_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 14, ISSUE 006 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, WOTANGING IKCHE - Lakota - Common News Wotanging Ikche and Native American News Copyright c. 1996-2006 nanews.org Aboriginal/AmerIndian Perspective about the First Nations of Turtle Island February 11, 2006 Mohawk enniska/lateness moon Hopi powamuya/purification moon Lakota cannapopa wi/moon when the cold cracks the trees Algonquin wapicuummilcum/moon when ice in river is gone +-------------------------------------------------------+ | Much more happens in Indian Country than is reported | | in this weekly newsletter. For daily updates & events | | go to http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm | +-------------------------------------------------------+ Otapi'sin Atsinikiisinaakssin -- Blackfeet -- News for All the People Ni-mah-mi-kwa-zoo-min -- Ojibwe -- We Are Talking About Ourselves Aunchemokauhettittea -- Naragansett -- Let Us Share News Kanoheda Aniyvwiya -- Cherokee -- Journal of the People O Es'te Opunvk'vmucvse -- Creek -- People's New News O o O Acimowin -- Plains Cree -- Story or Account O o O Tlaixmatiliztli -- Nahuatl -- News O o o o o O Agnutmaqan -- Listuguj Mi'kmaq -- News O o O Sho-da-ku-ye -- Teehahnahmah -- Talking Birchbark O o O Un Chota -- Susquehannic Seneca -- The People Speak O Ha-Sah-Sliltha -- Ditidaht Nation -- News of the People Ximopanolti tehuatzin, inin Mexika tlahtolli -- Nahuatl -- For you we offer these words It-hah-pe-hah Ah-num pah-le -- Chickasaw -- Together We Are Talking Dineh jii' adah' ho'nil'e'gii ba' ha' neh -- Navajo Nation -- What's Happening among The People News Okla Humma Holisso Nowat Anya -- Choctaw -- People(s) Red Newspaper Hi'a chu ah gaa -- Pima -- The stories or the talk of the People s ch mA mL tL squee Lux -- Okanogan -- News from the People Native American News -- Language of the Occupation Forces ++>If you speak a Native American language not listed above, please send us your words for "News of the People." We'd rather take up this whole page saving these few words of our hundreds of nations than present a nice clean banner in the language of the occupation forces who came here determined to replace our words with their own. email gars@nanews.org with the equivalent of "News of the People" in your tribal language along with the english translation <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is produced in straight ASCII text for greatest portability across platforms. Read it with a fixed-pitch font, such as Courier, Monaco, FixedSys or CG Times. Proportional fonts will be difficult to read. <================<<<< >>>>================> This issue contains articles from www.owlstar.com; www.indianz.com; www.pechanga.net; Action Canada Network, Oyate Underground, Iron Natives and Rez_Life Mailing Lists; 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 Quotes: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + =================== "We have to bring closure to this." "This is an exciting time, I think, for Indian Country because we are taking ownership of our future. The accounting probably will never be totally resolved - we know that. But it's about fairness to our (Individual Indian Monies) account-holders and their grandchildren." __ Chief Cecilia Fire Thunder, Oglala +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Indian Pledge of Allegiance | The Indian Pledge of Alleg- | | iance was first presented | I pledge allegiance to my Tribe,| on 2 December '93 during the | to the democratic principles | opening address of the Nat- | of the Republic | ional Congress of American | and to the individual freedoms | Indian Tribal-States Relat- | borrowed from the Iroquois and | ions Panel in Reno, NV. NCAI | Choctaw Confederacies, | plans distribution of the | as incorporated in the United | Indian Pledge to all Indian | States Constitution, | Nations. | so that my forefathers | | shall not have died in vain | Walk in Beauty! Night Owl +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Journey | In the summer and early fall | The Bloodline | of 1998 the Treaty Unity Riders | | rode a thousand miles on horse- | For all that live and live by law | back, carrying a staff and | We Stand, we Call, We Ride | praying each step of the way. | For All that fear and fear by sight | | We Hear, we Listen, we Ride | These prayers were offered for | For all that pray and pray by strength| each of us, and that the Unity | We Feel, we Move, we Ride | of all Peoples might happen. | For all that die and die by greed | | We Hurt, we Cry, we Ride | Tatanka Cante forwarded this | For all that birth and birth by right | poem on behalf of all the Unity | We Smile, we Hold, we Ride | Riders that we might stop and | For all that need and need by heart | ask if the next words we say, the | We Came, we Went, we Rode. | next act we make is for the good | | of the People or is it from ego | Treaty Unity Riders | for self. +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ O'siyo Brothers and Sister! The Lovely Janet ain't none to happy with the latest trick bag from the U.S. Seek cover and read what she has to say. ---- Oklahoma congressman, Tom Cole, rightly chastises the administration of his own party in its determination to steal from Indians by any means available. From its earliest days, the Bush administration has been resolute in continuing the increasingly obvious mismanagement, possible intentional larceny, and oft-botched coverup that has characterized the ironically-named "Indian Trust." BIA and "Justice" officials have deployed numerous strategies to mislead or bully Indians, and further speed the drain of funds from Indian hands. Could there be a clearer example of making sure impoverished tribes, if they cannot be further impoverished, will simply die or go away? The latest ploy, outlined in this issues lead article, is so obvious that everyone right up to the President, if he supports it, should be found guilty of contempt of court. Clearly the court intended that the United States Government reimburse Indian Trust claimants for legal expenses. Instead, the administration intends to withdraw the funds from already- gutted programs that had been guaranteed by treaty in exchange for Indian land. Let's draw a quick example for those who don't get it. I have both a credit card and a mortgage at the same bank (please note that this is the only bank I'm allowed to patronize). The bank adds purchases I did not make to my credit card, and though I can prove these charges were due to bank error and possible embezzlement, they refuse to remove them. I sue. The bank intentionally drags out the case over 10 years. The bank's credit card managers are found in contempt of court at least twice. The court (which is run by lawyers and a judge who work for the bank's directors) finally requires the bank to pay my legal fees. So they can "afford" these fees, the bank increases the interest rate on my mortgage. Same thing. The additional shame is that if this happened to a white or black woman, the news would be all over it. She'd write a book, it'd be a best seller, and she could buy the damn bank. But it hasn't happened to a white or black woman. It has happened to millions of Indians over the past hundred-and-fifty years of "trusting" the government to honor its treaties. The scandal was brought to light by a Blackfoot bookkeeper who has yet to get a dime out of it for herself or her people. She hasn't even been invited to Oprah's couch to be feted as a woman who's her people's hero, although she surely is. And while there have been news articles about it, and it's as incredible a misappropriation of funds and coverup as Enron ever was, if you go out on the street and ask ten people about the "Indian trust case," the answer you'll get from nine is "huh?" +/// Janet Smith owlstar@bellsouth.net /*/+ P. O. Box 672168 OwlStar Trading Post + / * Marietta, GA 30008, U.S.A. http://www.owlstar.com * + ---- Dohiyi Ani Oginalii , , Gary Smith (*,*) wotanging@bellsouth.net P. O. Box 672168 (`-') gars@nanews.org Marietta, GA 30006, U.S.A. ===w=w=== http://www.nanews.org ----------- News of the people featured in this issue ----------- - Lawmaker opposes - Unique Partnership use of Tribal Funds to help poor Tribes - State of the Indian Nations - Lummis win $1M grant - JODI RAVE: Garcia calls to fight Poverty for settlement of Cobell - Conference explores - Oil and 2 ways of Life in Alaska Indian Business hurdles - Tribes may get $10.5M - YELLOW BIRD: in Settlement Teen suicides remain mystery - Measure would - YELLOW BIRD: Cherish our Elders fund Tribal Governments and the Stories they tell - Tribal Leaders - OPINION: The Future of continue the push for Trust reform American Indian Peoples - BIA rescuers honored - OPINION: The Future of while Tribes plead for help American Indian Peoples - Pataki opposes Federal Trust - Hallucinating NY Reporter for Oneida Land defames Mohawks - Tribes' Political giving targeted - Metis Family - Tribes' Special Status bicentennial celebration product of Law and History - Elder honoured for dedication - State OKs Nez Perce Bison Hunt to helping others - Nez Perce Tribe - Many heard of Weise's opposes Idaho's Plan plans to kill - TVA asked to postpone Land sale - Police cleared - Medicine Creek in Death of Ojibwe Man Treaty seedling planted - Native Prisoner - Program helps Indian Artists -- Arkansas Inmate - Turtle Mountain Band, can have Prayer Feather Foundation to fight poverty -- Pen pal request - Southern Utes -- MT Prayer Warriors recover more than $3 Million - History: Carlisle Indian School - Museum faced with - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days losing Indian Identity - Rustywire: - South Dakota Indian Market Plans For the Love of an Indian Woman - Hayward man - Rustywire Poem: Hair Wash fights for Native Americans --------- "RE: Lawmaker opposes use of Tribal Funds" --------- Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2006 15:11:36 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BUSH ADMINISTRATION SINKS TO NEW LOW WITH INDIANS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://newsok.com/article/1752288/ Lawmaker opposes use of tribal funds By Chris Casteel The Oklahoman February 4, 2006 WASHINGTON A Bush administration decision to cut Indian programs to pay legal fees in the long-running Indian trust case is "outrageous" and shouldn't be allowed, Rep. Tom Cole said this week. Cole, R-Moore, who is a member of the Chickasaw Nation, said the move essentially punishes Indian tribes because individual Indians took a legitimate complaint to court. The federal judge in the Indian trust lawsuit, filed here in 1996 to force the Interior Department to account for funds in individual Indian trust accounts, recently ordered the department to pay more than $7 million in legal fees to the Indians' attorneys. The judge previously has ruled that the federal government failed to properly manage the trust accounts, which date back more than a century and hold the proceeds from various judgments and leases on Indian lands. Congressional committees are trying to craft a legislative settlement in the case, and Cole said it should be done quickly. A letter sent to tribal leaders by James Cason, associate deputy secretary at the Interior Department, said the legal expenses were "unplanned" and that the money had to be taken from various activities. Cason's letter said $3 million would be taken from the Bureau of Indian Affairs; of that, $1 million would be achieved by cutting Indian programs by 0.1 percent. Elouise Cobell, a Blackfeet Indian from Montana, who is the lead plaintiff in the case, said the move to cut programs to pay the legal fees violates the law and the judge's intent in the case. An Interior Department spokesman did not return a call seeking comment on Friday. Copyright c. 2006 The Oklahoman/News 9, Produced by NewsOK.com --------- "RE: State of the Indian Nations" --------- Date: Fri, 3 Feb 2006 08:43:13 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="FOUR GREAT STEPS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=7530 State of the Indian Nations address focuses on "Four Great Steps" Full text of NCAI leader's speech WASHINGTON DC Native American Times February 2, 2006 National Congress of American Indians President Joe Garcia has delivered the fourth annual State of the Indian Nations address, outlining what he called "Four Great Steps" for Indian Country to pursue in the coming year. "Four Great Steps" is a reference to the spiritual outlook of the Four Directions. "We face four areas of great challenge and we must meet each of them in order to move our nations forward. Just as the Four Directions provide a map for the soul, The Four Great Steps define the challenges we face as tribal governments-the needs we must meet and overcome to improve the lives of those of us of the Indian nations," Garcia said. The four areas Garcia focused on are: reforms in public safety and law enforcement; Indian health care; education and tribal economies; and a quick, fair settlement to the long-running Indian trust lawsuit. The following is the full text of Garcia's speech: On behalf of the sovereign Indian nations within the United States of America and the National Congress of American Indians, I welcome you to the fourth annual State of the Indian Nations address. I welcome tribal leaders, Administration officials, members of the House and Senate, national Indian organizations, friends and family who have gathered here in Washington D.C.; and the many who are listening across the country. The state of the Indian Nations today is strong. Over the past year, many of our people have withstood devastation in the form of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, losing everything they had. Our prayers are with them. Many of our native brothers and sisters are wearing the uniform of the U.S. Armed Forces today. They are fighting the War on Terror in Afghanistan and Iraq, or are serving our country in other places here and around the world. Our prayers are with them, too-and so is our undying gratitude. Strength, triumph over adversity, the will to succeed-the Indian Nations stand strong today. We are growing more self-sufficient, more economically developed, more politically active; and as always, steadfastly committed to the stewardship and defense of our home, the United States of America. At the same time, this confidence is matched by an acute awareness of our problems. We know that if you want change, you have to do the work yourself; relying only on the others to the extent of their promised commitment. The spiritual outlook of the Indian nations is found in The Four Directions, each represented by a different color, a different animal and a different meaning. Everything in the world comes from the four directions-these four powers. And they must be in balance. The meaning of each direction varies among tribes, but consider the tradition of the Pueblos. North is blue or green - conflict and tension. West is yellow - and the condition of man - in darkness and in danger - standing before the unknown. South is red - peace, resolution and rest. East is white - victory, sunrise, clarity. Man must turn to each of these four directions to solve a problem. Today I borrow from that tradition to describe the task before the Indian Nations. We face four areas of great challenge. And we must meet each of them in order to move our nation forward. Number 1: Public Safety; Number 2: Healthcare; Number 3: Education and the Economy; and Number 4: The Trust Settlement. I call these The Four Great Steps-the agenda for the Indian Nations. Just as the Four Directions provide a map for the soul, The Four Great Steps define the challenges we face as tribal governments-the needs we must meet and overcome to improve the lives of those of us of the Indian Nations. Number one: Law Enforcement. First is public safety. The problem, simply stated, is this: We have the will and the abilities, but we lack the means. The inability of border tribes to stem the flow of illegal aliens passing through their communities is a profound problem. Some aliens may want no more than entry into our country, but there are others who cross to engage in drug trafficking and other crimes. The results for our communities are increased murder rates, higher rates of theft, more rapes and beatings, and the fear among many of even going out. This is unacceptable. We want to implement a long-term solution to the problem that is more than simply stopping those we can catch and send back, and letting the rest get through. We want to do more, but we do not have the means. We are largely on our own because of limited financial assistance from the federal government. The government's responsibility to us in this way is mandated, and we are prepared to work with them. But they must give us the tools to do so. According to the Justice Department, the typical Indian Country police force has no more than three officers responsible for patrolling an area the size of Delaware. So we must do more to protect our families. We want to help in other ways, as well. In particular, we want to do more to protect American Indian women, who suffer greatly from domestic violence. Homicide is the third leading cause of death for Native women. Seventy percent of American Indians who are the victims of violent crimes are victimized by someone of a different race. Methamphetamine is a poison taking Indian lives, destroying Indian families, and razing entire communities. In 2005, Jesus Sagaste-Cruz was convicted of conspiracy and distribution of methamphetamine. He knew that enforcement was lax on tribal lands. And he figured he could use that to his advantage. In his case, it did not work. But in too many others, it does. The remedy begins with more resources, but that is only part. It also includes streamlining the system we use to get those resources. On the matter of border control, federal policy requires tribal governments to apply for Department of Homeland Security funding through state and local governments. This does not work. I call for a direct line between our tribes and Homeland Security in this matter. For domestic violence, I am proud to say that President Bush and the Congress have already taken action to help, with the recent reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. We call upon Congress to fully fund this life-saving legislation. In the war against methamphetamine, the answer is numbers: We need more officers to fight back. Overall, we must have increased manpower, realistic funding, and improved communication. Number two: Healthcare. Second of the Steps is healthcare: Because of inferior healthcare, the quality and length of life for American Indians falls well below the rest of the U.S. American Indians have a life expectancy five years less than the rest of the country. A typical American Indian is 650 percent more likely to die from tuberculosis, 420 percent more likely to die from diabetes, 280 percent more likely to die in an accident, and 52 percent more likely to die from pneumonia or influenza than the rest of the U.S. population. Native American healthcare is often no more than emergency treatment, which means that our people are getting care only when they can't wait anymore. There's little preventive healthcare and little education for healthier living. Healthcare expenditures for Indian are less than half what America spends for federal prisoners. Let me repeat that: Healthcare expenditures for Indian are less than half what America spends for federal prisoners. And remember that there are real people behind these numbers. The Ute Mountain Ute tribe in Towaoc, Colorado, recently lost three tribal elders in a van accident because the only way these elders could get dialysis was to drive two-and-a-half hours each way to the nearest hospital with the right equipment. What they needed wasn't close enough. Because of this, I call upon Congress and the President to uphold their historic and contractual obligation by reauthorizing the tribally proposed Indian Health Care Improvement Act during this session of Congress. This legislation is no less than the framework for the Indian healthcare system. It will bring our outdated and inadequate system into the 21st Century - addressing mental health, substance abuse and youth suicide, and support for attracting and retaining qualified healthcare professionals. Basic things such as in-home healthcare are becoming commonplace. But they are not yet a common part of the system of Indian healthcare. They ought to be. Number 3: Education and the Economy. The third Great Step is education and the economy: As it now exists, the Indian education system is inadequate to meet our children's needs. This in turn drags down our economy, whose infrastructure already lags behind the rest of the country. Education, the skills and abilities that our children learn in school, is the foundation of the economy. And the Indian education system is lacking. Only half of Indian students complete high school. Only 13 percent of American Indians hold bachelors or graduate degrees, less than half the national average. We know from academic studies that Indian children flourish when their classroom experiences are built on our tradition, language and our culture. The No Child Left Behind Act allows for this kind of education, but the resources to actually make it possible have yet to be appropriated. The remedy, of course, is to fully fund this part of the No Child Left Behind Act. I am confident that this culture-centered approach will work because I have seen it work. In 1994, the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative began connecting students with elders in the community; and creating a passion for learning by showing students how to explore science and history in light of their cultural heritage. It worked. Over a 10-year period, student performance went up. Test scores improved and dropout rates declined. And this didn't require blue-ribbon panels or years of research. It helped as soon as it was begun: turning the unique position of the Indian Nations into an asset by making Indian children proud of where they come from. I call on Congress to appropriate the funds to complete, what is for Indian Country, a part of the No Child Left Behind Act that we cannot afford to miss. Education is a pillar of the economy. Another pillar of the economy is government. Just as state and municipal governments are obligated to provide vital services and promote growth, so are tribal governments. Though federal spending for Indians has lost ground compared with spending for the U.S. population at large, tribal self-governance has proved that federal investment in tribes pays off. Between 1990 and 2000, income rose by a third and the poverty rate declined by 7 percent. And a Harvard study shows that these gains occur with or without gaming. Tribal governments have worked hard to put laws in place that promote economic activity and Indian reservations are the next great opportunity for the American economy. But this is only a beginning. Real per-capita income of Indians living on reservations is still less than half of the national average. Unemployment is still double what it is for the rest of the country. And the poorest counties in the United States are on tribal lands. So we still have yet to join the success of the rest of the nation. Because of our often-remote location relative to superior professional services, it is crucial for us to join the telecommunications revolution of distance learning, telemedicine, public safety, e-commerce, and electronic government. Not enough Indians have access. Housing conditions for many Indians have reached the crisis point. Four in ten Indians are under-housed. To avoid going homeless, many are forced to crowd several families into a single-family structure. I've seen up to eighteen people stuffed into a three-bedroom house. More than one in eight Indians lack access to safe drinking water. More than one in twelve lack access to basic sanitation. This is humiliating, degrading, and medically unconscionable. It is wrong, and it has to be brought to an end. We are sovereign, independent, self-sustaining nations. But as I have noted before, our mandated relationship with the United States Government puts us in a precarious position. Our success is dependent to a large extent on the Governments' respect for tribal rights to self-determination and self-sufficiency. NCAI's fiscal year 2007 Indian Country Budget Request outlines some visions tribes have for meaningful federal investment in Indian Country. The success of Indian Country in self-governing and managing their resources warrant continued federal investment in tribal self- determination. And this does work. Native Americans are becoming homeowners at an increasing rate, 39 percent more from 1997 to 2001. Last year, President Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to assist tribes in the development of energy. I am grateful to the President for this support-because it supports our cultural commitment to natural environmental harmony, and our belief that we must be caretakers of the land we cherish. We look forward to working with the Administration on the implementation of the law in the same spirit. Number four: The Trust Settlement. The fourth and final Step is the trust settlement: The fact that the Cobell litigation remains unsettled impedes our progress with the federal government on nearly all other issues. This litigation has dragged on for ten years and recent decisions indicate that it will be delayed many more years, with diminishing chances of a favorable outcome. This litigation is diverting money from other needs and creating an environment in the Administration that makes it hard to move on to other issues. The solution is straightforward: let's settle Cobell fairly and quickly, and then let's move ahead. We want Congress to deal with this in good faith and then allow us all to put it behind us. Whatever the settlement turns out to be, the ongoing years of delay will cost millions in lost opportunity. Let's move on. As Indians, our lives are defined by our history and our rich cultures. We believe in elevating virtue to a way of life. We believe in family, tradition, and self-determination. Our tribes exist as nations with sovereign and independent governments. And we are keenly aware of the challenges we face in providing for our people. I believe the way to meet those challenges is through these Four Great Steps: Public Safety; Healthcare; our economy and infrastructure and the education of our young people. And finally, the speedy achievement of a reasonable trust settlement. The state of the Indian Nations is strong. This is a plan for making it stronger. And I am confident that this will happen. Most of you here know that from where we are today, it is only a few blocks to the newest memorial on the Mall, the National Museum of the American Indian. The exhibits inside tell our story. But the museum's presence on the Mall itself, in the last unoccupied ground before the Capitol, shows the world the unbreakable bond between the Indian Nations and the United States of America. Our fates are bound together. This is where we belong. Just as the Four Directions show a way to live, these Four Great Steps show a way to grow. I look forward to seeing this progress for the benefit of us all. Thank you. Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: JODI RAVE: Garcia calls for settlement of Cobell" --------- Date: Fri, 3 Feb 2006 08:43:13 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="JODI RAVE: GARCIA CALLS FOR COBELL SETTLEMENT" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2006/02/03/jodirave/rave53.txt 'Let's settle Cobell,' Native leader says By JODI RAVE of the Missoulian February 3, 2006 The president of the National Congress of American Indians declared Thursday that a top priority for tribal leaders is to end a nearly decade- old lawsuit that pits Native landowners against the federal government. "The fact that the Cobell litigation remains unsettled impedes our progress with the federal government on nearly all other issues," NCAI president Joe Garcia said during the annual State of the Indian Nations address. "The solution is straightforward: Let's settle Cobell fairly and quickly and then let's move ahead. We want Congress to deal with us in good faith and then allow us all to put it behind us." Elouise Cobell of Browning, the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit against the Interior Department, as well as tribal leaders, have been pushing for a settlement on the case - which has been in court since 1996. The suit affects a half-million Native landowners whose income from natural resources has been mismanaged by the federal government for more than a century. A settlement is expected to cost the government more than $10 billion; that estimate is down from earlier projections of $170 billion. As Garcia delivered Thursday's address, tribal leaders around the country were working on their response to a letter from James Cason, the Interior Department's associate deputy secretary. Received last week, the letter notified tribes that a court-mandated legal fee payment sent to Cobell attorneys on Jan. 18 would adversely affect tribal programs. Cason wrote that the $7.1 million award, to be paid to Cobell attorneys under the Equal Access to Justice Act, was an unplanned expense for the Interior Department. Consequently, Cason said, the money - which covers court costs to date in the Cobell suit - would be taken from Native programs. "Despite Mr. Cason's assertion in the letter that these fees were 'not a planned expense,' we had made clear almost two years ago that we would be seeking these fees," Cobell said in a statement released Thursday. "And U. S. District Judge Royce Lamberth had made equally clear that he was going to award these fees to us." The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Office of Historical Trust Accounting will bear the brunt of the costs. The two departments, which fall under the umbrella of the Interior Department, will shoulder $5 million of the legal fees. "These funds have been redirected to comply with the court's order," wrote Cason. "These funds are no longer available." He told tribal leaders to realize that "these financial changes affect your planned program activities." The Treasury Department, which cuts land-related royalty checks for tribes and individual landowners, was tapped for $1.8 million. "This litigation is diverting money from other needs - that makes it hard for us to move on to other issues," said Garcia, who delivered his address from the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Garcia, who is governor of the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo in New Mexico, was recently elected to lead NCAI, the country's oldest and largest Native advocacy organization. Cobell described the government's announcement as "cruel" and "despicable," given landowner's court-secured rights to an accounting. "Now that the government must pay the costs of that accounting, the Interior Department is planning to loot Indian accounts once again to cover up its misdeeds," she said. Besides settling the Cobell v. Norton suit, Garcia listed Indian Country's remaining three priorities as law enforcement, health care and education-economy matters. "The Indian nations stand strong today," Garcia said. "We are growing more self-sufficient, more economically developed, more politically active and as always steadfastly committed to the stewardship and defense of our home, the United States of America. At the same time, this confidence is matched by an acute awareness of our problems." He cited law enforcement concerns, such as border patrol, methamphetamine use, violence against Native women and lack of police officers on tribal lands. Now that Congress has reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act, Garcia urged congressional leaders to fully fund it. The act includes a new provision targeting the safety of Native women; 70 percent of the violent crimes against them are committed by someone of a different race. As for health care, Garcia implored Congress to reauthorize the Indian Health Care Improvement Act during this session. "This legislation is no less than the framework for the Indian health-care system. It will bring our outdated and inadequate system into the 21st century, addressing mental health, substance abuse and youth suicide and support for - qualified health-care professionals." Even though federal spending for the U.S. population at large outpaces money allocated for tribes, reservation economies continue to grow, he said. Between 1990 and 2000, income among Natives rose by a third while the poverty rate declined by 7 percent. These improvements occurred whether a tribe operated a casino or not, according to a study by the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development. "But this is only a beginning," said Garcia. "Unemployment is still double what it is for the rest of the country. And the poorest counties in the United States are on tribal lands. We still have yet to join the success of the rest of the nation." Tribal economies, he added, are inextricably linked to the education of Native people. "We know from academic studies that Indian children flourish when their classroom experiences are built on our tradition, language and our culture, " said Garcia. "The No Child Left Behind Act allows for this kind of education, but the resources to actually make it possible have yet to be appropriated." Jodi Rave covers Native issues for Lee Enterprises. She can be reached at 1-800-366-7186 or at jodi.rave@lee.net Copyright c. 2005 Missoulian, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Oil and 2 ways of Life in Alaska" --------- Date: Fri, 3 Feb 2006 08:43:13 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ANWR: TWO VIEWS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/2006/02/03/ANWR.TMP&feed=rss.news Oil and 2 ways of life in Alaska Native villagers divided over drilling debate Zachary Coile, Chronicle Washington Bureau February 3, 2006 Washington - President Bush's surprising call during his State of the Union speech Tuesday for America to end its addiction to oil has rekindled debate in Congress among advocates and opponents of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. But lost in the discussion once again are the people who would be affected most - two tiny Native American communities in Alaska whose futures depend on the decision. In Kaktovik, a village at the northern edge of the oil-rich coastal plain of the refuge, 280 Inupiat Eskimos have been waiting more than 25 years to find out if they can drill on land they hold inside the refuge. And the Gwich'in, a caribou-hunting tribe whose 8,000 members are scattered across 15 villages in Canada and along the refuge's southern border in Alaska, fear that drilling in the calving grounds of the Porcupine caribou herd could jeopardize their major food source and their culture. Sarah James, a tribal elder in the Gwich'in town of Arctic Village, said she was relieved by the narrow Senate vote this past December to block drilling but fears it's only a temporary reprieve. "We pray it won't come back," James said. "It's frustrating for us that it keeps coming back every year." Both native groups lobbied vigorously during a heated debate in Congress last fall. Inupiat leaders in Kaktovik sent a letter to Republican moderates who opposed drilling, pleading that "the survival of our culture depends on nurturing new economic activity." The Gwich'in held a months-long anti-drilling vigil outside the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington. They also circulated a report saying the impact of drilling on the caribou would violate the tribe's human rights, much like "the historically genocidal acts that brought the Plains buffalo to the brink of extinction and violated the very heart of the Plains tribes' ancestral way of life." The two native communities, however, have much in common: Both live in remote areas, which has made it tough to develop their economies. Both have concerns about the impact of drilling on their native traditions and hunting. And both are frustrated that a decision affecting their future is in the hands of lawmakers thousands of miles away. Last summer, The Chronicle visited Kaktovik; Arctic Village, a Gwich'in village on the refuge's southern border; and Nuiqsut, an Inupiat town near Prudhoe Bay that embraced oil drilling years ago, to see what is at stake for Alaska's native peoples in the debate over oil drilling that is certain to continue. Kaktovik If Congress eventually votes to open the 1.5 million-acre coastal plain to oil drilling, it would be in the backyard of Kaktovik. The village, a cluster of small weather-beaten homes on Barter Island at the frozen edge of the Beaufort Sea, is the only settlement in a refuge the size of South Carolina. Lon Sonsalla, the bearded, soft-spoken mayor, gets agitated when he hears lawmakers or environmentalists assert that drilling would harm the coastal plain. Why, he asks, would he and other residents support a plan that would destroy the place where they live? Sonsalla is convinced that oil can be tapped with little impact to the coastal plain, a rich feeding and breeding area for the caribou and a critical habitat for polar bears, musk oxen and other Arctic species. Meanwhile, he said, the oil revenue to the village and the North Slope Borough, which includes other Inupiat towns such as Barrow, could be used to improve city services and to provide jobs. "What we want is what everyone else wants," he said over lunch at Waldo Arms, a hotel overlooking the town's dusty airfield, its only link to the outside world. "We want a better life for our children and our grandchildren." The Inupiat have already reaped some benefits of oil drilling. For years, they scratched out a living along the north coast by hunting seals, walrus, seabirds, caribou, Dall sheep and, in the fall, bowhead whale. When the military arrived in the 1940s to build an early-warning system to detect a Soviet attack, many Inupiat families still lived in sod houses. But when Alaska's oil boom began in the early 1970s, native leaders negotiated with Congress to settle land claims and assure that some of the oil wealth trickled down. They formed 13 native corporations, including Arctic Slope Regional Corp., which encompassed eight Inupiat villages, including Kaktovik. Oil revenue distributed through the North Slope Borough has helped Kaktovik pay for its police and fire departments and a health clinic as well as subsidized housing and heating fuel. In 2003, oil revenue helped bring running water and sewers to Kaktovik. But drilling in the coastal plain could have even more of a direct impact: The Arctic Slope Regional Corporation owns the subsurface rights to 92,000 acres. Town leaders also believe Kaktovik could become the logistics hub for oil operations across the refuge. They already have proposed building a bigger airport. James Killbear, a grizzled 36-year-old who is a skilled harpooner on his father's whaling boat, hopes Congress opens the refuge to development. He's had a tough time finding steady work and sees drilling as his chance to land a construction job. "We'd get a new airport, new buildings, maybe a new road," he said from his windswept porch with a sweeping view of the Beaufort Sea. "We could get jobs." The residents of Kaktovik have been consistently described as "pro- drilling," but some Inupiat oppose drilling or have major concerns. When one resident, Robert Thompson, circulated a petition to oppose opening the refuge, 57 of the town's 188 adults signed it. One staunch opponent is Mary Margaret Brower, an aide at the health clinic, who fears an oil boom could worsen social problems such as domestic violence, alcoholism and drug abuse and cause public health problems. "If the drilling is too close, we could have increases in asthma, in breathing problems," Brower said, noting the impact that drilling has had on air quality in parts of Prudhoe Bay. "Once we open the door, I don't think we'll have much control over what the oil companies will do." The debate over drilling has been complicated by Gov. Frank Murkowski's efforts to offer oil and gas leases in state waters 3 miles off the coast. The Inupiat are whale hunters and are adamantly opposed to offshore drilling. "Keep it onshore," said Wayne Kayotuk, who had driven his 4-year-old son, Sean, to the beach in his four-wheeler. "I've seen too many oil spills in other places, and we don't need that here." Arctic Village If the native leaders of Kaktovik have joined forces with the state of Alaska and the oil industry, the Gwich'in of Arctic Village have allied with another powerful group: the environmental movement. The village is more than 90 miles from the coastal plain, on the other side of a wedge of steep, snow-covered mountains of the Brooks Range. Its 150 residents say they have an equal stake in the fight over the refuge because of their reliance on the Porcupine caribou herd, which migrates across northwestern Canada and Alaska each spring to reach their summer calving grounds on the coastal plain. "We've lived off the caribou since the time of our ancestors," said Jimi John, one of the town's most active hunters, chain-smoking in his cabin, where pelts of animals he trapped hung from the ceiling. "If the caribou go, we go." Environmental groups have seized on the Gwich'in concerns about caribou to make their broader case against drilling. The Wilderness Society warned recently that drilling would "destroy not only this wilderness, but the culture of the indigenous people." The tribe has capitalized on the interest of environmentalists and the media, hiring a public relations firm and inviting reporters to tribal gatherings. On a sunny summer day outside Deena Tritt's cabin, an Outdoor Life Network television crew recorded a neighbor carving frozen caribou. "Gee, that's a long video they're making," said Tritt, who was cooking caribou stew and frying moose meat for the crew while her daughter, Allison, 9, watched TV. In recent weeks, she had hosted film crews from Japan, France, Italy, Switzerland and Germany. But the Gwich'in are not your typical environmentalists, as evidenced when Jimi John demonstrated how he delivers a sharp blow to the head to kill martens caught in his fur traps. He once shot three musk oxen - a threatened species that is strictly regulated, with only about 60 left in the refuge - and had to spend 30 days in jail and pay a $1,000 fine. "The town was starving," he said. "No one had any meat." While the tribe has become a symbol of opposition to drilling, the Gwich'in of a nearby village, Venetie, leased some of their land for oil drilling in the 1980s but never found a major deposit. Tribal leaders now say they regret the decision. But the tribe has also spurned offers to cash in on their land. In the 1970s, residents of Arctic Village and Venetie, unlike those in Kaktovik, decided not to sign on to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, forfeiting their share of $1 billion and future dividends in order to fight for their claims of 1.8 million acres of land. The tribe still struggles economically. There are few year-round jobs in Arctic Village, and almost half of its residents live below the poverty level. The town has electricity and phone service, but it lacks running water and sewers; most residents still use honey buckets or outhouses. Residents share a solar-powered washateria for showers and laundry. But the Gwich'in say they are proof that people can survive without oil drilling or other resource-intense development. "What good is a million-dollar checkbook when you're out in the mountains? How will it help you survive?" said Marion Swaney, who happily shows visitors her freezer full of moose, caribou, ducks and other meat, most of it shot by her husband, Charlie. "We may be poor, but we're rich in animals." The Swaneys straddle the modern and traditional worlds. Charlie, a lanky 47, still hunts most days or sets fishnets along the river. But their son, Rocky, 19, surfs the Internet, and the family gets hundreds of channels on satellite TV. Charlie said he was happy when the town's diesel generator broke down and they lost power for three weeks one Christmas, forcing the village to return to its tradition of holding community potlucks. "Things have changed since computers, TV, satellite dishes," he said. "The one thing that hasn't changed is our subsistence hunting. "The only thing that is going to change, that is, if the caribou aren't there any more." Nuiqsut Those curious about how drilling could affect the native peoples of Kaktovik and Arctic Village should look west to Nuiqsut, an Inupiat village on the North Slope that began its own experiment with oil drilling a decade ago. When drilling was proposed just outside the town limits in the early 1990s, Nuiqsut residents were told it would boost their fortunes. There would be jobs in the oil fields. They would receive dividend checks from oil revenue. And the oil companies said drilling would not affect the environment or villagers' hunting. A decade later, many residents say the reality has not matched the promises. The dividend checks have come in, but villagers complain the amount is lower than promised. Few locals have jobs at the Alpine oil field, just 7 miles from Nuiqsut. They also are increasingly concerned that drilling is driving caribou further away. "The oil is good in some ways," said Johnny Ahtuangaruak, a 76-year-old elder, speaking in his native language interpreted by his nephew. Oil revenue has helped pay for fire and police services and a health clinic, he said. But rather than transforming the town, many residents say it has reinforced existing social problems, such as alcoholism and drug abuse, while failing to lift the village out of poverty. "Other villages think we are millionaires, but we are not," Ahtuangaruak said, leaning on his cane in the gravel driveway of his family's ramshackle house, where caribou hides hung from a clothesline. "We are still living at poverty level." Nuiqsut, 35 miles south of the Beaufort Sea, is remote even by Alaskan standards. As in Kaktovik and Arctic Village, most supplies have to be flown in, which explains why a half gallon of milk sells for $7.35. But the village sits atop one of the nation's largest oil fields: To the east is Prudhoe Bay, which has produced more than 13 billion barrels of oil, and to the west is the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, which has 23.5 million acres of oil-rich terrain. As the oil fields have moved closer, many residents say they feel like they live in an industrial zone. "When they first came into Nuiqsut, they said they would only drill in Alpine," said Eli Nukapigak, the vice mayor. He showed maps of newly proposed drilling sites and pipeline extensions that line the walls of the community center. "Now, they say they have found oil in other areas, right in the heart of our subsistence hunting grounds," he said. "The ones that will be hurt will be the younger generation. They will have to go further and further away to do their hunting." The village, in a sense, was a creation of Alaska's oil boom. When oil companies made their big discovery at Prudhoe Bay in 1968, the Inupiat feared the state and the Interior Department would claim vast tracts of the North Slope. In April 1973, 27 families left Barrow, the major city in the North Slope Borough, to stake out a settlement on a bluff overlooking the Colville River, which they called Nuiqsut - "beautiful place over the horizon" in Inupiat. They spent the first year and a half in a tent city, surviving a blizzard. "The people in Barrow thought we would starve," Ahtuangaruak recalled. But during the first winter, a herd of caribou came right through the village, which the Inupiat saw as a sign. "Everyone started shooting, and they had their caribou," Ahtuangaruak said. "They came to us." Over time oil development inched closer. In 1993, the Atlantic Richfield Oil Corp. announced it had discovered the Alpine oil field. Arco promised to develop only 115 acres of the entire 40,000-acre oil field, using sophisticated directional drilling to reach pockets of oil thousands of feet deep and miles away. It also vowed to minimize damage to the tundra by building ice roads each winter to transport equipment. But environmental groups and some villagers dispute the claim that the site, now run by ConocoPhillips, is pollution-free. Villagers have complained of an increase in asthma, especially among children. Residents say during winter inversions, a yellowish fog hangs over the area. The company has been fined by the state for exceeding carbon monoxide emissions standards. "In winter you can really notice the haze," said Sarah Kunaknana, 84, while watching "The Price is Right" in her home. Kunaknana, who once had her own dog team, has framed photos on the wall of caribou she has shot. Like other residents, she complains that the caribou have shifted away from developed areas. "We think the migration routes have changed because of the pipelines," she said. "They used to come right up here." Supporters of drilling say some complaints are overblown. Isaac Nukapigak, president of the village's native-owned corporation, a partner in developing Alpine, said a company-sponsored air monitoring program had shown no major problems in air quality near the village. For many residents, the biggest disappointment has been economic. Only about a dozen work full-time at Alpine. "The majority of the people they hire are from Texas or from Anchorage and Fairbanks," said Doreen Nukapigak. "They are not living up to their agreement." But the reasons are more complex. Some villagers have been unable to adjust to industrial jobs and quit when work interferes with caribou hunts or fishing trips. Despite a local ban on alcohol, residents say alcoholism and drug use are major problems. Shipments of drugs or liquor often coincide with the arrival of dividend checks. Some villagers have been unable to pass the oil company's mandatory drug test. "It's a matter of getting them cleaned up," Isaac Nukapigak said. "There are opportunities out there to grab." Nukapigak said that three of his children worked at Alpine. "The money is pretty good," said his daughter, Takpaan Nukapigak, 23. Her wages as an oil field roughneck are helping her pay off her truck and raise her 4-year-old daughter, Caitlyn. "They treat me like one of the guys. It's like a big family." A frequent complaint of villagers is that promises of larger dividends from oil revenues have never been fulfilled. Residents say dividend checks usually total about $2,000 a year, which doesn't go far in a town where gas can cost $5 a gallon. The village corporation claims that much of the town's oil wealth is being invested in native-owned businesses, stocks and other holdings to be able to pay dividends in the future. "The oil won't be there forever," Isaac Nukapigak said. Copyright c. 2006 San Francisco Chronicle. --------- "RE: Tribes may get $10.5M in Settlement" --------- Date: Sun, 29 Jan 2006 18:20:20 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GOVERNMENT MISMANAGEMENT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.casperstartribune.net//618b93182399766f8725710400065b0e.txt Tribes may get $10.5M in settlement By BRODIE FARQUHAR Star-Tribune correspondent January 28, 2006 LANDER - A $10.5 million settlement with the federal government should help the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes enhance services to tribal members, an Eastern Shoshone leader said this week. The tribes' Joint Business Council said the tentative settlement stems from litigation against the federal government over mismanagement of the tribes' mineral estate. The Joint Business Council had approved the settlement in December. Final approval by the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Justice Department is expected within a week or so, and the money paid before spring. "We hope to use the money to enhance services," said Ivan Posey, chairman of the Eastern Shoshone Business Council. When the money is paid, it will be divided evenly between the tribes. Within each tribe, 85 percent of the money will be paid out in monthly per capita payments, and 15 percent will go into the tribal treasury account. There are about 7,500 Arapaho tribe members and about 3,600 Shoshone. Last summer, the Department of Justice approved a $12 million payment to the tribes that stemmed from a 2004 agreement reached by the disputing groups. That settlement and this most recent settlement are just parts of a larger, ongoing lawsuit between tribes and the federal government on mismanagement of funds and mineral resources. The first part of the litigation relates to the government's failure to collect proper royalties on Wind River Indian Reservation oil and gas production from October 1973 to Dec. 31, 2000, according to a news release from the tribes. The tribes said oil and gas companies consistently underpaid royalties, and the government failed to protect tribal rights. The earlier $12 million payment was the principal amount of the mismanagement claim for those years. A series of rulings determined that the tribes could also collect interest on that $12 million, but the rates of interest due in different years were not decided and were disputed by the parties. According to the news release, the tribes hired investment experts to compute rates reasonable for investments in the years in question. Working with the Washington, D.C., law firm Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse, Enderson and Perry, tribal chairmen Posey of the Shoshone and Richard Brannan of the Arapaho agreed to the $10.5 million settlement. The first settlement for the tribes was $2.75 million in 2001 for claims relating to sand and gravel being removed from the reservation. Claims of trust mismanagement, oil and gas claims not relating to royalties and claims for mismanagement of royalties before 1973 remain in dispute. "It might go all the way back to 1960," said Posey, referring to a number of specific items of mismanagement that have not been litigated. In 1979, the tribes brought suit in the U.S. Court of Claims, alleging that the federal government breached fiduciary and statutory duties owed to the tribes from Aug. 14, 1946, onward by mismanaging the reservation's natural resources and the income derived from such resources. The date of Aug. 14, 1946, chosen by the tribes coincides with the passage of the Indian Claims Commission Act. That law provided a five-year window during which tribes could submit to the Indian Claims Commission all of their claims against the government that accrued before Aug. 13, 1946. Courts have held that claims accruing before Aug. 13, 1946, that were not filed with the commission by Aug. 13, 1951, cannot be submitted to any court, administrative agency or Congress. Copyright c. 1995-2006 Casper Tribune, a subsidiary of Lee Enterprises Incorporated. --------- "RE: Measure would fund Tribal Governments" --------- Date: Fri, 3 Feb 2006 08:43:13 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WYOMING LEGISLATURE RESOLVES LANGUAGE QUIRK" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm www.casperstartribune.net/news/wyoming/ Measure would fund tribal governments By BRODIE FARQUHAR Star-Tribune correspondent February 3, 2006 LANDER - For years, a provision of the Wyoming Constitution has prevented state officials from giving money to the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes to provide government services to tribal members who are also Wyoming citizens. A proposed constitutional amendment aims to make such state appropriations possible. The Legislature's Select Committee on Tribal Relations on Tuesday unanimously approved a joint resolution in support of the amendment. Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, said a similar bill failed in the Senate last year by one vote, after passing in the House. For years, the tribes and the state have been hung up on the issue of government sovereignty, which has been a big problem in delivering state services to residents of the Wind River Indian Reservation, Case said. The state constitution limits the state to appropriating money to political subdivisions in counties and municipalities. By definition, a sovereign tribe is not a political subdivision. "In the past, we've tried to get around that by relying on contract language" - essentially contracting with tribal governments for the delivery of state services, he said. "I think this approach will straighten out this little quirk (in the constitution) for the purposes of providing state services to residents of the reservation, and avoid this piecemeal, back-door approach of contracting," he said. There are approximately 11,000 members of the Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes who would benefit from the constitutional amendment, if passed. The amendment would allow members of both tribes to receive social services such as mental health and child-protective services provided by the state. Because the upcoming session of the Legislature is focused on the budget, a non-budgetary issue like this needs two-thirds' approval of both the House and Senate to even come up for a vote. That's exactly what is needed to present the issue to the governor and the public as a constitutional amendment. "I view this as something that preserves your sovereignty and reaches out to you as citizens of Wyoming," Case told tribal leaders. "I think the governor will go for this." The proposal has the support of Gov. Dave Freudenthal, his spokeswoman, Lara Azar, said Tuesday afternoon. Rep. Del McOmie, R-Lander, said the amendment would qualify tribal governments for state funding, just like municipalities and counties. Sen. Bob Peck, R-Riverton, said the amendment needs the approval of 40 members of the House and 20 members of the Senate. He noted that while initial appropriations to the tribal governments will be modest, long-term development of Wind River water resources to benefit the tribes and their neighbors will cost hundreds of millions of dollars. After discussion among the select committee members, the amendment will be introduced in the Senate. Case said that with fewer senators, the lobbying will be a little easier. He asked for help from the tribes, saying that while committee members will vote for the amendment, lobbying needs to be focused on the rest of the House and Senate. Tribal liaisons Allison Sage of the Northern Arapaho and Edward Wadda of the Eastern Shoshone said such an amendment would be a good first step in dealing with the chronic problems of poverty on the Wind River reservation. Copyright c. 1995-2006 Casper Star Tribune, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Tribal Leaders continue the push for Trust reform" --------- Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2006 08:48:09 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LACK OF TRUST THWARTS TRUST REFORM" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2006/01/31/news/local/109287.txt Tribal leaders continue the push for trust reform Bismarck Tribune By TONY SPILDEBy TONY SPILDE January 31, 2006 A collection of tribal leaders interested in trust-fund reform said Monday there can't be reform without trust. Representatives from the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain tribal regions met at United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck to provide their views on the possible settlement of a 9-year-old lawsuit that claims the federal government mismanaged the personal accounts of about 500,000 American Indian landowners. Roughly 15,000 such account-holders live in North Dakota, said Tex Hall, chairman of the Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara Nation. Hall hosted Monday's meeting of tribal officials, who discussed provisions they'd like to see in the Indian Trust Reform Act, which is currently before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. The bill addresses the pending litigation. "It really saddens us that we have to come to these meetings - the government was supposed to look after our best interest, and we trusted them," said Robert Cournoyer, chairman of the Yankton Sioux Tribe. "There's always been this mistrust. That's what it boils down to - we have to learn to trust each other, and both sides can come out winners." Hall said the mismanagement of accounts goes back to 1887, the year the federal government began dividing Indian reservation land among the people who lived there. At the same time, the government became trustee of the lands, handling lease agreements and payments. A class-action suit, filed nine years ago in the name of Elouise C. Cobell, says the government has been malfeasant in its handling of the trust, and seeks reparation for the damages. The amount is unspecified, although Hall recently suggested - at a Jan. 9 meeting - that reimbursement should be in the neighborhood of $13 billion to $27.5 billion. The Federal District Court in the District of Columbia recently said it would take $13 billion for a historical accounting of the individual trusts. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who introduced the trust-reform bill with Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said the amount Hall suggested would likely be out of the question. Hall and other tribal officials - including Cecelia Fire Thunder, of the Oglala Sioux Tribe - held Monday's meeting to reiterate the importance of passing the Indian Trust Reform Act and settling the lawsuit. Hall said it's important that a dollar amount be included in the bill. He also would like the government to give the tribes the chance to handle their own accounting. Tribal leaders hope a resolution comes soon. A hearing and meeting with the Indian Affairs Committee - of which Dorgan is vice chairman - will be held at the end of February or early March. "We have to bring closure to this," said Fire Thunder, whose Pine Ridge Reservation has about 90,000 affected landowners. "This is an exciting time, I think, for Indian Country because we are taking ownership of our future. The accounting probably will never be totally resolved - we know that. But it's about fairness to our (Individual Indian Monies) account- holders and their grandchildren." Members of the 23 tribes in the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain regions, along with the Navajo Nation, represent about 75 percent of Individual Indian monies account-holders, Hall said. The trust-reform bill is Senate Bill 1439. Copyright c. 2006 Bismarck Tribune, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: BIA rescuers honored while Tribes plead for help" --------- Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2006 08:48:09 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="AFTER KATRINA" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=7520 Senate committee examines Katrina response while tribes plead for help BIA rescuers are honored at D.C. ceremony Sam Lewin January 31, 2006 As a senate committee hears testimony about what went wrong during Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, tribes impacted by the killer storms are once again issuing a call for help. Federal officials have also honored Bureau of Indian Affairs employees who contributed to the relief effort. In Southern Louisiana, leaders of the Bayou Lafourche, Grand Caillou/Dulac, Isle de Jean Charles Bands of the Biloxi-Chitimacha and the Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe issues a joint statement saying they "are reeling from years of socio-economic neglect, coastal land loss, and a dearth of storm relief assistance." "We are appealing to the foundations and large donors to support our recovery efforts," said Randy Verdun, Chief of the Bayou Lafourche Band of the Biloxi-Chitimacha. "It's a call to action, a call that we hope is heard. Help us preserve our distinct cultures and traditions. Without help, they will surely be lost." "There is no money and no materials. We don't want to lose all our people," said Albert Naquin, Chief of Isle de Jean Charles Band of the Biloxi-Chitimacha. Naquin said the Isle de Jean Charles, once a vibrant Indian community, has become a wasteland of dead oak trees and abandoned houses. Other tribal leaders are working to prevent similar destruction from ever happening again. Putting homes on stilts is one option, but the price tag starts at $25,000 per home. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, up to 80% of Native Americans in the area live below the poverty line. Few people have the cash to purchase the stilts. "All of our homes have to be raised. We need money to elevate these homes," said Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe Co-Chair Donald Dardar. Other tribes are just worrying about their day-to-day existence. "We need all the things that make homes livable- building supplies, bedding, appliances, and furniture," said Marlene Foret of the Grand Caillou Dulac Band of the Biloxi Chitimacha. A continuing problem for tribes in the region is that rebuilding efforts are concentrated on areas with larger populations. "With everyone focused on the city of New Orleans, we don't get numbers of volunteers or large financial donations," said Naomi Archer of the Four Directions Relief Project. The pleas for help come as a hearing by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee explores why state and federal agencies failed during Katrina.. Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development Secretary Johnny Bradberry has told the committee that there were no evacuations plans in place before the hurricane struck. The tragedy meant thousands of workers and volunteers were sent to the region to help. Department of Interior officials say 500 BIA employees were among the rescuers. Those workers were recently honored. "I'm extremely proud of the way our BIA employees pulled tighter and made things happen in a positive way," said BIA director Pat Ragsdale, an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation, during a ceremony in Washington, DC. "Today we honor their initiative, courage and commitment to helping others in their time of need." Five BIA employees were selected to attend the ceremony and represent the entire agency. The workers picked to appear included Bruce Maytubby and Bruce Johnson of Anadarko, Oklahoma, and John Philben of Phoenix. Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Pataki opposes Federal Trust for Oneida Land" --------- Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2006 08:48:09 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MORE OPPOSITION FROM NEW YORK" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/20060131/GPG0101/601310461/1207/GPGnews Pataki opposes federal trust for Oneida land By Michael Gormley The Associated Press January 31, 2006 ALBANY, N.Y. - The Pataki administration on Monday opposed an application by the Oneida Indian Nation to place nearly 17,000 acres of central New York property in a federal land trust that would essentially exempt the parcels from local and state laws and taxes. The application, if approved by the U.S. Department of the Interior, would affect hundreds of properties in Madison and Oneida counties purchased by the tribe from profits of its casino operations that include resort hotels and golf courses. "It is unprecedented and would have profound negative impacts to the state, its political subdivisions, residents and citizens," stated Richard Platkin, counsel to New York Gov. George Pataki. "I find no legal authority for the Secretary of the Interior to act on the instant application." The New York Oneidas, along with tribes in Wisconsin and Ontario, filed a land claim lawsuit in 1970 seeking the return of 250,000 acres in Madison and Oneida counties that the state illegally acquired from the tribes in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The claim continues in litigation. Bobbi Webster, director of public relations for the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, said she didn't know how Pataki's application denial would affect their land-claim agreement with New York state. However, she said the Wisconsin Oneida have had successes with their government-to- government negotiations. "Our ability to work cooperatively with local jurisdictions here in Wisconsin, we believe, is a formula that can be successful, if applied elsewhere," she said Monday. In December 2004 the tribe and Pataki signed an agreement that would have allowed the tribe to build a casino in the Catskill Mountains regions outside of New York City. Earlier this month, more than 1,000 residents and casino employees packed a high school auditorium in the town of Verona for a public hearing on the Oneida's application to put nearly 18,000 acres into federal trust. Oneida Indian Nation Chief Executive Officer Ray Halbritter said in the hearing that the property, school, income and sales taxes paid by the nation's 4,500 employees are far more than any other taxes owed for their land. - The Post-Crescent of Appleton Copyright c. 2006 Green Bay Press Gazette, a Gannett Company. --------- "RE: Tribes' Political giving targeted" --------- Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2006 08:48:09 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ABRAMOFF BACKLASH TARGETS TRIBES" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://news.yahoo.com/usatoday/20060131/tribespoliticalgivingtargeted Tribes' political giving targeted By Jim Drinkard, USA TODAY February 1, 2006 A little-known quirk in campaign-finance law that has helped Indian tribes increase their political clout is under scrutiny amid a scandal involving a high-profile lobbyist and his tribal clients. House Republicans plan this week to propose closing a loophole that has allowed tribes with casinos to give substantial amounts to members of Congress. The change is part of a bill being drafted by Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier, R-Calif., to restrict lobbyist influence in the wake of the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. Last year, tribal casinos raked in nearly $20 billion in revenue, allowing them to become political donors in the same league with drug companies and defense contractors. From total giving of $676,450 for the 1994 elections, tribal contributions grew to $8.6 million for 2004 races, according to the non- partisan Center for Responsive Politics. "Clearly, it's had an impact," says Kevin Gover, a member of the Oklahoma Pawnee tribe and former Bureau of Indian Affairs director. The tribes, once mostly allied with Democrats, have made friends in both parties as their ability to give has grown, he says. "Members (of Congress) that we assumed were hostile, suddenly they're not," Gover says. "It's not as simple as buying their support. But the reality is that if you are known to be a major contributor, and a member doesn't have a strong position on some issue, why not vote with those who support your campaign?" Abramoff pleaded guilty of fraud and conspiracy this month for bilking tribes out of millions of dollars as he purported to be defending their gambling interests. Tribes also lobby for federal grants for education, bridges, housing and other issues. "Tribes' very existence depends on the benevolence of the federal government," says Jason Giles, an attorney for of the National Indian Gaming Association. The growth in tribal political giving has been helped by the status tribes enjoy under federal-campaign finance law. Tribes are "persons" under the law, a category that also includes partnerships, corporations and associations. But tribes can give unlimited total amounts because they are not "individuals," whose legal definition excludes organized groups. Individuals may give no more than $2,100 to a federal candidate in a two-year election cycle, $26,700 to a political party, and no more than a total of $101,400. The candidate and party limits also apply to tribes, but not the overall ceiling. Tribes may give as much as they want. Dreier's proposal, developed at the behest of Speaker Dennis Hastert, R- Ill., would apply the individual limit on total giving to tribes. Unlike most organizations, tribes may donate money directly from their treasuries and don't have to report their giving to the Federal Election Commission. Labor unions, corporations and non-profits must form political action committees if they want to make political donations. PACs have no giving limit, but their money must be raised from contributions made by their employees or members, and be reported. In 2004, 24 tribes gave more than the individual limit from their treasuries. Since 1989, the Center for Responsive Politics says, more than 200 tribes have given $28 million to federal candidates and national political parties - 91% of it from their treasuries. The balance came from PACs and individuals affiliated with tribes. Copyright c. 2006 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. --------- "RE: Tribes' Special Status product of Law and History" --------- Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2006 08:48:09 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRIBAL POLITICAL DONATION LAWS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://news.yahoo.com//tribesspecialstatusaproductoflawandhistory Tribes' special status a product of law and history By Jim Drinkard, USA TODAY February 1, 2006 Indian tribes defending their right to give unlimited political campaign contributions say they are treated differently for legitimate reasons dating back to George Washington. "Tribes are governments, not corporations. They are a completely different animal," says Markham Ericson, a Washington attorney for New York's Oneida tribe. Tribes are considered "persons" under campaign-finance law. In 2000, the Oneida tribe sought to give more than the total allowed by law for "individuals." Ericson argued to the Federal Election Commission that the limit shouldn't apply; the FEC agreed. Since then, tribes have become more active givers and are attracting increased scrutiny because of a scandal involving lobbyist Jack Abramoff and tribes with casinos that he represented. A bill backed by House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., to tighten lobbying rules includes a limit on how much tribes can give from their treasuries. Tribes' special status is based in part on the limited sovereignty they hold through treaties negotiated with the federal government as long ago as the 1700s. Like states or localities, they have a government-to- government relationship with Washington. But unlike local governments, they make political giving a lobbying tactic. "As 2% of the population, it's very easy to overlook tribes and tribal interests," says Jason Giles, general counsel for the National Indian Gaming Association. Political giving "has definitely helped the tribes get noticed." Cleta Mitchell, a campaign-finance lawyer who represents primarily Republican clients, questioned the rationale for what she termed the "Indian tribes loophole" in a recent opinion article in the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call. Larry Noble, a former FEC general counsel who now runs the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, said he has received inquiries from congressional aides looking into tribes' special status under campaign-finance law. Campaign-finance lawyer Jan Baran, in a commentary on National Public Radio, called it "a huge loophole through which Mr. Abramoff was able to drive a very large Brinks truck of campaign cash." Fifteen years ago, tribes made almost no political contributions. Most were impoverished, and their dealings with the federal government were primarily through the Interior Department and its Bureau of Indian Affairs. "They didn't have the wherewithal, the sophistication and the motive to be politically involved," says Stan Brand, an attorney who represents the Indian gaming association. "Gaming changed that. They thrust themselves into the political vortex, like many groups with an interest" before the government. "What troubles me is, all of the sudden they arrive with political muscle, and everybody is questioning why they have a particular status under the law," he adds. "They have a valid interest." It's unclear what impact the Abramoff scandal will have on tribes' giving or their clout in Washington. In Senate hearings last year, Abramoff's tribal clients were depicted as victims of an unscrupulous lobbyist who harnessed their gambling wealth to help his political allies. Since he pleaded guilty this month to fraud and conspiracy, more than 100 of the 240 lawmakers who received contributions from the lobbyist or his tribal clients have said they were returning the money or giving it to charity. The tribes "have been burned" by their political giving, Brand says. "In the post-Abramoff era, I think they are seriously going to be evaluating how they proceed." Copyright c. 2006 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. --------- "RE: State OKs Nez Perce Bison Hunt" --------- Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2006 08:48:09 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="EDUCATIONAL AND CEREMONIAL" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2006/01/31/news/02hunt.txt State OKs Nez Perce bison hunt By SCOTT McMILLION Chronicle Staff Writer January 31, 2006 State officials have decided that an 1855 treaty between the United States and the Nez Perce tribe in Idaho allows tribal members to hunt bison on public land near Yellowstone National Park. A group of Nez Perce youths from the reservation at Lapwai, Idaho, plans to harvest up to five bison early in February, according to Adam Villacicenio, a tribal conservation officer. "It's intended to be educational and ceremonial," he said Monday. The hunters, aged 15 to 18, are "very much excited," Villacicenio said. "The state of Montana respectfully acknowledges that the tribe will be exercising its treaty-reserved rights on open and unclaimed land in Montana" by harvesting bison on the Gallatin National Forest, Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer wrote to tribal chairman Rebecca Miles on Jan. 27. The hunt will take place in addition to Montana's new bison hunting season, which sets aside 16 tags for tribal members from Montana, according to Mel Frost, spokeswoman for the the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Not all of those tags have been used. The tribal hunt has been approved by Montana Attorney General Mike McGrath. "They're a tribe that has a specific treaty," McGrath said Monday. "It's our obligation to see that those rights are honored." It's difficult to say whether other tribes will assert similar rights, or what response they would get. Maylinn Smith, director of the Indian Law Center at the University of Montana in Missoula, said the 1855 treaty with the Nez Perce, known as a "Stevens Treaty," is pretty clear in specifying the tribe's off- reservation hunting rights. The Yellowstone area is defined as "part of their aboriginal hunting area," she said. Numerous historical records note that the Nez Perce often hunted in the area. Most other tribes in the region signed what are called "Fort Laramie" treaties, which are less specific. Rights in the Stevens treaties "are more expressly defined," than the Fort Laramie treaties, in which rights are "implied," Smith said. "The courts have gone both ways" in defining the Fort Laramie rights, she said. A number of tribes from Montana, Idaho and Wyoming assert the Yellowstone area is part of their ancestral hunting land. McGrath said he wouldn't be surprised to see more requests from other tribes. "We'll have to see how that shakes out," he said, and any future requests will be assessed as they arrive. The young Nez Perce hunters will use modern weapons and will be trained by tribal conservation officers and elders in hunting and processing techniques, Villacicenio said. The hunting rights only affect bison, and are good only on "open and unclaimed land." The Gallatin National Forest fits that definition, McGrath said. National parks, like Yellowstone, do not. Copyright c. 2006 Bozeman Daily Chronicle. --------- "RE: Nez Perce Tribe opposes Idaho's Plan" --------- Date: Fri, 3 Feb 2006 08:43:13 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="KILL WOLVES TO HELP ELK JUNK SCIENCE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.helenair.com/articles/2006/02/03/montana/a05020306_02.txt Nez Perce Tribe opposes Idaho's plan to kill wolves to help elk By JOHN MILLER - Associated Press Writer February 3, 2006 BOISE, Idaho - An Indian tribe that's helped with gray wolf recovery efforts since their reintroduction to Idaho in 1995 says the state is moving too quickly with a plan to kill dozens of wolves to help restore elk herds on the border with Montana. Rebecca Miles, chairwoman of the Nez Perce in Lapwai, said tribal wolf managers aren't convinced studies of elk herds in the Clearwater River basin support a plan by state Department of Fish and Game to reduce wolf numbers in region to as few as 15, from about 60 animals now. According to the agency, wolves are responsible for about 35 percent of recorded elk cow deaths since 2002 in two hunting units in the region. Wolves were confirmed to have killed eight of 25 radio-collared elk cows that died, the study showed. The Nez Perce, as well as some conservation groups, say the evidence isn't conclusive that depredations are devastating elk numbers. They argue the agency should focus on restoring habitat, not killing wolves. "It is junk science," Aaron Miles, the tribe's natural resource manager, told The Associated Press on Thursday. "There's no peer review. It's jumping from one conclusion to the next." Miles contends the state is yielding to political pressure from hunters and ranchers who want more active wolf control. Fish and Game officials concede that hunters have lobbied them to more aggressively control wolves that hunters blame for reducing big game herds. Still, the agency says its studies support wolf removals. The plan to kill wolves is among Idaho's first actions since it took over day-to-day oversight of the state's roughly 600 wolves. It still must be approved by the federal government. Ed Bangs, wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Helena, Mont., has said his agency will judge the proposal based on its technical merits, not political expediency. Copyright c. 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 2006 Helena Independent Record, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: TVA asked to postpone Land sale" --------- Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2006 08:48:09 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="INDIAN GROUP ASKS FOR DELAY OF LAND SALE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.wreg.com/Global/story.asp?S=4433386&nav=3HvE American Indian organization asks TVA to postpone land sale January 31, 2006 CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. An American Indian group is asking T-V-A to postpone the sale of land on the shore of Nickajack Lake while an archaeological survey is done. T-V-A directors voted in September to auction off 578 acres on the shore of the lake near Chattanooga, approving a land deal that could foreshadow more luxury developments along the Tennessee River. Chattanooga developer John "Thunder" Thornton is the only known interested bidder. He wants to erect a 450-(m)-million-dollar gated community that includes more than a thousand expensive homes, a golf course and boat slips. In a resolution passed earlier this month, the Inter-tribal Council of the Five Recognized Tribes asks for the sale to be delayed until tribal consultations are done. The council in Durant, Oklahoma, represents the Muscogee Creek, Seminole, Cherokee, Choctaw and Chickasaw nations. A T-V-A official says she is reviewing the council's resolution to determine how to respond. --- Information from: Chattanooga Times Free Press, http://www.timesfreepress.com Copyright c. 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Medicine Creek Treaty seedling planted" --------- Date: Sun, 29 Jan 2006 18:20:20 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SYMBOLIC TRIBUTE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.theolympian.com/60128006/1006 Medicine Creek Treaty seedling planted in symbolic tribute Tree planted at Thurston Co. Courthouse represents tribal recognition BY JOHN DODGE THE OLYMPIAN January 28, 2006 A relationship built on trust and respect was reaffirmed between Thurston County and South Sound tribal governments Friday with the planting of a seedling from the Medicine Creek Treaty tree. The Douglas fir seedling - a direct descendant of a tree from the Nisqually Valley location where the treaty between the federal government and nine tribes and bands of Indians was signed in 1854 - was placed on the Thurston County Courthouse bluff overlooking downtown Olympia. About 35 people, including county officials and members of the Nisqually and Squaxin Island tribes, braved the cold, driving rain to dedicate the tree and recognize the tribal rights the treaty represents. The treaty ceded 2.24 million acres of land to the United States. In return, three reservations were set aside for the Nisqually, Squaxin Island and Puyallup tribes and American Indian people were assured the right to hunt, fish and gather plants in their usual and accustomed places. "We've had to fight for those rights," noted Nisqually tribal member Marlene Mercado. "It's an everlasting type of journey for all of the tribes." The view from the planting site looks out over the Squaxin Island tribe's traditional fishing and shellfish gathering areas of South Sound, noted tribal member Charlene Krise. "We were the ones who first received the early pioneers into this region," she said. "The tree is a symbol of the trust that needs to continue between tribal and nontribal people." County Commissioner Diane Oberquell promised tribal members that the tree will be well-maintained, loved and respected. What is called the Medicine Creek Treaty tree is a Douglas fir snag still standing next to McAllister Creek near Interstate 5. It sits in a small grove of trees where the treaty was signed. The creek at the time was called She-nah-num, referring to as a sacred place where shamans could go to derive power from the water, according to an account of the treaty signing prepared for the Oregon Historical Quarterly. The American Indian name was translated as Medicine Creek by white settlers. Seeds from the original trees in the treaty site grove were collected by state Department of Transportation landscape architect Bill Melton and planted on the slope adjacent to the freeway, creek and treaty site. The seedling planted Friday is from that planting. The top of the snag is visible to southbound motorists as they cross the creek, which is now named after early Nisqually Valley pioneer and sawmill operator James McAllister. The treaty tree and grove sit on DOT land leased to the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, refuge manager Jean Takekawa said. Occasional guided walks to the treaty tree site are offered. Copyright c. 2006 The Olumpian, Knight Ridder Publications, Inc. --------- "RE: Program helps Indian Artists" --------- Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2006 08:59:32 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HELP FOR INDIAN ARTISTS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2006/01/29/news/local/109225.txt Program helps Indian artists By JODI RAVE Lee News Service January 29, 2006 RONAN, Mont. - Merle Big Bow has been selling his artwork the only sure way he's known - by knocking on doors and showing completed work to employees in the local tribal building. These kind of sales typically work when selling lower-priced items, such as dream catchers or miniature drums. But it's a little more difficult trying to sell a $1,500 painted rawhide drum on a doorstep. "That's a lot of artists' downfall," said Big Bow, a Chippewa Cree cultural artist who lives on the Flathead Reservation in western Montana. "They don't have the selling experience." It's a situation that's kept Big Bow employed full time as either a police officer and most recently as a building maintenance repair man. But the artist made a decision two years ago to quit his job and spend more time carving chief staffs, painting buckskin and stretching rawhide over bows. The First Peoples Fund, a traditional Indian art advocacy organization in Rapid City, S.D., recently recognized Big Bow's commitment to art by choosing the artist as one of four business leader art fellows for 2006. The fund takes a two-pronged approach in awarding Indian artist fellowships. First, a national "community spirit" fellowship is given to artists from the northwest to the southeast, from the east to the southern Plains. But the organization specifically targets artists from a northern tier of states, mostly the northern Plains, for its business leader fellowships. "It's designed for artists like Merle, who have displayed a commitment to art and are actually earning a living and living the life of an artist, " said Jhon Goes in Center, the fund's fellowship program manager. "Of course, you know artists, most of them are starving. He's one of the perfect models for this program." The Chippewa Cree isn't exactly starving, as he likes to joke that his mother-in-law sews "chief-size" ribbon shirts for him. As for being a model, Big Bow represents artists "who have been doing cultural work all their lives but have perfected it to an art form," Goes in Center said. Big Bow has been developing his art form since kindergarten, when he started drawing dinosaurs for classmates. Today, he's more likely to be found mixing a palette of fresh paints on the kitchen counter or shaving wood inside his garage. He credits his aunt for buying him his first paint while in high school and for steadily encouraging him to pursue art full time. Nico Strange Owl, a First Peoples Fund board member, said the organization supports a lot of community-based artists who tend to be more culturally successful rather than commercially successful. "Indian art is sort of the last thing on people's lists," Strange Owl said. "Just to see the artists get that far on their own is really heartening." Roger Broer, a 2005 business fellow, has been using his fellowship experience to create a studio workshop in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The studio will allow the Lakota painter to reach out to emerging artists while maintaining contact with customers. "You always have to get out and tell your story," he said. "It doesn't matter how well you tell your story, you just have to keep telling it." Big Bow has only begun to tell his story even though he's been a working artist for more than 10 years. One of the first things he did when he quit his full-time job was enter a nationally juried art show. It led him last August to the Santa Fe Indian Market, an event drawing 1,200 artists and 100,000 art spectators. Big Bow and his manager-wife, Nicole, went to the market not knowing what to expect. But they left thrilled after he won second- and third- place awards in the diverse arts, musical instrument category. Winners from the show tend to set the world standard for Indian art. "I wanted to get home and get back to work while I was standing down there," Big Bow said. As part of his First Peoples Fund fellowship, he plans to create a Web site to sell his work. He said, "I'd like some recognition in the real world, rather than being a door-to-door salesman." Reach reporter Jodi Rave at 406-523-5299 or jodi.rave@;lee.net Copyright c. 2006 Bismark Tribune, A division of Lee Enterprises, Inc. --------- "RE: Turtle Mountain Band, Foundation to fight poverty" --------- Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2006 08:51:19 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NORTHWEST AREA FOUNDATION TEAMS WITH TURTLE MOUNTAIN BAND" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.grandforks.com/13764140.htm?source=rss&channel=grandforks_local TURTLE MOUNTAIN BAND: Tribe to partner with Minnesota foundation to fight poverty By Dorreen Yellow Bird Herald Staff Writer February 1, 2006 The Northwest Area Foundation announced Tuesday the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa in Belcourt, N.D., is one of three tribes in a 10-year partnership to eliminate poverty. The partnership project, called Ventures, will provide Turtle Mountain with $2.9 million the first year. As the tribe meets its milestones, the foundation will provide an additional $7.l million for a total of $10 million. "The harsh reality of poverty is that it affects us all," said Karl Stauber, president and CEO of the foundation. "As a result, they have focused all their resources on poverty and undertaken long-term partnership with tribes on one issue: poverty." After a two-year planning period, and with the financial and technical assistance of the foundation, the tribe developed a strategic plan with the following goals: * Mobilizes the reservation to reduce poverty. * Encourages youth leadership by identifying young people who don't always jump out as leaders. * Makes full use of income supplements such as earned income tax credits. * Establishes an enterprise center to spur business ownership and jobs. * Revitalizes downtown Belcourt and uses tax credits to develop housing, utilities and tourism economic engines. "We look forward to planting the seeds necessary for us to grow and build not only a self-sustaining economy, but also our most valuable resources, the members of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa," said Ken Davis, chairman of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. Turtle Mountain was chosen from 76 tribes in the Northwest Area Foundation coverage area North Dakota, Minnesota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Iowa and Washington. The tribe was chosen based on need, opportunity and potential impact. The Northwest Area foundation project presents $25.5 million over 10 years to attack poverty on reservations. Other tribes selected were the Cheyenne River Sioux, Eagle Butte, S.D., $2.5 million the first year and $7 million over the life of the partnership; Lummi Indian Nation, Bellingham, Wash., $l million the first year and $5 million over the 10-year partnership. The additional funding is allocated as the tribes meet the milestones of the grant. Copyright c. 2006 Grand Forks Herald, Knight Ridder. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Southern Utes recover more than $3 Million" --------- Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2006 08:51:19 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ENRON COLLAPSE RECOVERY" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.durangoherald.com/article_path=/news/06/news060201_4.htm Southern Utes recover more than $3 million lost in Enron collapse By Jesse Harlan Alderman | Herald Staff Writer February 1, 2006 As the corruption trial of two former Enron executives begins, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe has recouped more than $3 million in debt from the bankrupted energy giant. On Dec. 21, the tribe's Red Willow Production Co. sold a debt claim of $3.27 million to Deutsche Bank Securities Inc, according to a filing in United States Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York. This came four years after the Southern Utes joined the multi-party case against Enron. Deutsche has bought Enron's debt at discounted prices from several companies participating in the lawsuit, said Matthew Doheny, managing director of the banking firm in New York. "We buy claims like that every day here," he said. But he would not disclose the discounted price that Deutsche paid to the Southern Utes. Hundreds of creditors say they were bilked while Enron lied to analysts and investors to inflate its credit rating and stock price. The company's collapse became one of the nation's worst financial scandals. With the payout, the tribe is no longer a plaintiff in Enron's ongoing bankruptcy trial. Though the tribe undersold the debt claim, the Southern Utes actually profited on the original debt, said Bob Zahradnik, operating director of the Southern Ute Growth Fund that oversees Red Willow. Besides the sale to Deutsche, an Enron successor company agreed to pay a settlement during private negotiations with the tribe, he said. After Enron declared bankruptcy in December 2001, its remaining assets were liquidated and divided among several companies. Zahradnik declined to name the company paying off a share of Enron's debt. He also would not say if Red Willow or any tribal venture is still in business with the company. Red Willow is the tribe's energy arm, with lucrative investments in oil and natural gas stretching from Ignacio to the Gulf of Mexico. Profits from Red Willow account for a majority of the Southern Ute Growth Fund's revenues. In 2001, the Fitch Report, a national bond rating agency, calculated the net worth of the growth fund at $1.7 billion. The tribe has not released figures since. Until 2001, Enron purchased natural gas from Red Willow. The company then sold the gas directly to consumers or major utilities. The $3.27 million debt stems from November 2001 gas sales, when Enron defaulted on payments. The company imploded a month later, ensnaring top executives in a corruption probe. On Monday, the trial of former chairman Kenneth Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling began in Houston. In all, they face more than three dozen counts of conspiracy and fraud. Copyright c. the Durango Herald. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Museum faced with losing Indian Identity" --------- Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2006 08:59:32 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CASH STRAPPED TREASURE TROVE IN TROUBLE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2006/01/30/territory_01.txt Continuing struggle: Museum of the Plains Indians faced with losing its identity By MICHAEL JAMISON of the Missoulian January 30, 2006 The lobby of the Museum of the Plains Indian in Browning features a dry fresco mural painted by Victor Pepion depicting a Blackfeet tribal buffalo hunt. Each of the four walls shows a different part of the hunt, including hunters sighting buffalo, the chase, the return to camp - shown on this wall, with the Sweet Grass Hills painted in the distance - and a camp scene. Photographed by TOM BAUER/Missoulian BROWNING - Darrell Norman's eyes seem almost to caress, following with familiar ease the careful lines of form and function, the graceful flex of a bow, the deliberate detail locked in strict and ancient geometry, beaded, quilled, all woven tight as an Indian rug. And everywhere he looks there is color - not the garish stains of modern dazzle, but deep and satisfying colors bled straight from the earth, from stone and from stem, from root and fruit and flower. "This," Norman says finally, "is an incredibly important and impressive collection." His interest wanders seamlessly from a century-old tepee door to a striking Blackfeet headdress, to the tiny shine of beads and to the rows upon rows of tightly bound porcupine quills. Then up over feathers still red with berry bright, over the soft nap of rawhide. "These are high, high quality," Norman says. "They made things beautiful, because to them life was beautiful. This tells you that at one time, we were an independent people. Not dependent like we are today. Anything we needed, we made, and we made it beautifully. We see this today and we understand who we could be; we understand the potential of what is possible." Norman is an artist on Montana's Blackfeet Indian Reservation, and when he's not making drums and rattles and traditional art, he chairs the Museum of the Plains Indians Artists Association. That group, he said, has recently galvanized in an effort to save Browning's famous museum, home to a collection known worldwide. "If all this disappears," Norman said, "we lose our knowledge of who we are, and we lose the ability to see our potential." The problem, of course, is money. The Museum of the Plains Indians was built back in 1941, at the tail end of the Great Depression, with a mission to preserve and present the art, history and culture of the Plains Indian people. Its mission statement recognizes the museum as a "major cultural institution," home to "world- renowned collections," and promotes education and research as well as exhibition. But according to acting curator David Dragonfly, it's been decades since that mission was fully funded, and now the museum itself is on the chopping block. The dirt beneath the displays is tribal land, and the building itself is owned by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. But the museum's operation is administered by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, an arm of the U.S. Department of the Interior. And therein lies the rub. The board, strapped for cash and with too much on its plate, is looking for ways to fund a crackdown on counterfeiters of Indian artifacts. The board's $1 million annual budget is quite nearly halved by the three museums in its care - the Southern Plains Indian Museum in Oklahoma, the Sioux Indian Museum in South Dakota and the collection in Browning. Housing items from Blackfeet, Kootenai, Crow, Northern Cheyenne, Sioux, Assiniboine, Arapaho, Shoshone, Nez Perce, Chippewa, Cree and other Native cultures, the Museum of the Plains Indians runs - if barely - on about $138,000 each year. It might not be much, but the Indian Arts and Crafts Board wants that money. The current plan is to close the doors Oct. 1, 2007, then break up the collection, returning many items to donors and sending the rest to storage in Washington, D.C. "It's like someone coming into your home and cleaning out all your family heirlooms," said Mary Lukin, a Browning native now home after many years living in Bozeman. Tuesday, she was visiting the museum yet again, a pilgrimage she has made countless times. While working at Montana State University, Lukin said, she learned a whole lot about student retention, among other things. "If you have a strong sense of who you are," she said, "then making any kind of transition is just so much easier. You're much more likely to succeed." "This," she said with an encompassing sweep of her arm, "is who we are. It's a living culture. We're not from the past; we're of today." Today, the museum is quiet, except for a wild winter wind that thunders down off the Rocky Mountain Front, howling, moaning, crashing in waves that roll across brittle-brown prairie to break against the thick museum walls. Inside, the chill air actually vibrates with each blast, and feathers sway ever so gently behind protective glass. On their own, says artist Valentina LaPier, those feathers are simply so many plumes of history. But when touched by the art, myth and ritual of culture they become language, "a visible image, a tangible image, a three- dimensional image of our reality." Likewise, she said, the whole of the collection is far greater than the sum of its parts, all existing in a broader context that is culture. Outside, she said, that raging wind is surely alive. Inside, the fabulously decorated displays are just as surely alive. It is difficult, LaPier said, to connect directly with the vast and inaccessible landscape beyond the museum doors. But inside are representations drawn from that landscape, accessible reflections made by humans to speak to humans. Visitors recognize a bit of the life behind the glass, she said, "and you take it out the door with you." Indeed, it's impossible to look at that reservation expanse in quite the same way once you've walked the halls of Dragonfly's museum. Once equipped with the language, the brown hills come instantly alive, thronging again with buffalo, with endless encampments. But what if you were to leave the museum and open the doors not onto a Montana reservation but rather onto the steaming streets of Washington, D. .C.? "Then you lose the language," Norman said. "The art is without context." Many spoken languages from Indian cultures, Norman said, "are in a desperate situation," on the verge of extinction. "But you know what's hard to make extinct? This. This collection right here. This is a visual language, and it could save the rest of the culture." At the center of this visual language is a word that is verb and noun and adjective and adverb alike: buffalo. He is here in horn and hide and sinew, his rawhide fringe snapping in the wind, his heavy robe a borrowed warmth, clothing, shelter, food, life. He is here in the Einiskim "buffalo stone," here in a horn bowl, in the narrative of art and ritual. He brings the wind inside, crosses the divide. "The art was like the buffalo," Dragonfly said. "It was inclusive of our lives. Then, they turned us into farmers." But it's hard to imagine a farmer wearing that fierce necklace, studded with grizzly bear claws. It's hard to imagine a farmer draped in that Ghost Dance garb, in that warrior's medicine shirt. It's hard to imagine a farmer's wife carrying her babe on that intricately beaded cradle board, a farmer's daughter playing with that stick doll. And that, finally, is the real power of this collection in this place. It is not an exhaustive example of any one part of Indian life, but instead is a cross section of everything from tools to toys to utensils to religious artifacts. Very little is without function, art for art's sake, we call it. Instead, line, form and content - sometimes symbolic, sometimes lyrical, sometimes abstract, pulled from nature and from dream - grace the work of the day, fit snug in the hand. Snakeskin wraps a chokecherry bow here, and there the diamondback design is pulled from the rattler and beaded into a pair of moccasins. The sun, radiating out in golden orange, explodes across a ceremonial horse's mask, and you can almost smell his steaming breath, still sweet with sagebrush. Arrows, knives, hammers, clubs, berry mashers, all ornamented with feather, quill, skin, hair and pelt. A delicate bracelet of fish vertebrae, perhaps strung for a secret lover. Drums, rattles, pipes. A whistle carved from eagle bone, that could take flight at any moment. An effigy, big medicine, a spoon shaped from mountain sheep horn, a rawhide bowl, a colorful dress that still dances, rattles, still charms. "As far as encompassing the lives of the Northern Plains Indians," Dragonfly said, "this is as good as it gets." Outside the museum doors, discarded tires pin down roofs against winter's wail. Dogs wander bleak streets, and the hardscrabble hills look worn thin, like the skin over an old woman's knuckles. Glacier County, home to Browning and the Museum of the Plains Indians, is the second poorest in a state known for its poverty. Yesterday's careful geometry of independence seems here replaced by a haphazard and often hopeless reliance. "We cannot, cannot, afford to lose this collection," Norman said. "It's a positive force. It's our hope." Already, Montana's congressional delegation has joined the fight, vowing to keep the museum open. "The museum is a significant attraction for tourism and has the potential to be a tremendous educational resource," Sen. Conrad Burns wrote recently in a letter to the Interior. The state's senior Republican promised that "under no circumstances will the museum be closed and its collections shipped to the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C." But despite all the bluster, no one has put forward a specific plan for maintaining the facility. Some - particularly those at the Indian Arts and Crafts Board - have suggested giving it over to the Blackfeet tribe, but even tribal members don't think that's such a good idea. In a referendum back in 1993, Norman said, the tribe asked its members about taking over the collection. More than 80 percent said no. "Tribal business operation doesn't have a very successful history," Norman said, adding that people remain concerned about management, fiscal responsibility and political looting. Continued federal oversight remains the best option, he said, even though under the status quo Dragonfly already has lost technical curators, scientific staff, anthropologists and archaeologists. Much of the collection remains in storage, in a building with a bad roof and $2 million in repair needs. Perhaps the state's university system wants to get involved, Norman said. Perhaps other museums - such as Kalispell's Hockaday - are willing to help out. Perhaps nearby Glacier National Park has an interest. Perhaps the Plains Anthropological Society can ride to the rescue. "It just makes me angry," Norman said. "The federal government built this, took on the obligation. Now, they want to back out of their responsibility. It's nothing new. When they want to dump some debt, they dump it on the Indians. Same old story." Every summer, Dragonfly collects a few bucks each from the 15,000 or so folk who flow through his museum. The money, though, "goes back to Washington, D.C.," he said. "I have no idea what happens to it." If he could hang on to the gate receipts, he said, and if he could get the gift shop back up and running, and if he could get the collection catalogued and inventoried and photographed for publication, then maybe - just maybe - he could make a go of it. "But there's just no money," Dragonfly said. "We don't get any revenue. It all goes to the Big Chief back east, and it doesn't come back." Edie Hopkins, for one, doesn't care to go back east to explore her culture. The Browning native - long since moved away from the reservation - returns home every now and again, and each time she visits the museum "to see what it's all about, and to make a connection with home." She's drawn especially to the dresses, the soft skins beaded and belled and draped with so much care over the featureless mannequins. She calls it "today's fashion," and when looked at in just the right way, the diorama does take on the substance of the catwalk, Blackfeet style, centuries old and yet fresh as that wind outside. "This isn't the past," Hopkins said. "Every time I come, I see something new." Copyright c. 2006 Missoulian. --------- "RE: South Dakota Indian Market Plans" --------- Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2006 08:51:19 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PROJECTED SD INDIAN MARKET" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.keloland.com/News/NewsDetail5442.cfm?Id=0,45652 South Dakota Indian Market Plans January 31, 2006 You find them in states like New Mexico and Arizona...large markets that showcase Native American artwork. Soon, South Dakota will have its own Indian Market in the Black Hills. It's a project by a non-profit organization which represents South Dakota's nine Indian tribes and promotes Indian tourism while maintaining respect for traditional ways. However, South Dakota's Indian Market will be unique. In just over a year, drawing plans will become reality, as the Alliance of Tribal Tourism Advocates opens an outdoor Indian market in Rapid City. A.T.T.A. Executive Director Daphne Richards-Cook said, "This project is real exciting to ATTA. For years we've been working with the arts with our tours, make and take programs, and promoting the arts and cultural resource lands and scenic beauty." It will be built next to the Journey Museum in downtown. Richards-Cook said, "What we really wanted to do was have a market, a stronger market to Indian Country because that's what we're lacking. When tourism business starts on the reservation, people don't know we're there. People don't know we exist. The artists are invisible most of the time." But the new Indian market will give artists a place to display their works to the millions of tourists who pass through Rapid City each year. Richards-Cook said, "We'll have about 38 booths for artists. We'll have two booths for concession, Lakota culinary." Unlike other Indian Markets that only showcase artwork, South Dakota's will be a place of learning year around. Richards-Cook said, "We have different people out there who are known artists. They become the master apprentice and they work with the youth to sit at the booth and they start making products and different art things." Business skills, traditional cooking, and even marketing will be taught at the living history village. Richards-Cook said, "So within that camp fire they're learning culinary. They're making bapah, wasna...the traditional foods. Maybe they're going and planting. They are showing the berries, the ethno botany." Plans also include an area where a powwow will be held every month. And small concerts will offer local musicians a place to share their talents. Richards-Cook said, "So whenever we don't have a powwow, we pull the stage out and it turns into a theatre stage piece. We'll have lighting, sound, and different equipment so we have our native community get up and maybe the contemporary singers, rap, traditional singing, dance, and song." It's a project that will help tribal members polish and gain skills, but also preserve and share their culture. Richards-Cook said, "We're doing something that's educational in nature that's teaching our own people, taking care of our own. But it's also teaching the non-native public to come in and really truly understand who we are as Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota Nations." It won't be cheap to build, but the A-T-T-A will have help in funding the outdoor market, from Rapid City. Richards-Cook said, "They approved for us $812,000.00 to construct the venue." Money that will bring to life a project that will bring communities together. Something that organizers have yet to do is pick an official name for the market place. Still, construction is scheduled to start next year. Copyright c. 2006 KELOLAND TV. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Hayward man fights for Native Americans" --------- Date: Sun, 29 Jan 2006 18:20:20 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ADVOCATE FOR MEXICA/AZTECS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_3446949?source=rss Hayward man fights for Native Americans Organization seeks historical status, change in immigration policy By Michelle Beaver, STAFF WRITER January 28, 2006 "Most Mexican Americans are ashamed of their Indian roots. They hate them." Whether it's true, it's the opinion of Hayward man Henry Guzman Villalobos. The thought troubles him greatly. One of the only thoughts that troubles him more is that the general populace doesn't know much about those roots, and doesn't want to. That's why Villalobos, 61, started an organization 3 years ago called Aztecs of North America Inc. that intends to educate the public. The main goal of the group is to help all Native American descendants, including Aztecs, receive historical recognition as American Indians from the U.S. government. Such recognition would enable Native Americans to travel freely over the Mexico-U.S. border, and would be a radical change to current immigration policies and other human-rights issues. Villalobos is circulating a petition in favor of a historical recognition bill that currently has more than 1,000 signatures. He gives speeches every year and labors to learn more about American Indian-related issues, but membership in his organization is low (about a dozen people) and progress is tough. He has decent support in other states and has tried to bring local community leaders into his organization. Hayward Mayor Roberta Cooper is one of them. "I know he's doing a lot of educating about their (Native Americans') situation and I'm very glad about that," Cooper said. "We often ignore the plight of our Native American citizens." Historical recognition has nothing to do with land or money, Villalobos said. It's about respect and history. "What we want is to teach that the Aztecs are still here," he said. "We still have our language. We want to strengthen our nation." Villalobos and some scholars believe that the Aztec people lived not only in Mexico but also on what is now U.S. land. Villalobos is working more with the United States than with Mexico, mostly because he was born here. He said that Aztec descendants south of the border should lobby Mexico. Historical recognition will change what people read in textbooks and will influence the self-image of Mexican Americans, according to Villalobos. "I want to help teach people who they really are," he said. "That will take away the name of 'illegal immigrants.' The Mexican and Mexican- American people are not awake to the fact that they are half-breeds. We're talking about a race of people who are only about 500 years old." Villalobos said that embracing all of one's lineage makes people more complete. "It makes a stronger person, not a confused person," he said. He is especially interested in gaining recognition for Aztec descendants, since many Latino Americans can claim some Aztec heritage. The Aztec empire thrived primarily in Mexico during the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. The U.S. Census shows that there are 7,453 Native Americans in Alameda County. If a majority of Latinos were considered Native Americans because of their probable Aztec lineage, Alameda County's Native American population would skyrocket to almost 300,000. Villalobos is three-quarters Aztec and one-quarter European. He was raised by his European grandmother, who was kind to him but sometimes scolded him for his Aztec roots. She used to tell him, "Sit up straight. You're acting like a savage." When he was 7 years old, his full-blooded Aztec great-grandmother visited him and changed his world forever. "When I first saw her, something clicked between us," he said. "It's hard to explain. We were sitting at the dinner table and I was looking at her like there was a magnet between us. At 7 years old, she planted a seed. She said, 'Let me tell you, you are an Indian."' For the past 27 years, Villalobos has tried to uncover his roots. He has lived with many tribes, including the Shoshone and Pima, and has feverishly studied federal and California law as it applies to American Indian affairs. Villalobos, who is on disability and once worked odd jobs, got an unlikely start in his academic studies. Long ago, he robbed a bank in Texas and spent 12 years in federal prison. It was there that he bonded with Native Americans from various tribes and served as vice president of an American Indian organization at the jail. He also took his first in-depth sociology and history classes. Villalobos grew up in Oakland and has lived in Hayward since 1951. "If you know your past, you're stronger," he said. "In your mind you don't feel like half a person, you're a whole person. I know where I come from. And where I'm going." Villalobos said he will work until his final day to see that Mexican Americans receive historical recognition as Native Americans. It's a tall order, but possible, he thinks. "The Hispanic-Latino Americans need some backbone and education to acknowledge their roots," he said. "If we do that, we can do anything. We can make history." Copyright c. 2000-2006 ANG Newspapers. --------- "RE: Unique Partnership to help poor Tribes" --------- Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2006 08:48:09 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PROGRAM BECOMES SELF-SUFFICIENT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=7523 "Unique partnership" to help poor tribes become self-sufficient Foundation teams with Chippewa, Lummi and Sioux Sam Lewin January 31, 2006 In what is being called a "unique partnership," an organization that exists to help low-income communities better themselves economically has joined together with three Indian tribes. "I have always thought that American Indian tribes needed the equivalent of the Marshall Plan in which the United States rebuilt Europe after World War II," said Turtle Mountain Chippewa chairman Ken Davis. "I see this project as that type of effort. With the three pathways our strategic plan covers, we look forward to planting the seeds necessary for us to grow and build not only a self-sustaining economy, but also our most valuable resource, the members of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa." Davis' tribe is one of three to enter into an agreement with the Northwest Area Foundation, a philanthropic group established in 1934. The foundation is giving the Chippewa, a poor tribe based in North Dakota, an initial grant of $2.9 million to help reduce poverty, establish a center to stimulate businesses and use tax credits to develop housing and tourism on the reservation. Also receiving grants from the foundation are the South Dakota-based Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and the Lummi Nation of Washington State. "We appreciate their respectful approach that promotes tribally designed strategies. This approach allowed our plan to be holistic; connected to our cultural values and targeted at stimulating sustained growth for our economy," Cheyenne River chairman Harold Frazier said about the foundation. The Lummis received a $1 million grant that will in part be directed towards giving the tribe's fishing industry a shot in the arm. "We recognize what a wonderful opportunity this is for the Lummi, and we are excited for this chance to reduce poverty in our community," said Lummi chairman Darrell Hillaire. "This project represents a long-term commitment to address the symptoms of poverty our people face. Hillaire said that poverty "lies at the root of many of Lummi's problems, and we see this funding as a chance to help our people become self sufficient." The partnerships last for a decade each and are based on fulfilling a series of goals. The Turtle Mountain Chippewa, for example, will receive up to $7.1 million in additional funding as they meet the goals set in the first installment. "We are very honored and very excited to form this unique relationship with three distinct American Indian nations,"