_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 14, ISSUE 008 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 25, 2006 Mvskogee hotvlee-hv'see/wind moon Assiniboine amhanska/long dry moon Lakota cannapopa wi/moon when trees pop Potawatomi mnokesis/moon of rabbit conception Zuni onon u'la'ukwamme/no snow in trails moon +-------------------------------------------------------+ | Much more happens in Indian Country than is reported | | in this weekly newsletter. For daily updates & events | | go to http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm | +-------------------------------------------------------+ Otapi'sin Atsinikiisinaakssin -- Blackfeet -- News for All the People Ni-mah-mi-kwa-zoo-min -- Ojibwe -- We Are Talking About Ourselves Aunchemokauhettittea -- Naragansett -- Let Us Share News Kanoheda Aniyvwiya -- Cherokee -- Journal of the People O Es'te Opunvk'vmucvse -- Creek -- People's New News O o O Acimowin -- Plains Cree -- Story or Account O o O Tlaixmatiliztli -- Nahuatl -- News O o o o o O Agnutmaqan -- Listuguj Mi'kmaq -- News O o O Sho-da-ku-ye -- Teehahnahmah -- Talking Birchbark O o O Un Chota -- Susquehannic Seneca -- The People Speak O Ha-Sah-Sliltha -- Ditidaht Nation -- News of the People Ximopanolti tehuatzin, inin Mexika tlahtolli -- Nahuatl -- For you we offer these words It-hah-pe-hah Ah-num pah-le -- Chickasaw -- Together We Are Talking Dineh jii' adah' ho'nil'e'gii ba' ha' neh -- Navajo Nation -- What's Happening among The People News Okla Humma Holisso Nowat Anya -- Choctaw -- People(s) Red Newspaper Hi'a chu ah gaa -- Pima -- The stories or the talk of the People s ch mA mL tL squee Lux -- Okanogan -- News from the People Native American News -- Language of the Occupation Forces ++>If you speak a Native American language not listed above, please send us your words for "News of the People." We'd rather take up this whole page saving these few words of our hundreds of nations than present a nice clean banner in the language of the occupation forces who came here determined to replace our words with their own. email gars@nanews.org with the equivalent of "News of the People" in your tribal language along with the english translation <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is produced in straight ASCII text for greatest portability across platforms. Read it with a fixed-pitch font, such as Courier, Monaco, FixedSys or CG Times. Proportional fonts will be difficult to read. <================<<<< >>>>================> This issue contains articles from www.owlstar.com; www.indianz.com; www.pechanga.net; Prison Action Network and Iron Natives 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: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + =================== "Less than 1 percent of American Indians are receiving advanced degrees in science and engineering." "As far as the work force is concerned, we comprise much less than 1 percent of the professionals in science and engineering." __ Teresa Gomez, Deputy Director American Indian Science and Engineering Society +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! This issue's editorial is a brief comment on this issue's lead article. When this newsletter began fourteen years ago, there were precious few articles about our Peoples in mainstream media. There also was no Web- based Internet as most now know it. Information was exchanged via email between computers on dial-up modems... and initially, those modems all connected at 300 baud. While it was far slower and far more prone to dropped connections, the Internet community in those days was much more of a community. One of the huge differences in many of the articles presented in those early days was that they were produced by individuals living in the heart of Indian Country, either on a rez or an urban area. Articles were rawer and right up on the frontline of where events of concern were occurring. Bernard and Feather in Anishnaabe country, Just an Old Man in Canada and others created the opinions and front page news of this humble newszine. My job was more a matter of making sure ALL were given an opportunity to express their view, provided each avoided slander or invectives, and each presented the truth. Readers were exposed to both the Hopi and Navajo view of the Checkerboard, and many other topics of interest. It was honest. It was gritty. It was life. Gradually, computers changed, the internet changed and mainstream media took an interest in Indian Country. More and more, the news was slick news copy. It was still news of Indian Peoples. It was still pertinent. It was also becoming more-and-more removed from the frontlines of Indian Country. I rolled with the change. Actually, I had little choice. It was what I was being handed. About four months ago a few Nations began sending news reports, themselves. Then this past week two articles came in that were straight from the trenches. A young Native Woman took a hard look at herself and her own transformation, and had the courage to pour her heart out for others to learn from. I am very honored she granted "Wotanging Ikche" the privilege of sharing the results as the lead article in this issue. It's about life, real life, in Indian Country. It's about growth and planting your staff for yourself, your family and your people. A second came within days full of concern about how mining interests might be undermining a way of life and the land on which the people of several nations live. I welcome... encourage response. I also ask that anyone who reads this will also choose to share news and thoughts from their corner of Indian Country. More news from those in Indian Country came in. Then the author of "The Battle of Whiteclay" sent a review of this truly insightful look at a town that survives by feeding on the misery of a neighboring reservation. Finally, just before this issue went out my wife received an alert straight from the trenches advising the Georgia Parks Department was denying all Native American Events. 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 ----------- - Choices - GIAGO: Indians didn't pay Taxes - Mining Interests - 100 Years Ago threaten Colville Reservation - YELLOW BIRD: - Georgia Parks Department A Prairie Rose by any other Name locks out Indian Events - Akwesasne and Tohono O'odham - Move to restructure BIA compare experiences faces resistance - Poverty is a - `Four Amigos' bash Bush Budget Weapon of Mass Destruction - Elimination of Urban - Yaqui in Mexico Indian Health Care opposed suffer effects of Pesticides - Indians wary of Health cuts - On the Path to Healing - Bear Butte building - Legal challenge to Pipeline review opposition sought - Chiefs' Letter on sharing - Petitioners want to split raises another Hurdle S.D. County - Samson decision causes outrage - Turbine makes good - Saskatoon: Police seek on broken promise missing Teen Sisters - Tribes oppose more CBM drilling - 14-year-old Girl murdered - Navajos, N.M. eye Tax cuts - Ipperwash: for Power Plant Harris knew Ontario's Boundaries - Tribes honor Warriors - Ipperwash: Harris to face - Bank ponders Native 'Truth' Ceremony how to serve all Indians - Oglala Tribal Law Enforcement - Beautiful country faces big reduction not the Land of a Free People - Meskwaki ask State - Tribe will look for ways to recognize Tribal Court to ban offensive Mascots - Quartet named - 16 Students Advance Tribal Appellate Court Judges to a Science-Engineering Fair - Native Prisoner - Census: Navajos are -- Separate Aboriginal Prisons Second Largest Indian Group Considered - OPINION: - Journalist account of Whiteclay Punishing Native Americans wrong - Rustywire: - AUGUSTINE: Urban Indian colony The Laughing Road still thriving - Lee Goins Poem: - JODI RAVE: Advocates The Spirit of this Man to assist Natives in Courts - Fisher River Cree - YELLOW BIRD: write own dictionary May Film foster understanding - Sacred Sites Run --------- "RE: Choices" --------- Date: Fri, 10 Feb 2006 11:15:10 -0800 (PST) From: Name withheld by request Subj: Choices A young native lady sent the following, noting she just wanted to share it with her people. It is an honor to include her words in this issue. She originally asked to remain anonymous. That disappointed me, and I encouraged her, as did her father, to be proud to claim her words. Arlana Lame Omaha, of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and the Cass Lake Ojibwe sent this message for her generation, which is one I pray will be taken to heart. ---- Choices I have been in school almost all my life and I have been living in poverty. The path to completing an education has been a long one, yet I have been driven and determined to not give up. I have attended five different universities within seven years I have dropped out, took breaks, and moved away from home. I have gone to extreme measures to explore an education. I have done all this raising a son, and maintaining employment. Some of the places I attended school I didn't have family there and some I did. To make a short story longer I have discovered along my path with education and daily hardships of going from being raised in a multicultural environment. I had no idea racism existed then, as I attended different colleges in towns surrounded by reservations. What I learned was that people in general have different stereotypes about Native Americans, and they are so uneducated on the true history of Native Americans because they are not taught in school or do not state realist facts about Natives. They hold common stereotypes like we are all drunks and we receive free education. Little do they know Natives American's have only been introduced to Alcohol for the past two hundred years and their bodies do not filter alcohol like non-natives so they are more at risk then other races. And not all Natives receive free school money. I owe about $20,000 in loans and I am sure I am not the only one. So people can be uneducated about our race and people can judge, but they will be the ones missing out on wonderful friendships and will never understand how rich Native Americans truly are in values and culture. It was hard for me to go from not knowing racism existed to walking around a college campus not knowing whether to smile at someone walking by because, what if they are racist? But then I used to say to myself, you know what I am not here for other people, I am here for me -- to better myself to create a better future for myself and my son. If they want to make friends and talk to me, if they are worth it, they will. Otherwise I don't waste time and energy on worrying about what other people think. That can just take take much out of you. Most of the time the other students in school were nice. No one ever said anything to me in regards to race. If they ever asked me questions or brought anything UP, I simply corrected their common mis-education on Native Americans and said that's just a stereotype. They were always like, really, I didn't know that. So I spent some of my time breaking stereotypes. I felt like it was time well spent. The point I am trying to make is, Life is mainly about Choices. We can choose to judge people and put people down, and sit and dwell on the way things are, sit and feel sorry for ourselves, or we can take a stand and choose to do something about it. Dwelling, running, never facing problems, and issues do not solve them. Making a difference in your life will not happen overnight. You've got to want it and you've got to be determined to work at it on a daily basis, on a minute to minute basis. Gang bangers and kids who run the streets, they are very smart, talented, and very business orientated. People who use drugs and alcohol, they put all that energy into using "where they are going to get their next high" when they should be thinking about going to school, obtaining a career and making a positive change in their life not only for themselves but for their children and grandchildren. When our ancestors were making choices and choosing paths they thought of the future of their tribes, and the future of their people. They lived harder lives then us. Yes, America came and took all this away from us. They took the way we lived, they took the roles of the people in the villages, the way of life, but we are still here. We still breathe. We still exist. They did not take our ways completely away. We still preserve some of the songs and some of the ceremonies. Even the generations before us suffered to take our ways underground, so that they could pass them down to us now. If we don't learn our ceremonies, songs, and our language, they will die. The generations that do speak fluent languages are all on the streets homeless or they are dying. They are our drunken aunts and uncles who we continuously disrespect or take for granted. We never stop to ask for stories or songs because we are too caught in the new style or new rap songs. We do still hold the essence of Native Pride and we do still have culture, yet some of it is fading. We cannot sit and dwell; we must walk the walk. It's possible to live in two worlds -- to go to school and to go to ceremonies and learn songs. Whenever I am in a college classroom learning non-native information. I always think in my mind now how is this going to apply in Indian Country and how can I take what I am learning here and work in Indian Country or how can I use this information to help my people? I leave there and go to work. I have to use customer service skills and I have to deal with people, and yes, sometimes its hard, but its a choice I make to provide a better future for myself and my son. But I am not only thinking of my family when I go to school and work. I think about THE PEOPLE -- what I want to do when I am done with college and I always come up with these different ideas and different projects I want to work on for example: I wanted to start businesses on the reservations to provide jobs to lower the unemployment rates. That was my first dream when I was like 15. Then as I grew and learned more my dreams, goals, and plans kept changing, the more I myself as a person grew and changed. Now I want to finish school and help high school students get into college. It's not selling out ... it's not assimilating because face it, we have to depend on the ways of America; and we have to utilize them in order to survive. We have to make a choice to do this as a community it takes a whole community, I don't understand why Natives are so shy. It really limits us. Yes we have our Adam Beaches and our Indigenous but we need more of them. We need positive role models we need Warriors and Chiefs to make good choices for our future. I watch movies about what happened to my grandparents and my ancestors, and I cry. It hurts, but I needed to see their pain and suffering was not for nothing, it was for us to live to exist, to make them proud. I can sit and talk about Native American history and yes, it's important because it has made us as Native Americans who we are and it effects what is going on in Indian Country today, but I take from it, and what I choose to learn from it is positive. I choose to make decisions and choices based on the past. I understand what happened. I understand where I come from, I am proud to be Who I am. I would not have chosen to be any other person or race. We as Native Americans we hold a different value system, a different belief, and sometimes it holds us back but more of the time it's a family first value system, our families come because anything in our lives. We need to use that value to support others to attend college to do things. Our ancestors, our Chiefs, exist in every one of us. We keep them alive, we honor them, we keep their values and beliefs alive though our ways. They watch over us and they need to see us succeed. I often tell people even if you help yourself its helping others. Do what you can. You do not have to save the world, you have to start small. Make the choice to do what you think you need to do to help yourself and by doing that slowly you will be healing and helping others. I know I am not perfect I have been an alcoholic and I had a child when I was 20, but that has not stopped me. Maybe sometimes the alcoholism takes over and sets me back, but I get back up, dust myself off and I keep going back to school. So I am not directing this at any certain person and I am not trying to judge. I am just sharing some of what I know and have learned within my lifetime of being a single parent college student. I started school when my son was eight months old. I went to school, worked if I could do it. Its possible, you just got to want it, be determined, and do it. Life is not easy. If you want something you have to work at it. I have been in jail. I have been in gangs. I have been there - did that, so I can understand the lifestyle may seem glamorous, and you may think some of those people are your friends; but really the only place that lifestyle gets you is in jail or dead. It is truly a dead end path. You can choose to surround yourself with positive people. You pick your friends. You can still come from a poor family and be successful -- it is the choices you make and what you decide to do. I never knew my family was poor until I asked my sister, "...well what class are we middle or lower?" She said we are lower. I didn't like that at first. I guess I never cared because I always had food, clothes, and shelter. Natives are not taught the values of money and bank accounts and saving money to make house loans. We rent when are happy to get on section 8 or we live in reservation housing. It wasn't till my recent relationship where I started thinking about my credit. I was like damn "I better start trying to pay off my loan". I have been so worried about just getting done with school. My point is we need Warriors. We need our men to step up, and we need our woman to step up. We need the whole community to make positive choices. Our people are so traditional. Whole families can help each other, and support each other, because even if we send a few of the family members to college, they can come back and help other family members. Or, if we send some of the members to treatment. I learned the only way treatment works is if the person wants to quit. Look at the addiction rates. We have all the highest rates. We have the highest drop out rates, the lowest income rates. We have the highest suicide rates, the highest alcoholism and drug rates. What's up with that? Where did we go wrong? We have programs and resources out there. We just need to use them ... work for them. Put that same energy into healing. You will fall, you will have hardships; but you just have got to make the choice to get up and keep going, to not let the negativity or the criticism get to you or affect you in a bad way. Learn to positively communicate. Do not attack one another do not attack your family and loved ones or make it sound like an attack. Be open minded. Try to talk in way where you get your message across without hurting or upsetting. Its a positive healing. We are all human, we make mistakes, we all have skeletons, we all have issues and problems. There is always positive and negative to everything. It's what we take from the situations. It's how we choose to react. It was hard for me to learn to grow up, to walk away, to be a woman of the situation. When I was a teen I used to get kicked out of all the schools I attended and then I learned that "Hey you know what the only person getting hurt here is Me" I am the only one that can not go back to school. I am the only one getting suspended. This stuff shows up on my record, not the teacher or the principals' record. Man was I foolish. It took a few schools getting kicked out ,then I grew learned and realized not to act out or not to react - to be positive. Be a woman; take a positive stand and learn to deal. Make that choice, and then I just wanted to graduate high school. High school was a whole other long path, but I achieved it because I made the choice to cut all my friends off, to not hang with the bangers, to get a job, and to just worry about going to school and myself. Sometimes you have to learn from your friendships too and the only way to learn is to The Hard Way. Same with relationships. See my theory is the creator puts people in our paths for a reason to learn from one another, and once we have learned what was meant we move on, or if we were meant to be with that person we would. I guess I just believe things and people happen for a reason. You can learn from every experience every mistake, or should I say you can choose to learn from those mistakes. You take what you can from the experience and move on. If you sit and dwell it only sets and holds you back. I am not an expert and I don't have all the answers and I am not a know it all. I do not claim to be. All I can say is it is important to do something positive and successful for yourself and others. You can be anything and anyone you choose to be. Sky is the limit. I often have talks with my nephews and nieces and ask them well what do you want to do when you get older? I offer them the choices and tell them what's out there, because there are a lot of business career fields' and options. You just have to make the choice to pursue your dreams, goals, and plans. THE CHOICE IS YOURS. Make positive choices for yourself and your future grandchildren. --------- "RE: Mining Interests threaten Colville Reservation" --------- Date: Wednesday, February 15, 2006 12:25 am From: Susan Subj: Mining Interests Threaten Colville Reservation Mining Interests Threaten Colville Reservation The Reservation that is home to the Confederated Tribes of the Colville People encompasses 1.4 million acres in North Central Washington. A virtual paradise, it is bounded on the east by the Okanogan River and on the west and south by Lake Roosevelt, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam. The Confederated Tribes consist of the Nespelem, San Poil, Okanogan and Lakes nations, who were later joined by the seven others, including the Wenatchee, Entiats, Chelan and the Methow. The Moses Band was forced to move onto the reservation in 1884 despite the wishes of those already residing there. There they merged with the Moses-Columbia Band already residing on the reservation. Completing the original ten bands was the Palouse. The last to arrive was Chief Joseph's Band of the Nez Perce. For years these People have fended off mining companies who covet the riches buried deep inside Mother Earth. In 1998 a vote of tribal members resulted in a 600 to 0 defeat for mining. They also passed a moratorium stating that there would be no mining on their reservation ever. But time marches on and old traditional thinking council members retire and younger ones take their place. Unfortunately these young people often do not seem to have the ties to their culture, traditions and land that their Ancestors did. Just as small pox, TB and alcohol have killed millions of Native Peoples, greed, another curse of the European invaders, has infected many of our own people, causing them to think and act like whites. The promise of high paying jobs and big money blinds the eyes to the high cost of mining. For years mining interests have set their eyes on Mt. Tolman, a Sacred site to these People. Now the whole reservation is being considered. Not only will the Sacred Mountains be scraped away by huge machines, but the waste rock and tailings would be dumped into Meadow Creek which flows into Lake Roosevelt. Eventually the waters of the Columbia River would be effected. Molybdenum, a by product of mining, is only one of the dangerous substances that will be around for many generations if the People allow the land to be raped. Crops irrigated with these contaminated waters will in turn become hazards to life - both human and animal. Cancer rates will soar. More and more children will be born with birth defects. What salmon that are left in the waters will eventually sicken and die. The high paying jobs some covet will cost so much more than they can imagine. The irony is that the ones who will make the really big bucks will go on with their upper class lives far, far from the Colville Tribes. The Mother is angry. The mountains shake, the ice melts. Hurricanes and floods devastate the earth. Strange diseases pray upon the People. She is giving us a loud and clear warning about what is going to happen to this planet if we don't stop now. The Red People are the Guardians of the land. We need to be strong and stand for what we know is right. Time is short. I am Chickamauga but I know about your great chiefs and how they fought for their people. Where are your warriors now? There will be a spiritual gathering on the reservation from February 17- 20. The election will be held on March 18th. --------- "RE: Georgia Parks Department locks out Indian Events" --------- Date: Mon, 20 Feb 2006 12:28:08 -0700 From: Janet Smith Subj: Georgia Parks Department Last Minute Note from The Lovely Janet: The letter below came to me by e-mail from a friend after passing through several other hands. I know Yellow Otter, and have spoken with him since I read this letter. There's a lot of background, but the bottom line is that the facts as stated in this letter are accurate. Yellow Otter was attempting to organize a benefit event at a Georgia State Park that had, in fact, been asked for by the park officials a year earlier. But when he went back to the rangers with specific plans, they told him that since that time the Department of Natural Resources had circulated a policy memo instructing state park rangers that Native American events would no longer be approved on Georgia state park property. Since then, he's been stonewalled at every attempt to clarify this policy, although the policy should be a matter of public record. A little past history. This is not the first issue that has arisen over Native American use of State Park land in Georgia. Several years back, it came to our attention that Native Americans were not permitted to carry pipes onto state managed Native American properties like the Etowa Mound, and to pray on that property without a permit. One group tried to do so as a demonstration, and were turned away by armed rangers. Another individual was threatened with arrest on a different occasion. The DNR board meeting mentioned below coming up on Weds. February 22nd in Atlanta is a regular monthly meeting of this state agency. As such, it is open to the public, and the meeting room it is scheduled for accomodates up to 100 people. The meeting will be run by Roberts Rules of Order, which will permit the introduction of new business, at which point this issue may be brought up. The address is 2 Martin Luther King Drive, S.E., Suite 1352 East Atlanta, GA. The building is adjacent to the Georgia State Capital building and is accessible from I-20. Among the concerns that were mentioned to Yellow Otter by the DNR officials who were willing to talk to him were how the park could assure that the goods sold at such an event would be appropriate to the culture and in compliance with applicable federal law, and how they could assure that dances, ceremonies and dress would be culturally accurate. Other concerns had to do with parks being restricted to certain "themes" of activity. The specific park in question happens to have "teepee" structures as teaching facilities, but the official noted that since the style of teepee used was not historically accurate for the local population, their presence didn't imply that "Indian themes" would be permissible in that park. It would be nice to prove that a) they are wrong about the absence of Indians in Georgia, b) Indians outside of Georgia are also interested in state policies that discriminate against Indian people and their ceremonies, and c) Indians really aren't as clueless as at least one Georgia DNR official seems to believe. Yellow Otter does request that individuals who plan to attend this meeting please contact him to let him know. One reason this is important to him is to help him plan for how to approach this board. If it's just him and his wife, he'll have to approach it differently than if there are 100 Indians behind him (or even if he is aware that 100 Indians have written an e-mail to the board about the issue). The note below contains contact information for DNR, and Yellow Otter's telephone number. His e- mail address is yellow.otter@yahoo.com. Note: this probably isn't the last time this issue have to be addressed before the DNR Board. It's in the nature of government committees to "study" issues before making decisions. So they'll most likely propose just that course of action on Wednesday. If we don't keep attending their meetings until the issue is resolved, the DNR will happily "forget" it. --------- Forwarded Message --------- Sirs / Madams Please excuse my writing style. I am not a trained writer as you can see. I am Larry Mindler ( Yellow Otter ). A tribal member of the South Eastern Cherokee Counsel, Inc. This letter is to inform and ask you for help into the Native American Policies that DNR ( Department of Natural Resources, State of Georgia) has or are in the process of establishing. As of last year the managers of the state parks have been telling us Native people that we can no longer hold events in the parks. They can not tell us why. They tell us it has came down from DNR. I have spent the last 3 weeks on the phone trying to talk to a person at DNR. For the most part, with no luck. As most phones are not answered by a human and the others are not returned. I did talk to a person by the name of; Chuck Gregory Resource Management & Interpretation Georgia State Parks & Historic Sites: http://www.gastateparks.org/ 2 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, S.E. Suite 1352 East Atlanta, GA 30334 ChuckG@dnr.state.ga.us 404-656-6539, office 404-290-6984, cell This person told me 2 and 1/2 weeks ago that he would send me what he referred to as; The Native American Policies. As of today all that I have received is more stall from him. I have talked to the Secretary I I I to the Commissioners Office, Reggie Hymel. He took down my information and told me he would give this to the Commissioner to look into. That was 3 days ago. I have not heard from anyone. I am getting what is known to most people as the Run-a-Round. Myself and the other Native American peoples of this State and of this country need to know what kind of Policies the DNR is passing that effect us. How it keeps us from being able to use State Property as other groups do. Again, PLEASE help us with this. The Board of DNR has a meeting on February 22, at 10:00 am. Please join us there. To support and to hear what DNR has to say about this. If you have any questions call Larry Mindler (Yellow Otter), myself. 678-437-9020 Forward this to as many people as you can. We need a big turn out so that we are heard. Larry Mindler Yellow Otter Yellow.Otter@Yahoo.com --------- "RE: Move to restructure BIA faces resistance" --------- Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2006 08:50:12 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRIBES UNIFY AGAINST BIA RESTRUCTURE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2006/02/17/news/local/news04.txt Move to restructure BIA faces resistance By Jomay Steen, Journal Staff Writer February 17, 2006 American Indian tribal leaders and education representatives from nine reservations are in Washington, D.C., this week, united in opposition to a Bureau of Indian Affairs education administration realignment and restructuring planned for this year that will cost $17 million. Oglala Sioux Tribe President Cecelia Fire Thunder, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Chairman Harold Frazier and other tribal leaders were scheduled to meet with Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and Rep. Stephanie Herseth, D-S.D. this week, officials said. Fire Thunder said that, based upon BIA documentation sent to tribal leaders and schools, the decision to reduce the number of reservation BIA education line officers in the restructuring plan - while adding a tier of new deputy administrators of education - was made without tribal consultation. Also, BIA education officers did not notify the tribes what it would cost to fund the realignment and restructuring of its offices, she said. "It is going to cost a lot of money - $17 million for the restructuring," Fire Thunder said. She and school officials said they wanted to know where that money was coming from. Line officers are BIA employees who monitor grants to reservation schools, ensuring that schools are complying with education programs and standards for which they receive grants. They also oversee accreditation and certification of schools and teachers, and are responsible for security and safety issues, student rights and technical assistance. They direct maintenance programs in schools, dormitories, employee quarters, grounds and buildings, and serve as contracting officers, among other duties. Currently, two line officers work in North Dakota at Turtle Mountain and Standing Rock reservations, serving South Dakota schools at Rock Creek and Little Eagle. Four others work in South Dakota on the Cheyenne River, Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations. Crow Creek and Lower Brule reservations share a line officer. If the BIA proceeds with its realignment, all line officer positions would be eliminated from the reservation schools, the number of officers would be cut to three and they would work from offices in Pierre, Rapid City and Bismarck, N.D. At a Tribal Leaders Education Legislative Summit earlier this month in Rapid City, Fire Thunder said tribal leaders had asked the South Dakota congressional delegation staff to help schedule a meeting with U.S. Secretary of Interior Gale Norton, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings and Edward Parisian, acting director of Officer of Indian Education Program. "I'm confident we're going to get that meeting," she said. At that time, Fire Thunder said the group would be presenting resolutions, letters and testimony opposing the BIA education restructuring and realignment. "We're going to do our very best to stop this realignment," Fire Thunder said. The tribal leaders also directed their lawyers to impose an injunction and restraining order to halt the Office of Indian Education Programs from beginning the process of removing the BIA education line officers from South Dakota reservations. Fire Thunder said the $17 million would be much better spent in schools and classrooms on reservations than in Washington. Shirley Bernie, student services director at Marty Indian School, concurred. "This (restructuring) is going to set up a new tier of administration bureaucracy while eliminating services to Indian schools in North and South Dakota," Bernie said. Bernie said most reservation schools don't have enough funds to pay for increased costs of bus fuel, heating fuel, food and services. She noted that nowhere in the restructuring had Washington administration addressed the needs of the children. "For all the needs of our kids at our schools, they want to add management positions," Bernie said. "We're so poor already." Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe attorney Rebecca Kidder said that in light of news of budget cuts across the board, BIA education officials have moved to add even more administrative offices to their Washington bureau at the expense of Indian children's education. "I don't know how that results in better education," Kidder said. Copyright c. 2006 Rapid City Journal. --------- "RE: `Four Amigos' bash Bush Budget" --------- Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2006 08:50:12 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="UIATF `FOUR AMIGOS' ASSAIL BUSH BUDGET" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.realchangenews.org/2006/2006_02_15/togetheragian.html Together Again "Four Amigos" bash Bush budget By STEFANIE FURER UW News Lab February 15, 2006 Members of the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation (UIATF) gathered at the Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center last Friday to discuss the potential social and economic results of budget proposals made by the Bush administration. Approximately 50 people attended, plus about a dozen members of the news media. The meeting was led by the "Four Amigos," a group of men representing four different ethnic and racial communities. These four groups - Latinos, Asians, Africans, and Native Americans - make up 80 percent of the world's population. But, according to Bob Santos, one of the Four Amigos and interim executive director, their voices - and their concern over the social harm inflicted by the Bush White House - have been largely ignored. "I'm wondering why there's no outrage in this country," he said, clenching his fists in a tight ball. "I'm surprised." Nodding in agreement was King County Councilmember Larry Gossett. "[The government] needs to be challenged," he said. "We need to do it collectively." Phil Lane, the new CEO of the United Indians of All Tribes, couldn't agree with Gossett more. "The only thing we lack right now is unity," he said. All four men all came to the same agreement: There needs to be a change in policy. Every move made by the U.S. government ultimately affects members of all communities. "Collectively right now, we have a vision," Lane said. Their vision, they hope, will change the dynamic of the current administration so that members of all communities can thrive socially and economically. Prior to the press conference held at the center was a discussion led by Roberto Maestas, Director of El Centro de la Raza. His brief introduction illustrated the key message the Four Amigos want people to know: The Bush administration is making cutbacks on the most important programs pertaining to the four ethnic communities they represent. One of the biggest cutbacks, according to Maestas, affects the Head Start program. "An attack on our children is an attack on what our country is supposed to support," he said. Bush plans to cut back the program by 1 percent, which is enough to stir controversy in the education realm, he said. Other major impacts of the Bush administration, according to the UIATF, are cuts to Medicare, the costs of war, and deficits from planning future attacks on terrorism in the Middle East. Maestas, Santos, and Gossett played key local roles in the civil rights movement in the 1970s. With American Indian community activist Bernie Whitebear, who died in 2000, they were known as the Gang of Four - a loving term borrowed from a Maoist clique that references the friendship these four built working in concert. A former Green Beret, Whitebear led an Indian reclamation of Army property at Discovery Park in 1970, and after seven years of negotiations the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation won a portion of the park. Lane, one of the original members of UIATF, left briefly in 1980 for a career in education as an associate professor at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada. He recently returned as CEO of the foundation and was honored during the meeting. The Four Amigos will continue to send a strong message to every community they represent. They strive to change the world politically, economically, and socially in a more progressive and positive manner, according to a recent press release. "There are social consequences to pay," Maestas said, pausing for a moment to glance at his audience. "It's going to be up to us to decide how we're going to bring [the government] back to their senses." Copyright c. 2005 Real Change News. --------- "RE: Elimination of Urban Indian Health Care opposed" --------- Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2006 08:39:11 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="URBAN INDIAN HEALTH CARE" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/2002804104_indianhealth14m.html Clinic for Indians faces cut in funds By Warren King and Alison Granito Seattle Times staff reporters February 14, 2006 More than 7,000 Native Americans in the Seattle area would see cuts in their health care under President Bush's budget proposal, according to an Indian health official. Bush has proposed cutting all of the $33 million that had been requested for the national Urban Indian Health Program, including about $3.5 million for the Seattle Indian Health Board. That would be a 40 percent cut for the Seattle program, the largest of 34 such clinics in the nation, and would cause reductions in services for general medical and dental care, diabetes, mental health, chemical dependency, immunizations and the homeless, said Rebecca Corpuz, associate director of the Seattle Indian Health Board. "I think a lot of people would end up in hospital emergency rooms or receive no care at all," she said. "This doesn't feel good." Bush administration officials said the cuts would be compensated for by a proposed $181 million increase in funds for 1,200 expanded or new community health centers nationwide that serve mostly low-income patients. But federal budget officials said the increase is intended for poor or rural communities with limited health-care access, and Seattle has dozens of clinics for the poor. Kay Garvey, a spokeswoman for the Health Resources and Services Administration, said "it's not likely" any Seattle clinics would qualify for the new funds. Corpuz said the city's Indians and Alaska Natives have many special medical, psychological and cultural needs that should be served by the Indian Health Board, at 12th Avenue South and South Weller Street. "We have a lot of patients who won't go anywhere else," she said. "They worry about finances, what they see as racism, and they're intimidated by the health-care system." Corpuz said about half the clinic's 2,000 dental patients could lose their care, many of them children. The care begins at age 1, including tooth sealants to prevent cavities, and parental education about oral hygiene. Many adults need dentures. "We see some teenagers [who haven't had care] who have lost all their permanent teeth by age 16," Corpuz said. Diabetes, which affects more than 15 percent of American Indians and Alaska Natives, is also a focus of the clinic. A program for about 300 diabetics emphasizes education, diet, exercise and close monitoring of blood-sugar levels. About 200 of the patients who regularly visit the clinic now have the disease under control, Corpuz said. Many mothers and children also depend on the clinic. About 200 women a year receive pregnancy tests, and about 100 babies are delivered through the program. It includes prenatal care and continuing care and nutrition for the mothers and their infants. The infant-mortality rate for Indians and Native Alaskans in King County is 14.9 per 1,000 live births; for all races combined, it's 4.9 per 1,000. "We're trying to make strides in decreasing this rate in Native populations," Corpuz said. Also at the clinic, a mental-health program helps hundreds who suffer from depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. The clinic treats a variety of medical problems of homeless patients. And it operates the Thunderbird Treatment Center for 96 patients with alcohol and drug addiction, including about 16 chronic street alcoholics at any given time. Overall, the clinic logs about 40,000 patient visits a year for its variety of services. More than 70 percent of the patients live at or below the federal poverty level. Often, their efforts to get care elsewhere have been difficult experiences, Corpuz said. "They don't understand where these people are coming from," she said. "The doctor says go get this or that for your kids, but they don't because they can't afford it, and then they don't go back. It makes them feel hopeless, helpless and depressed." In a U.S. House Ways and Means Committee hearing Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Seattle, pointedly questioned Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt about elimination of the urban Indian clinics. McDermott said the cutback would force patients to "go from a culturally sensitive clinic that has been dealing with urban Indian problems, and you're going to throw them out ... to compete with other uninsured in the community. There is no justice in that." U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Bremerton, said he successfully fought off a partial cut to the Urban Indian Health Program last year and vowed to do the same this year. "This is one of those mindless cuts this administration makes because they're spending all this money on defense, on the war," Dicks said. "I think this [cut] would be a tragedy not only in Seattle but all across the country." Congressional committee meetings and budget deliberations could take until fall before a final decision is make on funds for the clinics. Warren King: 206-464-2247 or wking@seattletimes.com Copyright c. 2006 The Seattle Times Company. --------- "RE: Indians wary of Health cuts" --------- Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2006 08:50:12 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="URBAN HEALTH CENTER BUDGET CUTS DECRIED" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.charlotte.com/13884598.htm?source=rss&channel=kansas_local Indians wary of health cuts A proposal to cut $33 million in funding to urban health centers that serve American Indians would affect Wichita's Hunter Health Clinic. BY HURST LAVIANA The Wichita Eagle February 16, 2006 American Indians who rely on the Hunter Health Clinic for medical care were urged Wednesday night to send letters to elected officials protesting a plan that many fear could endanger the clinic's ability to help them. More than 50 people gathered at the Mid-America All-Indian Center to learn about a proposal by President Bush that would eliminate the $33 million that is needed next year to operate 34 urban Indian health centers around the country. Hunter Health is the only such center in Kansas. Susie Schwartz, chief executive of the clinic, said Bush's proposal calls for shifting the emphasis on American Indian health care to Indian reservations. She said the prospect does not sit well with Native Americans living in Wichita. Among those attending the meeting was Rick Youngeagle Duran, who said many American Indians living in urban areas would not have access to medical care if it was provided only on reservations. "In order for me to get any medical treatment, I'd have to drive 5 1/2 hours to the south," he said. He said other American Indians living in Wichita would face even longer drives to seek health care. Duran said the Hunter Health Clinic has helped him control diabetes and heart problems that threatened to cripple or kill him. Schwartz said the best way to get Congress to maintain urban health care for American Indians was through letters to elected officials -"everyone you think that might make a difference." Newman Washington, chairman of the Indian Center's board of trustees, agreed. "There's only one way they're going to listen and that's if we send out the message," he said. Copyright c. 2006 Charlotte Observer. --------- "RE: Bear Butte building opposition sought" --------- Date: Sun, 19 Feb 2006 19:55:42 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SAVING BEAR BUTTE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2006/02/19/news/local/news01.txt Bear Butte building opposition sought February 19, 2006 MANDERSON - As a way to stop the continued development of an American Indian sacred site, activists have started campaigning for resolutions of support from the Oglala Sioux, Rosebud Sioux and Northern Cheyenne tribes in opposition to the construction of a bar, amphitheater and road planned to be built near Bear Butte. Former American Indian Movement leader Carter Camp, his son, Vic Camp, and Debra White Plume, all of Manderson, have formed Intertribal Coalition to Defend Bear Butte, a group opposing the commercialization and development of one of American Indians' most sacred areas in the Black Hills, White Plume said. She said that the coalition is appealing to Indian tribes, organizations and families to attend a three-day strategic planning meeting to be held the last week in February in the Black Hills. Delegations from Oklahoma, Montana, Wyoming, Minnesota, Colorado, North Dakota and South Dakota tribes will meet later to develop strategies to block further development. "There are other activities that we consider desecration in the works. That includes a road and a building of an amphitheater and the annual motorcycle rally," White Plume said. She said that beyond the environmental significance of the geographic landmark is the spiritual wealth and connection of ancient civilizations. "Every Indian tribe has its own creation story, and for the Lakota people, Bear Butte was a place to meet every fall in the autumn equinox," she said. "It's a spiritual place for us that we need to defend before it's totally destroyed," she said. For information and meeting location, contact Debra White Plume at 455- 2155, 455-2108 or www.bringbacktheway.com. White Plume said it was where the Lakota people did their planning for the coming generation. It also was a place to have meetings to make decisions on how to protect themselves. In light of these traditions, the Pine Ridge delegations will include medicine men and spiritual leaders taking part at the coalition's February meeting, she said. Copyright c. 2006 Rapid City Journal. --------- "RE: Petitioners want to split S.D. County" --------- Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2006 08:50:12 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GERRYMANDER PETITION TO BLOCK INDIAN VOTE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2006/02/16/news/state/state04.txt Petitioners want to split S.D. county February 16, 2006 MITCHELL (AP) - Petitions are circulating that call for creating two counties out of California-shaped Charles Mix County in southern South Dakota, and one activist wonders if race is at the heart of the move. The dividing line proposed in the petition coincides with where Charles Mix County borders the Yankton Indian Reservation, said Charon Asetoyer, executive director of the Native American Women's Health Education Resource Center in Lake Andes. She said she doesn't believe that is an accident. The timing of the petition - after Charles Mix County lost a lawsuit that alleged that the current county commissioner districts harmed American Indians' voting rights - says it all, she said. The suit accused the county of diluting voting districts. The petition calls for placing 11 townships in the northern portion into a proposed new Hill County and leaving the rest in Charles Mix County. Platte and Geddes would be in the new county, and Lake Andes, Wagner and Marty, headquarters of the Yankton Sioux Tribe, would remain in Charles Mix County. Signatures from 15 percent of the county's registered voters are needed on the petitions for the Charles Mix County Commission to "submit the question of the division of a county to the voters in the county at the next general-election," state law says. The petition must be filed with the county auditor no later than the first Monday in July of any general election year. Geddes landowner Wally Johnson said he knows who is circulating the petition. "I know, but I can't tell you," he said. "It was basically started to test the water. The main reason the person started it was they wanted to get it out in the open ... so someone will notice it." The petition has been left out in public places since early this month. Bruce Bakken, a former county commissioner, dropped off a copy of the petition at the Platte Enterprise newspaper, editor Ralph Nachtigal said. "All kinds of people have said they would sign it, but no one will circulate it," Nachtigal said. In October, U.S. District Judge Lawrence Piersol of Sioux Falls ruled that the existing county commissioner districts are unconstitutional because the deviation in the population of the three districts is too great. Copyright c. 2006 Rapid City Journal. --------- "RE: Turbine makes good on broken promise" --------- Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2006 08:50:12 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PROMISED ELECTRICITY PROVIDED" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2006/02/15/news/local/110079.txt Turbine makes good on broken promise By LAUREN DONOVAN Bismarck Tribune February 15, 2006 FORT BERTHOLD INDIAN RESERVATION - Change is blowing in Indian Country, going around and around and around. Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, home of the Three Affiliated Tribes, went on line with its first of hopefully dozens of wind turbines last week. It's a small start to go around to an old promise made and broken back in the '40s. The Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara were promised free electricity in exchange for giving up 25 percent of all the land needed for the permanent flood of Garrison Dam, a hydropower project. Chairman Tex Hall said the promise of free power was made in 1948 negotiations and taken back by Congress in 1949. The turbine in the hills above Four Bears village is the beginning of making it good, anyway, even if they have to do it themselves. This first turbine is small in stature and output, by turbine standards. It generates 66 kilowatts, compared to the standard 1.5 megawatts. Still, it makes enough electricity to light up 45 homes, or about one-third of the 4 Bears Casino. McKenzie Electric Power Cooperative is buying the wind electricity for 2. 5 cents a kilowatt, plugging it into a nearby transformer, and selling electricity back for 6.5 cents a kilowatt. Terry Fredericks, of Twin Buttes, heads up the reservation's wind development project. He said the tribes' goal is to offset the entire reservation's electrical consumption with wind energy. The homes, businesses and ranches on the reservation require between eight and 10 megawatts of electricity. Since wind energy sells for one-third of what electricity costs, the reservation would have to develop three times more wind megawatts than it consumes to get a full financial offset. Fredericks said the wind energy revenue from McKenzie Electric can be used for the good of the tribal members. For now, it amounts to "a few thousands, nothing big, but it's a start," he said. Two wind studies will determine where on the reservation is the best site or sites to develop 30 megawatts of wind energy. Fredericks said the studies are zeroing in near Parshall and Twin Buttes, based on known wind data. He said the important part of the first turbine was developing the necessary relationships with power purchasers, consultants and suppliers Distributed Generation of Colorado and Integrity Wind, as well as the Inter-Tribal Council on Utility Policy. Hall said Fredericks cut through many layers of red tape to finally get the turbine up and running. "We wanted to demonstrate as a nation that we can get electricity from the wind," Hall said. "Now we can move on to the next phase." Copyright c. 2006 Bismarck Tribune, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Tribes oppose more CBM drilling" --------- Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2006 08:47:05 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRIBES SIGN RESOLUTION AGAINST COAL BED METHANE DRILLING" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.billingsgazette.net/2006/02/16/news/wyoming/95-cbm-drilling.txt Tribes oppose more CBM drilling By Gazette News Services February 16, 2006 CHEYENNE - The Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes have decided not to pursue more coalbed methane drilling on the Wind River Indian Reservation. Tribal officials had announced plans for more than 300 wells on the reservation. But they reconsidered and recently signed a resolution against any further development. The document was filed at the regional Bureau of Indian Affairs office in Billings. "Right now it is a resource that we could use, but we would like to become experts in the field of coalbed methane," said Norman Willow, a Northern Arapaho Business Council member. "We don't want to rush into it like other people did." Coalbed methane is a natural gas found in seams of coal. Since drilling started in Wyoming in 1987, the industry has grown quickly and the state now has nearly 14,000 wells. The reservation's first well was drilled in May as part of a Devon Energy pilot project. The reservation's Riverton Dome formation now has 12 coalbed methane wells sunk into it. The wells are virtually dormant now because Devon has no way to get rid of the 21,000 gallons of water brought to the surface by each well each day. Had the company deemed the field worth further investment, it planned to drill up to 336 wells 40-80 acres apart to extract the methane. Copyright c. The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Navajos, N.M. eye Tax cuts for Power Plant" --------- Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2006 08:50:12 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="STATE AND TRIBE CONSIDER TAX BREAKS FOR POWER PLANT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.durangoherald.com/news/06/news060216_2.htm Navajos, N.M. eye tax cuts for power plant By Jesse Harlan Alderman | Herald Staff Writer February 16, 2006 A set of multi-million-dollar tax breaks are gaining momentum in the Navajo Nation and the New Mexico Legislature for the company building a $2. 2 billion coal-fired power plant on tribal land near Shiprock, N.M. Desert Rock Power Plant tax breaks. The Desert Rock Power Plant is a $2.2 billion coal-fired facility slated for construction by the international energy firm Sithe Global. The plant would lie on the Navajo Nation near Shiprock, N.M. Its primary clients will be the rapidly growing cities of Phoenix and Las Vegas. Recently, the Navajo Nation and the New Mexico Legislature considered packages that would grant the power plant significant tax breaks. New Mexico The state would issue a 10 percent or $60 million tax-credit for the 40- year life of the power plant. The state will receive about $600 million tax revenues with 90 percent going into the General Fund and 10 percent funneled to small municipalities in the form of grants. Status: Passed House; could face opposition in Senate. Navajo Nation A deal between the Navajo Nation and Sithe Global sets a tax-payment plan, in lieu of property and business tax rates defined in the Navajo Tax Code. It guarantees at least $530 million to the tribe over 30 years. * During the four-year construction phase, which could begin in 2007, Sithe will pay $12.6 million instead of $86 million. * In the first 10 years of operation, 2011 through 2020, Sithe will pay the tribe $164.5 million instead of $657 million. * In the next 15 years, 2021 through 2036, Sithe will pay the tribe $354 million instead of $897 million. Status: Unanimously approved by the five-member Navajo Tax Commission. Faces vote from 88-member Navajo Tribal Council. On Wednesday in Santa Fe, the New Mexico Senate considered an omnibus tax package that includes about $60 million in tax relief for Sithe Global, the international energy firm developing the proposed Desert Rock Power Plant with the Navajo Nation's Dine' Power Authority. The New Mexico House overwhelmingly passed the Sithe tax credit. Today is the last day of New Mexico's legislative session and the final opportunity for senators to debate and vote on the Sithe tax break. Some state senators have threatened to sink the tax cut. The tax breaks are escalating the fight among Navajos in the remote stretch of desert known by some locals as "Cancer Alley." Desert Rock would be the third coal-fired facility in a 45-mile stretch of reservation south of Farmington. The 1,500-megawatt coal plant is slated for construction as early as next year on 580 acres of Navajo land at the mouth of the BHP-Billiton coal mine near Nenahnezad, south of Shiprock. Durango environmentalists say pollution from the plant will sock against the San Juan Mountains and hover over the region. The proposed state tax breaks come days after the Navajo Tax Commission released details of a separate tax plan struck with Sithe Global. Under the 30-year payment plan, Sithe Global will pump about $530 million into the impoverished tribe's coffers. Those payments would come in lieu of Navajo Nation property and business taxes, said Mark Graham, executive director of the tax commission. Under current tribal statutes, Sithe Global would pay about $1.6 billion during the first 25 years of the plant - almost three times more than the proposed tax plan. "We really tried to reduce that tax burden to bring Sithe Global here," Graham said, adding that the Navajo Nation taxes natural resource-based businesses at rates three times higher than most Western states. The deal still faces approval by the 88-member Navajo Council, which meets in Window Rock, Ariz. But the $530 million figure is already roiling Desert Rock opponents. The Four Corners Power Plant and San Juan Generating Station are among the nation's 50 dirtiest in terms of carbon-dioxide and mercury emissions. The Four Corners plant ranks first in nitrogen-oxide emissions, according to the Center for Environmental Integrity in Washington, D.C. Developers tout the plant's plans to employ a super-critical boiler and other state-of-the-art technology that will make Desert Rock the "cleanest coal-burning plant" in the country. Currently, a yellow-brown film hangs over the sprawling red-rock landscape, and the thought of more pollution clouds has a growing number of Navajos chanting "Dooda," the Navajo word meaning "no." Sarah Jane White, a Navajo in Shiprock and president of the Dooda Desert Rock Committee, lashed out Wednesday at Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley. She rejected the president's oft-repeated argument that the plant will create hundreds of jobs on the rugged and remote Navajo land of northern New Mexico. "If you don't have the brain to be a leader, you feel this is the only way out for your people," she said. "But at the same time, you are selling out your people, your land and your heritage. Of course, we're cash-poor, but that's the way this company is taking advantage of us. "It's like throwing a bone at a starving dog," she added. She also blasted New Mexico legislators, saying the tax breaks shortchange small cities most in need of state funds. But the tax-credit's state House sponsor, Rep. Thomas C. Taylor, R- Farmington, countered that the coal-burning plant will bring money and jobs to the Navajo chapters that encircle his district. "Anything that benefits them also benefits surrounding communities," he said. At issue is dual-taxation. Because Sithe will pay state and the Navajo Nation taxes, the company needs to be relieved of certain tax burdens, said Frank Maisano, a Sithe spokesman in Washington. If Sithe were subject to the tribe's Tax Code, he said, the company would be forced to scrap the plant proposal. The Navajo Nation devised tax rates based on "convenience stores" and "mom-and-pop" groceries, he said. "This is not a two-thirds cut," Maisano said. "We had to restructure the entire system because of the magnitude of the project. This is a $2.2 billion facility. The Navajo Nation never contemplated a project this size." The Sithe-Navajo agreement guarantees the tribe will be paid at least 2. 9 percent of Desert Rock's annual revenue. The pact also ensures that Sithe will pay at least 90 percent of the average tax rates paid by other similar coal plants in the Four Corners states, said Tom Johns, Sithe's vice president for development. Desert Rock brings more than tax money, Johns said. The plant will generate an annual $50 million for the tribe in taxes, coal royalties, water payments and other fees. To win the benefits, he said, the company is asking to pay a fair share of taxes. "If we had to pay two or three times more than a surrounding jurisdiction," he said, "we'd just go somewhere else." jalderman@durangoherald.com Copyright c. 2006 Durango Herald. --------- "RE: Tribes honor Warriors" --------- Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2006 08:47:05 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CHEROKEE NATION OF OKLAHOMA, NAVAJO NATION HONOR WARRIORS" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=7573 Tribes honor warriors Cherokees seek out veterans, Navajos remember fallen solider Native American Times February 16, 2006 Two of the largest tribes in the country are honoring military veterans. In the Midwest, the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma is putting out a call for all Cherokee citizens who are currently active in the military and those who have served in the past from all branches of service, the tribe reports. Honorees will be invited to attend a monthly tribal council meeting at which time they will be officially honored for their service to the country. The program was started last summer by Deputy Chief Joe Grayson in an effort to honor one active service individual and one veteran each month at the Tribal Council meeting. Veterans of WWII will be recognized first, and honorees will proceed through time to the most recent service. If you know a Cherokee citizen that you would like to honor or for more information, contact Paulette Thomas at pthomas@cherokee.org or by phone at (918) 453-5000 ext. 5541. In the Southwest, the Navajo Nation has presented the 101st Airborne Division with the Navajo Medal of Honor. Navajo officials say they awarded the medal in honor of Sgt. Clifton Yazzie. Yazzie had been on his second tour in Iraq when a roadside bomb detonated near his Humvee. Three other soldiers were also killed in the attack. Yazzie would have turned 24 on Feb. 20. His 21-year-old wife was named Michelle. The couple had two children, Chaynitta, 3, and Cayden, 18 months. Yazzie is the seventh Navajo warrior to die while fighting in Iraq. On hearing the news of his death, the Navajo Nation Council of Window Rock issued a statement. "The Navajo Nation is once again in a state of mourning with the loss of a fallen hero," said council speaker Lawrence Morgan. "We have much to learn from the daily sacrifices of all our Soldiers as they perform their duties in defense of our great country, as well as our own Navajo Nation. Let us remain vigilant in our prayers for our men and women in uniform and their families." The award bestowed on the 101st Airborne Division is usually reserved for returning military personnel and veterans who are Navajo. The 101st is the first division to receive the medal. "In our culture and tradition that the Medal of Valor is given to those that go on living and it is truly Indian in every respect," said the tribe's Angela Nez. "It represents the sacredness of life and it is dedicated to service and valor - that is why we are giving it to the 101st Airborne Division." Lieutenant Col. Jackie Russell, 101st rear detachment commander, accepted the award on behalf of Maj. Gen. Tomas Turner, commanding general of the division, and promised it would be displayed in a place of honor inside the installation headquarters. "The medal honors service in defense of our land and its people," Nez said. "The council expresses its heartfelt appreciation for the valiant service given by all of the soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division. To them we are forever grateful." Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Bank ponders how to serve all Indians" --------- Date: Sun, 19 Feb 2006 19:55:42 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NATIVE AMERICAN BANK" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.denverpost.com/ci_3522020?source=rss Bank ponders how to serve all Indians The new chief of the Native American Bank wants to broaden into venture capital and add more branches. By Aldo Svaldi Denver Post Staff Writer February 19, 2006 J.D. Colbert, Chickasaw/Creek, new president and chief executive of the Native American Bank, wants the bank to add more branches and be a bigger force in Indian country. (Post / Brian Brainerd) The new president and chief executive of the Native American Bank wants the Denver financial institution to live up to the mission its name implies - a bank run by American Indians for Indians of all bands and tribes. "I feel like I am the last missing piece to facilitate it becoming a true Native American bank," J.D. Colbert said. About 20 primarily Western and Alaskan tribes back the bank, which got its start in 2001 with a $12.5 million investment and a goal of funneling capital and promoting economic development across Indian country. The tribes are betting that Colbert, one of only a handful of American Indian bankers in the country, is the person who can make it happen. So how does Colbert plan to take a small $63 million bank at 999 18th St. with two branches in Montana and give it a reach that affects lives from rural reservations to more heavily populated native communities across the West? "There are certain services we can provide from a distance," Colbert said. "But we can't fully reach our potential unless we have a presence." Colbert wants the bank to add more branches in a variety of places, which will require buying other banks or launching bank charters in other states. He also wants to see the bank, which primarily provides small-business and tribal-enterprise loans, broaden into other financial services, including venture capital and captive insurance. "We have an opportunity as time goes on to be a fully diversified financial-services organization, more than just a bank." To achieve those goals, the bank needs more capital, and that will require bringing in other tribes as investors. "We not only want their equity, but we want to be their bank," he said. Colbert, who is Chickasaw and Creek, grew up in Oklahoma. He helped the Chickasaw Nation start Bank2, an Oklahoma City bank where he worked before taking the job in Denver. He has worked with the Bureau of Indian Affairs loan guarantee program, visiting more than 50 reservations, and founded the North American Native Bankers Association to bring tribally owned banks together. Although his Oklahoma connections aren't why Colbert was hired, they are something the bank's board hopes he can use to grow the bank. "He is well known there, and it would be to our advantage to use his expertise," said board member Lewis Anderson, president and chief executive of the Woodlands National Bank of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe in Onamia, Minn. Native American Bank offers an attractive option for tribes that would like to get into financial services but fear going it in on their own, said Taylor Keen, a business acquisitions official for the Cherokee Nation in Tulsa. "J.D. is very well liked here in Oklahoma. He is an established voice and well respected within the five civilized tribes in Oklahoma," he said. Copyright c. 2006 The Denver Post or other copyright holders. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Beautiful country not the Land of a Free People" --------- Date: Sun, 19 Feb 2006 19:55:42 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="FT. BERTHOLD" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2006/02/19/news/local/110315.txt Beautiful country still not the land of a free people Bismarck Tribune By LAUREN DONOVBy LAUREN DONOVAN February 19, 2006 FORT BERTHOLD INDIAN RESERVATION - People who live on the reservation live in some of North Dakota's most wide open and beautiful places, but they still don't have the right to free speech. If a tribal official wrongs them, the judge is someone appointed by that same official. In a culturally complex society, they don't have the right to free exercise of religion. It is a great irony that these members of a sovereign nation are far less free inside their nation than outside. And it is another irony, almost an insult, that they are not even citizens of their nation. They are members, as if their country were Sam's Club, or the American Legion. It just isn't right anymore, say some elders and members of the Three Affiliated Tribes. It's time for a new constitution. A constitution revision committee has been at work for more than two years, and a proposed new constitution has been discussed at 25 public meetings around the reservation in recent weeks. The committee hopes to bring it to a vote before the September primary election. They say it's time for a Bill of Rights that guarantees essential rights, like free speech, a speedy , and protection against unreasonable search and seizures. It's time for a constitution that divides government into three separate but equal branches - an executive, legislative and judicial - like we all memorized in elementary school. It's a system that provides checks and balances, so that a grievance against a tribal councilman, for example, would not be adjudicated by a judge appointed by and beholden to that tribal councilman. The new constitution would change their very name. The Three Affiliated Tribes would officially become the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation. They already answer the phone that way at the tribal administration offices at New Town. The Three Affiliated Tribes has operated under a boilerplate constitution since 1936. It was written for them and for all tribes by the Department of Interior, along with a corporate charter, under authority of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. Tribal Chairman Tex Hall said the old document doesn't fit anymore. It's like a grown man on his childhood pony, ill fitting and painful for the long ride. The tribes have come a long way since those days in 1936, when they handled $4,000 in money from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, to today, when the council oversees a $47 million budget, the size of the city of Minot's. Hall said they also have come a long way since the time when the tribal council should be able to micromanage every area of the tribe's business, right down to hiring the last clerk and secretary. "We don't have time to do that anymore," he said. The old boilerplate constitution didn't envision a modern tribe, vigorously engaged in casino operations, with contracts for everything from employment to construction to water pipelines, to economic development and health and education. The tribes weren't quite the "children of the great white father" of earlier treaty language, yet it was hardly realized what they would become. What they would become, in terms of self-direction, changed in the mid- '70s, when Congress passed a law that allowed the tribes to enter into contracts themselves for goods and services. Until then, all that business had been handled by various Bureau of Indian Affairs agencies. The new constitution would allow tribal citizens the opportunity to elect a president, vice president and legislature, as well as a supreme court. The office of president would be what's known now as chairman. The president would function similarly to a governor, or U.S. president, in that he or she would head the executive branch and his or her only influence over the legislative branch would be through veto power, which the legislature could override. The vice president, also elected at large, would preside over the legislature, vote in case of a tie and fill in were the president to die, become incapacitated, or to be impeached. The new constitution sets out terms of office - four years, except for judges, who serve six. As importantly, it gives tribal citizens the right to impeach the president and recall elected officials. It also gives them the right to refer legislation to a popular vote. "This is the first complete revision in tribal history," said Hall. "It's a complete overhaul." The old constitution was amended seven times, the last time in 1986, when two council members from each district were reduced to one. The new constitution proposes to go back to two representatives from five of the districts, and three representatives from the New Town district because its population exceeds 750. The number of representatives from a district would not exceed three but would be increased anytime any district reached that population number. The district representatives would serve as the legislature, which could meet for six months annually, including for legislative committee meetings. Hall said some tribal council members resist the idea of being in session, as opposed to full-time officers on full-time salary. Tribal attorney Tom Fredericks said the tribes' budget for governance is around $1.5 million now. The new constitution would require a balanced budget and also creates an ethics committee. The constitution revision is the result of a push by some of the elders, who got the wheels turning and since have been surveyed and are nearly unanimous in their desire to make the change, Hall said. That's different than some of the feedback from tribal members, who not only think the old constitution was written by their elders, instead of by bureaucrats in the Interior, but also believe it's worked well enough, so why change now. Hall said the new constitution "would bring accountability to the government," something tribal citizens, as it were, hardly have the tools to bring about now. Fredericks said the new constitution would do away with the present "spoils" system. Under it, tribal councilmen know who supported them in elections and have the power to reward them. Fredericks said there would be more transparency in government on the reservation and citizens would have the right to be part of the process, at events like legislative budget hearings. "The most important thing is that it gives the power back to the people," Fredericks said. The next 60 days are critical. A final version of the revised constitution should be approved next month. It could then be presented to the tribal council in April. If five councilmen - two-thirds of the present seven - vote in favor of the constitution, it will go to the Department of Interior for what's called a "secretarial election." That's a mail-out ballot to all legible voters. If there aren't enough votes on the council, the issue could be referred for a secretarial election by petition of 10 percent of eligible voters. In either case, the constitution election must involve 30 percent of eligible voters and the question must pass by a simple majority. Fredericks said the committee would like to hold the constitution election this summer, so that the September primary election ballot would reflect the changes in representation. The intent is to have the new constitution go into effect this year, and the first legislative assembly of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation would start in January. Fredericks said he believes that if the measure gets to the people, it will pass. "We're going to give it our best shot," he said. "It really gives the people more authority." He also thinks it will end the cycle of spoils and suffering that have accompanied elections in the past. Hall said he's worried that more than two years of work and energy will be wasted, if the constitutional revision doesn't pass the council or reach the people for a vote. "That would take the wind out of this sail," he said. Copyright c. 2006 Bismarck Tribune, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Tribe will look for ways to ban offensive Mascots" --------- Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2006 08:50:12 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WINNEBAGO SEEK WAYS TO BAN OFFENSIVE MASCOTS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/4d1ab4ed048ddf6c862571170072fe2d.txt Tribe will look for other ways to ban offensive mascots February 16, 2006 OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - The Winnebago Tribe will consider other options in its efforts to ban American Indian-themed mascots from Nebraska high schools, after the Nebraska School Activities Association said it cannot force the schools to remove mascots. Fred Williams, superintendent for the Winnebago Public Schools, said Thursday he was not disappointed by the NSAA's decision because there are other options. Williams said 36 to 38 Nebraska high schools use mascots that are degrading to American Indians, and the Winnebago tribe wants them banned. So the tribe started with the NSAA, which met on Wednesday to discuss the issue. Its decision: "The board has no authority to tell a school that they have to take mascots off their uniforms, their gym floors or off the walls of their schools," said Jim Tenopir, executive director for the NSAA. The other two options, Williams said, would be to present the issue to the state Board of Education or seek action from the state Legislature. A representative for the Board of Education representative said Thursday that it would welcome the presentation of the issue but needs to research further to understand the legal boundaries of the board. The tribe hopes state decision-makers will see that the mascots are offensive. "My personal feeling is, if the mascot is anything that would be degrading to a population, then I don't think it should be used," Williams said. For example, schools that use the word "Indians" could be changed to a name such as "Eagles," he said. Winnebago's own mascot is the Indians, and Williams said the school should be prepared to be included in the ban, even though it is about 98 percent American Indian. "There are still some Caucasians," he said. The tribe has been discussing the ban request for more than a year. At the college level, the National Collegiate Athletic Association decreed last August that member colleges would not be allowed to use American Indian nicknames or mascots in NCAA tournaments. It further ruled that any college retaining the name by the beginning of February could not display the image at any postseason tournament and would be barred from hosting postseason competition. Three schools - the Florida State Seminoles, Central Michigan Chippewas and Utah Utes - were allowed to keep their names and imagery because of support from local American Indian tribes. Indian mascots have also been an issue at high schools across the nation. In Wisconsin, for example, the state schools superintendent sent letters to 39 Wisconsin school districts asking them to drop American Indian names, mascots and logos. The Winnebago school board will meet Friday to discuss further options, and a member of the tribal council will be present, Williams said. Copyright c. 2006 Sioux City Journal. --------- "RE: 16 Students Advance to a Science-Engineering Fair" --------- Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2006 08:47:05 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NATIVE STUDENTS ADVANCE" http://www.redorbit.com/news/display/?id=386734 RedOrbit Success: EDUCATION: 16 American Indian Students Advance to a National Science and Engineering Fair. By Steve Kuchera, Duluth News-Tribune, Minn. Feb. 11 - Nearly 60 American Indian students gathered at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College on Friday to showcase their science expertise. The students, ranging from grades 5 through 12, had advanced from their home schools to attend the college's second American Indian Science Fair. By fair's end, judges had selected 16 to attend the National American Indian Science and Engineering Fair March 23-25 in Albuquerque, N.M. "It's really exciting to see all these students involved in science," Fond du Lac college biology instructor and fair judge Jay Sandal said. "As a nation we need to encourage science. This is a great way to do it." Teresa Gomez, deputy director with the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, would agree. The society began the national science fair 18 years ago as a way to help attract Indians to science and engineering fields. "Less than 1 percent of American Indians are receiving advanced degrees in science and engineering," she said. "As far as the work force is concerned, we comprise much less than 1 percent of the professionals in science and engineering." According to the 2000 census, American Indians and Alaska Natives make up1 percent of the nation's population. "The science fair is a great opportunity to showcase the scientific research American Indian students are pursuing and also to encourage them to continue thinking about science and research," Gomez said. Several local students who have attended the national fair were at Friday's event. Aurelia DeNasha, a 10th grader at Fond du Lac Ojibwe School, attended the national fair twice. Last year she was one of eight Indian high school students who advanced to the international science fair. "She has set a standard for all the other students," Fond du Lac Ojibwe School science teacher Leslie Hoffman said. DeNasha raised that standard Friday, winning a third trip to the national fair. "You can't exactly lose enthusiasm for going to nationals ... and a bunch of my friends are getting to go, too," DeNasha said. "Nationals is an amazing experience. You get to see all there is to do in science." DeNasha, who would like to become a biologist, qualified with an examination of various aspects of the relationships between muskrats and wild rice. With the poise and articulation of an experienced researcher, she described the project's evolution from an examination of muskrats and nutrient cycles to the rats' choice of plants in building their lodges to how the mammal's activities can affect fish. "Each year I branch out to another aspect," she said. "This year I decided to branch out to lake fish. I plan on continuing this project all through high school." DeNasha was one of 57 students from Fond du Lac Ojibwe, Cloquet middle and high schools, and Cotton and Greenway schools attending Friday's fair. Judges selected 16 to attend the national fair and another 10 to display their projects at the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul. Cori Sullivan attended the national fair two years ago, taking third in her division with a project that examined the germination rates of corn in untreated soil, in soil treated with commercial fertilizers and soil treated with dead fish - a method Indians used for generations. "I was so proud of myself," Sullivan said Friday. "I was in seventh grade and that was my first science project ever." Sullivan, who is interested in a job in forensics, won her second trip to the national science fair Friday with a project determining the best way to preserve footprints in sand and dirt using household products. "This is a good experience," she said. "I think all kids should get into science fairs." STEVE KUCHERA can be reached at (218) 279-5503, toll free at (800) 456-8282, or by e-mail atskuchera@duluthnews.com. Copyright c. 2006 Duluth News-Tribune, Minn. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. Copyright c. RedOrbit 2005. --------- "RE: Census: Navajos are Second Largest Indian Group" --------- Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2006 08:32:28 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CENSUS NUMBERS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.kvia.com/Global/story.asp?S=4488168 Census: Navajos are second largest Indian group February 11, 2006 ALBUQUERQUE Members of the sprawling Navajo Nation make up the second largest American Indian group in the nation. That according to a new report by the U-S Census Bureau based on 2000 Census data for Indians and Alaska natives. The report shows that of the people who identified themselves as American Indians and no other race, 276-thousand-775 were Navajos. Cherokees numbered 302-thousand-569. Apaches - which include members of the Mescalero Apache and Jicarilla Apache tribes of New Mexico - numbered 57-thousand-199 while 59-thousand- 621 people identified themselves as pueblo Indians. Among those identifying themselves as more than one race, 875-thousand- 276 said they were part Cherokee and 309-thousand-575 said they were part Navajo. Copyright c. 2006 KVIA. --------- "RE: OPINION: Punishing Native Americans wrong" --------- Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2006 08:50:12 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PUNISHING INDIANS FOR STANDING UP FOR THEIR RIGHTS" http://www.indiantrust.com/ http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060212/OPINION01 Punishing Native Americans wrong February 12, 2006 No American should be punished for standing up for his rights. But that's exactly what the U.S. Interior Department is doing to Native Americans. In a letter from Associate Deputy Secretary for the Interior James Cason, tribes were told there would be cuts to Native American programs so the department could pay $7 million in legal fees as part of a class-action suit over trust funds. The suit was filed years ago and charges that the Interior Department lost or mismanaged as much as $137 billion it collected from people who lease Indian lands. About 500,000 Native Americans are a part of the lawsuit, and the department has offered to settle the case for $27.5 billion. There's no question the accounting was botched for more than a century. It's just impossible to tell if the money was lost, mismanaged or stolen. But it's not in the hands of Native Americans, to whom it belongs. Native Americans say the letter is intended to divide tribes. Cason says it's just a matter of coming up with the $7 million, which the department doesn't have set aside for legal fees. It doesn't matter. This is wrong. Americans shouldn't be punished for standing up for their rights. It's time Congress took over this mess. Copyright c. 2006 Sioux Falls Argus Leader. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: AUGUSTINE: Urban Indian colony still thriving" --------- Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2006 08:47:05 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="KATHERINE AUGUSTINE: LAGUNA COLONY OF ALBUQUERQUE" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.abqtrib.com//0%2C2565%2CALBQ_19865_4469162%2C00.html Katherine Augustine: A milestone worth noting Laguna Colony of Albuquerque celebrates 50 years of preserving, passing on pueblo culture By Katherine Augustine Tribune Columnist February 15, 2006 A letter of approval to form a tribal colony in Albuquerque came from the Laguna Pueblo Tribal Council on Dec. 31, 1955. On Feb. 16, 1956, 60 Laguna tribal members living in Albuquerque came together in the auditorium of the Albuquerque Indian School - which was at Menaul Boulevard and 12th Street Northwest until about 1980 - to establish the unique urban Indian organization, called The Laguna Colony of Albuquerque. Today it is still alive and well, with some of the 300 property-owning, taxpaying, urban Lagunas at its threshold. Augustine, an Albuquerque resident, is a member of Laguna Pueblo, a retired nurse and a volunteer at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. As stated on Page 1, Articles I and II, of the organization's bylaws of 1992, revised in 1997: "A Colony member is a recognized member of the Laguna tribe who resides in the Albuquerque Metropolitan Area and other Laguna Pueblo members who on a voluntary basis desire to be Colony members. A non-Laguna spouse and/or children may be recognized as associate members and shall be encouraged to participate in all activities and affairs of the Colony, have voting privileges and be eligible to hold an appointed office." The purpose of the colony is to maintain communication between the pueblo's government and colony members. Members preserve their culture in an urban setting and adhere to the pueblo's constitution, ordinances, customs and regulations, as well as promote and provide educational and charitable services to members. To demonstrate their sincerity about cultural preservation, many of the members return to the pueblo to take part in the traditional religious ceremonies. Some, especially the elders, speak the Keresan language fluently and converse in this dialect at the monthly meetings and/or social gatherings. Younger members take the Keresan course provided by the colony. The colony meets on the first Tuesday of each month. Elections take place at the December general meeting, with one-year terms for chairman, vice chairman, secretary, treasurer and board member-at-large, and two sergeants-at-large are appointed. Positions can be held by either gender. The Laguna Colony food concession at the State Fair's Indian Village is the organization's only fund-raising activity. It generates money for college scholarships, job-enhancement seminars, charity and social functions. It has given food and money to nursing homes, the homeless and others in need. It has enabled members to pursue educational goals. From the early 1960s into the 1970s, the colony's State Fair concession stand had nothing more than hot plates for preparing green chile stew and fry bread, but visitors lined up each day after word had gotten around that the food there was the best. Today, it has a thoroughly modern kitchenette with propane gas jets from a main line, a partially enclosed dining room and storage rooms. Also during earlier times, bread dough was kneaded by hand, and the plate-sized fry bread was flattened with rolling pins. Now, a dough-mixing machine and a pizza maker have come to the rescue. Fry bread was cooked in lard during those times; now vegetable oil is used. Salaried workers are hired in place of the long-ago volunteers. Although many changes have come about, the fry bread and green chile stew recipes remain the same and are as delicious as they were 40 or more years ago. There were also many more items on the menu to choose from during the last fair. The Laguna Colony of Albuquerque will celebrate 50 years of existence on Feb. 25, with a dinner and a special program in the Chaco Room of the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. Invited speakers include two charter members - Laguna Gov. Roland Johnson and U.G. Paisano, the first acting chairman in 1956. Other past officers will be recognized. Memorabilia will be on display. All former colony members who have returned to Laguna or moved elsewhere have been invited to the event. Copyright c. 2006 The Albuquerque Tribune. --------- "RE: JODI RAVE: Advocates to assist Natives in Courts" --------- Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2006 08:39:11 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="JODI RAVE: COURT ADVOCATES" http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2006/02/14/jodirave/rave48.txt Advocates to assist Natives in courts By JODI RAVE of the Missoulian February 14, 2006 Montana politicians and prison officials are looking to Canada as the state launches the nation's first known pilot program aimed at helping Native people navigate the legal system. Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., and Montana Department of Corrections director Bill Slaughter on Monday announced plans to place legal advocates in district courts with high volumes of Native traffic. Their intention is to bridge cultural misunderstandings between disadvantaged Natives accused of crimes and those who could help them with pretrial services - like finding a lawyer before they sign a plea agreement. The court advocates will not, however, provide legal advice. Two workers will likely be in place by this summer. Court districts that are candidates for the pilot program include those near the Fort Peck, Blackfeet, Rocky Boy's and Crow reservations. Rehberg, who is a member of the House Appropriations Committee, recently secured a $100,000 appropriation for the program, which will be modeled on one already in place in Lethbridge, Alberta. "What good is it going to do?" asked Rehberg. "We don't know if we don't try." Slaughter and Rehberg credited Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer for seeking a change in the Native prison figures. Sixteen percent of Montana's prison inmates are Natives, while 6 percent of the state's total population is Native. "That's a huge disparate population, and we struggle as to why and how that occurs," said Slaughter. "One of the things we've hit on, in the district courts there are huge cultural differences. I've watched it as a sheriff running a county jail." Language differences also inhibit many Native inmates. Rehberg spoke of an 18-year-old Shelby man who signed papers to get out of a jail but also unwittingly agreed to go to prison. In addition to bridging cultural gaps, Montana also hopes to ease the state prison budget, where annual per-inmate costs run between $23,000 and $26,000. Native people across the country are disproportionately represented in the prison system in states where they are often among the largest minority groups. The Foundation for National Progress reports the following 2000 statistics for Native population figures vs. Native prison figures: Nebraska, Natives represent 1 percent of the population and 5 percent of prison population; South Dakota, 8 percent vs. 21 percent; Idaho, 1 percent vs. 4 percent; Wyoming, 2 percent vs. 7 percent; Iowa, 0 percent vs. 2 percent. North Dakota has the country's third highest incarceration rates. Native prisoners represent 5 percent of North Dakota's population and 19 percent of those in prison. --- Jodi Rave covers Native issues for Lee Enterprises. She can be reached at 1-800-366-7186 or jodi.rave@lee.net Copyright c. 2005 Missoulian, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: YELLOW BIRD: May Film foster understanding" --------- Date: Sat, 11 Feb 2006 14:27:28 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YELLOW BIRD: HOPE FOR UNDERSTANDING" http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/columnists/13848616.htm DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: May film foster understanding February 11, 2006 As I walk life's path, there are times in my life when something reins me in, pulls the bit up tight and stops me short. Meeting filmmakers from New York who are developing a film on the Three Affiliated Tribes was one of those times. I had to examine my long-held views about who we are as a people. The filmmakers want the movie to show how key events in the past 200 years continue to influence the thoughts, feelings, goals and decisions of the Sahnish (Arikara), Mandan and Hidatsa. Micah Fink, producer; Julie Almendral, associate producer; and Jamie Redford and Don Axinn, co- executive producers, were still in Fort Berthold, N.D., when I left Wednesday. Maro Chermayeff, producer, left the reservation about the same time I did. They will continue to interview people on the reservation and look for settings to be used in the film. They estimate the movie will take a year or two to complete. Like many people on the reservation, I assumed the picture would be a documentary about the history of our people; the smallpox epidemic that killed thousands of people, the old earth-lodge village called Like-A- Fish-Hook, the flooded town of Elbowoods, the Garrison Dam and the formation of Lake Sakakawea. Reliving the unstable history of an Indian tribe is a common theme in films. Those are journeys the film will take into the past, but only to support the main focus on the contemporary, the producer thought. That focus will be on young people and who we are today - perhaps a measure of assimilation, I wondered. Our troubled history at Fort Berthold, in many ways, is similar to that of all American Indians. And the Three Tribes have played a role in the transformation and growth of the nation, the producers said. When Fink first asked me what I thought about the film's focus on young people, I told him I needed to think about it. I felt uncomfortable about that focus. That night, I laid wide-eyed and staring out the window as straggling snowflakes wobbled past, and the gaudy, bright lights of the Four Bears Casino turned the new bridge that arched across the lake into red-orange. There was a sadness about sleeping above the "cha-ching" noises of the casino because it reminded me that we've traveled so far from earth lodges and cornfields. It seemed an unfortunate measure of the breadth and length of our history. As I fought this uneasiness, I realized that I was measuring who we are today by what I was taught by my grandmother, Philomine Little Sioux, and my uncle, Wesley Plenty Chief. I expected the young people who have taken on the roles as spiritual leaders to have the same power of the ceremonies as they did. The elders' influence on me has been consuming. And I realized that it would have been comfortable for me if the film had been historic, not contemporary. It is clear to me from my studies of our history that we were the heroes in those battles. We overcame great odds and survived in spite of it all. But when you compare the contemporary to the historic, I worry that we have taken on too many of the negative mainstream attributes - drug and alcohol use, putting political power above the good of the people, worshiping material wealth. There was a way of life carried on by people such as my grandmother and uncle that helps us to see the beauty in life and gives us many gifts, including peace and serenity - in spite of our historic troubles. And that, I feel, is important to carry forward for generations. That, a good film could do. I see these gifts discounted and looked at as superstition. Yet, I remember how faithful my mother was to the Catholic Church and its beliefs. I knew the faith she held when the priest turned water into wine and the host into the body of Christ. It was faith, too, not superstition. Unfortunately, understanding Native spirituality that is unfamiliar and complicated will take more faith than the general public has. Indian nations have a long history of misunderstanding to counter. This film, I hope, will bring together the unique and beautiful ways of our ancestors and the ways of our children and young people - and it will do it so well that we'll have, for once, a good Indian motion picture that will make me smile. ---- Dorreen Yellow Bird's column appears Tuesday and Saturday. Reach her at (701) 780-1228 or dyellowbird@gfherald.com Copyright c. 2006 Grand Forks Herald/Grand Forks, ND. --------- "RE: GIAGO: Indians didn't pay Taxes - 100 Years Ago" --------- Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2006 08:39:11 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GIAGO: TAX MYTH, AGAIN" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=7559 Notes from Indian Country Indians didn't pay taxes - 100 years ago Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji) 2/13/2006 Copyright c. 2006 Native American Journalists Foundation, Inc. Periodically there is a repeat column I am forced to write. It usually takes an ignorant and insensitive remark by a non-Indian to prompt me to return to the scene of the crime. One of my advertising sales people for Indian Education Today Magazine was seeking a timely ad to take advantage of the "It's time-to-pay-taxes" portion of the year. She approached one so-called tax preparation office located in Rapid City, SD and ran into this crass remark, "Why should we advertise; Indians don't pay taxes." Ouch! When will this ignorance come to an end? All right, let's address this horrid misconception. Indians hold jobs. As a matter of fact, many working for the tribal government, Indian Health Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs or other governmental agencies receive salaries ranging from $24,000 to $100,000 annually. Professional teachers and administrators working at the many Indian schools on the reservations are also in the middle class pay income bracket. These salaried employees pay all of the taxes every American citizen pays from withholding to Medicare. Every time an Indian buys groceries taxes are included. When we purchase an automobile or a costly appliance, taxes are included. When we fill the car up with gasoline we pay taxes. What so many non-Indian citizens do not realize is that all of the sales taxes collected in the towns bordering the Indian reservations never go to the Indian reservations. They go to the state and the community where the purchase was made. There are no free rides for Indians when it comes to attending college. Most apply for Pell Grants or for other grants available to students of all colors. Others use the GI Bill, as I did, or get jobs and work there way through college. There are some funds available through tribal funds or through the BIA, but they are far and few. Those lucky enough to belong to a tribe with a rich casino can get scholarship grants that are set aside for the higher education of tribal members. But keep in mind that only 5 percent of the Indian nations earn 90 percent of the casino profits. That doesn't leave much for some of the larger tribes such as those of the Great Sioux Nation or the Navajo Nation. And some non-Indians may find this hard to believe but Indians do not get a monthly check from the BIA or from any other branch of the government. If we own land on the reservation and that land is leased to a rancher or farmer, we do receive an annual lease check for the use of our land. This method of payment for leasing land or renting a house is common throughout America for non-Indians as well. The BIA usually distributes these not-so-large-checks. Nearly every merchant worth their salt knows when these checks are distributed and plan their sales accordingly. Now, let's talk about all of that wonderful, free health care. If an Indian works for an organization or federal agency that provides health insurance, that insurance company is billed whenever that employee uses the services of the Indian Health Service Hospital. The same holds true if the Indian man or woman is on Medicare. Some tribes use the profits from their casinos to build healthcare facilities on their reservations. They also use their casino profits to purchase health insurance policies for their tribal members. That insurance helps to cover treatment at the tribal health care facilities. The I.H.S. has hospitals on some Indian reservations, not all. Reservation residents do use these facilities. However, it is written into the treaty agreements between the Indian nations and the United States government that health care will be provided in exchange for the millions of acres of land ceded in the treaty agreements. The services provided by the I.H.S. are not considered to be the best. The large and sparsely populated reservations have a hard time hiring doctors with any lengthy experience. Most of the doctors assigned to the Indian hospitals are first or second year doctors paying off a government loan for their education. They are learning while on the job and from the complaints I hear from so many of their patients, their inexperience does have its unfavorable consequences. If Indians had all of the benefits attributed to us by the non-Indian world we would be the most intelligent, wealthiest and most protected people in America. Indians would be debt free, trouble free, illness free, tax free and positively carefree. But we (Indians) know that is not the case. It is only the majority of non-Indians who still continue to believe these myths, misconceptions and outright fallacies. So please believe me when I say that Indians do not get a monthly check from the government, many of us do pay for our health care, we do not get a free college education and, to bury the biggest misconception of all, we do pay taxes. April the 15th looms as large for us as it does for the rest of America. --- Tim Giago is the president of the Native American Journalists Foundation, Inc., and the publisher of Indian Education Today Magazine. He can be reached at najournalists@rushmore.com or by writing him at 2050 W. Main St., Suite 5, Rapid City, SD. He was also the founder and publisher of the Lakota Times and Indian Country Today newspapers. Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: YELLOW BIRD: A Prairie Rose by any other Name" --------- Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2006 08:39:11 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YELLOW BIRD: NAMES AND NICKNAMES" http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/columnists/13866668.htm COLUMNIST DORREEN YELLOW BIRD : A prairie rose by any other name Names and nicknames are important to many Indian people. They have meaning and tie us to our families and community - although, I should add, some names are negative and shouldn't be used. When I think of those good and funny nicknames, I think of my family. Today is my baby brother Grover Valentine "Coolie" Yellow Bird Jr.'s, birthday. He's a real St. Valentine's Day baby, and I know he'll love that I told the whole world - right, old man? Furthermore, I'm reminding him he still is that little Valentine baby Mom always favored. I'm smiling. Mom liked giving each of us a good Christian name - hence, the St. Valentine name for my brother. She always added more names for baptism and confirmation after we went through those church rituals. All the members of our family have several names. Mine? Dorreen Medicine-Rattle-Woman (Indian name) Veronica Theresa Yellow Bird Lonefight, then Yellow Bird again. (I don't use the Lonefight anymore, of course, because that belongs to my ex-husband.) Notice that I didn't put my nickname on the list. It's been many years since I've been called by my nickname - a nickname that is one of the best-kept secrets in the tribe or even the nation. It's funny, but don't ask. Here is the rest of the family. (I can't remember the Indian names of all the family, but those I do remember are in parentheses.) My oldest sister, Gail's nickname is ... I can't say, because she knows mine. (Her Indian name is Owl Woman). Alan (Spring Colt) "Pony"; Don (Son of White Crow) "Donnie"; Glen, "Cookie"; Gloria (Granddaughter of Medicine Woman) "Bouncie"; Kay, "Kitzie Poo"; Elizabeth (Goose Woman) "Bissy"; Janice, "Janny"; Elaine (no nickname); Marilyn, "Mare"; Gerilyn, "Geri." We used to call my brother Valentine when we wanted to tease him, but his real nickname is "Coolie," and the family still calls him that. Where did his nickname come from? From our grandpa, Louis Felix, who was Dakota Sioux from Minnesota. When my brother was a toddler, my grandfather started calling him "Kola, " which meant friend in Lakota. I heard that Grandpa either didn't like the names Valentine or Grover or couldn't pronounce them. The name evolved from Kola to Koola and then to Coolie, which is what we call him now. Sometimes, when he does something special like fixing my car or sprucing up the house (he's really good at fixing things) - we just call him "Cool." Incidentally, it was years before I know anything about my grandfather, Louis. He came from the Dakota band in Minnesota. Since we lived on the Fort Berthold reservation in North Dakota and most of our relatives were Sahnish, we learned about the Sahnish side of the family. I didn't even know I was Dakota until years after my grandfather died. I only knew he was a particularly gentle, kind man who laughed a lot. Someone asked me while I was home about Indian names. Why do we give ourselves Indian names in addition to all the other names - baptism, confirmation and so on? My Indian name, Medicine Rattle Woman, was given to me when I was very young. The process used to be that a name was given to you as a child, and it was very important, because it was the name that was recognized by the ancestors - the name you'd use to enter the other world after death. The names also are for strength and support. The ancestors will whisper that name when they want you to understand them in ceremony. Names were given to individuals by a person who had the "rite" to name. These namers prayed or fasted until the name for the child or person came to them. Nicknames were sort of a way to rename ourselves - perhaps a thumbing of the nose at the assimilation process, too. Nicknames identify us as members of our family and tribe and always are done with disrespect and good thought. Maybe this helps explain why the nickname "Fighting Sioux" is offensive to many of us. It is not a good nickname and wasn't by our choice. ---- Dorreen Yellow Bird's column appears Tuesday and Saturday. Reach her at (701) 780-1228 or dyellowbird@gfherald.com Copyright c. 2006 Grand Forks Herald/Grand Forks, ND. --------- "RE: Akwesasne and Tohono O'odham compare experiences" --------- Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2006 08:52:17 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BORDER CRISIS" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?feature=yes&id=1096412431 Border crisis by: Brenda Norrell / Indian Country Today February 10, 2006 Akwesasne and Tohono O'odham compare experiences PHOENIX - When the United States established its northern and southern borders in the 1800s, the indigenous communities of Akwesasne in the north and Tohono O'odham in the south were bisected. Separated by the expanse of the United States and the opposing border climates of frozen ice and desert heat, Akwesasne and Tohono O'odham today deal with many of the same border struggles: illegal entrants, drug smuggling, loss of lands and human rights and post-Sept. 11, 2001 border crossing restrictions that affect the daily lives of tribal members. St. Regis Mohawk Chief James Ransom and Tohono O'odham tribal members Joe Joaquin and Priscilla Domingo shared insights into border issues as speakers during a segment of "Tribal Land and International Borders," a presentation given at the Heard Museum on Feb. 2. Ransom began by describing the legacy of the Akwesasne, part of the Iroquois Confederacy (also known as the Six Nations or Haudenosaunee). Akwesasne lands, he said, predate the boundaries of the United States. Currently, 40,000 Akwesasne live in seven communities in the United States and Canada, along the St. Lawrence River in New York, Quebec and Ontario. Ransom, tribal chief of the Mohawk on the southern side in the United States, said the establishment of the international border and the accompanying laws in 1812 and 1820 divided ancestral territories. Summarizing the history of the Akwesasne, Ransom said it includes the negative impacts of smuggling and positive victories because of protests for Indian rights. "We are our own worst enemies. Mohawks participate in smuggling; smuggling has always been a part of our history," Ransom said, citing Mohawk history which includes an episode involving Al Capone and, more recently, cigarette smuggling. Ransom said that during the 1990s, cigarettes were smuggled through the border by tribal members and sold on the black market in Canada. More recently, drug smuggling has damaged the lives of young people and hurt families, with marijuana, cocaine and ecstasy trafficked. People also come across. Once, a group appeared at his door and asked him to call them a cab for the seven-hour trip to New York City. "We've even had cows smuggled over the border. They even put boots on the cattle so it looked like people coming over." However, he said Mohawks' protests have led to victories. Ransom referred to the protest that came after the construction of the Cornwall-Massena International Bridge at Akwesasne and an attempt to force Akwesasne to pay tolls. After the blockade by Akwesasne in 1968, the Canadian government agreed to duty-free status for Akwesasne residents. "Because of those actions, today Mohawk are exempt from those tolls." Akwesasne from the northern territory have also protested demands for tuition fees in the United States. Since 1997, he said Mohawks in the northern territory have not been forced to pay tuition fees in New York. Currently, Ransom said, St. Regis Mohawk are working with the United States in efforts to fight terrorism. He is optimistic that a new U.S. legislation will enable Department of Homeland Security funds to go directly to Indian tribes, instead of being dispersed to states for disbursement to counties and tribes. Ransom also encouraged Indian people to speak out against new U.S. regulations requiring passports for border-crossers, which will impact tribal members. Ransom showed the "Akwesasne Border Video," revealing life on the northern border and the need for Mohawks to cross the international border daily to attend school, work and provide emergency services to Akwesasne communities on both sides of the border. On the video, Mohawk police say that protecting tribal members is the priority for Mohawk police and border enforcement takes time away from this priority. A member of the Hogansburg Fire Department echoed this point: "Akwesasne strives to take care of its own." Border crossing delays and restrictions for Canadians entering the United States have caused casino revenues for St. Regis Mohawk to decline since 9/11 because fewer Canadians are now crossing the border. And the U. S. House of Representatives voted in December, as part of a larger border security bill, to conduct a feasibility study of erecting a separation barrier - similar to the sections of fence that are already in place along parts of the U.S.-Mexico border - between the United States and its northern neighbor. However, more laws may not be the answer. Also in the video, St. Regis Mohawk Police Chief Andrew Thomas pointed out that criminals do not go through legal border crossings, but instead cross borders under cover of darkness or over the ice in winter on the northern border. Hosted by the Heard Museum with an evening reception, Ransom was well- received by Arizona residents from the Sonoran Desert, who were fascinated by the similarities and contrasts between the northern and southern borders. Of special interest was the fact that on the northern border, an ice bridge forms in winter and creates a shortcut for Akwesasne, lowering the normal 10-minute border-crossing time to just two minutes. Copyright c. 1998-2006 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Poverty is a Weapon of Mass Destruction" --------- Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2006 08:32:28 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MEXICO'S INDIGENOUS" http://www.thenativepress.com/mexpoverty.html Mexico's Indigenous: 'Poverty is a weapon of mass destruction' By Brenda Norrell February 13, 2005 OBREGON, Mexico - Mexico's 10 million Indigenous peoples are urging the international community to apply pressure to the government of Mexico to alleviate the human suffering among the tribes. "Poverty is a weapon of mass destruction," said Jose Garcia, Tohono O'odham from Mexico, after meeting with a United Nations representative. "The lack of education takes away the incentive of the people, they have no means to move forward," Garcia said. Rodolfo Stavenhagen, an Indian rights envoy for the United Nations, met with Indian governors and community leaders of the Yoreme (Mayo,) Yoeme (Yaqui,) O'op (Pima,) Makuray (Guarijios) and O'odham, in Obregon during a tour earlier this summer. The Indigenous leaders from the state of Sonora told the United Nations that there is corruption in the state and federal agencies, particularly in Mexico's Attorney General's office and Land Administration and Claims offices, which results in their loss of land and violence. Garcia said most Indian people in Mexico live without decent housing, clean drinking water or sufficient food in homes made of found items. Indians in villages seldom have the opportunity to attend school beyond the primary grades. Garcia said the extreme poverty is not just in Mexico, but also in the United States, where the greatest terrorism in people's personal lives is the failing economy. The hunger and desperation of Indians and others in the United States is silenced by the media, he said. Currently in Mexico, Indian laborers make the equivalent of $5 or $6 a day. At the same time, food prices are the same as in the United States. Bottled water is the same price and gas is expensive. Meanwhile, the people are desperate for work. "There isn't any opportunity for jobs," Garcia said. Indians in Mexico do not