From gars@speakeasy.org Thu Apr 29 23:12:04 2004 Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2004 15:32:04 -0700 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews12.018 _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 12, ISSUE 018 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 May 1, 2004 Cree aligipizun/frog moon Algonquin moonesquanimock kesos/moon when women weed corn +-------------------------------------------------------+ | 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; Frostys AmerIndian and Native American Poetry 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 we were created, we were given our ground to live on and from this time these were our rights. This is all true. We were put here by the Creator--I was not brought from a foreign country and did not come here. I was put here by the Creator." -- Chief Weninock, Yakima +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Indian Pledge of Allegiance | The Indian Pledge of Alleg- | | iance was first presented | I pledge allegiance to my Tribe,| on 2 December '93 during the | to the democratic principles | opening address of the Nat- | of the Republic | ional Congress of American | and to the individual freedoms | Indian Tribal-States Relat- | borrowed from the Iroquois and | ions Panel in Reno, NV. NCAI | Choctaw Confederacies, | plans distribution of the | as incorporated in the United | Indian Pledge to all Indian | States Constitution, | Nations. | so that my forefathers | | shall not have died in vain | Walk in Beauty! Night Owl +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Journey | In the summer and early fall | The Bloodline | of 1998 the Treaty Unity Riders | | rode a thousand miles on horse- | For all that live and live by law | back, carrying a staff and | We Stand, we Call, We Ride | praying each step of the way. | For All that fear and fear by sight | | We Hear, we Listen, we Ride | These prayers were offered for | For all that pray and pray by strength| each of us, and that the Unity | We Feel, we Move, we Ride | of all Peoples might happen. | For all that die and die by greed | | We Hurt, we Cry, we Ride | Tatanka Cante forwarded this | For all that birth and birth by right | poem on behalf of all the Unity | We Smile, we Hold, we Ride | Riders that we might stop and | For all that need and need by heart | ask if the next words we say, the | We Came, we Went, we Rode. | next act we make is for the good | | of the People or is it from ego | Treaty Unity Riders | for self. +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ O'siyo Brothers and Sisters! The lead article in this issue is titled "Everybody needs the Truth on the Bison, " one in a series of harassing editorials aimed at the Three Affiliated Tribes at Ft. Berthold Reservation and it's chairman, NCAI President Tex Hall. The ongoing allegation is that the bison given to Fort Berthold Reservation are being abused and neglected. The charges stem from an employee's complaint (made after a fight with his supervisor) that the herd wasn't being fed properly and that there had been an unusually high number of deaths as a result. The allegations surfaced when the herd first came from a Federal Park and were malnurished from a rough winter. I have not seen the herd, so I cannot hope to comment on its actual condition. Both the disgruntled employee and the tribal chairman have produced competent veterinarians who give conflicting reports about the herd's condition and the reasons for it. So yes, there is an unresolved question. My amazement is that the editorial writer dares cry abuse of the bison by an Indian tribe without a whisper about the official state policy in Montana, which has been hazing buffalo, and killing them if they dared to stray out of Yellowstone park onto trust grass (I remind you, these are trust lands in most cases). Worse, he states that the tribe, while protected from official accountability due to its sovereign status, should at least feel obligated to somehow prove allegations about its bison are untrue based on the fact that the bison were originally part of a federally maintained herd. What about all the hazed and slaughtered Yellowstone bison who were bred and maintained at federal expense? Does the state of Montana also not owe all us taxpayers an explantion better than "our cattlemen want us to kill all those buffalo to protect their business interests?" The writer finally contends that this alleged treatment of the bison looks shabby with the upcoming tourist season and the big Lewis and Clark celebration. As an aside, are there really a lot of Indians reading this newsletter who give a damn about the Corpse of Discovery that opened the door to more conquest, more exploitation, more intriduced disease, more distruction of our ways? I sure don't. Since Tex Hall has been trying to rally the Indian vote against some incumbents many regard as anti-Indian, I am more than a little suspicious a lot of this hand-wringing over the plight of the buffalo has less to do with healthy bison and more to do with loads of bull! If the powers that be in Montana really care about the bison in Yellowstone National Park and the bison at Fort Berthold they might quit giving so much lip service about what the tribe ought to be doing, and actually start treating hungry bison that wander from the park as national treasures and not as competition for cattlemen's interests. Dohiyi Oginalii , , Gary Smith (*,*) 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 ---------- - Everybody needs the Truth - Who is John Foster Dulles II? on the Bison - BIA puts off a Nipmuc - Tribes prepare to go to War Recognition Decision over Budget Cuts - Judge affirms Cayuga Nation's - One Banker's Fight Sovereign Rights for a Half-Million Indians - Rubin: Dopey Stereotypes - (BIA) Should have fired Worker don't discourage NA Woman with Drinking Problem - Tribes to sue BPA over Dam Spills - Tribal Council to consider - `Inherent' Sovereignty upheld just who is Navajo in Lara Decision - San Carlos rejects UA Proposal - Father of murdered Kiowa Woman - Telescope sits high wants Justice as Cultural Divide runs deep - Family of slain Aim Activist - Army will honor exhumes her Remains distinguished American Indian - Anna Mae begins her Journey Home - Casino Raid called attack - Murder of Apache Teen on Tribal Sovereignty may have been Revenge - Rules are Rules, - Native Prisoner damn the Consequences -- Obituary: NA Rights Lawyer - Comment: Give DINA the Chop Sarah Betsy Fuller - Martin pledges to keep focus -- Follow-Up Planned for on Aboriginals Juvenile Delinquency Forum - Hydro Quebec and Cree sign Deal - History: Carlisle Indian School - First Nations ask Feds to look - Rustywire: The Streets into BC Rail deal - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - Tribe delivers message - Cloud Dancer Poem: at Shareholder Meeting These Prison Walls - Amazonian Chief - Smoke Signals Radio & Web Show denies ordering Killings wins Fourth Time - Indians face Hurdles - Conference to inspire interest to Maryland Recognition in Native Tongues - The Broken Circle - All aboard on 'Native Views' --------- "RE: Everybody needs the Truth on the Bison" --------- Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 08:49:13 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BISON CONDITION" -- [READ this issue's editorial BEFORE you read this article] -- http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.bismarcktribune.com/2004/04/21/news/editorials/edt01.txt Everybody needs the truth on the bison By FREDERIC SMITH, Bismarck Tribune April 21, 2004 By now, everybody should have had a bellyful of the conflicting stories out of the Fort Berthold Reservation about the condition of the Three Affiliated Tribes' bison herd. On the one hand, we hear from an employee of the tribes' bison project and a New Town veterinarian that the animals are in generally wretched shape due to starvation and incompetent handling, with up to 34 deaths in recent months. On the other hand, Tribal Chairman Tex Hall and a Watford City vet maintain that everything is "100 percent satisfactory," with no recent dead animals and any emaciation the result of only "normal winter stress." Obviously, both of these stories cannot be right. Anywhere else, determining the facts -- including that the truth is somewhere in the middle -- would be a simple matter for law enforcement. On a sovereign reservation, it can be another story, as we have seen at Fort Berthold, where access to the bison is restricted by the tribes. Tribal sovereignty is real, and that could very well be the end of it, the alleged ongoing suffering of the bison notwithstanding. But there is at least one lever available to interested outsiders, and that is the source of supply for the tribes' bison project -- Theodore Roosevelt National Park. At one time, those bison whose abuse is alleged belonged to the U.S. government, which is to say to all of us. If we are not allowed to learn the facts of the condition and treatment of those animals, we can at least insist that there not be any more animals. National Park Service officials should have insisted before now on their own inspection of the herd, aimed at reconciling the opposed accounts of the veterinarians. They should do so now. If permission is not forthcoming, that would be it -- no more Teddy Roosevelt bison for the Three Affiliated Tribes. It should not come to that. The tribes should be so scandalized and embarrassed by the allegations concerning their most sacred animal that they insist on full disclosure of the facts immediately. Those facts will either exonerate the tribes' bison project or show the necessity of immediate reform. If it's the latter, it would behoove the tribes to get cracking in advance of bad publicity that could go national, with the involvement, announced two days ago, of the Humane Society of the United States. The tribes should reflect that they are inviting thousands of tourists to Fort Berthold in two years for one of the signature events of the Lewis and Clark bicentennial. Tribal officials can decide for themselves whether a lot of ink in the meantime about mistreatment of the sacred bison will add to or detract from the attractiveness of the occasion Copyright c. 2004 Bismarck Tribune. --------- "RE: Tribes prepare to go to War over Budget Cuts" --------- Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2004 08:12:48 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BIA NON-BUDGET" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=4297 Tribes prepare to go to war over budget cuts "I welcome the opportunity to tell our story." WASHINGTON DC Sam Lewin April 19, 2004 Fed up with a continuing pattern of cuts to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, prominent Indian leaders have come up with their own plan. BIA Assistant Secretary Dave Anderson said in March that BIA programs would be slashed 2.4% in the next fiscal year, which is actually a 3.6 % cut when inflation is factored in. The cuts amount to $78 million. It is the seventh straight year the BIA has been earmarked for less money compared to the previous year. Officials say school construction, scholarships, early childhood education and tribal colleges take the biggest hit. Last week two leading organizations, the National Congress of American Indians and the BIA's Tribal Budget Advisory Council, met to come up with a better plan. The two-day meeting, attended by BIA officials and tribal leaders, resulted in an alternative proposal that increased the budget by seven-percent. "We asked for this special meeting to develop an appropriations counter- proposal to the one the administration unveiled last month," said NCAI President Tex Hall. "We cannot accept any cuts. Indian Country is already overwhelmingly underfunded, and cutting more dollars adversely affects the programs that provide the most basic needs-education, law enforcement, social services, housing and the Indian Child Welfare Act." Many national programs have been placed on the chopping block, as international security takes on larger significance. Budget Advisory Council co-chair Jim Gray said he doesn't want to hamper that effort. "We have more than our share of men and women in Iraq fighting for this country," he said. "We don't want to take money away from them and the War on Terror. But I think the soldiers who are tribal members would have a hard time seeing that their grandmother's home doesn't get the work it needs because the BIA has cut their budget." The Budget Advisory Council recommended funding priorities be focused on tribal law enforcement and detention centers, education, economic development and natural resources. The BIA submits it's proposed budget to the Office of Management and Budget in mid-May. BIA Assistant Secretary Dave Anderson told last week's gathering that he would worj to reach a budget agreeable to everyone. He urged tribes to be the "architects of our own destiny." "We are excited about the idea of taking [the revamped budget] to Congress and the OMB," Gray said. "I welcome the opportunity to tell our story about why we need the seven percent increase." Native American Times is Copyright c. 2004 Oklahoma Indian Times, Inc. --------- "RE: One Banker's Fight for a Half-Million Indians" --------- Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2004 08:12:48 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="COBELL" http://www.indiantrust.com/~Article_id=296&Month=4&Year=2004 One Banker's Fight for a Half-Million Indians by John Files New York Times April 20, 2004 Like many other American Indians, Elouise Cobell, a banker and Blackfoot from Montana, inherited some land from her parents. The federal government had long agreed to pay her family for farming, grazing and timber-cutting on the property. But the government checks arrived in what seemed like a haphazard way, Ms. Cobell says. Some years the checks arrived, but many years they did not. "It all started for me way back when I was a child listening to elders - parents and grandparents - who talked about how they couldn't get their money," Ms. Cobell said in an interview. "And, you know, it stuck with me." On behalf of nearly a half-million Indians, Ms. Cobell filed a class- action lawsuit in 1996 challenging the government to rectify what she described as a collective wrong dating back more than a century. Ms. Cobell, 58, an energetic woman who grew up on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation near Glacier National Park in northern Montana, and thousands of other Indians estimate that they are owed about $137 billion from oil, timber, grazing and other leases on their lands. This month, the Indians and the government agreed to the selection of two mediators in the case after members of Congress urged the parties to resolve the matter. The conflict goes back to the Dawes Act of 1887, which initiated a practice of giving land allotments to individual Indians as their reservations were being broken up for sale. While the Indians owned the allotments and sometimes lived on them, the government retained title and generated income for the Indians from use of the land. The proceeds were put into a trust to be paid out to Indian holders of individual trust accounts, whose number grew as the allotments were passed down through generations. The Interior Department was to manage the fund. "The issue we're dealing with," Ms. Cobell said, "is the fact that we don't know how much land we own, we don't know what the resources are on that land because the government has gotten away with not reporting to the trust beneficiaries." The litigation, which has moved along in fits and starts, has revealed that the department lost track of beneficiaries and that many of the account records were in a state of disrepair - decayed or lost. Beyond the records, Ms. Cobell and other Indians say the government has stolen, lost or misallocated tens of billions of dollars. (The government pays out more than $500 million a year from the fund, which exceeds $3 billion.) J. Steven Griles, the deputy interior secretary, said in 2003: "Nobody has shown me that there has been a loss. They haven't provided one shred of evidence." In a letter sent to Congress on April 6, Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton wrote that trust reform was one of the department's highest priorities. "We are making real and substantial progress on both reforming our trust management practices and on moving forward with an appropriate accounting," Ms. Norton wrote. She said the department had more than $109 million in its 2005 budget for such activities. But a court-appointed investigator who sought for about three years to determine the finances of the trust fund resigned recently because of what he said was the government's persistent effort to impede his work. The judge handling the case, Royce C. Lamberth of Federal District Court here, has sided with the Indians, calling the Interior Department's handling of the fund "the gold standard for mismanagement by the federal government for more than a century." Judge Lamberth has held Ms. Norton and her predecessor, Bruce Babbitt, in contempt for ignoring his orders to account for the fund, although an appeals court panel last year overturned the contempt order for Ms. Norton. Ms. Cobell says she has dedicated her life to the suit, traveling about 40 weeks a year talking about it. "I live this every day," she said. This month alone, she has spoken at events with the Navajo tribe in New Mexico and Cheyenne and Crow tribes in Montana. On Wednesday, she spoke at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. She frequently pays her own expenses, she said. Senator Tom Daschle, Democrat of South Dakota, said in an interview that he had "great respect" for Ms. Cobell. "She has raised public understanding of an incredible injustice to Indians," Mr. Daschle, the Senate minority leader, said. He has called on President Bush to direct the Interior Department to cease its effort of "derailing the Cobell case and get on with the job of crafting a consensus solution to the problem." Ms. Cobell said she has been overwhelmed by her reception among Indians, particularly in the West. "They stand up and cheer," she said, "because finally someone stood up for justice." Copyright c. 2004 Blackfeet Reservation Development Fund, Inc. --------- "RE: Should have fired Worker with Drinking Problem" --------- Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 08:21:32 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BIA AT FAULT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.bakersfield.com/24hour/nation/story/1308400p-8450544c.html Feds should have fired worker with drinking problem, judge rules By RICHARD BENKE, Associated Press April 21st, 2004 ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - The government should have fired a Bureau of Indian Affairs worker with a drinking problem long before he drove a BIA truck the wrong way on a highway, killing four people, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. In a wrongful death lawsuit, Judge William "Chip" Johnson couldn't immediately assess the damages for the "tragic and senseless deaths," and said he would issue a written ruling within 30 days. Johnson found the BIA was negligent for entrusting a vehicle to Lloyd Larson - a BIA worker with five DWI convictions - and for keeping him on the job. "The employer knew or should have know the employee was unfit," Johnson said. But the judge also ruled Larson was not acting within the scope of his employment during the Jan. 25, 2002, crash on Interstate 40 that killed Edward and Alice Ramaekers, and Larry and Rita Beller, all of Nebraska. Larson had a blood-alcohol level of more than 2 1/2 times the state's legal limit hours afterward. The victims' families sued the BIA. The Bellers settled their case for $2 million last December. The Ramaekers' family sought more than $12.5 million in damages. "The family is disappointed. We'll be waiting 30 days to see if we get justice," said a statement from the family. Plaintiffs' attorney Randi McGinn said she was disappointed in the dismissal of one of the counts in the lawsuit. In her closing argument, McGinn described the BIA as "this place where nobody is accountable for anything." "They took this alcoholic without a vehicle ... and made him a 2,800- pound, unguided missile," she said. But Elizabeth Martinez, an attorney for the Justice Department, said Larson never made it to work the day of the crash. "The evidence of this trial has unequivocally shown that Larson was not acting in the scope of his employment," Martinez argued, saying he went on a "personal frolic." Martinez said Larson told BIA supervisors about only three DWI cases in which there was no conviction and withheld information about four DWI convictions. She said Navajo tribal officials did not turn over Larson's other DWI cases to the state Motor Vehicle Division; BIA policy was to let a worker drive as long as the driver's license was not revoked or suspended. Most responsibility for the crash should fall squarely on Larson, Martinez said. Copyright c. 2004 The Bakersfield Californian. --------- "RE: Tribal Council to consider just who is Navajo" --------- Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 08:33:11 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="QUANTUM" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.gallupindependent.com/041704tribalcouncil.html Tribal council to consider just who is Navajo May lower blood requirements by Jim Maniaci Dine' Bureau April 17, 2004 WINDOW ROCK - The Navajo Nation Council will be asked to double the tribal population with the stroke of a pen when it conducts its spring session Monday through Friday. By lowering the blood minimum requirement from one-fourth to one-eighth it would double the Din population to almost 600,000 people spread across all 50 states. Currently the Cherokee Tribe, which has a much less restrictive enrollment requirement, is the largest in the U.S. The stroke- of-the-pen move would mean the Navajo Nation would jump far ahead of its eastern relatives who have about one-fifth of the country's 2.5 million First Americans, while Navajo has about one-eighth of the Native Americans in the country. In the 2002 Census, about 170,000 Navajos lived on the reservation, which is by far the largest in square-miles. And two measures related to gambling one for the Din and one for the San Juan Southern Paiutes will be among the almost two dozen bills and resolutions to be considered during the 20th Council's second spring session in its four-year term. The 88 delegates are due to be called to order at 10 a.m. Monday by Speaker Lawrence Morgan in the Council Chamber. For Din gaming, the council will be asked to take $100,000 from the Undesignated Reserve Fund to hold a referendum for the third time in 10 years on the question of legalizing non-traditional casino-style gambling all across the reservation. Currently the Navajo Nation Code's Title 17 (law enforcement) allows a tribal 20-year pilot economic development project only on the Canoncito Navajo Reservation, home of the To' Hajiilee Chapter. For the Paiutes of the Tuba City and Lake Powell area, the council is being asked to approve a change to the treaty to allow Arizona's newest recognized tribe to buy land, converting it to trust status, west of Flagstaff near the old U.S. Army ammunition depot at Bellemont. Thus the tiny tribe would not be in competition with any Navajo casino in the U.S. 89 corridor on the western edge of the reservation, which also is the eastern gateway to the Grand Canyon National Park. Another bill will establish a Treaty Council. Delegates also will be asked to take money from the approximately $26 million balance in the Undesignated Reserve Fund which, by Navajo law, is supposed to hold about $55 million to be kept for emergencies for a variety of uses, including: - $3.6 million for scholarships. Although the initial resolution says $2. 4 million, the Education Committee wants to raise it by 50 percent. - Almost $120,000 for the second consecutive year of buying West Nile Virus vaccine for the tribal Agriculture Department's veterinary bureau. The mosquito-borne disease reached the reservation last year. - More than $395,165 for the Natural Resources, Environment Protection, Health, and Public Safety Divisions to keep mad cow disease (bovine spongiform ecephalopathy) far to the north of Navajoland. - Almost $394,000 for two Education Division departments to help more than five dozen reservation schools which are failing to meet state and federal academic improvements by their students. Copyright c. 2004 the Gallup Independent. --------- "RE: San Carlos rejects UA Proposal" --------- Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2004 08:12:48 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SCOPE BRIBE REJECTED" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.eacourier.com/articles/2004/04/20/news/news05.txt San Carlos rejects UA proposal By John Kamin, assistant editor April 20, 2004 San Carlos Tribal Councilors rejected a proposal submitted by the University of Arizona on behalf of its partnership with the University of Minnesota and the University of Virginia. The proposal offered the San Carlos Tribe $120,000 in credits to programs including UA summer camps as compensation for the partnership's telescope projects atop Mount Graham. This occurred during Tuesday's special session for the San Carlos Apache Tribal Council. The tribe joined the White Mountain Apache Tribal Council in opposition against the universities' telescopes, which led to protests throughout the last 15 years. The Apaches consider the mountain sacred and refer to it as Dzil Nchaa Si'An. The proposal was presented by UA Law Professors Robert Williams, Robert Hershey and UA Indian Law Clinic Coordinator Don Nichols. Apache Elder and Chairwoman of the Apache Survival Coalition Ola Cassadore Davis referred to the proposal as "offering cash in exchange for our Apache religion and culture." "You talk to us now, offering bribes of cash in exchange for letting go our defense of our Apache religion and culture; something like giving us a little ice cream to quiet us down," she said in the Apache language. "Money, like ice cream, does not last, but our mountain stands there for us and we must stand for our mountain. I would like to see if you all tell us the truth for once, and that the telescopes are to be stopped...They always lie to your face (the U of A). They are lying!" The U of A has three telescopes atop Mount Graham. The latest telescope, the Large-Binocular Telescope (LBT), will be the world's strongest telescope once it is completed. The LBT's first light is scheduled for this fall. The council's vice-chairman, Robert Howard, said he admires Davis' stand against the telescopes. He said, "As a more modern Apache, being the youngest of the group here, I am opening the doorways. The people here are more culturally enriched and they have educated me on these issues. I rely on Ola Davis. The Mount Graham matter really bothered me." Councilor Myron Moses, who represents the reservation's Bylas District, said the U of A would have never considered making a proposal to the tribe if it weren't for the telescopes. The board also discussed a controversial letter allegedly signed by Chairwoman Kathy Kitcheyan on Oct. 28, 2003. The letter thanked the universities for working with members of the tribe. The letter says, "Your support has permitted us to enhance resources in the areas of education, self-government and economic development." Kitcheyan said, "In October of 2003, a letter was written and apparently given to me. I do not remember that this letter had been signed." Council member Harding Burdette of the Peridot District said he wasn't pleased with the proposal before making a motion to reject it. He said the U of A is "deceiving and full of lies" because they claimed to work with Tribal councilors. Copyright c. 2004Eastern Arizona Courier. --------- "RE: Telescope sits high as Cultural Divide runs deep" --------- Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 08:49:13 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DESECRATION" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2004/04/21/9358#repeat Telescope sits high as cultural divide runs deep Apache tribe members consider the mount graham site holy. By Kari Petrie April 21, 2004 AN CARLOS, Ariz. - From the Apache reservation, the Mount Graham telescope looks like a small, white box positioned on top of the green mountain jutting out of the sand. But tribe member Sandra Rambler said the 16-story building looks more like a blemish than an observatory. "It's a pimple waiting to burst, and it's filled with waste," she said. The University of Minnesota, University of Arizona and several other institutions are participating in the Mount Graham Large Binocular Telescope project. Since the early 1990s, the telescope has incited controversy among Apache tribe members because they consider the land holy. Although the project began in the early 1980s, tribe members said they did not voice their concerns until 1990 because of the tribe's apprehension of non-Indians. "Older (American Indian) people are not familiar with talking to non- Indians because of the past," said Wendsler Nosie, director of Apaches for Cultural Preservation, an organization that teaches young Apache tribe members about their traditional culture. University of Arizona officials said they sent a letter to the tribe, which has 12,800 members living on the reservation, in 1985 asking for input about the project. The Apaches never responded, said Peter Strittmatter, the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory director. "Man, that's total BS," Nosie said. The past oppression of Apaches prevented them from responding to the letter, he said. Language barriers might also have inhibited the tribe from responding to the 1985 letter, he said. Most elders speak Apache and probably did not understand the jargon-laden letter, he said. In 1991, the tribe filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service for planning and approving the telescope project. The court dismissed the suit, stating the 1985 letter gave the tribe adequate opportunity to voice concerns, according to University of Arizona documents. Patricia Albers, director of the University's department of American Indian studies, said the past influences how American Indians interact with non-Indians. "Racism creates bitterness where tribal peoples are suspicious of racism towards them," she said. "It makes many native people highly suspicious of non-Indian people." When the U.S. government tried to move the Apaches into reservations in the late 19th century, government workers burned the Apache gardens and destroyed homes, Albers said. The government eventually put Apaches into concentration camps, she said. Cultural genocide also occurred, Albers said, because the government put Apache children into boarding school so they could not learn the Apache language. Until 1978, businesses in Globe, a city outside the San Carlos reservation, had signs stating, "No dogs or Indians," Nosie said. The practice, Albers said, was quite common in southwestern cities. Also, until 1974, Nosie said each Apache had a case worker he or she had to inform if leaving the reservation for an extended period of time. "You can imagine why Indian people didn't do as much as they should have," Nosie said. "Do you think we would be over it by the `80s?" Albers said the San Carlos reservation once included Mount Graham. But in the late 19th century, the U.S. government withdrew its treaty with the Apaches and took back certain land, including Mount Graham, she said. The government did not address Apache concerns, she said. But Nosie said the current situation on Mount Graham has awakened the tribe. "(The universities) don't know what they're dealing with," he said. Cultural differences The tired buildings with trampled, overgrown front yards surrounding dusty roads on the reservation are a stark contrast to the strong, brick buildings and the neat, tidy lawns of the University of Arizona campus. But both areas bustle with activity throughout the day. While students relax outside the student union, tribe members mingle outside the local grocery store. Some said the two mindsets of the area are where real differences lie. Although the two groups cannot be generalized, Albers said American Indians are more focused on the spiritual side of life and non-Indians are focused on material items. This difference can create problems when the two groups try to negotiate the use of Mount Graham, she said. "For the Apache people, a sacred place is non-negotiable," Albers said. Trying to join the reservation's culture with the University of Arizona's is like building a bridge of ice between fire and water, said Apache Tribal Council Vice Chairman Robert Howard. "Either way it's going to melt," he said. Each summer, the University of Arizona hires six Apache high school students to work at Mount Graham, said Buddy Powell, a member of the University's outreach committee. Students work 40 hours a week doing maintenance such as painting or cleaning, he said. The Apache Tribal Council recommends which students to send, and the University interviews them before they are hired, Powell said. "It prepares them for finding a job after school," he said. Nosie said the students who take the jobs are usually family members of tribal politicians. Other students see the jobs as a bribe from the University, he said. Problems at home Although Mount Graham is still a hot topic for some Apache tribe members, drugs, gang violence and unemployment are higher priorities, reservation officials said. Approximately 76 percent of the Apaches living on the reservation are unemployed, Howard said. The unemployment creates a high poverty rate, and many rely on public assistance, he said. Those problems can lead to drug use and violence, Howard said. Methamphetamine use is a large problem and the reservation's "archaic" laws are unable to help the problem, Howard said. "It doesn't acknowledge today's crimes," he said. Howard called the U.S. District Attorney the tribe's biggest hurdle because they only deal with methamphetamine labs worth at least $30,000. Methamphetamine labs on the reservation are much smaller, he said. So the inadequate reservation laws must be used, he said. Gang violence is also a growing concern for many reservation residents, said tribe member Daniel Miller. "We have a lot of wannabes here," Miller said. Copyright c. 2004 The Minnesota Daily. --------- "RE: Army will honor distinguished American Indian" --------- Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 08:20:14 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SIERRA ARMY DEPOT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.rgj.com/news/stories/html/~com&sp6=news&sp7=umbrella Army depot will honor distinguished American Indian soldier Geralda Miller RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL April 25, 2004 The new headquarters at the Sierra Army Depot in Herlong, Calif., will be dedicated Tuesday to the most decorated and highest-ranking American Indian to serve in World War II, recognition his family says is long overdue. Army Lt. Col. Leonard Lowry, a member of the Maidu tribe who grew up in Susanville, Calif., served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, where he earned five Purple Heart medals, the Distinguished Service Cross and two Silver Stars. The 79 year-old died of cancer Aug. 17, 1999. "I think it's long overdue that he's recognized in some way, having been the most and highest decorated in Lassen County," said Dwight Lowry, his nephew. Family members said they would attend the unveiling of a memorial plaque and ribbon cutting. "He is the most decorated veteran, and he has family ties to this installation, said depot spokeswoman Lori McDonald. "We look to see who in this community was well respected, and he was within the community that represents the military. We felt it was a tribute to honor his family and to name the headquarters after a fallen hero." His family knows some of the stories of his 27 years in the service. Some of them Lowry would tell jokingly, and others the men who served under him made certain they knew. "The real acts of heroism he really kind of kept to himself," said his daughter, Judith Lowry, 55, of Nevada City, Calif. "Then after he died, stories started to come out from his men. Stories that he was too modest to tell me." Occasionally, he would share some horrific stories of battle. "He suffered a lot," she said. "Not just from the wounds he bore. But he suffered a lot from the boys who went into the battle. He never really got over the guilt." Lowry suffered 22 entrance and exit wounds. "On five separate occasions he took fire with his body," Judith Lowry said. "Amazing." Losing his two front teeth from shrapnel when a grenade detonated in front of him was the most painful wound, Judith Lowry said. "He would say `there's nothing more painful than the nerves of his tooth, '" she said. "He had more wounds that were more serious." Men who fought with Lowry have told her daughter that, unlike most officers, he always took the point, which means he led his men in battle. "That's the kind of thing that most commanders would let their men do," she said. She believes the years her father spent in government boarding schools for American Indian children in Nevada and California prepared him for a career in the Army. While students at Stewart Indian School in Carson City, Lowry and his brother wore uniforms and marched military-style to and from classes. He also had command of the English language, which she credits to the strict boarding school policy that children be punished if caught using their native languages. After retiring in 1967, Lowry became the director of the Indian health program at the Susanville Indian Rancheria. He also taught Indian history at Feather River College and Lassen College from 1970 to 1974. Dwight Lowry remembers his uncle would visit every school in Lassen County each year and tell tribal stories. "He told stories that his grandmother told him as a child," he said. Although Lowry could have been buried in Arlington National Cemetery, his last request was to be buried in Susanville Pioneer Cemetery next to Tommy Tucker, another member of the Maidu tribe who was the first soldier from Lassen County to die in World War I. Through a special county commission resolution, Lowry's plain, white headstone at his graveside sits on a hill overlooking Honey Lake Valley -- the valley he fought for. The Lowrys say they are proud that Leonard Lowry is being remembered. "We feel that he's smiling," Judith Lowry said. "I think it's a really good thing for the Native American youth of our community, especially for kids who haven't had a lot of heroes who look like them." Copyright c. 2004 Reno Gazette-Journal, a Gannett Co. Inc. Newspaper. --------- "RE: Casino Raid called attack on Tribal Sovereignty" --------- Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2004 08:12:48 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="RAID IN KANSAS" http://www.indianz.com/News http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/business/8470755.htm Casino raid called attack on `tribal sovereignty' "By storming the tribe's gaming facility on Indian lands, issuing criminal charges against tribal employees for activities occurring on Indian lands, and by seizing millions of dollars of money and property belonging to the tribe, the state is flagrantly and illegally violating the tribe's sovereignty and the federal government's `exclusive' jurisdiction' over Indian lands," the tribe said in its appeal. "Even if the activity is illegal," the tribe said, "Congress expressly withheld from the state the authority to prosecute... The district court's order is itself an approval of the state's violation of federal law, and the order must be stayed and enjoined." The morning of the raid, state officials cited federal and case law they said supported their actions. The federal gaming commission and the Kansas Attorney General's office had no comment Monday. The tribe opened the casino last August in a mobile structure across the street from City Hall after the National Indian Gaming Commission had granted preliminary approval. Commission Chairman Phil Hogen last year acknowledged that the casino's unannounced opening caught his agency by surprise. He said at the time the commission would conduct a full review to ensure that all requirements were met. After more than six months, the commission notified the tribe March 24 that the land was not eligible for gambling and gave the tribe a week to respond. The tribe immediately went to court seeking to block the agency's finding, and then added state defendants after the April 1 raid. Robinson's decision turned in part on an obscure decision recently rediscovered in a related 1996 case involving the Wyandotte Tribe, also before the court of appeals in Denver. In that legal action, under which state officials and others sought to block the tribe's then-announced gambling plans, the appeals court ordered that no tribal gambling take place there until that case and related matters were settled. That underlying case, also before Robinson, is still pending eight years later, and attorneys for the state argued successfully that the appeals court's no-gambling order was still in effect. To reach Rick Alm, call (816) 234-4785 or send e-mail to ralm@kcstar.com Copyright c. 2004 Kansas City Star. --------- "RE: Rules are Rules, damn the Consequences" --------- Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2004 07:13:49 -0000 From: "frostyca2000" Subj: Rules are rules, damn the consequences Mailing List: Frostys AmerIndian Sun, April 18, 2004 , Edmonton Sun Rules are rules, damn the consequences By Mindelle Jacobs When the Bonnyville Indian Metis Rehabilitation Centre was built three decades ago, the objective was to help natives in the surrounding vicinity beat their addictions. Over the years, the facility has drawn clients from five area reserves including Saddle Lake, Cold Lake and Beaver Lake. And, until last fall, 90% of the Bonnyville centre's clients were status Indians. In recent months the proportion of status or treaty Indians attending the provincially funded residential treatment facility has plummeted to about five per cent. The centre used to be filled to capacity. Lately, that hasn't been the case. Last week, there were only 19 patients in the 30-bed building. Yet there are treaty Indians all over the province desperate for help to beat their addictions. You'd think that since there are beds available in treatment facilities, there would be no problem moving addicts into those spaces. It's just common sense. But since last fall, Health Canada has no longer funded addiction treatment for status Indians in provincially funded centres. In the complicated world of federal-provincial politics, the health of treaty Indians is considered Ottawa's responsibility. And Ottawa wants First Nations aboriginals who need treatment to go to facilities on reserves. In the past, Health Canada subsidized the treatment of status Indians in provincially funded facilities, paying $10 of the $15-a-day room- and-board fees. As I wrote in a piece in November, Ottawa ditched the subsidy. Fifteen dollars a day may not seem like much but it might as well be $1 million for addicts seeking to turn their lives around. Natives aren't exactly swimming in money. For status Indians in the Bonnyville area, the nearest on-reserve treatment centre - where fees are covered - is at Beaver Lake near Lac La Biche, 225 km northeast of Edmonton. But the 25-bed facility is full and those on the waiting list won't be able to get in until the fall because the place is closing for six weeks at the end of June for renovations. The situation makes Muriel Sikorski, executive-director of the Bonnyville centre, want to tear her hair out. She's got space, but barring exceptional circumstances Health Canada will not fund treaty Indians in provincially funded facilities. "A lot of them are just not getting treatment," Sikorski says. When addicts make a decision to get help, they need it immediately, she adds. "They don't want to sit around and wait for six months." Ottawa's strict interpretation of the rules has also had a dramatic impact on other provincially subsidized facilities. In the past, 70% of the clients at the Poundmaker's Lodge Treatment Centre in St. Albert were status Indians. That has dropped to about 10%, says director Leona Carter. Staff turn away about 20 First Nations clients a month because they can't afford the fees. "I don't know what they do or where they go," Carter says. Similarly, almost all the clients at the Sunrise Native Addictions Services Society in Calgary used to be status Indians. That quickly dropped to six per cent last fall. The board decided to waive the fees for status Indians in January and they now comprise almost 20% of the caseload. "Urban aboriginal people are really going to suffer," says Eve MacMillan, executive director of the Sunrise facility. Many native addicts are reluctant to go to treatment centres on reserves. Some have never been on a reserve in their lives and don't see why they should be forced to seek help on one, she says. Nick Hossack, director of prevention and promotion for Health Canada's First Nations and Inuit health branch, says Ottawa pays for status Indians to be treated in provincially funded facilities in exceptional circumstances. The department recently agreed to place a pregnant status Indian at the Henwood Treatment Centre, he says. But generally, rules are rules, he says. The branch's mandate is to provide treatment on reserves only. Explains Hossack: "Until somebody changes (the law), legally we must support our system." And what a strange system it is. Copyright c. 2004 Edmonton Sun. --------- "RE: Comment: Give DINA the Chop" --------- Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 08:49:13 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BLOATED DEPARTMENT SHOULD GO" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.theglobeandmail.com/?query=aboriginal Comment: Give it the Chop If a department troubles both the A-G and its constituents, let's let another take over, says northern organizer By DEREK RASMUSSEN April 21, 2004 Asked at Monday's aboriginal summit if he supported the abolition of the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, Paul Martin said "The ultimate goal . . . is to see that happen." This was not the first time the idea of eliminating DINA has been raised. Yet the department has not only clung to life, it has expanded over the past three decades. Like a horror movie about the nanny who moves in and begins to control a family, DINA has inserted itself between Canada's Parliament and first nations, taking over all aspects of first nations life and ensnaring communities in layers of red tape. Many ministers have tried to shake up the department, but the bureaucracy has resisted. Can we not imagine a different way of relating to different cultures? Is there not a way to run government relations between Canada and first nations that takes into account the local languages and cultural sensitivities of aboriginals? In fact, there is a government department that already works effectively in intercultural settings. This department has its own institute to train 3,000 people a year in local languages so they can interact more effectively with the people with whom they work. It also trains staff "to have an ability to empathize with (not just understand intellectually) how locals see the world." That department is Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT). With its Centre for Intercultural Learning, it has taken the approach internationally that DINA should have taken with Canada' first nations. Foreign Affairs is charged with building bridges with other nations; Indian Affairs seems committed to building walls. So here's a modest proposal: Why doesn't DFAIT assume responsibility for relations with Canada's aboriginal peoples? If Foreign Affairs was in charge, the emphasis might shift to cultural appreciation and economic co- operation, and away from hostility and red tape. Does Indian Affairs do anything that Foreign Affairs couldn't do with greater respect and efficiency? Foreign Affairs currently carries out relations and negotiations with 90 nations; the Department of Indian Affairs with approximately 80 first nations (in 630 communities), Inuit and Me'tis. Almost 60 per cent of the 8,000 people working round the world for Foreign Affairs are locally engaged staff: They know the language, culture and economy where they work. Indian Affairs' 3,900 staffers have never been more than one-third aboriginal, and the number who actually speak an aboriginal language is unknown. Foreign Affairs spends about $1.9-billion a year, Indian Affairs spends about $5.6-billion. Most of that is supposed to flow through to aboriginal governments -- but only after they've filled out the 160 pieces of paperwork for each and every economic agreement they have with the department (the number is the Auditor-General's estimate). Prime Minister Martin has announced an ambitious aboriginal agenda, but no progress is likely to happen if a dysfunctional bureaucracy remains in charge of implementing these grand plans. Consider Auditor-General Sheila Fraser's scathing remarks about how poorly DINA has followed through on the terms of its $1-billion deal over the Nunavut land claim. Ms. Fraser and her staff testified last month that Indian Affairs was not living up to its side of the biggest land claim agreement in Canadian history. Ms. Fraser said that none of the five attributes of good public reporting was present in the government's annual reporting on implementing the Nunavut claim. Indian Affairs only tracked its "activities and processes" and not its "results produced and costs incurred." Imagine if the sports page reported that the Leafs had played the Senators last night, but no one kept track of the score. The A-G found that the Indian Affairs bureaucracy kept track of the number of "meetings, events, and activities held, as opposed to results achieved." Civil servants are banking lots of air miles flying back and forth to Nunavut, but Inuit and other Canadian taxpayers have no proof of concrete results. Since the department refuses to measure "performance," it "cannot meet a key accountability requirement," says the A-G. In contrast with the first chapter of the Auditor-General's report, which covered the sponsorship scandal, chapter 8, on Indian Affairs has gone largely unnoticed. This has allowed DINA civil servants to say they "completely disagree" with the A-G's findings, and to continue on as usual. Indeed, demands from the Public Accounts Committee (and the Auditor- General) in 1998 and 2001 for an accounting of the costs of implementing land claims has twice been ignored by Indian Affairs, with no censure or penalty. This may not seem like a big deal. But bear in mind that the 1993 Nunavut Agreement, a claim settled after 20 years of negotiations, is in fact a form of payment for one-fifth of Canada. Inuit ceded the Nunavut settlement area to Canada in exchange for the guarantees and processes outlined in the claim; if our representatives aren't living up to our side of the deal, then all Canadians should be concerned. The Department of Indian Affairs disagrees with the Auditor-General; it won't soon be implementing the objectives of land claims. So let's close it down. Hand over the work to the Department of Foreign Affairs -- and end the cold war Indian Affairs has waged for generations against the founding peoples of this land. ----- From 1991 to 1996, Derek Rasmussen was executive director of the Baffin Chamber of Commerce in Iqaluit, Nunavut. Since then he has worked for several aboriginal groups in the North. Copyright c. 2004 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. --------- "RE: Martin pledges to keep focus on Aboriginals" --------- Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 08:49:13 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PM KEEPS OPEN COMMUNICATIONS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.theglobeandmail.com/?query=aboriginal&disp=e&end Martin pledges to keep focus on aboriginals Prime Minister includes promises of Inuit secretariat and review of Louis Riel case By KIM LUNMAN April 20, 2004 OTTAWA - Prime Minister Paul Martin promised to make aboriginal affairs a national priority yesterday, pledging to issue an annual report card on its progress and even review the century-old treason case of Me'tis leader Louis Riel. "This is a very, very exciting day, I think, for all of us," Mr. Martin told a news conference at the end of a rare meeting in Ottawa between native leaders and two dozen Liberal cabinet ministers. "It certainly is for me personally," he said, flanked by Indian, Me'tis and Inuit leaders. "On Friday, I spoke about major priorities for the government and today is one of those major priorities. "I think we have an opportunity today as Canadians to take a step forward that in the years to come, other nations are going to look at us and say indeed we did rise to the challenge." Mr. Martin also announced a new Inuit Secretariat within the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs to address the needs of Canada's estimated 45,000 Inuit people. Mr. Martin said he would consider reserve housing authorities and school boards as part of his plan to redefine Ottawa's often rocky relationship with aboriginals on a new road to self-government. The mood of the meeting was conciliatory, a stark contrast to the roadblocks and protests staged during the government of former prime minister Jean Chre'tien in opposition to a bill to overhaul the Indian Act. Mr. Martin shelved the legislation and said he wants to start anew. Phil Fontaine, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, called the meeting a turning point in relations between natives and Ottawa. "This has certainly been much more than a photo-op," he told the news conference. Mr. Martin told the news conference the federal government will also revisit the Riel case, but he did not say how it would be reviewed. "There is a great deal of interest in our caucus to basically have a very tangible recognition of Louis Riel's contribution, not just to the Me'tis nation, but to Canada as a whole." Riel, who led both the Red River Rebellion in 1869 and the 1885 North- West Rebellion, was captured and hanged for treason. There have been more than 25 bills introduced in Parliament seeking his exoneration. Earlier yesterday, Audrey Poitras of the Me'tis National Council told the meeting that one of the group's top priorities is to address Canada's "sanctioned injustice on Louis Riel. "This stain on Canada's history must finally be dealt with," she said. "However, a quick-fix pardon or exoneration is unacceptable. The truth must finally come out in order to truly begin the process of reconciliation between Canada and our people." The proposed review comes in the wake of a historic Supreme Court decision last year that affirmed the Me'tis people have existing constitutionally protected rights to a rank equating them with Indians and Inuit. There are an estimated 300,000 Me'tis - of mixed native and European blood - in Canada. "To have a pardon means he was guilty of something," said Denis Coderre, the minister responsible for Me'tis. Jose Kusugak, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, said that for years Ottawa has been silent about its Inuit population and called yesterday's announcement a step forward. "Inuit believes this summit signifies a shift in the winds and tides, and we can see the ice providing a bridge towards firm ground." Russell Diabo, an aboriginal journalist who co-wrote the Liberal Party's 1993 native platform for its federal election platform Red Book, said not much has changed over the past decade between Ottawa and Canada's aboriginals. However, Mr. Diabo said there is a difference between Mr. Chre'tien and Mr. Martin. "This one is nicer, you know, on the surface. At least you can talk to him. I mean, you would never see Prime Minister Chre'tien in a meeting face-to-face like this. So I'll give Prime Minister Martin credit for that." Copyright c. 2004 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. --------- "RE: Hydro Quebec and Cree sign Deal" --------- Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 08:49:13 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LA GRANDE DISPUTE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canada.com/~482a-83a1-d6667864dc1d&disp=e&end Hydro Quebec and Cree sign deal to end disputes over La Grande dam Karine Fortin Canadian Press April 19, 2004 CHISASIBI, Que. - Hydro-Quebec and the James Bay Cree signed an agreement on Monday to put an end to disputes involving a giant hydroelectric dam in northern Quebec. The Cree will receive $7 million a year as long as the La Grande complex is in operation. In return, they promised to drop any lawsuits pending against Hydro-Quebec "I am very pleased to finally see Hydro-Quebec and the Cree nation putting aside their past differences," said Cree Grand Chief Ted Moses. "I expect this agreement to result in concrete benefits, contracts and employment for the Crees. I see it as particularly beneficial to the affected Cree trappers and to the Cree youth." The $7 million will go to finance infrastructure projects in Chisasibi, where the signing ceremony took place. Hydro-Quebec, meanwhile, said Cree businesses will gradually get more of the contracts to maintain and operate the dam. "I see this agreement as opening a new phase in the relationship between Hydro-Quebec and the Crees, a relationship based on mutual respect, good faith and partnership," said Andre Caille, president of the provincially owned utility. To allay fears of flooding among Chisasibi residents, Hydro-Quebec also agreed to pay for the building of an elevated park where people will be able to take refuge in case of a catastrophe. Besides Caille and Moses, ex-premier Lucien Bouchard attended the ceremony after serving as mediator in the negotiations. Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Benoit Pelletier will sign the deal for the province. La Grande, which was inaugurated in 1975, spreads out over 600 kilometres. The agreement is the result of the mediation process initiated by the Cree and Hydro-Quebec two years ago following the so-called Peace of the Braves deal reached between the Cree and ex-premier Bernard Landry's Parti Quebecois government in 2002. Monday's deal also provides for the creation of a permanent exchange forum and dispute resolution. Copyright c. 2004 Canadian Press. --------- "RE: First Nations ask Feds to look into BC Rail deal" --------- Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 15:18:01 -0000 From: "frostyca2000" Subj: First Nations ask Feds to look into BC Rail deal Mailing List: Frostys AmerIndian First Nations ask Feds to look into BC Rail deal http://www.cknw.com/news/news_local.cfm?item=8237&c=1 VICTORIA/CKNW(AM980)--The Union of BC Indian Chiefs is asking the Federal Competition Bureau to look a little deeper at the billion dollar BC Rail deal. In a letter to the head of the Competition Bureau, Union President Chief Stewart Phillip accuses the Campbell Government of willfully misleading the Bureau about the deal with CN. Phillip says the Government with-held key information about the contract, including the potential length of up to 990 years. He says there has been no meaningful consultation with native groups about the deal, and the Bureau should consider that in its ongoing review of the transaction. --------- "RE: Tribe delivers message at Shareholder Meeting" --------- Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 08:21:32 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DO NOT DRILL HERE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/2522708 Tribe delivers message at shareholder meeting By JENALIA MORENO April 22, 2004 Wearing his traditional headdress made of toucan feathers, tribal leader Pablo Tsere asked Houston-based Burlington Resources to stay out of his back yard - the Amazon rain forest. Tsere is chief of the 80,000-member Shuar tribe of southeastern Ecuador. About 50,000 of the Shuar people live on two pieces of land where Burlington and Argentina's Compania General de Combustibles, known as CGC, plan to drill for oil. While Burlington's drilling plans were not on the agenda for Wednesday's annual shareholder meeting, Tsere used the forum to express his people's opposition to the plans. Tsere held the proxy for some Burlington shares. "We Shuar are an ancient people who continue to live in our territory according to our customs," Tsere said in Spanish. His comments were interpreted by Shannon Wright, executive director of Amazon Watch, a nonprofit group supporting the Shuar and two other indigenous groups in their campaign against Burlington and CGC. Tsere, 37, asked Burlington to immediately withdraw from the rain forest. After the meeting, Burlington officials met with Tsere and Amazon Watch leaders in an informal closed-door meeting. Burlington officials said they will drill only after they have the consent of the majority of the people in the area. The company's representatives in Ecuador have met with the elected leaders of 55 communities in block 24, Burlington spokesman James Bartlett said. "We believe the vast majority support responsible development," he said. "We're not going to enter the block by force." Burlington has owned drilling rights in that block for about five years. Burlington also holds a 50 percent interest in the area known as block 23. CGC controls the other half of that block and operates it. While Burlington has not done much work in the block it operates, CGC tried to conduct environmental impact and seismic studies in its area beginning in 1997, said Ricardo Nicolas, CGC's manager in Ecuador. But before CGC workers could even estimate the area's potential for oil and begin drilling, violence erupted between the military and the indigenous people. CGC officials accuse another group of indigenous people living in the area of everything from kidnapping workers to stealing explosives. And Amazon Watch leaders accuse the Ecuadorian military and CGC of everything from torturing to kidnapping indigenous people. In the meantime, CGC, which has spent more than $11.5 million on its block, has pulled its workers from the area. "Now we are paralyzed by this situation, and we don't know until when," Nicolas said. In a meeting with reporters on Tuesday, Tsere said his people are also prepared to fight to keep Burlington workers out. "If it comes to the last resort, we will defend our territory," said Tsere, whose term as Shuar chief ends in 10 months when he has to hand the headdress over to the next chief. The Shuar consider that headdress as a crown that holds power. He fears the people will continue to lose their identity if Burlington wins the battle and drills. If Burlington agrees not to drill, the Shuar plan to go back to making handicrafts such as beads and searching for medicine in the rain forest. Copyright c. 2004 Houston Chronicle. --------- "RE: Amazonian Chief denies ordering Killings" --------- Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 08:21:32 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRESPASSING MINERS WARNED" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4006429,00.html Amazonian Chief Denies Ordering Killings By MICHAEL ASTOR Associated Press Writer April 22, 2004 ON THE ROOSEVELT INDIAN RESERVATION, Brazil (AP) An Amazonian tribal chief said Wednesday the killing of 29 diamond prospectors on his remote Indian reservation came after they were repeatedly warned to stay away. In his first comments to the media since the April 7 killings, Chief Pio Cinta Larga told The Associated Press that Indians in the area carried out the killings, but he denied ordering the attack or taking part in it. "There are some very angry Indians and not even the leadership can control their actions," he said, adding that members of other tribes have joined the Cinta Larga on the 6.7-million-acre reservation, where prospectors frequently trespass. "We told them we didn't want them here and they kept coming back. The warriors lost patience and this is what happened," said Cinta Larga, who uses the tribe's name as his surname. Federal police have said the 29 miners were killed by the Cinta Larga Indian tribe in a dispute over diamond mining. The reservation is believed to have South American's largest diamond reserves. Investigators indicated most of the miners were lined up and killed at short range with arrows, clubs, spears and firearms. Many of the bodies appeared to have been tortured or mutilated. Though denying links to the attack, he said the Indians have a right to defend their culture. "We are warriors," said Cinta Larga. "Before the white man came, none of the tribes here were friends. We fought and killed each other, that is how we resolved things." The Roosevelt Indian reservation in Roaondonia state, some 2,100 miles northwest of Rio de Janeiro, is cloaked within the dense Amazon rainforest, reachable only over nearly 100 miles of rutted dirt roads. Travel inside the reservation is mainly over jungle footpath or by river. The Cinta Larga Indians were first contacted by outsiders in the late 1960s, but development has been a mixed blessing. Many of the Indians are fairly well off, dressing in western-style clothing and driving pick-up trucks. About two-thirds of the 1,300-strong tribe have learned Portuguese, Brazil's national language, but the remaining Indians maintain the tribe's fierce warrior traditions. The president of Brazil's Federal Indian Bureau has said he considered the Indians to be acting in legitimate self defense because both mining and trespassing by non-Indians are illegal on Indian reservations. Those comments only served to fuel already high tension between the heavily armed Indians and prospectors. "It's illegal to mine on Indian land, it's also illegal to kill," said Celso Antim of the prospector's union in Espigao d'Oeste, about 60 miles from the reservation. Antim said the killings would not keep prospectors off the reservation for long. "There will be a little pause, but then they'll all go back because they're all going hungry," he said. "This time, though, they'll go back armed." Clashes between Indians and prospectors have claimed at least 70 lives since diamond mining began. Cinta Larga warned that prospectors who returned should know they were taking their lives in their hands. He said the solution is to change the law so Indians can legally mine on their lands. Currently, the Indians mine the diamonds in violation of federal law and sell them on the black market in violation of the international Kimberly protocol, which governs the sale and trade of diamonds. A task force composed of hundreds of state and federal agents has been deployed in and around the reservation and is expected to remain in the region for up to six months. The unit is disarming prospectors and Indians and will try to put an end to mining and prospecting activities in the reservation. But officials here said ending the illegal prospecting will not be easy. Brazil's Mines and Energy Ministry estimated some $2 billion in diamonds have been mined in the area since prospecting began in 1999. "Prospecting isn't something that ends from one day to another. It will be reactivated there is a great desire for diamonds and the diamonds on the reservation are very good," said Amoss de Mello Oliveira, a geologist working with the police. Guardian Unlimited Copyright c. Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004. --------- "RE: Indians face Hurdles to Maryland Recognition" --------- Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 08:20:14 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="STATE of DENIAL" http://www.indianz.com/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39873-2004Apr24.html Indians Face Hurdles to Md. Recognition Questions About Casinos, Centuries-Old Records Complicate Groups' Efforts By Ylan Q. Mui Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, April 25, 2004; Page C04 Joseph Neale was raised as an American Indian, sitting in during council meetings of the Youghiogaheny River Band of Shawnee Indians. He regularly trekked to the tribe's ceremonial grounds in Western Maryland near Deep Creek Lake. He became chief of the tribe six years ago, following in his father's footsteps. But by state standards, Chief Joseph Crow Neale doesn't exist. Maryland does not recognize the Shawnee - or any of the other half- dozen groups that claim to be Native American - as an official tribe. State recognition would grant legal minority status to the tribes, allowing their members to qualify for certain scholarships, health benefits and business contracts. For three decades, the state's Indian bands have closely watched the efforts of the Piscataway Conoy Tribe to gain such recognition, a campaign that has been shadowed by what former governor Parris N. Glendening (D) called "the specter of gaming." Though their bid received favorable recommendations from three government-appointed committees, including the Maryland Commission on Indian Affairs, Glendening refused to accept or deny the Piscataway band's petition. Glendening said the Piscataway, based in Southern Maryland, accepted money from developers with ties to gambling to help pay for their historical research, a claim echoed by at least one rival tribe. The Piscataway say they have never received money from individuals or organizations with direct ties to gaming, though tribal council member Rico Newman acknowledged that they have not investigated donors' backgrounds. "We're not going to look a gift horse in the mouth," he said. Only federally recognized tribes are allowed to run casinos. The Piscataway began applying for federal recognition in the 1970s but have not received it. When Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) took office last year with an agenda promoting slot machine gambling, the tribes thought gaming would no longer be an issue in Maryland. But state officials now say the problem is one of documentation: State law requires a tribe to trace its bloodline directly to 1790. Late last year, Ehrlich denied the Piscataway's petition because he said they had poor records. "It kind of leaves a little hole in you, feeling like your government says you aren't who you say you are," Neale said. According to the latest census, there are about 15,400 American Indians and Alaska Natives in Maryland. That number largely represents members of tribes that are recognized by other states or the federal government who reside in Maryland, said Gina Hamlin, head of the state Commission on Indian Affairs. The Piscataway - one of the state's largest organized tribes - began its journey toward state recognition in the 1970s. At that time, Maryland officials did not have a set process for approving the tribe's request. Legal guidelines were not adopted until 1988, after a heated battle by legislators to limit a tribe's ability to make land claims and a family feud that split the Piscataway into two factions. The Piscataway Indian Nation Inc. abandoned the quest shortly afterward, arguing that its authenticity was not based on state recognition. It also opposed the prohibition on land claims. Meanwhile, the Piscataway Conoy Tribe continued its push, spending nearly $800,000 over seven years to research its history and genealogy. It filed a petition for recognition in 1995, closely watched by the state's other Indian tribes. Its rival faction, however, has maintained that the effort is a cloaked attempt to establish a casino. Newman, the Piscataway Conoy council member, said gambling is not on the tribe's agenda. Its efforts have been focused on turning an old building in Waldorf into a museum and educational center, he said. "We just aren't chance-takers," Newman said. "Everything that we've tried to develop has been economic interests that have nothing to do with gaming." Though Ehrlich rejected the tribe's petition, citing lack of proper documentation, state officials have given Piscataway Conoy members reason to remain hopeful. Elise Butler, chief of staff for the state Department of Housing and Community Development, said the Ehrlich administration is "very interested and very engaged in Native American issues and thinks that they're very important." Maryland's standards for formal recognition are more stringent than federal requirements, which ask tribes to trace their lineage back only to 1900. Tribes must prove their heritage through documents such as birth and death certificates and marriage records. Newman said that historically low literacy rates among American Indians, poor record-keeping and the mingling of races over the years make it virtually impossible to find documents tracing to 1790, as Maryland requires. "The biggest issue confronting petitioning groups is providing the documentation," said Nedra Darling, spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Piscataway Conoy tried to circumvent the governor's rejection by lobbying Sen. Thomas M. Middleton (D-Charles County) to introduce a bill in this year's legislative session that would have given the state Housing Department secretary the authority to accept or reject tribal petitions. A Senate committee quickly killed the bill. The practical reason, Middleton said, was that the committee wanted the Piscataway to resolve their family feud before state officials considered the issue. But he said several lawmakers privately expressed concern that approval could lead to the establishment of casinos. "All somebody has to do is ring the gaming bell, and it's like Pavlov's dog," Newman said. "Everything else is out of the window." Newman said he is unsure whether the Piscataway Conoy will be able to raise enough money to continue their genealogical research and submit another petition. Other tribes have watched the struggle and say they have little hope of embarking on the same battle. "Every Thanksgiving, they want us: 'Come out, dress up, get a picture taken, it's Native American Month,' " said Chief Sewell Winterhawk Fitzhugh of the Nause Waiwash Band of Indians Inc., based on Maryland's Eastern Shore. "The rest of the year, they want us to go away." Copyright c. 2004 The Washington Post Company --------- "RE: The Broken Circle" --------- Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 08:49:13 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CULTURAL CLASH" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.daily-times.com/artman/publish/article_10535.shtml The Broken Circle By Laura Banish/The Daily Times April 21, 2004 FARMINGTON - Thirty years ago today in the dusty hills of Chokecherry Canyon, a discovery was made that would cause outrage, division and ultimately a civil rights movement. On Sunday, April 21, 1974, the bodies of two men, Herman Dodge Benally, 34, of Kirtland and John Earl Harvey, 39, of Fruitland were found partially burned and bludgeoned. According to Dan Sullivan, the sheriff at the time, the men's heads were crushed with large rocks, with one rock weighing as much as 16 pounds. Nearly one week later, two children riding bikes discovered a third body in the hills. It was that of 52-year-old David Ignacio of the Huerfano area. All three men were Navajo. "It was just so brutal, humanity at its worst," recalled District Judge Thomas Hynes, who was the District Attorney at the time. "We'll never know what was in those kids' minds. You could just see there was a lot of anger. They wanted to torture human beings." The murders and subsequent events would become an indelible black eye on the community, an issue that 30 years later, some people would refuse to talk about. "It was a long time ago, it was bad, but it's over," said a longtime resident who asked not to be identified. "It's like an old wound and if you scrape it, it's going to get sore again." The two decades preceding 1974 brought far-reaching changes to Farmington. Significant discoveries of oil, gas and coal caused explosive growth. In 1955, a special census conducted by the city showed the town had grown 350 percent in less than five years to a population of 12,449. In the early '70s, everything happened downtown, which stretched not much farther east than Butler Street. East Main Street, which is now a six-lane thoroughfare, was a dirt road. It hadn't been too long since the city removed horse hitches from downtown streets where visitors parked their rubber-wheeled wagons and teenagers traveled more than 50 miles to Durango, Colo., for a slice of pizza. By 1974, the population had nearly doubled with roughly 22,000 living within the city limits. Many of the newcomers were in the oil industry and had moved from Texas or Oklahoma. Some blame the newer "rough necks" for the problems that would come to a head between the city and its Native American neighbors. "When the racial relations came to a crashing clash, it was more the fault of recent arrivals to the area, reportedly folks from Redneck country, Texas and Oklahoma," states an excerpt from an unfinished book by Shiprock Chapter President Duane Chili Yazzie. "In the early months of 1974, the uneasy relationship between the Navajo people and the border town of Farmington boiled over." Marlo Webb, the Farmington mayor in 1974, recently made similar comments. "Frankly, I don't think any of the original local citizens realized the hidden feelings that were held evidently by the Navajo. I don't think we had a problem until the oil and gas frenzy started," Webb said. "The oil and gas industry, their values were different than ours, they were not used to living with someone of a different culture. It was when the three men were murdered, it came to a head. That's when the Native Americans said enough is enough and our voice needs to be heard." On May 1, 1974, petitions were filed in court charging three Farmington High School students with the murders. Howard Bender, 16, and Matthew Clark, 15, were charged with three counts of first-degree murder. Delray Ballinger, 16, was charged with one count of murder. Later it would be said that the three men died from a prank taken too far. Some people who lived in Farmington at that time said "Indian rolling" - or the practice of abusing Navajo street inebriates - occurred repeatedly, mostly at the hands of white teenage males. "Trust me, it happened. It very much happened," Farmington High School Class of 1974 graduate Susan Rickman said. "It was a Friday and Saturday night thing that boys got involved in. It was not kept hidden. It didn't happen every night, but it happened." Others say Indian rolling never took place at all or at least was not the sport or right of passage that it has been made out to be over the years. "Like all lies, the myth that teens in Farmington and Aztec were engaged in the regular assault and robbery of Native Americans during the late '60s and early '70s has managed to gain a measure of credibility in the minds of those who were not here during those years," wrote Barry Digman in a letter to the editor published in The Daily Times in 2003. Recently, he said he heard talk of "Indian rolling" in the hallways at school, but never witnessed any evidence of it. "I did hear of it, but I never saw it. I think a lot of it was probably locker room talk," he said, explaining that he wrote the letter in response to a newspaper editorial that suggested the abuse happened frequently. "It indicated it was a way of life, that it was accepted, and it was not. It certainly was not accepted by the decent people of this town then or now." Said Webb, "I don't think race had anything to do with it. Just high school kids rolling drunks, and all the drunks were Navajos. They just happened to be the target ... If there was any anti-Navajo sentiment, it was perpetuated by the drunk population. It was pretty bad. The streets were filled with litter and drunks. It was the major police problem we had then." Indian rolling was reportedly not the only problem between the Anglo and Native American community. Native Americans believed they were being discriminated against in businesses and restaurants. One man said that if Navajos wearing native dress walked into an eatery or store they would either not be served or escorted out of the business. Soon after the murder victims were discovered, the Native American community started holding protest marches through downtown Farmington on Saturday afternoons. The first was May 4, 1974. It was a peaceful march in memory of the slain men. Rena Benally led the march with her son Benjamin who carried a sign that read, "Herman Dodge Benally Sr. Was My Father." At the end of the parade, Fred Johnson of DNA legal services and later a Council delegate from Shiprock, said prophetically, "I think today the fight has begun." During the spring of 1974, Native Americans would march Saturday after Saturday under the association of the Coalition for Navajo Liberation, recently formed by factions of the American Indian Movement, Farmington Inter-Tribal Indian Organization, the University of New Mexico's Kiva Club and the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The marches quickly became political, drawing reportedly hundreds of Native Americans, in protest of alleged racism and discrimination. The marches were peaceful, until Saturday, June 8, the day after the three accused juveniles received their sentencing. On June 7, all three youths charged in the killings were sentenced to terms at the New Mexico Boys School at Springer after Judge Frank Zinn denied a plea by the prosecution to prosecute two of the youths as adults. According to an article in The Daily Times, roughly 50 to 75 people gathered outside of the courthouse, but the hearing was closed to the public, including the victims' family members. Court officials then and now maintain that the boys received the maximum penalty possible for their ages at that time, but others felt justice was not served. The next day, the Navajo protesters had been denied a permit to march because of the annual Sheriff's Posse parade. Members of the Coalition for Navajo Liberation tried to stop the parade in reaction to members of the procession dressed in cavalry uniforms. Coalition for Navajo Liberation members said the cavalry unit from Fort Bliss, Texas, was reminiscent of Kit Carson's soldiers who forced Navajos to walk 300 miles in the late 1800s. The Long Walk killed 200 people as the result of cold and starvation and caused many others to suffer. The parade erupted into violence; police used tear gas and Farmington Police Officer Jerry Steele was run over by car driven by a protester. Roughly 30 people, mostly Native Americans, were arrested. Eventually, John Foster Dulles II, of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission was called in. In July of 1975, the commission drafted, "The Farmington Report: A Conflict of Cultures." The land the Dine' people call "Totah" would never be the same. "I don't know how to classify what happened in '74. It was an awakening, it was a spark that started us together on a better path and opened up ideas that many of us hadn't thought of or given much thought to before. It was all for the betterment of both cultures," Webb said. "I think there are lessons to be learned from any event, good or bad, and we would be fools not to learn from what happened and move forward from there." Laura Banish: laurab@daily-times.com Copyright c. 2004 Farmington Daily Times, a Gannett Co., Inc. newspaper. --------- "RE: Who is John Foster Dulles II?" --------- Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 08:20:14 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BROKEN CIRCLE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.daily-times.com/artman/publish/article_10686.shtml Who is John Foster Dulles II? By Laura Banish/The Daily Times April 26, 2004 THE BROKEN CIRCLE U.S. Civil Rights Commission's regional director either loved, hated Sixth in a seven-part series FARMINGTON - John Foster Dulles II is back. Depending on whom you talk to, the regional director of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is either perceived as a savior or public enemy No. 1. Dulles is a member of one of America's most distinguished families - a family with a long history of service to this nation. His father, John Foster Dulles, was secretary of state under President Eisenhower and his uncle was director of the CIA. But his family's tradition of service goes further than that. His great-grandfather was secretary of state under President Benjamin Harrison and his great uncle was Robert Lansing, secretary of state under President Woodrow Wilson. Dulles first came to Farmington in 1974 to respond to allegations of racial discrimination after three Anglo teenagers brutally tortured three Navajo men to death in the hills of Chokecherry Canyon. At the request of the community's Native American leaders, Dulles arrived in late June of '74 to start what would become a 30-year association with the city of Farmington. "My first impression was there was a severe crisis in race relations and not enough effective leadership to handle the crisis," Dulles recalled. "We were extremely concerned in the impact on the community. There was severe polarization, distrust, even fear and resentment. It was a very divided community." After issuing a 171-page study titled, "The Farmington Report: A Conflict of Cultures," in 1975, Dulles made three more trips to Farmington, one in 1992, another in 1994, and a third in 2003. He will return to the area Thursday and Friday to obtain current information and perspectives on the status of civil rights for Native Americans in Farmington. "It appears there has been great enlightenment and understanding of some of the issues, which doesn't mean problems still don't exist, but leadership is more understanding and committed to working through the issues for a resolution," Dulles said. From what Dulles has observed while preparing for the upcoming hearing, Farmington's leadership has undergone the biggest change. When Dulles visited Farmington in 1994, he criticized city officials for alleged discrimination on a news broadcast by CNN, later saying that Farmington's leadership was in denial. "I had some unfortunate experiences in the past where I could almost say that I was not welcome by city officials," Dulles said. "That's clearly not the case now." Not to say that he doesn't expect some opposition. "There's always resistance, always people in denial or with hostile attitudes toward those interested in human rights and relations, but those people are everywhere," Dulles said. "There are some folks who are still very, very defensive for some reason and believe their community is being unfairly attacked or picked out." Marlo Webb, who served as mayor of Farmington in 1974, said he lost his confidence in the Civil Rights Commission many years ago. He said that he was told after the hearings the commission prompted witnesses to testify in a certain way when delivering their testimony. "I very soon lost my confidence in their ability to affect change because they came in with a preconceived conclusion," Webb said. Barry Digman, of Farmington, also questions the commission's intent. "I think for some people, civil rights is an industry. It's in their best interest to keep the pot stirred up, which makes it harder for people looking for a solution to get to that point," he said. "If it's really happening, they need to get it on the table, but if it's just going to be people saying they were discriminated against with no evidence, I don't know what they're going to accomplish." He added, "We're all here together and we might as well figure out how to get along and figure out what the problems are, instead of pointing the finger and saying, `It's your fault' because it hasn't seemed to do any good up to this point." One man, whose heritage is Navajo and Hispanic and asked not to be identified, said he questions whether the commission is sincere about making change or just coming to suggest the appearance of caring. "Let them come. The question is, do they really want to address the issues or just come here to do what? Meet the status quo, and say we looked into it? If they find racism is alive and well, what are they going to do?" he asked. "Racism in Farmington is alive and well. We as a community should address these issues ourselves." Dulles said he is coming to town to promote dialogue, not indict the city. "We expect to hear about problems and issues, but we need to pay attention to the positive experiences too. Farmington could serve as a model to other communities," he said. "We're not always looking for things that are bad, but looking for things that are good and highlighting those." As an example, he complimented Mayor Bill Standley on his work with the Totah Behavioral Health Authority. "I think people do not want to be cast as the way Farmington was 30 years ago. People don't want a bad image on their community," Dulles said. "In reality, 30 years have passed, times have changed, leadership has changed, and it's good to go back and see how much progress has been made and give credit where credit is due." Farmington Police Chief Michael Burridge Jr. suggested that local citizens view the upcoming hearing as an educational experience. "I look at it as an opportunity and not something to be feared," he said. "I think this is a great way for people to showcase the positive changes made and develop a strategic plan for the future. This community knows it had a problem and has done things to address it." Dulles said that while his fact-finding commission responds to the federal government, he believes the most successful resolutions are the ones put into action locally. "The best solutions are those devised at a local level and implemented at that level," he said. "It shouldn't take someone like me coming back every couple of years. It should come from the community." The public hearing to address the status of race relations as they affect Native Americans will be held Friday from 8:15 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. at San Juan College, Henderson Fine Arts Center, 4601 College Blvd. A public comment period is scheduled from 6:15 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. Laura Banish: laurab@daily-times.com Copyright c. 2004 Farmington Daily Times, a Gannett Co., Inc. newspaper. --------- "RE: BIA puts off a Nipmuc Recognition Decision" --------- Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 08:20:14 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DELAY TACTIC" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/stories/20040426/localnews/297936.html Nipmuc ruling delayed The BIA puts off a recognition decision until mid-June. Associated Press April 26, 2004 DUDLEY, Mass. - The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs has delayed a decision on whether to grant recognition to two Massachusetts groups of Nipmuc American Indians. Saturday was the deadline for the BIA to decide on applications for tribal recognition from both the Chaubunagungamaug, or Webster-Dudley, band of Nipmucs and the Hassanamisco band of Nipmucs based in Sutton, but the bureau put off its decision until mid-June, the Telegram & Gazette of Worcester reported. Bert "Rainmaker" Heath of East Putnam, tribal council chairman, is optimistic that 538 pages of narrative, a 48-foot-long tribal genealogy and 17,000 pages of supporting documentation will allow the Nipmucs to join 562 other federally recognized tribal governments. "We believe we've met the seven criteria for federal recognition as a sovereign Indian nation and deserve all the benefits the law allows," Heath said. For the Hassanamisco band, federal recognition would allow its sponsor, Lakes Entertainment Co., to pursue a casino or similar resort. The Chaubunagungamaug band has an anonymous sponsor from the Midwest with no ties to the gaming industry, Heath said. "Our focus has been and will continue to be on gaining federal recognition, and if we don't receive a positive finding, it's certainly not the end of the line... If we've learned one valuable lesson as a result of this process, it's this: We know we are Nipmucs. We know who we are," he said. The Hassanamisco, according to Tribal Council Chairwoman Frances M. Richardson-Garnett of Worcester, are anxious not only for sovereignty, but access to federal grants and scholarships, economic development opportunities, health care, housing, and education and transportation programs. More than 20 years ago, the Chaubunagungamaug and Hassanamisco bands submitted a single petition to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Heath said. The tribe failed in that attempt for combined recognition. The two bands each submitted their own petition to the Office of Federal Acknowledgement in 1996, he said. State Rep. Paul Kujawski, D-Webster, said, "I hope the best for them. It's out of our hands, but the area delegation has always been supportive of recognition for the tribe." Copyright c. 2004 Norwich Bulletin. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Judge affirms Cayuga Nation's Sovereign Rights" --------- Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 08:20:14 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SOVEREIGNTY UPHELD" http://www.indianz.com/News/archive/001914.asp Judge affirms Cayuga Nation's sovereign rights Monday, April 26, 2004 A federal judge on Friday upheld the sovereign rights of the Cayuga Nation of New York, paving the way for the tribe to open a gaming facility on ancestral territory. In a closely watched decision, U.S. District Judge David Hurd said the state lacks jurisdiction over the tribe's recent purchase of a property within its former reservation. The land, illegally taken by the state over the past 200 years ago, is Indian Country, free from all zoning, taxation and other local restrictions, he ruled. "Since Congress has not divested the Cayugas of their title to the land claim area, it stands to reason that the reservation status of that land remains in place to this day," Hurd wrote in the 41-page decision. A two- page order further prohibited local officials to from "applying or enforcing" any laws on the tribe. The ruling allows the tribe to make renovations to an old auto parts store located in the village of Union Springs. The tribe plans to convert the store into a Class II gaming facility, which does not require state consent. The ruling also means the tribe can purchase land within its former 64,000-acre former reservation and not worry about state interference. The purchase of the old store is the first time the tribe has held title to any parcel in more than 100 years. Union Springs officials oppose the tribe's plans and an appeal is likely. The village claimed the reservation had been disestablished by a subsequent treaty but Hurd rejected the argument. In the decision, Hurd cited a related case involving the Oneida Nation of New York, which has a 250,000-acre land claim. The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision last July, held that the tribe's reservation still exists and forbade the city of Sherrill from imposing property taxes on the tribe's recent land acquisitions. The city has appealed the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. In February, the justices were set to announce whether they would accept the case but instead asked the Bush administration for its views. A brief from Solicitor General Ted Olson hasn't been filed. The Sherrill precedent plays a critical role in another tribe's case involving ancestral territory. The Seneca-Cayuga Tribe, based in Oklahoma, purchased 229 acres of the former Cayuga reservation and plans to open a Class II facility there. Plans have been halted pending court resolution. The Cayuga Nation and the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe are parties to the land claim. A federal judge awarded the tribes $247.9 million, in fair market rent value plus interest, for their losses stemming from the 1794 Treaty of Canandaiuga. The 2nd Circuit earlier this month heard an appeal of the claim. The tribes say they should be awarded $1.7 billion and title to the land. The state of New York argues the claim is outright invalid. The Cayuga Nation doesn't support the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe's return to New York. The Cayugas claim their relatives gave up any rights once they left the state under the 1838 Treaty of Buffalo Creek. This dispute was not before Hurd but he wrote that the treaty doesn't mandate removal to the west even though some Cayuga ancestors settled in Kansas before ending up in Oklahoma. Unlike other treaties, "the language regarding the Cayugas evidences no promise to remove at all," he wrote. "Therefore, there is no substantial or compelling evidence in the text of the Buffalo Creek Treaty of congressional intent to terminate the Cayugas' reservation," he added. The National Indian Gaming Commission, which regulates the $15 billion tribal casino industry, had given approval to the Cayuga Nation for Class II gaming. But it was put on hold because the tribe's ordinance was not site specific. With the court ruling in hand, NIGC's final approval of the Union Springs facility is almost certain. Copyright c. 2000-2004 Indianz.Com. Indianz.Com is a product of Noble Savage Media, LLC and Ho-Chunk, Inc. --------- "RE: Rubin:Dopey Stereotypes don't discourage NA Woman" --------- Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2004 08:22:19 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NEAL RUBIN: STEREOTYPES" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.detnews.com/2004/metro/0404/27/a02-134816.htm Dopey stereotypes don't discourage Native American By Neal Rubin / The Detroit News April 27, 2004 People used to ask Jackie Gant where her turquoise jewelry was, and that would irk her severely. Now she hears a different question, and upon reflection, it probably irks her even more. "How much money do you get?" they say. As in, "You're a Native American, so you're cashing big checks from a casino, right?" Um, no. She isn't. And as executive director of the Native American Business Alliance, she finds more danger in the stereotype about casinos than in the one about squash blossom necklaces. The assumptions are just about even on the dopiness scale. Gant is Canadian by birth, a member of the Oneida Nation of the Thames, and turquoise is not naturally abundant in Ontario. But the notion of a continent swarming with financially carefree Indians defeats one of the central purposes of NABA - advancing the interests of Native American- owned companies. The other central purpose is to teach people about Native American cultures and the subtle difference between things like New Mexico and Michigan. Michigan is home to Petoskey stones and some Odawa and Chippewa tribes, among others. It's also home to Gant, who lives in Southgate, as well as NABA headquarters in Bingham Farms and most of the organization's directors. New Mexico is a good place to find turquoise, not to mention Navajos and Apaches, and it's where NABA wraps up its annual convention tonight with a speech by Dave Anderson. Anderson founded Famous Dave's Barbecue and serves as assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs. He did, in fact, run some casinos a while back, but that does not make him a typical Native American any more than his master's in business from Harvard makes him a typical Ivy Leaguer. Gant, 43, also earned an MBA from Harvard, along with a bachelor's in criminal justice from Michigan State. She worked with family programs for UAW-Ford until taking the NABA job in January. "It's been fun. Actually, a dream," she says. And at least at work, she no longer has people telling her she doesn't look Native American. "I've asked some people, `What do you mean by that?'" she says. After they stammer for a bit, they point out that she has short hair with blond tips and she doesn't live on a country road or dress like a Walt Disney character. "I just shake my head," she says, which would jangle her turquoise jewelry, if only she were wearing some. Neal Rubin appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at (313) 222-1874, nrubin@detnews.com, or 615 W. Lafayette, Detroit, MI 48226. Copyright c. 2004 The Detroit News. --------- "RE: Tribes to sue BPA over Dam Spills" --------- Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 08:20:14 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SALMON AT RISK" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.spokesmanreview.com/~section.tribal_news Confederation of tribes to sue BPA over dam spills Associated Press April 21, 2004 PORTLAND - A tribal confederation says it will sue the Bonneville Power Administration to prevent it from halting summer spills of water over four Columbia River dams. The BPA says halting the spills could save $77 million by using the water to generate electricity instead, and that only a handful of salmon would be affected. The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla say the spills are the safest way to get salmon downriver through the dams, and that stopping them would cost the lives of thousands of fish and retard salmon recovery. The BPA did not return calls seeking comment. However the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has said survival rates for salmon that are "spilled" over the dams are only marginally better than that of those passed through turbines. Plans to reduce or eliminate the spills this summer left the tribes with no choice but to sue, said Antone Minthorn, chairman of the Umatilla's board of trustees. Jay Minthorn, also a board of trustee member, said ending the summer spills would affect chinook runs in the Umatilla River, which were wiped out in the early 20th century. Copyright c. 2004 Idaho Spokesman Review. --------- "RE: `Inherent' Sovereignty upheld in Lara Decision" --------- Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 15:19:14 -0000 From: "frostyca2000" Subj: Special_Report: Inherent_sovereignty_upheld_in_Lara_decision? Mailing List: Frostys AmerIndian Special Report: `Inherent' sovereignty upheld in Lara decision Posted: April 23, 2004 - 10:30am EST by: Jim Adams / Associate Editor / Indian Country Today WASHINGTON - Tribal sovereignty won big in the April 17 U.S. Supreme Court decision in United States v. Lara, but the four separate opinions in the case showed totally opposing views on the meaning of the term and opened a basic constitutional debate. Tex Hall, president of the National Congress of American Indians, called the decision a "great victory." It clearly showed the impact of briefs submitted by NCAI and the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) as part of their Supreme Court Project. Even so the make-up of the Court remains a major worry for Indian Country, and a major prize for the 2004 presidential election. Five justices joined in the majority opinion written by Stephen G. Breyer, backing the Congressional override of one of the Supreme Court's most hated recent Indian decisions, Duro v. Reina (1990) which limited a tribal court's jurisdiction to its own tribal membership. Breyer said that tribes had inherent legal power over non- member Indians who lived on their territory. Two more Justices agreed on the specific issue of the case, giving the tribal and U.S. government position a solid 7 - 2 win. The margin surprised, and delighted, lawyers for the tribes, but it masked a continuing close division on the Court about the true constitutional status of Indian tribes. "I don't believe anyone walked away from the oral argument thinking we would get a 7 to 2 decision," said Richard Guest, a lawyer with NARF, which submitted an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief on behalf of 18 tribes. "But we're happy to take it." The case crystallized the range of opinions on the Court about the nature of tribal sovereignty. Breyer called it "inherent," the language Congress used in overriding Duro in its so-called "Duro-fix" legislation. In the crux of his argument, he said Congress had relaxed its restraint on a pre-existing tribal power, rather than delegating federal power to the tribes. In a brief concurrence, Justice John Paul Stevens noted the "historical basis" of tribal sovereignty; Indian tribes, he wrote, "governed territory on this continent long before Columbus arrived." In sharp contrast, the dissent by David Souter, with Antonin Scalia joining, compared the Congressional act to "the delegation of lawmaking power to an administrative agency, whose jurisdiction would not even exist absent congressional authorization." Justice Kennedy sided with Souter and Scalia on principle but upheld the majority on narrow grounds. Perhaps most ominously, Justice Clarence Thomas called federal Indian policy, "to say the least, schizophrenic." He said that if the court accepted tribes as sovereign, then they had to power to punish anyone who violated their laws, Indian or non-Indian, a reach the federal government has never allowed. "The time has come to reexamine the premises and logic of our tribal sovereignty cases," he wrote. Such a re-examination would come just as the Supreme Court faces several potential vacancies and a high-stakes national debate over new appointees. Justice Stevens just turned 84, and Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist will be 80 in October. Although rumors that one might retire last came to naught, court observers say such decisions traditionally come in late June at the end of the court's term, which would plunge a new nominee squarely into the presidential election. The meaning of tribal sovereignty, already a simmering issue in some states, could emerge four-square into the national debate. Even though the Lara case raised basic issues about tribal sovereignty and its relation to the power of the federal United States government, it started with a minor incident. Billy Jo Lara, an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewas, struck a BIA officer enforcing an order excluding him from the Spirit Lake tribal reservation. Lara was convicted in Spirit Lake Tribal Court for "violence to a policeman" and served 90 days in jail. When the federal government prosecuted him for the same offense, he argued a double jeopardy defense, that a government couldn't try a person twice for one crime. The Supreme Court upheld the position of the U.S. and a number of Indian groups that the Spirit Lake Tribe was a separate sovereignty and so double jeopardy didn't apply. The tone of the majority opinion by Justice Stephen Breyer gave far greater weight to the "inherent" nature of tribal sovereignty then did a train of recent Supreme Court decisions, which Breyer said no longer applied. Breyer said that the Congressional "Duro-fix," acknowledging a tribal court's power over all Indians who happened to come before it, was not a delegation of federal power, but the removal of a restriction by the dominant power on "the exercise of a tribe's inherent legal authority." In a step the Supreme Court has sometimes been reluctant to take, Breyer acknowledged that a tribe's sovereignty could apply over its land base, not just to its membership role. NCAI President Hall claimed credit for the legal work of the Supreme Court Project. "Tribes pulled together to file amicus briefs that explained our position to the Supreme Court," he said. "Those briefs made a big difference in this case." Guest, who helped write one brief for NARF, said that the Project's legal team had basically divided the chore. NCAI submitted the legal argument that Congress could remove restrictions from tribal sovereignty as well as impose them. NARF, he said, turned out what the trade calls a "Brandeis Brief", after the innovation of the great jurist Louis Brandeis in confronting the Court with the social consequences of its rulings. The NARF brief focused factually on the turmoil in tribal law enforcement caused by the Duro ruling. Guest said it also tactfully corrected historical mistakes in the Supreme Court's decision. --------- "RE: Father of murdered Kiowa Woman wants Justice" --------- Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2004 19:11:13 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WHERE IS THE JUSTUICE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=4333 Father of murdered Kiowa woman wants justice Daughter killed in triple murder LAWTON OK Sam Lewin April 23, 2004 A year after his daughter was gunned down in a brutal triple murder, a Kiowa man is wondering why the confessed killer still has not been brought to justice. Authorities say Elwood Jackson Jr., 43, confessed to killing John Limberger, 25, Lena Jean Bohay, 22, and Mac Wright, 57, on February 10 of 2003. The three, all employees of the Fort Sill Apache casino, were found inside a Lawton home shared by Wright and Limberger. Jackson was arrested a short time later and formally charged with three counts of first-degree murder. Police say he shot the three victims with a 9mm handgun, and also beat and stabbed two of them with a fireplace log poker. Tom Bohay is Lena's father. For the past year, he has sat and watched Jackson's attorney Diane Box, a representative of the state's Indigent Defense System, continually request and receive delays. "[Jackson] has already pleaded guilty and signed a confession. Why all this other nonsense is happening no one can understand. Why drag it out?" Bohay told the Native American Times. "I mean look at how long it has been. At the preliminary hearing they set it for June of last year, then they filed a motion and moved it to September. Then they filed another motion." Commanche Country District Attorney Robert Schulte is prosecuting the case. Schulte did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He had previously stated he would seek the death penalty against Jackson. According to a news account from April of last year, Jackson killed the three to cover-up a series of thefts that he had committed to fund his addiction to crack cocaine. Bohay, meanwhile, is left with memories of his daughter. "It's been tough. We have five boys and she was our only daughter. The boys are taking it tough," he said. "She was really friendly and outgoing. She had a lot of customers who only wanted her as their card dealer." He said Lena was especially popular with Lawton's growing Asian community. "When we were going through her stuff, we found a book on how to speak Korean that she was reading so she could communicate with them." Native American Times is Copyright c. 2004 Oklahoma Indian Times, Inc. --------- "RE: Family of slain Aim Activist exhumes her Remains" --------- Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 08:38:13 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ANNA MAE EXHUMED" http://www.indigenouswomenforjustice.org/walkerhome.html Family Of Slain Aim Activist Exhumes Her Remains Carson Walker, Associated Press April 22, 2004 Sioux Falls, S.D. - The family of slain American Indian Movement activist Anna Mae Pictou Aquash exhumed her remains from an Oglala cemetery Thursday so they can be reburied on her home reservation in Nova Scotia, Canada. Denise Maloney of Toronto, Aquash's older daughter, would not discuss it but did issue a statement saying the family also plans to give prosecutors an audio tape transcript implicating AIM leaders. Maloney wrote that her mother "began her journey home this morning ... to the warmth and security of her family and people - to be near their hearts, for inside their hearts is where her spirit has always been." The ceremony, which included words and songs in Aquash's native Mi'kmaq language, freed her "from 28 years of darkness," wrote Maloney, executive director of Indigenous Women for Justice. Among those present were her sister, Debbie Maloney; their father, Jake Maloney; and Aquash's sister, Mary Lafford. Charlie Rooks of the Sioux Funeral Home in Pine Ridge said the disinterment took about two hours. "It was a very comforting time for all those involved," he said. "That there's some closure with her being returned to her tribe in Canada." Aquash was killed in December 1975 on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation because AIM leaders suspected her of being a government spy, according to witnesses at the Rapid City trial of Arlo Looking Cloud of Denver, one of two men charged with the murder. He was convicted in February and is to be sentenced Friday to life in prison. The other man, John Graham, has pleaded not guilty and plans to fight extradition from Vancouver, British Columbia. A rancher found Aquash's frozen body in February 1976 in a ravine in the Badlands. She died of a gunshot wound to the back of the head. Maloney said in her statement that AIM member Bill Means had Aquash buried on land owned by his family so he could say "he would not have arranged that if she had been an informer whose death AIM leaders had ordered." At Looking Cloud's trial, John Trudell, AIM chairman at the time, testified he believes Graham, Looking Cloud and fellow AIM member Theda Clarke were ordered to kill Aquash during a stop at Means' house. Maloney said Aquash's family will turn over to prosecutors a transcript of an audio tape of AIM co-founder Vernon Bellecourt in which he allegedly acknowledges investigating Aquash because of evidence that she was an informant. On the tape, Bellecourt also says Graham, Looking Cloud and Clarke kidnapped Aquash, drove her to places where she was held, questioned about being an informant and then killed, Maloney said. Maloney wrote that Bellecourt said his brother, Clyde Bellecourt, was at Means' house when Clarke and Graham stopped by before taking Aquash to be killed. "(Vernon) Bellecourt acknowledges that Looking Cloud was holding Anna Mae outside Means' house. We shall be presenting this transcript with corroborating material to federal prosecutors, at which time we shall also urge the U.S. attorney to indict Theda Clarke - age does not absolve murder," Maloney wrote. Clarke, who has not been charged, is elderly and lives in a nursing home in western Nebraska. Vernon Bellecourt denied any involvement and has blamed the FBI. "I have never stated anything like that," Vernon Bellecourt said Thursday afternoon in response to Maloney's allegations. "I have no idea what she's talking about. To this day I don't know who shot Anna Mae Aquash." Clyde Bellecourt said he often stays at Means' house when he's in South Dakota but was never present for a conversation that included orders to kill Aquash. "Everyone in the movement knows I would not allow anything like that to take place," he said Thursday. Means could not be reached for comment. Clarke's niece, Troy Lynn Yellow Wood of Denver, said last week that Clarke wouldn't be credible because she has Alzheimer's disease. Yellow Wood, from whose house Aquash was taken before her death, did say she hopes those who ordered the killing acknowledge it. "I would like to see a little bit of couragessness on their part," she said. "Those persons who are responsible are responsible to make the restoration." Prosecutors are not allowed to discuss pending cases and have refused to say if Clarke or anyone else will be indicted. Aquash was among the Indians who occupied the village of Wounded Knee for 71 days in 1973 - a standoff that became a symbol of 1970s Indian conflicts. Her slaying occurred amid a series of violent clashes between federal agents and AIM leaders calling for treaty rights and self- determination for Indians. Maloney said one reason family members wanted Aquash's remains exhumed was to prevent Vernon Bellecourt from holding another ceremony at the grave denying he had anything to do with the killing. "The prospect of such abuse prompted us to act now. No longer will we allow Anna Mae to be exploited by those who contributed to her suffering," Maloney wrote. "Piece by piece, the 28-year lie is being dismantled and those who conspired and ordered the murder of Anna Mae are being exposed." Indigenous Women for Justice: www.indigenouswomenforjustice.org --------- "RE: Anna Mae begins her Journey Home" --------- Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 08:38:13 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ANNA MAE'S FAMILY SPEAKS" http://indigenouswomenforjustice.org/home.html Statement From The Family Of Anna Mae Pictou Aquash ------ Anna Mae Begins Her Journey Home April 22, 2004 Anna Mae Pictou Aquash began her journey home this morning. At the Little-family cemetery in Oglala, South Dakota, members of Anna Mae's family gathered to carry her back to the Mi'kmaq Nation, to the warmth and security of her family and people - to be near their hearts, for inside their hearts is where her spirit has always been. The Mi'kmaq language and songs greeted Anna Mae as she entered the daylight, the family ceremony freeing her from 28-years of darkness. Anna Mae will return to the earth in her homeland, in Shubenacadie on the Mi'kmaq reserve, Nova Scotia. We thank those genuine people who visited Anna Mae's grave in Oglala and did not forget her throughout these long years of isolation and injustice, and we offer our sincere thanks to the members of the Little-family who tended to her grave. Anna Mae told us that she would come back to us in the rain, and today she did. During our last visit to South Dakota we learned that Bill Means instigated Anna Mae's burial on the Little-family's property. Independent of each other, three people alleged that Means wished to have Anna Mae buried on his cousins' land, so that when questioned about her murder he could deflect suspicion by saying that she was buried in his relatives' cemetery, and that he would not have arranged that if she had been an informer whose death AIM leaders had ordered. It was telling that no AIM leader attended Anna Mae's funeral in March 1976, and that Means himself chose to attend a nearby basketball game as Anna Mae was buried. Piece by piece the 28-year lie is being dismantled and those who conspired and ordered the murder of Anna Mae are being exposed. On June 26, 2000, Vernon Bellecourt gave a speech at Anna Mae's grave in which he denounced all of those who were seeking truth and justice for her, and he issued his familiar denials. In a videotaped admission played at his trial, Arlo Looking Cloud said of Anna Mae's murder, "If you want to know why it happened ask Bellecourt, Vernon Bellecourt." When our mother was murdered in December 1975, Vernon Bellecourt was the head of "AIM Security and Intelligence," and his remit was to expose informers. Our family is in possession of an audiotape transcript in which Vernon Bellecourt admits that he investigated Anna Mae, and that he concluded there was "credible evidence" that she was "Informant A or B." In the transcript, Bellecourt identifies John Graham, Theda Clarke, and Arlo Looking Cloud as the individuals who kidnapped Anna Mae, then transported her to the known locations where she was held and interrogated about being an informer, and that the three then killed her. Bellecourt identifies his brother, Clyde Bellecourt, as being among those present at Bill Means' when Theda Clarke and John Graham entered his house on the Rosebud before they executed Anna Mae. Bellecourt acknowledges that Looking Cloud was holding Anna Mae outside