_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 13, ISSUE 002 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 January 8, 2005 Assiniboine wicogandu/center moon Algonquin squochee kesos/moon when Sun has not strength to thaw +-------------------------------------------------------+ | 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; Soveriegn Nations, NDNAIM, News and Information, Certain Home, Rez_Life, Oyate Underground, RezLife, American Indian, Frostys AmerIndian, Native Rights, Indigenous Peoples Literature and Sovereign Nations News 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: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + ======================== "Our people remember before the treaties were signed. We always had sovereignty. It was never taken away or given to us. We've always had the right to protect our waters and our land." __ Aaron Thomas, Lummi +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! I actually had planned a very different editorial than the one that follows. Then on New Year's eve I received a message from an elder that presented some facts and questions I have been asking and discussing with my wife. This was followed Saturday, New Year's day, with the first article in this issue, "Cultural Teachings beckon during Disasters", that asks many of the same questions. I will probably lose subscribers who will question my loyalty. We "Real Human Beings", the Native children of this land, must honor our teachings and ask these questions when we see poisons poured in lakes, rivers and the earth, itself. We must plant our staffs and cry out when we see wars waged over lies. Yes, lies. There were no weapons of mass destruction.... We must take a stand against wanton destruction of fragile environment and Sacred places. Make no mistake. I support our troops 100%. What is being done to them is, however, criminal. Forced tours and extensions may not actually be a direct violation of U.S. law; but should be, and are most certainly violations of moral laws. It has been reported that many military families are on food stamps, etc. Many of our troops now coming home, do not have the health care they need. Again our government says and promises one thing, but gives yet another. Further, veterans who risked their lives in past conflicts are seeing their promised benefits eroded and eliminated. That's disgraceful. Some of the issues raised in the original email that awakened my conscience I will now share with you. U.S. Aid for Tsunami victims $35 million (this has since been raised to $350 million, but only after a couple of days of increasing international scorn) Bush Jan 20th Inaugural $45 million Cost for ONE DAY of Iraq war $177 million And, here is the critical question raised in that message: Is it possible to pound a single area of the world with the equivalent of at least 500 nuclear bombs and not have this energy reverberate around the world? For every action there IS a reaction, sooner or later. How many wake-up calls do we need before we recognize the connectedness of all of life? This question cannot be ignored. When do we examine the damage being done, the hate being generated, and the lies being perpetuated and have the courage to say, "No more!"? When do we realize that the horrific debt already created and now being inflated at an incredible rate (after our deficit was reduced to zero) will be a shackle and burden our children and their children and their children's children. They have every reason to curse us for the awful mess we are handing them. Can you honestly look your own children, nieces and nephews and grandchildren in the eye and say, "It's the best I could do."? If you can I pity you. -=-=-=- In this week's mail: Support our Native Troops Overseas and Abroad Date: Wednesday, December 29, 2004 11:22 AM From: Sherry Girty [supportn8tivetroops@usa.com] Subj: Submission >To: gars@nanews.org With the coming of a new year 2005, we are seeing more new native men and women being deployed overseas. If you have a loved one being deployed overseas and would like them featured on the following site for Letters of support and Care packages please visit this site : www.aicco.org/sot/troops.asp or you may e-mail me the soldier's full name, rank, tribal affiliaton, if known, home town and state, overseas contact address, e-mail , if known. Any pictures of the soldier is appreciated as well. God bless all the troops overseas. Sherry Girty Founder of Support our Native Troops Overseas and Abroad 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 ----------- - Editorial Section ... - Pendleton Blanket Support our Native Troops synonymous with Achievement Overseas and Abroad - NASA SHARP: - Cultural Teachings Teen American Indians Wanted beckon during Disasters - The Inca, Maya, and - Cahokian? - Indian Community standing up - New longhouse crowns against "One Nation" UO's NA Initiative - Three untruths of 2004 - Canadians rate Native issues - Adamson: Much to apologize for, a Low Priority then and now - First Nations demand say - Doug George: U.S. Elections: in Timber Deal We are the Wolf - Linguistic Comfort - Indians' Remains renew wrongs in Canada's North a must have - Trespassing - KAHNTINETA HORN: Lawyers and Liars stirs Sovereignty debate - Court strikes down - Oregon Court Gravesite Victory First Nations' Adoption Policy - New Bill to wipe out Land Treaties - Theft of Documents Case - MacDonald opposes - Museum loses Indian Artifacts Navajo Water Settlement to Burglary - Shirley blasts War in Iraq - Yakama Tribal Lockup - O'odham Land gets 8 Rescue Beacons again under Federal scrutiny - Tribes work to prevent - Reservation Mysteries Child Alcohol Deaths puzzle Investigators - Klallam caring for Remains - Endangered Amber Alert: at Port Angeles Site Tamra Jewel Keepness - Winnemem Wintu face - Amber Alert: Child Abduction end of Traditional ways - Native Prisoner - Oneidas rule out -- Federal Prisons increase Role in Bicentennial restrictions on Sweatlodges - Agreement cuts Travel Distance - Rustywire: Navajo Sheep Camp Heros for Medical Scans - Hawkdancer Poem: Clouds - NAMMYS - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days --------- "RE: Cultural Teachings beckon during Disasters" --------- Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2005 11:53:37 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TEACHINGS RECALLED" http://www.thenavajotimes.com/_content/toms_col.php Cultural teachings beckon during disasters By Tom Arviso Jr. Publisher December 31, 2004 As of late Wednesday afternoon, the death count from the disaster that hit the shorelines of East Africa and Asia was nearing 75,000 according to updated new accounts from The New York Times. That is an amazing and scary figure and it is sure to climb closer to 100,000 before 2004 comes to a tumultuous end in that part of the world late Friday night. As the tides roll in, more bodies are being washed up on the shores but yet tens of thousands of people are still unaccounted for. Rescue searchers are also struggling to get to the remote regions of Southeast Asia, India and Sri Lanka where thousands of more dead bodies are sure to be found. Thousands of survivors are struggling to stay alive and dealing with the shock of what happened to them and their families and friends. Some of the stories told by the people who were washed away by the huge tsunami waves and somehow managed to survive are simply incredible. Relief workers are doing their best to deliver food, medical supplies, clothing and temporary shelters to the thousands of homeless, injured and lost men, women and children. These victims are located in more than a dozen different countries and the overall damage to the entire region is estimated to already be in the billions of dollars. This latest world disaster is just that - a disaster. What is so sad about this devastating occurrence is how so many innocent people lost their lives and their livelihoods in such a shocking fashion, especially the children. What is so disgusting about this whole tragedy are the many looters and thieves who are on a rampage and taking advantage of their own helpless people. We surely live in a mixed up world. If this latest natural tragedy does not have some kind of sobering or humbling effect on a person, including here on the Navajo Reservation, then I do not know what will. On one side of the earth we have this huge disaster occur where human life is just wiped out in a matter of minutes. Why? On the other side of the world, we have a war going on in Iraq where thousands of innocent people are being killed by their own on a daily basis by deadly bombs, booby traps and executions. Why? Of course the politicians and scientists of the world have their own explanations for what occurs and supposedly they are based on factual information, evidence and research. But then after you listen to what they say, you may still find yourself asking, "But why?" From a cultural and spiritual view, there are other reasons for why these types of disasters and wars take place. Our ancestors have long told us that there is a certain way that humans are supposed to live in harmony with nature and with each other. We are supposed to have respect for the earth and all of its living elements. When we do not adhere to these teaching and warnings, then bad things will occur to wake us up and make us realize that we are not praying right, we are not living right and we are disrespecting the land, air, water and earth that we need in order to survive. That is what my grandparents taught me and their grandparents taught them long ago. Those teachings still hold quite true. We, the Navajo People, have been real lucky so far that nothing as devastating as the tsunamis and earthquake disaster has taken place here. We have had our warnings though with the Hantavirus, the droughts and other illnesses that plague our people, land and animals. Perhaps it is time, again, to remember our traditional ways, prayers and songs. There is a reason why we have them and we should make good use of them. There are many lost people roaming the face of the earth who do not have what we do - our tradition and culture - and they suffer. I always question why certain occurrences take place such as the latest disaster because I feel that there is a reason for everything. I do not expect a full, extensive answer but rather I anticipate that some kind of explanation or reason will be given that will cause me and other people to think and react. I try not to worry about things I cannot control but I also cannot help myself to wonder about what kind of world are my kids, grandchildren and future generations going to have to live in. In a perfect world, there would be no wars and people would get along with each other and there would be cures for all of the various kinds of diseases and sickness. But that is more of a dream. I certainly hope they live in a world that is less violent than ours and that they are respected as people and not looked down upon by others. I want them to be safe and happy. In order for that to occur, we have to make it happen for them in today's world. That means we need to all work hard at living right, praying and singing the way we are supposed to, and respecting the earth and each other. That is asking and wishing for a lot but it is not impossible. Just take a good hard look at what has and is taking place in others parts of the world and that should bring us all down to earth and perhaps to our knees. Copyright c. 2004 Navajo Times Publishing Co. Inc. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Indian Community standing up against "One Nation"" --------- Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2004 08:25:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ONE NATION TRUTHS" http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=5706 American Indian Community standing up against "One Nation" Statement from United Native America Mike L. Graham December 27, 2004 The One Nation organization based in Oklahoma City is just another fear mongering group focused on American Indian sovereignty, however U.S. treaties made with Indian nations already cover that. One Nation boasts of a large membership, so large that one has to think that they are counting all people doing business with companies associated with One Nation. Most people doing business with these companies have not heard of One Nation and are not aware of what they stand for. If they did you would see a lot of people leaving and doing business with other companies not associated with One Nation. Indian groups around the country are getting the word out to the public as to what One Nation really stands for, and that is to do away with all Indian governments and their land rights. One Nation is basically made up of oil and gas companies, plus some convenience stores owned by them as well as realty groups. State and federal laws cover each of them; they have no say over Indian business operations. One Nation wants people to think Indian nations are ripping the taxpayers off and Indian nations are bringing about the downfall of America due to the way they are allowed to conduct business in our country. What is really the case with One Nation is they want Indian nations out of the way. Companies affiliated with this group would have access to millions of acres of land held in federal trust for Indians, thus they would have a free hand in getting access to more land for their companies to develop for their profit. Eliminating tribal sovereignty competition would bring in hundreds of billions of dollars each year for companies associated with One Nation and their stated goals. Under federal law Indian nations are allowed to operate casinos within a state. Federal law mandates that the two parties work together bringing about a compact that would allow the state to collect a tax from these tribal operations. Money made by tribal businesses is used to support their programs within that state, programs like education and care for the elderly. The point made here is that their money stays in the state and helps other businesses and creates new business in support of their operations. That brings about a tax dollar gain for the state, not a loss for the state, as One Nation would have you believe. Now, on the other hand, oil and gas companies, national realty companies, convenience stores chains, and insurance companies are franchises, when they come into your state and neighborhood a large part of their profits is sent out-of-state to their corporate office. When a Wal-Mart opens in your community, small businesses cannot compete and they have to close. You can almost hear the sucking sound of money leaving your community and state. State governments offer great tax breaks plus a ton of freebies to national companies to locate within their state- is this fair to Mom and Pop businesses in full support of their community and states well being? You do not have to read between the lines to see what One Nation is all about. They're almost right when they say they do not hate Indians - they just believe Native Americans are in the way of big business getting bigger. Big businesses compete against each other all the time, no big deal, they have the money to hang in there. But, they also have no problem going after Mom and Pop small businesses in a community by cutting their prices and driving them out. You see no matter what your race is it's just about doing business and running over anyone that gets in his or her way no matter what it cost a community or state. One Nation wants us to think they are being done wrong, stop the Indians, they are being given special treatment, we cannot compete, the sky is falling. I have never heard of any "big business" going bust because of an Indian operated business, have you? Now, lets not get into how Indians and their governments for decades have been treated by federal and state governments and big business in this great land we call America, one nation under God. One Nation says its name comes from the American pledge of allegiance. One Nation's new leader Barbara Lindsay tells us she wants Indian leaders reigned in, that they are over-reaching. Groups like One Nation are all about one thing: filing unnecessary litigation against tribes in courts and bringing about legislation in governments that will not stand up to any sort of judicial scrutiny. Tribal nations have to spend millions of dollars each year in courts countering these group's actions against them and that alone keeps attorney's pockets full of money. Again, the state gets cash through the back door through keeping tribes tied up in state court actions. One issue you will not see groups like One Nation talking about or taking on is big businesses ripping Americans off in the stock market. Groups like One Nation are riding across America like the 1800's U.S. Army in trying to contain Indians, taking away their chance at the American dream that they are close to having and that dream is one of financial independence. One Nation wraps itself in patriotism; it's plain to see their just another group in support of corporate financial pigs looking for a bigger feeding trough. One Nation must think American Indians live in other countries and do not pay tax on goods they buy here in the good old USA. As a member of the Oklahoma Cherokee Nation I pay taxes everyday, what's up with this One Nation? Where's my tax break? This website stands watch over One Nation One Nation OK Lies.com http://www.onenationoklies.com Native American Times is Copyright c. 2004 Oklahoma Indian Times, Inc. --------- "RE: Three untruths of 2004" --------- Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2004 13:53:31 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="2004 UNTRUTHS" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096410060 Three untruths of 2004 by: Richard Walker / Indian Country Today Washington state Indians must continue to protect their rights December 27, 2004 American Indians are seeing their economic and political influence grow in the Pacific Northwest. Reservations are in the midst of economic expansion projects. Local governments are increasingly asking for tribal nation assistance in restoring the health of land and water. American Indians hold prominent places in government; John McCoy, a member of the Tulalip Tribes in Marysville, Wash., serves on the Commerce and Labor, Higher Education and Trade and Economic Development committees of the state House of Representatives. Increased voter registration has given American Indians more muscle at the polls; indeed, the American Indian vote is credited with unseating U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton in 2000. American Indian law is being added to the Washington State Bar Exam, the second state to do so. Despite progress in the economic, political and legal realms, however, ballot measures and mis-speaks by political candidates in the November election show that American Indians must remain on guard when it comes to protecting their rights. Untruth No. 1: You have been given sovereignty Nationally, the most widely-noted gaffe was made by Pres. Bush, who struggled to define sovereignty in answering a question by Mark Trahant, editorial page editor of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The gaffe occurred on Aug. 6 at a conference of minority journalists. Bush said, "Tribal sovereignty means that, it's sovereign. You're a - you're a - you have been given sovereignty and you're viewed as a sovereign entity." Aaron Thomas, public affairs officer of the Lummi Indian Nation near Bellingham, Wash., was taken aback by Bush's reference to tribal nations being "given" sovereignty, because something given can also be taken away. "It reaffirmed that a lot of leaders don't understand sovereignty or they don't believe it," Thomas said. "Our people remember before the treaties were signed. We always had sovereignty. It was never taken away or given to us. We've always had the right to protect our waters and our land. The Point Elliot Treaty was only a set of rules that all would abide by." Untruth No. 2: Indians monopolize gambling and don't pay taxes' Washingtonians overwhelmingly voted down a state ballot initiative that would have legalized non-tribal slot machines in the state. The vote was 1, 711,785 "no" to 1,069,414 "yes." Advocates of Initiative 892 stated mistruths about American Indians in order to promote their ill-fated ballot measure. Radio advertising repeatedly told listeners that American Indians have a "monopoly" on gambling and that American Indians "don't pay taxes." A large contributor to the pro-campaign was British Columbia-based Great Canadian Gaming Corp., which owns nine casinos - five in B.C. and four in Washington state - and has expansion plans, according to the Seattle Post- Intelligencer. Washington tribes contributed big money to help defeat the measure. The Tulalip Tribes, which opened a new casino on Interstate 5 north of Everett, contributed $1 million, according to the King County Journal. The Muckleshoots contributed $831,300. The Puyallups, who plan a new casino- hotel in Tacoma, contributed $750,000. American Indian leaders say gaming gives tribal communities an even playing field, generating money they need to foster economic development and support human services. This is particularly true for rural tribal communities, which are located far from urban economic activity. "One hundred percent of the net win from the Washington State Lottery and tribal government casinos pay for government services like education, human services and public safety," the No on I-892 Committee reported during the campaign. "Expanded private gambling siphons players away from state and tribal gaming which will reduce available funds that support these essential services." Untruth No. 3: Off-island special interest On Washington's San Juan Islands, a County Commission candidate aroused controversy when he referred to the Tulalip Tribes in nearby Marysville as "an off-island special interest group." Ray Bigler, the Republic nominee, sent a letter to registered voters three days before the election criticizing Democrat Kevin Ranker's qualifications and sources of campaign funding. The Tulalip Tribes, which has worked with Ranker on environmental issues in San Juan County, donated $4,000 to his campaign. Bigler's letter failed to note that the people of the Tulalip Tribes have historic ties to the islands. It also failed to note that the Tulalip Tribes is a participant in the county's Marine Resources Committee and owns land in the county, on Lopez Island. The letter resulted in a column by Tulalip Chairman Stan Jones Sr. "I am very disturbed that some islanders would think that the Tulalip Tribes are not part of this community. Actually, we were among the original inhabitants of the islands, arriving approximately 10,000 years ago," Jones wrote in a column in the San Juan Journal. "When Europeans first came here, we welcomed them as trading partners. Early settlers documented our fishing sites on southern Lopez and San Juan islands, but we fished, dug clams and gathered plants throughout the islands. "Later, when the United States government told us that they needed land for their people, we signed the Treaty of Point Elliott. We gave up the land but not the fish, wildlife and plant resources supported by the land and the waters. These islands have always been our home and they will always remain so." Bernice Delorme, in-house counsel for the Puyallup Tribe, said this election year shows that despite progress American Indians can't let their guard down. "Indian people carry a lot heavier burden in education and in trying to keep accurate information before public," she said. "Tribes have an obligation to let people know the good work we are doing. I don't think we do enough of that." Richard Walker is a correspondent reporting from San Juan Island, Wash. Contact him at irishmex2000@yahoo.com. Copyright c. 1998-2004 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Adamson: Much to apologize for, then and now" --------- Date: Thursday, December 30, 2004 2:46 PM From: MJLaBurt@aol.com Subj: Adamson: Much to apologize for, then and now Mailing List: Soveriegn Nations Mailing List: NDNAIM http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096410093 Adamson: Much to apologize for, then and now by: Rebecca Adamson / Indian Country Today December 30, 2004 The sequence of events that led to Wounded Knee Massacre is familiar enough, in its apocalyptic atrocity - the harbinger of so many mass murders in the century that followed - to need for full repetition here. The words of one General E.D. Scott right after the massacre are less familiar. But as Americans begin a new year, we find ourselves in a war that forces us to consider his written statement. Here it is in all its soul-destroying horror: "There is nothing to conceal or apologize for in the Wounded Knee Battle - beyond the killing of a wounded buck by a hysterical recruit. The firing was begun by the Indians and continued until they stopped - with the one exception noted above. "That women and children were casualties was unfortunate but unavoidable, and most must have been [killed] from Indian bullets ... The Indians at Wounded Knee brought their own destruction as surely as any people ever did. Their attack on the troops was as treacherous as any in the history of Indian warfare, and that they were under a strange religious hallucination is only an explanation not an excuse." These words have a ring of military excuse-making that has become familiar through repetition in the century-plus since. But they've never sat well with Americans, not even at the time. The newspaper writers that made the Indian wars of the 19th century the early film scripts of the 20th became unusually sympathetic over Wounded Knee, and the snowy killing field with its haunting name is now hallowed ground the whole world over. But that doesn't mean our military is any less at one with General Scott than it was in 1890. Why do his words, or words like his, not bother us today? On the basis of explanations that have proved false time after time, America has launched and prosecuted a war of aggression that finds little defense in the world community. We insist Iraqis under a cruel dictator brought their own destruction upon them, just as surely as those Indians at Wounded Knee. Yet like General Scott, we offer no evidence of that beyond their "otherness" and our self-justifications. This is of a piece with the idea that "Operation Plymouth Rock" in Fallujah represents freedom and democracy. It represents one more insensitive effort to market a misjudged war. Our raw, untrained, sometimes hysterical recruits have killed many wounded "terrorists" at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere; yet we apply that word indiscriminately to many people we happen to kill; likewise an Indian warrior, wounded no doubt in the protection of women and children, was okay to kill as long as he was a "buck" and not a human being. We also manage to point out that many of the Iraqi citizens dead in the war, women and children among them, are killed by their own suicide bombers - never mind that Iraq wasn't a hotbed for that problem, not by any means, until the occupying forces showed up. Now they are coming out of the woodwork. We still don't know how many Iraqi women and children have been killed in the fighting, though we certainly do consider these casualties "unfortunate but unavoidable." As for "strange religious hallucination" ... here the going is complicated. It is true that in desperation, with every last one of their traditional stays under sustained assault, the Teton people who perished at Wounded Knee had embraced a religious practice without precedent in their past. One might call the Ghost Dance a hallucinatory experience, or one might simply call it the desperate consolation of people who bore their losses as well as anyone would have in their circumstances. The point here is that many Arabs feel themselves to be in similar circumstances of dispossession and betrayal. We don't understand their desperation any better beforehand than we did at Wounded Knee. For that matter, our own president's religious affirmation appears to be more hallucinatory every day. Once decisions are publicly made in the name of God, correcting them is tantamount to disavowing the will of God. Christianity has forceful things to say about false prophets, but all that we leave to the almighty. Here and now though, as human beings with more feeling for others than our military spokesmen give us credit for, we can begin to insist that the war establishment stop scripting our reaction to government terror. ---- Rebecca Adamson is the president of First Nations Development Institute and a columnist for Indian Country Today. Copyright c. 2004 Indian Country Today. --------- "RE: Doug George: U.S. Elections: We are the Wolf" --------- Date: Sun, 2 Jan 2005 12:58:23 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DOUG GEORGE-KANENTIIO: U.S. ELECTIONS" http://members.aol.com/miketben1/wolfs.htm GUEST EDITORIAL U.S. ELECTIONS: WE ARE THE WOLF BY: DOUG GEORGE-KANENTIIO INDIAN TIME - Vol. 22 #49 - Tsiothohrha / December 9, 2004 Edition - Page 3 I am a citizen of the Mohawk Nation, Haudenosaunee Confederacy. My national status prohibits me from casting a vote in the election of a foreign Nation such as the United States. I adhere to the decision by the Haudenosaunee to reject the 1924 Indian Citizenship Act since it would not only qualify our standing as Iroquois but, if embraced, will inevitably lead to the termination of our Treaty relationships with the U.S., Britain, France and many other Native Nations. Our leaders have made it quite clear: a Tribe is not a Nation, therefore we are not Tribes. While there are some Iroquois who do vote and give money to U.S. politicians they do so against our own laws and customs. We were instructed at the time of first meeting with the Europeans not to become entangled in their affairs. We set in place for all time an agreement we call Kaswenta or the Two Row Wampum. This most sacred of covenants states that we shall glide along the river of life in our canoe while the European is in his ship. We may travel in the same direction but risk our lives if we attempt to cross from one vessel to the other. This Treaty remains in effect after 380 years. We do, as thinking humans, have our opinions as to the political situation in Canada and the U.S. since whomever assumes power in those two Nations must be instructed as to their obligations under Treaty. The recent U.S. elections are causing great concern among the Haudenosaunee and its allies. Our sense of alarm was affirmed when the Republican Party used a family of wolves to cause fear in the hearts of the American people. The wolf is an honored being among us and is one of the three Clans of the Mohawks and Oneidas as well as a Clan for the other Nations. Over the generations we have learned much from this wise being whose strength, loyalty and intelligence is rightfully admired by all Native peoples. We have come to understand that the Europeans hate and fear the wolf since they cannot control him. They have often intertwined Native people and wolves and are obsessive about using our respective images to do very bad things. We have been treated as has the wolf; despised, hunted down, murdered. Our environment destroyed, our families-packs rubbed out, the truth of our cultures lied about while we have been subjected to the most vile of stereotypes. Just look at the mascots of the University of Illinois, University of Florida, Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves, Washington Redskins, South Dakota's "Fighting Sioux". We are, just as the wolf, barometers of the health of Anowarakowa, the Great Turtle Island and its current condition is bordering on the critical. When the Republicans abuse the wolf they attack us as well as we are committed to the survival of our four-legged brothers-sisters. This is what the entire Bush campaign centered upon: fear. Not a call to honor, service, compassion, truth, integrity but fear so powerful as to cause the American voter to put aside their common sense and return to power a man who caused an unjust war in which tens of thousands of human beings have died. This is a man of minute compassion who is a destroyer of the earth, a killer of lifegivers, a deceiver and a coward. But those who managed his campaign knew that fear, with its instinctive compulsion towards self- preservation is more powerful than all the ideals appealed to by his opponent. Integrity counted for nothing during this mean election. If they could have gotten away with having Native men lurking in the woods, waiting to launch a sneak attack on the helpless settlers they would have done so. Fear the opponents to Manifest Destiny, depict them as cruel, inhuman, bloodthirsty, merciless. Once those images are fixed in the mind the rationale for exterminating them is a matter of course. Just like they are now doing to anyone who stands in their way. Listen carefully to how the U. S. troops in Iraq describe their enemies or rationalize the killing of women, elders and children: the wild west is back and the insurgents are those pesky redskins. As for the non-combatant casualties? Don't forget, nits make lice. The cowardly French, sneaky Arabs, vodka sodden Russians, heartless Germans. Damn them all and throw in the finicky Canucks as well. They can all stew in the same pot along with the Indians and wolves. The process of selecting a U.S. President has drifted so far away from the principles of Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin as to no longer resemble their intent. They rebelled against the excesses of a despot while establishing a government which is supposed to act as a harness on the more radical of human ambitions. What would they say about the demolition of our environment? An act blatantly uncaring and perversely suicidal. Yet virtually nothing was said about this issue, as if the rights of the unborn meant nothing to the devourers. Ecocide: The willful and deliberate destruction of an ecological system or planet. That is why we, as Haudenosaunee, watched the Americans go crazy and give almost unlimited power to a man of blind conviction. Americans have to be more than a little mad: how else to explain this wickedness? The wolf ad worked very well. It will be cited throughout the years as the most effective commercial of the Bush campaign. And as for the get-out-the-Native vote: it was a huge gamble which flopped. All the Republican candidates in areas with significant Native voters won: Oklahoma, South Dakota, Alaska, New Mexico, Arizona despite the overwhelming support for the Democrats among Native people. Don't think for an instant the Republicans will forget this either. Just wait until the Indian Gaming Act is revised. Meanwhile, we'll join our wolf cousins and watch from the woods. Copyright c. 1999-2004 INDIAN TIME Newspaper & Miketben@aol.com. --------- "RE: Indians' Remains renew wrongs" --------- Date: Sunday, December 26, 2004 4:57 PM From: "Chris Milda (_Akimel O`odham_)" AkimelOodham@EarthLink.net Subj: Indians' remains renew wrongs (Fwd) Mailing List: News and Information http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/1225remains25.html Indians' remains renew wrongs Sarah Schweitzer Boston Globe December 25, 2004 CHARLESTOWN, R.I. - Nearly a century ago, eight bodies of Narragansett tribespeople were exhumed in the name of science and shipped to a Smith College laboratory. No permission from the tribe was sought or granted, making the noted professor who oversaw the work, in the view of tribal leaders, not a scientist but a grave robber. Now, plans are under way to return the remains to their original resting place in this coastal town, home of the Narragansetts for thousands of years. But repairing the damage is hardly as simple as moving bones from Massachusetts to Rhode Island. The Narragansetts hope to return the remains to the original burial ground, but they no longer own the land and may not be able to pinpoint the gravesites. The obstacles underscore the difficulty of righting past wrongs. Despite the best efforts of all involved - academics, tribespeople, even the current owner of the gravesite land, who has agreed to allow a reburial - the transgression, it seems, cannot be entirely wiped away, a theme marking much of modern Native American history. "Obviously, it's a step in the right direction," said Lloyd Running Wolf Wilcox, the medicine man of the Narragansett tribe. "But if somebody does something wrong, and then tries to correct it, the wrong has still been done." Progress is slow The University of Massachusetts, which has custody of the bones, is still researching their origin, though it is now virtually certain that they are the Narragansett tribe members excavated in 1912 by Harris Hawthorne Wilder of Smith College. Progress has been slow, a reflection of the mistrust that burdens relations between Americans of European descent, whose ancestors once considered Native Americans "savages," and native tribes, whose ancestors saw Europeans as invaders. "As soon as you start to think about repatriation, you have to talk about the relations between Native Americans and Europeans, which has at the core of it issues of mistreatment in the past and appropriate treatment in the future," said Robert Paynter, an anthropology professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. For the Narragansett tribe, the return of the remains occurs at a sensitive time, as it struggles to define its relationship with the world beyond its 1,942-acre reservation. The tribe, which has 2,700 members, considers its reservation land sacred, a place of ancient history. The return of the remains, tribal leaders say, is important. "It will mean a broken circle repaired," said John Brown, the Narragansetts' historical preservation officer, who is also training to be medicine man, a healer with rank of tribal leader. Bones must be returned Governing the issue of Native American remains is the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. Enacted by Congress in 1990, it requires museums to return bones, funerary objects, and sacred artifacts if a reasonable claim can be made to them by tribal descendants or culturally affiliated groups. According to the National Park Service, which enforces the law, the remains of 29,284 Native Americans have been returned, though some tribes say many more are still housed in museums because the institutions have been reluctant to identify native remains in their collections. What to do with remains once they return to tribes poses additional hurdles, highlighted by the Narragansett remains exhumed in 1912 by Wilder, a founder of forensic anthropology and zoologist. A zoologist's studies Wilder was studying the relationship between human anatomy and leadership capacity. He learned that Charlestown contained Native American graves, some of which had been excavated in the 1800s by the town to "ascertain what manner Indians buried their dead," according to town records. Native Americans brought suit challenging the excavations, but the case was dismissed after the state court ruled the artifacts were of "valuable scientific nature," according to the records. Wilder, his wife, Inez Whipple Wilder, and two assistants began excavating graves believed to belong to Narragansett leaders that summer, opening 10 graves and finding eight bodies in what they called the "Fort Neck Burying Ground." One of the empty graves, Wilder's field notes state, was marked with a footstone that reads, "Ninigret, George. 1731c - 22 Dec 1732." The Ninigrets are considered a branch of the royal lineage in the Narragansett tribe. Wilder took the remains to Smith College. They remained there until they were transferred in 1966 to the University of Massachusetts. University officials say that UMass has intended to return the remains for years, as required by the federal law, but needed to collect old records about the remains from Smith. --------- "RE: Trespassing stirs Sovereignty debate" --------- Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2004 08:47:32 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MATTAPONI SOVEREIGNTY CASE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.dailypress.com/~story?coll=dp-news-local-mp Trespassing stirs sovereignty debate BY MATTHEW SABO (804) 642-1748 December 28, 2004 WEST POINT - Charles Custalow stands on the bank of the Mattaponi River on his people's small reservation and stops in mid-conversation to watch a car pass nearby. He studies the car, watching to see who is coming and going. He has not always been free to come and go here. Custalow earned a rarely imposed ban from the Mattaponi Indian Reservation, handed down by tribal leaders, after a simmering family property feud among Custalow's extended family members erupted in a violent confrontation on a sticky summer day in 2000. The ban now over, Custalow returns frequently to the small community where he was born and where he graduated from high school. But when he's back to visit his brother or other relatives and friends, he remains on guard. "I'm slightly on edge, if you will," Custalow admits. "I get a look-see at them; they get a look-see at me. I just watch to see who's watching me. I guess it's just something where I've felt like I've got to look over my shoulder." After being banned in 2000, the 58-year-old Chesterfield grandfather continued to return to the reservation until he was arrested in February 2002 and prosecuted in King William Circuit Court for trespassing. After his conviction, Custalow appealed all the way to the Virginia Supreme Court, which refused to hear his case last month. Tribal attorneys are citing Custalow's case as proof of the tribe's sovereignty as it asserts its 1677 treaty rights in fighting the proposed King William Reservoir. Custalow opposes the reservoir, but doesn't want his case to bolster the tribe's legal arguments because he remains convinced he is the victim of a miscarriage of justice. He has lost at every step of the judiciary, but at least one high- ranking judge saw things his way. Court of Appeals Judge Rosemarie Annunziata, in a dissenting opinion dated May 18, wrote that the state failed to prove that that those lawfully in charge of the reservation forbade Charles from "going upon" their land because it presented no evidence that a majority of tribal members over 21 years of age voted to expel him - as state law spells out. At issue is the interpretation of a state act from 1896. It states that a person can be expelled from the reservation for trespassing on the vote of trustees appointed to, among other things, hear trespassing cases and on a majority vote of the tribal members age 21 or older. The two other Court of Appeals justices saw it differently than Annunziata. Judge Robert J. Humphreys wrote that the tribal council is the body in charge of the "sovereign Mattaponi Tribe." If the decision to ban Custalow was left to a vote of the trustees and tribal members, it would presuppose that the tribe's elected leaders have no "lawful authority over the control of their own lands," Humphreys wrote. David Bailey, a lawyer representing the tribe as it fights King William Reservoir, said Custalow's case goes to the heart of sovereignty, or self- -government. Bailey likened dealing with the Mattaponi Tribe to dealing with a foreign nation, such as France. "The tribe in the Custalow case was simply taking action to maintain order on tribal land," Bailey said. "That is completely within their rights." What further galls Custalow is that during the altercation that precipitated his banishment, his adult nephew struck him in both legs with a survey stake he yanked from the ground. It left Custalow hobbling and grimacing in pain. Custalow said his nephew, Lionel Custalow, should have been prosecuted in a King William courtroom. Instead he was prosecuted in tribal court. Lionel Custalow, who claimed he hit his uncle because he came toward him in a fighting stance and spewing threats, was fined $250 by the tribe and lost his council seat, according to court documents. Custalow took out a magistrate's warrant on his nephew for the assault. But Custalow said that on the day when both his case and Lionel Custalow's case were to be heard in court, King William Commonwealth's Attorney Stephen Palmer said that tribal leaders told him they did not want Lionel Custalow's case tried in the courtroom. Palmer and Mattaponi Chief Carl Custalow did not return repeated calls to comment. Palmer's decision appears to contradict a policy written by former King William Sheriff J.B. Wolford that dates back at least 20 years. That policy states that criminal proceedings involving the alleged commission of a misdemeanor criminal act on the reservation by a member of the tribe will be tried in tribal court as long as the tribal council, the defendant and the complainant and victim - in this case Custalow - are in agreement. In addition, according to a Sept. 28, 2001, attorney general's opinion, a 1677 treaty and subsequent actions of the General Assembly "extend the same protections of the law of the Commonwealth to members of the tribes as are extended to nonmembers." Custalow says he never agreed to having his nephew tried in tribal court. "I was assaulted," Custalow said. "Shouldn't the commonwealth's attorney be on my side? "How can I file an assault charge and Carl (Custalow) tell them who and what to lock up? Do we do that with murder next time?" Custalow is fearful of another banishment, prompting his wariness. If he is attacked or threatened, he wonders if he can fight back. "What am I supposed to do?" he said. "Tuck tail and run?" Custalow said he spent upwards of $8,000 in a futile fight to take his case to the Virginia Supreme Court. He is done fighting. But he remains defiant. "This is wrong," Custalow said. "This is totally wrong." Copyright c. 2004 The Daily Press, Hampton Roads, VA. --------- "RE: Oregon Court Gravesite Victory" --------- Date: Thursday, December 30, 2004 2:17 PM From: Peter Webster [peterweb@bendnet.com] Subj: a small, good victory Mailing List: Certain Home Mailing LIst: Rez_Life Oregon appeals court upholds decision to stop homes next to Indian gravesite By JOHN MILLER The Associated Press December 29, 2004 BOISE, Idaho (AP) - The Oregon Court of Appeals Wednesday upheld a decision by the state land board to stop a subdivision proposed for land next to the gravesite of Chief Joseph's father. The court affirmed the decision of the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals, which in September overturned a vote by the Wallowa County Commission to approve the 62-acre development. The property in isolated northeast Oregon is next to land where Old Chief Joseph is buried, about 50 miles from the Idaho border. His descendants in the Nez Perce tribe, based in Lapwai, Idaho, were among groups fighting the development. In its decision, the appeals court upheld the board's ruling, which concluded the County Commission had approved the development without making sure the project would meet laws requiring that Native American archaeological sites on the property not be disturbed by construction. The board also found that county commissioners talked about the case outside of the hearing process, which was illegal. Nez Perce leaders said the court's decision helps them protect the burial grounds of one of their most important historical leaders. "Building a subdivision next to the gravesite of Old Chief Joseph is simply inappropriate," said Anthony D. Johnson, the chairman of the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee. "It's disrespectful to the memory of a well-respected Nez Perce leader." In 1855, Old Joseph signed a treaty with the U.S. government that guaranteed the Nez Perce much of their traditional lands. Just eight years later, however, another treaty was signed slashing the size of that territory. It was disputed by Old Joseph, according to the tribe. By 1877, his son, Chief Joseph, was forced to abandon northeast Oregon, fleeing with a band of followers 1,500 miles across present-day Idaho and Montana and fighting bloody battles with the U.S. Cavalry before surrendering just south of the Canadian border. The Nez Perce tribe fought the development along with members of the Colville Indian tribes and the city of Joseph, Ore. Oregon's Senators, Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith, also supported the effort to stop the building. Attempts to reach Rahn Hostetter, the attorney for property owner K&B Family Limited Partnership in Joseph, were unsuccessful Wednesday evening. Copyright c. 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 2004 Oregon Live. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: New Bill to wipe out Land Treaties" --------- Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2004 08:47:32 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="KING WILLIAM RESERVOIR" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.pressaction.com/news/weblog/full_article/mattaponi12272004/ New Bill To Wipe Out Land Treaties with Virginia Tribes December 27, 2004 There is a New Bill #SB420 being presented for a Vote in the Virginia State Legislature. This bill attempts to circumvent ongoing litigation, the public regulatory process and decades of scientific and public opposition from both Native and Non-Native Peoples to the King William Reservoir Project. If this bill passes, irreparable harm will be done to Virginia Wetlands, Wildlife and the future of the Mattaponi and Pamunkey Peoples. As well as breaking the Oldest Treaties written with any American Indian Tribes and the Virginia regulatory process itself. This Dam and Reservoir will flood existing Traditional Tribal Lands held Sacred and Protected by Treaty since the First English Settlers arrived. Below is the Letter I sent to All of Virginia's State Legislators. I Urge You To Do The Same! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Subject: Mattaponi and the Proposed Building of King William Reservoir Dear Elected Representative, The City of Newport News continues to misrepresent the facts on the King William Reservoir issue. After 16 years of effort, the City's attempts to secure all of the necessary permits have failed. The Institute of Water Studies, and the earlier Phillips and two Spiegle-Muller reports all reach the same conclusion: "Newport News does not need this water". Each year, the governors of Virginia publicly accept the tribute of the Mattaponi and Pamunkey Indian Tribes as per their treaty. By doing so, they have acknowledged the treaty as being a valid legal document. In the treaty, the Mattaponi have treaty protected fishing and gathering rights which would be violated by the waterworks. This project threatens the way of life of the Mattaponi Native American population. A significant part of the area contains many archeological sites important to the Mattaponi and Pamunkey tribes - villages, camping sites, burial grounds and the ISLAND where Chief Opechanacanough lived and ruled for many decades. Those sites of our European ancestors are treated with great respect and concern. The same respect and concern should be granted to these - they are not only a part of the history of the Mattaponi and Pamunkey - but also a great part of the history of the first settlers. Independent scientists from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and VMRC staff found that the project will jeopardize restoration of the tenuous Chesapeake Bay American shad population. The water intake will be constructed in the most significant breading and rearing areas of the American Shad in the entire state of Virginia. The reservoir will flood populations of threatened plants, such as the federally threatened plant, the small-Whorled Pogonia and the sensitive Joint-Vetch and also flood bald eagle habitat. The need for recreational facilities does not outweigh the loss of plant and animal life indigenous to this area. The National Research Council reviewed hundreds of mitigation projects and reported many were never even started, others weren't completed and those that were finished failed 83% of the time. Ohio is just one of many states that have lost 90% of its wetlands. Studies have also concluded that replacement wetlands are NOT equivalent to the natural wetlands they are to substitute for. Again, the need for recreational facilities does not outweigh the loss of plant and animal life indigenous to this area or breaking of Treaties with the Original Peoples of this land. As a tax-paying citizen of the United States of America I ask the State of Virginia lawmakers set aside the 1500 acres of land the Reservoir would flood along with the 1,089 acres of upland the Reservoir would impact as " State Protected Land" in order to insure the habitat and continuity of all the species found there and ask that the State prevent any future agricultural, residential or reservoir development from ever occurring upon this land. I also request that the State of Virginia make a permanent arrangement to ensure the protection and observance of the treaty, and to ensure that the fishing and gathering rights of the Mattaponi be observed, honored and protected for ALL TIME. The General Assembly's chief responsibilities are to represent citizens in the formulation of public policy. Sincerely, Thomas Greywolf Atkins Chickahominy/Mattaponi/U.S.Citizen http://groups.yahoo.com/group/American_Indian_Injustice Copyright c. 2002-2004 Press Action. --------- "RE: MacDonald opposes Navajo Water Settlement" --------- Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2004 08:47:32 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SAN JUAN WATER RIGHTS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.daily-times.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=608&num=16071 MacDonald opposes water settlement By Jim Snyder The Daily Times December 28, 2004 WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. - Navajo Council Delegate Wallace Charley of Shiprock said Monday he might reconsider voting yes for the proposed Navajo water rights settlement on the San Juan Basin. Charley is a pivotal member of the 88-member Council and his vote could sway others during debate at the special session Wednesday. At issue, he said, are comments made by former Navajo Chairman Peter MacDonald Jr. against the settlement. "The proposed San Juan water rights settlement is an attempt to preempt the Navajo Nation from claiming its rightful share of water within the basin of the four sacred mountains," MacDonald wrote in a news release. "To make a water right settlement with these newcomers, people who took our water without asking is a sellout and a slap in the face of those, our ancestors, who fought vigorously to preserve and regain what is rightfully ours to begin with," MacDonald added. "Should we be so desperate as to give up our water rights without a fight?" Charley said he respected MacDonald as a leader and for his comments. "Certain aspects of his (MacDonald's) release I think are true," Charley said, adding, "I'm in favor of the settlement. But I'm still strongly thinking about it." Charley said he must also take into consideration a resolution passed by the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry stating the U.S. must agree in the settlement to finish and fund the Navajo Indian Irrigation Project. Also, he added, was the question of whether Navajo allottees in the checkerboard area would gain individual water rights from a passed settlement. The complex settlement would adjudicate 56 percent of the basin's water supply - 606,060 acre-feet of diverted water annually - to the Navajo tribe. In return, the Navajo government would give up 44 percent of its water right claim in the basin. "Let's remember, waters within the Navajo Nation, regardless of state lines, belongs to all the people of the Navajo Nation," MacDonald said. "Our forefathers fought fearlessly and courageously to protect the land, natural resources, and waters within these sacred mountains because it was their duty and their obligation to future generation. "Many gave their lives or served time as prisoners of war to preserve what rightly belongs to us. They sacrificed much to regain what is rightfully ours," he added. The Council will pick up their debate on the water settlement, followed by a possible vote, during the special session Wednesday at the Council chamber in Window Rock, Ariz. The session will continue Thursday if necessary. Charley said he expected the debate to be lengthy. The Council must pass the settlement by a simple majority of its 88 delegates for it to proceed any further. The settlement would still need to be approved by New Mexico's Interstate Stream Commission, the attorney general, the 11th Judicial District Court and the U.S. Congress for funding. The delegates had taken up the water rights issue during its Dec. 15 special session. It was dropped after the 200-page plus document was being read into the record and delegates began walking out. Council Speaker Lawrence Morgan adjourned the Council when it could not keep a quorum of 45 delegates present. The Dec. 10 settlement draft removed $372.8 million to help finish the Navajo Indian Irrigation Project canal system at the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry's 65,000 acre farm south of Farmington. There could be some Council opposition to the settlement over the removal of NIIP funding and the Navajo people giving up 44 percent of its water right claim in the basin, Council Delegate LoRenzo Bates of Upper Fruitland said in a recent interview. Jim Snyder: jsnyder@daily-times.com Copyright c. 2004 Farmington Daily Times, a Gannett Co., Inc. newspaper. --------- "RE: Shirley blasts War in Iraq" --------- Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2005 11:53:37 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WASTE OF LIFE AND MONEY" http://www.thenavajotimes.com/_content/blasts.php Shirley blasts war in Iraq By Bill Donovan Special to the Times December 31, 2004 GALLUP - Calling it a waste of life and money, President Joe Shirley Jr. lashed out Monday against the war in Iraq. "I ask myself why (we are fighting the war)," Shirley said during a year-end press conference in his office. This has become tragic for the Navajo Nation as several times during the past year, the nation has mourned the death or injury of a tribal member who had been fighting the war, he said. So far, three Navajo soldiers have died in the war and several have been injured. Shirley said that one Hopi soldier has also been killed. And as the injury and death toll has mounted, Shirley said the only thing he can do is ask why. "What was the rush (to go into the war)?" he said. Not only has the war caused misery to Navajo families who have lost a loved one but it also affects all members of the Navajo Nation directly because the federal government is taking money from existing Navajo programs and diverting it to the war effort. As domestic programs take a back seat to the war effort, Shirley said he is seeing federal officials raid the Native American programs because that causes less political dissension across the country. He pointed out that the Bureau of Indian Affairs is currently budgeted at 60 percent of need. The Indian Health Service is even worse, with only 50 percent of needed funds budgeted. As the war continues, the shortage will only get worse, Shirley predicted. But there's something else that tugs at Shirley's heartstrings - the photos that appear in newspapers and on television of the war's effects on the civilian population in Iraq. He said that it sickens him to see the photos of grandmothers and children lying on the road dead or severely injured. "That really concerns me," he said. Grandmothers are the ones who hold the stories of the people and as they die off, the stories are lost, he said. And the death and suffering of the children is just as bad. "I look at all of this as a waste," he said. Shirley said he couldn't understand why leaders in Washington can't understand what this war is costing the American people. "Except for England, we have no allies. The (other nations) have all come out against us," he said. But as Shirley and other Native American leaders speak out against the war, more and more young Navajos seem eager to join it. In fact, recruiting stations in the border towns near the reservation all report increased enlistments since the war began - in contrast to the national trend of plummeting enlistment numbers. Local recruiters point out that Navajo youth are very patriotic and come from a society that does not shirk its duties to its country. But Shirley can only shake his head and hope the war ends soon. He said, however, that despite his feelings about the war, he would not urge Navajo young men and women not to enlist. "That's a personal choice," Shirley said. "Each person should make their own choice." Copyright c. 2004 Navajo Times Publishing Co. Inc. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: O'odham Land gets 8 Rescue Beacons" --------- Date: Sunday, January 02, 2005 6:00 AM From: "Chris Milda (_Akimel O`odham_)" AkimelOodham@EarthLink.net Subj: O'odham land gets 8 rescue beacons: Devices rekindle debate over aiding illegal migrants (Fwd) Mailing List: News and Information http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/index.php?page=local&story_id=010105_beacons O'odham land gets 8 rescue beacons Devices rekindle debate over aiding illegal migrants BEN WINOGRAD news@tucsoncitizen.com January 1, 2005 Since October, the Border Patrol has installed eight rescue beacons on the Tohono O'odham Nation to cut down the deaths of illegal immigrants. The Border Patrol estimated 172 people died in the desert along the Arizona-Mexico border last fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30. That's up from 151 the previous year. The agency rescued at least 562 people, about 200 more than in 2003. Many of the migrants died while crossing the arid 2.8 million-acre Tohono O'odham Nation, where summer temperatures frequently top 110 degrees. "It's a very barren area, and it's a long distance," said Charles Griffin, a spokesman for the Border Patrol's Tucson sector. "Bottom line, when you're in the west desert corridor, you have a long ways to walk." The Border Patrol first installed rescue beacons in Arizona in 2002, allowing migrants in distress to summon help with the push of a button. Their arrival on the Nation follows the deadliest period on record along the state's border with Mexico. Months before the arrival of next year's death season, the beacons have rekindled debate inside and outside the Tohono O'odham Nation over providing humanitarian assistance to illegal immigrants on tribal land. Migrants en route to the United States long have trekked through the Nation, where sympathetic residents were known to offer food, water and even rides north. Over the last decade, however, as the U.S. government blockaded routes around San Diego, Nogales and El Paso, border traffic increasingly flowed across the reservation. After tribal lands became littered with trash, abandoned cars, drug bundles and human remains, patience wore thin on many parts of the Nation. With resources already stretched, O'odham leaders said that offering aid - such as water stations - to migrants may only encourage more illegal crossings. In 2002, the district council passed a resolution objecting to the placement of water for illegal immigrants inside district boundaries. Now, with the placement of rescue beacons on the Nation, calls have emerged for Tohono O'odham leaders to clarify their stance toward humanitarian aid for migrants. "Why can you let the Border Patrol put up rescue beacons, and yet you're confiscating the water stations?" asked Mike Wilson, a Tohono O'odham who has left water for migrants on tribal land for more than three years. "It's a contradictory policy." The Border Patrol placed four of the Nation's rescue beacons in the Baboquivari District, home to a treacherous migrant trail stretching some 30 miles near the western base of the Baboquivari Mountains. Disregarding the district council resolution, Wilson services four water stations in the district. Wilson, a former Presbyterian pastor, named them Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. He said the placement of rescue beacons near his stations justifies his actions because "if they're in distress, they need water." District chairman Ronald Ventura disagreed, saying illegal immigrants who use water stations often leave behind empty bottles and damage the land. "With the beacons there's no (environmental) problems. All they have to do is activate the button, and the Border Patrol is there," Ventura said. The Border Patrol first installed six rescue beacons near Yuma in March 2002, less than a year after the exposure deaths of 14 stranded migrants attracted nationwide attention. Today, the agency maintains 18 rescue beacons in the Tucson sector, including those on the O'odham Nation, and 11 in the Yuma sector. Combined, they have led to the rescue of 113 people, including at least three U.S. citizens, according to the Border Patrol. The solar-powered beacons attract attention through flashing blue lights and daytime mirrors, which purportedly are visible from more than a mile away. A recent visit to the Tohono O'odham Nation, however, revealed that three new beacons had suffered damage that rendered them less visible or perhaps unusable. Mirrors had fallen off two beacons near the village of Topawa. Farther north, another beacon's solar panel had come unhinged and landed feet from a concrete base. Border Patrol spokesman Griffin said the damage likely occurred from wind and that beacons carry back-up batteries and are routinely serviced. No one has yet activated any of the rescue beacons on the Nation, Griffin said. However, most distress calls arrive during hot summer months. Copyright c, 2004 Tucson Citizen. --------- "RE: Tribes work to prevent Child Alcohol Deaths" --------- Date: Sunday, January 02, 2005 12:01 PM From: MJLaBurt@aol.com Subj: Tribes work to prevent child alcohol deaths Mailing List: NDNAIM http://www.billingsgazette.com//2005/01/02//health/30-alcohol-deaths.inc Last modified January 2, 2005 - 12:47 am Tribes work to prevent child alcohol deaths By MICHAEL MOORE Missoulian January 2, 2005 MISSOULA -The disbelief that descended upon the Flathead Indian Reservation after four boys died over a six-month period from drinking is gone. It has been replaced by a complex series of emotions, a gritty resolve within the halls of tribal government to do better by children, and a long-held frustration that surfaces when the occasional child winds up in the hospital from drinking. There's also a delicately balanced sense of hope and realism, a way to move ahead with the important work of helping children deal with alcohol without underestimating the power of generations of alcohol abuse. "It seems like we've got some good things going, but I think we can't forget that we are fighting something that has been a problem for our people for hundreds of years," said Tony Incashola, who heads the Salish Cultural Committee. "Sometimes there's a sense of, 'Hey, what can we really do?' but you can't let that stop you from trying." The memories of four boys should be enough to keep everyone on task. Tyler Benoist died first. He was 14 years old when he went out for a night of drinking with his friends in late 2003. The group spent the evening drinking around Pablo, but they wound up in a condemned trailer, where Tyler eventually passed out. Early the next morning, the trailer caught fire. Another boy escaped the fire, but Tyler, unable to get up, died. Three months later, Tyler's younger brother, 11-year-old Justin, and another boy, Frankie Nicolai, went missing after skipping out of school on a Friday afternoon. They were found three days later, dead in a snowy hayfield on the east side of Ronan. Frankie died of alcohol poisoning, his blood-alcohol content a nearly incomprehensible 0.50. Justin's blood-alcohol was about half that, but he'd stumbled to the ground after Frankie went down and died of alcohol and hypothermia. They boys had drunk nearly a half-gallon of vodka. Two months later, with the reservation still reeling from the deaths of the two 11-year-olds, 15-year-old Joey DuMontier drank most of a fifth of whiskey and died in a chair. Something had to be done; the question was what. "We can't let them go like this," the elder Pat Pierre told his nation at a rally on a cool spring day. "We have to make their deaths mean something. They need to be the last boys to leave us this way. We have to make that happen." Although there were critics who claimed the tribal council of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes wasn't up to the task, the council has been extremely active in retooling tribal government to better respond to the needs of children. The central change in tribal policy related to children is one of priority instead of a system that focuses on the rights of adults, the system now puts children first. "We're moving to a system that makes adults very accountable for what happens with their children," said Teresa Wall-McDonald, who heads the tribes' Department of Human Resources and Development. "The council has been pretty adamant about that." The council also has appointed a "healthy children and families team," Wall-McDonald said. "It's a group that will identify any systemic ways that government and service agencies can be more responsive to children's needs," she said. "It's a way to keep children at the forefront of what we're doing, and it's just a really positive thing." The team has been working on the tribal children's code, which outlines policy regarding children. "Our first thing there is to make sure that if we err, we err on the side of children," Wall-McDonald said. The tribes also recently took part in a training program that should ultimately lead to formation of a drug court. The court would be family- oriented, with neither children nor adults treated in isolation from the other. "You're dealing with the family as a unit, so the whole system is essentially gathered around the family," Wall-McDonald said. Two council members, Mike Kenmille and Jami Hamel, took part in the training, a move Wall-McDonald saw as evidence of the council's support. "To me, that's solid evidence of their commitment to system change," she said. Incashola said tribal elders have also become more involved in children's issues by connecting with tribal programs that deal with kids. "They're coming at this from the perspective of making sure that we find ways to connect with the positive values of the past," he said. "A lot of elders have felt helpless and hopeless about passing down the value of family, so there's a real push there to see if we can do something about that." Despite the changes and despite the fact that no more children have died in the circumstances that claimed the boys, Incashola said grief is never far away on the reservation. "When you lose young people, I think it's something you never quite get over," he said. "There will always be something that makes you remember what happened. Those are wounds that never quite heal, but they also make you remember what you ought to be doing to make sure the same thing doesn't happen again." These days, that sense animates the work of people like Wall-McDonald and others who toil on behalf of children in the wake of the boys' deaths. "On a personal level, we're reminded every day of how diligent we need to be," Wall-McDonald said. "You have to come back every day with the same level of diligence and care. You just have to own that. Every day is an opportunity, and we have to remember that." Copyright c. The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Klallam caring for Remains at Port Angeles Site" --------- Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2005 08:53:06 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HOOD CANAL UNCOVERS VILLAGE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/206179_bones01.html?source=rss Klallam Indians caring for remains at Port Angeles site By MELANTHIA MITCHELL THE ASSOCIATED PRESS January 1, 2005 PORT ANGELES - Generations of Klallam Indians have been told of an ancestral village where their people danced in longhouses and fished off the coast of the Olympic Peninsula. What they hadn't known was that their ancestors' remains lay in scattered pieces, devastated by decades of industrial development, discovered only recently during the state's project to replace the aging Hood Canal floating bridge. As state officials face the difficult and expensive task of finding a new site to build the bridge pontoons and anchors, a young generation of Klallam is left to care for hundreds of remains already unearthed and put to rest the disturbed spirits of their ancestors. State archaeologists have said the site is the largest archaeological find in the region - the result of a bittersweet and sometimes painful process. "There's a lot of good coming out of this. It just shouldn't have happened this way," said Carmen Charles, 23, a member of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe who has worked at the site since a month after a state employee found the first human bone fragment in August 2003. Hundreds of Klallam have since visited the 22.5-acre waterfront site, offering blessings and performing cleansing ceremonies to ease the restive spirits of their forebears. The Klallam, like other American Indians, believe disturbing sacred grounds displeases the spirits, which can lead to injury, or even death, among the living. To protect themselves and their families, they swipe rusty-red ochre on their cheeks before entering the grounds. When they leave, they wash their hands, arms and faces in bitingly cold snowberry tea. Working alongside state archaeologists, members between the ages of 17 and 62 have spent the past 16 months delicately scraping away layers of dirt and mud, uneasy and unsure what to expect. Some finds offer a welcome glimpse into the lives of a people who lived centuries ago at the village Tze-whit-zen (pronounced cha-WHEET-zen, meaning "inside the harbor"), portions of which date back more than 1,700 years. A sawmill was built in the village's place in the 1920s. Archaeologists have uncovered shell midden, areas where the Klallam disposed of their food. They've found the crumbling cedar walls of six longhouses - at least 50 feet to 100 feet long - and a ceremonial house with a "spitting rock" still in place. Excavation has also yielded ivory and Chinese coins that the tribe believes were used for trade by travelers who stopped at this harbor inlet. "We're grateful for the artifacts and the chance to educate our youth," said Frances Charles, tribal chairwoman. But with each discovery, it gets harder, she said, especially as hundreds of full or partial human skeletons - sometimes small children - are pulled from the ground. "That's when you could really feel the cries of our people," said Charles, who in December asked the state to stop construction at the dry dock site, although it had already spent $58 million on a project initially slated to cost $283 million. The state agreed and is looking for a new location. As part of an earlier agreement, the state agreed to pay the tribe $3 million to buy land for a new cemetery and cover additional costs related to reburial. The state Transportation Department owns the site, and officials want to meet with the tribe to decide how it will be used. Talks are on hold, however, as both sides use the holidays to take a break from the issue. Both tribe and state were aware of the former village, but archaeological reviews determined it was south and east of the location where they planned the dry dock. No one anticipated the discovery of so many remains, including crushed skulls and other body parts that surrounded metal and concrete water pipes. Wearing a blue-and-white bandanna under a dingy white hardhat, Darryl Barkley struggles to describe how he feels knowing his ancestors' remains were used as backfill. With a quivering voice and his arms in a cradling gesture, he recalled lifting skeletal remains from the ground for the first time. "There's a lot of power in them bones," he whispered. Excavation has uncovered 800 isolated skeletal parts and other artifacts. Members have filled nearly 300 makeshift coffins, with crosses cut into the lids. Some contain the fragile remains of as many as 11 people. Each has been wrapped and will be reburied in a white blanket to keep them warm. Lonnie Charles and Mike Watson volunteer to take the cedar boxes to a nearby storage building, where candles are lit almost daily to ensure the spirits remain calm. "I guess I feel protective," said Watson, 29. "It's out of respect." Copyright c. 1996-2004 Seattle Post-Intelligencer. --------- "RE: Winnemem Wintu face end of Traditional ways" --------- Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2005 08:53:06 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="RESTORE TRIBAL STATUS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/10544006.htm Indian band seeks to restore tribal status Winnemem Wintu face end of traditional ways By DAVID WHITNEY Sacramento Bee January 1, 2004 REDDING - The Winnemem Wintu call their village Kerekmet, and though the couple of dozen people who live there are as poor as the rundown collection of buildings and trailers suggests, they occupy hallowed ground. Ancient spirits are invoked in the smokehouse. Stories and songs passed down for dozens of centuries are taught to children with the hope that the Creator will make sure that their children, too, know them. There is grave doubt that that prayer will be fulfilled. This band is the guardian of the Wintu Indians' traditional ways, and as their attorney said, the Winnemem are desperately close to the end. "The odds against them are very high," said Jerry C. Straus of Washington, D.C., a prominent Indian law attorney who regards their needs as so grave that he represents them for free. "Nobody is really willing to go to bat for them," Straus said. Kerekmet is reached by passing through a gate along Dry Creek Road, over a brook, past curious horses and around a curve in the once graveled road until it dead-ends at a collection of old trailers. There's an old ranch house dating from the 1930s nearby. That's where the visitor is told to wait for Caleen Sisk-Franco, the band's 52-year-old spiritual leader. The former schoolteacher is late for an interview. Children are dispatched to find her. In the crowded kitchen, its floorboards exposed by disintegrating linoleum, two women chop onions and peppers for a salsa that will be served later with a dinner of beef, chicken and salmon. Karen, who is mentally disabled, sits eating cereal. Marjory, who is 78 and blind from birth, feels her way to the table to sit with her friend. Marjory is the daughter of Florence Jones, the Winnemem's former spiritual leader, who built the farmhouse that serves as the band's communal dining center and gathering spot. When Florence Jones died at age 95 a year ago, the New York Times carried her obituary. "Ms. Jones was revered among many tribes for her healing abilities using native plants and her strict adherence to traditional ways," the obituary read. Now it is up to Sisk-Franco to carry on the traditions. Under the ways of the traditional Winnemem, she takes her instructions directly from the Creator, said her husband, Mark Franco. This day, she has been delayed by problems far removed from the spiritual world. A propane tank went dry in one of the trailers, and she is on her hands and knees trying to hook up a refill and light the pilot. When she finally shows up, dinner is well on its way. Cars and trucks carrying distant band members are arriving for the evening gathering. Sisk-Franco settles into a chair at the kitchen table and begins to explain how things got so bad. Somehow, in the band's recent past, the Interior Department concluded her people were not a tribe, she said. How they reached that conclusion is unclear. One day the band was recognized as an Indian tribe, and its members received federal health, housing and education benefits. She graduated from California State University at Chico, because of education aid to Indians, and worked with her husband in recruiting Indians to the campus. And then benefits for the Winnemem disappeared. They want this recognition restored, the mistakes corrected, the wrongs righted. What's made the situation so desperate for the Winnemem is the proposal to raise the height of nearby Shasta Dam. A bigger Shasta Lake will flood more of their sacred lands and herbal gathering grounds, their last grip on the old ways they celebrate. When legislation authorizing the dam was approved by Congress in 1937, it contained a promise to acquire property for the Winnemem to replace the 4,480 acres of tribal and allotment lands that would be inundated. That promise was never fulfilled, Sisk-Franco said. As Shasta Lake rose, 183 Winnemem graves were moved to a cemetery on higher ground. Sisk-Franco believes that cemetery is Indian country, which alone should qualify the band for tribal recognition. But that is being hindered by apathy, compounded by a persistent case of mistaken identity. Every time the Winnemem or their attorneys talk to the Interior Department about restoring their tribal recognition, the Bureau of Indian Affairs answers with a letter saying the petition for tribal restoration is still pending. The petition, however, was filed by a different Wintu band, calling itself the Wintu of Northern California. They're related, but not the same. "We are split from the Winnemem, but Caleen is still spiritual leader for a lot of our people," said Carol Martin, who sits on the Wintu of Northern California's tribal council." When Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., asked Interior Secretary Gale Norton about the Winnemem in an October letter, the Bureau of Indian Affairs responded on Nov. 1 with the same old refrain, linking them yet again with the Wintu of Northern California. The Winnemem don't want to petition for tribal recognition, a process that for the Wintu of Northern California began in 1993 and still is a long way from finished. They want the Interior Department to correct a long-ago mistake, give them what they should have gotten before Shasta Lake began to rise, and return to them their tribal recognition. That would make them eligible for $160,000 to begin putting back together their struggling tribe. Barring that, the Winnemem have appealed to Congress to order their tribal restoration. Rep. Wally Herger, R-Marysville, whose district includes the Redding area, has said he believes the Winnemem should exhaust their administrative remedies through the Bureau of Indian Affairs before expecting any congressional help. Feinstein says she will hold up any Indian legislation, including the Winnemem effort, until Congress acts on what is for her a higher priority -- her measure aimed at unraveling a deal that gave the small Lytton Band of Pomo Indians the right to develop a huge casino at San Pablo. To the Winnemem, the process denies them the voice they are entitled to on a matter that could spell the death of their traditional ways. "They're crippling us even before we get started, and then they are taking everything we have left," Sisk-Franco said. (Distributed by Scripps-McClatchy Western Service, http://www.shns.com.) Copyright c. 2005 Monterey Herald. --------- "RE: Oneidas rule out Role in Bicentennial" --------- Date: Tuesday, December 28, 2004 7:19 PM From: MJLaBurt@aol.com Subj: Oneidas rule out role in bicentennial Mailing List: Sovereign Nations Mailing List: NDNAIM http://www.syracuse.com/base/news-7/1104237503167950.xml Oneidas rule out role in bicentennial Nation official blames comments by Madison County official. By Alaina Potrikus Staff writer December 28, 2004 The Oneida Indian Nation has pulled out of any involvement in Madison County's bicentennial celebration, citing comments bordering on "cultural racism" by Rocco DiVeronica, chairman of the county board of supervisors. In a Dec. 23 letter to county historian Deborah Harmon, nation executive Peter Golia contends that at a meeting last week, DiVeronica suggested "the jobs of nearly 1,000 Madison County residents who work for the nation do not matter to him." The nation's move apparently stems from a meeting involving DiVeronica, three other town supervisors, and Golia, the nation's vice president of communications, among others. Sullivan and Oneida town supervisors John Gladney and Donald Behr, respectively, who were at the meeting, said they could not recall DiVeronica making any derogatory statements about the Oneidas. During the 2 1/2-hour meeting, which largely centered on the recent land-claim settlement involving the Oneidas of Wisconsin, DiVeronica said he told Golia he would push to close the nation's Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona if the Oneidas of New York didn't come to the table to settle their 34-year-old land claim. "Why wouldn't I go after something illegal? It's my job," DiVeronica said. A state Supreme Court judge ruled in July that the agreement that allowed Turning Stone to open in 1993 was invalid because it was never ratified by the state Legislature. The Oneidas of New York were not involved in a Dec. 7 settlement that awarded two Indian tribes casino rights in the Catskills in exchange for giving up land claims to 250,000 acres in Madison and Oneida counties. According to Golia's letter, DiVeronica's comments show "a complete lack of respect" for the 942 Madison County residents employed by the Oneida Indian Nation. "His insensitive comments border on cultural racism and leave us no alternative," he wrote. "We will stand alongside our employees and not participate with a person who shows contempt for their jobs, the nation and its culture." A year of events is planned for the county's bicentennial in 2006. Copyright c. 2004 The Post-Standard. Used with permission. Copyright c. 2004 syracuse.com. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Agreement cuts Travel Distance for Medical Scans" --------- Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2004 08:25:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CNO MEDICAL SCAN AGREEMENT" http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=5712 Tribal agreement cuts travel distance for medical scans Half-million in technology installed in Tahlequah TAHLEQUAH OK Associated Press December 27, 2004 An Oklahoma Indian tribe has teamed up with a hospital to make it more convenient for people to get medical scans. Cherokee Health Partners is a joint venture between the Cherokee Nation's Comprehensive Care Agency and the Tahlequah Hospital Authority. The partnership purchased and installed two new nuclear medicine scanners at Tahlequah City Hospital. The technology cost about 600- thousand dollars. Officials say the effort has put cardio-imaging, or E-Cams, within reach of both tribal and non-tribal people. People with cancer or other life-threatening diseases can qualify for free use of the machines. Native American Times is Copyright c. 2004 Oklahoma Indian Times, Inc. --------- "RE: NAMMYS" --------- Date: Sunday, January 02, 2005 4:27 PM From: [wolakota4us@yahoo.com] Subj: NAMMYS Mailing List: Oyate Underground Mailing List: RezLife Mailing List: NDNAIM Right On Annie Humphrey! http://www.naammys.com/index.cfm 7th Annual Nominees A. Artist of the Year Joseph Firecrow w Billings Symphony "Signature-Parmly's Dream" (Papamouse) Litefoot "Native American Me" (Red Vinyl) Mary Youngblood "Feed The Fire" (SilverWave) R. Carlos Nakai "Sanctuary" (Canyon) Verdell Primeaux "Veterans and Honor Songs" (CR) B. Best Blues/Jazz Recording Cecil Gray & Red Dawn Blues Band "Indian Harmony" (CG) Jan Michael Looking Wolf Reibach "Native Blues" (Cedarfeather) Joy Harjo "Native Joy For Real" (Mekko) Marc Cary-Indigenous People "Native Go Go Rhythms Please" (Fla) The Red Corn Band "Red Corn Sessions" (AB) C. Best Compilation Recording - Various Artists Compilation 19 Artist "The Rizing: Best of Native Hip Hop 2004" Northern Cree & Friends "Honoring Singers & Songmakers Vol 2" (Cyn) R. Carlos Nakai "In Beauty, We Return. The Best of" (Canyon) Various "Best of the Best Vol 2" (Cool Runnings) Various "Voices Across The Canyon Volume 6" (Canyon) D. Debut Artist/Group of the Year Bad Moon Rising "Southern" (Cool Runnings) Burnt - Project 1 "The Avenue" (Sunshine) Jay Nez "My Family" (Dream 1) Rain Song "Rising Son" (Soar) Steve Williams "Change" (CPR) E. Best Female Artist Joanne Shenandoah "Covenant" (SilverWave) Joy Harjo "Native Joy For Real" (Mekko) Kimberly Dawn "Healing Jane" (Sunshine) Qua Ti Si "Through Indian Eyes" (Shadagea) Yolanda Martinez "Native Heartbeat" (Legends Alive) F. Best Folk/Country Recording Annie Humphrey "Edge of America" (Makoche') Jim Boyd "Going To The Stick Games" (Thunderwolf) Ga-Li Raymond Two Crows Wallen w/ Alicia Pagan "From The Outside In" (RW) Seymour - Snow "Home Grown" (Ekko) Qua Ti Si "Through Indian Eyes" (Shadagea) G. Flutist of the Year Billy Whitefox "When The Wind Sings" (Singing Wolf) Douglas Blue Feather "Star Nations" (Spirit Hawk) Eddie Three Eagles "Long Trail Home" (Manitou) Robert Tree Cody "Reflections" (Canyon) Terry Tsotigh "Prairie Rain" (Blackbear) H. Gospel/Christian Recording Cherokee National Youth Choir "Jesus Is Born Today" (Cher) Evan Lee "Heavenly" (CPR) Rain Song "Rising Son" (Soar) Rezawrecktion "It's Time" (Lions Den) Robern Talkalai "John 3:16" (Talkalai) I. Duo/Group of the Year Blackfire "Woody Guthrie Singles" (Tacoho) Northern Cree "Rezonate*Live at Saddle Lake" (Cyn) Tha Tribe "Mad Hops and Crazy Stops" (Cyn) Walela "Live In Concert" (Rich-Heape) Yarina "Nawi" (Yari) J. Best Historical Recording Cozad "California Pow Wow" (Soar) D. Norman "Buffalo Sky" (Soar) Felipe Rose "Red Hawk Woman" (Tomahawk) Masie Shenandoah &Liz Robert "Sisters:Oneida Iroquois Hymns" S) No Two Horns "A Gallery of Art and Exploits" (Makoche') K. Best Independent Recording Charlie Wayne Watson "Waking Spirit" (Desert Winds) Eagle Cloud "Canhiya Voice of the Wood" (Star Eagle) Kansas Begaye "Beauty of the Spirit" (KB) Michael Jacobs "They Come Dancing" (MJ) Stan Summers "Walkin' n Fire" (CPR) L. Best Instrumental Recording Arvel Bird "Big Chief Quetoos" (Singing Wolf) Echo Greywolf "The Gathering Field" (Sunshine) Evren Ozan "As Things Could Be" (Point of Light) Joseph Firecrow w Billings Symphony "Signature - Parmly's Dream" P) Spirit of the Nations "Spirit of the Nations" (Sunshine) M. Best Male Artist Eli Secody "Butterfly" (Secody) Felipe Rose "Red Hawk Woman" (Tomahawk) Jay Begaye "Songs of Colors" (Canyon) Jimmy Lee Young "Maya" (Crystal Feather) Randy Wood "Round Dance Blues" (Canyon) N. Best New Age Recording Douglas Blue Feather "Star Nations" (Spirit Hawk) Evren Ozan "As Things Could Be" (Point of Light) JJ Kent "Come & Get To Know Me" (Swinging Wolf) Joanne Shenandoah "Covenant" (SilverWave) Thunderbeat "Mayan Landing 2012" (Thundervision) O. Best Pop/Rock Recording Blackfire "Woody Guthrie Singles" (Tacoho) Dying Tribe "Represent" (Tribal Relic) Holy Wrath - Ramondo Emerson "Holy Wrath" (CPR) The 9 Featuring Micki Free "Ruff Masters" (Island) Tiger Tiger "Peace from the Everglades" (TTM) P. Best Pow Wow Recording Black Lodge, Star Society, Mocassin Flats "Blackfoot Pow Wow" Cozad "California Pow Wow" (Soar) Mystic River Singers "Mystic River Evolution" (Red Bear) Tha Tribe "Mad Hops and Crazy Stops" (Canyon) Young Bird "YB Style" (Canyon) Q. Best Producer David Swenson "Edge of America" (Makoche') Rose, Lawson, Morris "Red Hawk Woman" (Tomahawk) Stephen Butler "Round Dance Blues" (Canyon) Tom & Robby Bee "Blackfoot Pow Wow" (Soar) Tom Wasinger & Mary Youngblood "Feed The Fire" (SWave) R. Best Rap/Hip Hop Recording Buggin Malone "Birth of a Warrior" (Oarfin) Jay Nez "My Family" (Dream 1) JSD "Rezmade" (Rezmade) Nightshield "Nightshield-Kataztrophik" (Nightshield) Shadowyze "Red Hawk Woman" (Tomahawk) S. Record of the Year Burning Sky "A Simple Man" (Canyon) Douglas Blue Feather "Star Nations" (Spirit Hawk) Jim Boyd "Going To The Stick Games" (Thunderwolf) Mary Youngblood "Feed The Fire" (SilverWave) Micki Free "The Micki Free Experience" (Island) T. Song/Single of the Year Jim Boyd 'Fry Bread Line' (Thunderwolf) Jimmy Lee Young 'One Voice One Cry" (Crystal Feather) Qua Ti Si "Darkhorse" (Shadagea) Tiger Tiger "Haya" (TTMusic) Yarina "O-Ja-Ja Native" (Yari) U. Songwriter of the Year Annie Humphrey "Edge of America" (Makoche') Douglas Blue Feather "Star Nations" (Spirit Hawk) Felipe Rose "Red Hawk Woman" (Tomahawk) James Seals "James Seals Unplugged" (Plumb) Joy Harjo "Native Joy For Real" (Mekko) V. Best Spoken Word Recording Gregg Howard "Cherokee Warrior Stories" (Ind Peoples) Mary Louise Defender Wilson "The Way We Are" (Makoche') No Two Horns "A Gallery of Art and Exploits" (Makoche') Red Hawk & Nino Reyos "The Songs Remember" (Mega) Sapokniona White Feather "Master Meditations" ( Hawk) W. Best Traditional Recording Clark Tenakhongva "Hear My Song, Hear My Prayer" (Cyn) Eli Secody "Butterfly" (Secody) Ralph Kotay "Kiowa Hymms" (UNP) Randy Wood "Round Dance Blues" (Canyon) Ray and Rhonda "Together As One" (Sunshine) X. Best Short or Long Form Video Brian Hammill "Spirit Journeys" (Native Spirit) John Two Hawks "Wild Eagles" (Circle Studios) Miller, Shenandoah & Nakai "Songs of the Spirit" (KNME/NAPT) Redtale "Redtale-Live at the Ryman" (EKKO) Walela "Walela Live In Concert" (Rich Heape Films) Y. Best World Music Recording Brian Hammill "New Beginnings" (Native Spirit) Burnt - Project 1 "The Avenue" (Sunshine) Gale Revilla "Liquid Visions" (Morning Star) Thunderbeat "Mayan Landing 2012" (Thundervision/Choctaw) Yarina "Nawi" (Yari) Z. Native Heart Autumn's Child "Four Winds" (CedarnSage) Kris Delorenzi "Beautiful Great One" Scott August "Sacred Dreams" (Cedar Mesa) Spooky Actions "Songs of the Nations" (Muse Eek) William Eaton Ensemble "Sparks and Embers" (Canyon) James H. Starkey http://www.angelfire.com/indie/oyate --------- "RE: Pendleton Blanket synonymous with Achievement" --------- Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2004 08:25:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PENDLETON" http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/nation/10506838.htm?1c Pendleton blanket synonymous with achievement for tribal members BY LYNDA V. MAPES The Seattle Times December 27, 2004 SEATTLE - (KRT) - Piled nearly head-high, these blankets, so thick, so soft, so brilliantly colored, ignite a rummaging instinct. Hands rooting, heads down, conversation muted, shoppers - middle-aged white folks, New Agers, Indian people, snowy-haired retirees, the gamut - search the stacks with intensity. On any given day, license plates on cars and tour buses from seven states can be seen in the parking lot of this store at Pendleton Woolen Mills in Pendleton, Ore. With customers from the longhouse to the clubhouse, few companies have earned such broad and deep loyalty. And one of the icons they seek is the Pendleton Indian trade blanket. Still made entirely in the Northwest, as it has been for 95 years, the blanket has cult status among collectors, especially Indian people, the company's first customers. When the early white traders came calling, their woolen blankets were among the few items that were actually high quality; their patterns were even created to appeal to Indian tastes. Pendleton started its trade in Indian blankets in 1909 with the tribes of Eastern Oregon, and the blankets' popularity quickly spread. While other manufacturers of woolen trade blankets have come and gone in the Northwest, only one, Pendleton, remains. And Native people buy more than half of the Indian blankets Pendleton sells. If it matters in Indian Country, it is celebrated with the gift of a blanket. And a Pendleton is the one everyone wants - despite its three-figure retail price. --- But why blankets? And why Pendletons? These are questions that, among Indian people, always seem to astound. "It is part of our cultural tradition," says Laverne Wyaco, a Navajo from Window Rock, Ariz., pulling a purple Pendleton from the stack. In town for a conference, "I had to come to the Pendleton store. "We save up, pawn our jewelry, they are that important," Wyaco says. "When we have a ceremony, we have to wrap ourselves in a Pendleton, not a jacket. And it has to be a Pendleton. It's better quality." The tradition is rooted just as deeply among Northwest tribes, where "a Pendleton" is synonymous with a blanket. Each year when the Muckleshoot tribe holds a ceremony to celebrate the graduation of its kids from high school, every graduate is given a Pendleton. When the Skokomish people wanted to honor Indian elders for preserving Native languages, every elder was folded in the soft embrace of a Pendleton. And at a Tulalip ceremony in his honor, Democratic State Rep. John McCoy of Marysville, the first Washington tribal member in decades to serve in the Legislature, was wrapped in a chief's robe, a premium Pendleton bright as a longhouse fire. --- Among Indian people, the importance of blankets dates back to when "a blanket could mean life or death," says Bruce Miller, a cultural and spiritual leader of the Skokomish tribe. Robes from sea-otter pelts and buffalo skin, and blankets woven from mountain goat or dog hair were used before traders began arriving with wool blankets. Warm even when wet, the woolen blankets were prized not only for their beauty but for cutting the damp, Northwest chill that leaked into uninsulated longhouses. The blankets became a form of wealth, given in potlatch ceremonies, and used in trade and pawn. In the nearly 100 years since, Pendleton has grown its product line to include everything from high-WASP navy blazers to custom camouflage, woven on contract, to Indian-blanket-patterned dog jackets and commuter bags. The tribes? Some now operate casinos big as international airports. But the simple gift of an Indian trade blanket still has special meaning. "When you cover someone with a blanket," Miller says, "you cover them symbolically with love." --- High in the Blue Mountains above Pendleton, this band of more than 2,300 Rambouillet sheep is blissfully unaware of its venerable place in history. But this January's clip, as the annual winter harvest of wool is known, will mark more than 70 years the Cunningham family farm has been raising wool for Pendleton Woolen Mills. Used in shirts and blankets, the creamy, vanilla-colored wool leaks like cumulus clouds from burlap bales, springy and pungent with the sheepy smell of lanolin. Raising quality wool is no picnic, at least not for the grower. But for the sheep, that's exactly what it is: an endless summer ramble amid the sagebrush and Ponderosa of the Blues, stuffing themselves to their heart's content on belly-high grass. Not a bad life, until, seven or eight years of grazing later, their teeth wear down. Hence the appellation "gummer," for a sheep whose number is up. Sheep tender Wilfredo Palacios of Peru keeps watch over the band with help from his three crack herding dogs, Duque, Kevin and Pele. "You don't have dogs, stay home," Palacios says in Spanish. Juan Erice, sheep foreman for Cunningham, brings Palacios a new box of food once a week and moves the camp trailer with a tug of his pickup to new grass. That's about it for entertainment for Palacios and his dogs, up there in the Blues with nothing but a bicycle, the tolling of the sheeps' bells and a big, wide sky. Quiet and gentle with the dogs, moving slowly and patiently with the sheep, Palacios has what it takes to stay, alone, with a band of sheep, 24/7. The Rambouillets make his work easier with the natural instinct of the breed to stick together. "You have one, you have them all," Erice says. There is the occasional cougar to contend with, and maggot-laying flies that snug in wet wool after rain. Dry years are actually worse. Then, sheep stick their heads into just about anything to find grass, forcing leaves, grasses, seeds, twigs and more into their fleece. The dreaded VM, or vegetable material, as it's known in the wool trade, lowers the yield and quality of the wool. The goal is to produce a fleece so perfect it will please Dan Gutzman, a.k.a. Dan the Wool Man, manager of Pendleton's wool department. Gutzman searches out flocks on farms all over the world to find the right weight and type of wool for the right Pendleton product, be it shirt, blazer or blanket. He is a second generation "brother of the fleece." Members of this tiny cadre of experts are professional wool buyers, fiber fanatics, able to tell the tensile strength of wool right off the sheep with a tug, and the diameter of its fiber within half a micron at a glance. About half the wool Pendleton uses comes from the U.S. The wool from five countries might be in a single blanket. Gutzman plunges his hand up to the wrist into a fleece in the back of his truck, pulling out fibers to demonstrate their length, crimp, strength and size, all crucial to the "confession," or price a wool buyer will offer for fleeces at auction. It's cushy work, literally: "Baby-butt hands," Gutzman says, holding out pink, tender palms, the result of years of lanolin-soaked labor. "My wife likes it." --- In this factory, even the repair-shop pin-up girls wear not the usual brief bikinis - or less - but Pendleton blazers and skirts with a demurely jazzy flair. The forklift sports a Pendleton cover. And bits of wool, soft as chick fluff, kite around in the air as machines spin yarn by the mile. The only remaining woolen mill in Oregon, the Pendleton plant is a mix of new and old. Patterns on computer disks are loaded into state-of-the- art machines that can weave a blanket in more than a dozen colors in 24 minutes. In another wing of the building, cast-iron carding and spinning machinery still sports leather drive belts. The company's history shows at Pendleton's Washougal plant, too. The newest wool-processing equipment, installed in a $50 million upgrade, keeps company with floors velvety from years of lanolin tread into the wood. A high-water mark shows where the Columbia used to flood the building before the river was dammed. Both the Washougal and Pendleton operation are union plants, with average wages of about $12.50 an hour, and a workforce in which careers spanning more than 20 years are not unusual. Threads hanging from her hair, there is no doubt that Carole Carnes, a 21-year veteran of the Pendleton plant, is deep in her job, mouth pursed in concentration as she checks rolls of woven blanket fabric for extra threads or flaws. She plucks out errant threads with a pair of tweezers held on her wrist with a leather thong. "I always have lint in my hair when I go home," she says. At this stage, the fabric looks more like a towel than a blanket. Finishing machines at the Washougal plant create the blankets' characteristic soft, napped feel. Each blanket will be inspected again at Washougal, where workers examine every one by hand. Finishers cut the blankets to length, label them, sew on the felt binding and box them. Hand-folding the blankets just so, for neat presentation in that classic blue-and-yellow-labeled Pendleton box, is the slowest step in the process. Organized into teams of eight, the blanket finishers each have their own team name and charter, such as these "Words to Work By," posted at The Wildflowers' work station: "We come to work on time, Like a ray of sunshine Quality is a major goal, Satisfaction for our soul." --- Sir Wooliam, the Pendleton mascot, is grazing new pastures. The stuffed sheep - life-sized - holds court at the company's Portland home store, amid a line of home furnishings intended to appeal to a new kind of customer. Indian trade blankets still form the store's "power wall," as Bob Christnacht, manager of Pendleton's blanket and home division, calls it. "That brings them in the store." But once they get there, customers will see not only vibrant Indian trade blankets but a summer-weight Pendleton blanket in solid, soft, butter yellow, and fern-patterned curtains, duvet covers and luxury linens. Home products with no hint of a Western, or Indian, theme at all. The company is also opening more of its own retail stores to better promote its brand, rather than depend on department stores to do it for them. C.M. "Mort" Bishop III, the fifth-generation president of Pendleton, said the new products and retail push are part of the company's decision to grow its brand beyond the Indian blanket and nostalgic niche as the company everyone's grandfather bought their best wool shirt from. "The nongeometric designs, that's a departure for us," Christnacht says. "We are really working both sides of the market, the Pacific Northwest and the European luxury-style customer." "We love the warm memories of Pendleton. The challenge is to see that we have relevance in current lives. What we love to hear is, `This is Pendleton? I didn't know you made this.'" The company also began over the past 10 years to source some products, including cotton shirts, silk sweaters and leather jackets, from out of the country. And it now finishes some of its trademark items, including wool shirts, outside the United States. Sending pieces of the shirts to Mexico for sewing means the company can sell the shirts for $20 less each, Bishop says. "It was the only decision we could make, and a huge change. We would not have entered a new century if we stayed true to our made-in-America roots." Pendleton cut about 800 jobs and shuttered plants across the country, a painful move for a company Bishop described as "paternalistic," where some workers' families had been with the company for generations. "The big difference in a family business is the long pull, making decisions for the future, not just anonymous stockholders. It has been a difficult transition, these last 10 years, going from a totally made-in- -America product line to a balance of international and domestic sourcing. "We are not keeping everything here, and we are not sending everything overseas. It's not extreme, it's measured. It's about balance, and it's very healthy for us." --- Walking past a table spread with new designs and products in the works for the coming year, Bishop points to garments he says the company never could have made if it didn't turn outside this country for suppliers and manufacturing. Even the Indian blankets, while still made here, are changing. The line will soon include a new Urban Tribe Collection for spring 2005, with designs intended to depict the totems of new types of "tribes" - groups of people sharing a common interest: Urbanites, coffee drinkers, commuters tied up in traffic, wine connoisseurs, maybe even soccer moms. "Everyone belongs to some kind of tribe," Christnacht says. To Bishop, the company's future is about holding on to the right amount of its past. "We have to write new chapters, we can't stagnate and live in our own world. But it's very important for us to maintain our history and our heritage. "Some companies have become just a shell. But there is still a place called Pendleton in a Pendleton." Copyright c. 2004, The Seattle Times. --------- "RE: NASA SHARP: Teen American Indians Wanted" --------- Date: Saturday, January 01, 2005 8:54 AM From: WhiteEagleLady@aol.com Subj: Teen American Indians Wanted Mailing List: American Indian Forwarded to me from Tom and Deana Sandage: I am writing to request your help in spreading the word about NASA SHARP. NASA SHARP is an eight-week summer mentored research program for underrepresented rising juniors and seniors. It is held at universities across the US. Students accepted into the program have their transportation paid, also room and board, while earning a salary. For these students, this is a life-changing experience, and we are anxious to get more students from American Indian groups involved this year. The recruiting season has just started, and our deadline for applications is February 14, 2005. How can we work with you to spread the word about this excellent program? Is there a web site where our information could be posted? I have attached a flyer and a pdf of our application which may be useful. We can do direct mailings to individuals and /or churches, community organizations or school sites you specify. If you have questions, please email me at jstrandquist@nasasharp.com or call me after the new year at 1-888-985-0303. Thank you and have a great 2005! James M. Strandquist NASA SHARP Deputy Program Manager 1-888-985-0303 http://www.nasasharp.com --------- "RE: The Inca, Maya, and - Cahokian?" --------- Date: Thursday, December 30, 2004 8:34 PM From: MJLaBurt@aol.com Subj: The Inca, Maya, and - Cahokian? Mailing List: Soveriegn Nations Mailing List: NDNAIM http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1231/p20s01-alar.html The Inca, Maya, and - Cahokian? By Amanda Paulson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor December 31, 2004 edition CHICAGO - Mention the Incas or the Mayas, and most Americans will give a nod of recognition. But talk about the great civilization of Cahokia - once the largest city in North America - and you're likely to be met with a blank stare. Few people have heard of the Hopewell society in Ohio, or the Etowah or Moundville cultures in the Southeast, despite their complex social structure, architecture, religion, and art. The Art Institute of Chicago hopes to change that. "Hero, Hawk, and Open Hand," a collection of art from the ancient cultures of the Midwest and South, aims to toss out old notions of pre-Columbus America as an untamed wilderness. It may seem, at first glance, an unlikely exhibition for a museum known for its grand displays of Matisse, Gauguin, and Seurat - a collection that would be more at home, perhaps, in the Field Museum of Natural History, a mile south. But despite a fair amount of ethnographic information and historical context, the emphasis here is on aesthetics - and the curators are clear that the objects displayed are art, not artifacts. It's the artistic quality of the Hopewell's carved animal pipes, or the stunning Moundville pots, more than their function, that interests them. "We're trying to create a fresh approach to the interpretation of these objects," says Richard Townsend, curator of African and Amerindian art. "I hope at the most basic level that visitors will carry away with them an emotional imprint - that they will be affected by the beautiful and powerful works of art shown here." Many of the pieces are indeed stunning - and in surprisingly good shape. The first room is devoted mostly to the Hopewell society, which flourished around AD 1000 in the Ohio River Valley, and to Cahokia, an ancient city just outside St. Louis that existed from about AD 900 to 1200. In the Hopewell section, the most riveting objects are thin mica cutouts, which seem almost transparent, of a bird talon, human profile, and a large hand - subjects which gave the exhibition its name and which held deep symbolic value for many of the societies. By the time of Cahokia, the human figure, in particular, is more developed, and often represents heroes: Red Horn, also called Morning Star, or the Corn Mother. But as interesting as Cahokia's intricate copper plates and engraved whelk shells is the information about the city itself. A large mural on the wall imagines what it once looked like: a city of 15,000 to 20,000 people that contained large earthen pyramids, scattered thatched houses, and a spiked wooden wall that surrounded the central palisade. The lack of general awareness of such civilizations may be one reason why those associated with the exhibition sometimes display an almost missionary zeal when talking about the art's importance. "It's about time that native Americans and nonnative citizens realize that in the eastern woodlands of the United States a great civilization arose, and the art it produced is equal to the art of societies at a similar level of development anywhere in the world, at any time and place, " says Kent Reilly, a professor of anthropology at Texas State University who helped conceptualize the exhibit. In the second room, the focus shifts to ceramics and carved stone vessels, but some of the common threads continue. Many of the red and white pots from the central Mississippi Valley are in the shapes of animals. The open hand, which scholars believe symbolized the portal into the Milky Way where ancestors went, recurs frequently in the Moundville art. The Etowah art, meanwhile - from a warrior aristocracy in northwest Georgia - consists largely of human figures. Elaborate copper plates depict heroes, while stone carvings show kneeling and seated figures. And the Caddoan ceramics - from sites in southwestern Arkansas and northwestern Louisiana - are almost exclusively abstract. The distinctive red, black, and white designs are very different from the Southwestern art that many people are familiar with, and many of the pots are oddly shaped, with bulbous legs or triangular bodies. The exhibition also attempts - with varying degrees of success - to incorporate modern tribal voices and histories. Contemporary native Americans weigh in at various points on the audio tour and provide the first quote on the entry wall. At the end of the show, two paragraphs sum up the Trail of Tears and the deplorable acts by the US government, and a film shows modern efforts to reclaim and revitalize tribal culture. With most experts unsure of the links between contemporary tribes and ancient societies whose art is on display, these additions seem somewhat forced. Still, the works hold meaning for contemporary native Americans. Jereldine Redcorn, a Caddo potter from Oklahoma who has taught herself ancient ceramic techniques, says that seeing her ancestors' art achieve prominence in a museum is somewhat bittersweet. "We had this society, and because of removal policies," it was lost, she says. "Seeing this - it is with a sadness, but also a hopefulness that people will appreciate the history and art and culture we had." 'Hero, Hawk, and Open Hand' continues at the Art Institute of Chicago through Jan. 30. It travels to the St. Louis Art Museum in February. Copyright c. 2004 The Christian Science Monitor. --------- "RE: New longhouse crowns UO's NA Initiative" --------- Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2004 08:47:32 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="UNIVERSITY OF OREGON NATIVE PROGRAMS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2004/12/27/daily13.html New longhouse crowns UO's Native American initiative December 27, 2004 The University of Oregon will join with the nine federally recognized tribes of Oregon on Jan. 11 for a public dedication and opening ceremony of the new UO Many Nations Longhouse. The structure is located at the same east campus site as the previous longhouse, east of the UO School of Law at 1630 Columbia St. in Eugene. The ceremony will be followed by a salmon feast, courtesy of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. More than 20 years in the planning, the new building is the crown jewel of the UO's Native American initiative, started by former UO President Myles Brand and further developed by President Dave Frohnmayer. At 3,000 square feet, the new longhouse is twice the size of its predecessor and showcases environmentally friendly aspects and traditional features that represent native tribes and their cultures. "The longhouse encompasses many programs and ideas forged over the past decade to learn from and serve Native American communities and individuals of the Northwest," said Dave Hubin, executive assistant president and a key participant in the initiative. "The successful completion of the new longhouse is due to strong support from the Oregon tribes, Native American faculty and staff members and students at the UO, university leadership, and the community at large. It has been a great collective effort." The longhouse was designed by Seattle-based architect and UO alumnus Johnpaul Jones. He is known for such projects as the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., that opened last summer, as well as the Longhouse Education and Cultural Center at Evergreen State College in Washington state, the Makah Tribal Center in Neah Bay, Wash., and the Institute of American Indian Art in New Mexico. He modeled the UO structure after a traditional longhouse of the Kalapuya Indians, the first people known to have lived at the junction of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, which run through Eugene very near the university. Portland State University opened a Native American Student and Community Center in 2003. Copyright c. 2004 American City Business Journals Inc. --------- "RE: Canadians rate Native issues a Low Priority" --------- Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2004 08:25:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NATIVE ISSUES=NON-ISSUES" http://www.ammsa.com/sweetgrass/topnews-Dec-2004.html#anchor1342900 Canadians rate Native issues a low priority Max Maudie, Sweetgrass Writer, Ottawa December - 2004 According to a recent poll, most Canadians do not consider improving the quality of life of Aboriginal Canadians to be a high priority for the federal government. The poll, conducted by the Centre for Research and Information on Canada (CRIC), suggests almost one in two Canadians (49 per cent) believe that Aboriginal Canadians are on an equal footing with, or better off than, other Canadians. Forty-four per cent say Aboriginal people are worse off than other Canadians. Twenty-nine per cent of Canadians rated improving the quality of life of Aboriginal Canadians a high