From gars@speakeasy.org Thu Oct 16 08:41:01 2003 Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 19:36:50 -0400 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews11.041 _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 11, ISSUE 041 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 October 12, 2003 Mohawk Kentenha/moon of poverty Blackfeet Sa'aiksi itaomatooyi/moon when ducks leave +-------------------------------------------------------+ | 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; Tribal Fires, ndn-aim, Iron Natives and NetRez Mailing Lists; UUCP email IMPORTANT!! ----------- In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, all material appearing in this newsletter is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for educational purposes. <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters who share our Spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the Red Road. ++ It may be subscribed to via email by sending a request from your own internet addressable account to gars@speakeasy.org ++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org <================<<<< >>>>================> +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + | As historian Patricia Nelson | | Once a language is lost, it is | | Limerick summarized in "The | | gone forever | | Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken | | * Of the 300 original Native | | Past of the American West... | | languages in North America, | | "Set the blood quantum at | | only 175 exist today. | | one-quarter, hold to it as a | | * 125 of these are no longer | | rigid definition of Indians, | | learned by children. | | let intermarriage proceed as | | * 55 are spoken by 1 to 6 elders;| | it had for centuries, and | | when they die, their language | | eventually Indians will be | | will disappear. | | defined out of existence." | | * Without action, only 20 | | "When that happens, the federal | | languages will survive the next| | government will be freed of | | 50 years. | | its persistent 'Indian problem.'"| | Source: Indigenous Language | +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ | Institute | |http://www.indigenous-language.org| This issue's Elder Quote: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + ======================== "And so the last thing I can teach you, if you want to be taught by an old man living in a dilapidated shack, a man who went to the third grade for eight years, is this prayer, which I use when I am crying for a vision: 'Wakan Tanka, Tunkashila, onshimala.... Grandfather Spirit, pity me, so that my people may live." __ Tahca Ushte (John Fire Lame Deer), Minneconjou Lakota +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Indian Pledge of Allegiance | The Indian Pledge of Alleg- | | iance was first presented | I pledge allegiance to my Tribe,| on 2 December '93 during the | to the democratic principles | opening address of the Nat- | of the Republic | ional Congress of American | and to the individual freedoms | Indian Tribal-States Relat- | borrowed from the Iroquois and | ions Panel in Reno, NV. NCAI | Choctaw Confederacies, | plans distribution of the | as incorporated in the United | Indian Pledge to all Indian | States Constitution, | Nations. | so that my forefathers | | shall not have died in vain | Walk in Beauty! Night Owl +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Journey | In the summer and early fall | The Bloodline | of 1998 the Treaty Unity Riders | | rode a thousand miles on horse- | For all that live and live by law | back, carrying a staff and | We Stand, we Call, We Ride | praying each step of the way. | For All that fear and fear by sight | | We Hear, we Listen, we Ride | These prayers were offered for | For all that pray and pray by strength| each of us, and that the Unity | We Feel, we Move, we Ride | of all Peoples might happen. | For all that die and die by greed | | We Hurt, we Cry, we Ride | Tatanka Cante forwarded this | For all that birth and birth by right | poem on behalf of all the Unity | We Smile, we Hold, we Ride | Riders that we might stop and | For all that need and need by heart | ask if the next words we say, the | We Came, we Went, we Rode. | next act we make is for the good | | of the People or is it from ego | Treaty Unity Riders | for self. +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ O'siyo Brothers and Sisters! The YMCA has finally, fully dropped all vestages of the Indian Guides and Princesses. They dropped the titles two years ago, but continued to advocate the programs behind a thin facade and renaming to Y-Princesses and Guides. They had, however, continued to rely on Native American themes. Now, those have also been dropped. Now, I read a North Texas YMCA group of dads plan to start their own nonprofit group so they can cling to the Indian theme. The question that pops into my head is, "Are these dads actually admitting their own culture is so devoid of good living examples they feel they have no choice, but to steal from another culture and parrot their good examples?" It sounds and feels like that way. Sad, isn't it? Genocide to Shining Example: what a concept! Save me the dubious honor this implies. These men need to first understand that many of our tribes were matriarchal and still would be if the dominant society hadn't battered them into the patriarchal mold, thus decimating the traditional Native family relationshps.. In many true tribal traditions, the man in young girls' lives would not necessarily be their dad, but would be uncles and maternal grandpas. So in addition to teaching these girls that their own cultural heritage lacks the foundation for fathers and daughters to relate, they're trying to build a relationship on a lie, These men need to find a way to be real dads, set real examples of good living and quit play-acting. Dohiyi Ani Oginalii , , Gary Smith Night Owl gars@nanews.org (*,*) P. O. Box 672168 gars@speakeasy.org (`-') Marietta, GA 30008, U.S.A. http://www.nanews.org ===w=w=== ----------- News of the people featured in this issue ---------- - Homage to American Indians - UN Youth Peace Summit or Exploitation in Akwesasne in 2005 - Columbus Day - B.C. Treaty progress sparks debate - Code Talker President - Kelly Lake Me'tis wants Troops out of Iraq to assert Aboriginal Rights - Annual Trek commemorates - Saskatchewan Native Justice Famous Nez Perce Battle Commission Report - Accord builds in Klamath Basin - Woman in Jail after Fatal exchange - Resolution on Badlands plan - High Court to rule eludes Park Service on Tribal-Federal Prosecution - Stewards of Wisconsin Land - Judge won't cancel for Centuries Redskins Team Trademarks - Menominee Practicing - BIA to assist, sustainable Forestry advise Oglala Sioux Police - Bosque Redondo - Suicide by Cop Long Walk Memorial - Little help for Inuit in Prison - Oklahoma Tribes - Native Prisoner seek Environment Regulatory Role -- Penpals for Very young - Chumash Group NA prisoner plans Tribal University - Rustywire: - Cultivating Indian Culture What were their names? at the U of Minn. - Poem: Broken - Coeur d'Alene - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days takes long look at Lake - Preserving Pawnee Language - Paiute Tribe acquires - Specials This Week on APTN Mustang Ranch Water Rights - This Week on NAC - Boycott Re: Sitting Bull Ad - Upcoming Events --------- "RE: Homage to American Indians or Exploitation" --------- Date: Mon, 6 Oct 2003 08:37:19 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YMCA" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/6944813.htm Homage to American Indians or cultural exploitation? BY JAMES RAGLAND The Dallas Morning News (KRT) - Sometimes it's hard to wear someone else's shoes. Trying on and wearing are not the same. Vicki Yellowfish, an American Indian mother of four, understands that. So does Peggy Larney, a leader of Indian Citizens Against Racial Exploitation. Both women know it's difficult for many people to grasp why American Indians generally are offended by the use of mock Indian rites and symbols in popular American culture. They know that once a tradition is planted in the culture, no matter how offensive or ridiculous it might seem, it can be hard to uproot. That's why Yellowfish and Larney consider the national YMCA's recent decision to rename its popular outdoor program Adventure Guides, instead of Indian Guides and Indian Princesses, a major victory. The YMCA actually dropped "Indian" from the title two years ago in favor of Y-Guides and Y-Princesses. For those unfamiliar with the program, its goal is to build stronger relationships between fathers, and, in some programs, mothers, too, and their children. That's an admirable goal that the YMCA is not changing. What it is altering is its reliance on an Indian theme that included using tribal names and bonfires, beads and feathers, painted faces and headdresses. Under the new directive, most programs will stop using American Indian themes and paraphernalia a year from now. American Indians long complained that they thought the programs perpetuated stereotypes and were disrespectful of their culture. Here's the rub: Those involved in the programs often argue the opposite. They say the programs honor the traditions of American Indians by borrowing from them. Some even label the criticism of the YMCA program silly. One North Texas YMCA group has dug in its heels: The dads plan to start their own nonprofit group so they can cling to the Indian theme. Larney just shakes her head at such resistance. "If I'm an American Indian telling you that this is offensive to me, then who are you not to listen to me?" says Larney, 59, a Choctaw. "Maybe it's not intended to be offensive, but it is." One of the problems that American Indians point to is the callous way in which many Americans treat their concerns. Perhaps no other ethnic group has seen its own cultural emblems and traditions co-opted more, and those exploitations have become mainstays in mainstream culture. Sports fans wear Indian headdresses, paint their faces and mime a tomahawk chop to celebrate teams such as the National Football League's Washington Redskins or Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves. It happens on college campuses, too. I doubt many of us raise a brow. Or that we think much of more offensive gestures, such as when a Dallas radio station enticed its listeners a few years ago to come up with "Indian names" that would describe them if they were caught in their most embarrassing moment. The incident gave rise to Larney's citizens group, which monitors the media for such insults. "These programs influence the young and the influential with kids coming up," says Larney, who also works with the American Indian Education Program for Dallas schools, but emphasized that she wasn't speaking in that capacity. Yellowfish says her mouth fell open when she heard the radio bit. "I heard that on the radio, and I was insulted," says Yellowfish, 42, a member of the Alabama-Coushatta tribe. Her husband's roots are in the Comanche, Delaware and Caddo tribes, she says. Sometimes, she points out, people seem to forget there still are American Indians who are living and trying to raise families. They're not relics. Her four children - two sons who are 25 and 19, and two daughters, 15 and 14 - haven't had many problems in their public schools or in their East Dallas neighborhood, other than sometimes being teased about their last name. But, as Yellowfish points out, lots of kids with unusual names get teased, so that's not a big deal. What's significant, she says, is that the stereotypes of American Indians be challenged, and that the exploitation of their culture be addressed. When some American Indian groups visit elementary schools, she says, "sometimes the little kids will ask us if we live in a teepee. They'll say, `Do you still shoot people with arrows?' Because that's what they see on TV." The YMCA's Indian-themed program obviously didn't intentionally offend American Indians. Perhaps it glorified the culture. That is, if you believe that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But I tend to listen to the people who have worn the shoes, rather than those who've just tried them on. And in their minds, the YMCA made a smart move, a courageous one even, given the YMCA's own tradition. "To me, it's a big step," says Yellowfish. "To me, they were playing out a fairy tale like Indians aren't real, but they are real. You can play-act Cinderella - that's a fairy tale - but not a people who still exist." --- (James Ragland is a columnist for The Dallas Morning News. Write to him at The Dallas Morning News, Communications Center, Dallas, TX, 75265, or send e-mail to jragland@dallas news.com) --- Copyright c. 2003, The Dallas Morning News. Visit The Dallas Morning News on the World Wide Web at http://www.dallasnews.com Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services. --------- "RE: Columbus Day" --------- Date: Wednesday, October 01, 2003 8:27 PM From: Subj: columbus day...this is excellent! Mailing List: Tribal Fires Columbus day approaches, this event provides a great teaching opportunity for all. Please forward and print (one copy or many) of this questionnaire and distribute as widely as possible. Have your children hand it to their teachers, post it on the bulletin board at your community center, discuss it with your friends and neighbors, mail a copy to your Mayor, City Council and House Representatives, Senators, Governor and President -- why are politicians neglecting to do something about this absurd & abominable holy day (that IS what holiday means) that only serves the purpose of rubbing salt into some of the old, festering wounds of so many in our multi-cultural society. WHY DO WE CELEBRATE COLUMBUS DAY? What is the meaning of this day to each of us, or is there any meaning at all? Please, bring this up as a topic of discussion with others, and let me know what kind of responses you hear. Questions To Ponder As Columbus Day nears 1. Columbus sailed into the Caribbean and never even set foot in what is now known as the United States. So, why do we, in the United States, give him one of our 8 Federal holidays? 2. Why would Columbus be given credit for "discovering" the Americas anyway, when we all know those lands were already inhabited and had been for thousands of years? Didn't the inhabitants of those lands discover them? Look at any map of the US and see the many, many, many states, cities and towns that all bear the Native American names of people and peoples who once populated those regions: Illinois, Indiana, Oklahoma, Cheyenne, Nantuckett, Milwaukee, Yuma, Omaha, Wichita, Tallahassee, Mississippi, Muskogee, Tennessee, Allegheny, Missouri, Kentucky, Huron, Tuscaloosa and on and on and on...... 3. Knowing that Native Americans were already here, and Columbus never was here, why does anyone go along with the myth that "Columbus Discovered America", when we all know it is not true? 4. Why aren't we taught the whole truth about Columbus' actions and the devastating consequences of those actions? Why are we only told about Columbus, who as a boy who always wanted to sail and then when he got older Spain provided him three ships & he sailed across the ocean and DISCOVERED A NEW WORLD! (where millions of Taino had lived for thousands of years and which we now call the Caribbean). Why are we only taught about that FIRST voyage, and not the other 3 voyages, when all hell broke loose? Why aren't we taught about how on the second voyage, unlike the first when Columbus only had 3 small old ships, Columbus was given 17 large ships and 1,500 armed men eagerly signed up for the chance to go to the "New World" with hopes of getting rich quick on the gold to be found there? Also, why aren't we taught about the greed and brutality of the Spaniards against the Taino (who have been remembered as "naked savages" in our history books, if at all), and how the Taino were murdered and enslaved on that second voyage? Why are we not taught about the third voyage & how when King Ferdinand & Queen Isabella of Spain heard about Columbus' actions in the "New World" he was sent back to Spain in chains to stand trial for his crimes, was convicted and stripped of his titles? Or, how the Spaniards tricked 80 of the Taino leaders into a hut and burned them alive? Isn't to omit the ugly part of the truth considered LYING BY OMISSION? Then, that is what our schools are doing when they only teach about the first voyage, they are lying by omission to our students, and we as a improperly educated country have a holiday for an evil, greedy, slave-trading, murderer. 5. Some people say he is worthy of the honor of a holiday for his nautical genius, but the Vikings sailed across the ocean to North America 500 years before, Marco Polo sailed to China & India 300 years prior and the Chinese set foot upon the very shores that Columbus did 71 years prior to the arrival of Columbus, the difference being, Columbus "claimed" the land and cites the Papal Bulls with giving him the authority to do so if no one disputes the action, and Columbus according to his journal, was careful to add that no one disputed it at the time, while admitting at the same time that they could not understand each other, so how could they be expected to understand what his flag-planting and pronunciations meant? 6. Many people will argue that Columbus brought Western Civilization to what is now known as the United States, and that is the reason the US bestows upon him the honor of a holiday. But how can we make that correlation when Columbus, working for Spain, came in 1492 and the European colonizers who came here TWO HUNDRED years later, came from England? If Columbus is worthy of being given credit for this "achievement", wouldn't it have happened 200 years earlier and wouldn't we all be speaking Spanish now as the countries he invaded do? 7. Some people will argue that Columbus Day is a day for recognition of Italians, an Italian Pride Day. Are Italians more worthy of recognition than other ethnic groups in this country we have proudly (?) nicknamed "The Melting Pot"? I have heard Italians say that Germans have Oktoberfest, the Irish have St. Patrick's Day and Mexicans have Cinco de Mayo, but none of those are FEDERAL holidays. The only two ethnic groups worthy of recognition for their contributions and sacrifice in this land are those who were ALREADY HERE when the Europeans came and those who the Europeans BROUGHT HERE IN CHAINS. All other ethnic groups came here voluntarily. It was long overdue but African Americans finally got their holiday - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in January.... but Native Americans still don't have a holiday (urge your congressmen and women to support House Bill #167). 8. Some people think he is deserving of the honor because he proved the world was round, but this was already a widely accepted belief by educated people at the time as Ptolemy, the ancient astronomer and geographer from Egypt, declared that the Earth was spherical in the second century. 7. Why do 17 states refuse to recognize and/or celebrate Columbus Day? 8. Why do protestors gather and march at every Columbus Day Parade? 9. And, WHY is Columbus honored with one of our 8 federal holidays in the US when, a. He didn't "discover" us, or anything previously undiscovered or uninhabited b. He never set foot on what is now U.S. soil. c. His legacy is greed, theft, destruction, brutality, slave-trading and murder d. It is offensive to Latin American, African American and Native Americans e. Native Americans, who were here and are worthy of a holiday, still don't have one. 10.And why have the Taino people of the Caribbean and those in the US, whose ancestors have paid such a huge price for the misfortune of being "discovered", been erroneously declared extinct and are therefore denied legal recognition by the government? To learn more about the truth, read: I would suggest starting with: Lies My Teacher Told Me, by James Loewen: http://www.uvm.edu/~jloewen/ and The Peoples History Of The United States, by Howard Zinn: http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Zinn/Columbus_PeoplesHx.html Kris When asked by an anthropologist what the Indians called America before the white man came, an Indian said simply."Ours" Vine Deloria --------- "RE: Code Talker President wants Troops out of Iraq" --------- Date: Mon, 6 Oct 2003 08:37:19 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CODE TALKER STANCE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.daily-times.com/artman/publish/article_3543.shtml Navajo Code Talker president wants U.S. troops out of Iraq By Jim Snyder/The Daily Times Oct 5, 2003, 12:12 SHIPROCK - The president of the Navajo Code Talkers Association said Friday he opposes U.S. troops being stationed in Iraq because suspected weapons of mass destruction were never found. "At the time the reasoning was good (to invade) because they feared Saddam Hussein was manufacturing weapons," former U.S. Marine Sam Billison said. Since the weapons were never found - and more U.S. troops are being killed now compared to when the actual fighting took place - they should come home, he added. "It's different now," Billison said. "When we went to war it was a declared World War. It had to do with the Japanese attacking our country." He added "It's good to support the troops but if we find there isn't any purpose (in Iraq) the American people are going to have to think." The association is made up of U.S. Marine World War II Navajo veterans who developed an unbreakable Navajo code to defeat the Japanese. The Code Talkers were involved in some of the bloodiest battles of the South Pacific - including Saipan. There are approximately 350 Navajo Code Talkers alive today. "We have marched in the last five presidential inaugurations except for the last one," Billison said. "For some reason we didn't get invited. Maybe they found out we were all democrats." The Code Talkers met three times with President Clinton during his administration, he added. "Clinton really loves the Code Talkers." Jim Snyder: jims@daily-times.com Copyright c. 2003 Farmington Daily Times, a Gannett Co., Inc. newspaper. --------- "RE: Annual Trek commemorates Famous Nez Perce Battle" --------- Date: Tue, 7 Oct 2003 08:48:01 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BEAR PAW BATTLEFIELD" http://www.havredailynews.com/2003/10/06/local_headlines/battle.txt Annual trek commemorates famous battle By Jerome Tharaud/Havre Daily News/jtharaud@havredailynews.com CHINOOK - The Nez Perce who make the 10-hour trip from Idaho every year to commemorate the struggle at this battlefield north of the Bear Paw Mountains will tell you the weather is typically a fitting reminder of the hardships about 800 of their ancestors faced here on six snowy fall days in 1877. On Sunday morning warm sunshine and a gentle breeze graced the two riderless horses - one representing the Nez Perce men and boys who were here, the other representing the women and girls - that were led in a circle around a crowd of more than 100 people - mostly Nez Perce, along with a sprinkling of Assiniboine and Gros Ventre American Indians and National Park Service employees - gathered at the Bear Paw Battlefield Sunday morning. The tribe has repeated this memorial ceremony, which also included a traditional pipe ceremony, honor songs, speeches by tribal leaders and the laying of a memorial wreath, since 1977. The group also visited Fort Walsh, Alberta, on Saturday and, earlier Sunday morning, a site on the Milk River where seven Nez Perce warriors were killed. Nez Perce tribal chair Anthony Johnson recalled his earlier visits here years ago. "We shed tears, felt anger and hatred. As time went on I understood the purpose of being here and the word of healing instead of hatred," said Johnson, 33, who brought his young daughter to the battlefield this year. "Maybe the next generation, she won't feel the hatred that I felt as an angry young man." For the Nez Perce, the battle - where about 40 Nez Perce and 24 U.S. soldiers died - marked the end of a 1,600-mile trek toward safety in Canada, and the beginning of a period of dispersal of the five bands of Nez Perce who made it this far. Some 430 stayed behind with Chief Joseph, surrendering on Oct. 5; more than 250 others slipped away before and after the battle and made it into Canada, said local history teacher Jim Magera, a seasonal park ranger at the battlefield who has studied the Nez Perce since 1955. Some stayed in Canada, while others eventually returned to the United States. Another band refused to fight early on in the war but were taken prisoner and sent to Fort Vancouver, Wash. Joseph's band was sent to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to languish until 1885, when the 287 who survived were split between the tribe's Idaho reservation at Lapwai and the Colville Indian Reservation in Washington state. Many Nez Perce eventually moved to those two reservations, and a few also went to the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon. Still others settled on other tribes' reservations, including Fort Belknap and the Crow Indian Reservation. Today's Nez Perce are tied to these places by the dead they buried there. The descendants of Joseph, Looking Glass, Ollokot, White Bird, Yellow Wolf and others come together this time every year in Montana. "It's a time for us to reconnect with the land," said Nakia Williamson- Cloud, 28, one of two riders who led the riderless horses around the circle. "The reason we treat it so sacred is because our people are buried here." He said the tribe has a similar ceremony at Fort Vancouver every year. Williamson-Cloud said the visits help remind him of the hardships, but that the purpose is not to cast blame. "We're more interested in reconciliation with our past and trying to move past this," he said. That doesn't mean forgetting, said tribal member Robert Taylor, 39. "All our lives we've learned of Chief Joseph, Yellow Wolf, Looking Glass," and the other warriors, Taylor said. "To be some place where things actually happened, it connects you to this." He added, "Children need to know why a treaty was written, what roots and berries to gather, when to hunt. In essence, we're here because our elders are still teaching us." Taylor said the Nez Perce used to come to this area before 1877 to hunt and had ties with Montana tribes like the Flathead tribes. Geneva Greene-Towner said she grew up hearing stories about the battlefield. Now she brings her children and her grandchildren from Lapwai every year - "so they'll know where they came from and that they are survivors." Magera said the battlefield is one of the few sites from the Nez Perce War of 1877 that still looks the way it did at the time of the battle, and that people come here from all over the world to see what he called "a paradigm of American Indian experience." But he said there is another side of the story that should not be forgotten: the U.S. soldiers who fought here. Magera said the soldiers were caught in the political climate of the time, and that unlike other battles like the one at the Big Hole on Aug. 10, 1877, they did not behave brutally here. "I think that's a side of the story that needs to be told, the humanity of the soldiers," he said. Magera said the soldiers looked the other way while some of the Indians escaped into Canada, and said there is at least one account of soldiers giving water to women and children who were crying for it. But women and children were killed, said Johnson after the ceremony, as he faced east over the battlefield to watch small groups leaving gifts of tobacco, beads and food along the trail. Johnson recalled the anger he felt years ago when a friend pointed out the spot where he said three women and a little girl were killed by an artillery shell during the battle. He said the deaths of warriors and soldiers was easier to accept than the others, because that's what warriors and soldiers do. "For women and children to die, it hurts," he said. Johnson started to cry and wiped his cheek with his thumb while his 6- year-old daughter played nearby. He recalled the first time his mother took him here. "When I was her age we came to this site and she cried. All she said was, 'Our people died here.' It'll be the same for my daughter one day when she's older." It will be different at least in one way, he hopes. "I want her to be strong enough to not feel anger. ... It's in our nature to be strong warriors, but not in terms of carrying anger," he said. Copyright c. 2003 Havre MT Daily News. --------- "RE: Accord builds in Klamath Basin" --------- Date: Mon, 6 Oct 2003 08:37:19 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="KLAMATH RIVER" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.oregonlive.com/news/~/1065268926154690.xml Accord builds in Klamath Basin Agricultural and tribal leaders are working together on what would be a historic plan to deal with water shortages October 4, 2003 MICHAEL MILSTEIN KLAMATH FALLS - Klamath Basin tribes and farmers two years ago stood on opposite sides as farms lost their irrigation water to a federally protected fish long valued by tribes as a food source. Now they seek to resolve the region's divisive water battle through a historic accord that could return to tribes ancestral lands the size of Rhode Island while downsizing farms at least in dry years. Recent meetings here have drawn nearly 20 leaders from Southern Oregon and Northern California. Their goal: to assure farms a predictable, if reduced, water supply and to restore fish and wildlife promised to the tribes under their 1864 treaty with the government. "It's the first time I've felt there's a genuine opportunity to make things better," said John Crawford, a farmer in Tulelake, Calif., and board member of the Tulelake Irrigation District. "We're all going to have to give a little bit, but nobody's going to give more than they need to keep their communities whole." The talks come as the Bush administration continues weighing a return to the tribes of roughly 690,000 acres of former reservation land that is now national forest. "I think we're all concerned that solutions, if they're going to take, need to come from folks out there," said Sue Ellen Wooldridge, deputy chief of staff to U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton. "We can help and bring resources to bear, but they're the ones who know what can work for the long term." The Oregonian joined key participants last week in touring affected areas. They said any compact probbly will involve several key elements: Intensive restoration of fish and wildlife habitat throughout the Klamath drainage, especially in its headwaters that feed Upper Klamath Lake. The lake is home to endangered suckers, prized by tribes, but suffers declining water quality. A transfer of segments of the Winema and Fremont national forests to the Klamath Tribes. The tribes have sought return of the former reservation land almost since the U.S. government bought them out more than 50 years ago. Shrinking of farms within the 220,000-acre Klamath Project during dry years and perhaps permanently. Agriculture leaders have firmly resisted permanent downsizing, but others argue it's essential to reduce water demand. Assurances that remaining farms will receive water in dry years. Some could come from new reservoirs now under study. Resolution of overlapping water rights in the upper end of the basin. The state has tried to settle these, unsuccessfully, for more than 20 years. The Klamath Tribes claim a priority right to all water in the basin. But tribes could yield to farms if suckers and other species recover. Reduced power rates for farmers. Klamath farms now enjoy very cheap power to run irrigation pumps, but the deal will expire in 2006, and prices could jump tenfold or more. The alternative: more conflict The alternative to a compact, participants say, is more conflict: in the courts and in the broader Klamath Basin community, with a persistent divide between tribes and agricultural interests. Tribal members and farmers last week toured the Klamath Project -- the first time many had spent time together, glimpsing each other's views. Some estimated the likelihood of an accord at 50-50. Others said it was better than that. "There's a lot of listening that needs to take place that hasn't in the past," said Becky Hyde, who runs a ranch at the headwaters of the Klamath River. "Some of us are getting tired of our reputation in the basin for not being able to get along." Attention by the Bush administration presents a rare chance to advance a compact through Congress, many said. The return of land to the tribes and portions of a water rights settlement would require congressional approval. "I hope all parties in this feel that the window of opportunity is opening and is probably as wide as it will ever get," said Allan Foreman, chairman of the Klamath Tribes. "We're always cautious about what the government does. But I think there's an awareness now that this can really happen." He said he hopes to have a plan to advance to Congress this winter. Critics, among them environmental and fishing groups, contend the administration advanced the interests of agriculture at the expense of wildlife and the tribes dependent on it. But Foreman said Bush officials have treated the Klamath Tribes fairly. Tribes plan for regained land "I have always felt all the way through that they're very genuine," he said. "I've never felt they're unjustly favoring agriculture over other groups. I really feel they're trying to do what's right." Tribes have elaborate plans for the land they hope to regain. They drafted two of the region's top forestry experts -- Jerry Franklin of the University of Washington and Norman Johnson of Oregon State University -- to draw a blueprint that, in seeking to restore an original ponderosa pine landscape, calls for selective logging in thickets that grew during decades of firefighting and for plantings to improve wildlife habitat and stream quality. More than two years in the making, the blueprint underwent extensive peer review and will be released publicly within a few weeks, Foreman said. "I predict this will be the gold standard for forest management plans," he said. Healthy land and wildlife are keys to restoring the tribe's self- sufficiency, tribal leaders say. "I don't think it's much different from what the other folks in the basin want, either," said Jeff Mitchell, a former tribal chairman. The debacle of 2001 was a long time coming. Klamath water is overtapped, facing demands from farms, wildlife and tribes at the upper and lower ends of the Klamath River. Dry years such as 2001 prove there is often not enough to go around. If another such situation is to be avoided, all parties must give something up, say those involved in the current talks. "There has to be a 'share-the-pain' component to this by all parties," Foreman said. "If we're going to achieve certainty for all of us, there has to be a reduction in agriculture in the basin." Farmers this year participated in a water-bank plan that idled farmland in exchange for a per-acre federal payment, freeing water for remaining crops. Agricultural leaders say they could accept continued idling in dry years, but would more firmly resist permanent farm buyouts also proposed. Some in community excluded Even if a water agreement is reached, opposition is likely. Turning over public land to the tribes sparks controversy. Some fear a deal will sell out ranch land above Upper Klamath Lake, where habitat restoration is critical and cool, clean water especially valuable. The current negotiations have excluded parts of the community who backed farmers through the bitter summer of 2001, some say. "You're never going to get a comprehensive settlement through secret talks," said Roger Nicholson, a ranch owner in the upper basin who said he has not been invited to participate. The talks have not included environmental groups or tribes at the lower end of the Klamath River concerned about the health of salmon there. But the discussion has just begun and will soon expand to include more public involvement, said Dan Keppen, director of the Klamath Water Users Association. Michael Milstein: 503-294-7689; michaelmilstein@news.oregonian.com Copyright c. 2003 The Oregonian/Portland OR. --------- "RE: Resolution on Badlands plan eludes Park Service" --------- Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2003 08:11:19 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="OGLALA REJECT PLAN" http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2003/10/01/news/local/top/news01.txt Resolution on Badlands plan eludes park service By Jomay Steen, Journal Staff Writer October 1, 2003 MANDERSON - Testimony on Monday by Oglala Sioux Tribe members and National Park Service officials failed to bring hoped-for results on plans for the South Unit of Badlands National Park. With National Park Service Midwest regional director Ernest Quintana in the audience at the Wounded Knee Elementary School gymnasium, 40 people from Manderson, Wounded Knee, White Horse Creek, Medicine Root and other districts listened to community testimony as park officials announced plans for a fossil dig near Stronghold Table. They rejected the proposal. Another meeting is planned for Thursday, Oct. 2, in Eagle Butte. Quoting spiritual leaders Frank Kills Enemy, Frank Short Horn and Frank Fools Crow on Monday, Toby Big Boy reminded audience members that the area of Stronghold Table was sacred historically and culturally to them and that "no one should be there." "We will resist, and we will continue to resist," Big Boy said. "We must acknowledge the Ghost Dancers who protected us, and we now must protect them." George Tall said: "Our responsibility on this land is to our children. You only work here, we live here. This is why we're fighting for this land." An advocate of the original Fort Laramie treaties, the 52-year-old Manderson man said he wants the land returned to the tribe and future generations of Lakota people who will live here. In introductory remarks before the testimony, the Park Service's Quintana acknowledged that much has been accomplished since an August meeting to air grievances in Omaha, Neb. "But we have a long way to go to re-earn the trust of the people," he said. Assuming his title as Midwest regional director in July, Quintana has worked in the National Park Service for 32 years. His job is to see that the Park Service is in compliance with a memorandum of agreement signed with the tribe in 1976 and to report to Congress what is said during meetings with the tribe. He said he hopes the tribe sees positive movement in finding a solution to the issue of management. Badlands National Park's South Unit is part of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and its tribal land. Under the memorandum of agreement, the National Park Service administers the South Unit, which includes responsibility for items of historical or scientific interest on tribal lands. Plans surfaced last summer for a fossil dig near Stronghold Table in the South Unit. Stronghold Table has cultural and historic significance for the Lakota, whose ancestors danced the Ghost Dance there before the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre. Survivors retreated to Stronghold after the massacre. "The memorandum of agreement of 1976 is the basis where we start to define greater management," Quintana said. "I agree it needs to be retooled. ... It can be a better document." Tribal President John Yellow Bird Steele acted as moderator, and BIA Superintendent Larry Bodin attended the meeting as well. "A lot of feelings have been percolating about this in the last 27 years," Steele said. Frank Ecoffey, 77, opposes the condemnation of trust land, the forced removal of 125 families and continued violations of the 1976 memorandum of agreement. "All the people I've talked to say it's now time for it to come to an end," he said. "We say, `No more MOA.'" For more than a year, Earl Tall, 49, of White Horse Creek has opposed the plans for the fossil dig and future heritage center. Tall wants all the land returned to the tribe and reservation. He said it was never for sale and the tribe had never willingly given any of it away. His voice cracking with anger, Tall looked at Quintana and said, "At that center, they should tell the real story about how the Lakota people keep getting the short end of the stick." Contact Jomay Steen at 394-8418 or jomay.steen@rapidcityjournal.com Copyright c. 2003 The Rapid City Journal. --------- "RE: Stewards of Wisconsin Land for Centuries" --------- Date: Mon, 6 Oct 2003 08:37:19 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SUSTAINING EARTH" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.madison.com/wisconsinstatejournal/local/58157.php Sustaining Earth: American Indians have been stewards of Wisconsin land for centuries October 4, 2003 Ron Seely Environment reporter In northern Wisconsin there are places few know about, places where the woods are deep and the lakes are clean and wild rice grows tall during the warm months of summer. These are special, nearly wild landscapes and they are tended by people who are as little known, in reality, as the lands upon which they live. Yet, these are ancient peoples who practiced what we now know as sustainability long before that word ever became the darling of American conservationists. Today, when many of us speak of Wisconsin's American Indians and their cultures, we hardly get beyond gambling and casinos and a litany of stereotypes. All one has to do is tally the headlines that involve Wisconsin's tribes. Almost all of them are about casinos and gambling compacts. It is an oversight that ignores much of what the tribes are really about and silences centuries of wisdom and knowledge about how to live in the natural world. These are Wisconsin's native people, the Menominee with their green and shadowy forest or the Sokaogon Chippewa with their sensitive and flourishing rice beds. The Lac du Flambeau Chippewa and the Lac Court Oreilles work to protect some of the most beautiful lakes in the state. And the Bad River Chippewa manage one of the largest freshwater estuaries on the Great Lakes. So diligent is the Bad River band in its husbandry of the sprawling, rice-filled sloughs that the Nature Conservancy said last week it's turning over 21,322 acres of adjacent land - which it bought for $4.5 million - for the tribe to care for. On acreage they have fought and sacrificed to keep, these tribes and several others have carved a life that has much more to do with wood and water and the green and growing plants of the forest than with the artificial clamor of the casino. Those who make their homes on the reservations will tell you that it is this other world - of white pine and hemlock, of river and lake, of rice and medicinal plants, of walleye and deer, of sky and earth and fire - that is the real world of Wisconsin's native tribes. Because many tribal members still rely on their lakes and forests for food and because they live in a culture that lends even spiritual importance to the natural world, Wisconsin's American Indians are especially good stewards of the land and its resources. "It goes back," said Alan Caldwell, director of the Menominee Culture Institute, "to the cultural and spiritual beliefs of the community, to our origin stories that are in our oral histories. Where did we come from? Where did we originate? Our stories tell us we came from the earth. So there is that spiritual connection, that cultural connection to the earth. That's why we have the responsibility to take care of the earth . In the decisions we make today, we have to ask what impact will those decisions have on our grandchildren and our great grandchildren." This is not to say that all American Indians are predisposed to protect natural resources. Such a positive stereotype, according to Ada Deer, director of the UW-Madison American Indian Studies Program and a national leader on Indian policy, is as unfair and can be as damaging as more negative stereotypes. "Not every single Indian out there reveres and respects the land," Deer said. The positive stereotype of Indians being the ultimate environmentalists, Deer added, has also caused some to mistakenly lump traditional American Indians in with those conservationists who want to leave forests and other landscapes untouched. This is a misreading of the Indian approach to managing natural resources, Deer said, because tribes do manage forests and hunt game and grow crops such as rice; they simply do it with an eye toward the future and toward protecting resources. Tribal members say that when they think about how they live on the earth, they consider how their actions will be thought of seven generations into the future. They call this "living for the seventh generation" and it is a poetic summary of their approach to conservation. This utilitarian approach to conservation is actually more compelling and more instructive than any stereotype. In reservations across northern Wisconsin and Minnesota, the old reverence for the earth is being combined with the use of modern technologies such as global positioning systems and cutting edge practices to manage forests and lakes and wetlands. It's all a long way from the old cliches - such as the old advertisement against littering in which an Indian stands on a polluted lake, a tear running from his eye. In reality, tribal conservation grows from the practical use of natural resources and is informed by a deep respect for and understanding of the natural world that has long been a part of American Indian teachings. Winona LaDuke, a White Earth Chippewa from northern Minnesota, has written extensively of American Indians and their husbandry of natural resources. She frequently spoke on the subject during the last presidential campaign when she ran for vice president on the Green Party ticket with Ralph Nader. "I only know a little," wrote LaDuke, "but from what I know, I understand that our traditional society, our traditional view says that natural law is preeminent. Natural law is superior to the laws of nations, of states, of conservation officers, and of cities. In fact, it is superior to the laws of all humans. And we are all accountable to this natural law. "The Anishinabe (Chippewa) people, like other indigenous or land-based peoples, have tried to live in accordance with this law. Quite frankly, the example of the Anishinabe people, and other indigenous peoples, is the only continuous example of living sustainably on this land, on Turtle Island (a Chippewa name for the Earth). We hope there will be more." Proof of this can be found on reservations across Wisconsin. On the their reservation in northeastern Wisconsin, the Menominee have practiced sustainable forestry since the mid-1800s and have the numbers to prove it. Early timber records show that about 1.5 billion board feet stood on the reservation in 1865. Since then, roughly 2 billion board feet of lumber has been cut from the forest. Yet, the latest tribal inventories show 1.5 billion board feet remain in the forest after more than a century of logging; few other state, county or national forests in Wisconsin can compare. Or consider wild rice. In many places this fragile plant has all but disappeared, a victim of pollution or of dams that have flooded ancient rice beds, such as those that now rest beneath the waters of the Chippewa Flowage, near Hayward in northwest Wisconsin. But one can go to places on several of Wisconsin's reservations and see rice beds nearly as extensive as they once were. At Bad River on Lake Superior, the rice beds are an emerald sea that, in some spots in the wilds of the Kakagon and Bad River Sloughs, spread almost to the horizon. There and on other reservations, such as Mole Lake, near Crandon, rice remains a central part of the culture and the economy. Every fall the rice is harvested in canoes and each spring, care is taken to seed the beds to assure rice for future generations. On other reservations, including Lac du Flambeau in north central Wisconsin, and Lac Court Oreilles, in northwestern Wisconsin, far-sighted regulations, including shoreline protection laws, have left lakes cleaner than many off-reservation lakes and created thriving fisheries that are enjoyed by Indians and non-Indians alike. Such sustainability - the practice of using a resource in a way that protects it for future generations - is not unusual on Wisconsin's reservations. There are a couple of reasons for this, according to those who study American Indians and conservation. The first is pretty straightforward. On reservations, where poverty was the rule before the advent of tribal gambling, lakes and forests provided food in the form of venison and fish. They still do. LaDuke, who is a member of the White Earth reservation in Minnesota, writes of a study conducted there that showed a remarkable dependence on the land for food and for a livelihood. The survey showed that over 75 percent of tribal members kill one or more deer each year; 65 percent kill ducks, geese or small game; 35 percent catch 25 or more fish each year; 45 percent harvest wild rice either for their own use or for sale, as well as berries and or medicines. In addition, LaDuke said, 72 percent of the tribal members grow gardens, 58 percent had made maple sugar, and more than 45 percent produced handicrafts for their own use and for sale. Similar percentages can probably be found on most reservations elsewhere in Minnesota and in Wisconsin, LaDuke said. "Overall," she concluded, "in many native communities the traditional land-based economy, and in fact this way of life, remains a centerpiece of the community." In Wisconsin, others said, reservation land has always provided Indian people with food and clothing and medicines. Alan Caldwell, a Menominee and director of the tribe's culture institute, said most tribal members still rely on the forest for food. "One of the things that has sustained us as a people is our forest," said Caldwell. "It provides us with shelter, food, medicine. It provides us with everything we need." But beyond these practical reasons for taking care of forests and lakes, the Chippewa and other tribes also point to their cultural and spiritual beliefs, which inform and guide their care for the landscapes on which they live. In his book on Chippewa, or Ojibway (the name the Chippewa use when referring to themselves), spirituality, "The Mishomis Book," Edward Benton Banai expands on these ideas and writes, also, of how in the American Indian view of the natural world, humans are but part of the whole and so have a responsibility to all other living things, whether plant or animal. "They understood," Banai wrote, "that they belonged to the Four Levels of the Earth: the Mother Earth, the plant life, the animal life, and the human beings. In this chain, the human beings were last to come. It was understood that human life could not survive without any of the preceding levels, while the other levels could survive very easily without the human beings. "It is important for us to remind ourselves of our place in the Universe. We are but a small part." Winona LaDuke explained that American Indian conservation practice comes partly from the spiritual view of a living, animate world. "This is reflected," LaDuke wrote in an essay called "Indigenous Mind," "in our language, in which most nouns are animate. The word for corn is animate; tree is animate; rice, rock and stone are animate. Natural things are alive, they have spirit." Such humility is in striking contrast to the traditional European attitude toward the natural world, which has most often been utilitarian. History tells us, for example, that the earliest white settlers saw the immense forest stretching from the East Coast to the Mississippi River as an obstacle to be overcome and tamed. In another essay, LaDuke said a perception of "man's mastery of nature" dominates the value system of many Americans. In other words, many Americans think of the earth as something to conquer. It is only when one spends time on the reservations and listens to the tribal people and sees how their beliefs translate into practice that such cultural differences become apparent. Deer told of being on a Pueblo reservation in the West and of spending time with an elder, a man who would awake in the morning, walk into the desert and offer tobacco for the day and for the landscape. Deer was struck by the naturalness of the act and its sincerity. "He just did this matter of fact," Deer said, "like we would brush our teeth. If you hang around Indians a lot, you see this." George Meyer, former secretary of the Department of Natural Resources, said that what is most impressive on the reservations is how belief becomes practice. It can be seen, he said, in the healthy walleye lakes, the productive forests and the rice beds. Meyer, as a DNR lawyer working on treaty rights issues 10 years ago, was new to tribal ways. But he learned quickly, he said, that the American Indian approach to sustainable conservation was deeply rooted and very effective. "You can see this by what is happening on the reservations," Meyer said. "And it isn't just a preservation mentality. It is one where, in fact, there is utilization of the resources, but with an eye toward the future. "This is cultural. It comes from the fact that it was a matter of subsistence for them. More than that, it is religious." Others familiar with American Indian conservation agree and also add that the reservations offer valuable lessons and an insight into a way of living on and caring for the earth that non-Indians would do well to study. "It is different working for the tribes," said Peter David, a non-Indian biologist who works with the tribes doing research on rice. "I mean just starting a meal with a pipe ceremony is something. "To me, it's made me a better biologist. The folks I work for really do think about the resources differently. It makes me think really hard about the culture as much as the biology." Tribal members would be the last to boast of their accomplishments in natural resource management. But, increasingly, agencies such as the DNR and the U.S. Forest Service are taking notice of everything from forestry practices to fish management on Wisconsin's reservations. So, as the North Woods continues to deal with threats from commercial and residential development, it might be that new ideas for protecting this important part of Wisconsin will be found in places such as the forest of the Menominee or the lakes of the Lac du Flambeau. Perhaps the green and wild reaches of what is left of the original, ancient native homelands offer knowledge that will help us all. Copyright c. 2003 Wisconsin State Journal/Madison, WI. --------- "RE: Menominee Practicing Sustainable Forestry" --------- Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2003 08:11:19 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="FOREST KEEPERS" http://www.madison.com/wisconsinstatejournal/local/58199.php FOREST KEEPERS: Menominee have been practicing sustainable forestry for centuries 11:40 PM 10/05/03 Ron Seely Environment reporter NEOPIT - In the rich green of the forest that creeps to the very edge of this village, one can glimpse not only how the northern landscape used to be, but also something of the spirit and the culture of the Native American people who live in the shadowy depths of the trees. The Menominee have been caring for this forest for centuries. It is as much a part of their lives as their families and homes. It is, to them, old and sacred and alive. On a very basic level, said Alan Caldwell, director of the Menominee Cultural Institute, the forest has always provided food and shelter. "The survival and the maintenance of the Menominee as a people is directly related to the forest that we have," Caldwell said. Most importantly, Caldwell said, the forest provides the Menominee people with a link to their storied past and to the old ways that have allowed them to endure through even the most difficult of times. It provides old medicines, silence, and hidden places to conduct ancient ceremonies. "Because of this connection," Caldwell said, "this connection with the forest, we have been able to maintain our cultural and spiritual values." These words remain simply words until one is swallowed by the forest. On a warm summer day, Marshall Pecore, the tribe's chief forester, walked a shaded forest road and talked about the Menominee and their forest. From the edges of the dirt two-track, called Camp One Road, the forest spread into green shadow. Beams of sunlight spilt through openings and lit the forest floor with its ferns and moss-covered logs. The trunks of enormous white pine trees rose like pillars, one after another, holding the high canopy aloft. Deep from the forest came the reedy fluting of a thrush. It seemed an ancient, timeless place. But Pecore, in his jeans and dusty work boots, brought a down-to-earth reality to the dreamlike forest. It is, after all, a working forest that provides many in the band a livelihood through logging and jobs at the sawmill. It is almost impossible to believe that since 1865 nearly 2 billion board feet (one board foot is equal to a board one foot square and one inch thick) of lumber has been cut from the forest. Yet, Pecore said, there remains 1.5 billion standing board feet, the same volume that was standing when the Menominee signed the treaty that made this forest their home. Though Pecore is not a tribal member, he grew up on the reservation and has spent a lifetime listening to elders and learning how the forest is so much a part of the tribe's identity and life. It is their grocery and pharmacy and church, all rolled into one, he said. Most years, according to Pecore, tribal members kill 1,000 deer and as many as 100 bear in the forest. They kill rabbits, squirrels and ruffed grouse. They trap beaver and muskrats. They harvest plants for food and medicine. They pick blackberries and raspberries. To the Menominee, then, the forest is much more than a forest. It is striking in appearance, partly because it so contrasts with the mostly cleared farmland that surrounds it. Coming from the south, on Highway 47, one hits a wall of green and enters into it as if entering a tunnel. It covers 223,000 of the reservation's 235,033 acres. It is dark and cool, even in the heat of summer. "Right there at the village border, there's the timber," said Pecore. "You can just kind of look out the back door of any house and there is the forest. That speaks of a land ethic, of some pretty good wisdom. This is an island of timber in an ocean of cleared land." On a recent flight of the space shuttle, one of the astronauts noted the rectangular block of green Menominee forest in north central Wisconsin. It looked, the astronaut said, like a "jewel." The forest is so visible from space, according to UW-Madison forestry scientist John Kotar, that satellites use the forest edges to focus their cameras. The presence of such a forest is even more remarkable for its history. Caldwell and others say that the deep connection the tribe has to its forest comes at least partly from the knowledge that it is but a small remnant of what once existed. This is true, in fact, for all of Wisconsin's tribes. These are peoples who once lived in large and expansive natural landscapes with room to roam and live according to what bounty the seasons offered. Now, they live on small remnants of their native lands and, in many cases, still fight to keep those. It lends even more motivation for them to care for the land that remains. At numerous times in the tribe's difficult history, the Menominee have had to fight, frequently without success, to keep their land and their forest from being wrested away. The battle the tribe has waged to hold onto its land has been a long one; the Menominee are the oldest continuous residents of Wisconsin and have lived here for 10,000 years. Their ancestral homeland once covered 9. 5 million acres of land in what is now central and northeastern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In 1854, the tribe signed a treaty with the United States government that left the Menominee with 276,400 acres along the banks of the wild Wolf River in northeast Wisconsin. That acreage would be further reduced in the 1970s during a disastrous federal experiment in which the government terminated reservation status for the Menominee and the land was divided up for private ownership among tribal members. But several thousand acres of tribal land ended up being purchased by white buyers at tax sales after Indians defaulted on their payments. In 1973, tribal status was restored but not before the reservation had been reduced to around 235,000 acres. Still, the Menominee have a powerful connection to the land on which they live today. It is, as Caldwell said, where they have always lived. And that is no small thing. "We are the only true residents of Wisconsin," Caldwell said. "We are one of the few tribes east of the Mississippi with land holdings in the ancestral region where we have always lived." Almost continually, from the time of the 1854 treaty until today, the Menominee have cut timber from their forest. In fact, soon after the Menominee signed the treaty, the tribe bought a squatter's sawmill on Indian land and started cutting small amounts of timber. And, that far back, tribal chiefs considered the problem of living on such a small land base and caring for the forest in a way that guaranteed its health, its sustainability for future generations of Menominee. The tribe's oral history includes this direction from those early chiefs about how to cut the forest: "Start with the rising sun, and work toward the setting sun, but take only the mature trees, the sick trees, and the trees that have fallen. When you reach the end of the reservation, turn and cut from the setting sun to the rising sun and the trees will last forever." It is, according to Pecore, a very early definition of what would later become known as sustainable forestry - the practice of logging in such a way that it remains productive and healthy far into the future. In the years since, the tribe has refined its sustainable logging practices until its approach to cutting timber is an interesting and effective combination of natural science and native intuition and knowledge. Pecore, walking Camp One Road, talked about the Menominee approach to logging. Now and then he would stop to slip into a stand of trees and stand in its shade and explain how to grow a healthy forest. There are numerous ways to grow a forest, Pecore said, and to harvest its timber. One way - the wrong way - is to simply cut everything, as was done in northern Wisconsin in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Over a number of years, the state's entire white pine forest was cut, sold and shipped east to build homes. Fortunes were made; the forest was lost. That, Pecore said, is the antithesis of sustainable forestry. Foresters have a name for the practice, Pecore said. It's called "liquidation." The Menominee resisted such cutting during the logging era, even though there was tremendous pressure from the period's lumber barons. They were less successful at protecting their forest from another surprising threat: the U.S. Forest Service. In 1905, after a tornado blew down 40 million board feet, U.S. Sen. Robert M. La Follette succeeded in getting a bill passed that directed the U.S. Forest Service to organize logging on the reservation on a sustained yield basis - selectively cutting timber so that the forest regenerated itself. The tribe had been using such a practice for years. La Follette's intentions were good - getting help for the tribe to clear up the mess from the tornado. Unfortunately, the timber-hungry Forest Service, which knew nothing at the time about sustainable forestry, simply ignored La Follette's mandate and started clear cutting entire sections of the Menominee forest. The cutting continued until 1926 when the Interior Department managed to wrestle control of Menominee logging from the Forest Service and return it to the tribe. Over the next 12 years, the tribe scaled cutting back to less than half of what was being cut by the Forest Service. In 1934, the tribe sued the forest service for mismanaging its forest. Evidence introduced showed more than 10 percent - half a billion board feet of lumber - of the reservation forest had been clear-cut. The Menominee won the suit and the tribe was awarded $8.5 million. But the forest would require considerable care to recover. In the years since, Pecore said, the tribe has developed innovative sustainable forestry techniques - all growing from that early direction from tribal chiefs - that have restored the forest to health. Pecore explained that the sustainable forestry program that has evolved on the reservation involves detailed inventories and mapping of the forest, an understanding of what kind of trees a particular plot of land is best suited to grow, and a willingness to forego the much more profitable route of cutting what trees the market most demands. Cutting is based on the health and natural diversity of the forest rather than on what will make the most money. Menominee foresters conduct two inventories. One tells them what kind of trees are growing where. Another tells them about the health of those trees - the area they cover, their condition and volume - and allows them to determine how much of the forest can be harvested annually or over a longer period. Data are collected according to stands, which are areas of like species. All of this information is combined using computers and a Geographical Information System, or GIS, a computer-based mapping system. From the data, foresters can figure out when and where to cut timber. One of the most interesting innovations in Menominee forestry is the system used by the tribe to figure out what trees should be grown where. It's interesting because it combines old knowledge from tribal elders with modern forestry science. Pecore explained the system by kneeling in the forest along Camp One Road and digging up a handful of rich loam, from which sprouted ferns and other plants. With trees as with all growing plants, Pecore said, it is the soil that determines what grows best. Certain soils, he said, are best for certain species of trees. The key to identifying soil types, he added, is to recognize what specific kinds of plants grow there. With the help of Kotar, the UW-Madison forestry scientist, the tribe has developed a way to type a particular plot of forest by identifying the herbaceous plants that grow there. Certain plants indicate what species of trees would naturally grow best in that location. "Over thousands of years," said Pecore, "these plant communities have become very site specific. So we look for the relative number of ferns and other key plant indicators. Once you've done that you can relate it to what trees would grow best there white pine, oak or yellow birch." While working with Kotar on this system, Pecore was intrigued to find that the approach was one that elders in the tribe knew intuitively. He'd talk with them, he said, and realize they could easily predict what kind of trees would grow in a certain location because of the presence of certain plants on the site. "So this system," Pecore said, "takes that gut feeling they acquired from their years of tromping through the forest and applies it to today." The important thing about this kind of forestry, Pecore said, is that the land itself tells the tribe what kinds of trees will grow best in certain places. In other kinds of logging, he said, the market drives what kinds of trees are grown in a forest. But for the Menominee, he said, the forest drives the mill, the mill doesn't drive the forest. This has required sacrifice on the tribe's part, Pecore said. It would be much more profitable and much less work to simply grow all even-aged stands of whatever trees are most in demand for furniture or home building. Pecore explained it this way in an analysis of the tribe's approach: "From an economic standpoint, the Menominee could be very wealthy if they chose to liquidate their forest. But that is not an option. The Menominee do not look at their forest just as a source of economic benefit. Thus, they continue to manage the forest as their ancestors did - for their children and their children's children." Pecore, who grew up on the reservation, has seen the people there go through tough times, suffering through some of the highest poverty rates in the state. Yet, he said, he's never heard anyone suggest that the forest be cut in any way that would destroy it for future generations. "Why do they have that willingness to sacrifice?" asked Pecore, still standing in the depths of the Menominee forest and staring up to where the sunlight spills down through the high branches. "Maybe it is because they have lived here for so many thousands of years. I don't know." Copyright c. 2003 Wisconsin State Journal. --------- "RE: Bosque Redondo Long Walk Memorial" --------- Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2003 08:11:19 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LONG WALK MEMORIAL" http://www.daily-times.com/artman/publish/article_3442.shtml Domenici applauds Long Walk memorial By The Daily Times Oct 2, 2003, 12:49 WASHINGTON - A groundbreaking of a new Bosque Redondo memorial was held Wednesday at Fort Sumner commemorating "The Long Walk"- which forced migration and internment of thousands of Navajo and Mescalero Apache Indians in the 1860s, Sen. Pete Domenici announced in a news release. Domenici has been a major proponent of the memorial which is being built by the Museum of New Mexico at Fort Sumner State Monument. Domenici helped secure funds for the project by ensuring $2 million was provided in the fiscal 2001 Defense Appropriations Bill. Earlier this year, Domenici helped pass a technical corrections bill that gives the state of New Mexico and local parties more time to meet the non-federal cost share to build a $4 million memorial commemorating "The Long Walk." The bill extends the authorization of the Bosque Redondo Memorial Act through fiscal 2006. "Today marks a significant event in our efforts to commemorate `The Long Walk,'" Domenici said. "Thousands of Navajos and Mescalero Apache Indians suffered hardships and indignities in the Territorial era, so I'm glad that we will have a place to reflect on what happened and bring about better cultural understanding." The village of Fort Sumner has donated 70 acres of land adjacent to the Fort Sumner State Monument for the memorial and interpretive center. The federal government has provided half the funding, while the New Mexico Legislature authorized $123,000 for planning and design work on the memorial. "The Long Walk" resulted from a U.S. military policy to detain the Mescalero Apaches and Navajos on a military-guarded reservation from the Pecos River in DeBaca County. In 1864, more than 8,000 Navajos were forced to march more than 350 miles from northwest New Mexico and Arizona to Bosque Redondo. Their interment ended in 1868 with the signing of a treaty recognizing the Navajo Nation as it exists today. Copyright c. 2003 Farmington Daily Times, a Gannett Co., Inc. newspaper. --------- "RE: Oklahoma Tribes seek Environment Regulatory Role" --------- Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2003 08:11:19 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="EPA OVERSITE" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.newsok.com/cgi-bin/show_article?ID=1088027 13 tribes seek environment regulatory role 2003-10-01 By Adam Wilmoth The Oklahoman Thirteen Oklahoma Indian tribes are seeking a more active role in environmental regulation of tribal lands, but the state's energy leaders fear the move will lead to strict rules that could stunt economic growth. The tribes have asked to be treated as states by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, giving them regulatory authority over their tribal land. "It's a self-governance issue," Cherokee Nation spokesman Mike Miller said. "It's designed to let Native Americans in the tribes that have land in Oklahoma have a voice in how the environment is regulated or in keeping the environment in that area clean." Energy industry leaders, however, say the implications go much further. "The reason we are worried about this is that Oklahoma can't afford to have to try to compete for industries when we have a regulatory system where conceivably every Indian tribe in Oklahoma could have their own regulatory regime and industries within those nations will be getting their permits and so forth dealing with one or 10 or 39 different sets of regulation," said Mickey Thompson, executive vice president of the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association. Tribes in other states have applied for and received regulatory authority, but Thompson said the effect could be much more widespread in Oklahoma, which has 39 recognized tribes -- far more than any other state. The definition of tribal lands is also more clear in other states where tribal control is limited to reservations, Thompson said. Oklahoma tribes, he said, could claim historical reservation boundaries, which would cover more than 80 percent of the state. The Pawnee Nation, however, is only seeking authority over the land set aside in trust for the tribe and land that is physically owned by the tribe or its members, said Monty Matlock, director of the tribe's department of environmental conservation and safety. The Cherokee Nation has asked for regulatory control over its own land and for the opportunity to give an opinion on environmental issues within 50 miles of the property, Chief Chad Smith said. Still, Thompson said the existing law gives tribes too much regulatory control. He cited a case in New Mexico where the Isleta Pueblo obtained regulatory control over its small reservation south of Albuquerque. The tribe established its own standard for water quality on the Rio Grand -- 3, 000 times more stringent than the regulation in Albuquerque. The city has now spent $60 million in its attempt to clean up the river and has estimated that it will spend a total of $300 million. "The absurdity is that the Isleta Pueblo have been able to force the city of Albuquerque to clean up the water in the Rio Grand cleaner than it is before it gets to Albuquerque, cleaner than the natural background," Thompson said. Oklahoma's tribes, however, say it would be counterproductive to pass strict regulations that would hurt business growth. "We would do nothing that is irrational because to do so would harm ourselves," Smith said. "Who needs economic development more than anybody in Oklahoma? It's our tribal members. We're the ones that have the high unemployment rates. We're the ones living in poverty and in substandard housing. It's not the oil and gas guys. So we would do nothing to harm our own tribe and citizens." The Pawnee's Matlock said regulatory authority is also needed because some state standards do not currently apply to Indian lands. "Right now state standards do not apply to Indian lands throughout all areas," he said. "We are seeing water quality being impaired due to pollution throughout Indian country." Matlock said he would actually prefer a more uniform state standard with input from the tribes. "In a perfect world, it would be nice to have one standard for the state and tribes, with each party having enforcement control on its own land," he said. "But that's not going to happen anytime soon." But at the very least, he said, the tribes must have the authority to enforce standards. Even if the tribes have the best of intentions, the energy industry's Thompson said Congress needs to change the law giving tribes regulatory power. "The 39 tribes in Oklahoma have exactly the same legal authority that all the other tribes in the country have in terms of legal treatment as a state," he said. "There are numerous precedents that are very troublesome and ought to be troublesome to any business in the state. The fact that they can get authority with a simple application to the government is troubling in and of itself, whether or not they exercise it." Copyright c. 2003 NEWS 9 | The Oklahoman, Produced by NewsOK. --------- "RE: Chumash Group plans Tribal University" --------- Date: Fri, 3 Oct 2003 08:17:52 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRIBAL UNIVERSITY" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.insidevc.com/vcs/county_news/0,1375,VCS_226_2318625,00.html Chumash group plans tribal university College would teach American Indian law, culture By Sylvia Moore, smoore@VenturaCountyStar.com October 3, 2003 The Coastal Band of the Chumash wants to establish a university in the Cuyama Valley specializing in American Indian culture, environmentalism and Indian law. If the tribe raises enough money to buy the land and open the university, it would be the second tribal college in California, after D-Q University near Davis. On Saturday and Sunday, the Coastal Band and the Friends of the Chumash are holding the first Chumash Intertribal Powwow at California State University, Channel Islands, to raise money for a down payment on a 150- acre site in the Cuyama Valley 40 miles north of Ojai. Mahlwo Agdeppa, the Coastal Band Chumash adviser, said a Chumash elder, Choyi Slo, came up with the idea for a university six months ago. The Chumash tribal council earlier this year voted to establish an Economic Planning Commission devoted to developing seed money for tribal projects. Agdeppa said the Chumash have long been advocates of protecting the environment and now want to express that activism in a formal setting. He said the university, which could begin offering classes as early as next year, would teach American Indians about their rights and non-Americans Indians about the culture of the Chumash and other tribes. "We as a people are known as environmentalists," said Agdeppa. "We thought we needed to create a stronger voice." To be called "Indian Nations University," the project would be a joint effort between the various Chumash bands in California and other American Indian tribes, said Agdeppa. The Coastal Band is contacting other tribes to ask for financial contributions to the university. Agdeppa said proponents don't want to rely only on donations from tribes with casinos. The Coastal Band is not recognized by the federal government as its own Indian tribe and does not own a casino. The Santa Ynez Band is federally recognized and owns the Chumash Casino. "We want to include, not exclude," said Agdeppa. "We're asking for funding from all California tribes, not just gaming tribes." The Chumash would need to raise $160,000 for every 50-acre chunk of the chosen site that they want to buy. The area is now ranchland. Agdeppa said the group has raised $6,000 from individual donors so far. Proponents also are looking at six alternative sites scattered throughout the Cuyama Valley, which spreads across four counties. The Chumash estimate the total project would cost $160 million over 10 years. The group hopes to create a four-year university with a graduate program. Open to everyone, it would offer degrees in environmental sciences, business administration and permaculture -- a land-use philosophy that incorporates nature and design. A graduate program in Indian law would train lawyers, who could then work for tribes, American Indian organizations and advocacy groups like California Indian Legal Services. Ellen Maisen, a middle school teacher in Studio City, said she is working with faculty at California Polytechnic University, Pomona, to help the Chumash develop a curriculum and find out what requirements are needed for accreditation. "We're kind of in the early stages," said Maisen. "This is a huge project, but I think it can be done. We just need the expertise." Agdeppa said the Chumash hope to start classes next year. Initially, the classes could be held in temporary structures called yerts. They eventually would be replaced by buildings with sustainable technologies such as organic fiber insulation, compost toilet systems and solar power for lighting. "The university will be totally environmentally friendly," said Agdeppa. Copyright c. 2001 Ventura County Star, The E.W. Scripps Co. --------- "RE: Cultivating Indian Culture at the U of Minn." --------- Date: Fri, 3 Oct 2003 08:17:52 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="KEEPING CULTURE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.startribune.com/stories/1592/4131085.html Cultivating Indian culture at the U of Minn. Nolan Zavoral, Star Tribune October 2, 2003 NAT02 Ten American Indian students met recently in a University of Minnesota dorm room. It was a buckle-down, shape-up kind of meeting that stressed homework over partying, a message delivered by two of their number with no coaching from the administration. "We don't want to flop -- we want to graduate, man," said Julia Littlewolf a few days later. Littlewolf, an 18-year-old freshman from St. Paul with Ojibwe bloodlines, hosted the gathering in her room. "We knew some adjustments had to be made." The odds are long against an Indian student finishing college. Only 14.4 percent of Americans of Indian extraction hold a bachelor's degree or higher, compared with the national average of 24.4 percent, the 2000 U.S. census reported. In Minnesota, 11.4 percent of the Indian population has graduated from college, the census says; overall the state percentage is 27.4 percent. For American Indians who aren't of mixed race, the percentage is even lower, at 9 percent. To combat these odds, the University of Minnesota has started a $10,000- a-year program, the American Indian Cultural House, in which predominantly freshman students live and study together. They also can share the historical and personal perspectives of Indian culture. Under this arrangement: * Nine of the 10 students in the program live in fifth-floor rooms in Comstock Hall; the 10th -- Shea Fleming, 18, from the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe -- is officially living in Centennial Hall but still sleeps at Comstock until something opens up there. * All 10 take two required classes, Indians in Minnesota and a college skills class. * They plan to make Thursday night meetings a weekly staple. "What I had hoped would happen with this -- it's happened," said the program's guiding spirit, Jillian Berkland, an Ojibwe from Grantsburg, Wis. who as a university admissions counselor focuses on building Indian numbers. By all accounts, Minnesota's program -- in a state where Indians represent about 1 percent of the population -- is the only one in the Midwest. But a similar program at Harvard, begun in1970, also focuses on opportunities for Indian students to gather. While Harvard has no special housing for Indians, it offers myriad courses and lectures to give "those bright and talented students . . . a commitment to issues in urban and reservation life," said Joe Klatt, faculty chairman of Harvard's Native American program. Ken Pepion, a Blackfoot from Montana who formerly led Harvard's Native American program, said some studies linked "socio-cultural support" with increased graduation rates among Indians. "It's not only the academic part -- study groups and advisers -- that's important," he said. "Any time younger students can be around older [Indian] students who have made the transition successfully, that's incentive for the younger ones." She's not discouraged In all, Berkland said, there are 49 Minnesota freshmen with Indian ancestry attending the university, up from 41 a year ago. She's not disheartened that only 20 percent have entered the university's program. "The biggest goal was to enhance the first-year experience, to get off on the right foot, to intervene with each other," she said. "And we've accomplished that." That kind of momentum could help reverse the trend in which only half the Indian students return after their first year of college. A confluence of circumstances creates a difficult road to graduation for Indian students. Many in the university's program came through tribal schools, and, Berkland said, "Students from reservation schools many times aren't as prepared as students from other schools." The reservation experience itself can be problematic, several freshmen said. Littlewolf called it a "box," difficult to escape, and told of hearing about 8-year-olds "on the 'rez' drinking and smoking weed." But Littlewolf and others also savored good times on reservations, from fishing to large family gatherings to summer powwows. Interest emphasized A student need not be all or even part-Indian to participate in the program, although the 10 this year are. "You just have to be interested in another culture," Berkland said. "If you're that, you're welcomed." Kourtnee Baukol, 18, raised in Rochester, Minn., by a Norwegian father and an Ojibwe mother, says she has spent "most of my life in a Minnesotan- -Norwegian-European culture." Then she arrived at Comstock Hall. "One time I started to pick up a drum, and I got these looks," she said. "Julia told me girls are not supposed to pick up drums -- [men] are." The group gathered recently for Sunday brunch at a Dinkytown restaurant, and Berkland paid for appetizers and fries and cheeseburgers with bacon, plus pop. Jon Manypenny, 19, from the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, crooned Motown songs, then in the next breath told about an Indian friend who had committed suicide. Afterward, everyone headed into a bright, cool afternoon, crossing campus toward Comstock. A couple of girls jumped separately on Fleming's back. He sprawled on the sidewalk, laughing and yelling, "Come back for me in the morning!" Toward the front of the group walked their "peer mentor," Caleb Blue Arm, a sophomore and a Lakota whom Berkland plucked from an Indian preparatory school in New Mexico two years ago. Last year, as a freshman, Blue Arm struggled to find himself in a different culture. Now he answers questions from the Indian freshmen, ranging from how to set up voice mail to where to apply for financial aid. Watching him joke with the others, Berkland smiled and said, "The tradition among the Lakota is not to make eye contact, but the change I see in Caleb is amazing. "He smiles and talks a lot more. And instead of saying just 'yes' or 'no, ' he'll elaborate." In his room, Blue Arm carefully unwrapped the red cloth that bundled small plastic bags containing sage and sweet grass. He proudly described how he had burned some of the contents to rid his new room of "negative spirits." Then the word came down: No more burning anything in the rooms. "I didn't care, really. It was only a little trouble," he said. He nodded and gave a quick smile. "I will not let my culture go." Nolan Zavoral is at nzavoral@startribune.com Copyright c. 2003 Star Tribune. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Coeur d'Alene takes long look at Lake" --------- Date: Fri, 3 Oct 2003 08:17:52 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="COEUR d'ALENE LAKE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.cdapress.com/articles/2003/10/01/news/news02.txt Tribe takes long look at lake By MIKE McLEAN Staff writer Wednesday, Oct 01, 2003 Dock moratorium to remain in place for two more years COEUR d'ALENE - A temporary ban on new docks on the tribal portion of Lake Coeur d'Alene may be in effect for two more years while the Coeur d'Alene Tribe seeks to improve the health of the lake. Representatives from the tribe were invited Tuesday to the Coeur d'Alene Lakeshore Property Owner's Association fall meeting, which was attended by about 90 people at The Coeur d'Alene Resort. "Folks looking for new docks are asked to come see us in a couple of years and we'll be able to tell them whether they are in our long-term plan for tribal waters," said Robert Matt, lake manager for the tribe. The tribe placed the ban on the new docks last year while it conducts an inventory of the estimated 1,300 non-Indian docks on tribal waters. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2001 affirmed the tribe's ownership of the southern third of Lake Coeur d'Alene, including 20 miles of the St. Joe River within the Coeur d'Alene Indian Reservation. Until 1998, the Idaho Department of Lands issued encroachment permits for the entire lake. Matt said the state didn't keep good track of docks or whether they affect the health of the lake. "We figured we really didn't have a clue as to what is going on there," Matt said. "Looking 30, 40 or 50 years into the future, how much shoreline will remain undeveloped?" Matt said the tribal management plan will look several generations into the future so tribal members have access to the shoreline for a usable lake and a usable fishery. Dec. 31 is the deadline for current dock owners within the reservation boundaries to be in compliance with the tribe's encroachment code. The tribe is not proposing to change the summer lake level, said Chuck Matheson, tribal councilman and chairman of the tribe's lake management board. "The tribe officially endorses maintaining the summer lake level at 2, 128 feet until and if somebody presents us data that something else is better," Matheson said. "We will make tough decisions if we have to, but we will always keep the community in mind as well." Matheson said the tribe will manage its portion of the lake better than the state did. "The state managed for mining first, recreation second and the health of the lake was far down the list," he said. "We will manage for the health of the lake first and recreation second." The tribe is also seeking authority from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to set its own water quality standards. "I think we have every intention of raising the standards," Matheson said. "The standards are too lenient on the state's part." Phil Cernera, a scientist with the tribe, said it would be the state's responsibility to ensure that water entering the tribe's jurisdiction, including flows from the Coeur d'Alene and upper St. Joe rivers, meets the tribe's standards. Portions of the Coeur d'Alene Basin are contaminated by heavy metal- laden sediments washed downstream from historic mining practices in the Silver Valley. Mike Schurr, who owns a dock on Cottonwood Bay, said he has had a good experience working with the tribe. "If they allow people to keep what they have, it won't be a problem," he said. Schurr said most people appreciate that the tribe expects people with dock permits to keep their docks in good repair. "I've seen them come around," he said. "I never saw anyone from the state." Mike McLean can be reached at 664-8176, ext. 2011, or by e-mail at mmclean@cdapress.com. Copyright c. 2003, The Coeur d'Alene Press. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Paiute Tribe acquires Mustang Ranch Water Rights" --------- Date: Fri, 3 Oct 2003 08:17:52 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PYRAMID LAKE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm mhttp://www.rgj.com/news/stories/html/2003/10/01/53043.php?sp1=rgj&sp2=umbrella&sp3=ubrella&sp5=RGJ.com&sp6=news&sp7=news_front Tribe acquires Mustang Ranch water rights Associated Press October 1, 2003 Water rights once controlled by Nevada's notorious brothel boss Joe Conforte will go to help threatened fish, a parched river and a shrinking lake. The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe has acquired 461 acre-feet of water rights that were once owned by the kingpin of the Mustang Ranch bordello and will use the water to increase flows in the lower Truckee River and to Pyramid Lake, officials said Wednesday. The water ways northeast of Reno are home of the threatened Lahontan cutthroat trout and endangered cui-ui fish. "We've been working on it for over a year now,"said John Jackson, vice chairman and water resources manager for the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe. The deal was completed last week. "It's very exciting. Once we dedicate that water for in-stream flows, that water's designated. ... and cannot be diverted"for agricultural use downstream, he said. "It's quite a substantial block of water. It'll stay in the river and go to the lake."An acre-foot is the amount of water that would cover an acre to the depth of 1 foot, or about 326,000 gallons. The water rights, along with the brothel 15 miles east of Reno and other Mustang Ranch assets, were seized by the IRS in 1999 after a federal fraud and racketeering trial led to guilty verdicts against the Mustang's parent companies and manager. Conforte is a fugitive and believed to be hiding in South America. Before fleeing, the colorful Conforte had run the famous 104-room brothel for years when bordellos were outlawed. In 1971 it became the state's first legal bordello and led to the movement to legalize prostitution in parts of Nevada. The 340-acre property along the Truckee River was transferred by the IRS to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in February. "They were willing to give us the land if we paid for the water rights, "said John Singlaub, manager of the BLM's Carson City field office. The BLM transferred the water rights to the tribe, which reimbursed the IRS $821,000 for the forfeiture, Singlaub said. The tribe acquired the water rights under the 1996 Truckee River Water Quality Settlement, an offshoot of an earlier operating agreement forged by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., to end a century of water wars along the river. The Truckee River runs about 100 miles, dropping 2,400 feet in elevation as it rushes from the alpine waters of Lake Tahoe through downtown Reno and into the high desert at Pyramid Lake. The water quality agreement settled a lawsuit filed in the early 1990s by the tribe over construction of a water treatment plant that tribal officials argued would harm the river and the fish, which spawn in its lower reaches. Under the settlement designed to protect the river's species, Reno, Sparks, Washoe County and the state agreed to pay $12 million to purchase water rights to augment river flows when water levels drop, said Don Mahin, senior engineer with the Washoe County's water resources department. The federal government appropriated another $12 million to the tribe for water rights purchases. Since 1997, nearly 4,200 acre-feet of water has been purchased under the agreement, Mahin said. Decades of agricultural water diversions for the Newlands Irrigation Project resulted in a dramatic drop in the water level of Pyramid Lake. Combined with drought and evaporation, the lake level dropped 85 feet since the 1900s, preventing fish from moving upstream to spawn most years. Rob Scanlon of Great Basin Land&Water, a nonprofit group that helped coordinate the water purchase, said it will enhance other projects. Plans include rechanneling the river to improve food control and develop wetlands. The federal water master has been notified of the acquisition, but the tribe must notify the state engineer to change the location and designated use of the water from agriculture to wildlife use, Jackson said. Copyright c. Reno Gazette-Journal, a Gannett Co. Inc. --------- "RE: Boycott Re: Sitting Bull Ad" --------- Date: Wed, October 1, 2003 12:57 From: Nadine wade Subj: Boycott Re: Sitting Bull Ad >To: gars@nanews.org Boycott Re: Sitting Bull Ad This letter is to inform the Native Community about the Boycott against the Newtimes Company and its Affiliates. Here's a list of the Newtimes Newspapers... The Cleveland Scene San Francisco Weekly Denver Westworld Broward County Florida New Times Phoenix New Times Kansas City The Pitch Oakland East Bay Express Houston Press Dallas Observer Miami New Times St Louis River Front Times On Feb. 12, 2003 the Cleveland Scene Newspaper printed an ad featuring Chief Sitting Bull. The ad read "Sitting Bull smoked marijuana. He lived in a tent with no cable. Then the US Government killed him. Harmless? Partnership for a Drug Free America*". The PDFA Association had nothing to do with the ad and their Attorneys contacted the Cleveland Scene and sent a Cease-and-Desist letter. When the Newtimes people were contacted informing them of the Boycott, one of their employees, a Technical Specialist named Chris Chattom, responded with more Insults and Defamation of Character. Please share this information with your fellow Natives. There is a web site with the letters from Chris Chattom, the PDFA and the ad picture at - http://www.geocities.com/natives_gotta_know/natives_gotta_know.html If you can take the time you view the site I am sure you will understand better the serious nature of this Boycott. Please help support this Boycott until the Newtimes People Publicly apologize for degrading such a Great Leader! Thank you for your time, natives_gotta_know@yahoo.com --------- "RE: UN Youth Peace Summit in Akwesasne in 2005" --------- Date: Mon, 6 Oct 2003 08:37:19 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MOHAWK SUMMIT HOSTS" http://www.easterndoor.com/12-35/12-35-4.htm UN Youth Peace Summit in Akwesasne in 2005 By: Dan Rosenburg The United Nations International Indigenous Youth Peace Summit will be held in Akwesasne in August of 2005. The announcement was made jointly on September 17 by the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne Chiefs, in conjunction with Mr. and Mrs. Joanne and Fouad Tawfilis, of the UNESCO Art Miles Mural Project. The Honourable Ethel Blondin-Andrew, Secretary of State and federal Minister for Children and Youth, was unable to put in an appearance. The Youth Peace Summit stems from the tragic events of September 11, 2001 when Akwesasne representatives were presenting at the International Children's Environmental Health Conference in Washington. During that time, conference participants were sequestered at a hotel. They came together to discuss peace and non-violence through Indigenous philosophies, culture and traditional teachings as part of the Akwesasne presentation. This resulted in the creation of the First Peace, Unity and Healing Mural. The Tawfilis couple at that time approached Akwesasne representatives regarding participation in the Art Miles Mural Project and UNESCO's Decade of the Culture of Peace. During 2002, discussions evolved towards undertaking an International Youth Peace Summit featuring murals from various communities. The 2005 event will be the first such global summit of its kind, targeting the UNESCO Decade of the Culture of Peace and Non-Violence among Children of the World (2001-2010). Akwesasne was selected as the primary location on behalf of Indigenous Tribal Nations in Canada. The Summit will be hosted by youth from Indigenous nations across North America. It will be held in collaboration with the Art Miles Mural Project to which the Indigenous Art Mile Mural will be dedicated. Native youth groups will develop and conduct an educational, cultural and peace agenda during the proposed four-day 2005 conference, prefacing the International Day of Peace slated for September 21, 2005. "Akwesasne is accepting this as a challenge, and plans are being formulated to handle the anticipated half a million youths from all over the world," said summit official Louise McDonald. "Akwesasne could possibly be announced as the Peace Capital for the next 100 years," she said. Akwesasne has also been recognized by UNESCO and by the International Day of Peace as the official host nation/country/community for the Culture of Peace scheduled from September 21, 2005 through September 20, 2006. Objectives of the UN Indigenous Youth Peace Summit are: 1. To give youth an opportunity to organize and plan a major UN conference by working with and among the host nations in its planning, development and implementation; 2. To provide youth with a meaningful peace-building event and venue hosted by other youth participants from other countries; 3. To build an agenda of interest and priority for and by youth regarding issues of peace and peace-building initiatives and specific actions that affect them so that this can be promulgated via UN organizations and governments worldwide; 4. To task each participating youth group within its respective Tribal Nation to create a 5x12-foot mural on canvas that will be sewn together with leather lacing to create over one mile of murals depicting visual documentation of peace images by the youth in their quest of peace, or as portrayed through Indigenous culture and traditions; 5. The Art Miles Mural Project is an official UNESCO Decade of the Culture of Peace Project, as well as an official project for the Guinness Book of World Records. To date, over 900 murals have been completed from over 100 countries, The objective is to promote global harmony. Have a question or comment E-Mail us at easterndoor@axess.com Copyright c. 1997-2000 The Eastern Door/Kahnawake, QC - Mohawk Territory. --------- "RE: B.C. Treaty progress sparks debate" --------- Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2003 08:11:19 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="B.C. TREATIES" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://vancouver.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=bc_treaty20020930 Treaty progress sparks debate Last Updated: Sep 30 2003 10:12 AM PDT VANCOUVER - Treaties with B.C. First Nations are finally within reach, according to the annual report of B.C. Treaty Commission - being released in five cities across the province Tuesday. The Commission notes that two agreements-in-principle have been signed, and three more are pending among the 52 First Nations involved in the treaty process. But the commission admits that none of the really difficult issues have been settled - issues such as governance and compensation. Fred Walchli, the former head of the Department of Indian Affairs in B.C. and Alberta, is a critic of the entire process, He says those key issues will never be resolved until the politicians start paying attention to decision being made in the courts. "Delgamuukw, Sparrow, Haida and all the other cases," he says. "The courts go much farther than the federal or provincial governments are prepared to negotiate." Walchli says citizens of British Columbia are not being served well by a treaty process that's destined to fail. "The public has not been told honestly what the situation is. Indians do have a legitimate claim and the time has now come to settle it." Walchli served as the federal government's chief negotiator with the Nisga'a. After he retired, he worked for some First Nations in developing their land claims. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is accusing the commission of creating a system that costs too much money and simply doesn't work. Spokesperson Tannis Fiss says hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent in the past decade - with no treaties signed. We still haven't seen a signed treaty in B.C.," she says. "The Nisga'a Treaty was signed outside of the treaty process. "All I can say is we've spent over $500 million - that's over half a billion dollars the taxpayers have spent - and we still don't have a signed treaty." Fiss adds there likely won't be a treaty signed for the next two to three years. Copyright c. 2003 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Kelly Lake Me'tis to assert Aboriginal Rights" --------- Date: Fri, 3 Oct 2003 08:17:52 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ENERGY/LAND DISPUTE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm 0http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20031002/RENCANAMETIS2//?query=inuit&disp=e&end Dispute brewing over energy .Kelly Lake Me'tis to assert aboriginal rights to ancestral lands in northeastern B.C By ROBERT MATAS Thursday, October 2, 2003 VANCOUVER -- A dispute is brewing that could threaten the unprecedented flurry of natural gas exploration in parts of northeast British Columbia until the aboriginal rights of the Me'tis have been fully recognized. The Kelly Lake Me'tis are preparing to go to court later this month to assert their right to stewardship over their traditional lands, which they say stretch in B.C. from Dawson Creek to an area west of Tumbler Ridge and south to the Fraser River. Their claim marks the first time that a Me'tis group has asserted its rights under the constitution since a landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision last month accepted the Me'tis people as a distinct group on par with treaty Indians and Inuit. "In my lifetime, I did not expect to see anything like this," Lyle Letendre, the 42-year-old community leader of the Me'tis of Kelly Lake, said in an interview. "It was like it [the ruling] was written for us." The Kelly Lake Me'tis live in an isolated community of about 200 people one hour on a gravel road outside Tumbler Ridge, which is 1,100 kilometres northeast of Vancouver. Extremely poor, they rely on moose hunting and trapping to survive. Their community lacks facilities available in most other B.C. areas. There is no hospital, recreation centre, police station or even a school. In the midst of their poverty, the energy industry has arrived. Drilling rigs have been erected at several places that Me'tis consider as ancestral land, including in the waters of Kelly Lake, Mr. Letendre said. Exploration plans indicate as many as 100 new wells could be drilled west of Kelly Lake, including in Me'tis burial grounds, he said. Edmonton lawyer Terry McGregor, who represents the Kelly Lake Me'tis, said the Me'tis community is disturbed by the activities of the resource development industry on their land. "They are concerned about the impact on their ability to hunt, trap and maintain their lifestyle," he said. "They want to see if they can get it put on a more reasonable basis." Kurtis DeSilva, a spokesman for the Kelly Lake Me'tis and president of a group called the Me'tis Nation of B.C., said the Me'tis do not want to shut down the energy industry. Rather, they want to be involved in activity on their ancestral lands. "There is a billion-dollar industry in their back yard now, and they cannot get any work," Mr. DeSilva said. The majority of Western Canada's 40 leading gas wells are in northeastern B.C., and the province is anticipating a flurry of exploration over the coming years. Last month, the government sold off land in the northeastern part of the province that could hold natural gas reserves one third larger than the Arctic's biggest gas field, with enough gas to supply Canadian homes for four years. EnCana Corp., of Calgary, paid $353-million to acquire controlling interest in the parcels of land in the area of Tumbler Ridge and Dawson Creek. Other oil companies have also been active in adjacent areas. Kelly Lake Me'tis have been trying without success to have their rights recognized since the boom began. They have erected roadblocks to slow traffic to the drilling rigs. They launched a lawsuit against the provincial government last year, claiming damages for being excluded from treaty talks. They have also participated in an unproductive series of meetings with provincial officials. On at least two occasions recently, energy companies have offered jobs to first nations people who have status as treaty Indians and refused to hire Me'tis from Kelly Lake, Mr. Letendre said. One person from Kelly Lake went through an orientation program and then was asked to leave after the company discovered he did not have a card attesting to his status as a treaty Indian, he said. Florence Murphy, an EnCana spokeswoman, said the company has not yet been informed of the Me'tis groups' claims. Unconfirmed reports indicate the Kelly Lake Me'tis lands include properties that EnCana is already involved in but may not include the recently acquired parcels, she said. Regardless of the boundaries, she added, EnCana's practice is to work "in co-operation and consultation" with aboriginal groups. "That's how we do our business," she said. In a ruling two weeks ago, the Supreme Court of Canada recognized the Me'tis people as a distinct aboriginal group with a constitutional right to hunt for food. The court equated Me'tis, who are of mixed native and European ancestry, with treaty Indians and Inuit. Copyright c. 2003 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Saskatchewan Native Justice Commission Report" --------- Date: Mon, 6 Oct 2003 08:37:19 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NATIVE JUSTICE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canoe.ca/NationalTicker/CANOE-wire.Sask-Native-Justice.html Sask native justice commission to soon hand down final interim report REGINA (CP) - The head of a commission looking at how First Nations and Metis people are treated by Saskatchewan's justice system is hopeful he will succeed where others have failed. The Commission on First Nations and Metis Peoples and Justice Reform is to hand down its final interim report on Oct. 20. Chairman Willie Littlechild said it will focus on the crucial issue of implementation. "That's one of the bigger pieces, yes, because of its importance," said Littlechild, a Cree lawyer and former MP from Hobbema, Alta. "We've noticed in the previous commissions that that was a sort of a stumbling block." Formed when allegations began to surface that aboriginal people were being mistreated by Saskatoon police, the five-member, $2.5-million commission is one in a long line of aboriginal justice inquiries, task forces and commissions in Canada. The commission has held dozens of hearings in communities across Saskatchewan since it was founded in November 2001. Littlechild said that over the next few months, provincial and federal government representatives along with native and Metis organizations will study the commission's recommendations and their associated costs. He said the idea is to be prepared for action when the commission releases its final report in March. "I personally would not want a gap between our final report and the beginning of an implementation mechanism," Littlechild said. "It sort of must hit the pavement running on April 1st." A provincial election call, expected within days or weeks, is not expected to throw a wrench into the process. Both NDP Premier Lorne Calvert and Opposition Saskatchewan Party leader Elwin Hermanson say they're committed to following through on the commission's work. "They've got some ideas that deserve consideration and they can count on us to be very open to any proposals they might be bringing forward," said Hermanson. Calvert said he expects some recommendations will be implemented immediately while others will take time. "We did not set this exercise up to create a document that will go on somebody's bookshelf," Calvert said. Littlechild said he is cautiously optimistic. "We've tried to cover all the political bases in terms of keeping everyone on side," he said. "So I'm fairly confident at this point to say that regardless of the outcome of an election, for example, that the political will is there." Copyright c. 2003, CANOE, a division of Netgraphe Inc. --------- "RE: Woman in Jail after Fatal exchange" --------- Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2003 08:11:19 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="KAHNAWAKE STABBING" http://www.easterndoor.com/12-35/12-35-4.htm Woman in jail after fatal exchange Body found last week in Kahnawake PAUL CHERRY The Gazette September 30, 2003 The lawyer representing an 18-year-old Marianopolis College student from Kahnawake charged with second-degree murder hopes for a chance to have her released on bail later this week. Alexis Delisle, was arrested and charged last week in connection with the death of 20-year-old Stacey Diabo. Diabo's body was found, during the early morning hours of Sept. 23, by Kahnawake Peacekeepers who were called to Delisle's home on Highway 207 in Kahnawake. Since then, Delisle has been held in custody with only one brief court appearance and no bail hearing, in part because the young woman decided to switch lawyers last week. "We're attempting to proceed as expeditiously as possible to assist Alexis in this nightmare that she is going through," said Raphael Schachter, the accused's current lawyer. Applications for bail in murder cases can only be heard in Superior Court, which is not scheduled to sit in Longueuil this week. Schachter said he is attempting to have the case placed on the court roles this week anyway. "All things considered, there should be a bail application heard immediately so that we can hopefully have Alexis freed on bail. The facts seem to indicate that that should be the case," he said. But no one close to the investigation into Diabo's death is willing to comment on what those facts are. Friends and relatives of Delisle's expressed shock at learning the recent graduate of The Study, an private all-girls school in Westmount, was charged with murder. Friends and relatives of Delisle confirmed reports Stacey Diabo had gone to Delisle's home, where she lived with her mother, after 4 a.m. on Sept. 23, likely to confront her over a man. They also questioned why Delisle was charged with second-degree murder when she is reported to have been defending either herself or her mother from an attack. The Kahnawake newspaper, The Eastern Door, also reported Delisle filed a criminal complaint against Diabo during the first week of September, alleging she had been assaulted. Chateauguay police said no charges were filed as a result of Delisle's complaint. The Kahnawake Peacekeepers have said little of their investigation. Prosecutor Claude Labrecque said he could not comment on the choice of charging Delisle with second-degree murder because he expected there would be a publication ban in the case. pcherry@thegazette.canwest.com Copyright c. 2003 Montreal Gazette. --------- "RE: High Court to rule on Tribal-Federal Prosecution" --------- Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2003 08:11:19 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRIBAL COURTS" http://www.indianz.com/News/archives/001733.asp Supreme Court to rule on Tribal-Federal Prosecution Wednesday, October 1, 2003 The U.S. Supreme Court announced on Tuesday that it will resolve whether tribal governments have inherent sovereignty over all American Indians, not just members of their own tribes. In a case with national significance, the justices accepted an appeal filed by the Bush administration. The Department of Justice is arguing that dual tribal and federal prosecution of Indian offenders does not violate the U.S. Constitution's ban on double jeopardy. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded otherwise and said that an Indian man who pleaded guilty in tribal court could not be tried for the same offense in federal court. A divided panel of judges voted 7-4 in March to strike down a federal indictment against Billy Jo Lara on charges that he punched a police officer on the Spirit Lake Reservation in North Dakota. But the 9th Circuit arrived at a different conclusion in June 2001. In an 11-0 decision that escaped review by the Supreme Court, a full panel of judges said tribes who prosecute members of other tribes are exercising sovereignty independent of the federal government. The government is pushing for resolution of the conflict because the two circuits, along with the 10th, represent the "vast majority" of the American Indian and Alaska Native population. The 8th Circuit covers North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa while the 9th Circuit affects California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Montana, Idaho, Nevada and Alaska. The 8th Circuit decision "undermines effective law enforcement in Indian Country," Solicitor General Ted Olson wrote in a July 22 brief. Alexander F. Reichert, the attorney representing Lara, disputes the ruling's impact. In an interview, he said it will encourage tribal and federal government to work together on reservations. "What I think it's going to do is force more cooperation between U.S. attorneys, tribal prosecutors and tribal courts," he said yesterday. "It will force the federal authorities to take a close look at tribal courts and tribal jurisdiction." Tribes across the country are interested in the case because it impacts their push to regain full authority over their lands. The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) and the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) plan to submit an amicus brief siding with the government, an NCAI spokesperson said yesterday At issue is an amendment to the Indian Civil Rights Act (ICRA) of 1968. Known as the "Duro fix," it was passed in 1991 in response to the Supreme Court's Duro v. Reina, decision, which held that tribes lack criminal jurisdiction over members of other tribes. The 8th Circuit interpreted the Duro fix as an extension of tribal jurisdiction, not a recognition of it. "The Spirit Lake Nation exercises authority over external relations only to the extent that such a power has been delegated to it by Congress," Judge Roger L. Wollman wrote in U.S. v. Lara. The 9th Circuit determined that Congress acted appropriately to affirm tribal rights. "When a tribe exercises inherent power, it flexes its own sovereign muscle, and the dual sovereignty exception to double jeopardy permits federal and tribal prosecutions for the same crime," wrote Judge M. Margaret McKeown in U.S. v Enas. Although not fully discussed in the government's brief, the 7th Circuit, in U.S. v. Long, has upheld the inherent jurisdiction of the Menominee Nation of Wisconsin even though the tribe's federal status was terminated and later restored by Congress. Copyright c. 2000-2003 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: Judge won't cancel Redskins Team Trademarks" --------- Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2003 08:11:19 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DEMEANING TRADEMARK STANDS" http://www.indianz.com/News/archives/001773.asp Judge won't cancel Redskins team trademarks Thursday, October 2, 2003 Dealing a blow to a group of Native Americans, a federal judge on Wednesday ruled that the Washington Redskins football team can keep its contested trademarks. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said her 84-page "opinion should not be read as a making any statement on the appropriateness of Native American imagery for team names." But she said a federal board that canceled the marks failed to gather sufficient evidence to show that they disparage Native Americans. "The board premised its disparagement conclusion on a paucity of actual findings of fact that were linked together through inferential arguments that had no basis in the record," she wrote. Kollar-Kotelly also determined that the seven Native activists who brought the challenge waited too long. In contrast, she said the team would suffer "economic hardship" because the marks were first registered more than 30 years ago. "By waiting so long to exercise their rights, [the activists] make it difficult for any fact-finder to affirmatively state that in 1967 the trademarks were disparaging," Kollar-Kotelly concluded. The decision caps off an 11-year battle between the activists and the owners of the team. In 1992, Suzan Shown Harjo and six other prominent members of the Indian community, including legal scholar Vine Deloria Jr. and educator Norbert Hill, asked the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to cancel the Redskins family of marks. In April 1999, the group won a significant victory. In the first case of its kind, the patent office's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board said the marks were "disparaging" and subjected Native Americans to "contempt" and "disrepute." Pro-Football Inc., the owners of the Redskins, appealed to the federal court in Washington, D.C., although it could have gone straight to an appeals court. Karl Swanson, a senior vice president and spokesperson for the team, welcomed the decision and said the name is not offensive to Native Americans. "We do not believe it's disparaging," he said. "We believe our use of it is always respectful and honors a long standing tradition." Harjo, who lives in Washington, D.C., could not be located yesterday for comment. She has compared her battle to "fighting the Washington monument." "We're seven individuals who don't want to pass this burden of racism onto our children," she once told Indianz.Com. Indian organizations have backed Harjo's crusade. The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), the largest inter-tribal organization, and the National Indian Education Association (NIEA), the largest group of its kind, have called on the Redskins and other teams with Indian imagery to drop their names. Across the country, colleges, universities and high schools have stopped using Indians as mascots and names. The National Collegiate Athletic Association has called on its schools to re-examine their use of Indian symbols. Copyright c. 2000-2003 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: BIA to assist, advise Oglala Sioux Police" --------- Date: Fri, 3 Oct 2003 08:17:52 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BIA COPS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2003/10/03/news/local/news05.txt BIA to assist, advise Oglala Sioux police October 3, 2003 PINE RIDGE - As of Oct. 1, the Bureau of Indian Affairs will supervise and provide technical assistance to the Oglala Sioux Tribe's Department of Public Safety, under a memorandum of agreement, or MOA, approved by tribal leaders. James Two Bulls has been named the BIA acting chief of police, and Duane Yellowhawk will serve as BIA Indian self-determination specialist for financial programs. The MOA was approved by tribal resolution and signed by Oglala Sioux Tribe President John Steele and Robert Ecoffey, deputy bureau director of the BIA Office of Law Enforcement Services. According to a news release from t