_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 13, ISSUE 039 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 September 24, 2005 Yuchi Tsogalinetsee/hay cutting moon Assiniboine Wahpegiwi/yellow leaf moon Cree Weweopizun/wavy or snow goose moon Lakota Canwahpegi Wi/moon when leaves turn brown +-------------------------------------------------------+ | 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; Native American Poetry Mailing List; UUCP email IMPORTANT!! ----------- In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, all material appearing in this newsletter is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for educational purposes. <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters who share our Spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the Red Road. ++ It may be subscribed to via email by sending a request from your own internet addressable account to gars@speakeasy.org ++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org <================<<<< >>>>================> +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + | As historian Patricia Nelson | | Once a language is lost, it is | | Limerick summarized in "The | | gone forever | | Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken | | * Of the 300 original Native | | Past of the American West... | | languages in North America, | | "Set the blood quantum at | | only 175 exist today. | | one-quarter, hold to it as a | | * 125 of these are no longer | | rigid definition of Indians, | | learned by children. | | let intermarriage proceed as | | * 55 are spoken by 1 to 6 elders;| | it had for centuries, and | | when they die, their language | | eventually Indians will be | | will disappear. | | defined out of existence." | | * Without action, only 20 | | "When that happens, the federal | | languages will survive the next| | government will be freed of | | 50 years. | | its persistent 'Indian problem.'"| | Source: Indigenous Language | +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ | Institute | |http://www.indigenous-language.org| This issue's Elder Quote: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + ======================== "This is our money; they collected the money from 1887 forward. We know they used the money for other purposes." "They owe that money. They owe a hell of a lot more than $27 billion. It's a pretty good gosh darn bargain for this country." "They are certainly finding the billions of dollars to fight the war in Iraq." __ Elloise Cobell, Blackfeet +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! The fiasco we call the Indian Trust Fund mismanagement began in 1887, when the federal goverment sought a way to legalize the exploitation of tribal lands. Tribal lands were appropriated for cattle grazing, logging, mining, and other purposes via leases undertaken on behalf of Indians, that were at best bargains for the non-Indian lessors, but were more often only paper trails short of theft. The responsibility for management of these leases fell to the Interior Deptartment, BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs). The responsiblity was a relatively simple one... generate leasing contracts, collect useage fees, hold them in a trust fund for Native people, and periodically distribute proceeds. In other words, the Department of Interior was to serve as the lease manager. Lease the land, collect the funds, make the deposit. Throughout the world apartment managers do this without problem, year after year. However, every single audit since 1928 has found billions missing from the trust fund. Secretary of Interior Gail Norton already faces contempt charges - not because all the billions were "misplaced" on her watch; but because she lied under oath about the fund. Further, her staff was caught destroying Indian Trust Fund records (and why destroy evidence that proves innocence?). Anybody else in the country caught destroying records germaine to an ongoing investigation and trial would already be in jail. Now, the Bush administration is trying to remove the judge overseeing the Cobell class action suit. Ask yourself why? It won't change the facts. The money will still have been stolen, misappropriated... whatever you want to call it. The only real purposes can be (1) hopefully a judge more sympathetic to the administration will oversee the trial and help the government whitewash the thefts, or (2) the trial will be sufficiently delayed that the next (or next after that) presidential administration will have to pony up for all those missing billions of dollars (and thousands of Indians who could have lived on rightful proceeds will have died before collecting them). While (1) is possible, it's unlikely. Too much evidence has piled up to simply sweep under a rug - even one as big and ugly as Washington politics. That leaves (2) which points straight to a trait this administration has already demonstrated over and over when it comes to the lives of disenfranchised citizens - evasion of responsibility. As primary plantiff Ellouise Cobell points out - Bush keeps finding the billions for his war and reconstruction in Iraq. 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 ----------- - Roberts' 'dishonesty' - Native Group prepares concerns Indian Country to celebrate Milestone - Swimmer: Cobell Suit - Developer alleviating not about mismanagement Pine Ridge Housing disaster - Indian Woman leads Multibillion - ARS profiles Nutrients fight against U.S in Native American Diet - Lamberth has many fans - Kids Cafe set to feed Lunch but Interior not one to Indian Kids - Lawyers urge contempt proceedings - GIAGO: The Spine of the NCAA against DoI turns to Jelly - Appeals Court upholds legality of - YELLOW BIRD: Clearing the air Land-into-Trust on the 'Sioux' Name - Cut Bank will file lawsuit - JODI RAVE: against Blackfeet Indian Guide is quite a Handful - Tribes move to contain Anthrax - Books of Wisdom and Knowledge - Cheyenne Leader for Qallunaat calls for reawakening - Ipperwash inquiry - Cheyenne CBM study proposed slated to continue into March - Iowas receive funding - Missing Women: to help care for Eagles No Body, no Investigation - Editorial: - Mohawk Parents challenging Save Nez Perce burial Site banning of Recitation - Tribal Recognition - Mother sues BIA delayed till Oct. 12 over Teen's Suicide attempt - Louisiana Tribe surveys the damage - Native Prisoner - Tribes develop plan -- Religious Rights Upheld for handling disasters - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - American Indian Women fight back - Rustywire: Shiprock & Tse Halyehe - Bringing Tribes, Cities, & Twin Heros Business together - Lee Goins Poem: Rivers of Rain - Bake is a 10,000-year Tradition - Upcoming Events --------- "RE: Roberts' 'dishonesty' concerns Indian Country" --------- Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 08:49:05 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DISTORTED PAPERS NEED CLOSE SCRUITNY" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?feature=yes&id=1096411562 Roberts' 'dishonesty' concerns Indian country by: Jim Adams / Indian Country Today September 13, 2005 Supreme Court nominee John Roberts Jr. might be admirable in many respects, but as a private attorney he committed an act of intellectual dishonesty that is drawing attention from one group - the American Indian - that already fears the worst from the current court. In a brief submitted to the Supreme Court in 1997, Roberts distorted the language of a well-known precedent in a way that can only be called a blatant misrepresentation. Writing for the state of Alaska in its suit against the Native village of Venetie's tribal government, he twisted a quote from the court's 1886 United States v. Kagama decision to say "reservation Indians ... were often 'dead[ly] enemies' of the States." The inserted brackets created a statement evoking a deep-seated stereotype of marauding savages, scalping and murdering innocent pioneers. But it is exactly the opposite of the meaning of the famous opinion by Justice Samuel Freeman Miller, a Lincoln appointee. The original passage, which is often cited in Indian country, is worth quoting in full, because a lot hangs on it. Miller wrote: "These Indian tribes are the wards of the nation. They are communities dependent on the United States - dependent largely for their daily food; dependent for their political rights. They owe no allegiance to the states, and receive from them no protection. Because of the local ill feeling, the people of the states where they are found are often their deadliest enemies. From their very weakness and helplessness, so largely due to the course of the dealing of the federal government with them, and the treaties in which it has been promised, there arises the duty of protection, and with it the power." [Emphasis added] Instead of the lethal enemies of the states and their citizens, the Indians of that day were more often their victims. The issue involved the trial jurisdiction for a murder on the Hoopa Valley reservation within Humboldt County, Calif. Although the crime involved only Indians, the settlers of northern California had made massacres of local tribes into something of a weekend sport. Recognizing that background, Miller ruled that "major crimes" prosecutions of reservation Indians belonged in federal court, not state courts. States simply couldn't be trusted with power over the tribes. In spite of changed circumstances, similar issues arose in the case that Roberts argued. The Gwich'in Indian village of Venetie in north-central Alaska had gained control of land allotted to Native corporations under the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and proceeded to exercise the sovereign power of taxation. Alaska hired Roberts to argue that the ANCSA lands were not "Indian country" like the tribal lands of the lower 48. Instead of constituting a separate sovereignty, the state argued, Native corporation lands had been integrated into the state and were subject to state and local tax and regulation. Along the way, Roberts praised the Native corporate scheme, which gave tribal members shares in state-chartered for-profit businesses. (It also allowed the free sale of Native land, a great help to development of North Slope oil.) He called it a "dramatic break" from the "paternalism" of reservations in the lower 48. Previous Indian policy, he wrote, "has left in its wake a decidedly mixed legal legacy." He properly attacked some of the undeniably racist and condescending assumptions behind the federal treatment of Indians as its wards. But in disparaging the "paternalism" of the reservation, Roberts offered the alternative of assimilation. The last two versions of this policy, the Allotment Act of 1887 and the termination and relocation program of the Eisenhower years, were unmitigated social disasters. Roberts deliberately ignored the third choice, self-determination. Yet self-determination, the exercise of tribal sovereignty, has impeccably conservative credentials. It was formally announced as federal policy by Richard Nixon just two years after ANCSA. Every president since, including the present incumbent, has endorsed the principle that Washington has a "government-to-government" relationship with the tribes. Although deep social problems remain in Indian country, the past decades have also seen dramatic successes. As Harvard Professor Joseph Kalt once put it, self-determination is not only the most successful federal policy for alleviating Indian poverty; it is the only federal policy that has ever had any success at all. This policy requires recognition of the deeply ingrained Indian insistence on tribal sovereignty, the stubborn reminder that Indian nations were governing themselves on this continent long before the arrival of the European and that their rights as constituents of the United States are co-equal with "states' rights." One of the most puzzling inconsistencies of some present-day conservatives is their hostility to this principle. It appears that self-rule, self-reliance and tax cuts for economic development are fundamental tenets of the Right, unless Indians are involved. For better or worse, Roberts would be one of the few Supreme Court justices with any background in Indian law. (He would replace the other one, Arizona's Sandra Day O'Connor.) Indian law practitioners understand that he gave tribal sovereignty short shrift in his brief because he was an advocate for a state government. Lawyers tend to be forgiving of the arguments that their colleagues make on behalf of clients. But Indian country is deeply concerned to know if he will respect the tradition of tribal rights, or at least quote the precedents properly. ---- Jim Adams, Ph.D., is a research fellow of the American Indian Policy and Media Initiative at Buffalo State College and is the associate editor of Indian Country Today. Copyright c. 1998-2005 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Swimmer: Cobell Suit not about mismanagement" --------- Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 08:49:05 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SWIMMER CONTINUES TO PROVE HE REALLY HAS NO CLUE" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=6986 Special Trustee responds to Cobell spokesman Native American Times guest editorial WASHINGTON DC Ross Swimmer September 13, 2005 In a recent editorial in your newspaper, Cobell v. Norton litigation spokesman Bill McAllister says that reporters are not asking the Department of the Interior enough questions. I agree. There are many misconceptions about the litigation, the current state of the Indian Trust, our accounting activities, and our record keeping that need clarification, and I welcome questions. Any good reporter will find that history has not been kind to the American Indian, and that there have been historical problems with the management of the Indian Trust. However, there is a widespread belief that the long running Cobell v. Norton litigation is about mismanagement and theft of Indian trust funds. This is not so. The case was filed to compel Interior to do an accounting of the funds that have been deposited to, and disbursed from, the trust, and to provide that accounting to each trust beneficiary. We take the subject of trust management very seriously at Interior. In the past, department officials have stipulated to a number of trust management problems. For some years Interior officials and tribal leaders have been hard at work improving and modernizing the trust for the benefit of all trust account holders. Today business is different in Indian Country. It is detrimental to all Indian Trust account holders to propagate the notion, as plaintiffs and others do, that nothing has changed in ten years. Newspapers have been printing emotional stories about people in Indian Country who, plaintiffs say, have been wronged by Interior. It is not difficult to find people to profile American Indians who are in need, and who deserve attention from the press. But it is manipulative to use these human interest stories to demonize Interior. Good reporters asking knowledgeable questions will find that those situations can have roots in other social, economic, or congressionally required management policies. Take, for example, the people who see oil pumps working on their land, but who receive checks for very small amounts. There are a number of questions that should be asked: Does the beneficiary own the subsurface mineral rights or did an heir sell them at some point? Is the ownership of the land highly divided among many beneficiaries? Because of early inheritance laws and probate codes passed by Congress, trust land is often divided among many heirs as it is passed down from generation to g eneration. It is common to have hundreds - even thousands - of Indian owners for one parcel of land. (If you divide a lease payment of $1,000 a month between 300 heirs, each beneficiary will receive a check for $3.33.) What's more, many businesses are not interested in leasing Indian land simply because of the enormous amount of congressionally mandated regulations and red tape that lessees have to navigate. This, sadly, drives away competition, and results in higher market prices. Many news articles include stories that are not factual but due to the Privacy Act we are unable to respond to these articles. We encourage all beneficiaries with concerns about their trust account to contact our Trust Beneficiary Call Center, a nationwide toll-free information center, at (888) 678-6838 ext. 0 so we can answer their questions. Staff members at Interior continue to work on improvements to the management of the trust. I encourage trust beneficiaries, tribes, and members of the press to ask us questions about both the historical accounting and our progress on reform efforts. That way, perhaps the people of Indian Country would have a better understanding of the services available to them, and the true state of the Indian Trust. ---- Ross Swimmer is the Special Trustee for American Indians for the U.S. Department of the Interior. Swimmer served three terms as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, and one term as Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs. Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Indian Woman leads Multibillion fight against U.S" --------- Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 08:49:05 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ELOISE COBELL" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://news.yahoo.com//nm/20050914/lf_nm/life_indians_cobell_dc_1 Indian woman leads multibillion fight against U.S By Adam Tanner September 14, 2005 BROWNING, Montana (Reuters) - When Elouise Cobell became treasurer of the Blackfeet Tribe in 1976, she began to investigate U.S. government payments to Native Americans for the rights to mine, farm and graze on Indian land. Three decades later the banker is in her ninth year of a $27.5 billion lawsuit against the U.S. government, alleging that officials have cheated Indians for more than a century. The complex dispute dates back to 1887, when the United States allotted lands to Indians but held them in trust for them. Under the arrangement, the government collects fees from ranchers, timber and oil companies or others using the land and distributes the money back tax free to individual Indians. "This is our money; they collected the money from 1887 forward. We know they used the money for other purposes," said Cobell, 59, who is the executive director of the Native American Community Development Bank in Browning, Montana. Cobell says the class-action lawsuit, being heard in U.S. District Court in Washington, would benefit 500,000 Indians and originally sought $170 billion. This summer, Cobell announced she would settle for $27.5 billion. "They owe that money. They owe a hell of a lot more than $27 billion. It's a pretty good gosh darn bargain for this country," she said. "They are certainly finding the billions of dollars to fight the war in Iraq." WELLS PUMPING, CATTLE GRAZING To demonstrate the confusion around the issue, she drove a visitor to several small oil wells, as well as along farm and grazing land across the Blackfeet Nation near the Canadian border. Typically the Indian owners of that land know little of the deals the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) have arranged there, she said. Cobell pulled out a photocopy of a May check for $69.35 she received from the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians. The stub offers no explanation. Cobell said she did not know whether the amount is for oil or other rights on her family land. "This is an outrage," said Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer. "If you had a private company that managed a trust like the BIA managed the trust for these Indian families, you'd put them in jail -- for a long time." Ross Swimmer, special trustee for American Indians at the U.S. Department of the Interior, says Indians have suffered past injustices but said his agency does an honest job of administering about 300,000 trusts. "I guess that's my response to Elouise: That it's not black and white," said Swimmer, who administers the trusts from Washington, D.C. "In many instances fraud was committed upon the Indians," he said. But "no, they were not systematically cheated." "In the transactions we have looked at and different cases we have investigated -- including those that have been raised by the plaintiffs in terms of mismanagement -- we haven't found that there is any systematic rip-off, if you will, of the Indian allottees." Complicating the accounting, he said, is the dilution of land ownership over the years to many relatives through inheritance. Court documents show that the bureau has 14,289 accounts where Indians are due between one cent and $1 for use of land in which they have often a tiny stake. Cobell, a granddaughter of the last Blackfoot hereditary leader Mountain Chief, has already won may legal battles in the suit and is confident that she will ultimately prevail. "We're not going to roll over and play dead any more," said Cobell, who has become a celebrity in Indian country and raised $11 million for the court fight. "I made the decision a long time ago when I was a lot younger than 59 years old to fight it for the long haul." "I really thought the litigation would not take as long as it has." Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, has sought a comprehensive settlement to be approved by Congress to avoid decades of litigation. "They are going to cause us as much misery as they can to try to get us and Congress to give them a pot of money," said Swimmer, a former principal chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Cobell says a settlement could include a time-payment plan or the allocation of assets rather than cash. "We would be willing to consider other avenues such as a longer period of time to pay it," she said. "If you don't have the cash, let's talk about some of this land we can take back." McCain and others expect numbers far below $27 billion, but say some agreement will one day settle the Cobell case. "Ultimately there will be a deal," Montana Gov. Schweitzer said. "She has won, she will continue to win until Interior starts paying and ponying up and correcting the wrongs that they have done with their trust management over the years." Copyright c. 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 2005 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Lamberth has many fans but Interior not one" --------- Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2005 08:34:46 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="JUDGE ROYCE LAMBERTH" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.washingtonpost.com//2005/09/14/AR2005091402616.html Straight Shooter to Some, Loose Cannon to Others By Carol D. Leonnig Washington Post Staff Writer September 15, 2005 The fans of U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth praise his straight- talking ways, his defense of the wronged, and his stinging rebukes of lawyers and officials who try to fudge the facts. So many decades after he left his beloved Texas and cowboy roots for a legal career in government service, fellow judges and former colleagues say, old Royce still gets riled up when he smells a bunch of bull. When Lamberth theorized in a July ruling that the Interior Department's failure, over many decades, to account for potentially billions of dollars owed to Native Americans could only be explained by outright evil, apathy, cowardice or - more likely - crushing bureaucratic incompetence, the Justice Department decided to go after the judge. In one of the rarest legal moves Justice has ever taken, the government asked that a higher court remove Lamberth from a case he has overseen for the past nine years. In the escalating and unparalleled war between the judge and Interior, Justice lawyers said privately they saw no other option. They argued to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that Lamberth has gone overboard in a string of verbal harangues in recent years, accused agency officials of racism and lost the appearance of impartiality in the case. Already, he has found two secretaries of Interior in contempt of court and ordered sanctions against numerous government lawyers for improper conduct in the case. When they stand before a different bench tomorrow, government lawyers are expected to try to shift the discussion from the acknowledged failure of Interior to properly account for money held in trust and due 50,000 Indians, to the often assaulting words and actions of a powerful Reagan appointee who has made no secret of his disgust. Only three times before has this appeals court disqualified a trial judge from a case. Lamberth and Justice Department officials declined to comment for this article. But their most recent writings in the case of Cobell v. Norton capture the tenor of what the appellate court's chief judge called the "peculiar dialogue going on" in Courtroom 21. "On numerous occasions over the last nine years, the Court has wanted to simply wash its hands of Interior and its iniquities once and for all," Lamberth wrote. The plaintiffs have urged him to appoint a receiver to take over, he wrote, "but doing so . . . would constitute an announcement that negligence and incompetence in government are beyond judicial remedy." In their Aug. 15 request for a new judge, Justice lawyers said that besides using intemperate language, Lamberth has ignored appellate rulings and accused the government of "falsification, spite and obstinate litigiousness" with "no legal or factual basis." Lamberth has many defenders, from conservative Supreme Court justices to left-wing civil liberties lawyers, and is repeatedly ranked by lawyers as among the most skilled judges on the court. Many of his fans applaud his stamina and even his outrage, but a few say privately that they think Lamberth has been pushed too far in the Interior case and has made himself a target with his sharp tongue. Said one fellow judge who requested anonymity: "He's been driven beyond the limit of his patience by these people. In his heart, he may know he's no longer dispassionate." Since a Blackfeet tribe leader named Eloise Cobell filed this lawsuit in 1996, several independent investigations found much evidence for Lamberth's concerns. Although, the government initially said its existing Indian trust fund records were in good shape, Lamberth hired a hacker who found they could easily be accessed and altered from outside. Other reviews found that the Interior Departmenthad never kept complete records, used unknown amounts of money to help balance the federal budget, and let the oil and gas industry use Indian lands at bargain rates. They also concluded that the Clinton and Bush administrations have repeatedly sidestepped initiating the required accounting because of the likely cost. Colleagues say Lamberth's strong prose is motivated by his government service and belief that it is a high calling. "He believes every person - whether it's the president of the United States or an administrative clerk - has a duty to serve the American people and do their duty as required under the law," said Mark Nagle, who worked under Lamberth when he ran the civil division of the U.S. attorney's office. "I remember him calling up some senior-level presidential appointees and telling them: 'We can't defend this one. And we're not going to,' " Nagle said. Lamberth's directness continued when he joined the bench. In presiding over several controversial cases involving the Clinton administration, Lamberth repeatedly accused government officials of trying to dupe the court. In the November trial of Murder Inc. gang members, Lamberth spotted one defendant mouthing words to an ex-girlfriend as she reluctantly testified. Lamberth excused the jury, then let loose. "You sit down and shut up," the judge growled. "If you want to be bound and gagged for the rest of this trial, you just keep it up." Lamberth has never spared the government in Cobell , and government lawyers say they cringe at his sometimes mocking tone. "You know any banker would be in jail for handling funds like this, don't you?" he told one Interior witness. U.S. District Judge Stanley Sporkin, now retired, who was removed from a criminal case by the appeals court after not following sentencing guidelines, said Lamberth's motives are undoubtedly pure in Cobell , and the appeals court needs to acknowledge this litigation is "no tea party." "Here you have a judge who is terribly frustrated," Sporkin said. "Every time he tells the government to get something done, they don't. It seems to me you have a bunch of crybabies that aren't willing to do what has to be done." Copyright c. 2005 The Washington Post Company. --------- "RE: Lawyers urge contempt proceedings against DoI" --------- Date: Thursday, September 15, 2005 2:44 PM From: Bill McAllister [bmcallister@cox.net] Subj: LAWYERS URGE CONTEMPT PROCEEDINGS AGAINST INTERIOR OVER E-MAILS LAWYERS URGE CONTEMPT PROCEEDINGS AGAINST INTERIOR OVER E-MAILS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 - Lawyers for a group of Indians who are challenging the government's management of their trust accounts today urged a federal judge to order the Interior Department to face a contempt trial over its failure to produce E-mail messages needed in a recently-concluded hearing. Dennis M. Gingold, lead attorney for the Indians, told U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth that the government violated a total of eight court orders he had issued since 1998 by failing to produce the messages. "Your honor, this has to stop," Gingold told the judge. "A message has to be sent." Gingold stated that the government's failure to produce the E-mail messages came despite frequent assurances from Interior officials that all of the department's messages were being preserved and would be produced in a timely manner. Yet a government lawyer told Lamberth today that it may be November before many of the messages can be recovered. The judge did not indicate when he would rule on the request, noting that he also faced several other pressing issues in the nine-year-old Indian Trust lawsuit, including the question of whether the Interior Department retaliated against one of its officials who testified about lax computer security during a 59-day hearing that concluded this summer. That hearing explored whether the department's weak computer security had placed trust records for 500,000 Native Americans at risk. Led by Elouise Cobell, a member of Montana's Blackfeet Tribe, the Indians have secured orders for an full accounting of funds the government holds for them in individual trust accounts. The accounts were created by Congress in 1887 at a time when lawmakers did not believe Native Americans could handle their own financial affairs. Since their inception, the accounts have been mismanaged by the government. It has been unable to certify the correct balance for any one of the accounts. "It's difficult to change something that has been wrong for 118 years," Gingold told Lamberth. But he said the government's mishandling of E-mail messages about trust management issues mirrors the way the government has handled the Indian Trust. "These people have to be stopped," Gingold added, saying that the judge should initiate a contempt trial over the missing documents immediately to correct problems that continue to plague management of the trust. For additional information: Bill McAllister for the Cobell Litigation Team --------- "RE: Appeals Court upholds legality of Land-into-Trust" --------- Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 08:49:05 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NARRAGANSETT CASE" http://www.indianz.com/News/2005/010299.asp Appeals court upholds legality of land-into-trust process September 14, 2005 For the second time in a year, a federal appeals court on Tuesday soundly rejected a state's challenge to the legality of the land-into-trust process. In a closely-watched case, the state of Rhode Island tried to invalidate the Interior Department's ability to acquire land for tribes and individual Indians. The state claimed the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, the law that created the land-into-trust process, was unconstitutional because it places no standards and no limits on the federal government. The state brought the case in its attempt to block the Narragansett Tribe from placing 31 acres in trust for a housing project. The state said the tribe couldn't follow the land-into-trust process because it wasn't federally recognized at the time of the IRA's passage in 1934. The state also said the tribe's land claims settlement act barred the acquisition of new lands. But the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals rejected every one of the state's arguments. In a unanimous decision, a three-judge panel said the IRA doesn't violate the U.S. Constitution because it provides standards for acquiring trust lands under the "discretion" of the Interior Department. The judges also held the Narragansett Tribe can follow the IRA "regardless of the status of its acknowledgment in 1934." The court said the Interior Department's interpretation of the IRA "should be accorded particular deference." "Thus, to change this reading of the statute here would impact scores of trusts created for the benefit of Indians over the last 70 years," Judge Juan R. Torruella wrote for the majority. The court further concluded that the Rhode Island Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1978 doesn't bar the Interior Department from taking land into trust for the Narragansett Tribe. The law extinguished all aboriginal title in the state but doesn't preclude the tribe from expanding the 1,800-acre reservation created by the settlement, the court said. By a 2-1 vote, however, the judges disagreed on whether newly acquired lands should be subject to the criminal and civil jurisdiction of the state. Judge Jeffrey R. Howard, in a short dissent, said Rhode Island is entitled to exercise some sovereignty over all land in the state regardless of its trust status. "In the circumstances of this case, holding that Rhode Island is divested of jurisdiction by the [Interior] Secretary taking into trust the adjacent parcel that was part of the original disputed lands upsets the fairly expressed expectations of the parties," he wrote. Otherwise, he agreed with the court's opinion. With the decision, the 1st Circuit joins the 2nd Circuit in rejecting state attempts to limit the rights of New England tribes. In a dispute involving the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, officials in Connecticut unsuccessfully raised many of the same arguments presented in the Narragansett case. The U.S. Supreme Court later refused to hear the case. The 1st Circuit also joins the 10th Circuit in rejecting constitutional challenges to the IRA. The Native American Rights Fund and the National Congress of American Indians participated in the Narragansett case in hopes of preserving tribal rights under the land-into-trust process and out of concern it might go before the Supreme Court. The constitutional issue has been up in the air ever since the state of South Dakota raised it over 10 years ago in a case involving the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe. The 8th Circuit, in an infamous opinion, held that the IRA was illegal because "it would permit the [Interior] Secretary to purchase the Empire State Building in trust for a tribal chieftain as a wedding present." The Clinton administration appealed to the Supreme Court but the justices, in an unusual move, accepted the case, vacated the 8th Circuit opinion and returned it for further consideration. But since no decision was published by the high court, the state was free to raise the constitutional questions again. Just one week ago, on September 6, the 8th Circuit answered the doubts and upheld the legality of the IRA. "We conclude that the purposes evident in the whole of the IRA and its legislative history sufficiently narrow the delegation and guide the [Interior] Secretary's discretion in deciding when to take land into trust," Judge Roger Leland Wollman wrote for the majority. George Skibine, the acting deputy assistant secretary for policy and economic development at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, addressed the debate during a gaming conference in Las Vegas yesterday. He noted that court rulings on the constitutional issue were finally coming in after years of litigation. As a result of the new decisions, "we hope these sort of challenges will be put to rest," Skibine said during a land-into-trust panel at the Global Gaming Expo. The opinion issued yesterday by the 1st Circuit was based on a rehearing of the case. In February 2005, the same panel of three judges had reached the same conclusion regarding the IRA and the Narragansett Tribe's ability to follow the land-into-trust process but didn't answer the civil and criminal jurisdiction question. Both times, the panel refused to force the Interior Department to consider that the Narragansett Tribe might use the 31 acres for a casino. "There is no evidence that the Tribe intended to use the parcel for anything other than tribal housing, as determined by the BIA," the court wrote yesterday. The state of Rhode Island could ask the full panel of judges on the 1st Circuit to rehear the case. Or it could seek Supreme Court review, a step that is likely in the 8th Circuit case involving the state of South Dakota and the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe. Copyright c. 2000-2005 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: Cut Bank will file lawsuit against Blackfeet" --------- Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2005 08:34:46 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CUT BANK OPPOSES TERO" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.goldentrianglenews.com//glacier_reporter/news/news3.txt Cut Bank will file lawsuit against Blackfeet Tribe. By LeAnne Kavanagh for the Glacier Reporter September 14, 2005 Must the City of Cut Bank and its contractors comply with the Blackfeet Tribe's TERO laws on the latest phase of its water project? City officials say no and are willing to file a lawsuit in Federal District Court against the Blackfeet Tribe to prove their point. The Blackfeet Tribe last week issued a shut down order on the city's off-site water storage project, which is being built on fee patent land on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. The shut down is costing city officials approximately $10,000 per day, estimated City Superintendent Jim Suta. The Blackfeet Tribe's TERO (Tribal Employment Rights Ordinance) was adopted in 1977 to insure when there is economic activity on the Reservation, Indians would be afforded the opportunity to share in that activity. The City Council voted unanimously on Monday night to hire a Great Falls law firm "well versed" in the federal district court system. City Attorney Bob Olson said he was in contact with Maxon Davis, and although Davis could not personally handle the case he was confident one of the firm's five attorneys could. "He understands the urgency of the matter," said Olson, adding to hire a "high power" attorney may cost up to $25,000. "We'll be asking the court to declare the City of Cut Bank is not subject to TERO laws so we can get this project back up...Money is a gigantic issue. It's very costly being shut down," reported Olson. Deputy City Attorney Robert Smith concurred, noting that the city's contractor on the project said the cost of the equipment sitting idle at the work site amounted to $1,015 per hour. Smith said Dick Anderson Construction had reassigned workers on the project to other sites for the time being to "mitigate damages" and there will be additional expenses to bring other equipment back to the site once work resumes. Funds from the city attorney's budget and the city's water enterprise account will be used to cover the cost of hiring outside legal counsel. "It won't necessarily be cheap," continued Olson, predicting the complaint could be filed as early as Wednesday. They would ask the court for a temporary restraining order to stop the Blackfeet Tribe's shut down order at the same time. When asked if the City would be able to recover the expense of the lawsuit and shut down order if they win, Smith explained that the Blackfeet Tribe has "sovereign immunity" and it would be "virtually impossible" for them to be held responsible for damages. "You better assume no," replied Olson. Blackfeet Tribe TERO laws provide for the assessment of a two percent project cost fee and a two percent contractor fee on projects constructed on the Blackfeet Reservation. If the court finds the City of Cut Bank is subject to the TERO laws, it would add another $72,000 to the project's $1. 8 million price tag, said Smith. We don't believe they have the regulatory authority," voiced Smith. Olson agreed, saying tribal officials from various departments have been aware of the City's water project since the first public hearings were held back in 1998. The city's engineers did their "due diligence and research" and at that time determined the TERO's law didn't apply to the city. "They didn't deal with us on Phase I at all," reminded Olson. "I don't know why they didn't make an issue of it during Phase I." As for the Phase II project, city officials were first notified by TERO representatives the day bids closed on the project. At that time, the city did not agree they were subject to the Tribe's TERO regulations and Olson and tribal attorney Terryl Matt corresponded on the matter. Two to three weeks later, Olson said Matt told him the Tribe was not going to pursue the matter. Shortly thereafter, he was notified the Tribe was indeed going to "push" the issue. Mayor Marion Culleton and Olson met with members of the Blackfeet Tribal Council on Sept. 7 at Discovery Lodge Casino. After discussing the matter, the council asked Olson and Culleton to leave while they reviewed the information. TERO officials then arrived and Olson said they convinced the Tribal Council to shut down the project. "We had already received the shut down order but in our meeting the Tribal Council had agreed to rescind it, " said Olson. He left town after the meeting only to learn later that Matt had informed city officials the Blackfeet Tribe was carrying through with the Sept. 7 shut down order. Olson said the law cited by Matt deals with state agencies and hiring preferences. "We are not a state agency...Our only real option is to try and file an action in federal district court for an injunction to stop them..." concluded Olson. Copyright c. 2005 Golden Triangle Newspapers. --------- "RE: Tribes move to contain Anthrax" --------- Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 08:25:39 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ANTHRAX" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.greatfallstribune.com//20050916/NEWS01/509160316/1002 Tribes move to contain anthrax By RICHARD PETERSON For the Tribune September 16, 2005 POPLAR - The state Department of Livestock confirmed Thursday that anthrax killed 37 cows from a single herd northwest of Culbertson on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. The dead animals were discovered over the weekend. The ranch and its surrounding pastures have been quarantined for 40 days and officials said the anthrax appears to be the naturally occurring type. It's limited to only one ranch, located in the southeastern corner of the reservation, said State Veterinarian Dr. Tom Linfield. The state Department of Public Health and Human Services said the disease poses "little threat" to humans. The Fort Peck Tribes declared a state of emergency Thursday and began notifying other ranchers in the area, as well as hunters who have been shooting deer, elk and moose in the popular hunting area. The Tribal Emergency Response Commission also met Thursday to set a plan in motion to search for more dead or sick animals in the area and consider stopping the movement of livestock on the reservation. They met with local vets and officials from Roosevelt County and the state. The dead cows have been placed in two deep burial pits on the reservation and covered with lye, said Tribal Fish and Game Director Robbie Magnan. The remaining 210 cows from the herd have been removed from the affected pasture; those susceptible and potentially exposed were being treated with antibiotics and vaccine. "It's extremely unlikely for humans to get it but there still is that possibility and precautions need to be taken," Tribal Sanitarian Ken Hull said. "The biggest concern is how to handle the other livestock and bury the dead ones." Anthrax is not usually spread from animal to animal. Dead animals, however, if not properly disposed of, can infect other animals. Hull said anthrax spores lie underground and if conditions and climate are just right, they can emerge above ground and pose a threat to animals. The Tribes' Fish and Game Department received emergency funding from the tribal council to conduct airplane flyovers on the east end of the reservation and to handle the burial. The family that owns the ranch discovered the dead cows over the weekend. The state livestock department and local veterinarians were on the scene by Tuesday. The last case of confirmed anthrax in Montana was diagnosed in 1999; one in Yellowstone County and a separate incident in McCone County, according to Linfield. Prior to those cases, anthrax was last reported in Montana in 1985. North Dakota and South Dakota have had multiple cases of anthrax this season, he said. Grazing animals are typically infected when they ingest or inhale spores in contaminated soil. Cattle, sheep bison, goats and horses are primarily affected, as well as wild animals such as deer, elk, moose, antelope and coyotes. Untreated animals die within 24 to 48 hours after exposure. The tribes were also warning hunters to wear latex gloves when field dressing animals and take precautions in the field. They are being asked to not collect antlers, bones or teeth from animals hunted in the affected areas. Hunters must also cook the meat thoroughly. "Anthrax can remain in the bones even if they are bleached," Magnan said. Dozens of deer, five elk and a moose were hunted on the east side of the reservation over the weekend, he said. TERC members are meeting today to asses the situation before the weekend. For more information about anthrax, check out the Department of Livestock web site at www.mt.gov/liv/. Copyright c. 2005 Great Falls Tribune. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Cheyenne Leader calls for reawakening" --------- Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 08:49:05 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CALLS NORTHERN CHEYENNE TO RETURN TO GREATNESS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.montanaforum.com/~article&sid=3628&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0 Cheyenne leader calls for reawakening By MIKE STARK The Billings Gazette September 14, 2005 LAME DEER - The president of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe on Tuesday urged its people to shake off self-defeating notions of despair and embrace an aggressive path toward independence, prosperity and pride. In a two-part speech that opened an economic development summit, Eugene Little Coyote laid out a detailed agenda that included financial goals, such as building a casino and resort, and less tangible ones, including a shift in attitudes among tribal members. He called for the Northern Cheyenne to "return to greatness." "We're going to reinvent ourselves," he told the crowd of about 500 people. "We're going to re-emerge as dignified Cheyennes." Little Coyote, elected as president last November, opened his speech with a slide show of images of dilapidated and boarded-up houses, poverty and alcohol abuse. He also pointed out unemployment rates that can reach 90 percent in the winter, hunger, illiteracy and violence. All of those factors provoke anger, pain, embarrassment and shame, he said. "There's a lot wrong with our reservation and our communities, and we have to face up to that," he said. He hoped the speech would jump-start tribal members - including the 400 or so tribal employees required to attend the economic summit - to begin changing the tribe's future. It's time, he said, for tribal members to stop depending on the federal government and the tribal government, and instead look for ways to build up the Northern Cheyenne people. The tribe will still look after its own, he said, but members need to address "a misguided sense of entitlement." One of the most important tasks will be building a sustainable economy on the reservation that helps the tribe cut its reliance on federal programs, Little Coyote said. The economy on the Northern Cheyenne reservation has been in a "state of perpetual post-war recovery" for 120 years, he said. For too long, the tribe has focused on simply taking in federal money and distributing it through the tribal system. The Northern Cheyenne need to create for-profit businesses that drive a local economy, he said. Tribal leaders are taking a serious look at building a casino and resort - and have an investor willing to pay $8 million to build it - but first need cooperation from Gov. Brian Schweitzer and approval from the federal Department of Interior. Little Coyote said he'd also like to see a hotel built in Lame Deer, a truck stop possibly in Busby, a "dollar store" and, perhaps much farther down the line, the revival of the now-defunct sawmill in Ashland. Tribal leaders are also investigating the possibility of starting a bottled-water plant on the reservation. A diversified economy is the key to tribal independence, he said. The tribe shouldn't be complacent when it comes to unemployment, a lack of housing and other symptoms of being poor, he said. "We've kind of become comfortable living in this poverty. That's unacceptable," he said. Aside from the economy, there are fundamental changes needed among the Northern Cheyenne people, Little Coyote added, ones that renew "the dignified image" of their ancestors. That can happen through more constructive criticism instead of negativism, support for new ideas and pride in how Northern Cheyennes represent themselves to the rest of the world, he said. The president has also proposed changing the names of several communities on the reservation. Lame Deer and Busby derive their names from another tribe and a former business owner. "We're going by a name that doesn't fit us," he said. Little Coyote is proposing that each community rename itself, a proposal that could be up for a referendum in the next year or so. There will be critics to many of the proposals. But the future of the tribe is better served when everyone contributes constructive ideas and embraces a "sprit of optimism," Little Coyote said. Copyright c. 2005 The Billings Gazette. Montana Forum is a service of the Lee Enterprises Montana Newspapers. --------- "RE: Cheyenne CBM study proposed" --------- Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 08:49:05 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="COAL BED METHANE PRODUCTION" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.montanaforum.com/~article&sid=3629&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0 Cheyenne CBM study proposed By MIKE STARK The Billings Gazette September 14, 2005 Coalbed methane development should be considered on the Northern Cheyenne reservation, according to a new citizens group. The Association for the Advancement of Indigenous Resources formed in June in an effort to educate tribal members about coalbed methane, according to Terry Beartusk, the group's director. Some people on the reservation have been reluctant to look into the possibility of developing coalbed methane without having all the facts, according to the group's organizers. "There are so many myths, misconceptions and fears out there," Beartusk said. Coalbed methane development has taken off in the Wyoming portion of the Powder River Basin and has been the focus of intense scrutiny in southeastern Montana in recent years. There is money to be made with development that is responsible, reasonable and sensitive to the concerns of tribal members, Beartusk said. "Now is the time to seriously look at coalbed methane development," he said. The group is surveying locals about their concerns with coalbed methane and plans on hosting feasts in each district on the reservation to provide "objective, nonindustry-based information" about energy development. In particular, the group hopes to address concerns about air quality, water quality, royalties and possible damage to surface lands. "There are negatives, but we believe they can be minimized," said John Youngbear, the group's chairman. The group, which hosted a booth at an economic summit in Lame Deer Tuesday, is not funded by the energy industry, organizers said. No one knows what the potential is on the Northern Cheyenne reservation for coalbed methane, a natural gas that's held in coal seams. It could be nothing or it could be trillions of cubic feet, Beartusk said. At the very least, the group said, it's worth exploring. The Southern Ute Tribe in southwest Colorado has taken over methane development on its reservation, according to the group, and so far has built up more than $2 billion in investment and development. Copyright c. 2005 The Billings Gazette. Montana Forum is a service of the Lee Enterprises Montana Newspapers. --------- "RE: Iowas receive funding to help care for Eagles" --------- Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 08:25:39 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="2nd TRIBAL EAGLE AVIARY" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://newsok.com/article/1615797 Iowa Tribe receives funding to help care for injured birds By Anthony Thornton The Oklahoman September 15, 2005 PERKINS - Eagle feathers, a rare commodity used throughout Oklahoma in tribal ceremonies, soon will become abundant for the Iowa Tribe. The tribe was approved last month for a $250,000 federal grant to build an eagle aviary and rehabilitation center. It was the first such grant awarded to a tribe by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Aside from caring for sick and injured birds, the center will provide a constant source of feathers from golden and bald eagles, tribal Chairman Bernadette Huber said. "The eagle is one of the two most important icons for our people. It flies highest to the great spirit, so there are many cultural blessings that come with the feathers. "When we pray to the big spirit, we use the feather as a tool to get the smoke to reach the heavens," Huber said. The center is scheduled for a December completion. It will be built near the tribe's headquarters along U.S. 177 south of Perkins. Nearby is a herd of bison, the tribe's other cultural icon. The tribe's wildlife director, Victor Roubidoux, said feathers will be taken only when eagles molt or die. The center will accommodate 15 birds, he said. Its residents will be eagles that have been shot or hurt in an accident. The tribe pitched in $70,000 for construction and operations, and agreed to fully fund the center after three years, Roubidoux said. The idea is based on the country's only other tribal-owned aviary, built on the Zuni Pueblo in northwest New Mexico. For two reasons, the need for such centers is great, said John Antonio, the Fish and Wildlife Service's regional tribal liaison in Albuquerque, N.M. "If these birds can't be released back to the wild or placed in a zoo, they're euthanized. So the aviaries provide a place for these birds to live out the rest of their lives," Antonio said. Secondly, he said, the demand for eagle feathers "far exceeds the supply." Eagles and their feathers are protected under federal law. Possession of feathers is permitted only for religious and ceremonial purposes, Antonio said, and they can be obtained only through a national repository in Colorado. Tribes can wait three or four years for a mature eagle's feathers to become available through death. At a ground-breaking ceremony Sept. 1, tribe officials released three small Mississippi kites as a symbolic gesture. Huber said the aviary will be used to educate tribal members, and perhaps school groups, about the eagle's importance to the Iowa and other tribes. "I'm really glad for the tribe," Antonio said. "All I can see is success for this center." Copyright c. 2005 The Oklahoman, News 9 - Produced by NewsOK.com. --------- "RE: Editorial: Save Nez Perce burial Site" --------- Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 08:49:05 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="OLD CHIEF JOSEPH" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.oregonlive.com//editorial/112669589256010.xml Save Wallowa Lake site It's imperative to compensate the property owners fairly - and to save this unique place from desecration September 14, 2005 Long before Old Chief Joseph died in 1871, he extracted a promise from his sons that they would never sell the Wallowa Valley. "You must stop your ears whenever you are asked to sign a treaty selling your home," the old chief said. The young Chief Joseph never forgot. Both Josephs would be aghast to learn that recreational vehicles could someday dot ancestral hills near the old chief's burial site. If property owners get their wish, their 60 acres near the foot of Wallowa Lake might sport "an upscale RV community," as The Oregonian's Laura Oppenheimer reported Sunday. Whether upscale, downscale or in between, this development should not go forward. It would be a travesty. These hills are sacred to the Nez Perce tribe. Many people who live in Joseph (population: 1,080) and throughout northeast Oregon also have a fierce attachment to this landscape, which many have known since childhood. Sadly, they took for granted that it would never be developed. With hindsight, it's clear it should have been purchased and protected years ago. "We all get emotional about things," property owner Steve Krieger told Oppenheimer. "But this is land use. Do (people's) emotions take precedence over my property values?" Well, yes. The Nez Perce tribe's reverence for their historic homeland may be an emotion, but it is deserving of respect. As we have all seen with the devastation in New Orleans, Americans can find it hard to talk about the personality of places, and the spirit or soul or unquantifiable something lost when places vanish. Native Americans, traditionally, were steeped in a different understanding in which land was not a commodity. The value of places was inextricable from the people who lived and died there. As the elder Chief Joseph put it, in his warning to his sons, "Never sell the bones of your mother and father." For business people in Joseph, though, it's not just an emotional attachment that drives their wish to preserve this site, known as the Marr Ranch. They also know that it won't be good for tourism or the economy if the site is scarred by development. A land swap is the best solution now, if the property owners are amenable. The federal government has a role to play, but so does Gov. Ted Kulongoski. With a deft and diplomatic intervention, the governor should work out a fair deal. It's easy to understand why the property owners might feel mistreated; they bought the property expecting it could be developed. Last year's approval of property-rights Measure 37 has strengthened their hand, but they deserved fair compensation even before that. And, frankly, a fair price isn't easy to set for this place. It's irreplaceable. As the younger Joseph put it in 1879, "I buried (my father) in that beautiful valley of the winding waters. I love that land more than all the rest of the world." Many would agree. This place must be preserved forever, not just in memory of two revered chiefs, not just in honor of the Nez Perce, and not just for residents of Joseph and northeast Oregon. For all of us. Copyright c. 2005 The Oregonian. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Tribal Recognition delayed till Oct. 12" --------- Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 08:41:22 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="EASTERN PEQUOT PUT ON HOLD" http://www.norwichbulletin.com/~AID=/20050913/NEWS01/509130332/1002 Tribal recognition delayed till Oct. 12 By BRIAN WALLHEIMER Norwich Bulletin September 12, 2005 NORTH STONINGTON - The Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation has been waiting four months to see if it will regain its federal recognition. Monday the tribe learned it will have to wait another month. James E. Cason, associate deputy secretary for the secretary of the Interior, said Monday he needed until Oct. 12 to review the case before handing down a decision. The tribe expected to get the decision Monday. Cason, in a letter to Marcia Jones Flowers, Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation chairwoman, said he wanted to thoroughly consider all issues and accurately interpret relevant laws applying to the case. The Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation - composed of the Eastern Pequot and Paucatuck Eastern Pequot tribes, which had applied separately for recognition - received federal recognition in 2002 as one tribe. But the Interior Board of Indian Appeals vacated that decision in May and remanded it to Cason for reconsideration after State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and the towns of Preston, Ledyard and North Stonington claimed the tribe failed to meet federal recognition standards and merging the tribes was illegal. Flowers said, in a statement, she realizes the delay is a disappointment to tribal members but understands the magnitude of the decision and is positive the tribe will prevail. "In a decision of this magnitude, integrity matters, not timing, and we have confidence in the (Office of Federal Acknowledgment's) process and that they will affirm that we meet the criteria for recognition," Flowers said. Blumenthal, in a statement Monday, said he hopes the delay is an indication the recognition will get "the deliberation - and denial - it deserves." Cason said the decision on recognition for the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation from Kent will also be delayed until Oct. 12. bwallhei@norwich.gannett.com Copyright c. 2005 Norwich Bulletin. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Louisiana Tribe surveys the damage" --------- Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2005 08:34:46 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="KATRINA LEAVES HOUMA HOMELESS" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=6987 Louisiana tribe surveys the damage "This tribal community...in the midst of the largest natural disaster" Sam Lewin September 14, 2005 Members of a Louisiana tribe have finally been able to examine the extensive damage caused by Hurricane Katrina and the situation is not good, the National Congress of American Indians reports. In a statement the NCAI said United Houma Nation members met at the home of Principal Chief Brenda Dardar Robichaux. Over a meal of crawfish etouffe, United Houma officials and rank-and- file tribal members assessed damages to homes and businesses and discussed a plan to alleviate the situation. "It's time for us to focus on attacking challenges ahead," Robichaux said. Hope Larios, part of the tribe's election committee, said her St. Bernard Parish residence is still in a wretched state, but she is trying to remain optimistic. "My home is under 9 feet of water," said Larios. "I haven't been able to return but I am fortunate enough to have been given a place to stay." Larios is one of about 600 United Houmas that were living in St. Bernard Parish. It could be as long as four months until the area she is from is accessible to survey the damage. Some parts of the parish will probably have to be completely razed and rebuilt. Robichaux has provided shelter for Larios and other United Houma members displaced by the killer storm. The NCAI reports that there are 3,400 tribal members in southern Louisiana who have been affected by Katrina. The damage varies from the most destruction in St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Orleans, and Jefferson Parishes, to less severe and minor damage south and west of New Orleans. The issue of race has been again been raised, with one member openly wondering about the slow state and federal response. "New Orleans seems to be ground zero where the most damage was. Sorry to say, but because we are Native, we are getting overlooked down here - people seem to forget us," said tribal member Thomas Dardar of Terrebonne Parish. "Our crime, I guess, is being Native." In addition to damages to homes, some of the United Houma use fishing as a livelihood. Hurricane Katrina wiped out, at least for now, much of the fishing industry in Lafourche and St. Bernard Parishes. Robichaux said although it is tough, the first step is to accurately ascertain the extent of the damage. The NCAI says that process began with a fly-over of Plaquemines Parish, where Houma Nation Vice-Principal Chief Michael Dardar has lived in Venice, La. most of his life. 1,000 feet above the community he calls home, Dardar started down at the catastrophic damage cause by Katrina. "There's my home," he says. It has been moved by the floodwaters from its original location and is still underwater. "This is kind of hard to put into words," he said. "I'm 43-years-old and have been in this community for the majority of my life. I saw Hurricane Camille come through in 1969 when I was a kid and to see it now with the eyes of an adult - it is heartbreaking. It is like losing your balance - you lose your sense of direction because you have lost contact with the ground." Dardar says now he can only look ahead to the cleanup and recovery. "I've lived in Venice for forty years and I can't see living any place else," he said. NCAI is currently visiting Indian tribes in the Gulf Region to assess damage in an effort to be able to distribute relief funds to the tribal communities that need it most. "The people of this tribal community are in the midst of the largest natural disaster in the country, but I don't think they will let the impact destroy their sense of community as they are reaching out to each other to share homes, food, and inner strength," said NCAI Emergency Management Director Robert Holden. "To see the aftermath of Katrina is really sad, but several tribal members seemed to have lifted spirits knowing that Indian Country as a whole is inquiring on their well being and is now reaching into their hearts and their pockets to assist in the relief effort." Donations can be sent to: NCAI 1301 Connecticut, Ave, NW Suite 200 Washington, DC 20036 * Put Hurricane Relief in subject line of check. Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Tribes develop plan for handling disasters" --------- Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 08:49:05 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NORTHWEST TRIBES LEARN FROM KATRINA" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/~=rss&source=seattletimes.xml&items=151 Tribes develop plan for handling disasters Tulalip By Lynn Thompson Times Snohomish County Bureau September 14, 2005 The lessons of Hurricane Katrina aren't lost on the region's Indian tribes. Like the Gulf Coast states, many tribal lands in Snohomish, Whatcom and Skagit counties are low-lying coastal areas vulnerable to floods. The few roads that connect them to food and emergency aid could easily become impassable in a disaster. Recognition of their own vulnerability, as well as the post-Sept. 11 disaster planning going on without them, has prompted the Tulalips, Lummis, Stillaguamish and five other tribes in the three-county area to jointly develop emergency-response plans. The Northwest Tribal Emergency Management Council, formed this summer with a $175,000 grant from state Homeland Security Council, is writing disaster plans for participating tribes. The council is also working with other local and regional governments to coordinate responses to a range of crises, from a tsunami to an oil spill to a flu epidemic. "Emergency management is on everyone's mind today, especially when we see in New Orleans what the lack of planning and execution can cause," Tulalip Police Chief Jay Goss said. "We wanted to ensure that, when an emergency does take place, whether it's a homeland-security event or an earthquake, that the tribes have good plans in place." The efforts are attracting national attention. The new emergency- management council's members were recently invited to Washington, D.C. They've fielded calls from tribes across the country. "It's a real success story for this region," said John Pennington, the regional director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "They have the ability to plan, prepare and assist other agencies in a way that other tribes haven't been able to do." The tribes weren't included in the federal legislation that in 2002 created the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and directed local and regional governments to streamline disaster-response plans. Lynda Harvey, a community-service officer for the Tulalip police, said she began attending regional emergency-management meetings in 2003 and realized that no other tribes were participating. The reasons, she said, were a lack of staff members dedicated to emergency response and a lack of money to develop plans and provide training. Though the Tulalips and Lummis have their own police departments, many smaller tribes do not. None of the tribes in the region has its own fire department to respond to disasters. Harvey, who has also organized crime-prevention block watches for the approximately 10,000 people who live on the Tulalip Reservation, said the Hurricane Katrina response efforts has convinced her that training tribal members to be first responders in emergencies would be a key to protecting the community. "On the news, it's the doctors, the nurses, the local police who are doing the most," Harvey said. "I think the community's ability to respond to an emergency is going to be crucial. It could be days before we see any outside help." The tribal council plans to purchase two-way radios for participating tribes and teach local medical personnel, police and other community leaders how to use them. Under the grant, the council is also training high-school students in first aid, search and rescue, and the national system that details the chain of command and decision making in a major disaster, said Curt Russell, a Lummi who is the council's director of homeland security. "If an earthquake happens tomorrow, we're not ready. But if it happens a year from now, we'll have everything put in place," Russell said. Lynn Thompson: 425-745-7807 or lthompson@seattletimes.com Copyright c. 2005 The Seattle Times Company. --------- "RE: American Indian Women fight back" --------- Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 08:25:39 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WOMEN" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.clarionledger.com//20050916/FEAT05/509160307/1023 American Indian women fight back By Diana Marrero Gannett News Service September 16, 2005 WASHINGTON - When Lisa M. Iyotte was raped in 1994, she became part of a staggering statistic: One out of every three American Indian women will be raped in their lifetimes. That means they are nearly twice as likely as the average American woman to be sexually assaulted, according to estimates from the National Congress of American Indians' task force to end violence against women. And like Iyotte, a 37-year-old member of the Rosebud Sioux tribe in South Dakota, American Indian women are more likely to live in poor, remote communities where victim services are scarce or nonexistent. Compounding the problem, American Indian leaders say, are complicated jurisdictional issues between the federal and tribal governments that often wind up leaving assailants on the streets. "It's not acceptable," Iyotte says. "But no one wants to talk about it, so it still goes on." Yet advocates note Congress is poised to pass a strengthened version of the Violence Against Women Act that would boost protections for American Indian women. The 1994 law is expected to expire at the end of this month unless lawmakers reauthorize it. A new version of the bill would enhance the ability of tribes to prosecute perpetrators, increase the amount of research on violence against Indian women, increase federal spending for tribal services and ensure better cooperation between the nation's tribes and the federal government. One provision would establish a national tribal sex offender and protection order registry so tribes could track offenders who move to other reservations. The additional federal support could not come at a better time, advocates say. "If it wasn't for those federal programs, there would be nothing being done here," says Francis Onstad, a member of the Blackfeet tribe in Montana who is working to start a program for sexual violence victims. Copyright c. 2005 Clarionledger.com. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Bringing Tribes, Cities, Business together" --------- Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2005 08:34:46 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ECONOMIC PROGRESS FOR ALL" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.edmondsun.com/articles/2005/09/14/news/opinions/opinion02.txt Bringing tribes, cities, business together for economic success Phil G. Busey Special to The Sun September 14, 2005 It is the time to build new bridges between tribal governments, communities and businesses and begin a new era in cooperative economic development. Tribes and minority businesses have advantages to develop business. These can be used in cooperation with governments and businesses to add a valuable resource to Oklahoma's economic efforts. In Oklahoma, there are more per capita Native Americans than any other state. We have one of the greatest concentrations of tribal governments nationally. The economic impact of the 38 federally recognized tribes in Oklahoma is established. Tribes in Oklahoma employee over 15,000 and contribute more than $7.8 billion annually to the state's economy. It is now time to take that to a new unprecedented level. For too long, Oklahomans have not recognized the importance of tribal business impact as an untapped resource. Working together we can compete in this global economy and move our state forward. Tribes are viable business engines. Together, tribal leaders and state leaders can change the image of Indian country and in a spirit of cooperation, the image of Oklahoma. Rural communities are struggling to find funds for basic infrastructure needs like roads, water, energy and schools. Tribes can provide vehicles for financing and resources to aid these cities. Tribes have contracting advantages through SBA 8(a), HUBZone and SDB certifications that can spur development in partnership with neighboring businesses. Three of the largest tribes in Oklahoma have successful businesses outside gaming. The Choctaw, Cherokee and the Chickasaw are breaking boundaries in developing non-gaming businesses. Efforts include government contracting, construction, commercial developments and health care facilities that benefit all Oklahomans. Their success is an important model for other tribes in Oklahoma. Our future requires Native Americans and non-Native Americans to reach out to each other. Critically, two federal programs that have spurred Native American business efforts need support. However, many Oklahoma leaders are unaware of the significance of these incentives. In December the sun set's on a Congressional act that provides up to a $4,000 per employee a federal tax credit for businesses employing tribal members in Indian country. It would seem state leaders would be rallying to contact their Congressmen to extend the act. No small incentive for business. The Indian Incentive Program under the Department of Defense is a powerful tool. Any prime contractor subcontracting a Native American business is eligible for a 5 percent cash rebate based on the amount of the subcontract. Congress has allocated only $8 million a year to the incentive but it has generated $176 million annually in subcontracts. With Oklahoma as "Native America," why aren't state and tribal leaders clambering for an increase in the incentive? This could mean many more dollars and jobs for Oklahoma. Partnerships and alliances between Native American tribes, tribal enterprises, businesses and local governments offer a powerful, undeveloped incentive for economic growth. It is time to work together to forge a next generation of mutual economic benefit. (Phil G. Busey is president of The Busey Group in Oklahoma City.) Copyright c. 2005 The Edmond Sun, a subsidiary of Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. --------- "RE: Bake is a 10,000-year Tradition" --------- Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 08:41:22 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SALMON" http://www.theworldlink.com/articles/2005/09/12/news/news01.txt Bake is a 10,000-year tradition By Carl Mickelson, Staff Writer September 12, 2005 At first glance it appears the reason that Jason Younker's shorts are sopping wet is to keep them from bursting into flame as he hovers over a bed of coals that, in time, will grow to nearly 700 degrees Fahrenheit. As it turns out, that's not the reason at all. It's tradition. He'd just returned the bones of his cousin to the sea. "I have to go up to my hips in the water," Younker, 38, explained Saturday as he tried to catch his breath between manning the salmon bake pits at The Mill Casino-Hotel for the Coquille tribes annual salmon celebration. As the story goes, since the salmon have offered themselves to feed the people, it's hoped that by returning the salmon remnants to the sea that the salmon spirits will tell the fish families to return again to the people the following year. "It's a privilege - and I don't mind it one bit. Our salmon cousins have sacrificed themselves," he said. Before he lets the bones go, Younker says a little prayer. "This ensures that, annually, they come back to us," he said. "I'm thanking them for their sacrifice. The salmon bake is no doubt one of the main attractions for what has become the Coquille tribe's second largest annual event. It's the unfamiliar cooking style that draws a crowd, forcing shutterbugs to snap a couple of shots and onlookers to gape for more than just a few minutes. However, for those of Native American descent, the salmon-bake is a tradition that stretches back more than 10,000 years. "That is how we survived," said Don Day, a member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde who came to help with the bake. The pit itself, filled with sand, is about 20-feet long by three-feet high and seven-feet wide. Those working in the pits are constantly throwing cedar and alder logs into the fire to create a bed of coals. Once the coals are formed, they're raked back and salmon, wrapped in foil, are chucked into the pit. The embers are then raked on top of the fish and both are smothered in sand, creating an oven where the fish will cook for about two hours. Manning the earthen ovens is no small task. Burns are not uncommon from the intense heat of the fire, which Younker estimated can reach 700 degrees Fahrenheit - enough to actually burn the sand itself, turning it an orangish color. Over the course of the two hours, the temperature dies down to about 200 degrees, Younker said. "Ow," Younker cries out as he wriggles one of his feet back and forth as he stands atop the sand, pulling back the coals with a rake. A coal drops from his sandal - a somewhat unusual choice of footwear. "It's a lot easier to shake a coal out of these than a boot," Younker explains. The burns are a small price to pay, Younker said the moment a smiling - and satisfied - customer stops by to commend the men on the fine cuisine. Within moments after the salmon is pulled from the pits, it's shuttled over to steam tables where visitors line up to get their share at $16 a plate. Years ago, salmon weren't the only meat that was cooked in this manner, so were pigs, elk, deer, clams and virtually every other edible creature that roamed the wilderness. Day said for thousands of years on the Columbia River there was a cannery of sorts where Native Americans dried and preserved various meats with salt from the Pacific Ocean to help tribal members survive the winters. Chris Foltz, a banquet and sous chef at The Mill, is in charge of making sure everyone is fed. He said, he planned to feed about 300 people over the two-day festival, which meant about 16, 25-pound salmon. "It's my job to taste everything," Foltz said. "That's the hard part," he said with a sly smile. Those who prefer their salmon smoked, partook of skewered salmon, drenched in a secret berry sauce, that dangles on stakes over open pit fires. The recipe for the salmon bake has changed over the years. Thousands of years ago, the Northwest's Native Americans seasoned the meat with seal oil, camas, berries and nuts. And, instead of aluminum foil, mud and seaweed were used to wrap the fish. The contemporary palate has changed. "Now we enjoy modern conveniences," Younker said, noting that the seasonings of old have been replaced with items such as garlic, onions, salt, pepper, bay leaves and lemon. "And butter - lots of butter," he said. Copyright c. 2005 Southwestern Oregon Publishing Company. --------- "RE: Native Group prepares to celebrate Milestone" --------- Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 08:49:05 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="FIRST NATIONS DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=6980 Native group prepares to celebrate milestone First Nations Institute's goal is economic achievement Sam Lewin September 13, 2005 The year is 1980. Jimmy Carter is President, the Cold War is in full freeze, American hostages are being held in Tehran and the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act is still years away. It is under this backdrop that the First Nations Development Institute is born. Their mission statement: "Assisting Indigenous peoples to control their own assets and, through that control, build the capacity to direct their economic futures in ways that fit their cultures." Now, a quarter-century later, the institute is preparing to celebrate 25 years of service. The celebration will take the form of an evening called "25 years of Indian Giving: Celebrating the Past and Defining the Future." "It has been our belief that given the opportunity and resources to explore development and devise their own answers, Native people will create unique, culturally relevant, and sustainable economic systems for themselves, for their families, communities, tribes, in balance and harmony with the sacred," said institute President Rebecca Adamson, a Cherokee. "Over the last 25 years First Nations has received incredible gifts of grace and generosity from all who have touched and been touched by this organization and recognize that it was the brilliance and ingenuity of our Indigenous communities that designed and shaped First Nations' programs and approaches which is what we will celebrate." Institute chairman B. Thomas Vigil, a member of the Jicarilla Apache Tribe, recalled that the institute's first offices were Adamson's kitchen table, and the first board meeting took place in her living room. "But I knew even then that we at First Nations had found a calling. In all of the federal endeavors in Indian Country, cultural direction had never even been considered; yet here we were in a position to help accomplish it from within Indian Country," Vigil writes on the organization's website. "Our various backgrounds among different tribes and in different funding venues, our shared conviction that cultural values matter in economic development, our rising commitment to real self- determination among tribes - all this had come together, so that we could actually bring Indian cultural direction into play in the process of economic development. We could actually bring funding to ideas and ideals no one else would ever touch. We could take risks on behalf of the people who have those ideas, and hold those ideals." Institute officials say a prime focus of the 25-year anniversary celebration is a tribute to innovative national and grassroots Native American community leaders with special awards to acknowledge achievements in Native American giving towards economic wellness. Some organizations that will be honored at the event include the Ford Foundation for Outstanding and Lasting Support from a Founding Foundation, Peter and Jennifer Buffet of The Spirit Foundation for Outstanding Foundation Support, Gail Small of Native Action for Outstanding Community Leadership, and The Potlatch Fund for Outstanding work as a First Nations grantee. The event will also give recognition to the existing economic development in Indian communities. Officials say they expect the celebration will be attended by 250 Native and non-Native philanthropists that have advocated for and supported Native American organizations nationwide. Other attendees will be economic and political leaders, and tribal representatives. The event takes place Oct. 22 at the National Museum of the American Indian on the mall in Washington, D.C. Anyone interested in more information, or attending, should call 540- 371-5615 ext. 19 or visit www.firstnations.org. The following is Adamson's full statement. Featured on the organization's website, it is called "Here Nature Knows Us": To say it is difficult to describe economic development within a spiritual context is an understatement. However, First Nations' efforts to promote culturally appropriate development places our work within the holistic worldview and belief systems of tribal people. `Culturally appropriate' economic development, led and conducted by Native communities, does not necessarily mean the traditional, historical activities undertaken by a tribe for survival. Rather, it means economic development activities which are driven by a community's cultural values, based on kinship, shared responsibilities and benefits, and respect for the environment. Reasons for reservation poverty are multiple and complex, but one factor is fundamental: tribal people have not been allowed to control their own resources or to craft their own development strategies within the values of their culture. For the most part, Native knowledge systems have been under attack for being `backward,' a `hindrance' to modernization. Western concepts of `objectivity' and `control' have discredited indigenous innovators whose contribution to technology development has traditionally been undervalued and undermined the capacity of tribal knowledge systems to evolve, adapt and contribute in innovative ways to all society. Although an increasing amount of research on tribal or indigenous systems is currently being conducted, literature shows that tribal knowledge is still not recognized as the product of holistic systems of perceptions, relationships, and organizational arrangements. Only First Nations Development Institute is actually executing the practice and application of such systems to solving real-world problems. During the past 20 years, First Nations has gained a great deal of experience in Native American culturally appropriate development. What have we learned? The indigenous understanding has its basis of spirituality in a recognition of the connectedness and interdependence of all living things, a holistic and balanced view of the world. All things are bound together. All things connect. What happens to the Earth happens to the children of the Earth. Man has not woven the web of life. He is but one thread. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself. The `environment' is perceived as a sensate, conscious entity suffused with spiritual powers through which human understanding is only realized in perfect humility before the sacred whole. The Hopi express this concept of being in perfect harmony and balance with the laws of the universe as `navoty.' The Tlingit refer to it as `shagoon.' Modern science is just now beginning to catch up with such ancient wisdom. Clearly, Bell's theorem on quantum physics, Einstein's theory of relativity, and the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle indicate that how and when we observe subatomic particles affects their behavior, and our perception of their behavior. All particles of matter - properties, positions and velocities - are affected by the intention or presence of all other particles. Stated in simpler terms, subatomic particles are aware of other subatomic particles. According to this law of nature, a people rooted in the land over time have exchanged their tears, their breath, their bones, all their elements - oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, phosphorous, sulfur, all the rest - with their habitat many times over. In the words of Dine traditionalist Ruth Benally Yinishye, "Our history cannot be told without naming the cliffs and mountains that have witnessed our people. Here, nature knows us." The closest contemporary philosophy comes to understanding earthbound spirituality is the concept of `Gaia.' However, tribal people worship the sacredness of Creation as a way of life, not as a philosophy or religion. In fact, none of the Native languages have words or terms synonymous with religion. The closest expressions of belief literally translate as `the way you live.' In 1986, the World Wildlife Fund convened Buddhists, Hindus, Judaists, Christians and Muslims in Umbria Hills, Italy, to issue their collective ecological wisdom, the Assisi Declarations. The intent was to provide a universal backdrop for adjusting human nature to a greater good and stewardship of Creation. In the end, the Declarations could only document what had already been an intuitive finding. `The way we live' within a consciousness responsible for the sacred whole was not a central practice for any of the great religious teachings. Yet, human consciousness determines what we do and how we do it. Consciousness is given order through a belief system. The reality of any belief system is expressed through ideas. The ideas are realized through values. Values permeate human life. They give us practical guidance. Moreover, values do not work alone. Ideas work together with values in a consistent, mutually affirming system, a value system. Ideas such as love, truth and justice work according to values of caring, honesty and fairness. The wise to be wise must also be just. Every society organizes itself politically, socially, and economically according to its values. In spiritual terms, this is evolution. In human terms, this is development. The issue of development, more than any other issue, is the battle line between two competing world views the EuroAmerican values of individualism, domination, exploitation, and separation poised against the tribal values of kinship, balance, reciprocity, and interconnectedness. Western economists like to think of economics as value-neutral, a system operating separate from its surrounding environment; which in and of itself denies the totality of the whole. Based upon their belief system, economists assume a scarcity of resources and an insatiable supply of individual appetites - in other words, unlimited desires competing for limited resources. Subsequently, the values to be realized are competition, materialism, acquisition, accumulation, ownership, growth, and immediacy. For Native peoples, the whole, not any one part of it, establishes a dynamic system of being, which gives rise to the order of things. Native spirituality assumes the whole manifests an order that unifies physical, conscious ,moral and physical life. The tribal belief system assumes an ecology of life and satiable appetites. In other words, prosperity is achievable within Creation; within the limits of Creation. The affirming value system includes harmony, prudence, reciprocity, distribution, kinship, sustainability, and caring for future generations. Based upon this profound worldview and a complex reciprocal belief system, First Nations has successfully articulated a vision of culturally appropriate development that places emphasis upon the real values behind Native societies and the way they organize themselves economically. Just as the sacred whole manifests an order that unifies physical, conscious, moral and spiritual life, development should organize the assets, human capital, and community in accordance with that belief system. Assets in many ways are the physical property of our world. The conscious becomes the individual, or the personal efficacy of the human capital. The moral becomes ethical conduct as constituted by the community. Central to Native spiritual practice is living in perfect balance and harmony with oneself, others, and the sacred whole - navoty. Because they understand the environment to be a living thing, the Northern Cheyenne have opposed coal strip mining on their reservation because it `kills the wat er beings.' There are no cost measurements of pollution, production, or other factors that can capture this impact. The holistic richness of this relationship to nature cannot be accommodated within any customary Western conceptual scheme. The profound vision within First Nations' culturally appropriate development reaches well beyond Indian Country. Given the opportunity and resources to explore development and develop their own answers, Native people will create unique, culturally relevant, and sustainable economic systems for themselves, for their families, communities, tribes, in balance and harmony with the sacred. Such values-based development will provide lessons in how those outside the tribal community may reorganize our future, making spirituality central to all elements of our lives, both in work and personally. Both Western and indigenous cultures can benefit from accessing and sharing beliefs, customs and technologies. Such interaction of forces and cultures creates a new dynamic, one which fosters creativity and progress. Conversely, witness the stagnation of China and other cultures during periods of self-imposed isolation. We must recognize the value of cultures and values, in order to ensure a successful future for all. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist William Raspberry, in a Washington Post editorial entitled `The Power of Spirituality,'reported on a community leader who came to the realization that successful programs almost always have a spiritual base. "But it doesn't get mentioned in the surveys and evaluations and requests for funding. There are no blanks on the form for spirituality - we don't yet have the scales to weigh the ability some people have to provide the spiritual element." There is an emerging recognition of the need for a spiritual base, not only in our individual lives, but also in our work and in our communities. Perfect harmony and balance with the laws of the universe means we all know that the water of life is found by protecting the `water beings.' Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Developer alleviating Pine Ridge Housing disaster" --------- Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 08:49:05 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="REAL HELP FOR PINE RIDGE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050914/law066.html?.v=28 Colorado Developer Noel West Lane, III, Looks to Alleviate Housing Disaster at Pine Ridge Reservation Press Release Source: The Lane III Group, Inc. September 14, 2005 ESTES PARK, Colo., Sept. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- The new 6.5-acre Fall River Village resort is the completion of a life-long family dream for well- known Colorado developer Noel West Lane, III, owner of The Lane III Group, Inc. In July, when Lane began looking for an "inexpensive" way to dispose of two-dozen mobile homes on the property, he was led instead into the lifelong nightmare that people on the Pine Ridge Reservation of South Dakota face. An Estes Park resident suggested he contact reservation leaders. "It's a disaster. People are living in dire third-world conditions in our first-world country," says Lane who has had a hand in building more than 22,000 homes around the world. Pine Ridge has just 1,700 dwelling units for 48,000 residents, an average of 28 residents per household. Lane will drive the last of the mobile homes out of Estes Park on Wednesday, September 21, after an 11 a.m. ceremony involving a group of concerned citizens and organizations, including Prudential Team Realty and WestStar Bank, who are gathering gifts for reservation residents. "The situation on the Pine Ridge Reservation has touched many hearts in Estes Park," said Mayor John Baudek; the town has declared Sept. 21 Pine Ridge Reservation Awareness Day. On hand will be members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, including families living in Lane's recently relocated mobile homes. Lane has formed his own interstate trucking company, bought and refurbished a 1982 Kenworth rig and estimates his contribution to the people of the reservation has topped $100,000. "We have so little here that a hundred dollars is like a thousand," says Juanita Scherich, a tribal member who has dedicated herself to helping improve the housing situation at Pine Ridge. Now, working with partners such as the Colorado School of Mines, a well-respected engineering school located in Golden, CO, Lane is attempting to develop a sustainable program that would result in the refurbishing of hundreds of mobile homes. "If we were to refurbish 250 mobile homes per year, it would only make a small dent in the supply of aging mobile homes around the West," he says. Lane envisions a vocational program on the reservation where homebuilding leaders work side-by-side with native people. Those interested in helping with the initiative may contact Lane at 303.697.0497. CONTACT: Ken Parks, PEAK Public Relations, 303.691.1801 Copyright c. 2005 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 2005 PR Newswire. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: ARS profiles Nutrients in Native American Diet" --------- Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 08:41:22 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NATIVE AMERICAN DIET" http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/~native-americans-nutrient-dietary ARS profiles nutrients in native American diet By staff writer September 13, 2005 An Agricultural Research Service initiative to the nutrient content of traditional foods should result in more appropriate nutritional guidance for Native American communities. The ARS, the USDA's research arm, is compiling a database of foods commonly eaten by American Indians and Alaskan Natives, such as caribou rump meat and bearded seal meat, according to an article in Agricultural Research. Funded by the Indian Health Service and the NIH's Office of Research on Minority Health, researchers have been working closely communities in Alaska, Idaho and Arizona who are sending them samples of commonly eaten fare for analysis. In the first instance, their findings will be included in the National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, which include nutrient data on more than 7,000 foods. It is anticipated that a stand-alone American Indian/Alaska Native Foods Database will be launched next year. "The data for these unique foods are important for providing wider representation within nationwide food consumption surveys, since dietary practices among these communities differ from those of the general US population," said the ARS. The data could be used to shed light on the reasons why disease patterns amongst Native Americans differ from those seen in the general US population, and to develop strategies to combat high incidence of certain ailments. In particular, statistics show that Native Americans are 420 percent more likely to die from diabetes than the rest of the United States population. According to a report by the NIH in 2002, around 15 percent of American Indians and Alaska Natives receiving care from the Indian Health Service have been diagnosed with diabetes - that is, 105,000 individuals. In some communities, however, the high incidence of diabetes and other obesity-related health conditions like heart disease are thought to have been caused by a shift away from the traditional diet towards processed and sugar-rich foods, rather than eating the traditional foods themselves. The Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara nations, for example, were forced to relocate from river bottomlands to prairie uplands in the 1940s and 50s, which meant that a large number of tribal members who had previously grown their own livestock and food crops had to change their diets. According to the US Census Bureau, there were 2.79 million American Indian and Alaskan Natives living in the Unites States in 2003 - less than one percent of the total population. Earlier this year, the Canadian government recognized that generalized dietary advice may not be appropriate for its multicultural population. It said that its new food guidance system would highlight certain ethnic foods as alternative sources of beneficial nutrients. Copyright c. 2000/2005 Decision News Media. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Kids Cafe set to feed Lunch to Indian Kids" --------- Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 08:49:05 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="KIDS CAFE ON NORTHERN CHEYENNE REZ" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.billingsgazette.com//build/state/35-kids-cafe.inc Kids Cafe set to feed lunch to Indian kids By MIKE STARK Of The Gazette Staff September 13, 2005 Starting today, children on the Northern Cheyenne reservation will have a new place to get a free meal after school. The Kids Cafe, sponsored by ConAgra Foods, will initially serve 50 to 70 children Monday through Friday at the Boys & Girls Club of the Northern Cheyenne Nation. The program is the third of its kind in the state. Others are in Missoula and Glendive. Nationwide, there are about 1,300 Kids Cafes, one of the nation's largest programs aimed at feeding low-income children, according to organizers. Typically, ConAgra provides $20,000 the first year, $10,000 to second and $5,000 the third year. Hopefully by then, local officials have seen how effective the program can be and provide funding so it can continue, said Peggy Grimes, executive director of the Montana Food Bank Network. "The whole idea is that the community begins to support this program," she said. Organizers hope to start similar programs at other reservations in Montana. "Poverty is so prevalent," Grimes said. "Getting them started in the reservations seems to be something we'd like to focus on." More than 93 percent of children in Lame Deer are eligible for free or reduced-price meals at school, according to organizers. "We are grateful that we are able to offer nutritious meals to our community's children because we have a demonstrated need for this program," said Rick Robinson, chief professional officer of the Boys & Girls Club of the Northern Cheyenne Nation. In recent years, the number of people - including children - living in poverty has risen dramatically in Montana, Grimes said. Food banks across the state have subsequently needed more food. "We felt a program like this would be helpful not only to relieve food stress in a family but to provide nutrition to children," Grimes said. Aside from after-school meals, the program will also periodically host evening meals intended for children and their families. The opening ceremony today will be from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Boys & Girls Club, 101 Cheyenne Ave. The program is a collaboration between ConAgra, the Boys & Girls Club, the Montana Food Bank Network and America's Second Harvest. Copyright c. The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: GIAGO: The Spine of the NCAA turns to Jelly" --------- Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 08:41:22 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GIAGO: NCAA BACKS DOWN ON MASCOT ISSUE" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=6977 The spine of the NCAA turns to jelly Notes from Indian Country Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji) September 12, 2005 Copyright c. 2005 Native American Journalists Foundation, Inc. Under pressure, the NCAA is folding one college at a time to the fanatics insistent upon retaining their Indian mascots. The key letter in NCAA is the "C" for "Collegiate." When it comes to sporting activities, it is the responsibility of the National Collegiate Athletic Association to work with and respond to the needs and requests of college students everywhere in America. This must also include the 36 colleges based upon the sovereign grounds of the Indian nations. Without exception, every Indian-controlled college in this country opposes the use of Indians as mascots. The National Congress of American Indians, representing more than 400 Indian nations, passed a resolution opposing the use of Indians as mascots. The Seminole Nation of Florida is a member of NCAI. The National Indian Education Association, representing nearly every educator, principal, superintendent and student in the country, also passed a resolution opposing the use of Indians as mascots. Nearly every Indian nation in America has passed or is intending to pass, similar resolutions. Last week the representatives of all the Indian nations in North Dakota approved a resolution supporting the NCAA action against the University of North Dakota by asking that the "Fighting Sioux" nickname be changed. The resolution calls on the NCAA to deny an appeal by UND seeking an exemption from the new policy. Now I ask those who think it is "traditional, cute, or their God-given right" to use human beings as mascots consider the following. The Indian nations of North Dakota included in its resolution that the use of the "Sioux" nickname "promotes an atmosphere of hostility on the campus of UND that has resulted in numerous ugly incidents including beatings, vandalism, death threats and other incidents directed toward the American Indian students on campus and others who advocate for changing the name." Before a football game last year students from the opposing team held up posters that read, "The Sioux Suck." While covering a protest of Native Americans prior to a football game at the University of Illinois, a college infamous in Indian country for its "Chief Illiniwek" mascot, I observed and photographed angry white Illini students and alumni spitting at and flicking lighted cigarettes at the Indian protestors. My question then and now is, "How can educated people honor and praise an imitation of an Indian, a white boy dressed in costume, and be so vile to the real American Indians protesting their use as mascots for a sports event?" Let's consider some of the arguments I received by mail and email after my last column on mascots. What about the Fighting Irish? The University of Notre Dame, in its early days, was composed of many Catholic priests of Irish heritage. The school mascot was chosen from within by the Irish priests. At sporting events the "Irish" mascot does not depict the worst characteristics of the Irish people. The Fighting Irish sports fans are not waving whiskey bottles in the air as weapons or as a demonstration of a supposed Irish trait. Now witness the fans at a Washington Redskin or Florida State University game where fake tomahawks or extended arms are swept up and down doing the infamous "Tomahawk Chop." This horrendous replication of violence honors Indians? Tell me how? What about the Minnesota Vikings? There are no more Vikings. They are figments of a history long gone. Steelers are a profession, Cowboys are not an ethnic minority, and yes folks, Packers is also a profession. To use the color of a people's skin to celebrate a mascot is at most un- American, racist and a horrible example of ignorance. I ask anyone reading this column to look up the word "redskin" in any dictionary and they will find that the word is an insult to American Indians. Many of the Indian organizations I have mentioned in this article consider the word demeaning, racist and equivalent to the "N" word so dreaded by sports announcers everywhere. When I appeared on a national call-in radio talk show on mascots I experienced some of the most pointed hatred I have ever experienced in my lifetime. The one thing I learned is that some of the callers claiming Indian blood who were fully supportive of the use of Indians as mascots were generally from eastern tribes and when I in turn questioned them about their tribal affiliations I soon discovered that nearly all of them had been totally assimilated into the mainstream and spoke as non-Indians rather than as Indians with deep and lasting ties to their culture, traditions and spirituality. Let me add here that most established eastern Indian tribes have also passed resolutions opposing the use of Indians as mascots. And finally I have a question for members of the Seminole Tribe of Florida; why do you allow the student body of FSU to make T-shirts and sweat shirts that bastardize your proud name to "Noles?" Do you think the Navajo would sit still if sweatshirts bearing the name "Ajos" became a fad among college students? And so while the hierarchy of the NCAA is arbitrarily allowing some schools to be exempted from the recent ruling, I suggest that they at least hear the other side of the story before caving in wholesale. The powers-that-be at the NCAA must understand that the vast majority of American Indians rigidly opposed the use of Indians as mascots for America's sporting events. If one or two tribes think it is all right does that mean they then become the majority? Isn't this a Nation where majority rules? I suggest that the NCAA take a poll of the faculty and students at the 36 Indian colleges and then decide whether any college should be exempted from its prior ruling. As I said at the beginning, the "C" in NCAA stands for "Collegiate," not for "collapsing" in the face of controversy. (Tim Giago, an Oglala Lakota, is the president of the Native American Journalists Foundation, Inc. and the publisher of Indian Education Today Magazine. He can be reached at najournalists@rushmore.com or by writing him at 2050 West Main St., Suite 5, Rapid City, SD, 57702) Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: YELLOW BIRD: Clearing the air on the 'Sioux' Name" --------- Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 08:49:05 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YELLOW BIRD: SIOUX NAME" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/opinion/12638511.htm DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: Sioux City stays if UND Sioux goes September 14, 2005 I hesitated to wade into the debate about the NCAA's recent ruling regarding UND's logo. I hesitated because so much already has been said so many times over - whew. Yet, there is a need to clarify why the names of cities and rivers are different from the "Fighting Sioux" nickname and logo. My other concern is about the surveys that seem to be treated as real evidence. UND President Charles Kupchella and former UND president Tom Clifford say we have place names such as Sioux Falls, Sioux City, Big Sioux River and Little Sioux River. So why not Fighting Sioux? Well, Mr. Presidents, it's the difference between buildings, cities, rivers and human beings. I see no city or river feeling insulted when a student stands beside it, cupping his hands and yelling, "Big Sioux River, you suck." Rivers hardly babble at the thought, and a city on the receiving end of such a slur might belch only a little pollution. The Big Muddy could care less if you dip your toe into her waters and call her filthy and dirty. Take this a step further. There are buildings on the UND campus that are named for people - O'Kelley Hall, John Odegard Aerospace Center, the Strinden Center. These buildings memorialize these men; that is respect. But naming a team after the indigenous people of this nation is not memorializing the Sioux. Save the team names for wolves, bears or eagles. True, our UND fans don't usually use offensive expressions. They do, however, know the opposing team will. That is part of the game. The nickname also allows Sioux to be used in strange ways, such as Sioux-per Dogs at the concession stand. Think about Strinden Dogs or O'Kelley popcorn: It makes respectful seem cartoonish. Once upon a time, there is a gang that called themselves "The Snakes." They gave themselves this name to inspire fear and trembling in rival gangs. (That was good reasoning, by the way. If you said "Snakes suck" in their presence, you'd better be itching for a fight.) They took this name because snakes, especially poisonous snakes, have a reputation of being dangerous and almost evil. Calling UND's athletes "Fighting Sioux" serves a similar purpose, but it also says this group of people was warlike. We know the history: In this area, for example, 38 Sioux were hung as punishment for raids that killed settlers. It's a bloody history. Using the name seems an attempt to remind the nation that the history of American Indian people and warfare is a history written by non-Indians. About those confounded surveys: Why are people doing them? To prove a "majority rules" point? Here is simple fact. There are more non-Indians than Indians in this nation. American Indians number around 2.5 million and non-Indians, about 300 million. North Dakota has such a skewed ratio, too. Numbers do lie. When you look for an Indian person to agree that they like the name, you'll find one. However, in conversations with Indian people in North Dakota, I found if you tell them or they experience what happens to Indian people around the name of the Fighting Sioux, they say throw it out - unless, of course, they have an ulterior motive. Heck, when I first moved to Grand Forks, I really was proud to wear T- shirts and sweatshirts with Sioux on them because I am Sioux, too. It wasn't until later that I found what was said about Indian people under the guise of the name. Some UND fans separate American Indians into two groups: the mythical warrior of the past (for example, the "Fighting Sioux") and Indian people of today, whom they see as alcoholic and poverty-stricken. Go home, take care of those problems and leave the name alone, we are told. It's as if the honor belongs only to the myth. Unfortunately, the logo issue is polarizing the community. Hurtful remarks escalate into volleying back and forth. Kindness and understanding evolve into stereotyping and pointing out bad traits - and on both sides, I'm afraid. There are non-Indians whom I'd trust with my most precious gift: my children. They are intelligent and good-meaning people. Many stand up for Indians and say, "Stop using the name." But I also know some good people who support the name. We banter back and forth about the pros and cons. They are trying to understand, just as I am trying to understand their point of view. We are in a difficult time. I believe the name will change, but it will take patience and time. ---- 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: JODI RAVE: Indian Guide is quite a Handful" --------- Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 08:41:22 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="JODI RAVE: NEW TILLER GUIDE" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.bismarcktribune.com//2005/09/12/news/local/102049.txt Indian guide is quite a handful September 12, 2005 Leo Tolstoy's epic masterpiece "War and Peace" tops the list of Veronica Velarde Tiller's favorite books. But it wasn't enough that she was able to lift and read it. The Jicarilla Apache woman rivaled Tolstoy by creating a book that easily outweighs the Russian novel. Tiller, president of Tiller Research Inc., led a 20-member research team to create the new, improved and expanded second edition to "Tiller's Guide to Indian Country," a one-stop encyclopedic tool that should grace every library shelf across the country. The guide ought to be considered a must-have by governmental organizations, reporters, lawyers and anyone else who needs to understand the contemporary state of Indian America. Tiller provides necessary answers to important questions about Indian Country. I found the book early in my reporting career. It's been at my desk since, remaining on an A-list of reporting resources. The new, 1,120-page volume has nearly doubled in size since the first edition released nearly a decade ago. It offers more complete profiles of the country's 563 federally recognized tribes. Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, described the book as "a valuable tool that will continue, as it has in the past, to dispel myths and to inform those who desire to work with Native people and their governments to achieve the economic renaissance that is the birth right of this nation's First Americans." The economic renaissance to which Inouye refers helps explain the voluminous nature of the guide book. It requires both hands to lift. Tiller said the tremendous growth of Indian businesses since 1996 - when the book was first introduced - required special attention. So now, hundreds of business summaries fill its pages, highlighting tribes' economic diversity, including information on employment rates, infrastructure, construction, retail services, tourism, gambling and business corporations. On the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, one of the most viable businesses within reservation borders is the Lakota Fund, which operates two lending programs for small business development. Nearly 300 tribal citizens have benefited from $1 million in loans. The book also outlines governmental structures. The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon drafted a constitution after federal recognition was restored in 1977. The government consists of a three- tiered system, including a tribal council, general council and eight- member tribal court. Among the book's new highlights are full-length profiles of the best tribal governance practices to receive awards from Harvard University's Honoring Nations program, administered by the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development. It lists all Honoring Nations winners dating to 1999. The Nez Perce received top recognition for reintroducing gray wolves to their natural habitat in the northern Rocky Mountains. The book profile explains how they did it. The guide includes useful educational information. Which tribe can claim 42 percent of its tribal citizens have bachelor's degrees or higher? The Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe of Washington, according to Tiller and the 2000 U.S. Census. Like most must-haves, "Tiller's Guide to Indian Country" comes with a price tag. It costs $199, as does the CD. Both can be had for $250. More information is available at tillerresearch.com. Tiller - who has been in the research business for 25 years - and her team deserve credit for culling strong tribal support for the final product. Tribal representatives agreed it was important to provide information that helps educate the public about Native cultures in the 21st century. Once again, Tiller doesn't disappoint. Each tribal profile also offers a section on culture and history. Anyone interested in Indians should have "Tiller's Guide to Indian Country" as a reference book - anyone who interacts with Indian people needs it. (Jodi Rave covers Indian issues for Lee Enterprises. She can be reached at 406-523-5299 or jodi.rave@;lee.net.) Copyright c. 2005 Bismarck Tribune. --------- "RE: Books of Wisdom and Knowledge for