From gars@speakeasy.org Sun Jan 11 22:08:20 2004 Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2003 14:58:52 -0800 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews12.001 _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 12, ISSUE 001 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 January 3, 2004 Hopi paamuya/joyful moon Cree gishepapiwatekimumpizun/moon when the old fellow spreads the bush +-------------------------------------------------------+ | 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, and ndn-aim Mailing Lists; UUCP email IMPORTANT!! ----------- In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, all material appearing in this newsletter is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for educational purposes. <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters who share our Spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the Red Road. ++ It may be subscribed to via email by sending a request from your own internet addressable account to gars@speakeasy.org ++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org <================<<<< >>>>================> +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + | As historian Patricia Nelson | | Once a language is lost, it is | | Limerick summarized in "The | | gone forever | | Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken | | * Of the 300 original Native | | Past of the American West... | | languages in North America, | | "Set the blood quantum at | | only 175 exist today. | | one-quarter, hold to it as a | | * 125 of these are no longer | | rigid definition of Indians, | | learned by children. | | let intermarriage proceed as | | * 55 are spoken by 1 to 6 elders;| | it had for centuries, and | | when they die, their language | | eventually Indians will be | | will disappear. | | defined out of existence." | | * Without action, only 20 | | "When that happens, the federal | | languages will survive the next| | government will be freed of | | 50 years. | | its persistent 'Indian problem.'"| | Source: Indigenous Language | +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ | Institute | |http://www.indigenous-language.org| This issue's Elder Quote: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + ======================== "A man who would not love his father's grave is worse than a wild animal." __Chief Joseph, Nez Perce +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! There are three articles concerning recruitment of Canadian Natives and Mexican Nationals by the US military in this issue. Two army recruiters showed up in Tijuana recruiting youngsters they alleged had expressed an interest in enlisting. The Mexican government was not pleased at this intrusion on Mexican sovereignty. Enlisting their young men into our armies is not something they encourage. There are rampant rumors, though, about the U.S. military encouraging Mexican enlistments. It's not even subtle in Canada among Inuit and other aboriginal natives. The US claims that as Natives, they have dual citizenship and thus they are eligible recruiting targets. Isn't it damn convenient that this is a "good" thing when bodies are needed on front lines? Where was this open acknowlegement of dual citizenship when Blackfeet elders tried to cross the border with their eagle feathers, or when Mohawk are blocked from crossing a bridge that is specified as open to their traffic in treaties? That also brings up some interesting questions about US/Canadian reciprocity laws. Does this mean that US Natives in need of medical care are entitled to admission in Canadian clinics and hospitals, rather than some of the more infamous IHS death traps? Right now, I have more questions than answers; but I am absolutely sure if enough of us ask these questions often enough and in the right places, we will eventually be provided with some intriguing answers/spins. 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 ---------- - Mondo Washington: - Tribes must be treated Uncle Sam Wants You, Eh? as Sovereign States - U.S. Military Recruiters - Acteal Survivors in Tijuana still looking for Justice - Overzealous Military Recruiters - Other means target Latinos to address Self-Government - Death Threat against - Talk of using Native Lakota Children in Blood Place Names in B.C. - Kickapoo Protestors stay put - B.C. ordered to pay - Seminole: A Nation Divided Natives' Court Costs - Young Members at odds - IHS requests lawsuit dismissal with Tribal Government - Law anything but Colorblind - Warring Camps on Reservation has Ponca Complex Divided - Editorial: - Wisconsin Oneida Peltier, Justice and the President airs ad about Claim - John Graham Defense Committee - Families claim Tribe - Native Prisoner is misleading Federal Court -- In 2004 consider supporting - Sand Creek Massacre Site our brothers and sisters in given to Tribes the iron houses - Santee Sioux Tribe - History: Carlisle Indian School buys Lakota Journal - Rustywire: A Cradleboard - YELLOW BIRD: Solstice Shortest, - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days most Sacred Day - Poem: Lasting Impression - Tree Rings verify Hohokam in Tucson - Books teach Babies Dine' Language - Condors flying high again - Upcoming Events --------- "RE: Mondo Washington: Uncle Sam Wants You, Eh?" --------- Date: Sun, 28 Dec 2003 15:08:46 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CANADIAN ABIRIGINAL G.I.'s" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0352/mondo2.php Mondo Washington by James Ridgeway Uncle Sam Wants You, Eh? Our Military Tries to Recruit Canada's Inuit December 24 - 30, 2003 As Bush was ramping up the Iraq war last winter, Canadian military officials were startled to discover Pentagon recruiters roaming through their nation's native population reserves trying to persuade Inuit and others to enlist in the U.S. military. The Americans started cropping up on the Atlantic Coast in Quebec, in the Sault Sainte Marie area of Ontario, and in Western Canada. A Canadian Defense Ministries report said the U.S. claimed that under the 1794 Jay Treaty it had the right to recruit Canadian native inhabitants for its military because aboriginal Canadians held dual U.S.-Canadian citizenship. Alarmed top Canadian officials from the ministries of Justice, Foreign Affairs, and Defense huddled with Privy Council bigwigs and, screwing up their nerve, decided to tell the Americans that Canada didn't like what was going on. "As a result of our interaction with the U.S. embassy, a letter was sent from the director, Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington, to the vice chiefs of the U.S. military services, reminding them that their recruiters are to refrain from entering Canadian territory," Foreign Affairs official Reynald Doiron told The Vancouver Sun earlier this month. The prohibition on recruiting applies to U.S. activities in Canadian high schools and university job fairs as well as on native reserves. The U.S. embassy confirmed that it would stop active recruiting in such places in Canada. If Canadians want to join the U.S. military, they will have to cross the border to do so. The American recruiting efforts are aimed at filling the ranks of an army stretched thin by the Iraq war and by having to post troops in other world hot spots such as Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. The U.S. may well have to put a permanent military presence in the Gulf of Guinea, off the coast of West Africa, to protect oil and gas reserves against regional squabbles. The U.S. currently recruits from among green-card holders - people with permanent resident status who aren't yet American citizens. In an effort to boost recruitment from such groups, Bush has signed an order reducing the time holders of green cards must wait before becoming citizens. Currently some 37,000 such people are in the military, out of a total of 1. 4 million. The way some Canadians see it, the U.S. has already stolen their oil and gas, metals, diamonds, and water, and owns much of their industry. Now their manpower? Even the most laid-back of our neighbors to the north think this is going a bit far. But perhaps they don't realize it's all for the greater good and represents but a drop in the bucket for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's heroic goal of privatizing large chunks of the U.S. armed forces. The Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown & Root is under billion- dollar contracts to provide much of the logistical support for the military, doing such things as setting up base camps, providing the food, and digging the latrines. And Halliburton is but one of some 90 or so companies that are engaged around the world in recruiting private armies, which then are leased out to governments like those of the U.S. and Great Britain - franchised versions of the French Foreign Legion. Numerous jobs in Iraq are held by private soldiers working for government subcontractors from places like Bangladesh. There's a problem with all this. Some private troops might well fall outside the protection of the Geneva Conventions, which protect prisoners of war. Not that this seems to bother Rumsfeld, who in one case can invoke the Geneva Conventions and in another ignore them - whichever best serves the Bush administration's purposes. They might be considered mercenaries, who are specifically excluded from protections. --- Additional reporting: Ashley Glacel, Phoebe St John, and Alicia Ng Copyright c. 2003 Village Voice Media, Inc., New York, NY --------- "RE: U.S. Military Recruiters in Tijuana" --------- Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2003 08:13:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LINE UP MULTINATIONAL BODY BAGS" http://rogueimc.org/2003/05/632.shtml U.S. Military Recruiters in Tijuana Information Clearinghouse, 11.05.2003 23:16 05/09/03: MEXICO CITY (AP) - When a U.S. Army recruiter sought out two potential recruits at a Tijuana high school last week, he fueled a maelstrom of anger and gave credence to erroneous reports that the United States recruits Mexicans as soldiers. Last week's incident appears to be a misstep by an overzealous recruiter tracking down two youths who apparently expressed interest in the Army at a San Diego recruiting office. But it took on greater importance with the U.S. at war in Iraq, as a rumor persisted that would-be immigrants could get U.S. citizenship by serving in the Army. At least five Mexican-born soldiers - all of whom had immigrated to the United States years earlier - were killed in Iraq. And Mexican media sometimes depicted even second-generation Mexican-Americans who died in Iraq as another "Mexican" casualty in a war opposed by a majority of people in this country. "An Army recruiter from San Diego did indeed come into Tijuana ... he was over here looking for two specific people," said Liza Davis, spokeswoman for the U.S. consulate in Tijuana. She described the two as "potential recruits who had approached the Army, " probably young men who held U.S. citizenship or legal residency. Many Mexicans with U.S. citizenship live in Tijuana. "The U.S. Army does not recruit here," Davis said. "We don't endorse them coming here." The U.S. Army's recruitment command center issued a memo to its field offices, reminding recruiters they are not allowed to cross the border. "It was unfortunate in that it could help foster a myth, which is not true, that the U.S. armed forces recruit Mexicans," Army spokesman Douglas Smith said. "This recruiter did something he should not do." The rumors of Mexicans being used as cannon fodder was so bad a month before the war that the U.S. embassy sent out a press release clarifying that Hispanics - people of Mexican and other Latin American origin - were not over-represented in the armed forces. In fact, they make up 8.7 percent of the U.S. military and about 13 percent of the general population. The U.S. embassy clarified that "undocumented or illegal immigrants cannot serve in the U.S. armed forces." Part of the confusion stems from an order by President Bush last July allowing 31,000 non-citizens in the military to apply for nationalization at the start of active duty. Mexico City media reported a U.S. sergeant visited Tijuana's Technological High School 261 on April 30. The Mexico City newspaper, Milenio, ran the headline, "The U.S. Army is recruiting in Tijuana." The Tijuana daily, El Mexicano, described the Army sergeant's visit as "an intense campaign to recruit young high school students." The Baja California state government was incensed. "They did not even have the minimal courtesy to ask for permission," state spokesman Gustavo Magallanes said of the visit. "We ask them to act with prudence, and respect for the Mexican government." Baja California Gov. Eugenio Elorduy demanded that Mexican immigration authorities "act with greatest firmness and the heaviest hand," and state officials implied U.S. recruiters would be detained the next time. Mexican media accounts said the recruiter handed out promotional Army fliers to students. U.S. officials denied those charges. Mexico has long been sensitive by what it perceives as the United States encroaching upon its sovereignty. Such sensibilities are particularly heightened along the U.S.-Mexico border. Rogue IMC Newsletter posts are Copyleft for non-profit distribution. --------- "RE: Overzealous Military Recruiters target Latinos" --------- Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2003 08:13:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CONFIRMING STORY - MEXICAN NATIONALS" http://www.progressive.org/mediaproject03/mpas1703.html Overzealous military recruiters target Latinos By Rodolfo F. Acuna September 17, 2003 As war drags on, overzealous military recruiters are turning to Latinos for long-term solutions to the Pentagon's problems. A recent Pew study shows that Latinos are relatively underrepresented in the military when compared with their numbers in the civilian workforce, yet they are overrepresented in combat units, comprising 9.49 percent of the enlisted personnel, but 17.74 percent of those directly handling guns. Of the 60,000 immigrants in the U.S. military, about half are noncitizens. More than 6,000 Marines are noncitizens, with the largest group -- 1,452 -- from Mexico. At least five Mexican-born soldiers have been killed in Iraq and several more Latinos have died. The practice of recruiting noncitizens is not new. The armed forces have a long-standing tradition of recruiting soldiers of color and sending them off to the frontlines. During the Vietnam War, some 80,000 Latinos served, incurring about 19 percent of all casualties. At the time, however, Latinos made up only 4.5 percent of the total population. Desperate economic situations in Mexico have left many young people prey to military recruiters. There rumors abound that if immigrants volunteer for U.S. military service they will get automatic eligibility for citizenship. Eager young adults in Mexico flood the American Embassy and consular offices with inquiries. Recruiters have even crossed over into Mexico to look for high-school dropouts who may have U.S. residency papers, according to a recent article in The Independent. Over here in the United States, the military has actively pushed schools to give it wider access to students. The 1996 Solomon Amendment provided for the Secretary of Defense to deny federal funding to institutions of higher learning if they prohibit or prevent ROTC or military recruitment on campus. Among other things, ROTC targets Latino-serving institutions (universities that are more than 25 percent Latino) by asking them for files of Latino students. Louis Caldera, the secretary of the army under President Clinton, help set in motion the Hispanic Access Initiative, which, under the guise of affirmative action, allows ROTC to target Latinos and forces universities to hand over personal data to recruiters. Among young people ages 18 to 24, Latinos are a prime recruiting market. They make up 14.3 percent of the nation's youth, but only about 10 percent of new recruits. Under a provision written into the recently passed National Defense Authorization Act, Congress made it mandatory for high schools to provide military recruiters access to juniors and seniors, including names, addresses and telephone numbers. If schools do not comply, they are punishable by law. (Parents have an opt-out option. They can request a Student Data Release Form for Military Recruitment from their child's school and withdraw the student's name and contact information from the list provided to recruiters.) The U.S. military spends between $8,000 and $11,000 to recruit a single soldier. Many recruiters in the Los Angeles area advocate the lifting of restrictions on enlisting undocumented Latinos. That would be the ultimate indignity. Undocumented Latinos can't vote and they can't access many social benefits. They are in constant risk of deportation. But they may soon be able to die for President Bush's war. ---- Rodolfo F. Acuna is professor of Chicano Studies at California State University, Northridge. He is the author of several books, including "Anything But Mexican: Chicanos in Contemporary Los Angeles" (Verso, 1996). He can be reached atpmproj@progressive.org. Copyright c. 2003 The Progressive Media Project. --------- "RE: Death Threat against Lakota Children in Blood" --------- Date: Thu, 25 Dec 2003 18:07:35 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DEATH THREAT" http://www.lakotajournal.com/front.htm Death threat against Lakota children written in blood By Serenity J. Banks Lakota Journal Staff Writer December 19 ~ 26, 2003 - ONLINE EDITION RAPID CITY - A note making death threats against five Lakota elementary school children has family members alarmed. The note, which was found in the South Park Elementary School in early September by a school custodian, had pictures of a gun, a skull, and a swastika drawn on it as well as profane comments referring to the five children by name. Some of the names were written in actual blood. The children whose names appeared in the threatening note were Cleveland Iron Cloud, ten; Cody Iron Cloud, nine; Patrick Iron Cloud, nine; Robert Iron Cloud Jr., ten; and Cante Comes Flying, seven. Bruce Iron Cloud of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and uncle to all five children said, "We left it up to the school and due process, but nothing has been done. The kids are still being harassed. It's been four months and they still say they don't know who did it." Officer Mike Lang, the liaison officer for South Middle School, could not comment. Captain Christopher Grant of the Rapid City Police Department and Officer Lang's supervisor said, "An investigation was conducted and we had two suspects we believed were possibly involved. One suspect was a white female, and one was a Native American female. The investigation involved handwriting comparisons and interviews, but we could not determine the person who wrote the note. However, I am satisfied that the appropriate steps were taken during the investigation." But Iron Cloud is not satisfied. "The kids told us they thought they knew who did it, that it was a little white girl. The police had that girl write the note and they said it wasn't her. Then Officer Lang said they thought it might be a Native American girl who left the school and moved back to the reservation-but he took it back right away and told us they didn't know who did it." Bernadine Garcia, also of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and mother of Cleveland, Cody, and David Iron Cloud said, "It was right after it was on the news about that little girl who took a gun to her elementary school and shot somebody. It was about a week later that the note was found." Garcia said she was frightened by what might have happened. "It could've escalated into something like that, and someone could've been hurt," she said. "They're just little children and their lives are being threatened and they're being harassed. After all the things happening in schools, the school said they were taking it seriously. We were assured it would be resolved, but nothing's happened." Larry Stevens, principal of South Middle School said, "Normally in harassment situations, whatever the type-racial, sexual, or religious-we run it through the counselor first and speak with the kids involved to find out what the problem is. We speak with them and let them know it's wrong and see if we can stop it on a school level. Normally the kids work it out and talk to each other and get it stopped." Garcia spoke about her older son David, who was arrested for strong-arm robbery after borrowing a non-Indian boy's baseball cap and playfully punching another boy on the shoulder. "He's 13 years old," she said. "They arrested him on a felony because he was goofing around with some white boys and they told on him. But when these little Native American children get death threats at school, they don't want to get involved." Iron Cloud said Officer Lang tried to buy off the children who were threatened. "They each got $100 gift certificates to Wal-Mart," he said. Captain Grant said this had nothing to do with the investigation surrounding the note. "We have a program called Shop With a Cop," he said. "An officer will take children of all races and backgrounds shopping once a year. It has nothing to do with this situation." But Garcia believes otherwise, and said she was offended by the gesture. "Officer Lang is the only person we've been able to speak with," she said. "Every time we try to talk to someone, we're told to talk to him. And all they did was give the kids money for Wal-Mart. I asked why they got that and why nothing was still being done in the school, and Officer Lang told me, `If you don't want it, then give it back.'" "I asked about the money, and Officer Lang said, `They looked like they need it,'" Iron Cloud said. "He's implying by his statements that the kids look like poor Indians, like we can't afford to get them coats and shoes and clothes. And meanwhile they're still not doing anything about the kids getting harassed in the school." Captain Grant said he is not aware of any complaints regarding Officer Lang. But Iron Cloud believes racism is to blame for the lack of response within the school. He said the school population is mostly non-Indian except for his niece and nephews. Stevens said the American Indian population is about seven or eight percent. "Officer Lang says he's not a racist, but actions speak louder than words," Iron Cloud said. "He can't deny he made those comments about the kids, implying that they're poor. It's his inability to look past that which is why he's not doing anything about it." "These kids are in elementary school," Garcia said. "Kids are influenced at home. They only learn from their peer groups and their home. You'd think at ten years old they'd have something better to think about than race." Iron Cloud said the children were traumatized by their encounter with Officer Lang. "None of them even knew about the note at first," Iron Cloud said. "The janitor found it and turned it in. And Officer Lang took the kids and interrogated them about it. They were really traumatized after they talked to him. Lang made the kids feel like they did something wrong, like it was their fault someone wrote that about them." "They were the victims," Garcia said. "And because of Lang, to this day they're still scared of police officers. Iron Cloud said Lang is no longer allowed to have any contact with the children. "We're afraid he'll do more harm than he will help them," he said. He said neither the school nor the police department ever offered to counsel the children following the incident with the note or their encounter with Officer Lang. "Children tend to dwell on situations like that," he said. "But they never offered to counsel them or anything. They're afraid of police officers because of Officer Lang. What happens when someday something happens and they need help and they're afraid to go to the police?" Iron Cloud said he is also concerned about the children's view of themselves following the incident. "They felt like it was their fault," he said. "They don't deserve to go on thinking they did something wrong, that this happened because of who they are." "They're good students," said Marcella Iron Cloud, grandmother to all five children and guardian of Robert, Patrick, and Cante. "They never get in trouble." Stevens said counseling services are available for children who are harassed in school. "We have a process we go through," he said. "We start them with the counselor and try to work out a mediation process. We try to do it in levels and handle it on the school level first." But Garcia feels the situation is personal. "I think they're intimidated by the kids because they do so well," Garcia said. "It seems like the school wants the kids to get transferred to another school." Copyright c. 2003 Lakota Journal. --------- "RE: Kickapoo Protestors stay put" --------- Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2003 09:03:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="OCCUPATION CONTINUES" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nativetimes.com/~article&article_id=3438 Kickapoo protestors stay put even after favorable court decision Took over tribal office 10 days ago MCLOUD OK Sam Lewin December 29, 2003 Protestors are apparently still holed up inside the McLoud headquarters of the Kickapoo Tribe despite a court decision that ruled in their favor. The protestors had objected to a series of events that unfolded following an attempt to recall Chairman Tony Salazar. Opponents accused Salazar of mishandling tribal business. The recall passed, but the tribe's election board initially tossed out the election, saying the results were improper. Two of Salazar's relatives sit on the board. Nathan Gonzalaz and Valentino Jiminez, who are his nephews, both voted to approve Salazar's protest. Juanita Johnson cast the lone dissenting vote. She is not related to him. Some members of the tribe, angered over what they perceived as blatant nepotism, entered the tribal office in the early hours of Friday, Dec. 19. They say they gained access through an open door. "The system has failed us. We feel like we are not getting what we need through courts-that's why the protest," protestor Glenda Deer told the Native American Times shortly after she and the other dissenters took over. Last week the tribe's election board overturned their original decision, reversing itself after a tribal judge said the earlier ruling had been based on a misinterpretation of the tribe's constitution. Salazar had claimed the election results were not legitimate because the Kickapoo constitution calls for a minimum of 20 percent of the tribe's members to participate in a vote. Salazar said only 19 percent of the tribe cast a ballot. His opponents countered that the 20 percent minimum only applied to ballot initiatives and not recalls. Even though the board ruled in their favor, the protestors are still inside according to a tribal police spokeswoman who also said there are no immediate plans to remove them. Meanwhile, the phone at the tribe's headquarters went unanswered Sunday and Monday. Native American Times is Copyright c. 2003 Oklahoma Indian Times, Inc. --------- "RE: Seminole: A Nation Divided" --------- Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 08:22:13 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SEMINOLE SPLIT http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.newsday.com/~story?coll=ny-nationworld-headlines A Nation Divided Seminole rift more than a black-and-white issue By Andrew Metz STAFF CORRESPONDENT December 22, 2003 Wewoka, Okla. - Kenneth Chambers, chief of the Seminole Nation, is absolutely sure of the truth of the matter. "There is no black Seminole," he expostulated on a recent day, rising from his chair to drive the point home like a preacher warning of hell and damnation. In this ink spot of an Indian town, however, not far from the tribe's headquarters on the Oklahoma prairie, the faces of Wewoka present a conflicting impression. "My folks is Indian," said Roosevelt Davis, a man as dark as any of African descent. Walking through the long leaf pines he planted on land that has been his family's for almost 100 years, he put his hand on his chest and said simply, "I'm Seminole." After two centuries of coexistence that has rarely made most history books, a chasm has opened between the descendants of the Seminole people, Indians and escaped slaves who banded together in Florida against the white onslaught and were eventually deposited here along what became known as the Trail of Tears. Though history and intermingling made cousins of the two groups, time and money and the modern experiences of being black or Indian or both have chewed away at all they shared in common, leaving the ligaments of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma exposed and aching. The blacks, still known around here as Freedmen,have been excluded from millions of dollars awarded to the Seminole in the early 1990s for the seizure of their land in Florida a century earlier. And three years ago they were stripped of their Seminole status altogether through the imposition of an ancestral blood standard for membership that few could prove. The government later forced the tribe to restore their standing, but to this day the Freedmen are denied access to many benefits and services because they cannot show sufficient Indian heritage based on a 19th- century identification system that was stacked against them to begin with. "You can't just judge us on the color of our skin," said Sylvia Davis, Roosevelt's daughter, who traces her ancestry to the legendary Seminole Chief Billy Bowlegs, a warrior who helped battle the United States to a draw during the Florida Indian wars of the 1800s. Davis, 49, has been waging her own legal fight for recognition as a Seminole and the rights that come with it. "When they were on that Trail of Tears there weren't no Freedmen. When we were in Florida, there weren't no Freedmen. It was black Indians," said Davis, a former tribal council member representing a Freedmen band. "Who are these people to say I don't have enough Indian in my blood?" Many who have peered into this conflict have written it off to another instance of bias against black Americans, albeit from an ethnic group with its own long history of oppression. Yet the intersection of these races is as much about the complicated legacy of frontier history and American Indians' modern struggle for self-definition. "It is overly simplistic to say, 'Oh, these people are just being racist because they want to keep all the money,'" said Circe Sturm, a cultural anthropologist at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, who has written on native identity and the experience of black Indians. "There are deeper forces at work. ... People who have complicated histories like the Seminole have felt for a number of years the tension to pick sides." As far back as the mid-18th century, escaped slaves and runaways from a smattering of tribes were coalescing in Florida, according to scholars of the subject, giving birth to the multicolored confederacy that came to be known as the Seminole. The name itself is taken from the Spanish cimarron, which evolved from meaning stray cattle to slaves who ran away. While some tribes held black slaves, the relations among the Seminole were more egalitarian, though the two groups tended to maintain their own communities within the larger coalition. The emerging tribe appeared so intermingled during the Indian wars that one of the U.S. commanders, Gen. Thomas Sidney Jesup, told Congress that he was fighting "a Negro war." "The Seminole was never an Indian tribe," said Joseph Opala, an anthropologist at James Madison University in Virginia, who has studied the Seminole since the 1970s. "It was a multiethnic tribe to start." It was only once the tribe was transported to Indian Territory - present-day Oklahoma - that cracks formed, Opala said. The slave-holding ways of other Indians planted there infiltrated the Seminole, many of whom sided with the South in the Civil War. In 1866, the tribe agreed to a treaty with the United States that adopted the blacks as members - a watershed event that resonates today as the two sides grapple over entitlement to the $56-million land award, about $14 million of which was for Seminole still living in Florida. The government and the tribe have held that the blacks were not officially Seminole members until the treaty and were not landowners at the time of the seizure of Florida in 1823. The Freedmen, however, insist that the treaty only put in writing a well-established status and that their ancestors were landowners even before the 1800s. Furthermore, they say, Congress intended the money to go to the entire tribe. "The tribe is turning its back on its history. The irony of all this is that the Seminole were the first people in North America where blacks were at the highest levels of their society," said Jon Velie, the Oklahoma attorney representing Davis as well as the Cherokee Freedmen. "You can go through your entire life in this country and not know this story." Perhaps the most injurious moment came at the turn of the century when the government began registering Indians as part of its effort to force assimilation and break up tribes. U.S agents established two sets of census rolls, one for Indians that listed their degree of native blood, and another for Freedmen. The rolls were used to allot land to black and blood Indians and still are employed by the federal government and most tribes as the baseline for ancestral heritage and entitlement. "If you had one drop of black blood in you, you were considered a Freedman, and if you had one drop of white blood in you, you were considered an Indian. Now isn't that so silly?" said Bud Crockett, a Freedman whose roots touch former slaves, indigenous Americans and whites. "You aren't going to find nothing pure in this country. "You ought to see some of my nieces and nephews; they are whiter than you." The fissure that opened here in Oklahoma festered over the years, through Southern segregation, the civil rights movement and into the 1990s, but by most accounts didn't erupt until the land award, which funds tribal services and programs. "It goes down to money," said Crockett, 62, a church deacon and gospel singer who recalls the days before the dispute when blacks and bloods attended Sunday services together. "Up to that point you really didn't hear of much bickering between the Freedmen and the bloods." And while the Freedmen are only a sliver of the Seminole population - about 2,500 out of approximately 14,000 - their plight has brought turmoil to the tribe, as if pulling at this one thread started an unraveling of Seminole identity. "They were always looked at as non-Indian. They were always a separate people," said Jerry Haney, a longtime chief who was ousted in a bitter power struggle with Chambers, the current chief, after the vote to change the membership rules in 2000. "I remember seeing black people speaking Indian, but now they go their own way. "It is kind of like the military service," he said. "You fight with each other and you have things in common, but once you get out you lose those things. There were common things between us. We were both fighting the white man. "Now the relationship is gone." In general, tribes are free to set their own membership rules and have imposed regulations that have disenfranchised rivals and relatives and barred new members in disputes across the country. But after the Freedmen were sidelined here,the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs stepped in and nullified the action. "To me, the crux of this is that the Seminole Nation, Indian people, we have the right to determine our own membership just like other Indian people," said Jackie Warledo, an assistant chief of one of the tribe's 14 bands. "This gets a lot of attention because people want to play it as racism, as not politically correct. "Our history is being rewritten here. We were two different races. We had two different cultures and we still do. Just because you go to a Polish festival, doesn't mean you are Polish." Almost a decade since Davis filed the first of several lawsuits against the U.S. government, alleging it had failed to uphold its obligations to protect the Freedmen and ensure the land settlement was distributed fairly, the impasse resists healing. A federal appeals court in September refused to revive the case from lower court dismissals, effectively leaving it up to the Seminole to hash it out, which for now, at least, doesn't seem likely. In the meantime, the government has opened up some benefits to the Freedmen that they had been denied, though they are still not eligible to receive the federal Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood cards that are entree to many entitlements, and they are barred from education, housing and health care benefits. Through it all, some Freedmen have kept the case at arm's length, reluctant to blame the tribe for the predicament, but just as certain of their birthright. "I am a Seminole," said Lena Hunt Shaw, a Freedmen who sits on the tribal council, "because we all came out of Florida together. "This litigation has been a blessing in disguise. All of us Seminole people have gotten an education about the Seminole Nation." Copyright c. 2003 Newsday, Inc. --------- "RE: Young Members at odds with Tribal Government" --------- Date: Thu, 25 Dec 2003 18:07:35 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="QUECHAN" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.indiancountry.com/?1072202968 Young members at odds with tribal government December 23, 2003 by: James May / Indian Country Today IMPERIAL, Calif. - A group of primarily youthful Quechan tribal members on the Fort Yuma Indian reservation are blaming their own tribal government for the destruction of a recently constructed ceremonial site. The site in question sits near a proposed open pit gold mine by the Canadian-based Galmis Corporation. Quechan opposition developed into a high-profile dispute over such open pit mines and also became a focal point for proposed sacred site legislation. Earlier in the year, former Gov. Gray Davis signed a law that put severe restrictions on such mining practices in the state at least partially as a result of the Quechan dispute. It is mainly because of this dispute and ongoing litigation that tribal officials claim that the ceremonial grounds were dismantled. At issue are the grounds for a Sun Dance ceremony that 16-year-old Richard "Tiky" Smith and a group of Quechan youth had constructed just outside the reservation boundary on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land. Smith claimed that he and several other tribal youths were inspired after attending a gathering of several tribal groups from across the nation in Yuma, Ariz. where a Sun Dance was performed. He described his own recent past as troubled and said that he wanted to turn things around by getting on the "red road." He began to actively participate in Indian activities such as last year's Spirit Run in which a few dozen tribal members ran 700 miles throughout California to raise awareness of a pending sacred site bill. In the ceremonial area the youths constructed an arbor for nearby trees and with help from other tribal members placed several portable toilets. He claimed that several tribal members, including elders came to the site to pray and held a November Sun Dance ceremony. During the ceremony a BLM agent approached the grounds and was denied entry by a contingent of tribal members. The agent agreed to let the ceremony continue but told the tribal members that they had to secure permission before doing it again. Doran Sanchez, who works in the Moreno Valley field office of the BLM confirmed the incident and said the group would have to apply for a permit before holding another ceremony and that permanent objects are not allowed. However, Smith and his aunt Pricilla Pretty Bird said the tribal government ordered the area taken down and a clean up crew that included at least two tribal members, showed up with trucks and other heavy equipment to clear out the site. Tribal elder George Bryant, 82, said the purpose of the grounds was to eventually hold a multi-tribal nation gathering similar to the one in Yuma to bring in tribes for a Sun Dance ceremony from across the country. "It's like destroying a church," said Bryant. It's a desecration." However Vernon Smith of the Quechan Culture Committee said that there is another side to this story. He claims that the Committee was approached by the youth about the Sun Dance ceremony and was denied permission to build the grounds on the reservation. The reason for this, said Vernon Smith, is that the Sun Dance is not a traditional practice of the Quechan. "We wouldn't want to go into the Dakotas and force our ceremonies on them," said Smith. "I don't even think that they are learning how do this ceremony in the right way from their elders. We've had seven deaths (on the reservation) since they did that ceremony." He suggested that the youths have their ceremonial grounds at an off reservation site. Richard Smith said that they wanted to set it near the site where the gold mine had been proposed as a healing spot. Sometime after the ceremony Vernon Smith said that a group of legislators and business community members went out to view the proposed gold mine site as part of the ongoing case and found the ceremonial grounds full of trash and overflowing portable toilets. He maintained that the BLM requires camp and other use sites to be cleaned up after a group leaves and further said that he had talked to some tribal elders from South Dakota who told him that Sun Dance sites are always dismantled after the ceremony is finished. Richard Smith claimed that the site was well maintained and said he saw the pictures of the trash-strewn site which he alleges was not in that condition after his group left the site. "It looks like someone tore open garbage bags and littered them," said Richard Smith Vernon Smith said that he is planning on having a meeting in the next week or so with the youth to try and come to a resolution but that the site will remain off limits. Copyright c. 2003 Indian Country Today. --------- "RE: Warring Camps has Ponca Complex Divided" --------- Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2003 08:13:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ARMED RAID" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nativetimes.com/action=displayarticle&article_id=3433 Warring camps has Ponca complex divided, armed raid thwarted Election results debated, possible mercenary detained WHITE EAGLE OK Sam Lewin and Louis Gray December 29, 2003 The Ponca Nation remains literally divided following a controversial election. The December 20 election was ostensibly designed to pick new officers to the business committee of the Ponca Tribal Council. Now a state of emergency has been declared. Made worse after news a possible armed raid to remove opponents of the tribal chairman from a tribal building was stopped by Otoe-Missouria police. Tim Harjo is one of those occupying the tribe's headquarters on White Eagle Drive. "We've been here since last Saturday," Harjo told the Native American Times. "I don't know when we'll leave." The dispute began in November, when candidates filed for the December election. Two of the candidates were accused of having felony charges against them, and per the tribe's constitution, were disqualified. However, one of the candidates, Thomas Roy, served up documentation that the charges against him stemmed from when he was a minor and were dismissed. The documentation was not accepted because officials with the tribe's election board claimed it was not properly notarized. Roy took the case to tribal court but Judge Terry Mason Moore ruled she had no jurisdiction. The election went ahead as planned, much to the chagrin of Roy, Harjo and others. "We had a record turnout. We had 409 people come out and vote in person and 97 absentee ballots," said Ponca tribal election chairperson Casey Camp-Horinek. She said the results showed that incumbents Bennett Arkeketa and Burgess C. Primeaux were voted out of office while the voters approved Dwight D. Buffalo Head, Joyce Arlene Buffalohead-Greenwood and Douglas G. Eagle. Monday morning, Camp-Horinek said the old council has locked the doors to the tribal office and is refusing to recognize the results of the election. She also thinks the motivation here is money: the tribe's health clinic is apparently set to receive several million dollars in the next week and she wonders if the outgoing business committee wants access to the funds. Dwain Camp told the Native American Times that Otoe-Missouria policemen stopped a planned armed take-over of the Tribal headquarters held by those opposed to Arkeketa. The unidentified man was armed with five loaded weapons which included two 22-caliber pistols, a shotgun and two semi- automatic rifles. Camp said the man was dressed in camouflage gear and was picked up at the Otoe-Missouria Trading post several miles south of White Eagle. The detained man was non-Indian and because of federal law was arrested. He said he was the first of 8 men hired to storm the headquarters by force. Published reports say he was hired by former tribal executive director Cheryl Gonseth and Curtis Johnson the former Ponca Tribal Police Chief. The detainee was handed over to Noble County Sheriff deputies and told to stay off of Otoe-Missouria land. It was not known at press time the identity of the detainee and who has possession of the loaded weapons. Otoe-Missouria tribal police officials reportedly saw the other hired guns drive past the trading post at 3:00 am when they stopped the detainee and drove on when they realized the police were aware of their presence. Native American Times is Copyright c. 2003 Oklahoma Indian Times, Inc. --------- "RE: Wisconsin Oneida airs ad about Claim" --------- Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 08:22:13 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WISCONSIN ONEIDA LAND CLAIM" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.syracuse.com/news/~/news-5/1071826942174690.xml Tribe airs ad about claim On radio, Wisconsin Oneidas urge residents to call governor to settle land claim. December 19, 2003 By Glenn Coin Staff writer The Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, stymied in court and opposed by its New York brethren, has taken the decades-old Oneida land claim to the public. In a one-minute radio spot that has been airing for several weeks on Utica and Syracuse stations, the tribe urges local residents to call Gov. George Pataki to help settle the 33-year-old land claim lawsuit. "Let him know that you support good-paying jobs and economic development, and encourage him to settle with the Oneida tribe of Wisconsin," says the ad, which features tribal Vice Chairwoman Kathy Hughes. "Together we can move forward for a better Upstate New York." Hughes and other Wisconsin Oneida officials announced in November they planned to build a "world-class entertainment facility" in Vernon. The tribe in November bought a 250-acre parcel on Route 31 in Vernon for $800, 000 under the name "Interstate Entertainment LLC." Officials said they were willing to open a casino in exchange for payment on the land claim. The Oneidas of Wisconsin, New York and Ontario filed the claim in 1970, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1985 that the tribes had a valid claim. The 250,000-acre land claim straddles Madison and Oneida counties. Bill Gollnick, general manager for the Wisconsin Oneidas, said he hopes the ad educates Central New Yorkers about his tribe. "By putting the message out on the radio, it becomes an interest point," Gollnick said. "If people hear it, they may become curious about it, and, hopefully, that's their impetus to learn more about us." The ad says the end of the land claim would help the tribes and local residents. "Closing the oldest and largest land claim in New York state removes the cloud of indecision about property rights," Hughes says in the ad. "Settling this land claim brings jobs and economic development to the area with a world-class entertainment facility." Hughes also says in the ad that the Oneidas would make payments to local and state governments, just as the tribe does in Wisconsin. The tribe runs a casino near Green Bay and pays millions to local governments. The Oneidas of New York, who turned a profit last year of $70 million at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino, give money to all school districts where the tribe owns land. They make payments only to those local governments that agree not to try to tax nation land. The New York and Wisconsin Oneidas have been at odds for years over the land claim. New York Oneida spokesman Mark Emery called the ad campaign "another part of (the Wisconsin Oneidas') desperate campaign to sell their birthright for a casino in the Catskills." The state has approved construction of three casinos in the Catskills. Both the New York and Wisconsin Oneida tribes, along with at least two others, have said they want to build in the Catskills. Gollnick said the ads are one step toward ending the acrimonious land claim debate. "We think that as more people understand the message, there is a greater chance of bringing this to closure in a relatively short amount of time," he said. Copyright c. 2003 The Post-Standard. Used with permission. --------- "RE: Families claim Tribe is misleading Federal Court" --------- Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2003 08:30:17 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ONEIDA EVICTIONS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.syracuse.com/~/news-5/1072300144133821.xml Families claim tribe is misleading federal court By WILLIAM KATES The Associated Press 12/24/2003, 4:00 p.m. ET SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - The Oneida Indian Nation is "grossly misrepresenting" the dispute between the tribe and four families facing eviction from their reservation homes, the families' attorney charges in documents filed with a federal appeals court. The nation's characterization of the dispute shows "at best a complete ignorance" of the evidence or "at worst, an intentional effort by (nation) to mislead and deceive the court," attorney Donald Daines wrote the 2nd U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The dispute is not about safety or economic consequences but about "the (nation's) exercise and abuse of power ... to legislatively enact laws targeting (the families) for punitive treatment not shared or suffered by others of the nation," Daines said. The New York City-based appeals court is tentatively scheduled to hear oral arguments in the case on Jan. 20. The families are seeking a court order to block the evictions while they challenge the nation's housing program. The nation has agreed to delay the evictions while their appeal is pending in federal court. Nation administrators condemned the four trailer homes on the Oneidas' 32-acre reservation in July as unsafe and ordered them demolished as part of a decade-old tribal housing improvement program. A tribal judge upheld the evictions in August but put the demolitions on hold, hoping the parties could resolve the dispute. The families asked U.S. District Judge Norman Mordue to intervene but he declined saying the federal court did not have jurisdiction. The appeals court will review Mordue's decision. The families targeted for eviction include Maisie Shenandoah, the 72- year-old aunt of Ray Halbritter, the Oneidas' federally recognized leader, two of Shenandoah's daughters, Diane and Vickie, and their eight children. The families and their supporters maintain the evictions are a weapon Halbritter uses to crush political dissent. Those facing eviction are traditionalists who do not recognize Halbritter as the tribe's leader and accuse him of acting like a dictator. As a result of past defiance, Maisie Shenandoah, a clan mother, and her daughters were among three dozen tribal members who in 1995 formally "lost their voices" in nation affairs. That means they are not eligible for nation programs and services. In a 33-page motion filed Monday, Daines wrote that the nation ordinances were designed to "instantaneously condemn" the targeted trailers while leaving out identical homes in another section of the reservation. By its design and intent, the Oneida housing program will leave the families homeless, a violation of the Indian Civil Rights Act, Daines wrote. Nation spokesman Mark Emery on Wednesday repeated the nation's denial that the pending evictions are politically motivated. "These structures are unsound and unsafe. They are deathtraps for everybody, especially children," he said. Copyright c. 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 2003 Syracuse Post-Standard. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Sand Creek Massacre Site given to Tribes" --------- Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2003 08:13:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SAND CREEK" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://rockymountainnews.com/~/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_2537638,00.html Massacre site given to tribes Prayer, ceremony mark the transfer of Sand Creek deed By Deborah Frazier, Rocky Mountain News December 29, 2003 Cheyenne and Arapaho tribal leaders prayed when a Colorado casino owner handed over the deed to the Sand Creek Massacre site in southeastern Colorado. The ceremony, which took place at the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribal Headquarters in Concha, Okla., earlier this month, included the story of the slaughter: On Nov. 29, 1864, Col. John Chivington ordered 700 soldiers to attack a sleeping village of about 500 Cheyenne and Arapaho, mostly elderly people, women and children. Laird Cometsevah, president of the Southern Cheyenne Sand Creek Descendants, said that a white flag of surrender and a U.S. flag given to tribal leaders by Abraham Lincoln were flying over the camp that day. The soldiers attacked using howitzers, calvary and rifles to kill about 150 people. They ripped fetuses from the bellies of their mothers and killed small children, he said. Cometsevah said some soldiers mutilated bodies. They cut off women's breasts and genitals and men's genitals and fingers. They later paraded their "trophies" through Denver streets. "I gave a little talk about how my people had nearly been wiped out in Germany and Poland by the Nazis and that I understood the pain," said James Druck, who bought the 1,465-acre site for $1.5 million. He owns the Gold Rush Casino in Cripple Creek. Druck's family is Jewish, and his father was a soldier who helped liberate a concentration camp during World War II. Druck, who also runs a casino in Oklahoma for the tribes, bought the property after hearing that the owner of the Sand Creek site had turned down a fair-market offer of $300,000. In 2000, Congress authorized creation of the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site, which spans 12,480 acres around the land where the massacre occurred. The National Park Service has purchased about 1,000 of those acres. Druck gave his deed to the tribes, who may manage the site themselves or work with the park service. The site is currently closed to the public. Tribal leaders passed bunches of sage over the deed, and many of the 300 Cheyenne and Arapaho at the ceremony touched it, Druck said. "Everyone brought their children," Druck said. "Eugene Black Bear spoke about how important it was because many of the children did not know about Sand Creek." Black Bear is a liaison between the Arapaho and Cheyenne who has organized several "Spirit Runs" from Oklahoma to Denver for youngsters. "He talked about healing and how understanding all of it would help heal the wounds of the past," Druck said. frazierd@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-5308 Copyright c. 2003 Rocky Mountain News, The E.W. Scripps Co. --------- "RE: Santee Sioux Tribe buys Lakota Journal" --------- Date: Thu, 25 Dec 2003 18:07:35 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LAKOTA JOURNAL SOLD" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.argusleader.com/news/Thursdayarticle4.shtml Santee Sioux Tribe buys Lakota Journal From Staff Reports December 25, 2003 Lakota Media also publishes Pueblo Journal The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe is expanding into the newspaper business, taking over the Lakota Journal that was founded by Publisher Tim Giago in 2000. Tribal President Leonard Eller and Giago announced the sale of Lakota Media Inc. on Tuesday. The company owns the Lakota Journal and the Pueblo Journal, a monthly publication based in Albuquerque, N.M. The purchase price won't be disclosed. Sam Allen, director of the tribe's tax/business committee, said the purchase is part of the tribe's ongoing effort to diversify economic development into areas that benefit the community. "This will help expand the voice of Native Americans and provide solid business and job opportunities for tribal members," Allen said. Giago will stay on as chairman of the new board that is being organized to operate the printing plant and newspaper. He said he will continue serving as publisher to help the newspaper through the transition and training period and to assist in the expansion of the printing facility and newspaper. Giago has been involved in journalism for nearly 30 years. In 1981, he founded The Lakota Times, which he renamed Indian Country Today when it became a national publication. "When I sold Indian Country Today, there were certain promises made by the Oneida Nation of New York about keeping a strong presence in South Dakota, but this they failed to do," Giago said. "I started the Lakota Journal because so many of the Dakota and Lakota people wanted to have their newspaper back. They missed the news coverage we gave them for more than 18 years." Giago said he has known Allen and other members of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe for many years and has been impressed with the leadership. "The tribe is progressive and yet very sensitive to their traditional and cultural values," Giago said. Bill Schumacher, a member of the tax/business committee, said the tribe's governing body demonstrated a selfless spirit of community when it approved the purchase of Lakota Media. Allen said the new venture will focus on government printing contracts and printing for other tribal governments while expanding the newspapers' subscribers and advertisers. Giago said he looks forward to working with tribal leaders and helping them build "one of the finest printing facilities in the state ... and the biggest and the best Indian newspaper chain in America." The Lakota Journal has 25 to 30 employees. The newspaper is printed in Rapid City, but the tribe plans to construct a new building across from its casino in Flandreau and print it there. Giago is founder and first president of the Native American Journalists Association. His editorial calling for a Native American Day was read to state legislators in 1989 and helped lead to the Legislature adopting that state holiday in place of Columbus Day. Copyright c. 2003 Argus Leader. --------- "RE: YELLOW BIRD: Solstice Shortest, most Sacred Day" --------- Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2003 14:32:07 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DOREEN YELLOW BIRD: SOLSTICE" http://www.grandforks.com/~/dorreen_yellow_bird/7553740.htm Solstice marks the shortest, most sacred day December 23, 2003 It's barely 5 a.m. Monday morning. I stand two stories above the city and look out my bedroom window across the frosted rooftops. The stars are bright and clear. I don't use an alarm clock. Dawn wakes me every morning. So, when I return to bed, I doze restlessly waiting for morning light. By 8 a.m., the morning sun still is only a soft orange and pink against a fading night sky. This is the longest night - the solstice. It's the time when the sun seems to stop shortly before and after the solstice, hence the Latin word solstitium, meaning sun stoppage. Each day will grow by minutes from now until the summer solstice in June. The vernal (spring) and autumal (fall) equinox mark the "in between" times. The solstice is a time when Mother Earth turns slightly on her axis. In astrological terms, there are two times each year when the sun is at its greatest distance from the celestial equator, the great circle that is on the same plane as the Earth's equator. The winter solstice is Dec. 21-22, when the sun shines directly over the Tropic of Capricorn. The summer solstice is when the sun is over the Tropic of Cancer. It is the new year - a time for new beginnings. All those things that didn't go right last year can be reassessed and we can start fresh. The sun has made the trip to the farthermost edge of the world, has rested and is returning. Another time span is laid out before us. Through archeological finds and digs, ancient stories about the solstice and equinox emerge. One of those very old and ancient places that mark the solstice is the well-known Stonehenge in southern England. It is said to be a remnant of an ancient society of sun watchers. A friend who traveled to Stonehenge last year said buildings constructed today cater to the needs of men. Stonehenge was constructed in concert with nature - to be a part of the natural world. Stonehenge, according to the many people who study it, is many things: from memorials to soldiers to an astronomical calendar marking lunar and solar alignments. It is a mystery that defies understanding, but it is clear this 5,000-year-old structure has a strong tie to the cycles of nature and the summer and winter solstice. When you walk the grounds of Stonehenge, my friend said, you won't find prairie grasses. No, it is lush, deep green grass. There is something about the place that makes visitors whisper or stand silently in awe. There is something about the place that evokes an inner voice that talks of ancient times. There are spirits that walk among the megalithic bus- size sarsen stones, it is said. This, too, is a sacred day for many Native American people. It has been that way for as long as Native people can remember. In this area and among many tribal nations on the Plains, it is a time for praying with the Sacred Pipe. It is a time for ceremonies of renewal and giving thanks for the passed year. It is a time to look forward to a better year and time. For those who study the mysteries such as Stonehenge, or the astronomers who watch the stars, it is their time to have center stage. For those who follow the old ways and see the solstice as a time to pray, consider what is passed and look forward to what is to come. It is time to take a step into a new year and walk with the sun as it moves closer and closer to our world and renews us. --- 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: Tree Rings verify Hohokam in Tucson" --------- Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2003 16:18:50 -0700 From: "Chris Milda (_Akimel O`odham_)" Subj: Tree rings verify Hohokam in Tucson: The community flourished in the 1300s near the intersection of Sabino Canyon and Tanque Verde Mailing List: News and Information Distribution - - - - - - -- - - - - - - http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/index.php?page=local&story_id=122303c1 _hohokam&PHPSESSID=545dab3751a02d6f99aabf95ce614207 Tree rings verify Hohokam in Tucson The community flourished in the 1300s near the intersection of Sabino Canyon and Tanque Verde. PAUL L. ALLEN pallen@tucsoncitizen.com Tuesday, December 23, 2003 University of Arizona and Arizona State Museum researchers have determined that a Hohokam community flourished seven miles from today's downtown Tucson from the winter of 1371 through at least 1375 and for some time thereafter. The team of scientists includes David J. Street, a research specialist with the UA Tree-Ring Laboratory; Jeffrey S. Dean, a dendrochronology professor; and archaeologists Paul and Suzanne Fish of the Arizona State Museum. The scientists dated the site by studying tree rings on wood retrieved from the site more than 60 years ago. The site, known as University Indian Ruin, is near the intersection of Sabino Canyon and Tanque Verde roads. The first major excavation on the 656-by-427-foot site was accomplished in 1940 by Julian Hayden as a Civilian Conservation Corps project with Emil Haury, a UA archaeologist and Arizona State Museum director. They determined that the area included three separate blocks of rooms and a ceremonial platform mound. A few dozen pieces of wood, much of it charred, were retrieved from the site, but the science of tree-ring dating was not sufficiently honed at that time to allow precise dating. The site had been examined a decade or more before the Hayden-Haury dig by Ben Wetherill, Fish said. Hayden's notes of the 1940 dig indicated Wetherill and an associate had found a "reconstructible" majolica vessel at the site, among other, older artifacts. Majolica is a distinctively colored, glazed European pottery. Fish believes the Hohokam community had been abandoned for decades by the time Spaniards arrived, and that the European vessel was broken and discarded there when later Spanish explorers examined remnants of the village. None of the Wetherill-Cummings artifacts are in the museum's collection, Fish said. "I believe it (the majolica vessel) existed, and so did Hayden, who reported it in his monograph. But Emil didn't," he said. The Hohokam emerged as an identifiable cultural entity by about 300 and evolved through the next several centuries until the culture, if not its individuals, "disappeared" by about 1450 - shortly before arrival of Spanish explorers. The current research team worked with 47 tree-ring samples collected and cataloged six decades ago and was able to determine the ages of six charcoal pieces. "These dates provide the first absolute and independent dating controls that are precise enough to provide a firm anchor in time for this site," Street said. Three other known Hohokam sites in the Tucson Basin - Gibbon Springs and Whiptail Ruin, near University Indian Ruin, and the Marana Mound - are believed to have been abandoned about 125 years earlier. "The new tree-ring dates are exciting," said Paul Fish. "The very late tree-ring dates suggest that University Indian Ruin occupation may extend into the 15th century. One of our research objectives is to learn more about the final phase of the Hohokam and to learn more precisely when it ends." The Hohokam culture, which depended on an extensive system of irrigated farmland, is believed to have collapsed as a result of prolonged drought. Those who remained in this area are believed to have become or merged with ancestors of today's O'odham tribal groups. Many archaeologists believe the Hohokam culture ceased to exist at least a century before the Europeans arrived in the Southwest, said Suzanne Fish, while others believe remnants of it still existed when the Spanish arrived. Further research at the University Indian Ruin site may shed light on that aspect of local history, she said. The Fishes plan to excavate the site in 2005 during a UA anthropology department archaeological field school. --------- "RE: Condors flying high again" --------- Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2003 08:30:17 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CALIFORNIA CONDORS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/~/2003/12/25/SPG7A3UFMK1.DTL Condors flying high again Near-extinct bird making comeback Paul McHugh, Chronicle Outdoors Writer Thursday, December 25, 2003 Hollister (San Benito County) - Living relics from the Pleistocene epoch spread their prehistoric shadows over beige bluffs of Pinnacles National Monument last weekend. California condors, once widespread across North America amid the "caveman" era, 11,000 years ago, now are flapping back from the brink of extinction. The release of six juvenile condors at Pinnacles is one more step in a 30- year rescue march, guided by wildlife specialists. At times, the march has wavered and stumbled. However, overall, this grand effort to resurrect an endangered species has steadily gained in expertise. Increasingly, it shows positive results. The condor restoration at Pinnacles - the newest, the first in a national park, and the release nearest the Bay Area - soon should provide our best chance to glimpse these big birds sailing on high. On Friday, more than 300 spectators gathered in a grassy swale located a mile from the release site. They focused binoculars and spotting scopes on a ridgeline shed with a large, netted "flight pen" attached at one end. Inside, young condors (about 18 months old) could be seen gliding up to the long net that barred them from open skies of one of their ancestral homes. They clutched this netting with their feet, then spread their huge wings, cruciform, a nearly 10-foot span of black feathers. An older bird's wings were emblazoned with distinctive white patches on the underside. These giant vultures were revered by Native American tribes as potent, heraldic Thunderbirds. The Chumash of Southern California regarded them as the transporters of souls to the afterlife. With their long, featherless necks and colorful, snakelike heads, they even could have served as a model for Quetzalcoatl, the magical plumed serpent of the ancient Aztecs and Toltecs. In modern times, the condors, Gymnogyps californianus, vividly represent the level of American commitment to reversing environmental damage, and ensuring survival of endangered species. In 1982, just 22 California condors were left on earth. These faced threats that included death by poisoning, electrocution on power lines and gunshots from idiots - as well as random predation by golden eagles and coyotes. Within five years, all of the last condors in the wild had been live- trapped and placed in Southern California zoos, to participate in an emergency captive-breeding program. Some saw this massive effort as completely misguided. "We can't build a real condor, capable and competent to handle the wild, behind bars," fumed legendary environmentalist David Brower. Optimists in the Condor Recovery Project persevered. Today, there are 133 birds involved in the breeding program, while 84 released individuals soar in the wild, at sites ranging from the Grand Canyon in Arizona, to Baja California and BigSur. The six young males at Pinnacles had been hatched at the San Diego Zoo, and shipped to this remote release pen to spend three months chewing carrion, gaining weight and learning condor ways from Hoi, an older "mentor" bird. On Friday, the day scheduled for the release of four of these birds, prominent people involved in the program approached an outdoor podium to expound on the significance of the day. "Caring about the environment is not just about preserving rocks, but habitat opportunities for critters and wildlife," said congressman Sam Farr, D- Carmel. In 2002, Farr successfully introduced federal legislation adding 56, 880 acres of declared wilderness to the region. "This is a win for nature and a win for our society. It will create eco- tourism in San Benito County," Farr declared. "Now, each of you can go out and be an ambassador in this crowded state, explaining the need to develop good land-use policy." National Park Service rangers and U.S. Fish and Wildlife personnel gave a running commentary on how near the condors were to passing through an open release gate. But after an hour-and-a-half of waiting, it was clear these adolescent birds had acquired enough savvy to prefer the shelter of their pen to sallying forth into a brisk and chilly wind, under a gloomy sky that threatened heavy rain. "We're doing what we call a soft release," said Kelly Sorensen, director of the Ventana Wilderness Society. The society has participated in repatriating endangered species to the region since 1977 - first peregrine and prairie falcons, then bald eagles and now condors. The condors are guided into new activity, rather than forced to do anything, Sorensen said. "We just let them become acclimatized to their surroundings. They gradually become more and more wild. In a Baja release, it took the birds two days to leave their pen." These birds and their mentor, heads hunched into black-clad shoulders, stayed stubbornly aligned on a roosting pole in their pen, like a row of cartoon undertakers. "Well, I guess no condors will be harmed in the making of this anti- climax," groused one spectator. But as the people dispersed back to their cars, most seemed to take the slight drama of this slow-motion release in good spirits. And in fact, the next day, two condors edged out from their pen, took to the skies, and found wilderness perches for the night. The others were expected to gradually sidle toward freedom - except for Hoi, who would stay to welcome six more young inductees at Pinnacles in February. This bunch will include females. Years will pass before the group attains sexual maturity. Then the males will perch and hang out their wings in mating displays, try to attract a life partner, and - hopefully - proceed to breed successfully in the wild. "This project has had a total cost of about $40 million since 1985," said Bruce Palmer, coordinator of the Condor Recovery Program for the Fish and Wildlife Service. He said about $22 million were federal funds, some of which were spent to acquire habitat; the rest came from private donations, including grants from Chevron-Texaco, the Packard Foundation, the Ventana Wilderness Society and other entities. "When people question me about the expense, I like to point out that's just about the career investment in one NFL football star," Palmer said. "The real question is, what do we truly value as a society? "The land is here forever. If you invest in ecosystem values, then those can stick around, too," Palmer said. "And you know, if we didn't let species get so imperiled in the first place, we could sure save a lot of money." E-mail Paul McHugh at pmchugh@sfchronicle.com. Copyright c. 2003 San Francisco Chronicle. --------- "RE: Tribes must be treated as Sovereign States" --------- Date: Sun, 28 Dec 2003 15:08:46 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="COMMERCE CLAUSE" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/122803/opi_kadashan.shtml Commerce clause means tribes must be treated as sovereign states By Kadashan December 28, 2003 I have always wondered about that "commerce clause" in the U.S. Constitution. It finally became clear to me when tribes in Alaska were troubled about Sen. Ted Stevens' rider in next year's appropriations bill. This measure is designed to regionalize funding to tribes in Alaska. His idea is to seep the funds through regional corporations with the idea the money would trickle to communities. Many tribal leaders assume that this is his way of extinguishing tribes; With this effort, tribal sovereignty and self governance will be threatened. He also contends that there are too many tribes in Alaska and that he cannot keep them all solvent by funding them on an individual basis. The Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) has been dealing with this regionalization issue for some time now; however tribal government leaders don't think AFN has the authority to do this on their behalf and that the Alaska Intertribal Council (AITC), since it was organized for that purpose, is the one organization that should position itself to better advocate on behalf of tribes. In fact, many tribal leaders were despondent when a member of the AFN staff came to the AITC Convention and gave an update of their dealings with the senator on the matter. Last month the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) discussed this at length and adopted a resolution supporting Alaska's opposition to Stevens' riders. Their rationale was that if it happens in Alaska it could happen to tribes in the Lower 48. The BIA funnels funds to tribes, but this was not an issue during their Providers Conference in early part of December. The week of Dec. 8-10 the AITC, the organization that represents tribal governments, had its convention and this was a copious issue as tribal leaders deliberated the problem. David Case, an attorney and expert on Indian law, gave a presentation on Monday, the first day of the convention. He emphasized that tribes in Alaska have always been in existence - that the land claims did not extinguish tribes. So we can assume, also, that tribes will always exist. Mr. Case also articulated the fact that Indian tribes were mentioned only once in the U.S. Constitution. The "commerce clause," indeed, did put tribes in the same category as nations and states. In other words, the federal government must treat tribes as sovereign entities. Of course, many feel this special relationship was never practiced other than the fact that "they sold us liquor, got us drunk and then took our land" as one tribal person stated. When Ada Deer, former assistant secretary of the Department of Interior during President Clinton's administration, published in the Federal Register a list of federally recognized tribes this strengthened the relationship significantly. Now the feds would have to actually work with tribes on a government to government relationship. This is an important tool tribes can use to erase any notion that the senator, or Congress for that matter, may instigate to regionalize or do away with tribal governments in Alaska. It was also revealed during the AITC convention that tribes are able to provide services to their tribal members much better and cheaper than if funds were to trickle from a regional corporation. Another tribal leader said that if President Bush wants to privatize many of its government programs, the way to do it with tribes is keep things under tribal control. Tribes have experienced regionalization of funds from the old way the BIA functioned. In the early 1990s the Self Governance Demonstration Project corrected that. Since it became permanent in 1994 the BIA has been turning more of its programs, functions, services and activities to tribes. Yes, I think the "commerce clause" and the recognized tribal government list in the Federal Register go hand in hand. If Senator Stevens wants to take away that special relationship tribes benefit from the federal government, he is going to have to repeal, by amendment, Article 1, Section 8, paragraph 3 of the U.S. Constitution. A senator, all by his lonesome, cannot do that. To amend the U.S. Constitution the proposal will have to be passed by both houses and then ratified by two thirds of the states. A humongous task, indeed. * Kadashan is the Tlingit name of Bertrand J. Adams Sr., who lives in Yakutat. Copyright c. 1997-2003 Juneau Empire, Morris Digital Works & Morris Communications Corporation. --------- "RE: Acteal Survivors still looking for Justice" --------- Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2003 10:25:04 -0600 (CST) From: owner-chiapas95-english@eco.utexas.edu Subj: Acteal survivors still looking for justice 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" Survivors of Mexico's Acteal massacre still looking for justice TUXTLA GUTIERREZ, Mexico, Dec 22, 2003 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- Survivors of a massacre on Zapatista sympathizers in southern Mexico six years ago said Monday that authorities have failed to pursue those believed to have organized and carried out the attack. "We have spent 2,190 days waiting for justice, but we still haven't received a complete response," said Roberto Perez Santis, spokesman for the survivors of the Acteal massacre on Dec. 22, 1997. Paramilitaries with close ties to government figures attacked a prayer meeting of Roman Catholic activists who sympathized with many Zapatista goals but not their methods. Over several hours, the assailants killed 45 people, including children as young as 2 months old, in the tiny settlement of Acteal in southern Chiapas state. Perez said police still have not carried out arrest warrants against those believed to be responsible, and he criticized authorities for refusing to question then-governor of the state, Julio Cesar Ruiz, and then-Mexican Interior Secretary Emilio Chuayffet, current congressional leader for the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI. "The current leaders don't want to recognize their responsibility," Perez said during a ceremony commemorating the massacre's sixth anniversary. He said community members live in fear because the attackers are still at large. -- To subscribe from 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: Other means to address Self-Government" --------- Date: Sun, 28 Dec 2003 15:08:46 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SELF-GOVERNMENT" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://canadaeast.com/article?AID=/20031226/CPN/13464020 Some B.C. native bands look to other means to address self-government issues GREG JOYCE December 28, 2003 VANCOUVER (CP) - The contentious issue of aboriginal self-government has been resolved for some First Nations by putting those provisions in a side agreement that would not be constitutionally entrenched, says B.C. Attorney General Geoff Plant. After 10 years of negotiations through the B.C. Treaty Commission process, not a single treaty has been signed in British Columbia. One of the biggest obstacles has been the aboriginals' demand that the federal and B.C. governments recognize most First Nations' desire for extensive self-government provisions in any treaty. But critics have argued entrenching self-government in treaties would create a third order of government, while the Constitution currently recognizes only two - the federal and provincial or territorial governments. It was a major point of controversy in the 1998 Nisga'a Agreement that created a self-governing aboriginal territory in northern British Columbia, a deal struck outside the broader treaty process. Recently, negotiators have reached treaty agreements-in-principle with five First Nations - a major advancement - that has dealt with the issue of self-governance in a unique fashion. "We have a framework to resolve that at each of the five (agreement-in- principle) tables and the framework is that we'd put most of the self- government stuff in a separate agreement and that agreement would not be constitutionally entrenched," Plant said in a recent interview with The Canadian Press. The attorney general said some First Nations have decided they want a treaty sooner than later to "create economic development opportunities and they are perhaps less interested in fighting ideological battles." Dozens of First Nations are currently involved in treaty talks with federal and B.C. negotiators. But Plant said many of those talks are far from achieving any success "because the communities themselves don't have a clear vision of what they want to achieve in practical terms." Since self-government is not being negotiated as a constitutional matter, "we are asking that First Nations agree not to assert self-government rights and we are putting in place a framework to regulate that non- assertion that provides us with certainty." The governments are not asking for extinguishment of self-government rights, he said, only for non-assertion of those rights. Grand Chief Ed John, an executive with the First Nations Summit, acknowledged side agreements are taking place. "That's what they've done and I know it causes a lot of concerns with a lot of First Nations," said John. The summit represents those bands that are involved in the treaty process. "The one thing that (the summit) has always worked on is the premise that every nation is best positioned to determine for itself what is in its best interest," he said. Meantime, many bands have been busy covering themselves in case a statute of limitations kicks in regarding the historic Delgamuukw decision in 1997, in which the Supreme Court of Canada reaffirmed and strengthened the concept of aboriginal rights. Many First Nations filed writs of summons recently to protect their right to litigate over aboriginal rights if necessary. Under the province's statute-of-limitations legislation, Plant said there are different limitation periods for different land claims and six years is often one of those periods. "A number of First Nations have filed writs of summons to protect their right to litigate if they need to litigate," said Plant. "They represent an abundance of caution against losing a claim." The president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, Stewart Phillip, said the writs were necessary because the B.C. and federal governments want to extinguish aboriginal rights and title. The union represents bands in the province who are not involved in the formal treaty process because they believe the senior levels of government want treaties "based on an extinguishment of 95 per cent of a nation's traditional territory." Copyright c. 2003 Brunswick News Inc. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Talk of using Native Place Names in B.C." --------- Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 08:22:13 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BC/FIRST NATIONS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D7VJ1LJG0.html B.C. government, First Nations talk of using native place names in province December 21, 2003 Associated Press The British Columbia government wants to reintroduce native place names to parts of the province as a sign of an ongoing process of recognition and reconciliation with First Nations. The names wouldn't replace the existing ones, but would "stand beside them as a co-naming initiative," Attorney General Geoff Plant. Members of the First Nations Summit and the B.C. government signed a protocol agreement in September to try to keep the government and First Nations discussing issues to improve natives' lives as the two sides negotiate treaties. The summit has presented the government with a policy paper which states the key issue remains a demand that the government recognize aboriginal rights and title. But as part of a process to get there - and to show good faith on the way - the two sides also agreed to talk about something immediately tangible: double place names. "I think there is room for us to make some progress by starting to remember that there was a presence on this landscape long before we were here," said Plant, the minister responsible for treaty negotiations. The First Nations Summit was set up as part of the B.C. Treaty Commission process. It represents dozens of bands involved in treaty negotiations in a province where few treaties were ever signed. As an example, Plant said while in Powell River earlier this year he noticed a historical sign at a local pulp mill made no mention of the local Indian tribes, including Sliammon First Nation. "There is no mention on that sign, anywhere, of the fact that there were aboriginal people there for hundreds or thousands of years before a pulp mill was ever put there. "I think it's past time that we started doing some things to recognize, to do more to recognize," Plant said. Ed John, an executive member of the First Nations Summit, agrees native names should be returned because they are "tied into our beliefs and those names are still there. "So an approach towards recognizing First Nations placenames is a commitment they've (the government) put forward," he said. Although the historic Nisga'a Nation treaty in northwestern B.C. was signed outside the treaty commission process, the federal and B.C. and Nisga'a agreed to many place name changes to reflect Nisga'a history. The four communities along the Nass River, where most Nisga'a reside were called Kincolith, Greenville, Canyon City and New Aiyansh. Those names have been changed to Gingolx, Laxgalts'ap, Gitwinksihlkw and Wii Lax Kap. The Nass River is known in the Nisga'a territory as K'alii Aksim Lisims. Copyright c. 2003 KGW Northwest News Channel 8. --------- "RE: B.C. ordered to pay Natives' Court Costs" --------- Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 08:22:13 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TIMBER COURT BATTLES" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://cbc.ca/stories/2003/12/18/logging_costs031218 B.C. ordered to pay natives' court costs Thu, 18 Dec 2003 15:21:30 OTTAWA - The British Columbia government must pay at least part of the legal costs of aboriginal leaders who have been ordered to stop cutting Crown timber in the province, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled. The Dec. 12 ruling upholds an earlier decision by B.C.'s top court that Chief Dan Wilson of the Okanagan Indian Band and four other native leaders shouldn't be forced to abandon a land-rights case connected with the stop- work order just because they have no money to take the fight further. Several governments and native bands were granted intervenor status in the case because of the precedent it was expected to set. They include: + The Attorney General of Canada. + The Attorneys General of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, British Columbia and Alberta. + The Songhees Indian Band, the T'Sou-ke First Nation, the Nanoose First Nation, the Beecher Bay Indian Band, and a representative of the Xeni Gwet'in First Nations and the Tsilhqot'in Nation. In 1999, four bands in British Columbia began logging on Crown land without permits. The provincial forestry department issued stop-work orders, but the loggers claimed they had aboriginal title to the land and thus the right to log there. However, they did not have the financial resources to bring the argument to trial. So they asked the court to order the B.C. government to pay their legal costs. The British Columbia Supreme Court said no, but the province's Court of Appeal overturned that decision. It said "reasonable" costs should be paid - not as a matter of constitutional right, but because the court system has the discretion to order that court costs be awarded in specific, important cases. But the court also specified that costs need to be approved by the judge to encourage the parties "to minimize unnecessary steps in the dispute and to resolve as many issues as possible by negotiation." The Court of Appeal decision was taken to Canada's top court, which ruled 6-3 to confirm the B.C. court's decision. Justices Frank Iacobucci, John C. Major and Michel Bastarache dissented. The Supreme Court of Canada used the case to set out guidelines for situations where interim court costs should be awarded in the interest of letting a potentially ground-breaking case of great public interest continue. Concerns about access to justice and the desirability of mitigating severe inequality between litigants feature prominently in the rare cases where such costs are awarded," the ruling said. Writing of the British Columbia case in particular, the court added: "The issues sought to be raised at trial are of profound importance to the people of B.C., both aboriginal and non-aboriginal, and their determination would be a major step towards settling the many unresolved problems in the Crown-aboriginal relationship in that province. "In short, the circumstances of this case are indeed special, even extreme." Written by CBC News Online staff Copyright c. 2004 CBC. --------- "RE: IHS requests lawsuit dismissal" --------- Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2003 14:32:07 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="IHS DISCLOSURES" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.minotdailynews.com/~12/26/2003-1&-Max=1&-Find IHS requests lawsuit dismissal By: Jill Schramm Editorial Staff Writer December 26, 2003 BELCOURT - Indian Health Services has asked a district court to dismiss a lawsuit that alleges agency whistleblowers disclosed confidential medical records when they made claims of narcotic trafficking and mismanagement. IHS employees Dale Buckles, Shelly Harris and Cheryl LaVallie filed the lawsuit against IHS in November 2002 in U.S. District Court in Bismarck. LaVallie later withdrew her suit. The plaintiffs have until Jan. 5 to respond to IHS's request for dismissal. Buckles, health systems specialist at Quentin Burdick Memorial Health Care Facility in Belcourt, and Harris, nurse educator at the facility, are asking for unspecified damages for what they say were false accusations that they improperly used narcotics. They allege that information about prescription refills in their medical records was disclosed to other IHS employees and to the Turtle Mountain Tribal Council. The lawsuit stems from a whistleblower case in which three business office employees reported concerns to Georgia Artz, director of public nursing, in April 2000. One concern was that patient care paper work was not being completed as required, interfering with billing. Another concern was that people were obtaining narcotic refills, particularly Tylox, without having a documented physician visit. IHS is asking for dismissal on the grounds that its employees followed proper procedure in bringing their concerns forward and that the "need to know" requirement for releasing medical information was satisfied. The court earlier dismissed the lawsuit against Artz and business office employees, Lisa Patnaude Belgarde, Sonia Zerr and Emily Davis, because only government agencies can be sued under the Privacy Act. The court also dismissed a request for a jury trial. The three business office employees approached Artz after discussion with their supervisors failed to resolve their concerns, according to court records. Artz served on the risk management committee and hospital governing board. The names of Buckles, Harris and LaVallie, who all served in management, came up as having a conflict of interest in any potential investigation. Court records show that in August 2000, a team from the Aberdeen (S.D.) Area Office came to Belcourt to conduct a personnel review. Artz, at that time, passed along the concerns of the business office employees. Later, facility director Ray Grandbois sought the names of managers involved in the complaint. Artz revealed the names in a sealed envelope addressed to Grandbois. Buckles received the envelope in Grandbois' absence, IHS stated in court documents. Grandbois also is alleged to have shown the letter to a member of the tribal council. Buckles, Harris and LaVallie filed a Privacy Act complaint. An official from the Aberdeen office conducted a preliminary investigation. IHS did not finalize nor approve the report, which reached a different conclusion than an investigation by the Office of Inspector General. "The Privacy Act investigation conducted by IHS against the four whistleblowers contained conclusions that were not supported by facts," the Inspector General stated. "The whistleblowers followed proper protocol in reporting their concerns through the proper chain of command." In asking for dismissal of the lawsuit, IHS stated that about 20 depositions were taken in the case, with no evidence that plaintiffs' medical records had been disclosed. Also being sued under the Freedom of Information Act for not releasing the results of its Privacy Act investigation, IHS cites an exemption in the act for inter-agency or intra-agency correspondence. IHS stated release of the report could harm an Inspector General's investigation into the whistleblowers' charges. IHS added that the plaintiffs did receive an unauthorized copy of the report, making the lawsuit claim moot. IHS officials and the U.S. assistant attorney handling the case declined to comment on the case. Buckles and Harris also did not comment for legal reasons. Their lawsuit alleges that IHS retaliated against them for making a Privacy Act complaint and has subjected them to a "hostile and oppressive" work environment. Artz, Belgarde, Davis and Zerr consented to interviews in which they said they have been subjected to stress in their work places and retaliation as whistleblowers. Davis said she was ineligible for two promotions because of the lawsuit. Belgarde said her request to transfer out of Buckles supervision was denied. Zerr said her credibility as lead biller was undermined. "The whistleblower laws aren't strong enough," Artz said. "The taxpayers pay the bills. It's the taxpayers who need to push to make the whistleblower laws stronger." Zerr quit work May 18, 2001, citing undue stress. She said she has no regrets about coming forward, though. "You are trying to do your job and do the right thing. That's all I wanted to do is just my job - getting it done right to help the facility out," she said. The women received counseling through an employee assistance program. Dion Darveaux, a Minot psychologist who counseled the women, has since been barred from seeing clients through the Federal Employee Assistance Program because of letters he wrote to help the employees gain leave of absence. One letter, meant for the woman's medical provider, errantly went into her employee file and was passed on to IHS officials and the Employee Assistance Program. Darveaux said program officials misinterpreted his motive in suggesting that his clients involve their congressional delegation in expediting a Justice Department investigation of their whistleblower charges. He said he was simply urging a quick resolution to the source of the women's stress. Darveaux said he is working through administrative channels to gain re-instatement into the assistance program. Copyright c. 2003 Minot Daily News/Minot, ND. --------- "RE: Law anything but Colorblind on Reservation" --------- Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2003 09:03:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="REZ JUSTICE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.durangoherald.com/~article_path=/news/03/news031229_1.htm Law anything but colorblind on reservation By Brian Newsome Herald Day City Editor December 29, 2003 IGNACIO On a wintry February night in 2002, Margaret Jean Archibeque's GMC pickup sped down a winding county road through the Southern Ute Indian Reservation. Archibeque, a non-Indian whose blood-alcohol content was almost twice the legal limit, struck and killed Henry Smith, a Navajo man, who was driving his 1988 Chevrolet Suburban the other way. The Ignacio woman pleaded guilty to a federal charge of involuntary manslaughter in U.S. District Court. She is serving a 21-month sentence in federal prison. But if Smith had not been an American Indian, or if even one side of the road had been nontribal land, Archibeque would have been tried on state charges and sentenced to state prison. People who get into trouble on tribal lands find themselves in a dizzying world of jumbled jurisdictions. Depending on what they've done, where they were when they did it, and whether they are American Indian or not, they might find themselves going to federal, state or tribal court. From the introduction of "Juggling Jurisdictions: Law Anything But Colorblind on Reservation," the lead story in Part 2 of a four-part, pull- out series on Southern Ute tribal sovereignty. "We the People: The Southern Ute struggle for sovereignty," beginning Sunday, December 28, in the printed-hardcopy edition of the Durango Herald. Copyright c. 2003 the Durango Herald. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Editorial: Peltier, Justice and the President" --------- Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2003 08:30:17 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PELTIER PARDON URGED" http://www.canada.com/~id=5B15D610-BAA8-4462-9D4C-00E9A21CAEBF (EDITORIAL) Leonard Peltier Justice and the president Tuesday, December 23, 2003 Nothing seems to change for native activist Leonard Peltier. Despite 27 years of imprisonment, Peltier continues to steadfastly maintain he's innocent of a double murder involving FBI agents at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. And despite the compelling evidence indicating that both the U.S. and Canadian governments are culpable in this controversial case, neither country will acknowledge that Peltier was likely railroaded. All of this adds up to a seemingly hopeless scenario for Peltier, who is serving concurrent life sentences in Leavenworth Prison. Now 59 and in poor health, Peltier is destined to die in jail. Peltier can't even get a proper parole hearing to tell his side of the story. Astonishingly, he has been repeatedly denied this basic right, routinely given to individuals who have served the mandatory 200 months for a murder charge. The latest blow to "early release" came a few months ago when Denver's 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to grant Peltier a parole hearing, even though the court acknowledged that the "government withheld evidence. It intimidated witnesses. These facts are not disputed." The apparent government vendetta against Peltier has resulted in Amnesty International labelling him a "political prisoner." Amnesty believes Peltier should "immediately and unconditionally be released." Which leads to U.S. President George W. Bush, who now represents the only glimmer of hope left for Peltier. Bush has the power to grant Peltier a presidential pardon. While a pardon neither clears a person's record, nor proves innocence, it does bring freedom. However, a pardon is problematic for Bush. The president would face the same dilemma that confronted former president Bill Clinton. Clinton was sympathetic to Peltier but changed his mind about a pardon after hundreds of FBI agents launched a huge protest on the streets of Washington. Bush also might not want to risk offending the FBI, given the agency's role in homeland security issues. But in Peltier's case, justice cries out for the president's intervention. What a pardon would say about Bush's sense of fairness and compassion would far outweigh any fallout from the FBI's unrelenting campaign against Peltier. The treatment of Peltier makes a strong case for presidential intervention: Peltier was extradited from Canada solely on the false affidavits of one individual, Myrtle Poor Bear. She outlined details of Peltier's plan to kill the FBI agents, and claimed to be an eyewitness to the shootings. In 2000, however, Poor Bear told a privately commissioned legal inquiry in Canada that she had never even met Peltier. She denied being on the reservation that fateful day. Poor Bear also said she was threatened and harassed by FBI agents. Meanwhile, FBI ballistics evidence used at Peltier's trial has proven to be questionable. In fact, parts of the evidence may have been fabricated ? a 1975 telex from an FBI ballistics expert noted that Peltier's alleged rifle had a "different firing pin, from the gun used to kill the two agents." The controversy surrounding Peltier's case continues to draw support from scores of high profile individuals including Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama, Robert Redford, Steven Spielberg, Sara McLachlan and members of Blue Rodeo. Others include former Liberal solicitor general Warren Allmand, a member of the Liberal cabinet at the time of the extradition, and Gerald Heaney, the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals that upheld Peltier's conviction. What's missing is any high level political support for Peltier in either Washington or Ottawa. It would greatly help Peltier to have Prime Minister Paul Martin ? who has vowed to make aboriginal issues a priority ? discuss the case with the president and acknowledge Canada's complicity. President Bush has a moral obligation to at least consider a pardon for Leonard Peltier. It's a matter of justice, compassion and also doing what is right. Copyright c. 2003 Windsor Star. --------- "RE: John Graham Defense Committee" --------- Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2003 15:03:10 -0800 (PST) From: MJ La Burt Subj: John Graham Defense Committee Mailing List: ndn-aim Dear friends and future friends of John Graham, We are happy to report that the John Graham Defense Committee website is now on-line. You can find it at www.grahamdefense.org. Please forward this information to all of your own friends and family, to help spread the word about this injustice being committed again by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, in the continuing saga of Native American persecution. The John Graham Defense Committee website will continue to develop over the coming days, and will soon include a draft letter to the Canadian Minister of Justice, the Honourable Irwin Cotler. There is currently contact information to write to the Minister of Justice, and we do encourage you to send letters as soon as possible opposing John's extradition and supporting his immediate release. Time is of the essence, as John's extradition hearing is not too far off. I have included our Position Statement below, which also includes a brief history of the matter. Please copy and paste this text into a new e-mail message, when forwarding this e-mail to others, to avoid the "carrots" (>>) that are often included with forwarded text). Thank you for your support of truth and justice, Matthew Lien John Graham Defense Committee www.grahamdefense.org --- Position Statement on the Extradition of John Graham John Graham, a native of the Yukon and father of eight who has been living quietly in Vancouver for several years, was charged in the U.S. on March 30, 2003, along with Arlo Looking Cloud, 49, with the first-degree murder of Anna Mae Aquash twenty-eight years ago - a crime he did not commit. Background There are many tragedies which resulted from the shootout on the Pine Ridge reservation and subsequent events of nearly 30 years ago. These include the deaths of Lakota people, members of the American Indian Movement (AIM), two agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Canadian activist Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash. In an effort to gain convictions for the deaths of the FBI agents, a continuing abuse of the justice system by the FBI has ensued, involving the fabrication of evidence and the use of false testimony and fraudulent affidavits. Perhaps the most infamous result of these tactics was the illegal extradition of Leonard Peltier from Canada to face charges for the deaths of the two agents. Amnesty International has condemned the fact that the FBI knowingly used false evidence to obtain the extradition of AIM activist Leonard Peltier from Canada in December 1976. ~ Amnesty International - Statement on the arrest of John Graham, December 12, 2003 "I'm haunted by the fact that I now think we seized an innocent man, with no valid Canadian arrest warrant, based on false evidence from the U.S." ~ Former police officer Bob Newbrook, referring to the extradition of Leonard Peltier Warren Allmand, a former justice minister, and the judge who extradited Peltier later said they would never have agreed to his extradition had they known some affidavits and evidence presented by the U.S. were false. ~ As reported in The Province, December 05, 2003 While John Graham was not present at the actual Pine Ridge shootout, he was in the area at the time working with AIM as a junior security guard and assisting with routine activities. In the months following, AIM activists and other aboriginal people were regularly rounded up and interrogated, causing many to fear for their safety. Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash, a Mi'qmak aboriginal woman from Nova Scotia, was a friend and fellow activist. Anna Mae was also experiencing continued harassment by the FBI who believed she knew the identity of the shooter responsible for the FBI deaths. Several months after the shootout, after having expressed concern for her own safety to family and friends, Anna Mae was found dead on the Pine Ridge reservation having suffered a fatal bullet wound to the head. There are many questions that surround the death of Anna Mae, including the failure of FBI agents to identify her while examining her body - even though they had interrogated her just weeks before - burying her in an anonymous grave and sending only her hands to FBI Headquarters for identification; and the failure of the FBI-led autopsy to detect the bullet wound - a wound which was immediately detected in a later autopsy - stating only that she had died of exposure. An FBI-sanctioned pathologist missed the bullet hole in the back of her head and said she died of exposure. Still unable to identify her, Norman Zagrossi, an FBI regional supervisor based in Washington, DC, ordered her hands chopped off. "Our experts in Washington suggested and told us that the proper procedure was to cut off the hands, put them in jars with formaldehyde and send them to Washington, which we did. I never had before..." ~ As reported by the CBC's Fifth Estate, November 08, 2000 It was a mutilation that even twenty-five years later outrages the native community. A second autopsy with a different pathologist showed a bullet still lodged in her head. Zagrossi knew it looked like an FBI cover-up attempt and he angrily phoned the first pathologist. "It looked like we were involved, it looked like we were trying to cover something up when in fact we weren't," said Zagrossi. ~ As reported by the CBC's Fifth Estate, November 08, 2000 Over the past decade, members of the FBI have made four trips to the Yukon to visit John Graham, asking him to identify Anna Mae's murderer and offering him immunity from any related charges. They also warned that if John did not comply, they would in turn bring charges against him for the crime. During their fourth and final visit to the Yukon, the agents informed John that it would be the last time they would come to see him. Living up to their promise, after extensive and questionable interrogations of John's co-accused, Arlo Looking Cloud, the FBI charged John Graham with the murder of Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash. The FBI's case against Looking Cloud, a chronic and homeless alcoholic who is to go to trial Feb. 3, is in trouble. Looking Cloud was supposed to testify against Graham but he has behaved erratically in jail since being arrested. ~ As reported in The Province, December 05, 2003 The Matter At Hand On December 1, 2003, John was arrested in Vancouver and will soon face an extradition hearing to stand trial for the charge of first degree murder. The family and friends of John Graham, including numerous supporters, human rights and First Nation organizations, and the Honourable Yukon Member of Parliament and Parliamentary Secretary Larry Bagnell, are now calling on the Canadian government and all involved with this process to provide great scrutiny to the evidence presented in the extradition hearing. Amnesty is urging Canadian authorities to ensure that there is rigorous scrutiny of any evidence brought against him. If Graham should be brought to trial in the US, Amnesty International will seek assurances that his right to a fair trial is fully respected. ~ Amnesty International - Statement on the arrest of John Graham, December 12, 2003 We are deeply concerned about the safety of Mr. John Graham and the legality of the procedures in Canada. ~ Gunter Wippel, Menschenrechte (Human Rights) 3000, Germany, December 14, 2003 "My greatest fear is that the U.S. will use the same kind of flimsy and trumped-up evidence that they used against Leonard Peltier to justify the extradition of John Graham, a Canadian citizen, to the U.S.," said Amnesty International member Bob Newbrook, a retired police officer who arrested Peltier in Alberta in 1976. ~As reported in The Province, December 05, 2003 In the wake of the experiences of Maher Arar and comments made by U.S. Ambassador Paul Cellucci that the United States will "do what it has to do" to protect U.S. national security, and that homeland security comes first even before respect be given to the Canadian passport, there is strong sentiment that Canadians do not receive the proper respect and consideration by the U.S. We believe that should an extradition occur under questionable circumstances, the public reaction will be loud, swift, and highly critical of the Canadian government for allowing it. Jennifer Wade, the founder of the Vancouver branch of Amnesty International who was at the extradition hearing of Leonard Peltier - another man connected to Pictou-Aquash - says Canada will make the same mistake if it extradites Peltier's friend, John Graham, for the murder of their colleague, Pictou-Aquash. ~ As reported by the CBC NEWS, December 04, 2003 Our Position Given the history of documented judicial abuse by the FBI in numerous cases directly related to the charge against John Graham, we call upon all those involved with this matter, and all those who believe in truth and justice, to oppose the proposed extradition of John Graham. It is the belief of the John Graham Defense Committee that the evidence and testimony to be presented will be largely circumstantial, and likely the result of continued coercion and fabrication. It is furthermore our belief that John would not receive a fair trial should he be extradited to the United States. We all grieve the tragic loss of Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash and hope the truth about her death will someday be known. As a friend of Anna Mae, John Graham feels this as much as anyone. We are also absolutely convinced of John's innocence and believe this charge to be a continuation of the travesty of justice which has endured since the 1970s. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more information, contact the John Graham Defense Committee at info@grahamdefense.org or visit the Web site at www.grahamdefense.org. --------- "RE: Native Prisoner" --------- Date: Mon, Dec 29 2003 19:18:40 -0700 From: Janet Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - In 2004 consider supporting our brothers and sisters in the iron houses around this country. Many are far from home, far from the support of family and friends. Some are accomplished artists and craftspeople. Reaching out to any of these people will enrich your life and theirs. On Native American Prisoner Network - http://members.tripod.com/~foltz.k/napnhome.html you will find: A PEN PAL LIST Native inmates seeking pen pals. ARTWORK Native inmates' artwork displays. CRAFTS Native inmates' crafts displays, including beadwork, leatherwork, etc. WRITINGS Native inmates writings, including stories, poetry, etc. LEGAL ASSISTANCE Native inmates seeking SERIOUS legal assistance. NATIVE INMATE SUPPORT LINKS STATE DOC and FEDERAL BOP (both of which I strongly encourage you to checkout). And links to other Native prison sites. --------- "RE: History: Carlisle Indian School" --------- Date: Sun, 14 Dec 2003 23:41:19 -0500 From: Barbara Landis Subj: December 12, 1890 INDIAN HELPER, Carlisle Indian School. [Editorial Note: These reprints are being included in this newsletter so that you might know the mind of those who ran institutions like Carlisle.] THE INDIAN HELPER ~%^%~ A WEEKLY LETTER FROM THE Carlisle Indian Industrial School To Boys and Girls. ================================================ VOL. VI. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12 1890 NUMBER 15 ================================================ [First page of this issue features a line drawing of the snow-covered school grounds. Graphic may be seen at http://www.epix.net/~landis/wintgrounds.jpg. Drawing resembles Carlisle Barracks today.] =================================== (page 2) The Indian Helper. ----------------------------- PRINTED EVERY FRIDAY, AT THE INDIAN INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL, CARLISLE, PA. BY THE INDIAN PRINTER BOYS. --> THE INDIAN HELPER is PRINTED by Indian boys, but EDITED by The-Man-on-the-band-stand, who is NOT an Indian. ----------------------------- Price: - 10 cents a year. ============================== Address INDIAN HELPER, Carlisle, Pa. Miss M. Burgess, Manager. ============================== Entered in the P.O. at Carlisle as second class mail matter. ============================== The INDIAN HELPER is paid for in advance, so do not hesitate to take the paper from the Post Office, for fear a bill will be presented. ============================= Girls do the baking for the Genoa school --------- Whatever you do, please don't send us revenue stamps for subscription money. --------- Esther Miller stopped at Haskell Institute, Lawrence, Kansas, on her way home from California. --------- The boys' cottage at the Santee Normal School, Nebraska, came near being burned to the ground recently. --------- Several letters have been received containing money for renewals but as no names were signed we do not know whom to credit. --------- We are pleased to hear from our Miss Murton now professor in a College at Winter park, Florida, that she is enjoying better health than she did last year. --------- One of the new Alaskan boys from the Esquimaux country tries a composition on the first snow at Carlisle: "I am glad, like my home this in Carlisle white snow now me like to cold and we good sled to fast and dogs to ran in ice and in snow now me walk in snow." --------- W. writes from the country what she thinks of the Messiah craze: "I read in some of the papers that the Sioux are trying to get into trouble. Oh, it makes me laugh when I saw in the paper, that they said some one told them that they must kill all the whites and they are the ones going to have the world for themselves. Poor Indians! They don't know what is best for them. Dear! The idea they left their farms and houses and are going to be turned into savage ways." --------- A recent letter from Edgar Fire Thunder, of Pine Ridge Agency, Dak., the seat of the present Indian troubles, says, "We haven't any trouble except some of the Indians had Ghost Dance, but I think they will stop now. Good many soldiers came here a few days ago, eight companies in all. The newspapers told that the Indians wanted to fight white men. That is all a mistake. They are going to have council with the soldiers." Edgar says his little baby is very fat and is walking. Edgar's many Carlisle friends are always glad to hear news from him. The Genoa, Neb., Indian School emanated from the Carlisle School. It was through suggestions and letters to the Washington authorities from parties still at our school that the Genoa School was born; hence, this institution, away out upon the prairies is considered one of Carlisle's babes, as it were, and the child has endeavored to imitate the parent ever since it came to light in 1883. The following clipping is from the Pipe of Peace, its newsy little paper printed every week at 10 cents a year: Carlisle takes the untutored native, the raw material, so to speak, and puts him through a preparatory course, gives him the rudiments of an education and a good start. That is well. He then comes to Genoa to finish up. Here the advantages are such as to suit his improved mental and spiritual condition and he makes rapid strides along the grand highway of progress. The road is clear of impediments. He is not hindered in his course by any obstacle. IN a few years the finishing