From gars@speakeasy.org Sun Jan 11 22:07:00 2004 Date: Tue, 06 Jan 2004 15:10:34 -0800 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews12.002 _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 12, ISSUE 002 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 10, 2004 Assiniboine wicogandu/center moon Algonquin squochee kesos/moon when Sun has not strength to thaw +-------------------------------------------------------+ | 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 speak a Native American language not listed above, please send us your words for "News of the People." We'd rather take up this whole page saving these few words of our hundreds of nations than present a nice clean banner in the language of the occupation forces who came here determined to replace our words with their own. 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, KOLANews & ndn-aim Mailing Lists; Newsgroup: alt.native; UUCP email IMPORTANT!! ----------- In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, all material appearing in this newsletter is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for educational purposes. <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters who share our Spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the Red Road. ++ It may be subscribed to via email by sending a request from your own internet addressable account to gars@speakeasy.org ++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org <================<<<< >>>>================> +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + | As historian Patricia Nelson | | Once a language is lost, it is | | Limerick summarized in "The | | gone forever | | Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken | | * Of the 300 original Native | | Past of the American West... | | languages in North America, | | "Set the blood quantum at | | only 175 exist today. | | one-quarter, hold to it as a | | * 125 of these are no longer | | rigid definition of Indians, | | learned by children. | | let intermarriage proceed as | | * 55 are spoken by 1 to 6 elders;| | it had for centuries, and | | when they die, their language | | eventually Indians will be | | will disappear. | | defined out of existence." | | * Without action, only 20 | | "When that happens, the federal | | languages will survive the next| | government will be freed of | | 50 years. | | its persistent 'Indian problem.'"| | Source: Indigenous Language | +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ | Institute | |http://www.indigenous-language.org| This issue's Elder Quote: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + ======================== "Indian gravestones are not made to last. Often they are made of wood, but they reflect our nature and our beliefs. Only the mountains and the stars last forever." __Tahca Ushte (John Fire Lame Deer), Minneconjou Lakota +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Indian Pledge of Allegiance | The Indian Pledge of Alleg- | | iance was first presented | I pledge allegiance to my Tribe,| on 2 December '93 during the | to the democratic principles | opening address of the Nat- | of the Republic | ional Congress of American | and to the individual freedoms | Indian Tribal-States Relat- | borrowed from the Iroquois and | ions Panel in Reno, NV. NCAI | Choctaw Confederacies, | plans distribution of the | as incorporated in the United | Indian Pledge to all Indian | States Constitution, | Nations. | so that my forefathers | | shall not have died in vain | Walk in Beauty! Night Owl +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Journey | In the summer and early fall | The Bloodline | of 1998 the Treaty Unity Riders | | rode a thousand miles on horse- | For all that live and live by law | back, carrying a staff and | We Stand, we Call, We Ride | praying each step of the way. | For All that fear and fear by sight | | We Hear, we Listen, we Ride | These prayers were offered for | For all that pray and pray by strength| each of us, and that the Unity | We Feel, we Move, we Ride | of all Peoples might happen. | For all that die and die by greed | | We Hurt, we Cry, we Ride | Tatanka Cante forwarded this | For all that birth and birth by right | poem on behalf of all the Unity | We Smile, we Hold, we Ride | Riders that we might stop and | For all that need and need by heart | ask if the next words we say, the | We Came, we Went, we Rode. | next act we make is for the good | | of the People or is it from ego | Treaty Unity Riders | for self. +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ O'siyo Brothers and Sisters! The editorial in last week's issue (archived at http://www.nanews.org) prompted a message from a brother that has left me as angry and speechless as I have been in a very long time. PLEASE READ IT and if you have any possible actions to right this wrong write me at gars@speakeasy.org. AND WRITE YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES NOW, AND FOLLOW UP WITH ANOTHER LETTER TOMORROW. The audacity of our warriors risking their lives for a governemnt that denies them a basic freedom, guaranteed in the Constitution is just wrong, and needs to be met with the outrage it so richly deserves. -------------------- the letter from Jimmy Derringer ------------------ Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 11:19:54 -0500 From: "Derringer, James C." Subj: RE: Wotanging Ikche--nanews12.001 >To: "Gary Night Owl" Hello Gary Night Owl, All I could do was shake my head when I saw your articles concerning recruiting Native Peoples by the U.S. Military. When the United States Government was sending troops over seas, getting ready to invade Iraq, I saw a program on the television and it ended with the interviewer telling about how the U.S. was sparing nothing for the solders there, even showing that they even had their ministers there for them. They named off all kinds of religions, and even talked with ministers for Catholics, Protestants, several other kinds of religion. I got to thinking about "our" solders and "our" religion(s). It is just as important to us as it is to others. I wanted to do something to help. I am not a holy man, or a medicine man, or anything like that, and do not pretend to be. I am simply a man in my 50's who knows a few ceremonies and may be considered an Elder by a very few people. I wanted to help. I began making phone calls. I wanted to volunteer to go to Iraq to help any Native solders who maybe just wanted to talk, send a letter home, or perhaps do a sweat. I was even willing to pay for my own way over there. After many, many phone calls I was finally put in contact with a person at the Pentagon. I asked this person if the military had Spiritual Leaders, for the Native American solders. I will never forget what she said. She said: the United States government has not, and does not recognize Native American Religion as a legitimate religion." Aho. Jimmy Derringer ------ End of the letter from Jimmy Derringer. Now write yours! ------ 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 ---------- - Piestewa Family - YELLOW BIRD: assails Video Airing Don't let Gunshots break Silence - Medicine Man - Scientists link 1700 Earthquake blesses Navajo Soldier to Legends - NAC Code of Conduct - Judge upholds charges - Boulder Police in Chediski Fire Case break up Indian Prayer Service - Attack on Leonard Peltier - Drilling to draw attention - Native Prisoner in Upcoming Year -- Minimum Security Unit - Mass. AG to appeal based on Tlingit Traditions Tribal Sovereignty Case -- Film: The Iron Lodge - Register today to vote - History: Carlisle Indian School in Presidential Primary - Rustywire: Yesterday - Climbing banned - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days at Sacred Washoe Site - Poem: New Years Story - Counties' action - Preserving Ute dentity saves Historic Site - Reweaving a Historic Bond - Tide and Winds - Prairie Restoration increase Oil Spill Damage becomes Native Enterprise - Girl Dead at BIA Boarding School - Natives begin Download Service - UNM Center attacks - Nooksack Tribe starts work Scourge of Indian Diabetes to save its History - Native group suing Notre Dame - Turtle Island All Nations - JOHN MOHAWK: Confederacy Government The Fundamental President - Putting the 'Wow' in 'Powwow' --------- "RE: Piestewa Family assails Video Airing" --------- Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2004 17:07:42 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DOMESTIC TERRORISM" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0101piestewa01.html Piestewa family assails video airing Showing dying soldier on television called 'domestic terrorism' Mark Shaffer Republic Flagstaff Bureau Jan. 1, 2004 12:00 AM FLAGSTAFF - Family members of slain soldier Lori Piestewa lashed out at the media Wednesday for practicing "domestic terrorism" by televising video of the badly wounded Piestewa in an Iraqi hospital bed shortly before her death. "This terrorism was not from any foreign group wishing to harm the United States, but from our own people wanting to make a quick buck off the misfortune of two young women," a prepared statement from the Piestewa family said of NBC's decision to air the video on its Nightly News on Tuesday. Several cable channels picked it up, but local affiliate Channel 12 (KPNX) decided not to air the footage. The video shows a gravely wounded and unresponsive Jessica Lynch in a hospital bed next to Piestewa in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah, where the Army's 507th Maintenance Company was ambushed March 23. Piestewa is shown with eyes shut and swollen and with a bandage around her head. She licks her lips as someone adjusts her head so the photographer can get a better shot of her. "We would guess that congratulations are in order," the Piestewa family's statement said sarcastically. "The media has again successfully created a sense of fear, anxiety and hurt among the family and friends of those who loved and continue to love Lori Piestewa." Piestewa's family has attended many memorial services and pro-military gatherings throughout the nation since Lori's death. But the statement contained some pointed anti-war criticisms of the Bush administration and military. The statement said the family hopes all top government officials get a copy of "Lori dying in agony so that they realize from the comfort of their homes that war is not the only option." The Piestewa family also wants a copy of the tape in the hands of legislators who supported the war "because they had to make sure someone (paid) for 9/11." The strongest criticisms were saved for commanders at Fort Bliss, Texas, where Piestewa and Lynch were stationed before their deployment to the Middle East. Each of the commanders should receive a copy of the tape "so they'll never again make the same mistake . . . and, if by chance they do, we hope they won't leave them behind to die the painful death Lori endured." Copyright 2003 Arizona Republic. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Medicine Man blesses Navajo Soldier" --------- Date: Sat, 3 Jan 2004 16:21:31 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PREPARING A WARRIOR" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.daily-times.com/artman/publish/article_7266.shtml Medicine man blesses Navajo soldier By Jim Snyder/The Daily Times Jan 3, 2004, 09:44 am SHIPROCK - When U.S. Army Pfc. Tabitha Clark, 19, a Navajo from Shiprock, returns to Iraq after being home on leave she'll be armed with two blessings from Navajo medicine men. The first blessing, nearly a year ago, was to prepare Tabitha for her Feb. 28 deployment to Kuwait where she joined U.S. forces getting ready to invade Iraq. "It was to put a shield around her for protection," her mother Fannie Clark said Wednesday since she would be traveling outside of the Navajo's Four Sacred Mountains. The second blessing occurred in a ceremony this week to help Tabitha in her duties at a U.S. Army camp just north of Baghdad. "It was for her to be strong in the mind that she's going to accomplish what she's there for," Fannie Clark said. The third blessing will be after Tabitha returns from the service to remove the evil she saw. "After four years the ceremony will be to purify her and take the shielding away," Fannie Clark said, adding that her family holds traditional Navajo beliefs. During her visit home Tabitha was honored by the Shiprock community for her service in Iraq during a Song and Dance ceremony at Nataani Nez Elementary School. Nataani Nez translates into "tall leader," a name the Navajos gave the Bureau of Indian Affairs agent who formed the Shiprock community in 1902. "They gave her a standing ovation," Fannie said. "Everybody clapped. They did an honor song for her. ... It meant a lot to me. Everybody cried and was happy at the same time." Tabitha added, "It was a real privilege having people shake my hand and thank me for my service. It really means a lot for what we've fighting for." Tabitha's father Dean Clark was also moved about her being home. "It was the greatest Christmas gift for me. ... I've been doing a lot of praying. My prayers have been answered she'd be home for the holidays." Fannie added, "I thank the Lord everyday that our prayers were answered. ... I know when you pray for something your prayers get answered. I thank the Lord for letting my baby come home, even for awhile." The Shiprock community is also home to U.S. Marine Navajo Code Talkers who fought in the South Pacific during World War II. Other community members served in Korea, Vietnam, the Cold War and the first Gulf War. Tabitha, a 2002 graduate of Shiprock High School, credits being in Shiprock High School's Marine Corps Junior ROTC program for four years in helping her get through Army basic training and living in a war zone. "My military career started in ROTC," she said. Tabitha is with the 26th Quarter Master Company, 3rd COS COM, a V Corps support unit based in Hanau, Germany, outside Frankfurt. "I was only in Germany a week before I got deployed," to Kuwait, she said. "I had just enough time to get my will and power of attorney taken care off. Then we rolled out to Camp Wolf in Kuwait." Tabitha drove a HUMVEE - High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle - in the caravan across the Kuwait-Iraqi border during the U.S. invasion. "We were there with the 82nd Airborne and 101st (Airborne) divisions. We crossed the berm with them. "It was really scary. There were rocket-propelled grenades flying around us. There were dead Iraqis on the road. ... You saw tracer rounds flying, mortar rounds going off. It was really intense." She added, "I wasn't prepared to see it but I've seen a lot worse since then." Tabitha spent her first six months in Iraq living in a tent at Camp Dogwood. For the first three months she ate MREs, Meals-Ready-To-Eat, everyday. "Life was hard. We had to wash our clothes by hand. Dust storms would knock over our tents - and we had dust storms everyday. They were so bad you couldn't even see your hand in front of your face." Now Tabitha lives inside a building at Camp Taji - an old Iraqi army post - north of Baghdad. The camp is close to where U.S. soldiers found former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein hiding in a hole in the ground. "It's kind of dangerous. You have to walk around with a flack vest, Cavalier helmet and weapon locked and loaded at all times." She said there is no running water and no toilets. Recreational opportunities are limited because she spends so much time on guard duty. Her company has 120 soldiers. There are eight guard points along a wall which is only four feet high. "I pull guard duty 12 hours on, 12 hours off. I don't have much time to do anything except eat and sleep. My best friend is a portable DVD player, " to watch movies, she said. Tabitha said her unit was basically unaware of the political debate going on in the United States and in Europe on whether the U.S. should have invaded Iraq since weapons of mass destruction have never been found. "We don't have very much access to the outside world for news. We have Stars and Stripes but it's always two to three weeks old." She added she didn't have access to the Armed Forces Network either. "Only a privileged few have that. We're not part of the privileged few. We live in dust-bowl city. Other soldiers live in presidential palaces and hotels." It has also been difficult for her knowing only one other Navajo - a Spc. Livingston from Gallup. Tabitha added she skipped her Thanksgiving Day meal. The food servers, Filipino ladies, wore feathers in their hair and braided it on one side to mimic Native Americans. "I jumped up and down. I was really offended by that," Tabitha said. Tabitha added that since the U.S. invasion life for Iraqis has changed for the better. "They are allowed to go to places other than Iraq. They can go to Turkey, Iran, Jordan. Before they weren't allowed to travel. ... The women are allowed to go out and get jobs now. Life was hard before. If they (the Iraqi regime) found you talking against Saddam your tongue would be cut out or you would be killed on the spot." Asked when she thought her unit would go back to Germany, Tabitha said, "I have no idea. It is all up in the air now. Nobody knows." She added, "I tell relatives and friends the good Lord is watching out for all of us. I will be OK. I will return." Jim Snyder: jims@daily-times.com Copyright c. 2003 Farmington Daily Times, a Gannett Co., Inc. newspaper. --------- "RE: NAC Code of Conduct" --------- Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2004 17:07:42 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CERTIFICATION SOUGHT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.thenavajotimes.com/20033112/sectionA/nac_code.html A code of conduct NAC roadman seeks discussion on conduct and certification to protect patients By Marley Shebala The Navajo Times December 31, 2003 WINDOW ROCK - There was a time when abuse and rape were "out there" but now they are here on the Navajo Nation. Native American Church roadman and former council delegate Emerson Jackson was referring to an NAC roadman who was convicted of raping a female patient and sentenced to 18 years and six months in prison last month. New Mexico District Attorney Karl Gillson successfully prosecuted 52- year-old Herbert Yazzie of Tseyatoh, N.M. for raping his 26-year-old daughter-in-law, who was nine-months pregnant at the time, and then threatening to witch her family if she told anyone. Jackson, who has been a NAC roadman for 30 years, said in an interview at the Navajo Times last week that when he read about what Yazzie did he thought about all the years he's conducted NAC prayer meetings to help people. He said he felt like all those years of work came tumbling down and he was worried for NAC members. Jackson remembered that as a child he saw his own people come into NAC services and angrily kick down the altar and yell awful words at his father. That was in the late 1940s, when only one or two families prayed with the holy medicine in Teec Nos Pos (Ariz.), he said. Jackson said the children at the boarding school taunted him and the boarding school employees punished him. "It's still in my mind. I can't take it out," he said. Jackson added, "I've been a member all my life and I just want something good for NAC. There are good things in there, lot to learn and use as spiritual guide. It's good to have. "But it makes me sad to read about people that abuse it like that. It just puts me down." As a former president of the Native American Church of North America and roadman in good standing, Jackson said he's asked church leaders to discuss the conduct and certification of NAC roadmen because he's received complaints about some of them. He said that most of the complaints have come from females who asked him what they should do. Jackson said he advises them to find out if the roadman has a certificate and to find out who certified him because they are responsible. He said he became a roadman when his parents and relatives told him it was time for him to be ordained. Jackson said he didn't want to become a roadman because he knew it was a very hard life. "I don't know why anyone wants to become a roadman," he said slowly and quietly. Jackson remembered telling his uncle that he wasn't ready and his uncle offered to help him. He said he didn't know the correct songs and his uncle told him, "I'll sit by you and I'll help you." Jackson said he ran his first teepee meeting in 1977 for a patient that couldn't walk. After the meeting, when the patient walked, his uncle, parents and relatives told him that being a NAC roadman would be good for him and the people will get healed, he said. Jackson remembered that before he ran his first meeting, he had to be ordained which meant eating more than a hundred medicine buttons so he could experience the suffering of the people. He said he was taught that a roadman is both a father and mother. Jackson said that if Yazzie was truly a roadman he would have understood that he was responsible for the life of three people - the woman, unborn child and father. He said a roadman knows that prayers for a pregnant woman must always involve the father, even if the couple is not getting along. He said that when his wife was pregnant, she had the same problems as the lady that Yazzie abused. His family sponsored a prayer meeting for the couple and everyone prayed for them, which helped the baby move into the correct position. There is never a time when a roadman would take a female, especially a pregnant one, into the wilderness by herself, he said. The NAC has a code of conduct for its roadmen which prohibits them from consuming alcohol or drugs and having extramarital affairs, he said. Jackson remembered that as a child, it was very strict during NAC prayer services. Jackson said he will continue to ask for a meeting on the conduct and certification of NAC roadmen because there are good people in the NAC and they are very sincere. And he said his mother told him to stay close to the NAC fireplace and teepee because they would always take care of him - and they have. He said the native religion was the first religion on this land but now it's getting pushed aside by the non-native religions. Jackson said the native people made room for the non-native religions and so it's only right that the native religion be respected. Copyright c. 2003 Navajo Times Publishing Company, Inc. --------- "RE: Boulder Police break up Indian Prayer Service" --------- Date: Fri, 2 Jan 2004 08:35:22 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PRAYER=UNLAWFUL GATHERING" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~1865700,00.html Boulder police break up outdoor Indian prayer service, cite mixup By Eric Gorski and Julia C. Martinez Denver Post Staff Writers January 2, 2004 An outdoor American Indian prayer service in Boulder was abruptly halted New Year's Eve after law enforcement officers asked the participants to leave. The group's spiritual leader suggested Thursday the incident was rooted in religious discrimination, while a Boulder city official cited miscommunication. Robert Cross said about 20 Oglala Lakota people were thrown off property at Valmont Butte just before a 10 p.m. sweat lodge prayer ceremony was to begin. "They had their canines," Cross said of police. "They wouldn't talk to us. They just wanted us out of there. I feel like an immigrant. I can't even pray like my ancestors." Jodie Carroll, spokeswoman for the city of Boulder, said American Indian ceremonies had been staged on the land for several years. About two years ago, the city bought the land for open space and reached an agreement with Cross so he could continue the ceremonies. Among the conditions, Cross had to notify a Boulder open-space official in advance of each ceremony and also notify the Fire Department, which would notify Boulder police. The city allowed Cross to light fires even though open fires are banned inside city limits. There was confusion Thursday about what took place New Year's Eve, with Cross saying he called and the city official saying he did not get a message. Cross said he called the Fire Department, too. The Boulder County Sheriff's Office, meanwhile, had increased patrols in the area because of reports of vandalism at a nearby cemetery, which put them in unexpected contact with the Indian group, Carroll said. Sheriff's Sgt. George Dunphy said that from what he could determine from the department log, Cross and other participants were thought to be trespassing. Cross, however, had a key to the locked open-space area that the city had given him. "They were asked to move along, and they did," Dunphy said. "There were no problems and no charges." Cross said he wanted to explain to authorities he had permission, but as he arrived just before 10 p.m., he was told to "turn around and leave." "I turned around and left," he said. "I didn't want a confrontation." Carroll said that in the future, the sheriff's office will be informed about the ceremonies. "I don't think it's religious discrimination because we have been letting them do that for years, and this is the first incident of this kind," Carroll said. Cross said he and others spent part of New Year's Eve day cleaning the site and gathering rocks and wood for the ceremonial fire. "We don't celebrate our new year at this time, but we were there to pray for the safety of those who do," Cross said. "What we were going to do was gather a group of people who don't drink, don't drug, and pray for those who are drinking and drugging." Copyright c. 2003 The Denver Post or other copyright holders. --------- "RE: Drilling to draw attention in Upcoming Year" --------- Date: Fri, 2 Jan 2004 08:35:22 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="2004 BUSH WHACKS BEING PLANNED" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.greatfallstribune.com/~/localnews/150197.html Wolves, grizzlies, drilling to draw attention in upcoming year By SONJA LEE Tribune Staff Writer January 2, 2004 The future of wolf management, a multimillion-dollar grizzly study and a review of proposals to drill along the Rocky Mountain Front will be big news in Montana's wildlife and natural resource arenas in 2004. The number of gray wolves has grown enough that a management change could occur this year, officials say. Biologists also are gearing up to complete the largest-ever study of the grizzly bear population in the Northern Continental Divide ecosystem. The Rocky Mountain Front is increasingly in the crosshairs, as the potential for natural gas exploration surges forward. The Bush Administration has asked that obstacles to oil and gas development be removed in parts of five Rocky Mountain states, including Montana. And in the next year, a handful of drilling proposals will move through Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service review. In the summer of 2004, biologists will begin to collect information to find out just how many grizzly bears are in Montana's largest grizzly bear habitat, which runs north to south from Highway 200 to the Canadian border and east to west from Highway 93 to Highway 89. Last summer, crews spread out over 7.3 million acres to set the stage for the study. This summer, crews will begin collecting the samples, which will be sent off for genetic analysis. The results of the bear hair DNA study will provide the first population estimates of grizzlies in the ecosystem. By knowing the bear population, biologists can better manage grizzlies. As grizzly bears move back into their traditional range throughout the Front, wildlife agencies and environmental groups also are continuing with their efforts to prevent conflicts. Biologists also are optimistic that by 2004, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming will be able to manage wolves themselves. By August, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming each had wolf management plans. The federal government is reviewing those plans. If they are approved, the predators will be removed from the threatened list under the Endangered Species Act. Tom Meier, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Kalispell, said the federal government could propose delisting the wolf in the summer of 2004. In March, the federal government changed the status of the wolf from endangered to threatened. A threatened species is still protected by the government, but the status allows for more flexibility in managing the species. Under federal guidelines, there must be 30 breeding pairs of wolves distributed throughout recovery areas in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming for three years. Those goals have been met. There are an estimated 664 wolves in 44 packs in northwestern Montana, Idaho and in and around Yellowstone National Park. "All the criteria that were in place and all the goals that were set have been met, so it should be on course," Meier said. Under Montana's proposed management plan, wolves would be managed much like mountain lions and black bears. Hunting and trapping would be allowed under some circumstances. In September, a male trumpeter swan east of Lincoln accepted his three offspring, days after the young swans were reintroduced to a pond. The reunited family was welcome news to biologists who hope the swans signal the natural expansion of the rare swans in the Blackfoot Valley. Biologists and many others in western and northcentral Montana will be watching for the swans return in the spring. Proposals to drill for natural gas in the Rocky Mountain Front also will be reviewed throughout the year. "We are continuing with the work that was initiated in 2003," said Lewis and Clark Forest Planner Robin Strathy. In 2003 the BLM and Forest Service hired a contractor to complete an Environmental Impact Statement for oil and gas development in the Blackleaf Canyon. A draft of the $1.2 million EIS will be released in the fall or winter. In early 2004, however, the federal government will hold several public meetings on the topic of wells in the Blackleaf, she said. Those comments will be part of the environmental review. The EIS will examine the impact of eight wells that are being proposed. It will take into account environmental values, like threatened and endangered species, and the benefits of energy development. The Lewis and Clark National Forest also will continue to review a proposal to drill an exploratory well in Hall Creek, about three miles south of Highway 2 in the Badger-Two Medicine. The proposed gas well, formerly known as the Fina well, was approved in 1985 and 1991. Because the original analysis is 12 years old, the Forest Service must review new information, like threatened and endangered species listed since 1991. If new information doesn't appear to have a significant impact, the 1991 decision to approve the well stays in place. In 2004 the Forest Service will decide whether the old decision stands or whether additional studies should be completed. Blackfeet tribal members also have said they are concerned the proposed gas well interrupt the cultural and traditional significance of the area. The Forest Service and others will continue to work with the tribe in the coming year, Strathy said. Copyright c. 2003 Great Falls Tribune. --------- "RE: Mass. AG to appeal Tribal Sovereignty Case" --------- Date: Fri, 2 Jan 2004 08:35:22 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SOVEREIGNTY CHALLENGED" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2004/01/02/attorney_general_tribe_case.php State Attorney General Will Intervene to Appeal Tribal Sovereignty Case By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer January 2, 2004 Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly quietly announced this week that he will intervene in the Aquinnah court appeal over sovereign immunity, adding clout to a case that will ultimately test the strength of a historic 1983 Indian land claims settlement agreement. "We intend to enter into the appeal on behalf of the commonwealth," said Corey Welford, a spokesman for the state attorney general, on Tuesday. No brief has been filed yet, but the entrance of the state's highest attorney into the Aquinnah case underscores the importance of the case on the Vineyard and throughout the commonwealth. The case has attracted the attention of Island residents and also legal scholars around the country. Seven months ago the Hon. Richard Connon, an associate justice of the superior court, found that the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) cannot be sued because of sovereign immunity. The case centers on a simple zoning dispute, but at its most extreme it could represent a challenge to the power of the Martha's Vineyard Commission to review future development projects. If it is allowed to stand, the ruling has the potential to turn the 1983 settlement agreement on its head. The settlement agreement and subsequent state and federal acts all contain explicit language noting that land conveyed to the tribe is subject to state and local zoning laws. The agreement paved the way for federal recognition by the tribe in 1987. The Wampanoag Tribe is the only federally recognized tribe in Massachusetts. The tribe now claims that because of sovereign immunity it is not bound to follow the terms of the settlement agreement. The case began in March of 2001 when the tribe built a small shed and a pier at its shellfish hatchery without obtaining a building permit. The shed and pier are located on the tribally owned Cook Lands fronting Menemsha Pond, one of four land areas conveyed from the town to the tribe under terms of the 1983 agreement. The town later went to court to compel the tribe to comply with local zoning rules. In June of this year Judge Connon ruled that the doctrine of sovereign immunity trumps the settlement agreement, even though he noted the contradictions inherent in his own decision. "The town received a right but no remedy, to the detriment of the citizens of not only the town but the commonwealth," the judge wrote in part. The case has now moved to the state appeals court, and is expected eventually to be decided by the state Supreme Judicial Court. In early December, after several weeks of bruising discussion and under pressure from members of the tribe, the Aquinnah selectmen voted to abandon a court appeal by the town of Judge Connon's decision. Two other town groups have appealed the case - the Aquinnah/Gay Head Community Association Inc. (formerly the Gay Head Taxpayers Association) and the Benton Family Trust (abutters to the tribally owned Cook Lands). The announcement by the Massachusetts attorney general that he will join the appeal came on the heels of another closely-watched sovereign immunity case in the state of Rhode Island this week. The Narragansett Tribe lost its case for sovereign immunity when a federal judge ruled that the state has the right to tax the sale of tobacco on tribal land. In the 56-page decision, federal district court Judge William E. Smith found that the doctrine of sovereign immunity cannot simply be used as a broad brush. "The tribe's retained rights of sovereignty exist as a counterweight to the jurisdictional power asserted by the state, and issues, as they arise, must be decided by the measurement and balancing of those rights in the specific factual context of each case," Judge Smith wrote. He also wrote: "Case by case, the `sturdiness' of the tribe's retained sovereignty is (and no doubt will continue to be) perpetually re-tested and balanced against the particular jurisdictional power asserted by the state - that is the nature of litigation." The Rhode Island case centered on whether the state violated the tribe's sovereign immunity when it raided a tax-free smoke shop in Charlestown last summer. There are a number of parallels between the Rhode Island case and the Aquinnah case, in part because the Narragansetts also signed a land claims settlement agreement with the state some years back. The Narragansetts and the Wampanoags are represented by the same attorney - Douglas Luckerman, a Lexington attorney who specializes in Indian law. Mr. Luckerman said this week that he is disappointed in the decision by Judge Smith, and also in the decision by the Massachusetts attorney general to intervene in the Aquinnah case. "I am disappointed with Judge Smith's decision - we obviously disagree with him. It's a troubling decision because it has ramifications well beyond just the Narrragansetts," Mr. Luckerman said, adding: "And I am disappointed that the [Massachusetts] attorney general has decided to step in, even though the town has decided unanimously through its selectmen to not pursue an appeal. I don't know why the attorney general made the decision, but I guess we'll just have to wait to see what arguments the attorney general makes." It is understood that the Massachusetts attorney general has paid close attention to the Aquinnah sovereignty case, in particular because of the state's interest in defending the integrity of the state legislation enacted in 1983 to ratify the settlement agreement. The attorney general is now expected to mount a vigorous defense of the state act. In the end a higher court will examine some of the fundamental questions that Judge Connon expressly avoided in his decision - including the key question of whether the tribe waived sovereign immunity, at least on the subject of zoning and land use, when it signed the settlement agreement in 1983. Other parties may decide to file amicus briefs in the case, also known as friend-of-the-court briefs. As an intervener, the state attorney general will carry more weight than a friend of the court. Aquinnah town counsel Ronald H. Rappaport, who represented the town in the case, has said repeatedly that judicial guidance is needed in interpreting the settlement agreement. Mr. Rappaport has also said that he believes Judge Connon's decision is wrong as a matter of law. It is not unusual for the state attorney general to intervene in a case when a state statute is challenged. Copyright c. 2004 Vineyard Gazette, Inc., Martha's Vineyard, MA. --------- "RE: Register today to vote in Presidential Primary" --------- Date: Fri, 2 Jan 2004 08:35:22 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="INDIAN VOTE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nativetimes.com/~article_id=3432 Register today to vote in presidential primary, important dates listed Key states have large Indian populations, young voters may be key TULSA OK Sam Lewin January 2, 2004 Native Americans desiring to vote in the coming primaries need to register now. The Democratic challenger to President Bush could be set in stone within several months, as a series of states with significant Native American populations hold primaries before the end of February. It's a change from years past, as a number of states have moved up their primaries to have more of an impact on the process. The new dates make the Native American voter a more significant player than in years past. It also makes the young Native American voter important. Arizona, Delaware, Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Carolina and Oklahoma all hold primaries on Feb. 3. Michigan and Washington hold their primaries four days later. Alaska's official primary will be held on August 24, which is after the Democratic Convention. According to the 2000 census, Natives comprise 15.6% of the population of Alaska, 8.3% of South Dakota, and 7.9% of Oklahoma. The picking of delegates will take a little longer, but that portion of the process is also about to kick into high gear. Including contests in the states, territories and even among Democrats living abroad - who get seven delegates - there are a total of 56 primaries and caucuses between January 19 and June 8 that choose 3,520 delegates. The remaining 797 votes are cast by what are known as "superdelegates" - former and current elected officials and party leaders. A majority (2,159 or more) of these 4, ,317 total delegates is needed to win the nomination. A breakdown of states with large NDN populations: New Mexico's Indian population is almost one out of every ten people. There are 183,972 Native Americans living in the state and 118,134 are of voting age. Al Gore narrowly won New Mexico by 366 votes in 2000. According to the Democratic Party of New Mexico, of the nine nationally recognized Democratic Presidential candidates, only Senator Carol Mosely Braun and the Reverend Al Sharpton will not appear on the February 3 ballot. An eighth candidate, Fern Penna, of New York, has also been approved for the New Mexico ballot. "February 3 will demonstrate New Mexico's crucial role in next year's general election," said state party chairman Joni Gutierrez . "The caucus is the first opportunity for New Mexicans to help choose the next president of the United States." Alaska, massive and sparsely populated, has 100,494 Natives and 61,364 of them vote. Sen, Lisa Murkowski, hand picked by her father Frank to serve out his term when he was elected governor, is facing a stiff challenge from conservative Democratic challenger and former governor Tony Knowles. "Alaska's Native peoples play a major role in Alaska today: in our economy, our culture, and our spirit," Knowles said in November. There are just shy of 100 thousand Native Americans in Washington State and more than 67 thousand are old enough to vote. Incumbent Patty Murray, a Democrat, is being challenged by Republican Rep. George Nethercutt. In South Dakota, Democratic Senator Tim Johnson was barely elected last year and he can thank a strong showing from the state's Indian population for helping him achieve victory. Johnson joined Oklahoma Rep. Brad Carson in announcing the Native Vote 2004 initiative, a concerted effort to corral the American Indian/Alaska Native vote. Carson is vying for the Senate seat made open by the retirement of Don Nickles. "Being from the second most Native American populated state in the country and being an enrolled member of the Cherokee nation, I fully understand the value and power of the Indian voice," Carson said."I have always tried to be a strong advocate for the issues that are so important to Indian nations and, for me, that advocacy does not stop at the ballot box. We must make a commitment to Native Americans and tribal leaders that we will continue working to uphold tribal sovereignty and promote the interests of Indian communities when it comes to funding tribal programs in health care, roads, law enforcement and tribal courts, to name a few. I am proud to be participating in the Native Vote 2004 initiative which rightly shows our respect for Native Americans and ensures them a strong voice in our nation's affairs." Deadlines face would-be Indian voters, 18 year olds encouraged to register Those Native Americans wanting to get involved need to register very soon OKLAHOMA CITY OK Sam Lewin 12/29/2003 A series of deadlines face Oklahoma residents wishing to have a say in the political process this year. Native Americans desiring to vote in the historic early primary election need to register very soon. Eighteen (18) year old Native Americans are eligible to vote in this important election. The youth vote is anticipated to be significant this election. State voters are required to register 24 days before an election. For example, in order to vote in the Feb. 3 Democratic primary, a voter needs to be registered by Friday, January 9, 2004. The full slate of registration deadlines: - Friday, Jan, 9, 2004-presidential preferential primary. - Friday, July 2 2004-primary election. - Friday, July 30, 2004-runoff primary election. - Friday October 8,2004-general election. - Anyone looking for more information can contact the Oklahoma State Elected Board at 405-521-2391 or E-mail: elections@oklaosf.state.ok.us. - A person who is eligible to register to vote must be at least 18 years old, a United States citizen and a resident of Oklahoma. In order to register, a voter registration application form must be filled out. Voter registration applications are available at your County Election Board, post offices, tag agencies, libraries and many other public locations. - The Native American vote proved to be the margin of victory in several state-wide races in Oklahoma, and South Dakota during the last election. Native American Times is Copyright C. 2003 Oklahoma Indian Times, Inc. --------- "RE: Climbing banned at Sacred Washoe Site" --------- Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 08:42:17 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WASHOE PROTECTION" http://www.indiancountry.com/?1072817463 Climbing banned at sacred Washoe site December 30, 2003 by: Ryan Slattery / Correspondent / Indian Country Today LAKE TAHOE, Nev. - Recreational climbing at Cave Rock is about to be banned. Or is it? The final decision on the new rules rests in the hands of a federal judge. In August, the U.S. Forest Service and the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit concluded its long-awaited study and announced an immediate halt to climbing at Cave Rock, a site sacred to the Washoe Tribe located on the lake's southeast shore. But the ban has led to some serious backlash from the climbing community and is headed to a courtroom. Immediately after the decision a Tahoe-area climber and the Colorado-based advocacy group, the Access Fund, filed separate appeals challenging the ruling. Both were rejected by the Forest Service on Nov. 5 and now the Access Fund, a non-profit group that represents more than one million climbers nationwide, has filed a lawsuit. "The Access Fund has reviewed the USFS's closure of Cave Rock and believes the decision is unconstitutional. As a result, the Access Fund has been left with no alternative other than to file a lawsuit on behalf of the climbing community," organization leaders wrote in a November press release. The lawsuit was filed in federal court on Dec. 15 and will argue that "banning rock climbing at Cave Rock to support Native American spiritual practices is an unconstitutional establishment of religion." The fate of Cave Rock climbing has been debated for years. The two sides had tried to settle on a compromise several times but couldn't find common ground. The volcanic formation, known for its steep rock face and high difficulty routes, has been a popular rock-climbing destination for technically skilled climbers for decades. But it's that popularity and damage caused by climbers that has led to the closure, said Rex Norman, a Lake Tahoe Basin spokesman. According to the environmental impact statement, from which the decision is based, climbers have independently installed approximately 46 bolted climbing routes, many inside the sensitive cave and added a concrete floor all without prior consent from the Forest Service. The report concludes saying that to provide the necessary immediate protection of Cave Rock's cultural, historic and archeological resources which make the site eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, climbing there must end. The ruling also calls for the removal of all bolts, anchors and platforms installed in the rock. The sides have agreed, however, to allow climbing to continue there until the suit is settled or at least until late spring. The Access Fund isn't buying the Forest Service argument. They feel climbers are being blamed for all that has happened over the years and question why they're being banned from the area when hikers, fishermen, picnickers and stargazers aren't. "Is it just climbing that offends the Washoe's religious beliefs?" the Access Fund wrote in its failed appeal. "The Washoe believe that the presence of anyone at Cave Rock, except a few select Washoe shaman, endanger the lives of all people." The appeal goes on to say, "the Washoe consider no part of Cave Rock as more or less special, but that all of its parts are equally important, and that hiking, fishing, scenic viewing, stargazing and other low impact activities `disturb the traditional users of the property.'" Jason Keith, the Access Fund's policy director, points out that the Cave Rock climbing guidebook asks users to "climb and behave in a respectful manner" citing its importance to the Washoe saying, "either treat it with respect and reverence or leave." And since 1995, he says, his organization has been working with local climbers to identify a compromise that would keep Cave Rock open for climbing on a limited basis, while at the same time accommodating the religious interests of the Washoe. Keith said Access Fund representatives have even met directly with members of the Washoe Tribe, and repeatedly suggested solutions similar to those in effect at Devils Tower in Wyoming, where voluntary closures are instituted for limited time periods out of respect for Native American religious practices, but their proposals were rejected. Access Fund officials said it has been proven at Devils Tower and elsewhere that religious and cultural practices can co-exist with recreational activity on federal public lands. And it's quite possible that if the ban is proven to be religion-based it will be overturned, Access Fund officials said. But Norman, the Forest Service spokesman, denied the focus of the closure is on the climbing community and that it has anything to do with Washoe beliefs. He said the controversy is often portrayed as an "Indian religion versus climbers" issue but it is anything but that. In fact, he said, administrators never met with tribal members to discuss their religious beliefs in determining their management policy for the area. "We know they have great reverence for the site but religion doesn't enter into it, Native American or otherwise," Norman said. "If we are singling out anything we are singling out negative impacts. Not the people doing it." Tim Seward, general counsel for the 1,600-member Washoe Tribe, said Cave Rock has historically been reserved for Washoe doctors and that only authorized shaman should enter the area. Seward said vandalism, graffiti and the overall abuse of the site has forever tainted it but said the Forest Service decision to ban climbers will help bring some respect back to the area. "The tribe believes it is a thoughtful compromise," Seward said. "We are very pleased that the Forest Service has taken an interest and reached a decision that will protect the site from further harm." Copyright c. 2003 Indian Country Today. --------- "RE: Counties' action saves Historic Site" --------- Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2004 08:43:32 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PRE-REMOVAL HOME OF MAJOR RIDGE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.ajc.com/~/horizon/0104/05greensite.html Counties' action saves historic site January 4, 2004 By CHRISTOPHER QUINN The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Kenneth Cannon got worried when a developer bought the woods and creek bottom adjoining his Bartow County cattle farm a couple of years back. More than the disappearance of a forest was at stake. Under the oaks and pines and rhododendrons along a gurgling creek lie the remains of the Cherokee Indian village of Pine Log. Pine Log was never much of a town, just a scattered collection of log cabins near the creek's floodplain and a tribal council house. But it and its inhabitants carry weight in Cherokee and American history. Pine Log was home to Major and John Ridge, the father and son Cherokee leaders who signed the 1835 treaty ceding Cherokee land to whites. Major Ridge was one of the most significant Cherokee tribal leaders between 1811 and his death, having led Georgia Cherokees and having fought alongside Andrew Jackson in his successful wars against the Creek and Seminole Indians. Angry Cherokees paid him back for signing the treaty. A group of Cherokees murdered both Ridges within months of their arrival in the Oklahoma Territory at the end of the Trail of Tears. Jean Belew, president of the Pine Log Historical Society and great- granddaughter of a Cherokee man, knows the history of the area well. "That land is immensely important," she said. Cannon agreed with her. After the developer posted "for sale" signs on the property, the two started making phone calls and attending county meetings. One call was to Ilona Sanders, a Cherokee County commissioner. The land abuts Cherokee County. Others were to Bartow County leaders. Steven Bradley, the county administrator in Bartow, said the county recognized the land's importance and asked the state for help in preserving it. "But it didn't work out," he said. It was up to the counties to do something, and luck was with them. Then- Gov. Roy Barnes had announced a new initiative in 2000. The state was going to start giving the fastest-growing counties money to preserve green space. Sanders remembers getting a call from Cannon about that time. "He was hoping Cherokee County would become involved in purchasing property on the Cherokee side. I'm very familiar with how sensitive that side of the Salacoa Valley is," she said. It is historically important, and has clean streams flowing out. An important part of the green space plan is to protect water quality. The area is also home to 2,320-foot-high Pine Log Mountain. "To me, it's one of the most beautiful parts of Cherokee County," she said. At a meeting in Bartow County that she happened to attend, Sanders heard Bartow leaders were planning to use their share of Barnes' green space money to buy the land on their side of the county border. "I said I would approach the board and attempt to purchase additional property in Cherokee County," she said. Through stops and starts, the counties were finally able to preserve land on both sides. Bartow used $500,000 to buy 300 acres, preserving much of the Pine Log town site. Belew's historical group has paid for a sign telling the history of Pine Log. It will be placed on Ga. 140 on the corner of Cannon's farm this spring. Cherokee bought more than 500 acres in two tracts for about $1.3 million. One tract abuts the Bartow land, the other is a short distance away, and the county is negotiating with a landowner for a 100-foot-wide strip of land that will connect the two. On the easternmost piece of Cherokee's property, along a 1,300-foot-high ridge that overlooks the historic valley, the county has agreed to give some land to a nonprofit group working to build a $10 million astronomic observatory. Harry Johnston, a Cherokee commissioner, said otherwise the green space could be lightly developed with trails, but it will remain in a natural state of pine and hardwood forests. Copyright c. 2004 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. --------- "RE: Tide and Winds increase Oil Spill Damage" --------- Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2004 17:07:42 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SUQUAMISH WETLANDS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.thesunlink.com/redesign/2004-01-01/local/366066.shtml Tide, winds increase oil spill damage - Bunker oil invades a sensitive estuary at Point Jefferson despite efforts to prevent it. Derek Sheppard Sun Staff January 1, 2004 Suquamish Tribe spokesman Leonard Forsman stood at the edge of a creek Wednesday that runs out of a North Kitsap estuary into Port Madison Bay and watched Technicolor blotches of oil flow downstream. "That's not such a bad thing that it's going out," he said. The damage to the environmentally sensitive Point Jefferson area from a large oil spill worsened as the tide waters swelled Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. The extreme high tide and south winds moved a boom protecting an estuary on Point Jefferson, about two miles from Indianola, allowing oil to spill into the sensitive bird habitat, coating grasses and the undersides of driftwood with thick oil. The extent of the damage to the estuary and clam beds in the sandy soil along Point Jefferson still is being determined, said state Department of Ecology on-scene coordinator Paul O'Brien. "If the boom hadn't been there, the damage would have been worse in the estuary," he said. Booms have now been set up at a creek that runs out of the estuary to block more oil from going in and to collect oil flowing out. The spill originated Tuesday morning when about 4,800 gallons of industrial fuel oil -- about the consistency of toothpaste gel -- overflowed into Puget Sound while a Foss Maritime tank barge was taking a load of oil from the Chevron Texaco terminal at Point Wells between Seattle and Everett. Crews recovered an additional 1,200 gallons from the ship's deck. An undetermined amount of oil coated a mile-long stretch along Point Jefferson. Most of the heavily impacted areas are Suquamish Tribal lands that were considered the most important subsistence harvesting area for shellfish. From the air Wednesday afternoon, Darren Friedel of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission said he could see blotches of oil all across the estuary, which is about the size of two football fields. Three oil-covered birds, two from Kitsap County, had been recovered as of Wednesday, but information about the birds' conditions and where they were rescued was not available. Officials were expecting to have to clean at least 200 birds, said Dick Walker, state Department of Ecology senior spill responder. "Right now, we're not seeing the massive casualties we were expecting," he said. Fears of oil reaching Kingston were laid to rest as Department of Ecology officials said the remaining oil in Puget Sound seemed to break up into small pockets of "sheen," or light oil on the surface that will probably evaporate quickly. Currently, state officials and workers from Foss Maritime, the party assuming responsibility for the cleanup, have concentrated most of their resources at Point Jefferson, Walker said. Eight boats are stationed in Port Madison to gather whatever oil might be left in the water; 23 people from various state agencies are at the point directing the cleanup; and four crews of 10 people from National Response Corp., contracted to clean the spill by Foss Maritime Company, are cleaning the beach. The cleanup effort now is a delicate balancing act, because if workers disturb soil and trample the estuary they could cause more damage to the ecosystem than the oil, O'Brien said. Thousands of pompoms, which gather oil like sponges as the tides come in and out, have been used at Point Jefferson because they are a low-impact method of removing oil. Department of Ecology officials have no estimate of how long it will take to clean the beach. "We'll be here as long as it takes," O'Brien said. After walking down the oil-covered beach, Dave Kucharski, who has lived on the bluff above the point for 20 years, said he can't understand how the oil got to Point Jefferson. "It's a mess," he said. "I don't know how they'll ever clean it up." A similar sentiment came from Matt Hawk Sr., a Suquamish tribal member who used to dig clams at the beach, as he inspected the beach with his son, Matt Hawk Jr. "I don't understand how something like this could have gotten this bad," Hawk Sr. said. Officials hope damage to the shoreline is less than from past spills. A 4,000-gallon spill in August 1990 at Point Wells caused an estimated $3 million in damage and polluted some 16 miles of beach. "There will quite possibly be some scattered impacts in other locations, but they're likely going to be minor and hard to see," said Tom Callahan of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's hazardous materials group. An investigation into the cause of the spill is ongoing. Reach reporter Derek Sheppard at (360) 792-9227 or at dsheppard@thesunlink.com. Copyright c. 2002 The SUN, Bremerton, WA. --------- "RE: Girl Dead at BIA Boarding School" --------- Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 08:42:17 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CHEMAWA" http://www.native-voice.com/ Girl Dead at BIA Boarding School By Lise Balk King The Native Voice SALEM, Ore. - A girl has died in a small, barren concrete block cell at the Chemawa Indian Boarding School near Salem, Oregon, and a full-blown investigation is underway by the BIA and the FBI. Thus far, it has been confirmed that Cindy Gilbert Sohappy, 16, of Warm Springs, Oregon, died in a holding cell on the boarding school campus on Dec. 6. Not much else is being released to the public. No one at Chemawa, the BIA or the FBI is releasing any details surrounding Sohappy's death, and everyone at the school has been instructed not to tell anything to anyone. "We can't talk to you. We're in the chain of command as a government agency and that's coming down from the Secretary of Interior," said a coach at the BIA school. Even the students have been instructed not to discuss Sohappy's death or the circumstances relating to it to anyone. A classmate of Sohappy's explained, "We were told that this is government property, so we aren't supposed to talk to anyone." She did say, however, that "Our parents know about it (the holding cells). It's in a pamphlet they get at the beginning of the school year." But added, "I'm not supposed to talk about it." There are reportedly four 8 by 9 foot cinder block cells, painted white, housed in a maintenance building on campus. There are bare walls and "you get a mat on the floor to sleep on" said one student. The cells, which have metal locks on the doors, are used to house "unruly or intoxicated students," and, according to students, are often "full all weekend, every weekend." Cindy Sohappy was drinking that weekend, according to friends at the school, and was thrown into the cell for intoxication. 9-1-1 was called at 11:22 p.m. on Dec. 6. Marion County Paramedics who rushed to the school found Sohappy already dead in the holding cell. It is hard for the students, especially the ones who knew her well. "I am just really sad that happened to her. She was a really good friend of mine - I think she died while she was passed out in that jail that they have here," expressed one of her friends who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal from the BIA and school officials. Members of the press have been removed from the campus, which is federal property, and have been camped at the gate each day waiting for news on the details surrounding the student's death. As one school official put it, "The press has torn our campus apart." The Native Voice was invited on campus as part of a group attending an OIEP Schools (Office of Indian Education - BIA) basketball tournament, which was almost cancelled because of Cindy's tragic death. When inquiring about the behavior of the non- Indian press, the statement was made to a BIA official, "I suppose the press has been knocking on her family's door." To which the official relied, "Knocking on it? They've been knocking it down." Many questions surrounding Sohappy's death thus far remain unanswered. Nedra Darling, Public Affairs spokesperson in the Department of Interior, Indian Affairs office in Washington, DC, stated that "A full investigation is going on. We are trying to stabilize the environment. I can only confirm that there was a death at the school. The autopsy is not done all the way yet. We want the full report, not just part of the information." Darling expressed her concern over the conflict between the desire to know the details of the tragedy and the necessity to complete the investigation before releasing information. She added, "All of us are grieved by the situation.This is something that we are very sympathetic to. Because of the seriousness of the circumstances, it would not be right to present information that is not complete - not only to the press, but to the public and on behalf of the family." When asked how long it may be before the investigation is completed, Darling replied, "It will be at least two weeks." No official explanations have been offered as to why Sohappy was being held in the cell, who was responsible for monitoring her condition, the policies and procedures at Chemawa regarding intoxicated students (the parent/student handbook published on the school's website makes no mention of the holding cells), the medical care offered to students being held in the cells, or the other alcohol treatment offered students found drinking on campus. It is also unclear whether or not the cells are common to all of the BIA boarding schools or are only in use at the Chemawa Indian School. Chemawa is the oldest continuously operating Indian boarding school in the United States. The campus, which opened in 1878, was re-built in the 1970's, and the historic buildings were torn down. The four holding cells in question were added in 1989. Almost since their construction, they have been a point of controversy. According to an Associated Press report, a "high-ranking psychiatrist with the Indian Health Service says she warned her superiors more than a decade ago that students should not be placed in holding cells at the Chemawa Indian School in Salem." "I said you are going to have children die in there," said Dr. Delores Gregory, who retired in 1991 as director of psychiatry for the Portland IHS office. The report points out that "experts in alcohol abuse, as well as police and administrators at other schools, said they do not put intoxicated teenagers in holding cells because of the dangers. Several said they immediately head to hospital emergency rooms or call 9-1-1 if a student is obviously intoxicated." Gregory was concerned that the students "were not monitored closely enough and that the staff was ill-trained to deal with them properly." She also expressed fears that students might try to commit suicide in the cells. It has been noted in several reports that the students were monitored by video camera, and that the rule of thumb was to check on them "once every half hour." It has been suggested that checking on "sleeping" students by video camera would not be enough to monitor their physical condition, including whether they were alive or dead. By the time paramedics were called in to help Sohappy, there was "nothing they could do." The information regarding who called 9-1-1 and what was reported during the call is not being released. According to the Chemawa Indian School's website, there is an on-campus alcohol treatment program available to students called the "Chemawa Alcohol Education Center," although one report cites the closure of the facility due to budget cuts in 2000. Copyright c. 2003 Native Voice Media, all rights reserved. --------- "RE: UNM Center attacks Scourge of Indian Diabetes" --------- Date: Sat, 3 Jan 2004 16:21:31 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DIABETES" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.abqtrib.com/archives/news04/010304_news_diabetes.shtml UNM center attacks scourge of Indian diabetes By Sue Vorenberg Tribune Reporter January 3, 2004 Ayn Whyte has seen the ravages of diabetes in her own family. It left her aunt blind and dependent on a dialysis machine, which she must travel to a hospital to use four times a week for four hours a day, Whyte said. "She had to give up working," Whyte said. "She's blind, and she has to stay home all the time. She has nine children, but she can't cook for them or herself. She can't care for herself. "She's upset, because she can't see what her grandchildren look like. She has to feel them, feel their faces." Whyte is a researcher at the University of New Mexico Office of Native American Diabetes Programs. She asked that her aunt's name remain confidential, but says she hopes the story will help American Indian women take diabetes seriously. "It's hard to see people trying to make changes to their lifestyles when it's very, very late," Whyte said. "It's hard to see when they actually realize the realities of it." Whyte and others at the center are in the middle of a five-year, $1.8 million National Institutes of Health study aimed at preventing diabetes in American Indian women. The center has developed booklets, books and classes to teach healthy American Indian women to make lifestyle changes that will greatly reduce their risk of getting the disease. They are working with 200 urban Indian women to test the materials. If the program succeeds, it could be used by tribes and health organizations all over the country, said Marla Pardilla, a researcher at the center. "Our job here is to motivate the women to exercise and make healthier food choices," Pardilla said. The center chose to focus the program on women because women traditionally have done more of the cooking and food purchasing in American Indian families, Director Janice Thompson said. "Women are the caretakers of the family," Thompson said. "They help guide the family to be active and make healthy lifestyle choices. After participating in the study, their job is to go back and share the information with their families." The materials provide more than simple tips on diet and exercise, they also focus on American Indian culture, using examples from tribes from all over the country, said Venita Wolfe, one of the center's teachers. "We have talking circles rather than lectures," Wolfe said. "We talk about the barriers we all face - barriers of time and support and other things. It's really interesting watching the ladies talk. We all share a lot with each other." People from the classes also share feedback and suggestions that will probably be used in later versions of the class materials. The curriculum can't be changed while it's being evaluated, Wolfe said. "A lot of women talk about time management - how do you exercise while you're working and trying to care for your family?" Wolfe said. "How can you buy healthy food when you have a hard time paying the rent? How can you go for a walk when you don't feel safe in your neighborhood?" Sometimes, good solutions come from other tribes. At Zuni Pueblo, for instance, a lifestyle and exercise program has helped keep tribal members healthy for 25 years, Wolfe said. "We've also got some stories from the Lakota," she said. "They just started a program where they're reverting to traditional foods. We really like sharing stories like that." In all the activities, students are encouraged to use a buddy system. Exercise and nutrition programs tend to be more successful if people work together, Whyte said. Finding women to participate in the study has been difficult. Historically, American Indians have been treated poorly in scientific studies, and many women don't want to participate out of fear. "We go out and drive around a lot and talk to people," Wolfe said. "We're constantly out looking and handing out information. Fortunately, we haven't had anything thrown at us yet." Traditional advertising methods don't work nearly as well as simply finding people and talking to them, Wolfe added. "I think this program is really important because it's proactive," Wolfe said. "We're trying to do something about this problem before it happens. It's preventable. We don't have to wait until diabetes gets out of control." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ American Indian diabetes facts - American Indians have the highest rate of Type II diabetes in the world. - Nationally and in New Mexico, American Indians are three times more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes than whites. - Death rates from diabetes are four times higher for American Indians than in whites. - American Indians have a significantly higher rate than other groups of complications from diabetes. - About 15 percent of all American Indians who go to Indian Health Service have been diagnosed with diabetes. Source: Janice Thompson, director, UNM Office of Native American Diabetes Programs Copyright c. 2004 The Albuquerque Tribune. --------- "RE: Native group suing Notre Dame" --------- Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2004 08:10:17 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HANNAHVILLE POTAWATOMI" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.wndu.com/news/012004/news_23434.php Native American group suing Notre Dame January 5, 2004 A Native American tribe located in Michigan's upper peninsula claims to own property on the campus of the University of Notre Dame, and they're threatening to sue over it. A local attorney filed the complaint on December 23, on behalf of the Hannahville Indian Community Tribe of Potawatomi Indians. A spokesperson for the University Of Notre Dame says they are well aware of the situation. However, they cannot comment on it yet, as they have not been served the lawsuit. ND News & Information Spokesperson Dennis Brown says, "At this time we can't get into details because we don't have the lawsuit in hand." He continued, "We are confident that this property that we have been on for 162 years is both legal and proper." According to the tribe's website they have 680 tribal members living on the reservation in Wilson, Michigan. Copyright 1999-2004 Michiana Telecasting Corp. --------- "RE: JOHN MOHAWK: The Fundamental President" --------- Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 08:42:17 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MOHAWK: PRESIDENT BUSH" http://www.indiancountry.com/?1072818795 Mohawk: The Fundamental President Native Currents December 30, 2003 by: John C. Mohawk / Columnist / Indian Country Today [Editors' Note: This commentary first appeared in the Spring 2003 edition of Native Americas Journal (Volume 20, Number 1), the independent policy quarterly of hemispheric indigenous issues published by the First Nations Development Institute of Fredericksburg, Va.] Religion, and specifically Southern Protestant fundamentalism, is the dominant cultural reality in the Bush White House and in the process which has led to war. Although George W. Bush is nominally a Methodist, he has pandered shamelessly to the religious right and many of his views are consistent with those of Protestant fundamentalist extremists. He has confirmed such views more than once, and is on record stating his belief that non-Christians can never go to heaven. This is a statement with enormous implications that he is not president to all Americans but to a minority, albeit a sizeable minority. The religious culture he comes from is even more narrow than that, defining only born-again Christians as true to the faith and therefore eligible for admission to heaven. Mr. Bush is steeped in the culture of West Texas, a culture with many of the characteristics of the Old South. It is tinged with a history of racism, has a strong anti-environmentalist ethos, wallows in crony capitalism, exalts in jingoistic militarism, and has an anti-public education and anti-welfare bias. The president has discovered that it is not productive to embrace all these ideologies publicly, but he has set into motion an agenda which makes the radical religious right as happy as it has been in generations. It is not difficult to understand how the Old South came to be the way it is. In the 19th century, America was alone among industrialized nations to tolerate slavery. In the South, slave labor not only drove agricultural profits prior to the industrial revolution in agriculture, it also set the tone of the culture. People who depend on beatings and other forms of torture to keep their laborers in line and who casually rape and abuse the women they "own" have good reason to sleep with a gun under their pillow for fear that their "property" might rise from their hovels and kill them in their sleep. It helps to explain America's love affair with firearms. Although slavery was outlawed in 1863, significant elements of the culture which spawned it are thriving. The South is the most militaristic area of the country and a higher percentage of its population is in the military than any other population in the country. The U.S. has never entered a war that the South didn't like, including the War of 1812, the Mexican War, numerous Indian wars, their part of the Civil War, the preemptive Philippines War, and so forth. Southern white Protestant males are the most violent population in America and possess the highest murder rate. Despite intense religiosity and lots of rhetoric around "family values," that population also has the highest divorce rate in the country. Mr. Bush began his "walk," the embrace of fundamentalism, as he turned 40 and resolved to stop drinking. Instead of turning to Alcoholics Anonymous, he joined Community Bible Study (CBS) and became an ardent member of this bible study group. Although he has made fundamentalist conservatism a cornerstone of his political life, he appears to be a genuine convert and he seems determined to use the lessons of his faith to transform American society and drive the destiny of the world. These are grandiose and dangerous impulses which utilize ideas of good and evil to support dismissal of anyone who disagrees as either ignorant of the difference or willfully in favor of evil. The isolationism of George W. Bush is not driven by a Henry Kissinger- like Machiavellianism but is inspired by writings of somewhat obscure religious philosophers such as Oswald Chambers (whose books Mr. Bush reads for inspiration) and the spiritual descendants of such men as Jonathan Edwards. All of this adds up to a remarkable but unavoidable conclusion: the President of the United States is living an ideology that has its roots in the Great Awakening of the18th century. If all this information is reliable, it could explain a lot. The Awakening launched a discussion about individual salvation which tends to explain fundamentalism's hostility toward federal programs intended to help poor people because it urges that the individual must take responsibility for their own well being. Indeed, there is some resistance here to the idea that society should try to solve society's problems, unless those problems are cast in terms of recruiting the irreligious to the fold. The idea of "compassionate conservatism" is linked to faith- based initiatives in ways that are not transparent to people who are not involved in the conversations of the religious right. More alarming, perhaps, are the implications of the mix of religion and war. President Bush is clever enough to avoid using the language of religion too loudly in the rhetoric of war (he had to back off shortly after 9/11 when he used the word "crusade" to describe the war he was planning), but he has had trouble finding an alternative explanation for the attack on Iraq. At first he said Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, but he and all his men couldn't put together credible proof of that, so the explanation shifted to an accusation that Saddam was involved with al Qaeda, an accusation which was also never proven. But proof wasn't necessary, because George W. Bush believes Saddam and the Iraqi regime is evil and that's enough to lead a religious man to initiate a faith-based war which leaders of most of the Christian denominations believe has failed the requirements of Just Warfare, and which is difficult, at best, to defend under international law. Just what else he believes, the world seems destined to discover. ---- John C. Mohawk, Ph.D., columnist for Indian Country Today, is an author and professor in the Center for the Americas at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Copyright c. 2003 Indian Country Today. --------- "RE: YELLOW BIRD: Don't let Gunshots break Silence" --------- Date: Sun, 4 Jan 2004 17:15:46 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YELLOW BIRD: BEAR BUTTE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.grandforks.com/~/dorreen_yellow_bird/ DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: Don't let gunshots break silence on Bear Butte South Dakota's Bear Butte State Park, one of the holy places for Native people, is in the middle of a dispute between tribes and the proponents of a proposed shooting range. The butte sits about seven miles north of Sturgis, S.D., and a group called the Black Hills Sporstmen's Complex wants to build a shooting range on privately owned land about four miles from the butte. Several tribes and advocate groups battle constantly to keep the Bear Butte from being desecrated. For centuries, tribes such as the Lakota/Dakota/Nakota, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Crow, Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara and others have gone to the Sacred Butte for religious purposes. A shooting range on this part of the Great Plains not only would mar the state park but terribly disrupt the religious purposes of this sacred place. Some tribes have brought suit against the Black Hills Sportsmen's Complex. Perhaps, the proponents and businessmen see the shooting range as a good venture for their business and tourism, and maybe they don't understand the significance and importance of the butte to tribes and people in the area. Using the butte as part of economic development for the region is not new. Former Gov. Bill Janklow's administration approved an $825,000 federal Community Development Block project that would help pay for this $900,000 shooting range. Since then, the grant was canceled by the federal government. Bear Butte stands some 4,426 feet above the prairie land. It isn't quite a butte. It's more like a long, magma mountain and one of several intrusions of igneous rock that formed millions of years ago along the northern edge of the Black Hills. Artifacts dating back 10,000 years have been found near Bear Butte. The butte was acquired by the state in 1962 and designated a state park. It is one of the most public sacred sites among Native Americans. Notable leaders including Red Cloud, Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull have visited Bear Butte. These visits culminated with an 1857 gathering of many Indian nations to discuss the advancement of white settlers into the Black Hills. I've been to Bear Butte. The first time I saw the butte I was a youngster. After I was married, I visited it with my husband and children. My most unforgettable visit was last spring. I was asked to participate in the Native American Newspaper Career Conference at the Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills. For the conference, I drove to the Black Hills through small South Dakota towns such as McLaughlin, Little Eagle and Eagle Butte and on that long highway through the rolling plains to Sturgis. There are few stopping-off places in the broad stretch of prairie. The solitude can lull you to sleep, so I was looking for a rest stop when the gigantic butte seemed to jump up in front of me. It was a Goliath with me, the tiny David. If you look at the butte from a distance, it looks like a sleeping bear whose head is pointed north. I came upon it from the north, so I saw the whole bear staring straight at me on the north side of the mountain. I drove around the bottom of the butte to the state park, passing the buffalo grazing quietly against the hill. It had rained that day, and you almost could hear the grass growing. There were signs along the buffalo pasture telling people these were wild animals and not feed them or climb the fence into their pasture. What fool, I wondered, would climb into the pasture with these wooly mammoths? The buffalo disappeared as I moved up the butte. There are fences, signs giving directions, gates and a pay station. Most impressive to me were the countless prayer flags that hung from every tree and shrub on the hillside. These yellow, white, black, blue, green, lavender and red prayer ties give the appearance of an orchard in spring bloom. It was a hillside of prayers. The sun was low in the west, and I was on the shaded side of the butte. In that quiet, I almost could hear the prayers of the supplicants. This is not a good place to add the loud reports of guns and rifles of people practicing how to shoot a gun. That would be like putting a shooting range next to a roadside chapel where people pray and contemplate nature. When I left Bear Butte, I promised myself I would return and, perhaps, climb the back of the bear to the top, add my prayer ties and listen to the ancestors. It is my wish that I don't hear the guns of the Black Hills Sportsman Complex and that all still is quiet on the bear's back. --- Yellow Bird writes columns Tuesday and Saturday. Reach her by phone at 780-1228 or (800) 477-6572, extension 228, or by e-mail at dyellowbird@gfherald.com. Copyright c. 2004 Grand Forks Herald/Grand Forks, ND. --------- "RE: Scientists link 1700 Earthquake to Legends" --------- Date: Fri, 2 Jan 2004 08:35:22 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="1700 EARTHQUAKE REMEMBERED" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canada.com/~44981F9B-78ED-4CBC-AF48-B976B7FB6906 [Editorial Comment: I find it interesting it's always our myths and their history, our massacre and their victory.] Scientists link 1700 earthquake to legends Native myths shed light on B.C.'s past Joseph Brean National Post January 2, 2004 On a still mid-winter night, long before Europeans first landed on Vancouver Island, native legend tells of a great disaster. The sea rose in a heaving wave, and landslides buried a sleeping village. "They had practically no way or time to try to save themselves. I think it was at nighttime that the land shook ... They simply had no time to get hold of canoes, no time to get awake," the late Nuu-Chah-nulth Chief Louie Clamhouse told Alan McMillan, an anthropologist at Simon Fraser University. "I think a big wave slammed into the beach. The Pachena Bay people were lost." Over time, Indian storytellers began to speak of dwarfs in the mountains, mythic creatures who would dance around their great wooden drum, causing the earth to shake and the waters to rise. Myth was resolved with science in 2003 when government research proved that an earthquake, the most intense Canada has ever seen, hit the sea floor off the British Columbia coast at 9 p.m. on January 26, 1700. Earthquakes of that intensity cause tidal waves, and Japanese written history tells of a massive tsunami striking fishing villages the next day along the coast of Honshu, killing hundreds. Coupled with geological evidence of the level 9 quake, the connection was clear. With this initial success, the odd pairing of mythology and seismology has a bright future. Last year also saw the establishment of the Neptune Project, a $300-million sea-floor observatory off the B.C. coast, in an earthquake-prone area called the Cascadia subduction zone. It was this 1,000-kilometre fault line, between mainland North America and the smaller Juan de Fuca tectonic plate, that ruptured in 1700. And it is this fault line that has given rise to some of the most colourful myths of Pacific Coast native lore. In his paper titled "When the Mountain Dwarfs Danced: Aboriginal Traditions of Paleoseismic Events along the Cascadia Subduction Zone of Western North America", Prof. McMillan tells a story of the Heiltsuk, of the central B.C. coast, who were driven to higher ground by a flood. When they returned, they found four little people dancing on the shore by their ruined village. "It is tempting to imagine this flood as a tsunami and the dancing little people as equivalent to Nuu-chah-nulth earthquake dancers," he wrote. In some villages, tribal elders would sit through the earthquake, banging the ground with stone mauls and chanting a plea for the shaking to stop. In floods, the people would anchor their canoes to mountaintops. In many accounts, ropes and weights used in these desperate measures were discovered years later. Mostly, though very little physical evidence remains for these stories. One of the scientists who worked on the Canada-U.S.-Japan project to study the 1700 quake, Brian Atwater, says his research brought him in contact with buried fishing camps, and in one case, what looked to be the clothing of a victim. At the site in Oregon, in an estuary that had been buried under mudslides triggered by the 1700 earthquake, his team was collecting samples of buried stems and leaves. Dating those provided extra evidence for the timing of the quake. "We happened upon a piece of woven material, and it was interpreted as either a basket or a skirt fragment by an archeologist," he said over the phone from his office at the University of Washington. "It was particularly sobering.... We wondered what became of the person who made that, if the person was alive at the time of the tsunami, whether the person came to harm. One can only imagine." He is not sure how much stock to put in the myths he hears, but refuses to brush them off as mere fiction. "The trick there is how to feel confident.... A report that is vague, understandably so, about the time of occurrence, is sometimes wrapped up in other stories," Mr. Atwater said. "You know Kipling's Just So Stories. Sometime's there's a 'Just So' element." Tim Paul, a Nuu-chah-nulth carver and silkscreen artist, has recorded these earthquake legends in his art. In one celebrated mask, he casts the earthquake god Ta-gil as a terrifying, cave-dwelling "relative" of humanity. The other 10 relatives -- sun, stars, moon, and so on -- nurture us, but Ta-gil "puts us in our place" and with his destruction, he "reminds us that we are the smallest part of nature," Mr. Paul said. In Mr. Paul's silkscreens, Ta-gil is depicted with an enlarged foot, the "earthquake foot," that enables him to shake the ground. He is a reluctant destroyer, though, and the earthquake foot is seen as his sickness. The Juan de Fuca tectonic plate, whose motion is responsible for all these myths, is the smallest tectonic plate on Earth and thus the easiest to study. Three years from now, construction will be finished on the Neptune Project, an ambitious effort to lay sensors along the Cascadia zone, where the Juan de Fuca plate meets North America. Three thousand kilometres of powered fibre-optic cable will be arranged over 200,000 square kilometres, giving real-time analysis to researchers through shore stations at Victoria and in Oregon. As it uncovers greater detail about the Earth's shifting crust off B.C., this lab might foster a deeper understanding between mythology and science. Consider the native myth in which the god Thunderbird killed two monstrous killer whales, and the battle at sea caused a great thunderstorm. As Prof. McMillan quotes an earlier researcher, there was "a shaking, jumping up and trembling of the earth beneath, and a rolling up of the great waters." Another version from Oregon has Thunderbird dragging the whales into the mountains, and the earth shaking with their thrashing. "Oral traditions have multiple levels of meaning, rather than describing a single set of historic events," Prof. McMillan wrote. Indeed, many of these myths seem to reveal the natives' understanding, cloaked in symbolism, that the power of the earthquake lies somewhere out in the Pacific Ocean. Centuries on, they are being proved correct. jbrean@nationalpost.com Copyright c. 2004 National Post. --------- "RE: Judge upholds charges in Chediski Fire Case" --------- Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 08:42:17 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CHEDISKI DAMAGE TRIAL CONTINUED" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.paysonroundup.com/section/localnews/story/13767 Judge upholds charges in Chediski Fire case By Jim Keyworth, Roundup staff reporter Tuesday, December 30, 2003 The civil case against Valinda Jo Elliott can proceed, according to a ruling issued by White Mountain Apache Tribal Judge Durango Fall last week. Fall denied a motion to dismiss the case filed by Kevin O'Grady, Elliott's attorney. O'Grady argued that the White Mountain Apache Tribe did not have jurisdiction over Elliott because she is not a tribal member, even though she started the fire on reservation land. In issuing the ruling, Fall sided with tribal attorney George Hesse who argued that the White Mountain Apache Tribe has jurisdiction over non- members when tribal laws and codes have been violated. The tribe, Hesse maintained, has jurisdiction over all lands on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation and tribal members and non-tribal members alike must abide by tribal laws while on those lands. Elliott, who started the Chediski portion of the Rodeo-Chediski fire when she lit a signal fire after becoming lost on the Fort Apache Reservation, was served with papers in the civil action in June, 2002, after the U.S. attorney general declined to file federal charges against her. The action charges the 33-year-old with leaving an unattended fire and other wrongs. When the fire merged with the Rodeo Fire, the resulting inferno became the largest fire in Arizona history. Before it was contained, the Rodeo-Chediski Fire ravaged 470,000 acres and destroyed 467 homes -- including 200 in Heber-Overgaard -- and narrowly missed Show Low, Forest Lakes and other communities. The total cost of battling the blaze was at least $43 million, with another $28 million in damages. The fire cost the tribe millions of dollars through the devastation of prime timber, natural resources and wildlife. If Elliott is found liable, the tribe could be awarded restitution for those losses. The Rodeo Fire was also started on White Mountain Apache tribal land five miles northeast of Cibecue by Leonard Gregg, a 29-year-old contract firefighter who wanted more work. He was originally charged with two counts of arson in federal court, but was subsequently found incompetent to stand trial. The White Mountain Apache Tribal Court will now schedule a hearing date for the charges against Elliott to be heard. Copyright c. 2003 The Payson Roundup, Payson, AZ. --------- "RE: Attack on Leonard Peltier" --------- Date: Sat, 03 Jan 2004 21:40:09 -0000 From: "Carter " Subj: Re: [KOLANews] PIGS work to solve Aquash slaying(NOT!) Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Mailing List: ndn-aim Attack on Leonard Peltier Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2003 13:42:13 -0500 Ah-ho My Relations, Over the years the case of the wrongful imprisonment of Leonard Peltier has been a unifying factor all across "Indian Country" and among our allies worldwide. All across our lands American Indian people have stood shoulder to shoulder in demanding freedom for Leonard Peltier for a reason. .. he's innocent! Independent investigations by authors, defense attorney's working for Peltier and not, and hundreds of journalists has shown without doubt that he did not get a fair trial. Within the American Indian Movement there has never been any doubt that Leonard was framed and used as a scapegoat by an FBI desperate to pin the guilt of their failed attack on someone from AIM, anyone, as long as they got a conviction. After Dino and Bob were acquitted by a jury that was allowed to hear the truth, the FBI spent many hours in many meetings deciding how to convict Peltier. First they picked a "FBI friendly" judge who they could count on to help them bend the truth. He then refused to allow Peltier to use the only true defense he had, the one that had freed Dino and Bob, he ruled that Peltier could not use "self-defense" as a defense! In other words a federal judge ruled the truth of the shooting would not be allowed to be used for Leonard, so the trial was fixed from the start. Then, because they had moved the trial to a state where hating Indians is as common as loving John Wayne, they got a jury predisposed against all Indians, gave them fabricated ballistic and other "expert" information, fed them outright lies from the witness stand by FBI agents and withheld pertinent information that would have given the jusy any doubt. Thus Leonard Peltier was wrongly convicted... but only of "aiding and abetting" the killing of the two agents. Even the government has no idea who killed those attacking agents during the intense fight the Indian people were waging for their lives. And in the end I do not think it matters, no more than exactly who killed Custer matters. We know whose homes were being attacked and what people (Traditionals and AIM) were being killed by the FBI and their GOONs. We know it was an invited and welcomed AIM encampment, on a local Lakota family's homesite containing families from babies to grandparents, that was slated for attack by these same invaders. We may never know for sure but evidence points to these two agents "jumping the gun" on the attack and starting the fight before their backup was in place. Unfortunately for them, but lucky for the babies, they jumped on a hornets nest and died for their foolishness before the helicopters and other reinforcements arrived. The ensuing fight and it's aftermath of a quarter century of wrongful imprisonment of Leonard Peltier has been well documented and is known worldwide. Leonard Peltier is known as the prime example of an American political prisoner and millions of people around the world have asked for his freedom. The case has been investigated and litigated until even one of the appeals judges asked for his freedom, the facts of the governments case are known, at least what they have released, so we can say with confidence that if Peltier would have had a fair trail based on all the facts that have come to light, he would have been acquitted and be at home with his grandchildren right now. Instead his framing has been allowed to stand and Peltier remains a political prisoner of America's longest war. We know for certain that the fight at the Jumping Bull home was a part of an FBI attempt to wipe out the American Indian Movement and that all who were there fought in self-defense. We also know the agents were not scalped. We know that Peltier told us that he and the other warriors, men and women, fought hard and desperately with real guns using real bullets to repel the attack. We know that the FBI has a different version, a version that has been put to the lie by responsible journalists, authors and all of ndn country. We know they will go to any lengths to keep the truth hidden and Peltier in jail. In "Indian Country" we have a decided lack of newspapers or media to cover the many happenings around our nations and those we do have are only guided by their owners sense of what is good journalism and what is not. There are no repercussions for newspaper owners cum-reporters, editors and publishers all in one. They can, and do, report as news their own speculations and misunderstandings with impunity, you will never see one of them resign for ethical reasons as was done at the New York Times recently, so generally it's buyer beware journalism and we get used to it. After reading the various ndn newspapers we can tell where they're coming from and we pay attention to them accordingly. One of the newspapers ndns have rejected en mass is Paul DeMains "News of Indian Country" mainly because it's a "point of view" type yellow newspaper instead of an attempt at good journalism. But DeMain has learned that in America scandal sells so in order to drum up business this paper has made a habit of printing and reprinting every sort of story about the murder of Anna Mae Aquash. Mainly he has come down for the FBI version as put out in the first failed grand jury about her and rehashed by the FBI and their stooges ever since. Recently they have attempted to use our own culture against us, one cop named Eccoffy stupidly and falsely claimed he had had a "dream" or vision about her death which prompted him to seek her killer. Around the rez we all know the ex-Cop Eccoffy so we can laugh at his perversion of our ways, but people like DeMain think a cops dreams are evidence and print them verbatim. This past year DeMain got so outrageous in his anti-AIM diatribes that Peltier was forced to file a lawsuit against him in an attempt to stop his untrue scandal sheet from grossly distorting the tragic death of Anna Mae. An arrest has been made in Anna's death and except for pure speculation DeMain knows nothing about it so he is desperate to get in on the story no matter the cost to truth. Guess what? Now DeMain, like ole Bob Eccoffy, has had a new epiphany and has decided in his wisdom that our brother Leonard Peltier is guilty. And like ole Bob too he uses imaginary informants that whispered in his ear and convinced him, against all evidence new and old, that by golly, the FBI was right all along! Oh, he begins his "story" with many references to Pipes and "Pipecarriers", (a fictitious position btw) and other ndn sounding bs and he tells (brags) about how much he has read and studied Peltiers case. He even does some quoting from the case and various interviews, nonsensical stuff but things I assume he thinks bolsters his anti-Peltier conclusions, but in the end his whole story come down to this quote below... DeMain says; " But in the end, while crossing back and forth over the issue of "without doubt," and crossing back again to wonder, it simply took a delegation of people who were tired of all the deceptions, lies and dangers to step forward and tell me the truth. "Peltier was responsible for the close range execution of the agents..." and that was the end of that. I have no reason to doubt the group of people, and others I have since conversed with, that they are now telling the truth. They are people who have agonized for years, grandfathers and grandmothers, AIM activists, Pipe carriers and others who have carried a heavy unhealthy burden within them that has taken its toll. " Notice what he put in quotation marks as coming from a delegation of our people. In my opinion this is a lie, either a lie or the FBI scout DeMain left out some very important words, such as, " I heard" Peltier was responsible" etc. We know the FBI and other governmental departments were engaged in a massive disinformation campaign (COINTELPRO) against AIM and rumors were abundant all over ndn country, everybody was in the know. But how many people were there that could say for certain what DeMain claims they did? Maybe a dozen or less in the entire world? And out of this dozen DeMain would have you believe a whole "group" of them sought him out to unburden themselves to! By telling him apparently their "heavy unhealthy burden" was lifted... and Paul gets a scoop of course. Without this mysterious, guilt ridden "delegation" to back up his far out story DeMain is caught for what he is; a lowlife liar who will say and print anything to have his moment in the sun and a pat on the head from the FBI and other assorted ndn haters. Well my relations, I too know those old grandfathers, grandmothers, AIM activists and his vaunted Pipecarriers. They are friends of mine and although I do not get to visit with them very often the last I heard every single one of them continues to support Leonard Peltier and to work for his release. They all still continue to love and honor the warriors who fought that day to protect them and they still call for an investigation into the murders of their relations during the FBI reign of terror on Pine Ridge. There is no "heavy burden of guilt" at all in the community that I have ever detected, most of them are very proud of the victory that day and glad the invaders weren't able to carry out their plan. Why should any of us be ashamed of standing in defense of our people and fighting for our families? The "burden of guilt" DeMain bases his lie upon does not exist, unbeknownst to DeMain the warriors of that fight earned and were awarded eagle feathers of honor by a grateful community. Indian Country still honors them all in song, dance and prayer as is our way when warriors fight and most of all we honor Leonard Peltier who also gave his life that day. As a people we should not allow this DeMain character to get away with his smear campaign against our brother. I personally will never spend a dime for his unreliable rag and I hope all who read this will shun him too. There are some decent newspapers in ndn country that will carry our letters telling the truth and there are other ways to refute these lies such as the internet where we can explain to everyone that DeMains lies were prompted by Peltiers lawsuit against him for lying about Anna Mae not by anything this psudo-journalist has learned. He likes to use names like Richard LaCourse who was a real journalist, to make it seem like they agree with him. To my knowledge Richard was a Peltier supporter as so many journalists are in ndn country, DeMain cheapens his memory by linking him to his lies, but, cheap is as cheap does. He also likes to brag about some phony awards he has received for 'journalism', our people need to contact every one of these organizations to protest his yellow journalism as beyond the realm of decency. We may know that DeMain is an unimportant worm but how can non-ndn people know he is lying unless we tell them? And have no doubt about it my friends, the attack on Leonard Peltier by DeMain is a part and parcel of the ongoing war against AIM, our sovereignty, and our freedom as a people. He, with a few sellouts and assorted cops, are engaged in an anti-ndn crusade because the FBI is desperate to keep the truth under wraps and they are using every weak minded ndn they can co-opt. This crusade began when the Peltier pardon effort was gaining ground and the cops raised vast amounts of money to keep him locked up. They know the release of Peltier might trigger an investigation into the rez murders of the 70's and cause some agents to take Peltiers place behind bars. In the end my relations we must continue our thirty year effort to bring the truth to light. We must redouble our efforts to free Leonard Peltier from prison and we must continue to work to ensure that the anti-AIM crusade being waged by the FBI and their running dogs does NOT obscure our call for an independent international tribunal to investigate the FBI/GOON "reign of terror" that killed sixty or more Native people during and after Wounded Knee '73'. We must not let the smoke screen the FBI/DeMain group is putting out obscure the truth. Our brother is depending on those of us outside to protect his interests and to continue the fight. Our movement, our organizations and out tribeswomen and men may be divided on many things, but not this, we are unified in our knowledge that Leonard Peltier is being held illegally and we demand with one voice... FREE LEONARD PELTIER!... NOW!!! I am Carter Camp, Ponca Nation AIM --- In ndn-aim@yahoogroups.com, ErthAvengr@a... wrote: > Sent by KOLA...........thanks > > Subj: [KOLANews] Investigators work to solve Aquash slaying > Date: 1/3/2004 11:59:50 AM Mountain Standard Time > From: kolanews@c... > Sent from the Internet (Details) > > [from Firehair. Thanks!] > Date: Sat, 3 Jan 2004 > > Guided by a spirit: > Investigators work to solve Aquash slaying > by Pauline Arrillaga > Denver, Colorado (AP) > The arrest warrant was burning a hole in Detective Abe Alonzo's pocket. > He knew he needed to turn it over to the fugitive unit, but Alonzo > wanted one last chance to nab the guy himself. > He had worked too long and hard on this one to let it go now. > Alonzo swung his unmarked car onto Colfax Avenue, past the tattoo > parlors and bars that had turned the corridor near downtown Denver into a > hangout for vagrants and drunks. Maybe, just maybe, his suspect would be > roaming the street that was one of his favorite haunts. > Then he saw someone: A short man, coat bundled up to his neck, knit cap > tugged to his eyebrows. Alonzo pulled into the Conoco, got out and > flashed his badge. > "Police. Let me see some identification." The man raised his head. > Alonzo could hardly believe his eyes, or his luck. Nor could the > patrolman who arrived at the scene soon afterward. > "This guy's wanted for murder," the stunned officer said. > Still standing on the street, Alonzo punched Bob Ecoffey's number into > his cell phone. He couldn't wait to break the news to his friend, the > man who introduced him to the case that had consumed them both. > How to tell him that after 27 years their first suspect was finally in > custody? > "Bob," he said simply. "I've got Arlo." > The arrest came on her birthday: March 27, 2003. Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash > would have been 58 had she not been shot in the head and left to die in a > lonely ravine on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Reservation. > Ecoffey assured Alonzo the timing was more than mere coincidence. "It > was meant to happen," he said. "It was always meant to happen." > Once, Alonzo would have been skeptical. He was unfamiliar with the > Indian way until he met Ecoffey, an Oglala Sioux who grew up at Pine > Ridge. > At first, the detective had scoffed at his beliefs. > Anna Mae changed all that. > A member of the Mi'kmaq Tribe of Canada, she came to Pine Ridge in the > early 1970s when the American Indian Movement was gaining strength with > its calls to reassert tribal sovereignty. > She participated in the 1973 occupation of the village of Wounded Knee, > S.D., a 71-day standoff between AIM activists and federal agents. > Working both as a guard and supply courier, she established herself as a > key player in the group. > The FBI considered AIM an extremist organization, and planted spies and > snitches in the group. In early 1975, the bodyguard of an AIM co-founder > Dennis Banks revealed himself as an FBI informant. > Doubt soon shrouded Anna Mae - a Canadian "outsider" who always seemed > to be around when busts went down. > Tensions escalated in June 1975 when two FBI agents searching for a > robbery suspect at Pine Ridge were killed in a gunfight with AIM members. > That November, police stopped a motor home carrying the alleged shooter, > activist Leonard Peltier. Peltier eventually was convicted in the deaths. > Anna Mae was among those riding in the motor home when it was pulled > over, and rumors circulated that perhaps she had tipped off authorities. > She was arrested, but after being released on her own recognizance sought > refuge at an AIM safehouse in Denver. > One month later, in December 1975, an AIM security contingent kidnapped > Anna Mae from the Denver house, Alonzo and Ecoffey contend. She was > returned to South Dakota and interrogated, the investigators say, then > driven to a remote ridge on the reservation and killed. > In the months and years that followed, the investigation languished. > Many Indians considered the FBI to be the enemy, and were reluctant to > cooperate. Some even blamed the agency for Anna Mae's death, charging it > fueled false rumors that she was an informant to turn AIM members against > one another. > There were allegations of a cover-up after a coroner initially ruled > that Anna Mae died of exposure. An independent autopsy found she had > been shot. > Federal authorities have always denied any wrongdoing. > Four grand juries examined the case without returning an indictment. > With each passing year, it seemed less likely that anyone would ever face > charges in Anna Mae's slaying. > Then in 2003, the improbable happened: Two former AIM members were > indicted on charges of first-degree murder in Anna Mae's kidnapping and > death. The alleged triggerman, John Graham, is jailed in Canada pending > extradition. > Accused conspirator Arlo Looking Cloud, a homeless man captured that > March day in Denver, is scheduled to stand trial in February. > Investigators contend they were instructed to kill Anna Mae. Former > AIM leader Russell Means, who previously testified before grand jurors, > has pointed the finger at senior AIM members. > Organization spokesman Vernon Bellecourt calls the accusations > "ridiculous" and insists the case is part of an ongoing war by the > federal government "to silence and discredit the leaders of AIM." > Whatever the truth is, it may finally come out. > But what broke through the distrust that had stalled the investigation? > The work of a few men driven on by the spirit of a woman. One man, an > Indian, would dedicate much of his life to the probe; another, a > non-Indian, would risk his career. It had been said that Anna Mae > couldn't rest until her killers were brought to justice. > Neither would they. > The young officer was sure he heard it: A woman, crying, over the > intercom. > Bob Ecoffey was only 21, a college student working as a guard at the > Pine Ridge jail. He checked the female cell block, but everyone seemed > fine. He looked inside the juvenile ward, but no one was there. > Still, Ecoffey was haunted by the weeping. "If you're an Indian," he > says, "it means something." > He confided in his aunt, who sought the advice of a medicine man and > returned to her nephew with a prophecy that would redirect his life: > There was a woman who was killed before her time. You might not > understand now, his aunt said, but one day you will be in a position to > help her. > It was early 1976, around the time Anna Mae's frozen body was > discovered. > About five years later, as a special agent for the Bureau of Indian > Affairs, Ecoffey started looking into the still-unsolved slaying. But > it wasn't until he was named South Dakota's U.S. marshal in 1994 that > the earlier message began to make sense. > Suddenly, he was in a position to help. He was the first Indian in the > state appointed U.S. marshal. As boss, he could investigate what he > wanted and go where he needed. > But there was something else: After years of refusing to cooperate with > the FBI, the people of Pine Ridge began going to Ecoffey with information. > "The FBI were like fish out of water at Pine Ridge," says Paul DeMain, > editor of the publication News From Indian Country. "Ecoffey is Lakota. > He has family. He has friends. What he did was more in the vein of the > old cop who would sit down and have a cup of coffee at the table. He > became a conduit." > Ecoffey revived the case. Working with BIA investigator Mitch Pourier > and FBI agent Jim Graf, Ecoffey pored over old reports, reinterviewed > potential witnesses, uncovered new leads. He traveled the country and to > Canada. > "It seemed to be an obsession with him," says Pourier. "Bob would say, > `Let's go again,' and we'd be off. This matter may have been filed away, > but Bob kept it going." > Some, however, questioned his motives. Messages posted on the Internet > suggested Ecoffey was using the case as part of a vendetta against AIM > and Peltier. As a police intern, Ecoffey had worked alongside the agents > killed in 1975. > But Ecoffey was undaunted. Finding Anna Mae's murderers became a > personal quest. When hundreds gathered in 1999 for a march to protest > alleged treaty violations and unsolved crimes on the reservation, Ecoffey > carried a sign that read, "Justice for Anna Mae." > "Most people knew I was doing it for the right reasons ... for Anna Mae > and her family," says Ecoffey, now head of the BIA's law enforcement > branch in Albuquerque, N.M. "It was something that was meant to be." > The medicine man had taught him that. > The kidnapping that set the murder in motion allegedly occurred in > Denver, but Ecoffey didn't have good contacts there. During a trip in > 1994, he met Detective Abe Alonzo, assigned to escort the visiting U.S. > marshal around to check out leads. > The son of a Mexican farmworker who grew up in Denver, Alonzo knew > little of Indian activism and even less about Indian faith. > But in Ecoffey, he also saw something he liked. He had expected a stiff > in a suit and a tie. What he got was a nice guy in a vest and boots, > sporting a ponytail. > "You know," Ecoffey told him one day, "I could really use some help." > It would become Alonzo's first and only homicide case. > In 31 years on the force, Alonzo worked patrol and property crimes; he > trained rookies, and served in the intelligence bureau, providing > dignitary protection and security. > Alonzo studied the players in Anna Mae's case, tracked down addresses > and helped interview potential witnesses. One was Looking Cloud, who at > one point accompanied Alonzo and Ecoffey to what was described as the > murder scene in South Dakota and allegedly disclosed details of the > crime. > There, on the windy ridge, Alonzo also came to believe that something > bigger was driving the investigation. It was a hot summer day, well over > 100 degrees, but as Alonzo approached the place where she died, a cold > chill shot through him. The hair on his arms stood up. > "That was Anna Mae's spirit," Ecoffey explained. "She knows you're here > to help her." > Ecoffey pulled some tobacco from a cigar and flung it into the breeze > as an offering to Anna Mae. > "It gave me a little bit more strength," Alonzo recalls. "It was like, > 'I've got to finish this - we've got to finish this - for her sake."' > Alonzo and Ecoffey believed they knew how the slaying unfolded and who > was involved. They needed corroboration. > "I know and have felt Anna Mae's spirit," he wrote. > With trial pending, the investigators can't discuss what finally broke > the case open. They will say only that a source was developed that gave > them enough to secure the indictment. The 2002 appointment of James > McMahon as U.S. attorney in South Dakota also helped, they say. > Looking Cloud's supporters insist he has been made the scapegoat by > overzealous investigators. > "Arlo is innocent. He's a helpless, harmless person," says his cousin, > Bernice Bull Bear. "All these people got together and they decided who > was going to take the fall." > Looking Cloud's attorney, Tim Rensch, acknowledges his client was > present at the slaying, but says he took no part. > "He didn't help with the murder. It was a complete surprise," Rensch > says, adding that he believes prosecutors "were probably hoping to use > him as a stepladder to others." > Anna Mae's relatives view the upcoming trial as just the first step > toward bringing down anyone else who was involved or might have ordered > the killing. > "At least a hundred people have lived in fear of retaliation of ending > up like Anna Mae if they spoke publicly about her murderers. The > whispering has to stop ...," says Anna Mae's daughter, Denise Maloney > Pictou. "We pray... our mother will finally have her day in court." > The investigators see something else: a chance to finally put the past, > and an unsettled spirit, to rest. > "Maybe finding those responsible for her death will bring some peace > to Anna Mae," says Alonzo. > "That," adds Ecoffey, "is true justice." --------- "RE: Native Prisoner" --------- Date: Mon, Jan 5 2004 19:18:40 -0700 From: Janet Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - Natives give camp new role JUSTICE CENTER: Facility will take up to 60 offenders. The Associated Press (Published: January 4, 2004) JUNEAU -- Alaska Native groups are converting a Southeast logging camp into a minimum-security justice center based on Tlingit traditions. Bob Loescher, a consultant for the Hoonah Indian Association, a partner in the project, said the justice center will be more like a halfway house than a prison. "This will be a low-security facility that will be involved in the counseling of people for drug and alcohol rehabilitation, job training, family reorientation and getting these people back on the road to a successful life," said Loescher, a former CEO for Sealaska, the Juneau- based regional Native corporation for Southeast Alaska. The center, scheduled to open in Hoonah in spring, has federal grants totaling $2.15 million and five acres donated by Sealaska. But it doesn't have a commitment from the state to send prisoners there. The idea for the center came from late Hoonah elder Richard Dalton Sr. and Juneau's Alaska Native Brotherhood Camp 2. It is named Teeykat.aa Cultural Justice Spirit Camp and Healing Center, using Dalton's Tlingit name. ANB Camp 2 president Andy Ebona said the plan is to use Native language, arts, crafts and other aspects of the culture to create a healing environment for people coming out of prison. The ANB chapter ran similar but smaller, culture-based programs at the state prison in Juneau and at a nearby halfway house that serves state inmates. The halfway house operator, the nonprofit Gastineau Human Services, is expected to run the Hoonah justice center once it opens, said GHS executive director Greg Pease. Justice center organizers hope to reach an agreement with the state Corrections Department, which runs Alaska's prison system and contracts with halfway houses and other treatment programs. Department Deputy Commissioner Portia Parker said the department is interested in the program but not in providing financial support. "We've explained to them our situation, that we'd be happy to work with them, but that there's no funding available for the state to be able to pay for this," she said. Parker also said the spirit camp would need to pass state scrutiny for security and other standards before it could receive inmates. The justice center will be based at the former Whitestone logging camp on Sealaska property next to the land the corporation donated. The camp was chosen because of its location and facilities, including an administration building, laundry, dining hall-kitchen and bunkhouses, Ebona said. "That really fit our needs pretty well," he said. Loescher said he's heard Hoonah residents' concerns about bringing convicted criminals into the community. "We've assured them that the people that are being brought over there are misdemeanor offenders and people who are not necessarily felons. And that the people who come there will be in their last six months to a year of their service in the corrections institutions of the state," he said. Loescher said Hoonah residents will be among the people served by the camp. They also will be among the 41 workers expected to find year-round employment at the facility. Ebona said the center will open in March or April with 20 offenders, eventually expanding to 60. While it will target Alaska Natives, it will be open to all, he said. He said the center has enough grant money to run for a year, maybe more, and can take people from substance abuse and other programs not directly tied t