From gars@speakeasy.org Thu Feb 19 23:20:59 2004 Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2004 14:56:00 -0800 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews12.008 _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 12, ISSUE 008 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 21, 2004 Mohawk enniska/lateness moon Zuni onon u'la'ukwamme/no snow in trails 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; ndn-aim, News and Information Distribution and Frostys AmerIndian Mailing Lists; UUCP email IMPORTANT!! ----------- In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, all material appearing in this newsletter is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for educational purposes. <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters who share our Spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the Red Road. ++ It may be subscribed to via email by sending a request from your own internet addressable account to gars@speakeasy.org ++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org <================<<<< >>>>================> +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + | As historian Patricia Nelson | | Once a language is lost, it is | | Limerick summarized in "The | | gone forever | | Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken | | * Of the 300 original Native | | Past of the American West... | | languages in North America, | | "Set the blood quantum at | | only 175 exist today. | | one-quarter, hold to it as a | | * 125 of these are no longer | | rigid definition of Indians, | | learned by children. | | let intermarriage proceed as | | * 55 are spoken by 1 to 6 elders;| | it had for centuries, and | | when they die, their language | | eventually Indians will be | | will disappear. | | defined out of existence." | | * Without action, only 20 | | "When that happens, the federal | | languages will survive the next| | government will be freed of | | 50 years. | | its persistent 'Indian problem.'"| | Source: Indigenous Language | +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ | Institute | |http://www.indigenous-language.org| This issue's Elder Quote: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + ======================== "When I see these boarding school children, it hurts my heart. I am the product of a mother who experienced the evil side of boarding schools. I have read the articles and books. I have listened to the other grandparents. While our schools today may not have the abuses anymore, the institutional mentality still creates a dearth of familial intimacy that is so necessary in developing complete human beings. ..." __ Faye Lone, Tonawanda Seneca Nation, founder of Nativision +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! November 1, 2001 seems like a long time ago to some. I am suspicious some Crow Creek girls will remember it vividly. After a Wesington Springs-Crow Creek girls' basketball game in Miller, SD, five of the girls and their 20-year-old driver were chased and taunted by Miller teens. Now we learn the BIA has been so negligent in the maintenance of the Crow Creek school that it may be closed. Tribal Chairman Duane Big Eagle has worked feverishly trying to save the rez school, especially the dilapidated gymnasium; because he and the administrator are all too aware many students hang in with school work only because the athletic venues grant them a way to prove their worth. Read about his efforts in this issue's article, "Chairman drives 4000 miles to save School". I ask you if the predominantly white school would have ever been permitted to fall into such disrepair? Then I ask you to imagine if it had, what the results would be in Miller, SD if it were announced their boys and girls would be riding the big yellow bus to the Crow Creek Rez to complete their education? The crap that happened at the Super Bowl with OutKast using neon green mini skirts and fluffy feathers as a prop for which no one has apologized is symptomatic of the same indifference toward First Peoples throughout Turtle Island (Native American and Native Alaskan students being excluded from Ronald McDonald Foundation scholorship aid, Maya being shot in Chiapas province for chosing to continue their traditional communal farming...). We have to make the Indian people of the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Central and South America important enough that we can't be blown off with a shrug, or our children dumped on the big yellow school bus to go face inequities and taunts, rather than an education that includes respectful teaching of their language and culture. 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 ---------- - Action Alert for OK Indians - Chairman drives 4,000 Miles - Trust Reform funded to save School at expense of Indian Programs - Native Americans are Neighbors, - Tribes pan Bush Budget not Props - Navajos Poor - their Land Rich - Students petition District - CHILD CARE: to combat Racism I shouldn't have to live like this - Positive Step - BIA allows Rocky Boy's new Rules to building better Relations - Tribal College Journal - Boldt ruling's effect honors Native Warriors felt around the World - Students learn Blackfeet - $7M spent - Tribes work to restore for Outside Native Managers endangered Lakota Language - New Constitution in works - Students incorporating for Yukon First Nations Navajo Language - Nault says he was - Ganado School turmoil at boil `whacked' from Cabinet - Tribes' Casinos - Nault's remarks help School Districts draw rebuke from Chief - Forced Abenaki Sterilizations - Ottawa to appeal - Fight violence B.C. Residential School ruling against NA Women and Girls - Coeur d'Alene Tribe-Benewah County - Tribe threatens Flagstaff boycott dock dispute over snowmaking - White Clay,NE: - Statement of the Chairman Civil Rights Lawsuit dismissed of the Hopi Tribe - Native Prisoner - Chinook Tribe -- The Native American in Financial Distress Prisoner Network (NAPN) - Subdivision OK'd - History: Carlisle Indian School near Chief Joseph's Grave - Rustywire: Dibe' bii Nataani - Suquamish hope to see - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days Sacred Place restored - Rustywire Verse: - Promised Land may be nigh She Comes from Lechee --------- "RE: Action Alert for OK Indians" --------- Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2004 18:02:28 -0800 (PST) From: Carter Camp Subj: ACTION ALERT!" for OK NDNs Mailing List: ndn-aim To:"ACTION ALERT!" Subj: Fw: Meeting and Conference Call- OK Environmental Battle ---- Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2004 4:19 PM Subj: Meeting and Conference Call- OK Environmental Battle Greetings! You know about Continental Carbon, the pollution of Ponca Tribe and other families around Ponca City, and the mistreatment of employees. The bigger issue is the State of Oklahoma acting to undermine the rights of citizens, including labor organizations and Tribal governments. The state has gone to court to get a lawsuit by PACE and the Ponca Tribe thrown out. If successful the State will help to set a precedent to be used against future lawsuits that any Tribe or citizens=92 group might file. The Governor's Office has turned down a request to meet with representatives of the Tribe, the Union, and the concerned citizens living near the plant. Put simply, we got the brush-off. They hope we will go away. We won't. On Friday Feb. 13, we are going to meet and discuss an action, or actions, that focus attention on the problems facing citizens in Ponca City and Oklahoma. We can talk about taking these issues to the Capitol and to the Governor. Meeting at the Ponca Tribe office in Ponca City on Friday at 11:00 am. If you want to come or wish to participate by phone, reply to this email and Call Julie at 580 765-2218. If you know someone who should be involved, forward this message. Thanks JK --------- "RE: Trust Reform funded at expense of Indian Programs" --------- Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2004 08:44:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="COST OF (DIS)TRUST" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.gazettetimes.com/~/2004/02/07/news/the_west/satwst03.txt Trust programs see big hike in budget, other programs scaled back By ROBERT GEHRKE Associated Press Writer February 9, 2004 WASHINGTON (AP) - Interior Secretary Gale Norton touted a plan Friday to improve its management of American Indian lands by buying up slivers of Indian property and turning the consolidated parcels over to tribal ownership. The $75 million initiative marks an effort by the department to find a way to improve its management of tracts of land that are becoming increasingly splintered among heirs. By law, the Interior Department is assigned to act as trustee for Indian lands. Today, it manages 260,000 active accounts, more than 10,000 of which contain less than $1. But the department spends $220 million annually administering the lands. "Without corrective action, millions of acres of land will be owned in such small ownership interests that no individual owner will derive any meaningful value from that ownership," Norton said in remarks delivered in Phoenix on Friday. The department's plan is to buy the small pieces of land from willing sellers, lump them together and turn them over to the tribe. The department would keep revenues from the land until it has recovered the purchase price. In the last 41/2 years, the department has purchased 69,000 splintered parcels of land, Norton said. At the same time, 100,000 new interests were created, pointing to the need for the additional $53 million included in this year's budget request. The initiative is a cornerstone of the Bush administration's budget for Indian Country in the coming year. But it also illustrates how a massive class-action lawsuit alleging the department mismanaged tens of billions of dollars over generations continues to drive the department's budget. Of the $250 million budget increase proposed by President Bush on Monday, $158 million - 63 percent of the increase - would go to fix problems identified in the lawsuit and comply with a judge's order to account for money that should have been paid to the Indian landowners dating back to 1887. Last year, programs related to the Indian trust fund management accounted for half of the $344 million increase in the administration's budget. Outside of the trust-related increases, the Bureau of Indian Affairs budget is being cut by about $100 million. That includes a $66 million cut in construction spending on BIA-run elementary and secondary schools. The department runs 183 schools for 48, 000 students and the Bush administration made reconstructing and retrofitting the dilapidated schools one of its top priorities. But the administration has now funded work on its list of 25 schools most in need of repairs and needs to determine, which other schools are in need of work. The department also proposed cutting its funding to tribal colleges and universities by $5 million, an 11 percent reduction and eliminating a $2.5 million community development project. It is seeking to increase tribal law enforcement and justice programs by $10 million. The increases will go to help the department meet a court order to account for money that should have been paid to the Indian landowners. The court of appeals is being asked to determine whether that accounting should be limited in scope or document every transaction for every account since 1887. The president's budget increases the accounting funding by $65 million to $109 million. The department estimates it will take five years and cost $335 million to do the limited accounting and could cost as much as $13 billion to do the broader, more detailed plan. There is $29 million in the proposal to rebuild the Interior Department computer system. In 2002, to demonstrate gaping holes in the department's computer security, a court-appointed investigator hacked into the system and created bogus trust fund accounts. The judge in the trust case ordered the system shut down and held Norton in contempt of court, saying she had lied about the vulnerabilities. The ruling was overturned by the appeals court. Copyright c. 2004 Corvalis Gazette-Times, Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Tribes pan Bush Budget" --------- Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 08:43:46 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="W'S PILLAGE PLAN" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=82193 Tribes pan Bush budget By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS February 16, 2004 ALBUQUERQUE - Indian tribes are taking big hits in President Bush's proposed budget, with schools, clinics, courts and jails bearing the $200 million brunt. The Bureau of Indian Affairs budget alone is decreased by about $100 million, including cuts in the school construction and repair budget of about $65 million. In the two weeks since it has been released, the Bush budget has been the topic of concern at a hearing of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and within tribal governments, which rely on federal funding of Indian programs to meet the needs of growing reservation populations. Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., who represents the pueblos of the 3rd Congressional District as well as parts of the Navajo Nation, said Indian programs have always been underfunded compared to programs for non-Indians and that the budgets should be increased rather than cut. "Our job, I think, always has to be to move the numbers up and get some parity," Udall said. "And we're not doing that. We're slipping behind on this budget." Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. said the BIA budget cut puts the tribe further behind in areas critical to health and safety. "How are we expected to develop our nation with our funding drastically being cut?" My people continue to be left out," Shirley told the Albuquerque Journal. In recent years, the Bush administration has pledged to cut away the backlog of about 30 BIA schools that are to be replaced and has increased its school construction funding to nearly $300 million a year. New Mexico has benefited greatly, with a new $7.6 million elementary school at Zia Pueblo, a $12.3 million elementary school at Baca, and a new $38.5 million complex at Santa Fe Indian School in the past three years. The proposed 2005 budget includes money to replace three schools in New Mexico, the Bread Springs Day School, Ojo Encino Day School and Beclabito Day School, all on the Navajo reservation. It would also fund another Navajo school, in Leupp, and a school in Oregon. BIA spokeswoman Nedra Darling said the construction and repair budget is lower because the bureau has not added any new schools for replacement, choosing instead to try to complete some of the 20 school construction projects that have been in the planning stages for several years. The Bush budget for next year would increase defense spending by 7 percent and boost homeland security spending 10 percent while holding the rest of discretionary spending growth to one-half of 1 percent. The Bush budget does increase such programs as the Indian Health Service -- its overall budget grows by about $45 million, and funding for clinical services in the Indian Health Service goes up $75 million. However, such gains are offset by deep cuts in funding for new clinics and hospitals. In a hearing this week in Washington, D.C., the chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., said he would try to restore funding for tribal health, education and law enforcement. Udall said the House Resources Committee, which he serves on, and the Congressional Native American Caucus, of which he is vice chair, will both work toward preserving funding for Indian programs. Some of the cuts in Indian programs under Bush's proposed budget: BIA school construction and repair would decrease from $294.9 million to $229. 1 million, a $65.8 million cut. BIA construction would decrease from $351. 1 million to $283.1 million, a $68 million cut. Indian Health Service health facilities funding would decrease from $94 million to $42 million, a $52 million cut. Indian Land and Water Claims Settlement funding would decrease from $60.6 million to $34.8 million, a $25.8 million cut. Native American Housing and Self-Determination Act block grants would decrease from $654.1 million to $647 million, a $7.1 million cut. Tribal COPS community policing program funding would decrease from $25 million to $20 million, a $5 million cut. The Tribal Courts program would decrease from $8 million to $5.9 million, a $2.1 million cut. Tribal prison construction would decrease from $2 million to zero. The Indian Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Program would decrease from $5 million to $4.2 million, an $800,000 cut. Copyright c. 2000-2004 Arizona Daily Sun. --------- "RE: Navajos Poor - their Land Rich" --------- Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2004 08:44:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CORPORATE/BLM RESOURCE THEFT" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0%2C1249%2C590041779%2C00.html Navajos poor - their land rich Tribe fighting for correct royalties on wealth of oil By Angie Wagner Associated Press February 9, 2004 MONTEZUMA CREEK, San Juan County - Against the soft blue sky, oil wells steadily pull the black riches from Mary Johnson's land. She can hear the oil running through the brown pipes that crisscross through hills and valleys like twisted licorice. It wasn't so long ago that Johnson, 78, a member of the vast Navajo Nation, believed all this production meant dollars for her. The federal government managed her royalties for her, sending statements and checks - sometimes for $3,000, sometimes $200. But the checks never seemed to come regularly, even though the wells kept pumping, the oil kept flowing. Johnson still lived in a tiny, pale yellow house with no running water, a propane stove and just one bedroom. It didn't seem right. Across the country, but mostly in the West, many other Indians claim they, too, haven't been paid properly for oil and gas production from their land. A class-action lawsuit representing a half-million Indian landowners accuses the Interior Department of mismanagement dating back to 1887. The government admits it could have done a better job and is now revamping the system. But many Indians are skeptical the problem will ever be resolved. As oil pumped from her land, Johnson drew her arms tight around her waist in the brisk afternoon breeze and asked, "Why do I have to suffer so much?" Decades of disarray When the government took the land from Indians and forced them onto reservations in the 1800s, the reservations were divided into sections, or allotments. Those allotments can be leased by oil, gas and timber companies, who pay the federal government for that privilege. The government, in turn, holds the money in trust accounts for the Indians. But the trust accounts have been in disarray for decades. Records have not been kept up. Required appraisals on property leases have not always been done. In 1996, Blackfeet banker Elouise Cobell, determined to find out why the system was so inefficient, filed the class-action lawsuit against the Interior Department. The plaintiffs claim they are owed as much as $137 billion. But unless a historical accounting is done, there is no way of knowing if every Indian - or any Indian - received what was due. In the 1950s, oil was discovered here in remote Montezuma Creek and nearby Aneth, two communities that are part of the Navajo Nation - one of the most mineral-rich tribes in the country. The reservation covers 18 million acres through Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. With more than 180,000 members, it is the country's largest Indian tribe but also one of the poorest. More than 40 percent of its people live in poverty. The median household income is just $20,000, less than half the national median. 'Hopeless feeling' Johnson has lived here in Montezuma Creek her entire life. A petite woman whose deep wrinkles make her look perpetually tired, she speaks only Navajo. A few dusty roads off the main highway, the one-room, stone house where she grew up still stands about a mile and a half away from her home today. Oil pipelines run across land she owns with five siblings. Johnson gestures to her mother's grave in the distance. She remembers the day a company drilling for oil hit her mother's casket. The oil and gas lease for her property was signed in 1953, and Johnson and her family trusted the Bureau of Indian Affairs to pay them for the production on their land. Like many Indians, Johnson has no other income. Sometimes, the checks would be for just pennies. Her November check was for $5.30. Once, she was so fed up with her sporadic checks that she marched out to an oil well and turned it off. Over the years, Johnson and her five siblings have received about $50, 000 each. But they believe they are due much more, perhaps as much as $1 million apiece. "It's difficult for people like Mary to look out their window and see this kind of production, and they go to the post office and see nothing in payments coming to them," said Kevin Gambrell, former director of the Federal Indian Minerals Office in Farmington, N.M. "It gives them a real hopeless feeling." But whether Johnson is really due more money is virtually impossible to know because a century of records are incomplete. 'Putting it off' As trustee, the BIA is supposed to send out regular statements telling allottees exactly how much oil is being produced from their land and how much money is in their account. The government is also supposed to appraise Indian lands to make sure they get fair market value for leases, such as rights of way for pipelines. Gambrell noticed that wasn't always done. As director of the FIMO office, it was his job to make sure Navajo allottees were paid for their oil and gas leases. He was appointed to the job just months after the Cobell lawsuit was filed in 1996. He suspected Navajos were not being paid properly and reported it to the Interior Department. But, he said, nothing was ever done. Last year, court-appointed investigator Alan Balaran found that companies paid private landowners near the Navajo reservation nearly 20 times what Navajos got for the right to build pipelines across their land. The government is challenging some of Balaran's findings. Gambrell was fired last September because, he believes, he asked too many questions. He said the Interior Department told him it was because he destroyed records. The department would not comment on the case. Gambrell said he and the department have reached a confidential settlement. "The Department of Interior," Gambrell said, "instead of fixing the system, they just keep putting it off and putting it off." Paperwork nightmare The lawsuit calls for a historical accounting, and the government believes it has the records to do that. "The challenge is putting those records into usable form," said Ross Swimmer, the Interior Department's special trustee for American Indians. Robert Anderson, director of the University of Washington's Native American Law Center, said there is no way the government could ever do that type of accounting, but the government won't admit that. "They never had an adequate record-keeping system in place," Anderson said. "I think they thought it was going to go away, so they didn't pay any attention to it." Both sides agree $13 billion has passed through the system, but Keith Harper, attorney for the plaintiffs, said the government needs to prove how much of that reached the Indians. "These people, they should be millionaires," he said, "and they're living in abject poverty. . . , cycles of poverty created because of the mismanagement." Swimmer, a former chief of the Cherokee Nation, said reviewing all the accounts would cost more than $6 billion - and Congress has been unwilling to allocate the needed money. In many instances, the system is a paperwork nightmare: 19,000 accounts have less than a dollar in them, and in one case, 2,500 Indians are fractional owners of one parcel of land. Many of the Interior Department's Internet connections have been shut down twice since December 2001 to keep hackers from reaching the trust money. That led to a disruption of checks in the dead of winter. Swimmer said all Indians who are supposed to be receiving checks are now getting their money. Changing the system Interior Secretary Gale Norton was held in contempt of court because U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said she lied about progress on the trust accounting and concealed gaping holes in computer security. That ruling was overturned on appeal. Lamberth wanted the accounting done by 2007, but now Congress has passed a measure that prohibits the department from starting court-ordered accounting until 2005. The Interior Department is reorganizing the entire trust system and asking Indians to review the proposal. Leases, accountability, the way money is collected and appraisals will all be done more efficiently, Swimmer said. He admits it should have been done decades ago. It's up to Ervin Chavez to keep the Navajos updated on the complicated case. He heads the Shii Shi Keyah Navajo Allottees Association. (Shii Shi Keyah means "this land, my land.") Chavez meets with the allottees, often driving to their homes to tell them about court proceedings and translate for those who do not speak English. Often, he does not know what to tell them, especially when they ask why their checks are for so little. Gambrell is trying to help Mary Johnson and her siblings find out why oil companies are continuing to pump on their land even though leases have not been renewed. Interior secretaries have never been held accountable "for the damage they've done to the beneficiaries," Gambrell said. "Interior's gotten away with whatever they wanted to do." Ripple effect For Navajos, not getting the money they depend on has led to more severe problems. "We are over capacity," said Gloria Champion, executive director of the Home for Women and Children Inc. in Shiprock, N.M., who believes frustration over missing checks has increased domestic violence on the reservation. Of the 225 women the shelter can house each year, Champion said about half are from families that receive money from oil and gas leases. Many times, she said, Navajo women who are being abused have no where else to go. "A lot of times they would go to the extended family, but the extended family is struggling, too. The elders aren't getting the money." The Echo Inc. Food Bank in Farmington, N.M., serves about 1,000 Navajos each month, more when checks are overdue. Some allottees qualify for food assistance even when they are getting their royalty checks. "We do see an increase when there's a big gap between when they get their check," said Vicki Metheny, food programs supervisor. "They're certainly up front about it." Being used Down a rough dirt road riddled with potholes near Bloomfield, N.M., Johnson Martinez emerges from his dilapidated white trailer and checks on his barking dogs. The 68-year-old Navajo lives in such a remote area that he often doesn't see another soul for months. On this day, his pickup truck has broken down on the side of the road. He lives in this old trailer just yards from where gas pipelines sit on his family's land. He has no running water, no electricity and sometimes, no food. He builds a fire at night so he and his dogs can keep warm from the chill of the desert air. Martinez said he has 48 cents to his name. His only income is the money he gets from his gas leases. Three months ago, he got a check for $80. Once, he said, the check was for just 1 cent. "They're using us," he said of the government. "They are starving us." Copyright c. 2004 Deseret News Publishing Company. --------- "RE: CHILD CARE: I shouldn't have to live like this" --------- Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2004 08:11:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NAVAJO CHILD CARE WORKERS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.gallupindependent.com/020904navajochildcare.html Navajo child care worker: I shouldn't have to live like this Pamela G. Dempsey Dine' Bureau February 9, 2004 TUBA CITY - Child care providers subcontracted under the Navajo Nation's Division of Social Services were given a much-anticipated answer Saturday that brought a little relief to a long financial drought: yes, you will get paid. "I shouldn't have to live like this everyday," said Polly Boone, a child care provider to four children. "I work very hard ... why should I have to wait three or four months to get paid?" In a meeting Saturday morning, several of the area's child care providers reported overdue bills, loss of insurance, and scarce groceries because reimbursement payments from the Navajo Nation for providing child care in their homes have not been issued for the past few months. While most providers attending expressed appreciation for the tribal program that allowed them to assist working families, worries about late payments brought them together to discuss what options they might have to get their checks. "The bills don't wait," said Louise Begay, who reported a near eviction from her Navajo Housing Authority home because she has not been able to make her rent. "You cannot depend on this payment it shouldn't be like this, we've already earned this money." Begay held up a newspaper photo of President Joe Shirley Jr. speaking on behalf of former Division of Education director Karen Dixon Blazer. "He's trying so hard to keep this lady on the job," Begay said. "Why isn't he doing this for us?" One parent worried that he would lose his child care provider. "I don't know if I'm going to have another child care provider in a month, because who wants to work for free?" said Richard Wietz. "I'd hate to lose the person watching my kids, she's wonderful to my kids." Wietz's provider, Maizie Whitesinger, drives 37 miles daily from Cowsprings to Tuba City to provide service. The lack of payments are affecting her gas money, truck payments, and other bills. "I haven't been paid for November and December," she said. Carol Becenti, a provider to five children, said she quit Christmas Eve but was called back by the parents. "All the same, I've got bills to pay," she said. Diane Martin, new to the program, has been providing care for two children since August. "Do I have the will to keep providing?" Martin said. Their concerns did not go unheard. An unanticipated visit by Division of Social Services Director Iris Peterson gave the group a chance to discuss the bottom line: when are we going to get paid? "I am a firm believer in receiving information and doing something about it," Peterson told them. "We are aware as to what is happening. It is a big concern to me and to our president ... please understand we are not ignoring this problem." Peterson, who is just seven months on the job, said organizing account numbers for the new fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, caused a delay in payment. "We should be able to get all of the checks out before the end of February," she said. Cora Maxx Phillips, a Tuba City Chapter official, asked for a specific time frame. "The reality of what's happening here is there was no Christmas or Thanksgiving," she said. "What is the Navajo Nation going to do about it so this will not happen again to these people?" Deana Jackson, press officer for the Office of the President and Vice President, said Shirley issued a directive to all the players involved to get payments out within seven days. "These payments are a priority," Jackson said. "The bottom line is he doesn't want one TANF recipient waiting and he doesn't want one child care provider waiting." Arty Sanderson, acting director for the Child Care Development Fund, said more than 1,100 payments from Oct. 1 to Jan. 26 to child care providers have been processed. "We got everything out and nothing's around," he said. "Anything that comes in right now we process as soon as we get them." Sanderson could not comment on how long it would take for accounting to cut the checks. Calls seeking comment to Mark Grant, controller of the Division of Finance, were not returned. In December, both the Tuba City Chapter House and the Western Navajo Agency passed a resolution supporting the providers in collecting their reimbursement payments. Copyright c. 2004 Gallup Independent. --------- "RE: BIA allows Rocky Boy's new Rules" --------- Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2004 08:54:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES UPHELD" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.billingsgazette.com/~/50-reservationelection.inc BIA allows Rocky Boy's new rules Associated Press February 12, 2004 HAVRE - The Bureau of Indian Affairs has approved last month's Rocky Boy's Reservation election that put five amendments in the tribal constitution and bylaws. The agency ignored questions raised by tribal members, including Chief Judge Gilbert Belgarde, who sent the BIA a legal opinion that the election should be thrown out. The judge's opinion was ignored because it was not presented as a formal challenge, said Jim Steele Sr., tribal operations specialist for the Rocky Mountain Region of the BIA. Belgarde still thinks the election was improper. He said previously his job would be in jeopardy if the amendments were adopted because one makes tribal judges appointed rather than elected. Other amendments increase criminal misdemeanor penalties, change the date of primary elections, prohibit felons from seeking office, and delete a constitutional provision that revoked tribal membership if members who lived outside the reservation did not return every 10 years to renew it. Copyright c. 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 2004 The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Tribal College Journal honors Native Warriors" --------- Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2004 08:54:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TCJ AWARDS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.daily-times.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi&num=8538 Tribal College Journal honors Native warriors By The Daily Times February 11, 2004 MANCOS, Colo. - The Tribal College Journal is seeking American Indians currently serving in the armed forces who want to continue their ties with their culture and with education while away from home. Tribal College Journal is a quarterly magazine published by the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, an organization of 35 tribal colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. It focuses upon new models for Native American higher education, according to a news release. In its current issue, TCJ appeals to its readers to honor the sacrifices of Indian soldiers and their families by donating subscriptions. There is a long history of Indian people serving in all branches of the armed forces, starting with the American Revolution. Recent publicity has honored the work of the Navajo Code Talkers in World War II, but during both world wars, American Indian Code Talkers helped bring victory by using various languages, including Choctaw, Comanche, Lakota, Crow, or Navajo words. "Americans hold differing viewpoints about war in general and the degree of U.S. involvement, but each of us appreciates the dedicated men and women willing to give their lives, the sacrifices they are willing to make, and the impact their decision has on their families," says Dr. Gerald E. Gipp, a Hunkpapa Lakota. Gipp is the executive director AIHEC. The current issue of Tribal College Journal discusses the importance of Native languages and the controversy over English Only laws. TCJ points out that Native code talkers have saved hundreds of lives. Dr. Richard Littlebear discusses more subtle benefits of being bilingual. In his essay, "Confessions of a freedom-loving bilingual," Littlebear says, "I like reading and hearing the soaring words of Martin Luther King, Jr., the solemn phraseology of the Lake Poets, the majesty and wit of Shakespeare, the whimsicality of Ogden Nash, and the inspiring obscurity of Dylan Thomas. I enjoy hearing the Cheyenne lyrics and vocatives of our honor and flag songs. I like hearing the rhythmic, precise terminology of Cheyenne prayers. For me, both languages have equal weight and influence in all that I do." The current issue features a new design by Walt Pourier of Nakota Designs, which shows off the writing by some of Native America's most respected scholars. The "English Only?" issues will be available March 1. TCJ would like to receive the names and mailing addresses of the American Indian soldiers by that time. Subscriptions will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Send the information by e-mail to eleanor@tribalcollegejournal.org or write to TCJ-Native Warriors, P.O. Box 720, Mancos, CO 81328. Copyright c. 2004 Farmington Daily Times, a Gannett Co., Inc. newspaper. --------- "RE: Students learn Blackfeet" --------- Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2004 08:44:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BLACKFEET LANGUAGE CURRICULUM" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20040209/localnews/380816.html Students learn Blackfeet CMR, GFH language curriculum opens 'window to another culture' By PETER JOHNSON Tribune Staff Writer February 9, 2004 Students in Klane King's Great Falls language classes enjoy reciting everyday phrases they've learned in Blackfeet and listen eagerly as their teacher tells them how Native American songs, games and dances came to be. It's a heady experience for King, who learned Blackfeet from his parents as a preschooler in southern Alberta, only to have boarding school teachers try to drum it out of him by whacking his wrists with a yardstick. "I almost forgot the basics of my native tongue," he said. But King had the last say. After college, he came home to the Blood Reserve, as reservations are known in Canada, and started a video production company that specialized in features about Blackfeet elders and legends. Teachers used many of those videos in classrooms of the reservation schools, which had reformed and stressed the importance of Blackfeet culture and language. Since mid-January King has been teaching an introductory Blackfeet class at both Great Falls and C.M. Russell high schools. It's the only Indian language class being taught at a nonreservation Montana high school. The Great Falls district offered a similar intro class to the Cree language three years ago. It was dropped after three semesters when enrollment tapered off. This semester, 23 GFH students and 11 CMR students are taking the class. There are 1,243 Indian students in the Great Falls public schools, about 11 percent of the total, said Assistant Superintendent Dick Kuntz, who was instrumental in starting and renewing the Indian language classes. The district has reduced its Native American dropout rate from a sky- high 80 percent to a state low 10 percent in the 30 years it has had an Indian Education Program featuring tutoring and home counseling, Kuntz said. But that's still about four times the dropout rate for the entire student body. "Any way you can help Native American kids identify with their culture, you've given them another incentive to stay in school," Kuntz said. "And if we get them coming to school every day, they'll do better in their other subjects, too." Great Falls High School Principal Fred Anderson said school officials hope to sustain interest this time by adding more advanced classes if enough students want to keep going. "I think it's an excellent class that will provide an opportunity for both Native American and other students to increase their cultural awareness," Anderson said. He was enthralled after hearing King describe the Blackfeet's original territory, which sprawled from present-day Edmonton to Yellowstone Park, between the Rockies and eastern Montana. "Window to another culture" "The Blackfeet language is a window to another culture," agreed Deanne Leader, director of the Indian Education Program. "Without the words, you can't understand a group's customs and beliefs." The new language class is not all that the district is doing. This year Great Falls sophomores are required to take a Montana civics class divided evenly between tribal government and nontribal government. Next fall high school students can take an optional class that gives an overview of the history and culture of Montana's 11 Indian tribes. "I'm glad to see them start teaching the language here," said Jewell Snell, 65, who with her husband, Frank, is raising four school-age grandchildren. "A lot of people my age never had the chance. The government sent us from the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana to a boarding school in Oregon where nobody spoke our language." "I learned a little bit of Blackfeet from my mother and aunts, but not a lot," said parent Mary Marceau, 37. "I think Indian kids should be able to learn their language and cultural background, but it's harder in an urban setting off the reservation." "I knew a few Blackfeet words, but am learning a lot more," said her son, GFH sophomore Che' Marceau, 15. "It's easy the way Mr. King teaches with repetition and stories." "I've spent half my time growing up in Great Falls and half in Browning, so I learned a few basic words from my grandparents," said GFH junior Roger Cruz, 17. "I wanted to learn more about my culture, and the class is already helping. It's the class I most look forward to every day." "I grew up in Great Falls and didn't know any Blackfeet," said freshman Virginia Yazzie, 16. "I'm looking forward to going to a powwow some time and striking up a conversation in Blackfeet." GFH senior Joe Eagleman, 17, is a senior of Chippewa-Cree descent. "This (Blackfeet class) is learning about another Indian culture that is like mine in some ways but different," he said. "It can be hard starting from scratch with an unwritten language." One-quarter of the Blackfeet language students at both schools are non- Indian. Exchange student interested One is Hanneke Stubbe, 18, a Dutch exchange student at GFH. "I really like languages and in Europe we're required to take four," she said. "I want to become an anthropologist and this class is great, because I'm learning about a culture I knew nothing about." GFH senior Josh Werkheiser, 17, also is a language buff, and said it's not hard to learn a new language once you realize that internal English rules do not apply. "It's definitely been fun to start learning the Blackfeet language and culture," he said. King stressed that Blackfeet should be spoken "in a flat and low tone, with no musical lilts up and down." There are other differences between English and Blackfeet, too, he said. "In the United States and Canada people almost seem to panic when there is a lapse in conversation," he said. "In Blackfeet, it's common to pause every now and then, maybe take a swig of coffee, and let companions absorb what's been said." King also thinks the Blackfeet language has more specific nouns, with some words taking the place of whole sentences in English. For instance, the word "iniwa" means buffalo. When Blackfeet add a long, tongue-twisting suffix, the word signifies "the buffalo are rumbling toward you with their back, dew claws clicking." You can almost feel the dust and better scramble for cover. But King, 50, was at the tail end of the similar Canadian and U.S. government practices of sending Native American kids to boarding schools where they were directly or indirectly discouraged from using their own language. Starting at age 6, he spent weekdays at a boarding school across the reservation from his home. Teachers demanded that students speaking Blackfeet place their hands on the table and smacked their wrists. He said they drove the colorful language from his lips, and almost from his memory, but not from his heart. King attended college in Edmonton, picking up degrees in Canadian studies and Native communication, including broadcast and video production skills. But the instructors who spoke a Native language were Cree, he said. When he returned home he remembered how rich his native tongue and traditions were when he began making videos of tribal elders. King moved to Great Falls in 2000, where he has been a volunteer cameraman for the public access television channel and a disk jockey for KGPR, the public radio station. Offer to teach King jumped at the chance to teach Blackfeet when Kuntz approached him. He demonstrated he was fluent in the language to Blackfeet tribal officials, a requirement to get his education certificate from the state. King has several goals for his students. He wants to teach them enough conversational Blackfeet so they can walk up to tribal elders and politely chat. He also will teach them a few Blackfeet meditations, thanking the Creator and asking for blessings. Last week, King chanted his brief, eloquent personal song for the students, suggesting if they listen carefully they can catch a rhythm and make their own song to see them through adversity. "Mine is a really sweet and calming little ditty that came to me one time," he said, quipping: "And there's no copyright infringement worries to prevent me from singing it over and over." Johnson can be reached by e-mail at pejohnso@greatfal.gannett.com, or by phone at (406) 791-1476 or (800) 438-6600. Copyright c. 2004 Great Falls Tribune. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Tribes work to restore endangered Lakota Language" --------- Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2004 08:44:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LAKOTA LANGUAGE RESTORATION" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/7906913.htm Tribes work to restore `critically endangered' Lakota language Associated Press February 8, 2004 OGLALA, S.D. - The Lakota language, once spoken exclusively in most American Indian homes and communities on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, is no longer learned at a rate that keeps up with the death of fluent- speaking elders. "Nationally, it's critically endangered," said Wayne H. Evans, a professor in the school of education at the University of South Dakota. "The Lakota language status is critical to the point of being lost," added Stephanie Charging Eagle, graduate department director at Oglala Lakota College. At Loneman School on the reservation, students speak, think and learn almost entirely in English, a dramatic change from just a couple of decades ago, according to officials. "Twenty-six years ago, 90 percent of the student body were fluent speakers," said Leonard Little Finger, cultural resource educator at Loneman. "Today those statistics have flip- flopped." One reason for the decline is the language is no longer valued, said Deborah Bordeaux, principal at Loneman School. As an administrator, she works to achieve federal and educational standards of a Bureau of Indian Affairs school. But keeping and maintaining the Lakota language isn't one of those standards, she said. "We as a people need to validate that. We need to value the language to save it," she said. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization estimates 6,000 members of South Dakota's American Indian tribes are fluent speakers of Lakota. But because English is the language of education, business and government, interest in learning the Lakota language has dwindled, said Little Finger. At a recent Oglala Sioux Tribal Council meeting, council members debated agenda items, talked about financial reforms and agreed to sell its tribal farm and ranch - all while speaking entirely in English. "Only about half of the council speaks Lakota," said Lyman Red Cloud Sr., a council official who is bilingual. Even though an Oglala Sioux Tribal Council resolution states that the Lakota language is the official language of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, speaking Lakota at council meetings is the exception rather than the rule. "That's why we have difficulty with the council talking to the people in their districts," said Red Cloud. The older population is more comfortable speaking in their native language, and also have limited understanding of English, he said. Little Finger said his first language was Lakota, but education drew him off the reservation and eventually into a career that took him throughout the United States. "If you can't speak English, you're out," Little Finger said. "That's our struggle." Yet the loss of native language includes a loss of cultural history, and to lose the language is to lose understanding of a unique people, he said. The Lakota language encompasses not only culture but a spiritual belief system, said Charging Eagle. "Usually healers, spiritual leaders and specialized healers will acquire their power through a dream or vision," she said. Today, more of those healers are not speaking the language and it is not being passed down from healer to healer, Charging Eagle said. "We're losing our spiritual strength," she said. While fluent conversations in Lakota still take place at social gatherings, a revitalization of the language is needed in the areas of education, governmental affairs and business, said Charging Eagle. Evans said he was able to maintain fluency in Lakota even after his family moved off the reservation when he completed eighth grade. But he realizes that keeping up with Lakota has become increasingly difficult for young people. "There has to be a sustained environment; there has to be a need to use the language," he said. Computer games, books, movies, magazines, radio, music and TV saturate the lives of Lakota youth in English, he said. "From the time you get up and every time you turn around, you're bombarded by it," Evans said. Both the Pine Ridge and Cheyenne River Sioux reservations have started projects aimed at keeping Lakota alive. But time is running out for students to learn Lakota from native speakers, officials say. If any the language classes have produced fluent speakers, Evans isn't aware of them. "I don't see the results of that," he said. Information from: The Rapid City Journal Copyright c. 2004 Aberdeen News, Knight Ridder, Inc. --------- "RE: Students incorporating Navajo Language" --------- Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2004 08:45:53 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="INCORPORATING LANGUAGE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=3781 Students incorporating Navajo language into studies Farmington school provides culture to education FARMINGTON NM Candice Adson 2/10/2004 February 10, 2004 Students at McKinley Elementary are spending an hour each afternoon submersing themselves in Navajo language, history and culture. This comes after the Farmington School District approved a bilingual language and culture guide in November. Bernice Casaus, and a team of co-developers developed the Dine Bilingual Language, Culture and History Curriculum Guide. The guide complies with Farmington Schools Education Plan for Student Success, state Department of Education standards and Benchmarks and the Navajo Nation Education Policy. The guide's approval made Farmington the first school district in New Mexico to have an indigenous language guide that meets state standards. Recently, parents were able to sit in on a session of the class and see how the curriculum has affected their children. Elthea Charles said that her daughter, Ashlynn has considers herself lucky to be enrolled in the class. "She's communicating with her grandparents. It's opening new horizons for her. She's picking up a lot of things," said Charles. Pupils reported different reasons for participating in the curriculum. Some say it is a way for them to communicate with their grandparents, and other tribal elders who primarily speak Navajo, and some said that it has helped to improve their marks in other classes. Mary Lou Yazzie and Carol Yazzie have been chosen to instruct the class, along with Casaus. Presently, the class is taught almost completely in Navajo. They use a mostly hands-on approach with the children. "If you do hands-on, it sticks. Abstract doesn't work," said Casaus. Native American Times is Copyright c. 2003 Oklahoma Indian Times, Inc. --------- "RE: Ganado School turmoil at boil" --------- Date: Sat, 14 Feb 2004 12:44:54 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="USE OF MEDICINE MAN" http://www.gallupindependent.com/021304ganado.html Ganado school turmoil at boil Use of Medicine Man draws criticism By Kathy Helms, Dine' Bureau February 13, 2004 GANADO - They call themselves Concerned Citizens for Quality Education. As such, this group made up of parents, grandparents, and teachers met last week to elect officers and voice concerns about Ganado Unified School District and incidents they find questionable. Parents have several issues they would like to see addressed by the school board and school officials. One in particular: taking members of the football team out of class to participate in a ceremony performed by a medicine man on the school football field. Some parents contend this violates the separation between church and state and say they may seek the help of the American Civil Liberties Union to settle the matter. Other members of the group believe school officials are now targeting the football booster club's fundraising activities and expenditures in retaliation for raising the medicine man issue. School officials, on the other hand, say they received complaints from parents regarding misappropriation of funds raised by the boosters and are just asking to see their books. At last week's meeting, the president of the parent's group said: "This is our fourth meeting and basically we will be putting on the table, up front, without hesitation, without fear some of the things that's irked us, that has happened with our school, and why it's in the condition that it is." Though participants didn't appear to hold back on issues, they didn't want their names revealed, saying it might lead to retaliation by Ganado school district officials. During the group's second meeting, parents decided to write a formal letter to the school board, asking to meet with them about their concerns. "But before we did that, we decided to list some things that we wanted to really cover," the president of the group said. For example, "One booster club is being targeted. All of the other booster clubs aren't. And right now, the target of the high school is the football booster club. They singled that out. The second meeting we had, there was an issue in regard to how the booster club is connected to the school organization. We have received information and documentation that a school booster club has no legal ties to any school sports program. But yet, we are being pressured to show our books, to give receipts ..." Football politics According to a football booster club official, who also did not want his name used, parents of some of the players had concerns from the start of football season 2003. "The parents were not allowed to go back onto the football field after a game in order to have quality time with their son at the end of the game. The coach wouldn't let us go out on the football field," he said. Parents then met with School Superintendent Peter Belletto, High School Principal Lanora Shirley, and Athletic Director Rick Benjamin. "Mr. Benjamin told us that was an AIA rule, that no parents were allowed on the football field. ... We found out that was not even an AIA rule. When we met with Mr. Belletto, he actually directed Mr. Benjamin to let the parents come back onto the football field, so that was changed for us and parents were satisfied," he said. "From there on, during football season, as you all know, the team didn't do too well. ... So I guess there was a discussion up at the administration office between Mr. Benjamin and Mr. Belletto. At that time there was discussion made, that was told to us, pertaining to getting a medicine man that this was done before in the prior seasons." The booster club member said Benjamin told them that one day a medicine man showed up at his office, saying he was sent from the administration to the high school to do a ceremony for the boys. "So he (Benjamin) went and got a few students that were on the football team, took them out of class, got them together with the medicine man and they went out to the football field and did a prayer, and partake of the corn pollen and whatever, and then dismissed and returned to class. The parents didn't know anything about it. Later on, the parents found out." The booster club member said Principal Shirley told them she also didn't know anything about it and that the athletic director said that because there had been some discussion on the matter at the superintendent's office, "he figured that was one of the things that we usually do. But without parents' consent, this took place. ... After that, Mr. Benjamin did apologize to us and wrote us a letter apologizing, (saying) that he didn't know anything about the tradition of the Navajo. He just figured that things were done that way." Praying to win In prior years, the official said, parents would get together and discuss among themselves to have something done for their team such as a prayer or peyote meeting, a two-night Good Way meeting, or Navajo Way meeting for them. But those were done with everyone knowing what was taking place and participating at their own discretion with parental consent. One parent said that though they have tried to find out exactly what type of ceremony was performed, how much the medicine man was paid, and where the money came from, they feel they still do not know the truth. "They told us they gave the medicine man $100. We don't know if it was a check, was cash, or was actually that. He just said he was paid by Belletto himself. I think the reason why the parents are divided on this is they really don't want to get on the bad side of the medicine man, so we are trying really hard to keep it to the policy issues," the parent said. Players selected for the ceremony, which was performed before the Winslow game last year, were given the option of participating. However, the parent said, "It doesn't matter if my son said yes. My son is still a juvenile by law. The bad thing about it is the AD took all the blame, (saying), 'I'm sorry. I'm a new guy here. I thought I was doing what was traditionally done, and I apologize if I offended anybody.' One parent said, 'OK, fine. But the next time you do this, you better notify the parents.'" Though that parent was satisfied, others were not and took the matter to the school board, which reportedly listened and then redirected the issue to the superintendent, the principal and the athletic director and suggested that they sit down and discuss the matter with the parents. "We could never get a clear answer on why the ceremony was conducted," the parent said."We were just told it was because the boys weren't playing well, and the other one was 'because they can't catch the football,'" Parents said it was later learned that the ceremony is one usually performed for someone going off to war. A letter written to one of the dissatisfied parents in January by School Board President Larry Noble stated:"It is regretful that your concern was not worked out administratively. Ms. Shirley, Mr. Benjamin and Dr. Belletto have met with you, without resolution. Your statement at the board meeting indicates you want money, not a compromise settlement. "This is regretful as such will impact funds used for the education of students. It will also impact the employment of District personnel. By this letter, I am informing you that administrative remedies have been exhausted. The matter is now closed." Separating church/state Affected parents say they believe school personnel violated at least five Arizona School Board Association/Administration policies, among them: Student dismissal precautions, which states, in part, that no student will be removed from any school building during school hours except by a person authorized to do so by the student's parents or legal guardian. Administering medicines to students, which states there must be written permission from the parents to allow the school or the student to administer the medicine. Principal Shirley said this week that there are only two parents pursuing the matter. "What has been told to them is go ahead and do a lawsuit, because one of them just wants $10,000 to make sure that her son is not insane or gone crazy. It's just because they didn't like their kids being brought out. I would say it was right and wrong, but it depends on who you talk to. I would have done it a different way. "My AD just didn't inform me, so I got after him on that one. They said, 'Well, we want him disciplined.' He already got disciplined. I think they're just pursuing it because they just want money, but I don't think they're going to get any money because it was practiced before in the school. It was just only two ladies. ... The rest of them, they just said, 'Thank you for having a ceremony for my son. I wish you could have told me, but I understand. Next time, you will let me know,'" Principal Shirley said. Checking boosters' books Regarding funds raised by the booster club, she said, "The booster club is under the AD and we have rules and regulations from the Interscholastic Association governing the booster clubs especially when they are fundraising on school campus and all of their fundraising was done on school campus. They used to sell out of a little concession wagon and they would make like $1,200-$1,500,"Shirley said. "What I was told by some parents is you need to look into it. ... All we wanted to do was check the books. But I know that they're wrong. I know that somebody stole money because we have been asking for it since like November and we haven't gotten it to this day. If people don't want to give up the books and just hold on to it, there's something behind it, usually. They were trying to say, 'Well you need to check all of the books from the other booster clubs,' but that doesn't justify. Just because we're looking at yours doesn't mean we have to look at everybody's, because everybody is not complaining about each other's booster club." Club officials said they have maintained minutes of their meetings and kept records of how much was made during football games, how much was bought, and trips to Gallup to pick up supplies. One booster member said that in December club officials received a letter from the athletic director requesting their records. "But I told him, until we get all of this resolved pertaining to the issue on the medicine man, and also not just picking on the football booster club ... then we'll send in ours," he said. When he first joined the boosters, he said he asked how the club was run and whether there were any bylaws that the school associated with the booster clubs. "They didn't have anything." Later on, after complaints surfaced, he said he was given a copy of the Arizona School Board Administration bylaws pertaining to booster organizations. "It states in there that all profits involving expenditure, matching funds or not, will be submitted to the principal with a copy to the superintendent. Board approval will be necessary before any project is undertaken or any purchase order is written," he said. Copyright c. 2004 the Gallup Independent. --------- "RE: Tribes' Casinos help School Districts" --------- Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2004 20:11:53 -0700 From: "Chris Milda (_Akimel O`odham_)" Subj: Funds from tribes' casinos help school districts (Fwd) Mailing List: News and Information Distribution - - - - - - -- - - - - - - Date: Feb. 9, 2004 12:00 AM http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0209casinomoney09.html Funds from tribes' casinos help school districts Sarah Anchors The Arizona Republic February 9, 2004 When you drop a quarter into an Arizona slot machine, money trickles into Tempe's Bustoz Elementary School, where reading coach Jane Clevenger can spend a few more hours helping children write sentences. The quarters and dollars find their way into bonus checks for teachers at Murphy Elementary School District. Casino money also pays for teacher Natalie Espinosa to help Shadow Mountain High School students retake courses they failed on computers. Other school districts are waiting for the money to grow before making promises to teachers or starting programs. The money is from a proposition voters approved in November 2002 that allowed tribes to offer Las Vegas-style blackjack and add slot machines. In return, casinos send a percentage of money from gaming machines to the state Department of Education four times a year. Arizona tribes have made three payments totaling about $9.15 million. Tribes gave their third contribution for schools, about $3.12 million, to the state late last month. The money goes to all public schools, including charters and juvenile corrections centers. For every $100 poured into a slot machine at a tribal casino, $1 to $8 goes to the state. The tribes pay different percentages based on the amount of money they have made that year. Using a complex formula, the money is divided between schools, local governments, the state Gaming Department, trauma and emergency services, tourism and Arizona wildlife conservation. The education share goes to the Department of Education, which hands out money to districts based on their student count. Up to half of schools' money may go to boosting teachers' salaries or reducing class size. The other half can go to dropout prevention or programs to improve instruction, such as reading classes. Some schools are already using the money. * In the Tempe Elementary School District, part of the money will pay for teachers to attend a day of training. The rest will pay for schools to hire full-time reading coaches instead of part-time ones. Jane Clevenger now works a full day at Bustoz to help classroom teachers use different methods to teach students to read. "There was no consistency," Clevenger said. "You can't teach essay writing and be there every other day." On a recent Wednesday, she helped a teacher and second-grade students practice arranging sentences, and older students, many of whom are learning English, change true stories they wrote into fictional ones. * In the Paradise Valley Unified School District, half the money will go to teachers' salaries. The district hired teachers at five high schools to help students work on computer programs to pass courses they failed. Before, when students at Shadow Mountain High School failed Algebra I, they sometimes moved right on to Algebra II, Assistant Principal Bob Rossi said. "That drove me crazy," he said. This semester, students listen to instructors on headphones and complete exercises and tests online. Natalie Espinosa helps, too. "I try to look for someone who has been sitting for a few minutes with the same problem," she said. "We sit together and break it down or I encourage one of their peers to work with them." The remainder of the money will pay for eight new aides to help students in middle schools move from English as a second language classes into regular classes. Patrick Sweeney, principal at Vista Verde Middle School, said about 10 percent of his students are in classes to learn English. "One role of the aide is to keep a commitment going with parents and provide support, academic tutoring, monitoring homework and maybe going into the classroom," Sweeney said. But other school districts haven't touched a dime of the money allotted to them. One reason is that the money is not a huge windfall. For example, Kyrene School District has received a couple hundred thousand dollars. That's not much compared with the district's $86 million operating budget, said Gail Anderson, director of business services. Tim Ham, assistant superintendent of business services at Creighton Elementary School District, said it would take millions of dollars to lower class sizes enough to help students learn better. "A hundred thousand (dollars) may buy you 2 1/2 teachers, maybe three," Ham said. Another reason that some districts have not used the money yet is that officials did not know much money was coming their way. Tribal contributions fluctuate depending on how much money they have made so far that year. And tribes use different calendars, said Christa Severson, Gaming Department spokeswoman. She said contributions are expected to rise as tribes add slot machines. The variation has left school officials uncertain. Tom Elliott, assistant superintendent for administrative services for the Cave Creek Unified School District, said district officials did not commit the money because they did not know how much they could count on. "We decided to lay low and wait to see the pattern," Elliott said. District business officials say districts will decide how to use the money when they write budgets in spring for the next school year. Copyright c. Arizona Republic/azcentral.com. --------- "RE: Forced Abenaki Sterilizations" --------- Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2004 21:55:30 -0500 From: Frosty Subj: Fw: Vermont's Dark Secret - Forced Abenaki Sterilizations Mailing List: Frostys AmerIndian ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kahente Horn-Miller" http://IndianCountry.com/?1075485169 Campaign 2004: Vermont's dark secret Sterilization program targeted Abenaki, Governor Dean wouldn't apologize January 30, 2004 by: Jim Adams/Associate Editor/Indian Country Today MONTPELIER, Vt. - Howard Dean's Vermont is hiding a nasty secret. For more than 30 years, it was a stronghold of the now discredited eugenics movement and state institutions performed hundreds of sterilizations. Abenaki Indian families say they were disproportionately targeted. Official records show a cumulative total of 259 sterilizations under Vermont law from 1933 to 1968, when the eugenics statute was in effect. Some scholars believe the real total could be double that, since the records probably only cover operations in state institutions. They say that up to one-third of the victims might have been Abenaki, the indigenous people of northern Vermont and New Hampshire and adjacent areas of Quebec and Maine. "Every family has stories of people who were sterilized," said Frederick Matthew Wiseman, a professor at Johnson State College in Johnson, Vt., and a historian and advocate of the Abenaki people. This program might be considered a historical curiosity, an artifact of an appallingly widespread movement of the 1920s and '30s. Some 31 states adopted eugenics and sterilization statutes before the rise of Nazi ideology and the Jewish Holocaust made evident to even the meanest capacity their inherent evil. But it re-emerged as a significant issue in Vermont because of the stubborn opposition of state officials, including Gov. Dean, to the Abenaki quest for federal recognition. The St. Francis/Sokoki Band of the Abenaki Nation of Vermont filed recognition petition number 68 with the BIA in April 1980. It is now close to the top of the list for "active consideration." As Governor, Dean, now candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination, rejected appeals for Vermont to issue an official apology for the sterilizations, spurning the example of states like Virginia and North Carolina, which have not only apologized but offered compensation to the victims. According to Nancy Gallagher, the scholar who uncovered the history of the Vermont eugenics program, "Gov. Dean was caught in a power struggle with the Abenakis over recognition." "He was against it," Gallagher said. "He worked with state Attorney General William Sorrell, who actively tried to repress the petition." Abenaki leaders, said Gallagher, cite the eugenics program as a reason for gaps in tribal self-identification. "They had to hide their identity because of the fear of sterilization." Even worse, said Wiseman, Attorney General Sorrell has "mined" the eugenics records for evidence to use against the Abenakis' recognition petition. In December 2002, Sorrell and his Special Assistant Attorney General Eve Jacobs-Carnahan issued a 250-page response to the St. Francis/Sokoki Band petition. As part of their argument, they cited extensive entries from the Vermont Eugenics Survey, observing, "Not a single one identifies an Indian as an Abenaki." The Attorney General's report has been dismissed with varying expressions of contempt by professional scholars and historians. "It's not history," said Gallagher. "It's a legal brief. I don't understand how lawyers think." But the most vehement criticisms center on what scholars consider an extreme breach of ethics in handling the Eugenics Survey records. Eugenics record historians at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York state have adopted guidelines forbidding identification of individuals and even their locales in scholarly works. Yet Sorrell and Jacobs-Carnahan include personal names and physical descriptions, such as the following quotation from the Survey: "[blank] was part Indian, part French, and part Negro. On his death certificate he is recorded as colored. He was very decidedly Negroid in appearance." Furthermore, the Attorney General's office has made this report widely available. It went through a second printing in January 2003 and is now posted in its entirety on the Attorney General's official Web site. Chief Assistant Attorney General William Griffin, who supervised preparation of the report, defended the use of the names. "We did not release any identifications that were not in the public record," he told Indian Country Today. He also denied a connection between the Eugenics Survey and the recognition issue. "It had nothing to do with Native Americans," he said of the Survey. "We went back and looked at it," he said. "It seemed to be targeting French- Canadians, if any particular group." (Gallagher observed that very little research had been done about the fate of Indian peoples in the state eugenics programs. She said, however, that a primary target seemed to be mixed-race families, including tri- racial populations of black, white and Indian descent.) Griffin also defended the content of the report. "What surprised me was the lack of a substantive response," he said of its critics. "There is some sniping around the edges, like the question you raised." Although Sorrell is independently elected, he has long been a friend and political ally of Gov. Dean. (His mother, a Democratic Party activist, is often said to be the person who recruited Dean to run for the state legislature.) He figures prominently in a separate but possibly related, controversy, Dean's refusal to release official papers from his 10 years as governor. The Attorney General's office vetted the Memorandum of Understanding that withholds Dean's papers from public view for ten years and is now defending the agreement in Vermont's Washington County Superior Court against a suit from the Washington, D.C. group Judicial Watch. Dean's discussions about sealing the 146 boxes and 450,000 pages of correspondence and official business, said Judicial Watch, focused on their impact on his presidential campaign. Some of the more damaging material, to judge from letters which have already leaked and been turned against Dean, very likely involves his decisions on Indian issues, including the call for an apology on the Eugenics Survey. Dean's papers are now in the hands of the State Archivist, who is also in charge of the Eugenics Survey documents. Some critics of the state use of the eugenics papers also express concern that those documents are less accessible and in more disarray than they were 10 years ago. "The file on sterilization," said Gallagher, "has gone missing." Copyright c. 2004 Indian Country Today. --------- "RE: Fight violence against NA Women and Girls" --------- Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2004 08:48:14 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MONOLOGUE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=3805 Two organizations unite to fight violence against Native American women and girls Stopping the violence with `monologue' TULSA OK Geneva Horsechief February 12, 2004 The V" word has an effect on people according to one woman determined to raise awareness about one of Indian Country's best kept secrets. On February 19, "V" will stand for, yes - vagina but also valentine, victory and violence. "Some tribal people and tribal leaders are offended by the word, vagina. We want to raise awareness about the epidemic proportions of violence against Native American women and girls. It's almost become genocidal because of the silence. We want to bring it to people's attention and have people start doing something about it," said Sheree Hukill, co-executive director and supervising attorney for Spirits of Hope Legal Assistance Program. Spirits of Hope and V-Day, a non-profit corporation, have partnered in bringing a special presentation of "The Vagina Monologues" to Oklahoma Indian nations for V-Day Oklahoma Indian Country Project 2004. The two organizations work to raise awareness and funding to stop violence against women and girls. In 1998, Eve Ensler won an Obie Award for her play, "The Vagina Monologues." Aside from making headlines and making people nervous about the title and content of her play, Ensler listened first-hand to, "women in crowded factories in Juarez, in crumbling shelters in the back streets of Cairo, in makeshift centers for teenage girls and women in Jerusalem, Johannesburg, Pine Ridge and Watts...," talk about their personal tragedies. And Ensler proceeded to send these stories to the world through her play and now through the mission of V-Day. Hukill said partnering with V-Day has already brought tremendous support to local programs. "Seventeen, magazine featured an article about V-Day and Ensler. Within that article there are three other stories. Our program, Spirits of Hope, was one of three programs to be featured within the whole story," she said. "Seventeen, has their own campaign going, make a difference, and they asked their readers to send toiletries to the different programs mentioned in the article...we've received so much stuff and we're sending it all to tribal programs around the state." The presentation of "The Vagina Monologues" will be held at the Brady Theater in Tulsa and a benefit banquet will be held before the play at the downtown Double Tree Hotel. Jane Fonda will also be present at the dinner and the play as a special guest and Ensler will perform for the first and only time in her own play. "She is Cherokee and has relatives here in Oklahoma and she wanted to do this for us," Hukill said about Ensler's exclusive performance. Hukill said proceeds will benefit local programs. Grassroots organizations like Spirits of Hope are at the core of V-Day's mission and at the heart of Ensler's play. "I have seen the worst. The worst lives in my body. But in each and every case I was escorted, transformed, and transported by a guide, a visionary, an activist, an outrageous fighter and dreamer. I have come to know these women (and sometimes men) as Vagina Warriors," Ensler states on the V-Day Website about women like Hukill and researching violence against women around the world. Though an international movement, V-Day pays special attention to violence against women and girls from Native America. Ensler includes in her statement about Vagina Warriors, "for native people, a warrior is one whose basic responsibility is to protect and preserve life. The struggle to end violence on this planet is a battle; emotional, intellectual, spiritual, physical. It requires every bit of our strength, our courage, our fierceness. It means speaking out when everyone says to be quiet. It means going the distance to hold perpetrators accountable for their actions. It means honoring the truth even if it means losing family, country, and friends. It means developing the spiritual muscle to enter and survive the grief that violence brings...." Working with V-Day has been an exciting project, Hukill said. But tribal leaders from Oklahoma have not been actively supportive of the fundraising event. "We had our first tribal leader reserve seats today," she said Thursday, one week from the play. Press releases were sent out to all tribes in the state January 20. "Our particular theme for this event is, One Mission Many Tribes, because we have to work together to combat this problem." The dinner will also include an opportunity for guests to register to vote. For more information about V-Day go to their Website at www.vday.org. To order tickets go to www.startickets.com. To learn how to become a V-Day Oklahoma Indian Country Project 2004 sponsor, email Sheree Hukill at shereehukill@juno.com. Native American Times is Copyright c. 2003 Oklahoma Indian Times, Inc. --------- "RE: Tribe threatens Flagstaff boycott over snowmaking" --------- Date: Sat, 14 Feb 2004 12:44:54 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SNOWBOWL PLANS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=82055 Tribe threatens Flagstaff boycott over snowmaking By SETH MULLER Sun Staff Reporter February 14, 2004 At least one Native American tribe, angry over the prospect of snowmaking with reclaimed wastewater on the San Francisco Peaks, isn't just getting mad. It may get even. "This is serious enough to where we will be starting some mobilization efforts to boycott the city of Flagstaff," said Cora Max, aide to Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley, noting the economic benefits Flagstaff receives from visiting Native Americans. Max's comments came Friday during a press conference in the Flagstaff City Council chambers, where a panel of more than a dozen speakers made pleas to the Forest Service to reverse its position on snowmaking. Forest Service representatives were not present at the Friday conference. Carrying signs with messages like "Make Love, Not Snow" and "My Culture 4 Your Recreation," several dozen people against the snowmaking proposal for the Arizona Snowbowl walked from Northern Arizona University and converged with another group staging a prayer vigil under the flag at Flagstaff City Hall. The plan for snowmaking already is making some waves among downtown business owners. Marty Shideler, owner of Aradia Bookstore, and Winter Sun Trading Company owner Phyllis Hogan have taken stands against the snowmaking proposal. Hogan announced that she terminated her Chamber of Commerce membership on Thursday because of its support of the Snowbowl plan. "I cannot justify being a member of an organization that promotes or would even consider such insensitive behavior," Hogan said to applause from the crowd. "I rely on tourism for my business, too, but not at the expense of other cultures' religious beliefs." James Peshlakai, Navajo tribal elder for NAU students, sang a traditional blessing song and gave a prayer into a megaphone, while attendees gathered and braved the blustery and cold morning. "I've worked with the Forest Service," said Louise Yellowman, a Coconino County supervisor, who is Navajo. "Today, I want them to listen to us." Caleb Johnson, vice chair of the Hopi Tribe, said that the Forest Service decision is "not only disappointing, but it's a harmful decision to take as far as the Hopi are concerned." Rowland Manakaja, natural resource and cultural director of the Havasupai tribe, echoed the sentiments of many others who spoke about the importance of the Peaks and how Native Americans would continue to take a stand to protect them. "We as indigenous people will not tolerate further desecration of our Sacred Peaks," Manakaja said. The outcry against the proposal could further push tribes to take action against the city of Flagstaff, which has agreed to sell the reclaimed water to the Snowbowl should it receive approval for the upgrade. The tribal opposition to snowmaking, outlined in the draft study, is because it is waste and considered a desecration of a sacred site. Also, the man-made snow could upset the Hopi katsina spirits that grant the rain and snow, based on that tribe's beliefs. Also, numerous traditional practitioners gather herbs from the mountains for ceremonies. Those practitioners are concerned about how the reclaimed water could rob the spiritual properties of the plants. The Forest Service released the 800-plus page draft environmental impact statement for Snowbowl's upgrades Feb. 2, and the EIS addressed the tribe's concerns. "These concerns are focused on the spiritual and cultural issues, not the actual biological purity of the water itself (i.e., the fact that reclaimed water meets both Environmental Protection Agency and Arizona Department of Environmental Quality standards is irrelevant to tribal peoples)," according to the EIS. The proposed upgrade calls for the construction of a pipeline to send 1. 5 million gallons daily to the ski area to make snow. It also includes creating additional trails and facilities within the current boundaries of the ski area. The announcement that the Forest Service proposed an action that would allow for the upgrades recharged opposition, which also was voiced two years ago when the proposal first surfaced. Save The Peaks started as a grassroots effort the same day of the draft EIS release, according to organizer Berta Benally. It represents concerned citizens who want to unite under one banner to oppose the Forest Service position. She reports the coalition has more than 200 members. She said it further plans to hold conferences and vigils during the course of the public comment period for the draft EIS, which reportedly started Friday with its publication in the federal register and runs 60 days. A vigil is tentatively scheduled for Feb. 24. The environmental study recognizes the impacts the snowmaking and upgrades to the cultural property of the Peaks, but it suggests these impacts would be mitigated through the Forest Service's consultation with tribal leaders to insure religious practices are allowed in "an uninterrupted manner." Reporter Seth Muller can be reached at 913-8607 or smuller@azdailysun.com Copyright c. 2004 Arizona Sun. --------- "RE: Statement of the Chairman of the Hopi Tribe" --------- Date: Sat, 14 Feb 2004 12:44:54 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SNOWBOWL" http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=3814 Statement of the Chairman of the Hopi Tribe Regarding the February 2004 Snowbowl Facilities Improvement Draft Environmental Impact Statement KYKOTSMOVI AZ Vanessa Charles February 13, 2004 The Hopi Tribe has received a copy of the February 2004 Snowbowl Facilities Improvement Draft Environmental Impact Statement. We are reviewing the document and expect to submit written comments on the selection of alternatives within the next 45 days. The San Francisco Peaks, which we call Nuvatukyaovi, meaning "Place of Snow on the Peaks," have since time immemorial been a central and essential element of Hopi culture, religion, and survival. The Peaks are the home of the Katsinam and the focus of our prayers for rain and snow, upon which our way of life depends. In the Hopi Tribe's correspondence with the Coconino National Forest last year regarding the Proposed Action, we stated that limiting development and changes on the Peaks is a primary concern of the Hopi people, and that the Hopi Tribe opposed all elements of the Proposed Action, particularly the proposals for night skiing and snowmaking. We also indicated that the Proposed Action will have a significant adverse effect on the overall environment of the Mountain and watershed, as well as affecting the condition of this historic property that is in the process of being nominated to the National Register of Historic Places. While we do support the elimination of the night lighting system and night skiing originally included in the proposal, we are particularly concerned about the proposed use of recycled water for snow making at the Snowbowl. We see the continuation of this effort to be not only unsanitary, but unequivocally a blatant infringement of our First Amendment constitutional right. Over the years the Hopi Tribe has worked closely with the Coconino National Forest on numerous issues, and there is a Memorandum of Understanding in place to facilitate cooperation on protecting the integrity of the Mountain and its sensitive resources. We accept the assurances that the Forest Service will take into account the Hopi concerns about the expansion and snowmaking, as well as listening to other Tribes and groups that have serious concerns about impacts of the Proposed Action. Therefore, the Hopi Tribe will continue to oppose Alternative 2 - the Proposed Action in the February 2004 Snowbowl Facilities Improvement Draft Environmental Impact Statement. We will continue our dialogue with the Forest Service in hope that they understand our concerns and issues and weigh them equally with the economic factors, which seem to be driving the position of the Forest Service. Native American Times is Copyright c. 2003 Oklahoma Indian Times, Inc. --------- "RE: Chinook Tribe in Financial Distress" --------- Date: Sat, 14 Feb 2004 12:44:54 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CHINOOK PROBLEMS" http://www.columbian.com/02132004/clark_co/117256.html Chinook tribe in financial distress February 13, 2004 By DEAN BAKER, Columbian staff writer The Chinook Indians, descendants of the ancient tribe of traders who built the town of Cathlapotle near modern Ridgefield and saved Lewis and Clark from starvation in 1805-1806, are struggling financially. Last spring the tribe lost the $65,000 annual federal grant it's won each year for 20 years. The money was the funding cornerstone of the tribal government's operation: a three-person office in a former school in the coastal town of Chinook. To raise the $2,800 needed to run the office each month, the tribe has held rummage sales, asked members for money and sold pizza at Seattle Mariners games. In another fund-raiser, tribal members will dispense coffee from 2 a.m. Saturday to 2 a.m. Monday at Gee Creek Rest Area on Interstate 5 north of Vancouver. "It's truly a fight for survival," said Chinook Chairman Gary Johnson, 61, who will drive from his home in South Bend to help at the coffee booth. "We've got to be able to keep the office open, and we've got to have money to do it." When Lewis and Clark arrived almost 200 years ago, the Chinook tribe numbered 16,000. They lived in small villages such as Cathlapotle along the Columbia River between The Dalles, Ore., and the coast. Now the tribe has 1,989 members. Most live on the coast between South Bend and Chinook. About 40 live in Clark County. Tribal administrator Larry Goodrow said Thursday the $65,000 grant from the Administration for Native Americans Office of the Department of Health and Human Services was withheld because federal officials claimed there were "technical flaws" in the application. Specifically, Goodrow said federal officials charged there was too little community involvement in the grant application. But Goodrow said the tribal council approved the grant in a meeting open to all tribal members. Johnson said he was perplexed by the federal government's rejection of the grant, a 200-page document prepared by professionals. Grants of up to $100,000 a year used to be made routinely to the tribe on the basis of a five- or six-page application, he said, but the grant process now requires professional assistance. "This change seems to have come with the change in administrations, and a change in grant policies," he said. Sam Robinson, 47, a tribal council member who lives in Hockinson, is in charge of the coffee sale. He said Thursday he hopes the public will chip in a few more dollars than the $350 collected when the tribe ran the Gee Creek rest stop a month ago. The Department of Transportation allows groups to give away coffee and snacks at the rest areas and accept donations in return. "We're pretty much cut to the bone," said Robinson, manager of the 60- employee Calvert Co., a wooden-beam plant in Vancouver. "We need the income." Johnson said the tribe receives several other annual grants of $3,000 to $10,000. But its monthly budget $1,500 for utilities and offices expenses and $1,300 in salaries probably will have to be cut further. The Chinook people historically have had a rough time with the federal government. A treaty giving up their land went unsigned in 1855, but they still were removed from their homes. In 1954, the Bureau of Indian Affairs crossed the Chinook off a list of recognized tribes, and members have struggled ever since to regain tribal status. In January 2001, the Clinton administration recognized the tribe. But on July 5, 2002, the Bush administration revoked that legal status, again citing flaws in the tribe's application. Federal recognition would give the tribe financial aid to improve schools, health care and business. Members say they want the tribe to own land so it can restore Chinook culture, provide for members, clean up Willapa Bay for better fishing, clamming and oyster growing, and maintain wild lands such as Long Island. Chinook Council members Greg Robinson and Tony Johnson are leaders in building on the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge a replica Cathlapotle plank house such as their ancestors occupied for hundreds of years. Dean Baker writes about history. Reach him at 360-759-8009 or e-mail dean.baker@columbian.com. Copyright c. 2004 by The Columbian Publishing Co. --------- "RE: Subdivision OK'd near Chief Joseph's Grave" --------- Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2004 08:48:14 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ENCROACHMENT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.gazettetimes.com/articles/2004/02/13/news/oregon/ore04.txt Subdivision OK'd near Chief Joseph's grave By ANDREW KRAMER Associated Press writer February 13, 2004 PORTLAND - Commissioners in northeastern Oregon's Wallowa County on Thursday approved plans for an upscale subdivision near the grave of Old Chief Joseph, land considered culturally significant to the Nez Perce Indians. The Nez Perce and two other Northwest tribes had challenged the plans for 11 homes on 62 acres near the grave on a site that is also a trailead of the Nez Perce National Historic Trail. Chief Joseph, the son of old Chief Joseph, followed the trail in 1877 in a running a 1,500-mile fighting retreat from the U.S. Calvary that ended with his surrender near the Canadian border and exile of his band from the Wallowa Valley. In a heartbreaking surrender speech to U.S. General Oliver O. Howard at the other end of the trail, Chief Joseph said: "I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever." Tribes had linked the grave of Chief Joseph's father and the area of planned development with this tragic chapter in their history, and said they hoped the land would be made into a park or a preserve. They had also objected that the property, on a grassy ridge at the foot of picturesque Wallowa Lake, held archaeological sites and possibly American Indian graves. Nez Perce tribal members once camped on the land and fished sockeye salmon from the lake and hunted in the Wallowa Mountains. "We are extremely disappointed with the county's decision," Anthony D. Johnson, chairman of the Nez Perce tribe, said in a statement. "This decision ignores...the enormous public interest in protecting the site." The Nez Perce tribe said Thursday it would appeal to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals within 21 days. Commissioners approved the subdivision with modifications. The developer, K&B Limited Family Partnership, will be required to conduct another archeological survey before building, said Commissioner Ben Boswell. Two previous surveys on the land found chips from tool making but no clear evidence of graves or village sites. Boswell said county officials were also discussing options for a public buyout of the land to prevent development. Rahn Hostetter, attorney for the developer, declined to comment on the county's decision Thursday. The planning commission had approved a tentative plan for the development in December. The Nez Perce Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville, along with the City of Joseph and private citizens, appealed that decision to the county commissioners. Copyright c. 2004 Corvallis Gazette-Times, Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Suquamish hope to see Sacred Place restored" --------- Date: Sat, 14 Feb 2004 12:44:54 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DOE-KEG-WATS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.thesunlink.com/redesign/2004-02-14/local/402030.shtml Suquamish hope to see sacred place restored Christopher Dunagan Sun Staff February 14, 2004 The Suquamish people have known this place called Doe-keg-wats since the beginning of time. Even in modern days, the estuary has remained a sacred and much-used place. "It's a healing place," said Suquamish elder Marilyn Wandrey as she walked along the beach with the sun beaming down. In her quiet, prayerful moments, Wandrey said she can sense the presence of her ancestors in these natural surroundings. For many Suquamish families, the area was, and is, a gathering place -- a place to gather shellfish, a place to gather people together. "As children," she said, "we lived on this beach, swimming and playing, digging clams and fishing." Seeing the beach and the grassy estuary coated with oil this winter was almost more than some could bear. But Wandrey and other elders are not inclined to dwell on the problem. "I hope we can do what we we were planning to do this summer," Wandrey said. She and others hope to teach the young people about the way things were done in years past. "This was going to be the first year when we were going to dig clams and dry them over a fire," she said. "We want to have salmon and camping. These were things I remember as a child, and we are trying to bring that back." Nobody can say when the beach will be clean enough to eat the clams again, but it could be many months. "I can still see oil residue," Wandrey noted as she walked the beach Tuesday, "but it's nothing compared to what it was." Bernard Adams, a tribal elder and World War II veteran, has heard stories about how his grandmother gathered ironwood from Doe-keg-wats, which means "place of deer." The hard wood was formed into skewers for drying cockles, horse clams and geoducks to be stored for winter. The women gathered blackberries, salmonberries and huckleberries for canning, he said. Cattails were selected for basket-weaving. "We played (base)ball on the flats when the tide was out," Adams recalled. Fish hiding in thick kelp beds were a challenge to catch, he said. For some reason, the kelp disappeared as the years went by. When he was a child, families often lived on the beach from June until school started in September, Adams said. When only one or two people stayed on the beach, they would usually sleep in a boat, because cougars were known to wander through the area. Doe-keg-wats is not the only sacred place known to Suquamish people, but today it's the only large waterfront area still owned exclusively by the tribe and its members. It is the last waterfront place they can visit whenever they wish, the last place to recall their traditional connection to the sea. Reach Christopher Dunagan at (360) 792-9207 or at cdunagan@thesunlink.com. Copyright c. 2004 The SUN, Bremerton, WA. --------- "RE: Promised Land may be nigh" --------- Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 08:43:46 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BLM TRANSFERS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.adn.com/alaska/story/4748195p-4694965c.html Promised land may be nigh BLM TRANSFERS: Bill would speed up patent process on claims. By LIZ RUSKIN Anchorage Daily News February 16, 2004 WASHINGTON - Congress has promised a lot of land to Alaskans, and a bunch of it has yet to be delivered. More than 2,000 families have been waiting, some since early last century, for the federal government to rule on claims they filed under a 1906 law that allowed Native adults to get title to 160 acres. The Alaska Statehood Act of 1958 promised the 49th state 104.5 million acres. Forty-five years later, it has final patents on only 42 million acres. Meanwhile, Alaska Native corporations are entitled to 45.6 million acres under the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. They have patents on about 18 million acres. The problem, the director of the Bureau of Land Management told a Senate panel last week, is that the statehood act and Alaska's other land transfer laws combine to create a tangled legal web, made stickier each time one of the laws is amended, superseded or reinterpreted by a judge. Claims overlap and are complicated by federal mining claims. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has introduced a bill she hopes will speed things along. "This bill will streamline administrative processes that will expedite the transfer of millions of acres of land to Alaska Natives, the state of Alaska and to Native corporations. It will bring finality to this decades- long conveyance process," Murkowski said. Everyone who spoke at Thursday's hearing on the Alaska Land Transfer Acceleration Act said they agreed with the goal. But environmentalists said they feared it would limit public involvement in land decisions, and a tribal leader said it threatens to trample the rights of Native allotment applicants. The bill, like the land conveyance laws it aims to reconcile, is complex. Among other things, it would allow the interior secretary to establish a new hearing and appeals process. It also would give the BLM broader authority to solve land claim disputes and settle disagreements among landowners through negotiation. It aims to have all the conveyance completed by 2009. Kathleen Clarke, BLM director, told the Public Lands and Forests Subcommittee that the bill would make the complex task easier. She and other witnesses said the heart of the tangled web is often the claims brought under the 1906 Native Allotment Act. That law, enacted when newcomers were flooding into Alaska with the Gold Rush, aimed to give Native people title to the land they hunted and fished on or otherwise used. About 10,000 people filed claims before the law was repealed in 1971. The BLM still has 2,769 claims pending. Clarke said she liked the bill in part because it would close "loopholes" and establish deadlines, preventing families from reopening or amending old allotment cases. "Without some means of finalizing the list of allotments applications and locations, it will be extremely difficult for the BLM to complete the land transfers, the state and (Native corporations) will have no certainty that their title is secure, and selection patterns surrounding allotment applications will be difficult to finalize and patent," she testified. "There has to be a certain time when you say, 'Case closed; it's time to move on,' " she said. Ed Thomas, president of the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes, agreed the BLM needs to resolve cases more quickly, but he said the bill goes too far in curtailing the rights of allotment applicants to amend their claims. Some applicants didn't lay claim to the right land because the Bureau of Indian Affairs provided the wrong legal description, he said. Also, the government lost more than 500 applications in the early 1970s, although it has records showing they were filed. It would be unfair not to let those people correct or reconstruct their claims, he said. "It is not true that Native allotment applicants or heirs are the cause of the delay," he testified. "Instead, the cause is the inefficient and lengthy processes used by BLM" and the hearing and appeals boards. Thomas suggested the government lacked the will to get the job done. "How long did it take for the (trans-Alaska oil) pipeline to get its land?" he said. "They did it all in two years." He cited the case of a man named Harry McKinley, who filed an allotment claim in 1909. In 2002 -- more than 90 years after he claimed the land and 75 years after he died -- the government scheduled a hearing to determine whether he actually used and occupied the land he said he did. His heirs are pursuing the claim, which remains on appeal. Jack Hession of the Sierra Club said the need to rush the land transfers to the state and Native corporations may not be as great as it seems. The state and corporations already have title to more than 80 percent of the land they are entitled to, he said, citing BLM statistics. They have not received final patents on all of those acres, but for all practical purposes the land is theirs, Hession said. There is, he said, "no need to rush to judgment." Murkowski said she plans to modify the bill, which must pass the Senate Energy Committee before going to the Senate floor. Reporter Liz Ruskin can be reached at 1-202-383-0007 or lruskin@adn.com. Copyright c. 2004 Anchorage Daily News. --------- "RE: Chairman drives 4,000 Miles to save School" --------- Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2004 08:48:14 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CROW CREEK" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/7942900.htm Tribal chairman drives 4,000 miles in effort to save school SETH TUPPER Associated Press February 13, 2004 MITCHELL, S.D. - Duane Big Eagle returned Monday from a two-week, 4,000 mile quest to save the Crow Creek Tribal School, but the result of his journey only left him more discouraged. "I've been a long time away from home and I'm tired," said Big Eagle, of Fort Thompson. "In returning, I pretty much feel that it's all lost." Big Eagle, the Crow Creek Sioux Tribal chairman, drove himself first to New Mexico and then to Washington, D.C. He met with numerous officials from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, as well as South Dakota Sens. Tom Daschle and Tim Johnson, and asked them to do something to help the tribe fix or replace its aging and unsafe school buildings. If no federal construction funding is allocated for Crow Creek, Big Eagle fears the school might be forced to close after the current school year. That's why he got behind the wheel of a car Jan. 31 and embarked on a journey of desperation. "It's really getting to an emergency state right now," Big Eagle said. "Somebody had to get out there and start getting these people woke up." On his way back from Washington, D.C., Big Eagle stopped briefly Monday morning at The Daily Republic. He said he felt compelled to work through his frustration and continue raising awareness about the situation at Crow Creek. "Somebody in Washington told me the squeaky wheel gets the grease," Big Eagle said. "So I thought I'd try to start squeaking." Big Eagle said he has been lobbying for money to improve the Crow Creek school buildings for about 25 years. He said he first pressed the issue in 1978 during meetings in Washington, D.C., with Sen. George McGovern and Rep. Jim Abdnor. Despite Big Eagle's efforts, the school buildings - some of which date back to the 1930s - have continued to deteriorate. Big Eagle said the high school gymnasium in Stephan already has been condemned to limited use; the high school itself needs major reconstruction; and an elementary school in Fort Thompson needs to be replaced. About two years ago, Crow Creek's middle school was condemned. According to an official with the school, the BIA delivered $1.1 million in emergency funding to Crow Creek at that time to pay for modular buildings that now house middle school classrooms. Engineers hired by the school have recommended that the elementary, high school and gymnasium buildings be vacated immediately. Engineers hired by the BIA, according to a Crow Creek school official, have said that the elementary and high school buildings will be safe for at least two to three years. Both parties agree that the gym is unfit for heavy use, so the school district has been forced to rent gym space for basketball games from other schools in the area. Big Eagle worries that the cost of renting gyms, coupled with the cost of shuttling students to those gyms, will deplete the school's finances. Even before that happens, Big Eagle fears that parents might begin pulling their children out of the school district and sending them to other schools with better facilities. Decreased enrollment would further hamper the districts finances, Big Eagle said, because the school is funded on a per-student basis by the BIA. Even if the school can withstand its financial problems, Big Eagle said the school is faced with a constant safety threat from its dilapidated buildings and could be forced to close on any given day. "We might have no other alternative," Big Eagle said, "but to close our school - unless somebody in the BIA wakes up." Crow Creek Tribal School is one of nearly 200 BIA-funded schools in the United States. Construction projects at those schools are funded by Congress through the BIA, but the money goes only so far each year. Schools that need new facilities must apply to the BIA, which in turn compiles a priority list of construction projects. Crow Creek is not one of the BIA's top construction priorities. Big Eagle said the BIA officials that he met with during the past two weeks acknowledged Crow Creeks predicament, but they all gave him the same answer: There is not enough money available. Big Eagle disagrees. He said there is plenty of money available, but the money is obligated to other purposes. He is now counting on Sen. Daschle to help direct some money to Crow Creek. "He was the only one I met in the last 4,000 miles that showed a positive attitude," Big Eagle said. If the Crow Creek schools are closed, 500 to 600 students in grades K-12 would suddenly be left without classrooms. Big Eagle said surrounding schools would have a hard time assimilating that many students, especially those in grades 7-12 who now live in dormitories at Crow Creek High School. Big Eagle said BIA officials told him they were planning a meeting in Washington, D.C., to discuss the Crow Creek situation. He is hoping for at least $4.9 million to build a gymnasium, which he said would help the school survive for several more years until the other buildings could be repaired or replaced. The gymnasium is a top priority because of its importance to the students and the community. Currently, the school only uses the gym for basketball practice. Engineers have deemed portions of the gym unfit to host basketball games, graduation, prom or other school and community activities. "The only thing that's going to make the kids want to come back is to have some sort of athletic program or activities programs," Big Eagle said. "Without a gym, we have nothing to offer them. They'll basically just move on to other schools that have one." Crow Creek School Superintendent/CEO Scott Raue said that for now, the gym also has a better chance to receive funding than a new school building. "We know they're not going to come up with $30 to $40 million to fix something that huge right now," Raue said. "We're not on the priority list, so it's not going to happen. We can survive in those buildings two to three more years, but we can't survive in the gym anymore at all." Raue said he is hoping to at least receive funding for a temporary gym that could host activities until a new school is built. Funding for some sort of gymnasium is needed immediately so that construction could begin in March, Big Eagle said. Otherwise, it might too late for residents of the Crow Creek Indian Reservation to save their school. "The general feeling there throughout the communities is that it's coming to an end here," Big Eagle said. Information from: The Daily Republic Copyright c. 2004 Aberdeen American, Knight Ridder Corporation. --------- "RE: Native Americans are Neighbors, not Props" --------- Date: Sat, 14 Feb 2004 12:44:54 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="COMMENTARY ON OUTKAST RACIST ACT" http://www.oregonlive.com/~/editorial/1076763397318780.xml Commentary: Native Americans are neighbors, not props SETH PRINCE THE OREGONIAN February 14, 2004 The relative silence that followed has been more offensive than the act itself. Little has been said in the six days since the rap duo OutKast took the stage at the Grammy Awards and performed its hit "Hey Ya!" -- a song that has nothing to do with Native Americans -- with a smoking tepee and skimpily dressed "Indian" maidens in feathered headbands as a backdrop. CBS, which aired the show, apologized "if anyone was offended," after several Indian groups complained. One has now filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission and is calling for a boycott against the network, the music awards and the musicians' recording label. The rappers themselves have not apologized or explained their logic. Considering it was a rap performance, clearly, this isn't about being politically correct or even decent. Not much in the genre would fall under that heading. This is about respect. There was no reason -- aside from the group thinking it was being cool, perhaps -- to link Indians to the performance. So why aren't more people offended? The news media has largely ignored the issue. Maybe everyone got lost nodding their heads -- "shake it, shake it, shake it like a Polaroid picture," as the song goes -- to the catchy beat. People should be shaking their heads, but in disbelief that Indians, or in this case rip-offs of Indian culture, are still thoughtlessly used as a stage props in popular culture. Picture guys dressed up in yarmulkes, faux beards and long, dark coats... "All right now fellas! (YEAH!) Now what's cooler than bein' cool? (ICE COLD!)" Or imagine women in blackface, dressed like Aunt Jemima . . . "Gimme some sugar! I AM your neighbor!" Those would get people's attention, but bogus depictions of Indians, for some reason, still don't. Indians are among your neighbors in the suburbs and your colleagues in the workplace. We're writers and millworkers, doctors and day-care providers. We're your friends, your acquaintances, your strangers on the street. So, please, have the courtesy to see us for what we are. Have the insight to see through what popular culture tells you we are. And have the respect to speak up when you see another offensive portrayal of a people. As a line from the song says, "I can't hear you!" Seth Prince, who is Choctaw and Cherokee, works on The Oregonian's news copy desk: 503-221-8172; sethprince@news.oregonian.com Copyright c. 2004 OregonLive.com. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Students petition District to combat Racism" --------- Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2004 08:48:14 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="RACISM" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/021304/loc_racism.shtml Students, adults petition district to combat racism By ERIC FRY JUNEAU EMPIRE February 13, 2004 As a student, Barbara Cadiente-Nelson left Juneau-Douglas High School because she couldn't take the racism there, she told about 60 students and adults who met Thursday afternoon at ANB Hall to talk about prejudice at school. "I experienced racism at its worst," said Cadiente-Nelson, of Tlingit and Filipino heritage. "I knew what it felt like to be pushed into lockers, called names and spit at. I knew what it was to taste someone else's spit." Now holding a master's degree, Cadiente-Nelson teaches world literature at JDHS. She told the assembled students that efforts have been made to make the school safe, following renewed concerns about racism that were sparked by a student's derogatory sign about Natives last month. But she also said students told her the initials KAN, which have been written on school desks at JDHS, stand for "kill all Natives," not "kids against Natives," as she first believed. At Thursday's meeting, the second of an ad hoc group of students and adults, students asked that the group's upcoming petition to city and school district officials be amended to include all of their concerns about racism. The original petition asked the Juneau School District to address four concerns immediately: that all students have an equal right to receive a fair and just education; that they have the right to learn and pass with honors from grade to grade; that they have the right to meet and exceed state standards; and that they have the right to graduate with knowledge that will help them in the next phase of their lives. But students said that list focused too much on academics. "Just academics - it wouldn't give us that security to feel things would be changed," said student Nick Kokotovich, a member of a Tlingit and Haida youth leadership group. The petition now will include the detailed report about students' concerns that emerged from a meeting on Feb. 5. Students fault the school district for not helping students prevent and report racism; not having a zero-tolerance policy toward racism; not having an organized way to address racism; not sufficiently enforcing existing policies on harassment and racism; not training staff and students on how to prevent racism; and not responding immediately to prevent violence. Schools Superintendent Peggy Cowan said the students are asking for clarity, consistency and fairness in policies and procedures about harassment. "Even a new student can recognize racism going on in schools," said Katie Botz, who moved to Juneau from Kodiak in August. "... There is a way to stop racism, to stop prejudice. There has to be a way. It's just so frustrating to know it's everywhere, and it has been here for a long, long time." George Paul said two of his sons left JDHS for alternative schools. "I did have two sons who wanted to go to school in a safe environment, but that didn't happen," he said. "I don't hold any grudges against anybody. I'm just asking for safer schools." Selena Everson, who has three great-grandchildren in the Juneau schools, said, "The learning branch should be free of any tension, should be free of any hurt to a child." Nancy Seamount, a teacher of health and student leadership, said her classes have been investigating the school culture at JDHS and will present some of their findings on March 2 and 3, classes to which the public is invited. But Seamount said some Native parents may have experienced trauma at JDHS and may be reluctant to come to the