From gars@speakeasy.org Thu Feb 19 23:16:16 2004 Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2004 15:14:48 -0800 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews12.007 _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 12, ISSUE 007 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, WOTANGING IKCHE - Lakota - Common News Wotanging Ikche and Native American News Copyright c. 1996-2004 nanews.org Aboriginal/AmerIndian Perspective about the First Nations of Turtle Island February 14, 2004 Yuchi hodadzo/wind moon Kiowa kaguat p'a san/little bud moon +-------------------------------------------------------+ | Much more happens in Indian Country than is reported | | in this weekly newsletter. For daily updates & events | | go to http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm | +-------------------------------------------------------+ Otapi'sin Atsinikiisinaakssin -- Blackfeet -- News for All the People Ni-mah-mi-kwa-zoo-min -- Ojibwe -- We Are Talking About Ourselves Aunchemokauhettittea -- Naragansett -- Let Us Share News Kanoheda Aniyvwiya -- Cherokee -- Journal of the People O Es'te Opunvk'vmucvse -- Creek -- People's New News O o O Acimowin -- Plains Cree -- Story or Account O o O Tlaixmatiliztli -- Nahuatl -- News O o o o o O Agnutmaqan -- Listuguj Mi'kmaq -- News O o O Sho-da-ku-ye -- Teehahnahmah -- Talking Birchbark O o O Un Chota -- Susquehannic Seneca -- The People Speak O Ha-Sah-Sliltha -- Ditidaht Nation -- News of the People Ximopanolti tehuatzin, inin Mexika tlahtolli -- Nahuatl -- For you we offer these words It-hah-pe-hah Ah-num pah-le -- Chickasaw -- Together We Are Talking Dineh jii' adah' ho'nil'e'gii ba' ha' neh -- Navajo Nation -- What's Happening among The People News Okla Humma Holisso Nowat Anya -- Choctaw -- People(s) Red Newspaper Hi'a chu ah gaa -- Pima -- The stories or the talk of the People Native American News -- Language of the Occupation Forces ++>If you 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; First Nations, Frostys AmerIndian, Justice Network, Iron Natives, News and Information Distribution and Rez Life 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: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + ======================== "These white people think this country belongs to them - they don't realize that they are only in charge right now because there's more of them than there are of us. The whole country changed with only a handful of raggedly-ass pilgrims that came over here in the 1500s. And it can take a handful of raggedy-ass Indians to do the same, and I intend to be one of those raggedy-ass Indians." __ Anna Mae Pictou Aquash, Mi'kmaq +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! It has been suggested I comment about Tito Naranjo, a Santa Clara tribal member, being banished from his wife's tribe, Pueblo of Taos, for writing an essay about Taos Pueblo's sacred deer dance. The story appears in this issue as "Tribe banishes Man for writing about Ceremony." The first thing I must say is I am not Pueblan. I am originally from New Mexico, but that means only I have some familiarity with the various pueblos from the outside. To assume anything beyond that would be like expecting an Italian, any Italian born in Italy, to be an authority on the Vatican; and especially the College of Cardinals. For those that do not know, while there are similarities between the Pueblos there are also great differences. In this case, the two pueblos are not even of the same tribal affiliation. Taos is Tiwa and Santa Clara is Tewa. I can assure you the differences are more than just one letter. One thing both Santa Clara and Taos do have in common is they are goverened by a tribal council. That council is the final authority on what is or is not acceptible practice among its citizens. This means Mr. Naranjo knew going in that he was violating standing tradition. In fact, he calls himself "the man that killed the deer dance" because he took that which was sacred to Taos Pueblo, passed down dancer-to-dancer, and not spoken of outside of the ceremony and published it for the world to read about and know. The Taos Tribal Council has banished Mr. Naranjo for this violation, I would even say desecration. The Taos Tribal Council is the governing body of Taos Pueblo and they have spoken. That is as it should be. My final words are this. It is not only the crystal twinkies we must protect our ways from. We must also protect them from those from within who would give them to the outside where they can (will) be corrupted and misused by those who do not understand what they mean to the heart and spirit of the people they belong to. 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 ---------- - Murder Trial - Alaska Tribal Leaders revives intrigue of 70's AIM thought Grants Jeopardized - Looking Cloud Defense: - Living Conditions for Natives Wrong Place at Wrong Time still shameful - Please help Anna Mae Aquash - Health Benefits - Jury convicts Looking Cloud no longer tied to Consent Forms in 1975 Murder - Chiefs accuse Gabriel of - Montana, Salish and Kootemai Police Deal with Devil Land Trade - Timing right - Soothing the Souls at Last for Tribal-law Symposium - Bison killed on Private Property - Police seek FBI's help - New BIA Leader says his Story to identify slain NA Woman is One of Hope - Laguna Man charged - Tex Hall, NCAI Clear Vision with hacking Mother to Death - Tribe banishes Man - Janklow for writing about Ceremony begins serving Prison Sentence - House creates Cabinet-level - KENT: Indian Affairs Dept. Rationalizing Randy Scott's death - Feds sued over OK for Drilling - Native Prisoner - Dine' Curriculum Guide -- Volounteer Badge Pulled is a Milestone - History: Carlisle Indian School - Salish Languages reveal Culture - Rustywire: Navajo Girl - YELLOW BIRD: - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days Devils Lake Outlet seems Risky - Larry Kibby Poem: Ancestral Child - NICK COLEMAN: - Hoop Dance Contest Shades of Custer, Black Hills Gold held at Heard Museum - Upcoming Events --------- "RE: Murder Trial revives intrigue of 70's AIM" --------- Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2004 08:13:13 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ANNA MAE MURDER TRIAL" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nytimes.com/~en=c1a87ff9e1371dc0&ei=5006&partner=ALTAVISTA1 Murder Trial Revives Intrigue of the 70's Indian Movement By MONICA DAVEY and CHARLIE LeDUFF February 3, 2004 RAPID CITY, S.D. - Anna Mae Pictou Aquash, a young mother and American Indian activist, was shot in the head and left to die on the Pine Ridge Reservation in the winter of 1975. The trial of one of two men accused of killing her begins here on Tuesday. Between those moments, decades apart, lies a mystery, and a bitter struggle. Law enforcement authorities and Indians across the country are watching closely, not just for what the trial will reveal about Ms. Pictou Aquash's death, but for what it threatens to expose about suspicion and violence inside the American Indian Movement, or AIM, the militant group whose clashes with federal authorities drew the eyes of the world to the Pine Ridge Reservation in the 1970's. Ms. Pictou Aquash was a member of AIM, one of scores who seized the Sioux village of Wounded Knee in 1973, demanding civil rights for Indians while holding federal officials at bay for 71 days. The men indicted in her murder, Arlo Looking Cloud and John Graham, were in AIM, too. Did the movement kill one of its own? Or was Ms. Pictou Aquash a victim of corrupt, even murderous, federal law enforcement? On the eve of the trial, Indians are clashing over these questions - in newspaper and magazine articles, in television interviews, on the Web and in court. AIM leaders insist, as they always have, that federal agents engineered the killing as part of their conflict with AIM. Other Indians point the finger at the movement itself, saying they believe that AIM leaders ordered her killed because they suspected she was a federal informer. The editor of a national Indian newspaper has made an even more explosive accusation: that the trial will lead back to one of the American Indian Movement's best-known members, Leonard Peltier, whose life imprisonment in the killings of two federal agents at Pine Ridge has made him an international human-rights celebrity among those who believe he was framed by vengeful federal authorities. The editor, Paul DeMain, has written in News From Indian Country that he believes that Ms. Pictou Aquash knew too much about Mr. Peltier's case and may have been killed by AIM members to protect Mr. Peltier. Mr. Peltier has sued Mr. DeMain for libel, denying any connection to the killing of the agents or of Ms. Pictou Aquash. Being at the heart of such fire is familiar territory for AIM, a polarizing force in Indian country since its birth in Minneapolis in 1968. AIM's founders demanded civil rights, treaty recognition and a return to traditional ways. Warlike in attitude and dress, they won admirers and enemies on reservations. For many, AIM meant pride and cultural rebirth, but others criticized its tactics - like the siege at Wounded Knee - as too radical and violent. Wounded Knee ended in a truce, but the armed conflict at Pine Ridge dragged on for years. Among the bloody incidents, one stirred an intense manhunt. On June 26, 1975, two F.B.I. agents, Jack Coler and Ronald Williams, were trying to arrest a robbery suspect on a farm. In a gun battle, an AIM member and both agents died. The agents, lying wounded by their car, were finished off by bullets in the head at close range. Several Indians were later arrested, but only Mr. Peltier was convicted. Another Pine Ridge killing drew less notice. On Feb. 24, 1976, a rancher found the body of Anna Mae Pictou Aquash curled in a gully. Ms. Pictou Aquash was 30, with a broad smile and a sharp, determined attitude. She believed in AIM, family members said, and was close to AIM leaders. Indians here and on other reservations immediately suspected federal agents or the Guardians of the Oglala Nation, a security force allied with the tribal government and federal authorities. Peculiar circumstances fueled those suspicions: at first the authorities said they could not identify the body, though they had questioned Ms. Pictou Aquash in the past. A coroner said she had died of exposure, overlooking the bullet wound, which was found only when her body was exhumed for a second autopsy. Vernon Bellecourt, a longtime AIM leader and its spokesman, said recently that he still believed federal authorities were responsible for her death. "How they did it? I don't know," Mr. Bellecourt said. "How they set it up? I don't know." Among Indians, there was another theory. Ms. Pictou Aquash's daughter said she heard it: that AIM itself might have killed Ms. Pictou Aquash, thinking she was a spy. At the height of the Pine Ridge conflict, federal authorities wanted inside information, and AIM members often suspected their own of talking. Robert D. Ecoffey, now deputy director of law enforcement services at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, heard the whispers many times, too, in decades of pursuing the Pictou Aquash case. But they went nowhere, Mr. Ecoffey and other law enforcement officials said, because most people on the reservation would not talk, perhaps fearing retribution, perhaps to keep a united front for AIM. "The case would be dead for a long time, then it would come back to life and you would hear something," said James E. McMahon, the United States attorney in South Dakota. "But then that would not pan out." Finally, not long ago, Mr. McMahon said, people once inside AIM spoke up. "Feelings changed," said Mr. Ecoffey, a Lakota who grew up in Pine Ridge. "There had been a distrust between those who had the knowledge and the F.B. I. People realized now that justice had to be done for Anna Mae." Last year, the authorities indicted Mr. Looking Cloud and Mr. Graham. Mr. Graham, arrested in Canada, will fight extradition in a hearing in March, said his lawyer, Terry La Liberte'. "There's no evidence in this case," Mr. La Liberte' said. "What we have is a bunch of hearsay, innuendo and politics." Mr. Looking Cloud, who goes to trial on Tuesday, has a straightforward defense, said his lawyer, Tim Rensch: "He didn't do it." Law enforcement authorities declined to discuss their theory of the motive in the case before the trial. But they said they did not believe that Mr. Looking Cloud, a low-level AIM member who became a drifter after leaving Pine Ridge, plotted the killing on his own. And even a former AIM leader, Russell Means, has publicly said he believes that AIM leaders ordered the killing. Mr. Bellecourt, the spokesman, in turn accused Mr. Means of being a "C.I. A. snoop." He said his group had posted an "urgent appeal" on the Web for money for Mr. Looking Cloud's defense after Mr. Looking Cloud's family sought help to prove his innocence. Mr. DeMain, the editor, said he once undertook a similar mission for Mr. Peltier. Mr. DeMain, an Oneida-Ojibwe, said he began researching the case a dozen years ago, hoping to prove - as Robert Redford, the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and others have insisted over the decades - that Mr. Peltier was unjustly imprisoned. Mr. DeMain said he believed that ballistic evidence against Mr. Peltier was flawed, and that a witness had lied. But after years of interviews, he said, he became convinced that Mr. Peltier, now serving consecutive life terms in the federal prison in Leavenworth, Kan., was a murderer. "What I found was not a case where the government may have framed an innocent man, but where the government may have framed a guilty man," he said in an interview at his home in Hayward, Wis. Mr. DeMain said he had determined from interviews that Ms. Pictou Aquash had at one point heard Mr. Peltier brag about shooting both F.B.I. agents, and even re-enacted the crime. That knowledge made her a target of AIM, Mr. DeMain said. Last year, Mr. DeMain published as much in his newspaper, writing that the "primary motive" behind the killing was Ms. Pictou Aquash's knowledge of what Mr. Peltier claimed to have done. Another person who was once close to AIM leaders and who declined to be named in this article, saying she feared for her safety, said that she, too, had seen Mr. Peltier brag in front of Ms. Pictou Aquash and others about shooting the agents. That person has been summoned as a witness at the trial. Mr. Peltier has sued Mr. DeMain for libel in federal court in Minneapolis. Mr. Peltier's lawyer, Barry A. Bachrach, said that after years of court appeals, even the government had said it could not prove that Mr. Peltier executed the agents. The government, Mr. Bachrach said, has argued merely that he "aided and abetted" in their deaths. The 1975 shootout, Mr. Bachrach said, was chaotic and confusing, with many people firing guns, some in self-defense. "It was a war zone," he said. Eric F. Melgren, the United States attorney in Kansas, argued the government's side in a hearing last fall. He said that to persuade appeals courts to uphold the murder convictions, some prosecutors had asserted that the government needed only to show that Mr. Peltier at least aided and abetted in the killings. The government still believes that Mr. Peltier fired the fatal shots, he said. Mr. Bachrach said his client rejected the government's allegations and any ties to Ms. Pictou Aquash's death. "He denies shooting the agents and thus denies that a motive for the murder of Anna Mae was because he supposedly admitted to her that he killed the agents," Mr. Bachrach said. "You can get people to say anything. But it's a falsehood that Anna Mae was murdered as a result of something Leonard supposedly admitted to her." Besides, Mr. Bachrach said, Mr. Peltier considered Ms. Pictou Aquash a friend. The 28th anniversary of Mr. Peltier's imprisonment is next week, with events planned in Boston, Toronto and Tacoma, Wash. His legal battle, meanwhile, goes on. Among Indians, especially here in southwest South Dakota, the coming trial has stirred painful memories. "It's awesome to know hundreds of people knew intimate details," said Richard Two Elk, who grew up with Mr. Looking Cloud. "How the community knew all this time. And how a massive orchestra was conducted to hide it." AIM, meanwhile, splintered. Some leaders went off to Hollywood or the lecture circuit. Nevertheless, Mr. Bellecourt, 72, said AIM was alive and well. He said its legacy was vast - culturally, economically and philosophically. "We've changed things forever," he said. Denise Maloney Pictou was 11 when her mother died. Her mother believed firmly in AIM values, she said: human rights, treaty recognition, tradition. Ms. Maloney Pictou said she was struggling to mesh those values with the thought that AIM could have killed her mother. "I really do believe in their purpose in what they started out to be," Ms. Maloney Pictou, now 39, said. "I cannot believe that everything they did back there is in vain." Still, she said, she suspects there may be more revelations ahead. "I truly believe that this is just the tip of the iceberg," she said. "If Anna Mae opens up the door to the rest of the injustices, I'll be there to push forward." Copyright c. 2004 The New York Times Company. --------- "RE: Looking Cloud Defense: Wrong Place at Wrong Time" --------- Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2004 08:30:44 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LOOKING CLOUD DEFENSE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.kotatv.com/localnews/story.asp?ID=17993 Defense says Looking Cloud in wrong place at wrong time Jennifer Steiskal February 3, 2004 50-year old Arlo Looking Cloud is one of two men suspected of kidnapping and killing Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash, an AIM activist killed on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in December of 1975. A rancher found Pictou- Aquash's frozen body near Wambli two and a half months after she was shot in the back of the head. At first, investigators didn't learn much about the crime, but bits and pieces of the story have come out over the years. Looking Cloud was arrested in Denver in April last year and charged with murder, and aiding and abetting murder. Today, only two potential jurors said they had never heard about this case, and several remembered hearing about AIM activities during the 1970s, even those who lived out of state at the time. One potential juror was excused after saying he didn't think a Native American could get a fair trial in federal court. Defense attorney Tim Rensch asked jurors if they had changed a lot since they were 20 and if they had ever been part of a social movement. Opening statements were also given this afternoon. Prosecutors say Looking Cloud, along with John Graham, took Pictou-Aquash to the top of a cliff. While she prayed at the edge of that cliff, she was shot in the head. Defense attorneys say Looking Cloud was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. He didn't know Graham was planning to shoot Pictou-Aquash. The trial continues tomorrow. It's expected to wrap up next week. Copyright c. 2004 KOTA, Duhamel Broadcasting, Inc. --------- "RE: Please help Anna Mae Aquash" --------- Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2004 07:15:49 -0500 From: "Jordan S. Dill" Subj: Please help Anna Mae Aquash Mailing List: FN Fwd: Indigenous Women For Justice Anna Mae Aquash, a Mi'q Maw Indian from Canada, and mother of two little girls, was kidnapped, beaten, raped, shot in the head and left for dead near a South Dakota highway 28 years ago, and although the leadership of the American Indian Movement have always announced this was an FBI conspiracy, fingers are firmly pointing back in their own direction as finally, Indian people, many ex-AIM members are coming forward to say no more lies, no more rumours; Annie Mae was indeed murdered by subordinates within the Movement who were ordered to do so by some members of the leadership, simply because she knew too much about their wrong-doings and they believed she was an informer. For the record, she was not an informer. The controversy, propaganda and intimidation that surrounds her death has led to the formation of a new organisation - Indigenous Women for Justice, a group of strong women who will no longer be silent about what really happened to our sister Anna Mae. While we are eager for next week's trial of Arlo Looking Cloud, the first of two men charged with her murder, to bring some closure to Annie Mae's family, we are dismayed at the continued torrent of lies emitting from the camp of the second, John Graham and his supporters. We felt we had to do something to stem the flow. This weekend we launched our website www.indigenouswomenforjustice.org and we ask you to visit the site and read the challenge we send to John Graham; self-proclaimed environmental activist who is currently fighting extradition from Canada to the United States to avoid trial for Annie Mae's murder. Unbelievably, his publicity campaign has turned the tables, using some very cheap tactics to make it seem that John Graham is the unfortunate victim, not the woman who was brutalised and murdered - Annie Mae! We come to you, as people known to have an interest in the Native Peoples of this continent, to ask that you join our fight for justice for Annie Mae. Violence against women is not traditional, and if you are able to stand with us, please contact us via our e mail sisters@indigenouswomenforjustice.org. We don't ask for your money, we have no t-shirts or buttons to sell to you and we have no need for you to march down Main Street. Membership of Indigenous Women for Justice is in your heart and in your prayers. We need your messages of support and what we ask is not only do you email your own message to us, but pass the word to anyone and everyone you know, have them look at our site, and send their own messages. You don't need to be indigenous, nor a woman, to see that justice for Anna Mae must happen. Please stand with us: "Anyone who thinks that stepping forward for Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash is wrong, must, by association, believe that a young Indian mother's life is expendable. If strong, indigenous women had not stepped forward, those who murdered Anna Mae would never have had to answer for her death, and those who conspired to kill her would have continued to profit from her name, adding insult to injury, and making a mockery of the justice her daughters seek." Indigenous Women For Justice --- Jordan S. Dill, Editor The Native American Village < http://tinyurl.com/9qj5 > PGP public key ____________ Maintain your subscription at http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=first_nations&A=1 --------- "RE: Jury convicts Looking Cloud in 1975 Murder" --------- Date: Sat, 7 Feb 2004 12:44:54 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LOOKING CLOUD CONVICTED" http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/7895628.htm Jury convicts Looking Cloud in 1975 murder CARSON WALKER Associated Press February 6, 2004 RAPID CITY, S.D. - A federal jury on Friday convicted Arlo Looking Cloud in the 1975 execution-style slaying of Anna Mae Pictou Aquash, thought by some at the time to be a government informant against the American Indian Movement. The jury of seven women and five men deliberated about seven hours. Looking Cloud, 50, looked straight ahead and showed no emotion when the verdict was read. Some of his family members hung their heads. An aunt who raised him cried quietly. He will be sentenced April 23 to a mandatory life prison term. Aquash's frozen body was found in February 1976 on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The 30-year-old Canadian woman had been shot in the head. Federal agents investigated for years but didn't bring an indictment until March 2003, when Denver police arrested Looking Cloud. Another man charged in the case, John Graham, was arrested in December in Vancouver, British Columbia, and plans to fight extradition. They were charged with first-degree murder committed in the perpetration of a kidnapping. Looking Cloud's attorney, Tim Rensch, said he will appeal and believes there is a good chance of winning an appeal because of hearsay evidence introduced in the trial. He said prosecutors also put in a lot of prejudicial evidence that "had nothing to do with the case and could provide a substantial river of reasons for appeal." U.S. Attorney Jim McMahon thanked all the law enforcement officers who have worked on the case the past 28 years, and he complimented the people who came forward to testify about what happened. "I just talked with Denise (Maloney), Annie Mae's daughter, and she told me this brings a little closure for them. And that makes it all worthwhile," McMahon said. McMahon said he's confident the case will stand up on appeal. He would not comment when asked if more indictments are coming. "We're looking forward to a visit by Mr. Graham to South Dakota and then we'll take it one step at a time." McMahon said Bob Ecoffey "opened up a lot of lines of communication on the reservation." Ecoffey, a former U.S. marshal who now oversees Bureau of Indian Affairs law enforcement, started working the case in the 1990s and was the prosecution's final witness. Ecoffey, who is likely to testify in the future, said only: "I'd just like to say that this case and this trial is not about the American Indian Movement. It's about justice for Anna Mae and her family." Indian activist Russell Means, a former member of AIM, said he was angered at the verdict. "I thought that South Dakota had raised some level above Neanderthalism. It's business as usual in the courts of South Dakota," Means said. "Our culture is disregarded and not included and one of the most pathetic men in the city of Denver is given the sole responsibility for the murder ordered by a leader of the American Indian Movement," he said. In closing arguments, McMahon said the case boils down to the fact that Looking Cloud helped take Aquash to the place where Graham killed her - despite opportunities to get away. "She gets to the edge of the cliff and asks to pray and she's shot in the back of the head. You don't have to go any further in this case than that there. Because to haul somebody that distance to the edge of the cliff is premeditated, cold-blooded murder. There weren't any surprises. She begged all the way up," he said. "He wasn't the outsider. He was the insider, along with the others." Rensch argued that his client didn't know Aquash was going to be killed and that prosecutors have not proven he knowingly took part in it - something the law requires for a conviction. Merely being present isn't enough, he said. "They have to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that in his mind he wanted Miss Pictou Aquash to die," Rensch said. "Tagging along isn't enough. "Arlo Looking Cloud killed no one. Arlo Looking Cloud didn't pull the trigger that killed Miss Pictou Aquash." Rensch said that if his client had been an active participant, he wouldn't have been so cooperative with investigators. "Why would he take the authorities out there and show exactly what happened unless he was at the wrong place at the wrong time," he said. Rensch said the killing was horrible. But he argued that Looking Cloud was young and didn't stick up for himself when he was told to help drive Aquash to Rapid City and eventually to the place where she was killed. Being a witness to the killing ruined Looking Cloud's life, Rensch said. His voice cracked as he criticized prosecutors for testimony about the violence of the American Indian Movement that he said had nothing to do with whether Looking Cloud was guilty. "This is a little man. He's a little, short man. He's disadvantaged. He's lived on the streets. He's abused alcohol and drugs. He's all alone. The United States government is on the other side," Rensch said. "They've taken a lightning rod of prejudice ... of the American Indian Movement from the early 1970s and they've taken that lightning rod and hung it over his head." In rebuttal, McMahon said the evidence about AIM was intended to lay the background for allegations among its members at the time that Aquash was a government spy. "Which is why she was killed," he said. McMahon said he was offended by Rensch's description of Looking Cloud. "What about poor Annie Mae? What about the lady they shot in the head? What about her 8-year-old and 10-year-old daughters?" he told jurors. "There's no hiding behind what he did. It's time to pay the price." Copyright c. 2004 Aberdeen News, Division Knight-Rider, Inc. --------- "RE: Montana, Salish and Kootemai Land Trade" --------- Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2004 08:57:03 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LAND SWAP" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.leaderadvertiser.com/index.asp?Sec=News&str=1888 State and tribes to implement land trade By Jim Blow of the Leader February 5, 2004 A land swap between the state of Montana and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes cleared a formal hurdle with the final decision on an Environmental Assessment. A Finding of No Significant Impact was promulgated last week by the Montana Department of Transportation, which announced MDT's decision to implement the proposed action of land swaps with the tribes. Last fall, MDT proposed to transfer excess property it owns on the Flathead Indian Reservation to CSKT in exchange for a wetlands easement at the Hoskins Landing Wetland Mitigation Site near Dixon. The state will also receive right-of-way needed for ongoing and future highway-related projects within the boundaries of the reservation in exchange for the transfer of the property. EA approval allows MDT to further discuss and implement, either in whole or in part, exchanges of lands with the Tribes for known and future MDT highway projects on the reservation. Most apparent and pressing right-of-way needs are associated with eight U.S. 93 highway projects underway between Evaro and Polson. Those projects will require preparation of separate environmental documents. This decision follows an agreement reached between the state and the Tribes in January of 2002. In exchange for the property transfer, the state will receive a 25-year easement on the 48.23-acre Hoskins Landing property, located near Dixon in Sanders County. The easement is needed to allow MDT to continue with the planned Dixon-West and Paradise-East & West highway projects. MDT received the executed wetland easement at the time the agreement was reached. Under the agreement, CSKT received the opportunity to select properties from the excess MDT properties list, which includes four Perma area tracts, two Schley Creek area tracts, the Melita Island overlook and two tracts along Round Butte Road. The Perma tracts were acquired by MDT from the Department of Natural Resources in March, 2003. The Tribes indicated their first priority is to acquire the four Perma tracts, totaling 367.62 acres, to complete the exchange. However, since the value of the Perma tracts is significantly larger than the value of the easement, MDT would be owed the difference. "CSKT and MDT would prefer to settle this debt with land-for-land exchanges rather than through a cash payment from CSKT to MDT since MDT intends to acquire right-of-way from CSKT for reconstruction of US Highway 93 from Evaro to Polson," Mark Lambrecht of Robert Peccia & Associates, Inc., said last year. Although not specifically identified, other easements across CSKT "tribal trust" or "tribal fee" land would be acquired with the balance of value. MDT will identify its right-of-way and wetland mitigation requirements as the US 93 projects develop. Any and all exchanges will be completed on a dollar-for-dollar basis, according to the decision. Comments were limited to one person at a Dec. 4 meeting in St. Ignatius. No other formal comments were received. ---- For more information or to review the final EA, visit www.rpa-hln.com or www.mdt.state.mt.us, or contact Mark Lambrecht, Robert Peccia and Associates, Inc., PO Box 5653, Helena, MT 59604, call him at (406) 447-5000, or email him at markl@rpa-hln.com Copyright c. 2002 Lake Country Leader Advertiser/Polson, MT. --------- "RE: Soothing the Souls at Last" --------- Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2004 08:11:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SAND CREEK" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://news.yahoo.com/~/20040210/ts_latimes/soothingthesoulsatlast Soothing the Souls at Last By David Kelly Times Staff Writer February 10, 2004 EADS, Colo. - Silence and emptiness abound on this great sea of grass stretching to the pale blue horizon. Tumbleweeds spin past, hawks gaze from rusted fence posts. On mornings like this, when all is still, Indian pilgrims sometimes walk along the crooked course of Sand Creek and listen. They say they can hear screams and sobs. "There is a small group of us who hear spirits all the time," said Laird Cometsevah, a Cheyenne chief who comes here each year. "Some hear women, I hear children." Cheyennes and Arapaho have long journeyed to this lonesome prairie to remember the 163 Indians shot and hacked to death by Colorado cavalrymen during the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864. The slaughter, initially hailed as a great military victory, set off a dozen years of warfare across the Great Plains. Investigations later revealed that two-thirds of those killed were women, children and infants. Eyewitness accounts told of fingers and ears lopped off as trophies, babies left to die in freezing fields and women clinging to soldiers' legs begging in vain for mercy. "You would think it impossible for white men to butcher and mutilate human beings as they did there," wrote Capt. Silas Soule, a soldier who saw the massacre. "But every word I have told you is the truth that they do not deny." The Indians have long tried to gain possession of the site and soothe the restless souls they say still wander it. About 20 years ago, the descendants of Sand Creek victims organized and sought ways to buy the land. In December, a businessman with ties to the tribes bought the massacre site and donated it to them. They in turn leased it to the National Park Service, which is creating the country's first national historic site dedicated solely to a massacre. "We are making history here," said Alexa Roberts, superintendent of the site. "This has been one of the most controversial episodes in the history of the West. It's like Little Bighorn, and among Indian tribal peoples it's never been forgotten." Park officials expect 30,000 visitors a year to the site, which they say will encompass 12,500 acres, including an interpretive center and markers detailing the sequence of events. It will probably open within three years. Sitting about 12 miles from the small ranching town of Eads in southeastern Colorado, Sand Creek has changed little since the massacre. A few cottonwood trees have grown up in the last century, but the sharp bends in the dry creek and the swaying grasslands remain largely as they were. Life has changed, though. A place once teeming with cowboys and Indians has just cowboys now, and they're fading fast. The buffalo are gone, the saloons nearly gone and, of course, the Indians are gone. Atop a bluff overlooking the creek, a small monument reads, "Sand Creek Battle Ground. Nov. 29 & 30. 1864." Historians say it was no battle, it was slaughter. "The soldiers split into two columns and came up on the tepees," said Roberts, pointing toward the creek. "It was a running engagement, the people fled up the creek and the killing took place over a five-mile area." In the months preceding the massacre, tensions between Indians and whites in the Colorado territory were running high. Soldiers and Indians clashed repeatedly. There were raids, atrocities and retaliation. Many confrontations were between the U.S. military and renegade Cheyenne Dog Soldiers, highly skilled warriors and horse thieves who operated outside tribal law. The most notorious incident involved a group of Arapaho who killed a white ranching family near Denver. The father, Ward Hungate, was shot and scalped, the mother raped and repeatedly stabbed and their 4-year-old daughter and baby nearly decapitated. All were mutilated. The Hungate Massacre inflamed public opinion against all Indians, warlike or not. Theologians openly debated whether Indians had souls. Into this chaotic world rode Col. John M. Chivington, a tall, burly man running for Congress while simultaneously chasing Indians across the Plains. David Halaas, a former Colorado state historian and massacre expert, said Chivington promised to go to Sand Creek village and check for hostile Indians before attacking. Black Kettle, the village chief, was told to hoist a white flag of surrender along with an American flag and he would be safe. He did. Riding all night, Chivington and 725 volunteer cavalrymen arrived at the edge of Sand Creek about 8 a.m. The Indian men were off hunting buffalo, leaving mostly women, children and the elderly behind. Most were Cheyennes mixed with some Arapaho. "They opened up with howitzers and charged through the village," Halaas said. "There was no order. About 163 people were killed outright. It was a scene right out of hell." Capt. Soule and Lt. Joseph Cramer were serving that day and later wrote to commanding officer Maj. Ned Wynkoop describing the scene. Their unedited letters have been entered into the Congressional Record. "It was hard to see little children on their knees have their brains beat out by men professing to be civilized," wrote Soule. "One squaw was wounded and a fellow took a hatchet to finish her, she held her arms up to defend her, and he cut one arm off and held the other with one hand and dashed the hatchet through her brain." Soule said the massacre lasted six to eight hours. "I saw two Indians hold one another's hands, chased until they were exhausted, when they kneeled down, and clasped each other around the neck and were both shot together," he wrote. "One woman was cut open and the child inside of her taken out of her, and scalped." Cramer said he was threatened with death for failing to take part. "I told the colonel that I thought it murder to jump them friendly Indians," Cramer wrote. "He says in reply: 'Damn any man who are in sympathy with them.' " Black Kettle survived the massacre; his wife was shot nine times but lived. He was killed four years later along the Washita River in what's now Oklahoma, during a battle with Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer. Chivington, meanwhile, was hailed as a hero in Denver. Indian body parts were displayed in a local theater. But a few months later, as news of the slaughter spread, Congress launched an investigation. In a rare act of contrition, the U.S. government described the killings as a massacre and promised reparations. The Indians were never paid. "The massacre was a turning point. People began to understand why white people were here and that was to take everything," said Steve Brady, president of the Northern Cheyenne Sand Creek Descendants in Lame Deer, Mont. The Cheyenne allied themselves with the Lakota, Kiowa, Arapaho and Comanche. They attacked on a 100-mile front, knocking out every ranch, wagon train and telegraph station they found, Halaas said. Years of war culminated in the 1876 Battle of Little Bighorn in southeastern Montana, where Custer and his 197 men were wiped out by a coalition of Indians - Cheyenne, Lakota Sioux and Arapaho. The glory and freedom were fleeting. In the early 1880s, the Cheyenne and Arapaho were moved to reservations in Montana, Wyoming and Oklahoma. With the Indians gone, the memory of Sand Creek faded. The site became a favorite place to shoot rabbits, scavenge artifacts and have Sunday picnics. "I remember when I was a Boy Scout we used to camp out there at night," said Monte Richardson, 43, of Eads. "We used to hunt for arrowheads." In 1964, William Dawson, a rancher, bought the land. It wasn't long before Indians came knocking at his door. "They were always very polite. They would say they had relatives who died here and could they go look at the site," he recalled. "I never said no to an Indian." The tribal members held ceremonies atop the bluff. "I had one come up to me and say, 'Did you hear that scream?' " said 63- year-old Dawson. "I said I didn't, but I won't say they didn't hear it." Cometsevah, the Cheyenne chief, came each year on the anniversary of the massacre. He would fly colorful cloths, hold forth a child's moccasin, offer food and sing. The chief's great-grandfather escaped the massacre. "When he went back he found his peace pipe, and he couldn't save anything else," Cometsevah said. "He saw people cut up, lots of blood here and there. He said all he could do was say a prayer and sing a chief song. Then he left." Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (news, bio, voting record) (R-Colo.) also visited. "I have been there six or eight times," said Campbell, who is part Cheyenne. "You go because your blood and thoughts are there. You can't not go." Dawson eventually sold the 1,465-acre site for $1.5 million to James Druck, who turned the land over to the Indians. Druck, a 62-year-old lawyer and owner of Minnesota-based Southwest Entertainment Inc., manages three casinos in Oklahoma with the Cheyenne and Arapaho. "I owe my company to these tribes," Druck said. "I know how they feel when they go to Sand Creek. I watched their faces and it made me feel the way I did when I visited Dachau 10 years ago. I felt crushed, overwhelmed and saddened that people could do this to other people." For tiny Eads, population 747, a major historic site in their backyard has raised both hope for a better economy and fear of being flooded with tourists. The threadbare prairie town, 130 miles east of Pueblo, could use a break. A three-year drought has devastated ranching and agriculture, leaving just a school, a small hospital and city hall as the major employers. "There is a right way and a wrong way to adapt to a national historic site coming in," said Rod Johnson, chairman of the Kiowa County Economic Development Foundation. "We don't want to be profiting off the Sand Creek Massacre, which has a sort of negative connotation. People out here on the Plains also like their small-town atmosphere. It's not something we want to lose." Mayor Larry Michael, owner of a truck stop and diner, rolled some tires into his shop. "It will probably be popular with history buffs," he said. "There has always been a lot of interest, but access was difficult. Thirty thousand people would certainly impact local businesses and motels." For many, Sand Creek is part of the landscape, something they rarely think about. The neighboring, nearly deserted hamlet of Chivington was named shortly after the massacre in honor of the colonel who perpetrated the killings. Dana Brown, 43, spent 20 years there before moving to Eads. "I learned the site was in our backyard in junior high school," she said. "I have never seen it." Thomas Davis, 52, a local pharmacist, also learned of Sand Creek in history class. "It amazes me that people will take their vacations through here just to see the site," he said. "I'm surprised by all the attention it's getting; maybe it's some kind of closure for the Indians." Cometsevah believes it is, one long overdue. "Now we will take care of the spirits there so they can no longer be disturbed," he said. "Now they can rest." Copyright c. 2004 Los Angeles Times Copyright c. 2004 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Bison killed on Private Property" --------- Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2004 08:51:48 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MONTANA DOL" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2004/02/06/news/03bisonbzbigs.txt Bison killed on private property north of Yellowstone By SCOTT McMILLION, Chronicle Staff Writer February 6, 2004 The Montana Department of Livestock shot and killed a bull bison near Gardiner Thursday after the animal refused to be hazed from private property, DOL spokeswoman Karen Cooper said Thursday. Rangers had tried to haze the animal Wednesday evening, Yellowstone spokeswoman Cheryl Matthews said. About 100 bison have been lingering in the Jardine area outside the park for weeks. The joint state/federal bison management plan allows bison to stay in that area, where there are no cattle, as long as they don't go too far. "As long as Montana maintains a zero tolerance policy towards wild buffalo, we will continue to see buffalo being killed for following their instincts," said Ted Fellman, of the Buffalo Field Campaign, a protest group. Cooper said a field test showed the animal tested positive for exposure to brucellosis. Bull bison can contract brucellosis, but aren't considered a major threat of spreading the disease, which usually is distributed through contact with birthing materials. Meanwhile, DOL is also erecting a temporary bison trap in the Horse Butte area north of West Yellowstone. The management plan gives DOL the option of using that trap to test animals for brucellosis and release a limited number that have no sign of the disease. It also has the option, because the Yellowstone National Park herd is so big, to ship bison to slaughter without testing them. The herd now numbers about 4,000 animals. DOL did not erect the trap last winter. Few animals have left the park on the west side this winter, Cooper said. They traditionally move out later in the winter, on that side. "A lot of focus is on the Gardiner area" now, Cooper said, because bison are moving there. The National Park Service also has a trap northwest of Gardiner, inside the park, in the Stephens Creek area. Matthews said 32 bison were hazed into the park's interior Thursday in the Stephens Creek area. "We've been busy," she said. The meat, hide and head of the animal killed Thursday will be donated to tribal organizations or to food banks, Cooper said. Scott McMillion is at scottm@dailychronicle.com Copyright c. 2004 the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. --------- "RE: New BIA Leader says his Story is One of Hope" --------- Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2004 08:30:44 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DAVE ANDERSON" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/159204_bia04.html New BIA leader says his story is one of hope By KEVIN DIAZ MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL STAR TRIBUNE February 4, 2004 WASHINGTON - A new voice was broadcast throughout Indian Country early this week, a quiet, unassuming voice intended to convey a sense of hope. "This is Dave," said Dave Anderson, host of Native America Calling, a syndicated radio show heard mostly on Native American reservations throughout the West. Just two hours earlier, he was sworn in as the Interior Department's Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, making him the new head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. "I feel very grateful and humbled and awestruck all at the same time," the Minnesota resident told about 1 million listeners. "My story really is one of hope, because I wasn't born on the right side of the tracks," he continued, speaking from an Interior Department broadcasting booth two blocks from the White House. "But today, I live my life in gratefulness and sobriety." It's a story that's become familiar to many of his fellow Native American listeners: A down-on-his-luck drinker who picked up the pieces of his life, found business success starting casinos and restaurants, and then got the nod from President Bush to turn around the nation's troubled Native American agency. Although the call came from the White House, Anderson said he believes his new job was "a God-ordained thing." He acknowledged that, at times, the magnitude of the mission made his mouth dry up. "I always knew there was something higher than selling ribs," he said. Best known in Minnesota as the founder of the Famous Dave's Barbeque chain, Anderson assumed his new duties Monday running the BIA, which manages 55 million acres of land held in trust among 562 tribal groups. The agency also runs about 300 schools with a combined enrollment of 48, 000 Native American students. Litigation over alleged land trust mismanagement has occupied much of the BIA's attention recently, but Anderson said he wants to put a renewed emphasis on reaching out to youth and improving the agency's schools. "The youth in those schools will be the future of Indian Country," he said in an interview. "If you're going to make a difference, you've got to get to the youth." The message he wants to impart to young Native Americans: "It doesn't matter where you were born, it doesn't matter what you've been through, the only thing that matters is that as Native Americans we hold on to our dreams and hold on to our passion and that we go to work. It's just incredible what we can accomplish if we never, ever give up." His message to older Native Americans: "This burden doesn't just rest on my shoulders, but all of our as a people. I want to ask everyone to have me in their prayers, because I can't go on this journey alone." Despite a first day packed with "more meetings than I've had in the past 10 years," Anderson said he does not want to become a Washington bureaucrat. Rather, he wants to use his business acumen to get out of the office, travel on reservations and learn from his new "customers." Copyright c. 1996-2004 Seattle Post-Intelligencer. --------- "RE: Tex Hall, NCAI Clear Vision" --------- Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2004 08:44:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NCAI VISION" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.helenair.com/articles/2004/02/08/top/a01020804_01.txt Clear vision BY SHAWN WHITE WOLF - IR Staff Writer February 8, 2004 Tex Hall, president of the National Congress of American Indians, stressed in a recent visit to Montana that the time is now for American Indians to help elect a president who can ensure federal policies are fair to America's "invisible race." NCAI is the nation's oldest and largest American Indian lobbying organization. Tex Hall was invited to the Fort Belknap Agency in January to speak with the tribal leaders from each of Montana's eight tribal governments. He focused on issues facing Montana's American Indians in the 2004 election, court cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and Bush Administration Indian policies. "My priority is to mobilize one million Indians to vote," said Hall. "If they don't think we aren't engaging, they won't stop." Throughout his speech, Hall said he thought Gen. Wesley Clark or Sen. John Kerry would be the best suited to address needs in Indian country because he said they have already demonstrated that they understand Indian issues. During President Bush's State of the Union address, Hall was critical of the lack of attention that Bush gave tribal government issues. While sitting only several feet from Bush during his speech to the country, Hall said only three American Indians were in the audience. In conversations with Kerry, Hall said he was impressed that Kerry was interested in appointing an American Indian in a top level cabinet position in the White House. Hall said Kerry's offer resonates throughout Indian country. "When you have presidential candidates calling our cell phones - that's never happened before - let's see where it goes," said Hall. Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, and Tony Plummer, director of Cherish Our Indian Children, were also asked to provide the tribal leaders an overview of the impacts of the 2003 Montana State Legislature to the nearly 60,000 Indian people throughout Montana. However, only representatives from Rocky Boy's tribal government were able to attend because of freezing temperatures, road closures and icy roads. "Tribes of the Great Plains lobbied to get Tex Hall re-elected for a second term to the NACI," said Ben Speakthunder, chairman of the Fort Belknap tribe during his introduction of Hall. Hall has served as chairman of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara nations since 1998. He was superintendent and principal at Mandaree School for 11 years and was named North Dakota's Indian Educator of the Year in 1995. In addition, he has served on numerous national committees and boards. First elected in 2001, Hall's administration has been credited for its leadership in the fight against the Bush's administration's efforts to reorganize the BIA without the approval of the tribes. The administration also took the lead in ensuring NCAI members' voices were heard in the Cobell vs. Norton - a lawsuit concerning decades of Bureau of Indian affairs accounting practices - and addressing what they see as the lack of funding and inclusion of tribes in the Homeland Security funding. In addition, Hall has focused his efforts in the areas of transportation, Indian gaming, appropriations, sacred lands protection, state raids of tribal smoke shops and international issues. Hall gave the first State of the Indian Nations Address at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. in January 2003. He was there again this year to continue getting his message out. As he starts his second term, Hall has been instrumental in mobilizing NACI member tribes to take a more active role in America's political process. "This nation's commitments to tribal nations are just as important as rebuilding Iraq or revisiting the moon," he said. "Our nation must square its shoulders and make a commitment to the First Americans a priority in the budget process." Reporter Shawn White Wolf can be reached at 447-4028 or shawn.whitewolf@helenair.com. Copyright c. 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. Helena Independent Record; a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Tribe banishes Man for writing about Ceremony" --------- Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2004 08:51:48 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SANTA CLARA PUEBLO BANISMENT" http://www.indianz.com/ http://www.sfnewmexican.com/print.asp?ArticleID=39945 Dancing With Fire Santa Clara tribal member banished from Taos Pueblo for writing essay about tribe's sacred deer dance By MARISSA STONE | The New Mexican February 6, 2004 TAOS - In his own words, Tito Naranjo is "the man who killed the deer dance." Days after an essay the American Indian wrote about Taos Pueblo's deer dance ran in a local newspaper, Naranjo received an order of exclusion from the pueblo. The order, which means Naranjo is banished from Taos Pueblo, states he could be arrested if he crosses onto tribal land. "Tito Naranjo caused irreparable harm to the sensible nature of the religious activity through exploitation," the order states. Naranjo, 66, a Santa Clara tribal member, is married to a woman from Taos Pueblo. The couple, who live in Mora, have three children. But Naranjo's father-in-law resides in Taos Pueblo. Naranjo said he was so inspired by the dance performed at Christmas at Taos Pueblo that he submitted a short essay to The New Mexican for a holiday-writing contest this past December. Before he wrote the essay, Naranjo thought about the consequences for his family members who live at Taos Pueblo, he said. "I thought immediately, Taos Pueblo is going to disagree," said the longtime college teacher. "Am I going to be a wimp, or am I going to write about this?" Naranjo concluded that the dance - which he considers to be on the level of a Shakespearean drama - is so beautiful that it must be shared. "There's a complexity expressed in the dance that I didn't even get to - these people who created the dance were pueblo geniuses." Naranjo's essay begins: "The soft chant is ancient, coming perhaps, before the Tanoan dialects split Tewa, Tiwa, Towa and Tampiro. The beat is kept with a rhythmic clapping of the hands. A method older than the introduction of the large, dark drum, it predates the beating of a staff on a rolled buffalo or elk hide." The essay won first place in the contest's adult category and earned $100 for Naranjo. It was featured in the newspaper's Dec. 21 edition. After the story ran, Taos Pueblo spiritual leader David Gomez Sr. filed a verbal complaint about Naranjo. "Tito Naranjo used a Taos Pueblo religious activity for self promotion by writing an essay of a sensitive activity for publication in The New Mexican," the exclusion order states. Gomez could not be reached for comment. Naranjo didn't obtain permission from tribal officials to submit the essay, said the order, which was signed by former Taos Pueblo Gov. AllenMartinez and war chief Joseph Lujan. Taos Pueblo Gov. John Mirabal declined to comment on the matter. A New Mexican reporter went to Taos Pueblo and met briefly with Mirabal to discuss Naranjo's story, but the governor declined further comment on the matter. At least 10 subsequent telephone calls to the governor and other members of his staff were not returned. On a cold winter day last month, Naranjo sat at a Taos restaurant and spoke of the need for Taos Pueblo, as well as other Indian tribes, to preserve customs that are carried on orally. Because Taos tribal members are beginning to live outside the pueblo, Indian children are losing their connection to elders within the historic tribal square, Naranjo said. "Young tribal members are watching television instead of doing community work and going down into the kivas." The only way to preserve traditions is by writing about them and recording them, Naranjo said. "CD-Rom will record the entire language of the elders and preserve precise intonations and authenticity of the language for future generations." "Literacy changes consciousness, and all of Taos Pueblo is becoming literate," he added. "This newly gained consciousness demands new freedoms." "Jewish religious traditions have survived more than 5,000 years because they have been written down," Naranjo said. "Taos Pueblo has nothing written down to pass on. This worries me considerably. Taos Pueblo is not going to be able to withstand the onslaught of the wage economy and information-processing society." Naranjo, a former professor at New Mexico Highlands University, now teaches Native American studies at The University of New Mexico at Taos. He is the author of the children's story Day With a Pueblo. Many tribes in New Mexico prohibit the reproduction of sacred dances through photographs and stories - saying the retelling of something sacred detracts from its spiritual significance. Those leaders also fear tribes can be exploited for monetary gain when images of the dances are reproduced. Some leaders from Indian pueblos say the reason their traditions have been kept alive for so many centuries is they have been carried on orally. "Essentially," Naranjo said, "Tiwa spoken words have life and power, while the written word is perceived to kill the live and living nature of words, song and dance." Others have celebrated Taos Pueblo's deer dance, including artist Dorothy Eugenie Brett and writer Frank Waters. The dance was also immortalized by Taos Pueblo artist Lorenzo Lujan, whose painting was paired with Naranjo's story in the newspaper. Naranjo doesn't consider himself a lone voice, crying out about the urgency for Indian tribes to record their traditions. "Lots of people are saying this," he said. Naranjo doesn't regret for "one minute that I wrote that essay," he said. "I'm going to keep going to the pueblo." In fact, he visited the pueblo recently and wasn't arrested. When they were a young couple, Naranjo and his wife made the decision to live outside the boundaries of their tribes. "We decided not to live by the social checks that apply to all the people on the reservation," he said. Nevertheless, Naranjo hopes his order of exclusion will be revoked. For that to happen, the tribal council would have to vote in favor of it. "They said I did irreparable harm to the deer dance - they're saying if I did irreparable harm, I must have killed the deer dance. But I didn't kill it. It's still alive and well." Copyright c. 2004 The Santa Fe New Mexican, Inc. --------- "RE: House creates Cabinet-level Indian Affairs Dept." --------- Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2004 08:51:48 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NEW MEXICO FIRST CABINET LEVEL INDIAN AFFAIRS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.daily-times.com/artman/publish/article_8388.shtml House creates cabinet-level Indian Affairs Department By Jim Snyder/Santa Fe Bureau February 6, 2004 SANTA FE - The House passed a bill, in a 50-4 vote Thursday, to create a state cabinet-level Indian Affairs Department - believed to be the first in the United States. There was no floor debate. "This is a long-time coming," said Navajo Shiprock Chapter House President Duane "Chili" Yazzie, who watched the House members vote in the Roundhouse. "We need to have that high level of representation of status for native nations, which gives us an opportunity to meet the needs of our people." The bill included a $527,000 appropriation. The Indian Affairs Department would be comprised of two divisions: administrative and program service. The department would administer approximately 200 capital outlay projects worth more than $20 million. "The state of New Mexico, I believe, is first in regard to its tribal- state relationships," and in recognizing tribal sovereignty, said Rep. James Roger Madalena, D-Je'mez Pueblo, the bill's sponsor. He added the state had numerous Native Americans in state positions and on commissions. The tribes want a greater voice in state government, Madalena said. "It is important this piece of legislation pass during this session," he added. More than 1,000 bills were introduced in the first two weeks of the session, which ends Feb. 19. Approximately 10 percent of the state's population is Native American. There are 22 tribes and pueblos, including a portion of the Navajo Nation, the country's largest tribe, in New Mexico. The department would be the coordinating agency for intergovernmental and interagency programs concerning tribal governments and the state, according to the bill. Rep. Ray Begaye, D-Shiprock, a Navajo, voiced his support for the bill on the House floor shortly before the vote. "I do support this bill ... I urge the members of the body to support it," he said. The bill now proceeds to the Senate. If passed, it would create a Secretary of Indian Affairs position in Gov. Bill Richardson's cabinet upon his signature. Madalena said the Senate has a similar bill sponsored by Sen. Leonard Tsosie, D-Crownpoint. The difference, he said, is the Senate version recognized the Indian Affairs Advisory Board as an advisory panel while the House bill removed the word "advisory" and creates an Indian Affairs Commission. The commission would consist of 10 New Mexico residents appointed by Richardson: three Pueblo Indians, three Navajos, two Apaches, one urban Native American and one non-Native American. All of the members, except for the urban Native American and the non-Native American would be chosen by their tribal or pueblo councils. The Indian Affairs Commission, according to the House bill, would: * Conduct meetings to provide an opportunity for the presentation and exchange of ideas with respect to Indian affairs by any interested party that result in the promotion of the welfare of the Indian people; * Receive and disseminate information on issues that significantly impact the welfare of the Indian people; * Apprise the secretary of the conditions in Native American communities in New Mexico; and * Advise the secretary on policy matters related to the department's powers and duties. In addition, the department would investigate, study, consider and act upon the entire subject of Indian conditions and relations within New Mexico, including problems of health, economy and education and the effect of local, state and federal legislative, executive and judicial actions, House Bill 39 states. Jim Snyder: jims@daily-times.com Copyright c. 2004 Farmington Daily Times, a Gannett Co., Inc. newspaper. --------- "RE: Feds sued over OK for Drilling" --------- Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2004 08:57:03 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DINE' SUE BLM" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~1936013,00.html Feds sued over OK for drilling in N.M. Coalition: Wells will hurt Indian sites, environment By Electa Draper Denver Post Four Corners Bureau February 5, 2004 FOUR CORNERS - Navajo Nation chapters, environmental groups and ranchers are suing the Department of the Interior for approving industry plans for almost 10,000 new oil and gas wells on public lands in northwestern New Mexico. The coalition alleges that the 20- year development plan for one of the largest natural gas reserves in North America would destroy the region's air quality, thousands of Native American cultural sites and the local ranching economy. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Washington, claims that Interior and the Bureau of Land Management violated federal laws protecting the environment and cultural resources by deciding in December to allow that many wells and more than 12,500 new compressors, 1, 000 miles of new roads and 75,000 tons of air contaminants. This would be added to existing development, which includes 18,000 active wells and more compressors. "The BLM is approving massive new development, yet they are clearly not able to handle the soil, range, water, air and wildlife impacts that are overwhelming communities throughout the basin from existing development alone," said Treciafaye "Tweeti" Blancett, one of two ranchers who are plaintiffs in the suit. BLM officials have said they cannot comment on pending litigation. But they defended approval of the plan last year by saying that development of the energy resource will occur incrementally over 20 years, and that the BLM will not allow full development if impacts violate federal standards. Blancett and another New Mexico rancher, Don Schreiber, allege that the BLM's lax permitting practices and failure to enforce its own rules have imposed an extreme hardship on their operations, from the uncontrolled spread of noxious weeds to ruined roads and unfenced hazards. Two Durango-based environmental groups, the San Juan Citizens Alliance and the Oil and Gas Accountability Project, have joined with the Natural Resources Defense Council and Dine Care of the Navajo Nation to make a case that existing oil and gas operations already threaten to emit ozone in excess of federal safety limits. More development, they say, ensures that will happen. They also say such expansive operations scar entire landscapes, destroy ecosystems and ruin grazing lands. Officials of three Navajo chapters, which are units of local government on the reservation, said they object to proposed drilling on two mesas sacred to them, Gobernador Knob and Huerfano. "The BLM's proposal will directly impact thousands of cultural sites, many of which hold great importance to the members of the Dine (Navajo people), yet we were not consulted," said Sam Sage of the Pueblo Pintado Chapter. The other two chapters bringing the suit are Counselor and Huerfano. Environmentalists said the BLM's environmental study was flawed and incomplete. They said it did not look at the big picture for the region, which, they said, is staggering in terms of cumulative impacts such as air pollution. The BLM plan that drew the lawsuit is out of its Farmington, N.M., field office. It calls for the 10,000 new wells on 1.4 million acres of public lands, and is just one development plan among many. The BLM and Forest Service are studying development plans for 300 new gas wells on federal leases in southwestern Colorado. And the Southern Ute Tribe has planned for more than 700 new wells on its reservation in southwestern Colorado. Copyright c. 2004 The Denver Post or other copyright holders. --------- "RE: Dine' Curriculum Guide is a Milestone" --------- Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2004 08:13:13 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TEACHING NAVAJO" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.daily-times.com/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=273&num=8243 Dine curriculum guide is a milestone for indigenous lanugages By Carol Cohea/The Daily Times February 2, 2004 FARMINGTON - Once they walk into the bilingual portable at McKinley Elementary after 3:30 in the afternoon, the pupils are immersed in reading, writing, speaking and listening in Navajo. One recent evening for parents, some pupils were reading and speaking quickly and easily. Some were just beginning to understand the words and wrap their tongues around the glottal stops, dipthongs and high and low nasal tones. Others were struggling. Some were beginning to read words together to make sentences. "Your jaw muscles have to adjust to Navajo language, the glottal stops and high tones," explained Carole Yazzie. She and Mary Lou Yazzie are in charge of the Afterschool Bilingual Program. Parents were getting a look at what their youngsters do in the afterschool program. This night children were reading from a worksheet they'd done earlier in the week, introducing themselves by clan, describing their clothing and colors and talking about food. Elthea Charles said daughter Ashlynn Atcitty, 9, considered the class a treat. "She's communicating with her grandparents. It's opening new horizons for her. I feel lucky she's got the class. She's picking up a lot of things," Charles said. "Last year it was really just an arts and crafts program. This year I see a lot more knowledge coming back," she said. Linda Jim said she speaks fluent Navajo, but raised her three children speaking English. Her own daughter, Shianne Jim, 9, wrote her a letter asking her permission to come to Navajo class, so she could communicate with her grandmother. "She loves the class. It's wonderful. I tell her I'm learning a lot from her. She's bringing home books and we're learning to read the language," Jim said. "It's fun. Its my first time doing this," Shianne said. Jarred Billy, 10, is enthusiastic about coming to class. "I want to learn more Navajo words. It helps pull up my grades in regular classes," he said. "I like it. I think my son is learning a lot. All we talk is English. He likes coming here and he's trying to teach me the language," said mom Lisa Jones. Parent Alfreda Scott said a child's knowledge of two languages gives the child an ability to look at life more colorfully. "They can see the world in colors compared to just one way or another. It opens their eyes to other opportunities out there for Navajo language speakers and in society itself. Language gives them a strong background," she said. In November the Farmington School District became the first district in New Mexico and the U.S. to have an indigenous language curriculum guide which meets the state Department of Education Standards and Benchmarks. The school board approved the kindergarten through grade 12 Dine Bilingual Language Culture and History Curriculum Guide. "A lot of school districts are asking for it. We are copyrighting it and will offer it for sale at $30 a copy," said Arlene Kirstine, director of Farmington Schools Bilingual and Indian Education Program. The guide was developed by Bernice Casaus, as curriculum consultant, along with her team of co-developers, Sharon Becenti, Karen Begay, Donna Irvin, Videna John, Jenny Kaye, Herbert Platero, Jennie Platero, Barbara Sorensen, Nellie Storer, Jeanette Wauneka, Betty Williams and Mary Gregori. The guide includes language and culture components on Navajo history, government, fundamental philosophy and parent involvement. It complies with Farmington Schools Education Plan for Student Success, state Department of Education Standards and Benchmarks and the Navajo Nation Education Policy. As lesson plans and materials are developed, they are taken directly to the pupils, in this case the 15 pupils at McKinley Elementary and the program teachers Carole Yazzie and Mary Lou Yazzie. Casaus began her professional career as an English teacher, teaching second language learners how to speak English. For the last 10 years she has taught Navajo language to teachers. Before that she volunteered her time at Swinburne Elementary. "When my kids started at Swinburne I was a home room mother, making cookies and Koolaid. In the afternoons I volunteered time to work with kids. I'd hear that the language of Navajo kids was not up to par. I decided I would see how I could help. I was going to teach them English," she said. Over the years she realized that learning Navajo was the way to get the children to learn correct English. "When kids know both languages they realize the importance of the sound and importance of correct English," she said. "If they know two languages, they have something to compare to. The two vocabularies can be compared and they are able to draw from both." She pointed out that Navajo is written in English phonetics. It takes some children who have had no experience with Navajo a while to get their tongues moving and to begin to verbalize Navajo, she said. Then she and Carole Yazzie and Mary Lou Yazzie begin to introduce them to the high tones and low tones and to mix them up. "In English, for example, mom is a nasal tone; bank and sky are falling tones, high is a high tone. Once they hear that and get the idea of high and low tones, the speaking and reading will come quickly for them," Casaus said. Casaus wants to make the lessons meaningful to the children in the area and uses animals and structures they see. Some lessons involve teaching through the use of a plastic diorama of a farm scene with animals and corral fences. It's used for teaching post positions, prepositions, such as over, under, beside, near, and by. Through the diorama children also learn nouns, placement of objects, handling verbs and names of domestic animals. Colors and numbers are integrated for review. At another time Casaus brings out her back of tricks - a white flour sack, emptied of flour, now filled with an assortment of stuffed and plastic animals and objects. She pulls these from it, asking the children to name the object in Navajo and say it's color. She asks questions of them and waits for their responses. "If you can do hands-on, it sticks. Abstract doesn't work," she said. The hour-long after-school class is at the point now where it's taught almost totally in Navajo. "The kids are smart. If you're going to do English translations between the Navajo, the kids are going to wait for the translations," she said. The work on the lesson plans will continue this summer for upper grades and staff will be trained on how to use it. "Each level will progress with more detail and more complex thinking," she said. Carol Cohea: carolc@daily-times.com Copyright c. 2004 Farmington Daily Times, a Gannett Co., Inc. newspaper. --------- "RE: Salish Languages reveal Culture" --------- Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2004 08:30:44 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LANGUAGE RELATES TO SURROUNDINGS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.spokesmanreview.com/~s1482520&cat=section.Tribal_news What people call things around them Salish languages reveal culture, close ties to natural surroundings John Craig Staff writer February 3, 2004 While Kalispel tribal leaders try to preserve their language by teaching young people, tribal natural resources director Deane Osterman is generating public interest one fish at a time. Osterman, who is not Native American, has been studying the Interior Salish languages in this region for 15 years as a means of understanding the relationship between culture and biology. "The best way to do that is through language," according to Osterman, who recently lectured on the Kalispel language in Newport, Wash. What people call the things around them says a lot about the importance they attach to those things, Osterman said. Fish must be important to people who have names even for sculpin so scrawny you'd need a half-dozen to make a sandwich. "They knew this resource like the back of their hand," Osterman said. "There's a lot of specificity in their fish nomenclature." For example, he said there are three names for varieties of sculpin, all referring in some way to the barbels, or whiskers, on their upper lips. To begin to appreciate the names, one must understand that Salish words -- both nouns and verbs -- are formed by tacking prefixes and suffixes onto descriptive roots, Osterman said. Plurals are formed by doubling the root. Thus, a "hairy-mouthed" fish has "upup" (pronounced oop-oop), or more than one hair, as part of its name. It is remarkable how similar the Kalispel fish classification system is to modern scientific designations, Osterman said. Kalispel and other Salish names "all key in on how these animals look," he said. That kind of insight is why Newport-area resident John Stuart was among some 15 people who turned out for the WSU/Pend Oreille Cooperative Extension program last week at the CREATE arts center in Newport. Stuart is active in a conservation group and hoped to learn shades of meaning from Kalispel animal and plant names. His adult son, Tighe Stuart, shared that motive as well as an interest in linguistics, having visited some Latin American countries after studying Spanish in high school. Tighe Stuart said one of his friends is an avid linguist, and "knowing someone else is excited about it makes you wonder what's there." Cathy Stolarik, manager of a Newport title insurance office, said she has always been fascinated by languages and attended Osterman's lecture as a way "to further humble me." She was humbled when Osterman discussed the sounds used in the Kalispel language and the parts of the mouth used to produce them. "What do you do with that thing in the back of your mouth?" Stolarik asked. "Oh, that sound," she said, prompting laughter, when Osterman attempted to demonstrate a sound that doesn't come naturally to non-native speakers. Osterman knows all the international phonetic symbols used to represent Kalispel and other American Indian languages and recognizes the sounds when he hears them. But some of the sounds in the "consonant-rich" language just won't come out of his mouth, he said. Sue Finley has the opposite problem. She's one of only 10 or so tribal members who still speak Kalispel, but some of the symbols used to write the language still elude her. "Just to sit down and write a letter in Indian, I couldn't do that," Finley said in an interview from the tribe's cultural office. Despite the difficulty, she translated eight children's books last year as part of the tribe's effort to teach its language to schoolchildren during summer breaks. Pronouncing the words seems "pretty simple" to Finley, who didn't learn English until she started grade school at the Indian Day School on the reservation across the Pend Oreille River from Cusick, Wash. But, she acknowledges, "a lot of people tell me it's hard." To help beginners learn some of the unfamiliar sounds, Finley resorts to instructions such as, "Make the sound like you're going to cough or you're clearing your throat or something like that." Osterman's instruction began with a year of classes from Spokane tribal elder Pauline Flett at Eastern Washington University, where he earned a master's degree combining anthropology, biology and linguistics in 1994. The Spokanes have an "R" sound that the Kalispels don't have and they pronounce some words differently, but native speakers of both tribes as well as the Montana Flatheads can communicate easily. Those tribes speak dialects of the same language, according to Raymond Brinkman, director of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe's language program. Brinkman wasn't surprised that Finley sometimes can and sometimes can't understand native speakers from the Coeur d'Alene Tribe. The Coeur d'Alenes have a separate Salish language, as distinct from Kalispel as Portuguese is from Spanish, he said. Since the 19th century, the Coeur d'Alenes and other tribes throughout the region have used Kalispel as a lingua franca, or trade language, when they want to be more widely understood, Brinkman said. Still, all the Salish languages in the Inland Northwest have much in common. That's why Rathdrum, Idaho, resident Laura Hunter felt at home when Osterman listed the four words Kalispels use for grandparents -- words that mean mother's mother, mother's father, father's mother and father's father. Hunter is a member of the Colville Confederated Tribes, and the Arrow Lakes Band words her father taught her were essentially the same. She said she is interested in learning more of her tribal language. Hunter's 14-year-old son, Zach, said he didn't get much from Osterman's lecture. He may have wished he had. "We home-school," Laura Hunter said. "There might be a little quiz tomorrow." -- Spokane, Wash., Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and the Inland Northwest Copyright c. 2004, The Spokesman-Review. --------- "RE: YELLOW BIRD: Devils Lake Outlet seems Risky" --------- Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2004 08:13:13 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YELLOW BIRD: DEVILS LAKE OUTLET" http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforksherald/news/columnists/7860516.htm DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: Devils Lake outlet still seems like a risky business When I read Secretary of State Colin Powell's recent letter about the Devils Lake outlet, I was not convinced that the need for the outlet outweighed the concerns of Canada, the state of Minnesota, the activist group People to Save the Sheyenne and the Spirit Lake Tribe. That's a lot of objections. After discussion and research, I feel better about the issue - but still uneasy. We are talking about Devils Lake, a 3,810-square mile basin in the central part of North Dakota. Since the glaciers retreated, the lake level has fluctuated from about 1,459 feet (which is the level at which the lake spills naturally into Stump Lake and eventually the Sheyenne River) to 1, 400 feet. The recent rise in the lake level has caused people and whole towns to load up their belongings and move to higher ground. It has taken farmland and fishing docks, too. The proposed answer to the flooding is an outlet that would take the top off the lake and keep it from overflowing. I am pleased that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' federal project seems to be off the table. That's the opinion of many state and federal people I talked to. It is too costly - over $180 million. Something that affects so few people but carries such a big price tag probably would not pass Congress, I was told. The state outlet, which will be completed in 2005, is a "done deal." It is going to be completed. They have started moving dirt and pounding nails, so to speak. To me, that seems arrogant on the part of the state people. There are objections to the outlet, yet their answers to opponents' questions are not as reassuring as they could be. State people do have some points that comfort me about the outlet, though. For example, Canada is concerned about Devils Lake biota affecting the Canadian commercial fishing industry. They are rightly concerned that something like the striped bass might get into their waters, said Terry Steinwand, fisheries chief for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department. "We can't document them," Steinwand said of striped bass in Devils Lake. "We don't know if they are here or not. So the risk is very, very small, but there is no guarantee." Canada would like a guarantee. He understands their concern, but doesn't agree that it is a viable risk. The risk, as small as it is, is Canada's risk. Salinity is another issue that concerns the opposition groups. A high salinity level not only causes problems with the fish, but also can act as a laxative for those who drink it. There is a high degree of salinity in Devils Lake, especially in the eastern side of the lake. The outlet mostly will take fresh water from near the lake surface. The salinity will be within the natural range, said David Glott, chief environmental health officer for North Dakota Department of Health. They will be monitoring the levels in the Sheyenne River, as well as the Red River north of Fargo, through Grand Forks and to the U.S. and Canadian border. "We don't think it will be a big issue," he told me. I also questioned the run-off from the agricultural area that feeds into Devils Lake through Channel A. The channel is a drainage ditch that helps drain croplands so farmers can plant those lands early in the spring. Studies indicate some of the fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides can cause diseases like cancer. All are within normal limits, Glott said. Besides, critics also have to look at the run-off that occurs naturally up and down the Sheyenne and Red rivers, from such causes as rain and melting snow. They don't control that run off, Glott said. How could I argue with that? Still, my concern is that years from now - after money is spent and the outlet is pumping - striped bass will be gnawing commercial fish or we will have half a state of sulfate-filled people and sterile fish. Yet, those experts I talked with did seem to know their business. Let's hope so. We can hold them accountable. ---- Yellow Bird writes columns. Reach her at 780-1228, (800) 477-6572 ext. 228 or dyellowbird@gfherald.com. Copyright c. 2004 Devils Lake Daily Journal. --------- "RE: NICK COLEMAN: Shades of Custer, Black Hills Gold" --------- Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2004 08:51:48 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="COLEMAN: WASICU GREED" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.startribune.com/stories/357/4361238.html Nick Coleman: Shades of Custer, Black Hills gold Nick Coleman, Star Tribune February 6, 2004 Two years before he lost his hair, George Armstrong Custer led an Army expedition into the Black Hills to look around and see if there was anything to all those rumors about gold being practically ready to pick up and stuff in your saddlebags. Now, the state of Minnesota is fixing to follow in his path. During Thursday's State of the State address, Gov. Tim Pawlenty opened a can of trouble: raising the possibility of radically changing the state agreements that allow Indian tribes to use gaming revenues to provide jobs, build infrastructure and have their voice heard in the halls of power. For Indians, it's de'ja vu, all over again. It was greed that lured Custer into the Black Hills, which had been promised to the Sioux and Cheyenne for "as long as the grass grows" by the Fort Laramie treaty of 1868. As it turned out, the grass stopped growing as soon as the white guys found gold: The Black Hills were too valuable to be left alone to Indians. A University of Minnesota professor named Donaldson accompanied Custer on the 1874 expedition and sent back reports to the leading Minnesota newspaper at the time, the St. Paul Pioneer. He called the Black Hills an Eden and wrote that the area was too rich and too valuable - gold! - to allow it to remain in the hands of "obstinately depraved nomad[s]." Instead, the professor argued, the Black Hills rightfully belonged to the "thousands through whose veins thrills the noble Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian and German blood." There might be an argument as to whether Scandinavian blood is still as thrilling as it was in the 1870s, but Pawlenty's words would be familiar to anyone who lived in Custer's time: Indians have something that is starting to look pretty good to us. The governor hasn't revealed how far he wants to go in changing - or competing with - tribal gaming. But he is definitely pandering to those who don't think Indians should have the bounty to themselves. And by raising the possibility of revising the agreements, he is pouring gas on a bonfire of enviousness. "The compacts negotiated with the American Indian tribes almost 15 years ago do not reflect current circumstances, and we need to address that issue," he said Thursday. Prof. Donaldson might have been pithier: "The agreements we made with Indians were written BEFORE we knew how much money there is to be made." The lie about Indian gaming is that the state gets nothing in return. Really? It gets thousands of jobs. It gets millions in tax revenues. Millions in tourist spending. And it gets the Minnesota State Lottery, which has raised more than $1 billion. No one seems to remember that the state allowed the tribes to have casinos because it wanted to move into legalized gambling itself. The state got horse racing, expanded charitable gambling and the lottery. The tribes got what was seen as a risky but historic opportunity to help raise Indians out of the poverty to which they had been relegated by centuries of broken treaties. Now Minnesota is getting ready to break another one. And Gen. Pawlenty is leading the charge. Too bad. Up until now, the state and the tribes have shared in the winnings. The bounty won't last if the state gets greedy. Nick Coleman is at ncoleman@startribune.com. Copyright c. Minneapolis Star-Tribune. --------- "RE: Alaska Tribal Leaders thought Grants Jeopardized" --------- Date: Sat, 7 Feb 2004 12:44:54 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="EPA LETTER" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.adn.com/alaska/story/4715304p-4665367c.html Governor to clarify stance in EPA letter UPROAR: Tribal leaders thought grants jeopardized. By LIZ RUSKIN Anchorage Daily News February 7, 2004 WASHINGTON - Gov. Frank Murkowski angered Alaska tribal leaders with a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency last month that appeared aimed at cutting off $13.5 million in grants to 150 Alaska tribes. But Friday, after a teleconference with Native and rural representatives, the governor has agreed to send a clarifying letter to the EPA, said his spokesman, John Manly. "There was confusion created with this (first) letter," Manly said. The governor's Jan. 7 letter resulted from the concerns of Ernesta Ballard, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. "Our beef really was more with our sister agency (the EPA)," DEC spokeswoman Lynda Giguere said. "It wasn't meant to be a jab at tribes." But that's how it was taken. "The smoke signals were really going off through e-mail throughout the Native community," said Rep. Mary Kapsner, D-Bethel. "It was turning into kind of a mushroom cloud." Kapsner said Native leaders who read the Jan. 7 letter thought the governor was trying to end EPA grants to tribes. At issue are EPA tribal "capacity building" grants, which can be used to fund administrative expenses, training and planning to support a tribe's environmental programs. Murkowski, in his letter, told the EPA that Alaska tribes are different from tribes in the Lower 48 because they lack "Indian country" powers. He said the EPA grants would be building tribes up to assume regulatory and enforcement authority that belongs to the state. "EPA encouragement of capacity building in these areas runs counter to the law and undermines state authority," the letter read. "Therefore, EPA should discontinue funding of capacity building programs that are designed to allow tribal governments to take over state responsibilities relating to environmental quality." Glenn Fredericks was one of the tribal leaders incensed by the letter. The grants help tribes run cleanup and recycling programs and plan solid waste dump sites, he said. "These are working, and Murkowski wants to cut that out, and what has the state ever done out there in rural Alaska to help?" said Fredericks, president of the Native Village of Georgetown, which is working to re- establish its largely abandoned village on the Kuskokwim River. His tribe of 107 members receives $110,000 from the EPA and $120,000 from a federal grant for small and needy tribes. It has paid some of its money to the state in recording fees and to review well specifications, he said. "How much money does the state get from EPA? We don't see none of it," Frederick said. "I don't know what's wrong with (Murkowski). He's been our senator and he knows our problems out there and yet he attacks everything we do." Murkowski's letter follows Sen. Ted Stevens' effort last year to divert tribal housing and law enforcement grants to the state, an initiative he eventually backed away from. Giguere, the spokeswoman for the state DEC, said Ballard does not want to stop grants that help tribes run cleanup or recycling projects or any number of worthy environmental programs now under way. In fact, she said, the department didn't know of any instance of an Alaska tribe using an EPA grant to support work that encroached on the state's jurisdiction. "The tribes aren't doing anything they are not supposed to be doing," she said. "It's more that there's $13 million coming into Alaska and we really don't know what it all does, where it all goes, whether it's something we can complement with state funds. ... We aren't being asked to sit at the table when the money is being considered so we can help." Kapsner said Ballard's explanation in a teleconference with Native leaders from across the state went a long way to soothe concerns. "To Ernesta's credit, she apologized. She explained that (the state) didn't want the money, or a percentage of the money, or for grants to go away for the tribes, and that was a huge relief," Kapsner said. "It wasn't 'Kumbaya' but I think people are more relaxed on this issue." She said she'll look forward to reading the governor's revised letter. Reporter Liz Ruskin can be reached at lruskin@ adn.com or 1-202-383-0007. Copyright c. 2004 The Anchorage Daily News. --------- "RE: Living Conditions for Natives still shameful" --------- Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2004 08:30:44 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LIVING CONDITIONS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.theglobeandmail.com/~/ABORIGINAL03//?query=aboriginal&disp=e&end Living conditions for natives still shameful, Ottawa admits By KIM LUNMAN February 3, 2004 OTTAWA - Calling conditions in Canada's native communities "shameful," Prime Minister Paul Martin promised yesterday to improve the lives of natives. "Aboriginal Canadians have not fully shared in our nation's good fortune, " said Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson, who delivered Mr. Martin's first Throne Speech in the Senate. "While some progress has been made, the conditions in far too many aboriginal communities can only be described as shameful. This offends our values. It is in our collective interest to turn the corner. And we must start now." The speech announced that the federal government will establish an independent Centre for First Nations Government to address concerns about fiscal and electoral accountability on more than 600 of the country's reserves. He also said safeguarding Canadians from health concerns such as contaminated water -- a big problem on some reserves -- is a "top priority" of the government. Earlier this year, the Liberal government announced it would scrap an unpopular bill introduced under former prime minister Jean Chre'tien. The legislation, which would have amended the Indian Act, angered native leaders and sparked protests. The National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Phil Fontaine, applauded the government for taking a more conciliatory approach. "Imposed change does not work," he said. "A far better way is to put the onus on where it has ought to be all along, on us. The very strong resistance we witnessed had to do with the imposition of will on the government." He also credited Mr. Martin for admitting that conditions in native communities are "shameful." "What we heard today in the Throne Speech gives me cause to be optimistic." Mr. Martin has already established a cabinet committee on aboriginal affairs and pledged yesterday to improve education and economic opportunities for natives. "When the Governor-General actually admits on behalf of the federal government that the treatment of aboriginal people is shameful, then obviously they have to do something about it," said Jose Kusugak of Inuit Advocacy in Canada. The government also vowed to engage other levels of government and Me'tis leaders on the place of the Me'tis in its policies. "It's been a very long time since the Me'tis have been mentioned in the Throne Speech," said Me'tis National Council President Clement Chartier. "I think it's almost been 20 years. I believe that mentioning Me'tis in the Throne Speech by Mr. Martin was signalling a new era for the Me'tis." Last year, the Supreme Court of Canada recognized the rights of the country's estimated 300,000 Me'tis under Section 35 of the Constitution Act of 1982. Copyright c. 2004 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Health Benefits no longer tied to Consent Forms" --------- Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2004 08:51:48 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NO MORE CONSENT FORM REQUIREMENT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://north.cbc.ca/regional/~feb05healthbene02052004&disp=e&end Health benefits no longer tied to consent forms February 5, 2004 IQALUIT - Health Canada has dropped a requirement that Inuit and First Nations people must sign a consent form to receive non-insured health benefits. 'Sometimes we win and this is one of those days' - Jose Kusugak The form would have given the federal government permission to share a patient's medical information. However Health Canada says the forms are no longer required in order to receive benefits. "The written consent forms are not necessary, so there's no more of a March 1 deadline and people aren't required to sign forms, which is very good and it means people's benefits continue," says Bill Erasmus, a regional vice-chief of the Assembly of First Nations in the N.W.T.. Erasmus says the only people who have a history of prescription drug fraud will be required to fill out forms. Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Jose Kusugak has been battling the federal government on this issue for months. He's pleased with the outcome. "Sometimes we win and this is one of those days," he says. "No other Canadians have to provide consent of this nature in terms of providing personal information to a number of health professionals so I think it's great news." Nunavut's Health Minister, Ed Picco, says he met recently with Health Minister Pierre Pettigrew, and again raised the issue of the consent forms. "I guess it's a great announcement for Inuit that the NIHB program will continue without having the consent form initiative having to be done and signed off," he says. Health Canada is circulating its privacy code to First Nations and Inuit organizations for comment. In it the government hopes to clearly explain why and how personal health information is collected, used and protected. Copyright c. 2002 CBC. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Chiefs accuse Gabriel of Police Deal with Devil" --------- Date: Fri, 6 Feb 2004 02:33:30 -0500 From: Frosty Subj: Kanehsatake Chiefs Accuse Gabriel of Signing Police Deal With Devil Mailing List: Frostys AmerIndian Kanehsatake Chiefs Accuse Gabriel of Signing Police Deal With Devil By: Ross Montour Volume 13 Issue 2 - January 30, 2004 Two of the three Chiefs remaining within Kanehsatake say they have received a copy of a policing deal being secretly negotiated by Grand Chief James Gabriel and the Quebec government. The deal, if signed would replace the Kanesatake Mohawk Police and the community-appointed commission that governs it with an entity to be known as the Kanehsatake Public Security Commission. "James is attempting to create an entity that would allow him to get rid of the community policing as we know it in Kanehsatake and replace it with a partnership with the SQ and RCMP under his total control," Chief John Harding charged yesterday. Fellow Kanehsatake Chief Pearl Bonspille called the secretly negotiated deal "A recipe for bloodshed." According to Harding, he and Bonspille received a copy of the deal Wednesday, late in the afternoon. Harding said that Chief Steven Bonspille had not yet seen the copy of Gabriel's deal. According to reports received by them, most of the police that swarmed into Kanehsatake on January 12 remain by Gabriel's side. She said that Gabriel is intent on creating a police state in Kanehsatake under the control of himself, Larry Ross and Terry Isaac. Bonspille, Harding and Steve Bonspille issued a press release on Wednesday blasting Quebec Indian Affairs Minister Benoit Pelletier for his part in the deal. "The recent announcement by Mr. Pelletier, who made public his secret deal with only four members of the seven-member Mohawk Council of Kanesatake has been criticized and condemned by the remaining three, duly elected Chiefs of the Mohawk Council of Kanehsatake who feel they have been excluded from these discussions willfully and in bad faith by the government of Quebec," reads the statement. Bonspille, Harding and Steven Bonspille say that deal-making done without the participation of all elected Council members and without consultation with the Mohawk People of Kanehsatake is the cause for the deep division that exists within the community. It is no wonder, they say, that there is such a high level of mistrust of the federal and provincial governments. They blame Gabriel and his three supporting Chiefs, along with the outside governments for the "string of recent crises in Kanehsatake." The Eastern Door received a draft copy of the deal dated December 24, 2003. The draft was completed only two weeks prior to the January 12 crisis spurred by Gabriel's deal with the Solicitor General of Canada's office to bring in a 60-man police force headed by Terry Isaac and Larry Ross to take over the existing Kanehsatake Mohawk Police Force. This is not the first instance where Gabriel appears to have conducted business on peculiar dates. The Kanesatake Band Council Resolution empowering Isaac and Ross to re-enter the community was signed on January 2, 2004, a day when most government offices, including the Mohawk Council of Kanesatake were closed. Under the deal, if signed, the newly selected Kanehsatake Police Chief would have to make reports directly to the Quebec Minister of Public Security, in effect bringing the community under Quebec policing jurisdiction, notwithstanding the document's wording regarding responsibility for policing in the area by RCMP, SQ and Kanehsatake police forces. The document also has ominous overtones for Kahnawake. Section 3.3 of the document states: The Council (Kanesatake) undertakes to conclude an agreement with the other Native community (Kahnawake) also having jurisdiction over the territory of Doncastor (Tioweroton) with a view to ensuring the application of the present agreement in that territory." Plain reading of the subsection quoted, gives clear indication of an attempt to assert the jurisdiction of the Gabriel - Quebec - Canada deal over that of Kahnawake's in the jointly held territory. "Discussions, decisions and implementation plans by the respective federal and provincial governments disrespecting our culture, excluding the community's input and taking place with only part of its leadership present are null and void, as well as illegal," Harding argued Wednesday. Steven Bonspille echoed Harding's sentiment - "When a portion of the community leadership has been excluded from discussions, (and) with Quebec and Canada playing favourites, do you think wise decisions are being made? We are in the community with our people. We have never left, unlike the other four Chiefs who are deceiving the outside governments, (by) claiming support by the population. Yet, they have abandoned the community for more than four weeks now while we take care of our nation's business." Harding, Bonspille and Steve Bonspille accuse Gabriel of running the community by remote control and question what Gabriel and his three supporting council members are getting out of the deal. In contrast to Gabriel's actions, Harding and his group say that they are striving to get back to working with Kanehsatake's sister communities on the tri-Community Mohawk policing table that Gabriel suddenly turned his back on in 1996. "Quebec hasn't learned anything from the last crisis in our community. Where are the meaningful discussions? This (agreement) sets back relations 100 years," Steven Bonspille said Wednesday. Judging from Peltier's comments to the media Wednesday, the Quebec government hasn't learned anything. Betraying its near total lack of understanding of the nature of band political structure, Peltier said, "The Quebec government still recognizes Gabriel as the sole legitimate authority in Kanehsatake." Meanwhile, Chantal Bernier, the Assistant Deputy Solicitor General of Canada, is the person who signed the November 13, 2003 contribution agreement that allowed for extraordinary police measures with $900,000 of funding to be expended between November of last year and July 2004. Bernier was quoted on the program 'Comment on Lapoint.' When quizzed, she said she was unable to answer a question about what the specific purpose of the funding deal was, according to Harding. Whether she meant that she was not authorized to disclose the information or that she frankly didn't know, is not known. However, according to Harding, Bernier said that she was relatively certain that the funding was granted for a good reason. Gabriel did not return a call placed to his cell phone yesterday. Copyright c. 1997-2000 The Eastern Door. --------- "RE: Timing right for Tribal-law Symposium" --------- Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2004 08:57:03 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="INDIAN LAW SEMINAR" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.spokesmanreview.com/~s1482708&cat=section.Tribal_news Timing right for tribal-law symposium Two-day seminar, which could position UI as Indian-law resource, comes in wake of big story Hannelore Sudermann Staff writer February 4, 2004 This week, a legal challenge filed by the Nez Perce and two other tribes to stop a housing development near a tribal cemetery in Oregon made national news. Last year, a big story out of Washington state was of Makah Indians wanting to exercise their treaty-specified right to hunt whales off the coast. And the U.S. Supreme Court is currently mulling a case about an Indian tribe's prosecution of a non-member Indian tried for the same crime in federal court. Those are the big stories, but issues of Indian law are everywhere -- touching business, crime, taxes, property rights, child custody and all other areas of law. Many of these issues will come up this week at the Symposium on Tribal Law at the University of Idaho, an event UI hopes will establish its law school as a resource for Indian law. The two-day seminar, starting Feb. 5, will be held in conjunction with the Indian Law Section meetings of the Washington, Idaho and Oregon Bar Associations. As many as 100 attorneys, students, professors and tribal leaders are expected to attend. Indian law used to be focused on treaty rights, said Gabriel S. Galanda, a Seattle attorney who specializes in litigation and Indian law. "It was about rights to land, rights to water and rights to fish," he said. "Now the focus is shifting to commercial matters." Since the late 1980s, there has been a tremendous boom in tribal economic development, said Galanda, past president of the Northwest Indian Bar Association. "It's starting to draw the non-Indian public to the reservations," he said. "As there is increased interaction, there is an increase in litigation, in business and in regulatory matters." Coinciding with the increase in Indian law cases, there has been an increase in Native American lawyers. Douglas Nash, an Idaho attorney, UI law professor and Nez Perce Indian, said that when he started law school in the late 1960s, he could count the number of Indian lawyers on one hand. And non-Indian attorneys who practiced Indian law also were rare. Today 17 Washington attorneys and 10 Idaho attorneys are registered with the National Native American Bar Association. But the field is growing. More than 150 Indian law attorneys are working in Seattle now, and nearly half of them are Native American, said Galanda. While they might not be experts in the laws for different reservations, they know that every tribe has its own unique set of laws, said Galanda. They're also versed in Indian law as it relates to civil, local and federal applications. The Supreme Court case currently under review centers around Billy Jo Lara, a Chippewa from North Dakota who punched a tribal officer on another reservation. Lara's assault case went to the other tribe's court as well as to North Dakota federal district court. The term for being tried in two separate courts for the same crime is double jeopardy, a civil rights violation. Now the Supreme Court will rule on whether the law that allowed for both trials violates Lara's Fifth Amendment rights. The seminar this week will discuss U.S. v. Lara as well as look at the federal process for taking land into trust for tribes, creating Indian Country for jurisdictional purposes. Attendees will discuss how to increase the number of Native American attorneys, and hear an update on the litigation related to the Kennewick Man, a 9,300-year-old skeleton found in the Columbia River in 1996. Though scientists would like to examine the skeleton, several tribes are claiming the bones are sacred and should be buried as soon as possible. One of the hottest topics will be the question of adding Indian law to the Washington, Oregon and Idaho state bar exams. Last year, the New Mexico bar became the first to include Indian law in its licensing test. Now there's a push for Northwest states to do the same. "Indian law has become such a part of mainstream law in states like Washington, Oregon and Idaho, the states need to make sure attorneys have a general understanding of it," said Galanda. "The best way to (ensure an understanding) is to test it on the bar exam." The conference meetings are open to the public and begin at 8:30 a.m. Feb. 5 and 8 a.m. Feb. 6 at UI's law school. Hannelore Sudermann can be reached toll-free at (866) 332-3674 or by e-mail at hannelores@spokesman.com. -- Spokane, Wash., Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and the Inland Northwest Copyright c. 2004, The Spokesman-Review. --------- "RE: Police seek FBI's help to identify slain NA Woman" --------- Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2004 08:30:44 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="STRANGLED NA WOMAN" http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/~/northeast/7871766.htm Police seek FBI's help to identify slain woman By Domingo Ramirez Jr. Star-Telegram Staff Writer February 4, 2004 GRAPEVINE - Investigators sought the help of the FBI on Tuesday to identify a woman whose nude body was found in a creek bed during the weekend. The woman's fingerprints were sent to the FBI for possible identification, Grapevine police Sgt. Todd Dearing said. She had been strangled, according to a preliminary autopsy report by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office. Investigators believe that the woman's body was dropped from a bridge on Texas 360 into the creek bed. "We have a few leads that we've been checking, but we haven't been able to come up with a name," Dearing said. Police said there was no identification near the body, which had been in the creek bed near Big Bear Creek just a few hours before she was found, police said. A motorist called police shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday and reported seeing the body near Big Bear Creek in the 3800 block of Texas 360. Police described the woman as being of American Indian descent, between 18 and 30 years old, 5 feet, 8 inches tall and about 108 pounds, with shoulder-length wavy black hair and blue eyes. The woman's body had several tattoos including the word C-Bear on her left thigh, two teardrops on her upper right arm, Seminole on her inside left forearm and the word Bonez on her upper left arm. Grapevine authorities have received no information about a possible missing woman from area law enforcement agencies, Dearing said. Anyone with information should call the Grapevine Police Department at (817) 410-8127. Copyright c. 2004 Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Knight Ridder Inc. --------- "RE: Laguna Man charged with hacking Mother to Death" --------- Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2004 08:51:48 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LAGUNA MURDER ARREST" http://www.gallupindependent.com/020504Laguna.html Laguna man charged with hacking mother to death By Tom Purdom Staff Writer February 5, 2004 PUEBLO OF LAGUNA - The 44-year-old son of an elderly pueblo woman missing since Jan. 8, has been charged in her gruesome ax murder. Louis P. Romero, who lived with his 72-year-old mother Maria Sophia Romero, is thought to have hacked up his mother with an ax, burned the pieces in a wood-burning heating stove in the small two-bedroom home and distributed the charred remains around the home and in a nearby abandoned corral. The corral is near the Old Laguna High School Housing Units on the Pueblo of Laguna. Maria Romero was last seen alive on Jan. 5. Maria Romero lived on the pueblo, but was a tribal member of the Pueblo of Isleta, as is her son. Based on probable cause unearthed during extensive investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Laguna Police Department, Louis Romero was charged Tuesday with second degree murder on an Indian Reservation. No motive for the murder was listed, however, it may have been money-related. His first court appearance was Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge W. Daniel Schneider. Schneider ordered Romero be held by the U.S. Marshal's Service in the Sandoval County Detention Center in Bernalillo, pending further proceedings. According to a United States District Court case documents, tribal police went to Romero's house Jan. 12, with concerned family members to check on the elderly woman's welfare. Police knocked on the door of the home several times, but got no answer. Court documents show once officers entered the house they found Louis Romero, who told the officers he was drunk. A background check revealed Louis Romero was a fugitive from the Laguna Pueblo Justice System on unrelated charges and he was taken into tribal custody. On Jan. 13, Laguna Police contacted the BIA in Albuquerque asking for help in a missing persons case. The FBI was also called into the case because an alleged crime happened on a reservation. A search of the home that evening produced what authorities believe are blood-stained items of clothing as well as a kitchen butcher knife. The following day, John Romero, Louis Romero's brother, told investigators he had "fear that his brother, Louis P. Romero, may have hurt Maria Sophia Romero," a court affidavit states. The brother told investigators he witnessed arguments between his mother and his brother, arguments which turned violent, forcing John Romero to protect his mother. Investigators searched Romero's home again and discovered the inside of the wood heating-stove appeared to have been scrubbed clean. The affidavit states the clean stove alerted investigators to look at burned material near the house. An FBI emergency response team found what appeared to be a pair of wire-framed glasses similar to those worn by the elderly Romero in a pile of ashes near the house. On Jan. 15, a forensic anthropologist from the University of New Mexico confirmed human bone fragments were in the ashes. FBI Supervisory Special Agent Doug Beldon said forensic evidence was instrumental in the identification of Maria Romero's remains. Investigators went back to the house for another search. The FBI CSI crew used Luminol inside the house to find remnants of blood in Louis Romero's bedroom, inside the home's one bathroom, in the main hallway, in the kitchen and in the dining area, the affidavit states. Subsequent searches turned up more ashes, bone fragments and an ax, as well as jewelry identified by friends as having belonged to Marie Romero. Although authorities say Louis Romero is not saying much, investigators discovered Maria Romero got a check for $2,000 on Jan. 2, and that she cashed the check before she last was seen alive on Jan. 5. Court documents state when Louis Romero was arrested on unrelated tribal charges on Jan. 13, he had $185 in his pocket. He told investigators he sold a calf for $400 in November and the $185 in his pocket was the amount which remained from the sale. According to court documents, people who know Louis Romero said he has no regular employment and rarely has such quantities of cash on him and that his mother does not give him large amounts of cash. Copyright c. 2004 the Gallup Independent. --------- "RE: Janklow begins serving Prison Sentence" --------- Date: Sat, 7 Feb 2004 12:44:54 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="100 DAY WRIST SLAP" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.fresnobee.com/24hour/nation/story/1141734p-7953125c.html Former Rep. Bill Janklow begins serving prison sentence By DENNIS GALE, Associated Press February 7, 2004 SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - Former U.S. Rep. Bill Janklow reported to jail Saturday to start serving his 100-day sentence for a manslaughter conviction from a crash that killed a motorcyclist. Accompanied by his son, Russ, and a longtime friend, Janklow walked past a group of reporters and camera crews and into the Minnehaha County Public Safety Building at 9 a.m., took a right turn and checked in. Janklow, a former four-term South Dakota governor, was found guilty in December of second-degree manslaughter, reckless driving, speeding and running a stop sign for the collision that killed motorcyclist Randy Scott of Hardwick, Minn. Circuit Judge Rodney Steele sentenced Janklow to 100 days in jail. After 30 days, he can leave the jail during the day to do court-approved community service. Janklow will do some reading while he is serving his sentence, said Marc Tobias, a friend who accompanied Janklow Saturday. Also, the one-time lawyer will probably do some work preparing to defend himself against a wrongful death suit filed by Scott's family, according to Tobias. Copyright c. 2004, The Fresno Bee. --------- "RE: KENT: Rationalizing Randy Scott's death" --------- Date: Sat, 7 Feb 2004 12:44:54 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="KENT: RANDY SCOTT" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.indiancountry.com/?1076089312 Kent: Rationalizing Randy Scott's death February 6, 2004 by: Jim Kent / Guest columnist Rationalizing, it is said, is the reduction of ideals to the level of one's conduct. It's also what occurred on Jan. 22, when former South Dakota Congressman William "Wild Bill" Janklow was sentenced for killing motorcyclist Randy Scott. That the 100 days the man will spend behind bars will be inconvenient to him, there is no doubt. But if "justice" is defined by a balancing of scales, one would ask what weight of measure was used to determine that a man's life - Scott's in this case - is worth a mere 100 days? Many across this state, including those in the Moody County Courthous