From gars@speakeasy.org Tue Feb 25 23:40:53 2003 Date: 25 Feb 2003 23:28:57 -0000 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews11.009 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. 1996-2003 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 11, ISSUE 009 | Country than is reported in | O o o o o O | this weekly newsletter. For | O o O March 1, 2003 | For daily updates & events | O o O | go http://www.owlstar.com/ | O | dailyheadlines.htm | Pomo sachau-da/cold winds moon +-----------------------------+ Valley Maidu kaka-kano/pattering showers 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 American Chat & Iron Natives Mailing Lists; Newsgroup: alt.native; UUCP email IMPORTANT!! ----------- In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, all material appearing in this newsletter is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for educational purposes. <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters who share our Spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the Red Road. ++ It may be subscribed to via email by sending a request from your own internet addressable account to gars@speakeasy.org ++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org <================<<<< >>>>================> +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + | As historian Patricia Nelson | | 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: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + ======================== "Educational leadership means being a facilitator of change. It means working to change situations and systems and environments, communities, famalies and individuals. It means trying to facilitate some magic, to facilitate empowerment so that systems and people and communities can grow and change." __ Clayton Small, Northern Cheyenne +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! This issue's editorial courtesy of my wonderful half-side, Janet. An article in this week's Missoulian ("BIA Welcome in Browning") brings up an interesting proposition that begs for close examination. The article outlines allegations and reported evidence of tribal council corruption and abuse of power that has led to what can only be called law- enforcement horror stories. The Missoulian quotes Blackfeet people who are relieved to see BIA cops replacing their tribal officers, and who believe federal investigation and intervention by the BIA and the FBI will start a process that will root out the corrupt and protect them from their own law enforcement. I wish I thought the Blackfeet could afford that trust. I don't. Trust is the operative word, and the federal government, especially the BIA administration, has proven it cannot and must not be trusted to protect tribal interests. Consider this case in point: Another paper, the Glacier, reported in an earlier story that the BIA appointed an officer who is from the Crow tribe to serve as the Blackfeet Chief of Police. While this individual's character and experience may be exemplary, putting him in charge of Blackfeet law enforcement displays glaring cultural insensitivity. The Blackfeet and Crow have been bitter enemies for centuries. These enmities may not seem politically relevant or convenient now, especially to outsiders, but the emotional repercussions, especially in a culture that still honors its ancestors and elders, surely remain and may well be aggravated by elevating an ancestral enemy into authority over them. Ironically, a Blackfeet accountant, Elouise Cobel, has shown time and again over the past years how the BIA, supported by U.S. Cabinet officials in Interior and Treasury, fights, often viciously, using our tax dollars, to protect its incompetence and dishonesty, not caring that it has literally left Indian people who should have been well-supported by payments for lease rights, cold, hungry, and sometimes homeless. The BIA has something of a track record when it comes to dishonest dealings with the tribes they are charged to protect. Their rushing in to protect the Blackfeet from political corruption smacks of irony. What I wonder is this -- how much of the greed, nepotism, favoritism, and corruption was something the Blackfeet brought with their traditional form of government into the tribe, and how much was taught them by their BIA agents? Maybe the federal intervention will provide a quick bandaid that will fix up the dilapidated jail and institute effective police procedures, but will BIA imposition do more than cover up the problems, just as they've covered up fiscal problems for all tribes? I don't think so. More promising is the grass roots effort of a coalition of Blackfeet who are petitioning to remove the current council and replace them, hopefully with less "connected" and more generally responsive representatives. At best, one could hope for a return to traditional values in selecting leadership, but while the BIA is running the show, one wonders whether that will be permitted. Dohiyi Ani Oginalii , , Gary Night Owl gars@nanews.org (*,*) P. O. Box 672168 gars@speakeasy.org (`-') Marietta, GA 30008, U.S.A. ===w=w=== ----------- News of the people featured in this issue ---------- - Crossings - Report Calls for closure - Blackfeet agree to talks with BIA of Segregation Units - Wounded Knee Occupation - Native Man's Death still stirs Questions gets Renewed Interest - A Challenge to Tribal Sovereignty - Fight against Domestic Violence - BLM ends roundup of - Jurisdictional Disputes Indian sisters' horses are increasing Tensions - Theft in BIA Bid-Rigging Scheme - Two Men indicted - Healthier Living for killing of Ute Man through Traditional Indian Ways - Crow Agency Man to be tried - Drill site OK'd in Killing in Canyons of the Ancients - Brothers found slain - Crow Leader wants to on Navajo Reservation dig Tribe out of Debt - Native Prisoner - Bush signs Bill including -- Brother needs Immediate Support Sandia Land Settlement -- Brutality and Abuse - Disappearance of Ancient Puebloans - Rustywire: Chasing the Dragon Revisited - Poem: To Write A Song for You - School goals fail Native Americans - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - Culture Torchbearer - This Week on First Peoples TV helps bring People Together - Specials This Week on APTN - YELLOWBIRD: - Powwow, March set Little Sioux's influence to observe 30th Anniversary - Aboriginal Health Funding - Upcoming Events --------- "RE: Crossings" --------- Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2003 08:15:52 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CROSSINGS" February 19, 2003 Louise Stirk Tague OMAHA, Neb. - Louise Stirk Tague, 79, Omaha and formerly of Rapid City, died Thursday, Feb. 6, 2003, at Hospice House in Omaha. Survivors include one niece, Twyla Whipple, Portland, Ore.; one nephew, Vincent Whipple Sr., Porcupine, S.D.; and one daughter-in-law, Cheryl Brezina, Omaha. Her husband, Harry Tague, preceded her in death. Cremation has taken place and scattering of ashes was at the Old Bombing Range in Rockyford, S.D. Larkin Funeral Home of Omaha and Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge, S.D., were in charge of arrangements. Mary Ann Downing MAUSTON, Wis. - Mary Ann Downing, 63, Mauston, died Saturday, Feb. 15, 2003, in Mauston. Survivors include three sons, William Downing, Gainesville, Fla., Dale Downing, Las Vegas, and Gerald Downing, Gordon, Neb.; two daughters, Colleen Hart, Trevor, and Lana Downing, Mauston; one sister, Agnes Tyon, Pine Ridge, S.D.; three brothers, Bill Gibbons Jr., Gordon, and Patrick Gibbons and Jerry Gibbons, both of Hot Springs, S.D.; and five grandchildren. A one-night wake will begin at 2 p.m. today at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Wakpamni Lake, S.D. Services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 20, at the church, with the Rev. Ben Tyon and the Rev. Agnes Tyon officiating. Burial will be at Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery in Wounded Knee, S.D. Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements. Merle Clay Bastian UNION CENTER - Merle Clay Bastian, 79, Union Center, died Sunday, Feb. 16, 2003, at his home. He served in the U.S. Army from 1944 to 1946. Survivors include his wife, Doris Bastian, Union Center; one son, Gale Bastian, Union Center; one daughter, Sheila Hostetter, Red Owl; one brother, Jack Bastian, Meadow; two grandsons; three stepgranddaughters; two great-grandchildren; and two stepgreat-grandchildren. Visitation will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20, at Kinkade Funeral Chapel in Sturgis, and for one hour before services Friday, Feb. 21, at First Presbyterian Church in Sturgis. Services will be at 10 a.m. Friday at the church, with the Rev. Harold Delbridge officiating. Burial will follow at Bear Butte Cemetery in Sturgis. A memorial has been established to Rural Meade County Ambulance. Dean David Pourier PORCUPINE - Dean David Pourier, 55, Porcupine, died Monday, Feb. 17, 2003, at Rapid City Regional Hospital. Survivors include his wife, Rose La Deaux, Porcupine; one son, Paul Pourier, Palm Springs, Calif.; one stepson, Louis Young, Mission; one daughter, Elfreda Janis, Rapid City; one stepdaughter, Darlene Young, Chadron, Neb.; his mother, Catherine Pourier, Porcupine; one brother, Ernest Pourier, Vermillion; two sisters, Renee Blue Horse, Pine Ridge, and Lois Fraser, Porcupine; and nine grandchildren. A one-night wake will begin at 3 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20, at Porcupine School. Services will be at 11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 21, at the school, with the Rev. Bill Pauly officiating. Burial will be at Christ the King Catholic Cemetery in Porcupine. Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements. February 21, 2003 R. James `Jives' Colhoff PINE RIDGE - R. James "Jives" Colhoff, 41, Pine Ridge, died Sunday, Feb. 16, 2003, in Pine Ridge. Survivors include two sons, Cody Colhoff, Bismarck, N.D., and David Wheeler, Martin; one daughter, Natasha Colhoff, Bismarck; his mother, Sophie Colhoff, Pine Ridge; three brothers, Don Morgan, Fond du Lac, Wis., and Ben Brewer and Pat Brewer, both of Pine Ridge; one adopted brother, Tony Fresquez, Martin; one sister, Colleen Morgan, Pine Ridge; and one grandchild. A one-night wake was held Thursday, Feb. 20, at Sacred Heart Church in Pine Ridge. Services will be at 10 a.m. today at Holy Rosary Mission in Pine Ridge, with the Rev. Chris Primo officiating. Burial will be at Holy Rosary Mission Cemetery in Pine Ridge. Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements. February 22, 2003 Kira Mariah Fonder LOWER BRULE - Kira Mariah Fonder, 2, Lower Brule, died Thursday, Feb. 20, 2003, at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls. Survivors include her parents, Kim and Tamara Fonder, Lower Brule; three brothers, Kim Fonder Jr., Creston, Iowa, Tyler Coleman, Fort Bliss, Texas, and Kyle Fonder, Lower Brule; three sisters, Kirsten Cheshier, Rapid City, Jennifer Fonder, Hulett, Wyo., and Tia Jo Coleman, Waubay; her paternal grandmother, Marvel Fonder, Rapid City; and her maternal grandparents, Gary and Sharon Bingen, Lower Brule. Wake services will be at 8 p.m. today and Sunday, Feb. 23, at Lower Brule Community Center. Services will be at 2 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24, at the community center, with the Rev. Les Spear and the Rev. Lyle Noisy Hawk officiating. Burial will be at Messiah Episcopal Cemetery in Iron Nation. Wevik Funeral Home of Chamberlain is in charge of arrangements. Angela Rose Gutierrez MARTIN - Angela Rose Gutierrez, infant daughter of Antonio and Pamela Gutierrez of Martin, died Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2003, at Sioux Valley Hospital in Sioux Falls. Survivors include her parents; her maternal grandmother, Sophie Packed, Martin; her maternal grandfather, Duane Richards, Wounded Knee; and her maternal great-grandmother, Linda Lone Wolf, Martin. A one-night wake began Friday, Feb. 21, at the Martin CAP Office. Services will be at 1 p.m. today at the Martin CAP Office, with Brother Jeff Cisco officiating. Michael Cross, Ray Brigg and Bill Stover will officiate over traditional Lakota services. Burial will be at Black Eyes Community Cemetery in Bear Creek. Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements. February 23, 2003 Shirley Monica Keith RAPID CITY - Shirley Monica Keith, 72, Rapid City, died Friday, Feb. 21, 2003, at Rapid City Regional Hospital. Survivors include seven children, Alta Hertel, Debbie Chapman, Austin Keith and Sydney Claymore, all of Rapid City, Geri Kennedy, Omaha, Neb., Janet Collins, Eagle Butte, and Sandi Standing Soldier, Porcupine; and 23 grandchildren; and 30 great-grandchildren. A rosary service will be at 7 p.m. today at St. Isaac Jogues Catholic Church in Rapid City. Wake services will begin at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24, at Cherry Creek Gymnasium Community Center, with a prayer service at 7 p.m. Services will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25, at the center, with the Rev. Anthony Kluckman officiating. Burial will follow at St. Joseph's Cemetery in Cherry Creek. Kirk Funeral Home in Rapid City is in charge of arrangements. February 25, 2003 Orville O. Reddest Sr. LOST DOG CREEK - Orville O. Reddest, Sr., 62, Lost Dog Creek, Potato Creek, SD, died February 21, 2003, in Interior, SD. Orville O. Reddest, Sr. was born on March 16, 1940, at Lost Dog Creek to Eugene J. & Ellen (Hollow Head) Reddest. He attended Potato Creek Day School and Rosebud Boarding School in Mission, SD. He worked as a ranch hand and for the BIA Road Department. He was a lay minister for the St. Timothy Episcopal Church for 25 years and merged this with his Lakota Spirituality into one red road. He found great meaning in sharing his spiritual knowledge, which allowed him to travel throughout the United States and to meet people he called KOLA. Following his vision he started the Lost Dog Creek Sundance in 2001 with the guidance of medicine man, Earl Swift Hawk, and his late father Eugene Reddest and Mr. Tommy Crow. In his youth he was a grass dancer and a singer of the Lakota roadsider singers drum group. He was very active with his children in sports and student & staff rodeos. He served as CHS Board Member. Survivors include his special partner, Ramona Bonnin and her son James Reynolds and Ruth White Lance, all of Lost Dog Creek, SD; the mother of Orville's six children, Wilma Leonard, Martin, SD; Orville's six children: Orville Reddest, Jr., Lost Dog Creek, LaVonne and son-in-law Virgil Randall, Piedmont, Cornell and daughter-in-law Angel Reddest, No Flesh Community, Ivan and daughter-in-law Deanna Reddest of American Horse Creek, Tilden and daughter-in-law Tonia Reddest, Wanblee, and Sgt. Michelle Reddest of the U.S. Army; four sisters, Andrea Marshall, Wall, SD, Flora Bullman, Lost Dog Creek, Diane Lynch, Wall, SD, Gwen Bullman, Lost Dog Creek; thirteen grandchildren and an enormous number of nieces, nephews and several grandchildren he called Takojas. He was preceded in death by his parents, Eugene and Ellen Reddest; four brothers: Eugene Thomas, Virgil, Cleveland and P.F.C. Wyndell J. Reddest. A two-night wake begins 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, February 26, 2003, at Little Wound Elementary School Gym at Kyle, SD. Funeral Services will begin 10 a.m. Friday, February 28, 2003, at Little Wound School, with the Revs. Cordelia Red Owl, Lyle Noisy Hawk and Willard Kills In Water officiating. Traditional Lakota Services by Mr. John Around Him and Mr. Tommy Crow. Burial will follow at St. Timothy's Episcopal Cemetery, Potato Creek. Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements. Copyright c. 2003 the Rapid City Journal. -=-=-=- February 19, 2003 Clayton Paytiamo Clayton Paytiamo, a lifelong resident of Towaoc, passed away Saturday, Feb. 15, 2003, from injuries sustained in an auto accident. He was 35. A funeral service will be held today, Feb. 18, at 10 a.m., in the Cortez Four Corners Funeral Chapel. Terry Knight and Chairman Judy Knight-Frank will officiate. Interment will follow in the Cortez Cemetery. Clayton "Bones" Paytiamo was born to Howard and Rose Ann (Williams) Paytiamo July 31, 1967, in Cortez. He attended elementary school in Cortez and finished his education at the Sherman Indian School in Orange County, Calif. Mr. Paytiamo worked as a laborer in construction most of his life. He was a member of the Native American Church, and was a Fire Keeper in the Bear Dance ceremonies. He was a master at video games, enjoyed basketball, and was an excellent artist. Drawing was his favorite media. Mr. Paytiamo was a positive person who always put other people's needs before his own. He was very close to his family. Clayton "Bones" Paytiamo is survived by his father, Howard Paytiamo of Tse Bonito, N.M.; mother, Rose Ann Paytiamo of Towaoc; brothers: Cordell Paytiamo and wife, Rechanda, and Keith Paytiamo, all of Towaoc; sisters: Denise Butler of Cortez, and Shannon Paytiamo of Towaoc; other relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by his uncle, Eugene Knight; an aunt, Mary Whiteman, and his grandparents, Mrs. and Mrs. Jim Williams. Cortez Four Corners Funeral Directors, Hale & Gerken is serving the family. Copyright c. 2003, the Cortez Journal. -=-=-=- February 21, 2003 Pearl Walking Sky Pearl Walking Sky, longtime Ponca City resident, went home to live eternity with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on Thursday morning, Feb. 20, 2003, from the Integris Blackwell Regional Hospital. She was 81. An evening prayer service will be at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Otoe-Missouria Tribal Complex in Red Rock. The traditional funeral feast will be held at noon on Sunday, Feb. 23, at the Otoe-Missouria Cultural Center with burial following in the Otoe-Missouria Tribal Cemetery. Arrangements are under direction of Grace Memorial Chapel. Pearl Margaret White was born on June 19, 1921, in Red Rock, the daughter of Corbett and Ruth Vetter White. She was reared in Red Rock, graduating from Red Rock High School. On Oct. 23, 1942, Pearl was united in marriage to Owen Walking Sky, and the couple continued to make their home in Red Rock. She served her family as a homemaker which gave her real happiness and joy. Pearl loved the Lord and united with the Ponca Indian Baptist Church, where she served faithfully until her health began to fail. She also was a member of the Otoe-Missouria Tribe, the Otoe-Missouria War Mothers and the Post 38 Ladies Auxiliary. She enjoyed singing, attending church services, testifying of the greatness of her Lord and Savior and attending Indian dances. She leaves to cherish her memories, three daughters, Cecelia Preslopski of Dallas, Texas, Dorothea Blueback of Marland and Kay Walking Sky of Red Rock; three sons, Preston Walking Sky of Ponca City, and Woolsey Walking Sky and Corbett Walking Sky, both of Dallas, Texas; two sisters, Doris Hunter of Perkins and Wanda Stoneroad of Oklahoma City; one adopted son, Paul David White of Dallas, Texas; 14 grandchildren; and nine great- grandchildren; as well as numerous other relatives and extended family members. Her husband; one infant daughter, Vera Walking Sky; one son, Alexander Owen Walking Sky; one sister, Julia DeRoin; and two brothers, Nelson and Wallace White, preceded Pearl in death. Casket bearers will be Owen Lee Hawzipta, Alexander Hawzipta, Kelly Jones, Owen Lee Jones, Michael Preslopski and Paul White. February 23, 2003 Nancy LeClair Primeaux WICHITA, Kan. - Nancy LeClair Primeaux, former Ponca City resident, died Thursday, Feb. 20, 2003, at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita. She was 75. Funeral services were held Saturday, Feb. 22, 2003, at the White Eagle United Methodist Church. Burial was in the Ponca Tribal Cemetery. Arrangements were under the direction of Grace Memorial Chapel. Nancy LeClair Primeaux was born April 1, 1927, in Ponca City, the daughter of Michael LeClair and Minnie (Primeaux) LeClair. She received her early education in the old Ponca Indian School of White Eagle. She was united in marriage to Amos Primeaux. She is survived by 3 sons, Anthony Primeaux, Oklahoma City, Roger Primeaux, Wichita and Craig Primeaux, Ponca City; 4 daughters, Minnie Edwards, Opal Primeaux, Ginger Primeaux and Mary Primeaux, all of Wichita; 24 grandchildren; and 16 great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents; husband; three sons, Houston Primeaux Sr., Joseph and Frank Primeaux; three brothers, Napoleon LeClair, Phillip LeClair and Leo LeClair; and three sisters, Henryetta LeClair, Richenda LeClair and Ollie LeClair. Casket bearers were Houston Primeaux Jr., Anthony Primeaux Jr., Amos Kauley, Ricky Goombi, Alfred Gallardo and McKay Kemble. Copyright c. 1998-2003 The Ponca City News. -=-=-=- February 19, 2003 Christine Johnson Christine (Harley) Johnson, 56, of Shawnee died Saturday at an Oklahoma City hospital. She was born Oct. 18, 1946, in Eufaula to Yarkin and Mattie (Francis) Harley. She grew up in Eufaula and attended Chilocco Indian boarding school. She was a homemaker. She also worked as a night supervisor at Shawnee Medical Center Hospital for 11 years before her retirement. She married Charles Johnson on Feb. 5, 1963, in Shawnee. She was a member of the Artussee Indian Baptist Church of Eufaula. She had lived in the Shawnee area since 1976. She was preceded in death by her mother and father. Survivors include her husband of the home; daughters and sons-in-law, Cynthia Johnson, Lisa Johnson and Cecil Begay, Angela Johnson and Duane Ataddlety, all of Shawnee; son, Stanley Johnson of Shawnee; sisters and brothers-in-law, Wilma and Leroy Austin, Lou Downing, and Betty and Sandy Barnett, all of Oklahoma City; brothers, Richard Fields of Shawnee, James Fields of Shawnee and Tim Fields of Denver; 13 grandchildren, Scott Blanchard, Whitney Tiger, Alexis Fields, Kimberly Kernell, Ozzie Johnson, Chelly Kernell, Shania Begay, Mileena Ataddlety, Jacob Ataddlety, Asa Johnson, Charles Johnson, Athena Begay and Kellianne Kernell; numerous nieces and nephews. Graveside services will be 2 p.m. today at Resthaven Memorial Park. Arrangements are under the direction of Resthaven Funeral Home. February 20, 2003 Jeffery Lee Harjo Jeffery Lee Harjo, 43, of Konawa died Tuesday at an Oklahoma City hospital. Survivors include his parents Carlee and Pauline Harjo of Konawa; his wife, Tammy Harjo of the home; one son, Adam Harjo of the home; one daughter, Kimberly Harjo of the home; four brothers, Carl, Terry, Dale and David Harjo, all of Konawa; two sisters, Lahoma and Cecelia Harjo of Konawa; maternal grandmother, Cora Harjo of Sasakwa; and several aunts and uncles and other family and friends. Services will be 2 p.m. Friday at Pentecostal Church of God Indian Mission of Konawa with the Rev. Arthur Wayne Carpitcher. Burial will follow at the Davis Family Cemetery in Sasakwa under the direction of Pickard-Swearingen Funeral Home of Konawa. February 23, 2003 Allan Ray Tiger Allan Ray Tiger, 38, of Aurora, Colo. and formerly of Seminole County, died Wednesday at his home in Aurora. Survivors include his wife, Kathy; brothers, Malcolm Tiger of Holdenville, Glen Tiger of Seminole; sisters, Leona "Sugar" Tiger of Shawnee and Billy-Louise Scott of Shawnee, Maureen Tiger of Holdenville, Madeline Trusty of Denver, Clara "Goode" Tiger of Denver and Betty Tiger of Oklahoma City; stepchildren and many nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. Wake services will be at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Stout-Phillips Funeral Chapel. He will be moved to Middle Creek No. 2 Baptist Church at 9 a.m. Tuesday, and the funeral service will be at 1 p.m. with the Rev. Steve Holata and the Rev. Redmond Wolfe officiating. Burial will follow at Middle Creek No. 2 Baptist Church Cemetery. Arrangements are under the direction of Stout-Phillips Funeral Home of Wewoka. Copyright c. 1997-2003 The Shawnee News-Star. -=-=-=- February 20, 2003 Bonita Camp Funeral services for Bonita Jane Camp, mother of Wewoka resident Pojoe Camp, are scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday at the Sand Creek Eufaula Baptist Church, southwest of Wewoka. Rev. Houston Tiger will officiate. Interment will follow at the Camp Family Cemetery, under the direction of Stout-Phillips Funeral Home of Wewoka. All-night wake services will begin tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Sand Creek Eufaula Baptist Church. Camp died Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2003 at Carl Albert Indian Hospital in Ada at the age of 41. She was born to Leo Little and Dona Mae (Humble) Little on March 20, 1961 in Holdenville. Camp was reared in the Bearden community and graduated from Bearden School. She married Barney Camp, Jr., in January 1981. Camp worked as a certified nurse's aide at Heritage Village Nursing Home in Holdenville until she retired due to illness in 2002. She was preceded in death by her husband, Barney, on Nov. 28, 2001. Camp is survived by her children, Steven Camp and Kenneth Camp, both of Stillwell, Darin Camp, Holdenville, Pojoe Camp, Wewoka, Vicki Camp, Cadillac Warren, Mich., Michelle Robison, Holdenville, and Teresa Camp, Wewoka; her siblings, Jim Humble and Sue Yahola, both of Okemah, Bob Little, Sundown, Texas, Sam Little, Bearden, Jackie Little, Eufaula, and Ann Osborn, Pragule, Ark.; and 10 grandchildren. Pallbearers will be Mrs. Camp's nephews. Camp The Seminole Producer/Copyright c. 1999-2000 Arizona Newspapers Assn. -=-=-=- February 20, 2003 Paul "Munchies" Aguino PAUL 'MUNCHIES' AGUINO , 35, of San Juan Pueblo, died unexpectedly Wednesday. He was preceded in death by his parents, Joe and Reyecita Aguino; one brother, Chris Aguino; and grandmother, Belen Aguino. He is survived by his brothers and sisters, JoAnn Calabaza and husband David of Santo Domingo, Bertha Medina and husband Allen, Peter Aguino and wife Trinnie, Theresa Aguino, Cathie Aguino and companion Felix, and Joseph Aguino all of San Juan Pueblo; goddaughter, Jaden Medina Torres of San Juan Pueblo; and many other relatives and friends. Public visitation will be at 3 p.m. today at the family home in San Juan Pueblo with a rosary to be recited at 7 p.m. Mass will be celebrated at 9 a.m. Friday at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in San Juan Pueblo with burial to follow at the San Juan Pueblo Cemetery. DeVargas Funeral Home of the Espanola Valley. Agapita Moya AGAPITA MOYA , 80, of Nambe Pueblo, died Wednesday. She was preceded in death by her husband, Bernardino Moya and her parents, Santiago and Antonita Garcia. She is survived by her children, Richard Montoya and wife Sherie of Nambe Pueblo, Yolanda Palomino of La Puente, Calif., Eddie Gallegos and wife Darlena of Kentucky; 10 grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren; a brother, Raymond Garcia and wife of La Puente, Calif.; three sisters, Clara Dalton of California, Mary Anaya of Santa Fe, and Frances Enrique of Ingelwood, Calif.; and many other relatives and friends. A rosary will be held at 7 p.m. today at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Nambe Pueblo. Mass will be at 9 a.m. Friday at the same church. Burial will follow at the Nambe Pueblo Cemetery. Salazar Family of Block-Salazar Mortuary. February 21, 2003 Robert E. Ebelacker ROBERT E. EBELACKER , 80, of Santa Clara Pueblo, died Wednesday following a brief illness. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army. He retired from Zia Co. after many years of service and was a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association. He was preceded in death by his wife, Virginia Ebelacker. He is survived by his sons, Richard Ebelacker and wife Yvonne of Santa Clara, and James Ebelacker and wife Cindy of Alaska; four grandchildren; one great-grandson; brother, Bill Ebelacker; and many other relatives and friends. Visitation will be at 3 p.m. today at the Margaret Tafoya family residence in Santa Clara with a rosary to follow at 7 p.m. Mass will be held at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Santa Clara Catholic Church. Burial will follow at the Pueblo Cemetery. DeVargas Funeral Home of the Espanola Valley. Brandi Romero BRANDI ROMERO , 15, of Pojoaque, died unexpectedly Tuesday. She was a student at Pojoaque Middle School. She was recently crowned Snowball Queen. She is survived by her mother, Dawna Romero; brother, Dillan Romero; godparents, Pat and Karen Brown of South Carolina; and many other relatives and friends. Visitation will be held at 5 p.m. today in the Sangre de Cristo Chapel of DeVargas Funeral Home with a rosary to follow at 7 p.m. Mass will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Pojoaque. Burial will follow at the Pojoaque Cemetery. DeVargas Funeral Home of the Espanola Valley. Copyright c. 1997 - 2003 Albuquerque Journal: Albuquerque, New Mexico. -=-=-=- February 23, 2003 Wilson Zospah Sr. Oct. 27, 1921 - Feb. 15, 2003 Wilson, Zospah Sr., 81, of White River, Ariz., passed away Saturday, Feb. 15, 2003, in Show Low, Ariz. He was born Oct. 27, 1921, in Lake Valley. He was of the Sleeping Rock People, born for the Water Flows Together clan. He is survived by his sisters, Annie Gus of Carson and Mary Sandoval of Lake Valley; and brother, Leo Padilla of Albuquerque. A two-night wake will be held Thursday and Friday, Feb. 27 and 28, 2003, at the Zospah family home in Carrizo, Ariz. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m., Saturday, March 1, 2003 on the White Mountain Apache Reservation in Carrizo. Interment will be on the family plot in Carrizo. Carrizo is located on Highway 60, between Show Low and Globe, Ariz. Copyright c. 1999-2003 MediaNews Group, Inc./Farmington, NM. -=-=-=- February 20, 2003 Helen Holley Casares Funeral services for Helen Holley Casares, who died Saturday in Battle Mountain, will be held at 1 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21, at the Battle Mountain Indian Colony. Interment will be at the Battle Mountain Cemetery. Copyright c. 2003 Elko Daily/Elko, NV. -=-=-=- February 18, 2003 Theresa Asepermy "Dot" Pilas Born on March 27, 1936 in Apache, Ok she passed away in the presence of her loving family on February 12, 2003 at Kaiser South in Sacramento, CA. At age 66, she was a Sacramento resident for 46 years. Terry (Dot) was a member of the Comanche Tribe and a charter member of the Comanche Indian Veteran's Association (CIVA). She was also of Kiowa descent. Terry (Dot) graduated from Apache High School in 1954 and in 1955 she entered the United States Air Force (then known as the WAF-Woman's Air Force) where she served until 1957. She attained the rank of Airman 1st class. From 1968 until her retirement in 2001 she worked for Sacramento County's Department of Human Assistance as a Human Service Specialist. She was the first Native American Special Skills worker for the Department serving a community she loved. Terry loved to travel, attend cultural events, dance, and spend time with her family. Terry was preceded in death by her parents Gorge (Sr) and Hattie Asepermy, her brothers, Curtis and George (Jr) Asepermy, and her sister Yvonne Asepermy Evans. Survivors include her three daughters and son-in-laws, Debbie and Jesse Treadway; Beverly Pilas and Lloyd Lee; Gail Pilas and Mark Salinas, her four grandchildren, Amber Martinez, Christina Horrigan, David Reyna, and Erika Salinas, her two great-grandchildren Melissa Mosqueda, and Christina Garcia, and her beloved dog Trixie, all of Sacramento, CA.; her five sisters, Fern Tosee of Lawrence, Kansas; Ruth Myers of Devol, OK.; Gloria Caudillo of Lawton, OK.; Frankie Gooday of Owasso, OK, and Tomah Yeahquo of Apache, OK and her brother, Roy "Bo-Ti" Asepermy of Apache, OK. Terry held a special place in her heart for her many nieces and nephews, her cousin Leatrice Jay of Fort Cobb, OK., and her many friends at the Department of Human Assistance. Friends are invited to attend Visitation Tuesday, February 18, 2003, 10am-8pm and Wednesday, February 19, 2003, 10am-8pm with Recitation of the Rosary on Wednesday, 6pm, all at East Lawn Andrews & Greilich Mortuary, 3939 Fruitridge Road, Sacramento. A Mass of Christian burial will be held Thursday, February 20, 2003 at 9:00 am at Saint Rose's Catholic Church, 5961 Franklin Blvd. Entombment to follow at Saint Mary's Cemetery in the Veteran's Court of Honor. The family wishes to thank the staff at Kaiser South for the kind, compassionate care they gave their loved one in her final days, may God bless them. Copyright c. 2003 The Sacramento Bee. -=-=-=- Golden Triangle On-Line Obituaries The following obituaries appeared in the Cut Bank Pioneer Press, Shelby Promoter or Glacier Reporter this week. February 21, 2003 Jesse James Brown Jesse James Brown was born July 30, 1981, to Andrea Faye Blixt Brown and Thomas Lee Brown in Kalispell. He joined his mother Feb. 10 due to injuries from an automobile accident. Jesse was married to Tina Diaz for three and a half years; during that time Destiny Davina Brown was born July 4, 2002. He was also a great father to Dakota Wynn Brown, born April 4, 2000. Wake services were held Wednesday, Feb. 12, in the Elmo Hall, with the rosary Wednesday evening. Mass of the Resurrection was held Thursday, Feb. 13, in the Elmo Hall, with Father Gary Reller officiating. Burial followed on the Brown property at Pablo. Pallbearers were Bob Watt, Harold Mitchell Jr., Sheldon Reum, Ken Griffin, Wynn Lindquist and Jon Blixt. The cross bearer was Trestin Lindquist. Arrangements under the direction of Grogan Funeral Home, Polson. During his life he loved his children, wife and fixing cars. His other interests included motorcycles, racing cars, playing video games, hiking, camping and horseback riding. Jesse was a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and a descendent of the Blackfeet Nation. He was preceded in death by his mother, Andrea Faye Blixt Brown; his paternal grandfather, Harvey Brown; a cousin, Johnny Hartford; his paternal aunt, Cheryl Brown; his maternal great grandmother, Mary Glover; and maternal grandfather, Porky McClure; along with his father-in-law, Gil Leano. He is survived by his wife, Tina; children, Destiny and Dakota; mother- in-law, Willow Diaz; his father, Thomas Brown of Browning; brothers, Justin Brown of Pablo, Kyle Brown and Tony Brown of Browning; his paternal grandmother, Alpha Brown; uncle and aunt Lane and Leta Kennedy; and other family members, Gary and Serena Brown, Rae Ann Cline and family, Thomas Hartford and family, Gene Grant and family, Jack Parrent and family, and Mike Brown. Other relatives are his maternal grandmother, Marjorie Blixt; maternal grandfathers, Jimmy Blixt of Niarada, and Jerry Nicholai of Hot Springs; maternal aunts, Leslie Snell, Chuckie McClure, Charlene Yellow Kidney, Dureen Leo and Carla Pefley; and maternal uncles Shawn Blixt, Jonathan Blixt and Zach Nicolai. Copyright c. 2003 Golden Triangle Newspapers. -=-=-=- February 21, 2003 James Walking Chief FORT BELKNAP - James Walking Chief, 95, a retired rancher, died of natural causes Wednesday at a Havre care center. Wake and rosary are 7 this evening at Medicine Bear Lodge in Lodge Pole. Funeral Mass is 11 a.m. Saturday at Medicine Bear Lodge, with burial in Lodge Pole Cemetery. Edwards Funeral Home of Chinook is in charge of arrangements. Survivors include a son, Curtis Walking Chief of Harlem; stepsons Lee Manuel of Havre and Kim Norguay of Harlem; stepdaughters Rose Doney of Hays, Vivian Anderson of Havre, Cheryl Coblin of Boston, Sandra Nelson of Chinook and Birdie Sanchez of Flandreau, S.D. He was preceded in death by his wife, Ruth Ironman, in 1992; and a stepdaughter, Dorothy Sanchez, in 2001. February 25, 2003 Duane L. White Hawk Poplar native Duane L. White Hawk, 44, who enjoyed hunting, fishing and working on cars, died Saturday at the Deaconess Hospital in Billings after a lengthy illness. Wake services are Wednesday at the Wolf Point Community Hall. His funeral is 2 p.m. Thursday at the Community Hall, with burial in Riverside Cemetery near Brockton. A dinner will be held at the Community Hall following the burial. Clayton Memorial Chapel is handling arrangements. Survivors include his wife Denise White Hawk of Wolf Point; sisters Robin White Hawk and Tanya Eagle, both of Wolf Point; three brothers, Marvin White Hawk and Warren White Hawk, both of Wolf Point, and Alvin Eagle of Poplar; seven daughters, Donna Big Leggins, Dallas Big Leggins, Skyla Weston, Starla Murphy, Tosha White Hawk, Tyleene White Hawk, and Charletta White Hawk; and one son Duane L. White Hawk Jr., all of Wolf Point; stepchildren Julia Birthmark of Wolf Point and Johnathan Weinberger of Poplar; and numerous grandchildren. Copyright c. 2003 Great Falls Tribune, a division of Lee Enterprises. -=-=-=- February 19, 2003 Joseph Walter Ewack Ocean Man First Nation, SK EWACK - Joseph Walter (Thunder Sounding Good) of the Ocean Man First Nation passed away at the age of 82 after a long battle with cancer at the Weyburn General Hospital on Monday, February 17, 2003. He was predeceased by his step-father Chester Ewack and mother Katie Ewack, and his father Robert Big Eagle, his brothers Arthur Ewack, Lloyd Big Eagle, Lawrence Big Eagle, Leonard Big Eagle, and sisters Laura Big Eagle and Flora Big Eagle Sandy. Great grandsons Joshua Nakoda Ironstar (Luta Hokshila Oyate) and Gerald Cleveland III (Wakan Mahto). Joe leaves to mourn his loving wife of 61 years, Rose Alice Ewack of the Ocean Man First Nation. Also, his sisters Gladys McArthur of the Pheasant Rump Nakoda Nation, Leona Kroescamp of Regina, and Lillian (Luxy) Big Eagle, of the Ocean Man First Nation. Two daughters, Marion Standingready (Don) and Adella Ewack (Oliver) both of the Ocean Man First Nation. Grandchildren William Standingready, Tim Standingready (Terri), Carla Bison (Roy), Kim Ewack (Brian), Yvette Ewack (Thomas), Lisa Ewack (Ted), Trevor Ewack, Ernest Standingready (Corrine), Tammy Ewack and Ryan Palmer. He also leaves to mourn 30 great-grandchildren, 3 great-great- -grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews, and many other relatives and friends. Joe Ewack was born on February 16, 1921 at the White Bear First Nation. He was raised by his Shewalk Grandparents. His grandparents and parents instilled strong cultural knowledge and traditions of the Nakoda, Cree and Saulteaux Cultures. He met Rose at the White Bear First Nation and in 1941 they were married. Joe voluntarily enlisted with the Canadian Army and was in the Regina Rifle Regiment and later transferred to the Royal Winnipeg Rifles and was immediately sent overseas. While he was overseas he experienced the June 6, 1944 landing in Normandy. He was captured in battle and spent a year in a Prisoner of War camp. He was discharged in 1945. After returning from the war Joe worked as a laborer on various farms in the Carlyle area. He then worked for tourism at Kenossee Lake for 12 years, after that he worked in White Bear as Band Administrator for 12 years. Upon retirement he took up farming and cattle full time. He loved horses and was an accomplished horseman because of his belief in the Horse Dance Ceremony. Throughout his life he practiced and participated in many cultural ceremonies and activities. He especially cherished the Pow Wow way of life and he spent his lifetime teaching his children and grandchildren these ways. Thunder Sounding Good will be sadly and dearly missed by his family, relatives, and friends. Funeral arrangements are in the care of Orsted Funeral Home Ltd. of Carlyle, Sk. The Traditional Wake will be held on Thursday, February 20/03 at 4:00 p.m. and the Funeral Services will be held on Friday, February 21/03 at 2:00 p.m. both will take place at the Ocean Man Band Hall. Please no children to attend in accordance with First Nations customs Margaret Elsie Goodwill Standing Buffalo First Nation, SK GOODWILL - Margaret Elsie (Mahpiya Dutawin "Red Cloud Woman") passed away at home on the Standing Buffalo First Nation, at the age of 56 years. She was predeceased by her parents, John and Mary-Rose; children: son Kevin; Margaret, Naiomi, Marliss and a baby boy, all in infancy; brothers: Allen, Elmer and Clifford; sister, Marjorie. Margaret is survived by her friend and companion, David; children: Grace (Austin), Brent, Warren (Darla), Jackie (T. John), Virginia (Floyd), Eric and Wilfred; 22 grandchildren and two great-granddaughters; sisters: Delvina (Tony), Rosabelle (Vic), Eleanor (Bob); and numerous nieces and nephews. A Wake will be held at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 19, 2003 at the Standing Buffalo Gymnasium. A Funeral Service will take place 2:00 p.m. Thursday, February 20, 2003 at the Standing Buffalo Gymasium. Interment to follow at Standing Buffalo Cemetery. Funeral arrangements entrusted to VICTORIA AVENUE FUNERAL HOME, 761-2727. February 21, 2003 Christopher Lyall (Strongeagle) Cyr Gordon's First Nations , SK CYR (Strongeagle) - On Wednesday, February 19, 2003, Christopher Lyall Cyr (Strongeagle), father, son, brother, nephew, uncle, was called home by the Creator at the age of 29. Predeceased by grandparents Fredrick and Oral Cyr, mother Donna Cyr, sister Denice Strongeagle, brother Russell Tuckanow. Left to cherish his memory special friend Joy Desnomie, son Chazz; aunts that were his moms, Pat Pratt, Marlene Tuckanow, (dad Ernest Tuckanow Sr.), Isabelle Cyr (Russell); grandparents Clarence and Alice Pratt, uncles: Dale Stonechild, Clarence Cyr, Richard Cyr; brothers: Fredrick Strongeagle, Jason Strongeagle, Tyson Pratt, Lee Pratt; sisters Renee Strongeagle, Donna Strongeagle; adopted brothers Ernest Jr., Michael Dean, Fred and Darcy Tuckanow (Okanese); adopted sisters: Dawn and Christine Tuckanow (Okanese) and aunt Erma Cyr and family as well as numerous aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. A Traditional Wake will be held at Gordon's First Nations Gymnasium on Friday, February 21, 2003 at 3:00 p.m. Traditional Service will be held at Gordon's First Nations Gymnasium on Saturday, February 22, 2003 at 2:00 p.m. with Rev. Art Anderson and Rev. Dale Gilman, officiating. Interment to follow in the Gordon's First Nation Cemetery. Arrangements are entrusted to Regina Funeral Home (Phone 789-8850) February 25, 2003 Wallace Bruce (White Thunderbird) Taypotat Kahkewistahaw First Nation, SK TAYPOTAT - It is with deep regret that the family announces the passing of Wallace Bruce Taypotat, White Thunderbird. His courageous battle against cancer ended on Friday, February 21, 2003. Wallace was born June 2, 1949. He is predeceased by his mother Clara Taypotat (1982), father Horace Taypotat (2000), brother Wilbert Taypotat (1982), son Michael Alexon in infancy, mother-in-law Ella Louison (1992), father-in-law James Balogh (1990) and special brother-in-law Bradley Louison (1983). Wallace is survived by his loving wife Darlene; two sons: Wallace Alexson and Greg (Miriam) Taypotat; two daughters: Carrie (Joshua) Taypotat and Shayna Taypotat; four grandchildren; brother Carl Taypotat; sisters: Olive Taypotat, Elsie (Bruce) Taypotat and Norris (Charles) Buffalocalf; adopted father Joseph Crowe; adopted sister Sharon (Wayne) Green; adopted son Cadmus Delorme and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and in-laws, the Louison family. Wallace was an avid golfer, pool player, pitcher, hockey player, as well as an excellent singer and guitar player. He was a Band Councillor for 18 years until his forced retirement due to his illness. The last two years he deeply missed golfing and his friends. Wallace was a humble and determined man, who gave his all to everything he attempted. The family would like to thank Yorkton Tribal Council and Justice Unit for their understanding and support. Also, all the people, including Band members, that offered prayers, ceremonies and food throughout the period of his illness. The wake will be held in the Kahkewistahaw Complex, Kahkewistahaw First Nation on Monday, February 24, 2003 at 4:00 p.m. and the funeral service will be on Tuesday, February 25, 2003 at 2:00 p.m. Interment in the Kahkewistahaw Cemetery. Copyright c. 2000-2003 Regina Leader Post Group Inc. --------- "RE: Blackfeet agree to talks with BIA" --------- Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2003 08:17:06 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TALK with BIA" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.montanaforum.com/indices/tribal.php?nnn=5 Blackfeet agree to talks with BIA Associated Press February 20, 2003 BROWNING (AP) - The Blackfeet Tribal Council agreed Wednesday to give negotiations a chance to resolve a dispute with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and take the issue to federal court only if that doesn't work. Earlier, the council threatened to seek an injunction against the BIA's weekend takeover of the tribe's police department. Before Wednesday's closed-door council meeting, tribal attorney Joe Mcay said tribal leaders hoped to work out an agreement in the best interests of all involved. Armed BIA officers took over the Blackfeet law enforcement offices Saturday, confiscating officers' guns, badges and uniforms. Two years ago, a BIA investigation determined that the Blackfeet police department was plagued by mismanaged budgets, political pressure from the tribal council and improperly hired staff. In a meeting Monday, the tribe refused to grant the BIA authority to enforce lesser crimes which fall under tribal law, such as child endangerment, misdemeanor assaults and public intoxication. As a result, the tribal court dismissed 22 cases Monday and nine cases on Tuesday, said Ed Naranjo, BIA special agent in charge of the six-state region that includes Montana. Robert Ecoffey, the bureau's director of BIA law enforcement, flew in from Albuquerque, N.M., Wednesday afternoon in an apparently successful effort to jump start negotiations. "We had a constructive meeting with the tribe today and we will meet again tomorrow," said Brent LaRocque, a supervisory special agent from Albuquerque who spoke on Ecoffey's behalf after Wednesday's meeting. The council passed a resolution to allow the BIA to enforce tribal laws, but it was unclear when it would take effect. Still unresolved was the council's request to have its 37 employees work alongside the new bureau staff. "Those are the issues we don't wish to discuss right now because we're still working with the tribe," LaRocque said. Tribal members outside were frustrated at the closed session. "They're supposed to represent the people, yet they won't allow us into the meeting, " said Pat Schildt, a convenience store owner who heads up Blackfeet Against Fraud and Corruption, one of several activist groups on the reservation. Copyright c. 2003 Associated Press. Copyright c. 2000-2002 Montana Standard and Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Wounded Knee Occupation still stirs Questions" --------- Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2003 08:32:106 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WK-II" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.yankton.net/stories/022103/new_20030221042.shtml 30 Years Later, Wounded Knee Occupation Still Stirs Questions By CARSON WALKER Associated Press Writer February 21, 2003 WOUNDED KNEE - Walter Littlemoon sees two trails of history where his late mother's house once stood in this sparsely populated community on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. A smaller track leads up the hill to a destroyed well that supplied his family with water. Next to it lies a deeper, wider trench dug in 1973 during the 71-day occupation by members of the American Indian Movement. Littlemoon said AIM members crawled in the trench when moving to and from their bunker up the hill to avoid the sight of federal agents perched on the hills around. As Thursday's 30th anniversary of the occupation's start approaches, Littlemoon has little good to say about it. AIM members destroyed his mother's house and numerous other buildings, and gave nothing back to the community, he said. In his view, the siege was more antics than heroics. "This is where I grew up. (There's) nothing left after the occupation," Littlemoon said. "They have killed us emotionally, psychologically and the memories we grew up with. They scattered families all over the country with their so- called acts of bravery. They killed families and friendships and replaced that whole thing with a great big devastated life." His perspective, however, runs contrary to that of some AIM leaders, who think the federal government shares some responsibility for the damage. "It was the action of the U.S. government which led to the entire fight and the '73 occupation," said Dennis Banks, AIM's national chairman. Another AIM founder, Vernon Bellecourt, acknowledges the price to local Indians was high. But it was worth it, he said. "There's no doubt that it brought about a certain amount of division in the community. And there are people that have bad feelings about what happened at Wounded Knee," Bellecourt said. The social, economic and political gains outweigh the loss, he said. "The whole stand that was taken at Wounded Knee brought about a new consciousness among Indian people across the country," said Bellecourt. "I would like to think that outweighs the negative aspect of what happened at Wounded Knee in 1973." AIM members and others plan to mark the 30th anniversary of the occupation Thursday and Friday at Wounded Knee. Julie Shot To Pieces, also of Wounded Knee, said they are welcome. But she hopes they recognize the emotional hurt left behind. She would like them to help pay for a new community building so people have a place to gather. "They make money on the name Wounded Knee but nothing else comes back in here," she said. Bellecourt thinks money toward a community building is unlikely. He and most others fight to pay bills like everyone else, he said. "In other words, the struggle goes on," said Bellecourt. Even the planned anniversary is causing strife for some of the elderly who are worried there might be trouble again, Littlemoon said. "It's probably best for the community that they didn't come back," he said. Littlemoon's partner, Jane Ridgway, is helping him write a book about Lakota traditions and his upbringing on the reservation in hopes it brings understanding to the next generation and healing to those still alive. "It's one thing when it's outsiders. But this was Indians and it broke their spirit," she said. Copyright c. 2003 Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan . --------- "RE: A Challenge to Tribal Sovereignty" --------- Date: Mon 24 Feb 2003 08:10:24 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SOVEREIGNTY" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.journalstar.com/local.php?story_id=25439 In Nevada case, a challenge to tribal sovereignty BY JODI RAVE LEE / Lincoln Journal Star February 24, 2003 Can state police officers search a tribal citizen's reservation home for an alleged off-reservation crime? Floyd Hicks didn't think so. So when Nevada game wardens searched his property for bighorn sheep heads, he sued. And it led the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribes of Nevada to the U.S. Supreme Court. The ruling, handed down more than a year ago, has Native leaders, legal experts and others wondering about the future of tribal jurisdiction. The decision appeared narrow: The high court said tribal courts couldn't assert jurisdiction over civil claims against state officers who enter tribal lands to execute search warrants against tribal members. But its reach is deep. "It really screwed our own tribal law enforcement down here," Hicks said recently. Many observers agree the ruling challenges tribal sovereignty. And they warn it might lead to "highly charged" law enforcement situations in Indian Country. "Until there are additional decisions or statutory clarification, there will be varying interpretations of the scope of the decision," Tracy Toulou, Office of Tribal Justice director at the U.S. Department of Justice, told a Senate committee last July. "In the meantime, I am concerned this ambiguity may become a source of tension between state and tribal law enforcement in some areas." The ruling has "now led many state law enforcement agencies to conclude that they no longer need to cooperate with tribal authorities when serving search warrants or arrest warrants in Indian Country," Minnesota's U.S. Attorney Thomas B. Heffelfinger said in Senate testimony. "This interpretation has now led to conflict between many state and tribal law enforcement agencies." Today, the National Congress of American Indians, the Native American Rights Fund and other federal law experts are drafting a "sovereignty protection" bill they hope will be considered by Congress. Meanwhile, Hicks, 71, recounted this story that took his tribe to the Supreme Court: It starts with the tribe's pheasant manager, the late Pete Marker, who led a big-game hunting expedition in British Columbia some 50 years ago. One of the hunters said to be on the trip, Gen. Omar Bradley - commander during D-Day operations on the Normandy Coast - shot two bighorn sheep, kept them about 10 years, then gave them to Marker. When the tribe offered Marker a home, he decided to get rid of the sheep heads. "He was going to throw them away," Hicks said. "And I helped him move down there and I said, `Heck, give them to me. I'm going to put them on a bale of hay and practice roping on them.' "So that's how I got them." Hicks stored them in junk cars in his yard. In 1990, he came under suspicion of killing a federally protected California bighorn sheep, a misdemeanor under Nevada law. The crime allegedly took place off the reservation. Hicks denied any wrongdoing. Two search warrants were eventually issued to search his home. The first was granted with approval from the tribal court. The officers didn't find the California bighorn they were looking for, but they did find a Rocky Mountain bighorn head, an unprotected species, in his yard. The second warrant - which again produced no evidence - did not require tribal permission. "I told them, `You can't come into my house,' " said Hicks, who worked as a tribal cop for 14 years. "You don't have a valid search warrant. I said, `You have a state warrant and they're not recognizable on reservation land.' " Hicks sued a half-dozen people. His claims against all were dismissed, except for his complaint against the game wardens. His charge: The state wardens trespassed and violated his civil rights. The catch: He sued them in tribal court. A tribal appeals court supported the tribe's jurisdiction. The state of Nevada, in turn, argued in federal court that the tribal court lacked jurisdiction. The case eventually went to the Supreme Court, which ruled federal law "neither prescribes nor suggests that state officers cannot enter a reservation to investigate or prosecute such violations." Said Hicks: "I thought I was right when we started. When we went to the Supreme Court, they dug up some damn law we never heard of. Actually, we have no rights unless they OK it. That's the federal government." Copyright c. 2003, Lincoln Journal Star. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: BLM ends roundup of Indian sisters' horses" --------- Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2003 08:17:06 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DANN" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.rgj.com/news/stories/html/2003/02/19/ BLM ends roundup of Indian sisters' horses By Sandra Chereb ASSOCIATED PRESS 2/19/2003 10:36 pm The Bureau of Land Management has completed its latest roundup of hundreds of horses belonging to two Western Shoshone sisters in northeast Nevada, ending the latest chapter in a decades-old land dispute. "It was a long, long haul. We thought they'd never leave," Julie Fishel, a spokeswoman for Mary and Carrie Dann, said Wednesday. Many of the horses remain corralled at the Danns' Crescent Valley ranch while state officials await results of required tests before the animals can be shipped out of state. "It could go very fast or it could be a long, protracted process," state Brand Inspector Jim Connelley said. Ultimately, many of the horses are destined for Southern California, where rancher Slick Gardner has offered them sanctuary at his spread in Buellton, a small town in the Santa Ynez Valley northwest of Santa Barbara. The Danns signed over ownership of the horses to Gardner as they were gathered by the BLM. Gardner has said the horses will not be sold for slaughter. The BLM said 534 horses belonging to the Danns were taken off the range in the roundup that began Feb. 6 and ended Tuesday. "The two main reasons we decided to end the gather at this time are the cost efficiencies of continuing to use a helicopter to bring in dwindling numbers of horses, and the increasing potential to compromise the health of the remaining horses, which are in poor condition," said Bob Abbey, BLM state director. The BLM maintains the Danns have been grazing hundreds of cattle and horses illegally for decades, to the detriment of the range and other ranchers who have permits to graze livestock in the region. In September, the agency seized and sold 227 cattle belonging to the elderly grandmothers. "About 95 percent of the cattle and horses the Danns had on the allotment in trespass are now off the range," said Helen Hankins, BLM field manager in Elko. Hankins said remaining animals would be removed later. "We expect to come back for these horses in a few months," she said. "By reducing the grazing pressure in the area we can expect forage and stream conditions to improve on the allotment." The Danns contend the land still belongs to the Shoshone tribe under the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley and that the BLM has no authority to regulate their grazing practices. In 1993, an international group recognized the Danns for their "courage and perseverance in asserting the rights of indigenous peoples to the land. " They were presented with the "Right Livelihood Award" in Stockholm, Sweden, an award sometimes referred to as the alternative Nobel Prize. More recently, The Organization of American States' Inter-American Commission on Human Rights concluded the federal government has violated the sisters' rights. Fishel said the Danns would continue to press their case in the international arena. Carrie Dann was scheduled to travel to Washington, D.C., next week to attend a special session of the commission on the property rights of indigenous people, Fishel said. Copyright c. Reno Gazette-Journal, a Gannett Co. Inc. --------- "RE: Theft in BIA Bid-Rigging Scheme" --------- Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2003 08:17:06 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BIA-RIGGING" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.sfnewmexican.com/site/news Contractor Admits to Theft in BIA Bid-Rigging Scheme Associated Press February 20, 2003 ALBUQUERQUE - A contractor has pleaded guilty to theft of government property in a bid-rigging scheme with his father-in-law, a U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs contracting officer. Anthony Dohi, in entering his plea Tuesday in federal court in Albuquerque, admitted stealing $48,681. Dohi, 30, of Mesa, Ariz., said the total losses in the scheme were $242,036. Several other charges are to be dismissed as part of a plea deal. Dohi's father-in-law is Stephen Calvin, who was chief contracts administrator for the BIA's southwest region in Albuquerque until he resigned in November 2000 under the threat of being fired. Calvin on Feb. 4 was sentenced to 18 months in prison and was ordered to pay more than $240,000 in restitution for his role in the scheme. He pleaded guilty last Oct. 2 to charges of mail fraud. Calvin, of Scottsdale, Ariz., illegally leaked bidding information on at least four BIA construction contracts, including two at Tesuque and Picuris pueblos in New Mexico, to Dohi's company, authorities said. Calvin also admitted forging bid bonds, payment bonds and performance bonds for Dohi Industries to submit to the BIA because the company lacked the experience and financial ability to secure bonds from legitimate brokers. Dohi's attorney said Dohi believed the bonds were legitimate. Dohi said Tuesday he took an advance payment check, knowing Calvin was his father-in-law. "I did take a contract I know I didn't bid for and ... I didn't understand the aspects of the work," Dohi told U.S. District Judge C. LeRoy Hansen. Calvin, dissatisfied with the standard of living his daughter had with Dohi, rigged the bidding process in Dohi's favor, said Susan Dunleavy, Dohi's attorney. Calvin admitted during his plea haring in October that he manipulated bidding on a $75,000 contract Dohi received to build a diversion dam at Tesuque Pueblo. Dohi's company did not do the work because Dohi had no experience in major construction, court records said. Dohi instead subcontracted the work to BNL Construction of Bosque Farms, which halted work after several Dohi payment checks bounced. The BIA contracted with Dohi Industries to build a bridge at Picuris for $396,000, but the company did not do the work. Dohi subcontracted the project to Puma Construction of Albuquerque, which stopped working because Dohi did not pay, court records said. Authorities then discovered structural deficiencies, requiring the BIA to spend $62,000 to demolish the unfinished overpass before hiring a new contractor. The BIA's final tab for the Picuris project was about $1 million. Copyright c. 2003 Santa Fe New Mexican. --------- "RE: Healthier Living through Traditional Indian Ways" --------- Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2003 08:21:24 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRADITIONAL DIET" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.dl-online.com/fullstory.php?id=185 Healthier living through traditional Indian ways By VICKI L. GERDES vgerdes@dlnewspapers.com February 18, 2003 As any health care professional can tell you, a healthier lifestyle can improve both the length and quality of one's lifespan. On the White Earth Reservation, a group of about a dozen women has come together to promote healthier living through education in traditional methods of farming, foraging, food preparation and preservation, use of medicinal herbs and natural health and beauty aids, nutrition and renewable resources, to name a few. Known as Minwamanji'o, this group of American Indian women meets approximately once a week to share ideas and fellowship as well as making salves, face creams, tinctures and other products with all-natural ingredients. The group also goes on foraging expeditions together, gathering seeds, berries and herbs to be used in cooking healthy, organic meals. "My grandchildren collect herbs and berries right alongside us," said group member Marge Warren. "That's where it starts - with tribal members teaching our children; they learn by watching us." "It's good exercise," added Pam Kroulik, noting that many plants usually regarded as weeds growing in the wild actually have a medicinal application - or a culinary one. "What most people would think of as weeds - you often find out that we can eat them," she continued. Kroulik's own home east of White Earth village is actually constructed using bales of straw - which provide a thick natural insulation that acts to keep the home cool in summer and warm in winter. Straw bales are also being used in the construction of the new Minwamanji'o Center, built on the site of the old mission. Part of the funding to construct the center came from a grant through the Northwest Initiative Fund. Support for the group's efforts has also come from the White Earth Tribal Council, White Earth Health Division, White Earth Diabetes Project, Aki Planning Circle, University of Minnesota Extension Service offices in Becker, Clearwater and Mahnomen counties, Pathways to Education, White Earth Master Gardeners, Northwest Regional Sustainable Development partnership, White Earth Chemical Dependency Program, Giziibii Resource Conservation & Development and White Earth Biology. "The Tribal Council has been very supportive," noted Stephanie Williams, who first became involved with the group through Project Grow, an initiative begun several years ago to help provide gardens for reservation residents. "About 437 families participated in it," she noted - which proved that there was a definite interest in natural foods and healthier eating. "We started this group on our own, but the tribe saw the benefit of what we were doing and kept me on (to work with the project) full-time." In addition to growing gardens and foraging for food, seeds and herbs, the group has also formed a natural foods buying club. About once a month, a member of the club travels to the Blooming Prairie Natural Foods store in Minneapolis to purchase natural foods for everyone in the group, according to member Evelyn Monserud. "If there's a large enough order the store will deliver (to White Earth), " she added, though Williams noted that a minimum order of $750 is required. The group has also built about five greenhouses for raising their own natural foods, herbs and flowers. They began planting flowers around the White Earth community about three years ago, as a beautification project. "It's nice to see that some other people are picking it up and starting to plant flowers on their own," Kroulik noted. Some of the group's activities have included canning and basketry workshops, a maple sugar camp in the spring, and herbal medicine workshops that teach how to identify, prepare and use various herbs for medicinal purposes, Warren said. "The other gardening clubs also invite us to their meetings to share information about what we're doing and how we're doing it," she added. "Most of us are master gardeners," Monserud noted. Though most of the group's membership comes from the Ojibwe community around White Earth, "we're looking to get more people involved," Warren said. "Our meetings are open to anyone who's interested," Kroulik added. "Our goal is to get the word out and share the benefits of getting back to a healthier lifestyle with the community. "We are keepers of the earth. We need to learn how to take care of the earth; it will always give something back." For more information, call Pam Kroulik at (218) 983-4325, Stephanie Williams at (218) 983-3130, or e-mail Williams at mukwa@tvutel.com. Created and maintained by DL Newspapers. Copyright c. 2003. --------- "RE: Drill site OK'd in Canyons of the Ancients" --------- Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2003 08:17:06 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DESECRATION" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation Drill site OK'd in monument February 19, 2003 By Katharhynn Heidelberg Cortez Journal CORTEZ - Favorable environmental assessment results have cleared the way for a new drill pad in the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. Questar Exploration and Production Co. of Cortez applied for an Application for Permit to Drill on May 30, 2002. The company, which presently has four wells within monument boundaries, will be drilling for oil and gas. Pad construction began Feb. 11 on the well, which is northwest of Cortez, along Mockingbird Mesa. Some oil and gas development is permitted under the 2000 Canyons of the Ancients National Monument proclamation. But drilling cannot create new impacts that interfere with the monument's management. In a Finding of No Significant Impact issued Feb. 10, monument manager LouAnn Jacobson determined the new well conformed with existing regulations. "It's good news for the entire community," said Dave Nelson, district foreman at Questar. "People don't realize how much money rotates through the community with just one drilling of a well like this." Nelson estimates actual drilling will take two weeks. Once in production, the site will be partially reclaimed, and the pad size will be reduced by one-third. If no oil or gas is found, the site will be completely reclaimed. Nelson could not say how productive the well might be. Questar is responsible for ensuring reclamation is done according to Bureau of Land Management specifications, said Dave Swanson, BLM physical scientist. The well site is located on a grazing lease. Drilling will mean the loss of 4 acres for grazing and wildlife habitat. The habitat was found to already be fragmented by existing roads, well pads and pipelines. The biggest effect on grazing would be the loss of vegetation on the acreage, currently covered with sage and scrub pinon. The Hopi Cultural Preservation Office had asked that Questar's permit application be denied. "The proposed action is inconsistent with our support for, and the very name of the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, as well as the preservation of the resources and values for which it was proclaimed," an unidentified tribal representative wrote. Copyright c. 2002, the Durango Herald. --------- "RE: Crow Leader wants to dig Tribe out of Debt" --------- Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2003 08:21:24 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CROW RESOURCES" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2003/02/18 Crow leader wants to dig tribe out of debt By JAMES HAGENGRUBER Of The Gazette Staff February 18, 2003 ALBUQUERQUE - A contractor has pleaded guilty to theft of government property in a bid-rigging scheme with his father-in-law, a U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs contracting officer. Anthony Dohi, in entering his plea Tuesday in federal court in Albuquerque, admitted stealing $48,681. Dohi, 30, of Mesa, Ariz., said the total losses in the scheme were $242,036. Several other charges are to be dismissed as part of a plea deal. Dohi's father-in-law is Stephen Calvin, who was chief contracts administrator for the BIA's southwest region in Albuquerque until he resigned in November 2000 under the threat of being fired. Calvin on Feb. 4 was sentenced to 18 months in prison and was ordered to pay more than $240,000 in restitution for his role in the scheme. He pleaded guilty last Oct. 2 to charges of mail fraud. Calvin, of Scottsdale, Ariz., illegally leaked bidding information on at least four BIA construction contracts, including two at Tesuque and Picuris pueblos in New Mexico, to Dohi's company, authorities said. Calvin also admitted forging bid bonds, payment bonds and performance bonds for Dohi Industries to submit to the BIA because the company lacked the experience and financial ability to secure bonds from legitimate brokers. Dohi's attorney said Dohi believed the bonds were legitimate. Dohi said Tuesday he took an advance payment check, knowing Calvin was his father-in-law. "I did take a contract I know I didn't bid for and ... I didn't understand the aspects of the work," Dohi told U.S. District Judge C. LeRoy Hansen. Calvin, dissatisfied with the standard of living his daughter had with Dohi, rigged the bidding process in Dohi's favor, said Susan Dunleavy, Dohi's attorney. Calvin admitted during his plea haring in October that he manipulated bidding on a $75,000 contract Dohi received to build a diversion dam at Tesuque Pueblo. Dohi's company did not do the work because Dohi had no experience in major construction, court records said. Dohi instead subcontracted the work to BNL Construction of Bosque Farms, which halted work after several Dohi payment checks bounced. The BIA contracted with Dohi Industries to build a bridge at Picuris for $396,000, but the company did not do the work. Dohi subcontracted the project to Puma Construction of Albuquerque, which stopped working because Dohi did not pay, court records said. Authorities then discovered structural deficiencies, requiring the BIA to spend $62,000 to demolish the unfinished overpass before hiring a new contractor. The BIA's final tab for the Picuris project was about $1 million. Copyright c. The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Bush signs Bill including Sandia Land Settlement" --------- Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2003 19:36:04 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SANDIA CLAIM" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.kobtv.com/archive/2003/february/21/sandia_settlement.htm Bush signs bill including Sandia land settlement 02/21/2003 10:23:45 (Albuquerque-AP) - President Bush has signed into law the settlement of the long-running dispute over Sandia Mountain. Sandia Pueblo officials say their people worshipped on the mountain for generations. Sandia Pueblo disagreed with where a U.S. surveyor placed the pueblo boundaries. The pueblo let it go for years because members were free to use the land. But over the years, Forest Service activity made it increasingly difficult for pueblo members to worship in privacy. The pueblo, the Forest Service and Sandia Peak Tramway negotiated a settlement in late 2002. It allows the pueblo to veto new forest uses and have access for hunting, gathering and religious purposes. The agreement leaves the land under Cibola National Forest control, gives homeowners in the area clear title to their property and allows public recreation. Copyright c. 2003 KOB-TV Interactive Media, a division of Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc. --------- "RE: Disappearance of Ancient Puebloans Revisited" --------- Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2003 08:21:24 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ANCIENTS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.insidedenver.com/drmn/technology/article/ Mysteries revisited Scientists speculate on the disappearance of ancient Puebloans By Gary Gerhardt, Rocky Mountain News February 18, 2003 Hostilities, oppressive governments, droughts and nomadic migrations all have contributed to one of the Southwest's most intriguing mysteries: What caused the ancestral Puebloans to abandon their villages and disappear? "People say the ancient people just disappeared around 1300 because we find abandoned ruins at Chaco and Mesa Verde and Aztec and not the culture of the people," Linda Cordell of the University of Colorado said at the American Association for the Advancement of Science seminar Monday. "But that's like looking at a ghost town of the 1800s and believing the people ceased to exist just because they aren't there anymore. "In reality, those ancient people simply moved to the south and east and you will find their descendants can be found in the Arapaho, Apache, Navajo and other modern Native American tribes." She said the Zuni and Hopi both feel they are connected to Chaco Canyon in New Mexico by an umbilical cord. Margaret Nelson of Arizona State University said one mistake anthropologists made was believing they could continue to trace ancient culture through one form of pottery. "In the case of the peoples of the Mimbres in southern New Mexico, they were known for their beautiful black and white pottery," she said. "Around 1130 A.D., all of the small classic villages were depopulated and they 'disappeared' never to be seen again." In fact, she said, they simply moved into small single-family type abodes for a number of years, picked up new pottery techniques from other tribes including the use of color, and re-emerged in the Black Mountain Villages, which were much larger villages. "They didn't leave," she said. "They just modified into the camps and when we see them 100 years later, they don't look like the same people." Mark Varien of the Crow Canyon Archeology Center, said, "At Chaco Canyon, we find more or less the center of the civilization that flourished from 850 to 1150 A.D. "It is marked by great houses rather than cliff dwellings like were found 150 years later at Mesa Verde." He said 95 percent of the people lived in single-family dwellings and it took an enormous amount of labor to construct the great houses, which were probably used for government offices, as storage areas and for housing for no more than 20 people or so. "We don't know exactly what made the people move from the area around 1125 A.D., but the people may have rebelled against building great houses, there may have been drought or other environmental problems, or a political or spiritual problem," he said. But it is interesting that some moved north to Aztec Ruins in New Mexico, others south to Casas Grandes in Mexico. And there is a straight line north to south between all three areas. What happened to the Puebloans? - The mystery: Ancient people from Southwest disappeared around 1300. - An answer: They could have moved because of environmental, political or spiritual problems and assimilated into other modern American Indian tribes. gerhardtg@RockyMountainNews.com or (303)892-5202 Copyright c. 2003 The E.W. Scripps Co. --------- "RE: School goals fail Native Americans" --------- Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2003 08:17:06 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SCHOOLS FAIL" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story School goals fail Native Americans By BECKY PALLACK Sun Staff Reporter 02/19/2003 What makes a school fail? According to data analysis by the Arizona School Boards Association, minority demographics are the single biggest reason why schools fail to meet the state's education standards and measure up on standardized tests. The state's new school accountability initiative, called Arizona Learns, labeled more than half of the state's 47 schools receiving Native American impact aid as "underperforming." Schools that receive the aid have high concentrations of "language minority" students, or students who are learning English as a second language. Tuba City Unified School District Associate Superintendent Harold Begay said these 47 schools are "being lumped" into an educational melting pot with all districts statewide, regardless of Native American students' unique situation as language minorities and dual-language learners. In Arizona's underperforming schools, 80 percent of students are language minorities, 71 percent are eligible for the federal free or reduced lunch programs (a poverty indicator), and half attend schools where more than 85 percent of students are racial minorities. About 73 percent of students in underperforming schools are Hispanic or Native American. While Begay offers no excuses for his schools' AIMS statistics, he said using Native languages in curricula separate from the state standards could strengthen academic achievement among Native students by capitalizing on tribal culture and history. Arizona Department of Education officials, however, have plans to enforce a more strict "English only" education for students in the state. "The curriculum in public schools is in English. The language that is spoken in our country for commerce and other things is English. That's not to say that another language is not important. In fact, we believe bilingualism is very important," said Margaret Garcia-Dugan, a consultant for the Arizona Department of Education. Begay also fears the state standards will have a negative effect on Native language and culture. "In this era of English-only backlash and school reform initiatives, what is the status and future of Native languages?" he said. "Do we further erode Native language instruction as language maintenance programs to make room for more English language immersion and instruction?" New state schools superintendent Tom Horne said all children who are not proficient in English must learn English as quickly as possible and then be taught in English-language or dual-language classrooms in order to achieve academic success. Horne said he will enforce Prop. 203, known as "English for the Children Arizona," which requires that all students learn English and go to school where lessons are taught in English. One exception to the rule is that students may be taught in English and another language if they already have good English language skills. But many Native students have never been exposed to English before entering a public school. Those students would be placed in English immersion programs, which are intensive language courses designed to bring kids up to speed as quickly as possible. Begay recently organized a roundtable discussion on these issues with Victor Begay, a doctoral student at Arizona State University's Center for Indian Education. The group examined best practices at schools on reservations. It began from the premise that traditional languages of Native Americans are an integral part of their cultures and identities and form the basic medium for the transmission and survival of Native American cultures, literature, histories, religions, political institutions and values. Educators at the discussion said schools should include Native American languages in the foreign language curriculum and should grant proficiency in Native American languages the same full academic credit as proficiency in foreign languages. Horne is organizing his own best practices roundtable this spring. Reporter Becky Pallack may be reached at 556-2261 or by e-mail at bpallack@azdaily sun.com. Copyright c. 2000-2003 Arizona Daily Sun. --------- "RE: Culture Torchbearer helps bring People Together" --------- Date: Wed, 19 Feb 2003 08:40:52 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CEA ANDERSON" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.adn.com/alaska/story/2644113p-2687333c.html Culture torchbearer helps bring people together APPLAUSE LUNAQ: Music helps promote Native culture values. By ROSE COX Anchorage Daily News (Published: February 19, 2003) Cea Anderson was an adult before she embraced her Alaska Native heritage, but she has made up for lapsed time in the past decade. In addition to promoting Alaska Native and American Indian cultures through personal performances throughout the community, Anderson represents a host of local talent in the traditions of indigenous people from Ireland, India, Ecuador, Peru, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. Through her business, Applause Lunaq, she helps promote and schedule singers, storytellers and musicians -- as well as a juggler, clown, polka band or a fire-eater or two. She is recognized in the community as a sort of cultural torchbearer with a gift for bringing people together. "Cea is the perfect embodiment of how tradition can reach into the present day," said Kara Thrasher-Livingston, who schedules recreation activities at the ARC of Anchorage. The Aleut word lunaq means "honor," as in your ancestors, Anderson said. "I believe ancestors strengthen us and make us who we are," she said of her calling. That's a concept valued especially by those who work with children. "She's a proud woman and it really comes across as positive," said Colleen Kelley. "No matter what nationality you are, she says 'Be proud.'" Kelley directs the YMCA's Youth Community Connection Program, which serves the 1,300 or so students suspended from school each year. She is the former director of the YWCA's child care development program, which provides activities for children during school and summer holidays and in- service days. Anderson is a regular visitor to the YWCA, teaching everything from beading and other Native arts and crafts to telling stories and singing songs about Alaska Native folklore and history. Her message to honor your ancestors is one kids need to hear, Kelley said, and Anderson has a gift for sharing it. "A lot of presenters show, show, show, but they don't really listen or get group discussion going," Kelley said. Anderson, who has blond hair and green eyes, is Aleut, Russian, Swedish, Lakota Indian and French. Ties to her mother's Lakota Indian ancestors were severed when her grandfather was adopted through the Nebraska Children's Society. Her paternal grandmother, who was Aleut and Russian, died in Seattle in 1965 before Anderson could meet her. Having little or no contact with Native relatives on either side gave Anderson a burning desire. "I always wanted to learn more about where I came from because I didn't have the opportunity as a child," she said. "I didn't get to learn the language, songs and dances of the Aleut and Lakota." She said she feels fortunate to have survived some rough patches in her life and credits her ancestors' reach beyond the grave for her perseverance. "I feel a very strong ancestral pull," she said. "There have been times in my life when I should have died, but I was protected. "I know there's a purpose for me, just like there is for every child and adult out there." Anderson grew up in Spe-nard in the '60s and graduated from Dimond High School. It wasn't until her brother became sick and relatives suggested he go to the Native hospital that she discovered her roots. She learned her father was Aleut-Russian and Swedish, her mother French and Lakota Sioux. She is member of the Shoonaq tribe of Kodiak. A growing interest in her ancestry led the former member of the Alaska Native band Medicine Dream to the University of Alaska Anchorage, where she studied Alaska Native history. For some, a blond, green-eyed woman performing traditional dances in Native dress might seem curious. Others see it as a plus. "She's representative of a lot of people of Native heritage living in Alaska who have crossed cultural strains," said Deborah Tobola, former director of family services for Cook Inlet Tribal Council. "I think people relate to that." Tobola hired Anderson to work for the council's cultural outreach program in the late '90s, and Anderson became one of the many performers who presented to thousands of children and adults through the council. "The requests would pour in from elders at potlatches, elementary schools and prisons," Tobola said. "The more people who went out, the more requests we got. There was definitely that need." Satisfying that need is more than valuable, it's essential, said Tobola, who now teaches art and drama in a California prison. "You go into the melting pot and you lose who you are. It's people like Cea who keep a connection to the past alive. Otherwise what do you have? Shopping at Wal-Mart and watching TV. "Eat the Native food, dance the Native dances and tell the Native stories. There's a lot of wisdom and beauty that will otherwise be lost." Anderson has crossed other cultural boundaries in her work with the ARC of Anchorage, a nonprofit group that offers housing and recreation programs to people with mental disabilities. "Cea means a lot to all of us," Thrasher-Livingston said. "Some folks at ARC don't have an opportunity to be part of their culture. When she's involved with what we do, she brings real feeling and happiness." She is a regular presenter at the ARC, and has brought in other Native artists and dancers, African drummers, and Hawaiian and Thai dancers. "She also helps with the spiritual part of what we do," Thrasher- Livingston said, drumming and singing at celebrations of life when someone connected with the ARC dies or holding healing circles at conferences. The ARC will present Anderson with its Shining Stars and Golden Hearts appreciation award this month. It's one of a number of recognitions she has garnered through the years from groups such as the Alaska chapter of the United Nations Association and her former high school's culture club. In 2002, she arranged performances at Women's Federation for Global World Peace conferences in Anchorage, and she hopes to work with them again. She envisions displays of Alaska Native art in the world's famous museums, creating a bridge of understanding between people who might otherwise succumb to stereotypes. What the world needs now, Anderson said, is a greater understanding of and appreciation for all ethnic groups. Daily News reporter Rose Cox can be reached at rcox@adn.com. Copyright c. 2003 The Anchorage Daily News. --------- "RE: YELLOWBIRD: Little Sioux's influence" --------- Date: Mon 24 Feb 2003 08:10:24 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LESSONS" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforksherald/news/opinion/ DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: Little Sioux's influence helps to keep things in perspective February 22, 2003 On winter days when the wind blows across the snow and forms swirls of clouds that give the land an eerie, ghostlike look, that is the time for telling stories, my grandmother would say. I remembered that Friday while walking to my car and feeling the cold wind in my face and the ice under my feet. I thought about what my grandmother told me many years ago of my great-grandfather, Little Sioux. He lived in a different world than mine, but what he taught has influenced my life more than any other person. He and my grandmother stare at me from the wall of my bedroom. Often, they are the first things I see in the morning. At times, I resent the forced changes in our lives that were brought about by people who thought they were doing what was best for us. Yet, I also thank the anthropologists for the photograph of my great-grandfather and grandmother, Little Sioux and Helen. Little Sioux lived with my grandmother after his wife died. She took care of him until he died in the 1930s. She learned the spiritual ways from him, which she, in turn, taught to her children and grandchildren. From history journals, I learned that when Little Sioux was a young man, he was a pony express rider - he carried the mail to the outback of North Dakota. He also was a scout for the U.S. Army, and fought with Gen. George Armstrong Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. He and several scouts told their stories accurately and without embellishment in a book called "The Arikara Narratives," written by Orin Libby. That event in his life is more contentious among tribes today than it was back in his day. They were living in that time and knew the politics. Little Sioux was, of course, Sahnish but he also was half Lakota. He lived in the villages near the Mandan and Hidatsa. There was constant warfare among the tribes in the Dakota territory. The Sahnish, Mandan, Hidatsa and other tribes including the Crow sometimes took the blunt edge of the attacks of the larger Sioux tribes because they were greatly outnumbered. So, for Little Sioux not to travel to Montana for that battle would have been cowardly - and he was no coward. After the battle dust had settled, white soldiers, settlers, explorers and missionaries began to fill the area, and life changed for all tribes including the Crow, the Sioux and what were to become the Three Affiliated Tribes. The federal government made a concerted effort to assimilate - turn Native people into non-Natives - by separating them onto individual lands, forcing them into programs that didn't fit with their way of the life and changing their way of worshiping the Creator. Little Sioux was a religious man who believed in the 10-day ceremonies, healing sweats and the Pipe. But he also accepted the Catholic Church as a way of worship. When my grandmother told me that, I often wondered how and why these two seemingly different belief systems could find commonality. My grandmother told me Little Sioux was strict with the Sahnish way of worship. One day, while we were at my grandmother's old house on the reservation, where Little Sioux spent his last day, we could see the river from the porch. She said he would walk several miles from the house to the river most days where he prayed with his pipe. An old cottonwood was his pew, the river his alter and the sky his church. He was a wiry, strict man, she said. After the missionaries came to the reservation and convinced many of the people that their way was right, Little Sioux attended their church Sundays. I thought maybe he wanted to have all angles covered. I knew she was thinking about him as she talked that day because as she stared across the prairie, there was a smile on her lips. He would get mad at them when they were late for church, she said. If they weren't ready with the horse and team when he was, he would walk. Like my grandmother, Little Sioux saw a great deal of similarity in the church and the Native ways. I wondered if he would agree with those similarities today. The Native way has more to do with rules for living that you incorporate into your daily life, and he extended the respect that's taught as part of the Native way to Christian churches and other beliefs. But respect for other beliefs seems vague in some churches today. When the snow melts and the wind blows from the south, it will be time again to begin the spring and summer ceremonies. It is the influence of Little Sioux that our family can thank for the Native ways we've held on to. Yellow Bird writes Tuesday and Saturday. Reach her by phone at 780-1228 or (800) 477-6572, extension 228, or by e-mail at dyellowbird@gfherald.com. Copyright c. 2003 Grand Forks Herald and wire service sources. --------- "RE: Aboriginal Health Funding likely to Disappoint" --------- Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2003 08:17:06 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HEALTH" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canada.com/search/story $2 billion likely to disappoint Rick Mofina The Ottawa Citizen Wednesday, February 19, 2003 An announcement is expected Thursday of an inquiry into the death of an aboriginal man more than a decade ago near Saskatoon. Neil Stonechild's frozen body was discovered on the outskirts of Saskatoon. His death recently got renewed attention from the largest RCMP task force in Saskatchewan's history. That task force was launched after two other aboriginal men were found frozen to death near Saskatoon. No charges were laid in any of the cases but Stonechild's death remains unresolved. Justice Minister Eric Cline says he will be issuing a statement Thursday morning to "explain" what the government is doing. The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations says it will comment on the case following Cline's announcement. Copyright c. 2003 The Ottawa Citizen. --------- "RE: Report Calls for closure of Segregation Units" --------- Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 08:40:52 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="REGINA JAIL" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2003/01/17/12091-cp.html Native justice report calls for closure of segregation units at Regina jail By JULIAN BRANCH January 17, 2003 An announcement is expected Thursday of an inquiry into the death of an aboriginal man more than a decade ago near Saskatoon. Neil Stonechild's frozen body was discovered on the outskirts of Saskatoon. His death recently got renewed attention from the largest RCMP task force in Saskatchewan's history. That task force was launched after two other aboriginal men were found frozen to death near Saskatoon. No charges were laid in any of the cases but Stonechild's death remains unresolved. Justice Minister Eric Cline says he will be issuing a statement Thursday morning to "explain" what the government is doing. The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations says it will comment on the case following Cline's announcement. Copyright c. 2003, CANOE, a division of Netgraphe Inc. --------- "RE: Native Man's Death gets Renewed Interest" --------- Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2003 08:17:06 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ABORIGINAL DEATH" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canada.com/search/story Native man's death gets renewed interest Canadian Press Wednesday, February 19, 2003 An announcement is expected Thursday of an inquiry into the death of an aboriginal man more than a decade ago near Saskatoon. Neil Stonechild's frozen body was discovered on the outskirts of Saskatoon. His death recently got renewed attention from the largest RCMP task force in Saskatchewan's history. That task force was launched after two other aboriginal men were found frozen to death near Saskatoon. No charges were laid in any of the cases but Stonechild's death remains unresolved. Justice Minister Eric Cline says he will be issuing a statement Thursday morning to "explain" what the government is doing. The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations says it will comment on the case following Cline's announcement. Copyright c. 2003 The Ottawa Citizen. --------- "RE: Fight against Domestic Violence" --------- Date: Mon 24 Feb 2003 08:10:24 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DOMESTIC VIOLENCE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.journalstar.com/native.php?story_id=25588 Power to enforce restraining orders often an obstacle in fight against domestic violence BY JODI RAVE LEE / Lincoln Journal Star February 24, 2003 The young woman from South Dakota felt helpless. She had a friend she could live without. And she told him so. Then she became a target for his letters, threats and accusations. "It got to the point that it broke me down so much," said the woman, who lives on the Cheyenne River Reservation and asked not to be identified. "I was just ready to end it all. I couldn't go anywhere. I didn't answer the phone. I didn't check my mail. I was always in fear that he was watching." Four months later, she sought a restraining order in tribal court. The man, originally from Florida but living on the reservation, scoffed. "Outside of the hearing, he was saying, `I don't care what you guys say. I'm going around her. You can't tell me what to do,' "said Carmen O'Leary, co-coordinator of the Sacred Heart Women's Shelter on the reservation. "It was scary. Those are the kinds of weirdos we have to put up with." Why do Native women have to "put up with" domestic violence? Often it's because tribal courts lack jurisdiction to enforce restraining orders against non-Natives. Nine in 10 offenders who commit rape or sexual assault against a Native victim are either white or black, according to the Department of Justice. Whites commit 82 percent of rape and assault cases. And Native women are more than twice as likely as non-Native women to be victims of violent crime, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The problem is intensified by the jurisdictional confusion that plagues many reservations, and what critics call a lack of enforcement in domestic violence cases. Federal officials, such as the FBI or U.S. attorney's office, generally handle criminal cases, but they tend to focus their attention on felonies. "We're told that there are remedies, of course. We can contact the federal system, but I think unless he about kills her in violating that order, on our lands anyway, there's very few options," said Karen Artichoker of the Sacred Circle, a national women's resource center in Rapid City, S.D. But there are solutions on the horizon. In Nebraska, U.S. Attorney Mike Heavican acknowledged domestic violence cases against non-Natives "weren't going anywhere" in the court systems when he met last week with Winnebago Tribe officials. "I said, `That's not going to happen anymore.'" His office will now handle misdemeanor domestic violence cases "when the perpetrator is a non- Native," Heavican said. And on Tuesday, a U.S. attorneys' Native American Issues Subcommittee recommended changes in how domestic violence reports in Indian Country is handled. Those recommendations will be sent to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft. "We can't change the law or make a lot changes ourselves," said Margaret M. Chiara, a subcommittee member and U.S. Attorney for Michigan's Western District. "But we are trying to be catalytic. We want to use the experience we have and make some useful recommendations that will improve the situation for Indian Country in this area of domestic violence." Among the recommendations: Data collection. Research. Training. And changes in the law. The potential legislation would focus on two areas. One includes trying to strengthen the Violence Against Women Act to make it "more useful in terms of protecting Native American women," she said. "The other area is, we're interested in ... seeing if we can't expand the jurisdiction that law enforcement has so they can be more helpful when they're dealing in Indian Country." For the young woman in South Dakota, the changes are overdue. It's been a year since she gained a restraining order against the man, who apparently moved to another reservation. "I'm still worried that he'll come back," she said. "I'm even more worried now that I have a little girl." Copyright c. 2003, Lincoln Journal Star. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Jurisdictional Disputes are increasing Tensions" --------- Date: Sun, 23 Feb 2003 18:22:14 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="JURISDICTION DISPUTES" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.journalstar.com/native.php?story_id=25440 Jurisdictional disputes are increasing tensions around Native lands. BY JODI RAVE LEE / Lincoln Journal Star February 23, 2003 MACY -- First, the other driver ran her patrol car off the road. Then he flipped his middle finger at Marla Spears as he drove past the 14-year police officer with the Omaha Tribe. She caught up and stopped him. But she couldn't arrest him: Because he wasn't a tribal member, her badge was powerless. "It made me mad,"she said. "It didn't surprise me because I didn't think they ever had respect for us as law enforcement people." Welcome to law enforcement in Indian Country: a complicated patchwork of federal, state, county and tribal jurisdictions where it's not always clear who can enforce the law. This jurisdictional friction heated up in December on the Omaha Reservation when non-Native residents threatened violence against the tribal police after they set up a safety checkpoint near the mostly white town of Pender. A contingent of state and federal law enforcement officials gathered at tribal headquarters -- in Nebraska's northeast corner --to discourage the tribe's plan to set up another checkpoint on New Year's Eve. The problem is not unique to Nebraska. The same competing legal interests at stake here have been a nationwide issue for decades. And consider this: Native people are victims of violent crimes -- murder, rape, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated and simple assault -- at a rate nearly 2.5 times greater than that of the nation's non-Native population, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Also, 70 percent of violent crimes against Natives are committed by non- Natives -- who in many cases cannot be arrested by tribal police when those crimes are committed on reservations. "Is it good or bad? asked Dewey County, S.D., Sheriff Jim Fisher, whose county includes the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation. "I don't know. Who does? Is it fair? I don't know that either. It's just a system we've lived with for a long time." ----- It's a system many are trying to change. In August, the Conference of Chief Justices, an organization of state judicial officers, adopted a three-tiered approach to reduce conflict among tribal, state and federal courts: First, the courts should continue to resolve jurisdictional issues. Second, each should take steps to further recognize the other's judgments, final orders, laws and public acts. Finally, the group said, Congress needs to provide resources to tribal courts to assist with their increasing responsibilities. That call for congressional intervention has been echoed by tribal leaders. "We need Congress to help clarify the authority of tribes to set and enforce laws on the lands they govern in order to protect public safety, for the sake of Indians and non-Indians alike," Tex Hall, president of the National Congress of American Indians, said in his January State of the Indian Nations Address. Many point to Congress as a source of the problems. In 1953, it passed Public Law 280, a controversial measure that stripped tribes of many criminal and civil duties, handing them over to state police in California, Nebraska, Oregon, Minnesota, Alaska and Wisconsin. The statute had broad impact: Those states contained 359 of the 550 federally recognized tribes and villages. The law also affected, to a lesser degree, the policing of reservations in at least a dozen other states with large Native populations -- among them, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Idaho. "It starved the tribes of support from the Department of Interior," said Carole Goldberg, a UCLA law professor and PL280 expert. "The Department of Interior took the position that tribes didn't need funding for law enforcement. So tribes in PL280 states weren't getting part of it." The law has been long acknowledged by legal experts as a tool to assimilate Natives into white society. It took effect during the 1950s, when Washington was terminating federal trust relationships with tribes. Most tribes opposed the law because they neither agreed nor had a chance to object to it. States objected because their added policing burden didn't come with added funding. The law has left many tribes in a state of turmoil. "About half these tribes are in a vacuum where there is lawlessness," said Ada Pecos Melton, president of American Indian Development Associates in Albuquerque, a program that helps tribes deal with crime, violence and victimization. "The main reason is the tribes don't have control." The law was amended in 1968, authorizing states to return jurisdiction to tribal courts and the federal government. The amendment also required tribal consent for any future relinquishments of policing powers. It's not been an easy transition. Pecos Melton describes it as a "chicken-and-egg" problem. Tribes must prove they have a system to handle law enforcement duties, but they struggle to build them without funding. And they can't get funding until they can prove they have a law enforcement system. "It makes it difficult for the tribes," she said. "They want to use their sovereign status, but they are inhibited by their ability to fund a system." ----- For an example of cooperation, tribes could look to South Dakota's Cheyenne River Reservation, where the sheriff's office, state patrol and the tribe have learned to navigate the system better than most, said Sheriff Fisher. "Here, we're just fortunate enough that it's one of the few reservations where everybody works together pretty darn good," he said. "They're one of the few, if not the only reservation, that enjoys the highway patrol and invites them on the reservation. "It's a pity. We're all out there to do the same job." Other tribes have had varying success: - The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of Idaho are seeking state legislation to have the state return jurisdiction to the tribe and federal government. Similar legislation failed in 1999. - In Montana, the Fort Peck Tribes once had sole police authority over tribal citizens, while state and local law enforcement officials handled non-Native calls. In 2000, authorities cross-deputized each other's officers, making it easier to catch and prosecute offenders. - Back in Nebraska, the Santee Tribe has tried for years to regain jurisdiction from the state, which assumed law enforcement duties nearly a half-century ago. The decision now rests with the U.S. Interior Department, which wants the tribe to prove it can handle law enforcement. ----- Also in Nebraska, the Omaha Tribe regained much of its law enforcement duties in 1969, when the state returned jurisdiction to the federal government and tribe. Today, its seven-member police force -- which is not cross-deputized with other agencies -- addresses civil matters and some criminal matters for tribal members, such as traffic violations and sexual offenses. In 2002, tribal cops responded to 12,000 calls. But there's still friction between the tribe, county and state, generated in part by PL280 and mixed land ownership. "You have these poor reservations that have just been carved up," Maurice Johnson, an attorney for the Omaha Tribe, said in reference to land managed by the government and in private hands, Native and non-Native. "You combine the factors of allotment, of PL280, of the Major Crimes Act -- where certain crimes are just for the feds -- and ... Oh my God, it's a nightmare." The problem creates cases like this:In May 2002, Omaha tribal police received a call that a non-Native man had raped a tribal member. Without authority to arrest the man, tribal police were forced to rely on Thurston County officers, said Officer Spears. Tribal officers are frustrated by having to wait hours for a deputy. And county officials don't like the idea of tribal police detaining non-tribal members while waiting. "The difficulty is, they shouldn't be able to stop and detain a non- Native American for an extended period of time," said Thurston County Attorney Al Maul. "That's the rub." There are attempts to ease jurisdictional tension. Last month, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the U.S. attorney's office organized a first-ever jurisdictional conference to discuss criminal, civil and regulatory issues, and to seek solutions. Since the conference, the tribe drafted a proposal to contribute money to the Walthill Fire Department. "That's a good thing," Johnson said. "We've had some arson problems on the reservation. They've had some enforcement problems." There is also a draft for a cross-deputization agreement. That would have helped Spears after the non-Native driver forced her off the road. She waited for two hours for a sheriff's officer, she said Thurston County Sheriff Chuck Obermeyer didn't deny that tribal police typically end up waiting for his deputies. "That's just because we don't have the funds to get the manpower out that we used to," he said. "We're a skeleton crew. We don't even have enough officers to go around the clock." Reach Jodi Rave Lee at (402) 473-7240 or jrave@journalstar.com Copyright c. 2003, Lincoln Journal Star. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Two Men indicted for killing of Ute Man" --------- Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2003 19:36:04 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="UTE DEATH" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.daily-times.com/Stories/0,1413,129%257E6574%257E1197077,00.html Two men indicted for killing of Ute man The Daily Times February 22, 2003 DENVER Two men were indicted on a charge of second-degree murder by a federal grand jury for the slaying of a Ute Mountain Ute Indian Reservation resident, the U.S. Department of Justice reported Friday. Tobey Wayne Cuthair, 26, and Nathaniel Taylor, 21, both of Towaoc, Colo., were indicted on charges of allegedly beating and stabbing Richard Bearshead in the driveway of his home on Nov. 25, 1998. Cuthair was arrested by the FBI Thursday and Taylor was already in custody in Denver. If convicted, the defendants could be sentenced up to a maximum of life in federal prison. Copyright c. 1999-2003 MediaNews Group, Inc./Farmington, NM. --------- "RE: Crow Agency Man to be tried in Killing" --------- Date: Wed, 19 Feb 2003 08:40:52 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CROW to be TRIED" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2003/02/19 Crow Agency man to be tried in killing, federal judge rules By CLAIR JOHNSON Of The Gazette Staff February 19, 2003 Crow Agency resident Quinton Birdinground Jr., 23, will stand trial for murder in the shooting death of a Garryowen man Feb. 8, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. U.S. Magistrate Richard Anderson found that there was probable cause for the murder case to proceed against Birdinground after hearing testimony from Robert Pease, a special agent with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Anderson ordered Birdinground to remain in custody until trial but said he would consider another detention hearing if the defense later offers a release plan. Birdinground is accused of fatally shooting Emerson Pickett, 30, at about 4:30 a.m. in a confrontation at the home of Emilia Rose Othermedicine in Crow Agency. More than 25 members of Pickett's family attended Tuesday's hearing in Billings. Several women, including Pickett's aunt, Myra Left Hand, dressed in black and wore plain black scarves over their heads. "It was so senseless. It was so needless for him to do this," Left Hand said. Pickett's great-uncle, Marshall Left Hand, said Pickett was a prominent citizen who worked and supported his family. He was active in the community and cultural events. "Because of this senseless act, four beautiful girls were left fatherless," he said, referring to Pickett's daughters, who are ages 13, 11, 7 and 1. "That will be a big pain for our family as long as we live." Pease said law enforcement got a 911 call about 4:30 a.m. and responded to Othermedicine's house a few blocks away. Agents found Pickett lying face down in the house. The agents and then emergency medical responders tried to help but Pickett died at the scene, he said. An autopsy found that Pickett bled to death from a gunshot wound, Pease said. Pease chronicled the events leading up to the shooting based on interviews with witnesses. He said Pickett and another man went to Othermedicine's house in the early morning hours and that the group was drinking. Pickett called Leitha Yellowmule, a former girlfriend, and asked her to come over. Yellowmule arrived with a another woman at about 3:30 a.m. Yellowmule and Pickett went into a bathroom and locked the door, Pease said. Yellowmule told investigators that they were hugging. Meanwhile, Birdinground arrived at the house and told Othermedicine he was looking for Yellowmule. Pease said Birdinground walked past Othermedicine in the kitchen into the living room where he could hear Yellowmule and Pickett in the bathroom. Earlier in the evening, Yellowmule had been at another party in which she saw Birdinground drinking and snorting methamphetamine, Pease said. Yellowmule and Birdinground had been in a relationship and have three children but were no longer together, he said. Birdinground kicked in the bathroom door and began firing a .38-caliber handgun at Pickett, Pease said. The three ended up scuffling and there were more shots, he said. A bullet struck Pickett and Yellowmule was shot in the hand, Pease said. When Othermedicine heard the first shot, she went into the living room and saw the three struggling. She tried to get Birdinground off Pickett and grabbed his wrist as he was holding the gun. Pease said the gun went off and the bullet went into the ceiling. Birdinground threw Othermedicine down in the hallway and she heard another shot, he said. Under questioning by defense attorney Mark Werner, Pease said Pickett was shot at very close range. Pease said he didn't know when Pickett was shot in relation to the struggle. Birdinground left the house but surrendered to law enforcement 24 hours after the shooting, Pease said. The gun has not been recovered. Copyright c. The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Brothers found slain on Navajo Reservation" --------- Date: Mon 24 Feb 2003 08:10:24 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SLAIN BROTHERS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.kobtv.com/archive/2003/february/22/brothers_slain.htm Brothers found slain on Navajo reservation Last Update: 02/23/2003 16:07:58 (Pueblo Pintado-AP) -- Two brothers who lived together were found shot to death Saturday morning at their remote home on the Navajo reservation, according to FBI supervisory agent Doug Beldon. A family member checked on brothers Albert and Alfred Jake around 6:30 a. m. at the siblings' home about ten miles east of the Chaco Canyon national park. The relative found 49-year-old Albert Jake face down in a pool of blood in the front yard and younger brother Alfred, in his early 40s, face down inside the house. Both appear to have sustained single gunshot wounds to the head. The two had been last seen alive at their Pueblo Pintado home late Friday night, roughly six hours before their bodies were discovered. Pueblo Pintado is a trading center on Navajo Highway Nine about 60 miles northeast of Thoreau. Copyright c. 2003 KOB-TV Interactive Media, a division of Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc. --------- "RE: Native Prisoner" --------- Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2003 06:42:57 -0500 From: Janet Smith Subj: Activist's Brother needs Immediate Support Urgent From: justicenetwork This message may be forwarded to other lists under the condition that it is not altered in any way ***NA Prisoner Activist's Brother now Targeted: Manuel's Brother Needs Support*** URGENT Call For Action: Please send emails to prison officials to protect the rights of a Native American prisoner, Daniel Belmarez, # 26160, incarcerated at Montana State Prison. Daniel is the brother of Manuel Redwoman, a Northern Cheyenne/Lakota/Arapaho prisoner activist who has unjustly spent several years in isolation due to his struggle in support of Native American religious, civil and human Rights. Daniel received a write up for supposedly making a sexually connotative statement to officer Vera Babcock, when all he did was ask for candy from the two jars of candy she had on her desk. We know there were three of them present when he said this. Some of the witnesses were present at the officer's desk and some were present later on when she changed her story after being confronted with the fact that Daniel did not say what she said he did. There are a total of five witnesses. Four of these witnesses are white. There is documentation to support this. As usual, the staff seems determined to get the Native American prisoners into trouble and Daniel is being railroaded. This is the reason why they requested outside help and support. Please do not let this unfair system win. Phony write ups and confinement to solitary on phony charges is a common tactic that has been widely used. Members of the Prayer Warriors Society have experienced this tactic on a number of occasions.This is how the staff attempts to isolate them from the rest of the Circle and weaken their community, as well as their efforts to have their rights respected. (See relevant study on MSP by Alexandra New Holy, Montana State University, in 2000). Montana State Prison has made repeated efforts to silence Manuel and the rest of the world. Like numerous Native American prisoners, Manuel was held in isolation without a write up and on bogus charges meant to intimidate and isolate him from the Native community . After a long struggle he was finally released from Death Row in September; he has maintained a very good record throughout his incarceration. Yet, because of his heritage and struggle, the administration still wants him in solitary, and there has just been a new attempt to set him up: Vera Babcock (the same officer who gave Daniel the write up) claimed that an inmate told her that Manuel was talking about her at breakfast the next morning. She said she was giving him a write up for it. Manuel did not and does not go to breakfast. He has an officer that will verify this for him as well as a couple of other witnesses. So it does not look like she will give the write up, but it is possible she could still try. In any case, we decided to make this attempt highly visible in case this officer follows through with it; in addition if, or rather when, another attempt is made at a phony write up, we will have this well documented. What is more, this officer's phony write up threat to Manuel is another example illustrating the lies and attempts by the staff against the Native American prisoners. First the officer said Daniel made the remarks with sexual connotations. Later when asked why she said this when it was not true, she said he made sexual gyrations. So she changed her story. Then the next day she makes the false statements about Manuel. *** We must remain on alert in support of Manuel but right now our priority is to help his brother Daniel. We need to have the letters and calls to the officials directed towards Daniels situation since he is the one with the actual write-up, was sent to the hole or isolation, and will have the hearing on Wednesday. Please email or call the officials to support Daniel as soon as you can. Please contact DOC Director Bill Slaughter,