From gars@speakeasy.org Fri Jun 18 10:52:29 2004 Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 16:52:26 -0700 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews12.021 _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 12, ISSUE 021 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 22, 2004 Mvskogee kee-hvsee/mulberry moon Kiowa pai tegpan p'a/geese go north moon +-------------------------------------------------------+ | Much more happens in Indian Country than is reported | | in this weekly newsletter. For daily updates & events | | go to http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm | +-------------------------------------------------------+ Otapi'sin Atsinikiisinaakssin -- Blackfeet -- News for All the People Ni-mah-mi-kwa-zoo-min -- Ojibwe -- We Are Talking About Ourselves Aunchemokauhettittea -- Naragansett -- Let Us Share News Kanoheda Aniyvwiya -- Cherokee -- Journal of the People O Es'te Opunvk'vmucvse -- Creek -- People's New News O o O Acimowin -- Plains Cree -- Story or Account O o O Tlaixmatiliztli -- Nahuatl -- News O o o o o O Agnutmaqan -- Listuguj Mi'kmaq -- News O o O Sho-da-ku-ye -- Teehahnahmah -- Talking Birchbark O o O Un Chota -- Susquehannic Seneca -- The People Speak O Ha-Sah-Sliltha -- Ditidaht Nation -- News of the People Ximopanolti tehuatzin, inin Mexika tlahtolli -- Nahuatl -- For you we offer these words It-hah-pe-hah Ah-num pah-le -- Chickasaw -- Together We Are Talking Dineh jii' adah' ho'nil'e'gii ba' ha' neh -- Navajo Nation -- What's Happening among The People News Okla Humma Holisso Nowat Anya -- Choctaw -- People(s) Red Newspaper Hi'a chu ah gaa -- Pima -- The stories or the talk of the People Native American News -- Language of the Occupation Forces ++>If you speak a Native American language not listed above, please send us your words for "News of the People." We'd rather take up this whole page saving these few words of our hundreds of nations than present a nice clean banner in the language of the occupation forces who came here determined to replace our words with their own. email gars@nanews.org with the equivalent of "News of the People" in your tribal language along with the english translation <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is produced in straight ASCII text for greatest portability across platforms. Read it with a fixed-pitch font, such as Courier, Monaco, FixedSys or CG Times. Proportional fonts will be difficult to read. <================<<<< >>>>================> This issue contains articles from www.owlstar.com; www.indianz.com; www.pechanga.net; Chiapas95-English Mailing List; UUCP email IMPORTANT!! ----------- In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, all material appearing in this newsletter is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for educational purposes. <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters who share our Spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the Red Road. ++ It may be subscribed to via email by sending a request from your own internet addressable account to gars@speakeasy.org ++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org <================<<<< >>>>================> +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + | As historian Patricia Nelson | | Once a language is lost, it is | | Limerick summarized in "The | | gone forever | | Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken | | * Of the 300 original Native | | Past of the American West... | | languages in North America, | | "Set the blood quantum at | | only 175 exist today. | | one-quarter, hold to it as a | | * 125 of these are no longer | | rigid definition of Indians, | | learned by children. | | let intermarriage proceed as | | * 55 are spoken by 1 to 6 elders;| | it had for centuries, and | | when they die, their language | | eventually Indians will be | | will disappear. | | defined out of existence." | | * Without action, only 20 | | "When that happens, the federal | | languages will survive the next| | government will be freed of | | 50 years. | | its persistent 'Indian problem.'"| | Source: Indigenous Language | +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ | Institute | |http://www.indigenous-language.org| This issue's Elder Quote: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + ======================== "When I was a boy, the Sioux owned the world. The sun rose and set on their land; they sent ten thousand men to battle. Where are the warriors today? Who slew them? Where are our lands? Who owns them?" __ Chief Sitting Bull, Hunkpapa Lakota "You think I am a fool, but you are a greater fool than I am." __ Chief Sitting Bull, Hunkpapa Lakota +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Indian Pledge of Allegiance | The Indian Pledge of Alleg- | | iance was first presented | I pledge allegiance to my Tribe,| on 2 December '93 during the | to the democratic principles | opening address of the Nat- | of the Republic | ional Congress of American | and to the individual freedoms | Indian Tribal-States Relat- | borrowed from the Iroquois and | ions Panel in Reno, NV. NCAI | Choctaw Confederacies, | plans distribution of the | as incorporated in the United | Indian Pledge to all Indian | States Constitution, | Nations. | so that my forefathers | | shall not have died in vain | Walk in Beauty! Night Owl +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Journey | In the summer and early fall | The Bloodline | of 1998 the Treaty Unity Riders | | rode a thousand miles on horse- | For all that live and live by law | back, carrying a staff and | We Stand, we Call, We Ride | praying each step of the way. | For All that fear and fear by sight | | We Hear, we Listen, we Ride | These prayers were offered for | For all that pray and pray by strength| each of us, and that the Unity | We Feel, we Move, we Ride | of all Peoples might happen. | For all that die and die by greed | | We Hurt, we Cry, we Ride | Tatanka Cante forwarded this | For all that birth and birth by right | poem on behalf of all the Unity | We Smile, we Hold, we Ride | Riders that we might stop and | For all that need and need by heart | ask if the next words we say, the | We Came, we Went, we Rode. | next act we make is for the good | | of the People or is it from ego | Treaty Unity Riders | for self. +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ O'siyo Brothers and Sisters! August 16, 2003 U. S. Representative William Janklow (R-SD) drove a Cadillac through a stop sign near Trent and was hit by a Harley-Davidson ridden by Randy Scott of Hardwick, Minn. Scott, 55, died instantly. Janklow was convicted of felony second degree manslaughter and three related misdemeanors December 9, 2003. He began serving his jail sentence February 7, 2004 and his sentence ended Monday, May 17, 2004. Do the math - 100 days. That's a very short visit to the ironhouse for the death of another human being. I defy anyone reading this newsletter to find me even one Lakota sentenced to any felony when Janklow was South Dakota's Attorney General who served similar time for a similar offense. Remember, too, this is the same man many in Indian Country believe in their hearts had Jacinta Eagle Deer snuffed, though no one was charged in her death. We know for a fact he publicly stated..."the way to stop AIM is to put a bullet through their head". Besides the jail time, Judge Rodney Steele fined him $5,750, ordered him to pay $5,000 for his incarceration and put him on probation for three years, during which he won't be allowed to drive. In addition, Janklow relinquished his political position (he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2002 and resigned January 20, 2004). Ed Evans, Janklow's Defense Attorney, will send a brief by the Tuesday deadline asking the South Dakota Supreme Court to overturn Janklow's convictions on felony manslaughter and misdemeanor reckless driving. It also appears Janklow may ask the court to grant permission for him to leave the state of South Dakota during his probation period. This is the truth as I know it. Draw your own conclusions. I see it as just one more piece of evidence that criminal justice in the U. S. is spelled "Just-Us". 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 ---------- - One Nation nominated - Insight into Ute Culture to speak to Ntl. Press Club - Aboriginal Media - Report finds BIA just whistling Dixie misused School Emergency Funds - First Nation seeks more time - BIA reorganization Plan for Treaty Vote panned by Tribes - Beef up support of Inuit Culture - Nine Rez Communities - Sisters In Spirit to join Leadership Program - Mysterious Silence - Tribal Leader resigns of the Mexican Zapatistas - Arizona Gov. signs bill - Tribe, County dispute Jurisdiction to protect Burial Rights - Navajo Police Chief Fulton resigns - Equal Education worries - Judge rejects Mental Evaluation - Navajo Water Rights at risk for Looking Cloud - Tribes seeking $1 Billion - Native Prisoner - YELLOW BIRD: -- Native Inmate Pen Pals Abuses recall past Atrocities - Rustywire: Asdzaa Tliizhi' - Native radio: - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days At Heart of Public Radio's Mission - Rustywire Verse: Navajo Flowers - Grieving Native Villages - Language Fair strives add to Students' Struggle to save dying Languages - Chronic Respiratory Symptoms - Press Release: Smoke Signals among Alaska Natives - Upcoming Events --------- "RE: One Nation nominated to speak to Ntl. Press Club" --------- Date: Wed, 12 May 2004 08:11:51 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ANTI-INDIAN PLATFORM" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=4423 One Nation nominated to speak to National Press Club Anti-tribal sovererignty group lays out agenda to reporters WASHINGTON DC Sam Lewin May 11, 2004 A representative from the anti-tribal sovereignty group One Nation is speaking to the National Press Club tomorrow, but the head of the journalistic organization is quick to downplay the significance. The title of the event is "Confronting Flawed Indian Policy: Call for a moratorium on fee-to-trust conversions & halt to recognition of new tribes until reform is enacted." "Do we wish to destroy our cherished American dream - a harmonious melting pot of all cultures, colors, and creeds? The current drive to revere tribalism among American Natives suggests the answer is "yes" to resurrecting the divisive apartheid we once deplored," One Nation's Barb Lindsay says in an announcement touting her appearance at the Washington D. C.-based club. "With 562 federally recognized tribes, 291 tribal recognition applications pending, and 400 monopolistic Indian casinos supplying outrageous funding to political parties, elected officials, and lobbyists, a new domestic crisis is exploding across America. One Nation, Inc., United Property Owners, and Citizens Equal Rights Alliance - three national coalitions of community groups, trade associations, and local governments -- say, `Enough is Enough.' " NPC General Manager John Bloom said Lindsay's appearance is not an official press club event. "That is a private press conference. They rented space and they are doing it on their own," Bloom told the Native American Times. He said the NPC has several thousand such speakers a year. "It is one of the ways the club supports itself-holding press conferences here," he said. Bloom said one of the club's 4500 members must nominate a speaker before they can appear. He did not know which journalist nominated Lindsay. Native American Times is Copyright c. 2004 Oklahoma Indian Times, Inc. --------- "RE: Report finds BIA misused School Emergency Funds" --------- Date: Thu, 13 May 2004 08:27:39 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MORE STOLEN INDIAN MONEY" http://www.indianz.com/News/archive/002193.asp Report finds BIA misused school emergency funds May 12, 2004 The Bureau of Indian Affairs has misused millions of dollars in administrative funds, shortchanging Indian schools of money set aside for emergencies, according to a recent internal audit. Over a three-year period, the BIA used at least $5 million in contingency funds for non-emergency purposes, the Department of Interior's inspector general said in March report. Investigators discovered that emergency funds were used to buy televisions, bean bag chairs, puppets, furniture, computer software, retreats for staff members and other items and services. "Although these goods and services ultimately supported Indian education programs, the need for these goods and services did not arise from unforeseen or emergency circumstances, and the contingency fund should not have been used for these purposes," the report said. According to the report, the BIA's Office of Indian Education Programs in Washington, D.C., used the contingency fund "as a discretionary fund for the director of OIEP rather than as monies set aside for emergencies or other unforeseen events." During the time period in question, the director was William Mehojah, who was replaced by Ed Parisian last summer. The misuse of funds prevented the office from addressing actual emergencies, the audit said. When a school needed $395,000, OIEP was forced to take money away from other schools because the emergency fund had already been used up, according to the report. Another time, the office spent more emergency money than it was allocated. OIEP "is unable to effectively track, monitor, and report the use of the contingency fund," the report said. And even when there was money left, OIEP failed to distribute it to needy schools. According to the report, BIA schools are being denied at least $1.3 million due to the office's inadequate accounting procedures. "OIEP does not follow sound business practices or federal accounting standards for planning, accounting for, and monitoring its use of administrative funds," the audit stated. Other problems included poor planning, negative balances in OIEP accounts and improperly awarded contracts. In a March 9 letter, assistant secretary Dave Anderson and OIEP agreed with 12 recommendations to establish better financial controls. But Anne L. Richards, a regional audit manager for the Office of Inspector General, said the the response was insufficient and gave the BIA until May 21 to follow up. The audit is the second time this year that the Inspector General has criticized the BIA's handling of school money. In a February report, investigators found problems with funds used to construct and build BIA schools. At the same time, the BIA's education funding has been cut by the Bush administration. In fiscal year 2005, education programs will see a reduction of $79 million. For the years in question under the audit, OIEP's central office budget was about $61 million. Copyright c. 2000-2004 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: BIA reorganization Plan panned by Tribes" --------- Date: Fri, 14 May 2004 08:19:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BAD PLAN" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.daily-times.com/artman/publish/article_11086.shtml BIA reorganization plan panned by tribes, lawmakers By Frederic J. Frommer/Associated Press Writer May 14, 2004 WASHINGTON - A reorganization plan by the Bureau of Indian Affairs aimed at improving a trust fund for American Indians was panned by tribal leaders and House members at a committee hearing Wednesday. Both groups complained that the BIA failed to include them in the process that led to the reorganization, and said the money to implement it will take away from funding for education and other programs. "On one hand, we are told that the BIA wants to work with tribes," Melanie Benjamin, chief executive of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe in Minnesota, said at a House Resources Committee hearing. "On the other hand, the department is overhauling an entire agency, and creating a new one in the process, without working with tribes at all." Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., called it "highly insulting" for the BIA to move forward without properly consulting the committee and the tribes. "I have to admire your persistence in the sense that you pay no attention to this committee or the tribes or the courts," he added. Under the plan, the BIA is adding dozens of employees to help with trust transactions. But tribal leaders called the $12 million to $15 million to hire new employees a waste of money. "Why do we need $100,000-a-year staffers?" asked Harold Frazier, chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in South Dakota. "Where will the money come from? Education? Social services? Road maintenance? Our people cannot take any more cuts." He called on Congress to halt the reorganization. Aurene Martin, the Department of Interior's principal deputy assistant secretary for Indian Affairs, said that the BIA organized a task force that had 40 meetings in every BIA region, seeking input from tribes. "Ultimately, the task force could not reach a consensus," Martin said, and the BIA decided to go forward with its own plan. She also consulted with tribal leaders before implementing it, she said. But when asked by Committee Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Calif., if the plan changed after those consultations, Martin said, "The overall direction did not change." "This consultation that Ms. Martin describes sounds to me like a charade, " said Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M. He also complained that the BIA never came before the committee. "That's an outright affront to this committee," Udall said. Ross Swimmer, the Interior Department's special trustee for American Indians, said the plan will help Indians by providing better management of Indian trust accounts, which have been in disarray for decades. The mismanagement of those accounts is the source of a multibillion-dollar class-action lawsuit filed by American Indians against the Interior Department. "What we've accomplished is tremendous," Swimmer said. The lawsuit alleges that for more than a century, the government had mismanaged, misplaced or stolen billions of dollars in oil, gas, timber and grazing royalties. The department, by law and treaty, was assigned to manage the royalties on the Indians' behalf. Copyright c. 2004 Farmington Daily Times, a Gannett Co., Inc. newspaper. --------- "RE: Nine Rez Communities to join Leadership Program" --------- Date: Wed, 12 May 2004 08:11:51 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ECONOMICS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.prnewswire.com/~/05-11-2004/0002172181&EDATE= ST. PAUL, Minn., May 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Northwest Area Foundation announced the names of nine small, reservation-based communities to join an innovative leadership development program designed to help reverse economic and population declines. Also announced were the grant awards to three Native American organizations, each of which will work with a cluster of three communities to conduct the locally-based, 18- month initiative. Today's telephone press conference originated from the Foundation's offices in St. Paul and connected the Foundation, the nine tribal communities, and the three grantees for the joint announcement. The selected community clusters are: -- Little Eagle, Kenel, and Bear Soldier/McLaughlin, SD, in the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, coached by Sitting Bull College. -- Hoh River Tribe, Elwha Klallam Tribe and Quileute Tribe, WA, coached by the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians-Economic Development Corporation. -- Arlee, Hot Springs, and Elmo, MT, in the Salish Kootenai Tribe, coached by Salish Kootenai College. The three grantee organizations are Sitting Bull College, the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians-Economic Development Corporation and Salish Kootenai College. They will receive a total of nearly $1.1 million. Each of these organizations will work with a cluster of three communities to introduce a community leadership program designed to meet the needs and build on the strengths of communities with populations of less than 5,000. The communities announced today have populations ranging from 100 to 775. "Studies show that small communities, even if they are distant from larger population centers, can thrive if they have a strong leadership system," explained Northwest Area Foundation President, Karl Stauber, who made the grant announcement. "Our aim is to help rural communities strengthen their systems in order to reduce poverty for the long term." The Northwest Area Foundation serves an eight-state region that includes 72 Indian reservations and is home to over one-third of the rural-based reservations in the U.S. The Foundation's 20-year involvement in Indian Country has included a range of support. In 2000, the Foundation established a 10-year partnership with the Indian Land Tenure Foundation. This included a $20-million grant -- the largest private grant made to an Indian-controlled nonprofit. The nine communities announced today first heard about the leadership program, called Horizons, during a series of "leadership showcases." Each showcase featured a sampling of the training, resources and staffing that could be brought right into these native Nations for 18 months. "Our aim is to support and expand the community's local leadership system so that it has a better chance of making real and lasting change," said Jean Burkhardt, program lead for Horizons. "Many times, leadership programs require that people travel long distances to participate. We want as many people as possible to have access to these resources, so we're bringing the program to them!" This approach also recognizes the work of the three grantee organizations, which already have close working relationships with communities in these reservations, and which deliver a broad range of educational, planning and development resources. "We asked them to recruit communities to participate and to work with them to tailor this program to meet their needs and priorities," said Terry Janis, community liaison for Horizons. "We couldn't be more pleased with the results." Community coaches will begin work with the nine communities in June. The program launched the pilot with 15 communities last summer and 12 communities last April. Of these, six are either partially or completely on Indian reservations. Today's announcement completes the pilot roster with a total of 36 communities. The Foundation expects to invest more than $4 million during this two-year pilot phase for Horizons. The Northwest Area Foundation, headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., helps communities reduce poverty in its eight-state region: Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon. These states were served by the Great Northern Railway, founded by James J. Hill. In 1934, Hill's son, Louis W. Hill established the foundation. The Foundation has approximately $435 million in assets. Additional information about the Northwest Area Foundation can be found at http://www. .nwaf.org . Copyright c. 1996-2004 PR Newswire Association LLC. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Tribal Leader resigns" --------- Date: Wed, 12 May 2004 08:11:51 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="FORT BELKNAP PRESIDENT QUITS" http://www.greatfallstribune.com/stories/20040512/localnews/401741.html Tribal leader resigns 'Steps in motion' to replace longtime council president By JARED MILLER Tribune Regional Reporter May 12, 2004 Fort Belknap Indian Community Council President Ben Speak Thunder resigned suddenly Monday after seven years as leader of Montana's Assiniboine and Gros Ventre tribes. The nine remaining council members discussed the resignation for two hours in executive session Tuesday afternoon, but will take no action until they meet on Monday, said Council Vice President Darrell Martin. The council has not yet set a time for the meeting, but tribal secretary-treasurer King Culbeck said at least part of the meeting will likely be in executive session. "Right now, the steps are in motion to replace him," Martin said. If the council accepts the resignation, Speak Thunder, an Assiniboine, will be the first president of the two tribes to resign, Culbeck said. Speak Thunder, in a brief resignation letter, gave no reasons for the sudden departure. His second four-year term as president is not set to expire until 2006. "It's just politics is what it is," said Martin, who was Speak Thunder's running mate in the last council election in 2002. A call to Speak Thunder's home was not immediately returned. Speak Thunder's departure may be linked to the council's decision in March to reject a partnership with the Montana Air National Guard to build a practice bombing range west of the reservation, Martin said. The council voted 6-2 against the project, which would have created six to 12 new jobs paying $20,000 to $30,000 a year. "The target range was his baby," Martin said. "This council voted it down, and that was kind of an economic blow to the tribe ... that's hard to swallow." Martin said job stress may also have contributed to decision. "Seven years in one position doing anything is pretty stressful," he said. Martin declined to elaborate on other reasons for the resignation, but indicated there were more. Meanwhile, a crowd of reservation residents gathered outside the council chambers Tuesday after a DJ from the tribal radio station announced the resignation on the air. Among them was Lyman Young, who served 22 years on the council. "Something's got to be pretty serious to have him resign like that on the spur of the moment," Young said. "I don't think they'll accept the resignation because it's just too sudden." The Fort Belknap Reservation is located about 40 miles east of Havre on the Hi-Line. The Fort Belknap Indian Community Council is the tribes' principal policy-making body. The steps to replace the council president are clearly outlined in the tribes' 1993 constitution, according to Culbeck and Martin. If the resignation is accepted, Martin, a Gros Ventre, will become president. The council will then appoint a new Assiniboine vice president. The constitution requires the president and vice president to represent each tribe. It is likely the new vice president would come from the Assiniboine Tribe at large, rather than from inside the council, because an unscheduled election would be required to replace the council member, Martin said. If he does become the next president, Martin said he has no plans for major change. "It's going to be business as usual," he said. Miller can be reached by e-mail at jarmille@greatfal.gannett.com, or by phone at (406) 791-6573 or (800) 438-6600. Copyright c. 2004 Great Falls Tribune. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Arizona Gov. signs bill to protect Burial Rights" --------- Date: Thu, 13 May 2004 08:27:39 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="OUR JOURNEY - OUR WAYS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=4425 Arizona Gov. signs bill to protect burial rights Places special consideration on American Indians PHOENIX AZ Sam Lewin May 11, 2004 Arizona officials have confirmed the traditional Indian respect for the dead, as Governor Janet Napolitano signed a bill regulating burial and autopsy procedures for Native Americans. "We could not be any happier with these latest events. Earlier this year when Arizona's tribal leaders appeared before the state legislature it was our unified plea as a people that the legislature respect tribal soverignty and the issues that are unique to us - especially the ones concerning autopsies. It is intensely rewarding to see that our concerns and beliefs were not ignored, and that we are on our way to establishing betburialter government-to-government communications in Arizona" said Hopi Chairman Wayne Taylor, Jr. Prior to this week's signing of the bill, there were no exemptions in place to speed-up the autopsy of American Indians, leading to repeated violations of traditional Hopi burial customs. Now, HB2565 stipulates that upon the death of a member of an Arizona federally recognized tribe the county medical examiner must inform tribal officials in a timely manner. If an autopsy is required, the medical examiner needs to perform the procedure within four calander days in keeping with tribal law. "This issue was not only a Hopi problem, as many other tribes within Arizona had similar concerns over the State's autopsy law. Tribes, like the state, share the common governmental bond of respect for religious beliefs and the signing of this bill by Governor Napolitano shows that our beliefs and traditions as Native people are important and warrant consideration," Taylor said. The legislation was approved in the Arizona State Senate 21-9 and then in the House 51-1. Taylor credited lawmakers Senator Albert Hale (D-Window Rock), Rep. Jack Jackson, Jr. (D-Window Rock) and Rep. Cheryl Chase (D-Kearny) with helping to pass the bill. Native American Times is Copyright c. 2004 Oklahoma Indian Times, Inc. --------- "RE: Equal Education worries" --------- Date: Wed, 12 May 2004 08:11:51 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NAVAJO CHILDREN" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.lakepowellchronicle.com/main.php?story_id=785&page=23 Equal education worries: Navajo education committee looks into whether PUSD gives adequate attention to Navajo student achievement BY LEE PULASKI LECHEE - Is the Page Unified School District doing enough to help its Navajo students achieve in their education? This was the question that dominated a three-hour meeting held by the education committee of the Navajo Nation Council on May 6 at the LeChee Youth Center. The committee received reports from PUSD and from the Dine' Communities for Equality in Education. Although much of the data in the two reports differed, representatives from both entities agreed that there is a schism in the levels of student achievement of Navajo and white students in the district, as well as other school districts that teach large numbers of Navajo students. DCEE member Wally Brown testified before the committee that the curriculum, as it stands now, does not serve Navajo student achievement, and that the May 18 election regarding the K-3 override and impact aid bonds are "symptoms of the greater cause." "This is not something that has cropped up in the last few months or the last few years. Forty years - In that time, the Page school district has never, ever hired a Navajo administrator," Brown said. "The percentage of Navajo people has always been extremely low. Aggressively recruiting Navajo teachers has never been done by the schools." In later testimony, Conway countered that the district has, in the last three years, set up a Native American recruitment day, advertising it at colleges like Dine' College and Northern Arizona University to get more Native Americans hired within the district. Although it started out successfully, Conway said, the last recruitment day yielded one applicant. Conway said that PUSD cancelled the recruitment day, verifying Brown's earlier testimony that the day was canceled, but added that officials went to the applicant at Northern Arizona University instead of requiring the person to come up to Page. Brown testified that because there are no Navajo administrators, there has been no Navajo input regarding the district's budget and other issues. As an example, he noted that the district did not gather a community task force for the K-3 override. "None of the chapters were notified to have a representative come here to discuss how to spend the money that the district is requesting in the override," Brown said. Brown said that, statistically, Native Americans are lowest in levels of academic achievement, especially Navajo males. He noted that 50 percent of students at the middle school and high school are in corrective reading programs. Conway said during his testimony that PUSD had never intended for next week's election to polarize the community. "For the K-3 override, we are putting the money towards all-day kindergarten and for K-3 reading programs," Conway said, then added that the rationale for the impact aid money was that "we are (currently) asking our teachers to deliver a 21st century education in 1960s classrooms." Conway testified that when he came to the district four years ago, there was no unified plan between the schools. He said that each school was "its own island." He told the committee that he had the district do a survey to see where each school was as far as education. He noted that the graduation rate at the time was "unacceptably low" for Navajo students. Since then, Conway continued, the district has set up a program that staff members who pass the Navajo language competency test receive a $6, 000 stipend for doing so. To allow Navajo students a chance to remain after school for academic support, PUSD added a later bus at 4:30 p.m. for the students to ride home, he said. The district has an "immersion day" for new teachers at the beginning of the school year that addresses the Navajo culture, Conway noted, and PUSD has numerous activities geared toward Navajo culture in November for its Native American Heritage Month. To counter claims that the district does not teach classes about the Navajo people, Conway told the committee that there are 205 students at the middle school who are in a class, started this year, that teaches Navajo language. There are 39 students at the high school enrolled in a Navajo studies class, as well as 48 students in a class about Navajo government. Ten students are in a third-year high school Navajo language class, and first-year and second-year classes boast enrollments of 85 and 62, respectively. There are 44 students in a course on Navajo language history. Council Delegate Katherine Benally - in response to statistics submitted on dropout rates, teen pregnancies, student drug use, et al - asked Conway why he was not utilizing the Navajo Nation's behavioral services division to address some of these problems. Conway responded that PUSD is working with a Navajo Nation health agency out of Kaibeto to address some of the issues. He added that the district works with Community Behavioral Health Services in Page on alcohol and drug issues, and that the agency has provided a teacher to address teenager's issues. He told the committee that PUSD has not been turned down any support offered to it, but he admitted that he hasn't heard of many of the services offered by the Navajo Nation. "These aren't statistics just in Page, Ariz. These are statistics across the Navajo Nation, and across the country," Conway said. "They just seem to be magnified here a little bit more. The reason I brought those up is that it's our job to deal with those things." Amongst the 50-plus spectators at the meeting were several students from PUSD. Benally also asked Conway why the district couldn't use the funds PUSD hopes to get in the upcoming election to build schools in the Navajo communities they serve in order to "do away with the three to four-hour bus trip" that students in the outlying areas endure daily. Conway said that PUSD is in the process of getting a grant that would allow it to begin a Head Start program on the reservation. He noted that this would be "a first step" to addressing Benally's concerns. Council Delegate Wallace Charley pointedly asked Conway why the students were here and not in school. Conway said that he had asked staff to inquire and see if any Navajo students were interested in testifying on their education in PUSD, but added that it was their choice to come that day. One student got to testify before the committee. Brittney Clark, a Page Middle School student, told committee members that she took a Navajo language class from PUSD and learned more in that class than she had learned previously. Clark said she didn't know fluent Navajo, but she had learned the basic vocabulary words. The testimony was in sharp contrast to the next speaker, Deidre Trujillo, a 2003 Page High School graduate. She took two Navajo classes - government and studies - at the high school and got As, but she said she "didn't learn anything at all." Trujillo, with tears in her eyes, said she wanted "to get out of school so bad" and that she had come close to dropping out. Trujillo is currently at NAU and said she plans to get a master's degree and come back to help Navajo students, "Because I know it was difficult for me." At the end of the meeting, the committee voted 5-1 to accept the PUSD and DCEE reports. Benally voted against the motion and later said it was because she felt that there should be some directive that both sides should be working on in the interim - a plan to try and close the gap in student achievement between Navajo and white students. After the meeting, Council Delegate Leonard Chee, who chairs the education committee, said that the committee will return to LeChee within 30 days to discuss the matter further. In the meantime, Dine' Education Director Leland Leonard, at the request of the committee, will verify the statistics given in the two reports. Chee said he thinks the matter should be settled by the committee and not have to go before the Navajo Nation Council as a whole. Chee also noted that there seems to be communication breakdown between the parties involved, and that nothing that the committee could recommend would work unless everyone worked together to find a common solution. Copyright c. 2004 Lake Powell Chronicle/Page, AZ. --------- "RE: Navajo Water Rights at risk" --------- Date: Thu, 13 May 2004 08:27:39 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NAVAJO C-AQUIFER" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.navajohopiobserver.com/~939264.asp?P=939264&S=392&PubID=12427 Navajo water rights at risk? By S.J. Wilson The Observer May 13, 2004 LEUPP - Grassroots activists and Navajo Nation officials who have fought and won-supposedly-the battle to get Peabody and the Mohave Generating Station off of the Navajo Aquifer now fear that the war over Navajo water has simply moved to a new battleground-in the proposed Canyon Diablo project. At a meeting of the Navajo Hopi Land Commission held on May 6 at the Leupp Chapter House, the Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) Water Rights Subcommittee made a preliminary report regarding the Mohave Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding Coconino Aquifer (C-aquifer) water as an alternative water source for coal slurry to Nevada. This MOU was signed by the Navajo Nation and later rescinded due to concerns that the document does little to protect Navajo water rights. C-aquifer use Stanley Pollack, the Navajo Nation water rights attorney, addressed the chapter. He described the C-aquifer as a large water resource-believed to hold perhaps 900 million acre-feet of water underlying the entire Little Colorado River basin. Pollack said that any water sources in that basin, including washes such as Jeddito and Dinebito as well as the C-aquifer, are part of the Little Colorado River adjudication. "The Navajo Nation has a significant right to develop 4,000 acre-feet of water annually on Navajo land," Pollack said. "An acre-foot is a measurement of 326,000 gallons-[enough water to] fill a football field one foot deep. Through a special action of the U.S. Supreme Court, Indian tribes have federal rights to groundwater in order to establish a permanent home for themselves. Pollack advised that the Navajo Nation needs to take its share of groundwater. There are municipal and agricultural users of the C-aquifer, Pollack said, including the cities of Winslow, Holbrook and Flagstaff, and several large corporate users including the Cholla plant at Joseph City, which uses 29,000 acre-feet annually, the Tucson and Coronado plants and a paper manufacturer. Pollack announced that a number of wells have been planned at Red Gap Ranch near Canyon Diablo, with either a power plant or water farm in mind. Because Arizona state law holds very little to limit the use of groundwater, the Navajo Nation needs to lay claim to its own water. "Any off-reservation pumping will impact the Leupp area," Pollack said. "The best way to stop this is to sink our own wells," Pollack continued. "The best defense is a good offense." Pollack also stated that preliminary studies have indicated that the C- aquifer is compatible to the industrial and municipal needs of the Navajo Nation. The Nation, he said, stands to gain through the study, which will provide information free of charge that can be used in the water rights adjudication. This data can support further development on the Navajo Nation. Further, the wells that will be sunk to gather such data will benefit the surrounding Leupp area, Pollack said. Flaws in MOU Following Pollack's presentation Hope Lonetree MacDonald, who chairs the subcommittee, provided the counterpoint to Pollack's presentation. According to this Tuba City Council Delegate, there are serious flaws in the language of the MOU which led her subcommittee to seek the rescinding of the resolution supporting the MOU. "The MOU talks about many things including water, economic development, coal, jobs, rights-of-way...our concern is, do we have recommendations from all affected entities who have something at stake in this MOU?" MacDonald asked. There are other flaws, MacDonald said. The MOU sets out that Mohave and Southern California Edison will only pay for the study dealing with the delivery of 6,000 acre-feet per year of C-aquifer water to slurry their coal-not what the tribes are asking for in terms of additional water for thirsty communities. This would be up to the Bureau of Reclamation, "subject to the availability of funds." In other words, MacDonald asked, could Mohave get their deal and Navajo communities go without water? Further, tribes the C-aquifer study will have a separate performance agreement between Mohave and the Bureau of Reclamation detailing what is to be done in the study, whereas tribes will merely be consulted for review. "How many times in the past-and even to this day-have we been a party to review and consultation on laws or regulations enacted by Congress and the Department of the Interior? Always, laws are passed despite our objections," said MacDonald. "How do we know our review input will have any teeth?" Another question haunting the members of the subcommittee is why are Mohave and Southern California Edison pushing for the approval of the MOU when they are in the process of buying a gas fired power plant near Los Angeles to replace the Mohave Plant? MacDonald said that she believes these stakeholders plan on moving from selling energy to selling water-and again, the MOU does not speak to meeting the needs of Navajo first. The subcommittee also found it problematic that should Mohave back away from the C-aquifer, it can tap into the N-aquifer at any time. "The Navajo Nation has no escape clause-if Mohave has problem with the trunk line, they can back away and leave us [the Navajo Nation] dry," MacDonald said. Another concern is that maps reveal that 80 percent of the trunk lines will be on Hopi, with only 20 percent entering the Navajo reservation. Finally, there is the stipulation that owners of the Mohave Generating Station will become owners, not only of the Navajo Nation water promised, but of the equipment, the water field, rights of way and more. "Do we want to be this generous with our water while our people struggle through the present drought?" MacDonald asked. "The MOU is actually a Memorandum of giveaway. "Will we be sitting at the gates with buckets in hand, begging for our own water? Are the Mohave owners moving from the selling of energy to selling water? Nothing in the MOU speaks to meeting the needs of Navajo first. This is like hiring a sheepherder who sells all the lambs and wool, giving us one goat at the end of the season." Sub-committee support Nicole Horseherder, a member of the To'nizh Oni' Ani (Beautiful Springs Speak) group that pushed for and largely drafted the tribal resolution stating that Navajo Nation demanded that the Black Mesa mining operation be off of the N-aquifer by 2005, rose to address Pollack. "I have a question for the lawyers," she said. "Does Peabody Coal own our water or do they just have the right to use it? I look at this water as a car, a means of transportation. "Look at the water as a vehicle that takes the coal to Mohave," Horseherder continued. "What happens to that water once it gets there? We are told that half of the water is put into a pond and evaporates. The other half is used to cool the plant. Isn't that like driving a car to Mohave and letting them strip it and reuse the parts?" she asked. "When you lease a car, aren't you supposed to bring that car back in the same condition you took it? Mohave has been doing this to us for 30 years." Horseherder said that instead of advocating for the Bureau of Reclamation, the Navajo Nation attorneys should be working on a directive from the Navajo people-not corporations like Peabody Coal or the Mohave Generating Station. "We believe the C-aquifer subcommittee is on the right track," Horseherder said in support of MacDonald and other members. According to MacDonald, there are several actions that the Navajo Nation needs to take, which includes a separate MOU for the Navajo Nation detailing how the study is conducted and providing for the protection of Navajo rights and resources. However, MacDonald said, the Attorney General of the Navajo Nation has concluded that despite the fact the resolution for the MOU was rescinded, it still remains legally binding, and the study is proceeding despite the latter action. "We are asking the President and Navajo Nation council to get on the same page to protect Navajo Nation interests," MacDonald said. Copyright c. 2003 Northern Arizona Newspapers, Inc. --------- "RE: Tribes seeking $1 Billion" --------- Date: Wed, 12 May 2004 08:11:51 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SALMON LOSS" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.heraldandnews.com/articles/2004/05/11/~/top4.txt Tribes seeking $1 billion By DYLAN DARLING May 11, 2004 The Klamath Tribes are seeking at least $1 billion in compensation for the loss of salmon runs in the Upper Klamath Basin. An attorney for the Chiloquin-based Tribes said he filed a suit this morning in U.S. District Court in Portland against PacifiCorp, which operates a series of hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River. Plaintiffs in the suit include the Klamath Tribes, several individual tribal members, and Klamath Claims Committee, a little-known entity that dates to the termination of the tribes in the 1950s. The suit claims construction of dams on the Klamath River destroyed the Tribes' federal treaty rights to fish for salmon in the river's headwaters. "The Tribes' traditional reliance upon salmon for subsistence and trade is undisputed; and the existence of dams blocking salmon passage beginning in 1911 is undisputed." Jon Coney, spokesman for PacifiCorp, said today the company hadn't been served with any claims yet. "We can't comment on something we haven't seen," he said. The Klamath Claims Committee represents tribal members, and their heirs, who were on the roll of the Klamath Tribe when it was terminated in 1954. At the time of termination, the Tribes had several claims against the federal government, and the committee was established to continue the pursuit of those claims. Dan Israel, one of the Tribes' attorneys, said the lawsuit is to hold the power company responsible for changes to the Klamath River that ended the salmon's migration into the Upper Basin. "It very simply alleges that PacifiCorp, with the construction of Copco No. 1 and then other dams, blocked the passage of salmon to the Sprague (River) and other spawning grounds," he said. According to the 1864 treaty with the United States, the Klamath Tribes have fishing rights for salmon. Those rights were reinforced by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the 1970s that the Tribes' still hold hunting and fishing rights, despite the abolishment of their reservation in the 1960s. PacifiCorp has a 151-megawatt hydroelectric project on the Klamath River made up of four dams - Copco No. 1, Copco No. 2, J.C. Boyle and Iron Gate - and other small projects. The company also owns the Keno Dam and has a contract to operate the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's Link River Dam. Salmon migration stops at the Iron Gate Dam, the lowest on the Klamath River, in Siskiyou County. The California Oregon Power Company, PacifiCorp's predecessor, started putting dams in on the Klamath river in 1908, according to PacifiCorp's Web site. The last dam was finished in 1962. The power dams are up for a new 50-year license, with the current license set to expire in 2006. In the 3,000-page relicensing application filed in with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in February, PacifiCorp proposes spending about $10 million to put in a new fish ladder at the J.C. Boyle Dam west of Keno. That ladder would benefit trout and other fish. But PacifiCorp did not develop plans to establish passage for salmon around the three other major dams. In February, PacifiCorp officials said creating salmon passage to the Upper Basin would be too expensive, with a cost of $100 million estimated for adding new ladders and screens to the four dams on the Klamath River. Copyright c. 2004 Herald and News. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: YELLOW BIRD: Abuses recall past Atrocities" --------- Date: Wed, 12 May 2004 08:11:51 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YELLOW BIRD: PAST ATROCITIES" http://www.grandforks.com/~/dorreen_yellow_bird/8636718.htm DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: Abuses of the present recall atrocities of the past As pictures of the Iraqi prisoners unfolded across the nation like some salacious sex or sadomasochism magazine, the public is appalled and dumbfounded. Not in America or by Americans, people say. But that's not true. We, in this country, have a history of killing for selfish and misguided reasons. A few days ago in heated conversation about the Iraqi prisoner abuses, I couldn't help but drift to an image of the massacre at Sand Creek on Nov. 29, 1864. Five hundred to 600 Cheyenne and Arapaho were killed by U.S. soldiers. Many of the victims were children or women. The soldiers scalped some of the victims. The men knocked the brains out of babies, and many women were cut into pieces and their bodies mutilated. Correspondence from the massacre report that women's private parts were taken from dead bodies and carried into Denver for a gory "show and tell." The trophies were greeted with cheers and praise by the community. Col. John M. Chivington, commander of the unit that attacked the Cheyenne and Arapaho, said this was an act of duty to themselves and to civilization. Chivington and his troops felt justified in killing innocent woman and children because the community thought of Native people as savages - people who stood in the way of their way of life. So renegade warriors in that region retaliated by attacking settlers, killing and scalping them. From reports, we now know the Native people at Sand Creek were innocent. They were living where the military told them they should live. John Smith, a U.S. Indian interpreter and special Indian agent, also lived with them. His testimony before Congress gave a vivid account of the massacre. In the wars between the Native people and white soldiers, the U.S. troops had the advantage with more men and guns. When the tribes defended their land and retaliated to protect themselves, the military responded with force. These people - the Native tribes - had offended them. So awful acts such as the Sand Creek massacre seemed justified. These people, after all, were "savages," as they were called by the government. Has this kind of thinking pervaded some of American troops? The soldiers in this war constantly are reminded of the Sept. 11 attack, in which more than 3,000 people were killed. One of the barracks at the Abu Ghraib prison is named after a firefighter who died in that attack. Did the guards put the face of the attackers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on the Iraqis they detained? During a Minnesota Public Radio broadcast Monday, a caller, responding to a conversation about the "abuses" in the Iraqi prison, said this is war. To get information about further attacks, this is the way it is done and the United States shouldn't have to apologize. Hmm, I thought. I wonder what kind of information they gleaned from the female prisoner while they were raping her? Treating your fellow man with justice and dignity is something we should have learned from the past atrocities committed against Native Americans. Those who have the authority and control need to be vigilant and remember these are our fellow men, regardless of the color of their skin. If full attention isn't given to what happened at the Iraqi prison Abu Ghraib, the effects on America may be devastating. This administration needs to pay attention to history. ----- Yellow Bird writes columns Tuesday and Saturday. Reach her at 780-1228, (800) 477-6572 ext. 228 or dyellowbird@gfherald.com. Copyright c. 2004 Grand Forks Herald/Grand Forks, ND. --------- "RE: Native radio: At Heart of Public Radio's Mission" --------- Date: Fri, 14 May 2004 08:19:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NATIVE RADIO" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.current.org/minority/minority0408comment.shtml Native radio: at the heart of public radio's mission Originally published by Current May 11, 2004 Commentary by Bruce Theriault and Felice Tilin Ride the school bus on the Hopi Reservation in northern Arizona and you'll hear Shooting Stars, a program for kids produced mostly by volunteers at KUYI, the three-year-old public radio station on the reservation. Tune in during the day and you'll hear an update on living with diabetes or asthma. Keep listening and you'll hear junior- and senior-high school interns reading the news. Stop to chat with someone on the reservation about what they've heard on the radio. Everyone knows you're talking about the same station. KUYI's call letters stand for "water" - a precious resource in the desert country. It's an appropriate metaphor, not only for this station but also for Native public radio in general. Despite substantial challenges, Native radio is providing essential, soul-sustaining and sometimes literally lifesaving programming to Native communities across the Southwest, the northern Plains, California and Alaska. Last summer and fall we took an extended road trip through Indian Country, the common Native American term for the widely spaced reservations and other tribal homelands. We went on behalf of CPB to assess how it could invest most effectively in continuing Native radio's growth and development. We visited 15 stations from Alaska to Arizona to Wisconsin, met with AIROS (American Indian Radio On Satellite) and Koahnic Broadcasting Corp. leaders, and conducted financial and operational analyses of Native radio. Joined on most visits by Vinnie Curren, CPB senior v.p. for radio, we spoke with station and community leaders about the needs, aspirations, challenges and opportunities facing Native American public radio stations, producers and national organizations. We found stations that are genuinely indispensable to their communities and profoundly local, but they face chronic and sometimes exasperating challenges. They are nevertheless on the cusp of becoming a coordinated system. We believe that - with continued investment and creative thinking about generating and sharing resources - Native radio will succeed in taking that important step. "The community would be lost without this station" We were struck again and again by the deep connections between Native stations and the communities they serve. Partly because of its origins in grassroots activism and partly because it serves widely dispersed Native Americans with very few resources, radio on reservations is both indispensable and local in ways that go to the heart of public radio's vision and mission. Because they serve communities with chronic health problems and limited medical services, for example, some stations offer call-in programs that let listeners talk with health providers about issues of life, death and disability, such as diabetes, addiction and cancer. Often located where weather is extreme, the stations regularly broadcast crucial information about road closings, storms, fires and floods. They act as important vehicles for distributing community information. "KYUK, Bethel, Alaska, broadcasts regular personal messages on the air- in the dead of winter," we were told by General Manager Ron Daugherty. "You know that Aunt Mabel is stuck and we're bringing her supplies-or So- and-So is coming out to you, [so] be on the lookout for them. . . . In `bush' Alaska [or on reservations], radio can be the only way to give out information - like the vet is going to be here and is setting up next to such-and-such trailer." Where are the stations? Check the list of 32 stations in the Pacific Northwest, Southwest, Plains states and Alaska. At both the local and national levels, Native radio makes it possible for Native Americans to tell their own story from their own point of view. Koahnic's Native America Calling, carried live by virtually all Native stations, and similar shows become forums for discussion of vital issues. As we crossed the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota to visit KILI, we heard NAC callers from all over the country discuss the lack of health care for the majority of Native Americans - those who live off the reservations and do not have access to the Indian Health Service. Driving force: cultural preservation Mainstream public radio often wrestles with how to bring more diverse and underrepresented voices to the air. This is the compelling, important daily work of Native radio: presenting and preserving the voices, ideas, language and culture of Native people. One station staff member told us about a Native station that signs on every morning with the traditional singing of the tribal callers. Those callers were the original Native radio, standing high in the village, singing the news to everyone. "I grew up hearing this," the staff member said, "and when I hear the station play this music, it brings me home." Native stations' biggest challenge is their lack of resources. As one station representative told us, scarcity is a constant for most Native stations. Located in communities with few local businesses and plagued by unemployment that routinely exceeds 50 percent, Native stations generally have no success with pledge drives, underwriting and other traditional public radio means of support. Of the total community financial support brought in by 32 Native stations, seven stations raise 93 percent. For most, we were told, $1,500 would be a big fund drive. The stations look to alternative sources of financial and in-kind support. Many receive substantial in-kind support from tribes, but most don't receive significant amounts of direct funding. The exception are Alaska Native stations, which receive annual operating grants from the state. Other nontraditional contributions benefit some stations. KABU in St. Michaels, N.D., for example, is moving into a new broadcast facility built for it at no cost as part of an expansion of the tribe-owned casino. To hold costs down, many stations rely heavily on volunteers but are still confronted with basic logistical challenges that would be foreign to most mainstream public radio stations. In one case, for example, some of the volunteers hitchhike the 60-mile round trip to the station because they don't have cars. Station managers often resort to "workarounds," learning to cope with a technical breakdown because no one has the right part or the knowledge to fix it, or make do without an available grant payment because no one has the time or expertise to file the required financial reports. A lack of training is also an ongoing struggle for Native public radio. Many station leaders are incredibly committed people who came to Native radio through their commitment to social or educational issues, but they often have only minimal training in management, fundraising, technical issues or program production. Trained Native journalists are scarce - only 0.003 percent of American journalists are Native. While CPB invested heavily in training for the public radio system years ago, Native radio in general did not benefit from that investment. Without money to pay for training, managers do what they can with what they've got. "I hold classes once a week," one station leader told us. "I am not a great teacher, but it is necessary." Station staffs also work with social problems common to many reservation communities, including depression, alcoholism and lack of education. In this environment of scarce resources, many Native stations must focus on short-term goals - staying up and running this week - while longer-term goals and capacity-building efforts wait. The satellite system for Native radio, AIROS, likewise operates with limited resources. "Look at us - we are really two guys and a satellite channel," a staff member told us. "We've put together a 24-hour signal and we're trying to provide programming with a really limited budget - trying to do what other operations are doing but with a fraction of the budget." Even so, we feel optimistic about Native Radio's vitality and long-term future. Many hard-working, dedicated people are making amazing things happen - presenting community voices, culture and language. Several Native stations own their own facilities, have decent modern equipment, and are producing amazing local programming in both English and Native languages. The stations stay in close touch with community needs and make extra efforts to present programming accessible to all. For example, KTDB in Pine Hill, N.M., translates 18 hourly NPR newscasts into Navajo - an enormous achievement considering that the station has a full-time staff of only five. We believe that Native Radio, by working as a system, can leverage new revenues from traditional and nontraditional sources. Even a relatively modest return of $3 million to $5 million would make an enormous difference to the Native radio system, and we think revenues in that range would be quite plausible. "Partnerships are key to our survival" Despite some daunting challenges, the dreams that spurred the birth and growth of Native radio are still very much alive. Its early growth, like that of many mainstream public radio stations, was largely unplanned. Now its leaders increasingly see themselves as part of a system of Native stations, who can work together, share resources and give their people a platform of their own for years to come. Three key factors enabled Native radio to reach this critical turning point: CPB's funding for national programming-primarily Koahnic's Native America Calling and National Native News and AIROS; NPR Distribution's decision to extend the AIROS contract for a free full-time satellite channel, connecting stations and enabling them to stay on air longer by broadcasting segments of the 24-hour AIROS program service; and the CPB- funded 2001 Native Radio Summit, which played a transformative role in building a sense of community among Native stations. As we spoke with station leaders about their hopes for Native radio's future, we heard many of the same themes again and again: "Native stations are different and at different stages of development." Native radio emerged in a distinct cultural environment and is fundamentally different from mainstream public radio. It relies on different assumptions, needs alternative business models and measures success by different values. That said, Native radio would benefit from the creative use of conventional tools such as strategic plans, fundraising plans, financial analyses, business management techniques and grants. It needs, but does not currently have, the resources to support trained people who can lead this work. "Partnerships are key to our survival" Native stations and, for that matter, non-Native stations can benefit enormously from innovative partnerships. Some stations already have created collaborations that can and should serve as models for others around the country. For instance, the Indian Country News Bureau, jointly launched by KUYI and KNAU in Flagstaff, Ariz., supports an experienced newsperson who works with reporters in Indian Country to produce coverage of Native issues for broadcast by both stations, reaching a broad Native and non-Native audience. "We need someone whose job it is to follow up." Native radio urgently needs to find sustainable ways to coordinate the stations' work and collective resources. An essential part of becoming a system is thinking like one-regularly sharing ideas, finding ways to raise money jointly and helping each other solve problems. Only by thinking, communicating and working as a system will the stations be able to aggregate limited resources and advance shared goals. With future generations in mind Bringing water to dry lands, reporting to people about the issues that directly affect their lives, helping people learn more about and function better in the world - this is what public radio's public service is about. Native radio is coming of age. It is highly valued by the communities it serves and is increasingly ready to plan for the future. Its stations still struggle with isolation and chronic resource shortages, but they're moving toward becoming a coherent system. As Native radio moves forward, increasingly functioning as a system or network, it can bring nourishing water to public radio as a whole and to its own communities. ---- Bruce Theriault is president of Bolder Strategies Inc., a consulting firm that works with public broadcasters on strategic management, policy issues and business planning. He earlier served as senior v.p. at Public Radio International. Felice Tilin, Ph.D., is a senior consultant at Teleos Leadership Institute LLC, a global consultancy in leadership and organizational development. She served as director of leadership development at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Copyright c. 2004 Current Publishing Committee, Washington, D.C. --------- "RE: Grieving Native Villages add to Students' Struggle" --------- Date: Fri, 14 May 2004 08:19:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GRIEVING/STUDENTS STRUGGLES" http://www.peninsulaclarion.com/stories/051304/new_051304new001001.shtml 'Grieving' Native villages add to students' struggle By JENNI DILLON Peninsula Clarion May 13, 2004 Editor's note: This is the fourth story in a five-part series examining the federal No Child Left Behind Act and its impact on the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District's smallest and most unique schools. The series ends Friday with a look at the future. ---- Schooling in the Native village of Nanwalek has changed quite a bit since Pauline Demas started school. Though she grew up speaking her Native language, Sugt'stun, her teacher in primary school spoke only English and came from outside Alaska. "We could not understand much about each other," she said. "Reading didn't make sense because the language was different. "Teachers would explain things using textbooks, but that's not our style in the village; we need to hear and feel and do it in order to understand things." With school a struggle, Demas quit at age 16 and moved to New York City, where she worked with Youth Corps helping neighborhood teachers. Eventually, however, she decided to obtain her GED. Later, she returned to Alaska, where she earned a bachelor's degree in education from the University of Alaska Anchorage in 1997. "I thought I'd go get my certification to teach because we were struggling with reading," she said. "I decided I'm going to do everything I can to find out what is causing us not to get ahead." Now the kindergarten through second-grade teacher at the school in Nanwalek, Demas said times have certainly changed. "They're English speakers now; English is their first language," she said of her young students. "Now, people in the village are working with the school. It makes it easier." In a bright classroom with windows overlooking the beach and the inland slough for which the village is named, Demas works to educate about 17 students of varying skill levels. "Some need more attention than the others, and they all need attention at the same time," she said. It's a challenge, but also a job she enjoys. "Nothing matters really except seeing the kids moving," she said. Still, life in the village -- and at its school -- isn't perfect. Like the Old Believer villages on the other side of Kachemak Bay, the Native villages in the Kenai Peninsula Borough are in a time of transition. Part of that transition is the melding of Outside and village lifestyles. Sally Ash, who runs an immersion preschool in the village's original language, said the community still is coming to grips with the changes it's undergone. "When the first Westerners came to teach at the school, we left everything. We left our kids to the school to take care of for seven hours a day," she said. Consequently, some of the village's traditional ways began to get lost. "We're grieving (that loss) and we don't know how to do it right," she said, explaining what she sees as the root of social problems in the village. "They're symptoms of a powerless feeling. So we fix it by smiling a lot, drinking a lot, smoking dope a lot. We're becoming spiritless with no meaning of life." Ash, along with a couple of other women in the village, decided last year to try to turn that around. They founded an immersion preschool, where young children can learn the old language -- Sugt'stun -- as well as basic skills and values. "We realized our kids were slowly becoming kids who didn't know. They only wanted to play basketball or listen to rap music," she said. "The outside influences are strong, and we were helping it. It's OK to learn English, but we must know who we are or we'll go around without a soul, lost." In its second year, the preschool serves less than 10 children in the village, mimicking a Head Start program but in Sugt'stun. The preservation of the Native language doesn't stop there, though. Students in "the big school," as the official public school is called by villagers, also receive at least 50 minutes of instruction in their traditional language each day. Demas said that preservation of culture is important. "Kids are taught the right ways. They listen to teachers because they're taking them to the right places, to something higher. They learn to respect their elders and listen to them," she said. School staff members who come from outside the village agreed. "There's a very positive relationship between the school and village," said Ginnie Glenn, who teaches the third- through fifth-grade class in Nanwalek. "We all work together to offer things for the community, whether in the school or the village. And the school respects the village custom and religion." Like the Old Believer communities on the peninsula, the Native communities retain a commitment to the Russian Orthodox religion, and the Native schools also operate on a modified calendar to accommodate religious holidays. Still, Ash said she would like to see more cooperation between the village and the school. She said she'd like to see the school's bilingual program expand so students leave school fluent in English and Sugt'stun, like students at the Russian schools learn both English and Russian. After all, she said, people with Russian -- or many other backgrounds -- can return to their ancestral country to relearn their heritage. Native Alaskans have no such option. "Alaska culture is unique," she said. "We don't have nowhere to go. If we lose it, it's gone. The only places we can go to are the university and museums." Ash said she also wishes the school authorities would let villagers provide traditional foods for the school meal program. And, she said, she'd like to see more help in getting Native and bilingual teachers certified to work in the schools. "How much more would the community work with the school if, instead of just coming in and changing things, they would work with the people, trust in them and believe in them?" Ash wondered, noting that she believes the village residents also have to make an effort to cooperate. "We do have to be proactive. Instead of crying that our language and culture has been taken away, we have to rise up and say we're going to help the community, the people." Specifically, she said there needs to be more emphasis on biology and the environment -- topics of special value in a community that relies on subsistence. "The school needs to prepare kids for things like that, where we live and how we use the land," she said. "If we're going to make money off it, we need to be aware." Down at "the big school," Principal Maurice Glenn said he believes educators are doing the best job possible to prepare students for the future. For example, he said, in the eight cumulative years he has worked at the school, student test scores have shot up in unprecedented increases. (Though a graph of the improvement hangs on Glenn's office wall, specific numbers are not published because of the small student population and potential confidentiality breaches.) Of the three predominantly Native schools in the district, Nanwalek and Tebughna in Tyonek did not make adequate yearly progress, or AYP, last year. Port Graham, a Native village near Nanwalek, did meet AYP, though the school's test scores remain low. Glenn said he believes improvement will continue. "With the staff that I have, I feel we can improve students," he said. "We might not be (at grade level) yet, but we'll get caught up." Still, he said, the school, and others like it in the district, is facing some significant challenges, as well. The biggest problem village schools face is turnover, he said. Glenn said Nanwalek has been an exception to that rule for the last few years. Both he and his wife have worked a total of eight years at the school, from 1990-94 and 1998-2004. The Glenns, however, submitted their resignation for the coming year earlier this spring. Other staff members also have been consistent figures at the school. "I feel the continuity in education helps the Bush schools," he said, explaining that when teachers change from year to year, students are left with gaps in the education. "It's difficult to maintain a good educational program." Likewise, he said he believes the No Child Left Behind Act is putting strain on his school. "To have a certified teacher teaching all courses, we're going to have to be looking at alternate programs," he said. "This year, math and science classes are taught online through the Connections (home-school) program." While this solution is one that has been hailed by district and even federal leaders, Glenn said he's not sure it really serves students well. "For some students, distance education is going to be OK. For other students, they'll be dropping out of school because they're hands-on learners. You lose that aspect (with distance delivery)." Several Nanwalek students agreed. "It's been confusing the whole school year because it's online," said ninth-grader Kadeon Evans, who's taking physical science and math via the Internet. In fact, Kadeon said he sometimes wonders if he would get a better education elsewhere. "I guess it'd be better in Soldotna," he said. "My sister went there and said she learned more. It was better there." However, he pointed out, he sees definite benefits to his school. "I don't get lost here," he said. Glenn said, challenges aside, he believes Nanwalek students do get a quality education at the school. "If kids work, I feel they can get just as good of an education here as on the road system," he said. "They may not have the same opportunities, but if they work, they can do that." Ash said she's sure the educational program is fine for what it is, but she thinks education as a whole should be more. "They're trying to do one-size-fits-all and it doesn't work. It doesn't work in Nanwalek," she said. "Needs are not met because it's one way or nothing, it seems like. The government says, 'Our way.' "The education they're getting is good, but it's like a conveyor belt: 'Learn all this and get out.'" Demas, however, said the school is doing better to make connections with kids than when she was in school. "To me, everything is rewarding. I did my student teaching somewhere else and we could not even touch the kids," she said. "Here, we know each other; it's like a big family. "It's almost like a gift to me each day." Copyright c. 2004 Peninsula Clarion, a Division of Morris Communications. --------- "RE: Chronic Respiratory Symptoms among Alaska Natives" --------- Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 08:27:04 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="RESPIRATORY PROBLEMS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-05/acoc-crs050704.php Chronic respiratory symptoms prevalent among Alaska natives Contact: Jennifer Stawarz jstawarz@chestnet.org 847-498-8306 American College of Chest Physicians Public release date: 10-May-2004 Geography may influence respiratory conditions in YK delta Alaska native children (NORTHBROOK, IL, May 10, 2004) - Chronic respiratory symptoms are prominent among Alaska Native children in the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta (YK delta) region of Alaska, with symptoms varying greatly within the geographic location. In a study published in the May issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians, 40 percent of Alaska Native (AN) and American Indian (AI) children in the YK delta region of Alaska experienced chronic respiratory symptoms, including chronic productive cough, asthma, and asthma-like symptoms. The study also found that respiratory symptoms varied dramatically by location within the YK delta, with children from rural villages experiencing a lower incidence of asthma-like symptoms and a higher prevalence of chronic productive cough than children from the nearby town of Bethel. "There is limited documentation of these conditions among Alaska Natives and American Indians, so our study is helpful for parents, physicians, and leaders in these communities in understanding the degree to which these conditions are present among AN/AI youth," said Toby C. Lewis, MD, MPH, University of Michigan School of Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI, who conducted the research with colleagues while at the University of Washington, Seattle, WA. "Health policy makers can also use this information to help develop culturally appropriate educational messages and intervention programs to address childhood respiratory illness in these communities." Researchers affiliated with the University of Washington and the YK Delta Regional Hospital in Bethel determined how prevalent asthma and chronic respiratory symptoms were among AN/AI children in Alaska by studying a sample population of middle school students in the YK delta region of Alaska. Students in grades 6 to 9 from Bethel and two rural villages completed an asthma and allergy survey after watching an accompanying asthma video. A question was added to the basic survey to identify children who had frequent productive cough. Of the 466 completed surveys, 377 students identified themselves as AN/AI, from which 40 percent reported chronic respiratory symptoms of some kind and 60 percent reported no symptoms. Of those AN/AI students with symptoms, 7.4 percent reported being physician-diagnosed with asthma, 11. 4 percent reported asthma-like symptoms in the last year, and 21.5 percent were categorized as having chronic productive cough without asthma or asthma-like symptoms. Geographic location within the YK delta was significantly associated with certain respiratory problems. Productive cough was nearly three times as prevalent in village students than students living in town. Conversely, students living in town were more than two times as likely to suffer from asthma and asthma-like symptoms than students in villages. Overall, students with respiratory symptoms were more likely than asymptomatic students to report respiratory-related sleep difficulties and activity limitations. "The reasons for variation in respiratory conditions within the YK delta are not clear," said Dr. Lewis. "There is a well-established, unified health-care system across the region, and, therefore, we do not think these differences are due to lack of access to health care or differences in diagnostic practices. Rather, we suspect there may be differences in environmental conditions that either increase risk or are protective for the children, and that these conditions vary within the region." Dr. Lewis notes that chronic productive cough has not been well-studied in the general population and may be an underappreciated form of chronic respiratory symptoms in children. "Other reports are beginning to emerge from Australia and New Zealand of native children having difficulties with chronic productive cough. This seems to be an issue that extends beyond Alaska." "More than five million children in the United States are currently diagnosed with asthma, and asthma rates continue to increase each year," said Paul A. Kvale, MD, FCCP, President-Elect of the American College of Chest Physicians. "With a better understanding of how asthma affects specific populations, such as Alaska Natives, we may gain insight into how asthma can be more effectively managed and prevented." ### CHEST is a peer-reviewed journal published by the ACCP. It is available online each month at www.chestjournal.org. ACCP represents more than 15, 700 members who provide clinical respiratory, critical care, and cardiothoracic patient care in the United States and throughout the world. ACCP's mission is to promote the prevention and treatment of diseases of the chest through leadership, education, research, and communication. Copyright c. 2004 American Association for the Advancement of Science. --------- "RE: Insight into Ute Culture" --------- Date: Mon, 17 May 2004 08:19:18 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="OTHER MESA VERDE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.durangoherald.com/~path=/outdoors/out040516_3.htm 'Other Mesa Verde' offers insight into Ute culture By Nate Thompson Cortez Journal May 16, 2004 David Wells begins his guided tours of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park with a lesson in Ute spirituality. "The Ute way is to never think about the reptiles," Wells said, with a wry smile. "If you start thinking about reptiles, we have powers inside us and start calling them out. So don't start thinkin' about them if you want a good tour." On the other hand, Wells encouraged the small group of tourists on May 6 that they should start thinking about the wind because a breeze will help them find reprieve from the warm spring sun. "Introduction of Indian ways opens your mind," Wells said at another point in the tour, telling a story about two teenage girls he prayed for during a different trip into ancestral Puebloan sites south of Mesa Verde National Park. "The girls said they were glad I prayed for them. They said they would turn their lives around. Last summer they wrote to me and they are going to college. ... This is strong stuff we talk about, the Ute ways." But Wells' stories are only one aspect of the visitor experience at what Utes tout as the "other Mesa Verde." During a full day, half-day or individualized tour of the back country, Wells takes small groups of visitors into what are mostly unexcavated and minimally stabilized sites. To ensure the safety of the sites and add to the experience, the tribal park also limits travel to 50 visitors per day. The drive up to the mesa is another layer that makes the experience different than Mesa Verde National Park. Here visitors enter from the same direction Anglo explorers used to travel to the area in the 1800s. Starting in Mancos Canyon, a well traveled gravel road climbs to the mesa top, passing along the way ancient and more contemporary rock art. As the road bends north, the La Plata Mountains come into view, exposing a perspective that is unseen from Cortez or Durango, or even Far View Lodge in the national park. From here, most of the peaks can be seen, and Mesa Verde looks like a large ocean of pinon and juniper trees. From the southern portion of the mesa, the canyons - where ancient cliff dwellings lie quietly preserved from centuries of rain, snow and freezing weather - are perfectly camouflaged. In terms of land mass the tribal park should be considered "the" Mesa Verde: The Ute-owned and managed side of the "Green Table" weighs in at 125,000 acres (compared to the national park's 52,000 acres). And unlike the national park, the primary mode of transportation on the southern half of the mesa occurs on gravel, dirt and some very bumpy slickrock roads. Trails are only minimally maintained and there are no signs to point you in the right direction, only a guide and a good sense of direction. The first site stabilization of dwellings in the tribal park began in 1971, the same year the Utes abandoned traditional leadership for a government led by an elected Tribal Council. And in 2002, some very important stabilization and site assessments led to preservation of Porcupine House, one of the most unique sites in the tribal park. Also known as Hoy House, this dwelling is situated in side canyon off of Lion Canyon, a tributary to the Mancos River, where the mesa top is marked with gently sloping slickrock walls that eventually plummet straight down over 100 feet. Here the ancient Puebloans created water diversions, using the exposed rock to catch rain fall. At the apex of the canyon is a large plunge pool where some water is diverted to help fill it up. The water was once used to benefited an area with about 62 visible rooms and four kivas. Two of the kivas have been excavated and expose a unique keyhole shape that used excellent masonry skills to cut the stones used for construction. However, the rest of the dwellings appear to have been constructed by using whatever materials were available. The masonry is less precise and includes chinking the mortar between stone with potsherds and small stones. And it's those potsherds that add another element to the tribal park's uniqueness: Aside from minimal stabilization, the sites are dotted with pieces of broken pottery, corn cobs and grinding stones for making flour. Porcupine House also sits in an environment that appears to be just as untouched as the site: A couple of dozen ponderosa pines soar above the canyon rim. The understory is full of gamble oak and service berry bushes. And vibrant green creeping mahonia has started to trellis over a couple of walls. "I don't know if you can sense some of the powers here," Wells said, pointing to a kiva. "These (Puebloan) people believe the spirits came from underneath. ... Our (Ute) beliefs were a little different than theirs. ... We pray in our teepees or outside." Porcupine House isn't a regular stop for tribal park visitors, Wells said. But park leaders say in 2005 they may start taking tours here on a regular basis. The site has also been on the state radar since 1972 when it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. At the conclusion of Wells' tour, he brings his Ute spirituality full circle. Telling the group to hold a piece of sage brush in their hands, he turns to face the sun and speaking in Ute - prays a sing-song chant for the wellness of the group. During the prayer he touches each person on the forehead and ends by telling them to take a deep breath, while holding the sage to their nose. Copyright c. the Durango Herald. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Aboriginal Media just whistling Dixie" --------- Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 08:27:04 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="KANEHSATAKE" http://www.ammsa.com/windspeaker/windguest.html Aboriginal media just whistling Dixie MEDIUM RARE Dan David, Windspeaker Columnist May - 2004 In mid-January, Kanehsatake exploded in the national consciousness once more. Looking back at the media coverage of the events, familiar patterns emerge. Major Canadian news organizations immediately pumped up the volume by resurrecting images of the 1990 Oka crisis, masked Mohawk warriors and all. They soon transformed the story into one of criminals versus a crime- fighting chief. Then journalists painted Kanehsatake as a community with never-ending problems, doomed by petty family squabbles. The Montreal Gazette finally declared the story "a small-town drama or farce." Few journalists, including Aboriginal journalists, looked much deeper into the story or deviated from these easy stereotypes. Kanehsatake Mohawk Territory is dysfunctional. It has a population of about 2,500. It's millions of dollars in debt. It has escalating legal bills in excess of $1 million, thanks to the endless court fights between various factions on band council. It can't afford the $1.5 million it takes to run the community. Services have been cut or cut back drastically. Teachers worry about jobs. The school is in jeopardy. Parents worry about their children. Families that should have had homes must wait because monies earmarked for housing, education and social services have been diverted to cover the on-going mismanagement at the band office. Yet, reporters didn't ask why this community is in such bad shape or why the federal and provincial governments not only support Chief James Gabriel, but throw more money at him. The Department of Indian Affairs put Kanehsatake under third-party management late last year. However, this didn't prevent the federal solicitor general from signing a secret deal with Chief Gabriel on Christmas Eve, when offices were closed and no one was watching, worth $900,000 to bring into the community 60 Native cops from across the province to take over from the local police force. Nobody asked what happened to that money since those Native cops were sent packing. Residents have accused PricewaterhouseCoopers, the third-party manager, of withholding payment on a variety of necessities in the community until Chief Gabriel first approves of the expenditure. People complain that some bills were paid while others were not depending upon which side of the political fence one sat. But journalists weren't interested in pursuing these stories nor were the people at Kanehsatake surprised. They'd seen it all before. Take that policing deal, for example. For months, they'd heard rumors about it. They'd asked, but "King James," as people began to call him, refused to explain. He operated in secret, even with most of his council. People at Kanehsatake only learned details of the policing deal when an outsider obtained a copy of the agreement from Ottawa. Ever since taking office, the chief wanted to settle a deal with the federal government over lands it had purchased for the community. In late 1999, he had an agreement-in-principle, negotiated again in secret and never fully disclosed to the community. So it came as a surprise to many when, in March 2001, then-minister of Indian Affairs Bob Nault introduced the "Kanesatake Interim Land Base Governance Act." The minister didn't go to the House of Commons with it, where full debate of the act might have taken place. Instead he took it to the Senate, an unusual move for a bill with far-reaching implications for Aboriginal and treaty rights. Over the next few months, Bill S-24 was rushed through hearings, most held in camera and away from prying eyes. The Senate Aboriginal affairs committee tabled a report, but kept it quiet. On May 15, 2001 the House of Commons passed Bill S-24 on third reading. Some MPs had asked questions, but they didn't have much information to go on. On June 14, Bill S-24 became law. It took three months, an amazing-almost unheard of-feat! Ellen Gabriel, one of the few Mohawks to attend those Senate hearings, urged caution about this deal, about her cousin, James Gabriel, and of the consequences the deal had for the people back home. "Within the band council system." Ellen testified, "there is a group of people that makes unilateral decisions on behalf of the whole community. The whole community does not know what is going on. It only knows what is happening when James Gabriel calls a press conference." In late 2001, somebody shot at Kanehsatake's police station. In the past, it was "never-will-be" warriors shooting up the place. Something was different this time. It wasn't gang-related. It was politically motivated. It came after Chief Gabriel signed the agreement that transferred $14 million worth of land purchased by the federal government to the control of a private corporation-not the band-called Kanesatake Orihwa'shon:a Development Corporation. Two band councilors-Pearl Bonspille and John Harding-were listed as directors of this company and involved in the negotiations. Rumors circulated about shady dealings, conflict of interest and corruption. Nothing could be proven; everything was done in secret. The only band meeting about this deal ended suddenly when one of the leaders of a rival faction in the community assaulted Chief Gabriel. A few months later, Chief Gabriel pushed through, and narrowly won, a referendum to accept the deal despite a massive boycott by band members who demanded more information first. The vote was 239 to 237. No one had explained to the people of Kanehsatake that Chief Gabriel's deal would turn their lands into "fee simple" ownership, remove tax exemption, require "harmonization" of band by-laws with the town of Oka. Or that the "Kanesatake Interim Land Base Governance Act" was the first step in turning Kanehsatake Mohawk territory into a municipality. Everyone was asleep at the switch while this was going on, except for people at Kanehsatake. But they couldn't get anyone's attention. Federal Indian Affairs Minister Andy Mitchell and the Quebec government support Chief Gabriel and his faction no matter how serious the situation at Kanehsatake gets or how many lives are affected. They'll overlook serious problems with band officials in order to prop up this system. Where was the Assembly of First Nations or other Mohawk communities? Phil Fontaine (and Matthew Coon Come before him) and his Quebec lieutenant, Ghislain Picard, won't say or do anything. As an "organization of chiefs," they say they can't interfere in the internal affairs of a band. Better to support a ridiculous chief at the "Laval band office," a hotel near Montreal, than protect the welfare of the people at Kanehsatake. Joe Norton of Kahnawake spoke up, but only because S-24 also affected lands held jointly between his territory and Kanehsatake at a northern reserve called Doncaster. True, a mob burned Chief Gabriel's house, threatened his family and his life, drove him into exile. The people responsible for that must be charged and, if found guilty, suffer the consequences. But neither the federal and provincial governments, nor Aboriginal leaders, have acknowledged that the tribe has spoken on numerous other occasions and in more peaceful ways saying they don't trust Chief Gabriel or the band council. Everyone had, and still has, an excuse for doing nothing-including the Aboriginal media. It isn't difficult to understand why. This was never a story about a chief abusing authority, in love with secrecy, distrustful of his people, responsible for rendering it dysfunctional. Instead, the media was mesmerized by age-old stereotypes that portrayed the Mohawks at Kanehsatake as little more than feuding families unable to run their own lives. The pity is that in doing so, they missed the real story. ---- Editor's note: Windspeaker columnist Dan David is a Mohawk journalist from Kanehsatake working in Ottawa. Copyright c. 2004 Windspeaker - AMMSA, Aboriginal Multi-Media Society. --------- "RE: First Nation seeks more time for Treaty Vote" --------- Date: Wed, 13 May 2004 08:27:39 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WHITEHORSE LAND" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://north.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=yuk-kdfnvote12052004 First Nation seeks more time for treaty vote May 12 2004 WHITEHORSE - The ratification vote for a Whitehorse-based First Nation's land claims agreement has been delayed. The vote by the Kwanlin Dun, the Yukon's largest First Nation, was supposed to happen from June 17-19. The First Nation announced Tuesday it will now hold the vote some time this fall. The members of the Kwanlin Dun First Nation are being asked to vote on a complex package of proposals, each with its own separate list of eligible voters. They are voting on their land claim, a self-government agreement and a side agreement which deals with compensation for land in the Marwell area of Whitehorse. Shirley Dawson of the First Nation's ratification office says the committee realized there was just too much work to do and not enough time to do it. "The ratification committee felt that people needed to be informed," she says. "And what has happened is they sort of realistically looked at the time line and what we are supposed to achieve and they said we're unable to do this in terms of getting the information to people living outside the Yukon. "I guess was probably one of the biggest factors." Dawson says there are about 200 out-of-territory voters. There are about 600 members and beneficiaries eligible to vote on the land claims package. A spokesperson with the First Nation says chief and council will meet Thursday to decide on the new date for the vote. Copyright c. CBC 2004. --------- "RE: Beef up support of Inuit Culture" --------- Date: Thu, 13 May 2004 08:27:39 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NTI - INUIT CALTURE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://north.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=nun-ntilangcult12052004 Beef up support of Inuit culture, says NTI May 12 2004 IQALUIT - Nunavut Tunngavik is calling on the federal and territorial governments to do more to protect Inuit language, culture and promote health and wellbeing. The land claims organization released its report on the state of Inuit culture and society Tuesday in Iqaluit. The 100-page document looks at challenges in the territory and makes a long list of recommendations for improvements. The report moves through what it calls 10 priority areas for Nunavut Tunngavik and Nunavummiut, including everything from health, social housing and language. The report calls for all signs and advertising in Inuktitut and English, and French where warranted. NTI also wants the federal government to provide money to build social housing for Inuit, and commit $3.5 million to ensure school is taught in Inuktitut from kindergarten to Grade 12 by 2010. "The education system needs to be improved in Nunavut and it has to be in a cultural setting more. IQ [Inuit traditional knowledge] needs to be put into the education system," says the organization's president, Paul Kaludjak. The report is required each year under Section 32 of the land claims agreement, but this is only the second one to come out in years, and the first since NTI took over the duties of the Nunavut Social Development council in 2002. NTI now promises an annual report and says it won't just finger point at government. NTI's Pat Arnakaq says the organization sees its role as both a watchdog and a partner in change. "We have identified some areas of what we need to do in order to help the situation to get better. we've really identified partners within the government of Nunavut in language or housing," she says. The report will now be tabled in Nunavut's legislative assembly and in Parliament as required under the land claims agreement. NTI says it doesn't intend to let it gather dust on a shelf and will be setting clear goals to make sure change happens. Copyright c. CBC 2004. --------- "RE: Sisters In Spirit" --------- Date: Wed, 12 May 2004 08:11:51 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ANGLICAN SISTERS PROGRAM" http://vancouver.indymedia.org/ http://generalsynod.anglican.ca/~/acip/sistersinspirit/background.html Sisters In Spirit March 22, 2004 Over the past 20 years, approximately 500 Aboriginal women have gone missing in communities across Canada. Yet government, the media, and Canadian society continue to remain silent. In Vancouver, more than 50 women went missing in that city's Downtown Eastside. Sixty percent were Aboriginal, and most were young. These were poor women involved in the sex trade. They struggled with drugs and alcohol. Some suffered from the effects of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, and many were victims of childhood sexual abuse. Every one of them grew up in a foster home. In other words, their lives bore all of the markings of the violence of colonization. But these women also had families, hopes, dreams. They left behind grieving communities -- grandmothers, mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers, and sadly, young children of their own. These young women had belonged somewhere and were loved. Questions remain. Why didn't the police react sooner -- especially when it was common knowledge on the street that women who went to the Port Coquitlam pig farm did not return? When the women were reported missing, why did the investigators focus on their lifestyles-as if to suggest that they somehow deserved what they got? And why is so little attention given to the reasons why Aboriginal women live such lives? In Vancouver, no bodies of the missing women have been found. But even when bodies are found, there is little effort to find the killers and to bring them to justice. Many disappearances and deaths of Aboriginal women simply go unreported. The Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC) has been gathering the names and stories of Aboriginal women who have disappeared - not just in Vancouver, but also in Winnipeg, Regina, Edmonton, Kenora, Thunder Bay, Fredericton, and so many other communities, large and small, across this country. Sisters in Spirit: Stories The story is the same: In Canada, Aboriginal women continue to be targets of hatred and violence based on their gender and their race. They continue to be objectified, disrespected, dishonored, ignored and killed, often with impunity. Excerpts of Peter Smith, "Vanished: Somewhere Along the Highway of Tears Nicole Hoar Simply Disappeared", Calgary Sun, Peter July 14, 2002. Since the time that the Gitksan and Wet'suwet'en peoples began their historic court battle in British Columbia for the recognition of Aboriginal title, Aboriginal women - thirty-two in all - have gone missing along Highway 16 between Prince Rupert and Prince George, now referred to as the Highway of Tears. Between 1988 and 1995, five young women -- Alberta Williams, Delphine Nikal, Ramona Wilson, Roxanne Thiara, and Lana Derrick - went missing along that stretch of highway. Despite community vigils and protests by the Terrace First Nations Council of Women and others, neither the police nor the media took seriously the disappearance of these women. Then in June of 2002, another young woman went missing. Nicole Hoar's disappearance immediately sparked media attention and government action. How did this case differ from the others? Nicole Boar was the first non-Aboriginal woman to disappear on the Highway of Tears. One Calgary reporter, alluding at the time to the lack of response when Aboriginal women had disappeared, wondered if those praying for Nicole's family would "extend their prayers to the [five] other families who years ago went through every minute of the nightmare they are living today, but the families in those Native homes were alone without any community support." Young Aboriginal women speak out agains violence... By Denise Cook, Pimicikamak Cree Nation As a youth, I think that it is unacceptable for our sisters and relatives to be put in any harmful situation because it means our sacred lives are not honored. It affects our community, the way we feel about who we are. It is devastating to know that this can happen and that this is happening, and it is unjust to our women. I think that it is important to raise awareness about this issue. It is appalling that these issues do not matter to the larger community just because the victims are Aboriginal women. It is inhumane that their lives are not valued, and it is disgusting that people do not take these issues to heart. The question is why there is no support in mainstream society for providing justice for these women. My vision for the future is that we would not even need campaigns such as these because these things would not even be the reality and our women would be viewed and honored the way they should be. However, this campaign is very important to educate and put forward these issues as first steps towards stopping violence against Aboriginal women. I believe that it is the responsibility of every person in every community to help make these changes. Copyright c. 1998-2004 the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada. --------- "RE: Mysterious Silence of the Mexican Zapatistas" --------- Date: Wed, 12 May 2004 09:31:08 -0500 (CDT) From: owner-chiapas95-english@eco.utexas.edu (Chiapas95-english) Subj: The Mysterious Silence of the Mexican Zapatistas Mailing List: Chiapas95-English This message is forwarded to you by the editors of the Chiapas95 newslists. To contact the editors or to submit material for posting send to: . Date: Sat, 8 May 2004 14:19:27 +0200 From: "Dana" The Mysterious Silence of the Mexican Zapatistas "After more than 10 years of war and 20 years of organizing, we can't take a single step back." By Alex Contreras Baspineiro Narco News South American Bureau Chief May 7, 2004 LA REALIDAD, Chiapas, April 29, 2004. It's two in the morning on Thursday, April 29. Unable to sleep, we can see, illuminated by a distant lantern, the shining eyes of a person whose face is covered by a ski mask. "Don't worry, comrade," says the face behind the mask, observing our restlessness, "they' re just having a meeting." We try to get to sleep. Around three, we hear voices, mostly women. "Rest, friend, they're just doing some organizing," says someone else, as we hear horses galloping far away. Such nights are typical for the insurgents of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN in its Spanish initials) in the Lacandon jungle. They work mysteriously during the day, and also at night. They act with amazing caution, and in silence. Their wisdom comes from their patience. They are at war. Among them, sometimes a gesture, a glance, or a hiss is enough to tell another what one wants, needs, wants to say about someone else, or what message needs to be transmitted. When an outsider arrives to these ejidos, or communal lands, he or she is received by members of a committee, while the others - mostly of Tojolabal origin - watch and comment amongst themselves in their own language. Nobody can give outsiders any information. Nobody. The Zapatistas have laws, and the laws much be followed. A journalist here needs authorization to do an interview, or to take photographs. One must learn to be patient -- very patient. If the Zapatistas do not want to answer a question, they respond, in the most kind and gentle way, "Who knows?" These masked men and women are in a new process of organization. Since February 14, neither the Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee nor the General Command of the EZLN had released a single communique'. However, the death of Authentic Journalist and "Governor in rebellion" Amado Avedano Figueroa on April 29 in the city of San Cristo'bal de las Casas obliged the Zapatistas to break their silence. A letter, sent by Subcomandante Marcos to the Avedano family and the people of Mexico, included these words: ** But for the news of his death, it could be that Don Amado had already died, and that what I heard had not been a broken branch just as April turns the calendar's corner into the next year. But if it had been a broken branch that I heard, then I would have been able to think that perhaps Don Amado had not died, and that he had only turned that corner, and that though we will not see him now, in the coming year he will appear again.** We first knew of Don Amado, and then we saw him.. And it was mutual. Or is. Because it could be that he has died. But it could be that he has not.. Don Amado had, or has, a problem from which not all of us suffer. In place of a heart he had a house, at times disguised as a newspaper suspended in time, or as a leaf, or as a shadow government, or as a storyteller. And in his house, that is to say, his heart, Don Amado had opened the doors and windows long ago to those who are the color of the earth, and with them shared his roof, his gaze, his ear and his word. At the "P.S." at the end of the letter, the masked subcomandante wrote: ** As if we had not finished a hug, so shall we leave it for now. as if the silence is waiting. do you hear it? ** The Zapatistas in La Realidad and the other caracoles (their main support bases) are in a stage of silence now. But the men, women, young and elderly here are in constant preparation. It is time to be quiet, they say now. They need to strengthen their organization. They have disappeared into the mountains. And surprises are on the way. Be Like the Snails "We are at war, my friend" says the rebel commander who calls himself Comandante Bernal. "That is why we all must be prepared. Our enemy, the bad government, certainly does not sleep, and so we must not sleep either; we must be better-prepared then they are." Bernal says that the Zapatista organization is similar to the life of a caracol, also the Spanish word for "snail" or "conch." "Snails are tough little animals. They work in silence, walking slowly and always forward, never backward. If it rains, or if the sun is very hot, they stay on track. When they are on the move, not even a river or an intense downpour can stop them. And if they stumble or fall, they get back up and keep going. We must be like the snails." The sound one can make with the shells of bigger caracoles can be used for communication - for instance, to call meetings. There are a lot of snails living in Zapatista territory, and it is common to come across them walking in the mountains. Children can sell them for a few cents as souvenirs from these insurgent communities. In July, 2003, in "Part I: A Conch," from his multipart communique' "Chiapas: The Thirteenth Steel," Subcomandante Marcos wrote: ** Perhaps we might guess what it is about if we look carefully. The Zapatistas are very otherly - I don't know if I already told you that - and so they imagine things before those things exist, and they think that, by naming them, those things will begin to have life, to walk.and, yes, to create problems. And so I am sure they have already imagined something, and they are going to begin to act as if that something already exists, and no one is going to understand anything for some time, because, in effect, once named, things begin to take on body, life and a tomorrow. Then we could look for some clue. No, I don't know where to look. I believe their way is looking with their ears and listening with their eyes. Yes, I know it sounds complicated, but nothing else occurs to me. Come, let's keep on walking. Look, the stream is turning into a whirlpool there, and in its center the moon is shimmering its sinuous dance. A whirlpool. or a shell. They say here that the most ancient say that other, earlier ones said that the most first of these lands held the figure of the shell in high esteem. They say that they say that they said that the conch represents entering into the heart, that is what the very first ones with knowledge said. And they say that they say that they said that the conch also represents leaving the heart in order to walk the world, which is how the first ones called life. And more, they say that they say that they said that they called the collective with the shell, so that the word would go from one to the other and agreement would be reached. And they also say that they say that they said that the conch was help so that the ear could hear even the most distant word. That is what they say that they say that they said. I don't know. I am walking hand in hand with you, and I am showing you what my ears see and my eyes hear. And I see and hear a shell, the "pu'y', as they say in their language here. *** The five caracol towns are: Oventik (also known by the Zapatistas as "Resistance and rebellion for humanity"), Morelia ("Whirlwind of our words"), La Garrucha ("Resistance towards the new dawn"), Roberto Barrios ("Caracol that speaks for all"), and La Realidad ("Mother of the caracoles from the sea of our dreams"). An Innovative Communications System It may be hard to believe, but the indigenous rebels here in the jungle have an extraordinary communication system: radio communication between the five caracoles, several towns with internet access, parabolic antennas installed at strategic points, computers, and communications committees to oversee all of it. They all work in total secrecy. There is also Radio Insurgente (97.9 FM), broadcasting from four o'clock in the morning to nine o'clock at night. Radio Insurgente lets the Zapatistas hear messages, communique's, and music, from traditional Mexican corridos to contemporary protest music. The Zapatistas wake up, and as they go about their activities, listen to the radio almost all day long, turning it off only before they go to sleep. They call it "horizontal" media. Sometimes the signal is not very clear, other times it's barely audible, or there is no transmission at all, but the insurgents know that they have their own media. They told us that the radio station is portable. One day it could be installed in one place, and another day broadcast from somewhere else. But always in the highlands, both for security and to reach the largest audience. "So, friend," says Bernal, "we are prepared. We are at war and communication is important. For example, they already know, in all five caracoles that a Bolivian journalist is here with us. They also know at what time a truck arrives at or leaves one of our towns. In the five caracoles, they know everything." The Zapatistas rebels know what they are doing. Now, they are building a new model of society, and they are conscious of this. "The damned government has nothing to do with this, but you can be sure that they are also preparing." La Realidad and the Lacandon jungle are Marcos and the Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee's stronghold. Because of this, security and secrecy here are greater than in the rest of the autonomous Zapatista lands of Chiapas. Comandantes David, Omar, Tacho, Ramona, Estela, Fidelia are in other caracoles, and have their own military, police, and civil organizations. In nearly all the rebel villages, one can see a series of murals and graffiti accompanying images of revolutionary heroes Emiliano Zapata, Ernesto "Che" Guevara, and Subcomandante Marcos. This, too, is a way of communicating, daily and permanently. An Alternative Model The EZLN's current silence has a point: to strengthen the autonomy of the Zapatista towns and the Good Government Councils in the caracoles, to build an alternative model of society. "If we do nothing for ourselves, we are finished," said Comandante Bernal. "After more than 10 years of war and 20 of organizing, we can't take a single step back. Everyone must move forward. We don't expect anything from the bad government. From the international community, yes, but we expect the most from our own forces." Although poverty is a common feature to all the indigenous towns in Chiapas, the Zapatistas know that they are better off than before in matters of education, health, housing, roads, production and communication. All of their policies are based on three words: democracy, liberty and equality. They build their own schools, roads, economic cooperatives, hospitals, and clinics in the five caracoles. In La Realidad, for instance, many houses now have running water and electricity, thanks to a water turbine in a nearby river. Their houses are generally made wood with aluminum roofs, and nearby one can usually firewood, some farm animals and crops. The Zapatista towns are generally orderly and clean. There are signs everywhere advising people to preserve the local ecology and environment. The Tojolabal, Tzotzil, Tzetzal, Chol, Mocho', Jacalteca, Kanjobal and other indigenous groups that live in the EZLN's caracoles don't aspire to any more than to live with dignity, liberty, equality, and true democracy. Comandante Bernal, in an interview with Narco News, told us that the Zapatistas are dreamers who want to build a model of a new society. In other countries as well, he said, people are rising up to reclaim the rights of those who have no voice. Here, in La Realidad and other Zapatista towns of the Lacondon jungle, those words said by countless people in different countries around the world - "another nation is possible" - become more of a reality each day. * From the translation by Irlandesa, Chiapas Independent Media Center -- To subscribe to this list send a message containing the words subscribe chiapas95 (or chiapas95-lite, or chiapas95-english, or chiapas95-espanol) to majordomo@eco.utexas.edu. Previous messages are available from http://www.eco.utexas.edu/faculty/Cleaver/chiapas95.html or gopher to Texas, University of Texas at Austin, Department of Economics, Mailing Lists. --------- "RE: Tribe, County dispute Jurisdiction" --------- Date: Fri, 14 May 2004 08:19:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="JURISDICTION DISPUTE" http://www.miaminewsrecord.com/~/myarticles.asp?P=980088&S=320&PubID=15944 Tribe, county dispute jurisdiction By K.E. Sturgeon III Miami News-Record May 14, 2004 QUAPAW - A dispute over on-duty Ottawa County deputies carrying weapons into the Quapaw Tribe's casino has left approximately 600 residents in Picher, Quapaw and Cardin with limited law enforcement protection and services. "This is a mess that the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Congress has left us with," said Neil Wilson, city attorney in the towns. "The law is confusing and hard to understand." According to Ottawa County Undersheriff Terry Durborow, the argument comes over two recent visits by deputies to the tribe's casino east of Miami. The first was made after a nearby home was burglarized by a man deputies thought might be armed. Deputies believed the man could have been shot by a homeowner. During that visit, an armed and uniformed deputy was permitted to walk through the casino to see if a man matching the burglar's description was hiding there. The second came when an armed and uniformed deputy went to the casino to exchange information with a federal Bureau of Indian Affairs law enforcement officer about an ongoing investigation. "The deputy was told if he wanted to be in the casino he would have to surrender his weapon," Durborow said. "He told security he would not and left." Friday, J.R. Matthews, the vice-chairman of the tribe's business committee, apparently informed both the sheriff's department and the Ottawa County district attorney's office that deputies would not be allowed on tribal land without permission. That caused District Attorney Eddie Wyant to issue a memo advising deputies to stay off tribal property unless they were in "hot pursuit." Deputies were given the memo during the Friday afternoon shift change, Durborow said. The memo came after Matthews threatened legal action against the sheriff's department, Wyant said. The tribe was granted a permanent injunction in federal court in 1986 that prevents the department from interfering with their gambling operations. "That's what they are basing this on," Wyant said. "They are saying the injunction prevents us from coming onto their land without their permission and we don't agree. We're out there and we want to help them, and we respect them and their rights, but their land is part of Ottawa County. We haven't done anything wrong. We went out there looking for a non-Indian suspect and we're allowed to do that." Matthews has not returned phone calls seeking information and comment for this article. "I'm not sure J.R. understood what he was doing," Durborow said. "I think he just doesn't want us in the casino with guns, but that he didn't realize we also provide law enforcement services in Picher and Quapaw, where the tribe has a lot of land." Durborow said he estimates the tribe leases about 300 lots to residential homeowners in the towns and that about half of those lots are occupied by individuals and families who are not members of any tribe. "We have jurisdiction over non-Indians where there are non-Indian victims or no victims even if the crime happens on Indian land," Durborow said. The ban has prevented deputies from responding to calls in about a third of Quapaw, where they supply all the town's law enforcement services, and in Picher where they provide limited patrol coverage for eight to 12 hours a day. Deputies also provide patrol services in Cardin for approximately 200 residents. "West of Quapaw Street, even the streets belong to the tribe," said Neal Watson, Quapaw's mayor. "We can't even supply patrols on those streets on the west side of town." The tribe does not have a law enforcement department. The dispute has also caused two Bureau of Indian Affairs law enforcement officers stationed in Miami to turn in their deputy commissions so they can continue to respond to calls on Indian land. Without the commissions the officers are limited in what actions they can take once off tribal land in Ottawa County, where nine tribes have their headquarters. "Any calls we get that are on Indian land we will respond to those calls," said David Johnson, an assistant special agent in charge with the bureau. Watson said he is seeking a meeting with John Berrey, the chairman of the Quapaw Tribe's business committee and the tribe's leader. "We need to sit down and talk about this and try to work something out," Watson said. "I don't think anyone wants any of our citizens to be without law enforcement." Wyant said he doubted a solution could be worked out through negotiations. "I'm never going to tell an officer, and the sheriff is never going to tell an officer, to go do their job without their weapon," he said. "The deputies have a right to go on tribal property as a law enforcement officer with their duty weapon." Copyright c. 2004 The Miami, OK News-Record. --------- "RE: Navajo Police Chief Fulton resigns" --------- Date: Thu, 13 May 2004 08:27:39 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NAVAJO POLICE CHIEF QUITS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.daily-times.com/artman/publish/article_11064.shtml Navajo Police Chief Fulton resigns By Jim Snyder/The Daily Times May 13, 2004 WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. - Navajo Nation Police Chief Dorothy Fulton, a 20-year veteran officer, has resigned over political differences with the tr