_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 13, ISSUE 020 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 May 14, 2005 Hopi hakitonmuyaw/waiting moon Eastern Cherokee nvda gahlvsga/planting moon Valley Maidu kon-moko/seeds, fish, geese 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; Sovereign News, NDNAIM, Sovereign Nations, Metis, NetRez-L, News and Information and Frostys AmerIndian 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: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + ======================== "We are so close to the land. This is my body when you see this mother earth, because I live by it. Without that water, we dry up, we die. Without food from the animals, we die, because we got to live on that. That's why I call that spirit, and that's why we communicate with spirits. We thank them every day that we are alive." __ Alex Skead, Ojibway elder from the Rat Portage Reserve +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! "America at large tends to prefer its Indians to be quaint, not economically or politically powerful. The critical concern is that if there is even the beginning of a turn against tribal sovereignty, or more to the point, a return to terminationist policy - whether it be driven by greed, envy, racism, or any of the above, combined with plain hatefulness - it could be a cause for other tribes to worry about their own futures." Judith Shapiro, Attorney practicing in Indian Law The scenario for concern noted by Judith Shapiro is already a reality. "One Nation" (a coalition of petroleum and corporate farm/grocery organizations) and it's cousin organizations, Citizens Equal Rights Alliance (CERA) and the Citizen's Equal Rights Foundation (CERF) coalition have amassed considerable financial and political pressure to end the existence of Indian nations. CERF's friend-of-the-court statement in the Lara case, and their position that Congress has no power to recognize the inherent rights of Indian nations demonstrates their purpose to end tribal treaty and sovereign rights. How much clearer can these organization's intent toward Indian nations and culture be when CERA states their mission as regards Indians is to render us "one people living under one constitutional system of laws?" CERA states that "Federal Indian policy is unaccountable, destructive, racist and unconstitutional." I agree. But its solution is not to correct Indian policy, make it accountable, constructive, nurturing diversity and honoring treaty rights -- it is to implement the final racist destruction of Indians by the unconstitutional acts of discarding international treaties between the US and Indian nations as if they never existed, and shoving a European-based culture and law down the throats of a captive nation. These groups, who have the ear of US Congressmen and the Courts when our rights as nations are being considered, are determined to terminate Indians as sovereign nations and as a distinct people. If this was about ethnic minority in the Middle East, instead of within US borders, the US would be sending in Reservists and screaming about human rights in the UN. Connecticut Representative Nancy Johnson has proposed legislation in Congress to rescind tribal recognition already granted to the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation. The recent Sherill decision by the Supreme Court essentially requires that an Indian Nation must place land it owns under proven incompetent, dishonest, and destructive trusteeship of the United States in order to exercise sovereign legal rights on that land. This has gone far beyond the beginning of a turn against tribal sovereignty. We are fully engaged in an assault on our very existence, and our enemies are winning. Tribes must to do more than worry about the future. We must become as vigilant and as determined as those whose mission is to see that we no longer exist. Otherwise, we will be what the US has always wanted Indian nations to be -- exhibits in a museum about people and ways of life that no longer exist. +/// 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 ----------- - Civil Rights Office - Choctaws' Leader for 60 Reservations to close welcomes competition - House panel acts to restore - Diabetes: A Tribal epidemic Bush Budget Cuts - Tribes try for Recognition - Dorm fire highlights - House made of Straw plight of Boarding Schools Model for Hopi Village - Crow Creek Dorm was not insured - Micmac win Sovereignty Case - GIAGO: 100 years - MOHAWK: Traditional Nutrition of Indian Education Experiment can prevent Disease - IHS fails sexual assault Victims - Mankiller: All the Indians - Hearings open into 'probably at Wal-Mart' Security of Trust Records - YELLOW BIRD: - EDITORIAL: Keep Regional Keep Monarch on its Throne Civil Rights Offices open - First Nations call for - Tribes unite at Unity over Pipeline Plan National Health Care Conference - Ottawa steps in on Pipeline - Chairwoman of Tribe - Indian Status Issue Looming Crisis without a Reservation - Stonechild arbitration - Indian addresses Indian Issues hearing begins - CLAWSON: Myths persist about - Letter's for Leonard Now Payments to Indians - Native Prisoner - Lawmakers urged to fund for -- Trial lawyers grant will help Zuni Water Settlement Indians access legal advice - Pope's Statue heading for - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days New Mexico Capitol - Rustywire: Steamed Corn - U.S. Chief of Security - John Berry Poem: War Mothers angers O'odham Leader - Band Council sells - Rare Photos of Fallon Tribe Mohawk Language to Microsoft unveiled Saturday - First Miami Dictionary - Tribal Entrepreneurs being published this Month share their Success - Yaqui Language lives --------- "RE: Civil Rights Office for 60 Reservations to close" --------- Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 08:38:08 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DENVER CIVIL RIGHTS OFFICE" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.denverpost.com/0%2C1674%2C36%257E53%257E2848518%2C00.html Rights-office closings fought The plan sparks concerns that 16 states served by offices in Denver and Kansas City would get lost in a larger district. By Elizabeth Aguilera Denver Post Staff Writer May 3, 2005 Community and political leaders scrambled Monday to fight the announced closure of the region's federal civil rights office. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, which investigates and highlights abuses, announced last week that offices in Denver and Kansas City would close in October. The move provoked immediate concern that the 16 states now served by those offices would get lost in a district that will be governed from Los Angeles and Chicago. The effect of the closures would be particularly felt in minority and American Indian communities that are often cut off or do not have access to traditional or urban services, said Carole Barrett, chair of the North Dakota Advisory Committee and a professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Mary in Bismarck. "It was devastating news because these states that comprise the Rocky Mountain Region are vulnerable states with vulnerable populations," she said. In Colorado, the state's anti-discrimination agency is gearing up to fill in the holes that will be left when the federal office closes. Other states in the region are worse off, many without a state agency to step in and pick up the slack, said Wendell Pryor, director of the Colorado Civil Rights Division. The federal commission is consolidating six regional offices into four. Offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta and Washington, D.C., will remain. The move and other staff reductions - including cutting civil rights analysts in Los Angeles and Chicago - are intended to help slash a projected deficit of $265,000. The commission's $9 million budget has not been increased in a decade. The Denver office oversees civil rights issues in Montana, Colorado, the Dakotas, Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico and the 60 reservations in the region. The Kansas City office oversees 9 central and Southern states. The decision to close Denver's three-person office will make it more difficult for urban and rural Westerners to get the protections they deserve, said U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo. "The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights plays a critical role ensuring that discrimination and fraud against individuals cannot get swept under the rug," DeGette said. "The Rocky Mountain West too often does not get its appropriate share of resources and services from the federal government." Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., is drafting a letter to the commission in an effort to keep the office alive. In 2001, the regional commission reviewed the learning gap between black and white students in Denver public schools. Last year, the commission was involved in a dispute involving American Indian students at Fort Lewis College in Durango who accused a professor of racism and unethical behavior. Most recently, the commission began a study, which Barrett fears will be tossed by the wayside, on border towns with high populations of American Indians. In an effort to keep their work going, the local staff submitted a cost- -saving proposal to stay in operation. The plan includes cutting expenses by more than $50,000 annually through salary reductions and moving to a less expensive office. The proposal is under review, said commission staff director Kenneth Marcus. Staff writer Elizabeth Aguilera can be reached at 303-820-1372 or eaguilera@denverpost.com. Copyright c. 2005 Denver Post. --------- "RE: House panel acts to restore Bush Budget Cuts" --------- Date: Sun, 8 May 2005 16:27:55 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HOUSE TRIES TO REINSTATE BUSH WHACKS" http://www.indianz.com/News/2005/008000.asp House panel acts to restore Bush budget cuts May 5, 2005 A House subcommittee restored some of President Bush's budget cuts to Indian programs on Wednesday with the approval of the Interior Department's fiscal year 2006 budget bill. Although detailed figures are not available, the initial numbers from the House Interior Appropriations subcommittee were encouraging. The panel boosted the Bureau of Indian Affairs budget to a total of $2.0 billion, or $67 million over current levels, whereas the Bush administration sought an overall cut of nearly $110 million. And instead of accepting the White House's cuts to Indian education, the subcommittee added $19 million to BIA education for a total of $654 million. The panel also restored some, but not all, of Bush's cut to construction and repair of BIA schools and facilities. Combined with a $118 million increase at the Indian Health Service for a total of $3.1 billion, the numbers represented a $5.7 billion investment in Indian programs, according to the initial numbers. The figure represents a $145 million increase above current levels, the subcommittee said. Overall, the panel restored $107 million in program reductions sought by the Bush administration. The bill's approval comes three weeks after lawmakers heard directly from tribal leaders about the 2006 budget. Harold Frazier, the chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, said the budget cuts represented the federal government's failure to carry out its promises to Indian people. "In our treaties, there were agreements made where the U.S. government agreed to provide us with education, health, agricultural resources, welfare, and help us to build our economy," Frazier told the subcommittee on April 14. "Yet today, these entitlements are being separated and manipulated into discretionary services which can be exterminated at the stroke of a pen." Rep. Charles Taylor (R-North Carolina), the chairman of the panel, and Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Washington), the vice chairman, have voiced concerns as well. At a hearing in March, they objected to the cuts at the BIA while "funding for the trust related programs continues to increase," said Taylor. "This budget," Dicks said on March 17, "moves us in the wrong direction." On the Senate said, several key lawmakers plan to beef up the Indian Country budget too. The Senate Indian Affairs Committee, some of whose members sit on the Senate Appropriations Committee, rejected the Bush administration's proposal in an official letter in February. "Although we agree with the president's goals of funding programs with proven performance and accountability and reducing the federal deficit, we disagree with many of the proposed funding cuts and the priorities set out in the budget," wrote Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), chairman of the committee, and Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota), the vice chairman. Funding levels for trust reform were not released yesterday. But in past years, the House and the Senate have cut the Office of Special Trustee's budget, specifically money for historical accounting projects for individual Indians and tribes. Lawmakers are concerned that the effort will not be successful or will not be accepted in court. Taylor and Dicks also have been responsible for provisions targeting the Cobell v. Norton lawsuit over individual Indian trust funds. It was not clear whether any new riders have been added to the bill, which has not yet been filed. Overall, the bill funds the Interior Department and related agencies with $26.2 billion, down from $27.0 billion last year but more than the $25.7 billion requested by the Bush administration. The bill will now go to the House Appropriations Committee for approval. It is likely to be considered by the full House this summer, with Senate action occurring around the same time. The goal is to approve all appropriations legislation by October 1, the official start of the fiscal year. But in years past, the House and Senate have passed massive "omnibus" bills because they couldn't get every individual bill approved. Copyright c. 2000-2005 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: Dorm fire highlights plight of Boarding Schools" --------- Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 08:38:08 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CRUMBLING SCHOOLS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/11542939.htm Dorm fire highlights plight of crumbling boarding schools By Terry Woster The Argus Leader May 2, 2005 FORT THOMPSON (AP) - The challenge for officials at the Crow Creek School is clear: Find $2.2 million to build a dormitory by August for the students displaced by a fire one week ago today. The implications of failure - for the Crow Creek Indian Reservation and the children who live there - are equally clear to Superintendent Scott Raue. Without a place for those students to live, the Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding school could lose one-third of its enrollment. That would mean a loss of up to 90 jobs in the poorest county in the United States. More pressing is the well-being of the students, many of whom considered the 40-year-old dormitory in Stephan, in central South Dakota, their home. The BIA questions the value of the dorm and suggests the kids can be bused to the school, Raue said. "But we're talking about places where there's poverty, alcoholism, abuse, " he says. "Here we have a safe haven, three meals a day, a drug-free campus, a place where they can be students and be kids. How do you measure what that's worth?" A dorm, temporary or otherwise, is only one need on the campus that annually enrolls 500 to 600 students. Crow Creek has long tried to have new elementary and high school buildings funded by the BIA. Tribal Chairman Duane Big Eagle said he's been working unsuccessfully on that project since 1978. The school also is an economic lifeline for Buffalo County." If I don't have that dorm, I lose 30 percent of the operation," Raue said. "That means as many as 90 staff, which is a big thing for the school, but also imagine 90 positions in an area like this. Where do you find 90 jobs if they're not here? Without a dorm, the size of the school goes down dramatically." Big Eagle and Raue are trying to find emergency funding - $2.2 million - for a temporary dormitory big enough to house 200 students and ready-made enough to be ready for occupancy by Aug. 24. What they're hoping to build is a bridge from now until the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Congress kick loose as much as $30 million to $40 million for essentially a new set of campus buildings. The elementary school in Fort Thompson has structural problems - cracks and building movement - that "severely compromised" the safety for students and staff, a state Fire Marshal's letter noted a year ago. The high school at Stephan, where the dormitory burned, was included in the same letter with the same evaluation. Paul Merriman, fire-cost specialist for the state fire marshal's office, sent Raue a letter April 27, 2004. In the letter, he said the state agency "strongly recommends discontinued use of both buildings." Keeping it open, ultimately, means a whole lot of new money and construction. A gymnasium on the Stephan campus was locked more than a year ago after officials said the walls could collapse with a big crowd. Students in the middle school attend classes in a group of modular buildings at Stephan, a temporary fix to keep education moving while congressional money doesn't. The middle-school modular buildings, like the proposed dormitory, could be that bridge to the new school. Raue said he might need a waiver to build a modular dorm the way he thinks it could be done. He envisions larger rooms, with space for a dozen kids in each. The BIA prefers four-student rooms, he said. Crow Creek is ninth on a 14-site priority list for BIA funding of new construction. Porcupine Day School on the Pine Ridge Reservation was second, the only South Dakota school other than Crow Creek on the list. The Federal Register, where the priority list was published, says the priorities are based on each school's deficiencies in health and safety, environmental problems, access for persons with disabilities and condition of existing utilities and site improvements. How quickly a No. 9 can move to a position of funding depends on annual appropriations for the bureau from Congress. The budget President Bush proposed for fiscal year 2006 for the BIA is $2.2 billion, congressional records show. That's $108.2 million lower than the FY 2005 enacted level. That doesn't signal a hurried pace of school construction, Big Eagle says. Copyright c. 2005 Aberdeen American News. --------- "RE: Crow Creek Dorm was not insured" --------- Date: Sun, 8 May 2005 16:27:55 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MORE BIA LIES" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.argusleader.com/apps//20050506/NEWS02/505060333/1001/NEWS Crow Creek dorm was not insured Johnson tours school, vows to put pressure on BIA for money to replace building PETER HARRIMAN pharrima@argusleader.com May 6, 2005 Sen. Tim Johnson toured a fire-ravaged dormitory at the Crow Creek School on Thursday and said he wants to know why the building was not insured. The Senate Indian Affairs Committee "ought to take a hard look" at procedures by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to insure school buildings it owns or manages, Johnson said. "When I get back to Washington, I will talk with Sen. (John) McCain (R- Ariz.) about whether we need to follow up with hearings on the status of these BIA-run facilities," he said.A murky history of ownership and management responsibility contributed to circumstances that left the residence hall uninsured when fire broke out April 24. Johnson pledged to rally the South Dakota congressional delegation and "light a fire" under the BIA to hasten allocation of as much as $2.2 million in emergency money to replace the residence hall.Besides touring the building, which was home to more than 200 students, Johnson met with tribal council and school administrators and ate pizza with the school's graduating seniors. "Without the senator coming to the school and offering support from Congress, we would be in trouble," said Duane Big Eagle, Crow Creek tribal chairman. "They are our last hope. We had a conference call with the BIA today, and they offered us nothing." Big Eagle said the tribe had insured the Crow Creek School buildings until 2003 with the Fischer-Rounds Insurance Agency in Pierre. Gov. Mike Rounds is a partner in that business."The BIA told us the building was their responsibility and to discontinue the insurance," Big Eagle said. "I assumed the Bureau of Indian Affairs maintained the insurance on the building. As it turned out, the bureau didn't." Nedra Darling, BIA spokeswoman, did not return phone calls Thursday.The contents of the residence hall were insured by the school, Johnson said. The Crow Creek School was founded by a religious order of the Catholic Church, which built the dormitory in the early 1960s. In the mid-1970s, "the Catholic Church got out of the school business here on Crow Creek and turned the buildings and property over to the tribe," Big Eagle said. But the BIA managed the school under a contract with the tribe. Two years ago, it asserted its trust responsibility established by Congress and told the Crow Creek council the federal agency was accountable for maintaining the campus from that point on, according to Big Eagle.The tribe has asked the BIA about funding for temporary student housing and a permanent replacement for the damaged dormitory. The BIA told the school to use $2.5 million allocated by Congress two years ago to replace the school gymnasium, which is condemned, Johnson and Big Eagle said. "I think the BIA has been jerking around the tribe so far," Johnson said. The fact that the agency has not disbursed the gym appropriation and now wants to divert it to temporary student housing and a new residence hall is "enormously frustrating," the senator said. "Those dollars are hard to come by, and to find they have not used them as intended is exasperating," Johnson said. Big Eagle said the tangled tribal and BIA authority for the school could grow even more complicated.As soon as today, Big Eagle said, he could sign a joint-powers agreement with Rounds that would enable the state to help with cleaning up the site, providing temporary facilities for the school and possibly helping the tribe raise money for a new dormitory. Big Eagle said any worries that the agreement with the state would set a precedent for abrogating tribal sovereignty are outweighed by his concern for the Crow Creek students."Maybe by entering into a joint-powers agreement with the governor, we can start a trend where we don't need the BIA anymore," he said. "Maybe they have come to a point in history where they are not beneficial to tribal management." Johnson applauded Rounds' efforts to offer state help to Crow Creek but said, "These should not be replacing the financial obligations of the federal government." Johnson said the students he met with Thursday remain in good spirits, and the seniors are excited to graduate and get out in the world.Reach reporter Peter Harriman at 575-3615. Copyright c. 2005 Argus Leader. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: GIAGO: 100 years of Indian Education Experiment" --------- Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 08:38:08 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GIAGO: FAILURE of de-INDIANIZATION" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=6396 Ignoring 100 years of the Indian education experiment Notes from Indian Country Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji) May 5, 2005 Copyright c. 2005, Native American Journalists Foundation, Inc. Articles by Sarah Kershaw of the New York Times and Lyn Wilson and Susie John of the 4 YOUTH - Reaching Native American Youth Through School-based Health Care in the Albuquerque Journal has prompted this week's column. Though well intended, both articles have left out one of the most important issues affecting today's Indian youth. There are two old sayings that would be appropriate here. The first is "What goes around comes around" and the second is "The chickens have come home to roost." For nearly one hundred years the United States government, in collusion with various religious orders, set out to de-Indianize the indigenous children of the Western Hemisphere. In a speech I gave last April at the California Indian Education Convention in Los Angeles I said, "In order to know where we are going we first must know where we have been." Too many Indian educators and mental health program directors have failed to take into consideration the horrible damage done to the Indian people by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and religious Indian mission boarding schools. How can these well educated, well intentioned educators and healers possibly ignore one of the most traumatizing impacts upon the indigenous children of America; the boarding school experiment? From 1860 to 1960 these institutions of indoctrination stood as the hallmark of Indian education in America. Children as young as four-years- old were taken from the protective arms of their parents and grandparents and placed into these institutions that held only one purpose; to divest them of their culture, language, religion and traditions. This intense indoctrination meant taking innocent children and re-writing their history in order to erase from their supple minds anything that would remind them of their ancestral beliefs. What was known as "indoctrination" became known as "brainwashing" during the Korean War. The same principles applied. The minds of the innocent children were like blackboards unmarked by the chalk of life. The indoctrinators had free reign to write anything they so desired upon that clean slate. And write they did. Three generations of Indian children were taught that in order to survive in the coming years they had to forget their language, culture, spirituality and traditions and assume the roles offered to them by the majority social group, the white society. Modernists can compile all of the statistics now available in Indian education and compare them to the majority statistics without really addressing the root causes of the many failures in Indian education or for the psychological reasons for the high rate of dropouts, depression and uncommonly high suicide rates amongst the Indian children of today. They cannot make a comparison until they include the aftermath of the Indian boarding school experiment. And that is exactly what it was; an experiment. It was an experiment that indoctrinated thousands of Indian children and used them as the guinea pigs. It was a system based upon the methods employed by the early Spanish conquistadors and settlers that used Franciscan priests and monks as conduits to remove Indian children from their parents at an early age and place them in the care of educators intent upon severing their ties to their past. More often than not this method left the children, especially as they grew older, with a sense of loss of identity. They left these institutions thoroughly confused about who they were and about what life expected of them. Worse than that, they left these boarding schools with low self- esteem and low self-worth. They had been pushed into an idealistic world that did not exist in America. They soon discovered that they were not welcome in the workplace of the white world, shunned when they tried to find adequate housing and treated as second class citizens in the white communities. In an effort to divest them of their identities, the boarding schools did not prepare them for the real world. They found themselves caught between the realities of two worlds. Quite often the brutality of the boarding schools, the physical, sexual and psychological abuse, left its indelible mark on at least three generations of Indian people. One does not abuse children without expecting that they in turn will become the abusers. With the restraints and teachings of their traditional cultures all but erased it was not at all uncommon for these victims of the boarding schools to turn to drugs, alcohol, prostitution, and abuse of their spouses and children. To ignore this inglorious history of Indian education is to ignore the foundation of so many of the problems still prevalent in Indian country. The negative impact of the boarding schools and Indian missions cannot be underestimated. It has become such an embarrassing part of the history of Indian education in America that it is not only ignored today, but also it is swept under the rug as if it never happened. As a product of the Indian missions, let me tell you from my heart that it did, indeed, happen. In addressing the problems now so prevalent amongst the Indian youth of America, from the high incidents of suicide to the impact of murder at Red Lake, Indian educators and tribal leaders cannot continue to ignore the historic impact of the boarding school and Indian mission experiment. I will never allow America or the Indian educators to forget or to ignore this horrific impact to today's youth. My book, "The Aboriginal Sin Revisited" will be published soon by the Clear Light Publishers of Santa Fe, New Mexico and it gives a detailed, firsthand documentation of the boarding school experiment. To those who would write about their perceptions of the problems in Indian education today, I strongly advise them to not overlook the 100 years of the boarding school and Indian mission experiments. You are only telling half of the story if you do. (Tim Giago is the founder and the former editor and publisher of The Lakota Times, Indian Country Today, The Lakota Journal and the Dakota and Pueblo Journals) Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: IHS fails sexual assault Victims" --------- Date: Friday, May 06, 2005 7:58 AM From: lkibby1 [lkibby1@citlink.net] Subj: IHS fails sexual assault victims Mailing List: Sovereign News http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096410895 IHS fails sexual assault victims by: Brenda Norrell / Indian Country Today May 5, 2005 LAKE ANDES, S.D. - The Indian Health Service is failing to provide services to women and children who are victims of rape and incest, according to a new report by the Native American Women's Health Education Resource Center. "Look at the trends in Indian health and the statistics, and we'll see girls, 12, 13, 14, all the way up to 18 years of age, that are pregnant and deliver children. That means rapes that were never prosecuted as rape, " said the American Civil Liberties Union's Laura W. Murphy. "Tens of thousands of women become pregnant every year from rape or incest," Murphy said. Sexual assault and incest are at epidemic proportions in Indian country, according to the new report, "Indigenous Women's Reproductive Justice." The report details a survey of sexual assault policies and protocols within IHS emergency rooms. In American Indian communities, according to the Department of Justice, the incident rate of rape is 3.5 times higher than among all other racial groups. American Indians suffered 7 rapes or sexual assaults per 1,000, compared to 3 per 1,000 for African-Americans, 2 per 1,000 for whites, and 1 per every 1,000 for Asian Americans. "Rape in Indian country is so prevalent that Indian Health Service can no longer allow its facilities to neglect this area of care," said the author of the report, Julie Andrews of the University of California, Riverside. Congress enacted federal legislation that states rape and incest victims could utilize abortion services in facilities using federal dollars. It passed the current version of the Hyde Amendment in 1997, which follows the Supreme Court's historic Roe v. Wade decision of 1973. However, the new report states, "Indian Health Service has failed to provide these services to Native women." Research from the Native American Women's Health Education Resource Center in Lake Andes reveals that only 25 abortions were performed at or funded by IHS within all of its 352 service units from 1981 - 2001. Further, the research shows that 85 percent of IHS facilities were not in compliance in 2002 with the policy under the Hyde Amendment. Andrews said in the report: "Emergency contraception, also known as post-coital contraception, has been proven highly effective in preventing unintended pregnancy when taken within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse. "In many areas where Native Americans live, the only option for victims is to drive long distances after having suffered the indignity of sexual assault to find a service that provides emergency contraception." The distance to hospitals is often followed by another critical delay when IHS staff hinders access to emergency services for rape victims. Referring to it as "flawed excuses," the report exposes the fact that IHS victimizes rape victims a second time. IHS staff often claim they lack necessary medical equipment to document rapes, which may not be the case. In reality, the necessary equipment, including slides for cultures, are typical of a routine pelvic exam or Pap smear. Training is available for IHS staff, including programs offered by the Sexual Assault Response Team. Pointing out the quagmire of problems for health care in rural areas, such as the Navajo Nation and on South Dakota tribal lands, the report reveals the lack of reliable services because of staff. "The biases of Indian Health Service personnel are magnified by the high turnover rate of physicians within Indian Health Service facilities," Andrews said in the report. Many physicians arrive from outside communities and serve for only a short time in tribal communities. Personal agendas also play a role and the challenge is to ensure respect for American Indian women, the report said. Currently, a coalition has been organized to put pressure on the IHS to ensure reproductive justice for Native women. Charon Asetoyer, director of the Native American Women's Health Education Resource Center, developed the coalition for timely and culturally sensitive reproductive services. The research in the report was the result of a survey of 50 randomly selected IHS hospitals and clinics from 12 regions: Aberdeen, Alaska, Albuquerque, Bemidji, Billings, California, Nashville, Navajo, Oklahoma, Phoenix, Portland and Tucson. Although some hospitals and clinics responded in a forthright manner, the report said, "Others were evasive, transferred the surveyor to various departments including Administration, and did not return messages." An IHS representative, contacted by Indian Country Today at IHS headquarters in Maryland, did not immediately respond to the research or the questions it raised. Copyright c. 2005 Indian Country Today. This e-mail has been prepared and sent by: Larry Kibby - lkibby1@citlink.net Elko Indian Colony --------- "RE: Hearings open into Security of Trust Records" --------- Date: Tuesday, May 03, 2005 9:32 PM From: Bill McAllister [bmcallister@cox.net] Subj: INTERIOR WARNED OF CATASTOPHIC COMPUTER PROBLEMS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Hearings Open Into Security of Indian Trust Records WASHINGTON, May 3 -- The Interior Department's inspector general warned top officials of the department they could face "severe or catastrophic" problems because of poor computer security, a federal court was told Tuesday. That warning was underscored by a private computer security expert, who testified that he found computers maintained by the department's Bureau of Land Management easy to penetrate. Those two developments came as lawyers for a group of Indians began presenting evidence to U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth about how little protection surrounds the computers that house information about trust accounts that the government maintains for about 500,000 Native Americans. Without adequate security, lawyers for the Indians say there is no way that Interior officials can vouch for the accuracy of the balances shown for the accounts. The government has long promised Indians it would give them an accounting of the funds it holds for them in the trust accounts. Scott Miles, a computer security consultant hired by Interior, Tuesday supported the Indians' claim of lax computer security. He classified security around BLM computers housing trust data as "poor" and said he had easily been able to hack into the system. Once inside Miles said he found passwords that gave him access to administrative powers that would have allowed him to alter and delete records without leaving any trace of what he had done. In all, Miles said he had discovered 24 separate computer systems operated by BLM that contained trust data. The computer expert said he did not alter any of the records, but gave Interior officials a detailed report outlining the "high risk" problems that the lax security allowed. BLM has disclosed that it disconnected some of its computers from the Internet after receiving the warning. In his testimony, Miles agreed with Dennis M. Gingold, the Indian's lead attorney, that internal security issues could be just as serious a problem to the BLM computers as was the external threat of computer hackers. He also said he agreed with Interior's inspector general who had warned of "severe or catastrophic" results because of the poor security. The inspector general's full report has not been released but lawyers have been allowed to read certain portions of the report into the record during the hearings. The hearings are expected to last for several weeks. Lamberth is being asked to rule on a request to order Interior's computers disconnected from the Internet and shut down other computers to prevent damage to the trust records. The hearings are the latest step in the 9-year-old Cobell versus Norton lawsuit. It is class-action litigation that is forcing the government to make good on its promises to give Indians a full accounting of the funds in their individual Indian trust accounts. The accounts were established in 1887 when the government did not believe Indians could properly manage their own funds. Government studies have shown that the accounts were beset by numerous problems almost immediately after they were established, but those problems have never been corrected. Bill McAllister, Indian Trust. --------- "RE: EDITORIAL:Keep Regional Civil Rights Offices open" --------- Date: Mon, 9 May 2005 08:57:31 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CIVIL RIGHTS OFFICES" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.rapidcityjournal.com//news/opinion/top/opin01.txt Journal editorial, 5-8: Keep regional offices open By The Journal Editorial Board May 8, 2005 The recent decision by the U.S. Civil Rights Commission to close its regional offices in Denver and Kansas City will have an impact on civil rights activities in the region, said former commission member Elsie Meeks of Interior. She said the commission was being "starved out of existence" and questioned whether closing the Rocky Mountain region office in Denver was to curtail civil rights activities in the region. Meeks served on the commission from 1999-2005 and said its budget hadn't changed in 15 years. She called the Rocky Mountain region "by far the most active" for civil rights issues in the country. The Denver office assisted the South Dakota Advisory Committee for its report on unequal justice for American Indians in South Dakota. Meeks fears that closing the Denver and Kansas City offices will mean that public hearings, such as the December 1999 hearing in Rapid City, into civil rights complaints won't take place. "Once it's closed, it won't reopen," she said. Meeks said she was satisfied with the commission's work in Indian Country during her term as commissioner. She was proudest of the commission's studies on justice for Indians, funding of Indian programs and a report on health care, which she said had less impact "because the administration wasn't interested." The Civil Rights Commission was created in 1957 to make recommendations to the government on equal opportunity for minority groups and people with disabilities. Its work helped to pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act of 1965. However, it faces a $265,000 budget deficit this fiscal year, and its staff is about two-thirds what it was 10 years ago. The work done at the Denver and Kansas City offices will be done from offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Closing both of the offices in the Midwest doesn't make sense. The commission's $9 million budget is a paltry sum when compared with other federal agencies whose work has far less impact than the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. The mission of protecting the rights of minorities is no trivial matter and Congress should find the money to keep the Civil Rights Commission's regional offices open. Copyright c. 2005 Rapid City Journal. --------- "RE: Tribes unite at National Health Care Conference" --------- Date: Thu, 5 May 2005 08:16:56 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HEALTH CARE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.navajohopiobserver.com/~P=1108084&S=392&PubID=13985 Tribes unite at national health care conference By George Joe Special to the Observer ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Indian Health Services director Dr. Charles Grim and other top officials, met with hundreds of tribal health care leaders from across the country for three days during the second annual Direct Service Tribes conference held here. Some 400 attendees received updates about health issues, health care funding, legislation, the reauthorization of the Indian Healthcare Improvement Act effort, and even a recent ruling by the U.S Supreme that impacts funding for tribes regarding contract support cost. Over 45 people from area health boards, Navajo Division of Health staff, and P.L. 638 health care corporations from the Navajo area attended the conference. But the conference highlight, participants say, was the signing of a charter by Grim - while tribal leaders looked on - that creates an advisory committee for tribes who have opted to continue receiving their primary health care from the IHS - known as the Direct Service tribes. "The signing of this charter was a long time coming," Carole Ann Heart, co-chairwoman of the conference planning committee, told Grim. "Now, the voice of the direct services tribes will be heard at the table." Upon becoming director, Grim said that he was approached by a number of tribes to which IHS still provides services. "They didn't feel they had an adequate communication methodology with me and my senior leadership to raise issues of concern for programs that serve tribes still managed by the federal government," Dr. Grim said. "That is how this all started. We had meetings and after that they wanted to be more formally recognized." Grim said they have created a senior position that will work exclusively with Direct Service tribes. "Now they will have a single point of contact at a high-level in the organization to make sure things get done," he said. Navajo leaders also praised the signing. Navajo Nation Vice President Frank Dayish Jr. thanked Grim for signing the charter. "I am reminded by Dr. Grim's statement that IHS is obligated to provide health care services to Indian tribes," Dayish said. "The signing of the Direct Services Tribe's charter is not only historical, but places us at the same table as that of the National Congress of American Indians, the National Indian Health Board, Self- Governance tribes, and others," said Navajo Councilwoman Alice Benally, a member of the planning committee. Tribes who sign P.L. 638 contracts or compacts with the government already have an office within the IHS, said Anslem Roanhorse Jr., Navajo Division of Health executive director "This should have been done along time ago," Roanhorse said. "In time, Navajo could go completely 638, but for now we still have most of our direct services still being provided by IHS. Nationally, nine out of 12 area offices still serve as primary care provider for respective Indian tribes." Some of the topics and speakers were also very good, said Emmett Temple Jr, tribal health director for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. "Like Methamphetamine and how unprepared we are. There were also good discussions about behavioral health." Winslow Indian Health Care Corporation chief executive Sally Pete said, "The conference was well-organized. I am from a (P.L.) 638 organization, but I'm here because I'm interested in some of the presentations," she said. "This is a good learning experience." Pete said she also wanted to meet with some of the people from IHS headquarters in Rockville, Md. "This is really for direct service tribes, but it is helpful for everyone involved in health care," Pete said. Roanhorse said he was "impressed" with the turnout. "This is a forum where tribal leaders, staff, and IHS come together as one group to collectively review their accomplishments, discuss existing and emerging health care concerns and issues affecting all Indian people," Roanhorse said. Day one of the conference focused on updates of national health issues, while the second day had workshops and discussion groups on various topics such as contract health, facility construction, and Medicaid/Medicare issues. Day three ended with an update on the reauthorization of the Indian Healthcare Improvement Act (P.L 94-437). Tribes have been seeking reauthorization of the act since 1999. Last year, it appeared the act was going to pass, but at the last minute the Bush administration had problems with certain sections in the act. "At this point a `437' reauthorization bill has not been re-introduced in Congress. But we were encouraged to hear that a bill could be introduced sometime in May," Roanhorse said. Copyright c. 2005 Northern Arizona Newspapers, Inc. --------- "RE: Chairwoman of Tribe without a Reservation" --------- Date: Mon, 9 May 2005 08:57:31 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SNOHOMISH" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/sited/story/html/206250 Chairwoman of tribe without a reservation speaks to Port Ludlow chamber by NICK KOVESHNIKOV May 6, 2005 PORT HADLOCK - Nancy McDaniel's great-great-grandmother, Klastitute, married a prominent white Port Townsend hotel owner, William Bishop, and her children were called "half-breeds." McDaniel, the Snohomish tribal chairwoman, regards that as a sad part of her roots and a declining point of Snohomish tribal culture. After signing the Treaty of Point Elliott in 1855, the Snohomish people never received their reservation, instead scattering around Puget Sound and the Pacific Northwest. Today, 150 years after her tribal ancestors began leaving the Snohomish River area as they were replaced by white settlers, McDaniel and other tribal members are trying to revive that culture. "You just have to be committed to it," said McDaniel, author of 2004 book The Snohomish Tribe of Indians: Our Heritage, Our People. "You can't help but pursuing it and looking at where it all started." In a bid to educate North Olympic Peninsula residents about the Snohomish, McDaniel travels the area to conduct presentations on the history of her tribe. She spoke before Port Ludlow Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, introducing business leaders to her tribe's culture. Landless nation With about 1,740 enrolled members, 70 percent of whom live in various parts of Washington, the Snohomish still haven't received federal recognition as a tribe. As a landless nation, Snohomish found themselves competing with other tribes for federal recognition, which means federal grants and special rights to fishing -- and operating casinos. "We can't have a casino because we're not federally recognized," McDaniel told the chamber. "That's an issue that is reserved for federally recognized tribes." After closing their longtime Edmonds office earlier this year, tribal leaders are considering other options such as a possible Port Hadlock location. Copyright c. 2004 Peninsula Daily News, Horvitz Newspapers, Inc. --------- "RE: Indian addresses Indian Issues" --------- Date: Thu, 5 May 2005 08:16:56 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="INDIAN ISSUES" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.dunnconnect.com/articles/2005/05/04/news/news03.txt Indian addresses Indian issues By Joel Becker, Editor May 4, 2005 When Ray DePerry, president of the Great Lakes Intertribal Council and chair of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, first found out he would be speaking in Menomonie, he said he thought Menomonie was an "enlightened" community when it came to Indian issues. DePerry spoke at UW-Stout Monday evening on tribal sovereignty, Indian logo/mascot issues, and the Great Lakes Intertribal Council. He also spoke with students throughout the day, and visited history and marketing classes. But once he realized on Monday that Menomonie hadn't adopted a mascot other than an Indian, he noted he was mistaken. DePerry said 44 public schools voluntarily changed their Indian-related mascots. Another 20-some did not. Menomonie did go through a bitter tug-of-war when it came to changing its mascot, but it ultimately stayed the same. DePerry delivered the first State of the Tribes address to the Wisconsin Legislature this year. He said he didn't ask for money for this or that, but instead asked that the bigotry end and that lawmakers require public schools change their mascots. He said Monday that the discrimination Indians receive is a threat to their well-being. Many mascots, DePerry said, are sorry, sick-looking Indian-like images depicted by mascots and logos. He said, "There's no honor in that," in reference to the arguments that schools chose Indian-like mascots because they are honorable. DePerry asked the legislature, "Can you terminate the sickness and the bigotry?" He added that the legislature won't pass a law. And DePerry would rather a law not be passed if the issues can be fixed locally. "I can't believe the controversy this particular subject has generated," he said. DePerry said he has trouble understanding why people would think having an Indian for a mascot is OK, when the mascots aid in bigotry toward Indians. Dick Hoffman of Menomonie said he has been active in the logo issue, but keeps running into road blocks. He said people ask where the Indians are to help change the mascot. "I've been fighting this for years and I feel alone as can be," Hoffman said. DePerry responded that he would be happy to speak with the Menomonie School Board to help implement a change. Public schools, however, aren't the only schools with Indian mascots. For example, Red Lake, Minn., high school, which is an Indian school, has Warriors as its mascot. DePerry said that is different. "That is their identity," he said, noting that for Indian schools to call themselves by an Indian-type mascot is honorable because they understand what it means to be Indians and what the mascot stands for. He said others aren't "in tune" with what it means to be an Indian, which relates to colleges and professional sports teams. Intertribal Council The Great Lakes Intertribal Council has been in existence for 30 years, formed under a threat by congressional legislation, DePerry said. "Throughout history, the No. 1 concern of these United States was to get rid of the American Indian," he said. In the early year, the need to rid the country of Indians was militaristic," DePerry said. Now, he said the government is trying to assimilate Indians, rather than allow Indians' traditions to live on. The tribes have had elected government since 1934. "We've been struggling with how to be a government since 1934," DePerry said. He said the previous generation of Indians simply got tired of fighting the government's attempts at assimilation. "There was a time when that spirit of fighting was just broken." DePerry said the current form of assimilation is termination of tribes. He said that happened to the Menominee Indians. Before the Menominees were terminated there were only 71 counties in Wisconsin. And, seemingly overnight, he said, the tribe was terminated, turning the reservation into Wisconsin's 72nd county. The move severed ties between the Indians and the government. It also took away any government funds for the Indians. "I still have trouble comprehending that," he said. When a tribe is terminated, DePerry said, it strips Indians of their identity that was recognized before, but no longer is recognized. The reservation land where Indians had been living becomes taxable and can be sold to people from outside of the reservation. But enough private people put enough pressure on the government that the reservation was returned to the Indians. However, the people who had purchased land on the reservation from outside of it were not evicted. And though the Menominees got their reservation back, DePerry said while drawing a box in the air, "This square is the reservation. This square is the county." In other words the same square took up both designations. Sovereignty The United States is a sovereign nation, which also applies to the 525 tribes in the country. One of the major issues of sovereignty and Indians is casinos. "Many individuals are under the misconception that with a casino come Indians," DePerry said. "We have casinos because of our sovereign status." He said he believes if the U.S. was a respectful nation, Indians wouldn't need casinos as a source of economic development. "Casinos are another government program to make up for failed government policies," he said. If the treaties made over the years were followed by the government, "We would have plenty." DePerry also noted that not all tribes have casinos. He said he lives in Red Cliff and there's not one there because there are many casinos people would pass many other casinos on the way there. Casinos do make money for Indians and provide jobs for them as they attempt to make do with the conditions provided to them. "I think it's the best deal under these conditions," DePerry said. Sponsors include UW-Stout's Performing Arts and Lecture Series; the Multicultural Student Services Office; and SPIRITS, an organization of students participating in representing Indian tribes at Stout. Copyright c. 2005 Dunn County News. --------- "RE: CLAWSON: Myths persist about Payments to Indians" --------- Date: Sun, 8 May 2005 16:27:55 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CLAWSON: IT'S OUR MONEY!" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.billingsnews.com/story?storyid=17013&issue=260 Myths persist about payments to Indians By ROGER CLAWSON May 5, 2005 We have all known those who would climb a tree to tell a lie rather than stand flatfooted and tell the truth. Natural-born liars amuse some folks, are pitied by others and respected by none. But such curious creatures are noble specimens of humanity compared to those who would rather believe a vicious lie than seek the truth. The first merely manufacture this ordure. The second consume it. (If you are wondering whether "ordure means what you think it does, it does.) Reader Karen Grimm fits neither category. She writes: "Occasionally when I'm out with friends I hear derogatory remarks about the Native Americans and how they are all on the dole, or they all get a percentage of the coal money, or they all get handouts, etc. I want so much to have a rebuttal, but I really need more information. "Can someone help me with an article or just a few facts so I can give some kind of a defense? I would appreciate any help you can give me." The myth of the Indians' government payday wore long gray whiskers when Custer bought the farm on the Little Horn. White settlers screamed when Indian agent and former explorer William Clark spent $20,000 to buy the loyalty of tribes that would have otherwise combined with the British to kick America's butt in the War of 1812. Whites wanted the Indians dead and their land claims extinguished. The $20,000 should have been spent on bullets to kill savages, they argued. In Western pool halls and post offices, anywhere whites gather, the myth persists. In brief, bigots claim that Indians receive a check from the government once a month. Other handouts claimed include free food, housing and education. Some people have even seen those checks. Here's why: Most Indian tribes are like corporations, like General Motors or Microsoft. They have sources of income, expenses, assets and liabilities. When they make a profit, they pay dividends to their shareholders. In the case of the Indian tribes, the shareholders are the tribal members. Tribes sell timber, grass, oil or coal found on or under tribal lands. After paying the tribal government's expenses, the cash is divided between tribal members. Make a profit. Pay a dividend. In this respect General Motors and the Crow Tribe operate alike. But there is one critical difference. The BIA serves as the tribe's banker. Revenues collected by the BIA are deposited in the U.S. Treasury before being transferred to the tribal government or individual tribal members via government check. Uncle Sam writes the checks but it's Indian money - not tax dollars. These irregular checks (called per-capita payments) usually arrive twice a year - around mid summer and just before Christmas. Some tribes make per capita payments of $500 or so. Poorer tribes may struggle to pay members $30. Sometimes the tribes end the year in the red and there are no per capita payments. Some tribes have struck it rich with oil or casino developments. Their members - like rich white folks - may live high on the hog. Pretend that your great-grandfather owned a huge ranch. When the calves are sold in the fall, you and other heirs get a check. When Acme Wildcatters strike oil on this land, you and the cousins drive new cars and winter in Arizona. Are these handouts? Most wouldn't think so. Imagine your great aunt leaving you a block of Das Widgewerks stock. Would you be ashamed to clip coupons? Yes, Indians sometimes get coal and oil money - if the coal or oil is found beneath tribal lands. Just like great-grandpa's heirs, tribal members get paid for what is theirs. No, Indians do not get an automatic free ride to college. A few wealthy tribes may invest in their young people, providing scholarships for those who qualify. In that case, it's Indian money - not federal tax money - that pays for books and tuition. Finally, the federal government does spend a bundle on the nation's Indian reservations. Indians receive assistance through education and food and housing programs. Come to think of it, so do whites who live off the reservations. Indians receive a small percentage of the $7 billion Uncle Sam spends in Montana each year. This money comes from taxes you pay, taxes I pay and taxes the Indians pay. But mostly it comes from taxes people in wealthier states pay. Montanans get back $1.60 for every $1 they send to Washington, D.C That extra 60 cents adds up to $2,600 for every man, woman and child in the state. If you think you haven't gotten yours, don't blame the Indians. And don't blame me. Copyright c. 2005 Billings Outpost. --------- "RE: Lawmakers urged to fund for Zuni Water Settlement" --------- Date: Wed, 4 May 2005 08:39:40 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ZUNI WATER SETTLEMENT" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0504heritagefund04.html Use of Heritage Fund for water settlement vetoed Mary Jo Pitzl The Arizona Republic May. 4, 2005 Gov. Janet Napolitano has vetoed a bill that would have taken money from a wildlife fund and used it to pay for an Indian water settlement. Her veto of Senate Bill 1067 drew praise from conservation groups, and sent lawmakers searching for a new source of money to pay the nearly $1.6 million settlement to the Zuni Indian tribe. House Speaker Jim Weiers is now eyeing the watercraft-registration fees paid by boat owners, said Weiers' spokesman, Barrett Marson. The fund is maintained by the Arizona Game and Fish Department for education, safety and enforcement programs on Arizona's waterways. advertisement Unlike the Heritage Fund, registration fees are appropriated by lawmakers and are therefore under their control. Marson said such a move would spare the state General Fund, which is already stretched thin. The veto represents the 33rd time that lawmakers have tried to tap the Heritage Fund since voters approved it in 1990, and the 32nd time they've been rebuffed. In her veto message, Napolitano noted that the fund was created to pay for various wildlife and habitat protection programs. While she supports the Zuni settlement, Napolitano directed lawmakers to an undefined "variety of state funds" to pay for it. The state's share of the settlement money is to go toward a variety of Zuni water-related issues, such as buying shares of water rights in a local irrigation district, buying and installing water wells, and acquiring farmland and the water rights that go with it, among other things. Copyright c. 2005 The Arizona Republic. --------- "RE: Pope's Statue heading for New Mexico Capitol" --------- Date: Mon, 9 May 2005 08:57:31 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LEADER OF PUEBLO REVOLT" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.abqjournal.com/paperboy/text/news/state/348954nm05-08-05.htm Pope's Statue Heading For Capitol By Leslie Linthicum Journal Staff Writer JEMEZ PUEBLO - The big block of pinkish marble sat next to a cornfield while its owner eyed it, listened to it, thought about what might be inside. This courtship between sculptor and stone went on for nearly a year, day after day, through the seasons as the corn sprouted, grew, tasseled, then was harvested and the stalks plowed back into the ground. "Trying to build up my confidence, I guess," Cliff Fragua said. One day, Fragua started to draw on the big stone. Then out came the tools - the chisels, drills and power saws. Two years later, Pope' emerged. The legendary leader of the 1680 Pueblo Revolt, 7 feet tall in Tennessee marble, stands today looking over Fragua's fallow cornfield. The stone will be boxed up and moved to Pope's home - San Juan Pueblo, north of Espanola - later this month for an official unveiling, then it will travel on to Washington, D.C., where it will stand beginning in the fall in the National Statuary Hall. By now, much of the furor over choosing a pueblo revolutionary to represent New Mexico in the U.S. Capitol has subsided. But back in 1997, when state lawmakers chose Pope' to join former U.S. Sen. Dennis Chavez in Statuary Hall, the 17th century Indian was hailed as a hero and criticized as a killer. He was also called a bigot, a tyrant and a Hispanophobe. In 2005, as he prepares to enter the big leagues of American history, little more is known about Pope' than was known at the turn of the 18th century. How old was he? What did he look like? How did he dream up an armed revolt against the Spanish crown? How did he carry it out? When did he die and how? No one really knows. In his recent book, "The Pueblo Revolt," David Roberts calls Pope' a "shadowy shaman." Picturing the past Under Fragua's artistry, Pope' is revealed as a youngish man with a wide face and full mouth, dressed in a deerskin kilt with deerskin moccasins. His long hair is rolled into a chongo, the traditional bun still worn by pueblo men today. In his hand, Pope' holds the knotted cord that, according to historical accounts, runners delivered to each pueblo as a signal of the coming insurrection. According to the plan, a war chief untied a knot every day and, on the day the last knot was untied, they attacked the Spanish soldiers, settlers and friars in their community. Fragua, wearing a muscle shirt and khakis, walked around the towering piece of marble one day recently and called attention to the statue's bare back. "He's got scars," he said. One point on which history is clear is that Pope', along with 46 other pueblo holy men, was arrested and punished for "sorcery" in 1675, five years before the revolt. The men were whipped, according to accounts, and three were hanged. "After they were released," Fragua said, "he developed this hatred for the Spaniards." By the time the revolt was hatched, pueblo people in what is now New Mexico had lived for more than 80 years under a foreign occupation. Their religion was forbidden, Catholic churches were built in their plazas and they were forced to grow crops and do chores for the newcomers. The late San Juan Pueblo anthropologist Alfonso Ortiz, in an article in El Palacio magazine, described the Spaniards' attitude toward pueblo people as "consummate arrogance and complete intolerance." "On the one hand," he wrote, "the Spanish friars preached to the Pueblos about equality, brotherhood and Christian love, while on the other Spanish soldiers brutally attempted to stamp out Pueblo religious practices." Native religion Pope', whose name translates into "ripe pumpkin" in Tewa, was a head man in San Juan Pueblo's summer moiety and, as such, deeply involved in religious rituals. Rebellion against the Spanish, Fragua points out, grew out of self- preservation as well as a belief that religious songs, dances and offerings were critical to the continuation of life. "To continue the ceremonies and the songs, to keep the world spinning - that was his duty," Fragua said. "He knew that if that does not occur, we have the end of the world." On Aug. 10, 1680, the knots were all untied and pueblo men attacked. The attacks went off in synch, over hundreds of miles, without the aid of written communication. Within a few days, the Indians had killed 21 priests and nearly 400 other Spaniards and Mexicans, women and children included. They burned churches, orchards and fields while allowing the Spanish governor, Antonio de Otermi'n, and hundreds of survivors to flee south to El Paso. For the next 12 years, the pueblo world in New Mexico returned to normal. Herman Agoyo, a former governor of San Juan Pueblo and co-chairman of the New Mexico Statuary Hall Commission, said Pope' would have gone back to his home near the irrigation canals and returned to his spiritual life. Others have claimed Pope' learned too well from the Spanish occupiers and turned tyrannical after the revolt. No one knows when or how he died, but when the Spanish crown returned to reclaim New Mexico in 1692, Pope' was gone. This time, the Spanish showed more tolerance for pueblo religion, language and culture, a lesson historians say they learned from the violent revolution. "The world for us was saved as a result of the revolt," Agoyo said. All but forgotten Despite his importance to the survival of pueblo traditions, Pope' was barely remembered, even in New Mexico. Agoyo never heard of Pope' as a child. He didn't learn about the Pueblo Revolt or Pope's role until he came across a history dealing with the revolt during the U.S. bicentennial in 1976. He said oral history at the pueblo had never lionized Pope'. "It was such a terrible event that the less said about it the better," Agoyo said. "When soldiers return from the war, they speak very little about it." Fragua did his own reading about Pope' when he put his name in the running for the statuary hall project. He was awarded the $100,000 commission on the strength of a small stone maquette that still sits in his studio. Fragua, a native of Jemez Pueblo, is 49 and spent his childhood in St. Louis and San Francisco as his father followed carpentry jobs. After he graduated from high school in San Francisco, he came home to New Mexico to study painting at the Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe. He took a sculpture class to help his two-dimensional art skills and was hooked. "It was being able to accomplish something that seems unattainable," Fragua said. After Fragua picked out the 71/2-ton piece of marble that would become Pope', he wrestled with a beginner's anxiety despite his 25-year career as a noted artist. "I had never worked on anything of this mass," he said. The sculpture today weighs about 21/2 tons and Fragua has bulging biceps as a result. They are marked with tattoos - his father's Jemez badger clan on his right and his mother's corn clan on his left. All Fragua has left to do on the sculpture in the coming weeks is some detail sanding and polishing. The final step will be to buff the statue with clear wax to bring out the stone's natural colors. Pope' will join statues of five other Native Americans in Statuary Hall, but he will be the only one in the Capitol carved by a Native American artist. With Pope' nearly completed, Fragua will turn his attention to other sculptures and to building a house down the road from his studio. He's moving back to Jemez from Rio Rancho, where he has lived for years. "Coming home," Fragua said. "If it wasn't for Pope', there wouldn't be a pueblo." Copyright c. 2005 Albuquerque Journal. --------- "RE: U.S. Chief of Security angers O'odham Leader" --------- Date: Wed, 4 May 2005 08:39:40 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HOMELAND IGNORES O'ODHAM" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/story_id=050405a1_tohono_oapos;odham U.S. chief of security angers O'odham leader She says she is never consulted about federal measures put in place along Arizona's border. CLAUDINE LoMONACO Tucson Citizen May 4, 2005 The busiest and deadliest stretch of Arizona desert is "ignored" by U.S. border enforcers, angry Tohono O'odham officials said after the new U.S. security czar canceled a trip to the Nation. Michael Chertoff, who took over the Homeland Security Department from Tom Ridge in February, will make his first visit to the border tomorrow. Chertoff will stop in Douglas and Yuma but not the reservation, though it is plagued by drug smuggling and illegal immigration. Tohono O'odham Chairwoman Vivian Juan-Saunders said the oversight is only the latest example of the department's failure to effectively work with the tribe. In March, the Border Patrol announced the second installment of the Arizona Border Control Initiative, designed to reduce deaths and stop illegal immigration on the Nation through more agents and better coordination with local law enforcement. Juan-Saunders said she wasn't told or consulted about the effort beforehand. She said she heard about it over the car radio on her way to work and was then bombarded with calls from journalists. She had little to tell them. "I'm tired of being ignored," Juan-Saunders said, "just as we were ignored when a federal policy was formed that pushed traffic through our 75 miles of the border." In the early '90s, the federal government cracked down on illegal immigration in Texas and California, forcing migrants into Arizona, which shares about 350 miles of border with Mexico. Officials believed the harsh terrain would act as a natural deterrent, but it didn't. Migrants began to pour across the border and onto the desolate, sparsely populated lands of the O'odham. Today the so-called "Western Desert" - stretching to Yuma and including the O'odham Nation - accounts for more than half of all migrant deaths in Arizona. Border Patrol figures put the number of dead last fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, at 172, but county officials put the toll at 221. Juan-Saunders said that tribal members have been aiding desert crossers for more than a thousand years, but that the recent flood has overwhelmed their resources. "We have so many needs here on the Nation," she said, "and yet we spend $7 million annually to do their job." The tribe has never been compensated by the federal government, and with a 40 percent poverty rate, it's money the tribe can't afford to spend, she said. The Nation has gone to great lengths to work with the Border Patrol, leasing land to it and agreeing to the installation of vehicle barriers along the border, Juan-Saunders said. But she questioned the agency's effectiveness, given the gaps in communication and coordination. The Department of Homeland Security did not return calls for comment on the tribe's concerns. A spokeswoman for Sen. John McCain, who, with Sen. Jon Kyl, will accompany Chertoff, said the chairwoman's input was crucial and McCain hoped she would attend a meeting scheduled in Yuma. Juan-Saunders said she would send representatives but had no plans to attend herself. Instead, Chertoff should come to the reservation, she said. "It's very important that he come here," Juan-Saunders said. "He needs to see this for himself." Copyright c. 2005 Tucson Citizen, All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Rare Photos of Fallon Tribe unveiled Saturday" --------- Date: Sun, 8 May 2005 16:27:55 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="FALLON PHOTOS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.lahontanvalleynews.com/article/20050506/News/105060016 Rare photos of Fallon tribe unveiled Saturday JOSH JOHNSON, jjohnson@lahontanvalleynews.com May 6, 2005 Little did Clayton Sampson know that an old box full of negatives would become a priceless collection of Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe history. A photo collection of early-20th century Native Americans from Stillwater will be unveiled Saturday at an all-day event from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Tribal Senior Center, 1885 Agency Road. Festivities begin at 11 a.m. with refreshments and viewing of the collection. Sampson will give a talk on the work at 1 p.m., followed by an underground barbecue and live music at 2 p.m. The barbecue costs $5. Proceeds will go to the Silver State Indian Elders Committee. Members from eight Northern Nevada tribes have contributed support and will attend. Other activities include a Grimes point tour, Indian hand and card games and basket weaving demonstrations. A professional, $5,000 fireworks display will be shot off at dusk. The collection of about 30 photos from Sampson and other Fallon tribe members portrays a way of life caught between traditional Native American and early-century American periods in the 1920s and 1930s. One print shows Native Americans hiding their children behind a vehicle as federal agents approach. Another captures a Western Indian band posing on a San Francisco street. A monkey riding a small bicycle and two bears are in the foreground. There's also several portraits of tribal members at work on the farm. "I always felt this was divine intervention," said Sampson, a Reno native, of his discovery more than 20 years ago. "Not many people know the Indian history of the 20s and 30s." Sampson obtained the photos and other Native American historical documents, which belonged his father, from his mother in 1981. His father, Harry Sampson, was a chairman and founding father of the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, musician and member of the National Congress of American Indians, among other activities. A graphic artist by trade, Sampson invested his own money to create prints for a Nevada Historical Society exhibit in 1983. With the help of his mother and other researchers, the photos and documents were given identification and context. Through the aid of grants from the Nevada Arts Council and the Sven Astrid Liljeblad Foundation, the some of the negatives were professionally transformed into prints. Frames and matting were purchased. The collection is now a permanent part of the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe Senior Center. When gazing on a photo of some men in unique hats, Senior Center Director Rebecca Young-Man said she noticed an eerie similarity. A man working outside the center was the spitting image of one of the men in the photo. She pulled him inside to look, and the worker said the man in the photo was his father. The photo was made to make fun of the gaudy, donated hats the tribe received, Young-Man said. Tribal elders are ecstatic at the work, Sampson said. Many were small children at the time the photos were taken, but can still identify the subjects, he said. "They love it," he said. "This (collection) is like 80 years old now. I don't think you can find anything like this at all." Now an employee of the Senior Center, Sampson said he hopes the collection will bridge a gap in indigenous history and bring a greater sense of community among Northern Nevada tribes. "This is dedicated to the elders," he said. "We're hoping this will be a resurgence of some kind." Josh Johnson can be contacted at jjohnson@lahontanvalleynews.com Copyright c. 2005 lahontanvalleynews.com. --------- "RE: Tribal Entrepreneurs share their Success" --------- Date: Mon, 9 May 2005 08:57:31 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SUCCESS SHARED" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.argusleader.com//article?AID=/20050509/NEWS/505090318/1001 Tribal entrepreneurs share their success Individual ownership rises on reservations TERRY WOSTER twoster@midco.net May 9, 2005 EAGLE BUTTE - Joni Hertel became a businesswoman out of desperation. She became a business leader out of a desire to help young Native Americans follow her path. Hertel, who started a day care in Eagle Butte 10 years ago when she was barely 20 years old, recently helped form the American Indian Business Leaders chapter at Cheynne-Eagle Butte High School. She sees it as a way to help young Lakota men and women understand that they can have dreams of business success come true. "I was 19, pregnant and working one of those $4-an-hour waitressing jobs," Hertel recalls of her decision to start a business. "I was desperate. I needed a better job if I was going to take care of a family. I needed day care for the baby I would have. What did I know about starting a business? Nothing. Not a thing. I knew I had to do something."She took the plunge with a small loan, made it work, bought a house and now acts as a mentor for young reservation-school students who, Hertel said, may not know it but are capable of being entrepreneurs in a culture that has been slow to embrace the concept of private ownership and individual profit. "I want kids to come out of school believing they can be business leaders and equipped to become those leaders," Hertel said. Casinos not the answer Much of Indian Country in the United States is economically depressed, with high unemployment and a shortage of stable industries or housing. Tribal gaming has brought startling prosperity to a few tribes in strategically located parts of the country. Casinos have been less spectacular performers, though, for many tribes, frequently becoming a jobs program rather than an economic engine that spins dollars around the reservation in the traditional seven-times-over multiplier. People involved in economic development say that is changing, and individual Native American men and women such as Hertel are part of the reason. She shared her story last week during a Four Bands Community Fund "funders' day" event, a day in which the Eagle Butte-based business development group showed its financial backers some of its successes and plans for further growth in Indian enterprises.While U.S. Census Bureau figures from 2002 showed only one-half of 1 percent of business owners were American Indian or native Alaskans, there's increased focus on individual investment and ownership in Indian Country. Last fall, the Bureau of Indian Affairs sponsored an Indian Youth Entrepreneurial Day, an event that was described as bringing together 50,000 students from the 185 BIA schools in the country. The National Commission on Entrepreneurship, in a June 2002 article, hailed the possible emergence of the Native American entrepreneur. Noting that only about one-third of tribes are involved in gaming and that most of those operations "are small enterprises with tight restrictions on the types of gaming permitted by state and local governments," the article said a "boomlet" in Native American entrepreneurship is emerging."Many tribes now are viewing new business development as a key economic development strategy," the commission article said. Among the reasons it cited was a new focus on educating Native American youths about individual business ownership. "Behind the news headlines that are almost exclusively focused on Indian gaming, a major economic transformation is occurring in Indian Country," the commission noted. Shift to sell success The transformation means a paradigm shift on many reservations, says Elsie Meeks, executive director of First Nations Oweesta Corporation, which recently received a $2 million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to spur growth of private business on the Pine Ridge and Cheyenne River reservations in South Dakota and the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. "We're all first-generation entrepreneurs," Meeks said during the Four Bands event at Eagle Butte. "In a way, we sold poverty. Tribes sold poverty, because that's how we got our funding."It takes a shift in thinking to sell success, and it can be a painful transition from relying on poverty to get grants and program money to relying on individual economic development to develop a community, tribe and reservation, she said. "We can only have a better economy than we do now ... by teaching our kids about business and finances," said Meeks, a former Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor who has spent two decades in programs aimed at developing business in Indian Country. Individual enterprise isn't completely at odds with the traditional community-first culture of the Lakota and other tribes, said John Glover, a Black Hills State University faculty member involved in the Indian Studies program."It isn't that an individual can't succeed, but that the community comes first," Glover said. "It is true that young people in most tribes do need more education and experience in finances and business." More Native Americans are becoming more comfortable about functioning in two worlds, Glover said."I think more Indian people are saying, 'I can operate a business, I can make a living that's culturally acceptable,' " he said. "They are defining their own life and deciding what they want it to be." Moving to an entrepreneur spirit on reservations is a long and probably slow process, a "crawl before you walk" approach that involves micro loans, business planning and, often, both technical and emotional support. Four Bands on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation tries to provide all of those things. The Lakota Fund, which Meeks helped start in 1985, has a similar role on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, and other tribes in other parts of the country have developed or are developing similar resources. It's a multi-pronged effort, said Tanya Fiddler, executive director of Four Bands."We need to involve adults. We need to get basic business training out there, and loans out there," Fiddler said. Sometimes the actual money involved is small - as little as $100 in some of the Four Bands' micro loans. Terry Collins' first loan was about $1,000, enough money to buy tires for a tow truck. Today he and his wife, Janet, own their business, having tapped the Four Bands' fund for expansion money a couple of times.That kind of success becomes an example for young people, Fiddler said. But the future for Indian Country, she said, lies in educating those young people "so they can plan their own economic futures." Youthful population On the Cheyenne River reservation, 40 percent of the population is 18 or under, she said. That's not uncommon on South Dakota Indian reservations, where the young make up a considerable and growing part of the total population. "The young people need to know how to manage their own finances, and they need to know where to find information to help them succeed on their own," said Donna Rae Petersen, cultural programs administrator for the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.Hertel agrees. That's why, she said, she is involved in American Indian Business Leaders, to help a new generation of Lakota children know they can own and operate businesses. "They need to see success," she said. "They need to be taught personal finances, personal responsibility and the basics of business planning. But most of all, they need to believe they can do it." Two Eagle Butte seniors already are believers, with Hertel's guidance. She worked with Dawn O'Hara and April Bacheman, who managed in the space of a couple of weeks last month to put together a business plan for a magazine they want to start. Their business plan aims the publication at issues important to Indian youths and envisions a market that eventually could span all of Indian Country.The two would-be entrepreneurs won a business-plan competition recently with their idea. Both said they are serious about it, but first, they want to go to college. "My mother went through the (Four Bands) adult finance program, and that helped me see a little of the philosophy of marketing and business," O'Hara said.Bacheman said a part-time job in the local bank sparked her interest in accounting and business. "I think I could eventually own a business," she said. Seth Pearman, an Eagle Butte senior who is weighing a number of scholarship offers from major colleges, said he might someday market his own artwork or products. He's a capable potter, and he showed some of his work at the Four Bands event last Thursday."I think I could market myself if I decided to go that way," Pearman said. "I don't know that I learned directly about business planning, but I know that I've learned where I can find the information I would need to do that. It gives you a feeling of confidence to know that you can find information." Keri Fischer, an Eagle Butte junior, said she'd be hesitant to try starting a business, but "I want to learn what I can about managing finances. It helps you be independent."A Lakota prophecy talks of the seventh generation that will heal a people torn by sickness and poverty. The Four Bands' event last week was titled "Building for the Seventh Generation." Pearman said he's aware that many people believe that's his generation. "We are that Seventh Generation, I guess," he said. "I know that in this class, a lot of us are going to college, and a lot of us hope to be successful and to share our success." Bonnie Lebeau, who grew up on the reservation, is already a modest success with a quilting business, the Rose Room. She got the idea for the business, which takes a designed quilt top and finishes it with backing and stitching, when she and her grandmother were driving to Rapid City to have that work done by a commercial business there."We'd drive out with two or three of our quilts at a time, and one trip, I said to my grandma, 'I think we could do this,' " LeBeau said. "I got a loan from Four Bands, and that's how it started." Looking back, she wonders at her audacity."I didn't know what our customer base would be, or how much we should charge, or what our time was worth, or any of those things I'd consider today in a business plan," Lebeau said. "I didn't know about credit cards or personal finances, or what a credit report even was. I just knew if we were driving all that way for a service, there were a lot of other people on the reservation who were doing the same thing." She and her husband are developing a mobile home court, and she says already there are signs that her business spirit is being modeled by her 9-year-old son. He and a couple of friends came to her in the summer to say they wanted to make money. They decided to sell snow cones, using her blender, ice and flavoring. "It was a Saturday, there was nobody on the street, I didn't think they could possibly make money," Lebeau said. The young entrepreneurs "burned out my blender," but they also made $50 that afternoon."I didn't learn about finances and business when I grew up, and I don't think my parents did from their parents," she said. "I'm going to make sure my son learns those things. It's the chance to have a good life and to be in charge of his life." Reach Terry Woster at 605-224-2760. Copyright c. 2005 Argus Leader. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Choctaws' Leader welcomes competition" --------- Date: Sun, 8 May 2005 16:27:55 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="POARCH CREEK CASINO" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/business/11566347.htm Choctaws' leader welcomes competition By TOM WILEMON THE SUN HERALD May 5, 2005 BILOXI - Montgomery, Ala., is closer to both the Atlanta and Birmingham metropolitan areas than the Choctaw casino resorts in Mississippi, but Chief Phillip Martin said he's not overly concerned about a $300 million gambling complex proposed there by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians in partnership with Harrah's Entertainment Inc. "The Creek Indians have a right to game," said Martin, the leader of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. "Probably it would have some effect on our operations. My view is that in order to compete you've got to be one of the best casinos so people will come to your casino and enjoy the attractions." The Mississippi Choctaws are building a 285-acre lake at their Pearl River Resort, where the tribe also operates the Silver Star and Golden Moon casinos. "I believe we can compete with almost anyone," Martin said. "People like to go somewhere they can be entertained for two or three days or longer." The Golden Moon is one of the most striking architectural buildings in the state. It looks like a giant golf ball balanced at the top of a swirl- shaped cake. "We wanted a different look," Martin said. "We wanted the architect to get away from the traditional look of a casino. We wanted something people would be excited about, even while it was being constructed." He noted that the tribe has not placed all its bets on gambling. Before tribal casinos were legalized, Martin was respected for his economic development talents. He has used money from casinos to diversify the tribal economy. The same week as the Southern Gaming Summit, the Choctaws were hosting reporters and others at a new technology park. "We created over 5,000 jobs even before gaming," Martin said, noting that the tribe manufactured automotive parts. Today, the tribe also does business with the Department of Defense as well as corporations, such as Pepsico. Copyright c. 2005 Biloxi Sun Herald. --------- "RE: Diabetes: A Tribal epidemic" --------- Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 08:38:08 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DIABETES" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=6395 Diabetes: A tribal epidemic Devastating illness can be fought through education, prevention HENRYETTA OK Jennifer R. Pigeon May 5, 2005 Many Native Americans are living in a world of constant anguish. They are hurting, aching, and in some cases dying, all from a disease that affects an enormous number of the native population. Diabetes is a very serious disease for many people, and is especially prevalent among tribal members. It is a world filled with constant monitoring of food, blood sugar levels, doctor's visits, medication, and needles. For many Native Americans this disease is a risk they live with everyday. Many are suffering either in their own life or are being forced to experience the suffering of family members. Native peoples are extremely vulnerable to diabetes. Current studies, using the Thrifty Gene Theory, suggest that Native Americans, who historically live off the land, are now living a different lifestyle. This has affected their ability to convert sugars into energy. But the theory is still being heavily researched. The American Diabetes Association states that on average, Native Americans are 2.2 times more likely to be diagnosed as a non-Hispanic white person of the same age. Diabetes is a disease that is extremely serious but in a culture where it is prevalent, seems to be thought of as simply a risk of life, like the possibility of being hit by a bus. However, the truth is that diabetes is the fifth deadliest disease in the United States. It is an illness with no real cure, and in most cases is handed down through simple genetics. Diabetes is a complex disease because there are differing types and a wide array of complications due to the disease. Diabetes is classified as a group rather than one disease. The American Diabetes Association defines diabetes as a group of diseases characterized by high levels of blood glucose resulting in defects in insulin production, insulin action, or both. Type 1 diabetes is also known as juvenile-onset diabetes. This type of disease develops when the body's immune system destroys pancreatic beta cells. Beta cells make insulin, a hormone that regulates blood glucose. Though this disease is no less serious than other types of diabetes it only accounts for 5 to 10 percent of all diabetic cases. Type 1 diabetes is more common in children and adolescents, but can be diagnosed at any age. A number of factors can lead to the onset of Type 1 diabetes like autoimmune and environmental factors. The most likely cause seems to point towards genetics. The most common and predominant form of diabetes is Type 2. This type of diabetes is usually diagnosed in adulthood and counts for 98 percent of all diagnosis of the disease. Instead of the body destroying beta cells, it simply begins a shut down process by resisting insulin. The body then begins to inappropriately use insulin, causing a rise in the need for insulin in parts of the body that regularly require the proper use of insulin, like the pancreas. Eventually without the proper use of insulin, the pancreas can lose its ability to make the insulin it needs. Insulin is a hormone needed in the body to break down carbohydrates and sugars in the blood. Type 2 diabetes is a gradual disease that is affected by metabolic rate, weight, physical inactivity, impaired glucose tolerance, and above all, family history. Gestational diabetes is also a major concern for Native American women. This form of diabetes occurs during pregnancy and disappears when the baby is born. However many women who are diagnosed with gestational diabetes find they are at a much higher risk for a full-blown Type 2 diagnosis in the future. There is no cure for diabetes, but with aggressive studies, treatment of the disease, is available. Controlling the effects of diabetes is a matter of monitoring. Many victims of Type 2 diabetes can curb the effects of the disease through weight loss, diet, and exercise. More and more studies are now testing the notion that digression of diabetes is possible with immediate intervention. Others require more extreme measures like oral medication or insulin injections. Those who obtain a Type 1 confirmation require a more radical treatment of insulin injections in order to maintain survival. Years ago a Type 1 diagnosis could mean a death sentence in a world where diabetes and its effects were unknown. Because of medical advances and technology, many Native Americans do not have to suffer with a disease their ancestors knew nothing about. Many complications can stem from a diabetes diagnosis. Patients who acquire the disease are at risk for circulation problems, weight fluctuations, high blood pressure, heart disease, blindness, problems with the feet and legs, possible amputation, and can even suffer from stroke. Diabetic research has made great discoveries about the benefits of intervention. Simple weight loss and an increase in exercise can make a great difference in the progression of Type 2 diabetes. By also changing lifestyle habits like diet, attitude, and exercise schedules, tribal members can reduce their risk of getting the disease and also reduce the risk of complications due to diabetes. The need to educate tribal members about the dangers of diabetes can be a great task, especially since the number of diabetic diagnoses is steadily rising. Though many people within a Native American tribe have been affected in some way by diabetes, many lack the knowledge needed to avoid the disease. Diabetes is not a disease that is acquired overnight. The body produces signs and warnings that lead up to a diabetic diagnosis. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation is making great strides in its attempt to educate its people about the threat of diabetes. The tribe operates its own Diabetes Health System located in the city of tribal headquarters- Okmulgee, Okla. The health system offers the education needed to prevent future epidemics of diabetes. The Diabetes Health System is the base for diabetes health clinics located all over the Muscogee Nation. Centers located in Okemah, Eufaula, Okmulgee, and Sapulpa were all created with the need for education in mind. Muscogee (Creek) Nation Diabetes Program Coordinator, Johnnie Brasuell, says the diabetes education program is funded by a $1.6 million grant given by Congress to the Indian Health Services and then distributed to tribes for the sole purpose of establishing and developing diabetes assistance for Native Americans. The program created is called EPIC (Educating Partners in Care). It is a nationally recognized self-management education program. The diabetic facilities not only educate tribal members of the risk of developing diabetes, they also monitor the progress of those already diagnosed with the disease, and provide a more positive outlook on the diagnosis of diabetes for the patient. Each clinic is able to annually monitor patients for problems with their feet, eyes, kidneys, teeth, and heart. The program and its facilities are now operating under a Level 3 status, which is the highest rating given by Indian Health Services. Programs managed and operated by tribes have the best chance at reaching those in the most need of diabetes intervention. The disease is incredibly complex and when taken seriously can be overcome, if not cured. Research and manageability are the first steps to combating this disease. For those at greater risk along with those already diagnosed, education and self- management has become the best proven method of treatment. The more tribes attempt to educate its citizens about the warning signs and prevention methods of diabetes, the less likely the disease will become the fate of larger portions of tribal members. Experts and educators are working together to spread the notion that diabetes is controllable and preventable. It is the first step to ensuring the healthiness and well being of the younger generation and the future of Native American tribes. Jennifer R. Pigeon is a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Tribes try for Recognition" --------- Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 08:38:08 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="VIRGINIA TRIBES" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.dailypress.com//williamsburg/dp-09321sy0may01,0,1044157.story Tribes try for recognition Virginia's Indian nations unite to achieve federal recognition in time for the Jamestown anniversary. BY PATRICK LYNCH 247-4534 May 1, 2005 CHARLES CITY -- Bill Gingras bent down to the grass to create heat, then a spark, then fire. Gingras rubbed a small bow back and forth against a stick. Smoke rose from his damp tinder, which only smoked more when Gingras blew on it. "We don't want to see just a spark," said his wife, Susie, who was helping Bill with a demonstration of Indian ways at the Virginia Indian Nations Pow Wow on Saturday. "We want fire." A few more puffs and Gingras had flames. On a grander scale, kindling the preservation of Virginia Indian heritage is not so easy. Despite five years of work, six Virginia Indian tribes' attempt to gain federal recognition in the eyes of the U.S. government has yet to catch fire. But with their unique role in the landing at Jamestown - Virginia tribes were the first to greet the settlers and are credited with helping them survive - Virginia Indians are starting a two-year push to achieve recognition before the 2007 commemoration. "The commemoration will be incomplete and very disrespectful to the Indian people if the recognition is not complete by then," said Kenneth Adams, chief of the Upper Mattaponi. More than 560 Indian tribes are recognized by the federal government, but none are in Virginia. Federal recognition opens the door to benefits such as health care, education and housing money, but Virginia Indians said they are more interested in simply being officially recognized by the culture that has changed and overshadowed theirs for four centuries. The tribes are meeting this weekend on Chickahominy Tribal Grounds in Charles City County for their annual powwow. Behind every ritual dance and every tribal song pounded out on a drum called the Voice of the Grandfather Spirit is an almost political awareness of the push toward recognition and the meaning of the Jamestown anniversary. "The eyes of the world will be on Virginia," said Stephen Adkins, chief of the Chickahominy. "The spotlight is at the center of where life was and where it is now for my people. "The commemoration will beg the question: Why aren't these people federally recognized?" There are eight Indian tribes in Virginia: the Pamunkey, Chickahominy, Nansemond, Monacan, Mattaponi, Eastern Chickahominy, Rappahannock and Upper Mattaponi. The Pamunkey and Mattaponi are the only tribes with reservation land and are not part of the other six tribes' push for recognition in Congress. Those two tribes are seeking recognition through the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Democratic Gov. Mark R. Warner, Republican Sens. John Warner and George Allen, and a handful of congressional representatives, including Reps. Robert C. "Bobby" Scott, D-Newport News, and Jo Ann Davis, R-Gloucester, all support recognition for Virginia's Indian tribes. But it has been questioned and prevented by leaders such as Reps. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, and Frank Wolf, R-McLean, who say recognition would lead to Indian casinos and businesses that could avoid certain taxes and undercut other businesses. "It's not a valid concern," Adkins said. "None of my people are interested in gaming." The distrust on the gaming issue is, for some, a continuation of centuries of slights that they hope achieving recognition before the 2007 commemoration might change. Clearly, the image of Jamestown that comes to mind for European descendants is one of hardship and survival. The Indians at the powwow this weekend see it differently, as the turning point toward war and denigration. Copyright c. 2005 The Daily Press, Hampton Roads, VA. --------- "RE: House made of Straw Model for Hopi Village" --------- Date: Mon, 9 May 2005 08:57:31 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="STRAW BAIL HOUSE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0506hotevilla06.html House made of straw model for Hopi village Group offers alternative to help tribes counter critical housing shortage Judy Nichols The Arizona Republic May 6, 2005 In the small village of Hotevilla, which boasts some of the longest continuously inhabited structures in the United States, a new house has been built. The straw-bale structure, completed last week, is designed to be an example, a model of how to solve a housing crisis in this remote community on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. Its existence is the result of an unlikely convergence among a 60-year- old Hopi woman, a Wall Street trader and an organization endorsed by Robert Redford and devoted to affordable and sustainable housing on reservations across the country. advertisement Tribal officials think it just might be a way to create a new generation of dwellings. Mary Tenakhongva has been a tumbleweed in her village since her sister's house burned down in the 1980s. "We've been moving around, renting here or there," she said. "We don't have anyplace to stay until somebody offers their home." Tenakhongva, her daughter, Shanna Patterson, 27, and grandson, Dyrrian, 7, have most recently been living in a stone house with no water or electricity. They haul water, use an outhouse, cook with propane and take their laundry to Flagstaff, a two-hour drive. About four years ago, while serving on the Village Council, Tenakhongva began to look for a way to build affordable houses in the village. A survey showed that many tribal elders didn't have homes of their own, that multiple families were living together, that many homes were run down and in need of repair. Tenakhongva looked at molded concrete, and construction with tires and cans and bottles. But she was most intrigued with straw-bale construction. Meanwhile, John Sullivan, a Wall Street trader, read a newspaper article about the lack of housing for the elderly on Arizona's reservations and wanted to help. He called the tribe. Tenakhongva answered the phone. "He's more intellectual," Tenakhongva said of Sullivan. "I was just dreaming away. He was the one who found Red Feather." The Red Feather Development Group out of Bozeman, Mont., was founded by Robert Young. The organization is similar to Habitat for Humanity but focuses on reservations and works with tribes to teach affordable construction. "We do this because housing needs on reservations throughout the West are extreme," Young said. Of the 2.5 million tribal members living on reservations, more than 300, 000 are homeless or living in life-threatening conditions, according to the organization. Thousands more live in substandard, overcrowded conditions. Many homes lack running water, electricity and sanitation. A study by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights found that more than 200, 000 homes are needed immediately. "What impressed us about Mary's situation was that her approach was never, 'Woe is me,' " Young said. "Her approach was 'I have a problem that is similar to many other Hopi tribal members'. We need housing on this reservation, and we need to be involved.' " Red Feather projects range from an environmental research center for the Chippewas on the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota, to a wheelchair ramp for a 104-year-old elder on the Muckleshoot Reservation in Washington. They have built straw-bale houses on the Pine Ridge, Crow and Northern Cheyenne reservations. "We are teaching communities how to do it on their own," Young said. "We've gone to straw bale because it's more volunteer and community- friendly. "People can see us stacking straw. We tell them the big blocks of straw are like adult Legos, and the stucco process is like a mud fight. It's done by hand and it's quick. You can stucco an entire building in one coat in 2 1/2 hours." The houses are also well-insulated for any climate. Tenakhongva had to get all the proper permits and a loan. She and her daughter cooked for the volunteers and helped with construction. Sullivan views the project like a rock dropped into a pond. "My whole objective for this was not just for Mary but for the whole community," Sullivan said. "Once they see this house, it will generate a lot of interest." Royce Jenkins, economic development director for the tribe, said his office was impressed with the project. "I took the planner, surveyor and engineer from my office to see it," Jenkins said. "We all said, 'I want one, too.' " Jenkins said the house was well-built, economical, energy-efficient and fit in well with the traditional adobe houses in the village. He expects a lot of interest from community members. "We do have a housing problem here," Jenkins said. "We need homes, and this is something that could help." The Red Feather organization brought volunteers from 15 states to work alongside tribal members for weeklong stints during April. One of the volunteers was Jason Moses, a 29-year-old project manager for a retail company in New York City. Moses, who had never been to the Hopi Reservation, called it the "polar opposite" of New York. "I love the landscape and the way the villages tie into it," he said. "And I enjoy visiting with the locals, having them tell us why things are the way they are, sharing the way they live their lives." Moses camped on-site with other volunteers, enduring rain, hail, snow and sandstorms. "It's been quite an experience," he said. "You have to enjoy the craziness of it." Moses had worked on a Habitat project before, but it was the first time he'd participated in a Red Feather project. "Their use of sustainable materials resonated with me, and I liked the fact that the construction methods are replicable so that local members who are involved can learn how to do it," he said. The house is 1,000 square feet with two bedrooms and one bath and costs about $55,000 to build. While it was being built, the television show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was building a 4,300-square-foot, $500,000 home for the family of Lori Piestewa, the first Native American woman killed in foreign combat fighting for the United States. Young ran into the Extreme Makeover crew at the airport and has sent them information about his organization's projects. "I told them, 'For what you invested, we could have housed five families.' " Tenakhongva couldn't be more thrilled with her new home. She said she is gratified that people across the country, including her neighbors, helped build the house. She helped translate for those who spoke only Hopi. "Several people from the village were there from the very beginning, doing the foundation, window frames, door frames," she said. Tenakhongva is especially grateful that the Red Feather crews took the time to teach the village children, tomorrow's builders, about construction. "There were a lot of kids around on this one," said Mike Kelly, who volunteered with the organization for four years before becoming its construction program director a year ago. "We want them to be a part of the building, moving lumber around, learning how to use a drill." Reach the reporter at judy.nichols@arizonarepublic.com, or (602) 444-8577. Copyright c. 2005, azcentral.com. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Micmac win Sovereignty Case" --------- Date: Sunday, May 08, 2005 3:40 PM From: MJ LaBurt Subj: Micmac win sovereignty case Mailing List: NDNAIM http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096410897 Micmac win sovereignty case by: Jim Adams / Indian Country Today May 5, 2005 BOSTON - After a string of court setbacks unique to Indian country, New England tribes have finally won a big one. An April 13 decision in the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a trend that was tying the hands of tribal governments in resisting state encroachments. The ruling in the case Aroostook Band of Micmacs v. Patricia Ryan, executive director, Maine Human Rights Commission; [et al. ]preserves the right of the northern Maine tribe to defend its sovereignty before a federal judge instead of a possibly biased state judiciary. "I think it's an excellent decision on a number of different levels," said attorney Douglas J. Luckerman, a specialist in tribal sovereignty cases who represented the Micmac. "It changes the entire momentum of the case law in the 1st Circuit, which was going in a direction that was limiting tribal access to federal courts." In most of Indian country, this access would be a matter of course; but the 1st Circuit had adopted a unique (some would say perverse) reading of a technicality that had the effect of turning the tribes back to state courts when they were seeking protection from what they considered state infringements. The problem was especially severe since many tribes in New England won recognition under state and federal settlement acts from the early 1980s with more or less ambiguous limits on their sovereignty. Although the technicality, called the "well-pleaded complaint rule," was a tangential issue in several recent cases, it laid at the center of the Micmac suit. The band was seeking a lower court injunction against the Maine Human Rights Commission, which was claiming the right to investigate complaints by three former tribal employees under the state's anti-discrimination law. The Micmac said such investigations would "impermissibly encroach upon the band's inherent tribal sovereignty." The federal District Court said it lacked jurisdiction because the Micmac hadn't satisfied "the well-pleaded complaint rule." It said that even though they invoked sovereignty, they hadn't proven that it was exclusively a federal issue. The three-judge Appeals Court panel decisively rejected that position in a closely argued 23-page opinion. Although it only dealt with the question of jurisdiction, it clearly said that federal courts in Maine and elsewhere in the 1st Circuit were on the wrong course in refusing tribal cases. "In short," wrote Circuit Judge Kermit V. Lipez, "inherent tribal sovereignty is a federal common law right that preempts contrary state law, and is therefore a proper basis for an Ex parte Young action." (Lipez invoked the famous Ex parte Young ruling to set his decision apart from a contrary 1st Circuit case three years earlier pitting the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes of Maine against a consortium led by large paper companies. The U.S. Supreme Court in the Young case gave federal judges jurisdiction to hear suits against state officials over possible violations of federal rights. Lipez said the Micmac were clearly suing state officials, where the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy were seeking protection against private parties.) Although the argument might seem like hair-splitting, Luckerman was delighted that the judges went into such detail. "I could not have asked for a stronger opinion," he said. "They could have handled it in three paragraphs." The court didn't reach the tribe's major argument: that unlike the three other federally recognized tribes in the state, the Micmac have undiminished sovereignty because its state settlement act was never properly ratified. That issue will now go to federal District Court. He said the decision might be a good omen for another major case, the Narragansett Indian Tribe appeal in its suit over the Rhode Island State Police raid on its smoke shop in July 2003. A federal judge in Rhode Island said the raid was justified, but a decision from the Court of Appeals is expected imminently. The Micmac ruling could also weigh on a third sovereignty case also argued by Luckerman. The Supreme Judicial Court in Massachusetts ruled against the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) in its fight against regulation by a neighboring town. The tribe has not yet decided whether to seek a review from the U.S. Supreme Court, the only avenue of appeal from a state Supreme Court ruling. Luckerman argued all three cases within the span of one month in 2004. He recalled that he asked for a postponement of the Micmac hearing but was denied and later learned that it was scheduled as the centerpiece of a historic occasion: the first sitting of a Circuit Court panel in Maine in the Court's two-century existence. All three judges on the panel were from Maine. Luckerman said that although his research showed they would be sympathetic, he grew nervous as he sat through an opening ceremony in which they gave speeches effusively praising their home state. "I thought we were dead as a doornail," he said. Copyright c. 2005 Indian Country Today. --------- "RE: MOHAWK: Traditional Nutrition can prevent Disease" --------- Date: Thursday, May 05, 2005 8:26 PM From: MJ LaBurt Subj: Mohawk: Traditional nutrition can prevent disease Mailing List: Sovereign Nations Mailing List: NDNAIM < ndnaim@yahoogroups.com> http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096410896 Mohawk: Traditional nutrition can prevent disease by: John Mohawk / Indian Country Today May 5, 2005 It has been apparent for well over a decade that when indigenous peoples shift from their traditional diet to a "modern" highly refined carbohydrate diet they become exposed to a range of degenerative diseases. The most pervasive is diabetes mellitus. This disease is epidemic among all indigenous peoples in North America (and many other parts of the world) and seems especially destructive among desert populations. A population which is introduced to a radical food - a food that either does not appear in nature or is probably not intended for human consumption - can require long periods of exposure before becoming physically adapted to it. No one knows for certain how long this might take, but it is clear that not enough time has passed to render these foods safe for indigenous consumption. This is the case throughout indigenous America. In Mexico, some 3.8 million suffer from the disease. A range of groups such as Native Seed Search (which has a group, Desert Foods for Diabetes) and Tohono O'odham Community Action have mobilized to promote nutrition education among the people. The "cure" for the malady has been with them all along. It lies in their own traditional foods which include, for desert people, such traditional favorites as cacti and prickly pear and an impressive list of foods gathered from the desert. Diabetes is so prevalent in some communities that up to 65 percent of the adult population has it. Given that a pathway to health is known, one might expect it would be easy to make changes that could reverse the unhealthy trend, but the problem can be daunting. Of the most powerful garden products, tepary beans are known to provide dramatic results. People who include such high-fiber beans have been known to reverse their symptoms, but knowing what to do isn't the same as being able to do it. Young people, raised on a diet of fast-food restaurants, complain they don't like tepary (or any other) beans. This situation provides a problem familiar to anthropologists. How do you get people to change thei