From gars@speakeasy.org Fri Oct 31 21:35:40 2003 Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 15:12:00 -0800 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews11.044 _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 11, ISSUE 044 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 November 1, 2003 Klamath Kapchelam/Snow Moon Blackfeet iitaohkanaikokotoyi niitahtaistsi/Moon when all the rivers freeze +-------------------------------------------------------+ | 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; Frostys AmerIndian, Radical Frybread Lovers, Native American Prisoner Support and Iron Natives Mailing Lists; newsgroup: alt.native; UUCP email IMPORTANT!! ----------- In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, all material appearing in this newsletter is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for educational purposes. <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters who share our Spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the Red Road. ++ It may be subscribed to via email by sending a request from your own internet addressable account to gars@speakeasy.org ++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org <================<<<< >>>>================> +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + | As historian Patricia Nelson | | Once a language is lost, it is | | Limerick summarized in "The | | gone forever | | Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken | | * Of the 300 original Native | | Past of the American West... | | languages in North America, | | "Set the blood quantum at | | only 175 exist today. | | one-quarter, hold to it as a | | * 125 of these are no longer | | rigid definition of Indians, | | learned by children. | | let intermarriage proceed as | | * 55 are spoken by 1 to 6 elders;| | it had for centuries, and | | when they die, their language | | eventually Indians will be | | will disappear. | | defined out of existence." | | * Without action, only 20 | | "When that happens, the federal | | languages will survive the next| | government will be freed of | | 50 years. | | its persistent 'Indian problem.'"| | Source: Indigenous Language | +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ | Institute | |http://www.indigenous-language.org| This issue's Elder Quote: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + ======================== "Do Not grieve. Misfortunes will happen to the wisest and best of men. Death will come, always out of season. It is the command of the Great Spirit, and all nations and people must obey. What is past is past and what cannot be prevented should not be grieved for..." __ Chief Big Elk, Omaha +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! -=-=-=- WINTER REZ HELP -=-=- WINTER REZ HELP -=-=- WINTER REZ HELP -=-=- If you know of a reliable point where funds can be sent to assist these precious elders please drop me a note at gars@nanews.org and make the subject (all caps) WINTER HELP. -----> this list will remain up until January -----> PLEASE email gars@nanews.org with any updates/additions From: wn27 Subj: Winter Clothing Mailing List: Frostys AmerIndian Good evening, I was asked to request winter clothing, coats, boots, gloves, t-shirts, sweat shirts, etc. for the Waseskun Healing Center men from anyone in the vacinity of Montreal/Kahnawake who may have extras. Many of the men do not have warm clothes and are from the north, Atlantic Canada or Ontario. We can arrange to have them picked up. We can be contacted by e-mail (staff@waseskun.net) or by phone (450-883-2034) - Jo-ann. -=-=-=- From: "Brigitte Thimiakis" Subj: Urgent Winter Request To: =========================================================================== Urgent Winter Request for Donations - Winter 2003 Greetings, If you wish to make a difference and help children and elders through the harsh winter months in Montana, please take the time to read this request. On behalf of reliable Northern Cheyenne contacts from Lame Deer, we are once again collecting donations for those in need on the Northern Cheyenne reservation. The donations that you can send are: new and good quality used warm items, (clothing and blankets), as well as toys. The toys will be distributed during the Christmas give away but the clothes and blankets will be distributed right away. During Montana winters, the temperature can drop to 30 or 40 degrees below zero so warm winter clothing and blankets can be lifesaving. It is best if donations are received by Dec. 10th. Our goal is to help the children, the elders, the single parent families, or families unable to make ends meet due to the high unemployment rate, the difficult conditions and the extreme poverty on the reservation. We would like to help everyone we possibly can on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation who is in need, but our priority is the elders and children. The children need all the help and encouragement they can get. List of useful donations : - blankets - warm winter coats and clothing - socks, gloves, boots, hats and scarves - toys (educational toys included) - school supplies - They can also use grooming supplies like toothpaste, tooth brushes, soaps and shampoos, combs, hair brushes, hair barrettes, rubber bands or other types of hair or pony tail holders. Last but not least : pampers diapers or pull-ups. - There is a special need for men's winter coats, clothing, hats, boots, gloves and anything else that protects against the cold weather. The men's winter wear is for the Tongue River Homeless Shelter. Donations can be sent to the following address: Honor Your Spirit - Protect the Children % Sue Buck PO Box 901 Great Falls, MT 59403-0901 Please contact suemontana@mcn.net for mailing information other than regular US Mail service. (Also please include your name and address if you would like for us to acknowledge/confirm receipt of your donations.) If you cannot send items due to the shipping cost, you can still help by sending a money donation.Please be assured that it will be used only for the children and elders this winter and/or for their Christmas; even small amounts can help them. The address for money donations is the same as above. You will receive a receipt which may be used for tax purposes. Please contact us before you send money (email addresses listed below). The priority of our group, "Honor your Spirit - Protect the Children" is to make sure all donations get to where they are supposed to and recognized. It is very important to us to make sure that everything is distributed fairly and to those in the greatest need. Contact Info: Sue Buck, Project Coordinator, MT suemontana@mcn.net Brigitte Thimiakis, European Link thimiakischool@the.forthnet.gr If you would like to learn more about the donation projects, please read our Shipment and Group Project Status: http://www.geocities.com/honoryourspirit/shipment1.html Our heartfelt thanks to everyone for your support. "Your help makes a huge difference for those who have never received help.Your donations provide hope and encouragement to those who have never known these qualities. Your concern and solidarity can improve the lives of many children, elders, families, on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation. There is still a lot to do but all together you can help us make these dreams come true." Thank you for being a part of this project and supporting it. Manuel Redwoman, Northern Cheyenne/Lakota/Arapaho. <>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o Our group opposes all forms of child abuse, and believes that only awareness, prevention and support can reduce the number of children who suffer. Please visit our pages and our group against child abuse & violence. "Honor Your Spirit, Protect the Children" STOP CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT http://www.geocities.com/honoryourspirit/stopabuse.html http://www.geocities.com/honoryourspirit/home.html <>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o -=-=-=- WINTER REZ HELP -=-=- WINTER REZ HELP -=-=- WINTER REZ HELP -=-=- If you know of a reliable point where funds can be sent to assist these precious elders please drop me a note at gars@nanews.org and make the subject (all caps) WINTER HELP. -----> this list will remain up until January -----> PLEASE email gars@nanews.org with any updates/additions Dohiyi Ani Oginalii , , Gary Smith Night Owl (*,*) gars@speakeasy.org P. O. Box 672168 (`-') gars@nanews.org Marietta, GA 30008, U.S.A. ===w=w=== http://www.nanews.org ----------- News of the people featured in this issue ---------- - Invitation to conspire - Zuni Woman shocked - New efforts aimed by Porn from Councilman at Indian Trust fund Lawsuit - Quebec Cree threaten - Rider halts decision to resume suing Ottawa won by Indian Account Holders - Deh Cho threaten - Democrat Plan for Minority to block NWT Pipeline and Indian Health - Expert matches Stonechild injuries - Stevens unapologetic to Handcuffs in Speech to Alaska Natives - Federal Fisheries Officers - Only 3 of 12 recognized seize Boats Sioux Code Talkers remain - Alaska Natives call for Unity - Famous Dave gets warm D.C. Welcome - Alaska: Rural Safety in Jeopardy - Trinity River offer rejected - Tribes want to build new Prison - Government, Tribe - Navajo Nation in contempt struggle over Values - Crash sparks Tribal - Global event Boundary dispute to honor Earth's Waters - Omaha raise concerns - Oneidas, State considering Tax Deal over handling of Assault - Homeowners given - Native Prisoner deadline by Oneidas -- Native American Prisoner - Oneida Tribal Court delays eviction in Serious Danger - Shoshone Settlement - Rustywire: The Spring remains Distant - Poem: Walk - Narragansett launch - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days Seafood Business - YELLOW BIRD: - $6 million for Close encounters on Rainy River Native American Health Center - Book: - Cobell cited Stories for Future Generations by Women's Leadership Exchange - This Week on First Peoples TV - The Slow Progress of Understanding - Specials This Week on APTN - Proud time for Mohawk Grandmothers - This Week on NAC --------- "RE: Invitation to conspire" --------- Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 10:11:50 -0600 From: "jkdowell" Subj: Fw: Invitation to conspire.... Mailing List: "Radical.frybread.lovers" In honor of Tecumseh Steve Newcomb Indigenous Research Coordinator / D-Q University at Sycuan October 5, 2003 marked 190 years since the great Shawnee leader Tecumseh was killed in battle fighting American troops during the War of 1812. Tecumseh died on the river Thames not far from present day Moraviantown in Ontario, Canada. Tecumseh was born under the sign of a great comet. He worked for many years with his brother Tenskwatawa in an effort to unify the Indian nations in common cause against a common foe: the United States. The 200th anniversary of Tecumseh's passing to the spirit world will take place in October 2013, and for a number of years now, I've thought that Tecumseh's life ought to be commemorated by Indian country in some significant way. In my view, the greatest tribute to Tecumseh's memory would be to revive his vision of unifying all our Indian nations and peoples into a spiritual and political force. Every spark that spirals into the air from a ceremonial fire represents the spiritual essence of the universe that burns in each and every one of us. We have the ability to combine together the fire of our spiritual essence as human beings to become a tremendous force of healing and cultural resurgence and revitalization. I believe this is what Tecumseh's vision was really about. Tecumseh's vision was also about the inherent right of every Indian nation that the Creator has placed on this sacred Earth to maintain and protect a spiritual way of life in our respective homelands. He was willing to fight and die for the right to be free. But as we know, the United States did not believe our Indian nations had any inherent right to live in our homelands on our own terms. Instead, the leadership of the United States believed that their "God" had "promised" the lands of our Indian nations to the United States, and further believed that the U.S. therefore had a divine right to take over Indian lands, and forever end the free and independent life of our Indian nations. The leadership of the U.S. believed that the Indians were an inferior race, destined to submit to the might of the American empire. Its leaders considered their empire destined to profit from the theft and colonization of Indian lands and resources, and to grow into a powerful force in the world. My friend and colleague Birgil Kills Straight (Oglala Lakota) once said of the Christian-European power system: "They cut you off from your heart, stick you in your head, and manipulate you out of a book." This is an incredibly profound insight into the methodology of colonization. The Christian European system has systematically colonized our minds and our lives, and it is our solemn responsibility to work hard at a spiritually grounded process of decolonization and healing. Such was the focus of Tecumseh's life: Never submit, never give in, never surrender your spirit to those who would capture it and hold you against your will under a system of domination. The following words are attributed to Tecumseh (though he would have said them in Shawnee). I have no way of knowing if they are actually his words, but I like to think so because the principles are direct, simple, and profound: "Live your life that the fear of death may never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, and beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long, and its purpose in the service of your people. Prepare a noble death song, for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and grovel to none. When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself. Abuse no one and nothing, for abuse turns the wise ones into fools and robs the spirit of its vision." In honor of Tecumseh I propose that we join together as Native nations and peoples by directly challenging and calling for an end to the twin doctrines of Christian discovery and plenary power in federal Indian law. If, for the next 10 years, we work tirelessly as Tecumseh did, who knows what we might accomplish as we combine the fire of our spirituality and the political force of our ideas, and then direct that energy toward our liberation as nations and peoples. Clearly, we cannot allow the Supreme Court to continue to slowly but surely make it appear, through ruling after ruling, that our rights and our political identity as nations are being gradually amputated bit-by-bit on the basis of the doctrines of discovery and plenary power. The U.S. courts have been very clear: The justice (right or wrong) of those doctrines is a political matter that will not to be dealt with by the courts. This means that the U.S. courts will refuse to address the question of whether those doctrines are right or wrong, but will not hesitate to continue using those doctrines as weapons against our nations and peoples. One thing needed for success in the political realm is the acumen to develop and put forth powerful arguments. Tecumseh's thinking and speaking skills made him a formidable force that the United States had to deal with. Not only did he have a powerful and sweeping vision, he had the gift of articulating it in a way that electrified and inspired people. Over the next decade we ought to develop and put forth, systematically and strategically, the most powerful arguments against the doctrine of discovery and the plenary power doctrine. We ought to do this while imagining and expressing what we can achieve at the end of a decade of cultural, spiritual, economic, and political resurgence. Tecumseh said that although he would certainly die, his vision of unifying the Indian nations would not. He believed that his vision would live on and rise again in a future generation. Perhaps we are that generation. If we are willing to accept the idea that we are, then let us have the courage and the strength to accept responsibility for moving forward together, in a courageous and proactive manner, for the unified and peaceful liberation of our respective nations and peoples. ----- Steven Newcomb, Shawnee and Lenape, is director of the Indigenous Law Institute, and Indigenous Law research coordinator at D-Q University at Sycuan, on the Reservation of the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation and is a columnist for Indian Country Today. The author can be reached at: snewcomb@sycuan.org --------- "RE: New efforts aimed at Indian Trust fund Lawsuit" --------- Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 08:53:28 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRUST FUND BILL" http://www.indianz.com/News/archives/002129.asp New efforts aimed at Indian trust fund lawsuit Wednesday, October 22, 2003 Backing away from pledges to appoint a mediator for the Indian trust fund lawsuit, Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.) on Tuesday introduced a bill aimed at settling the billion-dollar debacle for millions. Even though the Department of Interior admits it has not accounted for at least $13 billion that has passed through the system, the measure would appropriate just $40 million over four years to pay Indian account holders. "The bill will get money into the hands of Indians and that is my goal in introducing this bill," said Campbell, the chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, in a statement. The Indian Money Account Claims Satisfaction Act of 2003 would create a new bureaucracy to sort out historical accounting claims dating back more than a century. An Indian Money Account Satisfaction Task Force, composed of nine experts in the fields of forensic accounting, Indian law, commercial trust, mineral resources, economic modeling and civil litigation, would be charged with determining the balances in Individual Indian Money (IIM) accounts. An account holder could accept the balance proposed by the task force or challenge it before a new Indian Money Claims Tribunal, a five-member body chosen by the U.S. Attorney General. Or an account holder could chose to remain in the Indian trust fund class action, which was filed in 1996 on behalf of more than 500,000 individual Indians throughout the country. Keith Harper, a Native American Rights Fund (NARF) attorney handling the Cobell v. Norton case, welcomed Campbell's involvement. But he called the bill "fundamentally flawed" and said the plaintiffs, who gave a briefing to Senate staff on the case last week, support mediation of the suit. "We continue to believe that the initial approach accepted by tribes and the Cobell plaintiffs to mediate and resolve the case in a wholesale manner is still the best approach," he said in an interview. "It is not clear to us why the chairman, who initially suggested mediation, has now abandoned that approach." In June, Campbell and Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), vice-chairman of the Indian committee, held a hearing to address settlement of the case. At the time, both Campbell and Inouye backed the appointment of a federal mediator. The idea was also endorsed by the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), the largest inter-tribal organization, whose president Tex Hall testified at the hearing. NCAI has since been granted a larger role in the case by U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth. Over the years, the plaintiffs and tribal leaders have called for a resolution of the case that is fair to account holders. Many account holders are elderly and depend on income from oil, gas, agricultural and other activity on their lands. But the effort to resolve the matter has been complicated by political meddling. For the past two years, the House Interior Appropriations subcommittee has devised riders that would terminate the case by limiting the scope of an historical accounting and the funds used to conduct one. Indian Country has unanimously rejected those approaches and successfully lobbied members of the House last year to remove one such rider. This summer, Rep. Richard Pombo (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House Resources Committee, secured an agreement to strike another rider from the 2004 Interior budget bill. That bill is currently before a joint House-Senate conference committee, of which Campbell is a member. Yet in spite of Pombo's arrangement, Congressional aides expect the Republicans who sit on the committee to unveil language, as early as today, targeting the Cobell suit. Fearful of another rider, the leaders of the Congressional Native American Caucus, Reps. J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.) and Dale Kildee (D-Mich.), said they oppose any provisions "that would limit the full historical accounting of the individual Indian trust or otherwise diminish the rights of Indian trust beneficiaries." In an October 17 letter to the Interior subcommittee, they also backed negotiated settlement of the case. Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), who represents thousands of Navajo tribal members affected by the suit, is backing Campbell's bill. While calling the federal government's management of the trust "inexcusable," he said ti would put put "an end to the never-ending cycle of litigation." "This legislation will attempt to account for past actions and put in place a process to avoid future problems," he said. Copyright c. 2000-2003 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: Rider halts decision won by Indian Account Holders" --------- Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2003 08:29:07 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="COBELL LAWSUIT UNDER ATTACK" http://www.indianz.com/News/archives/002161.asp Rider halts court decision won by Indian account holders Friday, October 24, 2003 In yet another attack on the Cobell v. Norton lawsuit, Congressional appropriators have unveiled legislation that stops the Department of Interior from performing a court-ordered accounting of the Indian trust. Just three months after dropping their bid to end the lawsuit, a group of lawmakers is back with another attempt. Their action also comes less than a month after the plaintiffs in the landmark class action won a ruling affirming their rights to an accounting of at least $13 billion of their own money. The new legislation, contained in the Interior's 2004 budget bill, prevents the Bush administration from abiding by that decision. It forbids the use of any federal funds to conduct the broad and far-reaching accounting dictated by U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth until his September 25 order can be reviewed by the higher courts. Secretary of Interior Gale Norton has not announced whether she will appeal Lamberth's ruling. At the time it was issued, a spokesperson only said the department was "reviewing the decision and the options for it." But the rider is at odds with other legislative efforts to resolve the seven-year-old case. On Tuesday, Sens. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.) and Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), the leaders of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee introduced a bill that appropriates $40 million to clear up the balances in hundreds of thousands of Individual Indian Money (IIM) accounts. In July, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) proposed spending $10 billion to pay account holders. And just last week, two of Indian Country's strongest advocates said they would oppose any rider "that would limit the full historical accounting of the individual Indian trust or otherwise diminish the rights of Indian trust beneficiaries." Reps. J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.) and Dale Kildee (D-Mich.), the co-chairs of the bipartisan Native American Caucus, said Lamberth's decision paved the way for a negotiated settlement. "[I]t is now clear what the nature and scope of the IIM trust accounting is," they wrote on October 17 to the House Interior Appropriations subcommittee. The rider, developed by that same subcommittee, undermines Indian rights and the entire judicial process, said Keith Harper, the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) lawyer handling the Cobell case. "We believe that this is unconstitutional," he said. "We would challenge it as such." For three years in a row, the House subcommittee has drafted several anti-Cobell provisions. Some, like language allowing Interior to use taxpayer funds to pay for private law firms, have become law. Other provisions, however, have been stripped from the Interior's budget bill in response to unanimous opposition from Indian Country and assistance by advocates in Congress. The latest was scuttled by Rep. Bill Pombo (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over Indian issues. Pombo is holding a field hearing in Billings, Montana, tomorrow on developing methods to settle the case. "If there is a legislative resolution, it will be done in this committee, and it will not be done in the appropriations committee," he declared at a Washington, D.C., hearing in July, drawing accolades from tribal leaders and the Cobell plaintiffs. Lamberth's September 25 decision came after he heard testimony in Phase 1.5 of the case. Experts retained by the plaintiffs and the Department of Interior presented their competing strategies for clearing up the IIM account balances. Lamberth largely sided with Interior on methodology. He said the department could move forward with its accounting plan, so long as it was completed by 2006 for most accounts and 2007 for large-dollar accounts. But he rejected several limits the Bush administration sought to impose on the project in an effort to keep costs down. A broad accounting could end up costing as much as $2.4 billion, the Office of Historical Trust Accounting (OHTA) has estimated. In their letter, Hayworth and Kildee said OHTA's proposed limits were "arbitrary." But to the lawmakers who control the government's purse strings, they were necessary in order to protect funding for other Indian programs. Reps. Charles Taylor (R-N.C.) is the chairman and Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) is the ranking member of the subcommittee that puts together Interior's budget bill. They have used their positions of power to question the more than $700 million that Interior has spent on trust reform, and their latest rider was developed as part of a joint House-Senate conference committee working on a final version of the $20 billion package. The final version is not yet ready but the rider was circulated to members of Congress starting on Wednesday. It states: That nothing in the American Indian Trust Management Reform Act of 1994, Public Law 103-412, or in any other statute, and no principle of common law shall, be construed or applied, to require the Department of the Interior to commence or continue the historical accounting ordered by the District Court in Cobell v. Norton at the conclusion of Phase 1.5 of that proceeding, until any and all appellate review of Phase 1.5 orders has been completed. The language is attached to the section of the bill for the Office of Special Trustee (OST). OST, headed by Bush appointee Ross Swimmer, requested $130 million in fiscal year 2004 to carry out various historical accounting activities for the IIM trust and for some tribal trust accounts. According to a Congressional aide, the rider could be stricken from the budget bill before it sees a final vote. But lawmakers could also wage a battle on the House and Senate floor to remove it. "We believe that there are many in Congress who understand the problem with this type of deep interference with the judicial process and an attempt to legislatively limit the enforcement rights of beneficiaries," said Harper. "We think that they will fight vigorously to support Indian Country." Copyright c. 2000-2003 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: Democrat Plan for Minority and Indian Health" --------- Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 08:53:28 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="INDIAN HELTH PLAN" http://www.indianz.com/News/archives/002135.asp Democrats lay out plan for minority and Indian health Wednesday, October 22, 2003 Accusing Republicans and the Bush administration of ignoring Native Americans, Congressional Democrats on Tuesday unveiled a legislative initiative to improve minority health care. As part of a larger effort to highlight domestic issues, the Democrats said the Healthcare Equality and Accountability Act of 2003 will expand health coverage for minorities, address health disparities and ensure adequate funding for American Indians and Alaska Natives. "Our bill will make adequate funding for the Indian Health Service mandatory so that we can finally stop the shameful rationing of Indian health care," said Senator Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota. Daschle was joined by House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California and Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, the Democratic co-chair of the Congressional Native American Caucus. Both drew attention to the high rates of disease experienced by racial and ethnic minorities, and said those problems were linked to limited funding and resources. "Because of minorities not being fully in the loop," said Pelosi, "African-Americans suffer from diabetes at a rate of 70 percent higher than White Americans and Native Americans suffer from it at three times the average rate." "The disparities that exist between Native Americans and the general population are incredible," added Pallone, citing high death rates from disease including diabetes, pneumonia, tuberculosis and alcoholism. The bill, to be introduced next week, will make funding for IHS an entitlement like Medicare or social security. Calling the levels of funding to IHS an "embarrassment," Pallone said this provision will ensure the federal government is meeting its trust responsibilities. The legislation elevates the director of the IHS to an assistant secretary of health within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). "It's very important to prioritize that position," Pallone said. Tribal leaders and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) have been pushing elevation for several years. These two goals are also contained in the recently introduced Indian Health Care Improvement Act, which is currently under debate in the House and Senate. The House Resources Committee and the Senate Indian Affairs Committee have held joint hearings to reauthorize several health programs. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.), chairman of the Indian committee, has introduced a version of the bill in the Senate. The entitlement provision draws attention to funding battles between Democrats and Republicans. Although members of both parties have voted to increase the IHS budget, which stands at about $3 billion, Democrats say their colleagues are backing away from specific pledges. In September, Republicans in the Senate voted down two provisions to boost IHS funds. They cited a need to stay within federal budget rules and guidelines. Some were also concerned about shifting money away from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. "Over the last five years, well over $1 billion in new money has been provided in order to improve health care within our Native American community," said Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) at the time. "Within the extremely limited resources . . . we've been responsive to the needs of the Native Americans." According to statistics compiled by Daschle, the federal government spends $3,800 per prisoner on health care but only $1,900 for every Native American patient. In some areas, notably on the Navajo Nation, IHS spends a meager $800 per patient. A study released by the Institute of Medicine called attention to the lagging health care of the nation's minorities. Other reports, including a recent one from the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, highlight funding disparities for Native Americans. Copyright c. 2000-2003 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: Stevens unapologetic in Speech to Alaska Natives" --------- Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 09:14:33 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="STEVENS SPEECH" http://www.indianz.com/News/archives/002193.asp Stevens unapologetic in speech to Alaska Natives Monday, October 27, 2003 Saying "sovereignty is not the answer" for Alaska's tribes, Sen. Ted Stevens (R) on Friday defended himself against accusations of racism before the largest gathering of Alaska Natives. In a videoaped speech to the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN), the powerful chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee sought to counter controversy over remarks that have Native leaders fuming. Pointing to his record on Native issues, which includes telling white-owned businesses to take down their "No Natives Allowed" signs to bringing millions in federal dollars to the state, he said he was hurt by the criticism. "To be called a 'racist' after more than 50 years of dedicated service to Alaskans, particularly Alaska Natives, is something I will not forget," Stevens said on the tape. "It is a stain on my soul." But Alaska's senior senator was unapologetic over his push to change the way more than 220 tribes in the state receive federal funds. Stevens has authored legislation that would shift the money to the state and to regional Native entities, a move tribal leaders and their advocates see as an attack on their sovereign rights. Stevens framed the debate a different way. Not only would exercising sovereignty create jurisdictional disputes, he told delegates that they wouldn't be able to make decisions affecting their own land "without Uncle Sam's permission" and said the Bureau of Indian Affairs would mismanage their assets. "Tribal sovereignty is not the answer to the problems Alaska Natives face," he said. "It merely brings authority to some, power to others, and legal fees to advocates that bring incessant litigation." Earlier this month, Stevens told the Alaska media that it was impossible to fund each and every village due to budget constraints. That explanation, while disputed by Native leaders, wasn't what got him in trouble. It was his statement that tribes threaten the state by exerting their sovereignty. A comment about the exploding Native population didn't help either. Friday's speech to the AFN annual convention, held at the Egan Center in Anchorage, did little to quiet the controversy. Native leaders saw Stevens as overly defensive and weren't satisfied with the justification he gave for his campaign. "The services that we provide currently are in jeopardy," Mike Williams, president of Alaska's Inter-Tribal Council, told KNBA FM, which provided continuous coverage of the AFN meeting. "Suggesting that the state of Alaska has a better answer to our problems. . . I disagree with that." In a speech to delegates on Thursday, AFN president Julie Kitka said she was alarmed by Stevens' proposals. But she also said it was up to Alaska Natives to respond to some of the issues he has raised. She called on the creation of a "blue ribbon" federal commission to examine them. On Saturday, AFN passed a resolution endorsing the "Commission on Fiscal and Governmental Relations." Composed of tribal, state and federal officials. it's task would be to provide recommendations on improving delivery of federal services to Alaska Natives. Keeping the funding issue separate from tribal status is a critical one, Kitka said. But in his speech, Stevens traced the source of his concern to the Bureau of Indian Affairs' decision to recognize every Alaska tribe. "It's a problem that developed because the former director of BIA, Ada Deer, decreed that every Alaska Native village was a tribe, leading many to assert there are now 231 Alaskan tribes," he told delegates. In October 1993, the BIA placed Alaska's tribes on the list of federally recognized entities, ensuring them equal status with tribes in the lower 48 states. But Alaska tribes differ from their counterparts in important ways, including small membership and limited territorial jurisdiction. Nevertheless, tribal leaders in the state have sought to assert their powers by establishing housing departments, court systems and law enforcement units, among other activities. The tribes provided critical services, particularly in rural areas where state dollars don't reach. Through a rider in an appropriations bill, Stevens is cutting off federal funds for village courts and law enforcement. The language forces the Department of Justice to send the money to the state instead. Separately, Stevens is considering another rider that would redirect federal housing funds to regional Native organizations. Some are affiliated with for-profit corporations that Stevens helped create with the passage of the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. The corporations are not tribes. The AFN convention ended Saturday. An estimated 4,000 Natives from across the state attended three days of meetings, speeches and cultural events. A separate conference for youth and elders was held Monday through Wednesday. Copyright c. 2000-2003 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: Only 3 of 12 recognized Sioux Code Talkers remain" --------- Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 09:14:33 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TIME TO HONOR SHORT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/2003/10/27/news/local/top/news01.txt Only three of 12 recognized Sioux code talkers remain By Kevin Abourezk, Lee Enterprises WANBLEE - The old soldier with skin like cracked mud squints now, trying to recall that killing field. He watched dozens of soldiers and friends die all around him. He struggles to understand why he was saved from all that hell. And he can only attribute it to a prayer. As bullets and shrapnel from grenades rained down around him, Clarence Wolf Guts whispered a promise in his Lakota tongue. Wakantanka waglikte wachi, hechel chazenitaki gluonihasa. Bring me home God, and I will praise your name always. Navajo code talkers are the most famous group of American Indian soldiers to use their language to confound America's enemies in World War II. Most served in the Pacific with the U.S. Marines, relaying messages from island battlefields to nearby gun ships and aircraft. The 450 Navajo code talkers sent radio messages using a code based on their language. Even fluent Navajo speakers who did not know the code could not have interpreted their messages. The code was never broken. Later, the Navajo were the subject of books and movies, including last year's "Windtalkers." That attention eclipsed the efforts of Indian soldiers from at least 15 other tribes who used their languages to fight the Japanese and Germans in World War II. Kenneth Townsend, a history professor at Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina and author of "World War II and the American Indian," said Navajo code talkers deserve the recognition. But other tribes shouldn't be forgotten. "It is equally important to remember they were but a few men among a much larger body of men who served their nation, their communities, their families, and, most critically, their comrades in arms," he said. Among the tribes that sent code talkers to war: Assiniboine, Cherokee, Choctaw Kiowa, Comanche, Menominee, Muskogee Creek, Navajo, Pawnee, Seminole and Sioux. Now, nearly 60 years after the end of World War II, congressional leaders are working to recognize code talkers. The Code Talkers Recognition Act, introduced in March by Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., would honor all Indian code talkers with the Congressional Gold Medal. But it has not made it past the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, according to an aide to Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., a co- sponsor of the bill. Last year, former Rep. John Thune, R-S.D., helped a similar bill move through the House of Representatives. But it never made it past the Senate. "We certainly wanted to recognize a number of tribes around the country, but especially the Sioux," Thune said. Time is running out. Only three of 12 recognized Sioux code talkers remain. Two live in South Dakota, one of them on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and one in Gregory. The third lives on Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana. He was looking for a way out. A way to escape a father who liked to drink and wake his son by whipping him with a rope. One evening, the 17-year-old packed his things and left his father's home. Shirley Quentin Red Boy, now 82, never looked back. He had always been a good shot, hunting deer and elk in the backwoods of northern Montana. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, he got to put his hunting skills to use. At the time, he was part of an all-Indian infantry company stationed in San Francisco and charged with loading ships bound for the Pacific. One Sunday, he awoke to reports of civilians killed by stray bullets and ships bombed to oblivion in a place called Pearl Harbor. A few weeks later, he boarded a supply ship headed for Hawaii, where he saw ships smoldering in the bay and bodies being loaded into giant pits. His unit was sent to guard the north shore of Oahu, the island where Pearl Harbor is. To kill time, he and his friend, Herman Red Elk, would sing songs to each other in Dakota using their field telephones. As they scanned the ocean, they relayed messages in Dakota. Because the language didn't include words to describe military machinery, they developed their own. The Dakota word for mosquito, chapunka, came to describe a small aircraft. Dragonfly, tuswecha, meant a large bomber. Fish, hogan, was a submarine. Turtle, keye, meant a tank. When another soldier told a lieutenant about their use of Dakota, the officer paid them a visit. "When he first asked me about it, I asked him if we were doing anything wrong," Red Boy said. No, the officer said. In fact, he thought it was a clever way to protect their lines of communication. Before he left the beach, he told the men, "You might save lives." Little has been written about the contribution of Sioux code talkers during World War II. Townsend, the historian, said Yankton Sioux were first used during World War I to transmit messages. Later, they used their language to call in artillery strikes in North Africa, Sicily and Normandy. However, historians continue to debate whether any Sioux actually "spoke code" during World War II. Indeed, some say only the Comanche and Navajo used code during the war. Using code was different from merely sending messages using the unaltered words of an Indian language, Townsend said. Although the language would form the foundation for a code, a code was essentially a new language. For the most part, Sioux soldiers sent messages only in emergency situations, when communication lines were severed or a unit was about to be overrun, he said. Yet, perhaps even more remarkable to some is that young Sioux men would join the military at all, considering the tribe's troubled past with the U. S. government, he said. In fact, for years before the war, the government forced Sioux children to attend boarding schools, where they were punished if they spoke their native tongue. The four soldiers sat on a dock pounding on empty beer boxes, imagining they were Dakota singers around a drum. The war was over. And Clarence Wolf Guts was trying to forget the confusion, the deprivation, the horror. He had spent 3-1/2 years fighting the Japanese and, now, guarding Tokyo. He was tired and homesick. The song he and his friends made up by pounding on beer boxes would be one of his few war souvenirs and one of many memories. He and his cousin, Iver Crow Eagle, joined the Army together in June 1942. The United States had been at war with Japan for seven months, and the young men from Pine Ridge wanted to join the fight. They took basic training in Alabama, where Wolf Guts first heard of the code talkers. One day, a general called him into his office. "I thought, 'What the heck did I do now?'" Wolf Guts said. He asked Wolf Guts if he could speak Sioux. Wolf Guts told him there were three dialects of Sioux - Lakota, Nakota and Dakota - and that he could speak and write Lakota. The officer asked if he could learn to operate a radio. Yes, he responded. After the meeting, Wolf Guts helped develop a phonetic alphabet based on Lakota, he said. That alphabet was later used to develop a Lakota code. He and three other Sioux code talkers eventually joined the Pacific campaign, jumping from island to island, pushing the Japanese ever farther back toward their homeland. Wolf Guts' primary job was transmitting coded messages from a general to his chief of staff in the field. When it was over, Wolf Guts never forgot the promise he made. To this day, the 79-year-old continues to pray to God, thanking the creator for allowing him to return. "All my boys, my buddies, they're all gone now," he said. "I often wonder, 'Why, why am I alive?'" As he lay in a hospital bed under a tent in New Guinea, Charlie Whitepipe watched the transport ships sail away, taking with them the soldiers of his unit, his friends. He was sick. Sick with jungle rot and malaria, diseases earned from months spent up to his neck in flooded foxholes. Now, he would be sent home, a casualty of war. He would tell his son many years later that his unit "got clobbered" on its next mission. "I didn't feel any regrets," he said about leaving the Pacific. Whitepipe never got to use his Lakota language in combat. Nor was he ever taught to use a code based on Lakota. He spent nearly two years in New Guinea, a forward observer and radioman for an artillery unit stationed on the American-occupied island. When it was learned he could speak Lakota, his commanding officers made plans to have Whitepipe transmit messages to a Lakota-speaking Crow soldier in case the unit's communications were cut. The plans were never carried out, because communications were never severed. And Whitepipe never got to meet the Crow soldier whose first name he only remembers as "Gerard." "A lot of that I forgot," he says, an elder now sitting at his dining room table beside his son and daughter. The 85-year-old's memories come and go now, like the autumn leaves outside his bedroom window. Still, one memory continues to bring him joy. The day he returned home from the war, he caught his mother by surprise as she stood in a pool hall in Mission. "She pretty near collapsed." Contact Kevin Abourezk at 1-402 473-7237 or kabourezk@journalstar.com Copyright c. 2003 The Rapid City Journal. --------- "RE: Famous Dave gets warm D.C. Welcome" --------- Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 08:53:28 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DAVE ANDERSON WELCOME" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/local/7079089.htm 'Famous Dave' gets warm D.C. welcome BY TOM WEBB Pioneer Press October 23, 2003 WASHINGTON - "Famous Dave" Anderson, an Ojibwe Indian and successful barbecue restaurateur from Minnesota, was approved 13-0 by a U.S. Senate panel Wednesday to lead the troubled Bureau of Indian Affairs. The vote followed an upbeat confirmation hearing that included warm testimonials from Midwest tribal leaders, a positive Oprah video and Anderson himself leading a prayer. Senator after senator praised Anderson's talents, his outreach to young Indians and his life-changing personal story, although many also warned about the difficult job that lies ahead. The job is "one of the most important, and probably the most difficult, in the federal government," said Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo. And if Anderson can solve the BIA's troubles as assistant secretary for Indian affairs, the senator later joked, "We might build a statue to you." Confirmation by the full Senate could come as soon as this week, probably by a unanimous vote, a committee aide said. It would make Anderson the top Minnesotan in the Bush administration. The position is just below Cabinet level. At the hearing, Anderson quickly resolved the lone objection that had been raised to his appointment: his long-standing ties to Plymouth businessman Lyle Berman, who has four Indian casino projects awaiting BIA approval. Anderson promised that, if confirmed, he would recuse himself from any decisions involving Berman, sell all his remaining stock in a gambling concern called Park Place, and resign as chairman of the Famous Dave's chain of 88 rib restaurants. Anderson, 50, gave a message brimming with hope, self-respect, responsibility and optimism. Although he's been involved in tribal matters for many years, Anderson conceded he's hardly the nation's foremost authority on oft-complex Indian issues. He was nominated by President Bush, he believes, "because, in my lifetime, I have overcome many formidable adversities, and I never quit." He hopes to foster that can-do spirit in tribal communities across the country, akin to what he has tried to do through his LifeSkills center in Minneapolis for Indian young people, which he founded and financed with millions of his own money. "I really believe that, today, it isn't that the federal government is irresponsible or that the BIA is inefficient," Anderson told the committee. "I really believe that the reasons why we have the things that we face on our reservations - the high alcoholism rates, the dropout rates, the high suicide rates - these are really symptoms of young people growing up without hope. "I hope that my story will impact the youth of tomorrow, because they will be our next leaders," he added. TURNING LIFE AROUND Anderson mentioned both his life's high and low points Wednesday. He said he'd been a below-average student in school - making "the top half possible," he said - and drank so much that he ended up in alcohol and chemical abuse treatment. He went through bankruptcy. But then he turned his life around, he said, by accepting "100 percent responsibility for changing the character of who I was." Today, his resume includes a master's degree from Harvard University, partnering to form the lucrative Grand Casinos gaming company, helping launch the Rainforest Cafe chain, then launching Famous Dave's barbecue restaurants, which can now be found in half of the 50 states. "He is a great business leader, a humble and remarkable public servant and, finally, a barbecuer extraordinaire," said Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn. Later citing Anderson's charitable work, Coleman added, "There is no question that Dave Anderson has been doing the Lord's work; now it's time to give him a shot at helping Uncle Sam do his." BIA CHALLENGES Anderson may need a miracle. The Bureau of Indian Affairs is widely perceived as one of the government's most troubled agencies, viewed warily both by the American Indian communities it is supposed to serve as well as by many outsiders. Yet the scope of the bureau's reach makes it critical, too, touching a wide swath of Indian health and education, Indian gaming and land issues, along with other elements among distinct and sovereign tribes. Audrey Bennett, president of the Prairie Island Indian Community, testified: "Our cultures are eroding with the passing of time. Land issues threaten our senses of community, and many tribes continue to struggle for economic development capable of sustaining their governments. And many of our children are not getting the education they need.... The BIA, for all its faults, remains a critical resource for addressing and helping meet these challenges." Anderson was asked how he would improve the BIA. He "respectfully" demurred, saying he would need time to become more familiar with the complexities. Replied Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii: "You needn't be apologetic. We've been working on this for more than 100 years, and we're still trying to find the answer." On two other issues important to tribal communities, Anderson gave direct responses. Asked about sovereignty, he vowed to "do everything in my power to protect the sovereignty of native peoples." Asked about tribal gaming, he replied, "We have to manage those resources appropriately," but then warned against letting "our people have an easy way. I think that gaming is only an opportunity that you use as a stepping stone, and you need to use it as a beginning, a developing point, so you can go on and invest in other areas." Anderson's parents, his wife, one son and other relatives were on hand for the confirmation hearing. After the 13-0 vote, he was asked if he was daunted by the job ahead. "I don't think any more than any of the other challenges I've faced in life," Famous Dave said, smiling. Copyright c. 2003 St. Paul Pioneer Press, TwinCities.com. --------- "RE: Trinity River offer rejected" --------- Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 08:53:28 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SALMON" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.redding.com/top_stories/local/20031021toplo029.shtml Trinity River offer rejected Hoopa tribe, feds say more water needed for salmon Alex Breitler Record Searchlight October 21, 2003 The federal government and the Hoopa tribe have rejected a settlement that would have bolstered flows down the Trinity River, though not as much as officials had promised. The settlement offer by Westlands Water District would have pumped river flows up to 92 percent of those mandated in the 2000 Trinity River restoration decision. It also would have ended a legal stalemate that began in 2001 when Westlands sued to block the decision. The district, which serves 600 large farms in the San Joaquin Valley, says farmers depend on water diverted from the Trinity since the 1960s. Westlands spokesman Tupper Hull said the district was disappointed by the rejection. "We continue to believe the settlement proposal was based on good science, was fair and would have resulted in the restoration of the Trinity River fishery," Hull said Monday. River advocates, however, were lukewarm at best from the beginning, saying last week's offer was nothing more than a public relations move. In a letter to the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Hoopa tribal Chairman Lyle Marshall said the Westlands proposal had "no credible biological or scientific justification." He claimed that the district's consultants spent two to four weeks preparing it, in contrast to 20 years of study that went into the restoration decision three years ago. Marshall could not be reached for comment Monday, but his letter also said that Westlands scientists had no direct experience or knowledge of the Trinity River. "We listened to their proposal in good faith and had our scientists analyze it," but found no new science, said tribal Councilman Joe Jarnaghan. When compared with the record of decision - not with current river levels - the plan leaves less water in the river most years, the tribe said. However, a federal judge has capped river levels due to litigation, so the settlement would have meant higher flows for now, Hull said. "I think the next step is that it's up to others to develop a reasonable and fair proposal or to let the litigation run its course," he said. Bureau of Reclamation spokesman Jeff McCracken said the government will continue to rely on the original Trinity River flow evaluation. That evaluation, prepared in 1999 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, links historic water diversions with a decline in the salmon runs. More than 100 miles of Trinity River fish habitat had already been blocked when the Lewiston and Trinity dams were built. Since then up to 90 percent of the Trinity's water has been diverted for agriculture. Within a decade of the start of those diversions, adverse effects on fish were obvious, the evaluation said. Average spawning populations of spring- and fall-run chinook salmon dropped 68 percent. Large numbers of returning fish since 1978 have typically been hatchery-produced, with natural fish accounting for as little as one-third of their spawning runs. Before diversions, high flows scoured the riverbed, moving gravel bars and allowing the river to meander in its classic "S" shape. When those high flows were gone, streamside vegetation moved into the river channel and formed berms along the edges. The series of alternating riffles and deep pools in which salmon thrive were gone. The record of decision called for anywhere from 368,000 acre-feet of water per year to 815,000, depending on precipitation. The judge's order has capped flows at 452,600 acre-feet. The Westlands proposal would have ranged from 340,000 to 815,000 acre-feet. Reporter Alex Breitler can be reached at 225-8344 or at abreitler@redding.com. Copyright c. 2003 Record Searchlight - The E.W. Scripps Co. --------- "RE: Government, Tribe struggle over Values" --------- Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 09:14:33 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SPOKANE/SALMON" http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp?date=102603&ID~tribal_news Government, tribe struggle over values Spokane Tribe wants compensation for culture devastated by dam's construction John Craig Staff writer October 26, 2003 Where Spokane Tribe members see a lost way of life, government officials see real estate. That difference is frustrating the tribe's efforts to be compensated for flooding caused by Grand Coulee Dam. In the government's way of thinking, the relatively small dam site is equal in value to all the land taken for Lake Roosevelt. Federal officials want to pay the Spokane Tribe at roughly half the rate paid to the Colville Confederated Tribes, whose reservation contains what Woody Guthrie called the biggest thing built by the hand of a man. The U.S. government has agreed since 1933, when Congress decided to build Grand Coulee Dam, that the Spokane and Colville tribes should be paid for land taken by the project. But it took more than 60 years for the Colvilles to get their first check, which arrived in 1995. The Spokanes are still waiting, although two bills in Congress are aimed at ending the wait. The sticking point is that the government won't give the Spokanes the same deal as the Colvilles. Or, depending on how you look at it, the government insists on giving the Spokanes exactly the same deal. Colville tribal members split a $53million check for back payments in 1995. Each of 8,231 members got $5,988. Since then, tribal members have split annual payments ranging from about $14million to almost $22million, depending on power production and prices. All the money goes directly to tribal members. Spokane Tribe Chairman Warren Seyler said tribal leaders have made no decision on how any settlement would be distributed. Some likely would go directly to tribal members, "but the majority is going toward building a future for the tribe," he predicted. That means applying the money to things such as education, economic development, health programs and other government operations, Seyler said. Legislation pending in Congress would give the 2,300-member Spokane Tribe about $80million in inflation-adjusted back payments and annual payments that equal roughly 39percent of those that go to the Colville tribes. But the Bush administration objects to giving the Spokanes more than 19 percent of what the Colvilles get. The Colville tribal government has taken no position on the issue, a spokesman said. Salmon eaters In part, the dispute may reflect a cultural difference. Government officials view the Spokane Tribe's claim in terms of the value of the 7,000 megawatts of electricity Grand Coulee Dam generates. Without the strategic real estate under the dam, there would be no electricity for seven cities the size of Seattle. "The dam site is actually the place where most of the value is generated," said Roy Fox, manager of federal hydro projects for the Bonneville Power Administration. Ask any real estate agent: The three most important things about real estate are location, location and location. Based on that principle, federal officials continue to stick with a formula Secretary of Interior Harold Ickes proposed in 1934. Ickes called for payments to the Colville Tribes to be based half on the dam site and half on the upstream land flooded by Lake Roosevelt. The Spokane Tribe should be paid only for its portion of flooded land, Ickes suggested, because their land doesn't touch the dam. Under a veneer of complicated clauses, that formula is still the core of government policy on the issue. It's at the heart of the settlement with the Colville Confederated Tribes, which was modeled on a deal for Kerr Dam flooding of the Flathead Reservation in Montana, Fox said. So the Bush administration holds that, if everything else were equal, the Spokanes would be entitled to only half as much as the Colvilles because of where Grand Coulee Dam is located. The Spokanes figure an upstream acre is worth as much as an acre under the dam. In their view, Grand Coulee Dam would be useless concrete without Lake Roosevelt. They also note that they would have been bound by no such arbitrary formula if the dam had been built by Washington state as originally planned. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rules would have required only that a settlement be negotiated. Anyway, the Spokanes don't think of their contribution to the dam as a real estate transaction, Seyler said. Tribal members want to be compensated for a loss they measure in salmon, not megawatts. In that sense, Seyler said, the Spokanes' loss actually was greater than the Colvilles'. While salmon still come to a corner of the Colville Reservation, the Spokanes' salmon fishery was destroyed. "Our life, culture, economy and religion centered on the rivers," Seyler said in testimony earlier this month before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and the House Committee on Resources. "We were known by our neighboring tribes as the Salmon Eaters." Seyler said his tribe called the Spokane River, which also was affected by Grand Coulee Dam, the "Path of Life" because "it was and is the center of our life." Tribal members lived and died near the Spokane and Columbia rivers, and their graves now are regularly exposed by rising and falling reservoir levels. A long wait Rep. George Nethercutt and Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell have submitted bills that adopt the Spokane Tribe's position in the dispute. Both bills would give the Spokanes what the Colvilles got, adjusted down to 39percent on the basis of acreage. The Cantwell-Murray bill would require the entire package -- both a retroactive payment and ongoing annual payments -- to be paid by the Treasury. Nethercutt's bill would have the Bonneville Power Administration handle the ongoing payments, as the BPA does for the Colville tribes. The BPA's Fox said the electricity-marketing agency is prepared to make ongoing payments to the Spokanes if the Treasury picks up the back payments. But the BPA says the Spokanes should get 19 percent of what the Colvilles get, roughly half of what the proposed legislation offers. Fox said that percentage reflects not only the fact that the Spokanes didn't contribute the dam site, but that they don't pose as much threat in court as the Colvilles did. BPA and other government officials were willing to pay the Colvilles a premium because they had a valid legal claim pending in federal court, Fox said. That brings up another quirky historical artifact of the kind found only in Indian Country. Except for some token payments, the Colville and Spokane tribes failed to reap the promised benefits when Grand Coulee Dam was completed in 1940. So they sent a joint delegation to Washington, D.C., to discuss the matter with federal officials. Unfortunately, Seyler said, the meeting was on Dec. 10, 1941, three days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The delegates were told their case would have to wait. After the war, in 1946, Congress established an Indian Claims Commission and gave tribes five years to file claims for historic grievances. Seyler said the isolated Spokane Tribe, represented by the Bureau of Indian Affairs office on the Colville Reservation, got no formal notice. Seyler said the Spokanes found out about the claims deadline in 1951 and filed in the nick of time. He noted that the tribe's first formal government was formed only two months before the filing deadline. Neither the Spokanes nor the Colvilles included Grand Coulee Dam in their claims. Seyler said they understood that only old grievances, not those involving ongoing conduct, were to be included. The Spokanes settled their claim in 1967, but the Colvilles held out for another decade. By 1975, Seyler said, the rules were changed to encompass ongoing issues, and the Colvilles were allowed to amend their claim to include Grand Coulee Dam. It was that amended claim that gave the Colville tribal government leverage to negotiate the Grand Coulee settlement Congress approved in 1994. With no claim to amend, the Spokane Tribe had no leverage except a clause in the Indian Claims Commission Act calling for "fair and honorable" treatment of tribes. Seyler is optimistic that Congress will embrace that standard and pass one of the current bills. "I think a lot of members of Congress are positive about trying to resolve the issue," Seyler said. "They see the injustice of it." Copyright c. 2003 Idaho Spokesman-Review. --------- "RE: Global event to honor Earth's Waters" --------- Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 08:27:43 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="N-AQUIFER" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.navajohopiobserver.com/~P=836964&S=392&PubID=11458 Global event to honor N-aquifer and all earth's waters October 22, 2003 KYKOTSMOVI - The Black Mesa Trust Hisot Navoti Conference on Thursday, Oct. 23, will gather worldwide support as participants join in a global honoring of the life-sustaining waters of the Earth. At noon, conference panelists and guests will say in unison the words, "Water, we love you. Water, we respect you. Water, we thank you." All over the world-at exactly noon local time-people will repeat the honoring statements, so the event will move in space and time around the globe through the 24 time zones. The event is being coordinated in Tokyo as a result of Black Mesa Trust Executive Director Vernon Masayesva's recent trip to Japan, where he met with scholars and Shinto priests, as well as presenting a keynote speech. During the visit, Masayesva and his wife, Becky, met with researcher Dr. Masaru Emoto, chief of Hado Institute in Tokyo and author of the two- volume work "Message from Water." Dr. Emoto investigates hado (rhymes with shadow), which he defines as "the intrinsic vibrational pattern at the atomic level in all matter. The smallest unit of energy. Its basis is the energy of human consciousness." Dr. Emoto has taken revolutionary photographs of water crystals under extremely high magnification. He has discovered that not only do waters from different sources crystallize into distinctive forms, but that those forms can be radically altered by projecting thoughts and feelings through written and spoken words, music, and visual images to the water as it crystallizes. Simply put, "water changes its expression" as a result of human actions. Black Mesa Trust will show a short video of Dr. Emoto's work during the Hisot Navoti conference, which will begin at 10 a.m. at the Hopi Veterans' Center in Kykotsmovi. Conference participants-Hopi, Acoma, Zuni, Laguna, Raramuri, Purepecha and Aztecan elders-will hold a roundtable discussion about the sacred significance of water to indigenous cultures, which, unlike global corporations, do not consider it to be a commodity that can be bought, sold and hoarded for profit or put to inappropriate uses. Dr. Emoto has asked Black Mesa Trust to collect water samples from a spring and from the N-aquifer and to keep those samples at the conference for its duration. After the conference Masayesva will then send the water to Dr. Emoto. The conference will end at 4 p.m. and an evening water blessing ceremony will be offered by the Aztecan guests. The public is invited. A $5 donation is suggested. Black Mesa residents may attend for free. Black Mesa Trust's second annual Water Fair is scheduled for the next day, Friday, Oct. 24, also at the Hopi Veterans' Center in Kykotsmovi. This day of educational activities, booths and demonstrations about the sustainable use of water and the cultures of Black Mesa will begin at 7:30 a.m. and continue to 3 p.m. This free event is geared to school children their teachers and parents. Black Mesa Trust's Reception and Benefit Auction previously scheduled for the evening of Oct. 25 has been postponed. Organizations supporting Black Mesa Trust efforts include Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Oxfam America, WaterKeeper Alliance, Environment Now, Grand Canyon Trust, Arizona Ethnobotanical Research Association, Black Mesa Water Coalition, Flagstaff Activist Network, Sacred Land Film Project, Earth Island Institute, Wild Angels, Seventh Generation and the law firms of Shearman & Sterling and Hagens-Berman. Navajo-Hopi Observer Copyright c. 2003 Northern Arizona Newspapers, Inc. --------- "RE: Oneidas, State considering Tax Deal" --------- Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 08:27:43 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NY ONEIDA TAX PLAN" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.syracuse.com/~/base/news-4/1066832343127140.xml Oneidas, state considering tax deal By WILLIAM KATES The Associated Press October 22, 2003 SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - The Oneida Indian Nation has almost completed a deal with the state that would allow the tribe to collect taxes on cigarettes and gasoline sold to non-Indians and keep it for tribal government services, a tribal attorney said Wednesday. The state would not receive any tax money under the deal. However, the taxes charged by the Oneidas would be equal to state taxes and would reduce - although not eliminate - the tribe's competitive advantages over non-Indian retailers, said tribal tax attorney Eric Facer. "After 18 months of negotiations, we are very close to wrapping this up with a written agreement. There are no major outstanding substantive issues. It will be before Dec. 1," Facer said. Beginning Dec. 1, the state is scheduled to begin collecting taxes on cigarettes and gasoline sold to non-Indians on Indian land. The tax will be imposed on wholesalers, who will collect it from retailers. Under the new tax regulations, if a tribe reaches an agreement with the state, it would be exempt from turning over the taxes. "What we are talking about is hardly a revolutionary idea," Facer said. "There are dozens of other tribes in states across the nation that have reached such agreements." Gov. George Pataki and the Mohawk Nation reached a similar agreement in May, but that has since been thrown into limbo following the election of new chiefs on the northern New York reservation. The Cayuga Indian Nation of New York made a similar offer in a letter to Pataki last week. The governor's office did not immediately return phone calls Wednesday seeking comment. The Oneidas operate 12 combination gasoline station-convenience stores and two cigarette shops in Oneida and Madison counties. The tribe also owns Turning Stone Casino, which has reported profits of $30 million annually. The tribe has not released revenue or profit figures for its cigarette and gasoline sales. Facer said the nation would lose millions of dollars in sales as well as market share because it would no longer have a big price advantage over non-Indian retailers. He said the gain in taxes - which he estimated at "seven figures" - would not be enough to offset the loss in revenues. Although it would receive no tax money from the Oneidas, the state would still benefit because it would be collecting tax money on the increased sales at non-Indian stores, he said. Some people now drive 20 to 30 miles to take advantage of the Oneida's significantly lower prices. If there is less savings, some shoppers will decide it is no longer worth it to make the drive and instead buy from local merchants, Facer said. Facer said imposing a tribal tax equal to state taxes would raise the nation's retail prices on cigarettes, which are about $10 less per carton than non-Indian retailers, to within $2 or $3 of those retailers. Gasoline prices would go up, too, but Facer said he didn't know how much. Prices at the Oneidas' gas stations generally fall within 10 cents of non- Indian service stations. The agreement also would include a number of "protective components" for the state, including minimum threshold prices for fuel and tobacco sold by the Oneidas. The state also would have the authority to audit the nation's books to make sure the tax money was being used for government services and programs and not being invested into Oneida business ventures, Facer said. Copyright c. 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 2003 The Syracuse Post-Standard - Syracuse.com. --------- "RE: Homeowners given deadline by Oneidas" --------- Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 09:14:33 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ONEIDA EVICTIONS" http://www.theithacajournal.com/~/20031024/localnews/509033.html Homeowners given deadline by Oneidas October 24, 2003 The Associated Press ONEIDA, N.Y. - Residents involved in a politically charged battle over planned home demolitions on Oneida Indian land said they were given until Sunday to evacuate. "They just delivered the papers last night," resident Victoria Halsey said Thursday, " ... gave us four days to get out and nowhere to go." The dispute revolves around four trailer homes on the Oneida Indian Nation's ancestral land, about 30 miles east of Syracuse. An order given to residents tells them to evacuate and remove all their possessions from the trailers by Sunday. Tribal Council leaders have said the trailers were condemned by the tribe as part of a nearly decade-old program to improve housing conditions on nation land. But some of the roughly 20 residents and their supporters have claimed the demolition is a way of suppressing political dissent against Ray Halbritter, the Oneidas' federally recognized leader. "This has always been their desire - to be rid of our principles and to be rid of our traditions," said Diane Shenendoah. A statement released by Oneida Nation officials said they were obligated to make sure residents weren't living in housing that is unsafe, unsanitary and in violation of codes. "Claims in the media that actions by the Nation are anything other than in the interest of public safety are unmitigated lies," according to the statement. Oneida spokesman Jerry Reed added that he was not aware of any demolition date being set. Those facing eviction are traditionalists who do not recognize Halbritter as the tribe's leader and accuse him of acting like a dictator. In 1993, the traditional governing body of the Iroquois tribes stripped Halbritter of his leadership. Halbritter's spokesman has said the Grand Council has no authority in this area and that each Indian nation is a sovereign state. The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs recognizes Halbritter as the Oneida leader. Halbritter has been the driving force behind the Oneida's highly profitable Turning Stone Casino Resort. The trailer homes on the tribe's ancestral 32-acre reservation were scheduled for demolition in August, but that was put on hold while residents fought their case in court. The group of residents includes Halbritter's aunt, Maisie Schenandoah, a traditional clan mother, and her daughters Diane Shenendoah and Halsey. Oneida leadership no longer recognizes Schenandoah as a clan mother, a spokesman has said. Diane Shenendoah said she was optimistic an agreement could be reached to head off an eviction, but she said she has no plans to leave if last- minute talks fail. "We have every right to live here," she said, "and we're not leaving." Copyright c. 2003 The Ithaca Journal. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Oneida Tribal Court delays eviction" --------- Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 09:14:33 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ONEIDA EVICTIONS" http://www.syracuse.com/news/poststandard/~/1066985759275591.xml Tribal court delays eviction Four families told to leave their homes on the Oneida Nation may remain for now. October 24, 2003 By Glenn Coin Staff writer Four Oneida Indian families ordered to leave their homes by Sunday have been granted a temporary reprieve. Lawyer Barb Olshansky said the families might even receive housing money from the Oneida Indian Nation, something they have been denied for years because they have opposed tribal leadership. Nation spokesman Jerry Reed said he wasn't aware of any talks on housing money. Olshansky said she and nation lawyers will have a conference call Monday with the tribal court judge who ordered the evictions, Richard Simons. "I have had some preliminary discussions with (nation lawyer) Pete Carmen about trying to settle the whole matter in a way that's acceptable to everyone," Olshansky said. The four families were told this week they had to remove all their belongings and, by Sunday, move out of their trailer homes on Territory Road. Simons said the order won't be enforced while lawyers are still negotiating. Simons last week upheld a nation order to demolish the trailers. Reed said no date has been set for the demolition. The families are holding out hope that they will be able to stay on Territory Road, where some have spent their entire lives. "It's snowing out as I'm speaking here, and they're going to tell me they're going to destroy my house and make me homeless," said Vicky Schenandoah, a single mother with three children. "Where are my children supposed to go?" Also facing eviction is Schenandoah's sister, Diane, who has five children; Vicky and Diane's mother, Maisie Shenandoah, 72, a nation clan mother; and four members of the Thomas family. Maisie Shenandoah is the aunt of nation leader Ray Halbritter. The nation a year ago demolished the trailer of Danielle Schenandoah Patterson, another of Maisie's daughters. Patterson has three children. The trailers sit on the 32-acre tract known simply as the territory. For decades it was the only remnant of ancestral Oneida land still controlled by tribal members. In the early 1990s, the nation began buying land with bingo hall and casino profits and now owns more than 16,000 acres. Most Oneidas can receive a $50,000 grant to build new houses. The nation has cut off benefits to the Schenandoah and Thomas families, however, because they have spoken out against Halbritter's leadership. Reed said Thursday he was not aware of any change in the nation's stand toward those on Territory Road. The families claim the nation housing ordinances were written specifically so that their trailers would fail inspection. Simons disagreed, ruling last week that the nation's housing ordinances are similar to those of the state and municipalities. Simons said the trailers had serious code violations, including "inadequate supports, leaking roofs and water and sewer lines, hazardous electrical systems and inadequate heating systems." Copyright c. 2003 The Syracuse Post-Standard. Used with permission. --------- "RE: Shoshone Settlement remains Distant" --------- Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 09:14:33 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WESTERN SHOSHONE LAND CLAIMS" http://www.rgj.com/news/printstory.php?id=55122 Shoshone settlement remains distant Doug Abrahms RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL October 26, 2003 WASHINGTON - A settlement for the Western Shoshone's long disputed land claims in Nevada has taken one step forward and one step back. The Senate last week voted to pay nearly $145 million to the Western Shoshone as reparations for ancestral land taken by the federal government. Eligible tribal members would get about $20,000 apiece to settle a 1977 land claims case. But opponents of the payout filed a lawsuit in federal district court earlier this month seeking to assert title to more than 60 million acres, mostly in Nevada, under a treaty signed with the U.S. government in 1866. The dispute over land claims dates back more than 50 years and seems destined to drag on, especially as tribal members remained divided over whether to accept a one-time payment from the government or continue seeking ownership of the land. "We're kind of stiff-necked about the situation and haven't caved in," said Raymond Yowell, chairman of the Western Shoshone National Council, which sued the federal government. "Time is not important to us - those who are close to the land." The battle over the tribe's land claims, which encompass the eastern half of Nevada, has been going on since the 1950s. The Indian Claims Commission ruled in 1972 that the federal government owed the Western Shoshones $26.2 million, which has since grown with interest to $145 million. In Congress, Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Reno, and Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., offered legislation at the behest of some tribe members to distribute that money. Reid pushed the bill through the Senate in each of the last two sessions. "The tribal members came to him and asked him for help," said Tessa Hafen, Reid's spokeswoman. Many tribal members support the payment, including Felix Ike, chairman of the Te-Moak band of the Western Shoshone. Ike, who could not be reached for comment, told a House panel this summer that Western Shoshone voted to accept the payment. "Too many of our tribal members have passed away without benefiting from money that was set aside for them," he testified. "Although it cannot fully compensate us for the loss of our land and way of life, the claims money may help to make life better for the tribal members who receive a share." Jeff Herman, an attorney representing the Western Shoshones suing the federal government, said the congressional settlement money and court dispute over the land are separate issues. But the settlement makes it look like tribal members are trading their land claims for money, he said. About a dozen land-claims lawsuits are ongoing between tribes and the federal government, said John Dossett, general counsel for the National Congress of American Indians. Eventually, most cases get settled with the federal government supplying some amount of money and land, but those deals should be voluntary, he said. For Yowell and other tribal members opposing the congressional payment, the issue remains the U.S. government never obtained the right for the land signed under the Treaty of Ruby Valley. The tribe has no plans to contest title to land owned by homeowners or businesses but only the large tracts owned by federal agencies. The Bureau of Land Management manages 67 percent of Nevada's land, and the Forest Service and Defense Department control other areas. "It's a federal so-called landowner, that's who our fight is with," Yowell said. "Right now, the U.S. can't show how they got the land." Copyright c. 2002 The Reno Gazette-Journal. --------- "RE: Narragansett launch Seafood Business" --------- Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 08:27:43 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRIBAL SEAFOOD" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.projo.com/news/content/projo_20031023_ntribe23.59ea6.html Tribe launches seafood business The Narragansett Indians say the new company is one of several it plans to establish in the next few months. October 23, 2003 BY PAUL DAVIS Journal Staff Writer MASHANTUCKET, Conn. - Hundreds of years ago, the Narragansett Indians scoured Narragansett Bay for fish, quahogs and clams. Yesterday, the tribe launched a new business based on that coastal tie. The wholesale company, Narragansett Tribal Seafood Co-op, will sell lobster, flounder and other seafood to tribes, restaurants and businesses. Several private investors and a Narragansett seafood company will work with the tribal-owned company. "Seafood and the Narragansetts. This is a natural for us," said Tribal Councilwoman Paulla Dove Jennings. The tribe announced the new business -- one of several it plans to launch in the next few months, members say -- at the annual meeting of the United Southern and Eastern Tribes at the Foxwoods Resort Casino. "Years ago, lobsters and crabs and quahogs were so plentiful," said Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas. "We survived on a seafood diet. It's been a part of our history." Thomas, who addressed the conference yesterday morning, talked about sovereignty and the July 14 raid on the tribe's tax-free smoke shop in Charlestown. But before his talk, he introduced Mike Murphy, a salesman for the new company. Murphy held up a large purple logo showing an Indian with a spear, superimposed over a map of Rhode Island. "The finest seafood products in the nation," he said. The tribe's economic development commission worked on the business for more than half a year, Jennings said. During that time, members also worked on other business plans, including the Narragansett smoke shop. "There are a few more ventures planned," said Scott Perry, vice chairman of the commission. "The state needs to understand we're not just about gaming and tobacco." Although Governor Carcieri earlier offered to help the tribe launch nongaming companies, Perry said the state wasn't involved with the seafood venture. In addition to selling local seafood, the tribe will also sell sole and flounder from the Netherlands along with farm-raised shrimp from Vietnam and Indonesia, Perry said. He would not name the tribe's investors. "We know it will be a viable business." Perry, Jennings and other tribal members pitched the business from a booth in a Foxwoods ballroom, part of the annual meeting and business expo. A plate heaped with lobsters, shrimp, ice and lemon wedges crowded a small table. Tribal members collected business cards from attendees and handed out a list of seafood items, including scallops and swordfish steaks. The tribe plans to take orders through a Web site. "We need to make as much money as possible, to help pay for all these suits brought against us by Charlestown and the state," Jennings said. "It's economic development. Unfortunately, it's going for legal expenses" rather than to help tribal members with health, housing and other needs, she said. Over the past few decades, the tribe has considered a number of businesses, including bottling spring water on the tribe's land. On July 13, the tribe opened a tax-free tobacco shop on Route 2. But Carcieri said the tribe could not sell cigarettes without collecting state taxes, and ordered the state police to close the store. Tribal leaders -- who said they would only recognize federal papers -- resisted state troopers who tried to serve a state warrant, and the raid quickly escalated into a melee in the store's parking lot. Dave Nicholas, a special law enforcement agent with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, told convention goers that the issue of sovereignty is "too important" to be resolved in a parking lot. The raid pitted state police officers against federally recognized tribal police, placing both "in a tenuous situation," he said. The day after the raid, a newspaper referred to the tribe as "defiant" in a headline, Thomas said. "We were not being defiant. We were simply doing what we have an inherent right to do. The state ignored our status as a sovereign nation and threw our leaders to the ground. That was an awful thing to feel," said Thomas, who said the raid recalled the tribe's early history, when Colonial soldiers "quartered our sachems and stuck their heads on poles." Thomas urged leaders at the conference to form a committee to help tribes protect their sovereignty. At the tribe's request, the conference will sponsor a sovereignty and civil-rights rally at the casino today from 3 to 5 p.m., in the Grand Pequot Tower. "If they did it to us, they're going to do it to you," Thomas said. In fact, state and federal officials are chipping away at tribal sovereignty everywhere, said U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., of New Jersey. Pallone, a member of the Native American Caucus, said Oklahoma, Maine and New York are trying to impose taxes on tribal businesses "in an effort to increase revenue." Connecticut is trying to prevent some tribes from being federally recognized, he said. Lawmakers have made some progress in recognizing the needs of Native Americans, and may increase the money tribes receive for health care, he said. But "the threat to Indian sovereignty . . . is the greatest threat to Indian country," Pallone said. During a break in yesterday's program, Thomas said he has asked Carcieri to meet with him, in part to quash a rumor that the tribe wants to build a casino on 32 acres in Charlestown. The land, in federal trust, is earmarked for housing, he said. "We need to discuss this mythical casino, which has produced unwarranted attacks" on the tribe, Thomas said. "We're going after West Warwick for a casino. We've been trying to get into West Warwick for years." The Charlestown casino rumor, Thomas said, is being used "to beat us up and chip away at our sovereignty." Copyright c. 2003 Providence Journal - Belo Interactive, Inc. --------- "RE: $6 million for Native American Health Center" --------- Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 09:14:33 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HEALTH CENTER" http://www.timesstar.com/Stories/0,1413,125~1486~1726362,00.html Feds award big grant to local center October 27, 2003 $6 million for Native American Health group to fight substance abuse By Paul T. Rosynsky, STAFF WRITER OAKLAND - The Fruitvale district-based Native American Health Center has received a $6 million injection to help cure the long-standing disease of substance abuse among Native families. "We have some pretty horrendous statistics," said Sandra Beauchamp, family services coordinator for the center. "We have been expanding our system of care for a number of years now and with this grant we can expand again." The center was one of seven agencies across the country that received funds from the latest round of grants given out by the federal government's Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The administration awarded the funds last week as part of its Children's Mental Heath Initiative. It will give the center about $1 million a year for the next six years. "They just did outstanding work on the grant," said Jill Erickson, public health adviser for SAMHSA. "It was a very competitive process." The Native American Health Center will use the funds to develop a system in which various public agencies can share information and conduct outreach to Native American families suffering from substance abuse. "Right now, it is really hard to get children in here," Beauchamp said. "We are going to develop a system of care that goes out and gets the families who are struggling." According to Beauchamp, some 53 percent of Native American junior high school students use alcohol and 32 percent use marijuana. Of those children, 22 percent said they used alcohol weekly and 12 percent said they use marijuana weekly. With the new funds, the Native American Health Center will develop a four-pronged approach to help reduce the amount of Native Americans who abuse substances. The approach will include everything from developing a commission to make recommendations for the program, to a training institute that will provide information and outreach to public officials, staff members, various agencies and Native American parents. Erickson said part of the reason the center was chosen was its wide- ranging plan to develop outreach. In many cases, she said, programs for Native Americans are fragmented and difficult for a family to find and utilize. "These grants encourage a lot of collaboration between schools, mental health programs and any entity that serves children with special needs," Erickson said. "It will help to reduce duplication but also develop wrap- around programs." The federal government will monitor the health center's progress through site visits on the second and fourth year of the grant and through annual progress reports provided by the health center. While the program's initial goal is to serve Native Americans, Beauchamp said services will also be available for other residents of Oakland who live within the center's service area. "It's pretty exciting ... I can't tell you how wonderful it is to work with our children," Beauchamp said. Copyright c. 1999-2003 the Alameda Times-Star. --------- "RE: Cobell cited by Women's Leadership Exchange" --------- Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 20:54:30 -0500 From: "Bill McAllister" Subj: NATIVE AMERICAN LEADER CITED BY WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP GROUP FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NATIVE AMERICAN LEADER CITED BY WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP GROUP NEW YORK, Oct. 28-- Native American Leader Elouise C. Cobell, who has led the fight for a full accounting of trust funds held by the federal government for thousands of American Indians, is one of four women who will be honored Nov. 14 by the Women's Leadership Exchange. Ms. Cobell, a member of Montana's Blackfeet Tribe and executive director of the Native American Community Development Corp., will be presented with the exchange's Compass Award during a conference in New York. Lesley Visser, a CBS-TV Sport analyst, Dr. Kathy Magliato, a heart transplant surgeon from Los Angeles and Renetta McCann, chief executive of Starcom North America, a Chicago-based advertising agency will also be cited by the group. "I am honored to be in the company of these women," said Ms Cobell. "And I am happy to accept this honor, not for myself, but for the thousands of American Indian women who have contributed so much to the welfare of their tribes and native people for so many years." "I hope that with this award I can call attention to our continuing, seven-year fight with the federal government for the full and complete accounting of monies that the government has held in Individual Indian money accounts for decades," she said. "Despite repeated court orders, it is shameful that the government still has to yet to provide a complete accounting of the first Indian account." Ms. Cobell, who lives in Browning, Mt., is the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit that has secured court rulings that the Interior Department breached its trust responsibilities to American Indians by its incompetent handling of the Indians' trust accounts. The accounts were established in 1887 to handle the proceeds from government-arranged leases of Indian lands in the West. Government officials have conceded that many of the records needed to reconcile the accounts have been lost and it will take years for them to discover of how much money should be in the accounts. Lawyers for Ms. Cobell and the Indians say that the government owes the Indians billions of dollars. Ms. Cobell, a winner of the 2002 International Women's Forum award for "Women Who Make A Difference," filed her lawsuit in 1996. She has funded the lawsuit with funds from a 1997 grant as a MacArthur fellow and from other foundations interested in social justice. Additional information on the award is available at www.womensleadershipexchange.com Information on the lawsuit is available at: www.indiantrust.com For additional information: Contact Bill McAllister 202-257-5385 (media calls only) --------- "RE: The Slow Progress of Understanding" --------- Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 09:14:33 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="UNDERSTANDING" http://www.native-voice.com/fullstory.cfm?ID=78 The Slow Progress of Understanding By Frank J. King III The times, they are a changing, evolving slowly like the ocean pounding the shores of our inner islands. It has always been difficult for human beings to comprehend the illusion of time. Like the little animals we are, we seldom realize that our existence is but the second hand clicking past the notches of the clock of universal nirvana. Hate, anger, jealousy, drama - all these things exist as human-made psychological pollution filling the subconscious air with the emotional soot of our own personal ignorance. And so we exist today trying to grasp the meaning of life out of the everyday rubble of politics, racism and stress. These factors forbid our emotional spirituality to grow from our evolved seeds that were planted for us by our ancestors long ago. We destroy ourselves unknowingly by misleading our own inner child into believing that adulthood is nothing more but a responsibility best left unprovoked. In this way the ignorant adults remain childish and the angry remain violent. Hate, as it seems, is easier to express then compassion. Through this we sever the spiritual plant at the root and allow the weed of Indian reservation to pollinate the seeds of our next generations. I have often said that alcoholism is a factor in the destruction of our people but these words, spoken or written, fall on deaf ears and unconcerned personalities. Alcoholism is the destroyer of our children, it is the emotional torturer of our children, and it is the bruise on the face of our grandchildren, yet many still evoke this demon every day to possess our sacred beings. Such is also true with racism. We cannot justify our racism toward another race because we aren't strong enough to confront the discriminator with pride and compassion. We cannot look at the issues if we are racists ourselves. Hate breeds hate; it's an evil that contaminates the walls of your soul. It seems that many have become the image of that which they have been advocating against, no matter what color they are. Isn't it ironic that we are all supposed to be civilized and yet we act out uncivilized behavior? Even the word civilized is looked upon as a racial slur just as the word god is. The obvious reasons we learn to hate other people is because of a total lack of the spiritual understanding our parents had of their religious teachings; many children today aren't taught that racism is against all religions, even native. All religions teach humanity. The key to solving the issues of humanity doesn't lie in a leader, or a government, but sit silently within us all. When we discover this sacred part in ourselves then we can see the truth in it all. We become confident in ourselves and so we find that we have been wasting a lot of time, energy, stress, and life fighting ourselves and our own insecurities when we could have been finding the answers in the teachings of the Great Spirit. When we awaken within ourselves and keep it to ourselves and discover that spirituality isn't something that we sell, or use against others or gain an ego from, then we can confront our addictions to the drugs of drama, stress, racism, and low self esteem. Only after this can we begin to heal the physical health of our nations. Spirituality is the all-curing medicine for all humanity. Yes, the times are changing, we are changing, but in order for us to have a small piece of nirvana we must use our spiritual teachings to look beyond the color of skin. We are all born with a gift to see beyond the issues; it is important that we seek truth in the lessons of everyday life. Take a good look around you and ask yourself `what do I see?' Look at the reservation, the community, the land that is our life giver; look at the leader and the children and you will see that we have been overlooking the reality that plagues us all. Humans today live in a reflection of themselves, and if it is an unhealthy environment then their health is physically effected; if the land is littered then they are internally littered with sickness; if the communities are violent then they are accepting violence as a normal behavior; if the people are consumed by alcohol then the minds of the people are hidden from all this reality. But also this applies to other races. If the parents are bigoted toward other races then the children become unknowingly taught and comfortable in their racist behavior, and how many times have the words `I am not racist' drifted from the lips of the ignorant like leaves in the fall? Human beings cannot unite; it's an impossibility, because the ego eats at the confidence of the soul replacing it with the root of racism and hate. When people hate themselves they develop an ego for a mask to hide their insecurities, they become the abusers of other human beings and are their own worst enemy because eventually they destroy themselves. Reconciliation isn't a useable term; it's a solvent to clean the dirty issues of racism. We must rely on the common ground in which we all live and together change the issues that divide us as a community. It is only through open dialog that we can mend the issues that affect our lives. Copyright c. 2002 The Native Voice, All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Proud time for Mohawk Grandmothers" --------- Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 08:53:28 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MOHAWK LANGUAGE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canada.com/~id=c92fa476-1024-450c-aa94-282bc6e83993&disp=e&end Proud time for Mohawk grandmothers PEGGY CURRAN The Gazette October 22, 2003 As a little girl growing up in the 1950s, Tiorensawes Zachary loved to listen to her mother talking to her grandmother and great-uncle in their native Mohawk. But when they spoke to her, Tiorensawes answered in English, the new language she was learning from the nuns at school in Kahnawake. "My grandmother barely spoke more than a few words of English," said Zachary, 53. "She was always disappointed that I couldn't speak to her in our own language." A generation later, Karahkwe'nhawe Goodleaf, 22, learned Mohawk at the immersion school in Kahnawake. For conversation outside the classroom, she had to visit her great-grandmother. Her parents had never learned the language. It's a proud week for grandmothers. Zachary, Goodleaf and 15 other students from Kahnawake are to receive Certificates in Aboriginal Education at McGill University's fall convocation tomorrow. It's the first time the program, launched in 1993 in conjunction with the Cree School Board, has been offered in Mohawk. Last week, 23 Mi'kmaq students in Wagmatook, N.S., collected diplomas after completing a two- year program offered in Cape Breton through McGill's Office of First Nations and Inuit Education. Donna Lee Smith, director of the McGill program, said those who enroll know the native language, but must brush up oral and written skills before they can teach. It's hoped many will get a bachelor's of education. Most have found work as language assistants in neighbourhood schools in their communities. In doing so, they are helping to prop up indigenous languages, at risk from English, what Mark Abley, author of Spoken Here: Travels Among Threatened Languages, calls "the Wal-Mart of languages." Of the dozens of languages once spoken by Canada's aboriginal peoples, only Cree, Inuktitut and Ojibway are still relatively healthy. "All the others are at risk or have disappeared," Smith said. Among the endangered ones, Mohawk is in a better position than most. "There's so much passion behind the effort to have it stabilized. And there are Mohawk-speaking elders still young and energetic enough to take on the job of teaching the language to others. Elders like Dorothy (Karihwe'nhawe) Lazore, who started teaching Mohawk at Howard S. Billings High School in Chateauguay more than 30 years ago. When Kahnawake introduced an immersion program for elementary school in1981, Lazore was recruited to teach Grade 1 - and eventually became the school's principal. An Akwesasne Mohawk who speaks six languages, Lazore was an obvious choice when Eddie Cross, director of education services in Kahnawake, asked McGill to offer the program on the South Shore reserve. Lazore and Konwaronhia':wi Deer spent last year teaching McGill students at the United Church hall in Kahnawake. Now they're working on a curriculum to help Mohawk-language teachers explain grammar, legends and even traditional speech patterns. Cross said the program met a desperate need to replace teachers who were rapidly approaching retirement age. But with only about 5 per cent of adults in Kahnawake fluent in the language, the community is looking to bolster use of Mohawk beyond the classroom - through radio and TV broadcasts, the Internet and adult language lessons. Smith said aboriginal education programs have "a ripple effect" as students speak to their children, parents and pupils. Like Cross, however, she favours other initiatives to get people to speak indigenous languages on a daily basis. Yet after half a century of listening, Zachary finds she can't speak her language enough. She's proud to say she can read and write Mohawk, even prouder to be able to chat with her aunt in the mother tongue she was once too shy to speak. "Oh my gosh, it's who we are." pcurran@thegazette.canwest.com Copyright c. 2003 Montreal Gazette. --------- "RE: Zuni Woman shocked by Porn from Councilman" --------- Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 09:14:33 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ZUNI PORN" http://www.gallupindependent.com/10-25-03zuniwomanshockedby.html Zuni woman shocked by porn from councilman Apology sought for porn sent over gov't computers Tom Purdom Staff Writer October 25, 2003 PUEBLO OF ZUNI - A 47-year-old female tribal employee here was shocked to open her e-mail June 2, and find unsolicited and unwanted pornography on her government computer. She was even more shocked to discover it had been sent to her by Zuni Councilman Carleton Albert Sr. And then she found out that Albert got it from his friend, Mike Daney, who sent it via a Bureau of Indian Affairs computer at Southwest Indian Polytechnic Institute, where he works as a cross country coach. Dancy Simplicio, a tribal real estate specialist, said the material she got was totally inappropriate for anyone to send over government computers, especially from an elected tribal official such as the head councilman. Simplicio filed a sexual harassment complaint against Albert with the tribal council. She said she wanted the entire tribal council to know about the situation. In addition, she sought a public apology from Albert and a fine donated in her name to the Zuni Women's Shelter, but no money for herself. What she ended up getting was a letter of apology from Gov. Arlen Quetawki Sr., not Albert who sent the e-mail. The council also suspended Albert three days without pay and fined him $515.64, which is the exact amount the tribe paid a special investigator to look into the case. "Is there no justice when you are dealing with an elected official?" Simplicio asked. "I've gone through enough pain and anguish and no one seems to care." Simplicio got the e-mail June 2. She wrote a letter of complaint addressed to Tribal Administrator Shirley L. Bellson on Aug. 13. The reason for the delay, Simplico said, was because a nephew close to her had been killed in a motorcycle accident. She got the e-mail on the day she returned to work after bereavement leave and she said her emotional state at the time was "fragile" at best. "It is my belief, that the members of the tribal council were aware of the death our nephew and why anyone would forward e-mail material of a sexual nature without consideration of another human being's feelings is beyond words," Simplicio said, adding that Albert's actions also violate the oath of office taken by elected officials. On Aug. 18, Simplico contacted Bellson. Simplico said she was concerned that the issue was not being shared with the entire council. In an Aug. 27, letter to Bellson, Simplicio said, "I asked if the tribal council knew about my complaint. You answered that you advised the governor and (lieutenant governor). I became concerned that it may not have been shared with the rest of the tribal council. My complaint was filed with you on August 13, 2003, and according to our conversation you only mentioned that this was taken up with the governor and (lieutenant governor) on August 15, 2003. Since my compliant involved a member of the legislative body of the tribal council it would have been more appropriate to address this issue with the whole council instead of the executive body only." Bellson acknowledged receipt of the complaint in an Aug. 22, memorandum to Simplicio stating that Albuquerque investigator Robert Caswell's firm had been hired to investigate the complaint. Doug Shaw, an investigator with the Robert Caswell firm, came to the Pueblo of Zuni on Aug. 25. Simplicio met with him. Without the investigation the council apparently was not going to make a move. "I was advised that Carleton Albert was not being placed on administrative leave during the investigation since the tribe's personnel policies did not apply to elected officials," Simplicio said. The telling tale did, in fact, come from the investigator. Apparently, Lt. Gov. Carmalita Sanchez tried to make the issue nothing more than sour grapes on Simplicio's part concerning an issue her brother has with the tribal council. Wrote Shaw: "There was also speculation, from Ms. Sanchez, that Ms. Simplicio's motive for filing the complaint had something do with the fact her brother, who is also on the tribal council, has been placed on administrative leave. Ms. Sanchez and Mr. Albert indicated that Ms. Simplicio's complaint surfaced after Dan (Simplicio) was denied his return to work and him threatening to expose the governor and Mr. Albert's past." Shaw answered: "With regards to the concerns brought up by Lieutenant Governor Sanchez and Mr. Albert about Ms. Simplicio's filing the complaint after her brother was denied reinstatement, I find that it has no bearing on the issue at hand. Regardless of speculation and perception about why Ms. Simplicio came forward with the complaint, it does not change the fact that she received an unwanted, unsolicited sexually related e-mail from Mr. Albert." Shaw also concluded that his investigation did, in fact, show that Albert sent the e-mail, though it was intended for her brother and she got it by mistake. "Regardless of who the material was intended for, this type of material is inappropriate, unwelcome and unsolicited," Shaw said in the conclusion to his investigation. The investigator took the issue a step further. "I also found that joking and teasing are commonplace within the Zuni culture. I find this a volatile situation and the potential to excuse these types of behavior as "Zuni Culture" is alarmingly high. Regardless of the intent or culture, it is my experience (and case law) that sexual harassment and hostile work environments are based on the perception of those being subjected to it," Shaw wrote. "Because of this, it is imperative that the incident involving Mr. Albert and Ms. Simplicio needs to be addressed and future behavior of this nature needs to be prevented." Shaw went on to make suggestions how to prevent future such acts. Documents show that Bellson told Simplicio she would be told about what action the council intended to take concerning Albert on Sept. 11. On Sept. 16, Simplicio had heard nothing. She wrote directly to the governor. "You are mistaken for whatever speculation and perception you have on why I addressed my complaint. The wrongdoing was not done by me. If this situation occurred off the reservation it would not be tolerated," Simplicio wrote. She added that she had gone through enough mental anguish and does not wish to go through more wondering what action the council took. By the time she wrote the governor, though, Quetawki already had written Albert a letter stating the penalties imposed by the council. Quetawki wrote to Albert: "It is our utmost hope that this decision will cause you to be able to reflect on the seriousness of the situation." The day after Simplicio's Sept. 16, letter to the governor, Quetawki wrote a letter of apology to her saying: "The tribal council and I take this opportunity to offer our sincere apologies to you for the hurt that you have endured. An inappropriate, unwanted or unsolicited actions is by no means reflective of the positions that we hold. Our hope is that you can find a way to forgive us and we continue to work together toward the betterment of our people." She was unaware of the letter Quetawki wrote to her, or the Sept. 10, letter from Quetawki to Albert about the penalties, until minutes before a Sept. 19, tribal council meeting, which she attended. She was given the letters at that time. "I questioned the tribal council why I was not consulted before the punishment was rendered against Councilman Albert," Simplicio said. "None of the tribal council bothered to inquire what I wanted as retribution." Simplicio said the punishment handed out to Albert was nothing more than a "slap on the hand for what he did." Simplicio said she reminded the council of its oath of office. "I asked their consideration for a harsher punishment with a public apology including a monetary consideration for the women's shelter," Simplicio said, adding that she told council members that other victims of the pornography e-mail existed, but they were afraid to come forward." The meeting ended saying they would consider my request," Simplicio said. Meanwhile, she also wrote to Southwest Indian Polytechnic Institute. David Parrish, dean of administration in an Oct. 22, response to the Independent wrote: "Several weeks ago we received information from a private citizen that made allegations against one of our employees. Considering the nature of the allegations, we referred the matter to the office of the Inspector General. The IG's Office has assigned a case number to the matter, and issued directions to initiate an investigation. We are complying with the IG's directives." Daney, the individual who originally sent the pornography through the school's computer system, is a popular cross country coach for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and was mentioned several times recently in an article about a cross country runner in the Albuquerque Journal. Bellson's office was contacted for comment on this story, but no response has come from her. As of Friday, Simplicio said she has heard nothing more from the Zuni Tribal Council. Copyright c. 2003 the Gallup Independent. --------- "RE: Quebec Cree threaten to resume suing Ottawa" --------- Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 09:14:33 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GOVERNMENT BAD FAITH" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.theglobeandmail.com/~/20031027/UNATS27-4//?query=aboriginal Quebec Cree threaten to resume suing Ottawa Canadian Press Monday, Oct. 27, 2003 Quebec City - Cree Grand Chief Ted Moses is warning the federal government to start taking current land negotiations seriously or risk having the Cree reactivate billions of dollars in lawsuits withdrawn as part of a recent deal with the Quebec government. He said the federal government has shown bad faith and a lack of respect for the province's Cree by refusing to follow the Quebec government's lead and pay millions a year in compensation for hydroelectric projects in northern Quebec. Under a deal signed last year between the Quebec government and the Cree, the Cree will receive $3.5-billion over 50 years. In exchange, the Cree dropped more than $7-billion in lawsuits directed at both the Quebec and federal governments. Copyright c. 2003 Bell Globemedia Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Deh Cho threaten to block NWT Pipeline" --------- Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 08:53:28 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DEH CHO" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.globeandmail.com/~/TPStory/LAC/20031022/RPIPE22/TPEnvironment/ First nations threaten to block NWT pipeline By BRENT JANG Wednesday, October 22, 2003 The Deh Cho First Nations threatened yesterday to block development of the Mackenzie Valleypipeline, complaining about the environmental review process and alleging wrongdoing in a mysterious mineral claim by the wife of a high-ranking federal bureaucrat. Deh Cho Grand Chief Herb Norwegian said he's dissatisfied with regulatory reviews for the proposed natural gas project, and he urged Ottawa to settle land claims with his tribal council before regulators assess it. The Deh Cho want a greater voice in how the $5-billion project unfolds on its traditional lands, which cover roughly 40 per cent of the 1,300- kilometre pipeline route through the Northwest Territories. Grand Chief Norwegian said residents in Deh Cho communities are worried about the environmental damage that could be caused by construction. "If it's not done right, we will definitely bring the pipeline project to a halt." Eleven key regulators will be scrutinizing the gas project, including the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency. Grand Chief Norwegian sees major flaws in the review process, which is set to start in earnest next spring and could last 30 months. The Deh Cho held a news conference in Ottawa yesterday to express fear that important social, cultural and ecological issues will be glossed over if the existing review process is allowed to stand. Deh Cho leaders said clues about the federal bureaucrat's role surfaced during a recent routine mapping exercise to follow activity on their territory. "We did not set out to prove that there was something fishy," Grand Chief Norwegian said. He alleged that the wife of the civil servant registered a dozen mineral claims in the NWT in October, 1998, and has invested $100,000 so far to keep the rights current -- mineral claims that the Deh Cho say align with the pipeline route along the Mackenzie River. That bureaucrat in an environmental agency is in a conflict of interest because he holds an indirect mineral stake in the NWT, and appears to have had prior knowledge of the precise route, he said. The staking puzzled Deh Cho leaders, who noted that the mineral claims were in what would have been only known at the time as a moose pasture, and away from any past drilling for oil, gas, gold and diamonds. "Although this issue touches on a particular federal official, this is not a personal matter. We have nothing against the individual involved, but we believe the actions of this individual have tainted the whole pipeline process," Grand Chief Norwegian said. The official named by the Deh Cho didn't return phone calls yesterday, but Environment Department spokeswoman Kelly Morgan said the public servant initially asked federal ethics counsellor Howard Wilson to ascertain whether there was any conflict. It's unclear when the bureaucrat approached Mr. Wilson, but whatever the case, he usually advises MPs, so the civil servant made his next request for guidance to Treasury Board, Ms. Morgan said. Copyright c. 2003 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Expert matches Stonechild injuries to Handcuffs" --------- Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 08:53:28 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="STONECHILD INQUEST" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://sask.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=stonechild031021 Expert matches Stonechild isrnjuries to handcuffs Octo