of Chinle, sons, Harrison Lynch of Spider Rock, Ariz., Wilbert Thomas of Sawmill, Ariz., Benson Y. Benally, Calvin Allen Thomas, Julius W. Thomas, Leon Mike Thomas, Samuel W. Thomas and Venson Kee Yazzie all of Chinle; daugthers, Grace Hamblen and Phyllis Mae Thomas both of Chinle and Julia Plummer of Tohatchi; mother, Katherine P. Thomas of Spider Rock; brothers, Amos Thomas, David Thomas, Johnson Thomas and Paul Thomas all of Spider Rock; 11 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Thomas Sr. was preceded in death by his father, Sam Thomas; son, Chuck Allen Thomas; and brothers, Billy Thomas, Eddie Thomas and Elli Thomas. Pallbearers were Amos Thomas, Calvin A. Thomas, David Thomas, Wilbert Thomas, Tom Mailboy and Venson Kee Yazzie. Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Randy J. West ST. MICHAELS, Ariz. - Services for Randy West, 20, were held at 10 a.m., Monday, Feb. 4 at St. Michaels Catholic Church. Burial followed at St. Michaels School Cemetery. Visitation was held from 2-4 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 3 at Cope Memorial. A rosary was recited at 4 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 3 at Cope Memorial. West died Jan. 31 in St. Michaels. He was born in Gallup into the Kinyaa'aanii Clan for the Tachii'nii Clan. West graduated from Window Rock High School and attended Mesa Community College, Mesa, Ariz. He was employed with the Navajo Nation, Records and Comm. Department. Survivors include his parents, Ronnie and Hattie West; brothers, Ryan and Justin; sister, Renee; and grandparents, Joe and Elsie Spencer and Clara West. West was predceded in death by his grandfather, Ben R. West. Pallbearers were Marlon West, Allen West, Random Holmes, Sideal Reed, Kent Nelson and Isaac Joe. The family will receive friends and relatives after the burial services at St. Michaels Parish Hall. Cope Memorial Chapel was in charge of arrangements. David D. Chavez GRANTS - Services for David Chavez, 77, were held at 10 a.m., Monday, Feb. 4 at San Rafael Catholic Church. Father Gil Mangampo officiated. Visitation was held from 6- 7 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 3 at San Rafael Catholic Church. A rosary was recited at 7 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 3 at San Rafael Catholic Church. Chavez was born Oct. 29, 1924 in El Morro. Chavez was a member of the D.A.V. and served in World War II. Survivors include his sons, Raynold Chavez of San Rafael, Victor Chavez of Albuquerque, Brian Chavez of Amarillo, Texas; daughters, Hazel Sandoval of San Rafael, Lorraine Garcia of Los Lunas and Diane Chavez of Las Vegas, Nev.; 15 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. Chavez was preceded in death by his wife, Tillie Chavez; sons, David and Lincoln; daughter, Lora Mae; parents, Daniel and Anita Chavez and brother, Paul Chavez. Pallbearers were Pita Apodaca, Celia DuBois, Della Gonzales, Viviana Mirabel, Betty Salazar, Erminia Saavedra and Helen Torrez. Lynn Ian Chambers WHITE HORSE LAKE - Graveside services for Lynn Chambers, 28, were held at 1 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 29, on family land, Whitehorse Lake. Pastor David Skiles officiated. Chambers died Jan. 24 in Farmington. He was born July 18, 1972 in Crownpoint into the Mexican People Clan for the Edge Water People Clan. Survivors include his parents, Buck Chambers Jr. of Ganado, Ariz. and Arlene Sandoval of Crownpoint and grandparents, Frances Chambers of Ganado and Tom Tsosie of White Horse Lake. Chambers was preceded in death by his grandparents, Jean Tsosie and Buck Chambers Sr. Pallbearers were Lance Dixon, Donovan Gordo, Waylon Jim, Loren Miles, Dean Robertson and Alex Trujillo. Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Woodrow John LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Services for Woodrow John, 69, were held at 10 a.m., Friday, Feb. 1 at Rehoboth Christian Reformed Church. Rev. Jimmy Etcitty officiated. Burial followed at Rehoboth Cemetery. John died Jan. 24 in Culver City, Calif. He was born Aug. 22, 1932 in Tohatchi into the Salt People Clan for the Bitter Water Clan. Survivors include his wife, Nora John of Las Vegas, Nev.; Gary John of Culver City, Calif.; daughter, Evelyn Blanchard of Gallup; brother, Willie John of Ganado, Ariz.; sisters, Irene Billie of Buffalo Springs, Edith Tony and Jennie Leupp both of Tohatchi; and three grandchildren. Pallbearers were Michael Billie, Nathaniel Billie, Ray Chavez, Peter Nez, Christopher Sloan and Harry Yazzie Jr. Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements. Mary C. Rafael PREWITT - Services for Mary Rafael, 86, were held at 10 a.m., Friday, Feb. 1 at Assembly of God, Prewitt. Evangelist Jake Delgarito officiated. Burial followed at Grants Memorial Park. Rafael died Jan. 27 in Albuquerque. She was born Aug. 15, 1915 in Toadalena into the Mexican Clan for the Red Bottom Streak/Paiute. Rafael was a homemaker, weaver, silversmith, herblist, rancher, business woman and teacher of traditional values. Survivors included her daughters, Lucia Rafael of Bluewater Village and Nancy Rafael Yazzie of Prewitt; 22 grandchildren; 48 great-grandchildren and eight great-great grandchildren. Rafael was preceded in death by her husband, Tom Rafael; daughter, Betty C. Martinez; brother, John Becenti and sister, Alice C. Ramone. Pallbearers were Keene Eskeets, Goldensun Eskeets, Winston Yazzie, Michael Sloan, Jerry Long and Roger Thompson. Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements. Corynthia Begay Deleon CASA GRANDE, Ariz. - Services for Corynthia Deleon, 37, were held on Saturday, Feb. 2 at St. Anthony Catholic Church, Casa Grande, Ariz. Burial followed in Casa Grande. Deleon died Jan. 20 in Casa Grande. She was born in Crownpoint into the Water Flowing Together for the Bitterwater. Deleon graduated from Crownpoint High School and CIT of Crownpoint in accounting. She was employed with Accounting Insurance of Casa Grande, First American Credit Union of Window Rock and Casa Grande. Survivors include her husband, David Deleon Sr. of Casa Grande; son, David Deleon Jr. of Casa Grande; daughters, Letccia and Stephenia Deleon of Casa Grande; mother, Bettie T. Begay of Crownpoint; brothers, Marshall Begay Jr. of Albuquerque, Darryl and Everett Begay both of Crownpoint; sisters, Clara Begay of Albuquerque, and Bethel Trujillo of Las Cruces. Deleon was preceded in death by her father, Marshall Begay Sr.; sister, Dylane Begay; brothers, Harlyn and Elwin Begay and grandmother, Mary J. Tso. Pallbearers were Ernie Archutreta Jr., Ned Deleon, Darryl Begay, Everett Begay, Shawn Begay and Marshall Begay Jr. Copyright c. 2002 The Gallup Independent. -=-=-=- January 31, 2002 Ethel Ernestine Witt KYLE - Ethel Ernestine Witt, 82, Kyle, died Monday, Jan. 28, 2002, at Rapid City Regional Hospital. Survivors include her husband, Wilbur Witt, Kyle; five daughters, Thelma Janis, Porcupine, and Loretta Bull Bear, June Rosales, Juanita Witt and Wilma Witt, all of Kyle; 23 grandchildren; 44 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren. A two-night wake will begin at 2 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 31, at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Hall in Kyle. Services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 2, at Our Lady of Sorrows, with the Rev. Cordelia Red Owl and Lay Reader Archie Hopkins officiating. Burial will be at Mediator Episcopal Cemetery in Kyle. Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements. February 1, 2002 Donte Lee Spotted Elk PINE RIDGE - Donte Lee Spotted Elk, infant son of Martha Spotted Elk and Jeffrey Kewanimptewa of Wanblee, was born and died Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2002, at Pine Ridge Hospital. Survivors include his parents and his maternal grandmother, Myrtle Spotted Elk, Wanblee. A one-night wake will begin at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2, at the Wanblee CAP Office. Services will be at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 3, at the CAP office, with the Rev. Daniel Makes Good officiating. Burial will be at Gethsemane Episcopal Cemetery in Wanblee. Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements. February 2, 2002 Marlene LaVonne Lammers RAPID CITY - Marlene LaVonne Lammers, loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, daughter and sister passed away January 31, 2002, at Rapid City Regional Hospital. Marlene was born September 28, 1935, in Crawford, Nebraska, and was raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. She attended Holy Rosary Mission, where she received her high school diploma. She is survived by her husband, Lloyd, whom she met in Boise, Idaho, while he was in the United States Air Force. Together they shared a whirlwind romance and were married November 3, 1955, for a total of 47 years. She is also survived by her four children, their spouses, children and grandchildren, respectively: Colleen, her husband, Larry, her children Rose and husband Kevin and Joshua, Tim, his wife, Michelle, their children, T.J., his wife, Joy, Jeanette and Tashina, her husband, Ed, Michael, his wife, Candice Estes Lammers, their children, Ezra, Conan, Schuyler and Thorson, Ken and wife Linda, their children, Amanda and Tyler. Marlene also has four great-grandchildren, Leaha, Taylor, Megan and Ericka. Marlene is also survived by her mother, Charlotte Pulliam Pourier, sister Loretta Smallwood of Rapid City, brother Robert Pourier and wife Barbara of Sierra Vista, Ariz. She was preceded in death by her father, Alfonso Pourier, and a brother, Leroy Pourier. Marlene had a gusto for life, and she lived it with great enthusiasm. She was skillful in many crafts such as sewing, knitting and Indian beadwork. She loved to fish, loved to play bingo and was always ready for many trips to the casinos in Deadwood. She was completely full of fun and loved music. She laughed easily and often - a strong, contagious laugh that made people laugh with her. Being in her company was a complete joy. Marlene took pride in her Native American heritage. She dearly loved traditional Indian drum music. She embraced the Lakota traditions and beliefs and encouraged her family to do the same. But for all that she was, her family was the center of her world. She adored and was so proud of each and every one of them. Her passing leaves a void that cannot be filled, and her family and friends will miss her more than words can ever express. Heaven, however, is in for a wonderful treat. Hecetu elo (So be it.) Visitation will be from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, February 3, 2002, at Kirk Funeral Home in Rapid City, and one hour before services. Services will be at 10:30 a.m. on Monday at the funeral home, with Fr. Pat McCorkell S.J. officiating. Burial will follow at Black Hills National Cemetery near Sturgis. February 3, 2002 Fannie Vina Chief Bear ALLEN - Fannie Vina Chief Bear, 96, Allen, died Thursday, Jan. 31, 2002, in Scottsbluff, Neb. Survivors include three grandsons, Roger LaPointe, Scottsbluff, and Joseph Chief Bear and William Chief Bear, both of Hisle, and two granddaughters, Susie Chief Bear, Scottsbluff, and Darlene Bull Bear, Kyle. A one-night wake will begin at 1 p.m. Monday, Feb. 4, at Inestimable Gift Church in Allen. Services will be at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5, at the church, with the Rev. Daniel Makes Good officiating. Burial will be at the Chief Bear family cemetery in Hisle. Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements. Copyright c. 2002, The Rapid City Journal. --------- "RE: Urgent Needs of Cheyenne Children" --------- Date: Sun, 03 Feb 2002 11:04:11 -0600 From: Dodie Finstead Subj: PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY Mailing List: ndn-aim If you've already posted this to other list it won't hurt to post it again. Please remind people the children/teens need good used or new clothes and shoes. It has been brought to my attention seems some people must think every one on the rezs are naked and are desperate for any old worn out clothes. They are not naked, already have old worn out clothes, the need is for good clothing for them. Dodie PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY! My name is Dave Bailey, I am Northern Cheyenne and a spokesperson for the South East Texas chapter of the American Indian Movement. Recently, I was asked who someone could send a donation to the Cheyenne people, where it would be received and put to good use. I was asked if there was someone on our reservation that I trusted, who could make oversee the donations. I instantly thought of Leonard Elkshoulder. Mr. Elkshoulder is a member of the Cheyenne Council of Chiefs, and comes from a long-line of Traditional people who still to this day speak, pray, and conduct themselves in keeping with Cheyenne ways and traditions. I called him to ask about where such donations should be sent. True to my instincts, he addressed a need so severe that I was compelled to write this statement. The Northern Cheyenne Tribal School in Busby, Montana receives the most impoverished, the most disadvantaged, and the most "at risk" kids that even other schools on the reservation won't admit. They have many students whose parents are grossly incompetent, irresponsible and, in many cases, want nothing at all to do with them. Many of these children have no guardians what-so-ever. For those who've never been there, let me tell you, Montana gets COLD during the winter time. Yet, some of these kids don't have coats, or warm clothing such as sweaters, long under-ware, etc. Mr. Elkshoulder himself has spent money out of his own pocket to buy shoes for children who would otherwise go without. We've all seen similar requests for money, with heart-wrenching details and offers of certain perks. Some organizations, who receive funding but have turned away some of the kids at the Northern Cheyenne Tribal School, have been knocking on all of our doors. For many, it's hard to know who to trust, who to help, who to believe. For others, the constant requests for money on a daily basis has had a de- sensitizing effect. Rest assured,... there is a desperate need for assistance, and not all pleas for it are scams. This school is located quite far from the main hub of the reservation, out in "the districts", so they receive very little funding. They have no budget to launch advertisement or fund-raising campaings like the local Catholic school can. The thing to remember here is that these are children. Like any children, they want nothing more than the simple pleasures most of us enjoyed as kids. For most of these kids, they've faced a stark reality all their young lives that has brought a jaded, almost hopeless outlook on life. Leonard Elkshoulder told me point blank, " Some of these kids won't have a Christmas." There is no "Soaring Eagle" club for donations to the Northern Cheyenne Tribal School. There are no picture post-cards, and no glossy colored calendars available for sending-in money. They have no board of doctors, or well-to-do beneficiaries. What they do have is a generation of children descended from a strong and proud people, who have little hope for the future. The drop-out rate, the alcohal and drug-abuse rate, and the suicide rates are epic. These are the statistics that we all know, but seldom sit down and think about. I urge you to sit down and think about how you'd feel if you were in their position. Please help in whatever way you can. I will be more than happy to organize a clothing drive for those interested. If you can send money, no amount is too small. If you are feeling the effects of these hard times and unable to donate, please distribute this statement as widely as you can. Any monetary donations should be sent to: "Urgent Needs of Cheyenne Children" Northern Cheyenne Tribal School c/o Leonard Elkshoulder or Donnie Granbois 1 Campus Dr. P.O. Box 150 Busby, Mt. 59016 Please dig down deep and do what you can. You can contact me with any questions or for further information via e-mail at frankfencepost844@yahoo.com Thank You, Aho, Nea'esemeno, Dave Bailey Northern Cheyenne South East Texas AIM -- We must always fight for what we believe in. We must never tire in our fight. It does not really matter how we fight, what matters is what we are fighting for." Dino Butler, American Indian Movement ............................................. http://www.setaim.com/ http://woptura.com/ http://community.webtv.net/hugomama/HHNIP http://www.freepeltier.org/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> 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: Court to Decide Indian Land Dispute" --------- Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2002 21:53:05 -0800 From: "Jess Hansen" Subj: "Court to Decide Indian Land Dispute" Mailing List: ndn-aim http://www.newsday.com January 29, 2002 "Court to Decide Indian Land Dispute" By DALE WETZEL BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) -- "A patch of land that a farmer sold to a Chippewa Indian tribe in return for blankets and beads is the focus of a legal struggle over property rights and the power of North Dakota's local, state and tribal governments. The state Supreme Court on Wednesday is to hear the dispute about whether a county water board can force the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa tribe to sell the property. The board wants the 1.43 acres of land, in Cass County's Maple River valley in east-central North Dakota, as part of a dam project. The dam would hold water away from the river during heavy rains or spring runoff. Some lawyers in the case say that if the tribe prevails, opponents of any dam, street or sewer line could stop construction by enlisting an Indian tribe to buy land needed for the project. "This is a case which dramatically, and directly, affects the sovereignty of the state of North Dakota," said Charles Carvell, an assistant attorney general. Roger Shea, a farmer from rural Enderlin whose family had owned the land for almost a century, sold the 1.43 acres to the tribe in July 2000. He accepted Indian blankets and beads as compensation. Shea said he sold the land to "stop the dam...stop it dead." He and some neighboring property owners believe the project would flood their own land. The Cass County water board offered to buy the land for $500. When its offer was refused, the board sued to condemn the property, a procedure that can compel a landowner to sell. Supporters of the dam say it would provide flood-control benefits worth $4.3 million annually. It would bolster flood protection on almost 8,000 acres. The state of North Dakota, as well as associations representing city and county governments, have filed briefs in the case. They want the Supreme Court to overturn a decision by East Central District Judge Georgia Dawson, who ruled that North Dakota state courts do not have jurisdiction over condemnation lawsuits filed against Indian tribes. "Taken to its logical conclusion, the position of the (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa) would effectively mean that any public project could be held hostage," said Steven McCullough, a lawyer for the Cass County Joint Water Resource District. Carvell said Dawson's decision would be a loss of state control over its own territory. "It is just as though a small part of the state of North Dakota had been removed from the map," he wrote in a court filing. Tribal lawyers counter that the water board, or any state or local government agency, cannot seize property owned by a tribal government unless the tribe agrees. The land in question includes Chippewa burial grounds, says one of the tribe's attorneys, Jerilyn DeCoteau of Boulder, Colo. The tribe's opposition to the land seizure "is to protect its cultural resources," she said in a court filing. "The tribe is not about the business of blocking public projects," DeCoteau said. "The tribe has a legitimate governmental interest in this land, upon which its ancestors roamed, took sustenance, died, and where they will remain for eternity." DeCoteau, who is director of an Indian law clinic at the University of Colorado's law school, said the case could have national implications. "It raises questions about the tribe's sovereign immunity, and that is obviously a question of importance to tribes across the nation," she said. The Three Affiliated Tribes, which has a reservation in western North Dakota, has filed a court brief supporting the Turtle Mountain Band. Dawson's own ruling suggested that she believes the law's sovereign immunity protection for Indian tribal governments goes too far. "If tribal immunity bars the condemnation proceeding, the common sense result is that a non-Indian could convey real property to an Indian tribe, not even located in the state of North Dakota, for purposes of stalling any...public improvement project," Dawson wrote." Copyright c. 2002, The Associated Press ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> 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: Rift could stop Coal Mining on Hopi Land" --------- Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 08:40:17 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PEABODY" http://www.abqjournal.com/paperboy/text/news/586311news02-01-02.htm Friday, February 1, 2002 Rift Could Stop Coal Mining on Hopi Land The Associated Press PHOENIX - A brewing dispute between the Hopi Tribe and Peabody Energy might halt the mining company's plan to tap into additional coal reserves on the reservation. The energy company, which has been operating Black Mesa Mine on the Hopi and Navajo reservations since 1970, will have to stop in 2005 unless it is granted an extension on its lease. Peabody officials said they recently submitted an application to continue mining. "Extending the coal supply agreement would equate to $1.5 billion in economic benefits to the reservation communities over the proposed extension of the agreement," said Peabody spokeswoman Beth Sutton. Once the application process is finished tribal leaders are given a chance to review it. A water dispute between Peabody and the Hopi Tribe might get in the way of the agreement, tribal leaders said. Peabody buys water from both reservations to transport coal to the Mohave Generating Station near Laughlin, Nev. If the application is approved it will extend the mine's coal supply agreement with the generating station for up to 15 years. But the Hopi Tribe wants the company to seek out another source of water because Peabody is tapping into the community's supply. "The (tribal) chairman is not going to agree to any additional mining or agree to any additional leases until we resolve the water issue," said Claire Heywood, Hopi Tribe spokeswoman. A lawsuit over royalty rates between the Navajo Nation and Peabody dating back to 1987 is also unresolved, Sutton said. Copyright c. 1997-2002 Albuquerque Journal: Albuquerque, New Mexico --------- "RE: Apaches warn School against Telescope Role" --------- Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2002 21:21:05 -0700 From: "Chris Milda (_Akimel O`odham_)" Subj: Apaches warn school against telescope role (Fwd) Jan. 29, 2002 Apaches warn school against telescope role MOUNT GRAHAM - Apache leaders are urging the University of Virginia not to invest in a telescope project on an Arizona mountain that some Apaches consider sacred. A representative for several Apache groups also said the telescope complex, on Mount Graham in southeastern Arizona, threatens 19 endangered species of plants and animals. The chairman of the university's astronomy department, who supports investing in the project, maintains that the environmental concerns are overblown and that the observatory takes up a minuscule portion of the mountain. Under the proposal, the astronomy department would use part of a $10 million gift from Frank and Wynnette Levinson to buy shares in nine telescopes operated by the University of Arizona, including three on Mount Graham. Compiled from reports by the Associated Press. Copyright c. 2002, The Arizona Republic. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Elementary Students learn Oregon's Indian Origins" --------- Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2002 10:27:40 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="OREGON STUDENTS" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.newsregister.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=143261 Elementary school students learn Oregon's Indian origins January 31, 2002 By STARLA POINTER Of the News-Register Chipping arrowheads from obsidian and camping in a house made of reeds wouldn't be too bad, Grandhaven Elementary School students agreed Tuesday during a history program about Oregon's first inhabitants. But hunting and gathering in order to have food didn't sound like all that much fun, they said. And chewing a deer hide to make leather - no way. "That's what they did to have what they needed," amateur historian Barbara Doyle told students in the after school enrichment program. Her talk had students alternately engrossed and grossed out. It left them with a little more knowledge and quite a bit more respect for Native Americans. "Pioneers? They're newcomers," Doyle said, correcting students' guess about who were the first people in Oregon. "The Calapooia were here about 2,000 years or more. White folks haven't even been here 200 years." She talked about the things both area natives and today's residents need to survive: food, water, clothing and shelter. The native diet consisted mostly of vegetation - berries, grasses, bulbs, nuts and seeds. Natives also fished and hunted animals using arrows and other tools made from rocks, sticks and bones. They used hides from deer, elk, beavers, foxes and other animals to make clothing. Sealskin and other leathers also became carrying cases for arrows, tool pouches and moccasins. When white trappers and hunters arrived, Native Americans began trading with them. Among the major items received in trade were brightly colored glass beads. Natives used these along with shell and wood beads to decorate clothing. They also decorated by dying leather with ground rock, plants and urine. Leather pieces were sewn together with thread made of sinew, strips of bark or cattail leaves. For shelter, Doyle said, Oregon natives erected winter houses of wood. In warmer seasons, they camped in shelters made of poles covered with grass tullie mats. They needed lightweight, portable houses so they could move about harvesting plants and gathering other food, she said. "How did they go? They walked. You always see pictures of Indians on horseback, but horses came with the white people," Doyle said. "For most of the time they lived here, Native Americans walked - and when you're walking, it's pretty nice if the walls of your house are light enough to put on your back," she said. Doyle will present her "hands-on museum experience" at most McMinnville School District elementary buildings this winter. Her visits are subsidized by Trust Management Services LLC. Copyright c. 1999-2002 News-Register Publishing Co. --------- "RE: Closing the Door on College Dreams" --------- Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2002 08:07:13 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ROWE CLOSES" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.sfnewmexican.com/site/news Closing the door on College dreams By CHRISTINA BOYLE/For The New Mexican January 29, 2002 ROWE - The Native American Preparatory School, opened six years ago to boost college opportunities for American Indian youth, will shut down for at least the next school year. The widow of the school's founder, the late philanthropist Richard P. Ettinger Jr., expressed doubt the school will ever reopen. The school's board of trustees announced Monday the school would close for the 2002-2003 academic year because of financial hardship. The board last month put up the 1,600-acre campus near Rowe for sale in hopes of using proceeds to reopen the boarding school at another site sometime in the future, board members said. "Putting the campus up for sale was the death knell for the school," said Sharon Ettinger, a Santa Fe resident who serves on the school's board. The board and administrative staff of the nonprofit, private school are exploring ways to help the 60 students currently enrolled at NAPS continue their education. School officials hope to provide scholarships for those accepted at other college-preparatory schools. The announcement shocked and disappointed parents, including Taos residents Joe and Bernice Muskrat, members of the Cherokee and Jicarilla Apache tribes. The goal of getting into college has long been out of reach for many American Indian youth, Joe Muskrat said. The couple enrolled their daughter, Jennifer, two years ago, believing they were ensuring the 15-year-old a brighter future. "This is sheer heartbreak," Joe Muskrat said. Some parents of NAPS students said they were angered they weren't warned of the closing and now have to scramble to find alternatives for their children by the end of this week. "The deadline for applications to other schools is Feb. 1," Muskrat said. "The board waited all this time to tell us what was happening. And they still haven't told us directly what their intentions are." The school was founded as the country's only privately funded, intertribal, residential college-preparatory school. The founder was the son of Richard Ettinger, co-founder of the Prentice Hall textbook publishing company. Ettinger Jr. died a year after the school opened in 1995. The NAPS campus is a collection of adobe buildings surrounded by pinon trees in the rolling hills near Rowe, with a panoramic view of the nearby Rowe Mesa. Office buildings and dormitories surround a tennis court and a swimming pool. The campus also has a cafeteria and an auditorium. Despite the idyllic setting, the board last year said the campus had fallen into disrepair. The cost of fixing up the facility is one reason the board cited for closing the campus. Jennifer Muskrat's tuition at NAPS was funded with a four-year, $90,000 grant from the Brown Foundation Inc. of Houston. The grant was based on scholastic merit and financial need, said Bernice Muskrat. Now, the parents wonder what will happen to the remaining $45,000 the school received for the girl's education. Several calls to the foundation's executive director, Nancy Pittman, were not returned. NAPS' first graduating class in 1999 was hailed as the pride and joy of secondary education for American Indian tribes across the country. Graduates were received acceptance letters from top-notch colleges and universities, including Yale, Sarah Lawrence and the University of California at Berkeley. Now parents and students are left wondering what went wrong. "The problem with NAPS," Sharon Ettinger said in an interview last week, "and what's been the problem all along, is that no one can agree on how the school should run." She continued: "The problems have to do with the inexperience of the board, which has been in turmoil over the last two years. Somehow, we can't go ahead with a plan and make this a viable operation. There is always controversy and contention." Ettinger said the school had let students down. "We really are having financial problems, and I didn't want to use the scholarship fund to operate the school," Ettinger said. "The board asked for $800,000 of the endowment in July to keep the school going, but that money is for scholarships only, nothing else." Ettinger said a week ago she didn't believe that selling the Rowe campus and scaling down to a smaller facility would fatten the school's financial base, explaining that the move would present new costs. The board seemed to agree in Monday's press release, which states that moving the school "has not proved financially viable" as a way of keeping the school going. Lee Cook, the school's president, recently estimated the value of the campus as between $4 million and $6 million. Cook, who accepted the presidency of the school in July, has tendered his resignation, according to the press release. Cook did not return a dozen calls or respond to e-mails in the last two weeks. Cheryl Hamer Mackell, a Santa Fe attorney, replaced Ettinger in June as president of the board. Ettinger remained on the 11-member board. Mackell declined to answer questions about NAPS and said the press release would explain the board's position. Genevieve Vigil, a Taos Pueblo resident, said she withdrew her daughter, Rachel Ortiz, from NAPS last week. "We all feel shut out by the board and that our words are not important," Vigil said. "Parents have never been allowed to attend board meetings and haven't been allowed to have any involvement." NAPS continues to seek donations in the hopes of reopening. The school is accredited by North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools. Bernice Muskrat said, "It is tragic that the reputation of NAPS has been destroyed and their identity has been ruined. It was the best place for us as a people to integrate. NAPS put the interest and hopes of Indian children up front. But the trust has been broken." Copyright c. 1995 - 2002 PowerAdz.com LLC. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Miller School Board, Crow Creek Tribe Resolution" --------- Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 08:44:11 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SCHOOL/CROW CREEK" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm Miller School Board, Crow Creek Tribe sign resolution By: Roger Larsen, of the Plainsman January 27, 2002 Two communities scarred by a racial incident on the streets of Miller last fall are coming together, pledging to understand cultural differences through new friendships. "We're on the road to healing," said Roxanne Sazue, chairwoman of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, after she and Janice Palmer, president of the Miller Board of Education, signed a joint resolution in Huron. "I see this, I think we both see this as a sort of an expression of a commitment to approach differences thoughtfully and mutually with the goal of at least understanding the differences," Palmer said. Last Nov. 1, after a Wessington Springs-Crow Creek girls' basketball game was played in Miller, five teen-age girls and their 20-year-old driver from Crow Creek were chased and taunted by some Miller teens. One of the Miller teen-agers allegedly fired a gun. Police recovered a gun and a shotgun shell. Two Miller juveniles, ages 16 and 17 at the time of the incident, have been charged with multiple counts of aggravated assault. The Crow Creek and Miller school boards met twice in January to try to come to some kind of agreement so the two communities could move on. A resolution, signed in the presence of board members, school administrators and faculty members on Friday, reads as follows: - The alleged criminal incident which took place in Miller on November 1, 2001 is to be condemned by both communities. - Despite the media portrayal of the incident, it was not school-related. The individuals who committed the alleged crimes are solely responsible. - Athletes and spectators from both communities are welcome in both communities. Statements to the contrary are untrue. - Our athletic calendar will resume as scheduled. - Representatives of both school districts met on January 16, 2002, and January 22, 2002, in an effort to resolve the issues which had divided us. Our dialogue will be ongoing. Our goal is to reach a better understanding of cultural differences within our common humanity. The last few months have been difficult for residents of the Crow Creek Indian Reservation and the Miller community, the board chairwomen said. "Both communities have been badly wounded by this whole set of circumstances," Palmer said. But they said the leaders in the two South Dakota communities are working hard to improve the relationship. Sazue said there are plans for a student exchange between the schools. School board members may also visit each other's facilities and tour classrooms. The goal is to learn how the other lives and learns, she said. "We've had something similar started this year with the Wessington Springs School District and it just went over so well," she said. Wessington Springs kids weren't ready to go home at the end of the day after visiting at Crow Creek, she said. "I feel we are of the one race, the human race," Sazue said. But she said because of upbringing and teachings, many things are done differently and each needs to learn from the other. "Because if we don't share what we know, what we have, then nobody gains by it, it gets lost," she said. Sazue and Palmer said the boards are looking forward to the exchanges. Things have been at a standstill at Crow Creek as the leaders attempted to resolve the problems dividing the two communities, Sazue said. "We as the school boards needed to have a starting point and to me this is the starting point now," she said. "We're not going to let anything grow negatively from this. We're going to try to let it grow positively." Members of the two boards hadn't met each other before coming together in the aftermath of the incident in Miller. Sazue said she and Palmer "really hit it off well." "It's funny how our paths crossed, how we had to meet, but we're going to take this negative thing and get something positive out of it," she said. "Something that's probably never been tried. "It's like a lot of times people feed into the negativity and they don't look for any real positive solutions," she said. Palmer said they talked about using the adversity now to try to improve the relationship between Crow Creek and Miller. The goal is to move beyond what happened and to heal. "This has been a high price to pay," she said. Copyright c. Huron Plainsman 2002. --------- "RE: Sovereignty: Tribes issue Call to Action" --------- Date: Sat, 2 Feb 2002 19:36:23 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SOVEREIGNTY" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/10024814_PE_NEWS_nindian31.html Tribes issue call to action SOVEREIGNTY: The efforts outlined seek to protect their unique position as American Indians. 01/31/2002 By MICHELLE DEARMOND THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE SAN DIEGO - California tribal leaders called on Indians nationwide Wednesday to join in a massive campaign to reshape the public's image of American Indians and to shore up tribal sovereignty. Vowing to fight against what they see as an assault on their unique rights as American Indians, tribal leaders issued the call at the Western Indian Gaming Conference in San Diego. They urged others to join them in working through the courts and state and federal legislatures to protect and restore Indian rights. Leaders also encouraged tribes to use public relations campaigns to spread their message. 'Copy what warriors do' "Make no mistake, this is a war," declared Anthony Pico of the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians in northern San Diego County. "You've got to copy what warriors do." Pico said people across the country will be looking to California tribes to head up the charge. The national movement needs the leadership, experience and money of California tribes to win the war, he said. To succeed, tribes will need to be united in their message and function like the military with the general commander and no visible signs of infighting, Pico said in urging those packing a room at the San Diego Convention Center to join in the struggle. The call to action comes on the heels of two extraordinarily expensive and successful ballot measure campaigns that led to the legalization of tribal casinos in California. Tribal leaders say now, more than ever, their sovereignty is under fire from people who challenge their rights. Courts have delivered conflicting rulings on the nature of sovereignty, and some lawmakers have attempted to chip away at sovereignty through various pieces of failed legislation, Indian experts say. As sovereign nations, tribes see themselves as having to answer only to the federal government, while opponents have said state and local governments should have authority over tribes. Some lawmakers have suggested doing away with tribes' sovereign status altogether. Federal legislation Panelists revealed Wednesday that a piece of federal legislation is being drafted by Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, to clarify and restore elements of tribal sovereignty. They said it's imperative that tribes nationwide work together to fashion an acceptable, understandable definition of tribal sovereignty and to convince voters of its importance. "That's where the battle is ultimately going to be won," said Michael Lombardi, a prominent Indian gambling consultant and husband of a member of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians. "Legislation is critical, protecting ourselves in the courts is critical, but ultimately what the real body politik thinks about us and our constitutionally guaranteed rights will determine the outcome of this great struggle." Waltona Manion, a tribal communications consultant who played a key role in the California ballot measure campaigns known as Prop. 5 and Prop. 1A, said there is a lot of confusion among voters about tribal sovereignty. "The tribes' political future will be shaped by whose definition takes hold in the hearts and minds of America and its elected officials and the media," she said. "We are selling this concept to non-Indians." Supportive voters Russell Lehman of the First American Education Project also spoke at the conference. His organization was founded by tribal leaders to increase Indian involvement in politics. Lehman pointed to the California Indian gambling campaigns as proof that voters are supportive of tribal issues and can be educated on Indian issues. "The initiatives that passed here passed only because it was done just perfect," he said. Lehman urged tribal leaders to use celebrities and other people with influence over public opinion, such as local newspaper editorial writers, to get Indian messages out. Jacob Coin, executive director of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association, said the importance of working through legislatures and courts is equal in importance to public relations. He described this approach as multifaceted and said he couldn't predict how exactly these campaigns will be implemented. Although tribes are trying to coordinate their efforts nationally, local implementation will be up to the individual tribes, he noted. The California Nations Indian Gaming Association is putting on the conference. More than 700 tribal members, gambling consultants and gambling exhibitors are attending the three-day event at the San Diego Convention Center. Coin also stressed the need to act immediately and said the threat to tribal sovereignty is at its highest level in recent history. "Up until now, tribes have never had the economic wherewithal to make a difference," he said. "Before the tribes had the resources to contribute to political campaigns, no one cared." Reach Michelle DeArmond at (909) 248-6193 or mdearmond@pe.com Copyright c. 2002 The Press-Enterprise Company/A Belo Subsidiary. --------- "RE: Editorial: Union Decision upholds Self-government" --------- Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2002 08:58:17 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SAN JUAN PUEBLO" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://indiancountry.com/?1012074104 Editorial: Decision on unions upholds tribal self-government January 29, 2002 - 7:00AM EST San Juan Pueblo won one for all of Indian country when a federal appeals court last week upheld the pueblo's authority to adopt a right-to-work law. It is a solid decision won for Indian sovereignty and the enlightened Pueblo deserves the appreciation of tribal governments everywhere. While there is substantial consideration and participation in trade unions by individual American Indians, it is also true that Native nations are ever watchful of the potential consequences to their nations of accepting the demands of unions to force the unionization of tribal and associated workforces. As an intricate and essential component of the Indian economic covenant within the United States, tribal enterprises pick up the tab for many vital tribal services. While federal government subsidies to American Indian families and communities have been severely reduced in the past decade, by and large, tribal enterprises have taken over funding many of their governmental services. The whole of a tribal workforce is arguably performing essential work, in that a share of the profits from tribal businesses funds and supports all manner of government services, including schools, senior citizens care, health clinics, emergency response teams and life-saving equipment, etc. Without this funding Indian communities' essential operations could be paralyzed if not discontinued altogether. For this reason, primarily, Indian governments and enterprises cannot afford to consider the organization of unions that could lead to comprehensive strikes or other work stoppages that support essential tribal services. The potential is not only for a particular business or production plant to be shut down, but for whole communities of people to be held hostage in the delivery of their basic needs by a union force. In the San Juan Pueblo case, the tribal council enacted a right-to-work ordinance in 1996 that gave tribal workers and workers at other enterprises on tribal lands the right not to join or financially support a union as a job requirement. As a result, the Western Council of Industrial Workers Local 1385 filed charges of unfair labor practices with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The NLRB's General Counsel joined the union's cause and argued that the Pueblo lacked the authority (under the National Labor Relations Act) to deny the union's collection of compulsory dues. The nearly unanimous (9-1) ruling by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, held that the Pueblo's right-to-work ordinance was "clearly an exercise of sovereign authority over economic transactions on the reservation." Pueblo Governor Wilfred Garcia characterized the decision as recognition of equivalent status between state governments and an American Indian government. The ruling is expected to have impact nationally as tribes engage labor unions moving to organize the varieties of workforces growing in Indian country. The Court's written decision includes important language. Considering the legal interpretations and prosecutorial approaches recently implemented in Texas, the January 11th Pueblo ruling sets down clearly the reasoning behind the continuous respect for the legality of American Indian sovereignty in the United States. The court early established the standing of the 5,200 member San Juan Pueblo and its tribal council as federally recognized and "vested with legislative authority over tribal lands." Then it cited the full text of the right-to-work ordinance passed by the council. Reading from the decision: "The burden falls on the NLRB and the Union, as plaintiffs attacking the exercise of sovereign tribal power." "As noted in [the case of] Southland Royalty, '[a]mbiguities in federal law have been construed generously in order to comport with ... tribal notions of sovereignty and with the federal policy of encouraging tribal independence.'" "Indian tribes are neither states, nor part of the federal government, nor subdivisions of either. Rather, they are sovereign political entities possessed of sovereign authority not derived from the United States, which they predate." The court also cites Felix Cohen, on Worcester v. Georgia, (1832): "Indian tribes consistently have been recognized ... by the United States, as 'distinct, independent political communities qualified to exercise powers of self-government, not by virtue of any delegation of powers, but rather by reason of their original tribal sovereignty." "In addition to broad authority over intramural matters such as membership, tribes retain sovereign authority to regulate economic activity within their own territory, see, e.g., Merrion v. Jicarilla Apache Tribe (1982)." Further, the Court stated: "Indian tribes are not states. They have a status higher than that of states. They are subordinate and dependent nations possessed of all powers [except] to the extent that they have expressly been required to surrender them by the superior sovereign, the United States." Some tribes or nations are comfortable with the definitions above, while others are not -- declaring a sovereignty and independence that refutes any intersection with U.S. citizenship and any "surrender" to any "superior sovereign." It is therefore highly advised that tribal leaders read this ruling from beginning to end. While the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals generally upheld justice for Indians this round, there remains planted within Judge Murphy's dissenting opinion, arguments that would otherwise broadly extinguish the sovereign powers and authorities of American Indian governments. However one conceives it, the doctrine of Indian tribal sovereignty, without and within U.S. federal law, is a primary common cause for Native peoples. Given an ability and duty to protect this first principle, which buttresses the foundations of gaming and other capital-generating enterprises, that are only now beginning to lift Indian economies, an important question germane to the issue of worker protection on tribal lands remains. What kinds of systems, what kind of societies need we build to ensure fair play, particularly among our communities and peoples to uphold the ethic of utmost honesty and transparent behavior in all business and governmental activities? In this respect, a sincere appreciation goes to San Juan Pueblo for their resolute and successful defense of tribal sovereignty. Given its unique circumstances, the model of a workforce organized by unions is likely not the best for Indian country. Nevertheless, it behooves Indian leadership to mitigate against mistreatment or abuse of any working people. Where there is a sense of social covenant between the people and their government, as well as between senior management and the rank and file and other trade work crews they administer -- trust and honor will fuel efficiency. Things can prosper. But where the covenant breaks, and management sells out the working people recrimination, dishonesty and ultimately, conflict, will spell certain failure. Sovereignty may only properly ride on the spirit and reality of clean government and good tribal relations based on fair, respectful treatment of the people. Copyright c. 2002 Indian Country Today. --------- "RE: Senator backs GOP Tribal Status Inquiry" --------- Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2002 08:58:17 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ALASKA STATUS" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1002,7247%257E366331,00.html Senator backs GOP tribal status inquiry By SAM BISHOP News-Miner Washington Bureau Tuesday, January 29, 2002 - 4:59:10 AM MST WASHINGTON--A legislative request to deny tribal status to many Alaska Native villages has garnered some sympathy from Sen. Ted Stevens. "I agree there's a problem," Stevens told Alaska reporters here Monday. Senate President Rick Halford and House Speaker Brian Porter, in a Dec. 10 letter, asked the Department of Interior to reverse a 1993 decision that has granted tribal status to more than 225 villages in Alaska. The legislators said assertions of tribal sovereignty in Alaska are not legally sound. Stevens said that, while he has no argument with the existence of Alaska Native tribes, he has long been concerned with the idea of recognizing every village as one. Stevens said Assistant Secretary of the Interior Ada Deer's 1993 decision misinterpreted Congress' intent in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. That act, passed in 1971, provided land and a corporate structure to villages with 25 or more people in them. "We did not decide that every place with 25 or more people was a tribe," Stevens said. "She decided that every village was a tribe," Stevens said. "There was no historical basis for that finding." If nothing else, Stevens said, the Halford-Porter letter was a legitimate request for clarification of tribal powers in Alaska. He said he would meet with Native representatives Monday. "I understand there's some consternation about the letter itself," he said. Alaska Inter-Tribal Council Vice Chairman Joe Williams of Saxman, a village a few miles north of Ketchikan, said the letter represented a "paintball attack on the Alaska Native people." Stevens has taken at least one legislative step to pull back federal support for small tribes. In the fiscal 2001 spending bill for the Interior Department, Stevens blocked a certain type of basic funding for tribes with fewer than 25 members living in their home villages. Congress put the block into law this year. Stevens said funding so many small tribes was inefficient, and he redirected the money to regional Native nonprofit groups such as Tanana Chiefs Conference. The money amounted to about $150,000 each for several tribes. Copyright c. 1999-2002 MediaNews Group, Inc. and Fairbanks Publishing Company, Inc. --------- "RE: Dispute puts Sacred Pottery at Risk" --------- Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2002 08:58:17 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PICURIS POTTERY" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/breaking/0129sacredpottery N.M. tribe's dispute with mining company puts sacred pottery at risk Knight Ridder Newspapers Jan. 29, 2002 07:45:00 PICURIS PUEBLO, N.M. - In fine art galleries, tacky roadside stands and just about everywhere in between, pottery made at New Mexico's Indian pueblos - or pottery pretending to be - is a staple of the Western tourism industry. But very little of it comes from the small, isolated Picuris tribe in the Sangre de Cristo mountains, 60 miles north of Santa Fe. The pueblo's 300 or so residents have preferred mostly to keep their distinctive work to themselves, for cooking and for religious ceremonies they do not discuss with outsiders. But now the Picuris (pick-uh-REES) say they have lost the traditional source of the mica-rich clay they have used for centuries that gives their sturdy pots and bowls a bronzelike gleam. They worry that a key part of their culture, already battered by years of outside pressure, may wither. They try to explain why their pottery means so much to them. "This past year, I wasn't able to go where my grandmother went to get clay," said Fern Sanchez, who like many in her family has been a potter for more than 20 of her almost 60 years. And she said that another clay just won't do: "Every little area has a different brand of clay." The Picuris clay came from a small pit on the ponderosa pine-covered slopes of the mountains above the pueblo, on land that was formerly part of the Carson National Forest. A mining company, acting under an often- controversial 1872 federal law, got legal claim to the land decades ago, but it and the tribe were able to coexist. No longer. The two sides are feuding, and can't even agree what the issues are. Oglebay Norton Co., the Ohio-based mining company, is expanding the mica mine. The Indians say that their little pit has been buried under waste piles and that they have been effectively barred from the site. The company insists that it is honoring an agreement to let the tribe have some access and says the tribe really seeks to shut down the mine completely, instead of sharing the clay. At any rate, the tribe is working with a public interest group, the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, to try to block the mine expansion. Those efforts received a serious setback when the state Supreme Court threw out their case. The lawyers say there are further routes they plan to take. With many of New Mexico's 18 other pueblos - each a separate tribe - the dispute would be mostly about money. Large pueblos, like the Acoma or Santa Clara, are known for their trademark pottery styles, and sales are an important income source. Acoma pottery, for instance, features intricate black-on-white designs on a huge variety of pottery shapes and sizes, and is one of the most common and most imitated types in the Southwest. Picuris pottery, by contrast, is usually plain and confined to simple bean pots or other utilitarian shapes. Fern Sanchez says she rarely sells anything, though she often makes bean pots to give away. "They're pretty rare, really," Duane Anderson, curator of the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe, said of Picuris pieces. "I really do think that at Picuris, pottery has a more ceremonial and cultural function. It has a spiritual side." Other pueblos early recognized that their pottery could be "art" and also bring in sales, Anderson said, but the small Picuris tribe mainly kept producing only for its own use. A very few artists have begun producing pieces specifically for sale, he said, at places such as the gift shop of a hotel in Santa Fe, half-owned by the tribe. A few larger and finer pots and bowls can be had there for about $300, mingled among the Acoma and other pottery. It is the mica-bearing clay that makes Picuris pottery special, Anderson said. After the pot is shaped, the potter applies a liquid "slip" with the sparkling mica over the outside. When the pot is fired - traditionally over an open fire of ponderosa bark - the slip gives it a dull, gold sheen that looks like bronze. It is rarely painted, like much other Southwestern pottery, although sometimes the burning bark leaves black, scorchlike markings. The pueblo itself is clustered around the plain, adobe mission church of San Lorenzo in a remote mountain valley in Taos County. There are also a small tribal office building, a closed museum and cafe, a few scattered adobe homes and, up the hill, the entrance to the underground kiva, the circular chamber where many traditional rites, most closed to all outsiders, are performed. Like many New Mexican pueblos, and other American Indian tribes, the Picaris have embraced both Catholicism and their traditional religious practices. Every step connected with Picuris pottery, especially digging the clay, has its own ceremonies, tribal members say. "To us, when we're going for clay it's like going to Mother Earth for a certain amount of clay without being greedy," Sanchez said. Asked if she couldn't buy clay from another source, Sanchez said that wouldn't be right. "The thing we are taught from an early age is that you don't buy with money what Mother Earth has to offer," she said. That's why the tribe fights for its original source, she and others say. They recently blocked the mine access road briefly, and vow to continue legal challenges. All of which mystifies Oglebay Norton, vice president Rochelle F. Walk said. "I'm not really sure what the issue is," Walk said, explaining that the tribe can get into the mine site under certain conditions. "For whatever reason they want us to stop mining. At some point, people need to live on the land together, and that includes the Picuris." But Richard Mermejo, the tribe's cultural officer, said the company puts such restrictions on the clay-diggers that the traditional ways are impossible. "Now we have to go to the white man and ask," he said. "We don't want to be witnessed by non-Indians doing our ceremonies." Copyright c. 2002 azcentral.com. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Potawatomi Elder relates Long History in Area" --------- Date: Sat, 2 Feb 2002 19:36:23 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="POTAWATOMI" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://heraldpalladium.com/archives/index.inn?loc=detail&doc=/2002/ February 01, 2002 Potawatomi elder relates band's long history in area By LYNN STEVENS/H-P Staff Writer BENTON TOWNSHIP - It wasn't quite selling Manhattan Island for $24, but the Potawatomi Indians saw very little of the money the federal government promised for land that became Chicago. The treaty stripped them of their lands and allowed the federal government to deport most of them to Kansas. But Jim Topash, an elder of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomis, did not focus on injustices of the past when he spoke last week to about a dozen people at Lake Michigan College's annual Martin Luther King Jr. Cultural Lecture Series. He talked about the band's history going back to French Jesuit reports from the early 1600s, recounted Leopold Pokagon's life and added personal insights. "I'm happy to be here, in this part of the country," Topash said. "When you leave here, walk in the woods, walk along the river: Those Indians' spirits are still there." Topash said his grandfather worked for 50 years and his uncle for another 25 years to get the band recognized by the government as a real tribe after the Treaty of Chicago in 1833. The band was recognized as a tribe in 1994 covering four Southwest Michigan counties and six northern Indiana counties. People who can trace their ancestry to the Indian census of 1895 can be accepted as tribal members, Topash told his small audience, which included a member of a local genealogical organization. Topash, who has done extensive research, said Leopold Pokagon was the last Potawatomi leader to sign the Treaty of Chicago, and he wept as he signed it. "All the land they had left was going to the U.S. government," Topash said. "He said, 'I'd rather die than sign this treaty,' but he had to sign it. He insisted he would not leave the area. He just wanted to have his people free." Topash said that like King, Pokagon was a deeply religious man. He had walked to Detroit years earlier to get the Roman Catholic bishop to send a "black gown," or French Jesuit priest, to minister to his band. Topash said although Pokagon was a good friend to Baptist minister Isaac McCoy in Niles, he remembered the French Jesuits from his youth and thought the Catholic church was a better fit for his people. Their Catholicism made the Pokagons look different from other tribes to white people. Combined with Pokagon's remarkable eloquence, it saved them from deportation to Kansas. But other Potawatomi from Indiana were shipped west by the government as early as 1835, just three years after the Treaty of Tippecanoe that promised they could stay. Topash, who is 70, said his own father used to get angry at the brutality and resulting needless deaths of the forced move. The Potawatomi had once controlled the entire Lake Michigan area, from Green Bay, Wis., to Chicago, across northern Indiana and north along the lake to the Grand River. Indians who could roam that territory could make a living, including trading with the few fur traders who ventured into what was then the West. But as European settlers moved west, life changed. The opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 made travel west easy. "Things were getting crowded with white people," Topash said. The federal government signed treaty after treaty with the Potawatomi, each time pushing them off more historic homeland. Topash said the Pokagon Band holds the national record for the number of federal treaties signed. The Treaty of Tippecanoe in 1832 put Potawatomis in Indiana and Michigan on reservations and reduced the Pokagon Band's holdings to two township sections, one for Leopold Pokagon and one for his wife. A section is 640 acres, or 1/36 of a standard township. "I thought that was real white of them, giving them two sections of land, " Topash said dryly. But the Treaty of Chicago in 1833 took that land away. He said that treaty turned all Potawatomi land, including the reservations, over to the federal government. Leopold Pokagon had to buy back his land. And the federal government could deport the Indians, beginning three years after the treaty's signing. Pokagon and his wife bought land in Silver Creek Township near Dowagiac, and many tribal members settled on their land. Pokagon took such total care of his people that when he died, they did not know how to get along. Topash said people who had bought land did not know how to pay taxes because Pokagon always had done it for them. "The sons were not like their father," Topash said. "So people took off." Some went to Hartford, some to Sister Lakes. Topash's family went to Buchanan. Jim Topash was the only "dark" child in Buchanan public schools more than 60 years ago. He did not recall any problems from that, just feelings. "I felt different," he said. "Like you're not one of the boys." When his grandfather came to live with the family, he said he didn't talk with him about being an Indian. "I thought this Indian thing was in the past, just forget about it," he said. "Now I kick myself for not asking him about it." Topash said his grandfather died in 1940, at the age of 90. He was born in 1850 and lived through the post-Leopold Pokagon era and the tribal diaspora. Topash said he found out long after his grandfather's death that his grandfather had met presidents and was a tribal medicine man. Losing the language and losing the culture are the two biggest problems the Pokagon Band faces in modern times, Topash said. Topash's own father had attended the Indian school at Harbor Springs and learned the Potawatomi, Ojibway and Chippewa languages. But he did not use them at home. Topash said very few Pokagon members now can speak the Potawatomi language. Answering a question from an Indian who works at Whirlpool Corp., Topash said he thinks Indians face few barriers to economic progress. He said there are not many corporate officials who are Indian, but only because most Indians lack the corporate killer instinct. "Generally, Indians are laid-back," he said. "You can't get into corporate office if you're laid-back." Copyright c. 2002 Herald Palladium/St. Joseph-Benton Harbor Michigan. --------- "RE: Group opposes bringing Buffalo to Plains" --------- Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2002 08:22:58 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NO TO BUFFALO" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.sfnewmexican.com/site/news Group opposes bringing buffalo to plains By JONATHAN McDONALD/The New Mexican January 31, 2002 Experts believe buffalo once roamed the northeastern New Mexico plains, but a New Mexico ranching group says a move to reintroduce the massive animal to part of the Kiowa National Grassland and other public grazing land is a bad idea. In a conflict with echoes of the Old West, cowboys are lining up opposite Indians on the issue. The proposal comes from New Mexico tribes that have growing herds and are looking for new spaces where their buffalo could multiply. New Mexico Farm and Livestock Bureau spokesman Erik Ness says the barbed-wire-fenced grazing areas on the national grassland and nearby state trust land aren't appropriate for the far-ranging bison. A memorial introduced by a Jemez Pueblo legislator would ask state and federal land managers to study the idea. However, Ness said the measure (HJM20), which his group has dubbed the "Buffalo Bill," is "asking for an ecological disaster." Ranchers currently graze cattle on the 136,562-acre national grassland, which is divided into allotments ranging from 160 acres to 640 acres, said Larry Cosper of Cibola National Forest, which manages the grassland. The plots are for buffalo, Ness said, and could lead to overgrazing of parts of the grassland. Plus there are questions about how the cattle and the bison would interact. Most of the grazing allotments are already being used by ranchers, Cosper said. Strings of barbed wire are all that separate the grazing allotments on the Kiowa National Grassland, which is not set up with the sturdy fencing needed to pen in bison, he said. "They're basically wild animals," Cosper said. "We're really not ready to support (HJM20) at this point." The measure's sponsor, Rep. James Roger Madalena, D-Jemez Pueblo, said the opposition to HJM20 might be getting ahead of itself. "I'm not diehard about this," Madalena said. "I want to hear what the reaction is. It's just an idea." Madalena said he once helped Picuris Pueblo obtain several head of bison and agreed to sponsor HJM20 because of that involvement. "We're just coming up to the horizon and peeking over and seeing if there is potential for this," the representative said. "I guess they don't want to hear the idea," he said of the rancher group. Madalena's proposal is scheduled for a hearing at 8 a.m. today before the House Agriculture and Water Resources Committee, in Room 318 at the Capitol. The proposal calls for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the New Mexico State Land Office to work with representatives of New Mexico Indian tribes to set aside land for bison - a creature with which many American Indians have a spiritual relationship. The proposal notes the pueblos of Taos, Picuris, Pojoaque, San Juan, Nambe, Tesuque and Sandia all have increased the size of their bison herds to a point where additional land is needed and that the Kiowa National Grassland would be prime buffalo habitat. Ness said he's concerned this is a case of "the camel's nose - or in this case, the bison's nose - getting under the tent. ... Where does it go from here?" The Farm and Livestock Bureau wants to know who would pay for the sturdy fences required, he said, and who would be responsible for the bison should they wander onto private property. Cosper, who has spent time around the animals, noted that "they don't shoo real easily." Copyright c. 2002 Santa Fe New Mexican. --------- "RE: Cape Breton Natives speak out against Gas Wells" --------- Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2002 08:22:58 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CAPE BRETON" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canoe.ca/AtlanticTicker/CANOE-wire.NS-Gas-Hearings.html January 30, 2002 Cape Breton native groups speak out against gas exploration at hearings WAGMATCOOK, N.S. (CP) -- A lawyer representing island native groups questioned Ottawa and Nova Scotia's right to grant oil exploration licences along Cape Breton's shoreline Wednesday at a Public Review Commision hearing. Bruce Wildsmith, representing the Union of Nova Scotia Indians, said Cape Breton bands want it recorded that they're challenging the legality of three licences that have already been granted. Wildsmith was attending the hearings at the native community of Wagmatcook, about 80 kilometres west of Sydney, N.S. One of the licences natives are questioning is held by Corridor Resources Inc. for the area off the west coast. Two others have been issued to Hunt Oil and Total Fina Elf for areas that stretch along the island's northeast coast. The five native bands questioning the governments' jurisdiction include Chapel Island, Eskasoni, Membertou, Waycobah and Wagmatcook. "The Mi'kmaq communities are users of the resources, and there will be impacts on native rights," Wildsmith said. He said that while user groups like Hunt and Corridor may have statutory rights, natives have proven constitutional rights which trump other users like tourism, fisheries, commercial and the oil companies. "It is not your role to adjudicate these rights," Wildsmith acknowledged, but told the Commissioner Theresa MacNeil he wanted to put them on the public record. Wildsmith also said there is the issue of whether Ottawa and the province were required to consult with the Mi'kmaq about gas exploration if it infringed on native rights with respect to the food fishery. Wildsmith said it was a mistake to grant the licences without consultation with Mi'kmaq. He added, however, that because there has been no activity on the licences yet, that action could still be corrected. (Cape Breton Post) Copyright c. 2002, Canoe, a division of Netgraphe Inc. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Nisga'a Nation Annual Report shows Some Progress" --------- Date: Sat, 2 Feb 2002 19:36:23 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NISGA" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canoe.ca/WesternTicker/CANOE-wire.Nisgaa-Report.html January 31, 2002 Nisga'a Nation annual report shows some progress but joblessness remains high VANCOUVER (CP) -- Almost two years have passed since the Nisga'a Nation of the isolated Nass Valley in northwestern B.C. signed an historic treaty -- the first in about a century in a province still struggling towards settlements with other First Nations. Despite opposition from many British Columbians and successive provincial governments, the Nisga'a, the B.C. and federal governments finally reached an agreement and a treaty took effect in April 2000. The dire predictions of critics have not come true, says its chief proponent. Quite frankly, everything we had anticipated regarding the implementation of the requirements of the treaty have been on track," Nisga'a President Joe Gosnell said Thursday after the release of the first annual report. "The sky was supposed to fall in and commerce was supposed to grind to a halt," he said sarcastically. "Our relations with our neighbours would be in chaos. "None of that has happened." But Gosnell is also realistic about a group of aboriginal people in the isolated Nass Valley trying to undo decades of living in poverty under the Indian Act. Two years into the treaty, chronic unemployment still plagues the valley and its four small communities of New Aiyansh, Canyon City, Kincolith and Greenville. "Our objective is to tackle the high unemployment level in our nation and bring it down to what is acceptable in the rest of the country," said Gosnell. "But we've been put in this situation in the past 100 years and I don't expect miracles to happen in one year." There are about 5,000 Nisga'a, about half of them still living in the Nass Valley. While the jobless rate persistently hovered in the mid-80 per cent range, Gosnell said it has improved to about 70 per cent at times. But the Nisga'a, like others in the region in Terrace, Kitimat and Prince Rupert are "caught up in the forestry slowdown that's affecting the northwest with the shutdown of the Skeena (pulp mill) in Prince Rupert." In other endeavours, the Nisga'a are operating a recreational fishing lodge, "competing with other resorts in Pacific Northwest." "We are slowly venturing into other areas of economic development," said Gosnell, including tourism. But he wants the Nisga'a entrepreneur to take the initiative in improving tourist facilities, another expected mainstay of the Nisga'a economy in future years. The valley has only three bed-and-breakfast establishments and no hotels, motels, or inland resort facilities. The treaty calls for the gravel road through the valley to be paved and extended to Kincolith, which now is only accessible by water. "We've noticed an increase in tourist traffic with the improvement of the road into the Nass," said Gosnell. "By December, Kincolith will finally have a road access, which means another opening to the ocean besides Kitimat and Prince Rupert." British Columbia is the only province in Canada that, for the most part, did not negotiate treaties with aboriginals. Now the entire provincial land base is claimed by First Nations in more than 50 treaties in negotiation. The Nisga'a treaty gives the Nisga'a ownership of about 2,000 square kilometres in the remote Nass and self-government powers in many areas. The deal is worth about $500 million in cash, grants and program funds, including $190 million in cash. After the treaty was signed, the Nisga'a Tribal Council ceased to exist and was replaced by the Nisga'a Lisims government. The Nisga'a now have extensive control of fishing, forestry and hunting in the area. Approximately 100 non-natives that also share the valley protested vociferously because the treaty gave them no voting rights -- something Gosnell said isn't about to change. "Provisions in the treaty protect the non-native residents, but Canadians and British Columbians have to bear in mind that all the issues that our Nisga'a government deals with are internal matters," he said. "We certainly don't view non-natives being involved in areas that deal with Nisga'a." Lloyd Brinson, who lives with about 12 other non-native families in an area north of New Aiyansh, said he's seen little change in the last two years. "It's really too early to tell anything about it (the treaty)," said Brinson, noting the only new construction since the signing was a new legislative building and an adjacent arts and culture structure. He and his neighbours' biggest concern is their watershed, which Skeena may log and adversely affect their water supply. "If they log the watershed, we won't be able to sell our places," said Brinson. The report says that since the treaty was signed, the Nisga'a entered an "alliance" with Canadian Fishing Company to process Nisga'a commercial fish. Pine mushrooms, in high demand in Asia, are the second most important resource in the valley and the 2000 harvest added $400,000 to the local economy, the report says. The Nisga'a however, raised the licence fee to $250 from $25 and Brinson said many non-native pickers as well as some local Nisga'a refused to pay it. Copyright c. 2002, Canoe, a division of Netgraphe Inc. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Indian Act: Coon Come ready to lead Fight" --------- Date: Sat, 2 Feb 2002 19:36:23 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="COON COME" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canoe.ca/NationalTicker/CANOE-wire.Coon-Come-Unbowed.html January 31, 2002 Coon Come ready to lead escalating fight over Indian Act changes OTTAWA (CP) -- His frank views on alcohol abuse outraged many chiefs last year, and his aggressive push for native rights hasn't won him friends in government. But Matthew Coon Come, halfway through a three-year term leading the Assembly of First Nations, says he's not about to soften his scrappy approach. Instead, the national chief who brings to Parliament Hill the concerns of 633 First Nations leaders, promises to lead a fight that's about to escalate. "We're going to clash," when Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault introduces legislation to update the outmoded Indian Act, Coon Come said in an interview Thursday. The act hasn't changed much since its enactment in 1876 gave Ottawa far- reaching powers over most native people. Nault aims to improve band administration, elections and fiscal accountability with changes to be tabled in Parliament by April, he says. The legislation would also legally incorporate bands -- a plan many chiefs fear would allow the government to shirk its historical legal duty to First Nations. "Tinkering" with the Indian Act only distracts from native priorities cited in a government poll last fall, Coon Come said. People living on reserves said they care most about their children, health programs, education and other social issues. Nault has said he'll press on with his Indian Act plans despite widespread dissent and dismal turnouts at consultation meetings. Most First Nations are passionately against the changes and will do "whatever it takes" to fight them, Coon Come said. "They have every right to state their views, oppose the minister and try to kill the bill. "The government's still dictating. They still think they know what's best for us." Coon Come, a devout Christian and married father of five, has never shrunk from conflict. He first shot to international prominence leading the Grand Council of the Cree in northern Quebec. He helped engineer a media campaign that in 1994 shelved the multi- billion-dollar James Bay hydroelectric project that would have flooded his peoples' homeland. In July 2000, promising a rights-based agenda, he replaced the more conciliatory Phil Fontaine as national chief of the Assembly of First Nations. Eighteen months later, the assembly's funding from Indian Affairs has been cut to $11 million from more than $19 million last year, and relations with government have cooled. Nault was outraged last August when Coon Come told an international racism conference in South Africa about Canada's "racist and colonial syndrome of dispossession and discrimination." But the national chief drew the strongest fire from other chiefs when he told a native health conference last February: "our people smoke too much and drink too much." "I don't regret it, but I got a lot of heat for it," Coon Come said Thursday. Copyright c. 2002, Canoe, a division of Netgraphe Inc. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Tribal Leaders taking Trust to New Level" --------- Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2002 08:58:17 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRUST/TRIBAL LEADERS" http://www.indianz.com/SmokeSignals/Headlines/ Tribal leaders taking trust to new level WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30, 2002 In a determined effort to make their voices heard, scores of tribal leaders are descending upon the nation's capital to focus on trust management and trust reform, an issue which, for many, has become their single biggest concern. By coincidence and by design, Indian trust will see seemingly unprecedented attention in the next few days. From tribal meetings to Congressional hearings to court testimony, the preservation and protection of $3 billion in tribal and individual assets and 54 million acres of land will be intensely discussed by tribes, lawmakers, government officials and other affected parties. But what has brought together these groups can't be attributed entirely to long-term interest in the subject. What is most represented by the upcoming events is more than two months worth of tribal opposition to Secretary of Interior Gale Norton's proposed reorganization of trust duties. The mid-November announcement set off a wave of criticism in Indian Country and put in motion a plan to derail the overhaul. On a number of accounts, the assault has succeeded as the aggressive timetable Norton initially designed has been pushed back. Tribal leaders, however, know their fight is not yet over. Challenged to come up with alternatives to the creation of the Bureau of Indian Trust Assets Management (BITAM), a nationwide task force -- with Norton in tow - - will be digging in this weekend to, as Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb put it, put their hands into the "gear box." The closed-door retreat, which starts Friday and concludes Monday, is just one of the few trust activities occurring in the Beltway. Before and after, the following will take place: + Jan. 31: An all-day technical workgroup meeting at a downtown Washington, D.C. law firm to examine trust reform reports and discuss legislation and litigation options. + Jan 31: A status hearing on computer security and the resumption of contempt trial testimony in federal court. + Feb. 1: Another consultation meeting, the seventh so far, on BITAM to hear tribal views about the plan. + Feb. 1: A task force meeting following the consultation to prepare for the retreat. + Feb. 4: A "strategic discussion session" held by the Inter-Tribal Monitoring Association to discuss reorganization and other trust issues. + Feb. 6: House Resources Committee hearing on trust with preparation by tribal leaders the day before. And as if these events weren't enough, President Bush on February 4 will announce his budget for fiscal year 2003. No "good news" has yet been leaked by the administration on Indian Country funding but Norton wrote in status report two weeks ago that she was "highly confident" trust management and reform would see a significant boost. Whether that will pan out remains to be seen. But as the next week unfolds, every Native American will be paying attention, said Tex Hall, President of the National Congress of American Indians. "Obviously, this issue goes right to the heart of Indian Country," said Hall. "This affects every Indian person in the country." Copyright c. 2000-2001 Noble Savage Media, LLC/Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: Native Trust Fund Account Contempt Trial Resumes" --------- Date: Sat, 2 Feb 2002 19:36:23 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRIAL RESUMES" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.journalstar.com/native?story_id=137&date Native trust fund account contempt trial resumes BY JODI RAVE LEE Lincoln Journal Star WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Native trust fund contempt trial for Interior Secretary Gale Norton resumed in federal court Thursday with a former high-ranking manager admitting a multimillion dollar government computer system "basically failed." But that's not the picture Dominic Nessi, project manager for the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Trust Asset and Accounting Management System, painted while in charge of the $36 million system. When a government lawyer asked Nessi if he ever meant to mislead the court in previous testimony about TAAMS progress, Nessi took a long pause before answering. "That's difficult for me to answer at this point knowing the system has basically failed," Nessi said. Nessi was one of two government witnesses to take the stand on behalf of the Department of the Interior. Norton and Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Neal McCaleb now face five contempt of court charges, which stem from a class-action lawsuit filed by Native people against the government. The suit claims the government mismanaged billions of dollars related to individual trust fund accounts. The trial resumed Thursday after recessing Jan 15. The case also has prompted a consultation meeting today in Arlington, Va., between Interior Department officials and tribal leaders. The former TAAMS project manager began his testimony by answering questions about a memo he wrote Feb. 23, 2001, in which he said the Interior Department's trust reform efforts were "imploding" and based on "rosy projections." When asked if had regrets about writing the memo, Nessi said no: "I feel these are all accurate statements." Yet, despite the internal memo that suggested trust reform efforts were toppling, Nessi had received at least two bonuses for exemplary work in 1999 and 2000. One award amounted to about $17,000, the second $25,000. Nessi said he told Kevin Gover, former head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, that he never took the project manager job for the money. Instead, Nessi said he saw the opportunity to work in the technology field and, in addition, Gover told him that "it would be the most important activity the BIA would take on and he asked me to do it." The job wasn't quite what he expected. "My real estate background didn't prepare me for two sets of ownerships, " said Nessi, who said BIA trust land ownership records were kept on two computer systems. One system, Land Record Information System, tracks who owns the land. The other, Integrated Records Management System, distributes money for it. The two ownership systems also created problems for TAAMS software developers, he said. Reach Jodi Rave Lee at 473-7240 or jrave@journalstar.com. Copyright c. 2002, Lincoln Journal Star. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Bush will seek More Funds for Indian Land Trust" --------- Date: Sat, 2 Feb 2002 19:36:23 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRUST FUNDS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nandotimes.com/politics/story/236413p-2261262c.html Interior secretary says Bush will seek more funds for Indian land trust By ROBERT GEHRKE, Associated Press WASHINGTON (February 1, 2002 8:16 p.m. EST) - President Bush will seek an additional $83.6 million next year to help fix a historically mismanaged American Indian trust fund, Interior Secretary Gale Norton said Friday. Norton's announcement came as she seeks to smooth over differences with suspicious Indian leaders, then woo members of Congress skeptical of her plan to fix the trust fund. Meantime, her attorneys will be in federal court, trying to convince an increasingly frustrated judge that Norton should not be held in contempt for failing to comply with changes to the trust he ordered two years ago. It is the latest chapter in what a Senate committee called one of the most egregious examples of government mismanagement. The trust debacle dates back to 1887, when Congress assigned Indians small allotments of land, but took responsibility for managing the grazing, timber and oil and gas rights on the land. The Interior Department was supposed to collect the royalties and disburse the money to the Indian land owners. But much of the money was stolen or misappropriated, and record-keeping was in such a shambles that nobody knows how much was squandered, although some estimates are as high as $40 billion. In 1994, Congress created a special office in the Interior Department to head efforts to reform the trust. Two years later, Elouise Cobell, a Montana banker and member of the Blackfeet tribe, was so fed up with the state of the trust that she sued the department. "I feel they've taken advantage of people," Cobell said. "No other race of people would ever have had to put up with this." Just more than two years ago, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth agreed that Interior had failed the 300,000 Indian beneficiaries and ordered the department to piece together how much the Indians were owed and overhaul the system. The department has failed to do either, according to a series of reports from two court-appointed watchdogs, despite Congress allocating more than $614 million to the effort. The most recent reports, issued Friday, said the department has not complied with the court-ordered accounting and continues to mislead the court. Another report found such a severe lack of computer security for the trust fund's accounting system that Lamberth pulled the plug on the Interior Department's Internet access - knocking national parks and other agencies off the Web, as well - to keep the $500 million account from being looted by hackers. Lamberth also ordered Norton to show why she shouldn't be held in contempt for failing to reform the program and misleading the court, although many of the alleged misdeeds occurred under her Clinton administration predecessor, Bruce Babbitt, who was held in contempt during his tenure. Threatened by the judge, Norton proposed in November to create a new bureau to take over trust reform from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. This weekend, Norton and top Interior officials will meet in Shepherdstown, W.V., with 24 Indian leaders opposed to her plan and the tactics used to craft it. On Monday, Bush will request the $83.6 million from Congress to reform the trust. Tribal leaders say it's not enough. "To me, that's a very small portion of what it should be," said Tex Hall, president of the National Congress of American Indians. On Wednesday and Thursday, two congressional committees will hear testimony from Norton and McCaleb on Interior's reform proposal. And Lamberth will continue Norton's contempt hearing all week. He has also been asked to strip Interior of its oversight of the trust fund and assign a receiver to manage the money. Copyright c. 2002 AP Online Copyright c. 2001 Nando Media. --------- "RE: Tribes ask Norton to scrap New Agency Plan" --------- Date: Sat, 2 Feb 2002 19:36:23 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SCRAP NEW AGENCY" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2002/Feb-02-Sat-2002/news/18010856.html INDIAN TRUST FUND REFORM: Tribes ask Norton to scrap new agency plan Leaders urge secretary to draw up plan based on their proposals Saturday, February 02, 2002 By CHRISTINE DORSEY STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- American Indian tribes have asked Interior Secretary Gale Norton to scrap her plan to create a new federal agency to manage the Indian trust fund, and instead formulate a new trust reform plan based on proposals they are drafting. Norton got an earful of criticism from tribal leaders at a session Friday at an Arlington, Va., hotel. It was one of eight "consultation meetings" the Interior Department is holding at sites across the nation to discuss the Bureau of Indian Affairs for Trust Management, the new agency she proposed in November. Norton appointed Ross Swimmer, a former BIA director, to help create the new bureau, which would handle all trust responsibilities currently undertaken by the BIA and the Office of Special Trustee. Since the announcement, tribes from all over the country have criticized the plan. Tex Hall, president of the National Congress of American Indians, said "zero" tribes back Norton. "The tribes oppose BIA-TM. Can't it come off the table?" Hall, chairman of the Fort Berthold Reservation in Newtown, N.D., asked Norton at the session. Norton said she plans to consider "all ideas" for trust reform, including her own. Swimmer joined Norton, Assistant Interior Secretary Stephen Griles and current BIA Director Neal McCaleb at the forum. Norton told the crowd of about 200 Indians she would meet over the weekend with tribal leaders at a retreat in Shepherdstown, W.Va., to hash out proposals that have come from consultation meetings. "We plan to look at an entire range of proposals," Norton said. Norton is under a federal court order to fix the department's Indian trust fund management system, which cannot account for about $4 billion in individual trust fund money. She must provide the court with a historical accounting of the missing funds, plus develop a new management system to prevent future mismanagement. Norton announced that President Bush will ask Congress for nearly $194 million -- an $83.6 million increase -- for trust reform and management efforts. She said $34.8 million will go to the Bureau of Indian Affairs and $48.8 million will go to the Office of Special Trustee, the division charged with sorting out the trust fund management system. Bush will announce his 2003 budget proposal Monday. Last year, Norton requested a total of $110.2 million for trust fund reform. In December, Norton agreed to establish a task force made up of tribal leaders who want to develop an alternative to her BIA-TM proposal. The task force has 36 members, with two tribal leaders and one alternate from each region of the country. The group met for the first time Jan. 17 in San Diego, but has yet to define its mission. Alvin Moyle, a councilman for the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe in Nevada, was selected last month to represent the western region. He urged Norton to give the task force enough time to craft an alternative to her plan. Copyright c. 2002 Las Vegas Review-Journal. --------- "RE: Tribal Task Force demands better Rez Roads" --------- Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2002 08:18:33 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="REZ ROADS" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://indiancountry.com/?1011627509 Tribal task force demands better rez roads January 23, 2002 - 7:00AM EST by: Brian Stockes/Indian Country Today WASHINGTON - Notoriously awful reservation roads are the targets of a new tribal task force sponsored by the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI). The new group recently gathered tribal representatives from across the country to begin work on the reauthorization of important legislation aimed at the construction and maintenance of tribal roads. The first meeting of the Tribal Transportation Reauthorization Task Force made preliminary plans to gain consensus on a new Indian transportation bill. According to the Department of Transportation, Indian reservation roads make up almost three percent of all existing roads on the federal-aid highway system. Yet, these roads have historically received less than one percent of transportation funding initiatives. Nearly five years ago, tribal governments pressed Congress to increase funding for Indian roads and bridges in what is now known as the Transportation Equity Act of the 21st Century, or TEA-21. In the end, however, tribes still did not receive what was necessary to improve poor roads on Indian reservations. While Indian country did receive some important increases under the law, a new cut was imposed on the Indian Reservation Roads (IRR) program. TEA- 21 for the first time extended the "obligation limitation" to the Indian roads allocation, resulting in a loss of about $35 million. Under this provision, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is required by TEA-21 to withhold a certain percentage of the total IRR authority at the beginning of each fiscal year to be redistributed near the end of that fiscal year to recipients with projects that are immediately ready for funding. However, in expanding the provision to the Indian road allocation, TEA- 21 failed to expand the redistribution authority to include Indian tribes. As a result, tribes are barred from sharing in the year-end redistribution. Thus money authorized and appropriated for tribal roads is diverted to states. Under the FY2002 appropriations, $275 million is allocated for the Indian Reservation Roads program, with an additional $35 million to offset the legal directive improperly applied to tribes. The additional $35 million aims to correct this inequity. Now, with tribal needs clearly documented, the NCAI Task Force is looking to double the current base funding level and remove the obligation limitation as the law comes up for reauthorization this year. Tex Hall, co-chairman of the task force, and chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes of North Dakota, says that the efforts undertaken by the task force are vital for gathering the data needed to convince Congress that funding should be increased. "Under the current formulas we're way underfunded," Hall said. "We can gather together the road inventories and show that our current unmet needs merit at least a doubling in funds." In years past, IRR funds were also exempt from the obligation limitation, making 100 percent of the authorized amount available at the beginning of each year. Since the provision now withholds funds from tribes and states, but redistributes the withheld funds only to the states, tribal leaders and some in Congress believe a legislative change is necessary to exempt Indian roads program funds from the obligation limitation. Hall says that the task force is asking Congress to fund the IRR at $500 million, with no restrictions from the obligation limitation. He said some of the group's first priorities would be to gather data, examine current formulas, address the obligation limitation, and increase base funding. Transportation and economic development go hand and hand," Hall said. "We're looking forward to new legislation which is more inclusive of our real needs and goals." The next meeting of the task force is scheduled for Feb. 25 in Washington, D.C. Copyright c. 2002 Indian Country Today. --------- "RE: Ho Chunk refuses to Pay 1 Million to Slot Winner" --------- Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2002 16:01:26 -0500 (EST) From: IndigenousNews@webtv.net Subj: Ho Chunk refuses to pay 1 million to slot winner Mailing List: Native Rights From Channel3000.com Ho-Chunk Refuses To Pay $1 Million To Alleged Slots Winner Casino Management Says The Machine Malfunctioned 1:19 p.m. CST January 30, 2002 A player at the Ho-Chunk Casino near Baraboo hit a million-dollar jackpot. But, it was short-lived. Casino officials said the slot machine Troy Westphal was playing last Sunday malfunctioned and the Winneconne man really wasn't a winner. Westphal said he nearly fainted when he saw three red sevens line up on the machine, which caused the jackpot lights to flash. Westphal said the machine locked up as he was playing -- but technicians reset the machine and told him to continue playing. Westphal said that meant the machine was working properly when he won the $1.2 million jackpot a short time later. He filed a complaint with the casino. Ho-Chunk says its sent a letter to Westphal a letter explaining the malfunction. Westphal can file a complaint with the state Division of Gaming. But, gaming regulator Linda Minash said the state can't make the casino pay. She says most slot machines have a little disclaimer sign that says the casino is not responsible for a mechanical malfunction. Copyright c. 2002 by Channel 3000. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Printed for educational purposes only: The news that is reported is not necessarily the viewpoint of IndigenousNews Reprinted under the Fair Use Law: Doctrine of international copyright law. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html To send news reports, subscribe or unsubscribe send email to IndigenousNews@webtv.net --------- "RE: $500,000 OK'd for Allottees" --------- Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2002 08:22:58 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ALLOTTEES" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.gallupindependent.com/todaysnews.html#anchor1 $500,000 OK'd for allottees Jim Maniaci Dine' Bureau WINDOW ROCK - Without a vote to spare the Navajo Nation Council agreed to provide more than a half-million dollars in one-time grants to impoverished trust land allottees Monday night. Allottees won't have to pay back the tribal money, since it will be a grant. The measure's sponsor, Speaker Ed T. Begay (Bread Springs, Church Rock Chapters) and Speaker Pro Tem Andy Ayze (Chinle, Nazlini) provided the 58th and 59th votes, with 59 needed for passage because the 1998 Appropriations Act had to be waived. The final vote was 59-8-2. The $534,276 will be taken from the Undesignated Reserve Fund, a six- month emergency operation account, which is supposed to contain about $55 million before the council dips into it. The fund now contains less than three-fourths of that. There are about 3,100 allottees, according to the Farmington Indian Minerals Office (FIMO) that initiates the royalty payments from companies leasing the individual's trust lands. Working with the FIMO, the presidents of eight chapters figured out there are 1,170 allottees receiving at least $101 in monthly royalty checks, plus 1,950 who get $100 or less each month. They figured it would cost $485,400 to give 834 allottees $300 each if their usual royalty check were $101 to $500 and $700 to the 336 allottees whose usual royalty checks were $500 or more. Another $23,940 would go for 1,995 bales of 3-wire hay, $4,716 for 786 80-lb. bags of whole corn and $20,220 for 3,370 20 lb. bags of potatoes, all from the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry. Allottees all over the country have been without their royalty checks since November because a federal judge in Washington, D.C., ordered the U. S. Interior Department to disconnect its Internet. That was the system used to calculate and distribute the royalties. A court-appointed hacker easily broke into the BIA files and set up a dummy account to demonstrate how vulnerable to manipulation the sensitive financial data was. This led Judge Royce Lambreth to order Secretary Gale Norton on Dec. 5 to disconnect her department from the world wide web, thus isolating a $500 million trust of oil, gas, timber and grazing fees for an estimated 40,000 allottees. Gradually, various bureaus in the department have been able to reconnect, as Norton's staff submitted its various security and firewall plans to Lambreth's special master, Alan Balaran. In sponsoring the measure, which he placed into the review system three days after a Jan. 20 meeting in Nageezi with 300 allottees, Speaker Begay carried out his promise to get some financial assistance for allottees. The only government money for the stranded families has been general assistance checks through the Navajo Nation's Social Services Division. At the Jan. 20 meeting, President Kelsey Begaye told allottees they won't have to pay back the "G.A." checks when they finally do start receiving their royalty checks again. He also said the royalty checks would have penalty and interest added onto them. A tribal suggestion to prepare the royalties by hand-carrying computer discs from entity to entity - in Navajos case from Farmington to Gallup to Farmington to Albuquerque where the checks are written - was shot down when it was learned the bottleneck is the lack of time and resources for the private companies to set up a new system. Federal legislators have continued to push Norton to get Balaran's clearance to restart the system as soon as possible and to find a way to get the allottees their money if it can't. Speaker Begay commented that at Nageezi, "I heard from elders who had not received any income for the last three months. Many of them rely solely upon the IIM (Individual Indian Money) payments to pay for their homes and automobiles. I assured them that I would make every effort, using authorities and responsibilities vested in me by the council, to move forward legislation that would provide some financial assistance to Navajo elders affected by the freeze." Delegate Ervin Keeswood (Hogback) said, "We heard from many of the allottees whose cars and homes were on the verge of repossession. The account holders have a real need for the grants." It was Keeswood's insistence late Monday afternoon on the council floor that kept the measure from being delayed another day. Council Member Larry Noble (Steamboat) asked delegates to have compassion for the IIM account holders. "When I go out into the community, I observe some desperate situations. What I hear is that many of those who have not received their IIM checks probably couldn't even celebrate Christmas." Chapter presidents involved with the effort are Wilson Ray of Huerfano, Samuel Sage of Counselor, Calvert Garcia of Nageezi, Ted Mace of Ojo Encino, David Rico of Torreon, Billy Chiquito of Pueblo Pintado, Chee Smith Jr. of White Horse Lake and Harrison Johnson of Aneth. Copyright c. 2002 The Gallup Independent. --------- "RE: Native Holiday Long Overdue" --------- Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2002 08:07:13 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NATIVE HOLIDAY" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.journalstar.com/native?story_id=135&date= Native holiday long overdue Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2002 About this time last year, one of my Lakota uncles called me at work. He had an idea and wanted to talk about it. My uncle is a tall, quiet, reserved man not given to small talk, so his phone call was memorable. He suggested I write a story encouraging the creation of a day that would honor the warriors, chiefs and peacemakers of our past. It was a good idea, I said, but unless someone was trying to make it happen it didn't leave much for me to report on. I talked to my uncle again this week. He still hasn't given up his dream that we honor the indigenous leaders of yesteryear. "If it wasn't for them we wouldn't be here," he said. "We should honor them for their fighting for the people, the land." He continues to honor the great leaders in his own way, searching for their burial sites, praying in their memory. My uncle isn't alone in seeking honor and remembrance for indigenous p