_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 13, ISSUE 034 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 August 20, 2005 Anishnaabe miini-giizis/berry moon Mohawk seskehko:wa/moon of freshness Mvskogee hiyo-rakko/big harvest moon Western Cherokee galohni/end of the fruit or drying up 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; Frostys AmerIndian, Indigenous Peoples Literature, Native American Poetry, NAPN and Iron Natives 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: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + ======================== "With us the circle stands for the togetherness of people who sit with one another around a fire, relatives and friends united in peace, while the Pipe passes from hand to hand. Once all the families in the villages were in turn circles within a larger circle, part of the larger hoop of the nation. The nation was only part of the universe, in itself circular... circles within circles, within circles, with no beginning and no end. "To us this is beautiful and fitting; symbol and reality at the same time, expressing the harmony of nature and life. Our circle is timeless, flowing; it is new life emerging from death - life winning out over death." __Tahca Ushte (John Fire Lame Deer), Minneconjou Lakota +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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 Sister! One of the biggest stories in the dominant press shouldn't have been news at all. The NCAA ruled last week that the use of American Indian mascots and logos deemed ethnically or racially 'hostile' or 'abusive' will be banned from all postseason tournaments. The fact it was necessary to invoke these sanctions in 2005 is just absurd. Of course, the "not me" cry babies are already out in force. "Don't take my/our pet Indian away!" can be heard throughout the "land of the greed and home of the bigot." ---- The University of Utah is still deciding what to do with its "Utes" nickname in light of the new NCAA policy on Indian mascots. President Michael Young said the school doesn't want to change its name. He said the Ute Tribe has given its permission to use the "Utes" mascot. (The Salt Lake Tribune) ---- Florida State University President T.K. Wetherell said the school will ask the NCAA to amend its policy to allow the "Seminoles" nickname. Wetherell has previously said the school will challenge the policy in court. But the NCAA said individual institutions can appeal the decision. FSU wants the policy to recognize that the Seminole Tribe of Florida supports the name. The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, however, opposes it. (The Palm Beach Post ) ---- The University of North Dakota's Ralph Engelstad Arena will have to cover up thousands of Indian head logos in order to comply with the NCAA's new policy on Indian mascots. The arena plans to follow UND's lead in complying with the policy. But the arena's contract prohibits UND from making changes without the arena's consent. The $100 million arena was a donation from Ralph Engelstad, a wealthy UND alumnus. He was an adamant supporter of the "Fighting Sioux" nickname and logo and said he wouldn't finance the arena if the name was eliminated. In addition to the thousands of Indian head logos, Engelstad placed a statue of a Sioux warrior on a horse in front of the arena. The statue is said to represent Lakota spiritual leader Sitting Bull. All of the Sioux tribes in the Plains have passed resolutions against the nickname. David Gipp, president of United Tribes Technical College, said UND needs to be punished for using the name against tribal wishes. (Indianz.com) ---- To the alumni of the above schools and fifteen others, especially the University of Illinois, your names do offend, they are racist and you need to get over it. Spend some time lamenting hunger in the world, or pointless wars. Your bigotry is unwarranted and your weak excuses to maintain these racist names is more than tiresome. It's insulting. You are supposedly institutions of higher learning. Use your brains in intelligent, rational ways - not taking a stance in the name of prejudice. 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 ----------- - HARJO: NCAA learning - TRAHANT: Some Stories what it's like to be Indian count more than others - Native American: FSU is wrong - YELLOW BIRD: Snakes, - HAROLD FRAZIER: Chokecherries-Summer in a Jar Smoke and Mirrors - Has Democracy paid a visit - CNO Constitution approval to your Band Office stuck in BIA - Mohawks want US/Canada - South Dakota appeals to obey own Constitutions Voting-rights Case - More Reserves - Bill targets tribes' won't end Aboriginal Poverty Environment Rules - Are the Chiefs - Bill introduced to getting squeezed out? recognize MOWA Band of Choctaw - AFN wants Aboriginal Problems - Schaghticoke Tribe alleges on Premiers' agenda deceit by Foes - Premiers sign onto AFN Plan - American Indian for Aboriginal People tribute at Cemetery challenged - Indigenous Peoples - Navajos recipients of Face Violence, Loss of Land Water Protection Award - Nebraska State Patrol - Picuris Pueblo to help police Reservations regains Ancestral Tribal Lands - Tribal Police Officers - US Tribe foregoes riches could patrol White Clay from Sacred Lake - Native Prisoner - For Tribes, -- Request for business diversifying pays Redress of Grievances - Wausau Leaders endorse - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days American Indian Center - History: Carlisle Indian School - Master Weaver, Storyteller - Rustywire: shares her Way of Life Eshkee and the Towering House - HURST: Indian Women - Lee Goins Poem: The Blessing of No still feel Genocide - Project seeks to preserve dying Languages --------- "RE: HARJO: NCAA learning what it's like to be Indian" --------- Date: Sun, 14 Aug 2005 18:56:22 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HARJO: NCAA LEARNING" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096411390 Harjo: The NCAA is learning what it's like to be Indian by: Suzan Shown Harjo / Indian Country Today August 11, 2005 The NCAA is learning what it's like to be mocked, cartooned, lampooned and vilified - in short, what it's like to be Indian in the world of sports. After only days of this treatment, the NCAA should appreciate even more keenly the importance of their decision to the health, safety and emotional well-being of Native and non-Native students, who are and should be their first concern. The NCAA decided that their teams can represent themselves as they will at home, but they need to be on their best behavior in public. It's a mature decision that provides an instruction about what is and is not appropriate, fitting and proper for good sports and champions. It's the rough equivalent of the civil rights movement sending the message that the N-word is not acceptable in polite society. Is this PC? Yes, as someone said long ago, it's Plain Courtesy. Some NCAA schools had the decency to voluntarily drop their "Indian" references before the decision was forced on them. Others are squealing like stuck pigs and calling the NCAA decision-makers every name in every book, and then some. Schools that have appropriated specific tribal names and symbols are pushing their Indians out front to say how proud they are to be mascots and how well their schools treat them, and to accuse the NCAA of making an anti-Indian decision. Actually, the decision is pro-Indian - the human being, not the mascot - but a lot of folks just can't tell the difference. Most of the commentators on this issue lump "Indian" sports references in with the bears, tigers, banana slugs, geoducks and leprechauns. They don't seem to notice that they are species hopping from humans to creatures and mythical beings, and that only the "Indians" are based on living people. A few of the pundits feel they have to point out that the "Indian" sports references aren't real, as if the NCAA and Native people thought they were. And, they come up with the ever-popular question: don't you have more important things to do for American Indians? No one who's ever asked that question is doing anything to help Native people. Here's my question to everyone who's in a dither about the NCAA's decision: don't you have anything better to do than hang on to these toys of racism? Some Native people are cutting deals with schools that haven't given them more than a handful of scholarships in decades and haven't bothered to ask before now if it's OK to use their names, heroes and symbols. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign would likely try to bargain with the local Native nations, if there were any left in the state. The excuse from the Native deal-makers in Florida, Michigan, Oklahoma and Utah is this: if we give them what they want for sports, they'll leave our casinos and land alone. Non-Native deal-makers are turning this into a states' rights issue, daring the NCAA to come into their state schools and upset their fine Indian citizens. (Any Native people who object to being mascotted or tokenized are subjected to the standard anti-Indian name-calling and slurs.) Florida State University and the state politicians are so desperate for tribal political cover that the Seminoles should demand that the school change its name to Florida Seminole University. It wouldn't even have to change its initials. While they're at it, FSU could call its team the "Floridians" and use St. Augustine as its mascot. There is dignity and respect in a school's name, but a mascot is not dignified or respected. It is shameful that the mighty Osceola is portrayed as a mascot. He is represented with fakey "war paint," which he never wore; on an Appaloosa horse, which he never rode; with a Plains Indian war lance, which he never used; acting the fool, which he never was; and performing for non-Indians - which he never, ever did. FSU may well get its way. They've twisted arms and gained support from the Florida and Oklahoma Seminole governmental leaders, who now have the hard job of explaining to the Seminole people why their nationhood is to be diminished and their children to be raised as mascots. You can bet that FSU would not dare to approach other countries or people of other races to be their new team name or mascot. Imagine the reaction to renaming the team "Cuba" or "Cubans." Would the Utah "Mormons" be embraced warmly by the actual Mormon people? Happily, there is a growing consensus about most of the "Indian" names - "Redskins," "Savages" and other slurs have to go. The generic names are no longer acceptable if they have a "Native" context. Former Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell called the NCAA's decision "a major step forward" and "a positive, important decision." Campbell, who is Cheyenne, said, "A lot of people need help understanding that it's wrong to use any derogatory name for a sports team. When I explain to African-Americans that it would be like a team called the 'Washington Darkies,' they understand. When I ask Hispanics how they would feel about a team called the 'Spics,' they understand." Campbell served in the House from 1987 to 1993 and then in the Senate until this year. "One way I explained this problem to colleagues in Congress was through legislation," he said. "I introduced a bill that would have prevented the 'Washington Redskins' from using federal property [the RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.]. So Jack Kent Cooke [the team's owner] picked up and moved to Virginia before we could get it passed." Campbell's bill had solid co-sponsors, including civil rights luminary Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., and employed the same approach and stadium that were used by the Kennedy Administration in 1962, when it forced desegregation by withholding approval of the federal lease renewal. The Washington football club was the last in the NFL to allow African- Americans to play on its team. "The NCAA decision, coupled with the recent decision in the case about the Washington team's name, is very significant," said Walter R. Echo-Hawk, who is an attorney for the Indian friends of the court in the lawsuit, Harjo et al. v. Pro Football, Inc. (This writer is, ahem, that Harjo.) Echo-Hawk, who is Pawnee and a senior attorney with the Native American Rights Fund, represents the National Congress of American Indians, National Indian Education Association, National Indian Youth Council and the Tulsa Indian Coalition Against Racism in the case. "These two decisions," said Echo-Hawk, "could mark a turning point in this longstanding campaign to end this form of racism." The NCAA can take comfort in knowing that the major national Native organizations applaud their decision. Unfortunately, the NCAA also knows how it is to be booed and hissed by loud, mean fanatics. Welcome to our world, where courage is not only prized, but essential in order to maintain a position of honor. --- Suzan Shown Harjo, Cheyenne and Hodulgee Muscogee, is president of the Morning Star Institute in Washington, D.C., and a columnist for Indian Country Today. Copyright c. 1998-2005 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved --------- "RE: Native American: FSU is wrong" --------- Date: Sun, 14 Aug 2005 18:56:22 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="FSU AND JEB BUSH WRONG" http://www.sun-sentinel.com/aug14,0,2945883.story?coll=tf-seminoles Native American: FSU is wrong By Daryll Davis Special to the Sentinel August 14, 2005 Jeb Bush and the people of Florida need some help understanding the issue behind the recent NCAA decision against Native Ameri- can-themed mascots. For the past several days, I've read the reactions of not only the Orlando Sentinel columnists, but also the readership, as the NCAA has been ridiculed and people on the side of the Native Americans in this issue decried as whiners. Let's cover the basics: This continent used to be red from sea to shining sea. In the past 500 years, Native Americans were subjected to an American holocaust and nearly wiped out as a distinct race of people. In the United States, Native Americans have been reduced to 1.5 percent of the general population. One of the basic and generally understood human rights is that a distinct people should have the right to dictate how they are represented and portrayed. Initially vilified and denounced as less than human by the media in an effort to support the government's policy of extermination in Colonial times, the image of Native Americans would later be romanticized after the perceived threat that Native Americans posed to this country's new immigrants eased. With the explosion of modern media behind the introduction of films and later television, the image of Native Americans was taken from us. Natives were not asked or consulted when movie and television portrayals represented to the world what our people were like. The end result is institutionalized racism that has resulted in other races and cultures manipulating and exploiting Natives as they please. Other minorities have had much more political and financial clout than the Native community. In the past couple of decades, those groups have been successful in reclaiming their sense of self and identity as a people. They pushed social and political reforms to get the general population to recognize their basic human right to dictate how they should be represented and portrayed. In many instances, institutional racism for other races has all but disappeared. In these modern times, Native Americans are a forgotten minority. No one takes us seriously anymore, but we're serious when we address the issues that face our culture. While the NCAA decision seems to have fallen from the sky for those people who have supported Florida State University over the years, the work by the National Congress of American Indians and the National Coalition Against Racism in Sports and Media have been pushing this very issue for decades. Complicating this issue, and lending credence to the position of many folks in this state, is the support of the Seminole Nation and their elected chief for Florida State University. I can understand their side of the issue, but then again, the people of this state also have to realize that this tribal leader does not speak for all Native Americans, and this man's opinion is definitely in the minority in Indian country. Please, let it be understood in no uncertain terms that Native Americans want to end institutionalized racism for their people. They want the same dignities and respect now afforded other cultures that have also struggled against racism. Putting some guy on horseback in a multicolored outfit and having him do a little spear-chucking is a demeaning and insulting depiction. Fortunately, the NCAA has no respect for this kind of tradition. ---- Daryll Davis of Lake Mary is a member of the Cayuga Nation, one of the six tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy, based in New York. Copyright c. 2005, Orlando Sentinel. Copyright c. 2005 Sun-Sentinel Co. & South Florida Interactive, Inc. --------- "RE: HAROLD FRAZIER: Smoke and Mirrors" --------- Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2005 08:50:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HAROLD FRAZIER: TRUST LIES" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=6840 Smoke and Mirrors Guest commentary Harold Frazier August 9, 2005 I read the Rapid City Journal article about the opening of the Office of the Special Trustee (OST) for American Indians in Rapid City, SD with keen interest. The article states that the office will provide services to Indian beneficiaries, including information about their trust assets. Is this more smoke and mirrors designed to mislead Indian people? Let me explain what this Office of Special Trustee means and why tribes across this United States objected to the Department of the Interior's reorganization that led to the OST Office in Rapid City. As with any bureaucratic undertaking, the opening of the Rapid City office did not just happen overnight, but is part of an ongoing reorganization within Interior. As a result of Cobell V. Norton, a nine-year-old claim brought by Indians against the Department of the Interior for mismanaging their trust accounts, the department has been in the process of reorganizing the BIA for over three years now. Not only did the DOI fail to consult with tribes on this reorganization, but also walked away from the table when tribes refused to acquiesce to its terms. Despite tribal opposition from across the United States the reorganization continued. Cobell Judge Royce C. Lamberth recently wrote, "After all these years, our government still treats Native American Indians as if they were somehow less than deserving of the respect that should be afforded to everyone in a society where all people are supposed to be equal." How true! Rather than listen to tribes and use the funds available to provide tribes with the actual assistance they need at the local level, the department has developed a vast new bureaucracy called Office of Special Trustee (OST) that is a top-heavy organizational structure. DOI has assigned many of the services formerly provided by the BIA to the newly created bureaucracy. Unlike the BIA, there is no Indian Preference in hiring for positions within the OST. Serious computer security problems still plague the Department, even though Acting Assistant Secretary Mr. Cason testified to "bulletproof" computer security at Interior. These problems have existed for over 20 years and there is no way the department can assure Indian beneficiaries that their account balances are accurate. The Rapid City Trust Office is within OST, not BIA. Tribes objected to this fragmentation of services and insisted that the services be at the agency level, where the People can get answers to questions such as realty, probate, appraisals, lease compliance, resource management planning and IIM account management. Local BIA agency offices have been reduced to mere shells of what they used to be, leaving the Agency Superintendent with little decision-making power and authority. In the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 (15 Stat.635), Articles V and IX guarantee that the United States will provide services at the local level to our people and reimburse the tribes for any services lost. It was clearly understood by the Indian signers of that treaty that necessary assistance would be provided to the signatory tribes by a local agent (or superintendent in the modern era) and that sufficient resources would be made available to the agent to allow him to discharge the duties assigned to him. Now, this new Office of Special Trustee will dominate over the regional and local agencies and circumvent the vested rights under the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty and other treaties, the cornerstone of our relationship with the United States. The promises made in these treaties must be upheld, and taking away the superintendents' authority at the local level is a violation of the department's legal obligations toward our tribes. It was bad enough that our people in the communities had to travel into the agency for assistance; now they will have to travel still further away for help. Agency Superintendents will be prevented from providing meaningful assistance at the local level creating a division of authority, resources and manpower. It was 35 years ago on July 8, 1970 that the Self-Determination Policy was proposed. This policy called for tribes to take over the operation of federal programs free from the stifling controls of the federal bureaucracy. The Republican solution under President Nixon was for a smaller role for Government, that Indian tribes be given the right to locally control and operate the federal programs that had been run for their supposed benefit by federal bureaucrats in Washington. In other words, under P.L.-638, central control by the federal government would be replaced by local control by tribes. Are we witnessing a new policy era of return to Central Control and the overturning the Self-Determination Policy? Or is this more "smoke and mirrors" to convince Judge Lamberth and politicians that Interior is doing something no matter how much money is spent, what the tribes recommend or what is best for Indian people? We in the Great Plains have a very high stake in however Cobell is resolved and how reforms are implemented at the central, regional and local levels. As of July 2001, the Great Plains Tribes held 27 % of the Individual Indian Money Accounts (over 67,000 accounts in total) more than any other region in the country. Since allotment began in 1887, over 2.6 million land transactions have been recorded in our region alone, as we hold 33 % of the nation's trust allotments and tribal tracts (approximately 58,000 tracts). Consequently, as large land-based and direct service tribes, the Great Plains Tribes will be hit hardest. After meetings and discussions, the Great Plains Tribes presented an alternative plan in which a majority of trust functions would remain at the agency level and to fund more positions at the local level instead of a top-heavy bureaucracy. This plan was not acknowledged by Interior. On March 18, 2004 the tribes of the Great Plains passed a resolution opposing any trust officers on the reservation, calling upon Congress for a halt to the reorganization and directing the DOI to reprogram funding for the trust officers to the local Reservations where there is a greater need for services. The National Congress of American Indians called for a halt to the reorganization as well. Thanks to Senators Daschle and Johnson, who listened to tribes, on June 16, 2004, S. 2523 was introduced to "Exempt the Great Plains Region and the Rocky Mountain Region from Trust Reform Reorganization." S. 2523 was never passed, however, limited funding to implement the Great Plains proposal was allocated during the FY-05 appropriations process. This funding is nowhere near the level necessary to make the proposal operational beyond FY-05-06. Meanwhile, Interior continues to increase services to OST at the expense of the BIA. The Department has proposed severe cuts for Tribal Programs over objections from Tribes nation-wide. Tribes advocated against the reductions and Congress restored some of these cuts, but this pattern of budget reductions in Interior indicates that life as we know it, is changing for Indian people. Life will become more difficult for tribal governments and Indian people. Some changes are the following: - Budget Reductions continue in BIA Agency and Area Offices which directly relate to local Reservation Programs. - BIA Regional Offices and local Agencies are weakened by transferring administrative functions and resources to Central Office. - Power is built up at Central Office at the expense of BIA field operations and detrimental to Tribal Government - Reorganization continues without Tribal participation and acceptance - BIA's ability to carry out trust responsibilities is severely reduced by budget cuts such as Community Fire Protection cuts, TPA Executive Direction and Administrative Services cut, School Operations (ISEP & Early Childhood) cuts, Education line offices cuts, and Water rights negotiation/litigation cuts. - Central Office increases include $8.0 Million for probate backlog reduction and $8.0 Million for a four-year contract with Chickasaw Nation Industries (CNI) - Trust restructuring Initiative by Ross Swimmer has been increased by $1. 2 Million for Deputy Regional Directors for Trust and $1.6 Million for Land Titles and Records Offices. - $2.3 M. cut from Law enforcement going to Central Office for administrative services. The line authority over law enforcement is being dismantled in the `trust restructuring' - Interior proposed a cut of $89.5 M (-34%) for school construction. The House Committee on Appropriations rejected the cut and has proposed to restore $52.0 M to education construction including $32.0 M for school construction; $1.0 M for employee housing and $19.0 M for facilities improvement and repair, and directed the Bureau to proceed with construction of Schools on the priority list. - The Senate also recommended adding $10.0 M. for facilities improvement and repair and questioned $200.0 M. in an unobligated balance in School Construction. - The OST is organizationally separate from the BIA within the Department of Interior. Since FY 1996 trust programs and funding have been transferred from BIA to OST, creating a huge bureaucracy at the expense of BIA. - In the FY 2006 budget, the Special Trustee for Americans Indians, Mr. Ross Swimmer, proposed to transfer the funds ($1.9 M.) for attorney decision makers from TPA probate to the Office of Special Trustee. - The OST had requested an increase of $77.8 M. for historical accounting. The House and the Senate both rejected the increase and maintained the funding for historical accounting at the FY 2005 level of $57.2 M. Now, the DOI has opened an office for the OST in Rapid City, SD to house their ever-increasing number of trust officers, bureaucrats whose usefulness has yet to be determined. In fact, to date, Cheyenne River has refused to accept trust officers onto the reservation, because these positions are secondary to the immediate need for local level staff and increased support to carry out land management operations. Again, big government is trying to tell us everything is going to be fine and this Rapid City Office will fix everything. But, the fact is, it is just more "smoke and mirrors" with the intent to deprive (steal) our own funds from us. Smoke and Mirrors. Harold Frazier is the chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: CNO Constitution approval stuck in BIA" --------- Date: Sun, 14 Aug 2005 18:56:22 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MORE BIA OBSTRUCTION" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.cherokee.org/Phoenix/2005/PhoenixPage.asp?ID=1697 Constitution approval stuck in BIA By Gregg Simmons Staff Writer August 2005 TAHLEQUAH, Okla. - More than two years after the May 2003 election when Cherokee Nation citizens voted to eliminate the federal approval clause from the 1976 constitution, the amendment has yet to be approved. The new constitution was sent to the Bureau of Indian Affairs regional director's office in Muskogee, Okla., for approval after the election. CN Executive Officer Melanie Knight said the tribe received a letter in June from the BIA stating a decision would be forthcoming. Principal Chief Chad Smith then met with Jim Cason, the acting assistant secretary of the BIA, on June 29 to discuss the constitution. Knight said the BIA solicitor has done some analysis on the constitution and Cason is discussing this analysis with the solicitor's office. "Some amendments are approved at the regional director level, which would be Muskogee for us, and some amendments are approved at the central office level of the BIA," Knight said. "It is not approved by the solicitor's office but typically both the regional and central office will consult with the solicitor's office before making their decision. It was one of those types of amendments that she didn't have the delegation to approve. So she made a recommendation for approval, backed up that recommendation and sent it on to the central office. It's been sitting in the central office ever since. "Cherokee Nation is organized under inherent governmental authority not IRA (Indian Reform Act) or OIWA (Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act). So under IRA or OIWA the bureau has a strict timeline in which they have to approve those constitutional amendments. In fact, if they don't make a decision in that period of time it is deemed as approval." Knight said other tribes have received approval of similar amendments due to the IRA or OIWA timelines. "The Creeks had an identical amendment they sent to the bureau the same year we did. The bureau let the 90 days lapse and then sent them a letter approving their amendment." If the BIA certifies the amendment vote, the 1999 Constitution would automatically go into effect. Some of the changes include creating the office of speaker that would chair Tribal Council meetings and be third in line of succession to the head of government after the principal chief and deputy chief. In addition, it would add two at-large councilors to the Tribal Council, provide term limits and set staggered council terms, establish a voting process for Cherokee voters residing outside CN jurisdiction, provide a delegate to the U.S. Congress and create the office of attorney general. The new constitution would also create district courts in the tribe's judicial system as well as renaming the Judicial Appeals Tribunal as the Supreme Court and increasing its members from three to five. Gregg Simmons, (918) 456-0671, ext. 2351 gregg-simmons@cherokee.org Copyright c. 1998-2005. Cherokee Nation. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: South Dakota appeals Voting-rights Case" --------- Date: Tue, 9 Aug 2005 08:31:56 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SOUTH DAKOTA UNWILLING TO ACCEPT DECISION" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.rapidcityjournal.com//2005/08/09/news/local/news05.txt State appeals voting-rights case By Celeste Calvitto, Journal Staff Writer August 9, 2005 PIERRE - The state of South Dakota is appealing a ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court in a voting-rights case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union. A three-judge federal panel last month ordered the state to submit a voter redistricting law passed by the South Dakota Legislature, HB1265, to the U.S. Justice Department for review under "pre-clearance" provisions in Section 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The state law was passed in the wake of a lawsuit by the ACLU involving the drawing of boundaries for electoral districts in Charles Mix County. The ACLU's lawsuit, filed in January, claimed that the voting strength of American Indians was diluted by the way the districts were drawn. Under HB1265, counties can redraw county commission districts at times other than immediately after the 10-year census if they believe they don't comply with provisions of state or federal law. Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act requires some jurisdictions to show the Department of Justice that a voting change does not have a discriminatory purpose or effect on minority voters. "It is our position that neither the state of South Dakota nor Charles Mix County are covered jurisdictions," Sherri Sundem Wald, South Dakota assistant attorney general, said Monday. Sundem Wald said that any legislation pertaining to Todd and Shannon counties would be subjected to pre-clearance because they contain a majority of American Indian voters. "We recognize that," she said. "There is no dispute there." But Charles Mix County does not fit that profile, she said. Bryan Sells, a lawyer with the ACLU's Voting Rights Project, said: "Every South Dakotan deserves an equal right to vote. It is sad to see the state of South Dakota spend its scare resources once again to deprive its citizens of the important protections in the Voting Rights Act. "It is ironic that the appeal coincides with the anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, which was signed into law 40 years ago Saturday." Both Sells and Sundem Wald said that the court would likely deal with the case through a summary disposition based on briefs rather than oral arguments. "In the overwhelming majority of this kind of appeal, the Supreme Court puts it stamp of approval," Sells said. "From our point of view, that's good. In any event, we are confident will we win on appeal." Contact Celeste Calvitto at 394-8438 or celeste.calvitto@rapidcityjournal.com Copyright c. 2005 The Rapid City Journal. --------- "RE: Bill targets tribes' Environment Rules" --------- Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2005 08:50:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ATTEMPT TO CIRCUMVENT TRIBAL SOVEREIGNTY" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.newsok.com/xml/rss/1574870/ Bill targets tribes' environment rules By Anthony Thornton The Oklahoman August 10, 2005 A last-minute "rider" on a $286 billion highway and mass transit bill would prohibit Oklahoma's American Indian tribes from regulating the environment on their land. The provision apparently responds to a state agency's lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency, which had authorized one of Oklahoma's 38 federally recognized tribes to set its own water standards. Critics attributed the rider's origin to Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Tulsa. But the senator could not be reached Monday. The language of the provision drew the ire of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. Along with several Oklahoma tribes, McCain complained his committee wasn't consulted about the provision. A spokeswoman for the Department of Environmental Quality said the agency is pleased with the provision, but didn't request it. Tribes expressed disappointment, with one lawyer calling it a "grave blow" to tribal sovereignty. It is the second rider on the 1,752-page bill to address Indian issues specific to Oklahoma. Another one seriously hampers a tribe's effort to build a casino in Oklahoma City's Bricktown area. The environmental rider gives the state jurisdiction over Indian country and veto power over tribal requests to exercise similar authority. Tribal attorneys said they didn't learn of the provision until after the massive transportation bill passed the House and Senate on July 29. President Bush has said he will sign it. Inhofe was the Senate's lead conference committee negotiator on the highway bill and chairs its Environment and Public Works Committee. A spokesman for that committee said the language protects the state against multiple and contradictory environmental standards. Environmental Quality spokeswoman Monty Elder referred questions about the provision's origin to Inhofe's office. Whoever suggested the provision "knew this thing was going to pass," said Charles Tripp, attorney for the Pawnee Nation. "Nobody was going to be seen as voting against highways. Nobody in their right mind was going to vote against it," Tripp said. Last November, the EPA granted "treatment-as-state" status to the Pawnee Nation for water programs. The designation allows the tribe to determine its own standards for water flowing through trust land it owns in Pawnee County, which could include parts of the Arkansas River. Almost two dozen other Oklahoma tribes have applied to the EPA for similar status. State officials including Environment Secretary Miles Tolbert have said that could open the state to a patchwork regulatory system. Theoretically, each tribe could establish water standards either more restrictive or more lenient than the state's, Elder said. In March, the Department of Environmental Quality sued the EPA over the Pawnees' status. The legislation's effect on that federal lawsuit was unclear Monday. A spokesman for U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Cheyenne, whose district includes the Pawnees' land base, said Lucas' office was unaware of the transportation bill provision. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Moore, was in China on congressional business Monday, and Rep. Dan Boren, D-Muskogee, was on his honeymoon. If successful, the rider "could be used as a model to chip away at sovereign tribal rights throughout the United States," Oklahoma City attorney William Norman wrote in an Aug. 4 letter to tribal clients. Tripp said the Pawnee Nation and several other tribes have been drafting an agreement for one universal water standard similar to the state's. He said the state's concern has more to do with enforcement than with differing water pollution requirements. "The state wants to be the ones to enforce, because they don't want everybody in the state to know what a poor job of enforcement they've done for all these years," Tripp said. He said the state has protected oil and gas producers by letting environmental violations slide, something tribes would be unwilling to do. Bill Holbrook, spokesman for the committee Inhofe chairs, said if the EPA continues putting tribes on equal regulatory footing with the state, companies could end up being regulated by the state as well as one or more tribes. Tripp suspects scare tactics were used to pass the provision in conference committee. "Why would other senators care about what's going on in Oklahoma? There's really only one reason: Whoever sponsored this rider told them, 'Hey, this is going to happen in your state next,'" he said. "But it's already happened in other states. And those other states have had no real jurisdictional issues and no problems." Contributing: Chris Casteel in the Washington Bureau Copyright c. 2005 The Oklahoman/News 9 - Produced by NewsOK.com. --------- "RE: Bill introduced to recognize MOWA Band of Choctaw" --------- Date: Tue, 9 Aug 2005 08:31:56 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MOWA CHOCTAW RECOGNOTION BILL" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=6830 Bill introduced to recognize MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians Members applaud move by Alabama WASHINGTON DC Native American Times August 8, 2005 An Alabama lawmaker has introduced legislation to recognize the MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians of Alabama. The move by Republican Jo Bonner would give what members of the tribe have sought for years, including trust land and increased access to services. "This time we are confident that our prayers will be answered and that the fraud perpetrated against us will be fully brought to light in the nation's capitol. With an average yearly family income of $6,350, according to year 2000 census figures, federal recognition has never been viewed as a want, but specifically as a need. Basic access to social programs such as IHS funded health care are in dire need," said Cedric Sunray, a member of the tribe teaching American Indian Studies at Bacone College in Muscogee. "High rates of diabetes and a rare disease known as Marinesco-Sjogren Syndrome (a form of muscular dystrophy) are working against our general health. We truly believe with all of our strength that bill HR3526 Federal Recognition of the MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians, will pass through all levels of government and reverse the discrimination, that for so long, has plagued our small tribal nation in southwestern Alabama." In the tribe's petition for recognition, Dr. Kenneth York, Ph.D., wrote: "It is my belief that as a member of the [Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians] that members of the MOWA Band are descendants of the Great Choctaw Nation which was disbanded by the U.S. Government during the Indian Removal Period. It is my professional opinion that the MOWA Band has provided documentation regarding the history, culture, and ancestral relationship as well, if not better, as any tribal petition in recent years." The MOWA have already achieved state recognition. Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Schaghticoke Tribe alleges deceit by Foes" --------- Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2005 08:50:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ANTI-RECOGNITION TRICKS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.courant.com//hc-tribe0810.artaug10,0,988815.story?&track=rss Tribe Alleges Deceit By Foes Schaghticokes Say Citizens, Officials Violated Court Order August 10, 2005 By RICK GREEN, Courant Staff Writer The Schaghticoke Indians say a Washington lobbying firm with close ties to the White House is the "crucial link" behind a "surreptitious" campaign that scuttled their hard- won federal recognition. The Kent-based tribe, which won federal recognition in 2004 only to see it overturned this past May, is trying to show that a conspiracy of its opponents - wealthy Kent residents and local and state elected officials - violated a court order and worked behind the scenes to sink the Schaghticokes. Critical to this was the role played by Barbour Griffith & Rogers Inc., a Republican lobbying firm hired by a local citizens group, Town Action to Save Kent. "Barbour Griffith & Rogers is the crucial link in the chain of possible deceit," the Schaghticokes say in court papers filed in U.S. District Court in Washington. The conflict is the latest in a high-stakes contest unfolding in courtrooms and government offices in Washington and Connecticut: The Schaghticokes are fighting for federal recognition, while their opponents fear the tribe will open a casino. The Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs is giving a final review to the Schaghticoke case and will issue a ruling on federal recognition by Oct. 12. Taking aim at Barbour Griffith and TASK, the Schaghticokes say in documents filed in federal court in Washington that their opponents sought to disobey an order of "no contact" with the Interior Department, first issued in 2001. U.S. District Judge Peter Dorsey issued the order to prevent outside groups from trying to improperly influence the highly charged and politicized Schaghticoke bid for recognition. "TASK retained Barbour Griffith & Rogers to provide lobbying services in Washington. ... Shortly after these lobbyists went to work the Interior Board of Indian Appeals vacated the Department of Interior's Final Determination to acknowledge [the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation] as an Indian tribe," Schaghticoke lawyers say in the new court papers. The Schaghticokes are trying to subpoena TASK leaders and lobbyists from Barbour Griffith for depositions to see if they "directly or through surrogates ... made improper agency contacts." Pointing out that Attorney General Richard Blumenthal had been cited previously by Dorsey for his lobbying of Interior Secretary Gale Norton, the tribe suggests that this behavior has continued as opponents colluded to try to overturn the Schaghticoke recognition. TASK and Barbour Griffith are fighting the subpoena from the Schaghticokes, which seeks e-mails, financial records and "all communication" regarding the tribe, contact with state and federal officials and "strategy or plans of action designed or intended to affect or influence or to attempt to affect or influence any decision" by the Interior Department. Bradley Blakeman of Barbour Griffith and TASK president Ken Cooper have submitted sworn affidavits saying they never contacted the Interior Department regarding the Schaghticokes. Specifically, the Schaghticokes want to know whether Barbour Griffith "asked officials related to U.S. Senators or representatives to contact the Department of Interior. ... [B]ecause it is regarded as a `well- connected' lobbying firm, these are precisely the type of contacts to which Barbour Griffith & Rogers may have reached out." "They are grasping at straws," said Francis J. Collins, a lawyer for TASK. "They are trying to show that somehow one of the parties, whether it be the state or the town, was trying to circumvent that [Dorsey] order. There's nothing further from the truth." Schaghticoke Chief Richard Velky said the tribe has watched as its opponents worked closely with Barbour Griffith and with elected leaders in Connecticut and Washington. While the tribe has repeatedly faced investigation by federal authorities, he said its opponents aren't willing to share information about their own activities. "Clearly they are hiding something," Velky said. He also said the tribe doesn't understand why Kent resident Francelia C. Johnson, an amateur genealogist, won't agree to undergo questioning from Schaghticoke lawyers about what she knows about local Indian history - perhaps because she is concealing town records. Johnson, represented by Kent town attorney Jeffrey B. Sienkiewicz, is fighting a subpoena from the tribe. "Why do we have to go through this here?" Velky asked. "The town officials and the state attorney general should be stepping in" to help the tribe uncover information it has a right to, he said. Blumenthal said the Schaghticokes "are trying to create an illusion. It's a lot of smoke and mirrors." He said the state, which has aggressively opposed the federal recognition of the Schaghticokes, has had little to do with TASK or the tribe's other opponents in Kent. "We have been very careful about avoiding any formal or informal activities with or through TASK," he said. Collins said a January meeting at the Fife'n Drum restaurant in Kent, where Schaghticoke opponents and local elected officials met with Blakeman, was merely a chance to meet the lobbyists hired by TASK. The Schaghticokes "are trying to say that whatever went on at that meeting was part of a conspiracy," Collins said. State Sen. Andrew Roraback, R-Torrington, who was deposed by the Schaghticokes two weeks ago, said the Fife'n Drum gathering was little more than "a dog and pony show" where TASK was showing off the lobbying firm it hired. "This issue looms as the single largest issue confronting the 15 communities I represent in northwest Connecticut," Roraback said, referring to the Schaghticokes' quest for federal recognition and the tribe's goal of opening a gambling casino. "Litchfield County is rightfully on pins and needles because the potential consequences are pretty dire." Copyright c. 2005 by The Hartford Courant. --------- "RE: American Indian tribute at Cemetery challenged" --------- Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2005 08:54:02 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SPIRIT HOUSE FOR DAUGHTER" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-1/112368510195200.xml&coll=6 American Indian tribute at cemetery challenged By Theresa D. Mcclellan The Grand Rapids Press August 10, 2005 CLYDE TOWNSHIP - In the tiny Pearl Cemetery, tributes of flowers, statues and stones memorialize those buried there. A statue of a praying Virgin Mary adorns one grave, and small American flags fly over the resting place of a World War II veteran nearby. A pastel flag pressed into the ground there reads: "The ones we love are never really gone. They live on in memory and spirit." It's this recognition of the spirit the Clyde Township Board plans to consider at its meeting tonight, when it may decide whether an American Indian practice of placing a "spirit house" on a grave site violates township rules. At issue is the grave of 6-year-old Rhiannon Jaesche, who died Christmas Eve after a bread truck crossed the center line on M-89 and struck the pickup in which she was riding. The first-grader's parents, who are divorced, decided to bury her in Pearl Cemetery, in western Allegan County. Rhiannon's mother, Sharon Jaesche, who is Ojibway, said she received verbal approval from the cemetery sexton to place a "spirit house" on her daughter's grave, in the tradition of her ancestors. She said she explained the cedar structure resembles an oversized birdhouse with a circular opening for one's spirit, and a ledge on which to place traditional offerings, such as tobacco. "It is like a home for her spirit to come and go," said Jaesche, a longtime Allegan County resident who said she was raised with the traditions of her grandmother, who lives on a Wisconsin reservation where spirit houses atop grave sites are common. Jaesche said she placed the spirit house on her daughter's grave in May and, on July 4, found a note on the tribute saying it had to be removed by July 15. She brought the issue to the Township Board last month, and it tabled discussion until tonight's meeting. Township Supervisor Tommie Giles said he did not know what the township ordinance states on the issue, and that he turned the matter over to legal counsel in Kalamazoo. Attorney Ken Sparks declined to comment. "There's no story here. I don't know what the legal counsel will say. It may be tabled again," Giles said. Township and cemetery officials have refused to return calls to their homes and township offices. Sharon Detz, a spokeswoman for a statewide tribal alliance who was notified of the situation by Jaesche, believes the township will allow the spirit house if it understands its significance and federal law. "Non-natives are not aware of the laws, but Congress passed a Freedom of Religion law in 1978. Everyone is supposed to be allowed their own spirituality. The cemetery board OK'd it when she first asked, until people complained to say it looked like a dog house," said Detz of Grand Rapids, a member of the Michigan Aa-Nish-Naa-Bek Cultural Preservation Repatriation Alliance. It's a troubling issue for Jaesche, who said her daughter was learning the Indian ways. Rhiannon mastered the Jingo dress dance and wanted to be a fancy shawl dancer. Jaesche said she would not remove her daughter's spirit house, even if ordered to. She plans to be buried next to her little girl and wants a spirit house atop her grave. "If they want it removed, they will have to do that," she said. "Once it's placed, I'd hate to say it's anything like bad medicine, but it's not a good thing." Copyright c. 2005 Grand Rapids Press. Used with permission. Copyright c. 2005 MLive.com. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Navajos recipients of Water Protection Award" --------- Date: Monday, August 08, 2005 10:52 PM From: Karen Francis [karenfrancis@navajo.org] Subj: Navajos recipients of water protection award Contact: Karen Francis, Public Information Officer Navajo Nation Council Office of the Speaker (928) 871-7160 karenfrancis@navajo.org www.navajonationcouncil.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATE: Monday, August 8, 2005 NAVAJOS RECIPIENTS OF WATER PROTECTION AWARD Three receive award for role in banning of uranium mining on Navajo Nation The New Mexico Environmental Law Center awarded Council delegate and Resources Committee Chairperson George Arthur (Burnham/Nenahnezad/San Juan) with its Karl Souder Water Protection Award during an awards ceremony on Sunday, August 7, 2005 in Santa Fe, N.M. Arthur received the award for his crucial role in the banning of uranium mining on the Navajo Nation. The Navajo Nation Council approved the Dine' Natural Resources Protection Act sponsored by Arthur, which bans the mining of uranium, during its 2005 spring session in April. Also receiving awards for the same purpose were Lynnea K. Smith of the Eastern Navajo Dine' Against Uranium Mining and Esther Yazzie-Lewis, the president of Southwest Research Center board. Ms. Yazzie-Lewis accepted the award on behalf of the late Harris Arthur. Presenting the award was Emily Souder, the 13-year old daughter of the late Karl Souder for whom the award is named. Douglas Meiklejohn, the director of the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, said that the enactment of the Dine' Natural Resources Act by the Council was one of the most significant developments in the state pertaining to protection of water and the environment. Meiklejohn commended Arthur for having the dedication and perseverance to see that the law was passed, especially in the face of powerful opposition. "He consistently told us that he would get this done, and he did," Meiklejohn said. In accepting the award, Arthur said, "I'm very honored and humbled to be in your presence, especially to be given recognition that is to be shared by many, not the least of which are my colleagues on the Resources Committee and the Navajo Nation Council. "We feel it is wrong to threaten either an individual or a society so that one may gain for one's self. I believe in economic development and that there is a place for it. However, there is a choice to be made - whether we make a dollar or survive for generations to come. We decided it was more important to have generations and generations after us," Arthur continued. Speaking about the Eastern Navajo Dine' Against Uranium Mining, he said, "They stood up for what they believed in when strong forces were opposing them." Arthur thanked Eric Jantz from the New Mexico Environmental Law Center and Frank Seanez from the Navajo Nation Office of Legislative Counsel for providing guidance in the drafting of the legislation. Also in attendance from the Navajo Nation Council at the awards ceremony were Resources Committee members Norman John II (Twin Lakes) and Harry Goldtooth. Meiklejohn said that the center has been involved in the 10-year struggle to prevent uranium mining around the Navajo community of Crownpoint, N.M., with the Eastern Navajo Dine' Against Uranium Mining and the Navajo Nation. Jantz, a lawyer with the center, was one of two agents that presented the Dine' Natural Resources Act to the Council along with Arthur. The other agent chosen by Arthur was then 21-year old Lynnea Smith, also one of the three recipients of the award. Meiklejohn noted that Smith has been involved in the effort to prevent uranium mining at Crownpoint since she was a junior in high school. Smith acknowledged that the struggle to prevent uranium mining is ongoing. "We are still committed to fight on a daily basis. Just because you pass a piece of legislation does not mean the battle is over," she said. Esther Yazzie-Lewis paid tribute to Harris Arthur, the late brother of George Arthur, in accepting the award on his behalf. "There are a lot of unsung heroes and I think Harris received this award in a very special way. I believe there is a time and a place for everything and time presented to us Harris Arthur. He stepped forward to tell us to be patient and to fight one more fight and he made it happen," Yazzie-Lewis said. Don Hancock, the recipient of the center's Griff Salisbury Environmental Protection Award, also acknowledged the tremendous job done by the Navajo Nation when he accepted his award. "It takes many people to make the kind of accomplishment happen that the Dine' have done. We have a lot of resources in this state that many people want to use or exploit," Hancock said. Hancock further remembered the anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima, which happened on August 6, 1945. "You realize the central role that New Mexico has played in the world and will continue to play in the future," he said. --------- "RE: Picuris Pueblo regains Ancestral Tribal Lands" --------- Date: Monday, August 08, 2005 10:10 PM From: Glenn Welker [ghwelker3@comcast.net] Subj: Picuris Pueblo Regains Ancestral Tribal Lands! Mailing List: indigenous_peoples_literature@yahoogroups.com Picuris Pueblo Regains Ancestral Tribal Lands! By Mark Schiller Picuris Pueblo has won another great environmental and spiritual victory by reacquiring the land where their potters' aboriginal micaceous clay pit is located. The original clay pit had been decimated by mica mining operations on ancestral tribal lands that were erroneously incorporated into the public domain by the federal government, then patented by mining companies under the notorious 1872 federal mining law. The Pueblo claimed the mining operations not only destroyed their clay pit but were poisoning the water and air and posing a public safety hazard because of eighteen wheelers that sped from the mining site on U.S. Hill, east of the Pueblo, through the small communities of the Rio Pueblo/Rio Embudo watershed carrying raw ore to the company's milling operation in Velarde. Moreover, during the battle to regain the land former Tribal Governor Gerald Nailor explained that loss of the clay pit was eroding the pueblo's cultural identity and was as significant as loss of their language. The 537 acre tract, which includes 195 patented acres and 342 acres of unpatented mining claims, was transferred to the Pueblo under an agreement with Oglebay Norton Specialty Minerals, the mine's last operator. The agreement stipulates that the Pueblo dismiss all claims against the company in exchange for the patented and unpatented lands. The Pueblo hopes to protect the entire tract by eventually incorporating it as a trust. The agreement also stipulates that the Pueblo is now responsible for reclamation of the property. While the agreement with Oglebay Norton severs that company from the Pueblo's legal suit, the Pueblo continues to seek compensation for damages from previous owners Franklin Industries and Preston Capital Corp. Simeon Herskovitz, of the Western Environmental Law Center, told La Jicarita News that Pueblo Governor Richard Mermejo and other tribal members who have worked on this issue have expressed a desire to restore the site as completely as possible. The Pueblo, which received foundation funding to underwrite the legal battle for the land, will continue to receive financial support to address the reclamation. The Pueblo will be working with Jim Kuipers, a mining reclamation expert from Montana, to develop a reclamation plan that not only addresses state standards but Pueblo environmental, spiritual and aesthetic concerns. This is not the first time Picuris Pueblo has stood up to mining interests in their watershed. In the mid and late 1990s the Pueblo spearheaded a coalition of community and environmental groups that successfully opposed Summo Minerals attempt to mine copper in the Copper Hill area west of the Pueblo. The coalition was not only successful in forcing the mining company to abandon its claims but was also able to persuade the Bureau of Land Management, which manages that area, to withdraw the Copper Hill Site from further mineral entry, thereby protecting it from any future claims. --------- "RE: US Tribe foregoes riches from Sacred Lake" --------- Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2005 08:50:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PYRAMID LAKE PAIUTE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3372228a2180,00.html Poor US tribe foregoes riches from sacred lake 9 August 2005 NIXON: Visitors to the eastern shore of Pyramid Lake 56km northeast of Reno, Nevada, can scan an area framed by a desert mountain backdrop and not see a hint of mankind. The American Indians overseeing the lake say such serenity along 200km of lake coastline 1200m above sea level is the result of the tribe's traditional respect for nature. Others suggest the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, which suffers 44 per cent unemployment, should allow at least some development so it can share in the prosperity that regions such as Lake Tahoe in northern California enjoy. The clash matches economic opportunity cost against tradition, with the sovereign tribe having the final word. "The historical aspect of the lake has always been to keep it as it is," Norman Harry, chairman of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribes' Reservation, said in an interview. "The lake is sacred to the people and always will be. "Over the last four decades we've seen what happened in Lake Tahoe." That commercialised lake attracts so many visitors that it generates $US1.8 billion ($NZ2.6 billion) annually, of which 80 per cent is linked to tourism, according to Duane Wallace, chief executive of the South Lake Tahoe Chamber of Commerce. A tiny handful of outsiders operate businesses near Pyramid Lake, with some saying the tribe should open more to tourism. "The business sense is very lacking here on the reservation," said Thomas Bobella, a German-born businessman. He leases 1.6ha with a modest marina, gas station and recreational vehicle park in Sutcliffe, the only inhabited area on the lake's western side. "They are economically shooting themselves seemingly without any justification for it," said Bobella, who criticises the tribe for their poor boat launching areas. "One of the very discouraging points to Pyramid Lake. . . is the fantastically bad reputation that this lake has and that is primarily due to the governmental administrations and their approach toward tourism." Tribal chairman Harry said a dispute over the year-old marina lease motivated such remarks. Fred Crosby, who owns the only lodging in Sutcliffe, a 10-unit facility, says tensions still simmer between the tribe and the descendants of settlers who battled at the 1860 Battle of Pyramid Lake. Fighting that killed about 240 people resulted after settlers kidnapped two young Indian women. Such sentiment raises suspicion when it comes to outside commerce on the reservation. "There's kind of a gap between the Indians and non-Indians," said Crosby, 58, who has lived in Sutcliffe for 48 years. "There is an anti-white sentiment on the reservation." The lightly salinated Pyramid Lake derives its name from a small triangular rock island rising from the waters fed by the Truckee River. The larger Anaho Island nearby provides a dramatic backdrop to flocks of pelicans, sea gulls and herons. Most access roads are dirt or sand. The unspoiled arid landscape fit in easily as a biblical backdrop to the 1965 film The Greatest Story Ever Told about the life of Jesus. By local standards, Sutcliffe is a hub of activity. About 220 tribal members live there, and hundreds of outsiders pass through on weekends to swim, go boating or fish trout, a privilege for which they pay modest access fees. Asked about his tribe's future plans, Chairman Harry pointed on a map away from the lake to other areas of a 189,000ha reservation home to 1600 members. "When we look at economic development, we have to look at other resources," he said at his office in Nixon. "There are other areas we can look at that can accomplish the same thing." He wants to open a hotel and casino complex on tribal lands on Nevada's main I-80 highway linking California to the east, and says land nearby would be good for light industry. Harry also wants to sell pipeline rights across the reservation and sees potential in developing geothermal energy in another corner of the sparsely populated reservation. Tourism firms have shown interest in Pyramid Lake for decades, and Harry's predecessor as tribal leader, Bonnie Akaka-Smith, solicited development proposals last year. She declined to discuss her ideas, saying she did not want to express dissent as she still worked for the tribe in the tax department. Nothing came of her idea, but the tribe has shown past flexibility towards the sacred lake, such as during World War 2, when it let the US military test torpedoes there, Some believe economic pressures could one day prompt the tribe to allow a new barrage of tourism. Dennis Conrad, a casino marketing consultant, is modestly optimistic that the tribe will one day develop attractive resort facilities on or near the lake. A rival consultant, Richard Wells, was more pessimistic, saying that the far more developed Tahoe would long overshadow Pyramid Lake. Copyright Stuff.co.nz 2005. --------- "RE: For Tribes, business diversifying pays" --------- Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2005 08:54:02 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRIBES DIVERSIFYING" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-08-10-winnebago-tribe_x.htm For Native American tribes, business diversifying pays By Tom Kenworthy, USA TODAY August 10, 2005 WINNEBAGO, Neb. - The future of the Winnebago Indian tribe is emerging on a 40-acre site carved from a former cornfield. This development, called Ho-Chunk Village, will include 110 housing units, a retail district and an arts center when completed in about four years. Ho-Chunk Village is the most visible sign of an economic transformation underway on this reservation of 1,500 Winnebago Indians in northeast Nebraska. The change began a decade ago, when Lance Morgan, 36, a tribal member educated at Harvard Law School, returned and established a corporation that now employs 400 people and generated $94 million in revenue last year. This type of economic progress is becoming more common among the 562 federally recognized Indian tribes as they invest in businesses as diverse as wind energy and luxury golf resorts and rely less on income from gambling. "Tribes are starting to make it on their own," says Jonathan Taylor, an economist who co-wrote a Harvard University study this year that tracked economic gains in Indian country during the 1990s. Gaming money leveraged The Winnebago corporation, called Ho-Chunk Inc. after a traditional tribal name, began in 1994 with $9 million in seed money from the tribe's lone casino. A short time later, competition from riverboat gambling in Iowa caused the tribe's annual gambling revenue to plummet 80%, Morgan says. Ho-Chunk brought economic diversification to the tribe. Its businesses include construction, modular housing, office products, computer networking and hardware sales, marketing, grocery and gasoline sales, wholesale tobacco products and native crafts. Most of the profit earned by Ho-Chunk goes back into its businesses, though in recent years 10%-20% has gone to the tribal government, which owns the corporation. Tobacco and gasoline sales account for about half the corporation's revenue. Morgan says that share is steadily declining because the goal is to "shift away from those controversial businesses." Selling gas and cigarettes can be lucrative for tribes, because as sovereign powers they can set their own tax rates in lieu of state taxes. Ho-Chunk's growth has had a dramatic impact on reservation life, says Vincent Bass, 53, a former tribal council member. "Native Americans have had this handout mentality," he says. "Now we are breaking away from that. ... With employment comes quality of life, education and self-esteem. I see people working who've never worked in their life." Ho-Chunk "puts Winnebago tribal people to work," says David Redhorn, 37, a tribal member who switched from a railroad job that often kept him far from home to being head stocker at a grocery store begun by the corporation. Redhorn bought one of the first houses built in Ho-Chunk Village. He received $20,000 in grants to help with the $137,000 purchase in November. All tribe members can get grants of $15,000 from Ho-Chunk's non-profit arm if they complete a 40-hour home-buying course. Low-income members can receive an additional $5,000. Redhorn had been sharing a two-bedroom house with his wife's sister and her family - as many as 11 people. Now Redhorn, his wife and their three children still at home have a three-bedroom house with a full basement and two-car garage. In the garage: a 1996 Pontiac Grand Am, bought through Ho- Chunk's used-car company, Rez Cars. The 1990s brought significant gains in the median household income and lower poverty rates in Indian country. But even amid the successes, poverty, public assistance and unemployment rates remain well above U.S. averages. "I don't think anybody can be complacent and say, 'Hey, we've licked this tribal poverty thing.' But there's been some significant improvement," says Stephen Cornell of the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at the University of Arizona. He says a key factor is that tribes are increasingly adept at governing themselves. Instead of having most aspects of reservation life controlled by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, tribes now run their own governments, police forces, courts and economic development and housing agencies. Golf courses, wind power Tribal gambling operations, authorized by Congress in 1988, draw in nearly $17 billion a year for about 200 tribes. That money has spurred the growth of other businesses. "There's an enormous amount of plowing gaming revenues back into housing, economic diversification and so on," Harvard's Taylor says. Some examples: * Tribes in the Southwest have taken advantage of the region's success as a tourist destination. The Gila River Indian Community outside Phoenix has built three 18-hole golf courses and a 500-room resort managed by Sheraton. * In the northern Plains, wind power is increasingly attractive to tribes long locked in poverty. The Rosebud Sioux in South Dakota completed a 750- kilowatt wind turbine in 2003 that produces power for about 250 homes. In the works: a 30-megawatt wind farm that would spread 15 turbines over 800 acres and produce power for about 9,000 homes. * There are now 20 Indian-controlled banks - most formed in the past decade - that control $1.5 billion in assets and helped stimulate "the creation of a middle class in Indian country just in my lifetime," says J. D. Colbert, president of the North American Native Bankers Association. * Another funding source has been the rapid growth in community development financial institutions that use foundation grants and investors. A pioneer in this field is the Lakota Fund on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Founded 19 years ago, it has loaned $3 million to tribal members, helping create 1,600 jobs and finance 500 businesses. Elsie Meeks, a Lakota fund founder who now runs First Nations Oweesta Corp., says: "Our communities are going to start looking more like other communities, providing businesses and services and employment for our families." Copyright c. 2005 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. --------- "RE: Wausau Leaders endorse American Indian Center" --------- Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2005 08:50:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WAUSAU PLANS BIG INDIAN CENTER" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/wdhlocal/303003028987263.shtml City leaders endorse American Indian center By Rick LaFrombois Wausau Daily Herald rlafromb@wdhprint.com August 10, 2005 The City Council unanimously endorsed the concept of an American Indian cultural and educational center in downtown Wausau on Tuesday. A group of civic leaders proposed the idea to the Daily Herald's Editorial Board in July. They say the center would be a major draw for Wausau. The council encouraged organizers to study the feasibility of the American Indian center. The organizers, who include former Mayor Linda Lawrence and Mark Craig, general manager of a development company, did not ask the city for monetary support and none was offered. The idea has garnered the support of the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council - a consortium of 10 federally recognized tribes in Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. Ray DePerry, president of the Inter-Tribal Council, spoke to the council at its meeting on Tuesday. "We were very impressed with the people we met to hear about this dream, to hear about this vision about what one could possibly do with this Federal Building," DePerry said. "Our non-Indian neighbors generally don't come knocking on our doors regarding joint ventures." The cultural and educational center could further diversify the community and help increase education and tolerance of American Indian culture, Craig has said. The downtown Federal Building could house the center under the plan, which is in its infancy. The city still awaits the deed to the historic building, which it has purchased for $1 in order to control its future use. The originators of the plan say that private dollars of up to $100,000 will be sought this fall. The money will be used to conduct a feasibility study with an eye toward developing a master plan by fall of next year. Funds then will be sought to develop the center, which organizers hope to open in the summer of 2008. Each tribe will have a representative on a steering committee that will drive the creation of the center, which would be operated by the tribes and would not cost taxpayers a dime, Craig said. The city would receive a payment in lieu of taxes for use of the Federal Building, which it would lease for use as an interactive center. Under terms of the lease, the building could not be used as a casino. Wausau Mayor Jim Tipple embraced the idea early on. He attended an Inter-Tribal Council meeting in July with Craig, Lawrence and Mike Morrissey, the city's community development director, to voice his support of the plan. Patty Loew, an associate professor who teaches American Indian issues at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, has said there is a need for a public American Indian cultural center in the state. Wausau, the gateway to the Northwoods, would be an excellent location, she said. Most Wisconsin tribes have cultural centers, but few, if any, provide convenient access to the public, she said. Many tribes came and went from Marathon County hundreds and thousands of years ago, but none claim it as their geographical origin, according to the Marathon County Historical Society. Jon Greendeer, a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation has said his tribe considered Wausau and the Wisconsin River Valley sacred ground for hunting, fishing and farming. Most burial mounds found in and around the city are those of the Ho-Chunk. Chippewa and Menominee Indians also called the Wausau area home at one time or another, Loew said. It's likely that many other tribes crossed its paths. There are about 50 American Indian or Alaskan Native persons living in Lincoln and Marathon counties and 49,000 in the state, according to 2000 U.S. Census Bureau data. Copyright c. 2004 Wausau Daily Herald. --------- "RE: Master Weaver, Storyteller shares her Way of Life" --------- Date: Mon, 8 Aug 2005 08:34:41 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WEAVER SHARES HER STORY" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.theolympian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050808/NEWS01/835/1006 Master weaver, storyteller shares her way of life BY LISA PEMBERTON THE OLYMPIAN August 8, 2005 She dreams of remodeling her garage someday so that it will resemble a cedar longhouse - the perfect spot for storytelling, drum-making and teaching. But for now, Harvest Moon is operating the newly opened Weave Walker Studio out of the cozy, brightly painted living room of her two-story childhood home near Cooper Point Road in Thurston County. The Quinault master weaver and traditional storyteller had her first class at the studio Wednesday. "My philosophy is if I can do it, anybody can do it," said Moon, 48, who has been weaving for 28 years. "I was all thumbs when it came to knitting and crocheting." She studied under several prominent Northwest tribal basket makers, including her uncle, Richard Cultee of Skokomish and fellow Quinault tribe member Hazel Underwood. Her life story of being adopted by non-American-Indian parents yet learning and carrying on the traditions of her people, is the subject of the 30-minute independent film "Completing the Circle," which premiered earlier this summer at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. She expects to find out in the next few weeks whether the film, which was produced by Tama Takahashi during a seven-year period, will air in an American Indian Film Festival in November. Moon began teaching the craft about a decade ago in schools, libraries and museums and at special events, such as the monthly Howl-ins at Wolf Haven in Tenino. This summer, she is teaching basic weaving lessons at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, where patrons are invited to help build a community-made friendship basket. At her studio, Moon offers classes in traditional cedar and twine baskets, headbands and cedar hats, cattail dolls and mats and restoration for antique baskets. Her classes are designed for beginning and advanced weavers, children and adults. Fees range from $35 to $55, depending on age and class length. Special arrangements can be made for Scouts and other groups. Moon said her willingness to teach anybody how to create traditional Northwest cedar baskets is considered controversial in certain circles. Sharing culture Some people believe it's wrong to share tribal techniques and designs with non-Indians, she said. Still, others have been supportive of her efforts. When she began weaving in the 1970s, Moon said, she could count the number of Quinault tribal weavers on one hand. "Basket-weaving was like the spotted owl," she said. "Some tribes said, 'Let's stop that tradition.' ... It's the weaver's hands, may they be brown, may they be white, may they be yellow." Moon said most of her lessons are based on ones she learned from her worn and yellowing hardback edition of "Cedar: Tree of Life to the Northwest Coast Indians" by Hilary Stewart. "I learned from a book that you can get in a library," she said. "All of my techniques are in a book - they're not high-held traditions." Now, there's a new generation of tribal weavers. It's still a small number - Moon estimates there are about 25 Quinault weavers - but it's growing, and the opportunities for people to make a living at it are increasing, too. "When I first started selling baskets 20 years ago, nobody bought them - they wanted the antiques, the old baskets," she said. "The new generation, they're actually making a living out of it." Moon, whose ancestry also includes the Hoh River tribe on the Olympic Peninsula, was adopted as a baby and raised in Olympia. She attended Garfield and L.P. Brown elementary schools, Jefferson Middle School and Olympia High School. Her 30-year high school reunion is in a few weeks. Moon was born Stephanie Cultee, which she learned when her adoption records were opened at age 18. Her adoptive parents gave her the name Dorothy Brozina. At age 15, she took the name Harvest Moon, which is an English version of the Salish name her great-grandfather had given her, which means "light shining forth in the midst of darkness." During her inaugural class of four students at the studio last week, Moon explained the importance of baskets and cedar materials for coastal tribes. "The cedar tree is known as the long life maker," she said. "It's considered an elder. It gave us clothes, our longhouses, our canoes." Indian Christmas Moon explained that the best time to harvest cambium - the smooth, almost leather-like material that forms between the outer bark trunk of a cedar tree - is when the salmonberries flower, which usually is in May and June. For Moon, the steps in harvesting and processing materials are just as fun and just as important as weaving. "I call it my Indian Christmas when I'm harvesting my materials," she said with a laugh. After creating a base for her basket using a checkerboard-like design, Jenn Kamrar, 21, of Olympia wrapped raffia and saltwater sweet grass around the cambium to help build her small square basket, known as a "tourist basket." "Now don't be surprised if you get halfway around and forget - all of my students do," Moon said. Her instructional style is informal and light-hearted. She said people who are in a bad mood or are stressed out should not weave until their mood improves. Kamrar, a student at The Evergreen State College, worked on two baskets during the class. She plans to give one to her dad for a birthday present. "It's a lot of fun," she said while tugging and pulling at some raffia. "It's not hard, but it requires thought." Grant Marriott, 29, of Olympia who also is an Evergreen student, described the class as inspiring. "To me, it's neat to go out into the wilderness and collect the materials and create something that's functional and beautiful," he said. Moon, who has four sons, said she enjoys weaving because of its gifts: She was able to make a living by selling baskets at museums and gift shops, and she had made many friends through her artwork. But one of the best perks, she said, is that she's always learning. There's always going to be a new technique, pattern or tool that makes life easier. "It's just an infinite," she said. "There's never, ever going to be a day when I wake up and say, 'OK, I know all of the tricks.' " Copyright c. 2005 The Olympian. --------- "RE: HURST: Indian Women still feel Genocide" --------- Date: Mon, 15 Aug 2005 08:55:07 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HURST: INDIAN WOMEN/GENOCIDE" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.rapidcityjournal.com//2005/08/14/news/opinion/opin084.txt Sam Hurst: Indian women still feel genocide By Sam Hurst, Journal columnist August 14, 2005 No one likes to talk about the genocide. It was so long ago. What does it have to do with us? That's the way a century washes over the horror. Those who conduct the slaughter will always tell you, "We had to do it." There's always a good reason. Land. Buffalo hides. Manifest destiny. God made us do it. Then the passage of time rubs off the rough edges. By the third and fourth generation, no one remembers. No one is taught. About a decade ago, my sister developed an interest in genealogy and for Christmas the family received a report on the Hursts of Tennessee, by way of the Shenandoah Valley, by way of Sherwood Forest. There, staring me in the face, across the centuries, was a photograph of John Hurst, black as charcoal, one of several family slaves. Of course! How could it be otherwise? That was the culture, the economy of the South. Every Southerner is complicit. We have just forgotten ... willfully, arrogantly, forgotten. In the 12 years I have lived in South Dakota, I have met dozens of people who proudly boast that they are fourth-generation homesteaders. But no one has ever admitted to me that their families participated in the genocide. "What does it have to do with us?" I am haunted by a passage in a little book, "The Badlands Fox," by Margaret Lemley Warren. She wrote about the adventures of her father, Pete, who ranched along the Cheyenne River at the end of the 19th century. He told her stories of the early days. "We went over and stirred them (Indians) up and a lot of our fellows laid in at the head of a gulch ... and they chased us down Corral Draw ... Riley Miller was a dead shot, and he just killed them Indians as fast as he could shoot ... We killed about seventy-five of them. Riley Miller and Frank Lockhart went back there and got some packhorses and brought out seven loads of guns, shirts, war bonnets, ghost shirts and things. Riley took 'em to Chicago and started a museum. He made a barrel of money out of it." I am haunted by this passage because my ranch stares across the Cheyenne River at Corral Draw. There are a hundred ways that the terror of the genocide continues to ripple through our lives, but none is more explosive than the cruel, hard fact that we beat and rape Indian women as if they were utterly without value. Consider these numbers: -- Fifty percent of Indian women in America will be beaten in their lifetime. That is twice the percentage of white and black and hispanic women. I find this statistic impossible to believe. I talk to a counselor at the Sacred Circle resource center in Rapid City. "Could this possibly be true at Pine Ridge, or Rosebud, or North Rapid?" She shrugs. "Statistics are hard to gather on the reservations. Women are taught to keep their mouths shut. But I was beaten, and I don't know hardly any women who haven't been." -- Indian women are raped at twice the rate of all other races. -- Seventy percent of the violence against Indian women is committed by non-Indian spouses or boyfriends or acquaintances. -- One in four pregnant Indian women is beaten. -- Two-thirds of all Indian boys between 11 and 20 arrested for murder, killed the man assaulting their mother. Is the problem poverty? Yes. Is the problem alcohol and drug abuse? Yes. Lousy law enforcement? Yes. A lack of shelters and court protections for native women? Yes. Is the problem a deeply ingrained sexism in American culture that blames the victims? Yes. But at its root, the problem is that 500 years of genocide and colonization have made Indian women invisible. The reservations are isolated, and we easily drift into a dismissive disinterest, as if this is a problem in Bangladesh, or Botswana - far, far away. It's their problem. That's why it is so important to remember the genocide. It matters ... today, right now, to all of us. Next month Congress will vote to re-authorize the Violence Against Women Act, and for the first time (thanks largely to the work of South Dakota Indian women), the law will create a tribal division within the Justice Department to manage programs for Native women, increase funding for shelters, an inter-tribal sex offender registry, a protection order registry, better training for law enforcement and expand counseling for men. But make no mistake. There is no silver bullet solution to the problem. Ask a woman who has worked in the movement against violence and she will tell you that the best place to start is for the whole community to adopt a zero tolerance for violence against women. Women are sacred. There is no excuse for hitting a woman, not one, not ever. We will begin to make headway when the men in our community enforce this code with each other ... before the police are called. I have a more simple way of looking at the problem. When every woman in the community, every woman, is my daughter and sister, when the violence against them is violence against me, we will begin to put the legacy of the genocide behind us. Sam Hurst is a Rapid City filmmaker. Write to samhurst@aol.com. Copyright c. 2005 The Rapid City Journal. --------- "RE: TRAHANT: Some Stories count more than others" --------- Date: Mon, 8 Aug 2005 08:34:41 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRAHANT: CREATION IS `IN' IF YOU ARE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/235480_trahant07.html Some stories count more than others By MARK TRAHANT SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR August 7, 2005 How do you believe the world was created? Well, I love these stories, the creation stories, and I have heard many told. The world was created with the help of a turtle, a coyote or a raven. People were formed from dust, crawled out from under the earth or dropped from the heavens above. The world was formed in an instant, seven days or millions of years. The explanations of who we are and how we came to be vary from clan to clan, from language to language, from people to people. President Bush last week told reporters from Texas that the notion of "intelligent design" should be taught side by side with the theory of evolution. Education, he said, is all about exposing people to ideas. But Bush's side-by-side comparison divides the world into only two camps. There's science and the Judeo-Christian tradition incorporated into what they're calling "intelligent design." It's too simple to claim this division is only about science versus religion because there are too many variations. Is it all science, even all evolution theory, that's in question? Or just parts? And, at the other end of the spectrum, is it all religion? Or just the creation stories from the literal truth of the Bible? To be blunt: Do we as a country value only Christian stories? There are practical applications to these questions. Congress enacted the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act in 1990. This law gave specific rights to lineal descendants, Native Americans and Native Hawaiians to human remains, sacred objects buried next to those remains and other culturally significant material. The reason for the law was gruesome science: Army doctors collected Indian "specimens" shortly after battles and the bodies were sent to museums for study. We even had a president - Thomas Jefferson - who participated in grave robbing. All told, the federal government, museums and other educational institutions had amassed between 100,000 and 200,000 American Indian remains for study. The 1990 law was the country concluding that its past behavior was immoral. "In the past 15 years, museums and federal agencies have announced their willingness to repatriate the remains of 31,093 individuals," Paul Hoffman, deputy assistant secretary of the Interior Department, said at a Senate hearing last week. "Another 111,000 human remains were listed as 'culturally unidentifiable.' " That brings us to the skeletal remains found near Kennewick. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that there must be a "significant relationship" to an existing tribe and the relationship must go "beyond features common to all humanity." That ruling led Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to sponsor legislation that would clarify in law the assumption that the human remains were ancient tribal people (unless it was proven not to be the case). "If you pass the proposed amendment, you will forever block the study of ancient people who have no relationship to living Amerindians," according to testimony of Paula Barran and Alan Schneider of the Portland-based, "Friends of America's Past." "Please do not steal the past. It belongs to the scholars of today and the scholars of tomorrow, and to all people everywhere," Barran and Schneider said. That's it. This is the essence, the legend that scholars own the past. It belongs to them. This time the Bush administration sided with the scientists - tribal creation stories aren't equal with the ones from the Bible. But in a funny way: The science-versus-religion argument takes on a new dimension in this particular case because science has its own theology, a fundamental, literal interpretation of the world. The scientists and lawyers who argue for complete control over ancient human remains assume that tribal people have nothing to add to scientific discourse. Remember the 111,000 "unidentifiable" human remains? Those unknown American Indian dead likely could be identified if museums, scientists and tribes would work together, said Walter Echo-Hawk of the Native American Rights Fund. "However, that opportunity may never arise if those dead are excluded from consultation ... " because the law does not directly apply to them. Without McCain's proposed amendment, museums would be free to make "unilateral determinations" about a culturally unidentifiable human remain. It's important to remember that the record of science is awful. I remember interviewing a Northern Cheyenne historian some years ago who told me about walking into a museum warehouse looking for a sacred object from his clan. He described what it was like when he realized that he was surrounded by thousands of boxes of human remains, people buried in a government warehouse. His relatives were there, too. The repatriation of ancestoral remains is not about science versus religion to me. It's about respect for living people who have the right to determine that their relations are treated with human dignity. But respect remains an illusion when even now the government and museums warehouse tens of thousands of human remains. How do you believe the world was created? Your answer might not matter, because in America some stories count more than others. Mark Trahant is editor of the editorial page. E-mail: marktrahant@seattlepi.com. Copyright c. 1996-2005 Seattle Post-Intelligencer. --------- "RE: YELLOW BIRD: Snakes,Chokecherries-Summer in a Jar" --------- Date: Fri, 12 Aug 2005 08:47:53 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YELLOW BIRD: SUMMER" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.grandforks.com//columnists/dorreen_yellow_bird/ DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: On snakes, chokecherries and 'summer in a jar' August 9, 2005 Summer is the season for wild berries - juneberries, chokecherries, plums, buffalo berries and, now that I've moved to the eastern part of the state, blueberries. But chokecherries are one of my favorites. You can always tell a chokecherry picker by their tell-tale brown teeth. It is best not to smile too widely because people will think you haven't brushed. Driving home from Fordville, N.D., where Bob and Roselynn Miller had invited us to pick chokecherries on their farm, I turned to my sister and smiled. She laughed at my brown teeth. She picked and didn't eat; I ate, then picked. It is one of the downsides of harvesting this wonderful berry, but I live with it. I just use plenty of toothpaste. "Remember when we were younger, we didn't seem to mind walking around with brown teeth?" I asked my sister. "We kids didn't care if people stared at our chokecherry smiles." My sister, Liz, is 10 years younger than me. How our worlds have changed, I told her. You are a woman who is a former tribal college president and just completing your doctorate, but also the same girl who went chokecherry picking in bib overalls and spent the next few days with chokecherry dye on your teeth. And usually scratching poison ivy, too. For, as I remembered the days in Minot when "us kids" went berry picking for our mother, I recalled that my sister had a problem with poison ivy. She had terrible allergies to this noxious plant. She would turn into a scratching, oozing, swelling and Calamine-covered child who looked and walked like a mummy. Liz remembered those days with fear. It wasn't until she got older that she outgrew the insidious allergy. Yet, as we walked toward the trees near the buffalo wallow on the Millers' farm, I could tell she was hesitant and looked carefully before she stepped close to the trees. Bob Miller took us to a small pond surrounded by some big, leafy ash trees. In the tall grass, there were big indentations called "buffalo wallows," where, when the prairie was young and untouched, the buffalo would wallow like African elephants after having found a sharp rock on which to scratch their enormous wool coats. I was walking ahead with Bob. My sister spotted some nettle, a plant that inspires somewhat the same reaction in her as poison ivy, and she wouldn't take another step. As I mentioned, she is OK with these plants now. But she still remembers and stays clear. I, too, am from the western part of the state, and you can tell: We don't go into tall grass in isolated areas without making noise. We're listening and watching for snakes. The Badlands and Missouri River areas are rattlesnake country, and you do not want to step into their strike. There are no rattlesnakes in this area, I was told. But like my sister, I still look and listen when I walk in the woods. When we lived in Minot, my mother would send us up to the hills that surround the city. She always hoped we would make it home with our metal syrup pails filled with enough chokecherries so that she could make jelly or syrup. Syrup was her goal. My mother was the original recycler and conservationist. There were so many in our family that she had to "make do" with everything. Getting chokecherries meant she would have syrup for pancakes in the winter. What a picky person I was as a child and teen, I told my sister. I didn't like to eat the chokecherry syrup; I wanted the store-bought maple syrup. Today when I can berries, I try to make sure that I also make syrup for pancakes and special occasions. (I loved the taste; it's summer in a jar.) Last year, I was very careful to keep the pectin and cooking-time light, as is needed for syrup. But when I opened the jars a few weeks ago, they'd turned to jelly - so, no syrup. Canning can be an experience in surprises. Sometimes things turn out wonderful; and sometimes, you get unexpected results. My mother, aunts and grandmother canned. Unlike me, they canned almost everything - corn, peas, beets, prairie chicken, venison, tomatoes - everything. I am not good with the pressure cooker and a little leery of foods (such as meats and corn) that need special attention. So, I don't try anything that might breed salmonella. My family has come to expect jellies, jams, salsa and pickles from me, just like they looked to elders for those foods. And I, in turn, like canning because it is a way of sharing food with and expressing love for them. ---- Dorreen Yellow Bird's column appears Tuesday and Saturday. Reach her at (701) 780-1228 or dyellowbird@gfherald.com Copyright c. 2005 Grand Forks Herald/Grand Forks, ND. --------- "RE: Has Democracy paid a visit to your Band Office" --------- Date: Mon, 15 Aug 2005 08:55:07 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WASTASECOOT: LACK OF REDRESS OF ISSUES ON RESERVES" http://www.firstperspective.ca/editorial.html Editorial Has democracy paid a visit to your band office lately? By James Wastasecoot August 15, 2005 Increasingly we are seeing violent episodes in band offices across the country. This may or may not surprise residents of First Nation communities, but Canadians in general are stupefied at this and wonder why Indians can't get their act together and govern themselves like everybody else. After all Canadians don't expect to see violence occurring within their municipal, provincial or federal government offices. Canadians are endowed with rules and protection of citizens' rights that assures them of an orderly process when it comes to governance. What is happening to First Nations that makes us different? Shouldn't all citizens have redress and accountability in respect of their governance institutions? What it all boils down to is that when a Canadian citizen has a concern or an issue, he or she is presented with a multitude of institutional avenues for redress and due process. A Canadian who wants information about the latest budget on a matter of concern merely has to file an "access to information" request to obtain the information. Canadians can call their MP or MLA and get answers to their questions. Institutions such as the "official opposition" and the Auditor General exist whose primary function is to scrutinize government decisions and spending on behalf of citizens. Finally, Canadians have a free and independent media to ferret out problems which may lie hidden in the mass of reports produced by governments whether it be gun registration, government media contracts or corporate improprieties. Citizens forums abound funded by private citizens or business groups where civil society and policy issues are discussed and debated. Canadians are the beneficiaries of a thousand year old tradition of stable democracy, that they've fashioned to suit their needs and that assures them of peace, order and good government. The key is that there are checks and balances in the power structure and almost everyone knows what the rules are. "Indians" on the other hand, enjoy none of these safeguards and rules in respect of their governance on reserve. The Indian Act is pretty much irrelevant insofar as governance is concerned. Presently, efforts are focused on replacing it with legislation that is now before parliament. Federally funded negotiations are also ongoing in eighty or so locations across the country that hold promise of clarifying "self-government." In the current state of limbo there are no effective rules of governance. The rules are based on the whim of whoever is in charge in the band office. Depending on the leadership, folks can experience fair democratic governance or, they may experience repression under a dictatorial regime. In the latter case, of which there are many out there, any citizen who files an information request is likely to be tagged a trouble maker and then targeted for special treatment by the chief and his or her supporters. The individual and his family may be denied services or experience intimidation at the hand of their leaders. There is not a lot an individual can do. A lot of these matters are referred to the courts where a judge ends up ruling on symptoms rather than addressing the heart of the problem. Grand Chiefs, who used to count for something in terms of leadership in our community, are powerless to intervene and assist their so called constituents for fear they may offend a chief. It is after all the chiefs who elect them. Grand Chiefs in recent times have dismissed the violence as alcohol and drug-related. That's not good enough. So the grassroots are left to deal with the problem of governance and reforming it, on their own. They are fed up trying to deal with a flawed system that they see is deficient from all angles and are proceeding to solve it in what they see is the only means they have at their disposal. What to do? Grand Chiefs and Elders, who are not short in their numbers and words when it comes to ceremonials, should be owning up to this problem and not merely dismissing it as a drug and alcohol issue. Surely they have a role to play in what they're supposed to be good at: leadership in governance. Our governance institutes, of which there are now a few in universities across this country, should be stepping in and addressing the critical governance issues. There are now literally thousands of highly educated folks out there who could also be helping to reshape governance in our community. When are we going to hear from them? James Wastasecoot is publisher of the Drum Copyright c. 2005 First Perspective, Taiga Communications Inc. --------- "RE: Mohawks want US/Canada to obey own Constitutions" --------- Date: Thursday, August 11, 2005 7:44 AM From: frostyca2000 [frosty@ipermitmail.com] Subj: USSC 05-165: IT'S CONSTITUTIONAL, NOT POLITICAL!!! MOHAWKS WANT U.S. AND CANADA TO OBEY THEIR OWN CONSTITUTIONS Mailing List: Frostys AmerIndian USSC 05-165: IT'S CONSTITUTIONAL, NOT POLITICAL!!! MOHAWKS WANT U.S. AND CANADA TO OBEY THEIR OWN CONSTITUTIONS MNN. August 10, 2005. Some people are afraid that by bringing this case into Canadian and American "top" courts we will be subjected to the shortcomings of these colonial legal systems. They ask, "Are you actually happy that one black man, six white men (maybe seven) and one white woman (maybe 2), most of whom have a history of downsizing native rights, are the people who will be deciding the rights of Kanien'keha:ka people?" Free from politics. We took this case to U.S. and Canadian Supreme Courts to bring it into a forum of neutral formal discussion, free from politics. We want to confront the false American and Canadian assumption that that we have no rights except what they give us. This is totally false. Decisions made outside constitutions. Keeping the Indigenous constitutional jurisdiction question out of these two "top" courts does not solve the problem. Decisions are being made outside the constitution by incoherent federal laws of both the United States and Canada leading to genocide. Unless those two courts bring the constitution into the equation, our sovereignty and possessions will continue to be eroded. Illegal federal legislation violates their constitutions and ours. Courts of both countries have to look at their constitutions so as to maintain the rule of law. In so doing they have no choice but to respect our sovereignty and return our possessions. Narrow question of law. The U.S. and Canadian constitutions set out some basic values these countries have agreed to accept - that their constitutions are subject to the rule of law. Our case has been restricted to a very narrow question of law. Political questions are irrelevant in our Constitutional question: Is your constitution in force and effect? If so, why aren't you obeying it? The "political" issue of our sovereignty is not arguable because the ignored constitutional law confirms its existence. There has been no constitutional amendments. Law can never be "created" by a judge. The law must exist before the adjudication. Otherwise, it is political lobbying by a judge to create law. This is beyond the judge's power. The judge can only recognize a previously created statute, precedent or unwritten customary law which has always existed. Judges do not have jurisdiction to repeal or amend existing constitutional law. That is what the phrase "rule of law" means. The law rules, not the political feelings of the judges. Housecleaning needed. We are inviting Americans and Canadians to clean their constitutional houses. It is time for them to get rid of their colonial cobwebs. They can sweep their old federal extermination laws and policies into the dustbin. They can tear down their moldy old strategies and rotting genocide laws and chuck them into the demolition dumpster. It's time for the original constitutional relationship forged between the Indigenous people and the settlers to re-emerge. The two sovereign peoples will relate to each other on a constitution-to-constitution basis. USSC Justice Clarence Thomas' point. The law as it is written has to rule without political considerations. Politics belongs to another arena, the legislative branches of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous societies. This is the debate about the appointing Thomas as the Chief Justice. Why would Indians want a conservative kind of judge like him to be more powerful? They always say, "Never mind the political questions. Let's look at the law"... Pierre George and Iokerononh file in Canada. Kanion'ke:haka and Pierre George today, August 10, 2005, are filing 05- 165 in the Supreme Court of Canada. Both Supreme Courts are on notice of the law summarized by Iokenononh, in his affidavit to the Supreme Court of Canada: "The Great Lakes/St. Lawrence/Hudson River Drainage Basin of Northeastern North America is subject to the ... Kaianereh'ko:wa... the Kaianereh'ko:wa governs except ...those tracts which ... have been repealed by treaty with the Longhouse government nation constituted by the Kaianereh'ko:wa. No such constitutional-valid treaty has been established. ... since 1871 in the U.S. and 1876 in Canada the federal, state and provincial courts knowingly and intentionally have applied federal, state and provincial law as if it were the government law rather than the Kaianere'ko;wa. All previous attempts ... to defend against the consequent genocide were suppressed by the combined chicanery of the non-indigenous legal establishment and the puppet "Indian" governments unconstitutionally constituted by it for the purpose of making and implementing treasonable and fraudulent treaties. The actus reus and mens rea - guilty act and guilty mind - was established by the Chief Justice of Canada in R. v. Marshall; R. v. Bernard, 2005 SCC 43 p. 48, 107. The Court's task in evaluating a claim for an aboriginal right is to examine the pre-sovereignty aboriginal practice and translate that practice, as faithfully and objectively as it can, into a modern legal right. The fact of the genocide attributed to that cause is true." Please read 05-165 "In the Supreme Court of the United States In re Kanonion'ke:haka Kaianereh'ko:wa Kanon'ses:neh as a `Non-party", The Canadian St. Regis Band of Mohawk Indians as "Plaintiffs", vs. The State of New York as "Defendants"". No self-defeat here. We want your comments and your insights. We need to put our minds together to enter a new age of cooperation, understanding and respect. If we undermine ourselves now, we are beat before we start. Kahentinetha Horn MNN Mohawk Nation News Comments Kahntineta@hotmail.com Contact: Katenies 518-358-6012; Hawi 518-236-7100. --------- "RE: More Reserves won't end Aboriginal Poverty" --------- Date: Sun, 14 Aug 2005 18:56:22 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ADDING RESERVES" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.brandonsun.com/story.php?story_id=815 More reserves won't end aboriginal poverty By: Tanis Fiss August 12, 2005 For more than 100 years the Indian Act and Indian reserves have segregated native Canadians from the Canadian economy and society. Study after study illustrates the failure of the system; yet, the federal government has decided to expand the segregation. On Aug. 5, the federal government announced the creation of 10 new reserves in Manitoba. The new reserve lands were set apart under the Manitoba Treaty Land Entitlement Framework Agreement and affected four native bands - Buffalo Point, God's Lake, Rolling River and Wuskwi Sipihk. Why new reserves in 2005? Between 1871 and 1923, Canada concluded 11 Victorian Treaties, more commonly referred to as the "numbered" treaties, which cover the Prairie provinces, most of Ontario, the Northwest Territories and northeastern British Columbia. The purpose of these treaties was to open up the land for settlement, trade and agriculture. In addition, they sought to ensure peace and goodwill between native Canadians, settlers and the Crown. As these treaties were signed, the government began to establish reserves. The sizes of the reserves were based on population figures. Unfortunately, some individuals were missed. Treaty Land Entitlements (TLE) were created to negotiate shortfalls with native Canadians. The 10 newly created reserves is a partial fulfillment of the Manitoba Treaty Land Entitlements. It is a partial fulfillment because most packages consist of land and money. Last week's announcement only included land. Indian Affairs Minister Andy Scott stated, "The newly established reserve lands provide the First Nations with additional economic resources on which to explore community development opportunities and to improve the quality of life for First Nations members." Laudable goals but will the new reserves really provide these opportunities? Only time will tell. The populations of Indian reserves are small. Of 629 Indian bands, 75 per cent consist of less than 1,000 registered Indians and have an average on-reserve band population of less than 650. Moreover, as a result of the federal government's decision to restrict most of Indian Affairs' programs to on-reserve natives, many natives live in virtual isolation in reserve communities which have no real economic base and, in a number of instances, a disintegrating social fabric. No matter how uneconomic the community, the federal government has seen it as a duty to sustain them. Furthermore, Indian reserve land is treated differently than other private property. This treatment of native Canadians under the Indian Act is unfair and is the reason why many people in native communities live in poverty. The land which comprises an Indian reserve is held in trust by the Crown and is controlled collectively by the native band council. It is both patronizing and demeaning to native Canadians for the federal government to continue to hold title in its name to the Indian reserves in Canada. It is the community members that should have ownership and control of the reserve lands thus allowing the individual community members to ultimately decide whether their long-term interests are to be achieved through the collectivist ownership of land, by private ownership of land, or by the sale of reserve lands. It is very important native Canadians enter the mainstream of Canada's economy. Expanding existing reserves and creating new reserves will only hinder the ability of native communities to truly integrate with the larger economy. ---- Tanis Fiss is the director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation's Centre for Aboriginal Policy Change, which is based in Calgary. Copyright c. 2005 The Brandon Sun. --------- "RE: Are the Chiefs getting squeezed out?" --------- Date: Tue, 9 Aug 2005 08:31:56 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="IS AFN NATIONAL CHIEF BYPASSING GRAND CHIEFS" http://www.ammsa.com/windspeaker/topnews-Aug-2005.html#anchor4582905 Are the chiefs getting squeezed out? By Paul Barnsley, Windspeaker Staff Writer, Yellowknife August 2005 Are the national chief and his executive members removing the chiefs from the Assembly of First Nations' decision-making processes? Driftpile First Nation (Alberta) Chief Rose Laboucan and Six Nations of the Grand River (Ontario) proxy Melba Thomas left no doubt about how they felt as the AFN's annual general assembly drew to a close on July 7 in Yellowknife. Both were severely critical of the way co-chairs Luc Laine and Stephen Kakfwi had conducted the meeting. "I'm not understanding the process today," said Thomas. "We talk about caring for each other, respect, but what I'm seeing here today is very little time, respect and consideration for people to express their views and comments... That's of great concern." Thomas made the comments after Kakfwi refused to consider a question of quorum that might disallow a vote on the organization's audited financial statements, and after Laine allowed a motion to lump 20 resolutions into one to make up time. "As the grand chief of the Lesser Slave Lake Indian Regional Council, I oppose the undemocratic process that's being utilized here today," said Laboucan, frustrated by the lack of time made available for the chiefs to participate. "What's the point of being a leader? I'm going to go home and lead my people. That's where I belong," she said. Chief Sharon Stinson Henry of Mnjikaning (Rama) First Nation urged the national executive to address the recurring problem of giving short shrift to resolutions. "We always run out of time when it comes to the real business," she said. "I would recommend that the AFN put timeframes on presentations or next time it'll be the same thing." Thomas made the most of her address to the assembly by taking a few shots at the national chief and executive concerning the recently negotiated political accord between the AFN and the federal government. "While I'm here, I'd like to talk about the accord a little bit. It mentions 'the parties.' 'The parties' means the AFN. The AFN means Phil Fontaine and his staff. It mentions 'directed by the chiefs in assembly.' There's concern there, too. If the assembly does not meet very often, how do the chiefs direct the Assembly of First Nations?" Melba Thomas asked. "Another concern I have is inherent right. What that means is to make decisions concerning land and the right to political structures for making decisions. How can we do that if we are giving our responsibilities to one organization rather than seeking responsibility for ourselves and our people in our home communities? "And there's concerns further about all resolutions involving funding. The funding is being funneled away from First Nations. Six Nations of the Grand River will not allow any other people or organizations to speak for our community without our consent. Further, the opinion of myself is that the structure of the AFN and the government of Canada accord appears to be transformative change from a white father to a brown father." Fontaine responded from the head table to the "delegate from Six Nations." "The political accord that was signed on May 31 is not binding. It only applies to those First Nations who have consented. It will not be imposed or forced on any single First Nation. That determination will be left up to each First Nation government," he said. "The other bit of information that I want to highlight once more is that this is not the last meeting that we're going to have. There are a whole number of meetings that we will have over the next year. We're going to be extremely busy. You will have many more opportunities to discuss those issues that we talked about here." He told the chiefs they would be heard on the referred issues. "The resolutions will be debated by the executive and the problematic ones will be dealt with at the next [chiefs] meeting," Fontaine said. "We are not closing off discussion or debate on any single issue. So I want to assure the chiefs of this assembly that we will continue our work. We will carry on with the mandate that you have given us. I wish to remind you that this is not the first time that we've ever referred resolutions such as we did here this afternoon. "There've been many, many situations in the past where we've been forced by time restraints to do as we did. We carry on. We took the decision that needed to be taken. We made good decisions. No one suffered as a result. We will do everything within our means to ensure that no one will be worse off as a consequence of this important decision that we took this afternoon." The national chief was reached for further comment in Winnipeg on July 11. He said he and his executive were not in any way trying to exclude the chiefs. "That's the last thing we would ever want to do," he said. "We want to make certain that the chiefs have every opportunity to debate all of the issues that come before the assembly. We've tried to introduce efficiencies into the organization so that we can actually accomplish that." Copyright c. 2005 Windspeaker, AMMSA, Aboriginal Multi-Media Society. --------- "RE: AFN wants Aboriginal Problems on Premiers' agenda" --------- Date: Fri, 12 Aug 2005 08:47:53 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="AFN MEETS PREMIERS" http://www.rlnn.com/ArtAug05/AFNProblemsPremiersAgenda.html AFN wants aboriginal problems on premiers' agenda