From gars@speakeasy.org Tue Jun 4 22:18:41 2002 Date: 4 Jun 2002 23:41:26 -0000 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews10.023 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 023 | Country than is reported in | O o o o o O | this weekly newsletter. For | O o O June 8, 2002 | For daily updates & events | O o O | go http://www.owlstar.com/ | O | dailyheadlines.htm | Mvskogee blackberry moon +-----------------------------+ Cree sagipukawipizun/moon when leaves come out <================<<<< >>>>================> 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; ndn-aim, Tsalagi, Chiapas-i/Chiapas95 and Iron Natives Mailing Lists; newsgroup: alt.native; UUCP email IMPORTANT!! ----------- In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, all material appearing in this newsletter is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for educational purposes. <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters who share our Spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the Red Road. ++ It may be subscribed to via email by sending a request from your own internet addressable account to gars@speakeasy.org ++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org <================<<<< >>>>================> As historian Patricia Nelson Limerick summarized in The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West, "Set the blood quantum at one-quarter, hold to it as a rigid definition of Indians, let intermarriage proceed as it had for centuries, and eventually Indians will be defined out of existence. When that happens, the federal government will be freed of its persistent 'Indian problem.'" "There was that same hunger for blood in Montana where the Gros Ventra sacred Little Rocky Mountain was scraped red down to the earth by Pegasus Goldmine's cyanide heap leach method, leaving only a pile of rubble where a mountain once stood. And we know of the same destruction in the forced sterilization thousands of Native women have survived." __ Tia Oros, Zuni +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! There is a large segment of the dominant society throughout Turtle Island that either is truly ignorant of the principles involved where treaty rights or concerned - or they willfully choose to ignore them. Every reader of this newsletter understands well that treaty rights are a legal, binding contractual obligation agreed to by both parties. That's it. They are NOT Indian Welfare. They are NOT unfair and unbalanced rules to give a tribe an advantage. They are arbitrated agreements. I repeat this all once again in hopes that someone who really is clueless will read and learn, because once again/still/yet treaty rights are under attack as being "unfair to the poor beleaguered non-Indian fishermen" in Washington State. You remember Washington State, home to Slade Gorton. Should one of you "white-eyes" stumble across this please allow me to explain "unfair". Unfair is being sent from your home in a death march like the "Trail of Tears" or the "Long Walk". Unfair is having the mouths of innocent children scrubbed until they were bloody for daring to speak their own language. Unfair is living up to treaty obligations while the United States, Canada and Mexico violate them without end and without remorse for the sins of their predecessors and themselves. Your government agreed to those fishing rights in exchange for stolen lands and stolen lives. Your government agreed to many things, including a trust fund from which billions of dollars (yes, billions) are missing. You and your government have taken everything they could. You need to get over the fact your grandparents weren't tortured for those treaty rights and shut the hell up! Dohiyi Ani Oginalii , , Gary Night Owl gars@nanews.org (*,*) P. O. Box 672168 gars@speakeasy.org (`-') Marietta, GA 30007, U.S.A. gars@olagrande.net ===w=w=== gars@sdf.lonestar.org ----------- News of the people featured in this issue ---------- - Crossings - Indian Mascot Bill fails in Assembly - Drought: - Warnings: O'odham declare State of Emergency Signs of Thaw in a Desert of Snow - Smoke jumping and dodging Banditos - Saskatoon Justice Inquiry - Trust Fund Monitor to use Lessons sends Dispute to Judge - Chiapas: Cerro Hueco Prisoners - Cattle Grab called New Act of War - Rocky Boy Officer Drowns - Temporary Grazing halt - Islander's initiative near Yellowstone attacks Tribal Rights - Alaska Natives - Cherokee Man convicted of Murder bow out of Subsistence Meeting - Native Prisoner - Nez Perce Director -- New Penpal takes on Land Issues -- Message from Standing Deer - Chief Vann House is in Danger -- Maryland Grievances Addressed - Hualapai Air Quality Standards -- Inmate Requests Books on Culture draw Fire - History: Carlisle Indian School - Indian Burial Service - Rustywire: Broken Thoughts - For Indian activist - Poem: And we wonder Why it's Matter of Respect - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - First Nations: - Tribal Elders carry on Old Ways Scrap planned Indian Act changes - Hopi Doll carving Part of Culture - First Nations team up - Native America Calling to protect Territory - Upcoming Events --------- "RE: Crossings" --------- Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 08:10:52 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CROSSINGS" May 29, 2002 Jessie Black Feather PINE RIDGE - Jessie Black Feather, 90, Pine Ridge, died Sunday, May 26, 2002, in Pine Ridge. Survivors include three daughters, Estella Rowland, Irma Bad Wound and Mary Condon, all of Pine Ridge; one son, John Black Feather, Tempe, Ariz.; one sister, Lucy Phoebe Black Feather, Pine Ridge; 22 grandchildren; 55 great-grandchildren; and seven great-great-grandchildren. A two-night wake will begin at 4 p.m. Thursday, May 30, at Billy Mills Hall in Pine Ridge. Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 1, at Billy Mills Hall, with the Rev. Marlin Hunte and the Rev. Bill Red Bear officiating. Burial will be at Wolf Creek Body of Christ Cemetery in Pine Ridge. Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements. May 30, 2002 Sharon C. Respects Nothing-Vasquez Allen - Sharon C. Respects Nothing-Vasquez, 43, Allen, died Tuesday, May 28, 2002, in Rapid City. Survivors include one daughter, Consuelo Vasquez, Allen; six sons, George Respects Nothing, Lyle Respects Nothing, Dario Vasquez Jr., Jesse Vasquez, and Raymond Brave Bird, all of Allen, and Bruce Yellow Wolf, Denver; her father, Woodrow Respects Nothing, Manderson; five sisters, Amy Respects Nothing, Belle Fourche, Doris Respects Nothing and Sharon Respects Nothing, both of Manderson, Jerry Respects Nothing, Denver, and Virginia Ghost Bear, Batesland; one brother, Burgess Bianas, Batesland; and nine grandchildren. First-night wake services begin at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 1, at the Allen CAP office. Second-night wake services begin at 1 p.m. Sunday, June 2, at the Porcupine CAP office. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Monday, June 3, at the Porcupine CAP office, with the Rev. Cordelia Red Owl officiating. Burial will be at St. Albin's Episcopal Cemetery in Porcupine. Sioux Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. May 31, 2002 Marcella Cinda Bad Heart Bull RAPID CITY - Marcella Cinda Bad Heart Bull, infant daughter of Mattie and Crystal Bad Heart Bull, Rapid City, was born and died Tuesday, May 28, 2002, in Rapid City. Survivors include her parents and four brothers, Nate Lumley, Kyle Lumley and Xavier Thompson, all of San Diego, and Antoine Bad Heart Bull, Oglala. Graveside services will be at 2 p.m. today at Makasan Presbyterian Cemetery in Oglala, with the Rev. Asa Wilson officiating. Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements. Philomene Babe White Buffalo Hix MURDO - Philomene Babe White Buffalo Hix, 60, Murdo, died Tuesday, May 28, 2002, at her home. Survivors include her husband, Dean Hix, Murdo; two sons, Daryl White Buffalo, Rapid City, and Shannon White Buffalo, White River; two daughters, Barb White Buffalo, White River, Laverda White Buffalo, Omaha, Ark.; one brother, Anthony White Buffalo, White River; three sisters, Goldie Bartlett and Myrtle White Buffalo, both of White River, and Verdella Pigg, Harrison, Ark.; and 12 grandchildren. Isburg-Hofmeister Funeral Chapel of Pierre is in charge of arrangements. Copyright c. 2002 The Rapid City Journal. -=-=-=- June 3, 2002 Althea Ramona Martin TOHATCHI - Services for Althea Martin, 36, were held at 10 a.m., today at Cope Memorial Chapel. Tom Nells will officiate. Burial will follow in Tohatchi. Martin died May 29 in Gallup. She was born Oct. 4, 1965 in Rehoboth into the Near the Water People Clan for the Kinlecheenie People Clan. Martin graduated from Tohatchi High School. She was employed as a receptionist. Survivors include her son, Ryan Marks of Kaibeto, Ariz.; daughters, Cheyenne Marks of Kaibeto, Stacey Hesuse, Raquel Hesuse both of Tohatchi; parents, Bernice and Chee Martin; brothers, Gordon Martin of Newcomb, Ronald L. Martin Sr. and Vernon W. Martin both of Tohatchi; sisters, Patricia A. Matheson of Monroe, Conn. and Elvira J. Stahn of Tohatchi. Martin was preceded in death by her brothers, Gerald Martin and Lynell Martin and sister, Pamela Alice Martin. Pallbearers were Ronald Martin Sr., Gordon Martin, Leland Martin, Christopher Martin, Ronald Martin Jr. and Jonathan Avery. The family will receive friends and relatives after the burial services at Tohatchi Chapter House. Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements. Bobby Saunders THOREAU - Services for Bobby Saunders, 46, will be held at 10 a.m., Tuesday, June 4 at Thoreau Church of God. Burial will follow at Thoreau Cemetery. Saunders died May 30 in Thoreau. He was born June 14, 1955 in Crownpoint into the Two Who Came to Water People Clan for the Water that Flows Together People Clan. Saunders attended Thoreau High School. He was a silversmith, carpenter, mechanic, school bus driver and played in various country bands. He served in the U.S. Army. Survivors include his wife, Ellen Saunders; son, Calvin and Kevin Saunders; daughers, Melissa Saunders and Petula Saunders; mother, Dorothy S. Larry; brothers, Ben Saunders, Jameson Saunders and Delbert Saunders; sister, Etta Charley; and one grandchild. Saunders was peceded in death by his father, James Saunders and grandparents, Ben and Florence Hudson, Navajo Big Jim and Ellen Saunders. Pallbearers will be William Hudson Jake, Calvin and Kevin Saunders, Jameson, Delbert and George Saunders. The family will receive friends and relatives after the burial services at Thoreau Baptist Church. Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements. Mary Joe Bahe DILKON, Ariz. - Services for Mary Bahe, 61, will be held at 11 a.m., Tuesday, June 4 at Klagetoh Holineo Church. Burial will follow at Klagetoh Cemetery. Bahe died May 31 in Ganado, Ariz. She was born May 3, 1941 in Pinon, Ariz. into the Big Water People Clan for the Yucca Fruit People Clan. Survivors include her sons, Danny Tabaha, Melvin Bahe and Harold Bahe; daughters, Marsadie Dee, Alice Sargent, Alberta B. Jones and Dianne Bahe; brothers, Cobert Joe, Jimmy Joe, Frances Tabaha, Richard Tabaha and Ben Tabaha; 16 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Bahe was preceded in death by her husband, Johnson Bahe; sister, Mary Joe and mother, Martha Tabahe. Pallbearers will be Josh Tabaha, Leroy Smith, Donovan Tabaha, Randell Smith, Devin Tabahe, Travis Tabaha, Aaron Tabaha and Thomas Sargent Jr. Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements. Copyright c. 2002 the Gallup Independent. --------- "RE: Drought: O'odham declare State of Emergency" --------- Date: Sun, 2 Jun 2002 11:04:12 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="O'ODHAM DROUGHT EMERGENCY" http://www.pechanga.net http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/local/6_1_02drought.html O'odham declare state of emergency Severe drought conditions are killing cattle and threatening the safety of residents, prompting Tohono O'odham Nation leader Edward Manuel to ask for help. C.T.Revere Tucson Citizen June 1, 2002 Drought conditions are killing cattle and threatening the safety of residents of the Tohono O'odham Nation, prompting its leader to declare a state of emergency. "Water, our most precious resource, is in extremely short supply and with the complete absence of rainfall, our reserves have diminished at an alarming rate," chairman Edward Manuel said yesterday. "Water tables have fallen considerably, wells and charcos (cattle tanks) have dried up, range feed for livestock has all but disappeared and livestock are dying in great numbers." The threat of wildfires is heightened by the drought and if heavy rains come, flooding could cause further problems on the reservation west of Tucson, Manuel said. "At risk are our people, our communities, our livestock and the desert itself," he said. Because of the threats, the Tohono O'odham Nation's Department of Public Safety has activated a drought relief plan that will mobilize all tribal and federal resources to deliver water to communities, ranches and residents in need of water. The department also has been placed on a high state of alert for fire danger, and an emergency response plan is in place until the threat is over, Manuel said. Mutual aid requests also have been made to Pima County, the state and federal governments, the Tohono O'odham Utility Authority and Farming Authority. County officials already are preparing to assist tribal leaders, said Patti Woodcock of the Pima County Health Department. "There are certain steps that have to be taken to get the ball rolling, and we're working on that," she said. The county Department of Environmental Quality will provide advice and assistance to deal with water contamination caused by cattle deaths, and other county agencies are poised to help, she said. "We are determining what county resources are needed, what the Nation needs, and then getting approval to get that equipment and manpower out there to help the tribe," Woodcock said. Much of the county's emergency resources are tied up in the effort to stop the Bullock fire in the Coronado National Forest, she said. If Pima County is unable to provide enough equipment or manpower, the aid request would go up to the state level, Woodcock said. Copyright c. 2002 Tucson Citizen --------- "RE: Smoke jumping and dodging Banditos" --------- Date: Wed, 29 May 2002 13:02:12 EDT From: ErthAvengr@aol.com Subj: Lakota Journal: Smoke Jumping and Dodging Banditos Across New Mexico Mailing List: ndn-aim http://www.lakotajournal.com Smoke jumping and dodging Banditos across New Mexico May 31-June 7,2002 By Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji) Copyright c. 2002 Lakota Journal Leaving Santa Fe on the highway to Taos was eerie on Saturday. It must have taken 20 miles to break free of the smoke that turned the highway into a foggy scene right out of London town. Except the smoke seeped into the car and caused one to cough through watery eyes. Fog doesn't do that. The fires raging in the hills near Santa Fe were out of control. A news report in the Albuquerque Journal said the drought had brought the water level in Elephant Butte Lake to its lowest level since 1954. New Mexico is growing so rapidly. Every time I drive to Albuquerque or Santa Fe I am amazed at how the countryside has changed. New buildings are sprouting everywhere and the freeway leading into Albuquerque, a project that seems to have gone on forever, appears to be nearly completed. In fact, the exit I always took off I-25 was no longer there. What is going to happen if this drought is never ending? Is the water supply inexhaustible? I just got a letter from a subscriber to my newspaper, Lakota Journal, that talked about water as the most precious resource of the human race. Well, he did write "mankind" but I don't want to be dragged into a politically correct arena so I changed it to "human race." Of course, that could be politically incorrect also. There is a great drought sweeping across Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. In Arizona the state parks may be closed this summer. I've never driven across the mountain passes of Colorado this time of the year without marveling at the beautiful snow capped mountains. They weren't snow capped this trip. In fact, to the best of my recollection, the mountains around Taos are usually covered with snow at this time of the year. They weren't. It is the melting snow caps that provide so much water to the lands below. It is ironic that three of the states with the fastest growing populations are mired in a deadly drought. Is this what drove the Ancient Ones from their cliff dwellings to become one of the lasting mysteries of early America? Just before I cleared the smoke screen near Espanola, out of the fog appeared about 30 beaming eyeballs. Seated behind these single headlamps, clad in black and hunched over their handle bars like ghostly specters, roared a gang on Hogs called the Banditos. My first thought was, "I hope these guys don't throw any burning cigarettes into the brush." With the state as dry as a tinderbox, bikers looking for places to camp are a little scary. The parking lots at the Indian casinos did not appear to be as full as the last time I drove through here. Perhaps it is because there are more casinos and the competition has spread the customer base around a bit. The Pueblo Indians of New Mexico are pretty lucky with their casinos. They are located in an area with a booming population. The state also attracts a very large tourist trade. San Felipe Pueblo has added a race track next to their Hollywood Casino. From the freeway I could see many new homes and even a new school going up on one of the pueblos. The lady who publishes a magazine for senior citizens called "Prime Time" told me one of the most beautiful lounges in the world is located within the casino at the Sandia Pueblo. Maria Elena Alvarez said that if you can make it past the slot machines and continue on through the casino, the lounge you enter will take your breath away. Of course, too many people can't make it past the slot machines so they will never see this sight. This exquisite lounge faces the Sandia Mountains and Maria said that all of the windows (they are more like walls) must be made of a special glass that brings the mountains right up to the window panes. I really wanted to check it out but did not have the time this trip. For sure next time. My one complaint is that they should build a highway bypass around Taos. There is one very skinny road that goes right through the heart of the town. The traffic was backed up 50 cars deep traversing this narrow passageway. It was a stop and go, stop and go for about 20 minutes. If there was a bypass and if I wanted to stop and visit Taos, I would gladly get off the bypass and make a stop. I just hate being forced to drive through this traffic mess. Talk about being a captive audience. And the tourist season hasn't even started yet! As a matter of fact, the entire highway from Santa Fe to Taos ought to be a bypass, at least as far as the foot of the mountains. Getting through Espanola, and the other small towns along the way, can be a real nightmare. Dangerous also. Oh, I do have another complaint. Why is the speed limit on the highways leading out of Taos all the way to the Colorado state line set at 55 or 60 miles per hour? The speed limit automatically increases when you hit Colorado to 65 miles per hour and the traffic isn't any worse. As a matter of fact, it seems to flow a lot better. Hey, I was in New Mexico as a visitor and visitors do have the right to complain a little. At least I didn't start any fires and I did pray for rain. But if I find out I have smoke-damaged lungs, who do I sue? ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe to this group,send an email to: ndn-aim-subscribe@egroups.com Archived on line at: http://www.eScribe.com FREE LEONARD PELTIER --------- "RE: Trust Fund Monitor sends Dispute to Judge" --------- Date: Wed, 29 May 2002 08:11:14 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRUST FUND DISPUTE" http://www.indianz.com/News/ Trust fund monitor sends dispute to judge WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2002 Besieged with criticism, the court official watching over the Indian trust on Tuesday said he would refer the Bush administration's attempts to hamper his investigation to a federal judge. Citing the government's "checkered" past in the six-year-old case, trust fund monitor Joseph S. Kieffer III accused the Department of Justice of waiting until the last minute to raise objections to his efforts. In a letter to Sandra Spooner, one of Secretary of Interior Gale Norton's defense attorneys, he questioned her willingness to cooperate. "Considering the course of the checkered ethical and procedural discovery history of the Cobell litigation, your proposals and objections," he wrote yesterday, "do not lend themselves to any assurance [of] your intimations of cooperation and assistance." Kieffer was responding to roadblocks placed in his way by the government. Earlier this month, he set a schedule to interview three top officials under oath about their efforts to fix the broken trust fund. But he was informed last week he could not proceed as planned. In a May 22 letter, Spooner said the pending deposition of Bert T. Edwards, who is in charge of telling 300,000 American Indian beneficiaries how much they are owed, could not occur for another month, if at all. Kieffer was also told the government would stop providing him with information. Although he was given a batch documents about the historical accounting, all future communications were cut off unless they were channeled through a seemingly tedious process established jointly by the Interior and Justice. The roadblock effectively halted Kieffer's work for at least a month while the government finalized its accounting plan, due June 30. Notably, Spooner's role in a dispute affecting Special Trustee Tom Slonaker and his deputy Tommy Thompson, both of whom were to be deposed, was also to be examined. Yet rather than squabble over the issues, Kieffer said U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth should resolve them. "I suggest your objections and arguments," he wrote, "should better be submitted to the court for consideration than to me." A court order might have to be issued to compel the Interior and Justice to cooperate. In her letter, Spooner hinted that was the only way to move forward. Lamberth might also resolve complaints over Kieffer's most recent report. Norton's legal team urged rejection of the document "in its entirety." Copyright c. 2000-2002 Noble Savage Media, LLC/Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: Cattle Grab called New Act of War" --------- Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 08:22:30 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CATTLE GRAB" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.sltrib.com/06022002/utah/742017.htm Cattle Grab Called New 'Act of War' Sunday, June 2, 2002 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PALOMINO VALLEY, Nev. -- American Indians and states rights activists protesting the government seizure of cattle retreated from a federal corral Saturday to plot new strategy against the U.S. actions one Indian leader called "an act of war." Western Shoshone leaders met privately at the home of their national council in Austin while the Nevada Committee for Full Statehood prepared a lawsuit against the state brand inspector for aiding the Bureau of Land Management in the confiscation of 157 cattle belonging to the tribe's Te- Moak Band near Elko. The BLM sold the cattle in a sealed-bid auction on Friday. The protesters earlier threatened a blockade when the two unidentified buyers show up to claim the cattle over the weekend, but said Saturday they were examining a variety of options. "We are going to fight. We have to fight," said Russell Redner, a leader of the American Indian Movement (AIM) of Northern California. "They have perpetuated an act of war on the Western Shoshone people by taking the tribe's property using guns and force," he said in an interview at the BLM's wild horse and burro holding facility where the cattle were impounded about 15 miles north of Reno. Thirty protesters gathered Friday and a few monitored the corral overnight. But they left for the tribal meeting early Saturday and two BLM rangers patrolling the area were the only ones around by midday. "We've had no incidents and no problems. Everybody was pretty nice," BLM Ranger Jim Massey said Saturday. AIM leaders are the latest to join the unconventional anti-federal alliance of Nevada ranchers, Western Shoshone and a conservative, property rights group called the Nevada Committee for Full Statehood in a growing series of disputes between federal land managers and Western critics accusing them of heavy-handed environmental regulation. Jackie Holmgren, a leader of the statehood group who is running for the state legislature as a candidate for the Independent American Party, said any future demonstrations would be peaceful. "We are trying to take the moral high ground. We don't want confrontation," she said Saturday. Others sent mixed signals. "We are going to use all the weapons at our disposal, whether they are words or military implements . . . because they are using weapons first to do their work," Redner said. The latest fight centers on 157 cattle the BLM seized south of Elko on May 24 from a livestock association established by the Te-Moaks, including Raymond Yowell, 72, chief of the Western Shoshone National Council. Tribal leaders say the land belongs to the Indians, not the feds, as established in the Ruby Valley Treaty of 1863. "We were here first. This is stolen land. This is our land. It was here before there was an America," Redner said Saturday. "Our ancestors tried to set up an agreement so we could live in peace but the immigrant nation, the invader nation, doesn't want that," Redner said. "What do they expect us to do? Just lay down? Just let them come in and teach our kids that Columbus discovered America?" Yowell said the confiscated cattle were worth $100,000, but two bidders bought them for $27,440. Copyright c. 2002 The Salt Lake Tribune. --------- "RE: Temporary Grazing halt near Yellowstone" --------- Date: Fri, 31 May 2002 08:10:46 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HALT GRAZING" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0530yellowstone-ON.html Judge orders temporary grazing halt near Yellowstone Associated Press May 30, 2002 20:30:00 BILLINGS, Mont. - A federal judge on Thursday ordered a halt to cattle grazing on land near Yellowstone National Park's western border until the U.S. Forest Service studies how it affects bison. U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina adopted the recommendation made by a federal magistrate earlier this month. Conservation groups called the decision a win in their effort to stop grazing in the Horse Butte area, which is frequently used by bison that leave the park each winter in search of food. Fears the bison may spread the disease brucellosis to cattle herds led to a management plan that sometimes calls for the killing of infected bison, a practice many conservation groups oppose. "With this ruling, there should be no reason to continue killing bison," said Michael Scott, executive director of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. Rich Inman, deputy supervisor of the Gallatin National Forest, said the agency would comply with the injunction. A coalition of conservation groups sued the Forest Service last year, arguing the agency never completed a required environmental assessment before re-issuing a 10-year grazing permit for the roughly 2,000-acre Horse Butte allotment. The Forest Service said its environmental review was delayed by a backlog and that it was required to re-issue the permit in the meantime. In his order, Urbina agreed with the magistrate's findings that the Forest Service did not meet its required deadline to complete the study. Inman said the environmental review is expected to be completed by 2004. Many bison in Yellowstone carry the disease brucellosis, which can cause pregnant cows to abort. Ranchers fear bison that leave the park will spread the disease to their cattle. Copyright c. 2002, azcentral.com. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Alaska Natives bow out of Subsistence Meeting" --------- Date: Sat, 1 Jun 2002 09:38:22 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WALKOUT" http://www.pechanga.net http://www.adn.com/alaska/subsistence/story/1185799p-1300544c.html Natives bow out of meeting SUBSISTENCE: Local priority,' closed doors, guest list are faulted. By Tom Kizzia Anchorage Daily News (Published: May 31, 2002) An effort to hammer out a subsistence compromise behind closed doors fizzled Thursday when the Alaska Federation of Natives decided not to take part. The meeting of competing interest groups had been called by two Republican state senators after a special legislative session on subsistence failed to get in gear this month. Sen. John Torgerson, R- Kasilof, canceled the meeting after the AFN's subsistence committee decided Wednesday not to participate. "The meeting's focus on a local priority' is a substantial step backward from current (federal) protections, which is simply unacceptable to the Native community," AFN president Julie Kitka wrote in a letter Thursday to Torgerson and Senate President Rick Halford, R-Chugiak. With salmon now entering Alaska's rivers and the true work of subsistence getting under way, Thursday's failure may signal an end to this year's political efforts to sort out hunting and fishing conflicts. But the Republican senators held out hope that informal talks this summer could result in a subsistence compromise going before state voters in November. In interviews, Halford and Torgerson said they planned to accept an AFN invitation to an August meeting with Native leaders in King Salmon. "I haven't given up yet," Torgerson said. "Quite frankly, we all had questions about the difference between a rural priority and a local priority." "We would not hesitate to call another special session if the Senate can come back with acceptable language and 14 votes," the majority necessary to approve a constitutional amendment, said Bob King, spokesman for Gov. Tony Knowles. The House has shown greater support for a subsistence amendment. In the meantime, commercial, sport and subsistence hunting and fishing this summer will be managed by a patchwork of federal and state regulations. Alaska's politicians have been unable to resolve a conflict between federal law and the state constitution over how to allocate subsistence priorities. Torgerson and Halford have both announced they won't run for re-election, and Knowles' term ends after the election. By next year, a new cast of state politicians will face subsistence -- perhaps with less support from Native leaders. The AFN decision to back away from talks about a local priority reflected the increasing satisfaction among some rural Native groups with federal management, which they say better looks after their interests. "I don't know at this point whether a mere shuffling of the deck (politically) is going to bring many of the participants back to the table, " said Knowles spokesman King. "It doesn't sound like they're interested in any ideas but their own," said Alaska Outdoor Council spokesman Dick Bishop, who was supposed to take part in Thursday's meeting. Knowles began work last August to find a last-ditch solution, beginning with a widely publicized "Subsistence Summit." A Knowles task force drew up a proposal for a state constitutional amendment that would allow a priority for rural residents, with some provisions as well for urban residents who had long histories of subsistence hunting or fishing. Such a constitutional change would bring the state in line with requirements of federal law, which grants a rural subsistence priority on federal lands in Alaska. Native leaders, who took part in the task force negotiations, weren't entirely happy with the plan but said it was a starting point. In the Legislature, however, opposition to a rural priority remained strong in the Senate. Opponents said such an amendment would discriminate unfairly between Alaskans. Most discussion of subsistence by the Senate this year took place in closed-door caucuses. Knowles called a special session on subsistence in mid-May, but the issue was drowned out in the Legislature's own overtime work on budget and school-funding matters. Informal discussions surrounded an alternative approach that would grant priority to residents who lived nearest a particular food source in short supply. Such a local priority approach appeared to draw interest from swing votes in the Senate and the Alaska Outdoor Council, a sportsmen's group that opposed a rural priority. Torgerson called Thursday's meeting to continue those discussions. The Knowles administration dropped out, saying it was opposed to closed-door negotiations at this point. The AFN, in its letter Thursday, said negotiators proposed to "recreate the wheel" and ignore months of negotiations that led to the governor's proposal. The AFN also objected that new-found allies in the business, religious and civil rights communities were not invited. The AFN said it would prefer a more drawn-out and open discussion of the issues, including fact-finding missions in rural Alaska. Copyright c. 2002 The Anchorage Daily News --------- "RE: Nez Perce Director takes on Land Issues" --------- Date: Wed, 29 May 2002 08:11:14 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NEZ PERCE DIRECTOR" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.theworldlink.com/display/inn_news/news11.txt Nez Perce director takes on land issues Wednesday, May 29, 2002 LAPWAI, Idaho (AP) -- The man who has overseen the Nez Perce Tribal Fisheries Department for nearly a decade is becoming the director of the Trust For Public Lands' Tribal Initiative in Portland. Jamie Pinkham said the change will help him carry out a tribal elder's admonition that the land base is fundamental to tribal survival in the 21st century. "It's a chance to continue to serve Indian country and work on an issue pretty important to tribes -- how do you protect and how do you restore tribal landscapes," Pinkham said. The nonprofit trust works to preserve land as parks and open space. Pinkham, a member of the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee, became acquainted with the trust in 1996 when it helped in the purchase of a ranch in Wallowa County that marked the tribe's return to a portion of its homeland. Later, the trust created a tribal lands effort and tribal lands advisory council. Pinkham served as chairman of the council, which began a regional effort to reconnect tribes with land they once owned. But it grew to a national program requiring a full-time director. Pinkham took the job. "It took a lot of soul searching," he said. "This community has really been a blessing for me being able to work here. Where more can you feel inspired than working with your own community and trying to make a difference in people's lives and building relationships with our neighbors?" During nine years as the tribe's top natural resource official, Pinkham was known for trying to advance the Nez Perce agenda while maintaining good working relationships with interests that often oppose it. "He has a unique ability to remain true to Indian heritage and what all that means and also remain a realist about what it takes to work with other folks who may have other interests," said Stephany Bales of the Intermountain Forest Association at Coeur d' Alene. Copyright c. 2002 - Southwestern Oregon Publishing Company - Coos Bay, OR --------- "RE: Chief Vann House is in Danger" --------- Date: Wed, 22 May 2002 15:32:18 -0000 From: "wakaakta" Subj: Chief Vann House is in danger! Mailing List: Tsalagi The Chief Vann House is in danger of so called progress... 103 acres of land has been purchased by a developer who has already begun bulldozing this property to build a trailer park and strip mall. The property is directly across from the Vann House, also referred to as Spring Place. The museum has recently been completed and is slated for dedication July 27th in a ceremony that will include the Cherokee West Chief and the Cherokee East Chief presiding over the festivities. As a member of the Gilmer County Historical Heritage Committee and also of the North Georgia Preservation Alliance, I have offered to connect with various sources to ask you for your time in writing a letter objecting to this development and for the funds to be allotted to purchase this 103 acres not only for its historical and archaeological value but for the preservation of this historical structure from vandalism which will surely follow such a development. The developer bought the land at a bargain but now wants One million dollars for his investment. This price, although excessive, is a necessary expenditure when one considers what is at stake. It is once again a political ploy that brings us to our knees over the issue of proper land use ordinances being implemented in all states and counties. It is urgent that letters be written as soon as possible so that they can be presented before the state officials. Please send your letters of concern and request that the land be purchased to: Rick Wood, Project Mgr. C/O The Trust for Public Land 1253 Market St. Suite 200 Chattanooga, Tn. 37402 Sgi, Wakaditka ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Community email addresses: Post message: tsalagi@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: tsalagi-subscribe@yahoogroups.com List owner: tsalagi-owner@yahoogroups.com --------- "RE: Hualapai Air Quality Standards draw Fire" --------- Date: Thu, 30 May 2002 08:10:58 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HUALAPAI AIR STANDARDS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.kingmandailyminer.com/kingmandailyminer/myheadline Hualapai proposal to safeguard air quality draws fire from chamber official Thursday, May 30, 2002 By Ken Hedler Miner Staff Writer The Hualapai Nation and business leaders in Mohave County could find themselves at odds over tribe's desire to protect air quality. The tribe's Natural Resources Department issued a report in February that called for protecting air quality on tribal land by seeking Class 1 designation under the federal Clean Air Act. The Hualapai Nation and most of the country currently have a Class II designation, which has less stringent requirements. The Class 1 status applies to all national parks and federally designated wilderness areas, said Doug McDaniel, tribal team leader for the air division of the regional office of the federal Environmental Protection Agency in San Francisco. He said Grand Canyon National Park is the closest Class I location to Kingman. If approved, the designation would set more stringent emission requirements for "major-source" polluters such as power plants and oil refineries, he said. The tribe has not decided whether it will apply to the EPA for the designation, said Don Bay, acting director of the Natural Resources Department. He said he plans to present the Class 1 proposal to the tribal council after its election in June and does not expect a decision until late June or in July. He said the tribe has not sanctioned the report issued by his department. The report calls for the designation to protect air quality for the 1 million-acre reservation, which has approximately 1,532 members living both on and off the reservation. "Air pollution is an increasing concern to the health and welfare of residents of the Tribe, can cause physical discomfort and injury to property values, including injury to wildlife and vegetation, discourages recreational and other uses of the Tribe's resources and impairs visibility," the report stated. "It has been declared to be the policy of the tribe that no further significant degradation of the air on Hualapai tribal lands shall be tolerated ..." However, Tom Carter, chairman of the business and government relations committee of the Kingman Area Chamber of Commerce, said the designation could hamper expansion of existing industry and prevent future industrial development within a 100-mile radius of tribal lands. McDaniel disagreed, saying the radius would be 100 kilometers, or 62 miles, not 100 miles. Carter, who stepped down last week from his job as economic development director for Kingman 2005 and the Kingman Airport Authority, said the designation could prevent companies at the Kingman Airport and Industrial Park from expanding. "This has the potential for disaster for anywhere near the radius of the Hualapai Nation," Carter said. "We don't know what it is going to happen. It is potentially very significant in terms of its effect" on economic development. Representatives of major industries in the Kingman area said they were not familiar with the Class 1 proposal. "We just kind of heard about it second- and third-hand that (the Hualapais) may be seeking a redesignation," said Marty A. Muenzmaier, director of government relations for Cargill, parent company of North Star Steel. He said it is too early to tell what kind of effect the designation would have on North Star Steel. The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality last week approved a major-source permit for the steel recycler, which had been fined millions of dollars for violating its minor-source permit. ADEQ spokesman Patrick Gibbons could not be reached for comment regarding the Class 1 designation. McDaniel said the classification requires companies that modify their plants to obtain permits for the prevention of significant deterioration of air quality. Modification can include a major expansion such as the addition of a turbine to a natural gas-fired power plant. Bay said, "It does not stop any power plant or things like that. It just requires them to put the best available technology (in). One would think everybody is open to clean air." McDaniel said, "You have to do a detailed technical analysis of the impact of their emissions. If there is a Class 1 area within 62 miles, then they have to demonstrate that they are not violating the more stringent protection afforded any Class 1 area." He disputed Carter's contention that the designation would hamper industrial development in Mohave County. "People overestimate the effect of a Class 1 area," McDaniel said. "These sources have to get a permit anyway regardless of whether there is a Class I area or not." Copyright c. 2002 Kingman Daily Miner - a service of Mohave County Miner, Inc. --------- "RE: Indian Burial Service" --------- Date: Thu, 30 May 2002 08:10:58 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="INDIAN BURIAL" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://hoovnews.hoovers.com/fp Indian burial service helps bring home loved ones May 26, 2002 12:47pm By RENEE RUBLE Associated Press Writer MINNEAPOLIS (AP) _ Robert Deschampe was rich in his ancestry, known for his intricate beadwork and pride in the traditional dress of the Grand Portage Chippewa. But when he died suddenly of a heart attack, he left little _ no burial fund, no insurance and no money. His sister, Kathleen Briski, said family members' grief was compounded by worry about affording the right kind of funeral arrangements. "We didn't know what we were going to do. It was just terrible," Briski said. "We loved him. We wanted to have something proper for him." A friend passed along the name of the Rev. Claudia Windal. Soon, Briski had an American Indian-decorated urn for her brother's ashes and travel money to go from her Twin Cites home to Duluth, where she met with relatives from the reservation and honored Deschampe with drumming, blessings and American Indian food. "My brother would have been honored," Briski said. For Indians who cannot afford to honor their dead, Windal has created the Indian Burial Assistance Project so their loved ones won't end up miles away from the reservation in a cheap county-provided coffin. Her Minneapolis-based program offers services around the country, transporting bodies, finding caskets, helping families with travel costs and sometimes easing debt. The year-old program has helped 36 families. "We want to restore dignity and @affordability to Indian burials," said Windal, who is Lakota. She came up with the idea after hearing about a family on the Red Lake Reservation who didn't have the money to bring back a relative who died in Chicago. It would have cost several hundred dollars to fly the body back and it was roughly $2 per mile to rent a hearse. Windal decided to get the body herself. She rented a van, and it was on that trip _ traveling with the deceased's family member and talking about the issue _ that she became dedicated to helping Indians pay the proper respect to their dead. The first thing she did on returning home was to get on the Internet to research affordable caskets, she said. "We treat human remains with tremendous respect," she said about the importance of burials in Indian culture. "They're going to become part of our ancestors." Instead of the cheap coffins that might otherwise be used for a person of limited means, Windal's program offers wooden caskets that come from a group of Trappist monks in Iowa. Each casket is lined with an Indian-designed fleece. Some, depending on the custom of the particular tribe, may include a hole to allow the spirit to leave the body. A tobacco offering is placed inside each coffin. And Windal also does a smudging _ a traditional Indian cleansing practice. The project makes available monuments, carved coffin embellishments and grave plots. Windal works closely with a Minneapolis funeral home _ Thomson Dougherty _ that allows family members to help in the preparation of the body. Sharon Goose said it was "a gift" to return her son to the Leech Lake Reservation through the program. He died at age 36 in the Twin Cities after an illness last fall. "That was his wish. It was our wish also," said Goose. Windal "stood by us through the whole thing," she said. Although it's called the Indian Burial Assistance Project, Windal said it's available to non-Indians who may need burial help. The program has been funded by $10,000 from two church organizations. Windal also is pursuing grants and accepts donations of money or time. An Ojibwe woman in Minnesota has offered discounted flowers, while a man with the Crow Nation in Montana has donated carriages used to move caskets. "I care about Indian people," Windal said. "If I were in a similar situation I would hope there would be other Indian people to help me." Renee Ruble may be reached at rruble(at)ap.org On the Net: Indian Burial Assistance Project: http://www.charityadvantage.com/indianburialassistanceproject/Home.asp AP-WS-05-26-02 1246EDT Copyright c. 2002 The Associated Press --------- "RE: For Indian activist it's Matter of Respect" --------- Date: Wed, 29 May 2002 08:11:14 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="REDSKIN PLATES" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.myopr.com/display/inn_news/news03.txt For Indian activist, it's matter of respect By Anita Stackhouse-Hite, The Porterville Recorder Eugene Herrod is a full-blooded Muscogee Creek Indian from New Orleans. He is also a political activist, responsible for taking the Department of Motor Vehicles to task for allowing the use of the word "redskin" and Indian images on personalized license plates in California. "I filed a complaint against the DMV in October of 1999 charging they were in violation of the state vehicle code," Herrod said. "State code says personalized plates cannot be obscene or racially offense. In 1999, I saw personalized plates with the word 'redskin' on them. I supplied them with documentation, and they recalled all such plates, including those with the words 'kike' and 'Jap.' " Herrod particularly takes issue with the use of the word "redskin" because of its origin. Duane Champagne, director of Indian studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, studied the etymology of the word and published a report. According to Herrod, who is "50ish," Champagne's report shows the word "redskin" was coined in the 1800s when the British Crown put a bounty on the capture of Indians. Bounty hunters couldn't be paid without turning in skin of murdered Indians. "The bounty called for their scalps, or the skin from their fingers or anywhere else," Herrod said. "This skin was called redskin, because it was the bloody underside of the skin. There is no honor in that name, no matter how it may have evolved to in the minds of people today." Herrod is on the board of directors of the Southern California Indian Center, and is a member of the alliance behind AB 2115 that is pushing for the abolishment of Indian mascots and what it considers to be derogatory names. Herrod said he doesn't accept the concept that it is an honor for Native Americans, or terms referring to them, to be identified as school mascots. "This issue has been ongoing for 30 years, since Dartmouth College made the change in 1968," he said. "I'm sick of all these schools and sports teams saying they are honoring us and that they have good intentions. An honor is not an honor if it's pushed on me and I feel it's derogatory. The dominate culture -- white people -- needs to be more culturally sensitive and knowledgeable. "The dominate culture doesn't get it, but other minorities do. You never hear of the Atlanta Negroes or the Cleveland Jews. They wouldn't stand for it. Why should we?" Last week, someone threatened to blow up the Fountain Valley office of the Southern California Indian Center. "The Fountain Valley Police Department had to investigate a bomb threat here from a Cleveland Indians fan who doesn't want the team mascot changed, " Herrod said. "How is threatening us with bombs an indication of honoring Indians? I agree with what Martin Luther King said: 'There's nothing more dangerous than sincere ignorance.' Copyright c. 2002 The Porterville Recorder. --------- "RE: First Nations: Scrap planned Indian Act changes" --------- Date: Fri, 31 May 2002 08:10:46 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SCRAP INDIAN ACT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.aborinews.com/ First Nations urge prime minister to scrap planned Indian Act changes By SCOTT EDMONDS Thursday May 30 6:10 PM EST WINNIPEG (CP) - The Indian Act belongs in the garbage can of history along with apartheid and slavery, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations said Thursday. "We do not need to amend the Indian Act, we need to replace it," Matthew Coon Come said at a rally just before marching to a hotel where Prime Minister Jean Chretien was scheduled to speak later in the day. "We're coming to this province because that's where the prime minister is to be able to convey our message." The atmosphere at the rally was festive, with a free lunch provided to the several hundred aboriginal Manitobans who attended the rally at an newly constructed outdoor meeting place at The Forks, located at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. But Coon Come said the issue is a serious one. "The minister of Indian Affairs is not listening to the people." At issue is Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault's First Nations Governance Initiative. The planned legislation would affect the way more than 600 First Nations across the country are governed. Nault says the legislation will form the foundation of good governance needed to improve reserve conditions. It's expected to focus on tightening fiscal accountability, improving band administration and revamping election procedures. Aboriginal leaders say they should decide how First Nations are governed, not Nault. Coon Come said they'd be happy to work with the federal government on a process that sets up a self-government framework using guarantees for treaty rights already entrenched in the Constitution. This is the second major demonstration over the issue, following close on the heels of one in Ottawa, and Coon Come said they have no plans to take more drastic action. "We're going to try to make the public aware of our issues," he said. "We will do it through peaceful demonstrations and we'll use the media." But he couldn't say what might be the course of action if Nault proceeds and Chretien ignores their plea for a more co-operative process. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." An open letter sent Thursday to Chretien by the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs said the process violates the inherent right to self-government of all First Nations, a right the federal Liberal government has acknowledged. "We call on you to terminate the First Nations Governance Initiative and to enter into negotiations in good faith with First Nations to implement the inherent right to self-government," Grand Chief Dennis White Bird wrote to the prime minister. "We call on you to uphold the honour of the Crown." Copyright c. 2000 Canadian Press. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: First Nations team up to protect Territory" --------- Date: Thu, 30 May 2002 08:10:58 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PROTECT 1st NATIONS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.aboriginalcanada.gc.ca/abdt/interface/ First Nations team up to protect territory CP Wednesday, May 29, 2002 WINNIPEG -- Four First Nations from Manitoba and Ontario are teaming up to gain more control over what they say is their traditional territory. Pikangikum First Nation, located in northwestern Ontario, signed the accord Tuesday, joining Manitoba First Nations Poplar River, Little Grand Rapids and Pauingassi. The cooperative identifies the mining, logging and hydro industries as threats to the preservation and sustainability of their traditional territory. Ray Rabliauskas, of the Poplar River First Nation, says that cooperation between the four communities will ensure community-based resource planning based on aboriginal culture. To date, the cooperative has not drawn up any specific lobbying plans. Copyright c. 2002 CP. --------- "RE: Indian Mscot Bill fails in Assembly" --------- Date: Wed, 29 May 2002 08:11:14 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MASCOT BILL FAILS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.uniontrib.com/news/state/20020528-1945-n8244.html Indian mascot bill fails in Assembly By Michael Gardner COPLEY NEWS SERVICE May 28, 2002 SACRAMENTO - The Assembly on Tuesday unexpectedly sacked legislation that would have barred public schools from using Indian mascots, such as Redskins or Braves. The measure, which has drawn national attention and was favored by civil rights groups, appeared to have been undercut by powerful tribal interests pushing a separate agenda. Some bad blood over a Los Angeles City Council race also spilled into the mix late. The final vote wasn't even close, despite impassioned floor speeches that these mascots, cartoonish logos and dance rituals humiliate Indians and promote racism. The measure garnered just 29 of the 41 votes needed to pass. South Bay Democrats George Nakano of Torrance, Jenny Oropeza of Carson and Assemblyman Alan Lowenthal of San Pedro voted for the measure, agreeing that many of these mascots perpetuate stereotypes, like the Lone Ranger's Tonto and the Frito Bandito once did. But Assemblyman Jerome Horton, D-Inglewood, said mascots are "a source of pride, a source of honor." He abstained. Carried by Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, D-Los Angeles, Assembly Bill 2115 specifically targeted Redskins, Indians, Braves, Chiefs, Apaches and Comanches, as well as any other American Indian tribal name. California would have become the first state in the nation to abolish the use of Indian-inspired mascots. The floor debate ranged from a Hispanic Democrat talking about the days of being smeared as a "wetback" to a short-statured Bakersfield Republican sarcastically demanding that the name "giants" be prohibited. Opponents followed the general theme that the state should not butt into local school affairs, that mascots honor Indian nobility and that it could fuel future efforts to eliminate other names. Assemblyman Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Temecula, called it "political correctness in its ugliest form." But Assemblyman John Longville, D-Rialto, asked lawmakers, who he pointedly reminded still remain largely "pasty white," to reflect on how Native Americans must feel. Indians don't appear to have reached a consensus. Influential Indians, including some representing powerful gaming tribes, sent word through one of their key allies that they would rather lawmakers focus on issues like health care and economic development. "It's not on their agenda," said Assemblyman Tony Cardenas, a Los Angeles Democrat, said. His message swayed several Democrats. As she lobbied for votes, Goldberg asked Assemblyman Tom Calderon, D-Montebello, when he chose to abstain. "When that came in from the tribes," Calderon responded, pointing in the direction of Cardenas. Horton agreed Cardenas "convinced a lot of members" to withhold their support. Goldberg, however, read more into it. "This is about me not supporting him for city council," she charged. Cardenas lost a bid for Los Angeles City Council by about 300 votes to Wendy Greuel. "That's history," he insisted. Indians at the Capitol for a separate event Tuesday seemed divided. "I find it offensive. It stereotypes," said Jeri Lynn Scrambler, chair of the Miwok Tribe east of Sacramento. "Would they allow using a black person sucking on a corncob pipe or chewing on a watermelon?" But Robert Freeman, a Luiseno Indian born on the Rincon reservation in San Diego County, said teams that identify with Indians create a positive image. "It's an honorable thing," said Freeman, an artist living in San Marcos. Goldberg dismissed division among Indians, saying even some Blacks opposed desegregation. "On civil rights, it's not a matter of public opinion," she said. Copyright c. 2002 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. --------- "RE: Warnings: Signs of Thaw in a Desert of Snow" --------- Date: Thu, 30 May 2002 08:10:58 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="INUIT WARNINGS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18506-2002May27.html Signs of Thaw in a Desert of Snow Scientists Begin to Heed Inuit Warnings of Climate Change in Arctic By DeNeen L. Brown Washington Post Foreign Service Tuesday, May 28, 2002; Page A01 IQALUIT, Nunavut -- And so it has come to be, the elders say, a time when icebergs are melting, tides have changed, polar bears have thinned and there is no meaning left in a ring around the moon. Scattered clouds blowing in a wind no longer speak to elders and hunters. Daily weather markers are becoming less predictable in the fragile Arctic as its climate changes. Inuit elders and hunters who depend on the land say they are disturbed by what they are seeing swept in by the changes: deformed fish, caribou with bad livers, baby seals left by their mothers to starve. Just the other year, a robin appeared where no robin had been seen before. There is no word for robin in Inuktitut, the Inuit language. Elders say they are afraid of the changes. "When I was a child, if there was a ring around the sun or the moon, it meant the change of weather in the next few days. Better or worse, it was nature's message for the hunter," said David Audlakiak. He is walking on a thick layer of ice frozen over the arctic waters. The hills behind him should still be covered in snow, but are mostly bare. As this winter ends, he says that it has been warmer than winters past. The bald spots showing the tundra are disturbing. Audlakiak, who grew up in an igloo, says there are more signs the land, sea and animals are in turmoil. "The weather pattern has changed so much from my childhood. We have more accidents because the ice conditions change. We are living in one of the most unforgiving climates in the world. It is becoming more dangerous every year." There is increasing evidence that the Arctic, this desert of snow, ice and killing cold wind, one of the most hostile and fragile places on Earth, is thawing. Glaciers are receding. Coastlines are eroding. Lakes are disappearing. Fall freezes are coming later. The winters are not as cold. Mosquitoes and beetles never seen before are appearing. The sky seems to be clapping as thunderstorms roll where it was once too cold for them. "The Inuit always observed the sun and astrology for direction and for weather," Jayko Pitseolak, an Inuit elder here, said through an interpreter. "We were taught . . . that one day the world will change, and it has." While scientists debate the causes of climate change and politicians debate whether to ratify the Kyoto accord to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that many scientists believe cause global warming, the Inuit who live in Canada's Far North say they are watching their world melt before their eyes. For years, the wisdom of Inuit hunters and elders about climate in the Arctic, known as "traditional knowledge," was largely disregarded. Sometimes it was called merely anecdotal and unreliable by scientists who traveled here with their recording devices, measuring sticks and theories about the North. Some of them viewed the Inuit as ignorant about a land in which they and their ancestors have lived for thousands of years. But in the last few years, scientists have begun paying more attention to what the Inuit are documenting, and even incorporating it into their research about changes in the climate, the prevailing weather conditions of a given area. In 1997, the Canadian government mandated that government agencies incorporate traditional knowledge into land-use decisions and consult aboriginal people about the environment. "Traditional knowledge is very useful," said George Hobson, a geophysicist and retired director of the Polar Continental Shelf Project, a Canadian government agency that provided logistical support to government and university scientists researching the Arctic. "If you go back 100 years or 200 years ago, European forefathers thought they [the Inuit] were savages. 'What did they know?' they said. But there was traditional knowledge and people were not tapping it. It was just waiting to be passed down. Some people might say, 'I'm a university prof, what does that fellow know? He doesn't have grade six.' But when they have grade six and they have lived out on the land, they had one hell of a lot of knowledge about land and animals. They may not have had the same education, but they were not stupid. You could not be stupid and survive in that kind of climate." During the past 40 years, average temperatures in Canada's Western Arctic have risen by 1.5 degrees Celsius, to -13.5 degrees Celsius, according to Environment Canada, the government's environment ministry. Temperatures have also risen in the Central Arctic, but not in the Eastern Arctic, where some scientists suggest there may even be a modest cooling. "Global warming doesn't mean all areas will warm," said Tom Agnew, a senior meteorologist with the Meteorological Service of Canada. "Some will warm and some will cool a bit." Some scientists predict a rise in sea levels leading to devastating floods, thinning ice and perhaps even an ice-free Arctic within 50 years. Terry Fenge, former research director of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference of Canada, said that in the last decade scientists have acknowledged the Arctic as a barometer of climate change and the effects of pollution. "This is one of those very important areas where traditional knowledge and traditional science is coming together with Western science and they are both in essence saying the same thing: Climate change is not a future event. It is happening now." For the Inuit, climate change poses an immediate danger to a way of life. They cannot read the weather the way they used to. "When you think in terms of the long-term negative effects of climate change, this could be the beginning of the end of the way of life for a whole people," said Sheila Watt-Cloutier, president of the circumpolar conference. "Our cultural heritage is at stake here. We are an adaptable people. We have over the millennium been able to adapt to incredible circumstances. But I think adaptability has its limits. If the ice is not forming, how else does one adapt to seasons that are not as they used to be when the whole environment is changing underneath our feet, literally?" For thousands of years, the Inuit have lived by rules that require them to respect animals and the land. The Inuit's ancestors are believed to have arrived in the Western Arctic about 10,000 years ago, migrating from Siberia across what was then the Bering land bridge. They adapted to the cold climate as they hunted seals, walruses and beluga whales. It was a time "when people and animals could speak together and when spirits of the sea and the land controlled the fate of both the animal and human world," according to a report by the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada, a nonprofit Inuit organization. Hunters would forecast the weather by looking for signs in the way animals behaved or by looking at clouds, stars, wind, snow and water currents. Some Inuit knew to expect bad weather if a caribou or seal shook its head, according to a report on traditional knowledge by the International Institute for Sustainable Development, a research institute in Winnipeg. "In spring, Inuit expect bad weather when northbound geese reverse direction," the report said. When an echo traveled for miles, poor weather. Cold was expected when "the woodpecker's beak moves fast." Siloah Atagoojuk, who lives here in Iqaluit, has lines on her face, but she does not want to pretend she knows more than anyone else -- nor does she try to assign blame. She is simply worried. Her world is not as it used to be and her people may not be able to adapt to it. "There is sickness in the animals," Atagoojuk says. "The flesh doesn't look good. You have to cook it extra. Even the caribou are not healthy, as fat -- same for marine animals. We have known all along since we were little kids there will be a time when the Earth will be destroyed and destroy itself. Seems this is happening." The sustainable development institute produced a videotape of observations by Inuit hunters and elders that was recently shown as evidence of climate change at a conference in The Hague. In the video, hunters and elders speak about melting permafrost, shrinking glaciers and a stronger sun. There is concern that the community of Tuktuujaqtuuq, in the Western Arctic, could slide into the sea. "Tuktuujaqtuuq is very low and very vulnerable," said Rick Armstrong, manager of scientific support services for the Nunavut Research Institute. He said ice acts as a buffer between land and ocean and protects coastal communities from storms and erosion. "With the warming, there is a concern they may need to move buildings in Tuktuujaqtuuq." The Inuit, many of whom toggle between the Stone Age and the Space Age, building igloos and surfing the Web, have created a Web site on which elders and hunters post their observations. "About two years ago, when we were corralling reindeer . . . the north wind started blowing and there were dead birds and dead hair seals and dolphins. All kinds of sea birds that were washed ashore," said Herman Toolie of the community of Savoonga. "And dog salmon that were never touched by sea gull or foxes. They were never eaten. We were wondering why. . . . One of the elders said that these things never used to happen. It is something new to them." Near the sea's edge, the ice floes are melting. The hunters are heading out on snowmobiles. Natsiapik Naglingniq knows they are headed into danger, unable to rely on the weather or the ice, which is opening and closing, teasing those who walk across it. Just the other day, a hunter went on the local radio to warn that the ice seems to be melting from the bottom. Naglingniq says that when she was just a girl, living in an igloo, her job was to take out the garbage and, as she did, take notice of the world. "When I would come back in, my parents would ask, 'So what was the weather like out there?' I would explain. By explaining the weather to my parents, I learned to be able to tell what the next day's weather would be like." In the dark, she would watch for a ring around the moon. "That would mean that it will be a bad day tomorrow." But if she saw a clear night and the stars getting closer and farther, as if they were getting bigger and smaller at the same time, "it meant it will be windy the next day." In the past, Naglingniq says, there were good days and bad days, but not the same as the weather today, changing so rapidly that people cannot make sense of the ring around the moon or the burning circle around the sun. "We were told by the elders at the time there will be a change," Naglingniq says. Beneath her fur-trimmed parka, her eyes are turning a milky gray, but she says she can see when something is amiss. Last summer, the elders saw insects they had never seen before. "The insects are larger," she says. "It has lots of legs and it is quite big. As soon as it observes humans, it curls up in a ball. It's strange." She cannot say its name. There is no word in Inuktitut for this insect. Copyright c. 2002 The Washington Post Company. --------- "RE: Saskatoon Justice Inquiry to use Lessons" --------- Date: Fri, 31 May 2002 08:10:46 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SASKATOON JUSTICE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.aborinews.com/ Sask justice inquiry to use lessons learned from gangs to help young people By CRAIG WONG Thursday May 30 4:19 PM EST SASKATOON (CP) - A commission on aboriginal and Metis justice in Saskatchewan wants to learn why and how gangs recruit young people and use the same formula to keep them from getting in trouble with the law. "There is something they do that is successful," commission chairman Willie Littlechild said Thursday. "How can they attract so many young people? We need to find out what attracts young people into that element, and couldn't we use that same information to build the confidence or the positive?" Littlechild, a Cree lawyer and former MP from Hobbema, Alta., made the comments as the commission released its first interim report. Sparked by allegations that Saskatoon police mistreated aboriginal people, the five-member commission is another in a long line of aboriginal justice inquiries, task forces and commissions in Canada. However, Littlechild said previous investigations have not taken a close look at the gang issue. "Maybe it wasn't the issue at the time, but for us it is certainly going to be an issue," he said. The commission has held a series of public meetings across Saskatchewan and plans to head to the northern part of the province next week. This latest Saskatchewan commission follows a well-worn path. A 1991 Alberta task force report that examined 22 aboriginal justice reviews found that they repeated recommendations from a 1975 federal- provincial conference dealing with aboriginal people and the justice system. Recurring themes include the need for more involvement in planning and delivery of services, more community responsibility for programs and cross-cultural education for staff working in the system. Littlechild said if his commission was going to be different, all of Saskatchewan must get involved in implementing its recommendations. "It's going to have to be by the communities by themselves, by Saskatchewan people by themselves, otherwise we can make all the nice recommendations, but if no one agrees they should be done, unfortunately it will go by the wayside." Littlechild said some of the presenters have been cynical about what changes might actually come out of the commission's work. "The indication comes from the tone of voice or how a story is told, sometimes with a lot of passion and emotion which is indicative of the cynicism that is out there," he said. "We need to show people that we're serious. We want to make doable recommendations, but they have to share the responsibility in implementing those recommendations." Two Saskatoon police officers were convicted last fall of unlawful confinement for abandoning Darrell Night, an aboriginal man, in freezing temperatures on the outskirts of the city. The officers have filed an appeal. Night survived, but two other aboriginal men were found frozen to death on the southern outskirts of Saskatoon within a 10-day period in mid- winter two years ago. An RCMP task force that investigated the deaths and other cases of alleged mistreatment of aboriginal people by police during the same time period recommended no charges be laid in the deaths of Lawrence Wegner and Rodney Naistus. Separate inquests could not confirm a cause of death for either man, but both made several recommendations suggesting changes to police practices. Copyright c. 2000 Canadian Press. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Chiapas: Cerro Hueco Prisoners" --------- Date: Thu, 30 May 2002 01:26 +0400 From: joewest Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="OFFICER DROWNS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20020529/localnews/403097.html Tribal officer drowns Wednesday, May 29, 2002 Rocky Boy's policeman dies trying to save angler By KAREN IVANOVA Tribune Regional Editor ROCKY BOY'S AGENCY -- Divers combed a reservoir Tuesday on the Rocky Boy's Reservation for the body of a tribal police officer who drowned trying to rescue a capsized fisherman. Forty-three-year-old Robert Taylor tore off his gun belt and boots and dove into the lake behind Bonneau Dam at about 6:30 p.m. Monday. He was on patrol less than a mile from the shore, roughly five miles northwest of the Rocky Boy Agency, when the distress call came over the radio: a boat with two fishermen had capsized and one was under water. Taylor sank, perhaps from exhaustion, before he could reach the floundering man, said Tribal Police Chief Arthur Windy Boy. "He was a brave officer who believed in what he did," Windy Boy said. "It shows what kind of a person he was. He tried to save these guys." Taylor is survived by his wife, Sandra, and their three children, Joesiah, 4, Chadd, 12 and Kristin, 14. He also has three grown sons in South Dakota from a previous marriage: Robert James, Jeremy and David Taylor. The body still hadn't surfaced Tuesday afternoon. The search will continue this morning, Windy Boy said. The water is roughly 37 feet deep in the area, he said. More than 100 people, including Taylor's family, watched from a windy bank above the reservoir as four divers from the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's office searched. Search and Rescue Teams from Hill and Chouteau counties also worked the scene. The fishermen's canoe overturned after one of them felt a bite on his line and maneuvered to reel it in, Windy Boy said. One of the men, William Abeita, swam to shore. But his fishing partner, Ira Moreno, began to flounder and couldn't get a hold on the overturned boat, Windy Boy said. Neither was wearing life jackets. Tribal Fish and Game Warden Waylon Denny dove into the lake behind Taylor, but turned back after Taylor went under, Windy Boy said. A third man, Bruce Denny, swam to the canoe, by which time Moreno had managed to grab the edge. Exhausted, he also clung to the canoe and waited for help. Nineteen-year-old Mike Morsette, a star senior basketball player for the Rocky Boy Northern Stars, pulled out Moreno and Denny with a tire tied to a rope. Taylor had served on the Rocky Boy's Police force since 1997. "He was well liked by the police officers. When he was asked to come out on calls -- wherever an officer needed him -- he was right there. He wasn't afraid of anything," Windy Boy said. "My officers, they're taking it pretty bad right now. Some of them stayed all night. They don't want to go home until they find the body." Taylor was an award-winning powwow singer, Windy Boy said. An avid outdoorsman, he enjoyed fishing, hunting and horseback riding. He also played hockey and softball. Shawn Dahl of the Hill County Search and Rescue watch rescue efforts Bonneau Reservoir in Rocky Boy Tuesday afternoon. Copyright c. 2002 Great Falls Tribune. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Islander's initiative attacks Tribal Rights" --------- Date: Sat, 1 Jun 2002 09:38:22 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="FISHING RIGHTS" http://www.pechanga.net http://www.southwhidbeyrecord.com/story94218.html Islander's initiative attacks tribal rights By Rick Levin Yet another John Q. Public is taking the proverbial bull by the horns, this time in the form of a citizens initiative seeking to disarm the decades-old rules on tribal rights. Inspired by the recent successes of initiative guru Tim Eyman, Oak Harbor resident Omer Lupien is driving a state ballot initiative that would add a section to Washington state law essentially repealing any special rights granted to state tribes. The meat of the measure reads: "Any right, activity or privilege afforded the tribes of Washington state shall be shared equally and in common with the citizens of Washington state." Lupien, a lifelong hunter, hiker and sometimes commercial fisherman, said last week that the wording of the initiative is a deliberate reversal of a controversial 1973 court ruling, known as the Bolt decision, that split state fishing rights equally between Native American and non-tribal fishermen. Lupien argues that his proposed initiative seeks to level the playing field after years of federal mismanagement. "What the government has done is created a class of super-citizens that are immune from our law," he said. He said giving Native Americans preferential treatment in the area of fishing rights allows them to make "huge sums" of money on what he sees as a fishing monopoly. The additional fishing rights serve as a payoff after years of abuses perpetrated against Native Americans by Anglo Americans, Lupien said. Lupien said he knows older fishermen who have spent their lives battling the effects of the Bolt decision. Until now, however, no one has ever succeeded in putting the issue on the ballot. "The inspiration was watching the Tim Eyman deal," Lupien said, referring to the Mukilteo businessman whose most recent initiative, 747, capped annual property tax collection at 1 percent. Right now, Lupien is ramping up for a big push for the September 2003 general election. He tried to hit this year's deadline for filing, but realized too late that he couldn't get the requisite 200,000 signatures by July 5. A bigger campaign was needed, he said, with a more comprehensive strategy that could embrace potential supporters throughout the state. Resources also became an issue. "I nearly went broke doing this out of my pocket," he said. Lupien said he now understands that in order to spearhead a strong ballot initiative, he's going to have to get help. He said he doesn't like to ask for money, having been imbued throughout his life with a strong work ethic and pride of independence. Big-time politics, however, is a different matter, Lupien said. He wants his petitions placed in key areas -- sporting goods stores and such -- as well as circulated by either partisan volunteers or paid activists. Lupien is even thinking of setting up campaign booths at rod-and-reel type conventions statewide. Whether his initiative gets approved or not, Lupien's campaign is sure to encounter resistance, from advocates of aboriginal rights as well as tribal members themselves. He said he realizes not the least of the criticism leveled against him will be the charge of racism, for which he says he's ready to defend himself. "I have absolutely nothing against Indians," Lupien said. He said tribes now are merely "using their heritage as a means of making a large amount of money." "I feel that all the rights and privileges that the tribes are getting are detrimental to the welfare of our nation," he said. "The further we stray from the principles of the Constitution, the quicker is going to be the downfall of our country." Lupien said that without state or federal regulation, fish resources will be depleted. This has pushed Puget Sound to "the brink of extinction," he said, while fishermen in such places as Bristol Bay, Alaska -- where there is no Bolt ruling -- enjoy runs of fish that are growing all the time. Copyright c. 2002 << South Whidbey Record >>. --------- "RE: Cherokee Man convicted of Murder" --------- Date: Sun, 2 Jun 2002 11:04:12 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MURDER CONVICTION" http://www.pechanga.net http://www.imdiversity.com/Article_Detail.asp?Article_ID=11192 Cherokee Man Convicted of Murder, Gets Life Sentence by AP, The Associated Press Waynesville, N.C. (AP) _ A Cherokee man pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree murder in the death of the mother of his two children. Martin Willard Pepion, 25, also pleaded guilty to armed robbery and was sentenced to up to 34 years in prison, the Asheville Citizen-Times reported. Robert Kristen "Bug" Groenewold, 21, was convicted of first-degree murder last year for his part in the death of 23-year-old Carol Deanah McCoy. A judge sentenced him to life in prison. Groenewold told the jury he shot McCoy once in the head in a Canton church parking lot on Feb. 2, 2001 as his cousin, Pepion, begged her to take him back. McCoy and Pepion had a stormy relationship, according to court papers. He put a pocketknife to McCoy's throat during an argument in October 2000 and forced her to leave with him, court records say. He was released on $20,000 bond and ordered only to contact McCoy to arrange a time to visit their children. When Pepion failed to show up for a court hearing on the charges during the week McCoy was killed, investigators entered information about him into a national crime computer. The search led to the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana, and the pair were arrested at the home of Pepion's father. Police found McCoy's body off Interstate 26 on Feb. 11. Copyright c. 2002 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 2002 iMinorities, Inc. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Native Prisoner" --------- Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 08:19:12 -0600 From: Janet Smith Subj: Native Prisoner Date: Thursday, May 30, 2002 10:25 AM From: Brigitte Thimiakis Subj: Please add to Penpal Lists Mailing List: Iron Natives Greetings, Could you please add these prisoners to any relevant penpal list available. The first prisoner is Native American/Blackfeet, the second is White. Both are from MSP. Thank you, Brigitte Daryl Racine #44881, 700, Conley Lake Road, DEER LODGE MT 59722 Blackfeet, age 22 birth date 11-30-79 ====================== Date: Sunday, June 02, 2002 10:42 AM From: Brigitte Thimiakis Subj: Message to the People from Standing Deer Mailing List: Iron Natives PLEASE CIRCULATE WIDELY Standing Deer's Message to the People June 26, 2002 Greetings to all my sisters and brothers, I pray you, your many relatives, and those you love are well and happy and enjoying all the blessings our Mother has to offer. My name is Standing Deer. I've been locked away in supermax Iron Houses for the last quarter-of-a-century. Eight months ago they got weak and let me go, and while I'm happy to be out of prison I'll never be free until my brother Leonard Peltier is free. So as we approach another June 26 which marks the 27th anniversary of the firefight at Oglala, South Dakota, where Peltier was framed and lost his freedom we must remember this indomitable warrior who is being robbed of his very life because of the lies and injustice of the takers of the fat. Leonard has been a captive of the united states going on 27 years for a crime he didn't even commit. I've known him for 25 of those years and I've seen them force him to exist in a cage so small that had he been a dog the Humane Society would have closed the prison down. During these years his keepers have subjected him to hideous treatment in an effort to break his will and Spirit but he is protected by the Spirit of Crazy Horse and his warrior heart remains strong and unyielding serving as an inspiration to us all. Make no mistake about it: Peltier is an innocent man! He has committed no crime! He is the victim of a system of injustice which operates outside the moral boundaries that just people claim to live by. Brothers and Sisters, Leonard Peltier is a Prisoner of War unjustly held captive in his own land by the descendants of the very sea pirates who murdered his great grandmothers & great grandfathers, decimated his People., and stole Mother Earth out from under their feet. Peltier is the longest held Native Prisoner of War in this country and on June 26th People all across Turtle Island will be holding events to honor this courageous brother. In Houston we will be having a march dedicated to Leonard's freedom. You are all invited to attend. Houston will be the only city to have Leonard's grandson, Cyrus, to speak to us with a message directly from his grandfather in Leavenworth prison. Please come out for this June 26th celebration. We want you to be there! (Assemble at Market Square at 4 p.m. on June 26) The Web Site of Standing Deer: Freedom Now!! http://www.geocities.com/standingdeer1/index.htm ==================================== Date: Sunday, June 02, 2002 12:41 PM From: Subj: Native American Prisoner Support: Urgent Actions Mailing List: Iron Natives Date: Saturday, June 01, 2002 Native American Prisoner Support: Urgent Actions/News Name: Maryland inmates' grievances addressed Urgent Action:News: As a result of the review by the Maryland Divisions of Correction's Director of Religious Program Services of a list of grievances prepared by Eagle Speak Society at Eastern Correctional Institution in Westover, eight of eighteen points of concern have been given recommendation for positive consideration or change. Four additional points were satisfactorily resolved prior to the Director's meeting inmate representatives. The remaining issues were not resolved in favor of the inmates in view of prevailing policies. Specifically, inmates should now be able to purchase a new prayer blanket, to receive red cloth for prayer ties, to be allotted extra time and additional assistants to prepare for weekly ceremony and to care for religious articles, to keep 'dreamcatchers' as personal property, to acquire a Native American flag as congregate property, and to receive ribbon shirts. Otherwise, ceremonial herbs will remain under chaplain's storage control, headgear will continue to be uniformly regulated by food service supervisors, the chaplain will not make special provisions or supplies for Indian inmates, there will be no special accommodation of Indian family members for annual holy day observances and ceremonial items (pipe, rattle & drum) will not be retained in inmates' personal possession. Only if and when grooming regulations are (re)considered will the impact on the religious practice of inmates be reviewed. The most pressing need of Indian inmates in Maryland, i.e. accommodation of sweat lodge ceremony, was not considered during this review. Ongoing attempts by Quakers to engage DOC and the Secretary of Public Safety and Corrections in face-to-face dialogue about sweat lodge continue to be rebuffed. It remains unclear what positive outside influences DOC is responsive to in review of its policies. For a copy of the DOC report or for information about progress in Friends' advocacy for Native American devotees in Maryland prisons, mail to:WOMiles@aol.com ======================== Date: Sunday, June 02, 2002 12:46 PM From: Subj: Native American Prisoner Support: Urgent Action Mailing List: Iron Natives Date: Sunday, June 02, 2002 Name:Inmate Requests Books on Culture Urgent Action: Michael Van Heck 136046, Kentucky State Prison, P.O. Box 5128, Eddyville, KY 420038 The above prisoner is asking for assistance in obtaining the following books: 1. Tribes of the Southern Woodlands: The American Indians; 2. The Native Americans: An Illustrated History by David Hurst Thomas; 3. Concise Encyclopedia of the American Indian (Revised Edition) by Bruce Grant. Kentucky State Prison only allows paperbound books, and books should be sent directly from the publisher or an online store such as Amazon.com. Mr. Van Heck wishes to thank you for any assistance you may be able to provide. If you do send any of these books, please notify NAPS, so we can update supporters that some or all of these needs have been met. --------- "RE: History: Carlisle Indian School" --------- Date: Mon, 13 May 2002 22:23:49 -0400 From: Barbara Landis Subj: May 10, 1889 INDIAN HELPER, Carlisle Indian School. [Note from Barb: NMAI (Smithsonian) casting call http://www.epix.net/~landis/castcall.html information for native models for powwow publicity campaign.] THE INDIAN HELPER ------------------------- A WEEKLY LETTER FROM THE CARLISLE INDIAN SCHOOL TO BOYS AND GIRLS CARLISLE, PA. ============================ VOLUME IV NUMBER 38 ============================= FRIDAY, MAY 10, 1889. ============================= GOD gave us hands-one left one right; The first to help ourselves, the other To stretch abroad in kindly light, To help along our faithful brother. Then if you see a brother fall, And bow his head before the weather, If you be nota dastard all, You'll help him up and stick together. ============= Do what you can, Not what you cannot; Not what you think ought to be done, Not what you would like to do; Not what you would do if you had more time. Not what somebody else thinks you ought to do: But do what you can. ============= WHEN IT TELLS. ---------- When a boy enters the employ of anyone on a small salary, gives close attention and takes an interest in his work with a view of gaining a thorough knowledge of it, he is making his services invaluable to his employer and is working in the right direction. The great secret of success with a boy or young man lies in the thoroughness of his work. The boy who is always on time, careful and industrious, regardless of the wages he is receiving, ere long will find himself sought for and be honored for his fidelity and integrity. In entering on any line or calling, no matter what it may be, a boy should determine to be master of the situation, and endeavor to learn all that will prove of advantage to his employer. He should enter into his work with heart and soul. If he does so he will never be out of employment, no matter how hard times may be, or how dull trade may become. Moral deportment, decision of character, and good habits are always absolutely essential to the permanent success of any one and are the only true safe-guards of life. The young man who sows the seeds of industry, perseverance, promptness and integrity and cultivates them assiduously, will in time reap a harvest fruitful with honors, wealth and fame.-[Jamesburg Advance. Sharp-sighted Indians. One of the most curious traits of the Ayan Indians, is their power of seeing the motion of a fish in water. The Yukon is very muddy. The water is ten or twelve feet deep and the river wide. Yet when a solitary salmon comes up this river its coming is noticed, its position identified, and it is often caught in a hand net. Some person, generally an old squaw, is on the look-out in front of the huts, on the banks. At her call a man runs to the beach, picks up his canoe, paddle and net, and guided at first chiefly by the other Indians who gather on the shore, but, as he approaches, relying more on himself, shoots the canoe in the proper position; and, while he regulates its movements with his left hand, plunges the net to the bottom with his right. ============== The Japanese children are very polite. One day a little boy in Kobe was trying to pull a loaded cart across the railway, but the load proved too much for him. Presently a nicely dressed little girl evidently belonging to the higher classes came along, and saw the trouble of the little fellow. She did not stop to think of hands or dress, but went at once to the little boy's assistance, and soon the cart was over. Then, with a courtesy she went on her way. When the children enter school in the morning, they deposit their books on the desk, and bow, first to the teacher, then to the pupils. Even among the lower classes this same ceremony is observed. A carpenter or any kind of workman never leaves a house without bidding the household good-bye. The children never seem to forget that politeness is to be used every day. ============= "Education must commence in order to proceed. Begin, then, to educate the Indians, and the result will exceed your utmost expectations." [An Ojibwa Indian chief of 1849. ============ The natives of Alaska who penetrate the forests still tell of seeing animals "as big as a white man's house." ===================================== (P. 2) The Indian Helper. ----------------------------- PRINTED EVERY FRIDAY, AT THE INDIAN INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL, CARLISLE, PA. BY THE INDIAN PRINTER BOYS. --> THE INDIAN HELPER is PRINTED by Indian boys, but EDITED by The-Man-on-the-band-stand, who is NOT an Indian. ----------------------------- Price: - 10 cents a year. ============================== Address INDIAN HELPER, Carlisle, Pa. Miss M. Burgess, Manager. ============================== Entered in the P.O. at Carlisle as second class mail matter. ============================== The INDIAN HELPER is paid for in advance, so do not hesitate to take the paper from the Post Office, for fear a bill will be presented. ============================= SHALL WE ALL STOP? ------------ "Are you honestly using tobacco all the time?" asked Sam Gratitude of Jack Indifferent. "Yes, I am, whenever I can get it," answered Jack with an indifferent sneer. "Why do you do it?" "Because I like it." "I like it too," said Sam "but when I know it is against the rules of the school I can give it up. God knows this school has done enough for us to make us wish to do all we can for the school." "Well, I hadn't thought of looking at it in that way," answered Jack. "That is the way I look at it. All of the education some of us will ever get we are receiving now, and when I think how awfully ignorant I was when I came and how much more I know now (which is little enough to he sure) but how much better able I am now to get on in the world than I was when I came, I tell you Jack, I owe this school something, and I feel worse than a beast when I chew or smoke in the face of the good talk we get in the Chapel about the bad habit and in the face of all the other benefits we are receiving every day and every hour." "Well, I guess I'll quit. You make me feel mean about it too," said Jack, glad of the helpful words from his friend, and with an inward resolve to try to do right. Here the boys shook hands and went their way. =========== Mr. and Mrs. DeGroff, of New York City, friends of Miss Irvine's made a short visit to the school. Six thousand articles of tin-ware have been packed and will be sent this month to the Utes, Wichitas, Sioux, Blackfeet, Gros Ventres, Cheyenne and Arapahoes and Assinaboines. The balance of the tin-ware will be shipped this fall. The wagon shop has eight wagons ready to ship with the harness and tin-ware. ================= One of the pleasantest hours of the day at the Carlisle Indian School is the period from after supper to the study-hour, when every one feels at leisure. Then may be seen groups of twos, threes, or more scattered over our lovely parade ground enjoying croquet, tennis, ball, pleasant conversations and the little ones having their own special games (what children have not?). Every thing is peaceful and harmonious and forms a lovely picture setting for the close of the day. =================== Educate the girls, and the boys will soon be there. So long as the girls are willing to associate with tobacco and whiskey, with low aspirations and evil practices, so long the boys will gravitate to that level. But when the girls demand fewer cigarettes and more brains when they ask honor for honor, purity for purity, when they will have the steady nerve and strong muscle of total abstinence, the boys will soon see light in their light and begin to climb to a higher plane. ===================== The sociable of last Saturday evening passed very pleasantly. There was the usual amount of promenading, games, athletic services and music, and every body had a good time. Robert Penn and Henry Russel ran a three-legged race with Timber Yellow Robe and Frank West. The former were victorious making one hundred and forty yards in forty-five seconds. James Black Hawk, Laban Locojim, Joe Pawnee and Peter Snow participated in a bag race. James Black Hawk came in first, Laban Locojim second, Joe Pawnee a close third and Peter Snow distanced. The distance run was one hundred and forty yards, time fifty-three seconds. --------------- One of the most enjoyable of our monthly exhibitions of this year was the one held on last Thursday evening. The exercises were varied and entertaining throughout and fully deserved the credit given. After the school exercises were concluded Dr. Dorchester addressed the students and spoke of the work he was about to enter upon, of the interest he felt in it and them and of his intention to visit all of the Indian schools. He made each student feel as if an individual friend had been gained and the applause given him was hearty and sincere. He was followed by Dr. Reed of Dickinson College who praised the students for their commendable efforts and encouraged them to greater success in the future. ============================================= Keep off the corners. Time for straw hats. --------- Are you ready for your examination? --------- Miss Lizzie Bender spent a few days at her home at Jarboesville, Md. --------- The instruments of the band have been sent away to be put in good tune and tone. --------- The ash walks are to be a thing of the past. They are being dug out and fine stone is to be laid. --------- Mr. Jordan's force is busily engaged in sodding the edges of the grass-plots aud digging out the walks. --------- Several of our boys attended Dr. Reed's talk on Temperance at the Court House on Sunday afternoon. --------- There is nothing the little girls like better than to take a walk after supper with their teachers to the woods to gather wild flowers. --------- The starry dandelions are a never ending source of pleasure to the little ones, their nimble fingers weaving them into many pretty designs. --------- A large number of our boys, girls and teachers attended Professor Whiting's lecture on Greece given in Bosler Hall on last Friday evening. --------- Little Richard was not punished, Oh no, he had only to be tethered like a little lamb so that he would not stray too far away and get into danger. --------- The rains of last week and the warm weather of this have made the grass grow so rap idly that the lawn-mowers are kept constantly on the go. --------- The carpenters have lately finished eighteen clothes-presses for the Little Boys' Quarters and are now busily engaged on show cases for the school-room. --------- William Morgan and Kish Hawkins have purchased for themselves a set of croquet, they do not keep it just for themselves, they invite their friends to join them in a game. --------- Levi Levering and Dennison Wheelock were sent as delegates to the International Convention of the Young Men's Christian Associations of North America held in Philadelphia this week. --------- Robert Left Hand, William Short Nose and William Powers left on Monday for their home in the Indian Territory. --------- The after supper drill in marching is just what our boys need and we are glad to see them practise keeping time to the music. --------- "Suspend," "Had," "A pair suit uniform," and "Wood hat," are the ways that some of the large boys' requests for clothing read. --------- Wm. F. Campbell has made a wooden chain of thirty-two links from one unbroken piece of pine wood, a piece of work that requires a great deal of time and patience. --------- The harness makers this week completed the order for one hundred and fifty-four sets of harness which will be sent to the Crows, Blackfeet, Gros Ventres, Assinaboines and Sioux. --------- The Large Boys' Quarters has been supplied with a large gong-bell which for calls within the quarters has taken the place of the bugle. This seems like tearing down an old land-mark. --------- Mr. Jordan and his workers have a great deal of hard work to do to get the edges and corners of the walks in good order, but this work will have been useless unless each one tries to keep off the corners and edges. Be careful where you step. --------- Charley Williams writes from Lapwai Agency that he is perfectly well and happy that when he has nothing else to do he rides on horseback. He says he expects to go to Fort Lapwai to play with the nine there. Of course he means the base ball nine. --------- Charlie Carr and Bruce Fisher returned to the school on Saturday under the kind care of W. W. Paxson of New Hope, Bucks County, with whom the boys had been living. Charlie has been sick for some time but was unable to travel before, but is doing very well now. --------- A number of the shop-boys have been put to out-door work. The pick, shovel aud wheel-barrow are quite a change from the needle, scissors, and thread and though the hands may be blistered and sore at first yet it is the preparation needed for summer farm work, for as one of the boys wrote last summer after he had been on a farm a few weeks, "My hands are getting just like a tortoise back." ========================================== NO TIME FOR SILLY WORDS. --------- Sometimes the boys and girls hear a word that sounds funny or queer to them, it makes them laugh and so they begin to use it though there may not be any sense or meaning to it. After while that word becomes a part of their speech. They use it without knowing that they do, and thus they use poor English and are making no headway in the correct use of a language which is the language of the world. Let us be careful in the words that we use, be sure we are using the right word in the right place. Be as careful in writing words as in saying them and the English language will soon be an easy language for us, If some of the words the boys and girls use in fun were printed they would look so senseless and silly that the boys and girls would be ashamed that they had used them. Let our boys and girls be careful in the words they use. ============ The most expressive word in our language is grit, unless we except the pluck. Courage is a magnificent term. But grit and pluck are words every boy understands. They make him jump into cold water when bathing, and climb a high tree after a crow's nest. These words are not always expressive of good, for they may apply to the prize-fighter as well as the preacher; but courage always means something good. It takes grit and pluck to have a tooth pulled but courage to say "No!" when tempted to sin. This is just that firmness we need to-day. It gives the growing lad the ability to have backbone among his companions ============ Jemima Wheelock sends the following and says every Indian boy and girl ought to learn it and remember it "To think that one can do, gives almost the ability to accomplish, but to think that one cannot do, virtually takes away the ability to do, even where it is ample." ============= Perhaps the pictures best calculated to show the effect of civilization upon the Indians are the prints of the Apaches showing them as they arrived and their appearance four months later, and of the Pueblos for the same length of time. Each picture is worth five cents or two subscriptions and a one-cent stamp will secure the contrast picture of the Apaches and one subscription and a two-cent stamp will secure that of the Pueblos. Conundrums. Why need no traveler perish in the desert? Because of the sand which is (sandwiches) there. How came the sandwiches there? The sons of Ham were bred and mustered (bread and mustard) there. ============ One of the examination papers of a young miss in a city school contained the question: "Which zone produces the highest type of man?" In unmistakable characters the answer read: "The temperance zone." Hartford Times. ============ Many of The Omaha Indians are making good use oF their money received this spring, by building good substantial frame houses. It is reported that the second payment of $35,000 will be made sometime early in the summer.-[Eaglet. =========== ANSWER TO LAST WEEK'S PIED WORDS: Marbles, crokinole, tennis, base-ball, shinny, quoits, checkers, dominoes, dancing, leap-frog. ========== ENIGMA. I am made of 13 letters. My 4, 6, 3, is the name of one of our little girl1s. My 8, 5, 2, 11, is not sweet. My 9, 10, 1, 7, is not rich. My 12, 1, 13, 8, is to throw. My whole is what our boys and girls very much enjoy. ========================================================= STANDING OFFER: - For FIVE new subscribers to the INDIAN HELPER, we will give the person sending them a photographic group of the 15 Carlisle Indian Printer boys, on a card 4 1/2 X 6 1/2 inches, worth 20 cents when sold by itself. Name and tribe of each boy given. (Persons wishing the above premium will please enclose a 1-cent stamp to pay postage.) For TEN, Two PHOTOGRAPHS, one showing a group of Pueblos as they arrived in wild dress, and another of the same pupils three years after, or, for the same number of names we give two photographs showing still more marked contrast between a Navajo as he arrived in native dress, and as he now looks, worth 20 cents a piece. Persons wishing the above premiums will please enclose a 2-cent stamp to pay postage. For FIFTEEN, we offer a GROUP of the whole school on 9x14 inch card. Faces show distinctly, worth sixty cents. Persons wishing the above premium will please send 5 cents to pay postage. For THREE new subscribers we will give the picture of Apache baby, Eunice. Send a l-cent stamp to pay postage. Persons sending clubs must send all the names at once. If the stamp to pay postage on premium does not accompany the subscription list we take it for granted that the premium is not wanted. ============================================ At the Carlisle Indian School is published monthly an eight-page quarto of standard size, called THE RED MAN, the mechanical part of which is done entirely by Indian boys. This paper is valuable as a summary of information on Indian matters and contains writings by Indian pupils and local incidents of the school. Terms: Fifty cents a year, in advance. For 1, 2 and 3 subscribers for THE RED MAN we give the same premiums offered in Standing Offer for the HELPER. Address, THE RED MAN, Carlisle, PA. ==================================================================== Transcribed by Barbara Landis. For more info see http://www.epix.net/~landis --------- "RE: Rustywire: Broken Thoughts" --------- Date: 11 Mar 2002 03:54:13 -0800 From: rustywire@yahoo.com (john rustywire) Subj: Broken Thoughts Newsgroup: alt.native Broken Thoughts no sleep last night got up twice, drank cool water, pure water starry lights of the homes below weary, broken thoughts are gone comes at night lay as grains in your eyes waiting in some distant corner planting roots and shooting stars floating on a tender thread of dreams hanging in the air seeking , longing, reaching ah yes there is a faint image trying to get to a mountain top drifting in and out no time to gather my body calls me lay down and let it go and so --------- "RE: Poem: And we wonder Why" --------- Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 23:17:14 -0400 From: "Rodney D. Coates" Subj: And we wonder why And we wonder why rodneyc//00 Run, children run, history, strikes another note, forgotten against the backs where hope wrote long years ago, now filled with dope. Stained, within the refrain, where Granma used to wash in the rain, now cane floods the veins, and hope now strokes the note. Silent screams, heard within tombs sealed by hate, soiled by greed, and forgotten by stolen moments where egos prance around like gods. Princes and Queens, strolling along the sidewalk going for dimes and quarters, love for sale, lives gone stale, life so cheap, and we wonder why? .. without struggle there is no progress. -- frederick douglass for some of my poetry check out http://www.ulbobo.com/umoja thanks.. i gotta be me..rodneyc.. --------- "RE: Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days" --------- Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 06:19:27 -1000 From: Debbie Sanders Subj: Hawaiian Book of Days A HAWAIIAN BOOK OF DAYS, week of June 10-16 IUNE (June) (Kaaona) 10 Sorrow abides not in this place. 11 Turn every hardship into a triumph. 12 If you would win your heart's desire, you must give your heart to the task of winning it. 13 Give freely of yourself in all endeavors. 14 In all things, turn anger into industry. 15 Even the clumsiest hand can create a thing of beauty. 16 Acknowledge the duality of life in everything you do. (c) Copyright 1991 by D. F. Sanders Me ke aloha i ka nani, ... Moe'uhanekeanuenue (With love and beauty, ... Rainbow Dream) --------- "RE: Tribal Elders carry on Old Ways" --------- Date: Wed, 29 May 2002 08:11:14 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="OLD WAYS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation Tribal elders carry on old ways By Matt Joyce Herald Staff Writer IGNACIO - Bennett Thompson reaches to shelves in a small workroom of his house and pulls out his arts and crafts projects - works of beads, silver and wood; pelts waiting for the perfect use. "I tell you what, I do more work now that I'm retired," said Thompson, a 66-year-old Southern Ute and a member of the Southern Ute Committee of Elders. "I never thought I'd be an elder." Thompson is one of 119 Southern Ute Indian tribal members older than 59; his generation makes up 8.6 percent of the tribe's population of 1,378 members. The Southern Ute Tribal Council formed the Committee of Elders in 1980 to tap the resources of tribal elders and institutionalize a traditional respect for elders. Committee members, who meet twice monthly at the Southern Ute Senior Center, say they play an advisory role for the tribal government, paying particular attention to senior issues, natural resources and the importance of tribal traditions. Many of the members, like Thompson, also incorporate tribal traditions of the arts, spirituality and family into their daily lives. Sunshine Smith, 85, is thought to be the third-oldest tribal member living on the reservation. A member of the elder committee, she said it's been difficult to maintain traditions as tribal members' interests diversify. "We're supposed to work with the rest of the people to try to preserve the old ways, the Bear Dance, Sun Dance, War Dance - to keep it going," Smith said in an interview at her home, which sits on land allotted to her family by the federal government in 1895. "You've got to hang on to something - some belief - so you can still be a part of the tribe." Smith was born Sunshine Cloud in 1916. She learned the Ute language as a child and picked up English as she grew older. As a child, she would walk or ride her horse to a one-room schoolhouse on the Buck Highway (County Road 521). She served on the Tribal Council - the tribe's seven-member governing body - in the transitional 1950s, when the Southern Utes, Ute Mountain Utes and Northern Utes successfully won $32 million from the federal government in claims lost through treaties and land deals. The Southern Utes designed a rehabilitation plan to develop the reservation with the money. Some of the measures were unpopular at the time, Smith said. "We had to plan and improve our homeland situation," she said, which brought changes to the Utes' lifestyle. "I deeply felt that we had to make our reservation a better place to live. We had to keep up with the outside changes somehow, to fit our reservation land." Marvin Cook, executive officer for the tribe, said the elders committee often deals with cultural issues, serving as advisers for traditional events, such as the Bear Dance or Sun Dance. The committee also serves as advocates for fellow tribal elders and members with disabilities. "Primarily, they fall under the Tribal Council," he said. "They report directly to the Tribal Council." Annabelle Eagle, 77, said she became involved with the elders committee because she was interested in issues facing the tribe. "We decide who we want in the (tribal government departments) to come down and do a presentation, or else they ask," she said. "It's all a matter of keeping us informed and getting our blessing if they're doing it right." She said the Tribal Council pays only nominal attention to the elders committee - a trend she believes is reflected in family relations throughout the tribe. "The people have lost so many of their tribal elders that something is gone - that cohesiveness among families. We're worlds apart now," she said. "That's the biggest change that ever occurred to our people." Eagle said she and her husband, Clifford, have tried to impress upon their children the importance of family ties. During an interview on her front porch, the Eagles' grandchildren and great-grandchildren pay visits, and the couple speaks in Ute. "That was the old tradition; you had to know who your relatives are," she said. "I talk to a lot of people and ask them who their relatives are, and they don't know. They don't know their cousins, their grand-aunts. It's a pity." Copyright c. 2002, the Durango Herald. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Hopi Doll carving Part of Culture" --------- Date: Wed, 29 May 2002 08:11:14 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DOLL CARVING" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0529dollCarver.html Hopi doll carving part of culture Elena Chabolla Arizona Daily Star May 29, 2002 TUCSON - Each ice carving Gerry Quotskuyva crafted at Tucson resorts years ago carried him closer to a cultural tradition he is now completely devoted to: carving katsina dolls. For the Winslow native, 43, who lives and works in Sedona, carving is his culture. Quotskuyva stressed that he uses the katsina spelling, rather than kachina, because it signifies a return to tradition. Quotskuyva, who began carving dolls in the mid-1990s, says there are only theories about the origins of the katsina, but that one belief is that they are beings from another world here to teach us about all living things. He says Hopi ceremonies are centered on the gathering of katsinas, who sing, dance and pray for rain so that crops can grow on reservation land, a harsh environment. "All katsinas signify cloud deities," he says. Quo