_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 13, ISSUE 017 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 23, 2005 Klamath kapchelam/gatering moon Cree kiskipizun/gray goose moon Mohawk Onerahtokha/budding time 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; American Indian Alliance, American Indian and NetRez-L Mailing Lists: UUCP email IMPORTANT!! ----------- In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, all material appearing in this newsletter is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for educational purposes. <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters who share our Spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the Red Road. ++ It may be subscribed to via email by sending a request from your own internet addressable account to gars@speakeasy.org ++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org <================<<<< >>>>================> +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + | As historian Patricia Nelson | | Once a language is lost, it is | | Limerick summarized in "The | | gone forever | | Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken | | * Of the 300 original Native | | Past of the American West... | | languages in North America, | | "Set the blood quantum at | | only 175 exist today. | | one-quarter, hold to it as a | | * 125 of these are no longer | | rigid definition of Indians, | | learned by children. | | let intermarriage proceed as | | * 55 are spoken by 1 to 6 elders;| | it had for centuries, and | | when they die, their language | | eventually Indians will be | | will disappear. | | defined out of existence." | | * Without action, only 20 | | "When that happens, the federal | | languages will survive the next| | government will be freed of | | 50 years. | | its persistent 'Indian problem.'"| | Source: Indigenous Language | +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ | Institute | |http://www.indigenous-language.org| This issue's Elder Quote: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + ======================== "Material things like a building ought not to be the measure of our relationship as native people," "Rather, as relatives, we ought to rejoice on each other's behalf when the Holy Ones reward either for efforts made by our children." __ Joe Shirley, Navajo Nation Chairman +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! My lovely half-side, Janet, was ... less than pleased with some news she read this week. ------ According to a report issued April 18 on the Indian Trust case Plaintiff's site (http://www.indiantrust.org), ten days ago the Interior Department once more took down its BLM Web site. They took this action two days after Interior's inspector released his most recent report that its systems were vulnerable to cyberthreats and could have "easily compromised the confidentiality, integrity and availability" of Indian trust data on the systems. A report that is very similar to one he submitted back in October of 2004. Well, DUUHHH...Interior gets it finally? They're making it public that our government is running a financial trust over a network that no third- world insurance company would tolerate? The Inspector General's reports all but admit that for over four years Interior has left finances hanging out for the taking on the Web. Either the brass at Interior has been clueless in the face of persistant evidence of systems failures, or they intentionally left Indian's money vulnerable, and then lied and obfuscated about it. Incredibly, it seems the latter is the case. Secretary Norton swore in court in October 2004 that 90 percent of the department's systems had passed a certification and accreditation process -- mere days after she received the earlier report of the systems' inadequacies from her own inspector general. How she avoids being cited for perjury after that performance is beyond me. And how did Interior get to the point that they'd admit their systems' inadequacies? Only one way. Indians and tribes have scraped together funds for more than a decade to hire investigators and lawyers to drag the US government repeatedly to the truth in court. How long will it take them to admit to the rest of it? How much additional time, effort and money will Indians have to spend to prove that the "bad men" the US was obliged by treaty to protect Indians from were, in fact, within the agency charged with providing that protection. The Bureau of Indian Affairs makes the term "trustee" a shabby joke. by tolerating a string of administrations that left Indian trust funds vulnerable to sloppy bookkeeping and crooked schemes, kickbacks, embezzlement, cooked (or nonexistent) books, and back-room buddy deals. Why do Indians need trust arrangements in the first place? They certainly wouldn't have found more devastating crooks on their own. Even if they had, at least now they'd be spared the expense of a protracted trial to prove that the government that protects them is doing its best to protect them out of what little they have left. +/// Janet Smith owlstar@bellsouth.net /*/+ P. O. Box 672168 OwlStar Trading Post + / * Marietta, GA 30008, U.S.A. http://www.owlstar.com * + ----- 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 ----------- - Red Lake Memorial Fund - Richardson has signed - "Sham" Process used 17 Indian Bills into Law for Trust Computer Accounts - Symposium underscores - Norton blocking strength of Indian Treaties Information Technology Report - Indian Education Plan - Trust Listening Conference presented to Ronan Board - Working Group - Navajo Coach looking to takes on Trust Reform field National Native Team - Sherrill Case sets off - Ben Marra Photo Exhibit N.Y. Land scramble - Professor performs - Devils Tower name Traditional Powwow Song met with lack of enthusiasm - GIAGO: Spring brings - Tribe wants new life to the Indian People Bombing Range reclaimed - YELLOW BIRD: A fine Celebration - Head Start Programs of Indian Culture close on Pine Ridge - Stevens wrong on claim - Governor's Road Plan ANWR will help Natives overlooks Idaho Tribes - Passport requirement - Contracts still an issue may be waived for Aboriginals despite Supreme Court win - Makah OK with shift to - Navajos, Hopis find Quota-Based Fishery being neighborly is tough - Transformative change? - Navajo Nation - Head of Pipeline group slams Feds to review Health Care issues - Micmacs' Case - 'Makeover' just in time sent to Federal Court for Navajo Veterans - Native Prisoner - Navajo Veterans Center -- Protection of Ceremonies angers Hopi Community - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - Where the hell were you - Rustywire: Country Trunk when we were Poor? - Hawkdancer Poem: A Cloud Thought - Columbia River Spring Salmon run - Upcoming Events at Historic Low --------- "RE: Red Lake Memorial Fund" --------- Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 08:20:27 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="RED LAKE FUND" http://www.rlnn.com/ArtMar05/RLMemorialFund.html Red Lake Memorial Fund The Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians has established a fund for those who are interested in helping the families who were affected by the shooting on the reservation on March 21, 2005. Please send donations to: "Red Lake Nation Memorial Fund" c/o Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians P.O. Box 574 Red Lake, Minnesota 56671 If you have any questions, please contact: Lea J. Perkins, Executive Administrator Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians lperkins@relakenation.org Phone (218) 679-3341 Donations can also be made at any Wells Fargo Bank to the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Memorial Fund Copyright c. 2005 Red Lake Net News. --------- "RE: "Sham" Process used for Trust Computer Accounts" --------- Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 08:20:27 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PHONY CERTIFICATION PROCESS USED" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=6310 "Sham" process used for Indian trust computer accounts Cobell case commentary WASHINGTON DC Bill McAllister April 12, 2005 The Interior Department used "a sham certification and accreditation process" to operate defective computer systems which house or access individual Indian Trust accounts, plaintiffs told a federal judge. Citing the Interior Department's own records, lawyers in the Cobell lawsuit against Interior Secretary Gale Norton have asked U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth to reimpose a temporary restraining order, shutting down all trust systems. The temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction against the department are essential to protect 500,000 trust account beneficiaries from further irreparable harm, the petition notes. "Because it is indisputable that the 'poor state of network security' creates an imminent risk of irreparable injury...plaintiffs request that this court disconnect from the Internet and shut down each information technology system which houses or access individual Indian trust data to protect plaintiffs against further injury to their interests...," the petition reads. It cited a study by the Interior Department's own inspector general who reported that "given the poor state of network security...and the weak access controls we encountered on many systems, it is safe to say that we could have easily compromised the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the identified Indian Trust data residing on such systems." Judge Lamberth has twice directed cutoffs of Interior's computer systems to protect trust data. But each time the department has reopened those systems, contending that they were safe from computer hackers. The new filing by the Cobell lawyers reports that Interior's chief information officer, Hord Tipton, has said in a deposition that Interior officials did not even consider the risk to Indian trust data when they reviewed the systems. Additional details of how the department reconnected its computers using the sham accreditation process are available in the filing for the temporary restraining order at www.indiantrust.com. Bill Mc McAllister works for the plaintiff's attorneys in the Cobell case. Native American Times. Copyright c 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Norton blocking Information Technology Report" --------- Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 08:37:14 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YET ANOTHER INTERNET SHOUTDOWN http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.fcw.com/article88614-04-18-05-Print Interior shuts down BLM Web site BY Aliya Sternstein April 18, 2005 The on-again, off-again story of the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management Web site has shifted to off-again this month. Agency officials shut down BLM's Web site after Interior's inspector general issued a report warning that the agency's information technology systems are vulnerable to cyberthreats. The shutdown is the latest in a long-running dispute over the security of Indian trust fund information. Bureau officials took the site off-line April 8, two days after the report was released. Investigators found that poor network security and weak access controls "could have easily compromised the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the identified Indian Trust data residing on such systems." Justice Department officials have since asked a U.S. district judge for a protective order to guard sensitive IT security information in the report. A class-action lawsuit filed almost nine years ago criticizes Interior's oversight of Indian trust funds. Plaintiffs have accused department officials of doing a poor job of protecting data from hackers. In 2001, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ordered Interior officials to disable Internet connections on all computers that could be used to access trust fund data. He ordered two subsequent shutdowns, although Internet access has returned to the department following a federal appeals court ruling that blocked Lamberth's latest order. A representative for the plaintiffs said external forces weighed more heavily than bureau officials are admitting. "Clearly, there was pressure from the court to keep their systems clean," said Bill McAllister, a spokesman for Elouise Cobell, a member of the Blackfeet tribe in Montana, who, along with her co-plaintiffs, filed the lawsuit against then-Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and the government. Secretary Gale Norton inherited the suit. Following the IG's report, Cobell filed a motion last week for a restraining order and preliminary injunction to shut down every IT system that houses or accesses individual trust data. The plaintiffs argue that because Interior admits its IT systems are insecure, the systems must be disconnected from the Internet. Alan Paller, research director at the SANS Institute, said many agencies' IGs have found substantial vulnerabilities that might allow information to be compromised and it makes sense to address those problems, but the wholesale shutdown can be just as dangerous. However, Bruce McConnell, president of McConnell International, approved of the shutdown. "BLM did the prudent thing, especially given the history. The public will get better service when the IT community - including industry - gets its act together on security." Copyright c. 2000-2005 101communications. --------- "RE: Trust Listening Conference" --------- Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2005 08:44:31 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BCC HOSTS TRUST CONFERENCE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.goldentrianglenews.com//glacier_reporter/news/news10.txt Trust Listening Conference attracts notables from near and far to BCC. By John McGill, Glacier Reporter Editor April 14, 2005 The Commons at Blackfeet Community College was packed with tribal members and notables from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Intertribal Trust Monitoring Association Tuesday and Wednesday, April 5-6, as people were invited to testify about the government's trust responsibility to them and how that's worked out on the ground. The "Listening Conference" is the second round begun by the ITMA, the first having been a series of regional meetings, focusing on specific tribes. Tribal Councilwoman Betty Cooper said she contacted the group and made a pitch for Blackfeet country, and the results were played out at BCC. Among those present was the special agent in charge of the Trust funds, Ross Swimmer. "What we're trying to do is streamline the Trust so it's more like a private trust where people invest their money and get a return," Swimmer said. The special agent for OST said Congress created the trust situation in 1887 when they divided reservations into allotments, giving each member a piece of land. "The U.S. holds that land in trust for you," he said, "and any income from that land should go to you." But, Swimmer noted, that was long ago and since then things have become more complex. He described a process, common in Indian country, in which the original plots of land were divided among family members. The resulting multiple ownership, called "fractionation," makes it impossible for anyone to actually profit from that land. "We want to bring a stronger focus on the beneficiary," he said. "In the past we focused on land, and in the effort to protect that land the beneficiary gets second place. The extreme conservatism and overprotection allows bad things to happen. For example, a non-Indian can lease the land because he has the money, but the Indian has no money to de-fractionate his land." Fractionation is an old problem, said Swimmer, identified as early as the 1930s by the federal government. He said Congress' solution at this time is to buy fractionated land from individuals and give it back to the tribes. "That would mean re-tribalization of the reservation," he said, "but that also has its own problems because there is no provision to help individuals to bring a title together. So that's a problem we have to address." Swimmer said new legislation contained in the Indian Reform Probate Act may help, as it contains more latitude for major owners to force sales of fractionated interests of those who own less than 5 percent of the piece. "But we still have credit and economic issues that impact it," he said. Swimmer said the BIA was active, some years ago, in offering land trades to consolidate fractionated land, but they recently quit doing that for fear the newly created lands would simply be broken up again, as owners bequeathed shares to their children. "But we want the individual to be able to work the land," Swimmer said, indicating he would ask the Bureau to resume the process since it at least solves today's fractionated land problem and gets individuals back into a position of benefiting from their ownership. "These are policies we can look at because of the conference," said Swimmer, "and the most important is putting Trust officers on the ground. It's the first time in 110 years, and it means there's a person trained in fiduciary Trust principles, the first time in Indian country, whose sole job is to work with the beneficiaries and the BIA to get the best for both." "The Listening Conference has been an opportunity for the Blackfeet people to make statements on the Trust responsibility we have," said Blackfeet Councilwoman Betty Cooper. "As Blackfeet, we are assessed by different officials, and they believe that all that is here is a culture of poverty. Poverty is here, but it isn't our culture." Cooper noted the conference was staffed by translators who translated testimony in traditional Blackfeet to English, and converted English testimony into Blackfeet. She emphasized the presence of Blackfeet culture in the Crazy Dog Society's opening the conference on both days, as well as conducting a pipe ceremony and students from the Cuts Wood School presenting the invocation both days. "The Listening Conference is a stepping stone for the Blackfeet," Cooper said. "There are more hearings coming, and we're working on a Lame Bull --------- "RE: Working Group takes on Trust Reform" --------- Date: Sun, 17 Apr 2005 16:52:04 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRUST REFORM" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096410754 Working group takes on trust reform by: Jerry Reynolds / Indian Country Today April 15, 2005 TULSA, Okla. - A tribal working group on trust reform and settlement of the long-running class action lawsuit known as Cobell got off to a good start April 8, according to co-chairmen Jim Gray of the Intertribal Monitoring Association and Tex Hall of the National Congress of American Indians. "Going into it right now, we've got all the right people in the room who need to be there," Gray said. Gray, chief of the Osage Nation, hosted the meeting. "It's a real snapshot, to see Indian country working on the needs of their communities." Present for the occasion were David Mullen, senior counsel to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on behalf of SCIA Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz; Sara Garland, Democratic staff director for the committee on behalf of SCIA Vice Chairman Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.; Jim Hall, legislative staff for the Committee on Resources in the House of Representatives on behalf of Chairman Richard W. Pombo, R-Calif.; Kimberly Teehee, senior advisor to the House Native American Caucus on behalf of co-Chairman Dale Kildee, D- Mich.; and Cobell case attorney John Echohawk from the Native American Rights Fund. The working group formed to provide recommendations to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and the House Resources Committee as they draft legislation to settle the Cobell lawsuit and reform current trust systems. The group met on April 11 in San Diego and will meet again May 2 and 3 in Albuquerque, N.M., Hall said. The group is open to every Indian nation and organization that wishes to participate, according to a press release. On June 2 and 3, Dorgan will host a listening session at United Tribes Technical College in North Dakota. The two lead committees on Indian affairs in Congress are working on draft legislation that could be introduced in May or June, followed by summer hearings and a second draft during the August congressional recess, the release stated. McCain and Pombo have both pledged Congress to "one good shot" at passing legislation to reform trust management, secure tribal trust resources and settle Cobell. The tribal working group sessions have the encouragement of Congress, Gray said: "They are really interested in developing tribal input on this ... We didn't have to tell them that." The Cobell attorneys and lead plaintiffs are also cooperating, he added. "And that has not always been the case." The Tulsa meeting resulted in a recommendation to make land consolidation a priority of the pending legislation, Hall said. Land fractionation - the division of heritable interests in land among multiple heirs over successive generations - has rendered an appreciable percentage of Indian land economically useless, and accounting for fractionated interests and their beneficiaries is a growing burden on the federal treasury. Other concerns that got an airing include: * A prospective "fix" of trust management; * The future role of the Office of the Special Trustee within the Interior Department; * The reorganization of the BIA and land-into-trust applications at the bureau; and * An across-the-board 2 percent cut to BIA offices and its impact on lease compliance staffing, tribal involvement in granting rights-of-way and easements on tribal land and tribal involvement in land consolidation. Hall said the OST, headed by a special master for Indian trust, continues to absorb congressional appropriations that would go to the BIA for Indian services otherwise. "It was supposed to be oversight, but now it's a whole bureaucracy." The ongoing BIA reorganization remains a sore point with tribes that feel they have not been consulted, Hall said. "If we don't address how this will be paid for, if we don't address OST, I don't think Indian country will be part of this." The BIA is not accepting or acting on tribal land-into-trust applications, Hall noted. "And we don't agree with that." Tribal involvement in the granting of rights-of-way and easements on tribal land, as well as in the land consolidation process applied to individual Indian landholders, is non-negotiable in Hall's telling: "To not have that authority is something tribes won't go for." The 2 percent cut to BIA offices will weigh heavily on tribes in general, Hall said. But for many tribes with trust land spread out over expansive reservations, he said, "The main bread and butter is this leasing and grazing." Lease compliance officers are already in short supply, and the budget cutbacks will leave Indian land resources even less protected. Hall said the working group has appointed a technical team to provide accurate information on the much-debated computerization needs of the overhauled trust management system. "The technical team will be helping us draft the technical considerations we want in the bill." Copyright c. 1998-2005 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved. Treaty conference later." Copyright c. 2005 Golden Triangle Newspapers. --------- "RE: Sherrill Case sets off N.Y. Land scramble" --------- Date: Friday, April 15, 2005 8:17 PM From: Frederica Bickel Subj: Article from Indian Country Today Mailing List: American_Indian_Alliance@yahoogroups.com Sherrill case sets off N.Y. land scramble April 15, 2005 ONEIDA NATION HOMELAND, N.Y. - As central New York tribes scramble to preserve their sovereignty in the aftershock of the U.S. Supreme Court Sherrill decision, the BIA is puzzling over a major, and possibly unforeseen, consequence of the decision. The 8 - 1 majority decision written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg rejected "unilateral" assertions of tribal sovereignty on tribally- reacquired land, instead offering the Interior Department's process of taking "land into trust." The Oneida Indian Nation, respondent in the case, announced April 12 it has put in an application for roughly 17,000 acres under the process, and the Cayuga Indian Nation has indicated it will follow suit. According to Mark Emery, spokesman for the Oneida Nation, "The Supreme Court detailed a roadmap for providing certainty regarding the nation's rights in its lands, and the nation is going to follow that roadmap." But the BIA is discovering that these reservations would be its first trust land in New York state. The existing tribal reservations in New York - the Mohawk St. Regis (Akwesasne) reservation, the three territories of the Seneca Nation of Indians, the separate Tonawanda Seneca and Tuscarora lands, Onondaga Castle south of Syracuse, and two state-recognized tribes on Long Island - are not federal trust lands. Franklin Keel, director of the BIA's eastern region, wrote in a letter to the Cayuga Nation: "The history of Indian lands in the state of New York is quite unique ... [T]here are no Indian lands held in federal trust in the state of New York." Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) nations base their "aboriginal title" on a term drawn from European feudal law; their lands are "allodial": owing title to no other sovereign. The St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Council has nonetheless called for its land settlement to go forward. In an April 7 release, it said its circumstances differed sharply from the Oneidas' in that its settlement established "contiguous reservation lands with sizable Mohawk populations." The council cited substantial local support for the settlement, including an April 4 resolution by the St. Lawrence County Legislature. "Our land claim settlement is continuing to move forward and receive the support of local communities," said Chief Barbara A. Lazore. "It's a fair settlement and the ratification of the governor's Program Bill benefits all the parties." Chief James W. Ransom denounced the Supreme Court's opinion as "unjust." He said it "overturns fundamental bedrock principles of Indian law." He added, however, that it "does not stop litigation ... and exposes all the parties to years of uncertainty and legal costs." None of this background appears in Ginsburg's decision, nor is there evidence she was even aware of it. Her reliance on a process previously unused in New York state could throw large quantities of sand into the gears of a land settlement already grinding to a halt. Five tribes, including three out-of-state claimants, negotiated land settlements with New York state Gov. George Pataki, who has submitted an omnibus bill to the state Legislature. One major deal that would double the size of the St. Regis reservation appears to assume that the new land would assume the same sovereign status as the existing reservation. But since the current reservation is not federal trust land, it is unclear under the Sherrill opinion how this result could be achieved. There is even a remote possibility that the status of existing New York reservations could be called into question. From the widespread gloating over Ginsberg's opinion, there seems no shortage of anti-sovereignty citizens' groups willing to make the challenge. Ginsburg did note that earlier Supreme Court decisions upholding Oneida land rights suits "recognized the Oneida's aboriginal title to their ancient reservation land." But she rejected what she called the Oneida's "unification theory" whereby its purchases of its aboriginal land on the open market gave it both "fee title," its rights as a property owner, and "aboriginal title," with national sovereignty. Daniel French, a lawyer for the Cayuga Indian Nation, told the Syracuse Post-Standard that his clients were leaning toward applying to put land they own in Union Springs and Seneca Falls into trust. Until recently the Cayugas were landless, although they are pursuing a suit for their 64,000- acre former reservation. Federal courts have held the land was illegally conveyed in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and have awarded nearly $250 million in damages. An appeal of the award in the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals was in abeyance pending the Supreme Court decision in Sherrill. In the meantime, the Seneca-Cayuga Nation of Oklahoma has avoided a showdown with Cayuga County by announcing they will pay back taxes on a 229-acre farm they own in Aurelius and will drop plans to open an electronic bingo hall. The back tax bill, including interest and penalties, reportedly amounts to $86,000. Please visit the Indian Country Today website for more articles related to this topic. Copyright c. 1998-2005 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Devils Tower name met with lack of enthusiasm" --------- Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 08:37:14 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BEAR LODGE" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.billingsgazette.com//wyoming/50-devils-tower.inc Devils Tower name met with lack of enthusiasm Associated Press April 17, 2005 DEVILS TOWER NATIONAL MONUMENT, Wyo. - An American Indian organization is renewing the push to change the name of Devils Tower National Monument. The announcement came about a week after monument Superintendent Lisa Eckert abandoned the idea of incorporating "Bear Lodge," an old Indian name, into the monument's title. United Native America founder Mike Graham isn't giving up. He wants an outright name change to Bear Lodge National Monument, completely dropping Devils Tower. "Our national group sees fit to just go after the name change, period," he said, "because the Native American community's views and religious beliefs, over the centuries, have been trampled on." United Native America was formed in 1993 as a nationwide grassroots movement to bring about a national holiday for Native Americans. The group has since taken on other causes, such as abolishing the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, removing Andrew Jackson's likeness from the $20 bill because of his treatment of Indians, and changing the name of Custer State Park in South Dakota to Chief Crazy Horse State Park. Graham, of Muldrow, Okla., is seeking to rally every tribe associated with the Devils Tower area to sign a petition seeking the name change. He also said he's going to enlist the help of others who might object to the moniker, including a prominent evangelist. "We're going to Pat Robertson of 'The 700 Club' and ask for his support because we believe that no national landmark should be named after the devil," Graham said. Colonel Richard Dodge, commander of a military escort for a U.S. Geological Survey party in 1875, is generally credited with giving the formation its present name. In his book, "The Black Hills," published in 1876, he called it Devils Tower, explaining, "The Indians call this shaft The Bad God's Tower, a name adopted with proper modification, by our surveyors." At least six tribes have historical and geographical ties to the 1,267- foot-high stumplike geological formation, which is the hardened core of a long-extinct volcano. The Arapaho called the tower Bear's Tepee. The Cheyenne dubbed it Bear's Lodge and Bear's House. Others with historical ties are the Crow, Lakota, Kiowa and Shoshone. Altogether, over 20 tribes have potential cultural affiliation with the landmark, the Park Service says. In March, Eckert floated the idea of changing the name to Devils Tower National Monument at Bear Lodge Historic Landmark to acknowledge American Indians' cultural ties. "The secretarially designated Bear Lodge National Historic Landmark will ensure that the Native American name and sacred site values are formally recognized and convey a stronger sense of the cultural significance of the site to all people," according to a National Park Service internal brief circulated in January. On April 9, though, Eckert announced she was dropping the idea because she heard of opposition from Wyoming's congressional delegation. Rep. Barbara Cubin, R-Wyo., has introduced a one-sentence bill aimed at preserving the current name. Also, Gov. Dave Freudenthal, a Democrat, questioned the idea, and some businesses in the area expressed opposition. Additionally, people who climb the tower were concerned that the Park Service harbored the ulterior motive of eventually prohibiting anyone from scaling the monument during June. Currently, the Park Service has a policy asking climbers to avoid the site in June to give Indians a peaceful time to practice religious ceremonies. Graham said a major source of irritation is that he doubts Cubin consulted with her American Indian constituents before she wrote the bill protecting the current name. Cubin spokesman Joe Milczewski said Friday he wasn't certain if she had. Similarly, Graham questioned if Freudenthal had visited with his Indian constituents before expressing a "severe lack of enthusiasm" for the idea. Freudenthal's press secretary, Lara Azar, said the governor had received fewer than 10 comments on the issue, and said everyone should feel welcome to express their concerns to him. "The governor feels that, for all of the constructive ways we can use our limited resources, this is one that does not seem to ever grow legs," she said. "He feels the burden falls on the people who want to change the status quo." Copyright c. 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Tribe wants Bombing Range reclaimed" --------- Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2005 08:44:31 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ORDNANCE REMOVAL" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.argusleader.com//20050415/NEWS/504150306/1001 Tribe wants bombing range reclaimed Bombs: Concern about who removes ordnance CARSON WALKER Associated Press April 15, 2005 RAPID CITY - The Oglala Sioux Tribe called together several federal agencies Thursday, eyeing a long-term plan to clean up part of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation that the U.S. military used for target practice starting in World War II. The Army and Air Force dropped ordnance on the 341,719-acre Badlands Bombing Range from 1942 to about 1963. B-17 bombers out of what is now Ellsworth Air Force Base near Rapid City initially used it as a practice area. It later was used for fighter aircraft and then by Reserve troops for training. The land was returned to the tribe in 1977. The Air Force still controls 2,487 acres in the north-central part of the range, which also includes part of Badlands National Park. "One of our concerns is the health and safety of our people," said Kim Clausen, director of the tribe's environmental protection program, who organized the meeting. "There could be some really dangerous spots." Federal funding to do environmental work and clean up the site started in 1995. Roughly $20 million has been spent so far, and about $5 million is earmarked for this year and next year, said Kirk Engelbart of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Omaha. That agency is in charge of the cleanup under the Formerly Used Defense Sites program. Col. Jeff Bedey, commander of the corps' Omaha District, said he and the corps are committed to cleaning up the former bombing range. "It is an area rich in history and is a significant cultural and religious resource to the Oglala Sioux," he said. Tribal council member Dave Pourier of Porcupine spent much of his youth on the bombing range, which is in the northwest corner of the reservation. He said he's optimistic the corps will clean up the site so people can move back onto the land. "They've done as much as they can with the amount of money they have," Pourier said of the corps. One of the tribe's biggest concerns is the October closing of an office on the reservation that communicated with tribal members about the cleanup, said Emma Featherman-Sam, former coordinator of the office. "The cleanup plan is in place. It just makes it harder for the corps because they don't have a point of contact on the reservation," she said. But that should change within months, Engelbart said. Funding for the office was shifted, which is why it closed, but the corps will use Formerly Used Defense Sites money to hire the liaison, he said. Another issue for some tribal members is Native American labor. The tribe and the Department of Defense agreed to let local tribal members be trained and hired as workers with the skills needed to remove unexploded ordnance on the bombing range. That started in 1998. But in 2002, the Department of Defense said it no longer wanted to pay employees and instead contracted for the work. That prompted some of those workers to start their own business, Native American Environmental. It now has offices in Pine Ridge and Rapid City, employs more than 50 people and pays above-average wages, said its president, Barry Bettelyoun. "The money stays in South Dakota. It stays on the reservation," he said. The company now sends workers to projects in other states and even to Iraq. Some tribal members want the corps to give preference to the Indian- owned company and have other contractors hire tribal members who have the skills. Bedey said he can't tell contractors whom to hire, nor can preference be given to an Indian company. It must compete on its own, but "we try to include them in the competition," he said. Bedey said Native American Environmental is going through the challenges all companies endure as they grow, but it's doing the right things to ensure it can compete for defense contracts. Copyright c. 2005 Argus Leader. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Head Start Programs close on Pine Ridge" --------- Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 08:41:16 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BIA CITES CONDITIONS IT FAILS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.yankton.net/stories/041205/news_20050412024.shtml Head Start Programs Close On Pine Ridge April 12, 2005 PINE RIDGE (AP) - Twenty-four Head Start programs that serve more than 460 preschoolers on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation have been shut down due to financial management and other problems. The Bureau of Indian Affairs told the Oglala Sioux Tribe in a March 31 memo that three areas needed to be addressed before the Head Start centers could reopen, said Will Peters, a tribal council member. The memo said the tribe must provide a record of accounts, demonstrate that it had sufficient nonfederal working capital for a 30-day period and show the tribe was no longer at risk of losing its Head Start programs. "I'm saddened by what our communities have to go through under these circumstances," Peters said. Alberta Miller, Head Start program director, told parents in a March 25 letter that the basis for closing the centers "lies in the fact that telephone service has been disconnected to the majority of the Head Start and Early Head Start centers across the reservation and constitutes a safety violation." Parents said the shut down has left them with few options for their children. "This program does make a difference in our children. They're interacting with other kids and getting classroom experiences," said Gayla Adams of Kyle. Parents have missed work while trying to figure out child care, but more than losing a convenient baby-sitting center, the communities have lost a learning center for their children, she said. "These children need to be in their schools," Adams said. Phyllis Wilcox of Wanblee said parents in her community planned to celebrate Head Start preschool graduation with or without the tribe's help. "It's a concern for our community," she said. "A lot of little ones were looking forward to graduation." The reservation programs also were shut down in 2003 and 2004 for noncompliance issues, Wilcox said. ------ Information from: Rapid City Journal, http://www.rapidcityjournal.com Copyright c. 2005 The Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan, Morris Communications Corp. --------- "RE: Governor's Road Plan overlooks Idaho Tribes" --------- Date: Sun, 17 Apr 2005 16:52:04 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PORK BARREL" http://www.shobannews.com/index.html Governor's road plan overlooks Idaho tribes Volume 29, Number 14 April 7, 2005 FORT HALL - The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes are opposed to SB 1183 - a plan to commit future transportation dollars to create a $1.6 billion bonding program to fix roads around the state. On Wednesday, March 30th the Fort Hall Business Council voted in favor of sending written testimony to the Idaho House Transportation & Defense Committee requesting SB 1183 be voted down for lack of adequate public involvement - specifically inadequate consultation with Idaho Indian tribes. The Tribes believe it's an "unnecessary pork barrel project approach" that may well serve to be a future economic detriment to statewide transportation interests. "At minimum we request the language identifying the approved projects within the bill be struck out so there will be adequate public involvement in the annual development of the State of Idaho - State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP)," said Council Chairwoman Nancy Eschief Murillo. She said the Tribes specific concerns are the inadequate consultation of the STIP as required by federal laws and the possibility of future economic detriment to the state that could impact the Fort Hall Indian Reservation and southeast Idaho. Under current federal law (23USC, Sec. 134 & 135) the State of Idaho is required to develop an annual STIP and the process to conduct consultation with metropolitan organizations, local governments and Indian tribal governments. "Since the Tribes have never been officially consulted with and denied input into the current project listing of SB 1183, we believe the STIP development and investment transportation strategies have been trivialized, " she said. An area of proposed road improvement is Indian Valley (State Highway 16 Extension). It's called Indian Valley because Shoshone and Bannock tribal ancestor's remains are located there. It's the aboriginal homeland of the Weiser Band of Shoshones. On April 26, 1869, the military forcibly removed the Weiser Band of Shoshones to the Fort Hall Indian Reservation. The Tribes have serious concerns regarding the many Native American cultural & sacred sites, burial grounds, and the ecosystem in the proposed GARVEE transportation projects impacting Tribal aboriginal territories. The Tribes believe the State of Idaho is not recognizing or respecting treaty rights guaranteed under the Fort Bridger Treaty of 1868. Federal laws such Native American Graves Protection & Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Archaeological & Historic Protection Act (AHPA) provide the statutory need for statewide Tribal input. The Tribes believe the Native American cultural & sacred site concerns were not considered in formulating the proposed GARVEE transportation projects. The current list of projects within the Senate bill 1183 preempts and nullifies tribal cultural and sacred site concerns. Copyright c. 2005 Sho-Ban News. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Contracts still an issue despite Supreme Court win" --------- Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2005 08:41:30 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="IHS NOT TREATING TRIBES FAIRLY" http://www.indianz.com/News/2005/007615.asp Contracts still an issue despite Supreme Court win April 14, 2005 The Indian Health Service is still not treating tribes fairly despite the U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous ruling in favor of self-determination contracts, tribal leaders said on Wednesday. On March 1, the high court ruled 8-0 that the IHS must fully fund contracts, including support costs, with tribes and tribal organizations that carry out federal programs. The justices said the federal government must uphold its promises to Indian people. The decision was widely hailed as a victory for Indian rights. But in testimony to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, tribal leaders cited persistent inequities in the funding of self-determination contracts. "Failure to adequately fund contract support costs is defeating the very programs that appear to be helping improve health conditions for American Indians and Alaska Natives," said Sally Smith, the chair of the National Indian Health Board. The testimony was backed up by internal IHS figures released by the Cherokee Nation and the law firm that brought the case to the Supreme Court. The document showed $99 million shortfall for health care contracts for this year, and predicted a $126 million shortfall for next year. The decision came out after Congress finalized the 2005 federal budget. But the Bush administration has not asked for supplemental money to patch up the holes and has only asked for an additional $5 million for next year, Dr. Charles Grim, the director of the IHS, said in his testimony. Nevertheless Grim pointed out that the agency's commitment to the policy of self-determination is reflected in the budget. "The share of the IHS budget allocated to tribally operated programs has grown steadily over the years to the point where today over 50% of our budget is transferred through self-determination contracts," the testimony stated. Rachel Joseph, the chairwoman of the Lone Pine Paiute Shoshone Tribe of California, testified that self-determination contracting has improved over the years. The IHS at first refused to fund contract support costs but later changed its position, she said. "Funding CSC removed a deterrent to tribal contracting," her testimony stated. Tribal leaders have said they are unwilling to contract for IHS programs because they know they will not receive all the money needed to provide services. In addition to the IHS, the Supreme Court decision affected the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Yet no new funds have been addressed to address an estimated $37 million shortfall. In testimony to the Senate last month, Interior Secretary Gale Norton said the decision would not have a major impact on her department. She cited a Congressional rider that allows federal agencies to limit contract support costs. The rider is different from the one considered in the Supreme Court case. That one only applied for the years 1994 through 1997, while a subsequent rider, according to Norton, covers later years. The issue is expected to be raised today as tribal leader testify before the House Appropriations subcommittee that handles Interior's budget bill. Copyright c. 2000-2005 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: Navajos, Hopis find being neighborly is tough" --------- Date: Sun, 17 Apr 2005 16:52:04 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="UNEASY NEIGHBORS" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0415nav-hopi.html Navajos, Hopis find being neighborly is tough Judy Nichols and Betty Reid The Arizona Republic April 15, 2005 The Navajo and Hopi tribes have long been uneasy neighbors. Lori Piestewa had a foot in both tribes. She was enrolled in the Hopi Tribe and lived on Tuba City Unified School District property, which is on Navajo land. Her son, Brandon, is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation. Her daughter, Carla Lynn, is an enrolled member of the Hopi Tribe. The close proximity of the tribes has led to many intermarriages, but they have not always been so close. The Hopis, who number about 15,000, have occupied five mesas in northern Arizona since A.D. 500. The Hopi Reservation was established in 1882. But tribal members consider the land, 1.6 million acres, only 9 percent of their traditional homeland. Their neighbors, the Navajos, arrived in the mid-1800s. The Navajos now number more than 300,000, and their reservation has expanded over time to more than 26,000 square miles surrounding the Hopi Reservation. There have been disputes over portions of the Navajo Reservation, which the Hopis claim contain sacred springs, eagle-nesting sites and shrines vital to the Hopi religion. One 1974 court decision led to the relocation of more than 10,000 Navajos and fewer than 100 Hopis. It was the largest forced relocation since the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. The remaining dispute is over land in the Bennett Freeze, which covers more than 700,000 acres of the western Navajo Reservation. For nearly 40 years, development there has been banned, leaving thousands of families, mostly Navajo, without running water, lights or modern appliances. Today, tribal leaders are working to end the disputes. Copyright c. 2005, azcentral.com. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Navajo Nation to review Health Care issues" --------- Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2005 08:41:30 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NAVAJO HEALTH" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.gallupindependent.com/2005/apr/041305hlthcare.html Tribe to review health care issues By Pamela G. Dempsey Dine' Bureau April 13, 2005 WINDOW ROCK - The Navajo Nation is the only tribe scheduled to give testimony today to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on tribal health issues in Washington, D.C. Anslem Roanhorse, director of the tribe's Division of Health, will report to the federal committee on the Navajo Nation's health care programs and current challenges. Roanhorse joins a panel of national health care organizations including the National Indian Health Board, the National Steering Committee for the Reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, and the National Council on Urban Indian Health. Indian Health Service and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will also be present. In his written statement, Roanhorse stated that 77 percent of his division's operating budget is federally funded. The division's operating budget totaled more than $79 million for fiscal year 2005, Roanhorse stated. The division employs more than 1,000 people throughout the Navajo Nation and operates several prevention, health promotion, counseling and treatment programs. Recruiting health care professionals and keeping up with the rising costs of health care have challenged the Navajo Nation's resources. "Contrary to the goal of eliminating racial disparities in health care, American Indians including the Navajo people have experienced disparities in health care funding and other resources in the United States for many years," Roanhorse stated. The Navajo Area Indian Health Service, for example, was funded at 55 percent of its projected need for the year 2003. "As the testimony of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission underscores, this is unacceptable and it demonstrates a glaring injustice to fully funding Navajo health care needs," Roanhorse stated. Federal employees, he stated, receive three times the amount of medical care dollars than the Navajo people. "More health care funding equates to ex wn1panded health care services that will sufficiently meet the health care needs of the Navajo Nation," Roanhorse stated. - To contact reporter Pam Dempsey call (505) 879-1707 or email pamelagdempsey@msn.com Copyright c. 2005 the Gallup Independent. --------- "RE: 'Makeover' just in time for Navajo Veterans" --------- Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2005 08:41:30 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NAVAJO VETERAN OFFICE" http://www.indianz.com/News http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0414piestewa14.html 'Makeover' just in time for Navajo veterans Old office facing budget cuts; crews start on new one Mark Shaffer Republic Flagstaff Bureau April 14, 2005 TUBA CITY - When Marcia Edgewater's husband, Raymond, died from exposure on a Flagstaff street last year, she turned to the local Veterans Affairs Office for burial help. All the financially strapped agency could pay for was a 21-gun salute. So, Edgewater, whose husband served in Vietnam, and the hundreds of other veterans and their families were overjoyed when they found out this week that the ABC program Extreme Makeover: Home Edition would be donating a new veterans center to this western Navajo regional center because it was home to the late Iraqi war hero Lori Piestewa. advertisement A crew of 300 workers began putting up the 2,000-square-foot building Wednesday afternoon as its foundation dried, in anticipation of its dedication next Monday after a parade. An additional 1,300 volunteers are building a home north of Flagstaff during the next five days for Piestewa's parents and her two children. The ABC television crew decided on the Arizona projects after receiving a nomination from Jessica Lynch, Lori Piestewa's best friend. The new veterans office will be only part of the 5-acre park dedicated to the war veterans of the Navajo Nation. The Navajos are known for their World War II code talkers, who used coded messages in their own language that the Japanese could never break. Navajo tribal officials said a memorial, along the same lines of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, will be constructed in the park with the names of tribal veterans killed in foreign wars. Five poles will bear the flags of the United States, Arizona, Navajo Nation, America's disabled veterans, and one representing those missing and killed in action. Nearby, the ground also was being cleared Wednesday for a traditional Navajo dwelling, a hogan, which will be used for healing ceremonies, primarily for veterans. This is the second time in two months that ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition has chosen an Arizona location. The first was a 5,500 square foot home in Gilbert, the home of Kassandra Okvath, an 8-year-old leukemia patient, and her parents, Nicole and Brian Okvath, and five siblings. Traditional religious leaders from the Navajo, Hopi and San Manuel Band of Mission Indians will conduct a blessing ceremony at the Piestewa home site this morning. Crews will begin excavating the site today; the Piestewa episode is scheduled to air as the season finale May 22. The Tuba City memorial and office space couldn't come a moment too soon for the Western Navajo Veterans' Affairs Office, which has been operating on a shoestring and a prayer in recent years. Until last summer, the office had been located in two tiny dormitory rooms at Tuba City's Greyhills High School. The veterans were moved out when the Navajo Housing Authority offered the veterans office temporary residence in a small rental home. Meanwhile, employees of the veterans office are sweating an anticipated 10 percent budget cut for fiscal 2006, which begins Oct. 1 Not that there was much of anything to cut. The office only has a budget of about $140,000 annually to provide financial assistance for the enrolled 1,033 veterans within their programs, said Brenda Donald, who maintains the office's financial records. That money goes primarily to help veterans pay for heating costs, home construction materials, travel costs to Veterans Administration centers in Prescott and Phoenix and to pay medicine men for ceremonies, Donald said. No one knows the dollar shortages better than former Vietnam Marine combat engineer Phillip Multine, son of a Navajo code talker. On this day, Multine is at the center trying to get help finding a birth and death certificate for his father, Oscar Multine, who he said froze to death under a foot of snow behind an Albuquerque convenience store in the late 1990s. "I've also been trying to get financial help here so I can have a cleansing ceremony, a blessing way, but I've been waiting two months," Phillip Multine said. "I hope all this help the TV program is providing works its way to all of us." Reach the reporter at mark.shaffer@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-8057. Copyright c. 2005, azcentral.com. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Navajo Veterans Center angers Hopi Community" --------- Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 08:37:14 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PIESTEWA" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0417piestewa17.html Navajo veterans center angers Hopi community Mark Shaffer Republic Flagstaff Bureau April 17, 2005 FLAGSTAFF - Hopi Tribal Councilman Clifford Quotsaquahu, a Vietnam veteran, notes with pride that he is of the same tribe of the deceased Iraqi war icon Lori Piestewa. Her father, Terry, is a Hopi. She was an enrolled member of the tribe and she is buried on the Hopi reservation. So why is it, an angry Quotsaquahu asks, that the memory of Piestewa is being honored with the construction of a center to serve Navajo Nation veterans in the Navajo community of Tuba City? The two tribes have been bitter rivals for more than 100 years because of land disputes, some of which still have not been resolved. Lori Piestewa grew up in Tuba City, where both of her parents still work for the Tuba City Unified School District. The construction of the veterans center, along with the Piestewas' new home north of Flagstaff, will be broadcast in the two-hour season finale May 22 of the popular ABC show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. The veterans center will be dedicated in ceremonies on Monday. "Hopi veterans are very upset about this," Quotsaquahu said. "I left a message on the telephone recorder of Gene Little, the director of the Tuba veterans center, which said, 'Do Navajo veterans have the balls to accept a building built for a Hopi war hero?' " Little could not be reached for comment on Saturday, and Elsa Johnson, a Navajo who is working with Extreme Makeover as a cultural consultant, refused to comment. In a prepared statement, Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr. said that both tribes should be rejoicing about the good fortune of Native American veterans and the Piestewa family. "Material things like a building ought not to be the measure of our relationship as native people," Shirley said. "Rather, as relatives, we ought to rejoice on each other's behalf when the Holy Ones reward either for efforts made by our children." Producers for Extreme Makeover said that discussions were held with local Hopi officials in the community of Moenkopi, which borders Tuba City and is where Lori Piestewa is buried. But little progress was being made during the talks, and the television show was facing a deadline if it hoped to show the segment this season. That was when the site in Tuba City was selected for the veterans center, Navajo officials said. Reanna Albert, staff assistant to Hopi Chairman Wayne Taylor Jr., said that Taylor's office did not even know about the veterans center until it was contacted by Extreme Makeover on March 29. "We certainly have a lot of questions about the way this thing was handled," Albert said. "On top of that, we had three good potential sites for a veterans center here in the center of the reservation near our governing center in Kykotsmovi." Franklin Shupla of Polacca, one of only two surviving Hopi Code Talkers from World War II, said he is just happy that he has managed to stay out of the controversy. Shupla said he plans to participate in the dedication of the Tuba City veterans center on Monday. "I'm glad I didn't get my head stuck in that one because I probably would have gotten it cut off," Shupla said. Reach the reporter at (602) 444-8057. Copyright c. 2005, azcentral.com. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Where the hell were you when we were Poor?" --------- Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2005 08:20:27 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ABRAMOFF REPERCUSSION" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-04-11-coushetta-scandal_x.htm Unfolding scandal tears at tribe with leading role By Jill Lawrence, USA TODAY April 12, 2005 KINDER, La. - The Coushatta Grand Hotel and Casino Resort rises out of the marshy flatlands here like a misshapen, fluorescent-lit schooner in an ocean of parked cars. Along with riches, it has visited upon its namesake Indian tribe a leading role in a scandal unfolding nearly 1,300 miles away. The Louisiana Coushatta tribe has about 800 members. The casino brings in $300 million a year. And in less than three years, the tribe paid $32 million to two Washington, D.C., insiders who are now being investigated by two Senate committees, the Justice Department, the FBI, the IRS and the Interior Department. The probes involve suspicions of fraud, money laundering and other crimes. Members of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and the panel's investigators say lobbyist Jack Abramoff and public relations consultant Michael Scanlon received $82 million from a dozen tribes with gambling interests. Last year, then-chairman Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who is now chairman, called Abramoff's and Scanlon's actions a way to exploit Indians' new wealth and the pair's ties to powerful figures such as House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas. Following the pair's instructions, the tribes also gave millions to political figures and groups, according to documents from the Indian Affairs investigation released by the committee The tribes were looking for higher visibility in Washington and more money from the federal government. They also wanted permission to run casinos and protection from potential competitors. So they hired Scanlon, a former top aide to DeLay, and Abramoff, a longtime DeLay associate and fundraiser. Even in Washington, a city steeped in lobbying and debate over how much influence lobbyists do and should have, this case stands out. As the Indian Affairs Committee prepares to resume hearings this spring, unusual aspects of the case so far include: the huge profits Scanlon and Abramoff pocketed ($21 million apiece, according to the committee); the inexperience of the tribal clients; the names Abramoff and Scanlon called their clients in e-mails released by the committee ("monkeys," "morons," "losers" and "troglodytes"); and committee documents that suggest money laundering, fraud and other possible crimes "Legislation is being marinated in money, and access is being marinated in money," says Marshall Wittmann, a senior fellow at the Democratic Leadership Council and a former aide to McCain. "It's inevitable that the lines were going to be crossed and then blurred and then obliterated." As casino profits transform Indian economies, "there's been a hovering by enterprising people who would like to represent tribes," says Campbell, a Northern Cheyenne. "Where the hell were you when we were poor?" A tribe divided Here in southwestern Louisiana, the results of mixing money, naivete' and greed are on display. Coushatta leaders who raised questions about Abramoff and Scanlon, including successive secretary-treasurers Bertney Langley and Harold John, are arrayed against other leaders who authorized millions for unspecified services, including tribal chairman Lovelin Poncho. The fallout includes disputed recall efforts and resignations, alleged retaliatory firings and a continuing cash drain - this time to lawyers hired by tribe members ensnared in the controversy. Several miles from the Coushatta casino, past catfish farms and fields of grazing cows and horses, is what amounts to downtown on the reservation. The 10 red-roofed buildings in Elton include a new gym and a medical clinic. The tribe operates a golf resort, a millworks and a horse ranch along with the casino, its cash cow. Four times a year, tribe members get checks, their share of the profits. The tribe hired Abramoff and Scanlon to negotiate a gambling contract with the state. The two also were assigned to stave off bids by other tribes to get into gaming. Roy Fletcher, a spokesman for Poncho, says they also promised to prevent a new private casino nearby. Abramoff and Scanlon enlisted prominent Republicans in and out of Congress to help the Coushatta. Two casino bids by competing tribes were thwarted. But the $365 million private casino is opening next month. The pair held out promises of audiences with President Bush, Interior Secretary Gale Norton and members of Congress in exchange for contributions to groups and individuals, the Senate documents say. At one point, the tribe wrote a $185,000 check designated for an Abramoff "sports suite," or skybox, that some tribe leaders assumed would allow them to meet with influential people at games in and around Washington. But they never hosted anything or met with lawmakers, Langley says. The millions the tribe paid for "professional services" and contributions offer glimpses of the capital's money culture. The documents show the Coushattas contributed $3.7 million from 2001 to 2003 to the American International Center (AIC), a think tank in Rehoboth Beach, a Delaware resort town. But mainly it was a cash conduit to Abramoff and others. From May 2000 to May 2001, the Senate documents show, AIC checks for nearly $2 million went to consulting firm Century Strategies, owned by Ralph Reed, a former Christian Coalition leader and Bush campaign official now running for Georgia lieutenant governor. Documents show direct Coushatta contributions went to, among others, anti-tax activist Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform ($25,000), DeLay's political committees (at least $45,000) and a business-oriented environmental group run by a former aide to Norton ($100,000). The tribe also paid Scanlon more than a half-million dollars to spy on rivals trying to get into gambling and Coushattas suspected of sharing information. One was former council member Langley. "I was even further outside the information and decision-making loop than I thought, since I certainly never approved" his own surveillance, Langley told McCain last year. "I would never try to betray my own tribe," he said in an interview. Before he left in mid-2003, tribal controller Erick LaRocque sounded an alarm. The tribe had paid $32 million from 2001 to 2003 for "lobbying" expenses, he wrote in a memo to Langley; $24 million came from funds designated for health, housing and education. There was no plan to reimburse those funds, nor was there any money to do so. Rift on the council Several current and former members of the five-person tribal council say they tried to stop the spending but were thwarted by a three-member majority. "They were doing everything behind our backs," member Harold John says. David Sickey, a young reformer elected in 2003, says the Washington pair's financial activities and name-calling were "pretty upsetting to me. " But he reserves his harshest judgment for the three council members who kept paying and defending them. "We have to make every attempt to show ... that tribes are capable of governing themselves," Sickey says. "These three individuals are not helping the cause." The trio - Poncho, William Worfel and Leonard Battise - did not return calls for comment. Their attorney, David Pore, said they "absolutely" were misled by Abramoff and Scanlon. Asked why they didn't demand detailed invoices of what the tribe was getting for its money, Pore replied, "The level of sophistication was not there at that time. They've come a long way." Poncho and Worfel praised Scanlon and Abramoff for nearly a year after the LaRocque memo. But in November, the tribe sued the Washington pair for the $32 million plus damages. The lawsuit alleges fraud and other wrongdoing. Abbe Lowell, Abramoff's lawyer, said Abramoff "provided great results for the fees that were paid." Stephen Braga, Scanlon's attorney, calls the allegations "unfounded." Local tensions continue as the legal battles play out. Poncho and Worfel resigned at a meeting of more than 100 tribe members last year. Then they rescinded their resignations. Then they and Battise fired a tribal elections official who was handling recall petitions. The fired elections official is council member John's sister. And Battise is married to Langley's sister. "We all get together," Langley says. "But we don't talk politics." Copyright c. 2005 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. --------- "RE: Columbia River Spring Salmon run at Historic Low" --------- Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2005 08:44:31 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LOW SALMON RUN" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20050414/NEWS/50414003 Columbia River spring salmon run at historic low By JOSEPH B. FRAZIER Associated Press Writer April 14, 2005 PORTLAND, Ore. - Usually by now, the Columbia River's spring chinook salmon are heading upstream over fish ladders in the tens of thousands to spawn. Not this year. Fish biologists had predicted a spring run of about 229,000 chinooks at the Bonneville Dam, about 140 miles from the Pacific Ocean. As of Tuesday, near the customary midpoint of the spring run, only about 200 had been counted there. "It's a never-before-seen scarcity," said Charles Hudson of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. It's so bad that the Indian tribes on the river had to get salmon somewhere else for their ceremonial celebration marking the return of the fish. The chinooks enter the Columbia River from the Pacific at this time of year to return to the streams where they were hatched two or three years before. There, they spawn and die. Scientists say they don't have an explanation for the scarcity. "Nobody knows why," said Brian Gorman of the Pacific Marine Fisheries Service in Seattle. "It's a mystery." Gorman also described the run as "mysteriously late." Most of this year's spring run went to sea in 2002 or 2003, said Norman, adding there were no conditions in those years that would readily explain the dearth of fish this spring. Some fish managers wonder whether low water levels as a result of a dry winter - combined with murky water caused by recent rains - are keeping chinook from swimming up the Columbia. "Spring chinook are pretty finicky when conditions are abnormal," said Guy Norman of the Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife. "April and early May are the most significant times for spring chinook movement over the (Bonneville) dam. We're hoping for good things to come." Fish swimming upstream on the Columbia are tallied at the Bonneville Dam, where they go up fish ladders - which resemble stairs - and swim past a large window. Their numbers are a factor in setting fishing seasons for sport, tribal and commercial fishermen. Hudson, the tribal spokesman, said he's optimistic "there are fish out there gathering at the mouth of the river waiting for some biological trigger to send them up." The economic impact of the small chinook return is not clear. Fish managers hold weekly meetings to look at the size of the run and the size of the catch, and regulators aren't ready yet to recommend trimming the fishing season, said Curtis Melcher, marine salmon fisheries manager for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Melcher said sport fishermen are catching some chinooks but not as many as usual. He said many of those caught were bound for the Willamette River and other tributaries below the dam. Hudson said the fish are back in near their usual numbers in the Willamette River, which joins the Columbia well below the Bonneville Dam, the first dam the returning fish encounter on their return. Bonneville is required to release a certain amount of water past dams to help fish if the water flow is low to keep young salmon out of hydroelectric turbines. The turbines kill about 10 percent of the fish that go through them. "With an impact of this kind you're usually talking about hydroelectric operations as a likely cause," Hudson said. Copyright 2005 Summit Daily, Frisco, CO. --------- "RE: Richardson has signed 17 Indian Bills into Law" --------- Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2005 08:20:27 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NEW MEXICO: 17 INDIAN BILS" http://www.indianz.com/2005/007544.asp Richardson has signed 17 Indian bills into law April 12, 2005 New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) has signed 17 Indian bills into law as of last week, according to the state's Indian Affairs Department. In the first session of the 47th Legislature, Richardson signed 12 bills from the Senate and 5 bills from the House. They affect everything from emergency funds to health care to Indian child welfare to economic development. Richardson took office in 2003. Since then, he has elevated Indian Affairs to a Cabinet level, signed executive orders respecting sacred sites and tribal sovereignty and has hired and appointed a record number of tribal members to state offices. Relevant Documents: Indian Bills Signed into Law New Mexico: Bills Related to Native Americans April 12, 2005 As of April 7, 2005, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has signed the following bills related to Native Americans into law. The bills were introduced during the first session of the 47th Legislature. Source: New Mexico Indian Affairs Department. SENATE * SB 1 (Campos) Emergency Fund Grants To Indian Tribes, A bill to allow the Board of Finance to make emergency loans or grants to only those Indian Nations, Tribes or Pueblos located in whole or in part in New Mexico. * SB 123 (Cisneros) Strategic Water Reserve, A bill to establish the Strategic Water Reserve, to require the Interstate Stream Commission to coordinate with appropriate Indian Nations, Tribes and Pueblos to develop additional river reach or ground water basin priorities, and for other purposes. * SB 134 (Garcia) Cultural Properties Review Committee Members, A bill to increase the number of members of the Cultural Properties Review Committee from seven to nine, adding one person who is a member of a NM Tribe and one person who is a resident of NM and represents the general public. * SB 172 (Cisneros) Create Indian Rights Water Settlement Fund, A bill to create an Indian Water Rights Settlement Fund to be used to pay the state's portion of the costs necessary to implement Indian water rights settlements approved by the NM Legislature and the U.S. Congress, and for other purposes. * SB 214 (Tsosie) Cultural Needs for Indian Child Placement, A bill to require the Interagency Behavioral Health Purchasing Collaborative, in consultation with the Indian child's Tribe, to make reasonable efforts to place the Indian child in a setting that provides culturally competent care and access to traditional treatment. * SB 233 (Sanchez) Children's Code Revisions, A bill to amend the New Mexico Children's Code including increasing notification requirements to Indian Nations, Tribes and Pueblos with regard to proceedings against, placement, and disposition of Indian children, and for other purposes. * SB 669 (Sanchez) College Affordability Act, A bill to encourage New Mexico students with financial need to attend and complete educational programs at public post-secondary educational institutions in New Mexico, and for other purposes. * SB 225 (Tsosie) Clarify Safe Haven for Infants Act, A bill to make the definition of "Indian child" consistent with ICWA, to require hospitals to follow certain procedures and notification if an infant is a member of an Indian Tribe or eligible for membership, and for other purposes. * SB 313 (Griego) Create Governor's HIV & AIDS Commission, A bill to establish a Commission to consist of 23 members, including Native Americans and others appointed by the Governor to serve as a planning and advisory group to DOH's HIV/AIDS programs, and for other purposes. * SB 435 (Ortiz / Pino) Children's Cabinet Act, A bill to establish the Children's Cabinet comprised of the Governor and executive department heads, including the Department of Indian Affairs to study and make recommendations on the status and well-being of children and youth in the state, and for other purposes. * SB 473 (Komadina) New Mexico Telehealth Commission Act, A bill to create a Commission of 25 members appointed by the Governor, including representatives from Indian Nations, Tribes and Pueblos, to coordinate a telehealth system that provides and supports health care delivery in medically underserved areas of the state, and for other purposes. * SB 482 (Tsosie) Native American Resident Student Definition, A bill to expand the definition of "resident student," for the purpose of tuition payment at the resident student rates at state educational institutions, to include a member of an Indian Nation, Tribe or Pueblo located wholly or partially in NM, regardless of the residence of the member prior to acceptance to a NM post-secondary school. HOUSE * HB 259 (Sandoval) Native American Behavioral Health Committee, A bill to make the Native American Subcommittee of the Behavioral Health Purchasing Collaborative a statutory standing committee, to designate the Secretary of the Indian Affairs Department or a designee as Chair, and for other purposes. * HB 337 (Miera) Pre-Kindergarten Act, A bill to establish a voluntary Pre-K program for 4-year old children and allows licensed, private providers, local education agencies, regional education cooperatives, charter schools and Tribes to apply for funding, and for other purposes. * HB 481 (Harrison) Intertribal Ceremonial Act, A bill to establish an Intertribal Ceremonial Office within the Tourism Department, creates an Intertribal Ceremonial Board of seven members appointed by the Governor, and establishes an Intertribal Ceremonial Fund, and for other purposes. * HB 867 (Lujan) Clarify Property Tax on Agricultural Lands, A bill to clarify portions of the property tax code that relate to the valuation of agricultural lands, to modify the definition of the term "agricultural use" to include the use of land for captive deer or elk, and for other purposes. * HB 868 (Lujan) Tribal Infrastructure Act, A bill to create a Tribal Infrastructure Trust Fund and a Project Fund to be used to finance infrastructure projects on tribal lands, to create a Board to oversee the Funds and authorize funding for tribal infrastructure projects, and for other purposes. Copyright c. 2000-2005 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: Symposium underscores strength of Indian Treaties" --------- Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 08:37:14 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WASHINGTON STATE" Symposium underscores strength of Indian treaties By Lynda V. Mapes Seattle Times staff reporter April 17, 2005 OLYMPIA - It took just a little more than a year, but by the time it was over, tribes in 11 treaty councils all over the Northwest had ceded their lands forever to the United States, lands from Puget Sound to the Canadian border, from Northeast Oregon to the Bitterroot Mountains of Montana. Those agreements, most negotiated 150 years ago this year, are as alive as the day they were signed, said experts on Indian law, tribal leaders and government officials gathered for a two-day treaty symposium at The Evergreen State College. It concluded yesterday. The power and relevance of the treaties today cut two ways: for non-Indians, who can trace a claim to lands they have enjoyed since before statehood, and for tribes, who ceded them in return for solemn promises by the U.S. government that are today still the law of the land, attendants heard. Those promises include recognition of the inherent sovereignty of tribes, which makes tribes not just another interest group, but partners in a government-to-government relationship with both the state of Washington and the United States. Tribes also reserved forever their rights to hunt and fish in their accustomed places. ** To learn more ** Visit the traveling exhibit on the Northwest treaties at the Washington State Capital Museum in Olympia. www.wshs.org/ wscm/treatytrail.htm Read the treaties signed by many Western Washington tribes: www.nwifc.wa.gov/ tribes/treaties/tquinault.asp Those aren't special rights, they were part of the original deal in return for the land they ceded. That's something many people don't understand, Gov. Christine Gregoire said. "When we came here, the tribes were here. Do you not think that if things were reversed, we would fight just as hard for the protection of our treaty rights?" Gregoire asked. "This is about respect, and living by the obligations in the treaties." Gregoire told a crowd of about 300, including tribal members from an estimated 56 nations, that she would like to see the state's partnership with the tribes go beyond co-management of fisheries and gambling compacts, to partnerships in education and health care. Her idea brought much applause. Tribal leaders also took heart from two bills Gregoire is expected to sign, one requiring lawyers to show proficiency in Indian law to pass the bar exam in the state and another encouraging public schools to teach the history of tribes in their area. Education is key to understanding the part treaties played in Washington history, said Alan Parker, director for the Center for Indigenous Peoples Studies at The Evergreen State College. Signing the treaties not only gave the settlers clear passage to homestead the Northwest, it also secured the young nation's goal of grabbing this corner of the country before its competitors. "If you are the secretary of state in 1849 and you can see the British are in a position to make a strong claim for the territory, and there are the Russians to the north, and the Spanish coming from the south, the best strategy was to get people on the land and open it up, and homestead it. Once the treaties were done, that enabled us to win that geopolitical struggle," Parker said. * Unaware of history * People don't know that history, said Denny Hurtado, a former chairman of the Skokomish Nation and director of the state Office of Indian Education. "We have contributed to this country from the beginning." When he teaches children about treaties, he presents them as a contract, such as a deal struck in buying a car. Treaty obligations are similar, Hurtado said. "Do we want to come back and repossess your land because you didn't hold up your end of the deal? "Yet we have to spend millions and millions of dollars enforcing rights spelled out in black and white." Implementing the treaties also means protecting the healthy environment that Indian cultures depend on, said Terry Williams, fisheries and natural-resources commissioner for the Tulalip Tribes. "Species are dependent on the environment. Our culture is, too. They can figure it out for the fish, but they can't figure it out for us: 'Maybe you don't need that forest. You have Kmart.' "But the animals, the fish, the birds, the native grasses, the forests, they are disappearing. And our indigenous lifestyle is losing out. The voice of who we are and what our rights are under these contracts, that voice needs to be raised." Fish to catch, native grasses for basket making, the big trees for carving canoes, the roots and native plants for sacred medicines and ceremonies - all have to be protected, Williams said. "By speaking the truth, protecting the culture, keeping it alive, we keep ourselves alive." * Much at stake * There is plenty at stake in the enforcement of the treaties for non-Indians as well, said David Nicandri, director of the Washington State Historical Society. A sense of ownership, for one, and a sense of reconciliation, for another. "As a non-Indian, by what right do we presume to have the land that we have, or the right to buy it, or sell it? Well, we bought it from someone, who bought it from someone, who secured it for free from the U.S. government, which secured it from the Indian people in the treaties. "If the alternatives for our claim are we are residing on something stolen, or something secured in consideration for certain reserved rights, I'll take the treaties any time." Lynda V. Mapes: 206-464-2736 or lmapes@seattletimes.com Copyright c. 2005 The Seattle Times Company. --------- "RE: Indian Education Plan presented to Ronan Board" --------- Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2005 08:20:27 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="RONAN PRESENTED EDUCATION PLAN" http://www.leaderadvertiser.com/articles/2005/04/07/news/news01.txt Indian education plan presented to Ronan board April 7, 2005 By Nate Traylor Leader Staff RONAN - Indian education issues took center stage at a special Ronan school board meeting last week, as the district's Indian Education representative presented a detailed report to board members highlighting the challenges and successes the district has had with its Tribal population. "I think what we're doing is historic," Julie Cajune, Ronan's Indian Education coordinator, said at the meeting as she presented the plan. In addition, a detailed 37-page Indian education report, covering everything from attendance to dropout rates with statistics showing the achievement gap between Indian and non-Indian students, was submitted to the board and attendees. The report also cites curriculum that had success with Indian students in the past. "With such a significant percentage of the school population at risk academically, the data for this report should become essential to program planning and resource allocation," the new report read. "I wanted to show people that this isn't something that people dreamed up. This is hard data," Cajune said after the meeting. This isn't the first time the Indian Education Committee has attempted to establish more cultural awareness in the school district. Cajune said that the original plan was presented in 1999, but the Board didn't take to it. "It hasn't been something that has been embraced or approved by the board," she said. Cajune, along with IEC Department Head Joyce Silverthorne and Chair Francine Dupuis, are again pushing for more cultural balance in the Ronan school district. However, this plan takes a more positive approach, proposing answers instead of pointing fingers, Cajune said. The plan outlines eight of the IEC's objectives including: students, parental involvement, school staff, curriculum, school programs and activities, school facilities, trustees and committees and the IEC itself. One area of concern is the student handbook, a topic of much discussion at the meeting. If adopted by the board, the plan will revise the handbook to include "positive statements and an outline of student rights and expectations such as, but not limited to, the 40 Developmental Assets." The 40 Developmental Assets being "factors in young people's lives that make them more likely to grow up healthy, caring and responsible." The plan recommends that Pablo Elementary School change its name to Michel Pablo School to "honor an important community member that played a pivotal role in history that will forever impact all Americans." According to Cajune, the name Michel Pablo is not only widely recognized in the Valley, but politicians in Washington D.C. are familiar with the name as well. Cajune said that Pablo has living descendants in the valley and that they granted permission to use the name. A suggested name for Ronan Middle School is Nenemay Middle School, honoring longtime community member and Tribal elder, Alice Nenemay Camel. Ronan schools are not named after anyone whose history is relevant to Native American students, explained Silverthorne. Changing the name would give them a sense of ownership. It is also requested that the Tribal flag be added to school flagpoles in addition to the U.S. and state flags. While the plan calls for the school administration to ensure that materials portraying American Indians displayed in school buildings be culturally appropriate, it isn't cited specifically to change Ronan High School mascots, the Chiefs and Maidens. However, the issue was brought up by board member and Tribal Housing Collections Officer Patty Stevens. The mascots have been a hot-button topic ever since the Tribe requested to have the mascots changed seven years ago. Stevens recalls going to games in the early '80s and hearing fans shout "Go Chiefs, Go Chiefs, Go scalp 'em!" Though the school song was deemed inappropriate and banned by school officials in 1985, Stevens would still like to see the mascots be changed to something more culturally sensitive. "People think that if it's not offensive to you then don't worry about it," Stevens said. She also takes offense to the Chiefs and Maidens being so gender specific. There is a pending lawsuit about the issue against the school district that has been taken to the Supreme Court. But it is more than just name and mascot changes for the IEC, it's the integration of Indian languages, history, literature and heritage into curricula and the active recruitment of Native American staff, the women said. Currently, about one percent of district staff are Native American. "My son went to SKC where he learned about Tribal government, and I was thinking that this is stuff that he should have been learning in high school," explained Dupuis. Dupuis also stated that her son is doing better at SKC than he did in high school. She attributes that to SKC's emphasis on Native American culture and the fact that roughly half of SKC staff are of Native American descent. Since receiving Impact Aid, which provides federal funding for schools that are "impacted" by students living on federal land, the district is obligated to assimilate the Vision component of the district's Policy #1510, which includes "viable educational programs which allow all students, including Indian students to compete, succeed, and excel in life areas of their choice." According to Cajune, the school district hasn't been held to strict accountability and there hasn't been any formal planning or resource allocation on anybody's part other than the IEC. "On any reservation, Indian students have lower test scores. To me that says the challenge hasn't been taking seriously enough," she said. The plan will be on the board agenda for the next two meets. On April 11 the board will make a final decision on whether or not to adopt the policy. In related news, the House of Representatives voted against House Bill 791 Tuesday, which would have put $6.1 million into a constitutionally mandated effort to teach American Indian history and culture in all Montana Schools. Copyright c. 2005, The Leader Advertiser. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Navajo Coach looking to field National Native Team" --------- Date: Sun, 17 Apr 2005 16:52:04 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ALL NATIVE TEAM" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=6321 Navajo coach looking to field national Native team Long process finally paying off Gerald Wofford April 15, 2005 The word `Naataanii' (pronounced nu-ton-nii) means leader in Navajo. Leader or leaders are exactly what Coach Diney Bnally is looking for. Bnally (pronounced bee-nallee) hopes to glean from the wide variety of great Native American talent on the baseball diamond, the reason being is to field a competitive team for the USA Jr. Olympic Baseball Tournament. As mentioned in last week's edition of the Native American Times, tryout will take place in Shiprock, New Mexico on April 24 and Bnally is hoping that the rest of the country sees what he already knows, that there are really good Native American baseball from all over. Bnally will be in his fourth year coaching this unique team, which will be the only All-Native American team competing in this national event. Bnally grew up playing baseball, and certainly loves the game and knew he wanted to give back in someway. "The Indian kids need good exposure and opportunities and I wanted to give back," admits Bnally, who has also coached at the National Military Institute in Roswell, New Mexico. The admittance of an All-Indian baseball team hasn't exactly been easy and has certainly been a labor of love for Bnally. In 1999, he approached USA Baseball, the organization that operates the tournament, for permission to enter a team, but was denied. Bnally went back the next year, and was again denied. Finally, after a third time, he was allowed to enter a team, "but once you are in, you are in," says a dedicated Bnally who also started the team out of a desire to help his little brother, Marcus, who plays outfield and second base. Bnally also points to players such as Jesse Hall, Troy Butler, Jeremy Littlehoop, and Gorman Rommerro, who have been a part of the team and are now competing on the college level. Bnally looks to field a team of 15, to give everyone a good chance to fully show their skills in front of many college recruiters and scouts. "There are so many good baseball players out there that sometimes just don't get the chance to show it!" Coordinating, managing, and coaching Naataanii is a big responsibility and Bnally is appreciative of any monetary assistance in keeping a Native American team in the National spotlight. For more information about try-outs, or team sponsorship, Bnally can be contacted at 1-877-203-9852. Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Ben Marra Photo Exhibit" --------- Date: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 12:53 PM From: John D. Berry [jberry@Library.Berkeley.Edu] Subj: FWD: Photo exhibit - WA Mailing List: NetRez-L The Washington State History Museum presents Faces from the Land: A Photographic Journey through Native America By Ben and Linda Marra April 1, 2005 Tacoma, WA - In commemoration of the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the Washington State History Museum is honored to present Faces from the Land: A Photographic Journey through Native America, by Ben and Linda Marra, on view April 24 through June 12, 2005. This display is in conjunction with the museum's exhibition of The Literature of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also featured at the museum through June 12. In 1988, Seattle photographer, Ben Marra and his wife, Linda, set out to document powwows and the shared cultural qualities that bind together the many nations of Native America. Powwows are an integral part of Native American life, offering Native Americans the opportunity to gather and celebrate their spiritual connections to their ancestors, the earth, community and traditions through drum, song and dance. Faces from the Land focuses on many of the Native American cultures that Lewis and Clark encountered during their arduous 1803-1806 expedition, including Sioux, Lemhi Shoshone and Nez Perce. A photograph of Sacajawea's great, great, great niece, Rose Ann Abrahamson, is included in the exhibit. The 37 large color print portraits of Native Americans are accompanied by personal narratives written by the subjects describing the tribal significance of their regalia and dance. These striking images along with their text vividly detail the magic of the powwow, while also allowing the viewer the opportunity to see the juxtaposition of ancient tradition and modern culture. Ben Marra has been a commercial photographer in Seattle since 1973, working with architectural, industrial, and corporate clients. Dedicated to using his photographs to strengthen and perpetuate an appreciation for Native American culture, Ben Marra's work has been featured in numerous museums, galleries and national magazines, and was recently included in Handbook of North American Indians, published by the Smithsonian Institution. Their book, Powwow ...Images along the Red Road, (Abrams), features 105 color photographs representing more than sixty tribes and nations. Avalanche Publishing also publishes two yearly calendars. Facts: What: Faces from the Land: A Photographic Journey through Native America Who: Seattle Documentary Photographers Ben and Linda Marra When: April 24 - June 12, 2005 Where: Washington State History Museum, 1911 Pacific Avenue, Tacoma, WA Upcoming Programs: Join Ben and Linda Marra for a lecture and book signing on Thursday, May 26th at 7:00 p.m. as they discuss Faces from the Land. Admission to the museum and program are free that evening. More Information: 1-888-BE-THERE, www.washingtonhistory.org The Washington State History Museum, flagship of the Washington State Historical Society, is located at 1911 Pacific Avenue in downtown Tacoma, just off 1-5. The museum presents exhibits, programs, and events that bring to life the stories of Washington's history. For more information, including hours and admission rates, please call 1-888-BETHERE (1-888--238-4373), or visit our web site, www.washingtonhistory.org. --------- "RE: Professor performs Traditional Powwow Song" --------- Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2005 08:44:31 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ELON HISTORY PROFESSOR" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.elon.edu/e-web/pendulum/Issues/2005/04_14/news/ellis.xhtml History professor performs traditional powwow song Brittany Smith / News Editor April 14, 2005 Clyde Ellis, associate professor of history, spoke Monday night in Yeager Recital Hall about American Indian powwow culture in his speech titled "This is a Good Way, Get Up and Dance: A Look at Contemporary Plains Indian Powwow Culture." Ellis explained that powwows were and still are a key part of American Indian culture. He described how the culture adapted over the years and still remains prominent in modern American Indian societies. "Powwows were more than a fraternity of fighting men," he said. "They were people expressing their opinion to sway the masses and to pass down the posterity of generations." Everyone participated in powwows. All lines were crossed: gender, family, status, class, etc. "Who you were and what you wore mattered," Ellis said. American Indian agents in the West understood the power of American Indian powwows and tried to suppress them. They tried to limit the number of dances to once a month in the fall and winter because they feared them so much. However, during assimilation the American Indians found a way to keep their identity by decorating with traditional powwow symbols, Ellis said. In the end, American Indian agents could not keep the American Indians from dancing and had to give up their fruitless efforts. American Indians also joined the Wild West shows so they could keep dancing. The shows provided them with money and opportunities to travel as well as a way to keep up with their traditional dances. However, the dances began to adapt because the shows would only take the fastest and flashiest dancers with the wildest costumes, Ellis explained to the audience of students, faculty and community. Powwow culture also changed again after World War I. It had become a purely social event where people danced for days at festivals and competed for the best dancer awards. After WWI, powwows returned to the more traditional role of sending off warriors and celebrating their return. His knowledge stemmed not only from extensive research, but also from personal experiences. He learned much of his knowledge from friends that had become like family. After the lecture, Ellis and four of his friends performed a song while beating a drum that would have been sung at a powwow. The song held more meaning for Ellis after the man that taught it to him passed away. "Before powwows had been mostly visual for me," he said. "After he passed away and I sung the song for the first time, I experienced the spiritual and emotional power that powwows offer as well. The drum can revive people and make them happy as well as affirm their position and help to share memories. "The presentation was excellent. I was impressed by how well he had learned the culture from inside and out," Janet Warman, professor of English and education said. Ashley Brown, a student, was also impressed by Ellis' presentation. "He definitely knew what he was talking about," she said. "I especially like all the pictures from his past and others and the drums at the end." Contact Brittany Smith at pendulum@elon.edu or 278-7247. Copyright c. 2005 The Pendulum, Elon University. --------- "RE: GIAGO: Spring brings new life to the Indian People" --------- Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2005 08:20:27 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GIAGO: SPRING" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=6295 Spring brings new life to the Indian people Notes from Indian Country Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji) 4/11/2005 Copyright c. 2005, Native American Journalists Foundation, Inc. The first shoots of green grass push their way through the earth's soil and reach for the sun. It is a special time for the Lakota and other tribes of the Indian nations. I am reminded of the beauty of spring because I attended a special honoring ceremony hosted by a Lakota man, Dr. Art Zimiga, who oversees the Title IV Program for the Rapid City (SD) School District. Art emphasized the meaning of spring as he and the Indian community honored the educators and elders. He said it is the time of the year when Wakinyan (Thunder) returns to the Paha Sapa (Black Hills) and the new life of grass, animals, fish and birds reminds us the Maka Ina (Mother Earth) replenishes herself and in so doing replenishes the Oyate (People). The ancient ones said that when the star nations in the sky align to begin their journey of renewal and rejuvenation of Maka Ina (Mother Earth), the Lakota people recognize it is the time to honor all life. Owihanke Wanica (Eternal Life) is always present but needs to be renewed through the human heart (Wicocante) and the mind (Tawacin). This is the time to forgive others and to become friendly (Lakolwaya) so the renewal cycle will bring prosperity (Itanyan) and growth (Icaga). Excitement would run through the Lakota camps as the snow melted and the sun warmed the earth. Hunting weapons that had been sharpened, polished and strengthened during the long winter days and nights were unwrapped. It was time to hunt the herds that followed the buffalo grass on their journey North. In the lands of woods and lakes there was also excitement. An elder from the Red Lake Band of Ojibwe told me, "I get real emotional and excited in the spring because it is time to get out our nets and fishing poles. It is spring and the young fish are jumping in Red Lake." To this day there is still that feeling of excitement amongst the Lakota. After centuries of living by the traditions of the people the warm feelings that come to the Lakota with the fresh breezes of spring are inborn. Our feet get itchy and we want to get out and hunt, fish and to do all of the other rituals of spring. When I was a small boy attending the boarding school at the Holy Rosary Indian Mission, now named Red Cloud Indian School, I recall watching some of the more traditional Lakota boys when we took our Saturday afternoon walks with Mr. Bryde, a Jesuit prefect. Sometimes they would wander off from the rest of us and sit alone on a rock speaking softly in the Lakota language. They had to be careful because it was against the rules to speak Lakota. I would see them gaze off into the distance almost as if they were transporting themselves to another time and another place. Within myself I always felt this stirring in my heart when spring brought the first flowers to the hills. Mr. Bryde was a great storyteller. He would find a quiet place on a hill, make us gather around him, and he would regale us with tales from the Iliad. Through him we learned about the great Greek warriors and Gods. He told us stories from Charles Dickens so that by the time we reached high school age we all knew about The Tale of Two Cities and the French Revolution. Later in life, after I read Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, I felt that I had been there before. When I saw the musical in Montreal I was enthralled. Mr. Bryde brought all of these tales to life for us when we were mere children. And it is ironic to me that most of the tales told to us by Mr. Bryde occurred in the spring when it was warm enough for us to take those long Saturday walks to Mission Cave and Mission Butte. It was usually when we reached our destination and consumed the peanut butter and honey sandwiches he had packed for us, and while we rested for the journey back to the Mission school, that he took the time to tell us these wonderful stories. Mr. Bryde, a strict disciplinarian, had punished me wrongfully at one time. While beating me with a leather strap he was told by a fellow student of mine that he was whipping the wrong Giago. Instead of apologizing he started to laugh. The hurt and the humiliation of this act made me dislike him intensely for many years. Mr. Bryde must be an elderly man by now. I believe he is still alive. If he is I want to doff my hat to him for the many hours he gave us by his magnificent storytelling and for causing me to take an interest in reading the great books he related to me in my youth. These memories come back to me as I enjoy the first warm days of spring. Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: YELLOW BIRD: A fine Celebration of Indian Culture" --------- Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2005 08:20:27 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YELLOW BIRD: UND WACIPI" http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/opinion/11371187.htm DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: A fine celebration of Indian culture April 12, 2005 The weekend Wacipi at UND is history now. Yet I will remember this powwow for a long time to come. It will be the powwow after the shootings at Red Lake and the suicides at Standing Rock. Something hung in the air like an effigy; perhaps it was the spirit and tenaciousness of Native people who carry on in spite of tragedy. The Native gathering went well. There were many dancers in each category and some excellent drums. I was glad to see a Red Lake drum was represented and sounded in top form. Drums such as Eyahbay, a national champion drum group, and the host Canadian drum were excellent, too. The Yellow Face drum circle was near where I sat. There is something about the way they sing and drum that reminds me of home. I found out they named their group after one of their great-grandfathers. I wondered aloud to my sister if their grandfather was the person who married my great- grandmother, Daisy Little Sioux Yellow Face. Daisy and Tom Yellow Face lived just above the Missouri River. I remember as a very young child visiting their house and playing outside near the river. Daisy was the sister to my grandmother. So it is hard for me not to beam with pride when I see and hear the Yellow Face drum. The father of some of these young men was one of the spiritual leaders at White Shield, N.D., my home district on the Fort Berthold reservation. Unfortunately, he passed away a few years ago. These drummers are much younger than I and probably don't even know we live near them at home. Younger, yes. But I smiled when I noticed that a lot of the people at the powwow were younger than me. The group is growing. When I came into the big Hyslop arena, the rhythmic sounds of the drum and ancient serenades of the singers evoked memories of years ago. The ankle or leg bells and deer-hoof rattles on the men's leggings mixed with the jingle of the women dancers to take me to another place - to bygone times. All of the dancers are completely different from one another. The feathers, bead work, colors, headdress and face paint of those who wear it is unique to each dancer. The day before, a dancer may have worn a business suit, lab coat or hardhat and coveralls. But whatever he wore, in his powwow outfit he'll be a different person. He will have changed into a dancer of his ancestors. It even is hard to identify someone until you sit and watch them for awhile, or if you know what their outfit looks like. It used to be that dancers would take on the spirit of something - bears, coyotes, buffalo, snakes and so on. Many would paint their faces to represent the clan or band they belonged to. My uncle, Louis Felix, told me years ago about the face paint. Look at that man, he said, and pointed to a dancer. See the way he has streaked the white paint backward from his eyes? That means he is of snake clan. Today, we have become mixed and the clan system is identifiable only to some dancers. Others paint according to what they've seen in a dream or vision, while still others just like the way it looks. Like my aunt said, we are changing as we've changed throughout history. What was important or traditional 40 years ago may be replaced by something more important to us today. We need to make those changes, too, just like our ancestors changed with the coming of the white man. As the powwow went on, I began to identify dancers that I knew - relatives. For example, I hadn't seen Wayne and Fred Fox for a couple of years. They are regal and talented dancers. Wayne is an exceptional hoop dancer and both are champion grass dancers. As Wayne and Fred made the circle in their outfits like warriors of years ago, dancing just behind Fred was his young son, who must be all of 4 or 5, in full dress and as adept as his father. I was taken by this young dancer who represents our future and is grandson material. One of the models for young people and someone who never misses a powwow is Bob St. John, a Sisseton/Wahpeton Dakota Sioux dancer. When I finally adjusted my glasses, there he was. "The powwow is complete," I thought. "St. John is dancing." The powwow is a showcase of our culture. It was put together with a great deal of effort by the UND Indian Association students, including my granddaughter, Vicki Alberts. The gathering is a proud example of the culture of Native people. ---- Dorreen Yellow Bird's column appears Tuesday and Saturday. Reach her at (701) 780-1228 or dyellowbird@gfherald.com Copyright c. 2005 Grand Forks Herald/Grand Forks, ND. --------- "RE: Stevens wrong on claim ANWR will help Natives" --------- Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2005 08:20:27 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="STEVENS PLAY FOR ANWR FULL OF INACCURACIES" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002238753_refuge12m.html Alaska Native corporation a lead player for oil on wildlife refuge By Hal Bernton Seattle Times staff reporter April 12, 2005 Along a flat expanse of tundra, a wooden post marks the spot where a drill rig bit more than three miles into the sandstone rock beneath the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge's coastal plain. This is the only well ever drilled inside an area once ranked by many geologists as the best oil prospect in North America. It was sunk on an island of private land within the federal refuge, and the results remain secret. The owner of the land is an Inupiat Eskimo corporation that could emerge as one of the big winners if Congress agrees to open ANWR to drilling, a move environmentalists have long opposed. The fight may have reached a tipping point last month when the Republican-dominated Senate, in a 51-49 vote, gave approval for oil exploration in the refuge, with final congressional action expected later this year. The Inupiat corporation is called Arctic Slope Regional Corp., and it owns 92,160 subsurface acres. Its executives impatiently await the congressional action needed to extract oil from inside the refuge. "We are asked to suffer the burdens of locking our lands forever as if we were in a zoo or on display for the rich tourists that can afford to travel to our remote part of Alaska. This is not acceptable," Jacob Adams, an Inupiat whaling captain and president of Arctic Slope Regional Corp., wrote in a March 9 letter to Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska. Arctic Slope was born from the landmark 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. The act resolved aboriginal claims by transferring nearly $1 billion and 44 million acres of Alaska to Eskimo, Indian and Aleut corporations. Arctic Slope claimed some 5 million acres on behalf of 9,000 Inupiat shareholders, most of them living in Barrow and seven other North Slope communities. Even as revenue from oil pumped from Prudhoe Bay has reshaped these communities, many Inupiat continue to hunt caribou, bowhead whale and other animals as part of a subsistence tradition that remains central to their culture. The billions of oil tax dollars collected by the state and the region's government have financed new homes, schools and even an indoor swimming pool in Barrow. The annual median family income there hit $63,810 in the 2000 census. Along the way, Arctic Slope has landed major construction projects and serviced the oil industry. The corporation works nationally and internationally through a network of subsidiaries that now grosses more than $1 billion annually. Drilling in ANWR offers a chance for Arctic Slope to get a lot bigger. A major oil find on its corporate land could yield billions of dollars in oil-industry royalty payments. Arctic Slope's unique position within the refuge is sometimes overlooked in the marathon political battle over the fate of a wildlife-rich area that is something of hallowed ground for environmentalists. To help ease environmental concerns, a bill now pending in the House of Representatives would restrict oil drilling and development inside ANWR to no more than 2,000 acres. A committee vote on that bill could happen this week. But Arctic Slope would not be bound by the 2,000-acre restriction, since it holds private land rights, according to House congressional aides who have tracked the legislation. Arctic Slope's first and only exploratory well, punched in 1986 by oil- industry partners, might have struck oil or been a dry hole. That knowledge is closely guarded and known only to a few oil-industry and Arctic Slope officials, and state officials who successfully sued to gain access to the drilling data. Even if that well was a bust, there are plenty of other places to drill within the corporation's ANWR holdings, which represent 6 percent of the 1.5 million-acre coastal plain. The corporation has been in the thick of the lobbying effort to get Congress to approve drilling. Its leaders are familiar figures in Washington and formidable advocates, who have worked closely with the Alaska congressional delegation and the state government to press for the opening of the refuge. That advocacy is undiminished even as the pace of oil development outside the refuge triggers unease among some Inupiat shareholders. Arctic Slope leaders say that oil development will not destroy hunting, fishing and berry-gathering traditions on the coastal plain or anywhere else on the North Slope. Without new oil production, they say, money and job opportunities will fade along with Prudhoe Bay's declining oil flow. "Without ANWR, we're hurting," said Richard Glenn, an Arctic Slope vice president. "Let's live with oil exploration in our region; it's the only chance at a local economy." Controversial swap The Inupiat Eskimo leaders gained access to the refuge through a controversial land trade that reflected their frustrations with the initial terms of the Alaska land-claims settlement. Under the act, the corporation was allowed to choose 5 million acres of its shareholders' North Slope homeland. But the best oil field - Prudhoe Bay - already was staked out by the state, and the best prospect - the coastal plain - was initially off-limits because of its protected location within the 19 million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. By 1983, a deal was struck. Arctic Slope swapped 101,000 acres within the Gates of the Arctic National Park for the 92,160 subsurface acres inside the coveted coastal plain. A separate Inupiat village corporation took title to the surface acreage. Arctic Slope carefully selected the acreage that extends into two large sandstone structures around the Inupiat village of Kaktovik, which sits at the northeast edge of the coastal plain. Some of this acreage was chosen after a review of seismic test data, and included what was then considered to be among the best oil prospects. Though U.S. Geological Survey scientists now believe some of the hottest prospects are farther west, they still say the Arctic Slope acreage has substantial oil potential. And Arctic Slope leased the land to ChevronTexaco and BP, which drilled the first exploratory well and retain the rights to develop any major finds. The Arctic Slope trade to acquire this acreage drew plenty of criticism. Environmentalists were upset that the government had ceded part of the coastal acreage to a corporation. The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, concluded that the trade was not in the best interests of the federal government, in part due to the Interior Department's inability to access the secret drilling data that could help determine the worth of future federal land leases. Arctic Slope rejected that conclusion. Native leaders outside the North Slope also protested the deal because it allowed Arctic Slope to sidestep a share-the-wealth provision of the 1971 claims act requiring regional corporations to share 70 percent of their oil and other resource royalties. Arctic Slope corporate leaders have said the oil wealth is on Inupiat land and should stay with the Inupiat people. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, appeared to forget the trade terms as he made an impassioned March 16 speech to persuade his colleagues to open the refuge to drilling. In that speech, he described how the wealth would spread from the North Slope to other native regions where many still live below the poverty line. "... Every Alaska Native will share in the money that is received by the North Slope people. They all share because of the bill this Congress wrote, the Alaska Native Land Claim Settlement Act." "That's a bad quote," said Arctic Slope's Glenn, who confirmed that the trade enables the corporation to keep all the oil-royalty payments. "This is not something we hide or anything, but it is a fact." Oil vs. traditions Arctic Slope's offices are in Barrow, where the windows of a three-story office offer sweeping views of the Arctic ice pack that will soon be the scene of the spring bowhead whale hunt. The corporation's leaders, who will be vacating their offices to join in that hunt, have tried to fashion a corporate ethic that balances respect for Inupiat traditions with the pursuit of oil profits. That balancing act has become more difficult as oil development spread out from Prudhoe Bay, moving closer to areas valued by Inupiat shareholders for their subsistence hunting. In 2000, the Alpine Oil field, located partly on Arctic Slope land, started pumping oil just a few miles outside the Inupiat village of Nuiqsut, causing some residents to complain that wildlife has been displaced by the development. The Bush administration is also pushing to lease lands for oil drilling inside a sensitive waterfowl-nesting area of Teshekpuk Lake in the National Petroleum Reserve. The Interior Department also has leased offshore tracts in the Beaufort Sea that lie in the migration path of the bowhead whales. "Inupiat subsistence hunters and their families are beginning to feel a sense of dread about oil development," wrote George Ahmaogak, mayor of the North Slope Borough based in Barrow, in a 2003 commentary published in the Anchorage Daily News that described a growing network of pipelines and roads onshore and expanding offshore leasing. That concern has spread to some residents of Kaktovik, the Inupiat village that - due to its location inside the coastal plain - could be at the center of a new oil boom. Earlier this year, 57 of the more than 150 Kaktovik adult residents signed a petition against refuge drilling. Some of the Gwich'in Indians