From gars@speakeasy.org Wed Dec 24 15:44:13 2003 Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2003 15:00:03 -0800 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews11.052 _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 11, ISSUE 052 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 December 27, 2003 Western Cherokee Vskihyi/snow moon Mvskogee rvfo-rakko/big winter moon +-------------------------------------------------------+ | Much more happens in Indian Country than is reported | | in this weekly newsletter. For daily updates & events | | go to http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm | +-------------------------------------------------------+ Otapi'sin Atsinikiisinaakssin -- Blackfeet -- News for All the People Ni-mah-mi-kwa-zoo-min -- Ojibwe -- We Are Talking About Ourselves Aunchemokauhettittea -- Naragansett -- Let Us Share News Kanoheda Aniyvwiya -- Cherokee -- Journal of the People O Es'te Opunvk'vmucvse -- Creek -- People's New News O o O Acimowin -- Plains Cree -- Story or Account O o O Tlaixmatiliztli -- Nahuatl -- News O o o o o O Agnutmaqan -- Listuguj Mi'kmaq -- News O o O Sho-da-ku-ye -- Teehahnahmah -- Talking Birchbark O o O Un Chota -- Susquehannic Seneca -- The People Speak O Ha-Sah-Sliltha -- Ditidaht Nation -- News of the People Ximopanolti tehuatzin, inin Mexika tlahtolli -- Nahuatl -- For you we offer these words It-hah-pe-hah Ah-num pah-le -- Chickasaw -- Together We Are Talking Dineh jii' adah' ho'nil'e'gii ba' ha' neh -- Navajo Nation -- What's Happening among The People News Okla Humma Holisso Nowat Anya -- Choctaw -- People(s) Red Newspaper Hi'a chu ah gaa -- Pima -- The stories or the talk of the People Native American News -- Language of the Occupation Forces ==>If you want your Nation represented in the banner of this newsletter<== email gars@nanews.org with the equivalent of "News of the People" in your tribal language along with the english translation <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is produced in straight ASCII text for greatest portability across platforms. Read it with a fixed-pitch font, such as Courier, Monaco, FixedSys or CG Times. Proportional fonts will be difficult to read. <================<<<< >>>>================> This issue contains articles from www.owlstar.com; www.indianz.com; www.pechanga.net; News and Information Distribution, Chiapas95-English, Native American Poetry, Rez_LIfe and ndn-aim Mailing Lists; UUCP email; Newsgroup: alt.native 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: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + ======================== "Taku Shanskan is familiar with my spirit and when I die I will go with him. Then I will be with my forefathers. If this is not in the heaven of the white man I shall be satisfied. He is my father. The Wakan Tanka of the white man has overcome him. But I shall remain true to him." "Shadows are long and dark before me. I shall soon lie down to rise no more. While my spirit is with my body the smoke of my breath shall be towards the Sun for he knows all things and knows that I am still true to him." __Chief Red Cloud (Makhpiya-Luta), Oglala (in his farewell address to the Lakota people on July 4, 1903) +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! Next time you see an ad with a smiling Ronald McDonald extolling the generosity of McDonalds and their charitable Ronald McDonald Houses you need to understand something. They are a wonderful, charity that provides parents with a sick child a way to be close to that child in times of medical trauma that is both close to the child's treatment and allows the parent to live in a respectful manner, regardless of their respective income. Further, this charity grants scholarships to minority children, so the gifted child is not left behind in the education ... and they are specifically involved in aiding minority children with these marvelous scholorships ... unless that child is Native American or Native Alaskan. McDonalds "reason" is that they must priortize their dollars. This apparently means Blacks, Asians and Hispanics represent a better return on their charity dollars than Natives. ---- I now quote my wife, Janet, from her post in the Rez_Life Mailing List: They "must prioritize their dollars" indeed. Well, I have to prioritize mine, too. McDonalds has been this family's default stop en route to remote pow wows for meals and restroom/coffee breaks. Its where we stop for chicken and sausage biscuits for our pre-prison visit tailgate party. Over the past few years, they've benefitted from quite a few of our dollars. I know several of our vendor/dancer/drummer friends have been hitting them regularly, too. I'm developing quite an "enemies" list already. It sure would be useful to identify Indian-friendly chains (food, gas, general merchandise). It's one thing to know who to NOT spend money with. It's another thing entirely to be able to take positive action, rewarding those we know support our goals with our business. As has been pointed out to me in other quarters -- we are a very small demographic block, and many of us are limited in how much we can spend in any case, but most of these big chainsare greedy enough to not want to lose even our business to one of their competitors. ---- Read the lead story in this issue and learn why that warm glow you feel as you eat a Big Mac has nothing to do with your purchase going toward some Rez kid's future. It's just gas and heartburn. The heartache at being left out is just another bonus for the first people of Turtle Island to choke down. Want that to be Super Sized Mr. and Mrs. AmerIndian? 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 ---------- - McDonalds Charity excludes Natives - YELLOW BIRD: Who is really Indian? - Shooting range near Bear Butte - Isleta Pueblo rejects still on Long-Time Tribe Members - Western Shoshone - Survival of Tribes at Stake Payments challenged - Cherokee Man called - Do Native Vets One who makes a difference know about Housing Programs? - UN Blueprint for Rights in Mexico - Tribe purchases Massacre Site - New Indian Affairs Minister - Rule voided allowing Snowmobiles - Province mulls changes in Yellowstone to Blockade Legislation - Chief Old Person - Klein, Cabinet speaks out to protect the Front meet Aboriginal Leaders - No end in sight - Lawyers square off to Indian Accounting Problem in Chediski Fire Case - Anti-sovereignty Group - South Dakota Prisons names National Director show improvement - THE WHISPER: - John Graham Governor Henry, Tribes, One Nation gets visit from MP Bagnell - SHAUN T. KOH: - Graham blames FBI Family feud percolates for Murder of Aquash - Rocky Boy Voters - Native Prisoner asked to change constitution -- Native Traditions - Traditionals win planned for Halfway House Southern Ute Council Seats - A Hundred Years Ago - BIA wants Shinnecocks - Rustywire: La la la loving You to wait a Decade - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - Lumbee Recognition vote - Poem: Up on Red Lake Road delayed until February - Hopi Chairman: - Hopis could reverse course, We have a Language Crisis OK Gaming - Lakota Language Bowl - Two Navajo businesses open talk of the Tournament --------- "RE: McDonalds Charity excludes Natives" --------- Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2003 18:07:35 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MCDONALDS EXCLUDING NATIVES" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=3416 McDonalds charity excludes Native Americans/Alaska Natives Old myths about gaming and BIA education grants maybe keeping Indians out ANCHORAGE AK Sam Lewin December 19, 2003 One of the largest charities in the country specifically offers scholarships to just about every major minority group in the country except Native Americans. In defending the decision, officials at the Ronald McDonald House Charities said they offer assistance to those children who are a priority. John Smelcer is an Ahtna Athabaskan Indian and Tribal Grants Administrator in Anchorage, Alaska. His daughter, Zora, is a sophomore in high school. In September, father and daughter were waiting for an order of cheeseburgers at an Anchorage McDonalds and Smelcer, reading information about Ronald McDonald House Charities, noticed that the organization offers race-specific scholarships to African American, Asian American and Hispanic American students. The charity's literature stated they" offer scholarships to students from disadvantaged communities who face limited access to education and career opportunities." Smelcer wondered why Native Americans are not included in the list. According to recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the median income of the average American Indian home is only $26,000, compared to $37,000 for African Americans. Only 2.1% of Native American high school students attend college. So Smelcer began to write letters to the charity, quoting figures like the one above, and asking for a change in policy. "American Indian income is 30-40% less than the U.S. average," stated one correspondence." Your policy, while not illegal, is entirely unethical. To award scholarships to three of the four national, protected minority groups, to purposely discriminate against one group (possibly on the basis of misinformation and personal prejudice) is unethical." Several months later, Smelcer finally received several responses from the charity. Both spelled his name wrong. Ronald McDonald House Charities Director Susan Kerr said the exclusion of Native American children was not a mistake. "We, just like lots of folks these days, must prioritize our dollars available for grants and programs," Kerr wrote."At this time, the chapters participating in the scholarship programs feel we have the scholarships that fit the majority of their constituents' needs now." Kerr said Native students are welcome to apply for grants under a "general scholarship". She did not return a phone call from the Native American Times seeking comment. "We must prioritize how we spend the dollars we have for scholarships," wrote Ronald McDonald House Charities official Debbie Stone." When we look at the data related to need for assistance nationally, Native Americans do appear on the list. However, students of African American, Hispanic and Asian heritage still need a tremendous level of assistance." Smelcer said the whole situation has left him frustrated and wondering if the myth that"all Indian students go to college for free" has permeated the charity's management. He is also disappointed for Zora, who hopes to someday become a doctor. "I'm just a father and looking for chances to get a scholarship for my daughter. It angered me that her favorite restaurant her whole life would not give her a chance." Native American Times is Copyright c. 2003 Oklahoma Indian Times, Inc. --------- "RE: Shooting range near Bear Butte still on" --------- Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2003 08:16:42 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SACRED BEAR BUTTE" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/~/news01.txt Judge asked to dismiss shooting range suit By Carson Walker, Associated Press Writer December 16, 2003 SIOUX FALLS - Lawyers for the head of South Dakota's tourism department and the city of Sturgis and its economic development arm want a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed over a proposed shooting range near Sturgis. A lawyer for John Calvin, the former secretary of the Department of Tourism and State Development, filed a motion in federal court in Rapid City last week to dismiss the case on grounds it is moot. Because federal money is no longer involved in the project, there is no foundation for the lawsuit to continue, Jeff Hallem, assistant attorney general, wrote. "There is no existing case or controversy between plaintiffs and defendant Calvin," he argued. The lawsuit is one of two filed after former Gov. Bill Janklow approved $825,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant money to the city of Sturgis to help pay for a $900,000 shooting range. It was filed by seven Sturgis residents who were upset that federal CDBG money was tapped for the project. After the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development questioned income figures used to support the project, Gov. Mike Rounds returned $313,800 of HUD money that had already been spent and canceled the rest of the grant. Sturgis City Council has since repaid the state after Sturgis Industrial Expansion Corp. took out a bank loan to cover the cost, according to documents filed in federal court that show how that money was repaid. Donald Knudsen of Rapid City, the lawyer for the city of Sturgis and development corporation, said Monday he will also file a motion to dismiss his clients from the case. "Without the federal funding, many of the laws that are the basis for the federal suit no longer apply," he said Monday. After that, Jim Leach, the lawyer for people bringing the lawsuit, will be able to respond. Then, U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier will have a hearing or make a decision. Another pending lawsuit claims that noise from the range would interrupt American Indian religious ceremonies. Opponents say the range would be too close to Bear Butte, where they say Indians have come to pray for thousands of years. Seven tribes and a local group have sued to stop it. Developers told Schreier last month they planned to try to find enough private money to build the shooting range. That means the lawsuit brought by the Indian tribes is still alive. It is not tied to the recent filings in the other case, Leach said. "This is only the federal money part of it," he said. Copyright c. 2003 the Rapid City Journal. --------- "RE: Western Shoshone Payments challenged" --------- Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2003 08:16:42 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LAND GRAB" http://www.indiancountry.com/?1071587139 Western Shoshone payments challenged December 16, 2003 by: Ryan Slattery / Correspondent / Indian Country Today CRESCENT VALLEY, Nev. - The Western Shoshone have found an ally in U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva to join their near half-century long land battle with the federal government. The Arizona congressman is taking the Department of Interior to task asking some hard-line questions and requesting bundles of documents related to land and treaty rights directly connected with the current distribution bill which considers one-time payments to the tribe. In a four-page letter, dated Nov. 17 and addressed to Interior Secretary Gale Norton, Grijalva, D-Ariz. asked the department to cite the law the government used to take title to Western Shoshone land, called for the release of reports justifying the agency's recent treatment of the tribe and demanded information regarding any meetings or communications the agency has had with special interests eyeing the land for potential energy development. Although Grijalva said the letter isn't meant to be accusatory or demanding in nature its tone is quite clear. He wants everything laid out on the table so Congress can make an informed decision on H.R. 884, better known as the "Western Shoshone Distribution Bill." Grijalva said he hopes at least to get some "factual answers" to all the questions he raises in his letter. "The process wasn't as democratic as it should have been," Grijalva said. "There has not been a full disclosure of the facts." Passage of the bill would settle a long simmering land claims case and award $145 million to Western Shoshone members as reparations for the federal government's taking of their ancestral land. It's estimated that tribal members would receive approximately $30,000 apiece. Grijalva pointed out in his letter that at 24 million acres the payment equates to roughly "15 cents an acre." But tribal members remain divided over whether to accept a one-time payment from the government or continue seeking ownership of the land. Carrie and Mary Dann are standing firm in their beliefs and fighting to keep control of their homeland. Citing the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley a faction of the tribe has filed a federal lawsuit and continues to seek title to a swath of land - more than 60 million acres - that stretches across the Great Basin area most of which is in Nevada. "The Western Shoshone never agreed to sell their land," said Julie Fishel, a spokeswoman for the tribal defense project. Among Grijalva's many concerns he started his letter by questioning how the U.S. ended tribal ownership of the land saying that "gradual encroachment is not a legally valid method of taking or extinguishing title and the Western Shoshone have never sold, ceded or in any manner transferred title." He went on to question whether the Interior ever made a seriously effort to negotiate with tribal leaders to resolve the matter and later asked the agency to explain its conflicting testimony before both Congressional and Senate committees. Grijalva claimed that officials told a senate committee in 2002 that the Treaty was in "full force" with the exception of a section regarding land boundaries, but then 10 months later told the House Resources Committee that "there was a question as to whether the Treaty ever recognized land rights." The Arizona congressman also asked for documents justifying why the Bureau of Land Management continues aerial surveillance of Western Shoshone ranchers and asked the agency to provide details on all livestock seizures and raids that occurred on tribal lands. A little over a year ago the BLM confiscated 227 cattle belonging to the Danns and followed that with the horse roundup in February that the sisters claim led to the deaths of 47 mares and foals at Fish Creek Ranch. The BLM said the Danns have been illegally grazing cattle and horses on the range for more than 30 years and owe the government $3 million in grazing fees. Fishel said the Grijalva letter helps shine a spotlight on an issue many classify as just a "range war" between the Dann-led Western Shoshone and the federal government but the ties, she said, run much deeper. Fishel said she hopes other members of Congress back Grijalva and seek the truth which she believes will show a "cozy relationship between federal agencies and corporations." "Are there deals being cut," Fishel asked. "People are beginning to look at the Department of Interior for answers." To that, Grijalva called for the release of all material and communications the department has had with third party "industries, individuals or companies" with investments or business development plans within the Ruby Valley treaty area especially those involved with interests in mining, energy, water or nuclear. Ironically, the same week of Grijalva's letter, the Interior Department and BLM held a scoping meeting in Las Vegas to discuss alternative energy on public lands in preparation of putting together an Environment Impact Statement. It was one of five such meetings scattered throughout the west. At the meeting Nevada was identified as having many of the best places to tap into geothermal activity. Officials also pointed out that more than half of the 62 applications being considered for construction of wind farms on federal land are for sites within the state and many fall within the disputed Ruby Valley area. Rebecca Watson, the Interior's assistant secretary for Land and Minerals Management told the few in attendance that, "Nevada sits at an energy crossroads" and that the state will "definitely have a role to play in our nation's alternative energy policy." Copyright c. 2003 Indian Country Today. --------- "RE: Do Native Vets know about Housing Programs?" --------- Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2003 18:07:35 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NATIVE VET BENEFIT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=3417 Do Native vets know about housing programs? Agency seeks to spread word WASHINGTON DC Sam Lewin December 20, 2003 Indian housing officials want to remind Native American veterans about various ways that exist to help them achieve the American Dream of owning a home. A series of programs and grants have been available since Veterans Day. "There are special legal, cultural and other circumstances involved when making loans to residents living on tribal lands, therefore, housing programs that accommodate the unique needs of Native Americans are quite valuable," said Gary L. Gordon, the Executive Director of the National American Indian Housing Council (NAIHC). "We're pleased that the [Veterans Administration] is working to assist tribes with providing housing to Native American veterans, who for generations, have shown their dedication to protecting our country." According to the VA, about 200,000 Native Americans have served in the military and compared to other populations, Native Americans have the highest percentage of veterans. "Native American veterans have made a significant contribution to our nation's military services. We are very interested in seeing that those veterans on tribal lands who have fallen on hard times get an opportunity to benefit from the services this program offers," said Peter Doughtery, Director of the VA's Homeless Veteran's Program Office. According to the General Accounting Office, a total of 189 home loans were made to Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, while just 38 loans were made to Native Americans through the Native American Veterans Direct Home Loan Program. The VA Secretary responded to the report by saying it is "strongly committed to providing its benefits to all eligible veterans including Native Americans." The report also said some tribal housing employees were unaware of VA programs. Currently, the VA conducts outreach to Native Americans by attending housing conferences and by distributing promotional materials. "NAIHC has looked into the underutilized programs and it appears that tribes have not taken advantage of the funding that is being offered through VA programs. We'd like to see the VA market their programs more aggressively to tribal governments so more Native veterans are aware of them and they are better utilized. NAIHC and the VA encourage tribes to apply for these funds and use them to provide homes for our veterans," said Gordon. "Native veterans, much like the rest of Indian country, have immediate housing needs - we have people living in substandard housing that is inadequate for the coming winter weather, housing that is overcrowded and simply not good enough for veterans - who willingly risk their lives to serve our country. The VA is trying to help our veterans and NAIHC applauds their efforts and hopes that Congress will recognize the need to take care of the First Americans, for whom they have a trust responsibility to care for." Native American Times is Copyright c. 2003 Oklahoma Indian Times, Inc. --------- "RE: Tribe purchases Massacre Site" --------- Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 08:41:55 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SAND CREEK" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm Tribe purchases massacre site Native Times CONCHO OK - 12/17/2003 - After almost 140 years, the Cheyenne Arapaho Tribes will soon finally be able to let their ancestors rest in peace. The Sand Creek Massacre remains one of the ugliest chapters in the United State's treatment of its Native peoples. According to historical records, on November 29, 1864, Colonel John M. Chivington led approximately 700 U.S. volunteer soldiers to a village of about 500 Cheyenne and Arapaho people camped along the banks of Big Sandy Creek in southeastern Colorado. Although the Cheyenne and Arapaho people believed they were under the protection of the U.S. Army, Chivington's troops attacked and killed about 150 people, mainly women, children, and the elderly. Most of the men, under the impression the tribe would not be harmed, were away at the time. The massacre was subsequently condemned following three federal investigations. For years the site sat, a tempting target for vandals and artifact robbers. In November of 2000, President Clinton signed into law the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site, allowing for the C&A to partner with the National Park Service and purchase the property. The two sides will share fire and police protection. Native American Times is Copyright c. 2003 Oklahoma Indian Times, Inc. --------- "RE: Rule voided allowing Snowmobiles in Yellowstone" --------- Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 08:41:55 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BISON" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/17/politics/17PARK.html Judge Voids New Rule Allowing Snowmobiles in Yellowstone By FELICITY BARRINGER December 17, 2003 WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 - On the eve of the winter snowmobile season in Yellowstone National Park, a federal district judge on Tuesday evening struck down the Bush administration's regulations permitting more than 950 snowmobiles a day in the park. The judge, Emmet G. Sullivan, said the Clinton administration's decision to phase out snowmobile use in that sweeping landscape of canyons, geysers and jagged horizons had been arbitrarily reversed. The ruling, while not unexpected, throws a new element of confusion into an annual ritual of snowmobiles converging at the park's four gates for the opening day of winter park touring. With the latest rule invalidated, an earlier regulation holding the maximum number of machines to 493 in Yellowstone and 50 in nearby Grand Teton National Park and the road connecting the two goes into effect, a park spokeswoman said. Next winter, she said, a full ban goes into effect if Judge Sullivan's ruling stands. The ruling bristled with sharp characterizations of the Bush administration's actions. "The gap between the decision made in 2001, and the decision made in 2003 is stark," Judge Sullivan wrote. "In 2001, the rule-making process culminated in a finding that snowmobiling so adversely impacted the wildlife and resources of the parks that all snowmobile use must be halted." Judge Sullivan continued, "A scant three years later, the rule-making process culminated in the conclusion that nearly 1,000 snowmobiles will be allowed to enter the park each day." The ruling included a footnote saying that "there is evidence in the record that there isn't an explanation for this change," and that the revised environmental impact statement "was completely politically driven and result oriented." Judge Sullivan sent the relevant National Park Service decisions back for reconsideration. Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton reacted to the judge's ruling by defending the Bush administration's decision, saying in a prepared statement that improvements in snowmobile technology and careful limitations had balanced the need for public enjoyment with that of resource conservation. "The added Park Service restrictions of best-available technology and allowing a limited number of snowmobiles is a responsible approach and avoids a complete ban," Ms. Norton said. The ruling was embraced by the environmental groups that sued to overturn the Bush administration snowmobile rule. The groups wanted to retain the snowmobile ban issued in 2000, which would have gone into effect over three years, with the final ban being instituted this winter. "Yellowstone is where our country first said, `This is what our national parks mean to us.' " said Denis P. Galvin, a former deputy director of the National Park Service, in a statement released in collaboration with the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, which, along with the Fund for Animals, appealed the ruling. "This ruling reaffirms that fundamental purpose." But for men like Bill Howell of West Yellowstone, a co-owner of Yellowstone Arctic Cats and for three decades a snowmobiler and tour guide, the ruling was simply another blow to the tourist business that sustains the small town. Speaking of the local economy, he said, "For the last few years it's been a downward spiral, because of this issue." He agreed that the moribund national economy might be part of the problem, but then said, "The majority of it, I'm positive, is because of confusion over whether the park is open or closed." Six of the more than 50 motels in the area, close to the most-used Yellowstone entrance, went out of business in the past year, he said. The federal lawyers defending the reversal of the snowmobile ban had urged Judge Sullivan to delay action until a final rule was issued. He agreed, and the government issued the rule on Thursday, six days before the start of the winter season. Judge Sullivan reacted testily on Monday when a lawyer for the Snowmobile Association suggested that it was unfair to act so close to the start of business for the snowmobile-dependent towns around the park. The Interior Department in 2000 went ahead with the unusual general ban on snowmobiles, partly out of concern about the health of park rangers who had to wear gas masks to alleviate the snowmobile exhaust. There was also concern about the studies that showed the accommodations made for snowmobilers hurt Yellowstone wildlife. One study showed that in the wake of the grooming of 180 miles of park roads to accommodate snowmobilers, the distribution of bison in the park "changed drastically" apparently as they chose to use the easily traversed paths rather than other routes that took them through deep snow. However, the easily traversed paths also made it easier for them to reach the park's edges and stray onto nearby ranches. Copyright c. 2003 The New York Times Company. --------- "RE: Chief Old Person speaks out to protect the Front" --------- Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2003 08:20:47 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PROTECTING RESOURCES" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.goldentrianglenews.com/~/glacier_reporter/news3.txt Chief Old Person speaks out to protect the Front from drilling December 18, 2003 Ranchers, wilderness outfitters and Blackfeet tribal members sat side by side with hunters, anglers and other conservation-minded individuals in a packed house in Choteau recently for Montana Wildlife Federation's (MWF) Public Symposium on the Rocky Mountain Front: A Wildlife Paradise. A crowded room of more than 150 people discussed the Rocky Mountain Front at the Choteau Country Club on Saturday, Dec. 6. Despite some other issue differences, the group spoke as one, saying do not drill the rocky mountain front. Panel discussions explored energy development, travel planning and values of the Front and its future. Perhaps the most powerful speaker at the meeting was Blackfeet Chief Earl Old Person who enraptured listeners with tales of his elders, joking with the crowd and calling for unity if the trend to develop goes forward. "This is not going to come to an end; we'll find some solution. This is so dangerous that we don't know what will happen tomorrow. It is important that you, as leaders, carry the message so that others are protected." You could hear a pin drop when the revered leader continued, "While it's here, we need to do the things that we can to protect what makes it real." A lifelong Republican, Karl Rappold's ranch borders the Front and the wilderness, and he has changed his view about this president and his party's Energy Bill; as he said on Tom Brokaw's Nightly News this past Wednesday, he stated at the Symposium, "My grandfather came to the Mountain Front in 1882, and for 121 years it has done nothing but provide for my family. It's my turn to stand up for the Front. Its fresh air, clean water and hard grass produces the best beef cattle in the world. I want to keep it for my children, not as a gas slope." Well known hunter and outdoor writer for conservation periodicals such as Sports Afield, Outside and Audubon magazine, plus his own books, Ted Kerasote, spoke to the heart of values when he said, "Anyone who values the Front should work as hard as possible to put another administration in power." Speakers throughout the day lauded the values, fearing that those values could quickly become degraded if energy and travel planning doesn't proceed with caution. The Rocky Mountain Front is a fish and wildlife paradise. This striking landscape, the source for four major river drainages, six if you include that portion north of Highway 2, supports the largest herd of bighorn sheep in the U.S., a fact only slightly more significant than that is it also includes the nation's second largest free-roaming elk herd that migrates from deep wilderness haunts of the Bob Marshall Complex to the plains to survive the winter. "The Front is the only area remaining where the grizzly bear migrates to the Great Plains," world-recognized bear biologist Mike Madel of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks said as he impressed the audience with his slides. "Mountain goats, wolverines, swift fox, wolves add to the list of game and non-game birds and mammals; 290 species or more, live here." Madel boasts of wildlife value unique to the Front. "All species present here when Lewis and Clark passed by remain here with the exception of the American Bison." Starting in 1913, hunters, business owners, hikers, outfitters and multi-generational landowners worked together to protect this "American Serengeti" as the Front is often referred to. Leases to drill for the minimal natural gas reserves proved the most contentious. A standing ovation greeted the initial speaker of the day, one-time Lewis and Clark National Forest Supervisor Gloria Flora, who in 1997 while she was in that position placed the Rocky Mountain Front off- limits to Natural Gas Leases for 10 years. If the BLM approves drilling, her authority to conserve the significant values of this area from effects of drilling would be curtailed. Flora found it interesting that "The Energy Bill and Executive Orders and all statements by the Administration stress expediting the permitting and exploration process, but nowhere did I hear that mitigation, monitoring by the administration, compliance nor reclamation be expedited. Oh no! It's just getting permits out the door that is where we are now focused." Present administration and Congressional priorities clearly want to set a precedent as documented by statements made by Tom DeLay and relayed by Flora. "Congress and industry know that if they can get in there (circumventing environmental protection to drill the Front), they can get in anywhere." Copyright c. 2003 Golden Triangle Newspapers. --------- "RE: No end in sight to Indian Accounting Problem" --------- Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2003 08:20:47 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NORTON LIES/COBELL STRENGTH" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.billingsgazette.com/~/build/state/35-accounts-bia.inc No end in sight to Indian accounting problem, officials say By TED MONOSON Gazette Washington Bureau December 19, 2003 WASHINGTON - Montana Blackfoot Indian Elouise Cobell has no plans to retreat in her dispute with the Interior Department over billions of dollars she says the federal government owes her and other American Indians. Despite a flood of legal and congressional action on the issue this year, American Indians are not close to receiving the money that they are owed. Cobell and Interior Department officials say they are committed to resolving the issue without court action in 2004, but the two sides have so far been unable to reach an agreement that appeals to both. Bureau of Indian Affairs spokesman Dan DuBray said Interior Secretary Gale Norton would like to settle the issue. Following a 44-day trial, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth ruled on Sept. 25 that Interior Department officials must provide a full account of the money Indians are owed. Department officials had proposed a statistical analysis of many Indian's accounts. The full accounting would take years to complete, according to Cobell's lawyers and Interior Department officials. Lawmakers responded to Lamberth's ruling by including a provision in the Interior Department's 2004 spending bill that delayed implementation of the decision for a year and prevented Interior Department officials from being held in contempt of court. Cobell and her lawyers say the provision is unconstitutional because Congress is interfering in a court case where a final decision has been reached. They have filed a motion to have the court nullify the provision. House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Calif., plans to work with the Interior Department officials during the next year, but he was angered by the provision. "This is the wrong way to settle this problem," Pombo said on the floor of the House. "I appreciate that this is only good for a year and it is a cooling-off period as some of my colleagues have said. ... The only way we can solve this problem is to sit down and consult, negotiate, and ultimately lead to a settlement." Pombo and a number of other Republicans, including Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., voted against the Interior Department spending bill because the provision was included in it. The House passed the bill by a vote 216 to 205 on Oct. 30 and the Senate passed it by a vote of 87 to 2 on Nov. 3. President Bush signed it into law on Nov. 10. Since the Dawes Act became law in 1887, the Interior Department has managed revenue generated from Indian-owned lands and there is widespread agreement that Indians have not received billions of dollars that they are owed. The underpayments were caused by the Interior Department's inability to keep track of the account holders or to maintain adequate records. Congress passed legislation in 1994 that required the department to account for all the money in the fund and fix the accounting and payment process. In 1996, Cobell filed a lawsuit demanding a full accounting of the fund. Lamberth first ordered the department to provide a full accounting of how much the Indians are owed in 1999. That year he held President Clinton's Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin in contempt of court because of their departments' failure to produce documents. In 2002, Lamberth held Norton in contempt for her failure to comply with earlier court orders. In 2003 an appeal court overturned Lamberth's holding Norton in contempt. Copyright c. The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Anti-sovereignty Group names National Director" --------- Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 08:41:55 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ONE NATION" http://www.indianz.com/News/archives/003067.asp Anti-sovereignty group names national director Thursday, December 18, 2003 A woman who heads the United Property Owners, a notorious anti-tribal sovereignty group, has just been named the national director of One Nation. Barbara Lindsay says One Nation, based in Oklahoma, is not racist. "I'm one eighth Western Cherokee and my ancestors walked the Trail of Tears," she said in an interview with The Native American Times. "We want to have a good relationship with the tribes. Our differences are with some of the tribal leaders who behave irresponsibly." United Property Owners got its start in Washington as UPOW. In the 1970s, UPOW led a massive fight against the fishing rights of several tribes. UPOW members often reacted violently when tribal members tried to exercise their treaty guarantees. One Nation was formed in Oklahoma by leaders of the petroleum industry who also worked with Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) to kill a bill that would prevent lands owned by members of the Five Civilized Nations from falling out of trust and restricted status. Copyright c. 2000-2003 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: THE WHISPER: Governor Henry, Tribes, One Nation" --------- Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2003 08:20:47 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ONE NATION" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nativetimes.com/~article_id=3408 The Whisper The Indian Gossip Column December 19, 2003 Governor Brad Henry had to show the state the tribes were not going to run over him, but still he wants to be their friend. That is some kind of high wire act. He is seeking tribal leaders to find out ways to work together on issues of mutual interest. That logically would be a Class III compact. But, it could mean almost anything else. Henry is way off if he believes any good leader is excited about paying more for cigarettes taxes once the state raises those levies. Raising the tobacco tax will be first on the upcoming legislative agenda. Unless..... The thing is, the economy is improving. What if there is no need to raise tobacco taxes? Well the One Nation boys will not have any of that and will no doult find a way to annoy the tribes. We are at war. ---- Its a little disconcerning that the One Nation people put their pointed heads together and hired Barbara Lindsay from Washington State to lead their racist organization. Although she claims to be part Cherokee, she is heading the more racially aggressive group in the country. Her hiring says a couple of things. They are still raising money and apparently they are getting it from new places. Multiple offices and hiring high priced operatives is not the sign of a sinking ship. Hating Indians is a serious game in Washington State. It is a bareknuckled earbitting experienced. Confrontation between the races is played out with lead pipe cruelty. The battle over fishing is just that; a battle over culture vs fisherman. The tribes in Washington State are just as aggressive. They fought the most oppresive Indian fighter in modern hisotry in U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton. They beat him several years ago in a upset of monumental proporations. This is the land of Lindsay. She knows how to upset and fight the natives. There needs to be an on-going public relations campaign to thwart and battle the money of One Nation. They have resources and the dragon lady from Washington State to set back modern gains made by tribes. Native American Times is Copyright c. 2003 Oklahoma Indian Times, Inc. --------- "RE: SHAUN T. KOH: Family feud percolates" --------- Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 08:41:55 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ONEIDA" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.coshoctontribune.com/~/20031218/opinion/58975.html By SHAUN T. KOH Tribune City Editor December 18, 2003 Danielle Patterson figured the day would come when her home would become a pile of rubble. Over the years she had made repairs to the mobile home to keep up with changing safety standards on the Oneida Nation reservation in upstate New York. She had fought legal battles to keep her home. She was accused of battling members of the tribal police and resisting their attempts to inspect her home. And to add insult to injury, she was arrested on charges of assaulting tribal police and taken 300 miles to Cambria County, Pa. to be held pending trial in a tribal court. Patterson was the first Oneida to be held in Pa. under this arrangement since the Nation has no jail. Patterson was taken to another state because New York law prevents a municipality from serving as a jail for a sovereign nation such as the Oneidas. Ultimately, Patterson pleaded guilty to charges that were reduced to misdemeanors; her home was condemned and demolished in October 2002 as a safety hazard. It mattered little that Oneida Chief Ray Halbritter, a 1990 Harvard University law graduate, is a first cousin. Quite the opposite. Patterson, and her sisters, including grammy-award singer Joanne Shenandoah, oppose Halbritter's leadership. They contend the demolition is a means to punish opponents even though the homes may not be a safety hazard. Halbritter was not elected in the traditional tribal way and the federal government, they say, recognize Halbritter only because he is a college graduate. Halbritter responds by saying he is only improving the lives of Oneida Indians and the safety inspection are all part of a program to upgrade the safety and living standards of Nation residents. Halbritter has built an economic powerhouse in this community between the cities of Syracuse and Albany along the New York Thruway. The Oneidas have various enterprises including tobacco and gas sales, along with a thriving casino resort. Halbritter's Oneidas are not the only Indian Nation to have found this sort of fame and fortune. In Dec. 2002, a pair of TIME magazine reports suggested the wealth of Indian enterprises around the country was going to a select group of people including wealthy non-Indian financiers. The media attention and controversy has made the Oneidas more sensitive and they have sought to control the flow of news. When I arrived in Oneida as a newspaper editor, I was asked to meet with the Nation's communication staff who then embarked on laying out the law. One area newspaper was accused of failing to follow the demands of the Oneida leadership. The Syracuse Post-Standard was accused of being biased in their reporting, and the Oneidas banned the newspaper's staff from Oneida land, and pulled all advertising they had in the newspaper. While there may be no reservations in Ohio, Native Americans are very much a part of Ohio's culture and heritage and so we should have more than just a cursory interest. The Oneida situation is not unique. Across the country, the old and the new in Indian Nations is having a face-off. But the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs charged with overseeing the 55. 7 million acres of tribal land and disbursing federal funding is itself mired in controversy. This week, a visit to the bureau's Web site found a notice that said: "The BIA Web site as well as the BIA mail servers have been made temporarily unavailable due to the Cobell Litigation. Please continue to check from time to time. We have no estimate on when authorization will be given to reactivate these sites." The time to leave things be is past. An effective federal administration and strong leadership is needed to coordinate tribal affairs. This family feud threatens to boil over and affect much more than it already has. skoh@nncogannett.com Copyright c. 2003 Coshocton Tribune. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Rocky Boy Voters asked to change constitution" --------- Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2003 08:20:47 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DUAL ENROLLMENT, JUDGE APPOINTMENTS...." http://www.havredailynews.com/~/rockyboy.txt Rocky Boy voters asked to change constitution By Jerome Tharaud/Havre Daily News/jtharaud@havredailynews.com December 18, 2003 Rocky Boy voters will decide next month whether to approve proposed changes to the tribe's constitution and bylaws, including provisions for tougher penalties for criminals and the appointment of tribal judges, who are now elected. The special secretarial election at Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation will be Jan. 6. Tribal members, who were notified about the election by mail, had until Wednesday to register to vote. About 370 people registered, slightly less than the 389 who registered for last year's secreterial election, said James Montes, field officer for the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs at Rocky Boy. The BIA office is administering the election. Montes said most of the proposed changes on this year's ballot went before the voters in March of 2002. The results of that election were thrown out at the request of the Chippewa Cree tribal council after a group of about 100 tribal members belonging to a group called the Grassroots People marched to protest the election. The group opposed a "dual enrollment" amendment on the ballot, which said tribal members enrolled at another reservation in the United States or Canada would lose their enrollment at Rocky Boy if they didn't discontinue the second enrollment. Grassroots People also said Montes did not notify all eligible voters of the election by mail as required by law. The protesters said the majority of Rocky Boy residents are enrolled in reservations in Canada, and that those people would have voted against the amendment, which passed 123-52, if they had known about the election. At that time Montes said he didn't follow the requirement to send a notice of the election by mail to all tribal members because his list of members was outdated. Instead, he spread word of the election through local media and by posting letters at about 10 sites on the reservation. This year voters were notified by mail, he said Monday. That means that as long as there is no protest filed in tribal or federal court, the election will go on. The dual enrollment amendment will not be on the ballot on Jan. 6. The first amendment on the ballot would move the tribal council primaries, now held in June, to October, reducing the lame-duck period for tribal council members from six months to one month. Montes said the tribal council wants to shorten the lame-duck period so council members who don't make it through the primaries don't stay in office for six months before they're replaced. The second amendment on the ballot would increase the maximum penalty for misdemeanor convictions in tribal court from six months in prison and a fine of $500 to a year in prison and a fine of $5,000. Tribal council member Jonathan Windy Boy said Tuesday the amendment would bring tribal law in line with the maximum penalty tribes can impose under federal law. He said the amendment would hopefully deter crime. The third proposed change would prohibit tribal members who have been convicted of a felony in federal or state court from running for tribal office within five years of the end of their sentence. It also would apply to people who have been convicted of the use, possession or sale of illegal drugs in state, tribal or federal court. The tribal constitution now only restricts people who have been convicted of a "felony involving dishonesty" in state or federal court or of a misdemeanor involving "dishonesty or bribery in handling tribal affairs" in tribal court from being a candidate within five years after the completion of a sentence. It does not include a drug provision. The fourth change would delete a provision from the constitution that revokes tribal membership if a person has been away from the reservation for 10 years without coming before the tribal council to apply for an extension of his or her membership. "To us, at least some of us, when you become a member of a tribe - a federally recognized tribe - you should always be a member of a federally recognized tribe no matter what," said tribal council chairman Alvin Windy Boy Sr. Montes said the tribe has not enforced the provision since 1958. "It created a lot of hard feelings," he said. The fifth proposed amendment, the only one that did not go before the voters last year, would enable the tribal council to appoint the chief tribal judge and two associate judges. Those judges are now elected to four-year terms. The amendment also would give the council the authority to appoint a chief appellate court judge, who would appoint an unspecified number of appellate panel judges. Chief Judge Gilbert Belgarde said Monday that an informal appellate court was established by the tribal court in 1989, but the tribal council officially formed the appellate court in February. The chief appellate court judge position is vacant at this time, he said. The amendment does not specify how long the appointed judges would serve. The council would negotiate contracts with the judges. The proposed amendment would require the judges to have "extensive tribal judicial experience and be in good standing to preside over the tribal court and tribal appellate court." Jonathan Windy Boy said the amendment would mean more qualified judges in tribal court. "Right now there aren't any specific qualifications," he said. "It all goes back to the protection of the people and making sure that the judgment process is fair." Belgarde said the amendment would threaten the balance of power in tribal government. "I think they really opened up a can of legal worms and Pandora's Box" for the council members, Belgarde said. He said some people could see it as an effort by the council to control tribal government, and that it could prompt them to call for other changes like term limits for the tribal council and the tribal chair. "Too much power should not be concentrated in the business committee," he said, referring to the official name of the tribal council. Alvin Windy Boy said the items on the ballot came more from the people than the council. "These are certainly concerns of the community," he said. "It's not necessarily a tribal council initiative. It's going to be decided by the people." Belgarde said he doesn't think the tribal council would appoint him judge if the amendment passed. "I wouldn't even be a shoeshiner," he said. Federal law says that secretarial elections, which amend the Chippewa Cree Tribe constitution adopted in 1935, must be administered by the BIA, Montes said. Secretarial elections are relatively rare, he said. The only year in which Rocky Boy voters passed proposed changes to the tribe's constitution and bylaws was in 1972. That election included, among other things, eliminating voting districts on the reservation in favor of an at-large system of voting. Another election was held in 1978, but the proposed amendments did not pass, he said. A secretarial election can be held if two-thirds of the tribe's eligible voters sign a petition or if the tribal council passes a resolution, Montes said. The council passed a resolution in July calling for this election. The election will be held in the old Stone Child College gym on Jan. 6 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Absentee ballots must be postmarked no later than Jan. 6. Copyright c. 2003 Havre Daily News. --------- "RE: Traditionals win Southern Ute Council Seats" --------- Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2003 18:07:35 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SOUTHERN UTE VOTE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.durangoherald.com/~/news/03/news031221_2.htm Newton, Frost win Tribal Council seats By Jim Greenhill Herald Staff Writer December 21, 2003 IGNACIO The makeup of the Southern Ute Tribal Council changed in a run- off election Friday. A political newcomer won the most votes. A tribal member active in tribal politics for years made a comeback. And two incumbents lost their seats. Gone are Dewitte J. Baker and James M. "Mike" Olguin. Taking their places are Jim R. Newton Jr. and Clement J. Frost. Newton is a photographer for the tribal newspaper, The Southern Ute Drum. He has not previously held elected office. Frost has a storied history with the tribe that includes three years as tribal chairman and more than 20 years on the council, which now guides a tribe with more than $1.5 billion in assets. The run-off results are subject to the verification of ballots on Monday, said Bertha C. Box, acting chairperson of the election board. But a Friday evening count gave Newton 224 votes, Frost 184 votes, Baker 104 votes, and Olguin 99 votes. The two top vote-getters in the run-off take seats on the Tribal Council. None of the candidates were present for the hand count of votes in a classroom at the SunUte Community Center. But the winners are both Sun dancers who will bring traditional culture and medicine back to the council, said Byron Frost, Clement Frost's brother. "They'll bring back what we're losing through the financial planning," Frost said. "Everybody's thinking about money; they're not thinking about culture. If these two come back, they'll bring that medicine back in." Frost commended everyone who ran. He said running for elected office is stressful and demonstrates a commitment to the community. "I applaud them all for stepping up and trying to take a chance of helping the people," he said. Smiling, Newton's father stood silently at a doorway and accepted congratulatory handshakes from some of the more than 30 people mostly tribal members who watched the count. He declined comment on his son's victory. Tribal members voted from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The count took one hour and 10 minutes. It is a simple process performed in public. Officer Scott Webster, with the Southern Ute Tribal Police, undid the three locks on top of the wood and glass ballot box, each having a different key. A brass plaque on top of the box notes that it was a December 1981 gift to the tribe from Frank E. "Sam"Maynes, the long- standing tribal attorney. Webster removed the ballots one by one and handed them to Mary Inez Cloud, an election board member seated at the front of the room. Each tribal member was allowed two votes. Cloud read aloud the names of the candidates they chose. Box placed a chalk mark on a board at the front of the room by a candidate's name each time they received a vote. The audience, which included children, sat in silence, eyes intent on the tally on the board. Newton and Frost were front runners from the start. At the end of the count, there was a pause as Webster opened the absentee ballots and placed them in the box, as required by the tribe's code. Then those votes, too, were counted. There are almost 1,400 tribal members. Of those, 785 are registered to vote, Box said. In the run-off, 284 people voted in person and 32 cast absentee ballots, for a total of 316 voting tribal members. Reach Staff Writer Jim Greenhill at jim@durangoherald.com . Copyright c. 2003 the Durango Herald. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: BIA wants Shinnecocks to wait a Decade" --------- Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 08:41:55 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="RECOGNITION" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.indyeastend.com/detail.asp?cat=news&article=1691 Shinnecock Nation To Receive Federal Recognition? By Michael Colello December 17, 2003 In this latest ruling in the ongoing legal battle over a proposed Shinnecock casino, Federal Justice Thomas C. Platt warned he may "order" the U.S. to be named as a party in the lawsuit against the tribe. "The court believes it necessary at this juncture ... that the United States of America may be a necessary party," Platt wrote. "Even if defendants are eventually successful at trial, they may still have to apply for a gaming license from the federal government." Platt also restated his lifting of the 18-month stay of litigation, while upholding the preliminary injunction preventing the Shinnecock from continuing work on the casino, for which land was cleared on the tribe's 79-acre West Woods parcel, in Hampton Bays. Platt's order follows last Thursday's pre-trial conference where the Justice reportedly reprimanded lawyers from State Attorney Elliot Spitzer's office and Southampton Town for failing to produce documents relative to the case to the court and tribal attorneys Christopher Lunding and George Stankevich -- who furnished more than 5500 pages of documents. According to Deputy Town Attorney Eileen Powers, the town is working to bring a detailed, coherent, and recognizable presentation of documents, some hundreds of years old by the next court date, next Monday. Powers disputed the merit of the tribe's submission last Thursday. "They didn't turn over anything but their [Bureau of Indian Affairs] application, which involved making one phone call to the BIA attorneys in Colorado," Powers said. "The obtaining of those documents took more effort for town and state attorneys." Judge Platt's written memorandum and order -- made in light of a letter by the BIA, indicating that it would be unable to determine the tribe's pending federal application for federal recognition before the 18-month stay expires -- upheld the preliminary injunction halting the tribe from further construction of a casino on its Newtown Road property. Casino opponents said though the U.S. Attorney General may welcome the opportunity to join the court proceedings, Platt has already been told he has no authority to grant the Indian Nation federal recognition. "Frankly, I think it's a good thing for us, said Assemblyman Fred Thiele. "We've seen the opinion of the U.S. Attorney. I see them as our ally in this litigation, not our opponent. I don't see how having the U.S. Attorney's Office in this helps them or hurts us." Shinnecock: A Sovereign Nation? Last month, the judge announced that he would hold a non-jury trial sometime in early 2004 to decide whether or not the tribe can build and operate a casino -- which has confounded casino opponents who insist that only the BIA or Congressional action can grant the federal recognition necessary for such a move. Platt also recommended the appointment of a special magistrate to negotiate a possible settlement. The lawsuit was brought by the state and town last summer after the tribe began clearing land on its Hampton Bays West Woods property without securing the necessary town permits. The tribe, which is recognized by the State of New York but not the federal government, has long insisted it is a sovereign nation and requires no such permission to construct a gambling facility on its Hampton Bays property. During last Thursday's conference, Platt lambasted the state for recognizing the tribe, but refusing to address the casino issue. According to a press release from the tribe, "the court warned the state that it faces a `big hurdle' in trying to deny the tribe's existence and aboriginal rights" which the state allegedly affirmed in the 18th and 19th Centuries. Platt issued a memorandum last September, stating that the District Court had been granted "final authority" to decide the tribe's federal status. "The Court of Appeals clearly indicated that they thought 18 months was ample time within which the BIA could and should make its initial determination," he wrote. "If they do not, this court intends to do so." The judge would be required to consider whether the Shinnecock are a sovereign nation, something he has previously hinted at. The judge maintains he would also be required to rule on the tribe's federal standing. No Native American tribe has yet opened a casino without federal recognition. A letter from the Department of the Interior and signed by the U.S. Department of Justice to the tribe last month said that, with nine other tribes ahead of the Shinnecock, approval could take as long as a decade. A preceding letter from the U.S. Justice Department issued last October concurred, disputing Platt's 18-month deadline. "The Shinnecock petition, however, is at the very start of the process and petitioners should not be permitted to leapfrog over the numerous other groups that have been waiting patiently in line before them," it said. The tribe has been aggressively pursuing casino plans, in either Westwoods or an alternate location further upIsland, ostensibly to combat the crushing poverty on their Southampton reservation, located adjacent to Southampton Village. To do so, the Shinnecock must first obtain federal recognition, and then enter into a gaming compact with the state. Copyright c. 2002 East Hampton Independent News Co. --------- "RE: Lumbee Recognition vote delayed until February" --------- Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 08:41:55 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LUMBEE RECOGNITION" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.herald-sun.com/state/6-426000.html Vote on full recognition for Lumbees won't come until February The Associated Press December 17, 2003 CHARLOTTE, N.C. - A bill that would give full federal recognition to the Lumbee tribe will not come before the full Senate until February at the earliest, a spokesman for Sen. Elizabeth Dole said. Dole spokesman Brian Nick said Dole, the bill's sponsor, had hoped the Senate would give unanimous consent, eliminating the need for a vote on the Senate floor, but senators objected. "Unanimous consent didn't happen," Nick said. "We're moving along in the normal process for any bill." A senator may request unanimous consent on the floor to set aside a specified rule of procedure to expedite proceedings. If any senator objects, the request is rejected. Nick said Dole, a Republican, and other proponents of the bill, her first proposal for federal legislation, are prepared for "a tough fight for sure" after the Senate convenes again at the end of January. Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., also supports the bill. The Robeson County-based Lumbees have asked Congress to extend the full benefits of tribal recognition to them for more than a century. They are the nation's largest unrecognized tribe, with about 55,000 members. In 1956, Congress passed legislation recognizing the Lumbees but simultaneously refused them benefits such as access to the federally funded Indian Health Service, citing concerns that giving benefits to such a large tribe could harm smaller ones. Since then, the tribe has campaigned for full recognition. Arlinda Locklear, a Washington, D.C., lawyer who represents the tribe and is also a member, said she is still optimistic. "We're going to try and get it up onto the floor as soon as possible," she said. Copyright c. 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 2003 The Durham Herald Company. --------- "RE: Hopis could reverse course, OK Gaming" --------- Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 20:12:08 -0700 From: "Chris Milda (_Akimel O`odham_)" Subj: Hopis could reverse course, OK gaming (Fwd) >To: gars@speakeasy.org Mailing List: News and Information Distribution http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/1217sexraid.html Hopis could reverse course, OK gaming Billy House and John Stearns The Arizona Republic Dec. 17, 2003 12:00 AM The Hopi Tribe of northern Arizona, facing a major economic hit with the likely 2006 shutdown of the Mohave Generating Station, could reverse years of gambling opposition and try to cover its losses with a casino. But that would be up to the Hopi people to decide. The 12,000-member tribe historically has opposed gambling, rejecting the idea in a 1995 referendum for political, cultural and religious reasons. But a special gambling task force has recommended that tribal gambling be re-examined. The task force was appointed earlier this year by the Tribal Council to examine gambling benefits and opportunities after Arizonans' passage last year of Proposition 202. The panel says a Hopi casino in Winslow would be the best option. "This should not be interpreted as a decision by the Hopi Tribe to open a casino," emphasized spokesman John MacDonald. The council approved the gambling information campaign on the heels of the task force recommendation and in the face of potentially losing $7 million each year, 35 percent of its annual operating revenues, if the Mohave plant in Laughlin, Nev., shuts down. After the campaign, a tribalwide referendum on whether gambling should occur is likely by late July, tribal officials say. "I think they're approaching it in the correct way in educating the people and allowing the people to make the decision," said David LaSarte, executive director of the Arizona Indian Gaming Association. He wouldn't predict a result. "I don't think anybody who isn't Hopi really understands the attitudes of that community toward gaming . . . or what their needs or challenges are," LaSarte said. The Hopi rely heavily on coal royalties tied to the Mohave plant, which will probably shut down at least temporarily by 2006 because it has been ordered to install air pollution reduction equipment. A task force report projects that a Hopi-owned casino at Winslow, together with a Hopi-run hotel, could produce net annual profit of $8 million to $9 million, drawing visitors from Interstate 40 and other local tourist attractions. The nearest casinos, in Payson, Pinetop and Camp Verde, are all more than 50 miles away. Proposition 202 allowed the expansion of Indian gambling, including more slot machines statewide and the introduction of Nevada-style blackjack, while giving the state a piece of the roughly $1 billion a year in tribal gambling revenues. The state expects to realize about $89 million to $102 million annually by 2005. The tribal-state agreement, or compact, crafted under Proposition 202 allows gambling tribes to add machines with transfers from non-gambling tribes via leases or sales. The Hopi have rights to 900 slots and three casinos under the compact. The tribe would have to sign the compact before opening a casino or transferring its slots. It's the only tribe out of 22 that has not signed the compact, said Christa Severns, spokeswoman for the state Department of Gaming. Fifteen tribes operate 22 casinos and 11,243 machines in the state. The compact allows 16,150 within five years. The Hopi gambling task force outlined three alternatives the tribe could consider: * Transfer its operational rights to all or a portion of its 900 machines to another tribe. * A Hopi-owned casino. * Or a combination of both. But the report calls a Hopi-owned casino "the only option that will allow the tribe to maximize the economic value of its gaming assets." A machine transfer "is not in the best interest of the Hopi Tribe" because fees offered by the metropolitan-area gambling tribes "is far below what the Hopi economic analysis shows to be a fair-market price and is therefore not economically beneficial to the tribe," the report says. The task force also said a Hopi gaming enterprise would employ hundreds of Hopi. "Gaming has been an economic engine for a lot of tribes throughout the country, and it's hard to ignore that fact," MacDonald said. While the tribe passed on gambling in 1995, Hopi leaders say circumstances have changed since then, especially in light of the factors surrounding the power plant that threaten the Hopi economy. Like many other tribes, the Hopi have significant government service needs, including housing, education, law enforcement and health care. "We need to educate them about the facts and figures and then it's up to them to decide whether we should go into gaming or not," said Tribal Council representative King Honani. --------- "RE: Two Navajo businesses open" --------- Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2003 08:16:42 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DEVELOPMENT FOCUS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.gallupindependent.com/12-16-03twonavajobusinesse.html Two Navajo businesses open ahead of tribe's new focus on development Pamela G. Dempsey Dine' Bureau December 16, 2003 WINDOW ROCK - In an effort to increase economic development on the Navajo Nation, tribal leaders are exploring new ways to keep a larger portion of employee income on the reservation as well as increase new revenues to the Dine' treasury. Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr., will be proposing his $500 million bond issue to the Navajo Nation Council in late January while the Council's committees are looking at ways to generate revenue. In the meantime, the Navajo-owned small business is doing what it has always done: generate revenues so residents can spend more of their income on the reservation. Two businesses, Jumbo Automotive in Chinle and AZ Copy Solutions in Tuba City, have found a way to do just that amid higher start-up costs and longer wait times. In a perfect world, starting a business on the Navajo Nation would take 16 months, said Patrick Sandoval, chief of staff for the President-Vice President's Office. Off the reservation, it takes six to eight weeks. Emerson Jumbo, owner of Jumbo Automotive, started the paperwork for his business in 2000, a dream he had since high-school. After following around the paper trail, Jumbo opened his doors in June. "It took a lot of driving for me to go to places to talk to people," Jumbo said. "I followed around the paperwork until it was done." The 6,000 square-foot facility was built by Jumbo and his family - a modular, steel building on a concrete floor he poured himself- and offers both automotive parts and service. Although it would have been easier to open his business in an off- reservation town, Jumbo said the lack of competition in his own home town prompted him to open it in Chinle. "It was worth my time," Jumbo said. "(I'm not) a stranger to this town." The auto shop has landed government service contracts and works with the schools in the area. Although its centralized location makes it the sole business within two hours driving distance that provides full auto service, Jumbo said he carries some parts cheaper than businesses in border towns. "It's been non-stop since we opened our doors," he said. AZ Copy Solutions can make the same claim. Started in 2000 from an office in their home, Brianne Paddock, along with her husband, Chris, said the payoffs to owning their own business made their efforts worth it. "It's a 24-seven deal," Paddock said. "(But we) like being able to make our own decisions, such as when we want to leave the office." The all-in-one graphics design, printing, fax, and copy service serves customers both locally and regionally. Less than a year after they started, the Paddocks were able to lease an office space from one of their customers. Their recent approval for a business site lease of their own will allow the Paddocks to expand their business to include internet access, one-hour photo developing, and wide-format printing. "We love giving service to the community that's needed," Paddock said. Both businesses have dreams of going across the reservation one to open a chain of parts stores and the other, office supplies. Both employee local residents. And while both owners like not having to work for somebody else Jumbo jokes his wife is the boss owning their own business, they say, does come with its share of responsibility. "Because of the remoteness of the area, housing is very scarce," said Harry Claw, manager of Jumbo Automotive. "Therefore, trying to get employees is very competitive." Financial responsibilities, too, is every business owners business. "The hardest thing is, not so much being a minority, but that business credit goes up and down with the business," Paddock said. Sandoval said Shirley's $500 million bond issue will bring in several businesses, the effects of which include an increase in housing, more infrastructure, and more local services something small businesses need but cannot afford alone. For hopeful small-business owners, Jumbo offered this piece of advice: "There's no such thing as can't," he said. "Set your heart to it and make time." Copyright c. 2003 the Gallup Independent. --------- "RE: YELLOW BIRD: Who is really Indian?" --------- Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2003 08:16:42 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YELLOW BIRD: INDIAN HEART" http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforksherald/news/opinion/7501141.htm DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: Indians' 'heart' matters more than their blood Who is Indian? Who is really Indian? As nations of Native people become more and more part of non-Native communities, questions are being asked about how much Indian blood is left in us and when are we really considered Native Americans. If you are 1/4 Arikara and 3/4 white, for example, are you Indian or white? The question is a nagging one. In the past few months, I've heard from several people who wrote or called, asking how to be a part of Native communities. Each said he or she is part Indian. A man who once worked with Indian people as a health provider said he didn't want to overstep his boundaries, so he always told Native people he was "part Indian." An elder asked him, "What part of you is Indian?" In the following weeks and months, he said, the elder persisted, asking him if it was his foot, the left ear - what part? It is what you perceive inside you, the elder finally told him. That's makes you Indian - all Indian. Yesterday a woman called me to tell me her father was French and Winnebago. Her mother was "pure Norwegian." The woman is in her middle 60s, so she lived in a time when being Indian wasn't popular. When her father died, her mother did not want to talk about his heritage, nor did she want the woman to speak about her father's Indian heritage to others. It was something to be ashamed of, she learned. That has been a sore point for this woman for many years, she told me. When I was an administrator in Salem, Ore., three young women came to me about their relationship with the tribe. They were adopted. They found out when their records were opened that they were Indian and white. One of the girls, who was blond, had a certificate that indicated she could be enrolled in one of the local tribes. She cried during most of the second visit. She came to me because I worked for the tribe and she wanted me to help her find out about her Indian heritage. I was puzzled at first. Why would someone have such an emotional reaction when they found out they were Native American? I learn it was as if a part of her body - perhaps her soul - was missing. Now that she knew where it was, it was important that her people acknowledge her. She wasn't there for health or other benefits. I doubt if she even knew what was available to her. It was making visible something that for a long time was just an outline, foggy and incomplete. Those who are "part Indian" suffer on reservations, too. If they favor their non-Native side of the family (light skin or blond hair), they might be treated as outsiders. Some of them may have lived on reservations all their lives and have a good understanding of the culture, but their color can make them feel alien. True full bloods on a reservation are rare, at least in the sense of only one tribe. Historically, tribes borrowed or perhaps enticed men, women and children from other tribes to live with or become part of their tribe. Sakakawea is a good example; the Shoshone guide of Lewis and Clark had lived among the Hidatsa. After a few generations, such "immigrants" become part of that tribe and forget their ancestry. I remember the old people sitting around talking. They were good about keeping history intact in those days. They told of Sitting Bull, who had two Arikara wives. Few outside the group believed it until the documents showed that the elders had been right. These women's children went on with their lives thinking they were "pure" Arikara. That mixing of Indian or tribal blood was common. Unfortunately, there are those who look for a connection to a tribe and have used it for personal benefit. They might use their a long-forgotten ancestry as an opportunity to take part in some Native American program - programs developed to help Native people become more acclimated to non- Indian society; programs that offer higher-education assistance, for example. I have to smile when I think of some people I have met in my travels who, at first, didn't acknowledge their Indianness. Then years later, I found them teaching Indian people about their own culture. Hmm, I'd think as I sat listening to their newly researched knowledge of Native Americans. Yet what the elder said is true: It is what is inside you. If you feel and understand the cultural values of Native people or a certain tribe, than the spirit of your ancestor must live somewhere inside you. There are times in my life when that is hard to remember. When someone who is a newcomer assumes a major role in a ceremony, for instance, my hackles go up and I want to see them as outsider because it seems they are taking over some of the culture. It is difficult for me at times. In the end, I must remember "we are all related" - Mitakuye Oyasin. ---- Yellow Bird writes columns Tuesday and Saturday. Reach her at 780-1228, (800) 477-6572 ext. 228 or dyellowbird@gfherald.com. Copyright c. 2003 Grand Forks Herald/Grand Forks, ND. --------- "RE: Isleta Pueblo rejects Long-Time Tribe Members" --------- Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2003 08:16:42 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BLOOD QUANTUM" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.thenewmexicochannel.com/news/2710135/detail.html Isleta Pueblo Rejects Long-Time Tribe Members 50 Percent Isleta Blood Needed To Stay In Tribe December 16, 2003 Dozens of people who spent their whole lives thinking they were members of the Isleta Pueblo are finding out they are not. It's a story Action 7 News was first to break Monday night. People on the Pueblo have been getting letters telling them they have to have 50 percent Isleta blood to be part of the tribe. About three-dozen people met at a popular Albuquerque restaurant on Tuesday night for a brain storming session. Many of them found out that the tribe they thought they were a part of is no longer claiming them. "I am here to fight for the rights of my father and his family," said tribal member Gregg Analla. "We're taking our own brothers and kicking them out of the tribe. It just doesn't make any sense." Lupita Abeita, 78, says she was born and raised on Isleta Pueblo. "We feel bad because we lived there all our lives," she said. "We were born there." "It's like a stab in the back really, especially for my mom and my uncle," Abeita's daughter Juana Jiron said. There is a meeting of the tribal leaders on Thursday, and these folks plan on showing up to discuss the matter with them. The letters they received say that people can challenge them if they fill out a family tree proving their heritage. But Abeita says she was a baby when her parents died, so filling out her family tree will be difficult. Action 7 News contacted the governor of Isleta again but for a second time, he did not return our calls. Copyright c. 2003 by TheNewMexicoChannel.com. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Survival of Tribes at Stake" --------- Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2003 18:07:35 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BLOOD QUANTUM=LAST BOTTLE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.newsday.com/~story?coll=ny-homepage-right-area Survival of Tribes at Stake By Andrew Metz Staff Correspondent December 21, 2003 Indian Township, Maine - One in an occasional series on American Indians in the 21st century. The Nicholases are buried here. So are the Stevens and the Danas. The Soctomahs and the Socobasins. The bloodlines of these families and a few more touch nearly every soul on this reservation at the rim of America, year after year perpetuating the people known as Passamaquoddy. For these American Indians of Maine, the tombstones on the banks of Big Lake are landmarks of their identity, reminders of who they are and where they come from. Yet when Jodi Socobasin stands in this graveyard on Peter Dana Point, sandy blond hair raked by the wind, blue eyes watering from the cold, her foothold on the ancestral ground is shaky. "My grandparents are buried here. All my family is here," the 27-year- old srteacher's aide said on a recent day. "I know I am Passamaquoddy, but it is so difficult to be here, to feel that I am, but not get the recognition." The product of an interracial marriage - her mother is Indian, her father is white - she can't prove her blood is at least one-quarter Passamaquoddy and so under tribal rules is barred from membership. She works at the tribe's school, but has to live off the reservation because she's not entitled to housing. "Gimme a moose and I'll skin it," she expels in frustration. "I can hunt and fish. I am involved with the kids, the community, the basket making. I don't know any other side of me than the Passamaquoddy side. It's all I have." Like many Americans of Indian lineage, Socobasin is a cast-off of an ethnic calculus that equates blood with authenticity. To visit her netherworld here in the raw Maine timberland, where centuries of intermingling have imparted Catholic convictions and a northeast brogue, is to enter some of the most sensitive terrain in Indian country. As the nation's complexion is blurring, the Passamaquoddy and most tribes are struggling to maintain their distinctiveness, using a 19th century U.S. blood policy to regulate modern Indian identity. In this crucible of history and race, it's often not enough to have aboriginal heritage or speak a native language, live on a reservation or adhere to Indian ways. "It is like a pedigree. We don't do this with any other group in the country," said Jeff Corntassel, a professor at the University of Victoria in British Columbia who has written extensively on the topic. "It is a really easy way of assessing someone's identity without going into someone's identity, without going into the real indicators of what it is to be Indian." Reconfiguring themselves out of the embers of oppression, native people face a burden of proof at every level of life, from the assignment of blood levels to newborns to the battles by nearly extinguished tribes, such as Long Island's Shinnecock, to win federal recognition - the turnkey to entitlements and casino gambling. Indeed, sharing gaming profits and federal funding has sparked bitter disputes coast to coast: Tribes have manipulated membership rules to oust rival factions; bodies have been exhumed to prove ancestry. But in many places and certainly here in Indian Township, where casinos don't exist and checks from a land claim settlement have dwindled to about $200 per person annually, the debate is ultimately about the direction and the hue of the future. "If we leave the system the way it is now, when I'm 70, there aren't going to be many of us around," said Joseph Socobasin, 31, Jodi's uncle and lieutenant governor of the reservation of about 800. "There won't be enough Passamaquoddy blood left." The blood quantum rules used by the majority of Indian tribes arose out of U.S. pressure in the 1930s to abandon traditional governance and adopt American-style constitutions. The regulations, most commonly at a minimum of one-quarter blood level, are based on census rolls created by the federal government in the late 19th century when it was forcing assimilation and breaking up tribal land. U.S. agents estimated blood concentrations usually on nothing more than appearances or even hair samples and rub tests - where a subject's chest was rubbed to determine the degree of redness. Many Indians insisted they were mixed race because full bloods were considered incompetent to manage land; others resisted being registered at all. "It is meaningless," said C. Matthew Snipp, a prominent Indian demographer and visiting professor at Harvard University. "They are a notoriously sloppy set of records with a lot of slippage that have become the benchmark." To this day, the United States uses the blood measurements in its myriad interactions in Indian life, from eligibility for federally subsidized health care and housing to the right to market native crafts and collect eagle feathers. In general, the government requires proof of at least one- quarter overall Indian blood or membership in one of the 562 federally recognized tribes. The Bureau of Indian Affairs even issues wallet-size identification cards that list blood breakdowns in intricate fractions. "They count you down to the last corpuscle," said Eva Marie Garroutte, a sociologist at Boston College and author of a new book, "Real Indians: Identity and the Survival of Native America." "It is a crude tool, but at the same time suited to the needs of a bureaucratically ordered society where Indian identity is tied to a whole range of very valuable resources ... You've got to have a way to know who has a legitimate claim." A glance at the most recent U.S. census figures hints at the complexity of the problem. Overall, 2.4-million people reported American Indian as their sole race and listed one tribal affiliation, a dramatic gain from a decade ago. But another 1.7 million said they were Indian and at least one other race and tied to one or more tribes. And with more Americans embracing native heritage, demographers estimate there may be as many as 10 million people with Indian backgrounds. In Indian Township, a smattering of low budget houses off a backcountry road, the growing multiethnic makeup means every year around eight new children don't meet the blood requirements - a phenomenon Denise Polches, the tribal clerk and keeper of the census records, calls "bleeding out." A few years back, Polches analyzed the tribal rolls and found only one full blood Passamaquoddy under 18. Today, there are none, and around half the population is at the one-quarter level, according to her records. "My daughter is one-quarter Passamaquoddy and if she marries her current boyfriend, who is a non-tribal member, my grandchildren won't be members," she said. "It is really hard." At the tribal office complex on a recent night, the families lining up to apply for federal assistance sensed the teetering of their tribe and the crush of competing concerns. "It is not that I have a cold heart, but we hardly have enough money to support the people that are already here," said Keith Levesque, 20, who has a French Canadian thread woven with his Passamaqoddy. Next to him, Jillian Stevens, 19, cradled her 15-month-old daughter Gabriella - considered one-eighth Passamaquoddy - and bemoaned the rules that have denied her child tribal health care. "This is where I grew up. My daughter looks more native than a lot of babies do," said Stevens, half white, and one-quarter Penobscot and one- quarter Passamaqouddy. "If something ever happened to me, my daughter couldn't live here." The tribe of 3,300, which spans two reservations on Maine's eastern coast, has been using blood quantum since it gained federal recognition in 1975. A referendum to change the rules failed two decades ago, but there is now momentum to relax the standards to at least count other Indian blood, especially of related tribes from the Wabanaki Confederacy. Eventually, some here also hope to phase out blood quantum altogether. "We may have used it as a measuring stick for our people, but it doesn't work anymore," said John Stevens, a councilman and former reservation governor and past state commissioner of Indian Affairs. "There's now blue-eyed Indians, blond Indians, blacks. And there's nothing wrong with that," said Stevens, a spry 70, and one of the most respected members of the tribe. "It's the way you're brought up. It's in your heart." As sovereign nations, tribes determine their own membership rules, and some never adopted the blood system or have done away with it. The Cherokee, for instance, use lineal descent from a 19th century roll. The Iroquois, such as Seneca and Onondaga nations in New York, use matrilineal rules that grant membership through an enrolled mother. And with more communities being divided by blood - it has gotten so bad on the Flathead reservation in Montana a support group for split families has started - tribes around the country are revisiting their policies. So far, though, blood quantum continues to be the fulcrum between a growing population and cultural oblivion. "We treat blood quantum as if it matters in a qualitative manner to who we are," said Angela Gonzales, a Cornell University expert in identity and the influence of gaming. "But we attract so many new-agers and wannabes and people looking to either personally profit or financially profit that it makes perfect sense why blood quantum becomes the line in the sand." The regulations have also been used by ruling factions to hoard profits and disenroll citizens or prevent legitimate new ones, according to lawyers for Indians in several states. There are high-stakes fights among members of the Redding Rancheria Indian community in northern California, the Las Vegas Paiute and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux of Minnesota, operators of one of the most profitable casinos in the country. "When people throw folks out, it is about greed. It's not about identity," said Michael Stuhff, a Las Vegas attorney who represents dozens of disenrolled Indians in Nevada and California, where one of his clients has exhumed her mother and grandmother to try to get back into her tribe. In Maine, voters this fall rejected a bid by the Passamaquoddy to open a casino, sparing the tribe, at least, the complication of gaming money. As it's been since settlers began mixing with natives known as Passamaquoddy, "the people who spear Pollock," the debate here remains about keeping family lines like Maggie Nicholas' alive. Nicholases have been tribal governors and lieutenant governors, police chiefs and game wardens. Maggie Nicholas, 37, is a do-it-all at the tribal office, on the phones and in the filing cabinets. Two of her daughters are on the rolls, but a third whom she had with an Indian from a related tribe is not. And this has pained the family, even as the puzzling ways of blood have come back around. Nicholas' new grandson was just registered on the tribal rolls as one- quarter Passamaquoddy, the sum of his mother's one-eighth and his father's three-fourths blood levels. "It is all so confusing," Nicholas said, gesturing to her daughter on a couch in their prefab house. "She has black hair. She has dark eyes. She is more Indian than my other two girls. It's crazy." Copyright c. 2003 Newsday, Inc. --------- "RE: Cherokee Man called One who makes a difference" --------- Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2003 08:16:42 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="POJOAQUE SUCCESS" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.sfnewmexican.com/print.asp?ArticleID=37236 Jim Pierce: a Part of the Pojoaque Pueblo Family By MARISSA STONE | The New Mexican Wednesday, December 17, 2003 Jim Pierce is the CFO of Tribal Programs in Pojoaque. Pierce is also the Senior Advisor of Community Development. - Erin Galletta | The New Mexican The Oklahoma native has long been concerned with American Indian issues. Jim Pierce -- who works in community development for the Pueblo of Pojoaque -- believes Indians have come a long way in self-governance. "I think over time, people will begin to understand the tribes are just trying to make it," the 52-year-old said. A native of Tulsa, Okla., Pierce is part Cherokee, but since he has worked with the Pueblo of Pojoaque for seven years, he sometimes feels like part of the family, Pierce said. After college, he worked for several accounting firms as a certified public accountant. In the 1970s, he began working at a retail clothing chain in Albuquerque and then for the state Department of Taxation and Revenue as a tax auditor. "I was always good in math," Pierce said. After working for the state, Pierce was a fiscal officer for the All Indian Pueblo Council between 1978 and 1985. The council is a consortium of the 19 Pueblo Indian tribes of New Mexico. Pierce was also the chief executive officer of the Council of Energy Resource Tribes, where he worked with a consortium of North American tribes that included 48 in the U.S. and four in Canada. What sets Pojoaque apart from other tribes is its stability, Pierce said. Other tribes change governors every year. Through his work with the Council of Energy Resource Tribes, Pierce became acquainted with Pojoaque's Gov. Jacob Viarrial. "Since the governor (Viarrial) is successful, he has created a lot of opportunities for tribal members." Pierce began working for the pueblo in 1996 when Viarrial offered him a job. Working with tribes individually had been a dream of Pierce's. As chief financial officer of the tribe's community development division, Pierce has obtained several grants to support new programs in Pojoaque. His next undertaking is a 4,000-square-foot state-of-the-art senior center. "They (seniors) deserve the best," Pierce said. Other programs Pierce has developed include the pueblo's Wellness Center, Boys and Girls Club, Computer Training Center, a housing development and a new program where each tribal household will have a computer. Through that initiative, tribal members will be able to communicate with each other and be informed of tribal news, Pierce said. Just as tribal members check their mailboxes each day, they will become accustomed to checking information on their computers, he said. Sharing information can become a great strength, he said. That way, departments in the pueblo will not be segregated from each other or from the community. "I like working on development for Indian tribes because I want to see them succeed," he said. He particularly enjoys instituting programs for seniors, the youth and health initiatives. What Pierce likes about the Pueblo of Pojoaque is that leaders want to include surrounding communities in their projects. Through the tribe's computer training center, local residents can become computer savvy, creating a more skilled job pool, Pierce said. Pierce also admires Pojoaque's tribal government's open-mindedness. "They want to become a self-supporting government -- they are not relying so much on the federal or any other government." In the 1980's, the tribe had only three or four community programs, Pierce said. It now has 30 or 40. Other Indian tribes have called Pierce to find out how he obtained various grants. "You have to create a positive image of the tribe to get any funding," he said. Success in previous projects makes people trust what you can do, he said. The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development has used the tribe's Wellness Center as a model of a quality project. A picture of the center, along with developments of two other U.S. tribes, were placed on a 2003 Community Development Block Grant application booklet issued by the federal agency. The pueblo also has received several certificates of excellence for many of its community projects, Pierce said. And it's obvious to anyone driving around the pueblo how far the tribe has come in a short period of time. Once a tribe has a revenue stream -- such as a casino, manufacturing plant or other business -- it can become self sufficient, Pierce said. But that also seems to have a lot to do with the leadership of the tribe and whether or not they are willing to try new things. "Your creative juices can flow here," Pierce said. "You can go to the tribal council with an idea and they say, 'what do you think Jim?' " Pierce, who likes to complete his projects within a year, said the tribe's good reputation keeps contractors coming back. Pierce, who constantly reads and conducts research, has other dreams to fulfill. He wants to become an author. The focus of the book would probably be "the trials and tribulations in Indian country, on development barriers." The main misconception about Indian tribes is that they live off the government, Pierce said. "We have to write a proposal every year for (funding) for every program we get." Even when Pierce isn't working, he's brainstorming about new programs for the pueblo, he said. He hopes to work for the pueblo for a long time to come. Pierce received his undergraduate degree at the University of Tulsa and a master's degree in finance from Webster University. Pierce is rooted in the pueblo. That's where he met his wife, Candi Quintana Pierce, who formerly worked in the tribe's administration office. Candi Pierce is now a full-time homemaker who cares for the couple's children, Nick, 18, Brandon, 16, Christopher, 13 and Remengton, 6. Marissa Stone can be reached at mstone@sfnewmexican.com. Content c. 2003 The New Mexican, Inc. --------- "RE: UN Blueprint for Rights in Mexico" --------- Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 08:09:14 -0600 (CST) From: owner-chiapas95-english@eco.utexas.edu (Chiapas95-english) Subj: En;CSM,UN Blueprint for Rights in Mexico,Dec 17 Mailing List: Chiapas95-English This message is forwarded to you by the editors of the Chiapas95 newslists. To contact the editors or to submit material for posting send to: . From: "Dana" Christian Science Monitor from the December 17, 2003 edition Blueprint for Rights in Mexico Mexico long has needed to do something about its entrenched culture of violence and human rights abuses. Its president, Vicente Fox, deserves credit for requesting United Nations expertise with those problems just after he took office in 2000. His was an extraordinary request, as no government has asked the UN for such help before. And now that the UN has issued a report addressing Mexico's issues, Mr. Fox's task will be to actually implement the UN's broad recommendations. The eight-month study, whose authors included top Mexican human rights activists and academics, was released last week and recommends an overhaul of the Constitution - one that puts the value of human rights at its foundation. Much of Mexico's problem in the human rights area lies with a Napoleonic criminal-justice system that assumes guilt before innocence, the experts say. The UN report recommends strategies for eliminating the official use of torture, and ways to ensure the basic rights of the accused, such as the concept of the presumption of innocence. The report also says Mexico should keep its military out of its criminal-justice system, including drug investigations. And the report calls for a more open investigation into the killings of more than 300 women in Ciudad Jua'rez over the past 10 years. The 1994 Zapatista rebellion in Mexico's Chiapas state was an uprising against Mexico's indifference to its indigenous peoples, and the report says recent reforms to help them aren't enough. The Mexican government still hasn't fully implemented a 1996 peace accord with the Mayan- descended peasants in that southern region, and that discussion needs to be re-opened. Fox came into office in a historic election that ended the grip of the long-ruling and corrupt International Revolutionary Party, or the PRI. Among his campaign promises were improvements in human rights - including the rights of indigenous people - and Mexico's economy. He's been criticized lately for more talk than action on both counts. The UN plan gives Fox a solid blueprint for delivering on those promises. If he carries out its recommendations, that should slowly but surely strengthen Mexico's democracy. -- To subscribe to this list send a message containing the words subscribe chiapas95 (or chiapas95-lite, or chiapas95-english, or chiapas95-espanol) to majordomo@eco.utexas.edu. Previous messages are available from http://www.eco.utexas.edu/faculty/Cleaver/chiapas95.html or gopher to Texas, University of Texas at Austin, Department of Economics, Mailing Lists. --------- "RE: New Indian Affairs Minister" --------- Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 08:41:55 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ANDY MITCHELL" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canoe.ca/~/CANOE-wire.Native-Mystery-Minister.html New Indian Affairs minister an unknown entity as native file gets focus OTTAWA (CP) - Andy who? December 17, 2003 That's the question many native people are asking after the appointment last week of new Indian Affairs Minister Andy Mitchell. The Ontario MP for Parry Sound-Muskoka is a bit of a mystery man shouldering high expectations for change. Prime Minister Paul Martin has signalled he wants to lift native living standards out of what critics have called Canada's Third World shame. Housing, education and job creation are expected to be top priorities. Some aboriginals are concerned about Martin's choice of a relative unknown to handle what's supposed to be a top-priority file. "I have no idea who this man is," said one veteran watcher of aboriginal politics who didn't wish to be named. "This guy was a member of cabinet? How did we miss him?" Others see it differently. "Somebody with no baggage may be good," said Russell Diabo, a Mohawk from Kahnawake south of Montreal. Diabo helped craft the first Liberal Red Book of election promises in 1993 before publicly burning it in disgust three years later. The platform promised action for native people on everything from health services to land claims and education. Ten years later, little progress has been made and much damage was recently done under the heavy hand of former Indian Affairs minister Robert Nault, Diabo said. Martin himself said federal-native relations had been "poisoned" by Nault's failed bid to brusquely impose new electoral and fiscal codes on more than 600 reserves. Mitchell, just after replacing Nault, said he'll take a more collaborative approach with a focus on native self-government. But who is he? The former bank manager, first federally elected in 1993, entered then- prime minister Jean Chretien's inner circle in 1997. Mitchell had just doggedly fought off a challenge by retired Gen. Lewis MacKenzie, the highest-profile Tory candidate in the 1997 election after then-Conservative leader Jean Charest. He was rewarded with a junior cabinet post as secretary of state for parks, where he toiled in relative obscurity. He became junior minister for rural and northern Ontario development in 1999, another low-profile post that garnered relatively few headlines. Mitchell was not immediately available to discuss what his top priorities will be. But Mario Lague, a spokesman for Martin, said Mitchell will lead a major charge to clean up Canada's act on aboriginal issues. "The last few years have seen a lot of polarization in our relations with native people," Lague said. "And the idea was to have a fresh start." Martin had seen Mitchell around the cabinet table for the last six years and was impressed, Lague said. Mitchell's work as a champion of rural causes has touched on native issues, and he has seven First Nations in his riding, Lague said. Other signals of Martin's commitment include a new cabinet committee on aboriginal affairs, which he will lead, and a new aboriginal secretariat in the Privy Council Office. "There's a clear commitment that we will consult (First Nations) in a much more rigorous way." Mitchell, a graduate of Carleton University and a married father of three, gets rave reviews from at least one source. James Plewak, chief executive officer for the West Region Tribal Council in Manitoba, says Mitchell left a lasting impression as minister for parks. Plewak was working for the Keeseekoowenin First Nation, about 300 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, when Mitchell helped set up a forum in 1998 to hear native concerns. The gesture helped heal years of "antagonistic" relations stemming from a land claim in the Riding Mountain National Park that was only resolved in 1994, Plewak said. "We had no faith in Robert Nault to address our issues," Plewak said in an interview. "We're glad that somebody like Andy Mitchell -- who we know is sincere in trying to address First Nation issues -- is minister." Copyright c. 2003, CANOE, a division of Netgraphe Inc. --------- "RE: Province mulls changes to Blockade Legislation" --------- Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2003 08:16:42 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="FIRST NATION CONSULTATION" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canada.com/~b2b303de8185&disp=e&end Province mulls changes to blockade legislation Kelly Cryderman Calgary Herald December 16, 2003 The government will look at possible amendments to its legislation intended to stop illegal blockades of northern worksites, which created controversy this month when it was introduced without consultation with First Nations. Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Minister Pearl Calahasen did not give any indication Monday of what the amendments might be. She said Justice Minister Dave Hancock will be meeting with Sustainable Resource Development Minister Mike Cardinal in the new year. "There was an indication to look at further amendments if there was a need to do so," Calahasen said. "Both Mike Cardinal and Dave Hancock will be working through with the chiefs on this one." Premier Ralph Klein, Cardinal, Hancock, Calahasen and two other ministers met with a group of Treaty 8 leaders in Calgary Monday to assure them that the government will clarify matters as it relates to the new legislation, the Public Lands Act. Calahasen said the government has committed to more consultations with First Nations, and to clarify police powers under the legislation and uses for Crown lands. "They need to know what it means, what kind of roles do the police have, " Calahasen said. Earlier this month, the premier apologized in the legislature for not fully consulting First Nations on the act. Bill 49, which passed this month, gives police the authority to act quickly to stop attempts to blockade access to Crown land. Calahasen said the government wants to prevent another situation where First Nations are not consulted on proposed legislation. Copyright c. 2003 Calgary Herald. --------- "RE: Klein, Cabinet meet Aboriginal Leaders" --------- Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2003 08:16:42 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LAND ACCESS LAW" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canada.com/~81f4-54d233e31658&disp=e&end Klein, cabinet colleagues meet aboriginal leaders over Alta. land access law BILL GRAVELAND December 15, 2003 CALGARY (CP) - The Alberta government is opening the door for possible amendments to legislation that has been upsetting aboriginal groups regarding access to public lands. Bill 49, the Public Lands Amendment Act, seeks to prevent members of the public from blocking or otherwise obstructing access by a commercial user who is legally entitled to have access. "If there are areas to be amended to make clear that Bill 49 has no intention to restrict First Nations traditional use of land, then we'll deal with that," said Dave Hancock, Alberta's justice minister. "From our perspective it was not intended to do that and it doesn't do that but if it needs clarity, clarity will be worked out," he said following a meeting with Treaty 8 chiefs in Calgary. Alberta Premier Ralph Klein, who attended the meeting, apologized to aboriginal leaders late last month for introducing legislation to crack down on those who charge oil companies fees to work on Crown lands that are traditional hunting grounds. He said the Tory government had not thoroughly consulted Alberta's aboriginal leaders on the legislation prior to bringing it forward for approval. "You can always do things differently. We'll learn from this experience. The important thing is we're sitting down and talking about Bill 49 and more broadly, the whole consultation process," said Hancock, who said further talks with native leaders will occur sometime in the new year. Archie Cyprien, Grand Chief of Treaty 8, was satisfied with the tone of the meeting but stopped short of promising there would be no blockades or protests in the future. "We agreed that we will notify each other before anything heats up in our respective governing structures," he said. Cyprien said a part of the law that needs clarity is aboriginal access to traditional territory. "Right now we're interpreting that we need approval to the ministry to access in terms of berry picking, gathering, hunting and fishing and trapping," he said. To uphold the law, the Alberta government will grant authority to police to remove or seize blockade materials - be it equipment, vehicles or other obstructions. The ongoing dispute, mainly in the Lesser Slave Lake area in northern Alberta, centres on aboriginal demands for some form of benefit from oilfield work on traditional hunting grounds. "We want to develop our communities in the future so we are self-reliant and self-sufficient and not having to rely on the industry or governments for our development," said Cyprien. "We see as an opportunity our participating in the development of and accessing resources in terms of jobs and contract," he said. Contractors said the bands are interpreting court decisions as entitling them to first refusal on contract work on the land, or a share of the profits from the companies involved. "There is no exclusive right for use of those lands and any member of the public who has authorized use has a right to access without paying a fee," said Hancock, adding that part of the legislation will remain. Copyright c. 2003 The Canadian Press. --------- "RE: Lawyers square off in Chediski Fire Case" --------- Date: Sat, 20 Dec 2003 15:47:43 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CHEDISKI SUIT" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.paysonroundup.com/section/localnews/story/13669 Lawyers square off in Chediski Fire case By Jim Keyworth, Roundup staff reporter Friday, December 19, 2003 Lawyers for Valinda Jo Elliott and the White Mountain Apache Tribe are squaring off over jurisdiction on tribal lands. At issue is the civil case filed by the tribe against the woman who started the Chediski portion of the Rodeo-Chediski fire. The White Mountain Apache Tribal Court heard arguments Wednesday to dismiss charges against Elliott. Defense attorney Kevin O'Grady argued that federal law stripped away tribal jurisdiction over non-tribal members on reservation land. Tribal attorney George Hesse countered that the White Mountain Apache Tribe has jurisdiction over all lands on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation and that tribal members and non-tribal members alike must abide by tribal laws while on those lands. After hearing the arguments, Judge Durango Fall promised to issue a ruling within a few days. Elliott, who ignited the Chediski Fire when she lit a signal fire after becoming lost on the Fort Apache Reservation, was served with papers in the civil action in June, 2002. The action charges the 33-year-old with leaving an unattended fire and other wrongs. When the fire merged with the Rodeo Fire, the resulting inferno became the largest fire in Arizona history. Before it was contained, the Rodeo-Chediski Fire ravaged 470,000 acres and destroyed 467 homes -- including 200 in Heber-Overgaard -- and narrowly missed Show Low, Forest Lakes and other communities. The total cost of battling the blaze was at least $43 million, with another $28 million in damages. The fire cost the tribe millions of dollars through the devastation of prime timber, natural resources and wildlife. If Elliott is found liable, the tribe could be awarded restitution for those losses. Payson attorney Tim Grier, who owns a business in Forest Lakes, one of the communities impacted by the fire, doubts that the tribe will ever collect. "She's probably going to be judgment proof," Grier said. "If they have a multi-million dollar lawsuit against her, it doesn't do them much good if she doesn't have any money ... It's probably more symbolic than anything else." Copyright c. 2003 The Payson Roundup. --------- "RE: South Dakota Prisons show improvement" --------- Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2003 08:16:42 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CONDITIONS SOME IMPROVED" http://www.indiancountry.com/?1071588683 South Dakota prisons show improvement December 16, 2003 by: David Melmer / Indian Country Today PIERRE, S.D. - The South Dakota Department of Corrections reported it has made some improvements in conditions for American Indian prisoners, but advocates assert that more must be done. For years prison conditions and treatment of American Indian inmates has been a major complaint by family members and advocates while changes were slow in coming. Culture, religion and racial issues are at the forefront of the complaints of mistreatment by prison guards and administrators. The Secretary of the Department of Corrections, Tim Reisch, reported to the State-Tribal Relations committee of the state legislature that changes have been made and some inmates can now attend funerals of immediate family members and some objects previously prohibited can now be held by inmates in their cells. Tribal liaisons will be located on every reservation to filter through complaints and questions and language classes are available at some of the states facilities. Although several prisons now are including culturally-specific programs including the Red Road for alcohol and drug abuse training, the training does not occur in the early stages of incarceration, but in the latter stages, Reisch said. The Department of Corrections added Lakota language classes to the State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls, and pow wows were extended from four to 10 hours at two facilities and practice times for drums and dancers were also increased. The main state prison in Sioux Falls still has rigid restrictions, but the explanation was that prisoners there are a greater flight risk than at other locations. South Dakota, as state studies and information from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights shows a disproportionate number of American Indians incarcerated in state facilities. That does not include the federal prisons, which also have more American Indians according to the population percentage than non-Indians. Community advocates claim that early parole, or parole on time will help to lessen the pressure on prisons. South Dakota added 728 beds to its system and by 2010 there will again be three inmates to a cell, Reisch said. He said that the success indicators for not returning to prison are a job and housing. "If the person is living in a mission the chances of success are significantly lower. Under the old system of parole we would have more people in prison, studies tell us," Reisch said. "We need to know how to put more Native Americans on the work force. There is also a disparity in staff training between the juvenile and the adult side. We need on-going training and some are not getting cultural sensitivity training." For many family members the Department of Corrections has been untouchable and almost unwilling to make changes that would result in proper rehabilitation and spiritual well being of an American Indian inmate. "We are glad for your willingness to make changes. We are here to listen to concerns from people and you, the DOC as well," said Sen. J.E. "Jim" Putnam, R-Wagner. "We commend you for your willingness to make changes and we are seeing some movement," he said. But not all concerns of the past have been addressed. Rep. Tom Van Norman, D-Eagle Butte, a Lakota, asked about the administrative segregation practices, which include more American Indians than non- Indians. "We do have guidelines, but I don't know the actual percentages of people by race," said Bob Dooley, warden at the Springfield facility. Reisch said he discovered that administrative segregation was used at a higher than normal basis than other states in the Sioux Falls facility, but that adjustments had been made. "If the perception is true, then we need to do something about it," said Stan Adelstein, chairman of the committee. Community members attended the State-Tribal Relations Committee hearing, but were not allowed to address the officials from DOC and presented their cases after they had been dismissed by Chairman Adelstein. The DOC officials will be called back to the committee in January to address other issues and meet with the public. "I am receiving letters saying there are changes," said Marletta Pechega, Lakota, Rapid City. I turned to you for changes and you didn't let me down," she told the committee. Marletta lost a nephew to suicide in prison. She has testified before state committees on prison reform and is an advocate for prison inmates. "You made them [the inmates] visible. They request an ombudsman on the outside, someone they feel comfortable talking to." She said the pow wows at the Sioux Falls facility are still lonesome without the families. Also personal property goes missing and when guards search personal items they often times drop eagle feathers on the ground. She said there were a lot of good guards, but if there were a way to track the write-ups of inmates and identify those guards who should not be there it would be helpful. Twyla Brown Turney lost her son to prison suicide two years ago and still feels the pain. "I still expect him to call." It was two weeks after her son Bill was found dead in hi