From gars@speakeasy.org Tue May 20 18:38:16 2003 Date: 20 May 2003 23:37:04 -0000 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews11.021 _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 11, ISSUE 021 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 24, 2003 Abenaki kikas/field maker moon Mohawk onerahtohko:wa/time of big leaf 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, Native American Chat and ndn-aim 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: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + ======================== "Our Elders are a great untapped resource and I often think that we ignore the wealth of knowledge that is there. We've lost the art of casual family conversation where meaningful stories are often discovered. At the same time, we need to recognize individuals at any age who are making valuable cotributions to our communities." __ Cara Cowan, Cherokee/Choctaw, Secretary of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) Board of Directors. +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! The editorial for this week is courtesy of a courageous Blackfeet, Elouise Cobell. For those of you who have been on the dark side of the moon for seven years, Elouise Cobell is the Blackfeet banker who planted her staff and took on the Department of Interior in a fight to recover billions of missing Indian Trust Fund dollars. She continues to lead the fight against a larger, more powerful enemy, and remains ever a lady of respect and dignity. I urge that every breathing human being in Indian Country go to the Indian Trust website http://www.indiantrust.com and familiarize yourself with the battle; and support this grandmother in every way you can. If you ever want to say, "WE WON!" you must be part of the battle. The outcome absolutely will affect everyone in Indian Country - much to their joy if Eloise Cobell prevails, and much to their sorrow if Secretary of Interior Gale Norton and the Bush Administration prevails. ----------------------- ----------------------- ----------------------- Sunday May 11, 2003 Yes, there are times to fight by Elouise Cobell Guest columnist Farmington Daily Times President George W. Bush's policy on Iraq may have had it right, after all. You remember, the president told us "sometimes you have to fight." Sometimes, Mr. Bush said, the other guy just doesn't get it; that he needs a punch in the stomach to get the message. That's just the way a group of American Indians have been feeling for almost seven years in a federal court in Washington. We've been punching away at Uncle Sam, determined to get a full accounting of the moneys that the federal government should have been placing in trust accounts for us for more than 116 years. Billions of dollars money that belongs to some of the nation's poorest people have been diverted from our accounts. After repeated victories in the courts, we're getting close to securing that accounting. But to our surprise, some in the nation's capital are now demanding we settle our dispute with the federal government outside the courtroom. Mediate the issues, they are telling us. I was in Washington recently, sitting in the first day of testimony in the latest phase of our long-running lawsuit. I left fighting mad. Paul M. Homan, a nationally recognized banking expert, was to testify about the weaknesses in the government's plan to reform the badly broken Indian trust system. There's no doubt that Homan, the former president of a prominent bank in Washington, knows what he is talking about when it comes to trust operations. He was the chief examiner of federal banks for the Comptroller of the Currency for years. He personally supervised the closing of 22 national banks when they became insolvent and, when he left government service, he supervised the rehabilitation of several large banks that were teetering on the brink of failure. Equally important, he was the first presidential appointee named special trustee for the Indian trust accounts, overseeing the Interior Department's handling of the accounts for nearly three years. President Bill Clinton selected him to handle that job and he did it with such candor that Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt finally fired him for pressing his argument so strongly. Now you'd think that Homan would be just the type of guy that a Republican administration would love to have talk about the ills in the Indian trust accounts. But no, the Bush administration's Justice Department did everything it could to disqualify Homan from testifying as the expert witness he clearly is. And once Judge Royce Lamberth rejected those arguments, the government continued to question what seemed like every statement he made about the problems of the trust. To me, that's precisely why the fight over Indian trust reform is a difficult battle. It's also why we want our day in the courts. We're tired of having federal officials be they Democrats or Republicans attempt to silence those who would tell the truth about the horrible job that the federal government has done taking care of our money. All we want is what a federal judge and a federal appeals court have said we are entitled to: a full accounting of our money. It's hardly a novel or a radical idea. It's what every bank and every trust company in the nation has to give its clients. When the children of America's first citizens cannot get such a basic request, then something is wrong with our government. As George Bush would say, it's time for us to fight. Elouise Cobell is a member of the Blackfeet Nation and the lead plaintiff in Cobell Vs. Norton, a lawsuit filed in 1996 to force an accounting of trust fund moneys held by the federal government for American Indians. ----------------------- ----------------------- ----------------------- 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 ---------- - Guest Editorial: - Southern Ute Case Time to Fight reinforces Tribal Sovereignty - Secretary Norton - Native Women suffer most unfit to be a Trustee in Prison System - Editorial: - Giago: Attorneys in Custer Saga's other Side Tribal Child Abuse Lawsuit - Zuni Pueblo - Project seeks to help Indians expands Battle against Mining with Legal Issues - Coeur d'Alene Tribe - Man accused of Endangering Chiefs renames Land Features denies it - Southern Ute Vice Chairman - Lawsuit against Mille Lacs restrains Vocal Critic Reservation dismissed - Minn. Commissioner - Arrest made apologizes to American Indians in shooting of Jeno Chief - Tribes can't use Civil Rights Law - Native Prisoner - Update: Mohawk Land Claims -- Good News for Inmate - Sarah Duncan died Today Pen Pal Lists Online - Alaska Court: Native-Hire - Rustywire: Preference not Lawful Saturday Flea Market in Gallup - Investigation sparks - History: Carlisle Indian School Fisheries Standoff - Poem: Bear Thoughts - M'ikmaq plan to Fish - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - Lubicon Land Deal coming - Upcoming Events --------- "RE: Secretary Norton unfit to be a Trustee" --------- Date: Wed, May 14 2003 08:32:12 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NORTON UNFIT TO BE A TRUSTEE" http://www.indiantrust.com/ SECRETARY NORTON - UNFIT TO BE A TRUSTEE By Elouise Cobell May 14, 2003 U.S District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth's historic decision on September 17, 2002, held Secretary Gale Norton along with Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb in contempt of court for (1) engaging in litigation misconduct by failing to comply with the Court's Order of December 21, 1999, to initiate a Historical Accounting Project; (2) committing a fraud on the Court by concealing the Department's true actions regarding the Historical Accounting Project during the period from March 2000, until January 2001; (3) committing a fraud on the Court by failing to disclose the true status of the TAAMS subproject between September 1999 and December 21, 1999; (4)committing a fraud on the Court by filing false and misleading quarterly status reports starting in March 2000, regarding TAAMS and BIA Data Cleanup; and, (5) committing a fraud on the Court by making false and misleading representations starting in March 2000, regarding computer security of IIM trust data. Judge Lamberth stated, "The agency (Department of Interior) has indisputably proven to the Court, Congress, and the individual Indian beneficiaries that it is either unwilling or unable to administer competently the IIM trust. Worse yet the Department has now undeniably shown that it can no longer be trusted to state accurately the status of its trust reform efforts. In short, there is no longer any doubt that the Secretary of Interior has been and continues to be an unfit trustee delegate for the United States." Characteristically, the Bush Administration now seeks to enact legislation to pay for the private attorneys representing government officials who have perpetrated these malfeasances and aided and abetted the Secretary in the commission of these frauds. Yes, this money will come out of the pockets of taxpayers and individual Indian trust beneficiaries most victimized by this misconduct. What happens next? Although the court refrained from appointing a receiver at the time of the September 17th ruling, Judge Lamberth made it clear he has the authority to appoint one if his orders are not followed. This is an important victory for Indian beneficiaries. The court has scheduled a Phase 1.5 trial to address reform of the IIM trust and to move forward an historical accounting. This requires the Interior to file, by January 6, 2003, a plan to specify how it will meet its fiduciary obligations owed to the IIM trust beneficiaries. The court also gave permission to the plaintiffs to file any plans of our own. We plan to do so by the January 2003 deadline in anticipation of the Phase 1.5 trial to begin May 1, 2003. We also look forward to a Phase II Trial date to correct the trust account balances. It's been over six years since we filed the case, but we are winning every step of way. We will continue to fight in order to achieve accountability for American Indians and we will prevail. Copyright c. 2003 Blackfeet Reservation Development Fund, Inc. --------- "RE: EDITORIAL: Custer Saga's other Side" --------- Date: Sun, 18 May 2003 06:32:34 -0400 From: "MI-BRANCH-NAA" Subj: EDITORIAL--Custer Saga's Other Side Mailing List: NAA EDITORIAL Custer Saga's Other Side http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-ed-custer17may.story Americans have come far in viewing the Battle of the Little Bighorn as something more than just "Custer's Last Stand." After all, Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and his 7th Calvary were out to massacre the Sioux, the Cheyenne and others who refused to give up their historic hunting ground for the peonage of the white man's reservation. "Annihilation" was the official term. Custer's was one of three U.S. Army units aiming to trap and wipe out the 1,500 Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors and their families who still lived in southern Montana in America's centennial year of 1876. Custer's orders were to delay his attack until all three units were ready to engage the Indians. The lieutenant colonel, smarting from career reversals, thought he could whip them himself and become a hero again, perhaps even president. A proverb fits the situation: "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." The rest is sorry and often distorted history, colored by racism. On June 25, the 127th anniversary of the battle, the National Park Service, working with the tribes, will finally present the Indians' side of the Custer legend with the dedication of a memorial authorized by Congress in 1991. No longer will the battlefield be dominated by the white monument to Custer and his 262 men on Last Stand Hill. Supt. Darrell Cook says it's difficult to tell the full story of the battle without a tribute to the Indians. "This memorial will do that and it should generate a lot more questions from visitors," Cook said. The site, near Crow Agency, Mont., has been a national cemetery since 1879 and a monument since 1946. But until the 1991 law, it was known as Custer Battlefield National Monument. Custer, the pompous blunderer, somehow was lionized for his foolhardy charge into the overwhelming strength of the Indian camp. The $2-million Indian memorial is in the form of a raised mound northwest of the 7th Cavalry monument. The granite inner walls bear bronze sculptures of "spirit warriors" representing the Lakota (Sioux), Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes. A "spirit gate" looking out toward the Custer monument is marked by two large timber flagpoles. Portions of the walls are reserved for the tribes to inscribe their stories of the battle as told through the generations. Those stories should portray the Plains Indians for what most of them were - not brutes and vicious killers but proud, religious, family-oriented people who mostly wanted to be left alone. Michigan Branch--Native American Advocate ALWAYS ACCEPTING VOLUNTEERS --------- "RE: Zuni Pueblo expands Battle against Mining" --------- Date: Fri, May 16 2003 08:32:21 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ZUNI LAKE" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.sfnewmexican.com/print.asp?ArticleID=27287 Pueblo Expands Battle Against Mining Latest challenge to company's planned coal mine: winning an air-quality permit By BEN NEARY, The New Mexican Wednesday, May 14, 2003 Expanding its fight against an Arizona utility company's plan to develop a huge coal strip mine in western New Mexico, Zuni Pueblo has now attacked the company's application for a state air-quality permit. Zuni for years has fought Salt River Project's efforts to secure water for its planned Fence Lake Mine, south of Grants. Now the pueblo has kicked off what promises to be an extended fight against the company's quest for an air-quality permit. Salt River Project, a major Arizona utility company, says it plans to begin ground disturbance on its planned 18,000-acre mine this summer. But while the company has both federal and state mining permits in hand, it still needs both the air-quality permit and state approval of its proposed water-pumping plan. The proposed mine is on the Cibola-Catron county border, about 10 miles from a lake that Zuni Pueblo and other Southwestern tribes hold sacred. Zuni Gov. Arlen Quetawki wrote to the Air Quality Bureau of the New Mexico Environment Department last month protesting that Salt River Project had failed to include so-called "fugitive emissions' in its permit application. Fugitive emissions are coal dust and other air pollution resulting from coal-mining and -transportation operations that aren't released into the air through a pipe or a smokestack. Sandra Ely, Air Quality Bureau chief, said Tuesday that her agency has instructed Salt River Project to resubmit its application including information about projected fugitive emissions. She said she expects to see the revised application perhaps as soon as the end of this week. Ely said it's likely that her bureau will agree with Quetawki's suggestion that the state hold a public hearing on the company's permit application - a process she said would likely take at least a couple of months. The major issue facing the state is determining whether the state will classify the mine as a so-called PSD source, Ely said. The acronym stands for "prevention of significant deterioration,' and if the mine is found to be such a source, she said the state would require the company to install state-of-the-art emission-control equipment. "They have more than just a mine; they have a coal-processing facility there,' Ely said. The company intends to build more than 40 miles of railroad to carry coal from its mine to its Coronado Generating Station, just across the state line in St. John's, Arizona. Quetawki has asked the Environment Department to reject SRP's application for an air quality permit in part because the company failed to include information about emissions associated with rail transportation. David Cunningham, a Santa Fe lawyer, represents Zuni Pueblo. He said Tuesday the pueblo disputes SRP's claim that the mine and planned associated activities amount to only a minor source of air contaminants. He said the Coronado plant itself is already classified as a major source. "The entire mine, railroad and Coronado plant should be considered one major source of emissions,' Cunningham said. Cunningham said Zuni Pueblo believes that the director of the NM Mining and Minerals Division should block any ground disturbance at the mine site until the cultural, aquifer and air-quality issues are finally resolved. Bob Barnard, manager of SRP's Fence Lake Project in Phoenix, said Tuesday the company maintains that it submitted all materials the state's air-quality board requested in its original application. He said fugitive emissions don't represent a significant amount of additional emissions over what the company has already reported. "We still meet the emissions standards that we have to meet,' Barnard said of the effect of adding fugitive emissions to the company's application. He said the company doesn't believe Zuni Pueblo has raised sufficient grounds to require the state to hold a public hearing on the air-quality permit application and has written a letter to the state opposing the pueblo's request. "I think that we'll still be out there this summer,' Barnard said of the company's development plans. He said the company intends to begin development work on the site even if some of the permit applications are still unresolved. "Their interpretation of the statutes are not the same as ours, and we'll see,' Barnard said of the pueblo's position that the state should bar development of the mine until the permit issues are resolved. Copyright c. 2003 Santa Fe New Mexican. --------- "RE: Coeur d'Alene Tribe renames Land Features" --------- Date: Wed, May 14 2003 08:32:12 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NEHCHEN BLUFF/CREEK" http://www.spokesmanreview.com/tribal_news Tribe renames land features, replacing Squaw with Nehchen Associated Press May 9, 2003 Coeur d'Alene - The Coeur d'Alene Tribe on Thursday renamed two geographic features that use the term "squaw," after unsuccessful efforts to get the Idaho Legislature to eliminate the term in more than 100 place names statewide. The Coeur d'Alene Tribal Council approved changing the name of Squaw Hump to Nehchen Bluff and changing Squaw Creek to Nehchen Creek. The new names - a variation of the original name -- are given in honor of Neechen Ann Mary, a tribal member who was the wife of Chief Peter Moctleme, who died in 1934 and was the last leader of the Coeur d'Alenes who governed entirely according to the traditional means of succession and authority, according to a news release from the tribe. She lived her last days on her reservation allotment, which is traversed by the renamed bluff and creek, the tribe said. The original spelling of her name, Neechen, is being adapted as Nehchen for the official name. "It is important for the tribe to remove any offensive place names from its maps," said Ernie Stensgar, chairman of the Coeur d'Alene Tribal Council. In 2001, the Coeur d'Alene tribe asked the Legislature to begin a process to change all place names in Idaho that use the term squaw, which tribal members find insulting and derogatory. A House committee rejected the resolution calling for the change. -- Spokane, Wash., Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and the Inland Northwest Copyright c. 2003, The Spokesman-Review. --------- "RE: Southern Ute Vice Chairman restrains Vocal Critic" --------- Date: Thu, May 15 2003 08:15:06 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="RESTRAIN CRITIC" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.durangoherald.com/~/news/news030514_5.htm Tribe's vice chairman restrains vocal critic By Brian Newsome Herald Staff Writer May 15, 2003 The Southern Ute Indian Tribe's vice chairman has obtained a restraining order against one of the tribal government's harshest critics. Pearl Casias filed the petition for a restraining order against Sage Douglas Remington, spokesman for the Southern Ute Grassroots Organization, after a Tribal Council meeting on May 5. A temporary restraining order was granted Monday. The order requires Remington to avoid personal contact with Casias. A hearing for a permanent restraining order is scheduled for Monday in Tribal Court. According to Remington, Casias alleges that he displayed threatening behavior at the Tribal Affairs Building in Ignacio. The incident that prompted the restraining order followed a heated Tribal Council meeting. Remington declined to give more details about the incident until the hearing. "It's an abuse of power, period," Remington said Tuesday. "She was trying to exile me." Casias also said she would not discuss the incident before the hearing. Remington said the petition for the restraining order, issued last week, called for him to stay away from any place where Casias might conduct personal or tribal business. He protested the wide-ranging restrictions of the order, because Remington - who is politically active - frequently visits the tribal campus. The judge limited restrictions to personal contact with Casias. A vocal critic of many tribal policies, and sometimes tribal officials, Remington has routinely disagreed with Casias on various issues, from the tribe's money management to the council's ability to listen to tribal members. Reach Staff Writer Brian Newsome at brian@durangoherald.com Copyright c. 2002 the Durango Herald. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Minn. Commissioner apologizes to American Indians" --------- Date: Tue, May 13 2003 08:11:09 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="APARTHEID STATEMENT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthtribune/5848617.htm DNR commissioner apologizes to state's American Indians TREATY RIGHTS:State tribal leaders, angered over Gene Merriam's use of the word apartheid in a discussion of treaty rights, call for his resignation. BY JIM RAGSDALE AND DENNIS LIEN ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS May 13, 2003 ST. PAUL - Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Gene Merriam apologized Monday for using the word "apartheid" in a discussion of Indian treaty rights, comments that provoked tribal leaders to call for his resignation and that Gov. Tim Pawlenty said were "unfortunate and did not reflect the policy of my administration." "I offer my most sincere apology for recent comments of mine that were hurtful for Minnesota's Native American tribes," Merriam said in a statement. "I fully respect the importance of their treaty rights." Merriam apologized after eight Minnesota Indian leaders, including Melanie Benjamin, chief executive of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, called on Pawlenty to ask for Merriam's resignation over remarks he made at an April 27 appearance in Wahkon on Mille Lacs Lake. Merriam was speaking at a fund-raiser for Proper Economic Resource Management, a group that has battled the Mille Lacs band and others over tribal hunting and fishing rights. After a lengthy legal fight, the U.S. Supreme Court in 1999 affirmed the rights of eight Minnesota and Wisconsin bands to hunt and fish under their own regulations over much of east-central Minnesota, including Mille Lacs Lake, the state's premier walleye fishery. In a discussion about why Indians and non-Indians have different fishing regulations, Merriam was quoted by the Outdoor News as telling the group that "any system of apartheid based upon race is inherently misdirected." The report said Merriam suggested he might support an attempt to obtain a presidential order erasing the bands' 1837 hunting and fishing treaty rights. The report quoted Merriam as saying he was expressing his personal opinions, not those of the state. Merriam couldn't be reached for comment. In their letter to Pawlenty, the tribal leaders said, "Mr. Merriam compared Indians' exercise of their treaty rights to apartheid." The leaders also referred to Merriam's comments on seeking a presidential order. "We hope you agree with us that Mr. Merriam's comments were offensive, hostile and completely unacceptable," the leaders wrote Pawlenty. "Comparing the legal exercise of treaty rights with one of history's most brutal and racist systems of government is outrageous and should be condemned by all Minnesotans." It is critical for a DNR commissioner "to be an impartial referee on issues that arise between Indians, as they exercise their legal treaty rights, and the sportsmen and women of our state," the leaders wrote. "To have a DNR commissioner display this kind of obvious bias against Indians that Mr. Merriam has done is intolerable. Therefore, we respectfully request that you ask for Mr. Merriam's resignation from his position as DNR commissioner." A Pawlenty spokesman said he had no plans to ask for Merriam's resignation. But the governor quickly issued a statement disavowing his appointee's comments. He said Merriam's remarks "describing tribal hunting and fishing rights were unfortunate and did not reflect the policy of my administration." "Apartheid, or segregation based on race, is an abhorrent chapter in human history," Pawlenty said. "The special hunting and fishing privileges enjoyed by Native Americans in Minnesota are the result of legal rights granted to them. Many of these rights have been recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court. Decisions by our legal system should be respected by all Minnesotans. "I know Gene Merriam to be an inclusive man of fairness and the utmost integrity," Pawlenty said. "He will act quickly to ensure that these regrettable comments do not damage the relationship DNR has with the tribes." Merriam, a former Democratic-Farmer-Labor state senator with wide expertise in natural resources issues, said in his statement: "It is my hope that the relationship which I have had with the tribes is not irreparably damaged by these comments. I am committed to nurturing and strengthening that relationship." Signing the letter from the tribes, along with Benjamin, were Audrey Bennett, president of the Prairie Island Indian Community; Stanley Crooks, chairman of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community; Gary Donald, chairman of the Boise Forte Band of Chippewa; Tom Ross, council member of the Upper Sioux Community; Norman Deschampe, chairman of the Grand Portage Band of Chippewa; Ann Larsen, president of the Lower Sioux Indian Community; and Peter White, chairman of the Leech Lake Band of Chippewa. "The commissioner of the DNR ought to know that treaty rights, hunting and fishing rights, are not based on race -- they're based on treaties," said Deschampe, reached before Pawlenty and Merriam issued their statements. He added that the suggestion of seeking a presidential order that would change current practice is "kind of scary." Copyright c. 2003 Duluth News Tribune and wire service sources. --------- "RE: Tribes can't use Civil Rights Law" --------- Date: Tue, May 20 2003 08:22:06 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SOVEREIGNTY REVERSAL" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.signonsandiego.com/~tribalsovereignty.html Supreme Court says Indian tribes can't use civil rights law to prevent searches By Mark Sherman ASSOCIATED PRESS May 19, 2003 WASHINGTON - Indian tribes may not sue authorities to stop searches under a federal civil rights law, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, sidestepping the larger issue of whether tribes have immunity from searches. The court unanimously threw out a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision on a case involving the Bishop Paiute Tribe of Inyo County, east of the Sierra Nevada in Central California. It asked lower courts to determine whether tribes have another basis on which to assert their immunity. The dispute arose during the county's investigation of three employees of the tribe's casino whose names also appeared on welfare rolls. In March 2000, a county investigator and sheriff's deputies armed with a bolt cutter searched and seized personnel and pay records from the tribal Paiute Palace Casino in Bishop, Calif. When authorities later sought more records, the tribe sued in federal court. A judge dismissed the lawsuit, but the San Francisco-based appeals court agreed with the tribe. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Section 1983 of the U.S. Code is intended to allow individuals to sue when they believe their constitutional rights have been infringed. "We hold that, in the situation here presented, the Tribe does not qualify as a 'person' who may sue under Section 1983," Ginsburg wrote. Ralph LaPera, a lawyer for the tribe in Bishop, said Monday's decision was "not anti-Indian government" in that the court did not rule that the county has the authority to seize tribal records. The county, a dozen states, sheriffs across the nation and California prosecutors argued that tribes could impede local criminal investigations if they were allowed to withhold tribal documents sought with valid warrants. The court previously ruled that state authorities may enter an American Indian reservation to investigate or prosecute off-reservation violations of state law, including questioning a tribe's members and searching personal property. John D. Kirby, a San Diego lawyer who represents Inyo, called the court ruling a "significant victory." The county dismissed the welfare fraud case against the casino employees because it could not obtain the documents it needed, Kirby said. The investigation is continuing, he said. The case is Inyo County v. Paiute-Shoshone Indians, 02-281. Copyright c. 2003 Union-Tribune Publishing Co./San Diego, CA. --------- "RE: Update: Mohawk Land Claims" --------- Date: Sun, May 18 2003 12:13:47 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MOHAWK LAND CLAIMS" http://hometown.aol.com/miketben1/lcupdate1.htm LAND CLAIMS: AN UPDATE INDIAN TIME - Vol. 21 #18 - May 8, 2003 Edition - Page 5 & 6 The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe plans to put the State's latest proposed land claim settlement to a referendum vote (yes or no), at the June 7th election. The referendum question will be made known to the Akwesasne community on May 7th or 8th. The decision to put the proposal to a vote came as a complete surprise to the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne and Mohawk Nation technicians who had been reviewing and evaluating the proposal line by line to ensure that our people are getting the best deal possible. The March proposal that came from the State was NOT the same as the verbal offer that was taken to the community at the Fall information sessions. The community needs more time to be educated and our claim should not be confused with other issues related to the upcoming election. We need to thoroughly evaluate the proposal to ensure that the Akwesasne community is getting the best deal possible. BACKGROUND On Friday morning, March 28, 2003, representatives from the three Mohawk Plaintiffs in the long-standing lawsuit for the return of Mohawk lands, met in Albany with State and Federal officials to discuss the future of the land claim settlement process. This meeting marked the beginning of yet another attempt for all parties to reach a settlement on the Mohawk claim for lands set aside in the 1796 Treaty with the Seven Nations of Canada. The Mohawk claim is based on NY State's violation of the Federal Non-Intercourse Act, whereby Mohawk lands were sold without Federal approval. Over the past year, several events have placed the Mohawk land claim on the front burner for the first time since 1999, when negotiations last broke off. In the Spring of 2002, the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe acknowledged that full and fair settlement discussions could not move forward without the participation of the other co-plaintiffs, and so the lines of communication between all three Mohawk plaintiffs were re-opened. On September 5, 2002, the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, the Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs and the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne signed a tri- plaintiff "unity agreement." This agreement resolved the three plaintiffs to work together in the spirit of unity to resolve this decades-old land claim. Since this agreement was signed, each plaintiff tasked land claim technicians to work together on land claim related issues. These technicians meet on a regular basis to discuss the substance and procedure of the land claim process, both in our dealings with the State and in our dealings with each other as plaintiffs. The technicians then report back to their respective Councils and also seek direction from their Councils. As part of this unified effort, all three plaintiffs requested a meeting with the State to discuss the land claim settlement process and to demonstrate that the State must no longer attempt to deal solely with one Mohawk plaintiff, but rather, the State must deal equally with all three plaintiffs. The State responded positively and a meeting was quickly scheduled for Friday, March 28, 2003, between the three Mohawk plaintiffs, the Federal officials and the State defendants. Mohawk land claim technicians and the attorneys for each plaintiff were also present. The brief meeting represented a renewed commitment among all of the parties to work toward a fair and equitable settlement of the land claim. This is the first time in five years that all of the interested parties have met face to face; the seriousness and sincerity of this renewed commitment to resolve the land claim seemed evident by the active and welcome participation of all who were present. The State formally presented its position to all three Mohawk plaintiffs and relayed the strong commitment of the Governor to this renewed process. The Mohawk plaintiffs similarly relayed their commitment and recognized that they are not starting from scratch in this process. There remains a lot of work to be done and the three Mohawk plaintiffs have committed time and resources toward achieving a just resolution of the land claim. A just resolution requires the participation of everyone in our community and so, the Mohawk plaintiffs are committed to keeping the community informed of all aspects of the claim. A comprehensive community education plan has been developed, the first phase of which included the community meetings that took place in the Fall. These meetings were open to everyone in the community and were held at the Mohawk Nation Longhouse, the HUD building, in each of the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne districts, at the monthly meeting of the Seven Nations historical society, and at the Akwesasne Petroleum Co-op meeting. At these meetings, the land claims technicians provided information to the community about the current status of settlement discussions and explained the terms of a potential settlement. The next phase of this education process will be a series of newspaper articles on various topics related to the claim. These articles will be prepared by the land claims technicians from each Council and will appear weekly in the local newspapers. This series of articles will cover the following: the Non-Intercourse Act; the Treaty of 1796; the Seven Nations of Canada; an explanation of the step by step process of a civil lawsuit such as our land claim; the implementation phase of a settlement, a discussion of the land-purchase process, and a description of the lands to potentially be returned; an explanation of quit-claim language and its implications; the division of settlement money, land and power between all three Mohawk plaintiffs. Topics may be added or changed as necessary. It is extremely important that our community be knowledgeable on all land claim related issues and so, everyone is encouraged to save these articles for future reference. Eventually, the terms of a potential settlement will be brought to the community for referendum votes, etc., and so the community needs to make an informed decision on whether to accept the terms of a future settlement. It is not yet known when a settlement may be reached but the community needs to be ready with the knowledge necessary to effectively evaluate the terms of a settlement. On Thursday, May 1, 2003, the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Council called the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne and the Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs into a last minute meeting to inform the MCA and MNCC that the Tribe intends to put the State's latest land claims proposal to a referendum vote at next month's June elections. The MCA and the MNCC expressed their reservations about putting this proposal to a vote before all three Councils have had a chance to comprehensively educate the whole community. There are five aspects to the State's latest proposal and these include money, land, power, local government issues, education, and the consequences of the proposal's enactment. The proposed land claim settlement has made progress over the years, but each aspect of the proposal has some serious flaws that need further investigation and some elements that will need further negotiation. The proposal also contains terms that jeopardize our present rights to the larger Aboriginal claim, and contai ns strong restrictions on the use of land we may or may not get back. There are many questions that must be answered with regard to the transmission and distribution of power allocated as part of the settlement. There are also outstanding questions on the issue of interest to be paid as part of the monetary aspect of the proposal. Lastly, the three Mohawk plaintiffs should be allowed the time and opportunity to consult with the local governments about the land claim proposal with a spirit of diplomacy that looks toward building a good relationship with our neighbors. Given the above statements and issues raised, this leaves us puzzled about what the Tribes' referendum question could be and leads us to the conclusion that the vote is premature. The MCA and the MNCC technicians will continue with the education plan as previously agreed upon and will continue to find answers to these outstanding questions. All three plaintiffs would like to see this claim settled to the satisfaction of ev eryone, but not at the expense of the seventh generation. It is our duty and responsibility to protect our future and to get the best settlement we can for all of the people of Akwesasne. If you have any questions or information you'd like to share, please contact Danielle Lazore or Jim Ransom at 518-358-6141 or Salli Benedict or Donna Roundpoint at 613-575-2348 Copyright c. 1999-2003 Indian Time Newspaper, Akwesasne Mohawk Nation Territory. --------- "RE: Sarah Duncan died Today" --------- Date: Monday, May 19, 2003 01:01 pm From: Kahente Subj: SARAH DUNCAN DIED TODAY Mailing List: Frostys AmerIndian NEWS RELEASE - May 15, 2003 SARAH DUNCAN DIED TODAY There is a community of First Nation people in north-central British Columbia, Canada, whose territory includes the Nation Lakes. They are hunters, fishers, and trappers, and have been since long before the arrival of the white man. There are 2,800 people there now, occupying villages along the shores of Stuart Lake, and up one of its tributaries - Middle River. The Nation Lakes area is rich in mercury deposits, deposits which had not, and could not , prior to the construction of the mine and the reduction plant in 1940, harm the environment or the people. Pinchi Lake, one of the Nation lakes, is the primary source of fish for the First Nation. The baking of the ore in the reduction plant released the mercury in its purest form -the silver globules we are familiar with. It melted out from a reddish rock to become a molten silvery liquefied heavy metal. The steam from the melting process filled the air, then condensed on the ground into small pools of mercury, and it dripped from the eves troughs. The company sluiced the raw mercury into the lake when it cleaned the plant every evening. It also dumped the waste-baked ore tailings into the lake creating a long bar of "land", like a crooked finger into the lake. The mercury, now in its elemental form combined with the biota to become methyl mercury, a poison to plants, animals, and people. The people were not told this. The Indian communities around the lake ate fish for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It was the main food in their diet. And babies died. The hunters and trappers developed numb hands and feet and tunnel vision, they could no longer open their traps with their hands and lost their livelihood. They didn't know why, and when the chiefs asked the government to investigate the rise in deaths of entire families, perform autopsies, and look into the strange new health problems, they were told nothing was wrong. These people, in these remote isolated communities, without grocery stores and whose only access to medical help was a distant fly-in doctor, were puzzled and at a loss to explain what was happening. The mine, which had ceased operation in 1944 had left its waste products behind; the waste continued, and continues today, to poison the lake, the animals, the fish, and eventually the people who rely on them. The company reopened the mine in 1968. In 1969 the wildlife branch posted signs around the lake advising that recreational fishermen not eat the fish. The signs were in English. The people speak Carrier. Few could read. In 1973, four years after the government had tested the water and fish and found a mercury content in the fish four to twenty times higher than that considered safe for human consumption, Health and Welfare Canada showed up to test the people. They tested twenty-five people. The test results were many times above what was considered safe in humans, but the people were told "there was no cause for alarm". These isolated people, with little education available to them, reasoned that this of course meant that they could continue to eat the fish they relied on for sustenance. There were still no grocery stores, few cars, and a bumpy dirt logging road to the outside. Those children who did go to school, born to mothers who ate fish all day, had many learning problems. At this point the learning problems were not blamed on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome as there was little access to alcohol by the mothers in the villages. It was blamed on other things: isolation and homesickness. The people continued to voice concern about the strange medical problems in the community: the numbness, the tunnel vision, the kidney problems, the cancers, the convulsions in the children and the increased aggression in the youth. There were odd deformities of the hands of the people. They were tested again in 1975, and although again the people tested much higher than is considered safe, the people were told not to worry. Ernest Peters was a disabled trapper. His hands and feet were numb. Eventually he could not trap, and he died. His family was ill. All died within a few years of each other. Still government did nothing. Today, every once in awhile, the government shows up and takes hair samples and says everyone is fine. That way they don't have to do anything. And the doctors show up at a trailer once a week in the villages, hand out Tylenol 3 prescriptions for pain for what is almost always diagnosed as Lupus, or Arthritis, even in the youth. The elderly are diagnosed as having Alzheimer's. The children in the beautiful new school have many learning disorders, aggression and paranoia problems, but they are diagnosed and labelled as having Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. At times the school closes down due to the violence of the children, but this is blamed on the isolation and alcohol. Almost everyone has some form of "arthritis" now. They are still diagnosed with lupus when they complain about tingling or numbness, or have an odd gait. People say to each other in Carrier, "he walks like a duck". The government is not concerned. But the health of the lake - Pinchi Lake - does concern the governments who are leaning on the company to do mine reclamation pursuant to the mining legislation. They are worried about the fish and health of the environment. Millions of dollars are being spent on the environment - on sophisticated testing, on remediation, on revegetation, so that the company can be absolved of its responsibilities. Once they have done what the governments have asked , they can walk away. The people, the hunters, trappers and fishers are the Tl'azt'en Nation. The mining company is a multinational corporation, Teck Cominco. The government is the Canadian Federal Government. These are my people. This is our Keyoh. We cannot walk away. Sarah Duncan died today. - Chief Tommy Alexis --------- "RE: Alaska Court: Native-Hire Preference not Lawful" --------- Date: Mon, May 19 2003 08:10:01 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NATIVE PREFERENCE UNLAWFUL" http://www.indianz.com/ http://www.adn.com/alaska/story/3134657p-3158955c.html Native-hire preference not lawful RULING: Alaska Supreme Court deals loss to North Slope Borough. By SHEILA TOOMEY Anchorage Daily News May 17, 2003 The Alaska Supreme Court ruled unanimously Friday that a North Slope Borough Native-hire preference is unconstitutional. In an opinion written by Justice Alex Bryner, the court said a law requiring that even unqualified Native applicants for borough jobs be hired ahead of qualified non-Natives violates the promise in the Alaska Constitution of equal protection to all Alaskans regardless of race or national origin. It is possible that some governmental interest might be so important that it outweighs some of these rights some of the time, the court said. But the borough's desire to improve employment opportunities for its Inupiat residents does not rise to that level. Harold Curran, an attorney for the borough, said the preference has not been applied since 1999, when a federal judge in Anchorage concluded it violated both the U.S. Constitution and the borough's own charter, which prohibits discrimination in employment. Curran said borough officials will have to analyze Friday's opinion before deciding whether to continue fighting the issue in the federal courts. The North Slope Borough Assembly enacted the Native-preference law in 1997 despite warnings from then-Mayor Ben Nageak that it would not survive legal challenge. Supporters said the law was needed to improve employment rates and job training for Native residents. Inupiats made up about 75 percent of borough population but had higher unemployment and lower average wages than non-Natives, they argued. In 1998, Robert Malabed, a 14-year Barrow resident of Filipino descent, challenged the law in federal court. Malabed worked as a temporary bus station security guard for three years, then lost the job to a less qualified Native applicant, his suit said. Malabed has since moved to Anchorage, said Kenneth Covell, a Fairbanks attorney representing a group of challengers including Malabed. Friday's opinion dealt only with legal issues, but pending federal cases include claims for lost wages and other damages, Covell said. In court, borough lawyers argued that a federal law permitting preferential hiring of Native Americans living on or near reservations applied to the North Slope. The borough preference specified tribal members, so it was allowed, they said. But U.S. District Judge John Sedwick said a 1998 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court against the existence of "Indian Country" in most of Alaska meant the federal law did not apply. In 1999, Sedwick ruled in favor of Malabed and other challengers. The borough appealed Sedwick's ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which in 2000 asked the Alaska Supreme Court to examine the legality of the preference under state law. The opinion issued Friday is the Alaska court's response to that request. "We hold that the borough lacks a legitimate governmental interest to enact a hiring preference favoring one class of citizens at the expense of others," the Alaska court said. In a concurring opinion, Justice Warren Matthews said the court should go further than the equal protection issue on which it decided the case. It is clear "the purpose of the ordinance was to discriminate on the basis of race," he said. Use of the term "tribal member" appeared to be a proxy for "racial classification and ... a pretext for racial discrimination," he said. Unlike the U.S. Constitution, the Alaska Constitution does not imbue Native Americans with special status, the majority opinion noted. Instead, the Alaska document "mirrors the constitutional drafters' well-recognized desire to treat Alaska Natives like all other Alaska citizens." Daily News reporter Sheila Toomey can be reached at stoomey@adn.com. Copyright c. 2003 The Anchorage Daily News. --------- "RE: Investigation sparks Fisheries Standoff" --------- Date: Wed, May 14 2003 08:32:12 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="FISHERIES ALTERCATION" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canoe.ca/WesternTicker/CANOE-wire.Natives-Standoff.html Investigation sparks standoff between fisheries officers, B.C. natives May 13, 2003 CHILLIWACK (CP) -- Federal fisheries officers had an altercation with a native band member during an inspection Tuesday, sparking a standoff. The Cheam band claims one of its members was pepper sprayed by an officer investigating alleged illegal fishing. The man was driving a grader near the Fraser River. A fisheries official confirmed pepper spray was used to subdue him. For more than six hours, the band members blocked a fisheries truck in retaliation and refused to allow it to move. Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs president Stewart Phillip complained that the fisheries officers and RCMP constables called to the scene used heavy-handed tactics to deal with the situation. Copyright c. 2003 CANOE, a division of Netgraphe Inc. --------- "RE: M'ikmaq plan to Fish" --------- Date: Sat, May 17 2003 12:13:47 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="FISHING RIGHTS" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/~/BNStory/National/ M'ikmaq plan to fish Canadian Press Friday, May. 16, 2003 Miramichi, N.B. - Mi'kmaq bands from the Maritimes and Quebec vowed Friday to go fishing for crab next week despite rising tensions over the fishery and a boycott by non-native crabbers. Chief Robert Levi, of the Big Cove First Nation on New Brunswick's northeastern coast, said native fishermen are sick and tired of being held hostage in a quota dispute between Ottawa and crabbers from the Acadian and Gaspe' peninsulas. "We will be fishing next week some time," he said during a news conference. "We can wait a few more days." Mr. Levi said Mi'kmaq fishermen want to catch their share of snow crab before the crustaceans move into deeper waters, out of the reach of their small boats. "We have a right to fish," he said. "We will fish even if it means calling out the RCMP, the coast guard, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Even, if necessary, the army and navy. The law has to be upheld here." Mr. Levi said he hopes the 15 other Mi'kmaq reserves from the Maritimes and Quebec with crab quotas, most of them averaging only 150 to 200 tonnes, will band together to form a Mi'kmaq fleet to harvest crabs. He said there would be safety in numbers. "It's a shame this country would allow this to happen," Mr. Levi said. "There's such a big fight against terrorism. To me, this is a form of terrorism." Native fishermen and inshore fishermen who have been given access to the disputed crab fishery want to fish despite the boycott by boat captains in the Acadian and Gaspe' peninsulas. Sandy Siegel, spokesman for the Maritime Fishermen's Union, which represents inshore fishermen, joined the chiefs at the news conference to show solidarity on the crab issue. "The 2003 crab fishery hangs in the balance for many, many fishers and thousands of plant workers," Mr. Siegel said. "It's time the government of Canada exercises whatever powers it has to ensure the right to fish for us all." Crab captains have tied up their boats to protest against Ottawa's decision to lower the quota in their area and give more fishermen permanent access to the lucrative resource, worth an estimated $200- million last year. The changes triggered a riot two weeks ago in Shippagan on New Brunswick's Acadian Peninsula. Four crab boats were destroyed, including one owned by the Big Cove band. A fish plant and a federal fisheries building were also razed during the riot. RCMP Sergeant Gary Cameron said police divers searched the waters Friday around the Shippagan wharf, looking for evidence in the force's investigation of the destruction. Sgt. Cameron said police are not ready to lay charges, despite the fact that a number of officers were on duty during the May 3 riot and took pictures and video footage of the events. No arrests were made at the time. People in Shippagan want those responsible for the riot charged, but Sgt. Cameron disputed allegations that police are delaying arrests because of the volatile atmosphere in the region. "As soon as we have enough evidence to substantiate charges, charges will be laid and arrests made." Copyright c. 2003 Bell Globemedia Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Lubicon Land Deal coming" --------- Date: Thu, 15 May 2003 08:50:16 -0400 From: "Frosty" Subj: Fw: Lubicon land deal coming Mailing List: Frostys AmerIndian ----- Original Message ----- From: Russell Diabo Lubicon land deal coming EDMONTON (CP) - Robert Nault says he expects to succeed where a succession of other Indian Affairs ministers have failed, by resolving the long-standing Lubicon land claim dispute. Nault said Friday the most difficult issues have been settled and there could be a final agreement with the northern Alberta band by the end of the year. "I don't want to go out on a limb but I think we're very close, within a matter of months of fulfilling a long, drawn-out dream of the Lubicon to have an agreement with the Crown and a land base and governance structure of their own," he said The Lubicon weren't counted when federal agents signed Treaty 8 with other bands in 1889 and reserves were assigned. For decades nothing much changed despite several on-again, off-again negotiation efforts. Fifteen years ago this summer, fed-up band members grabbed international headlines when they blockaded roads near their community of Little Buffalo. Machine gun-toting RCMP ended the blockade and the talks that followed bogged down and went nowhere. However, since negotiations resumed in September the size of the reserve and cost of building a new community have been settled, said Nault, who plans to visit Little Buffalo again next month Economic development and compensation for lost resource revenues are now up for discussion. "We're just down to discussion of money and when I was in the community last year and talked to the elders they said it was not about money, it's about our rightful land and our place in Alberta and Canada." Copyright c. 2003 Turtle Island News. --------- "RE: Southern Ute Case reinforces Tribal Sovereignty" --------- Date: Sat, May 17 2003 12:13:47 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SOVEREIGNTY TEST" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.durangoherald.com/asp-bin/news/news030516_7.htm Case reinforces tribal sovereignty May 16, 2003 By Brian Newsome Herald Staff Writer The Southern Ute Indian Tribe won a groundbreaking court case Monday in Tribal Court against two hunters who illegally killed an elk on the reservation. "It feels great to be able to say we're exercising our sovereignty within the exterior boundaries of the reservation over non-Indians," said tribal Vice Chairman Pearl Casias. Ronald Tinsley and Sean Skidmore, both of Pagosa Springs, must pay almost $3,000 in damages to the tribe for violating tribal wildlife codes. Tinsley is a Cherokee Indian and Skidmore is an Anglo. Attempts to reach Skidmore were unsuccessful. Tinsley said, "I made an honest mistake, and I paid for it." The victory was the tribe's first case since adopting a revised Wildlife Code last December. The new code gives the tribe more control over non- Indians and non-tribal members who break laws on the reservation. "This case is important because too often non-Indians have not taken seriously the tribe's wildlife laws," said Sam W. Maynes, the tribe's attorney in the case. Maynes also helped revise the Wildlife Code. "It should be a message to all people who intend to hunt on the reservation ... they've got to comply with Southern Ute wildlife laws, and if they don't, they'll face serious consequences." Federal law prohibits Indian tribes from exercising criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians on the reservation. When the tribe revised its Wildlife Code, it de-criminalized wildlife violations and made them civil offenses. Civil offenses against non-Indians are allowed in Tribal Court. On Jan. 16, a tribal ranger, Luke Austin, caught Tinsley and Skidmore hunting elk near Lake Capote, on the Southern Ute reservation in Archuleta County. Skidmore shot and wounded a cow elk without a Southern Ute hunting permit. Tinsley, who had a legal permit, killed the elk with a pistol. The men admitted to the officer that they planned to tag the animal with Tinsely's tag, Maynes said. Tinsley said Skidmore was shooting for him because he had a broken arm. A tribal judge cited Tinsley with unlawful possession of wildlife, altering a permit (by unlawfully loaning it to another person), and failure to comply with a permit. Skidmore was cited for unlawful possession of wildlife and hunting without a required permit. Together they must pay $2,900 to the tribe. The tribe was also awarded the weapons. Tinsely said the weapons cost $1,200. "I honestly made a mistake by having someone shoot the elk for me," Tinsley said. "I did have a broken arm, but that was a bad judgment call on my part. But I think the fines and keeping the guns were excessive." The tribe spent about four years revising its Wildlife Code. Reach Herald Staff Writer Brian Newsome at Brian@durangoherald.com. Copyright C. 2002 the Durango Herald. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Native Women suffer most in Prison System" --------- Date: Thu, May 15 2003 08:15:06 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PRISON DISCRIMINATION" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canoe.ca/NationalTicker/CANOE-wire.Women-In-Prison.html Native women suffer most in 'discriminatory' prison system: advocates May 15, 2003 OTTAWA (CP) - Women, especially aboriginals, are increasingly landing in prison where they face sometimes brutal discrimination, advocates said Wednesday. Females serving federal sentences of two years or more were better off before the fortress-like Prison for Women was replaced with five cottage- style institutions across Canada, they said. The Kingston, Ont., institution finally closed in 2000 after a 1994 strip search incident sparked public outrage and lobbying from advocates to replace the prison. Splitting about 350 female inmates among regional prisons brought them closer to family but has meant less access to work and rehabilitation programs, said Kim Pate, executive director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies. She said the new prisons were supposed to provide more programs and support for female prisoners, but those have not materialized. That's because, with relatively few women, it's more costly and difficult to offer comparable services, she said. There are more than 12, 000 men in prison. Native women, especially those with mental illnesses, suffer most, Pate added. "Women with the most disabling mental health issues are languishing in isolation," she said. "Others are bounced back and forth between solitary confinement in prisons and locked forensic units in psychiatric hospitals. They are effectively being repeatedly punished for their mental illness, for their mental disability." The government's own statistics show discrimination, Pate said. "Aboriginal women represent between one and two per cent of the Canadian population. Yet, they are 27 per cent of the women serving federal sentences." That's up from 23 per cent two years ago when Pate's group and the Native Women's Association of Canada complained to the Canadian Human Rights Commission. On Wednesday, they again called for change. "If you're poor, if you're aboriginal and if you are someone with a disability, then they literally throw away the key," Pate said. Isolation exacerbates or even provokes mental conditions, leading to outbursts that can result in a mentally disabled woman spending years in isolation, Pate said. Fully half of maximum-security women are mentally troubled and need more help, she added. On Tuesday, an emergency response team took two maximum-security women into custody at the Edmonton Institution for Women. The inmates had barricaded themselves in the common room of the secure unit, hit the glass panels with canned goods and then began slashing themselves, said prison spokeswoman Audrey Hatto. The incident, which posed no public safety risk, occurred just two months after the Edmonton prison began accepting maximum-security women again. About 40 women have spent most of the last seven years in cramped wings of three men's prisons. They were removed from the cottage-style institutions in 1996 after security breaches and the death of an inmate marred the opening of the Edmonton location. Now fortified, maximum-security units recently opened at women's prisons in Edmonton, Joliette, Que. and in Nova Scotia. But the hardest to handle inmates are still being kept in separate units of men's prisons in Nova Scotia and Quebec, Pate said. "They live in cells that are the size of most peoples' bathrooms." The federal corrections investigator has repeatedly called their living conditions a disgrace. Michele Pilon-Santilli, spokeswoman for the Correctional Service of Canada, said 38 women are deemed maximum-security and most have shown a violent tendency to attack themselves, each other or staff. Life skills, behaviour modification, substance abuse, literacy and education programs are available, she said. Progress has been made to improve life for women behind bars but more must be done, she added. "We have learned many lessons along the way -- some the hard way. But we've been successful in changing the overall direction." Copyright c. 2003, CANOE, a division of Netgraphe Inc. --------- "RE: Giago: Attorneys in Tribal Child Abuse Lawsuit" --------- Date: Thu, May 15 2003 08:15:06 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CHILD ABUSE CASE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.yankton.net/stories/051503/opE_20030515021.shtml How Qualified Are Attorneys In Tribal Child Abuse Lawsuit? By Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji) May 15, 2003 Monetary compensation would be a salve, but hardly a cure. The Indian mission and Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding schools caused near irreparable damage to at least two generations of Indian children. Thousands of children were abused culturally, spiritually and sexually. The damage done is still felt in the Indian communities of America and Canada. For more than 25 years I wrote about it and was eventually considered some sort of nut for daring to broach this hideous subject. When the Canadian Indians won their suit against the Anglican Church of Canada, I felt vindicated. How dare I speak out against an institution that was only trying help the Indian people? How dare I turn my back upon the fine education I received at the Indian mission? How dare I indeed. An education is a fine thing to have, but at what cost? Does one surrender their culture, spirituality and self-esteem for this gift? Must one submit to sex abuse of the worst kind for this great education? I think not. The residual effects of the Canadian lawsuit and eventual victory by the Indians was still hanging in the air when the 24/7 networks lit up with all of the sex abuse scandals attributed to the Catholic Church nationally. Hundreds of victims stepped forward and many Catholic priests were defrocked. The question of whether Indians in the lower 48 could be successful if they brought a class action lawsuit against the federal government and the different church groups had never been answered. Two men showed up in Lakota Country with briefcases in hand and an offer to file such a suit: Gary Frischer and Jeffrey Herman. The man who did most of the talking calls himself a "Multi-District Litigation Consultant." Gary Frischer gave an outline of his past experiences to one of my reporters. He said his efforts were paramount in exposing and litigating the Ramparts Division police scandal in Los Angeles. In this case corrupt L.A. police officers were found guilty of victimizing members of the Los Angeles minority community. I could find no evidence of Frischer direct connection to the Ramparts case. Frischer has public relations connections to the Hollywood madam, Heidi Fleiss, and to movie actor Bobby Benton. He did work as a public relations consultant for at least one family following the Ramparts scandal, but it does not seem to be in a key role. Captain Dan Koenig, CO of the Administrative Group of the Los Angeles Police Department, had never heard of Frischer. Frischer's claims to being a part of the litigation in the Union Carbide disaster at Bhopal, India or his involvement with the victims of the 9/11 disaster also could not be substantiated. Frischer's role in the class action lawsuit filed on behalf of six Indian people will be, in all probability, to handle the public relations. Herman's role is more serious. He will handle the litigation. First off, the National Indian Law Library has no articles on file written by or about Herman. Frischer has put out the word that Herman is immensely educated in cases involving Indian tribes, tribal members, treaty rights, etc. Litigation covering all of these areas is known as "Indian Law." According to the Florida Bar Association there have been seven complaints against Herman in the last year. All were settled during inquiry. The Press Office of the Florida Bar Association said that different areas of the law tend to generate different numbers of complaints and for some types of practices this number would not be excessive. Jennifer Ring, Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of the Dakotas said, "Indian law is a highly specialized field. It involves a lot of areas of the law that are not taught in other courses and that are not commonly taught in law schools around the United States. If you look at the Constitution, one of the powers that the federal government has is, very specifically, the right to regulate affairs dealing with Indian tribes and that is not something that applies to any other minority group. " Ring said, "Then you go on to the treaties, interpretation of the treaties, and jurisdictional issues. There are a lot of rules that apply in Indian country that do not apply anywhere else." She concluded, "Indian law is not simple." Two attorneys who have litigated several high profile cases in Indian country, including class action suits, said they would not consider themselves qualified to handle cases on the scale of the suits pursued by Herman without bringing on a partner who specializes in Indian Law. So far, Herman has not indicated he will bring in such a partner. Herman recently signed on to handle the land claims case of the Yankton Sioux Tribe. On April 28 he told one of my reporters that he had never litigated a single case involving Indian law. I am a bit apprehensive. I have been around Indian country for a long time. I know the complexities of Indian law and the reasons why so many other attorneys have stayed away from filing a suit on behalf of the Indian people who were abused in the boarding schools and away from suits involving Indian land claims. The cases are extremely difficult and once the suit is filed it must be pursued to its conclusion and if the attorneys do not have the much-needed experience to handle such cases, a loss could put an end to any future lawsuit forever. The attorneys only get one shot, and if they miss, they have taken the Indian people they represent out of the game forever. The Church and the Government are the defendants here and their help in rebuilding the Indian people and their Nations psychologically and structurally would do much more than money alone. It's just a question of admitting the guilt. Tim Giago, an Oglala Lakota, is editor and publisher of the weekly Lakota Journal. He is author of "The Aboriginal Sin" and "Notes from Indian Country" volumes I and II. He can be reached at editor@lakotajournal.com or at P.O. Box 3080, Rapid City, S.D. 57709. Copyright c. 2003 Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service. Copyright c. 2003 Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan. --------- "RE: Project seeks to help Indians with Legal Issues" --------- Date: Mon, May 12 2003 08:10:04 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LEGAL HELP" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.yankton.net/stories/051203/new_20030512025.shtml Bar Project Seeks To Help Indians With Legal Issues By CHET BROKAW Associated Press Writer May 12, 2003 PIERRE - Some South Dakota lawyers are starting a project aimed at encouraging more American Indians to attend law school and helping Indians understand what legal services are available to them. The Young Lawyers Section of the State Bar of South Dakota has received a $700 grant to begin the project. Organizers now need help from lawyers and non-lawyers alike to get the project rolling, said Suzanne Dardis, a Spearfish lawyer who secured the grant and is heading up the project. "This is kind of like a starting point to solicit people to join me in identifying the problem and brainstorming solutions," Dardis said. The first task is to design a brochure that can help Indian people understand their legal rights and what legal services are available to them, Dardis said. The group also will consider ways of urging more Indian students to enter law school. Tom Barnett, secretary-treasurer of the State Bar, said he does not know how many South Dakota attorneys are Indian. But he guesses that less than 5 percent, and perhaps only 1 percent or 2 percent, of the state's lawyers are Indian. American Indians make up 8.3 percent of South Dakota's population. Barnett said as more Indian students go through law school, the percentage of Indian lawyers in South Dakota will rise. The change will be similar to the trend in gender over the past several decades, Barnett said. Few lawyers used to be women, but females make up an increasing proportion of the legal profession because half the graduates from law schools have been women in recent years, he said. In the class that graduated from the University of South Dakota Law School on Saturday, six of 60 were Indian students. That means 10 percent of the graduating class was Indian, exceeding the 8.3 percent of Indians in the state population. An honoring ceremony at USD recognized 23 Indian graduates from across campus this spring, so nearly a third were from the law school, said Tom Sorensen, associate dean of the law school. Indian law students help the school recruit more Native Americans by meeting with high school classes, appearing on radio programs, visiting tribal colleges and taking part in other activities, Sorensen said. The most recent editor of the school's Law Review was an Indian student, and Indian students are leaders in other ways, Sorensen said. "Every time we turn around, there are examples of leadership from these people who help us do all sorts of things." The USD Law School seeks intelligent, hardworking students of good moral character who want to become lawyers to help other people, Sorensen said. It also seeks students from a wide range of backgrounds so the legal profession will mirror society, he said. "We want to make sure lawyers and clients can relate to each other," Sorensen said. Copyright c. 2003 Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan. --------- "RE: Man accused of Endangering Chiefs denies it" --------- Date: Thu, May 15 2003 08:15:06 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ENDANGERMENT CHARGE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.pressrepublican.com/Archive/2003/05_2003/051420039.htm Man accused of endangering chiefs denies it By DENISE A. RAYMO, Staff Writer May 14, 2003 BRASHER - An Akwesasne man, accused of running a van carrying St. Regis Mohawk tribal chiefs off the road last week, was released without bail Tuesday. Gabriel Oakes, 37, of Akwesasne, who is running for a seat on the St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Council, appeared in Town of Brasher Court and said it was he who was run off the road by the Tribal Council van. He was arrested May 8 and charged with second-degree reckless endangerment and second- degree harassment. He allegedly drove at the Tribal Council van as it carried two chiefs and a sub-chief to the Massena International Airport. They were to catch a ride to Albany where they were expected to sign a landmark Memorandum of Understanding with Gov. George Pataki. The deal apparently settles several Native American and state issues including land claims, non-Native taxation and cash donations to the tribe as well as permission to build a multi-million-dollar casino in the Catskills. After a few days' delay, Tribal Council Chief Alma Ransom signed the agreement with Pataki on Monday. Oakes appeared before Justice Jeremiah D. Mahoney, but did not have his attorney, Stanley Cohan of New York City, with him. His case was postponed until June 10 at 7 p.m. Mahoney said he had three depositions from the occupants of the van - Chief Ransom, Chief Hilda Smoke and Sub-Chief John Bigtree Jr. All three say Oakes ran them off the road. "There are also other witnesses the police have not asked questions who (saw) the accident," Oakes told the judge. "I've got a big truck, and it was parked by the side of the road, and they swerved to hit me." Mahoney cautioned Oakes about keeping a cool head in the weeks to come. "I realize this will be an emotional issue, and there will be different opinions," he said. "I don't want you harassing any of these people." Following his appearance, Oakes declined to comment on the incident, but said his campaign is unscathed. "The papers have trashed me, but I'll let the people decide who they want for sub-chief," he said. "I'll get my day in court. I feel confident. "I feel very comfortable with my campaign," Oakes said. "The people know me, and they know who Junior Bigtree is. He and Alma and Hilda will get theirs. "We've never had a problem, but I know the chiefs don't like me," he said. "Election Day is coming up, and I'll continue my campaign, but we need a good turnout." The tribal election is June 7. In his statement to State Police investigators, Oakes said he was waiting at his wife's house when he received a telephone call that the tribal van was going to the airport, using North Road. "I parked the truck in the middle of the road ... in an attempt to slow them down so I could speak to them. ... I realized the van wasn't slowing down. "When the van was about 50 feet from my truck, I pulled my truck into the lane that I was supposed to be in," the statement said. He said he saw Bigtree driving. "He swerved to try to hit me," Oakes said in the police report. "I pulled my arms and raised them. I didn't see the van go off the road. If the van went off the road, it is because he did it, not me." And although none could agree who was sitting where in the van, Ransom, Smoke and Bigtree said Oakes deliberately drove at them, forcing Bigtree to take evasive action. Smoke wrenched her neck in the incident and was taken to Alice Hyde Medical Center in Malone where she was treated for a muscular neck injury and released. Copyright c. 2003, Plattsburgh Publishing Co., Plattsburgh, NY, Division of Ottaway Newspapers, Inc., --------- "RE: Lawsuit against Mille Lacs Reservation dismissed" --------- Date: Sun, May 18 2003 12:13:47 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRIBAL AUTHORITY" http://www.millelacsmessenger.com/~/0118edition/ Reservation lawsuit dismissed by Joel Patenaude, Messenger Staff Writer May 14, 2003. Copyright c. Mille Lacs Messenger Inc. A federal judge last week dismissed Mille Lacs County's lawsuit intended to prove the 61,000-acre Mille Lacs Indian Reservation no longer exists. More than three months after hearing oral arguments for and against the case, Judge James Rosenbaum ruled on May 6 that the county had failed to show it has a specific jurisdictional dispute with the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. "This court will not exercise its declaratory judgment authority to interpret treaties and decide grave questions regarding reservation disestablishment in the absence of a real dispute," wrote Rosenbaum, the chief justice of the U.S. District Court of Minnesota. Rosenbaum acknowledged that the county and the First National Bank of Milaca, which intervened in the case on the county's behalf, want clarification of the reservation boundaries because they may affect the enforcement of certain state and local laws and harm property values. But Rosenbaum said that the boundary issue can not be determined absent an actual conflict over jurisdiction in the disputed area. "If the band's tribal authority covers the full extent of the 1855 reservation, it might well alter private and public sector relationships in the Mille Lacs area. The mere fact that a decision will be momentous does not, however, make this the proper time to render it," the judge wrote. Two sides react Mille Lacs County Commissioner Frank Courteau said the ruling was "very disappointing" but not surprising after hearing the judge at the Jan. 24 hearing question the county's standing to bring the lawsuit. "I left with the sense others did that maybe this judge didn't want to hear the merits of the case," Courteau said. "This case presented an opportunity the band chose not to take to legitimize for their neighbors their claim - a claim others see as illegal and illegitimate," he said. He said if the ruling stands, "We're left with a basic lack of mutual respect for each other's claim based on jurisdictional geography." Don Wedll, a planner for the Mille Lacs Band, took Courteau's comments to sarcastically suggest "Frank was doing us a favor - being a nice guy by suing us." If there is lack of respect for the band's legitimacy and sovereignty, Wedll asked rhetorically, "Who generated that?" The county board was scheduled to meet with its attorneys, which include Tom Tobin of South Dakota, in closed session on Tuesday afternoon (after this issue of the Messenger went to press) to talk about the reservation boundary litigation. The county could take the case to the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. But as of Friday "that decision has not been made," Courteau said. "The Mille Lacs Band has always stated that we have not harmed the county or the bank, and the judge's dismissal supports our position," said Mille Lacs Band Chief Executive Melanie Benjamin in a press release. She said the band has worked with all levels of government on issues involving law enforcement, taxation, water quality, as well as hunting and fishing "to address real problems and to avoid costly litigation." The band has spent $667,000 defending itself from the lawsuit, according to a band spokesperson. The county's legal expenses related to the litigation was set to exceed $1 million in April. According to county billing records, Tobin's law office has collected most of the money expended on the case. "Given the amount the county has spent, I would think this would at least give them pause or realize it would be better to sit down with the Mille Lacs Band and work out any perceived problems we have," band attorney Tadd Johnson said. Nearly a year of closed door talks between Johnson, Wedll, Courteau, county commissioner Roger Neske and an attorney for the county board ended abruptly in late 2001. By then band officials had offered to concede to the county all zoning authority over non-Indians. But the county officials wanted nothing less than the band to disclaim the old reservation boundaries, which the band wouldn't do. "Whenever we got close to resolving something, they just flatly refused and said we had to give up the reservation," Wedll said. Benjamin intimated the county should not appeal the decision in favor of renewing talks with the band. "I urge the county and the bank to join the Mille Lacs Band in future efforts to make this area better, not tear it apart, and improve life for all county residents," she said. The larger reservation - established by treaty in 1855; an area which today includes the cities of Isle, Wahkon and much of Onamia - is recognized by federal agencies including the Department of Interior. About 4,000 people live in the disputed area, 80 percent of which is owned by non-Indians. The county insists the Mille Lacs Band's reservation consists only of the roughly 4,000 acres now held in federal trust. The county and some state officials believe the reservation was disestablished by subsequent treaties and an 1889 act of Congress. The county sought a declaratory judgment upholding a 1913 U.S. Supreme Court decision which spoke of the area as a former reservation. Band attorneys argued that the ruling dealt with the disposition of certain Indian lands but did not address the reservation boundaries. The reservation boundary lawsuit followed the 1999 decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, by a 5-4 majority, recognizing the rights of the Mille Lacs Band and seven other Ojibwe bands to hunt and fish in the 1837 ceded territory. Rosenbaum acknowledged that the treaty rights case "casts its shadow over the present matter." "Notwithstanding the finality of the Supreme Court's decision," Rosenbaum continued, "there still remains a number of unresolved issues between the Mille Lacs Band and neighboring landowners." The judge noted that the band has used revenue from its two casinos to buy additional land and band officials have, in recent years, "referred to a possible reassertion of their claim to land within the 1855 reservation boundaries. This claim has exacerbated relations between the Mille Lacs Band and its nearby neighbors, who brought this case." No band threat But Rosenbaum concluded that neither the county nor the bank had demonstrated "a realistic danger" of the band enforcing its laws throughout the 61,000 acres. "The Mille Lacs Band has neither threatened nor demonstrated an intention to enforce its ordinances beyond its 4,000 acres" of federal trust land, Rosenbaum wrote. The county and bank, the judge said, "claim the mere possibility that the Mille Lacs Band might try to enforce its ordinances is a valid ongoing threat, even if the ordinances have never been enforced." According to Rosenbaum, "the only shred of evidence" of the band's intention to enforce its ordinances throughout the 1855 reservation boundaries is a 1992 letter detailing the band's policy to license its vendors. But he said the letter "wholly fails to demonstrate an immediate or certain threat of enforcement or injury" to the county or the bank. Rosenbaum said the only reference to the old reservation in the band's ordinances is in the definitions section concerning hunting, fishing and wild rice harvesting. "Such a limited reference is insufficient to indicate an intent to enforce all of the Mille Lacs Band ordinances on the land within the 1855 boundaries," Rosenbaum concluded. Rosenbaum said the Mille Lacs Band and its members have complied with the county's zoning regulations and traffic laws. Citing former Mille Lacs County Sheriff Dennis Boser, who submitted an affidavit, Rosenbaum said, "The Mille Lacs Band has taken no actions which adversely affect the county's ability to enforce state or county law, and that any legal conflicts which do exist have not harmed public safety." No proof of harm Rosenbaum said the county and bank also offered no evidence that real estate values have been harmed by the reservation boundary dispute. He said the plaintiffs' only expert, real estate appraiser Roger Wagner, offered a personal opinion but no data - "nothing other than conjecture to show verbal sparring over the 1855 boundaries" has affected property values. "The court notes the 1855 reservation borders include much of Mille Lacs Lake and other highly desirable vacation, business and residential property," Rosenbaum wrote. "Taking into account the historically strong interest in owning lakefront property and the absence of evidence of so much as a single sale where the proximity to Indian Country affected price, the court finds the plaintiffs allege no injury or risk of future injury." The judge acknowledged that landowners may fear their property is devalued because other people are less inclined to buy land on a reservation. But such "independent personal decisions on land values remain outside the control of the court," the judge said. "Because this court can not affect buyers' perceptions about the nature of title within a reservation - however unfounded - a decision on the merits (of the county's lawsuit) will not address these concerns." Suit outcome feared Rosenbaum went on to suggest that the litigation could present a self- fulfilling prophecy if it results in a decision against the county and bank. "The court may decide the case as the plaintiffs wish and find the reservation disestablished or diminished," he wrote. "But the court could also make the contrary ruling and find the 1855 reservation a legally valid entity. If the court were to do so - and notably the defendants (the Mille Lacs Band's officials being sued) have not sought this finding - the result could well solidify rather than ameliorate plaintiffs' fears. Plaintiffs' complaints stem then, not from uncertainty, but from fears and perceptions concerning an unfavorable decision on the lawsuit they themselves initiated." Currently, however, "this litigation involves only hypothetical and speculative disagreements," Rosenbaum concluded. The county and bank offered "a laundry list of problems and fears they feel are related to the possible existence of the 1855 reservation boundaries," he said. That list included concern that with federal recognition of the old reservation the band has greater environmental and archeological regulatory authority than the county or state through involvement of the EPA and application of the National Historic Preservation Act. But as it is, a "live controversy" does not exist, Rosenbaum ruled. "The court finds this case is not ripe for adjudication." Timing, what's next Although the county could appeal the decision, the ruling ended 14 months of litigation. Told to be ready for trial in June, the county and the bank filed legal briefs on May 1, seeking summary judgment declaring the original reservation disestablished. The plaintiffs didn't know that Rosenbaum, just days later, planned to accept the request of the Mille Lacs Band to dismiss the case. The latest arguments by the county and bank were made part of the case file but Rosenbaum is not believed to have reviewed them. Courteau said the judge specifically requested no additional material be sent to him before he issued his ruling on the motion to dismiss the suit. "It's unfortunate timing from a tactical standpoint," Courteau said of Rosenbaum's ruling. "Had he waited just three weeks, the band would have had to respond to our motion. We would then have had their legal argument on the merits of the case." Johnson, the band attorney, said the county has 30 days to decide whether to appeal the judge's ruling that it doesn't have standing to challenge the reservation boundaries. Such an appeal will be an expensive proposition, he said. If the county were to succeed on appeal, Johnson said, it would still have to overcome the other two defense arguments made by the band: First, the band's attorneys argued that sovereign immunity protects individual band officials from being sued. Second, the federal government, which has a trust obligation to protect tribal sovereignty and self governance, should be, but is not, a party to the litigation, the band's attorneys said. "The county needs to convince a three-judge panel that they have been harmed before there's a ruling on our other two arguments that the lawsuit should be dismissed," Wedll said. They have a ways to go." He added, "We're just defending ourselves. We'll always be in defensive mode on this issue." Copyright c. 2003 Mille Lacs Messenger All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Arrest made in shooting of Jeno Chief" --------- Date: Fri, May 16 2003 08:32:21 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SHOOTING ARREST" http://www.rapidcityjournal.com Arrest made in shooting May 16,2003 PINE RIDGE - Police have made an arrest in the shooting that left a Pine Ridge man in critical condition early Wednesday. The suspect, 20-year-old Tyler Waters of Pine Ridge, was arrested without incident about 6 p.m. Thursday at the North Ridge housing area home where the shooting occurred, said Charles "Festus" Fisher, supervisor of criminal investigations for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Pine Ridge, said. Waters was arrested on a federal warrant accusing him of assault resulting in serious bodily injury. The victim, identified as Jeno Chief, 20, of Pine Ridge, was shot about 4:45 a.m. Wednesday in the basement of a home, according to the preliminary investigation by the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety. The North Ridge housing area is on the north edge of the Pine Ridge community. After the shooting, Chief was taken to a Pine Ridge hospital and later airlifted to Rapid City Regional Hospital. Waters reportedly fled the scene after the shooting. BIA investigators released no details about the incident. With help from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and tribal police, the BIA Office of Law Enforcement continues the investigation. Copyright c. 2003 the Rapid City Journal. --------- "RE: Native Prisoner" --------- Date: Tue, 20 May 2003 06:42:57 -0500 From: Janet Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="RUSTYWIRE: FLEA MARKET" http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Nook/1574/Starmtn/flea.html Navajo Spaceships, Star mountain and Life An online journal- Star Mountain-Navajo Life Saturday Flea Market in Gallup by Johnny Rustywire In the morning we got up, my wife and all the kids. They were half asleep and their hair was all bushy, but as soon as I said we are going to town, they began to run around. Where are my shoes? Where are my socks? Mom did you wash my pants, you know the ones I like? Cold cereal and milk is what we have for breakfast and away we go. My wife sits next to me and the kids are all loaded in the back of the truck. Our old ride heads down the road. Off the mountain we go and there we see Grace Jumbo and her son, Leonard walking. He is the youngest, I know him, but what he not so young anymore there is gray in his hair. I slow down and stop and they jump in the back. His hair is going gray and I can't believe it. How old is he anyway? My wife says, I think 51. What? It wasn't so long ago, he used to run around all over. Can't be I think, but she is right, and his mother must be older than anyone I remember. Some say she ran away from a nursing home in Farmington more than once. Her children put her there but she wouldn't stay. She said when her time comes she wants to be here in her own country they say, not anywhere else. She looks O.K., she looks fine, she sat down with her white hair in the back and away we went. We went past the trading post and on down the road headed East, the air was warm and there was a nice breeze, the sun was coming up and it was going to be nice day. We went out on the flat lands below and the road and miles seemed to float by. We got to the main road and turned right at Burnham Junction, past the Thriftway laundry and gas station. We headed South, past Newcomb and you could see the road begin to fill up with others headed the same way, many in old cars, some in new trucks and a few walking by the highway. There we were by Sheepsprings, the old watering hole for animals a long time ago, now a small community. We traveled on and past Buffalo Springs; there wasn't a blade of grass in sight, and we soon passed it and you couldn't see buffalos anywhere. Just before Tohatchi there is a turnoff to the east and if you follow it you will find a small pond. It is warm mineral water, nice and hot to sooth poor achey bones. My father when he used to run a mule team for the trader stopped and soaked for a little bit here on his three day journey to Gallup. That was in the 1930's along this same road. There was no one there today and soon we were in Tohatchi. Tohatchi is one of the places growing, there are lot more houses and people, the road was looking like a long train of cars, all kinds, some blue, some white and old and new, trucks here and there and all headed the same way. We didn't know all of them but there were a few that looked like some we knew. There was old man Wilson's truck, his daughter looked to be driving as we passed them by. The kids made a big deal of all waving their arms as we passed. On we went passed Twin Lakes and the old JB Tanner store. Before paved roads this place used to be an oasis, a sure stop for all Navajo People. JB Tanner used to have giveaways on Saturday and you could win a turkey or a sheep and maybe some turquoise jewelry; that was a long time ago. Now the buildings were old and only a 7-ll store and cafe remain. The competition from Gallup and modern roads made all that just a memory. We flowed into the traffic coming in from Window Rock to the west. You would think this was a city freeway on a Monday morning with everybody headed to town. There just over the hill was Gallup and before we knew it we could see it. We just kept going along and turned off on the old, old road that used to be the main highway into town. We were turning off to get to the flea market on the northside of old Gallup. After a little bit you could see all the cars, trucks and people there. It was like going to a big store or a mall at Christmas time. It was packed, cars parked all over. There aren't paved roads there, just dirt everywhere. The dirt roads crisscrossed every which way, we drove real slow and found a good spot. People were parked selling Colorado green hay from lowboy trailers, some were selling coal and others a portable squeeze chute for cattle. We parked, started to get out and when the vegetable vendors came selling corn, chile, melons and jewelry. We put everything away and everybody poured out. The one some say should be in a nursing home, Old Mrs. Jumbo sure moved fast, her skirt was flying and her legs sure could move as left her son behind, while he was still getting out of the truck. She disappeared into the crowd and was gone just like that. Herding sheep had made her legs young. This was the Flea Market, a market of all things new and old, everything from stoves to tools, ropes, belts, toys and every kind of Indian jewelry and the things to make it with were there. There were people everywhere, the crowd was full of brown faces. "You kids don't wander off", I said, but they were already gone into the crowd. We walked around from seller to seller, table to table looking at everything there. You see every kind of car and truck there selling everything and anything you would want. It is one of those times when you don't know what you need until you see it. You just have to find it. The people selling were from everywhere, some from as far away as Kayenta and Chinle to those over on the East Side by Crownpoint. There were Zunis, Santo Domingos, Hopis, and a ton of Navajos, but more than us there were a few palefaces and Nakai ( Chicanos ). Before long there we had made our way to the back of it all. I could smell the sweet taste of ribs, mutton and there was stew and fry bread cooking at the stew stands. Folding chairs and long wooden tables had a place for me and there I stood in line and ordered. We sat down and watched the crowd go by. The next thing I knew there was David Nez and his kids. We hadn't seen him for a while and we shook hands in the customary Navajo way, not too hard and not too soft, just right. He told me was looking for stew too, and I said go ahead and order some over there. We sat down and he came back there with his wife. Nothing like spending a little time over a bowl of stew. The kids were just looking and waiting for theirs later at Furr's Cafeteria and then a movie, but for me this was the highlight of my day. I sat there and before me was a bowl of stew and some warm fry bread, it was a good day. We got things to do and other places to go today, but for now, tell me "Hosteen Nez", what has been going on with you. Copyright c. 1999, Johnny Rustywire, all rights reserved. --------- "RE: History: Carlisle Indian School" --------- Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2003 23:32:35 -0400 From: Barb Landis Subj: 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 33 ============================= FRIDAY, April 18, 1890. ============================= For the HELPER. TO A SLUG. ------- BLACK, creeping slug I found beneath a stone. Where violets and lilies might have grown, I love thee not, unsightly, slimy thing So jelly-like, without a foot or wing, Content to spend they useless days, below In small, dark chambers, where no sunbeams glow. I would not be like thee, content to own no home, save what I found beneath a stone. Nor hide from all that makes the world so bright, The stirring wind, the morning's cheery light The friendly nod of grasses in the breeze, The sparrow's chirp, the social hum of bees. I would not be like thee, without a hand To guide a brother o'er delusive sand. Nor like thee, have no foot to find the way Out of dark places to the gleam of day. No helpful fingers life's great work to share And thus my part of common burdens bear. No wings to take me high above the plain Whose hidden nettles give the sharpest pain. No power to see, beyond life's storm and sun, The possibilities of work well done. O, brother to the earth worm, go thy way Back to thy habitation in the clay. And live a next door neighbor to thy friend The snail, whose slow pace never seeks an end. Go, hide thy slimy length beneath the stone I leave thee to thy aimless life alone. E.G. _____+_/\_+_____ BUFFALO GOOD. ----- We have known some great men among the American Indians. Men who, if they had been educated would have been famous in history. One of the best men we ever knew was Buffalo Good, a Wichita Chief. He was a natural orator, and though we could not understand his words we listened with delight to the modulation of his musical voice. Erect, and with handsome features, he impressed even strangers. He was far ahead of his tribe in his desire to become civilized. Long before the questions of "Land in Severalty" was the issue f the day, Buffalo Good and his children were tilling their two hundred acres of rich land. While nearly all of his people were without ambition, Buffalo Good had his high aspirations. He did not rest with the desire alone, but took what was within his reach. The first expression of his aspirations was in the buying of a white shirt at the store, a box of blacking, and a pair of leather shoes. These were his Sunday clothes. The "bosom shirt" he hired a white laundress to *do up* for him each week. On Sunday he would come to the Mission service wearing his blue leggings, his breechcloth trailing along behind, and his scalp lock, conspicuous, with its red flannel bandage. Outside of all, he wore the "store shirt," and on his feet were the leather shoes, polished, till he was himself reflected in them. The figure of the man was extremely impressive. Blended together were the savage garb and the white man's dress. Through his appearance often provoked a smile from a stranger, *we* respected him and seldom smiled. Buffalo Good was stretching out his hand toward civilization, as far as he could possibly reach. In those days, to dress in a white man's clothes *cost* an Indian something. The Government furnished nothing but blankets to them. There were no citizens' clothes pressed upon them, and no reward offered to those who wore the civilized dress. Our hero lived in a buffalo skin lodge, and tucked away his treasure under the eaves of his tepee, where the space was too short to sleep, or lie. When strangers visited him he would go to a certain place behind his bed, and draw forth his Sunday shoes. He could not afford to wear them weekdays. Then he would go to the other side, and find his shoe brush and box of blacking, wrapped with care in a piece of deer skin. To exhibit these to a stranger or to a friend, was his most emphatic declaration that he. -------------------------------------------- (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. ============================= Walter Anallo tried his first afternoon at the engine on Tuesday and did not blow us up. He has learned to manage the drafts, inject the water and bring down the steam when it gets too high and will get the philosophy of the entire instrument before long. -------- The friends of Edith Abner are grieved to learn of her untimely death a few days since, in Seneca, Mo. She was made as comfortable as could be by the care of a loving aunt, at whose house she passed away. -------- The Indian School Y.M.C.A., acknowledge with grateful hearts ten dollars received from the Home Mission Band of the central Presbyterian Church of Chambersburg, to aid in fixing up a suitable room for Y.M.C.A. purposes. -------- "There is not a day but he called me back to his desk, and asked what this work or that word in his lesson meant and how to pronounce it," said a teacher about one of her pupils who went out on a farm. The boy possesses the secret of learning. One who sits still and never asks a question does not get on fast. -------- Would you needlessly shoot a toad or frog? Then you are hard hearted and cruel. Would you put a hot coal on a turtle's back? Oh! Oh! Then you are an inhuman wretch. Would you tie a string around the tail or leg of a rat and then laugh to hear the poor frightened creature squeal and try to get away? Then you are a brute. Would you do anything to hurt a helpless bug or animal? Always think *yourself* in the place of the animal you love to torture and try to imaging how you would like it. If on a nice day you dislike to leave your play and go into the house to work, be brave about it, buckle down and work as fast as you can, and you will be surprised how happy the work will make you. -------- You might live on an Indian reservation a hundred years and never have an opportunity to see such a wonderful performance as a large company of our boys and girls witnessed last Saturday night. O, yes you *could* get through life without seeing the London Bell Ringers, but there is education in all such opportunities. -------- We see by the *Tribune* that Joshua Given, who began his school life in the East at Carlisle and graduated from the Lincoln University, has married a young lady from Brooklyn. Mr. Given is a minister of the Presbyterian Church, and according to statement he will go with his wife to work among his people as a missionary. The Plymouth church of Brooklyn furnishes them with a cottage to live in. -------- Out of twenty-four hours of every day at Carlisle, our pupils have TWENTY hours for themselves in which to eat for themselves, to sleep for themselves, to go to school for themselves, and to study and exercise and play all for themselves. They work four hours for the Government, which gives them their board, their clothing and schooling and a trade, and a little spending money besides. Is it any wonder that boys and girls appreciated such great advantages and work happily to do all they can to earn what they get? There may be a few old lazy-bones who shirk, and fuss and want to change their work, or wish they were home where they need not work at all and where there is no chance to learn, but there are not many such. -------- A party of pupils from Ft. Peck, Montana, arrive don Tuesday. Mr. Campbell who has been visiting several Agencies of the North West returned with them. Miss Fisher says that the new boys and girls from Ft. Peck give evidence of excellent training, and Mr. Campbell reports that the school from where they came is the second largest reservation school there is, and that the Superintendent Mr. Baker, is an enterprising man of sound judgment eminently fitted for the place. ==================================================== 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 Indian matters, and contains writings by Indian pupils, and local incidents of the school. Terms: Fifty cents a year, in advance. For 1, 2, and 3 subscribers for THE RED MAN we give the same premium in Standing Offer for the HELPER. Address, THE RED MAN, Carlisle, PA. ==================================================== (page 3) The literary societies have closed for the season. -------- Another circle of King's Daughters has been organized. -------- Out-door drill has commenced again. It is a splendid exercise for both mind and body. -------- Johnson will make a good engineer because he is patient and thoughtful and careful. -------- Miss Nana Pratt's friend, Miss Cannon of Carlisle, spent Sunday with her. -------- Mail leaves Miss Ely's office, daily at 8:00 A.M.; 12:30 P.M.; and 4:30 P.M. -------- Miss Fisher's new desk is a little beauty. It is of polished oak and just big enough for one. -------- The Esquimaux story of last week, made an interesting reading lesson for the pupils of No. . -------- Who can bake the best biscuit in town? Annie Boswell, as the Man-on-the-band-stand's clerk can testify. -------- Ah, ha! The printing office sanctum has a carpet at last. It is a sorry looking affair, but it has a wonderful history, n doubt. -------- Mrs. Reed of Newville, called on Monday, and selected Lena Green to make her home with them for a while. Lena was glad to go. -------- Herbert Campbell has been quite ill, and so has his mamma. They will soon hurry up and get well now that Mr. Campbell has come back. -------- Wear your learning like your watch, in a private pocket and don't pull it out to show that you have one, but if you are asked what o'clock it is, tell then. -------- Misses Rosa Bourassa, Carrie Hamlin and Veronica Holliday who attended the Catholic Fair Friday night report a splendid time, and came back laden with bonbons and flowers. -------- Frank Everett received a pretty bad knock on the leg last Saturday afternoon on the baseball ground, and has been laid up for a few days in the hospital. He is such a jolly patient that he makes all the sick feel better. -------- Every time we visit the school rooms there are new pictures on the boards, flowers, children, mathematical figures, in fact everything. We think they are beautiful, though we are told that some of them are not up to the mark. -------- The Bell Ringers spent Sunday afternoon on the school grounds. Every body enjoyed their entertainment at the Opera House. They have played before nearly all the crowned heads of Europe. Some of our pupils may think practice at music is dull work. Those Bell Ringers have been practicing for eighteen years, and expect to do better yet. Write your "Renewal" always plain Or you may hear from us again. -------- There have been numerous visitors to see the picture of ye little Esquimaux lady. -------- Mrs. S.D. Hamilton, of Greensburg, Indiana, is visiting her daughter at our school. -------- Mr. Harper of Carlisle and friends called on Monday, and subscribed for the little HELPER. -------- Don't! Don't! spoil the looks of our pretty parade by throwing on the grass an ugly piece of paper! -------- The Regulars were beaten last Saturday by the Young Americans. Felix ran Peter pretty hard on his home run. -------- Mr. Foulke is going to have a nice door yard around the new stable, for he is sowing grass-seed. We are glad to see it. -------- Can't some of the guard-boys clear up that awful rubbish in the lane back of the guard-house without waiting to be told about it? -------- That new book-case in the school-room office is a creditable piece of work for *any* set of carpenters. It is really a handsome bit of furniture. -------- How interesting to watch the faces of the new pupils as they go around through the shops for the first time! It is a most excellent way to spend their first day. -------- The Man-on-the-band-stand would like to print the names of the members of the different base-ball clubs, if the captains of the clubs will send them to the printing-office. -------- The carpenter boys are putting a new fence around the lower farm and are enjoying the picnic, especially the ride down every morning in the express wagon behind those gay young mules. -------- The girls are not practicing at ball to beat the Regulars or the Young Americans, but only for the fun of it and for the exercise. They have splendid good times, and the batting, catching and running make rosy cheeks. -------- Mr. Wm. Bent, interpreter at Ft. Belknap who arrived with twenty-two pupils from that agency on Sunday is a gentleman of thorough western pluck and energy. Mr. Bent seems well pleased with Carlisle and will carry back to his people good words about our school. -------- The Indian Training School Base Ball Nine have reorganized and appointed Mark Evarts captain, because he is a man who throws his whole soul into whatever he undertakes. The following are the members of the club: Pitcher, Peter Cornelius; catcher, Adam Metoxen; 1st base, Mark Evarts; 2nd base, Albert Metoxen; rd base, John Tyler; short-stop, Percy Zadoka; right field, George Baker; center field, Fred Bighorse; left field, Jamison Schanandore; substitute, James Cornelius. This club will play the Young Americans on the 2nd, if the weather and other things permit. ===================================================== (Continued from the First Page.) ---------------------------------------------------- had made a good start in the white man's ways. It came to be a custom with us to invite Buffalo Good home to dinner after Sunday service. I remember how well bred he was at table. Every inch a gentleman, though without training except as he had acquired it by observation. He always said "grace" before he ate sometimes with his head bowed, silently. Though this "Good" man has been "sleeping with his Fathers" for many years he lives in memory of many friends. We are told that his son follows his Father's footsteps, and that he now tills the large field which was left him as an inheritance. Buffalo Good left a valuable legacy to all his people - the example of an industrious and ambitious life. REAL OLD TIMER. _____+_/\_+_____ RIGHT FROM THE APACHE FIELD. ----- By one of our old Pupils. SAN CARLOS, A.T. April 2nd 1890. To THE INDIAN HELPER. I do enjoy the reading of the little INDIAN HELPER as it comes and tells me the news and doings of my old friends and schoolmates of Carlisle. It does not seem to me long ago since I left Carlisle Indian School. It is now seven years since I used to prance on the green parade of the old Barracks. I have learned much interesting news through the HELPER about Indians throughout the United States. But I have seen nothing about the Apaches on the White Mountain Reservation. Over a month ago there were five San Carlos Apaches killed a freighter named Herbert, on the road between Fort Thomas and San Carlos Agency. Some Indian scouts and United States Soldiers took after them and overtook them on the banks of the Black River, had a fight, killed two and captured three. As soon as the soldiers took the three prisoners to the Agency the sheriff of the Territory came and took them off. Well, about a week or two afterward there came an order from Washington for about eighty of the San Carlos Apaches to go away to Fort Union, N.M. You must remember there are many different families of the Apaches living on the White Mountain Reservation. They are as follows: Mojave and Yuma speak one tongue and came from the western part of Arizona. Tontos and San Carlos White Mountain Apaches speak another language, they are from near the northern part and the Chiricahuas who used to live here are from the southern part, but they were sent away from here, except those who have been married with other tribes both women and men. When the Chiricahuas who were bad Indians on the White Mountain Reservation head war with the United States and were captured and sent away, there was peace throughout the Territory. But the Tontos and the San Carlos Apaches had to do something in order to be sent away, and so they are gone. But the Mojave and Yuma Indians had no trouble since they came to this Agency from Fort Verde Reservation, and it is the reason that the Mojave and Yuma Ind