From gars@speakeasy.org Wed Jan 8 00:11:31 2003 Date: 1 Jan 2003 00:48:51 -0000 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews11.001 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 Hi'a chu ah gaa -- Pima -- The stories or the talk of the People 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 052 | Country than is reported in | O o o o o O | this weekly newsletter. For | O o O January 4, 2003 | For daily updates & events | O o O | go http://www.owlstar.com/ | O | dailyheadlines.htm | Lakota te'hi wi/hardship moon +-----------------------------+ Choctaw hashi koi nakfi ushi/lion's little brother moon <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is produced in straight ASCII text for greatest portability across platforms. Read it with a fixed-pitch font, such as Courier, Monaco, FixedSys or CG Times. Proportional fonts will be difficult to read. <================<<<< >>>>================> This issue contains articles from www.owlstar.com; www.indianz.com; www.pechanga.net; Native Lifeways, Peoples-Past, Frostys AmerIndian, ndn-aim and Iron Natives Mailing Lists; 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 | | Once a language is lost, it is | | Limerick summarized in "The | | gone forever | | Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken | | * Of the 300 original Native | | Past of the American West... | | languages in North America, | | "Set the blood quantum at | | only 175 exist today. | | one-quarter, hold to it as a | | * 125 of these are no longer | | rigid definition of Indians, | | learned by children. | | let intermarriage proceed as | | * 55 are spoken by 1 to 6 elders;| | it had for centuries, and | | when they die, their language | | eventually Indians will be | | will disappear. | | defined out of existence." | | * Without action, only 20 | | "When that happens, the federal | | languages will survive the next| | government will be freed of | | 50 years. | | its persistent 'Indian problem.'"| | Source: Indigenous Language | +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ | Institute | |http://www.indigenous-language.org| This issue's Elder Quote: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + ======================== "Within our lifetime the differences between the Indian use of the land and the white use of the land will become crystal clear. The Indian lived with his land." "The white destroyed his land. He destroyed the planet earth." __ Vine Deloria, Jr., Standing Rock Sioux +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! Three articles in this issue draw a very clear picture of a president, his cabinet and their lawyers who are determined to rape the land, screw Natives out of the Trust settlement, and dump a federal judge who has become an increasingly sore thorn in their collective "pork-barrel" sides. If you read nothing else this week, read the articles I have capsuled below. Any warrior knows the value of understanding the enemy. - Bush Administration sets new BLM Rules DENVER (AP) Local governments will have an easier time building roads across vast tracts of federal land in Colorado and the West under new rules the Bush administration will publish this week. Administration officials say the changes to the Bureau of Land Management regulations will help settle contentious disputes with states that claim access rights under a Civil War-era mining law. Local governments, such as the Moffat County Commission in northwest Colorado, argued that modernizing the old routes are vital to the development of their rural economies. Critics, including four Senate Democrats, say the revisions could allow rural Western officials to pave wagon trails, streambeds and cow paths that run through pristine federal lands. Environmental groups say new roads could also facilitate oil and gas development and disqualify the land from future wilderness protection. "This is a great big Christmas present for people who want to bulldoze, pave, mine and drill some of our most sensitive public lands," - Ethics Probe Ordered of 6 U.S. Lawyers in Indian Trust Suit A federal judge this week ordered a court ethics panel to investigate six Justice Department attorneys for their conduct in a landmark class-action suit against the government that seeks billions of dollars and was filed on behalf of more than 300,000 Native Americans. In a stinging 20-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth also blocked the Interior and Justice departments from continuing to send mass mailings to the Indian plaintiffs that include a provision that would terminate the Indians' rights to claim damages, even as the lawsuit continues. - White House urges Lawsuit Settlement Sunday, December 22, 2002 - WASHINGTON - The Bush White House has been quietly pressing Interior Secretary Gale Norton to settle the Indian trust lawsuit for more than a year, according to a newly disclosed letter. In the June 19, 2001, letter to Norton, Mitch Daniels, director of the Office of Management and Budget, praised the secretary for "steady progress in implementing trust improvements and completing nearly 80 percent of the milestones" outlined in the department's strategic plan. But Daniels went on to describe the administration's three major objectives in resolving the 6-year-old lawsuit filed by Montana banker Elouise Cobell and four other Indians over the government's inability to reconcile the trust accounts it holds for more than 300,000 American Indians. The OMB chief said Interior should: - "Correct the court-declared breaches of trust responsibilities." - "Pursue settlement negotiations to avoid the additional costs of a second trial in the Cobell litigation." - "Propose settlement legislation that is fair to both the Indian account holders and the taxpayers." -=-=-=- -=-=-=- -=-=-=- -=-=-=- -=-=-=- -=-=-=- -=-=-=- -=-=-=- -=-=-=- -=-=-=- -=-=-=- -=-=-=- -=-=-=- -=-=-=- -=-=-=- -=-=-=- Winter is here. Elders in those areas already need assistance... remember Secretary of Interior Norton withheld checks after the court appointed monitor broke into DoI computers. If you know of a reliable point where funds can be sent to assist these precious elders please drop me a note at gars@nanews.org and make the subject (all caps) WINTER HELP. -----> this list will remain up through January -----> PLEASE email gars@nanews.org with any updates/additions Date: Tue, 01 Oct 2002 20:46:06 -0520 From: Dodie Subj: fuel fund Gary: At this time this is the only fuel fund I have. If I receive more I will pass them along to you. Thank you for including it. If you need addresses for donations just let me know. Dodie Ndn-AIM Fund c/o box 1334 Rapid City, SD 57709 At 04:20 AM 10/1/2002, you wrote: -=-=-=- Date: Wed, 02 Oct 2002 02:35:47 -0000 From: "Dodie Finstead" After less than one year, the Northern Cheyenne School, who this time last year had never received donations, with children often going without supplies and clothing, now have more than they can handle and store. They have requested that no more donations be sent to them at this time as Vicki gave us a head up on. I want to thank Vicki, they had not been able to contact us. My suggestion would be the other fund in MT or to Carter Camp if you were planning on sending to the Northern Cheyenne school. Please be sure if you send used thing they are in very good condition. If you do chose one of these two, please let them know you are sending things so they can be expecting them. Dodie >> Honor Your Spirit - Protect the Children % Sue Buck PO Box 901 Great Falls, MT 59403-0901 suemontana@mcn.net The same needs as the other school, clothing, school supplies, blankets, etc. Oh, don't forget the toys. :) Carter Camp P.O.Box 1012, Rosebud S.D. 57570 cartercamp@yahoo.com Carter and his wife distribute to families with children. So clothing for all age children are need, from infants up. The basic needs toys, blankets, warm things, diapers, panties, tooth brushes, hats, socks, etc. -=-=-=- Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2002 11:43:21 +0300 From: "Brigitte Thimiakis" Subj: IMPORTANT Note to Winter Request From: Sue Buck - Please Read, and Forward - IMPORTANT NOTE regarding the Urgent Winter Request for Donations for Children and Elders Recently we were all very happy to read that a large amount of donations was sent to the Northern Cheyenne schools in MT. This was great news! However, due to a recent inquiry about whether or not our project still needed donations, we would like to draw your attention to the fact that there are still great needs on the reservation. Please note that our request and aim is to try and help the abandoned children's shelter and elders' center on the reservation, which are totally separate from the Northern Cheyenne tribal schools. They have great needs (also for the most part, different from the needs of the tribal Schools). Please read our list below. These needs have not been catered for and these children and elders are still in need of warm clothing items for the winter. Toys are also much needed so that the children at the shelter can have a Christmas give-away . After reading our request below, please do everything you can to support these children and elders. Many thanks for your time and help, Respectfully, Sue Buck "Honor Your Spirit - Protect the Children" [ PLEASE FORWARD where needed - thank you ] Urgent Winter Request for Donations Greetings, If you wish to make a difference and help children and elders through the harsh winter months in Montana, please take the time to read this request. On behalf of reliable Northern Cheyenne contacts from Lame Deer, we are once again collecting donations for the children's shelter and senior citizens center on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation. Our goal is to collect new and good quality used items for the shelter and senior center, as well as toys which can be used for the children's shelter at Christmas time. The toys will be distributed during the Christmas give away but the clothes and blankets will be distributed right away. During Montana winters, the temperature can drop to 30 or 40 degrees below zero so warm winter clothing can be lifesaving. Often, when a child arrives at the shelter, all they have is what they are wearing. This is very sad, but it is the reality these children have to face. When a child leaves to go to a foster home, or some other place, the people at the shelter try to send a weeks' worth of clothing with the child so they will at least have something. In other words, what ever is sent to the shelter can be used and there is a great need. There is a very high turnover rate due to the extreme poverty in the Big Horn and Rosebud Counties. The senior citizens center is in special need of - blankets - warm winter coats also needed by the seniors are socks, gloves, boots, hats and scarves The children's shelter is in special need of - warm winter coats and clothing - a baby crib and related bedding - twin size bedding of all types, - blankets - toys The children range in age from 0 to 12 years. Since they have school for the children at the shelter, there is also a need for: - educational toys, - writing paper, - pencils, - crayons or anything else used in schools. They can also use grooming supplies like toothpaste, tooth brushes, soaps and shampoos, combs, hair brushes, hair barrettes, rubber bands or other types of hair or pony tail holders. Last but not least : pampers diapers or pull-ups. Please note that we have changed and reorganized our mailing instructions from those suggested last year. Contact suemontana@mcn.net for mailing information other than regular US Mail service. (Also please include your name and address if you would like for us to acknowledge/confirm receipt of your donations) Donations can be sent to the following address: Honor Your Spirit - Protect the Children % Sue Buck PO Box 901 Great Falls, MT 59403-0901 USA The priority of our group, "Honor your Spirit - Protect the Children" is to make sure all donations get to where they are supposed to and recognized. It is very important to us to make sure that everything is distributed fairly and to those in the greatest need. Additional contact information: Brigitte Thimiakis, Greece thimiakischool@the.forthnet.gr Celine Branchard, France littlered@club-internet.fr Sue Buck, Project Coordinator, MT suemontana@mcn.net Thank you for any assistance you can give. -=-=-=- Date: Wed, 6 Nov 2002 07:33:45 EST From: Dnnfvpks@aol.com Subject: WINTER HELP >To: gars@nanews.org Dear Gary My name is Dianne Mountain. I'm with Wolf Band of Norfolk, Va. and Tidewater Native American Support Group of Virginia. I'm writing a request for help on the Rosebud Reservation, Norris S.D. our group helps out as much possible with assistance to our extended family at Norris. I work with an elder and she helps distributes clothing, money to the children and elders in her community. I would love to give you her address so that if you can help with some fuel assistance that would be a blessing. They can only get a delivery where they are at if there is at least 5 other family in need for fuel. Your help would be very much appreciated. Blessings Dianne Mountain Teresa Ammiotte PO Box / House #15 Norris , S.D. 57560 -=-=-=- *** NEW ITEM 11/16/2002 *** Date: Saturday, November 16, 2002 12:00 AM From: Dodie Finstead [mailto:dodiefinstead@ev1.net] Subj: Please help-Coats for Kids from the Cherokee Nation Mailing List: Native Lifeways Please repost. Cherokee Nation is working to provide a Coats for Kids in Sequoyah County this winter. Any and all help is appreciated and desperately needed. This project was supposed to end today (Nov. 15) but the project has run short in its goal and is asking for everyone's help. For more information on this special project please review the following news story: > http://www.cherokee.org/CurentNewsRelease.asp?ID=719 -=-=-=- *** NEW ITEM 12/10/2002 *** Date: Mon, 9 Dec 2002 10:46:30 EST From: Itsshngsprt2@aol.com Subj: Crow Rez --some needs for those who might wish to donate??? I asked Randy, on the Crow Rez in Montana. I've known him, his family for years, face to face, in my house. He sent the following in response to my question of need. Firehair In a message dated 12/8/02 2:46:32 PM Eastern Standard Time, PastorRB@earthlink.net writes: <= email here for mailing address Projects: Could always use kids HEAVY coats, blankets, and such. We have commodities sponsored by the Gov. and we have a food bank through the church, so food is not generally a problem. Financial issues are most prevailing, but lots of time it is due to mis-management of funds. wishing all of "Our Family" a Very Merry Christmas!! Randy 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 ---------- - Sunshine Cloud Smith - Bush Administration - Richard TallBull sets new BLM Rules - Crossings - Ethics Probe of 6 US Lawyers - Native Americans debate in Indian Trust Suit Creating own Banks - White House urges - Cave Looter hit with Lawsuit Settlement $2.5 Million Civil Penalty - RX Rage as Indians - The Mire of Tribe Recognition sell Cheap Drugs - Anishinabe Bimadiz - Native Prisoner provides Programs -- Mail makes a Difference - Caddo Tribe starts -- NEW CALL for Action in raising Buffalo Herd Support of Prayer Warriors - Uncloaking our Political Landscape - Kawaiisu Tribal History - Key Tribal Sovereignty Case Returns - Rustywire: Native Born - Overturn Decision - Poem: Lakota Dream; on Indian Voting Rights Oomaka Tokatakiya - Nevada Supreme Court - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days sides with Tribe - Grad Student works to keep - BIA Roadwork Fraud Alleged Choctaw Tongue Alive - Supreme Court weighing - This Week on First Peoples TV U.S. Trust Responsibility - Upcoming Events --------- "RE: Sunshine Cloud Smith" --------- Date: Thu, 26 Dec 2002 10:05:16 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SUNSHINE CLOUD SMITH" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article Relative of Chief Ouray dies at 86 December 24, 2002 By Jim Greenhill Herald Staff Writer Sunshine Cloud Smith Her ancestors' names grace history books, and Sunshine Cloud Smith forged a path for herself, her gender and her tribe in an 86-year life that ended Saturday. Services are today for Smith, a Southern Ute tribal elder, a granddaughter of Chief Ouray, a veteran, a tribal councilor, a parent, a spiritual leader and a teacher. She died at Valley View Nursing Home in Mancos on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2002, from natural causes. Southern Utes believe Smith is on a journey to the spirit world. There is no death, only a change of worlds, said Sage Remington, spokesman for the Southern Ute Grassroots Organization. The tribe is diminished by her loss, said Pearl Casias, the tribe's vice chairman. "It's a time of accepting that she has reached the winter of her life, and with the winter of her life comes the end of the cycle," Casias said. "It's a time of joy because there will be no more pain, no more suffering as she enters the spirit world. She will be greeted by those that have gone on before her - her parents and her grandparents and all the tribal leaders that she served." Smith was the granddaughter of Chief Ouray and his wife, Chipeta. Friend and confidant of Frances Buck, the last Indian princess. Related to Strong Medicine Horse, a Ute child taken by the Sioux who became known as Crazy Horse. And she became a leader who forged a path for women. "She was really a visionary," Remington said. "She did things that other people didn't do. Especially back then." Born on the reservation on Oct. 20, 1916, to Ruth Colorow Nash and Edwin Cloud, Smith graduated high school from Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kan., and went to the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. She married Thurman Smith in Aztec in 1940. Mrs. Smith enlisted in the U.S. Women's Army Corps, trained as a surgical technician and served from 1942 to 1945. She worked at Rhodes General Hospital in Utica, N.Y., and was present when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died there. Returning to the reservation in 1948, Mrs. Smith was elected to the Tribal Council and served as vice chairman for 16 years until her 1966 retirement from the council. In the 1950s, the tribe received a share of the federal government's Indian Claims Settlement. Mrs. Smith was an architect of the tribal- rehabilitation plan that followed. "She was a strong tribal advocate," Remington said. "She was also in the center storm when the issue of termination was addressed." Termination was a 1950s idea that there would be no more tribe. Indians would blend with the rest of the population. Remington credited Mrs. Smith with being a part of tribal councils that instead kept a strong tribal identity and laid the foundation for the tribe's enormous wealth today. Mrs. Smith was a founding member of Ignacio's Taylor-Washington-Box American Legion Post 36. She was one of four "women of color" honored at the governor's mansion in 1989 for cultural and political contributions to the state. Her mosaic portrait is at the entrance to the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. In 1999, she received the Western Heritage Service Award from the Durango Pro Rodeo Series. She was a founding member of the Southern Ute Committee of Elders and participated in numerous other tribal committees. "She raised numerous, numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren," Remington said. "She believed in the traditional way of the Indians. We adopt people ... that are special, even if they come from other tribes. She was a mentor to a lot of people." Casias considers herself one of them: "My children called her grandmother, so in essence she became my traditional mother. She was mother to a lot of tribal member children and other American Indian children. What we call foster mother, but she was mother in the true sense. "She was also a very spiritual woman, and she advised all the women of the tribe sought her advice. She was one of the leading women of her generation." Smith joined in ceremonies such as the Bear Dance and the Sun Dance and followed the traditional ways. She taught the traditional language. An artisan, she taught traditional arts and crafts. "She's moving from this world into the spirit world," Casias said. "It's something that she was taught as a child and that most Utes learn early on - that this is just a type of transition. She will be greatly missed." A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. at the Rolling Thunder Hall at the Sky Ute Center. The Rev. Kelley Winlock of Ignacio Indian Baptist Church will officiate. A traditional Ute ceremony at Smith's home follows. The ceremony will be conducted by Terry Knight and Carl Knight of the Ute Mountain Ute Indian Tribe. Burial will be at Ouray Cemetery. Smith is survived by her traditional and extended Indian family, including seven daughters, GaylaRae Cloud, Dell Solomon, La Veta Vigil, Pearl Emily Casias, Maxine Silva, Juanita LaVonne Mackey, all of Ignacio, and Constance Eaton of Fort Duchesne, Utah; four sons, Richard Lee Wright, Stafford B. Washington, Hardy S. Joy and Roy O'John, all of Ignacio; and dozens of grandchildren and great grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for contributions to the Manna Soup Kitchen in Durango. Reach Staff Writer Jim Greenhill at jim@durangoherald.com Copyright c. 2002 the Durango Herald. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Richard TallBull" --------- Date: Sun, 29 Dec 2002 16:24:29 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="RICHARD TALLBULL" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E11777%257E1077067%257E,00.html Honoring Native roots Tall Bull's great-grandson raised Denver awareness By Claire Martin Denver Post Staff Writer Sunday, December 29, 2002 Richard TallBull was a great-grandson of Tall Bull, the famous leader of the Southern Cheyenne Dog Soldiers, and the younger man embraced his ancestor's legacy in a nearly lifelong effort to re-invigorate tribal awareness. TallBull, a full-blooded Cheyenne Indian who mourned the erosion of traditional Indian ways and language, was 84 when he died in Denver on Dec. 20 of complications from diabetes. TallBull was born in Clinton, Okla., not far from the land the U.S. government set aside as a reservation for his great-grandfather and other ancestors. As a boy, he often heard the story of the ancestor who famously refused to yield his tribe's freedom. "Our lands are where our dead are buried," the original Tall Bull announced when he spurned the reservation in May 1869. "We are willing to be friends with the white man. The buffalo are fast diminishing. The antelope that were plenty are now few. When all are gone, we shall be hungry. But we shall never make peace that forces us to settle down. We have always been a free nation, and we will remain so or die." So Tall Bull and his Dog Soldiers went north, intending to band with the Sioux tribe that also had rejected the idea of reservations. Tall Bull and more than 50 other Cheyenne and Sioux men, women and children were killed during a surprise attack by the U.S. Cavalry on July 11, 1869. They were camped at Summit Springs, on Colorado's Eastern Plains near what is now the Logan-Washington county line. A bronze plaque marks the site. Since then, one of his descendants has always served as an officer in the Southern Cheyenne Dog Soldier Society. Richard TallBull - Army officials merged his surname during his service in the Army Signal Corps during World War II - was elected as a sub-chief of the society, replacing his grandfather. Like his great-grandfather, Richard TallBull considered reservations a hollow place to live. He often said it was better for Indians to leave reservations, where unemployment is high and self-respect is low. TallBull grew up in Indian country near Clinton, where the unemployment rate is 60 percent. Often during the Depression, he said, his family was "so poor that we didn't know a depression was going on." Like most Native Americans of his generation, TallBull was sent to a government boarding school where teachers urged Indian students to give up their native languages and tribal customs, and instead adopt the white man's ways. It made him ashamed to be Indian, he said later. He dropped out of school in 10th grade, enlisted to serve in World War II, and after the war, trained as an auto mechanic under the G.I. Bill. TallBull moved his wife, Gertrude, and children to Denver in 1960. He worked in the furniture business until 1968, when he was hired at Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant in Jefferson County, and was appointed a union steward of the United Steel Workers of America. For 15 years, TallBull commuted to Rocky Flats from his small two-bedroom home in a modest west Denver neighborhood. After moving to Denver, TallBull became an Indian rights activist who was one of the most vocal and visible in Colorado. In 1976, TallBull persuaded then-Mayor Bill McNichols to designate 80 acres of Eastern Plains land for the exclusive use of Indian religious and social organizations. It's known as Tall Bull Memorial Grounds, and hosts a popular annual pow wow sponsored by the White Buffalo Council. TallBull co-founded the White Buffalo Council, an organization that provides social services to Indians relocating in Denver, and he briefly belonged to a group that demonstrated traditional Indian dances in fundraisers sponsored by nonprofit organizations. TallBull stopped dancing for free after a Boy Scout troop made $1,500 from one of those fundraisers, kept the money and donated some used clothing to the needy Indians who were supposed to be the beneficiaries. TallBull worried about the young Indians who seemed to be losing touch with their heritage. Only 328 full-blooded Cheyenne live in Denver, according to the latest census data. Few young Indians can speak or comprehend their ancestral languages, TallBull often said. While they weren't subjected to government boarding schools designed to erase Indian customs, TallBull saw young Indians become increasingly distant from their heritage, even as white people became increasingly interested in Native American ways and symbols. At street fairs, merchants sell pastel dream catchers, and New Age workshops feature sweat ceremonies, chanting and drumming. Whites often approached TallBull for spiritual guidance. An Anglo once asked TallBull for hunting advice. TallBull told him to rise early, and walk east from his hunting camp, then face east and pray for permission to take a deer. He was unsurprised when the hunter later reported his success. TallBull and his family conscientiously followed tribal religious customs. His sons and extended family members still participate in ritual sweats and other ancient ceremonies that they see as acts of both faith and endurance. TallBull was active in the Native American Church, and conducted services at Native American Churches and at other ceremonies throughout the United States. During the construction of Denver International Airport, he was called upon to bless specific sites where Indian burial remains and artifacts were found. He was outraged by museums' common practice of exhibiting Native American skeletons and other remains. TallBull, like other devout members of the Native American Church, believed that the dead cannot rest if their bones are disinterred. He was incredulous when scientists argued that the remains are necessary for anthropological research. "I can feel the disturbed spirits roaming," TallBull said in 1985, when he finally persuaded the state government to give the Colorado Native American Heritage Council 5 acres of remote land in Golden Gate Canyon. Colorado was the first state to set aside land for reburial of ancient remains. In the first reburial ceremony that year, TallBull and others interred a container that included the remains of 11 people, including bones that one scientist estimated to be well over 1,000 years old. Reburials have continued there annually. Throughout his life, people often asked TallBull to tell the story of his great-grandfather's attack at Summit Springs. He was among the last of a generation who heard the story firsthand from survivors. He nearly always demurred - not out of principle, but because during his childhood, he didn't pay much attention when the old people began talking about Summit Springs. "Every time they'd get started, I'd say, 'Oh, I already heard that,"' TallBull would say. Survivors include his sons Richard TallBull Jr., of Ashland, Mont., and Lewis Keith TallBull of Denver; daughters Ercel Whiteshield of Thomas, Okla., and Gloria John of Centennial; brother Earnest Bearshead of Oklahoma; longtime companion Suzanne Wilson of Denver; 11 grandchildren, 26 great- grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren. A memorial service will be Tuesday at Denver Indian Center, 4401 Morrison Road in Denver. Memorial contributions may be made to the Richard TallBull Memorial Fund, Diakonia Credit Union, 1275 S. Federal Blvd., Denver, CO 80219. Copyright c. 2002 The Denver Post or other copyright holders. --------- "RE: Crossings" --------- Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2002 08:10:52 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CROSSINGS" -=-=-=- Date: Tuesday, December 31, 2002 8:02 AM From: Greg And Winnette Subj: Obituary of Raymond R. GrayWolf Lawson Mailing List: Peoples-Past Raymond R. GrayWolf Lawson Raymond R. GrayWolf Lawson, son of Charlie and Gertrude Fields Lawson, born Feb. 6, 1923 in Speedwell, Claiborne County, Tenn., died Sunday, Dec. 29, 2002 after a long illness. He was a retired Army veteran of World War II, Korea and Vietnam and was the former owner of Carroll Hill Auto Electric. He was a lifetime member of Masonic Lodge No. 118 of Cataula, American Legion Post 31 of Thomasville, Who's Who of Native American Indians, chief of the Ochlocknee Band of the Southeastern Cherokee Council, Red Feather Society, Gray Feather Society, Gourd Society and Black Wolf Warrior Society. He is survived by his loving wife of 42 years, Vivian L. Rhines Lawson of Thomasville; daughters, Barbara A. Burgess, Shirley R. Fuller of Travelers Rest, S.C., Linda J. Thompson of Charlotte, N.C., Mary L. Kindred of Metcalfe; sons, Robin R. Lawson of Ochlocknee, Dewey R. Lawson of Thomasville; grandchildren, Bryan Burgess, Lisa Gibson, Vince Dunagan, Rhonda Walker of Travelers Rest, Shannon Tucker of Greer, S.C., Malcolm Burgess of Virginia, Stacy Sarver of Rock Hill, S.C., Adam Lawson of Cheyenne, Wy., Kevin and Steven Lawson of Bainbridge, Jessie Sara Lawson of Simpsonville, S.C., Allen Lawson of Pavo, Lindsey Dollar of Thomasville, Ariel Anderson of Thomasville, Drew and AaRon Cox of Ochlocknee, Sharon and Michael Busby of Thomasville, Chelsea Kindred of Metcalf; great- grandchildren, Savannah Burgess, Tanner Gibson, Reed and Cade Walker and Alston Dunagan of Travelers Rest, Tiffini Sarver of Rock Hill, D.J. and Megan Tucker of Greenville, S.C.; sons-in-law, the Rev. Clark Thompson of Charlotte, N.C., Wentie Kindred of Metcalfe; daughter-in-law, Carol Lawson of Ochlocknee; a brother, Ray Lawson of Crawfordville, Fla.; a sister, Madge Ridings of Knoxville, Tenn.; a dear cousin and his wife, Frank and Selu Lawson of Ochlocknee; and a host of nieces, nephews and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Ralph Lawson, George Williams; sisters, Pearl Cicero, Grace Lofton, Charlie Mae Raulston, Trula King; a grandson, Jacob L. Lawson; and two sons-in-law, Jack and Dwight Burgess. A Native American burial will be scheduled at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Lewis Hall Singletary Oncology Center or your favorite charity. Visitors may sign the online guest register at www.allenfh.com. -=-=-=- December 25, 2002 Maryann Lone Elk-Waters OGLALA - Maryann Lone Elk-Waters, 39, Oglala, died Monday, Dec. 23, 2002, at Rapid City Regional Hospital. Survivors include her husband, Raymond Waters Sr., Scottsbluff, Neb.; her parents, Chauncy Sr. and Margaret Lone Elk, Oglala; two sons, Raymond Waters Jr. and Francis Waters, both of Oglala; four daughters, Jessie Waters, Scottsbluff, Dawna Waters, Allen, and Tiffany Waters and Cherish Waters, both of Oglala; four bothers, Chauncy Lone Elk Jr. and Chris Lone Elk, both of Oglala, Gilbert Lone Elk, Pine Ridge, and Michael Slow Bear, St. Paul, Minn.; and two sisters, Desiree Lone Elk, Pine Ridge, and Marsha Lone Elk-Rodriguez, Oglala. A two-night wake will begin at 2 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 26, at Oglala Recreation Center. Services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 28, at the center, with the Rev. Darrell New and the Rev. Jeff Watson officiating. Dewey Brave Heart will officiate over traditional services. Burial will be at Brave Heart Family Cemetery in Oglala. December 28, 2002 Renita D. Red Starr-Wince PINE RIDGE - Renita D. Red Starr-Wince, 45, Pine Ridge, died Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2002, in Pine Ridge. Survivors include one daughter, Sophia Elbow Shield, Pine Ridge; two sons, Bernard Elbow Shield and Esual Elbow Shield, both of Pine Ridge; her parents, Neville Red Starr Sr. and Sophia Little Bull, Pine Ridge; five brothers, Neville Red Starr Jr., Joseph Red Starr, Anson Red Starr and Murray American Horse, all of Pine Ridge, and Jacob Little Bull, Pleasanton, Texas; six sisters, Nellie Bald Eagle, Eileen Red Star and Sherry Red Starr, all of Pine Ridge, Venus Rodriguez, Seattle, Lina Long, Lincoln, Neb., and Dawn Campbell, Sioux Falls; and four grandchildren. A two-night wake will begin at 1 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 29, at Billy Mills Hall in Pine Ridge. Services will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 31, at Billy Mills Hall, with the Rev. Ben Tyon officiating. Burial will be at Holy Cross Episcopal Cemetery in Pine Ridge. Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements. Agnes M. Bald Eagle OGLALA - Agnes M. Bald Eagle, 44, Oglala, died Saturday, Dec. 21, 2002, in Las Vegas. Survivors include two brothers, Leoncio Bald Eagle, Fort Collins, Colo., and Eli Bald Eagle, Rapid City; one sister, Marian Bald Eagle, Oglala; and four adopted sisters, Cheryl Hemingway, Elfrieda Teague and Doris Thiebolt, all of Rushville, Neb., and Harriett Avis, Rapid City. A one-night wake will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 29, at Brother Rene Church Hall in Oglala. Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10 a.m. Monday, Dec. 30, at the church hall, with the Rev. Jim Ryan officiating. Burial will be at Our Lady of the Sioux Catholic Cemetery in Oglala. Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements. December 29, 2002 Kyra L. Marshall ALLEN - Kyra L. Marshall, 15-month-old daughter of Ollie Marshall of Martin, died Friday, Dec. 27, 2002, at Rapid City Regional Hospital. Survivors include her mother; six brothers, Hakeem Poor Thunder, Dallas Marshall, Rusty Dubray, Robbie Dubray, Ronald Dubray and William Dubray, all of Martin; one sister, Ronalee Dubray, Martin; and her maternal grandparents, Ron and Goldie Dubray, Martin. A two-night wake will begin at noon today at the Martin CAP Office. Services will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 31, at Church of God in Allen, with John and Lola Dubray officiating. Burial will be at Church of God Cemetery in Allen. Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements. December 31, 2002 Agnes Clifford-Dorzak HERMOSA - Agnes Clifford-Dorzak, 89, Hermosa, died Saturday, Dec. 28, 2002, at Rapid City Regional Hospital. Survivors include three daughters, Annette Matt, Hermosa, and Connie Whirlwind Horse and Norma Kaye Ceron, both of Kyle; one brother, Calvin Clifford Sr., Kyle; one sister, Gloria Stone, Denver; 22 grandchildren; 54 great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; and two stepgreat-great- grandchildren. A one-night wake will begin at 2 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 2, 2003, at Our Lady of Sorrows Church Hall in Kyle. Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10 a.m. Friday, Jan. 3, at the church hall, with the Rev. Jim Ryan officiating. Burial will be at Christ the King Catholic Cemetery in Porcupine. Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements. Copyright c. 2002 the Rapid City Journal. -=-=-=- December 31, 2002 Lottie Teehee Lottie Teehee, 70, of Seminole died Saturday in Ada. Survivors include two sons, Wally and Terry Teehee of Seminole; four daughters, Shirley Perez of Seminole, Betty Friare of Seminole, Joann Tebe of Konawa and Josphine Teehee of Lawrence, Kan.; 15 grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be 10 a.m. today at Swearingen Funeral Chapel with the Rev. Buddy Harjo officiating. Burial will follow at Little Cemetery under the direction of Swearingen Funeral Home. Copyright c. 1997-2002 The Shawnee News-Star. -=-=-=- December 28, 2002 Madeline N. Tafoya MADELINE N. TAFOYA , 90, of Santa Clara Pueblo, died Friday following a brief illness. She was preceded in death by her son, Thomas Tafoya; husband, Jose A. Tafoya; and great-granddaughter, Justine Tafoya. She is survived by her two daughters, Laura Pino and husband Eugene of San Ildefonso, and Leona Trujillo and husband Wilmer of Santa Clara Pueblo; eight grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren. Mass will be celebrated at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Santa Clara Catholic Church with burial to follow at the Santa Clara Pueblo Cemetery. DeVargas Funeral Home of the Espanola Valley. Copyright c. 1997 - 2002 Albuquerque Journal: Albuquerque, New Mexico. -=-=-=- December 30, 2002 Henry Kee John Sr. July 15, 1935 - Dec. 28, 2002 Henry Kee John Sr., 67, of Rock Point, Ariz., passed from this life Saturday, Dec. 28, 2002, in Chinle, Ariz. He was born July 15, 1935, in Rock Point, Ariz. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m., today, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2002, at the Lutheran Church House of Prayer in Rock Point. Interment will follow at the family cemetery in Rock Point. Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Brewer, Lee and Larkin Funeral Home of Shiprock, (505) 368-4607. Copyright c. 1999-2002 MediaNews Group, Inc./Farmington, NM. -=-=-=- December 24, 2002 Edward A. Beyuka ZUNI - Services for Edward Beyuka, 82, were held at Monday, Dec. 23 at the home of Madeline Beyuka. Burial followed at Quincy Panteah Cemetery. Beyuka died Dec. 21 in Zuni. He was born Aug. 15, 1920 in Zuni. Beyuka attended Zuni and Fort Wingate. He served in the U.S. Army. He was a Bataan Death March Survivor and was a POW. He was a jewelrysmith, rancher and Tribal Council Member. His hobbies included reading, and watching sports on T.V. Survivors include his sons, Jonathan Beguka, Jeb Beyuka, Jasper beyuka, Alison Beyuka, Philbert Beyuka all of Zuni; daughters, Shirley Walela, Janet Amesoli, Christine Beyuka, Cheryl Westika and Ione Beyuka all of Zuni; sisters, Margaret Johnson of Zuni; 26 grandchildren and nine great- grandchildren. Beyuka was preceded in death by his son, Rizal Beyuka; parents, Eugene Beyuka and Iva Poncho; brothers, Eugene Beyuka Jr. and Mickey Beyuka Sr. and sister, Christine Beyuka. Peter Jim Chee BREADSPRINGS - Services for Peter Jim Chee, 70, will be held at 10 a.m., Thursday, Dec. 26 at Rollie Mortuary Palm Chapel. Pastor Jake Yazzie will officate. Burial will follow at Sunset Memorial Park. Chee died Dec. 22 in Two Wells. He was born March 21, 1932 in Gallup into the Folded Arms People Clan for the Sleeping Rock People Clan. Survivors include hsi wife, Helen R. Chee of Breadsprings; sons, Emerson Chee, Kenneth Chee Sr. and Peterson Chee all of Breadsprings; daughters, Charlotte Firestone of Terre Haute, Ind., Charlene Chee and Darlene Chee both of Breadsprings; brothers, Jones Chee of Church Rock; Maurices Chee of Thoreau, Ronald Chee of Fort Defiance, Ariz., Tom Chee Jr. of Gallup and Oscar Merrill of Breadsprings; sisters, Marilynn Chee of Denver, Bessie Silago of Crownpoint, Nora Russell and Mary Tomachee both of Albuquerque, Loretta Hood and Evelyn Chee both of Gallup, Hasbah Benally, Julia Chee, Betty Hood and Rita Nelson all of Breadsprings, Helen Burbank; 21 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Chee was preceded in death by his father, Tom Chee. Pallbearers will be Emerson Chee, Garrett Chee, Kenneth Chee Jr., Peteson Chee, Travis Chee and Art Tom Sr. Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Copyright c. 2002 the Gallup Independent. -=-=-=- December 28, 2002 Delores Wolf LAME DEER - Delores Wolf, 49, of Lame Deer, died Monday, Dec. 23, 2002, at Deaconess Billings Clinic. Wake service was held Friday, Dec. 27, at the Lame Deer Mennonite Church. Funeral ser-vices will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 28, also at the church. Burial will be in Lame Deer Cemetery. Rausch Funeral Home of the Northern Cheyenne Nation is in charge. Charles Warclub, Jr. DENVER - Charles "B.J." Warclub, Jr., 49, of Denver, formerly of Poplar, Mont., died Saturday, Dec. 21, 2002, after a brief illness, at the Denver Veteran's Hospital. A memorial service will be at 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 29, at Clayton Memorial Chapel in Wolf Point, Mont. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Monday, Dec. 30, in the Clayton Memorial Chapel. Burial will be in Chelsea Cemetery. December 29, 2002 Rhonda Lynn Big Leggins WOLF POINT - Rhonda Lynn Big Leggins, 37, of Wolf Point, died Friday, Dec. 27, 2002, in the Northeast Montana Health Services Facility in Poplar. Visitations will be from 3 to 10 p.m. Monday, Dec. 30, at the Poplar Cultural Center. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 31, at the Poplar Cultural Center. Interment will be in the Poplar City Cemetery. Clayton Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements. December 30, 2002 Nicholas Pretty on Top Rowland LODGE GRASS - Nicholas Wesley Rowland, infant son of Ben and Dorcella Pretty on Top Rowland, died Saturday evening, Dec. 28, 2002, at St. Vincent Healthcare. Our Heavenly Father got the best birthday present, a small angel named Nicholas Wesley. Survivors include his parents; his siblings, Benisha, Fawnshay and Beau; his grandparents, Burton (Randine) Pretty on Top of Billings, Eleanor Pretty on Top of Pryor and Ted (Lerena) Rowland of South Dakota. Graveside Funeral services will be 9 a.m. Monday, Dec. 30, in the Crow Agency Cemetery. Bullis Mortuary of Hardin has been entrusted with the arrangements. December 31, 2002 Baby Billy Bixby LAME DEER - Baby Billy Bixby, stillborn son of Geraldine Longroach and Richard Bixby, died Dec. 26, 2002 at the Crow IHS Hospital. Survivors include his parents; brothers and sisters, Mitchell, Chay, Jordan, Tre', MacKinzie, Colista and Brittany of Lame Deer; his grandparents, Rosella Pongah of Lame Deer, Darlene and Dwaine Bixby of Hardin, Laurena Long Robe, Maurice Little, Sr., Huberta Kills Night and great-grandmother, Regina Kills Night, all of Lame Deer. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 31, at the Lame Deer Christ The Rock Church. Interment will follow in the Lame Deer Cemetery. Bullis Mortuary of Hardin was entrusted with the arrangements. Copyright c. The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises. -=-=-=- December 31, 2002 Howard Gone Jr. ROOSEVELT, Utah - Howard Gone Jr., 25, of Roosevelt, Utah, a former Hays-Lodge Pole basketball player, died Friday of injuries from an automobile accident. Wake and rosary is 7 p.m. Wednesday at St. Paul's Mission Recreation Center at Hays with funeral Mass at 11 a.m. Thursday at the rec center. Burial will be in the Howard Gone Family Cemetery at Hays. Edwards Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Survivors include his wife, Jamie Gone of Roosevelt; a daughter, Lily Gone of Roosevelt; a son, Lewis Gone of Roosevelt; a sister, Nicole Gone of Hays; brothers Vincent Gone, Raymond Chandler Jr., Jonathan Fox and Jeremy Allen, all of Hays; grandmothers Joyce Gone, Mary Ann Allen, Dora Helgeson, Minerva Allen, Gretchen Healy, Alpha Iron Man, Edith Lodge, Bertha Snow and Carol Stiffarm, all of Fort Belknap; and grandfathers Arnold Allen, Danny Healy, Wayne Crazy, Fred Gone, Joe Iron Man Sr., and Preston Stiffarm, all of Fort Belknap. Copyright c. 2002 Great Falls Tribune, a division of Lee Enterprises. -=-=-=- December 25, 2002 Violet (Mary) Stump 1936-2002 VIOLET (MARY) STUMP beloved wife of the late Donat Stump (1975) of the Peigan Reserve went home to be with the Lord, on Sunday, December 22, 2002 at the age of 66 years. She is survived by her children; Andy (Edwina) Stump, Bryon, Carol, Linda, and Windsor Stump, adopted daughters the late Pearl Crow Shoe, and Gayleen North Peigan, eight grandchildren; Andrew Jr. (Della) Stump, Leon, Jeremiah, Talia Stump, Royes, Tony Provost, Don, and Jonah Shining Double, one great grandchild Andrea Lynn, adopted grandchildren; Doris Crow Shoe, Rudy Old Crow, Lisa Old Crow. She is also survived by three brothers; Billy (Corrine) North Peigan, Jeffrey (Anne) North Peigan and Gary (Dorothy) North Peigan, one sister Yvonne North Peigan as well as numerous nieces and nephews North Peigan and Stumps. She is predeceased by her parents Hartwell and Mona North Peigan, brothers and sisters; Vera North Peigan (1993), Adrian North Peigan (1992), Linda North Peigan, and Eileen North Peigan, Wilfred North Peigan (1973), Lorne David North Peigan (1956). Throughout her years she received her education at the Peigan St. Cypain School. She was a homemaker and took care of her children. She welcomed every stranger and friend that came into her home. The family would like to thank the Pincher Creek Hospital staff and the Peigan Health Centre, with a special thank you to Dr. Rottegar and Dr. Scrimshaw who helped her throughout her illness, from her children and grandchildren. A Wake Service will be held at the residence of Violet Stump on, Tuesday, December 24, 2002 starting at 7:00 P.M. A Funeral Service will be held at PIKANI COMMUNITY HALL, Peigan Reserve on Thursday, December 26, 2002 at 1:00 P.M. Copyright c. 2000 Alberta Newspaper Group, Inc./Lethbridge Herald. -=-=-=- December 30, 2002 Wilfred Lloyd Belanger Winnipeg, MB BELANGER - Wilfred Lloyd Belanger, son of the late Ernest Belanger and Mary Wasacase, passed away peacefully at the Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg, Man. on December 25, 2002. Wilfred, also known as "Porky" was born on July 11, 1951. Wilfred leaves to cherish his memory his sisters: Joan (Allan), Penny (Calvin) and Glenda (Barry) Belanger, all of Regina, Sask., Arlene Belanger (Delbert), Ochapowace First Nation, Leota (Everett) Powderface, Morly, Alta. and Florraine (Emile) Hotomanie, Winnipeg, Man, brothers: Alvin (Jenny) and Barry (Carol) Belanger, Broadview, Sask., Milton (Denita) Belanger, Ochapowace First Nation and Arthur Belanger, Winnipeg, Man., as well as numerous aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and friends. Wilfred was predeceased by his parents, sisters: Nowella, Pamela and Leona Belanger and brothers: Gilbert, Harold and Everett Belanger. The funeral service will be held in the Fred Bear Complex, Ochapowace First Nation, Sask. on Tuesday, December 31, 2002 at 10:00 a.m. with Rev. Hector Bunnie officiating. Interment in the Kahkewistahaw Cemetery. A wake will be held in the Complex on Monday starting at 4:00 p.m. Copyright c. 2000-2002 Regina Leader Post Group Inc. -=-=-=- December 28, 2002 Rex Brave Rock (Ashsaiiniikapii) MR. REX BRAVE ROCK (ASHSAIINIIKAPII), son of the late Ted and Annie Brave Rock of the Blood Reserve answered the Lord's call to return home on Tuesday, December 24, 2002 at the age of 44 years. Rex was born to his parents on January 27, 1958 at the Blood Indian Hospital on the Blood Reserve. His mother was often ill and hospitalized, wherein; his sister Delma and her husband Edward raised him as an infant of 8 months old until he was 4 years old. He later attended school at the Lakeview Elementary School, Hamilton Junior High and the Academy of Business Learning all in Lethbridge. Rex had many talents that he utilized throughout his life. He learned to bead and design unique powwow outfits, which he sold or gave away. Being multi-talented, he amazed his family members with his completed projects. Rex loved to travel and took family trips to Saskatchewan, Washington and the Southwestern States. One particular trip stood out and that was his Guadeloupe Pilgrimage to Mexico in December 1999. He was in the midst of planning a trip to England to visit the place where his dad, Ted, fought in the World War II. He took a genuine interest and loved beautifying his parent's old home and planted trees and shrubs, which were lost in a house fire two years ago. One tree survived the fire, thereby, naming it Annie. The nurturing he received throughout his life was evident with his nephews and nieces always babysitting them at home. His travels always included at least some of them. Rex adored his nephews, Faron and Cody Bleu and adopted them in the traditional manner. He had a special protective approach towards his younger sister, Sheila. Rex played on the Fort Whoop-up fastball team as an outfielder. He found he had a knack for golf as he made his rounds on his brother Rocky's makeshift golf course. He loved powwows enjoying the singing and dancing. Both young and old enjoyed his company, always having a welcome mat and truly appreciated visitors. The family gatherings he co- ordinated will be greatly missed by all his family and extended families. He leaves to mourn his passing, his sisters; Delma (Edward) Chief Moon and Sheila (Alvin) Red Crow, his brothers; Rocky (Susan), Ross and Leonard Sr. (Emma), his aunties; Adeline Singer and Alvine Crop Eared Wolf, and his uncle Mervin Brave Rock as well as his many nephews and nieces who will miss his presence at outings and gatherings. He was predeceased by his parents, Ted and Annie Brave Rock, his brothers; Edward Brave Rock and Leslie Long Time Squirrel, his sisters; infant Alvine Brave Rock, and Colleen Across The Mountain, his uncles; Reggie Buckskin and Wilfred Brave Rock, his aunties; Gladys Buckskin and Gloria Eagle Tail Feathers. He is also predeceased by his maternal grandmother Minnie Long Time Squirrel and paternal grandfather Earnest Brave Rock. A Wake Service will be held at the KAINAI GOSPEL CHURCH, on the Blood Reserve, on Sunday, December 29, 2002 from 7:00 P.M. to 11:00 P.M. with Canon Allan McCuaig officiating. A Funeral Service will be held at ST. PAUL'S ANGLICAN CHURCH, Blood Reserve, on Monday, December 30, 2002 at 11:00 A.M. with Canon Allan McCuaig officiating. Interment to follow at St. Paul's Cemetery on the Blood Reserve. Arlene Joyce Plain Woman ARLENE JOYCE PLAIN WOMAN beloved companion of Michael Calling Last, passed away at the Cardston Auxiliary Hospital, on Friday, December 27, 2002 at the age of 45 years. Funeral arrangements to be announced when completed. Copyright c. 2002 The Halifax Herald. --------- "RE: Native Americans debate Creating own Banks" --------- Date: Mon, 23 Dec 2002 10:05:16 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NATIVE BANKING" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://athena.tbwt.com/content/article.asp?articleid=2184 Native Americans Debate Merit Of Creating Own Banks By Lloyd Nicholas IPS Article Dated 12/23/2002 SCOTTSDALE - With native American businesses growing like never before, tribes across the United States are debating whether to create their own banks in an attempt to enlarge credit pipelines and capital flows to their reservation economies... Self-ownership of firms among Indians and Alaskan natives surged by 84 percent between 1992 and 1997, resulting in a 179 percent jump in business revenue over the same period, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. But a thirst for more money to fuel the rapid expansion in Indian Country has gone unquenched, primarily because some commercial and investment banks are wary of lending to native institutions given their limited collateral or their unwillingness to use land to secure loans. At the same time, tying up the capital needed to create a bank might be too difficult for many smaller tribes, said Lance Morgan, president of Ho- Chunk Inc., the development arm of the Winnebago tribe in the U.S. state of Nebraska. "I'm not convinced that banks are the answer," he said. The capital used becomes "dead money" that would be better employed for general economic development, Morgan argued. Banks may make sense for tribes that have reached "mid or late stage" economic development, Morgan said, but "if you put your money in a bank and you don't have an economy, you're going to have trouble," he told a November conference organised by the Federal Reserve Bank (the U.S. central bank). When the Winnebago tribe started Ho-Chunk in 1995, it had trouble getting financing and was able to secure a loan from a traditional bank only when the tribe moved its deposits into that institution. Today, Ho-Chunk has a five percent share in another local bank and is looking to alternative methods of financing, such as issuing bonds. Still, there are many examples of native-owned banks. The native American Bank, a full-service financial institution, is owned by 20 tribes - unlike most native banks, which cater to just one tribe or nation. "Our market is the whole country," says Terry Maltarich, who heads the bank's trust department. The bank was born after Senator Daniel Inouye, a Democrat from Hawaii, challenged native American leaders to create their own sources of financing. Following more than four years of study and deliberation, 20 tribal investors pooled their resources and established native American Bank via the purchase of Blackfeet National Bank on Oct. 29, 2001. In its first year of operations, the bank made a small surplus of 5,567 dollars, and advanced loans totalling 10,459 dollars from an asset base of 26,399 dollars. Washington-based Kirke Kickingbird, a consultant on native American law and government, insists that tribes and native individuals continue to establish their own banks or "lower-level" institutions, such as credit unions. We need to foster a culture of capital development through partnerships that lead to recycled investment funds in our own financial institutions, as the rate of wealth creation from money markets exceeds the return gained from some development projects," he told IPS in a post-conference interview. Kickingbird recognizes that a lack of start-up capital is a barrier to some tribes that want to establish financial institutions and recommends a phased approach, similar to the strategy adopted by the Winnebago tribe. Starting or buying a bank may take years but "a start must begin somewhere", he added. That was echoed by J.D. Colbert, president of the trade group that represents Indian-owned banks, the native American Bankers Association (NABA). "A commercial bank is not the (only) answer," said Colbert. "I don't know of anything that is the (only) answer." Colbert suggested that tribes look beyond banks and consider all the intermediaries used to access capital in the wider U.S. economy, including credit unions, community development financial institutions, small business investment corporations, mortgage companies and bond financing entities. Institutions like credit unions are an option for organisations with fewer resources because their reserve requirements are less onerous. The NABA, Colbert said, is looking to expand from the current 17 tribal or individual-owned Indian banks into a network that parallels conglomerate type institutions. Organisational capacity is also essential for starting a bank, said one expert. "Starting a bank is not for everyone. You have to be very sure what you bring to the party in starting a bank," said Stephen Cornell, director of the University of Arizona's Udall Centre of Studies in Public Policy Two barriers, Cornell says, are the instability of tribal government and the fact that tribal enterprises tend to be heavily influenced by tribal councils - a prime reason why outside investors shy away. One native expert suggested that tribes look at working with existing banks in unique ways. "Not every tribe is going to have a bank. So you're going to have to have a banking relationship," said Rebecca Adamson, president of the Virginia-based First Nations Development Institute, which is involved in investment financing. She also suggested that tribes follow the example of banks like Wells Fargo and Bank of America, which became bigger and stronger by merging with other institutions. The need for greater capital flows to Indian Country is increasing as native American economies, now identified as a significant emerging market within the United States, are growing faster than other economic sectors. From 1992 to 1997, receipts of native-owned businesses rose 179 percent, to 22 billion dollars, versus a 40 percent increase for all U.S. firms. Average receipts for native-owned firms in 1997 were 174,100 dollars compared to 410,600 for all U.S. firms, said the Census Bureau. A five-year study by the Harvard Project and the University of Arizona noted that tribes took alternate routes to stimulate economic growth and had achieved good or poor results on the basis of resource constraints, entrepreneurial skills and market limitations. Copyright c. 2002 The Black World Today. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Cave Looter hit with $2.5 Million Civil Penalty" --------- Date: Mon 16 Dec, 2002 08:46:11 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CAVE LOOTER" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1213indiancave-looter-ON.html Indian cave looter hit with $2.5 million civil penalty Martin Griffith Associated Press Dec. 13, 2002 04:40 PM RENO, Nev. - An Oregon man was fined $2.5 million for what federal officials are calling the worst case of American Indian cave looting in Nevada history. William Hammett, an Interior Department administrative law judge, handed down the civil penalty to Jack Lee Harelson, 62, of Grants Pass. The penalty, the fourth largest ever assessed for archaeological theft, was imposed Dec. 6 but not announced until late Thursday by the Bureau of Land Management. Harelson was convicted in an Oregon court in 1996 of possession of stolen property and abuse of a corpse - charges stemming from the illegal excavation of an ancient site on the Black Rock Desert, 140 miles north of Reno. In looting Elephant Mountain Cave, Harelson destroyed what could have been one of the five most important archaeological cave sites in the Great Basin, a vast area covering most of Nevada and Utah, BLM officials said. Before it was looted over several years in the early 1980s, the cave contained a 10,000-year record of human life in northern Nevada, including that of members of the Paiute tribe. "The desecration and loss of this site to all Americans is staggering," said Bob Abbey, Nevada state director of the BLM. "While we are pleased the judge ruled completely in BLM's favor, money can't bring back what was lost." Harelson maintained his innocence and laughed when asked whether he would pay the penalty. His license as a securities agent was revoked after his conviction and he has not held a steady job since, he said. "I'm on Social Security and crippled, yeah, right," he said. "The federal government knew that I had nothing going in. They needed to slap someone. "What's my reaction? I guess I have no reaction. You deal with the government and there are lies and that's what you have to deal with," he said. BLM officials said there was overwhelming evidence that Harelson dug through and discarded all but the most valuable artifacts in the cave. He and his wife discovered two large baskets in the cave, one with the body of a boy and the other with the body of a girl, court records show. They removed the bodies, baskets and other artifacts, and buried the bodies in their backyard. More than 2,000 artifacts were later recovered, including 10,000-year- old sandals that possibly were the oldest footwear found on earth, said Pat Barker, a state archaeologist for BLM. "It's a devastating blow losing this information," Barker said. "This is outrageous. It's the worst case of looting we know of in Nevada and one of the worst in the West." In his ruling, Hammett noted the insult to American Indians from the desecration of burials at the cave far outweighs the commercial value of the artifacts, leading him to use the archaeological value rather than the commercial value to determine the civil penalty. Harelson acknowledged digging a "test hole" and removing some artifacts, but argued he did so only to interest Nevada archaeologists in the site. "Never once did I say those artifacts I took from the cave belonged to me," Harelson said. "They were test items. I was trying to prove a point that the cave was worthy of a controlled dig by the Nevada State Museum." The statute of limitations on the excavation had expired by the time of Harelson's arrest in 1995. He was tried and convicted under Oregon law after the ancient remains and stolen property were found there in the mid- 1990s. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail and fined $20,000. The Oregon Supreme Court later overturned his conviction on abuse of a corpse charges after determining the statute of limitations had expired. Copyright c. 2002, azcentral.com. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: The Mire of Tribe Recognition" --------- Date: Sat, 28 Dec 2002 18:46:22 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="POWHATAN RENAPE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/28/nyregion/28TRIB.html The Mire of Tribe Recognition By IVER PETERSON December 28, 2002 ANCOCAS, N.J. - Chief Roy Crazy Horse says he only wants his tribe's pottery to be federally recognized as genuine Indian art. The idea of putting an Indian casino here on the muddy banks of Rancocas Creek in Burlington County, he insists, is not even a consideration. "There's money to be made in authentic crafts, and we need to be able to say that ours are not frauds," said Chief Crazy Horse, chief of the tribe known as the Powhatan Renape, said. "I don't know where all this gambling paranoia came from. " But as state officials point out, nothing is simple about the status of Indian tribes in the day of billion-dollar Indian casinos and land claims for tens of thousands of acres. The administration of Gov. James E. McGreevey is afraid that granting official recognition to three tribes that are seeking it could get New Jersey tangled up in those issues, which it wants no part of. The paranoia, if that is what it is, comes from an innocuous-looking single paragraph of legislation that has already passed the State Assembly and that simply recognizes the Powhatan, the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape and the Ramapough Mountain tribes as official New Jersey Indians for the purposes of authenticating their weaving and pottery under a federal Indian arts law. But as Michael J. Haas, an assistant attorney general who testified against the bill in the State Senate on Dec. 12 pointed out, the designation could apply to a lot more than trinkets. Far from simply helping the three groups, Mr. Haas testified, state recognition could open the way to federal recognition, Indian casinos, and the kinds of land claims that have upstate New York landowners in an uproar and New York State facing several hundred million dollars in claim settlements with the Oneida Indians. "And if that occurs, the property rights of citizens who currently live on that land may be jeopardized," Mr. Haas testified. The suspicion that the three tribes are really after casinos has only deepened as the tribes' chairmen have rejected an amendment proposed by New Jersey that would grant state recognition in return for renouncing casinos or land claims forever. The chiefs, pointing to what they call all the bad treaties that American Indians have signed in the past, said that such a renunciation of gambling and land claims would be tantamount to signing away the rights of their children. The dispute in New Jersey is not unique. There are about 245 groups calling themselves Indians around the country, some with state recognition and most of them angling for casino deals. There is the Golden Hill Paugussett tribe of Connecticut, for example, which, although not federally recognized, signed a deal last week with the city of Bridgeport to share gambling revenues and to drop its land claims in exchange for land and other support needed to build a casino. And the Nipmuc of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, a tribe that signed a casino deal with a developer before its claim for federal status was rejected in September 2001. Or the Schaghticoke of Connecticut, whose application for recognition was turned down earlier this month by the federal government. Mr. Haas testified that the prospect of land claims is as real as that of casinos in New Jersey. He said the Lenni-Lenape are associated in a land claim brought by a fourth unofficial tribe, the Unalachtigo, for thousands of privately owned acres in Sussex, Bergen, Burlington and Cumberland Counties. The tribe has argued in court that it would use state recognition of the Lenni-Lenape to support its claim against the state. The Unalachtigo claim kinship with the Lenni-Lenape. Because the three groups in New Jersey are neither legally Indian nor tribes under federal standards, they have sought to create a special status by forming nonprofit corporations whose boards, headed by their elected chiefs, manage the sale of pottery, leather goods and other crafts that are sold at summer fairs. The Powhatan, for example, have a large summertime outdoor market on their land in Rancocas, as well as a tribal museum. According to Chief Mark Gould, there are 1,700 members of the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape on the tribe's rolls, the descendants of intermarriages with the Munsee and the Tuscarora tribes and with Europeans over the past 400 years. The group is focused in Cumberland County, in South Jersey. The Powhatan number about 1,000 and trace their history back to the pre- Columbian seaboard wilderness, Chief Crazy Horse said. The Ramapough Mountain People claim their 3,000 members in Mahwah and Ringwood, N.J., and in Hillburn, N.Y. The Ramapough is the only group of the three in New Jersey that has already been denied recognition by the federal government, which ruled in 1995 that the group's members were descended from freed slaves, not the Munsee, as the tribe claimed. The tribe is still recognized by New York State, although the designation amounts to little more than the same courtesy that New Jersey's legislature extended it and the Lenni-Lenape and the Powhatan in a 1980 resolution. "The federal government couldn't care less about state recognition," Chief Crazy Horse said. "They only care about their own federal rules." Still, the three New Jersey tribes maintain that all they want is to have their crafts recognized as authentically American-Indian handiwork under the federal Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990, which outlaws representing non-Indian arts and crafts as authentic, and so increases the value of certified Indian art. The arts and crafts board that administers the federal law asked the New Jersey attorney general's office what the tribes' relationship to the state was. When the state said the tribes had no more than an informal joint resolution of the Legislature attesting to their genuineness, their arts application was turned down. So the three tribes asked their representatives for official recognition, and Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman of Trenton and others, both Democrats and Republicans, sponsored a bill to do so. The measure passed the Assembly quickly, but on Dec. 16, the Senate sidetracked it at the urging of members from Atlantic County, who are fierce defenders of Atlantic City's constitutionally mandated monopoly on casino gambling in the state. The Senate had the bill sent to legislative lawyers, who were asked to analyze it in light of the attorney general's opposition. The delay has frustrated the tribes, and their supporters in the Legislature. "It just seems to me that these concerns are just much ado about nothing, " Ms. Watson Coleman said. "Eight other states give state recognition to tribes, and gambling has nothing to do with it. And on the land claims, I think they're just reading too much into this legislation." The attorney general's office has proposed amendments to the bill, to have the Indians forswear any land claims or future gambling rights. But as much as the tribal leaders say they do not want casinos, they will not agree to those changes. "We do not want the government dictating something like that," said Chief Gould of the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape. "Our hunting rights and our fishing rights were signed away by somebody a long time ago who had no right to do that, and we are not going to sign away our children's' rights." Chief Crazy Horse agreed. "I don't speak for the unborn," he said. "We may say we don't want it today, but we can't say that later on others won't think it's a good idea." Copyright c. 2002 The New York Times Company. --------- "RE: Anishinabe Bimadiz provides Programs" --------- Date: Fri, 27 Dec 2002 08:22:59 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CASS LAKE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=2164&dept Anishinabe Bimadiz provides programs for Leech Lake members By: Molly Miron, Staff Writer December 26, 2002 CASS LAKE - A nation's culture is shaped by language, resources and art, and the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Anishinabe Bimadiz supports a wide range of traditional activities. "Life, living, alive, depending on how you use it," said Lydia Tall Chief of the meaning of bimadiz. "We're talking about a way of life." Tall Chief is the director of the program operated under the Lee Lake Division of Resource Management. The agency is in its fourth year. She said the activities the agency supports range from sugar camp to sending elders to language conferences to finding places for artists to work. The goals are to foster and protect cultural knowledge, traditions, history, language and the arts and work with people in the 14 reservation communities. For example, a recent project was teaching young people at the Bug-O- Nay-Ge-Shig School the art of making black ash baskets. Other projects included beadwork at Inger and regalia making in the Twin Cities. The agency has cut its first CD, "Dewe'igan" of music by Anishinabe hand drum groups from Leech Lake, Red Lake and Milles Lacs. A hand drum exhibition is scheduled for Feb. 15 at the Bangsberg Theatre at Bemidji State University. And a jury chose children's drawings to illustrate the 2003 calendar. "We wanted to really show their work because I'm so focused on adults," said Tall Chief. An upcoming event will be the traditional gathering involving the Leech Lake Tribal College Feb. 8 and 9 with Ojibwe speakers. Another side of the project is to support artists. Anishinabe Bimadiz also operates an art gallery in Walker, Ojibwe Reflections. Other artist support services include preparing artists' biographies and professional portfolios, including in-house photography of artwork by Tall Chief. Much of these activities grew out of a survey in which Leech Lake members listed the cultural activities that interested them. Ojibwe language received 66 percent response on the survey. Other top priorities are regalia making, basket making, maple sugaring, storytelling and medicine gathering. Other interests include hunting, ricing, berry picking, hand drum, traditional camps, lodge building and canoe making. mmiron@bemidjipioneer.com Copyright c. 2002 The Pioneer/Bemidji, MN. --------- "RE: Caddo Tribe starts raising Buffalo Herd" --------- Date: Thu, 26 Dec 2002 10:05:16 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CADDO BUFFALO" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.newsok.com/cgi-bin/show_article?ID=964049 Caddo Tribe starts raising buffalo herd 2002-12-23 By Ron Jackson The Oklahoman BINGER - Doug Broyles is learning as much about the promotion of self- reliance these days as he is about raising a buffalo herd. Maybe that's because he has found both subjects intimately interwoven in the Caddo Tribe's newest project. Broyles is responsible for maintaining a buffalo herd for the tribe. The herd will supply Caddo elders with fresh meat by spring and, in time, could do the same for the tribe's 2,000-plus members who live in Oklahoma. If all goes well, Broyles foresees the day when the Caddo Tribe also might find a path of economic development through the sale of buffalo meat to the public. "We really do have a great opportunity here," said Broyles, who oversees the tribe's agricultural projects. "The whole idea is to make us as self-reliant as possible." Broyles sees that opportunity associated with the buffalo -- a traditional symbol of freedom and prosperity for the American Indian. His optimism also is grounded in what he concludes is a sound game plan. "We've put a lot of work into this thus far," Broyles said. "And we're trying to make the most with what we have to work with." The tribe's efforts can be seen grazing near the red shale cliffs a few miles east of the Caddo Tribe's headquarters on State Highway 152 in Caddo County. The property, purchased by the tribe three years ago, is now the home of the new Bison Valley Ranch and seven buffalo calves. The calves were donated by the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. Each day, tribal member LaDonna Hernandez and Broyles drive to the ranch to tend the small herd. Initially, the calves were fed hay. The calves have become more independent as they have started to venture beyond the tribe's new corrals and across 25 acres of golden longstem grass, cedar trees and a running stream. Five buffalo cows are supposed to join the herd within the next two weeks. "Right now, our biggest problem isn't getting the buffalo," Broyles said. "We have ranchers who have been calling us nonstop, willing to give us calves they have had to cut from their herds. We're supposed to get another 91 buffalo in April. "No, our biggest problem is not having enough land." Experts have told Broyles the tribe probably will need a herd of 1,600 buffalo to reach its goals. By Broyles' estimation, the tribe will need "a minimum of 3,200 acres" to sustain a herd that size. Broyles has another idea that could benefit both the tribe and individual tribal members: He's looking for tribal landowners who would be willing to take a number of buffalo each year. The tribal member would provide food and water for the buffalo. In exchange, the tribal member would be allowed to keep half of that specific herd's offspring. "Everybody comes out ahead that way," Broyles said. He said tribal members could build their own herds. Broyles emphasizes that the most important aspect of the herd is the reason it was started in the first place. "A lot of our elders suffer from diabetes," Broyles said. "It's a proven fact that there are specific acids in buffalo meat that fight diabetes. That's why we started this project." The Caddo Tribe isn't the first Oklahoma tribe to embark on this type of venture. Broyles said seven other Oklahoma tribes raise buffalo -- the Cheyenne- Arapaho, Comanche, Iowa, Miami, Modoc, Seneca-Cayuga and Shawnee. All but the Cheyenne-Arapaho are members of the Intertribal Bison Cooperative, a national organization that includes 51 American Indian nations. The Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma started its herd last year, and now has 28 buffalo roaming on tribal land. "We're also doing it for the meat," said David Pratt, the tribe's agricultural manager. "A lot of Indians have diabetes, and the meat is good for diabetics. That's the big reason we started." Pratt and his fellow tribal members have been willing to lend a helping hand. "The Iowa Tribe heard about what we were doing and has been very helpful," Broyles said. "Some of their members drove all the way from Perkins to help us bale hay. They want to see us succeed as much as possible." Copyright c. 2002, Produced by NewsOK/NEWS 9/The Oklahoman. --------- "RE: Uncloaking our Political Landscape" --------- Date: Fri, 27 Dec 2002 08:31:40 MST From: ErthAvengr@aol.com Subj: COLUMN OF THE AMERICAS: UNCLOAKING OUR POLITICAL LANDSCAPE Mailing List: ndn-aim Sent by Senior Staff.........thanks FROM UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE FOR RELEASE: WEEK OF DECEMBER 27, 2002 COLUMN OF THE AMERICAS by Patrisia Gonzales and Roberto Rodriguez UNCLOAKING OUR POLITICAL LANDSCAPE This is a special first-person column by Roberto Rodriguez. I freely admit that racial hatred was once a part of me. I'm not proud of this, yet it wasn't something I chose. Rather, it was thrust upon me, most poignantly years ago when my skull was cracked by several police officers. Some will say that because of the dehumanization I was subjected to thereafter, my hate was justified. Yet I don't quite see it that way. It sickened me. I recognized it years later, and since then my life has been an effort to rehumanize myself and both the liberal and conservative U.S. society we live in -- a society that often treats people of color and the poor as less than human and does not honor all life as sacred. Society doesn't deal with its racial past or its reality honestly. It teaches us to mask our hatreds (liberals probably hide them better), as opposed to confronting them. Those hostile to ending discrimination have found refuge through the disingenuous use of the English language. In this ploy, those who fight against discrimination become racist and divisive, while bigots fancy themselves as champions of a color-blind society (this while shamelessly misquoting Martin Luther King Jr.). The Lott/Thurmond/GOP spectacle (no rally monkey for them) has permitted us to observe that many staunch conservatives and white supremacists generally espouse similar racial views. For example, the three most highly charged racial issues today are affirmative action, immigration and bilingual education. It's difficult to find a discernible difference between staunch conservatives and supremacists in this regard -- they're both openly hostile. Deciphered, their coded message means: Our white Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) America can't be allowed to become a non-white and culturally mongrelized nation. Politicians can't outright say this anymore. That's why a new language was invented and why staunch conservatives believe that for a whole generation, their true sentiments have been repressed. That's why the mocking war against "political correctness" has been such a welcome relief for them and why talk radio flourishes. Yet most politicians still can't speak freely even there, though callers are rarely constrained. That's where the new language comes in: If you oppose an integrated society, then talk about states' rights and opposition to "racial preferences." If pols want to rail against Blacks, they talk about crime, welfare mothers and quotas. Having nightmares about being overrun by brown and yellow hordes? Talk about crime and illegal aliens, and rail against bilingual education. Truthfully, affirmative action is a weak legal remedy for hundreds of years of slavery, genocide, land theft and enforced discrimination. Preferable would be reparations and the criminalization of discrimination. Yet the government's tepid response is disingenuously attacked as a racist project against whites. The war against illegal immigration is often a thinly disguised attack against the "browning of America" -- as is the attack against bilingual education. There are no genuine pedagogical arguments against bilingual education. Opposition to it is primarily cultural and comes mainly from people who have no children in need of this instruction and who would deny that choice to those that do. Most moral and fiscal conservatives don't publicly espouse different racial positions. Also, none of these disguised radicalized attacks could happen without a Chavez or a Williams in their midst -- people of color who've embraced WASP culture and who are seemingly unaware of the coded language. Because of them, many bigots are able to hide their prejudices and continue with their racial agenda ... and continue to vehemently oppose a national Native American, Cesar Chavez or Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. It also permits them to continue to reduce people of color to caricatures and mascots. (Watch the recent "Saturday Night Live" episodes with John McCain or Al Gore for the best examples of denigrating "brownface" humor.) As we mark a new beginning, can we now bluntly speak about race ... about the fact that Ashcroft, Cheney and Lott (and most GOP bigwigs since Goldwater) have had similar racial track records? Are we supposed to forget Bush's stand on affirmative action and his silence on the Confederate flag issue ... and his campaign appearance (a Republican tradition) at Bob Jones University? Or that over the Thanksgiving holiday he hosted a party at his Crawford ranch for his daughters in which the sorority partygoers came dressed as either cowboys or Indians? We can continue to dig our heads in the sand about the racial cancer that is part of Americana, or we can choose to confront it head on, honestly and publicly. One path sickens us and leads to racial turmoil. The other leads toward redemption and rehumanization. COPYRIGHT 2002 UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE "Column of the Americas" is posted every Friday and archived under "Opinion" at www.uexpress.com Gonzales & Rodriguez can be reached at PO BOX 100726, San Antonio, TX 78201-8726, or at 210-734-3050 or XColumn@aol. com If you would like to see it in your local newspaper, please call/write your local editor. For speaking availability, publications and other info, call/write us or visit us at: http://hometown.aol. com/xcolumn/myhomepage/index.html * Please Consider buying CANTOS AL SEXTO SOL for a friend for the holidays: Please ask for it at your favorite local bookstore and library. It will soon be avialble online through Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com. To order CANTOS directly, the first of our three forthcoming collaborative Aztlanahuac books, contact Wings Press (http://www.wingspress.com/) or milligan@wingspress.com * FOR A FULL LIST OF ALL THE WRITERS/POETS. GO TO THE AZTLANAHUAC INFORMATIONAL PAGE: http://hometown.aol.com/aztlanahuac/myhomepage/index.html --------- "RE: Key Tribal Sovereignty Case Returns" --------- Date: Sat, 28 Dec 2002 18:46:22 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WAMPANOAG" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2002/12/27/wampanoag_sovereignty.php Key Tribal Sovereignty Case Returns By JULIA WELLS December 27, 2002 A special superior court sitting is now set for next month in Edgartown on a case that will ultimately decide whether the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) has the power to police itself when it comes to local zoning rules. The case will also decide the much larger issue of whether the tribe cannot be sued because of sovereign immunity. The case has attracted little attention, despite the fact that the outcome could have far-reaching implications for every town on the Vineyard. Last week the Hon. Richard F. Connon, an associate justice of the superior court, set Feb. 4 as the date for a special sitting in the Edgartown courthouse to hear arguments on the merits of the case. Among other things, the case will test the strength of the 1983 settlement agreement between the town and the tribe that led to federal recognition of the tribe in 1987. The dispute began when the tribe built a small shed and a pier at the tribal shellfish hatchery in March 2001 without obtaining a building permit. The hatchery is located on the Cook Lands fronting Menemsha Pond in Aquinnah, one of four land areas that were conveyed from the town to the tribe under the terms of the settlement agreement. In May 2001 town officials went to court to compel the tribe to comply with local zoning rules. In fact the tribe has complied with zoning rules over the years and has applied for a number of building permits, including a permit for the tribal housing project in Aquinnah and for the shellfish hatchery. The shed that was built near the hatchery is meant to house electrical equipment, and on the face of it the zoning violation was considered minor. But the larger issues quickly bloomed when the tribe moved to have the case heard in federal court. Attorneys for the tribe claim that the Wampanoags have their own power of enforcement over local zoning regulations because they are an independent government entity, and they also claim that the tribe cannot be sued because of sovereign immunity. Last fall the Hon. Douglas P. Woodlock, a U.S. District court judge, sent the case back to state court. Protection from litigation because of sovereign immunity is considered the larger issue - if the tribe prevails on this claim then compliance with local zoning becomes somewhat irrelevant, because without litigation there is no remedy for enforcement. The history of the case is rooted in four key events that took place in the 1980s: the 1983 settlement agreement, a state law adopted in 1985 ratifying the terms of the agreement, a federal law adopted in 1987 also ratifying the terms of the agreement and federal recognition of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head in 1987. To date the Wampanoags are the only Native American tribe in Massachusetts to receive federal recognition. The settlement agreement and the state and federal acts all contain explicit language noting that the land conveyed to the tribe is subject to state and local laws. Between now and Feb. 4, Judge Conan is also expected to rule on a motion by two outside parties to intervene in the case on the side of the town: the Gay Head Taxpayers' Association and the Benton Family Trust, an abutter to the Cook Lands. "This dispute over a shed and a pier is a relatively small one, but it has broader implications for the 19-year-old settlement agreement ratified by state and federal law," wrote James L. Quarles 3rd, a partner at Hale and Dorr in Boston who represents the taxpayers' association, in the motion to intervene in the case. "The tribal council's claim of immunity from the town's zoning laws threatens fundamental rights bargained for by the town and the taxpayers in the settlement agreement," he concluded. Judge Connon, who is the regional administrative judge, set the Feb. 4 court date last week. Aquinnah town counsel Ronald H. Rappaport is representing the town in the case. The tribe is represented by Conly J. Schulte, a partner with Monteau & Peedles in Omaha, Neb., and Robert Mills, a partner with Wynn & Wynn in Barnstable. Copyright c. 2002 Vineyard Gazette - All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Overturn Decision on Indian Voting Rights" --------- Date: Thu 19 Dec, 2002 08:49:18 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="VOTE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20021218/localnews/598384.html Court asked to overturn decision on Indian voting rights By BOB ANEZ Associated Press Writer December 18, 2002 HELENA -- A three-judge federal panel's ruling that Montana's decade-old legislative district boundaries don't violate Indian voting rights should be overturned by the full 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a lawyer says. Laughlin McDonald, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney, said the ruling earlier this month ignored other court decisions in concluding that the voting power of Indians in Montana was not diluted by the way districts were drawn in 1992. In a document filed this week with the federal court in San Francisco, McDonald said a rehearing before the court is necessary to "secure and maintain uniformity of the court's decisions." The request is an effort to keep alive a lawsuit filed in 1996 by the ACLU on behalf of some members of the Blackfeet and Flathead reservation tribes. The suit challenged the 1992 redistricting, which created one new Indian-majority district, for a total of six. The ACLU contends three new districts were warranted. It argues that white-bloc voting for white candidates in four contested districts of northwestern Montana undermined minority voting rights of Indians. On Dec. 4, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court upheld a decision early this year by a federal judge. He had found no evidence the 1992 apportionment plan diluted the ability of Indian voters in and around the Blackfeet and Flathead reservations to elect Indian candidates. The appeals court said the case revealed some factors suggesting Indian voting was diminished, but it also found signs to the contrary. McDonald said such "point counting" in these cases has been rejected by Congress and the courts. The process wrongly gives equal weight to all the factors, he said. For example, the fact that state officials are responsive to Indian needs is not as important as the fact that Indian representation in the Legislature is not comparable to their representation in Montana's population, McDonald said. Copyright c. 2003 Great Falls Tribune. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Nevada Supreme Court sides with Tribe" --------- Date: Sat, 28 Dec 2002 18:46:22 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WATER CASE" http://www.rgj.com/news/stories/html/2002/12/27/30845 Nevada Supreme Court sides with tribe in water case ASSOCIATED PRESS 12/27/2002 10:15 pm The state Supreme Court has ruled that a district judge had no authority to order an Indian tribe to allow the state water engineer's staff to cross tribal land to divert water from the Humboldt River. Justices also ruled Thursday that District Judge Richard Wagner of Lovelock could not order a three-day suspended jail sentence for Te-Moak Western Shoshone Tribal Chairman Marvin McDade. McDade and tribal police threw three water commissioners off their reservation south of Elko in 1999 when they sought to change the diversion of water to a ranch. In making the decision, the court cited a U.S. Supreme Court decision that Indian tribes "as sovereign nations have power to make their own substantive law in internal matters." The court said Wagner could not order the tribe to enact an ordinance to "provide a safe environment for water commissioners and allow access to tribal property by water commissioners to carry out their duties under the Humboldt (water) Decree." In September 2000, Wagner had ordered the tribe to pass the ordinance within 30 days or he would direct the Elko County Sheriff's Office to provide protection for water commissioners. If the tribe failed to pass the ordinance, then Wagner said he would require it to post a $10,000 bond to cover costs of installing locking mechanisms to prevent the tribe from diverting Humboldt River water. "It is a big step in our favor," said McDade, who no longer is chairman but serves on the Te-Moak Tribal Council. "We are sovereign. I, in effect, have political asylum." McDade said he thinks the tribe and the state water engineer can work out an agreement to allow regulation of water going to non-Indians who own ranches farther down the Humboldt. The only access to one non-Indian ranch is through the Indian reservation. "If they want to go by helicopter or whatever, they can do that," he said. "We don't have a problem with that." But he said the tribe has sovereign immunity as an Indian nation to regulate the discharges of Humboldt River water to ranches owned by Te- Moak members. Deputy Attorney General Paul Taggart disagreed. He said Thursday's decision does not alter an earlier ruling that gives the state authority to control water diversions. "Unfortunately, they take the position they always take," said Taggart, who argued the case before the court. "They still believe they can exclude us, and that's why we have to take extreme measures like jail time for the chairman. Ultimately, there has to be some authority that can say what is right and what is wrong." Other appeals from the 1999 incident are being heard in federal courts. Copyright c. 2002 Reno Gazette-Journal, a Gannett Co. Inc. Newspaper. --------- "RE: BIA Roadwork Fraud Alleged" --------- Date: Tue 17 Dec, 2002 08:06:43 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BIA ROADS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews BIA roadwork fraud alleged Gazette Staff December 17, 2002 The president of a Laurel business accused of submitting false claims on a job for the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs pleaded innocent to a federal indictment Monday in Billings. Asphalt Supply & Service Inc. and its president, Robert Ryan Zimmerman, 26, of Billings, are charged with one count of making false claims and two counts of making false statements. The charges carry maximum penalties of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Zimmerman entered pleas on his own behalf and for the company. According to the indictment, on July 14, 2000, Zimmerman, on behalf of the company, received a request for quotes from BIA's Branch of Roads Contracting Section for the supply and delivery of 420 metric tons of asphalt base and 220 tons of another asphalt base material for application on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Zimmerman submitted a successful bid of $211,240 and BIA awarded him the contract in exchange for payment. On Aug. 21, 2000, Zimmerman submitted a claim to the BIA in Aberdeen, S.D., for the reimbursement of $176,680 for costs incurred by Asphalt Supply in preparation for the Pine Ridge project knowing that the claim was fraudulently inflated and misrepresented the true costs the company incurred, the indictment said. In addition, Zimmerman allegedly submitted to the BIA a series of invoices for costs incurred by Asphalt Supply relating to the Pine Ridge project in support of its Aug. 21, 2000 claim. The invoices included one from Dane Nelson Trucking for transportation fees, knowing that Dane Nelson Trucking had not created the invoice and that costs related to the trucking company had not been incurred by Asphalt Supply. The third count charges that on Sept. 12, 2000, Zimmerman submitted to the BIA an ExxonMobil contract for the purchase of road oil dated Feb. 15, 2000, listing a price of $153 a ton in support of its Aug. 12, 2000, claim. Zimmerman allegedly knew that ExxonMobil never entered into the contract, which had been altered from a previous contract listing a price of $110 per ton for the same material. U.S. Magistrate Richard Anderson released Zimmerman without bond until trial. The case will be heard by Senior U.S. District Judge Jack Shanstrom. Copyright c. 2002 The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Supreme Court weighing U.S. Trust Responsibility" --------- Date: Sun, 29 Dec 2002 16:24:29 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NAVAJO NATION/US TRUST" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.daily-times.com/Stories/0,1413,129%257E6572%257E1079037,00.html Supreme Court weighing U.S. trust responsibility to Navajo Nation By Jim Snyder/Staff writer December 29, 2002 WASHINGTON - A fine line exists between the U.S. trust responsibility toward Native Americans and their own self determination. Where does that fine line lay? That is what the U.S. Supreme Court is going to rule on in a case that will likely become case law for future U.S. Native American disputes. Recently released U.S. Supreme Court transcripts of the United States vs. the Navajo Nation case reveal justices trying to determine who is ultimately responsible for tribes in their business dealings the Secretary of the Interior or the tribes themselves. The case was argued Dec. 2. Also at issue is whether the Interior Department should try to get the best deal for the Navajo Nation in business dealings, or just what is required by law even if that means settling for a bad deal. The justices were also seeking to determine points in the law that would clearly show that a breach of trust and a breach of contract had actually occurred between the United States and the Navajo Nation, and even if it did occur, whether that entitled the Navajo Nation to monetary damages. The Navajo Nation's case is based on a now well-known 1985 secret meeting between former Interior official Stanley Hulett, hired by Peabody Coal, and Secretary of the Interior Donald Hodel to block a proposed 20- percent coal royalty rate for the Navajo tribe and replace it with a 12.5 percent rate. Peabody Coal objected to the 20-percent rate, which had been proposed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. From 1964 to the mid-1980s, the Navajo Nation had been paid 20-percent annual royalties for its coal. The tribe contends the secret meeting which significantly weakened their negotiation position resulted in the final deal. The court is expected to determine the legality of the secret meeting in its ruling, which is set for June 2003. Was Hulett just a lobbyist doing his job? The Navajo Nation, which did not learn of the meeting until years later, has claimed the United States has breached its trust responsibility in its lawsuit. The tribe has claimed the meeting was a conspiracy to derail their effort to get a 20-percent royalty. This is the cornerstone and foundation of two Navajo Nation $600 million lawsuits one against Peabody Coal and the other with the United States. The Peabody lawsuit has not yet gone to court. The tribe lost its case against the government in the United States Court of Federal Claims. That ruling, however, was reversed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The United States appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Justices ask a lot of questions during U.S. argument (subhead please) The court heard oral arguments Dec. 2 from Edwin Kneedler, deputy solicitor general with the Department of Justice and Paul Frye, an Albuquerque attorney representing the Navajo Nation. Here is a brief excerpt from the 56-page transcript of the oral arguments between the justices and Kneedler: The justices asking questions are not individually identified. Supreme Court: Let let me just assume and and maybe I shouldn't do this, but you just briefly at least assume that the Secretary's approval was required as a a matter of statute. Would that approval responsibility in your judgment carry any duty toward the tribe, anything comparable to a fiduciary duty toward the tribe not to approve an amendment if that amendment was not as good as the in the Secretary's judgment, the tribe could have gotten? Kneedler: No. There's in in our view there is no duty under this statute to maximize returns to the tribe. Supreme Court: What tell let me ask you maybe it would be easier if I asked you kind of the converse question. What responsibility does the approval responsibility include? In other words, is it merely ministerial, or does it imply any duty at all toward the tribe? Kneedler: I don't know that I would call it ministerial, but but the statute is is rather bare in its terms. It just says that the that the tribe, through its council and this is this is a statute of general application may with the approval of the Secretary lease its land for coal purposes. What the what the preconditions for the Secretary to give his approval are then and now is a matter for the Secretary to flesh out by regulations. Supreme Court: So Supreme Court: Well, is does the United States, though, have some general duty of trust to the tribe? Kneedler: I think it would be fair to say that that there is that there is a as I said, a general moral and political duty. Supreme Court: Sure. And so when the Secretary has to approve a lease, should that general duty be kept in mind as part of that process? Kneedler: Surely. Surely, and again we're not we're we quite agree that as that as a matter of what what judgment should should inform the Secretary in her approval of the lease. Supreme Court: No. But suppose the government has a general moral and political duty to the entire citizenry not to lease government land at at bandit rates I assume. Kneedler: Well Supreme Court: But that but that doesn't Kneedler: Yes, but I meant Supreme Court: That doesn't give rise to a cause of action. Kneedler: That that's true. Here there is Supreme Court: Nor nor is there any specific statute, is there? I mean, I I think the the point that Justice O'Connor is is raising is is my point. Once you get a specific statutory obligation, assuming that approval carries some obligation of care, inquiry, whatever, doesn't that carry with it some of the duty that we normally have in mind when we talk about the trust duty, and doesn't that take it out of the sphere of the merely moral and the merely political into the legal? Kneedler: Well, that let me answer it this way. The Secretary as I said, I believe it's up the Secretary to decide how to flesh out the regime for her approval of leases and she has done this in the regulations including, importantly, now and at the time this lease was lease amendments were approved, a minimum royalty amount. At the time, it was just 10 cents per ton. Now, it's 12-and-a-half percent, which is the standard rate of Supreme Court: But a minimum a minimum is a minimum. Kneedler: No. Supreme Court: "So there's still something to argue about there ... On the Net: http://supreme.courttv.findlaw.com/supreme_court/docket/2002/december.html Tomorrow: Transcript excerpt of the Navajo Nation argument. Jim Snyder: jims@daily-times.com Copyright c. 1999-2002 MediaNews Group, Inc./Farmington, NM. --------- "RE: Bush Administration sets new BLM Rules" --------- Date: Thu, 26 Dec 2002 10:05:16 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NEW BLM RULES" http://www.daily-times.com/Stories/ Bush administration sets new BLM rules Wednesday, December 25, 2002 DENVER (AP) Local governments will have an easier time building roads across vast tracts of federal land in Colorado and the West under new rules the Bush administration will publish this week. Administration officials say the changes to the Bureau of Land Management regulations will help settle contentious disputes with states that claim access rights under a Civil War-era mining law. Local governments, such as the Moffat County Commission in northwest Colorado, argued that modernizing the old routes are vital to the development of their rural economies. Critics, including four Senate Democrats, say the revisions could allow rural Western officials to pave wagon trails, streambeds and cow paths that run through pristine federal lands. Environmental groups say new roads could also facilitate oil and gas development and disqualify the land from future wilderness protection. "This is a great big Christmas present for people who want to bulldoze, pave, mine and drill some of our most sensitive public lands," said Ted Zukoski, project attorney in the Denver office of Earthjustice, which specializes in environmental litigation. The rule change could affect as many as 15,000 claimed rights of way in Utah and hundreds more in Moffat, Garfield, San Juan and Fremont counties in Colorado. At issue is an 1866 mining law that grants rights of way for the construction of "highways" on public lands, such as national forests, that are not already reserved for public uses. Congress repealed the portion of the law dealing with rights of way in 1976, when the government reserved for public uses all remaining federal land not already in forests, parks or monuments. States can still claim a right of way if they prove in court that the route was constructed before the land was reserved. The new rules remove the need to go to court and allow claims to be handled administratively by the Bureau of Land Management, which is responsible for managing 262 million acres. That includes 8.3 million acres in Colorado. "The savings is years and thousands of dollars for the taxpayer," said Patricia Morrison, the Interior Department's deputy assistant secretary for land and minerals. The rules were drafted after Utah officials threatened to sue the government to assert its right to 15,000 routes through federal land, including Canyonlands National Park and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. "It's really hard to overestimate the impact of this rule," said Heidi McIntosh, conservation director of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. In Moffat County, officials are aggressively opposing citizen efforts to designate the 90,000-acre Vermillion Basin as a wilderness area, claiming the arid landscape is crisscrossed with old routes. "The administration's intent is clear," said Zukoski. "They want to undermine 50 years of public-lands protection." "Simply put, this rule puts the Bush administration on the side of any company that wants to claim that an old footpath or dirt road in a national monument, park or wilderness area should be expanded to allow mining and drilling," said Tom Wathen, vice president of the National Environmental Trust. Copyright c. 1999-2002 MediaNews Group, Inc./Farmington, NM. --------- "RE: Ethics Probe of 6 US Lawyers in Indian Trust Suit" --------- Date: Thu, 26 Dec 2002 10:05:16 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ETHICS PROBE" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35244-2002Dec24.html Ethics Probe Ordered of 6 U.S. Lawyers in Indian Trust Suit By Neely Tucker Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, December 25, 2002 A federal judge this week ordered a court ethics panel to investigate six Justice Department attorneys for their conduct in a landmark class-action suit against the government that seeks billions of dollars and was filed on behalf of more than 300,000 Native Americans. In a stinging 20-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth also blocked the Interior and Justice departments from continuing to send mass mailings to the Indian plaintiffs that include a provision that would terminate the Indians' rights to claim damages, even as the lawsuit continues. Lamberth has already held three Cabinet officials in contempt of court for their failures in Indian trust fund reform, including Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton. His most recent order in the six-year-old case, signed late Tuesday, said government attorneys failed to ask for court permission to send the notices to more than 1,100 plaintiffs. That was a clear violation of rules governing attorney conduct, he wrote, and referred the issue to the disciplinary panel of U.S. District Court here. "The court . . . is at an utter loss to understand why defendants thought this court would consider it acceptable for them to include language [in the letters] that extinguishes the very rights that are the heart of this class-action litigation," he wrote. The court's Committee on Grievances, which investigates allegations of misconduct, could dismiss the case or issue a range of sanctions. "It's just astonishing," said Keith Harper, an attorney with the Native American Rights Fund, who is helping to represent plaintiffs. "They communicated with our clients in violation of court orders, even when the issue was pending before the judge." Calls to the Justice Department's press office were not returned yesterday. In court motions filed earlier, attorneys had said they did not think they were required to inform the court about the letters. Jon Wright, a spokesman for the Interior Department, declined to comment. The Indian plaintiffs are seeking a full historical accounting of the Individual Indian Monies trust fund, a sprawling series of accounts that was started in 1887 when the government forced Indian tribes off 90 million acres of their land. In return, they and their heirs were granted royalties from the sale of oil, gas, timber, mineral and other rights on an additional 11 million acres. The fund now generates more than $500 million a year to at least 300,000 account holders, although so many records have been lost or incompetently kept over the decades that the government is unable to provide an accurate history for a single account. The Indians filed suit in 1996, claiming the government owes them at least $10 billion in lost or missing funds. But in October, with the trust fund under Lamberth's oversight, the government sent out 1,100 notices to trust fund account holders, claiming that enclosed statements were full and accurate historical accounts. The data would be "final and cannot be appealed" unless the recipient filed a challenge within 60 days, the note said. The Interior and Justice departments were planning to send an additional 14,235 historical accounts when Lamberth blocked the move this week. The attorneys Lamberth referred for investigation are Assistant Attorney General Robert D. McCallum Jr., as well as Stuart E. Schiffer, J. Christopher Kohn, Sandra P. Spooner, John T. Stemplewicz and Cynthia L. Alexander. Lamberth's order says that any other attorneys, either from Justice or Interior, who participated in the mailings also should be investigated. Copyright c. 2002 The Washington Post Company. --------- "RE: White House urges Lawsuit Settlement" --------- Date: Thu, 26 Dec 2002 10:05:16 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRUST CASE/BUSH TEAM" http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,36%7E138%7E%7E,00.html White House urges lawsuit settlement Talks not fruitful in Indian trust case Bill McAllister Denver Post Washington Bureau Chief Sunday, December 22, 2002 - WASHINGTON - The Bush White House has been quietly pressing Interior Secretary Gale Norton to settle the Indian trust lawsuit for more than a year, according to a newly disclosed letter. In the June 19, 2001, letter to Norton, Mitch Daniels, director of the Office of Management and Budget, praised the secretary for "steady progress in implementing trust improvements and completing nearly 80 percent of the milestones" outlined in the department's strategic plan. But Daniels went on to describe the administration's three major objectives in resolving the 6-year-old lawsuit filed by Montana banker Elouise Cobell and four other Indians over the government's inability to reconcile the trust accounts it holds for more than 300,000 American Indians. The OMB chief said Interior should: - "Correct the court-declared breaches of trust responsibilities." - "Pursue settlement negotiations to avoid the additional costs of a second trial in the Cobell litigation." - "Propose settlement legislation that is fair to both the Indian account holders and the taxpayers." The letter was disclosed by the government recently as part of the discovery process in the lawsuit. It was "the start of a conversation" in which the White House outlined its goals for the year as part of the budget process. In this case, settlement talks never have produced any fruit. Interior officials say the Cobell lawyers are demanding too much money from the government. And the Cobell lawyers say the government is unwilling to admit the magnitude of its mistakes in handling the trust accounts. Still, the letter from Daniels, who is a key White House player, shows that the Bush administration has been eager to get the lawsuit out of court and away from U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth. The judge has repeatedly hammered both the secretary and her department over the accounts. Current Interior strategy appears to be directed at continuing the costly process of attempting to balance the accounts. That will be a relatively slow task, but the top officials at Interior say they are convinced that the department has been a far better steward of the trust funds than it has been able to prove in court. Their assumption is that if they can show enough account balances are accurate - or even close to accurate - then the pressure will be on Cobell's lawyers to settle. Presidential supporter If anyone from Colorado should be asking for favors from the White House, it is U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard. No one from the Centennial State was more supportive of the president this year than the Loveland Republican. According to Congressional Quarterly's annual presidential support rankings, Allard was the most loyal member of the Colorado delegation, voting with the president 96 percent of the time. That didn't make him the single most loyal GOP senator, the label opponent Tom Strickland attempted to place on Allard in the fall campaign. CQ said five other senators voted with Bush this year on all issues on which the White House had stated a position. They were Republicans Richard Lugar of Indiana, Trent Lott of Mississippi, Jesse Helms of North Carolina and Fred Thompson and Bill Frist of Tennessee. CQ said Senate Republicans voted with Bush an average of 84 percent of the time. Both Colorado senators exceeded that level. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Ignacio was with Bush on 91 percent of the votes in the last session, the magazine said. In the House, Republican Scott McInnis of Grand Junction was Bush's best Colorado supporter, voting with the president 89 percent of the time when the White House had stated a position. GOP Reps. Joel Hefley of Colorado Springs and Bob Schaffer of Fort Collins voted with Bush 85 percent of the time and Tom Tancredo of Jefferson County was the least supportive Republican, voting with Bush 76 percent of the time. Democratic Reps. Diana DeGette of Denver voted with Bush 25 percent of the time and Mark Udall of Boulder supported him on 33 percent of the votes. Bill McAllister's e-mail address is bmcallister@denverpost.com. Copyright c. 2002 The Denver Post or other copyright holders. --------- "RE: RX Rage as Indians sell Cheap Drugs" --------- Date: Thu, 26 Dec 2002 16:40:50 -0800 From: "Kahente" Subj: RE: RX RAGE AS INDIANS SELL CHEAP DRUGS Mailing List: Frostys AmerIndian NYPOST.com Regional News RX RAGE AS INDIANS SELL CHEAP DRUGS By KENNETH LOVETT -------- VIAGRA: Rite Aid - $66.96 CVS - $75.21 Seneca - $76.95 December 23, 2002 -- EXCLUSIVE ALBANY - An upstate Indian group has gone into the mail-order pharmaceutical business, proudly undercutting New York pharmacies by as much as 40 percent on popular brand-name prescription drugs. The practice raises questions over whether it violates federal law on the importation of prescription drugs, and raises the ire of jittery pharmacists in the state who say they are at a competitive disadvantage. The group of Seneca Indian businessmen serve as brokers, taking prescription orders from non-Indians at their business on the Seneca reservation in western New York via e-mail, phone, fax or mail. The orders are transmitted to a "virtual" office the Indians set up in Canada, where hired pharmacists purchase the drugs at lower costs from Canadian wholesalers, fill the prescriptions, and ship them directly to the U.S. customers, the group's attorney, Tim Toohey, said. The federal Food and Drug Administration prohibits the import of Canadian drugs, but has been lax on enforcing the ban as it pertains to Internet sales, experts say. "There is some question of the legality, but it's one of those murky questions," Toohey conceded. He added: "If someone is paying $350 a month for prescription drugs and can save $100 a month and they're comfortable with the safety factor, it would be hard for me to say, 'Don't do it.' " The venture originates out of the Seneca Trading Post, which already operates a separate business supplying online, tax-free cigarettes. It is the first time members of a tribe located within New York's borders have offered prescription drugs to the general public. The Mashantucket Pequots, which run Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut, have been doing it for several years and make millions. "The Indians are getting in because they know they can do it and there is a market for them to make some money, just like they did with gas, casinos and cigarettes," said Michael Burgess, executive director of the Statewide Senior Action Council, a grassroots advocacy group. The Indian business is also tax exempt. Steven Weingarten, a lobbyist for the state's chain drug stores, says if allowed to continue, the Indian business will drive out many New York pharmacies. Crystal Wright, of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, said she believes the Indian group is violating the law. --------- "RE: Native Prisoner" --------- Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2002 08:19:12 -0600 From: Janet Smith Subj: Native Prisoner ===== Date: Saturday, December 28, 2002 4:52 AM From: Brigitte Thimiakis Subj: Mail makes a Difference Forwarded with Permission from Michelle. Please read Kevin's message below, about the importance of getting mail. Brigitte Date: Fri, 27 Dec 2002 07:48:01 -0000 From: Michelle Subj: Words From Kevin Wheeler Kevin is on the other line full of tears and asked me to post for him. Michelle, Happy Hoildays to ALL of you, The world needs more caring pepole like you. The first time I came to prison I was 18 did not have a family or care about anyone or anything. I did not receive mail becouse my family had forgotton who I was, Being back here on a parole violation is somthing I will never be able to explain. I know I have not lost my wife and kids this go around becouse They are my world but at times I feel as if I failed them. I know I will NEVER enter theese door this way again. The meaning of this letter is to express to you that for all of you to write or send a card or even get on a group like this you are letting us know we ARE still part of the REAL WORLD, Mail call to us is the highlight of our day, I will not say his name becouse, I have not asked him. but one of you wrote a man in here that had not gotton mail in over a year and when they called his name he was afraid to go get it becouse it had to be bad news. I have never seen a grown man cry like he did, it was a simpel card that said merry christmass from nc friends for inmates everywhere. I need to express to you that you have a speciel gift of love, understanding, and respect, you did not ask why we are here or what we did to get here, You did not pass judgement, we now have a closer mod. two weeks ago there was inmates that would not talk to a inmate of a differant coler, Guys would get beat up for some of the crimes they did. After getting letters and having a supportive wife like mine who will try and help any inmate. she does not ask questions, it has brought a awareness to this prison that we are still alive and we do have a future regardless of when or if we get out. There are only a hand full of inmates who get mail here. Alaska seems to be FROZEN in time! alot of the guys never even know anything about writting pen pals untill now. I will not take up your time as you know I have all the time I need ! LOL But I will end now THANK YOU will never be enought, We hung the cards on one wall for ALL the guys in here and for a glimps at the wall it brings back home, Kevin Wheeler P.S LOL you thought I was done! It feels good to be know as a PERSON and not a # or last name. Kevin Wheeler #129729 S.C.C.C Po Box 5001 Seward Alaska 99664 =========== Michelle added " Yes Kevin would love to share his post he is trying to get a massage across that when inmates have contact from the out side. There is LESS stress, crime, beatings and all around hatrid in there. When they get mail they feel they have somthing to look forward to. Yes you may post Kevin or any of the guys from spring creek in Alaska, I am the only one posting for the prison, so the more sights there mane get on the better for them. I am glad you said somthing about the racial part. Kevin is in a mod that half the inmates are black, native, they fight back and forth between the walls, Kevin was being moved and he asked why. A gaurd told him MAN LOOK AROUND, Kevin refused to move after that. He feels if he can just talk to pepole and make peace between 60 guys then his time was worth it." Many thanks to Michelle for sharing. <>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<> Please visit Manuel Redwoman's websites Against Child Abuse: www.geocities.com/occitaniafr/Child_Abuse and about his case : http://www.geocities.com/occitaniafr/index.html <><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Date: Monday, December 30, 2002 9:09 AM From: Brigitte Thimiakis Subj: NEW CA