From gars@speakeasy.org Tue Jul 30 22:21:15 2002 Date: 31 Jul 2002 01:41:07 -0000 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews10.031 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 Dineh jii' adah' ho'nil'e'gii ba' ha' neh -- Navajo Nation -- What's Happening among The People News Okla Humma Holisso Nowat Anya -- Choctaw -- People(s) Red Newspaper 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 031 | Country than is reported in | O o o o o O | this weekly newsletter. For | O o O August 3, 2002 | For daily updates & events | O o O | go http://www.owlstar.com/ | O | dailyheadlines.htm | Yuchi tseneaga/dog days moon +-----------------------------+ Blackfoot iitayiitsimaahkao'p/moon when we prepare food for storage <================<<<< >>>>================> 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; Frostys AmerIndian, Chiapas95-English/Ciepac-b and Firehair's 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.'" "Often in the stillness of the night when all nature seems asleep about me there comes a gentle rapping at the door of my heart. I open it and a voice inquires, Pokagon, what of your people? What will their future be?" My answer is: "Mortal man has not the power to draw aside the veil of unborn time to tell the future of his race. That gift belongs of the Divine alone. But it is given to him to closely judge the fugure by the present, and the past." __ Simon Pokagon, Potawatomie +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! Thanks to long time friend, John Berry, for the new Choctaw banner "Okla Humma Holisso Nowat Anya" People(s) Red Newspaper. As always, if you wish to see your nation's language honored in the banner simply email it to me, with the transliteration. I have said this many times... I would rather have a full page of our beautiful languages offering news of the people than one pristine line in the language of the invaders. -=-=-=- Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2002 16:17:22 -0400 From: "jay and sandy" Subj: New Friends Center [Editorial Comment: Jay talked to Janet at length about what this center will be, and it is very much like the one my sister-in-law manages in Moriarty NM. It will be a place of hope and rescue for all. Support Jay and Sandy in any way you can - money and sweat are both needed. gary] Hello, We have leased a building for the Friends of Native American Center.The address is:1324 Highway 431 South, Glencoe,Al. 35905. Phone number is 256-494-3393. The phone where you can reach us is 256-494-0350. The phone line will be working tomorrow at the center. If you have any questions about how to help or what you can do, please call us at home at night 256-494-0350 or e-mail us at oyate@microxl.com. Thank you 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 ---------- - Francis Joseph Sheldon - BIA makes Arrest - Violet Allman in Wildfire Investigation - American Indian writer Louis Owens - Battlefield Bones - Crossings linked to Reburial in 1888 - Natives threaten - A Lesson from Healing Circles to cut B.C. out of Talks - Theft of Native Photographs - Interim Flathead Water Pact - First Nations Camps - Blackfoot Confederacy help Aboriginal Offenders holds Second Annual Meeting - Court upholds Frank Verdict - O'odham Ranger balances Past-Present - Native Prisoner at Monument -- Manuel Tomas Lujan Needing Help - Heritage and Identity - Rustywire: He came in and said of the Alutiiq People I am a Mixed Blood - Coon Come calls for - Poem: Aboriginal War Chest At the Roots of the Sacred Tree - The Costs of Autonomous Resistance - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - Suicide stalks - Culture, History hinge on Shamattawa First Nation a Language nearly Lost - Native trackers: - Native America Calling Secret Weapon in Drug War - Upcoming Events --------- "RE: Francis Joseph Sheldon" --------- Date: Thu, 25 Jul 2002 08:27:19 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="FRANCIS JOSEPH SHELDON" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.heraldnet.com/Stories/02/7/25/15699506.cfm#top Tulalip tribal leader dies By Shanti Hahler Herald Writer Thursday, July 25, 2002 TULALIP -- Longtime Tulalip tribal leader Francis Joseph Sheldon, better known as "Francy," who served the tribes in areas ranging from police chief to head of the tribe's fisheries, wildlife and enforcement department, died on Sunday. He was 68. "Francy had a series of administrative positions, and was always able to respond to the needs of the tribe," colleague and friend Wayne Williams said. "He really enjoyed working with people, he was very dedicated and keen to see that young folks make the most of their lives." Those who knew him say that he was active in many areas, including Tulalip Family Services, kids' programs and as a facilities maintenance manager for the Tulalip Tribes. Williams said the one thing he admired most about Sheldon was his love for children and his desire to help those in need. "You could always see it in his expression when he felt he'd helped someone. He'd come in to see me and say, 'I think we've reached this kid, saved him, and I think he'll stay in school now,'" Williams recalled. Francis Sheldon was born in Tulalip on Oct. 24, 1933, and served in the U.S. Army. He is survived by his wife, Anita, and numerous children and grandchildren. Kit Rawson, a biologist with the Tulalip Fisheries Department who worked with Sheldon for almost 16 years, said that he always saw Sheldon's love for his family. "He was devoted to his family. ... He'd always talk about them. When I worked with him, his grandkids were probably the most important thing to him in those days. And he always made sure I kept my own family foremost, which I really appreciated," Rawson said. Outside of his family, those he worked with and other tribal members showed a great respect for Sheldon. "He was a true leader. ... I saw the respect he had within both the tribe and the state, and I saw how he built that respect. His word was good, and when he made a decision he stuck to it," Rawson said. Wayne Williams also saw the respect that Sheldon returned to the Tulalip community. "The tribe is going to really miss his dedication," Williams said. A community memorial service will be at noon Saturday in the Tulalip Tribal Center. The service is open to the public. You can call Herald Writer Shanti Hahler at 425-339-3455 or e-mail at shahler@heraldnet.com. Copyright c. 2002 The Daily Herald Co./Everett, Wash. --------- "RE: Violet Allman" --------- Date: Fri, 26 Jul 2002 08:18:16 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="VIOLET ALLMAN" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.oregonlive.com/metroeast/oregonian/ Native American leader dies at 79 07/25/02 KARA BRIGGS Violet Allman, a leader in the Portland-area's Native American community who promoted traditional culture, co-founded a program for elders and taught the Nez Perce language to school students, died Monday. She was 79. Born in 1922, Allman, a Nez Perce, was raised in Kamiah, Idaho, on the Nez Perce reservation. She moved to Portland with her late husband, Blue Allman, during World War II. After the war, they stayed and had six children. She was a key player in establishing two of the Portland area's longest enduring programs run for and by Native Americans. She and her husband were involved in organizing the Bow and Arrow Culture Club in the early 1960s. The club, which remains a cornerstone of the urban Indian community, hosts weekly gatherings where generations of Native Americans have been encouraged to learn to dance, sing and drum. Allman was its president in the late 1970s and early 1980s. "She and her husband kept the traditional cultural aspects of Bow and Arrow going," said Vince Wannassay, one of her friends. In 1989 she was also a co-founder of Pi Ni Waus, an association of Native American elders in the Portland area. She contributed the name, which is Nez Perce for "a place to come." Allman is thought to be the first person to teach a tribal language in the city's schools, said her daughter, Sande Bea Allman. She taught Nez Perce at two Portland preschools during the 1980s and was a frequent storyteller at Portland-area public schools. Speaking at a 1993 event at Portland State University, Allman said, "It is a wonderful feeling to be with our own people. I pray the Indian culture will never die." She was preceded in death by her husband and one son, James. She is survived by five children: Robert Allman, Sande Bea Allman and Donald Allman, all of Portland; Norman Allman of Oregon City; and Sylvia Allman of San Diego. She had 11 grandchildren and nine great grandchildren. A memorial service will be from 6 to 9 tonight in Mt. Scott Funeral Home, 4205 S.E. 59th Ave. Her funeral will be at 10 a.m. Friday in New Hope Community Church, 11731 S.E. Stevens Road, Clackamas, followed by burial at Willamette National Cemetery. Copyright c. 2002 OregonLive.com. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: American Indian writer Louis Owens" --------- Date: Sat, 27 Jul 2002 19:48:42 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LOUIS OWENS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nandotimes.com/entertainment/story/480151p American Indian writer Louis Owens dead in apparent suicide By RICHARD BENKE, Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (July 27, 2002 9:24 a.m. EDT) - Louis Owens, a prize- winning novelist and leading scholar on American Indian fiction, has died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, hospital officials said. He was 53. Owens, author of "The Bone Game," "Dark River" and other novels, suffered a gunshot wound to the chest at the Albuquerque airport early Wednesday and was brought to the University of New Mexico Hospital, airport spokeswoman Maggie Santiago said. He died Thursday afternoon, hospital spokesman Sam Giammo said. In addition to writing novels, Owens was a scholar of American Indian literature and the work of John Steinbeck. He was on the faculty at the University of California-Davis. "I would list him as the leading scholar on Native American fiction in the country," said Jack Hicks, a colleague. "He was a remarkably talented writer." Owens had won a Wordcraft Circle Writer of the Year award in 1998 for "Mixedblood Messages: Literature, Film, Family, Place." One of his best- regarded works was "Other Destinies: Understanding the American Indian Novel." He had won a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship in 1989. "He did that thing which is not usual for creative writers, being known equally as a scholar and a creative writer," said Pat Smith, an English professor at the University of New Mexico, where Owens formerly taught. Owens was of Choctaw and Cherokee ancestry. His other novels were "The Sharpest Sight," "Wolfsong" and "Nightland." Santiago, the airport spokeswoman, said a passenger heard a gunshot Wednesday, saw Owens slumped over and called police. A pistol was found with him. "All the physical evidence indicated it was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest," she said. A note found with him asked that his wife be notified, she added. Owens was to have spoken Thursday at a conference at Western Washington University, said John Purdy, an English professor there. "He was a great guy with a good heart. He had a lot of good friends and colleagues all over the world," Purdy said. Purdy said Owens' wife, Polly, told him there had been a "tragic accident." The state Office of the Medical Investigator said only that he died Thursday. Owens, born in 1948 in Lompoc, Calif., also had worked as a firefighter for the U.S. Forest Service. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of California and his Ph.D. from UC Davis. Hicks described Owens as "a person of real character, quiet, very dependable and very generous with his time with students and faculty." In addition to his wife, Owens is survived by two daughters. Copyright c. 2002 AP Online/Associated Press. Copyright c. 2002 Nando Media. --------- "RE: Crossings" --------- Date: Mon, 29 Jul 2002 08:10:52 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CROSSINGS" July 23, 2002 Michael Bear Michael Bear, 46, of Moorhead, MN, formerly of Tokio, ND, died Thursday, July 19, 2002 in Moorhead, MN. Funeral services will be held on Wednesday at 10 a.m. at the St. Michael Recreation Center. Rev. Christopher Trombetta will officiate and burial will be in the Bdecan Cemetery, Tokio. A wake will be held tonight beginning at 5 p.m. at the Recreation Center. Serving as pallbearers will be Wade Ross, Rory Ross, Gary Longie, Jr., George Green, Victor Jackson and Alvin Bear. Honorary pallbearers will be all of Michael's friends and relatives. Drummers will be the Lake Region Singers. Michael Henry Bear was born on Dec. 22, 1955 in Fargo, ND, the son of Henry and Margaret Ross Bear. He attended school at Warwick and Fargo, ND. He later worked at Brunswick-Devils Lake Sioux Mfg. and in Fargo as a general laborer. He was united in marriage to Patricia Cavanaugh on May 17, 1979 in Minnewaukan ND. Michael is survived by his children, Margaret Bear, Michelle Bear, Rebecca Bear, Nicole Bear, Priscilla Bear and Emma Cavanaugh, all of Fort Totten and Floyd Paul of Fargo, ND; grandchildren, Michaela Bear, Savon Bear, Cedric Bear, Ian Morin, Bryson and BryeAnn Cavanaugh; brothers, Alvin Bear and Soloman Ross; and his sisters, Doris Longie, Sonya Knox, Belinda Longie, Anita Bear, and Sherry Longie. He was preceded in death by his parents, Henry and Margaret Ross Bear; brothers, Jerome Bear, James Bear and Mathias Taylor; sisters, Alva Bear and Betty Ellingson; and twin granddaughters, Lahnel and Dahnel Charboneau. Gilbertson Funeral Home, Devils Lake, is in charge of the arrangements. Copyright c. 2002 Devils Lake Daily Journal. -=-=-=- July 27, 2002 Darnell Bissonette PINE RIDGE - Darnell Bissonette, 46, Pine Ridge, died Wednesday, July 24, 2002, at Rapid City Regional Hospital. Survivors include his father, Melvin Bissonette, Pine Ridge; five brothers, Albert Whiting Jr., Minneapolis, Douglas Bissonette, Darwin Bissonette and Antoine Bissonette, all of Pine Ridge, and Duane Bissonette, New Mexico; and one sister, Carmen Whiting, Pine Ridge. A two-night wake will begin at 11 a.m. Sunday, July 28, at Billy Mills Hall in Pine Ridge. Services will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday, July 30, at Billy Mills Hall, with the Rev. Ben Tyon and the Rev. Abraham Tobacco officiating. Burial will be at Holy Cross Episcopal Cemetery in Pine Ridge. Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements. Dorothy B. Red Paint PINE RIDGE - Dorothy B. Red Paint, 76, Pine Ridge, died Thursday, July 25, 2002, at Rapid City Regional Hospital. Survivors include two daughters, Sarah Brown Eyes and Yolanda Red Paint, both of Pine Ridge; one brother, James Yellow Horse, Oglala; and five sisters, Irene Pipe On Head, Rapid City, Darlene Kills Enemy, Slim Buttes, and Geraldine Yellow Horse, Josephine Afraid Of Bear and Phyllis One Feather, all of Oglala. A two-night wake will begin at 1 p.m. Monday, July 29, at Slim Buttes Community Building. Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday, July 31, at Slim Buttes Community Building, with the Rev. Steve Pugliese officiating. Burial will be at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Cemetery in Slim Buttes. Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements. July 28, 2002 Louis O. McGaa LAKE NORDEN - Louis O. McGaa, 85, died Thursday, July 25, at Beverly Care Center, Lake Norden, SD. Louis was born September 22, 1916 at Cuny Table to Albert and Anna (Davidson) McGaa. During his early years, Louis lived in South Dakota at Davidson Flatts near the town of Canata, and later north of Manderson at Stirk's Table. He attended school at Holy Rosary Mission, the Pierre Indian School and the country school at Cain Creek near Kyle. He lived in South Dakota at Davidson Flatts near the town of Canata, and later north of Manderson at Stirk's Table. Louis married Hester Louise Cuny on November 24, 1938, at Sacred Heart Church in Pine Ridge, SD. Hester was the daughter of Charles and Mabel Cuny. They were married for forty-nine years at the time of Hester's death in 1988. He worked as a telephone lineman on the Reservation and later made a living as an airplane and auto mechanic. He taught for two years at the Denver Automotive Institute. In his later, years he became skilled at repairing office machines and computers. During his lifetime, he pursued many interests. He was a talented musician who enjoyed playing the guitar, the piano and the harmonica. Boxing, water skiing, bowling and horseshoes were sports in which he excelled. He had a profound interest in astronomy, electronics and radio communications. For several years, he operated a Ham radio station out of his home in Sturgis. His call sign was KCOWC and now SK is added to indicate `Silent Key.' He is survived by three sons, Gene McGaa, Grenville, SD, Charles McGaa, Pine Ridge, SD, and Greg McGaa, Sulphur, LA; Five daughters, Louella Vifquain, Nemo, SD, Anna Gerving, Denver, CO, Roebota Rhodes, Byers, CO, Marcia McGaa, Pine Ridge, SD and Mary Nelson, Rosholt, SD. One sister, Jessie Clifford, Martin, SD; 26 Grandchildren and 66 Great- Grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his loving wife, Hester Cuny McGaa, and dear son-in-law, Chuck Farruggia. A one-night wake service will begin Monday, July 29, 4 p.m. at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Pine Ridge, SD. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held Tuesday, July 30, 10 a.m. at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Pine Ridge with the Rev. Steve Sanford, S.J. as celebrant. A lunch will follow Mass. Concluding services will be 2 p.m. at St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery at Cuny Table, SD. Sioux Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Copyright c. 2002 The Rapid City Journal. -=-=-=- July 27, 2002 Leroy White Leroy White, 73, of Norman died Thursday in Norman. He was born Oct. 4, 1928, in Norman, the son of Willie and Tennie (Little Jim) White. White was reared in Little Axe. White married Delores Newell on Feb. 9, 1952, in Oklahoma City. Following his marriage, he lived in Oklahoma City for 11 years. He then returned to Little Axe, where he had lived since. He attended Little Axe schools and Haskell Indian School. He was employed by the University of Oklahoma for 28 years, retiring in June 1985 from a position as the locksmith supervisor. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He was the chief of the Big Jim Band of the Absentee Shawnee Tribe. He was preceded in death by his parents and two uncles. Survivors include his wife, Delores White of the home; two daughters and sons-in-law, Teresa June and Gary Reed of Oklahoma City and Donna Sue and Collis Bosworth of Olathe, Kan.; a son, Calvin Lee White of Little Axe; a son and daughter-in-law, David Leroy and Debbie White of Little Axe; a brother and sister-in-law, Robert and Dorothy White of Little Axe; a sister and brother-in-law, Barbara and Jerry Little Axe of Little Axe; a half-brother, Herbert White of Weatherford, Texas; a half-sister, Grace White of Horton, Kan.; 11 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; and numerous other relatives and friends. A service will be 4 p.m. today at Cooper Funeral Chapel, Tecumseh with the Rev. Sunny Stuart and Don White officiating. Burial will be in the Little Jim Family Cemetery. Arrangements are being handled by Cooper Funeral Home. Copyright c. 1997-2002 The Shawnee News-Star. -=-=-=- July 28, 2002 Jeremy Lee Drake Jeremy Lee Drake, 28, native of Bartlesville, passed away on Thursday at his family residence in Ponca City, Okla. Funeral services for Mr. Drake will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday in the Memory Chapel of The Arnold Moore Funeral Residence. Rev. Daniel Adamson will be the officiant. Committal prayers and interment will be directed in the Memorial Park Cemetery by The Arnold Moore Funeral Service. Jeremy will lie in state in the Drawing Rooms of The Arnold Moore Funeral Residence on Sunday and Monday where friends may call for their visitation until the service hour on Tuesday morning. A Bartlesville native, Jeremy Lee Drake was born on January 11, 1974. He was the son of Chenya Jean (Lemon) and Selmer Henry. He was reared and received his education in Bartlesville where he attended the Jane Phillips Elementary School, Central Mid-High School and the Bartlesville High School. He studied Culinary Arts at Tri County Technology Center. He moved to Ponca City, Okla. three years ago and was employed by the Ponca City Country Club. He has continued his residence in Ponca City, Okla. since that time. Jeremy was a member of the Osage Nation. Surviving are his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Selmer (Chenya Jean) (Lemon) Henry, Grove, Okla.; two sisters, Mrs. Stacey (Renee Drake) Pratt and Ms. Shayla Jackson, both of Grove, Okla.; two brothers, Michael "Mike" Jackson, Grove, Okla. and Scott Allen Drake, Danville, Illinois; next-of-friend, Brent Brookshire, Ponca City, Okla. He was preceded in death by his grandparents, Rachel Imogene (Lemon) Moody and Thomas Jefferson Moody. Copyright c. 2002 the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise. -=-=-=- July 24, 2002 Afton Capps Afton Capps, 77, a resident of Albuquerque since 1956, died Monday, July 22, 2002. She is survived by her sons, Terry Capps and wife, Helen of Jemez Pueblo, Earl Capps and wife, Kacey of Greenfield, WI, and David Capps and wife, Deedie of Thornton, CO; 15 grandchildren; 16 great- grandchildren; sisters, Della Allred of Duncan, AZ, LaVerd Gunter of Tempe, AZ; and brother, Dean Johnson of Conchas, AZ. She was preceded in death by her husband of 53 years, Berry Capps in February 2001. Mrs. Capps was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Manzano Ward. Services will be held Friday, July 26, 2002, 11:00 a. m., at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Manzano Ward, 12701 Indian School Rd. NE, with Bishop Jim Luke, conducting. Interment will take place at 2:30 p.m., at Santa Fe National Cemetery. Pallbearers will be Terry Capps, Earl Capps, David Capps, Bill Dare, Wayne Capps, and Cary Ostrander. Honorary pallbearers will be Dave Iverson, Rob Slone and Tom Griego. Friends may visit French Mortuary, 10500 Lomas Blvd. NE, Thursday, July 25, 2002, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and also Friday, July 26, 2002 in the Relief Society room, one hour prior to service. Copyright c. 1997 - 2002 Albuquerque Journal: Albuquerque, New Mexico. -=-=-=- July 23, 2002 Samuel Kenoi Jr. Graveside services for Samuel Theodore Kenoi Jr., 67, of Mescalero, will be at 10 a.m. today, July 24, at the Mescalero Cemetery. Mr. Kenoi died Thursday, July 18, 2002, in Mescalero. He was born April 5, 1935, in Mescalero, and he lived there all of his life. He had served in the Army and was a handyman and a member of the Reformed Church. Survivors include nieces Anita Sanchez, Mona Lopez and Constance Enjady; and nephews Robert Kenoi and Martin Enjady. Arrangements are under the direction of LaGrone Funeral Chapel of Ruidoso. July 25, 2002 Sterlen Kane A prayer service for Sterlen M. Kane Sr., 61, of Mescalero will be at 6 p.m. today, July 26, in the Mescalero Reformed Church, where the funeral will be at 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 27. Burial will follow at the White Tail Cemetery with the Rev. Bob Schut officiating. Mr. Kane died Monday, July 22, 2002, in Mescalero. He was born there on Nov. 10, 1940. He served in the Air Force and had worked for the Inn of the Mountain Gods, Tribal Police Department and was a community health representative and attended the Reformed Church. Survivors include Shirley Kane; a son, Sterlen M. Kane Jr., and his wife, Marcene; a daughter, Selena L. Chino, and her husband, Mark; grandsons Jesse Reed, Keenan Kane and Kolby Kane; sisters Jacque Forte and Corliss Treas; and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews. Arrangements are under the direction of LaGrone Funeral Chapel of Ruidoso. Copyright c. 1999-2001 MediaNews Group, Inc./Ruidoso, NM. -=-=-=- July 28, 2002 Charley Tallman Teec Nos Pos, Ariz. June 27, 1945 - July 24, 2002 Charley Tallman, 57, of Teec Nos Pos, Ariz., died Wednesday, July 24, 2002, at his residence. He was born June 27, 1945, in Teec Nos Pos. He is survived by his sister, Minnie Begay and husband Ray, of Teec Nos Pos; half-sisters Mae Huskey and husband Carl, Rose Castillo and husband Curtis, and Ann Shorthair; six nephews, Rick and Richard Begay, both of Teec Nos Pos, Gilbert Harrison of Albuquerque, Steve Harrison, John Harrison and Joey Harrison, all of Window Rock, Ariz.; and one niece, Rita A. Begay of Teec Nos Pos. He was preceded in death by his parents, James Saltwater and Sadie Tallman, son Wilfred Tallman in 1994, a sister Lucy Harrison, and brother Herbert Tso. Funeral services will be held Monday morning at 10 a.m. at Brewer, Lee and Larkin Chapel in Shiprock. Pastor James Tso will officiate with Navajo Nation Chief Justice Emertis Tom Tso. Interment will follow at the Community Cemetery in Shiprock. Pallbearers will be Verlin Lansing, Thurston Nakai, Steven Harrison, John Harrison, Joey Harrison and Richard Begay. Following graveside services, a reception will be held at the residence of Minnie and Ray Begay in Teec Nos Pos. Funeral arrangements are with Brewer, Lee and Larkin Funeral Home in Shiprock, 505-368-4607. Copyright c. 1999-2002 MediaNews Group, Inc./Farmington, NM. -=-=-=- July 22, 2002 Linda Bertha Tsosie ALLEY STORE, Ariz. - Services for Linda Tsosie, 51, were held at 1 p.m., today at Our Lady os Fatima Catholic Church, Chinle, Ariz. Sister Adelaide Link will officiate. Burial will follow at Chinle Community Cemetery. Tsosie was born May 28, 1951 in Valley Store into the Water Flows Together People Clan for the Tangle People Clan. Tsosie attended Chinle High School and Roswell Training Center. She was employed with the Food Stamp Office. Survivors includer her sons, Neal Tsosie of Chinle, Neilson Tsosie of Albuquerque and Kevin Watson of Valley Store; daughter, Karen Watson of Valley Store; brothers, Wilfred Yazzie and Julius Robertson both of Valley Store; sisters, Jacqueline Robertson of Many Farms, Sadie Charley and Shirley Robertson both of Valley Store and four grandchildren. Tsosie was preceded in death by her parents, Sonny and Clara Robertson; brothers, Francis Robertson, Edison Robertson and Lester Robertson and sister, Clarice Robertson. Pallbearers will be Wilfred Yazzie, Marshall Robertson, Jackie Robertson, Kevin Watson, Darryl Watson and Samanuel Tishie. Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Roland James Woody LUKACHUKAI, Ariz. - Services for Roland Woody, 24, will be held at 10 a. m., Tuesday, July 23 at St. Isabel Mission, Lukachukai. Burial will follow at Lukachukai Community Cemetery. Woody was born June 14, 1978 in Fort Defiance, Ariz. into the Water Flows Together People Clan for the Edge Water People Clan. Woody was a member of Thunder House Singers. Survivors include his parents, Katherine and Sam Yazzie Sr.; brothers, Raymond K. Yazzie Sr., Alvin Yazzie, Christopher Yazzie, Daniel Yazzie, Rafael Woody, Sanford Woody and Rally Woody; sisters, Bertha Jishie, Virginia Yazzie, Rose K. Yazzie, Kathleen Yazzie, Kim M. Clark and Madeline Yazzie. Woody was preceeded in death by his brother, Sam Yazzie, Jr. Pallbearers will be Raymond Yazzie Sr., Alvin Yazzie, Christopher Yazzie, Raymond Yazzie Jr., Ferdinand Jishie and Rafael Woody. Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Copyright c. 2002 the Gallup Independent. -=-=-=- July 24, 2002 Jerry Don Bartlett ASHLAND - Jerry Don "J.D." Bartlett, 61, died Sunday, July 21, 2002, at the IHS Clinic in Lame Deer. Wake service will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 25, in the Social Room at St. Labre Mission Catholic Church near Ashland. Funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Friday, July 26, at the Church. Burial will be in the St. Labre Cemetery. Rausch Funeral Home of Lame Deer is in charge. July 28, 2002 Tyler John Freeman RONAN - Tyler John Freeman died in an accidental drowning at Pablo Reservoir on Wednesday, July 24, 2002. Tyler was born on June 17, 1994, in Whidbey Island, Wash., to Taw-nie and Karl Freeman. Tyler attended Ronan Elem-entary School and would have started the third grade this fall. Tyler was a gentle, loving boy who, even for his young age, blessed those around him with a remarkable depth of sensitivity, kindness and thoughtfulness towards others. Tyler is survived by his mother, Tawnie Freeman; stepfather Aaron Dodgson; sister Trinity, all of Ronan; father Karl Freeman and stepmother Michelle Freeman; brother and sister Justin and Korryn Freeman of Billings; maternal aunts and uncle, Buffy Gillis and daughter Melissa of Oregon, Stacey Madrigal of Oregon, Morgan Tucker of Washington, Ann Dodgson, Jason Erickson and their daughter, Kayla, of Pablo; maternal great-aunts Margaret Finley and Madeline Barnaby-Weaselhead; paternal aunts and uncles Joy and Sean Hughes of Georgia, Nicole Yurian of Huntley, and Robert Beltran of Idaho; maternal grandparents Kathy and Steve Cassell of Hawaii, John Madrigal and Renee Roullier of Ronan; Audrey and the late Vern Whittig of Ronan, Pam and Doug O'Mara of Dayton; paternal grandparents James and Eva Freeman of Idaho; Agnes and Dennis Yurian of Huntley, and David and Dawn Beltran of Idaho. Traditional wake services began on Friday, July 26, at the Ronan Tribal Senior Citizens Center. Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. on Monday, July 29, with burial to follow at the Ronan Cemetery. Copyright c. 2002 The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises. -=-=-=- July 26, 2002 Francine Grace Carrier ROCKY BOY -- Francine Grace (Harris) Carrier, 35, died Thursday in a Great Falls hospital of kidney failure. Her funeral is 11 a.m. today at Rocky Boy Catholic Church. Holland and Bonine Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. She is survived by her husband, Loran George Carrier of Browning; her mother, Amy Writingbird of Rocky Boy; daughters Darnelle and Heather C- Hair of Ethete, Wyo.; sons Sun C-Hair and Michael Head Carrier of Ethete; brothers Melvin Writingbird and Martin Harris of Rocky Boy, and Carlos Harris of Lapawi, Idaho; and sisters Martinia Harris of San Antonio and Desiree Writingbird of Rocky Boy. July 27, 2002 Felistas C. 'Bari' Painter BILLINGS - Felistas Cecilia "Bari" (Berry) Painter, 74, a retired health care worker, died Thursday at a Billing hospital. Memorial Mass is 11 a.m. Monday at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Malta, with burial of ashes in the Hi-Way Church Cemetery at Fort Belknap. Adams Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Survivors include her husband, Donald Painter of Billings; sons Robert Painter of Chinook and Sam Painter of Billings; daughters Terry Healy of Malta, Donna Howard of Paulsbo, Wash., and Mary Joe Mehrens of Billings; a brother, Ezum Berry of Butte; a sister, Josephine Straight Head of Eagle Butte, S.D.; 13 grandchildren and eight great-grandsons. Additional survivors include daughters-in-law Deborah Painter of Chinook and Sheree Painter of Billings; sons-in-law Chan Healy of Malta, Mack Howard of Paulsbo, Wash., and Patrick Mehrens of Billings; and numerous nieces and nephews. Her grandchildren are Mike, Betsy, Crystal, Zane, Mack, Erin, Kathy, Danny, Kydee, Jeremy, Jessica, Samantha and Stephen. Bari, whose Indian name was Ha-Wi-Win, was born Jan. 1, 1928, at the Fort Belknap Agency to William and Emily (Johnson) Berry. Bari was an enrolled member of the Fort Belknap Community and was raised on the Fort Belknap Reservation. She received her education at the Flandreau Indian Boarding School and Sacred Heart Nursing School. On Oct. 26, 1949, Bari married Donald Ward Painter in Elko, Nev., and the couple eventually made their home at Warm Springs, Mont., where Bari worked in health care for the Montana State Hospital for 30 years. Bari will be remembered for her wit and strong commitment to family. Her keen insight of human nature and wisdom, coupled with her sense of humor, will be missed by all who knew and loved her. She was preceded in death by her sisters Kathryn and Wilma and brothers George, Francis and Billy. The family requests that memorials or donations be sent to the American Diabetes Association, 3203 3rd Ave., Billings, in memory of Bari. James H. 'Buster' Wiegand SALEM, Ore. - Former Dodson resident James H. "Buster" Wiegand, 93, a former heavy duty mechanic and foreman for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, died of natural causes July 10 in Salem, Ore. Services were July 15 in Salem. Barrick Funeral Chapel of Salem was in charge of arrangements. Survivors include a son, James Wiegand of Anchorage, Alaska; a stepson, Jack McElwain of Kaiser, Ore.; and sisters Louell Weston of Hardin and Rosie Stuart of Harlem. July 29, 2002 Roslyn Wolf Black Mendoza Roslyn Gladys Wolf Black Mendoza, 49, of Billings, formerly of Lame Deer, passed away Saturday morning, July 27, 2002 in the Billings Parkview Care Center. She was born Aug. 21, 1952 in Birney, a daughter of James Wolf Black and Cora Hollow-breast. She re-ceived her education in Busby and the Cath-olic School, before completing high school in Oklahoma. She later attended secretarial college in Dallas, Texas for two years. Roslyn worked as a legal secretary in Lame Deer and as a laborer for the Ashland Sawmill. Roslyn was married and later divorced. She loved to socialize with her family and friends, however, the greatest joy in her life were her grandchildren. Her mother, Cora and a brother, Kenneth Wolf Black preceded Roslyn in death. Survivors include her father, James Wolf Black of Busby; three daughters, Philinga (Chad) Anderson of Ashland, Marsha Rowland of South Dakota and Sharona Wolf Black of Washington; five sons, Jesse Mendoza of Ashland, John Mendoza of Idaho, Joshua Wolf Black of Deer Lodge, Reuben Black Horse of Busby and Isaac Black Horse of Shepherd; five sisters, Jamie (Tex) Jawort and Daisy Rowland of Billings, Edith (Henry) Jefferson, Anna (Douglas) Limberhand and Gloria Wolf Black of Busby; four brothers, Clyde Wolf Black of Busby, Wesley Wolf Black of Wyoming, George Medicine Top of Billings and Cedric Rowland of Idaho; four adopted brothers, Emmett Medicine Top of Birney, Robert Yellow Fox, Sr. of Lame Deer, Adam Medicine Top and Alden Brady of Wyoming; three adopted sisters, Stella Medicine Top of Wisconsin, Elizabeth and Mary Grace Medicine Top of Birney and seven grandchildren. Wake services will be 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 30, in the Lame Deer Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church social room. Funeral services will be 10 a.m. Wednesday, July 31, in the Church. Interment will follow in the Birney Cemetery. Bullis Mortuary of Hardin has been entrusted with the arrangements. Copyright c. 2002 Great Falls Tribune, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Natives threaten to cut B.C. out of Talks" --------- Date: Wed, 24 Jul 2002 08:46:06 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canada.com/vancouver/news/story Natives threaten to cut B.C. out of talks First Nations leaders say direct treaty negotiations with Ottawa an option William Boei Vancouver Sun Tuesday, July 23, 2002 British Columbia First Nations say they will cut the B.C. government out of a key segment of treaty talks and negotiate self-government directly with Ottawa if the province won't budge from its referendum position. The three sides met in Vancouver Monday to try to push treaty negotiations into the fast lane after a year of little progress and during which B.C.'s Liberal government held its referendum on principles that should govern treaty talks. Federal Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault, B.C. Attorney-General Geoff Plant and members of the First Nations Summit all expressed hope that serious talks can resume soon and that the first agreements -- either comprehensive treaties or "incremental" pacts on individual issues -- can be completed as soon as 18 months from now. But Edward John, an executive member of the First Nations Summit, said he is not sure whether the treaty process is dead or alive, and one of the tests will be whether B.C.'s negotiators bring a flexible mandate to the table. "It doesn't sound to us very promising at this point," he said, "but we're always optimistic that they'll provide themselves some leeway." Plant said he hopes to send new instructions to B.C. negotiators, based on the principles endorsed by voters in the referendum, by the end of this month. "The principles will be part of the framework that the province takes to the table," he said. John countered: "If the province cannot see itself at the table and negotiating the basis of the recognition of the inherent right (to self- government), then of course we have to sit down with Canada and work out an arrangement with them. "This will be a constitutionally protected self-government arrangement... with or without the province." Plant suggested the self-government issue could be broken into smaller segments like child welfare and education, and progress could be made on those in the absence of an over-all agreement. But he said B.C. will stick to its referendum guns. "We intend to build the referendum results into our new instructions," he said. "Essentially the issues that we set aside a year ago, like self-government, will now be back on the table for negotiation." Asked whether differences over self-government are irreconcilable, Plant responded that negotiators could work on other issues, such as land and resource disputes that are holding up economic development. "We think that we can make significant progress on land and resources issues, among others," he said, "and I think that we can also make progress on self-government, certainly when we're talking about practical issues, such as who's to be responsible for education or child welfare or those sorts of things." Nault told reporters he sees B.C.'s willingness to discuss those issues as an indication the province won't be too stubborn about restricting native self-government to municipal-level powers. He noted that education and child welfare are both beyond the powers of local government. "So I think the province is prepared to look at substantive issues at the negotiating table, and we'll see how that goes once we're back at the table," Nault said. The federal minister left before John spoke and did not say whether Ottawa would take part in bilateral talks on native self-government. He reiterated that he feels B.C.'s referendum was unnecessary, but added: "It's time to put that aside. Let's get back to business." Plant and Nault said they are prepared to discuss revenue-sharing with the First Nations Summit. Native groups are spending tens of millions of dollars on treaty negotiations, but lack sources of income to pay the bills. Nault said renewed treaty talks should have a sense of urgency. "Today is the beginning of a hurry-up policy of the government of Canada," he said. "We would like to see us get back to a principles meeting some time in September-October ... with the mandate in hand to do the job." Nault said he favours "incremental treaty making," a process in which agreements on individual issues can eventually be built into comprehensive treaties. Increments could deal with such areas as natural resources, education, child welfare and governance, he said. John said that while he believes agreements can be reached in as little as 18 months, B.C.'s referendum principles are "a large concern." He reminded the federal and provincial governments that they accepted the principle of aboriginal title and the right to self-government when the treaty process began 12 years ago, and that both are constitutionally protected and have been upheld by the courts. "No referendum, no political act of any government can change that reality," he said. "It is a constitutional provision, it's recognized in the courts and the governments of this country cannot change that on their own." John said the First Nations Summit expects to meet this fall with Premier Gordon Campbell and his entire cabinet, as well as separately with Campbell, Plant and Nault in mid-September. The natives also expect the politicians to take part in a ceremony at Port Alberni in September to commemorate the signing 10 years ago of an agreement to begin treaty talks. "We want to mark that occasion, but hopefully we're not marking it by saying that the process is dead," John said. "Let's get back to the table," added First Nations Summit member Lydia Hwitsum. "It's time to get back to the business of negotiating in good faith." The First Nations leaders also urged both governments to consider hiring more negotiators if they want to get serious. John said each government now employs five senior negotiators, but once talks heat up there could be as many as 40 "tables" operating at the same time. "At that rate, my grandson will be an old man before we conclude agreements," he said. -- bboei@pacpress.southam.ca Copyright c. 2002 Vancouver Sun. --------- "RE: Interim Flathead Water Pact" --------- Date: Thu, 18 Jul 2002 08:17:47 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="FLATHEAD WATER" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.missoulian.com/display/inn_news/news02.txt State, tribes wade through interim Flathead water pact By MICHAEL JAMISON of the Missoulian Meeting focuses on short-term fix, but sides remain at odds over long-term details POLSON - The twists, turns, meanders and eddies of the rivers on the Flathead Indian Reservation are nothing compared to the legal convolutions winding around the question of who owns all that water. Wednesday, state, federal and tribal leaders met in Polson to untangle some of those jurisdictional braids, taking another small step toward resolving water rights' conflicts that go back more than a century. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes have long been working with the state and federal governments, trying to craft an agreement regarding how much of the reservation's water rights are owned by the tribes. That process, however, is expected to take years, and that fact has forced the state and tribes to negotiate what they hope will be an interim plan that should allow new wells and groundwater permits for both Indians and non-Indians on the reservation. The proposed plan - which all stress is just a proposal - is gaining support from both state and tribal negotiating teams, although the public has yet to weigh in. In its most basic outline, the proposal would allow the two governments to form a temporary agreement under which the state and the tribes would work together to process requests for new groundwater uses. A joint review board would assess the requests, allowing single-family wells in addition to municipal and community wells so long as the applicants meet yet-to-be-determined criteria. New water licenses would be issued jointly, and would be tracked through a joint state-tribal record-keeping system. Specifics of how the interim water licensing system would work remain vague; among the many unknowns is whether the system would allow for changes to existing water uses or would process only new water use requests. Another major unknown is whether state law can be tweaked to even allow for such a cooperative interim plan between the governments. At the end of the session Wednesday, all agreed they had a plan that was a long way from being a plan and that it might not be allowed by state law. Nevertheless, any cooperation on the contentious issue of tribal water rights was seen as a major step forward. Tribal representative Clayton Matt said the tribes and the state had reached a "conceptual agreement" on 90 percent of the preliminary proposal, adding that "we are very encouraged by the progress that's been made." Considerably less progress, however, is expected in the effort to nail down, finally, how much water the tribes actually own and control. The tribes' position is relatively simple: They contend they have rights to all water above and below the reservation, and that water is owned by the U.S. government, held in trust on behalf of the tribes. The state, not surprisingly, takes issue with that interpretation. Matt said the "tribal proposal is still on the table," and that the tribes' goal was to balance tribal water rights with those of "junior water users," many of them nontribal reservation residents. The state sees the balancing point pivoting on a very different center. The split between the various negotiation teams is wider even than the obvious and considerable legal gulf; men in suits from as far away as the U.S. Department of Interior and Justice Department looked decidedly out of place in the KwaTuqNuk conference room as Indian drummers sang songs to kick off the early morning meeting, followed by a prayer to the creator in the lyric, and ancient, local tongue. But despite the differences that separate the negotiating teams, Chris Tweeten, representing the state, insisted "we remain optimistic that an agreement is possible." He was, however, quick to add that "we continue to believe that its going to take a considerable amount of time." Just how much time is evident in the first sentence of the tribe's proposal for a permanent agreement. "The origins of the Tribes reach back to the beginnings of human time." And it only becomes more complicated from there, winding through history and treaties and court cases. Essentially, the tribes' long-term proposal is to create a single water rights' office, administered by the tribes, which would oversee all new water requests on the reservation, from Indians and non-Indian alike. The tribes also want to negotiate on off-reservation waters, for which they claim an "aboriginal right." The state's Tweeten said only that "we do not believe that that proposal would serve as an acceptable outline for a final plan." The state's negotiating team already has hammered out final agreements with other reservation governments in Montana, but the Flathead's tribes insist the approach used elsewhere will not work here due to the Flathead's unique historical and political position. Elsewhere, the tribes said, the state chose to protect existing non- Indian water rights first and then address what remained as possible tribal water rights. The Flathead's tribes, however, have insisted that tribal rights be established first, leaving other claims to come later. So far, the tribal, state and federal governments have not even agreed on the underlying science regarding how much water is out there and where it flows. The tribes have supplied some of their own data, but Susan Cottingham, staff director for the negotiating committee, said the state remains "reluctant to say, this is all well and good." The state, she said, has started to compile its own data and to give rigorous review to the tribal data. It is unclear how much common ground can be found even if the underlying science can be pinned down, however. In the words of one tribal elder sitting at the table, "we're not going to give up an inch. We're standing firm. We're a sovereign nation, you know." The state, also sovereign in the eyes of the law, has a major stake in crafting an interim agreement even if the long-term answers remain elusive. Without a stop-gap agreement, there is a chance new requests for water rights could languish in a legal limbo, stifling development on the reservation for Indians and non-Indians alike. That may be why both sides appear eager to put a happy face on the short-term talks, pointing out common ground rather than differences. But like most tribal water rights plans, the interim plan is, as proposed, as murky as the Flathead River on a warm April afternoon. "This is a start," said Lake County Commissioner Mike Hutchin, "but it precipitates a whole lot of questions." Those questions will be answered in coming months as the public weighs in and the state and tribes work to fill their general interim plan outline with what will likely prove to be devilish details. Reporter Michael Jamison can be reached at 1-800-366-7186 or at mjamison@missoulian.com. Copyright c. 2002 Missoulian, Missoula, MT. A Lee Enterprises subsidiary. --------- "RE: Blackfoot Confederacy holds Second Annual Meeting" --------- Date: Wed, 17 Jul 2002 08:35:17 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BLACKFOOT MEET" http://www.triangle.townnews.com/glacier_reporter Blackfoot Confederacy holds second annual meeting BY JOHN MCGILL GLACIER REPORTER EDITOR A tribe divided by international boundaries was a major theme of the latest Blackfoot Confederacy meeting, held in Great Falls near the end of last month, June 25-27. The Bloods, Northern Piegan and Siksika bands of Canada joined the Southern Piegan Tribe of Montana for the second annual meeting of the bands of the Blackfeet. The effect of the border that now separates the Tribe is clearly illustrated by the fact that the entire group has only met twice since the summer of 1995 when riders on horseback came south from Canada to initiate the idea of rejoining for the mutual benefit of the Tribe. At that and last year's Confederacy meeting, the groups focused on finding ways to overcome the international separation of parts of the Blackfoot Nation. Leaders of all the bands expressed the hope that the ideas and abilities of the different bands can be pooled together for the mutual benefit of the entire tribe. The point was underscored in this year's meeting by the inability of Blood Chief Chris Shade to bring his eagle-feather headdress into the United States, even though the ceremonial warbonnet was fully certified as legal in Canada. Officials explained the two countries have different rules that make simple things like taking religious objects from Canada to the US impossible because the two larger countries can't agree on a system that would allow it, even if the regulations are closely followed by parties on both sides. It's this kind of bureaucratic interference at the border that plagues many tribes across the United States, more than 60 tribes in all along the Canadian boundary alone, according to Susan Webber. Besides border issues, the bands of the Blackfeet celebrated their shared heritage and strengthened their cultural bonds through ceremony and song during the three-day conference. Some of the most important issues raised concerned employment, housing and developing local economies. In all, the four bands include about 35,000 members, a strong voice if united, noted councilman Darrell "Gordo" Horn. While the Blackfeet of Montana hosted this year's conference, next year the Bloods will host the confederacy meeting, most likely in Lethbridge, Alberta. Copyright c. 2002 Golden Triangle Newspapers. --------- "RE: O'odham Ranger balances Past-Present at Monument" --------- Date: Fri, 26 Jul 2002 08:18:16 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PAST/PRESENT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0726thomas26.html O'odham ranger balances past, present at monument Kelly Ettenborough The Arizona Republic July 26, 2002 12:00:00 The melodic O'odham prayer floats out of the ancient Hohokam structure in a moment of time spanning old and new. Leland Thomas touches the walls, like the ancient people before him, inside the center room of the "Big House" at Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. The 23-year-old O'odham balances two worlds as he brings a traditional perspective to the first archaeological site set aside for preservation in the United States. His voice competes with the noise of airplanes, and he wears the uniform of a seasonal park ranger, sharp-pressed trousers and a tan shirt with the National Park Service shield. Yet, he feels the presence of those who came before, especially when he sings in a language that didn't always roll so easily off his tongue. "The structure, although it's 800 years old, it gives me . . . a feeling of being home. I like coming and singing to the ruins because it gives me a sense of joy. I like touching the walls as I sing," said Thomas, a lifelong resident of Chui Chu on the Tohono O'odham Reservation. Casa Grande Ruins National Monument is in Coolidge, about 30 miles southeast of Chandler. Each year, more than 170,000 people from around the Valley and the world explore the Hohokam site. The Big House, made of caliche with walls 4 1/2 feet thick, is the largest structure left behind by the Hohokam. The Big House may have been used for astronomical observation or other ritual ceremonies, and O'odham songs that have been handed down for generations speak of its presence. For the past year, Thomas has brought an interpretation that other rangers could not through his tours and events, said Dave Winchester, a Coolidge resident and ranger for nine years. "For him to be standing out here and talking to our visitors about this place is indescribable," Winchester said. Thomas had worked in the bookstore until they encouraged him to apply for a job as a seasonal park ranger. He already was answering visitors' questions. The other park rangers joke about putting a thesaurus by the guest-book sign-in, so visitors can come up with new adjectives to describe Thomas' tours. Over and over, visitors write such superlatives as "great," "haunting," "wonderful" and "moving." More important, Winchester said, Thomas has opened a new dialogue with the tribal members. Thomas wants to preserve the culture and show the present connection to the past. He hosted a summer solstice program there and another program with basket weaving and dancing for tribal members. "Sometimes, it makes me want to cry because I can imagine them doing the exact same thing 700 years ago: women making baskets, making pottery, children playing, the men tending to their fields, and these songs coming from within the house," said Thomas, who is half Akimel O'odham and half Tohono O'odham. He wasn't interested in learning the difficult O'odham language or exploring his own heritage until he was 16. His aunt and grandmother are teaching him basket weaving. He is learning tribal songs with an elder. "Tradition is getting lost. There isn't a lot of people who speak our language," Thomas said. "That's one thing that makes a tribe strong, a nation strong, is to hold on to the language." Thomas graduated from Casa Grande High School, where 17 percent of the students are Native American. Few follow tradition, said Patricia Landers, a teacher and the sponsor of the Amerind Club when Thomas was there. "The other students had been told by their parents and relatives, etc., and by experience that after a while you're just butting your head against a brick wall, and he found a way to go through it," said Landers, an Arizona City resident. Thomas encouraged other students to get involved and not to give up, she said. He was an inspiration, she said. Thomas' motto came from his father. His determination comes from deep inside. "I was always told remember who you are, be proud and stand tall, not let anybody put you down. A lot of people stereotype Native Americans as alcoholics and they're only looking at one side of it," Thomas said. At Casa Grande Ruins, he wants to make sure the old isn't lost in the new, he said. Today, if the government wanted to turn the site into a national monument, he would say no. But, the government protected it in 1892, and the structure still stands. Otherwise, he never would have been able to stand in the center room, at the north wall where the bottom of the third floor would have been to see the labyrinth, pressed into the wall centuries ago by its builders. He lightly traces the spiral. "As long as I remember, I've heard the story of the maze in here," he said. "It's preserved for the people." Reach the reporter at kelly.ettenborough@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-4857. Copyright 2002, azcentral.com/Arizona Republic. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Heritage and Identity of the Alutiiq People" --------- Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2002 08:32:19 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ALUTIIQ" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.adn.com/front/story/1461415p-1579722c.html Identity search Southcentral Natives look for roots long obscured by cultural confusion Looking Both Ways: Heritage and Identity of the Alutiiq People By Tom Kizzia Anchorage Daily News July 22, 2002 Port Graham -- When Herman Moonin Jr. was growing up in this village south of Homer, people told him he was an Aleut. That was how the Natives of the Southcentral Alaska coast referred to themselves -- despite a nagging sense that they were different from the Aleuts of the Aleutian Islands, whose language they couldn't understand. Occasionally, someone in the village might say he was a Russian, evoking two centuries of racial mixing in the region. Moonin remembers other times when his grandmother would indicate a Native visitor and announce, in their Native language, "That person is a Sugpiaq -- like a real person." For generations, the precise Native roots of Kodiak and the Kenai Peninsula coast have been obscured by cultural confusion and bitter, suppressed memories. As a curious teenager, Moonin looked up his official birth certificate and found the designation "creole" -- the Russian-era term for mixed-race Alaskans who lived apart in villages as a separate caste. He grew up in a time when many people didn't want to dwell on being Native, he recalled. "People were kind of ashamed back then to use the language," Moonin said. "It was the same with foods and the lifestyle. We were trying to catch up to the Western tradition, I guess." Anthropologists tried applying the term "Pacific Eskimo" to the region, noting linguistic similarities between the coastal Natives and other Arctic peoples, especially the Yup'ik of southwest Alaska. Indeed, the Inuit in Greenland used exactly the same word as Kodiak Natives to describe their home: "qikertaq," the island. But the coastal "Aleuts," for reasons of their own, found the association with Eskimos vaguely demeaning and rejected it. "People might have thought Aleut people in the chain area were more civilized. I don't know exactly," Moonin said. "The term offended a lot of people," said Gordon Pullar, a Kodiak Native who directs the Department of Alaska Native and Rural Development for the University of Alaska Fairbanks. It was not until the 1970s when linguists working with the region's elders turned to the word often used when Natives were speaking their own language. Today the consensus name "Alutiiq" has helped bring the region's people and history into sharper focus for Natives as well as the outside world. Recognition of Alutiiq culture is getting a huge boost this year with the tour of a museum show organized by the Smithsonian Institution's Arctic Studies Center. The exhibit, "Looking Both Ways," tells the story of the Alutiiq search for self-identity through historical displays and a huge collection of traditional tools and art. "It's kind of like the opposite of what happened back then. Now they want to help get our culture back," said Moonin, who runs Alutiiq bilingual programs for the Port Graham village council. The show originated at the Alutiiq Museum in Kodiak and this summer is at Homer's Pratt Museum. It moves to Anchorage in October and then to Juneau, New York and Washington, D.C. But even as the exhibit fixes "Alutiiq" to Alaska's map, the name search may not be over. In the region's villages, where the old language is fading, many people still use "Aleut" out of habit. Others are looking for a purer Native term, rejecting Alutiiq as a latter-day creation based on the sloppy ethnography of Russian fur traders. "Alutiiq is what seems to make everybody happy except for a few like me, " said Lalla Williams, the exhibits and collections officer at the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage, where Alutiiq and Aleut cultures are still combined in a single exhibit. Williams, a Native with Kodiak roots, prefers the term used by Moonin's grandmother, "Sugpiaq." "I'd been proud to be an Aleut all my life," Williams said. "But when I found out I wasn't Aleut, I wanted to be what I really was." Uprooting change The Alutiiq region extends from Prince William Sound in the east to the Alaska Peninsula and southern Bristol Bay in southwest Alaska. The people of Port Graham and nearby Nanwalek came originally from the rough, deserted coastline of the Kenai Peninsula between Seward and Homer, now part of Kenai Fjords National Park. The traditional name for Port Graham, Paluwik, means "where the people are sad." One interpretation of the name is that the residents were homesick for the outer coast. Those early settlements were abandoned during two centuries of uprooting change following the arrival of the Russians. This summer, residents of the two villages are returning to take part in an archaeological dig inside the national park. As the Russians moved east from the Aleutians to Kodiak and the Kenai Peninsula, they tended to refer to all Natives as "Aleuts," a non-Native word whose origins are obscure. The Russians brought with them true Aleuts from the island chain, who intermarried with the local Sugpiaq people. (Today many chain Aleuts, in a similar search for roots, have begun using their own name for themselves, the Unangan.) Many people of the Alutiiq region retain Russian surnames and still attend Russian Orthodox churches in their villages. The Alutiiq villages also suffered the traumas of disease, alcoholism and broken families. The most profound link to the past, the region's Native language, began slipping away. American schools forbade use of Sugtestun. Year by year, an eclipsing shadow advanced through the younger generation as children grew up without the language. Moonin, 45, is today the youngest fluent speaker of Sugtestun in his village. He said it was because he was raised by his grandmother. His boyhood friend Pat Norman, president of the Port Graham Corp., doesn't speak the language. "My parents talked Sugtestun to each other but not to the kids," Norman said. "They used to get whipped in school for speaking it. The post-trauma thing was so great that they were thinking, 'I don't want to put my kids through that.' " Today's revival of interest in Alutiiq culture has brought sobriety programs to both Port Graham and Nanwalek, along with efforts to strengthen tribal government and perform traditional dances. "The good change is slow. The bad change seems like it's fast," said Sally Ash, who has helped organize a language immersion program for preschoolers in Nanwalek, where Sugtestun has lingered longer than elsewhere. "My son is at the university, and he is always saying 'Tell me it in Sugtestun,' " said Ash, who also uses Sugtestun with her 6-year-old daughter. "But the old language is not getting used, the old words." Ash said she grew up hearing the term "Sugpiaq" rather than Alutiiq. The latter is a synonym for Aleut, incorporated in the Native language by adding a traditional suffix, -iq. The word Alutiiq came to the fore in the late 1970s when Jeff Leer, a linguist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks who is the only non-Native speaker of Sugtestun, traveled extensively in the region. "There was no collective decision," said Leer, who heard Alutiiq more often than Sugpiaq. "My philosophy is it will sort of settle itself out over time. But right now, both names are caught in the limelight of global knowledge." The term Alutiiq had rattled around the local vocabulary for generations, said Pullar, who helped organize the Alutiiq exhibit for the Smithsonian. Pullar said he wouldn't be surprised, however, to see people take the next step someday and call themselves Sugpiaq. "It's a movement going on all across the United States, tribes going back to their own names for themselves," Pullar said. "Navajo is a Spanish name, for instance, and Sioux is French." But one step at a time is enough, Pullar said. The organization of Native regions for the 1971 land claims act was a great step for Native identity, he said, yet it built fences in unfortunate places. The Alutiiq region was divided among four regional corporations. "My dream is that the whole Sugpiaq culture pulls together," Pullar said. "I think it's really moving in that direction." In Port Graham, Violet Yeaton took time out recently from working at a summer camp to call the Alutiiq museum exhibit proof that the time of shame at being Native was over. "The kids just know that culture as something to be proud of. And it's recognized by the rest of the world," Yeaton said. "I don't think they'll ever know what we experienced when we were growing up." Reporter Tom Kizzia can be reached at tkizzia@adn.com or in Homer at 907 235-4244. Copyright c. 2002 The Anchorage Daily News. --------- "RE: Coon Come calls for Aboriginal War Chest" --------- Date: Wed, 17 Jul 2002 08:35:17 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WAR CHEST" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canada.com/search/site/story Native leader Coon Come calls for aboriginal war chest, slams minister NELSON WYATT Canadian Press Tuesday, July 16, 2002 KAHNAWAKE, Que. (CP) - The national chief of the Assembly of First Nations called Tuesday for the establishment of a war chest to fund political action to solve aboriginal problems in Canada. Matthew Coon Come told about 900 delegates to the assembly's annual general meeting at the Kahnawake Mohawk reserve they must be self- sufficient as an organization. "I am calling on each of you now to rise on behalf of your First Nation and pledge a significant amount - $10,000 perhaps - to a political fund," Coon Come said. "We will use that fund strategically for potent political action." The money would be used to fund legal and political activities and awareness campaigns to push the native agenda on such issues as poverty and respect for treaties. Coon Come said Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault should resign if life for Canada's native population doesn't improve. "Minister Nault, if you cannot deal with our people respectfully and if you cannot even begin to deal with our real issues, then you should step aside and step down," said Coon Come, who repeatedly slammed Nault in his 45-minute speech. His harsh words for Nault included allegations the minister has tried to stifle dissent, hasn't addressed key issues and has painted band councils as corrupt and incompetent. "Our governments are no more corrupt and possibly much less tainted than Mr. Nault's," the national chief said, adding that native communities are often run better than non-native municipalities. Alastair Mullin, a spokesman for Nault's office, said in an interview that Coon Come and the assembly refused an invitation from Indian Affairs to work with the government on federal legislation known as the First Nations Governance Act. Mullin said other native organizations such as the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples and some of Coon Come's colleagues, such as vice-chiefs for British Columbia and Alberta, had provided input. "These sorts of personal attacks really don't help the dialogue and they don't help to build a good, solid relationship," Mullin said of Coon Come's speech. "It's a rather unfortunate personal attack and it's not the first time that the national chief has engaged in this," he said. "It would be a little more helpful for the debate if Mr. Coon Come were to engage in a discussion about ideas rather than about personalities." Mullin also said it was the assembly's right to establish a war chest if it wanted. "They currently receive $22 million a year in funding from the federal government. If they wish to augment that by asking the communities to contribute, best of luck." Coon Come criticized the governance bill as being inadequate in various areas, including education, poverty and land claims. He said the legislation, which is in its first reading in the House of Commons, is a modern form of colonialism. "You don't modernize colonialism," he said. "You reject it and consign the policies, attitudes and practices it represents to the garbage can of history - like slavery and apartheid." He also warned that the fight against the legislation could include legal strategies, political lobbying or civil disobedience. He said at a news conference later that he was open to using "all legal avenues" but hedged on the use of civil disobedience. "I hope there would be no forms of civil disobedience because that would put us back 25 to 50 years," Coon Come said, although he added that he could not control all his people. The federal government has argued that the governance bill gives bands more effective tools to govern until self-government arrangements can be made. Ghislain Picard, the assembly's vice-president, said strategy is a key challenge for the natives. "I think the main issue here is how do we regroup," he told the delegates. "We've had people over the last 12 months that would make us believe that within our nations there are people who are wrong and there are people who are right. "My feeling is that in this room today there's nobody who's wrong. We're all right." He said he believes natives should look beyond the governance legislation, describing it "as just a smokescreen for bigger things to come on the government's legislative agenda." "We have to remain vigilant." David Ahenakew of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations said later there will be consequences if natives' grievances are not taken seriously. "The way things are happening in this country with Indian Affairs is leading to physical confrontation," he said. "We had it here a few years ago but when it breaks out across the country, you won't have the army, you won't have the police forces - you won't have anything to stop the destruction that will take place." Ahenakew said his organization filed a Federal Court challenge against the governance act in Ottawa on Monday but that was only one of the steps that will be taken to oppose it. "We're saying enough is enough," he said. Copyright c. 2002 The Canadian Press. --------- "RE: The Costs of Autonomous Resistance" --------- Date: Wed, 24 Jul 2002 12:15 PM Subj: On war,autonomy and the price of resistance From: joewest