_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 13, ISSUE 042 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 October 15, 2005 Passamaquoddy Toqakiw/autumn moon Abenaki Penibagos/leaf falling moon Algonquin Pepewarr/white frost on grass and ground moon Lakota Canwape Kasna Wi/moon when the wind strips the leaves +-------------------------------------------------------+ | 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; RezLife, Rez_LIfe, Inigenous Peoples Literature, and 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: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + ======================== "We were not conquered," "We know where the center of the Earth is, according to the teachings of our fathers, and we never lost that." __ Allen Slickpoo, Nez Perce Chairman +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Indian Pledge of Allegiance | The Indian Pledge of Alleg- | | iance was first presented | I pledge allegiance to my Tribe,| on 2 December '93 during the | to the democratic principles | opening address of the Nat- | of the Republic | ional Congress of American | and to the individual freedoms | Indian Tribal-States Relat- | borrowed from the Iroquois and | ions Panel in Reno, NV. NCAI | Choctaw Confederacies, | plans distribution of the | as incorporated in the United | Indian Pledge to all Indian | States Constitution, | Nations. | so that my forefathers | | shall not have died in vain | Walk in Beauty! Night Owl +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Journey | In the summer and early fall | The Bloodline | of 1998 the Treaty Unity Riders | | rode a thousand miles on horse- | For all that live and live by law | back, carrying a staff and | We Stand, we Call, We Ride | praying each step of the way. | For All that fear and fear by sight | | We Hear, we Listen, we Ride | These prayers were offered for | For all that pray and pray by strength| each of us, and that the Unity | We Feel, we Move, we Ride | of all Peoples might happen. | For all that die and die by greed | | We Hurt, we Cry, we Ride | Tatanka Cante forwarded this | For all that birth and birth by right | poem on behalf of all the Unity | We Smile, we Hold, we Ride | Riders that we might stop and | For all that need and need by heart | ask if the next words we say, the | We Came, we Went, we Rode. | next act we make is for the good | | of the People or is it from ego | Treaty Unity Riders | for self. +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ O'siyo Brothers and Sister! It is undeniable suicide is pandemic in Native youth. Community-after- community, nation-after-nation is trying to come to grips with this horrific situation and get a handle on suicide prevention. ---- The following facts are directly off the CDC, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control site http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/pub-res/natam.htm Homicide and Suicide Among Native Americans, 1979-1992 Violence Surveillance Summary Series Executive Summary From 1979-1992, 4,718 American Indians and Alaskan Natives (Native Americans) who resided on or near reservations died from violence--2,324 from homicides and 2,394 from suicide. During this 14-year period, overall homicides rates for Native American were about 2.0 times higher, and suicide rates were about 1.5 times higher, than U.S. National rates. Native Americans residing in the southwestern United States, northern Rocky Mountain and Plains states, and Alaska had the highest rates of homicide and suicide. Both homicides and suicides occurred disproportionately among young Native Americans, particularly males. From 1990-1992, homicide and suicide alternated between second and third rankings as leading causes of death for Native American males 10-34 years of age. For Native American females aged 15-34 years, homicide was the third leading cause of death. Almost two-thirds (63%) of male victims and three-quarters (75%) of female victims were killed by family members or acquaintances. Several distinctive characteristics of violent death among Native Americans emerged from this study: * The age distribution of suicide rates for Native Americans is quite unlike that for the general population, because of the high rates among young adults and lower rates among the elderly. * Although firearms are the predominate method for both homicides and suicides, Native Americans have a lower proportion of firearm-related homicides and suicides than found in the U.S. population. * The proportion of homicides in which the victim and perpetrator were family members or acquaintances is somewhat greater for Native Americans than for the U.S. population at large. * Patterns and rates of homicide and suicide among Native Americans differ greatly from region to region. There are many promising interventions to prevent violence, but because each Native American community is unique, prevention strategies should be planned with careful attention to local injury patterns and local practices and cultures. Given community differences and the multiple and complex causes of homicide and suicide, a simple and uniform approach is inappropriate. Success will come only through a variety of interventions, tailored to the specific local settings and problems. Also essential is continued surveillance and evaluation of the effectiveness of the prevention programs that are put into place. ---- The following alarming facts are from http://www.niichro.com/Injury/Injury3.html - National Indian & Inuit Community Health Representatives Organization (NIICHRO) Aboriginal people commit suicide at a rate three times higher than the Canadian average and suicide remains the greatest single cause of injury deaths for Aboriginal People. In the two-year period between 1991 and 1993, a total of 480 Native people (360 men and 120 women) took their own lives. The most significant difference in the nature of Aboriginal suicides from the Canadian average is the youth of its victims. Unlike in the general Canadian population, where suicides remain relatively stable or even increase with age, a very large proportion of Aboriginal suicides take the lives of Native teenagers and young adults. In the 15-19-year-old age group, Aboriginal people have a suicide rate almost six times higher than the national average; in the 20-24 age group, it is more than five times higher. Along with the differences in scope, there also appear to be significant differences in the leading causes of Aboriginal and Canadian suicides. In Canada as a whole, victims are twice as likely to have been diagnosed with a mental illness (clinical depression and schizophrenia) and much more likely to have a history of suicide in their family. In Aboriginal suicides, problems associated with community breakdown play a much more prominent role. According to one recent British Columbia study, the main characteristics distinguishing Aboriginal from non-Aboriginal suicides were: * a more powerful effect of adverse community conditions * youth * more family alcohol abuse, with accompanying violence * more personal alcohol abuse, with accompanying violence * lower levels of diagnosed mental illness * more intoxication at the time of suicide * more impulsive decisions to commit suicide In narrowing the focus, the British Columbia study determined the profile of a typical Aboriginal victim is an unmarried male in his late teens or early twenties. He is likely to have been separated from family members in childhood, often in foster care, or to have come from a family that was itself unstable. In a large number of these cases, physical or sexual abuse was also present. In a majority (77 per cent), alcohol or drug abuse was also an important factor. The study found that 90 per cent of the victims were unemployed, even though they were slightly better educated than their peers. . . . The link between alcohol use and Aboriginal suicides is, as mentioned, a major and complex one. Alcohol is twice as likely to be a factor in Aboriginal suicides than in the general population, and appears to be both a major contributor to suicide and an indicator of the type of self-destructive behaviour and community breakdown that often precedes it. ---- In March of this year Doreen Yellow Bird, a wonderful writer and columnist for the Grand Forks Herald focused on youth suicides on Standing Rock and offered the following observations: Any publicity about suicide can be risky because copycat incidents could result. Yet, as a mother of one victim says, it also is important to understand suicide so that other people can be helped. The Standing Rock community is working hard at finding solutions. John Eagle Shield, director of Community Health Programs for the Standing Rock reservation met recently with other Lakota health care providers to discuss suicide in the community. Many people believe that Native culture and understanding of can be a force against suicide, alcohol and drug abuse. There is a commitment on the part of many Lakota people to provide stronger cultural teaching, but while that is good, Eagle Shield noted a disconnect between spiritual leaders and young people. For example, when elders speak Lakota when teaching, some young people don't understand. Eagle Shield also noted a difference in the effect of cultural abuses such as US reprisals against the Lakota for Custer's defeat, and the jailing and subsequent death of Sitting Bull. While elders tend to remember those events in a very personal way and are traumatized by it, the young often do not experience these things in the same way, or understand the trauma of their elders. ---- In every single study alcohol, drugs, low self-esteem and escapism from an empty, seemingly hopeless life register high as causes for high rates of youth suicide. I have no desire to draw attention to one candidate for tribal office over another, but I really admire some ideas forwarded by Dave Archambault (running for the position of Chariman, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe) for suicide prevention. He has outlined educational and paid community service programs that will serve to provide tools for employment opportunities and build esteem among young people on the Standing Rock Reservation. 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 ----------- - Did Miers spark - New Mexico, attack on Tigua Casino? BIA sign education pact - Judge decides no more time - Cardiovascular trouble for Schaghticokes hits Some N.A. Hard - Supreme Court - Tribal Colleges leading refuses Delaware Tribe's Case a fight against Diabetes - Supreme Court - GIAGO: Twenty Years of change deals blow to Tribe, Timber Company in Race Relations - Judge extends Sherrill decision - JODI RAVE: to Cayuga Nation Blackfeet invest in their Future - Quileute Tribe, - YELLOW BIRD: National Park Service in dispute All Tribes have a stake in Issue - HORSLEY: - YELLOW BIRD: We intend to be here Forever A Bridge to Future and Past - Bear Butte Update - What is the origin of Democracy? - Snowbowl Battle goes to Court - Listening to Elders - Frank into 7th Decade to Teach the Young of Salmon Fight - Elders meet to develop words - Judge demands Agencies for Climate Change help Salmon at Dams - U.S. Supreme Court weighs - FEMA calls on Blackfeet Tribal-State Tax Case - Protecting Women vital - Native Prisoner for Native Communities -- Blackfeet Juvenile Justice - AIM of Colorado responds to Mayor - History: Carlisle Indian School - Food offer - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days for Denver protest Participants - Rustywire: Red Earth-Indian Land - Native American Cornellians - Lee Goins Poem: Stereotypes protest Columbus Day - 35 Years of Navajo Language Classes celebrated --------- "RE: Did Miers spark attack on Tigua Casino?" --------- Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2005 08:51:02 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="EVIDENCE AGAINST SUPREME COURT NOMINEE" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?feature=yes&id=1096411716 Did Miers spark attack on Tigua casino? by: Jim Adams / Indian Country Today October 7, 2005 WASHINGTON - A damaging charge against Supreme Court justice nominee Harriet Miers is circulating through American Indian e-mail networks: that in 1999 she was the inspiration for the Texas government's drive to shut down the casinos of two federally recognized tribes. The allegation is debatable, but supported by enough circumstantial evidence to make it worth investigation. The allegation is that as chair of the Texas Lottery, Miers was worried about the declining performance of its major weekly game and attributed the falloff to competition from the casinos. According to the rumor, she prevailed on then-Gov. George W. Bush to get then-Attorney General John Cornyn to bring suit to close the tribal casinos. Documents to support this sequence are lacking. But there is enough in the public record, including Miers' own statements, to make it a serious question for her confirmation hearings - if any senator can be found to raise issues of concern to Indian country. The suits against the Tigua Tribe of Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe ended their Class III gaming in 2002, abruptly quenching a glimmer of economic progress for their impoverished members and throwing hundreds of employees out of work. The episode ranks as one of the most bitter in a long and growing list of recent state-tribal conflicts. It also recently figured as one of the most cynical tales in the scandal surrounding now-discredited Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff. In 2002 - well after Miers had left Texas for the White House - Ralph Reed, a leading Christian lobbyist, organized a campaign to support the closing of the Tiguas' Speaking Rock Casino. (Cornyn's campaign was supported by Reed, who, according to a Senate investigation, was working in tandem with Abramoff.) After the closure, Abramoff secured a contract from the tribe to lobby for its reopening. The episode is under investigation by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. But the charge involving Miers is a new and debatable twist. A centrally placed non-Indian employee of the Tiguas during the 2002 struggle said he had never heard her mentioned. He said the driving force was Cornyn, who was strongly supported by Bush. This prominent participant in the 2002 struggle, who requested anonymity, said Speaking Rock had been operating in full view from 1993 to 1999 without any reaction from the state government. He said he was convinced the decision to close it was "political payback" for a contribution the Tigua Tribe made to the Democratic opponent of George Bush in the 1998 gubernatorial election. The move also followed Cornyn's election as attorney general. His spokesmen have always maintained he was taking action against what he saw as an illegal situation. He based his suit on the Tiguas' 1987 federal recognition statute which forbade gaming not allowed by the laws of Texas. The tribe's supporters argued that establishment of the state lottery in 1991 opened the door to the casino. In 1999, Cornyn launched a campaign to close Speaking Rock and ultimately succeeded, devastating the tribe's economy. Three years later, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Cornyn, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the case. Cornyn followed his success in closing the Tigua casino by winning election to the U.S. Senate in 2002. He now sits on the Judiciary Committee, which will consider the Miers nomination. But public statements by Miers at a meeting of the Texas Lottery Commission give some color to the story, or at least help explain how the rumor got started. The Feb. 29, 2000 sitting took up the disappointing performance of Lotto Texas, the flagship game producing 60 percent of the state lottery sales. The year-to-date decline from the previous fiscal year was nearly five percent. Representatives from Gtech, the Texas lottery contractor, told the commission it was due to a string of "bad luck," or rather good luck, for lotto players. The minimum jackpot of $4 million had been hit six times in a row, preventing a rollover into larger jackpots that attracted more players. But Miers wasn't satisfied. "I guess I have one additional concern," she said. "There is an increased competition for these dollars. And whether it is Internet or casinos or they are close by, or whatever, we do see competition that was not there earlier. So we need to make sure that we are making changes responsive to real issues as opposed to factors that we can't address." This statement came five months after Cornyn had already brought his suit, as did the alarming decline in Lotto Texas sales. So the sequence doesn't fit the e-mail accusation. But Miers did express concern about casino competition. Whether this translated into political support for Cornyn's protracted legal campaign is a serious topic for investigation. And so is the possibility of prejudice on issues of tribal sovereignty now heading for the Supreme Court. Copyright c. 1998-2005 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Judge decides no more time for Schaghticokes" --------- Date: Tue, 4 Oct 2005 08:33:11 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SCHAGHTICOKE REQUEST QUASHED" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.connpost.com/news/ci_3085424 Judge decides no more time for Schaghticokes Historian's subpoena quashed MICHAEL P. MAYKO mmayko@ctpost.com NEW HAVEN - A federal judge refused to give the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation three more months to determine if any of the opposing parties in three federal lawsuits had contacts with the U.S. Department of Interior. Senior U.S. District Judge Peter C. Dorsey also quashed a subpoena the Schaghticokes' lawyers served on Francelia Johnson, an amateur historian and genealogist, whose work involves the history of Kent and its residents. In his five-page ruling issued Friday, Dorsey noted the first of these federal land claim cases was filed more than 20 years ago. "The effort to be so recognized has intensified with the prospect of converting tribal recognition into a gambling enterprise and, in turn, to an investment opportunity to third parties and profit realization and income production for tribe members," Dorsey wrote. "The need to substantiate tribal status has been, must have been and should have been apparent to those seeking its benefits for well over 20 years." Furthermore, the judge noted Johnson's information was obtained from public records. "Since it is there, available in original public record form, acquiring it second-hand from Johnson, accompanied by any reflection of her views, is unwarranted," Dorsey said. "The Bureau of Indian Affairs proceeding appears to be closed and it appears that further evidence will not be accepted." The BIA is expected to issue its final determination Oct. 12 as to whether the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation will be a federally recognized American Indian tribe. No matter which way the bureau rules, the losing side is expected to appeal to the federal courts. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal commended Dorsey for denying the extension for "last-minute depositions and subpoenas." He said these have no "chance to fill in gaps in the group's evidence for federal tribal recognition. "The judge has rightly ruled that an extension serves no purpose and put an end to this fishing expedition," Blumenthal said. "The Schaghticoke Tribal Nation's attempt to compel information from certain individuals and groups held no hope of producing evidence for its recognition petition." Richard Velky, the Schaghticokes' chief, said Blumenthal's comments come as "no surprise to us," given his longstanding opposition to granting federal recognition to the tribe. "We feel confident there will be a positive determination for the tribe's federal status on Oct. 12," Velky said. If that happens, he said the state should "accept it and allow us to move forward." The Schaghticokes, who have headquarters in Derby and a reservation in Kent, have expressed an interest in building a casino in Bridgeport. Michael P. Mayko, who covers legal issues, can be reached at 330-6286. Copyright c. 1999-2005 MediaNews Group, Inc. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Supreme Court refuses Delaware Tribe's Case" --------- Date: Tue, 4 Oct 2005 08:33:11 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DELAWARE APPEAL REFUSED" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://newsok.com/article/1633177 Court refuses to hear tribe's appeal By Chris Casteel The Oklahoman October 4, 2005 WASHINGTON - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal by the Delaware Tribe of Indians as it sought tribal status. The tribe was appealing a 2004 decision by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals that the Delaware Tribe had been absorbed into the Cherokee Nation because of an 1867 agreement and an 1866 treaty. The Delawares, based in Bartlesville, dispute that, as does the U.S. Department of Interior. They argued that the tribe maintained its independent status. The U.S. Justice Department sided with the Delaware Tribe in its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, but said in a brief to the court that justices didn't need to review the case because the 10th Circuit court "expressly left open the possibility that the (Interior) Department could determine that the Delaware's status as a federally recognized Tribe has been restored by later congressional and administrative actions." The case stems from a 1996 decision by the Bureau of Indian Affairs director to resume government-to-government relations with the Delaware Tribe, rescinding a 1979 BIA policy to deal primarily with the Delaware Tribe through the Cherokee Nation. The BIA's decision in 1996 was based on a new analysis of the 19th century agreement and treaty that allowed the Delaware Tribe to locate on Cherokee lands. After the 1996 decision, the Cherokee Nation sued, claiming the Interior Department's action was arbitrary and capricious. A U.S. District judge in Oklahoma upheld the Interior Department's position, but the 10th Circuit overturned the judge last November, saying, "Any action taken on the agency's 1996 final decision is void." The Delaware Tribe appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. Copyright c. 2005 The Oklahoman/News 9, Produced by NewsOK.com. --------- "RE: Supreme Court deals blow to Tribe, Timber Company" --------- Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2005 08:53:44 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DELEWARE AND TIMBER COMPANY BOTH REFUSED" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=7064 Supreme Court deals blow to tribe, timber company Delawares want federal recognition, business wants to log in sacred site WASHINGTON DC Native AmericanTimes October 4, 2005 By refusing to hear appeals on two separate cases, the U.S. Supreme Court has disappointed one tribe while giving a sigh of relief to several others. In the case with Oklahoma connections, justices on the high court refused to hear an appeal from the Delaware Tribe of Indians regarding an earlier decision to strip the tribe of its federal recognition. The Delawares were hoping to have reviewed a 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that said the tribe gave up independent sovereignty when they signed a treaty with the Cherokee Nation back in 1866. "We are not unsympathetic to the Delawares' cause. The [Department of Interior's] unlawful actions, however, cannot provide the Delawares the status they seek," 10th Circuit Court judges wrote in the November 2004 decision. In handing down that decision the appeals court was making reference to an earlier ruling by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In that 1995 decision, then-Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbit exempted the Delawares from the standard federal recognition process and granted the tribe separation from the Cherokees. The government had previously told the Delawares that they could not meet the BIA's federal recognition requirements. Supreme Court justices gave no comment as to why they refused to hear an appeal of the decision. The Cherokee Nation has pressed the case against the Delawares. Even though the lack of a hearing before the Supreme Court is a blow, a brief filed by attorneys with the Department of Justice-while urging the court not to take the case- states that the 10th Circuit Court "expressly left open the possibility that the [DOI] could determine that the Delaware's status as a federally recognized tribe has been restored by later congressional and administrative actions." The court also refused to hear an appeal by a Wyoming timber company seeking to log in an area restricted as a sacred site. Wyoming Sawmills has been challenging a decision by the U.S. Forest Service that placed limitations on development within the Bighorn National Forest. The reason for the limitations: The Medicine Wheel, an 80-foot diameter circle of stones inside the forest, is considered to be a site of cultural significance by tribes as diverse as the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Crow, Lakota, Dakota, Shoshone, Cree, Salish, Kootenai and Blackfeet. Local Indian leaders had praised the agency's 2001 decision. "In an era that other federal agencies, particularly the Department of the Interior, have been criticized for making decisions affecting tribes without prior consultation, it is especially heartening to have a federal court giving the Forest Service's careful planning process a seal of approval," said Northern Arapaho Tribal Chairman Al Addison. Wyoming Sawmills contended however that the decision unfairly favored Indian religion. "The standards and guidelines within the area of consultation and surrounding areas from multiple-use forest management to a special emphasis area solely to foster Native American religions and their rituals," wrote an attorney for the company. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Wyoming Sawmills. The company had hoped to appeal but, like the Delawares, have been stymied by the Supreme Court's refusal to hear the case. Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Judge extends Sherrill decision to Cayuga Nation" --------- Date: Thu, 6 Oct 2005 08:57:18 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="FEDERAL JUDGE IMPOSES SHERRILL DECISION ON CAYUGA" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.syracuse.com//base/news-1/1128588089265801.xml Judge: Village can close gaming hall By Scott Rapp Staff writer October 6, 2005 A federal judge vacated his 2004 ruling Wednesday, setting the stage for the village of Union Springs to close the Cayuga Indian Nation of New York's video gaming hall on Route 90. U.S. District Judge David N. Hurd, ruling from Utica, dropped his May 2004 injunction against the village, which had prohibited the lakeside community from trying to stop the tribe from opening and operating its high-stakes electronic bingo hall. "It's my understanding (now) that they have no more right to have a bingo hall than anybody else, so I would think we have an obligation to have it closed," said county Legislature Chairman Herbert Marshall. The county joined the village and town of Springport in trying to get the injunction vacated. In a seven-page decision, Hurd granted the village a summary judgment and dismissed the case. In May,the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals directed Hurd to reconsider the dispute after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in March that the Oneida Indian Nation of New York must pay taxes on ancestral land it had recently purchased in the city of Sherrill. Referring to that decision, Hurd wrote, "The nation's efforts to avoid dismissal in light of (Oneidas v. Sherrill) are undermined by the Supreme Court's focus on the disruptive nature of exemption from taxation by local government." Continuing, he said, "If avoidance of taxation is disruptive, avoidance of complying with local zoning and land use law is no less disruptive. In fact, it is even more disruptive. . . . The nation is seeking relief that is even more disruptive than nonpayment of taxes." Daniel French, a Syracuse lawyer representing the Cayugas, said he planned to review the decision and the tribe's legal options with its governing council. The Cayugas could challenge Hurd's ruling with the federal appeals court. Hurd's decision follows the tribe's decision this week to temporarily close its video gaming hall on Route 89 in the town of Seneca Falls. The tribe took that action after the Seneca County Board of Supervisors passed an anti-gambling law aimed at permanently shutting down the facility last week. "Given what they did in Seneca County, I'm not sure what they're going to do yet," French said. Alan Peterman,the Syracuse lawyer representing the village, said the Supreme Court's Sherrill decision cleared the way for Hurd to vacate the injunction. "After the city of Sherrill, there was no basis for the relief requested by the nation," he said. He said he planned to meet with village officials to decide their next course of action. Mayor Ed Trufant did not return a telephone message. The federal appeals court, drawing on the Sherrill decision, dismissed the Cayuga land claim and the $247.9 million land-claim judgment in June. The Cayugas had hoped to use that money to leverage a lucrative casino deal with the state. In their split decision, the appeals court ruled that the Cayugas and the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma, the co-plaintiff, had waited too long to regain ownership of some 64,000 acres of ancestral land around the north end of Cayuga Lake. Both video gaming halls are in the land-claim area, providing the basis for Hurd's 2004 decision. He ruled then that the Cayugas had the right to operate the businesses without local interference because they were in sovereign "Indian country." That all changed with the Sherrill decision. Since their land claim was dismissed, the Cayugas have applied to have their real estate holdings in Cayuga and Seneca counties be placed in federal trust, which would make them sovereign and tax free. Copyright c. 2005 The Post-Standard. Used with permission. Copyright c. 2005 Syracuse.com. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Quileute Tribe, National Park Service in dispute" --------- Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2005 08:53:44 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ACCESS TO TRIBAL LAND BLOCKED" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.thesunlink.com//0%2C2403%2CBSUN_19081_4133793%2C00.html Land Dispute Triggers Closing of Coastal Trail By Christopher Dunagan, cdunagan@kitsapsun.com October 5, 2005 The popular Second Beach Trail near LaPush has been closed indefinitely by the Quileute Tribal Council as a 40-year-old land dispute reaches a boiling point. The parking area for the trail lies within the Quileute Reservation near the reservation's southern boundary. Visitors hike a short distance on tribal land before reaching Olympic National Park and continuing on to the ocean beach. The dispute is over the reservation's northern boundary. The tribe contends that Olympic National Park staked its boundary line within the reservation near Rialto Beach, another popular destination. To resolve the dispute over Rialto Beach, park officials have proposed substituting land elsewhere to expand the reservation. "The tribe has been negotiating in good faith to resolve the boundary dispute," said Kyle Taylor Lucas, the tribe's executive director. "We have been discussing lands (in the park) as potentially available. It recently came to our attention that those lands are in a designated wilderness area." A formal letter from the Solicitor General's Office states that those wilderness areas are not available for a land exchange with the tribe. The letter came as a stunning blow to tribal officials, who believe they have been acting as "good neighbors" by allowing park visitors to use reservation lands, Lucas said. Tribal Chairman Russell Woodruff Sr. said he understands why park officials want to continue the use of Rialto Beach, one of the most visited and scenic areas in Olympic National Park. But that's no reason to ignore tribal ownership and continue to use reservation lands without fair compensation. The tribe was never consulted in the 1988 wilderness designation, he said. Another reason the issue has come to a head is the increased urgency resulting from the Asian tsunami, which killed more than 200,000 people in December of last year. Because the Quileute school and many homes are at low elevation near the ocean, the tribe has proposed moving the village to higher ground to reduce the tsunami risk. Land south of the reservation could meet that need, said Lucas, but the wilderness designation seems to quash those plans. It may be necessary to move the school to an area near the Second Beach Trail. The only land the park seems to be offering, she said, are wetlands or property not suitable for development. "Regrettably," said Olympic National Park Superintendent Bill Laitner, "the tribal council has chosen to close access across their lands. We are working to continue discussions and are hopeful that visitors will once again have access to Second Beach." U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Belfair, who had been involved in the negotiations, said he will continue to work on a solution. The Third Beach Trail, also near LaPush, remains open. For information about coastal hiking, check www.nps.gov/Olym or call (360) 565-3100. Copyright c. 2005 Kitsap SUN, Bremerton, WA. --------- "RE: HORSLEY: We intend to be here Forever" --------- Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2005 08:51:02 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HORSLEY: NEZ PERCE MESSAGE" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/243798_focus09.html Indians have a message: "We intend to be here forever" By DAVID HORSEY SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL CARTOONIST EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the fourth part of a seven-part series. October 9, 2005 DISPATCH FROM KAMIAH, NEZ PERCE RESERVATION, Sept. 22 - Few people can tell you where their world began, but the Ni-Mii-Puu can. A big mound rises on a grassy slope above this Idaho town. Myth says the mound covers the buried heart of a great monster that gobbled up all of the animals in the world. Coyotes killed the monster, cut up his heart and, from the blood, created the Ni-Mii-Puu, better known as the Nez Perce tribe. The Heart of the Monster site lies just across U.S. 12 from the Lewis and Clark Resort, an RV park with log cabins set back in the trees and a motel office, gift shop and restaurant built to resemble a stockade. The restaurant is the Sacajewea Cafe'. The Lewis and Clark theme is ubiquitous in this part of the country. This morning, I check out of the resort, drive down the hill and cross the bridge over the Clearwater River. A little farther downstream is a sprawling sawmill built on the place where Lewis and Clark camped out for several weeks in the spring of 1806 on their return trip to the United States. Mountain passes were still blocked by snow, so the explorers had little choice but to stay here in what they called their Long Camp and enjoy the hospitality of the Nez Perce. Now, as I drive into town, the Corps of Discovery II is situated at the city park. I toured this traveling exhibit yesterday and heard yet again about the meetings between Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery and the native tribes who helped them on their trek to the ocean. Today, I have my own meeting with the Indians. I take a left at the tribal casino and pull up at the community hall where the Nez Perce are sitting in council for three days. Inside on a basketball court, chairs are lined up and an election is taking place. Any member of the tribe who is 18 or older living on the reservation can take part in the vote and the meeting. It is democracy in its purest form. I find a seat on the bleachers and soon am talking to a big, handsome Indian man with a long braid running down his back. He is Brooklyn Baptiste, a member of the tribe's executive committee and a descendant of Twisted Hair, the chief who welcomed and fed Lewis and Clark when they came out of the mountains at Weippe Prairie. Baptiste confirms what I have heard elsewhere: that the tribes along the path of the expedition began with great skepticism, if not hostility, toward the bicentennial event. After all, why celebrate the moment in history when your ancestors' way of life began to unravel? But, when event organizers assured the Indians they envisioned not a celebration but a commemoration, many tribal members began to see an opportunity, a chance to tell their side of the story. "We can educate people," Baptiste tells me. "We don't have to kick over tombstones. It's a window, not just for our country, but for the whole world to see who contributed. Lewis and Clark couldn't have done it without us." I ask Baptiste about his name and background. As with many American Indians, it is a story of blending. The name Brooklyn came from a buddy of his grandfather's who served with him in a tank regiment during World War II; Baptiste comes from a French Canadian branch of the family tree. He is a member of the Nez Perce tribe through his mother, but he is Umatilla by way of his father. He tells me he's just been to the Pendleton Round-Up to visit his Umatilla relations. Small world - I was there, too, at the start of my trip. The Round-Up is the only rodeo in America that features Indians almost as prominently as cowboys. The Indian horse relay - young Indian men riding bareback and switching mounts in midrace - was more wild and exciting than the bull riding in which cowboys mostly got dumped into the dirt about seven seconds short of their full eight-second ride. Behind the rodeo arena there was an Indian encampment where Brooklyn Baptiste stayed. I had wandered through trying to find a woman named Roberta Conner, better known as Bobbie. I finally located her teepee but she was in Portland for the day. I left a note saying I hoped we would connect later. When we finally did, it was at the $18.4 million Tamastslikt Cultural Institute where she is director. The institute sits on a prairie just east of Pendleton, a half mile past the tribal casino and just beyond the tribal golf course. Inside is an impressive museum that presents the history of the Confederated Tribes - Umatilla, Walla Walla and Cayuse - whose homeland once covered most of southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon. In 1855, they were all moved away from the Columbia River, the spine of their culture, and pushed together onto a reservation that, over time, kept shrinking. Bobbie Conner is a genial woman but she doesn't mince words. "The American possession of the West meant dispossession of others," she told me. "Jefferson talked of the West as an empty canvas, but it required the elimination of the people who already lived here to make it empty." The Lewis and Clark expedition was the first incursion of the U.S. government on the Columbia Plateau, she noted, "the first group of emissaries from a young, ambitious country sent by a young, ambitious president." Unsurprisingly, Conner was not initially thrilled by the idea of throwing a party in honor of Jefferson's men. But, as head of the cultural institute, she soon began to see the bicentennial as an opportunity to be leveraged; a chance to get the story told right, to remind the country of the solemn obligations made when Indian lands were taken in exchange for a set of treaty rights and to begin a national dialogue, not just about what happened, but what happens next. It is too early for her to say if American Indian engagement with the bicentennial has been a success, but certainly some good has come of it. Indians are at the table when every bicentennial event is planned - the Corps of Discovery II exhibit is even being supervised by an American Indian - and the new connections made between scattered tribes can be used to multiply Indian power in future battles. There is one big thing Conner would like the rest of America to learn if they are paying attention to the bicentennial. It is simply this: Indians are still here - not assimilated, not dying out. After struggling through a long era of debility and dependence, Conner said, "We are finding a renewal of our strength and independence. We have survived and we intend to be here forever." Back here in Kamiah, Allen Slickpoo has just been voted in as chairman of the general council. He's a busy man but he gives me a few minutes of his time. Since the arrival of Lewis and Clark, the Nez Perce and the other tribes have become "a betwixt and between people," he says, not part of mainstream American society but not entirely comfortable in the confines of the reservation. Still, there is resilience. "We were not conquered," Slickpoo says with intensity. "We know where the center of the Earth is, according to the teachings of our fathers, and we never lost that." The Nez Perce also are learning the ways of the modern world quite well. That becomes clear when Rebecca Miles, the bright, young tribal chairwoman, reports on the tribe's business. It's all about water rights, fish hatchery management, challenges to tribal sovereignty, salmon recovery, wolf management and lots of litigation - lawsuits against developers, lawsuits against the states and lawsuits in defense of despoiled nature. Those old treaties in the hands of a new generation of smart, educated Native Americans have become weapons as effective as arrows in defending the people whose claim to this piece of the Earth predates Lewis and Clark by thousands of years. Coyote was once the trickster who outsmarted the Monster. Today, I think, he's a lawyer. David Horsey is a P-I editorial cartoonist and columnist and member of the P-I Editorial Board. E-mail: davidhorsey@seattlepi.com. Copyright c. 1996-2005 Seattle Post-Intelligencer. --------- "RE: Bear Butte Update" --------- Date: Thu, 6 Oct 2005 20:47:51 -0600 From: "Wolf Lady" Subj: Bear Butte Update ~ Action Alert Mailing List: RezLife PROTECT BEAR BUTTE! (UPDATE) by Carter Camp, Ponca Nation Ah-ho My Relations, Last night we attended the monthly meeting of the Meade County Commissioners to voice our objection to the planned "biker bar" and 600 acre entertainment venue adjacent to our sacred mountain Bear Butte. It is unfortunate that none of the statewide media were present to report the proceedings as person after person, representing a very broad range of Indian Nations and groups, rose to testify against allowing this obscene development to proceed. Indian people were joined by many concerned citizens from the surrounding area until the first hearing room became too crowded and the meeting was moved into an auditorium. First to be heard was a group of landowners and local people who are opposed to the development. They explained that not only was the development harmful to Indian interests it is also not in the best interests of the county to have more and more huge campsites with liquor licenses proliferating throughout the county. They not only made a powerful economic case they also clearly informed the Commissioners of the sacred nature of Bear Butte as they were represented by Lakota women Jace DeCory, Ann White Hat and Nancy Kyle. I will give you the name of their organization in the next update but they've been working on this issue from the beginning and deserve our appreciation. After their presentations the "Defenders of the Black Hills" began with a presentation by Executive Director Charmaine White Face. Charmaine made all the arguments we had earlier made in our fight against the shooting range, citing the freedom of religion acts in the Constitutions of South Dakota and America. She then presented the Commissioners with an official resolution from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe opposing the development on behalf of the Sicangu Nation. She spoke for all of us as she told them of all the Indian Nations who still journey to the sacred mountain to pray and conduct ceremonies. Her presentation was thorough as well as powerful and when she finished I think even the Commissioners were impressed and more open to our requests. Charmaine introduced Debra White Plume who spoke to the Commissioners about her Nation's special and sacred ties to "Mato Paha" and the Black Hills. She explained the map of the sky that guided the Oglala Lakota and the greater Lakota, Dakota and Nakota Nations to perform certain of their sacred ceremonies upon the Sacred Mountain. She explained that at certain times of the year the people gather at Mato Paha to consider important questions to the tribe and make lasting decisions for the people, as well as to gather medicine and food. She then presented a very forceful Resolution from the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council strongly opposing the development and directing the Tribal President to make every effort at the local, state and federal levels to stop the development and to establish a five mile buffer zone around Bear Butte. Next to speak was State Senator Teresa Two Bulls who voiced her opposition as both a Lakota and an elected official. She reminded the Commissioners that as elected officials they serve the people just as she does and it is her hope that they will listen to the people's voices. I was impressed with what Ms Two Bulls had to say and I was also encouraged to see an elected official in the State legislature stand with her people seeking justice. We need more like her. I was introduced next to speak for my Ponca Nation as then speaker after speaker rose to speak on behalf of their people, our Nations, and our most Sacred Mountain. Men and women of many Nations called for unity and urged the People to protect Bear Butte and stop all further development near the sacred mountain. I informed the Commissioners of the seriousness with which we take this effort to save Bear Butte and I invited them to join us in our next effort which will be to ask the State of South Dakota to create a five mile buffer zone against all further development and to also stop all liquor sales with the same zone. It will be interesting to see if they accept. One young man, speaking on behalf of "Owe Aku" and the NYM (Native Youth Movement) warned the Commissioners that many young warriors are prepared to sacrifice their lives to protect the place where so many Indian youth must go to Fast and to prepare themselves to be strong men and women. His words were strong and powerful to those in the room and caused them to applaud him and say "HO"! One Commissioner felt threatened and protested but others reassured him that true words aren't threats and the meeting continued with a better understanding of the stakes. I'm not sure, but I think I'd be just as proud of another young man saying the same thing, the fact that Vic Camp is my son shouldn't matter. Unfortunately several speakers spoke while I was out of the room and I can't report their words, but all of us reinforced the points made in the beginning and each speaker added something good to the whole until by the end of the meeting our meanings were clear to the Meade County Commissioners, the State of South Dakota and to the world... It is time for the mountain sacred to so many Nations to be protected and rescued from the steadily encroaching development that is exemplified by, but not limited to, the obscene development proposed as "Sacred Ground". In this we are united as a people and we intend to use every resource at our disposal to protect our true sacred ground, Bear Butte. Now it is up to us all to build on and utilize the unity and momentum we have begun. Although in the words of the whiteman, "all options remain on the table" our next effort must be in attempting to convince the State legislature to take action to protect Bear Butte. Senator Two Bulls offered to copy and print each and every email, fax and letter sent to her in opposition to the development. She intends to make them available to every Senator and to use them in her efforts to support us. This is a great opportunity if we can generate a flood of emails to her and the Governor it will help our Indian legislators in their work to protect Bear Butte. At times like these many young warriors are eager to rush into battle and like Vic said, there may come a time when a stand must be made and sacrifices must be endured. I agree that Bear Butte is a place worth a fight and I fear the wasicu will not understand that until too late. But for now we must utilize the resources we have at hand. Please join me in contacting the following officials to state your support for the effort to Protect Bear Butte by establishing a minimum five mile buffer zone and your adamant opposition to granting of liquor licenses or the building of noisy, drunken, entertainment venues close to our sacred mountain. Thank you for your help, Carter Senator Theresa B Two Bulls Home Address PO Box 434 Pine Ridge 57770-0434 Phone Numbers Home: 605-867-5958 Capitol: Business: 605-867-2643 Fax: 605-867-2513 Gov. Mike Rounds Office of the Governor 500 E. Capitol Ave. Pierre, SD 57501 605.773.3212 e-mail: http://www.state.sd.us/Governor/ --------- "RE: Snowbowl Battle goes to Court" --------- Date: Fri, 7 Oct 2005 08:50:34 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="KEEPING HUMAN WASTE OFF SACRED PEAKS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://prescottdailycourier.com/~1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=37417 Snowbowl battle goes to court By JOANNA DODDER The Daily Courier October 6, 2005 As American Indians and supporters chanted outside Prescott's downtown federal courthouse Thursday, lawyers inside tried to convince U.S. District Judge Paul Rosenblatt that he should call off a trial over the proposed expansion of the Snowbowl Ski Area near Flagstaff and side with their arguments. Rosenblatt ended the all-day hearing around 5 p.m. Thursday and decided to return at 9 a.m. today. He might rule today on motions from both the plaintiffs and defendants seeking summary judgments that would avoid a trial scheduled for next week at the same location in the post office building on Prescott's plaza. If the tribes and environmental groups win a summary judgment, the Coconino National Forest will have to re-do its two-volume environmental study that explains the impacts of the Snowbowl expansion on the San Francisco Peaks. If the U.S. Forest Service wins, Snowbowl officials can start building a 14-mile pipeline to bring effluent from Flagstaff for snowmaking on 200 acres; start cutting down trees on 74 acres to add ski runs; build a snowplay area; and improve ski lifts and lodges. Snowbowl attorney Janice Schneider told the court that the ski area likely will have to shut down without snowmaking. During some of the recent drought years, the ski area was open for only a few weeks all season. It is a major part of Flagstaff's winter economy. At the core of the court debate is the contention of six Arizona Indian tribes that using recycled wastewater to make artificial snow at the ski area would desecrate a place that is holy to the tribes. Groundwater and surface water just aren't available anywhere near the peaks, Schneider said. The case could have far-reaching impacts on how the federal government manages millions of acres of land that American Indians often hold sacred. It could set a precedent on how the federal government implements the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act, said Howard Shanker, attorney for the Navajo Nation, Hualapai Tribe and Sierra Club in the case. Quoting the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Brennan in a dissenting opinion, Shanker said the government is worried that it could lose control of huge tracts of federal lands if it acknowledges the religious significance of sites to American Indians. "Millions of acres of federal land is at stake here," Schneider agreed. The federal government recognizes more than 550 tribes and the Hualapai alone admit they have thousands of shrines, she said. Ironically, the man once charged with protecting the rights of American Indians, former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, was among the attorneys representing the Arizona Snowbowl Resort Limited Partnership at the hearing. A few dozen protesters chanted "Bruce Babbitt! We are watching!" as Babbitt entered and exited the courthouse throughout the day, doing the same for Coconino National Forest Supervisor Nora Rasure, who approved the ski area expansion and snowmaking proposal. The prominent San Francisco Peaks, an isolated stand of mountains that include the tallest in Arizona, are "central to one of our creation stories," Hualapai Chair Charlie Vaughn said during a press conference on the county courthouse plaza Thursday. The U.S. Forest Service first granted the ski area a permit to open in 1938 before American Indians even got the right to vote, Vaughn said, so the people native to the area never had a voice in its creation. Tribes took a fight against a previous Snowbowl expansion all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1979 but lost. The peaks are one of four major mountains that mark the Navajo territory, explained Robert Tohe, a Navajo who also is an environmental justice organizer for the Sierra Club. "There is a whole disruption in our social lives since the mountain has been developed," Tohe said. Because people are disregarding the sanctity of the peaks, the tribe is suffering from social ills such as violence in homes, he said. Indoors, Anglo attorneys for the tribes tried to explain to the judge the significance of the peaks to the native people, saying the effluent on the peaks could spell an end to tribal cultures. "This literally for the Hualapai is where they were created," Hualapai attorney William Zukosky said. And it is the home of the katsina spirits for the Hopi, he added. The recycled wastewater contains waste from hospitals and mortuaries, the "byproducts of death," Zukosky said. The tribes consider the peaks to be alive. "It is death being placed on the mountain that this case is all about," Zukosky said. No one is challenging the religious importance of the peaks to native people, Judge Rosenblatt said. The issue, he said, is whether the Snowbowl expansion will put a substantial burden on the tribes' abilities to practice their religions. Federal and ski area attorneys argued that it won't be a burden, noting that 99 percent of the peaks would remain undeveloped for ceremonies. Contact the reporter at jdodder@prescottaz.com Copyright c. 2005 Prescott Daily Courier, Prescott Newspapers Inc. --------- "RE: Frank into 7th Decade of Salmon Fight" --------- Date: Sat, 8 Oct 2005 10:32:39 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NISQUALLY FISHING RIGHTS" http://www.theolympian.com//pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051008/NEWS/510080302 Frank into 7th decade of salmon fight BY PEGGY ANDERSEN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS October 8, 2005 FRANK'S LANDING - It's been 60 years since Billy Frank's first arrest. He was catching salmon on the river named for his people, the Nisqually. He was 14, doing what his father, his grandfather and countless other generations had done for centuries. He's been fighting for his people and the salmon ever since. "In my estimation, he's the functional equivalent of Martin Luther King Jr. for African-American people, or Cesar Chavez for Hispanic people," said David Nicandri, director of the Washington State History Museum and a longtime observer of Northwest life. "One of his great lines is about its taking so many talents and pooling of efforts to get things done," Nicandri said. "He'll say, 'You need the policy people, the scientists - and you need the getting-arrested guy, and I was the getting-arrested guy.' " Billy wasn't looking for trouble when he was arrested for the first time in 1945. "I never thought anything about it," Frank said. "Here it is; this is what we do - we fish." "When I was a kid, we lived right here. I was born right here," he said during a recent walk along the river at the landing site, wiped clear of structures by the 100-year flood of 1997. That first arrest was the first of many. "What that did, it drove me more underground," Frank recalled. " I fished at night, I pulled my nets out at dark, I hid my canoes." The struggle went on for years as Northwest tribes fought for the right, guaranteed in their treaties, to fish in their usual and accustomed places. "They always said the treaties are not worth the paper they're written on," Frank recalled wryly of the considerable opposition. But in 1974, U.S. District Judge George Boldt affirmed the tribes' right to half of the fish harvest - and the nation's obligation to honor the treaties signed more than a century earlier. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Boldt five years later. "That for me is one of the biggest decisions of our time - in U.S. history, in world history," Frank said. "We didn't have any money, we didn't have any attorneys, and things like that. We didn't have any infrastructure to work with the state ... or the federal government or the neighbors of anybody or the utilities that put the dams on the river." The Boldt decision ensured Northwest tribes a place at the table, and laid the foundation for the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission - a coalition of salmon-treaty tribes of which Frank has since served as chairman. "So here we are today, still trying to implement the Boldt decision, still trying to implement the recovery of salmon," Frank said. Fish still come back to the Nisqually, but not as many, Frank said. "When I was a kid, I thought there was a lot of salmon," Frank said. "But when my Dad, who lived to be 104 - when he was young, he thought there was a lot of salmon. But even before that, in the 1800s there was a lot of salmon. I mean millions and millions of salmon. And it dwindled as we all spent our life here on the watershed." He still believes the runs can be saved, though he wonders what the region will look like if the population continues to boom. "This can be gone tomorrow if we pollute the place," Frank said. "So now these people are important, these non-Indian people who are moving here - they're the ones who are going to make a decision whether we're going to have salmon here. I can tell you the story and how important it is and how much it means to Indian people, but what does it mean to these people? Does it mean anything at all?" he wondered. "There's more good than bad people," Frank said. "And so we have to make sure that we never change course. We just stay the course." The Nisqually elder has met with judges, senators and presidents, some on less-than-friendly terms. "They're retired, some of them are dead and gone, but I'm still here doing what I do, and that's getting people together and making sure that we find a way to get where we're going about that salmon," Frank said. Copyright c. 2005 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. Copyright c. 2005 The Olympian, a Knight Ridder Publication. --------- "RE: Judge demands Agencies help Salmon at Dams" --------- Date: Sat, 8 Oct 2005 11:56:29 -0700 From: Peter Webster Subj: Federal Judge orders U.S. to get act together about Columbia Salmon Mailing List: Rez_Life Judge demands agencies help salmon at dams River policy MICHAEL MILSTEIN The Oregonian October 8, 2005 In especially blunt talk aimed as high as President Bush, a federal judge in Portland said he will not put up with any more botched government attempts to reduce the harm Columbia River dams wreak on native salmon. Federal agencies had better do it promptly this time, and do it right, U.S. District Judge James Redden ordered Friday. And the government had better realize that four hydroelectric dams on the Lower Snake River may have to be torn out if Congress and the president do not supply the money and commitment to aid salmon in other ways. "'Speeching' on the dams will not avoid breaching the dams," the judge wrote, a likely reference to President Bush, who in a 2003 speech at one of the dams pledged they would not be breached. "Cooperation and assistance may." He gave federal agencies one year -- half the time they asked for -- to come up with an effective plan to aid salmon. He then tightened the leash by ordering them to report progress to him every 90 days. Redden outlined five key faults they must correct. The National Marine Fisheries Service, which has jurisdiction over protected salmon, told Redden it would be inappropriate for him to give step-by-step instructions that would "inject the court into the deliberative process of the agencies." Redden countered that the agency's failures have proven he must take a more direct role to make sure the next attempt is "not a secret process with a disastrous surprise ending." Redden's forceful directive is no surprise -- it's a detailed follow-up to what he had told attorneys in court a week ago. But the straight- talking judge made clear that leaders at all levels of government have an obligation to act. He said government efforts to offset the impacts of the dams were derailed because Congress and the president were not providing the funds to do the job right. "We are all aware of the demands of other users of the resources of the Columbia River and Snake River, but we need to be far more aware of the needs of the endangered and threatened species," Redden wrote. He said the agencies responsible for salmon survival and for managing the Columbia and Snake dams have mishandled their task too many times and wasted too much time. They ignored the Endangered Species Act and tailored their assessments to conclude salmon will be all right when they really won't. "The government's inaction appears to some parties to be a strategy intended to avoid making hard choices and offending those who favor the status quo," he said. "Without real action from the action agencies, the result will be the loss of the wild salmon." The National Marine Fisheries Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Bonneville Power Administration crafted a 10-year, $6 billion plan to assist young salmon by, among other things, keeping them from getting sucked into dam turbines. But Redden rejected the plan in May as unreliable, the third time in 12 years courts turned down the government's fix for Columbia salmon. Another failed effort by federal agencies would expose the government to legal liability under the Endangered Species Act for injuring protected salmon. That could require the courts to step in and "run the river," the judge said, something Redden said he cannot tolerate. "Such a dysfunction of government is not a rational option," he wrote. "There must be cooperation between the parties and all of the three branches of government to avoid such an embarrassment." Redden specifically faulted federal agencies for limiting their examination of the effects of dams on salmon. Among the tasks he set before them was to expand their analysis of whether dams affect extinction possibilities to also consider whether dams thwart recovery measures. Federal attorneys have 60 days to appeal Redden's ruling and are considering whether they will, said Brian Gorman, a spokesman for the Fisheries Service. In the meantime, he said, "we'll roll up our sleeves and do our very best" to comply with the judge's order. Michael Milstein: 503-294-7689; michaelmilstein@news.oregonian.com Copyright c. 2005 The Oregonian. Peter Webster peterweb@bendnet.com http://disturbingthecomfortable.blogspot.com/ --------- "RE: FEMA calls on Blackfeet" --------- Date: Sat, 8 Oct 2005 10:32:39 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BLACKFEET CALLED TO GULF COAST" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.greatfallstribune.com//20051008/NEWS01/510080303/1002 FEMA calls on Blackfeet By JARED MILLER Tribune Regional Reporter October 8, 2005 BROWNING - The Federal Emergency Management Agency has asked the Blackfeet Tribe to furnish 500 trained workers to help with cleanup efforts in the hurricane-devastated Gulf Coast. FEMA is offering three months of work at a wage of $18 an hour for those who qualify, said George Kipp, director of the Blackfeet Manpower Program. Tribal agencies and officials are scrambling this weekend to identify potential workers and help them meet a number of federal eligibility requirements. The tribe is providing free training for those who are interested. Tribal members and non-Indians at least 18 years old are eligible. Workers have been driving from as far as Great Falls, Helena and Fort Belknap to take the training. The employment opportunities will have a significant, positive impact on the struggling reservation economy and local families, Kipp said. Reservation unemployment is much higher than the rest of the state. "This is major," Kipp said. The workers "will be able to have a good holiday season. They'll be able to buy school clothes, have a good Christmas, maybe buy a new vehicle and pay off some bills." FEMA contacted the tribe last month about the workers, said Flora McLeen, who works for the tribe's WIC supplemental nutrition program. The tribe already was training dozens of members for emergency response work when the call came in. That's because so many people have been asking about cleanup jobs since Hurricane Katrina hit last month. Tribal members who want to work must meet a number of requirements, which have proven to be stumbling blocks for some. The Blackfeet Tribal Business Council and a number of tribal agencies and programs are working to help them clear the hurdles. The Native American Bank in Browning was open late Friday so workers could establish individual checking or savings accounts, which FEMA requires. "Most of these people have no accounts or anything, so the bank is going to help set up accounts," tribal Treasurer Joe Gervais said. The Blackfeet Tribal Court also was open late Friday to run background checks. Convicted felons will not be allowed to work. The Business Council has agreed to provide collateral for a $500 loan to each tribal member who participates. FEMA requires workers to have enough money for a week's living expenses. The loans will be made through the Native American Bank in Browning and deposited directly into the workers' accounts. The council also provided a van to haul potential workers to Cut Bank to take the driver's license test. Only legal drivers will be allowed to participate, and many tribal members don't have licenses. The tribe has asked the Glacier County Commission to send workers from the Cut Bank driver's license office to Browning next week to expedite the tests. The Bureau of Indian Affairs has agreed to provide workers access to credit cards, which is another FEMA requirement. The BIA also will furnish staff members to travel with each worker group and help them get established. The Blackfeet Housing Department offered its conference room to host the emergency response training. A number of tribal employees have been working overtime this week to make sure as many people as possible can get jobs. "We've got everybody just kicking in and helping to get these guys who want to go cleared," McLeen said. FEMA will provide air transportation, meals and lodging for the workers. The first 50 could depart as soon as Sunday from the Great Falls International Airport. They'll first arrive in Atlanta where they'll report to FEMA and take care of initial paperwork. They'll also receive a federal course in community relations. Last year, the tribe sent several dozen workers to Florida to help with hurricane cleanup there. About 30 tribal members made the 2,300-mile trip to New Orleans by van last month to take cleanup jobs with a private contractor. Reach Tribune Regional Reporter Jared Miller at (406) 791-6573, (800) 438-6600 or at jarmiller@greatfal.gannett.com. Copyright c. 2005 Great Falls Tribune. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Protecting Women vital for Native Communities" --------- Date: Thu, 6 Oct 2005 08:57:18 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MOVING WOMEN BACK TO PLACE OF HONOR THEY DESERVE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=7066 Protecting Indian women vital for Native communities Native American Times guest commentary Louis Gray October 5, 2005 Kudos and Ahos to the United States Senate for passing the reauthorization of the violence against women act. For Indian women the bill is particularly important because no other class of either gender suffers more. The statistics on violence toward women are mind numbing. It is the shame of this country. While everyone worries about the importance of gaming, protecting sovereignty, and other exalted ideas, too many of our Indian women are just trying to get through the night. They even find themselves unable to defend their own children from evil predators who see Indian communities as feeding grounds. Those who in their sickness yearn to harm women and children talk among themselves on disturbing websites. The have identified the states with the harshest penalties, zero tolerance for registering as a sex offender and other problems in doing what they like to do. They have targeted Indian country, reservations, rancherias and communities as the very best place to prey on Native women. Indian women were once and at times still referred to as "Squaw" which is reportedly an eastern Native word for a woman's genitals. The word is repugnant and sickening as a way of addressing Indian women. Some high school teams who had Indian mascots like Braves or Warriors once used Squaws for the female squads. Thankfully most schools changed this disrespectful practice. To be fair most did not know what the word meant. But from the standpoint of objectifying Indian women it is harmful even on it's own. Reauthorization of the bill is in reality a band-aid on a major wound. Tribal programs addressing domestic violence is complicated and it's going to take more than a shelter. The problem requires education and a commitment to reverse this deadly trend. The problem is also legal. One in three Indian women are raped. One in three. That constitutes an emergency. It would immediately be addressed if it were happening to any other racial group. Indian women are given third world status in terms of being treated with respect and dignity. Indian people are the most physically assaulted racial group in the United States. More specifically, the most physically assaulted race of people assailed by other races. Accordingly, other races beat up Indian people in far greater numbers than any other racial group. Rape and murder falls under the seven major crimes Indian courts cannot prosecute. More importantly Indian courts cannot try non-Indians for crimes against their own people. And the bad guys know this. The bad guys also know sex offenders are least likely to be asked to register as a sex offender on reservations or in Indian Country. Tribal police officials have been accused of looking the other way in too many cases regarding violence toward Indian women. Perhaps they have given up, maybe they don't respect Indian women, or perhaps the national attitude toward women and especially Indian women has created this attitude of harsh insensitivity toward females. Indian groups, tribes, and everyone else must remember the old adage, which says, "Evil reigns so long as good people do nothing." This bill awaits President George W. Bush's signature. We encourage him sign this bill and work to make it stronger. Women have waited long enough. ---- Louis Gray is a former editor of the Native American Times and a regular contributor. Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: AIM of Colorado responds to Mayor" --------- Date: Tue, 4 Oct 2005 08:33:11 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="COLUMBUS DAY PARADE" http://www.denverpost.com/ci_3073086?rss American Indian Movement of Colorado response September 29, 2005 Office of the Mayor City and County of Denver Denver, CO 80202 Dear Mayor John W. Hickenlooper, Glenn Morris has served as one of the spokespeople for the American Indian Movement of Colorado and had been chosen, more often than not, to take the lead role in advancing our positions in our efforts to transform Columbus Day. On September 28, 2005, you singled out Glenn Morris to receive a letter in which you acknowledge some of the issues our chapter has previously called to your attention. Although Glenn is a respected representative of Colorado AIM, our organization makes decisions collectively. It would have been more appropriate for your letter to have been addressed to us as a group, rather than to assume that there is one "leader" with whom you should communicate. As such, the Leadership Council and the Elders' Council of the American Indian Movement of Colorado feel compelled to respond to you. Like you, we believe that there are constructive ways to begin a dialogue. An honest recounting of history is a necessary starting point when it comes to building trust between parties. In this case, honesty requires us to remind you that Colorado AIM has always initiated the dialogue with the Mayor's office. In fact, Colorado AIM not only requested, but arranged meetings with you and stressed the need for a resolution to this conflict, when you were still a mayoral candidate, prior to your inauguration as mayor of Denver. Our request to you then, as it remains now, has always been simple. We are asking you, as the Mayor of Denver, to take a moral stand against parades that celebrate an Indian killer and slave trader. As the most powerful politician in the city, and possibly the state, you are in the unique position of setting the moral tone for the community. That Columbus was personally responsible for the deaths of millions of Indians is neither our belief nor is it simply an allegation. It is a matter of historical fact. As mayor, you can act as the conscience of the city by publicly condemning the celebration of this man. Taking such a stand is not tantamount to canceling the parade. It does not qualify as an infringement of the First Amendment rights of any party. It does not require legislation or litigation in court. All that it requires is the moral courage to make the simple statement that it is wrong to celebrate, through parades and national/state holidays, the person personally responsible for the deaths of millions of people Former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb faced such a dilemma when the Ku Klux Klan decided to stage rallies in the streets of Denver in 1991 and 1992. Instead of trying to ignore the problem by claiming that First Amendment considerations tied his hands, Wellington Webb issued a public condemnation of these rallies. Colorado AIM remembers this act of moral courage by the former Denver Mayor, and all we have asked is for you find it within your conscience to do the same. Your letter does acknowledge many of the criticisms that we have previously brought to your attention. The city's sanctioning of the parade, in the form of riot cops and barricades, drains resources that could be used for more productive ends. We recognize that many communities in Denver, including the American Indian community, are in desperate need of resources. We have outlined in several proposals methods that the city can employ to avoid protests in the streets, without having to face constitutional dilemmas. To date, the city has chosen to ignore our proposals. As taxpayers, Colorado AIM has always stressed that it is unnecessary for the city to bankroll the celebration of a man who committed genocide, and whose celebration (as you admit) creates anguish in the community. However, we must again remind the mayor about the virtue of honesty when it comes to characterizing past protests. Colorado AIM and the Transform Columbus Day Alliance (TCD) have never engaged in acts of violence. That suggestion has been driven by the local media and is nothing more than fear mongering. Colorado AIM and TCD have expressed their opposition by engaging in acts of peaceful, nonviolent, civil disobedience. Our security forces have always maintained control, despite provocations from the paraders, and are more responsible for the non-violence than are the Denver riot cops. We also are sick and tired of this entire costly, frustrating and potentially dangerous situation that does nothing but generate ill will. Imagine what it would be like having to endure this year in and year out instead of the mere two years in which you've been forced to deal with it. Imagine how frustrating it would be to be subjected to historical lies in the public school system for years and years. Imagine the frustration Indian people feel, their entire lives, at having to either object to or accept the celebration of an Indian killer. Two years of this may have taken a toll on you but consider what it has done to those on the receiving end. One day, your term will end and you will no longer have to feel this frustration--Indian people do not have that option. We have found common ground with many Italian Americans. That common ground is one of mutual respect and understanding. It's allowed us to work together as we try and create a better future and world for our children. These people of conscience and goodwill understand that requesting the organizers drop one word--Columbus--from their march isn't asking too much. It's a simple act of goodwill that those in the parade refuse to consider. Colorado AIM has consistently made the overtures for mediation in the hopes that we could find a solution to what you are now recognizing is a problem in the community. As you know, we requested a meeting with you and agreed that Glenn Morris would serve as our representative in this meeting. According to a report from Glenn Morris, he was invited to meet with you in your office next Wednesday, October 5, 2005. Contrary to the tone and the form of your letter, this issue at hand cannot be reduced to a disagreement between individuals -- Glenn Morris and George Vendegnia. The issue is much larger and more important than individuals. This struggle is between those who support the celebration of racism and those who do not. As the leader of Denver, you must make a moral decision about which side this struggle you will situate the city. Just as with Dr. King and Selma, Alabama, or Cesar Chavez and Salinas, California, city officials could not equivocate that a little bit of segregation was alright, or that a little bit of injustice to farmworkers was acceptable. We have instructed Glenn that he is not to meet with you on behalf of Colorado AIM, on the 5th at 9 am. Instead, we invite you to come to Four Winds American Indian Center, at the corner of 5th Avenue and Bannock, to meet with the membership of Colorado AIM, as well as with members of the Transform Columbus Day Alliance. We invite you to meet from 6:30 to 7:30 pm on the 5th. We await your timely response. For the Leadership Council of the American Indian Movement of Colorado Leslie Andrews, Vicci Anderson, Carol Berry, Robert Chanate, Josh Dillabaugh, Mark Freeland, Brenda Jenkins, Glenn Morris, Shannon Pangani, Michelle Running Wolf, and TroyLynn Yellow Wood For the Elder's Council of the American Indian Movement of Colorado Yank Bad Hand, Russell Means, Tink Tinker, and Margaret Tyon Contact phone number: 303-832-2544 Copyright c. 2005 The Denver Post or other copyright holders. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Food offer for Denver protest Participants" --------- From: Wolf Lady [wolflady@NDNnews.com] Sent: Tuesday, October 04, 2005 7:24 PM Subj: All participants in the Denver columbus day protest are invited to come and eat Mailing List: RezLife Please forward to your email lists Thank you! From: pdstavropoulos@aigis.com Pavlos (and Robert) All participants in the columbusday protest are invited to come and eat afterwards at Four Winds. Marlene Rouillard plans on cooking for us, some come and join us for a victory celebration and to begin to plan for next year. We are planning for 3:30pm on Saturday. Four Winds is at Fifth Avenue and Bannock St. Dr. Tink Tinker (Osage Nation) Professor of American Indian Cultures and Religious Traditions Iliff School of Theology --------- "RE: Native American Cornellians protest Columbus Day" --------- Date: Thu, 6 Oct 2005 08:57:18 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ANTI-COLUMBUS DAY ACTIVITIES AT CORNELL" http://www.cornellsun.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/10/06/4344a3c2baca0 Native American Cornellians Protest Columbus Day by Emily Gordon Sun Staff Writer October 6, 2005 Donning signs that read such phrases as "I was not discovered," "Eradicate injustice - stop celebrating Columbus Day" and "What did Columbus discover? That he was lost?" the Native American Students at Cornell (NASAC) held their annual rally yesterday on Ho Plaza in order to voice protest over the celebration of Columbus Day. Columbus Day, as most people learned in elementary school, is a celebration of the discovery of the "New World." However, for people of Native American descent, it is a reminder of the beginning of the destruction of their society. Nicole Wheeler '07, member at large of NASAC, announced a resolution that NASAC wants to present to the University. This "Resolution of Support" requests that the name "Columbus Day" be changed to "Indigenous People's Day." The purpose will be to make the focus of the day more on celebrating the achievements and contributions made by these people instead of the destruction they faced at the hands of Columbus. "We've been thinking about the resolution for a while now," said Ben Koffel '07, secretary of NASAC and organizer of the rally, "we're hoping today we were able to introduce it to the community ... [we think that] this is in better accordance with the ideals of the University." The rally consisted of various speakers, voicing to the audience their views on why this day should not be celebrated in the way that America does so now. It was the general consensus among the speakers that this day should be more focused on indigenous peoples. "The University should be considerate not only of the injustices that occurred, but of the many contributions indigenous peoples have made to culture," Koffel said. One speaker, Jason Corwin '02, teaching staff Schwartz Center, called the events following Columbus's voyage "clearly and unequivocally genocide." "Why do people feel the need to celebrate genocide," he said. "The crimes [committed by Columbus] were just as bad as Hitler's. Hitler was stopped - Columbus's legacy continues." Corwin also went further, calling George Washington a `terrorist,' and said that in fact every U.S. president since him has been given the translated name of `town destroyer.' According to Corwin, every single treaty between Native Americans and the United States has been violated by the U.S. Another speaker, Dana Brown, coordinator of the Committee on U.S.-Latin American Relations (CUSLAR), said that recent invasions of countries showcase the US's "thirst for conquest." "By saying `no' to Columbus and his day," she said, "we are saying `yes' to a future of respect and equality." NASAC plans to continue to host events for the rest of October and into November. Celebrating American Indian History month, NASAC will hold a variety of public outreach programs, some dealing with the impact of Columbus on Native American society. Copyright c. 2005 The Cornell Daily Sun. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: New Mexico, BIA sign education pact" --------- Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2005 08:53:44 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SAME STANDARDS IN ALL SCHOOLS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.gallupindependent.com/2005/oct/100405pact.html State, BIA sign pact Entitities agree to employ same education standards in all schools By Bill Donovan Staff writer October 4, 2005 GALLUP - It was a historic first and it occurred in Gallup on Monday night. High-ranking officials for the state of New Mexico Public Education Department and the Bureau of Indian Affairs signed a memo of understanding that provides, for the first time, that the BIA and the state would use the same educational standards. Ed Parisienne, head of education for the entire BIA, was there for the signing as well as the state's top education official, Veronica C. Garcia. To cap it off, New Mexico Lt. Gov. Diane Denish also was present. Parisienne, who oversees 184 schools in 23 states, said this marks the first time that students attending BIA schools will be expected to meet the same yearly progress standards that students in the state schools have to meet. One-third of the BIA's schools are on the Navajo Reservation and it's important, he said, that the state and the BIA have the same standards because of the fact that many of the Navajo students who attend public school in the county transfer in and out of BIA schools during the year. There are even a number of cases annually where a Navajo student may start the school year in a BIA school, transfer to one of the public schools in the winter and then finish out the year in a BIA school. Officials of the Gallup-McKinley County School District have been saying that differing standards is one of the reason that some schools in the county failed to meet their Annual Yearly Progress goals. Now in its third year, AYP is part of the No Child Left Behind Program established by President George W. Bush. The program's goals are to get every student in the country to meet federal standards by 2014. This past year, none of the schools in the Gallup-McKinley County School District made their goals, although the district is now appealing the case of several schools to Garcia. School officials are hoping that Garcia's visit to several schools in this district on Monday and Tuesday will enable her to understand better some of the unique problems facing the schools in this district. Garcia was here to have a "community conversation," which is a talk with local students, parents, teachers and administrative staff about some of the problems affecting the local schools. She is planning to hold another one of these tonight at Crownpoint High School. The event Monday night at Gallup High School took place after a very short school board meeting. About 75 persons showed up but almost all of them were teachers and staff for the district. Only one student showed up but he left before the main discussions began. There were about five or six parents. Those who did attend were put in groups of anywhere from two to eight and were assigned the task of talking about various topics dealing with why schools in this district were not meeting standards and what the state could effectively do to address the achievement gap. It was a little like preaching to the choir since most of the groups came up with the same answers, ranging from problems with attendance to the need to address the unique cultural aspects of teaching in this district. Denish had spent most of the day in the Grants area, touring the state's prison for women in that area as well as some of the area's pre-school programs. While at the prison, she met with nine of the inmates who were part of a re-integration program recently started by the state to help prisoners with less than two years to serve get prepared to go back into society. "We think this program is a good way to prevent recidivism," Denish said. Talking about the AYP, she said she agrees with officials of this and other districts about some of the problems many bilingual students have in taking tests in English. One of the big problems that a number of teachers have brought up in recent months is that the district is spending way too much time teaching to these tests rather than allowing teachers to address interests of the students. Denish said that this and other objections to the program have created a situation where she and other state officials, not only in New Mexico but in other states as well, are urging federal officials to change the No Child Left Behind Program. "We are trying to get some more flexibility in carrying out the program," she said. Copyright c. 2005 Gallup Independent. --------- "RE: Cardiovascular trouble hits Some N.A. Hard" --------- Date: Tue, 4 Oct 2005 08:33:11 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HEART AND STROKE PROBLEMS IN INDIAN COUNTRY" http://news.yahoo.com//cardiovasculartroublehitssomenativeamericanshard Cardiovascular Trouble Hits Some Native Americans Hard By Amanda Gardner HealthDay Reporter October 4, 2005 HealthDay News) -- Death rates from heart disease and stroke among Native Americans in Montana are significantly higher than those for whites. Even more troubling, disparities between the two groups have widened in the decade between 1991 and 2001, according to a study in the Oct. 4 issue of Circulation. An increasing prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors seems to be responsible for the figures, the researchers said. "The prevalence of smoking, overweight and obesity combined, all helped drive it up here in the Plains," said study author Todd S. Harwell, chief of the chronic disease prevention and health promotion bureau at the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services in Helena. The prevalence of smoking in that region is more than 30 percent, he noted. "The study confirms what has been observed by others, that American Indians have a high cardiovascular disease burden, specifically heart disease and stroke mortality in Montana," added Dr. Gregory Burke, chairman of the department of public health sciences at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. "The high rates of heart disease and stroke in American Indians are likely mediated by even more adverse levels of cardiovascular risk factors, especially diabetes and smoking." Findings such as these are shifting public health priorities. "Indian health services and tribes are getting communities aware of the cardiovascular disease and risk," Harwell said. "It has become the priority over the past decade." Burke emphasized: "This paper reminds us that we need to increase our efforts at cardiovascular disease prevention in 'Indian Country.' Specifically, tailored efforts to deal with the epidemic of obesity and diabetes, as well as the high rates of cigarette smoking, are needed." Studies done over the last three to four decades had suggested that Native Americans and Alaska Natives had a lower risk for heart disease, Harwell said. But in the 1980s, the Strong Heart Study, conducted in Arizona, Oklahoma, and North and South Dakota, dispelled that myth, finding that death rates from heart disease between 1984 and 1988 were two times higher in Indians from North and South Dakota compared to the general U.S. population. Mortality rates in Arizona and Oklahoma were similar to the overall U.S. rates. "The issue is where you look in the United States," Harwell said. "If you look in the Southwest, the cardiovascular mortality rates are generally lower for American Indians, but the prevalence for smoking and cardiovascular risk factors are also lower. It goes hand in hand." For the new study, Harwell and his colleagues analyzed 75,993 death certificates issued in Montana from 1991 to 1995 and from 1996 to 2000 to determine different causes of death for American Indians and for whites. Overall mortality rates were "strikingly higher" for American Indians as compared to whites, the authors stated. Between 1996 and 2000, for instance, the mortality rate for American Indians was 1,317 per 100,000 vs. 831 per 100,000 for whites. While the number of deaths from heart disease declined considerably for whites (237 to 216 per 100,000) in Montana over the past decade, it has declined less in American Indians (326 to 283 per 100,000). Stroke deaths declined significantly in whites (64 to 60 per 100,000), but rose in American Indians (80 to 81 per 100,000) during the same time period. Indian men under the age of 65 were much more likely to die of heart disease and stroke: 45 percent of American Indian men and 29 percent of American Indian women who died of heart disease during this time were under 65, compared to 21 percent of white men and 8 percent of white women. Thirty-six percent of American Indian men and 28 percent of American Indian women who died of stroke were under the age of 65, compared with 11 percent of white men and 7 percent of white women. At the same time, in 1999, Native Americans in Montana had a higher prevalence of risk factors for cardiovascular disease than did whites. The prevalence of two or more risk factors for heart disease in American Indian adults rose from 34 percent in 1999 to 44 percent in 2003. The risks for heart disease and stroke among American Indians in Montana were similar to those found in American Indians in the Dakotas. The study highlights the importance of viewing data from a regional perspective, the researchers said. "If state health departments and tribal health organizations only look at national data, they could get misleading data about problems in their community," Harwell said. "Going down and looking at the state level or regional level is important so they know how the issue affects them directly." Given small populations of American Indians, this can sometimes be a challenge. "The Indian population here is about 60,000," Harwell said. "There's a balance between how far down can you go and still have reliable estimates." More information Visit the Native American Health Center for more on Native American health issues at http://www.nativehealth.org/ Copyright c. 2005 HealthDay. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Tribal Colleges leading a fight against Diabetes" --------- Date: Tue, 4 Oct 2005 08:33:11 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRIBAL UNIVERSITIES FIGHT DIABETES EPIDEMIC" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/051003/35936.html?.v=1 Press Release Source: American Indian Higher Education Consortium Tribal Colleges and Universities are Leading a Proactive Fight Against the Diabetes Epidemic Among American Indians October 3, 2005 Need for Increased Funding, Research Are Keys to Intensive Prevention Campaign ALEXANDRIA, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 3, 2005--According to the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (www.AIHEC.org), one of the most crucial battles fought by American Indians in modern times is being waged on many of the campuses of our nation's tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) against an enemy that can't be seen. The enemy is diabetes. Rare among American Indians until about 50 years ago, it has become one of the most serious health challenges facing them today. Diabetes is more than twice as prevalent among American Indians as among Caucasians, with as many as half the adults in some tribes suffering from it. And the death rate from the disease among American Indians is nearly three times that of the general population. Equally disturbing is the fact that the most common form of the disease, Type 2 diabetes, long considered an adult disorder, is now showing up among American Indian youth. To address this crisis, the Office of Minority Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) within the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) initiated a five-year prevention program in 2002 to reduce the disease's devastating impact on tribal communities. Called "Honoring Our Health: Tribal Colleges and Communities Working Together to Prevent Diabetes," it is being implemented by 19 TCUs, which provide a wide range of community-based services. "Diabetes is a deadly disease that is nearing epidemic proportions among American Indians and is threatening the entire population," says Dr. Gerald Gipp PhD, the Executive Director of AIHEC, which is coordinating and administering the diabetes-prevention project. "But it can be prevented or controlled by eating a proper diet, getting sufficient exercise and having blood-sugar levels checked periodically." With this in mind, TCUs are working in American Indian communities to: develop infrastructures for diabetes education and community mobilization; establish diabetes-related curricula; connect diabetes prevention to land preservation, aquaculture, gardens, and bison restoration; fund community health and wellness centers; and build capacity for health-related research. Experts have acknowledged that although diabetes continues to soar, prevention programs remain inadequately funded. The "Honoring Our Health" program is one such successful program where continued funding beyond the current funding cycle is in question. "Preventive healthcare for American Indians needs to be accorded a high priority in this country," says Dr. Gipp. "The federal government spends less than half as much on healthcare and health prevention per tribal member as it does for similar programs covering other Americans." Dr. Gipp notes that prevention programs are very important in overcoming this disease. "We need to develop more effective ways of implementing and sustaining them, and that requires an increased investment," he says. ------------------------------------------------ Contact: American Indian Higher Education Consortium Live Wire Media Relations, LLC Chryssa I. Zizos, 703-519-1600 Ext. 101 czizos@livewiredc.com Copyright c. 2005 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: GIAGO: Twenty Years of change in Race Relations" --------- Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2005 08:59:44 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GIAGO: CHANGES IN SOUTH DAKOTA" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=7052 Twenty years of change in race and political relations in South Dakota Notes from Indian Country Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji) October 3, 2005 Twenty years ago South Dakota had the national reputation among American Indians as the "Mississippi of the North." Having grown up in this state I know that this assessment rang true. But in the ensuing 20 years a dramatic change has taken place. Doors that were once closed to Indians have opened. Political seats once held by "whites only" have become a forum for Indian politicians. Theresa "Huck" Two Bulls is a state senator from the Pine Ridge Reservation. Tough politicians like Representative Paul Valandra of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and Senator Tom Van Norman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, are bringing a different perspective to the House and Senate in Pierre. They are causing the die-hard politics of the white conservatives to look at and analyze a point of view that was totally foreign to them 20 years ago. In other words, they are causing heretofore-closed minds to open by presenting logical political arguments from an Indian approach. They are intelligently representing a minority that 20 years ago, had no representation to speak of. When Tom Short Bull stepped into the South Dakota political arena 20 years ago he had to fight a system that included the outright gerrymandering of his home district. It took a federal law to bring about the redistricting that allowed him to run for the state senate seat and win. Short Bull led that fight. He even had to fight the politicians of the Pine Ridge Reservation to bring about change. Back then if one was not born on the Pine Ridge Reservation they were listed as NE or non-enrolled. Short Bull took on this challenge because he wanted to run for the office of president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe but was denied that right because he was born off of the reservation. Although he was a direct descendent of the Lakota Chief Short Bull, he was still listed on the tribal rolls as "NE." He won the battle and was reconfigured as "Enrolled." He lost the election for tribal president, but opened the doors for tribal members who had been denied their rightful citizenship. Short Bull now serves as the president of the Oglala Lakota College, a tribal college that is educating teachers, nurses, business majors and craftsmen and women in college centers located in every district on the reservation. His story strongly represents the changes that have taken place in South Dakota in the past two decades. Oglala Lakota College has been a leader in bringing about those changes. Twenty years ago there was no independent Indian media in South Dakota. Shirley Sneve, a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, was doing radio and television for South Dakota Public Radio and Television. She was not afraid to use her position to bring about change. I was publishing the independent Lakota Times on the Pine Ridge Reservation and the newspaper was pointing out the inadequacies in race relations in the state. We challenged the banks, restaurants, and tourist attractions to change, and to hire more Indians. We even had the audacity to suggest to Ruth Ziolkowski of the Crazy Horse Memorial near Custer, S. D. to open her employment doors to more Indians. She did that and more over the years. Perhaps I offended her and her family in those days by being critical of them, but it was always intended as constructive criticism. I was reminded of these steps forward in race relations in South Dakota while shopping at Wal-Mart on Saturday. Wal-Mart is fighting some in Rapid City in its efforts to build another store along Highway 16, the Gateway to the Black Hills. Those for and those against are about equally divided, according to letters in the Rapid City Journal. But as I shopped in Wal-Mart, I could not help but notice the many Native Americans working there. They were ringing up sales at the cash registers, stocking shelves and even acting as greeters at the door. If I had been a fence sitter on this issue, my mind was certainly changed that day. If Wal-Mart can provide jobs and promotions to Native Americans, I welcome them with open arms. I had lunch at TGIF a couple of weeks ago and my waiter was the Lakota grandson of "Poker Joe" Merrival, a friend and classmate of mine from the Holy Rosary Indian Mission on the Pine Ridge Reservation. What a wonderful surprise. But that's the way it is in Rapid City these days. If you have lunch at the new Ruby Tuesday's you will see young Lakota men and women working the tables or if you stop at the Prairie Edge Trading Post in downtown Rapid City you will meet Indian artists and artisans, plus a young Lakota man named Marty Frogg running the bookstore. There are some institutions in the state that still need to diversity. The mass media is one; law enforcement and political appointee jobs by Governor Mike Rounds are the others. If you happen to be Lakota, Dakota or Nakota and find yourself as a patient at the Rapid City Regional Hospital you will meet Kathy Ducheneaux, a Lakota woman, who serves as a liaison between the hospital staff and its Lakota patients. She brings comfort to the Indian patients brought to the hospital from the distant Indian reservations in the state and she makes their stay more pleasant by speaking to their needs in their own language. Even Mississippi has made strides in creating racial harmony. As I step into the seventh decade of my life I am gratified that I have been a witness to these changes in race relations and even happier that I helped in a small way to move that heretofore-immovable rock. (Tim Giago 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 W. Main St., Suite 5, Rapid City, SD) Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: JODI RAVE: Blackfeet invest in their Future" --------- Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2005 08:59:44 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="JODI RAVE BLACKFEET EVENING OF ART" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/2005/10/02/news/opinion/opin024.txt Jodi Rave: Evening of art helps Blackfeet Nation By Jodi Rave, Journal columnist October 1, 2005 EAST GLACIER, Mont. - Ancient fir columns soar 40 feet to meet the Glacier Park Lodge skylights. It provides a dramatic setting to display the work of local artists in a grassroots effort to build a $1 million endowment for the Blackfeet Nation. The timbers likely date between 500 to 800 years old, a brilliant complement to the centuries-old inherent artistic talent of the men and women whose paintings, glassware and beadwork lined the halls of the lodge for the evening's live auction. Last Saturday (Sept. 24), the Glacier Park Lodge housed the annual Harvest Moon Ball, uniting some 200 art buyers with 30 artists. Some of the artists are new, some famous, all accomplished. This year, Blackfeet artists donated about 80 pieces of art for the Harvest Moon Ball's silent auction, an evening that included dinner, dancing and formal (Indian) country attire. Native and non-Native guests arrived from near and far. Elouise Cobell, executive director of the Native American Community Development Corporation, the nonprofit affiliate of Native American Bank, has watched the art auction gain support from the Blackfeet people since it began nine years ago. And that's the way it should be. The annual fund-raiser allows Blackfeet citizens to invest in their future. The event's success can be tagged to the efforts of several groups working together to support the Blackfeet Community Foundation, which is administered by the Blackfeet Reservation Development Fund. The Blackfeet Community Foundation's endowment falls under the supervision of the Montana Community Foundation. The latter group chose the reservation fund for a rural revitalization initiative. The plan called for the creation of a community endowment. It was up to the Blackfeet community to match a $59,000 federal grant for the savings account within three years. When Blackfeet Nation citizens met to discuss the matching grant challenge, doubt prevailed. How could they raise tens of thousands of dollars in an impoverished community? Cobell left the meeting and called her brother, the late artist Ernie Pepion. Pepion told her the group should sponsor an art auction. The idea had legs. And they've taken the Blackfeet community far. Today, nearly $300,000 has been raised for the community endowment. This year, art auction items and dinner tickets netted $56,000 for the Harvest Moon Ball. Artists received 50 percent of sales from items they donate. After expenses were paid, $25,631 went directly to the Blackfeet endowment. The Harvest Moon Ball and the Blackfeet Community Foundation provide a wonderful example of what can happen when rural citizens work together to ensure a brighter future for their community. The Blackfeet endowment is creating a financial base for the community's needs, assuring a path to self-sufficiency. The interest earned from the endowment can eventually be tapped for reservation development. The idea of investing in the Blackfeet future has duplicated itself. Youths in the Blackfeet community have created a savings fund, the Magic in Your Hands Endowment, and already earned $1,578.17. The all-around grassroots effort taking place on the Blackfeet Reservation leaves the community foundation and Harvest Moon Ball organizers standing as role models, proof of what can happen with a good idea and some determination. Despite the community's rural location, tribal citizens tapped a rich vein of talent when they enlisted artistic community members to share in the Blackfeet vision. Leonda Fast Buffalo Horse, the ball's featured artist, said her community is filled with people for whom art is inherent, people born from a culture where everyday items bore the artistic touch of paint, quills or beads. The Harvest Moon Ball auction provides an ideal venue to showcase Indian Country's artistic talent, artists whose work might otherwise go unnoticed. But the event this year also took time to pay tribute to those who have earned national recognition. Art buyers had the chance to pay tribute to the late Blackfeet artists King Kuka and Ernie Pepion. But aside from raising money for the community and providing exposure for talented local artists, the Harvest Moon Ball does even more. To put it simply, it's fun. The grassroots auction and ball gives people the chance to sport a sparkly jacket or first-rate Native jewelry and head to the country for an evening of fine dining and two-step dancing. Jodi Rave covers American Indian issues for Lee Enterprises and the Missoula (Mont.) Missoulian. Contact her at (800) 366-7186 or jodi.rave@lee.net. Copyright c. 2005 Rapid City Journal. --------- "RE: YELLOW BIRD: All Tribes have a stake in Issue" --------- Date: Thu, 6 Oct 2005 08:57:18 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YELLOW BIRD: MASCOT NAMES NOT JUST A STANDING ROCK CONCERN" http://www.grandforks.com//dorreen_yellow_bird/12825054.htm DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: All tribes have a stake in issue October 1, 2005 With advice and consent of elders of Standing Rock Lakota Nation, a little history is in order when discussing UND's nickname and logo issue. Even though the university and NCAA are waiting for Spirit Lake's yea or nay to the nickname and logo issue, it really is the Standing Rock Sioux's decision. They were the ones who were approached and gave their permission to use the name some 50 years ago. And they're the ones who have rescinded that approval today. I hear a lot of people using Sioux interchangeably, but the Lakota at Standing Rock and the Dakota at Spirit Lake are two different bands. That is not to say that a person can't be both Dakota and Lakota because we are mixed. I, myself, am Sahnish (Arikara), Lakota and Dakota. We are becoming new nations of mixed tribes. Even though a person is not from one of the Sioux tribes, he or she still is affected by the problems on campus with the nickname and logo. People see us as Indian and few non-Indians can look at an Indian person and say what tribe they are. Here is what I've learned about the history. In 1912, UND adopted the name Flickertails with the colors of pink, white and green like the prairie rose. (I like that name but then, I am a prairie person.) Flickertails or Richardson ground squirrels are small animals easily stepped on by bison. That, I suppose, is one reason why the name was changed to Sioux in 1930 and years after that to the Fighting Sioux. The university was ratcheting up its image of fearlessness. Other reasons? In 1930, remember, only 54 years had passed since the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876. At that battle, the Sioux (and some other tribes) defeated Lt. Col. George Custer. Great warriors such as Crazy Horse, Red Cloud, Rain in the Face, Gall and Sitting Bull were prominent. The public recognized the "warriorship" of these men. They were admired for their ability to wage and win war. As one of the elders told me, warriors weren't afraid to die. That makes them good warriors or soldiers. They had a good understanding of the other world and went into battle with little fear of death, the elder told me. Another Lakota man told me that the akicita (warriors) were the traditionalists who fought in battle in the old days, but they also were the people who cared for the tribe's women and children. They were the defenders of the innocent so to speak. Today, he said, these people usually veterans are called the mila husha akicita or long knives (bayonets on the end of guns). Adding to that warrior image, the public saw famous paintings of Lakota warriors riding bareback with eagle feathers flying from the nose of a painted pony, sometimes with only a buckskin or horse blanket over the back of the horse and killing a bison with a mere bow and arrow. Those images and stories of Lakota warriors were what prompted UND to call the Lakota to ask permission to use their name, a Lakota man told me. This is not to say that the Spirit Lake Dakota Sioux were absent from the Battle of the Little Big Horn. But the leadership and majority of the warriors were from the Standing Rock Lakota nation. The Dakota people of Spirit Lake are cousins some say children of the Sisseton/Wahpeton tribe. In the early years, they moved to the Devils Lake area, one of the spiritual leaders at Sisseton said. The Dakota had their own battles. In Mankato, Minn., in 1862, 39 Dakota randomly chosen were hanged over food and land. That incident left an indelible mark on their history. In one of my conversations with Lakota elders and leaders, they told me they want to meet with the university all the tribes in North Dakota and the Great Sioux Nation. They want to carve out some kind of compromise with the university on the nickname and logo. The university should take them up on that suggestion. It is time for two sides to sit down the akicita, elders and the university to talk. That is the way it was done between tribes years ago; that is the way it should work today. ---- 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: YELLOW BIRD: A Bridge to Future and Past" --------- Date: Sat, 8 Oct 2005 10:32:39 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YELLOW BIRD: FOUR BEARS BRIDGE" http://www.grandforks.com//grandforks/news/columnists/dorreen_yellow_bird/ DORREEN YELLOW BIRD: A bridge to future and past October 8, 2005 A ribbon cutting Monday opened the third Four Bears Bridge, near New Town, N.D. The bridge is a cement and mortar marker in the history of the Sahnish, Mandan and Hidatsa. The story of those bridges must begin with the reason for its existence - the Missouri River. The Big Muddy was born from Rocky Mountains runoff. As she grew in strength, the river ran east toward the high Plains and Badlands. Then, for some reason, she made a smooth and round turn toward the southeast, cutting off a corner of North Dakota. There, she meandered until she reached the Mississippi River - the longest journey of any river in this nation. It is this river that many Plains tribes depended upon for life sustenance during the early years of their history. It was this river that American Indians had to ford each time they wanted to go west or come east. Bridges for access and dams that would tame her were yet to come. The Big Muddy was fickle without a dam - sometimes calm and slow, other times swollen, furious and wild. When the spring thaw cracked the frozen water and the river raged, chunks of ice boiled like meat in a bubbling stew. Agile Indians would jump from ice cake to ice cake, collecting frozen game, explorers observed. It was like reaching into a freezer and retrieving game that had been frozen all winter. It was feast time and usually came about after a long and lean winter. The big river always has been a part of our history. "What stories she could tell," I thought. After all, she is like a grandmother, sitting and observing - done now with her days of being wild and untamed She could tell about the middle 1800s and early 1900s, when the river divided the Sahnish (Arikara), Mandan and Hidatsa. On one side was the Sahnish, latecomers who lived in Star Village. Across the river were the Mandan and Hidatsa, who lived in Like-A-Fishhook village. After years of skirmishes with marauding tribes, the three villages decided to become one village for common protection, and the Sahnish moved across the river to Like-A-Fishhook in 1862. About 1891, the Fort Berthold reservation was established. At the same time, the federal government and churches (Catholic and Episcopal) exerted more and more influence on the Native communities. Elbowoods, N.D., was formed as an agency for the government. The three tribes were scattered in individual allotments now. In 1934, Four Bears Bridge was built, and it became more and more important. Fewer and fewer people used wagons and horses; more and more used cars. Before that time, the people and their vehicles or horses had to be ferried across by raft and pulleys. In 1954, the Garrison Dam turned the Missouri River into Lake Sakakawea, and the Big Muddy became slow and lazy. It was a good time, the elders will tell you. There still are those living who can remember living in Elbowoods and crossing the water. Fred Baker, former Indian Health Service service unit director, said he remembers how few cars there were in the community at the time. "We would send our list of supplies in a gunny sack with the person who had a car," he said. Whoever had a car would check with people in the community and pick up needed items in Elbowoods. When they returned, he said "we kids" would run to meet the car and dive into the sack. Most of the elders remember those as days where respect and hard work were most important. "We were a very industrious people," Baker said. Below the government houses in Elbowoods was a community called "Dog Town," appropriately named because everybody had a dog - just like in the old villages. It was the low land near the river. I often wondered why Dog Town didn't get flooded; this was before the Garrison Dam, which wasn't completed until 1953. I lived in Dog Town in one of the log cabins with my family when I was a child. I remember how nice it was to always find another child to play with. I remember being ill and my mother and aunt carrying me up the hill and to the hospital in Elbowoods; it must have been at least a mile. When Garrison Dam was built, the river claimed Elbowoods, Sanish and Van Hook. It covered all the old graves of the people, sopped up the rich bottomland and climbed the embankment to the bench lands, where the people were moved by the federal government. Leaving Elbowoods was a traumatic change for the people. Monday, the old Four Bears Bridge stepped aside for a new, 10-foot-wide, mile-long bridge that would turn another page in history of the three tribes. ---- 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: What is the origin of Democracy?" --------- Date: Thu, 6 Oct 2005 08:57:18 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ORIGIN OF DEMOCRACY" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?feature=yes&id=1096411660 What is the origin of democracy? by: Tom Wanamaker / Indian Country Today September 30, 2005 SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Ask a non-Indian historian where American democracy was born and you'll likely get answers ranging from Philadelphia to Williamsburg, or perhaps from Boston to the Mayflower. Ask Oren Lyons and he'll direct you to the shores of Onondaga Lake, not far from present-day Syracuse. "Columbus and the conquistadors didn't bring democracy; neither did the Mayflower," Lyons said. "Democracy was here in America. Freedom, democracy, women's rights, suffrage and peace were all here." The Haudenosaunee (also called "Iroquois" or "Six Nations") revere a prophetic figure called the Peacemaker, who gathered their ancestors together on the shores of Onondaga Lake centuries ago to halt decades of warfare between them and create the world's first democratic government. This Great Law of Peace bound the Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, and Seneca nations (and later the Tuscarora) into a powerful and prosperous confederacy that dominated what is now upstate New York until they were overrun by non-Indian settlers after the American Revolution. Lyons, Faithkeeper of the Onondaga Nation, spoke on Sept. 16 at McNaughton Hall on the Syracuse University campus. His topic - how