From gars@speakeasy.org Wed Sep 3 18:16:14 2003 Date: 2 Sep 2003 23:36:10 -0000 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews11.036 _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 11, ISSUE 036 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 September 6, 2003 Blackfeet awakaasiiki'somm/deer moon Algonquin Pohquitaqunk/middle moon between harvest and eating Indian corn +-------------------------------------------------------+ | Much more happens in Indian Country than is reported | | in this weekly newsletter. For daily updates & events | | go to http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm | +-------------------------------------------------------+ Otapi'sin Atsinikiisinaakssin -- Blackfeet -- News for All the People Ni-mah-mi-kwa-zoo-min -- Ojibwe -- We Are Talking About Ourselves Aunchemokauhettittea -- Naragansett -- Let Us Share News Kanoheda Aniyvwiya -- Cherokee -- Journal of the People O Es'te Opunvk'vmucvse -- Creek -- People's New News O o O Acimowin -- Plains Cree -- Story or Account O o O Tlaixmatiliztli -- Nahuatl -- News O o o o o O Agnutmaqan -- Listuguj Mi'kmaq -- News O o O Sho-da-ku-ye -- Teehahnahmah -- Talking Birchbark O o O Un Chota -- Susquehannic Seneca -- The People Speak O Ha-Sah-Sliltha -- Ditidaht Nation -- News of the People Ximopanolti tehuatzin, inin Mexika tlahtolli -- Nahuatl -- For you we offer these words It-hah-pe-hah Ah-num pah-le -- Chickasaw -- Together We Are Talking Dineh jii' adah' ho'nil'e'gii ba' ha' neh -- Navajo Nation -- What's Happening among The People News Okla Humma Holisso Nowat Anya -- Choctaw -- People(s) Red Newspaper Hi'a chu ah gaa -- Pima -- The stories or the talk of the People Native American News -- Language of the Occupation Forces ==>If you want your Nation represented in the banner of this newsletter<== email gars@nanews.org with the equivalent of "News of the People" in your tribal language along with the english translation <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is produced in straight ASCII text for greatest portability across platforms. Read it with a fixed-pitch font, such as Courier, Monaco, FixedSys or CG Times. Proportional fonts will be difficult to read. <================<<<< >>>>================> This issue contains articles from www.owlstar.com; www.indianz.com; www.pechanga.net; Native Rights, Native American Poetry & Iron Natives Mailing Lists; Newsgroup: alt.native; UUCP email IMPORTANT!! ----------- In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, all material appearing in this newsletter is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for educational purposes. <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters who share our Spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the Red Road. ++ It may be subscribed to via email by sending a request from your own internet addressable account to gars@speakeasy.org ++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org <================<<<< >>>>================> +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + | As historian Patricia Nelson | | Once a language is lost, it is | | Limerick summarized in "The | | gone forever | | Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken | | * Of the 300 original Native | | Past of the American West... | | languages in North America, | | "Set the blood quantum at | | only 175 exist today. | | one-quarter, hold to it as a | | * 125 of these are no longer | | rigid definition of Indians, | | learned by children. | | let intermarriage proceed as | | * 55 are spoken by 1 to 6 elders;| | it had for centuries, and | | when they die, their language | | eventually Indians will be | | will disappear. | | defined out of existence." | | * Without action, only 20 | | "When that happens, the federal | | languages will survive the next| | government will be freed of | | 50 years. | | its persistent 'Indian problem.'"| | Source: Indigenous Language | +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ | Institute | |http://www.indigenous-language.org| This issue's Elder Quote: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + ======================== "I think if children started eating well right from the beginning, they could maintain a healthy lifestyle throughout life." "The two most important components of educating children are good nutrition snd goal-setting. My advice to young people, whether they are athletes or not, is follow your heart and don't look back. Always look to the future. If you make mistakes, try to make them into learning experiences." __ Naomi Lang (Ma-heet-a-han), Karuk, Olympic figure skater First Native American woman to participate in the Olympic Games. +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! My wife is again the source of this issue's opinon/editrial. I agree with her 100%, and I am proud to present her words. Monday, September 1, 2003 Opinion: I almost didn't run the story about honoring the Buffalo soldiers that follows. I have no problem with blacks in general, and no more difficulty celebrating black military heroes than I do Native American military heroes. If that were all there were to it, the story wouldn't have anything to do with Indians, so it wouldn't belong here anyway. But it does have something to do with Indians. Buffalo soldiers were established by the U.S. military to commit genocide against the first legal residents of this continent. I do have a problem celebrating heroes who served as the prime operators of a deliberate U.S. policy to exterminate Indians. That they were good enough at fighting Indians to inspire being named by them is impressive. That we are still here, and still "in the way" when it comes to unimpeded looting of our land is a pretty clear sign that they ultimately failed at their first mission. A final note. West Point has been celebrating Buffalo Soldier heroics for 42 years now. Isn't that interesting? The U.S. finally got around to mentioning Native American code talkers whose World War II mission succeeded beyond anyone's expectation just a couple of years ago. Janet =========== http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/today/education/stories/ed090103s1.shtml West Point honors Buffalo Soldiers Poughkeepsie Journal September 1, 2003 WEST POINT -- A small crowd gathered at the United States Military Academy at West Point Sunday to pay tribute to the "Buffalo Soldiers." "Every day that I live and work at West Point, I am reminded of our courageous Buffalo Soldiers, the difficult missions they faced and the tremendous heroism they displayed," Col. Andre Sayles, who heads the academy's electrical engineering and computer science department, said during the 42nd annual Buffalo Soldier Memorial Ceremony. Sayles said the ceremony, which was held at Buffalo Soldier field, had special meaning due to the connection the Buffalo Soldiers have with West Point. The group was created in 1866, and consisted of two all-black infantry and cavalry units. The unit earned its nickname from the Native American tribes they fought during the Indian Wars of 1867-1891. 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 ---------- - Opinion: - Tribes awarded Grants When Tribes become Successful for Energy Development - Accounting long overdue - HaidaBucks Wins for Indian Trust Funds - New Hydroelectric Station - Attorneys are getting Rich in the works - A Betrayal of Trust - Quebec decides not to reopen - Editorial: Improve Indian Welfare Innu Land Claim - Navajo-Hopi Land Commission - Federal Parks, Agencies drag Feet moves to buy Land - 10th Circuit hears arguments - Opposition attacks Tribal takeover in Goshute Case of Bison Range - Blackfeet and Bureau Cops - Western Shoshone ALERT come to an agreement - Cayuga slowly - Convict confessed reclaiming Ancestral Territory to Murder of Navajo Man - Oneida Nation - Janklow faces calls Mohican Tribe Visitors Felony Manslaughter Charge - Tribe's Gasoline remains Tax-Free - Leonard's Birthday - Eastern Shoshone - LPDC Update: get $1.6M Housing Grant Continuing FBI Misconduct - Eastern Band Cherokee - Native Prisoner debate Identity -- Ending the Abusive Treatment - Tracing the Trail of Tears -- Prison Rape Legislation - Nanticoke Tribe plans - Rustywire: Yesterday to expand Cultural Center - Poem: Night Whispers - Tribe to sue Corps - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days over Trafficway decision - Jicarilla Apache Language - Penobscots critical of EPA ruling Certification - Pueblo Leader - Native Paper's future is unclear takes role in Education seriously --------- "RE: Opinion: When Tribes become Successful" --------- Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 14:22:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NOW YOU SEE IT... http://www.indianz.com/ http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/137240_trahant31.html When tribes become successful, it's time to change the rules MARK TRAHANT SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER COLUMNIST Sunday, August 31, 2003 The history of American Indians in this country has plenty of chapters about successful economic enterprises. You read that right: Successful tribal ventures. Lots of them. An early message to tribal leaders from Washington was that tribes ought to participate in the American dream. Many tribes set to do just that. The 19th century Cherokee Nation, for example, created a tremendous economic base in what is now northern Georgia. A tribal census counted some 22,000 cattle, 7,600 horses, 46,000 swine, 2,500 sheep, 762 looms, 2,488 spinning wheels, 172 wagons, 2,942 plows, 10 sawmills, 31 mills, 62 blacksmith shops, 8 cotton machines, 18 schools and 18 ferries. And a newspaper -- printed in Cherokee and English. Then gold was found nearby and despite the Cherokees' advances, that nation was kicked off their land and sent west by their neighbors and the federal government. Perhaps the tribe was too successful -- and so a chapter about success was replaced by a story of unbelievable tragedy. One of my favorite stories about economic success comes from Fort Hall, Idaho, where I am from. Around 1888, a few Shoshone men decided that they liked working with cows. The group started as day workers on ranches and they began asking to be paid in cows instead of cash -- so they could go into the business. Some of these ranchers were successful, but most were not. When lean times came, they sold their cows and had to start all over again. In 1913, the U.S. government decided to get into the act. "Uncle Sam came around and said, 'Nephews, I'm going to show you how to raise good cattle,' " wrote R.W. Dixey, who was a cattleman and editor of the local newspaper. "So Uncle started with around 1,600 head the first year, and year after year it got less and less, and finally it went down to around 1,200 head. So he decided to quit the cattle business. Uncle didn't show us anything." But Dixey and several others stuck with their enterprise. By 1921 they figured out that they would do better running cattle as an association, rather than as individual ranchers. Dixey even went to Salt Lake City and took out a loan so the Fort Hall Stockmen's Association could buy more cows. The rules of the association were tough: No one could sell a cow without agreement from all. So when times were lean, the group decided how to respond. There was less pressure on the individual rancher. "I am writing this story for you young people so you will know how this cattle association started," Dixey wrote. "When the hard times hit us, this was the only thing that saved us. Let's not give away our cattle from now on!" By the 1950s the cattle association was the biggest industry in Fort Hall and its herd included more than 12,000 head of purebred Herefords. Perhaps the association was too successful. Back in Washington, the new leader of the Bureau of Indian Affairs decided that too many of the cattle association regulations promoted "communism." The rules favored a group over individuals -- and so the government changed the rules. The government made it easier for each individual to sell cows. And that's exactly what happened. A decade later, only a few families at Fort Hall still ranched. The association would be gone a few years after that. Another chapter of success turned into disappointment. What's interesting to me about this history is the relevance today. When tribes are successful, then there's a move to change the rules so that success can be terminated. It's certainly the case involving tribal gambling ventures. But let's save that story for another day because I'm interested in the tribes that are trying to diversify their proceeds from gambling. You'd think that would be common ground -- something we could all agree is a good and right thing. Then you see disputes that won't end. The Muckleshoot Tribe has gone through about every step imaginable in building the White River Amphitheater -- legal, environmental and communal. The tribe has built a facility that's world class. It has created jobs (tribes are becoming one of the region's most important employers). And it's gone through every challenge step by step; just this month the tribe won a rare victory in U.S. District Court on a challenge to the environmental impact statement. We know that when tribes are successful economically it benefits the entire region, not just tribal members. But none of this has satisfied critics -- and more important competitors. They keep throwing obstacles in the way of the Muckleshoot venture -- hoping they can get history to repeat itself. Mark Trahant is editor of the editorial page. E-mail: marktrahant@seattlepi.com Copyright c. 2003 Seattle Post-Intelligencer. --------- "RE: Accounting long overdue for Indian Trust Funds" --------- Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 14:22:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRUST ACCOUNTING" http://www.indianz.com/ http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/137102_cobell31.html Accounting long overdue for Indian trust funds By ELOUISE COBELL GUEST COLUMNIST Sunday, August 31, 2003 When I went to Washington on a hot, sultry June day in 1996 to file a lawsuit over the billions of dollars of trust funds that the government had lost, misplaced and otherwise grossly mismanaged for hundreds of thousands of American Indians, I had no idea I would still be in court seven years later. Yet today, after three Cabinet secretaries have been held in contempt by a federal judge and after four lengthy trials and a successful defense on appeal of our claims on the merits, the federal government has failed to clean up the trust records. It cannot certify the accuracy of a single one of the estimated 500,000 current individual Indian trust accounts. That's the sad bottom line on how the federal government has continued to treat the nation's first citizens. All I and three other Indians are asking the government to do is account for the tens of millions of acres of land the government forced into trust and to account for and distribute -- to the proper trust beneficiaries -- the correct amount of funds it received and invested from the leases it arranged for timber sales and for oil, gas, minerals and grazing rights on Indian trust lands in the West. I may not be a lawyer, but I was a small-town banker in Montana. I know that the most basic of duties of any trustee is to account for all trust assets, including the funds they hold for the beneficiaries. Unfortunately, the commissioner of the Bureau of Public Debt, a senior Treasury Department official, testified in our case that the United States has used our trust funds to reduce the national debt. But no one knows how much of our money was used to reduce the debt load of this country or how many years the U.S. government used our trust money for these and other important government purposes, such as building dams and major power projects in the West. We hope an accounting will finally tell the true story of how the government has used Individual Indian Trust funds for more than 100 years. And, we also hope that we will learn what really happened to 40 million acres of Individual Indian Trust land that simply vanished, according to the testimony of the head of Interior's Office of Historical Accounting. Seven years later, Interior Secretary Gale Norton, the government's trustee-delegate for the nation's first citizens, has done nothing to provide us answers to this and other important trust accounting issues. Why the delay? Why the deception? Why the disdain for the obligations Norton owes to hundreds of thousands of Individual Indian Trust beneficiaries, many of whom live in Washington state? Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and others have said it's because Indians lack political clout in the nation's capital. Any other interest group would have had this problem resolved immediately, McCain has said. There is no dispute about the evidence. Study after study has warned Congress that our trust funds were being horribly managed by the Department of Interior. Billions of dollars are missing. In 1989, the Senate Special Committee on Investigations found that "fraud and corruption pervade" the Interior Department. The General Accounting Office warned both Republican and Democratic administrations for years that this is a very serious problem. In 1994, Congress ordered Interior to account for the missing funds. Nothing happened. So we Indians did what others similarly situated would have done. We turned to the courts for help to straighten out an obdurate and dishonest executive and an uninterested Congress. Since we filed our suit, we have won several significant victories. In 1999, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth declared the government breached its trust responsibilities to us and ordered the interior secretary and the treasury secretary to provide us a complete accounting of all trust assets, including the revenues generated from our trust lands since the creation of the Individual Indian Trust in 1887. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia unanimously agreed with Lamberth and found that the interior secretary had engaged in "malfeasance" and has unduly delayed the accounting, causing irreparable harm to all of us. The government's record as trustee for Indians is "a long and sorry story," Lamberth declared. "... It is fiscal and governmental irresponsibility in its purest form." Tough words, to be sure -- but they are utterly meaningless unless Norton is compelled to do what she is required to do by law. Continuing to rely on the good faith of the interior secretary is an exercise in futility. There is enough wrongdoing, malfeasance and incompetence in the way the Department of Interior has handled our monies to fill a thousand accounting school and law school textbooks, the courts agreed. Records have been, and continue to be, lost, systematically destroyed, corrupted and, in many cases, never kept. In short, the government has no idea what the proper balances in our trust accounts should be. It doesn't know how many trust beneficiaries there were in the first place and it doesn't know how many trust accounts it should be managing today. It has admitted, however, that at least $13 billion in nominal dollars has been collected from Individual Indian Trust lands. But it doesn't know what happened to this money or the compound interest this money was earning for generations. And remember these are accounts the government created for some of the poorest Americans. We Indians had no choice in the matter. The government unilaterally decided we were incompetent to handle our own funds and created the trust in 1887. Would anyone in his right mind voluntarily give his or her life savings to unqualified bureaucrats and political appointees in Washington, D.C? Never! What has stunned me is the steadfast resistance and hostility of Democrats and Republicans alike, first to our lawsuit and then to the rulings, now numbering more than 50, that we have won. As our victories in court have increased, so has the government's resistance and open hostility to a just and fair resolution. What are they afraid of? Exposure of another Teapot Dome scandal? After concluding another trial -- 44 days -- in July on accounting and trust rehabilitation issues, we are moving closer to the long-overdue accounting, the government seems to be, pardon the cliche, circling the wagons. Every ruling reinforcing the trust obligations of the United States to us trust beneficiaries is ignored -- whether the rulings are made by the trial court, the appellate court or the U.S. Supreme Court. As Lamberth lamented, "this is not our form of government." We can settle this case, but the government first must participate in settlement talks with integrity, something they have refused to do for the seven years this case has been litigated. It must stop hiding behind disingenuous excuses, defending the indefensible and protecting incompetent and dishonest officials. Any settlement must be fair and just to make Indians whole for monies that have been collected by the United States for 116 years. It is, after all, our money. It is our property right. Elouise Cobell of Browning, Mont., a member of the Blackfeet Nation, is the lead plaintiff in Cobell v. Norton, a class-action lawsuit that was filed in Washington, D.C., in June 1996. Copyright c. 1996-2003 Seattle Post-Intelligencer. --------- "RE: Attorneys are getting Rich" --------- Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 14:22:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TAX DOLLARS" http://www.indianz.com/ http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/137080_sidebar31.html Attorneys are getting rich, at your expense By ELOUISE COBELL GUEST COLUMNIST Sunday, August 31, 2003 Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., and other members of Congress have said our lawsuit over individual Indian trust accounts should have been settled long ago. I agree. But one reason this issue is proving difficult to settle is that a lot of people, some of them who claim good intentions, like Dicks, are getting in the way and remain a big part of this problem. Dicks and other members of Congress are complaining that our lawsuit is designed to make lawyers in Washington, D.C., rich. The truth is I haven't been able to pay our legal fees in years. My lead lawyer, Dennis Gingold, has not been paid since October 1998. Elliott Levitas, a former member of Congress from Georgia who is helping us, never has gotten a check for his fees since joining our legal team in 1999. And Mark Brown, who gave up a successful practice in Southern California to join the case, has not been paid in three years. As it turns out, a lot of lawyers are getting big legal fees as a result of my lawsuit. I'm not paying them. You are. Thanks to some handiwork by Dicks and members of the House Interior Appropriations subcommittee, the government is now picking up the tab for lawyers for more than 50 current and former government officials -- including Justice Department lawyers -- who must defend themselves from charges they have engaged in contemptuous as well as unethical conduct in our case, including deception and other forms of litigation misconduct. Contempt for what? They are part of the government's infamously bad Indian trust operation. This is the crew that misled a federal judge, destroyed documents, disobeyed court orders and failed to live up to the government's undisputed fiduciary responsibility to more than 500,000 individual Indian trust beneficiaries. Not only have we had to fight for seven years for an accounting of our trust funds that the government supposedly is holding for our benefit, now we -- and the rest of the American public -- are having to pay for the defense of some of the very officials who got our trust records in an undisputed mess in the first place. To me, that's unconscionable and indefensible. And the tab? It's high and growing higher with each new disclosure by the government. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth recently ordered that the public be told the true cost of legal fees in the case. Initially, the government filed a brief, vague report, stating that the legal fees paid by the government to 54 private law firms came to $3.7 million. That report didn't have any breakout of how much money was being paid and for whom. When we protested, the government made a second filing. Guess what? The total legal bill climbed to $4.4 million. That covers legal bills paid back to 1999. But this list is incomplete and is climbing, probably north of $6 million before the end of this year. The big winner in the government-paid legal sweepstakes was none other than Interior Secretary Gale Norton's personal counsel, who has been paid $491,538.63 to file an amicus for Norton in her personal capacity -- Citizen Norton And the legal brief he filed for the secretary, who has been zealously defended by dozens of government lawyers, wasn't crucial in the recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The appeals court recently reversed Norton's contempt of court finding, but let stand and did not disturb Lamberth's finding that she is "an unfit trustee-delegate." The appellate court suggested in an unprecedented decision that shields agency heads from accountability for their failures that the contempt proceeding should have been criminal, not civil. It would not hold the Interior Secretary accountable for the deception and malfeasance of her subordinates and counsel. So that's who's getting the money. Thanks to an appropriations provision Dicks promoted unabashedly on the House floor last summer, government officials such as Norton, who have been judged "unfit" or are suspected of much worse, are getting their big legal bills paid by the taxpayers. Former President Clinton wasn't treated that well in his successful defense of impeachment! To be sure, there also have been big legal bills from court-appointed monitors and special masters that Lamberth appointed. But look at their bills closely and you'll see that most of their legal fees are going to their experts and consultants they have hired in an effort to clean up the trust fund mess fostered by Norton. As Gingold told Lamberth at the end of a recent 44-day trial on ways to reform the trust operation, I have raised more than $9 million for our lawsuit. Not a cent of that money has come from taxpayers. And I haven't spent that money on legal fees. No, most of it has gone for our consultants and experts who have done what the government has refused to do: give the courts a true picture of how much money Indians may have lost and why the government has mismanaged their trust accounts. Our money has come from private foundations concerned about social justice and others willing to help us try to right a wrong that grew out of the congressionally mandated trust fund program. And, judging from what Dicks and his friends are doing to help the guilty parties duck trust duties in this debacle, we are all going to pay a heavy price for the government's disgraceful irresponsibility. Elouise Cobell of Browning, Mont., a member of the Blackfeet Nation, is the lead plaintiff in Cobell v. Norton, a class-action lawsuit that was filed in Washington, D.C., in June 1996. Copyright c. 1996-2003 Seattle Post-Intelligencer --------- "RE: A Betrayal of Trust" --------- Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 14:22:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRAIL OF BROKEN PROMISES" http://www.indianz.com/ http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usindi A Betrayal of Trust Land-lease deal with U.S. is a trail of broken promises By Andrew Metz STAFF CORRESPONDENT August 31, 2003 One in an occasional series on American Indians in the 21st century. Browning, Mont. - His land is a treasury of America's natural wealth, 118 acres of grazing grass, crop soil and oil percolating underground. On these flatlands that spill off the Montana Rockies, three pumps draw black gold to the surface, as oil wells here have done for generations. This is Blackfeet territory, however, and resources that would make anybody else rich are just reminders of what Indians have lost at the hands of the United States government. And from the shanty where he lives, through gaps in the plastic bags that are his window panes, Mad Dog Kennerly bitterly surveys it all - the mountain corner his people were backed into, the broken-down '75 Camaro beached at his doorstep. "We are dirt poor," Kennerly said here on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, where a man like him is actually one of the lucky ones because down the road at the Medicine Bear homeless shelter there are families holding land claims, government-arranged oil and agriculture leases and not much else. "I used to get $500, $600 a month off those wells. Now we're down to $20, $40, if anything. There is something drastically wrong," said Kennerly, at 62 as convinced as ever that the U.S. system meant to make sure Indians fairly profit from their lands, has instead cheated them and let fortunes bleed away. "They've robbed us, that's all there is to it. They systematically robbed us." Throughout Indian Country, these long-rebuffed complaints are now behind the largest class-action lawsuit ever against the United States, alleging that the government lost, misused and usurped as much as $176 billion in Indian assets. One of the most significant reckonings between the United States and its native people, the case is based on a 19th century federal trust that controls Indian lands and is supposed to distribute royalties from government-approved leases on millions of acres allotted to Native Americans. But after 116 years, the most profound results have been a saga of government mismanagement and a trail of destitution. Hundreds of thousands of Indians have watched their checks from the Department of the Interior, which administers the trust, dwindle to surprisingly small amounts or disappear entirely, and are unable to get even basic answers from the government about their land and their accounts. Against decades of failed U.S. promises to improve, the case has risen from reservation lore to challenge the nation's conscience and checkbook with a financial malfeasance suit that dwarfs the scandals at Enron or WorldCom and is exposing what the presiding judge in the seven-year-old battle has called "a century-long reign of mismanagement." In the coming weeks, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth, a Ronald Reagan-appointee from Texas, is expected to decide how the Interior Department must go about accounting for all the money that should have gone to the Indians and whether he should appoint an outside administrator for the system, which would be historic for a federal program. Precisely how the Indian money evaporated may never be fully reconstructed, though the verdict against the United States, has in many ways already been delivered. Lamberth has said he has "never seen more egregious misconduct by the federal government" and determined that U.S. officials have continued "to write checks on an account that they cannot balance or reconcile." "Such behavior certainly would not be tolerated from private sector trustees," the judge wrote in 1999. "It is fiscal and governmental irresponsibility in its purest form." Earlier this month, the special master in the case reported that government-approved deals for oil and gas pipelines on trust land in the West have been netting far less than those on adjoining non-Indian property. Nothing, not a 1994 act of Congress, not court orders or outside monitors, has been able to bridge the gulf between the Indians, who claim they have been shortchanged at least $176 billion counting interest, and the government, which puts its liability in the "very low millions." And with such high stakes, Congress is also poised to take action. Prominent lawmakers are backing a bill that would foster a settlement by creating a new position in the Interior Department to oversee the trust and by empaneling a congressional commission to monitor the progress. "If this type of egregious action had been inflicted on any other ethnic group, there would have been a tremendous public outcry," Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), one of the sponsors, told a Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing on the case last month. The government's response to the barrage of criticism and court decisions, which have included rare contempt rulings on former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and current Interior Secretary Gale Norton, has swung from contrition to defiance. Officials in the administrations of George W. Bush and Bill Clinton have repeatedly acknowledged that there have been serious problems with the fund. Even as Lamberth has cited them for obstructionism, document destruction and deception, they have promised to make amends. The government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on trust reform since the case began in 1996, establishing a special office for historical accounting and undertaking the most systematic streamlining and reorganizing of the trust in its history. "The accounting process isn't quite as bad as one might be led to believe," James Cason, associate deputy secretary of interior, testified at a July House hearing. Cason told lawmakers that he was spending 95 percent of his time dealing with the lawsuit and that Norton, whose contempt citation was overturned last month, is devoting as much as a quarter of her attention to it. Sample audits and studies, Cason said, have showed only a very small margin of error in dispensing money to the accounts. "We are trying to stretch very scarce resources," he said. "The today and now kind of takes precedence over a revisitation of history over the last hundred years." The government's latest plan would, over the next five years, review accounts that existed as of Congress' 1994 Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act. The department would trace the roots of the large accounts, transaction by transaction, and use a statistical sampling methodology for the smaller holdings. "It is true that there are hundreds of years of bad history, horrible history between the United States government and Indian people and there is the Trail of Tears and Wounded Knee and the stories in my family's Sioux traditions," said Daniel Dubray, a spokesman for the department's Bureau of Indian Affairs, and an Indian whose father is an account holder. "But this case isn't about the Trail of Tears or Wounded Knee. This case is about what is required under a law passed in 1994 to perform an accounting, and the department believes it can perform an accounting and repair these issues." Many Indians, however, have lost faith in the government's ability to fix the system and administer the trust. While the fight in Washington, where the suit was filed, is being waged with highly technical trust law and accounting concepts, on the reservation, it has become a symbolic, watershed event. "People were, for so long, snowed by the complicated financing of the trust and couldn't sort it out," said Elouise Cobell, a Blackfeet Indian who as the lead plaintiff has been the driving force behind the case. A banker and former tribal treasurer, Cobell has trained her sights on the trust with an unmatched perseverance, dissatisfied with the government's excuses. She is demanding an accounting back to the inception of the system. "I knew I wasn't dumb and I have just stayed in their face," she said recently at her office in the Native American Community Development Corp. in Browning. "Every person they owe money for what they stole should be paid." Cobell is urging Lamberth to appoint an outside administrator, known as a receiver, to take over the trust and begin a reconciliation akin to how Holocaust victims are being compensated. "This court has issued 50 published opinions in this case. All of them say the same thing: 'the trust is broken,'" Dennis Gingold, the Indians' lead attorney, said in his closing remarks to the current phase of the trial, which has been broken into stages due to its complexity. "Somebody has to stop it." The land-trust relationship between Indians and the United States dates back to the early 19th century when, as part of the effort to corral Indians into reservations, the government began controlling land on behalf of the tribes. Under the 1887 Dawes Act, the Department of the Interior started allotting individual Indians 40- to 160-acre parcels, restricting their ability to lease or sell the property, but promising to pay them royalties from whatever mining or farming was arranged. Instead, millions of acres left Indian hands, and land holders quickly began to complain of being cheated. The recent special master's report said that companies would pay $25 to $40 to run pipelines across small stretches of Navajo land but $140 to over $500 on nearby, non-Indian property. From the outset, too, the accounting proved a nightmare that has only grown darker with each passing year. The government lost track of Indians as they moved from place to place, leaving thousands of accounts without addresses. Land was divided among heirs, increasing the number of stakeholders in parcels to the point where today some shares are worth pennies. And as money kept flowing into the federal coffers, some of it infusing national spending, trust documents were being stored in shabby facilities and destroyed, making it tremendously difficult to keep the books. It is even unclear how many accounts there actually are; the numbers range from below 200,000 to above 500,000. Interior Department officials have insisted that the spotty records and preponderance of fractionated shares and small accounts would make a complete reconciliation a wasteful, Herculean task. And, Dubray said, many of the check discrepancies could be explained by the changing values of agriculture and oil assets over time. He likened the Indians' demands to reconstructing a family's checkbook back many generations. It has taken decades for Indians to make their complaints cause general alarm. Even when there were flashes of outrage, such as a highly critical 1992 congressional report, titled "Misplaced Trust," it wasn't until the Cobell lawsuit that the depth of the problems began to leach into the public domain. "It has taken a suit of this scope to awaken the general public to the special fiduciary relationship tribes have with the United States," said David Getches, dean of the University of Colorado Law School and Indian law expert. Throughout the 20th century, Getches said, there were lawsuits brought by individual Indians and tribes, which alleged deficiencies and held the government accountable. The cases helped establish bedrock trust principles, however, none of them sought the sort of vast reform and accounting demanded by Cobell and her fellow plaintiffs. "The federal government portrays this as a snap judgment, that they did something wrong and all of a sudden we are jumping on them," said Keith Harper, a Cherokee attorney at the Colorado-based Native American Rights Fund, which is representing the Indians. "But the government has had ample opportunity to deal with this issue without being forced to do so." Still, government and Indian opponents complain that however well intentioned, the battle over the trust has begun to backfire and is interfering with the issuing of trust checks and consuming the resources for other important programs for some of the poorest people in America. Furthermore, if a receiver is appointed many Indians who work at the Bureau of Indian Affairs administering the trust fear they will be out of jobs. "This litigation is the flame that is pulling all the oxygen out of the room," Dubray said. There is also a prevailing sentiment among many in Washington and elsewhere that even if Lamberth continues to rule in favor of the Indians, ultimately, either the higher courts or Congress will have the final say. Before a House hearing on the case last month, chairman John Berrey of the Quapaw tribe said that both sides were pursuing "scorched-earth tactics" and that the suit has caused "the burning down of the house of the very trustee delegated to providing services to the Indian beneficiary. " Some Indian leaders also fear that Lamberth has stepped too far into their affairs and is on course to severely eroding tribal authority and independence. Indian tribes are acutely protective of their status as separate nations and the government-to-government relation they have with the United States. In addition to these fissures, there is the looming threat of individual Indians suing the government on their own for compensation based on the current case, which is not seeking damages. There are also pending legal claims by Indian tribes whose roughly 45 million acres have been managed in the same trust system. "There is a lot of money that goes through that system every year," said Tex Hall, president of the National Congress of American Indians and the head of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation. "You put it all together and it is a huge issue." Such realities have intensified efforts to find a solution, generating proposals from Indian country and beyond. Out here among the Blackfeet, though, under snow-capped mountains that once belonged to the tribe, there is still an overwhelming urge to fight and an expectation that the case will deliver overdue justice, which could be a far more uplifting incentive than a settlement or yet another government program meant to improve their lot. "At least someone is standing up for us," said Wilbur Bear Leggings, 43, one of the tenants in the Medicine Bear shelter, who insists he has 1,200 acres being leased out through the government. On a hot summer evening, he gazes out at the dusty reservation and then back inside the shelter at children darting around upended mattresses and a debris of personal effects. "The United States is finally going to have to say what they've done to us," he said, "and give us what they owe us." Trail of Broken Trust The Indian trust system was designed to break up the tribal structure. But since 1887, the most profound results have been government mismanagement and a trail of destitution. A look at the history of the system. 1824: The Bureau of Indian Affairs is created. One of its main goals is the relocation of Indians from tribal lands. 1830: The Indian Removal Act is passed, offering Indians land in the West in exchange for eastern territory. 1887: The General Allotment Act, also known as the Dawes Act, is passed, giving individual Indians 40- to 160-acre parcels of land. The land and assets are to be held in trust for at least 25 years and managed by the Department of the Interior, which forbids owners from leasing, selling or "burdening'' the property without government approval. Over the next 50 years, 90 million acres, 65 percent of Indian holdings, are estimated to leave Indian hands. 1929: A General Accounting Office report on the Indian trust system finds widespread mismanagement by the United States government. 1934: The Indian Reorganization Act is passed, repealing the allotment system, but extending the life of the trust indefinitely. 1950s: Congress adopts a "termination'' policy, trying to release Indians from federal supervision. The government withdraws recognition of some tribes and gives up responsibility for them. 1960s: Termination policy is replaced with a plan for restoring Indian self-determination and selfgovernance. 1989: A special investigation by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs finds fraud and corruption in the Department of the Interior. 1992: The House Committee on Government Operations issues a report alleging incompetence and the bureau's unwillingness to repair the trust system. 1994: Congress passes the Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act and appoints a trustee to oversee an overhaul of the system. The act calls for an accounting of all the money by Sept. 30, 1995. 1996: Plaintiff Elouise Cobell, a member of Montana's Blackfeet tribe, joins with the Native American Rights Fund to file a class-action lawsuit against the departments of the Interior and Treasury. The Department of the Interior admits it does not know how much money should have passed through the accounts or even how many account holders there are. 1999: In the face of little progress and the disclosure that 162 boxes of trust-related documents were destroyed, U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth holds Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin in contempt of court. July 2001: The Department of the Interior sets up the Office of Historical Trust Fund Accounting, but a court monitor reports the department has made no progress. December 2001: Lamberth orders the department to disconnect all its trust-related computers from the Internet due to "deplorable'' security. September 2002: Lamberth holds Interior Secretary Gale Norton and other high-level officials in contempt of court, saying they deceived him about progress being made to reform the trust system and flouted orders to begin the historical accounting process. July 2003: A House Appropriations bill proposes giving Norton the money and authority to settle with individual Indians, but the effort is overturned by Indians and sympathetic makers; U.S. Court of Appeals throws out Norton's contempt order; Senate bill proposes an outof- court settlement that would create a new position in Interior to deal with trust matters. August 2003: Both sides file plans for conducting an accounting of the trust system. Copyright c. 2003, Newsday, Inc. --------- "RE: Editorial: Improve Indian Welfare" --------- Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 14:22:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ASSISTANCE" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.argusleader.com/editorial/Mondayfeature.shtml Improve Indian welfare Editorial Board Argus Leader September 1, 2003 Native American programs need more funding to address health issues We can at least slow that trend. And we should. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty offered a goal to point toward the recent Governors' Interstate Indian Council conference. "We need to make sure that we don't lose sight from some of the fundamental issues, which are not just land issues, not just gaming issues, but the health and welfare and well-being of American Indians," he said. Citing a long list of Native American health problems, Pawlenty said, "As policy leaders, as government leaders, we have an obligation to recognize these disturbing statistics and to fashion policy responses. This has been a long challenge." As dramatic as Pawlenty's comments were, they were hardly new. He's the latest in a long list of government leaders to bring up the depressing state of Native American health care. And his remarks follow two recent initiatives: * A recent U.S. Civil Rights Commission report said Native American programs were woefully underfunded. The report noted specifically the Indian Health Service "has many significant responsibilities ... Yet ... the agency is so fiscally constricted it cannot provide basic health services ... much less address the specific and critical health needs of Native communities." * Following up on that report, Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., has called on the nonpartisan General Accounting Office to investigate whether the Indian Health Service can accomplish its mission. The problems are legendary, from underfunding to incompetence and inaccessibility. "IHS funding is far below per capita spending for other health programs, such as Medicare, Medicaid and the Department of Veterans Affairs," Daschle wrote. "Funding increases have failed to even keep pace with medical inflation and population growth." It was into that atmosphere that Charles Grim stepped when he visited South Dakota recently with Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D. Grim is the new Indian Health Service director, and he understands the problems. And despite good intentions, like previous directors, he has no real solutions. The GAO investigation and the Civil Rights Commission's report, though, might bring more attention to the problems, he said. More attention, perhaps. But that doesn't mean solutions. As Pawlenty pointed out, this long has been a challenge. And as the population grows on reservations, it's getting worse: * Alcoholism is about seven times higher than the national average. * Suicide is about twice the national average. * Murder is more than twice the national average. * Native Americans die at younger ages, 13 percent under the age of 25, compared with 4 percent in that age group for the rest of the country. * Diabetes and heart disease are epidemic, just one of the many health problems. A major contributing factor: poverty. More than a third of Native Americans ages 6-11 live below the federal poverty level. Why? No jobs. Unemployment on some reservations is more than 70 percent. Solution? More funding, of course, just as we need more funding for Medicare and veterans' health care. But for Native Americans, at least, there are additional solutions. We can attack the contributing factors by providing jobs and a better educational system. We've already taken the first step - once again focusing attention on the issue. Of course, that's been done before. We need to at least try again, though. We have an entire segment of our population that is dying at young ages and at alarming rates. Copyright c. 2003 Argus Leader. All rights reserved --------- "RE: Navajo-Hopi Land Commission moves to buy Land" --------- Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2003 08:12:54 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="I-40 LAND" http://www.gallupindependent.com/08-26-03tribemovestobuy.html Navajo-Hopi Land Commission moves to buy I-40 land in Winslow Parcel called ideal for casino-resort Jim Maniaci Dine' Bureau WINDOW ROCK - The Navajo-Hopi Land Commission has agreed to negotiate with four land owners including the city of Winslow to buy almost two square-miles of land that includes one-fourth of the busiest Interstate 40 interchange in town. By a 7-1 vote on Aug. 21, the commission agreed to use a penny less than $50,000 to make the earnest deposit to negotiate the purchase of 1,260 acres east of North Park Drive (exit 253) and north of I-40. The land includes the former city golf course and the Winslow Chamber of Commerce office-Visitors Center across from the Pilot Truck Stop. The proposed sale is between two subdivisions which are outside the city limits, Ames Acres and Bushman Acres. There already is a tiny amount of Navajo-owned land within the city limits and the city is surrounded on the east, north and west by a Navajo tribal-owned ranch. The Hopi Tribe also has a 200-acre reservation immediately adjacent to the west city limits, which is the Navajo-Coconino County line. And the Arizona Transportation Department is expanding and rebuilding the interchange. The proposed purchase is part of the 1974 Settlement Act through which the Navajo Nation still has about 20 square-miles each in Arizona and New Mexico that it can add to the reservation. The southwest corner of the proposed purchase would make an ideal location for a casino-resort complex, although one reason the municipal golf course failed was that it was located on top of a heavy alkali bed. While the city is the second-largest of the land owners, the Hatch family is the largest. The family used to own one of the city's car dealerships, but patriarch Marvin Hatch has shifted his economic focus to the dinosaur museum on I-40 east of Holbrook across the freeway from where the Hopi Tribe recently bought the truck stop at the interchange with Ariz. Route 77-BIA Route 6. The earnest deposit will come from the Navajo Rehabilitation Trust Fund. The purchase will include the water rights, according to the commission's resolution, which also requires some of the gains from the economic development effort be reinvested in the rehab fund. Copyright c. 2003 the Gallup Independent. --------- "RE: Opposition attacks Tribal takeover of Bison Range" --------- Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2003 08:05:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BISON MANAGEMENT" Opposition attacks tribal takeover of bison range http://www.indianz.com/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11625-2003Sep1.html Groups Lock Horns Over Bison Range Conservationists Criticize Administration Plan That Would Let Tribes Run Montana Refuge By Tania Branigan Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, September 2, 2003; Page A19 The bison are grazing placidly on the wide Montana prairies, but plans for their future care have created a storm among humans. Thousands of conservationists and others have written or called the Interior Department to protest negotiations to transfer management of the National Bison Range to a tribal government. Geographically, the dispute centers on 18,000 acres at Moiese, Mont., home not only to hundreds of bison but also to elk, black bears, coyotes, ground squirrels and more than 200 species of birds. Politically, it focuses on the Bush administration's environmental record and the rights and independence of Native Americans. And that cross section of interests has created strange bedfellows. On one side are the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and Bush officials, who will meet this week to continue talks, and believe they can reach an agreement. On the other are conservationists and critics of Indian self-governance and the tribes' growing political muscle. "Because of the closed-door nature of discussions, this whole process is fraught with innuendo and misinformation," said Evan Hirsche, president of the National Wildlife Refuge Association, which opposes the transfer. "Clearly this issue carries with it a fair amount of political baggage, and that's unfortunate because that's not how this issue should be considered." Interior officials point out that tribal governments have had the right to seek management of 34 national parks and 41 wildlife refuges since 1994. The Salish and Kootenai are renewing an unsuccessful application to the Clinton administration to take over the National Bison Range and two associated, smaller refuges also within the Flathead reservation boundaries. It would make them the first tribe to manage a park or monument. But environmentalists fear the Bush administration is embracing the plan because it has an agenda to minimize government by moving federal jobs to the private sector. Some opponents, such as Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, argue that transferring responsibility from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service -- whether to a state, a private corporation, a charity or a tribe -- will fragment a national resource in the year it celebrates its centennial anniversary. PEER is a group that defends federal workers involved in environmental issues. "The tribes are most likely fully capable of managing wildlife and conserving the bison," said Jim DiPeso, policy director for Republicans for Environmental Protection, one of the groups opposing the change. "But knowing what we know about this particular Interior Department, in this particular administration, what does this presage for the future? What sort of agreements might be made with other organizations who don't have the background the Salish and Kootenai have? We're very skeptical about the long-range motives." Other opponents, especially in Montana, have accused the Salish and Kootenai of lacking accountability and practicing discrimination. Some residents spoke of "another handout" and told anecdotes about "drunken Indians" at public meetings on the transfer. Del Palmer, who lives in nearby Charlo and has frequently disputed tribal jurisdiction, said he was not racist but opposed the deal because it would change the nature of the range. "It will drift away from the purpose these things were created for. The tribes will set it up to benefit the tribes, won't they?" he said. "I say they are not capable of running things." Roland Morris, director of the Citizens Equal Rights Foundation and an enrolled member of the Chippewa tribe in Minnesota, alleged that semi-skilled tribal members would replace federal staff at the range. "Not only that, but they are talking about putting a casino there. They say they only want management, but once they have management, they're going to want it all," Morris said. Salish and Kootenai leaders and Paul Hoffman, who as deputy assistant secretary of the Interior for fish and wildlife and parks is leading negotiations for the government, refute such accusations. The tribe says it does not seek to own the land or to build a casino or new roads, and will retain all Fish and Wildlife Service staff. "It is not part of a broader conspiracy," Hoffman said, maintaining that the only government ideology involved is respect for Indian dignity. "[A] lot of opposition seems to be centered on misconceptions: that the ownership of land will be transferred, for instance." But he added: "The reality is that for us to improve or maintain federal assets, it's necessary to seek partnership wherever we can." Anna Whiting Sorrell, the Salish and Kootenai director of support services, describes the move as a "very logical next step" in the tribes' pursuit of self-governance on the 1.25 million-acre Flathead reservation. "We've been able to document and demonstrate significant cultural and historic links not only to the land but to bison there," she said. "We are one of the few tribes that have assumed total operation of the Indian health service and nearly all the functions that the Bureau of Indian Affairs previously provided. We do that with very little complaint. [Yet] right in the middle of our homeland, there is management that we are not participating in," Sorrell said. The tribe, which boasts experienced biologists and managers among its 1, 000-plus employees, would have to observe Fish and Wildlife Service standards and gain agency approval for any major changes, such as new roads. "If you get to the bottom of the arguments, you see how racist they are in tone," Sorrell said. "Many of our most vocal opponents have deep roots within the anti-Indian organizations going back to the early '70s. . . . They are fearful we will practice discrimination. We will get drunk and decide to go and shoot all the buffalo. . . . All of the stereotypical issues you hear with Native Americans." The Montana Human Rights Network describes the opposition as a "familiar" effort by an organized "anti-Indian" movement to oppose self- determination, which is racist in its attempts to deny tribes legally established rights. Although the tribe is allowed to favor its members when hiring, 65 percent of its professional staff is non-Indian. "The bison range has been in operation since 1908, and right now there is not one full-time employee who is Native American. People talk about discrimination, but why, in an area that is on a reservation, where we are maybe 25 to 30 percent of the population, do we have no one working there?" Sorrell asked. Although critics say the proposals would damage a conservation tradition of federal oversight dating to the 19th century, Sorrell believes she has a longer perspective. "I believe that when people see the bison range, they are probably shocked when they see there's no mention of the tribes at the visitors center," she said. "There is no mention that the land was protected by our people for many, many generations; not just the last 95 years." Copyright c. 2003 The Washington Post Company. --------- "RE: Western Shoshone ALERT" --------- Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2003 08:27:49 -0400 (EDT) From: IndigenousNews@webtv.net Subj: Western Shoshone ALERT Mailing List: Native Rights [Editorial Note: This file was damaged and some of the contact names were not extracted, however, it is of such importance it is posted, as is. Please do assist as much as you are able... gary] Western Shoshone ALERT ACTION ALERT The Western Shoshone Nation Requests Your Immediate Assistance!! Dear Friends and Supporters: The final hours appear to be upon the Western Shoshone. Western Shoshone land rights are being crushed; beautiful, Shoshone horses are dying senselessly; and the engines to gauge, pillage, and assault Newe Sogobia, Shoshone homelands, is revving up. Congress comes back to session on Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2003 and Western Shoshone lands, site to the nation's largest gold production, nuclear dump and nuclear test site will be hot on the agenda. With no hearing date scheduled for the Western Shoshone Distribution Bill (HR 884/ SB 618) we know we have to be ready. Senator Reid has made clear the priority with which he is pushing this bill. In the House, the bill is geared for quick markup before the Committee on Resources. (As soon as next week.) In the Senate, the bill is on the way to the floor after being railroaded through the Committee on Indian Affairs. Both bills represent a "forced payoff" to Western Shoshone for their homelands. A delegation of Western Shoshone and WSDP will be in Washington, D.C. this coming week, September 2nd, to talk to members of Congress about concerns for their lands and their opposition to the forced payment for lands that have never been sold. They plan to tell their story in a press conference as well. We/they need YOUR help! Now is the time to stand in unity with the first people of this land to stop abusive government policies which violate fundamental human and environmental rights and which allow for corporate and military desecration of the earth simply for its resources. THIS IS TRUE HOMELAND SECURITY, SECURITY TIED TO JUSTICE! Please take a stand whether your concern is with indigenous rights, free and healthy Indian horses, protection of property rights, nuclear free Nevada, nuclear disarmament, or corporate empire building. Background Facts: The Western Shoshone Distribution Bill is highly controversial and has raised concerns about human rights violations both at home and internationally. In December, 2002 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Organization of American States (OAS), found that the U.S. is in violation of fundamental rights to property, due process and equality under the law with regard to its treatment of the Western Shoshone. Western Shoshone issues are moving to the big screen with national and international organizations. Last winter, Amnesty International (AI) chose the Shoshone case as a highlight case of their Just Earth! Task Force on Indigenous Peoples. In April, AI issued a report calling upon the U.S. to respect the OAS decision. The political effect of the Western Shoshone Distribution Bill will be a "clearance of title" to approximately 26 million acres of land, in Nevada, Utah, Idaho and California, classified by the U.S. as "public" lands. The clearing of title will be used by the United States to open up these lands to privatization, "sale to the highest bidder" and ignore the Western Shoshone's decades-long struggle, legitimizing the government and corporate theft of these lands. Over the past 24 months, the U.S. Interior, Energy, and Defense Departments, have been gearing up on enforcement actions against Western Shoshone and readying for the multi-national corporate "give-aways" of Western Shoshone lands and resources, demonstrated by actions to remove Western Shoshone horses and cattle from their homelands, and the push for passage of the Claim's Distribution bill. Under the current Administration, plans have stepped up for increased gold mining; approval of Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, renewed nuclear weapons tests, a counter-terrorism facility; and plans to open up Shoshone lands for oil and gas production and geothermal energy production. The Western Shoshone are steadfastly opposing these immense powers and struggling to live on their sacred lands in their traditional and spiritual ways. Whether you are an indigenous person or a descendant of a stranger to these lands, acknowledge that the struggle is the same: human dignity, respect for the earth and the ability to continue your spiritual beliefs. For more information, go to http://www. wsdp.org/ WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP: 1. Pass this alert on to friends, family and organizations that may help AND DO IT NOW. Contacts with civil rights/legal organizations, the American Association for Retired Persons (AARP), veterans groups, native rights groups, peace activists, student organizations and environmental groups are key. This is especially needed if you have contacts in any of the states where key congressional people are located (i.e. Nevada, California, Utah, Idaho and Iowa). 2. Express your concerns by fax, e-mail or letter to the following officials. If you belong to an organization or citizens' group ask them to write letters in their capacity. A single letter can be written and copied to the various officials. (Please send us copies if possible, as well as any responses you receive). Sample letters, written by an individual supporter and an organization, are including at the end of this alert. Key to your request should be a call upon the United States to meet and negotiate in good faith with the Western Shoshone Nation to recognize the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley and to resolve this long standing land dispute. Let them know that you will know longer stand for the abuses against native peoples, fundamental human rights, and the rights of future generations government "officials" will be held accountable. 3. Encourage your state legislators and the media to gather information about the Western Shoshone situation. Meetings/interviews can be arranged with the Western Shoshone delegation in D.C. by calling 775-468-0230. Suggested officials to be contacted (as well as your state congressional people): HOUSE COMMITTEE ON RESOURCES: http://resourcescommittee.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-2761 Fax: 202-225-5929 Richard W. Pombo, California, Chairman Nick J. Rahall II, West Virginia, Ranking Democrat Member Republicans Democrats Don Young, Alaska Dale E. Kildee, Michigan W.J. "Billy" Tauzin, Louisiana Neil Abercrombie, Hawaii Jim Saxton, New Jersey Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, American Samoa Elton Gallegly, California Frank Pallone, Jr., New Jersey John J. Duncan, Jr., Tennessee Solomon P. Ortiz, Texas Wayne T. Gilchrest, Maryland Calvin M. Dooley, California Ken Calvert, California Donna M. Christensen, Virgin Islands Scott McInnis, Colorado Ron Kind, Wisconsin Barbara Cubin, Wyoming Jay Inslee, Washington George P. Radanovich, California Grace F. Napolitano, California Walter B. Jones, Jr., North Carolina Tom Udall, New Mexico Chris Cannon, Utah Mark Udall, Colorado John E. Peterson, Pennsylvania An=EDbal Acevedo-Vil=E1, Puerto Rico Jim Gibbons, Nevada Brad Carson, Oklahoma Mark E. Souder, Indiana M. Grijalva, Arizona Greg Walden, Oregon Dennis A. Cardoza, California Thomas G. Tancredo, Colorado Madeleine Z. Bordallo, Guam J.D. Hayworth, Arizona George Miller, California Tom Osborne, Nebraska Edward J. Markey, Massachusetts Jeff Flake, Arizona Rubin Hinojosa, Texas Dennis R. Rehberg, Montana Ciro D. Rodriguez, Texas Rick Renzi, Arizona Joe Baca, California Tom Cole, Oklahoma Betty McCollum, Minnesota Stevan Pearce, New Mexico Rob Bishop, Utah Devin Nunes, California Randy Neugebauer, Texas KEY SENATORS THE WESTERN SHOSHONE NEED TO MEET WITH: Senator Daniel Inouye (Hawaii) Senator Dianne Feinstein (California) Senator Barbara Boxer (California United States Senate United States Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 SAMPLE LETTER: September ___, 2003 Honorable Congressman/Senator _________. I write this letter in opposition to the Western Shoshone Distribution Bill sponsored by Senator Reid and Congressman Gibbons of Nevada. The bill has been introduced in the House as HR 884 and in the Senate as SB 618. The Western Shoshone Distribution Bill is a bad bill. If passed in its current form, the bill could have devastating impacts on the people of Nevada, the Western Shoshone and the United States. Such impacts include escalating disputes and litigation over native rights under the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley, loss of economic benefits to tribal and local communities and loss of international respect for the United States on its policies regarding indigenous peoples. Rather than a meager distribution of controversial monies, the Treaty of Ruby Valley should be enforced. Enforcement of the Treaty of Ruby Valley would stop nuclear waste storage and transportation to Yucca Mountain, it would serve as a basis for good faith negotiations regarding land and resource rights for the Western Shoshone people and it would uphold U.S. treaty and international obligations. This bill also raises fundamental questions about how the federal government treats indigenous peoples and represents an appalling example of current U.S. policy. The Western Shoshone need to address their hunting and fishing and gathering of food and medicinal plants. Their children need to feel connected to the lands of their ancestors. The Western Shoshone are the caretakers of these lands and the Distribution Bill threatens their existence as Western Shoshone people. The Western Shoshone people's rights to property, to due process and to equality under the law are being violated they deserve good faith negotiations or a hearing in a fair judicial proceeding, not 15 cents an acre and spiritual genocide. Thank you for your attention to this serious issue and your opposition to the Western Shoshone Distribution Bill. Sincerely, ______________________ ADDITIONAL LETTERS SENT BY ORGANIZATIONS: From Citizen Alert: Citizen Alert, one of the oldest grassroots organizations in the state of Nevada would like to go on record as stating our profound disappointment in Representative Gibbon's [Senator Reid's] dogged determination to pass the Western Shoshone "distribution" bill. This is unfair and misdirected legislation and would be bad law. It is also, from our viewpoint, very shortsighted. Nevada is in the fight of it's life in trying to stop Yucca Mountain from becoming the nation's dump for nuclear waste and we have perhaps, the show stopper, the Treaty of Ruby Valley. We urge Representative Gibbon [Senator Reid] to "put on the brakes" and look at the possible ramifications of his actions. As important to us is the issue of righting a wrong. When the treaty was signed it was implicit in its language that the government take care of the land and to honor the wishes of the Shoshone peoples. Disregarding and trampling the sacred sites on the land, destroying the environment and contaminating our precious aquifer system with toxic waste is unacceptable and in violation of that treaty. There is still time to do the right thing. Respectfully, Peggy Maze Johnson -- Peggy Maze Johnson Executive Director Citizen Alert P.O. Box 17173 Las Vegas, NV 89114 702.796.5662 702.796.4886 (fax) pmj1@citizenalert.org http://www.citizenalert.org From the Oaks Institute: On behalf of the full Board of Directors and membership of The Oaks Institute, I am writing to voice our unified opposition to the pending legislation regarding payments to members of the Western Shoshone nation. We are a nonprofit organization composed of scholars, businesspersons, and concerned public leadership working to safeguard the environmental sustainability of our communities. As you may know, there are grave conflicts between government claims of title to Western Shoshone lands, and aboriginal title as recognized by several international bodies. It is the conclusion of The Oaks Institute, after a thorough investigation of historical documents, recent documents and testimony, that the present attempt to legislate payment is closely tied to the interests and lobbying efforts of the international mining corporations and possibly Bechtel corporation. This payment is not a just action, is not going to hold up in light of international law, and may leave US law makers in a moral quagmire themselves, as more documents related to conflicts of interest are brought to the press and the public. We urge a conservative, rational approach to this matter, one that does not bend the legitimacy of US legislatures and US law to serve the short term interests of international mining. If I can be of any assistance to you as you address this matter of great importance, I would be happy to speak with you. Sincerely, Michele Weber, Ph.D. Board Chair The Oaks Institute 941 W. Pear, Suite 112 Brea CA 92821 (714)256-2006 phone/fax oaksinstitute@earthlink.net www.theoaksinstitute.org WESTERN SHOSHONE DEFENSE PROJECT P.O. Box 211308 Crescent Valley, NV 89821 775-468-0230 775-468-0237 (fax) http://www.wsdp.org/ --------- "RE: Cayuga slowly reclaiming Ancestral Territory" --------- Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2003 08:05:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CAYUGA" http://www.indianz.com/ http://www.theithacajournal.com/news/stories/20030902/localnews/173215.html Cayugas gain Finger Lakes foothold prior to fight's climax By DIANA LOUISE CARTER Gannett News Service September 2, 2003 The Cayuga Indians, largely absent from the area around Cayuga Lake for two centuries, have been trying to reclaim the heart of their aboriginal territory: 64,000 acres that surround the northern tip of the lake. In 1980, the New York and Oklahoma Cayugas filed suit, seeking to overturn apparently illegal treaties New York signed with Cayugas in 1795 and 1807. A federal court has ruled that the state treaties, never approved by the U.S. government as required by federal law since 1790, were illegal, but that while the Cayugas are entitled to compensation, they cannot evict current landowners. New York Gov. George Pataki backed out of a tentative settlement in 1999 and again in 2000, says the Cayugas' attorney, Raymond J. Heslin. "His counsel was in my office and signed a settlement agreement and then backed out of it." Then, after U.S. District Judge Neal P. McCurn decided on $247. 7 million in damages in late 2001, the Cayugas said they'd take the money -- much more than they had been willing to settle for -- and end the litigation there. But the state, now joined by Cayuga and Seneca counties, appealed the award. The Cayugas have countered with their own appeal, saying that McCurn miscalculated what they're owed. They upped their demand to $1.8 billion. The appeals could be heard late this year or early next year in Manhattan. No one is predicting when the court battle will end. Impatient with the lack of resolution, the Cayugas have borrowed money to buy property. "For the first time in over 200 years, the Cayuga nation is not landless anymore," said Clint Halftown, a chief of the 500-member Cayuga Nation of New York and its spokesman. In April, the nation bought a convenience store and car wash in the village of Union Springs where the tribe undersells competitors on gas and cigarettes. Meanwhile, the 4,000-member Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma has bought a 229-acre farm in the town of Aurelius and is planning to build a casino there. A federal judge has enjoined the tribe and town from taking any action until a hearing Sept. 8. The recent purchases have shifted the debate from ownership of the land to a more complex discussion of tax equity and the sovereignty of American Indian nations. "Taxes are a huge issue for every family," says Connie Tallcot of Union Springs, who, with husband Dick Tallcot, leads the Cayuga-Seneca chapter of the Upstate Citizens for Equality. Many of the residents fear that as the Cayugas take more and more land off tax rolls, the taxes on non-Indian land will go up so high that landowners will be forced to sell. At stake on both fronts are millions, perhaps billions, of dollars that could be awarded by the land-claim suit, potential erosion of Seneca and Cayuga counties' tax bases, justice for the long-absent Cayugas, and a way of life for the people who have lived along the lake and its hills for generations. The Canandaigua Treaty of 1794 entitles them to health and education services, but those services are concentrated on reservations, and the Cayugas don't have a reservation. So the New York Cayugas have a two-pronged plan designed to earn money so they can provide services and buy back their own territory. Part one is the Lakeside Trading gas station and car wash, where low- price gas and cigarettes are hot sellers. Part two of the plan is a casino, but unlike the Oklahoma Cayugas, the New York Cayugas are proposing one well away from their original territory. They've submitted an application to the eastern area office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to take 30 acres in the Catskills into federal trust for the Cayugas so they can start negotiating with state officials for a casino compact. Pataki has already designated Monticello as the site where he'd like to see three Indian-run casinos. Residents say they sympathize with American Indians for suffering from centuries of unfair deals and discrimination that have kept them in poverty. But they say that laws that give the tribal people an advantage are not the solution. "I don't believe you solve those problems by having some tribe get rich on alcohol, gambling and cigarettes," says Cayuga County legislator George Fearon, whose district includes Union Springs. Halftown says his nation cannot wait for a settlement or final decision to move forward. "Are we expected to sit back and wait another 23 years, on top of the other 200 years?" Copyright c. 2003 The Ithaca Journal. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Oneida Nation calls Mohican Tribe Visitors" --------- Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2003 08:05:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ONEIDA/MOHICAN" Oneida Nation calls Mohican Tribe 'visitors' to N.Y. http://www.indianz.com/ http://www.oneidadispatch.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10097391 Oneida Nation buys land claimed by another tribe By:MIKE ACKERMAN , Dispatch Staff Writer August 30, 2003 STOCKBRIDGE - The Oneida Indian Nation bought another 440 acres of land in the Stockbridge Valley area, in and around the area claimed by the Stockbridge-Munsee tribe. The Nation paid $393,000 for the lands along Route 46, Morris Road and Trew Hill Road. The Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans claim that the land was set aside for them by the federal government in 1788. The Oneida Nation now owns about 3,500 acres in the Stockbridge-Munsee land claim area. The Munsee Band claims a large portion of the area centered around Munnsville as their own. Oneida Nation spokesman Mark Emery said the Oneidas purchased the land for historic and cultural values. The area is near an ongoing archaeological dig site, where it is believed many Oneida Nation villages were located. "The Nation bought it for cultural reasons and there isn't any plan for development ... it's just an important area of the Oneidas' lands," said Emery. Commenting on the Munsees' claim, Emery described the Mohican tribe as "visitors." "They (Munsees) can say what they want, but that is Oneida Nation territory and the Nation will dispute their claim," he said. "It's like a hotel, they're guests and they don't own the hotel when they leave.' Emery added that many other tribes, like the Tuscaroras, have lived in Oneida territory. In 1996, the Oneida Nation adopted an ordinance forbidding other Native American tribes from buying land within the Oneida land claim area, which is roughly 250,000 acres in Madison and Oneida counties. The Stockbridge Munsee Tribe bought a 122-acre tract of land near Stockbridge Valley Schools, last year. Copyright c. 2003 The Oneida Daily Dispatch. --------- "RE: Tribe's Gasoline remains Tax-Free" --------- Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 14:22:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="KANSAS TRIBES" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.cjonline.com/stories/083003/kan_gasoline.shtml Tribe's gasoline remains tax-free Special to The Capital-Journal DENVER -- The Kansas Department of Revenue has lost a court battle in its attempt to tax gasoline sold to consumers by three Indian tribes in northeast Kansas. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday upheld a preliminary injunction against the revenue department barring it from taxing the gasoline. Judges in U.S. District Court in Topeka had issued the injunction last year. The state appealed. The issue was whether the state could tax fuel sold by one tribe to other tribes. In the dispute, the revenue department last year seized tankers and gasoline, and the state issued arrest warrants against leaders of a Nebraska tribe. The property later was released to the tribes. The tribes in Kansas are the Kickapoo Tribe of Indians of the Kickapoo Reservation in Kansas, the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska plus the Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska. They are buying their gasoline only from the Winnebago Tribe in Nebraska, said the Kickapoo's attorney, Charley Laman, of Topeka. The Kansas tribes sell the gasoline to consumers at stations in Horton, at K-20 and US-75 highways, at another nearby location on US-75, at Reserve and near White Cloud, he said. The Kansas Department of Revenue attempted to assess taxes against the Winnebago Tribe's corporation that supplies the gasoline, HCI Distribution. The state imposes a tax on the sale and delivery of motor fuel. Last year, the department claimed HCI Distribution owed $1.25 million from August 2001 to February 2002. The arrest warrants were issued against Winnebago leaders. The tribes sued, contesting the state's attempts. The tribes contend that because they are sovereign entities, Kansas has no power to tax them when they are doing business among themselves. Judge Dale Saffels, who died last year, and later Judge J. Thomas Marten barred the state's tax collection attempts and blocked, for the time being, the state from pursuing the criminal charges. The appellate judges, in a 12-page decision, ruled 3-0 on Thursday that Saffels and Marten were correct in their rulings. Laman said he didn't know immediately if Thursday's decision was sweeping enough to halt the state's attempts or if key issues remain to be decided in federal court in Topeka. The tribes want the preliminary injunction to be made permanent. "The central and threshold issues (are) whether federal law bars the state from imposing the tax, whether federal law pre-empts the state tax (as applied to the tribes) and whether the state's enforcement violates tribal sovereign immunity," the appellate judges said. Kansas Department of Revenue officials didn't respond to a request for comment. "This is (about) Indian economic development," Laman said, and the decision is "good news." Copyright c. 2003 CJOnline/The Topeka Capital-Journal. --------- "RE: Eastern Shoshone get $1.6M Housing Grant" --------- Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 14:22:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SHOSHONE HOUSING" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.imdiversity.com/Article_Detail.asp?Article_ID=19235 Eastern Shoshone Get $1.6M Housing Grant by AP, The Associated Press [Today is 8/31/03.] Riverton, Wyo. (AP) - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded a nearly $1.6 million grant to the Eastern Shoshone Housing Authority. The Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act funding will help improve housing on the Wind River Indian Reservation, according to Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo. "This funding gives the tribes the flexibility they need to build new homes and improve existing units," Thomas said in a release Friday. The funding will be used for low-income housing, construction, acquiring and rehabilitating housing, housing management, crime prevention and other purposes. Copyright c. 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 2003 IM Diversity. --------- "RE: Eastern Band Cherokee debate Identity" --------- Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 14:22:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="EBC" http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/0903/01cherokee.html Cherokee debate identity, and who gets the benefits By DREW JUBERA September 1, 2003 BEN GRAY / AJC Cherokee, N.C. -- For the 3 million visitors who motor through here each year, much of this mountain tourist stop looks the same as ever: Gatlinburg-meets-the-reservation. But beyond the jumble of craft shops, reptile farms, sidewalk Indians mugging for photos and a 24-hour casino -- plunked down amid western North Carolina's hills and rivers -- things on the Cherokee Indian Reservation these days are not all kitschy-serene. It's election season, and even for a tribe with a history of rough-and- tumble politics, this summer has been over the top, much of it sparked by newfound casino wealth clashing with the 13,000-member tribe's centuries- old ways. Among the highlights: a referendum passed this summer for a membership audit to determine who's Cherokee and who's not, with even the council chairman challenged at a public meeting to take a DNA test; a vote for impeachment proceedings against the current chief and council chairman; and one council candidate filing a protest to delay Thursday's vote for chief and council until impeachment hearings -- which haven't even begun - - are complete. "We're a very close-knit community, but whenever election time comes, we lose those connections pretty quickly," said former Chief Joyce Dugan. "The more you have, the more distrust you have," she added, referring to the $155 million the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians pockets each year in casino profits. "These experiences are so new to us that, until we settle down and understand the monster we've created, this is what we're going to be dealing with." At the heart of the current fractiousness -- which has pushed long- smoldering issues of race, money and politics front and center -- is a flier opposing the membership audit that was anonymously mailed to most of the tribe's more than 5,000 off-the-reservation members before the vote. It named those on the 12-member council who supported the audit, along with a measure to restrict absentee voting. It warned that members found not to be Cherokee would lose their $6,000 annual payment due every tribe member and their right to vote. "It scared them," said Teresa Mccoy, a council member listed on the flier as a backer of the referendum. "It was a threat." Money and factionalism An outside investigator determined the flier was concocted by the council chairman, who got the names and mailing addresses from a closely protected enrollment list handed to him by the chief. Adding to the controversy: The flier's return address was a post office box leased by a previous chief, impeached in 1995 for misusing tribal funds. The investigator, a lawyer from nearby Waynesville, concluded no tribal laws had been broken. In fact, his report noted there were essentially no campaign laws to break in the tribe's governing document. But a council majority voted to impeach Chief Leon Jones and Chairman Bob Blankenship anyway, on the grounds that they had violated the trust inherent in their oaths of office. "They might not have violated any federal or state law, but what they did was dishonorable, and those traditions still carry weight with tribal law," said Mccoy. "In the real world, honor might not mean much. But here it's very important." Both have said the report exonerated them. "During my four years, I did not break any laws," said Chief Jones. Opponents see the impeachment as political posturing over the real issue: How the tribe's casino money should be spent. The split is made knottier, said Carmaleta Monteith, a former Atlanta schoolteacher who returned four years ago to the reservation where she was born, because people "are not divided by political lines, but by family lines -- yet we're all related." "Per square inch," added Tim Hatley, the Sequoyah distinguished professor at Western Carolina University, "it's about as complicated a political landscape as exists in the world." Jerry Wolfe, 78, a tribal elder who works at the Museum of the Cherokee, summed up the current complications, "The greed part comes in when there's so much money involved." This once sleepy reservation has boomed since Harrah's Cherokee Casino opened in 1997. In the last decade, the reservation's annual operating budget has soared from about $20 million to more than $130 million. The chief's salary has almost doubled, to about $100,000 -- same as that of the North Carolina governor. One former council member recalled making $35 a meeting in the 1970s. Council salaries today: $50,000. The windfall has resulted in a host of improvements for the 7,400 Cherokees who live in the six communities making up the reservation. Recreation facilities, education programs, health clinics, a dialysis center -- the list stretches on. The per capita payout has also given residents more to spend on houses, cars and clothes. One laundromat operator isn't renewing his lease because of sinking business: Former customers have bought their own washers and dryers. Per capita payments for newborns go into a trust until they turn 18. Old resentments revived But the prosperity has also rekindled racial tensions and upped the political stakes. Tribe members have long talked about the descendants of "five-dollar Indians" -- non-Cherokees put on the federal government's first membership roll in 1924 by paying census takers $5 to qualify for any tribal entitlements. Over the years, various chiefs also took favors for enlisting those whose bloodlines weren't the required one-sixteenth Cherokee. Many became successful business owners, straining relationships between "full-bloods" and "lesser-degrees," those with a lesser degree of Cherokee blood. The audit, scheduled to begin in December, will likely be conducted mostly by going through membership roles, although DNA testing may be used. Those who support the audit say it's overdue. "For someone to say it's not, they have no respect for their fellow Cherokee brothers and sisters," said Missy Crowe, a council candidate and longtime activist. But others, including Chief Jones, believe it will be a logistical nightmare, and is unfair to those who have thought of themselves as Cherokee their whole lives. Some also see another motive: The fewer tribe members, the bigger the per capita payout to those remaining. "It goes back to 'follow the money,' " said Lewis Harding, a local hotel owner. "We're stomping on our own feet." The one positive division surrounding Thursday's election is that between the two candidates for chief (Jones lost in the June primary). Virtually everyone respects both men -- one the son of a former chief, the other the tribe's financial officer. They were separated in the primary by a single vote: 839 to 838. The winner takes over at a crucial juncture for a people descended from the small band of tribesmen who hid in these hills while the U.S. government rounded up the Cherokee for the infamous "Trail of Tears" forced relocation to Oklahoma in 1838. The Eastern Band is an economic and political player now, sought out by businessmen and state and local politicians, with its $700 million in assets and job-generating casino. The new chief has to work with those interests while appeasing factions on the reservation. It won't be easy: Few chiefs win re-election. "We're too much of a big family," said tribal elder Wolfe. "We're all cousins, uncles, aunts, you name it. It's too easy for people to get jealous over things other people are doing. "We need to get it straightened out and on the the right track," he added. "And that right track is the truthful track." Copyright c. 2003 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. --------- "RE: Tracing the Trail of Tears" --------- Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2003 08:05:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRAIL OF TEARS" http://www.tennessean.com/features/~Element_ID=38546044 Tracing the Trail of Tears By ELIZABETH BETTS HICKMAN Staff Writer August 31, 2003 Today, more than 160 years after we forced the Cherokee to pack up and leave their homes, one man is determined we never forget ON THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU - As he steers his red Subaru Forester down a rutted road that bisects a tree farm, Phil Thomason apologizes for the bumps: "I'm one of those people in the minority who actually drives their SUV off-road." It's not the first time he's put the car through its paces. As principal of Thomason & Associates, a Nashville preservation planning and consulting firm that does work throughout the country, Thomason does his share of driving. But over the past year, he's found himself focusing more on mere traces of old roads that meander through farm fields than on ribbons of four-lane highways. The old road beds, ferry crossings and campsites he's been exploring are traces of the Trail of Tears, which passed through Tennessee during 1837 and 1838. The event was the culmination of the Indian Removal Act and meant that thousands of Cherokee had to leave their lands for a new home west of the Mississippi River. Two years ago, Thomason and his firm submitted the winning bid - approximately $70,000 - for a National Park Service contract. Their task: Document these sites throughout the Southeast and determine their eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places. They expect to be done next month. "We've done fieldwork from Georgia and North Carolina over into Oklahoma, " says Thomason, a 50-year-old soft-spoken father of two teenage daughters who has a master's degree in historic preservation from Middle Tennessee State University. Fieldwork, in this case, is all about "ground-truthing," or determining if lines on a map are the same on the ground. In many cases, they're not, even in this age of global positioning systems and satellite imagery. The project is essentially two related ones. The first part, now complete, was to document and determine eligibility of multiple properties for the National Register of Historic Places. The second part, which will wrap up next month, is to identify and nominate about 25 specific building sites, sections of roadbed, ferry crossings, campsites or gravesites to the register. About six of those are in Tennessee. For Thomason, the project has become more than simply completing a preservation contract with the government. It's been about finding a connection between history, land and modern life. "The 25 nominations we're doing are the most obvious sites, the best- known sites and ones that have high potential for interpretation," he says, noting that some are already protected as part of park systems. His mission, really, is to answer a question: "What is there that can resonate with us today about the experience of the Trail of Tears?" he says. "In other words, what is still left out on the land that you can go to and have a sense of time and place from the 1830s?" Framing a project The simple answer is there's not a lot left. Over the years, some stagecoach roads became paved roads and then major thoroughfares. Other segments of the trail that were once busy paths are now simply depressions that show up as shallow valleys through farm fields. While there's an official driving tour of the trail, it follows the closest main roads, not the trail itself. The project Thomason & Associates is completing seeks to get to the real thing. "In 1987, when we had a very vague understanding of where the trail was, we developed a comprehensive management plan," says Aaron Mahr, a historian with the National Trails System Office of the National Park Service (NPS) in Santa Fe, N.M. "One objective was to identify all of the information and develop a map, " Mahr says. "There was a total of 17 detachments and they didn't all follow the same route." Over the years, various individuals and groups either interested in local or Native American history or working in the preservation field had developed maps, but there wasn't a cohesive national map that had been field-checked. "That's the greatest value to what Phil has been doing," Mahr says. "We're making this a very real thing, and sometimes, we've moved that line by miles. It's our goal to ground-truth every single foot of this trail." Many of those miles have been driven by Thomason, Peggy Nickell or Teresa Douglass, the trio who makes up Thomason & Associates. Thomason himself has visited a lot of the trail, and his high-tech hiking shoes - a stark contrast to the thousands of weary feet that crossed these paths - have been put to the test. "Tennessee has more miles of the Trail of Tears than any other state," he says. That prospect, while daunting, is exciting, too. "This is demonstrating to the general public the significance of the Trail of Tears and why it is so important, and how we can commemorate and honor those who made the journey," Thomason says. Clearly, he's a believer, not just a man doing his historic preservation duty. "I think the immensity of this undertaking really spoke to me the most," he says gravely, sitting behind the wheel of the Subaru with the license plate that reads "PRESRVE." "Just conceiving of this many people and that many animals going west . . ." he wonders aloud while looking out over the landscape of relatively new pine trees. "For thousands of folks to do that is a tremendous achievement in terms of logistics. It was truly a monumental feat. "I think the Trail of Tears has continued to capture the public's attention because it really is a true watershed event in Native American/American relations," he says. "The Cherokee did everything they could to assimilate with Anglo- European culture. They lived in log houses. Some of the wealthier Cherokee had brick or frame homes and they adopted traditional farming methods. And between 800 and 1,000 slaves went with them. . . . They were slaveholders. No matter what they did, it was never enough." Tracking history "I think folks look at the Trail of Tears as truly one of those blights or dark spots, one of those truly unfair events in our nation's history," Thomason says. Back in the Subaru, he begins to look for a cemetery he remembers as roughly near a segment of old roadbed on the plateau that's now a tree farm. "Traditionally, there's been a lot of logging and strip-mining up here, which wreaks havoc on historic road beds." After several dead ends, a stop to ask for directions and a few wrong turns on roads seemingly in the middle of nowhere, Thomason hits his target. "There it is!" he says. "I knew it was around here." The Pleasant Hill Cemetery isn't connected to the Trail of Tears, but it's right next to a somewhat intact section of roadbed that meanders around it. A burned-out Jeep Grand Cherokee litters the sandy track and somewhat mars the experience of walking on a segment of this historic trail, but it's a visible portion nonetheless. Bumblebees intent on visiting the wild purple phlox along the side of the road help make up for the manmade mess. It's all part of the process, Thomason says. It's not always scenic or easy. "You go back to the primary source material," he says, referring to his method of looking first at the eyewitness accounts and old maps. He layers maps, too, in order to see how roads changed direction over the years. "You get beyond that into the accounts that are documented in the records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs," he says. "And from that, you get information about which towns they went through. It's sort of like this cumulative effect. . . . It's calling people and saying, 'Look, you know that old road bed on your property? Well, this is very significant in American history.' The reaction more often has been 'I'm honored to have this recognized,' because the Trail of Tears has such resonance with the public," he says. The future of the trail A major benefit of completing the National Park Service project, in addition to adding to America's historic record, is its potential to help local communities. In some cases, what might look like an old gully is, in fact, historically significant and, therefore, could one day become a draw for a small town. "National Register recognition is one of the ways you commemorate these properties," Thomason says. "First you identify them and then you work with local chapters and municipal governments to do marketing and promotion and increase heritage tourism." Thomason notes that there's no plan to connect all of the pieces of the trail or acquire the land they cross. It's about documenting what's left and what places are significant enough to get on the National Register. The goal of the National Park Service, in addition to accurately documenting the trail, Mahr says, is to help provide national cohesion to local history groups and other interested parties, such as the Trail of Tears Association. One place with great potential to welcome visitors with an interest in the Trail is in Dunlap, Tenn., in Sequatchie County, and not far off Interstate 24. There, the Sequatchie Valley Historical Society manages the Dunlap Coke Ovens historic site, which commemorates the area's industrial history by protecting the dramatic coke ovens, which were made of cut stone and built to cook coal into more readily used coke. The approximately 77-acre site is already on the National Register of Historic Places and incorporates a museum building with a local history room, an outdoor stage and an amphitheater. The recent discovery of an existing, earlier layer of history - that being the Trail of Tears - has delighted Carson Camp, a local photographer, historian, preservationist and board member for the museum. "It's getting a lot more attention," he says, noting that the future lies in interpreting the broad history of the area. "We want to mark the trail (so) people can go and put their feet on it. We do feel it has to be something that people can walk on. We're not going to pave trails." He's been an advocate and ambassador for both Thomason's project and National Park Service initiatives. "So far, the trail business has been well-received," he says, noting that a few people have been concerned that the National Park Service was going to take portions of the land, which couldn't be further from the truth. "The National Park Service is going to advise. They're not going to own it or anything. It's a pretty good deal. . . . This is so new, there's so few people in the valley who really know about this." "Carson has a good, long-range vision of what this could mean for future tourism," Thomason says. "There are folks who are really true caretakers and who see the responsibility to care for these places." And among the caretakers, the National Park Service wants to see Americans take responsibility for their own experience. "We want people to be on the trail," Mahr says. "We want it to be more than a concept that you can read about on a pamphlet. . . . It's such a compelling story. It's an ugly story, but it's all part of our shared history." Related story A brief history of The Trail of Tears On the Register Being listed on the National Register is basically an honor. There's no cost and there is no requirement to be listed if a property is eligible. Also, owners don't have any obligation to open their private land to the public. Likewise, a listing doesn't provide guidelines or any protection, except against negative effects from a federal project, such as a new interstate highway. Since the multiple segments of the Trail of Tears aren't connected, the pieces are simply being documented as part of the nation's history. In many cases, local preservation or history groups are involved in protecting and documenting segments. It's also important to note the difference between a historic trail, such as the Trail of Tears, and a scenic trail, such as the Appalachian Trail. Scenic trails are made for recreation and completely open to the public, while historic trails may have some segments accessible to the public, but are not continuous paths. Passing through Nashville Scholars note that the Cherokee traveled through Nashville on either Second Avenue or Third or Fourth avenues before crossing over the Cumberland River on the old suspension bridge close to where Victory Memorial Bridge is now. "The spectacle of this for those along those roads must have been incredible," Thomason says. Elizabeth Betts Hickman is a features writer for The Tennessean. Reach her at 259-8045 or ebetts@tennessean.com. Copyright c. 2003 The Tennessean, A Gannett Co. Inc. newspaper. --------- "RE: Nanticoke Tribe plans to expand Cultural Center " --------- Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2003 08:12:54 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NANTICOKE CULTURAL CENTER" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.delmarvanow.com/bethanybeach/stories/20030827/134763.html Nanticoke members address Milllsboro Chamber membership By S. Wayne Carter Jr. Staff Reporter August 27, 2003 Nanticoke Indian Chief Tee Norwood and his wife Jean spoke to members of the Greater Millsboro Chamber of Commerce about preserving and improving the Nanticoke Indian Center and Museum at the Tuesday, Aug. 21 evening chamber meeting. Jean Norwood said the center and the museum, both located along Route 24 east of town, are in need of renovations. While the tribe's plans for the two buildings are not expected to be achieved in the immediate future, the Chief's wife said they have lofty goals. "If you are going to dream, dream big," she said. In addition to aesthetic renovations, the tribe would like to make the museum a serious, educational attraction to both tourists and locals. "We have more visitors from schools upstate and from the Maryland area," said Chief Norwood. "We want to target the local school children." If the tribe's dreams become a reality, the Nanticoke Indian Museum would boast artifacts from the tribe's history along with a Native American art gallery and historical lectures from members of the tribe. The Nanticoke tribe has already spoken with officials at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. about borrowing artifacts for temporary display in the museum. The first steps in the tribe's plan is to rearrange and renovate the Nanticoke Indian Center to house a computer lab and a children's play room. Already the tribe has received $15,000 in grant money from the Delaware Community Organization to make some of the changes possible, Jean Norwood said. The center would also serve as a meeting place and could host the annual Nanticoke Indian Powwow, which will be held Saturday, Sept. 6 and Sunday, Sept. 7. Jean Norwood said the tribe would look to organizations such as the Delaware Department of Transportation, the Department of Tourism, the Delaware Historic Preservation, Delaware Foundation, area banks and federal funding to make the improvements they believe are necessary to attract people to their historic culture. "We don't have a bottom line," said Chief Norwood. "We are putting this out to people. They have been impressed that we have been working with other groups so that there isn't something like it going up five miles down the road." His wife said it is important to preserve the culture, with its impacts reaching far into the future. "It is a treasure," she commented, "to know what we stood for and what we still stand for today." Chief Norwood said it is important for the tribe to know they must first help themselves before they look for outside help for their projects. "It looks a lot better to people when you try to instill helping yourself first before you ask them how much they can help you," he said. Along those lines, the Chief offered the chamber the tribe's services whenever they may be needed. "Anything we can do to help you," he said, "if it is within our means, we'll be more than willing." For more information about the upcoming Nanticoke Indian Powwow, call (302) 945-7022. Reach S. Wayne Carter Jr. at (302) 537-1881, ext. 105, or by e-mail at wcarter@smgpo.gannett.com. Copyright c. 2003 DelmarvaNow. --------- "RE: Tribe to sue Corps over Trafficway decision" --------- Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2003 08:12:54 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRAFFIC CORRIDOR SUIT" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.ljworld.com/section/citynews/story/143524 Tribe to sue corps over trafficway decision By Mark Fagan, J-W/6News/World Online Wednesday, August 27, 2003 An American Indian tribe is ready to go to court to prevent the South Lawrence Trafficway from being built through the Baker Wetlands. The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation is asking the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to take another look at options for a highway south of the Wakarusa River, an option rejected by the corps eight months ago. And now, as the corps prepares to issue its "record of decision" for the project -- a document that would lift regulatory barriers to construction of the estimated $110.2 million highway through the wetlands -- tribal officials say they have a better, less expensive alternative. If the corps can't see it, they say, a judge will. "It is disturbing that through this misguided and blatantly defective EIS (environmental impact statement) process, the corps would permit construction that will irreparably damage the environmental, scientific, historical, cultural and religious resources of the wetlands, especially when better and less expensive alternatives have been swept under the carpet," said Jackie Mitchell, a member of the Mayetta-based nation's tribal council. "This cannot be allowed to happen." David Prager III, a tribal attorney, said a "diverse" coalition of trafficway opponents -- including environmental groups, other tribes and concerned individuals -- was assembling a case against the project and its chief federal regulator, the corps. The corps, Prager said, has failed to give proper review to an alignment that would run south of the Wakarusa River. The tribe hired an engineer to review options and came up with a route that would have shorter bridges -- and therefore cost $17 million less -- than another south-of-the-river alignment the corps considered and ultimately rejected, Prager said. The corps estimated its version of the south-of-the-river route would cost $128.5 million to build. The tribe maintains its route would cost $111.9 million, or as little as $92.2 million if bridges were narrowed to two lanes. The corps' chosen route, through the wetlands, is estimated to cost $110. 2 million. "Why not do something that costs about the same, or costs less, and doesn't damage the wetlands?" Prager asked. Bob Smith, the trafficway project manager for the corps, said the corps did check out a variety of options for building a highway south of the river. The agency recently reviewed the tribe's suggestions and determined that it actually would cost about $123.2 million. Not that cost is the overriding factor. Smith said that after taking all factors into consideration -- including effects on the environment, cultural resources and driver safety -- the 32nd Street alignment would best serve the overall public interest. And that, he said, is the corps' goal. "We're looking at more than just cost here, and that's something that, based on my conversations with the tribe, it doesn't appear that they're looking at anything other than just cost," Smith said. "Our view is more holistic. We're looking at more than just costs." Copyright c. 2003 The Lawrence Journal-World/Lawrence, KS. --------- "RE: Penobscots critical of EPA ruling" --------- Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2003 08:39:15 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PENOBSCOT/MILL" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.pressherald.com/news/state/030828dioxin.shtml Penobscots critical of EPA ruling Thursday, August 28, 2003 BANGOR - The Penobscot Nation is challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision not to put Lincoln Pulp & Paper Co. on a list of Superfund sites. The tribe, which contends that dioxin pollution in the Penobscot River has caused high cancer rates among Indian Island residents, claims the EPA's decision was based on politics, not science. The decision is viewed as favorable for Eastern Pulp & Paper, the mill's parent company, which is mired in bankruptcy. John Banks, director of natural resources for the Penobscots, said the tribe is reviewing its options. The EPA announced its decision that the paper company is not eligible for a Superfund listing on Friday, following three years of scientific evaluation, said Chet Janowski, acting chief of technical support and site assessment at the EPA's regional office in Boston. Banks said the EPA should have waited for a study of possible contamination in the Penobscot River sediment. That will likely be completed by this time next year, Banks said. "The decision was not based on sound science," he said. "It was based on political pressure." Superfund is the common name for a federal program created in 1980 to deal with large toxic pollution problems, primarily at old industrial sites. While Maine has had 14 Superfund sites identified over the years, including Loring Air Force Base and the Eastland Woolen Mill in Corinna, none of the state's paper mills has ever been listed. Maine politicians worked to ensure that the Lincoln mill was spared such a listing, and trumpeted their success in press releases last week. Gov. John Baldacci was among those who opposed a listing. "The specter of Superfund listing . . . has made it very difficult for Lincoln to resume normal business operations . . . the overall environmental condition at the property and the river fall well below the level of a national caliber cleanup," the governor wrote in a March letter to the EPA. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has been looking into contamination at the site since 1986, an investigation that began after the company was fined for several environmental violations, including a $1 million penalty in 1990, the largest the state agency has ever levied. The DEP and the EPA both found contamination in the soil and groundwater, but neither believed the pollution to be at a level that justified a Superfund listing. Doug Walsh, a vice president with the parent Eastern Pulp Corp., cited state effluent testing that showed dioxin emissions have been below detectable levels in recent years. Copyright c. 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. --------- "RE: Pueblo Leader takes role in Education seriously" --------- Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2003 08:12:54 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="EUGENE PINO" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.sfnewmexican.com/print.asp?ArticleID=31849 Tribal Leader Learned to Help by Following His Family's Example By MARISSA STONE | The New Mexican Wednesday, August 27, 2003 Eugene Pino was 10 years old when his career as a tribal leader began to take shape. He remembers both Indians and non-Indians stopping at his great grandparents' general store on San Ildefonso Pueblo. Pino's great-grandmother gave away more flour and potatoes at the store than she sold, he said. That great-grandmother was Maria Martinez, the renowned potter. "She lived with open arms," Pino, 48, said Thursday, as he took a break from a Native American Parent Committee Retreat in Santa Fe. Martinez taught her children and grandchildren to do the same. She and her husband, Julian, also taught their children to respect their elders and serve their community, Pino said. In February, Pino became the first Indian to win a seat on the Pojoaque Valley Board of Education in more than 20 years. Pino, who attended Pojoaque schools and St. Catherine's Indian School, remembers seeing Indian students falling behind because of poverty, substance abuse and domestic violence. The students' problems were sometimes made worse because tribal leaders weren't held accountable, Pino said. And those students weren't represented in their classes or on school boards. Someone needed to do something. Pino decided to be that person. Now he's serving students full time, but he stresses that said he works for all students, not just Indians. Before running for the board, Pino spent two terms between 1992 and 1998 as a San Ildefonso tribal councilor. During one of those terms, San Ildefonso Gov. Pete Martinez couldn't serve his duties as governor so he delegated them to Pino. Pino likes has always wanted to be a conduit, which is Hii-tuu in Tewa. The word also means the voice, listener and communicator. Pino sees himself as a bridge between Indians and non-Indians. Members of San Juan, Santa Clara, Nambe', Pojoaque, Tesuque and San Ildefonso pueblos come to Pino for advice and information about the schools, he said. And Pino is around to make certain things clear to the board, like the importance of feast days and other tribal activities, which sometimes come up without much notice. Another issue was that Indians were unsure of was who to contact in the school system about those events. At one time, the tribes liked to be autonomous and "everyone was on their own," Pino said. Now, Indians are realizing the good side of representation, he said. Through cohesiveness, things get done and the tribes are on the path to making their children's' lives better, he said. But the tribes still need to work on maintaining their language and making parental participation in their children's' schooling a priority, he said. More than 360 Indian students attend school in the district and even more want to, Pino said. He wants to be a stepping stone for other Indians, Pino said. "I want others to seek positions where they can make a difference, rather than for political gain." For now, Pino urges Indians to get involved in the Native American Parent Committee, which strives to improve opportunities for Indian students Pino is also the chairman of the Native American Caucus of the National School Board Association and a delegate for the Democratic Party of New Mexico. For more information on the Native American Parent Committee, call 983-2667. Marissa Stone covers the Pojoaque Valley for The New Mexican and can be reached at mstone@sfnewmexican.com Content c. 2003 The New Mexican, Inc. --------- "RE: Tribes awarded Grants for Energy Development" --------- Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2003 08:39:15 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ENERGY GRANTS" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.newsok.com/cgi-bin/show_article?ID=1065964 Tribe seeks new source for energy 2003-08-28 By Ann Kelley The Oklahoman SHAWNEE - The Citizen Band Potawatomi Nation will invest $92,000 in federal and tribal funds to study the potential for developing a renewable energy source on its lands. The U.S. Department of Energy has agreed to give the tribe $72,000 to study options for creating its own electrical power through clean energy sources, like wind, solar or bio-mass generation. The tribe will contribute $20,000 to the project. Based in Shawnee, the Potawatomi Nation is the ninth largest American Indian tribe in the United States. It was one of nine tribes recently awarded grants totaling $800,000 to study energy development on reservation and tribal lands. "Our hope is that American Indian tribes will discover what their renewable energy resources are and develop them as they see fit," said Lizana Pierce, Department of Energy Tribal Energy Project Manager. "We're hoping that tribal leaders will use this information to make the best decision for their people -- not the developers who may already be trying to tap into their energy sources." Pierce said many energy developers have done feasibility studies for tribes, but the information stays in the hands of the developers. She said all information made possible through the grant will be exclusively owned by the Potawatomi Nation. According to Department of Energy studies, about 1.4 percent of the people in the United States don't have access to electricity; 14.2 percent of them are American Indians. "This is hardly fair when you consider that Indian lands comprise 5 percent of the land in the U.S. and about 10 percent of all energy sources," she said. Pierce said the tribe's options for developing an energy source are wide open, but the long- term plan is to develop a sufficient reliable energy source for its members. Tribal spokesman Michael Dobson said tribal officials did not want to comment about the grant. Others to receive grants are the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, Indio, Calif.; Seneca Nation of Indians, Salamanca, N.Y.; White Earth Reservation, White Earth, Minn.; Smith River Rancheria, Smith River, Calif.; Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma, Apache; Yurok Tribe, Klamath, Calif.; Samish Indian Nation, Anacortes, Wash. Copyright c. 2003, Produced by NewsOK/NEWS 9/The Oklahoman. --------- "RE: HaidaBucks Wins" --------- Date: Wed, Aug 27 2003 9:09 PM From: "Lane Baldwin" Subj: HaidaBucks Wins!!!! Newsgroup: alt.native HaidaBucks Press Release 08-26-03 Lately, the coffee in Masset, a small town on the remote island of Haida Gwaii, tastes especially sweet. That's because HaidaBucks, a small indigenous-owned coffee house and restaurant located there, is savouring its victory over Starbucks and its claims of trademark infringement. In true David-vs.-Goliath fashion, HaidaBucks stared down a multi-billion-dollar global enterprise. "We won," said co-owner Darin Swanson. "We did more than defend our name; we defended our honour as indigenous peoples, and our right to our heritage." It began when Starbucks alleged that the small, struggling business was violating Starbucks' trademark rights. Threatene