_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 12, ISSUE 048 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 November 27, 2004 Hopi Kelmuya/Fledgling Raptor Moon Passamaquoddy Kelotonuhket/Freezing Moon Mohawk Kentenhko:wa/Moon of Much Poverty +-------------------------------------------------------+ | 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 s ch mA mL tL squee Lux -- Okanogan -- News from 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, Oyate Underground, RezLife, Iron Natives, Frostys AmerIndian & Information Distribution 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: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + ======================== "People still view us as savage, without culture. We were a nation of people who, for the most part, were peaceful," "I'd like people to recognize our deep connections to the earth and sense of harmony with the natural world." __ David King, Mohawk +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! In past issues I have shared truths about "Thanksgiving Day." There are two that are especially important to remember: The Year was 1637....700 men, women and children of the Pequot Tribe, gathered for their "Annual Green Corn Dance" in the area that is now know as Groton, Conn. While they were gathered in this place of meeting, they were surrounded and attacked by mercenaries of the English and Dutch. The Indians were ordered from the building and as they came forth, they were shot down. The rest were burned alive in the building. The next day, the governor of the Massachusetts bay Colony declared: "A day of Thanksgiving, thanking God that they had eliminated over 700 men, women, and children. For the next 100 years, every "Thanksgiving Day" ordained by a Governor or president was to honor that victory, thanking God that the battle had been won. -- The true story of Thanksgiving By Richard B. Williams Nov. 1, 2000 - One day in 1605, a young Patuxet Indian boy named Tisquantum and his dog were out hunting when they spotted a large English merchant ship off the coast of Plymouth, Mass. Tisquantum, who later became known as Squanto, had no idea that life as he knew it was about to change forever. His role in helping the Pilgrims to survive the harsh New England winter and celebrate the "first" Thanksgiving has been much storied as a legend of happy endings, with the English and the Indians coming together at the same table in racial harmony. Few people, however, know the story of Squanto's sad life and the demise of his tribe as a result of its generosity. Each year, as the nation sits down to a meal that is celebrated by all cultures and races - the day we know as Thanksgiving - the story of Squanto and the fate of the Patuxet tribe is a footnote in history that deserves re-examination. Both are presented in issue 09.047 archived at http://www.nanews.org ----- This year my wonderful wife, Janet, presents yet another view it is my honor to share: I've heard a lot from my Native friends about how Thanksgiving is misrepresented, especially to young children who spend craft hours in school making "Indian war bonnets" and reading a fantasy posing as history about a first thanksgiving feast shared between Indians and Pilgrims. It has been rare to see stories about those misrepresentations in the mainstream press, but it's happening more frequently these days, possibly thanks to the establishment of Native American Month in the same month as Thanksgiving. The Native American Month observation provides Indian groups and individuals a unique opportunity to visit schools and other institutions, educating about tribal history and culture. It's almost inevitable that the subject of Thanksgiving will come up, giving us a chance to educate about the truths and myths surrounding the establishment of a Thanksgiving holiday and the true relationship between New England settlers and the tribes they displaced (often by slaughter). Native American Month is not a perpetual acknowledgement. It has been declared by the president for the past 10 years, but seems to have been almost overlooked this year (President Bush declared November Native American Month on Nov. 15, losing half the month for observations). Many Indians are lobbying for a Native American Day (either alongside of or in place of Columbus Day), and that's a good thing, too -- but let's not lose the opportunity Native American Month provides us to showcase our culture and history, and dispel the myths built up about us. Teachers and businesses need new, honest images of Indian culture, and more truthful depictions of Thanksgivings. The holiday has been many things over the years--relief at surviving a year in an unfamiliar land, celebration of war victories, a holiday to unify and mend a once-broken nation, a domestic home-and-family based holiday, a mammoth sporting event and a pre-Christmas shopping event. Yes, there was one initial shared feast between Indians and the new settlers many generations past, but that promising beginning deteriorated into open warfare within months. That truth must be acknowledged, and the lesson from it learned, as well as the truths and lessons from successive events that have contributed to the Thanksgiving myth and its present-day reality. +/// Janet Smith owlstar@bellsouth.net /*/+ P. O. Box 672168 OwlStar Trading Post + / * Marietta, GA 30008, U.S.A. http://www.owlstar.com * + =================================== ANNUAL WINTER APPEALS 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 =================================== Date: Sunday, October 10, 2004 04:16 pm From: Lisa Mailing List: NDNAIM Greetings everyone, Happy Fall ! The cooler weather is setting in. Elections are next month, get out an vote. We still need to believe that our votes count. Two important votes next month, not only for the U.S. President but for all you Pine Ridge tribal members your presidential election. "VOTE" TOY DRIVE : Leonard wanted us to kick off the x-mas toy drive for Oglala. Grandmother Roselyn will be hosting this event again this year. "NEW" toys will be accepted for children of all ages. Clothing items that are always needed such as socks, stocking caps, gloves, shoes and underware (new) will be given to the Loneman School Nurse to be given on a "needed" basis. Roselyn says there are many children who come to school in the middle of a South Dakota winter wearing sandels. So the school nurse will be able to handle these items better as needed. Roselyn will also accept Wal-Mart and K-mart gift cards. These will help with specific items that she can purchase. Everything should be mailed directly to Roselyn's house. Roselyn Jumping Bull PO Box 207 Oglala, SD 57764 (605) 867-2231 (Note: FYI: Grandmother Roselyn's will be celebrating a birthday in Nov. I could be off on this a day but I think it is Nov 15, and she will be 74.) =================================== Date: Tuesday, October 12, 2004 01:25 pm From: Brigitte Thimiakis Subj: Winter Needs Greetings Gary, Honor Your Spirit, Protect The Children (HYS) is working on a new winter project for the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in MT. I will send you the request as soon as it is ready. I pray that once again many people will send help to all the places with children, elders and families in need of support. We do have a Christmas catalogue which is ready for people who wish to order First Nations art and crafts items. These items make very nice gifts for Christmas. They are authentic First Nations artwork and items like horsehair hatbands or belts can also be handed down from generation to generation. ALL the proceeds from the sales are used to help the elders and children in need. The founder of HYS is Northern Cheyenne and our contacts on the reservation are Northern Cheyenne also. It would be very much appreciated if you could regularly enclose the url to the HYS catalogue in your newsletter. HYS Arts and crafts catalogue http://www.geocities.com/honoryourspirit/fncrafts.html "Honor Your Spirit, Protect the Children" Manuel Redwoman, Northern Cheyenne/Lakota/Arapaho http://www.geocities.com/honoryourspirit/home.html Thank you for your message and continued support. With kindest regards to you and Janet, Respectfully, Brigitte <>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o "Honor Your Spirit, Protect the Children" Manuel Redwoman, Northern Cheyenne/Lakota/Arapaho http://www.geocities.com/honoryourspirit/home.html STOP CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT http://www.geocities.com/honoryourspirit/stopabuse.html Adult Children of Child Abuse http://groups.yahoo.com/group/adult_children_of_child_abuse/ HYS Arts and crafts catalogue http://www.geocities.com/honoryourspirit/fncrafts.html <>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o Dohiyi Ani Oginalii , , Gary Smith (*,*) wotanging@bellsouth.net 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 ---------- - Thanksgiving: - JODI RAVE: Montanans The Memory, Myth & Meaning make up majority of Board - Thanksgiving rife - YELLOW BIRD: with negative Stereotypes Excuse me if I sing New-Car Blues - Giving thanks in Indian Country - YELLOW BIRD: - Kahnawakehro:non Wounded in Iraq To all those who would not fit in - Fallen Soldier remembered - Dakota Plains sues Ottawa - Blackfeet Nation over Mould Problems seeks return of Sacred Area - Qitsualik: What the Inuit 'want' - Band blasts Governor - Government for 'Smear Campaign' must cunsult with First Nations - Crow Creek Sioux Tribe's Schools - National Chief falling apart on Supreme Court Decisions - Tribes lament - Canadian Court election of Johnson to High Court rules against Tlingits - Ariz., N.M. Tribes - Police Union blames First Nations benefit from Water Settlement for Firing - Mattaponi Treaty Case a Gray Issue - Commemorating Louis Riel Day - Court rejects Recognition - Metis claim First Nation Status for Delaware Tribe - Throne Speech - Osage Membership Bill passes sets Goals for Nunavut - Family wants answers - Land Claim Rulings Key Test to Landowner's Plight for Aboriginal Rights - Editorial: Center needs - AFN calls for $10K Payment to restore Credibility for every Abuse Victim - Buffalo to be moved - Church Abuse Lawsuit will Continue to South Dakota - Testimony resumes - $436,000 given in Suit against Norton to aid Yaqui in Valley - Leftbear goes on trial - She's a Voice of Tradition for Beating Death - Moms bring back the Dine' Language - Native Prisoner - Indian-owned business -- New Prisoner Pen-Pals helping to save Languages - Rustywire: Cultural Survival - Preserving Original - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days and Traditional Lullabies - Tali Unole Poem: One Song --------- "RE: Thanksgiving: The Memory, Myth & Meaning" --------- Date: Monday, November 22, 2004 10:00 AM From: Janet Smith [owlstar@bellsouth.net] Subj: A Thanksgiving story: Discovering the 'Memory, Myth & Meaning' - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="THANKSGIVING MYTH" http://www.milforddailynews.com/artsCulture/view.bg?articleid=60282 A Thanksgiving story: Discovering the 'Memory, Myth & Meaning' of American holiday at Plimoth Plantation By Chris Bergeron / News Staff Writer November 21, 2004 Nearly everything your ninth-grade history teacher taught you about Thanksgiving was wrong, including the roast turkey. Pilgrims and Native American never gathered around a long banquet table in the Plymouth woods one November day for a feast that would become a national tradition. No tall hats with buckles. No feathered headdresses. No ladies in ruffled blouses serving butternut squash. Probably no gobblers. Whatever happened that autumn in 1621 has grown from a nearly forgotten encounter between two races into a beloved holiday that's distorted history and the people who lived it. Hungry for truth? Then visit Plimoth Plantation for "Thanksgiving: Memory, Myth & Meaning," a fascinating exhibit about the origins of this misunderstood event and its impact on the Wampanoag participants. "We're trying to show both sides of the Thanksgiving story," said Karin Goldstein, curator of original collections, "and how it's been reinterpreted to suit the needs of present times." Organized by museum staff, the exhibit includes historic documents, rare artifacts, striking art and photographs and a videotaped re-enactment that brings history alive. The exhibit clarifies the roles played by original participants, Wampanoag leader, or sachem, Massasoit and Pilgrim chronicler Edward Winslow, and later popularizers Abraham Lincoln, who made Thanksgiving a national holiday, and Norman Rockwell and other artists who shaped public sentiment about it. It explores history by peeling away layers of popular culture to rediscover truths that deserve to be known. At its best, the exhibit celebrates a Wampanoag culture that survived four centuries of displacement and trivialization of its role in events that inspired the holiday. The national holiday now symbolized by family dinners and football grudge matches bears no resemblance to the 1621 feast from which it sprung. As Goldstein explained, the only account of that event was Winslow's brief description of pilgrims' first harvest celebration which drew some unexpected guests. "Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling that we so might after a more special manner rejoice together, after we had gathered the fruit of our labors," Winslow wrote in a letter later published as "Mourt's Relation" in 1622. After a disastrous passage across the Atlantic, the colony, which included about 30 men and 22 women and children, held its harvest feast some time in the autumn. For reasons that remain unclear, Wampanoag leader Massasoit arrived "with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted and they went out and killed five deer which they brought to the Plantation," concluded Winslow who became the colony's third governor. Winslow's account was forgotten for two centuries until it was revived with improbable consequences in the mid-19th century. The exhibit is about history lost -- and found. It begins with a brilliant billboard-size mural by Gary Meeches of Massasoit, a title given to the man called "Yellow Feather" by his people. There is a 400-year-old ceramic pot used by the original inhabitants to store food. And there are paintings, engravings by Currier & Ives and photos that explain how an accidental meeting between very different peoples took on a meaning it never had. It's a story of prejudice and sentimentality often outstripping history. Food historian Kathleen Curtin, who ensures the authenticity of meals served at the Plantation, said evidence suggests celebratory feasts were repeated intermittently. After the first banquet, Pilgrims observed a day of Thanksgiving in 1623, in 1636 to celebrate victory in the Pequot War and again in 1676 to celebrate the end of King Phillip's War. As far as the original menu, Curtin, who's writing a book of Pilgrim recipes, said "the only absolutes" mentioned in the scarce records were venison and "wild fowl," such as geese and ducks probably shot on a nearby pond. Sorry, but she doesn't think turkey was served. While much remains unknown, Curtin said the exhibit represents "to the best of our ability, the best we can come up with." The "first Thanksgiving" myth took on a life of its own in 1841 -- 220 years after the initial event -- when historian Alexander Young cited Winslow's account as the forerunner for a special New England holiday. Using documents and popular images, the exhibit shows how a mid-19th century version of Martha Stewart named Sarah Josepha Hale, who edited "Godey's Lady's Book," campaigned through her magazine for a national holiday to promote her ideal of women as the center of family life. She described Thanksgiving as a "religious and domestic holiday (that) belongs to the altar and the heart, at which women should ever be present.. (to) sanctify it to acts of piety, charity and domestic love." While several states celebrated their own version of Thanksgiving on different dates for different reasons, Hale's call for a national holiday found an unlikely ally in Lincoln. Bogged down in a brutal war, the president finally acted on Hale's repeated petitions, proclaiming a "National Day of Thanksgiving" in November 1863 to unify a divided union after the Battle of Gettysburg. Yet, decades passed before Thanksgiving morphed into the holiday juggernaut it's become today. Too bad that idealized American holiday rarely includes Wampanoags. Looking back at its course, the Wampanoag, which means "People of the Light," don't have a lot to celebrate. A wall sign on a gallery, "Warning -- Stereotypes Ahead," prepares visitors for a series of 19th century images that portrayed Native Americans as savages or incidental participants. A cartoon from an 1890 Life magazine shows Indians ambushing Pilgrims. An image from an English history book celebrates the burning of a Native American village. By the 20th century, the destruction of American Indian culture was treated ironically in a New Yorker cartoon. "I love the way you make nice yams," a matron tells a costumed figure. "You'll give me the recipe before your culture is wiped from the face of the earth?" Later images represented Thanksgiving as the epitome of familial solidarity -- for whites. For many Americans, Rockwell's enormously popular image of Thanksgiving, "Freedom from Want," suggests in the midst of World War II, the ideal of a unified family as a bastion of moral strength. Like the stuffing and cranberries served with your turkey dinner, the 140-acre Plimoth Plantation village lends the exhibit an air of historical authenticity that makes it special. For 9-year-old visitor Alexandra Provencall, that meant meeting Native Americans at the nearby Hobbamock Homesite which recreates Wampanoag culture at the time of its meeting with European settlers. On a sunny Wednesday morning, she traveled with schoolmates from Northampton, N.H., to visit the "living history museum" that replicates life in 1628. "We sort of realized things were different from the movies," said the bright-eyed fourth-grader. "I see Indians in a different way, more positive than in books." Her pal, Rachel Kelley, crinkled her nose to report she'd seen a skinned deer. At the village site, Darrel Wixon showed young visitors how his Wampanoag ancestors found practical uses for nearly every part of a deer's body. The burly Mashpee resident told children he'd saved the skull and brain "to make an offering to the earth." Mohawk David King, who plays the role of a Wampanoag, showed young visitors how his forebears made canoes. He hopes the exhibit "has a profound effect by correcting stereotypes that've existed for hundreds of years." "People still view us as savage, without culture. We were a nation of people who, for the most part, were peaceful," said King. "I'd like people to recognize our deep connections to the earth and sense of harmony with the natural world." ---- Plimoth Plantation is located off Rte. 3 South in Plymouth. Facilities include a modern center with theaters, specialty shows, cafeteria, dining courtyard and private facility rooms. It is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 27 through Nov. 28. Tickets are available for Plimoth Plantation, the Mayflower II or in combination. Plimoth Plantation: adults, $20; seniors (62+), $18; children, $12. Mayflower II: adults, $8; seniors, $7; children, $6. Combination: adults, $22; seniors, $20; children, $14. Eat like the Pilgrims Enjoy a Thanksgiving style meal at Plimoth Plantation. The following eating options are available for the Thanksgiving season: # Thursday, Nov. 25: All day courtyard Celebration. No reservations required. A la carte selection of clam chowder, deli sandwiches, baked breads and muffins, apple cider and cocktails. Thanksgiving buffet: All seatings sold out. # Friday, Nov. 26 at noon and 3 p.m: "Eat Like a Pilgrim." A family style meal of cheate bread and Butter, sliced turkey, stewed pompion, Indian pudding and apple cider. Adults, $35.95; children under 12, $25.75. Call 800-262-9356, ext. 8364, 8365 or 8366. --------- "RE: Thanksgiving rife with negative Stereotypes" --------- Date: Wednesday, November 17, 2004 10:23 AM From: Janet Smith [owlstartrading@speakeasy.net] Subj: Thanksgiving rife with negative stereotypes of Native Americans - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="THANKSGIVING: NEGATIVE IMAGES" http://www.stanforddaily.com/tempo?page=content&repository=000 Thanksgiving holiday rife with negative stereotypes of Native Americans November 17, 2004 Because November is American Indian Heritage Month, we want to share with the greater Stanford campus known issues and events that are currently affecting our Native community here on the Farm. As early as 1915, there was a nationwide push for a holiday observing the "First Americans," even though Native Americans were not granted citizenship until 1924. Although countless Native leaders throughout the decades championed the cause, it was not until President George H.W. Bush signed a joint resolution in 1990 that November would be the designated month that American Indian heritage would be recognized. In 1994, President Bill Clinton began the trend of re-issuing the national recognition each year of American Indians. This year, the theme for American Indian Heritage Month is "Celebrating Our Strengths." This past Nov. 2 not only marked one of the most important election days in history, but it also marked the 80th anniversary of American Indians being granted the right to vote. The Stanford American Indian Organization has made several strides to publicize the importance of our culture and highlight our presence on this campus throughout this month, as it holds special significance for our community. The acclaimed Native American poet, Simon Ortiz, agreed to speak and share his life experiences and work at Stanford on Nov. 17 and 18. He played an integral role throughout the Native American Renaissance and is still a leader in Native American politics and the arts. Ortiz is holding a reading of his works on Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. in the Old Union Ballroom directly across from the A3C. Additionally, he will be holding a writing workshop on Nov. 18 at 4 p.m. in the Native American Cultural Center. Other events we have in the works are a dinner and question and answer session with political activist Rigoberta Menchu and the Intertribal "Un-Thanksgiving" Feast in Oakland. This time of year can be disheartening to our community because of the Native stereotypes that surround the Thanksgiving holiday. Sadly, the abbreviated elementary school history lessons have left a perception of Native people that is untrue of most tribes and watered down to the extent of degradation. However, the realities of the early "Thanksgiving" feasts would disillusion young children, so over time, the stories have been doctored to highlight an episode of integration - Pilgrims and Natives getting along and eating dinner. Children are not taught the tribes of the surrounding areas called Pilgrims the "Cutthroat People" in their various languages because of the massacre of Native elders, women and children carrying food baskets at the second "Thanksgiving." Oversimplifying the actions and realities of American history to schoolchildren is wrong, and it has infiltrated the American mainstream, including Stanford. The "Indian" was the University's mascot for 42 years until 1972, when 55 Native students and staff petitioned President Lyman to remove any and all "Indian" images as the mascot of this university. The ASSU and University officials supported Native students and the newly formed SAIO in this cause by voting against reinstatement of the "Indian" mascot in subsequent years. Unfortunately, some students groups have yet to realize the racist, stereotypical - not to mention - hurtful effects of continuing to use the "Stanford Indian." The Stanford Review is one such group. With the re-appearance of their so-called "Smoke Signals" column complete with a grotesque caricature of the "Stanford Chief," the staff of The Review has refused to discontinue its use since January of this year despite numerous requests, petitions and individual meetings. Our Native community at Stanford may be small in comparison to others, but that does not mean we do not deserve equal respect. We are proud of our culture and heritage, just as we hope that you are, but we cannot allow individual, personal prides to cloud the value of those around us. So please think twice about those Native stereotypes that are in full-force this holiday season, which so ironically coincides with American Indian Heritage month - you may come across them within the confines of Campus Drive. Thank you. ---- Senior Amanda Burley and Junior Jackson Brossy, are the SAIO co-chairs. E-mail them at aburley@stanford.edu and jbrossy@stanford.edu. Copyright c. 2004 Stanford Daily Publishing Corporation. --------- "RE: Giving thanks in Indian Country" --------- Date: Friday, November 19, 2004 10:18 AM From: MJLaBurt@aol.com Subj: Giving thanks in Indian country Mailing List: NDNAIM http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096409888 Giving thanks in Indian country Copyright Indian Country Today November 19, 2004. All Rights Reserved Posted: November 19, 2004 by: Brenda Norrell / Indian Country Today ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - When the call went out for food for the homeless in Albuquerque, one reader responded quickly with a pot of elk stew. Meanwhile, on the Navajo Nation, Speaker Lawrence T. Morgan, representing Iyanbito and Pinedale, was personally delivering turkeys to families in rural parts of the Navajo Nation. The turkeys for Navajo families came as a gift of thanks for spiritual help from a Colorado couple who received help from Navajos when they needed it most. Thomas and Gloria Brennan explained that they bought two handmade crosses from Navajos in Utah in 1999. In a letter to the Navajo Nation Council, Thomas said the Navajo men sang Brennan a spiritual song, and his life began to change for the better. The Brennans said they have been helping with donations in South Dakota and now want to give a gift of appreciation for the Navajo people and culture. "For the kindness extended to Gloria and I at the rest area, by the Navajo men, and our crosses that have given us a wonderful, happy and healthy life, Gloria and I both feel we want to give the Navajo people something back," Thomas said. With the help of volunteers, Speaker Morgan delivered turkeys first to Ganado and Klagetoh in Arizona. Then the crew made their way to Kinlichee Chapter, Ariz., where they met up with Chapter President Christine Wallace to deliver turkeys to rural parts of Kinlichee. Karen Francis, public information officer for the Navajo Nation Council, said the snow began to fall lightly as the crew made its way past the thick trees in Kinlichee. Driving on slippery dirt roads, they were met with smiling faces as they delivered a turkey to Kinlichee Headstart. Then, the turkey giveaway crew went to St. Michaels, Ariz. to deliver a turkey to a single mother with eight children. By that time, the sun was setting and the crew had not hit the New Mexico side of the Navajo Nation. Then, they took off for New Mexico and the Navajo communities of Rock Springs and Tohlakai. After giving away several turkeys in Tohlakai, Speaker Morgan finally headed to one of his own chapters, Iyanbito. With thanks to the Brennans, Speaker Morgan said, "The turkeys were handed out to people who would benefit most from their kindness." Joining the effort were Navajo Nation TV 5, Division of Social Services Ganado Sub-office, Kinlichee Chapter officials and Kinlichee Head Start. Meanwhile in Albuquerque, First Nations North and South was preparing their 4th annual "Celebrating Survival" for Nov. 25, at the Albuquerque Indian Center. "Celebrating Survival" is held in contrast to the United States' Thanksgiving Day and exposes the fact that the U.S. Thanksgiving was founded on massacres and the Pilgrims' exploitation of indigenous peoples. First Nations North and South founder Eulynda Benalli, Navajo, founded the organization to bring together indigenous from the north and south and coordinates indigenous delegations to Chiapas. "Celebrating Survival" coordinators Benalli and Steve Ranieri called on families to bring fry bread, tortillas, mutton stew, chile stew and oven bread to the Albuquerque Indian Center for the celebration. Blankets and socks were also collected for the homeless. Each year, indigenous homeless arrive early for the sunrise prayer and coffee, gathering together in the warm place. "Just come make a fire outside and make fry bread and tortillas - they love it and they miss it." Benalli said. For more information, call Steve Ranieri at (505) 341-9514 or Eulynda and David at (505) 344-6492. Copyright c. 2004 Indian Country Today. --------- "RE: Kahnawakehro:non Wounded in Iraq" --------- Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2004 16:57:46 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WOUNDED WARRIOR" http://www.easterndoor.com/vol13/42.html Kahnawakehro:non Wounded in Iraq By: Kenneth L. Williams November 12, 2004 Yesterday, The Eastern Door received word that Lance Corporal Darren Paul, serving with the U.S. Marines 1st Battalion in Fallujah, had been wounded in battle. This report was quickly confirmed by Paul's mother Carlene Cross, who said that her son had suffered a shrapnel would to the stomack either late Sunday night or early Monday morning. Though the actual extent of Paul's injuries were not know as of the newspaper's deadline, he was able to call home on his own at around 4:30 a.m., this past Wednesday. Cross relayed some of the details of Paul's message. Apparently still somewhat groggy after undergoing surgery in Baghdad on Monday, he told his mother that he would be fine, and that he was waiting to be told where he would be sent for further medical care - either to Germany, or directly to the U.S.. According to mainstream media reports, the fighting in Fallujah (roughly 50 kilometres west of Baghdad) is part of a major offensive on that city, involving some 10,000 American soldiers and Marines. Since the advance on Fallujah began earlier this week, over 200 wounded American troops have been evacuated to Europe. Reports also say that 18 American troops had been killed, as were some 600 enemy extremists. Following her brief interview with this publication, Cross went to the American Consulate to gather more information about her son's condition and impending homecoming. However, an ironic twist presented itself as yesterday was in fact Remembrance Day. Said irony was that many public offices were closed because of the holiday honouring veterans, and as a result, Cross was unable to get nay information about her serviceman son at that time. Meanwhile, updates on Paul's condition and circumstances are certain to follow once more information becomes available. Copyright c. 2004 The Eastern Door, Kahnawake Mohawk Territory. --------- "RE: Fallen Soldier remembered" --------- Date: Sunday, November 21, 2004 7:26 PM From: James Starkey [wolakota4us@yahoo.com] Subj: Fallen soldier remembered Mailing List: Oyate Underground Mailing List: RezLife Mailing List: NDNAIM http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2004/11/21//top/news01.txt Fallen soldier remembered By Jomay Steen, Journal Staff Writer November 21, 2004 EAGLE BUTTE - For more than a year, Barb Strikes Enemy Turner has coped with the loss of her nephew, Pfc. Sheldon "Wanbli Ohitika" (Brave Eagle) Hawk Eagle. On Saturday, she took time at a memorial to remember his bravery, his humor and his place in her life. "I miss him so much," Turner said. "My heart heals every day, but it's not easy." Hawk Eagle, 21, was one of 17 soldiers killed Nov. 15, 2003, when two Army Blackhawk helicopters collided over Mosul, Iraq. He was part of the Charlie Battery 1st Battalion 320th Field Artillery of the 101st Airborne Division. Frankie Hawk Eagle, 23, Hawk Eagle's sister and only sibling, sat in the front row of the auditorium, her 13-week-old son on her lap. She graciously shook hands with hundreds of tribal members, hugging and thanking them for their good wishes. Asked if the year has made Hawk Eagle's loss any easier, she shook her head 'no.' A service, memorial and double-elimination basketball tournament were part of the tribute the Hawk Eagle family and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe paid to Hawk Eagle's memory. Hundreds attended the memorial service at the Cheyenne-Eagle Butte Upper Elementary School gymnasium. Harold Frazier, tribal chairman, recalled the initial shock he felt a year ago when he learned of Hawk Eagle's death while Frazier attended the National Congress of American Indians in Albuquerque, N.M. "On a per capita basis, more Indians serve in the military than any other race or minority," Frazier said. About 90 men and women from the Eagle Butte community and tribe are currently serving in the military here and abroad, he said. Hawk Eagle was one of the first tribal members to die. A fellow soldier, Sgt. Joshua Forbess, 27, 101st Airborne Division, arrived Saturday in Eagle Butte from Fort Campbell, Ky., wearing desert fatigues and a black beret. He was Hawk Eagle's first-line supervisor and one of five survivors of the fatal crash that took Hawk Eagle's life. Fire has burned away Forbess' right ear, most of his nose, the crown of his head and scalp. He said that 11 percent of his body - including areas on his head, face, right arm and shoulder - were burned. But Forbess said he wanted to attend the service in Eagle Butte to talk to the family and let them know about Hawk Eagle's courage, valor and his love of humor. "I knew him from the time he arrived in Charlie Battery at Fort Campbell until Nov. 15," Forbess said. Hawk Eagle volunteered for extra foot and vehicle patrols. The highly trained Eagle Butte soldier was observant and courageous, Forbess said. The group was as ready as possible for any mission they may have drawn, he said. Forbess has a vague memory of Veterans Day last year, but not much else. "I can remember why I had more people with me, but other than that, nothing," he said. "The hardest part for me was the emotional and mental side. I lost my whole section in three weeks." Barb Strikes Enemy Turner recalls seeing Forbess at a memorial service in Fort Campbell. "I felt so heartbroken when I saw him," she said. "I wanted to hear what he had to say." Turner said that Hawk Eagle's family has heard of his compassion from other soldiers who knew him. A quiet man, he was willing to give everything he had unconditionally, she said. "In the water lines, he would wait and get his share only after everyone had finished," she said. The officers told her family that Hawk Eagle was always looking out for others in the military, just as he did when he lived with the family, she said. Hawk Eagle's parents, Bernice and Allen Hawk Eagle, died several years ago. He was raised by his aunt and uncle, Bernadine and Harvey Hawk Eagle of Eagle Butte. Turner said there isn't a day she didn't wish that Hawk Eagle were here to share family events, especially with his sister, Frankie. "It's comforting that people care," she said. "He was a quiet man, but now, he's known everywhere. When I think of him and his quiet ways, I often wonder what he would think of all this attention," she said. Turner once wished that time would stand still for a short time so that Frankie and the family had time to heal from the pain and shock. "Life doesn't stand still, and her life is moving on," Turner said. "It helps us in the end to move on and to heal." Contact Jomay Steen at 394-8418 or jomay.steen@rapidcityjournal.com Copyright c. 2004 Rapid City Journal. James H. Starkey http://www.angelfire.com/indie/oyate --------- "RE: Blackfeet Nation seeks return of Sacred Area" --------- Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2004 08:33:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BADGER-TWO MEDICINE LAND" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.billingsgazette.com//2004/11/16//state/60-blackfeet-land.inc Blackfeet tribe lays claim to park land By MICHAEL JAMISON Missoulian November 16, 2004 BROWNING - More than a century ago, Montana's Blackfeet Indian Nation lost a sprawling expanse of sacred land. Today they begin the process of getting it back. "The Badger-Two Medicine area is important traditionally," said John Murray, the tribe's historic preservation officer. "It's land that we've used historically, and that we still use today." Trouble is, others want to use it, too - namely, developers looking for oil and natural gas. Tribal officials are to meet today at the edge of the wilderness they hold sacred, dressed in traditional regalia, gathering to announce a tribal proclamation calling for "the return of the Badger-Two Medicine to the Blackfeet people, the rightful owner of the Badger-Two Medicine." The issue traces back to Oct. 17, 1855, when Congress ratified a treaty giving the Blackfeet a big chunk of the Rocky Mountain Front from Wyoming to well into Canada. Almost immediately, the federal government began whittling away at the treaty lands. In 1896, an agreement was signed regarding lands east of the Continental Divide from the Canadian border through what is now Glacier National Park and on south. The federal government maintains the Blackfeet ceded over the lands in that agreement, and the Lewis and Clark National Forest now manages the Badger-Two Medicine. But the tribe has long held that the agreement was only a 99-year lease, and only covered the rocky strip above treeline and below the Divide. "We never agreed to a permanent ceding of the land," Murray said. "The old people always believed it was a lease. They always maintained the tribe still owned it." If the elders are right, the eastern half of Glacier National Park actually belongs to the Blackfeet and the Badger-Two Medicine (named for two primary rivers that run through it) actually belongs to the tribe. In the proclamation to be announced today, Blackfeet tribal leaders including three Blackfoot tribes in Canada lay out the case that the area is "a critical part of our oral history, creation stories and ceremonies," that it was, and remains, "vital to the religious, cultural and subsistence survival of the Blackfoot people." Specifically, the proclamation establishes five courses of action to which tribal leaders have committed. First, they will "vigorously oppose" any development proposals. Second, they will work to become co-managers of the land, alongside the federal government. Also, they will work to return ownership of the land to the tribe. And they will support Congress in attempts to transfer oil and gas leases to other places, and to return sacred lands to the tribe. "We're a sovereign nation," Murray said, "and with this we're exercising our sovereignty." It is part of a strategy that began nearly a year ago, he said, when the Forest Service asked the tribe for comments on a drilling proposal located in Hall Creek, just south of Glacier National Park. Previously, the tribe had worked through the National Historic Preservation Act to declare a "cultural district" that covered some 90,000 acres within the 130,000-acre Badger-Two Medicine. Hall Creek, however, fell outside the district, a fact that has long troubled the tribe. When the Forest Service came looking for comments last January, Blackfeet leaders used the opportunity to request an expansion of the cultural district. All development is on hold while that request is reviewed, and a draft summary is due out by year's end. Copyright c. 2004 The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Band blasts Governor for 'Smear Campaign'" --------- Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 08:48:04 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MILLE LACS BAND" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5092147.html Indians pull plug on state gaming deal Patricia Lopez, Star Tribune November 18, 2004 In a harshly worded letter that accuses Gov. Tim Pawlenty of "poisoning the water" on negotiations between Indian tribes and the state, the head of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe on Wednesday withdrew an earlier offer to be a partner of the state on joint gambling proposals. Melanie Benjamin, the band's chief executive, criticized several of Pawlenty's recent actions, particularly his decision to personally appear in election ads for House Republican candidates that called for Indian tribes to make revenue payments to the state. "You led a political smear campaign," Benjamin wrote, "in a deliberate attempt to turn undeserved animosity toward Indian gaming and Indian people into votes for Republican candidates." Benjamin, whose tribe's casinos at Hinckley and Lake Mille Lacs are the second most profitable in the state, had broken with other tribes in August to propose a joint partnership with the state. In return for new casino games and simulcast horse-race betting, Benjamin said the tribe could offer contributions toward a Vikings or Twins stadium. Benjamin also cited Pawlenty's call for the tribes to pay $350 million a year to the state to retain their monopoly on casino gambling and his intimation that Las Vegas casino interests might otherwise be waiting in the wings. In Wednesday's letter, Benjamin said that "your actions to politicize the gaming issue since the Band came forward in August have poisoned the water. ... Accordingly, the Band has decided to discontinue talks with you and your staff until you agree to have reasonable, serious and respectful discussions." Dan McElroy, Pawlenty's chief of staff and point person on gambling, said that he had talked to Pawlenty about the letter and that "we were surprised and disappointed, but our position hasn't changed." Pawlenty is in New Orleans for the Republican Governors Association meeting and could not be reached for direct comment. McElroy said that Benjamin's criticisms notwithstanding, "we believe we should be able to negotiate a mutually beneficial arrangement. The governor believes a change in the relationship between the tribes and the [state] government is appropriate." He called "ironic" Benjamin's criticism of Pawlenty's role in House election ads. "She's angry with us for being political," he said, "when there's no question the tribes were major contributors in the last election. I find that ironic." McElroy noted that Benjamin's letter came a day after Indian tribes in Kansas had reached an agreement with Gov. Kathleen Sebelius on a proposed gambling compact that would give the state 17 percent of gambling proceeds. Like Minnesota, Kansas had existing gambling compacts with no termination date, but also with no guarantee of exclusivity, McElroy said. The new proposal also would permit a privately licensed racino, he said. The agreement has not yet been approved by the Kansas Legislature. Canterbury Park has been seeking permission for a racino -- a racetrack with casino-style gambling -- for several years without success, and the proposal is expected to resurface when the Minnesota Legislature convenes in January. McElroy said he had been touring the Mille Lacs reservation on Tuesday and knew that tribal leaders were unhappy with Pawlenty's recent actions. Earlier clashes In addition to his position on Indian gaming, Pawlenty also incurred the ire of Mille Lacs leaders with his request that the state file an amicus brief that supported Mille Lacs County in a lawsuit that Benjamin said was "aimed at disestablishing the Mille Lacs reservation boundaries." Wednesday's letter is only the most recent tongue-lashing Pawlenty has received from Indians. In early October, Helen Blue-Redner, leader of the Upper Sioux, said in a letter to Pawlenty that he had "hoodwinked the tribes" and that the Upper Sioux had "completely lost faith in your administration." McElroy said Pawlenty was taking the comments with equanimity. "We're going forward to arrive at something fair and competitive," McElroy said. "We'll work with the tribes who work with us." Patricia Lopez is at plopez@startribune.com Copyright c. 2004 Star Tribune. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Crow Creek Sioux Tribe's Schools falling apart" --------- Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2004 08:33:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CROW CREEK CRUMBLING SCHOOLS" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.keloland.com/News/EyeonKELOLAND/NewsDetail4790.cfm?Id=22,36015 Crow Creek's Crisis November 15, 2004 The state says their schools are a life-threatening danger. Yet on the Crow Creek Indian Reservation, students have no choice but to keep going to class as their buildings crumble. Two years ago we showed you why the schools are considered some of the most deteriorated in South Dakota. Now, they're in even worse shape. And it could be years before things get any better. Schools are supposed to give students the foundation for the rest of their lives, but on the Crow Creek Indian Reservation the buildings themselves are on shaky ground. Years ago, they were essentially built over dirt. Tribal chairman Duane Big Eagle says, "The schools by all standards shouldn't be standing today. They should be demolished." Their engineers tell administrators that. So does the state fire marshal, who earlier this year labeled Crow Creek schools a threat to life. But on federal reservation land, the only opinions that count are the ones from the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs. Superintendent Scott Raue says, "And right now they're saying our buildings are solid enough to stand."" So they stay open. And the 600 students who call themselves the Crow Creek Chieftains face the challenge of learning here every day. Senior Matt St. John says, "It's like going back in time." Senior Kyle Merritt says, "School's very old, especially this school." Some of these kids have spent most of their young lives in this struggling system. St. John says, "Nothing's changed since I've got here." In elementary school, they may be too young to notice. Big Eagle says, "Numerous crumbling and cracks on the wall on a daily basis." But the conditions don't escape everyone's eyes. Big Eagle says, "The parents are always concerned that a wall will collapse or a roof will cave in or something." By middle school, the kids move on to modern, high-tech modular units. They were built a few years ago after a wall at the old middle school caved in while a student was being counseled. But even as new as these rooms look, they won't last forever. Big Eagle says, "They only have a ten-year life expectancy." Then there's the high school...which may be in the worst shape. Big Eagle says, "The gym's completely condemned. Outer walls are pulling apart." They try to keep the kids out of here but it's not easy. St. John says, "It's the only thing to do out here. There's nothing else to do but go in that gym." Even the staff will tell you that much. Raue asks, "Where do I put my PE classes? Where do I put my dorm kids now that it's cold outside? They have to have some activity." And sometimes, there's no choice but to use it. Raue says, "We had 1500 people in a condemned building for graduation." The federal government has said the gym isn't safe, but has yet to provide the 2.5 million dollars needed for a new one. Crow Creek officials have tried eight times since January to negotiate emergency funding...and each time they've come back empty. So for the second year in a row, there will be no home basketball games in Crow Creek. The staff had told students the gym might be done in time. St. John says, "I was happy but in the back of my mind I knew it wasn't going to get done." The school itself is held up by a brace that literally pulls the building back together as it crumbles. Inside, the shop room is far from safe. Raue says, "This whole wall at that is ready to fall. You can see the cracks on the side there." Pipes break every day. One summer the boiler room narrowly escaped a mess. Raue says, "We took this and pushed the wall all the way out, all the way out to here. We painted it to show how far it got. We had a situation where it almost hit this because the wall collapsed in so far." Crow Creek school is in the top ten on a government list of reservation schools to be replaced. But money will be slow in coming. By 2007, they hope to receive funding. The earliest construction could start is 2008. A new gym should come sooner. Raue says, "That needs to happen immediately." Until then, they say they'll just keep working through it. Big Eagle says, "We patch up all the holes and cracks and try to keep the kids as active as possible." And the seniors who will graduate this year say they plan to come back someday. They hope by then, something will have changed. St. John says, "I wish things were a lot different here." Merritt says, "I'd like it to be very different. Something new so they could learn more advanced things and we'd have a bright future not just for the schools but our tribe." Jodi Schwan Copyright c. 2004 KELOLAND TV. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Tribes lament election of Johnson to High Court" --------- Date: Sat, 20 Nov 2004 18:54:46 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="JIM JOHNSON" http://www.pechanga.net/homepage.html http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/200491_tribes20.html Tribes lament election of Johnson to high court They were focused on defeating I-892 By LEWIS KAMB SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER November 20, 2004 They spent a record amount to do it, but in the end, Washington's Native American tribes' millions in campaign donations this election helped trounce a statewide initiative seeking to expand non-tribal gambling. But now, in the light of post-election Washington, some tribal leaders and Indian issues advocates wonder at what cost came victory. For while tribes here largely focused their rising political clout on beating back I-892 - the measure that would have broken their exclusive hold on slot machines in this state - some say an old foe climbed onto Washington's highest court. Riding a well-financed campaign largely bankrolled by developers and their conservative political action committees, Jim Johnson, a former assistant state attorney general who two years ago barely lost in his first bid for the Washington Supreme Court, won this time around. While the Johnson camp disputes it, some tribal leaders, their political allies and Indian law experts contend his addition to the nine-member panel could be a blow to Native American rights cases in Washington. They point to what they see as a career rooted in anti-Indian legal stances, germinating from Johnson's early days as an assistant state attorney. For years, he was former Attorney General Slade Gorton's point man in the state's battle against fallout from the 1974 Boldt Decision, which reaffirmed tribal treaty rights to half of Washington's salmon harvest. "A lot of people believe Jim Johnson cannot be objective when it comes to tribal issues," said Marty Loesch, an attorney for the Swinomish Indian Tribe. Johnson says he's been unfairly branded "anti-Indian," adding his tribal opponents have a selective memory. Over the years, he said, he's won several environmental cases benefiting tribes. And in the times he stood against tribes, Johnson said, he simply was charged with representing the interests of a state and its residents in a few high-profile cases at odds with Indian interests. "Have you ever been divorced?" he asked. "If you had, you probably wouldn't like the other side's attorney. People personalize their participation in the judicial process. It was never personal to me." Still, there's no doubt Johnson's victory was reviled across much of Indian Country. And it's a victory some say tribes here could have prevented. "We were not involved in the Jim Johnson race this year for one simple reason: The money, time and attention was spent elsewhere," said Russ Lehman, director of the Olympia-based First American Education Project, an Indian issues advocacy group. "It's unfortunate. We could've made the difference in that race." Through independent expenditures of tribal donations, First American targets candidates viewed as counterproductive to Native causes. In recent elections, First American has been recognized as an influential player on Washington's political landscape. Several tribal leaders founded the group in 1999, with a core mission to defeat then-U.S. Sen. Gorton - deemed a longtime enemy of the tribes. It pumped some $300,000 into anti-Gorton ads, and some political observers credit the group with the incumbent Republican's narrow loss to Democrat Maria Cantwell in 2000. Two years later, First American was back, this time targeting Johnson, whom some opponents dub "Son of Slade." And though Johnson disputes it, his slim 2002 state Supreme Court loss to Mary Fairhurst often is credited to the group, which raised more than $60,000 for an 11th-hour TV blitz lambasting Johnson's environmental record. But this time around - even though Johnson's camp prepared for a last- minute barrage of tribally financed attacks - the ads never came. And I-892, Lehman said, had everything to do with it: "So much attention was focused on that one initiative to the exclusion of other candidates and races." Long before this election, Johnson counted I-892 sponsor Tim Eyman an ally. Johnson drafted two of Eyman's past successful anti-tax measures and defended others in court. The two men's relationship isn't lost on some political observers. In hindsight, activists on both sides have entertained the unlikely scenario that the soundly defeated I-892 may have been an interference tactic to divert tribes' focus from Johnson. "That's just a little too far-fetched," Eyman said. "I mean, gee, I'm usually accused of being too dumb. If I-892 was some kind of ingenious plot just to get Jim Johnson elected, I think that's giving me way too much credit in the intelligence category." Rather, Eyman gives all credit to Johnson. But he noted tribes seemed to perceive the threat of I-892 as much worse than that of Johnson as a justice: "Like a nuclear bomb compared to a cap gun," Eyman offered. Still, observers agree the measure threatening tribal gambling revenues likely did divert attention from Johnson - though tribal leaders and advocates differ as to what extent. "It's partially true because of (I-892), we didn't pay as much attention to him," said Loesch, the Swinomish attorney. "But more so, it was electoral fatigue in general." That's because more than ever, candidates of both major parties met with tribal leaders to seek support. And tribes here spent much attention this election donating to and endorsing big-ticket candidates. "We spent so much of our resources on 892, what was left really got scattered" among big races, said Ron Allen, chairman of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe and a First American Education Project founder. "We probably should've and could've paid more attention to that race. ... It's a disappointment." Tribes get attention this year On paper, 2004 likely won't go down as a strong election year for mainstream Indian Country - at least in terms of wins and losses. Unlike in recent past elections, the overwhelmingly Democratic Native vote didn't have a single big-ticket race tribes can point to as an example of how they decided the outcome. "After the victories we had in 2000 and 2002, reality just kind of set in," Lehman said. "And the reality is, Native voters are an incredibly small minority almost everywhere." But it's hard to view 2004 as anything but successful for Native Americans' standing in the political process, said Jacqueline Johnson, executive director of the National Congress of American Indians in Washington, D.C. "We had more candidates speaking to Indian issues than ever before," she said. From the presidential race on down, campaigns from both parties met with tribes like never before. Tribal members this year served as delegates at both the Democratic and Republican national conventions in record numbers. And once all the counting is done, Native American voter turnout nationwide is expected to be higher than in any election. Though big races this election eluded the sway of Native influence, that influence could be felt in local contests across the nation - from school boards to statehouses. In Washington, for instance, the state's only Native American lawmaker, Tulalip Democrat John McCoy, handily won re- election to the House. Still, Johnson's victory remains a stinging loss for tribes, some say. "He made it his practice to oppose tribal rights in every way that he could," said Phil Katzen, an Indian law attorney who has squared off against Johnson in court. "I think the tribes feel that if he had his way, there wouldn't be any treaties." Who raised the most money? Certainly, not all of Johnson's tribal enemies were blind to that race. According to records filed with the state Public Disclosure Commission, tribes accounted for some of the largest donations to Johnson's challenger, Mary Kay Becker. Still, those donations - about $15,000 - pale compared with the flood of money to Johnson from developers and their interests, most notably the Building Industry Association of Washington. Overall, Johnson out-raised Becker $415,000 to $156,000. He won with 52 percent of the vote. Meanwhile, tribes spent roughly $6 million on "No on I-892," which out- raised its commercial gambling industry-backed opponents 6 to 1. I-892 lost by 22 percentage points - the worst of any ballot initiative this year. Yet even if tribes had spread donations to oppose Johnson, contends his campaign manager, Alex Hays, the race's outcome wouldn't have been any different. "Although it's always nice to have people not running hit ads on you, it turns out the ads two years ago were pretty darn ineffective," added Hays, who argues the First American ads didn't sway the 2002 election. What Johnson's victory will mean for tribes is debatable. He is only one voice on the court. And Indian law cases generally appear in federal - not state - courts. But Katzen, the Indian law attorney, noted tribal rights cases at times arise in state courts too. And often, state court rulings stand for months or years before - or if - federal courts ever weigh in on them. "A lot of people can suffer in the meantime, if you have bad decisions coming out of the state," Katzen said. "I think it matters." Johnson takes a different view. Having argued a dozen such cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, he noted he has more Indian law experience than any Washington justice. "With my background," he said, "I'm a better objective choice on those cases than anyone." JIM JOHNSON'S RECORD Jim Johnson, 58, Washington Supreme Court justice-elect and an assistant state attorney general from 1974 to 1993, is criticized by some for a career rooted in what they view as anti-Indian legal stances. Opponents most often cite two cases in which he was involved: 1974: The precedent-setting ruling in U.S. v. Washington - the so-called Boldt Decision - reaffirmed Washington's treaty tribes' rights to up to half of Washington's salmon harvest. Under then-state Attorney General Slade Gorton, Johnson led the appeals and trials in the years that followed, in which the state argued tribal co-management of Washington fisheries would harm the resource. 1994: In a spin-off from the Boldt case, the so-called Rafeedie Decision found tribes reserved rights to harvesting shellfish on public and private tidelands. The case set off years of appeals, in which Johnson, then in private practice, represented thousands of private tideland owners who battled against tribal access to their lands. ---- P-I reporter Lewis Kamb can be reached at 206-448-8336 or lewiskamb@seattlepi.com Copyright c. 1996-2004 Seattle Post-Intelligencer. --------- "RE: Ariz., N.M. Tribes benefit from Water Settlement" --------- Date: Sat, 20 Nov 2004 18:54:46 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WATER SETTLEMENT" http://www.pechanga.net/homepage.html http://www.sfgate.com//2004/11/18/state1237EST7572.DTL Arizona, N.M. tribes to benefit from water settlement November 18, 2004 Congress has given final approval to a measure that designates more than 650,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water to Indian tribes who can lease it back to cities for a profit. After more than a year of negotiation, the House gave final approval Wednesday and sent the bill to President Bush for his signature. The bill ratifies outstanding water settlements involving the Central Arizona Project and a series of other water claims involving tribes in Arizona and New Mexico. The Tohono O'odham Nation south of Tucson is to receive 37,800 acre-feet of CAP water and the Gila River Indian Community south of Phoenix would receive 155,700 acre-feet. An acre-foot of water is 325,821 gallons, enough to serve one or two average households for one year. The Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe in northern Arizona still want their claims to the Colorado River settled, and those discussions have barely begun. The San Carlos Apache Tribe also has claims remaining. The CAP was authorized more than 30 years ago as a way of bringing Colorado River water to Phoenix and Tucson. The federal government spent more than $3.6 billion to build the 336- mile canal, which was finished in 1993, and then demanded that Arizona repay $2.3 billion of the cost. The project board argued that Arizona owed much less and refused to pay the bill. The federal government sued, but Arizona forced a settlement and agreed to pay $1.65 billion, an amount written into law with Wednesday's vote. Copyright c. 2004 San Francisco Chronicle. --------- "RE: Mattaponi Treaty Case a Gray Issue" --------- Date: Sun, 21 Nov 2004 16:25:50 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="1677 TREATY" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.dailypress.com/~6036015.story?coll=dp-news-local-final Mattaponi treaty case a gray issue The Virginia Supreme Court is stepping in to decide if a reservoir project violates the tribe's 1677 pact. BY MATTHEW SABO (804) 642-1748 November 20, 2004 Attorneys for the state and Newport News have argued that the Mattaponi Indian Tribe should take its legal fight against a proposed reservoir to a different court. The case revolves around the enforceability of a 17th-century treaty between England and Virginia Indian tribes and, if it can be enforced, whether construction of the King William Reservoir would subvert treaty rights claimed by the Mattaponi. The Mattaponi are hoping to thwart the proposed 150-acre King William Reservoir with legal challenges on several fronts, including the citation of a 1677 treaty the tribe says bars any development within a three-mile boundary of the tribe's reservation. The tribe petitioned the state's highest court to hear arguments on the case. In reply, lawyers representing the state and Newport News said in court documents filed Oct. 25 that a permit issued by the State Water Control Board does not violate the tribe's treaty rights. The board is concerned solely with water quality and beneficial uses of Virginia's waters, according to a brief written by John K. Byrum Jr., a senior assistant attorney general. There is no state law that says the board "should or may consider treaty rights or other property rights," Byrum wrote. "If the tribe believes the reservoir project will violate its treaty rights, then it may present that claim in a civil action against Newport News, which will build and operate the reservoir." David Baily, a lawyer representing the Mattaponi, responded Nov. 1 that the tribe cannot sue the city for breaching the 1677 treaty because the city is not a successor to England as a signer to the treaty - the state is. The lawyers involved in the case could not be reached for comment. Allen L. Jackson, a deputy city attorney for Newport News, referred questions to George A. Somerville, a Richmond lawyer retained by the city. Somerville did not return messages. King William Reservoir would supply Newport News and other water users with 23.2 million gallons of water per day. Water would be "skimmed" from the Mattaponi River during times of high rainfall runoff, according to court documents. A maximum of 75 million gallons per day would be withdrawn from the river during high flows, although the average withdrawal rate would be less than 20 million gallons per day, documents say. The Mattaponi claim the reservoir would endanger shad fishing on the Mattaponi River - the lifeblood of their people for centuries - in addition to violating their treaty rights. The King William Reservoir would sit just less than two miles from the Mattaponi Reservation at its closest point, and no tribal lands would be affected by the project, according to the state. State lawyers argue that the Mattaponi waived rights to the property in the buffer years ago when they failed to object to development on the land. Other people own the land within three miles of the reservation, and about 150 buildings are in that area, according to court documents. This summer, the Virginia Court of Appeals transferred the treaty issues to the Virginia Supreme Court, which will decide whether it will hear arguments on the case. Copyright c. 2004 The Daily Press. --------- "RE: Court rejects Recognition for Delaware Tribe" --------- Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 08:54:14 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BIA RECOGNITION REVOKED" http://www.indianz.com/News/2004/005383.asp Court rejects federal recognition for Delaware Tribe November 17, 2004 The federal government's decision to recognize the Delaware Tribe of Oklahoma as a distinct political entity was "unlawful," an appeals court ruled on Tuesday. In a 30-page decision, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals said the Department of Interior misinterpreted history when it restored the federal status of the Delaware Tribe. An 1866 treaty made the Delawares citizens of the Cherokee Nation, not of their own separate tribe, the judges noted. "We are not unsympathetic to the Delawares' cause," Judge Bobby R. Baldock wrote. "The DOI's unlawful actions, however, cannot provide the Delawares the status they seek." The ruling is a victory for the Cherokee Nation, which has long resisted the notion of separate sovereignty for the Delaware Tribe, pointing to the treaty and an 1867 agreement in which the Cherokees sold land to the Delawares. The U.S. Supreme Court on two occasions has upheld this interpretation. But Delaware leaders say they never gave up their separate status even after joining the much-larger Cherokee Nation. The Delawares have a distinct culture, language and history, and were treated as a sovereign up until 1867. During the Clinton administration, the Bureau of Indian Affairs sided with the Delawares. In 1996, then-assistant secretary Ada Deer said the tribe was "independent" of the Cherokee Nation, retracting a 1979 letter that said the BIA would not treat the tribe as its own political entity. But the 10th Circuit concluded Deer's decision was troublesome in two principal ways. First, it was "contrary" to the Supreme Court's interpretation of history, the court said, because the Delawares have been "incorporated into" the Cherokee Nation as "native citizens." "The agency's decision to extend recognition to the Delawares rested on an alleged 'comprehensive legal analysis; that devoted three sentences, in a footnote, to the Supreme Court's decisions interpreting the 1866 Cherokee Treaty and 1867 agreement," Baldock wrote. Second, the court said the BIA didn't follow its own rules. Normally, groups seeking federal recognition must submit a petition and documentation to prove their case, or the BIA must waive this process. That never happened with the Delawares, the judges noted. "The DOI used a procedure heretofore unknown to the law -- 'retract and declare" -- to purportedly re-recognize the Delawares," the court wrote. "In so doing, the DOI's actions were arbitrary and capricious." In a second opinion, Judge Stephanie K. Seymour wrote to agree with the outcome of the case. She said the Delaware Tribe "abandoned its tribal sovereignty" in the 1867 agreement. But she said she didn't agree with the way the other two judges on the panel discussed the treaty and the agreement. She said they discounted evidence that the BIA continued to deal with the Delawares as a separate tribe even after 1867. "I write separately because I believe the majority unnecessarily denigrates the contrary position of the Delaware Tribe and the Department of Interior, which rely on the long and proud history of the Delaware Tribe's relations with the federal government to argue that the tribe maintained its tribal sovereignty," she said. Despite the negative decision, the court left open the possibility that the Delaware Tribe could prove its federal status in another way. The tribe could point to acts of Congress or other dealings with the federal government, for example. In a similar case, Congress passed a law to recognize the separate status of the Shawnee Tribe, whose members had also been incorporated into the Cherokee Nation. The law, signed by former President Bill Clinton in December 2000, gives the Cherokee Nation veto authority over land-into- trust, jurisdiction and other actions of the Shawnees. Yesterday's ruling is the first time a court has overturned the BIA's recognition of a tribe, a development that could have nationwide impacts. Republicans in Alaska are challenging Deer's decision to recognize more than 200 tribes there, and officials in Connecticut are battling the BIA over the recognition of two tribes in the state. The Delaware Tribe is trying to reclaim lands in Pennsylvania, its ancestral homeland, and Kansas, where its ancestors lived before being removed to Oklahoma. Although no decisions have been made, the 10th Circuit said any actions the BIA takes based on the tribe's separate recognition are "void." The Delaware Tribe is separate from the Delaware Nation, also based in Oklahoma. The Delaware Nation filed a court case in Pennsylvania seeking land for a casino. Copyright c. 2000-2004 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: Osage Membership Bill passes" --------- Date: Sun, 21 Nov 2004 16:25:50 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRUE TRIBAL MEMBERSHIP" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=5543 OSAGE MEMBERSHIP BILL PASSES Bill goes to Bush for signiture WASHINGTON DC Louis Gray November 19, 2004 The historic bill HR 2912 as authored by U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas will ensure the future of the Osage Nation by setting up a true tribal membership and tribal government. According to Osage Principal Chief James Roan Gray, the bill passed unanimously in the House and Senate Friday, November 19, 2004 as Congress came to rest this week. The passage marked some anxious moments for the Osage Nation which has struggled with what the future held for the Oklahoma tribe of Indians. Only one Original Allottee was alive at the time of the vote and some believed that the lone surviving member of the 1906 roll was the last member of the tribe. The bill now goes to newly elected President George W. Bush's desk for signiture. Gray and the rest of the council led by membership chairman Mark Freeman fought hard for passage. Third District U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas authored the bill. Gray said he is thankful to the entire delegation for keeping the bill alive when political wrangling endangered the future of the bill through procedural holds. Once lifted the bill still had to be shepherded through the the Senate by U.S. Senators James Inhofe and retiring Don Nickles. See the bill as passed by the House and U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs below: AN ACT To reaffirm the inherent sovereign rights of the Osage Tribe to determine its membership and form of government. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. REAFFIRMATION OF CERTAIN RIGHTS OF THE OSAGE TRIBE. (a) FINDINGS- The Congress finds as follows: (1) The Osage Tribe is a federally recognized tribe based in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. (2) The Osage Allotment Act of June 28, 1906 (34 Stat. 539), states that the `legal membership' of the Osage Tribe includes the persons on the January 1, 1906 roll and their children, and that each `member' on that roll is entitled to a headright share in the distribution of funds from the Osage mineral estate and an allotment of the surface lands of the Osage Reservation. (3) Today only Osage Indians who have a headright share in the mineral estate are `members' of the Osage Tribe. (4) Adult Osage Indians without a headright interest cannot vote in Osage government elections and are not eligible to seek elective office in the Osage Tribe as a matter of Federal law. (5) A principal goal of Federal Indian policy is to promote tribal self- sufficiency and strong tribal government. (b) REAFFIRMATION OF CERTAIN RIGHTS OF THE OSAGE TRIBE- (1) MEMBERSHIP- Congress hereby clarifies that the term `legal membership' in section 1 of the Act entitled, `An Act For the division of lands and funds of the Osage Indians in Oklahoma Territory, and for other purposes', approved June 28, 1906 (34 Stat. 539), means the persons eligible for allotments of Osage Reservation lands and a pro rata share of the Osage mineral estate as provided in that Act, not membership in the Osage Tribe for all purposes. Congress hereby reaffirms the inherent sovereign right of the Osage Tribe to determine its own membership, provided that the rights of any person to Osage mineral estate shares are not diminished thereby. (2) GOVERNMENT- Notwithstanding section 9 of the Act entitled, `An Act For the division of lands and funds of the Osage Indians in Oklahoma Territory, and for other purposes', approved June 28, 1906 (34 Stat. 539), Congress hereby reaffirms the inherent sovereign right of the Osage Tribe to determine its own form of government. (3) ELECTIONS AND REFERENDA- At the request of the Osage Tribe, the Secretary of the Interior shall assist the Osage Tribe with conducting elections and referenda to implement this section. Native American Times is Copyright c. 2004 Oklahoma Indian Times, Inc. --------- "RE: Family wants answers to Landowner's Plight" --------- Date: Sun, 21 Nov 2004 16:25:50 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="THEFT OF MINERAL RIGHTS" http://www.pechanga.net/homepage.html http://www.newsok.com/article/1366826/?template=news/main Family wants answers to landowner's plight By Judy Gibbs Robinson The Oklahoman November 21, 2004 A black and red pumping jack groans up and down, day and night, year in and year out, on land Moses Bruno received when the Citizen Potawatomi reservation was broken into allotments in 1887. Swimmer tries to fix Indian trust system Over its lifetime, that one well on a red dirt hill near the Pottawatomie County town of Saint Louis has produced almost $70 million worth of oil, Bruno's granddaughter, Ruby Withrow, estimates. She cites state Corporation Commission documents she and her family have collected and analyzed. Not a penny of that ever went to Bruno, who was on public assistance when he died in 1960. His heirs blame the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs for declaring Bruno incompetent to manage his own property and then mismanaging it for him. "He could not have done worse if he'd tried," Withrow said. Lost opportunities Bruno's heirs have learned the breadth of their family's lost opportunities since 1997, when they and thousands of other Oklahomans became part of a class-action lawsuit now known as Cobell v. Norton. It accused the government of mismanaging the Indian trust, created in 1887 to make sure Indians were not swindled while they learned to manage their property. In 1932, an act of Congress made the trust perpetual. In Oklahoma, the Cobell case affects 53,000 people with Indian trust accounts. Together, they own 292,000 owner interests in the 1.1 million acres still in trust. "It's substantial compared to the nationwide numbers," said Ross Swimmer, an Oklahoman and special trustee for American Indians, a position created in 1994 to sort out the mess. In addition to Oklahoma's large Indian population, many Oklahoma allotments had oil and mineral resources, said Quapaw Tribe Chairman John Berrey, who serves on a task force working with the Interior Department on trust reform. "I think (Cobell) is probably more important to Oklahoma than any other state because of the resource exploitation," Berrey said. What's at stake The Cobell litigation already has established that the BIA mismanaged the trust. In his 1999 ruling, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth called it "fiscal and governmental irresponsibility in its purest form." Still to be determined is what the Cobell plaintiffs are owed. Their lawyers contend it could be up to $173 billion. The government says all the individual Indian account holders together lost no more than a couple of million dollars. The difference has to do with how the two sides view the case: Government officials think they will be absolved of legal responsibility by creating an accurate accounting of the revenues that were collected. But the plaintiffs hope to show that even if every penny earned by trust lands went to the rightful owners, they still lost millions of dollars through mismanagement - for example, lands leased for less than the market rate or not leased at all. "I think the real tragedy is not in the management of the money that was collected but in the money that was not collected," Berrey said. Twice in eight years, the two sides have agreed to settlement talks. Both times, the talks broke down, the last round in mid-October. "The case has gotten so diverted into scorched earth and mudslinging from both sides," Berrey said. "They don't have an exit strategy, and they've lost focus on the beneficiaries who have been injured." The Interior Department has spent at least $1 billion trying to re- create hundreds of thousands of accounts dating to 1887 and establish a new trust management system. "It's actually going well," Swimmer said last week. Finding the paper trail Withrow's father, Johnny Bruno, never trusted the BIA. "He used to say, 'Dad, they're stealing you blind,'" Withrow said. "We knew things were not being done exactly in my granddad's best interest." Moses Bruno, who could neither read nor write, would have none of it. "They wouldn't cheat me, Johnny," Withrow recalled her grandfather saying. And because Moses Bruno never saw his BIA ledger, never received notice of oil leases, and never received statements showing his account balance, the family could prove nothing. "How do we go up against something as big as the United States government without a single piece of paper in our hand?" Withrow said. Over the years, family members requested records at BIA offices in Shawnee and Anadarko but got nothing. Nor did they find anything in the National Archives in Washington. The Cobell litigation stirred the family's hopes, and Withrow and her daughter began searching more earnestly for records. One night in the fall of 1998, Dana Dickson called her mother about midnight. "I found it! I found it!" Withrow remembers her saying. While surfing the Internet, Dickson discovered a link from an obscure Indian arts-and- crafts site to Oklahoma Indian agency files at the regional National Archives in Fort Worth, Texas. "By the end of the week, five family members were on our way to Fort Worth," Withrow said. There they found a 3-inch-thick file on Moses Bruno. Inside were grocery receipts, bills for clothing, voucher slips, even the purchase order for Moses' first car. Bruno's oil leases A rusty sign riddled with bullet holes stands near the pumping jack on Moses Bruno's allotment. Beneath the name of the current owner, you can still see the name "M. Bruno" and the first letters of the word "lease." From the documents in Fort Worth, the family learned that Moses' land first came under an oil lease in 1923. Six years later, the BIA approved the sale of 20 acres to two white men for $1,311 - $65.55 an acre. The documents don't show who instigated the sale, Withrow said. The buyers drilled a new well in 1933 - the one that is still pumping. Withrow can't figure out why her grandfather's name is on the sign if he had already sold the land before the well was drilled. Even more curious, she said, is why the BIA would have approved the land sale for so little. The family has unearthed two appraisals of the 20 acres - one for $400 an acre and one for $50, Withrow said. "There was some irregularity in the way they took that out of my grandfather's hands and transferred it - I won't even call it a sale. Even if they did sell the surface, the minerals should not have gone," Withrow said. In 1939, four more wells were drilled on Moses' remaining land. They pumped from March 1939 to the end of 1941. Moses got $50 a month when all the wells were pumping; in 1941, the BIA told him he was broke, Withrow said. After Moses died, his heirs decided to sell the 40 acres he had left to pay for his funeral and that of his wife, who died a month later. Thinking the land was worthless, they accepted $3,022 for it. The BIA said it has looked into Moses Bruno's case and determined that while some records may not be complete, there is no evidence of malfeasance. "Understandably, the family did not review these files with a historian's commitment to objectivity," Time magazine quoted the BIA as saying when it wrote about the Withrow case in January. Seeking vindication Since the family began making progress with its own investigation, a BIA employee has called Withrow repeatedly, leaving messages offering to answer any questions the family might have. Withrow won't take the calls: "We don't need to hear what they have to say," she said. "We've done an awful lot of research. We've found the documents. We have proof that my grandfather was cheated and that the government was not acting in his best interests," she said. The family plans to file its own lawsuit, even though it will remove them as plaintiffs in the Cobell litigation. "I don't trust the government to do the right thing in the Cobell case," she said. "The government has never acted in the best interest of the Indian." With the documentation she now has in hand, Withrow thinks her family will fare better on its own. "I don't care about the money. It's never been about the money for me," Withrow said. Copyright c. The Oklahoman | News 9, Produced by NewsOK.com. --------- "RE: Editorial: Center needs to restore Credibility" --------- Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 08:54:14 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="RESOLVING IMAGE PROBLEMS AT CENTER" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.kansas.com/mld/eagle/news/editorial/10198164.htm Indian Center due help getting on track November 17, 2004 It's up to the FBI to investigate the allegations of embezzlement or other possible wrongdoing at the Mid-America All-Indian Center. It's up to Indian Center leaders, having already gotten the organization's nonprofit status restored, to see that bills are paid, employees' medical insurance is reinstated and other fiscal reforms are implemented, even as they conduct their own investigation into what went wrong. It's up to officials with the city of Wichita to try to help center officials get back on track and ensure better oversight and accountability for what happens at the Indian Center in the future -- steps under way. It will take all of the above actions and more to counter public distrust and reassure past and potential Indian Center donors. The facility sits on the most prized piece of real estate in Wichita -- the confluence of the little and big Arkansas rivers, where the Wichita tribe camped during the Civil War. It owns thousands of artifacts and artworks that must be properly cared for. What happens next at the center is of genuine public concern. The city doesn't need another museum to run. But it can and should be an engaged landlord. City officials owe taxpayers that much for what they do for the 28-year-old Indian Center, which pays $1 a year for use of a city- owned building on city-owned land, and also annually receives $57,900 in direct subsidy and $180,000 in building maintenance services. The center's mission always has been twofold -- social services and cultural enrichment -- sometimes awkwardly so. Should the city help facilitate a physical separation of the social service operations, such as alcohol treatment and job placement, from the museum and public event programming? The center also would benefit from becoming a more active member of the community of museums along the river. As out-of-state consultants wrote in 1998, "The survival of MAAIC as an effective organization depends upon its ability to serve both the Indian community of Wichita and the non-native visitors to its facility." In the coming months, we hope this precious community resource and attraction finds the solid leadership, professional management and fiscal stability it so richly deserves. No cultural institution with such a powerful story to tell and worthy mission to fulfill should lack support and direction. ---- For the editorial board, Rhonda Holman Copyright c. 2004 The Wichita Eagle, a Knight Ridder Publication. --------- "RE: Buffalo to be moved to South Dakota" --------- Date: Sun, 14 Nov 2004 16:57:46 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SANTA CATALINA BISON" http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/10179963.htm?1c Buffalo to be moved to South Dakota By PAT BRENNAN Orange County Register November 14, 2004 SANTA ANA, Calif. - Nearly half the buffalo herd that runs free on Santa Catalina Island will be rounded up and shipped to an Indian reservation in South Dakota next month, returning the animals to their ancestral home and easing ecological pressure on the island. The island's buffalo, descendants of 14 brought there for a movie in the 1920s, are a favorite with tourists and island residents. But since 1972, some have been removed every few years to keep the herd from growing so large that island plants are ravaged and the buffalo begin to starve. In past years the buffalo have been auctioned. But last year, for the first time, 104 were taken to Lakota Indian reservations in South Dakota. The buffalo took to their new, snowy home, and another group will be taken to another Lakota reservation in South Dakota on Dec. 15. "It's like their genes kick in: We're home!" said Leslie Baer, spokeswoman for the Catalina Island Conservancy, which is in charge of the project. California Tongva and Morongo tribe members, as well as Lakota, plan to sing and dance as the buffalo are moved off the island. The buffalo will not be hunted or slaughtered for meat in their new home, Baer said. The Catalina buffalo herd, now numbering about 250, once grew to as many as 600 animals. But lack of food left them thin and hungry. In 1972, the conservancy began moving some off the island every few years and selling them at auction. Last year's experimental removal to Indian reservations seemed like a success. The animals quickly grew winter coats - something they don't do on Catalina Island - and put on about 100 pounds each. This year, they will be moved to a 50,000-acre ranch area. Although they will still be considered a captive herd, they'll have more room to roam than they do now on the island, Baer said. The roundup, which has already begun, involves baiting the buffalo into pens, where they will await their departure. Baer said the more picturesque cowboy-on-horseback roundup won't be tried because the Catalina buffalo are, unlike cattle, unaccustomed to being handled that way and could cause injury. Buffalo - more properly, American bison - once ranged freely across the West, used by plains Indians for food, clothing and shelter. But most were systematically killed by settlers in the 19th century. A wild herd still roams Yellowstone National Park. Copyright c. 2004 Kansas City Star, A Knight Ridder Publication. --------- "RE: $436,000 given to aid Yaqui in Valley" --------- Date: Tuesday, November 16, 2004 11:59 PM From: "Chris Milda (_Akimel O`odham_)" AkimelOodham@EarthLink.net Subj: $436,000 given to aid Yaqui in Valley (Fwd) Mailing List: News and Information http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/1105yaqui05.html $436,000 given to aid Yaqui in Valley Teya Vitu Tucson Citizen November 5, 2004 The Pascua Yaqui Tribe has given $436,000 in casino winnings to the Yaqui tribal community living in and around Guadalupe, a town of less than one square mile wedged into Tempe's western boundaries. The Yaqui gave the town government $343,373 to buy a new fire engine to replace the Fire Department's only fire engine; $75,000 to pay off the $2.2 million debt for the 3-year-old Boys & Girls Club building in Guadalupe; and $17,627 to the Tempe Elementary School District to install a wireless computer network in the school with the highest Native American student concentration. The donations stem from the revenue-sharing program with the Arizona Department of Gaming launched by voter approval of Proposition 202 in 2002. By law, the Gaming Department distributes most of these funds to schools, emergency services, tourism, problem-gambling programs and wildlife conservation. But the tribes can choose which municipality to give the remaining 12 percent. Statewide, the 15 tribes with casinos distributed $2.5 million to communities of their choice. The Pascua Yaqui, based just west of Tucson, chose Guadalupe for the first year of revenue sharing. "Our community is spread out throughout Arizona," Tribal Chairwoman Herminia Frias said. "We worked with the town of Guadalupe. For the next time around, we will look at other communities." Pascua Yaqui members make up about half of the 5,200-resident population in Guadalupe, Town Manager Thomas Morales said. He said purchase of a new fire engine is critical for the town's Fire Department, which currently borrows fire engines from Tempe when its engine is in the shop. "This is going to be our front-line engine," Morales said. "We have one fire engine. It's close to 10 years old. The existing vehicle will become a backup." The Tempe Elementary School District plans to use its Yaqui check to install a wireless computer lab at Fees Middle School. "The wireless Web is a new thing at Fees," said Monica Allread, a district spokeswoman. "This is part of their Indian education program." Of the 1,000 students at Fees, there are 209 Native Americans. The school has the most Native American students in the district. The Boys & Girls Club of the East Valley plans to use its donation from the Yaqui tribe to pay off its debt on the club building in Guadalupe, which opened in 2001. "This is the first time we received any gaming money," said Ramon Elias, the club president. "This was the last piece we owed, which means the building is free and clear now. That's one less thing we need to worry about. It's wonderful what the (Pascua Yaqui) did." Copyright c. 2004 Arizona Republic. --------- "RE: She's a Voice of Tradition" --------- Date: Sun, 14 Nov 2004 16:57:46 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="QUAPAW TRIES TO SAVE LANGUAGE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://joplinglobe.joplinglobe.com/story.php?story_id=141236&c=87 She's a voice of tradition Area Indian tribes work to save native languages Dena Sloan Globe Staff Writer November 14, 2004 MIAMI, Okla. - She doesn't have any textbooks. There aren't any dictionaries. The instructional tapes she uses are the ones she's made herself. Her workbooks are her own handiwork. There's an element of self-reliance and determination wrapped up in 73-year-old Ardina Moore's crusade to save a little-spoken language. The Miami woman said she's the last person in the area, and one of the very few last people in the country, who still speaks Quapaw fluently. And if the endangered language is to be saved, she's got to help do it. "I'm getting up there in years," she said. "It's imperative that I do what I can as soon as I can, and try to pass that on." Moore was raised by her Quapaw-speaking grandparents who lived in a Quapaw community along Spring River about three miles east of Miami. They encouraged her to speak English at home, but Moore couldn't help but learn to speak and understand the language. Though she no longer has other native speakers with whom to converse, reciting daily prayers in Quapaw helps her remember the language she heard growing up. Her grandparents' generation, as children, was disciplined for speaking the native language. Now Moore works with adult students who travel to Miami from as far away as Tulsa in the hopes that they'll pass the language along to their children. "They want to be who they are, they're Quapaw people. It's in the blood," she said of her students. "When we lose our language, we lose our culture. Our culture is very important to us." After past decades of government policies aimed at eliminating American Indian cultures and trying to wipe out native languages, organized efforts are under way to bring them back. Scholars say many of the indigenous languages are in danger of disappearing all together. Because these languages were traditionally taught orally and weren't written down, they were more vulnerable. From volunteer programs at local American Indian cultural centers to university courses in native languages, scholars and grassroots groups offer a wide assortment of classes in tribal tongues. Many say it's an uphill battle and a race against time as those who grew up hearing native languages are dying. For those tribes whose members don't live in a concentrated area, the forces of assimilation can be hard to overcome. But for groups of local American Indians, preserving and revitalizing the languages of their ancestors have taken on both a special importance and a special urgency. "There's an incredible number of native languages that are just disappearing," said Gus Palmer, an associate professor of anthropology and director of the Native Language Program at the University of Oklahoma. "Among Indian communities, there's a crisis." Forbidden Before contact with European explorers, an estimated 400 to 600 indigenous languages were spoken in the United States and Canada, said Ine Slaughter, executive director of the Indigenous Language Institute in Santa Fe, N.M. An estimated 210 languages are spoken today, but only about 20 are being learned by children from parents and elders. Many more are spoken by older tribal members, but are not systematically being passed on to younger generations, she said. Government-run schools aimed at assimilating Indian children during the late 19th and early 20th centuries prohibited students from speaking their tribe's language in an effort to "kill the Indian, save the man." Several local tribal members who grew up with parents or grandparents who spoke the language said they were discouraged from learning it. As children, their grandparents would be punished for speaking tribal tongues in missionary and government-run schools, so they discouraged children from learning the languages that were formerly forbidden. Now representatives of a number of area tribes, including the Peoria, Modoc and Eastern Shawnee, said they don't know of any people fluent in their native languages. "Unfortunately, assimilation worked pretty well for a lot of tribes around here," said John Froman, chief of the Peoria Tribe in Miami, whose grandfather was the product of several Indian boarding schools. "One of the first things they did was cut your hair and (forbid children) to speak their native languages. As a youth, if you were shipped out of your climate, you didn't have the opportunity to speak (the language), you pretty much lost it. The assimilation of the Native American worked to some extent. A vital part of our culture is gone." 'Foreign' language Movements begun in the early 1990s have been trying to turn the trend around both in Northeastern Oklahoma, as well as in other parts of the country. Slaughter said legislation passed by Congress in the early 1990s called for preserving indigenous languages and began allocating money for language programs helped spark what had previously been a much smaller effort to preserve tribal vocabulary. Northeastern Oklahoma A&M University in Miami began offering courses in native languages about 10 years ago, and revitalization efforts have since gotten under way among local tribes, including the Miami, Ottawa, Seneca-Cayuga and Wyandotte. In addition to the Cherokee courses now offered at NEO, the school previously offered classes in the Ottawa, Quapaw, Seneca and Cayuga languages, said Te Nona Kuhn, director of the Native American Studies program. When she was involved in Quapaw classes at NEO, Moore said she found it ironic that it was listed under foreign language course offerings. "We want to think of the European languages as the native language (in the United States), but it's probably the tribal languages," Kuhn said. And while colleges and universities in Oklahoma, Arizona, New Mexico and other states have formal language programs, Paul Barton meets every Monday night with his class of 10 to 12 students to learn the Seneca and Cayuga languages. (Both are similar to the Iroquois language and are almost identical.) Barton, the cultural resource representative of the Seneca- Cayuga tribe, said outside forces like sports teams schedules and pow wow season sometimes causes a few weeks' break in the class where students learn words, greetings and how to introduce themselves and others. But even Barton, who has traveled to New York and Canada to learn the language and get resources from other tribal members, doesn't speak the language fluently, and he doesn't seem hopeful that others in the area will pick up that skill. Many of the tribe's ceremonies and prayers are still conducted in the native tongue, helping it to survive, he said. Many of the words can't be translated exactly into English, and even the simple greeting of "hello" carries with it deeper meanings. "At the same time, you're talking about culture, heritage and history, where we come from and who we are," Barton said. "They're the gifts from the Creator. In order to retain them, we must keep them in our mind. The language is a vital part of that." 'An obligation' A few members of the Ottawa tribe attend a yearly summer camp in Michigan to study the tribe's language, Anishinaabemowin, said Rhonda Dixon, the tribe's librarian, historian and archivist. All of the local tribal members who spoke it fluently have already died, so Dixon and a few others try to organize an annual class to teach the language. She said she's been studying it since college, and has some language books and an Ottawa-English dictionary written by one of the local chiefs in the early 1980s. Knowing the language is helpful in her job for the tribe, but there's also a more personal reason for her studies. "Without the language, there's really no history to the tribe," she said. Though her grandparents wouldn't formally teach it to her, Ardina Moore continues to try to get students together to learn the Quapaw language. It can be difficult to coordinate the schedules of so many people who are scattered around the area. But it's learning that must be done in person, she said. The sounds, inflections and pronunciations aren't native to English, and Moore said she sometimes has to physically show students how to make particular nasal or guttural sounds. It's a more difficult language to learn than French or Spanish, which have words and influences that are a part of everyday life. Native tongues are far less prevalent in everyday life, but Moore said it's necessary that she help her people know who they are and from where they come. "It's not something everyone can do," she said. "I feel an obligation." Copyright c. 2004 The Joplin Globe Publishing Company. --------- "RE: Moms bring back the Dine' Language" --------- Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 08:48:04 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LANGUAGE AND CULTURE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.navajohopiobserver.com/~1038668&S=392&PubID=13347 Moms bring back the Dine' language By S.J. Wilson The Observer STAR School's Native American Club puts emphasis on reviving Navajo Some parents' involvement with their children's school is minimal. But for parents like Elaine Riggs, Diane Tohannie and Louva Montour, their lives are tightly interwoven with the school their children attend. These three Navajo women's children attend a small charter school located approximately 20 miles northeast of Flagstaff near the reservation community of Leupp. At least 85 percent of the students are Navajo - others represent Hispanic, Anglo and other tribal ancestry. As part of a Learn and Serve grant provided by the Arizona Department of Education, individuals such as Sam Tso and Montour brought in multicultural volunteers in an effort to bridge misunderstandings between students. This year, those involved with the grant want to see its scope expanded. Several took time on Nov. 12 to explain how they plan to go about it. "I wanted to see service learning and place based education principles adopted by the STAR School to include life skills that would sustain our students through hard times," Riggs said. "There were times where my husband and I were between jobs. There were times when we paid our bills by selling home-baked bread or firewood. I have also made quilts to sell. I wanted our children to have these skills as well." This desire inspired Riggs and Montour to institute a Native American Club at the STAR School. Out of discussions held with the children during Native American Club meetings, it became clear that many of the students also demonstrated a strong desire to learn their language. In its fourth year, the STAR (Service to All Relations) School administration welcomed the enthusiasm and passion demonstrated by the small group of parents. School Director, Mark Sorensen noticed that the desire of the bilingual Navajo mothers to help the children learn the language was very similar to the Language Nests developed by the Maori mothers in New Zealand which is responsible for the revival of the Maori language. "This is an opportunity to strengthen the continuity of the Navajo language through the mothers." he said. "What better group is there to do this than the mothers?" But it is not only Navajo children who are showing excitement with the new classes. Teaching their children to speak, read and write the Navajo language is also very important to Riggs and Montour. Kelly Hardman, a blue-eyed blonde, is one of several non-Indian students who joined the Native American Club. Of Swedish, Norwegian, and Cherokee ancestry, Hardman may have to work twice as hard to fill out the clanship formula used by the Navajo people to introduce themselves, but this does not dampen her enthusiasm. "I want to learn more Navajo," Hardman said. "I used to speak it when I attended Leupp Schools Inc., but I have lost a lot of it." Though many might question Hardman's need to learn Navajo, others point out that she lives and learns in a multicultural community where many people do speak Navajo. Some of the volunteers who come into the school, including Montour's parents Raymond and Elsie Phelps, speak only Navajo. "It's very important to me because I don't want the generation after us to forget their language," Riggs said. "Our language is slowly disappearing and I would like to revive it. As a parent, I would like to see my children learn the Navajo language. It is up to the family, but most of the parents should be reinforcing the Navajo language at home, and it is a shame that we don't do it. So it is very important to me that our children learn their own language. I don't think we should impose on our parents and grandparents to learn English so they can communicate with our children." Riggs' two sons are not yet fluent in Navajo, a fact that Riggs regrets. "On my part, I was too busy," she said. "I spent the majority of my children's lives away from the reservation. I do have some regret that I didn't try harder. My husband and I spoke Navajo and English. When we spoke Navajo, they didn't have a clue what we were saying, so we would have to repeat ourselves in English. Now we tell them in Navajo and English. I tell my parents to talk to them in Navajo, don't talk to them in English. I want to reinforce the use of the language." Montour's sons have an additional challenge. Their father, of Potowatomi and Mohawk ancestry, is also trying to learn Navajo. "When I had my babies, I started talking to them in Navajo, especially my oldest, because I was a stay-at-home mom," Montour said. "While I was pregnant, I used to read out loud to him. The day after he was born, we put him in a cradleboard and talked to him in Navajo." But the family did not live on the Navajo reservation and traveled from place to place for employment. Because her husband did not speak Navajo, the couple had to speak to each other in English. She said this made it difficult for her to also converse with her small children in Navajo. "Eventually, my use of Navajo decreased," Montour admitted. "Since then we moved home to the reservation. Where we saw my parents maybe once or twice a year, now they live next door. When the boys go next door to help out with chores, they need to be able to speak the language." Even with two Navajo parents, families living far from the reservation may find themselves speaking only English. Diane Tohannie's grandparents raised her and was never taught Navajo. When she married a man whose parents spoke only Navajo, she had to learn the language quickly. But a move halted her use of Navajo with anyone but her husband. "We lived in Minneapolis most of the time, and there was no one to talk Navajo with," Tohannie said. When asked if she had attempted to teach her children Navajo, Tohannie admitted she didn't. "I didn't think I was coming back, and I didn't want to come back," Tohannie said. Nonetheless, 14 months ago, Tohannie found herself in Leupp when her husband moved home to care for his aging parents. "Now my children are learning," Tohannie said. "They understand some but cannot speak it yet." "When they moved back, they didn't have clue," Riggs said of her niece and nephew. "Even if you said "ya'ah'the" to them, they would not respond. Within five months, Antoinette was catching on. I would ask where Diane was, and she would understand me, but answer in English." Antoinette Tohannie said that she is learning Navajo, not because she has to, but because she wants to. "I want to know my Navajo language," she said. "Because I grew up in Minnesota, no one really spoke to me in Navajo. My grandma and grandpa speak only Navajo, and I want to talk with them." The women are working to gather an effective curriculum - coloring books, pronunciation guides, family trees and other material are being gathered. After Sorensen advised them to start small, the parents approached Tom Tomas, who teaches the seventh/eighth grade class. Tomas said he was eager to have his students involved in the language classes. "The kids are really enthusiastic about the class. You can read it in their non-verbal cues. The kids show anticipation going in, and are cheerful and happy coming out - there is all of this positive energy," Tomas said. "When I walk in there to visit, the kids are engaged in active learning." As part of the Learn and Serve grant, students will write their own illustrated bilingual books that they will read to younger students, parents and grandparents for presentation at the National Youth Service Day in April. Copyright c. 2003 Northern Arizona Newspapers, Inc. --------- "RE: Indian-owned business helping to save Languages" --------- Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 08:48:04 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRAIL LANGUAGE PROGRAM" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=5525 Indian-owned business helping to save dying languages Original speakers are fast diminishing Sam Lewin November 17, 2004 With a new study showing that American Indian languages are being lost at an alarming rate, the work of an Indian-owned business has become even more relevant. Experts say that 25 Native languages are still spoken in Oklahoma, but 10 of them are only one generation from extinction. The reason is that elders who speak the languages are dying out. Swifteagle Enterprises may have the answer, marketing a product called TRAILS, an acronym for Teaching, Restoring and Archiving International Languages Software. Swifteagle is co-owned by Hanoi Horton Crews, an enrolled member of the New York-based Shinnecock Indian Nation. Crews and her husband, Jim, developed TRAILS because the Shinnecock have lost all speakers of their native tongue. "I wanted to work with the Shinnecock because they have no speakers left and haven't since the 1800's," Jim Crews told the Native American Times from the company's headquarters in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. "We developed a language education program and we made our initial presentation to the Mashantucket Pequot. We did some improvements on it. It was originally a very rudimentary program comparing English and Native words and we improved it so we could teach any Native language in the world. This is an ideal program for tribes. We can archive words, do illustrations-the whole schmear. Swifteagle officials made a pitch to Shinnecock tribal officials earlier this year. The company has also attracted the interest of non-Indians, receiving request for information from as far away as Europe. According to the Intertribal Wordpath Society, Oklahoma has 21,359 Indian language speakers, but 10 tribes have 10 or fewer fluent speakers and another 15 have fewer than 200. Native American Times is Copyright c. 2004 Oklahoma Indian Times, Inc. --------- "RE: Preserving Original and Traditional Lullabies" --------- Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 08:48:04 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LULLABIES" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=5524 Project Preserving Original and Traditional Lullabies Group seeks to record more songs SANTA FE NM November 17, 2004 "Rock-a-bye Baby on the tree top..." or "Hush little baby, don't you cry..." How many times have you sung those words or listened to your mother as she rocked you to sleep as a baby? They are lullabies and their message is universal. Every culture in the world, it seems, has its own song to put the baby to sleep. Now a global project is recording those lullabies, and the history surrounding them, for posterity. "The Lullaby Project" is seeking traditional and original lullabies in all the languages of the world. This is no short-term project, but the team is hoping to get a start on it. And they have. Anita Gerlach and Ned Place have recorded hundreds of lullabies in dozens of languages since last April. "We have already recorded 50 languages and 350 lullabies," Gerlach told the Native American Times. Gerlach, a grandmother of five, is a science teacher in Santa Fe and a member of the Comanche Nation. "We have recorded lullabies from about six Native American tribes," she said. Gerlach explained that some tribes don't want their traditional lullabies to be public property, but The Lullaby Project still hopes to work with them, recording the songs for the tribe's own use and preservation. Some of the lullabies the Project has recorded have been the only known ones of a culture. Some have been on the brink of being lost forever because the language has changed or is itself in danger. One such song is a pre-Bolshevik Russian lullaby. While archiving is one of the project's goals, Gerlach told NAT that she wants to see the lullabies used. She explained that compact discs of the different lullabies could be used in children's hospitals, where young ones might have to stay for months. Another use could be for adoptive parents to play for their children who might be from another culture. The whole project will work to preserve these languages and the cultures that speak them. Gerlach said they hope to write multi-cultural units to go along with the lullabies for use with young children. The process of recording every language in the world is a long one, though. India, for example, has nearly 32 languages spoken in the country. The Lullaby Project has already recorded songs in five of them, but there is much more to do. Gerlach said that they have an associate from India who is traveling back to the country in December. They hope to send her outfitted with recording equipment so that she can work on collecting the remaining languages. The Lullaby Project has also recorded songs in Indonesian, Ukrainian and North Vietnamese. "This is definitely a project that has just begun," Gerlach said. She explained that she and Place expect it to last for the rest of their lives and possibly longer. Archive-quality cds will hopefully be made of each singer. With permission from those singers, various cds will be released to the general public. The first, Gerlach said, would likely be a collection of 14 to 16 lullabies from around the world. Culturally-specific versions would later follow. "People have been absolutely wonderful," Gerlach said. The only real roadblock they've come up against is when people are afraid to sing for the recorder. But the project has seen all kinds of personalities. Some people are really comfortable with it, while others are not, she explained. "It's a joy," Gerlach said. "It's great fun. We've met some incredible people." She said that they have learned a lot too. The Project is also analyzing other things about lullabies. She said that the content of the songs range from apologies to the baby about how they live to scary songs Gerlach says she can't imagine trying to go to sleep to. Have there been any surprises along the way? Sure. "We thought that we would find commonalities in the lullabies," Gerlach explained. True, most are short and have a limited range of notes, but they are worlds apart in terms of loudness and beat. "The variety is amazing us." The Lullaby Project has recently gained non-profit status in the state of New Mexico and is hoping for national non-profit status. That would open the team up to raising funds that currently come from Gerlach's and Place's own pockets. If you know a traditional lullaby and would like to share it with The Lullaby Project, they would love to hear from you. "We would like to record any Native American that would like to be recorded," Gerlach said. You can contact Gerlach in Santa Fe, New Mexico at 505-757-6021 or via email at agerlach@cybermesa.com. Partner Ned Place can be reached at 817- 237-9451 or at nedplace@theeagleplace.com. The Lullaby Project also has a very new and, as Gerlach explained, very sparse website at www.thelullabyproject.org. Native American Times is Copyright c. 2004 Oklahoma Indian T