From gars@speakeasy.org Tue May 20 23:39:52 2003 Date: 6 May 2003 23:38:24 -0000 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews11.019 _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 11, ISSUE 019 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, WOTANGING IKCHE - Lakota - Common News Wotanging Ikche and Native American News Copyright c. 1996-2003 nanews.org Aboriginal/AmerIndian Perspective about the First Nations of Turtle Island May 10, 2003 Hopi hakitonmuyaw/waiting moon Blackfeet aapistsisskitsaato's/flower (blossom) moon +-------------------------------------------------------+ | Much more happens in Indian Country than is reported | | in this weekly newsletter. For daily updates & events | | go to http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm | +-------------------------------------------------------+ Otapi'sin Atsinikiisinaakssin -- Blackfeet -- News for All the People Ni-mah-mi-kwa-zoo-min -- Ojibwe -- We Are Talking About Ourselves Aunchemokauhettittea -- Naragansett -- Let Us Share News Kanoheda Aniyvwiya -- Cherokee -- Journal of the People O Es'te Opunvk'vmucvse -- Creek -- People's New News O o O Acimowin -- Plains Cree -- Story or Account O o O Tlaixmatiliztli -- Nahuatl -- News O o o o o O Agnutmaqan -- Listuguj Mi'kmaq -- News O o O Sho-da-ku-ye -- Teehahnahmah -- Talking Birchbark O o O Un Chota -- Susquehannic Seneca -- The People Speak O Ha-Sah-Sliltha -- Ditidaht Nation -- News of the People 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 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 ==>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 <================<<<< >>>>================> 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 Advocate, Frostys AmerIndian, ndn-aim, Iron Natives, Indigenous Peoples Literature and Native American Chat Mailing Lists; UUCP email IMPORTANT!! ----------- In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, all material appearing in this newsletter is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for educational purposes. <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters who share our Spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the Red Road. ++ It may be subscribed to via email by sending a request from your own internet addressable account to gars@speakeasy.org ++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org <================<<<< >>>>================> +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + | As historian Patricia Nelson | | Once a language is lost, it is | | Limerick summarized in "The | | gone forever | | Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken | | * Of the 300 original Native | | Past of the American West... | | languages in North America, | | "Set the blood quantum at | | only 175 exist today. | | one-quarter, hold to it as a | | * 125 of these are no longer | | rigid definition of Indians, | | learned by children. | | let intermarriage proceed as | | * 55 are spoken by 1 to 6 elders;| | it had for centuries, and | | when they die, their language | | eventually Indians will be | | will disappear. | | defined out of existence." | | * Without action, only 20 | | "When that happens, the federal | | languages will survive the next| | government will be freed of | | 50 years. | | its persistent 'Indian problem.'"| | Source: Indigenous Language | +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ | Institute | |http://www.indigenous-language.org| This issue's Elder Quote: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + ======================== "This war did not spring up on our land, this war was brought upon us by the children of the Great Father who came to take our land without a price, and who, in our land, do a great many evil things... This war has come from robbery - from the stealing of our land." __ Spotted Tail (Sinte Gleska), Sicangu Lakota +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! Euro-America really does have a hard time accepting the fact that other Peoples and other races reject their racist stereotypical pigeonholes. The "yeah, but's" and token chiefs get rolled out every damn time. I will believe they are sincere when I see a sports franchise named the Zulus or Hebes (and I do sincerely apologize to those these examples have insulted. At least, you really do understand what our "issue" and our "agendas" are all about. Racist terms are insulting, demeaning and used to keep one group (or groups) subservient to the dominant society. I now hear arguments supporting the continued use of the S-word. I offer the following from the American Indian Movement, Southern California Chapter website http://home.earthlink.net/~rosebud9/ SQUAW -Facts on the Eradication of the "S" Word American Indian women and men all around the United States and Canada reject the use of the word squaw in reference to American Indian women. The word has been imposed on our culture by European Americans and appears on hundreds of geographic place names. Suzan Shown Harjo brought the issue to national attention on the Oparh Winfrey Show back in 1992. Since that time projects to eliminate the use of the word on geographic sites have formed in Minnesota (Dawn Litzau and Angelene Losh), in Arizona (Delena Waddle and Seipe Flood), in California (Stormy Ogden), and in Iowa (Fawn Stubben). Many other states are forming groups to eradicate the use of the word from geographic place names and women's sports teams. 1. When people argue that the word squaw appears in the dictionary, remind them that the word is also identified as derogatory. The Thesaurus of Slang lists the term squaw as a synonym for prostitute, harlot, hussy, and floozy. 2. When people argue that the word originates in American Indian language point out that: * In the Algonquin languages the word squaw means vagina. * In the Mohawk language the word otsikwaw means female genitalia. Mohawk women and men found that early European fur traders shortened the word to squaw because that represented what they wanted from Mohawk women. * Although scholarship traces the word to the Massachusset Indians back in the 1650s, the word has different meanings (or may not exist at all) in hundreds of other American Indian languages. This claim also assumes that a European correctly translated the Massachusset language to English - that he understood the nuances of Indian speech. * Attitudes of white supremacy account for the need of separate identifying terms such as squaw and buck. In order to justify the taking of the land, American Indian women and men had to be labeled with dehumanizing terms. Europeans and European Americans spread the use of the word as they moved westward across the continent. 3. When people say "it never used to bother Indian women to be called squaw, respond with the following questions and statement. * Were American Indian women or people ever asked? Have you ever asked an American Indian woman, man, or child how they feel about the word? (Do not say the word yourself, simply call it the "s" word) then state that it has always been used to insult American Indian women. 4. When people ask "why now?" explain that: * Through communication and education American Indian people have come to understand the derogatory meaning of the word. American Indian women claim the right to define ourselves as women and we reject the offensive term squaw. --------- "RE: The S* Word" --------- Date: Wed, April 23, 2003 11:39 From: Justine Miles Subj: squaw >To: gars@nanews.org, gars@speakeasy.org I just wanted to share with you that my tribe, Nez Perce, from Lapwai, Idaho, has faced this challenge, and finally, was legally able to change every creek and stream that had the word squaw in it, which affected the whole state of Idaho. Actually, a lot of the due diligence was credited to Julian Matthews, also a tribal member. He heads our human resources dept. for our tribal casino. He did a lot of the meticulous thorn-in-your-side work. He can be reached at 509-332-8711 should anyone have any questions regarding his battle. ~justine I spoke with Julian Matthews, and was assured it is ok to include his contact info, but I ask that the only calls be from those who really need this gradndfather's assistance on getting this terrible name removed from landmarks in their state. 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 ---------- - Issue Editorial: The S* Word - Nault says - Fire destroys Governance Act will go ahead Coeur d'Alene Tribal Office - Elders say Big Cove - Court: Montana must stay out of Liquor Licences Problematic Indian Elections - Ghost Bear Protesters - A Land of their Own plan to boycott Stores - Family giving back - State Police cross-deputized to Tribal Community with Navajo Police - Hydrologist to look into - Police Problems Coal Mine's Water Plan rooted in flawed Constitution - Pueblo Gardening Projects - Court: Montana Prison to teach lost Traditions must treat Inmates Better - Tribe to dedicate Rosebud Turbine - Anna Mae: - YELLOW BIRD: Peltier sues Journalist Black Hills turn Asphalt-Gray - Native Prisoner - Des Moines: -- Washington State Reformatory Tribes want a Place of their Own - Rustywire: Standing Outside - Little Shell Sovereignty Upheld - History: Carlisle Indian School - Nez Perce Chairman Penney replaced - Poem: Peace Not War - U.S. should give up managing - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days Indian Trust Funds - This Week on World Link TV - Kahnawake's Historical Fort Wall - Specials This Week on APTN torn down - APTN congratulates Artzone - Mi'kmaw Communinty commits for Nomination to Business Alliance - This Week on AIROS - Grand Chief leads Natives - Upcoming Events to showdown with Ottawa --------- "RE: Fire destroys Coeur d'Alene Tribal Office" --------- Date: Sat, May 3 2003 21:16:27 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="COEUR d'ALENE FIRE" http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp?date=3D050203&ID=3Ds1344404 Tribal News Idaho Fire destroys Coeur d'Alene tribal office; records lost Cause of blaze still unknown Susan Drumheller Staff writer PLUMMER, Idaho - Employees and officials with the Coeur d'Alene Indian Tribe suffered a setback Thursday morning when a major government office building was destroyed by fire. The Coeur d'Alene Tribe's Economic Development Corporation Complex, just south of Worley on U.S. Highway 95, burned down in the early morning hours. The 5,000-square-foot building contained the offices of the EDC, natural resources, lake management and rails-to-trails programs. It also contained a facilities management shop. The blaze was reported shortly after midnight, said Alice Koskela, the tribe's spokeswoman. The Worley Volunteer Fire Department responded but could not stop the fire before the structure was engulfed. Documents and paperwork from the tribal offices were destroyed. Some may be recoverable from the hard drives of computers in other tribal offices, Koskela said. The staff that occupied the destroyed offices have been temporarily relocated. "Of course, we are saddened by this fire, but we are grateful that nobody was hurt," said Ernest Stensgar, chairman of the tribe. "The tribe has faced hardship and adversity before. We will move quickly to assure that all the programs in the EDC Complex find new homes and that these programs continue to operate effectively." The cause of the fire has yet to be determined. It is being investigated by the Coeur d'Alene Tribal Police, the Idaho fire marshal and agents of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Tobacco. --------- "RE: Court: Montana must stay out of Indian Elections" --------- Date: Thu, May 1 2003 08:10:06 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NDN ELECTIONS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20030501/localnews/218477.html High court: State must stay out of Indian elections By ERIC NEWHOUSE Tribune Projects Editor Thursday, May 1, 2003 State courts have no business intervening in the elections of sovereign Indian tribes, the Montana Supreme Court has concluded. In an order filed Tuesday, the court upheld District Judge Kenneth Neill's decision to dismiss a lawsuit filed by seven candidates for tribal office in 2000. Darrel Koke and her slate of candidates contended they received the most votes, but that the incumbents retained their offices illegally. Since the tribe has no judicial system, the candidates filed suit in state court on the grounds that the tribe also is registered as a state corporation. Neill concluded that the election was for tribal officials, over which he had no authority. "Our conclusion that the Montana District Court is without jurisdiction is somewhat unsettling in that it leaves the appellants with no forum to hear their complaint on its merits," said the majority opinion, written by Justice Jim Regnier. "However, this court is unwilling to interfere with the longstanding right of tribal sovereignty to resolve the underlying matter in this case," it said. Justice Terry Trieweiler dissented, arguing that state courts have jurisdiction over the officers of state corporations. "I'm very disappointed," Koke said Wednesday, "but it may benefit us in the long run because the opinion says we're a sovereign nation. "That sure can't hurt us in our petition for federal recognition," she added. For more than a century, the Little Shell Tribe has been petitioning the federal government for recognition, which would mean greater federal funding and benefits. The 4,500 members of the tribe have been landless since 1892 when they left North Dakota's Turtle Mountain Reservation in protest of an Indian agent's purchase of 1 million acres of their land for $90,000. Copyright c. 2003 Great Falls Tribune. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: A Land of their Own" --------- Date: Fri, May 2 2003 08:18:27 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="COASTAL LANDS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/05/04/a1.triballand.0504.html A land of their own: Coastal Indian tribes hope swath of prime Siuslaw forestland will be restored to them By Scott Maben The Register-Guard May 4, 2003 MAPLETON - Sweet Creek Falls tumbles into a pool encircled by alders and walls of greenery, like a page from a Wilderness Society calendar. For Carolyn Slyter, it's also a page from history - and, she hopes, a view to the future of her people, the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians. The picturesque falls and others like it highlight a chunk of federal forest on the central Oregon Coast that the tribes are trying to reclaim 150 years after losing their ancestral lands. This was where their ancestors camped, plucked salmon and steelhead from abundant fish runs and hunted deer and elk. They collected maiden-hair to weave into their baskets and picked ripe salmonberries and huckleberries along pristine mountain streams. "It's just so soothing," said Slyter, a Coos Indian and tribal council member, as she watched the hypnotic motion of water plunging over rock. "I think a lot of our tribal members who are into immediate stuff, video games, who are always on the go." Visiting what's left of the ancient sites helps people slow down and reflect on life, she said. "It's a spiritual place. It's beautiful." The tribes would gain one-tenth of the Siuslaw National Forest - nearly 63,000 acres on the southern end - under a bill sponsored by U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore. It's a small piece of the 1.6 million acres that the government acknowledges the three tribes once inhabited, but it's a worthy gesture toward compensating them for their losses, Smith said. "This is a tribe that has yet to be reconnected with its land," he said. "So for me, it's a matter of personal interest and it is a matter that is morally compelling." Congress restored federal recognition of the Coos Bay-based tribes nearly 20 years ago, but hasn't compensated them for the loss of their land. They remain the only federally recognized tribes in Oregon without land returned to them. "Tribal status doesn't mean enough if there isn't a reconnection with their land," Smith said. Other pieces of plan Recouping ancestral lands and protecting cultural resources are the primary goals of the proposal, tribal leaders say. But they also want to restore old growth forests and improve stream quality and wildlife habitat. A key way to do that - as well as pay for the work - is to thin stands of timber that have grown crowded and unhealthy after heavy logging in past decades, tribal officials said. "Those plantations will generate, we're hoping, about a million dollars in revenue a year," tribal administrator Francis Somday said. That as well as revenues from recreation and tourism that the tribes hope to promote on the land also would help support other tribal programs, Somday said. "A million dollars isn't a lot of money, but it will help us to restore this land," he said. "It will help us to provide good, healthy jobs for tribal members. Taking care of something rather than destroying it is the Indian way of life." The land, which would remain open to the public, is one of several ambitious initiatives tribal leaders are pursuing to free themselves from federal subsidies for health care, housing, child care and education, and create new jobs for both tribal members and others on the coast. Tribal leaders also propose building a casino in Florence and a bowling center in Coos Bay - operations that would generate millions of dollars in revenues annually. But like the controversial casino plans, restoration of the tribal land has drawn criticism. Environmental groups are opposed to turning it back over to the tribes, even after tribal leaders agreed to what they say are concessions to alleviate concerns about public access and sound forestry practices. "There's no way for the American public to ensure those lands will be managed the way they're currently managed and the way we think they should be managed," said Jay Ward, conservation director of the Oregon Natural Resources Council, one of the most active environmental groups in the state. Despite the opposition, the tribes are passionate and patient in their quest to reclaim a land base. The latest bid began in the mid-1990s, but it's been a goal that dates back generations. Righting "a current wrong" The tribes in 1855 agreed to cede their territory to the federal government in return for a reservation and financial compensation after facing mounting pressure for non-Indian settlement of their homelands. Congress never ratified the Empire Treaty, but soldiers marched tribal members up the coast to a reservation where they were held against their will for 19 years. Starvation, disease and exposure claimed more than half. Congress terminated federal recognition of the confederated tribes in 1954, ending what little federal aid the tribes had received. The tribal government refused to disband, however, and federal officials restored recognition in 1984. But tribal members haven't forgotten what they lost a century and a half ago. "It's not a past wrong, it's a current wrong," said Howard Crombie, the tribes' environmental coordinator. "It hasn't been addressed. To the extent you can say 150 years ago is the past, well maybe it's the distant past for Euro-Americans, but for the people who have been here for 9,000 years, it's just a few generations ago." Tribal leaders see the proposed land transfer as more than reconciliation for historical injustices. They see it as integral to saving their heritage from slipping into oblivion. "I see troubled teen-age kids, and they're going to continue to be troubled as long as they're in urban America," Somday said. "As long as we can get these tribal elders to bring them out here and experience this, we'll see a change in life." The land, south of the Siuslaw River and north of the Smith River, would be transferred to the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs and held in trust for the tribes' 720 members. Preserving and learning more about old camps, burial sites and spiritual gathering spots will be a cornerstone of how the tribes will manage the area, Somday said. Restoring the land The tribes also vow to help heal the land, much of which was clear-cut during the heyday of logging on the coast. They propose to thin thousands of acres of even-aged stands to help them develop into healthy, old growth forests, and to replenish fallen logs in streams to improve habitat for fish. The goal is to revive, bit by bit, the kind of habitat that supports an array of wildlife, including threatened species such as spotted owls, marbled murrelets and coastal coho salmon. Some 22,000 acres of the land is covered in "plantations" - homogeneous stands planted where the timber industry cleared virgin forests in the 1960s, '70s and early '80s. These areas are dense but devoid of the diversity of wildlife that once thrived in the coast's ancient forests, Crombie said. He called them "biological deserts" that fail to attract owls, woodpeckers and other animals that prefer multilayered stands with large limbs and snags. Other management priorities include recreation and outdoors-based tourism. Attractions such as the waterfalls along the North Fork Smith River could become popular stops for people visiting the central coast, including the tribes' proposed casino. The tribes have compiled a long list of city, county and state officials who support the land transfer and endorsed it even before the tribes agreed last year to scale back the plan from 102,000 acres. But the Oregon Natural Resources Council remains a staunch opponent. In a letter co-signed by 24 other conservation groups and sent to Oregon's two senators, the resources council said landmark environmental safeguards will be limited or lost if the Forest Service no longer manages the land. "Once you move this land out of the public hands and public lands management, it becomes almost impossible for the rest of the people in the United States to enforce any kind of federal environmental law there," Ward said. The tribes would manage the land under the National Indian Forest Resources Management Act, which critics say allows for looser environmental safeguards than the Northwest Forest Plan that governs federal forestlands in the region. Other Northwest tribes, Ward said, have gone as far as to clear-cut old growth on lands they reclaimed from the federal government. "If they want to do the right thing, wonderful," he said. "The challenge is there's no backstop." Environmental groups also have more difficulty mounting legal challenges to logging plans and other projects when they must work through the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Ward said. Facing opposition Tribal land managers still would need to comply with environmental laws such as the Endangered Species Act and Clean Water Act, said the tribes' forestry consultant, George Smith of Pacific Management Associates in North Bend. "But the tribe can do it in a streamlined, more efficient way of dealing with those issues than larger bureaucracies," such as the Forest Service, Smith said. The resources council further argues that nearly 63,000 acres for 720 tribal members is too much land compared with much smaller federal land bases - from 3,600 acres to 9,800 acres - that other coastal tribes have reclaimed in recent years. The disagreement puts environmentalists in an uncomfortable position, Ward admitted. "For us, this is a difficult issue to deal with," he said. "On a personal level and as a conservationist, I think wrongs have been done to the native people, and I do not like getting out and saying we oppose you having a homeland." But maintaining environmental laws and access to public land are the goals of conservationists, he said, "and we see this as a step in the wrong direction." The tribes and officials from the conservation group are scheduled to meet this week to discuss their differences. Still, tribal leaders scoff at the objections, which they believe are alarmist, and they say opponents are insensitive toward their culture and heritage. "Our track record is a heck of a lot better than the United States government," Somday said. Having to spell out in the bill what federal laws the tribes will follow in caring for the land is an insult, he said. "There's no one on earth that cares more about the land and water and wildlife than tribal people," he said. "No one." Instead of the land transfer, environmental groups suggest the government buy private lands for the tribes or help the tribes invest in Copyright c. 2003 The Eugene Register-Guard. --------- "RE: Family giving back to Tribal Community" --------- Date: Fri, May 2 2003 08:18:27 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GIVING BACK" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.skagitvalleyherald.com/articles/2003/05/01/news/news03.txt Family giving back to tribal community By KARI NEUMEYER They encourage other American Indians to pursue college degrees May 1, 2003 If Randy and Michael Vendiola had listened to their school teachers, neither one of them would have a master's degree in education. "One of the schools that I attended sincerely thought that I was mildly retarded and set forth to acquire the necessary support needed for a disabled child," said Randy, who now works for the Marysville School District. "I started to fall into the trap of being convinced that I was dumb. Well, to make a long story short, if that teacher who had that concern about me were to teach at the schools that I've been working at since 1998, I'd be her boss." By getting advanced degrees, the Vendiolas prove wrong the misconception that American Indians don't value education. Years ago, many American Indians associated education with boarding schools that sought to purge their native culture. The Vendiolas represent a new generation that sees college education as integral to their personal success. The brothers are panelists at a two-day conference about social issues concerning American Indians, beginning today at the Skagit Valley Resort Hotel on the Upper Skagit Reservation. The event is run by the North Sound Mental Health Administration. Randy will be speaking about public schools and tribal communities, and Michael will address the challenges associated with crossing over between native and nontribal societies. Both credit their mother, Diane Vendiola, with inspiring them to further education among native children. "My mother was in Indian education and she inspired me to explore arenas whereby I could be helping young Native Americans," Randy said. "I feel that it is important and empowering for Native Americans to see and hear from other natives who have succeeded academically." Diane, whose mother was Swinomish and father was Filipino, is a counselor for the Swinomish Tribal Mental Health Program. She is moderating a panel on collaborating to fight domestic violence and gave a keynote address on the subject last year at the annual conference. "I asked Randy to bring my grandson (last year) because we need to begin when children are young," she said. This year, Diane suggested that Randy and Michael be panelists at the conference. "The best thing that any parent can hope for is that their kids will contribute to society," she said. "My kids are." Participants at the conference, which costs $175 to attend, are a mix of American Indians and non-native mental health service providers who have Indian clients, Diane said. Diane runs workshops with Karen Andrews of Skagit Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services. One of the strengths of the Swinomish Tribe is its members' willingness to intervene to help their neighbors and relatives, Diane said. That can be an advantage in the classroom as well. "Teachers and parents can definitely help," Randy said. "Research has shown that the most successful students across the country are those whose parents have developed a working relationship with their children's teacher. In addition, the best way to promote education and to encourage academic excellence is to become educated yourself." Statistically, American Indian children do not test as well as their non-native counterparts, Randy said. They also are exposed to higher incidents of substance abuse, poverty and unemployment, he said. "This equates to children that are left further behind," he said. Michael feels lucky that he managed to finish high school, let alone get a master's degree from Western Washington University, he said. Michael and Randy have two other brothers and a sister. Rudy Vendiola, an Indian education coordinator in Ferndale, will be leading a "Journey Dance" at the end of the conference on Friday. Michael is the ethnic student adviser at Western Washington. "Technically, my job is advising student organizations," he said. "But my passion is to empower people of color into higher education." Like his brother Randy, Michael was singled out by his teachers as being someone who was not on the college track, he said. "Always get a second opinion when you're speaking with high school counselors," he said. "High school counselors (would say), 'You're most likely not going to college, maybe you should think about wood shop or auto shop,'" he said. "My mother was a strong advocate for me in that area, not allowing racism to have an impact on my life." Kari Neumeyer can be reached at 360-416-2145 or by e-mail at kneumeyer@skagitvalleyherald.com. Copyright c. 2003 Skagit Valley Herald/Mount Vernon, WA. --------- "RE: Hydrologist to look into Coal Mine's Water Plan" --------- Date: Sun, Apr 27 2003 21:11:16 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SACRED ZUNI LAKE" http://www.indianz.com/ http://www.sfnewmexican.com/print.asp?ArticleID=26376 Hydrologist to Look Into Coal Mine's Water Plan By BEN NEARY | The New Mexican Saturday, April 26, 2003 An independent hydrologist has been hired to investigate Zuni Pueblo's claim that an Arizona utility company's plan to pump water for a huge strip mine in Western New Mexico will hurt a lake sacred to the Pueblo and other Indian tribes. The Salt River Project, an Arizona utility company, intends to begin work this summer to develop the 18,000-acre Fence Lake coal strip mine, on the border of Cibola and Catron counties south of Grants. Last year, the company obtained a federal permit from the U.S. Department of Interior for the project. However, the federal permit prohibited the Salt River Project from pumping water from the Dakota Aquifer, as it had planned. The U.S. Department of Interior barred the Salt River Project from using the aquifer after an earlier independent hydrology report requested by Zuni Pueblo concluded that pumping from it would likely harm Zuni Salt Lake, some 10 miles from the mine project. The Zuni Pueblo people regard the salt lake as a deity they call Salt Mother. Brine flows from a cinder cone at the lake, leaving heavy salt deposits around the lake that Indians from around the Southwest use in ceremonies. The prohibition against using the Dakota Aquifer leaves the shallower Atarque Aquifer as Salt River Project's only remaining water supply for dust suppression and other uses. Mining operations are planned to last for 40 years, and the company plans to pump water at the rate of 85 gallons per minute. Dr. Phil King, an engineering professor at New Mexico State University, prepared the Dakota Aquifer study. Now, the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs again has retained him to look into prospects of pumping from the Atarque Aquifer. King said this week he hasn't begun work on the study yet but intends to submit comments to state regulators by early next month about how a pump test on the Atarque Aquifer should be structured. Meanwhile, federal officials were mum Friday about the future of the mine project if King concludes that pumping from the Atarque Aquifer would harm the Zuni Salt Lake. "Isn't that premature?" Nedra Darling, BIA spokeswoman in Washington, D. C., responded Friday. Darling said she would research what her agency intends to do with the results of King's study. Mohammad Baloch, a water-rights engineer with the BIA's Office of Trust Responsibility in Washington, D.C., filed a complaint with his agency's federal Equal Employment Opportunity office two years ago. He claimed that Jeff Loman, his supervisor, retaliated against him for insisting that the agency commission King's first report on the Dakota Aquifer. Baloch visited Zuni Pueblo last week, along with other Interior Department and state officials working on the mine project. Loman declined comment Friday. Zuni Pueblo says King's pending report could give them support in opposing the mine project if he concludes that pumping the Atarque Aquifer would likely harm the lake. The Pueblo's hydrologists, Glorieta Geoscience of Santa Fe, concluded in a report issued earlier this year that the pumping would harm the lake. "We believe that independent expert will confirm the work of Zuni's experts and show that Salt River Project's use of the Atarque Aquifer will injure the Zuni Salt Lake," Zuni lawyer David Cunningham of Santa Fe said Friday. "If that is the result, we are hopeful that both the Department of Interior and New Mexico Mining and Minerals Division will revoke the mining permit. If they do not, Zuni will take alternative legal steps, which could include various lawsuits." The Fence Lake Mine project is attracting increasing attention from environmental groups. The Southwest Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club have said they're considering a lawsuit against the Department of Interior claiming that the agency's environmental studies of the mine project are flawed. King said Thursday he expects to have his report on the Atarque Aquifer finished this year. "It's a very adversarial sort of situation, unfortunately," King said. "If there are perceived to be effects, and they (the Department of Interior) permit it, the tribe will go after them, and if they deny it, Salt River Project will go after them." Bob Barnard, Fence Lake Mine project manager for SRP in Phoenix, said Thursday he expects development of the mine to begin this summer. The company intends to build a railway line to carry coal from the mine to its power plant just across the state line in St. John's, Ariz. Speaking of King, Barnard said, "I don't anticipate that he will find anything because of the geology that's out there." Bill Brancard, director of the Mining and Minerals Division of the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, recently denied the Pueblo's appeal of his decision that a pump test of the aquifer would proceed outside the Pueblo's pending administrative challenge of the permit. The Pueblo had protested that holding the pump test outside of its appeal would deny its lawyers cross-examination of experts on pump-test results. In a recent letter to the Pueblo and Barnard, Brancard states that having the pump test occur as he has ordered will allow any interested party to participate and not limit it only to those who appealed the state's permit. "Now that it appears that the Atarque Aquifer will be the primary source of water for the proposed mining operation, there should be an opportunity for all interested persons to comment on the related hydrological issues," Brancard wrote. Copyright c. 2003 SantaFe New Mexican. --------- "RE: Pueblo Gardening Projects to teach lost Traditions" -------- Date: Sat, May 3 2003 21:16:27 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ZUNI GARDENS" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.imdiversity.com/Article-Detail.asp?Article-ID=16220 Pueblo Gardening Projects Aim To Teach Lost Traditions by AP, The Associated Press Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press Writer Zuni Pueblo, N.M. (AP) - Adobe walls and stick fences stand guard against the elements, protecting a maze of gardens along the Zuni River from New Mexico's fierce winds and wildlife. Pueblo members kneel next to the waffle gardens - ls of black-and-white photographs taken a century ago. "You can see there were squares within squares within squares," says Pawluk, head of the pueblo's conservation project. "Some of these were nurseries for young trees, some of them were nurseries for perennial plants like grapes and stuff and some of them were annual crops like onions and things." For now, these photos and tribal elders' memories are all that remain of Zuni's impressive waffle gardens, endless corn fields and renowned peach orchards. But Zuni and other Indian pueblos have begun efforts to reconnect with their past through community gardens and other teaching projects. "It's so much a part of the culture," Pawluk says of growing food. "There's so much desire." The pueblo is building four community gardens, each with its own watering tank. The goal is to revitalize Zuni agriculture and encourage more people to garden by making it easier. "It's hard-living here," he says. "You can't ask people to do things that require a day of labor. There's TV now, bills and all the things of the modern world." After poring over hundreds of years of knowledge about building waffle gardens, Pawluk has designed a more modern garden that makes mixing soils and maintaining the important water-holding depressions unnecessary. The pueblo plans to expand the gardening program to schools next year and build a greenhouse that would be dedicated to native fruit and vegetable varieties. Pawluk is not so much interested in returning to traditional waffle gardens but rather creating a gardening method that joins traditions with the benefits of modern science. "Old principles, new methods," he says. Pawluk was concerned a decade ago that Zuni's farming traditions were "flickering like a small flame about to go out after 3,000 years." His opinion is gradually changing now that more young couples are farming, but he added that tribal leaders and others need to continue pushing agriculture's importance. "There's a lot of work that needs to be done," he says. In the hills south of Zuni, Andy Newell and his students have transformed part of the nearly vacant village of Ojo Caliente into a working farm - complete with two horses, 54 chickens and a dog. Newell, who teaches at Zuni Christian Mission School, said it was in the fields and gardens that pueblo children of the past learned the benefits of work, the lessons of responsibility and respect for others. "The farming is great and everything, but it's more the life lessons that come through having to take care of yourself this way," he said while looking over the beginnings of a garden and orchard. Newell brings a group of boys to the farm four days a week. They plant, build fences, feed the animals and fish at a nearby lake. "Once they get here there's an excitement, kind of like this new life has been breathed into them," Newell says. "They're throwing rocks, running around and chasing each other, exploring and discovering things." Some might consider Newell crazy for moving into one of the village's abandoned rock and mud houses, but tribal member Alex Tsethlikai says he appreciates Newell teaching children about the land. "It's good for them to be out here learning the old ways so when they grow up they can teach their kids," says Tsethlikai, a father of four. Several pueblos - including San Felipe, Santo Domingo and Cochiti - are also developing ways to weave agriculture into modern Indian life. North of Albuquerque, Sandia Pueblo is gearing up for the fifth year of its community garden. This spring, children are helping water and weed rows of onion and bean sprouts after school. More important than recognizing weeds are the history and language lessons. Sandia elders talk to the children in Tiwa while working in the field, teaching them words and their ancestors' ways. "The drive is mainly trying to preserve our culture and our history and our traditions of who we are as Native American people," said Sandia Pueblo Gov. Stuart Paisano. "We've lost that a little bit." Paisano said the garden brings Sandia together, especially during harvest time when the pueblo turns out to pick vegetables and have a picnic. Leilani McCook visited the garden with her grandmother last summer. The 8-year-old remembers picking tomatoes, chili and corn. "I learned that we're supposed to take care of the garden and make sure nothing happens to it," McCook says. "We have to keep it going in case we don't have any food or if we don't want to go to the store." In northwest New Mexico, waffle gardens at Salmon Ruins serve as a classroom for children from Bloomfield and Kirtland. The gardens offer a glimpse of what it might have been like for Anasazi farmers centuries ago, says Larry Baker, executive director of the archaeological site. "It provides a perspective for these kids to look back and say, 'Gee, my ancestors were able to develop these types of gardens. They were able to raise food and be self-sufficient,"' Baker says. Archaeologists have determined that waffle gardens built by the area's ancient puebloans spanned up to 40 acres. Baker says those planned this summer at Salmon Ruins will be much smaller. Agriculture was traditionally a community effort. Everybody shared the burden of clearing the land, planting and harvesting. They also shared the bounty. That began to change when tribes were forced onto reservations and later when many Indian men left their fields to fight in World War II. They returned with skills that allowed them to leave farming behind. The introduction of electricity, cars and name-brand clothes also helped push farming aside, says Gary Tenorio, a former Santo Domingo tribal administrator. Tenorio, who works as an outreach specialist with the Montana-based Intertribal Agriculture Council, spends nearly all his time educating Indians about federal agriculture programs and available funding. When he's not traveling, Tenorio and two of his sons farm and raise cattle. He also opened his ranch to children who have an interest in agriculture. "Farming is a lot of hard work," he says, "but the important thing is it teaches us the values of a long time ago - for instance, the value of community." At Zuni, farming still ties the community together in many ways. Pawluk has heard countless stories about children bringing vegetables home to proud grandparents and even he has been rewarded with fruit for chopping wood for Zuni elders. "They would give me a melon and they would carry it like it was a treasure," he said. "Between that and a million other examples, it dawned on me that there's still a strong desire." Copyright c. 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 2003 IMDiversity Inc. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Tribe to dedicate Rosebud Turbine" --------- Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2003 10:02:50 EDT From: ErthAvengr@aol.com Mailing List: ndn-aim Subj: Rosebud: Tribe to dedicate Rosebud turbine http://www.rapidcityjournal.com Tribe to dedicate Rosebud turbine April 30,2003 ROSEBUD - Dedication ceremonies are set for about noon Thursday at the Rosebud Hotel and Casino for the first American Indian-owned and operated utility-scale wind turbine. The Rosebud Wind Turbine, a 750-kilowatt turbine on top of a 190-foot tower, will be capable of powering 220 South Dakota homes. It represents a lengthy effort by the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and its Tribal Utility Commission (TUC) which began collecting wind data to test feasibility in 1995. "This turbine was an overnight success - in eight years," Bob Gough, attorney and first director of the TUC, said. The project's promoters say the Rosebud Wind Turbine is the first stage in a plan for intertribal wind development proposed by the Intertribal Council On Utility Policy (COUP). Intertribal COUP hopes tribal-owned wind-energy generation will be the basis for community revitalization, sustainability and capacity building. They hope to demonstrate the ability of a Northern Plains Tribe to finance, own and operate a utility- scale wind turbine interconnected to the regional transmission grid. A grant from the Department of Energy and a low-interest loan from the U. S. Rural Utility Service helped fund the project. Additional financial support was provided by NativeEnergy of Shelburne, Vt., through its up- front purchase of the bulk of the turbine's 25-year output of renewable energy credits, or "green tags." Green-tag sales will be critical to the expansion of Indian wind development on the Northern Plains. Even with buyers such as Ellsworth Air Force Base, there just isn't a sufficient market for premium-cost green power within feasible transmission distance of the Northern Plains wind resource. Green tags enable the tribes to sell the power locally at market rates and recover their extra costs through the sale of green tags to renewable energy supporters anywhere in the country. Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy David Garman is the keynote speaker at the dedication of the collaborative effort between the DOE and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe for this first turbine. Intertribal COUP expects two hundred representatives of tribes from across the country interested in wind power to attend. The Rosebud Wind Turbine will be officially named in honor of Rosebud Sioux President Alex "Little Soldier" Lunderman, who died in December 1999. After the turbine dedication, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe will host an intertribal powwow at the Rosebud Casino & Hotel complex. --------- "RE: YELLOW BIRD: Black Hills turn Asphalt-Gray" --------- Date: Thu, 1 May 2003 09:43:46 -0500 From: "newsroomstaff" Subj: DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: Black Hills turn asphalt-gray with onslaught of urban sprawl Mailing List: NAA http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/columnists/ DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: Black Hills turn asphalt-gray with onslaught of urban sprawl Forty years had passed since I'd visited the Black Hills of South Dakota. They'd changed. The Freedom Forum of Washington, D.C., and the Neuharth Center at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, S.D., sponsored a workshop for budding Native American journalists at the Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills. I was one of the mentors for the students. I like seeing the countryside from the ground level, and I don't like flying, especially those small prop planes. So, I opted to drive the round trip of about 1,300 miles. I wanted to take the shortest route possible, and with the help of my friends, we mapped a route through the back roads. Then, I pointed my Toyota south and west toward the Great Plains. The foothills of the rolling plains are along the Missouri River, near the Standing Rock reservation. South of Standing Rock is a small reservation district called Little Eagle in South Dakota. It is a beautiful little village where the Lakota have settled in a valley formed by the Grand River. When you climb the long side hills from Little Eagle to the bench lands, the highway comes onto a prairie stretching out on all sides. It is breathtaking to see the rolling hills with no fences and few trees. The hills look soft and supple, like the ocean on a day with enough wind to set the water undulating. The prairie was brown from the drought last summer. I could almost see the breasts of Mother Earth softly breathing in and out. It rained the three days while I was at Crazy Horse, so when I returned, the Plains had turned a rich emerald green - and looked almost like fur. The transition was remarkable. When I left U.S. Highway 212 for Sturgis, S.D., Bear Butte jutted some 4, 000 feet out of the prairie in an amazing spectacle. I visited the butte years ago, but I don't remember it being as overwhelming and spectacular as it was that day. It was massive against the blue sky. The butte looks like a sitting bear facing west. On my return, I stopped at Bear Butte, went past the buffalo herd and followed the path up and around to the sweats. Along the way, there were trees full of ceremonial prayer flags and ties. The butte wore a scarf of white mist that day. I didn't stay long but whispered a prayer with a request for a third and longer visit. After traveling in the expanse and solitude of the Great Plains and seeing majestic Bear Butte, I wasn't prepared for the interstate to Rapid City, S.D. As I passed through Sturgis and climbed up to the interstate, the traffic was as heavy as traffic on the Beltway around Washington, D.C. The Black Hills were visible now. On each side of the road, the hills were clear-cut and dotted with lavish houses. It was as if the head of the hills had been given a buzz cut around the ears. Shops, gas stations and houses follow the highway into Rapid City. Then, there are the billboards. The classic song "Signs," by Five Man Electric Band - the one that goes, "Signs, signs, everywhere a sign/blocking out the scenery, breaking my mind ..." - kept sounding in my head. Those signs advertised everything from the famous Mount Rushmore to the Reptile Gardens to every tourist trap in the Hills. When I left the traffic and headed toward Custer, S.D., where we were staying, it was raining intermittently. But I opened my window anyway. It was as if the Hills were alive. I even could smell Her piney breath. By the way, in one area there was a herd of small, dark-colored deer. I watched them to see if they noticed my new deer whistles. They didn't. It's unfortunate that Black Hills communities lavish so much attention on shops such as the tourist places selling T-shirts and so on. The Hills themselves have a beauty and wonder that are unmatched. All those tourist traps seem to do is create a sprawl around Rapid City that, to me, takes away from the beauty of the land. But the billboards on every turn are the things that seems to be most offensive to the Hills. I know that happens to cities. However, most disconcerting to me was the sprawl that seems to be gathering around Bear Butte. There are farms, even one against the side of the butte, and there are "for sale" signs along the road, which means more and more urbanites will be moving around the butte to sell their wares. I hope that Grand Forks and other North Dakota communities guard their treasures more carefully than what seems to be happening in the Rapid City area. Yellow Bird writes columns Tuesdays and Saturdays. Reach her at 780-1228, (800) 477-6572 ext. 228 or dyellowbird@gfherald.com Copyright c. 2003 Grand Forks Herald. --------- "RE: Des Moines: Tribes want a Place of their Own" --------- Date: Sun, May 4 2003 16:24:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DES MOINES CENTER" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.dmregister.com/news/stories/c4788998/21169800.html Tribes want a place of their own By DEANNA TRUMAN-COOK Register Staff Writer 05/04/2003 Des Moines needs a cultural center for American Indians, tribal representatives said Saturday. "It is important that we have a place where people can come and get information," said Howard Matalba, president of the Central Iowa Circle of First Nations, a support group for all tribes. "Other ethnic groups have one. We need one." On Saturday, a few dozen people gathered at McHenry Park on the city's north side for the first Native American community potluck dinner. They ate, played horseshoes and talked about the need for a permanent place to call their own. In the 2000 Census, 18,246 Iowans claimed American Indian or Alaska Native heritage. Tama and Woodbury counties have the heaviest concentration of residents with American Indian lineage. American Indians make up less than 1 percent of the nation's population, but Matalba said he knows of more than 500 in the Des Moines area alone. "We want to get them involved in the culture," said Jennifer Hunt of Indigenous Dreams of the Red Earth, another support group. She said she's "hoping and praying we get a center soon." Hunt, who travels to schools around the state to give presentations on American Indian culture, said many people still believe her people live in teepees. The center would be an avenue to educate people and to help end stereotypes, she said. Tribal politics have gotten in the way of a center before, said Matalba and Hunt, and they are determined not to let it happen again. Their goal is to raise money, find a building and ultimately open a center next spring. Hunt said the center's main focus will be teaching, with instruction in tribal beading, languages, dances, songs and medicinal methods for children. An American Indian library will be added to assist research. Drug and alcohol counseling would be available, as well as housing assistance and a gift center with blankets, jewelry and leather goods, Matalba said. "It is a slow process dealing with all the red tape, but it will happen," he said. "We need it." Fund raising Donations can be sent to Central Iowa Circle of First Nations, P.O. Box 66, Winterset, IA 50273, or Indigenous Dreams of the Red Earth, 215 Watson Powell Jr. Way, Des Moines, IA 50309. Upcoming A Pride, Honor and Respect Youth Powwow will be held May 31 from noon to 10 p.m. at the Heelan Catholic Youth Organization building in Sioux City. Admission is free. Copyright c. 2003, The Des Moines Register. --------- "RE: Little Shell Sovereignty Upheld" --------- Date: Thu, May 1 2003 08:10:06 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LITTLE SHELL" http://www.indianz.com/ Montana court recognizes tribe through common law THURSDAY, MAY 1, 2003 Despite not being recognized by the federal government, the Little Shell Chippewa Tribe possesses attributes of tribal sovereignty, the Montana Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday. In a unanimous decision, the court refused to intervene in an internal election dispute. Writing for the majority, Justice Jim Regnier said to do so would violate tribal sovereignty. "Indian tribes and their officials enjoy sovereign immunity from suit unless expressly limited by Congress," Regnier wrote. The ruling, issued Tuesday, has the effect of judicial recognition for the tribe. The justices relied on a 1901 Supreme Court decision, Montoya v. United States , that sets out four criteria for "common law recognition." The Little Shell Tribe, Regnier said, "satisfies each element of the Montoya test and therefore is a tribe entitled to sovereignty." But the tribe has yet to finalize its status before the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In May 2000, former assistant secretary Kevin Gover issued a preliminary decision in favor of recognition and, after several extensions of the public comment period that were requested by tribe, the petition is still open for review. That didn't stop the court from relying on Gover's analysis. The decision cites the proposed finding as evidence for the tribe satisfying the first three Montoya criteria: 1) members must be of the same or a similar race; 2) members must be united in a community; and 3) they must exist under one leadership or government. For the fourth test -- that the tribe must occupy a territory -- the court said Little Shell members primarily live in three areas. "Furthermore, tribes are not required to occupy a reservation to either receive common law or federal recognition," Regnier added. The tribe has been seeking federal status for more than 100 years. In 1892, Chief Little Shell refused to sign a treaty with the United States that would have paid out 10 cents an acre for 10 million acres of land. Little Shell ancestors left, and were forced off, what is now the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota. In agreeing to recognize the tribe, Gover disagreed with an analysis by BIA researchers who said the tribe failed to satisfy three out of seven mandatory requirements that are laid out in federal regulations. BIA researchers said the tribe failed to show evidence for certain period of time. The tribe has said it is working to fill the gaps. Although Tuesday's decision was unanimous on the tribe's common law recognition, Justice Terry N. Trieweiler said he would have allowed the suit because members sued the tribe's corporation, not the tribe itself. "While I agree that the district court was without jurisdiction to entertain the complaint to the extent that it affected the election of tribal officials, I disagree that the district court was without jurisdiction to consider the complaint as it related to officers of that state corporation," he wrote. Copyright c. 2000-2003 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: Nez Perce Chairman Penney replaced" --------- Date: Tue, May 6 2003 08:11:22 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NEZ PERCE CHAIRMAN" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.Tribal_news Nez Perce chairman Penney replaced Staff and wire reports May 5, 2003 LAPWAI, Idaho - Samuel N. Penney's council position was not up for re- election on the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee, but he lost his longtime post as chairman. Each year after open positions are filled in the tribal elections, the nine members of the tribal council vote for their chairman. Penney, who's been chairman for a decade, was passed over Saturday for former Vice Chairman Anthony Johnson. Johnson was appointed chairman on a 5-4 vote. The chairman leads a nine- member executive committee that represents the tribe and makes all policy decisions. "I will spend more time not having to travel all the time and with my family," Penney said. "It will also allow me to work on very specific issues and not on everything." The way tribal politics go, Penney could very well be elected back to the chair next year, said Juliana Repp, a Spokane attorney who is Nez Perce. She went to Kamiah, Idaho, on the Nez Perce reservation to vote in the election, which concluded Saturday. More than 490 registered voters turned out for the two-day general council, which is a very high turnout, Repp said. Several years ago the Nez Perce council began to allow non-reservation members to vote in the general election. "In the last six years, a lot of off-reservation tribal members like myself began going back to vote," Repp said. A small pocket of Nez Perce live in the greater Spokane-Coeur d'Alene area. During the elections, executive committee members Julia Davis-Wheeler and Richard Arthur were voted out. Davis-Wheeler was secretary for the executive committee for 16 years and was nationally known for her work on health issues including chair of the National Indian Health Board. The seats were filled by Jerrid Weaskus and Bill Picard. Herschel McConville retained his seat on the council. Other committee members include vice chairman Wilfred Scott, secretary Jacob Whiteplume and treasurer Jennifer Oatman-Brisbois. Copyright c. 2003, The Spokesman-Review. --------- "RE: U.S. should give up managing Indian Trust Funds" --------- Date: Fri, May 2 2003 08:18:27 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="FORMER TRUSTEE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/nation/5768118.htm Former trustee says government should give up managing Indian trust funds JOHN HEILPRIN Associated Press May 2, 2003 WASHINGTON - A veteran banker who once ran Indian trust reform testified that the government needs outside help to assess Indian claims. "Sooner or later, the government has to come to the conclusion of outsourcing, or getting out of the business," Paul Homan said Thursday, the first day of a $137 billion suit claiming the Interior Department has mismanaged American Indian money. "The government simply does not have enough critical mass to manage this correctly." Homan, who served as the first special trustee before resigning in 1999 in protest of what he said were attempts to obstruct his efforts to reconcile trust accounts, was to resume testifying Friday afternoon in U.S. District Court Judge Royce B. Lamberth's court. The trial, expected to last five weeks, is the second in nearly seven years in the largest class-action lawsuit ever against the government. The suit was filed on behalf of more than 300,000 Indian plaintiffs in June 1996 to regain billions of dollars in uncounted revenues from oil, gas, timber and cattle grazing contracts that were paid to the government for forwarding to landowners. After the first trial in 1999, Lamberth ordered the department to account for the money and repair the management flaws. This trial is expected to determine how the department should follow through with that order. The government now proposes a historical accounting, costing an estimated $335 million over at least five years, based on limited statistical sampling and transaction-by-transaction analysis. Lamberth was immediately skeptical. "Every time estimate I've been given by Interior has slipped, so I assume that one will, too," Lamberth told government lawyers. Dennis Gingold, an attorney for the Indian plaintiffs, said his clients shouldn't have to wait another five years for a payout. He said problems have surfaced which "plaintiffs never dreamed of when this case was filed." The plaintiffs' plan would identify all money generated over the years from individual Indian trust lands by using independent databases such as those relied upon by the oil and gas industries - a process they claim could take only a matter of weeks. Justice Department attorney John Stemplewicz characterized the Indian plaintiffs' approach as an overly idealistic wish list. "It's going to be an arbitrary, rough-justice sort of solution," he said of the Indians' plan. Congress passed the Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act in 1994 to try to fix the long-standing problems by, among other things, creating the special trustee office first held by Homan. The Bush administration and the Clinton administration before it each admitted they couldn't account for all of the money that is supposed to be in the 116-year-old trust, funded primarily by royalties from oil, gas, timber and mining on Indian land. Lamberth held Interior Secretary Gale Norton in contempt last September for failing to fix management problems with the trust. He also ordered Norton to submit the detailed accounting plan and fix the long-standing management problems. The department has appealed that ruling. The judge sanctioned government attorneys for what he said were attempts to cover up misrepresentations to him. He also had held Norton's predecessor, Bruce Babbitt, and Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin in contempt. The problem dates to 1887 when Congress began putting tribal land in trust. As it later broke up the tribal land into allotments to individual Indians, the government kept poor records, making it that much harder to decide the growing number of probate cases involving the many Indians who died without wills. Indians suing the government now claim the mismanagement cost the Indian landowners at least $10 billion. Copyright c. 2003 AP Wire and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. Copyright c. 2003 the Aberdeen News. --------- "RE: Kahnawake's Historical Fort Wall torn down" --------- Date: Tue, May 6 2003 08:11:22 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="FORT WALL TORN DOWN" And the wall comes down By: Greg Horn May 2, 2003 A section of Kahnawake's historical Fort Wall was torn down earlier this week. The section of the wall which was removed was directly across from Technical Services and in front of Kateri School. The Public Works Department of the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake was removing a section of the wall, which collapsed last year after it was hit by a school bus. While this work was being done, more sections of the wall began to crumble. At the time of the accident it was found that the wall was irreparable in its state. Dwayne Kirby of Public Works got approval from the Kahnawake Safety Committee to remove that entire section of the wall. The decision was based on a safety risk for the students of Kateri School. Because the wall was unstable, it was deemed dangerous for people to cross under the doorway through the wall to Kateri School. As the wall was being torn down, several Kateri School students were clearly upset and were yelling, "What are you doing?" The stone is currently being stored at the Town Garage. Due to the wall's historical significance, the MCK is looking at economical ways to rebuild it, using the original stone. There are some people who are upset with the decision to tear down the wall. "Don't tear down the wall," Marina Mayo said. "Repair it." The wall was built in the 1700s by the men of Kahnawake. At that time the French military wanted the fort built to defend both the church and the regiment from attacks from the English army and from other Native people. However, the wall was never completed after the community decided that it could be dangerous to be encircled by the French military. "That wall meant something to us," she said, "and now we don't have it. "The Roman Coliseum is thousands of years old and they didn't tear it down," Mayo continued. "They repaired it." She mentioned other structures of historical significance around the world, such as the Parthenon and the Great Wall of China, that are restored and preserved rather than destroyed." She said rather than tear it down, other things could have been done in the meantime to address the safety risk. She suggested that barriers could have been put up to prevent people from going in dangerous areas of the wall. She also suggested increased patrols by the Peacekeepers in the area to ensure safety. "I'm very upset,' Mayo said. "I grew up with that wall. What's to stop them (the MCK) from tearing down other things because they have a crack?" Copyright c. 1997-2000 The Eastern Door. --------- "RE: Mi'kmaw Communinty commits to Business Alliance" --------- Date: Tue, May 6 2003 08:11:22 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canada.com/search/story.aspx?id=d58d78c7-1ec8-416f-bd5b Membertou continuing to explore new territory Mi'kmaw communinty commits to business alliance with Grant Thorton Canada By Steve MacInnis capebreton Monday, May 5, 2003 Score yet another first for a Cape Breton Mi'kmaw community that continues to prove itself a leader when it comes to aboriginal self- government. Details of a strategic business alliance between Membertou and one of Canada's largest accounting firms - Grant Thornton Canada - will be made public Tuesday during a press conference in Halifax. While specific details are being kept under wraps, the alliance focuses on the lessons learned by Membertou officials while on the road to sustainable and accountable development. It is believed the model developed by Membertou in terms of becoming financial stable and accountable can be applied by other First Nations communities across the country. The model covers everything from training staff to finding home spun solutions for economic development. With just over 1,000 residents, Membertou prides itself on its fiscal responsibility having gone from a deficit situation in the mid-1990's to working with a budget of $44.5 million in 2002. The small community was the first among First Nations communities to become ISO9001:2000 compliant and in addition to its band offices in Cape Breton, the community has corporate office in Halifax. Community leaders have pursued a number of economic initiatives involving the fishing industry to a training agreement with the province to train residents in a host of trades. Grant Thornton is a Canadian firm of chartered accountants and management consultants. It is considered to be among the top five accounting firms in the country. Copyright c. 2003 Cape Breton Post. Copyright c. 2003 CanWest Interactive. --------- "RE: Grand Chief leads Natives to showdown with Ottawa" --------- Date: Mon, 5 May 2003 11:40:30 -0400 From: "Frosty" Subj: Fw: Grand chief leads natives to showdown with Ottawa Mailing List: Frostys AmerIndian Grand chief leads natives to showdown with Ottawa By KIM LUNMAN UPDATED AT 9:23 AM EDT Monday, May. 5, 2003 OTTAWA - At 47 and with less than three months left in his mandate as national grand chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Matthew Coon Come says he isn't worried about running out of time in his fight for native rights. The James Bay Cree says he is genetically predisposed to longevity. His grandfather is 110; his great-grandfather lived to 115. And in a rather remarkable claim, he insists his great-great-grandfather lived to 135. "I'm going to be here a long time," Mr. Coon Come said in an interview. "But I don't think we'll finish our job in this life." He is facing one of his biggest challenges yet in a mounting showdown with the federal government over a piece of legislation that would change the 127-year-old Indian Act. The elected chief of Canada's most vocal native-rights group is nearing the end of his three-year term in July. As the representative for 633 native communities, Mr. Coon Come has clashed with Prime Minister Jean Chretien, seen his federal funding cut and drawn international attention to the plight of Canada's natives. The soft-spoken Mr. Coon Come, who wears his silver-flecked hair short and is prone to dark business suits, said the legislation will set back the relationship between aboriginals and Ottawa by decades. "This Indian Act was never ours," he said. "You do not modernize colonialization. You reject it." Thousands of natives have protested in recent months in the streets of Toronto, Winnipeg, Ottawa and in the heart of Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault's Northern Ontario riding, Kenora. Another protest is set for his riding May 15. Mr. Nault argues the new law will give native communities more control in electing their leaders and managing their finances while requiring more accountability in both areas. But critics say it contravenes the constitutional rights of natives to govern themselves. "There's no Indian Act for Italians, East Indians or Jews," said Mr. Coon Come, who calls the bill "racist." Native protesters are crowding the Indian Affairs parliamentary committee meetings in rare all-night sessions being held in the Commons to go through the bill clause by clause. Last week, native leaders irked some committee members when they ordered a pizza delivered to the meeting after 1 a.m. while ceremonial drummers played on the front lawn of Parliament. They presented eagle feathers to opposition MPs who do not support the bill. The hearings resume today. Mr. Nault has said opposition to the First Nations Governance Act does not reflect the existing wider support for the legislation that he maintains will pave the way for better native economies and self-government later. But Mr. Coon Come says rank-and-file natives across the country are opposed to the bill. They say that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees an inherent right to self-government and that Mr. Nault should withdraw the bill and scrap the Indian Act altogether. "We'd rather negotiate than litigate and demonstrate," he said. Native leaders are threatening a summer of road blockades to protest against the legislation, which is expected to pass by next month. The debate will no doubt spill over at the Assembly of First Nations leadership vote this summer. There is speculation that former national grand chief Phil Fontaine, who lost to Mr. Coon Come last time, will run. Mr. Fontaine, head of the Indian Affairs Commission, could not be reached for comment. While Mr. Fontaine was criticized for being too cozy with Ottawa, Mr. Coon Come's detractors say he has been too soft-spoken on the national stage. "I'm not prepared to support him this time," said onetime supporter Chief Phillip Stewart of the Penticton First Nation in British Columbia. "He was too passive, quiet. . . . It's a classic case of too little too late." But others credit Mr. Coon Come with putting the plight of Canada's natives into the international spotlight. He infuriated Mr. Nault last year when he told a global racism conference in South Africa about Canada's "racist and colonial syndrome of dispossession and discrimination." Mr. Coon Come's own life story is testament to Canada's troubled past with its native people. He was born in a tent on his father's hunting trapline in Mistissini First Nation, a Cree community in Northern Quebec. At 6, Mr. Coon Come and his three sisters were taken by an Indian Agent and RCMP officer with the village's other children and transported by canoe and floatplane to a residential school 500 kilometres away in the St. Morris Valley. He could speak only Cree. "All I know is I was taken away, plucked from the hands of my parents. "They say that when the children left that day, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop but at night all you could hear were families crying." He was at the residential school for nine years, returning to the community later to hunt moose and caribou with his father and to serve two terms as chief. At his father's urging, he studied political science and law at Trent University in Ontario. "You take those white-man books and you learn them well, because you will need them," he recalls his father, Alfred, saying. The Assembly of First Nations represents about 700,000 of Canada's 1.4 million aboriginals. Since Mr. Coon Come's election, federal funding to the assembly has been cut to about $6-million from $19-million. Some native leaders say Six Nations Chief Roberta Jamieson, whose reserve in Ontario is the largest in Canada, is being encouraged to seek the AFN leadership. Ms. Jamieson declined comment on the leadership but said in an interview that the First Nations Governance Act legislation has become a lightning rod for native activism across Canada. --------- "RE: Nault says Governance Act will go ahead" --------- Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 09:32:08 -0400 From: "Frosty" Subj: Fw: Indian affairs minister says native leaders should "work with us" not protest accountability Mailing List: Frostys AmerIndian ----- Original Message ----- From: Russell Diabo Indian affairs minister says native leaders should "work with us" NOT protest accountability By Lynda Powless Editor While band council chiefs and their supporters protested on Parliament Hill Monday, Minister of Indian Affairs, Robert Nault told Turtle Island News, First Nations leaders should "work with us. In an exclusive interview with Turtle Island News, Monday, Nault said the First Nations Governance Act will go ahead. And he said contrary to claims the act destroys traditional forms of aboriginal government, "no that's not true - it does allow for traditional forms of government. It allows for the fundamentals of the principles of governance to allow for First Nations people to participate in-appeal mechanisms, if there are problems or disagreements in the community and that is very much a traditional style of government." He said traditional governments build in those principles including the protection of First Nation citizens right mirrored in the Human Rights Act. He said it allows for a balancing of both collective and individual rights. "We can arrive at solution," he said. He said "We've sent it to committee before second reading to give everyone an opportunity to look at the bill, to get advice." Copyright c. 2003 Turtle Island News. --------- "RE: Elders say Big Cove Liquor Licences Problematic" --------- Date: Thu, 1 May 2003 11:40:28 -0300 From: "JJ Bear" Subj: Big Cove liquor licences problematic: elders Mailing List: ndn-aim Big Cove liquor licences problematic: elders WebPosted Apr 30 2003 11:11 AM EDT MONCTON - Elders from Big Cove are asking the province to cancel 17 liquor licences that were recently issued for the Big Cove First Nation. The elders say alcohol causes too many problems on the reserve and they met with members of cabinet on Wednesday to make their point. Big Cove Chief Robert Levi says provincial red tape means liquor licences are required for establishments having video lottery terminals. The province has agreed to issue the 17 liquor licences. But elders on the reserve say the province hasn't listened to the community. Susan Levi speaks for the elders. "We kept faxing to the liquor commission, telling them there is a controversy in Big Cove and hoping they would not issue the liquor licences until it is resolved." The band says the liquor licences are just paperwork to have the VLTs. The band hopes to use the revenue from the VLTs for social programs and it doesn't expect to sell alcohol. But Susan Levi wants stronger guarantees. "There's supposed to be a community profile and if there is a controversy in any community in New Brunswick, the Province would be reluctant to issue a liquor license. Yet, when this happened in Big Cove, they issued the license regardless." Levi says they'll be pushing the provincial ministers to act more responsibly in regard to people at Big Cove. --------- "RE: Ghost Bear Protesters plan to boycott Stores" --------- Date: Thu, May 1 2003 08:10:06 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WALK FOR JUSTICE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2003/05/01/news/local/news02.txt Protesters plan to boycott stores By Heidi Bell Gease, Journal Staff Writer May 1, 2003 RAPID CITY - The Walk for Justice Committee, a group formed to protest the fatal shooting of an American Indian man by a Rapid City police officer, is encouraging people to boycott three local businesses for the next week. Activists plan to picket Wal-Mart, Prairie Market and the East North Street McDonald's restaurant from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily through May 7, group spokesman Stacy Scares Hawk said. The committee is urging everyone, especially Indian people, to support the boycott and to help picket. Indian people spend a lot of money at those three businesses, Scares Hawk said, and the boycott is meant to show the power Indian people can have on the local economy. Protesters also hope the boycott will persuade city officials to meet the Walk for Justice Committee's demands, which include firing the police officer who shot and killed Lucas Grey Day-Ghost Bear. Ghost Bear died March 9 after he was shot by Rapid City Police Officer Marc Black. After an investigation, South Dakota Attorney General Larry Long ruled that the shooting was justified, citing witness testimony that Ghost Bear had lunged at Black with a knife and threatened the officer and others. The Walk for Justice Committee organized two marches to protest the shooting and to demand that Black be fired and prosecuted. On April 3, the group marched to Mayor Jerry Munson's office to make these additional demands: + Further investigation into the deaths of eight Indian people found near Rapid Creek several years ago and four other unsolved deaths of Indian men. + Election of a Rapid City Council representative from the Sioux Addition by today. + "Sioux Addition returned to trust status and reparations paid with interest." Munson did not meet with marchers, saying he had a prior commitment. At the time, he said he would be willing to meet with the Walk for Justice Committee to discuss housing, education, jobs and general concerns but not to discuss requests to fire Officer Black. The committee's demands were not met. Now, protesters say they will hit the city in the pocketbook by boycotting businesses they say have been unfair to Indian people. "Boycotting three businesses will show how powerful we are and give them a warning shot of an entire city boycott," a flier about the boycott states. Marchers said Wal-Mart, where Ghost Bear had worked, refused the committee's request for paper products to help feed marchers. Scares Hawk said she has heard reports of McDonald's supervisors throwing away job applications from Indian people, and she added that she was treated rudely at the restaurant's drive-through window. As for Prairie Market, Scares Hawk said many Indian people are arrested at the grocery store, where many Indian people shop. She did not know what the arrests were for. Scares Hawk acknowledged that some people have questioned the connection between local businesses and Ghost Bear's death. "Because we couldn't get the mayor to respond to what we wanted to do," she said, marchers decided to take action. The main goal is to have Black fired and the police department investigated, she said. Contact Heidi Bell Gease at 394-8419 or heidi.bell@rapidcityjournal.com Copyright c. 2003 the Rapid City Journal. --------- "RE: State Police cross-deputized with Navajo Police" --------- Date: Tue, May 6 2003 08:11:22 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CROSS-DEPUTIZED" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.daily-times.com/Stories/0,1413,129%257E6574%257E1372362,00.html State police officers cross-deputized with Navajo Police By Jim Snyder The Daily Times May 6, 2003 SHIPROCK - Five New Mexico State Police Officers have been cross- deputized with the Navajo Nation Police, Shiprock Police Capt. Randy John said Friday. The five officers, all from the Farmington district, will have the same law enforcement authority that a Navajo Police officer has on tribal members. "These five have tribal commission cards now," John said, adding he needs the state police officers for help with traffic enforcement and to back up his officers. Any citations or arrests by a state police officer of a tribal member on the reservation would still go through the Navajo detention, prosecution and court system, just as if a Navajo officer had given the ticket or made the arrest. If the offense happens on the Navajo Nation, tribal members cannot be taken off the reservation, said New Mexico State Police Officer Albert Franch. "We can't take them off the reservation. ... except for a federal warrant," he said. The officers will start their patrols on the reservation within the next three weeks after administrative paperwork is completed, John added. Navajo Police officers, by comparison, have been cross-deputized for years. The Shiprock Police Department's officers are commissioned with the states of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Navajo Police can issue state citations or arrest non-tribal members but must take them off the reservation. State police officers who write a traffic ticket to a tribal member on the reservation will issue a Navajo citation and not a state one. Non- tribal members stopped on the reservation for a traffic violation would be given a state citation. John hopes to eventually have the other 10 state police officers based in Farmington cross-deputized. He would also like to see seven state police officers in Cuba cross-deputized to help out in the Burnham portion of the Shiprock Police District. John is also working with San Juan County Sheriff Bob Melton to eventually get sheriff's deputies their tribal commission cards, plus the Apache County Sheriff's Department in Arizona. Franch was cross-deputized in 1993 when the state police opened a suboffice in Shiprock. That office was closed in 1996 because of a shortage of state police officers, he said, and will not be reopened. The New Mexico State Legislature passed a bill calling for the state to share DWI records with all of the state's Native American tribes. It is now up to each tribe to respond as to whether they will share tribal DWI records with the state. Franch said if he stops a Navajo for DWI on the reservation, he will do a driver's license check with the state's Motor Vehicle Department to check for prior DWIs. "We run a check on them through the communication center here and also in New Mexico," Franch said. If a Navajo motorist is stopped on the reservation for DWI and has three DWIs with the state, it would not be a felony. If he is stopped off the reservation for DWI and has three prior DWIs, it would be a felony with the state. If the person is stopped off the reservation for DWI and then leads police on a chase onto the reservation, he will be charged with DWI in Navajo and state courts. State police officers have had the authority to come on to the reservation in the past and stop someone, but they had to call a Navajo Police officer to the scene to issue a ticket or make an arrest. Now they can do that themselves, saving time for Navajo Police officers. Jim Snyder: jims@daily-times.com Copyright c. 1999-2003 MediaNews Group, Inc./Farmington, NM. --------- "RE: Police Problems rooted in flawed Constitution" --------- Date: Sun, May 4 2003 16:24:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BLACKFEET PROBLEMS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.helenair.com/articles/2003/05/04/breaking/a08050403_01.txt Some say Blackfeet police problems are rooted in a flawed constitution By MICHAEL JAMISON, The Missoulian May 4, 2003 BROWNING - Amid a swirl of controversy, rumor and accusation, the longtime spiritual and political leader of the Blackfeet Indian Nation believes it may be time for some change. For most of the last half-century, Earl Old Person has led his people, relying on a tribal constitution drafted in the 1930s. Unlike the U.S. Constitution, the tribal document does not provide for a separation of powers; rather, the tribal council is granted sweeping powers over offices as far-flung as natural resources and the courts. Lately, some people have begun to question the council's role in overseeing some of those offices, especially police and courtroom functions. "The constitution can be amended at any time," 74-year-old Old Person said, adding that he would entertain the idea of separating the courts from council control. "I think it has to be worked out so there is no interference," he said, adding that the tribe's "court systems must be dependable." That dependability came under scrutiny back in February, when the Bureau of Indian Affairs took over police powers on the reservation. For years, the BIA and the tribe have traded law enforcement duties back and forth. The last switch was in 1995, when the tribe took over from the BIA amid charges the BIA was not doing an adequate job. The feds, however, continued to pump about $1.5 million per year into the tribal police department. That money bought the agency an oversight role, and agents were not always thrilled with what they were overseeing. Two years ago, the BIA released a draft investigative report of the tribal police department that detailed 58 serious allegations. Many of those could be traced back to a single root problem, the report said - tribal politicians were meddling in police affairs. Exploring the recent BIA takeover is not unlike peeling an onion, as layer gives way to layer. At the core, many argue, is the constitution and the power it gives the council. "In modern society, there are checks and balances," said former tribal chairman Bill Old Chief. "But not here. Not in Indian Country. In mainstream politics, there are boundaries you can't cross between executive and judicial branches. In tribal politics, those boundaries get blurred." Peel back the skin of the BIA takeover and you find accusations of police corruption. Peel back those charges and you find allegations of council interference. Peel back those allegations and you find the constitution, which some say allows - even encourages - such interference. "Times have changed," Old Chief said. "The constitution hasn't. We need a separation of powers if we're ever going to get away from corrupt influence, or at least the appearance of corrupt influence." Over the years, Old Person said, a constitutional change to separate political powers has been proposed many times, but no one has made it stick. He agrees with Old Chief that "we need something to separate the council from the courts. Our law and order is very important to our reservation." Law and order are especially important to Allie Edwards, a tribal prosecutor who welcomes the BIA's arrival. She said she has seen council members putting political fingers where they did not belong, applying subtle pressure to help friends and relatives who ran afoul of the law. But in this community of complex family and political relationships, where rumors run faster than fact, it's tough to pin down specific instances of influence and intimidation, tough to separate fact from fiction. Many here, for instance, firmly believe Old Person auctioned off some tribal artifacts to pad his personal bank account. Those artifacts, however, are safe and sound in the vault at the tribal Heritage Center, which is exactly where they should be. Don't tell that to Old Person's detractors, however. They still refuse to believe it, even if they see it. Council member Allen Talks About calls himself a man who believes only what he sees, and he seems to see corruption everywhere. He hasn't provided much documentation, however, and some say he shouldn't have to look too far from home to find examples enough. Talks About, a recent addition to the council, was made chairman last summer, and since then has been on a crusade to rid Blackfeet politics of what he calls "corruption, power and influence." One of his most controversial moves was to quietly pack up a stack of tribal financial documents and shuffle them off to federal agents. He says the documents prove corruption. The tribal treasurer disagrees. The feds have so far remained silent. Talks About and others have pointed fingers at many longtime leaders, Old Person among them. They have charged that nearly every tribal department has fallen victim to mismanagement and corruption. People in favor get jobs and housing, Talks About has charged, and those on the outside suffer. But even as Talks About makes those charges, Old Person's own daughter lives in a rented house with six children, and his 30-year-old son remains unemployed. If corruption's so rampant, Old Person wonders, then how is it that the most powerful man in town has not been able to swing a house and jobs for his own kids? In addition, Old Person notes that he voted against taking police control from the BIA back in 1995. If he's so interested in power and influence, then why would he vote against taking police power under his wing? "Everybody's got a relative somewhere," Old Chief said. "Everybody's got a conflict of interest. You have to be careful not to let that influence politics." "I think there were times when there was tribal interference," Old Person said, "but it wasn't something that happened all the time." As for the financials, Old Person has extended an open invitation to anyone who wishes to check the books (which are monitored annually and kept with double-entry bookkeeping methods). "There's always two sides to anything," Old Person said, "but there can only be one true thing." Old Person blames much of the current tribal conflict on a simple "power struggle," and says he hopes Talks About's ouster proves that no one person is all-powerful, not even the chairman. "I have a spiritual center up here that I believe in," Old Person said. "I believe in my God, and I give him the credit. He's the one who knows what's really going on, and one of these days there's going to be a showdown." Before that ultimate showdown, however, Old Person hopes some fences can be mended. After all, Old Person has seen enough of politics in his lifetime to know that "you can't hold grudges and expect to have a good administration." But grudges are exactly what his critics say dominate tribal politics. Old Chief, who bucked the status quo in the short time he served as chairman, says those grudges manifest themselves in a dozen different ways every day. By example, he tells the story of being picked up by a tribal cop a couple of years after he lost his political seat to Old Person. The cop tried to take him in on an old warrant, saying Old Chief had not paid a traffic fine. But Old Chief had paid the fine, and following an afternoon of irritation and hassle, of cops and judges, he walked away. "That cop wanted Bill Old Chief in jail," Old Chief said. "That's all he could see. He's laughing, saying 'I get to take you in.' "Well, who was the chief of police at that time? Carl Old Person. And who is his uncle? Earl Old Person. "Now I'm sure Earl Old Person did not tell that cop to hassle me - I'm sure he never even knew about it. But it was all about politics and, in Browning, politics is all about intimidation. People live their lives thinking that if they make waves, there will be repercussions." Whether that perception is true, and whether his run-in with the cops was politically motivated, hardly matters, he said. The fact is, it appears to be so, he said, and as long as there is the appearance of political influence, then people will not trust their government. The way to resolve that problem, Old Chief says, is to separate political and police powers and lift the courts beyond the reach of the council. Likewise, he said, the way to dispel rumors of corruption is to go ahead with a federal audit. "The numbers won't lie," he said, "and money leaves a trail. If there's been wrongdoing, it will come to light. If not, we can begin to re- establish some trust." Old Person, for one, said he will not stand in the way of an audit. "Whatever," he said. "Whatever it's going to take" to quiet the rumors. Copyright c. Helena Independent Record; a division of Lee Enterprises Copyright c. 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Court: Montana Prison must treat Inmates Better" --------- Date: Wed, Apr 30 2003 08:22:57 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MSP" http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20030430/localnews/ Court: Prison must treat inmates better By ERIC NEWHOUSE Tribune Projects Editor Wednesday, April 30, 2003 Montana's Supreme Court ordered the state prison Tuesday to reform its disciplinary policies and clean up its maximum security cells. "Our constitution forbids correctional practices which permit prisons in the name of behavior modification to disregard the innate dignity of human beings, especially in the context where those persons suffer from mental illness," said a six-justice majority. The decision came in the case of Mark Walker of Great Falls, who argued that his mental illness was made worse by being stripped naked and held in solitary confinement because he was unable to control his behavior. "Mark went into this hoping that the guys who followed him wouldn't have to put up with these conditions," said his father, Fred Walker. "So he got what he was fighting for," Fred Walker said. "This is excellent." Senate President Bob Keenan, who heads the Mental Health Oversight Committee, said the decision has wide ramifications, considering the prison has several hundred prisoners on psychotropic medications for severe mental illness. "This is a landmark decision," said Keenan. "I'm glad to see the Supreme Court recognize that people with severe mental illnesses just can't snap out of it," Keenan said. Corrections Director Bill Slaughter said late Tuesday that he hadn't heard of the decision, which directs the District Court to order widespread changes to the prison's disciplinary policies. "We can't even get our arms around this until we have an opportunity to read and digest it," said Slaughter. Chief Justice Karla Gray, the lone dissenter, said the majority overstepped its legal authority to open a large can of worms. "I suspect that, like myself, the District Court will have no idea of what to do, when to do it, or how to respond to what may well be hundreds of petitions addressed to it, investigations of, or challenges to conditions of confinement at any of Montana's correctional facilities," she wrote. "Nor, I suspect, will that court have a clue as to how it is to fund such matters," she concluded. "I dissent strenuously from the court's opinion." Gray concluded that the issue should have been moot since Walker was discharged from prison in 2001. Walker is now working with a carnival in the South, according to his attorney, Sunday Rossberg. Justice James C. Nelson wrote the majority opinion that overturns an 18- page order by District Judge Kenneth Neill following 10 days of court hearings in the fall of 2000. "In his petition, Walker alleges that he was the victim of cruel and unusual punishment at the hands of MSP officials," said the court. "He reported that while placed on 'lock-up status,' his clothes were taken away, he was housed in a cell with human blood and waste, he was forced to sleep naked on a concrete slab without a mattress, his food was served in an unsanitary manner and he was deprived of drinking water," the court concluded. In court, prison doctors testified that Walker was not mentally ill, but that he had what they called a personality disorder. Several private psychiatrists, however, concluded that Walker suffered from bipolar disorder, a severe mental illness, and that behavior management plans could do no good. "MSP did nothing to treat Walker," said the high court. "Rather, prison officials responded to Walker's behavior by giving Walker well in excess of 100 disciplinary write-ups and placing him in disciplinary detention or 'lock-down' for six months," it said. "While in lock-down, Walker was placed on a number of BMPs (behavior modification plans) and with each successive BMP, Walker's behavior got increasingly worse." Those practices violate Montana's Constitution, said the majority. "We hold that ... BMPs and the living conditions on A-block constitute an affront to the inviolable right to human dignity possessed by the inmates and that such punishment constitutes cruel and unusual punishment when it exacerbates the inmate's mental health conditions," said the Supreme Court. It directed Judge Neill to order the prison "to conform the operations of its administrative segregation units to the requirements of this opinion and to report, in writing, to that court within 180 days as to the actions taken." It also gave the judge the authority to order further inspections, at his discretion. Walker's attorney, Rossberg, had filed a petition for post conviction relief which Judge Neill denied. The Supreme Court concluded that nothing could be done for Walker because he is now free, but that the issues of prison conditions remain valid. Rossberg said she was overjoyed that the decision would improve conditions for inmates in the state prison. "They treated these people worse than I would treat a dog," she said, "so I'm thrilled to be able to help." She remembered the testimony of Dr. Terry Kupers, a psychiatrist who is a nationally recognized expert on prison mental health treatment. "Dr. Kupers said that Montana has some of the worst conditions that he had seen in any of the prisons he has visited," said Rossberg. "And he said the behavior management plans were inhumane, cruel, punitive and didn't meet any kind of mental health treatment conditions," she said. Walker's case was hard to try, said Rossberg, because many prisoners were afraid to testify, fearing retaliation from prison officials. "It took a lot of courage for Mark to take this cause on," said Rossberg, "and it cost him a lot to change conditions in the prison for the inmates who come behind him." Copyright c. 2003 Great Falls Tribune. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Anna Mae: Peltier sues Journalist" --------- Date: Tue, May 6 2003 08:24:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PAUL DEMAIN" http://www.startribune.com/stories/468/3865612.html Peltier sues journalist for saying he had role in Aquash killing The Associated Press May 5, 2003 SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Leonard Peltier has filed a libel lawsuit over accusations that he was involved in the 1975 killing of fellow American Indian Movement member Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash. The case, filed in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, names as a defendant Paul DeMain, editor of News From Indian Country, a newspaper based in Wisconsin. Aquash's frozen body was found in February 1976 on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The 30-year-old woman had been shot in the head in mid-December 1975 after being taken from Denver. Arlo Looking Cloud and John Graham are charged with first-degree murder committed in the perpetration of a kidnapping. Looking Cloud was arrested in Denver and taken to Rapid City, where he pleaded not guilty. Federal prosecutors hope to extradite Graham from his native Canada to South Dakota to stand trial. He has not been found. The lawsuit quotes from an editor's note published in March in which DeMain said, "The primary motive for the murder of Annie Mae Pictou-Aquash by other members of the American Indian Movement in mid-December 1975, allegedly was her knowledge that Leonard Peltier had shot the two agents as he was convicted." The lawsuit also challenges DeMain's statement that Peltier was actually convicted. "The government has admitted that it cannot prove that Mr. Peltier shot the two agents," it states. Peltier, who is serving two back-to-back life sentences in Leavenworth, Kan., called the editor's note an "irresponsible statement" that's "false and defamatory" and caused him "mental anguish and damage to his reputation." According to the FBI, agents Ron Williams and Jack Coler were killed in June 1975 as they searched on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation for robbery suspects. Both were shot in the head at point-blank range after they were injured in a shootout. Their bodies were left on a dirt road. During the next year, four men were arrested in connection with the shootings. Charges against one were dropped, and two others were acquitted. Peltier fled to Canada. After he was extradited to the United States, a Fargo, N.D., jury convicted him in 1977 of two counts of first-degree murder despite defense claims that evidence against him had been falsified. Peltier appealed, claiming he never had the chance to argue that his sentences should be based on the theory he, at most, aided others in the 1975 killings, or that he acted in self-defense. Courts have rejected his appeals. DeMain has written extensively about the Aquash and Peltier cases and last month won a Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism from the University of Oregon for the work. He said Monday he stands by the story and that his sources - whom he refused to name- will back it up. "All I can say is I stand by those individuals who have related the information that I'm basing my comments on," he told The Associated Press. "Fundamentally I believe this is a fishing expedition," DeMain said of the lawsuit. The mid-1970s deaths of Aquash and the two FBI agents happened when tensions between AIM members and government-backed factions ended in numerous deaths on the Pine Ridge reservation. Some speculated that Aquash, a member of Mi'kmaq Tribe of Canada, was killed by AIM members because she knew some of them were government spies, while others said she was killed because she herself was an informant. Just before leaving office in January 2001, President Clinton considered granting Peltier clemency but decided against it. Among the people who urged Clinton to keep Peltier behind bars: then-FBI Director Louis Freeh, U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle and former Gov. Bill Janklow, who said he flew to Washington and had a long meeting with Clinton at the White House over it. "Leonard Peltier is not innocent. He is a cold-blooded murderer," Janklow said in February 2001. "I am probably the one who's responsible for Leonard Peltier not getting out." Copyright c. 2003 Star Tribune. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Native Prisoner" --------- Date: Tue, 6 May 2003 06:42:57 -0500 From: Janet Smith Subj: [ironnatives] URGENT REQUEST - Washington State Reformatory Please reply to : newdawndeer@yahoo.com thank you, Brigitte ================================= From: Dawn Deer On behalf of the Native American Community at Washington State Reformatory I have been notified of a URGENT REQUEST and post this for them in "hopes" that something can be done. On behalf of the Native American men and Circle at the Washington State Reformatory, we would like the following posted, and that any and all available help be afforded to them from the proper authorities, as soon as possible. Native American rights violations, human rights violations. April 2003 15 Native American men at "W.S.R." thrown in the hole for 1-3 weeks and then transferred for alledged gang activity and security concern. Native American men and sweat lodge participants now being labeled a "gang" and subject to direct discriminations and persecutions. April annual pow wow canceled for no reason. Visitors from many nations and tribes turned away at the door. No rescheduling. Sweat Lodge canceled, Pipe Ceremonies canceled, Drum Group canceled, Circle meetings canceled. Sweat Lodge grounds being desecrated numerous times in "ground searches." No evidence ever found to justify. Native American families denied visiting their husbands, fathers, and Grandfathers due to gang activity. Visitors being routinely harrassed when allowed to visit by W.S.R staff. Native American men/prisoners in segregation being denied phone access, denied legal calls. Native Americans being denied access to hobby areas in attempt to deny any forms of rehabilitations, and therapeutic values incurred. All remaining Native Americans at W.S.R being targeted for hole time, cell searches, retaliations, and harrassments for being Native American. No other religious group or cultural groups targeted at W.S.R. only the Native American Circle. W.S.R has a long history or abuse and persecution of Native Inmates. ***************** Native Americans are not a gang. We as a People are a race, a cultural belief of many Nations. Within the prison walls our brothers, sisters, fathers, and Grandfathers are being labeled "gang members" and suffering criminal reprisals for who they are: Native Americans. They are simply trying to keep alive what little we have left as a First Nation. A race of people, nor a religious based group, or a cultural group can be said to be a "gang." The Washing State Reformatory, Monroe, Washington has labeled the entire Native American population as a gang, having gang affiliations, and a threat to security, canceling many ceremonies and transferring any known Native Americans. The Native American men that are still left at W. S.R now live in a constant state of fear and reprisals for being born Native Americans. They cannot change the color of their skin and who they are. This is the year 2003 where all men and prisoners are suppose to be afforded the same rights for rehabilitations. The persecutions and discriminations continue now under a different catagory. A new century where times of the past genocides should no longer be tolerated. We ask that this urgent matter be brought to the attentions of influential peoples in an attempt to help these brothers locked behind the prison walls, and that these recurring problems come to an abrupt halt once and for all. Mitake Oasin We are all related. Washington State Reformatory 16700-177th St. SE PO Box 777 Monroe, Washington 98272-0777 Phone: 360-794-2600 --------- "RE: Rustywire: Standing Outside" --------- Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2003 04:00:20 -0000 From: "rustywire" Subj: Standing Outside Mailing List: Indigenous_Peoples_Literature@yahoogroups.com> On the way home this evening I caught a glimpse of a woman and her son, they were walking down the street. She was outside in the late afternoon, the wind was blowing a little and the warmth of the noon sun was now gone, leaving a stiff cool breeze. I could see her son was standing next to her, a tall boy, big some would say and he was helping her with carrying a bag. They looked they like were going home, just like I was. I first saw them some time ago, maybe 15 years ago when he was just a little kid following after her. Her husband had found another woman and left her with two children. She lived not too far away, and the local people didn't really go out and see them, you know going over to visit them and bringing them a treat once in a while. She was sort of invisible to the people around. I had forgotten about them for a long time until I saw them standing there. The boy is tall and walks with a stilted gait, and he is slow in talking. He has innocent eyes, they twinkle when he talks to you, and you don't see such eyes anymore it seems, clear and unafraid. He follows his Mom around, and has been her hands all these years. She is a poor woman, her clothes don't look so good, and I don't even know the sound of her voice. In the years that she has lived here, maybe fifteen or so I have never talked to her and I found myself asking myself why? Maybe because she was poor, and everyone knows them to have no money. They don't have a car, I can see this because she an assortment of colored bags tied to her wheelchair. Her son stood next to her and in his youth sees none of what others see, and doesn't understand what they say about them nor that they don't say anything at all. They live here, but no one knows them. I thought about the father, where is the man. Where did he go? How could you leave a woman in such a bad way. She didn't always have a wheelchair, I remember them walking back and forth to the store some time ago. She isn't young anymore, just sort of past middle age. I am wondering what is it we call pretty to look at because as her son turned to her his eyes twinkled and it as as if he was saying to her. Your ar emy Mom and and I am glad to be here with you. He had an easy smile. I thought about that woman, she has been around be no seen, I don't know them at all but what can you say when you have never really spent any time talking to. The one thing that I could see was that the are alone in this place and have each other. A little boy and his mother going down the street, him sort of shuffling along and carrying her bags and she just rolled down tha sidewalk as the cold wind blew. This is what i saw this evening and it has stuck in my mind and leaves me wondering and thinking about them. I remember a time when I asked my grandfather what happens to the little ones no ones cares for? he looked at me and said, life is hard and you have to struggle to survive and there are some who won't make it, they just get by until they disappear, they vanish and no one talks about them anymore. He said it is like lost sheep, they go out and wander around not knowing the way home, they cry out and no is around to hear them. You know, Sonny, he would say life is not always easy, and you will see alot of things that will make you wonder about why things are the way they are. It is a part of life. I just remember sitting on the bench looking out the window thinking about all those lost sheep out there with no place to go. That is what I thought about this evening. --------- "RE: History: Carlisle Indian School" --------- Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2003 23:50:39 -0500 From: Barb Landis Subj: March 28, 1890 INDIAN HELPER, Carlisle Indian School. [Editorial Note: These reprints are being included in this newsletter so that you might know the mind of those who ran institutions like Carlisle.] THE INDIAN HELPER ------------------------- A WEEKLY LETTER FROM THE CARLISLE INDIAN SCHOOL TO BOYS AND GIRLS CARLISLE, PA. ============================ VOLUME V NUMBER 30 ============================= FRIDAY, March 28, 1890. ============================= IT IS TIME. ------ It is time to be brave. It is time to be true. It is time to be finding the thing you can do. It is time to put by the dream and the sigh, And work for the cause that is holy and high. It is time to be kind. It is time to be sweet, To be scattering roses for somebody's feet. It is time to be sowing. It is time to be growing. It is time for the flowers of life to be blowing. It is time to be lowly and humble of heart. It is time for the lilies of meekness to start; For the heart to be white, and the steps to be right, And the hands to be weaving a garment of light. -----*---*^*---*----- FROM CAPTAIN PRATT, ON HIS WAY TO JAPAN. ------ SAN FRANCISCO, CAL., March 11, '90 MY DEAR MAN-ON-THE-BAND-STAND: My next chance to write you will be fifteen days hence and from the Western shore of the Pacific, but as it will take that letter fifteen days to reach this Eastern shore from which this one starts to you, you will not receive that latter until thirty days after you do this one. I have seen many things that I would like to write you about, but must only speak of a few. In the Cumberland Valley (where our school is) I noticed that all the farmers had large barns in which to store their products, and keep their stock. Their farms were well fenced and dwelling houses, comfortable. I saw no pinched or starved stock, and I learned that the farmers have money to lend. In two of the states I passed through, I scarcely saw a decent barn, and comparatively few good farm-dwellings. I saw the grain and hay stacked out in the fields. I saw that the stock was poor and pinched and the farms generally dilapidated. I was told that farmers in these States were in debt, and mostly wanting to borrow money. I did not wonder at the prosperity in Pennsylvania, nor did I wonder at the adversity I saw in the other two States. Good, careful farming and attention to crops and stock brought wealth in the one case, and lazy farming brought poverty in the other case. I saw just the sweetest little baby girl in Denver that would have done your old heart good to look at and to hear crow and yawn and even cry, though it did little of the latter. In Arizona, I saw Walpai Indians at work on the Rail Road as section hands and the Superintendent of the road told me they were twice as good hands as the Chinese and better than any other hands they could get. "Hurrah for the Walpais!" say I. In San Francisco I saw Chinamen and Japanese men everywhere, and such a lot of fast walking, working, busy-bee sort of men I never saw before. Would you believe, this very ship which is one of the largest sailing old ocean, is manned almost entirely by Chinese. Why, sir, I saw a lot of them up in the rigging this afternoon and they went as high and ran up and down and out on the great long yard arms as nimbly as any sailors I ever did see. They do about all the work there is to be done on this ship and so far as I can see they do it well. "Hurrah, for the Chinese!" say I. And I am now convinced that when our first President, George Washington, advocated commerce as the best means of spreading civilization he was about right. Railroad lines and steamship lines are great civilizers. Our ship is a big one. Place the Little Boys' quarters at tone end of the Large Boys' Quarters and add the Hospital to them both and you have the length of this ship. Then she is six stories high, but two stories are underwater. --------------------------------------------- (Continued on the Fourth Page.) ======================================================= (page 2) The Indian Helper. ----------------------------- PRINTED EVERY FRIDAY, AT THE INDIAN INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL, CARLISLE, PA. BY THE INDIAN PRINTER BOYS. --> THE INDIAN HELPER is PRINTED by Indian boys, but EDITED by The-Man-on-the-band-stand, who is NOT an Indian. ----------------------------- Price: - 10 cents a year. ============================== Address INDIAN HELPER, Carlisle, Pa. Miss M. Burgess, Manager. ============================== Entered in the P.O. at Carlisle as second class mail matter. ============================== The INDIAN HELPER is paid for in advance, so do not hesitate to take the paper from the Post Office, for fear a bill will be presented. ============================= 'Renew' is the word we would like you to say, When an old subscriber wishes to pay. ======== Isaac Williams is the only Indian boy in the country who went the correct answer to last week's problem. ======== David Roubidoux, for a short time a pupil with us writes from his home in Nebraska, that he wishes the *Red Man*. ======== Joel Tyndall writes from the Omaha Agency, Nebraska, in which letter he sends some subscriptions, and says, "I am well and contented with my work, and wish you *all* the same." We believe Joel is teaching. ======== "Will the Man-on-the-band-stand please give a talk in the INDIAN HELPER on 'manners,' suitable to the comprehension of civilized people?" The above was sent us from a subscriber on the grounds. Some one has been ill-mannered, evidently, and let us all take a cue from the pertinent suggestion and watch ourselves. The most perfect of us may improve if we try. ======== The names of the boys who are going on farms the first of April were read in the dining Hall yesterday morning at breakfast. There have been many asking to go out but only those who were sufficiently ahead of their classes, or for other good reasons, were permitted to go. Great care is taken to select good homes, and no doubt, the boys will make the best of this golden opportunity to become independent men. ======== The Man-on-the-band-stand notices that a number of the boys are in the habit of addressing their instructors in a disrespectful way. Why cannot we say "Mr." every time we speak a gentleman's name? Instead of saying "Reighter,""Norman,""Gardiner,""Walker," we should say "Mr. Reighter," etc. A person shows how much respect he has for himself and for others by the manner in which he addresses or speaks of people. "There has never been anything to compare with this in the line of children's sociables." "The Standards entertained well. Their reception committee received guests in better fashion, but taking it all in all the Invincibles are ahead." These and many other comments were indulged in by the happy guests of the Invincibles last Thursday night as they were enjoying the pleasures of the good time offered. The music and marching, the games, the choice refreshments served in fine style, the courtly manner and good looks of the young gentlemen and the beaming faces of the pretty girls marked the occasion as one of unusual brilliancy. Chester Cornelius was master of ceremonies, and without the slightest hitch or a moment's delay there was a continual succession of well planned pleasure. For graceful marching prizes were awarded Julia Given, Katie Grinrod, Eva Johnson, Dennison Wheelock, John Tyler and Howard Logan. ======== We have had a delightful little visit from Miss Alice C. Fletcher, of Washington, D.C., special agent for allotting Indian lands. She stopped off between trains on her way to the Omaha Agency, Nebraska. It was refreshing to see her Omaha and Winnebago friends break from ranks as they were marching to school and rush to greet in the most cordial manner their brave champion. Miss Fletcher heard the Dawes Bill discussed for her special benefit, by our pupils and enjoyed the speeches, some of which were extempore. *We* much more enjoyed *her* simple interpretations and explanations of the same Bill, giving us all a better understanding of some of its provisions. The good advice administered to individuals and to companies of pupils during her short stay has done much to revive in the minds of her boys and girls the essential spirit of pluck and stick-to-well-doing. Some again, brave woman! Come often! ======== We have heard of a number of our pupils who have long lists of words from the letters in the word "reluctantly," but are discouraged because some one has sent in more than they have made. We have examined no lists, and will not until the first day of April. Some of the longest lists may turn out to be the shortest, if the words are misspelled and are not English words. It, of course, is not necessary to say that the words of like spelling but of different meaning will not be counted. Any one with a rational mind would see that would not be fair. There are very few words in our language that do not have more than one meaning, but a word must not appear in the list more than once, no matter what it means. ==================================================== At the Carlisle School is published monthly an eight-page quarto of standard size, called THE RED MAN, the mechanical part of which is done entirely by Indian boys. This paper is valuable as a summary of information on Ind