From gars@speakeasy.org Wed Apr 3 00:37:35 2002 Date: 3 Apr 2002 01:16:52 -0000 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews10.014 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 014 | Country than is reported in | O o o o o O | this weekly newsletter. For | O o O April 6, 2002 | For daily updates & events | O o O | go http://www.owlstar.com/ | O | dailyheadlines.htm | Cree kiskipizun/gray goose moon +-----------------------------+ Algonquin suquanni kesos/Sun has not strength thaw 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; Rez Life, Frostys AmerIndian and LPDC Mailing Lists; newsgroup: alt.native; UUCP email IMPORTANT!! ----------- In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, all material appearing in this newsletter is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for educational purposes. <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters who share our Spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the Red Road. ++ It may be subscribed to via email by sending a request from your own internet addressable account to gars@speakeasy.org ++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org <================<<<< >>>>================> As historian Patricia Nelson Limerick summarized in The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West, "Set the blood quantum at one-quarter, hold to it as a rigid definition of Indians, let intermarriage proceed as it had for centuries, and eventually Indians will be defined out of existence. When that happens, the federal government will be freed of its persistent 'Indian problem.'" "Our proud history is unequaled and unsurpassed on this Great Island. Each of us can hold his or her head high, as one of the original people of this beautiful land, and say, 'I am an Indian.' The Stoney philosophy of living in harmony with nature and in accord with the creations of the Great Spirit will be the theme of many peoples, cultures, and languages who live on this Great Island in the future." __ John Snow, Stoney +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Indian Pledge of Allegiance | The Indian Pledge of Alleg- | | iance was first presented | I pledge allegiance to my Tribe,| on 2 December '93 during the | to the democratic principles | opening address of the Nat- | of the Republic | ional Congress of American | and to the individual freedoms | Indian Tribal-States Relat- | borrowed from the Iroquois and | ions Panel in Reno, NV. NCAI | Choctaw Confederacies, | plans distribution of the | as incorporated in the United | Indian Pledge to all Indian | States Constitution, | Nations. | so that my forefathers | | shall not have died in vain | Walk in Beauty! Night Owl +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Journey | In the summer and early fall | The Bloodline | of 1998 the Treaty Unity Riders | | rode a thousand miles on horse- | For all that live and live by law | back, carrying a staff and | We Stand, we Call, We Ride | praying each step of the way. | For All that fear and fear by sight | | We Hear, we Listen, we Ride | These prayers were offered for | For all that pray and pray by strength| each of us, and that the Unity | We Feel, we Move, we Ride | of all Peoples might happen. | For all that die and die by greed | | We Hurt, we Cry, we Ride | Tatanka Cante forwarded this | For all that birth and birth by right | poem on behalf of all the Unity | We Smile, we Hold, we Ride | Riders that we might stop and | For all that need and need by heart | ask if the next words we say, the | We Came, we Went, we Rode. | next act we make is for the good | | of the People or is it from ego | Treaty Unity Riders | for self. +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ O'siyo Brothers and Sisters! This week's editorial is by my beautiful Creek wife, Janet. This week has presented clear examples of how seriously the U.S. government takes it's responsibility to the Native American "wards," it has historically, and still deems incompetent to care for themselves. U.S. courts found that for decades Navajo landowners were cheated by coal companies with the collusion of their buddies who were running the BIA -- the very people who were supposed to be protecting the Navajo from predatory would-be lease-holders. The court was sufficiently impressed by the magnitude of the cheat -- and the extent of U.S. government collusion that they granted the Navajo a settlement of $600 million. The U.S. response in its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court is not that the BIA was innocent. No. the defense is that the decision will set a dangerous precedent because "Any Indian tribe that believes, with the benefit of hindsight, that it could have negotiated a better mineral lease deal may seek to obtain damages." Worse -- "At a minimum, such a development will subject the United States to costly litigation over such matters." Let's see - The U.S. shouldn't pay for their crime because then others who've been robbed with their help may decide to hold them accountable, too? I volunteer in a federal prison. There are some inmates there who'd find the U.S. defense rationale awfully appealing if they were allowed to apply it to their own actions. Up in Montana, some Blackfeet are being literally poisoned by the homes they are buying with assistance of agencies of the U.S. government. Oh, the government says "not our problem -- the tribe is responsible." But look deeper and you'll find that the homes were built with HUD (federal) money under guidelines required by HUD -- including a wooden foundation (okay all you construction-background folks out there -- opinion about wood foundations?) No great surprise. The homes are crumbling and growing toxic mold that's making their resident's sick. One even has mushrooms growing in the carpet. But HUD, who took it upon themselves to protect Indians from their incompetence and ensure their housing was adequate -- no, they're "not responsible" now that things have gone awry. And just Friday, the Department of Interior finally found Judge Royce Lamberth's last nerve. Oh. he's been incredibly patient as he's been lied to and ignored, as he watched Interior cynically twist his ruling to put Interior's computers beyond the reach of hackers to their own punitive ends. What they did instead was put the payments tribal trustholders depended on beyond their reach for the better part of the winter. He finally said "enough" with their most recent frivolous motions clearly designed to do no more than delay--again--the development of a system to fairly account for individual trust money. How are we Indians to "trust" a treaty partner that starts by moving our people to the most desolate places they can find, and when something of value is found there -- finds a way to buddy up with crooks to cheat our people of the income? How are we to trust a treaty partner that started many years ago with disease-infested blankets, and has graduated now to toxic-mold infested housing? How are we to trust people who claim to be more capable than we, when they can't even tell to whom among us they owe money -- and how much? How do we respect their laws -- when clearly they do not respect them themselves. 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 ---------- - Thomas Andrew Nave - Labrador Inuit to vote - Doris Charles on Self-Government - Lorraine Charging Eagle - Group Threatens to Sue - Crossings over Alcohol Sales - Bush wants Navajo - BIA ordered to Pay $3.1 Million Ruling Reversed in Logging Case - U.S. Is Penalized - Bush moves to reject ANWR Drilling in Indian Trust Fund Case Impact Report - HUD's Tribal Housing Duds - Rosebud Sioux file - U.S. OKs $14.2M against Winner School District Torres-Martinez Settlement - ACLU sues SD District - Top IHS Officials over At-Large Voting at Crow Clinic Suspended - Texaco settles Navajo - Testimony spotlights Pollution Case Cheyenne River IHS Problems - Peltier Lawsuit - Diabetes: Highly Prevalent/ to be filed Thursday Rarely Treated - Native Prisoner - Doctors urge Prediabetes Care -- Help Needed: Prisons and - Haida Nation Claims Traditional Sacred Items Offshore Rights -- Update on Prisoner - Gwich'in want $30M with Tourettes Syndrome in Land Claim Case -- Prisoner Needs Help - Chiefs urge Recognition in Order to Obtain Parole of Mi'kmaq Treaty Rights -- Assistance Request from FCI - B.C. Supreme Court rejects Petersburg VA Native Circle Claim of Priest Abuse - Rustywire: Cooking Beans - B.C. holds off mailing - Poem: Winds of the People Native Referendum Ballots - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - B.C. Bands stare down - The Boarding School Experience Treaty Referendum --------- "RE: Thomas Andrew Nave" --------- Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2002 08:22:35 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="THOMAS ANDREW NAVE" http://www.examiner-enterprise.com/milestones/ March 24, 2002 Thomas Andrew Nave Born late winter at Bethel, Cherokee Nation Thomas Andrew Nave, Great Great Grand Son of Daniel Ross, Great Grand Son of John Ross (Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation) Grand Son of Andrew Ross Nave, the second son, born just before spring to Thomas J. Nave and Laura Barton and husband of Ervema Josephina Dunlap Nave, has passed from this life to be with his wife Ervema and those who had gone on before him. Tom and Ervema were life partners for 65 years, always residing in the Osage Nation. Few have experienced the changes in the United States as Tom, he lived from Indian Territory to statehood, from wagons to space walks on the moon. He did it all with strength and dignity. He met every challenge with shoulders squared and head held high. He was known as a leader among those who knew him, a cowboy by the roughest, an excellent dancer by all who watched, a roust-a-bout by anyone who knew the oil fields, and a wolf hunter by all who loved these woods and hills. He will often be spoken of as the most honest and loyal friend one could have, he never forgot a friend. His family holds the memories of a Dad that would only tolerate what was the right thing to do, and that path was narrow, there was little room to stray. He protected those he cared for fiercely, and no one wanted to be outside that circle. He was a loyal brother, uncle and friend, accepting human frailties in others. Tom served as mentor and guide to countless young boys entering manhood, and a role model for many many others. The world has now changed, there is no one to walk the life path in that same way. Thomas and Ervema gave life and were parents to Leonard, Tom, Louie, Billie and Art, and was even Grander Parents to their children, their children's children and their children. Today the Tall Man, the Wolf Hunter is dead, he died as he lived, when he was ready. Enjoy walking those Hills Above Dad, just as you loved the Cherokee Hills and these Osage Hills. Copyright c. 2002, the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise. --------- "RE: Doris Charles" --------- Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2002 08:22:35 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DORIS CHARLES" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.adn.com/alaska/story/840129p-926328c.html Subsistence leader Doris Charles dies at 100 LEGACY: Soft-spoken but determined Athabaskan was called the other Katie John. By Debra Mckinney Anchorage Daily News March 27, 2002 Alaska lost a gentle warrior Monday evening when Doris Charles passed away in Fairbanks. The soft-spoken but determined Athabaskan woman was born in another era, in the now-abandoned village site of Batzulnetas. As best her family can figure, she was 100 years old. "I got to hold her until she was gone," said her granddaughter, Tracy Charles-Smith. "She was physically strong until her last breath." Charles has been referred to as "the other Katie John," the one most have never heard of, her name rolled into the "et al." list of plaintiffs in Alaska's landmark battle for Native subsistence rights. The lawsuit that became known as the "Katie John case" was first filed in 1985 by John, Charles and the Mentasta Village Council more than 20 years after the Alaska Department of Fish and Game shut down subsistence fishing at Batzulnetas and other camps along the upper Copper River. Charles lived in Batzulnetas until she was a teenager. She then lived in Tanacross, then Dot Lake, and finally, as her health deteriorated, with her granddaughter, Charles-Smith, in Fairbanks. She spent her final years at the Fairbanks Pioneers' Home. But her heart never left Batzulnetas. She was determined to win back the right for her family to practice subsistence there again. "I think one of the reasons we lawyers felt so confident in the case, was when you have such well-respected, important clients like Doris and Katie, you know you're on solid ground," said attorney Bob Anderson, formerly with the Native American Rights Fund, who filed the original suit. Anderson has many fond memories of sitting at Charles' table, sipping tea and discussing the case through an interpreter. Later, poor health prevented Charles from manning the front lines. But she had every intention of seeing subsistence rights restored before she died. "She inspired a whole generation of people," said Anderson, now an assistant law professor and director of the Native American Law Center at the University of Washington in Seattle. "She was part of a generation who saw things move from traditional Native ways to some real early oppression by the state, and she fought back. She and Katie typify the We're not going to take this' attitude." Charles will also be remembered as a caretaker of tradition, for her beautiful beadwork and as a devoted mother who bore nine children and raised several others, including her granddaughter Charles-Smith. Visitation will be at 1 p.m. Thursday at St. Matthews Episcopal Church in Fairbanks. Later, her family will have a traditional Athabaskan potlatch in Dot Lake, where a huge fire will be built to melt the ground. "Before we bury her, we'll put a little box of matches and tea in the pocket of her suit to take on her journey," her granddaughter said. "What was really sad was that, she wanted to leave this world, but she didn't want to leave us. She felt bad because we were mourning her. "You know, we loved her very much. She was the heart of our family." Copyright c. 2002 The Anchorage Daily News. --------- "RE: Lorraine Charging Eagle" --------- Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 08:28:23 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LORRAINE CHARGING EAGLE" http://www.zwire.com/site/news Lorraine Charging Eagle March 28, 2002 Lorraine Charging Eagle, age 79, of Red Scaffold, SD passed away, Thursday, March 14, 2002 at the Meadow Brook Manor in Rapid City, SD. Funeral services were held at 10:00 AM MST, Saturday, March 23, 2002 at the Red Scaffold Gym in Red Scaffold, SD with Leslie Bobtail Bear officiating and traditional services by John Around Him. Burial was in the UCC Cemetery at Cherry Creek, SD with Luce Funeral Home of Eagle Butte in charge of arrangements. Wake services were held at 7:00 PM, Friday at the gym in Red Scaffold. Lorraine was born to James and Lillian (Clown) Makes Trouble in Firesteel, SD on July 17, 1922. She has two younger sisters, Esther Theresa Chasing Hawk and Lois Chasing Hawk and one brother, Leroy, who passed away at the age of four. She went to school at Old Agency to grade 11. After that, she worked at various jobs including as a waitress at the cafe in Faith, SD. She met Steve Charging Eagle at the Saddle Rock Cafe and they were married May 27, 1949. From this marriage was born five children: Richard, Geraldine (Condon), Stephanie, Valarie and Tom. She also had a stepdaughter, Beatrice, who is the eldest child of the family. She and Steve have lived nine miles east of Red Scaffold all of their lives. Lorraine cooked for the Red Scaffold Head Start Center and later became a teacher's aide, then a teacher in the early 60s. She earned her GED and was taking college courses during this time. She worked with Faye Longbrake and Tanya Ward. She really enjoyed working with the Head Start children of those years and it was one of the more pleasant memories that she always talked about. Lorraine was the backbone of the family and she supported her husband and children in everything they did. She led an alcohol and drug-free life in her effort to be an example to her children and grandchildren. She had strong beliefs about living and teaching about the Lakota way of life. They taught their children the Lakota language and encouraged them to use and retain it. Lorraine and Steve both worked very hard at teaching their children about Wakantanka/God. They were members of the United Church of Christ in Red Scaffold and attended church faithfully. They also believed very strongly in the Lakota way of life and taught their children everything they knew. They always believed that there is only one God/Wakantanka and that if you have faith and pray, he will hear you. She and Steve prepared their children well for the future. They encouraged their children to leave home and get out seeing the world and meeting people. They traveled all over the world to pow wows so that their family could experience the world. Education was very important to both she and Steve and they supported and encouraged their children to set goals, then work to accomplish them. She was extremely proud of her children and grandchildren's accomplishments. Lorraine loved pow wows and worked hard at beading and sewing outfits for her husband and children. She believed that her daughters needed to learn to do those things for themselves and their children and taught them. They always traveled to pow wows with the family of Raymond and Ethel Uses the Knife. They traveled every weekend to a pow wow but always returned home before going to the next pow wow. When school started, the pow wow season was over because they believed very strongly that education was more important. Lorraine had many accomplishments and had received many awards. She received the Indian Woman of the Year from the North American Indian Women's Association in 1996. Because she and Steve lived their lives as one, they received many awards together including having "Steve and Lorraine Charging Eagle Day" proclaimed by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Black Hills State University and the Black Hills Pow Wow. They were given honorary doctorate degrees in Lakota Education by Cheyenne River Community College in 1997. They were also recognized by many entities and people for their contributions to young children in sharing their Lakota culture. Lorraine has numerous "hunka" brothers, sisters, children and grandchildren. She was greeted warmly by them everywhere she went and was equally happy to see them. She was always concerned about them and tried to maintain contact with them. Her grandchildren and great-grandchildren were her pride and joy and it was common knowledge in the family that she was their great defender. Sometimes even when they had done something wrong, she would defend them but would chide them later about it. She would sometimes overrule the parents. The "takojas" always knew that they could count on their grandma. She will be greatly missed by them. Lorraine was afflicted with rheumatoid arthritis about 17 years ago and had gradually worsened through the years. She was always in great pain but managed to still be happy and enjoy life. She had a great sense of humor and life for her and her family was by no means boring. She was a very strong woman and hated that she couldn't help herself in the last months of her life. She had always been a very independent woman doing everything on her own. Lorraine got sick soon after a trip to her last pow wow in Ft. Yates, ND. She was admitted to the hospital in Eagle Butte, SD then transferred to Rapid City East Regional. She was in tremendous pain and her children and Steve did all they could to ease it and make her comfortable. She left the hospital and entered the Meadow Brook Manor in Rapid City where her family had hoped that she would get better and strong enough to come home. She did not get to come home as she wished. She passed away quietly in her sleep on Thursday, March 14, 2002 at 4:38 PM. Lorraine has left an empty void in the lives of her husband, children, 13 grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and all of her relatives. She will be terribly missed by everyone and yet they know that she is no longer in all of the pain that she endured. They will cry and grieve for her but they have wonderful memories of her and her spirit will always be with them. They can live and teach the legacy that she has left with them. Casketbearers were Angel Lightfield Kennedy, Jesse Longbrake, Darrel Uses Many, Blaine Chasing Hawk, Delbert Longbrake, Harry Little Thunder, Gerald Uses Many, Barbara Charging Cloud, all from Lorraine's Head Start Class. Honorary casketbearers were Faye Longbrake, Clara Sevier, Ethel Uses The Knife, Regina Good Bear, Dora Bruguier, Belinda Littleton, Theresa Red Bear, Margaret Eagle Staff, Mildred Long, Josephine High Elk, Annabell Morgan, Beverly Clown, Catherine Valandra, Cecelia Roubideau, Eunice Little Thunder, Doris Ward, Clarinda Little Crow, Julia Rencountre, Henrietta Bobtail Bear, Mr. and Mrs. Paul High Elk, Mr. and Mrs. Bernard White Hat, Minerva Little Elk, Beverly Howard, Delma Widow, Mr. and Mrs. Whitney Rencountre, Nellie Two Bulls, Mr. and Mrs. Albert Hat, Bertha Ducheneaux, Steve and Susie Payne, Cecelia Looking Horse, Ann Vermillion, Rose Thunder Hoop, Cecelia Circle Eagle, Mary Jane Good Shield, Phyllis Collins, David and Carmen Collins, Margie Talks, Delores Hayes, Maethel Moran, Lila Hale, Annie Iron Bird, Gene and Agnes Tyon, Tanya Ward, Imogene Taken Alive, Myrtle LeBeau, Catherine Silva, Martin Frank, Jr., Edwina Bernard, Rita DuBray, Louella Seawalker, Drucilla Widow, Louise W idow, Cordelia Dupris, Elsie Slides Off, Dr. Margaret Upell. The drum group was the Eagle Mountain Singers. Nellie Two Bulls sang the honor song, and a solo was sung by Steve Emery. Copyright c. 2002 ebnews.net. --------- "RE: Crossings" --------- Date: Mon, 1 Ap 2002 08:56:09 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CROSSINGS" March 27,2002 Henry Leroy "Skeeter" Wise Henry Leroy "Skeeter" Wise, 66, Shawnee, died Friday at an Oklahoma City hospital. He is survived by a son, Herschel Wise, Dallas, Texas; five daughters, LaNore Wise of Shawnee, Leona Kernell of Oklahoma City, Leatrice Lookinglass of Oklahoma City, Letha Wise of Tahlequah and Lou Ann Blanchard of Norman; 19 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren and 16 nieces and nephews. Services are 2 p.m. today at Middle Creek No. 2 Baptist Church, Hughes County, with the Rev. Houston Tiger officiating. Burial will be in Middle Creek No. 2 Cemetery under the direction of Stout Funeral Home. Viola M. (Grant) Spoon Viola M. (Grant) Spoon, 77, Shawnee, died Sunday at a local hospital. She is survived by three daughters, Lorena Pawpa of Shawnee, Marilyn Spoon of Shawnee and Frances Lewis of Phoenix, Ariz.; one son, Edward C. Spoon, Midwest City; nine grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren; two brothers and sisters-in-law, Jerome and Mary Ann Grant of Pryor and Chester and Aida Grant of Shawnee; four sisters and one brother-in-law, Christine and Lawrence Rolette of Shawnee, Elizabeth Exedine of Stroud, Lorena Ponkilla of Shawnee and Freda Wise of Tecumseh. Services are 2 p.m. today at Roesch-Walker Funeral Chapel with the Rev. Tom Morris officiating. Tribal rites are this evening at the home of Carol Patterson. Burial will be in Wakolee Cemetery Wednesday morning. Arrangements are under the direction of Roesch-Walker Funeral Chapel. Copyright c. 1997-2002 The Shawnee News-Star. -=-=-=- March 23 - 24, 2002 Dorthy Chee Lee LAKACHUKAI, Ariz. - Services for Dorothy Lee, 65, will be held at 1 p.m., Monday, March 25 at St. Isabell Catholic Church Mission, Lukachukai. Father Caron will officiate. Burial will follow at Lukachukai Community Cemetery. A rosary will be recited at 6 p.m., Sunday, March 24 at St. Isabel Mission. Lee died March 19 in Gallup. She was born Jan. 21, 1937 in Lakachukai into the Red Running Into the Water People Clan for the Big Water People Clan. Lee was a secretary/treasurer for the Senior Citizens of Lukachukai. Her hobbies included sewing and crocheting. Survivors include her sons, Dennis Lee of Crystal, Walter Lee of White Cone, Ariz., Wallace Lee of St. Michaels, Ariz., Norman Lee of Lakachukai and Timothy Lee of Navajo, N.M.; daughters, Lolita Kinsel of Crystal and Laura Davis of Chinle, Ariz.; mother, Mary Davis Tsosie; brothers, Bennie Chee of Navajo, Dennis Marks of Monticello, Utah and Benjamin Marks of Seattle, Wash.; sisters, Anna Dalgai of Greasewood Springs, Ariz., Lavina Tallwood of Navajo, Roslyn Tsosie, Lorraine Tsosie and Mary Rose Shirley all of Sawmill, Ariz.; 30 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Lee was preceded in death by her son, Ronald Lee; father, Frank Chee; brothers, David Chee and Danny C.; and grandmother, Lucy Pete. Pallbearers will be Dennis Lee, Wallace Lee, Timothy Lee, Walter Lee, Jackson Nez and Kenneth Davis. The family will receive friends and relatives after the burial services at St. Isabel Catholic Hall. Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Don Gary Yazzie MORENCI, Ariz. - Graveside services for Don Yazzie, 44,will be held at 2 p.m., Monday March 25 at Grants Memorial Park. Yazzie died March 21. He was born May 16, 1957 in Morenci. Survivors include his children, Callen Yazzie, Kevin Yazzie, Devon Yazzie, Donavan Yazzie, Donishawn Yazzie, Deidre Yazzie, Donnie Anne Yazzie, Lynelle Yazzie, Laquita Yazzie and Casey Dawn Yazzie; brothers, Gary Yazzie, Dan Yazzie and Michael Yazzie and sisters, Bernice Joe and Geiieva Becenti. March 26, 2002 Nanie Bah Lee MEXICAN SPRINGS - Services for Nanie Bah Lee, will be held at 10 a.m., Wednesday, March 27 at the Tohatchi Catholic Church. Father John Mittlestadt will officiate. Burial will follow at family land, Mexican Springs. Lee was born into the Near the Water People Clan for the Black Streak People Clan. Lee worked for Elite Laundry, retiring in 1969. She was a homemaker and a Medicine Woman. Survivors include her son, Robert Lee Jr. of Tohatchi; daughters, Ida Mae Begay and Jane Laughlin both of Mexican Springs; sisters, Thelma Tsosie and Rose Tsosie both of Mexican Springs; 42 grandchildren; 103 great-grandchildren; 15 great-great grandchildren and two great-great- great grandchildren. Lee was preceded in death by husband, John Lee; sons, Frank, Yazzie, Wallace, Edward and Wilson Lee; daughters, Bessie Lee, Minnie Tahe and Mary Yazzie; parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Tsinajinnie; brother, Tom Shirley and sister, Lula Tsinajinnie. Pallbearers will be Geno Laughlin, Robert Lee Jr., Simon Lee, York Lee, Marcus Henry and Valentino Dawes. A family meeting will be held at 6 p.m., tonight at the Mexican Springs Chapter House. Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements. Marie M. Manuelito NASCHITTI - Services for Marie Manuelito, 74, will be held at 10 a.m., Wednesday, March 27 at Naschitti Christian Reformed Church. Pastor Ray Slim will officiate. Burial will follow at Naschitti Community Cemetery. Manuelito died March 23 in Farmington. She was born Jan. 29, 1928 in Naschitti into the Salt People Clan for the Sleeping Rock People Clan. Manuelito attended Rehoboth Christian School and graduated from Navajo Mission High School, Farmington. She worked as a teacher's aide at Naschitti Elementary School, in the Kindergarten class. Her hobbies included sewing, crocheting, quilting, painting and cooking. Survivors include her son, Keith Pine of Naschitti; sisters, Victoria M. Livingston and Elizabeth L. Pine both of Naschitti and one grandchild. Manuelito was preceded in death by her parents, Hoskie and Alice Manuelito; sister, Maxine Miles and one grandchild. Pallbearers will be Byron Smith, Leander Largie, Jermaine Thompson, Sheldon Thompson, Felix Pine and Derrick Smith. The family will receive friends and relatives after the burial services at Naschitti Chapter House. Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements. March 27, 2002 Robert Dale White GANADO, Ariz. - Services for Robert White, 31, will be held at 10 a.m., Thursday, March 28 at the Presbyterian Church, Ganado. Rev. Paul Stone will officiate. Burial will follow at family plot, Ganado. Visitation will be held one hour prior to services. White died March 24 in Albuquerque. He was born Sept. 2, 1970 in Fort Defiance, Ariz. into the Edge Water People Clan for the Salt Water People Clan. White attended school in Ganado. He graduted from Ganado High School in 1990. He was a pipefitter by trade, worked at Palo Verde Nuclear Power Plant, Cholla Power Plant and Intel at Chandler, Ariz. and Albuquerque. He was currently in the process of completing his Journeymanship with local union 469. His hobbies included horsemanship, playing baseball, farming and ranching. Survivors include his son, Richard Henry of Ganado; daughter, Kim Grace of Ganado; parents, Henry and Katherine White of Ganado; brothers, Samuel White and Nelson White both of Ganado; sisters, Georgia Crawford of Crystal, Henrietta Smith of Window Rock; Sylvia White of Ganado, Gloria Goodman of Parker, Ariz. and Christine Curley of Jeddito, Ariz. White was preceded in death by his brother, Henry White Jr.; sister, Ethel White; grandparents, Dolth Curley, Nagebah Slivers, Dineh Lakai and Hosteen Zhine Benally Lakai. Pallbearers will be Michael R. Crawford Sr., Shawn C. Smith, Monty L. Begay, Travis White, E. Curtis Wilson, Darrell Monroe, Harrington Curley and Clayton Curley. The family will receive friends and relatives after the burial services at Ganado Chapter House. Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Nelson Cleveland ALBUQUERQUE - Services for Nelson Cleveland, 47, will be held at 10 a.m., Thursday, March 28 at the Chapel of Salazar & Sons. Deacon Larry L. Cleveland will officiate. Burial will follow at Mt. Calvary Cemetery. Cleveland died March 24 in Albuquerque. He was born Aug. 14, 1954 in Rehoboth into the Mud People Clan for the Salt People Clan. Survivors include his brothers, David Wauneka of Kirtland, Franklin Lewis of Farmington, Tim Wauneka and Larry Cleveland both of Albuquerque and grandparent, Mattie Laughlin. Cleveland was preceded in death by his mother, Nellie Cleveland. Pallbearers will be Robert Chenault, Donavan Lewis, Cody Lewis, Paul Gomez, Michael Wauneka and Steve Wauneka. The family will receive friends and relatives after the burial services at 2900 Graceland Dr., NE Albuquerque. Maude Martha Sleuth TOHATCHI - Services for Maude Sleuth, 80, will be held at 1 p.m., Thursday, March 28 at Cope Memorial Chapel. Burial will follow at Tohatchi Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 5-6:30 p.m. today at Cope Memorial. A rosary will be recited at 6:30 p.m., tonight at Cope Memorial. Sleuth died March 24 in Albuquerque. She was born May 20, 1921 in Buffalo Springs into the Towering House People Clan for the Red Running Into the Water People Clan. Sleuth completed the fifth grade, attending GED classes and training through employment at A School For Me, Inc., where she recieved numerous awards. Her hobbies included watching the NFL, NBA, NCAA, sewing, and traveling. Survivors include her sons, Benjamin Holyan and Ernest Sleuth; daughters, Thelma Bowman of Phoenix, Patricia Sleuth McSwain of Allen, Texas, Arlene Sleuth, Ponco City, Okla., Sandra Sleuth-Leonard of Gallup, Marietta Bowman and Corinne Sleuth both of Tohatchi; brother, Kenneth Holyan of Naschitti; sisters, Mabel Cambridge of San Francisco, Calif. and Rosita James of Tohatchi; 26 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. Sleuth was preceded in death by her parents, Ruth Holyan and Dine' Le Tsohi. Pallbearers will be Lambert Julian, Erick Sleuth, Conroy Bowman, Norman Leonard, Tim Julian and Barney Cinniginnie. Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements. Julia Nona Julian GANADO, Ariz. - Services for Julia Julian, 63, were held at 10 a.m., today, at United Presbyterian Church, Ganado. Rev. Paul Stone officiated. Burial followed at Ganado Community Cemetery. Julian died March 22 in Gallup. She was born Oct. 27, 1938 in Ganado into the Red Running Into the Water People Clan for the Water's Edge People Clan. Julian worked at the Nazlini Pre-School and the Nazlini Boarding School, as an instructional aide. Survivors include her husband, Lynn S. Julian Sr.; son, Lynn Ben Julian Jr.; brothers, Lewis Hubbard, Earl Hubbard and Tommy Hubbard and sisters, Louise H. Dedman, Darlene Rose Van Winkle and Elousie Lee. Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Helen E. Spencer GALLUP - Services for Helen Eva Spencer, 60, will be held at 10 a.m., Thursday, March 28 at Cope Memorial Chapel. Burial will follow at Sunset Memorial Park. Spencer was born in Aug. into the Tabacco People, Red Running Into the Water People Clan for the Bitter Water Clan. Spencer attended Sheman Indian School, Calif. She was employed at the Holiday Inn, as a maid, and also worked as a silversmith, rug weaver, beadworker and housewife. Survivors include her sons, Harold T. Spencer of Twin Lakes and Harrison Spencer of Tsayatoh; daughters, Helene Spencer of Tsayatoh, Helena Yazzie of Blackhat and Harriet Spencer of Tucson, Ariz.; mother, Alice Smith of Twin Lakes; brothers, Tom Watchman of Twin Lakes, Billy Smith of China Springs and Dennison Smith of John Day, Ore.; sisters, Alta Bahe of Gamerco, Emma Lee and Carolyn Jones both of Twin Lakes; and 16 grandchildren. Spencer was preceded in death by her husband, Harry T. Spencer and brother, Woody Watchman. Pallbearers will be Harold T. Spencer, Harrison Spencer, Helene Spencer, Harriet Spencer, Herbert Yazzie and Spencer Yazzie. The family will receive friends and relatives after the burial services at Twin Lakes Chapter House. Cope Memorial is in charge of arrangements. March 27, 2002 Robert Dale White GANADO, Ariz. - Services for Robert White, 31, will be held at 10 a.m., Thursday, March 28 at the Presbyterian Church, Ganado. Rev. Paul Stone will officiate. Burial will follow at family plot, Ganado. Visitation will be held one hour prior to services. White died March 24 in Albuquerque. He was born Sept. 2, 1970 in Fort Defiance, Ariz. into the Edge Water People Clan for the Salt Water People Clan. White attended school in Ganado. He graduted from Ganado High School in 1990. He was a pipefitter by trade, worked at Palo Verde Nuclear Power Plant, Cholla Power Plant and Intel at Chandler, Ariz. and Albuquerque. He was currently in the process of completing his Journeymanship with local union 469. His hobbies included horsemanship, playing baseball, farming and ranching. Survivors include his son, Richard Henry of Ganado; daughter, Kim Grace of Ganado; parents, Henry and Katherine White of Ganado; brothers, Samuel White and Nelson White both of Ganado; sisters, Georgia Crawford of Crystal, Henrietta Smith of Window Rock; Sylvia White of Ganado, Gloria Goodman of Parker, Ariz. and Christine Curley of Jeddito, Ariz. White was preceded in death by his brother, Henry White Jr.; sister, Ethel White; grandparents, Dolth Curley, Nagebah Slivers, Dineh Lakai and Hosteen Zhine Benally Lakai. Pallbearers will be Michael R. Crawford Sr., Shawn C. Smith, Monty L. Begay, Travis White, E. Curtis Wilson, Darrell Monroe, Harrington Curley and Clayton Curley. The family will receive friends and relatives after the burial services at Ganado Chapter House. Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Nelson Cleveland ALBUQUERQUE - Services for Nelson Cleveland, 47, will be held at 10 a.m., Thursday, March 28 at the Chapel of Salazar & Sons. Deacon Larry L. Cleveland will officiate. Burial will follow at Mt. Calvary Cemetery. Cleveland died March 24 in Albuquerque. He was born Aug. 14, 1954 in Rehoboth into the Mud People Clan for the Salt People Clan. Survivors include his brothers, David Wauneka of Kirtland, Franklin Lewis of Farmington, Tim Wauneka and Larry Cleveland both of Albuquerque and grandparent, Mattie Laughlin. Cleveland was preceded in death by his mother, Nellie Cleveland. Pallbearers will be Robert Chenault, Donavan Lewis, Cody Lewis, Paul Gomez, Michael Wauneka and Steve Wauneka. The family will receive friends and relatives after the burial services at 2900 Graceland Dr., NE Albuquerque. Maude Martha Sleuth TOHATCHI - Services for Maude Sleuth, 80, will be held at 1 p.m., Thursday, March 28 at Cope Memorial Chapel. Burial will follow at Tohatchi Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 5-6:30 p.m. today at Cope Memorial. A rosary will be recited at 6:30 p.m., tonight at Cope Memorial. Sleuth died March 24 in Albuquerque. She was born May 20, 1921 in Buffalo Springs into the Towering House People Clan for the Red Running Into the Water People Clan. Sleuth completed the fifth grade, attending GED classes and training through employment at A School For Me, Inc., where she recieved numerous awards. Her hobbies included watching the NFL, NBA, NCAA, sewing, and traveling. Survivors include her sons, Benjamin Holyan and Ernest Sleuth; daughters, Thelma Bowman of Phoenix, Patricia Sleuth McSwain of Allen, Texas, Arlene Sleuth, Ponco City, Okla., Sandra Sleuth-Leonard of Gallup, Marietta Bowman and Corinne Sleuth both of Tohatchi; brother, Kenneth Holyan of Naschitti; sisters, Mabel Cambridge of San Francisco, Calif. and Rosita James of Tohatchi; 26 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. Sleuth was preceded in death by her parents, Ruth Holyan and Dine' Le Tsohi. Pallbearers will be Lambert Julian, Erick Sleuth, Conroy Bowman, Norman Leonard, Tim Julian and Barney Cinniginnie. Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements. Julia Nona Julian GANADO, Ariz. - Services for Julia Julian, 63, were held at 10 a.m., today, at United Presbyterian Church, Ganado. Rev. Paul Stone officiated. Burial followed at Ganado Community Cemetery. Julian died March 22 in Gallup. She was born Oct. 27, 1938 in Ganado into the Red Running Into the Water People Clan for the Water's Edge People Clan. Julian worked at the Nazlini Pre-School and the Nazlini Boarding School, as an instructional aide. Survivors include her husband, Lynn S. Julian Sr.; son, Lynn Ben Julian Jr.; brothers, Lewis Hubbard, Earl Hubbard and Tommy Hubbard and sisters, Louise H. Dedman, Darlene Rose Van Winkle and Elousie Lee. Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Helen E. Spencer GALLUP - Services for Helen Eva Spencer, 60, will be held at 10 a.m., Thursday, March 28 at Cope Memorial Chapel. Burial will follow at Sunset Memorial Park. Spencer was born in Aug. into the Tabacco People, Red Running Into the Water People Clan for the Bitter Water Clan. Spencer attended Sheman Indian School, Calif. She was employed at the Holiday Inn, as a maid, and also worked as a silversmith, rug weaver, beadworker and housewife. Survivors include her sons, Harold T. Spencer of Twin Lakes and Harrison Spencer of Tsayatoh; daughters, Helene Spencer of Tsayatoh, Helena Yazzie of Blackhat and Harriet Spencer of Tucson, Ariz.; mother, Alice Smith of Twin Lakes; brothers, Tom Watchman of Twin Lakes, Billy Smith of China Springs and Dennison Smith of John Day, Ore.; sisters, Alta Bahe of Gamerco, Emma Lee and Carolyn Jones both of Twin Lakes; and 16 grandchildren. Spencer was preceded in death by her husband, Harry T. Spencer and brother, Woody Watchman. Pallbearers will be Harold T. Spencer, Harrison Spencer, Helene Spencer, Harriet Spencer, Herbert Yazzie and Spencer Yazzie. The family will receive friends and relatives after the burial services at Twin Lakes Chapter House. Cope Memorial is in charge of arrangements. March 30-31,2002 Marie Shirley James COYOTE CANYON - Services for Marie James, 73, will be held at 10 p.m., Monday, April 1. Pastor Ted Ferris will officiate. Burial will follow on private land, Coyote Canyon. James died in Gallup. She was born Aug. 21, 1928 in Coyote Canyon into the Meadow People Clan for the Red Running Into Water People Clan. James attended Fort Wingate Boarding School. She was a homeliving asisstant at Coyote Canyon rehabilitation Center, foster grandparent at Coyote Canyon Pre-School and Tohatchi Education Center, Culture Instructor at Coyote Canyon, committe member of the Coyote Canyon Chapter Committee members. Survivors include her sons, Lorenzo James of Albuquerque and Herman James of Gallup; daughter Margie Jarvison of Junes Ranch; brother, Toney James Sr. of Tohatchi; Rose S. Barton of Tohatchi; eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild. James was preceded in death by her parents, Peter Ward James and Hanabah Rhanabah Ruth James and sister, Blossom James Lee. Pallbearers will be Bernard Lee, Eugene Lee Sr., Virgil Jarvison, Rudy Nabahe, Edwin Estrada and Wilbert Barton. Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements. Helen Ann Begay COTTONWOOD, Ariz - Services for Helen Begay, 44, will be held at 10 a.m., Monday, April 1 at The Potters's House, Chinle. Danny T. Begay will officiate. Burial will follow at the family plot, Cottonwood. Begay died March 27 in Cottonwood. She was born into the Many Goats People Clan for the Red Running Into the Water People Clan. Survivors include her daughter, Charolle Begay; brothers, Danny T. Donovan Begay, Daryl Begay: parents, Tony Begay. She was preceded in death by Isabelle T. Begay, mother: Dennison Begay, brother, Gilda Jones, neice. Pallbeaers will be Dennison Begay, Stanson Burbank, Darryl Begay, Gabriel Jones, Leland Jones and Darius Begay. Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Copyright c. 2002 The Gallup Independent. -=-=-=- March 28, 2002 Jayme White Eagle Jayme White Eagle, age 35, of Eagle Butte, SD passed away Sunday, March 24, 2002 at the Rapid City Regional Hospital. Funeral services will be at 10:00 AM MST, Thursday, March 28, 2002 at the HV Johnston Cultural Center at Eagle Butte, SD with Rev. Charles Snipes and Sister Addie Morris officiating. Burial will be at St. Luke's Catholic Cemetery at Thunder Butte, SD under the direction of the Luce Funeral Home of Eagle Butte, SD. Wake services will be held at 6:00 PM MST, Wednesday evening at the Cultural Center. Lenis Maurice Bear Flying Over Water Lenis Maurice Bear Flying Over Water, age 55, of Rapid City, SD and formerly of Eagle Butte, SD passed away Wednesday, March 20, 2002 in Rapid City, SD. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 PM MST, Thursday, March 28, 2002 at the Cherry Creek Gym in Cherry Creek, SD with Fr. Jeffry Barnes officiating. Burial will be in the Episcopal Cemetery at Cherry Creek with Luce Funeral Home of Eagle Butte in charge of arrangements. There will be a two night wake service at 6:00 PM, starting Tuesday, March 26, 2002 at the gym in Cherry Creek, SD. Lenis Maurice was born September 11, 1946 at Ft. Yates, ND to Felix Scottland Condon and Mary Caroline Wounded. He attended boarding school at the Old Cheyenne Agency for nine years. Lenis received his GED and a Bachelors Degree at National College in Rapid City, SD. He worked as a teacher's aide in Swiftbird, SD and currently was working at the salad bar at the Rapid City Thrift Center. Lenis loved to attend sun dances, do bead work, draw, and playing chess and ping pong. Survivors include his adopted daughter; Tamara Blue Thunder of Rapid City, SD, two brothers; George Condon of Mobridge and Cedris Bear Flys Over the Water of Cherry Creek, three sisters; Delia Hale and Gloria Belmonte of Cherry Creek, and Rebecca Meija of Provo, Utah; one half brother, Duane Standing Bear of Dupree; and one aunt Ellen In The Woods of Dupree. Robert F. Rousseau Robert F. Rousseau, age 52, of San Fidel, New Mexico and formerly of Eagle Butte, SD passed away March 19, 2002 at Acoma-Canoncito-Laguna Hospital in San Fidel, NM. Funeral services were held at 10:00 AM MST, Tuesday, March 26, 2002 at the All Saints Catholic Church in Eagle Butte, SD with Fr. Mike Mulloy officiating. Burial was at St. Basil's Catholic Cemetery at Mossman, SD under the direction of the Luce Funeral Home of Eagle Butte. A prayer service was held at 7:00 PM MST, Monday evening at the church in Eagle Butte. Bob was born to Theodore "Ted", Sr., and Ruth (Sorenson) Rousseau, the 7th of 9 children, on November 3, 1949 at the Old Cheyenne Agency. He lived his childhood in Ridgeview, SD and in 1963 moved with the family to Eagle Butte, SD. He graduated from Cheyenne-Eagle Butte High School in 1968. After graduation he attended the National College of Business in Rapid City, SD and returned home to help his father run the family business after the death of his mother in 1972. Bob eventually purchased T&R furniture (Gambles) from his father. During his business adventure he volunteered with the Teton Ambulance Service, which led him to pursue a career in nursing. He graduated from Dakota Wesleyan University in 1985 with an associate's degree in nursing. He worked as a registered nurse for Indian Health Service for many years, some of the service units included: Eagle Butte, SD; Rosebud , SD; Pine Ridge, SD; Crow Agency, MT; Ft. Defiance, AZ; Phoenix, AZ; and Acoma- Cononcito-Laguna (ACL) where he was employed at the time of his death. He also worked in Custer, SD and as a travel nurse and home health nurse in various states. Bob was notorious for his role play of "Santa", which he did for many years while living in Eagle Butte. Although he did not have any children of his own, he cherished the children of his family and they held a special place in his heart. He enjoyed spending time and keeping in touch with friends and family. He loved traveling, going to Disneyland and riding his "Harley". In June of 2000, he was involved in a motorcycle accident that nearly took his life. He returned to Eagle Butte and stayed with his sister, Susan, during his recovery. During this trying time, Bob took the opportunity to let loved ones know just how special they were and defined the meaning of true friends and family. In December 2000 he returned to San Fidel, NM but kept in touch on a daily basis. He is survived by one brother, Ted "Jr." Rousseau, Eagle Butte, SD; six sisters; Delores Parsons, Sioux Falls, SD; Lois (Leo) Fischer, Eagle Butte, SD; Regina (Wayne) Ducheneaux, Eagle Butte, SD; Mary Lou (Dick) Prosser, Brighton, CO; Susan Eberhard, Eagle Butte, SD and Kathy (Vernie) Martin, Ridgeview, SD. He was preceded in death by his parents, Ted and Ruth; one sister, Ann Rousseau; one sister-in-law, Lehla Rousseau; one niece, Bobbi Jo Rousseau; two nephews, Ronnie Rousseau and Terry Gesinger, two infant nephews and one great niece, Mindy Bilbo. Pallbearers are Bob's nephews: Mike Rousseau, Rick Rousseau, Bob Cheskey, Jim Cheskey, Bill Cheskey, Jeff Parsons, Jason Parsons, Jimmy Gesinger, Steven Gesinger, Keith Gesinger, Greg Gesinger, Earp Fischer, Festus Fischer, Tom Fischer, Jeremy Fischer, Zach Ducheneaux, Guth Ducheneaux, Wayne L. Ducheneaux II, Bud Ducheneaux, Wayne Maynard, Preston Maynard, C. L. Maynard, Galen Eberhard, Grant Martin and Vernie Martin, Jr. Honorary Pallbearers are: Leo Fischer, Sr., Wayne Ducheneaux I, Dick Prosser, Rick Eberhard, Vernie Martin, Sr.; his nieces: Beth, Cyndi, Debbi, Patsy, Sandra, Michelle, Sharon, Ruthie Ann, Linda, Wendy, Colette, Lisa, Lori, Annette, Kelli Michelle, Rikki, Marti Jo and "baby" Susan; nieces and nephews in law, great & great great nieces and nephews; all other relatives and great friends-to March 28, 2002 Jayme White Eagle Jayme White Eagle, age 35, of Eagle Butte, SD passed away Sunday, March 24, 2002 at the Rapid City Regional Hospital. Funeral services will be at 10:00 AM MST, Thursday, March 28, 2002 at the HV Johnston Cultural Center at Eagle Butte, SD with Rev. Charles Snipes and Sister Addie Morris officiating. Burial will be at St. Luke's Catholic Cemetery at Thunder Butte, SD under the direction of the Luce Funeral Home of Eagle Butte, SD. Wake services will be held at 6:00 PM MST, Wednesday evening at the Cultural Center. Copyright c. 2002 ebnews.net/Eagle Butte. -=-=-=- March 26, 2002 Floyd Useful Heart EAGLE BUTTE - Floyd Useful Heart, 65, Eagle Butte, died Monday, March 25, 2002, at a Rapid City nursing home. Survivors include one sister, Juanita Zephier, Eagle Butte. Graveside services, with military honors by Sturgis Honor Guard, will be at 2 p.m. Thursday, March 28, at Black Hills National Cemetery Rotunda near Sturgis. Campbell, Paula & Quinn Funeral Home of Rapid City is in charge of arrangements. March 27, 2002 Albert Lee LaRoche RAPID CITY - Albert Lee LaRoche, 64, Rapid City and formerly of Hot Springs, died Sunday, March 24, 2002, at Bella Vista Nursing Center in Rapid City. Survivors include his wife, Lenora LaRoche, Rapid City; five sisters, Ann Reman and Norma Defender, both of Mobridge, and Alfreda LaCompte, Gwen Jandreau and Jeanette Scott, all of Lower Brule; and two brothers, Sylvester LaRoche, Lower Brule, and William LaRoche, Albuquerque, N.M. A wake service will be at 7 p.m. today at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Lower Brule. Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, March 28, at the church, with the Rev. Jim Walters, the Rev. Stephen Huffstetter and the Rev. Chuck Wonch officiating. Burial will be at St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery in Lower Brule. Wevik Funeral Home of Chamberlain is in charge of arrangements. March 30, 2002 Salome Yvonne Walking Bull Dodd BELLEVILLE, Ill. - Salome Yvonne Walking Bull Dodd, 56, Belleville, died Thursday, March 28, 2002, at Memorial Hospital in Belleville. Survivors include one sister, Wanda Walking Bull, Washington Park, Ill. Arrangements are pending with Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge, S.D. April 2, 2002 Faron Anthony Runs Against MANDERSON - Faron Anthony Runs Against, 45, Manderson, died Thursday, March 28, 2002, in Rapid City. Survivors include his wife, Sue Runs Against, Manderson; his mother, Claudia Runs Against, Rapid City; seven sons, Heath Runs Against, Rapid City, Moses Runs Against, Elliot Runs Against, Jesse Runs Against, Phillip LaBlatt, Sydney LaBlatt and Harrison LaBlatt, all of Manderson; five daughters, Adrianne Runs Against, Kelly Crick and Whitney Runs Against, all of Rapid City, and Olawan Runs Against and Kansas Runs Against, both of Manderson; three brothers, Michael Lucio and David Lucio, both of Morton, Minn., and Vardan Fast Wolf, Red Shirt Table; five sisters, Christy Evans, Broken Arrow, Okla., Sue McComber, Sioux Falls, Juanita Lucio, Rapid City, Donna Snider, Manderson, and Helena McClosky, St. Francis; and six grandchildren. A two-night wake will begin at 1 p.m. today at St. Agnes Catholic Hall in Manderson. Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, April 4, at St. Agnes Catholic Church, with the Rev. Bill Pauly officiating. Burial will be at St. Agnes Catholic Cemetery. Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements. Salome Yvonne Walking Bull-Dodd WANBLEE - Salome Yvonne Walking Bull-Dodd, 56, Wanblee, died Thursday, March 28, 2002, in Belleville, Ill. Survivors include three sisters, Wanda Walking Bull, Washington Park, Ill., Annette Covington, Kansas City, Kan., and Deloris Spencer, Idaho, and one brother, Gilbert Walking Bull, Hot Springs. A one-night wake will begin at 3 p.m. today at Roberta Spencer's home in Manderson. Graveside services will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 3, at Gethsemane Episcopal Cemetery in Wanblee. Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements. Copyright c. 2002 The Rapid City Journal. -=-=-=- March 30, 2002 Irene Linda Fischer YAKIMA, Wash. -- Irene Linda (Tailfeathers) Fischer, 77, of Yakima, Wash., a Browning native and rancher, died of natural causes March 22 in Wapata, Wash. Rosary is 7 p.m. Monday at Glacier Homes Community Center. Funeral Mass is 2 p.m. Tuesday at Holy Family Mission in Two Medicine, with burial in Holy Family Mission Cemetery. Day Family Funeral Home of Browning is in charge of arrangements. Survivors include her husband, John, of Yakima; daughters Linda Michell Whitford of Browning and Carol Michell of Tacoma, Wash.; sons Michael Michell of Montana, Ernie Michell of Washington, Earl Michell of Great Falls and Tony Michell and Art Derouch of Browning; a brother, Johnny Tailfeathers of Browning; grandchildren, Trina and Tawna Bradford, Priscilla Yellow Owl and Norma Madera, whom she raised; numerous other grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by sons Donald, Steve, Robert, Wesley, Harold and Audie; and daughters Emma and Aurelia. Kenneth Kicking Woman BROWNING -- Kenneth Kicking Woman, 51, who worked as a roofer, janitor, security guard and fire guard, died of renal failure Sunday at a Great Falls hospital. His funeral is 2 p.m. today at Browning Evangelistic Center, with burial in Kicking Woman Cemetery. Day Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Survivors include his wife, Darlene Kicking Woman; daughters Amanda Old Shoes and Pricilla Old Shoes of Lethbridge; a son, Alexander Good Rider of Browning; a sister, Sharon Weasel Tail of Washington; brothers Roy Kicking Woman of Duke, N.M., and Morris and Marvin Weasel Tail of Browning; and two grandchildren. He was preceded in death by daughters Bonita Kicking Woman and Josie Old Shoes; and a son, Kenneth Kicking Woman Jr. April 1, 2002 Bernadine Healy FORT BELKNAP -- Bernadine Healy, 53, a Fort Belknap Tribal secretary/bookkeeper for many years, died Saturday at the Northern Montana Hospital of a brain aneurysm. A wake and rosary are 7 p.m. today at the Red Whip Community Center in Fort Belknap. Funeral Mass is 11 a.m. Tuesday at the community center, with burial in Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery (Pink Church) at Fort Belknap. Adams Funeral Home of Malta is in charge of the arrangements. Survivors include sons Jerry Jefferson of Pablo, and Ron Tyler Speak Thunder of Fort Belknap; a daughter, Nicole Bell of Billings; sisters Joann Serda of Big Springs, Texas, Carol Chandler of Hays and Jolene Sears of Fort Belknap; an adopted brother, Larry Gunn of Lodge Pole; an adopted sister, Elaine Ereaux of Fort Belknap; her companion, Ivan Wing of Fort Belknap; mother, Bernice Strike Skaggs of Big Springs, Texas; grandmother, Evelyn Speak Thunder of Fort Belknap; and two grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her father, Manual Huantie. Copyright c. 2002 Great Falls Tribune. --------- "RE: Bush wants Navajo Ruling Reversed" --------- Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2002 08:22:35 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="COAL SUIT" http://www.indianz.com/SmokeSignals/Headlines/ Bush wants Navajo ruling reversed WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2002 The Bush administration has asked the Supreme Court to overturn a landmark $600 million trust fund claim won by the Navajo Nation for fear other tribes will file similar challenges. Charging that "significant" resources are at stake, the Department of Justice this month called on the nation's highest court to throw out an August 2001 ruling made in the tribe's favor. Unless the lower decision is reversed, the Bush administration says the government could face "adverse consequences." "The decision below will encourage the filing of damages claims against the United States for breach of trust," Solicitor General Ted Olson writes in his March 15 brief. "At a minimum, such a development will subject the United States to costly litigation." At issue are Navajo tribal leases with Peabody Coal, which has mined Navajo and Hopi lands since the 1960s. All sides in the dispute, including the Department of Interior, agree a 12.5 percent royalty rate contained in the agreements is far below accepted market value for the coal. But the Bush administration disputes the notion that it has a trust responsibility to ensure better returns. The Navajo Nation cannot point to any specific law which imposes such a higher duty, Olson claims. In arguing the case in the lower courts, the tribe has countered that underhanded dealings of the Reagan administration show the government has violated its obligations. Specifically, the tribe points out then- -Secretary Paul Hodel in 1985 held secret meetings with a Peabody lobbyist, Stanley Hulett, who happened to be a personal friend. Without knowledge of the discussions, the tribe was subsequently encouraged to work with the company to come to a resolution. Additionally, it was never disclosed that the Bureau of Indian Affairs approved more favorable 37.5 percent rate after a standard internal appeals process. As a result of the "suppressing and concealing" by government officials, the tribe was forced to accept the lower rate "facing economic pressure," wrote the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2-1 decision. The appeals panel said a lower court must determine exactly how much the tribe is owed. A dissenting voice, however, said the tribe could only be awarded limited damages. Unlike Olson, all three judges agreed a trust relationship existed but U.S. District Judge Lawrence M. Baskir said it doesn't "mandate monetary relief." Coupled with a case involving the White Mountain Apache Tribe, the request for the Supreme Court's intervention represents the Bush administration's attempt clarify what it considers the federal circuit's departure from trust law. The appeals court has issued decisions which could force payouts in addition to the Cobell class action affecting individual Indians. For the Navajo Nation, the case has represented victory after nearly a decade of litigation, including an initial negative decision by a federal judge. With the presence of former Reagan appointees, including Ross Swimmer and Deputy Secretary J. Steven Griles, in the current administration, the dispute has gained added fire among tribal officials who have vehemently opposed Secretary Gale Norton's proposal to reorganize Indian trust duties. The Navajo Nation's attorney will be filing a response, due April 18, to the government's petition for writ of certiorari. Copyright c. 2000-2001 Noble Savage Media, LLC/Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: U.S. Is Penalized in Indian Trust Fund Case" --------- Date: Sun, 31 Mar 2002 18:05:21 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="US PENALIZED" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38136-2002Mar29.html U.S. Is Penalized by Judge In Indian Trust Fund Case Government Is Told to Pay for Using Delay Tactics By Neely Tucker Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, March 30, 2002; Page A06 A federal judge yesterday ordered the government to pay attorney fees and other expenses to Indian plaintiffs as sanctions for government legal tactics used in combating a six-year lawsuit over the management of an Indian trust fund. U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth ordered the Interior Department to pay 75 percent of the costs incurred by the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) and other plaintiffs for having to file court motions relating to two small parts of the sprawling lawsuit. One part of the sanctions relates to a government request for a protective order that the court later held to be baseless. The second was for government requests for clarifications about what e-mails it was to produce to the court. The court held that those requests were intentional delays. The total cost of the sanctions was not clear yesterday, as the Indian plaintiffs have 30 days to file their expenses and fees. But a lawyer for the plaintiffs said it would be less than the $600,000 in sanctions the judge imposed earlier in the case, after finding in February 1999 that the secretaries of the interior and the Treasury were in contempt of court. "This order is another demonstration that the court sees a pattern and practice of government obfuscation and problematic litigation tactics," said Keith Harper, an attorney with the NARF. "It's more evidence of why we can't trust government to tell the truth or follow court orders in this case." Lamberth's orders were released late yesterday. John Wright, a spokesman for the Interior Department, said the department had not had a chance to review the papers. "It would be premature for us to comment on orders we haven't seen," Wright said. In another order issued yesterday, Lamberth absolved Interior Department officials from charges that they retaliated against a whistle-blower who had given depositions that an expensive new computer system that was designed to overhaul the troubled trust fund was failing. That employee, Mona Infield, was working at the Albuquerque branch of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In 2000, she was ordered to stay home on paid administrative leave, after refusing to move to a new records branch being opened in Reston. Lamberth ruled that the agency had adequately compensated Infield, but he cautioned that "the defendants should consider the prospect of future contempt proceedings before engaging in the type of behavior" that led to the charges. The plaintiffs are suing the Interior Department for mismanaging a 115- year-old trust fund for as many as 500,000 Native Americans. The trust fund distributes to shareholders as much as $500 million in annual revenue from the leasing of grazing, oil, mineral or timber rights on millions of acres of Indian-owned land. More than a century of shoddy bookkeeping, lost files and complicated rules of ownership have left an unknown amount of money missing. The Indian plaintiffs estimate the amount to be as much as $10 billion; the government estimates it to be far less. Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton and a top deputy in the department are facing contempt charges on allegations that they covered up or lied to the court about the failures of the new computer system. Copyright c. 2002 The Washington Post Company. --------- "RE: HUD's Tribal Housing Duds" --------- Date: Sat, 30 Mar 2002 14:11:17 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HUD'S DUDS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.everyweek.com/News/News.asp?no=2328 HUD's duds by Ron Selden Tribal members say fed's substandard housing is making them ill Jamie LaPier was already troubled by the black mold creeping up the walls of her family's home on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, but the foot- high mushrooms growing out of the basement carpet were the last straw. "There was a bunch of them," says LaPier, who lives with her husband and three young children in a housing project about 30 miles east of Browning. "They were huge." While the mushrooms pulled up easily, the mold, some of which has proven to be toxic, was harder to remove. LaPier says the growth recently took over a downstairs bedroom, where frost cakes the inside walls for much of the winter. The mold, exacerbated by plumbing leaks, also engulfed an adjacent bathroom, rendering it unusable. The LaPier family lives in one of 153 reservation homes constructed with wooden foundations in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Assembled with wood that was pressure-treated with the toxic chemical chromated copper arsenate, or CCA, an undetermined number of the foundations leak, contributing to mold and mildew growth, as well as other structural problems. The homes were provided for tribal members by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), with funding distributed through the Blackfeet Housing Authority. Most of the houses are being purchased by the residents through HUD's "mutual self-help" program, which allows residents to eventually own their own homes. Housing officials say that under the contracts, residents are expected to perform most of their own maintenance, except for repairing damage that is covered by insurance. But residents in many of the houses contend that sloppy oversight and planning when the structures were built are at the root of the issue, and that's not their fault. For their part, HUD officials are distancing themselves from the problems, saying it's up to the Blackfeet Tribe to come up with solutions. "These are tribal homes, not HUD homes," says an agency spokeswoman in Washington, D.C., who insists that her name not be used as a condition for her being interviewed. She maintains that anonymity is required by the agency's public affairs policy. "These homes were essentially built by the tribe, and maintenance was to be handled by the tribe," she says. But tribal officials and resident activists think the federal agency should take the lead. "HUD told them they were going to use wooden foundations, and that was that," says Great Falls attorney Steve Doherty, who represents the housing authority. "There's obviously a difference of opinion. HUD has the money, and we have to work with them. What the housing authority is interested in is fixing and addressing the problems, and that's going to require people to work together." Some of the wood foundations are rotting and pulling apart, despite a 50-year "guarantee." Uneven settling and deterioration from the area's harsh climate, as well as repeated water damage, have caused floors to buckle and sink, walls to bow, windows to pop out of their frames, and doors to become loose-fitting and drafty. Terry Gray, who lives in the same project as the LaPier family, says an inspection last year turned up numerous problems. "Our inspector said he didn't know what was holding our house up," says Gray, who has a litany of complaints about cracked walls, frost-coated bedrooms, rotting siding and sloping floors. Candace LaMott, who lives with several children and an elderly uncle in one of the worst homes, says she can't move the furniture in her living room because the floor is so unstable. The house, which appears to be twisting on its foundation, is barely insulated. A closet in one icy bedroom has no foundation under it at all. Electrical and plumbing problems plague the dwelling as well. "We've got to keep the heat up and going all the time," she says. "As soon as you put a light bulb in the living room socket, it blows out." Adding to the structural woes are widespread allegations that residents are being sickened or even killed by the homes. LaMott says her mother, who lived in the house, became ill and died three years ago. She says her son suffers from severe headaches, and two grandchildren living in the home "have a hard time breathing." LaPier complains of frequent headaches that sometimes last for days. Her husband, Gale, says he's also been getting "strange" headaches the past two years. They say their son, not quite 4 years old, gets unexplained nosebleeds up to 20 times a month. The woman who lived in their house before them died of cancer. Others who reside in the wood-foundation homes, which are scattered across the reservation, report ailments ranging from constant sore throats, asthma and other respiratory distress, odd bumps and lumps, general fatigue, dizziness, and a host of other maladies ranging from kidney disease to cancer. Leaders of the Glacier Homes Committee, organized last year to address the problems, are convinced the structures are making people sick, even though tribal leaders and Indian Health Service (IHS) officials say there's little evidence so far to back up those contentions. Committee members point to the mold, the CCA preservatives, and high radon readings in some of the structures as the basis for their concerns. "To me, it's like a form of genocide," says Gary Grant, one of the committee's leaders. "They don't care what kind of homes Indians live in. There's a lot of sick people up here. You get out of these houses for a few hours and you feel better. But we have to come back to our homes because we have no other place to go." The citizens' group is demanding that HUD and the Blackfeet Tribe, after years of inaction, take their concerns seriously, instigate repairs where feasible, and provide new homes on unmortgaged land to residents living in the worst places. Photo by Ron Selden Blackfeet Indian Reservation resident Candace LaMott points to wooden basement walls in her federally funded home outside Browning. Structural problems are causing floorboards to buckle, doors to go off kilter and walls to crack. In February, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that manufacturers of CCA-treated wood will voluntarily phase out the product by 2004 because of health concerns. New residential uses of the wood are to be banned at that time, primarily because of the presence of arsenic, a known carcinogen. Testing by a New Mexico firm of five of the Blackfeet homes in January, including the LaPier house, documented extensive mold and mildew problems, some of which could be harming residents. While high levels of arsenic were also found in CCA-treated wood at the homes, the $14,000 report, paid for by the housing authority, downplays the arsenic's potential health impacts. It adds, however, that more study is needed. "The main issue with this arsenic source is direct contact with the wood, " the report reads. "Skin irritation can occur, and arsenic can be absorbed through the skin. Inhalation and ingestion of arsenic is not anticipated, because the arsenic is bound up with the wood itself and would not be expected to escape into the atmosphere." Still, residents are wary about doing any remodeling or repairs in the homes because EPA has warned about sanding, sawing or otherwise disturbing the treated wood. Reservation residents last December contacted Billings attorney Jeff Simkovic, who also has a master's degree in public health. Simkovic confirms that he has been preparing for a potential lawsuit over the housing problems, but he told a meeting of residents and tribal leaders in Browning last week that if the issues can be resolved without litigation, that's a preferable outcome. "We have a bunch of homeowners who feel that the tribe has shafted them, " says Simkovic, who told tribal leaders he's willing to help them find funding for a full-blown health study. "They don't know if they have a safe house. No one does." Mr. Grant, among others, says tribal leaders and housing officials have been aware of some of the problems for decades, yet little was done until the homeowners organized. "We were, in essence, forced to take these homes from HUD," adds Martin Marceau, another committee leader. "Right from the beginning we've had structural problems. They're not only toxic, but substandard. A lot of us quit paying our rent because nobody would listen to us. We believe there's too many illnesses and deaths to be a coincidence. For 24 years they never made reasonable movement toward correcting these problems. In fact, the tribe and housing just tried to cover it up." "We have no reason to sweep any dirt under the rug," counters housing authority Director Ray Miller. "If you start blaming people, it throws up the walls, and then it takes you longer to get anything done." Don George, an IHS environmental health officer in Browning, says the "path to illness" is extremely difficult to quantify. Nonetheless, he feels it's certainly possible that the homes could be making people sick. "The conditions in some cases are pretty deplorable," he says. "Some of these houses have mold everywhere, and some of the molds are known to be dangerous." He adds that there are also many more questions that need to be answered about the treated wood. "Whether these people have a case, I wouldn't want to make that judgment, " George says. "It would take an extensive epidemiological study to determine exactly what's going on." Blackfeet officials say they were never keen about having wood, instead of more-expensive concrete, used for foundations. In fact, records show that some of the homes were initially rejected by the tribal housing board as early as 1977. "We questioned it when HUD first talked about the wood foundations," says Blackfeet Chairman Earl Old Person, who used to live in one of the homes. His wife, for whatever reason, now suffers from cancer and kidney disease. But details are sketchy when it comes to determining exactly how the 153 houses were eventually cleared for occupancy. At the time the homes were built, HUD only reviewed housing architectural and engineering plans "to ensure the tribes were meeting basic public safety standards," according to the agency's spokeswoman. "HUD does not prescribe particular building standards," the spokeswoman says. "HUD gives tribes the flexibility to work with materials and design that is feasible for the tribe's environment." But Simkovic maintains that the federal agency was calling the shots. "HUD did have a contract of adhesion with the housing authority, and they told them what to do," the lawyer says. Even as early as 1980, records show that the housing authority and HUD knew about other structural and drainage problems. At one point, HUD gave the Blackfeet a grant to fix homes where the foundations were already bowing. But the correction work was merely cosmetic, according to Carl Kipp, who served on the housing board at that time. According to Mr. Grant, housing officials have also suggested giving at least some of the homes to residents for only $1 apiece. Inspection records show one severely damaged house was only worth $43,000, but the housing authority determined it would cost about $88,000 to replace it. "We said, `No way. That's letting you off the hook,'" Mr. Grant says. Last week U.S. Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) submitted a $15 million budget request to pay for assessments and repair or replacement of the Blackfeet homes, according to his aide Sarah Dudley. Baucus, chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, also requested $2 million for the Crow Reservation, where other mold problems are affecting several dozen other houses as well. Dudley adds that Baucus is working through the Senate Indian Affairs Committee to get a $30-million boost in a HUD "Healthy Homes" fund that, in part, covers mold assessment and abatement. Some of that money, if approved, could potentially be directed to the Crow and Blackfeet reservations, she says. "Obviously, the structural issues are what's leading to the environmental health issues," says Dudley. She adds that she's become extremely frustrated trying to work with the federal housing agency. "HUD and Montana HUD have been so unhelpful, it's unbelievable," she says. Also working on the issue is U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.), who recently sent staff members to the Blackfeet Reservation to meet with residents and tour some of the homes. Spokesman Dallas Lawrence says Rehberg has personally contacted HUD as well. "We're just waiting for the administration to give us direction what the next step should be on our end," Lawrence says. "As soon as we got a lawyer and the congressional folks, the tribe started listening," Marceau says while checking off a long list of problems at his home. "They thought we were just another group that would get frustrated and go away," adds Mr. Grant. "We're not." Copyright c. 2002 The Missoula Independent. --------- "RE: U.S. OKs $14.2M Torres-Martinez Settlement" --------- Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 08:28:23 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TORRES-MARTINEZ" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.jsonline.com/news/nat/ap/mar02/ap-water-rights032802.asp U.S. OKs $14.2M Indian Settlement Associated Press March 28, 2002 at 9:07:21 p.m. WASHINGTON - Interior Secretary Gale Norton signed the final documents Thursday to provide $14.2 million in compensation to a tribe of Indians in southern California for having their reservation flooded accidentally almost a century ago. Under the settlement, the Torres-Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians will receive $10.2 million from the federal government, $3.67 million from the Imperial Irrigation District and about $338,000 from the Coachella Valley Water District. "This historic agreement provides equity for the Torres-Martinez, offers new opportunities for regional economic development and clears the way for collaborative solutions to southern California water and land management issues," Norton said. In December 2000 Congress authorized the settlement and then-President Clinton signed off on it. The agreement with the government and the two local water districts settles lawsuits filed in 1982 over lost use of the reservation. Last year, Rep. Mary Bono, R-Calif., sponsored the legislation to appropriate the settlement money that had been included in President Bush's proposed budget. Bono said water districts also will be able to maintain drainage easements that are critical to local farmers. Under the settlement, up to 11,800 acres of land managed by the Interior Department is being placed into trust status for the tribe to buy so it can replace the flooded land. Lands taken into trust have restrictions on water rights and limitations on gaming. The tribe has planned to use the settlement money to buy more land and build a casino. Opposition to the gambling center by congressional lawmakers and from a tribe with a competing casino had blocked a settlement for years. The tribe's reservation was created in 1876 and was accidentally flooded in 1905 when the Colorado River burst through a canal, creating the Salton Sea, California's largest lake, about 120 miles northeast of San Diego. Agricultural and natural runoff keeps 11,800 acres, about half the reservation, submerged. A casino was expected to provide economic development for the isolated reservation, where about 250 of the 650 tribal members have lived, some in homes that lack electricity or running water. Copyright c. 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. Copyright c. 2002, Journal Sentinel Inc./Milwaukee. --------- "RE: Top IHS Officials at Crow Clinic Suspended" --------- Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2002 08:37:18 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CROW IHS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2002/03/26/ Top IHS officials at Crow clinic suspended By JAMES HAGENGRUBER Of The Gazette Staff March 26, 2002 Administrators at the Indian Health Service Hospital in Crow Agency have been suspended as part of an ongoing investigation into possible financial mishandling committed at the hospital. IHS Crow Service Unit Director Tennyson Doney and Administrative Officer Leonard Bends have been on suspension since late February. The IHS refused to provide details on the suspensions, saying they are personnel matters protected by federal privacy laws. The case is being handled by other federal agencies, said Sandy MacDonald, human resource officer in the Billings IHS office. "It's a continuing investigation from the Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Attorney's Office," he said. "We don't know who, what, where or when is involved in it." Susan Fredericks has been appointed acting director of the agency's Crow service unit, which supervises the 24-bed Crow/Northern Cheyenne Hospital in Crow Agency, MacDonald said. Robert "Skip" Hayes was named acting administrative officer. Seven local IHS employees have been suspended, according to employees of the hospital who wished to remain anonymous. A massive internal investigation is now under way, they said. As of Monday, no criminal charges have been filed, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl Rostad, who is based in Great Falls. Rostad declined further comment. The case centers around three maintenance workers at the hospital accused of illegally purchasing goods using the hospital's account, said George Scalpcane, organizer of Citizens for Reform in Health Care, a grassroots group on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation fighting for changes at the hospital. Scalpcane, of Busby, is a former BIA employee and said he is speaking out because the case is causing "a lot of mistrust" in local health care. Anonymous letters from IHS employees are circulating on the Crow and Northern Cheyenne reservations detailing the problems, Scalpcane said. The employees "are scared to sign them because they'd be on the chopping block." Scalpcane said his group is planning to hold listening sessions on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in coming weeks. The group was formed about two years ago to push for top management changes at IHS. "We haven't seen any improvement," Scalpcane said. "We thought there would be." James Hagengruber can be reached at 65-1232 or at jhagengruber@billingsgazette.com Copyright c. The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Testimony spotlights Cheyenne River IHS Problems" --------- Date: Sat, 30 Mar 2002 14:11:17 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="IHS ON CHEYENNE RIVER" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=3691614&BRD=1473&PAG=461 Testimony spotlights tragedy and travesty of Indian health care on Cheyenne River By:Pauline Webb March 28, 2002 The Indian Health Service hospital, clinics and ambulance service in Eagle Butte stands for neither health nor service in the minds of many of those they purport to serve. The Indian Health Service hospital, clinics and ambulance service in Eagle Butte stands for neither health nor service in the minds of many of those they purport to serve. Testimony at public hearings held across the reservation this month focused on needless suffering, preventable death and a lack of respect for the people who make up the patient load of the service unit. Tribal members told of treatment delayed, inadequate or incorrect treatment provided and patients who waited patiently for medical help only to be fobbed off without serious consideration of their maladies. Shirley Fiddler, widow of Leonard Fiddler, recounted the story of his last hours for the hearing committee. She told of waiting for an ambulance until it was too late to help her husband, and of the ambulance crew being told to throw his body out alongside the road. (The physician and dispatcher involved in the incident have left the Cheyenne River Service Unit). Although an EMT pronounced Fiddler dead, no official cause of death has been given and no death certificate has ever been issued, rendering his widow ineligible for pension or death benefits from the veteran's administration or social security. But Fiddler's story was only the most recent of a series of raw wounds uncovered in the testimony. Excerpts follow. Nina Jewett Schumacher was sent from the IHS unit to Rapid City four years ago, with a diagnosis of cancer. The original tumor was treated in Rapid City, and another tumor, this time on the brain, was found. Although she required additional treatment she was told by the local IHS unit that there were no funds and asked to come back in the fall. Joye LeBeau testified that her son almost died with chronic asthma before the family could get help to see a pulmonologist. When her own health problems took her to IHS, she found herself continually needing to educate physicians about the chronic diseases she and her son endure. "The doctors come and go as if we are pulling up to a fast food joint," she said. "Our only saving grace is our nurses. They know us, care for us and stay in our community." "When my son had an asthma attack the doctor didn't ask about his meds or airflow readings. He just gave us Robitussin and sent us home. There is always a long line for supplies and on two occasions my son's medications have been mixed up." Ronnie Long testified about his trip to the emergency room after a three wheeler accident. After an ambulance ride down from Timber Lake, he was sent home. The next morning he went to the hospital in Pierre. They asked why no one had cleaned the wounds. The injuries eventually led to an orthopedist who recommended surgery. Just before it was time for the surgery, IHS said they wouldn't pay the bill. Lois Spotted Bear had a similar story. A retired nurse, she came back to the reservation to live. In 1999 she suffered a heart attack. "Everything was done that could be done, but it was done because I knew what to ask and knew what could be done," she said. Donna Talks wasn't so lucky. Diagnosed with colon cancer in 1999, she had 27 office visits between 1999 and 2001. The pain kept getting worse. "I had one doctor tell me it didn't look like I was in pain," she recalled. "The cancer erupted March 21. They said it was appendix. In September of 2000 I had a complete hysterectomy and pre cancerous cells were found. I was denied referral. The doctors wanted me to go to Rapid City but I got a letter saying it wasn't a priority (note: translates as IHS won't pay for the treatment). Finally the cancer erupted in my colon and I was sent to Pierre for biopsy. It was malignant. I had three major surgeries in six months. . . I fell like it was all due to negligence. They didn't care about me as a human being." "I feel like my dad died of negligence too. He had spots on his lungs. They said it was TB, but he died of cancer a year later," she concluded. The litany of complaints continued for 80 hours, attended by a hearing committee made up of CRST Vice Chairman Harold Frazier, CRST Attorney Rebecca Kidder, a court reporter and video crew, and many tribal members, some afraid to testify because they feared reprisals the next time they sought treatment from IHS. Frazier said the tribe plans to take the stories to the halls of congress and seek both funding and reforms. Tribal members aren't as hopeful. "This has been gong on for a long time," said Bertha Chasing Hawk. "We've got to say something . . . We've had these complaints but it seems like nothing ever gets done." IHS authorities both locally and in Aberdeen refuse to answer questions and offer no comment or explanation. Copyright c. 2002 ebnews.net/Eagle Butte. --------- "RE: Diabetes: Highly Prevalent/Rarely Treated" --------- Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2002 08:37:18 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DIABETES" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/stories/20020325/localnews/1889793.html Indians' diabetes: Highly prevalent, rarely treated IGNORING A PROBLEM By ADAM BOWLES Norwich Bulletin Monday, March 25, 2002 Although his mother and aunts developed the disease, Kenneth M. Reels, chairman of the Mashantucket Tribal Council, never knew what diabetes was until he was diagnosed with it four years ago. Reels has since become well educated on the topic, hosting five annual conferences on diabetes at tribe-owned Foxwoods Resort Casino, the world's largest gambling enterprise. But local and state health experts say ignorance and denial remain a problem among hundreds of local American Indians who suffer from the disease, but don't seek care until they face a serious, sometimes life- threatening complication. "In general, they don't seek out help and that's been a frustration for me," said Elaine Sullivan, a national certified diabetes educator at the Joslin Diabetes Center, an affiliate of Lawrence & Memorial Hospital in New London. "I think they are ignoring it until they have a heart attack, stroke, kidney problem or blindness. A lot of people tend to be like that." More prevalent About 16 million Americans have diabetes and about a third don't know they have the disease. But American Indians, on average, are more likely to contract diabetes than any other ethnic group in the United States. A 1998 Centers for Disease Control report on the prevalence of diabetes in people age 20 and older, showed 9 percent of American Indians and Alaska natives have diabetes, a rate that is nearly three times higher than non-Hispanic whites. Half the Pima Indians in Arizona have diabetes, for example. Citing statistics from Indian Health Services, Dr. Christopher Sorli, medical director of the Diabetes Management Center at The William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich, said 30 to 40 percent of the Mashantucket Pequots' 650 members have diabetes, and about 10 percent of the Mohegans' 1,450 members have the disease. The Mohegans operate Mohegan Sun. The problem may be even more widespread. "Most physicians would tell you there is underreporting by American Indians with diabetes," said Sara Trachten, executive director of the New Haven chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, a fund-raising organization that covers southern Connecticut. The issue of diabetic care for American Indians has become more relevant as more move into the region. The 2000 census showed the number of Connecticut residents claiming Indian ancestry increased 50 percent since 1990. About 6,700 people claimed they were solely Indian in 1990, compared to 9,600 in 2000. Another 14,000 claimed mixed Indian blood. Despite this influx, a disparity remains between the growing Indian population and how many actually join local diabetes management programs. Backus reports just 10 Mashantucket patients and 20 Mohegan patients; L&M reports one-half percent of its 2,800 registered patients, or 140 people, are American Indians; Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Health Services sees 10 diabetic patients a month and meets with about 15 people in a monthly diabetes support group. All state and federally recognized American Indians residing in southeastern Connecticut are eligible to receive services at the Mashantucket health center. Sorli said because Backus' and L&M's diabetes programs both are relatively new, American Indians may be receiving care in other parts of the state, Rhode Island or Massachusetts. But he remains concerned about the dismally low number of American Indians in local diabetes programs. "We aren't seeing as many people as I expected we would be," said Sorli, who has lectured about diabetes at Foxwoods. "My experience is there is a fair amount of apathy. I have no trouble reaching employees, but Native Americans tend not to come to these things. If (diabetes) is a cultural community thing, they need to do more things to become proactive." Wendy Kane, a dietician and diabetes care coordinator for the Mashantuckets, said the tribe does not have a formal diabetes program. "We don't have the numbers to justify it," she said. In a Connecticut Department of Public Health report on diabetes from 1993-97, the hospitalizations of American Indians were not calculated because not enough were recorded. That may be because many American Indian patients don't register as American Indians. At Backus Hospital, for example, American Indians were not listed as an ethnic group on medical forms until after the Mashantuckets lodged a complaint last year, spokesman Cedric Woods said. Prevention possible The lack of American Indian involvement in diabetes programs is even more disconcerting considering doctors have become better able to prevent it. Diabetes is an incurable, chronic disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin, a hormone needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life. It is the leading cause of blindness, kidney disease and non-traumatic lower limb amputations. Health care and other costs directly related to diabetes treatment, as well as the costs of lost productivity, totaled $98 billion in 1997, according to the American Diabetes Association. The old strategy of diabetes care was to wait until the disease manifested itself in an individual before prescribing pills and insulin to control the blood sugar. But now the approach is proactive. "Individuals with this predisposition can (be identified) years before they have high blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol abnormalities," Sorli said. "All of this contributes to risk of heart disease and stroke. But well-done studies show that we can pick this up before it starts and we can prevent them from ever having diabetes." In 2001, the Diabetes Prevention Program, a major national clinical trial, showed that exercise -- just 30 minutes of walking five days a week -- and diet significantly reduce the chances of an individual with impaired glucose tolerance, a condition that often precedes diabetes, of ever developing the disease. Participants reduced their risk of getting type 2 diabetes -- at least 10 million Americans are vulnerable to this disease -- by 58 percent. The same study, which featured mostly American Indian participants, found that treatment with the oral diabetes drug metformin reduced the risk of getting type 2 diabetes by 31 percent. Outreach unsuccessful Armed with this information, local health officials are anxious to reach the local American Indian population. But they say their efforts have been mostly futile. Sullivan of the Joslin Diabetes Center said she attempted to find American Indians for her peer-matching program in which individuals who successfully manage their diabetes are linked with individuals who have just been diagnosed with the disease. She wanted to pair individuals of the same ethnicity, but only one American Indian joined the program. Sullivan said she canceled her monthly outreach programs at the Mohegan Health Center because attendance had dwindled from six to zero after just three visits. She also set up an information booth at a Mashantucket Health Fair but after 12 hours, just 25 people stopped by, and few of them were tribal members. She won't attend the fair next year. Indian Health Services, a federal health program, recently held a patient education diabetic conference in Rhode Island for the association's eastern region. Just 40 people attended. Organizers do not plan to host another one. "I don't know whether it's a fatalistic approach to the disease," Sullivan said. "I think there is a distrust of non-Indian services ... for good reason, based on our history. They're afraid we'll discount traditional medicine. But I will work with them and include herbal medicines." Reasons for prevalence Sara Trachten, executive director of the New Haven chapter of Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, said there are several theories why American Indians have a high rate of diabetes. Some researchers say their immune systems were damaged when exposed to diseases from the early American settlers. Others argue that when they were forced to relocate to Indian reservations, their lifestyles changed drastically: from active, mostly vegetarian people, to restricted, more sedentary people. Meanwhile, Kane, the Mashantucket's diabetes care coordinator, said she would continue to promote prevention programs for local American Indians. "Pequots, before the casino, were really poor, really disadvantaged citizens in Connecticut, with very poor health care coverage and undiagnosed and untreated diabetes," Trachten said. "It really takes its toll on the body. It affects all the major organs." Kane is aware of this. "We're trying to educate and provide standards of care, or things that need to be done on a regular basis -- blood pressure, weight and blood sugars," she said. "Diabetes is always on our minds." Copyright c. 2002 Norwich Bulletin. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Doctors urge Prediabetes Care" --------- Date: Thu, 28 Mar 2002 05:54:04 -0800 From: "mikola 18" Subj: "Doctors urge 'prediabetes' care, as cases climb to 17 million" Mailing List: Rez Life "Doctors urge 'prediabetes' care, as cases climb to 17 million" March 27, 2002 17:20:00 USA TODAY "The number of Americans with diabetes has reached 17 million - a jump of more than a million in two years - and health officials on Wednesday urged physicians to start treating the debilitating disease earlier. Officials of federal health agencies and the American Diabetes Association recommended guidelines that advise routine diabetes screening for men and women age 45 and older, especially if they are overweight. Those who have levels of blood sugar that are higher than normal but fall short of full-blown diabetes will be considered to have "prediabetes, " a new term for what used to be called "impaired glucose tolerance, or IGT," says Frank Vinicor, director of the diabetes program for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An estimated 90 percent to 95 percent of diabetics have type 2 diabetes, which generally occurs during middle age and is associated with obesity and inactivity, both of which impair the body's ability to produce or efficiently use insulin. Type 1 is caused by an inability to produce insulin and generally is diagnosed in adolescence or the early 20s. "People who develop regular type 2 diabetes don't go from normal sugars to type 2," Vinicor says. "They almost all go through this phase, called impaired glucose tolerance." Fortunately, he says, studies in Europe and the United States have determined that if patients in the pre-diabetic stage make lifestyle changes - exercising regularly and losing 5 percent to 7 percent of their body weight - they can decrease their chance of developing diabetes by 58 percent. Diabetes is on the rise in all age groups, but what causes most alarm among doctors is that they're finding type 2 diabetes in teenagers and young adults, particularly among minorities. "The main concern is that you're going to see more people with a longer duration of diabetes," Vinicor says. "It used to be one rarely saw type 2 diabetes except in people over 40, so maybe they had 30 years of high blood sugar and high blood pressure and the associated complications. Now, if someone is only 15 and gets it, you're likely to see 50 to 60 years of type 2 diabetes." What was once "a disease of our grandparents is now a disease of young adults and teen-agers," says Francine Kaufman, a pediatric endocrinologist at Children's Hospital in Los Angeles. "And it's pretty much all due to the life we all live." Copyright c. 2002, The Arizona Republic. --------- "RE: Haida Nation Claims Offshore Rights" --------- Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2002 08:22:35 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HAIDA OFFSHORE CLAIM" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17230-2002Mar25.html In Canadian Court, a Native Nation Claims Offshore Rights By DeNeen L. Brown Washington Post Foreign Service Tuesday, March 26, 2002; Page A10 VANCOUVER, B.C. -- Guujaaw, president of the Haida Nation of native people, has come to this concrete and glass city to save it from itself, though he concedes the people on the street don't know that saving is needed. They don't seem concerned that the ocean has lost its richness, he said, that fish are being depleted and the land is being wasted. They cannot hear the cries from the bottom of a disturbed seabed pierced for oil. "Look at them," Guujaaw is saying. A window separates him from people walking on sidewalks in suits, carrying briefcases and umbrellas to protect them from the empty sky. "Most people haven't ever killed anything for their supper and haven't dirtied their hands to go get something to eat, so each one of them in the cities feels they're innocent." The demand for material things, he said, is taking a toll on the planet. "The measure of those excesses is seen in the forests and in the natural parts of the Earth. And the people who live there, as we do, are the ones who live with the consequence of supplying the raw material for those excesses." Earlier this month, the Haida, a nation of about 7,000 people who live on the Queen Charlotte Islands, a stunning string off Canada's Northwest Coast, filed a lawsuit that they contend will help set things right. The suit asks the British Columbia Supreme Court to recognize that the Haida have an "exclusive right to make decisions about their land" and the surrounding waters, which geological surveys suggest contain huge oil and gas reserves. The suit may be the first time that a First Nations group, as aboriginal people are called in Canada, has claimed offshore resources in court. If the Haida win, and some analysts here say that is possible, they could stop any government plans to issue licenses to drill offshore for oil and gas. The filing comes as tensions are rising between aboriginal peoples and a government that has never defeated them in war, as happened in the United States, but instead has sought to negotiate treaties with them. The suit could shift the focus of relations to the more adversarial forum of the courts. "The suit marks a turning point in the way in which many of our First Nations will try to settle their relationship with Canada," said Peter Russell, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Toronto. The suit is the latest development in a long fight on the Northwest Coast about oil and gas development. In 1972, the Canadian government imposed a moratorium on drilling off the shores of the islands, citing environmental concerns. In 1989, British Columbia issued its own moratorium. But last year the provincial premier, Gordon Campbell, commissioned a study on the impact of offshore drilling in the Queen Charlotte basin. He said he would support drilling if it were proved the environment could sustain it. The attorney general of British Columbia, Geoff Plant, told reporters that courts have judged the province to be the landlord. "I think the offshore oil and gas in the long run, if it can be done in a way that's environmentally safe, could offer huge opportunities, economically, for First Nations up and down the coast of British Columbia," he said. Oil and gas industry officials say they are concerned that the lawsuit will scare off investors for an eventual project. "Until the governments sort out . . . what the rules are regarding what's going to be allowed in there . . . then our companies are actually developing elsewhere," said Greg Stringham, vice president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. Guujaaw said the Haida turned to the courts because of the government's demeaning offers during efforts to negotiate an overall treaty. The Haida broke off negotiations this month and walked away from the table, making headlines across the country. Treaty talks are one of the biggest political issues in Canada -- "bigger than race relations in the United States," Russell said. Guujaaw said going to court is the logical thing to do now. "We really have nothing to lose because we're not getting anything," he said. "I mean, we could bring the economy of this province to a grinding halt [by blocking development] and it wouldn't hardly affect our people at all because we're used to being broke." The suit follows the election of a Liberal Party provincial government, a swing to the right from the previous administration. "Non-native opinion is more and more divided," Russell said. "There is a backlash among non- -native Canadians against aboriginal people as they try to assert their rights under the constitution." Campbell, the provincial premier, plans to hold a referendum this year on British Columbia's approach to treaty negotiations, a move that has proven controversial. "He is putting minority rights up to a majority vote, " said a recent editorial in the Globe and Mail, a national newspaper. "What of constitutional obligations, what of the courts, what of inalienable rights?" Some aboriginal groups have called the referendum racist. The Haida, known worldwide for grand totem poles, have a culture and language that have survived pressures that killed off other native cultures. The Haida say there is evidence in the land and in the trees that they have occupied the islands for thousands of years. Their oral history claims they were there before there was a visible sun or moon, that it was the raven who coaxed mankind from a clamshell; the "brown-skinned, black- haired" people who emerged were the original Haida, the first humans. The legend, as depicted by the late Bill Reid, a well-known Haida carver, also says that for many generations the Haida "flourished, built and created, fought and destroyed, lived according to the changing seasons and the unchanging rituals of their rich and complex lives." In 1774, the Haida were there to meet the first Spanish explorer, Juan Perez. Their homeland was named the Queen Charlotte Islands by Europeans; the Haida call them Haida Gwaii. Before 1850, about 8,000 Haida lived on the islands. By 1915, the population had dwindled to 588, as thousands were eliminated by smallpox and other diseases. "They almost wiped us out with smallpox," Guujaaw said. "It went down to 500 people. We had driven off the miners and every attempt to colonize our land. We whooped them every time. It was pretty clear from our point of view that the smallpox was deliberate. We have documented evidence someone dropped off one man on our island with smallpox and our people attempted to care for him." He added, "They made the mistake of leaving some of us alive." The Haida's lawyers argue that there should be no offshore drilling near their islands. "There has been no conclusive evidence which persuades the leadership and the chief that offshore drilling would be safe for the fish, " said lawyer Louise Mandell. "This is also an earthquake zone. There is an additional risk of plate-shifting." Some Haida members have said they would support oil development that is environmentally responsible. And in the lawsuit, the Haida are also seeking royalties for timber being cut on the island. Earlier this month, they won a victory against lumber giant Weyerhaeuser Co. when the British Columbia Court of Appeal ruled that the company, which has a license to log in the islands, must now consult with the Haida before cutting more forests. Copyright c. 2002 The Washington Post Company. --------- "RE: Gwich'in want $30M in Land Claim Case" --------- Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 08:28:23 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GWICH'IN LAND CLAIM" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://north.cbc.ca/template/servlet/View?filename=mar28gwichin Gwich'in want $30 million from feds over five years Mar 28 2002 10:28 AM MST Inuvik, N.W.T. - The Gwich'in Tribal Council wants the federal government to give it more than $30 million to continue to implement its land claim over the next five years. The government has already given the council $16 million over the last ten years, but new developments in the region are putting a strain on organizations to complete their tasks. Negotiator Richard Nerysoo says there have been some successes in implementing some parts of the land claim agreement since it was signed in 1992. Public agencies have been set, but there are a number of other obligations in the agreement that have not been completed to the extent they should have been, he says. "We haven't even completed the issue of trans-boundary resourcing." Nerysoo doesn't believe every agency in the region has the capacity to respond to day-to-day needs partly because of the additional strain oil and gas development and other resource development is putting on them. He says small businesses, community organizations and agencies in the region will all require additional resources so they can continue with their work. "The community organizations have to be funded properly," he adds. "If they are not funded properly then they are always in a situation where they are trying to find money as opposed to getting on with the work." Nerysoo hopes to hear back from the federal government soon. Copyright c. 2002 CBC. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Chiefs urge Recognition of Mi'kmaq Treaty Rights" --------- Date: Thu, 28 Mar 2002 08:51:11 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MI'KMAQ RIGHTS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canoe.ca/NationalTicker/CANOE-wire.Nfld-Mikmaq.html Atlantic chiefs urge government to recognize treaty rights of Nfld Mi'kmaq March 27, 2002 HALIFAX (CP) -- Mi'kmaq chiefs from across the Maritimes want governments to extend treaty rights, including access to the fisheries, to Newfoundland's Mi'kmaq. During a Wednesday meeting, the chiefs signed a proclamation saying the federal and Newfoundland governments should recognize that all Mi'kmaq in the region are covered by treaties signed between the Crown and Mi'kmaq chiefs in 1760-61. "The Mi'kmaq nation is being shown disrespect by the governments of Newfoundland and Canada when they refuse to acknowledge our brothers and sisters from Newfoundland . . . and we feel this is wrong," said Mi'kmaq Grand Chief Ben Sylliboy in a news release. Other chiefs said a 1999 Supreme Court of Canada decision, which gave natives the right to earn a moderate livelihood from fishing, should apply to the Newfoundland Mi'kmaq. "The decision specifically stated all the Mi'kmaq, Maliseet and Passamaquoddy people of the East Coast had the right to fish, hunt and gather," said Peter Barlow, co-chair of the congress. "They didn't say all but the Mi'kmaq of Newfoundland." There are about 800 to 1,000 Mi'kmaq in Newfoundland and Labrador. Most live in the south coast community of Conne River. Chief Misel Joe, of Conne River First Nation, said the proclamation signals that his community can negotiate with the federal government for funds to set up its own fishery. "Treat us the same, give us the same opportunities to access funds to enhance our communities," he said. Mi'kmaq communities throughout the Maritimes have received millions of dollars, along with fishing licences and boats, as a result of the Supreme Court decision. Congress co-chairman Lawrence Paul, chief of Nova Scotia's Millbrook band, said he's not optimistic negotiations on the Newfoundland issue will bear fruit. He predicted it could land in court. "That's where we always end up," he said. The Maritime chiefs stopped short of recommending that Mi'kmaq in Newfoundland defy the law and begin fishing. Under a 1761 pact signed in Halifax, the British encouraged Cape Breton Mi'kmaq to hunt, fish and engage in other harvesting that would help develop more trade with British merchants, said native adviser William Wicken, a York University historian. "In the time period before and after 1761, (the Mi'kmaq) were moving backwards and forwards between Cape Breton and southern Newfoundland," he said. Wicken said it's possible Mi'kmaq were in southern Newfoundland before the late 17th century. (Halifax Chronicle-Herald) Copyright c. 2002, Canoe, a division of Netgraphe Inc. --------- "RE: B.C. Supreme Court rejects Claim of Priest Abuse" --------- Date: Sat, 23 Mar 2002 10:18:46 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ABUSE CLAIM REJECTED" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canoe.ca/WesternTicker/CANOE-wire.School-Abuse-Rejected.html March 22, 2002 B.C. Supreme Court rejects native residential school claim of priest abuse VANCOUVER (CP) -- The B.C. Supreme Court has rejected a woman's claim that she was sexually abused by a priest at a native residential school. The woman, who attended the Sechelt Indian Residential School in 1967 and 1968, said she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by an Oblate priest. But Justice Kathryn Neilson found that the woman failed to prove that she was sexually assaulted by Brother Ian McDougall. The woman, a member of the Hamalco band, said she was raped two or three times a week for the first two or three months at the school after her arrival at age 14. The woman said she was physically punished, including being strapped for speaking her native language and having to scrub the floor with a toothbrush. She said two nuns at the school pushed her down the stairs when she became pregnant, causing a miscarriage. But Neilson found the woman's story inconsistent. "Having examined her answers to interrogatories, at discovery and in giving evidence at trial, I must conclude that at times the plaintiff has failed to grasp the importance of the oath," Neilson wrote in a judgment posted on the B.C. Supreme Court Web site Friday. The accused priest, however, was consistent and frank in his evidence, the judge said. "I also found him convincing in relating his shock when he heard about the plaintiff's allegations against him and the devastating effect that they have had on him," Neilson wrote. It's estimated that more than 100,000 aboriginal children aged six and up attended the national network of residential schools from 1930 until the last one closed outside Regina in 1996. Thousands of aboriginal people across the country are suing the federal government and the various churches that ran the schools. More than 4,500 lawsuits have been launched with at least 9,000 claimants who allege physical or sexual abuse. The federal government has set up Indian Residential Schools Resolution Canada, a department focused on resolving the lawsuits. Fifteen trials are expected to start in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan in the next year. Copyright c. 2002, Canoe, a division of Netgraphe Inc. --------- "RE: B.C. holds off mailing Native Referendum Ballots" --------- Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2002 08:22:35 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BC BALLOTS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canoe.ca/NationalTicker/CANOE-wire.Native-Referendum.html March 26, 2002 Elections B.C. holds off on mailing native referendum ballots VICTORIA (CP) -- Elections B.C. has put a hold on mailing out ballots for the Liberal government's referendum on native treaties after a request from a judge. B.C. Supreme Court Justice Robert Hutchinson asked for the delay Tuesday until he rules Wednesday on an injunction aimed at blocking the referendum. "We have contacted Canada Post and asked them to suspend the distribution of the referendum mail-in voting packages until we hear the decision," said Jennifer Miller, a spokeswoman for Elections B.C. A Vancouver Island native band is seeking the injunction. A lawyer for the Hupacasath -- pronounced who-petch-ah-set -- First Nation began a court case last Thursday arguing the vote is illegal because of the way the eight questions on the ballot are worded. The ballots were supposed to be in the mail by late Tuesday afternoon. The referendum asks voters whether they support eight principles meant to guide the province's approach to First Nations treaty negotiations. The principles range from whether private property should be expropriated for treaty settlements to whether existing tax exemptions for aboriginal people should be phased out. Lawyer Jack Woodward has said his case against the referendum is based on the contention that the referendum questions are too ambiguous. In a reference concerning two referendums on secession in Quebec, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled referendum questions have to be clear in order for the results to be binding on government, he said. B.C.'s Referendum Act stipulates the result of the referendum is binding on the government if more than 50 per cent of the validly cast ballots show voters responded similarly to the questions. But Woodward said the questions on the referendum don't even meet the standards of a properly conducted public opinion survey. Aboriginal rights lawyer Louise Mandell already has assailed the government over its referendum, pointing out that several of the questions deal with issues that are of federal, not provincial, jurisdiction. Copyright c. 2002, Canoe, a division of Netgraphe Inc. --------- "RE: B.C. Bands stare down Treaty Referendum" --------- Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 09:23:24 -0500 From: "Frosty" Subj: B.C. bands stare down treaty referendum Mailing List: Frostys AmerIndian B.C. bands stare down treaty referendum Protest strategies tabled by AFN, First Nations Summit By FP Staff Victoria, B.C. - First nations and Aboriginal organizations in British Columbia are preparing to stir up their protest activity in the face of an impending treaty referendum. The province's Liberal government says it will mail out ballots to voters on April 2 to gain public input on eight key principles guiding treaty talks-including the power and nature of Aboriginal self-government and whether or not Aboriginal tax-exemptions should be phased out. The referendum ballots are due back by May 15, with the exercise expected to cost approximately $9 million. A 10-page document, written by the Assembly of First Nations and labeled "not for distribution"-was leaked to the Vancouver Sun in early March. The document outlines a number of referendum protest strategies that were unveiled at a recent First Nations Summit conference in North Vancouver. Among the potential tactics mentioned in the paper: a.. identifying and filing a legal challenge to the referendum. b.. handing out educational pamphlets and engaging people at ministerial meetings, business conferences, cruise ship facilities, environmental gatherings and other special events. c.. hosting an "Elimination of Racism Day" and invite churches, environmental and social policy groups. d.. organize a large rally or march to the B.C. cabinet office at Canada Place or another symbolic venue. e.. if the post-referendum environment worsens, hold a meeting with business leaders to relay message that first nations will disrupt business if province is not persuaded to seriously negotiate treaties. The document also mentions a number of one-day protest activities in a post-referendum environment, including: boat/ canoe blockades at the entrances to Vancouver, Victoria and Prince Rupert harbours and the Fraser River (exempting cruise ships); ad and letter campaigns designed to embarrass businesses that woo first nations yet fail to publicly support them; and silent vigils outside the homes of prominent politicians and business leaders. Most Aboriginal observers see the referendum as a way for the Campbell government to validate and accelerate the open access to Crown lands for big business-land that is often the centre of ongoing Aboriginal title disputes. "You're going to see conflict on the land," said Penticton Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs. "Premier Campbell's economic vision is going to collide with the unresolved Aboriginal title issue in B.C. "They've fast-tracked Crown land tenure applications-there are thousands of applications that will manifest themselves as developments in our territories." Even federal Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault has said that he views the referendum as "divisive," stating that his department is against the move. Meanwhile, numerous provincial Aboriginal leaders threw their support behind a mass rally at the B.C. Provincial Legislature that saw over 20,000 protestors express their disdain for the new government. "It's a direct consequence of the dictatorial regime in Victoria and their approach to handling issues," Phillip said. Phillip said major headway in the referendum battle can made by strengthening ties with labour organizations-who are smarting from a massive layoffs in the public sector, courtesy of the new Campbell regime- and other interest groups. The chief has plans to meet with Jim Sinclair of the B.C. Federation of Labour in the coming weeks. "There's coalitions building between the environmentalists, the trade unions, first nations, healthcare workers and educators. It's been incredible." Copyright c. 2002 The First Perspective. --------- "RE: Labrador Inuit to vote on Self-Government" --------- Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2002 08:22:35 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="INUIT SELF-GOVERNMENT" http://www.nunatsiaq.com/news/nunavut/20322_4.html Labrador Inuit to vote on self-government constitution Eligible Inuit head to the polls next month to decide if draft document is right for them MICHAEL JOHANSEN Special to Nunatsiaq News March 22, 2002 NORTHWEST RIVER, Labrador - More than 2,400 Labrador Inuit will head to the polls in April to let their leaders know if they like the constitution that's been written for them. The Labrador Inuit Association has been working on the 150-page document since 1999, trying to come up with a form of self-government that will best suit the 5,000 or so Inuit who live in central and northern Labrador. "The constitution will set out our basic laws," LIA president William Barbour told a gathering of about 30 of the association's members in Northwest River. "It will tell how our government works and what rights we'll have above and beyond the Canadian Charter of Rights." That meeting, which occurred outside the claim area in February, is one of dozens taking place in all the Inuit-occupied communities in Labrador. The Inuit of Labrador are the last in Canada to be without a land claim settlement - and they need to ratify a constitution before they can get one. Their leaders in the LIA are trying to convince them that this constitution is the one they want. "I believe this constitution is one we should all be proud to live by," Barbour said in Northwest River. "When I say 'I,' I speak of the LIA board of directors. I hope you agree with me and my board and vote 'yes' on April 15." Chesley Andersen, the LIA's self-government co-ordinator, has been to all the meetings - so many that he cannot recall off-hand the exact number. He got involved in writing the constitution when the process began three years ago, and he's been trying to sell it to the membership ever since the first draft was finished in November 2000. "I think the structure itself is unique," Andersen says. "The government structure is based on the Inuit style that works on consensus. It was taken mainly from our own style in northern Labrador, where there wasn't a system of opposition. But now we have to deal with other governments, so we're trying to meld our unique style with the Western style." However, what might be truly unique about the Labrador Inuit constitution is not the structure of the government, but the demographic situation the government has to accommodate. Less than two-thirds of the future citizens of Nunatsiavut will actually live within the claim area. According to Winston White, who handles public relations for the LIA, only about 3,000 people live in the five communities (Nain, Hopedale, Makkovik, Postville, and Rigolet) inside the Labrador Inuit Settlement Area. He says more than 2,000 live outside that area: About 1,700 in the Upper Lake Melville communities (Northwest River, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, and Mud Lake) and another 400 outside of Labrador itself. The situation has forced the LIA to design a kind of extra-territorial level of government in addition to the Inuit Central Government and the Inuit community governments of the claim area communities. The third level is to be called an Inuit community corporation, and it is to protect the rights and privileges of Inuit outside the settlement lands and provide to them all the services they're entitled to. Andersen says that provision, and others, has helped to calm the fears of people who think they will lose out if the constitution