From gars@speakeasy.org Wed Jul 9 00:21:40 2003 Date: 8 Jul 2003 23:45:34 -0000 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews11.028 _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 11, ISSUE 028 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 July 12, 2003 Passamaquoddy Accihte/ripening moon Blackfeet niipoomahkatoyiiksistsikaa to's/summer big holy day 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; Indian Trust ListServ, Frostys AmerIndian, ndn-aim and Rez Life Mailing Lists; Newsgroups: own.natives, alt.native, alt.discuss.native-american, alt.native.law, soc.culture.native UUCP email IMPORTANT!! ----------- In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, all material appearing in this newsletter is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for educational purposes. <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters who share our Spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the Red Road. ++ It may be subscribed to via email by sending a request from your own internet addressable account to gars@speakeasy.org ++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org <================<<<< >>>>================> +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + | As historian Patricia Nelson | | Once a language is lost, it is | | Limerick summarized in "The | | gone forever | | Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken | | * Of the 300 original Native | | Past of the American West... | | languages in North America, | | "Set the blood quantum at | | only 175 exist today. | | one-quarter, hold to it as a | | * 125 of these are no longer | | rigid definition of Indians, | | learned by children. | | let intermarriage proceed as | | * 55 are spoken by 1 to 6 elders;| | it had for centuries, and | | when they die, their language | | eventually Indians will be | | will disappear. | | defined out of existence." | | * Without action, only 20 | | "When that happens, the federal | | languages will survive the next| | government will be freed of | | 50 years. | | its persistent 'Indian problem.'"| | Source: Indigenous Language | +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ | Institute | |http://www.indigenous-language.org| This issue's Elder Quote: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + ======================== "Our wise men are called Fathers, and they truly sustain that character. Do you call yourselves Christians? Does the religion of Him who you call your Savior inspire your spirit, and guide your practices? Surely not." "It is recorded of him that a bruised reed he never broke. Cease then to call yourselves Christians, lest you declare to the world your hypocrisy. Cease too to call other nations savage, when you are tenfold more the children of cruelty than they." "No person among us desires any other reward for performing a brave and worthwhile action, but the consciousness of having served his nation." "I bow to no man for I am considered a prince among my own people. But I will gladly shake your hand." __ Joseph Brant (Thayendanegea), Mohawk, to King George III +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! Did Colonel Pratt and his vermin-ridden ilk triumph after all? Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania was founded by then Captain Richard Henry Pratt in 1879. Pratt was a leading proponent of the assimilation through education policy. Believing that Indian ways were inferior to those of whites, he subscribed to the principle, "kill the Indian and save the man." At Carlisle, young Indian boys and girls were subjected to a complete transformation. Barbaric acts, such as scrubbing the childrens' mouths with camel hair or steel scrub brushes if they made the mistake of speaking their tribal tongue were typical. The slit-window dungeons still exist as stark evidence of the inhumane treatment children, even in their infancy, were subjected to to turn them into "good little Indians". Chemawa Indian Training School, near Salem, Oregon, Haskell in Kansas and many others followed, intent on making every Indian red only in appearance. In the 1920s an attempt was made by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to put a stop to Indian dancing. By the 1920s there was no longer the fear of such "pagan" rituals that drove this effort. Rather, it was more continuing effort to rid the United States of Indians through cultural genocide. If you think it stopped there, you are completely mistaken. There is an article detailing the terrible beatings one girl received at Wahpeton Indian School in the late 1950s. Go read it for yourself at http://www.canoe.ca/CNEWSFeatures9904/28_indians.html I am sixty years old. I have never pretended to be more than a mixed-blood. I can assure you I cannot carry on a meaningful conversation in the tongues of my Native ancestors. I can say a few things and even make myself understood, but it is little more than parroting. It isn't conversational, at all; and I am hardly alone in this sad truth. As my mother was growing up she learned young to NEVER refer to their Indian blood or speak any on the words she had heard that were not English. There were still laws on the books where she grew up that denied anyone of Indian blood from testifying against a white, no matter the grievance. Those laws remained on the books until the 1960s. There are words and phrases in our native languages that describe our views of the world in ways that translations to another language simply cannot do justice to. Even the most sincere transliterations do not create the same word image as simple phrases that honor the heart of the speaker. Pratt and others like him knew this. Kill the languages, kill the cultural activities and you have effectively killed the root of the people. After that, it's just a matter of a few laws and a few stockades and you have eliminated the People, leaving only a shallow reminder of the rich heritage, now lost. There are efforts to revitalize languages and cultural activities throughout Indian Country. Is it enough? Is it soon enough? Or have the Pratts of this world won? Articles in this issue point out the urbanization of Indian Peoples. The loss of others to speak to is a sure way to kill the language and the Indian "who once spoke it." ===== THIS JUST IN.... Summer help for CNO Elders!!! (Let an Elder know.) Any tribal Elder who lives within the Cherokee Nation's jurisdictional boundaries, who is 60 years of age or older, and medically disabled can recieve a air conditioner for their home from the Tribe. They need to call 800-256-0671 Ext. 2366 for Marsha Lamb or Ext 2241 for Lisa James. They can also apply for assistance for their electric bills at the same time. 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 ---------- - More Indians moving to Cities - Tribal Jurisdiction - Elders showed faces Supreme Court Test how to Retain Identity - Government's Virtual Ledger - YELLOW BIRD: A (Prairie) Rose riddled with Errors by any other Name - Native American Rights Fund - Tribes reject Call to Action State's Tobacco Tax Compact Plan - Chiefs of Ontario - Blackfoot Confederacy elect Charles Fox gathers in Alberta - Newfoundland Mi'kmaq - Budget Proposal seek Legal Status could further strain Relationship - Saskatchewan Case - Rosebud Leader ousted from Office sparks Jury Concerns - Saving Zuni Lake - Disappearing in America becomes State Priority - Tribe, County - Ancient Pueblos forced reach Policing Agreement to cope with Drought - Teen killed after Hit-and-Run - Roots of Seneca Anger - Navajo Accountant missing - Suquamish seek Parkland along with $39,000 - Court rules Tribe - Tulsa Police accused of Racism owed Self-Determination Funds in Death - Native Vietnam - Native Prisoner Veterans' Photographs -- Female NA Prisoners - Old Fishing Methods - History: Carlisle Indian School used by a New Generation - Rustywire: Cultural Survivial - Tribes oppose changes to BIA - Poem: Hocoka - Still more Indian Trust Records - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days Destroyed - Knotted Strings may hold Key to Incan Writing --------- "RE: More Indians moving to Cities" --------- Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2003 10:47:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="URBANIZATION" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0706urbanindians06.html More Indians moving to cities Angela Cara Pancrazio The Arizona Republic July 6, 2003 Alvis Robertson chants and pounds his drum inside rented office space, against a backdrop of glass and steel office towers, far from the red rock spires of Indian land. A member of the Sisseton/Wahpeton Tribe of South Dakota, the Tempe man works with Native American teenagers growing up in urban settings, teens who identify with rap star Eminem more than their Indian culture. They are part of a fast-growing Native American population in the Valley. In Maricopa County, there are more than 50,000 Indians representing more than 80 tribes. Many of them left behind the poverty and 50 percent unemployment rates on reservations to seek education and other opportunities in the city. We miss the spires, clean air, community atmosphere and the closeness of family, but we realize that this is the world we have to deal with to attain our goals and education. We always have the aspiration of returning home," said Cal Seciwa, director of the American Indian Institute at Arizona State University in Tempe. Leland Leonard, chief executive officer of the Phoenix Indian Center, said the urban Indian population in Maricopa County is expected to continue the rapid growth it has shown over the past decade. The growth is already reflected in enrollment at the institute at ASU. Seciwa, a Zuni, said the number of students seeking help has quadrupled in the past decade, from 350 to more than 1,200. Now 51, Robertson has lived in the Valley since he was 10. He is emblematic of American Indians in the 1950s who were transported off their home reservations through federal relocation programs. They were sent to cities from Cleveland to Los Angeles for job training in blue-collar trades. Robertson's father first went to Chicago, then Los Angeles and finally the Valley. When Robertson's father grew homesick, he told stories and developed dances with his friends called "fancy dancing," derived from traditional eagle feather dances. "It helped them keep their identity when they were relocated to cities," Robertson said. Scattered population Retaining cultural identity is often an individual undertaking. Susan Lobo, a visiting scholar and teacher at the University of Arizona in Tucson, said American Indians are more scattered within populations than other minority groups. "There's not a neighborhood to go to like the barrio or Chinatown," Lobo said. "They're not a place-located community; they're networked-based people who know each other. "That's distinctive from other communities and part of the reason Indian people are so invisible." Cultural ties that were once second nature on the close-knit reservation are more difficult to retain. Great distances from their families back home create another hardship in carrying traditions from generation to generation. Inside the Phoenix Indian Center, eyes of young children, teenagers, parents and one elder watch and listen to Freddie Johnson. The 37-year-old Navajo teaches "Understanding the Dine Self." He grew up in the Four Corners region. With his words, he feeds his culture to urban Navajos. It provides balance in the mainstream world, one that he and his wife entered out of necessity. Johnson and Cheron, his wife, moved from the reservation two years ago so she could study nursing at ASU. Historically, he said, tribes leave to get an education. Experiencing a different lifestyle has been far from easy, Johnson said. "(But) I'm sharing my culture and language with those who are willing to learn their language and culture," he said. "Some who grew up here don't know the reservation at all." Seven-year-old Jowan Fritsch and his mother, Panthea Begay, sat side by side in Johnson's class. Begay's childhood was much different from her son's. Her family moved to Mesa from Ganado on the Navajo Reservation when she was 5. Every weekend the family drove to the reservation to visit Begay's grandparents. Such visits are less frequent for her son. This summer, two hours a day, four days a week, Begay and her son attended Johnson's class. "I've been very neglectful about teaching Jowan about his culture and the language," she said. "I want to teach him about what his grandfather's world was like." Weekend visits For Rachel and Bradford Antonio, economics sent Bradford to work in the Valley as a journeyman carpenter. She stayed behind on the reservation with their children. "He missed the kids, and we saw him every other weekend," Rachel said. In May 2000, the Antonios uprooted themselves from a remote area southwest of Chinle and left Low Mountain, where trees, hills, horses and cousins surrounded them. It gave Rachel the chance to further her education as a Navajo language instructor. Their oldest son, Brandon, then 13, "was constantly nagging, 'Let's go home, it's Friday.' I'd tell him we can't go back every weekend," Rachel said. Brandon lost weight; he was quiet and withdrawn. "We had to go back and have a Blessing Ways ceremony with a medicine man to get him out of that stage to get his old self back," she said. This fall Brandon will be a sophomore at Thunderbird High School. He's on the basketball and football team. At least once a month, they go home to Low Mountain to see Rachel's 87- year-old grandmother, Frances Kanuho. The last visit to Low Mountain was more trying. Her grandmother, with her white hair pinned behind her head, dressed in a calico skirt and a traditional velveteen blouse bedecked with turquoise and silver, leaned on crutch and cane as she always does and sat in her lawn chair so that she could wave as they disappeared. Before they left, she told her granddaughter, "Shaa dawohne'e' la'go." "Don't forget about me." Staff reporter Betty Reid contributed to this article. Copyright c. 2003 The Arizona Republic. --------- "RE: Elders showed how to Retain Identity" --------- Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2003 10:47:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="RETAINING TRIBAL IDENTITY" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0706urbanindianside06.html Elders showed how to retain identity Mikaela Crank The Arizona Republic July 6, 2003 I am from Dennehotso, in northern Arizona. In Navajo, it means "green meadows." For the past three generations, members of my family had to leave this valley that is surrounded by red rocks for jobs and education. Dennehotso is a reservation town without everyday conveniences of life. It's a place that teaches you to work hard. For me, it carries memories of my family: sheepherding, making fry bread and playing in the cornfields. Leaving the reservation is like leaving behind a security blanket of family routines: eating together, speaking Navajo and protecting each other. Living away from the reservation is like a war. You are not sure whether you are going to survive or die. The way to survive is to overcome the homesickness by holding onto the memories, identity, and tradition. I learned this from my grandfather and father, who were forced to leave the reservation but were also able to survive and come home. My grandfather, John McKerry, was the first in my family to leave, sent away by the government in 1916 at the age of 20. He left Dennehotso for Barstow, Calif. He worked on the railroad and went to school at the Sherman Boarding School in Southern California. My grandfather learned carpentry and mechanical trades. He was my only grandparent who spoke English. He returned to the reservation when he was still a young man. He maintained his Navajo identity and blended some Anglo culture. He was the first one in Dennehotso to own a truck, a 1925 Ford. He built the only stone house with a corral and shed and lived there until he died at 103. My grandfather showed me that Anglo culture is nothing to be feared. Like my grandfather, my father, Dan L. Crank, was sent away from the reservation by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to go to school and to work. He attended schools in Utah and Kansas and worked in Chicago. This was in the 1950s and 1960s, when the government's relocation program pushed thousands of American Indians to big cities. My father survived this devastating time for American Indians, a time that saw the rise of the American Indian Movement. He proved that racism could be beat by not letting the BIA officials convert his language, religion or identity. My father showed me how never to compromise my Navajo identity. I have watched him continue to hold the Navajo traditions by praying to the Holy People, using Tadadiin (corn pollen), singing the ceremonial songs, speaking the language, sharing the culture with others and having long hair. He taught me that bravery comes when you are alone fighting for your own existence. Unlike my grandfather and father, I chose to leave the reservation to have a better education. I attended boarding schools in New Hampshire and Hawaii. I graduated in May from the Hawaii Preparatory Academy. Another Navajo and I were the first American Indians to graduate from the academy. It was tough to be away for nine months and be one of the only American Indians at school. I coped by remembering the stories of my father and grandfather who fought the war of being away and returned as heroes. They wouldn't let anyone transform their identity. I will attend Arizona State University this fall. I plan to major in journalism and minor in American Indian studies. I want to tie both worlds and become a future advocate for the Navajo people. Copyright c. 2003 The Arizona Republic. --------- "RE: YELLOW BIRD: A (Prairie) Rose by any other Name" --------- Date: Thu, 3 July 2003 08:18:08 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YELLOW BIRD: NAMES" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/~/dorreen_yellow_bird/6189879.htm DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: A (Prairie) Rose by any other name. June 28, 2003 I have a friend whose name is Sandy Walks Over Ice. Like so many friends we meet along the way, I lost track of her but have never forgotten her. I thought of her when a recent conversation with a group that included both Native and non-Natives turned to American Indian names. Some of our names just don't set right on a tongue unfamiliar with the culture or in the ear of those who aren't around Native people. The discussion in this group began because I mentioned I sometimes get e-mails from people whose Indian names don't sound authentic to me. Some seemed made-up, I said. Well, of course, I don't know that for sure, so most of us agreed if that's what the e-mailers call themselves, that is what we will call them. Native names such as Walks Over Ice are not always easy to live with. My girlfriend and I started college in Phoenix many years ago. We started classes together for mutual support. On the first day of class, the teacher called the names of those who had registered. He stopped when he got to Sandy's name and said, "Do you really want me to read your name?" She smiled this big smile that covered her whole face and nodded her head. He said, "Listen to this, class: Her name is Cassandra Walks Over Ice." Everyone laughed. I was next. When he called my name - it was Lone Fight then - there wasn't a snicker. I guess after Cassandra's name, the novelty had worn off. Still, Lone Fight wasn't always comfortable either. People wanted to say Fights Alone or Lone Flight because that made more sense to them. While I was in college at Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kan., (now the Haskell Indian Nations University), there was a girl named White Deer Stands in Water. She went by White - probably because she had experienced the same kind of reaction to her name as my friend, Sandy, had to Walks Over Ice. I am Sahnish (Arikara) and Dakota/Lakota. Here are some of the long names of my ancestors on both sides: Bull Stands in the Water, Strikes the Lodge, Young Eagle Chosen, Gourd Rattle and Red Foolish Bear. Son of the Star was one of the last traditional chiefs of the Sahnish. Bob-Tail Bull was a scout who died in the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Some of the Lakota names are of the warriors Rain in the Face, Touch the Clouds and Afraid of the Bear, but the names most familiar are Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse of the Lakota and White Shield, old chief of the Sahnish. When translated correctly, all these names have deep meaning. But sometimes, the meaning is lost in translation. I heard some of the old people tell us that there were some Native words that can't be translated. You can see examples of poor translation some of the Indian people's humorous stories that have been translated into English. They just lose their punch and fall flat. Native words are very descriptive. A few words can set an entire scene that in English may take many words. I often use the example of my great-grandfather, Bear's Belly. When I was a child, I told my grandmother I thought he had a strange name. She said he was a leader of the Bear Ceremony, and he earned his rights to the bear reference. But the belly of a bear doesn't seem like anything to be proud of, I told her. She said the belly of a bear is a prized part of the animal. It is the softest and finest part. So, his name might have been "Man Who Earned the Right to the Finest Part of the Bear," but was translated by government agents as "Bear's Belly." Why are there few of those longer and truer names? It is probably the influence of the majority society. I believe my friend uses Walks in all normal situations, Walks Over Ice for legal situations. It is easier. In the early and middle 1900s, there was a strong push among Native people to Anglicize their names. So, common names such as Jones, Smith and Brown began to show up. Don't misunderstand: Not every Jones, Smith or Brown that you'd find on the reservation were chosen in this way. Some were names brought into a tribe by a Native woman who married someone with that name and then passed it on to their children. With increasing numbers of American Indian names flowing off the Internet like a mountain stream, perhaps there may be a turning back to the old names. Be warned, however, there are potential problems. With a name like Yellow Bird, I know. Computers programs already don't like two names and I think they may crash with three or four. Yellow Bird writes columns Tuesday and Saturday. Reach her at by phone at 780-1228 or (800) 477-6572, extension 228, or by e-mail at dyellowbird@gfherald.com. Copyright c. 2003 Grand Forks Herald/Grand Forks, ND. --------- "RE: Tribes reject State's Tobacco Tax Compact Plan" --------- Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2003 10:47:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NO TO OKLAHOMA" http://www.kotv.com/pages/viewpage.asp?id=48075 Tribes reject state's tobacco tax compact plan July 6, 2003 OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Oklahoma Indian tribes are rejecting the state's latest proposal for a tobacco tax compact. The 12 American Indian tribes whose compact extension expired June 30 are expected to send a joint letter to the governor outlining their concerns. Gov. Brad Henry said negotiations are ongoing and progress is being made. Tribal officials disagree. "The day we went into a negotiation meeting at the state Capitol, tribal leaders were handed a proposed compact that 90 percent of the leaders had never seen," said Mary Williams, tax administrator for the Osage Tribe Tax Commission. Williams said the state's proposal includes a provision that would boost the tribe's tax burden if the state should increase taxes on tobacco. Under the state's current tobacco compacts, tribal smoke shops are required to pay 25 percent of the state cigarette tax, which is 23 cents. If the cigarette tax is increased, the state's proposal would push tribes' share to 50 percent of the state tax. The state would then put a portion of that money into an account and refund it quarterly to the tribes. "This would devastate the tribes and our members who own small businesses," Williams said. "Also, we're able to control our own money. We don't need the state to do it for us. Placing the money in a trust would benefit the state. There's no benefit there for the tribes." Meanwhile, tobacco compacts with the 12 tribes have been extended for a second 90-day period. The agreements were set to expire Jan. 1, but former Gov. Frank Keating extended the deadline to June 30. If the tribes do not agree to compact with the state, the 25 percent collection rate jumps to 75 percent. The governor's staff has been working to negotiate what they had hoped would be a model compact with all the tribes in Oklahoma both for gaming and the tobacco tax. Legislation that would have expanded gaming in Oklahoma did not pass the Legislature. Tribal leaders said they want to do what's best for the state. "We all live in this state together and we've always been able to reach an agreement," Bailey said. "I'm sure the governor's office is going to be fair with everyone." Copyright c. 2003 KOTV, A Griffin Communications, LLC Subsidiary. --------- "RE: Blackfoot Confederacy gathers in Alberta" --------- Date: Thu, 3 July 2003 08:18:08 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BLACKFOOT GATHERING" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.goldentrianglenews.com/display/inn_glacier_reporter/news/news6.txt Blackfoot Confederacy gathers in Alberta to renew historic ties BY JAMES MCNEELY FOR THE GLACIER REPORTER July 3, 2003 The four tribes of the Blackfoot Confederacy gathered in their traditional territory of northwest Alberta to renew historic ties and pursue common interests for its Canadian and U.S. members June 19-21. The Blood Tribe, Siksika Nation, Piikani Nation and Blackfeet Nation met in Canmore to discuss interests shared by the four Blackfoot speaking Nations and discussed re-establishing traditional territory. Chris Shade, Chief of the Blood Tribe, which was this year's host, reinforced this agenda in his opening statement to the media. "We have chosen Canmore as the site of the Blackfoot Confederacy Conference to re- establish this are as our traditional territory," said Shade. The year's conference also coincided with Canada's National Aboriginal Day, which was Saturday, June 21. In recent years, governments have ignored or overlooked the Blackfoot Confederacy's territory to the detriment of the Confederacy Tribes, who are now re-affirming the parameters of their territory prior to European contact. Before contact, this territory was bordered to the north by the North Saskatchewan River, to the south by the Yellowstone River in what is now Montana, west by the Continental Divide, and east by the Great Sand Hills, now in Saskatchewan. The Blackfoot Confederacy Tribes share common language, culture, heritage and spiritual beliefs, and prior to contact were allied for economic and political strength. There were a number of treaties made by the Blackfoot with enemy tribes over the centuries to enhance trade and commerce, and to strengthen their power in their traditional territories. One of the first known treaties made with the European nations was the Lame Bull Treaty of 1855, which was between the U.S. government and the Blackfeet Nation, sometimes known as the Yellowstone Treaty. In 1877, the Blood Tribe, Piikani Nation and Siksika Nation made another treaty with the Canadian government, known as Treaty 7. There were drastic changes in Blackfoot territory when the U.S.-Canadian border was established, severing part of the Confederacy. The South Peigans, or Blackfeet, were now south of the border while the other three tribes remained north of it. This had a profound impact on all the Blackfoot people and can be felt today. Traditional ceremonies such as the Okan, medicine pipe openings and various other ceremonies once shared by all have been affected because the people cannot move back and forth freely across the border without having their belongings subject to search. The border also hindered political activity among the Blackfoot Confederacy and to a great degree the socio- economic development of the tribes. The renewed interest in the Blackfoot Confederacy by present-day leaders has resulted in the Blackfoot Confederacy Conferences, where old alliances are re-established and the political and economic power of the Blackfoot Nation is being rekindled. This initiative has been ongoing since 1989 when the first meetings of chiefs began and marked a new era in the history of these tribes. Some of the other topics that were discussed at this year's conference included the protection of cultural and intellectual properties; a treaty overview (Lame Bull Treaty); recent federal legislative initiatives, such as Bill C-7 FNGA, C-6 Specific Claims Resolution Act and Indian Reorganization Act (U.S.); and border crossing issues including Customs and Immigration, and Fish and Wildlife. In attendance were Siksika Nation Chief Adrian Stimson Sr., Blood Tribe Chief Chris Shade, Piikani Nation Chief Peter Strikes With A Gun and Blackfeet Nation Chief Earl Old Person. Also in attendance from the Blackfeet Nation were Al Potts, Dave Gordon, Jodi Wippert, John Running Rabbit, Heather Gobert, Keith Lame Bear and James McNeely. For more information on the Blackfoot Confederacy Conference, contact James McNeely, Blackfeet Nation Media Representative, at the Blackfeet Tribal Office (406) 338-7521. Copyright c. 2003 Golden Triangle Newspapers. --------- "RE: Budget Proposal could further strain Relationship" --------- Date: Wed, 2 July 2003 08:18:08 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WISCONSIN SNEAKUP" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.gogreenbay.com/page.html?article=120744 Budget proposal could further strain tribe's relationship with Legislature Tribe stands to lose portion of cigarette tax By Jessica La Plante News-Chronicle If Gov. Jim Doyle doesn't veto a tax provision in the new state budget, Oneida Nation leaders say it would be a throwback to the days when the tribe couldn't trust the U.S. government to keep its promises. Kathy Hughes, vice chairwoman of the tribe's Business Committee, said the provision would violate a 1988 agreement that gives the tribe 70 percent of tax revenues from cigarettes sold on the reservation. "That's an agreement that was reached with the state of Wisconsin over a decade ago," Hughes said. "There was no discussion about it between the state and tribe; they simply included it in their budget package." The measure included in the budget reverses the split to give the tribe 30 percent while the state would get 70 percent of the tax revenues. Hughes said the tribe relies on the money to help fund social-service programs for its 15,000 citizens. More than straining the tribe's resources, passing the provision could weaken the tribe's relations with state legislators. If the governor does not veto the measure, "I think there would be certainly more caution in how we proceed in entering (future) agreements," Hughes said. She said even more troubling than the loss of money is what the tribe perceives as a breakdown of communication with the state. She said written appeals sent to state lawmakers about the issue have gone unanswered. When the tribe learned of the cut, "we definitely felt left out in the cold," she said. "It brings us back to decades ago when there was tension. It's unfortunate that some of the things that occurred more than a decade ago seem to be occurring again." A new gaming compact, negotiated between Doyle and the tribe, has created tension between tribal leaders and lawmakers, Hughes said. A bill was passed in the state Assembly to override the governor's agreement, but he vetoed the measure. In exchange for expanded gambling rights for an unlimited time period, the compact requires the tribe to make a $20 million payment to the state in 2004 and 2005 and another $18 million payment in 2006. After that, the Oneida will pay 6 percent of their profits to the state in 2007, then alternate between 4 and 5 percent in following years. The Oneida are paying $4.85 million a year, tribal officials have said. To meet that obligation, the tribe will have to borrow money, making the $2 million in cigarette tax revenues all the more valuable, Hughes said. Despite the large payments the state will receive from the Oneida and other tribes, Hughes said some legislators feel Wisconsin got a bad deal. She said she fears the recent changes in the budget are an attempt by legislators to right a perceived wrong. To persuade the governor to veto the budget proposal, the tribe will increase its lobbying efforts in the upcoming weeks. "We've been referring to this as punitive actions against the tribe for disagreement on how the whole compact process was handled," Hughes said. Members of the Wisconsin Legislature, however, disagree. State Rep. Becky Weber, R-Green Bay, whose district includes part of the Oneida reservation, said the proposed tax measure was an act of desperation, not retaliation. "Because of the $3.2 billion deficit, anywhere there was a pot of money, it was taken to balance the budget," she said. Weber said she and other legislators met with the tribe on several occasions to hear their concerns about the budget. "I feel that the tribe did have as much input as anyone else did into the decision making of the joint finance committee," Weber said. "It's different to say we didn't have input than to say we had input but we didn't like the end results." She said the tribe received no more or less consideration than any other special-interest group, and said she didn't believe the provision violates any pre-existing agreements with the tribe. "I don't believe they've done anything that would be illegal by any means," Weber said. "There's a lot of money that was taken this time around that people do not feel was ethical or fair, but this is a drastic budget." Copyright c. 2003 Green Bay News-Chronicle. --------- "RE: Rosebud Leader ousted from Office" --------- Date: Sat, Jul 5 2003 09:13:37 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TEZ DUYSAC REMOVED" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2003/07/04/news/local/news03.txt Rosebud leader ousted from office By Natasha D. Bordeaux, Journal Staff Writer July 5, 2003 ROSEBUD - Allegations of ethics violations involving a business transaction with Rosebud Casino prompted the removal of Rosebud Sioux Tribal Council Rep. Tez Duysac from public office on Monday, tribal officials said. The council's decision came during a special public hearing of the tribal council that was presided over by Rosebud Sioux Tribal Judge Sherman Marshall. The vote to remove Duysac was 16-2. Duysac was the representative for District 7, the Grass Mountain and Upper Cut Meat area. The initial complaint, submitted by Rosebud Sioux Tribal member Alfred Bone Shirt, alleged that Duysac used his position as a council member to persuade the Rosebud Casino Hotel gift shop to buy 750 music CDs at a cost of $8,625 from his company, Sicangu Dreams Entertainment. Bone Shirt further alleged that Duysac delivered only 100 of the 750 CDs. A letter from Acting General Manager Adrian Mirabueno detailing the transaction and copies of the checks and invoices were presented as evidence, along with witness testimony. Dana Hannah, attorney general for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, said Duysac participated in the proceedings. He said the council will appoint a replacement for Duysac. Duysac said his removal from office was a politically motivated attempt to silence his whistle-blowing on administrative corruption. He said he will appeal the decision. "My rights to due process were violated at every juncture. All of the above allegations against me were proved to be false during the hearing," Duysac said. Duysac said Rosebud Casino Hotel gift-shop manager Brian Burnette testified at the hearing that the "undelivered" CDs were all accounted for at the gift shop. He also claims that Mirabueno and Burnette both testified that the transaction was not a result of intimidation but was "a business decision" that would make a substantial profit for the gift shop. Official minutes from the hearing were unavailable. "There is nothing that prohibits a tribal council member from doing business with an entity of the tribe," Duysac said. "(It) is a common practice. In addition to appealing my removal to the tribal council, over the next two weeks, I will be preparing information and supporting documentation that will show that at least a majority of those people who voted for my removal are also doing business with entities of the tribe." Copyright c. 2003 The Rapid City Journal. --------- "RE: Saving Zuni Lake becomes State Priority" --------- Date: Thu, 3 July 2003 08:18:08 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SACRED ZUNI LAKE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.gallupindependent.com/07-02-03savingzunilake.html Saving Zuni Lake becomes state priority Tom Purdom Staff Writer July 2, 2003 PUEBLO OF ZUNI - Major federal support lined up to look at a proposed private coal mine that Zuni Indians say will kill the tranquil, sacred Zuni Lake. New Mexico Sens. Pete Domenici and Jeff Bingaman, along with New Mexico Congressmen Steven Pearce and Tom Udall, crossed party lines Tuesday to voice one message: temporarily suspend mining activity approved by a federal permit issued to the Salt River Project's Life of Mine Plan. Their message went in the form of a letter written to Rebecca Watson, assistant secretary for land and minerals management of the U.S. Department of Interior, and Aurene Martin, acting assistant secretary of Indian Affairs, also part of the DOI. The letter, signed by the New Mexico Congressional Delegation, asks that operations be suspended pending the outcome of a more definitive study on the area. SRP, the nation's third-largest electric utility, wants to build a strip coal mine on 18,191 acres straddling Cibola and Catron counties to supply coal to the Coronado Generating Station near St. Johns, Ariz. The Coronado Generating Station supplies electrical power to Phoenix. The Fence Lake Mine would draw water from the Atarque Aquifer. SRP said taking the water from the aquifer would have no affect on the Zuni Salt Lake, some 11 miles from the mine. Zuni Salt Lake is sacred and considered home of Salt Mother, a principal Zuni deity. The Zunis contend that the Atarque Aquifer feeds Zuni Salt Lake, as does the Dakota Aquifer. In addition, SRP is building a railroad to carry the coal to St. Johns and the rail line crosses The Sanctuary, more than 5,000 acres of land surrounding Zuni Salt Lake. The Sanctuary is considered another sacred Native American site where warring nations may enter, put down weapons and walk in peace. Salt Mother is a deity of peace. The Zuni Salt Lake is as important to many Native Americans as the Vatican is to the rest of the world. Zuni Tribal Councilman Dan Simplico said late Tuesday he was elated at the news. "This is a real strong message," Simplico said. "On a scale of one to 10, this goes beyond 10." Several Native American tribes, as well as the Sierra Club and other interested parties, have been fighting SRP. Simplico, contacted while on a business trip to Albuquerque, said the Zuni people have called upon their ancestors for help. "What you see happening now is a demonstration of the power of beliefs of the people of Zuni," Simplico said. The New Mexico Congressional Delegation in a Tuesday news release said the Zuni Tribe began a study and has now received evidence showing Salt River Project's use of the Atarque Aquifer will affect the Zuni Salt Lake. When the DOI approved the permit in May 2002, it carried conditions, one of which denies water from the Dakota Aquifer to SRP and the other mandates SRP to conduct long-term pump tests of the Atarque Aquifer to determine if Zuni Salt Lake would be affected. SRP contended in its 1993 permit application package that the Atarque Aquifer is a leaky-confined aquifer in which pumping effects would not be seen more than one-half mile in any direction and that the aquifer did not feed the Zuni Salt Lake. Rather than take SRP's word for it, the Pueblo of Zuni initiated a study of its own. The delegation's letter to the DOI states: "New geologic mapping shows not only that the Atarque Aquifer is present in the bedrock to the south and east of Zuni Salt Lake, but also that it is in contact with the lake for at least 3,000 feet and is contributing water to the lake." The letter goes on to point out more facts, one of which involves SRP's own hydrology consultant, who wrote a brief with the New Mexico Mining and Minerals Division reversing a previous SRP claim that Atarque Aquifer is a leaky-confined aquifer and instead is a confined aquifer. The Pueblo of Zuni, along with strong support from the Pueblos of Acoma and Laguna, the Hopi Nation, the Ramah Navajo Band and the All Indian Pueblo Council, called on DOI to suspend the federal permit based on the new evidence. The New Mexico Delegation's letter reminded DOI of the May 2002 permit. "Special Condition 13 of the DOI decision expressly reserves the right in DOI to rescind or modify the federal approval if newly discovered evidence or some other factor makes such action appropriate, consistent with the DOI's trust responsibility to Native American tribes," the letter states. It also states, "the Zuni Salt Lake varies in natural depth over time from a few inches to a maximum of four feet; there is therefore little margin for error in protecting this sacred lake." A delegation news release states: "It is our understanding that the Bureau of Indian Affairs currently is conducing a hydrologic study of its own of the Atarque Aquifer and that the New Mexico Mining and Minerals Division has called for SRP to make an affirmative showing that there will be no harm to the Zuni Salt Lake from the proposed Fence Lake Mine's pumping by performing a pump test which puts the question to the test." After reading a copy of the letter, Simplico said, "I've never seen any kind of support like this publicly being delivered to anyone making this kind of decision." SRP offices were closed by the time information for this story was received. Copyright c. 2003 the Gallup Independent. --------- "RE: Ancient Pueblos forced to cope with Drought" --------- Date: Mon, 7 July 2003 08:18:08 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="COPE or PERISH" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.durangoherald.com/asp-bin/~/news/news030706_5.htm Ancient pueblos forced to cope with drought-or perish July 6, 2003 By John Fleck Albuquerque Journal GRAN QUIVIRA, N.M. (AP) - Life was never easy at Gran Quivira. In the Salinas Valley, a hundred miles southeast of Albuquerque, the ancient pueblo's ruins today are surrounded by cactus, pinon and juniper - a classic desert landscape. But in good times and bad, for more than 300 years, the pueblo's residents scraped out a living farming corn, beans and squash, supplemented with buffalo and other big game. They weathered the region's inevitable droughts with a complex and clever system of dams and wells to make the most of the region's sometimes sparse rain and snow. In the 1670s, something changed. Drought set in, and half the pueblo's residents starved to death. What was different? Why did a culture that had survived previous droughts collapse during this one? The answer, experts say, is a cautionary tale about coping with drought in the arid West. Wherever you live in the Southwest, it ultimately comes down to the same thing: If it isn't dry now, wait. It will be. And the pattern appears to be repeating. Since the mid-1970s, the population has exploded in the Southwest during what researchers believe was one of the wettest two-decade stretches in the past 2,000 years. Now, they say, the climate may be shifting into a drought that could last for decades. Historians and archaeologists say that's what happened to Gran Quivira. Its fate was sealed by Spanish newcomers who did not understand the climate's cycles of feast and famine, that dry years historically follow the wet. The early 1600s were, according to tree-ring records, an unusually wet spell in the Southwest, the wettest in centuries. That is when the Spanish came to Gran Quivira, imposing their new forms of government and religion. Included in the new ways was a sort of taxation called the encomienda system, under which the Indians were required to pay the Spanish in crops and labor. Because of the recent wet climate, the Indians were able to pay. "They were doing pretty good in those days," said Marc LeFrancois, a ranger at Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument. "The Indians could take it because they had a surplus," explained Julio Betancourt, a drought researcher for the U.S. Geological Survey. When the region's climate turned dry in the mid-1600s, the system collapsed. Unbeknownst to them, the Spanish had arrived during the wet part of a cycle that inevitably turned dry. The Spanish, Betancourt said, "were clueless" about the boom and bust cycles of Southwestern climate. Within a few short years, Gran Quivira and the other pueblos of the Salinas Valley, once home to thousands, had been abandoned. It was not the first time that happened in the Southwest, nor was it the last. The climate pattern that triggered the end of the Salinas Pueblos and brought down the Anasazi may be repeating itself in the Southwest today, he said. From the mid-1970s until the late 1990s, the region was unusually wet. El Ninos dominated the Pacific Ocean. During the last quarter of the 20th century, wet years outnumbered dry years more than two to one in Arizona and New Mexico. During that time, New Mexico's population grew 54 percent. Arizona's population more than doubled. The result, experts said, sets the stage for a familiar Southwestern tragedy, in which a society takes advantage of the wet times to grow, only to be devastated when things turn dry. "The demands are much higher, so our vulnerability is greater," said Betancourt, who heads up a drought research group at the U.S. Geological Survey in Tucson. Scientists still do not understand the climate system well enough to predict with any certainty how long this might go on. There is some evidence, developed by University of New Mexico tree-ring expert Lou Scuderi and others, that suggests a 70-plus year repeating drought cycle, but it is a controversial point. If it is on such a cycle, a lingering drought should be expected soon. But even if that is wrong, it will happen eventually, according to Scuderi. "It's going to happen," he said, "and when it does happen it's severe." Without an unambiguous way of predicting drought, the scientists watch the ocean, measure precipitation, and wait. "How do you know you're in a decadal-scale drought until you've been in it a decade?" asked Tom Swetnam, director of the University of Arizona's Laboratory of Tree Ring Research. Said University of Arizona archaeologist Jeff Dean, "You can't predict how long a drought's going to last." Time and again, human populations in the Southwest have overextended during wet spells, only to be devastated when the weather turned dry. Societies that survived did so by living within their long-term water means during the wet years, leaving them with flexibility to respond to the dry. Societies that did not learn that lesson faced disaster. The reason is an underlying fact of Southwestern climate droughts are no aberration. The region's climate naturally swings between years of wet and years of dry. "It's almost Biblical, with the seven fat years and seven lean years, just not as tidy as that," said University of Arizona climate researcher Malcolm Hughes. New Mexico's droughts also aren't one-size-fits all. It can be wetter in the south and drier in the north, or vice-versa. One place can be hit by a dry winter, while elsewhere the summer rains fail. The story of human occupation of what we now call the Southwest is inextricably linked with the story of climate. Perhaps the most well-known example is the Anasazi, ancestors of the modern pueblo Indians, who built a vast trade-based society across what is now the Four Corners beginning around 900 A.D. Life was good for the Anasazi from about 1000 A.D. to 1130 A.D., with good rainfall and a relatively stable climate. In 1130, the bottom dropped out. Dry weather set in across large parts of what is now the Four Corners, and the great cities of Chaco Canyon were largely abandoned. The Anasazi spread north, and when the wet weather returned the cities in and around what are now Cortez and Mesa Verde National Park flourished. But during the latter 1200s, another two decades of drought set in during a period dubbed by scientists "The Great Drought." Most droughts hit some places harder than others, but The Great Drought hit throughout western North America, hard, for more than two decades. "This is really a megadrought," said Betancourt, "really, truly a megadrought." The drought collided with a population that had become unsustainable. Amid starvation and death, the Anasazi abandoned their Four Corners cities for good, moving to what are now the western communities of Hopi and Zuni to the south and west, and the Rio Grande pueblos to the east, where water supplies were more reliable during dry times. Not every Southwestern society has followed the Anasazi's boom and bust pattern. Before the development of the pueblo cultures of Chaco and Mesa Verde, there were cultures in the region that lived within their water means, avoiding excess during the wet years so they could cope with the dry, according to University of New Mexico archaeologist Bruce Huckell. "What you needed to do was have strategies that allowed you to cope with that variation," Huckell said. Copyright c. 2003 the Durango Herald. --------- "RE: Roots of Seneca Anger" --------- Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2003 10:47:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BETRAYAL" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20030706/1012697.asp FOCUS: THE POLITICS OF INDIAN LAND Roots of Seneca anger The Senecas' distrust of outsiders is no whim. It developed when the U.S. government claimed 10,000 acres to build a disputed dam - burning houses along the way. By MICHAEL BEEBE News Staff Reporter July 6, 2003 ALLEGANY INDIAN RESERVATION - Kinzua is a Seneca word roughly translated as "fish on a spear." To the Senecas who live here, Kinzua has a different meaning - betrayal. Kinzua is a dam near Warren, Pa., but more meaningfully, it has become part of every dealing the Senecas have with outside governments, from sales taxes on cigarettes and gasoline to potential locations for Indian casinos. Kinzua was designed to tame the Allegheny River and control downstream flooding in Pittsburgh. Built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the early 1960s, the dam created the Allegheny Reservoir, a popular 25-mile- long lake that draws thousands of boaters a year. But the Senecas have another name for it. From the beginning they've called it Lake Perfidy, for a deliberate breach of faith by the federal government. Kinzua took 10,000 acres of the Senecas' finest land, one-third of the Allegany Reservation. Most of it is flooded; the rest is treeless muckland. Another third of Allegany, 10,000 acres of mountain slopes above the lake, will never again be accessible. Government officials never asked the Senecas for their land. They took it. They used the power of eminent domain to override a treaty signed when George Washington was president, a land grab the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review. They forced 700 Senecas, half the people living on the Allegany Reservation, to move from their homes. Hardwood forests and fertile river valleys where Senecas had lived for hundreds of years, land that Washington promised in the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua that the government would never disturb, now lies under 20 feet of water. "To us, it was a clear breaking of a lawful treaty," said DuWayne "Duce" Bowen, a Seneca whose family home in Coldspring was demolished for Kinzua when he was in school. Kinzua helps explain the anger and violence that erupt when New York tries to enforce state tax laws on the Senecas' Allegany and Cattaraugus reservations, the hostility that comes when the Senecas feel political pressure on where to put a casino. Seneca historian and anthropologist George H.J. Abrams said Kinzua also helps explain why the Senecas don't always trust outside governments. "This is our homeland," said Abrams, a descendant of the Seneca chief Cornplanter. "This is our last remaining land that is ours. Literally, the blood of our ancestors is in that ground. So to lose it, under these very trying circumstances, certainly has long-term consequences." Watching homes burn Marshals from the federal government came first, handing out legal notices to the Senecas, telling them their land was condemned, telling them it was time to move. Next came the government moving vans, the fires set to their homes, the giant scissors-like machines that ripped full-grown trees out of the earth, denuding ancient hunting grounds. As the trucks packed up their belongings and the Senecas began the move to modern, ranch-style houses the government built in Jimerstown and Steamburg, near Salamanca, many watched as their homes were set on fire, the ashes bulldozed into the earth. "They started at the reservation line," recalled George Heron, who served two terms as Seneca president during the Kinzua relocation in the late 1950s and early 1960s. "They took the general store, the churches, the long house, the schools. They didn't stop until 145 houses were burned and demolished." Many of the Seneca elders never recovered, never were able to adjust to a new way of life. They were the nation's storytellers, the keepers of Seneca traditions, the teachers who passed on the Seneca language. "What we call the old way is gone," said Bowen, a Seneca storyteller himself. "Overnight, the Senecas had to become - and put this in quotes - "modern.' " Heron was among a newer generation of Senecas, returned from fighting for the United States during World War II or the Korean War, who became politically educated because of Kinzua. They fought Kinzua in the courts, in Congress, in the world of public opinion. They had the backing of the New York Times, the Washington Post and the "Today" show. Even Johnny Cash sang about Uncle Sam flooding the grave of the great Seneca chief Cornplanter - "It will drown the Indian graveyards/Cornplanter can you swim?" sang Cash in "As Long as the Grass Shall Grow." But none of it mattered. The Senecas lost every battle. On Sept. 16, 1966, the government dedicated the new dam near Warren, and the meandering Allegheny River backed up to flood Seneca land, including the home where Cornplanter's half brother, the Seneca prophet Handsome Lake, had many of the visions that formed the Longhouse religion. Besides the Allegany Reservation, Kinzua also flooded the 1,500-acre Cornplanter Grant, land that Pennsylvania gave the Seneca chief for keeping the Senecas neutral during the Indian Wars in Ohio. The graves of Cornplanter and others buried in Seneca cemeteries were moved ahead of the flooding. Cornplanter, perhaps the foremost Indian diplomat of his day, believed that if the Senecas were to survive, they needed to at least learn the ways of the white world. Kinzua taught the Senecas not to trust a government that ignored the oldest active Indian treaty, Heron said. It showed them how important the government felt the Senecas were - promptly paying the Pennsylvania Railroad $20 million to relocate its rail lines from the condemned land, while forcing the Senecas to wait three years for the $15.5 million the government eventually paid for their land. Their anger lived on in the next generation, the schoolchildren at the time like Rickey L. Armstrong, who was forced to leave the Indian school in Red House for the white school system in Salamanca. That generation has come to power. Armstrong is the current president of the Seneca Nation of Indians. He's the one Gov. George E. Pataki has to deal with on reservation taxes and casinos. Armstrong will never forget Kinzua. "Our older members remember it," he said. "Our new members have to be educated. We have the duty to educate them about it." Witness to history Heron enlisted in the U.S. Navy after finishing school and returned to Red House as a decorated World War II veteran - he was part of a Navy landing ship transport crew that fought in Africa, Italy and the Philippines. He watched Gen. Douglas MacArthur make his famous return to the Philippines as he waded ashore on the beach at Leyte. Heron, like many of his Seneca brothers, was an ironworker who helped erect buildings in Buffalo and other cities, but he was also active in Seneca politics. He founded the Veterans Progressive Party and, in 1958, was elected president of the Seneca Nation to battle the U.S. government over Kinzua. "The dam talk went back to the 1930s," Heron, now 84, recalled during an interview. "When I was just a little boy, there was always talk about the dam." Alternatives proposed A devastating 1936 flood in Pittsburgh and another in 1956 in Warren had convinced the government that something had to be done. By the time Heron took office in 1958, the Army Corps of Engineers had already won a court fight to survey the reservation and was intent on overruling the Canandaigua Treaty. The 1794 treaty, negotiated for the United States by Col. Thomas Pickering, was clear: "Now the United States acknowledges all the land within the aforementioned boundaries, to be the property of the Seneca Nation, and the United States will never claim the same, nor disturb the Seneca Nation." Despite the treaty, Heron said, he knew the government would never back down. "The older ones were addicted to the treaty," he said of the Seneca elders. "They said they won't do that because of the treaty. "I knew better," Heron said. "They had broken hundreds of treaties before they broke that one. And the courts always upheld them." It was no different with Kinzua. "Congress never voted to break the treaty," Heron said. "That doesn't look good. They appropriated money to build the dam. They never mentioned the treaty. But the courts said Congress knew that that meant taking the land. They came in through the back door." Seeing little prospect of winning the court battle, the Senecas tried to convince the Army Corps there was a better way. They hired Arthur Morgan, the former chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority and someone the Senecas felt was the most knowledgeable dam expert in the United States. Morgan drew up an alternate set of plans that would have diverted the Allegheny River's overflow as well as floodwaters from the Conewango and Cattaraugus creeks into Lake Erie. Heron and Morgan went on a national campaign to sell the idea. The Morgan plan, they said, would also better help flooding in Warren. "The demand for the dam seems to come as much from Pennsylvania groups interested in a steady supply of fresh water, as it does from those who want flood control," The Buffalo Evening News said, suggesting the Morgan Plan should be studied. The Pittsburgh papers downriver called for immediate construction of the dam. "This project has waited long enough," railed the Pittsburgh Post- Gazette. "Flood waters are not nearly so patient." The Pittsburgh Press had little sympathy for the view that "Indians were so poorly treated by white men that we shouldn't take their lands now - even to save ourselves from flood disaster - as if tender solicitude now could wipe out the ancient injustices." Heron went to Congress in 1960 and testified before the House subcommittee on Indian affairs. "Lastly, I know it will sound simple and perhaps silly," Heron testified. "But the truth of the matter is that my people really believe that George Washington read that 1794 treaty before he signed it and that he meant exactly what he wrote. For more than 165 years, we Senecas have lived by the document. To us, it is more than a contract, more than a symbol. To us, the 1794 treaty is a way of life." But the court battle was eventually lost, Congress refused to overturn its decision, and despite pleas to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from Heron and Basil Williams, the later Cattaraugus reservation president, the Senecas finally had to give up the fight. "When we lost the final decision in court," Heron said, "we changed the battle to getting the most we could out of it." Eventually, Congress paid $15.5 million to the Senecas, money that built new houses for 138 families and set up college scholarship programs that have produced dozens of new graduates on the reservations. The money was paid out of guilt, said a Pennsylvania congressman who had opposed the dam. "Now that your property has been appropriated, your ancestral burial grounds taken away and your fishing places buried under 100 feet of water, " Rep. John P. Saylor, R-Johnstown, told the Senecas, "Congress has seen fit to attempt to salve its conscience by making available a sum of money to the victims of its act of piracy." Saylor had fought the Kinzua dam because he said it offered poor flood protection, ruined a section of the Allegheny River and violated the 1794 treaty. He later was a chief sponsor of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. Saylor and fellow Kinzua opponent Rep. James D. Haley of Florida were made honorary members of the Seneca Nation, which named community buildings on the reservations in their honor. A spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recognizes the suffering the Senecas went through in the dam's construction. "The Army Corps of Engineers has worked very hard to rebuild its relationship with the Seneca Nation, whose sacrifices made possible the building of the Kinzua Dam," said Richard Dowling, a spokesman for the Corps' Pittsburgh district. "No one forgets the tragic impact on the Seneca way of life that was caused by this construction," said Dowling. "But remember also that the builders, the Army Corps of Engineers, tried very hard to provide fair compensation and honest treatment of the residents, Senecas and non- Indians alike." Army Corps projections, Dowling said, show the dam has prevented $949 million in potential flood damage and saved "countless lives" since its construction. He also said the Allegheny Reservoir attracts visitors and tourist dollars from across the country. The Seneca Nation itself runs a campground on the reservoir called Highbanks. "We love our land' Once the Kinzua battle was over, Heron told a reporter from the Newspaper Enterprise Association, a news syndicate, in 1964 what the Senecas had lost. "I suppose the white man will never understood why we love this land," Heron said. "Our white friends come here and say: "Why, most of the area is covered by skimpy third-generation forests. It's not really picturesque. You live in tar-paper shacks. Why don't you want to leave it?' "Well, I guess our white friends are right," he said. "But we love our land because it is our land as it was our forefathers' land. And yes, some of us live in tar-paper shacks. But we are happy. Does anything else really matter?" Heron today says he and the Senecas fought as hard as they could, but said nothing was going to overcome those who wanted the dam. "I've heard criticism the Senecas didn't fight it hard enough," he said. "One thing is certain: We weren't going to put a gun on our shoulder and get ourselves killed. We fought it in the courts; we fought it in Congress. We fought it the best way we knew. We got a lot more out of it than if we hadn't fought it." e-mail: mbeebe@buffnews.com Copyright c. 1999-2003 The Buffalo News. --------- "RE: Suquamish seek Parkland" --------- Date: Sat, Jul 5 2003 09:13:37 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SEATTLE'S LONGHOUSE SITE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/locals/135164892_suquamish04m.html Suquamish seek parkland; neighbors divided on idea By Emily Heffter Seattle Times staff reporter Friday, July 04, 2003 SUQUAMISH - In the early 1900s, Suquamish tribal members pitched tents on a shell-covered beach under one long, remaining cedar beam of Chief Seattle's longhouse. The tribe, by that time, already was starting to scatter across the Kitsap Peninsula. But the significance of the site remained for those who remembered it as the "mother village" that had existed for 2,000 years. Today, two old picnic tables and a fire pit occupy the beach on Agate Passage, now known as Old Man House State Park. A dispute over who should control the 1-acre state park - wedged between waterfront homes on the eastern edge of the Kitsap Peninsula - is dividing the community. The Suquamish tribe has asked the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission to give it the land, which is worth about $480,000. The agency, its budget cut and faced with rising maintenance costs statewide, is considering it. "With the situation of the state budget, nothing is being ruled out," said Al Wolslegel, Puget Sound director for the agency. But the commission is in no hurry to decide, Wolslegel said. It also must consider the more than 200 letters it has received, and it may hold public hearings to gather further testimony. The tribe's request spurred about 50 Suquamish-area residents into forming a Friends of the Park group that would help maintain the land as a state park. Members of the group have written parks officials, expressing doubt about the tribe's intentions for the land and raising concerns that the public would lose access to the beachfront should the tribe take control. But another neighborhood group, the Suquamish-Olalla-area Neighbors, is urging state parks officials to give the park back to the tribe. "Returning this parkland to the tribe is a step toward healing an egregious wrong," member David McMullen wrote in an e-mail. Those who want to keep it in public ownership say they are simply trying to address the state budget issue by forming a group that can help. "I feel the Suquamish-Olalla group is trying to make a problem," said Julia Smith, a member of the group working to keep the park in public hands. Suquamish archivist Charlie Sigo knows the site well. Walking through the flat part of grass where the longhouse once stood, Sigo said the tribe's 1904 sale of the ancient village site to the U.S. Army was a "low point" in Suquamish history. The tribe is still suffering the consequences, he said. Without the village, the tribe continued to scatter. Some members lost or sold pieces of the Port Madison Indian Reservation to whites and land developers. Around the same time, settlers established the town of Suquamish and the government started shipping tribal children to boarding schools in Tacoma and Tulalip, where they couldn't speak their native language or learn the stories and traditions of their past. The loss of the beach "was a big impact," said Sigo, who is also a member of the tribal council. "It hurt us on our language, our relationships - just our being together." Getting the land back now would be a step toward restoring the tribe's broken history for the next generation, tribal leaders say. The Suquamish would replace the mildewing, splintering educational park signs with new ones, said tribe Fisheries Director Rob Purser, and fireworks and drinking would still be forbidden there. State law would require them to keep the park open to the public. Still, there is distrust within the community. In 2001, a group of neighbors sued the tribe over a low-income-housing project down the beach from Old Man House. In the suit, the Association of Property Owners/Residents of Port Madison argued that Suquamish tribal members aren't the true descendants of the original Suquamish and should not be granted treaty rights. A District Court dismissed the lawsuit in November 2001. Arguments in an appeal are scheduled to be heard in August in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Some of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit are also members of the Friends of the Park group. "I have lived on Agate Passage for over 40 years and over that time, I have seen us become more and more a divided community with most of us resentful at the incursion of our rights as citizens because of 'different' laws for 'different' people based on heritage," resident May Davis wrote in a letter to state parks officials. Another resident, Lorraine Inabinett, wrote that "drinking, fireworks and increased traffic would greatly impede the quiet community." After more than 20 years in the area, Inabinett said she has decided not to trust the tribe. In the summer, she said, bottle rockets bought from tribal fireworks stands whiz overhead while she picks raspberries in her yard. Once, she said, a Suquamish neighbor told her the tribe wants all the reservation land back. They now control only 40 percent. Inabinett said she doubts the tribe's story about the cultural significance of the park and suspects their interest in the land has more to do with economic-development plans. The tribe's new casino and convention center nearby will open next week and it recently bought a shopping mall in Suquamish. "I know they're trying to grow in power," Inabinett said. "I think this would only give them credence." Emily Heffter: 425-783-0624 or eheffter@seattletimes.com Copyright c. 2003 The Seattle Times Company --------- "RE: Court rules Tribe owed Self-Determination Funds" --------- Date: Mon, 7 July 2003 08:18:08 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CNO vs THOMPSON" http://www.indianz.com/News/show.asp?ID=2003/07/07/hhs Court rules tribe owed self-determination funds MONDAY, JULY 7, 2003 A federal appeals court last week sided with an Oklahoma tribe in a federal funding dispute, disagreeing with two other circuits on the way government agencies dole out money for self-determination contracts. On July 3, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals said the federal government owes the Cherokee Nation $8 million for breach of contract. A three-judge panel unanimously held that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) failed to provide adequate funds to the tribe to cover the costs of administering its own health care program. In making the decision, the court cited "confusing and contradictory" arguments advanced by government lawyers in the case, which was an appeal from the Department of Interior's Board of Contract Appeals. Specifically, the judges said the arguments departed from those made to the 9th Circuit and the 10th Circuit in "nearly identical" self-determination litigation. Citing direction from Congress, the 9th Circuit and the 10th Circuit held that that government doesn't have to provide "indirect" support costs for self-determination contracts. Both courts deferred to the "discretion" of the federal agencies, turning away the Cherokee Nation and the Duck Valley Shoshone-Paiute Tribe of Nevada in one case, and the Shoshone- Bannock Nation of Idaho in the other. The Federal Circuit rejected this line of thought, holding that the appropriations acts at issue did not contain legally binding language. "We cannot agree that the Secretary had discretion to refuse to reprogram to meet his contractual obligations," wrote Judge Timothy B. Dyk. The court's ruling would appear to impact the Cherokee Nation's appeal of the 10th Circuit case, which was decided in November 2002. The tribe has asked the Supreme Court to review the case, and in light of the conflicting interpretations of law in the circuits, the high court could resolve the issue once and for all. Along with a separate case involving the Navajo Nation, tribes nationwide have watched the litigation closely. A group of tribes and the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), the largest inter-tribal organization, submitted briefs to back up their views on self- determination funding. Under the the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, first passed in 1975, tribes can take over federal programs by entering into contracts with federal agencies. The contracts are supposed to cover the amount of money the agency would have normally used to carry out the same functions but the General Accounting Office (GAO) has identified shortfalls as high as $81 million, according to late 1990s studies. In the Navajo Nation case, which involved a welfare contract, Judge Betty B. Fletcher broke the case down this way: "Reduced to its simplest terms, the majority opinion defeats the purpose of the Indian Self- Determination Act by allowing Indians to administer federal programs but denying them the funds to do the job." The Supreme Court has accepted briefs in the 10th Circuit case but won't make a decision whether to accept it until the justices return to session in early October. The Federal Circuit decision applies to a Cherokee Nation contract for the fiscal years 1994, 1995, and 1996. The tribe contracts all hospitals, health clinics, dental services, mental health programs, and alcohol and substance abuse programs that were formerly administered by the government. According to the case, HHS provided $18.3 million, $24.3 million and $24.7 million to the tribe for the respective fiscal years. The "indirect" support costs could be used to cover annual financial audits or other activities associated with carrying out a government program. Copyright c. 2000-2003 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: Native Vietnam Veterans' Photographs" --------- Date: Wed, 2 July 2003 08:18:08 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NAM VET PHOTOS http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=2530 Vietnam Veterans' Photographs at The Jacobson House Native Art Center Native Photog/soldiers document graphic action NORMAN OK Press Release 7/1/2003 Opening July 20th, 2003 at The Jacobson House Native Art Center will be an exhibit of the personal wartime photographs of two American Indian Vietnam Veterans. A public reception for the photographers will be held from one to five o'clock. Blas Preciado and Leland Parker were fighting Marines in Vietnam. Neither is a professional photographer but they were professional soldiers who returned from the war with personal, sometimes graphic, pictures of their years in Vietnam. Neither took a picture with any thought it might be exhibited one day. The fifty exhibited photographs are a poignant documentation of times that cannot and ought not be forgotten. Preciado and Parker are displaying their pictures "in memory of all the American men and women who gave their lives and those who were wounded in defense of our country during wartime". They are very proud of the many American Indians who served in Vietnam and especially those from Apache, Oklahoma and the surrounding communities of Stecker, Boone and Broxton. During 1967 and 1968, Blas and Leland were stationed, like most marines, in the I Corps sector or northern-most area of South Vietnam. Documents support the fact the war was at its peak in terms of manpower engaged, casualties and enemy engagements during their tour. This sector joined the DMZ separating North and South Vietnam. The photographs taken by Leland, a member of the Comanche Tribe, were shot in and around Marine firebases such as Khe Sahn, The Rockpile, LZ Stud, Con Thien, Camp Carroll and C-2. While fighting there, Parker received the Navy Commendation Medal With Combat V, a Combat Action Ribbon and a Meritorious Unit Citation. Blas' photographs were taken south of Da Nang in the Rocket Belt area in places like Marble Mountain, Cau Ha, Tu Cau Bridge, The Riviera and Booby Trap Alley. Preciado, a member of the Kiowa Tribe, received the Combat Action Ribbon and a Meritorious Unit Citation. American Indian culture has been a warrior society since time immemorial. The warrior was that shield, that protection from enemies on whom the other members of the tribe were dependent. Still today, American Indians make songs for their warriors and hold honor dances and other celebrations when warriors leave for war and when they return. In each of the modern wars of the United States, American Indians have the highest enlistment rate per capita among the minority peoples in this country. This exhibit honors the American Indian warrior tradition. According to John Parrish, Jacobson Executive Director, "each of us owes more that we can repay to our warriors, past and present. This exhibit is an effort to pay that debt." The Jacobson House Native Art Center is on the National Register of Historic Places and received the 2003 Heritage in Trust Award from The Norman Community Foundation. The State Centennial Commission designated The Jacobson House a 2007 Oklahoma Centennial Celebration Site. The House is located at 609 Chautauqua Avenue in Norman, Oklahoma, 73069. For more information, please contact Tom Farris or Leon Farve at (405) 366-1667 or visit us online at www.jacobsonhouse.com. Native American Times is Copyright c. 2003 Oklahoma Indian Times, Inc. --------- "RE: Old Fishing Methods used by a New Generation" --------- Date: Sat, Jul 5 2003 09:13:37 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRAP NETS" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.startribune.com/stories/389/3960391.html Nothing but net: Old fishing methods used by a new generation Jon Tevlin, Star Tribune July 6, 2003 The day is calm and clear and the water smooth as ice, so shortly after leaving the Red Cliff Marina near Bayfield, Wis., Shawn Hanson turns the wheel of his fishing rig over to Shawn Hanson Jr., 13, just as Hanson's grandfather had to him more than 20 years ago. School had ended two days before. All that lay between "Junior" and ninth grade was a summer with watery edges, deep forest thickets and the wet thwap of whitefish on the deck of the Danny Boy. Hanson, 32, raises the captain's seat for Junior, whose sneakers dangle above the floor. The diesel engine rumbles and gurgles in a fit of gray smoke as Hanson pushes open the throttle. Junior peers through a small oval porthole, grips the wheel in two small fists and points the bow toward Lake Superior's Bear Island and the day's first catch. What do you want to do when you grow up, Junior? "This," he says simply. If he's lucky, very lucky, he will, the sixth generation to follow in the footsteps of his great-great-greatgrandfather, a Norwegian who came to Bayfield, married a Chippewa woman and tried to pull a living from the lake. Shawn and his brothers are the only Indians in Red Cliff to do this kind of commercial fishing full-time. They use trap nets; the old gill nets caught too many trout and left too few for sport fishermen. Hanson believes trap nets will be the only ones allowed in the future. "I'm trying to get ahead of the pack," he says. Today, his brother Nick, 24, is also working the nets. Another brother, Troy, joins them some days. When they have six to seven nets out, they can haul in 2,000 to 4,000 pounds of whitefish. Then they set the nets again and check them in another three or four days. Shawn has been doing this since he was 7, when his grandfather, the legendary Wilfred Peterson, "The Fisherman," took him out. "My grandfather taught me everything I know," says Hanson. Peterson gave the family name a certain notoriety in 1983, when he was arrested in "Operation Gill Net." Agents from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources set up a phony company and offered commercial fishermen around Bayfield high prices for illegal trout. The sting netted $60,000 in illegal trout, and some of those convicted served two-month jail terms and were fined. Charges against Peterson were dropped. The sting drew criticism from Indians and activists who said the DNR entrapped poor fishermen in order to secure plentiful fish for rich charter boat fishermen from the big cities. In a documentary made about the incident, "Troubled Waters," Peterson cantankerously told agents that he would "keep on doing it unless I'm in prison." Hanson smiles when he talks about his grandfather. "He was quite a character," he says. An homage of sorts hangs in his fish house, a sign that reads: "We shoot every third DNR. The second one just left." The real battle today, however, is with a struggling economy in which the price of the fish is the only thing that doesn't rise. When prices are good, the Hansons load their catch into a refrigerator truck and drive five hours to Michigan, where they can get 20 cents more per pound than in Bayfield. The best price they can get now is 50 cents (about a quarter near Bayfield), which is the same price Hanson's grandfather got in 1983. "It's rough work," says Hanson. "Somebody's making money, but not us. But you are alone out on the water. You are your own boss. There's freedom." As we near Bear Island, Shawn, Nick and Shawn Jr. climb into their bright orange rubber coveralls. They are headed for a spot that Wilfred Peterson found more than 60 years ago. But now they use a global positioning system to locate the buoy that marks their trap nets, which stretch out a quarter-mile, holding hundreds of live whitefish. Junior plucks the buoy from the water, and Shawn wraps the line around a winch while Nick tosses a hook into the water to retrieve a piece of the line. The Hansons work silently and efficiently, each knowing their role without having to say a word. As the motor pulls the net up over the deck, the winch groans and lines snap taut across the deck. As the net comes closer, swarms of whitefish churn the water, flashing just under the surface. Tails slap the water and fish mouths gape above the surface. Nick grabs a net on a long pole and begins to scoop the fish from the water in slithering, quavering groups of 30 or 40. Then he dumps them into a plastic bucket, where Shawn quickly measures them. Any fish under 13 inches goes back with a plop. The rest go into a holding box, 100 at a time. Gulls fight over the fish thrown overboard. The air is filled with the violence of the catch: desperate slapping of fish on the metal deck, the cry of gulls, the whine of the winch. The air smells of fish and pine trees and diesel smoke. The whole process takes maybe 45 minutes. The net is dropped back in the water, the fish are stowed below deck in plastic boxes. Shawn revs the engine and they are off to the next net. He takes a break to light up a cigarette, the only sustenance they will have all day. No food. No water. "Rough work," Shawn says again. Hanson assesses his catch. About 400 pounds of whitefish. Two trout, which he promptly tags with a small plastic bracelet. "That's why they want to eliminate us," he says, holding a trout. "The sport fishermen want this." So do the commercial fishers. Lake Superior trout bring about twice the price of whitefish, but there's a limit on how much the Red Cliff tribe can net -- about 34,000 pounds for the whole tribe, according to Stephen Schram, Lake Superior Fisheries Supervisor for the Wisconsin DNR. Schram says there are only 10 non-Indian commercial licenses issued for Wisconsin's Superior waters. The number of Indian licenses varies. "Ecologically, the fishing is in good shape," says Schram. "Economically, it's in bad shape. They are getting the same price they got in World War II. It doesn't make much sense to us why people even continue to fish anymore." It makes sense to the Hansons on this day. Twelve hundred pounds. If they are lucky, $600. Minus expenses. Junior has already used his share for a dirt bike, and has his eye on a surround-sound stereo. Shawn and Nick just hope to pay the bills. After the last net is pulled, Shawn and Nick turn the Danny Boy around and begin to gut the fish, one at a time. They do it in three moves: slit the belly, scrape the guts and throw them overboard, toss the cleaned fish on ice. Hundreds of gulls hover above, a dizzying white mobile against blue sky. They will finish by the time they reach shore. Shawn Jr. says he may go to college. But if the fishing holds, he'd rather do this. He ties a line to the wheel and threads it through the porthole so he can sit on the bow in the wind and sun and steer Danny Boy toward Red Cliff, toward the beginning of another summer, and just maybe, his future. Jon Tevlin is at jtevlin@startribune.com. Copyright c. 2003 Star Tribune. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Tribes oppose changes to BIA" --------- Date: Thu, 3 July 2003 08:18:08 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BIA CHANGES" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.helenair.com/articles/2003/07/03/montana/a06070303_03.txt Tribes oppose changes to BIA BY SHAWN WHITE WOLF - IR Staff Writer July 3, 2003 Tribal leaders representing more than half of the American Indian trust assets in the United States walked out of a Billings meeting last Friday with Department of Interior officials because of a lack of consultation between the Interior and tribes in the reorganization of two federal agencies. The Interior officials came to Billings last week to conclude a month- long schedule of presentations to Bureau of Indian Affair's 12 regional offices. The Rocky Mountain Regional Office was the last of the offices to be visited. The tribes oppose the Interior's plan to reorganize two critical agencies, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Office of Special Trustee, that serve both tribes and individual American Indians. "As elected tribal leaders from the large land-based tribes of Montana and Wyoming, we stand in our continued opposition to the unilateral reorganization of the most critical government agency that impacts the sovereignty and stability of tribal governments," the tribal leaders said in a statement. The Interior is attempting to reorganize the two agencies in order to streamline the way services are provided to American Indians. The two agencies are responsible for carrying out the federal government's trust obligations to both tribal governments and individual American Indians. The issue at hand is that the Interior's reorganization and expansion plan was created by a Joint Tribal Leaders/Interior Task Force rather than government-to-government consultation as President Bush promised last November during the 2002 National American Indian Heritage Month, the tribal officials said. "To enhance our efforts to help Indian nations be self-governing, self- supporting and self-reliant, my administration will continue to honor tribal sovereignty by working on a government-to-government basis with American Indians and Alaska Natives. We will honor the rights of Indian tribes and work to protect and enhance tribal resources," Bush said at the time. The tribal leaders oppose the route that the Interior has used to create this reorganization and expansion plan of the two agencies because the Bush administration used a task force instead of one-on-one consultations. "We stand in opposition based on the lack of tribal consultation at the local tribal level with each tribal sovereignty based on the executive orders of President William Clinton and recently re-affirmed by President George W. Bush," stated the tribal leaders. Interior officials said that they were disappointed in the tribal leader's actions. "The department is seeking to increase accountability and efficiency in its trust management functions by reorganizing the agencies that manage Indian trust funds and assets," said Nedra Darling, a Interior spokesperson for Indian Affairs. The tribal leaders are requesting that President Bush and all the sovereign tribes discuss the nature of government-to-government consultation. The tribal leaders wrote that it is within this context of mutual respect and consultation that a discussion can occur on many important issues to the tribes including trust reform and positive changes to the BIA, Interior agencies and federal departments and agencies, which serve tribal governments. White House officials who handle Indian Affairs did not return calls both Tuesday and Wednesday to respond to the tribal leaders' request for a meeting to discuss government-to-government issues. Involved in the walk out were tribal leaders representing the Northern Cheyenne, Fort Peck, Blackfeet, Fort Belknap and Chippewa Cree tribes of Montana and the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes of Wyoming. "We received calls from other tribes in other regions that wanted to walk out also, but didn't," said Geri Small, president of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe. Reporter Shawn White Wolf can be reached at 447-4028 or shawn.whitewolf@helenair.com. Copyright c. 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. Helena Independent Record; a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Still more Indian Trust Records Destroyed" --------- Date: Thu, July 3, 2003 9:10 From: "Bill McAllister" Subj: Still More Indian Trust Records Destroyed, Court Told For Immediate Release: INDIAN TRUST RECORDS STILL BEING DESTROYED, FEDERAL JUDGE TOLD WASHINGTON, July 3 -- Interior Department workers are continuing to destroy Indian trust records, a top Interior official has conceded in court testimony. Ross Swimmer, the department's special trustee, acknowledged Wednesday that a massive destruction of individual and tribal trust records had been uncovered in Farmington, N.M., earlier this year despite repeated orders and warnings from U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth to preserve all trust records. Preserving the trust records is critical to resolving the claims of Indians that they have been cheated out of billions of dollars from the government-arranged leases of their lands in the West. That claim is the subject of a seven-year lawsuit in which a group of Western Indians have won court orders for a full accounting of funds that should be in their individual trust accounts. But the latest disclosure that Interior employees are still throwing away trust records troubled Lamberth, who five years ago issued his first warnings about trust record destruction. "I don't understand why five years later I'm still getting reports like this," the judge said after Swimmer's testimony. Swimmer, who was the government final witness in a trial to determine how to reform the much-trouble trust system, also admitted bafflement at how workers at the Farmington Indian Minerals Office could have destroyed what a report described as "a large volume" of trust records. "This obviously is a very egregious action," an obviously embarrassed Swimmer told the judge. Under questioning by Keith Harper, a lawyer representing the Native American Rights Fund, Swimmer attempted to minimize the losses, saying that the records could be reconstructed, but only at "enormous expense" and time. After discovering massive document destruction five years ago, Lamberth issued strict orders to Interior and Treasury Department officials to preserve all trust records. He ultimately held two Clinton administration cabinet officers, Interior secretary Bruce Babbitt and Treasury secretary Robert Rubin, in contempt over the document destruction. The latest disclosure of trust record destruction came as the government was concluding its case for a reform of the trust system, a reform plant that lawyers for the Indians said falls far short of the full accounting Congress and the courts have ordered. Swimmer said some workers at Farmington believed the documents they were destroying were duplicates or unnecessary, but under questioning Swimmer said some Interior workers there appear confused over what a trust record is. "I can't understand why anyone would say that that copy of a document is not a record," he told Harper. At that, Lamberth said the problems Interior is facing "may be beyond [the] training" of government workers. "It's just beyond me," Swimmer said, admitting he was baffled at the destruction at Farmington. The latest trail in the seven-year-old trust case continued Thursday with a statistical expert who challenged the government's way of calculating errors in the trust records. The trial will conclude with final arguments early next week. For additional information: Bill McAllister 703-385-6996 202-257-5385 (cell) --------- "RE: Tribal Jurisdiction faces Supreme Court Test" --------- Date: Fri, Jul 4 2003 10:04:21 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BUSH APPEAL" http://www.indianz.com/News/show.asp?ID=2003/07/03/lara ribal jurisdiction faces test before Supreme Court THURSDAY, JULY 3, 2003 The Bush administration is appealing a case to the Supreme Court that tribal leaders say is an important test of their sovereign rights. In March, a divided panel of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that tribes in five Plains states lack inherent authority over non-members. The 7-4 ruling struck down dual tribal and federal prosecution of an Indian man convicted by the Spirit Lake Nation of North Dakota. The majority said the tribe's criminal jurisdiction stemmed from Congress -- not its own sovereignty -- thereby violating the U.S. Constitution's ban on double jeopardy "The Spirit Lake Nation exercises authority over external relations only to the extent that such a power has been delegated to it by Congress," Judge Roger L. Wollman wrote. The ruling is in direct conflict with holdings in two other circuits, making the dispute ripe for resolution by the nation's highest court. In fact, that is what the 8th Circuit majority suggested on March 24. "We conclude that the distinction between a tribe's inherent and delegated powers is of constitutional magnitude and therefore is a matter ultimately entrusted to the Supreme Court," the court stated. The issue is significant one for tribes nationwide due to the Supreme Court's decision in Duro v. Reina. The 1990 case, decided by a 7-2 vote, held that tribal governments only have criminal jurisdiction over their own members. Congress responded the following year by enacting what is known as the "Duro fix," which was legislation that recognized inherent tribal sovereignty. The 9th Circuit, in June 2001, and the 8th Circuit, in March of this year, upheld the underpinnings of the statute, agreeing that tribes possess criminal jurisdiction over all American Indians and Alaska Natives. Through the Tribal Sovereignty Protection Initiative, a joint venture of the National Congress of American Indians and the Native American Rights Fund, tribes are weighing their response. The case was discussed at NCAI's mid-year session two weeks ago and will be the subject of another meeting July 22-24 in Portland, Oregon. With Bush administration backing, the case could prove a win for tribal rights in an era where the Supreme Court has been overwhelmingly negative. Tribes have lost 80 percent of cases in the last 20 years. The issue is also significant in light of a tribal push to have Congress recognize their authority over non-Indians through homeland security legislation. A hearing on S.578, introduced by Sen. Daniel Inouye (D- Hawaii), will be held July 30 before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. Solicitor General Ted Olson, who handles Supreme Court litigation for the Bush administration, moved to appeal the case on June 12. The Department of Justice is being given extra time to file a petition for writ of certiorari, due by July 22. The 8th Circuirt ruling in U.S. v. Lara, No. 01-3695, covers tribes in the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa. The 7th Circuit case is U.S. v. Lara, No. 02-1473. The circuit covers tribes in Wisconsin. It applied to the Menominee Nation, whose federal status was terminated, and later restored, by Congress. The court drew no distinction in affirming the tribe's sovereignty. The 9th Circuit case, U.S. v. Enas, No. 99-10049, drew the attention of American Indian Movement activist Russell Means. In order to avoid prosecution by the Navajo Nation for a domestic violence-related dispute, he contends that tribes lack jurisdiction over non-tribal members. Means' attorney, John Trebon, participated in oral arguments in the Enas case. The Supreme Court let the decision stand in January 2002. Copyright c. 2000-2003 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: Government's Virtual Ledger riddled with Errors" --------- Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2003 19:18:00 -0400 (EDT) From: Indian Trust ListServ Subj: GOVERNMENT'S 'VIRTUAL LEDGER' IS "RIDDLED WITH ERRORS," EXPERT TELLS COURT Mailing List: Indian Trust ListServ WASHINGTON, July 3 -- A computerized "virtual ledger" created by the government to help track missing Indian Trust records was described Thursday as so "riddled with errors" that it cannot be used to support a court-mandated accounting of the records. Dwight J. Duncan of Phoenix said that the ledger, designed by Ernst & Young employees for the Department of Interior, was a failure. The absence of standards in the program made their report on trust problems "worthless, " he said. Testifying as the final witness during a trial on how to reform Interior's long-troubled Indian Trust program, the statistical expert cited five examples of erroneous transitions in the E&R report that illustrated how hundreds of thousands of dollars were not credited to the accounts of the handful of trust beneficiaries the study used. "It wouldn't work," said Duncan of the E&Y "virtual ledger" as testimony ended in a 42-day long trial. Try as he and a number of computer experts did for several days, they were unable to make the "virtual ledger" work, Duncan told U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth. "No one was able to get the virtual ledger to work, " Duncan said. Duncan said he was finally able to tap into the document files the government used in building its reform plan. Once there, the statistical expert said he couldn't understand how the government could claim there were no errors to be found among trust documents that were the foundation of the government's reform plan. Duncan said he found missing documents and improperly cited documents. For instance, the government claimed one oil well used in its study had paid $240 in royalty payments to one Indian. That was a dry well that couldn't have paid any royalties, Duncan said. He said he found the government was charging administrative fees to some trust account holders, a statement that contradicted testimony in the case that the government did not charge such fees to the Indians. He said he found one instance were the government said in had verified a $5.75 payment in one account, the linked document only cited a $47.25 deposit. Duncan said he couldn't explain the difference. The problems he encountered caused him to doubt that the government's plan for verifying the accuracy of trust records would work. "I can't imagine how" the government could claim its plan would produce zero errors, Duncan said. The Arizona financial consultant was the final rebuttal witness presented by Indians who are seeking a full accounting of funds that the government deposited for them in trust accounts. The accounts were created by Congress in 1887 to hold the proceeds of government-arranged leases of oil, gas and mineral leases on Indian lands in the West. The case will resume Monday with a discussion of exhibits. On Tuesday lawyers for the Indians and the government will make their final oral arguments to Lamberth. for additional information: Bill McAllister 703-385-6996 202-257-5385 (cell) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To view the latest information concerning this case, go to www.indiantrust.co --------- "RE: Native American Rights Fund Call to Action" --------- Date: Wed, July 2, 2003 8:50 PM From: "ado" Subj: call to action Newsgroups: alt.discuss.native-american, alt.native, alt.native.law, own.natives, soc.culture.native Native American Rights Fund CALL TO ACTION!!! PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING LETTER CLICK ON LINKS TO EMAIL KEY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS http://www.narf.org/contact/iim.php# OR TO OBTAIN ADDITIONAL INFORMATION http://www.narf.org/contact/myths.htm Not since the Battle of the Little Bighorn 127 years ago has there been such a cowardly sneak attack on Indian people by a branch of the United States government. Dear NARF Supporter: Please do not delay. Time is of the essence! Thank you for your support. For over seven years the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) has been battling the Department of the Interior in a class action lawsuit known as Cobell v. Norton. NARF is fighting for the rights of more than 500,000 American Indians who are current and former beneficiaries to the Individual Indian Money (IIM) trust. The federal government's mismanagement, neglect and insensitivity in the way it has "managed" monies held in trust for American Indians has been a black mark on federal-tribal relations for over 116 years. In 1887, under the General Allotment Act, the United States government began the process of breaking up Indian reservations by allotting parcels of land to individual Indians and selling "surplus" parcels to non-Indians. The objective of the allotment program was to destabilize tribal governments and to assimilate individual Indians into mainstream society. The General Allotment Act formed the basis for the "trust" relationship between the United States, Indian tribes and individual Indians. Today, many Indians rely on income derived from the leasing of their land to non- Indian users. These leases are negotiated and administered by the federal government for the benefit of Indian beneficiaries. In any trust relationship, the trustee-in this case the United States-is under a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of the trust beneficiaries. The federal government has failed miserably in carrying out that duty. As a staunch supporter of NARF and the rights of Indian people, as well as being a supporter of this litigation I would like to update you on our progress to date. I am happy to report that after seven years of contentious litigation victory is in sight! But, the battle is not over yet. At this very minute certain individuals in government are trying to undermine the United States judicial system using devious and cowardly political maneuvering --- just because they are not winning! Update on the Cobell v. Norton Lawsuit Since NARF filed this lawsuit in 1996 to force the government to account for its mismanagement of Indian trust funds we have been victorious every step of the way. But it has been a constant fight. Early on in the litigation instead of playing by the rules of procedure set up by the United States federal court system the government blatantly refused to produce all of the records and documents that U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth ordered them to produce. Instead, in March of 1997 the government lied to the court in a certified document that it had produced all such documents. Government officials also lied outright in open court to cover up their inept handling of these trust accounts. NARF had to file a motion in December of 1998 for the government to show cause why the Court should not hold them in contempt for failure to comply with the Courts order and go through a contempt trial to force the government to produce the documents. The Court in February 1999 ruled that the Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbit, Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin, and Kevin Gover, Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs are in civil contempt of court for failure to produce court-ordered records. A victory for NARF and the individual Indian trust beneficiaries! Originally, the Court bifurcated the proceedings into two phases. Phase I would address "fixing the system," or reforming the management and accounting of the IIM trust to bring the United States government into compliance with its fiduciary obligations. Phase II, on the other hand, would address "correcting the accounts," or performing a historical accounting of the IIM accounts. The Court held a six -week bench trial, which began in June of 1999. In a 126-page opinion and order, Judge Lamberth held that the United States government has breached its fiduciary duties to individual Indian trust beneficiaries. Another victory! The government, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed Judge Lamberth's opinion and order. Again, a stunning victory for NARF! Then, another fight emerged. NARF had discovered that a serious problem existed regarding the security of IIM data. In July 2001 the General Accounting Office issued a scathing report to Interior Secretary Gale Norton that the Interior's computer system lacked adequate security to prevent outsiders from breaking into the system. This meant that individual Indian trust account information could be altered or totally deleted putting the assets at risk. To prove this point the court approved the hiring of computer experts to hack into the system that maintains the IIM trust records. In November 2001 the results given in the Special Master's report documented "deplorable and inexcusable" computer security lapses. At the same time this report was being delivered, Secretary of the Interior Norton, in her arrogance and contempt for Indian country issued her proposal to create a new Bureau of Indian Trust Asset Management (BITAM) without consultation with Tribal leaders. Indian country rallied in one voice against the proposal, saying it would undermine the authority of the BIA. Tribal leaders offered to work with the Secretary and her staff on true trust reform, but ultimately, this offer fell on deaf ears. On December 5, 2001, in response to the computer expert's findings, the court ordered the Department of the Interior to disconnect its Indian trust related Internet systems because they lacked security safeguards. In response to this order, Interior, playing a cruel game of politics, took advantage of the court order that was meant to protect the trust accounts from further harm, stopped all payments to all individual Indian trust beneficiaries. Over 15 million in trust payments were delayed meaning no Christmas for tens of thousands of Indian families. What made matters worse was that Interior's "spin doctors" employed the age-old tactic of divide and conquer against Native people. Irate Indian account holders began calling the Department of Interior. Instead of telling them the truth about why they were not getting their checks, they put the blame on NARF for their not receiving any payments! Shocking yes, but not unexpected given Interior's behavior throughout the case. NARF refused to stand by and allow these injustices to take place. In December, 2001we filed a motion to show cause why Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton and then Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Neal McCaleb should not be held in contempt of court. A twenty-nine day bench trial focused on how these individuals through their offices engaged in a pattern and practice of obstruction of justice, fraud on the Court and violations of court orders. In September 2002 the court once again agreed with our charges and found both secretary Norton and Assistant Secretary McCaleb guilty on 4 of 5 counts of civil contempt. Additionally, because of the findings in the contempt trial the Court found it necessary to order a Phase 1.5 trial. This trial, which began May 1, 2003 and continues to date will address additional remedies with respect to fixing the system portion of the case and approving an approach to conducting a historical accounting of the IIM trust accounts. Recent Developments One would think that after two embarrassing contempt trials and an astounding defeat in the Phase I trial the government would start to play by the rules, live up to their fiduciary responsibilities and stop playing games with peoples lives. One would think that such fights would be over, but that is not what is happening. Instead the government is trying to do an end run around the legal system - a system that was designed to protect people like you and me! Just a couple of weeks ago the House Appropriations Subcommittee approved legislation that would undermine the rights of individual Indian trust beneficiaries which would force the settlement of individual Indian trust account claims. This bill known as Section 137 of the FY2004 House Interior Appropriations Bill would give the Secretary of the Interior the authority to unilaterally settle any claim relating to the accounting of the balance of any individual Indian money account. Under the proposed legislative rider, the Secretary would have five years to perform a "statistical sampling evaluation" in a manner she deems "reasonable and fair using the discredited statistical sampling methodology. The Secretary would then have the power to adjust the balances in IIM accounts by applying the error rate to the transactions in an IIM account. The Secretary's adjustments to the IIM accounts would be final. Judicial review would be limited to reviewing the Secretary's method for conducting the statistical sampling, and judicial deference to the Secretary would be mandated by application of the Administrative Procedures Act. The legislation would remove jurisdiction from the federal courts to hear any other claims by IIM account holders for accounting or account balances. The legislation is also limited to only those accounts that were open as of October 25, 1994, and would preclude any claims on predecessor accounts. What this all means has been summed up in an analyses done by the National Congress of American Indians: This legislation is somewhat like giving the CEO of Enron the authority to unilaterally settle the claims of the Enron shareholders. The same Department of the Interior that has mismanaged the trust accounts, and has been so repeatedly accused of bad faith by both Congress and the federal courts, would have complete authority to end all of the claims by IIM account holders under a methodology of its own choosing. IIM claims would be limited to "accounting error" through statistical sampling, and all claims based on failed collections or inaccurate starting balances would be barred. The legislation would presumably bar the Cobell v. Norton litigation outright." Furthermore "there has been no consultation with the tribes or the account holders." NARF wants this political slight of hand and political chicanery to stop! We want the court to be able to do its job-without political interference-- and allow this trust debacle to be finally be solved. I've said it to you before and I will say it again, No more runarounds! This is why I am writing to you today. Your forwarding the enclosed e- mail letter to the six House Representatives can help put a stop to the passage of this bill which would allow the government to deny that it is responsible for the billions of dollars that have been stolen from the pockets of America's First people! We cannot afford to remain silent while our judicial system is trying to be circumvented! Sincerely, John E. Echohawk Executive Director Please click on this link to send a message to key representatives. http://www.narf.org/contact/iim.php# CLICK ON FOLLOWING URL TO OBTAIN MORE INFORMATION http://www.narf.org/contact/myths.htm Or please go to our website at www.narf.org to take action. --------- "RE: Chiefs of Ontario elect Charles Fox" --------- Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2003 08:54:45 -0400 From: "Frosty" Subj: Fw: Chiefs of Ontario elect Charles Fox to new term Mailing-List: Frostys AmerIndian ----- Original Message ----- From: Russell Diabo Chiefs of Ontario elect Charles Fox to new term By Lynda Powless Editor WHITEFISH LAKE - The Chiefs of Ontario have a new leader, but it's a familiar face. Ontario Regional Chief Charles Fox won re-election easily here last Wednesday keeping his job with a win over veteran aboriginal politician Vern Roote. The chiefs held their annual assembly last week at Whitefish Lake First Nation, just northwest of Sudbury voting 90 to 31 for Fox. The Chiefs of Ontario don't cast secret ballots. Instead their selection process includes the candidates standing at designated spots in the room and supporters standing behind them. The supporters are then counted. A total of 121 chiefs participated in the selection process. The Chiefs of Ontario have been led for the past three years by Charles Fox. Fox, from the northern Ontario community of Bear Skin Lake, in accepting his win told the over 121 chiefs assembled he was overwhelmed by the response. "There is no losers in this process. It takes courage to run," he said in acknowledging Roote. He said the Chiefs of Ontario have laid down "a foundation of work that we are developing for all our communities. It's time for all of us to begin to realize the roles and objectives we have as First Nations leaders." He said the Ontario Chiefs have set the agenda for the next three years with emphasis on economic development, health employment and resource development and land claims. He said "we are developing an agenda for all of us. It takes political will and hard work to realize these objectives and I believe that we can do it." The chiefs passed through 58 resolutions ranging from, child care customary care, to day care issues, health and education issues. --------- "RE: Newfoundland Mi'kmaq seek Legal Status" --------- Date: Fri, 4 Jul 2003 12:22:52 -0400 From: "Frosty" Subj: Fw: Nfld. Mi'kmaq seek legal status Mailing List: Frostys AmerIndian ----- Original Message ----- From: Russell Diabo PUBLICATION The Chronicle-Herald DATE Friday July 4, 2003 SECTION/CATEGORY Canada PAGE A11 HEADLINE: Nfld. Mi'kmaq seek legal status ST. JOHN'S, Nfld. (CP) - Mi'kmaq in Newfoundland who say they've been wrongfully denied status as native Canadians since the province joined Confederation are poised to file a class-action lawsuit against Ottawa and the province. The lawsuit will seek compensation as well as legal status for up to 20,000 Mi'kmaq, said Bert Alexander, one of the plaintiffs and head of the self-proclaimed Alliance Indian band. Alexander said he was pleased with a provincial royal commission that urged the government Wednesday to give the Mi'kmaq access to federal aboriginal programs and services. The report by the Royal Commission on Renewing and Strengthening Our Place in Canada said aboriginal people in the province were omitted from the Terms of Union when the province joined Canada in 1949. ** As a result, the Mi'kmaq as well as the Inuit and the Innu of Labrador were not given status under the federal Indian Act. --------- "RE: Saskatchewan Case sparks Jury Concerns" --------- Date: Thu, 3 July 2003 08:18:08 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="JURY SELECTION" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canada.com/regina/news/story Case sparks jury concerns Kevin O'Connor Leader-Post Wednesday, July 2, 2003 If there has been a lack of aboriginal jurors in many of Saskatchewan's racially sensitive trials, there's no shortage of ideas on how to fix the problem. The debate on race and jury selection has boiled over in recent days after an all-white jury acquitted two white men from Tisdale of the sexual assault of a 12-year-old aboriginal girl. Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations vice-chief Lawrence Joseph said band offices around Saskatchewan have been flooded with calls from outraged members who can't understand how the jury arrived at its decision. The justice system needs to be completely overhauled, but part of the problem is a selection process that somehow managed to exclude aboriginal people in a case where race mattered, he said. "It simply doesn't work," Joseph said. Joseph referred to the United States court system where it's common to have racially balanced juries in cases where the accused is of one race and the victim of another. Closer to home, coroners inquests -- in which juries are required to determine the cause of death and make recommendations -- have made progress ensuring more aboriginal people are included, he said. Following amendments to the Coroners Act in 2000, coroners have been allowed to establish separate aboriginal and non-aboriginal jury pools. Thus, in the Feb. 2003 inquest into the death of Regina resident Vernon Dale Crowe, an aboriginal man, two pools were established and three jurors were selected from each. While Joseph says a quota system is one of the options that should be looked at for criminal trials, some experts have suggested greater aboriginal representation can be accomplished in other ways. Saskatoon lawyer Ron Piche, who has been involved in the jury selection process at a number of trials, agrees the system needs to be changed, but thinks the key may be getting more aboriginal people into the jury pools. Piche said he's observed on several occasions that the pools are under- represented. In other words, the percentage of aboriginal people in the room appears to be less than the roughly 10 per cent that would correspond to the overall Saskatchewan population. In Saskatchewan, names of prospective jurors are selected at random using computerized hospitalization records for the applicable judicial district. Aboriginal and non-aboriginal people are selected. In the case of the Melfort trial, a wide area that included several aboriginal communities was included in the selection process. The actual jury selection takes place immediately before the trial. The names of all eligible people present -- sometimes numbering in the hundreds -- are written on white cards and placed in a box. The court clerk draws the names and the prospective jurors are called to be scrutinized by defense and Crown lawyers. If neither side objects, the person is sworn in as a juror. The process continues until the 12 are selected. The fewer aboriginal people there are in the pool, the lower the odds that one or more will make it to the final 12. So why are aboriginal jury pools underrepresented? Piche said no one knows for sure, but one can speculate on several possibilities. Perhaps part of the problem is the remoteness of many Indian reserves and the lack of transportation to the cities where most trials are held, he said. "It's easier to walk three blocks to the courthouse if you live in the community than if you live on the reserve," Piche said. The government pays some costs to allow reserve residents to get to court, but are they taking advantage of that? One can also ask whether jury summons sent to reserves are reaching their intended recipients, Piche said. "These kinds of changes can involve minimal expenses ... but they have to experiment," Piche said. Shirley Wolfe-Keller, chief of the Melfort-area Muskowekwan First Nation, said people on the reserve are appalled about the Melfort acquittal and many are upset with both the jury and the jury system. "When they're doing the selection, they should get out to the communities," she said. "There should have been aboriginal people on that jury." Wolfe-Keller said it's possible more public education at the band level could help boost aboriginal representation in jury pools. Reserve residents must understand how important it is for them to participate in the process, she said. Copyright c. 2003 The Leader-Post (Regina) --------- "