From gars@speakeasy.org Tue Apr 30 20:08:41 2002 Date: 30 Apr 2002 23:40:34 -0000 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews10.018 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 018 | Country than is reported in | O o o o o O | this weekly newsletter. For | O o O May 4, 2002 | For daily updates & events | O o O | go http://www.owlstar.com/ | O | dailyheadlines.htm | Cherokee nvda atsilusgi/flower moon +-----------------------------+ Mohawk onerahtokha/budding time 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 & Rez Life Mailing Lists; UUCP email; newsgroup: alt.native IMPORTANT!! ----------- In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, all material appearing in this newsletter is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for educational purposes. <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters who share our Spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the Red Road. ++ It may be subscribed to via email by sending a request from your own internet addressable account to gars@speakeasy.org ++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org <================<<<< >>>>================> As historian Patricia Nelson Limerick summarized in The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West, "Set the blood quantum at one-quarter, hold to it as a rigid definition of Indians, let intermarriage proceed as it had for centuries, and eventually Indians will be defined out of existence. When that happens, the federal government will be freed of its persistent 'Indian problem.'" "When this pipe touches your lip, may it operate as a blessing upon all my tribe. May the smoke rise like a cloud, and carry away with it all the animosities which have arisen between us." __ Black Thunder, Fox +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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 Zuni are struggling to save their sacred salt lake from the ever hungry tenticles of a mining operation. Of course, they are being assured that the mining operations will have no impact on their lake. Do we believe the Salt River Project coal strip mine will have no impact on the Zuni's sacred lake? Do we believe the mining interests will remain mindful of Zuni concerns once the mine is in operation? The desert is an unforgiving place. Another mining operation has pitted the Navajo and Hopi against one another after decades of coexistance. Peabody is using a slurry operation requiring thousands of gallons of water to move Black Mesa mined coal. So much water has been drawn from the area that many wells now sit dry. What is Peabody's response to this life-threatening condition? - They are requesting the use of even more water. Peabody also used the "trust us, we're good neighbors" routine when they petitioned to open the coal strip mine on Black Mesa. We now see the promises made then are just so much cow dung now. We also see the only vested interest government officials responsible for oversight have is in the next lobby lunch and lucrative campaign donation. Ask the Lakota when the Black Hills will be returned to them. Ask the Osage when their headrights, stolen by murdering guardians will be returned. Read "The Deaths of Sybil Bolton" now retitled "Bloodland" by Dennis McAuliffe Jr. for a chilling look at how far the dominant society is more than willing to go in their quest for material greed. Those same white guardians, forced on the Osage by law to protect them at a time when they were the wealthiest people in the world, very nearly cost that tribe their very identity as a nation and as Indian people. Back to my original question: "Do we believe the mining interests will remain mindful of Zuni concerns once the mine is in operation?" My personal view is, "Not only `no' but `Hell No!'" 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 ---------- - Roberta Blackgoat - BIA Official denies - Matriarch of Big Mountain arranging Meetings - UNHRC statement Roberta Blackgoat - Fatal DWI Crash & Kee Watchman sparks BIA Background Checks - Crossings - Bullet-scarred Seminole - Peabody wants more Water Tribal Attorney from Aquifer - Former Pine Hills Inmates sue - Zunis close Highway - Native Prisoner to prevent Strip Mining -- Good News: Manuel Redwoman - New Mexico Road opens -- Manuel's Strength after Religious Curfew -- Request for Help: - Principal Chief testifies Alabama Prisoner on Riverbed Settlement -- Inmates say Ohio - Oil Company drops Plans won't allow NA Worship to drill in Sacred Draw -- Prison Employee sues - Stevens backs off ANWR Plan to save Hair - Virginia Tribes gather - History: Carlisle Indian School to draw Status Support - Rustywire: Yiiniibah, - Diabetes among American Indians in Beauty it begins - HHS Awards New Grants - Poem: Why I Must Go Alone for Tribal Elders - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - Lost Trust: Billions Go Uncounted - Jicarillas - Burnt Church's Problems run Deep create First Dictionary - Sandias dispute in D.C. - Beyond Bows And Arrows - Supreme Court to consider - Smoke Signals Government Obligation First Nations Radio awarded - Crow Tribe target of Lawsuit - Native America Calling --------- "RE: Roberta Blackgoat" --------- Date: Thu, 25 Apr 2002 00:50:46 +0000 From: Moderator Subj: Roberta Blackgoat passes away Mailing List: Big Mountain List -----Original Message----- Date: Wednesday, April 24, 2002 4:46 PM From: Alex Babbitt [mailto:ghost660 at citlink.net] Subj: I have bad news. DEAR SIRS, I'M NOT SURE IF YOU HAVE HEARD OF MY GRANDMOTHER, ROBERTA BLACKGOAT? SHE HAS PASSED AWAY ON APRIL 23,2002 AROUND 7PM TO A HEART ATTACK/STROKE. I HAVE VISITED VARIOUS WEBSITES TO INFORM ALL HER CONTACTS AND PEOPLE WHO HAVE SUPPORTED HER. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS YOU CAN CONTACT HER DAUGHTER IN FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA. OR WRITE ME BACK HERE AND I'LL GET INFORMATION YOU MAY NEED. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME. ALEX BABBITT Date: Wednesday, April 24, 2002 7:31 PM From: SENAA International [mailto:senaa at senaa.org] Subj: RE: [senaa] FW: I have bad news. Brothers and Sisters I just spoke to Danny Blackgoat. There will be a memorial service for Roberta in San Francisco, California, on Saturday for the benefit of those nationally and internationally who knew and loved her. Then, there will be a memorial service in Flagstaff for family and friends there. There will also be a memorial service on the land for the people there. Roberta was 84 years of age. The exact time and date of her passing was 7:47, 23 April 2001. That is all the information I was able to get, at this time. ========================================= 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: Matriarch of Big Mountain" --------- Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2002 08:14:22 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ROBERTA BLACKGOAT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.thenavajotimes.com/National/national.html Roberta Blackgoat Matriarch of Big Mountain and the struggle against relocation By Marley Shebala The Navajo Times WINDOW ROCK - Big Mountain has become an international name even though it's a very remote area on the vast Navajo reservation. Roberta Blackgoat, an elder who has lived all her life on Big Mountain and more specifically in an area on Big Mountain called Thin Rock mesa, where the roads are dirt and impassable when it rains or snows, helped put Big Mountain on the map by traveling around the world. Blackgoat, whose birthday is unknown because she was born in the traditional Navajo way, took a final trip to San Francisco. Family members on Wednesday said Blackgoat, who may have been in her early 80s, passed away at 7:45 p.m. on Tuesday (April 23). Blackgoat was in San Francisco to attend a memorial for Arlene Hamilton, the coordinator of the Weaving for Freedom Project. The family was still discussing burial arrangements at press time on Wednesday. President Kelsey Begaye on Wednesday said, "It was with great sadness that I learned of the passing of Roberta Blackgoat. "Roberta was an elder and spokesperson for the Big Mountain community on the HPL (Hopi Partition Land). "Through the hardships of the Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute, she always maintained her dignity and her gracious spirit. "It was a privilege to know her. She set an example in her personal life that should be a standard for us all. "No matter the difficulties she remained true to her family, her community, her culture and her spiritual beliefs. "Roberta was not only a respected elder within her community, but also an internationally known advocate for indigenous, civil and human rights. "My condolences and that of the entire Navajo Nation go out to Roberta's family. She was and will continue to be an inspiration to us all," said Begaye. In an Aug. 2, 2001, Internet message "To all supporters," Blackgoat thanked everyone for helping her obtain signatures on petitions for Congress to stop the federal relocation of Navajo people from HPL and Peabody Coal Company's use of water from under Black Mesa to slurry coal from Black Mesa to a coal-fired generating station in Nevada. "We demand that you (Peabody) stop destroying the Mother Earth's liver and blood; the coal and the water," she wrote. Blackgoat never gave up hope that the federal laws that Congress passed to relocate her and other Navajo people from their ancestral homes would be repealed. But the more than 30 years of struggling to first stop the strip mining of Black Mesa and then federal relocation took its toll on Blackgoat, who started having health problems several years ago. But that did not stop her from attending several days of the trial of her neighbors, three elders and two young women, whom the Hopi Tribe arrested and charged for trespassing on the HPL. The five women were acquitted. Blackgoat in her Aug. 2, 2001, message also shared the following story with her supporters. "Last week, Joseph Shelton, of the (U.S.) Relocation Commission came to my door wanting to know whether I was moving or relocating. "I told him I have no idea to move out. My ancestors sat here and there and there and there. We don't know how thick the soil is with their (our ancestors) bones are, so the land is out of the ancestors turned to soil. "We don't know how many centuries they have been sent by the great spirit here. So that's why I can't leave this ancestral land. Their graveyard is our roots." My prayers are always with you, Roberta Blackgoat. Copyright c. 1999-2002 - Navajo Times/Navajo Nation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. --------- "RE: UNHRC statement Roberta Blackgoat & Kee Watchman" --------- Date: Thu, 25 Apr 2002 14:09:45 +0000 From: Moderator Subj: UNHRC BM statement to the world by Roberta Blackgoat & Kee Watchman Mailing List: Big Mountain List ===== From: Condor952 at aol.com Item 15: Indigenous Issues United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Fifty-eighth Session March 18 - April 26, 2002 Written intervention by the Big Mountain Sovereign Communities & from the Big Mountain Resistance Movement: Thank you Mr. Chairman, We would like to make and reaffirm an understanding about what our Dineh (Navajo Indians) Peoples in struggle on Black Mesa are facing daily. They face unyielding threats of evictions, complete denial of rights, confiscations of livestock, and destruction of their prayer gathering places. This type of daily living has drastically eliminated many valuable lives of human beings especially among the traditional elder populations. The cause and factors of our current struggle, however, go back beyond the United States government's creation of an Executive Order of 1882, which set aside an Indian reservation that encompassed the overlapping territories of Dineh and Hopis. Our initial request for this understanding therefore is that, our existence includes our struggle to maintain our sovereignty, our religion and that, our history dates back to the times of the Spanish colonial conquest and finally, to the American colonization which brought about a 'death march' known today as, The Long Walk of 1864. Half of our Dineh population was annihilated within a 15-year period of military invasions by the United States army, and an episode of that aggression occurred upon our ancestral homelands of the Big Mountain region. For some of our ancestors at that time, they were in exile or in captivity in a concentration camp in New Mexico, and little did they know that our Treaty of 1868 with the US would not be honored. Then, just a few generations after since our forefathers and foremothers believed they were free, the uprooting of our livelihood and the explorations of the resources beneath our pathways began a repeat of history. On a daily basis, we are once again forced onto another Long Walk: our foods are taken away from us and we only subsist on rations, we are left to spent winters in the cold because of restrictions from gathering firewood, we are denied accessibility to adequate drinking water, our young generations' identity are stolen from them, and the old and frail are left behind to be defeated by anxiety and depression from hopelessness. These are the results of the Executive Order of 1974 along with its recent amendments. Public Law 93-531 of 1974 adjudicated the partitioning of the 1882 Reservation and the immediate removal of Dineh residents caught on the "wrong side" of the demarcation boundary. We wish to further announce and request that the Working Groups and the Honorable Indigenous Organizations take careful consideration and understanding in regard to the US government and their Tribal governments' positions that the issues of relocation on Black Mesa are an intertribal conflict over territory and have no relevancy to mineral resource interest by Peabody Western Coal Company. Based on our strong belief, this harsh and inhumane policy of relocation, denial of cultural existence and the instigation of a tribal segregation that the US government has established, like with certain tribal jurisdiction matters, are primarily instruments to conceal the exploration rights for energy development. These simple but equitable claims made by our traditional Dineh and traditional Hopi allies can be justified by looking at our historical experiences and existence. Consider the magnitudes of aggression perpetrated by the American colonialist, versus the magnitude of intertribal relationships especially in the areas of coexistence and joint-usage of ancestral territories. These issues of forced removal of traditional Dineh and the gross violations of their human rights in northeastern Arizona need to be included and categorized within the UN Agendas and Declarations as unique. It is an issue that evolved by deception and an intentional placement of a defect in the indigenous history in order to acquire a right-of-way for energy resources. The tribal governments were designated and established solely to assist the federal government in implementing policies that have been fundamentally discriminatory. The tribal governments through their Anglo-American designed ordinance and tribal codes have assisted in law enforcement activities. An example is in their participation with local state and federal Indian police to disrupt religious activities conducted by the traditional Dineh who are trying to survive with the little culture and religion that they have left. These tribal agencies have aided and abetted in attempting prosecution of individuals who were merely trying to be indigenous and spiritual upon their land of birthplaces. In closing, we first wish to state our commitment to living and practicing our divine-given ways of worship upon our Mother Earth and beneath our Father Sky. We will uphold the supreme laws of our sacred Mountain Soil Bundle that contains soil from each of our six sacred mountains. These mountains represent the spiritual boundary of our ancient sovereign nations. Thus, our ancient earth lodges symbolizes this spiritual setting and thereby, the most sacred portion of our dwelling space is where a child is born or where the prayer paraphernalia are placed. This is, now, being desecrated. This sacred area in geographical terms would be where Black Mesa is located and hence, it is our Altar. We urge you, as delegates of states and high commissioners, to consider our requests once again that the United States be informed, as well as, the utility companies who have interest to the Black Mesa coal be informed that, we will remain to defend the holiness of our Altar from further depletion of its aquifers and from the extraction of its mineral resources. We further request that the high commissioners immediately appoint a UN observer and a Special Rapporteur to continue to make an in-depth study and fact findings in the Big Mountain and Black Mesa regions including the groups of the Sovereign Hopi villages. These human rights violations and the unnecessary attempts to re-create range conflicts on the Dineh-Hopi lands must be halted, and the actual initiators of this genocide must appropriately answer to an international tribunal. Thank you for your time and considerations. Roberta Blackgoat Madam Chairperson of the Original Sovereign Dineh Nation Thin Rock Mesa, Big Mountain Kee Watchman Head Spokesman for the Red Willow Springs and Cactus Valley Sovereign Communities of Big Mountain region. ========================================= 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: Crossings" --------- Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2002 08:14:22 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CROSSINGS" April 18, 2002 Orrin Brown Wolf Orrin Brown Wolf age 73 of Eagle Butte, SD passed away on Friday, April 5, 2002 at St. Mary's Hospital in Pierre, SD Funeral services for Orrin will be held at 2:00pm MDT on Saturday at the Red Scaffold Gym in Red Scaffold, SD with Rev. Byron Buffalo and Rev. Dave Bowen officiating. Burial will be in the Frazier Memorial Cemetery at Red Scaffold under the direction of the Luce Funeral Home of Eagle Butte. Wake services will be held at 6:00 pm on Friday evening at the Red Scaffold Gym. Vincent Charles Vincent Charles, age 57, of Eagle Butte, SD passed away Tuesday, April 9, 2002 at the IHS Hospital in Eagle Butte, SD. Funeral services were held at 2:00 PM MDT, Tuesday, April 16, 2002 at St. John's Episcopal Church in Eagle Butte with Fr. Jeffry Barnes and Sr. Addie Morris officiating. Burial was in the Episcopal Cemetery at LaPlant, SD with Luce Funeral Home of Eagle Butte in charge of arrangements. A wake service was held at 7:00 PM, Monday evening at the church. Vincent Maynard Charles was born on July 31, 1944 at the Cheyenne Agency, SD to Marcella Gilbert. Vincent graduated from the Cheyenne Eagle Butte High School in 1964. He then attended trade school for electronics and carpentry in California. His passion for rodeo life took him to many places. The competitions he enjoyed most were bull riding, bronc riding, and roping. When Vincent was not involved in the rodeo circuit, he worked as a ranch hand. Along with his love for rodeo, Vincent also enjoyed carpentry in his free time, and loved to hunt and fish. In 1981 Vincent settled in Rapid City and worked for Pennington County Housing for 10 years. April 3, 1992 he married Diana Benoist and they made their home in Rapid City until 1993 when they moved back to Eagle Butte. Vincent then gained permanent employment with Costello Properties. Vincent enjoyed helping other people, and his non-judgmental heart allowed him to see the positive in anyone he encountered. Although Vincent enjoyed watching sports, he was particularly interested in following his nephew Gideon Mendoza's basketball accomplishments. He also enjoyed watching his niece Marcie Gilbert dance at Pow Wow competitions. Vincent held a special place in his heart for his foster children, Mike and William Love Joy, and their sister Virginia Wittler. He is survived by his wife,: Diane Charles; two stepchildren,: Jayme Mesteth and Diandra Benoist; one son, Vincent Charles Jr, of St. George, Utah; one aunt, Margaret Gilbert, of Gettysburg; two brothers, James Gilbert of Eagle Butte, Kenneth White Eagle of Kansas; one sister,: Donna Martin, of LaPlant; his first cousins, Larry Mesteth of Swiftbird, Eva Gilbert of Eagle Butte, Ike LeBeau of Pierre, Louise Brown of Sioux Falls, Arlene Schurze of Sacutone, AZ, Sharon Rovie of Arizona, Eleanor Gilbert of Tuscon, AZ, Majel Schurz of Phoenix,AZ; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Sharon Hilderman; mother, grandparents, Issac and Elizabeth Gilbert; four aunts,: Bernice Gilbert, Hazel Shurz, Thelma Brown, Zerilda Gilbert;, two cousins, Stanley and Bernice LeBeau; and two nephews, Matt and Jason Martin. Copyright c. 2002 ebnews.net/Eagle Butte. -=-=-=- April 23, 2002 Marilyn Alice Adams PINE RIDGE - Marilyn Alice Adams, 68, Pine Ridge, died Friday, April 19, 2002, in Pine Ridge. Survivors include two sons, Cameron Adams and George Adams, both of Oglala; three daughters, Jennifer Adams-Chineworth, Chicago, Camille Adams, Cheyenne, Wyo., and Effie Adams-Means, Oglala; three sisters, Norma Two Bulls, Betty Sanders and Joan Two Bulls-Decker, all of Oglala; and 12 grandchildren. A two-night wake will begin at 3 p.m. Tuesday, April 23, at Brother Rene Catholic Hall in Oglala. Mass of Christian Burial will be at 2 p.m. Thursday, April 25, at Brother Rene Hall, with the Rev. Bill Pauly officiating. Burial will be at Seventh-day Adventist Cemetery in Red Shirt Table. Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements. Copyright c. 2002 Rapid City Journal. -=-=-=- April 28, 2002 Mary Helen Sosebee Mary Helen Sosebee, age 77, and know affectionately to all as"Little Auntie," passed into the arms of our Lord on Wednesday, April 24, 2002. She was born on August 19, 1924 to Ignacio Loyola Lovato of Lamy, NM and Francisquita Lucero Lovato of Isleta Pueblo. Helen Lovato attended Loretto Academy in Bernalillo, NM, St Catherines Indian School in Santa Fe, NM and the Albuquerque Indian School where she was a cheerleader. She traveled extensively, living in California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Dallas, TX and Frankfort, South Dakota, before returning to spend the rest of her life with her family in Albuquerque. She was preceded in death by her first husband, Frank Schoessow, her second husband, Eugene C. Sosebee and her brothers, William and Richard Lovato. She is survived by her sister, Bessie Garcia Rael, brothers; Ignacio Lovato Jr. of Security, Colorado, Raymond Lovato and wife, Diane and Alfred Lovato of California. She is also survived by her daughter, Charlotte Samelson and husband, Lynn of Redfield, South Dakota, nephews; David, Vincent, Ruben, Lenni, and Dikki Garcia, nieces; Debbie Muniz of Denton,TX and Francella Garcia and husband, Larry of Frisco, TX. Special beloved survivors include her granddaughter, Traci Samelson of Redfield, South Dakota; great-nephews, Albert and Jerome Muniz, Brian and Eric Garcia, Justin and Nick Garcia of Frisco, TX; a great-niece, Tammy Garcia Tsabetsaye of Bernalillo, NM; as well as several great great nephews and nieces. A Memorial Service will be held Tuesday, April 30, 2002 at 10:00 a.m. at Queen of Heaven Catholic Church. Inurnment will follow at Mt. Calvary Cemetery. Reception will follow Inurment at the family home at 5304 Commnche Rd. N.E. All are welcome. God saw that you were tired And a cure was not to be, So he put his arms around you, And whispered,"Little Auntie, come with me." With tearful eyes we saw you suffer We watched you fade away, Although we loved you dearly, We could not make you stay. A golden heart stopped beating, Hard-working hands were laid to rest. God broke our hearts to prove to us, He only takes the best. Forever in our hearts and minds, we can never forget you. Till we meet again, bye-bye Little Auntie. Services are in the care of Garcia Mortuary, 717 Stover Ave. S.W. 243-5222. Copyright c. 2002 Albuquerque Journal. -=-=-=- April 25, 2002 Leonard Carroll CHINLE, Ariz. - Funeral services for Leonard Carroll, 66, will be held at 1 p.m., Friday, April 26 at Our Lady of Fatima, Chinle. Rev. Blane Grein will officiate. Burial will follow at the Community Cemetery, Chinle. Carroll was born June 8, 1935 in Chinle. He died April 22 in Navajo, N.M. into the Coyote By Pass People Clan for the Towering House People Clan. He was a rancher. Survivors include brothers, Francis Carroll and Ernest Deschine both of Wheatfields and Edward Bahe of Chinle; and sisters, Felicita Bahe and Genevieve Yazzie, both of Wheatfields. Pallbearers will be family members. Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements. Betty Nellie Wauneka KLAGETON, Ariz. - Services for Betty Wauneka, 65 will be held at 10 a.m., Friday, April 26 at the Klageton Shelter Mission. Ronald Woodman will officiate. Wauneka died April 23 in Fort Defiance, Ariz. He was born May 1, 1963 in Klageton into the Water Edge People Clan for the Big Water People Clan. Wauneka attended Wingate Boarding, Chemawa Indian School, Oregon, College of Ganado and Northland Pioneer College, Show Low. She retired from the Division of Child Development, Navajo Nation Headstart. Her hobbies included sewing, crocheting and weaving. Wauneka was survived by her husband Carl D. Wauneka, sons Fedell Wauneka, Cameron Wauneka, Jerry Wauneka, Stanford Wauneka and Stenson Wauneka; daughters, Vernita Begaye, Madalaine Yazzie and Carla Gorman; brothers, James Jones and Raumond Jones; sisters, Maggie Shirley, Dorthea Yazzie and Marie Denetdeal; 28 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Wauneka was preceded in death by parents, Ralph K. and Alice B. Jones and brothers, Nelson Jones and Alfred Jones. The family will receive friends and relatives after the burial services at Klagetoh Chapter House. Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Annie Chavez GLENDALE, Ariz. - Services for Annie Chavez, 62, will be held at 10 a.m., Saturday, April 27 at the Lighthouse Christian Center on the corner of Lobo Canyon Road and Cordova Court in Grants. Chavez died April 21 in Phoenix. She was born on Dec. 12, 1940 in Borrego Pass. She was a silversmith, rug weaver and a culinary artist. Survivors include son Larry Yazzie; brother Tom Lee Begay of Crownpoint; sisters, Esther Carrillo of Glendale and Betty Chavez of Bluewater Village; and grandchildren. Chavez was preceded in death by her son, Gary Yazzie; parents; sister, Alice Chavez and brother, Chee Woody. April 26, 2002 Arlene Ann Ricard SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Services for Arlene Ricard, 49, will be held at 10 a.m., Saturday, April 27 at Rollie Mortuary Palm Chapel. Pastor Tom White will officiate. Burial will follow at private family cemetery. Visitation will be held from noon to 7 p.m., today at Rollie Mortuary. Ricard died April 22 in San Antonio. She was born Nov. 3, 1952 in Bringham City, Utah into the Bitter Water People Clan for the Red Streak People Clan. Survivors include her husband, Edward J. Ricard of San Antonio; daughters, Lena Grau of Phoenix and Iva Lopez of San Antonio; sisters, Gloria Begay of Gallup, Cynthia Begay-Townley of Albuquerque and Joann Tso of Farmington; and four grandchildren. Ricard was preceded in death by her parents, Jimmy Johnson and Ann Iva Begay. Pallbearers will Richard Garcia, Neil Leslie, Norman Leslie, Tito Leslie, Jacob Marquez, Maurice Townley and Wilbur Tso. Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Wilson Reeverson Smith DEER SPRINGS, Ariz. - Services for Wilson Smith, 93, were held at 10:30 a.m., today at Our Lady of Blessed Sacarment, Fort Defiance, Ariz. Burial followed in Deer Springs. Smith died April 24 in Fort Defiance. He was born April 10, 1909 in Deer Springs into the the Near the Water People Clan for the Blacksheep People Clan. Smith graduated form Phoenix Indian School, Phoenix. He was employed as a railroad worker and in carpentary. His hobbies included ranch work and practice medicine-man. Survivors include his wife, Mary B. Smith; son, Wilfred G. Smith; daughters, Mary Alice Gail and Irene Susie Teller; 17 grandchildren; 31 great-grandchildren and six great-great grandchildren. Smith was preceded in death by his daughter, Mariam; parents, John and Bah Smith; sisters, Mary E. Wilson and Tanabah Smith. Pallbearers were Erwin D. Gail, Thompson R. Gail, Ranzy Watson, Sampson Teller, Dewayne Gail and Wayne Gail. Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements. Copyright c. 2002 The Gallup Independent. --------- "RE: Peabody wants more Water from Aquifer" --------- Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2002 08:14:22 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PEABODY" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.gallupindependent.com/todaysnews.html#anchor4 Peabody wants more water from aquifer Larry Di Giovanni Staff Writer WINDOW ROCK - The Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining may not enforce a Monday comment period deadline regarding a Peabody Western Coal Co. application to extend and increase its use of Navajo Aquifer water. The Navajo and Hopi tribes want to conduct public hearings on the Peabody application, which the OSJM calls "informal conferences," said Jerry Gavette, OSM team leader for Peabody's Black Mesa (Ariz.) and Kayenta mines. The federal government will likely honor those requests, he said. Peabody spokeswoman Beth Sutton said the company is seeking to extend its coal supply agreement with Southern California Edison's Mohave Generating Station, located in Laughlin, Nev., past 2005, when the agreement ends. Peabody's request would be for approximately another 15 to 20 years of coal operations. The company filed its application Jan. 17. The proposed project permit area for the Black Mesa Mine, including a section known as "J-23," is located on the Navajo and Hopi reservations in northeastern Arizona near the northern edge of Black Mesa, about 25 miles southwest of Kayenta. Gavette wrote in a Jan. 29 letter to Field Director Moon Horn of the Bureau of Land Management's Native American Minerals program that the application, if approved, would increase coal production at Black Mesa Mine from 4.7 million tons yearly to 5.7 million tons. The pumping of Navajo Aquifer water used to slurry the coal to Mohave Generating Station would increase from 4,400 acre-feet per year to 5,700 acre-feet. That's an increase of nearly 30 percent. Up to 130 acres would be added to the mine area to allow for a transportation corridor. Sutton, however, said Peabody is exploring several alternative water sources out of respect to both tribes. On Tuesday, approximately 25 Hopi and Navajo runners arrived just before noon at the Veterans Memorial Park outside the Navajo Nation President/Vice President's Office. The runners, mostly members of the Black Mesa Water Coalition, oppose the continued pumping of N-Aquifer water, calling it an outdated system that is depleting the groundwater faster than it is recharged. An OSM report issued late last year, however, counters that assertion, finding that the aquifer is recharged considerably faster than Peabody siphons out the water. The pumped water is sent along a 273-mile underground system to Laughlin. Coalition members started their runs just east of the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff, traveling past Forest Lake, Kykotsmovi, Pinon, and other locales before reaching Window Rock. The lead Hopi runner was Bucky Preston and the lead Navajo runner Cardenas Redsteer. They listened as former Hopi tribal Chairman Ferrell Secakuku explained to Navajo President Kelsey Begaye's Chief of Staff, Arvin Trujillo, the significance of Preston's gift, an ear of corn. It symbolizes life to the Hopi. "Without water, food will not grow. Without water, nothing out here will grow," Secakuku said. Coalition members later met with Trujillo in his office to explain their concerns over the continued pumping of the N- Aquifer. Sutton said she hasn't met Black Mesa Water Coalition members, but added that the company wants a workable solution to adhere to tribal concerns while also keeping its two mines in operation - which generate 700-plus jobs and inject $2 million each week into the tribal economies. "We hope to have a resolution on an alternative (water source) within a year, which is fairly aggressive," Sutton said. "We are willing to agree to disagree on the science and find a common ground." One possibility under consideration, she said, would see Southern California Edison pump Colorado River water it has rights to up to Black Mesa, then slurry the coal back to Laughlin. The prospects for a solution are good as long as all sides keep communication open and are willing to work things out together, she said, offering, "We respect the cultural concerns that have been raised regarding the use of the N-Aquifer." Sutton said Peabody officials are not holding out much hope on a Little Colorado River water rights settlement, involving parties that include the Navajo Nation, due to the complexities of the case. The LCR adjudication is tied to a proposal to bring one or more pipelines out of Lake Powell to serve Peabody as well as provide water to Navajo users south as far as Cameron and beyond. On Saturday at the Forest Lake Chapter near Black Mesa mine, the Navajo Nation held a "listening session" concerning water rights. Hardrock Chapter President Percy Deal, who attended the meeting, said he was disappointed when the delegates in attendance - three members of the tribe's Budget and Finance Committee and Resources Committee member Elmer Milford - said they knew nothing about the Peabody application. They were accompanied at Forest Lake by Navajo water rights attorney Stanley Pollack, who did not return a request from the Independent to respond to Deal's concerns. In a letter Wednesday to Navajo Nation Council Speaker Ed T. Begay, Deal said "...we quickly learned that the (Navajo) listening panel ... knew nothing about the (Peabody) application. They were totally unaware of the (Jan. 29) letter from OSM." A Black Mesa Water Coalition member, Wahleah Johns, also attended the listening session and said Navajo officials acknowledged that they did not know of the Peabody application and Monday's deadline for comments. She captured the meeting on videotape. "We were all shocked," Deal said when interviewed Wednesday by the Independent. Milford, however, said the listening session was a general discussion on water rights and Peabody operations, and was not intended to discuss the application. Milford said the letter Deal presented was actually a letter addressed to the Hopis concerning the application. Both the Hopi and Navajo tribes would be affected by the continued pumping of the N-Aquifer. Deal said he thought the Navajo listening session would be an opportunity to take comments, complete a report and send it to OSM. Sutton and Gavette said they were unaware of Saturday's listening session. "We knew nothing about it," Gavette said. That contradicts statements from Navajo officials that OSM pulled out of the meeting. OSM sent letters concerning the Peabody application and requests for comments by Monday, April 29 to six Navajo agencies. They included the Navajo Nation Minerals Department and tribal Environmental Protection Agency. In addition, Gavette said Peabody was required to publish - over four consecutive weeks in three area newspapers, starting in mid February - notice of its permit application and the pending deadline for comments. Copyright c. 2002 The Gallup Independent. --------- "RE: Zunis close Highway to prevent Strip Mining" --------- Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2002 08:14:22 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ZUNI PROTEST" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0428law28.html Zunis close highway to prevent strip mining Associated Press April 28, 2002 ZUNI PUEBLO, N.M. - Tribal leaders closed a highway that enters the Zuni reservation from Arizona late Saturday and imposed a curfew, asking residents to turn off their lights as part of a religious ritual to prevent a coal strip mine from threatening the sacred Zuni Salt Lake. "There are roadblocks at the reservation line. The roads are blocked," tribal police dispatcher Kenneth Soseeah said. The road known as Arizona 61 New Mexico 53 across Zuni land "should possibly" reopen at 5 a.m. today, Soseeah said. The blockade applies to pedestrian traffic as well. Arizona's Salt River Project wants to develop the 18,000-acre Fence Lake mine just southeast of the pueblo. The SRP would mine for 40 years, hauling coal by rail to its electrical generating station in St. Johns. Electricity from the plant supplies Phoenix and central Arizona. The Zunis worry that mining and intrusive rail transportation would damage the environment, particularly Zuni Salt Lake, home of Salt Woman, the tribe's central deity. "The pueblo wanted to close the road for religious purposes. They can with a permit from the state Highway Department," said Lt. Rob Shilling, a New Mexico State Police spokesman. "I know the (State Police) captain from the district was meeting with officials from the pueblo and the Highway Department." The pueblo is opposing a request by the Salt River Project to open a new coal strip mine about 10 miles from a saline lake the Zunis hold sacred. Copyright 2002, azcentral.com. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: New Mexico Road opens after Religious Curfew" --------- Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2002 08:14:22 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ZUNI REOPEN ROAD" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0429zuni29.html New Mexico road opens after religious curfew Associated Press April 29, 2002 ZUNI PUEBLO, N.M. - A highway that was closed as part of a religious ritual reopened Sunday, allowing traffic to cross the Zuni Pueblo. New Mexico 53 and Arizona 61 were closed Saturday evening in a curfew imposed by tribal officials as part of a ritual to prevent a coal strip mine from threatening sacred Zuni Salt Lake. A tribal police dispatcher confirmed that the road reopened early Sunday morning as expected. The blockade applied to pedestrian traffic as well, tribal officials said. Arizona's Salt River Project wants to develop the 18,000-acre Fence Lake mine just southeast of the pueblo. SRP would mine for 40 years, hauling coal by rail to its electrical generating station in St. John's, Ariz. Electricity from the plant supplies Phoenix and central Arizona. The Zunis worry that mining and intrusive rail transportation would damage the environment, particularly Zuni Salt Lake, home of Salt Woman, the tribe's main deity. "In our efforts to save our sacred Zuni salt lake, a number of our top religious leaders have turned to a religious society from Jemez Pueblo for assistance," said a memo bearing the name of Zuni Gov. Malcolm Bowekaty. According to an executive order from Bowekaty, a 9 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew was in effect from Thursday through Sunday. A Zuni resident said the order had been posted in public places around the pueblo. "The Executive Order is a joint decision by the religious hierarchy of Zuni and the governor and tribal council in preparation for activities occurring for the benefit of all community members," the order stated. During the curfew, pueblo residents were to stay inside their homes with the lights off and were not to look outside. "Any light showing to the outside from your house may be cause for medicine men to enter your home without invitation," the notice said. The order said there "will be no tolerance for violators." As many as 500 of the 10,000 people who live on the Zuni reservation in western New Mexico are not members of the tribe. Copyright c. 2002, azcentral.com. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Principal Chief testifies on Riverbed Settlement" --------- Date: Sun, 21 Apr 2002 18:09:08 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ARKANSAS RIVERBED" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.zwire.com/site/news Principal Chief testifies to Congress on Arkansas riverbed settlement April 18, 2002 Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chad Smith testified in favor of proposed legislation that would settle the Cherokees' claims against the federal government for unauthorized use of the section of the Arkansas Riverbed owned by the Cherokee, Choctaw and Chickasaw nations. Smith testified at a hearing for HR 3534 in the House Resources Committee. HR 3534 was introduced by Brad Carson, D-Okla.; Wes Watkins, R-Okla.; Steve Largent, R-Okla.; and Dale Kaldee, D-Michigan; and has bi-partisan support. Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby and Choctaw Chief Greg Pyle also testified in favor of the bill. "The bill would settle the three Nations' damage claims against the United States now pending in the Court of Federal Claims, and it would give them, in a single lump sum, the past and future fair rental value of the lands being used for the two powerheads that were constructed on tribal lands on the bed of the Arkansas," Smith said. "The bill would also compensate the Nations for the lands being occupied by adjacent landowners and other potential claimants in the lower segments of the River." Currently, private citizens, including some members of the Cherokee, Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, occupy 7,750 acres of tribal riverbed land. This settlement would keep those Oklahoma citizens from court proceedings to remove them from that land. According to Watkins' statement at the hearing, those court proceedings would be very costly to the government as well as the individuals involved, and would take many years to resolve. "HR 3534 will be of great benefit not only to the people of the Cherokee Nation, but also to many non-Indian citizens of Oklahoma as well," Smith said. The bill does not affect the ownership status of the Arkansas Riverbed, which would remain with the Cherokee, Choctaws and Chickasaw Nations. The bill would allow tribes to use settlement money to reacquire trust land and provide services to their citizens. Copyright c. 2002 Tahlequah Daily Press. --------- "RE: Oil Company drops Plans to drill in Sacred Draw" --------- Date: Wed, 24 Apr 2002 08:54:09 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WEATHERMAN SPARED" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&tl=1&display=rednews/ Oil company drops plans to drill in sacred Weatherman Draw Associated Press April 23, 2002 WASHINGTON (AP) - An oil company dropped plans Tuesday to drill in a Montana valley that is sacred to American Indians and contains centuries- old drawings considered among the most significant collections of tribal art on the Northern Plains. Denver-based Anschutz Exploration Corp. gave the National Trust for Historic Preservation two oil-leasing rights in Weatherman Draw, which Indians call the "Valley of the Chiefs." The decision ends nearly a year of negotiations among Anschutz, the Trust and about a dozen Indian tribes, which had appealed to stop the drilling. William Miller, vice president of Anschutz, said the company made the decision after determining the legal fight could be lengthy, costly and unsuccessful. "We chose to forgo the opportunity. It was simply risk management," he said. Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, praised the agreement. "We thought it was, by far, the best possible solution," Moe said. "We don't know of another instance where a drilling or mining company has donated leasing rights to a nonprofit organization." The 21/2-mile valley contains centuries-old carvings and multicolored drawings of warriors, shields and animals. The area also is a religious site. Indians from many tribes - Crow, Blackfeet, Comanche, Apache, Navajo and Sioux - have come to the valley for centuries on "vision quests." The trust, a Washington-headquartered nonprofit group, filed an appeal last year with the Interior Department, challenging the Bureau of Land Management's approval of plans to drill a wildcat oil well in the 4,268- acre valley. The parcel where Anschutz wanted to drill had the potential to produce 10 million barrels of oil, but company officials acknowledged there was only a one-in-seven chance of drilling a productive well. The trust's appeal argued that the BLM approved the drilling without considering the cultural and historic value of the area and possible environmental damage. The appeal was withdrawn when Anschutz gave the trust the rights to the leases. Copyright c. 2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 2002 The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Stevens backs off ANWR Plan" --------- Date: Wed, 24 Apr 2002 08:54:09 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ANWR PLAN" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.adn.com/alaska/story/989367p-1093230c.html Stevens backs off ANWR plan AMENDMENT: Senator drops Native drilling proposal; Murkowski looks at gas line. By Liz Ruskin Anchorage Daily News (Published: April 24, 2002) Washington -- U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens called last week's Arctic drilling vote "a severe defeat" and said Tuesday that he won't proceed with an amendment that would have allowed drilling on Native lands within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. "There's some other things we could have done on the coastal plain, but I don't see any reason to do that now," he said. Instead, his ANWR hopes are pinned on a House-Senate conference committee. That's where the Senate energy bill will be merged with the House version, which already includes ANWR drilling. "There's going to be a lot of horse-trading going on in that conference, " Stevens said. Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Frank Murkowski won Senate approval of an Alaska gas line tax credit. That amendment, now part of the pending energy bill, is aimed at spurring construction of a pipeline to bring North Slope natural gas to the Lower 48. "This provides the financial safety net' that should allow for financing and construction of the pipeline," Murkowski said in a written statement. The amendment provides a federal tax credit to builders of a gas line if the gas price falls below $3.25 per thousand cubic feet. Gas producers would have to repay the credits when the cost of gas rises above $4.85 per thousand cubic feet. On the North Slope, natural gas is a byproduct of oil drilling. With no means of transporting it to market, the oil companies pump the gas back into the ground. Even with more than 30 trillion cubic feet of reserves, the companies question whether the project is profitable enough to pursue. Stevens said the tax proposal provides the kind of economic certainty companies need before they can put a financing proposal together. Still, he said, the multibillion dollar project has a long way to go. "This won't cause the immediate initiation of the pipeline, by any chance," he said. On a separate track, the Alaska Legislature is considering a bill that would provide $500 million in state and local tax breaks for gas line construction. The Senate is due to vote Thursday on the federal energy bill. The bill includes a requirement that any North Slope gas pipeline go through the Alaska Interior, as demanded by Alaska political leaders, rather than across the Beaufort Sea into the Canadian Arctic. Proponents of the gas line say the massive project will be good for the national economy and will provide a reliable source of clean-burning fuel. But tax credits for the line are unpopular with some Senate Republicans. "They believe it's trying to establish a pricing mechanism through the tax laws, which it is," Stevens said. "That's what we need." Stevens and Murkowski are both Republicans. He said he backed off his Native drilling proposal for ANWR -- which he announced right after losing the ANWR vote last week -- in part because he wanted to emphasize the importance of the gas line tax credits. The Native corporations with rights to 92,000 acres within the refuge, Arctic Slope Regional Corp. and the Kaktovik Inupiat Corp., prefer to wait for a better time, he said. "The conference committee -- that's where we're going to pursue our interests in opening ANWR," said Fenton Rexford, Kaktovik's president. Environmentalists celebrated the Senate's 56-44 vote last week to not proceed with the refuge development proposal. Stevens said their gloating was premature. The vote was procedural, he said, and not a true measure of how many senators would support drilling in the Arctic refuge. He maintains at least 50 senators favor opening ANWR but that some didn't vote with him because they knew he didn't have 60 votes, the number needed to prevail on the procedural question. He acknowledged, though, that drilling proponents are discouraged. "We have suffered a very severe defeat," he said. "We've never lost this before, and it's going to be hard to regroup." Reporter Liz Ruskin can be reached at 1-202-383-0007 or lruskin@adn.com. Copyright c. 2002 The Anchorage Daily News. --------- "RE: Virginia Tribes gather to draw Status Support" --------- Date: Tue, 30 Apr 2002 08:49:18 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="VIRGINIA TRIBES" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2002/04/30/ Six Indian tribes to meet in rare Virginia powwow to draw support for sovereignty status JUSTIN BERGMAN, Associated Press Writer Tuesday, April 30, 2002 (04-30) 04:01 PDT RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Virginia is home to one of the most famous American Indians in history, Pocahontas, but the state's tribes are still fighting to gain recognition from the federal government. To draw support and raise money for their cause, a coalition of tribes is planning the largest statewide powwow in 400 years this weekend. The two-day event features dancers, drummers, singers, food and crafts and is expected to draw some 3,000 people to the Chickahominy Tribal Grounds in Charles City. The six tribes are hoping their alliance will lead to sovereignty status granted by the U.S. government, a move that could bring in millions of dollars in government grants. But several congressmen fear federal recognition will simply open the door to casino gambling in the state. The tribes say sovereignty would give Indians control over their own affairs and make available grants and loans for Indian-language schools, cultural centers and health benefits for the elderly. Historically, the tribes have had minimal interaction with one another but three years ago, they united under the name Virginia Indian Tribal Alliance for Life (VITAL) to lobby Congress to formally recognize them. The tribes range in size from about 100 to 1,500 each. A bill was introduced in the House last year by Rep. James Moran, D-Va., but it stalled in committee. The tribes hope to breathe life back into it this year, as well as have a similar bill introduced in the Senate. More than 500 tribes have been recognized nationwide, many of them larger nations. None has been recognized in Virginia, although the state formally recognized the six main tribes in 1983. Virginia's other two tribes, the Mattaponi and Pamunkey, live on reservations in King William County and have not joined the current effort. "If the government doesn't recognize you, then other tribes don't either, " said Mary Wade of the Monacan Tribe in western Virginia. "We want the respect of recognition. We've needed to do this for the longest time." This is the first time the six tribes have held a concurrent gathering since the 1600s, when there were more than 30 different tribal settlements in the region, said organizer Powhatan Owen, of the Chickahominy Tribe. Back then, powwows had a practical function, as well as a social one. Owen said the tribes would meet at harvest time with their respective stores of food, and a central foodbank would be created for the entire group to share. "If one went hungry, all went hungry," he said. It was also a time of homecoming when people would visit with old friends and relatives and perform dances, he said. Many would be married, or conduct special ceremonies in which their children's names were chosen. Copyright c. 2002 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. Copyright c. 2002 San Francisco Chronicle. --------- "RE: Diabetes among American Indians" --------- Date: Tue, 23 Apr 2002 08:19:21 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRADITIONAL WAYS/DIABETES" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.centredaily.com/mld/dailytimes/3114834.htm Diabetes among American Indians: Tribes hope traditional methods can lead to healthier future Wire DataFeatures By Mary Annette Pember The Washington Post Mon, Apr. 22, 2002 Lorelei DeCora, an Indian Health Service nurse and member of the Ho-Chunk (or Winnebago) tribe, had just spent the day in a South Dakota hospital ward in which every patient was a American Indian being treated for diabetes-related problems. As she walked out, she noticed the clinic floor littered with pamphlets about how to prevent and treat type 2 diabetes. Suddenly she had a simple realization: "This ain't working." Pamphlets do not change lives. Yet in the American Indian community, and among other U.S. minority groups, a great many lives must change if the epidemic of type 2 diabetes is to be stopped or even slowed. Prevalence of the disease, which is often related to a high-fat diet and insufficient exercise, has more than tripled since 1990, and it now affects about 17 million Americans. This month federal health officials recommended that all overweight adults, and some others at elevated risk, get tested for "pre-diabetes" to prevent the damage that full-blown diabetes can wreak. But in the United States, minorities are anywhere from two to six times more likely than whites to develop type 2 diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. American Indians are about three times more likely than whites to have the disease, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The National Institutes of Health says that some groups of American Indians have the highest rates of diabetes in the world, with 50 percent or more of adults in some American Indian subpopulations affected. The latest medical research shows that lifestyle treatments are more effective than medications at preventing and treating the disease. For many this is good news, suggesting the epidemic can be addressed without expensive drugs or risk of side effects. But getting people to make these changes has proved quite difficult, especially in communities of color. The problem may lie in the fact that lifestyle and eating habits are closely tied to who we are as people, as members of certain families, social groups and cultures. In mainstream clinical settings, American Indians are often labeled noncompliant -- as patients unwilling to help themselves by making changes in diet or taking medications. Practitioners frequently conclude that the patients simply don't care about their health. This view, according to DeCora, fails to acknowledge the way cultural background may discourage or even prevent compliance with a common course of treatment. For example, she said, the idea that family members come first and one's own needs come second is deeply embedded in native cultures. This may lead some tribe members to feel it's selfish to make self-care a priority. According to findings by Toni Tripp-Reimer, professor at the University of Iowa College of Nursing, American Indians may fear that having diabetes reflects a failure to live properly and to be strong of spirit, causing shame -- and reluctance to pursue treatment or even reveal their diagnosis to others. DeCora thought about the problem. Then, like her ancestors, she decided to pray until an inspiration came. It came while she was attending a Sun Dance, a days-long ritual of fasting, dancing and communing with both nature and spirits. She focused her meditations on the Sun Dance tree. The tree was forked, one side carrying a figure of a buffalo and the other a figure of a man. Both were cut from the same buffalo hide. The tree represents good and evil and the delicate balance among men, animals and Earth. During her prayers, a message came to her: "The answer lies in our traditions. The answer to everything we are facing lies within our traditions." Talking circles While growing up on the Winnebago reservation in northeastern Nebraska, DeCora remembers seeing "talking circles," groups in which tribe members sat in a big circle and talked about community problems and issues. These circles demonstrate the native view of the interconnectedness of life, the cycle of life and death and balance in the natural world. Most tribes embrace an oral rather than a written tradition, and talking circles remain an important part of many native cultures today. In 1998, six years after her inspiration, DeCora joined researcher and University of Minnesota professor Felicia Hodge, who had secured a grant from the NIH's National Institute of Nursing Research to develop and test talking circles as part of a community diabetes program. Hodge, a Wailaki woman from California, had been conducting research using a similar model among American Indian cancer patients. In the study, conducted at four rural tribal sites in South Dakota and Nebraska, adult diabetics and those at risk of developing the disease received information about diabetes via talking circles, storytelling and native health practitioners. Findings -- which were released to the NIH in March but not yet published -- indicate that people in these groups, which met once a week for two or three hours over a period of three months, showed a significant decrease in fatalistic attitudes toward diabetes, plus an increase in general knowledge of the disease and improved overall health. Fatalism kills Fatalism -- the belief that disease is inevitable and that no medical care or personal changes can forestall death -- can be a powerful barrier to treatment. Winnebago Health Service nurse Michelle Smith vividly remembers encountering it in her very first diabetes patient. "I was very excited and enthusiastic about helping the tribe overcome diabetes," she said. "I spent a long time preparing for his visit, accumulating IHS and NIH literature on lifestyle change and facts about caring for diabetes. I was loaded for bear." The patient, a young Ho-Chunk, appeared at her office door and leaned against the jamb with his arms crossed over his chest. He made it clear he would not enter the office. "Just tell me this," Smith recalled him saying. "How long before I go on insulin, how long before I need dialysis and how long before I die?" While that may be a dramatic demonstration of fatalism, it does represent a widely held feeling. By the time physical symptoms of diabetes develop to the point where medical intervention is required, the body has usually suffered from years of excess blood glucose, leading to irreversible damage to heart, kidneys, lungs and other vital organs. Dialysis, amputation and/or heart failure often follow. This scenario is so common in native communities that it feeds the perception that diagnosis is an inescapable death sentence. Yet the researchers' work showed that talking circles kept the fatalism at bay -- and helped improve the participants' health. The trick now was to take the research back to the people. In practice Inspired by DeCora's research, Georgia Gomez, a tribal community health representative and emergency medical technician on the Winnebago reservation, worked with Smith to produce a program she calls "Team Up." Funded by a small grant from the tribe, the three-day program is conducted at a Sioux City, Iowa, hotel and conference center, about 20 miles from the reservation. Participants are fed a controlled diabetic diet with an emphasis on traditional foods, and receive education, exercise demonstrations and emotional and spiritual counseling by local native leaders, all in the setting of a talking circle. Blood sugar testing is conducted throughout the program to provide tangible proof, in the form of lower blood glucose levels, that even brief and moderate changes in diet and exercise can have immediate impact. Last August, the group participated in a traditional outdoor feast celebrating completion of the program. Spiritual leader and type 2 diabetic Orville Little Owl gave a traditional blessing and thanksgiving during the final talking circle, in which everyone was given an opportunity to share their thoughts and feelings about the process. Little Owl's willingness to "come out" as a diabetic sent a strong message to participants that one can continue to be strong in spirit while openly dealing with the disease. A pouch sewn by a native healer from the Lakota tribe was passed to each member as he or she spoke. For many, the final circle was emotionally powerful. One woman choked back tears: "If my own people can care enough about me to go to all this trouble, I can care enough to take care of my diabetes." In honor of the event, women in the Winnebago community produced a star quilt that contains the names of those who have died from diabetes complications. Copyright c. 2002 CentreDaily.com/State College, PA. --------- "RE: HHS Awards New Grants for Tribal Elders" --------- Date: Fri, 26 Apr 2002 08:25:06 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CAREGIVER GRANT" http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/first/0425-127.html HHS Awards New Grants for Tribal Elders, Caregivers U.S. Newswire 24 Apr 12:40 HHS Awards New Native American Grants For Tribal Elders And Caregivers To: National Desk Contact: Administration on Aging Press Office, 202-401-4541 WASHINGTON, April 25 /U.S. Newswire/ -- HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced $27.6 million in grants to support vital community programs and services for tribal elders and their caregivers. This amount reflects an 8.5 percent increase in funding for fiscal year 2002 and includes 10 tribal organizations receiving federal funds for aging services for the first time. "The services provided through these grants are helping to improve the lives of our most revered citizens. We know that serious health disparities continue to plague Native American communities, and lack of access to health and social services remains a challenge," Secretary Thompson said. "This program is a vital component of our prevention and education efforts to reach out to vulnerable communities." Administered by HHS' Administration on Aging (AoA), the 236 grants awarded to tribal organizations will provide nutrition and supportive to Native American elders to help them to remain independent and healthy. In addition, 177 Native American Caregiver Support Grants, available under the new National Family Caregiver Support Program, will support the caregivers of American Indian, Alaskan Native and Native Hawaiian elders. Of that number, 68 tribal organizations will receive critical caregiver support services for the first time. Since 1978, AoA has funded federally recognized tribal organizations for nutrition and supportive services to approximately 250,000 Native American elders, who are among the most disadvantaged populations in the nation. The Native American Caregiver Support Program, created in 2000 as part of the new National Family Caregiver Support Program -- a new component of the Older Americans Act -- provides support to the caregivers of elders who are chronically ill or have disabilities. The program includes information and assistance, counseling, training and respite among its list of services available to family caregivers struggling to care for family members. "We know that an increasing number of Native American elders need assistance, and most prefer to remain in their homes, communities and on reservations. Our programs help to promote independence, well-being and positive lifestyles while preserving the heritage of the Native American culture," HHS Assistant Secretary for Aging Josefina G. Carbonell said. A list of grantees is available on AoA's Web site at http://www.aoa.gov/pressroom/Pr2002/na-grants2002.html. Copyright c. 2002, U.S. Newswire. --------- "RE: Lost Trust: Billions Go Uncounted" --------- Date: Tue, 23 Apr 2002 08:19:21 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LOST TRUST" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25625-2002Apr21.html Lost Trust: Billions Go Uncounted Indians in Century-Old Fight to Tally Money Owed for Land Use By Ellen Nakashima and Neely Tucker Washington Post Staff Writers Monday, April 22, 2002; Page A01 In the whispering grasslands of North Dakota, Tex Hall's family has grazed cattle for four generations. More than a century ago, most of their land was among Indian acreage taken by the U.S. government, held in trust and leased to strangers. When Hall was a boy, his parents, members of the Mandan-Hidatsa-Arikara tribes, would await the arrival of a U.S. Treasury check each December. Sometimes the check was for $5,000. The next year, perhaps $4,000. Another year, another sum. His mother wondered why the amounts varied. The yellow government envelope contained no explanation. His father would call the Bureau of Indian Affairs. "We'll get back to you," the local officials said. But they never did. The frustration would mount. "I want an accounting!" his father would shout, startling his eight children. Now the parents are dead, and, come December, it is Hall and his remaining six brothers and sisters who await the checks. The amounts still vary, and the Halls still have no explanation. They are among hundreds of thousands of Indians in the West whose lands were taken into government trust -- and now lie at the center of one of the most intractable accounting messes in U.S. history. For more than a century, ranchers, miners and loggers have contracted with the government to harvest timber, graze cattle and extract oil, gas and minerals from Indian land; the money paid the government is supposed to be forwarded to each landowner. But from the beginning, the government paid little attention to which landowner was owed what. Over time, as Indians died and land was divided among heirs, the accounting problems grew exponentially. Tribes and individuals have never been sure they were getting their due. "To this day, when I get my check there is nothing that shows what tract of land it's for," said Hall, president of the National Congress of American Indians. "Isn't that crazy?" Congress has tried to fix the system and failed. Accounting firm Arthur Andersen was paid $20 million in the early 1990s to reconcile tribal accountsand failed. The Interior Department, which oversees the BIA, tried to fix the system. It, too, failed and ended up in court with individual account holders. Evidence made it clear that relevant documents were shredded and e-mails deleted. Already, two Clinton Cabinet members have been found in contempt of court, and now Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton and 40 deputies face contempt charges. That case -- one of the largest class action lawsuits in history in terms of plaintiffs -- was filed six years ago to secure a reckoning of 300,000 accounts belonging to individual Native Americans. In separate litigation, tribesare seeking similar treatment for about 1,400 tribal accounts. The government, the Native Americans contend, still cannot provide an accurate balance sheet for a single one. "We call this the Indian Enron case," Hall said. Even that may fail to capture the scope of an accounting disaster that has shaped the lives and lands of Indians since the 1820s. Plaintiffs in the class action, led by Elouise Cobell, treasurer of the Blackfeet Indians in Montana, say they are owed at least $10 billion. U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth has already found the government breached its fiduciary duty to the Indians; he is considering how the system might be repaired and will later determine damages. At least 18 tribal suits were filed in January and February, claiming billions of dollars in damages and seeking an accounting of their own. But there is no consensus on how to accomplish either an accounting dating back more than a century or a long-term fix for the future -- or even a settlement. Norton wants to create an agency to overhaul the trust fund -- the Bureau of Indian Trust Asset Management (BITAM). Cobell wants the judge to appoint an independent receiver, which would focus solely on the individual accounts. A task force of 36 tribal leaders is considering calling for legislation that would create a body akin to a Resolution Trust Corp., which restored the savings and loan industry in the 1980s and which would address both tribal and individual accounts. Some lawmakers are proposing their own fix. Senate Majority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) and Sens. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) introduced legislation Friday to create an Interior Department position of deputy secretary for trust management and reform to handle all trust fund duties, and to make it easier for tribes to directly manage or co-manage their own trust funds, which few tribes do now. "The way these trust fund holders have been treated . . . is a national disgrace," said Rep. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), whose district includes large numbers of Navajo. "If 40,000 people were cut off Social Security, there would be an uproar in Congress." The problem dates to the early 19th century, when the government began putting tribal land in trust. Accounting problems were cited as early as 1828. Then, with the 1887 Dawes Act, the government began breaking up Western tribal land into allotments to individual Indians. That law was a means of winning land for white settlers. Typically, the government would declare land "surplus" and pay the Indians -- who often did not see land as something that could be bought or sold -- a pittance. Within 50 years, Native Americans lost more than 135,000 square miles of land -- roughly the area of Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and the District of Columbia combined. The remaining 57 million acres, 47 million of which is tribal land, has been held in trust by the government. Companies or individuals who want to extract the oil or minerals from the property or graze cattle on it sign leases with the local BIA superintendent and pay the Office of Trust Fund Management in Albuquerque, which manages the accounts. The accounts pay interest, though investments are limited to government securities. Over the decades, the government gave the accounts low priority, spreading records across dozens of poorly kept warehouses across the country, where fires, floods and insects destroyed them. Compounding the problem is the fact that most Indians die without wills, leaving a probate court or administrative law judge to divide the land among the heirs. The number of accounts has increased exponentially with each generation, while each owner's share of the land has become correspondingly smaller. Today, there is a backlog of more than 20,000 probate cases. Property inspections are not done on time or not done at all. Appraisals are figured on a computer in a regional office, often without a site visit. Surveys are sometimes based on traditional boundaries, as in "Go to the old oak tree." There is no way to ensure that account holders are receiving the highest value for their leases, no way to know when money is owed an account holder, no central location to get information on a single account. "You have to talk to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to find out what's going on with the land management and the lease," NCAI attorney John Dossett said. "To find out how much money is in your account, you have to talk to the Office of Trust Fund Management. . . . One office supposedly knows how much is to come in. The other office is supposed to know how much actually came in." And in most cases, he said, they don't know either. In 1972, the BIA announced it had lost the ability to reconcile the tribal trust accounts. In the early 1980s, the General Accounting Office, the Interior Department's inspector general and Price Waterhouse issued reports urging reforms. Interior created the Branch of Trust Fund Accounting in 1985 to handle all trust accounting duties. Then in 1991, the department created the Office of Trust Fund Management to oversee all trust fund investment and accounting duties. The next year, Congress issued a report urging reform, and in 1994, it passed the American Indian Trust Reform Management Act, setting up a special trustee within Interior to develop a new management plan. Reports gathered dust. The bureaucracy expanded. Still, there was no broad solution. By 1996, Cobell had had enough. She sued to force the government to account for all royalties due since 1887 to individual Indians and their heirs. Norton said her department is developing a long-term plan to improve the security of individual Indian trust data. In February, she told Congress that the agency would upgrade individual trust fund technology systems by 2005. "Indian trust asset management responsibility is a very high priority for the department," Norton said. "The tribes, Interior and the Congress have to reconcile the competing principles associated with trust responsibility and self-determination." But the government's lack of progress over the past six years has infuriated Judge Lamberth. He has found that government lawyers have misled the court so often that he held Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin in contempt during the Clinton administration and placed the individual trust system under his oversight for five years. In December, Lamberth ordered the Interior Department to shut down Web sites that linked to the trust funds after discovering computer security was so lax that the accounts could be hacked into. The department responded by yanking all its Web sites, even for vacationers making camping reservations in Yellowstone and other parks. Five months later, checks are still not going out to tens of thousands of Indians. The BIA's Land Records and Information System (LRIS), which records all probate and lease changes, remains off-line, blocking new transactions and "choking" the Indian economy, as Hall puts it. A series of lawsuits filed over the last decade hints at the scale of lost Indian income. In Minnesota, the Red Lake Band of Chippewa won $80 million in two cases for underpayment of forestry land fees. After the Jicarilla Apache nation sued over the handling of its oil and gas leases and began auditing its own leases, royalties rose more than $53 million over 10 years. Cobell said that if all royalties due for individual accounts since 1877 were totaled, they would amount to more than $100 billion in current dollars. Even if the government could account for 90 percent of that, at least $10 billion would still be missing, she said. Some former government officials doubt the plaintiffs can prove losses in that range or that the government would pay that much. "Any settlement is not going to be $10 billion," said Kevin Gover, a Pawnee Indian and former assistant secretary for Indian affairs, who was held in contempt in 1999. "It's not going to be a lot of money, and you're going to see a lot of extremely unhappy people." It would not be impossible to fashion a reckoning, Cobell said. "Go back to the original allotment and come forward," she said. "Determine who the heirs are. This is not hard to do. Hire crisis managers. They do it every day in the outside world." Copyright c. 2002 The Washington Post Company. --------- "RE: Burnt Church's Problems run Deep" --------- Date: Wed, 17 Apr 2002 08:46:10 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BURNT CHURCH PROBLEMS" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://cbc.ca/stories/2002/04/15/burntchurchreport020415 Burnt Church's problems run deep: report Tue, 16 Apr 2002 11:58:54 BURNT CHURCH, N.B. - The problems on the Burnt Church reserve run deeper than lobster traps on the floor of Miramichi Bay, a report released on Monday says. The report was issued by the Miramichi Bay Community Relations Panel, set up earlier this year to look at the violence that has broken out between the native and non-native communities there. The conflict has been focused on the lobster fishery, but half the report's 12 recommendations deal with social issues. Included in the recommendations is that a community renewal project be initiated, with the goal of making the Mi'kmaq reserve at Burnt Church a model First Nations community in a decade. "I hope it improves, the schooling, the housing, and the fisheries," said Angela Johnson. She says she and her sons have bigger problems than who gets to fish for lobster, and when. Her house is falling apart, she said, and so are the washrooms at the school her sons attend. In a community that depends on the lobster fishery for its sole income source, the fishing rules loom large. Native fishermen have been defying federal fishing rules every fall, arguing a Supreme Court decision affirms their right to fish where and when they want. That defiance has seen violent confrontations with non-native fishermen and Department of Fisheries officers. Native fishermen have had their traps seized. The report suggests that all charges that have been laid in those incidents be stayed, and that native fishermen be compensated for damages. Burnt Church band members say the report is encouraging, except for the recommendation that the fall fishery they want be banned. "The recommendations are pretty good, except the spring fishery, " said Raymond Dedam, a band councillor. "We don't accept it. We have commercial spring fisheries here but we'd like to transfer them to fall." Dedam says there's still room to negotiate with federal officials. "We have to. We can't second-guess each other anymore." Report recommendations: * Forgiveness All pending charges be stayed * Compensation Compensate for all material losses to boats and fishing gear in confrontations of 2000 and 2001 * Education Establish a community renewal project to make Burnt Church a model First Nations community * First Nations Law Enforcement Establish a First Nations law enforcement academy to train an autonomous First Nations police force * Complaint mechanism Create an aboriginal ombudsman's office * Wharf facilities Rehabilitation of the Burnt Church wharf * Lobster management measures No fall fishery * Fisheries enforcement Develop a conservation-driven community focused enforcement program enforced by autonomous task force * Cross-culture training Program for cross-culture training be developed and made available to law enforcement agencies * Fishing licences Institute direct ownership of fishing licences * Lobster research Implement a major research project into lobster fishing in Miramichi Bay Written by CBC News Online staff Copyright c. 2002 CBC. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Sandias dispute in D.C." --------- Date: Thu, 25 Apr 2002 08:09:52 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SANDIA DISPUTE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.abqtrib.com/archives/news02/042402_news_sandia.shtml Sandias dispute in D.C.: Pueblo governor takes case for mountain claim to Congress By Ollie Reed Jr. Tribune Reporter Stuwart Paisano, governor of Sandia Pueblo, will sit down today in front of a joint meeting of U.S. Senate committees in Washington, D.C., and talk about nothing less than saving the identity of his people. Paisano is testifying before the Indian Affairs Committee and the Energy and Natural Resources Committee during a hearing on a bill introduced by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, a Silver City Democrat. The bill is an attempt to resolve the dispute over Sandia Pueblo's claim to the west face of the Sandia Mountains. Before leaving for Washington this week, Paisano called it the single most important issue facing his pueblo. "This mountain is part of our culture, history and religion," Paisano said during a phone interview. "Without it, we are missing key elements of our beliefs. It is important to our future generations." What's at stake is 9,890 acres of Cibola National Forest on the west side of the Sandias. It is one of Sandia Pueblo's most sacred sites, important to pueblo members for their religious practices. The pueblo says the land was included in its 1748 land grant from Spain but was mistakenly dropped from the pueblo's landholdings during a U.S. government survey in 1859. In 1994, the pueblo, concerned that continued development of the Sandias was undermining its religious practices on the mountain, sued to get its boundary extended to the mountain's 10,600-foot crest. In a victory for the pueblo, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington dismissed all appeals to the pueblo's claim and sent the case to the Interior Department. Before leaving office in 2000, former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt issued an opinion supporting the pueblo's claim. That led to a settlement in 2000 among the pueblo, federal agencies and the Sandia Peak Tram Co. The settlement preserves the area for use by the pueblo for religious and cultural purposes while protecting existing roads and rights of way and assuring the preservation of wilderness. But to go into effect permanently, Congress must ratify it by Nov. 15, 2002. That it has not been approved by Congress likely has something to do with the fact that Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson, both Albuquerque Republicans, do not support it. Domenici has said he wants to see language in the agreement that limits, in identical terms, access to the area for the pueblo and the general public. Wilson says she wants to make sure hikers and others will have the same access they have today. The dispute involves not only Sandia Pueblo's rights to the mountain but the rights of people who use the mountain for recreation and the rights of people who live there. Hundreds of homes were built in the disputed area before the 1994 lawsuit. Bingaman introduced his bill in an effort to work through the stalemate among these various groups. In the bill, as in the agreement, the pueblo would have the right to give or deny new uses in the area. But the bill also gives those rights to Bernalillo and Sandoval counties. Bingaman said that in writing his bill he sought input from all sides involved. "This legislation does not give any party everything it sought, but it protects the interests of the pueblo, the public and the affected homeowners and will therefore, I hope, resolve this contentious issue," Bingaman said. Paisano said the pueblo still stands firmly behind the original agreement. "But we remain optimistic that we are going to get something done," he said. In an effort to air out differences, Paisano attended a forum on the issue sponsored by the University of New Mexico Law School on Saturday. He said more than 100 people, including some of the homeowners who are among the most vocal opponents of the pueblo's claim, attended. Paisano said he thought the forum made great strides in clearing up a lot of misinformation about the issue. He said, too, that the pueblo will keep a close eye on Bingaman's bill as it goes through the legislative process to make sure the tribe's interests are protected. But he acknowledged that the bill has little chance of passage if it is not supported by the New Mexico delegation as a whole. "It is considered a local issue. So the rest of Congress will look to the New Mexico delegation," he said. Solid support is anything but assured at this point. Chris Gallegos, Domenici's press secretary, said the senator has a number of things he would like to see changed in the bill. Domenici is a member of both the Indian Affairs and the Energy and Natural Resources committees. "The senator has been reviewing that bill and does have concerns about it," Gallegos said. "He wants to see it developed into something workable." Enrique Wilson, communications director for Wilson, said the congresswoman would be monitoring today's hearing. He said she had drafted her own bill for the purpose of discussion. In a statement released Tuesday, Wilson said she wants "to be certain that New Mexicans who enjoy and appreciate the beauty of the Sandia Mountains and who like to get up close - hikers, bikers, bird-watchers, horseback riders - will always have the access they have today." To achieve that, Wilson said, it is necessary to come up with a bill that has enough support in the U.S. House to become law. Jim Hughes, legislative director for U.S. Rep. Joe Skeen, a Picacho Republican, said Skeen would work with other members of the delegation to get Bingaman's bill passed if everyone could reach some kind of general agreement. "We have encouraged Sandia Pueblo to work closely with all parties to make it a win-win situation for everybody involved," Hughes said. "Joe has also encouraged the other stakeholders in this to work closely with the pueblo. His feeling is that if it goes back into court there will be winners and losers." Glen Loveland, press secretary for U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, a Santa Fe Democrat, said Udall is monitoring the situation. "It's been going on a long time, and I believe all the stakeholders would like to see a settlement sooner rather than later," Loveland said. Paisano said the final decision on what the pueblo will or will not accept is up to the Pueblo Council, not himself. But he said that if an agreement the pueblo is comfortable with is not forthcoming, the tribe may resort again to litigation. Copyright c. 2002 The Albuquerque Tribune. --------- "RE: Supreme Court to consider Government Obligation" --------- Date: Tue, 23 Apr 2002 08:19:21 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="APACHE HOUSING SUIT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.trib.com/HOMENEWS/WYO/22TribalLands.html Supreme Court to consider government obligation for tribal land improvements WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court said Monday it would decide if the government can be sued for allowing buildings on Indian land to fall into disrepair. The decision could be far-reaching, because the United States has more than 56 million acres of land in trust for Indian tribes. Justices will review a case involving the White Mountain Apache Tribe, which wants the government to spend $14 million repairing buildings at Fort Apache in Arizona. The Bush administration argues that the government never promised to keep up the buildings. Fort Apache was built by the Army in 1870. Since 1960, the Interior Department has controlled the land, which includes a school and more than 30 other buildings. Some of the buildings have been condemned. The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said the government could be sued for breach of trust under the 1960 law that put the land under the Interior Department. Solicitor General Theodore B. Olson told the Supreme Court that the government's protection from "money damages is a matter of bedrock importance." "The broad reasoning of the court of appeals could subject the United States to large money-damages claims in Indian breach-of-trust litigation," Olson wrote in the government filing. The case is United States v. White Mountain Apache Tribe, 01-1067. Copyright c. 2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 2002 trib.com, all rights reserved/Casper, WY. --------- "RE: Crow Tribe target of Lawsuit" --------- Date: Fri, 26 Apr 2002 08:25:06 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CROW LAWSUIT" http://www.indianz.com/SmokeSignals/Headlines/ Crow Tribe target of lawsuit FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 2002 A pre-trial hearing was held in federal court in Montana on Thursday to address a lawsuit against the Crow Tribe. A total of 270 tribal members are seeking the removal of their leaders, alleging numerous violations of constitutional and other rights. The lawsuit was filed in response to changes the current administration has made to the tribe's governing structure, including the ouster of Titon Old Bull Sr. as secretary and the removal of three tribal judges. Copyright c. 2000-2001 Noble Savage Media, LLC/Indianz.Com. Get the Story: Crow pack courtroom for hearing on firing (The Billings Gazette 4/26) By JAMES HAGENGRUBER Of The Gazette Staff A routine pretrial hearing drew an unusually large crowd Thursday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Billings. About 75 people showed up for the hearing on a lawsuit asking for removal of Crow Tribe leaders. Many of the spectators were bused in for the afternoon hearing from their homes on the Crow Reservation south of Billings. "This is just the tip of the iceberg here," said Tilton Old Bull, who is leading the effort to bring about change through federal court action. Along with Old Bull, 270 members of the Crow Tribe are listed as plaintiffs. The 15-page lawsuit accuses the top three officials of the Crow Tribe - including Chairman Clifford Birdinground - of a variety of illegal actions. U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton is also named in the suit, as well as the entire Department of Interior. Among the allegations made: Top tribal officials illegally doubled their terms of office from two to four years; * "Attack dogs" and "military ordnance" were used to harass people protesting tribal officials; * Old Bull was illegally removed as tribal secretary; * The tribe's new constitution was illegally adopted; * Tribal courts are in shambles. During the pretrial conference, attorneys for the tribe and for the federal government told U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull they planned to ask for the case to be dismissed. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lorraine Gallinger said the case is an internal tribal dispute. According to a "strong line of cases," it must be resolved in tribal court, she said. Old Bull sued in federal court last year, but the case was dismissed because he did not first exhaust possible remedies in tribal court. Old Bull took his case back to tribal court, where it was shuffled between judges and became the focus of a bitter dispute last fall. In November, one tribal judge appointed Old Bull the new tribal chairman and fired the current leaders. The following day, another judge rescinded the order. Two days later, a judge issued a warrant for Old Bull's arrest. In February, the tribe's three elected judges were ordered off the bench and locked out of their courtrooms after tribal executives and legislators adopted a resolution calling for the tribal chairman to appoint judges for life. The appointments would require legislative approval - similar to how federal judges are appointed and confirmed. Two of these judges are now suing the tribe. Old Bull said he had to take his case to federal court because he tried to use tribal courts, but these courts no longer exist. Judge Cebull questioned the tribe's attorney, Sam Painter, about the tribe's court system. "There is an acting chief judge appointed by the chairman," Painter said. As Cebull continued questioning Painter about the appointment process, previous elections and recent firing of judges, some in the audience began laughing. "I don't want to hear any reactions from people in the audience," Cebull warned. Painter said the new system in which the chairman appoints judges for life - with legislative approval - will bring about a more independent judiciary. Under the new rules, tribal judges must now have a law degree and court experience, Painter said. After the 45 minute session, Cebull told both sides to return to court on June 28 for additional hearings. On that date, Cebull will consider possible arguments by the government and tribe to dismiss the case. In the meantime, Old Bull and opponents to the tribe's current leaders will hold elections May 18. The group continues to recognize the tribe's 1948 constitution, which calls for elections every two years. Old Bull is running for tribal chairman. Cebull asked Old Bull if his group would try to physically remove current tribal leaders. "There won't be any violence," said one of Old Bull's attorneys, Paul McMenaman, of Denver. Outside the courthouse, Old Bull's supporters held an informal rally Thursday afternoon. Kennard Real Bird, of Crow Agency, said he was an early supporter of the current tribal leaders because they promised to reform tribal politics. But he said his support dropped when he watched Old Bull get kicked out of office. "Due process is the major issue," Real Bird said. "Tilton wasn't given that. ... I'm still in favor of a new form of government, but not a form of government that is going to continue abusing the rights of our people." Copyright c. 2002 The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: BIA Official denies arranging Meetings" --------- Date: Fri, 26 Apr 2002 08:25:06 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.imdiversity.com/villages/native/Article_Detail.asp?Article_ID=10560 BIA Official Denies Arranging Meetings For Business Associate by AP, The Associated Press By Don Thompson, Associated Press Writer Sacramento (AP) _ A top U.S. Interior Department official on Wednesday denied arranging two meetings between Indian tribes and a former business associate who later asked the tribes to pay him for his influence. Wayne Smith, Interior's deputy assistant secretary for Indian affairs, denied giving one tribal member's business card to his friend and former partner, Philip Bersinger. He also disputed the account of a second tribe that said Smith arranged to bring Bersinger with him to a meeting with tribal attorneys. Meanwhile, a third tribe on Wednesday formally asked Interior Secretary Gale Norton to remove Smith from considering issues they have pending before the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The California Valley Miwok Tribe is "concerned there will be retaliation against the tribe for not hiring Mr. Bersinger, and for cooperating with the press in regards to Mr. Phil Bersinger and Mr. Wayne Smith's actions," tribal chairwoman Silvia Burley wrote to Norton. The tribe turned down Bersinger's proposal to use his influence with Smith in exchange for $5,000 a month, said spokesman Tiger Paulk. The allegations are under federal investigation. U.S. Sen. Robert Torricelli, D-N.J., also has asked Norton to examine what he termed "serious concerns" raised by the allegations. Attorneys for the Buena Vista Me-Wuk Rancheria on Tuesday said Smith brought Bersinger with him to a Feb. 19 meeting to discuss a dispute over who controls the small reservation and the potential for a $150 million casino on the tribal property 35 miles from Sacramento. Smith actually was eating breakfast with his close friend Bersinger before heading to a speech near Lake Tahoe, BIA spokeswoman Nedra Darling said Wednesday evening, so it was coincidence Bersinger was there. "They asked if they could come and meet with Wayne where he was having breakfast with Mr. Bersinger," Darling said. That's "absolutely absurd," tribal spokeswoman Jean Munoz said after double-checking with participants at the meeting. Smith and Darling had previously not returned repeated telephone messages left over three days by the Associated Press, while Bersinger has not responded to messages left over six days. Darling said Smith has no knowledge of the tribe's contention that Bersinger later promised tribal attorney John Peebles he "could solve the Buena Vista tribe problems at the BIA" in exchange for $25,000 a month and a negotiated percentage of the casino's projected gross venues. The tribe turned down the offer, Munoz said. Bersinger also sent a letter to the Columbia River basin's Chinook tribe offering to use what he termed his "tremendous access and influence" at Interior and BIA in exchange for $1,000 a month. A Chinook tribal member, Linda Amelia, said Bersinger called her within a couple weeks after she gave Smith her business card. When she asked Bersinger how he got her name "his answer was 'You gave your card to Mr. Smith, didn't you?' He implied he got it from Mr. Smith." Darling said Smith didn't give Amelia's card to Bersinger. Bersinger previously told Time magazine he did not have Smith's permission to use his name, but may have told Smith he was soliciting tribes. "I was trying to get business," he told the magazine. In an Associated Press interview Friday, Smith denied having anything to do with the letters and said he'd written Bersinger a letter telling him he believed the solicitations to be "inappropriate." Smith said he'd asked the FBI and Interior Department's inspector general to investigate not only his former business partner's activities, but what appear to be several other documents of questionable validity that cast Smith in a poor light. Darling noted that Amelia reviewed a draft of Bersinger's letter to her Chinook tribe that she later criticized. "This is the same lady that was outraged about this letter," Darling said. "She wrote 'Great letter' on the side" of the draft version. Amelia said she merely made grammatical changes and didn't comment on the letter's appropriateness before it was sent to the tribe. "I like Mr. Smith and I regret the day Phil Bersinger ever called," Amelia said. Darling acknowledged Wednesday that Smith may be called upon to consider an ongoing dispute involving the Pechanga tribe of Temecula Valley, despite Smith's statement Friday that he has not recused himself from that case because nothing involving the tribe is currently pending before his office. "That would be before him right this minute, of course," Darling said. She said the matter is currently being handled at the regional level. Copyright c. 2002 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 2002 iMinorities, Inc. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Fatal DWI Crash sparks BIA Background Checks" --------- Date: Fri, 26 Apr 2002 08:25:06 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BIA CRASH" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.daily-times.com/Stories/0,1413,129%257E6572%257E572070,00.html Friday, April 26, 2002 - 12:17:28 AM MST Fatal DWI crash sparks BIA background checks ALBUQUERQUE (AP) The Bureau of Indian Affairs plans to check driving histories of employees before allowing them to drive government vehicles a policy instituted in response to public outcry over a fatal January drunken-driving crash. The new BIA policy says anyone who drives a government vehicle as part of his or her job must first fill out an application to get authorization. Once an employee fills out an application, the employee's supervisor will check the worker's driving record with the state, or National Driver Registry and applicable tribe. The BIA policy change comes after the Jan. 25 crash on Interstate 40 in which Lloyd Larson was driving a BIA truck the wrong way and smashed into another vehicle, killing two Nebraska couples. Larson, a civil engineering technician who worked for the BIA for more than 15 years, pleaded guilty Tuesday to four charges of second-degree murder. Edward and Alice Ramaekers and Larry and Rita Beller were killed in the crash. Larson's BIA bosses have said they were unaware of his driving history, which included nine prior DWI arrests and five driver's license revocations. The new policy, dated April 8, is titled "Motor Vehicle Operator Policy. " It defines a safe driving record as not more than three convictions for moving violations within a three-year period and no drunken-driving convictions within a six-year period. The policy also requires workers to have a valid state driver's license for the type and class of vehicle to be operated. "I can tell you we think the change is fabulous," said attorney Kathy Love, who represents relatives of the Ramaekers. "This is the kind of thing the family of the Ramaekers was looking for. ... I think this is a great first step." If the policy had been in place a year ago, "the Ramaekers family, the Beller family and the Larson family may have been spared this tragedy," Love said. "We're hoping this policy will help prevent any further tragedies," she said. Copyright c. 1999-2002 MediaNews Group, Inc. --------- "RE: Bullet-scarred Seminole Tribal Attorney" --------- Date: Fri, 26 Apr 2002 08:25:06 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SEMINOLE ATTORNEY" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/community/ Bullet-scarred tribal attorney: `I'm on someone's enemy list' BY ELENA CABRAL ecabral@herald.com Posted on Fri, Apr. 26, 2002 More than three months after he was shot at his home in an apparent assassination attempt, Jim Shore, an intensely private man who helps preside over the Seminole Tribe's $300 million a year gambling empire, says he is no closer to knowing who wanted him "wiped out." But that isn't going to keep him from going back to work. "I didn't have any enemies, but apparently I'm on someone's enemy list," Shore said from a secret location where he has been recuperating under the watchful eye of a private security team. He dropped out of sight after getting shot. Police are still investigating the shooting, which came amid a series of troubles for the affluent tribe. The 2,800-member, Hollywood-based Seminole tribe, which in May suspended its longtime chairman James Billie and fired its business manager Tim Cox, is the subject of an ongoing federal investigation into possible financial malfeasance. A series of firings of tribal members linked to Billie fuels rumors that the subsequent shooting of Shore, the Seminoles' general counsel, may have been motivated by bitter tribal members who were removed from their posts. "I couldn't guess who it was, or why, and I don't dwell on that fact," Shore said. "I was shot and I'm just concerned about my recovery." On a quiet evening on Jan. 9, Shore, 57, who has been blind since being injured in a car accident when he was 25, planned a peaceful night at his Hollywood home, accepting an offer from friend Christine O'Donnell to bring him a steak dinner. Shore remembers taking empty containers of bottled water outside for a service to pick up the next day before settling in his living room to relax. He was lying on his couch, listening to a book on tape when the cassette he was playing ran out, Shore recalled. He sat up to flip the tape over. "That's when the three pop-pop-pops came about," Shore said. "I didn't know if there was an electrical shortage or a gunshot, but right away, it kind of knocked the breath out of me." The gunman fired the shots through a glass door in the back of the house. Shore managed to get up from the couch, despite his injuries. "I felt the blood, and I knew I was shot," he said. The indoor lights that Shore kept on to let strangers know someone was home now made him vulnerable prey. Shore shut off the lights and called 911. He was shot three times: One bullet pierced his chest and exited his body. The second shattered a bone in his upper right arm and a third bullet struck the lower arm. "I think one of the bullets ended up in my stomach so they had to go in and remove it," Shore said. But Shore says he doesn't know what type of bullets they were, or what kind of gun was used. After the shooting, rumors immediately swirled that the attack stemmed from the turmoil that plagued the tribe since the previous year. Tribal members -- including Billie -- pointed to the firing of several tribal members following Billie's suspension as a source of mounting anger. Shore said his role was to carry out the wishes of the tribe's five elected officials, providing legal advice as they sought to restructure the tribal government. "It could have been anyone," Shore said. "You always hear about disgruntled employees coming back and doing certain things. I guess you can't rule anything out." Shore said that aside from providing documents subpoenaed by federal authorities investigating the tribe, he had not been questioned by a federal agents until the night he was shot. "I didn't know anything," Shore said. "I thought they were going to tell me something." Local police still have made no arrests in the shooting. After undergoing surgery to insert a pin in his arm, Shore was released from Memorial Regional Hospital later in January and began physical therapy to regain mobility in the arm. Though Shore has visited numerous doctors, he returned to his now- guarded Emerald Hills home only once, to pick up clothes. His other nonmedical-related outing: to get a haircut. Shore passed many days listening to books on cassettes -- among the most recent was My Country Versus Me, a memoir by Los Alamos scientist and accused spy Wen Ho Lee -- and catching Marlins games on the radio. But recently Shore has taken up some of his former duties from afar, helping the tribe pick someone to lead its office of compliance and regulation -- an office that works with the Seminole's gaming commission - -- and helping finalize the details of a plan to build the tribe's Hard Rock-themed casino and hotel complex in Hollywood. Shore is also learning to use a specially equipped laptop computer. The divorced son of a medicine man who lived alone and relished his solitude, Shore said he plans eventually to return to work full-time, even though his assailant remains free. Shore said he plans to continue taking security measures, but fear is not something he plans to carry around. "I'm not investigating this," Shore said. "It's behind me and I have to try to move forward from here." Copyright c. 2002 Miami Herald. --------- "RE: Former Pine Hills Inmates sue" --------- Date: Wed, 24 Apr 2002 08:54:09 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PINE HILL SUIT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20020423/topstories/191762.html Former Pine Hills inmates sue, make sex allegations By ERIC NEWHOUSE Tribune Projects Editor April 23, 2002 Twenty-one former Pine Hills inmates sued the state Monday, charging they had been pepper-sprayed in violation of corrections policy and the state constitution. "Some of the above-named youths are eyewitnesses to being given illegal substances and pornography in exchange for favors," the lawsuit said. "Numerous youth have had sexual relations with staff members," it added. The allegations brought a strong denial from Bill Slaughter, director of the state Department of Corrections. "This lawsuit has no merit," Slaughter said. "There's no substantive base to any of these allegations. "We take all allegations seriously, but we're going to defend this with vigor. And we're confident that any court or jury will see the department has done nothing wrong." The civil rights lawsuit was filed Monday in District Judge Kenneth Neill's court by Great Falls attorney Patrick Flaherty. It noted that departmental policy authorizes pepper spray at Pine Hills only to control a situation, never as punishment. Policy also requires appropriate follow-up, including a cold shower and subsequent documentation of the incident, according to the suit. "These youth were pepper-sprayed when such actions were not authorized, reasonable or necessary," it said. "They were pepper-sprayed excessively in both quantity and severity. "Leon Gustafson acquired the nickname of 'pizza face' for the damage to his face after being repeatedly sprayed," it said. "One youth was sprayed 18 times." After being sprayed, it said, several youths were dragged naked into hot showers, which exacerbated the pain of the spray. "After being pepper-sprayed, some of these children were denied appropriate medical treatment such that some put their faces into toilet bowels to wash off the pepper spray," it said. It also said four youths were sprayed so severely that a silhouette of their bodies stained the wall behind where they had been standing. "The use of pepper spray was not only negligent as being in violation of policy, but also done in such a manner as to constitute cruel and unusual punishment and also discrimination based on race because a disproportionate number of the victims are Native Americans," the suit said. It asks Neill to certify it as a class-action lawsuit. The Rev. Bud Heringer of Wolf Point said the lawsuit arose from his two- year investigation into the use of pepper spray at Pine Hills. "I've interviewed about 30 boys separately and have been told that they were given alcohol to have sex with some staff members," he said. "And over and over again, they named the same staff members. "I was surprised to find the investigation broadening out like this, but I can only go by what these boys continue to tell me," Heringer said. Copyright c. 2002 Great Falls Tribune. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Native Prisoner" --------- Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2002 08:19:12 -0600 From: Janet Smith Subj: Native Prisoner Date: Thursday, April 25, 2002 4:00 PM From: Brigitte Thimiakis Subj: Good News - Manuel Redwoman Greetings, I am happy to inform everyone that Manuel Redwoman finally received his drug test result and it came out NEGATIVE !!!! :-) The EMIT drug test done on January 29th was reported on February 14th to be positive for amphetamines. The prison gave a write up to Manuel and sent him to Death Row instead of releasing him from administrative segregation, even though Manuel said that it had to be a false positive. Although he had told the staff that he was on four medications, the staff had not reported them. A new international email campaign finally made the prison send the sample for a confirmatory test to the state crime lab, which was carried out on March 7th. After weeks of waiting, many requests from Manuel, and outside pressure, on April 22nd the results were finally issued to Manuel! The test result is negative, proves that he never had drugs and that the prison conveniently used a false positive to try and destroy his 42 month clear record. Manuel would like to thank you ALL for your great support, emails, and phone calls to the officials, and mostly for believing in him when he said he had not taken drugs, even though the first results were against him. The severe write-up is now history and Manuel's clean record is going on :-)... 44 months without a write up. Let's see if the prison is now going to release him from Max. We will remain alert as there is no telling what might happen next. On behalf of all his support team, I thank you ALL for standing with Manuel and supporting him through this very difficult time. Once again Unity and Solidarity have made a big difference. And it proves that a prisoner's word can have as much value as anyone else's, contrarily to what too many people claim. And these prisoners will fight to their last breath to defend their Honor. And the struggle goes on ! Respecfully, Brigitte Thimiakis <>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/ -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- Date: Sunday, April 28, 2002 12:36 PM From: Brigitte Thimiakis Subj: Manuel's Strength Greetings, Here are a few words Manuel Redwoman wrote in reply to a letter where I said I was worried about doing something wrong in his campaign, that could put his life at risk, and also asking him if he thought the religious issues should be left aside for a moment until we have the support of a lawyer to protect him. I decided to share his reply with all those who support him and his struggle. With respect, Brigitte From Manuel's letter dated 4-3-02: Brigitte, if I am hurt or even worse because of my beliefs in the traditional and spiritual ways, then it's an honor. I know I put myself in a stressful position by being who I am, but even if I could I wouldn't walk away from the struggle. Why? Just picture Chief Bigfoot in your mind and how he's propt in the snow bank frozen with rags around his feet. Body ravaged with tuberculosis, he knew the risk but he pushed on for what he believed and for who he was taught to be. No disease could weaken his resolve, no army could kill his love for his people, no snow blinding blizzard could deter the vision he had for his people. He wore those torn rags on his feet as a sign that NO MATTER what, his people would continue to travel the journey in their lives. IF I walk away, if I bow my head and shrink away in the face of the obstacles, I dishonor my ancestors and elders. I dishonor my belief, my faith, and if I do that then I am everything negative those who hate my people have in their weak and ignorant minds. So don't ever worry about me getting hurt because nothing is worse than knowing all my ancestors and elders died for was lost because of fear. I think you know that if I ever helped one sister, one daughter, one mother, one father, one son, one brother, one child, regardless of what nation or color they come from, then my life is worth something even if I am dead and buried. NO ONE risks my life Brigitte, so don't ever worry about that but remember it has been a good battle so far :-) Maybe I'll lose, but I do form a platform in which can be used." Manuel Redwoman Northern Cheyenne/Lakota/Arapaho -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- Date: Friday, April 26, 2002 12:37 AM From: "Catrel" Subj: [Fwd: Request for Help] Please Post Widely ================== Request for Help Greetings, I am writing to request assistance for a Native prisoner in Alabama, named Charles "Redhawk" Sellers. Charles was formerly at Easterling C.F. in Clio, AL, and was recently transferred to the W.E. Donaldson C.F. Prison officials have been making every effort to isolate Mr. Sellers by returning opened mail, denying prisoner mail, and through frequent transfers. Until recently, NAPS was one of the few outside contacts this prisoner had, and even my last letter was opened and returned, though it simply contained the names and addresses of pen-pal services, and an organization he could write to for sacred herbs. The only inquiry we ever conducted was to find out why Mr. Sellers and one other Native prisoner were not receiving our newsletter. Hardly earth-shattering! Obviously, we become concerned when a prisoner becomes totally isolated, because we cannot guarantee his safety and well-being. Therefore, we would ask that as many people as possible write to Mr. Sellers, to let both him and the prison officials know that he is not forgotten. If your mail is returned, please contact Warden Stephen Bullard, phone 205-436- 3681, and drop NAPS a short note, so we can start formal inquiries. We thank you in advance for your assistance. Mr. Sellers can be reached at: Charles Sellers #169418 W.E. Donaldson C.F. 100 Warrior Lane Bessemer, AL 35023-7299 Sincerely, Valerie Scott, NAPS ===== NAPS (Native American Prisoner Support) http://www.hri.ca/partners/naps/ -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- Date: Friday, April 26, 2002 10:26 PM From: Subj: [ironnatives] Re: [THUNDERINGDRUMS] Action Request Message forwarded from NAPS: Note: The Brothers below have managed to get an article published in the Dispatch newspaper, written by Robert Ruth, and called "Inmates say Ohio won't allow worship as American Indians". Anyone wishing to obtain a copy can e-mail NAPS (naps_ca@yahoo.com), to request a copy by e-mail or fax. From: The Native American Brothers at Chillicothe Correctional Institution The Native American Inmates here at Chillicothe Correctional Institution are in dire need of outside support, for Native rights to practice our spirituality. A little over three and a half years ago, the Brothers here started a campaign to fight for our Native rights. We are denied even the basic tenets of our spirituality, and we are constantly being harassed during our prayer circles and private meditations. We have filed numerous grievances and Religious Accommodation Forms, to be able to possess certain medicine tools, a designated area of the yard for prayer, and to be recognized as a real religious group. During all of this time period, we have been met with prejudice, ignorance, and hate. At one time, we had one particular Chaplain here, who made it very clear that he did not approve of Native American spirituality, or of Native Americans as a group. This Chaplain was also known for throwing his hand in the form of a Nazi salute to the Jewish practitioners, here at this institution. Approximately, June 2000, there was a complaint filed with the United States Justice Department, and a case number was assigned. Since that time, there has been an extensive file compiled about the discrimination of religious practices for Native Americans. Not too long after this was filed, the Native practitioners here at this institution, decided that something needed to be done about the Chaplain, so the Native Americans, as well as other religious individuals filed complaints with the Southern Baptist Conference, out of Columbus, Ohio. Instead of the Southern Baptist Conference responding to our complaints, they sent all of our Affidavits of Complaint back to the institution, where the Administration could punish us. The Warden, and Deputy Wardens, decided to write Conduct Reports on twelve (12) of the Native Brothers down here, these tickets were processed quickly, and half of the Brothers were sent to isolation (hole), while the rest of us, who were waiting to be processed, contacted Mrs. Linda King, of the U.S. Justice Department, and explained what had gone on. She, in turn, contacted the Legal Department for the Ohio Department of Corrections, and the following day, all of the Brothers were released from the hole. I have personally written to the Southern Baptist Conference, as well as my family making phone calls, trying to contact them with regard to why they forwarded the complaints to the institution. To this date, there has not been any type of correspondence with regard to this incident. We have all continued to add to the Justice Department file, as well as have our families phone, making inquiries into the status of what they are doing. It was told to us, by Ms. Linda King, that they were going to be sending an inquiry to the Ohio Department of Corrections, asking them why they were not complying with RLUIP Act of 2000. This was approximately nine months ago, and to this date, we have not received any form of response to our letters of inquiry, as to the status of this investigation, being conducted by Ms. Linda King. Continuous contact with the Justice Department by our families still has not gotten any type of response regarding this issue. So we continue to file numerous grievances, letters to Department Heads, and at one point, the Redtail Alliance helped us in a letter writing campaign to the Department of Corrections. All of this has been done to no avail. So, it was decided that our next move would be to file a law suit within the Federal Court system. One of the Brothers compiled a lawsuit, and a total of six (6) of us joined in. While searching for an Attorney to represent us, we came across a law firm that is known for representing inmates. Before we ever received a response from them, they immediately began filing things with the Courts on our behalf. This was a concern at the onset, due to the fact that we had not signed a contract or anything. In fact, we were not given the opportunity to comment on the suit with the Attorneys, until a later date. At our first meeting with an Attorney, we were told that the Ohio Attorney General wanted to cut a deal, and that they were willing to give us pretty much what we were asking for. Upon reviewing this list, I realized a few things were missing from it. The Attorney in return, stated we could add to the list, before we filed anything to the Attorney General's Office. I then went into discussion with our Attorney, about adding Hair (being able to grow our hair), and the reason why it wasn't on our original complaint. We were going to make amendments to the