_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 13, ISSUE 016 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 April 16, 2005 Pomo chidodapuk/flowers moon Mvskogee Tasahcee-rakko/big spring moon Blackfeet matsiyikkapisaii'somm/frog moon +-------------------------------------------------------+ | Much more happens in Indian Country than is reported | | in this weekly newsletter. For daily updates & events | | go to http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm | +-------------------------------------------------------+ Otapi'sin Atsinikiisinaakssin -- Blackfeet -- News for All the People Ni-mah-mi-kwa-zoo-min -- Ojibwe -- We Are Talking About Ourselves Aunchemokauhettittea -- Naragansett -- Let Us Share News Kanoheda Aniyvwiya -- Cherokee -- Journal of the People O Es'te Opunvk'vmucvse -- Creek -- People's New News O o O Acimowin -- Plains Cree -- Story or Account O o O Tlaixmatiliztli -- Nahuatl -- News O o o o o O Agnutmaqan -- Listuguj Mi'kmaq -- News O o O Sho-da-ku-ye -- Teehahnahmah -- Talking Birchbark O o O Un Chota -- Susquehannic Seneca -- The People Speak O Ha-Sah-Sliltha -- Ditidaht Nation -- News of the People Ximopanolti tehuatzin, inin Mexika tlahtolli -- Nahuatl -- For you we offer these words It-hah-pe-hah Ah-num pah-le -- Chickasaw -- Together We Are Talking Dineh jii' adah' ho'nil'e'gii ba' ha' neh -- Navajo Nation -- What's Happening among The People News Okla Humma Holisso Nowat Anya -- Choctaw -- People(s) Red Newspaper Hi'a chu ah gaa -- Pima -- The stories or the talk of the People 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; Iron Natives Mailing List: UUCP email IMPORTANT!! ----------- In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, all material appearing in this newsletter is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for educational purposes. <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters who share our Spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the Red Road. ++ It may be subscribed to via email by sending a request from your own internet addressable account to gars@speakeasy.org ++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org <================<<<< >>>>================> +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + | As historian Patricia Nelson | | Once a language is lost, it is | | Limerick summarized in "The | | gone forever | | Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken | | * Of the 300 original Native | | Past of the American West... | | languages in North America, | | "Set the blood quantum at | | only 175 exist today. | | one-quarter, hold to it as a | | * 125 of these are no longer | | rigid definition of Indians, | | learned by children. | | let intermarriage proceed as | | * 55 are spoken by 1 to 6 elders;| | it had for centuries, and | | when they die, their language | | eventually Indians will be | | will disappear. | | defined out of existence." | | * Without action, only 20 | | "When that happens, the federal | | languages will survive the next| | government will be freed of | | 50 years. | | its persistent 'Indian problem.'"| | Source: Indigenous Language | +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ | Institute | |http://www.indigenous-language.org| This issue's Elder Quote: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + ======================== "Our stories teach us that we must always work for a time when there will be no evil, no racial prejudice, no pollution ... a time when spiritual, physical, mental and social values are interconnected to form a complete circle." __ Salish Culture Committee +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! There are several articles in this issue that should not be here, but sadly are. Each is about how children - native children - our children - are being disadvantaged and lost. It would be sad and a source of anger if we could simply blame all this on the dominant society, but we cannot. I am asking each of you to read about how we are losing the precious gifts and search your heart for ways we can end this downward spiral. Begin with the first piece in this issue, "Crisis of Indian Children Intensifies", and understand the tragedy of children who are being raised by grandparents, uncles, and others because they have been abandoned by parents who cannot or will not raise them. Parents who should be guiding these kids are too sick, addicted, or incarcerated and have left them for others to raise. Throughout Indian Country we are seeing this breakdown of families. With each generation the crisis grows, and the resultant angry, lost souls this creates are survivors and little more. This is part of the sad legacy -- abandoned kids who themselves grow up so damaged that they repeat their own nightmare -- leaving their own children for relatives, or worse, strangers or the state to raise. In "GAO calls for better State Data in ICWA Cases" we find the General Accounting Office has reported to congress that the states are not providing the data required to fulfill ICWA guidelines. The purpose of ICWA is cited: "ICWA created important protections to prevent state child welfare agencies and courts from inappropriately separating American Indian children from their families ..." Given the facts cited in the first article you have to wonder why the GAO or anyone else cares whether children remain in Indian homes. The abandonment of our children is repeated like a pathetic litany. Then later we find Maine is now requiring schools to teach Indian history. There has been some resistance by the schools. My only hope is the treatment of our children doesn't become the tribal history being taught. As surely as we are our childrens' future, our children are our future. Fix this broken chain before we all wake up and discover we are all abandoned. Dohiyi Ani Oginalii , , Gary Smith (*,*) wotanging@bellsouth.net P. O. Box 672168 (`-') gars@nanews.org Marietta, GA 30006, U.S.A. ===w=w=== http://www.nanews.org ----------- News of the people featured in this issue ----------- - Crisis of Indian Children - Southwestern Tribes meeting Intensifies on Health Issues - GAO calls for better State Data - Cobell presented with in ICWA Cases National Leadership Award - BIA partnership - GOLTZ: Tribal Flags to tackle Teen Suicide at the Montana Capitol - Supreme Court to weigh appeal - Letter from Red Lake of Trust Lawsuit Urban Committee - Swimmer explains - MARK AMES: Red Lake Whitewash 'Sovereignty' Quote - Editorial: Ownership key - Fallout from Supreme Court for Native Americans ruling on Oneida - Editorial: Cuts in BIA Budget - Pipeline Firms get great deals 'unacceptable' on Indian Lands - NICK JANS: Red Lake: - Tribe wins in dispute A tragedy of denial at Snoqualmie Falls - JODI RAVE: - Tribe files Claim to take back Indian Education Specialist Chunk of Island - HARJO: Characteristics of - Rosebud Tribal Members the non-Indian Indians speak out against Hog Farm - Hydro Company accused of - CRST: A Water crisis looms paying off First Nation - Senate hears about water problems - Company can dip in New Mexico into Reserve's Bank Account - Bill now includes Landless, - Appeals Court enters battle Unrecognized Tribes over 'Redskins' Names - Maine Public Schools - Blackfeet criticize BIA, must teach about Tribes Feds on Law Enforcement - USDA Offers Tribal, - Judge rejects request Pacific Scholarships to release FBI Documents - Schools fail - Native Prisoner to meet Indians' needs -- Human Rights Commission - Utilizing Song and Film hears of alleged abuses to teach Hopi Language -- Two Penpal Requests - Educators work to teach - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days Lakota Language to Youth - Rustywire: - Expertise, Funds limit Baseball and Night Creatures Tribal Lands' Energy push - Rustywire Poem: Born in the Snow --------- "RE: Crisis of Indian Children Intensifies" --------- Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2005 08:28:14 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="INDIAN CHILDREN IN CRISIS" http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/05/national/05native.html?oref=login Crisis of Indian Children Intensifies as Families Fail By SARAH KERSHAW April 5, 2005 LUMMI INDIAN RESERVATION, Wash., March 29 - The very full house on Gumel Place was steeped in the usual loud weekend chaos when 14-year-old Cecilia Morris burst through the door. "Hey," she said. "Is Mom in jail?" No, said her uncle, Jasper Cladoosby, but her mother had gone back into drug treatment. Her father is the one in prison. Mr. Cladoosby, 27, who is raising four of his own children along with Cecilia and two of her sisters, is one of possibly hundreds of uncles, aunts, grandparents and others caring for children whose parents are unable to raise them because of dire poverty, alcoholism and epidemic drug abuse on this reservation on Bellingham Bay in Northwest Washington. Cecilia's four remaining siblings are being cared for by other relatives. "Their parents basically left them last summer," said Mr. Cladoosby, who works as a part-time crabber and mechanic but relies mostly on food stamps and his wife's salary and tips as a dealer at the new Lummi casino to care for his children and nieces. "It's pretty much overwhelming." Tribal officials here estimate that fewer than half of the 1,500 children on the reservation are living with a parent full time. A breakdown of the American Indian family, mirrored throughout reservations across the country, has been building for generations but is now growing worse, tribal and outside experts say. The crisis gained new attention this month after a troubled youth went on a shooting rampage on the Red Lake reservation in northern Minnesota. The broken family of the teenager, Jeff Weise, 16, who the police say killed nine people and then himself, is typical among Indians. With his father dead and his mother disabled by a drunken-driving accident, he was staying with his grandmother on the reservation, after living with his mother, before her accident, in Minneapolis. "The breakdown is huge," said Danita Washington, coordinator of Lummi's drug abuse prevention program, who is caring for three nieces and a nephew because her sister is addicted to heroin. "We're trying to find a solution." Lummi tribal officials say their roster shows that 11 percent of the children on the reservation have been placed in foster care or with relatives receiving foster care payments. Statewide, about 8 percent of Indian children are in foster care, Washington officials say. But like national statistics, those numbers tell only a sliver of the story. Even though tribes have made great strides over the last two decades in keeping children from troubled homes, a cascade of statistics paints a bleak picture of the roughly 850,000 Indian and Alaska Native youths, about half of them living on Indian reservations, according to the Census Bureau. Compared with whites and with other minorities, Indians have extremely high teenage suicide rates, are more likely to get into fights at school and carry weapons to school, and have high rates of substance abuse, several recent reports show. "It's not so much the idea of a traditional mother and father, but the concept of family, and the idea of supportive, safe and nurturing family is very important," said Dr. Jon T. Perez, director of the division of behavioral health for the Indian Health Service, the primary government agency responsible for providing health care to more than 560 federally recognized tribes. "And when you have generations of people for whom that has not been the case, it can be problematic." According to the latest federal statistics, nearly 10,000 Indian and Alaska Native children, or about 1.2 percent, are in foster care, living with relatives or others. (Indians and Alaska Natives make up 1.5 percent of the nation's population. ) The federal data, from the Department of Health and Human Services, show that about 1.8 percent of black children and about 0.5 percent of white children are in foster care. Terry L. Cross, executive director of the National Indian Child Welfare Association, based in Portland, Ore., said that at least 25,000 Indians under the age of 18, or 3 percent, were living in foster care or with relatives, although he acknowledged that his surveys, which do not include Alaska Native children, probably failed to take into account many more informal living arrangements. "I think Native Americans aren't really on anybody's radar," said Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, based in Alexandria, Va. "When people write federal legislation, they keep leaving the tribes out." While the shuttling of children between relatives is typical in inner cities and poor rural areas - and much public attention has been paid to the large numbers of black and other minority children in foster care - the crisis is growing more acute on the many isolated Indian reservations, several experts said. "Basic human needs are in very short supply," said Esther Wattenberg, professor of social work and an associate at the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs at the University of Minnesota. "That is, food, shelter, income and a sense of having access and availability to services." As public assistance benefits have dried up under time limits for federal welfare payments, Professor Wattenberg said, Indians and their children who were living in cities have begun to return in significant numbers to their reservations. There, they may find space on a relative's couch and add more families to the roster of the desperately poor. Many experts say the crisis for Indian children stems not so much from living without their parents - the role of the extended family in child rearing is crucial in Indian culture - but from a lack of mental health services and recreation on reservations, some so destitute that there is no swimming pool or basketball court, let alone a counselor. Money for health and mental health care on reservations, which comes mostly from the federal government but is increasingly supplemented by gambling revenues, falls far short of the demand, many experts say. Here at Lummi Nation, the Silver Reef Casino opened in 2002 but has only recently begun to yield steady profits. The tribe has invested $2 million in a new home, scheduled to open April 13, that can hold 28 troubled children; a "safe home" for youths; and more counselors. Now, there are seven counselors available for the 1,500 children, well above the national average for Indians. But tribal officials acknowledge that Lummi families still bear the brunt of caring for neglected children and emotionally supporting them. Ms. Washington, the Lummi drug prevention program coordinator who is caring for her sister Geraldine's four children, runs a tight ship. The children, ages 9 to 16, sleep in the front room of Ms. Washington's three- bedroom home, along with another sister of Ms. Washington and the sister's teenage son. Their clothes are kept in makeshift dressers in the garage. Ms. Washington, 49, who is divorced but still lives with her ex-husband, has two children of her own, a son, 20, and a daughter, 24, who live with her. Her daughter is helping raise her boyfriend's 2-year-old daughter, who stays at the house every other weekend. Geraldine Washington's children were placed with her sister by the Lummi Tribal Court, which works with the state to arrange foster care; the state pays Danita Washington $647 monthly for their care. On a recent Sunday, Geraldine, 40, who is living with a relative, came to visit. Her children had not seen her in two weeks. Sitting on her sister's couch, she said she quit using heroin on Oct. 14, her daughter Hannah's 11th birthday. But Danita said she doubted that Geraldine was clean. "Nobody can really get you cleaned up," Geraldine said, as Hannah fiddled with her mother's rings and watch and grasped her hand tightly. "I was tired of going to jail. This round is really different. I have had enough." Danita Washington said she worried most about her nephew, Justin Zollner, who was to turn 16 on Wednesday, and who, she said, has an anger problem. The children's father, she said, has "been out of the picture" for a long time and has not come to see them in many years. Justin has uncles who live nearby, and they attend his football games and take him canoe racing, a passionate pursuit for the tribe. "My brothers and I talk a lot about this," Danita Washington said. "We made conscious choices. We can't change our sisters, but we can influence their children." Still, it is painful when Justin talks, fairly often, about missing his father, she said. "Mostly, every kid wants their parents," said Justin, who has the biggest mattress in his aunt's front room and plays football for the Golden Eagles at Ferndale High School near here. "Right now, I kind of wish my dad was still here because I've played football for like seven years now, and he never got to watch me." He was happy to see his mother, though he was not sure when he would see her again. "I think she's doing good now," he said. " She's trying. I can see it." And on this day, for his birthday, she was going with him, his aunt and his sisters to ride indoor go-carts. Eli Sanders contributed reporting from Seattle for this article. Copyright c. 2005 The New York Times Company. --------- "RE: GAO calls for better State Data in ICWA Cases" --------- Date: Fri, 8 Apr 2005 09:38:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ICWA CASES NEED BETTER STATE INFO" http://www.indianz.com/News/2005/007508.asp GAO calls for better state data in ICWA cases April 8, 2005 The General Accountability Office released its long-awaited study on the implementation of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) this week, calling for greater oversight to ensure states are complying with the landmark law. More than two years in the making, the study was requested by House Majority Leader Tom Delay (R-Texas) and two Republicans, including one with jurisdiction over child welfare programs. The lawmakers wanted to know whether the law works as intended -- to give tribes a greater role in decisions affecting the placement of Indian children. But due to the nature of the request -- DeLay was concerned that ICWA was hindering state courts -- tribal advocates feared the study could negatively impact Indian Country. The National Congress of American Indians and the National Indian Child Welfare Association held sessions to discuss the pending study and encourage tribal input. The effort prompted GAO investigators to consult directly with tribes in five states and to take comments from more than 160 tribes and tribal organizations nationwide. The result is a 90-page study that calls for the federal government to seek better information -- from the states -- to ensure Indian children are being protected. "ICWA created important protections to prevent state child welfare agencies and courts from inappropriately separating American Indian children from their families," the GAO wrote. "More than 25 years after it was enacted, however, we know very little about the effect of this law on moving American Indian children in foster care to permanent homes in a timely manner, while ensuring their safety and well-being." The "scarcity of data" makes it difficult to draw concrete conclusions about ICWA, the report said. Discussion with tribal officials and a review of limited information from state agencies indicated some compliance problems, such as the identification of children who may be subject to the law, the GAO noted. But to find out for sure, the GAO recommends the Department of Health and Human Services take a more active role. The Administration for Children and Families should review information received from states and "require states to discuss in their annual progress reports any significant ICWA issues" in order to help states with the law, the report concluded. However, HHS didn't agree with the proposal. "ACF does not have the authority, resources or expertise to provide the level of effort to address the recommendations GAO identified," the department said in a March 21 letter. HHS called on GAO to assess tribal child welfare programs before moving forward. "While HHS does not have specific oversight authority with respect to ICWA, it is responsible for ensuring that states provide meaningful information about their ICWA compliance efforts," the GAO countered. The Interior Department responded with only a brief letter "The Bureau [of Indian Affairs] has no oversight authority for a state's implementation of the act," P. Lynn Scarlett, Interior's assistant secretary for policy, management and budget wrote on March 22. Due to the limited information collected by states, the GAO was only able to look at ICWA implementation in Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Washington. These five were the only states that could identify children who came under the law in fiscal year 2003. Based on the data, the GAO there was no way to determine, on a consistent basis, whether children subject to ICWA were treated any differently than those who weren't. The experience varied from state to state. According to the GAO, "children exiting foster care who were subject to ICWA in two states (Oklahoma and South Dakota) stayed in foster care for about the same period of time as Caucasian and other minority children." "In Washington, however, children subject to ICWA were less likely to leave foster care within 2 years compared to Caucasian and other minority children, while in Oregon children subject to ICWA and other minority children were somewhat more likely to do so compared to Caucasian children," the report noted. Indian advocates have long complained that states aren't properly implementing the law. In response, the state of Iowa recently adopted a plan to ensure Indian children are placed with Indian families. Statewide, Indian children are 0.4 percent of the population but 2.1 percent of children in foster care. Officials in Alaska, on the other hand, are trying to limit tribal control in child welfare cases. In November, the state's former attorney general issued an opinion that placed state law above ICWA and set out standards that limited the role of tribal courts. In South Dakota, tribal leaders demanded tougher laws to ensure state compliance although a proposed bill was whittled down to a study. However, the Legislature recently approved a bill to provide better notification to tribes and Indian families. Copyright c. 2000-2005 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: BIA partnership to tackle Teen Suicide" --------- Date: Fri, 8 Apr 2005 09:38:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TEEN SUICIDE" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.billingsgazette.com//30-bia-suicide-prevention.inc BIA starts talking about teen suicide prevention By BECKY SHAY Of The Gazette Staff April 8, 2005 Bureau of Indian Affairs law enforcement is breaking the code of silence and talking about one of the leading causes of death among American Indian youths. The agency has partnered with the Jason Foundation, a national teen suicide prevention and awareness organization. The partnership hopes to bring its programs to Indian Country in a manner that is culturally appropriate and sensitive. John Oliveira has dealt first-hand with youth suicide during his law enforcement career with the BIA, but Oliveira and his counterparts have not spoken much about it. 'Let it lie' "We tend to just let it lie dormant," he said. Not anymore. On Wednesday the BIA kicked off its partnership with the Jason Foundation during a conference in Billings. The conference, Family Violence and Teen Suicide Prevention, was attended by more than 50 tribal and social services leaders from Montana and Wyoming. After Oliveira heard Clark Flatt, the CEO of the Jason Foundation, speak last fall the men quickly agreed to try to bring the foundation's work to Indian Country. Oliveira is BIA law enforcement's National Child Abuse Coordinator and works in the Region Five headquarters office in Billings. Region Five includes Montana, Wyoming, Washington, Idaho and Alaska. Talking about prevention "The partnership has started a dialog" about suicide and prevention, Oliveira said, that stretches from the offices of high-ranking federal officials in Washington, D.C., to Montana to small Alaskan villages. "There is a sense of excitement and hopefulness," one conference participant said. Flatt stressed that there are lots of American Indian kids who are not contemplating nor have attempted suicide. Suicide is the second highest cause of death among native youth, Flatt said, and that means there is an "urgent" need to talk about it. "The statistic is so high, we have to address it," Flatt said. "One of the toughest things is to start talking about suicide and to do it in a positive way." Teen suicide is two to three times higher among American Indian and Native Alaskan youths than among other ethnic groups and the general population. People in Indian Country recognize the numbers, Flatt said. "It's very refreshing to come into an area where I'm not having to convince them, 'it's your problem, too,'" he said. The clincher, Flatt said, is not just acknowledging the problem but starting to act. Flatt said he has been well received by tribal leaders and community members, including during a tour of the Crow Indian Reservation this week. "I really believe for a successful suicide prevention program you have to have a grassroots buy-in," he said. Ernie Bighorn, director of Indian Development Inc. in Miles City, has been working with native teens to develop suicide prevention programs around Montana. He agreed that local support is key but said it is even more important to involve youths in decision making and program development. Bighorn predicted BIA law enforcement and Indian Health Services' willingness to work with the foundation will lead to a turnaround in how teen suicide is approached in Indian Country. Specifically, Bighorn said, the foundation can help unite parents, schools, kids and community. "The Jason Foundation has connections and resources that could save us a lot of time," Bighorn said. Flatt's youngest son, Jason, committed suicide in 1997. Flatt said he was an involved parent, who joined PTA and learned about school violence and the threat of drugs and alcohol. No one, however, trained him about suicide - the third most likely way his teenage son could die. Flatt researched teen suicide, delved into the startling national statistics and established the nonprofit Jason Foundation within months of 16-year-old Jason's death. Based in Tennessee, the foundation has national supporters - both corporate and clinical - that provide funding and support to make its services free. That "purely altruistic" approach is welcomed, Oliveira said, in the face of tight budgets for federal agencies. Flatt did not recognize the signs and symptoms his son showed before committing suicide. He later learned that neither did the boy's friends and even when Jason spoke to them of killing himself, they were so confused and scared they froze and did not know how or where to seek help. The foundation now provides programs that include in-services for teachers, parent seminars, a school-based curriculum and a resource line. The foundation has ties to the American Football Coaches Association, which helps spread awareness. Flatt said he hopes to use those contacts to make inroads with basketball personalities who could bring the message to Indian Country. The federal agencies and foundation are working to make the services applicable to local needs, Flatt said. "Each native community is unique," he said, and its program must reflect local practices and culture. Until the programming is readily available, Flatt encouraged people at the conference to act and "do what we can to help address this terrible problem of youth suicide." Some behavior to watch for, Flatt said, includes the following: Girls, especially, may make funeral plans and give them to a best friend; kids will give away prized possessions, including drivers' licenses; if someone talks about suicide or wanting to die, talk to that person about his or her comment and seek professional help. "Not a single young person that I talked to after an attempted suicide wanted to die," Flatt said. "Without exception they wanted the same thing - they wanted the pain to stop. We need to identify the pain and how we can offer alternatives to stop the pain." How to help The Jason Foundation is committed to providing teen suicide awareness, education and prevention. Here are some signs adults and youths can watch for and should act on, according to the foundation: Depression, abrupt changes in behavior, mood swings, crying spells, recent grief or losses, changes in school performance, giving away treasured belongings, suicidal threats and expressions of hopelessness. "Suicide is a leading cause of preventable death," said Clark Flatt, foundation CEO. "It is not something we can't do anything about." More information is available on-line at www.jasonfoundation.com. Copyright c. 2005 The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Supreme Court to weigh appeal of Trust Lawsuit" --------- Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2005 08:34:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DoI's LATEST "BUSH-WHACK"" http://www.indianz.com/News/2005/007479.asp Supreme Court to weigh appeal of trust lawsuit April 7, 2005 Two years after losing an attempt to limit the federal government's fiduciary responsibilities, the Bush administration is back at the U.S. Supreme Court with another trust case. The Department of Justice has asked the high court to overturn decisions favoring two Wyoming tribes. The government was found liable for mismanaging oil, gas and other trust assets on the Wind River Reservation. But the administration's appeal has the potential to affect tribes elsewhere. Government lawyers are challenging an appropriations rider that has provided the basis for more than 20 historical accounting lawsuits currently in the federal court system. It could also affect the Cobell v. Norton lawsuit involving individual Indian trust funds. In briefs, the government notes that the federal judge handling the case has reinstated a broad historical accounting of billions in Indian money. The lower court decisions "will substantially increase the volume and complexity of Indian trust litigation, as well as the potential monetary exposure of the United States in suits alleging breach of the government's trust obligations," DOJ wrote on March 25. The appeal comes amid a request by U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for more resources to fight the tribal trust lawsuits. In testimony to Congress last month, he asked for $7.4 million and 18 positions to defend the federal government. "The United States' potential exposure in these cases is more than $200 billion," Gonzales said. "Adequate resources are necessary to limit exposure and establish proper precedent for the United States." The testimony was given to a House subcommittee headed by Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Virginia), who has inserted anti-tribal riders in appropriations bills in recent years. In 2003, he tried to redirect $3.1 million in Bureau of Indian Affairs money to the Department of Justice to fight the trust cases. Wolf's riders were removed from the appropriations bill but other lawmakers are already considering ways to respond to the lobbying of the Bush administration, at least on the Cobell case. "This is just not right," said Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Washington), who handles Interior's appropriations bill, when apprised of the situation by Interior associate deputy secretary Jim Cason. The rider at issue in the Supreme Court case dates to 1990. It states that the standard six-year statute of limitations on lawsuits against the U.S. does not apply to tribes or individual Indians until an accounting of their respective trust funds has been provided. The rider has been included in every single appropriations bill since then, and was the subject of a separate bill sponsored by former Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colorado). "It is about avoiding litigation which I think is in everyone's interest," Campbell said at a February 2002 hearing. The bill was signed into law by President Bush a month later. Litigation has continued as the Interior Department has spent tens of millions on accounting projects for tribes and individual Indians. The Bush administration has taken a limited view of the effort, refusing to go back to the inception of the trust accounts and refusing to consider whether account holders received the proper amount of money for use of their land, minerals and other assets. That view plays into the Supreme Court appeal as government lawyers seek to prevent Interior from conducting an accounting going back decades and for mismanaging trust assets. Special Trustee Ross Swimmer has said any accounting should be restricted to monetary assets. The dispute is complicated somewhat because the Eastern Shoshone Tribe and the Northern Arapaho Tribe have asked the high court to determine whether they are entitled to the best price for their sand and gravel assets. The lower court ruled they had no claim on this point. The justices will consider the appeal at a conference meeting on April 15. They will announce whether or not they will take the case the following week. The last time the trust was at issue before the top court was in March 2003, when the justices refused to endorse the Bush administration's attempt to limit liability for alleged mismanagement. Copyright c. 2000-2005 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: Swimmer explains 'Sovereignty' Quote" --------- Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2005 08:28:14 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SWIMMER EXPLIANS QUOTE" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=6266 Special Trustee explains the quote that angered NCAI's Hall Swimmer says he wants "real sovereignty" WASHINGTON DC Native American Times April 4, 2005 Special Trustee Ross Swimmer has responded to criticism he received from National Congress of American Indians President Tex Hall. In a fax addressed to the Native American Times, Swimmer defended a comment he made to a reporter from the Reuters news agency during a panel discussion at the Western Knight Center for Specialized Journalism's traveling seminar last month entitled "Covering Indian Country: Native American Issues in the 21st Century." Swimmer was quoted as saying: "Tribes today are not sovereign. You can't sit there and be a sovereign and be dictated to by another sovereign. There needs to be a whole new paradigm. We have to start over." In the fax, Swimmer said the comment was made during "a free ranging discussion with a variety of reporters." "I was asked to explain the history of the Federal trust relationship. The point was made that if the Federal government continues to dictate to tribes how they manage their trust assets, this effectively lessens tribal sovereignty," Swimmer wrote. "I have long advocated the need to look at new ways of increasing tribal sovereignty so that the federal government is not in the position of having to approve all the transactions of a tribe; in other words, replacing rhetorical sovereignty with real sovereignty." Swimmer said that he has "great respect" for Hall's leadership and "his extensive experience in Indian affairs. As well, I appreciate Mr. Hall's concern with the important issue of tribal sovereignty." Hall charged that Swimmer's comments, as they were quoted by Reuters, were "an insult." "Indian sovereignty is a reality, no matter what is happening on planet Swimmer. Indian Country knew President Bush wanted to put a man on Mars. We just had no idea that Swimmer was already out there in space," Hall said. Swimmer is the former Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. Hall has been a frequent critic of the tactics used by the federal government during the long-running Indian trust lawsuit. Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Fallout from Supreme Court ruling on Oneida" --------- Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 08:45:14 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="VULTURES CIRCLE" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.syracuse.com/news/poststandard//news-9/111277672332643.xml Lawyer OKs collecting taxes on tribes Attorney for two counties in land dispute bases opinion on Supreme Court ruling. By Scott Rapp Staff writer April 6, 2005 Schools and municipalities in Cayuga County can start enforcing the collection of property taxes and any other regulations on land and businesses owned by two tribes in the Cayuga Indian land claim area, a lawyer said Tuesday night. William Dorr, who represents Cayuga and Seneca counties in the land- claim dispute, based his recommendation on the city of Sherrill's U.S. Supreme Court triumph last week over the Oneida Indian Nation of New York. In that case, the top court said the city of Sherrill could collect property taxes on ancestral land that the Oneidas reacquired after selling it more than 200 years ago. The Oneidas said they had sovereign nation rights on the land and refused to pay taxes, but the court said the property no longer qualifies as tax-exempt "Indian country." "Specifically, what (the ruling) means to us is that any of the land purchased by (the Cayuga Indian Nation of New York or the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma) is no longer 'Indian country,' and it is subject to rules and regulations and taxing authority of all the governmental entities under which it falls," Dorr told Cayuga County lawmakers. The New York Cayugas own a high-stakes electronic bingo hall, a combination convenience store and gas station, a carwash and 128 vacant acres - all in Union Springs. The Seneca-Cayugas have a 229-acre farm in Aurelius that they are trying to build a bingo hall on without following local regulations. Combined, the two tribes owe about $130,000 in back taxes on the properties, county records show. They have said they have sovereign nation rights on any land they acquire in the land-claim area. The county can foreclose on any Indian-owned property that is in arrears on its taxes for three years and it also can start testing the Cayugas' gasoline pumps for weights and measures accuracy, Dorr said. He urged the county to wait a few days before attempting to sample the gas pumps. "It might be that the Indians want to cooperate with us. This is the law of the Supreme Court. They should obey the law . . . let's see if they do it," Dorr said after speaking to lawmakers. In other action, county lawmakers unanimously approved lending $68,595 to the county Water and Sewer Authority so it could make a $223,536 bond payment this month. The loan was made contingent on the authority repaying the money with interest by year's end. The authority also has 60 days to submit to the Legislature a financial plan that corrects its cash-shortage problems. "By statute, it absolutely has to be repaid by Dec. 31 and by statute they have to pay interest on it . . . so it's not going to be a cost to taxpayers," David Pappert, R-Auburn, said. Pappert said authority members must share in the blame for not having agency finances in order. He said any corrective plan must address the issue of why the authority does not have adequate cash reserves to pay its bills. "This problem didn't happen overnight. I think everybody that's been involved with the authority since its beginning has to look in the mirror and say, 'Why were we approving budgets that didn't provide for adequate reserves?' " Pappert said. Copyright c. 2005 The Post-Standard. Used with permission. --------- "RE: Pipeline Firms get great deals on Indian Lands" --------- Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2005 08:20:27 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PIPELINE COMPANIES ON INDIAN LANDS" http://www.gallupindependent.com/2005/apr/041105firms.html Pipeline firms get great deals on Indian lands By Kathy Helms Dine' Bureau March 11, 2005 FORT DEFIANCE - Pipeline companies operating on Navajoland allegedly are getting "sweetheart deals" on rights of ways, according to a December 2004 article published by SmartMoney.com. In August 2003, Alan Balaran, special master overseeing the Cobell v. Norton class-action lawsuit, filed a report in U.S. District Court alleging the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) was giving pipeline companies "lowball deals" on Indian land being developed in the San Juan Basin. BIA has denied the charges. A Bureau of Land Management (BLM) spokesman told SmartMoney.com that the Farmington field office has approved more rights of way than any other field office in the United States. Last month, the U.S. House Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Minerals held a hearing to examine the growing global appetite for energy and its effects on the United States. The Energy and Minerals committee chairman introduced the North American Energy Freedom Act of 2005 to work toward U. S. energy independence by 2025. The act is expected to be included in this year's comprehensive energy bill package to be introduced in Congress by Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M. The Energy Freedom Act would create a 16-member committee representing the United States, Canada and Mexico to work for energy independence within 20 years through natural gas, oil, coal, renewable and alternative energy development. Domenici's previous energy bill, which did not pass Congress, would have provided more than $18 billion in tax incentives to boost development of oil, natural gas, coal and nuclear power, and an additional $20 billion for construction of a natural gas pipeline from Alaska to Chicago. Domenici and New Mexico's Sen. Jeff Bingaman are working on a new round of incentives to be included in this year's energy bill. A March 2004 report from the U.S. Department of Energy noted that the world's remaining conventional oil resources total 2.7 trillion barrels, not including North America's total of 3.7 trillion barrels, with about 2 trillion in U.S. oil shale found in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana. The report also found that it would be possible to start an oil shale industry by 2011 that would produce 200,000 barrels per day initially and 2 million bpd by 2020, with direct economic value to the United States of about $1 trillion. Last November in an address to the National Coal Council, Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham said the nation has a 250-year domestic supply of coal. Abraham said Department of Energy (DOE) researchers and scientists are working with counterparts in other nations to develop new methods for using coal. The key is technology, he said. "They are developing the cutting-edge technologies that will permit not just us, but nations like Russia, China, Australia, and others, to burn coal cleanly and efficiently." He said that's why DOE has laid out a $2 billion commitment to the development of clean coal technology, with the first round of grants unveiled around 2002. The Clean Coal Power Initiative is a cost-shared program between government and industry. New Mexico is among the second round of grant recipients, with an unnamed project receiving $79 million to develop a multi-pollutant control process to remove 99.5 percent of sulfur dioxide, 89 percent removal of SO3 and nitrogen oxides, and 90 percent removal of mercury from plant emissions. The New Mexico project and others will contribute to the FutureGen program a cost-shared, $950 million project to create the world's first near-zero-emissions fossil fuel plant. FutureGen is made up of a national network of public-private sector partnerships including more than 150 organizations in 40 states, three Indian nations and two Canadian partnerships, Abraham said. Last November, The Wall Street Journal reported that Peabody Energy Corp. the world's largest U.S. coal producer and operator of the Black Mesa and Kayenta mines on Navajoland plans to double its annual production to 400 million tons by 2010. RAG Coal International, one of the leading privately owned international hard-coal producers, stated in a 2004 report that it had signed final contracts with Peabody Energy for the sale of RAG Australia Pty. Ltd. and the Twentymile mine in Colorado. RAG is the majority shareholder in STEAG AG, parent company of STEAG Power LLC, original developer of the Desert Rock Energy Project. Copyright c. 2005 the Gallup Independent. --------- "RE: Tribe wins in dispute at Snoqualmie Falls" --------- Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2005 08:28:14 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SNOQUALMIE WIN SACRED DECISION" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://seattletimes.nwsource.com//2002231175_waterfall05e.html Tribe wins in dispute at Snoqualmie Falls By Sonia Krishnan Seattle Times Eastside bureau April 5, 2005 The Snoqualmie Tribe has made "a significant step" in its long-running legal battle with Puget Sound Energy to scale back the amount of water used to generate power at Snoqualmie Falls, a site the tribe considers sacred. The Federal Regulatory Energy Commission (FERC) ruled last month that Puget Sound Energy must decrease the amount of water diverted to its two hydroelectric plants at the falls in May and June. The tribe has been fighting to shut down Puget Sound Energy's Snoqualmie Falls operations since the early 1990s, but this latest move shows some respect for the tribe's religious beliefs, said Matt Mattson, tribal administrator. The mist from the waterfalls is considered sacred by the tribe, he said. "The tribe believes the mist connects heaven and Earth." The diversion of water flow to the power generators affects the falls' mists and spray and prevents the tribe from practicing its religion, the tribe argues. Water is diverted from the river into two power plants and funneled back below the falls. Puget Sound Energy has filed an appeal to FERC's ruling. "If you have less water at your disposal, it increases the cost of the output," said Roger Thompson, spokesman for the power company. "With a hydro-power project, water is your fuel; it's what makes your project turn." Puget Sound Energy sees the falls as a source of cheap power generation. But, he said, decreasing the amount of water to the generators will have a "very minute" impact on customers. "Snoqualmie is just one of a variety of sources of energy for PSE customers," he said. FERC's ruling found that increasing water flows for two months of the year would not be a financial hardship for Puget Sound Energy. The ruling ordered the company to increase water flow to the falls in May from 45, 000-90,000 gallons per minute to 450,000 gallons per minute. In June, the amount would jump from 90,000 gallons per minute to 202,500 gallons per minute. That would produce larger mists and offer the tribe a spiritual gathering place. "So now the 'church' is open only two months out of the year, but it's still better than nothing," said Mattson, who called the FERC ruling a "significant step" in the tribe's efforts to have more water sent down the falls. Puget Sound Energy has been operating the two plants under a 40-year license granted last June. Its previous, 37-year-old license expired in 1993, and until last year the company produced power through yearly licenses. The legal dispute between the tribe and Puget Sound Energy began when the company sought a long-term license in 1991. For the tribal members, decommissioning the plants would be ideal, but they are open to negotiating, Mattson said. This recent development "is substantially greater than anything FERC has ever done in the past," Mattson said. "If PSE agrees, we're willing to sit down and try to work through mediators to come up with a solution." Sonia Krishnan: 206-515-5546 or skrishnan@seattletimes.com Copyright c. 2005 The Seattle Times Company. --------- "RE: Tribe files Claim to take back Chunk of Island" --------- Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2005 16:41:02 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="OTTAWA TRIBE of OKLAHOMA" http://www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=3173047&nav=5UaiYNqD Native American Tribe files Claim to take back Chunk of Island April 6, 2005 CLEVELAND (AP) - A lawyer for the Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma claims the tribe wants to take back a chunk of North Bass Island on Lake Erie to fish, not to gamble. The tribe also wants damages for the loss of its island acreage for 172 years. North Bass Island lies 18 miles off Port Clinton, two miles south of the Canadian border. The Ottawa tribe is pressing a claim for 350 acres, more than half of the island. All of the 350 acres is owned by the state, which bought most of the sparsely-populated island for $17.5 million dollars in 2003. The tribe's lawyer insists the Ottawas aren't using the land claim to leverage a settlement for a casino, but a spokeswoman for Attorney General Jim Petro says he's very skeptical. The Ottawas controlled a large chunk of northwest Ohio in the 1700s and the tribe's lawyer says the Ottawas never ceded their rights to North Bass Island. Posted by AEB The Associated Press contributed to this report. Copyright c. 2000-2005 WorldNow and WTOL. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Rosebud Tribal Members speak out against Hog Farm" --------- Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 22:11:34 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ROSEBUD HOG FARM" http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=6278 Rosebud tribal members speak out against hog farm Former Rosebud Vice-Chair Ike Schmidt says tribe made too many concessions ROSEBUD SIOUX RESERVATION SD Ruth Steinberger April 6, 2005 Grass roots activists are questioning what they call hasty movements by the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Council to formalize agreements with Sun Prairie, operator of two hog houses on the northern edge of the reservation. A press release by the Rosebud Sioux Tribe announced a unanimous vote by the tribal council to tentatively authorize a settlement in Sue Prairie/ Bell Farms v. USA and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, the pending case regarding the operation. At a recent council meeting, 24 people testified about their concerns regarding the facility. Many opposed the operation. Activist Alfred Bone Shirt said, "This is not a farm. The word farm implies clean water and open air; this is anything but that." Opponents say the Sun Prairie operation is a confinement operation in which tightly packed pigs live for approximately six months until they are shipped to slaughter. According to a complaint by the Humane Farming Association (HFA) filed with South Dakota Attorney General Larry Long, Sun Prairie workers were ordered to slam sick baby pigs onto the concrete to kill them. Undercover photos show animals being eaten alive. Sick or debilitated pigs are routinely denied veterinary care, food or water. According to workers at the plant, some pigs take over a week to die. Photos taken at the facility show piles of pig carcasses and according to the report the mortality rate can be as high as fifty-percent for the pigs. According to the HFA report, Long refused to take any action and, "Instead of obtaining a search warrant so investigators could conduct a surprise inspection, Long's office announced it was going to visit the facility, allowing Sun Prairie time to hide evidence," according to HFA's Chief Investigator Gail Eisnitz. According to workers management instructed them to remove sick and dying pigs and to kill debilitated pigs that had been left to die in alleyways. The recent agreement with the tribe would allow Sun Prairie to continue the operation as it is currently, but would not allow expansion that was included in the original agreement with the tribe. The lease also provides a "sunset," or closure process, however that process would be developed by Sun Prairie. Arcoren said, "Fear tactics have been used on the council. They have indicated that we could lose the whole tribe. This case has been filed with Judge Batty for over two years and now, why all of a sudden are they pushing to get it settled now? That is a question we would like to have answered. We laid the golden egg for Bell Farms. They got free water, free land, free roads and we got nothing out of it." Environmental attorney Jim Daugherty said the project originally was going to have thirteen sites containing 400,000 animals and now have only two of the thirteen sites and 91,000 animals. He said, "And it looks like that is as far as this will go. Right now there is a pending suit. Bell Farms has sued not only the federal government but also the tribe and that remains pending. Now there is talk of a compromise that would resolve that case. The feds have been stalwart defenders of the tribe and they have gone south on the tribe. We had prevailed on appeal and persuaded the court of appeals that Bell's suit was bogus. That was sustained by the US Supreme Court." Between the two rulings Bell Farms refiled a similar case, adding claims against the tribe. In 2002 they sued the tribe for the first time. Daugherty said, "These suits are mainly for tactical reasons to try to put pressure on the tribe to keep an umbrella of judicial protection over the hog farm in order to keep operating. Proof of that is the fact that nothing happened on that suit for over two years. They did not move for discovery, there were no motions filed, they did nothing, they just kept the suit on the books. Now there is a motion to resolve a couple of issues. Now, after several years of support for the tribe by the feds, they are saying they were wrong and are doing a complete turnaround and are filing a brief saying Bell Farms was right." Daugherty speculates Bell Farms used political pressure in North Dakota. A May 14, 2002, e-mail from Jerry Gidner, Chief of the Division of Environmental and Cultural Resources of the BIA was sent to then-BIA Director Neal McCaleb referencing a meeting that had taken place at the request of North Dakota Senator Kent Conrad. The meeting was to resolve concerns by hog farm investors from North Dakota. The e-mail from Gidner to McCaleb began, `Senator Conrad of North Dakota is very concerned about the status of the Hog Farm at Rosebud', and continues, `A former Governor of North Dakota has some financial interest in the hog farm, and called Senator Conrad with concerns about the Court of Appeals decision. Mr. Van Heuvelen stated that there was $100 million at stake, presumably for Bell Farms in total, and not just for the former Governor.' Conrad confirmed that the "former Governor" referred to former Governor George Sinner. Shortly before this project was unveiled, South Dakota voters passed a constitutional amendment prohibiting corporate ownership of corporate hog farms. Daugherty said, "This would have been illegal on private land, but of course the state constitution would not apply on the reservation and this circumvented that prohibition. And this effectively allows them to enjoy an exemption from state laws regarding environmental regulation, sort of a no-mans land for enforcement. "They have been an unbelievable trading partner with the tribe. They struck a one sided agreement. It showed the tribe would make money, but the way it defined profits, well...basically there was just no money there for the tribe. But there was an agreement to pay some of the profits and they also agreed to pay for the water they used. They haven't shared the profits, they haven't paid for the water, they got a special tax break as a potential employer, and this barely provided any jobs." Bell Farms alleges that the tribe violated the contracts clause of the US Constitution and in the suit have charged the tribe with unjust enrichment at the expense of Bell Farms. Daugherty said, "That's an old commonwealth claim. Since they have not paid the tribe a penny, how can they claim unjust enrichment? Now the federal government is getting ready to back Bell Farms." Eva Iyotte, Co-Chair of Concerned Rosebud Area Citizens (CRAC) testified at the council chambers, citing the sacred sites located at the location of the hog farm. She said, "And the sacred trails, our ancestors used those trails. Chief Hump, Chief Sitting Bull and Chief Spotted Tail, the Cheyenne. Oleeta had a grandmother who was born on that trail and other grass roots people stepped forward and said their stories were handed down to them from their grandparents who camped on those trails. An archeological study confirmed the presence of a village there...we don't know what tribe they were, but we know there were people living there and this is the raping of our ground." Noting photos taken inside the facility Iyotte said, "The whistleblowers put their lives on the line, maybe their grandfathers told them something. The claims have been substantiated by the photos handed over to the investigators." Former Rosebud Sioux Tribal Vice-Chair Vernon "Ike" Schmidt spoke at the hearing. Schmidt detailed some of the past costs of the project. He said, "We were fortunate to get the Min Wiconi water line project, which was primarily for safe drinking water. When they got water into White River, it was also diverted north to the hog farm. The lines were paid for by the Mni Wiconi project." He said, "We had to put in two pumping stations and it cost millions of dollars to put those lines into the hog farm. They started pumping water into the hog farm, which started out in 1999. To date, they pumped 332,350,900 gallons of treated drinking water into the hog barns. The tribe tried to impose a fee on that, and to date that fee would add up to $385, 797 but they have not paid a cent of that. They pretty much laughed the tribe off after that first billing." The tribe has a two percent excise fee on new construction; Schmidt said the farm was allowed to come in at one percent, costing a tremendous loss of revenue. Schmidt said, "We made all these concessions and it created a handful of jobs and they are not good jobs...a lot of the pigs die. This is not good for people. Schmidt said that overwhelming environmental issues have been overlooked and may affect the tribe's future. He said, "The sludge is another issue. At no time has our tribe adopted environmental regulatory controls for a hog confinement facility like this and the facility is not under state jurisdiction because it is on trust land. The EPA gives the regulatory authority to tribes if the tribe wants to assume it, so they have kept an arms length from it. The hog farm has never had an EPA regulatory discharge permit. Any time you discharge from a facility like that there must be a permit, but this is operating without it." An Environmental Assessment was in place prior to the opening. Schmidt said, "It says in the BIA Code of Federal Regulations that there must be a full Environmental Impact Statement (not an Environmental Assessment) in order to satisfy NEPA (the Natural Environmental Protection Act) and that has never been in place. This was potentially to be the second largest confinement facility in the world, and to let it go by without an Environmental Impact Statement, with just an EA, is an outrage." Under the CFR, there is supposed to be a review of a multi-year lease every five years in order to determine if the provisions of the lease are being followed and to see if the tribe is getting their fair market return on the lease, and to see if the environment is being protected. Now in the seventh year, no five-year review has been conducted. Schmidt said, "If there had been a five-year review a lot of atrocities would have come out like the fact that there is no environmental regulatory controls on the site, the tribe has received no monetary gain and we are pumping our clean drinking water to flush the barns out. At one point we were paying for the electricity for the pump houses. Schmidt would like to see the facility closed in an orderly fashion. He said, "We need infrastructure development on the reservation in order to develop our local economy and create good, clean jobs. We do not need industry that pollutes the reservation." Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: CRST: A Water crisis looms" --------- Date: Fri, 8 Apr 2005 09:38:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CHEYENNE RIVER FACING WATER DISASTER" http://www.argusleader.com//20050407/OPINION01/504070329/1052 A water crisis looms Cheyenne Reservation bordering on emergency as river dries up April 7, 2005 Sen. John Thune is pushing the Army Corps of Engineers to come up with a solution to the looming water problem in north-central South Dakota, but in the end, this will come down to the same bottom line as so many other problems - money. The water-supply intake serving 14,000 people on the Cheyenne Indian Reservation and in nearby communities could become useless by August if the drought continues. Even if it doesn't, the intake in the Cheyenne River is being plagued by a growing silt problem in the river. The corps could move the intake into deeper water, but silt still will be a problem. It's estimated that the Cheyenne River will be silted in by 2011. And the river can't be dredged, because that would stir up arsenic and heavy metals that came downstream from the Black Hills. And even if those weren't problems, the aging water system already is at full capacity. "This is an issue of great urgency," said Thune, who called the meeting of corps and tribal officials in Pierre. "I think we have to prepare for the worst-case scenario." The old water system aside, there seem to be two solutions to the intake problem: * Move the intake to deeper water. That's temporary. * Move the intake 12 miles away to the main channel of the Missouri River. That could cost as much as $76 million and take several years. The corps doesn't want to commit to anything right now, until it sees what water runoff from the snowpack might be. There should be some indication of that this month, but we already know upriver mountain snowpack only is about two-thirds of normal. The corps plans to finish its study by April 18. That study ought to include the two options most mentioned, as well as others, perhaps less expensive. That $76 million is a lot of money for 12 miles of pipe. "I know you have the study under way ... evaluating options and all that, but this isn't far away," Thune told the corps. "My gosh, if you have people without water ..." There's a real possibility that by the end of the summer there will be no safe drinking water. Rebecca Kidder, a lawyer for the tribe, said that could mean some people will drink untreated water and get sick, compounding the problem. Of course, this isn't exactly a new problem. It's simply reached the flash point. The corps already is dealing with the drought, shifting money to handle exposed water intakes, control weeds on the expanding shoreline, maintaining boat ramp access on reservoirs and preserving cultural resources uncovered by falling water levels. Lake Oahe, partly fed by the Cheyenne River, already is 28 feet below normal, the effect of six years of drought. All that strains the corps' budget. We already know the Bush administration is trying to cut costs in many areas of the federal budget, and finding money each year for other South Dakota water projects is a struggle. It's no secret where the solution to this will be found - in Congress. With Thune, with Sen. Tim Johnson and with Rep. Stephanie Herseth. First, we have to take care of the immediate needs, and that probably means temporarily relocating the water intake into deeper water of the Cheyenne River. But then we've got to take care of long-range needs, whether that means moving the intake to the Missouri River's main channel or something else. This isn't just some pork-barrel public works project. Water is life itself. Thune and the rest of our delegation have to make that point in Congress. They must make it quickly, and they must make it unequivocally. Copyright c. 2005 Argus Leader. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Senate hears about water problems in New Mexico" --------- Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 08:45:14 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NM WATER PROBLEMS" http://www.kvia.com/Global/story.asp?S=3175083 Senate hears about water problems in New Mexico April 6, 2005 State Engineer John D'Antonio says the federal government isn't involved enough in negotiating settlements to American Indian water rights in New Mexico. He says only one settlement with the Jicarilla Apache Nation has been reached. D'Antonio says many others are pending, including one that has gone on for decades. He says New Mexico will not succeed in negotiations without help from the federal government. D'Antonio made his comments during testimony yesterday before the U-S Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in Washington, D-C. Copyright c. 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 2002-2005 WorldNow and KVIA. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Bill now includes Landless, Unrecognized Tribes" --------- Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2005 08:28:14 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HISTORY LESSONS TO BE MORE ACCURATE" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002231137_teach05m.html Bill now includes landless, unrecognized tribes By Lynda V. Mapes Seattle Times staff reporter April 5, 2005 For too many kids, Indian Country is a place of cowboys and savages living in tepees. State Rep. John McCoy wants to change that. "Misinformation causes mistrust," said McCoy, D-Marysville, a member of the Tulalip Tribes, who has introduced legislation to encourage school districts to work with local tribes to include curriculum about the tribes' history, government and culture. "This bill is a beginning, to start building relationships between tribes and their local school districts in delivering the appropriate history, and culture, and not Hollywood's version," McCoy said. The bill, SHB1495, would give the state Board of Education the authority to consider requiring such instruction for graduation. The bill also encourages the state School Directors' Association to convene meetings of school boards and tribal councils to form better government-to-government relationships, and work on narrowing the gap between Indian and non-Indian students' success in school. "School districts have had 150 years to get this into the curriculum, and they haven't done it," McCoy said. "This will get the tribal leadership and the school boards to start getting together and building relationships." The bill imposes no instructional mandates - a concession McCoy had to make to get the bill moving. It has passed the House and is expected to be considered on the Senate floor soon. A provision has been dropped that would have excluded tribes that are not federally recognized or do not have reservations, such as Seattle's Duwamish. The bill does include one mandate, requiring the School Directors' Association to submit a report to the Legislature on school districts' progress. "We will give them a chance to do it voluntarily," McCoy said. "And if they don't, the Legislature will see that." The work some tribes already are doing with local school districts shows the innovative teaching - and learning - that's possible, for Indian and non-Indian students. When she teaches seventh- and eighth-grade social studies at Hood Canal School near Shelton, Mason County, Sally Brownfield, a Squaxin Island tribal member, offers for study not only the Constitution of the United States, but also the constitutions of the state of Washington and the neighboring Skokomish Tribe. Elementary-school students in the district are offered a supplemental Native American reading curriculum, based on storybooks and lesson plans that use the themes of the canoe, the drum, and hunting and gathering. The curriculum, created with content donated by tribal artists, writers and elders, has been popular with native and non-native students and is helping turn reading scores around. At Chinook Elementary in Auburn, kids from 31 tribes make up one of the highest percentages of Indian kids in any public school in King County. More than 65 percent of the fourth-graders are reading at state-standard levels - up from 43 percent the year before. The school features the supplemental Native American reading curriculum in an intensive after- school reading program for native students. The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe in Port Angeles is a pioneer in partnering with the local school district. The collaboration was born of necessity. Frances Charles, chairwoman of the tribe, said racial tensions among kids at school sparked tribal youth to work with their Tribal Council to reach out to the school district, inviting teachers, principals and community leaders to a potlatch with tribal schoolchildren. "We had it here at our tribal facility, and we turned the floor over to our youth," Charles said. A tradition was born: The tribe convened its ninth annual potlatch last month, with teachers, principals, school administrators, Tribal Council and City Council members and the mayor sharing the same tables to celebrate the responsibility they share for the kids in the public-school system. Lower Elwa tribal member Jamie Valadez - named Teacher of the Year this week by the Washington State Indian Education Association - began teaching Klallam language at Port Angeles High in 1999. Klallam is just one of several languages public-school students can take to fulfill their world- language requirement to graduate. Over the next three years, the tribe also is creating for the local public-school system nine units with 10 lessons each for third- and eighth-graders on local tribal cultural and history. While not a cure-all for social ills, bringing solid, accurate instruction about local tribal history and culture into the schools is working, Valadez said. Statewide, Indian student performance on standardized tests is improving. The number of students achieving the state standard on math went up from 14 percent to 42 percent between 1997-98 and 2003-04. The percentage of fourth-grade Indian students meeting the state standard in reading rose from 33 percent to 59 percent during the same period. "Things still happen, kids still get lost in the cracks, there are still problems. But we have in place more of an infrastructure to help kids be successful," Valadez said. "I believe it is making a difference." Building a relationship between the tribe and the school district is the key, Charles said. "Working together is the first step." Lynda V. Mapes: 206-464-2736 or lmapes@seattletimes.com Copyright c. 2005 The Seattle Times Company. --------- "RE: Maine Public Schools must teach about Tribes" --------- Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2005 08:28:14 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MAINE SCHOOLS TO TEACH ABOUT TRIBES" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/news/local/1513278.shtml Teaching native culture By KEITH EDWARDS Staff Writer April 5, 2005 AUGUSTA - About a year ago, Rebecca Sockbeson's daughter came home from elementary school and described her day. Her classmates had played a game called "kill the Indians." The girl - like her mother a member of the Penobscot tribe - knew enough not to play along. She even had an explanation for her classmates' game, in which students designated as pirates pretended to chase and then kill students designated as Indians. "'Momma, they just don't know enough about us. That's why they want to kill us,' " Sockbeson said her daughter, Julia, told her that day. Sockbeson, director of multicultural affairs at the University of Southern Maine, related her daughter's story to a gathering of Maine social-studies teachers Monday in a workshop meant to convey the importance of the state's new requirement that schools teach students about the Wabanaki people and the history of Native Americans. Their history includes a time when the governing white people issued bounties on scalps of Penobscot men, women and children. "When this happened at my daughter's school, I explained to her: One time, this was a real game," Sockbeson told the gathering of teachers, many of whom reacted with surprise when told of government-sponsored bounties on Indians. LD 291, "An Act to Require Teaching Maine Native American History and Culture in Maine's Schools," was passed in 2001 and a special commission, The Wabanaki Studies Commission, recently issued a report in an effort to help schools begin complying with the act. The Wabanaki people include the Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Maliseet and Micmac tribes. The state Department of Education will make exceptions to the new requirement if schools can show they do not have enough funding to bring such lessons to their classrooms. In a February letter to Maine schools, Commissioner of Education Susan Gendron said Wabanaki studies is not a course itself, but should be integrated into other courses at multiple grade levels. Richmond resident Donna Loring - former representative for the tribes in the Maine Legislature and the driving force behind LD 291 - said the bill is the nation's most innovative and comprehensive legislation on the teaching of native American history. Maureen Smith - director of Native American Studies at the University of Maine and chairwoman of the Wabanaki Studies Commission - said some lesson plans are available now and others are being developed. Teachers at the annual Maine Council for the Social Studies conference, held at the Augusta Civic Center, received a thick packet of suggested lesson plans. Smith encouraged teachers to be bold as the curriculum develops, even though it may be new to many of them. "As educators, I know you're struggling with this," she said. "We're so fearful of saying the wrong thing, we're almost driven to paralysis. It's hard. I find it difficult to explain to my own grandson what it means to be Indian today. But as we all learn, we convey it to our students. That's what teaching is all about." Keith Edwards - 621-5647 kedwards@centralmaine.com Copyright c. 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. --------- "RE: USDA Offers Tribal, Pacific Scholarships" --------- Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2005 08:34:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="USDA SCHOLORSHIPS" http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050406/sfw114.html?.v=2 USDA Offers Tribal and Asian Pacific Islander Scholarships Press Release Source: Natural Resources Conservation Service - Applications Accepted April 4 Through May 13, 2005 April 6, 2005 WASHINGTON, April 6 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Chief Bruce Knight today announced that the 2005 Asian Pacific Islander (API) Scholars Program and the new Tribal Scholars Program application period is April 4 through May 13, 2005. "These scholarship opportunities strengthen the conservation partnership with state colleges and land-grant institutions and help attract outstanding students from underrepresented groups to pursue careers in agriculture and natural resource sciences," said Knight. "Workforce planning and scholarship programs help create a more effective government by providing the tools and experience these students need to perform at high levels and become quality employees." This is the first year of the Tribal Scholars Program, which was created to help the agency accomplish its workforce diversity goals and improve interaction with tribal partners and customers. Five scholarships will be awarded to U.S. citizens who are seeking a degree in agriculture or related natural resource sciences at a 1994 tribal land-grant institution. There are 34 tribal colleges and universities nationwide. The API Scholars Program awarded five scholarships last year and will offer five in 2005. The program is open to U.S. citizens at universities with high percentages of Asian and Pacific Islander students in California, Hawaii, Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Pacific Basin. Both scholarship programs provide full tuition, employment, employee benefits, fees, books, use of a personal computer and software while on scholarship and room and board each year for up to four years. In addition to general eligibility criteria, each scholarship may have unique features due to differences in the target institutions or communities. NRCS also participates in two USDA-sponsored scholarship programs: the USDA/1890 National Scholars Program for students planning to attend an 1890 Historically Black Land Grant Institution and major in agriculture or natural resource related studies; and the Public Service Leaders Scholarship, which is a collaborative effort between USDA, the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities and the Hispanic College Fund, Inc. Detailed information on the Tribal and API scholars programs is on the Web at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/feature/scholarships or from Larry Holmes, NRCS Outreach Division Director, at 301-504-2229 or larry.holmes2@usda.gov. Information on the USDA/1890 National Scholars Program is at http://1890Scholars.program.usda.gov . Information on the Public Service Leaders Scholarship is at http://www.hsi.usda.gov/Scholars/main.htm . Copyright c. 2005 PR Newswire. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 2005 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Schools fail to meet Indians' needs" --------- Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2005 16:41:02 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CALIFORNIA SCHOOLS" http://www.desertsunonline.com//20050407/NEWS04/504070329/1006 Schools fail to meet Indians' needs, says educator Jennifer Larson The Desert Sun April 7, 2005 There may not be as many Native American students as Latino students in California's schools, but many California Indians believe those students' needs are not being met. Associate professor Joely De La Torre of California State University, San Bernardino, says California Indians and the educational community need to work together to cure shortcomings in education that have shortchanged Indian students. "Public education has really done a disservice to American Indians," she told a group of Coachella Valley educators and others affiliated with the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians during a luncheon Wednesday in Palm Springs. The tribe agrees that something needs to be done. It recently started a new tutoring service as part of its tribal family services program, modeling it after a similar program run by the Morongo Band of Mission Indians. "We can help the children (with school)," said George Robinson, director of Tribal Family Services. "If there are other issues for why the child is in tutoring we can offer our other services." De La Torre noted that a recent Harvard University study showed high dropout rates among black and Latino students in California. The graduation rates are 60 percent for Latino students and 56.6 percent for African-Americans. But they're not the only ones with graduation rates that need drastic improvement, she said. California Indian students have a high school graduation rate of only 52 percent. "To me, these numbers are horrific," she said. "We need to deal with this issue and deal with it aggressively." De La Torre called for the community to dissolve lingering stereotypes of Indians and promote more authentic images. She also said she believes that the tribes and the educational community should work together to change textbooks or portions of the curriculum that contain negative and incorrect images of Indians. Moraino Patencio, a member of the Agua Caliente tribe, agreed that it's important to emphasize education to young Indian students and how education played a crucial role in their tribe's history and evolution. "Make it culturally relevant for our Indian children to understand where they fit in," he explained. Local educators said that they are willing to collaborate and do what they can. Palm Springs Unified School District Superintendent Michael Sellwood said that his school district will work with the tribes to help those students who might otherwise fall through the cracks. "We will accept the challenge," he said. The vast majority of students in the Coachella Valley Unified School District are Latino, but the district also has a number of students from the Torres-Martinez Band of Desert Cahuilla Indians, according to superintendent Tut Pensis. He agreed with Sellwood that collaboration is key to improvement. "I think it's the only way it's going to happen," he said. But Sellwood pointed out that the state's role in the public education system may present a few obstacles. For example, Sellwood said, the state dictates what textbooks school districts can buy - that is, if they want to pay for them with state funds. That limits what the local educational community can do to alter the textbooks that they use. Tony Signoret, principal of Cathedral City Elementary, acknowledged that it might not be possible to refine the curriculum but said there are other ways to identify and reach children who need help. "We're in it for the kids, so we're willing to do anything," he said. Principal Renee Loewen has a number of Native American students who attend her school, Cahuilla Elementary School in Palm Springs. She praised the Agua Caliente tutoring program as a step in the right direction. "Already my school has seen an impact," she said. Yolanda Robledo, education facilitator with tribal family services, has been tutoring a fifth-grader from Cahuilla Elementary with great success. Loewen said she plans to contact Robledo again when her Indian students can benefit from some extra help. Copyright c. 2005 The Desert Sun. --------- "RE: Utilizing Song and Film to teach Hopi Language" --------- Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2005 08:49:20 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TEACHING HOPI LANGUAGE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.navajohopiobserver.com/P=1103147&S=392&PubID=13929 Utilizing song and film to teach Hopi language By S.J. Wilson The Observer FLAGSTAFF - Thanks to an unlikely partnership and the blending of modern media, Hopi youngsters, families and teachers have yet another teaching tool to preserve traditional culture and language. Ferrell Secakuku and Anita Poleahla have produced a popular CD called "Learning Through Hopi Songs." "We wanted to inspire younger children, to provide a way for them to hear the words, to put themselves into the Hopi language, to bring them back to speaking Hopi," Secakuku said. "We are working uphill - it's a challenge to bring back the Hopi language." This is important to Secakuku and Poleahla. Like all native cultures, the Hopi language is the root of Hopi culture and life, Secakuku insisted. Secakuku, a former Hopi Tribal Chairman, met Natasa Garic in a graduate level anthropology class at Northern Arizona University. Garic, a Serbian/Croatian from Slovenia, is an international student in the Anthropology Department. She is fluent in English and Croatian, and speaks Italian and German. Garic is a 2002 graduate of NAU, majoring in cultural anthropology. She said she has always been interested in ancient cultures and native people. She originally came to Arizona to study the Navajo and has worked closely with the Hopi. A professional volleyball player, Garic is passionate about archaeology, petroglyphs and the tracing of migration patterns. Garic's interest in Hopi culture led Secakuku and Poleahla to invite Garic to illustrate a song from their CD. Garic presented the finished product, "Hopi Maidenhood Ceremony," on the afternoon of March 17 during a colloquia at the Anthropology Department, where Secakuku and Poleahla joined her. A self-described applied anthropologist, Garic told the gathering that the intention of her work is to prove that "there are other ways to do anthropology." "I thought this would be a good way to inspire the younger generation - along with their parents and grandparents," Secakuku said. Garic, Secakuku and Poleahla chose the Hopi maidenhood ceremony, deciding to bring the experience into Hopi homes and classrooms. This would allow children who might not otherwise view the ceremony to share the experience. Rather than filming video footage of the ceremony, Garic decided to use still photographs. Garic began the presentation by explaining to fellow students and faculty members that traditional Hopi education is much different from that of the western world. "On Hopi, there are different ways of education. Girls learn how to grind corn and how to cook traditional foods," Garic said. "The men and boys meet together in the kivas during the winter for lessons. In this way they learn respect for tribal elders." Garic went on to explain that the learning style of Native American youth is experiential, and that culturally based, active experiences help engage their interest. "If you've never been to Hopi, let me tell you, the world there is not the same. The pace is different," Garic said. "The people hold a different philosophy of life." Garic described the journey of a young girl becoming a maiden, learning to make traditional foods like piki bread and somiviki, and the butterfly whorl hairstyle announcing the young woman's new status. She shared a brief explanation of the maiden's ritual and social roles, of receiving gifts of cornmeal and valuable advice for moving into adulthood. "I wanted children to associate the words of the song with the pictures. I wanted historic photos to represent cultural continuity," Garic said. "I tried to make it about the young woman represented in the pictures, and about her family. I hope that the experience [of viewing the presentation] will spark an interest in other cultural roles." As the chant of Poleahla and Secakuku pulsed resonantly, viewers were treated to a slideshow of vignettes of Hopi life - of the family of a young woman entering her maidenhood. The photographs were compelling, moving through vistas of skyline beyond the edge of ancient villages, historic photos, family gatherings and corn plants. So far the audience of the film has primarily been school children, as well as a showing to teachers at the summer session of Hopi Day School. Garic agrees with Poleahla and Secakuku that this medium is a great way to teach, but she believes that the youth themselves can bring their own productions to life. "Kids today have learned the technology," she said. Poleahla, the Hopi Language teacher at Hopi Jr/Sr High School, describes herself at the "grassroots" level of technology. "Forget about housework," she laughed. "This isn't really work, this is fun." Songs from "Learning Through Hopi Songs" has received a lot of play in northern Arizona. "We hear the songs everywhere," Poleahla said. "We hear them on the radio, students are singing them." "We are working on teaching material to accompany these songs. We are so fortunate to have Natasa to do this for us. This has been a new learning experience," Poleahla said. Secakuku and Poleahla's audience is asking for the next CD - and it is in the works. Entitled "Teaching Through Hopi Songs," fans of this duo can expect to see this new CD in late April or early May. Copyright c. 2005 Northern Arizona Newspapers, Inc. --------- "RE: Educators work to teach Lakota Language to Youth" --------- Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2005 08:49:20 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TEACHING LAKOTA LANGUAGE" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.siouxcityjournal.com//16a9bebdc8ade4f986256fe0000ef720.txt Young American Indians strive to maintain traditional culture April 11, 2005 EAGLE BUTTE, S.D. (AP) - When Emanuel Red Bear and his friends wanted to learn the traditional songs of the Lakota Sioux, they turned to 76-year- old Burdell Blue Arm and his extensive knowledge of Lakota culture. "We were thinking about singing some songs, and Burdell said, 'Let's sing some old songs, traditional songs,"' said Red Bear, who lives in Eagle Butte on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. Along with Blue Arm and his nephews, Red Bear began a traditional drum group called "Wakpa Waste," pronounced WALK-pah WASH-tay, Lakota for "Good River." That is also how the tribe refers to its namesake, the Cheyenne River. "We try to sing the older songs (so) that the people will hear," Red Bear said. But preserving those songs, and American Indian culture in general, is becoming increasingly difficult as tribal elders pass away. For example, Blue Arm lives in a nursing home in Mobridge, more than 80 miles from Eagle Butte. He is in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease and is beginning to lose his memory. "That's the way my mind is - I forget now and then," Blue Arm said. As his memory fades, the tribe loses one of its most important resources. "Burdell is a living library of Lakota music," said his nephew, Steve Emery, a member of Wakpa Waste and a lawyer for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. For Red Bear, who teaches Lakota language and culture to students in Eagle Butte, keeping younger Indians interested in the ways of their people is a challenge. Many just don't care to learn the ways of their ancestors because of the allure of contemporary American culture, he said. "We have more influences of the modern society. Gangs, television, alcohol and drugs - everything's right here," Red Bear said. "We live in two worlds, the Lakota world and the non-Indian world." The Cheyenne River tribe passed an ordinance in 1993 requiring that Lakota language and culture be taught in reservation classrooms. But it is a struggle to capture students' interest, Red Bear said. "We have people, our own tribal members, who are ashamed to be (Lakota), and they don't want to learn the language," he said. "It's sad to see." Another problem are the differences in dialects between tribes, Red Bear said. The Rosebud, Pine Ridge, Standing Rock and Cheyenne River tribes all have different ways of referring to things and there are specific endings indicating the gender of the speaker. That means it's nearly impossible to reach a consensus on what needs to be taught, he said. "We're standing in one place spinning our wheels, arguing about who's right and who's wrong, and in the meantime we're losing our language," Red Bear said. But there is hope. Red Bear grew up speaking Lakota at home, and said learning such everyday phrases as "brush your teeth" and "go play" is crucial to saving the language. In outlying areas of the reservation, away from towns such as Eagle Butte, there are still families that speak Lakota at home, he said. Encouraging them to keep that up will help preserve the Lakota way, Red Bear said. "We still have a chance if we get the ones that live in the outlying districts," he said. In addition, Red Bear and others are spearheading projects such as a Lakota language immersion camp at the Cheyenne River reservation, which will be held for the second time this summer. Sponsored by the tribe, Si Tanka University and a bilingual education program, it involves language classes and instruction in such cultural activities as erecting tipis. The campers, mainly college students, are taught by members of the Cheyenne River tribe. Drum groups like Wakpa Waste also help by keeping people familiar with the older songs and exposing new people to them, Red Bear said. During the 2005 legislative session, Wakpa Waste took a drum to Pierre and sang in the South Dakota Capitol rotunda before a crowd that included lawmakers and Gov. Mike Rounds. For Blue Arm, the efforts of people like Red Bear and his nephews to learn - and preserve - the Lakota way are a beacon of hope. "It means something that they can speak the language. Maybe God is helping us," Blue Arm said. Copyright C. 2005 Sioux City Journal. --------- "RE: Expertise, Funds limit Tribal Lands' Energy push" --------- Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2005 08:34:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ENERGY REQUIRES ECONOMIC GROWTH" http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,,36~33~2802787,00.html Expertise, funds limit tribal lands' energy push By Steve Raabe Denver Post Staff Writer April 7, 2005 Oil and gas on tribal lands could be a key source of U.S. energy supplies - if the capital can be found to unlock them. "Tribes have some really excellent energy resources waiting to be developed," said former U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado. "They can really be in the driver's seat." Yet only 25 percent of known oil and gas reserves on American Indian lands have been tapped, their development hindered by a lack of financing and technical expertise, Campbell and other analysts said. Campbell retired from the Senate last year and now works as an Indian affairs adviser for the Washington law firm Holland & Knight. He is scheduled to speak today at a Las Vegas conference titled "Tribal Energy in the Southwest." American Indian land is estimated to include 10 percent of U.S. energy resources, including 30 percent of the West's known coal reserves and 10 percent of the onshore natural-gas deposits. "There are a lot of resources and a lot of potential," said Tom Acker, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Northern Arizona University who has worked with several tribes on energy development. "It could really help a lot of these tribes." But American Indian energy development is hampered by two issues, according to Acker: a lack of technical expertise and a shortage of investment capital. Some tribes have used casino profits to finance startup energy initiatives, he said. The Rosebud Sioux tribe in South Dakota spent $1.2 million to erect a utility-scale wind turbine near the reservation's casino. It now is planning a 30-megawatt wind farm with 18 wind turbines that are expected to go online in January. Tribal officials said they believe selling wind power will be more lucrative and more reliable than casino revenues. The Southern Utes of Colorado have been a leader in natural-gas development. The tribe in the 1980s had received a trickle of revenue from royalties paid by companies drilling for natural gas on the Southern Ute reservation. In 1992, it launched its own gas production company, Red Willow, which has become a model for tribal energy development. "If we can get these productive resources put to work," Campbell said, "it would be great for the reservations and great for the country as a whole." Staff writer Steve Raabe can be reached at 303-820-1948 or sraabe@denverpost.com. Copyright c. The Denver Post or other copyright holders. --------- "RE: Southwestern Tribes meeting on Health Issues" --------- Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2005 08:34:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HEALTH ISSUES" http://www.gallupindependent.com/2005/apr/040605health.html Area tribes meeting on health issues By Pamela G. Dempsey Dine' Bureau April 7, 2005 WINDOW ROCK - The Navajo Nation and other Southwestern tribes are meeting this week with the Department of Health and Human Services for their annual tribal consultation sessions. Obesity, federal funding, and self-determined health care are among some of the Navajo Nation's priorities. The tribe's top health care officials, Navajo Area Indian Health Service, and members of the Health and Social Services Committee have worked over the past few months to come up with a priority list. The Inter-governmental Relations Committee approved the Navajo Nation's position paper on Monday and appointed Anselm Roanhorse Jr., director of the Navajo Nation's Division of Health, to advocate on behalf of the tribe during the upcoming consultation sessions. Through these consultation sessions, now in their seventh year, tribes have a bigger input in how federal health care dollars are spent. The consultation sessions, the position paper stated, results in improved communication between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and tribes and increases opportunities to partner with federal agencies and surround state health departments. Since a report by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has shed light on gross health care disparities between Native American tribes and other races, the Navajo Nation has pushed harder for increased federal funding. "Federal funding has not kept pace with factors such as the rising costs of health care, increasing costs of pharmaceuticals, and competitive salaries for recruitment and retention of qualified health care professionals," the paper stated. The lack of federal funding has spurred the Navajo Nation to add the following to its list of priorities: During 1996 through 1998, an annual average of 152 fatalities and 509 hospitalizations occurred on the Navajo Nation. Unintentional injury is the leading cause of death among Navajos ages 1 years old through 54 years old. The Navajo Nation is requesting support of its trauma system development to reduce fatalities. Obesity in Navajo children has tripled in the past 20 years. The Navajo Nation is requesting support on school nutrition programs and government intervention to reduce cost of sugar-free drinks. Medicare Drug Cards can save Navajo Area Indian Health Service more than half a million dollars each year, money that can be used elsewhere. The Navajo Nation is requesting more training to implement the service. The national tribal consultation meeting to formulate the 2007 budget of the Department of Health and Human Services will be held in May. - To contact reporter Pam Dempsey call (505) 879-1707 or email pamelagdempsey@msn.com. Copyright c. 2005 the Gallup Independent. --------- "RE: Cobell presented with National Leadership Award" --------- Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2005 08:49:20 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="COBELL RECEIVES AWARD" http://www.indianz.com/News/2005/007513.asp Cobell presented with national leadership award April 11, 2005 Elouise Cobell, a member of the Blackeet Nation of Montana who has led a nine-year long court fight to force the federal government to give individual Indian trust beneficiaries a full accounting of their holdings, has been honored by The National Neighborhood Coalition. "We are proud to salute Elouise Cobell for her commitment to communities that have been robbed of their most vital assets," said Anne Pasmanick, executive director of coalition, an organization that advocate for low- income people and neighborhoods. Cobell directs the Blackfeet Reservation Fund in Montana and is the lead plaintiff in Cobell vs. Norton, a class action lawsuit that seeks to hold the federal government accountable for lands and monies it held in trust for 500,000 individual Indians. Citing Cobell's fight to help Indians recover their lost assets, the NNC presented the Browning, Mt., resident with The Pablo Eisenberg Award for Neighborhood Leadership at a reception on April 7. Cobell's leadership has guided half a million Native Americans in their quest for accountability from the federal government, the NNC said. "A banker and activist, Elouise Cobell defies stereotypes and fills both roles with equanimity and enthusiasm," said Pasmanick. The National Neighborhood Coalition (NNC) was founded in 1979 as the national voice for neighborhoods. We provide common ground for the nation's leading advocates for lower-income neighborhoods. NNC is where national and local leaders come together to generate the resources, public policies and solution-oriented strategies that strengthen and sustain neighborhoods. NNC's Annual National and Neighborhood Leadership Awards Reception was sponsored by Freddie Mac, as well as, Citigroup, Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation and Bank of America. Copyright c. 2000-2005 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: GOLTZ: Tribal Flags at the Montana Capitol" --------- Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2005 08:34:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="INCLUDING MONTANA TRIBAL NATIONS" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111283577479300373,00.html Tony Montana By THOMAS GOLTZ April 7, 2005; Page A15 HELENA, Montana - Tribal flags billowed next to the Stars and Stripes, the smell of burning sweetgrass hung in the air, and the drumbeat from a half-dozen tom-toms was a tad insistent. Scores of Native American tribal members dressed in full war bonnets and chest-length braids intoned powwow tunes while modern-day cowboys and cowgirls, decked out in rented tuxedos and full-length gowns, bounced like pogo sticks in a traditional Native American victory dance. A loopy "re-enactment" of the past by some society of weird history buffs? Plausible, but incorrect. It was, in fact, freshman governor Brian Schweitzer's inaugural ball, on Feb. 12. Even while Democrats across the country were licking their wounds from November's crushing presidential defeat, there was celebration in Montana. Not only had the citizens of the nation's fourth largest state elected a Democratic candidate as governor for the first time in 20 years, they'd also rolled back GOP dominance to a 50-50 split in the state House, taken a 27-23 majority in the Senate, filled virtually every position of real authority in the state's higher offices with Democrats, and defeated referendums on re-allowing cyanide leaching in mining (despite millions of dollars of industry lobbying money promoting the idea) while approving of the medical use of marijuana. The only victories of consequence for the GOP were the re-election of Republican Denny Rehberg to our state's single seat in the House of Representatives and the passing of an amendment that defined marriage to be a contract made exclusively between a man and woman. Oh, and the re- election of President Bush. Red, blue or purple - color-coding Montana's patterns of voting is just too simplistic, and Brian Schweitzer fits the non-conformist mold to a T. A prosperous farmer/rancher from the area of Whitefish in the tony Flathead Valley country, Mr. Schweitzer cultivates a well-spoken, gun- owning, dog-loving, native-ritual-doing, shot-of-whiskey-drinking true- west style somewhere between that of Jeanette Rankin (a famously antiwar liberal Republican elected to the U.S. Congress before women's suffrage was passed) and Mike Mansfield (the conservative Democrat senator and former ambassador to Japan whose voting record, taken as a whole, was more liberal than that of George McGovern). After taking degrees in agro-science from Montana State and then Colorado State, Mr. Schweitzer shipped off to Saudi Arabia and Libya to work on agro-irrigation projects for almost a decade, learning functional Arabic in the process. His first stab at major public office came in 2000, when he made a surprisingly serious run from nowhere against the seemingly unassailable Sen. Conrad Burns, a man whose local ratings seem to go up with every gaffe reported in the D.C. press and who has, in the words of former Montana Congressman Pat Williams, "brought home more money to Montana than any other politician in state history." The decision to run for governor was Mr. Schweitzer's next obvious choice. Following a long reign in office, Republican Marc Racicot termed- out in 2000 with a phenomenally high popularity rating, only to fall foul of the electorate thanks to his association with the Enron scandal and the highly unpopular energy deregulation that has seen power bills almost double for Montana homeowners. His chosen successor was his lieutenant governor, Judy Martz, but she was almost a lame-duck before she took office, and wisely chose not to run for a second term and face certain defeat. Mr. Schweitzer, meanwhile, selected a running mate from across the aisle in Republican state senator John Bohlinger. The pair swept into office on a bipartisan ticket, leaving diehard Republican stalwarts reeling from their electoral defeat in Montana even while the national party claimed landslide after landslide. So now it is hardball time in Helena. Possibly goaded on by the GOP national leadership who fear a young star rising in the West, local Republicans are seeking revenge. Schweitzer-backed proposed laws designed to lure more Hollywood pictures to Montana by providing guaranteed rebates for money spent in-state, and another to raise an extra $20 million in taxes by conditioning who can and cannot sell real-estate in Montana's hot property market, seemed a sure thing until GOP state senators stalled the bills in committee. When he confronted the lawmakers, the meeting was described by a GOP e-brief blog as "Mount Saint Schweitzer Blows His Top" in an outburst akin to a "10- year-old's temper tantrum." Mr. Schweitzer was "an immature, egomaniacal control-freak who is just beginning to realize that there's some actual work that accompanies the title of governor." (The movie bill ultimately passed.) Adding fuel to the partisan fire is Mr. Schweitzer's request to recall some of the Montana National Guard and its water-bomb helicopters from Iraq in order to cope with the anticipated Summer-from-Hell fire season due to an eight-year drought in the state. This has been cast by the GOP as an expression of anti-war sentiment. How all this sorts itself out over the short term is anybody's guess, but Mount St. Schweitzer is certainly stirring things up - from driving himself around the state with his pet dog, Jag, to flying the tribal flags of the seven Native American Indian reservations in Montana in rotation above the rotunda in the capital, a unique symbol of the governor's maverick streak. That streak came to the fore at the annual state governors' meeting at the White House, where Mr. Schweitzer upbraided both President Bush and Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt. He likened the president to a bad cattle auctioneer and Mr. Leavitt to a cowpoke "riding for the brand." National Democrats swooned at the audacity of the freshman governor from the Mountain West. And some even started to whisper a number: 2008. Tribal flags at the White House? There's always a first time. Mr. Goltz is a Montana-based writer. Copyright c. 2005 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Letter from Red Lake Urban Committee" --------- Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 08:45:14 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="RED LAKE URBAN COMMITTEE" http://www.rlnn.com/ArtApril05/RLUrbanCommLetter.html This is a letter written by the newly formed Red Lake Urban Committee March 31, 2005 Chairman Floyd Jourdain Jr. Red Lake Tribal Council Red Lake, Minnesota In times like this, as the tragic events unfold in our homeland, we as Red Lakers everywhere need to stand together as one against government agencies and media hype that is once again dividing us as a nation. Whether it be intentional or not, that will be the result unless we decide we won't play the media and "Information Leak", divide and conquer game that only fuels speculation and rumor. We need to stand strongly behind our tribal chairman at our time of need and support him just as strongly as he supports us. He was overwhelmingly elected last year and hasn't changed dramatically since, (Unlike what most people do when elected). We knew him, his morals and standards then and we know him now. Not one of us single or two-parent families can say we ever had complete control or knowledge of what our teenage children are thinking, and we shouldn't have to. Each of us need to be able to grow, think and act for ourselves and not be the mindless robots of our parents. We also need to stand behind our children, as Buck is rightly doing. No doubt it reflects on Louis's parents and it effects them deeply. But until conspiracy or whatever is being baked is acknowledged by the family, we need to affirm our support of Buck and his Family. We as urban Red Lakers, we are deeply affected and feel the hurt and pain of our homeland. Many of us left for our home (Red Lake) immediately to help and support in any way that we could, and will continue to do so. That week we saw Buck everywhere, tirelessly trying to do everything for the people, and was being a great leader. We need him to continue, and show our elected leaders to step up, front and center of meetings and ceremonies and show their leadership skills to support and help people of their districts. We cannot leave Buck out on a limb alone. We were starting to acknowledge the many issues we face, and this was a big wake-up call that we have a long way to go. We need to deal with the issues in the unique way that will work for us as a people. We can't allow ourselves to be second-guessed or arm-chair quarterbacked by a wider society with a different world view and those who have no idea and may not care how we survived and thrived as a people for thousands of years. We for sure have internal issues to deal with, but we need to work on them within our sovereign nation, not through media or governmental agencies. Once again, we ask all our nation to stand together and continue to pray for and support all of the many victims of this tragic event. Giga wabamin, mii gwich, mii'ue, The Red Lake Urban Committee Mike Loud Murphy (Joe) Parkhurst Johnny Smith Dave Loud Ona Kingbird Rosemary Mountain Jessica Loud Roger Oakgrove Copyright c. 2003-2005 Red Lake Net News. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: MARK AMES: Red Lake Whitewash" --------- Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 22:11:34 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MARK AMES: RED LAKE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://nypress.com/18/14/news&columns/markames.cfm NEWS & COLUMNS Volume 18, Issue 14 April 6-13, 2005 Red Lake Whitewash By Mark Ames Red Lake Whitewash Amid all of the fake soul-searching in the aftermath of the recent Red Lake high school shooting, one question is hysterically avoided: Was Jeff Weise's massacre justified? The best argument for considering whether or not Weise was provoked comes from the hysterical official reaction: a cataract of lies, moral acrobatics, grotesque cliches and laughable contradictions all of which point to a giant cultural cover-up. The goal of this cover-up is to place all blame for the massacre on Jeff Weise's evil shoulders. Thus, every major news organization repeatedly describes Weise as a Nazi, a gore- obsessed goth who once gelled his hair into the shape of horns. The Nazi claim is the craziest of all. The obvious contradiction - Weise is a Native American, a child of one of the world's greatest Holocausts - is lost on the very culture that committed that Holocaust. Weise was acutely aware of his people's Holocaust, and he explicitly linked his rage and his urge to massacre to America's moral hypocrisy. On one posting, Weise described America as "a country founded on the deaths of millions of Native Americans." In another he wrote: "9/11 was Bush's Reichstag. 100, 000 Innocent Iraqis dead since the beginning of the war, is this what they mean by 'you must sacrifice one for the good of the many?'" His solution? "[O]ne day I'll gladly buy my sons (once I have them) assault rifles, pistols, shotguns, rifles, whatever. It's my right as an 'American.' God bless America, for killing billions of people world wide." Instead of trying to look for warning signs in Jeff Weise's twerpish behavior, we should look at the warning signs at the setting of the massacre. The most grossly unexplored factor is how Weise was reportedly "teased." The word "teasing" is one of those Orwellian misnomers that massively devalues the destructive effect of the act. How bad was the "teasing"? Weise left his school last year for home schooling - the reports imply that he was too stupid to keep up, but more likely Weise was driven out by a culture of brutality. Jeff Weise is the offspring of an exterminated nation whose people suffer from rates of alcoholism, poverty and early death usually found in African countries. His father committed suicide; his alcoholic mother regularly beat him until she crashed her car and wound up a vegetable. It is easy to imagine that Weise connected his personal misery to the larger misery of his people. No ideology is more dead than Nazism; evil has taken other, less obvious and far more acceptable forms. Tracy Flick from the movie Election - that is evil. Tracy Flick is real too: consider Minnesota's Education Secretary (Red Lake is located in northern Minnesota), Cheri Pierson Yecke, who caused a storm just over a year ago when she went on Minnesota public radio and declared that the Indian holocaust never really happened because "it wasn't intentional." She said this while being interviewed about her book on American education in which she argued that egalitarianism - including racial egalitarianism - was destroying America's schools. Just this past February, the hyper-ambitious Yecke published an Op-Ed in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune titled "Moral Case For War in Iraq: Preemptive Action Helped End a Great Horror" in which she compared Saddam Hussein's Iraq to, you guessed it, Nazi Germany. The rage becomes increasingly understandable when you begin to scratch the cultural surface. In fact, you'd really have to have been broken - a slave - not to seethe. In that sense, Jeff Weise looks more like an insurgent than a simple psychopath. But that is something way too dangerous to consider - which is why we'll be hearing a lot more about this Native American's evil plans to enslave humanity in the service of the White Race. Copyright c. 2005 New York Press. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Editorial: Ownership key for Native Americans" --------- Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2005 08:34:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ECONOMIC SUCCESS" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.argusleader.com//20050407/OPINION01/504070302/1052 Editorial: Ownership key for Native Americans April 7, 2005 James Wolfensohn's tour of the Pine Ridge Reservation was symbolic of a growing awareness - in some quarters - of a real solution to many problems on Indian reservations. That is economic development. Wolfensohn, outgoing president of the World Bank, said private ownership is the key to easing world poverty - poverty illustrated on reservations around the United States. "The difficulties we're trying to solve around the world are to be found right here," he said. "The first is ownership. The second is lack of recognition. "To me, what I'm seeing here isn't the poverty, it's the chance to see new businesses that are being established and meet entrepreneurs that are taking their future into their own hands." Wolfensohn timed his visit to coincide with creation of the Global Facilities Fund for Indigenous Peoples, an international loan program he created with Rebecca Adamson, president of the First Nations Development Institute. He also wanted to promote other programs, such as the Lakota Fund, which helps reservation residents start and expand businesses. Economic development isn't the only answer. But it's vital and can pave the way for reforms in education and health care. Wolfensohn's tour helps bring needed attention to that. Copyright c. 2005 Argus Leader. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Editorial: Cuts in BIA Budget 'unacceptable'" --------- Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 08:45:14 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BIA BUDGET `BUSH-WHACK'" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.argusleader.com//20050406/OPINION01/504060319/1052 BIA needs more money Johnson, Thune must step up to restore funding for programs April 6, 2005 The United States' proposed fiscal year 2006 budget decreases funding to the Bureau of Indian Affairs by $108.2 million. A cut of this magnitude is unacceptable for a variety of reasons, but especially because of the area hit hardest: American Indian education. "If we're ever going to break the cycle of poverty in Indian Country, education is going to be a key part of the strategy," said Sen. Tim Johnson, who calls the budget plan "woefully inadequate." Under the plan, the BIA would receive $2.2 billion - $108.2 million less than the current fiscal year. One of the largest cuts would be in the school construction budget, which would be reduced from $263 million to $173 million - a $90 million decrease. Dan DuBray, Interior Department spokesman, said that although the school construction budget would be reduced, the Bush administration has made a "significant investment" in building schools during the past five years, allocating $1.4 billion for construction projects. However, many BIA officials scoff, saying only nine of 34 schools have actually been completed during that period, leaving 25 still in the design or construction phase. Under the proposed 2006 budget, only two construction projects would be funded: replacement of the Porcupine Day School in South Dakota and phase one of the replacement of the Crownpoint Community School in New Mexico. Another area of concern is that no increase in tribal college funding has been allocated. In fact, the only positive part of the proposed education funding is a $2 million allocation for a leadership academy pilot program at four BIA schools. The two poorest counties in the United States are located on South Dakota reservations. People there are among the poorest in the nation. If we want that profile to change, Johnson is right: we must start with improvements to education. And we can't expect good teachers to come to the reservations and good programs to be developed within the tribal schools if the facilities themselves are inadequate or unsafe. Additional tribal college funding is critical if we want to encourage Native Americans to seek higher education. There is a need not only for American Indian professionals to provide services on the reservations but throughout the state and nation. It is also imperative to create role models and mentors for American Indian youths. While the leadership academy pilot program is a good thing, it wouldn't be necessary if the Indian education system was adequate in the first place. And although education funding is the worst problem with the proposed BIA budget, it certainly isn't the only one. An increase of $64 million is proposed for Indian Health Services, but the IHS new construction budget would be cut by $85 million. Housing program funds would also be cut, including a $107 reduction in the Native American Housing Block Grant Program under the Department of Housing and Urban Development and a $46 million cut to the Indian Housing Loan Guarantee Fund. Certainly, there is a need to strengthen Indian trust programs, and part of the money being cut from other areas is being channeled in that direction. Under the Bush administration proposal, the Indian trust program budget would increase by $80 million, with $76 million of that amount used for an accounting project that would help trace tribal trust fund accounts. Sen. John Thune says the budget proposal demonstrates President Bush's attempts to reduce the budget deficit. But if that's done at the expense of cutting educational, health care and housing support for the poorest people in the country, it's wrong. Something must be done to restore some of the BIA funding, and it's going to be up to our senators - Tim Johnson on the Appropriations Committee and John Thune, an up-and-coming member of the majority party. They each have influence, and now is the time to use it. Copyright c. 2005 Argus Leader. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: NICK JANS: Red Lake: A tragedy of denial" --------- Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2005 08:28:14 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NICK JANS: RED LAKE" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/2005-04-04-redlake-denial_x.htm Red Lake: A tragedy of denial By Nick Jans April 4, 2005 The recent school shooting spree in Red Lake, Minn., seemed eerily familiar: An alienated teenage male apparently plots with others, goes on a murderous rampage, then turns his gun on himself, leaving behind a stunned, grieving community and more questions than answers. But the obvious parallels between the Red Lake and Columbine tragedies, right down to the black trench coat and red-laced combat boots that Red Lake shooter Jeff Weise wore, don't illuminate the darkness or depth of the wider story. As a teacher for 20 years in Native villages in bush Alaska, it is one that I know only too well. It's the story of a young Native fighting a losing battle with cultural ambiguity, poverty, substance abuse and depression - all ending in a violent death. Weise described himself on a