From gars@speakeasy.org Tue Feb 19 21:06:52 2002 Date: 20 Feb 2002 02:05:35 -0000 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews10.008 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 008 | Country than is reported in | O o o o o O | this weekly newsletter. For | O o O February 16, 2002 | For daily updates & events | O o O | go http://www.owlstar.com/ | O | dailyheadlines.htm | Oneida new year moon +-----------------------------+ Zuni onon u'la'ukwamme/no snow in trails moon <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is produced in straight ASCII text for greatest portability across platforms. Read it with a fixed-pitch font, such as Courier, Monaco, FixedSys or CG Times. Proportional fonts will be difficult to read. <================<<<< >>>>================> This issue contains articles from www.pechanga.net; www.owlstar.com; www.indianz.com; Paths-L, TribalLaw, Frostys Amerindian, First Nations, Rez Life and ndn-aim Mailing Lists; UUCP email IMPORTANT!! ----------- In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, all material appearing in this newsletter is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for educational purposes. <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters who share our Spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the Red Road. ++ It may be subscribed to via email by sending a request from your own internet addressable account to gars@speakeasy.org ++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org <================<<<< >>>>================> As historian Patricia Nelson Limerick summarized in The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West, "Set the blood quantum at one-quarter, hold to it as a rigid definition of Indians, let intermarriage proceed as it had for centuries, and eventually Indians will be defined out of existence. When that happens, the federal government will be freed of its persistent 'Indian problem.'" "The establishment of religion clause means at least this: Neither a state nor the federal government may set up a church. Neither can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another. Neither can force a person to go to or to remain away from church against his will or force him to profess a belief or disbelief in any religion....Neither a state or the federal government may, openly or secretly, participate in the affairs of any religious organizations or groups and vice versa." __ Court decision in Everson v Board of Education (1947) +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Indian Pledge of Allegiance | The Indian Pledge of Alleg- | | iance was first presented | I pledge allegiance to my Tribe,| on 2 December '93 during the | to the democratic principles | opening address of the Nat- | of the Republic | ional Congress of American | and to the individual freedoms | Indian Tribal-States Relat- | borrowed from the Iroquois and | ions Panel in Reno, NV. NCAI | Choctaw Confederacies, | plans distribution of the | as incorporated in the United | Indian Pledge to all Indian | States Constitution, | Nations. | so that my forefathers | | shall not have died in vain | Walk in Beauty! Night Owl +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Journey | In the summer and early fall | The Bloodline | of 1998 the Treaty Unity Riders | | rode a thousand miles on horse- | For all that live and live by law | back, carrying a staff and | We Stand, we Call, We Ride | praying each step of the way. | For All that fear and fear by sight | | We Hear, we Listen, we Ride | These prayers were offered for | For all that pray and pray by strength| each of us, and that the Unity | We Feel, we Move, we Ride | of all Peoples might happen. | For all that die and die by greed | | We Hurt, we Cry, we Ride | Tatanka Cante forwarded this | For all that birth and birth by right | poem on behalf of all the Unity | We Smile, we Hold, we Ride | Riders that we might stop and | For all that need and need by heart | ask if the next words we say, the | We Came, we Went, we Rode. | next act we make is for the good | | of the People or is it from ego | Treaty Unity Riders | for self. +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ O'siyo Brothers and Sisters! The editorial comments in this issue are by my half-side, Janet. What do political statements favoring revokation of tribal nations' sovereignty have in common with the current agreement proposed by Gov. Pataki between the Oneida tribe and New York, which would lend New York's support for a settlement of the Oneida's land claim? Perhaps nothing. The former is an obvious threat. The latter may not be a threat at all -- but it certainly has a historic smell to it. First, the New York faction of the tribe (which consists of a Wisconsin group, and a group in Ontario) is the much smaller group. Yet the Pataki agreement would have the entire tribe drop the claim (already decided in the tribe's favor) to 270,000 acres of land in exchange for a monetary settlement and the right to PURCHASE no more than 35,000 acres from "willing residents" of former tribal lands. Chief Halbritter of the New York Oneida at first would not agree to this deal. Then Gov. Pataki gained the power to approve or deny casino deals. The Oneida want a second casino. And there stands Gov. Pataki with a sweetheard deal for New York and a pen in his hand. And now Halbritter wants to sign. Why do I have a problem with this? My heritage is Creek. My husband's is Cherokee. In the early 1800s a small faction of both our tribes were muscled into signing an agreement that would swap land in Georgia and Alabama for a land that would be forever Indian Country. Go ask any Indian in Oklahoma how good that agreement was. Both my tribe and that of my husband's eventually gave the chiefs who signed those treaties the death penalty even the U.S. law reserves for traitors. Perhaps Chief Halbritter is acting in the best interests of New York Oneida. Certainly the larger Wisconsin tribe is not feeling well served, and I've seen nothing at all from the Canadian group. One wonders why the three Oneida tribes are not talking and negotiating with each other before one group accepts that deal Pataki is holding out and risks selling out the rest. Dohiyi Ani Oginalii , , Gary Night Owl gars@nanews.org (*,*) P. O. Box 672168 gars@speakeasy.org (`-') Marietta, GA 30007, U.S.A. gars@olagrande.net ===w=w=== gars@sdf.lonestar.org ----------- News of the people featured in this issue ---------- - Henry Rodriguez - Native American Candidate - Lloyd Kiva New makes Name Simple - Floy Box Valdez - Haskell cancels Summer School - Crossings - Book: Commandos at B.C. Standoff - Officials Announce Plan - Mexico Lawmakers put to settle Oneida Claim Indian Rights Back on Agenda - Wisconsin Tribe rejects - Ruling Over Indian-Country New York Settlement Jurisdiction Appealed - Oneidas Protest - Reservations pose Border Risk Anti-Sovereign Platform - Cheyenne River Sioux - Terminated Tribe Tribal Council snubs Feds has Come Back Strong - Body Found that of - Miami Indians turn to Supreme Court missing Wakpala Man - Blood won't Always Tell - Native Leaders decry - Native Federation backs Freezing Death Probe Subsistence Plan - Native Prisoner - Desecration of -- Letter Writing Campaign Native American Burial Site -- Guard has never owned Crimes - Sacred Oregon Meteorite -- Inmates sue over Medical Care - Census map shows - John Rustywire: Mille Lacs Band Reservation Only the Strong Survive - Cherokee and Navajo Largest Tribes - Poem: Boats of Justice - Albuquerque Ranks 7th - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days for Indian Population - Native America Calling --------- "RE: Henry Rodriguez" --------- Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2002 08:42:09 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HENRY RODRIGUEZ" http://www.uniontrib.com/news/metro/20020216-9999_1m16rodrigez.html Henry Rodriguez, 82; La Jolla tribal elder By Chet Barfield UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER February 16, 2002 Henry Rodriguez, one of the region's most prominent tribal elders, devoted most of his life to sustaining American Indian culture. But his affable nature and commitment to sharing his heritage made him admired by non-Indians as well. "You couldn't help loving this person," said Stephanie Mood, a Grossmont College professor who collaborated with him on language-preservation projects. "What a beautiful person he was, just the epitome of an elder." Mr. Rodriguez, 82, was killed Thursday in a broadside collision on state Route 76 on the La Jolla reservation. A lifelong advocate for Indian causes, Mr. Rodriguez spent more than 30 years fighting to restore San Luis Rey River water rights and cash settlements to his tribe and others affected by diversions dating back to the early 1900s. A deeply spiritual man recognized by his flowing hair and colorful headbands, "Uncle Henry," as he was called, often led Indian ceremonies. He also conducted weddings for insistent couples who didn't care that he wasn't ordained. He grew up on the rural North County reservation, poor in money but rich in traditions. His mother told him ancient stories he later penned in a book now used as a teachers' text. A product of a grammar school that sent him home for being barefoot and boarding schools that sought to Anglicize Indians, Mr. Rodriguez helped get American Indian courses taught in California schools. In addition to tribal leadership positions, Mr. Rodriguez served on many boards and commissions, including a local school board. He often lectured classes on Indian language and culture. After serving in the Army Air Forces during World War II, he attended San Diego State University but quit six credits short of a degree. California State University San Marcos made up for that last year, awarding him an honorary doctorate in humane letters. Trim and fit except for an asthma condition, Mr. Rodriguez often walked miles at a time, right up to his last days. He liked the exercise and being out in nature. He loved wild birds and fed them morning and evening. "I say, 'Hello bird.' I talk to the trees," he told the Union-Tribune last year. Dancing was another of his pleasures. Ballroom, country, swing - he was smooth at them all. "He was still dancing up to the age of 82, and he was good at it. You ask any woman in this county who's ever danced with him," said daughter Betty Jean Robeen, with whom he lived on Palomar Mountain. "Sometimes he'd have three or four ladies waiting in line." His playful yet powerful spirit was exemplified in an e-mail sent yesterday by Nancy and Randy Wilkerson of Oceanside: "We asked Henry to officiate at our wedding in September 2000. We are not tribal members, so we were deeply honored when, true to form, he agreed. In a ceremony that wove ancient beliefs with modern realities, Henry crafted a rare connection between two very different cultures. "At the reception, he told his table-mates wonderful stories. He also caught the bride's garter, took a few spins on the dance floor and jumped in a Conga line. He was 80 at the time." Mr. Rodriguez's other survivors include daughters Donna Uchimura of Ontario and Patricia Rodriguez of Palomar Mountain; sons Robert of Palm Springs, Richard of Chino and Tommy of Washington; a sister, Julia Yago of Escondido; 17 grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; and one great-great- granddaughter. No services are planned. At his request, remains will be cremated and ashes spread on the reservation. The family plans later to announce a tribute gathering and a scholarship fund in Mr. Rodriguez's name. Copyright c. 2002 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. --------- "RE: Lloyd Kiva New" --------- Date: Feb. 17, 2002 From: (_Akimel O`odham_) Subj: Heard trustee cast a long, vital shadow http://www.arizonarepublic.com/viewpoints/articles/0217heard0217.html Heard trustee cast a long, vital shadow By Frank H. Goodyear Jr. Feb. 17, 2002 Beneath the calm, dignified demeanor of Lloyd Kiva New were the fires of determination. And there was never any doubt about who he was. He was a visionary with the ability to affect change, to get people to "line up" behind him and his ideas. He had pride in his Indian heritage and passion for art. He rejoiced in the success of others, particularly of young art students at the Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe that he founded. He loved museums, assisting them in countless ways. He also loved animated conversations with anyone with a strong point of view. He loved a good martini - with two olives - and the conviviality of a good meal. When the clock struck midnight and it was time to go home, he was still raring to go. He never let sleep get in his way. More than anything, he loved his good wife, Aysen. Lloyd has been called "the father of the Scottsdale arts scene," "the father of Native American contemporary art" and many other honorifics. The Institute of American Indian Art is dedicated to the proposition that the arts are a life-enhancing vehicle to teach "our Indian kids to realize themselves as Indians." Lloyd touched the lives of generations of young Indian artists. He opened doors and turned dreams into realities. His involvement with the Heard began more than 50 years ago. The year after museum founder Maie Bartlett Heard died in 1951, Lloyd was invited to sit on the Heard Museum's Board of Trustees. He became a vice president and was on the board until 1962. He had been a life trustee since. In 1954, he organized a landmark exhibition comparing modern haute couture fashion with traditional Native American clothing. It caught the eye of the New York fashion world. He helped to shape the contemporary Native American fine arts program and was instrumental in the decision to establish the Heard's Indian Art gallery, which has showcased the best Native American fine artists in the world. He was a driving force behind the organization of the now world-famous Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market. Right up to the week of his death, Lloyd was working for his beloved Heard. Lloyd Kiva New's impact on contemporary Native art, on arts training, on the Heard extends like a late afternoon shadow on a sunny day over the landscape. It gets longer and longer as the sun dips to the horizon. If you look hard enough, Lloyd's presence at the Heard is everywhere. His legacy in "Indian Country" is inspirational. Frank H. Goodyear Jr. is director of the Heard Museum. --------- "RE: Floy Box Valdez" --------- Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2002 08:19:19 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="FLOY BOX VALDEZ" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,53%257E405776,00.html Tribal traditions her mainstay Beader, Ute elder a 'great lady' who rose above life of tragedy By Jim Sheeler Special to The Denver Post Sunday, February 17, 2002 - BAYFIELD - Her beads are the size of flower seeds, sewn together in perfect patterns of reds, yellows and blues, held tough through tragedy, held tight through tradition. "She would bend over like this, looking down at her hands," Erwin Taylor says as he hunches over into his mother's favorite position, stringing the tiny beads into the patterns she saw in her mind. "She always wore a scarf over her head, an elaborate scarf. And she would start to sing. It was a traditional song that was often sung during the Sun Dance, but she sang it while she was beading." As a little girl on the Southern Ute Reservation, Floy Box held close the traditions of her family; after she was left an orphan, the traditions were all she had. After losing her parents, she would end up in a place where new teachers tried to take her language, and she would promise never to forget. As a young mother, she would lose two of her sons. She would lose her legs in a massive gas explosion that leveled her house, and she would raise her children alone. Then she would lose her eyesight. Through it all, she continued to retreat to the tiny beads, leather and thread, hunched over, quietly stringing the colors, providing their accompaniment. "Her favorite was a Ute song, something you usually sing early in the day, but she sang it all the time. It was more or less like a healing song, " Erwin says. "It was a song of being thankful, thankful for the new day." Floy Box Valdez died Jan. 26 in Ignacio. She was 80. An air of strength Inside her tiny home near Bayfield, 83-year-old Ruby Garcia looks over at the cabinet where she keeps Floy's beads, remembering the first time she heard about the pretty little girl who would become her stepsister. "Her mother came to my mother and said, "I know I'm dying, please take care of my daughter.' I remember when she first came here," Garcia says. "She was a tough woman. Strong. Determined. If I was in her shoes, I think I would have died a long, long time ago." Along with other Ute children, she was sent to a nearby government-run boarding school, where the children hid their language in secret whispers. "The teachers would always tell the children that they didn't want them to speak the native tongue," Erwin says. "When the children spoke anything but English, they would lock them in a closet and they would stay in there for hours." After making it through the eighth grade, Floy later married one of her stepbrothers. He went to work in a steel mill in Pueblo. Floy stayed home with the five children in Ignacio. There, she taught her children to fish and the secrets of cooking her frybread and wild game stews. She took them to meet with elders of the tribe, and had them learn their stories. She walked miles gathering herbs for traditional dances. "She taught us to value where we came from, and to remember who we are," says her daughter EvaLee O'John Taylor. "She taught us not to forget our language, and to keep our music." In the 1950s she divorced, remarried and had three more children. They were all in the house one morning in 1956 when Floy walked into her kitchen to make breakfast, unaware of a gas leak in the basement of the house. She turned on the stove and the house exploded. Everyone was taken to the hospital, some with serious burn injuries. Floy's legs were amputated below the knees. Her first request was to speak with her children. "After the explosion, even though she had her legs cut off, she came and talked to us kids. She told us not to be afraid," Erwin says. "She told us that everything would be all right, and not to worry about the past, but to continue to work together." "A great teacher" On prosthetic legs, she rebuilt the family. Shortly after the house explosion, she divorced again and spent the rest of her life with her children and grandchildren in Ignacio. After the deaths of two of her sons - one from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning, the other from a seizure disorder - she continued to draw strength from the tribe, and joined its prestigious committee of elders. "To me, she was a role model to most of the Indian women, young and old alike," says Pearl Casias, a member of the tribal council. "She was a great teacher when it came to traditions, to arts and crafts, but also as a grandmother, a friend and a sister. She was not just there for the immediate family but for her extended family, for the tribe, and anyone who wanted to learn from this great lady." She worked for the tribe in a beading co-op, creating belts, headbands, bracelets, purses, moccasins, shirts and dresses. As she beaded, she taught the craft to the next generation. "Now when I look at that work, that beautiful work, I realize how amazing it is," says her daughter Eva. "It will hold tight for years and years." Diabetes began a slew of health problems that soon multiplied. After she went blind in the mid-90s, she was forced to use a wheelchair. Then her kidneys began to fail. She spent much of her final years playing bingo and slots twice a week at the local casino; she had been known to fall asleep in front of her favorite slot machine. She probably could have lived longer, friends say, but that would have meant restricting her diet and her way of life. By then, she was long past the point where anyone could tell her how to live. Recently, she called her friend Ruby Garcia and told her she was ready to die. She called her daughter Eva and told her she was ready to take "another long journey." "It was hard for her when she stopped beading, because that's what she loved to do, was to bead. But she had all those memories of those beads she made, she cherished them," Eva says. "She said even though you're blind, you can still see. You can see the memories." Copyright c. 2002 The Denver Post. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Crossings" --------- Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2002 08:19:19 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CROSSINGS" February 12, 2002 Henry Stubba Black Feet PINE RIDGE - Henry Stubba Black Feet, 61, Pine Ridge, died Sunday, Feb. 10, 2002, in Pine Ridge. Survivors include two sisters, Cora Red Hair, Calico, and Victoria Wounded, Lame Deer, Mont., and numerous grandchildren. A one-night wake will begin at 3 p.m. today at the Wakpamni CAP Center in Pine Ridge. Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 13, at the Wakpamni CAP, with the Rev. Bill Pauly officiating. Burial will be at Holy Rosary Mission Cemetery in Pine Ridge. Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements. February 16, 2002 Dorothea Naltazan Victor STAFFORD, Ariz. - Dorothea Naltazan Victor, 83, Stafford, died Saturday, Feb. 9, 2002, at Copper Mountain Inn Nursing Home in Stafford. Survivors include three sons, Hutch Noline and Gavins Noline, both of San Carlos, and Robert Allen, Phoenix; one daughter, Geraldine Victor, Chicago; and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The family suggests contributions to those in need on the San Carlos Apache Reservation. Morris-David's Stafford Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Copyright c. 2002 The Rapid City Journal. -=-=-=- February 12, 2002 Julius Dean Dehiya MARIANO LAKE - Services for Julius Dehiya, 31, will be held at 10 a.m., Wednesday, Feb. 13 at Mariano Lake Community Church. Pastor Jones Dehiya will officiate. Burial will follow at the private family cemetery, Mariano Lake. Dehiya died Jan. 27 in Albuquerque. He was born April 26, 1970 in Gallup into the Mexican People Clan for the One Who Walks Around You People Clan. Survivors include his son, Delano Dean Dehiya of Pinehill; daughter, Selena Dehiya of Pinehill; parents, Rena Tabaha of Chambers, Ariz. and Jimmy Dean Begay of Gap, Ariz.; brothers, Aaron Tabaha of Albuquerque, Joshua Tabaha of Mesa, Ariz. and Travis Tabaha of Phoenix; sisters, Corena Flowers of Columbia, S.C. and Serena Ann Groves of Spanaway, Wash. and grandmother, Irene C. Dehiya of Coolidge. Dehiya was preceded in death by his grandparents, Angie Dehiya, Ben Dehiya and Frank Dehiya. Pallbearers will be Darrell Eskeets, Harold Eskeets, Aaron Tabaha, Joshua Tabaha, Travis Tabaha and David Yazzie. Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. February 13, 2002 Alfred Plummer Sr. TOHATCHI - Services for Alfred Plummer, Sr., 97, will be held at 10 a.m., Thursday, Feb. 14 at the Christian Reformed Church, Tohatchi. Paul Redhouse will officiate. Burial will follow in Tohatchi. Visitation will be held from 2-5 p.m., today at Cope Memorial Chapel. Plummer Sr. died Feb. 10 in Gallup. He was born March 15, 1904 in Tohatchi into the Folding Arms People Clan for the Red House People Clan. Plummer Sr. attended Albuquerque Indian School. He retired from 30 years with the BIA. He received an Outstanding Performance Award. He was a carpenter, farmer, welder, leatherworker and shoemaker. Survivors include his sons, Henry Plummer of Vanderwagen, Tony Plummer of Rock Springs and Richard Plummer of Cherokee, N.C.; daughters, Alice P. Francisco of Window Rock, Bertha Destea and Lucille Begay both of Tohatchi; 49 grandchildren; 70 great-grandchildren and 10 great-great grandchildren. Plummer Sr. was preceded in death by his son, Alfred Plummer Jr.; daughter, Emma Manuelito Tracey; parents, Dibelhchee Neclai and Tah'Hoos Baah; brothers, Ned Plummer Sr. and Mike Plummer and sisters, Annie Becenti and Sarah Thompson. He was a grandson of Chief Manuelito. Pallbearers will be Henry Francisco Jr., Shanne Yazzie, Oscar Destea, Hubert Curley, Billy Destea Jr. and Ricky Destea. The family will receive friends and relatives after the burial services at Tohatchi Chapter House. Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements. February 14, 2002 Rose Clara Etsitty FORT DEFIANCE, Ariz. - Services for Rose Etsitty, 95, will be held at 10 a.m., Friday, Feb. 15 at Fort Defiance Catholic Church. Father Meldon Hickey will officiate. Burial will follow at Fort Defiance Cemetery. A rosary will be recited at 7 p.m., tonight at St. Michaels Catholic Church. Etsitty died Feb. 12 in Ganado, Ariz. She was born Sept. 8, 1906 in Chinle, Ariz. into the Big Water People Clan for the One Who Walks Around You People Clan. Etsitty attended Albuquerque Indian School. She was employed with Fort Defiance PHS, as a nursing assistant and steamstress for 33 years. She was a member of the Catholic Church in Fort Defiance, Fort Defiance Chapter house and volunteer for the Fort Defiance Aging Services. Survivors include her sons, Ernest Etsitty of Tse Bonito; Leon Etsitty of Gallup and Vern Etsitty of Fort Defiance; daughters, Irma Greenstone of Tucson, Ariz. and Thelma McCabe of Fort Defiance and Henry Boyd Sr. of Fort Defiance; 20 grandchildren, 41 great-grandchildren and 12 great- great grandchildren. Etsitty was preceded in death by her husband, Tsosie Henry Etsitty; parents, Anna Boyd and Hatahli Nez Jr. and sisters, Esther Begay and Francis Yazhe. Pallbearers will be family members. Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Linda Mae Davidson ALBUQUERQUE - Services for Linda Davidson, 55, will be held at 1:30 p.m., Friday, Feb. 15 at Our Lady of Blessed Sacrement, Fort Defiance, Ariz. Burial will follow at St. Michael Community Cemetery. Davidson died Feb. 11 in Albuquerque. She was born Aug. 17, 1946 in Fort Defiance, Ariz. into the Mexican Clan for the Bitter Water People Clan. Davidson was a homemaker. Her hobbies included traveling, driving, and arts and crafts. Survivors include her son, Ramsey Michael Davidson Jr. of Fort Defiance, Ariz.; daughters, Geraldine Lynne Lucero of Scottsdale, Ariz., April Marchelle Garcia of Albuquerque, and Katherine Marie Davidson of Window Rock; brother, Douglas Hawthorne of Sawmill, Ariz.; sisters, Elana Peshlakai of Crystal, Regina Kelewood of Waterflow, Gloria Nez of Shiprock, Marguarita Ballejos, Jennifer Hawthorne and Lorraine Buck all of Albuquerque; 11 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Pallbearers will be Ray Lucero Jr., Tony Lucero, Nabor Padilla, Ramsey Davidson Jr. and Ramsey Davidson Sr. Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements. February 15, 2002 Jonah Joe MANY FARMS, Ariz. - Services for Jonah Joe, 62, will be held at 10 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 16 at St. Anthony Catholic Church, Many Farms. Burial will follow at Rough Rock Community Cemetery. Joe died Feb. 13. He was born Sept. 10, 1939 in Chinle, Ariz. into the Salt Clan. Joe served in the U.S. Army, was a combat veteran and served in the Vietnam war. He recently represented the Chinle Agency Veterans Assoc. with the operation Freedom Bird. Survivors include his daughter, Joleen M. Tapaha; sisters, Ada Glorian Pablo and Clara A. Randall; and also four grandchildren. Joe was preceded in death by his parents, Mary and John Joe; son, Darwin Jonathan Joe; brothers, Thomas Joe, Leo Oscar Begay and Johnny Begay and sister, Louella Fulton. Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements. Jimmie Benward KLAGETOH, Ariz. - Services for Jimmie Benward, 54, will be held at 10 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 16 at Klagetoh Shelter Mission. Kenneth Begishe will officiate. Burial will follow at Klagetoh Community Cemetery. Benward died Feb. 12, in Albuquerque. He was born April 14, 1947 in Ganado, Ariz. into the Bitter Water for the Honeycomb Rock People. Benward attended school in Fort Defiance, Ariz. and Ganado. He was employed with the railroad and as a rancher. Survivors include his son, Cliff Benward; daughters, Cheryl Yazzie, Cherlene Yazzie and Cherletta Herbert; brothers, Ernie Roan, Willard Benward and Lester Benward; and 11 grandchildren. Benward was preceded in death by his parents, Maggie and Joe Benward and sister, Lucy Becenti. Pallbearers will be Ed Yazzie, Shawn Yazzie, Alonzo Herbert, family and friends. Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Brandon Patrick Yazzie TWIN LAKES - Services for Brandon Yazzie, 9, will be announced at a later date. Yazzie died Feb. 14 in Gallup. He was born Aug. 20, 1992 in Farmington into the Salt People Clan for the Yellow Meadow Clan. Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. February 16-17, 2002 Brandon Patrick Yazzie TWIN LAKES - Services for Brandon Yazzie, 9, will be held at 11 a.m., Monday, Feb. 18 at Rollie Mortuary Palm Chapel. Burial will follow at Sunset Memorial Park. Yazzie died Feb. 14 in Gallup. He was born Aug. 20, 1992 in Farmington into the Salt People Clan for the Yellow Meadow People Clan. Survivors include his parents, Joann Yazzie of Twin Lakes and Willis Yazzie of Yah Ta Hey; brother, Michael Francis, Gregory McCabe and Adrian Yazzie all of Twin Lakes; sisters, Charlena McCabe, Charlotte McCabe, Maria McCabe and Felica Tom all of Twin Lakes; grandparents, Esther Yazzie of Rehoboth, John K. Yazzie of Twin Lakes and Marion Yazzie of Rehoboth. Yazzie was preceded in death by his grandmother, Marie B. Yazzie. Pallbearers will be Willie Harrison, Craig Smith, John Yazzie Jr. and Kenneth Yazzie. Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Jonah Joe Price CHINLE, Ariz. - Services for Jonah Price, 26, will be held at 11 a.m., Monday, Feb. 18 at Chinle Christian Center. Pastor Artie Aragon will officiate. Burial will follow at private family cemetery, Chinle. Price died Feb. 11 in Phoenix. He was born June 11, 1975 in Fort Defiance, Ariz. into the Big Water People Clan for the Red Running into the Water People Clan. Survivors include his daughters, Alyssa Corrie Price and Jonessa Jolynn Price both of Chinle; mother, Barbara Bahe of Chinle; brother, Patrick James Crosby and Peter Crosby Jr. both of Many Farms, Ariz.; sister, Jacinta Bahe-Davila of Sedona, Ariz. and grandmother, Irene E. Scott of Chinle. Price was preceded in death by his father, Joe Price Jr. and grandparents, Billy Blake, Joe Price Sr. and Mary Reed. Pallbearers will be Tully E. Allen Jr., James Begay Jr., Derrick Blackhorse, Larry Blake, Harrison Nez and James Scott Jr. Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Clara Yazzie Robertson MANY FARMS, Ariz. - Services for Clara Robertson, 74, will be held at 1 p.m., today at Chinle Catholic Church. Rev. Blane Grein will officiate. Burial will follow at private family cemetery, Old Valley Store, Ariz. Robertson died Feb. 13. She was born June 25, 1927 in Valley Store, Ariz. into the Water Flowing Together People Clan for the Near the Water People Clan. Survivors include her sons, Julius Robertson of Many Farms and Wilfred Yazzie of Old Valley Store, Ariz.; daughters, Sadie Charley of Old Valley Store, Linda B. Tsosie of Phoenix, Jacquelina Robertson and Shirley Robertson both of Many Farms; brother, Edward Begay of Salt Lake City, Utah; five grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. Robertson was preceded in death by his parents, Elsie and John Yazzie; brother, Jackie J. Begay and sisters, Margaret Begay and Rachel Towne. Pallbearers will be Benton Charley, Hoskie Deswood Jr., Jackie Robertson, Julius Robertson, Herbert Teller and Wilfred Yazzie. Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Maggie A. Mescal CHINLE, Ariz. - Services for Maggie Mescal, 71, were held at 10 a.m., today, at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, Chinle. Father Blaine Grein officiated. Burial followed on family land, Chinle. Mescal died Feb. 11 in Phoenix. She was born Oct. 28, 1930 in Chinle into the Towering House Clan for the Coyote People Clan. Survivors include her husband, Lee Mescal Sr.; sons, Wilfred Attson, Murphy Jake, Phillip Jake, Lee Mescal Jr., Elvis Jake and Hoskie Jake Jr.; daughters, Loretta Mescal, LeAnn Mescal and Ethylene Begay; brothers, Alfred Attson and John Attson Sr.; sisters, Sadie Tsosie and Jessie Nez; 38 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. Mescal was preceded in death by her sons, Freddie Jake and Orsino Jake; parents, Nellie and Jimmie Attson and sister, Mae Attson. Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Thomas S. Blatchford FORT DEFIANCE, Ariz. - Services for Thomas Blatchford, 74, will be held at 10 a.m., Monday, Feb. 18 at Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament. Burial will follow at Fort Defiance Community Cemetery. Blatchford died Feb. 14 in Fort Defiance. He was born Jan. 10, 1927 in Fort Defiance into the the Towering House People Clan for the Edge of the Water People Clan. Survivors included his wife, Alice Blatchford of Fort Defiance; sons, Edison Blatchford of Fort Defiance, Wilson Blatchford and Anderson Blathford both of Shiprock; daughters, Lena Ann Blatchford of Fort Defiance, Ariz. and Rose Ann Tanner of Shiprock; parents, Ursula and Jim Blackgoat; sisters, Sadie Robbins of Tuba City, Ariz., Mary Smith, Esther Jumbo and Margaret Foster all of Fort Defiance and eight grandchildren. Blatchford was preceded in death by his parents, brothers, Leo Blatchford, John Blatchford, Paul Blatchford and Anson Blatchford. Pallbearers will be family members. Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Copyright c. 2002 The Gallup Independent. -=-=-=- February 14, 2002 Steven Canuto Sr. Steven Canuto Sr., 75, passed away Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2002, in Farmington. He was born July 19, 1926, in Carson. His clan was To'dii chii nii (Bitter water), born into the Ta'baa'hii (Edge Water). He is survived by his wife, Marie Canuto; children, Bertha Smith and husband, Ben, Curtis Canuto, Tully Canuto and girl friend, Delores, Julia Sandoval and husband, Johnnie, Leonard Canuto and wife, Eva, Lena Bennie and husband, Alvin, of Aztec, Walter Canuto, Steven Canuto Jr., Virgil Canuto and girlfriend, Jenifer, Calvin Canuto and Marvin Canuto of Bloomfield; and 36 grandchildren, Heather Armijo, Suzanne Smith, Jacque Smith, Erik Sandoval, Melissa Sandoval, Darius Sandoval, Brienna Sandoval, Joanne Tsosie, Betty Ross Tsosie, Ernestine Tsosie, Joe Tsosie, Jim Tsosie, Andrew Chavez, Jenita Chavez, Mike Chavez, Curtis Canuto, Tully Canuto, Leonard Canuto, Virgil Canuto, Bert Canuto, Markin Canuto, Calvin Canuto, Walter Canuto, Shawna Canuto, Jolina Tsosie, Derek Canuto, Johnnie Canuto, Brenda Tsosie, Sarah Canuto, Faith Canuto, Cooter Canuto, Shawna Canuto, Tyra Canuto, Lyndell Canuto, Sierra Canuto, Sara Canuto, Bryan Canuto, Ryan Canuto, Mikiyla Canuto, Nakia Canuto and Verona Can uto. He is also survived by great-grandchildren, Dorian, Jordanna, Jordynn, Jortell and Audry Armijo, Neahmya Tsosie, Chantelle Sandoval, Jolina, Eastus and Charisma Tsosie, Kimberly Tsosie, Ashley Tsosie, Alex Tsosie, Jody Tsosie, Carleen Tsosie, Jeremiah Tsosie, Kendrick Tsosie, Jinna Chavez, Miraiah Chavez and Loren Chavez; eight stepchildren that he raised as his own; his living siblings, Sadie Yazzie of Carson, Alice Canuto of Blanco and Mable Canuto of Shiprock, and half sister, JoAnn Pine of Carson. Viewing will be from 4 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 15, 2002, at Brewer, Lee & Larkin Funeral Home. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 16, 2002, at Carson Faith Assembly Church. Pastor Pauline Platero will officiate. Interment will follow at St. Luke's Cemetery. Pallbearers will be Leonard Canuto, Marvin Canuto, Tully Canuto, Virgil Canuto, Derek Canuto and Erik Sandoval. Alternates will be Alvin Bennie, Johnnie Sandoval, Ben Smith and Gilbert Nez. Walter Canuto will be usher. Honorary pallbearers will be family and grandchildren. Funeral arrangements are with Brewer, Lee & Larkin Funeral Home, 103 E. Ute St. in Farmington, (505) 325-8688. Copyright c. 1999-2002 MediaNews Group, Inc./Farmington Daily Times. --------- "RE: Officials Announce Plan to settle Oneida Claim" --------- Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2002 08:10:26 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ONEIDA CLAIM" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyKey=77142&category=Y Officials announce plan to settle Oneida claim "Agreement in principle" would award tribes $500 million, restrict reservation size First published: Sunday, February 17, 2002 Associated Press WAMPSVILLE -- Gov. George Pataki, local lawmakers and Oneida Indian Nation officials on Saturday announced an "agreement in concept" to settle the Oneidas' long-standing land claim. The terms of the agreement include setting up a $500 million settlement fund, the cost of which would be shared equally by the state and federal governments. The fund would give $225 million to the New York Oneida Nation, $250 million to the Oneida Wisconsin tribe and $25 million to the Canadian Oneida tribe. The Oneidas also would enter a tax parity agreement under which the tribe would agree to charge non-Indian customers a sales tax equal to all state, local and federal sales and excise taxes on all the products it sells. As part of the agreement, the Oneidas of New York will limit the total size of their reservation to 35,000 acres, 5,000 of which will be "forever wild." The tribe also would agree to add no more than 5,000 acres over the next 10 years. Details of the agreement still need to be completely worked out and it still needs to be approved by the state Assembly, Congress and the people of the Oneida Indian Nation. On Saturday, Pataki said the Wisconsin Oneidas have indicated they will reject the agreement. Pataki was joined by Oneida Nation representative Ray Halbritter, Madison County Board of Supervisors Chairman Rocco DiVeronica and Oneida County Executive Ralph Eannace and others for the announcement at the Madison County Courthouse. Until recently, it appeared resolution of the land claim would have to come in a federal court in a process that would involve a lengthy trial and years of appeals. However, state, nation and county officials announced Jan. 22 that they had resumed talks for the first time since negotiations broke down in March 2000. The claim involves 250,000 acres of former tribal land in Madison and Oneida counties that the Oneidas of New York, Wisconsin and Canada claim New York state acquired in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in violation of federal treaties. The Oneidas have sought compensation for their losses since a 1985 U.S. Supreme Court ruling affirming their claim. For more than a decade, the tribe and state tried without success to negotiate a settlement. In 1998, the Oneidas, joined by the U.S. Justice Department, filed an amended claim adding local property owners. The Oneidas said the filing was a legal maneuver to pressure the state to negotiate a settlement. Talks ended in March 2000, when court-appointed settlement master Ronald Riccio reported that the parties were more interested in "rhetoric, posturing, bickering and maneuvering" than reaching an agreement. In April 2000, U.S. District Judge Neal McCurn dismissed Riccio and called off negotiations, saying he, too, was convinced the nation, the state and the counties were unwilling to set aside their self-interests to reach a settlement. At the time, the Oneidas walked away from a reported $500 million offer. The lawsuit has created tension and protests by local residents as the Oneidas pressed their case. In addition to the land claim, the Oneidas and local governments have wrangled over other issues, including collection of sales taxes on merchandise sold at Indian businesses and property taxes on Indian-owned land. Meanwhile, the Oneidas have purchased more than 15,000 acres in the land claim area and successfully operate numerous businesses, including a chain of discount gas stations and the Turning Stone Casino Resort in Verona. Last year, the state Legislature passed a gaming bill that opened the door for Indian tribes to negotiate with the state to set up new Indian casinos in the Niagara Falls and Catskills regions. The Oneidas have expressed an interest in opening a casino in the Catskills, although they have not made any specific proposals. U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer and other elected officials have called for Pataki to tie any Indian gambling deal to a settlement of the various land claims around the state. Copyright c. 1996-2002, Capital Newspapers/Albany Times-Union. --------- "RE: Wisconsin Tribe rejects New York Settlement" --------- Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2002 08:42:09 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WISCONSIN ONEIDA" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/news/archive/local_2367879.shtml Posted Feb. 17, 2002 Oneidas rip offer for land Wisconsin tribe rejects New York settlement By Terry Anderson and By R. Patrick Corbett tanderso@greenbaypressgazette.com Utica (N.Y.) Observer-Dispatch The agreement * The state and federal governments would set up a $500 million settlement fund. * The state and the New York Oneidas are not in agreement as to how the settlement money would be divided among the New York, Wisconsin and Canadian branches of the Oneidas. The state's plan has the Wisconsin Oneidas receiving $250 million. * The Oneidas would also enter a tax parity agreement where the tribe would agree to charge non-Indian customers a sales tax equal to all state, local and federal sales and excise taxes on all the products it sells. * The Oneidas of New York will limit the total size of its reservation to a maximum of 35,000 acres, 5,000 of which will be "forever wild." The tribe currently owns approximately 14,000 acres of land. At issue The Oneidas of New York, Wisconsin and Canada claim New York state acquired 250,000 acres of tribal land in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in violation of federal treaties. They want to be compensated for their losses. The Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin is rejecting a $500 million offer to settle a longstanding New York land-dispute because the settlement does not involve the transfer of any land to the Indians. The agreement, negotiated without the participation of the Wisconsin Oneidas, isn't in the best interests of the 90 percent of the Oneida people who live here, Oneida General Manager Bill Gollnick said Saturday. The proposed deal announced in New York on Saturday is formed around a $500 million cash settlement for the Indians. The New York Oneidas have agreed to set aside $50 million of that to protect two counties from tax losses on property the Oneidas purchased. "Our tribal council has said there would be no settlement without an agreement on land," Gollnick said. "We are talking about our ancestral lands. There are 16,000 Oneidas in the United States, and 15,000 are members of the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin. The majority are here because the state of New York took our land and we have been seeking retribution for seven generations." Wisconsin Oneida leaders want to meet with New York Gov. George Pataki to clarify their position, Gollnick said. Pataki spoke harshly of the Wisconsin tribe and suggested it was planning a lawsuit against individual landowners. "New Yorkers will not succumb to threats and scare tactics designed to impose the selfish interests of the Wisconsin Oneida over the interests of our own citizens - Indian and non-Indian alike - who want to work and live together with peace and respect," Pataki said. The land dispute dates back to 1970, when three Oneida branches - New York, Wisconsin and the Thames in Ontario, Canada - sued New York and two of the state's counties for compensation for 250,000 acres that the state took illegally in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Under the terms of the agreement the land-claim lawsuits would be dropped. And the New York Oneidas would begin charging sales taxes to level the playing field with non-Indian businesses in central New York. The distribution of the $450 million was in dispute late Saturday night. The New York Oneidas said that should the Wisconsin or Canada bands of the tribe elect to participate, they would share a portion of the amount. That contradicted an earlier statement from the governor's office, which had pegged the distribution at $250 million for the Wisconsin Oneidas, $225 million for the New York Oneidas, and $25 million for the Canada Oneidas. The final agreement, still to be worked out, would have to clear local, state and federal governments and the leaders of the Oneida Nation. U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Kahn of Albany would also have to sign off on the pact. "It's hard to see how they would get this through the court," said Arlinda Locklear, a lawyer for the Wisconsin Oneidas. The Wisconsin Oneidas' rejection of the agreement drew stinging criticism from New York Oneida leader Ray Halbritter. The Oneidas of Wisconsin are holding the agreement hostage to a promise that they would receive the rights to a lucrative gambling casino in New York's Catskill Mountains, Halbritter said. Gollnick didn't deny that the casino rights have been mentioned in the area of compensation for "damages," but he insisted that the dispute with New York remains a land claim. And without a land settlement there can be no agreement. Halbritter also accused the Wisconsin Oneidas Saturday of preparing a lawsuit against individual landowners in the disputed territory. Both he and Pataki promised to defend landowners in court, if necessary. "We have reached agreement and will defend it against any adversarial group," said Halbritter, whose own tribe attempted to sue individual landowners in 1998 but was rebuffed in court. "We will use all our resources to do so if necessary." Gollnick was no less insistent. He noted that a letter has been sent to tribal members acknowledging the settlement offer and the tribal council's decision to reject it, Gollnick said. "First and foremost, this is a land-claim issue," Gollnick said. "The issue has always been about land. I can remember my grandmother talking about the claim and this generation wants to reach a just settlement. The intent we have is to address issues of land and damages, and legitimate consideration of issues in New York." More than 30 years ago, they filed a lawsuit against New York state and Oneida and Madison counties, a case that remains unresolved. Copyright c. 2002 Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers. --------- "RE: Oneidas Protest Anti-Sovereign Platform" --------- Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2002 08:10:26 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ANTI-SOVEREIGN PLATFORM" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.syracuse.com/newsstories/20020214_rmsover.html Oneidas Protest Anti-Sovereign Platform Nation says candidate's stance unconstitutional Thursday, February 14, 2002 By Glenn Coin Oneida Indian Nation officials on Wednesday said a congressional candidate's call for an end to tribal sovereignty is akin to genocide. New Hartford businessman Rodger Potocki announced this week he will run for Congress against incumbent Sherwood Boehlert. In his announcement address Tuesday, Potocki called for the end of sovereign status for Indian nations, including the Oneida Nation. "He advocates nothing less than genocide, which is the destruction of a people or a culture," said Brian Patterson, a member of the nation's Men's Council, in a prepared statement. "It is a dismal thought that anyone running for public office in the 21st century would proudly announce that his platform is built upon a foundation of denying any group its constitutionally guaranteed rights." Potocki said Tuesday that sovereignty creates nations within a nation, which defies the principles of a united country. "I don't accept any notion of (tribal) sovereignty at all," he said. "We should not allow nations of different people and different colors and different religions. It's the Balkanization of America." Oneida Nation spokesman Mark Emery said Potocki's position is unconstitutional. "I thought someone running for Congress should be upholding the Constitution," Emery said. "Article I, Section 8 puts Indian nations on the same level as other sovereign nations." That section of the Constitution gives Congress the power to, among other things, "regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes." Robert Venables, a senior lecturer at Cornell University's American Indian program, said Potocki is not the first to wrongly call for the end of tribal sovereignty. "He is in a long line of historically blind individuals who did not realize that this separate status has been granted by treaty, which is a higher law of the land than acts of Congress," Venables said. Potocki made his announcement in the headquarters of Upstate Citizens for Equality, a landowners group opposed to the Oneida Nation's 250,000- acre land claim and the tribe's tax policies. The Oneida Nation and the National Congress of American Indians have called UCE a hate group, a label its members deny. In his statement, Patterson said it was not surprising that Potocki made his announcement at UCE headquarters because Potocki is "a card-carrying member of that small but virulent anti-Indian hate organization." Potocki said he respects the work of UCE, and that the group inspired him to run. "I take offense to the whole notion of UCE being called a hate group," Potocki said. "It's a proud, noble group and I am proud to be part of it." Copyright c. 2002 The Post-Standard. Used with permission. --------- "RE: Terminated Tribe has Come Back Strong" --------- Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2002 08:42:09 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PAIUTE" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,375009712,00.html? Paiute pride Tribe that was 'terminated' by the government has come back strong By Jerry Johnston February 17, 2002 Deseret News staff writer CEDAR CITY - Of all of the Indian tribes native to Utah, the Paiutes may seem the most "mysterious." With 781 members, the tribe lacks the presence of the Navajos and Utes. And its homeland in southern Utah is far away from the major media and population centers of the state. The town of Shivwits on the Paiute Indian Reservation is near St. George. The tribe, which has 781 members, is not as well-known as other tribes in the state. Jason Olson, Deseret News But part of the tribe's "hazy" image also comes from the low-key, understated nature of tribal members themselves. "Not only are the Paiutes not known around the state," said Gayle Rollo, Cedar City, a tribal administrator for the past 14 years, "they aren't well-known around here, either." The main reason, of course, is that for many years the Paiutes simply did not exist - at least on paper. The tribe was officially disbanded. And for many in the public, all that remained for decades were a few fading impressions. Today, many citizens of southern Utah still associate the tribe with the infamous Mountain Meadows Massacre, for instance, though tribal historians have tried to debunk that notion. And some locals do recall media reports about the tribe being re-established in the 1980s with the help of Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. But after that, most people draw a blank. Lora Tom, the tribal chairwoman, spends a good deal of her time trying to fill in that blank. "We're not as big as other tribes, but we have a strong sense of pride and unity, and we have some very bright individuals," she said. "We also have many challenges: education, economic development and substance abuse, among them." When people ask just what the Paiutes contribute to society, Rollo bristles and quickly points out that the tribe is responsible for $250,000 in scholarships and millions of dollars in contracted health care. In fact, health care is a top priority issue for the Paiutes. And having Tom as Paiute chairwoman has proven to be an advantage in that regard. She doubles as a community health representative. Her biggest worry these days? Not alcoholism or accidents - though those are worrisome. No, what concerns Tom is the same thing that concerns dozens of tribes today: diabetes. Adult diabetes, or Type 2 diabetes, is the inability of the body to utilize or produce the insulin hormone that allows blood sugars to be burned for energy. It can lead to weight loss, blindness, leg problems and other maladies. And it is triggered by both hereditary and environmental conditions. According to the American Diabetes Association, 12.2 percent of American Indians older than 19 suffer from the disease, compared with just 4 percent of the general population. "Many native people don't realize they can lose their vision or limbs with the disease," Tom said. "Sometimes I'm tempted to use scare tactics just to make them aware." Anthony Smith, the health director for the Indian Walk-in Center in Salt Lake City, says if diabetes doesn't seem to frighten many of his people, it certainly frightens him. Paiute baskets are part of the Cultural Olympiad exhibit in Salt Lake City. Laura Seitz, Deseret News "In the past 10 years there has been a rapid increase in diabetes," he said. "On the Pima Reservation, the problem affects 90 percent of the tribe." Smith points to several culprits. "The main risk factor is the way Indians are made up genetically," he said. "After that, it has to do with changes in the way we live, our diet and lifestyle. We used to work hard as hunters and gatherers. And we were used to natural foods. We didn't eat a lot of carbohydrates and sugars. Fifty years ago there weren't any signs of diabetes among Native Americans. Now adult diabetes even affects our children." Needless to say, diabetes often leads to other woes. It's a contributing factor in obesity and by extension cardiovascular disease and post- traumatic stress syndrome. Tom also points to hypertension, or high blood pressure, as a major health issue among Paiutes, along with the disease that has haunted American Indians for 200 years - substance abuse. The problem, Smith says, is that alcoholism opened the door for meth, marijuana and amphetamines among inner-city Indians and even the abuse of over-the-counter products such as hairspray and mouthwash in rural communities. Tom is quick to drive home the point, however, that due to the way the reservation system is set up, it's easier for health officials to track and record such statistics there. And though she says the Paiutes do seem to have more problems with addictions than the community at large, their tendency to be non-compliant and self-medicating likely is no more pronounced on the reservations than in mainstream America. As for Smith, he believes that health - like so many issues among American Indians - must eventually be laid at the doorstep of economics. "Some tribes have more resources and are able to help their people better," he said. "Other tribes have little money and can't help. So, the statistics depend on which tribe you're looking at. The economic status of a tribe can determine many of its health concerns." The ultimate solution, Smith believes, is information, and not only information for tribal members but the education of mainstream America about Indians themselves. And the relatively unknown Paiutes could use an introduction. The Paiute story begins, as do most native stories, with the land. And it is a story of how the West was lost, partially won back, lost again, then finally secured. Today, the Paiutes are divided into five separate bands covering a five- county area. The tribal lands form an odd configuration. The reason is the original block of tribal land was sold when the tribe was disbanded. So, the Kanosh Band (115 members) is in Millard County; the Koosharem Band (108) is in Sevier; the Indian Peak Band (38) and Cedar Band (241) inhabit Iron County, and the Shivwits Band (279) lives in Washington County. The tribe also holds mineral rights in Beaver County. Paiute children learn the basics at a preschool at the new tribal headquarters in Cedar City. The tribe is young -- the average age is 25. Jason Olson, Deseret News And if it seems unusual to see an Indian tribe scattered like a handful of jacks, well, the Paiutes have an unusual history. In 1954, the tribe was "terminated" by the U.S. government in an effort to force tribal members into being assimilated by the general population. It was a social experiment that had the best of intentions but produced the worst possible results. The Paiute tribe became a people without an identity. They didn't become part of white culture. They became a wandering race. "Many Paiutes continued to work as unskilled laborers," Gary Tom and Ronald Holt write in "A History of Utah's American Indians," but "the traditional knowledge base had deteriorated to the point less than half of the Paiutes spoke native Paiute, very few were tanning deerskin, and very little storytelling or weaving of baskets and cradles was taking place. Social gatherings were very infrequent. Alcoholism began to affect more and more of the Paiutes." The tribe was finally recognized again April 3, 1980, with the help of many Indian leaders, along with Hatch. Today, the date April 3 holds a special place in the Paiute culture. Tribal elections are held on that day, and a Restoration Gathering is celebrated each year. The tribe lost a great deal of its land when it was disenfranchised, but parcels were returned. "The majority of the land was rocky they were given back," Rollo said. "They lost 8,000 acres. To compensate, a trust fund was set up for the tribe. The Paiutes today are allowed access to interest from that fund." The tribe has used the interest in a variety of ways, including building new tribal headquarters in Cedar City and sponsoring tribal cultural programs, such as the current "cradleboard" project directed by Travis Parashonts, representative of the Cedar Band of Paiutes. Cradleboards are the traditional means for Paiute women to carry their young - strapped to their backs - and the project has yielded some fascinating examples of the art. Parashonts is sure similar efforts will follow and will bring the Paiutes back into public awareness and help the people discover their identity again. "We are a young tribe," he said. And, indeed, statistics show that the average Paiute age is 25. Parashonts also feels that the tribe's future is in the arts. "Our biggest challenge," he said, "is funding projects to revitalize our crafts." "I believe the future looks good for us," Tom said. "We have a dedicated tribal council. I just keep reminding the youth that anything is possible." And in the Paiute tribe of today, "youth" is definitely a big resource. E-mail: jerjohn@desnews.com Copyright c. 2002 Deseret News Publishing Company. --------- "RE: Miami Indians turn to Supreme Court" --------- Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2002 08:10:26 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="INDIANA MIAMI" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.imdiversity.com/Article_Detail.asp?Article_ID=9438 Miami Indians Turn To Supreme Court For Tribal Recognition by AP, The Associated Press Peru, Ind. (AP) - The Indiana Miami were stripped of federal recognition as an Indian nation in 1897, and they have been trying to regain that status ever since. A ruling on the dispute could come before the year's end from the U.S. Supreme Court, which is deciding whether to hear the case. A decision granting federal recognition would be more than symbolic; such a step would qualify the Miamis for millions of dollars in federal aid. The nation's 562 recognized tribes received nearly $4 billion last year for health and social services. But Miamis say the battle is about righting a wrong rather than money. "It's fundamentally a case of dignity and self-esteem," Miami Chief Paul Strack told The Indianapolis Star for a story published Friday. "We'd like the government to acknowledge our tribal government." The Miami contend the United States is violating an 1854 treaty in which the Senate recognized them as a nation. The government has agreed that the tribe should not have lost its status in 1897. However, the government says the Miamis no longer fit the criteria for acknowledgment, in part because they do not live in one community distinct from others in the area. About half of the roughly 5,000 members of the Miami Nation of Indiana still live in the state, with the rest scattered around the United States. Most Indiana members live near their original northern Indiana settlements in Allen, Elkhart, Grant, Huntington, Miami, St. Joseph and Wabash counties. The tribal headquarters in Peru houses an exhibit of Miami history, a day-care center named for Chief Little Turtle, and bingo, the moneymaker that pays the bills and funds the tribe's charitable foundation. "We're coming together as a community at a level we haven't in quite some time," Strack said. The Supreme Court could announce as early as next week whether it will hear the Miamis' case as it evaluates thousands of review petitions. If the Miamis' petition is granted, the case could be heard as soon as October or November. If the court denies the petition, only an act of Congress could restore federal acknowledgment to the Miami. Stewart Rafert, a historian who has spent 30 years studying the Miami, said the case could affect several hundred more tribes also seeking recognition. "If the Supreme Court doesn't recognize that treaty, it could have ramifications on other tribes," Rafert said. Decisions on tribal recognition rest with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which says that a group made up of people with Indian blood is not necessarily a nation. The Miami dispute dates to 1897, when the tribe sought relief from paying taxes on the land granted to them under the 1854 Senate treaty. They believed the treaty made them exempt. The Department of Justice determined the Miami were U.S. citizens subject to taxes, and the government withdrew recognition of the Indiana Miamis. In 1984, the Miami applied to have that recognition restored. Eight years later, the Bureau of Indian Affairs denied the Miami petition, claiming the tribe had disappeared and ceased to exist as a political unit after World War II. Rafert disagrees, saying the Miami have held a reunion every year since 1903. No matter what, Strack said, the Miami will remain a nation. "We're a proud people," he said. "The American experience has wreaked havoc on our culture, and threatened it on a number of occasions. "But we survived." Copyright c. by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 2001 iMinorities, Inc. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Blood won't Always Tell" --------- Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2002 08:42:09 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BLOOD NOT ENOUGH" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.tribnet.com/frame.asp?/news/top_stories/ Blood won't always tell As perks make tribal membership increasingly desirable, some find Indian heritage not enough to get in Rob Carson; The News Tribune George Sibbits can't understand why the Puyallup Tribe of Indians won't let him in. He's 100 percent American Indian and a full quarter Puyallup - more than many members. His grandmother was a Puyallup tribal elder, and, 12 years ago, his brother enrolled in the tribe with no problem. But Sibbits has consistently been told no. "You do not meet current requirements set forth in our constitution," said a curt letter he received from the tribal enrollment office last month. Deciding who gets in and who stays out has become a divisive and emotional issue, not only in the Puyallup Tribe, but in tribes across the country - particularly in those with profitable casinos. "This is a very sensitive issue right now," said John Weymer, a spokesman for the tribe. About 200 people apply for membership in the Puyallup Tribe each year, Weymer said, and about half of them are turned down. Sibbits, whose 46 years have been one long string of disasters, never thought much about being an American Indian when he was growing up. But now he could use the perks of tribal membership: free medical care, job opportunities and legal assistance, not to mention the $200 monthly check every member gets from casino profits. Sibbits says the rejection is personal, and when he talks about it he gets so worked up his hands tremble. "They're trying to keep me out of it for some reason," he says. Tribal officials say there's nothing personal about it. Sibbits, like many others with Puyallup heritage, has run up against membership requirements that are tougher than they used to be. Growing profits from the tribe's Emerald Queen Casino - estimated at about $4 million a month - have raised the stakes of membership. The controversy over membership criteria begs larger questions that have significant political, cultural and economic ramifications. Among them: What is an Indian tribe? And, beyond that, what is an Indian? Previous definition In years past, being an Indian was a simple matter of race. If a person had a certain percentage of tribal blood - usually one quarter - he was considered a member of that tribe. Below that amount, he was not. Now, however, many tribes - including the Puyallups - have discarded blood quantum requirements in favor of social and political criteria. "This whole blood quantum thing was invented by the federal government" said Robin Torner, the tribal chairman of the newly recognized Cowlitz Tribe, which has headquarters in Longview. "Blood quantum is a pit trap at the end of a dead-end road." The Cowlitz Tribe, which won federal recognition in January and claims between 1,500 and 2,000 members, does not require any minimum blood level. Torner and many others in Indian country's political mainstream say blood quantum requirements amount to slow-motion genocide. If the children of those who marry outside the tribe were disqualified, they say, the tribes would disappear. "We're not breeding dogs here," Torner said. "Belonging to a tribe has got a lot more to do with than blood. It has to do with tribal affiliations, your heritage, who you live with and who you give your loyalties to." Lately, the federal government has tended to agree. In the 1974 U.S Supreme Court case, Morton v. Mancari, the justices ruled that, while there is a racial component to belonging to a tribe, the group identification is primarily political. The tribes themselves should decide who their members are, the court said. "Since then," said Bob Anderson, head of the Indian Law Center at the University of Washington School of Law, "the federal government has generally kept out of the mix in terms of determining membership criteria." Even so, most tribes continue to use a blood standard, although the requirements vary - from as low as one-sixteenth to as high as one-half. The Nisqually Tribe requires members to have at least one-quarter Nisqually blood, according to Frankie McCloud, a member of the tribe's enrollment committee. The Nisquallies are not heavily invested in gambling and have not experienced increased interest in membership, McCloud said. The Nisqually membership has grown from about 400 in 1990 to about 600 now. The Puyallup Tribe uses a different approach. It has no blood quantum requirement. But it does require proof of direct descent: That is, if either parent is a member, the children are eligible, too, regardless of how little "Indian" blood they have. Those who argue that blood standards should be lowered, or done away with entirely, note that tribes, particularly those in the Puget Sound area, traditionally intermarried. There is no reason that still should not be the case, they say, even if tribal members intermarry with other races. The important factor, they say, is social cohesiveness, and that is something only a tribe can assess. But the direct descent requirement leaves out people such as Sibbits. According to the Puyallup enrollment office, his grandmother never officially enrolled his mother. Under the new rules, that makes him ineligible. His brother was accepted because the tribe had looser requirements when he applied. "Once the chain is broken, that's the end of it," said Weymer. "Once you're out, you can't get back in, and neither can your children." Sibbits finds that absurd, especially when he sees a growing number of tribal members with blue eyes and sandy hair collecting their monthly $200 checks from the casino. Furthermore, he says, the Bureau of Indian Affairs has told him his mother was enrolled. He is unemployed and living in a car parked in a friend's driveway. He lost his license because of a drunken-driving conviction and wants to use the tribes' legal assistance to help him get his driver's license back. "I can't get a job if I can't drive," he said. The Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, which runs the state's most profitable casino and is ready to build another, has attracted many shirttail relatives and Indian wannabes, according to members. Like the Puyallups, the Muckleshoots have instituted rules that keep out those who have breaks in their membership. Puget Sound tribes are so intermingled, said Muckleshoot attorney Rob Otsea, that many people are eligible for membership in more than one tribe. What brought the Muckleshoot policy about, he said, were opportunists who bounced from tribe to tribe, depending on where the benefits were best. Now, Otsea said. "If you disenroll,you are prohibited from re-enrolling." The Muckleshoot Tribe was an amalgam of tribes to begin with, and neither the Puyallups nor the Nisquallies have any full-blooded members left, a situation that's typical among all but the most isolated tribes. According to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, six of every 10 American Indians were full-blooded in 1980. Now, the ratio is just one in three. By 2080, a 1986 congressional study predicts, only three of every 100 American Indians will be full-blooded. As blood levels thin, the number of people who call themselves American Indian is steadily rising. In 1960 there were fewer than 400 Puyallups. Now there are more than 2,600. Nationally, the Indian population has more than tripled since 1970, to 2.5 million. In the 2000 census, an additional 1.6 million people said they were American Indian in combination with other races, for a total of 4.1 million. Membership disputes Recent disputes in Indian country over membership mostly have to do with sharing profits and entitlements, says Gabriel Landry, a Puyallup tribal member and former council member. Some Indians are in favor of keeping a blood quantum requirement because it naturally limits the number of people eligible to enroll, he said. "Their view is that the more people you have, the smaller the pieces become when you start dividing up the pie," Landry said. "They think the more tribal members we have, the smaller my share is going to be." When the benefits of membership rise in value, such sentiments tend to increase. In Minnesota's Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Tribe, for example, approximately 100 members who collect gambling payments of about $400,000 each per year have for years been fighting off a court battle being waged by more distant relatives. The other point of view, Landry said, is more inclusive: "It's that the larger our numbers, the greater our strength is going to be, and the better things are going to be for everyone." Landry personally favors the more inclusive approach. "The greater numbers you have, the more power and authority you have in the surrounding community," he said. "If the Puyallup Tribe had a population of 100,000 people, what do you think its power would be?" The risk, though, is that once tribal members become visually indistinguishable from the mainstream, other Americans will become even more resentful of the treaty rights that give them economic advantages - like fishing rights and casinos. That could have serious political ramifications, said Anderson. The less distinctive a tribe is, either racially or culturally, the more precarious its status as a sovereign nation. "That's where the pressure comes in to keep blood quantum," Anderson said. "But on the other hand, you can't keep marrying your relatives." Fighting for enrollment Sibbits refuses to give up on his quest to enroll in the Puyallup Tribe, even though there appears to be nothing he can do about it. He wants to sue, but the only place he could take his complaint is tribal court. And, three weeks ago, his struggle became more difficult. The house he was living in burned down, and with it went the file of birth records and enrollment documents he's been collecting. If he were only accepted into the tribe, Sibbits says, he could pull his life back together. He wants the benefits, but, he quickly adds, that's not the only reason he wants in. "I don't know a whole lot about the Indian traditions," he said. "I want to learn about that." When he was growing up, he said, "Indian didn't matter to me." Now, he says, "I'd kind of like to be an Indian again. I just want to be part of the tribe. I want to be proud of my ancestors." - - - Staff writer Rob Carson covers tribal affairs and diversity issues. Reach him at 253-597-8693 or rob.carson@mail.tribnet.com - - - SIDEBAR: Feds, not tribe, first required enrollment Much of the controversy surrounding membership in the Puyallup Tribe stems from the federal enrollment of 1929. Indian agents told the Puyallup people they all had to enroll to be counted as members. Most did, but some - nobody knows how many - distrusted the process and refused to participate. The question, in later years, became whether the descendants of those who did not enroll in 1929 should be allowed into the tribe. "There are two points of view," said tribal member Gabriel Landry, "and this has been real controversial. One is that these ancestors knew they had to enroll, and they chose not to. They should not be entitled to enroll now. "The other view is, the fact that they chose not to enroll is just an indication that they didn't trust the federal government, and, had they understood the consequences, they probably would have enrolled." On a few occasions, the tribe has voted to open enrollment to these descendants using "adoption ordinances." Adoptions were allowed in the 1960s, when there were fewer than 400 members and the tribe wanted to build numbers for political strength. Adoptions stopped shortly before the 1990 Land Claims Settlement, which, among other benefits, guaranteed a payment of $20,000 to every member of the tribe, which by then had grown to 1,545. Adoptions were opened again in the 1990s, but closed in 1995, the year before the Emerald Queen Casino opened. - Rob Carson, The News Tribune - - - SIDEBAR: Who is an Indian? Changing definitions of "Indian" have caused confusion in the courts, in Congress and sometimes among tribes themselves. Here are various definitions used in different arenas. Ethnology: More than one-half Indian blood. Federal law: Varies - sometimes "anyone of Indian descent," but sometimes a specific blood percentage is cited, most often one-quarter. Also "anyone who has been accepted as a member of a federally recognized Indian tribe." The courts: Generally a two-part test: An individual must have some Indian blood and be recognized by an Indian community as an Indian. The Supreme Court ruled in 1974 that Indian tribes are primarily political, not racial groups. U.S. Census Bureau: Includes anyone who identifies himself as an Indian. The Bureau of Indian Affairs: Generally, a member of a recognized tribe who is at least one-quarter Indian. Individual tribes: Criteria vary from tribe to tribe. Some have adoption provisions that allow members with no Indian blood; others require as little as one-sixteenth or as much as one-half. In some tribes, anyone who can trace his or her lineage to the original tribal roll can be a member, regardless of blood percentage. Copyright c. 2002 The News Tribune. Copyright c. 2000 Tacoma News Inc. --------- "RE: Native Federation backs Subsistence Plan" --------- Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 08:18:22 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="KNOWLES PLAN" http://www.indianz.com/SmokeSignals/Headlines/ http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1002,7247%7E399862,00.html Native federation backs Knowles' subsistence plan Support ends long standoff By SEAN COCKERHAM News-Miner Juneau Bureau Wednesday, February 13, 2002 - 4:59:44 AM MST JUNEAU--Despite misgivings, the Alaska Federation of Natives board voted Tuesday to support Gov. Tony Knowles' new proposal to end the bitter standoff over subsistence. AFN, however, also plans to recommend changes to address issues that board members have with Knowles' proposed amendment to the state constitution. Recommendations include a desire for greater opportunities for Native co-management of fish and game resources. "We want to work with you," board member Rosita Worl of the Sealaska Corp. told the governor. Shortly before the board's vote, Knowles urged the Native leaders to back the plan before he introduces it in the Legislature, which has long been a graveyard for proposals that sought to amend the state constitution for a rural subsistence priority. Knowles told the AFN board members that--even if they do not embrace all aspects of the proposal--they should see it as a start to solving an issue that has divided Alaskans for over a decade. "If we can get the right product before voters I think it will be a historic step in getting Alaskans together," he said. In order to go before voters the proposed constitutional amendment would have to be approved by two-thirds of both the state House and the Senate. The measure was crafted by a committee appointed by Knowles and headed by Alaska Attorney General Bruce Botelho. Like previous proposals it would require a rural priority for subsistence hunting and fishing resources and therefore bring the state into compliance with federal law, Knowles said. But the new plan has a twist in that it would also allow legislators to create a secondary priority to recognize urban residents with a history of subsistence use. The conflict between the rural priority in federal law and the Alaska Constitution's requirement of equal access to fish and game for all state residents has led to a federal takeover of subsistence management on most lands and waters in Alaska. AFN board members said they were grateful for Knowles' efforts in support of the rural subsistence priority. But they also expressed concerns about the specifics of the proposal. Tanana Chiefs Conference President Steve Ginnis said he discussed the matter with Native leaders of the Interior before coming to Juneau for the AFN meeting. "In our region the TCC leadership sent a very strong message to me ... that it falls short of their expectations." Ginnis said there is a concern that the proposal is particularly weak in Native co-management of fish and game. He said Natives are becoming more comfortable with the strong voice offered under the federal management system and are not eager to compromise for the sake of political expediency. "I wonder how ... this ever became a political football game to start with--our livelihood and the very existence of our culture," Ginnis said. But legislators like Fairbanks Republican Sen. Gary Wilken argue that a rural priority creates two classes of people in Alaska based upon their ZIP code. Wilken said the proposed secondary priority granted to urban residents with a subsistence history is not enough to change his mind. He and his son already have the history, Wilken said, but his grandkids and others in Fairbanks would be left out. Along with legislative resistance, there is a court challenge to the federal rural priority being waged by a group of hunters called the Alaska Constitutional Legal Defense Conservation Fund. Federal agencies had attempted to have the case simply thrown out of court. But U.S. District Court Judge H. Russel Holland, while dismissing some of the counts, ruled last week the case could proceed on the claim that the hunters were harmed by enforcement of the rural priority. The federal agencies now have to respond to the charges in the lawsuit, said Warren Olson of the Alaska Constitutional Legal Defense Conservation Fund. "They have to answer our original case and they have to do it promptly," he said. Copyright c. 1999-2002 MediaNews Group, Inc. and Fairbanks Publishing Company, Inc. --------- "RE: Desecration of Native American Burial Site" --------- Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2002 21:23:37 -0800 From: "Lona" Subj: Desecration of Native American Burial Site near Fort Payne, AL. Mailing List: Paths-L To: State of Alabama WE the undersigned citizens of the United States do not agree with the desecration of the Native American burial grounds that is taking place due to the work being done on Hwy. 11 near Fort Payne, Alabama on the Hammonds site. We request that the Archaeological Excavation cease immediately. This desecration is a violation of The Ancient Tribal Religious Beliefs, Tribal Inheritance Rights, Traditions and Customs, as well as our Ancestors Sacred Burials, Sacred Personal Items, Materials, and Sacred Sites. We the people, support any and all actions necessary to stop this desecration immediately! Sincerely, The Undersigned See the story and online petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/NAFTPAIN/petition.html Never explain--your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway. -- Elbert Hubbard Check Be Pro Active Page http://tahomagirl.com United We Stand ---------------------------------------- To subscribe to the "Paths-L" mailing list send a message to Majordomo@YvwiiUsdinvnohii.net In the body of the message type: subscribe paths-l --------- "RE: Sacred Oregon Meteorite" --------- Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2002 08:27:10 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="METEORITE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0213sacredstone-ON.html Uproar over a sacred Oregon meteorite New York Times News Service Feb. 13, 2002 20:25:00 When the American Museum of Natural History opened its gleaming new planetarium two years ago, it gave its highest place of honor to the Willamette meteorite, the pitted, 15.5-ton boulder that fell to Earth more than 10 millennia ago. But unknown to most of its admirers - or until recently to the Oregon tribe that considers it sacred - the meteorite has a flat spot at the top, created by museum curators in 1998 when they cut off a 28-pound chunk and traded it to a private collector for half an ounce of Mars. On Sunday, the collector, Darryl Pitt of New York City, sold a 6-inch, 3.4-ounce slice off that chunk for $11,000 at an auction. A second, smaller piece of a meteorite he obtained in a trade with the Natural History Museum in London a couple of months ago sold for $3,300. "This is not anything that is unusual," said Pitt, whose Macovich Collection is the largest private collection of meteorites in the world. But the auction dismayed descendants of the Clackamas Indians of Oregon who regard the meteorite as a spiritual union of earth, sky and water. "Would someone want to auction off a crucifix, one of the holy statues out of the Catholic Church or something like that?" asked Kathryn Harrison, former chairwoman of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, which includes the Clackamas. The Oregonian, the state's largest newspaper, took up the cause, accusing the American museum in an editorial on Saturday of showing "disgraceful stewardship" of the meteorite. "If we had our way, it would be heading back on the next westbound freight train," the newspaper said. Dr. David Wheeler, a chiropractic physician in West Linn, Ore., who bought the smaller thumbnail-size piece that weighs a third of an ounce, said he wanted to discuss with the tribal members how he might share his new purchase with them. "I did it, because I wanted to bring a small part of the meteor back to Oregon," Wheeler said. "I may end up donating it to them." Matt Morgan, a meteorite trader in Colorado who runs the Internet site Mile High Meteorites, bought the larger piece "because it's a historic American meteorite and one which I don't have," he said. "It's one of the things you always read about in the books." Morgan said he and two other investors would cut that piece into six or seven smaller pieces, keeping some for themselves and selling the others. "We'd like to recoup some of the investment we made," he said. The Willamette meteorite, the largest meteorite ever found in the United States, is believed to have originally landed in Canada, and then was pushed by glaciers to Oregon's Willamette Valley thousands of years ago. The American Museum of Natural History bought it in 1906. Two years ago, after the opening of the museum's Rose Center, the tribes demanded that the meteorite be returned. The tribes and the museum settled their dispute with an agreement in which the meteorite remains in New York and tribal members can conduct a private ceremony once a year at the center. But dozens of pieces of the Willamette meteorite were removed over the years and scattered to institutions around the world. Meteorite collectors trade pieces of space rock the way boys once traded baseball cards: a slice of Mars for a chip of carbonaceous chondrite, a moon rock for a new meteorite find from the Sahara. Unlike curators of art or fossils, where great value is placed on the integrity of objects, meteorite curators at major museums participate in the trading game, giving samples of their collection to private collectors in exchange for newly discovered rocks. "In meteoritics, it's long been a tradition to trade pieces of specimens, " said Dr. Michael J. Novacek, provost of science at the American Museum of Natural History. Scientists routinely cut meteorites apart for scientific study exchange and send pieces back and forth for different laboratories to analyze. Trading pieces of the museum's meteorites with private collectors allows the museum to acquire new, rare meteorites, Novacek said. "It ultimately had a scientific purpose," he said. In exchange for the 28-pound piece of the Willamette meteorite, Pitt gave a part of the Governador Valadares meteorite, which landed in Brazil in 1958, one of a few known to have come from Mars. Copyright c. 2002, azcentral.com. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Census map shows Mille Lacs Band Reservation" --------- Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2002 08:10:26 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MILLE LACS" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://millelacsmessenger.com/millelacsmessenger/ Mille Lacs County Board by Brett Larson, Messenger Staff Writer Census Bureau map shows Mille Lacs Band Reservation Yet another federal agency has weighed in on the reservation dispute in Mille Lacs County. The U.S. Census Bureau, in its most recent map of the county, marks the entirety of Kathio, South Harbor and Isle Harbor townships as "American Indian Area." Phil Thompson, the Mille Lacs County Auditor-Treasurer, brought the map to the attention of the county board at the Tuesday, Feb . 6, board meeting. Thompson said this is the second year in a row that the Census Bureau has highlighted the three townships as reservation or "American Indian Area." Last year, Thompson changed the map to show the trust lands owned by the Mille Lacs Band, indicating that those were the only "reservation" lands in the county. The changes were not made on this year's map. In the past, Thompson said, individual trust lands were marked as reservation. Commissioner Frank Courteau submitted a letter to the board for approval. The letter says the highlighted area was a reservation "over a century ago," but the county "must disagree with any assertion that this entire area today, as highlighted on the map provided, is somehow once again an Indian reservation." The letter goes on to ask for clarification "as to what clearly is meant by the term `American Indian Area,' and from what source this term has been obtained and applied for purposes of your survey." Board members voted unanimously to send the letter with the signature of David Tellinghuisen, board chairman. CLOSED MEETING The Mille Lacs County Board met with attorneys in closed session for over two-and-a-half hours on Tuesday, Feb. 6, to discuss reservation boundaries and appeals to the Environmental Protection Agency and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Attorneys Tom Tobin and Peter Pustorino were present at the meeting. Tobin was hired last year to assist the board in preparing for potential litigation to solve a dispute about the status of the 1855 Mille Lacs Reservation. The board says the reservation was disestablished through a succession of 19th-century treaties, while the band argues that the boundaries of the original reservation are still valid. According to some local residents, the issue has ramifications for jurisdiction and taxation, although the band has said it has no intention of attempting to regulate or tax non-Indians, and the Supreme Court has narrowed the scope of tribes' authority to do so. Pustorino was hired to participate in negotiations with the band aimed at resolving the boundary dispute. Talks broke down last fall after the county board voted to move ahead with litigation and demanded that the band disavow the existence of the 1855 reservation boundaries. The band refused and pledged to defend their reservation in court. County officials said they discussed at the closed meeting two appeals they have made concerning the wastewater treatment plant planned for the west side of the Mille Lacs Lake. The board has appealed a decision by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to put into federal trust the land where the plant will be located. Putting the land into trust would remove it from Mille Lacs County tax rolls. The second appeal challenges the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to issue a discharge permit to Mille Lacs Wastewater Management Inc. ML Wastewater is a not-for-profit corporation set up by the band's corporate commission to run the wastewater treatment plant. The board appealed the EPA's decision on the grounds that the plant is not on tribal land, and therefore should fall under state jurisdiction. The board did not take questions from the press or the audience either before or after the meeting. When the board re-opened the meeting at 1:40 p.m., they immediately recessed until Tuesday, Feb. 13. OVERPASS SUPPORT County Engineer Richard Larson asked the board's authorization for his staff to pursue funding and support for the design and construction of a Soo Line Trail Bridge over Hwy. 169 in Onamia. The board gave Larson unanimous support, as long as the county would not be responsible for paying for the bridge. At the board's last meeting, commissioners voted down a resolution supporting the overpass. They said the resolution made the county ultimately responsible for providing $200,000 worth of support. Commissioner Bob Hoefert, who was absent from the last meeting, said he everyone working on the project knew the $200,000 would have to come from sources other than the county. Board chairman David Tellinghuisen said the county had not received that assurance in writing prior to the meeting at which the resolution was discussed. "If they say they're willing, put it in writing," Tellinghuisen said. "If they don't, I'll vote against it again." Commissioner Frank Courteau said, "It's hard to vote against you when you're right." Tellinghuisen replied, "It's so seldom, it's easy to recognize when it happens." GRIEVANCE HEARD The board heard a grievance brought by AFSCME representatives Steve Preble and Kurt Beckstrom on behalf of Terry Hanson, an employee in the county zoning office. Hanson was passed over for a new position as 911 addressing technician because she did not have a bachelor's degree. Preble argued that Hanson met the required qualifications, so she should have been given the job. In a letter to Preble, county coordinator Bobbie Jo Danielson said, "the qualifications were listed on the posting consistent with the practice of identifying preferred qualifications for positions." Preble and Beckstrom also asked how the county weighs experience against education in making promotion decisions. "Just a degree, for degree purposes, works well in the outhouse," Beckstrom said. Hoefert asked how the county could determine who is most qualified if it doesn't look outside the county for the best candidate. Tellinghuisen said the board has a history of promoting qualified employees, and even some who do not meet preferred qualifications. Preble asked if Hanson would be reconsidered if no qualified applicant from outside the county is found. Danielson said she would be. Hanson resigned her position as full-time technical clerk, effective Feb. 12. Copyright c. 2001 Mille Lacs Messenger All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Cherokee and Navajo Largest Tribes" --------- Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 08:18:22 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CENSUS NUMBERS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.msnbc.com/news/705893.asp?cp1=1 Cherokee, Navajo largest tribes Census: 1 in 4 American Indians lives in Oklahoma, California ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 - One in four American Indians lives in Oklahoma or California, according to the 2000 census. Cherokee and Navajo are by far the tribes most often checked off on forms. A REPORT released Wednesday shows 4.1 million people who claimed to be all or part "American Indian or Alaska Native." In the 1990 census nearly 2 million people who checked off that race, though figures are not directly comparable because of differences in the way race and ethnicity data are tallied. The Census Bureau used a massive advertising and outreach effort to improve its American Indian count, especially on isolated and hard-to- reach reservations. For many tribal governments, results are crucial to secure accurate funding from the federal government, said Louis Tutt, the Navajo Nation's census liaison. The 2000 head count found 298,197 people who were all or part Navajo, a total that includes those people living off Navajo land. ------------------------------------- TRIBAL HERITAGE ### American Indian tribal grouping alone or in combination with one or more races *** American Indian tribal grouping alone CHEROKEE ############################# 729,533 **************** 281,069 NAVAJO ################# 298,197 **************** 269,202 LATIN AMERICAN INDIAN ######### 180,940 ******* 104,354 CHOCTAW ######## 158,774 ***** 87,349 SIOUX ######### 153,360 ******* 108,272 CHIPPEWA ######### 149,669 ******* 105,907 APACHE ###### 96,933 **** 57,060 BLACKFEET ##### 85,750 ** 27,104 IROQUOIS ##### 80,822 *** 45,212 PUEBLO ##### 74,085 **** 59,533 ------------------------------------- SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau "We think we have reached 100 percent of the people for the first time," Tutt said by telephone from tribal headquarters in Window Rock, Ariz. "The result of the count is very satisfying." Among tribal groupings, only the Cherokee, numbering 729,533, surpassed the Navajo. Cherokee Nation spokesman Mike Miller said that while his Tahlequah, Okla.-based government took an active role during census-taking, they think their population was undercounted. "The paradox is that there is an undercount here in Cherokee Nation because of its rural nature," Miller said. "We're located in the hills, with rural roads. Lots of times you can go down these rural roads and not know that there's dozens of houses in those woods." UNDERCOUNT POSSIBILITIES The Census Bureau has considered releasing a second overall population count based on adjusted data, which many Democrats say would offer a more accurate count of minorities. But last year the bureau twice recommended against adjusted data. The bureau cited much lower undercount rates among minority groups - on American Indian reservations, for instance - among its reasons to stick with the raw head count for redrawing political lines and distributing federal funds. The latest report summarized data previously released by the Census Bureau. It showed that 40 percent of those who selected American Indian or Alaska Native took advantage of a first-ever option to check off more than one race on their form. Because of a long history of intermarriage between American Indians and whites, demographers had predicted that American Indians would have one of the highest percentages of people who were multiracial. The option especially boosted the Cherokee total, of which nearly 60 percent also selected another race or tribal grouping. "Out in Indian country, there's an expression that everybody has a Cherokee grandmother," said Stanford University demographer Matthew Snipp. Copyright c. 2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 2002 MSNBC.com --------- "RE: Albuquerque Ranks 7th for Indian Population" --------- Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2002 08:10:26 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ALBUQUERQUE" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.abqtrib.com/archives/news02/021402_news_indian.shtml Albuquerque ranks 7th for Indian population, census says By Thomas Hargrove Tribune Reporter WASHINGTON - Albuquerque ranks as America's 35th largest city in total population but rises to seventh in its American Indian population, according to a new Census Bureau report. There were 17,444 Indians of pure descent living in Albuquerque two years ago and another 4,603 people who said they are of at least some American Indian ancestry. Albuquerque also ranks fourth in major urban areas with high concentrations of Indian residents, behind Anchorage, Ala.; Tulsa, Okla., and Oklahoma City. New Mexico overall has 173,483 Indian residents, making the state the nation's fifth largest home for American Indians; only California, Oklahoma, Arizona and Texas have more. Since 10 percent of New Mexico's population are American Indians, the state has America's third highest concentration of Indian population, behind Alaska at 19 percent and Oklahoma at 11 percent. "The term `American Indian' refers to people having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America and who maintain tribal affiliation or community attachment," explained census demographer Stella U. Ogunwole in a new study of Indian population for the latest population enumeration. "Data on race have been collected since the first U.S. decennial census in 1790. American Indians were first enumerated as a separate group in the 1860 census. The 1890 census was the first to count American Indians throughout the country," she said. Before 1890, Indians were simply ignored and left uncounted if they lived on federal reservations or in territories that hadn't become states, and so did not need to be counted for apportionment to the U.S. House of Representatives. The 2000 census provides the federal government's most complete attempt to count and study a people it once considered the enemy. The latest data allow scholars to map the location and size of individual Indian tribes and plot their populations down to the census tract level, a geographical unit much smaller than the typical county. Cherokees are the most populous tribe in America, totalling 281,069 people who said both of their parents were members of this tribe. The majority of Cherokee are centered in Oklahoma, which was the terminus of the infamous "Trail of Tears" during the early 19th century when Indians in Georgia and Alabama were forced to relocate. Navajos ranked second with 269,202 people who said both parents were members of this tribe. Descendants of various Latin American Indian tribes came in third nationally, followed by Sioux, Choctaw, Chippewa, Apache, Blackfeet, Iroquois and Pueblo. The census found that there were slightly less than 2.5 million Indians in the United States two years ago, up from about 2 million in 1990. An additional 1.6 million reported two years ago they are of mixed heritage that includes American Indian ancestors. Although Indians continue to live in mostly rural areas, the latest census found indications that increasing numbers are moving into cities. New York City had 41,289 people of pure Indian descent and a total of 87, 241 people of mixed heritage, giving the Big Apple the nation's largest share of urban Indian population. More than 53,000 people of at least some Indian parentage were living in Los Angeles, followed by 35,000 in Phoenix, 30,000 in Tulsa, Okla., 29,000 in Oklahoma City; about 27,000 in Anchorage, Alaska, and the 22,047 of full or partial Indian descent living in Albuquerque. --------------------------------- Indian populations The number and percentage of people in each state who said their racial background was all or part "American Indian or Alaska Native"; and the top four tribal groupings nationwide by the number of people who said their racial background was entirely or partly of that grouping. Data is from the 2000 census. State Pop. Pct. Mo. 60,099 1.1 Ala. 44,449 1.0 Mont. 66,320 7.4 Alaska 119,241 19.0 Neb. 22,204 1.3 Ariz. 292,552 5.7 Nev. 42,222 2.1 Ark. 37,002 1.4 N.H. 7,885 0.6 Calif. 627,562 1.9 N.J. 49,104 0.6 Colo. 79,689 1.9 N.M. 191,475 10.5 Conn. 24,488 0.7 N.Y. 171,581 0.9 Del. 6,069 0.8 N.C. 131,736 1.6 D.C. 4,775 0.8 N.D. 35,228 5.5 Fla. 117,880 0.7 Ohio 76,075 0.7 Ga. 53,197 0.6 Okla. 391,949 11.4 Hawaii 24,882 2.1 Ore. 85,667 2.5 Idaho 27,237 2.1 Pa. 52,650 0.4 Ill. 73,161 0.6 R.I. 10,725 1.0 Ind. 39,263 0.6 S.C. 27,456 0.7 Iowa 18,246 0.6 S.D. 68,281 9.0 Kan. 47,363 1.8 Tenn. 39,188 0.7 Ky. 24,552 0.6 Texas 215,599 1.0 La. 42,878 1.0 Utah 40,445 1.8 Maine 13,156 1.0 Vt. 6,396 1.1 Md. 39,437 0.7 Va. 52,864 0.7 Mass. 38,050 0.6 Wash. 158,940 2.7 Mich. 124,412 1.3 W.Va. 10,644 0.6 Minn. 81,074 1.6 Wis. 69,386 1.3 Miss. 19,555 0.7 Wyo. 15,012 3.0 U.S. 4,119,301 1.5 AMERICAN INDIAN: ALASKA NATIVE: Cherokee: 729,533 Eskimo: 54,761 Navajo: 298,197 Tlingit-Haida: 22,365 Latin American Indian: 180,940 Alaska Athabascan: 18,838 Choctaw: 158,744 Aleut: 16,978 Source: Census Bureau. ----- Copyright c. 2002 The Albuquerque Tribune. --------- "RE: Native American Candidate makes Name Simple" --------- Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 08:18:22 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NATIVE CANDIDATE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.daily-times.com/Stories/ Local woman to seek nomination By Staff report Wednesday, February 13, 2002 SANTA FE - The first Native American to seek statewide office in New Mexico filed petitions Tuesday with more than 2,000 signatures to earn a place on the Republican primary ballot for secretary of state. Sharon Clahchischilliage, 53, a native of San Juan County, was chief executive officer of two national organizations advocating for issues affecting some of New Mexico's most vulnerable citizens. She was nominated by President George W. Bush to be a Commissioner at Health and Human Services. In 1995, she was appointed tribal liaison for New Mexico's Children, Youth, and Families Department by Secretary Heather Wilson. A former lieutenant in the U.S. Public Health Service, she also worked in New Mexico as a special education teacher. Clahchischilliage earned her master of social work degree at the University of Pennsylvania. She earned her bachelor of science in education at Eastern New Mexico University, Portales, and took additional training in guidance, special and administrative education at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. She is the mother of one adult daughter. Copyright c. 1999-2002 MediaNews Group, Inc./Farmington Daily-Times. -=-=-=- http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0213candidate-sharon-ON.html Native American candidate makes name simple for voters Associated Press Feb. 13, 2002 12:30:00 SANTA FE, N.M. - Her campaign slogan is "Just call me Sharon!" And supporters of secretary of state candidate Sharon Clahchischilliage are probably relieved to do so. Clahchischilliage, the only candidate to file for the Republican nomination for secretary of state, said she's the first American Indian in New Mexico to run for a statewide office. She said she hopes her campaign will encourage other Indians to run. "I think maybe it will open the door or give people the possibility that they, too, could make a change," said Clahchischilliage. "A lot of them feel disenfranchised and that the state doesn't have much to offer them both as individuals and as communities." In November, Clahchischilliage will face incumbent Democrat Rebecca Vigil-Giron, who also has no primary election opposition. Clahchischilliage's name, by the way, is pronounced CLAW'-chish-chill-edge. Copyright c. 2002, azcentral.com. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Haskell cancels Summer School" --------- Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2002 09:46:57 -0600 From: "UTOSI" Subj: Haskell cancels summer school Mailing List: TribalLaw Haskell cancels summer school Action will save $300,000 to $400,000 By Dave Ranney Saturday, February 16, 2002 Caught in a budget squeeze, Haskell Indian Nations University is dropping its summer school program. "This isn't something anybody wanted to do," said Marvin Buzzard, vice president of university services. "We just don't have the money." Earlier this year, the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs increased Haskell's $8 million budget by about $250,000. "That sounds like a lot of money, but it's not enough to cover cost-of-living increases for our employees," Buzzard said. "And the university's share of employees' health insurance went up $20 a person. Again, that doesn't sound like much, but when you multiply that times 200 employees, times 26 pay periods, it adds up pretty quick." Haskell this year also has to pay several workers' salaries that until recently were part of BIA's administrative budget. Another problem: Haskell's spring-semester enrollment is usually less than that of the fall semester. Consequently, the spring semester's costs are usually less than the fall semester's. But this year, spring-semester enrollment remained steady, so costs are not expected to decrease. Dropping summer school, Buzzard said, is expected to save the university between $300,000 and $400,000. "It's probably one of the most painful things we've ever had to do," he said, "because we know it's going to have an adverse impact on students as well as on employees. A lot of people are disappointed, I'm sure." Each year, between 250 and 300 students take summer school classes at Haskell. http://www.ljworld.com/section/citynews/story/83398 _______________________________________________ Triballaw mailing list Triballaw@thecity.sfsu.edu --------- "RE: Book: Commandos at B.C. Standoff" --------- Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2002 13:18:53 -0500 From: "Frosty" Subj: Fw: Commandos 'at B.C. Standoff': book Mailing List: frostysamerindian@yahoogroups.com Commandos 'at B.C. standoff': book MP Stephen Owen doubts author's claim that the Canadian Forces' secretive unit was involved in the Gustafsen Lake siege Peter O'Neil Vancouver Sun Saturday, February 09, 2002 Department of national defence / Members of the Canadian Forces' elite but secretive Joint Task Force 2 are shown conducting training exercises. A new book says the force had a role in the standoff against natives at Gustafsen Lake in 1995. OTTAWA -- A new book says Canada's elite anti-terrorism commando unit was secretly involved in surveillance and was even considered for a raid against armed native militants during a stand-off at Gustafsen Lake, B.C. in 1995. But Liberal MP Stephen Owen, who was B.C.'s deputy attorney-general at the time, said he was never aware of involvement by Joint Task Force Two and doubts if JTF2 was at Gustafsen Lake. "There was never any consideration whatsoever by the provincial government or the attorney-general [Ujjal Dosanjh] of calling in" the armed forces, Owen (Vancouver Quadra) said Friday. Owen, who earlier this week warned of the threat of increasingly violent native militancy, questioned the veracity of the new book released this week by David Pugliese called Canada's Secret Commandos -- The Unauthorized Story of Joint Task Force Two. "I can't say that for sure but I can say I would highly doubt it because the province would surely have been alerted to that." He said the RCMP, which had up to 400 emergency response officers at Gustafsen Lake as well as several armoured personnel carriers borrowed from the defence department, had no independent authority to ask for defence department assistance. The highly-trained JTF2, created in 1993 as a secretive special forces unit to fight terrorists, protect VIPs and operate behind enemy lines, only recently emerged from the shadows because of its role in Afghanistan. But Pugliese, a Victoria-based journalist who covers military affairs for the Ottawa Citizen, writes that the commandos have been used in numerous missions overseas and in several operations in Canada, "including missions against militant native groups in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia." He wrote that JTF2 had a secondary role to the RCMP at Gustafsen Lake. "JTF2's exact role at Gustafsen Lake is still shrouded in secrecy. Officially, the unit wasn't deployed to the standoff," he wrote. "But civilian police officers privately confirm that JTF2 operators were at the siege, helping them in covert intelligence gathering as well as determining the lay of the land in case the entire unit was needed for an assault on the native encampment." He said the RCMP looked to JTF2 following a dramatic shoot-out between native militants and camouflage-wearing Mounties on Sept. 11, 1995, at Gustafsen Lake, where 18 armed natives occupied a rancher's property claiming it was on sacred land. While no one was wounded in the exchange even though thousands of rounds were fired, "the morale of the [RCMP] units was broken," Pugliese wrote. "At 7:40 p.m. that same night, the RCMP requested that a JTF2 liaison officer proceed immediately to Gustafsen Lake and that the counter- terrorism unit begin a reconnaissance in preparation to take over duties from the exhausted police tactical squads." But he wrote that the defence department, despite its success at the showdown with armed Mohawks at the 1990 Oka siege, was unenthusiastic about playing a lead role in a potentially bloody showdown. Military planners didn't believe the JTF2 force, which totals only a few hundred elite soldiers, was large enough to challenge the encampment and that a force of 4,000 regular soldiers would be needed. "As the defence department tried to avoid becoming further embroiled in the standoff, the situation defused when, on September 17, the natives peacefully surrendered." Dosanjh, who was Owen's political boss during the standoff, couldn't be reached for comment. poneil@sns.southam.ca Copyright c. 2002 Vancouver Sun. --------- "RE: Mexico Lawmakers put Indian Rights Back on Agenda" --------- Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2002 21:22:58 -0800 From: Mikola 18 Subj: "Mexico Lawmakers Put Indian Rights Back on Agenda" Mailing List: First Nations ...something from the south ? http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-mexico-indigenous.html February 18, 2002 18:43 ET "Mexico Lawmakers Put Indian Rights Back on Agenda" MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - "Opposition Mexican lawmakers launched a new bid on Monday to rescue deadlocked peace talks in Chiapas state, reviving an Indian rights bill backed by the Zapatista rebels. In a raucous ceremony at Congress attended by Mexican and international indigenous leaders, including Guatemala's Nobel Peace Prize laureate Rigoberta Menchu, a coalition of some 160 legislators reintroduced the constitutional reform proposal for Indian rights. Their aim is to strengthen a watered down version of the reform bill that was approved by Congress last year but was immediately rejected by the Zapatistas. Hector Sanchez, a Zapoteca Indian and deputy with the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), told cheering supporters in traditional indigenous dress the revised bill would ``establish the basis on which to initiate and build a new relationship between the government and indigenous peoples." *Complete at above URL* --------- "RE: Ruling Over Indian-Country Jurisdiction Appealed" --------- Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 08:18:22 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TAOS LAND" http://www.indianz.com/SmokeSignals/Headlines/ http://www.abqjournal.com/paperboy/text/news/596518news02-13-02.htm Wednesday, February 13, 2002 Taos, DA Appeal Ruling Over Indian-Country Jurisdiction By Kathryn Holzka For the Journal TAOS - The 8th Judicial District Attorney's Office and the town of Taos have appealed a November 2001 ruling by District Judge Peggy Nelson that created a "no-man's land governing the enforcement of crimes committed by Native Americans," they said. Nelson dismissed charges of aggravated battery against Del Romero, 32, of Taos Pueblo, saying she agreed with Public Defender Alan Maestas' argument that the state lacked jurisdiction because the incident occurred within the original boundaries of the Taos Pueblo Grant. According to police, Romero got into a fight Jan. 25, 2001, with Darrell Mondragon, 30, also of Taos Pueblo, in the parking lot of the Pueblo Allegro Mall. The small strip mall on private property is located in an area north of the southern boundary of the Taos Pueblo Grant. Police said Romero beat Mondragon on the face and head and ran off when police arrived. He was arrested the following day at the pueblo by tribal police. Dismissing the complaint, Nelson wrote that "if the site of the incident is within Indian Country, jurisdiction lies with the federal government and not with the state." However, District Attorney Donald Gallegos and Taos Town Attorney Tomas Benavidez said last week the U.S. Attorney's Office disagrees. Benavidez said U.S. Attorney David Iglesias, in a telephone conference with him, Gallegos and Taos Police Chief Neil Curran, said he would not prosecute the case, "stating he believed there is no federal jurisdiction in the matter." Benavidez said the area in question was a disputed claim raised by Taos Pueblo under the Federal Pueblo Land Claims Act of 1924. At that time the federal government issued patents to private non-Indian landowners and compensated Taos Pueblo for its losses. Copyright c. 2002 Albuquerque Journal. --------- "RE: Reservations pose Border Risk" --------- Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2002 08:42:09 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BORDERS" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.sunspot.net/news/nationworld/ Reservations pose border risk Potential U.S. entry through Indian lands raises terror alarms By Laura Sullivan Sun National Staff Originally published February 17, 2002 TOHONO O'ODHAM NATION, Ariz. - Here in the shadeless valleys of the Southwest, where the dust whips between patches of dry shrubs and cactuses, the line between Mexico and the United States is a tattered wire fence that pleases no one. To the Tohono O'odham Indians, the fence is an arbitrary marker that bars them from moving freely across ancestral land that long ago extended into Mexico. To the U.S. government, the fence is symbolic of a glaring weakness in its war on terrorism. As U.S. officials worried about terrorists tighten security at ports and borders, they have become concerned about the more than 20 American Indian reservations that line hundreds of miles of the borders with Canada and Mexico. Neither the U.S. Border Patrol nor any other state or federal agency has jurisdiction to patrol Indian lands without permission. The lands are often desolate and remote. But in recent years, a rising number of smugglers and illegal immigrants have taken advantage of such reservations to travel, virtually unnoticed, into the United States. Here on the Tohono O'odham reservation, U.S. officials say, more than 1,000 cross into the country each day. Law enforcement officials who had never given much thought to the Indian reservations on the borders are suddenly horrified by the idea that terrorists could sneak through these reservations and into the country with a four-wheel-drive vehicle, a snowmobile, or even just a backpack and bottle of water. "I woke up one morning shortly after Sept. 11 and said to myself, 'I don't know how many of these tribes are on the border, but I know there are a lot,'" said James W. Ziglar, commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. "I knew we were going to have to increase border security" at the reservations. Ziglar said he and other officials regard the Indian tribes not as a hindrance but as key allies in helping to seal the U.S. border against terrorists. "This is a grand opportunity to reach out to Indian tribes, who have been segregated from our society, and integrate them into our society and really make them feel part of the American experience," Ziglar said, "because they have a very significant role in the protection of this country." U.S. officials have launched a broad effort to try to forge closer ties with the tribes. Representatives of 19 reservations accepted invitations to a conference last month in Washington that focused on border security. Federal officials also have sent liaisons to talk with tribe members. In those meetings, officials have urged the tribes to lift curbs that limit patrols of Indian land by U.S. border agents. So far, the path to collaboration has been anything but easy. Many American Indian groups have gone to these discussions with age-old stories of abuse and deceit at the hands of the U.S. government. To some, the idea of welcoming federal agents to roam their land at will is all but unthinkable. Last month, Attorney General John Ashcroft told a meeting of American Indian leaders, "We must establish permanent formal relations" with Indian tribes "in order to secure the safety and security of all Americans." But one tribal elder likened the process to trying to cross a river where there has never been a bridge. The issue is sensitive for the Tohono O'odham, who also go by the name of Papago. In the early 1990s, when the number of illegal immigrants crossing the reservation began soaring, the Tohono O'odham opened their lands to more border agents. Tighter immigration policies had effectively shut down the borders near San Diego, Calif., and El Paso, Texas, so droves of illegal immigrants went looking for new entryways across the desert. The Tohono O'odham's ancestral lands have been desecrated by the waves of people, who leave trash and trample vegetation. Their homes have been left vulnerable to break-ins by travelers so hungry and thirsty that dust cakes the crevices of their lips. The reservation also has become a magnet for drug haulers. The Tohono O'odham Police Department seizes more drugs each year than any other local police department in the country. Last year, the department confiscated 43, 000 pounds of marijuana from smugglers. But although the Border Patrol has helped stymie some of the traffic, many Tohono O'odham complain of patrol agents who stop them three or four times a day, mistaking them for immigrants and demanding U.S. identification, which nation members do not have. Some also contend that the Border Patrol's vehicles do more damage than illegal immigrants do. The tribe is divided about evenly between those willing to work with the Border Patrol and those who reject the notion that a government can impede people's movement across borders or any other land. Many Tohono O'odham members feed and offer water to the immigrants making the three- to four- day journey across the desert. "The Border Patrol and the nation have come a long way," Henry Ramon, vice chairman of the nation, said recently. "We have tried to make them more aware of our cultural sensitivities, our sacred sites and our beliefs - that the plants, trees, the cactus, the wildlife and the universe are all interconnected. They cannot just come in and think this is their land." From a hill overlooking one of the Tohono O'odhams' many desert valleys, police Chief Lawrence Seligman watches with night-vision goggles as streams of illegal immigrants wind around the dry shrubs and head toward state Route 86, where vans wait to carry them to jobs picking vegetables or washing dishes. Each year, more men, women and children try to cross. "It's common knowledge in Mexico that this is the place to go," Seligman said. "In light of Sept. 11, if the concern is protecting the border, this part of the U.S. border has a lot of illegal traffic. "Those who are a direct threat, if they chose to, could more easily cross here than many other areas to get into the country," he said. Other Indian nations have been less willing to open their reservations. The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, which lines the border with Canada, has declined the government's request to patrol its land. That reservation, called Akwesasne, is but a dot on the map in upstate New York. Yet over the past decade, a rising number of smugglers, carrying drugs and human cargo, have sought to enter the United States through the tribe's land and waterways to evade tighter patrols elsewhere. In 1998, in the tribe's first attempt at working with federal law enforcement, officials broke up a smuggling ring that was bringing 150 Chinese into the country each month. Despite that success, the tribe won't let the U.S. government patrol its lands. Rowena General, chief of staff for the Mohawks, said the tribe has no history of trust with the U.S. government. Many tribal elders recall decades past when, they argue, local and federal authorities would harass them and juries would convict them for crimes simply because they were Indians. "Not by any means are we inviting federal agencies to come into our territory and police our communities," General said. The tribe appreciates the U.S. government's new emphasis on guarding the border, General said, and suggests that federal agencies train the Mohawk Nation's police force so it could patrol the border - which some U.S. officials said they are willing to do. Part of the difficulty in finding a solution to border security is that the 21 reservations on the country's borders - and four others that are within miles of a border - embody cultural experiences as disparate as the lands they inhabit. "They are each individual entities," said Robert Harris, an associate chief of the U.S. Border Patrol who organized last month's conference. "There is no cookie-cutter approach. "It's an area of vulnerability. You've got a million people streaming across the border each year unchecked," many coming across reservation lands, he said. "Yes, most are only coming across for a better way of life, but it only takes one [terrorist]." Next to the Tohono O'odham reservation, at the Border Patrol station in Nogales, Ariz., agents said they see mostly Mexican nationals trying to cross. But, said Ben Johnson, a Border Patrol agent, over the past several years they have also caught people from Chile and Bolivia, as well as several from the Middle East. Down in the desert, where the cactuses look like beacons calling people home, it's hard to imagine a band of terrorists ducking under the shrubbery and carrying gallon jugs of water, as illegal immigrants do each day. Yet Ramon, the vice chairman of the Tohono O'odham Nation, acknowledges that the threat exists. And so long as the federal government respects the tribe's way of life, he said, it will do what it can to aid the U.S. mission. "The world is changing," he said. "We're scared, too." Copyright c. 2002, The Baltimore Sun. --------- "RE: Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Council snubs Feds" --------- Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2002 08:27:10 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News