_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 13, ISSUE 007 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, WOTANGING IKCHE - Lakota - Common News Wotanging Ikche and Native American News Copyright c. 1996-2005 nanews.org Aboriginal/AmerIndian Perspective about the First Nations of Turtle Island February 12, 2005 Mohawk enniska/lateness moon Algonquin wapicuummilcum/moon when ice in river is gone Passamaquoddy piyatokonis/moon when the spruce tips fall +-------------------------------------------------------+ | 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; First Nations Skyvillage and Frostys AmerIndian 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: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + ======================== "They came with the Bible in one hand and the gun in the other. First they stole gold. Then they stole the land. Then they stole our souls." __ Ginger Hills, Navajo +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Indian Pledge of Allegiance | The Indian Pledge of Alleg- | | iance was first presented | I pledge allegiance to my Tribe,| on 2 December '93 during the | to the democratic principles | opening address of the Nat- | of the Republic | ional Congress of American | and to the individual freedoms | Indian Tribal-States Relat- | borrowed from the Iroquois and | ions Panel in Reno, NV. NCAI | Choctaw Confederacies, | plans distribution of the | as incorporated in the United | Indian Pledge to all Indian | States Constitution, | Nations. | so that my forefathers | | shall not have died in vain | Walk in Beauty! Night Owl +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Journey | In the summer and early fall | The Bloodline | of 1998 the Treaty Unity Riders | | rode a thousand miles on horse- | For all that live and live by law | back, carrying a staff and | We Stand, we Call, We Ride | praying each step of the way. | For All that fear and fear by sight | | We Hear, we Listen, we Ride | These prayers were offered for | For all that pray and pray by strength| each of us, and that the Unity | We Feel, we Move, we Ride | of all Peoples might happen. | For all that die and die by greed | | We Hurt, we Cry, we Ride | Tatanka Cante forwarded this | For all that birth and birth by right | poem on behalf of all the Unity | We Smile, we Hold, we Ride | Riders that we might stop and | For all that need and need by heart | ask if the next words we say, the | We Came, we Went, we Rode. | next act we make is for the good | | of the People or is it from ego | Treaty Unity Riders | for self. +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ O'siyo Brothers and Sisters! In this issue is an editorial from Eastern Door, the excellent newspaper from Kahanawake, Mohawk Territory. Andrew Webster, guest editorialist makes the observation that "First Nations people - and some would argue all Aborigianl peoples - are in effect "fiscal lepers" or "fiscal footballs" whom neither order of constitutional government wants responsibility for." It is not just in Canada this sad observation is truth, although the government there is apparently determined to finish well in this world race to mistreat its first Peoples. Whether it is through fiscal denial or allowing provincial police off with little more than a slap on the wrist for killing native citizens. The Bush Administration certainly has the United States running near the front as Secretary of Interior Norton continues to try to avoid paying the Cobell initiated Indian Trust case. Then, this past week funding was refused for the health care center serving urban Indians in Albuquerque. In a metro area with a high precentage of Native Americans like Albuquerque this comes very close to institutional genocide. Worse perhaps is the way reservation schools and reservation school children are being dumped like so much trash. Not only are these actions and attitudes shameful, but they may well represent treaty violations, at best, and perhaps American apartheaid. 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 ----------- - Bush Administration' new Budget - Teen Tribal Members is 'tightest' denied entrance to Dance - Indian Schools may be slashed - YELLOW BIRD: At stake - - Haskell pushes for Extra Aid the survival of a Culture - Yakima Tribe, State - Memo to NCAA: both claim Land Pembroke can have a Native Mascot - Navajo Clothing Program - Dr. Solomon D.K. Nalua'I: misses out on Funding Why Akaka Bill is Wrong - Lack of Services - Editorial: holding down Disabled on Rez Premier's Conference on Programmes - Anderson steps down - Akwesasne to negotiate - 'Famous Dave' quits BIA Quebec Land Claims - Anderson's Resignation - Makah Nation says blamed on lack of support Fish Catch won't hurt others - JODI RAVE: Federal help needed - Connecting with First Nations on Indian Country - Native Leaders call for - NCAI's Hall pushes improved Police Relations pro-Indian Agenda - Final arguments - Sacred Onondaga relic in Aquash extradition Hearing finds way back Home - Peltier cuts ties - Hia-Ced O'odham with Aquash Murder Defendant now have a place to call Home - Native Prisoner - Another effort to -- Still Trouble keep Albuquerque Clinic open at S.Dak. State Prison - Navajos to proceed -- Volesky discusses on Airplane Deal SD Prison Population - Native American Job Fair - Rustywire: Zas `05 February 25th - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - Bill calls for Lessons - Spiritdove Poem: in Tribal History Do not take me for Granted - HOLSTER: The real Founding Fathers - Upcoming Events --------- "RE: Bush Administration' new Budget is 'tightest'" --------- Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 08:22:34 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename=""BUSH WHACKED" BUDGET" http://www.indianz.com/News/2005/006383.asp Bush administration' new budget is 'tightest' so far February 7, 2005 Bottom Line: BIA - $2.187 billion, a cut of $109 million OST - $3.04 billion, an increase of $76 million IHS - $3.048 billion, an increase of $64 million To view the budget, visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2006. After seeing four years of reduced or stagnant funding for critical programs, Indian Country can expect an even more severe budget from the Bush administration today. The $2.5 trillion package being unveiled is the "tightest" since 2001, Vice President Dick Cheney said yesterday. Non-defense and homeland security programs "are going to get hit," he confirmed. "We are being tight," Cheney said during an appearance on Fox News Sunday. "This is the tightest budget that has been submitted since we got here." According to Cheney, about 150 programs will be eliminated or reduced in the fiscal year 2006 proposal. He said the White House tried to determine whether the programs are working and whether taxpayer dollars are being used wisely. "Are there better ways to provide these services?" he said. "Are there consolidations in savings that are possible?" For Indian Country that means a number of major initiatives will take a hit. It's a dangerous trend that has been occurring since the start of the Bush administration, said Gary Gordon, executive director of the National Indian Housing Council. "The funding for Indian housing," Gordon said last week, "has been stagnant for the last five years. In essence what is happening is that we've actually lost ground in terms of our ability to buy housing because inflation has eaten away at the buying value of those dollars." Gordon mentioned a plan to cut the $4.7 billion Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program at the Department of Housing and Urban Development by 33 percent and move it to the Commerce Department. The $24 million Rural Housing and Economic Development is also on the chopping block. Both programs have provided millions of dollars for tribes and Indian organizations. And according to the Associated Press, the Bureau of Indian Affairs will take a hit for the second year in a row. President Bush is seeking a $100 million cut to the agency that will largely come from construction of new schools, which he said is a priority of his administration. The past four years "seem to indicate a trend where Native American programs have been the last funded and, as we come into very difficult budget pressures in discretionary spending, are last funded and then first cut," said Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-North Dakota) after the State of the Indian Nations address last week. Last year, Bush sought a $52 million cut to the BIA but members of Congress stepped in and restored funds. Similarly, the administration proposed changes at the Indian Health Service that were overridden once the budget was passed. That pattern is likely to repeat in the coming months as lawmakers battle the White House over favored and popular programs. In light of the $427 billion federal deficit, Bush's costly plan to overhaul the Social Security system and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the debate will be fierce, some predict. "Republicans are in charge of the White House, the Senate, and the House, so victories on this front are difficult to accomplish," said Sen. Tim Johnson (D-South Dakota) last month. On February 16, the Senate Indian Affairs Committee will be holding a hearingon Bush's 2006 request. A witness list has not been made public yet. The February 15 hearing has been canceled. Further hearings will be held before the House and Senate appropriations committees as government officials are called to explain their budget proposals. Indian advocates like Johnson and Sen. Pete Domenici (R-New Mexico) have used their positions on these committees to override cuts the Bush administration has proposed. Copyright c. 2000-2004 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: Indian Schools may be slashed" --------- Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2005 17:18:47 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="INDIAN SCHOOLS "BUSH"-WHACKED" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.daily-times.com/artman/publish/article_16841.shtml Indian schools may be slashed By The Associated Press February 6, 2005 WASHINGTON - President Bush's budget will propose slashing grants to local law enforcement agencies and cutting spending for environmental protection, American Indian schools and home-heating aid for the poor, The Associated Press learned Saturday. Bush molded the roughly $2.5 trillion spending plan for 2006 as a response to a string of record federal deficits, and is sends it to Congress on Monday. The budget, the toughest he has written since entering the White House four years ago, seeks about half the increase for school districts in low- income communities he requested last year and a slight reduction for the National Park Service. Many proposals face an unclear fate in Congress, where members of both parties are sure to defend favorite initiatives. Democrats blame the cuts on the tax reductions Bush has enacted and say that other items his budget omits - a Social Security overhaul and costs for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - will only make matters worse. "What it will lead to is growing pressure for draconian cuts," Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota, the Senate Budget Committee's top Democrat, said Saturday. "It's inescapable, the course he's led us on, whether it's this year or next year, is for very, very heavy cuts." Bush has said his budget will assemble federal resources for war, domestic security and other priorities and cull inefficient or redundant programs. Administration officials have said he will hold overall nondefense spending - excepting domestic security - to less than next year's expected 2.3 percent increase in inflation, meaning the programs will lose purchasing power. "I stand with the president that we need to eliminate wasteful spending and we need to look through all the programs," said House Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle, R-Iowa. "There's no question that's not the easiest thing to do in Washington." The details obtained Saturday are the latest in a budget that will also seek savings from programs ranging from Amtrak and farmers' subsidies to Medicaid, the federal-state health program for the poor and disabled. According to figures obtained by the AP, Bush would slice a $600 million grant program for local police agencies to $60 million next year. Grants to local firefighters, for which Congress provided $715 million this year, would fall to $500 million. He would eliminate the $300 million the government gives to states for incarcerating illegal aliens who commit crimes. It's a proposal he has made in the past and one that Congress has ignored. Also gone would be assistance for police departments to improve technology and their ability to communicate with other agencies. The Environmental Protection Agency's $8.1 billion would drop by $450 million, or about 6 percent, with most of the reductions coming in water programs and projects won by lawmakers for their home districts. The Bureau of Indians Affairs would be sliced by $100 million to $2.2 billion. The reduction would come almost entirely from the agency's effort to build more schools. The $2.2 billion program that provides low-income people - in large part the elderly - with home-heating aid would be cut to $2 billion. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said the reduction would be "wrong-headed an inappropriate," especially with this season's jump in oil prices. The park service's budget would drop nearly 3 percent to $2.2 billion, largely due to a reduction in its construction account. Several cultural agencies will get about the same as this year's levels, including the Smithsonian Institution and the national endowments for the arts and humanities, which distribute money to local groups. Even on the plus side, Bush's budget will show constraint compared with previous years. That in part reflects his pledge to cut last year's projected $521 billion in half by 2009. One lawmaker said the budget will estimate that year's shortfall at about $230 billion - well under the record $427 billion it will project for 2005. Bush will seek about 5 percent more, or about $600 million, for the $12. 8 billion program for low-income area school districts. Last year, he requested a $1 billion increase. Defense Department documents obtained Friday show the Pentagon's budget would grow by 4.8 percent to $419.3 billion - $3.4 billion less than he planned to seek for 2006 a year ago. Other areas would fare better. The Coast Guard - now part of the Homeland Security Department - will get $8.1 billion, $600 million over this year. Included will be a healthy increase for its plans to buy more oceangoing vessels, a boon to the new chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss. in whose state many of the ships are built. Community health centers would grow to over $2 billion, an increase of $304 million, or almost 18 percent, over this year. Bush said he wants to every poor county to have one of the centers, which are used heavily by the poor. Copyright c. 2004 Farmington Daily Times, a Gannett Co., Inc. newspaper. --------- "RE: Haskell pushes for Extra Aid" --------- Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 08:22:34 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HASKELL BUDGET CRUNCH" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/10827898.htm School pushes for extra aid By DIANE CARROLL The Kansas City Star LAWRENCE - Caleena Hernasy feels privileged to study at Haskell Indian Nations University. She knows its storied past: how it began as a boarding school in 1884 to stamp out American Indian culture and evolved into a place that now celebrates that culture. She also knows she couldn't afford to attend if she had to pay tuition. That's why the 22-year-old student senate president was sitting in her office in historic Tecumseh Hall one recent afternoon, talking about her upcoming trip to Washington. The federal government needs to begin providing more dollars for Haskell, she said, or it will be defaulting on peace treaties made long ago that provided a "free" education for Indians. "It's what they said they'd give us," Hernasy said. "Yet we're still struggling to keep that commitment going." The university, on the eastern edge of Lawrence, serves about 1,000 students a year. It offers 21 associate degrees and four types of bachelor's degrees. Enrollment is limited to members of federally recognized tribes. About 130 tribes a year are represented. Haskell has never had a lot of money, administrators said. It gets $3 million to $4 million a year to maintain its buildings, and that's adequate, they said. But the operating budget has been flat for five years - about $9 million - and that has hurt significantly. The school's leaders say they need more money for just about everything: instructors, classroom improvements, computers, textbooks, food. Besides federal funds, the school also gets some grants, but that money goes for specific purposes, not operations. Last fall, for the first time in 15 years, the Haskell Board of Regents increased student fees for on-campus students. They climbed from $105 to $210 a semester. That's the total of what students pay. But additional fee increases can't be ruled out, said Venida Chenault, vice president of academic affairs. "As an institution, we're to the bone in terms of what further cuts can be made," Chenault said. "We're at that critical point where we need to look at other resources. The fee issue is going to have to be back on the table." Chenault and Hernasy are part of a Haskell contingent that will be leaving next Saturday to meet with congressional leaders in Washington. Chenault won't be lobbying. Because Haskell employees work for the federal government, they are barred from doing so. That task will fall to Hernasy, a junior from Fort Defiance, Ariz., and the student senate vice president, Denny Gayton, 24, a senior from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe in South Dakota. The young leaders began gathering student signatures last week on letters to support their case and are lining up documentation to take with them. An increase in aid is vital for Haskell, Gayton said. "Right now it's in dire straits, and in the future it will be life or death for the institution," he said. While the funding has remained flat, Haskell has been required to pass on federal cost-of-living salary increases. Ninety percent of the school's operating budget goes to salaries, budget director Michael Lewis said. Haskell's level of aid should be about $10.8 million a year, according to a federal funding formula, Lewis said. But from what he hears, he said, Haskell's aid is not likely to increase next year. "We're on a downhill spiral," Lewis said. Waiting list Haskell is one of 34 tribal colleges in the nation. Most of them sprang up in the 1960s after Indians experienced a low success rate in traditional colleges. Most also charge tuition, offer two-year degrees and are on reservations. Haskell and Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute in Albuquerque, N. M., are unusual in that they receive no tribal aid but offer a "free" education. All of the colleges could use more money, said Gerald Gipp, executive director of the American Indian Higher Education Commission, which advocates for the tribal colleges. However, he said, aid for colleges seems to come in behind funding for kindergarten through 12th-grade classes serving Indians. Chenault said Haskell has a waiting list each year of 200 to 300 students. The school can't afford to serve any more, she said. This year Haskell had no money for new textbooks. (It provides texts for freshman and sophomores, but upper-class students buy their own.) Last year Chenault taught a class with an 8-year-old text. Professors teach three or four classes each, she said, and have no graduate assistants to help, even in large classes. Summer school has been canceled for the second straight year because there's no money to pay instructors. The school desperately needs a new science building, Chenault said, and Congress has lined up $2 million for that. However, the school needs at least $10 million more to build it, she said. Professor Dan Wildcat calls the faculty "incredibly dedicated." "What many of us would like the public to know, and our political leaders to understand, is that we do a very good job with what we have," said Wildcat, who has been at Haskell for 19 years. "We still do wonderful things with young Native men and women." Haskell's reputation remains strong in Indian country, he said, even though most people are aware of its budget shortcomings. "If you go to any city in the United States where there are Native people and you introduce yourself and you say, `I'm from Haskell Indian Nations University' ... you can't believe how people respond to you. Everyone has an uncle, an aunt, a grandmother, a grandfather that went to Haskell. "If people fully understood the significance of this institution within American history - what it has represented, how it has changed, what its influence has been - they would feel ashamed about the level of funding it receives." Computers needed Gayton said students struggled in a couple of areas. Few have personal computers, he said. The campus has computers available in the library, he said, but its hours are limited. One dormitory, Roe Cloud, has about a dozen computers, he said, but the university could use more. The quality of food served in the cafeteria also is a problem at times, Gayton and Hernasy said. More fruits and vegetables should be offered, Hernasy said. Student services director Karen Gillis said the school tried to offer a balanced diet. "We used to have a wonderful salad bar," she said, but the school has cut back on it. Administrators have talked about charging for meals, but that idea has met a lot of student opposition, she said. For those who say that students should be willing to pay more of the bill, Gayton replies that students aren't receiving a "free" education. American Indians already have paid for it, he said. "Officially, it was paid for in land," he said, "and unofficially it was paid for in blood." If one were to compare the cost of education that the federal government provides with the value of the land that the Indians ceded, he said, it would become clear that Indians aren't getting a fair shake. Hernasy, who is part Navajo and part Comanche, said she worried about Haskell losing its good name. She wants others to have the chance to be part of Haskell. "It's been a wonderful experience," she said. "I love Haskell." To reach Diane Carroll, call (816) 234-7704 or send e-mail to dcarroll@kcstar.com. Copyright c. 2005 Kansas City Star. --------- "RE: Yakima Tribe, State both claim Land" --------- Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 08:45:38 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YAKIMA LAND CLAIM" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002166720_landbattle01m.html Tribe, state both claim land By The Associated Press February 1, 2005 YAKIMA - A battle could be brewing over ownership of a tract of picturesque land claimed by both the Yakama Nation and Washington state. The dispute centers on an 18,450-acre area commonly referred to as Tract C, roughly 35 miles west of Yakima. The area includes Klickitat Meadows, a remote swatch of land that features river headwaters, deep canyons, meadows and stands of lodgepole pine and old-growth larch. The Yakama Nation contends the land - about 29 square miles - is within the reservation boundary as defined by the Treaty of 1855. However, the original treaty map was misplaced and, in 1908, the land was surveyed incorrectly. By the time the original treaty map was found in 1930, most of the land within Tract C had been bought or otherwise obtained by state or private interests. Federal maps show the land is inside the reservation's boundary, but the state has a different position. State maps simply delineate Tract C by its ownership - a checkerboard of land parcels primarily split between the state Department of Natural Resources and private timber companies, with small chunks of Yakama-owned land interspersed. The dispute has simmered for decades, but as the state prepares to open Klickitat Meadows to elk hunting, people on all sides of the issue sense litigation may be the only way to resolve who controls the land. The state Fish and Wildlife Commission approved an expansion of the Cowiche Game Management Unit to include Tract C on Dec. 4. The decision was based on a finding by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife that elk in Klickitat Meadows have a healthy enough population to withstand hunting. Jeff Tayer, Fish and Wildlife's regional director in Yakima, said the agency couldn't biologically justify having the area closed to hunting. "The elk herd is very healthy, and it's very difficult to explain to hunters why they can't have access to state-owned lands," he said. The Yakamas say the land isn't state-owned at all. During the 1960s and 70s, the U.S. Court of Claims, Indian Claims Commission, which was created by Congress to assess tribal claims against the United States, and President Nixon determined the land was part of the Yakama reservation. The commission, however, provided scant consolation for the Yakama Nation. Even while agreeing the land should have been part of the reservation, the commission could offer only small financial compensation, not the land itself. The tribe's response was always the same: We don't want money, we want our land back. "This is not a situation where some tribal member sold this land," said Yakima attorney Tim Weaver, who represents the tribe. "The U.S. missurveyed the land and let a bunch of white guys come in and take it. And after the mistake was discovered, the Indians couldn't get their land back. It's contrary to every concept of American jurisprudence." The state, meanwhile, continues to hold firm that it has deed and title to the land, said Ken McNamee, Department of Natural Resources district manager. "We still recognize the old line because we have deed in hand and the trust responsibilities," he said. The dispute has the potential to do serious damage to the tribal-state relationship if it ends up in court, Weaver said. "To me, it just doesn't make sense for the state to push this issue. Not for a handful of people and a few elk," he said. Lee Stream, regional wildlife program manager for Fish and Wildlife in Yakima, said the dispute will never be resolved until the federal government or the tribe buys all the land in question. "If they want to take this to the Supreme Court, so be it. Right now, it's a quagmire," he said. Copyright c. 2005 The Seattle Times Company. --------- "RE: Navajo Clothing Program misses out on Funding" --------- Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 08:45:38 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PORK WINS OVER CHILDREN" http://www.gallupindependent.com/2005/feb/020105clothing.html Clothing program misses out on funding By Zsombor Peter Staff Writer February 1, 2005 GALLUP - Thanks to a few Navajo Nation Council Delegates trying to squeeze a little extra pork fat out of the tribe's undesignated, unreserved fund in the final hours of their winter session last week, 8, 000 low-income Navajo students won't be getting the clothes they've asked for. Since the mid 1950's the Navajo School Clothing Program, run out of the tribe's Social Services Division, has been providing clothing to thousands of needy Navajo students across the reservation. The program spent nearly $1.3 million buying jackets, jeans and running shoes for some 30,000 students last year. But with demand on the rise and the annual appropriations falling, said Drucilla Gould, an office specialist with the Social Services Division, the program turned to the Council for supplemental funding for the first time she could recall this year. The program asked the Council for $500,000 from the tribe's undesignated fund to help an additional 8,000 applicants. Before the Council could vote on the request, however, some delegates managed to add a few amendments to the bill to the tune of several hundred thousands of dollars that ultimately proved too much for the bill to bear. The 41-30 vote was not enough to secure approval for digging into the tribe's undesignated fund; however, concerns about the program itself may have turned off some delegates. The program has been the target of accusations of favoritism for almost as long as it's been around, facing charges that delegates and chapter officials use their influence to secure clothes for unqualified family members, for example. Some delegates Friday also suggested offering families vouchers instead of the clothes so that the students like them enough to wear them instead of throwing them away, as some said they've seen students do. Still, the clothes seem important to some. "Oh, rats!" said Lucy Hatathlie-Nez, a social worker at Tuba City High School, upon hearing the news that her students would be among those not receiving their requests. While there are only three students at the school who applied this year, she said, "the ones that do apply do need the clothes. "I think my students are going to be disappointed," she said. "It's important to them." With the Council having denied it the $500,000, said Gould, the program will just have to make do. "We're just going to serve as many schools as we can with the money we have left," she said. Copyright c. 2005 the Gallup Independent. --------- "RE: Lack of Services holding down Disabled on Rez" --------- Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 08:38:51 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NAVAJO NATION DISABLED" http://www.gallupindependent.com/2005/jan/013105wheeling.html Wheeling into the Future Lack of services holding down disabled people on reservation By Pamela G. Dempsey Dine' Bureau January 31, 2005 KAYENTA - Julia Denetsosie and her three children are like any other typical single-parent family. She wakes up the kids for school every morning and worries about them if they're late. Friends and family come in and out throughout the day, the kids have posters on their walls, and the family pets two cats might greet you at the door. There's a pig in the doghouse and the dogs hang out in the garage, but Denetsosie said it's only temporary. But this typical family lives with one very big adjustment: Denetsosie is quadriplegic. A car accident six years ago put Denetsosie in the electric wheelchair she now lives in 12 hours a day. Although her kids and sister were with her, she was the only one injured. The accident forced her to move from California back to Kayenta and her life was permanently changed. "It's kind of hard to raise my kids," she said. "There's nothing you can do about it if they get into trouble and it stresses me out. If they have to stay after school, it's hard to pick them up." A day for Denetsosie starts at 7 a.m. when she wakes up her children. She'll lay in bed until 9 a.m. when her assistant arrives. She exercises twice a day and showers every other day. Her assistant comes back at night to put her to bed. Because Denetsosie gets cold easy, she doesn't go outside too much. But when she does, she has to schedule transportation two to three days in advance for appointments she's made. "I have to keep ahead of everything," Denetsosie said. Her biggest obstacle is transportation. "I don't have an accessible van," she said. Lack of services It's a problem not uncommon to others living with disabilities on the reservation. While city-life offers multiple services to those with disabilities, the Navajo Nation does not. Lack of funds, lack of infrastructure and possibly lack of awareness, severely restricts what disabled people can and cannot do. Transportation is a major problem, said Gordon Zeena, a disabled man who is now wheelchair-bound a majority of the day. Zeena said the disabled are in need of a wheelchair-accessible van and better enforcement of handicap parking spaces, which are often taken-up by able-bodies drivers. "It would help them go to work and take them places," he said. "A lot of them lose interest in school." Zeena, and his wife Beverly, are part of a support group which meets twice a month. They also tap food banks to bring groceries out to elderly and disabled residents living outside of Kayenta. Last year, Zeena said, they delivered close to 3,000-pounds of food. Their group, Toh' di'neesh zhee Support Group, is trying to link-up with other tribes and border-town groups to bring better services to their area. "I guess, all-in-all, we want these guys to be involved in their community instead of being isolated at home after their accidents," Beverly said. "It's not the end of the world and they need a lot of support. Accessibility is an important issue as well as family involvement." Sometimes family involvement is what disabled people don't have. Add that to lack of services, lack of transportation, and lack of support and many disabled find themselves isolated and depressed. "When you go out in the Kayenta community, you don't see a lot of people with disabilities," said Talley Sjoberg, a social worker with Kayenta High School's Exceptional Student Services. "It's not accessible." There are 961 high-school students and Sjoberg currently works with the only two in wheelchairs. If families don't have transportation, she said, especially accessible transportation, it makes it hard on the student. One 17-year old girl, whose spinal-cord injuries are nearly two-years old, boards the school's only lift-bus at 5:30 a.m. for the two-hour ride to school and has to leave 30-minutes early to catch the bus for the two- hour ride back home. The rough, dirt roads are hard on her back, Sjoberg said, and often times her back seizes up. "I'm really pleased both students stayed in school. This changes teenage life dating, dancing, and movies" Sjoberg said. "There's not a lot of venturing out in the community because it's such a hassle. "Both girls are resilient," she said. But the adjustment is hard, said Dr. Ellen Rothman, a local-pediatrician. "They're going through a really huge emotional adjustment," Rothman said. "It's hard to really know how hard to push them for recovery." Rothman became involved in the support group after one of her patients suffered a spinal-cord injury and Rothman saw first-hand how much she needed services. "Recovery really happens at each one's own pace," Rothman said. "They (then) do something that makes them feel their lives are worthwhile." Life after injury Gleve Isaac can relate. His own spinal-cord injury put him in a wheelchair 18 years ago. He faced his own obstacles when he returned home to Cowsprings from rehabilitation in Denver and found a lack in accessibility and services. "A lot of people on the reservation still lack health care programs and benefits," Isaac said. "There's not hardly any support groups and we need that. (We need) to talk to people with the same issues, to share information. The bottom line is we want to become self-advocates for disability rights." The Navajo Nation Government, he said, has not adopted the American Disability Act, which limits how accessible tribal offices are. "We need to adopt that," he said. "That way, it can be enforced. If our rights are violated, we have recourse." Bringing more services, training, physical therapy, and rights to those with disabilities on the reservation might help them overcome their fears, find a job, and pick up where they left off, Isaac said. "I would like for them to know that there is life beyond disability," he said. "I personally went back to school and do a lot of advocacy. They can still do a normal life like normal able-bodies people. They can live an independent life at a the least non-restrictive environment." - To contact reporter Pam Dempsey, call (505) 879-1707 or email pamelagdempsey@msn.com Copyright c. 2005 the Gallup Independent. --------- "RE: Anderson steps down" --------- Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 08:38:51 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ANDERSON QUITS BIA" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=5902 Anderson steps down Says he can do more in private sector WASHINGTON DC Associated Press and Native American Times January 31, 2005 Dave Anderson is resigning as head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs after just one year in the job, saying he can do more to help American Indians by working in the private sector. Anderson earlier removed himself from decisions on tribal recognition and Indian gambling to avoid the appearance of any conflict of interest, because of his past work in the gambling industry. That move prompted criticism and some calls for his resignation. "I have concluded that I can have the greatest impact to improve the future of Indian country not by managing the day-to-day operations of BIA programs, but by focusing my time on developing private sector economic opportunities for Indian entrepreneurs," he wrote in a letter to Interior Secretary Gale Norton that was released Monday. The BIA is part of the Interior Department. "Many people are sad," BIA spokeswoman Nedra Darling told the Native American Times. "We enjoyed working with him and enjoyed his motivation and passion." She said Anderson was flying to Phoenix today and would not be available to comment. Just last month, Anderson told The Associated Press that he planned to stay through a second Bush administration. "I very definitely do," he said in the December interview. "I think this is an incredible opportunity to get some things done. One of the reasons I'm here is to help create the change that's needed in the bureau." Anderson founded Grand Casinos Inc., the former casino management company for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, in central Minnesota, before leaving the company to launch his Famous Dave's barbecue restaurant chain in Minnesota. Native American Times is Copyright c. 2004 Oklahoma Indian Times, Inc. --------- "RE: 'Famous Dave' quits BIA" --------- Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 08:38:51 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ANDERSON RESIGNATION" http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/10782955.htm?1c 'Famous Dave' quits BIA Anderson plans private-sector projects to help Indians BY JENNIFER BJORHUS and CHARLES HOMANS Pioneer Press February 1, 2005 Dave Anderson of Famous Dave's barbecue fame, the top Minnesotan in the Bush administration, is resigning as head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, saying he can do more to promote American Indian economic development in the private sector. In his resignation letter, released Monday by the Department of the Interior, Anderson said he will stay on the job as U.S. Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs until Feb. 12. He then leaves to undertake an economic development project in connection with Harvard University's Native American Program. Anderson, who has held the job for a year, said in December he intended to stay through the next four years of the Bush Administration. In an interview Monday, Anderson said neither frustration in running an agency of more than 10,000 employees, nor criticism of his decision to take the BIA job but recuse himself from gaming decisions because of his ties to the gaming industry, played a role in his decision to step down. "It wasn't why I left," said the Edina resident, who visited St. Paul on Saturday to serve as grand marshal of the St. Paul Winter Carnival's Grande Day Parade. "I'm 52 years old, and I don't think to spend the next four years there until I'm past 55 would be a good use of my time." "Now I think it's appropriate for me to get back to what I know best - being an Indian businessman, and the best rib cook in America." The BIA appointment was Anderson's first government job, although he earned a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and served on federal task forces and advisory councils concerned with Indian affairs. At the time of his appointment, Anderson's background in casino management raised questions about possible conflicts of interest, and Anderson subsequently removed himself from BIA decisions on gambling and tribal recognition to avoid ethical dilemmas. The move, however, drew criticism from Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., who argued in May that because deciding such matters was among the secretary's most important duties, Anderson was doomed to be an ineffectual leader. Although Dodd called for Anderson's resignation at the time, Anderson dismissed the senator's arguments . Anderson said he plans to return to counseling American Indian teens at the LifeSkills Center for Leadership he founded in Minneapolis and to cheerleading for his Eden Prairie-based restaurant chain, Famous Dave's, though he doesn't plan to play any formal role there. He has no plans to be part of Gov. Tim Pawlenty's recently announced casino initiative, he said. Anderson, who left the casino business in 1996, made his early fortune in gaming. He was part of a trio of businessmen that formed Grand Casinos Inc., one of the most successful Indian casino management companies in the country. A Chicago native, Anderson is a member of both the Choctaw Tribe and the Hayward, Wis.-based Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Chippewa. "His life story is truly a tale of the American dream come true," said Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn. "I admire his accomplishments and his steadfast commitment to helping the Native American community." Anderson said his new entrepreneurial project is in the early stages, but described it as a type of task force that will develop case studies of tribal reservations. He said he wants to look at tribes that have been particularly successful at economic development, examine the problems they encountered, and package the information for tribal governments to use. Jennifer Bjorhus can be reached at jbjorhus@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-2146. Copyright c. 2005 St. Paul Pioneer Press - Knight Ridder Publications, Inc. --------- "RE: Anderson's Resignation blamed on lack of support" --------- Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 08:45:38 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ANDERSON _ NO SUPPORT" http://www.indianz.com/News/2004/006279.asp Anderson's resignation blamed on lack of support February 1, 2005 Famed entrepreneur Dave Anderson announced his resignation as head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs on Monday in what tribal leaders said was the latest casualty of the Bush administration's failed trust reform effort. After just a year on the job, Anderson said in a letter that he was stepping down to return to the private sector. It was there that he rose to prominence as the founder of the "Famous Dave's" chain of barbecue restaurants that created thousands of jobs and generated millions of dollars in revenues. "I have concluded that I can have the greatest impact to improve the future of Indian Country, not by managing the day-to-day operations of BIA programs, but by focusing my time on developing private sector economic opportunities for Indian entrepreneurs," he wrote on January 27 to Interior Secretary Gale Norton. In a response also dated January 27, Norton accepted Anderson's decision with "regret" but praised his intent to improve economic opportunities for American Indians and Alaska Natives. "I have received many reports from people who have been encouraged by your message of hope, self-reliance, and belief in the personal worth and dignity of each Native American," she wrote. Norton made only a slight mention of the trust reform initiatives at the Interior Department that have generated significant controversy during the past four years. Over the objections of tribal leaders, the Bush administration reorganized the BIA and expanded the Office of Special Trustee in an attempt to fix the long-standing problem, while cutting funds for other Indian programs. Tribal leaders yesterday said that approach contributed to the resignation of the ninth assistant secretary for Indian affairs. Anderson became frustrated because he was unable to advance his own agenda because trust reform consumed the attention of officials like Norton and her top aides, they argued. "We all know that the sixth floor of the secretary's office thinks that everything should be on trust -- trust reform, trust reform, the Cobell lawsuit," observed Tex Hall, president of the National Congress of American Indians. "Dave Anderson wanted to develop education, establish leadership academies, he wanted to revamp the entire economic development program at BIA. He wanted to look at entrepreneurship and develop partnerships with other agencies." "He was totally on a different page," Hall said. Ron Allen, the chairman of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe of Washington, agreed that the trust issue played a large role in Anderson's decision. "I think he was frustrated that he couldn't do what he wanted to do, that the resources that the bureau had were so dedicated towards fixing the trust problem, that they didn't really have the resources to address the economic development and education priorities that he had," Allen said. The lack of support Anderson received was an ongoing issue since he joined the BIA in February 2004. Due to the departure of his predecessor Neal McCaleb, who resigned in December 2002 based on the trust debacle, he inherited a slew of aides who were not necessarily loyal or supportive of his agenda. Although nearly every single one of those high-level aides either transferred or resigned, Anderson still faced obstacles from Norton's office over staffing and management issues, tribal leaders said. They said Jim Cason, Interior's associate deputy secretary who has been a key player in the trust reform saga, kept a tight rein on the BIA. "He wasn't forced [to resign]," said a tribal source close to Anderson. "He was mad about not being able to bring in a team and Cason managing his department." "Let's put it out in the open," added Hall. "There's a lot of people that say Jim Cason was running the BIA behind the scenes." Cason will indeed be in charge of the agency until a replacement for Anderson can be named and confirmed by the Senate. Cason was named the acting assistant secretary with Mike Olsen, a former Hill staffer, to remain as the principal assistant secretary. Both are non-Indians. In a statement, Norton said she will work with the White House and Indian Country to find a new assistant secretary. Tribal leaders yesterday mentioned Tim Martin, the executive director of the United South and Eastern Tribes and a member of the Poarch Creek Band of Indians in Alabama, as a wise choice. Anderson, a member of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Ojibwe from Wisconsin, plans to depart on February 12. Before leaving, he will sign a memorandum of understanding with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America to establish clubs at BIA schools. The ceremony takes place today in Phoenix, Arizona. Next week, Anderson will attend RES 2005, the 19th Annual National Reservation Economic Summit and American Indian Business Trade Fair, in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is scheduled to speak on Thursday, February 10. Copyright c. 2000-2004 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: JODI RAVE: Federal help needed on Indian Country" --------- Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2005 08:51:48 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="JODI RAVE: TEX HALL ADDRESS" http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2005/02/04/jodirave/rave65.txt Tribal leader: Federal help needed on Indian Country - February 3, 2005 BY JODI RAVE Lee Enterprises The leader of the nation's oldest and largest Native advocacy group on Thursday appealed for federal help to meet underfunded needs on Indian Country. "In many ways, tribal governments are exactly like state and municipal governments providing critical services to citizens and helping shape a community's value system," said Tex Hall, president of the National Congress of American Indians. "Like state governments, we struggle to provide these essential programs - education to the youth, health programs to the elderly, and to support programs for our veterans." Delivering the group's third annual State of Indian Nations Address in Washington, Hall called on lawmakers to pass legislation that would improve the quality of life of Native people. Federal funding is needed to improve tribal self-governance, economic development, homeland security, law enforcement, education, health care and housing, said Hall, chairman of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation of North Dakota. And of those areas, tribal self-governance is central to improving tribal economies, he said. Hall cited a recent report by the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development that described conditions on reservations as "bleak" in the 1990s. Since then, Native income on reservations has increased 33 percent, the poverty rate dropped 7 percent, and economic growth was three times the national average, according to the report. Still, the average reservation-based income is less than half the national average. Unemployment is twice the national average. "The report also makes it clear that the glass is only half full ... thus, while improvements have been made, much work is left to be done," Hall said. "If tribes are to continue to be successful, we must have access to all tools that are available to other governments." He asked Congress to create "fair rules" legislation for tax-exempt bond financing, allowing tribes the same access to capital now available to state and city governments. He also called for passage of the Tribal Homeland Security Act to fund security programs on tribal lands that include 260 miles of international borders - 100 miles more than the California-Mexico border. He also pressed for legislation to give tribes jurisdictional authority over non-Natives who commit domestic violence against Natives. The U.S. Justice Department reports one in three Native women will be raped in her lifetime, a rate triple the rest of the country. And nine of 10 crimes against Natives are committed by non-Natives. To handle tribal court caseloads, money is needed to carry out the Indian Tribal Justice Act, Hall said. The act promised $58 million beginning in 1994, but no money has ever been appropriated. And unlike other federal education programs, the Office of Indian Education saw no budget increases. Meanwhile, only 50 percent of Native youth graduate from high school. "The thrust of your remarks seem to indicate that Native Americans are the last to be funded - perhaps the last funded, and the first cut," said Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., who attended the speech. Said Hall: "It's a negative trend that we're seeing." Still, he offered hope. "Our governments are stronger, more vocal and more visible than ever before. We do not shy away from any challenges. Nor do we rest on our successes. We have faced the worst that could be thrown at us and survived." Jodi Rave covers Native issues for Lee Enterprises. She can be reached at (800) 366-7186 or jodi.rave@missoulian.com. --------- "RE: NCAI's Hall pushes pro-Indian Agenda" --------- Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2005 08:51:48 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="STATE OF INDIAN NATIONS" http://www.indianz.com/News/2004/006356.asp NCAI's Hall pushes pro-Indian agenda in speech February 4, 2005 STATE OF INDIAN NATIONS: National Congress of American Indians President Tex Hall at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. Stating that Indian Country is moving in the right direction, the leader of the National Congress of American Indians on Thursday laid out a broad agenda aimed at improving the lives of the first Americans. In the third annual State of Indian Nations address, NCAI President Tex Hall cited a Harvard University study that showed dramatic gains in the economic well-being of tribal people. Income levels rose by 33 percent in the 1990s and the poverty rate dropped by seven percent, he said. But Hall, who is also chairman of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation of North Dakota, pointed out there is much to be accomplished. "The glass is only half full," he told the audience at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. "Income average of Indians living on reservations is still less than half of the national average. Indian unemployment is still double the rest of the country." With that in mind, Hall identified several areas where he said changes are needed. From economic development to housing to trust reform, he called on the United States government to fulfill its responsibilities to American Indians and Alaska Natives, and to ensure tribes continue moving forward. "If tribes are to continue to be successful, we must have access to all tools that are also available to other governments," he said. As the Bush administration enters its second term and the 109th Congress moves forward under a greater Republican majority, Hall said NCAI will work with members of both parties to advance a pro-tribal agenda. The proposals included: * Legislation to clarify that tribes can issue tax-exempt bonds like any other municipal government. Currently, several tribes are facing scrutiny from the IRS for casino and hotel projects the agency says don't meet the "essential government function" standard. * Reauthorization of the 1996 Telecommunications Act to ensure tribes maintain regulatory authority over telecommunications services on their lands. The Federal Communications Commission, divided along party lines, has given mixed rulings on the matter. * Amending the Homeland Security Act, first passed in 2002, to treat tribes the same as state and local governments. The change would allow tribes to tap directly into the billions of dollars in homeland security funds. * Recognition of tribal authority over non-Indians in domestic violence cases, as most crimes against Native women are committed by non-Indians. "Our women are abused at far greater rates than any other group of women in the United States," said Hall. "This is unacceptable and outrageous. * Continuation of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grants at the Department of Justice. Hall said funding for 235 tribal officers will end this year. * Full funding of tribal courts under the Indian Tribal Justice Act in 1993. The law promises $58.4 million, Hall said, but none has been provided. * Increased resources for Indian housing programs, which Gary Gordon of the National American Indian Housing Council said were "stagnant" for the past four years. * More funding for Bureau of Indian Affairs education programs, including construction of new schools, which is flat-lined for the current year. * Reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, which faltered during the end of last Congressional session. * Settle the Individual Indian Money (IIM) trust lawsuit and work with tribes to develop a fix for the future. Hall said the recent amendments to the Indian Land Consolidation Act that were signed into law by President Bush were an improvement. * Passage of an Indian energy bill to help tribes tap into their natural resources. The measure was controversial among tribes during the last session but a compromise was reached. However, the larger energy package has stalled over drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Hall, who is in his last year as NCAI president, said tribes will be looking closely at the fiscal year 2006 budget that Bush releases on Monday. "It is a negative trend that we're seeing" in funding for Indian programs, he said during a question and answer period after the speech. To coincide with the address, NCAI released its own proposed budget yesterday. It covers various agencies and includes specific dollar amounts for key programs. In an interview with Indianz.Com, Dave Anderson, the outgoing head of the BIA, said he tried to advance many of the same priorities identified in the speech during his year at the agency. "We have schools that are in need, " he said. "We have a growing gang and substance abuse issue. We have unemployment and economic development issues that are not being addressed." As one of his final actions before departing next week, Anderson hopes to lay the groundwork for a task force with the Harvard American Indian Project on Economic Development, a program at the university's Kennedy School of Government responsible for the economic study cited in the speech. "We would do it in conjunction with the bureau," he said. Copyright c. 2000-2004 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: Sacred Onondaga relic finds way back Home" --------- Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 08:45:38 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="KAKIKTOTON WAMPUM RETURNS" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.syracuse.com/news/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/news-2/110733737476470.xml Sacred Onondaga relic finds way back home State saves it from eBay auction, returns it when Onondagas threaten lawsuit. February 2, 2005 By Mike McAndrew Staff writer Two centuries ago, an Onondaga Indian named Kakiktoton gave six strings of wampum to New York's treaty commissioners hours after the Onondaga Nation sold 2 million acres to the state. On Friday, four months after New York pressured an Albany area man to give it the wampum, and after the Onondaga Nation threatened to sue the state over the strings of beads, New York surrendered the wampum to the Onondaga. "It's good to get back the wampum," after 217 years, said Tadadaho Sid Hill, the spiritual leader at the Onondaga Nation. Wampum - belts or strings containing purple or white beads - are considered sacred cultural treasures by the Onondaga. Before the Onondaga learned to write, they used wampum to communicate messages or record events. Kakiktoton's wampum string is considered sacred, too - even if it is a reminder of the day when the Onondaga Nation's territory shrank by roughly 95 percent. No one can read the Kakiktoton wampum anymore, Hill said, but the strings are now linked to both a modern story and an old story about New York's contentious relationship with the Onondaga. In early September, the Onondaga and state Education Department officials discovered that wampum strings were being offered for sale on eBay. Rick Walker, of Watervliet, who inherited the beads from his grandfather, said bidding had reached $600 in only three days, well beyond the $299 reserve price he had set. Seven hundred people were watching the eBay page. Walker said the first bidder was a man in Germany. Through eBay, he was getting e-mails about the wampum from people from all over the world. The wampum was being offered for sale with an unsigned, undated handwritten note on parchment that said the strings were delivered by Kahicktoton, a chief of the Onondaga, to the state treaty commissioners on Sept. 12, 1788, at Fort Schuyler, declaring that Ojanoewe was to be his successor. Kakiktoton, whose name is spelled several ways in historic records, was one of two Onondaga who negotiated a treaty Sept. 12, 1788, at Fort Schuyler with Gov. George Clinton. In the treaty, the Onondaga gave to New York all but about 108 square miles of the Onondagas' land for 1,000 French crowns, 200 pounds in clothing, and annual payments of $500, according to the commissioners' report on the treaty. The 1788 treaty reserved to the Onondaga nearly all of present-day Syracuse; all of the town of Onondaga and the village of Solvay; and parts of the towns of LaFayette, Otisco, Camillus and Geddes. The treaty also said that Onondaga Lake and a one-mile swath around it would forever be for the common benefit of New Yorkers and the Onondaga to make salt. New York's treaty commissioners' report on the 1788 treaty contains this notation: "In the Evening of the same Day Kakiktoton, one of the Onondago Chiefs, in the Presence of the Nation announced to the Commissioners that O: Ojanoenwe, alias Jones, would be his Successor, and in Testimony thereof delivered to the Commissioners a String of Six Rows of Wampum." State officials and the Onondagas' lawyer both contacted Walker and persuaded him to end the eBay auction, said Paul Larrabee, a spokesman for the attorney general's office. Walker said it is a mystery how his grandfather, who worked for a moving company in New York City, acquired the beads about 50 years ago. The beads sat in his grandfather's attic for decades, and were stored in his attic for the past five years, Walker said. He said he decided to auction off the beads because he needed new tires on his car. He had no idea of their value, or of their significance to the Onondaga, Walker said. "I stepped on a cultural land mine," he said. Walker turned the wampum over to the state without receiving any compensation from New York because an assistant state attorney asserted that the state was the rightful owner. "It was pretty intimidating," he said. He said he didn't want to give up the wampum but felt the state was pressuring him and he had no choice in the matter. Walker said he came to believe that the wampum belonged to the Onondaga. So he negotiated to sell his ownership interest in the wampum to the Onondaga Nation for slightly more than $600 - the amount of the high bid on eBay. The state wanted to preserve the wampum strings because they constituted a "state record" of the 1788 treaty between New York and the Onondaga, Larrabee said. Haudenosaunee Confederacy wampum belts are specifically listed in the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act as objects that are of such importance to the Haudenosaunee that they cannot be legally separated from the Haudenosaunee nations. That law has enabled the Onondaga and other Indian nations in recent years to recover thousands of skeletal remains, wampum and other sacred objects from museums across the country. In 1989, after about 90 years of pressure from the Onondaga, New York returned 12 wampum belts to the Onondaga. Those belts included the Hiawatha Belt, which tells of the formation of the original Five-Nation Iroquois League, and the Washington Covenant, which commemorated a peace treaty between the Haudenosaunee and the 13 original colonies. Friday, after the Onondaga Nation had threatened to sue New York over the Kakiktoton wampum strings, Joe Heath said, the attorney general's office had Federal Express deliver the wampum in a box to his office. Larrabee said the state was "facilitating the return to the proper owner." Kakiktoton's wampum consists of six strings of beads tied together at one end, with the longest string about 17 inches, and the shortest about 7 inches. Three of the strings contain only purple beads. Two contain white and purple beads. The shortest has only white beads. "I'm extremely glad they ended up with the Onondaga," Walker said. The Onondaga were unaware that the Kakiktoton wampum strings existed intact, or who possessed them, until spotting the listing on eBay, said Onondaga Chief Irving Powless. But Powless said he's glad New York decided to return the strings. "Wampum is not an artifact to us," he said. "It's an integral part of our daily lives." "We still use it," he said. Copyright c. 2005 The Post-Standard. Used with permission. Copyright c. 2004 Syracuse.com. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Hia-Ced O'odham now have a place to call Home" --------- Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 08:22:34 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LANDLESS O'ODHAM CARVE HOMELAND" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.dailystar.com/dailystar/allheadlines/60200.php Place to call home O'odham help their landless kin carve out a tiny homeland By Lourdes Medrano ARIZONA DAILY STAR February 6, 2005 Almost a century after the former Sand Papago Indians who wandered the vast Sonoran Desert mistakenly were deemed extinct, their descendants are carving out a homeland near what once was their native territory west of Tucson. Although just one square mile, the planned enclave of Hia-Ced O'odham members is a significant breakthrough in their long quest for a place of their own. Perseverance and the hard-fought support of their relatives, the larger and better-known Tohono O'odham tribe, have yielded a home base for surviving members of the Hia-Ced O'odham scattered throughout the state. The Tohono O'odham Nation recently purchased 640 acres with $1.5 million in casino profits to help the surviving Hia-Ced O'odham establish the first federally recognized community since their ancestors became displaced. Development plans are under way for the property, which sits next to the western boundary of the main reservation in Sells. It is on that expansive desert patch of cacti, mesquite and ocotillo that many Hia-Ced O'odham, including 56-year-old Laura Manuel of Ajo, hope to build their community. "I want to grow flowers, sit outside and listen to the birds," said Manuel, who for more than two decades has worked to try to obtain some land for her people. "That's my dream, to be able to have my own home." For modern-day Hia-Ced O'odham, life without a permanent home has meant years of moving from place to place in order to subsist. Hia-Ced O'odham members say losing the last of their settlements in the Ajo area in the late 1970s and early 1980s was the catalyst that started their struggle for a homeland. Naomi Carmello, 54, a Hia-Ced O'odham member who grew up in Ajo, said she always has lived in rentals because she can't afford to buy a home. But having a home base is about more than just shelter, she added. "It's finally being recognized as a community - it's having a sense of community." A housing plan, which initially may include about 50 homes, is being developed. Leroy Juan, acting manager of the Hia-Ced O'odham Program office, said Hia-Ced members would like to incorporate businesses on the land, but tribal leaders have made it clear that they want the immediate focus to be on building homes. This week, a roughly $150,000 budget to improve the new Hia-Ced O'odham land will go before the Tribal Legislative Council for approval. The nation will appropriate tribal funding later to build the homes. Landless for a reason The efforts of Manuel, Carmello and hundreds of others on and off the Tohono O'odham reservation, which has absorbed many of the surviving Hia- Ced O'odham, go back a long way. Manuel, a former councilwoman of the San Lucy District, said the movement to recover part of their lost territory sparked in earnest in the early 1980s, when the residents of Hia-Ced O'odham communities near Ajo were scattering fast. The Hia-Ced O'odham are believed now to number about 1,200 on both sides of the Arizona-Mexico border. The fate of the Hia-Ced O'odham as a landless people was sealed long ago. In 1917, when the federal government drew the boundaries of the Tohono O'odham reservation, it left out the Sand Papagos who wandered in the harshest part of the Sonoran Desert. Later attempts to rectify the mistake went nowhere. Father Bonaventure Oblasser, a member of the committee that outlined reservation borders, wrote in a 1935 letter to John Collier, then the commissioner of Indian Affairs: "I am asking you to secure for the nomadic members of the Papago tribe, who formerly roamed over the rough stretches between the western boundary of the domain of the Papago Pueblo and the lands of the Yumans, but who have now settled into small communities south of Ajo, to secure title to these lands. . . . These Indians, have to date, been entirely overlooked by the Government." Oblasser's letter is part of the historical archives at the Hia-Ced O'odham Program office, which the Tohono O'odham Nation created in 1986 to help further its cause. Leroy Juan said the nation then became committed to count, enroll and help establish a homeland for the Hia-Ced O'dham that eventually could become the reservation's 12th governing district. Juan said most Hia-Ced O'odham had sought to rebuild Darby Wells, an old village site on federal land near the mining town of Ajo where many of them had lived. But when its acquisition proved elusive, Juan said, the nation decided to buy the private land. The former site of an RV park, the property came with a buffalo named Barbie. Robert Allison, 60, cares for the animal and maintains the grounds. Muriel Segundo, director of the nation's enrollment program, said tribal leaders are working to put the land in trust with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, a designation that would afford it the same federal protection as the reservation. She said the land purchase benefits the reservation as well as the Hia- Ced O'odham, because it serves to expand reservation boundaries while providing a home for the smaller tribe, which then can take advantage of all the benefits afforded members of the Tohono O'dham Nation. "Then the nation will recognize that as the home of the Hia-Ced O'odham people," Segundo said, adding that she admires the persistence of Hia-Ced O'odham who lobbied tribal leaders hard for recognition. Land long overdue Lorraine Marquez Eiler, who leads the nonprofit Hia-Ced O'odham Alliance in Ajo, said the nearby land that one day will be home to her people is long overdue. She was glad to see the recent land purchase materialize, Eiler said, but she still wonders if the nation indeed will follow through on legislation it passed in the '80s to grant the smaller tribe the political powers of a 12th district. If history is any indication, she said, the Hia-Ced O'odham are certain to meet resistance. The Tohono O'odham reservation, which is about the size of Connecticut, covers 2.8 million acres and is divided into 11 districts with a total tribal enrollment of about 29,000 members. Each district elects its own leaders and governs itself, but also shares in the nation's casino profits and federal funding. Eiler is on the council of the San Lucy District, formerly the Gila Bend Indian Reservation in southwestern Maricopa County. Over the years, the district has enrolled many Hia-Ced O'odham who settled in the surrounding area. The Hia-Ced O'odham, she noted, long ago abandoned the idea of fighting for federal recognition as a distinct tribe. "After we were told that we needed a lot of money and expensive lawyers, we pretty much gave up." Eiler remembers the rumblings of discontent among her people - well before the '70s - as a number of Hia-Ced O'odham migrated to the Ajo and Gila Bend areas for mining and farming jobs. Darby Wells was the group's last settlement in the Ajo area, and former residents say most of the Hia- Ced had left by the '80s because contaminated water made it unlivable. The landmark, which is just south of Ajo off Arizona 86, is now a federally protected cultural site. Eiler said many Hia-Ced O'odham yearn to take ownership of Darby Wells, where the crumbling walls of an old adobe and cinder block home still cling to the past. The village last was home to about a dozen families, she said, and relatives and friends frequently stayed there. Through time, it has served as a place where roving Hia-Ced O'odham members could come back to renew family and spiritual ties, Eiler said, adding that a nearby cemetery also holds special significance. "We have more than five generations of families interred there," she said. The alliance bought the 20-acre cemetery from the federal Bureau of Land Management in 1996, Eiler said, and the group continues to work toward acquiring or maintaining access to other cultural sites on federal land, including Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge and Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Dying landless The white wooden crosses that top the grave sites at Darby Wells cemetery, near the old village, speak to the many Hia-Ced O'odham who died landless: Mary Puffer, Dewey Ignacio Ortega, Anastasia Ortega. After the land purchase, Hia-Ced O'odham members converged on the property last year, blessed the land and rejoiced. Catherine Childs, a 55-year-old resident, said the celebration was tinged with sadness because many of her fellow Hia-Ced O'odham, at least 80, had passed away without seeing the home base. So long and bumpy has been the search for a Hia-Ced O'odham homeland that Childs, though expressing optimism, can't help but wonder if she will live long enough to see the new community take shape. Still, she's glad for the chance to "finally be recognized, get the help you need and have something we can call home." For Laura Manuel, the former councilwoman of the San Lucy District, the new property has brought tentative hope. "It makes me happy to know that the land is there, even though I might not get to live there," she said. "The way it is now, the only time that the Hia-Ced O'odham get to go home is when they die." Contact reporter Lourdes Medrano at 573-4347 or lmedrano@azstarnet.com. Copyright c. 1999-2005 AzStarNet, Arizona Daily Star and its wire services. --------- "RE: Another effort to keep Albuquerque Clinic open" --------- Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2005 17:18:47 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ALBUQUERQUE HEALTH CLINIC" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=5931 Another effort to keep health clinic open" Senator pushes for money, 17,000 people could go without care ALBUQUERQUE NM Native American Times February 3, 2005 An 11th-hour request from a New Mexico Senator could mean a reprieve for an Indian health care center scheduled to be closed in the spring. Senator Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., says he is pressing Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt to find money in his department's budget to make up the $5 million shortfall facing the Albuquerque Indian Health Center. Clinic staffers began issuing layoff notices after federal officials turned down a request by tribal members and New Mexico's congressional delegation to find money to keep the clinic open. Indian Health Service Director Charles Grim, a member of the Cherokee Nation, said the request "is not a viable option because of limited funds throughout our system to deliver health care services." Grim's letter prompted 40 layoff notices to go out to doctors, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory staff, clerical workers and others at the Albuquerque clinic. The letter also meant that the clinic would be forced to close its urgent care unit, which sees an estimated 100-120 Native American patients a day. Officials warn that means 17,000 urban Indians would lose access to healthcare. Bingaman says he has written to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, which is the agency that oversees IHS, asking that they try to find $5 million for the Albuquerque facility. "It is important for the Department of Health to understand and acknowledge that urban Indians throughout the country are falling through the cracks and that urban Indian clinics are being grossly under funded," Bingaman wrote. "For many years there has been a quiet migration of Indians from reservations to cities. In fact more Native Americans live in cities now, making it important that IHS programs cater to the part of Indian Country that extends beyond the borders to urban settings." Norman Ration, a member of the Navajo Nation who directs the National Indian Youth Council in Albuquerque and has fought to keep the clinic open, said about 17,000 patients don't have private insurance and will have to be absorbed elsewhere, probably by the University of New Mexico Hospital or Healthcare for the Homeless. "This is going to be a big crisis," Ration said. "How are we going to serve these people?" Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Navajos to proceed on Airplane Deal" --------- Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2005 08:51:48 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WORTH THE RISK" http://www.daily-times.com/artman/publish/article_16808.shtml Navajos to proceed on airplane deal deemed risky by state By The Associated Press February 4, 2005 ALBUQUERQUE (AP) - The Navajo Nation is proceeding with a proposed $34 million investment in an aircraft company that two state agencies have deemed risky. The proposal "still represents an excellent opportunity," said George Hardeen, spokesman for Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. The New Mexico Finance Authority and the state Economic Development Department has warned the tribe to proceed with caution before putting any money into the Utilicraft Aerospace Corp. project. The Finance Authority questioned the value of the company and the viability of its two reported customers, as well as the chief executive officer's $100 million severance package. Shirley is aware of the Finance Authority's report, Hardeen said Wednesday. Utilicraft, based in Lawrenceville, Ga., is building a twin-engine cargo airplane that has yet to be tested. The company plans to build an assembly factory at the Double Eagle II Airport on Albuquerque's west side and component factories on tribal lands. The Navajo Nation has said the deal could bring hundreds of high-paying jobs to the tribe's reservation, where unemployment is around 58 percent. The tribe's Economic Development Committee approved a motion Jan. 12 to invest the first $1.25 million from the tribe's business and industrial development fund. The money has yet to change hands, but the committee "is moving forward with the awareness that the nation has been cautioned to move slowly," Hardeen said. Copyright c. 2004 Farmington Daily Times, a Gannett Co., Inc. newspaper. --------- "RE: Native American Job Fair `05 February 25th" --------- Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 08:45:38 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NA JOB FAIR" http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=5920 Native American Job Fair `05 slated for February 25th Resumes accepted via e-mail TULSA OK February 1, 2005 In today's competitive world of attracting qualified talent to work in our nation's workforce, the Native American Times newspaper and the Native American Employment and Training Center are joining forces to co-host the Native American Job Fair 2005 at the Tulsa Sheraton Hotel from 9-4 pm, February 25th. "This free-to-the-public event is sure to draw a crowd with so many corporate and government recruiters in all fields of endeavor expected to showcase the many opportunities that exist in our fast-paced, growing economy," said Native Times publisher Liz Gray. If you are a Native American looking for a quality job or a student needing a little inspiration in picking your occupation, this event is designed for you in mind. An example of the recruiting companies attending the Job Fair and specifically looking for Native American applicants are as follows: Williams Company Bureau of Indian Affairs Federal Bureau of Investigation Tri-Mac Trucking First Data Seminole Tribe of Florida City of Tulsa Workforce of Oklahoma Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Hundreds of applicants are expected to come from the four-state area as they did in the last Native American Job Fair held in Tulsa. Tribal vans, school buses and carpools with qualified applicants of all ages who are looking to start a career or change their career are expected to attend. Even if you cannot attend the Job Fair, we can help! If you are a Native American applicant living out of state or cannot travel to attend the Job Fair, e-mail your resume to jobfair@nativetimes. com and we will distribute it to the attending companies for free! Please include your tribal affiliation with your e-mail. For more information, call 918-438-6548. Corporate America Benefits from Native American Tax Credit. With corporate America recovering from the recent economic downturn, the Native American Job Fair can help businesses stay competitive in a global economy by attracting the best and brightest in Indian country to attend the job fair. In addition to the high expectations of the Native talent pool is an added benefit for Oklahoma companies to take advantage of federal tax credits for Indian employees and their spouses. After extended work by the IRS and the Department of the Interior, the specific Oklahoma geographic boundaries related to special federal tax incentives associated with "former Indian reservations in Oklahoma" have been determined. These include all or part of 64 Oklahoma counties. Those incentives are an employment tax credit for employers of certain enrolled tribal members and their spouses who work within an Indian reservation, and an accelerated depreciation allowance for certain business property used within an Indian reservation. "Two years ago Congress had extended tax incentives and made some technical modifications, but the credit still has a limit of $4000 per employee," said Don Chambers, Principal Partner at Chambers and Jackson, C. P.A. Realizing the tax credits alone will not bring the kind of investment into Indian country, creating a skilled work force in the areas where employers are located is equally important. This year, organizers have enlisted the co-sponsorship of the Native American Employment and Training Center to assist in helping job fair attendees with hands on training throughout the day. "The Native American Employment and Training Center provides Tulsa youth with career opportunities, work experience, and cultural enrichment. Each student gains experience with career opportunities, work experience, and general advancements," said Director Dennis Dowell. Recently the center announced the opening of it's sister organization in New Mexico. With the two organizations and with essential tax credits, recruiters and job seekers alike will find what they are looking for at the Native American Job Fair. If you are interested in a booth at the Job Fair or want more information, call 1-918-438-6548. Where and when is it? The Native American Job Fair 2005 February 25, 2005 At the Tulsa Sheraton Hotel Located at 41st and Garnett (near Hwy. 169). Parking is fee and there is plenty of space for buses and vans. Sheraton Hotel phone number is 918-627-5000. Native American Times is Copyright c. 2004 Oklahoma Indian Times, Inc. --------- "RE: Bill calls for Lessons in Tribal History" --------- Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 08:45:38 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WASHINGTON STATE EDUCATION BILL" http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/snohomish/2002167134_eddige02n.html Bill calls for lessons in tribal history Olympia February 2, 2005 Legislation that would require Washington schools to incorporate the history of their region's Indian tribes into classroom instruction has been introduced by state Rep. John McCoy, D-Tulalip Reservation. House Bill 1495 would require tribal history to be taught by an instructor certified by a tribe's language and culture program or otherwise approved by the tribe. School districts would be encouraged to develop cultural exchanges with tribes, McCoy said. McCoy, who introduced similar legislation last year, said the bill would improve Indian students' connection to school and increase understanding of Native culture and history for all students. In the last session, McCoy's bill passed the House but not the Senate. Copyright c. 2005 The Seattle Times Company. --------- "RE: HOLSTER: The real Founding Fathers" --------- Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 08:38:51 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HOLSTER: REAL FOUNDING FATHERS" http://www.dailypennsylvanian.com/vnews/display.v/ART/41ff344f9500d Anna Holster: The real founding fathers Guest Opinion February 1, 2005 While the white male "founding fathers" are credited with the creation of the United States Constitution, historical study makes clear that the Constitution actually originated from Eastern American Indian tribes. The U.S. Constitution was taken almost verbatim from the Five Nations Constitution, in existence for hundreds of years prior to the arrival of Europeans. In the Colonial and Pre-Colonial Days, there existed no true form of democratic government anywhere in Europe, yet the documents of a number of Eastern tribes, as well as a number of tribes throughout the United States, exemplify a broad democratic tradition and the beliefs and actions of true democracy. However, rather than acknowledging the influence of the Iroquois tribe and the other Five Nations tribes, the founding fathers of our country, as well as a number of other historical figures, have attempted to claim that the development of the Constitution was both original ideas and ideas influenced by European societies. However, the Five Nations Constitution contains each of the fundamental tenets of democracy that later appeared in the United States Constitution, with the exception of the rights of women. Even though the U.S. Constitution was taken from the Five Nations Constitution, the tenets contained within have not been fully adhered to in both historical and contemporary times. For example, in the United States, the fundamental rights of men have historically only referred to those people the United States deems human in that time period. In effect, the fact that the true history of the Constitution is rarely mentioned or considered is another example of the profound ethnocentrism prevalent within the United States, where the only "true" history in the United States is that of white men. The role of minority groups in this country's founding have been largely overlooked or purposefully hidden in order to both accept credit for accomplishments of other groups and simultaneously ignore atrocities perpetuated against other groups, including the genocide of indigenous populations, the enslavement of African descendants, the internment of Japanese Americans, the forced labor of Chinese Americans who were forced to return home upon the completion of railroads, and most offensive of all, the denial of our history and our accomplishments. To ignore everything non-whites have contributed to the United States is to essentially negate our history and perpetuate a cycle wherein the United States education system in effect teaches lies and half-truths to the children of our country, who make up the future leaders. Copyright c. 1994-2005 The Daily Pennsylvanian. The Independent Student Newspaper of the University of Pennsylvania. --------- "RE: Teen Tribal Members denied entrance to Dance" --------- Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 08:45:38 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NARRAGENSETT STUDENTS REFUSED ADMISSION" http://www.turnto10.com/news/4149634/detail.html Teenage Tribal Members Denied Entrance To School Dance February 1, 2005 The Narragansett Indian tribal official Matthew Thomas claims 16 teenage tribal members were denied entrance into Chariho High School's winter ball Jan. 21 because of their skin color. School officials said the denial was because the group was more than an hour late and not honoring the dance's semi-formal dress code. Tribal and school officials plan a meeting over the incident. Copyright 2005 by turnto10.com. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: YELLOW BIRD: At stake - the survival of a Culture" --------- Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 08:45:38 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YELLOW BIRD: INDIAN ADOPTION" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.grandforks.com//dorreen_yellow_bird/10784044.htm DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: At stake - the survival of a culture February 1, 2005 Adoption is utterly life-changing for a child. It also upends the ordinary lives of the parents involved. The adoption process is complicated, but when it reaches across cultures, especially the cultures of Indian tribes, it can be a worst-case scenario. The 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act was instrumental in helping tribes hold their children within their communities. Keeping children with their Native families - no matter how humble the home - is keeping who we are alive. A recent news story shows how adoption's complications can reach across cultures. A non-Native couple in Hendricks, Minn., is in a heartwrenching struggle with the birth mother of a child whom they consider a part of their family. The adoption process wasn't done correctly, and the Native American birth mother is in the process of getting her son back. The Indian Child Welfare Act is the leverage the birth mother is using to recover her child. It isn't an unheard-of story. Several years ago, a teen, her family and the Standing Rock Lakota people were at odds over the future of the teen, who was a descendant of a famous leader named American Horse and heir to the rich culture of the American Horse clan. I was told that the case was resolved after years of legal struggles. The ruling, I understand, held that the teen could stay with her adoptive parents. But the trade-off was that she had to visit the Standing Rock reservation and her birth family and become acquainted with Indian culture. These cases came before courts because they fall under the authority of the Indian Child Welfare Act. Congress enacted the law because of the high number of Indian children taken from American Indian mothers and placed with non-Indians. "Before 1978, as many as 25 to 35 percent of the Indian children in certain states were removed from their homes and placed in non-Indian homes by state courts, welfare agencies and private adoption agencies," writes B.J. Jones. Jones directs Dakota Plains Legal Services at the UND School of Law and is the author of the American Bar Association legal manual, "The Indian Child Welfare Act Handbook." The children were not being placed with families that reflected their traditional values, the legislation indicated. I took part in an Indian Child Welfare Act adoption when I administered programs for the Confederated Tribes of Siletz in Salem, Ore. A 15-year-old had a child while in juvenile confinement. The baby was placed with a family who became attached to her. She was an unusually beautiful child with fair skin, big brown eyes and the smile of an angel. When the young teen was released, she wanted her child. Her grandmother, only 37 years old, wanted her grandchild, too. As an agency representative for the tribe, it was my role through the Indian Child Welfare Act to help the family reunite with the child. There were several "get acquainted" sessions with the child and her birth mother. I was required to attend each meeting. The child had lived with her foster parents since birth; she was taken right from the prison hospital to the waiting arms of this family. They loved her as their own. I could clearly see that. When the child walked into the room, she clung to her foster mother. I could almost feel the lump in the foster mother's throat as we introduced the child to her birth mother. The social workers and I tried to assume the role of casual visitors. Even though the child realized something was happening and was scared, I had this strange feeling that she knew her birth mother. I wondered if there was some kind of innate or inborn sense the child had - she seemed to know. She was reunited with her birth mother, with the grandmother standing by, after many months of getting acquainted. The last I heard, they were doing well. But it was difficult. The parents who had let the child into their family and hearts grieved as if their child had died. My heart broke for them. I knew the Indian Child Welfare Act was a new law. I testified on behalf of the proposed legislation. But it wasn't until I actually worked on a case that I really understood. As Jones, the Dakota Plains Legal Services director, explains, "A number of children were taken from their homes simply because a paternalistic state system failed to recognize traditional Indian culture and expected Indian families to conform to non-Indian ways." The law was meant to keep the steady stream of Indian children from leaving their homes and culture. Since the law was enacted in 1978, 250 state and federal court decisions have been rendered, Jones said. Before 1978 in Minnesota, "an average of one of every four Indian children younger than age 1 was removed from his or her Indian home and adopted by a non-Indian couple - a number of them just because the system didn't understand Indian culture," he said. It seems simple to me. A culture and nation cannot flourish if the youngest - the children - are removed from the community. ---- Dorreen Yellow Bird's column appears Tuesday and Saturday. Reach her at (701) 780-1228 or dyellowbird@gfherald.com Copyright c. 2005 Grand Forks Herald/Grand Forks, ND. --------- "RE: Memo to NCAA: Pembroke can have a Native Mascot" --------- Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 08:31:43 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PEMBROKE IS A NA SCHOOL" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.robesonian.com/articles/2005/02/02//editorials/editorial01.txt Opinion: Enough already February 2, 2005 Memo to the National Collegiate Athletic Association: It appears that political correctness has driven you to once again ask this question: Is it appropriate for The University of North Carolina at Pembroke to use an American Indian nickname and logo for its athletic teams? The short answer is obviously. But we will also give you a longer answer - the same one the university provided you two years ago after the subject first arose. If you want to anger a bunch of American Indians, then just require UNCP to drop its Braves nickname and logo. You see, the American Indians who live in and around Pembroke - the home of UNCP - are a proud people, and they love that university, which was established as Croatan Normal School in 1887 as a place where Indians could get educated. The university has evolved over the years, and it is now one of the most diverse universities in the country, but it still has more American Indians attending it than ever before. Its link to the Lumbee people remains undeniable and unbreakable. We understand that UNCP got caught up in a one-size-fits-all mentality in 2002, when the NCAA identified 31 universities and colleges that had mascots, nicknames and logos that could be considered controversial. At the time, UNCP and the other 30 institutions were required to explain their use of those symbols. UNCP officials did that - and now you are asking for more information. You want UNCP to gather information from the community to ensure that the use of the American Indian symbols are not offending the locals. That might be appropriate for the other 30 institutions, but at UNCP it's a waste of someone's time. Our suggestion is for you to dispatch an NCAA official down to Pembroke and situate him on a street corner and let him ask passersby whether or not UNCP's use of the American Indian symbols is appropriate. Be prepared for a lesson on Lumbee pride. We accept that there are symbols being used by some institutions that are offensive to American Indian, and they should be eliminated. You're intentions are good - even if your aim isn't exactly true. The use of the Braves nickname and a logo depicting an American Indian at UNCP is not only appropriate, but any other nickname and logo would be inappropriate. We just can't understand why, three years after it began, this discussion is still being had. Copyright c. 2005 The Robesonian. --------- "RE: Dr. Solomon D.K. Nalua'I: Why Akaka Bill is Wrong" --------- Date: Sunday, February 06, 2005 5:36 AM From: karaka@medscape.com [jankaraka@yahoo.co.nz] Subj: FW: repeating Mailing List: First_Nations_Skyvillage@smartgroups.com LABELING NATIVE HAWAIIANS AS "INDIGENOUS" by Dr. Sol Nalua'I The words INDIGENOUS and even SELF-DETERMINATION are terms used by the U.S. Federal Government to intentionally and wrongfully "Label" Hawaiians as an "Indigenous" native peoples of the United States within the SCOPE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS POWERS as stated in the Akaka Bill. ABORIGINAL: Being the first original inhabitants of a region (ie, Aboriginal stock of Hawaiians). INDIGENOUS: Born, raised or living as a native resident of a region, but not being the first original inhabitants (ie, Native Californian or Native New Yorker). The words INDIGENOUS and even SELF-DETERMINATION are terms used by the U.S. Federal Government to intentionally and wrongfully "Label" Hawaiians as an "Indigenous" native peoples of the United States within the SCOPE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS POWERS as stated in the Akaka Bill. This then places native Hawaiians into a specific racial classification that under the U.S. Constitution grants U.S. Congress plenary powers to legislate over the affairs of this racial group of "Indigenous" peoples, thus resolving the first two constitutional legal hurdles questioned under the Akaka Bill. Thereafter then, the next two major federal laws, the 1) 1920 Hawaiian Homes Commission Act and 2) 1959 Statehood Admissions Act can now be implemented and applied directly to govern and dictate everything that transpires with all the "Indigenous" native Hawaiians under the Akaka Bill, which must all be within the framework and consistant with Federal Law (ie, these two 1920 & 1959 Acts). This now establishes the two levals of government controls written into the Akaka Bill 1) FIRST LEVEL OF FEDERAL CONTROL granted to the Secretary of Interior over the native Hawaiian governing entity (a corporation rather than a Nation), its land base (DHHL), organic document (constitution) and citizens roll (50% Koko), ALL of which must be "Certified" and "Approved" at the "Discretion" of the Secretary of Interior before anything can proceed forward under the Akaka Bill. The U.S. Federal Government further, delegates "BROAD AUTHORITY" to the State of Hawaii to administer over these two Federal Laws, thus establishing the 2) SECOND LEVEL OF DIRECT SUPERVISORY CONTROL granted to the State of Hawaii (ie, Governor and Legislature) over the daily affairs of the native Hawaiian governing entity, land base (DHHL), organic document (constitution) and citizens roll (50% Koko legislated by U.S. Congress in the 1920 HHC Act, which only congress can amend and change, NOT any Hawaiian "INPUT" into the Akaka Bill). It is intuitively obvious that this is why the Hawaii Congressional Delegation, Governor, State Legislature and "Politically Connected" business interests are so strongly in favor of going out of their way pushing to pass the Akaka Bill, for this will grant them unquestionable federally mandated PERMANENT LEGAL CONTROL over the 1.8 million acres of CEDED LANDS that the unwary Hawaiians will no longer have any further recourse to legally challenge, and which they hope will also translate against the Independent Sovereignty Movement as well. This is their "Big Scheme" that all this political manipulation and maneuvering only serves to achieve the U.S. Federal Governments ultimate goal to "Permanently" suppress and subjugate unwary Hawaiians (as they did Indians and Eskimos) into that degrading and demoralizing TRUST RELATIONSHIP (meaning native Hawaiians are a "Welfare" class of "Indigenous" people not capable of caring for themselves) as DOMESTIC DEPENDENT WARDS in a WELFARE STATE (their native Hawaiian governing entity) on a defined land base (DHHL Lands) which will later become their "Assigned" lands a TRIBAL RESERVATIONS, all under the 1ST LEVEL Secretary of the Interior Control and their 2ND LEVEL Direct Supervisory State of Hawaii Control, thus placing ALL Hawaiian "Participants" to the Akaka Bill in a lower social class that will be LESS THAN STATUS QUO, and further degrades their native Hawaiian governing entity below the level of Nation within a Nation, down to a county level of State within a State. All the while, our "Bewildered" Hawaiian leadership of our Lt. Governor, our legislators with Koko, OHA, DHHL, SCHHA/HUI, Civic Clubs, Alulike, Papaolalohahi and other unwary Hawaiian supporters of the Akaka Bill are more interested in protecting their own Welfare Dependent Ward Status as their "Security Blanket" by Selling-Out our Independent Hawaiian Nation Down-The-River, in exchange for the "False Security" of their welfare handouts that they all BEG for under the disguise of "FEDERAL ENTITLEMENTS" (knowing Congress created and can dissolve the 1920 HHC Act, and the State created and can also dissolve OHA anytime they want), rather than to support the Cause and defend the fight our Ancestors started over 100 years ago, with Queen Lili'uokalani's two formal PROTESTS of 1893 and 1897 along with the "Petition Against Annexation" signed by over 38,000 (95%) of our Staunchly Patriotic Kupuna, in order to preserve and protect our National Rights under International Law, to restore our Independent Hawaiian Nation from the unlawful U.S. Military Occupation being Administered by their Civillian Arm Puppet Governments, the Republic of Hawaii, Territory of Hawaii and State of Hawaii. These so called "Hawaiian Leaders" have purposely instigated and implanted this "False Security" and "False Hope" among our unwary Hawaiian community, further reacting like Little Pawns ignorantly stringing along with the political power brokers, begging like Welfare Dogs for their "Entitlements", in order to benefit their own personal interests and political agendas, thus becoming a Spineless Disgrace to the Aboriginal Stock of Hawaiians who are Loyal Patriotic Nationals. "I lalo e hana ka lima...A'ole i luna e lawe ka lima" (Turn your hands down and WORK for your living...Don't turn your hands up and BEG for Welfare Handouts). KANAKA HAWAII MAOLI...Know your Adversaries and enemies...and take up the Cause of your Ancestors who were Loyal Nationalists of their Beloved Country and Mother Land, as stated in the song Mele Ai Pohaku (Kaulana Na Pua) "Maluna o ka pepa o ka enemi" ... Don't accept the evil document of the Enemy in the form of Federal Recognition under the Akaka Bill, for it is surely EVIL. The 1993 Apology Law apologizes for the lawless occupation disguised as an "Overthrow", but the Akaka Bill will LEGITIMIZE that so called "Overthrow". Know this Kanaka Hawaii Maoli...know this...it was NOT an "Overthrow" under International Law of Nations, but rather an Unlawful Belligerent U.S. Military Occupation and can only be legally resolved in the International Courts of Justice, and NOT by any domestic Municipal Law of the United States. They are the Criminals, and you cannot allow the Thief to become Judge and Jury in their own court case. ABORIGINAL Stock of Hawaiians, don't allow this to happen to yourselves and all your future descendants. Open your Maka to the HEWA being committed against you and your 'Ohana, repeating history all over again. Instead, Rally in Unity around the Cause of our Beloved Independent Hawaiian Nation, and its modern day Independent Sovereignty Movement, just as all your Ancestors and Kupuna did so fervently and impassionately in the not too long ago past. "Hapai oe, hapai au, i luna kakou" (I lift You, you lift Me, Together We Ascend) Ku Like Kakou, Dr. Sol Nalua'I, M.D. November 4, 2003 ------------------------------------------------- Dr. Solomon D.K. Nalua'I, M.D., D.D. is a retired physician who holds a PhD in Theology and Diploma from the Peoples' Law School; served as an Architectual Drafting Engineer, U.S. Air Force; Faculty Bio-Research Scientist, University of Utah; Utah State Health Inspector; Health Planning Consultant and Family Business Administrator. Dr. Nalua'I is an elected delegate to the Native Hawaiian Convention, serves as Chair of its Government Committee and on the Executive Council. Published by permission of the Author(R) --------- "RE: Editorial: Premier's Conference on Programmes" --------- Date: Saturday, February 05, 2005 1:16 PM From: frostyca2000 [frostyca2000@yahoo.com] Subj: Editorial Mailing List: Frostys AmerIndian Editorial Straight Talk About the Premier's Conference on Programmes and Services to Indians By: Andrew Webster, Guest Editorialist, The Eastern Door It is unclear, from the treaties or the Constitution, whether the funding and administration of Indian programmes and services (P&S) are federal or provincial jurisdiction. The federal Crown provides a minimum level of P & S - mainly on reserves - on "moral" and "humanitarian" grounds rather then obligation. At the 1964 Dominion-Provincial Indian Affairs Conference, the Crown tabled a list of moral, historical, and legal reasons why the provinces should take over P & S administration with declining federal contributions. This was rejected, and four decades of dispute followed. First Nations people - and some would argue all Aborigianl peoples - are in effect "fiscal lepers" or "fiscal footballs" whom neither order of constitutional government wants responsibility for. The on- reserve Indian population - and perhaps those people who have recently left reserves - are probably the most deserving of the "financial pariah" terminology. It seems inconsistent with a modern, western, industrial democracy that teh welfare of hundreds of thousands of people is a matter of intergovernmental avoidance. Few people in the general population are aware of this financial dispute; most imagine that the federal Crown is entirely responsible. The Crown actually feels that provincial services should extend onto reserves under the cost-sharing arrangements that apply to the general population. Disagreement on this translates into under- funding and service gaps. Neither government feels obligated to invest the sums needed to alleviate poor conditions on reserves. The Crown routinely tries to be rid of, or to limit, Indian P & S costs; e.g., Health Canada is "offloading" large numbers of chronic patients onto provincial primary care facilities. Opposition to offloading was the dominant issue for First Nations (FN) for four decades. The Crown could, if it wished, exercise its constitutional right to enact Indian-specific P & S legislation. This could solve accountability problems and allow for fast-tracking the recognition of FN jurisdiction in these areas. Yet in 1964, Cabinet decided that P & S legislation would suggest a legal responsibility and raise expenditures. The Crown's court defence assumes that the power to adopt a law does not translate into a positive duty to use that power: the Crown is not responsible for inaction on its part to assist Indians, no matter how desperate their situation becomes. Thus, teh "moral grounds" rationale is inconsistent with fact and at odds with the protective duties of a fiduciary. The first premiers' conference on Aborigianl issues since 1964 is anticipated to occur in late 2005 or early 2006. The September 2004 Premiers' Health Conference may suggest what to expect. In such high- stakes negotiations the provinces are willing to hurt the Federal Government to advance their aims. Yet despite common ground with the provinces, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) declined to negotiate any issue including the federal financial offer for additional First Nations health funding. It fell silent when fiscal responsibility was raised by premiers. Later the Conservatives demanded legislation for the main Indian P & S areas. This would occupy provincial ground and assume financial responsibilities. Despite potential for healing fiscal wounds with the provinces, and appeal to FNs insistent on federal acknowledgement of responsibility, the AFN is disregarding this development. Its interests seem to be jurisdiction, immediate cash in some programme areas, and escalator-driven funding. Now some of its regional constituents question this dismissiveness and disinclination to confront the Liberals. It remains to be seen whether they will compel the AFN to work with the provinces to press the Crown, under the television cameras, on responsibility. The combined legislation responsibility issue has the potential to animate the next conference, if not polarise First Nations along party lines. The present Liberal Government has rediscovered the perceived necessity, first realised by the Pearson Liberal Government in the early 1960s, that the provinces must be coerced into programmes and services financial partnerships. Thus, at present there is every reason to assume that, at the forth-coming conference, the Prime Minister will table significant new investments in targeted programme areas and challenge the provinces to follow suit. It is unlikely that the 1964 proposal for the provincial take-over of federal services will be repeated. In retrospect, that proposal ranks with the old Indian Policy in terms of historical folly in Canadian Indian affairs. The federal approach will doubtless be more subtle although oriented towards the same ultimate objective. If First Nations again downplay the responsibility issue, some people will ask whose side the AFN is on. If it is left to the Tories to elevate the issue, then Liberals at all levels will have a bigger problem. At the next Premiers' meeting on Aboriginal issues, one cannot expect the provinces to argue against the absurdity of the fiscal status quo unless First Nations show some interest. They must lead this battle, if they still care. If they miss the opportunity to resolve the responsibility matter, we will continue on our march towards court decisions that have potentially catastrophic impacts on intergovernmental fiscal relations. The Crown's willingness to fight legal challenges, on the basis that it has no responsibility and cannot be compelled to legislatively acknowledge a responsibility, is playing a dangerous game. Federal officials wait for a "miracle" court decision that someday throws billions in Indian expenditures onto the provinces. This is a most questionable basis for national public policy. The fiscal shocks could well ignite a political firestorm. The status quo for dollar transfers and taxation powers would likely require adjustment. The Constitution might need reopening. First Nations might revolt. There is no favourable scenario if the federal government won its "miracle." Thus, the forthcoming federal-provincial conference on Aborigianl issues will be an historical turning point judged on whether or not it resolves the responsibility question. Copyright c. 2005 Eastern Door - Kahnawake Mohawk Territory. --------- "RE: Akwesasne to negotiate Quebec Land Claims" --------- Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 08:45:38 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MCA ENTERS LAND CLAIM NEGOTIATIONS" http://www.easterndoor.com/vol14/2.html Akwesasne To Negotiate Quebec Land Claims By: Shannon Burns, Indian Time Newspaper Eastern Door Volume 14 No. 2 January 28, 2005 The Mohawk Council of Akwesasne and federal government of Canada announced yesterday they'd be working cooperatively toward reaching a negotiated settlement in regard to the Mohawks claim of 20,000 acres of land in the Province of Quebec. The land in question lies in the township of Dundee, along Quebec's western border, and just east of the Mohawk reservation of Akwesasne. "The Government of Canada welcomes the opportunity to work with the MCA toward a fair and just settlement that would bring final closure to the outstanding ussues raised through this claim," said the Honourable Andy Scott, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. "A settlement will create many new opportunities for the future that will benefit the people of Akwesasne and local economies. By working together through these negotiations, Canada and the MCA also have an opportunity to renew and strengthen their relationship." The land in question was originally part of the Akwesasne reservation. In the early 1800s portions were leased out to non-Natives, sometimes with the assistance of the Crown, and sometimes directly through Akwesasne Chiefs. As those leases expired, Mohawks demanded the land be returned to them, as no agreement to surrender the land had taken place. Due to the land disputes that resulted, the situation was turned over to the federal Commission of Inquiry in 1887 and in 1888, the Superintendent of general Indian Affairs came to Akwesasne and suggested the Mohawks give up the Dundee (or Tsikaristisere, as its referred to by the Mohawks) land in exchange for $50,000. An alleged surrender was signed on February 16, 1888, but the Mohawks of Akwesasne have insisted that their intention was, and always had been, to regain the leased lands. The MCA began negotiations to regain the lands in 1988 on the grounds that inadequate compensation ($50,000) had been given to the Mohawks in 1888. However, those negotiations fell apart in the mid-90s. Changes in Canadian law became the basis for the MCA's latest allegations against the Canadian government regarding the Dundee claim. In response, Canada conducted a legal review of the case and has now agreed to negotiate as a result of outstanding ussdues regarding the alleged invalid surrender of 1888, the alleged inadequate compensation and the alleged invalid leases. "The Mohawk Council of Akwesasne looks forward to productive negotiations and a timely settlement of our Tsikaristisere land claim," said MCA Grand Chief Angela Wahienhawi Barnes. "We beleve that negotiation of this claim can produce the best resolution of Mohawk issues for our people now and for the future." At a press conference held yesterday afternoon, Barnes and a representative of the Canadian government insisted that the interests of the third party would be protected and that in the long run, land would be returned to Akwesasne only on a willing buyer/willing seller basis. Negotiations between the Government of Canada and the MCA are expected to begin in the next few weeks. Their first step will be to establish a protocol which will guide the negotiation process. The MCA also has plans to form committees devised of community members, which will give the other two councils, the Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, a voice. Akwesasne's U.S. land claim, currently in settlement negotiations, includes all three councils as plaintiffs, but due to the historical events regarding the Dundee land, negotiations will take place between the MCA and Canadian government only. Copyright c. 2005 Eastern Door - Kahnawake Mohawk Territory. --------- "RE: Makah Nation says Fish Catch won't hurt others" --------- Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 08:31:43 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MAKAH FISH CATCH" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/sited/story/srhtml/184903 Makah Tribe defends its larger-than-expected chinook salmon catch; state officials worried by RAUL VASQUEZ AND DARRICK MENEKEN February 3, 2005 NEAH BAY - Makah officials confirmed Wednesday that tribal fishers caught about 20,000 chinook salmon during the tribe's winter treaty troll fishery, substantially more than they had predicted last spring. They also said their larger-than-expected catch will have "very little impact" on future fishing on the North Olympic Peninsula. Tribal officials were reacting to a report in which state Department of Fish and Wildlife authorities expressed concern that the tribe had over- fished wild chinook salmon - a threatened species - which might in turn produce negative consequences for neighboring commercial, sport and tribal fisheries during the 2005-06 season. Fish and Wildlife public affairs officer Doug Williams said late Wednesday afternoon that the tribe caught about 18,500 chinook. The winter treaty troll fishery off Cape Flattery is monitored under a fall-to-spring season - not by quota - but harvest targets are still set. 1,600 take was expected Williams said tribal fishers were only supposed to take about 1,600 chinook, correcting an early report of 500. When asked how such a large over-catch of chinook salmon happened, Williams responded: "That would be a good question for the tribe." Dave Sones, vice chairman for the tribe, denied that the Makah fished irresponsibly. "This will have no effect on other people's fisheries," Sones told Peninsula Daily News on Wednesday afternoon after taking part in a conference call with Fish and Wildlife officials. "The chinook salmon we've caught this season represents a tiny percentage that exist in our fisheries. "If we thought that we'd be impacting anyone else's fisheries, we would have reduced the number of fish we had been catching long ago." Sones said the Makah tribe is now considering pulling its lines out of the water. "We've had an exceptionally good fishing season," he said. "Closing the fishing season isn't going to have a significant impact on our fishers." Makah Tribal Chairman Ben Johnson also defended the fishing practices, saying the tribe keeps track of every fish caught. He said the tribe would not intentionally cut into other anglers' take. Johnson also lashed out at Fish and Wildlife officials. "What they've done is irresponsible and devastating to our summer tourist season," Johnson said. Copyright c. Peninsula Daily News 2004 Horvitz Newspapers, Inc. --------- "RE: Connecting with First Nations" --------- Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 08:31:43 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="EMPLOYMENT PROBLEM RESOLOUTION" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.kenoradailyminerandnews.com/?id=140790&disp=en&FrameSize=&end Connecting with First Nations key to Canada's employment problems If Canadians want an effective labour force, they will either have to connect effectively with First Nations or bring in thousands of immigrants, says consultant Gray Poehnell. By Mike Aiken Miner and News February 1, 2005 If Canadians want an effective labour force, they will either have to connect effectively with First Nations or bring in thousands of immigrants, says consultant Gray Poehnell. Speaking before a workshop Monday morning at the Day's Inn, the Vancouver-based expert compared the problems of AIDS and poverty of the B. C. city's downtown east side with parts of Africa. When trying to help those struggling with homelessness or addictions re- enter the workforce, he emphasized the need to understand their environment, noting many don't have positive experiences with education or work experience. The result is that they don't have a clear idea of their skills and abilities, much less a career path. "We need to bring something meaningful to them for them to talk about," he told his audience, which was comprised of aboriginal career counsellors from across Northwestern Ontario. Organizer Shirley Kelly said staff at Shooniyaa Wa Biitong deal with about 500 clients, including about 100 youth, who she felt would benefit from the Guiding Circles approach outlined to her peers by Poehnell. Rather than focus on the mainstream approach of the rugged individual making their way in a secular business world, the alternate view presented during the workshop detailed a community-based view that recognized the importance of spirituality and cultural factors. Poehnell noted this method is also being used in aboriginal communities as distant as Australia and New Zealand, as well as European countries with large African immigrant populations, who also relate well to the shift in emphasis. Guidance counsellor Marilyn Sinclair from St. Thomas Aquinas High School agreed with the need for a different approach. "We don't all fit into the mainstream these days," she said. Women re-entering the workforce, employees who have been downsized to lower-level jobs, youth and streetpeople can also fit into this category, said Poehnell. With high birth rates among First Nations, labour statistics predict half of Saskatchewan's eligible workers may soon be of aboriginal descent, he continued, highlighting the need for better results from recruiting drives by major employers. In Kenora, Weyerhaeuser is