_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 12, ISSUE 041 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 October 9, 2004 Kiowa Gakinat'o p'a/ten-colds moon Algonquin Pepewarr-/white frost on grass and ground 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; NDNAIM and Chiapas95 English Mailing Lists; UUCP email IMPORTANT!! ----------- In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, all material appearing in this newsletter is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for educational purposes. <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters who share our Spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the Red Road. ++ It may be subscribed to via email by sending a request from your own internet addressable account to gars@speakeasy.org ++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org <================<<<< >>>>================> +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + | As historian Patricia Nelson | | Once a language is lost, it is | | Limerick summarized in "The | | gone forever | | Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken | | * Of the 300 original Native | | Past of the American West... | | languages in North America, | | "Set the blood quantum at | | only 175 exist today. | | one-quarter, hold to it as a | | * 125 of these are no longer | | rigid definition of Indians, | | learned by children. | | let intermarriage proceed as | | * 55 are spoken by 1 to 6 elders;| | it had for centuries, and | | when they die, their language | | eventually Indians will be | | will disappear. | | defined out of existence." | | * Without action, only 20 | | "When that happens, the federal | | languages will survive the next| | government will be freed of | | 50 years. | | its persistent 'Indian problem.'"| | Source: Indigenous Language | +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ | Institute | |http://www.indigenous-language.org| This issue's Elder Quote: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + ======================== "This is blatant mismanagement of a trust, This is the type of system that has literally sucked the lifeblood out of Indian Country for the past century. A trustee is supposed to inform you." "It's your land." __ Keith Harper, Native American Rights Fund +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! Thursday, September 30, I sent out a notice to several individuals and groups that have supported winter needs. I am sharing that notice with all readers and asking you to please let this space help you help our Peoples. ---- Greetings This brief email is being sent as winter nears. I distribute a newsletter, Wotanging Ikche; and each year before winter sets in through the first of January I run names, addresses and needs of our elders and children throughout Indian Country. I don't draw any lines such as rez/urban. If there is a need, it's included. Send the contact name, address, phone, email, website (or as much as you can) Include the need (clothing, toys for kids, food, fuel money...) If there is a limited run (like now to two weeks before Christmas) include that. Send your information to: gars@speakeasy.net Please make the subject: WINTER HELP (all caps) Get this information to me as soon as you can. Spread the word. I will also copy whatever I run in Wotanging Ikche to some of the Mailing Lists I'm on, like RezLife, NDNAIM, Rez_LIfe, FrostysAmerIndian... Thanks, gary ---- =================================== The first response came from our Mohawk brother, Frosty Deere. It is an important need to those Mohawk who call Kahnawake home. Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 19:52:51 -0400 From: "Frosty" Subj: Re: Winter Needs Rez & Urban http://www.tewateiahsatakaritat.com/pool/ Maybe you could include the above address, it explains everything. The Kahnawake Pool Project What happened to the Current pool? Its old, out dated, broken and cant be used in the middle of winter. How can people help? Well you can either buy a raffle ticket, donate money, or help find people to donate money for the pool. How can I help ? Well their are number of ways, one is just send a dollar to Indoor Pool Project, Box 821, Kahnawake Quebec J0L-1B0. Take a collection where you work. Get the company where you work to donate. Spread the word to as many people you know that can afford a dollar or more. Contacts: MacKenzie Whyte E-mail Address: Ronald Deere aka Frosty mackenziew@mck.ca E-mail Address(es): frosty@frostys.qc.ca Lou Ann Stacey frosty@kahonwes.com E-mail Address: louanns@mck.ca =================================== Dohiyi Ani 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 ---------- - Plan to Stop Payments to Indians - Mystery still surrounds Denounced Jumano Apache Tribe - Interior denies attempt - Festival honors events to halt Trust Payments in Tribal History - Cobell: - Judge questions Plan on Dams Justice for Indian Trust Fund - Washington Tribe Awarded - Interior ordered for Wetlands Restoration to keep Indians Informed - Editorial: Schwarzenegger wrong - NARF Lawyer assured of victory on Mascot Bill in Trust Fund Case - American Indian News - Bilking of tribes could shake D.C. is Good but not Great - Kerry ideas on Indian Health Care - Marcos: The Speed of Dreams, Pt 1 - Former NCAI Head - Marcos: The Speed of Dreams, Pt 2 throws support behind Kerry - Editorial: Indian Jails a Mess - Vincent: George W. Bush - Inmate sues to gain just like George A. Custer Native Religious Rights - IRS starts taxing - Judge dismisses charges Tribe's Fuel Imports against Cree Activist - Hiding Genocide: - Native Prisoner Museum of the American Indian -- HELP NEEDED at USP LEE Virginia - Coeur d'Alene Tribe - History: Carlisle Indian School balks at Dam Relicensing - Rustywire: Longing for - Tribe looking to deal the Sweet Taste of Freedom with the Fast Ferry - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - Morongo Band plans Road closures - Rustywire Poem: Come My Child - Upcoming Events --------- "RE: Plan to Stop Payments to Indians Denounced" --------- Date: Mon, 4 Oct 2004 08:42:47 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DoI's /NORTON's/SWIMMER's SHAME" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2937-2004Oct2.html?sub=AR Plan to Stop Payments To Indians Denounced No Checks Blocked, Interior Tells Judge Associated Press October 3, 2004 An angry federal judge denounced Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton on Friday after officials in her agency weighed cutting off federal checks to American Indians suing the government for past royalties. Attorneys for Indians seeking billions of dollars in the suit asked for an emergency hearing before the judge, citing Interior Department memos directing a temporary halt to all communications with Indians. One memo said some payments had already been stopped, and another said they might have to be stopped. "Has Secretary Norton decided to declare war on the Indians in this litigation?" U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth barked at Sandra Spooner, the Justice Department lawyer representing Norton and her department. "It comes across as absolute, direct retaliation." Attorneys for Norton told the judge that the checks were not and would not be stopped. The department sent out the correspondence Thursday, a day after Lamberth ordered the Interior Department to keep the Indians informed about the lawsuit anytime it tries to sell or exchange their lands or other assets. The judge, however, also found that the department had violated his December 2002 order not to communicate with Indians in any way that interferes with their rights under the lawsuit. Dennis Gingold, a lawyer representing the Indians, told Lamberth that "the government is using the two orders as a sword to harm the beneficiaries." "There was nothing in the order that justified withholding the checks. It's a willful attempt to undermine the integrity of this litigation," Gingold said. "The people who need their money the most are being hurt." That the department might have used one of his orders to justify stopping the payments drew an angry response from Lamberth. "To stop them, and to say you're doing it because of my order, is a flat-out lie. A lie!" he bristled. "I've never said stop any checks. It's Interior that does that and blames it on the court." Spooner said that despite the correspondence, Norton had personally directed that no checks be stopped. "There is no indication that any checks are being held up," the lawyer told the judge. At Spooner's request, Lamberth changed the wording of his order slightly. He still gazed skeptically down at Spooner. "Then what excuse will there be for what you're doing?" Lamberth asked sarcastically. A spokesman for the department said after the hearing that officials wanted the clarification to make sure no payments would be affected. The lawsuit was filed in 1996 on behalf of more than 300,000 American Indians. It accuses the Interior Department of mismanaging, misplacing or stealing billions of dollars from royalties on oil, gas, timber and grazing on American Indian lands since 1887. Congress created the Indian trust fund to manage revenue from parcels designated for each tribal member, but the money was often uncollected, lost or stolen. The department has spent more than $600 million since 1996 trying to fix the trust fund. Copyright c. 2004 The Washington Post Company. --------- "RE: Interior denies attempt to halt Trust Payments" --------- Date: Tue, 5 Oct 2004 08:24:48 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DoI SPIN" http://www.indianz.com/News/2004/004590.asp Interior denies attempt to halt trust fund payments October 5, 2004 The Interior Department doesn't plan on withholding checks from Indian beneficiaries, a spokesperson said. Special Trustee Ross Swimmer suggested in a memo last week that all communications with account holders be put on hold. He even said sending royalty checks would require court approval under a new order from U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth. But the department will comply with Lamberth's order, a spokesperson said. The department will come up with language to notify account holders of their rights. Copyright c. 2000-2004 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: Cobell: Justice for Indian Trust Fund" --------- Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2004 08:26:18 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="COBELL: JUSTICE" http://www.indiantrust.com/Editorial_id=24&Month=9&Year=2004 Elouise Cobell: Justice for Indian trust fund by Elouise Cobell Indianz.com September 28, 2004 On September 15, attorneys for the plaintiffs and defendants in Cobell v. Norton argued the appeal of what has become known as "Trial 1.5" - one of four trials that American Indian plaintiffs have won in the largest case ever brought against the United States government. The government had appealed the plaintiffs' September 2003 trial victory, arguing that the district court judge in the case overstepped his bounds in requiring the government to comply with its trust duties, including the obligation to provide a complete accounting of the trust assets belonging to individual Indians. Such assets include, of course, the royalties from the sale of oil, gas, timber and other resources from Indian land. In response to a question from the three-judge panel, a government attorney stated that the decision of the district court must be overturned because of the costs involved with accounting for more than 100 years of government malfeasance would be too much to bear. One of the judges interrupted the government attorney. "For numerous decades," the judge declared, the Department of the Interior had not done what it was supposed to do as Trustee delegate. The judge then asked: that there are costs involved now shouldn't surprise anyone, should it? This exchange gets to the heart of the historic and continuing wrong in this case. There have been close to 30 Secretaries of the Interior across 22 different administrations since the Individual Indian Trust was established in 1887. Each Secretary of the Interior has betrayed his or her fiduciary responsibility to Individual Indian landowners. Every single one. So as you head to the polls this November, I urge all of us to think about this. This is not a Democratic or Republican issue. It is a justice issue. And regardless of party, the candidates we all vote for ought to commit to a fair and just resolution in the Indian Trust litigation at the top of their platform. Indeed, justice for the more than 500,000 plaintiffs in Cobell v. Norton is a bipartisan issue if there ever was one. Our most ardent supporters are on both sides of the aisle. These champions include Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo, a Republican from California and Ranking Member Nick Rahall, a Democrat from West Virginia, both of whom have been tireless in their support for bringing justice to individual Indian landowners after 100 years of government malfeasance. Joining them are other key Republican congressman like J.D. Hayworth and Rick Renzi of Arizona, as well as Oklahoman, Tom Cole. On the Democratic side, Dale Kildee of Michigan and Brad Carson of Oklahoma have been stalwarts on these issues. In the Senate, we have extraordinary support from Democrat Tom Daschle and Daniel Inouye and Republicans John McCain and Craig Thomas. Each of these members of Congress have done all they can to ensure that justice so long delayed is not now denied. And why shouldn't they? Our unremarkable expectation and desire is to have what all other trust beneficiaries across this country take for granted: A trustee that complies with their fundamental fiduciary obligations. We didn't ask for this trust system, it was imposed without our consent; what we ask for now is merely accountability. That should not be and we have never considered it a partisan issue. In this critical election, ask this of all your candidates. From those in Congress to the President: how will you end this blight upon this great country's history? How will you bring justice to those who have struggled so long without? How will you settle the individual Indian trust case? And, for those candidates running for re-election, "What have you done to bring justice to this now-eight-year-old case?" The answer to these questions will tell you a lot more about your candidates than any party label ever could. Copyright c. 2004 Blackfeet Reservation Development Fund, Inc. --------- "RE: Interior ordered to keep Indians Informed" --------- Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 08:28:51 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DoI ORDERED TO ACCOUNT" http://www.startribune.com/stories/844/5007770.html Interior Ordered to Keep Indians Informed By JOHN HEILPRIN, Associated Press Writer September 29, 2004 WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the Interior Department to keep American Indians informed about a giant class-action lawsuit anytime they try to sell or exchange their lands or other assets. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ruled that all communications must advise Indians of their "right to consult with class counsel before making any decisions" that could affect their interests in the lawsuit, and provide enough time for that to happen. The ruling is meant to ensure that Indians are not making decisions about whether to sell their land or other assets without knowing about the lawsuit. The suit, filed in 1996 for more than 300,000 American Indians, accuses the department of mismanaging, misplacing or stealing billions of dollars from those royalties. Lamberth also found the department violated his order in December 2002 that it must not communicate with Indians in any way that interferes with their rights under the lawsuit. "The Department of the Interior has not yet been able to review this order and is unable to comment," spokesman Dan DuBray said. Lamberth has previously ordered the department to account by 2007 for the royalties from oil, gas, timber and grazing on American Indian lands since 1887. Congress created the Indian trust fund that year to manage revenues from parcels designated to each tribal member, but the money was often uncollected, lost or stolen. Lamberth wrote, "It is clear trust beneficiaries ought not have to make the decision to sell trust assets without access to all the relevant information." The department acknowledges there have been major problems with the trust, but that it has spent more than $600 million since 1996 fixing it based on instructions from Lamberth and Congress. Accounting problems persist, however, partly because records are scattered. Copyright c. 2004 Star Tribune. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: NARF Lawyer assured of victory in Trust Fund Case" --------- Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2004 08:37:34 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.newsok.com/article/1326543 Indians told they will win land lawsuit Ron Jackson The Oklahoman September 28, 2004 BOONE - A Washington attorney Monday told nearly 100 beneficiaries of American Indian trust land that they will win an eight-year-old class action lawsuit against the U.S. government. "We will win this case," said Keith Harper, whose Native American Rights Fund is representing more than 500,000 Indian trust land beneficiaries nationwide. "We have the facts and the law on our side, and that's everything." The lawsuit, commonly known as the Cobell case after lead plaintiff Elouise Cobell, a member of the Blackfeet Tribe of Montana, was filed in federal court in 1996 seeking two basic remedies: an accounting for individual trust accounts and reform of the government's management of the accounts. Congress established the accounts in 1887, and the largest number holds the proceeds from mineral and grazing leases on land owned by Indians. Congress, accountants and the federal judge presiding over the lawsuit agree that the accounts have been mismanaged and there's no telling how much money Indians have lost. Most recently, U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lambreth in the District of Columbia granted a temporary restraining order Aug. 31 to halt a Department of the Interior sale of Indian trust land. The Bureau of Indian Affairs issued an invitation for bids for the sale of Indian-owned land July 30 and set a Sept. 1 deadline for bids. Locally, 25 parcels of land were to be sold in the agency's Anadarko region, some with oil and gas rights attached. Harper claims those land owners were never properly notified about the sale. "This is blatant mismanagement of a trust," Harper told attendees. "This is the type of system that has literally sucked the lifeblood out of Indian Country for the past century. A trustee is supposed to inform you. "It's your land." The order, which expires Wednesday, could be replaced by a preliminary injunction, Harper said. In that case, the plaintiffs would again prevail in temporarily staving off the sale of their land. Or the judge could allow the sale of land to proceed a situation that would likely raise the stakes in the lawsuit. Either way Harper promised his six-member legal team would continue to fight for a systematic accounting of Indian trust land, a correction of any accounting mistakes dating back to 1887, and an overhaul of a system he calls "severely broken." "Finally, we are having our interest addressed," said Emily Saupitty, an Apache tribal member and trust land beneficiary. "We're having our inheritance, at least, questioned. I feel like our call for help has been heard. "You know, this is something my mother began fighting for back in 1965." Many of those in attendance claimed they never received a proper accounting for their oil and gas leases, and therefore question whether they have been fairly represented by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. "I don't think the government is going to repay us for all those years of mismanagement," said Austin Klinekole, an Apache tribal member and trust land beneficiary. "That's why I think the government will ultimately agree to a lesser settlement, but that could take years of litigation. "It already has." Copyright c. The Oklahoman, News 9; Produced by NewsOK.com. --------- "RE: Bilking of tribes could shake D.C." --------- Date: Sun, 3 Oct 2004 11:03:58 EDT From: MJLaBurt@aol.com Subj: Bilking of tribes could shake D.C. Mailing List: NDNAIM http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~11676~2440748,00.html Bilking of tribes could shake D.C. By John Aloysius Farrell Denver Post Washington Bureau Chief October 3, 2004 Washington - The opening of the new Smithsonian museum honoring American Indians has been a cause of joy and celebration here. But the good news has overshadowed emerging revelations about a sleazy political extortion scheme, allegedly launched by big-shot Republican lobbyists, aimed at exploiting Indians. Throughout U.S. history, "every kind of charlatan and every type of crook has deceived and exploited America's native sons and daughters," says Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. "What sets this tale apart, what makes it truly extraordinary, is the extent and degree of the apparent exploitation and deceit." The unfolding scandal touches some of the GOP's most influential elected officials and lobbyists and could rock the capital before it's over. To their credit, it is two independent-minded Republicans - McCain and Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado - who have exposed the sordid tale and are trying to clean up the mess. At the center of the scandal is Jack Abramoff, a GOP lobbyist and longtime friend and political associate of some of his party's most gifted strategists, including Ralph Reed, the former head of the Christian Coalition and the Southern regional chairman for President Bush's re- election campaign, and noted conservative activist Grover Norquist. Abramoff is a leading GOP fundraiser, having collected hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, and other top Republicans. He is also among the elite group of "Pioneers" who pledged to raise more than $100,000 for Bush's re-election campaign this year. Abramoff was called before a hearing of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee last week, where he spent the morning invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. McCain, Campbell and other senators, wielding documents obtained via Senate subpoena, charged that Abramoff and public relations executive Michael Scanlon, a former aide to DeLay, have been running a crude political extortion racket that bilked tribes out of millions of dollars. "All told, six tribes paid more than $66 million to Mr. Scanlon, and Mr. Abramoff received more than $21 million from Mr. Scanlon for his share of the scheme," Campbell said. "In at least two instances, Mr. Abramoff and Mr. Scanlon sought to profit by becoming involved in and attempting to manipulate tribal elections," Campbell said. "Shortly after ... they solicited and received multimillion-dollar contracts, aided by the tribal council members they helped elect." The scheme was crude and crudely executed, according to the documents and testimony at the hearing. Abramoff and Scanlon would allegedly work behind the scenes to scare Indian tribes into thinking they were about to lose lucrative gaming franchises. (Nice little casino you got there. ... It would be a shame if anything happened to it.) Then the two GOP insiders would step in and offer, for mighty fees, to smooth things over in Washington. "Jack Abramoff, the tribes' trusted lobbyist and adviser, instructed the tribes to hire Michael Scanlon for millions of dollars," McCain charged. "But he never disclosed that he would receive about half the net proceeds from the multimillion-dollar contracts." The lobbyists' e-mails, obtained by the committee, show that Abramoff and Scanlon viewed their American Indian clients with contempt, referring to them as "monkeys" and "troglodytes." The scheme generated so much money that, aside from pocketing millions of dollars, the lobbyists funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican candidates, and to the lobbyists' pals and pet causes. "In the case of one tribe," said McCain, "the funds were allegedly paid from accounts reserved for tribal housing, education and health care. That same tribe and another reportedly paid millions of dollars into ... a self-proclaimed think tank run by two of Mr. Scanlon's beach buddies, one a yoga instructor, the other a lifeguard." Abramoff's high-ranking place in the capital's conservative hierarchy and reports of a federal criminal investigation have raised the profile of this particular scandal beyond that of the routine influence-peddling flap. Copyright c. 2004 The Denver Post. --------- "RE: Kerry ideas on Indian Health Care" --------- Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2004 08:37:34 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="KERRY INDIAN HEALTH PLAN" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=5195 Kerry says he has the best ideas on Indian health care GOP says plan will hurt taxpayers Sam Lewin September 28, 2004 Presidential candidate John Kerry continues to trumpet a plan that he says will eliminate health care inequalities faced by the American Indian population. The Bush administration counters that the plan is too costly and they defend the record of the past four years. "George Bush's administration has failed to address the health care crisis facing Native Americans," Kerry said. "While Bush's budget plan cuts funding for important minority health programs, John Edwards and I have a plan to ensure that all Native Americans, whether they live on reservations or in urban areas, have access to quality, affordable health care." "Senator Kerry's plan to create a trillion and a half dollars in government run bureaucracy will do nothing to lower the cost of health care and actually his plan to raise taxes will do nothing to create jobs," Republican National Committee Secretary for Outreach Tara Wall told the Native American Times. Kerry says his plan has five goals: increase access to affordable health care coverage; ensure access to culturally and linguistically appropriate health care; diversify the health workforce; collect, analyze and report health data by race, ethnicity and primary language; and invest in health promotion and disease prevention for minority communities. Kerry cites figures showing that Native Americans are 770 percent more likely to die from alcoholism, 650 percent more likely to die from tuberculosis, 420 percent more likely to die from diabetes, and 52 percent more likely to die from pneumonia or influenza than the rest of the United States, including white and minority populations. Wall says Bush is aware of those numbers and has taken steps to correct the imbalance. "We know that Indians still lead the nation in diabetes, infant mortality and other health-related conditions. To meet these challenges President Bush and the Republican Party are working to reform health care for American Indians to provide better health care at a more affordable cost." She says Bush helped increase diabetes prevention funding by 50 percent and is seeking to increase the Indian Health Services budget by $45 million. The Kerry campaign fires back that Bush cut funding for the Office of Minority Health by 15 percent from the 2004 level. Kerry hopes that talking about health care will help him make up lost ground in voter support, and one recent poll shows that it is an issue that resonates with the public. According to a national survey by Market Strategies, 86 percent of respondents expressed serious concerns about rising health costs; two thirds were worried about the difficulties of obtaining the best medical treatment; and six out of ten believed they face the likelihood of bankruptcy due to major illness as a serious problem. Kerry estimates his plan would extend health care coverage to 26.7 million Americans and cost $653 billion over 10 years. The Bush plan is estimated at $564 billion over 10 years and provides health care to an additional 10 million Americans. Native American Times is Copyright c. 2004 Oklahoma Indian Times, Inc. --------- "RE: Former NCAI Head throws support behind Kerry" --------- Date: Mon, 4 Oct 2004 20:13:53 EDT From: MJLaBurt@aol.com Subj: Former NCAI head throws support behind Kerry Mailing List: NDNAIM http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=5238 Former NCAI head throws support behind Kerry Allen says as a Republican he wanted to support Bush but couldn't Sam Lewin October 4, 2004 A former head of the National Congress of American Indians and a member of the Republican Party says he is supporting the Kerry/Edwards ticket this year. W. Ron Allen, also the Chairman of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe of Sequim of Washington State, announced the endorsement at the National Native Vote Rally this weekend. Allen said he wanted to support the GOP but concluded that it was not in his best interest to do so. "I am a Republican and have attempted to support the Bush administration, but have been disappointed in the lack of support and the broken promises for our Tribes' agenda. They have not advanced our sovereignty; nor assisted our Tribes in achieving our goals of self-governance, self- reliance, protection of our Treaty rights; nor addressed our community health care, economic/jobs needs, housing, transportation, protection of our natural resources, and public safety needs," Allen said in a statement. "I have been particularly disappointed in President Bush's budgets that have penalized the Tribes' BIA budget to pay for federal mismanagement of Tribal and individual trust resources. I believe that a Kerry-Edwards administration will honor its commitments and promises to the Tribes and our communities. I'm confident that a Kerry Administration budget will correct the injustice imposed on Tribes over the past four years." Kerry has been touting a plan to boost health care on tribal lands, an idea that Bush administration officials have criticized as too costly. In his statement, Allen also echoed a call that has been heard quite a few times this election year: Get out the vote. "With only a month until Election Day, Native Americans have an opportunity to shape a national election like never before. By exercising our right to vote, we will have our voices heard. If we want an administration in the White House that will give us a seat at the table and listen to our concerns, we must get out and vote this November. This election is too important to sit on the sidelines," he said. Indians are still overwhelmingly Democrats, although there are a growing number of exceptions. Thirty-seven American Indian delegates attended the Republican convention in New York this summer as opposed to the 87 who went to the Democratic convention in Boston. Native American Times is Copyright c. 2004 Oklahoma Indian Times, Inc. --------- "RE: Vincent: George W. Bush just like George A. Custer" --------- Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2004 08:26:18 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="VINCENT: BUSH" http://www.indianz.com/News http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/04/09/28_stand.html Bush's Last Stand September 28, 2004 By Steven Vincent President Bush likes to think of himself as a "war President," who is "resolute," "steadfast," and "decisive." He also likes to compare himself to historical figures. His favorite is Winston Churchill who led Great Britain through the horrors of World War II. I believe a comparison to a historical figure is appropriate but I think he is much more like a famous American military leader - General George Armstrong Custer. Like George W. Bush, George A. Custer was born to a privileged family. He used his family's political connections to get into West Point, an institution of learning he was not otherwise qualified for. While at West Point, George did not distinguish himself among his 34 classmates. His carefree attitude and joking demeanor did not sit well with the rigid requirements of military school life. He was often punished and, at one point, received enough demerits to be expelled. Someone was watching out for young George though and his demerits were mysteriously removed from the record, allowing him to continue. Cadet George Custer graduated from West Point 34th out of 34, last of his class. He was nearly court-martialed for neglect of duties while still at West Point awaiting his commission but again, somehow, skated by without punishment - a now recurring theme in George's life. Despite his poor grades and inability to grasp basic military requirements, George was given a plumb assignment in the military during the Civil War. The units he commanded suffered unusually high casualty rates even by the standards of the time due to George's arrogance, brazen aggression and disregard for his men's safety. In late 1867 Custer was court-martialed and suspended from duty for a year for being absent from duty but he used his connections to, once again, skirt punishment and regain his standing in the military. General Phil Sheridan used his military power to excuse young George's youthful mistake and brought him back into a position with more power and authority. George was a master of military politics and somehow worked his way up to Brigadier General at the age of 25, the youngest man ever to attain that rank. Gen. George was placed in command of a contingent of men to seek out "renegade" Indians who were holding up the "progress" of miners and other business venturers from gaining profit off of the unexplored lands. The Natives were portrayed as vicious savages intent on killing innocent American civilians though the majority of them just wanted to live their lives in peace in their homelands. George's fate and historical fame were both wrapped up in an expedition to destroy the Lakota, Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians in Montana because of the wrongful association of all of the tribes in that area with the attacks by one tribe and chief, Crazy Horse. The U. S. government, in all of its wisdom, decided to round up, imprison or destroy all of the Native people in that area and they relied on their young, brash, arrogant commander to do it. Riding with his men and two other brigades, the plan was to use overwhelming force to destroy the less well-armed and organized Indians. Young and boastful, George knew that this mission would ensure his fame, fortune and political future for all time and led his men into battle in spite of the intelligence he was getting from the field. Though he was warned in advance by scouts that the Indians had a much larger force than was originally thought, he continued his march. Though allied units commanded by far more experienced leaders fell behind and were not with him, he pushed forward, resolute. Though he split his forces into three separate units, weakening them, he rode ahead, confidently. Though he went into battle with underwhelming force, he did so convinced of his ability to bring forth a glorious victory for his country and himself. Convinced of his own superiority and leadership skills, George pushed valiantly forward into one of the greatest military blunders in U.S. history. The Indians, formerly opponents of each other, united against the vicious attacks of the U.S. military and thousands of former enemies combined their forces to attack George and his troops. General George Armstrong Custer led all of his men, cocksure, to slaughter. Not one soldier under his command survived his confident, resolute, and blindingly wrong blunder. The amazing thing is, there are still George defenders who claim he was a great leader and military mind. In spite of evidence to the contrary, he will always, in some minds, be considered a brave patriot whose confidence, resoluteness, and conviction in his decision-making outweigh the ultimate result of his foolish choices. But while there are many historical similarities between the two Georges, there is one glaring difference. One George led his men into battle and faced the bullets and arrows of the enemy, donned the uniform and fought for his country, led his men from the front, and stood behind his choices personally and was forced to accept their fatal outcome. The other is our President. Visit Steven Vincent's blog at http://www.conservativefighter.blogspot.com Copyright c. 2001 - 2004 Democratic Underground, LLC. --------- "RE: IRS starts taxing Tribe's Fuel Imports" --------- Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2004 08:37:34 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MOHAWK vs IRS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.thechamplainchannel.com/news/3768886/detail.html IRS Starts Taxing Tribe's Fuel Imports September 29, 2004 AKWESASNE, N.Y. - A taxing situation on the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation could leave people with fewer options for cheaper gas. On Tuesday, the IRS began collecting taxes on the tribe's fuel supply. Tribal leaders say the economic impact will be devastating. The new tax could end up closing gas stations, leaving about 300 peopole jobless. The tribe imports almost 12 million gallons of fuel each year from Canadian companies. The transaction has not been taxed before. "Programs will be cut, people laid off," said Ron LaFrance, a tribal leader. When workers "go and sign up for welfare, maybe that will send a message to Washington and Albany." The tribe says that the money now earmarked for taxes was to have been used to help fund healthcare, education and reservation law enforcement programs. The tribe is considering establishing road or seaway tolls to help offset the loss in projected revenue. Copyright 2004 by TheChamplainChannel.com. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Hiding Genocide: Museum of the American Indian" --------- Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 08:28:51 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NMAI" http://www.aics.org/natlmuseum.html Hiding Genocide: The National Museum Of The American Indian Oklahoma Indian Times Inc. Editors and Publishers: Elizabeth Gray and Jim Gray P.O. Box 692050 Tulsa, OK 74169 or email to Editor@okit.com HIDING GENOCIDE: The National Museum of the American Indian By Carter Camp There is an enormous cultural rip-off being foisted upon our Nations by Washington D.C. I've warned of it before, but a small voice is easily drowned out when millions of dollars are being spent and the voice of the Great White Father anoints Indian leaders. For a decade or more the Smithsonian fundraising machine has gone merrily along, draining much needed funds away from the Indian community and diverting America's attention away from the economic, cultural and legal devastation going on across our homelands. Many interest groups coveted the final two vacant spaces on the National Mall. Congress in its wisdom awarded one site to a very politically powerful (and deserving) Jewish applicant and another to the very politically powerful Smithsonian Institution, their 'keeper of the loot'. Contrast the two new museums and you can see how they are used to support a conqueror's cleansed view of history: For the Jewish museum no thought at all was given to using it to show the world ancient Jewish culture and artifacts. They could have displayed scenes of ancient Jewish life: hunting, tanning hides and pastoral living. Like an Indian museum, it would have been beautiful and easy for people to enjoy. It wasn't done that way for one reason...The Jewish people were in charge and they decided for themselves what aspect of their history to show the world. They decided with one voice to use the rare space as a shield to protect their people against a repeat of the Nazi holocaust. Jewish politicians funded and protected Jewish intellectuals, artists, historians, Rabbis, and survivors as they crafted a way to commemorate their dead and to use their past to protect their future. They refused to allow the dreams of others to distort the truth of their horror, and now their museum is a powerful testament to a Jewish dream, not a gentile revision of reality. Our space, and the world's window to our Nations, was turned over to the Smithsonian Institution to enshrine the lie of 'manifest destiny' and the historical inevitability of the American Holocaust. America's museums have always been a prime purveyor of the big lies of American history, now the largest and worst is given an army of non-Indian historians, anthros, romance writers and a couple of Indian scouts, to define us to the world. THEY decided with one voice NOT to use our rare and precious space as a shield of truth against the American Holocaust or to prevent the conclusion of its evil purpose against my people. We still die, our sacred sites are paved over, our dead dug up, our children stolen and mis- educated. Missionaries search the jungle for the last of us. American's sensibilities are being spared at the cost of continuing depredations against Indian people. Americans will go to the Holocaust Museum and be told the horrible truths of what Hitler and the Nazi's did to the Jews. They will cry for the victims and mourn with the survivors, in the end they too will be determined to protect the Jewish people from a repeat of the Holocaust. All thinking people support this. They will also be comforted (and exempted) to know that America defeated the Nazi, stopped the killing, and helped Jews return to their homeland. Next, Americans can walk over to the museum of 'Indian' history. They will be amazed and pleased at the beauty of our past. Scenes of tipis, tanning hides and pastoral living will hide the blood covering every-square-inch of America. Our blood. They will go home marveling at our ancient art and beauty and a little sad we had to pass into history. They may even feel a twinge of guilt at the part their ancestors played in our demise. But they will go away without seeing or knowing the "time of horror" each and every Tribe went through upon contact with the European. They will go home without realizing how much of the slaughter was an officially inspired, government planned, and racist policy of genocide. They will not realize the depth of the crime committed so they will not understand the crimes being committed today or the need for reparations to heal the devastation. They will not understand that there were entire Societies for whom the "final solution" worked. Entire Tribes, as whole and complete as the Jewish Tribes, were completely erased from Mother Earth. Their language will never be heard, their poetry, music, science and art is lost to the world because they met a people who believed in their own, god given, superiority and the inferiority of all else. (The base cause of all genocide.) They will go home without feeling the need to help Indian Nations secure their own homelands or becoming determined there never is another American Holocaust. Worst of all, they will go home and not know that our people still suffer ongoing policies of genocide and attacks on our existence. Missionaries and Governments still work and plan to erase us from the face of our Mother Earth. Indian Country, from the Artic to Antarctica, is still awash in the blood of our People. Should American Indians be suspicious about the placement and content of these two Museums? Jew and "Indian?" Did it take some C.I.A. psy-war expert to figure out how best to cover-up the murder of over 200 million people? Will this museum, with a mere nod to the 500-year holocaust, stand as the permanent enshrinement of the American lie and the final resting place of Indian history? I believe there should be a holocaust museum on Americas National Mall, in Americas Capitol city. But not one of the European disasters. It must be a Bright Red Museum of the American Holocaust! It must call the roll of entire Nations of beautiful people who succumbed to the genocidal onslaught. "IT MUST BEGIN OUR TIME OF MOURNING BY ENDING OUR TIME OF FEAR" ... for all my relations. Native American Times is Copyright c. 2004 Oklahoma Indian Times, Inc. --------- "RE: Coeur d'Alene Tribe balks at Dam Relicensing" --------- Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 08:28:51 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="COEUR d'ALENE LAKE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.cdapress.com/articles/2004/09/29/news/news03.txt Tribe balks at dam relicensing By MIKE McLEAN Staff writer Avista must submit requests by next summer September 29, 2004 SPOKANE VALLEY - More than two years into a collaborative effort to relicense dams on the Spokane River, the Coeur d'Alene Tribe is reserving the right to withdraw from talks if tribal requests for information aren't met. The tribe's top concern is for Avista Corp. to analyze the effects of a natural river flow in the Spokane River as if the Post Falls Dam wasn't there. "We may be at a point in time that it's not likely for us to reach an agreement with Avista," said Robert Matt, the tribe's program manager for Lake Coeur d'Alene, at a stakeholders meeting Tuesday in Spokane Valley. The tribe owns the southern third of Lake Coeur d'Alene. Avista is employing a collaborative process in which dozens of stakeholders are working to shape its application to relicense five hydroelectric dams, including the Post Falls Dam. The summer lake level is controlled by Avista's operation of the Post Falls Dam on the Spokane River, which is the main outlet of Lake Coeur d'Alene. Avista wants to have a draft settlement agreement ready within two months. Matt said it's unacceptable to the tribe that Avista is using current dam operations as the baseline for offsetting the future effects of manipulating the Spokane River flow for recreation and electricity generation. Bruce Howard, Avista relicensing manager, said the company needs to move forward on a settlement agreement as a basis for the relicensing application which must be submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in July. "There is very little chance - zero maybe - that future operations at Post Falls Dam are going to look like they do today," Howard said. Matt brought three lawyers who submitted the tribe's objections to the direction of relicensing talks. "We're not shy in telling the group we have significant comments that are not getting addressed," Matt said. "We are building a record and that's what you're seeing coming from our attorneys." Attorney Michael Waldrup asked if a formal withdrawal option is available for the tribe. Chip Corsi, regional supervisor for Idaho Department of Fish and Game, asked if the tribe would participate in an adaptive management agreement in which information gaps can be filled in later. Corsi was one of the leaders in a collaborative relicensing agreement for two dams on the Clark Fork River. He said a flexible agreement was successful there. "We worked on fish passage for some time and knew we couldn't deal with it on time for relicensing," Corsi said. Matt said the problem isn't just with missing information. "Some of our problems are with the information as we have it," he said. "We can't put our name on it or endorse it if we don't agree with the science." Howard Funke, another attorney for the tribe, said the lakes and rivers are the heart and soul of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe's homeland. "The tribe has a virtually genetic predisposition to protect these waters," Funke said. He said Avista is seeking the right to continue flooding tribal land. The tribe could argue that Avista owes it money for storing water on tribal land, Funke said. We have ecological and cultural resource interests," he said. "We want to know the costs and benefits of storing water and generating power." Matt said the tribe has no intention of draining the lake. "We're not saying we want a run-of-the-river scenario to be the preferred alternative," he said. "All we ask is to understand the implications of the project. Our agenda is to keep the lake safe and manage problems as well as we can." John Barlow, president of Hagadone Real Estate Holding Co., recommended Avista provide the information the tribe is asking for. "I will be disappointed if the tribe has to withdraw," said Barlow, a member of the recreation stakeholder committee. "We've all put in a lot of time and we'll be disappointed if it doesn't come to fruition." Copyright c. 2004, The Coeur d'Alene Press. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Tribe looking to deal with the Fast Ferry" --------- Date: Fri, 1 Oct 2004 08:49:17 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SENECA CAYUGA" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.10nbc.com/news.asp?story_id=12725 Seneca Cayuga Tribe looking to deal with the fast ferry October 1, 2004 News 10 NBC has tracked down a possible investor in the Fast Ferry. The group has the money to spend and desperately wants to do business in Rochester, but before they jump on board with the ferry, they have one request. The group we are talking about is the Seneca Cayuga Indian Nation. They have not talked to anyone but News 10 NBC about investing in the ferry. They are interested but the only thing they want in return is a chance to run a casino in Rochester. Jay Whitecrow is a tribal representative of the Seneca Cayuga Indian Nation. For the first time, he says the tribe is interested in supporting the ferry financially, but only if they get a casino in return. "If we were able to make arrangements for the casino in downtown Rochester like we originally spoken about, then I think we'd have an interest. I'm sure at this point with the ferry being in trouble, that our interest would have to include money. How big a monetary contribution, we are not really sure." Whitecrow and his tribal partner Jerry Dilliner, have been in New York since 2002. They wanted to start building a casino on their farmland. They then tried to partner with mall developer Tom Wilmot to build a casino in Downtown Rochester. A court order stopped the building the first time while City Hall and Rochester Clergy strongly opposed the second. "The question is not only how much will the community make, but how much does the community lose," said the Clergy. So now the tribe is betting its casino plans on the ferry. Dilliner thought that this business arrangement would benefit both counterparts. "It would be a good opportunity for Rochester and good opportunity for the tribe. Both companies would benefit from it." CATS are looking for new investors to try and help them out of their financial problems. Mayor Bill Johnson says CATS needs to raise 2-10 million dollars to re-start the project. Other potential investors, like the Rump Group's Dutch Summers, would not commen t on their interest, but admit talks have happened. 'There's been endless conversation, as broad as the mind can imagine. There's also been all kinds of scenarios surfaced, sometimes at serious levels sometimes at frivolous levels." News 10 NBC tried to contact the Mayor about this proposal, but he is out of town on Thursday. Tom Wilmot, who has a working relationship with the Seneca Cayuga Tribe, did not want to comment while CATS is not revealing anything about their attempts to get new investment. Copyright c. 2003 10NBC, Rochester, NY. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Morongo Band plans Road closures" --------- Date: Fri, 1 Oct 2004 08:49:17 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MORONGO BAND ACCESS ROADS" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.pe.com/localnews/pass/stories/PE_News_Local_close01.a06a7.html Morongo Band plans road closures RESERVATION: Access would end for outsiders seeking shortcuts by driving through the area. October 1, 2004 By KARIN MARRIOTT / The Press-Enterprise MORONGO INDIAN RESERVATION - Motorists who use roads through the reservation as a shortcut or to avoid traffic on Interstate 10 may soon have to face gridlock. The Morongo Band of Mission Indians plans to close to the public roads leading into the reservation, Chairman Maurice Lyons said in a recent phone interview. "There was a lot of things happening on the reservation. People were coming out dumping things" and there was a drug problem for several years, he said. "Within the next three months, this will be a closed community. Because we took back our roads from the (Riverside) county and BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) so we can close it off and only members come in." When the roads to the Morongo reservation do close, it will be the second reservation in the Inland area to take such action. The Pechanga Reservation near Temecula is also closed to the public, Jim Fletcher, superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Southern California Agency, said by phone. The 33,000-acre Morongo Indian Reservation lies between Banning and Cabazon, about 20 miles west of Palm Springs. Creating a gated community would not affect traffic destined for the tribe's casino, Waltona Manion, the tribe's public-relations consultant, said by phone. The casino on the Morongo Reservation, located next to a new 27-story hotel, casino and resort the tribe plans to open in December, is north of I-10 on Seminole Drive, which is a county-operated road, she said. Wear and Tear The tribe took over authority and maintenance of the roads on the reservation from Riverside County in December 2000, Manion said. Riverside County Sheriff's Department and California Highway Patrol officials have said the tribe has the right to close the roads. The tribal council has spent $1.6 million for repairs and improvements to 26 miles of roads that went largely untended before the tribe assumed authority of them. Improvements included resurfacing, widening and flood control, Manion said via e-mail. Tribal officials are still discussing how to monitor Fields Road and Morongo Road - the two main arteries into the reservation. Possibilities include installing electronic gates or guard booths to ensure that only reservation residents enter the area, Manion said. Residents on the reservation have complained in the past that outside motorists using their roads to avoid traffic jams elsewhere have at times created bumper-to-bumper conditions, reservation officials have said. In June, tribal security turned drivers away at Hathaway Street and Morongo Road when traffic backed up for hours on eastbound I-10 after a tanker overturned and caused a gas spill. When the reservation becomes gated, Lyons said tribal officials will likely work with county and law enforcement officials on traffic issues during emergencies. Impact on Drivers Julie Spangler, a Beaumont resident who works at the Desert Hills Premium Outlets in Cabazon, said traffic has increased in the area, but that she cannot imagine it gets too bad on the reservation. "I don't think very many people know how to get through it. I think it's just the locals. And even some locals don't know," she said. "I can totally understand their point of view in wanting to maintain their roads. It doesn't seem to me, though, that it (outside traffic) is that threatening." A closed reservation doesn't bother Jacqueline Condol, 20, of Beaumont. She tried to use the reservation once to avoid heavy traffic. "I was so lost. I ended up in someone's back yard," she said. "I never used it after that." For Spangler, a mother of four, the reservation's roads often become a useful alternative during her commute. "I'm really uncomfortable with that (the pending closure) mainly because there's a lot of accidents that have been happening near Cabazon and a lot of road work ... but when I see an accident (on the freeway), I can get off at Hargrave (Street in Banning) and make it on time to get to work," she said. Reach Karin Marriott at (951) 846-2303 or kmarriott@pe.com Copyright c. The Press-Enterprise, Belo Interactive Inc. --------- "RE: Mystery still surrounds Jumano Apache Tribe" --------- Date: Mon, 4 Oct 2004 08:42:47 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="JUMANO" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/nation/9826173.htm Mystery still surrounds Jumano Apache Indian tribe BY ART CHAPMAN Knight Ridder Newspapers October 3, 2004 FORT WORTH, Texas - (KRT) - Along the Rio Grande, a dozen or so miles southeast of Presidio in West Texas, there is an effort to acknowledge the existence of an ancient tribe of American Indians. They were once known as Jumano Indians, tribal leaders say. More specifically, they were Jumano Apache, and more than 300 people have signed up on the tribal roll. They have petitioned the federal government for recognition. The problem is, there is scant historical information on the tribe, and what exists paints a brief and hazy picture of the tribe's record. "We want our identity back," tribal leader Gabriel Carrasco of El Paso, Texas, told the "San Antonio Express-News." "And later on, if we are recognized, establish some jobs for the people. We are going to build a culture center as soon as we have money or a grant to do it." The center would be in Redford, Texas, a tiny, dusty town between Presidio and Lajitas on the banks of the Rio Grande. Redford is remembered as the place where teen-ager Esequiel Hernandez was killed May 20, 1997, by U.S. Marines on a drug patrol. Redford is also the home of Enrique Madrid, another Jumano tribal leader. "Hopefully, it (tribal recognition) will help us overcome what we've had to live with for 150 years as Americans," Madrid told the San Antonio paper. "As Americans, we are just poor. We need a better state of being." No American Indian tribe has exactly flourished in Texas. There are only three federally recognized tribes in the state: the Kickapoo near Eagle Pass, the Alabama-Coushatta in East Texas and the Tigua of the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo in El Paso. There is a movement in South Texas to recognize the Coahuiltecans, another ancient tribe that has been nearly lost to history. That movement, like the Jumano, has stalled. "The problem is, the term Jumano was used in multiple instances by the Spanish," said Robert Mallouf, director of the Center for Big Bend Studies at Sul Ross State University in Alpine. "It is a difficult research problem. It has been a problem for years." Mallouf said there is really no question that the group existed, but documenting that existence will be hard. Did the term Jumano really apply to several groups? Many ethnohistorians and archaeologists believe that the Jumano were assimilated by the Mescalero and Lipan Apaches. Many scientists doubt that there was ever a distinctive subgroup called Jumano Apache. Scholars say many Spanish documents appear to indicate that the Jumanos ceased to exist as a distinct group when they blended with the Apaches in the mid-1700s. Nancy Kenmotsu, director of cultural resources for the Texas Transportation Department in Austin, has done extensive research on the area around Redford, an area called "La Junta de Los Rios." "Redford was originally a small pueblo at the time the Spanish first arrived in 1582," she said. "In my personal opinion - and others have a different take - the people there were not Jumano." There were Jumano in the West Texas region, north of the Pecos River, she said. But her research led her to believe that they were amalgamated with the nearby Apache tribes, she said. Mallouf said the tribe will have to show "continuity from the early historical period into the present" before it can gain federal recognition. He doesn't say it is impossible, but it is likely improbable. "We don't want a reservation," Carrasco said. "But we do want to be able to create jobs for the people and restore the community." It will be a hard sell. The tribe's petition for recognition - its letter of intent - is one of 200 pending before the Bureau of Indian Affairs. --- Copyright c. 2004, Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services. --------- "RE: Festival honors events in Tribal History" --------- Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2004 08:37:34 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NISQUALLY" http://www.theolympian.com//20040926/southsound/153579.shtml Festival honors events in tribal history Boldt decision, others preserved Nisqually rights SCOTT GUTIERREZ THE OLYMPIAN September 24, 2004 NISQUALLY - Georgianna Kautz remembers the height of the "fish wars" more than 30 years ago, when Nisqually tribal men like her husband and father were hauled off to jail for trying to continue their livelihoods on the Nisqually River. Commercial fishing had drastically increased, but the state blamed tribal nets for declining salmon runs. A volatile dispute of arrests and fish-ins made its way to the courtroom of a federal judge named George Boldt, whose infamous decision affirmed Indians' rights to 50 percent of harvestable salmon and equal control over the state's fisheries. On Saturday, the Boldt decision and many other historical anniversaries critical to tribal survival and to the preservation of environmental wonders like the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge were celebrated during the 15th annual Nisqually Watershed Festival. "I think it was one of the biggest decisions as far as Indians go," Kautz, the Nisqually Tribe's natural resources manager, said of the Boldt decision. The decision affirmed tribal rights to partner with the state in preserving the Nisqually River's resources, she said. And she praised Boldt for his courage. "Now we had a say in protecting it and enhancing it and restoring it," she said, "but not without a lot of other people in this community." A handful of dignitaries, including Thurston County Commissioner Diane Oberquell and U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., gathered for the celebration to pay homage to the progress and partnerships between the state, county, U.S. government and tribe in protecting resources like the refuge and the river. Tribal members like Kautz also reflected on the Treaty of Medicine Creek, signed between the Nisquallys, Squaxins and Puyallups with territorial Gov. Isaac Stevens in 1854, which ceded tribal lands to the government in exchange for reservation lands and the right to continue hunting and fishing on accustomed lands. Tribal forefathers who signed the treaty recognized the importance of hunting and fishing to their culture, Kautz said. As part of the celebration, the $3 entrance fee was waived for those who wanted to stroll along the trails circulating through the 3,000 acres of natural habitat. A slew of activities, including nature walks and tours, were offered, as were hands-on presentations on reptiles, fish and birds. Among some other milestones recognized were the 40th anniversary of the Wilderness Act of 1964, the Endangered Species Act and the 30th anniversary of the creation of the refuge itself. "Everything is a circle and it is complete with the salmon, the river and everything that happened," Kautz said. Saturday's ceremony also looked to the future, with a comprehensive plan soon to be adopted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to expand the refuge, nearly doubling its current size. The new 15-year plan also would restore about 700 acres of estuary, where the river meets the saltwater, by breaching dikes on the outer edges. "It would be the biggest estuary restoration of its kind in the Pacific Northwest," said Jean Takekawa, refuge manager for the Fish and Wildlife Service. Those who came out to enjoy the views Saturday were grateful for those in the past who fought to spare the refuge from development. "The fact that this has been maintained and is one of the most pure estuaries in the country is something everyone can feel proud about and enjoy," said Rich Palladino, of Steilacoom, who explained that he's been coming to the refuge for 30 years. Another beauty of the refuge is its proximity to the community, said Nancy Paxton, who walked with him. "It's so peaceful. It gets you away from the stresses of life," she said. Ted Steege of Olympia first started coming to the refuge for walks in the 1970s, but grew interested in bird-watching through the influence of some friends. A set of binoculars was slung around his neck. "This is an amazing place," Steege said. "And to have it this close to Olympia-Tacoma is outstanding." Scott Gutierrez writes for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5465 or sgutierr@olympia.gannett.com. Copyright c. 2004 The Olympian. --------- "RE: Judge questions Plan on Dams" --------- Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 08:28:51 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DAM PLAN" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.dhonline.com/articles/2004/09/28/news/oregon/state02.txt Judge questions plan on dams September 28, 2004 PORTLAND (AP) - The Bush administration's dismissal of dam removal as an option for restoring salmon has been met with skepticism by the federal judge overseeing the protection of the fish. At issue is a draft plan by federal authorities for balancing the needs of salmon against the demand for electricity, irrigation water and barge transportation provided by dams in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. U.S. District Judge James Redden has raised several questions about the legal and scientific footing for the plan and will lay out his concerns at a status conference today with government lawyers and those for conservation groups and American Indian tribes. Redden, in a written order, questioned the government's revised conclusion that the dams pose no jeopardy to the continued existence of salmon. The conclusion was a reversal from the government's previous position that the threat of dams is significant enough to consider targeting some for removal. Conservationists, American Indian tribes and commercial and sport fishing groups were frustrated by the government's new stance. "All we're saying is, use best science, not best politics, when managing these fish stocks," said Trey Carskadon, a board member for the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association. Fishing and conservation groups say the surest way to restore fish is to remove four dams on the lower Snake River. Bush administration officials dismissed dam removal from consideration, saying the Endangered Species Act requires the fisheries service to consider only how the dams will be operated, not their existence. A spokesman for the National Marine Fisheries Service, the federal agency responsible for endangered salmon, said the draft meets legal requirements. Copyright c. 2004 The Albany, Oregon Democrat-Herald, Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Washington Tribe Awarded for Wetlands Restoration" --------- Date: Tue, 5 Oct 2004 08:24:48 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="JAMESTOWN S'KLALLAM AWARDED" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/sited/story/html/174996 Blyn: U.S. to recognize tribe for wetlands efforts today by BRENDA HANRAHAN October 5, 2004 BLYN - Jamestown S'Klallam tribal members will be recognized today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for their wetlands restoration efforts. Agriculture Undersecretary for Natural Resources and Environment Mark E. Rey will give tribal leaders an Outstanding Conservation Cooperator Award for significant wetland restoration accomplishments in the Sequim Bay watershed. Rey and others will also tour the wetlands. The restoration efforts are taking place on the southern end of Sequim Bay at the mouth of Jimmycomelately Creek. A wide array of wildlife including an endangered run of summer chum salmon which will travel the restored Jimmycomelately Creek, plus waterfowl, raptors and amphibians will benefit from the wetland restoration, Rey said. In June, a cooperative agreement was signed between the tribe and Natural Resources Conservation Service to provide just under $1 million of Wetlands Reserve Program funding. Copyright c. 2004 Horvitz Newspapers, Inc. --------- "RE: Editorial: Schwarzenegger wrong on Mascot Bill" --------- Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2004 08:26:18 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CALIFORNIA MASCOT BILL" http://www.indianz.com/News http://www.thedesertsun.com//20040927024636.shtml Our Voice: Schwarzenegger erred in his rebuke of mascot bill `Redskin' is racist, derogatory term - has no place in school The Desert Sun September 27, 2004 Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger should have done his homework on the origin of the word `Redskin' before nixing a bill that would ban the use of the offensive name on five school campuses in California. His reasoning, that "Decisions regarding athletic team names, nicknames or mascots should be retained at the local level" - doesn't address the very real issue of racism involved here. We're all in support of local control - but this is not a local control issue - it's an issue of prejudice. Since it doesn't look like the governor opened his history book - or the Google search engine - before making his decision - we decided to do the research for him: At one time in our not so distant past, there was a bounty on the heads of the Indian people. Along with animal skins, they would bring along Indian scalps to barter at the trading posts. Red skins - get it? It means a dead Indian's scalp. There's no getting around the true meaning - it's a part of a notorious time in our country's history. At its most basic level, and according to Webster's New World College Dictionary, `redskin' is defined as: an American Indian: now considered by many to be an offensive term. A few hundred pages later, you find the word "whitey" - a white person or white people collectively: a usually hostile term of contempt. So what the heck is the difference? They are both derogatory and inflammatory. Can't you just imagine that all hell would break loose if a school nicknamed its teams the "whities" - even in jest? The governor bucked a long list of Indian, labor, civil rights and school group supporters. Choosing, instead, to side with a much smaller minority that included some of the affected schools, their representatives and a few others, including the Santa Rosa Rancheria Tachi Tribe, according to a legislative analysis of the bill. Schwarzenegger let an opportunity slip by to extinguish racist references from somewhere they most certainly do not belong - our youth's team jerseys. A bold signature by the governor on this bill would have sent a strong message: racist mascots of any type will not be tolerated in our schools. Unfortunately, he's left the door open on this one. THE ISSUE: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently vetoed legislation that would have banned the use of `Redskins' as a school mascot OUR STANCE: The term `Redskins' has long been part of this nation's vocabulary, especially when it comes to sports teams. But it is derogatory - the true meaning: A dead Indian's scalp. Schwarzenegger had an opportunity to extinguish this racist reference by California schools by banning the use of `Redskins' as a school mascot. Unfortunately, he chose not to. Support for Legislation (partial list) Alliance Against Racial Mascots Alliance of native Americans of Southern California American Indian Child Resource Center American Indian Movement - Ohio, Kentucky American Indian Recruitment Project, UCLA American Indian Student Association, UCLA American Sports Institute Americans for Indian Opportunity California Federation of Teachers California Indian Education Association California Nations Indian Gaming Association California School Employees Association California Teachers Association Capitol Area Indian Resources, Inc. Coyote Valley Tribal Council Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians El Dorado/Amador Counties Indian Education Project First Nations Tribal Family Center, Incorporated Fontana Native American Indian Center Foothill Indian Education Alliance, Inc. Hoopa Valley Tribal Council Juaneno Band of Mission Indians National Indian Education Association Native Nations Law and Policy Institute, UCLA Sierra Nevada Native American Council, Inc. Southern California Indian Center TRIAD-Team Response: Indians Against Defamation Tribal Law and Policy Institute Opposition to Legislation City of Arcadia Congressman Devin Nunes Gustine Unified School District Board of Education Santa Rosa Rancheria Tachi Tribe Tulare Improvement Program Tulare Union High School Copyright c. 2004 The Desert Sun. --------- "RE: American Indian News is Good but not Great" --------- Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2004 08:37:34 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NDN EDU" http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u_pg=1640&u_sid=1215205 American Indian news is good but not great BY EMILY GERSEMA WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER September 28, 2004 WAYNE, Neb. - American Indian students are improving academically, but reservation schools still struggle to retain teachers and have low graduation rates, Nebraska Education Commissioner Doug Christensen said Monday. "We've seen rising attendance rates. Our test scores are going up. But are we ready to declare victory? No," Christensen said at a press conference at Wayne State College. Christensen and 150 teachers, administrators, and community leaders attended a state-sponsored meeting on boosting American Indian students' academic performance. An estimated 10,000 American Indians attend Nebraska public schools, state officials said. Districts with high numbers of American Indian students include Omaha Nation, Walthill, Winnebago, Santee, Omaha Public Schools and Lincoln Public Schools. For six years, the department has worked closely with the schools, administrators and their tribal communities to try new ways to interest children and their parents in school because test scores, graduation rates and attendance have lagged below national and statewide averages. The federal No Child Left Behind law puts pressure on schools to get better test scores. Schools that fail to comply could lose funding. Christensen said schools and tribes are encouraged to integrate native language and culture into daily lessons. Sometimes this means bending the rules so the kids can relate to what they learn, he said. For example, the state has allowed the schools to invite Indian artists into classrooms, even though some of the artists are not state-certified teachers. The schools also are urged to come up with research projects that allow the children to investigate their history. One school, Omaha Nation, has published booklets on the plants used for food and medicine by the tribe - a project that involves interviewing elders, learning the Omaha language and studying plant science. The State Board of Education sent the Legislature a request for $10 million to help schools with large number of American Indian students improve. Christensen said he also hopes to find ways to retain teachers. Copyright c. 2004 Omaha World-Herald. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Marcos: The Speed of Dreams, Part 1" --------- Date: Sun, 3 Oct 2004 23:02:05 -0500 (CDT) From: owner-chiapas95-english@eco.utexas.edu (Chiapas95-english) Subj: En;Marcos:the Speed of Dreams,Pt 1,Oct 01 Mailing List: Chiapas95 English ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sat, 2 Oct 2004 16:40:57 -0500 (CDT) From: Irl4now@cs.com Originally published in Spanish by the EZLN Translated by irlandesa The Speed of Dreams Part One: Boots Dawn does not make haste in the mountains of the Mexican Southeast. As if it were in no hurry, it takes delight in each and every corner, like a patient and dedicated lover. The fog knows no bounds, with its long dress of cloud, and it manages to smother the most determined light. It lays siege to it, it surrounds it with its snow-white wall, encircles it in a diffuse loop. From the middle of the sky, the moon is making its retreat. A column of smoke mingles with the mist, slowly, with the same languor with which the cloud wraps the scattered huts under the wide skirts of her petticoat. Everyone is sleeping. Everyone except the shadow. Everyone is dreaming. Especially the shadow. As soon as it extends its hand, it catches a question. What is the speed of dreams? I don't know. Perhaps it's...But no, I don't know... The truth is that was is known here is known collectively. We know, for example, that we are at war. And I'm not referring just to the real zapatista war, the one which has not totally satisfied the bloodthirstiness of some media and of some intellectuals "of the left." The ones who are so given, the first to the numbers of deaths, injured and disappeared, and the latter to translating deaths into errors "for not having done what I told them." It is not just that. I'm also speaking about what we call the "Fourth World War" which is being waged by neoliberalism and against humanity. The one which is talking place on all fronts and everywhere, including in the mountains of the Mexican Southeast. As well as in Palestine and in Iraq, in Chechnya and in the Balkans, in Sudan and in Afghanistan, with more or less regular armies. The one which fundamentalism of both camps is carrying to all corners of the planet. The one which, taking on non-military forms, is claiming victims in Latin America, in Social Europe, in Asia, in Africa, in Oceania, in the Near East, with financial bombs that are causing entire nation states and international bodies to disappear into little pieces. This war which, according to us (and, I insist, tendentially), is attempting to destroy/depopulate lands, to rebuild/reorder local, regional and national maps, and to create, by blood and fire, a new world cartography. This one which is leaving its signature in its path: death. Perhaps the question "What is the speed of dreams?" should be accompanied by the question "What is the speed of nightmares?" Just a few weeks prior to the terrorist attacks of March 11, 2004 in Spain, a Mexican political journalist-analyst (one of those to whom they give a piece of candy and then they break into ridiculous praise) was lauding Jose Maria Aznar's vision "of the State." The analyst said that Aznar, by accompanying the United States and Great Britain in the war against Iraq, had gained promising ground for the expansion of the Spanish economy, and the only cost he had to pay was the repudiation by a "small" part of the Spanish population, "the radicals who are never lacking, even in a society as buoyant as the Spanish one," said the "analyst". He went on, noting that the only thing the Spanish had to do was to wait for a while until the reconstruction business of Iraq got underway, and then yes, they would be getting boatloads of money. In short, a dream. It didn't take long until reality demanded the real price for Aznar's "vision of the State." That morning of March 11 the fact that Iraq is not in Iraq came true. I mean Iraq is not only in Iraq, but in the entire world. In short, the Atocha station as a synonym for nightmare. But before the nightmare was the dream, but it was the neoliberal dream. The war against Iraq had been set in motion a good deal prior to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in US lands. In order to go back to that beginning, there is nothing like a photograph... Flat, reddish ground. It looks to be hard. Perhaps clay or something similar. A boot. Alone, without its mate. Abandoned. Without a foot to wear it. Some scattered pieces of rubble. The boot, in fact, looks like one more piece of rubble. It's all that there is in the image, and so it's the bottom of the picture which clarifies what Iraq is about. The date? September, 2004. One can't discern whether the boot is from someone who died, if it was abandoned in flight, or if it is just a discarded boot. Nor is it known if the boot belongs to a US or British soldier, or to a resistance fighter, to an Iraqi civilian or to a civilian from another country. Nonetheless, in spite of the lack of more information, the image presents an idea of what Bush's "postwar" Iraq is: violence, death, destruction, desolation, confusion, chaos. All of it a neoliberal program. If the false arguments that the war against Iraq was a war "against terrorism" have collapsed, the real reasons are now emerging, more than a year after Hussein's statue was pulled down, aided by the tanks of the US war, and a euphoric Bush erected another one to himself declaring an end to the war (Apparently the Iraqi resistance didn't listen to Bush's message: the number of US and British soldiers killed and injured has only increased since "the war ended", and now added to that are the losses of civilians from various nations.) Neo-conservative ideology in the United States has a dream: building a neoliberal "Disneyland." In place of a "village model", a reflection of the counterinsurgency manuals of the 60s, it has to do with building a "nation model." The land of ancient Babylon was then chosen. The dream of building an "example" of what the world should be (always according to the neoliberals) was fueled by "(...) the most prized belief of the ideological architects of the war (against Iraq): that greed is good. Not just good for them and their friends, but good for humanity and certainly good for the Iraqis. Greed creates profits, which create growth, which creates jobs, products and services and anything else which anyone could possibly need or want. "The role of a good government, then, is to create the optimal conditions for corporations to pursue bottomless greed, so that they can, in turn, satisfy the needs of society. "The problem is that governments, even neo-conservative governments, rarely have the opportunity to prove that their sacred theory is correct: despite their enormous ideological efforts, even George Bush's Republicans are, in their own minds, eternally sabotaged by meddling Democrats, stubborn unions and alarmist environmentalists. Iraq was going to change all this. The theory was finally going to be put into practice someplace on Earth in its most perfect and uncompromising form. "A country of 25 million inhabitants would not be rebuilt as it had been prior to the war: it would be erased, disappeared. In its place would appear a dazzling showroom for the laissez-faire politicians, an autopia like the world had never seen." ("Baghdad Year Zero. The Pillage of Iraq After a Neo-conservative Utopia", Naomi Klein in Harper's magazine, September 2004. Translation: Julio Fernandez Baralbar). Instead of that, Iraq is indeed an example, but an example of what is waiting for the entire world if the neoliberals win the great war, the Fourth World War: unemployment of almost 70%, industry and commerce paralyzed, an exorbitant increase in foreign debt, anti-explosion walls everywhere, the exponential growth of fundamentalism, civil war...and the exporting of terrorism to the entire planet. I'm not going to inundate you with something that appears in the news every day: military offensives by the coalition (in a war which has "already ended"), mobilization of the Iraqi resistance, attacks, attacks on military and civilian objectives, kidnappings, executions, new offenses by the coalition, new mobilization of the Iraqi resistance, etcetera. I'm sure you can find plenty of information in the press of the entire world. The best source in Spanish, beyond a shadow of a doubt, is the Mexican newspaper La Jornada, which has among its analysts some of the most serious and best informed on the issue of Iraq. The truth is we have already seen this video in other places...and we are continuing to see it: Chechnya, the Balkans, Palestine and Sudan are only examples of this war which destroys nations in order to try and "restructure" them into paradises...and they end up being turned into hells. An abandoned boot on the ground in "liberated" Iraq sums up the new world order: the destruction of nations, the obliteration of any trace of humanity, reconstruction as the chaotic reordering of the ruins of a civilization. There are, however, other boots, even if they are just a few... Broken boots. Worn-out boots. Yes, Insurgenta Erika's boots are worn- -out. The sole is detached from the right toe, making the boot look like an unsatisfied mouth. The toes aren't visible yet, and so Erika doesn't seem to have realized that her boots, especially the right one, are worn- out. >From the first days in the mountain, I made it my custom to look down.. Footwear is often one of the guerrillero's dreams/nightmares (others?: sugar, keeping your feet dry and other rather damp ones), since he devotes a good deal of his attention to it. Perhaps that's why one acquires that obsession of always looking at other people's feet. Insurgenta Erika has come to advise me that they've now finished editing the story of The Magical Orange (Radio Insurgente's latest production which is about...well, better if you listen to it). I respond to her that her boot is worn-out. She lowers her gaze and tells me "you too." She salutes me and leaves. Erika is going to change clothes because two teams of insurgentas are soon going to be playing football. One is called "8 de Marzo" and the other "The Princesses of the Selva." I don't know much about football, but my understanding is that the "princesses" play in a style rather far removed from the good manners of the corte real, and the "8 de Marzo" play as if it were the first of January uprising. In other words, a good number of them end up in the insurgent medical station. In fact, every time they're going to play, the medical people have the stretcher on one side of the field. "So we don't have to turn around," they say. They tied. Or the insurgentas tied in football. They went to penalties, and they got to the formation time without breaking the tie. Insurgenta Erika came and told me this. Erika is the romance counselor to the insurgentas, but this time she didn't come to tell me that a compa~era's "heart was hurting" from lovesickness, but that the match was over now, and she was going to give a talk to the villages, more specifically, to the women of the villages. She was going as a civilian, or in civilian clothing. Well, that's what she said. Because I saw that she was wearing boots made in zapatista workshops, and they had "EZLN" embossed on one side. "Hmm, if you're going to wear those boots, it would be better if you wore the complete uniform," I told her, trying to be sarcastic. Erika left. She returned shortly with her uniform on. "Where are you going?" I asked her. "To the village," she responded. "But whatever made you go in uniform?" I asked/scolded her. "Because that's what you told me," she said I said. Understanding that it's useless to try and explain the qualities of subtle irony, I just ordered: "No, put civilian clothes on, and take off those boots." She left. She returned shortly in civilian clothing...and barefoot. I sighed, what else could I do? Don't believe Erika. My boot isn't worn out. The stitching is coming apart, which isn't the same. Besides, it's an eye that's split, and so the way the laces are intertwined looks like the political system under neoliberalism: it's a mess, and you don't know where the right is going or where the left is going. I was explaining this to Rolando when who should arrive but... First-Generation To~ita, or To~ita I (she of the kiss denied because "it was too scratchy," she of the little broken cup, she of the stalk of maize fashioned into a doll) is 15 years old now. "Or she finished 14, but she turned 15 and now she's going on 16," her papa, who is one of the oldest zapatista responsables among us, tells me. I concur, not confessing that I have never understood the higher mathematics which rule the calendars in the rebel zapatista communities (after trying to explain it to me, to no avail, Monarca resigned herself and just added: "I think it's because that's our way, which is just quite otherly"). The papa of To~ita I (or First-Generation To~ita) had come so I could see her, because it's been more than 10 years since I'd seen her for the last time. Ten years had not passed in vain, since To~ita I not only didn't deny me a kiss, but, without my saying anything, she gave me a hug and planted a kiss on the padded cheek of my ski-mask and turned all colors (To~ita I, not the ski-mask). I didn't say anything, but I thought "Hmm, I'm not doing well this year...and I haven't taken off my ski-mask even to bathe myself." Then To~ita I took some boots out of her backpack and put them on. I was going to ask her why she was putting her boots on after walking barefoot for six hours from her village, but To~ita spoke first, asking me if she could go "there" - and she pointed to where there was a group of insurgentas. To~ita I knows what a kiss, even if it's on a ski-mask, can achieve, so she didn't wait for an answer and left. While To~ita I was running over to see if they would let her play in the football match, her papa told me about their village (which I have always called, taking care that no one would hear me, "Stormy Peaks"). I had seen the scar left by a scratch on To~ita I's left arm, and I asked him about it. To~ita I's papa told me that a young man from the village had wanted to take her to the latrine (Note: let me explain to the unlikely reader of these lines that in some villages the latrine fulfills not only its smelly hygienic functions, but it's often also the place for couples to meet. There are not a few marriages in the communities which have originated in the not at all romantic location of the latrine. End of Note). What happened was that To~ita I did not want to go to the latrine. "It wasn't her pleasure" her papa informed me. And then the boy tried to force her, and then, "since it wasn't her pleasure," - her papa repeated - they struggled. To~ita I managed to escape, but, as they then said, it was published and the matter reached the village assembly. To~ita I's papa told me that they had wanted to put her in jail. I interrupted: "But why, if they attacked her, and she even had a scratch on her arm?" "Ah, Sup, you should see how the young man ended up" - the papa told me - "He was left flat out unconscious. To~ita is, as they say, quite fierce." To~ita I has, in addition to an attractive face, a sturdy figure or - how can I explain it to you? - well, in order for you to understand me, I'll just tell you that Rolando wanted her to play defense center on the zapatista football team. "But the insurgentas' team is already complete," I said to Rolando. He just added: "Maybe it is for the insurgentas' team, I wanted her for the men's team." Just then the people from the medical unit were going by with two quite battered insurgentas. To~ita I was crying because it was her fault that her team had been given two penalties. I understood Rolando and turned around to her papa and asked him: "Has To~ita I said whether she wanted to be an insurgenta?" To~ita I took her boots off and put them in her backpack. She left with her papa, walking barefoot. It wasn't long before, accompanied by her mother,...Second-Generation To~ ita, or To~ita II, showed up. Elena is the name of To~ita II's, or Second Generation, mama. She is an insurgent medical lieutenant, and she has to her credit the fact that in January of 1994 she saved the lives of various insurgents and militants who were left wounded in the fighting in Ocosingo. In a more than modest field hospital, Elena operated on bullet wounds and extracted pieces of shrapnel from the bodies of zapatistas. "A compa died," she said when she made her report. She didn't mention the more than 30 combatants, who are now living and struggling in these lands, whom she saved. To~ita II is three years old. "Or she's finished two and she's going on four?" I asked, anticipating Elena's explanation. She laughed. I mean Elena laughed. Because To~ita II was shrieking at a level worthy of a more serious cause. And it so happened that, putting on my most flirtatious face (number 7 of my exclusive "catalogue of seductive gazes"), I had asked her for a kiss. To~ita II didn't even say "too scratchy" (not even an improved version), she just started crying with such vehemence that she had a group of insurgentas at her side offering her caramels, a little purse with a rabbit face (although it looked to me as if it were a possum face - the purse, you understand) - and they were even singing the one about the chivito to her, a song that is an uncommon success among zapatista boys and girls. "They don't love you," Major Irma told me, making matters worse. I answered: "Bah, she's crazy for me", and I acted as if my heart were not broken. Leaving the shop, Rolando handed me one of those needles called "capoteras" and a roll of nylon thread. In the hut of the EZLN Comandancia general now, I wonder... I don't know what the speed of dreams is, nor do I know whether to mend my boots or my heart. (To be continued...) >From the mountains of the Mexican Southeast. Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos Mexico, September of 2004, 20 and 10. -- 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: Marcos: The Speed of Dreams, Part 2" --------- Date: Sun, 3 Oct 2004 23:02:07 -0500 (CDT) From: owner-chiapas95-english@eco.utexas.edu (Chiapas95-english) Subj: En;Marcos:the Speed of Dreams,Pt 2,Oct 01 Mailing List: Chiapas95 English ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sun, 3 Oct 2004 22:53:12 -0500 (CDT) From: Irl4now@cs.com Originally published in Spanish by the EZLN Translated by irlandesa The Speed of Dreams Part Two: Shoes, Sneakers, Flip-Flops, Sandals and Heels September is the ninth month of the year, and above it's as if the Moon has a tummy. She even blushes a bit when she lets herself fall over the west. The rain and the clouds almost make an appearance, but they grow lazy and remain behind the mountain, the one which rises to the east. Below, Tania Libertad is singing that song on the little tape player that goes "they're not going to stand in our way (...) we shall grow despite the autumn." Mixed up in the shadows, the shadow is writing a letter. After "Zapatista Army etcetera" and the date, September of 2004, can be read... To: Pierluigi Sullo Editorial Office of the Carta Weekly Italy, European Continent, Planet Earth Pedro Luis, brother: Greetings from the mountains of the Mexican Southeast. I suppose you might think the "Pedro Luis" strange, but I have been influenced by the compas' "way" of "zapatizing" names, and so I'm using "Pedro Luis" for "Pierluigi." Well, then, I received the letter you wrote and which you didn't send. I received the letter in the Carta (August 26 - September 1, 2004, Year VI, Number 31). Since my Italian doesn't extend even to the point of looking like the "Ita~ol" of the "turbineros and tubineras" (who have been working hard for years in order to bring light to La Realidad), I had to ask for someone to do me the favor of translating it. And they did it, but in a neo language that we call "Itazapa~ol" here, which, if my memory doesn't fail me, Vanessa inaugurated when, always disobedient, she remained for years, living in the zapatista reality. Things being as they were, I had to resort to some dictionaries they had sent us some time ago (I don't quite remember, I believe it was Mantovant or Alfio). In order to do that, first I had to look for the dictionaries and find them. They were, as was to be expected, leveling one of the legs of one of the tables of one of the Comandancia Generales of the one and only EZLN. It took me longer to intuit than to know what the letter in Carta said. Perhaps I am wrong, but I managed to understand that the objective of your letter was to greet us...and to posit problems. The epistolary genre is, in my humble opinion, one of the best means of debating (another, better yet, is political practice). You didn't say so openly, but anyone could notice that your letter basically poses, now from rebel Italy, the same problem of the speed of dreams. And, even though you don't say so explicitly either, from the Italy which struggles, or dreams, you also answer "I don't know." Well, I can answer the problems you're raising with the axiom of the ineffable and great (of ego) Don Durito of La Lacandona: "There's no problem so great it can't be mulled over." Although it appears to me to be an excellent recipe (it has given me good results on more than one occasion), I sincerely believe that you are not searching for a solution, but rather for a discussion. The what to do in Italy? is, in effect, a problem. And to my way of thinking it is part of the problem of what to do in the world? Now our response, we, the zapatistas, is..."we don't know." I know that you don't expect anything else of us, knowing us as well as you know us. However, from our land and our struggle, we can say the following: First. In the Mexico of today, all politicians - even those who are leading in the opinion polls, in the front pages of the news stories or in the number of demonstrators, regardless of the color of the rhetoric they brandish or the sign of their party organization - can count on the sullen mistrust of us, the zapatistas, with our skepticism and incredulity. Based solely on their words, promises, intentions, figures, opinion studies, they will absolutely not receive anything good from us. Nothing, not even the benefit of the doubt. Like the chief of the Liberation Army of the South, General Emiliano Zapata in front of Francisco I. Madero, our hostility towards the politicians of the center will be an invariable rule: and, like Emiliano Zapata in front of the presidential chair, we shall continue turning our backs on the National Palace and on those who aspire to take that seat. And the same thing goes for the self-styled "Congress of the Union" and the circus Judicial Branch of the Federation. Second. In the specific case of the official self-proclaimed leftist political parties in Mexico (and which, it should not be forgotten, are not the only political organizations of the left which exist in our country), we cannot stop laughing bitterly when their party officials, leaders, deputies, senators and little paid canaries throw Vicente Fox's failure to fulfill his campaign promise of resolving the Chiapas "problem" in 15 minutes in his face. We do not forget that those who are criticizing that were the same ones who voted for a law which, in addition to failing to act on a breach of elemental justice, was in fundamental contravention of the cries of the Indian peoples of Mexico and of millions of persons in our country and in other parts of the planet. They are the same ones who are encouraging paramilitary groups to harass and attack the zapatista communities. They are the same ones who are striving to appear pleasant to a right (whether it's called the ecclesiastical or the business high hierarchy) which, it must be said, feels no attraction for them. They are the same ones who are carrying under their arms the economic and police plans which have been drawn up in the boardrooms of international greed. Even with all of this, we cannot endorse, with our silence, the legal dirty business with which they are trying to prevent the person who heads the Mexico City government from running in 2006 for the Presidency of the country. It seems to us to be an illegitimate act, poorly wrapped up in legal fallacies, an attack against the right of Mexicans to decide if one or the other or no one shall govern them. The commission of a felony of that nature would mean, neither more nor less, than the invalidation of Article 39 of the Mexican Constitution, which establishes the right of Mexicans to decide their form of government. It would be, to put it in simple terms, a "soft" coup d'etat. By pointing this out we are not putting ourselves on the side of a person or a government program. Even less does it translate into support for a party which is not only not of the left and is not progressive, but is not even republican. Quite simply we are putting ourselves on the side of the history of the struggle of our peoples. Third. Elections pass, governments pass. The resistance remains as it is, one more alternative for humanity and against neoliberalism. Nothing more, but nothing less. However, consistent with the aversion we profess for dogmas, we will always admit that we could be wrong, and it could be, in effect, as the fashionable hacks are now predicting, necessary, urgent, essential, to deliver ourselves up unconditionally into the arms of those who, from above, are promoting changes which can only be achieved from below. We could be wrong. When we realize it because stupid reality gets in the way of our path, we will be the first to recognize that mistake in front of everyone, those who are with us and those who are opposed. It will be that way because we believe, among other things, that honesty in front of the mirror is necessary for all of those who, in word or in fact, are committed to the building of a new world. In any event, we give life to our wise moves and to our mistakes. I sincerely believe that, ever since the dawn of the first of January of 1994, we have won the right to decide for ourselves our path, its rhythm, its speed, its accompaniment, continuous or sporadic. We shall not cede that right. We are willing to die to defend it. Fourth. We shall continue doing what we believe is our duty. And without regard to the "ratings" our actions receive, the space we occupy in the news, or the threats and prophecies which they are good enough - from both sides of the political spectrum - to prescribe for us every time we don't do what they want us to do or we don't say what they want us to say (something which happens all the time). We will not join in the hysterical clamor of the political class, and of their fans in the "political analysis" columns. Those people who try to impose, always from above, an agenda which has nothing to do with what is happening below in our country, the implacable dismantling of the foundations of national sovereignty. Nor will we flail about concerning the calendar, hastening 2006 and its uncertainty, its festival of vanities, its cynical squandering of resources and stupidity. Even less will our actions be guided by those who are demanding that we contribute the names of prisoners, disappeared and dead, while they contribute names to the nominating lists. Fifth. This does not mean that we do not listen. We do, and we shall continue to do so. From all over the world we receive words of encouragement and of criticism, advice and warnings, support and condemnation. We listen to everything, and we keep it in the collective heart which we are. Anyone, anyplace in the world, can be certain that the zapatistas will listen to them. But it is one thing to listen and another thing to obey. We don't give a damn about the "polemics" as to whether the zapatistas are revolutionaries or reformers, "lights" or "heavies", nai:ve or malicious, good or bad, and, like the mosquitoes in the long nights of the Mexican Southeast, they are not what keeps us awake. The transnationals do not govern in zapatista lands, nor does the IMF, nor the World Bank, nor imperialism, nor the empire, nor governments of any sign. Here the communities make the fundamental decisions. I don't know what that is called. We call it "zapatismo." But ours is not a liberated territory, nor a utopian commune. Nor an experimental laboratory for nonsense or the paradise of an orphaned left. This is a rebel territory, in resistance, invaded by tens of thousands of federal soldiers, police, intelligence services, spies from the various "developed" nations, counterintelligence officials and opportunists of all types. A territory composed of tens of thousands of Mexican indigenous, harassed, persecuted, attacked for refusing to stop being indigenous, Mexican and human beings, that is, citizens of the world. Sixth. As far as the rest of the planet goes, our ignorance is encyclopedic (it would, in fact, take up more volumes than the complete works of the external and internal words of the neo-zapatistas which, incidentally, abound), and there is little or nothing we can say about political organizations of the left which are struggling, or say they are struggling, under other skies. There, as everywhere, we prefer to look downwards, to movements and trends of resistance and the building of alternatives. We only turn our gaze upward if a hand from below points us there. Seventh. We are trying, with our clumsiness and our wise actions, definitions or vagueness, just trying, but putting life into it, to build an alternative. Full of imperfections and always incomplete, but our alternative. If we have arrived where we have arrived it has not, however, been just because of our abilities and decisions. It has been because of the support of men and women from throughout the world who have understood that in these lands there are not a bunch of needy people, eager for handouts and pity, but human beings, just like them, who are yearning and working for a better world, one where all worlds fit. I believe that such an effort deserves the sympathy and support of every honest and noble person in the world. And I believe, more times than not, that sympathy and that support finds its most fortunate version in the struggle they are undertaking or maintaining in their respective realities, whatever their culture, their language, their flag, their kind of footwear, shoes, sneakers, trainers, flip-flops, sandals or heels. In this sense you are closer, in our geography, to the real zapatista communities than the distances noted on maps. The Europe of below is thus closer: disobedient and self-managing Italy; the Greece which communicates with smoke signals; the France of the flip- flops and of those without papers and without homes, but with dignity; rebel and solidarity Spain; Euzkal Herria which resists and does not surrender; rebel Germany; committed Switzerland; compa~era Denmark; persistent Sweden; conscientious Norway; the Patria denied to the Kurds; the marginal Europe which the immigrants suffer ; the entire Europe of the young people who refuse to buy shares in the markets of cynicism...and the Mazahua Mexican indigenous women. Rebellions and resistances which we feel are closer than the endless distances which separate us from the arrogant city of San Cristo'bal de Las Casas and from the political parties who talk with the left and act with the right. Well, that's all for now, compa Pedro Luis. Believe me, I have no regrets about running a risk of "being judged as someone who's crazy, who doesn't see reality" through what I'm writing you. However it may be, the fundamental problem remains, to wit, that of determining the speed of dreams. While it's being resolved, best wishes, and the next time you write, send, in addition to the letter in Carta, a translation, even if it's in "Ita~ol. " Vale, salud and may the clamor from above not prevent the murmur from below from being heard. >From the mountains of the Mexican Southeast. Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos Mexico, September of 2004. 20 and 10. -- 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: Editorial: Indian Jails a Mess" --------- Date: Sun, 3 Oct 2004 12:19:04 EDT From: MJLaBurt@aol.com Subj: Editorial: Indian jails a mess Mailing List: NDNAIM http://www.argusleader.com/editorial/Sundayfeature.shtml Indian jails a mess Editorial Board Argus Leader October 3, 2004 Finger-pointing, throwing money around useless; someone must take charge A new report says jails on our Indian reservations are in deplorable shape and deplorably run, short-staffed and with lax procedures. The problems lead to escapes and deaths. "A national disgrace," said the report by Inspector General Earl Devaney of the U.S. Interior Department, more like those in the Third World. More trouble in Indian Country, more references to the Third World. This is hardly new. And the cause of the problems isn't new, either: - Congress doesn't appropriate enough money. "Once again, our government has failed to uphold its responsibilities to Native Americans," said Sen. Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican. - The Bureau of Indian Affairs has messed up. "Whether it lacks the organizational will or infrastructure or both, BIA cannot sustain its focus on the problems ... long enough to resolve them," the report said. - While tribes run the jails, they have to depend on the federal government for maintenance. "We are not proprietors of this facility," said Charles Red Crow, Rosebud police chief. "When it comes to plumbing or maintenance, we cannot do anything to this facility." - Tribal staff are too few and poorly trained. "I do not have adequate staff to control the reservation and watch our prisoners," said James Two Bulls, police chief on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Get the idea? In fairness, there's no one solution. But neither will anyone stand up and take responsibility. Everyone is pointing fingers. That's business as usual in Indian Country. If we follow the course of the path, there will be a brief uproar in Congress, a few million dollars will be thrown at the jails, and that will be the end of it. We'll be right back where we started. The root of the problem, of course, is that the federal government established a ridiculous reservation system and form of tribal government that was doomed to failure. And now that we've got it, no one knows what to do about it. Barring complete elimination of the reservation system, we've got to at least make some reasonable changes: - Congress needs to be held accountable for obligations to Native Americans. - The BIA needs a top-to-bottom restructuring. It's not doing the job. It was given $11.4 million this year to open new jails, and it can't account for $9.8 million of that money. - We need to establish a more coherent management system for tribal jails, with training for staff, and standards for buildings, operation and staff. If the standards aren't met, the jails close and prisoners are sent elsewhere. Period. We can't continue to have prisoners dying or escaping. - And someone needs to stand up and be accountable for all this. The point person has to be Dave Anderson, assistant secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs - the head of the BIA. Anderson is a businessman. He knows how things should run and he ought to know how to keep track of money. Is it fair that someone on the job less than a year should have this dumped in his lap? Probably not. But that's the job. Take it or leave it. Until someone takes responsibility, nothing will change. Copyright c. 2004 Sioux Falls Argus Leader. --------- "RE: Inmate sues to gain Native Religious Rights" --------- Date: Monday, October 04, 2004 02:59 am From: MJLaBurt@aol.com Subj: NE - American Indian inmate sues to gain native religious rights Mailing List: NDNAIM http://www.journalstar.com/latest_reg/?story_id=179326 LATEST REGIONAL NEWS: NE - American Indian inmate sues to gain native religious rights LINCOLN, Neb. - An American Indian inmate serving a life sentence for murder has sued the state, claiming Nebraska is violating federal law by not allowing Indians behind bars to practice their native religion. Richard Walker, a 57-year-old Winnebago, filed the lawsuit, saying he is frustrated by the inability of Indian inmates to meet as a group and have their own club at the Nebraska State Penitentiary. "Yes, they do have the right to keep us locked up here," Walker told the Lincoln Journal Star. "But still, we have rights as human beings." Walker said he and other tribal members in the prison must meet in secret, because they're not allowed to gather as a group. During one such secret meeting in the prison's yard to pray and honor the spirits of loved ones, they were spotted by a guard who summons other guards to break up the meeting. "All we're asking them to do is pray," Walker said. "We don't know why they're so vehemently opposed to us praying." Walker filed the lawsuit more than a year ago, saying the state was in contempt of a 1974 U.S. District Court consent decree that guaranteed Indian inmates religious rights. Lawyers for the inmates say they may settle the case with the state as early as next week. Besides not being able to convene or form a religious group, Walker said Indian inmates are not allowed adequate access to the prison's sweatlodge - sacred in tribal culture - and that the prison refuses to allow Indian spiritual leaders from outside into the prison to conduct Indian ceremonies. Warden Mike Kenney declined to comment on specifics of the case, but said religious groups at the prison are allowed to meet twice a week - once for religious worship and once for religious education. He also disputed claims that outside spiritual leaders are not allowed in the prison to conduct tribal ceremonies. Kenney said American Indian inmates are allowed to participate in the sweatlodge, or inipi, ceremony twice a week, on Saturdays and Sundays. However, Walker said Indian inmates should be allowed access to the sweatlodge at all times, just as Christian inmates are allowed access to a chapel anytime. Walker, who was sentenced to life in prison for second-degree murder in 1966, said allowing more tribal religious activities could put some Indian inmates on the straight-and-narrow. "I've seen the sweatlodge calm them, put purpose in their lives," he said. www.StopLewisAndClark.org www.SovereignNations.org Copyright c. 2004 Lincoln Journal Star. --------- "RE: Judge dismisses charges against Cree Activist" --------- Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 08:28:51 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="RUSSELL STANDING ROCK FREED" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.greatfallstribune.com//20040930/localnews/1329186.html Judge dismisses charges against activist By Eric Newhouse Tribune Projects Editor September 30, 2004 Russell Standing Rock is free again, after a judge on the Rocky Boy's Reservation dismissed criminal contempt charges against him. But a special prosecutor for the tribe is appealing the decision. Standing Rock, an activist who is challenging several amendments to the tribal constitution, was ordered to surrender for a mental evaluation last July. When he didn't, he was charged with criminal contempt and ultimately arrested in Havre. In a hearing last Friday, visiting Judge Don Sollars of the Blackfeet Nation dismissed those charges, a decision which Special Prosecutor Neal Rosette appealed this week. "I understand there was some misinformation given to the judge last Friday," Rosette said Wednesday. Rosette's new motion called again for a mental health competency hearing. "There are so many serious charges filed against him that he has not been tried for that we felt he should be evaluated for his capacity to stand trial," said Rosette. The motion did not specify any further charges against Standing Rock. Standing Rock is a candidate for Chippewa Cree tribal chairman in Friday's election on the Rocky Boy's Reservation. His attorney, Raina Weiser of Deer Park, Wash., was critical of the Rocky Boy tribal court system. "Because the tribe is self-governing, they (tribal officials) think they can do anything they want to," she said. The tribe is bound by its constitution to adhere to the U.S. Constitution, she said. "But the tribal court is operating outside the U.S. Constitution because an amendment to their constitution no longer requires the tribe to provide defense counsel for its poorest residents," said Weiser, executive director of the Sentinel of the Rockies law firm. Copyright c. 2004 Great Falls Tribune. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Native Prisoner" --------- Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2004 05:33:12 -0410 From: Janet Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - HELP NEEDED at USP LEE, Virginia ---------------------- We received a letter from an inmate at the new Lee County United States Prison in Jonesville, Virginia, with disturbing news. There are about 15 brothers there who want to maintain a traditional spiritual path. While the inmates are permitted to hold sweat lodges, the fires are restricted to 30 pieces of split wood and the rocks they are given are river stone. As a result, winter fires are not hot enough, and the stones explode in any fire. Chaplains are not responsive to these explanations or to suggestions for alternatives. There are other issues with restrictions on sacred herbs, and for exorbitant prices for headbands. Funds that had been set aside to bring in an elder, Lenny Foster, for a visit were "misplaced." The prison (and adjacent medium-security "camp") does not have Native American volunteers or a contract chaplain to represent and support traditional spiritual practices. The Chaplains say "nobody is available." It would be good if some traditional people near the area could step forward and make themselves available to support these brothers. USP Lee P.O. Box 900 Jonesville, Virginia 24263-0900 276-546-0150 Fax: 276-546-9115 --------- "RE: History: Carlisle Indian School" --------- Date: Mon, 13 Sep 2004 22:05:01 -0400 From: Barbara Landis Subj: July 17, 1891 INDIAN HELPER, Carlisle Indian School. [Editorial Note: These reprints are being included in this newsletter so that you might know the mind of those who ran institutions like Carlisle.] THE INDIAN HELPER ~%^%~ A WEEKLY LETTER FROM THE Carlisle Indian Industrial School To Boys and Girls. ================================================ VOL. VI. FRIDAY, July 17, 1891 NUMBER 45 ================================================ WHAT THE FLOWERS SAID. ---- Printed in "Helper" Aug. 17, 1888; Repeated now by Request. ---- Said the Morning Glory: "When you see the light, Praise the Lord who kept you Safely through the night." Said the purple Pansy: "Learn this truth from me: You must be contented If you'd happy be." Said the white-robed Lily: "You shall blessings know If like me your thoughts are Pure as driven snow." Said the tall and stately Flower of the Sun: "Greater beauty than a True heart, there is none." Said the Rose: "The thorns That life ever brings, Are by love and kindness Robbed of all their stings." Said the pretty fragrant Violet: "So live That your presence always Sweet delight will give." MARGARET EYTINGE. ==================== AT NORTHFIELD. ------- The *Springfield Republican* in its account of Mr. Moody's school for Bible study held recently at Northfield, and which four of our boys were privileged to attend, speaks as follows in regard to a speech gi