From gars@speakeasy.org Fri Dec 2 12:56:40 2005 Date: Tue, 29 Nov 2005 15:41:10 -0800 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews13.049 _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 13, ISSUE 049 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 December 3, 2005 Hopi kyaamuya/respect moon Mohawk tsothohrha/moon of cold Assiniboine wicogandu-sungagu/center moon's younger brother Cree papiwatiginashispizun/moon when young fellow spreads the brush +-------------------------------------------------------+ | 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; UUCP Mail 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 Quote: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + =================== "One of the difficulties with criminal justice in the Native American community is imposing - if not grafting - a European-based model of conflict resolution. European models are generally adversarial while Native American models have more to do with consensus building." __ Jeffrey Ian Ross, Associate Professor at the University of Baltimore +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! So, how was your Indian Heritage Month? Did you tire from all the dignitaries anxious to add their voice in praise of Native Peoples? Hmmmm... Neither did we. We were only at three events this month, but I didn't hear any mention of Indian Heritage Month at any of those events. As you can see, from Mary Annette Pember's editorial "Indian Heritage Month Needs More than Lip Service," we were not alone. In fact, it was one big empty hoo-hah "Indian Heritage Month". I suppose we should be grateful that Columbus didn't get to enjoy it alone, but somehow empty, meaningless national heritage anythings don't give me a whole lot of warm fuzzies. In the meantime, the Department of Interior certainly did their part to celebrate Indian Heritage Month by managing to wiggle from under some court-imposed stipulations in the Indian Trust case. We can sort of envision Secretary Norton doing a happy dance for her contribution to Indian Heritage Month. And, of course, tribes whose names are repeated throughout American History books such as Abenaki and Chinook remain unable to achieve federal recognition. Happy Indian Heritage Month! Hope you enjoyed it. Most Indians will better remember it by another name... November. ********************** PLEASE READ THIS! ********************** Every year this newsletter has listed groups and agencies that are really assisting our nations make it through the hard winter and helping them celebrate the holidays. Please get contact names, addresses, phone numbers and other information (especially target help group) to me as soon as possible. =========== THE FOLLOWING NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE PROVIDING =========== =========== WINTER AND HOLIDAY RELIEF FOR OUR REALATIVES =========== Subject: Minnesotan Relief Trip to New Orleans Dear Friends, As some of you know, I have family in New Orleans who lost their homes and one of our family members perished during hurricane Katrina. I've been working on hurricane relief in coalition with some very fine people since the hurricane hit. These folks, Mission from Minnesota, have planned a trip to take a group of folks down to work during Thanksgiving week with a progressive Black church to help folks down there clean up salvageable homes and do heirloom recovery in those homes that cannot be saved (so at least the families will recover photos and other important items). In light of FEMA's announcement today that they will no longer pay for hotels for something like 53,000 families starting December 1st, leaving these families to fend for themselves for housing, this trip becomes all the more important. About 30 people have signed up to take all or a portion of this 10 day trip. However, some of them are evacuees from New Orleans who are living here now. They are low on funds. We also have a 26 foot panel truck making the trip and we need to fill it up. Believe it or not, the thing people need most is FOOD, especially fresh produce. Toiletries and baby supplies are also needed. If you can help with funds or goods or think you might be interested in going on the trip yourself, please go to http://www.missionfromminnesota.org to get a list of goods needed and drop off sites, to donate online or to learn about the trip. The need is great and anything you can do is very appreciated. My sincere thanks, Michelle Gross -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 09:13:37 -0600 From: "Karen Cooper" Subj: Holiday Assistance For those that do not know, for the past few years our NAGS Troop 389 has helped Hawks in the Wind Family, CNEAL and Walk of Faith Ministy collect clothing, household items, and toys for those in need especially within the native communities. The items help those in other native communities as well as our own here in AL. Last year we expanded outside of the AL, GA, TN areas to include communities in OK and SD. A trucking company and driver helped in the project. We do not have that option this December so we are hunting another company/driver to help with this project. Additionally we are projecting needing some 2900 + holiday presents for children of all ages for this December 2005. Last year we collected some 900+ items which were delivered locally as well as OK/SD. Toys, items for teens, blankets for elderly, bibles (New Standard), coats and sweaters are strongly recommended. We ask that clothing--especially children's be placed into boxes and labeled on outside. If clothing is used, please only send that which is gently used and make sure that it has been washed, dryed and folded before placing into the labeled boxes. Additionally this year, we are collecting sleeping bags, tents, bedding (blankets/pillows /sheets), and baby formula. Good working used or even new appliances are also needed (stoves, washers, dryers, microwaves, televisions, VCR, freezers, and refrigerators). We are looking for two commerical trucks w/ drivers that will volunteer time/transportation to this effort as well as the two trailers we currently have to go with items to go to MOWA Choctaws in AL, Houma Nation and Lower Choctaws in LA, and the group in Marble City (CNO). Our first focus will be in the southern states and we can always pick up these the northern areas next year. If you know a trucker that would like to volunteer to help, let us know, we are saying that we will be able to use them. Projected delivery dates are December 17th for MOWA Choctaw (AL) and Gulfport/Hattisburg/Bay St Louis areas; , December 10th for the Houma nations/Lower Choctaw (LA), and December 10th and 17th for CNO/Marble City. We had hoped for a December 3rd delivery date to MOWA/Choctaw and Alabamas in Livingston, but time is running short so going for the December 10 and 17th dates only. Monetary donations can be made to either troop, NATIVE, or Hawks in the Wind Food Pantry who has also been very supportive with food items. The checks/MO can be sent to my address and I will get to appropriate treasurer for that group. My mailing address is 30 Scurlock Road, Dora AL 35062. All are non-profit organizations, just make sure that you place Holiday Drive 2005 or service project in the memo space. If you want the money to go for something specific like repair materials, let us know. Lowe's, Home Depot, Walmart, and other department store gift cards will be accepted this year to help with the relief effort. Monies collected so far have purchased baby care items primarily--formula that does not not need water is very expensive to purchase. Nuppa Ku has decided to taking on his own holiday effort as a special project. He is asking his neices and nephews to consider buying a present for a child for the holidays as a way to help Santa and the elves not have to work so hard. Additionally Nuppa has talked TJ and I into giving coats to those in need instead of purchasing presents for the teenagers in our lives this year. He says that the older ones will understand. I sure hope so. If you would like to donate items for this service project, please contact one of us. Nuppa Ku's phone line is 205-648-7670. Our home number is 205-648-8975. My cell is 205-527-4234. Or you can email me directly at kcooper@uabmc.edu 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 ----------- - Indian Heritage Month - No Feather in their Caps needs more than Lip Service - Tribe looks at - Unthanksgiving Day Ceremony restoring River Section supports Struggles - Tribes build muscle - Vermont Abenaki Band to fight for Great Lakes denied Federal Recognition - Whites block NA Neighbors - History sides with Tribes from Public Road quest for Recognition - Indian Housing Group - Plaintiffs divided aims to shatter Stereotypes over who should run Trust Fund - Native Americans are overlooked - Tribe sues over Water controls, - YELLOW BIRD: Bird Habitat Giving thanks and mourning loss - Who Cares: - Water Rights major concern Wampanoag History Lesson for Aboriginal People - Pyramid Paiutes - Doer to press Feds lose Water argument on Native Water - Leader wants Court - Homes condemned after Mould found to separate Money, Land Rights - Windspeaker Editorial: - Statue of kneeling Indian Getting it Right draws Fire - Canada, First Nations' Leaders - Heightened scrutiny hold Summit in search for Land - Ottawa set to compensate - Tribe's Land Claim former Students centers on Treaties from 1800s - Ottawa ready - Editorial: to commit to Native Issues Permanent protection for Bear Butte - Aboriginal Land - Society works slow to change hands to preserve Sacred Cherokee Land - Crees boycotting - Tobacco disputes need Arbitrator, First Ministers meeting Treasurer says - Fighting addiction demons - American Indians - Native Prisoner visit Historic Shellmounds -- Control of Native Justice - Osages vote on future of the Tribe - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - Traditional Ceremonies - Rustywire: Dead Pawn offer relief for Veterans - Del "Abe" Jones Poem: - Native American Vets National Day of Mourning missing out on Benefits - 10 Places to be thankful - City gets Green Light for American Indian Lore on moving Petroglyphs - Upcoming Events --------- "RE: Indian Heritage Month needs more than Lip Service" --------- Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2005 08:45:01 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="INDIAN HERITAGE MONTH" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/editorial/13236022.htm Indian Heritage Month needs more than lip service BY MARY ANNETTE PEMBER November 23, 2005 November is National American Indian Heritage Month, and President Bush is paying only lip service to it. In his proclamation on Nov. 2, he said, "My administration recognizes the defining principles of tribal sovereignty." In saying so, the president was still trying to recover from his embarrassing performance at the 2004 Unity conference for journalists of color, where he suggested that American Indian tribes were "given" sovereignty by the U.S. government. When questioned about the topic during the conference, he appeared completely flummoxed by the notion. Sovereignty, for instance, was not given to tribes. It was recognized by the U.S. Constitution: "Congress shall have powers to regulate commerce with foreign nations and with the Indian tribes." The president's father was able, at least on paper, to grasp this simple concept. President George H.W. Bush officially created National American Indian Heritage Month in 1990, and his proclamation makes mention of tribal sovereignty. But this is slim solace. White Americans killed most of us and took our land but now generously gives us a month to dance for them in our colorful regalia and to cook frybread. This month, countless schoolchildren will be assigned to learn about "Indian history" by reading white anthropologists' accounts of our cultures before white contact. Seldom will they learn the details of the genocide against Indians or about contemporary Indian country and the varieties of cultures there. President George W. Bush seems to think there is only one culture in Indian country. "Our young country is home to an ancient, noble and enduring native culture," he said in this year's proclamation. But there are many, and I challenge Americans to take some time this month to learn about these cultures, to study the history of relations between Indian tribes and the U.S. government and the impact of that history on today's native peoples. That may not be as fun and non-threatening as watching us dance or munching on frybread, but it is certainly more meaningful. The topic of tribal sovereignty alone presents ample teaching opportunities. Unfortunately, sovereignty is code for casinos to many Americans. Although our status does allow us to enter into gaming compacts with states (which often receive substantial tax benefits in return), sovereignty is so much more than casinos. It goes to the very heart of who we are as tribal peoples. We do not trace our existence to the creation of the United States; we preceded that creation. Through treaties signed with the United States between 1777 and 1871, Indian nations negotiated legally binding agreements guaranteeing various goods, services, self-governance rights and tribal homelands - all in exchange for vast tracts of land. As you read this column now, you are probably seated on land once owned by Indian people. These treaty rights are not "special rights." They are simply part of America's end of the deal. America has not done a very good job of honoring it. The United States has repeatedly seized treaty land and challenged the right of tribal governments to govern themselves. In an effort to protect their communities, some tribes set their own clean water and air standards, much to the chagrin of neighboring mainstream communities that often choose to locate polluting industry near tribal lands. To fully appreciate American Indian Heritage Month, imagine that the person from whom you purchased your home simply decided to take it back, and that local law enforcement supported them. Or imagine that a neighboring state suddenly decided to tax your community. You wouldn't like it. Neither do we. American Indian Heritage Month offers an opportunity to do much more than celebrate the "ancient" and "noble" Indians of your outdated history books. It allows you a chance to understand us and our history today. ---- Pember, Red Cliff Ojibwe, is past president of the Native American Journalists Association. She wrote this column for Progressive Media Project, 409 E. Main St., Madison, WI 53703. Copyright c. 2004 Twin Cities - Knight Ridder. --------- "RE: Unthanksgiving Day Ceremony supports Struggles" --------- Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 13:23:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NO THANKS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_3250860?rss Native peoples say no thanks Unthanksgiving Day ceremony supports indigenous cultures' struggles worldwide By Gabriel Cordero, CORRESPONDENT November 25, 2005 A pink, orange and silver sky illuminated the choppy silver-and-blue waters of San Francisco Bay as 3,500 people gathered Thursday on wind- swept Alcatraz Island for the 32nd annual Sunrise Gathering of Unthanksgiving Day. For more than three decades, area American Indians and their supporters have gathered on the island at daybreak to honor and pray for the struggle of indigenous people around the world. The event is organized by the International Indian Treaty Council and American Indian Contemporary Arts. Bill "Jimbo" Simmons has taken part in the ceremony throughout the decades as a member of the International Indian Treaty Council. He sees it as his responsibility to help protect and remind San Francisco of American Indian history and tradition. He was particularly pleased to see so many young people present. Ferries carried the first boatload of the sold-out event to the island about 4:30 a.m., leaving from Pier 41 at Fisherman's Wharf in the dark. Tickets were gone in 45 minutes. People snuggled and bundled up against the cold, and the mood was simultaneously joyous and somber. "People leave here and they feel empowered, like they can accomplish something in their everyday struggle," Simmons observed as, against a backdrop of beating drums, participants from Metro 1 sang and danced their way to the top of the island. Along the way, they lighted traditional copal - tree resin and sage - to cleanse the energy and air. In between the dancing and singing, people gathered around a ceremonial fire dedicated to peace and listened to guest speakers. Craig Glassner has worked as a National Park Ranger at Alcatraz Island for 12 years. Glassner is also a member of the U.S. Division of Interpretation and Education and has helped develop the history of American Indians within the museum at Alcatraz. Glassner said events such as the Sunrise Gathering were important not only to American Indians but to all of San Francisco. It's "important for people to know about all aspects of the island's history," he said. But for the native people, the event was a funeral of sorts. Elders from different tribes throughout the United States honored the memories of thousands of American Indians who have died throughout history. Some dedicated tobacco while others honored their memory through traditional song and dance. Some 100 dancers including Mishka, Teokali, Danzantes and Pomo Indians surrounded the fire in a gigantic circle as their gold, turquoise, purple and silver headdresses moved in what looked like chaotic organization. Decorated with skulls, eagles and alligators, the feathers of their head dresses fluttered around the fire like glittering butterflies. They were accompanied by representatives of indigenous people from as far away as Latin America and the Middle East. Many of the native dancers were family members, including Irma Tellez and her daughter, Irma Tellez, 18. Not only do they have the same name, but they have danced together at the Sunrise Gathering since the younger Irma was 5. Thomas Cordova of the Pomo tribe had 18 members of his family present. He said his family was unthankful that the Army Corps of Engineers had built a reservoir over their land. He said the project benefited rich wineries alone, not his people. Others gave thanks as well, despite the overshadowing sense of loss that is central to the ceremony. Josie Rosas and her cousin, Anna Ortega, were thankful to be in good health. Rosas was finally able to attend the event for the first time in five years since she recovered from an illness. Copyright c. 2005 ANG Newspapers. --------- "RE: Vermont Abenaki Band denied Federal Recognition" --------- Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 08:40:46 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ST. FRANCIS/SOKOKI ABENAKI LOSE RECOGNITION BID" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?feature=yes&id=1096411948 Vermont band denied federal recognition by: Gale Courey Toensing / Indian Country Today November 22, 2005 SWANTON, Vt. - The chief of the St. Francis/Sokoki Band of the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi said the tribe will continue its quest for federal acknowledgement despite a preliminary denial by the BIA. "We have always known this is not an easy process," said Chief April St. Francis-Merrill. "Native people are the only people who have to prove to the government that tried its best to ethnically cleanse us that we survived being ethnically cleansed. The battle isn't over. It's just begun." The BIA issued a proposed finding Nov. 10, saying the St. Francis/Sokoki Band's evidence failed to prove its members descended from the historical Abenaki tribe, that it existed as a tribe from 1900 to 1975, or that it was identified as a continuous community with political authority from first contact with non-Indians. According to a Department of the Interior press release, "The petitioning group did not meet criteria 83.7 (a), (b), (c) and (e) of the acknowledgment regulations [Part 83 of Title 25 of the United States Code of Federal Regulations]." The tribe has 180 days to submit additional information. BIA spokesman Nedra Darling emphasized the preliminary nature of the ruling. "They have the opportunity to pull some documents together and pinpoint their efforts. They have time now to go back and look at records and hopefully provide the information," Darling said. The denial marks the third time in less than a month that the BIA has denied federal recognition to a New England tribe. On Oct. 12, Associate Deputy Secretary James Cason issued reconsidered final determinations rescinding the federal acknowledgment of two Connecticut tribes, the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation and the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation. He notified the tribes by fax, which stung tribal leaders. Eastern Pequot and Schaghticoke members said Cason apologized for his action at the recent National Congress of American Indians convention. Cason telephoned Merrill to announce his decision. "I wasn't surprised. We've seen what happened to the last two New England tribes. I know they're going through the same thing we're going through, but it must be even worse for them because they had recognition. They [the BIA] give it and they take it away. They make it so hard for the Eastern tribes to succeed," Merrill said. As in Connecticut, Vermont's Attorney General William Sorrell used the power of his office to mount a tough opposition campaign against the tribe's efforts. In commenting on the BIA decision, Sorrell said, "This has never been about trying to discriminate against the group seeking tribal recognition. Since there are so many rights that typically flow from federal recognition, it is extremely important that the stringent legal tests for recognition be met. Our research indicated that this group has not met these tests. The BIA agrees with our assessment of the evidence." But the main thrust of his opposition, as in Connecticut, focused on generating fear that the tribe would open a casino and file land claim lawsuits. "They've brought up a casino and land claims for the last 25 years, and yet the attorney general has never agreed to meet with us and discuss these issues despite repeated offers by us to do so. The reason is that he knows those issues are a red herring to hide behind rather than face the underlying issue - the history of Vermont in prosecuting the Abenaki Nation, and how we can correct that wrong and move forward," Merrill said. Merrill estimated that the attorney general has spent about $400,000 of taxpayers' money to fight the tribe. "Are they going to give us the same amount of money they spent on experts to finish up our petition?" Merrill asked. The tribe has no money and no financial backer. The tribe's lawyer provides his services pro bono. Although the tribe has no reservation, it has purchased 300 acres in Brunswick Springs and sold the development rights to the Vermont Land Trust. The $200,000 purchase price was raised by members and through generous donations, Merrill said. "It was aboriginal land that at one point was a sacred healing ground for all Native people, whether Abenaki or not. There are six different mineral water springs there used for healing. There have been people in the past who built hotels and things there, and they all burned to the ground," Merrill said. The tribe's struggle for both state and federal recognition has taken many twists and turns over the years. Merrill inherited the title of chief from her father, who died in 2001. He submitted the tribe's letter of intent to seek federal acknowledgement in 1980 and the filed the first petition in 1987. The petition was later withdrawn during a court case and resubmitted in 1996. In 1976, the state spent $35,000 on a study of the tribe. The governor at the time said he would grant the tribe state recognition if it could prove its identity. "We did that and had state recognition for a whole three months," Merrill said. In 1977, a new governor wrote off the tribe's state recognition in an executive order, Merrill said. But in 1983, the same governor issued a proclamation saying the St. Francis/Sokoki Band was the only tribal government in Vermont. The tribe won an aboriginal fishing and hunting rights lawsuit in state Superior Court, only to have it overturned in an appeal by the state in the U.S. Supreme Court on the state's claim that the tribe doesn't exist. While claiming the tribe doesn't exist, the state has purchased land for the repatriation of the bodies of ancestors that had been dug up by private land owners. The tribe also received a federal grant to help put together its petition for federal recognition. Most of the work was done by tribal members with the help of consultants, Merrill said. "It's a long battle, but the fight is not over. We have to keep going for our children's sale. Whatever we do today is for the next seven generations. That's the way we've always looked at it," Merrill said. Copyright c. 1998-2005 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: History sides with Tribes quest for Recognition" --------- Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2005 08:45:01 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="VIRGINIA TRIBES" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.newsadvance.com/MGArticle&cid=1128768317566&path= History sides with tribes in quest for recognition Lynchburg News & Advance November 23, 2005 Four hundred years ago, the Jamestown settlers needed the Indians to help them survive the rigors of weather and famine and other hardships that assaulted them during their first years in the New World. Now Virginia's Indian tribes are asking those planning the Jamestown commemoration of 1607 for help in gaining federal recognition of the tribes from Congress. And if Congress persists in its failure to grant them the recognition they have sought since 2000, some tribal leaders say they will refuse to participate in the Jamestown 2007 commemoration. The Jamestown celebration, which is being promoted across America and internationally, would give the Virginia tribes some leverage they have not had in their struggle with Congress. A spokesman for an organization representing six tribes raised the possibility of the boycott last week. Reggie Tupponce, president of the Virginia Indian Tribal Alliance, said, "Something needs to be done or we may have to evaluate our position." Tupponce, a member of the Upper Mattaponi tribe, said that while Virginia tribes have been preparing to participate in the events marking the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, their efforts to win federal recognition have been stalled. "For me, and I would say for most of us, that (recognition) comes before the commemoration of Jamestown 2007," he added. The alliance was formed to educate the public about the campaign for federal recognition and to work for passage of the federal legislation. It represents six Virginia tribes - the Upper Mattaponi, Chickahominy, Eastern Chickahominy, Rappahannock, Monacan and Nansemond. Two other Virginia tribes, the Mattaponi and Pamunkey, have reservations dating to 1646 and are not members of the alliance. The alliance has scheduled a news conference on the state Capitol grounds for today. Chief Kenneth Branham of the Monacan Indian Nation based in Amherst County is expected to deliver a strong statement about the Indians' frustration in their struggle for recognition. An announcement of the news conference said Branham and others would discuss the irony of Virginia Indians being used "for fanfare and pageantry (at Jamestown) only to be denied on their quest" for federal recognition. "How can you celebrate our history and not acknowledge our existence?" the statement asked. The state's U.S. Senators John Warner and George Allen, both Republicans support federal recognition. But it has been opposed by the Virginia delegation in the House of Representatives, some of whose members say federal recognition would open the doors to casino gambling as has happened in other states. The Indians say they are merely seeking affirmation of their sovereignty and that they are not interested in opening casino gambling venues on their tribal lands. Federal recognition would also pave the way for grants to the tribes in such areas as education and health care. As a matter of fairness and equity with hundreds of other tribes around the nation, the Virginia tribes deserve the recognition they have sought. They have quietly lobbied members of the Virginia delegation in the House. They have forcefully presented their arguments and have persuaded the Senate to back their cause. It is the House that continues to resist because of the gambling issue. Those Indian tribes have been an important part of Virginia history since the settlers from England arrived in 1607. It would be a shame if they were not represented at the commemoration that begins in less than two years, but no one could blame them for staying away without their deserved recognition. It's in the best interests of the folks organizing the Jamestown event to have the Indians on their side and at the celebration. Those organizers could help their cause by helping the Indians in Washington. The sooner, the better. Copyright c. 2005 Media General Inc. --------- "RE: Plaintiffs divided over who should run Trust Fund" --------- Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 13:23:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRUST FUND PLANTIFFS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.greatfallstribune.com/NEWS01/511250313/1002 Indian plaintiffs divided over who should run the trust fund system By DIANA MARRERO Gannett News Service November 25, 2005 WASHINGTON - In the nine years since five Native Americans filed a class- action lawsuit against the federal government over Indian trust funds, Elouise Cobell has emerged as the court case's public face. The situation has marginalized the rest of the group, said Earl Old Person, the Blackfeet's lifetime tribal chief and one of the five plaintiffs named in the suit. "There's four other plaintiffs besides her, you know," he said in a phone interview this week. "We're just sitting on the sidelines." Cobell is also a member of the Blackfeet tribe. The other original plaintiffs named in the suit were Thomas Maulson, a member of Wisconsin's Lac du Flambeau Chippewa Tribe; James Louis LaRose, a member of Nebraska's Winnebago Tribe; and Mildred Cleghorn, a member of Oklahoma's Fort Sill Apache Tribe. Cleghorn has since died. Her daughter, Penny Cleghorn, is now the fifth plaintiff named in the case. Old Person, 76, worries other beneficiaries may also die before the case is resolved in court. As the years have gone by, tribal members continue to ask him when they might get the money they believe is owed to them. "A lot of the people who were asking are not with us anymore," he said. Old Person said his relationship with Cobell became strained over a disagreement about how the trust fund system should be administered. He said Cobell and the lawyers on the case have advocated for taking the trust fund system from the Interior Department and appointing a third- party receiver to run it. Old Person wanted the agency to do the work. Some tribal members have argued that allowing a third party to run the trust fund system would relieve the Interior Department of important responsibilities it has to Indian tribes. At one point, the relationship became so tense that Old Person no longer wanted to be part of the lawsuit. Lawyers for the plaintiffs also asked the court to remove him from the case. Although Old Person remains a plaintiff, he has agreed to represent only himself on the case rather than the class of as many as 500,000 Native Americans. Despite the conflicts that have emerged since the suit was filed in 1996, Old Person argues the case still has merit. "It's a good suit," he said. "If there's wrongdoing taking place then we should pursue it." - Reporter Jared Miller contributed to this story. Copyright c. 1999 The Great Falls Tribune. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Tribe sues over Water controls, Bird Habitat" --------- Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2005 08:45:01 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MICCOSUCKEE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.sun-sentinel.com/nov23,0,533827.story?coll=sfla-news-sfla Tribe sues over water controls, bird habitat - Sun-Sentinel Miccosukees say kites at risk By Neil Santaniello Staff Writer November 23, 2005 Federal wildlife officials are protecting one endangered Everglades bird at the expense of another -- and in violation of the Endangered Species Act and other federal law, alleges a new lawsuit. The Miccosukee tribe is suing U.S. Interior Department Secretary Gale Norton and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the case filed in U.S. District Court in Miami this week. At issue is a wildlife service biological opinion that causes water managers to temporarily close five gates that move floodwater from the central Everglades south into Everglades National Park. The practice, which began in 1997, is timed to help a group of Cape Sable seaside sparrows breed in the western half of the park. The birds nest in dense clumps of grass inside intermittently wet marl prairies, but can halt reproduction if that territory is flooded. The tribe argues that the gate closings have caused "cumulative irreparable harm" to the snail kite, a hawk that chiefly eats apple snails, and its critical habitat. The maneuver causes water to back up in a 100, 000-acre swath of Everglades north of Tamiami Trail, leaving prolonged high water in Water Conservation Area 3A, the tribe contends. That is harming tribal lands and tribal culture tied to that area, the suit says. The suit notes that populations of the snail kite, also called the Everglade kite, have plunged 50 percent during the gate-closing period, and that the park sparrows do not appear to be growing in number because of the water controls. Assigned to Judge Federico Moreno, who is involved in Everglades cleanup legal disputes, the 30-page suit seeks to have the wildlife service revise the gate closing policy, perform a detailed environmental study of the impacts of any new actions and consult with the tribe on its sparrow decisions. "Basically their biological opinion is authorizing the killing of snail kites ... purportedly to help another endangered species," tribe spokeswoman Joette Lorion said. The Florida Wildlife Federation and National Wildlife Federation sued the Army Corps in August in federal court over the fate of snail kites inhabiting the area around Lake Okeechobee, saying high lake levels interfered with their feeding. Jay Slack, a field supervisor for the wildlife service, defended the Tamiami Trail gate closings as necessary to stave off sparrow extinction. The wildlife service has employed sound science and followed regulations properly and is "very comfortable" with the practice, Slack said. Efforts to save one bird species are not clearly causing another to dwindle, Slack said. "I don't think we're able to draw any direct link to any demise in the kite population," he said. The wildlife service is concerned about high water in marshes north of the Tamiami Trail, but kites are more resilient and wide-ranging than the sparrows, and can deal with habitat flooding better, Slack said. The kites feed and nest across a broad geographic area, and can move elsewhere when water levels climb too high in places, "unlike the sparrow, which is very tied to a localized area," Slack said. Florida snail kites number about 1,700 birds, half the population counted in 1999, according to scientists. Everglades National Park is home to about 3,100 sparrows, park biologist Sonny Bass said. Of those about 96 live in the subpopulation that gate closings are designed to help, Bass said. That number has been relatively stable of late, but is down from 3,000 birds in 1981, Bass said. Dennis Duke, restoration division program manager for the Army Corps, said the hurricanes this year and last may be hindering sparrow recovery. Neil Santaniello can be reached at nsantaniello@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6625. Copyright c. 2005, South Florida Sun-Sentinel. --------- "RE: Who Cares: Wampanoag History Lesson" --------- Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2005 08:45:01 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LESSON FROM PAST" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www2.townonline.com/harwich//view.bg?articleid=373204&format=text Who Cares: Wampanoag history lesson - Harwich Oracle By Joe Burns/ jburns@cnc.com November 23, 2005 Politicians can work magic with a paper and pen. Want to see poverty disappear? Just raise the low income guidelines and, abracadabra, millions of families are no longer poor. Looking to lower the unemployment rate? Simply drop those no longer eligible for unemployment insurance from the jobless list. Want to get rid of annoying political opposition, re-map the voting districts, and before you can say Tom DeLay, the opposition is insignificant. The paper and pen are a politician's best friend. They help him justify the unjustifiable, and protect him from seeing what he chooses not to see and facing what he doesn't want to face. It's evident in Iraq, where White House press releases seek to put a positive spin on a war that was wrong to begin with. But you don't have to look to the Middle East to see how the paper and pen can be used to deny the truth. It's been happening here on Cape Cod for centuries. The Mashpee Wampanoag, the people who met the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock and who were the hosts for the first Thanksgiving, have long been denied tribal recognition by the country that has set Nov. 24 aside as a day to honor their generosity four centuries ago. It was paper and pen that put them in that position - a bookkeeping error to be precise. When the oversight of American tribes was given over to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, some 19th century bureaucrat mistakenly dropped the Mashpee Wampanoag from the government's list of Native American tribes. Somehow the government never got around to correcting the error, which then allowed for non-Native Americans to purchase land in Mashpee. Fast forward to 1974. What remains of the land deeded over to the Wampanoag is now the town of Mashpee, and the tribe, which until very recently held all elected and non-elected town offices, as well as all positions in the police and fire department, loses political control of its town. The good news is that a decades-long fight for recognition may soon be resolved. Early next year there is expected to be a finding from the federal government regarding the Mashpee Wampanoag petition for recognition, with a final finding one year later. The bad news is that the decision might not fall in the tribe's favor. The Bureau of Indian Affairs will use documented and anecdotal evidence to make its decision. A piece of paper or a government finding doesn't make the truth a lie or a lie the truth and it doesn't stop a tribe from being a tribe. But perhaps recognition will make it easier for Wampanoag families to remain in Mashpee, and so we hope that the government will finally right a wrong that's gone on far too long. But in the meantime, as we ready ourselves for our Thanksgiving dinner, those of us who are non-Wampanoag might want to remember that this place we call home is ours because our Wampanoag neighbors set a place for a group of Pilgrims nearly 400 years ago. We owe it to our neighbors to help make sure that there continues to be a place here for Mashpee Wampanoag as well. One way is to give thanks through a contribution to the tribal housing program. Checks can be sent to: Wampanoag Housing Program, PO Box 1048, Mashpee, MA 02649. Joe Burns lives in Harwich and is a reporter for the Harwich Oracle's sister publication, The Register. Copyright c. 2005 Harwich Oracle. --------- "RE: Pyramid Paiutes lose Water argument" --------- Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 08:40:46 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PYRAMID PAIUTE WATER" http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20051122/NEWS/111220045/-1/rss02 Pyramid Paiutes lose water argument at federal appeals court Geoff dornan Appeal Capitol Bureau, gdornan@nevadaappeal.com November 22, 2005 The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has backed the Nevada state water engineer's decision barring the Pyramid Paiute tribe from transferring 100 percent of its irrigation water rights to in-stream use. The court agreed with the state engineer and a district judge who ruled the total irrigation rights include water to make up for "transportation losses" that are not transferable. The engineer allowed the tribe to move about 85 percent of the total amount of water to in-stream use instead of irrigation to help support the tribe's fishery at Pyramid Lake. The city of Fallon and the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District sued to block the transfer altogether but lost the argument because the Orr Ditch Decree sets up a procedure for changing the use of water rights. The court, however, backed the engineer's decision not to allow the transfer of 100 percent of the water because the Orr Ditch Decree sets a maximum amount of irrigation water, which includes "an estimated amount of water that will be lost in the process of transporting the water from the river to the irrigated land." That amount in the decree is 15 percent and the court agreed with the state engineer that the percentage is over and above the amount of water the tribe is actually entitled to for irrigation and, therefore, non- transferable. "The amount of water to which the tribe is entitled for transportation loss fluctuates depending on real-world conditions while the amount of water the tribe may use to apply to the land remains constant," the opinion states. The actual transfer was temporary and occurred in 2004, but the appellate judges said the issue is not moot because it is likely to come up again in the future when the tribe or other users seek to change the use of irrigation water rights. Water rights on the Truckee and Carson Rivers have been the subject of almost constant litigation for more than 100 years. Copyright c. 2005 nevadaappeal.com Nevada Appeal - 580 Mallory Way - Carson City, NV 89701 --------- "RE: Leader wants Court to separate Money, Land Rights" --------- Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2005 08:45:01 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SHOSHONE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=4153903 Tribal leader wants federal court to separate money, land rights November 22, 2005 LAS VEGAS An American Indian leader in Nevada wants a federal court to clarify whether tribe members will give up treaty land rights to vast stretches of the West if they take compensation payments Congress allocated last year. Western Shoshone National Council Chief Raymond Yowell filed a lawsuit against the government yesterday (Monday) in U-S District Court in Reno. He says the Ruby Valley Treaty of 1863 gave the tribe rights to vast stretches of land in present-day Nevada, California, Utah and Idaho. He says the tribe has never given up those rights - and he wants the government to clarify what the money allocated under the Western Shoshone Distribution Act is for. The Interior Department isn't commenting. The act last year authorized 145 (M) Million dollars in compensation for tribe members for lands in taken by the government since the 1800s. Copyright c. 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 2005 Bell Global. --------- "RE: Statue of kneeling Indian draws Fire" --------- Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 13:23:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SUBJUGATION" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.chicagotribune.com//chi-0511250127nov25,1,1544124.story Statue of kneeling Indian draws fire November 25, 2005 KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN - A 65-year-old statue that contains the kneeling figure of an American Indian is drawing criticism from some area residents. Opponents of the statue presented petitions with what they said were 500 signatures this week to the Kalamazoo City Commission. The petitions ask city leaders to remove and relocate the statue, "The Fountain of the Pioneers," by Alfonso Iannelli. The statue, which is in a park, shows an American Indian kneeling before a white settler holding a stick over him. Local activist Jeanne Baraka-Love said the statue is a "monument to evil subjugation, the violent removal of the people who were first on this land." Copyright c. 2005, Chicago Tribune. --------- "RE: Heightened scrutiny in search for Land" --------- Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2005 08:45:01 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YET ANOTHER LAND FIGHT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20051123-9999-1n23indian.html Indian tribes facing heightened scrutiny in search for land Union Tribune By James P. Sweeney COPLEY NEWS SERVICE November 23, 2005 SACRAMENTO - Over the past year, both the Bush and Schwarzenegger administrations have started to take a harder line on high-stakes Indian land decisions, which carry broad, long-term implications for tribes and adjoining communities. Tribes empowered by steady and growing revenue from gambling have made no secret of their desire to reclaim some of the lands taken from them generations ago. Many, including several in San Diego County, already are making large, multimillion-dollar acquisitions. But it is when tribes seek to take new lands under their governmental control - by having them placed into federal trust status - that the public-policy considerations become much more complex. Indian lands held in trust are for the most part beyond the reach of state and local governments. They are exempt from state and local taxes and land-use controls. Trust lands also can be used for gambling in most cases. The Jamul band's inability to persuade the federal government to approve a trust application for 101 acres adjacent to its six-acre reservation remains a major obstacle to the tribe's controversial plan to build a large casino in the pastoral East County community. Other local tribes have added hundreds of acres of trust land to their reservations in recent years without controversy. Among them are the Barona, which added nearly 977 acres; Ewiiaapaayp, 1,360 acres; Manzanita, 1,000 acres; Mesa Grande, 883 acres; Pala, 306 acres; and Sycuan, 162 acres, according to county records. The Viejas have trust applications pending for 839 acres. The Sycuan recently purchased 1,236 acres adjacent to its reservation. The tribe also owns the 400-acre Singing Hills Country Club about three miles west of its reservation. The tribe has not yet applied to have either property taken into trust. In an extreme example in New York state, two counties are fighting a bid by the Oneida tribe to have 17,300 acres in 444 parcels scattered around more than a dozen cities and towns taken into trust as new reservation land. The underlying prospect of gambling expansion and growing angst over off-reservation casino proposals appear to be driving the heightened scrutiny of efforts to expand Indian lands. "The general posture of (Interior Secretary Gale) Norton at the moment is one of hesitancy, to say the least, about the issue of land acquisition, and what's driving that is Indian gaming," said Steven Light, co-director of the Institute for the Study of Tribal Gaming Law and Policy at the University of North Dakota. In May, the Bush administration and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger tightened the parameters under which they will consider off-reservation casino proposals. Schwarzenegger said he will not negotiate with tribes unless they already have land in trust. Secretary Norton reversed long-standing policy when she declared that the federal government likewise would not consider a gambling agreement, or compact, for a new casino unless the site is in trust. A few months later, the chief counsel of the National Indian Gaming Commission disclosed that her agency had embarked on a comprehensive land- status review of the more than 400 Indian casinos in the country. Federal law restricts tribal casinos to Indian lands, although those lands don't have to be held in trust if they are within a reservation. The federal Indian gaming commission and the Bureau of Indian Affairs came under criticism from Department of Interior Inspector General Earl Devaney, who told a congressional committee in April that "neither . . . has a way to ensure that Indian gaming is being conducted only on approved lands." Penny Coleman, acting general counsel of the commission, said the agency has some 50 reviews of casino sites pending. Eight of those are in California, and all are for proposed casino sites, a commission spokesman said. Additionally, Coleman said, the commission has recently hired title companies to conduct title searches on casino sites in California and Oklahoma. The title searches in California involve the Smith River casino along the state's northern coast and the Mooretown casino near Oroville, said Shawn Pensoneau, the commission spokesman. Questions about the eligibility of both sites for gaming was raised by Interior's Devaney, Pensoneau said. Officials for both tribes declined to return telephone calls seeking comment. The federal commission already has notified one tribe - the United Keetoowah Band of Oklahoma - that its casino is not on a site that's eligible for gaming by that tribe, Pensoneau said. Coleman suggested other tribes might face the same news. "If we decide that a tribe should not have opened a facility because the lands did not qualify for gaming under the (Indian Gaming Regulatory) Act, extensive litigation is guaranteed," Coleman told the Senate Indian Affairs Committee in July. "And if the commission is correct, the tribe will have incurred millions of dollars in debt with few options for repaying the debt." The Schwarzenegger administration recently questioned the land status of a casino operated by one of the state's most prominent tribes, the Agua Caliente band of Palm Springs. The administration's remark was contained in its response to environmental documents for a planned expansion at the tribe's second casino near Rancho Mirage. "We are . . . attempting to confirm aspects of tribal and project site history, to confirm the appropriateness of the proposed development under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act," Paul Dobson, the governor's acting legal affairs secretary, wrote last month in a letter to the tribe. The land-status questions in play are complex, but the administration has been unable to determine whether the Agua Caliente's Rancho Mirage casino was built on land eligible for gaming, said Vince Sollitto, a spokesman for the governor. The site apparently was purchased from an individual in 1999 and was not taken into trust until later. Federal law generally prohibits gaming on Indian lands taken into trust after Oct. 17, 1988, but there are exceptions, including one for lands within or contiguous to a tribe's reservation. The Rancho Mirage site was within the tribe's original reservation and is thus eligible for gaming, said the National Indian Gaming Commission's Pensoneau and Alva Johnson, an Agua Caliente spokesman. The Schwarzenegger administration jarred tribes in August with pointed opposition to a trust land application submitted by the Santa Ynez band of Santa Barbara County. The tribe, which operates one of the state's most successful casinos, asked the Interior Department to take into trust about six acres across the street from its gambling operation. The tribe said it had no plans to use the land for gaming but purchased it as part of a broader goal to reacquire "its aboriginal lands." In a lengthy critique, Schwarzenegger's former legal affairs secretary, Peter Siggins, noted that the 157-member tribe already exercises sovereign control over a reservation of 139 acres. "Despite the fact that this equates to more than .885 acres of land for each man, woman and child, or approximately 3.5 acres for each family of four, the tribe asserts that it does not have enough land," Siggins wrote. The trust application poses tax implications for local government and adverse cumulative impacts for the state, which has 108 federally recognized tribes that might similarly want to expand their reservations, Siggins wrote. Local businesses also could be left at a competitive disadvantage, he warned. "Simply put," Siggins wrote, "there is no basis in the (federal Indian Reorganization Act) for continuing to grant the tribe the political, regulatory and economic advantages of trust status when the tribe's political and economic survival is no longer an issue." The chairman of the Santa Ynez tribe declined to comment, but others were taken aback by the administration's position. "That's a pretty hard-line stance," said Light of the tribal gaming institute in North Dakota. "I would read that as an implicit statement that enough equates to too much." Federal Indian policy does not include economic factors as conditions to be considered in trust-status determinations, Light said. In Washington, leaders of the National Indian Gaming Association said political leaders who believe they are responding to public anxiety about tribal gaming are operating from a false premise. The organization last week released a new poll showing overwhelming support for tribal gaming. The survey done by the Santa Monica-based firm Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates found a 67 percent approval rate for Indian gambling nationwide. That number was even higher in California and the West, said pollster Paul Maslin. "The political winds are not reflective of the success of our industry and the kind of things it is bringing, not just to our own reservations, but to local economies that have been down," said Ernie Stevens, chairman of the National Indian Gaming Association. "We're putting people to work and giving them . . . decent benefits and a decent wage. That's why you get support like this." Copyright c. 2005 Union-Tribune Publishing Co., A Copley Newspaper Site. --------- "RE: Tribe's Land Claim centers on Treaties from 1800s" --------- Date: Sun, 27 Nov 2005 17:40:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="OTTAWA CLAIM ON NORTH BASS ISLAND" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.toledoblade.com//511270329/-1/NEWS BATTLE FOR NORTH BASS ISLAND Tribe's land claim centers on treaties from early 1800s By JIM PROVANCE BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU November 27, 2005 COLUMBUS - Arcane language in two treaties between a young United States of America and Native American tribes is being used by the Ottawa Tribe to lay claim to North Bass Island in Lake Erie. Geographic points referenced in the 1805 and 1807 treaties have prompted a Kent State University geography professor to plot what she believes was the U.S.-Canadian border through Lake Erie in the early 1800s. Armed with this map, Oklahoma's Ottawa Tribe, which originally planned to file a federal lawsuit in January laying claim to the northern half of North Bass Island, now wants the entire 677-acre island, both public and private lands. It also wants the $17.4 million Ohio paid Paramount Distillers two years ago to buy 87 percent of the island with the intention of largely protecting it from development. If the suit is successful, Dick Rogavin, Columbus attorney for the tribe, said the scenic island could become home to a fishing village, walleye fish hatchery, marinas, a fish-processing and freezer plant, hotels with indoor pools, condominiums and parking, tax-free tobacco and beverage shops, and an expanded air strip. The tribe also has picked out a new name, Adawa, the Algonquian version of Ottawa. "We've been expecting the Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma's claims to expand to include North Bass Island," said Mark Anthony, spokesman for Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro. "Their claim is unfounded and unreasonable, which we will prove in court with the help of expert testimony," he said. "We suspect their claim is a shakedown ploy to bring casino gambling here, which a majority of Ohioans have twice rejected." Jane Beathard, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, said the state is about a year away from developing preliminary plans for use of North Bass. The state, however, is talking largely about low-impact camping sites and possible boat dock improvements. The tribe, now numbering about 2,000, thrived in much of what is now northwest Ohio during the 1700s, using North Bass as a post in the fur trade. As part of the Treaty of Fort Industry of 1805, two years after Ohio became a state, the Ottawa, Chippewa, Wyandot, and other tribes relinquished their lands to the United States. Within three decades, the tribe, along with other Native Americans, was forced out of the region. The Ottawa, however, now maintain that North Bass Island, also known as the Isle of St. George, was on the British side of the U.S.-Canadian border at the time of the 1805 treaty and was not affected by it. The tribe claims it retained its rights when the U.S.-Canadian border was redrawn in 1822 with North Bass clearly south of the line. The tribe plans to ask the U.S. Department of the Interior to join its lawsuit against the state. Most geographers have looked to the Treaty of Paris of 1783, which ended the Revolutionary War, for clues as to the location of the international border at the time. The treaty generally described the British-American border as running "through the middle of said lake until it arrives at the water communication between that lake and Lake Huron." Ute Dymon, a Kent State geography professor and cartographer with a doctorate from Clark University in Worcester, Mass., was hired by Mr. Rogavin's firm. She was largely stumped until she pulled together pieces of language from the Fort Industry treaty in 1805 and the Treaty of Detroit of 1807. "The answer was in front of us all the time by reading two treaties of 1805 and 1807 side by side," she said. The treaties independently described different borders coming from opposite directions, but both lines ended on the international border. "One treaty did not tell you anything," she said. "It told you to go 120 miles from Pennsylvania and then go straight north. But it was when I looked at the other treaty [which described a border traveling south from the Detroit area to a point due east of the mouth of the Maumee River] that I decided there had to be a point of intersection where the two treaties meet." According to her calculations, the lines intersect at the northern tip of Middle Bass Island, just south of North Bass. Although his findings were issued before Ms. Dymon presented her theory, Morton E. O'Kelly, chairman of the department of geography at Ohio State University, disagreed in a study done for Mr. Petro. "Based on a review of early maps, my experience and expertise as a geographer, and a careful examination of the proposed construction of the Land Claim, I conclude, and it is my opinion, that the island referred to as North Bass Island was not at any time divided by the international boundary and has always been considered part of the United States," he said. The tribe has a suit pending in U.S. District Court in Toledo laying claim to unrestricted fishing rights in Lake Erie for a commercial fishing operation it hopes to base on North Bass. That suit, independent of the upcoming suit making property-rights claims, argues that the tribe never relinquished its fishing, hunting, and gathering rights over the years. Mr. Petro has maintained that the Ottawa suit and an unrelated suit filed by the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma targeting much of southern Ohio are aimed at forcing the state to negotiate over casino gambling. "You're not allowed to have a casino in Ohio until the state makes it legal to have a casino," Mr. Rogavin said. "We'll worry about it then. ... We're not the Shawnees that are campaigning for casinos. We never have." Copyright c. 2005 The Blade. --------- "RE: Editorial: Permanent protection for Bear Butte" --------- Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 08:40:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PROTECT BEAR BUTTE" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.rapidcityjournal.com//2005/11/27//news/opinion//opin01.txt Journal editorial: Preserving Bear Butte By The Journal Editorial Board November 27, 2005 Bear Butte is sacred ground to upwards of 60 American Indian tribes. Thousands of Indians make the pilgrimage to the isolated mountain north of Sturgis each year. As the town of Sturgis grows and its annual motorcycle rally continues in popularity, Bear Butte is becoming less isolated from encroaching development. Bear Butte is a sacred site to Indians because it is viewed as a place where the creator communicates through visions and prayers. People who make the trek up the mountain in search of a vision often leave ribbons or prayer cloths tied to trees as an offering. In a very real sense, Bear Butte is sacred ground, a church for Indians to practice their religion. The mountain itself is protected by the state of South Dakota as a state park, but the land surrounding Bear Butte is privately owned and used, for now, as ranch land. How to protect Bear Butte from encroachment is a problem that Meade County, the state of South Dakota and especially Indian tribes must address now before it is too late. After earlier beating back a proposed shooting range north of Bear Butte, Indians and supporters are now faced with a proposed bar and concert stage immediately north of the state park. Jay Allen of Arizona plans to capitalize on the Sturgis motorcycle rally by building a biker bar and stage. Originally, Allen wanted to call the bar and stage Sacred Ground and his plans included an 80-foot statue of an Indian. Needless to say, those who want to preserve Bear Butte and its surroundings were not amused. Allen has since changed the name to Sturgis County Line, nixed the statue and plans to move the biker bar to the northern end of his property, but he still plans to develop the site. A group called the Bear Butte International Alliance opposes Allen's plans as inappropriate for the area and has called on Meade County to refuse beer and liquor licenses within seven miles of Bear Butte. The problem is that Meade County zoning laws allow a property owner to do what he wants with his property. The county could deny Allen a liquor license but that decision should be consistent with other license applications. Denying Allen the right to develop his property consistent with laws in place when he bought the land also seems somewhat arbitrary. Zoning laws exist to avoid neighborhood squabbles over property use. It's not fair to Allen or other nearby property owners to deny them the right to use their property as they see fit in keeping with existing zoning laws. The best way to preserve Bear Butte as a sacred site is for someone to buy the land with the intention of keeping it as open space. Conservation groups such as Nature Conservancy buy land to prevent its development. Recall when the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation recently purchased land near Wind Cave National Park to preserve it for wildlife and recreation. Indian tribes and other groups could do the same for Bear Butte and other sites sacred to Native Americans. Charmaine White Face, director of Defenders of the Black Hills, says her group is trying to raise money to purchase land near Bear Butte. "There needs to be a buffer zone around Bear Butte," she said. White Face believes the buffer should be at least five miles in every direction. Her group recently organized as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization for fund- raising purposes in order to buy the land near Bear Butte. "We wish we could raise enough money to buy these places," she said. White Face also has contacted members of the state's congressional delegation on developing legislation to create tax exemptions for property owners to preserve cultural sites such as Bear Butte, grave sites, teepee rings, archeological sites, etc. - i.e., cultural conservancy. Encroachment on Bear Butte will continue to be an issue now and in the future. The only sure way to preserve the area immediately surrounding Bear Butte is for someone who wants to protect the land to buy it. There are probably plenty of people and groups who would donate to such a cause. There are plenty of places near Sturgis for biker bars and concert venues that don't encroach on Bear Butte. However, it's not fair to deny current property owners the right to develop their land. If groups want to ensure protection of Bear Butte from nearby development, they should raise money and buy the land. Copyright c. 2005 Rapid City Journal. --------- "RE: Society works to preserve Sacred Cherokee Land" --------- Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2005 08:45:01 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SAVING OUR PAST" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/13241380.htm Cultural society works to preserve sacred Cherokee land BY JEFF GUINN Knight Ridder Newspapers November 23, 2005 VAN ZANDT COUNTY, Texas - Anyone visiting the 70 acres of wilderness now owned by the American Indian Cultural Society will appreciate its fierce, wild beauty - brush-tangled flatland and sloping hills, the Neches River gurgling nearby, woods teeming with armadillos and deer, a few javelinas and slithery copperhead snakes. Those who follow the correct narrowly mown paths will eventually discover a single granite monument marking the spot where, 166 years ago, militia sent by the new Republic of Texas government killed 83-year-old Cherokee Chief Duwa'li Bowles and drove his tribesmen off the land they'd occupied and farmed for almost 20 years. But so far, 52-year-old Eagle Douglas, who heads the Cultural Society, is one of the few who comes to interact with the spirits of all the Indians who fell during the pitched battle of July 15 and 16. Douglas, a Cherokee descendent, plans to change that. "This is historic, sacred ground," Douglas says. "We are working to get this land the recognition and respect it deserves. The spirits here deserve respect, too. I've had people who've come here tell me they've felt their presence, and I know I always do. That's why I leave them food, beans and rice, never forgetting candy for the children." American Indian culture, Douglas says, emphasizes interaction with spirits. That's why, should his plans come to fruition, the battle site property will eventually house a "wellness center" as well as a trading post, "because many of our people have to go to (the Cherokee Nation in) Oklahoma to find health facilities focused on American Indian needs. We'd have a place here that honored spiritual beliefs, with a staff ranging from medical doctors to shamans." To make that possible, Douglas says, the public needs to know more - about the site itself and its real history, which he says is radically different from the terse message on the marker placed by the state during Texas' centennial year of 1939. It reads: "On this site the CHEROKEE CHIEF BOWLES was killed on July 16 1839 while leading 800 Indians of various tribes into battle against 500 Texans - the last engagement between Cherokees and whites in Texas." "What it doesn't say is that of the 800 Indians, 400 to 600 were women, children and elders," Douglas says. "The Texicans were a fully armored militia unit. The Indians only had a couple dozen rifles and pistols." Bowles and his people weren't around afterward to correct any misconceptions. Those who survived the so-called "Battle of the Neches" were too busy fleeing for their lives. "It's true that history is written by the winners, and the Indians did not win that one," says Max Lale, past president of the Texas State Historical Association. "To say the least, it's high time the real facts were more widely known." Chad Corntassle Smith, principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, came to Texas a few years ago to see the Neches battle site for himself. "It's hard to find," he says. That's true even now. From Tarrant County, the first leg is a 90-minute drive east on Interstate 20 to Canton, then a right turn and 25 more miles southeast on Texas 64. Just past the hamlet of Redland, a brown historic marker directs travelers 2.4 miles left on twisty Farm Road 4923, the kind of crater-pocked throughway that gives farms a bad name. Even then, it's tricky to pick out Douglas' handmade sign on the right announcing the final half-mile to the battle-site marker down a rutted dirt road. You have to park your car halfway and walk the rest through tangled brush split only by a narrow path that Douglas has hacked with his lawn mower. Then comes a clearing - cleared by Douglas, of course - and the state marker indicating where Bowles died. To its immediate right is a tiny tree planted reverently by Smith, when he visited. But during the summer of 1839, the Texican militia was in no danger of getting lost. Everybody in the fledgling Republic knew exactly where the Cherokee village was. They'd farmed there since the winter of 1819-20, as one of more than a dozen offshoots of various American Indian tribes who'd moved to what was then colonial Spanish land. They had been trying to escape the spread of well-armed, Indian-hating American settlers who were swarming west and south. As national control of Texas changed hands from Spain to Mexico to the Republic of Texas, Bowles tried each time to renegotiate title to the land on which his people lived and farmed. Mexico was agreeable; it wanted its vast Texas colony populated by peaceable tribes. When the Texican rebellion overturned Mexican authority in 1836, Cherokee-loving Sam Houston (he'd lived with the tribe for several years) became president. He promised Bowles' people the land was still theirs, but the newly formed provisional government never ratified the treaty. Indian-loathing Mirabeau Lamar succeeded Houston as president in December 1838, and immediately announced the Cherokee "have no legal or equitable claim to any portion of our territory." In another speech he added, "In my opinion the proper policy to be pursued toward the barbarian race is absolute expulsion from the country. ... Our only security against a savage foe is to allow no security to him." Lamar's message was applauded by white citizens of the republic, Lale says. "There were always rumors of plots and alliances between the Indians and Mexicans to take Texas back," Lale says. "And, of course, though Bowles' people were peaceable, there were other tribes who were not. Whites did not differentiate between them. The general attitude was: 'All Indians are bad.'" Bowles and the leaders of other tribal settlements in the area - Delaware, Alabama, Shawnee, Kickapoo, Choctaw and Caddo among them - were ordered to leave Texas immediately. The Indian families refused to go, correctly noting they had lived in Texas longer than most of the whites telling them to get out. Lamar authorized Albert Sidney Johnson to raise a militia; Sam Houston had mostly disbanded the Texican army. Final negotiations in early July 1839 broke down. First, Bowles asked if his tribe could stay on the land until fall so they could harvest their crops before joining another Cherokee band to emigrate to California. That request was denied. Then Bowles told government representatives that he fully understood his people would lose any war, but they would not, could not, unconditionally give up their land and become homeless nomads. Johnson marched his troops into East Texas. On July 15, Bowles' son arrived under a flag of truce. He told Johnson the Cherokee were ready to move. Johnson said it was too late. His militia attacked the village, and the rout was on. The Texicans pursued the fleeing Cherokee for miles, finally cornering them the next day near a Delaware village. Bowles led a poorly armed force of warriors from several tribes in a brief last stand. The old chief's horse was shot out from under him. He remained on the battlefield and tried to direct a further retreat. Already wounded in the leg, Bowles finally tried to escape, but was shot in the back. Badly hurt, he sat facing the approaching white militia. One of them ran to his side and shot him point-blank in the head. The area was littered with the bodies of Indians - men, women and children. Those who survived fled in every direction. White farmers moved onto the former Cherokee land. The militia who had defeated Bowles "were treated as conquering heroes," Lale says. "There was little doubt among them that, even if those particular Indians hadn't committed any atrocities yet, they certainly would have at some point in the future. You cannot underestimate the hatred of Indians by whites in the region at that time." Gradually, the "Battle of the Neches" faded in public consciousness. During the Texas Centennial, markers were placed at various historic sites, and the spot where Bowles died was one. Sometime in 1994 - he's not sure exactly when - Eagle Douglas was watching a program about American Indians on The History Channel. The locksmith found himself unexpectedly mesmerized by details of various atrocities committed against Indians, and decided to involve himself in "whatever events there might be to bring these things more to light." He learned of a nascent effort in Dallas to acquire the Neches battleground and build some sort of educational facility there that would present the Indian side of things. Eventually, Douglas became the leader of the effort, establishing the American Indian Cultural Society as a nonprofit organization. Through various fundraisers, memberships and digging into his own pocket, Douglas and his wife, Jeena, said they were finally able to raise more than $50,000 and gain title to the property. In some ways, that was the easy part. The land itself had become wildly overgrown. Working on weekends, Douglas took his lawn mower and began cutting 6- to 8-foot strips through the brush, trying to make it possible for visitors to find their way to the Bowles monument. Unhappy with the description of the battle it provided, Douglas set up his own series of signs giving the Indian view of "the massacre." "The blood of our fallen people is in this place," he says. "That, and my sweat." But Douglas discovered, as he labored, that just being on the land brought him a sense of serenity he'd never before experienced. "It calms me to be here," he says as he fans sweet-smelling smoke from a smudge pot filled with a mixture of tobacco, sage, cedar and grass. "I felt the presence of the spirits. When we had some gathering scheduled here and I'd be mowing the day before and it got dark, I'd tell them I needed a little more time, and it would get pitch black and the moon would somehow be shining just where I needed to mow. They're here. We must respect them by giving this land the care it deserves." Douglas' serenity extends to all aspects of nature. Standing by the original Bowles monument, a bee lands on his hand and begins crawling on his fingers, dragging its stinger like a conquistador hauling a rapier. "It won't sting me," Douglas says. "My beliefs in the spirits won't let that happen." Sure enough, the bee buzzes off. Then a yellow jacket dive- bombs Jeena Douglas, who is not of Indian descent but does share her husband's spiritual beliefs. Douglas extends a hand toward the nearby brush. "Go there," he suggests to the flying insect. After a few more moments of circling the human interlopers, it zooms in that general direction. "Spirits," Douglas says again, his long, thick braid bobbing as he nods enthusiastically. But it will take more than spiritual intervention to help the Cultural Society to carry out its plans. For years, its emphasis was on acquiring the land. Now there are things to be done with it. Douglas talks about "a trading post with the works of Indian artisans, because people who come to historical sites want souvenirs. And we could use any proceeds to keep on improving the place." There's also the wellness center, where Douglas envisions shamans working side-by-side with doctors, and possibly a "meditation garden," where visitors could calmly, quietly commune with the spirits. All that requires lots of money, and Douglas is pretty much tapped out. He talks often to potential donors, many of whom declare themselves ready to get on board. "We've been promised more than a girl in the back seat on a prom date," Douglas says. "People show up, listen, promise help and then we never hear from them anymore." Douglas estimates the Cultural Society has about 60 members who pay varying annual dues between $15 and $35. They stage memorial programs on the battle site, selling bottled water and soft drinks but not charging admission. Now that the property is secured, he hopes to begin applying for grants, but he won't approach the state for help. "If they're too involved, they start telling you how to do things," he says. "We don't want to become just another state park." Douglas does have the support of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma. Chad Corntassle Smith says his tribal government fully endorses Douglas' efforts. "This is one of those rare instances where someone sees something that needs to be done to preserve history and goes out and does it," Smith says. "Because of Eagle Douglas and his wife and organization, a tremendous story will not be lost." Though his tribal government "gets lots of people coming to us to ask for support for things that won't ever work," Smith says he is convinced some, if not all, of Douglas' dreams for the battle site will come true. "It's inevitable," Smith declares. "He has gone through so much to get to where they are now, he'll keep finding ways to get things done. That property in the next decade may not have grandiose facilities, but it will be developed somehow." Copyright c. 2004 Kansas City Star - Knight Ridder, Inc. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Tobacco disputes need Arbitrator, Treasurer says" --------- Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 08:40:46 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="OKLAHOMA TOBACCO WARS CONTINUE" http://www.newsok.com/xml/rss/1684434/ Tobacco disputes need arbitrator, treasurer says By Michael McNutt The Oklahoman November 22, 2005 Outside negotiators need to be brought in to settle disputes with two northeastern Oklahoma tribes over tobacco compacts, state Treasurer Scott Meacham said Monday. The issue: The House Revenue and Tax Committee is evaluating whether state compacts are giving some American Indian tribes an unfair advantage. Why: Some tribes are allowed to sell packs of cigarettes with a 6-cent stamp in stores near border states, but cigarettes with the 6-cent stamp are being sold in tribal stores in the Tulsa area. The disagreement: Some tribes say the state broke its compact when the state sales tax on cigarettes was removed as part of the tobacco tax approved last year by voters. Compacts allowing the sales tax were signed before last November's tobacco tax vote. State officials say some tribes broke the compact by allowing the cheaper stamps to be affixed in areas outside where they are to be sold. The effect: Nontribal stores in the Tulsa area and northeast Oklahoma, required to affix a stamp of $1.03 on each pack, say they are losing customers to the tribal tobacco stores. What's next: Health care officials are scheduled to speak Monday to the committee. The state has given notice to the Cherokee and Osage nations it is seeking arbitration. Arbitration is a lengthy process and it's questionable how any decision could be enforced by the state and the tribes. Meacham and Gov. Brad Henry had been meeting with tribal officials in an effort to reach a settlement. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation also has been involved in those talks. It does not have a compact with the state. Meacham said the state is considering filing federal lawsuits against the operators of tribal stores licensed by the Creeks. Tobacco tax collections are running about 80 percent less than projections this fiscal year, which started July 1, he said. Collections from tribal stores are arriving at only 30 percent to 40 percent of estimates, caused mostly by compliance issues with tribes, Meacham said. Diane Hammons, director of the Cherokee Nation's Justice Department, said some tribal retailers are buying cigarettes with the 6-cent tax stamps from border stores and selling them in the Tulsa area. "We do not believe that is prohibited by the compact," Hammons said. The tribe is looking at applying a temporary tax on cigarettes sold by retailers licensed by the Cherokees, she said. The Cherokees get a rebate from the state for each proper, 86-cent stamp affixed to a pack of cigarettes; it receives no money from the 6-cent stamps. The tax would raise money for the tribe that was to be generated by the compact and would lessen the price discrepancy between tribal and nontribal retailers, she said. Copyright c. 2005 The Oklahoman/News 9, Produced by NewsOK.com. --------- "RE: American Indians visit Historic Shellmounds" --------- Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 08:40:46 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="OHLONE - SHELLMOUNDS" http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_3241545?rss American Indians visit historic shellmounds Dozens walk to visit aincient burial sites and raise awareness about the cultural heritage of the Ohlone By Rebekah Gordon, STAFF WRITER November 22, 2005 American Indians and their supporters have been walking the Bay Area for the past two weeks to raise awareness that their ancient burial grounds could be beneath our feet. The Sacred Site Shellmound Peace Walk began in Vallejo on Nov. 7 at a shellmound in Glen Cove. After leaving Vallejo, walkers crossed the Carquinez Straight to the East Bay, hitting sites in Berkeley and Oakland. They went south through San Leandro and Hayward to an untouched shellmound at Coyote Hills Regional park in Fremont and then crossed through San Jose and Santa Clara before heading north. At each shellmound site they visit, the group offers up prayers to ancestors. "We're educating a lot of people, and that's the most important thing," said Johnella La Rose, 47, a walk coordinator. "Everybody can relate to their grandmother's grave." There is a core group of 25 who have been a part of the walk nearly every day. On weekends, the group grows to about 75, La Rose said. They have been joined by Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhists. American Indians who once lived here were primarily Ohlone and buried their dead in mounds of shells from mollusks they fished from the Bay. La Rose said there are an estimated 475 shellmounds stretching as far east as Sacramento and south to San Juan Bautista. "Tribes all over the country are looking at protecting their natural resources and cultural resources, which are burial sites," said La Rose, who descends from the Shoshone Bannock natives in Idaho and Utah. Many shellmound sites in the Bay Area are already built on, she said. "It's perfectly OK to build on 5,000-year-old grave sites. It's a really sad situation," she said. La Rose and Perry Matlock, 43, are both members of Indian People Organizing for Change, one of the walk's sponsors. The group has received food donations and spends nights in sleeping bags at churches, elementary schools, offices or private homes. The group walks 15 to 19 miles a day, said Matlock, who took a month off from work as a trade show installer to participate. They will pass through San Francisco to join the International Indian Treaty Council's sunrise gathering at Alcatraz on Thanksgiving, and conclude the walk by participating in a shellmound demonstration at Emeryville's Bay Street shopping center Friday. The group hopes to work with city councils and developers to keep sites preserved or move bodies buried on development sites to nearby graves. Matlock described shellmounds as one of the few physical manifestations of American Indian culture that remains in the area. "Basically we want peace for the shellmounds," Matlock said. "We don't want it excavated anymore." Copyright c. 2005 ANG Newspapers. --------- "RE: Osages vote on future of the Tribe" --------- Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 08:40:46 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="OSAGE REFORM VOTE" http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=7262 Osages vote on future of the tribe Hundreds turn out to cast a ballot Sam Lewin November 21, 2005 Officials with the Osage Nation say they won't know until next week what the results are from the 2005 Referendum on Osage Government Reform. About 800 people showed up to vote in person in Pawhuska, but the "absentee ballots have not been counted yet," Osage Government Reform Commission staff member Hepsi Barnett told the Native American Times. The tribe's Election Board is meeting on November 29th to tally the absentee ballots. The referendum is part of a process the tribe has wanted to undertake for the better part of a century. Following years of lobbying the Osage membership bill was passed by Congress and signed by President Bush late last year. The legislation restored the tribe's authority to choose its own members and style of government. The federal government had controlled the Osage Nation's government structure and citizenship requirements since 1906. The Osage were the last federally recognized tribe prohibited from choosing its own citizens. Barnett said the referendum has sparked interest among tribal members. "Even though the effort has been ongoing-we had public hearings, meetings, surveys and polls-it wasn't until the referendum came out that people began to express their wishes," Barnett said. The referendum contained questions related to tribal government, membership and elected officials. "We are looking for the input of the people to move forward," Barnett said. With 15,000 members, the Osage Nation is one of the largest tribes in the country Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Traditional Ceremonies offer relief for Veterans" --------- Date: Sun, 27 Nov 2005 17:40:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HEALING CEREMONIES FOR NA VETS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.sltrib.com/ci_3256243?rss Traditional ceremonies offer relief for American Indian veterans Healer: A Navajo medicine man works with the federal government to alleviate post-traumatic stress disorder By Michelle Roberts The Associated Press November 27, 2005 PRESCOTT, Ariz. - When Albert Laughter unpacks his medical supplies, preparing to treat the military veterans who are his patients, he finds no stethoscope or thermometer. His examination room doesn't have walls to speak of. It is made of canvas and wooden poles, a teepee with a small fire ring inside. His supplies - pheasant and eagle feathers, cornmeal, sage and other herbs - come wrapped in small leather pouches. Laughter, a Navajo medicine man, cares for warriors as five generations of his forebears have: with traditional herbs, songs and ceremonies. But unlike his ancestors, he does it as a healer under contract with the federal government. Laughter's services are part of a small assortment of programs run by the Department of Veterans Affairs to treat American Indian veterans for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other maladies. "Our culture, even though we live in the 21st century, we come back to the ceremonies, we come back to where the fire is, come back to where the herbs is, come back to where the songs is," said Laughter, who does his work in Navajo and in English at the VA medical center in Prescott and on northern Arizona reservations. There are more than 181,000 American Indian veterans in the United States, fewer than 1 percent of the 24.8 million veterans nationwide, according to the VA. But officials at VA medical facilities near reservations say they have found Indian veterans have unique needs. Deborah Thompson, director of the northern Arizona VA health care system, said providers don't have perfect understanding of how traditional practices help, but they have learned they are important for Indian veterans and can aid in treatment. Most Indian veterans who participate in the traditional practices do so in combination with Western medical treatment at VA facilities. Standard Western medical treatments, including psychotherapy, are less effective on their own for some Indians because of their unique traditions and cultural values, including a tendency to avoid drawing attention to themselves, VA officials say. "In Native American culture - in every culture - one of the main things that goes against a spirit is taking a life," said Cari James, the minority veterans coordinator for the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center in Phoenix. The Hayden facility has an agreement with the Navajo Nation to reimburse costs for medicine man services provided to veterans on the reservation. Navajo ceremonies can be performed to help Indian veterans recovering from combat and other trauma, said James, an Eastern woodland tribe Indian who is married to a man who is Navajo and Hopi. Practices like hand trembling and crystal gazing - which Laughter likens to a medical checkup - can be used to determine what the veteran's spirit needs. Then ceremonies, some lasting days, are used to help cleanse or heal. Laughter and other Indian practitioners provide a variety of veteran services, ranging from blessings to talking circles to elaborate ceremonies designed to bring a warrior back into the community. Laughter and non-Indian VA officials say those who take part in the traditional ceremonies often report at least temporary relief from PTSD, a mental illness characterized by symptoms like flashbacks and nightmares that afflicts some who have experienced traumatic events. Laughter, who served two tours in Vietnam, said he learned how beneficial traditional ceremonies could be in reducing PTSD symptoms when his own father, also a medicine man, performed ceremonies for him. "When [veterans] go to the doctor or hospital, they give them medicine. Pretty soon, they have a bag of medicine after medicine," said Laughter, who wears a waist-length pony tail and turquoise bracelet along with two cell phones strapped to his belt. "We still come back to the ceremony." Christopher Elia, head of the PTSD program at the VA center at Fort Mead, S.D., set up a sweat lodge 13 years ago and has seen veterans benefit from the sense of purification, forgiveness and thankfulness generated during a sweat. Among the Lakota Sioux veterans he works with, "many of them feel they left - for lack of a better term - a piece of their psyche, or soul, on the battlefield," he said. A sweat lodge ceremony, where hot rocks are doused in water to create steam, is how the Lakota welcome warriors home and how warriors reintroduce themselves to the community, Elia said. "Traditionally, you give [your troubles] to the rock and burn them off. You no longer have to carry those burdens," he said. Elia said he's unsure exactly why sweat lodges aid PTSD patients, but he's seen the experience of a sweat help veterans feel and express emotions and memories that other treatments, like talk therapy, have failed to uncover. "Veterans will go into a sweat and say things they haven't said in five years of psychotherapy," Elia said. Edward George Jr., a Navajo from Chinle, recently attended a talking circle presided over by Laughter, even recruiting a non-Indian veteran for the ceremony. His spirits have been lifted by traditional songs, and George, a former reconnaissance Marine who struggles to be around people, has found it easier to communicate with others. During the ceremony, George sat cross-legged on the floor of the teepee, his hands palms up. Laughter threw cornmeal onto the small fire and used pheasant feathers to swirl the smoke in a welcoming blessing over George's hands, shoulders and head. "Coming back to our native culture in a way helps us find our way back, find our spirituality again," George said. Copyright c. 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune. --------- "RE: Native American Vets missing out on Benefits" --------- Date: Sun, 27 Nov 2005 17:40:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NA VETS MISSING BENEFITS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1127vetsfolo27.html Native American vets missing out on benefits Jahna Berry The Arizona Republic November 27, 2005 Vietnam veteran Verland French of Mesa could have obtained inexpensive care for his diabetes because its onset could be tied to wartime exposure to the toxic chemical known as Agent Orange. But like many Native American veterans, the 66-year-old didn't know how to get help. He considers himself lucky because he can afford health care and can drive to see a doctor. But thousands of other former warriors aren't so fortunate. "They need transportation, they need . . . (trained) staff, they need people who are trained on what's available to veterans," said French, chairman of the Arizona Inter-Tribal Veterans Association. French, Rep. Albert Tom, D-Sanders, and other advocates are part of a growing chorus speaking out about the plight of American Indian veterans. In recent weeks the Arizona Department of Veterans Services, the state's advocate for former soldiers applying for federal benefits, has pledged to form a panel with representatives from local tribes. French's group has been networking with other vets. And some Arizona tribes with established outreach programs are educating other tribes about veterans' needs. Nonetheless, many of the state's estimated 18,000 to 20,000 Native American veterans are likely to be falling through the cracks, particularly when it comes to medical care, experts say. Transportation problems, language issues, cultural complexities and myths about affluence from casino revenues make it tough for Native American vets to get services. Millions of dollars in federal benefits probably go unclaimed, outrageous in a state that's home to 21 tribes, Tom said. "Everyone on the state level is out of touch with Native American issues, "said Tom, who sits on the Counties, Municipalities and Military Affairs Committee in the state House of Representatives. "These veterans are state citizens. They shouldn't be treated like they don't exist." Some veterans give up because the VA bureaucracy seems insurmountable. "The whole system is adversarial," said Noel Benoist, a 59-year-old Apache Junction disabled veteran who is half Lakota Sioux. The former U.S. intelligence officer said he has fought to get federal benefits to cover hearing damage tied to his service and said he has been informally helping other vets with benefits for years. "It's basically like a battle to prove a murder case on every benefit," Benoist said. Vets of all ethic backgrounds get discouraged because they struggle with reams of red tape. Those problems are compounded for Native American vets, he said. "American Indian people are raised very proud," he said. "They don't want to go through a process to be made as if they are stealing something they already earned." That's how George Robinson felt when he tried to get vision benefits. "When I was discharged, I was told that I would be entitled to full benefits," recalled Robinson, who spent 20 years in the Air Force and Air National Guard. "When I called the VA in Phoenix, he asked if I was working. He said,'Sorry you make too much money.' " Robinson, a Tempe resident who is a Hopi and Omaha, said he was outraged and hasn't gone back. All Arizona veterans have tremendous needs, but American Indians are especially hard hit, one state official said. There are 600,000 veterans in Arizona generating an estimated $5 billion for the economy through disability, retirement and federal benefits. A fraction of the state's veterans, 52,000, receive some kind of benefits, said Patrick Chorpenning, director of the Arizona Department of Veterans Services. If the numbers are that low in the general population, the number among Native American veterans is probably even lower, he said. Chorpenning and others are lobbying for more benefits counselors, including some who would be sensitive to tribal cultures. Staffing isn't the only problem. There's also a myth that tribes, flush with casino cash, are picking up the slack. Not all tribes have casinos, said Michael Pavatea, who supervises veterans' services for the Hopi Tribe, which has about 900 veterans. Pavatea's group counsels vets on how to get benefits and helps transport them to the VA hospital in Prescott, which is more than four hours away from the reservation. Many tribes, even ones with casinos, may not know how many vets are tribal members or may know little about veterans needs, said Pavatea, whose group is traveling to New Mexico to tell other tribes about the issue. Pavatea sees many Native American vets with post-traumatic stress problems because they were picked to go on the front line. "They were labeled as trackers, the old Hollywood stereotype," he said. While many tribal members go to Indian Health Services, it's not a perfect solution, Tom and Pavatea say. Indian Health Services "want to see insurance cards, like any regular hospital," Tom said. Some of those facilities are staffed by a rotating staff of doctors, which makes it hard to provide consistent care. Other facilities can't provide the specialized medical care that veterans need, Pavatea said. Advocates would like to help counselors at each reservation, and many Native American veterans are willing to be trained to do the work, French said. "Unless the Legislature comes up with a way to deal with the problems of Native American vets, we'll fall through the cracks again," said the Mesa vet. Copyright c. 2005, azcentral.com. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: City gets Green Light on moving Petroglyphs" --------- Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2005 08:45:01 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HIGHWAY WINS OVER PETROGLYPHS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.abqtrib.com//article/0,2564,ALBQ_19858_4259231,00.html City gets green light on moving petroglyphs from Paseo path By Erik Siemers Tribune Reporter November 22, 2005 Sometime after Dec. 21, the city of Albuquerque and its heavy machinery will lift about a half-dozen old boulders decorated with ancient drawings and move them a few hundred feet to the southwest. And then, after a decade of heated debate, lawsuits and political rhetoric, the extension of Paseo del Norte can begin. The state Cultural Properties Review Committee on Monday gave the city clearance to move the sacred petroglyphs that have blocked the planned extension but not until Dec. 21. In the meantime, the city must consult with tribal officials from the Jicarilla Apache Nation of Dulce and the Picuris Pueblo of northern New Mexico and then report back to the committee Dec. 2 on its findings. The decision paved the way for the city to start the controversial road extension, a debate that has pitted the city's infrastructure needs against American Indian cultural heritage. Albuquerque voters last fall approved a bond package that included $8.7 million to extend Paseo some 1.6 miles west from Golf Course Road through a portion of Petroglyph National Monument. The monument, a state and federal historic site, is considered sacred to American Indians. The review committee in June granted the city a permit to collect data from the roadway path but wanted the city to consult with tribes before the permit took effect. The Jicarilla Apache and Picuris Pueblo were the only tribes to respond to the city's written request for consultation, said Signa Larralde, an archaeologist with the federal Bureau of Land Management and a member of the review committee. The petroglyphs area was once used by the Jicarilla for hunting and gathering before their confinement to a reservation, Larralde said. "Since we have received very little input from the tribes about the significance of the markings, it's up to (the Jicarilla) to interpret them for us," Larralde said. There's no date set for the start of construction, said John Castillo, director of the city Department of Municipal Development. Before any rocks can be moved, city archaeologists must conduct other research, Castillo said. That might include testing grinding slicks - areas once used for grinding grain - to see what material was ground there, he said. Once lifted and hauled a few hundred feet from their current locations, the boulders will be rearranged in a way that matches their original orientation, Castillo said. At the commission's request, the city earlier studied the petroglyphs to prove they could all be moved, rather than being on unmovable bedrock, Larralde said. Copyright c. 2005 The Albuquerque Tribune. --------- "RE: No Feather in their Caps" --------- Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 08:40:46 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="FREEDMEN DENIED ENROLLMENT" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://washingtontimes.com/culture/20051121-103441-8879r.htm No feather in their caps By Shepherd Pittman THE WASHINGTON TIMES November 22, 2005 For as long as she can remember, Evelyn Ross knew she was part Cherokee. Her grandparents told her they had Cherokee blood, and she recalls her mother and grandmother once receiving support checks from the Cherokee Nation. As an adult, Mrs. Ross held a membership card that allowed her to vote in elections in the Cherokee Nation. Her husband, James Ross, is the grandson of Stick Ross, a Cherokee council member who served over 100 years ago and whose ancestors walked the Trail of Tears in the 1830s. But Mrs. Ross, a 77-year-old resident of Tahlequah, Okla., is no longer recognized as a citizen by the Cherokee Nation. She lost her membership because her ancestors were registered as Cherokee Freedmen -- black slaves, formerly owned by Cherokee. When the Freedmen were emancipated by the Treaty of 1866, many were granted full tribal citizenship. Now many of their descendants have been shut out of the tribe, and they are fighting to be allowed back in. Mrs. Ross and her husband learned they were no longer welcome in the tribe when they showed up at a Cherokee office to confirm their voter registration. "They said the Freedmen couldn't vote anymore, and they couldn't get any assistance," Mrs. Ross said. "You had to prove you had -- Cherokee in you." Losing tribal membership means more than voting rights. They are no longer recognized as members of a community where citizens receive financial assistance, health care and the benefits of belonging to a tribe that has been buoyed by casino profits. Although Cherokee officials do not release financial information about the tribe's casinos, Indian gaming casinos in the United States brought in more than $18 billion in 2004. Unfortunately for the Freedmen, tribal laws virtually prohibit them from proving their Cherokee ancestry. The Cherokee tribal council passed an act in 1983 requiring that all members hold a Certificate of Indian Blood. In order to obtain that certificate, applicants must demonstrate that their ancestors were on another list, the Dawes Rolls. Authorized by Congress in 1893, the Dawes Rolls were taken to determine land distribution. Now the Cherokee Nation uses inclusion on the rolls as a membership requirement, and whether the Freedmen were listed on them depends on who you ask. "Anyone, no matter what ethnicity they are, may be a citizen of the Cherokee Nation if they are registered on the Dawes Rolls," said Mike Miller, a spokesman for the Cherokee Nation. But the Freedmen, he said, are not on the Rolls. "We never tell people they don't have Cherokee ancestry. What we tell them is, they're not eligible for citizenship in the Cherokee Nation." The Freedmen disagree. "They are on it, and they're citizens of the tribe," said Jon Velie, a Norman, Okla., lawyer who filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Freedmen. "The Freedmen are on the Dawes Rolls. They're just segregated." No one -- Cherokee officials included -- argues that the Dawes Rolls are entirely fair. Along with the roster of Cherokee Indians, government officials composed a Cherokee Freedmen roll. People were sometimes divided based on what they looked like, and stories abound of siblings ending up on different rolls because their skin tones differed. "I don't think anyone would claim the Dawes Roll is perfect," said Mr. Miller. "But it's what we've got 100 years later." Tribe officials emphasize that the Cherokee Nation has the right to enforce its laws. "You have to look at it as a sovereign nation," said Randy Gibson, a spokesman for the Cherokee Nation. "Just like you're a citizen of the United States." Mr. Velie's client sued the U.S. government in 2003 to require the Cherokee Nation to honor the Treaty of 1866 and grant the Freedmen voting rights. The Cherokee Nation is "trying to strengthen their sovereignty by removing the oversight of the U.S. government," Mr. Velie said. "The tribes hide behind the fact that they are sovereignly immune. They're saying, 'We're going to treat our former slaves as the second-class citizens they are.' It's really repugnant." He argues that although the Cherokee no longer keep slaves, exiling Freedmen from the tribe is a "badge of slavery" that violates the treaty. The lawsuit's lead plaintiff is Marilyn Vann, a Freedman descendant who thinks she deserves to have her heritage recognized, said Freedmen descendants are "confused, angry and bitter." "We've always considered ourselves to be Cherokee," said Mrs. Vann. "That's what we are." Cherokee officials tell critics their tribe has historically been viewed as one of the most inclusive, having adopted members of the Shawnee and Delaware tribes. "One thing that's funny ... the Cherokee Nation has probably one of the more inclusive membership policies," said Mr. Miller. "It's not a race-based issue." Some Freedmen have turned to genetics to prove conclusively they have Cherokee blood. A number of companies sell DNA test kits. A user can swab the inside of his or her cheek and send the cell samples to a lab, where technicians look for genetic variations that crop up in specific ethnicities. But the procedure is new and, by all accounts, an imprecise science. Working with a limited pool of genetic samples, the laboratories cannot yet definitively pinpoint a subject's origins. Cherokee leaders say genetic evidence is irrelevent. "They can't tell you at all what tribe you might be," said Mr. Miller. He said test results revealing Native American ancestry are "vague" and do not affect a person's legal standing -- in other words, even if they prove they have Cherokee ancestors, they still aren't on the Dawes Roll. "DNA proves our case, but we've got to get past jurisdiction first," said Mr. Velie. "Once we get past jurisdiction, we don't even have to go to DNA." The important issue, the Freedmen argue, is that the Cherokee Nation honor the Treaty of 1866. "The Cherokee Nation is utilizing the Dawes Commission Rolls to essentially keep the former slaves in an oppressed status, where they can't vote for their tribal leadership or constitutional amendments," said Mr. Velie. Mrs. Vann agreed. "You cannot make changes in your nation, and you are not completely a part of your community if you don't have voting rights," she said. "We have not asked for apologies," said Mrs. Vann. "Nobody is asking for reparations. All we're asking for is the right the tribal leaders in 1866 promised, and our rights under the [U.S.] Constitution." Back in Tahlequah, Mrs. Ross just doesn't understand why she is no longer regarded as a member of her great-grandfather's tribe. "It shouldn't be like that," she said. "They should help everyone that was on the roll. If you have a roll number, you should be entitled ... just like the rest of them." Copyright c. 2005 News World Communications, Inc. --------- "RE: Tribe looks at restoring River Section" --------- Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2005 08:45:01 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SALT RIVER PIMA-MARICOPA" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.azcentral.com//articles/1123sr-economyriver23Z8.htm Tribe looks at restoring river section Salt could get greenbelt Judy Nichols The Arizona Republic November 23, 2005 NORTHEAST VALLEY - Scottsdale has long had the Indian Bend Wash, a long greenbelt that has trails for walking, biking and other recreational activities while providing flood control. Now, its neighbor to the east, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, is considering a proposal for a river restoration project that could have some of the same features. The Va Shly'ay Akimel Restoration Project would environmentally restore 14 miles of the Salt River on the community, bringing back pockets of water and native trees, plants and wildlife. Most of the project is on the reservation, but a small portion is located in Mesa and Maricopa County. The tribe likes environmental restoration, but there is some concern about the project bringing more people and development to the community. "Some members are concerned about encroachment," said Jacob Moore, tribal assistant on congressional and legislative affairs. "They're concerned our borders will be infringed upon." The $120 million project, a partnership of the tribe, Mesa and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, could include trails for hiking, biking or horses, and attract commercial projects. "We looked at having it flowing like a river, with natural plantings, but when we looked at the cost, it just wasn't feasible," said Marilyn R. Ethelbah, an engineer in the tribe's Cultural and Environmental Services Department. The tribal council will vote on the project at several steps along the way. Copyright c. 2005, azcentral.com. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Tribes build muscle to fight for Great Lakes" --------- Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2005 08:45:01 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SAVING GREAT LAKES BASIN" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.northernexpress.com/editorial/features.asp?id=1546 Tribes build muscle to fight for Great Lakes Andy Knott November 23, 2005 Could an historic alliance of Great Lakes native peoples prevent the destruction of the lakes as we know them today? "Imagine a future where there are bus tours of shipwrecks on the former bottomlands of the Great Lakes," says Frank Ettawageshik, Chairman of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians. "We can't let that happen." Ettawageshik is one leader bringing tribes from the U.S. and first nations from Canada together to oppose diversions and large-scale withdrawals from the Great Lakes basin. The nascent group, now called the United Indian Nations of the Great Lakes (UINGL), has met twice during the past year and is forming stronger relationships among themselves and with other groups involved in Great Lakes water protection. The movement focuses on the future of the Great Lakes, while rooted in history and native tradition that knows no artificial national boundaries. POWER SHIFT The endeavor comes at a time when more arid Southwestern states are gaining population and political muscle at the expense of Great Lakes states. And Great Lakes states are faltering at protecting their greatest resource. Reapportionment of congressional seats following the 2000 census saw every Great Lake state except Minnesota lose seats, for a total of nine lost. But Southwest states gained eight seats. This followed similar patterns from reapportionment after the 1990 census: five Great Lake states lost11 seats, and three Southwest states gained 11. The Colorado River has already been drained for the growing megalopolises of Central Arizona and Southern California. And many fear that these thirsty Southwest communities may someday turn a roving eye toward the Great Lakes. "People out West look at water as a gold mine," says Bob Kewaygoshkum, Chairman of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. "We as tribes must unite together and with others to help stop water diversions. Actions we take today will affect our grandchildren-for seven generations." But even states within the Great Lakes basin cannot be trusted to protect this vital resource. In 2001, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, under Governor Engler, approved a permit to allow Perrier to withdraw more than one-half million gallons per day from an aquifer in Mecosta County for a water bottling plant. Most of the water from the plant would be sold outside the Great Lakes basin. SOVEREIGN NATIONS Tribes bring political power to the table that is not governed by states, let alone state population shifts. As sovereign nations, tribal governments possess government-to-government relationships with the federal government. These tribal and federal relationships are rooted in treaties. And many treaties reserve tribal fishing rights, which are contingent upon the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem. Ellen Kohler is a Traverse City attorney who works on natural resources issues for the GTB. According to Kohler, "States should recognize the obvious-that treaties between the federal governments and tribes throughout the Great Lakes created tribal interests in Great Lakes water that are not governed by state water law." The effort to unite native governments on both sides of the border is in large part aimed at influencing U.S. and Canadian policy relating to implementing the Annex 2001 Agreement. The Annex is a supplement to the 1985 Great Lakes Charter, which establishes water resource management principles among U.S. Great Lakes states and Canadian provinces. The Annex would set a common standard for water diversions and withdrawals. The tribes of the U.S. and first nations of Canada are aligning themselves to throw their collective political weight at the Annex process. Unfortunately, native peoples were not brought into the Annex process at the beginning - which is all too common. Rather, they were treated as stakeholders and asked to comment. Tribes and first nations do not wish to be treated as stakeholders. As sovereign nations, they deserve to be consulted as partners on a government-to-government level. As such, the UINGL is developing its own parallel process to develop positions on diversions and withdrawals. The UINGL will then negotiate directly with other parties involved in the Annex debate. UINGL members are participating as observers in Annex discussions held by the Council of Great Lakes Governors. And representatives of the council have participated as observers in the UINGL discussions. Great Lakes indigenous peoples first met in response to the Annex 2001 process in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, in November 2004. At that meeting, representatives from more than 140 tribes and first nations signed the historic Tribal and First Nations Great Lakes Water Accord. The Accord begins by saying: "Our ancestors have inhabited the Great Lakes Basin since time immemorial, long before the current political boundaries were drawn. Our spiritual and cultural connections to our Mother Earth are manifest by our willingness to embrace the responsibility of protecting and preserving the land and waters." And ends by saying: "By this accord signed on November 23, 2004, at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, the Tribes and First Nations of the Great Lakes Basin do hereby demand that our rights and sovereignty be respected, that any governmental effort to protect and preserve the Waters of the Great Lakes Basin include full participation by Tribes and First Nations, and we also hereby pledge that we share the interests and concerns about the future of the Great Lakes Waters, further pledging to work together with each other and with the other governments in the Great Lakes Basin to secure a healthy future for the Great Lakes." LARGEST GATHERING The UINGL was officially launched at an April 2005 meeting in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The location is historically significant: This was the largest gathering of Great Lakes native leaders since the signing of the Treaty of Niagara in 1764. That treaty grew out of the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which provided all land west of the Ottawa River was Indian land. The Treaty of 1764 was "a watershed moment in common law that recognized aboriginal title," says John Beaucage, Grand Council Chief of the Union of Ontario Indians. "The idea of having a (UINGL) meeting in Niagara Falls about the Great Lakes seemed to make sense from an historical perspective. We were reasserting our aboriginal title to the Great Lakes." Beaucage was the Canadian force, along with Ettawageshik from the U.S. side, that led formation of the UINGL. He cites a group of native women called the Water Walkers as inspiration for starting the UINGL effort. The Water Walkers recall the traditional Anishnabe role of women as protectors of water-the lifeblood of Mother Earth. The women began carrying a copper bucket full of water around each Great Lake in 2003 to bring attention to the plight of the lakes. So far, they have completed their journeys around Lakes Superior and Michigan. George Bennett, GTB vice chairman and long-time leader on Tribal environmental issues, looks at the water diversion issue as just one of many threats to the Great Lakes-from invasive species to airborne power plant mercury pollution that ends up in fish. He likens short-sig