From gars@speakeasy.org Tue Apr 16 22:37:35 2002 Date: 17 Apr 2002 02:35:44 -0000 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews10.016 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 016 | Country than is reported in | O o o o o O | this weekly newsletter. For | O o O April 20, 2002 | For daily updates & events | O o O | go http://www.owlstar.com/ | O | dailyheadlines.htm | Valley Maidu laila/grass moon +-----------------------------+ Zuni li'dekwakkya ts'ana/great sand storm 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; Big Mountain, ndn-aim, Amazon Alliance and First Nations 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.'" "My children, you have forgotten the customs and traditions of your forefathers. Why do you not clothe yourselves in skins, as they did, use bows and arrows and the stone pointed lances, which they used? You have bought guns, knives, kettles, and blankets from the white man until you can no longer do without them, and what is worse you have drunk the poison firewater, which turns you into fools. Fling all these things away, live as your forefathers did before you." __ Chief Pontiac, Odawa +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Indian Pledge of Allegiance | The Indian Pledge of Alleg- | | iance was first presented | I pledge allegiance to my Tribe,| on 2 December '93 during the | to the democratic principles | opening address of the Nat- | of the Republic | ional Congress of American | and to the individual freedoms | Indian Tribal-States Relat- | borrowed from the Iroquois and | ions Panel in Reno, NV. NCAI | Choctaw Confederacies, | plans distribution of the | as incorporated in the United | Indian Pledge to all Indian | States Constitution, | Nations. | so that my forefathers | | shall not have died in vain | Walk in Beauty! Night Owl +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Journey | In the summer and early fall | The Bloodline | of 1998 the Treaty Unity Riders | | rode a thousand miles on horse- | For all that live and live by law | back, carrying a staff and | We Stand, we Call, We Ride | praying each step of the way. | For All that fear and fear by sight | | We Hear, we Listen, we Ride | These prayers were offered for | For all that pray and pray by strength| each of us, and that the Unity | We Feel, we Move, we Ride | of all Peoples might happen. | For all that die and die by greed | | We Hurt, we Cry, we Ride | Tatanka Cante forwarded this | For all that birth and birth by right | poem on behalf of all the Unity | We Smile, we Hold, we Ride | Riders that we might stop and | For all that need and need by heart | ask if the next words we say, the | We Came, we Went, we Rode. | next act we make is for the good | | of the People or is it from ego | Treaty Unity Riders | for self. +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ O'siyo Brothers and Sisters! The symptoms are all around us if we care to look. There are so many ways to solve the "Indian problem." We've often looked at the "last bottle club" solution of blood quantum--and seen tribes cease to exist when their bottle ran dry. Recently this column discussed the "home ownership" pressed upon Montana and South Dakota tribes -- cheap, flimsy HUD-endorsed houses ridden with toxic mold. The methods are no longer so crude as the smallpox infested blanket. Perhaps now that most legitimate tribal medicine keepers have been hounded into obscurity, the final solution will be helped by providing such shoddy "modern" medical care that Indians will simply . . . die. A news story just yesterday reports that U.S. government hires physicians with records of criminal convictions and disciplinary actions to serve Native American hospitals and clinics and other government medical facilities. The Arizona Republic news story (reprinted in full below) "Indian health care: Separate, unequal; Federal care spending low, death rates high for tribes," contains few surprises for anyone familiar with the living conditions and medical facilities available to Native American populations. Alcoholism, diabetes and tuberculosis are rampant. The Navajo Tribal Council continues to propose that the Navajo government begin managing their own medical facilities rather than rely on the Indian Health Service. The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Council is appealing to the Federal government to reinstate six specialty clinics terminated in March. Once more the U.S. has trashed the notion of "honoring" treaties. The U. S. gladly took Indian land in exchange for promises -- among them to provide health care in perpetuity. Yet that care consists of spending less than half the amount that is allocated to other Americans who have no such treaty, and frequently have far greater resources than Indian people in the U.S. In Arizona, the average age of death for a white person is 72. The average age of death for a Native American is 55--younger than for a resident of Bangladesh. It's working--for those whose tribes cannot afford to bypass "treaty" medicine and care for their own--Indians just die. 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 ---------- - Crossings - Whale Hunt Season set - Indian Health Care: to begin quietly in Canada Separate, Unequal - Fisheries Panel reports - Group wants Congress to in Nunavut's Favour Investigate IHS - Metis want cooperation - Ceremonies recognize Veterans from Salt River - Hopi Court Hearings - Yanomami demand - Dine' Bidziil Meet return of Blood Samples draws in Crowds - Saskatchewan Aboriginal - BIA Election leads to Justice Hearings Rocky Boy Protest - Unequal Justice in Rural Alaska - Tribes voice Opposition - Blackfeet vote to DM&E Project to end Highway Patrol Pact - Winnebago Leader charged - Native Prisoner in Gas-tax Dispute -- Prisoner needs Letters - Interior Clerks still Untrained -- Update on Manuel Redwoman - Chippewa Cree meets to -- NAPS Disclaimer discuss Suit against BIA - History: Carlisle Indian School - Paper Clips and Lip Service - Rustywire: Japanese Girl for Trust Records comes to visit Toadlena - Funding Crunch and - Poem: Future Perfect Internal Bickering - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - Treaty Indian's Life - Native America Calling not always all Roses - Revitalizing Native Tongues - A Gathering of Elders --------- "RE: Crossings" --------- Date: Tue, 16 Apr 2002 08:17:09 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CROSSINGS" April 11, 2002 Lawrence Andrew Fish April 10, 2002 Funeral services for Lawrence Andrew Fish, age 88, of rural Lantry were held Wednesday, April 10, 2002 in the All Saints Catholic Church in Eagle Butte with Father Tom Westhoven, SCJ, celebrating mass and Christian burial. Funeral services for Lawrence Andrew Fish, age 88, of rural Lantry were held Wednesday, April 10, 2002 in the All Saints Catholic Church in Eagle Butte with Father Tom Westhoven, SCJ, celebrating mass and Christian burial. Holy Rosary was recited Tuesday evening at the church. Mr. Fish passed away Friday, April 5, 2002 at Indian Health Service in Eagle Butte from natural causes. Music at the services included, "Wind Beneath My Wings", "The Old Rugged Cross", "Amazing Grace", "Grandpa", "The Promise" , and "It's Never Easy to Say Goodbye". Soloists included Rhonda Claymore, Clint Ducheneaux and Barb Berndt, organist. Casketbearers were grandsons Ken White Eyes, Alan Ganje, and Sam Fish; great-grandson, Dan Pickard; and friends Joe Schrempp, Charlie Brooks, Gerald Stapert, and Randy Pritzkau. Interment was in the Eagle Butte Cemetery under the direction of Luce Funeral Home. Lawrence Fish was born May 10, 1913, four miles northeast of Lantry, SD on the D.K. Fish Ranch. He is the son of Dennis and Louise (Leivens) Fish. Lawrence attended Lantry School through the 8th grade and then raised cattle and farmed with his father until 1927. Lawrence married Hilda Pritzkau on March 17, 1934 in Dupree and resided at the D.K. Fish Ranch until 1938 when they moved to Deadwood, SD where he worked as a carpenter. In 1939 Lawrence and Hilda moved back to Lantry to the Fish Ranch until 1941 when they purchased the place they lived the balance of their lives. Lawrence enjoyed woodworking, playing cards, dancing and entertaining company in his home. Mr. Fish is survived by one son, Jack Fish (Jan), Tucson, AZ; two daughters, Rose Ganje and Cora Mae Haskell (Charles) of Eagle Butte, SD; one brother, Hank Fish, Sturgis, SD; 18 grandchildren, 36 great grandchildren, numerous nieces and nephews and two special friends, Edith Brooks and Pat Fish. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Hilda, (1987) and son, Ralph Sam (1977), one grandson, two sisters, six brothers, and his parents. Honorary pallbearers were Ruby, Tracy, Troy, Todd, Travis, Thane Brooks and families, Casey Bunner, Bob Clausen, Carl and Mert Pritzkau, Owen and Lorane McLellan, Bill and Guyla Jandreau, Lena Speker, Thelma Peacock, Sister Caroline, "Fat" and Eva Bringman, Cap Pearman, Sis Pearman, Michelle Antone, Jennine Dolphus, Bryan Ulmer, Delbert Tibbs, Jeff Bowker, Bob and Judy Farlee and family, Jewel and Kristen Thompson, Clint Ducheneaux, Phyllis Gunville family, Fain, Karen and Laurel LeBeau, Myron and Betty Eliason, Peggy Gallipo, IHS Staff, Lori Smith, West Winds Health Care, Margaret O'Leary and Liz Collins (Rose's caretakers), Donna Clausen and families, and Pat Fish. All friends, neighbors and relatives and anyone who has touched Lawrence's heart in one way or another. April 10, 2002 Mamie Mas'ke West-Yellow Head Mamie Mas'ke West-Yellow Head, 96 years old, entered the Spirit World on April 5, 2002 at the Beverly HealthCare Center in Mobridge, SD. Funeral services will be held on Thursday, April 11, 2002 at 10:00 AM MST at the HVJ Cultural Center with Daniel LaPlante and Chug Garreau officiating. Visitation will be held the day of the service from 8:30 AM until 10:00 MST at the Cultural Center. Burial will be in the Eagle Butte United Church of Christ Cemetery under the direction of the Kesling Funeral Home of Mobridge. Mamie was born May 25, 1905 at Goose Creek to Allen and Nancy Yellow Hawk-West. She attended the Pierre Indian Learning Center, finishing the 9th grade. In 1940 she married Mr. Joseph Yellow Head and the couple resided at Big Bend for a brief time, then moving to Beef Camp and in 1952 they moved into Eagle Butte where she spent the remainder of her life before she was admitted to the Beverly HealthCare Center in Mobridge, SD where she passed away. Mamie lived as a housewife , but her livelihood was being a seamstress and house cleaner for various families around the Eagle Butte area. She loved her cats and dogs and was a big fan of all C-EB sports activities, especially wrestling and basketball. Mamie liked to read, do puzzles, and play cards but what she enjoyed the most was spending time with all her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She will be greatly missed by all. She is survived by her only son; Del "Scope" Yellow Head, Eagle Butte; two sisters, Melissa Annis, Eagle Butte, and Estella Claymore, Mobridge, SD; one brother, Reuben "Buck" West, Eagle Butte; two special grandsons, Del Shannon, Pierre, SD and Sheldon Yellow Head, Eagle Butte; one special granddaughter, Winona (Pierre) Pretty Weasel, Dupree, SD; and one special niece whom she raised from infancy, Nancy West, Eagle Butte; and numerous nieces, nephews, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, parents, six brothers, and three sisters. Copyright c. 2002 ebnews.net/Eagle Butte. -=-=-=- April 8, 2002 Jim Begody ALBUQUERQUE - Services for Jim Begody, 60, will be held at 11 a.m., Tuesday, April 9 at Lower Greasewood Mennonite Mission. Burial will follow at family plot, Steamboat, Ariz. Begody was born Nov. 11, 1941. Survivors include his wife, Rena Begody; sons, James Begody and Bob Bailey; daughters, Tina Guerro and Toni Sandoval; mother, Louise Begody; brothers, Kee Begody, Johnny Begody, Jackson Yazzie and Lee Yazzie; sisters, Eula Billie, Lena Yazzie and Betty Bahe and five grandchildren. The family will receive friends and relatives after the burial services at Jim Residence's. Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. April 9, 2002 Jake Abraham GRANTS - Memorial services for Jake Abraham, 74, will be held at 10 a.m., Wednesday, April 10 at Presbyterian Church, 400 Nimitz Dr., Grants. Abraham died April 6. He was born May 3, 1927. Abraham graduated from Grants High School and attended Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, where he received a degree. He served in the Navy and the New Mexico State Police in Santa Fe. He served with the Grants City Council, Laguna Tribal Budget and Education Committees and the Bi- County Fair. Survivors include his wife, Birdye Hawkinson Abraham; son, Dr. Ken Abraham of Grants; daughters, Terri of Albuquerque, and Randi of Springeville, Utah; sister, Ruth Sarracino of Laguna; two grandchildren. Abraham was preceded in death by his parents, Siegfried and Jessie Gunn Abraham; son, Jacob (Moe) Abraham and sister, Rebecca Fernandez. April 10, 2002 Austin Albert Sr. KINLICHEE, Ariz. - Services for Austin Albert Sr., 92, will be held at 10 a.m., Friday, April 12 at St. Michaels Catholic Church. Father Gilbert will officiate. Burial will follow at Kinlichee Community Cemetery. Visitation will be held at 6 p.m., Thursday, April 11 at Cope Memorial Chapel. Albert Sr. died April 7 in Gallup. He was born March 10, 1910 in Nazlini, Ariz. into the Coyote Pass People Clan for the Bitter Water People Clan. Albert. Sr. was a rancher, a former chapter president and served on the Grazing Committee for the Kinlichee Community. Survivors include his wife, Elizabeth Albert; sons, Eugene Albert, Andrew Albert and Jonas Albert; daughters, Isabelle Mitchell, Mae Ruth Wallace, Betty Holmes and Elizabeth Yazzie; parents, Ya'Das'Bah Tsosie and Tsinajinnie Yazzie; brothers, Wilson Tsosie, Ben Wauneka, Sampson Tsosie, Harrison Tsosie and Jerrison Tsosie; sisters, Dezbah Evans, Mary Tracey, Laura Wilson, Levena Verna Curley and Florence Dashee; 56 grandchildren, 70 great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren. Albert was preceded in death by her sons, Dennis Albert, Austin Albert Sr. and Johnny Albert and daughters, Evelyn Curley and Dolly Curley. Pallbearers will be Darren Curley, Jason Yazzie, Albert Wallace, Harrison Shorty, John Begay and Gene Albert. The family will receive friends and relatives after the burial services at Kinlichee Chapter House. Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements. Raymond Roy Smith Sr. LUPTON, Ariz. - Services for Raymond Smith Sr., 82, will be announced at a later date. Smith Sr. died April 7 in Gallup. He was born March 4, 1920 in Rehoboth into the Red House People Clan. A family meeting will be held at 6 p.m., Thursday, April 11 at Lupton Chapter House. Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Copyright c. 2002 The Gallup Independent. -=-=-=- April 9, 2002 Mamie Margaret YellowHead MOBRIDGE - Mamie Margaret YellowHead, 96, Mobridge and formerly of Eagle Butte, died Friday, April 5, 2002, at Beverly Healthcare Center in Mobridge. Visitation will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. MDT Thursday, April 11, at Harvey V. Johnston Cultural Center in Eagle Butte. Services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at the cultural center, with Daniel LaPlante and Chug Garreau officiating. Burial will be at Eagle Butte United Church of Christ Cemetery. Kesling Funeral Home of Mobridge is in charge of arrangements. April 10, 2002 Raymond Francis High Wolf Jr. PINE RIDGE - Raymond Francis High Wolf Jr., 69, Pine Ridge, died Thursday, April 4, 2002, in Los Angeles. Survivors include his wife, Audrey High Wolf, Pine Ridge; three daughters, Lisa High Wolf, Pine Ridge, Jeanne High Wolf, Bangor, Maine, and Robin High Wolf, Omaha, Neb.; two sons, Clayton High Wolf, Pine Ridge, and Raymond Crow, Chicago; one sister, Geraldine Janis, Pine Ridge; one brother, Charles High Wolf, Kansas City, Kan.; and 17 grandchildren. He served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. A one-night wake will begin at 3 p.m. Thursday, April 11, at Billy Mills Hall in Pine Ridge. Services will be at 9 a.m. Friday, April 12, at Billy Mills Hall, with the Rev. Fred Mesteth and the Rev. Agnes Tyon officiating. Burial will be at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Black Hills National Cemetery near Sturgis. Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements. April 16, 2002 Isabelle Sitting Up WANBLEE - Isabelle Sitting Up, 82, Wanblee, died Sunday, April 14, 2002, in Martin. Survivors include one son, Elmer Red Eyes, Wanblee, and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. A two-night wake will begin at 2 p.m. Thursday, April 18, at the Wanblee CAP Office. Services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 20, at Gethsemane Episcopal Church in Wanblee, with the Rev. Dan Makes Good and the Rev. Cordelia Red Owl officiating. Burial will be at Gethsemane Episcopal Cemetery in Wanblee. Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements. Chuck Edward Bravo OGLALA - Chuck Edward Bravo, 18, Oglala, died Saturday, April 13, 2002, in Oglala. Survivors include his parents, Nazarius and Carol Bravo, Oglala, and four brothers, Rodney Rouillard, Samuel Bravo, Paul Bravo and Jimmy Bravo, all of Oglala. A two-night wake will begin at 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 17, at Brother Rene Hall in Oglala. Services will be at 2 p.m. Friday, April 19, at Makasan Episcopal Church in Oglala, with the Rev. Asa Wilson and the Rev. Bill Pauly officiating. Dewey Brave Heart will officiate at traditional services. Burial will be at Makasan Episcopal Cemetery in Oglala. Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements. Copyright c. 2002 Rapid City Journal. --------- "RE: Indian Health Care: Separate, Unequal" --------- Date: Sun, 14 Apr 2002 19:11:14 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="INDIAN HEALTH" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.azcentral.com/news/specials/indianhealth/0414healthmain.html Arizona Central Editor's note This is the first in an ongoing series on Native American health. * * * "For a long time during the 19th and 20th centuries, everyone presumed Indians were dying, that they were going to die out. This played into the idea that they were inferior, that they couldn't stand up to a superior race, to superior technology. And there was a belief that if they are dying we have to intervene, we have to make them more like us. This led to dramatic interventions, like taking children away, banning ceremonies, changing marriage practices, changing diets, creating private property, all in the name of saving the Indian." - Richard White, Stanford history professor and author. Indian health care: Separate, unequal Federal care spending low, death rates high for tribes By Judy Nichols The Arizona Republic April 14, 2002 Native Americans are dying at shocking rates. Of alcoholism, tuberculosis and diabetes. From accidents, suicide and homicide. At rates up to seven times higher than other Americans. In Arizona, the average age at death for Whites is 72, compared with 55 for Native Americans. That's younger than for residents of Bangladesh. The federal government, which promised in treaties to provide health care for Native Americans, spends less than half as much per tribal member as it does for programs covering other Americans. Private health plans spend more than twice as much per person. "If this were happening in any other part of America, there would be Senate hearings, commissions," said Sergio Maldonado Sr., an Arapaho who is a program coordinator in the American Indian Studies program at Arizona State University. "They would be asking, 'Why are these people dying? Is it the water? The air? Anthrax? But because it's Arapaho, Sioux, the border towns around reservations, no one blinks an eye." Maldonado said the lack of health care and differences in life span are a sign of continuing discrimination. The leading causes of death for Native Americans are heart disease and cancer, the same as for other populations. But while those rates are closer to the norm, they are increasing as other populations are seeing improvements. Native Americans die in accidents at more than three times the rate of other Americans, a fact so discouraging that federal officials say facetiously they wish for more disease. "We'd love to have higher cancer rates," said Alan Dellapenna, deputy director of the Indian Health Service Office of Environmental Health and Engineering in Rockville, Md. "That would mean young people were living long enough to develop those kinds of diseases." Promise made In the early 1800s, the push for westward expansion resulted in war between the United States and many Native American tribes. Treaties, which stripped Native Americans of more than 400 million acres of ancestral lands, promised health care, as well as peace. "When people say, 'You get free health care,' I say, 'Bear sweat,' " Maldonado said. "There's no 'Free.' Blood was spilled." Today, the Indian Health Service, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provides care for about 1.5 million Native Americans, living on or near reservations, some of the most remote and impoverished parts of the country. But it has never been fully funded. This year's budget is $3.2 billion. But according to a study conducted by a group of tribal and Indian health leaders, more than $7 billion annually would be needed to provide care similar to that other Americans receive. And $15 billion would be needed to add and improve facilities to make the system equal. The Indian Health Service spends about $1,920 per person annually. That compares with more than $4,390 that private insurance budgets for most Americans' health plans, or the federal government's $3,859 for Medicaid, $5,600 for Medicare and more than $5,700 that veterans receive. "Health care for Native people has never been a high priority nationally, " said U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., a Cheyenne chief and the only Native American in the Senate. Campbell, a member of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, said most Americans feel a moral debt of gratitude to veterans, but do not understand the "unique legal, moral and historic relationship with Indian tribes." Funding also has suffered because of the evolving misconception of the "rich Indian," the mistaken belief that Native Americans were raking in money first from land and oil, and now, from casinos, Campbell said. "These headline-grabbing myths lead policymakers to conclude that most Native Americans do not need federal assistance for health care," Campbell said. "Of course, the opposite is true. The vast majority of Native Americans remain mired in poor economic conditions and continue to suffer from significant health problems." Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., whose state has some of the highest death rates for Native Americans, is so concerned that he plans to request an additional $4.4 billion for the Indian Health Service this year. "While Congress debates how to allocate trillions of dollars, medical treatment for American Indians and Alaska Natives is being rationed," said Daschle, who called the situation inexcusable. Dr. Craig Vanderwagen, chief medical officer for the health service, acknowledges that the system is seriously flawed. "We don't feel good about the number of patients who need care who are rejected because their problem is not life-threatening," said Vanderwagen, based in Rockville, Md. "It's rationing. We hold them off until they're sick enough to meet our criteria. That's not a good way to practice medicine. It's not the way providers like to practice. And if I were an Indian tribal leader, I'd be frustrated." But there is little or no support from others in Congress, said Dr. Stephen Kunitz, a professor of community and preventive medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine who worked for IHS and has studied it for many years. "Virtually no one has an interest in funding it except the Indians themselves," Kunitz said. The bulge was small at first. Just a bump, really. Sticking out near Felipe Robles' backbone. But it grew. It grew until it was the size of his fist. Until he had to struggle to get out of bed. Until he couldn't stand without his carved rattlesnake-head cane. At first, doctors thought it was cancer. They were wrong. The disease lodged in his spine, gnawing away at his vertebra, was something you expect to see in someone's lungs: tuberculosis. The rate of TB in Native Americans is more than five times greater than for other Americans. "I got it three years ago, when I was in jail," said Robles, 46, a Pima. "I was stuck in a cell for three days with a guy who was coughing a lot. I finally asked him what was wrong and he told me he had TB. I called the guards and they pulled me out of there, but I guess it was too late." When the lump appeared, Robles went to a clinic in Guadalupe, but was turned away because he had no insurance. Eventually, he ended up at the Phoenix Indian Medical Center, where his name is on a growing list of patients who are closely monitored, watched each time they take their medication, for one year. Any less, and the TB might not die, might spread to someone else. Robles can't work any more and may need surgery to stabilize his spine. "I'm scared," Robles said. 'I'm afraid a slight move in the wrong direction and I'll be paralyzed from the waist down." For now, he spends his days reading the Bible at the Phoenix halfway house where he lives. "I'm not proud of my past," said Robles, who has been in prison for drug charges. "But I'm born-again now. I'm trying to do the right thing." The first health care for Native Americans, provided by the U.S. Army, was designed to protect Whites from uncontrolled epidemics of smallpox, measles, diphtheria and malaria. The diseases, brought by Whites, devastated the Native populations, which never had been exposed, and threatened to boomerang into the ranks of the military and the settlers. Eventually, health care was taken over by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, then moved to the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, now Health and Human Services. Model of efficiency The blueprint for the Indian Health Service is seen as a model of efficiency, studied by countries around the world. It offers cradle-to- grave care and one-stop shopping at its hospitals, where medical, dental, podiatry, psychiatry, optometry and even pharmacy services are available. And its public health arm builds water and sewer systems on far-flung reservations. Through efforts to reduce infectious disease, increase immunizations and improve water system, the service greatly upgraded Native American health in the 1950s and '60s, significantly reducing infant mortality rates and deaths from gastrointestinal diseases. The system has been less successful dealing with behavioral health problems like alcoholism, drug abuse and obesity. Native Americans have the worst diabetes rates in the world, nearly four times greater than other Americans, and the worst alcoholism rates in the country, more than seven times greater. "When you're dealing with these conditions - consuming food, alcohol, tobacco - you're dealing with people's beliefs, values and behaviors," said Kunitz, of the University of Rochester. "It's very hard for the health system to address these as effectively as they could address the contaminated water supply." Some Native Americans say they must do more for themselves, eat right, exercise more, restore balance, all teachings of their elders. "We have a moral imperative to take care of ourselves," said Maldonado, of ASU. "We can't point all the fingers at the Indian Health Service." Inequalities exist in the system, sometimes for logical reasons, sometimes because of politics. For example, in Alaska, where it costs more to deliver care to remote Native villages accessible only by plane, IHS spends more than $6,080 per person annually for health care. But in the Kayenta area of the Navajo Nation, it spends only $766 per person. The limited funding, isolated locations and lack of support staff all make it difficult to recruit and retain doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists and other health professionals. Many in the system call the pay abysmal, offering examples like ophthalmologists, who make $100,000 at IHS, but can make twice that in private practice. And there are high vacancy rates - 17 percent for nurses at Phoenix Indian Medical Center. "The people who are here are not here for the money," said Dr. Ken Steward, head of the Emergency Department at the Gallup Indian Medical Center. "They're hardworking, conscientious. Money is a secondary consideration." The tight budget also forces the system to focus on primary care. Patients needing specialists, for things like heart operations, hand surgery and neurology, must be referred to doctors and hospitals in the private sector. The service has limited funds for this "contract" care, however, and the money runs out each year. So the service often guarantees payment only for people who may die. Others must pay for the care themselves, or qualify for Medicare, Medicaid or other private insurance. Lita Piffero quit worrying about her dignity long ago. "I was down there at the clinic crying, literally begging for help," said Piffero, 48, who lives in Southern Bands, near Elko, Nev. When Piffero's 14-year-old daughter hurt her foot in gym class in November, Piffero took her to the Indian Health Service clinic near Elko because there are no IHS hospitals in Nevada. An X-ray revealed a deformity of the bone, Piffero said, and the doctor recommended magnetic resonance imaging, possibly surgery, services not available through the Indian Health Service. Piffero was told her daughter was being referred out, but that the service wouldn't pay for it. Piffero, who is unemployed, was told to apply for Medicaid. "Medicaid took the full 45 days to decide," Piffero said. "We had to wait." Her daughter limped through school on crutches. When Piffero finally was approved for Medicaid, Piffero said the private doctor refused to do the MRI, saying he would lose money on a Medicaid patient. He referred them to Elko Hospital. Piffero said they still are waiting for an appointment. "I worry about what else they won't do because it's Medicaid," said Piffero, crying. "She's only 14. She doesn't deserve to be treated any less than anyone else. This is her foot. I don't want her to be deformed. "It just seems like unless you're on your deathbed, you can't go for services." Her legs, which peek out from her traditional three-tiered calico skirt, are wrapped in cotton stockings, but they're still cold. She has high blood pressure and thyroid problems, but otherwise Nettie Yazzie, 92, who lives on the Navajo reservation, is remarkably healthy. She gets B-12 shots from a public health nurse who visits her home, and occasionally sees a doctor for a check-up. But she attributes her longevity to eating lots of corn, the symbol of life for many Native Americans, and childhood visits to medicine men who taught her to make medicinal teas from herbs. In fact, Native civilizations had extensive knowledge of diseases and medicines, knowledge that has contributed to Western medicine. And many still use a combination of Native and Western medicine. As part of a move toward self-determination, many tribes are taking over their own health care, running their hospitals and clinics and deciding how to spend federal dollars. More than 40 percent of the system now is run by tribes or the non- profit groups they have hired. In February, the Navajo Nation rejected a takeover of its $500 million system, but is considering running the programs in three small communities. "IHS is going to continue to exist," the University of Rochester's Kunitz said. "What is unclear is whether it will increasingly be a pass-through program or continue to be a provider of services." Either way, more money is needed. Although the Native American population served by the Indian Health Service is growing by about 2 percent each year, and medical costs are rising at about 10 to 12 percent a year, the agency's budget has remained nearly flat, which means services fall farther and farther behind. "If Congress in its wisdom, or malevolence, or thoughtlessness holds funding constant or at a 1 to 2 percent increase, things will get worse," Kunitz said. Reach the reporter at judy.nichols@arizona republic.com or at 602-444-8577. Copyright c. 2002, azcentral.com. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Group wants Congress to Investigate IHS" --------- Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 08:18:31 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="INVESTIGATE IHS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.yankton.net/stories/041002/new_0410020010.shtml Rapid City Group Wants Congress To Investigate IHS Wednesday, April 10, 2002 RAPID CITY (AP) -- Congress should investigate the Indian Health Service, according to members of the Indian Health Board of the Black Hills, a volunteer group that provides oversight of the IHS. Rapid City's Sioux San Hospital and other American Indian health centers have ongoing problems, Indian Health Board members said Monday. The board members alleged a steady decline of health care quality for five years at Sioux San Hospital -- the same time the current Sioux San administration has been in office. Michelle Leach, CEO of the Sioux San Hospital, said she welcomes an investigation. The hospital has nothing to hide, she said. A call to an official of the Aberdeen Area IHS was not immediately returned Monday. Indian Health Board members said they had obtained a 1998 audit that raises questions about how more than $300,000 was spent. The audit says the now-defunct Rapid City Indian Health Board, which contracted with IHS to provide services, had received payments from IHS that it was not entitled to receive. "During the two preceding years, the Health Board received $654,995 in payments from the Indian Health Service that IHS now indicates the Health Board was not entitled to," according to the audit findings. The IHS reportedly could not determine which health board contracts had been overpaid. "The Health Board's records indicate that they did have contracts that justify the receipt of $337,114, but they cannot identify the remaining $317,881," according to the audit. Auditors recommended that the Rapid City Indian Health Board negotiate with IHS to resolve the problem. But the board was disbanded in 1998 after petitions calling for its investigation were turned in to the Office of Inspector General. "What is going on in Indian Health Services would not be allowed to go on in the private sector," said Joseph Valandra, chairman of the Indian Health Board of the Black Hills. "I don't want to cop out to it, but the Indian Health Services is the Enron of the Federal Government. They do an extremely good job of running a federal agency and they do a really poor job of running a health care facility." "The sad part about this is we're all taxpayers, too," board member Theresa Spry said. "I think we're right back to where we started at. We're being refused service." Board members said they have been stonewalled by Congress and other leaders as they try to find answers. Copyright c. 2002 Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan. --------- "RE: Ceremonies recognize Veterans" --------- Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 08:19:44 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="VETERANS HONORED" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=3822636&BRD=1825 Ceremonies recognize veterans By: Betty Smith, Press Staff Writer April 11, 2002 Two distinguished World War II veterans sat proudly Wednesday morning, their nation's colors flying behind them, as a crowd attending a special veterans' ceremony recognized their service. Ernest Childers, one of two surviving Congressional Medal of Honor winners from Oklahoma, and Charles Chibitty, the last surviving Comanche Code Talker, received blankets during the 30th Annual Northeastern State University Symposium on the American Indian. NSU alumnus Rennard Strickland, dean of the University of Oregon School of Law, also was honored with a blanket. The Indian Heritage Committee also invited Navajo Code Talkers, but they were unable to attend. Chibitty made the trip from Tulsa, while Childers, a Muscogee tribal member, came from Broken Arrow. "During World War II, [Code Talkers] used their native language as an unbreakable code to relay very sensitive messages," said Dr. Larry Williams, NSU president. Chibitty enlisted in the Army in January 1941. He was assigned to special duty with the U.S. Army Signal Corps and later assigned to the Fourth Infantry Division at Fort Benning, Ga. He was one of 26 Comanche Code Talkers. After the D-day invasion the Code Talkers helped military officials get vital information to each other. Childers earned his Congressional Medal of Honor on Sept. 22, 1943, near Oliveto, Italy. He broke his foot while marching, and was waiting outside an aid station for treatment, when the station took a direct hit and exploded. Crawling back to his company, Childers saw Germans firing from a hill. Using his carbine as a crutch, he led eight enlisted men in an attack, killing two snipers. At one point, he threw a rock into a machine gun nest, making the Germans believe it was a grenade. They jumped out of the nest and into Childers' line of fire. Childers and his men then knocked out another machine gun, went further up the hill, and captured a mortar observer. "Three Oklahomans were recipients of the Medal of Honor, and two of them were Native Americans," Williams said. "There were many, many stories untold, all across this great state of ours and this great nation." Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chad Smith welcomed a court decision that Oklahoma could not be an English-only state. If the native languages had been forbidden, the nation would not have had the ability to use the talents of Code Talkers such as Chibitty. Several speakers praised the patriotism of Indians in America's wars. Veterans of several wars listened from the audience, some wearing the insignia of military or veterans groups, others in plain clothes. Strickland said many non-Indians are astonished at the patriotism Indians demonstrate. "They are surprised because patriotism seems inconsistent with the tragic treatments Native Americans have suffered," he said. He noted that after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, one newspaper published a photo of Geronimo, labeling him an "early terrorist." But Indians have always defended their land and their people, he said. "Today, we honor Native American warriors," he said. "This celebration is right and proper, if not belated. Indians served the United states at a rate substantially higher than their percentage of the population in every war in the 20th century." More than a third of able-bodied Indian men age 18 to 50 served in World War II, Strickland said. Participation in some tribes was as high as 70 to 75 percent. Women also served in numerous capacities. "Indian veterans were proud and glad that they went to war," Strickland said. "All of us face battles in our lives and the lives of our tribes." Today's warriors may have a briefcase, a paintbrush or a test tube for their weapons, he said. But all are serving their people and their countries. During the ceremony, participants unveiled a plaque dedicated to veterans. It will be placed at NSU to honor their contributions. One NSU faculty member, Dr. James Wilhite, received a special honor. Wilhite, a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, received his official promotion to full colonel. Childers made the presentation. Wilhite is a professor of curriculum and instruction. Cherokee Nation Deputy Chief Hastings Shade said everyone can relate to someone who is a veteran. "Each one of us has had a loved one, a friend, to serve," he said. "We who have not seen combat do not know what these veterans have gone through - sacrifices, many, many sacrifices." Events later Wednesday afternoon included lectures, a presentation by Wilhite on "Duty, Honor, and Country," and a video documentary on the Navajo Code Talkers. Copyright c. 2002 Tahlequah Daily Press. --------- "RE: Hopi Court Hearings" --------- Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 17:02:45 +0000 From: Moderator Subj: Hopi Court Hearings Mailing List: Big Mountain List From: Marsha Monestersky URGENT POST USING THIS E-MAIL ADDRESS!! Dear Big Mountain Supporters, This is a posting from Marsha Monestersky I wanted to let you know about 2 upcoming hearings in Hopi court, Keams Canyon, AZ. Thursday, April 11, 2002, Marsha Monestersky will be appearing pro se to give oral argument in Hopi appellate court. Thursday, April 18, 2002, S. Dennison Smith, Esq. will represent Jerry Lane in a wood cutting violation in Hopi tribal court. It is with sadness I that I found out about the death of Arlene Hamilton, a human rights activist and a great person. I wanted to let you know, whether or not I am communicating with you, I am continuing to work on Dine' legal issues and follow the postings to the Big Mountain list. Thank you, Yours sincerely, Marsha Monestersky The Hopi Tribe is considering joint development agreement with Reliant Energy Mesa Vista, LLC, a subsidiary of Reliant Resources, Inc. of Houston, Texas for a 1,200 megawatt 'dry-cooled' coal-fired power gerenationg station on its reservation lands in northern Arizona. And now, in addition to more energy, plans are underway to use more water.... The following is the text of an article in the Eagle Eye, April 4, 2002 entitled: "Federal government: Hopi and Navajo people won't be part of decision on Black Mesa coal and water mining." In a move that has shocked the nation from the halls of Washington to the hills of Black Mesa, Arizona, the U.S. Office of Surface Mining (OSM) has denied the right of Hopi and Navajo people to determine their own futures. "The U.S. Office of Surface Mining has once again shown utter disrespect for the rights of Indian people and violated its own principles of environmental justice," said Black Mesa Trust Executive Director Vernon Masayesva. Mr. Masayesva was responded to OSM's refusal to meet with Hopi and Navajo people to discuss the evaluation process for Peabody Energy's most recent mining permit applications. In January of this year, the coal company asked OSM for permission to expand its coal mining operations on Black Mesa and to use 32% more water from the already depleted N-aquifer to slurry coal from the Black Mesa Mine to the Mohave Generating Station in Laughlin, Nevada. Peabody currently uses about 4,400 acre feet a year of N-aquifer water. Their new permit application asks to use 5,700 acre feet-enough water to cover a football field more than a mile deep in water. Peabody also requested a life-of-mine permit for the Black Mesa mine. In a February 17 letter to Brent Walquist, OSM's Regional Director, Black Mesa Trust formally requested that the Office of Surface Mining halt consideration of these applications until a fair process for public comment on the matter could be devised. The Trust asked that OSM representatives come to Flagstaff to being a dialogue with the Hopi and Navajo people about what that process would be, citing OSM's legal responsibility to consult meaningfully with the Native people affected by Peabody Energy's coal mining activities. "The Hopi and Navajo people need to sit down with OSM and develop a plan that gives all interested parties access to all of the information they need before they can comment on Peabody's permit applications," said Mr. Masayesva at that time. According to Mr. Masayesva, such a plan would at the very least include local presentations and explanations of the coal company's highly technical permit applications in the Hopi and Navajo languages. Many of the people who would be affected if the mining applications are approved do not speak or read English, the only language on the applications is now available. In his March 6 response to Black Mesa Trust's request, Mr. Walquist flatly refused to reconsider the public comment process for the applications except to extend the public comment period from March 29 to April 29. Further, he asserted that Peabody would be required to publish notices of the proposed mining permit revisions only in English, stating that "Hopi s not yet a written language." Hopi is, of course, a written language-several new dictionaries of the language have been published in the last few years, and words in Hopi have been recorded in writing for more than four hundred years. "At the beginning of the twenty-first century, Indian people will no longer tolerate such treatment, unchallenged cultural imperialism is a thing of the past," said Mr. Masayesva on March 27. "The Office of Surface Mining, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Secretary of the Interior must be required to enforce the spirit and letter of the law intended to protect not only our natural resources but also our religious sites, our identity and authenticity as discrete peoples within a pluralistic society, and our inalienable right to self-preservation as unique individuals and cultures," he said. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 16:46:34 +0000 From: Moderator Subj: BIGMTLIST correction Posted by request. --Bob Dorman --------------------------- From: MlnBob at aol.com Dear friends; This is a correction to the 4/06/02 post regarding legal representation of HPL Navajos. I was one of the attorneys for both Arrick Crittenden and the five women arrested at last years Sundance. Neither I nor the other attorneys involved in those two cases are "Navajo Nation" attorneys. We are private attorneys who the Nation contracted with. Jeff Porturica is being compensated for Arrick's case in the same way. Also, we did not "take over" the case from Jeff. We entered the case as co-counsel with him and he continued to be involved in Arrick's representation. Bob Malone ========================================= Please visit http://www.theofficenet.com/~redorman/pagea~1.htm for more background on the Big Mountain relocation issue. To post to the list, email your message to icnb@crosswinds.net. To subscribe, send an email to: BIGMTLIST-subscribe@topica.com. --------- "RE: Dine' Bidziil Meet draws in Crowds" --------- Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 08:19:44 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DINE' BIDZIIL" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.gallupindependent.com/todaysnews.html#anchor3 Dine' Bidziil meet draws in crowds Larry Di Giovanni Staff Writer SHIPROCK - More than 250 Dine' spent at least part of their time Saturday at the Dine' Bidziil Coalition gathering inside the Shiprock Chapter House, which brought together a large cross section of Dine' citizens: Navajo elders, college-age students, moms and dads with children, blue-collar and white-collar Navajo workers, plus plenty of politicians. Leaders from close to 20 Dine' grassroots groups who form the Dine' Bidziil (Navajo Strength) Coalition were represented, the hosts being the grassroots Dine' Nationalists and Dine' Sovereignty Defense Association. Among the dignitaries who paid their respects to the coalition and its causes were Navajo presidential candidates Joe Shirley, Edison Wauneka and Milton Bluehouse Sr., and council Delegates Wallace Charley (Shiprock), J. C. Begay (Red Valley/Cove), and Ervin Keeswood (Hogback). Shiprock Chapter President Duane "Chili" Yazzie welcomed all in attendance. On a long table perched on the chapter floor, two grassroots groups gained serious attention because of a few key factors: The Black Mesa Water Coalition and ECHOES ( Educating Communities while Healing and Offering Environmental Support) consist of Navajos and Hopis working together on common causes. The groups also consist of well-educated, university-age tribal members who want to have a voice. "We believe in the power of everyone here, and we're looking to them for support," said Enei Begaye of Shonto, Ariz., a member of the Flagstaff- based Black Mesa Water Coalition. The Black Mesa group continues to request that Peabody Coal Co. stop pumping Navajo Aquifer water at a rate of 3.3 million gallons per day. N- Aquifer water, relied on by western Navajos and Hopis as their only drinking water, is leased by Peabody as a means of slurrying coal to Laughlin, Nev., for use by Navajo Generating Station. The group wants Peabody to use an alternative form of transportation. Joined by fellow Black Mesa Water Coalition members Wahleah Johns and Roberto Nutlouis, the trio emphasized that slurrying coal by water is an "obsolete" method of transportation and has cost Navajos and Hopis their well and spring water. "Regardless of whether it's being depleted, or not, it's pristine water, sole-source drinking water," Begaye said. "It shouldn't be mixed with coal." "Other issues seem to interfere with our water, like casinos," Johns said. ECHOES is a group that was influential in stopping a pumice mining operation near Flagstaff. Its members wants the nearby San Francisco Peaks turned into traditional and cultural property for the tribes. Group member Kelvin Long said he enjoyed the chance to travel from the western part of the Navajo reservation and meet in Shiprock with fellow members from the Shiprock, eastern and central areas on common issues of concern. He also belongs to the Black Mesa Water Coalition. "It's really good to see so many elders here," Long said. "In Flagstaff, most of the people we see and hear from are youth." Saturday's topics, in order of importance from the view of Dine' Nationalists President Norman Brown of Shiprock, were: Navajo water rights, a topic due to come before the Navajo Nation Council Tuesday; the matter of a tribal corporation assuming management of Navajo health care, also set to be heard by the council today or Tuesday; and the always hotly followed issue of Navajo government reform. Still another important issue was alleged civil rights violations occurring on the reservation brought about by Dine' children not receiving teachings in Navajo language and culture. "They're noble people," Brown said of his fellow grassroots activists. "Everyone who wants to participate in Navajo government deserves to have a voice." Dine' Bidziil is planning another peaceful march on Window Rock April 17 to protest the proposed Indian Health Service-Public Law 638 contract, said Doo da IHS 638 Committee leader Larson Manuelito. He and other coalition members call Navajo leaders' continued effort to force a takeover of health care on the Dine' people a gawdy-looking "roof" with lots of dollars signs attached - but one that is without a "solid foundation" to build on first. They say that foundation has to be the support of the Navajo people, which hasn't occurred. Starting with first things first this week - today's and Tuesday's Navajo Nation Council special session - coalition members believe that if Navajo tribal delegates don't drastically change the direction of Navajo water rights, specifically, pursuing a major claim on the Colorado River, the Navajo reservation's future existence may be in peril. Brown believes that until both sides of the Navajos' water rights issue are heard, there can be no resolution. He added that until now, only the status quo has stated its case - those delegates and tribal employees who support tribal water rights attorney Stanley Pollack. Coalition members, backing long-time efforts of the Dine' Sovereignty Defense Association, believe the "other side" of water rights must be given its due before the full council. Along those lines are lines being drawn in the sand: a growing number of council delegates back Navajo tribal hydrologist Jack Utter being able to state his case on the issue. Brown said if Utter and coalition members aren't allowed to be heard before the council, they will campaign against the delegates who prevented it from happening. "It was brought out from the elders here and before, 'Why has the Navajo Nation Council refused to allow Dine' Bidziil or any elders to talk about the future of their water? Why?'" Brown posed. The coalition invited Pollack to give a presentation Saturday, but he didn't even acknowledge the invitation, Brown said, adding, "Mr. Stanley Pollack has no stake in this. He can leave our reservation tomorrow, and we'll still be stuck without water." Utter was one of Saturday's most focused-on speakers. Using charts and handouts, Utter explained how 12 small tribes in Arizona have not only received sizable Colorado River claims after collaborating with attorneys who work for them, not against them; but are now in control of 1 million acre-feet of water per year. That is enough water for five million off- reservation urban users, and enough so that these tribes can lease water to suburban users in Phoenix and Tucson - earning millions upon millions of dollars each year in the process. As a comparison, Dine' on the reservation - nearly half of whom have to haul their water from wells and other sources, if they can find sources that aren't dried up - live on 12,000 acre-feet of water per year. That figure excludes farm irrigation water from the San Juan River and Navajo Indian Irrigation Project (NIIP) water, which is used for the tribal farm and not to meet Navajos' domestic water needs. Dine' Sovereignty members continually emphasize that each day passing without the Navajo Nation pursuing its Colorado River rights is another day that Navajo water flows downstream to other users. It is also another day that Dine' water is being pursued by outsiders, and another day heading toward a time when there will be no water left to send to the Navajo reservation - even if the tribe finally receive a settlement of some kind. If the Navajo Nation finally realizes and acts on its water Colorado River rights, its potential claim is so huge that it will change the entire economy of the American southwest. That is what its water competitors and Pollack are afraid of, group members believe. Copyright c. 2002 Gallup Independent. --------- "RE: Tribes voice Opposition to DM&E Project" --------- Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 08:18:31 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DM&E OPPOSITION" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.yankton.net/stories/041002/new_0410020012.shtml Tribes Voice Opposition To DM&E Project Wednesday, April 10, 2002 RAPID CITY (AP) -- Six American Indian tribes are among groups filing appeals to a federal board's approval of the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad's $1.5 billion coal train project. The Sioux tribes appealing the Surface Transportation Board decision are the Oglala, Cheyenne River, Crow Creek, Lower Brule, Rosebud and Standing Rock. The railroad, based in Brookings, wants to rebuild and extend its line into Wyoming's Powder River Basin to haul as much as 100 million tons of coal a year to the Mississippi River and beyond. Signs point to the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty as the basis for at least some of the appeals. That treaty with the U.S. government gave Sioux tribes all of western South Dakota. In the 1980s, the U.S. Supreme Court awarded the tribes a cash settlement for the Black Hills, which they refused. Attorney Richard Streeter, who represents the Sioux Nation, said the STB's treatment of Indian treaties likely would be one of the issues in the appeal. He said historic preservation, religious freedom, grave protection and other issues may be a part of it as well. The deadline to file appeals to the STB's decision was April 1. Many earlier challenges have been consolidated into one case before the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis. Opponents include the cities of Rochester and Mankato, Minn., Olmsted County, Minn., the Mayo Foundation, the Sierra Club, the Mid-States Coalition for Progress and dozens of individual landowners. The opponents want the STB to rethink its Jan. 30 decision and deny or alter the permit to allow the DM&E's project. Issues abound in the case, said Streeter, who also represents the Mid- States Coalition for Progress and about 60 individual landowners along the western portion of the line. He said the case might turn on some other key issue not related to treaty claims. But he would not talk about them, saying he did not want to tip his hand to attorneys for the STB. Treaty rights issues will involve mainly the federal lands that the railroad would cross, according to Nancy Darnell of Newcastle, Wyo., leader of the Mid-States Coalition. Darnell said she thinks her fellow ranchers and the tribes can cooperate to press their appeal. The STB's decision said if the railroad's plan violates the 1868 treaty, then all private land also would be in violation. "It's pretty far out that private land would be affected. That's a scare tactic raised by the STB," Darnell said. Copyright c. 2002 Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan. --------- "RE: BIA Election leads to Rocky Boy Protest" --------- Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 08:19:44 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ROCKY BOY" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/ BIA election leads to protest Associated Press ROCKY BOY (AP) - About 100 people disturbed about an election held by the Bureau of Indian Affairs held a peaceful protest march Thursday. Calling themselves the Chippewa Cree Grassroots People, the marchers began their quarter-mile walk at a church and continued to the Chippewa Cree tribal office, where they requested reconsideration of the March 6 secretarial election. The protesters said BIA field representative James Montes did not satisfy a requirement that all eligible voters receive mailed notice of secretarial elections. The protesters also said voters were mislead about a tribal amendment presented in the election last month. The amendment says tribal members will lose their enrollment at Rocky Boy if they are enrolled at another reservation in the United States or Canada and do not discontinue the second enrollment. Most Rocky Boy's residents have affiliations in Canada, the protesters said. Montes acknowledged Thursday that he did not meet the requirement for mail notification. He said he spread word of the election through area media outlets and by posting letters at 10 or so sites on the reservation. Montes said he did not have an up-to-date list for use in issuing notice by mail. About 175 of the 5,000 or so people eligible to vote cast ballots. Results of the election are under review by a lawyer in the BIA's regional office at Billings. "I did the best I could to notify people, by using the media, newspapers and word of mouth," Montes said. "Sure, they have a right to be upset." But he added that many people were informed about the election. Several Rocky Boy police officers observed the march from a distance. One stood outside the tribal office as protesters arrived. Copyright 2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Copyright c. The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Winnebago Leader charged in Gas-tax Dispute" --------- Date: Sat, 13 Apr 2002 09:00:36 -0700 From: "mikola 18" Subj: "Winnebago leader charged in Kansas gas-tax dispute" Mailing List: ndn-aim http://www.omaha.com "Winnebago leader charged in Kansas gas-tax dispute" Saturday, April 13, 2002 By HENRY J. CORDES World-Herald Staff Writer WINNEBAGO, Neb. - "The State of Kansas has issued an arrest warrant for the chairman of Nebraska's Winnebago Indian tribe, ratcheting up a dispute over payment of gasoline taxes. Tribal Chairman John Blackhawk expressed outrage over the charges, which followed Kansas' seizure of two fuel trucks owned by a tribal fuel distribution business. The trucks were seized for alleged failure to pay the Kansas fuel tax. Also charged is Lance Morgan, CEO of the tribe's economic development arm. Both men face six counts of failure to pay fuel taxes, a misdemeanor. "I think Kansas would take it pretty hard if someone in Nebraska filed a criminal charge against their governor," Morgan said. "We don't appreciate the State of Kansas filing an action against the leader of our tribe." At issue is whether the Winnebago had an obligation to pay the fuel tax on gas it was distributing to three other tribes in Kansas. The Winnebago say such tribe-to-tribe commerce is recognized by the federal government and protected from state interference. The tribe's gas distribution company has created 25 jobs on the impoverished reservation 60 miles north of Omaha. Officials in the Kansas Attorney General's Office would not confirm the charges, only saying it had issued warrants for two individuals it would not name. Morgan said he was told of the charges Thursday when he was trying to negotiate with a representative of the attorney general over return of the trucks. "He said, 'I've got a shock for you boys,'" Morgan said. "They are completely ignoring the tribal aspect of these transactions and treating us like common criminals." Morgan said negotiations ground to a halt when Kansas officials insisted that any agreement include the tribe paying more than $1 million in fuel taxes the state says is owed. If the tribe were forced to pay the tax, it would be at a great loss, Morgan said, because the price it charged for the gas never reflected a tax. Morgan said Kansas has a reputation for bullying the tribes in its state, but the Winnebago are also known for standing up for their rights. The tribe is considering going to federal court to compel Kansas officials to release the tribe's property. Morgan also joked that it might go into its own tribal court and charge Kansas with theft of property. "I doubt we can do that," Morgan said. "But if Kansas wants to play this game, we're ready to play it, too." Copyright c. 2002 Omaha World-Herald. ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe to this group,send an email to: ndn-aim-subscribe@egroups.com Archived on line at: http://www.eScribe.com FREE LEONARD PELTIER --------- "RE: Interior Clerks still Untrained" --------- Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 08:19:44 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="INTERIOR CLERKS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.daily-times.com/Stories/0,1002,6574%257E522815,00.html Interior clerks still untrained Friday, April 12, 2002 WASHINGTON (AP) - An official appointed by Congress to fix a system of royalties from American Indian lands has "utterly failed" to train workers in how to handle vital records, a court-appointed watchdog said Thursday. "Left unchecked, the consequences to Indian beneficiaries could prove irreversible," wrote special master Alan Balaran in documents filed Thursday. The Interior Department manages $500 million annually in royalties from oil and gas drilling, mining, grazing and other uses of Indian land. For more than a century, however, the Indian trust money was sloppily managed by the department, and money intended for the Indians was lost, misappropriated or never collected. That is now the subject of a class-action lawsuit before U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, who appointed Balaran to supervise reform efforts. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit claim the government squandered more than $10 billion. Congress has also told the department to fix the system, and created the office of special trustee for that purpose. But despite promises three years ago from senior officials in the office to train employees to handle trust fund documents correctly, Balaran found employee training to be lacking. Copyright c. 2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 1999-2002 MediaNews Group, Inc. --------- "RE: Chippewa Cree meets to discuss Suit against BIA" --------- Date: Sun, 14 Apr 2002 19:11:14 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SUIT AGAINST BIA" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20020414/localnews/ Chippewa Cree group meets to discuss suit against BIA By JENNIFER PEREZ Tribune Staff Writer Sunday, April 14, 2002 Members of the Chippewa Cree Grassroots People met with a Blackfeet leader in Great Falls Saturday to discuss filing an Indian class-action lawsuit against the Bureau of Indian Affairs citing centuries-long violations of federal and tribal law. The group marched Thursday to protest a secretarial election held on Rocky Boy's Reservation in March in which 174 of the tribe's 5,000 members passed four amendments addressing tribal membership, elections and criminal penalties. BIA field representative James Montes acknowledged that he did not meet the requirement that all eligible voters receive mailed notice of the election. After the protest, members of the Blackfeet, Fort Belknap and Crow tribes contacted the Grassroots People's appointed spokesman Russell Standing Rock saying Montana tribes should unite together to seek justice and overturn illegal elections. The 50 members and Al Reevis Sr., a member of the Blackfeet Original Allotment Heirs Association and chairman of the Montana Indian Land Owners Association, voted unanimously in a four-hour meeting Saturday evening to join forces in the suit. A meeting will be held in Great Falls Saturday for tribal members interested in supporting the suit. Copyright c. 2002 Great Falls Tribune. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Paper Clips and Lip Service for Trust Records" --------- Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 08:19:44 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LIP SERVICE" http://www.indianz.com/SmokeSignals/Headlines/ Paper clips and lip service for trust records FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 2002 A court official hurled another salvo against the Department of Interior on Thursday as part of a particularly acrimonious investigation that has lasted more than a year. Shortly after Secretary Gale Norton took control of the department, special master Alan Balaran announced he would probe a high-level trust reform office. He has since encountered resistance, delays and attacks on his work. In the process, a department employee was reassigned to a top Washington, D.C., post after Balaran revealed he couldn't document progress reported to a federal court. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth eventually scolded the manager, Ken Rossman, for trying to hamstring the investigation. It's all part of the ongoing war between the government and Balaran, whose penultimate work remains a scathing description of how easy it is to break into computer systems housing the trust assets of 300,000 American Indians. According to Balaran, the paper records aren't faring much better. In his latest report, he charges that the Office of the Special Trustee, under the direction of a Clinton administration appointee, has conducted "useless" training sessions, given "lip service" to the protection of Indian assets and ignored recommendations by their own experts -- all part of a string of "broken promises" to the people whose funds are at the heart of the Cobell class action. "In the final analysis," he wrote, "[the failures] add to the grievous perception that trust records deserve no more special care than an agency personnel file, a payroll record or a requisition for paper clips." If it sounds harsh, it probably is. Throughout a year of work into the Office of Trust Records, which Rossman directed before being removed last December, Balaran has been accused of bias and overstepping his boundaries by government and private attorneys. Balaran has fired back, twice rejecting the Bush administration's attempts to limit his probe. Government attorneys wanted to prevent him from interviewing Rossman and others in person and they sought advance approval of his reports. They also tried to hold back documents and other information while Rossman waged his own personal battle. Fees might be awarded as Lamberth rules on pending court motions in order to appease Deputy Secretary J. Steven Griles, who said lamented that top officials and senior managers like Rossman are being held captive by the lawsuit. Balaran has proposed his own solution. He recommended last October that action be taken on Norton "on all fronts" for a "deliberate attempt to conceal relevant information" about the case. Whether that will happen remains to be seen. Lamberth is still deliberating on the Bush administration's contempt trial, which ended in February. Meanwhile, contempt citations are still in the air for dozens of past and present government officials, employees and attorneys. In response to Balaran's report implicating the Interior and Justice Department for erased e-mails, Norton's lawyers said no one could be punished for the transgression. Copyright c. 2000-2001 Noble Savage Media, LLC/Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: Funding Crunch and Internal Bickering" --------- Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 08:18:31 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NATIVE RIGHTS HAMPERED" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canoe.ca/NationalTicker/CANOE-wire.Native-Infighting.html Funding crunch, internal bickering hamper national native rights group April 9, 2002 OTTAWA (CP) -- A funding crunch and leadership squabbles spurred an urgent meeting this week of top chiefs of Canada's most prominent native rights group. Matthew Coon Come, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, was called by his 10-chief executive to a meeting Monday in Montreal. The gathering was called when Coon Come missed an executive conference call last week after being a no-show at a major leaders' meeting in Winnipeg last month. On both occasions, the national chief -- a devout Christian -- was in Tampa, Fla. where two of his sons are enrolled in bible college, said his spokesman, Jean LaRose. Coon Come had justifiable cause for missing the meetings, said LaRose, but his absenteeism stirred criticism and inspired a recent story in the satirical magazine Frank. Rumours of Coon Come's possible ouster aren't true, LaRose said. And Bill Erasmus, the assembly's vice-chief for the Northwest Territories, said concern about leadership is not unusual in any group. "People may be concerned about the national chief's leadership but that's not unlike any leader," he said. "We don't always agree. Each national chief has their own style." Funding woes topped the agenda at Monday's meeting, Erasmus said. He declined to publicly elaborate on the leadership issue. Coon Come was unavailable to comment Tuesday. Indian Affairs has cut the group's cash flow from about $19 million to $10.5 million since Coon Come was elected in 2000 after vowing to get tough with Ottawa on native rights. The department has so far committed just $1.5 million this fiscal year. Officials are still reviewing value for money given to the assembly last year, said Nancy Pine, spokeswoman for Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault. Nault has said anything over $6 million is a lot for a political group, and that his focus is native communities -- not native politicians. The assembly staff has shrunk to 40 full- and part-time workers from 140 a year ago, and stress is building, said LaRose. "We're still being expected to produce the same volume of work" to address native housing, health and social problems, he said. "But if the minister's plan was to totally demoralize and destabilize the AFN, I'm not sure he has succeeded. He may be doing the opposite: encouraging people to tough it out and show him he's wrong, we're right." The assembly has butted heads with Nault over the minister's plan to introduce new legislation this spring governing how Canada's more than 600 First Nations are run. Coon Come has accused Nault of punishing the AFN, which represents 633 chiefs, because it rebuffed his plans to update the 1876 Indian Act. Many chiefs say they weren't properly consulted and that the new legislation could erode native rights. Others are co-operating with the government. Nault denied Tuesday that he is stalling budget talks with the assembly, and said he'll meet with the executive "soon." He hopes to introduce new legislation by July that would better regulate elections, improve administration and enhance fiscal accountability on Canada's native reserves. The assembly threatened roadblocks and an "aggressive" action plan last July if Nault would not agree to a broader process that would include social and economic needs. Coon Come has since toned down his rhetoric, focusing instead on a political campaign to muster support from MPs and senators to fight Nault's efforts. But last month about 200 chiefs -- in Coon Come's absence -- approved an action plan this summer, including a national day of protest. Copyright c. 2002, Canoe, a division of Netgraphe Inc. --------- "RE: Treaty Indian's Life not always all Roses" --------- Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2002 09:10:52 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TREATY INDIAN" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canada.com/saskatoon/story Treaty Indian's life not always all roses Monday - April 15, 2002 Ken Noskiye Saskatoon StarPhoenix I am a Treaty Indian. At least that's my legal definition. I choose to say I am from the Cree Nation. I realize Saskatchewan, in particular Saskatoon, hears many stories about aboriginal people. This makes sense, of course, as there is a huge aboriginal population in this city. However, aboriginal means a wide scope of different nations. There is the Metis, Inuit and Indian (once again a legal definition, according to the Canadian Constitution anyway, eh). There are very few Treaty Indians, with a clear First Nation blood ancestory, that could truly claim to be from the founding nations of North America. I am one of those few. I know I am a precious commodity -- thousands of jobs are at stake to ensure my continued survival. No other race has its very own federal and provincial ministerial portfolios. Then there are tens of thousands of fully employed people in different departments who are tracking a clear path, just so I continue to survive. No Indian equals no jobs for so many. I have no problem with that though, as I have met many people who work within these different departments and I appreciate their positive intentions. But I always thought there should be something in this for me. Afterall, I am a true flesh and blood Cree Indian. I even have the high cheek bones to prove it -- along with my (legal) Treaty card. I realize there are a lot of misconceptions of what exactly Indian, or First Nations, people get for "free." Once again I will remind you I am a genuine right-from-the-rez Cree Indian. Further to that, I will remind you this is Canada. Do you really believe there is something for free? Give me a break. OK fine, I admit, I get five dollars a year. This, however, is a treaty that was signed between the Crown (not Canada) and the those who thought of the seventh generation: me. Most of these stories you hear about Indians getting everything for free is totally untrue. I even met a person who believed Indian people get free bus, air and cab fare. I don't have very much in life but let me tell you I paid taxes like every one else. Of course there were a few I was able to skip. Once again, give me a break, most people have their own little loopholes and if you are not taking advantage of them, well it's your loss. I am an Indian who thinks like like a white man when it comes to money: I explore all avenues. My whole point is that I have not gained very much out of all this. That is not to say there are not benefits to being a Treaty Indian. Of course there are. These, however, are all binding treaties between different nations. Nations that signed to build the greatest continent as long as the rivers flow, the grass grows and the sun glows. Let me assure you, these treaties will continue for thousands of years. Because this is what makes all it work. But, once again, I thought there should be something in it for me. Then I heard about Treaty Eight Indians being totally tax-exempt. It just so happens my reserve is on that treaty. Finally, I thought, something in it for me. I was ready to dance my tax-exempt ass, just like that guy on that Viagra television commercial, all the way to the bank. I phoned my chief and was told there are still "legal diffculties," which usually means lawyers are getting rich somewhere. Noskiye can be reached at noskiye.k@sk.sympatico.ca Copyright c. 2002 Saskatoon StarPhoenix. --------- "RE: Whale Hunt Season set to begin quietly in Canada" --------- Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2002 09:10:52 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CANADIAN WHALE HUNT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canoe.ca/NationalTicker/CANOE-wire.Whale-Hunt.html Whale hunt season set to begin quietly in Canada, amid controversy in U.S. April 14, 2002 VANCOUVER (CP) -- As a Washington state Indian tribe prepares to resume a hunt for grey whales this summer and those who oppose the hunt get ready to protest, Inuit are quietly getting ready for their own whale hunt in Canada's north. Inuit in the eastern and western Arctic hunt about a thousand small whales annually, according to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The Inuvialuit and Nunavut people hunt about 300 to 400 narwhal and hundreds of Beluga. Six endangered bowhead whales have been hunted since 1996 with permits from the Fisheries Department. "It's one of the traditional things that after 70, 80 years of being banned from harvesting, it's nice to get back to the system where a harvest our great-grandparents used to do," said Ben Kovic, of the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board. The subsistence hunt is culturally and spiritually important, Kovic said. And while there was some opposition when Inuit first applied to resume the bowhead hunt in 1996, these days it largely goes unnoticed. But when the Makah take to the water this summer in hopes of killing their second grey whale since the hunt resumed in 1996, opponents say they will be there to try and stop it. Whaling critics from Canada and the United States have already begun to gather in a small fishing town close to Neah Bay. The first protest took place Saturday. The Makah hadn't hunted whales for 70 years, said Canadian Julie Woodyer, of the World Whale Police. "In fact, there are very few Makah alive that even remember the tribe hunting whales," she said. The Makah stopped hunting grey whales in the 1920s when the whale population along the Pacific coast declined. The population has now rebounded and stands at about 26,000 migrating between Mexico and the Bering Sea. The International Whaling Commission approved a 20-whale catch spread over five years. No more than five whales can be taken in any one year. The grey whale is no longer considered an endangered species. That's unlike the bowhead, which is hunted in northern Canada. Land claims settled with the Inuit include the right to hunt Beluga and Narwhal, but a permit is needed to hunt bowhead. Brian Wong, a spokesman for the Fisheries Department, said the northern Canada whale hunts are basically for food. "It's well accepted that the Inuit, or the Eskimo both in Alaska and Russia and Canada, do rely on marine mammals for food," Wong said. "There's much less of a controversy that way." The isolated location is also a factor, he said. There are some small whale stocks that have been overhunted. Wong said the department and the Inuit are working together on a management plan. Kovic said the Inuit have strict guidelines governing conservation. One bowhead can be harvested from the Baffin Bay population, which stands between 200 and 300 whales, every 13 years. One can be hunted from the 300 to 400 bowhead in the Fox Basin in north Hudson's bay every two to three years. There is no hunting in whale groups whose populations are unknown, he said. The Canadian whale hunt pales in comparison to Alaskan aboriginals, who hunt about 50 bowhead a year, according to the Fisheries Department. But it is in Washington state that whaling opponents have taken their stand. "The Arctic hunt is quite a bit different," Woodyer said. "The primary difference is that it is true subsistence, that the native tribes that are living off it have actually been doing that all along and it is part of their food source that they count upon." Michael Lawrence, a member of the Makah Tribal Council, said criticism of the hunt has dissipated since they first took to the water in 1999. But they won't know what will happen until they put a boat in the water this summer. Lawrence said he doesn't know why the Makah have attracted such criticism when hunting in Canada's north goes relatively unnoticed. "I don't know what the difference is," he said. Critics fear the Makah hunt has the potential to become commercial, with the tribe selling its catch. Lawrence said that is not the plan. "I have been here on the council for, I'm going into my second year, and that's never been brought up as even an option," he said. Copyright c. 2002, Canoe, a division of Netgraphe Inc. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Fisheries Panel reports in Nunavut's Favour" --------- Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2002 08:49:06 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PANEL FAVORS NUNAVUT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://north.cbc.ca/template/servlet/View?filename=apr10fish Fisheries panel reports in Nunavut's favour Apr 10 2002 08:54 AM MDT Iqaluit, Nunavut - Fishing groups in Nunavut are applauding a final report by an independent panel on access to the Atlantic fisheries since it recommends more fish for the territory. The panel was set up by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans two years ago. In its recently released report, it makes recommendations on how to improve the process for deciding fish quotas. The panel's report says Nunavut doesn't have the same access to fish in waters near its shores as Atlantic provinces do and that needs to change. Nunavut's Department of Sustainable Development minister, Olayuk Akesuk, says he's pleased independent experts have confirmed what the government and other groups have been saying all along. "I think that's going to help a lot in our fishing industry," he says. "We want to see it succeed." The panel is recommending that no additional fish quotas be given off Nunavut shores to other provinces until the territory gets a major share of the fishing resources in adjacent waters. The territory has only 27 per cent of turbot quotas in a zone right off its shores and Nunavut's fisheries director, Carey Bonnell, says Atlantic provinces get two to four times that in their waters. "If the principle of adjacency applies in the rest of Atlantic Canada, and it does, then it has to apply in Nunavut, as a new jurisdiction, as well," he says. It is still not clear what the federal government will do with the recommendations. It will now review the report and no date is yet set for a response. Copyright c. 2002 CBC. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Metis want cooperation from Salt River" --------- Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2002 08:49:06 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="METIS SEEK HELP" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://north.cbc.ca/template/servlet/View?filename=apr10metis Metis want cooperation from Salt River First Nation Apr 10 2002 09:51 AM MDT Fort Smith, N.W.T. - Metis in the South Slave are looking at ways to tap into the resources in their backyard such as forestry, oil and gas, tourism, hydro and mineral development. At a meeting in Fort Smith, Metis pointed to their neighbours as a stumbling block to prosperity and discussion heated up at the Roaring Rapids Hall. Metis business people claim the Salt River First Nation often refuses to sign required permits. "We can't get permission to develop anything on our own land," explains Earl Evans, who has been trying to start a boat touring and caribou outfitting operation for two years. "I've lived here all my life but we have to get permission from the bands. "I respect their position. They're in the middle of a land claim, but we lived in this country all our life. Why can't we be part of some development here?" Hostility between the band and Metis could stand in the way of millions of dollars in investment, according to another Metis business person. "I don't think because one person says you can't have it, that everything should be shut down," says Richard Whitford. "I think that's going to hurt and destroy Fort Smith. There's concerns kids are leaving and not coming home." Whitford says prosperity depends on setting aside ancient rivalries and business tycoons often broker profitable deals in the boardroom despite personal animosity. He has offered to sponsor a feast in an effort to bring people together. Patti-Kay Hamilton reports for CBC North Radio from Fort Smith. Copyright c. 2002 CBC. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Yanomami demand return of Blood Samples" --------- Date: Tue, 9 Apr 2002 12:48:45 -0400 From: Amazon Alliance Subj: Brazil: Yanomami Indians Demand that Blood Samples Be Returned Mailing List: Amazon Alliance Yanomami indians demand that blood samples taken by North American scientists in 1967 be returned 05/04/2002 The Indians, with the support of an official request from the Public Attorney to the universities where the material is currently stored, will make their request during a seminar at Cornell University between the 5 and 7 April. The seminar will debate the ethics of scientific research and the protection of the genetic heritage of indigenous peoples This Friday (05/04), the yanomamis Davi Kopenawa, from the Demini region of Amazonas, Toto, from Toototobi, also in the state of Amazonas, Jose Serepino, from Venezuela, and Jo Cardoso de Oliveira, executive secretary of the Pro-Yanomami Commission, will arrive at Cornell Univeristy to participate in the seminar "Tragedy in Amazonia: Yanomami voices, academic controversy and research ethics", organised by the North American anthropologist Terence Turner. The debate about research ethics and the protection of the genetic heritage of indigenous peoples has become a crucial question among academics and scientists in the United States since the publication of the book "Darkness in El Dorado", by the British journalist, Patrick Tierney. Released in November 2000, the book, based on eleven years of research in Amazonia, alleges that blood sample were collected in various Yanomami villages in Venezuela and Brazil by the geneticist James Neel and the anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon between 1967 and 1968 in exchange for manufactured goods. According to the Pro-Yanomami Commission's Yanomami Bulletin, published last Tuesday, the principal questions to be debated by the participants in the seminar relate to violations of the Nuremberg Code, which in 1947 established an international code of conduct on ethical aspects related to research conducted on human beings - and the suspicion that the blood samples were reprocessed and continue to be used in new research without the knowledge or consent of the Indians. For the Yanomami, the seminar represents one more opportunity to demand the return of the blood samples, reinforcing the declaration made by Davi Kopenawa to participants in the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Anthropologists (AAA), which took place in Washington in 2001: "I would like to speak again about the book and the blood which was taken from my kin and taken from there and today is stored in a refridgerator. I would like to know what they want to do with this blood and why do they keep it. I want them to give the blood back to me so that I can take it back to Brazil and spill it into the river to make the shaman's spirit joyful". The Pro-Yanomami Commission has already localised some of the Yanomami blood samples, which are kept at the Anthropology departments of the State University of Pennsylvania and the University of Michigan. Public Ministry intervenes The Public Ministry is examining the question. The Assistant Attorney- General, Ela Wiecko Volkmer de Castilho, sent a document to the researchers Andrew Merriwether, of the University of Michigan, and Kenneth Weiss, of the State University of Pennsylvania, with ten questions about the existence of Yanomami blood samples, on 7 March. In Brazil, Resolution 196/96 determines that the National Commission on Research Ethics of the National Health Council must accompany requests to conduct research on special themes, including indigenous populations, research involving the participation of foreigners, as well as research which involves sending biological material abroad. As well as this measure, the Normative Instruction 01/95 determines that all national or foreign researchers who intend to enter indigenous territories to conduct scientific research must send their application to the president of the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI). Document sent by the Brazilian Public Attorney to the Universities of Michigan and Pennsylvania (United States) about the collection of blood samples from Yanomami Indians by North American researchers. Document no. 115/2002/CaDIM/MPF Brasilia, 7 March 2002 Subject: Yanomami blood Sir, We understand that, in the 1960s, American researchers took blood samples from Yanomami Indians, whose territory is located on the Brazilian-Venezuelan border. The samples were stored at the Penn State University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. We would like you to clarify the following questions: 1. Are there any samples of Yanomami blood in the laboratories of these universities? 2. How many samples are there and what is there state of conservation? 3. What is the origin of these samples? 4. Are there any documents proving that informed consent was obtained during the collection of the samples? 5. When were the samples collected in Brazil? Are there any documents regarding official authorisation, conceded by Brazilian institutions, for the research which gave permission to collect the blood samples? 6. What is the juridical-administrative status of the retention of these samples by the respective laboratories? 7. What are the links between the retention of the material and the use of Yanomami blood samples and the Human Genome Diversity Project and what is the relationship between this project and official institutions of the United States government, such as the US Department of Energy? 8. Were the samples reprocessed to extract DNA for use in new research? 9. Any there any documents proving that informed consent was obtained for this new research? 10. Were blood samples or Yanomami DNA ceded (donated or sold) to other laboratories, public or private? What was the nature of the contract? Which laboratories? I am enclosing a copy of the Brazilian Constitution which shows the legal right of the Public Federal Ministry to carry out this investigation. Yours faithfully, Ela Wiecko Volkmer de Castilho Assistent Attorney-General of the Republic (Indigenous Communities and Minorities) (Translated by Amigos da Terra - Amazonia Brasileira) --------- "RE: Saskatchewan Aboriginal Justice Hearings" --------- Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2002 09:10:52 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SASKATCHEWAN HEARINGS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canoe.ca/NationalTicker/CANOE-wire.Sask-Justice-Inquiry.html Saskatchewan aboriginal justice commission begins hearings this week April 14, 2002 REGINA (CP) -- A commission into the way aboriginal people are treated by the justice system in Saskatchewan takes its first steps this week with the start of public hearings. Prompted by the unexplained deaths of two men found frozen on the outskirts of Saskatoon, the three-year commission is to look at policing, corrections and other aspects of the justice system. It will also look at the broader economic and social causes of the disproportionate number of aboriginal people who get arrested and put in prison. "We're hoping that we'll be able to work together with the people of Saskatchewan to create, in the future, a healthier, a safer and a just community for the province," said Irene Fraser, one of five people who sit on the commission chaired by Alberta lawyer Willie Littlechild. The meetings begin Monday with a closed-door session with a small group of young people followed by a public meeting on Tuesday. The commission hopes to hold meetings in all the regions of the province over the coming year. "Hopefully, in addition to some of the problems that they've faced, they're going to come forward with some solutions, some future-looking ideas as to what kinds of changes we can make for reform of the justice system," Fraser said. Commissions examining the way aboriginal people are treated by the justice system are not new. This most recent investigation follows the Saskatchewan Indian and Metis Justice Review committees of 1992, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal People that reported in 1996 and the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry of Manitoba that reported in 1999. The Manitoba report suggested tribal courts based on culture and tradition could be the cornerstone of a separate legal system for aboriginal people. Conrad Lavalley, executive director of the Regina Friendship Centre, has invited several hundred people to attend the public meeting in Regina on Tuesday. "(The commission) wants to invite individuals from the public whether they're representing groups or whether they're just individuals who work in the justice system to come up to the head table and speak about their understanding of the justice system," Lavalley said. "It's going to be set up in a kind of way that there will be solutions and recommendations and offers rather than a hearing or an investigation." The commission is expected to deliver its first interim report later next month. In addition to Fraser, four other people sit on the commission including Prince Albert lawyer Hugh Harradence. Harradence presided as coroner at the inquests into the deaths of Lawrence Wegner and Rodney Naistus. Wegner and Naistus were each found frozen to death on the southern outskirts of Saskatoon within a 10-day period in late January and early February 2000. An RCMP task force that investigated the deaths and other cases of alleged mistreatment of aboriginal people by police during the same time period recommended no charges be laid in the deaths of Wegner or Naistus. The inquests concluded neither man's cause of death could be determined, although both made several recommendations suggesting changes to police practices. In another case involving an aboriginal man, two Saskatoon police officers were convicted of unlawful confinement for abandoning Darrell Night in freezing temperatures on the outskirts of the city. The officers, who each received an eight-month sentence, are appealing the conviction and are free on bail. Night survived and has launched a civil suit against the men, who were fired shortly after their conviction. Copyright c. 2002, Canoe, a division of Netgraphe Inc. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Unequal Justice in Rural Alaska" --------- Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2002 08:38:26 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="UNEQUAL JUSTICE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.adn.com/front/story/883731p-972092c.html Lawsuit claims unequal justice in rural Alaska OFF-ROAD: Villages want state to improve law enforcement. By Don Hunter Anchorage Daily News (Published: April 5, 2002) Two systems of justice exist in Alaska, and the one that serves predominantly Native villages off the road system is slower, less effective and dangerous for rural residents and the underpaid, undertrained village public safety officers hired to protect them, witnesses told a Superior Court judge in Anchorage on Thursday. Judge Sharon Gleason is presiding over a trial to decide the final issues in a lawsuit filed against the state government in 1999 by several villages, the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council and the Alaska Native Justice Center. Since the inception of the suit, most of the plaintiffs have been dismissed, along with some of the claims. What remains is an assertion that the state provides a lesser standard of law enforcement in off-road villages and that the difference amounts to a racially separate, unequal level of treatment. The remaining plaintiffs -- the villages of Akiachak and Tuluksak and several individuals -- have two former state troopers on their side. The plaintiffs want the judge to conclude that an unequal level of law enforcement exists in the off-road villages and to order the state to do something about it. Glenn Flothe, a 24-year veteran trooper who retired in 1998, testified that there is a substantial difference in the way laws are enforced in off- and on-road villages. In rural Alaska, troopers generally are posted in regional hubs like Bethel, Dillingham, Kotzebue and Nome. That means they may be anywhere from an hour to days away when trouble hits an off-road village, he said, compared to an average response time of 45 minutes to a town on the road system. In road towns, troopers are often a regular, integrated part of the community and their simple presence can deter criminal activity and public disturbances, said Flothe, a former commander of the trooper detachment based in Bethel. In a road community, for example, "it's not unusual for a trooper to drive out to areas where juveniles" are known to party and carouse, he said. In an off-road village, "the troopers are simply not there to deal with those kinds of problems." The village officers do their best, Flothe and others testified. But they receive only about one-sixth the training certified troopers and police officers receive, and they have to contact an "oversight trooper" before acting on a felony complaint. Chief assistant attorney general Dean Guaneli, representing the state, pointed out that village public safety officers provide a number of services besides simple law enforcement. Isn't it true, Guaneli asked Flothe, that the VPSOs also coordinate search-and-rescue efforts and are trained in fire suppression, water and boating safety and to provide emergency medical treatment? "That's right," Flothe said. "It's not just law enforcement; it's public safety for the community." Guaneli and assistant attorney general Jim Baldwin also tried to show it can take troopers a long time to respond to calls even on the road system. "Isn't it true that a single trooper on patrol (in some parts of the road system) has to cover an area the size of West Virginia?" the attorney asked. Flothe agreed. The VPSOs are supervised by state troopers, but they are paid by nonprofit arms of Native regional corporations and work under the direction of village councils. Josephine Stiles, director for the VPSO program operated by Kawerak Inc. for villages around Nome, said the fact that the village officers have less authority and go unarmed undermines their credibility in subsistence- dependent villages where almost everyone has a gun. Robin Lown, a former state trooper who now directs the VPSO program for the Tlingit-Haida Central Council in Southeast Alaska, agreed. In some cases, VPSOs must get a trooper go-ahead even before using a weapon to deal with a problem bear, he said. That can hurt their standing in villages. "They are not held in the same level of respect as the state trooper," Lown said. "That's my opinion." Lown said his unarmed VPSOs have been assaulted in the line of duty. But when an armed state trooper arrives, "they don't assault the trooper." Stiles said VPSOs normally are told not to try to intervene in dangerous situations in which, for example, an intoxicated person holes up with a weapon. What happens in a situation like that, asked Lawrence Aschenbrenner, a Native American Rights Fund attorney who is representing the plaintiffs. "Normally, the troopers would try to get there as soon as they could," Stiles said. But "the troopers do not have an aircraft in Nome," so they would have to charter a commercial flight. Like any citizen, VPSOs are authorized to use weapons in emergency situations to protect themselves or other people, but they don't undergo the training that certified officers receive in knowing when to use deadly force. The trial is expected to continue through next week. Reporter Don Hunter can be reached at dhunter@adn.com or 907 257-4349. Copyright c. 2002 The Anchorage Daily News. --------- "RE: Blackfeet vote to end Highway Patrol Pact" --------- Date: Sat, 13 Apr 2002 13:38:36 -0700 From: "mikola 18" Subj: "Blackfeet vote to end highway patrol pact, cite officers' racism" Mailing List: ndn-aim http://www.greatfallstribune.com "Blackfeet vote to end highway patrol pact, cite officers' racism" Saturday, April 13, 2002 By KAREN IVANOVA Tribune Regional Editor BROWNING, Montana -- "The Blackfeet Tribal Council voted to break off its cross-jurisdictional agreement with the Montana Highway Patrol last week, saying MHP officers are racist and have too much power on the reservation. The tribe sent a letter after the unanimous April 4 vote giving the state 30 days notice of the termination date. "One of the main issues was the racial profiling of the Indian members here," tribal Councilman James St. Goddard said. The Attorney General's Office and the highway patrol have scheduled a meeting with the tribal council April 25, Assistant Attorney General Sarah Bond said. "This office believes in the government-to-government relationship with the tribe and is anxious to get to the bottom of the accusations and maintain the agreement," Bond said. "Mike McGrath has always made the tribes a real priority for this office." The cross-jurisdictional agreement gives MHP officers authority to cite and arrest tribal members into tribal court. The state has similar agreements on the Fort Peck and Flathead Indian reservations. The cancellation would not affect the patrol's ability to police Highway 2 and Highway 89 crossing the reservation. But if an MHP officer stopped a speeding tribal member, he or she would have to call in a Blackfeet Police officer to write up the citation or make an arrest. St. Goddard said the state has failed to give its officers cultural training stipulated in the agreement, and he accused the Highway Patrol of racial profiling. "The Highway patrolmen they send to us are very racist people," St. Goddard said. "If we were allowed to train them to not be racist, I think it would be best." St. Goddard also said MHP officers have endangered young Blackfeet drivers in high-speed chases. "A lot of our youth have wrecked and died," he said. MHP Col. Bert Obert said there was a crash with injuries during a chase on the reservation three years ago, but there have been no other injuries or deaths since. "We terminate more pursuits at the officer's choice than we ever complete, just because of the risk factor," Obert said. To the accusations of racism, Obert said: "I think it's inappropriate to even attempt to respond to that. Obviously, we disagree with that perspective, but (St. Goddard's) obviously entitled to that, and that's why we have a meeting planned so we can discuss these things openly and professionally." All officers who work on the reservation have attended cultural awareness workshops, Obert said. He added that traffic stops are documented and filmed, and the Highway Patrol is willing to review them to check for specific problems. "We obviously are well-aware that there are concerns, issues," he said. "We certainly aren't going to stand and say that we don't have some fault here." The Highway Patrol wants to save its agreement with the tribe, he said. "We will address each and every issue," Obert said. "We hope the tribe understands that we're trying to do the best we can. That we're trying to respond to their needs." Hiring more Blackfeet Highway Patrol officers would improve relations, St. Goddard said. But he disagrees with the basic premise of the cross-jurisdictional agreement. He complained that Highway Patrol officers can arrest tribal members at their homes on tribal warrants. "A lot of times the Highway Patrol goes off the roads and goes right into people's houses and arrests them," he said. "We have cultural ways here that exist on the Blackfeet Reservation, and that is disrespect for our members." Copyright c. 2002 Great Falls Tribune. ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe to this group,send an email to: ndn-aim-subscribe@egroups.com Archived on line at: http://www.eScribe.com FREE LEONARD PELTIER --------- "RE: Native Prisoner" --------- Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2002 08:19:12 -0600 From: Janet Smith Subj: Native Prisoner Date: Monday, April 15, 2002 5:01 AM From: "Catrel" Subj: Prisoner needs Letters Would you please add the following to NA Prisoner section of WI? I have put him on the site but would also like to try to get contact for him through other avenues. George says he is on strict lockdown requirement. Does not say why or how long. Is not permissible to send any artwork or photos and that what he can get is scrutinized. George M. Lopez #79354 SMU II 3H20 ASPC Eyman P O Box 3400 Florence, AZ 85232 -=-=-=- Date: Monday, April 15, 2002 5:13 PM From: Brigitte Thimiakis Subj: Update on Manuel Redwoman, April 2002 Greetings, The Director of the Montana Department of Corrections, Bill Slaugher, has been trying to put "a jacket" on Manuel by unjustly accusing him of being a threat to other Native American Prisoners and also claiming that he needs to be kept on Death Row for his own protection. Not only is this a contradiction in itself, but it also puts Manuel IN DANGER as the DOC insinuates that either way he can harm other prisoners. Snitches and sex offenders are known to be placed in protection, and of course Manuel is NEITHER. But having the protective label or 'jacket' placed on him could put him in very great risk simply because that label has been placed on him. There are inmates housed on "Death row" who are said to have killed other inmates, yet we are made to believe that Manuel is being held in "Death row" for his own protection ! The truth is that by claiming that he needs protection, the administration is trying to present him as an inmate that in various ways could harm other inmates. As a result, Manuel avoids spending time with others and he left his cell only 4 times in the last month and a half on Death Row. On March 31st, Manuel wrote : "In the month and a half, I have only been out of my cell a total of 4 times, once to go to the infirmary and 3 times to go to the yard with other inmates. I won't go to yard alone because of Bill Slaughter's statement about the protection thing. Someone might think I am going to yard alone to snitch on other inmates, so I have done a LOT of cell time since I've been over there on death row. There are 3 of us who are not on level 4 so we don't get to come out of our cells an hour a day and it will be at least 4 1/2 more months before I will be able to. All 3 of us take baths in our sinks because if we go out it messes up the other inmates's time, so when I say I've only been out 4 times I mean just that. I have to be careful and let these inmates see there is no truth to the jacket Bill Slaughter is trying to put on me. [...] i was shook down again; this time they came straight to my cell and I didn't hear what they say they were looking for but they're looking for anything now to write me up for." Manuel does not deserve this level of custody. He gets on well with other prisoners, is very tolerant of all races and religions, and always tries to help others as much as he can with their educational, health, religious or legal issues. (It could well be one more reason why he is not liked by the administration). He also has an excellent record which is proven by prison documents. Manuel has sent us a notice issued by the Prayer Warriors at Montana State Prison which informs him that he has just been re-elected on the Council for the 4th time and voted the Representative of the Maximum Security Unit. It arrived just on time to prove that The Department of Corrections and the prison have been lying in an attempt to justify Manuel's very long and injust lock down in MAX. Please read the typed version of this notice : Danny A. Arledge A019688 ------------------------------------------------------------------ High Side Prayer Warriors Secretary Close One UA-1 03-10-02 Manuel Redwoman, Greetings - the High Side Prayer Warriors have elected you as the Unit Representative for Maximum Security. We are honored to have you once again among us. The prayer Warriors Chairman is Dan Skinner of Close One, Vice-Chairman is Gordon Plain Bull of Close Two, Secretary is me of Close One, Sgt of Arms is Bill Smock, Close One Representative is B. Walker, Close Two Representative is Martin Adam and Close Three is Charles Quibel, the Pipe Carrier is Wayne Brown (Hobo). Right now we are working with the Unit Management to bring the Pipe back to Max. Your Unit Manager Kenny Neubauer seems to be willing to work with us on many issues, so please work with him on many of our peoples issues there. If there is any information or materials that you need from us please address them to me through your Unit Manager and he will ensure that I receive them. I will be sending you weekly minutes of the crossover through the Unit Manager for you to ensure that our people know what's going on and they are not forgotten. Special Blessings do stay strong in Spirit and you do know with me our people come first in all things. Danny ----------------------- I will be glad to provide a scanned copy of the Prayer Warriors notice to anyone who wishes to see it, so that there is no doubt that Manuel is a respected and popular member of the Native American population at MSP. Finally we just found out that a Unit Counselor confirmed to Manuel the fact that he is not held on Death Row "for Protection" contrarily to what Bill Slaughter claims in his letters. A sample letter to Bill Slaughter will be circulated soon, for those who wish to complain about this Injustice. Thank you for your time and support. On behalf of Manuel Redwoman and the Prayer Warriors, respectfully, Brigitte Thimiakis thimiakischool@the.forthnet.gr <>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<> Please visit Manuel Redwoman's websites Against Child Abuse: www.geocities.com/occitaniafr/Child_Abuse and about his case : http://www.geocities.com/occitaniafr/index.html Please sign and forward the petition "Justice for Manuel Redwoman" http://www.PetitionOnline.com/jfmr2001/ -=-=-=- From: "Valerie Scott" Date: Thursday, April 11, 2002 10:37 PM Subj: NAPS Disclaimer Dear Janet, Would it be possible for Gary to print the following disclaimer in the next WI? I believe this nonsense is being generated by Micheal Half-Moon, the prisoner at Elmira SP, who we used to help - but it is also causing problems for those receiving these letters. Thanks for your assistance. ====================================================== 11 April 2002 213 Vancouver Street Victoria, B.C. CANADA V8V 3S9 Disclaimer It has recently been brought to my attention that someone is currently using NAPS' name and/or letterhead to write letters requesting groups for free literature, free sacred herbs, and information pertaining to Vietnam Vets, etc. This is being done without NAPS' knowledge or consent, therefore, we would ask that if you receive any such letters, or letters that seem suspicious, to notify me immediately at naps_ca@yahoo.com for verification. Please be advised that NAPS does not solicit funds or donations, nor do we direct prisoners to ask groups for free materials. Prisoners are only informed of supporters who have asked us to forward this information. We have no reason to be asking individuals of their Viet Nam records or experience, and would ask that you beware of any such requests. Any official correspondence from NAPS is printed on our letterhead with our logo, and with the return address of the envelope matching that of the letterhead. If the envelope was not postmarked in Canada, and there is a discrepancy between the addresses, then the letter did not originate from us. It has also been brought to our attention that certain non-profit prisoner groups are claiming to be affiliated with NAPS, and stating that we are their spokespeople. Again, no one is authorized to speak on our behalf, or to use our name, without prior written consent. The only correspondence that NAPS has been mailing out, apart from that to prisoners and prison officials, is a press release that has been sent to several Native print media resources. This press release outlines the problems Native prisoners are experiencing and the ways in which people can help. Any other requests for assistance are posted on our website, or distributed to reputable Native newsletters and mailing lists by authorized personnel. I thank you for your attention regarding this matter and would ask that you exercise due caution concerning prisoner requests. Sincerely Valerie Scott Director NAPS (Native American Prisoner Support) http://www.hri.ca/partners/naps/ --------- "RE: History: Carlisle Indian School" --------- Date: Mon, 01 Apr 2002 21:39:20 -0500 From: Barbara Landis Subj: March 29, 1889 INDIAN HELPER, Carlisle Indian School. [Editorial Note: These reprints are being included in this newsletter so that you might know the mind of those who ran institutions like Carlisle.] THE INDIAN HELPER ------------------------- A WEEKLY LETTER FROM THE CARLISLE INDIAN SCHOOL TO BOYS AND GIRLS ============================ VOLUME IV CARLISLE, PA. ============================= FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 1889 NO. 31 ============================= FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 1889. NUMBER 34 THE VOlCE THAT WINS ITS WAY. ----------- If words could satisfy the heart, The heart might find less care, But words like Summer birds depart, And leave but empty air. A little said and truly said, Can deeper joy impart, Than hosts of words that reach the head And never touch the heart. A voice that wins its sunny way, A lonely home to cheer, Hath oft the fewest, words to say, But, 0, those few, how dear! Contributed by Hannah E. Wilson. ------------ FROM JOHN DIXON. --------- The following interesting letter was received by Mr. Campbell, who handed it to the Man-on-the-band-stand. Mr. Campbell felt that John would not object to our printing the good news from himself and others away out in New Mexico, knowing that it would give pleasure to his many friends in the East as well as others interested in the home doings of our pupils: U. S. INDIAN SCHOOL, ALBUQUERQUE, N. Mex. March, 16th, 1889. DEAR FRIEND:-I thought you had forgotten me, but I have received your letter, not very long ago, the one you wrote the 16th of July, 1688. The letter was somehow detained, and had been in almost all the post offices in New Mexico. Also went to the Dead Office. Last month I went up home and went into the post office and in looking over some letters with the Mexican post master, found a letter addressed to me, and it was from you, which was written as above said. Dear friend, as you have said in your letter, although it had been written since last year, that almost everything is changed and enlarged. I can just imagine that Carlisle Indian School, itself must be like a big town. Also I have read in the HELPER that you have been having new buildings at the school. Often Cyrus and I talk about it. We say it must be nicer than when we were there. Also we often wish to go back at least to see the new buildings. Friend, we have been trying to make our way the best we can. We do not like to praised too much ourselves, you can inquire to the Supt. of this school, and I believe he will inform you very well about Cyrus and myself. We have been here for two years, employed in the carpenter shop. We have been helping to put up some buildings making window sashes, and making door and window frames. Cyrus is just finishing a book case for one of the employees. All the teachers and visitors, when they come to see the book case, they whisper that a white man cannot do a better job than Cyrus. I am making a show case, for another employee. I am just half done with it. All the employees like our work pretty well. Whenever they want any thing to be made they get the material and we make for them. They have just put up a new bakery shop, and we made all the window sashes. Last Sunday I went down to Isleta Pueblo to get some children and we got nine boys, and we expect to go down again. Almost I have been in all the Pueblo Indian villages because the Supt. Mr. Burke when he goes out among the Pueblos he takes me along as an interpreter. Last summer Cyrus and I went up to Acoma Pueblo aud Laguna, and we saw some of our school-mates, they were getting along well. Harvey Townsend was down here too, but he has gone home and has not come back to the school any more. Also Sheldon Jackson and his wife have left the school, and all the children from their place. At the present time we have 191 pupils attending the school, boys and girls. Cyrus and I work all day and go to school in the evenings. ------------------------------------ Continued on Fourth Page. ==================================== (P. 2) The Indian Helper. ----------------------------- PRINTED EVERY FRIDAY, AT THE INDIAN INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL, CARLISLE, PA. BY THE INDIAN PRINTER BOYS. --> THE INDIAN HELPER is PRINTED by Indian boys, but EDITED by The-Man-on-the-band-stand, who is NOT an Indian. ----------------------------- Price: - 10 cents a year. ============================== Address INDIAN HELPER, Carlisle, Pa. Miss M. Burgess, Manager. ============================== Entered in the P.O. at Carlisle as second class mail matter. ============================== The INDIAN HELPER is paid for in advance, so do not hesitate to take the paper from the Post Office, for fear a bill will be presented. ============================= A New Offer. We have an excellent print of a photograph of eleven wild Apache boys and girls as they arrived from their southern prison home in 1886, and a contrast group of the same pupils four months after. The photographs are sold for thirty cents a piece, sixty cents for the two. We will furnish the print of both on sheet 10x16 inches, for five cents and a one cent stamp to pay postage or we offer this picture (fine enough for a frame) for TWO new subscribers. A one cent stamp must accompany the subscription. =============== Our Numbers. At the school 272 boys and 154 girls, or 426 pupils. Out on farms 125 boys and 67 girls, or 192 pupils. Belonging to the school there are 397 boys aud 221 girls or a grand total of 618 pupils. ------------- A subscriber in Schaefferstown closes a very pleasant letter of commendation and praise with "The interesting little HELPER is not only an INDIAN HELPER but also a helper for white girls and boys." ------------- Another in Wilmington Del. says "A better ten cents worth of knowledge and entertainment does not come into our family than this same little helper." ------------- Another says, "Although I am a grown up child I like the HELPER very much." ------------- And so the good words come and come, yes, many, many of them every day and the Man-on-the-band-stand can but feel grateful in his old age to receive such words of cheer and encouragement. R. V. Belt, of Maryland, late chief of Indian Division of the Secretary's office has been nominated for Assistant Commissioner of Indian Affairs. ============== The last number of the Red Man has received much praise from persons whose word means something. The coming number promses to he as interesting. ============== Louisa Wilson Rice who has been living in Valentine for a little time has now gone to Rosebud Agency for the summer. She claims to be getting on very well. ============== Mr. Oliver Wendell Holmes says that "smoking is liable to injure the sight, to render the nerves unsteady, to enfeeble the will and to enslave the nature to an imperious habit likely to stand in the way of a duty to be performed." ============== A boy of eleven, crazed by cigarette smoking, has been taken to an insane asylum in Orange County N. Y. He is considered a violent and dangerous maniac, and displays some of the symptoms peculiar to hydrophobia. ============== Thanks to a lady in Springtown who pays for two copies of the Helper sent to Apache girls in the country. They are having their first outing experiences the Weekly Letter will be appreciated by them. ============== W. B. Backus has asumed official duties at th