_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 14, ISSUE 009 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 March 4, 2006 Kiowa kaguat p'a/bud moon Cree migisupizum/eagle moon Lakota Istawicanyazan Wi/moon of Snow blindness Anishnaabe bebookwaadaagame-giizis(oog)/snow crust 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; NetRez-L, 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: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + =================== "After fighting the federal government for nearly 10 years over its acknowledged mismanagement of Indian Trust programs, I have learned not to be surprised by the government's efforts to avoid responsibility for its misdeeds." __ Elloise Cobell, Blackfeet Lead Plaintiff in the Indian Trust suit +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! Many accuse me of living in the eye of a hurricane because issues seem to find me. I will argue the truth is I live with a hurricane - The Lovely Janet. As you will see from this week's editorial and the lead story she has once again found herself in a swamp surrounded by alligators. Please don't blow this issue off as a "Georgia Problem". We have heard from people we trust other states are watching to see if Georgia DNR and Georgia Parks Department get away with this crap. Just for openers consider this... your tribal enrollment in a Federally Recognized Tribe will NOT qualify you as an Indian. You must also pony up a CDIB card, and appear before their hand selected review committee to determine if your presentation represents what their reviewers regard as Indian. Note, there is zero requirement for their reviewers to have a drop of Indian blood or know the first thing about various Tribal Nations. ----- I am forwarding the e-mail below to you because you each are known to be either interested in Native American rights in general, or pow wows in particular. Right now, Native American accessibility to Georgia state parks and resources, even though these were lands directly taken from or important to Indian tribes or individuals, is more threatened than it has been in the past (and it was already limited). Although right now the issue is with Georgia state government, we've all seen how newly- implemented offensive and restrictive policies can spread to neighboring states (which is why I'm including individuals outside Georgia), and can trickle down to county and municipal policies. If you have e-mail addresses for pow wow organizers, warrior societies, vendors, drums, dancers, or those interested in Native American rights that I have missed -- please pass this note on. Many of you know Yellow Otter (the author). He's a food vendor most of us have seen at pow wows around Georgia and Alabama. Some time back he was approached by a Georgia state park that already had an Indian-themed (complete with fiberglass "teepee" meeting rooms) retreat area to put on a pow wow at the park to benefit a handicapped children's camp that was held in the area annually. A few months ago he contacted the park management, ready to implement planning, only to be told that they had, in the meantime, received a memo from DNR, instructing them that pow wows were not to be held in Georgia State Parks. Yellow Otter attempted to address this with DNR officials by e-mail and phone, only to be thwarted by automated phone systems, unanswered phone messages and e-mails, and on those rare occasions when he actually got a live body, with stalls and obfuscations. Yesterday he, his wife, a couple of other interested Native Americans and I attended a DNR board meeting. I was a little late, so I missed seeing them (his note will explain where they were). After sitting through a most interesting (seriously) report from the folks who handle landfills, moving my car to a space finally available in an all-day-lot, and lunch, a very nice administrative assistant (I'll give DNR this -- they hire really pleasant people at lower levels) pointed me to the head of the Parks division, the below-mentioned elusive Becky Kelley. Ms. Kelley came across as gracious and eager to be helpful. She told me that she'd met with Yellow Otter and had put him into the "planning loop" for a new policy being written. She also denied that her department had plans to prohibit Native American gatherings in the park (which, as you'll see below, is not entirely true). She said Georgia was just trying to frame a policy that was "sensitive and respectful" to the Native population. Yellow Otter's experience and the copy of the draft policy, which he has been asking for over a period of several months and which he finally received yesterday, appears in the note below (note: to date, he still has not seen the original memo to the parks prohibiting pow wows, but since the prohibition is clearly stated in the draft policy, that is perhaps not needed). There are some obvious issues -- such as the express prohibition of pow wows (even though some parks currently feature beach parties with bands and bluegrass festivals), the insistence on US federal enrollment and a CDIB to advertise a program as Native American or Indian or even wear regalia except in very limited circumstances (even though the state of Georgia officially recognizes several tribes in the state as legitimately Indian), and the ability of unenrolled vendors to advertise arts and crafts as Native American (even though it may well be that they were acquired from legitimate Native American artisans, thus cutting off an important distribution outlet for legitimate Native American craftspeople). There is absolutely no reciprocal provision for those enrolled in recognized Canadian tribes, even though US/Canadian law does reciprocally recognize each others' aboriginal groups. Powwow season will be beginning soon, and I know how rumors fly on the circuit. I'm updating you on what I know to be true about this situation so you will know what is happening if you hear rumors, or if someone else who's heard rumors asks you about it. If you do have suggestions or recommendations, while I'd love to hear from you, especially if you have news I can distribute on my web site or that Gary can include in Wotanging Ikche, please contact Yellow Otter directly, since he will be meeting with the DNR folks next Tuesday (the 28th). I am less optimistic than he that DNR is sincerely "open to making this work," but since they're trying to give that impression, I'd like to see them given all the rope they need to either make a good hammock we can all be happy with, or hang themselves. Looking forward to seeing many of you very soon, +/// Janet Smith owlstar@bellsouth.net /*/+ P. O. Box 672168 OwlStar Trading Post + / * Marietta, GA 30008, U.S.A. http://www.owlstar.com * + ----- Dohiyi Ani Oginalii , , Gary Smith (*,*) wotanging@bellsouth.net P. O. Box 672168 (`-') gars@nanews.org Marietta, GA 30006, U.S.A. ===w=w=== http://www.nanews.org ----------- News of the people featured in this issue ----------- - Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources - Official: Blood Quantum locks out NAs? Requirement too Narrow - Cobell blasts Bush - Federal Judge dismisses for blaming BIA cut on Lawsuit Si Tanka Bankruptcy Case - Cobell appeals to Congress - Indian Education Positions to block Cruel Action would not be funded - NARF: Court decision - Budget cuts wipe out is `stunning victory' Indian Education Plan - NAGPRA and Scientists - Mashantucket Pequots - Indigenous from Americas plan Language Conference unite in Venezuela - GIAGO: SD Legislator likens - Shoshone take Treaty Case Abortion to Slavery to United Nations - YELLOW BIRD: - GAO: Telephone service lacking All bundled up, dreaming of Spring in Indian Country - Water problems - GAO: Data needed on plague Manitoba Reserves American Indian Internet use - Federal Court ruling - Urban Health Program riles Band Council funding euthanized - Canadian Court to rule on - Lac du Flambeau control over water Tribal Land Rights opposed by DNR - U.S. Supreme Court: - Jourdain denies allegations Church can use Hallucinogen of blocking Drug Probe - Ruling may affect Utah Peyote Case - Navajo Nation asks BIA - Non-Indians protest to fund Seismic Study stops by Tribal Police - Montana Tribes awarded - Fake BIA Agent attempts Economic Development Funds to intimidate rape Victim - Cayuga Land Claim - Girl held in alleged School threat heads toward Supreme Court - Native Prisoner - New York: -- Letters of support Taxes on NA Stores put off again for Manuel Redwoman - State recoups much of - Rustywire: First Thunder Catawba Pact Money - Del "Abe" Jones Poem: - USFS responds to The Narragansett Indians Blackfeet concerns - 7th Annual - Cheyenne Water Project gets Grant Language is Life Conference - Tribe honors Elders' Legacy - Enoph First Nations - Census offers insight Summer Camps 2006 into Native American Life - Upcoming Events --------- "RE: Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources locks out NAs?" --------- Date: 2006/02/23 Thu AM 08:13:00 EST From: Janet Smith Subj: [Fwd: DNR today February 22, 2006] -------- Original Message -------- Subj: DNR today February 22, 2006 Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 16:26:20 -0500 From: Yellow Otter O'siyo All I just got back from the board meeting at DNR of Georgia. Had a wonderful time, hehe. We went into the room for the board meeting, you had to sign in. I also found out that to speak, you had to be on a speakers list. I signed up for that too. About two minutes after signing in, Two people came and asked for me. One was Chuck Gregory and the other is the invisible lady, Becky Kelley, Director of Parks, Recreations and Historic Sites Division of DNR of Georgia. They ask if we could go to another room to talk. We did. We had their ear for about two hours. This is what I have so far. DNR does not have a policy in affect at this time to restrict use of parks from Native Americans. But they are not allowing use of parks for anything to do with Pow wow. How much more, I don't know. What they do have is a draft policy that they are working on. I have a copy and will ad this later. They can not answer why if no policy exist, how they can refuse to allow Pow Wow or anything else. I am going to post this policy they are working on. I want feedback from you elders as to what is wrong with it and how can we make it right for us. (Native American People) I have another meeting with this same group February 28, 2006 and need this information before then to have something to present to them as a way to help get our rights. NATIVE AMERICAN PROGRAMMING POLICY February 16,2006 STANDARDS FOR AMERICAN INDIAN PROGRAM 1. Current Interpretive Plan: any park of site offering Native American programming must have an Interpretive Plan written by the site manager and formally reviewed by the Region Manager within the last five years. This plan must include a listing of appropriate program themes and the park or site must program within the guideline theme. It is strongly advised that the Interpretive Plan also include a brief section of inappropriate themes relating to the specific property 2. Annual Program Outline: Individual sites or parks have the option to jury their own list of interpreters and demonstrators who will be conducting Native American programming. See jurying standards under "Interpretive Standards Relating to Native American programming." Prior to submitting and publishing the annual park brochure a brief outline and narrative of the park or sites programs titled; Native American or Indian programs must be presented and approved by the Region Manager. If additional review is requested from the Region Manager the Resource Management and Interpretation staff in Atlanta can provide the service. 3. Site Manager Responsibility: the site manager is responsible for formulating a brief program outline for their site. Native American interpretation must meet the theme guidelines outlined in the interpretive plan and meet the approval of the Region Manager prior to publication of the event. INTERPRETIVE STANDARDS RELATING TO NATIVE AMERICAN PROGRAMMING 1. An advertised program must not be listed as either a "Native American" or "Indian" event unless it is conducted by federally recognized Native Americans. The approved credential would be a federally issued CDIB card. Site managers also have the option to invite programmers who do not have a CDIB card but have a certain level of expertise defined by criteria in # 2. In this situation the program or event title would not include the words, "Native American or Indian." 1. The site staff is responsible for conducting a juried selection process for its programmers and demonstrators. The criteria for this juried process must meet the minimum standards provided in this policy: a. Program should be applicable" to site programming theme. b. Programmer or demonstrator should provide several pictures, news articles, and/or samples of their work to a jury. The jury should consist of site personnel and/or experts in facets of Native American culture. c. The programmer or demonstrator will provide at least three verifiable references from other locations where they have performed. It should be strongly"recommended that such references be from other public sites. d. The site manager is encouraged to contact adjacent public sites (Ocmulgee Nat. Monument, Moundville Historic Site, e.g.) for inquiry into quality of programmer or demonstrator desiring to perform at their sites. These sites have many years of Native American programming and have produced extensive lists of approved interpreters. State sites that have performed Native American programming should be consulted as well. e. The site manager should be prepared to justify the selections and/or omissions based on this policy. 2. Site managers have the responsibility to carefully select programmers that meet standards for both quality of presentation and accuracy of content. Programmers are accepted by invitation only from the site manager. It is strongly recommended that the site manager consult with other managers within the Division and other state and federal sites that offer Native American programs to personally confirm the performance history, quality of presentation and accuracy provided by each candidate programmer being considered. Please contact the Interpretive Unit Program Manager (404) 656-2770, to receive an approved programmer list of both Native Americans and non Native Americans. For critical contact on weekends or evenings call 404-290-6984 or 404-886-0914. 3. Powwow type events are not considered appropriate Native American interpretation on any parks and or historic sites. a. At each of our sites our priority will be to interpret the most significant and appropriate program themes for the site as referenced by the written interpretive plan. Powwow type events do not meet this specific criterion for site-specific programming. Other issues, including the verification of authenticity of presenters and programmers, insuring Federal Law, (P.L. 101-644) referencing American Indian Arts and Crafts is enforced along with the endangered species law for authorized use of feathers and regalia. 4. The wearing of tribal dress or regalia is permitted by Native American first person interpreters without the federally issued CDIB card on the following conditions: A. The interpreter must not declare to the public that he/she is affiliated with any tribal group. B. The interpreter must go through the same-juried process described in the Interpretive Standards Relating to Native American programs. C. The program must conform to standards set by the sites interpretive plan. D. Interpretive programs will not be held in sacred areas as defined by affiliated tribes. 5. Only members of federally or state recognized tribes have the right to sell goods identified as "American Indian Arts and Crafts." Non Native Americans can sell arts and crafts as long as they do not profess these items are being made by Native Americans or are "genuine" Native American arts and crafts. 6. Special events and daily programs should be designed to insure minimal impact on archaeological sensitive areas of the site. ---- Help me here people. DNR is open to making this work, if we, the Native People show them how. Otherwise we lose. Larry Mindler Wisdom Bear Known in past as Yellow Otter --------- "RE: Cobell blasts Bush for blaming BIA cut on Lawsuit" --------- Date: Sun, 26 Feb 2006 15:14:23 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="COBELL BLASTS BUSH FOR WRONGFUL BLAME" http://www.indianz.com/News/2006/012686.asp Cobell blasts Bush for blaming BIA cut on lawsuit February 24, 2006 Elouise Cobell, the lead plaintiff in the Indian trust fund lawsuit, asked key members of Congress on Thursday to stop the Bush administration from cutting the Bureau of Indian Affairs budget in order to pay for the case. In a letter to 18 lawmakers from both parties, Cobell accused the Interior Department of punishing Indian Country for its own mistakes. She objected to a $3 million cut to the BIA budget meant to offset $7 million in attorney's fees that were awarded to the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. "After fighting the federal government for nearly 10 years over its acknowledged mismanagement of Indian Trust programs, I have learned not to be surprised by the government's efforts to avoid responsibility for its misdeeds," she wrote. "But what the government is attempting to do now is a new low." Cobell was referring to a decision by associate deputy secretary Jim Cason, a Bush appointee who was not confirmed by Congress, to take money away from Indian programs to cover the attorney's fees. In a January 29 letter to tribal leaders, he blamed the budget cut on the lawsuit, arguing that the administration had not planned for the expense. But Cobell, in her letter, pointed out that the plaintiffs made their initial fee request in October 2003. A more detailed petition was filed in court in August 2004 after U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, who is handling the case, indicated he would resolve the matter. "Nevertheless, Interior officials now feign surprise and stated that the award of fees was unforeseeable," Cobell responded. "As is readily apparent from the above stated faces, Interior's contention is simply false." Cason has defended his decision in public and in the news media. He argued that he tried to minimize the impact on BIA programs but hasn't explained why the BIA bore the brunt of budget cut while the Office of Special Trustee and the Department of Treasury, a named defendant, didn't contribute as much to pay. "We looked at a wide variety of alternatives to pay those funds and at the end of that process, basically I made the decision for the department to try to spread the impact across number of programs to minimize the impact on any one single program," Cason told the Senate Indian Affairs Committee at a budget hearing on February 14. A number of lawmakers have already voiced objections to the funding cut. Sen. Tim Johnson (D-South Dakota) questioned Cason at the hearing and wrote a letter to Interior Secretary Gale Norton to seek other ways to pay the attorney's fees without dipping into tribal programs. "The funds that were cut serve the nation's poorest peoples and we should do everything that we can to maintain and increase program funding for Indian Country, not cut funding," Johnson wrote. "There are clearly better alternatives than cutting program funding, and I am willing to pursue solutions at the legislative level that do not involve politicizing the Cobell litigation." Tribal leaders have repeatedly criticized the administration for cutting funding for reservation-level programs in order to pay for trust reform. While the BIA budget has been reduced or flat-lined in recent years, the OST budget has grown significantly, and a lot the money is never seen in Indian Country. "This litigation is diverting money from other needs and creating an environment in the administration that makes it hard to move on to other issues," Joe Garcia, the new president of the National Congress of American Indians, said in his State of Indian Nations address earlier this month. Despite the concerns, there appears to be little that members of Congress plan on doing to address the situation. Although they have worked consistently to restore Bush's budget cuts, it is unlikely they will appropriate extra money to pay the attorney's fees. The $7 million award covers the first five years of the case, from the day it was filed on June 10, 1996, to February 23, 2001, the day the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the federal government's responsibility to conduct an historical accounting of Indian trust funds. Since the plaintiffs prevailed, they are entitled to recover their costs under the federal Equal Access to Justice Act. "Here, plaintiffs achieved more than 'excellent results,' they achieved a 'stunning victory,'" Lamberth wrote in his decision to award the fees. Of the award, $4.5 million went to legal fees for the attorneys handling the case - including the non-profit Native American Rights Fund -- and $2.5 million in expenses for experts hired as part of the case. Keith Harper, a member of the Cherokee Nation and NARF attorney, said his organization and his fellow attorneys, who are not being paid by Cobell, may not be seeing portions of the money at all. "Many of the grants that we've received in support of the case must be paid back in part or full so we're in ongoing discussions with foundations regarding how much of that money we will actually, if any, be able to keep," he said in an interview. Copyright c. 2000-2006 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: Cobell appeals to Congress to block Cruel Action" --------- Date: Sun, 26 Feb 2006 15:14:23 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="STOP SHAMEFUL PAYBACK" http://www.indiantrust.com/index.cfm?Release_id=156&Month=2&Year=2006 COBELL APPEALS TO CONGRESS TO BLOCK INTERIOR'S 'CRUEL ACTION' February 23, 2006 WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 - Elouise Cobell, the lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit over the government's admitted mishandling of Indian Trust accounts, has urged leaders in Congress to block the Interior Department's "contrived and cruel action" that will punish Indians for their victories in the landmark court case. "Imagine the absurdity and viciousness of making Indian programs pay for the consequences of the government's own breach of trust!" Ms. Cobell stated in letters that were sent Thursday to 18 leaders of Congress. The letter represents the latest action that the representatives of 500,000 Native Americans have taken in an effort to thwart Interior's plans to cut Indian programs across the nation to pay the legal fees and expenses of the Cobell litigation. The plaintiffs in the case were recently granted $7 million in expenses and legal fees for their efforts to secure an accounting of funds that the government was supposed to be holding in trust accounts for Indians. Even though lawyers for the Indians filed their initial application for interim fees nearly two and a half years ago, Interior officials have expressed surprise at the award. Associate Deputy Interior Secretary James Cason has notified tribal leaders that the government intends to cut various programs to pay some of the expenses. "It's a matter of robbing Peter to pay Paul to pay them," Cason has told a reporter. "That's just not right," Ms. Cobell, a member of the Blackfeet Nation from Browning, Mt., told the Congressional leaders. The legal expenses are to be paid under provisions of the Equal Access to Justice Act, a 1980 law that protects individuals from "unreasonable government action." "The Interior Department is turning that law on its head," Ms. Cobell wrote. "This is not "equal access to justice" - but precise and targeted injustice," she said. "It is simply the action of a mean-spirited government. It is wrong and should be stopped by Congress." The entire text of the letter, along with a list of the members of Congress who were sent a copy, is available at www.indiantrust.com. contact: Bill McAllister 703 385-6996 Copyright c. 2006 Blackfeet Reservation Development Fund, Inc. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: NARF: Court decision is `stunning victory'" --------- Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 08:59:08 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PEMBINA TRUST SUIT CONTINUED" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=7584 Native American Rights Fund: Court decision is "stunning victory" Indian legal aid group responds to Pembina Chippewas ruling Native American Times February` 21, 2006 A group of lawyers sympathetic to Native American interests have reacted to a court decision allowing a long running dispute between the federal government and Indian tribes to continue. The Native American Rights Fund reports that the U.S. Court of Federal Claims has given "a stunning victory" to the Chippewa Cree Tribe of the Rocky Boy's Reservation, Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, and the White Earth Band of Minnesota Chippewa Indians, four tribes collectively known as the Pembina Chippewas. According to fund officials, the tribes are suing the feds for mismanagement of their tribal trust fund, the Pembina Judgment Fund, since the fund began in 1964. The case was originally filed in the fall of 1992, and stems from two different treaties, including one dating back to 1863. Various twists and turns have followed, but fund representatives say the federal claims court decision is a straight-out win. "[The claims court] ruled that statutes of limitation do not bar the suit because a full accounting by the U.S. has not yet occurred, that federal statutes mandate that the federal government pay money damages for any breach of trust under the statutes, and that the Court need not determine whether the rules governing class actions are satisfied in this case because a special federal statute, which allows `a group of Indians' to bring suit before the Claims Court, covers all of the judgment fund beneficiaries in the Pembina Chippewa's case," NARF said in statement posted on their website, adding that they believe a settlement is still possible. "NARF is hopeful that in light of this opinion that is so favorable to the Pembina Chippewas, meaningful negotiations between the parties on this case will resume," the group said in a statement. "It is likely, however, the government will try to bring at least a few more issues to the Court before it seriously considers settlement of the case. Nevertheless, after years of representing the Pembina Chippewas in this case, NARF is extremely pleased with this opinion of the Court which allows the case to go forward as it originally was filed - for money damages on behalf of all of the beneficiaries to the Pembina Judgment Fund 1964 and 1980 Awards." NARF was established in 1970 to assist Indian tribes and individual tribal members with legal advice. They have offices in Boulder, Anchorage and Washington, D.C. Native American Times. Copyright C. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: NAGPRA and Scientists" --------- Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2006 08:43:45 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=7589 NAGPRA and scientists As more tribes use law to regain sacred items, scholars debate impact on research Sam Lewin February 22, 2006 The head of the program administering the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, the landmark 1990 law that sets a process for the return of sacred items to Native groups, says the legislation has been a boon to scientists. A California-based anthropologist counters that the law, commonly known by the acronym NAGPRA, has had the unintentional result of preventing the gathering of information. Elizabeth Weiss, an anthropology professor at San Jose State University, says she examined data from the past three decades to determine how NAGPRA affected research. "I know there were a lot of predictions about NAGPRA, but standardizations did not occur, the number of sites looked at decreased... in the meantime, research in South America and Europe by scholars has increased, which would suggest they are avoiding America because of NAGPRA," Weiss told the Native American Times, saying that she thought some anthropologists could be worried by the possibility of "repatriation claims and complying with NAGPRA taking up their research." NAGPRA program administrator Sherry Hutt says other scholars have come to the opposite conclusion. "[Weiss' research] appears to run contrary to a similar study done by Tom Killian and Tammy Bray at the Smithsonian, which found an increase of study involving sites within the United States since NAGPRA and the Smithsonian repatriation law were enacted," Hutt wrote in an e-mail. Hutt also wrote "a review of the inventories submitted in compliance with NAGPRA reveals that many of the human remains in collections were not collected using scientific methods and therefore repatriation of those remains would have little or no bearing on science." From a Native American standpoint, NAGPRA seems to be employed more than ever before. Tribes continue to use the law to recover items, and a recent account in the Minneapolis Star Tribune relayed the story of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa's attempt to get back sacred items of theirs from a New York museum. The story indicated that repatriation attempts have risen in the past few years, with a federal grant allowing poorer tribes to pursue recovery. The Bois Forte Band spent several thousands dollars in trips to New York in their quest for repatriation. In January, the University of Kansas hired an outside expert to oversee the return of Indian artifacts. "[Anthropologist Thomas Foor] has considerable experience evaluating collections of Native American objects," said the university's Mary Lee Hummert in announcing Foor's appointment. "He has also earned the trust and respect of the many tribes he's worked with in and around Montana on a variety of projects." Those projects include a study with the Blackfeet Tribe. While saying "NAGPRA has certain benefits," Weiss acknowledges that any criticism of a law designed to protect Native American remains will be controversial in some quarters. "I got some angry e-mails and I think they had a misunderstanding of anthropology research," she said. "There was an assumption that I or any other anthropologist would want to unbury remains. I have no intention of doing that and I would never go into a cemetery and dig it up. But if something is uncovered I would rather see it be saved than destroyed." "The accuracy of the conclusion of Dr. Weiss, that archaeologists would prefer to forgo study in favor of retaining the items, is a matter to be examined within the anthropological community," Hutt wrote in response. Native supporters of NAGPRA agree that the law is not perfect, but still extremely valuable. "Although NAGPRA can be very difficult to apply, it can also be a very helpful cultural tool," Hawaiian repatriation activist Edward Ayau said. Ayau is one of the founders of Hui Malama, an organization that cares for the sacred objects, burial sites and other remains of indigenous Hawaiian peoples, and he travels around the country speaking to tribes about the law. "We are an example of using NAGPRA to successfully restore things for our ancestors," Ayau said during an interview to mark NAGPRA's 15-year anniversary. "What is required is a commitment, hard work and a really healthy understanding of traditional culture and spirituality. There is a mechanism to help restore sacred items, ancestral remains-things that are important to Natives and tribes and that we would never fathom removing from our possession." Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Indigenous from Americas unite in Venezuela" --------- Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 08:59:08 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MULTI-NATIONAL UNITED FRONT" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?feature=yes&id=1096412528 Indigenous from Americas unite in Venezuela by: Brenda Norrell / Indian Country Today February 21, 2006 Delegation from North America urges united struggle at World Social Forum CARACAS, Venezuela - United by the common bond of the 500-year struggle for indigenous rights in the Americas, an indigenous delegation from North America to the World Social Forum joined with indigenous from Central and South America to demand protection of indigenous rights. "Once the people saw our pictures of confrontation struggles and heard the many stories of our problems, the tribal elders got up and spoke of similar problems and saw that we were a people under the same 500-year struggle to maintain land, culture and sovereignty," said Robert Free Galvan, Indian activist from Seattle and organizer of the delegation. "We challenged the progressives everywhere to work in their own countries to ensure indigenous respect, rights and self-determination, as Venezuela President Hugo Chavez has instigated." During sessions at the World Social Forum, Sarah James, Gwich'in from Alaska, spoke of the battles and victories to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil exploration. "My elders have instructed me to share the Gwich'in peoples' struggles in a good way," said James, who left weather that was 60 degrees below zero to travel to Venezuela's 93-degree climate. James and Casey Camp, Ponca Nation from Oklahoma, were asked by the Karina and Wayuu women to participate in the opening of the conference on women's struggles at the forum, which took place in January. James and Camp helped clan mothers and women leaders bless the sessions. Camp spoke on the industrial environmental damage in her territory, where carbon black production and oil drilling have left a dark stain on the land and water while plumes of toxic smoke fill the air. Camp said Ponca struggle to retain their rich culture. During sessions for indigenous, Alex Louie, Okanagan from British Columbia, Canada, spoke on the choice for the future, between confrontation and compromise with Canada in relation to indigenous land claims and sovereignty. Galvan focused on the academic, non-governmental organization and progressive movements. Galvan said racism and the exclusion of indigenous participation are obvious in the agendas of the global arenas. "Great speeches of solidarity were delivered, and many invitations to their lands were extended. The tribes then proceeded to invite us to dance with them at several of the tribal dances," he said. Tribal members from Colombia, Brazil and Venezuela, including Yakuana, Picaroa, Yukuana, Jivi, Yaua Mauri and Panare, performed several dances to everyone's delight. The North American delegation was hosted by Dr. Noly Fernandez, Venezuela's director of the Ministry of Health for Indigenous People, and her staff. Galvan said, "We each spoke of building exchanges of visits to each others' territories to promote friendship and solidarity with each others' struggles. Several tribal elders spoke of the great change in attitude and respect for indigenous peoples during the presidency of Chavez. "We were told stories of their medicine healers, women and men, being pursued tirelessly for years by academics from universities across the globe for their medicine knowledge and to participate in their medicine gatherings. "They told us the academics are refused, but continue to persistently stalk them," said Galvan, adding that the delegation spoke of the current lawsuit against institutional racism at the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine for similar attitudes. The delegation spoke at several sessions with indigenous movement leaders of Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and Colombia. "We were honored to speak and to share our stories," Galvan said. "The need to build economic, cultural and solidarity ties between indigenous people of [the] north and south continents continued to be repeated by the speakers." The indigenous delegation challenged Brazil's progressives to take action concerning the 520 Guarani and Kaiowa tribes camped along the MS- 384 highway in the interior Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul. The tribes were violently evicted from their traditional lands in the Nhande Ru Marangatu reservation during attempts to access diamonds in other tribal lands. Brazil made a commitment to set aside 12 million acres for tribes back in 1995, but has set aside only 1 million acres and continues to evict tribes from promised lands, Galvan said. The North American indigenous delegation participated in closing ceremonies, which included youth group music and dance performances as well as demonstrations of Indians histories. "Several tribal groups shared beautiful dances of friendship, which brought the crowds to their feet," Galvan said. Camp, with experience in the arts and entertainment industry in the United States, joined James and Louie to sing an American Indian Movement song urging the release of Leonard Peltier and other political prisoners, which brought the crowd to their feet. Describing the daily marches, music and parades at the forum, Galvan said, "We were surrounded by beautiful mountains, and tens of thousands of participants crowded the many sites and streets with World Social Forum activities." Reflecting on those days at the forum, Galvan said the delegation began their stay in the best possible way. "The Karina tribal elders happened to also be staying in the same apartment, and on the second day were preparing food for the 100 indigenous [delegates] from the Amazonian and Bolivian provinces arriving that day after a 20-hour bus ride. We delivered the food to the group staying near the Hippo Dome and housed at the racetrack dormitory quarters. Our host gave us several necklaces and arm bracelets for our protection and welcome. "As visitors, we had asked the elders and any indigenous people who wanted to participate, if we could speak in their territories. The clan mothers and tribal leaders from several regions of Venezuela proceeded to invite the many tribes and indigenous peoples that had traveled to the WSF to join and welcome us and participate. "So we had the clan elders of the Karina Tribe and several of the Wa po yu and Wayuu tribes honor us by opening our presentation with prayers, songs and blessings." Copyright c. 1998-2006 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Shoshone take Treaty Case to United Nations" --------- Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2006 08:43:47 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SHOSHONE ARGUE US STOLE ANCESTRAL LANDS" http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/02/22/tribal.rights.ap/index.html Indian tribe takes treaty case to United Nations Committee has ruled that U.S. owes response to Shoshone February 22, 2006 RENO, Nevada (AP) - An American Indian tribe is heading to Geneva, Switzerland, this month to renew its claims before a United Nations committee that the U.S. government stole ancestral land, the tribe said. "We see no way we can continue internally in the United States, so we're taking our argument across the water to the United Nations, and the United Nations is listening," Raymond Yowell, chief of the Western Shoshone National Council, told reporters Tuesday. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1979 that an 1863 treaty gave the U.S. government trusteeship over tribal lands in parts of what are now Nevada, Idaho, Utah and California. But some Shoshone have kept up the fight, even after a majority of their fellow tribe members voted to take a government settlement that has grown to $145 million. The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination said in August 2005 that the tribe's argument that the U.S. policy of "gradual encroachment" after the treaty amounted to racism against an indigenous people deserved a response from the U.S. government. Attorney Robert Hager, who represents the Western Shoshone, said they were leaving this week for their second trip to Geneva, hoping to garner more international pressure. "The U.N. can bring pressure on the United States because of the shameful findings," Hager said. Hager said the United States never established a right to the indigenous land and was granted only limited access under the 1863 treaty. A bill signed by President Bush in July 2004 gave approval to distributing the more than $145 million in compensation and interest from the 1946 settlement. "The tribe twice has voted decisively in favor of the distribution," said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Democratic Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, a proponent of the bill allowing the settlement funds to be distributed. "The senator will continue to work ... to assure a fair and expeditious distribution under the law." The funds have been held up, in part because Yowell has asked a federal court to rule whether members would be giving up any treaty rights if they were to accept the payment. "Unlike all other Indians, (the Western Shoshone) never signed a treaty giving up their land," Hager said. "This government has refused to accept the legal concept of that treaty." Copyright c. 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 2006 Cable News Network LP, LLLP. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: GAO: Telephone service lacking in Indian Country" --------- Date: Mon, 20 Feb 2006 08:46:15 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MANY NATIVE HOMES LACK BASIC TELEPHONE SERVICE" http://www.indianz.com/News/2006/012575.asp GAO: Telephone service lacking in Indian Country February 17, 2006 Despite improvements in bridging the digital divide, many homes in Indian Country still lack basic telephone service, according to a new report from the General Accountability Office. Nationwide, 98 percent of homes are telephone subscribers. But only 69 percent of American Indian households in the lower 48 states have service, the GAO report said, citing data from the 2000 Census. The rate for Alaska Native households was somewhat better, at 87 percent. But this was still below the national average, the Congressional review noted. Despite the disparities, telephone subscriber rates in Indian Country have improved in the past decade, the GAO said. A 1995 report from the Census Bureau found that only 47 percent of Native American homes had service. Still, some reservations are far behind the rest of the United States. Only 34 percent homes on the Kickapoo Reservation in Texas, for example, have telephones. The largest reservation in the U.S. -- the Navajo Nation -- also had similarly poor service. Only 38 percent of homes had telephones, according to the report. On the other end of the spectrum, the GAO found that the Kalispel Reservation in Washington had 100 percent coverage. But only 25 Native communities -- 14 in the lower 48 and 25 in Alaska -- had rates that were close to the national average of 98 percent, the report said. A large number -- 57 tribes in the lower 48 and 29 in Alaska -- had telephone service rates greater than 90 percent. Examples included the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota (94 percent), the Osage Reservation in Oklahoma (92 percent) and the Flathead Reservation in Montana (92 percent). A far greater number -- 127 Native communities, including 78 tribes in the lower 48 states -- fell in the 81 percent to 90 percent range. The Zuni Reservation in New Mexico had a 78 percent rate, the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota had a 75 percent rate and the Tohono O'odham Reservation in Arizona had a 73 percent rate. A significant number of Native communities, 62 total, had rates between 71 percent and 80 percent. Another 18 had rates between 61 percent and 70 percent while 11 total fell below 60 percent. Tribal officials contacted by the GAO attributed the lack of widespread telephone service to a number of reasons. "The barriers most often cited were the rural, rugged terrain of tribal lands, and tribes' limited financial resources," the report said. The rural and rugged nature of tribal lands means bringing telephone service to reservations can be costly, putting tribes at a great disadvantaged, tribal officials said. Some also said the lack of technically trained tribal members posed a problem. A number of tribes, however, are overcoming these barriers and are taking steps to improve the situation with the help of federal and private grants, by developing their own telecommunication systems and by turning to other technologies, such as wireless service. The GAO visited six tribes to find out how they are addressing the lack of telephones on their lands. The Coeur d'Alene Tribe in Idaho, for example, used a Rural Utilities Service grant from the Department of Agriculture to develop a reservation- wide wireless Internet service. "The tribe applied for an RUS Community Connect Broadband grant to purchase and deploy a wireless system to provide high-speed Internet access to all residents of the tribal land," the report said. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina partnered with a local business to build a fiber optic cable network that serves the reservation and surrounding communities. The initiative enables the tribe to provide reliable telephone and Internet service, something that has been lacking in the area, the report said. To help more tribes, the GAO recommended that the Federal Communications Commission collect more data to assess the technological needs of Indian Country. For example, no one has ever collected Internet service rates on reservations, the report said. In response to the recommendation, the FCC agreed that more data was needed, but the agency said it wasn't in the best position to determine what types of data to collect. So the GAO recommended Congress direct the FCC to take action. The report also recommended a Congressional amendment to address a unique situation that has arisen for tribal libraries that are unable to tap into certain technology funds due to limitations imposed in state law. The Telecommunications Act is due for a major overhaul and tribes are working to ensure it contains pro-tribal provisions, said Joe Garcia, the new president of the National Congress of American Indians. Garcia has taken a personal interest in the issue due to his background in electrical engineering and his long career in the technical field. "In 1996, the Telecommunications Act did not include specific Indian language but we're a step ahead of the game this time," Garcia said earlier this month at the National Press Club. "Some people claim there is no digital divide," he added. "I know better and we all know better. There is a big digital divide and the legislation should help that." --- GAO Report: "Telecommunications: Challenges to Assessing and Improving Telecommunications For Native Americans on Tribal Lands" Copyright c. 2000-2006 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: GAO: Data needed on American Indian Internet use" --------- Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2006 08:43:45 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GAO WANTS TO KNOW IF YOU LOGIN" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.fcw.com/article92407-02-23-06-Web&RSS=yes GAO: Data needed on American Indian Internet use GAO Report: "Challenges to Assessing and Improving Telecommunications for Native Americans BY Dibya Sarkar February 23, 2006 Only 69 percent of American Indian households on tribal lands in the continental United States have telephones, far below the national average. But a new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said there's been no new data on the subject since 2000 and absolutely no information about how many subscribe to the Internet. "Without current subscribership data, it is difficult to assess progress or the impact of federal programs to improve telecommunications on tribal lands," according to the report, which was released last week. GAO investigators identified the Federal Communications Commission as the "best positioned" organization to determine what additional telecommunication services data needs to be collected. But while FCC officials, in responding to the report, agreed that more information is needed, they argued other agencies are better suited to determine those economic and demographic data needs, the report states. The GAO report indicated Congress should consider giving the FCC the responsibility to determine what data is needed and how it should be collected and provide a report. The GAO based the most current telephone subscribership rate for tribal households in the lower 48 states and Alaska - Hawaii does not have federally recognized tribes - on the 2000 decennial census. The lower 48 states have an average rate of 69 percent, while American Indian households in Alaskan native villages have a rate of 87 percent. While this shows some progress since the 1990 census, the rates lag the 97.6 percent national average, according to the report. The Census Bureau is working on a new survey to provide more frequent data, but it will take time to produce findings and will not be available until 2010. The bureau does not collect information on the rate of Internet subscribership and has not included such a question in the new survey because it is not mandated by law, the report states. In the meantime, tribes are tapping into various federal grant programs, loans and other types of assistance, conducting long-range planning and establishing private-sector partnerships to improve telephone and Internet service, including encouraging wireless providers to compete with traditional telecommunications companies, the report states. Tribes must overcome several obstacles to improving such service on their lands, including the "rural, rugged terrain," which can increase the cost of implementing telecommunications infrastructure, the report states. Tribes also have limited financial means, a shortage of technical expertise among members and difficulty obtaining rights-of-way to deploy telecommunications equipment across their lands, the report states. On the latter issue, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which approves actions including rights-of-way on Indian lands, is issuing an updated "Rights-of-Way Handbook" in March to include advanced telecommunications infrastructure, according to the GAO report. Several tribes are also trying to streamline the process. The report also said lawmakers should consider amending the Communications Act of 1934 to allow tribal libraries to be eligible for federal funds so they can get Internet access. Currently, several tribal libraries are barred from such funds because of certain federal criteria. FCW.COM is a product of FCW Media Group. Copyright c. 2000-2005 101communications. --------- "RE: Urban Health Program funding euthanized" --------- Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 08:50:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BUSH KILLS URBAN INDIAN HEALTH CARE" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?feature=yes&id=1096412479 Urban health program funding euthanized by: David Melmer / Indian Country Today February 17, 2006 WASHINGTON - Under President Bush's proposed fiscal year 2007 debt reduction budget, urban Indian health funding would be terminated and patients would have to seek health care through other federally funded health facilities. More than 60 percent of all American Indians who live in urban areas use urban Indian health facilities, according to the president's budget information. Those patients could find themselves looking for other health providers, mostly at their own expense. The Bush budget would cut the entire $33 million from urban Indian health. Federal dollars comprise the majority of funding for urban Indian health organizations and clinics. It was explained in the budget that "urban Indians can often access other publicly funded health programs designed to address health disparities in urban areas, such as Community Health Centers." Those centers are primarily designed to accommodate homeless, migrant and seasonal workers. The American Indian population is not the primary target group. Daniel Hawkins Jr., vice president of the National Association for Community Health Centers, expressed his concern to the president in a Feb. 10 letter. In the letter, Hawkins stated that the two organizations serve complimentary rolls and that the elimination of the urban Indian health program would be detrimental to operations of the health centers in those cities. He said the two organizations serve different populations in the communities and any increase in the FY '07 budget for the community health centers would allow for only one million American Indian patients. Urban Indian health clinics and programs do more than provide primary health care. They are sources of education on diabetes, heart disease, alcohol and drugs and provide personal services. A diabetic patient who asked for transportation from an Omaha, Neb., urban Indian health clinic was taken to an emergency room instead. The clinic employee assigned to transport the patient knew her and realized the woman was in distress and needed emergency care. That comes from knowing the patients, said Dr. Donna Polk-Primm, executive director of the Nebraska Urban Indian Health Coalition. She said employees at the clinic were familiar with the culture and also knew the patients and their needs very well. American Indian patients in Sioux City, Iowa, which does not have its own urban Indian health clinic, receive support from the Omaha clinic with transportation to and from the facility. Transportation is financed by the Nebraska coalition. "We spend two to three thousand dollars a month, what is going to happen to that?" Polk-Primm asked. The tribes served in that area are the Winnebago and the Omaha. Polk-Primm said she asked the tribes for money to finance the transportation, but the tribes have no money. The $33 million cut is to be used, as the budget stated, to improve the health status of an increasing population of American Indians and Alaska Natives who live in rural areas and on reservations. The budget report did not provide details as to how the funds would help or be spent. A large American Indian population resides in the South Dakota capital city of Pierre, where an urban Indian health center is located. A federally funded health center is also located in Pierre, but according to Alan DenOuden, finance director, it is not clear if that clinic will be funded after March 1. The Pierre health center cooperates with the UIHO facility and they share many of the same patients, but DenOuden did not know how many clients would potentially use the health center facility. The Minneapolis Indian health clinic also functions as the community health center. If the proposed budget is passed, about 25 percent of the funds for that clinic would be cut and would mean a loss of 12 to 13 full- time employees, said Dr. Terril Hart, CEO of the Indian Health Board of Minneapolis Inc. He said he was working on contingency plans. Cutting the budget for urban Indian health would undercut the patients' ability to access health centers, Hart said. Of the some 6,000 patients treated at the Minneapolis clinic, approximately one-half are American Indian. Urban Indian health programs provide culturally based health services from medicine men, and the health centers do not, Polk-Primm said. "There are important differences in what we do. We are culturally sensitive. If one of our patients would benefit from having a medicine man or shaman or minister, we understand and will facilitate that need," said Polk-Primm. The Omaha clinic provides services to the Aberdeen Area tribes in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa; it also assists the Prairie Band Potawatomi in Kansas. "The ramifications [of no funding] are incomprehensible," Polk-Primm said. Patients may return to their reservations for health care if they have adequate transportation and finances. That would put an extra burden on the reservation-based IHS service units, tribal officials said. Ron Johnson, IHS coordinator for the Urban Indian Health Program in Billings, Mont., would not comment other than to say he was made aware of top-level UIHO officers who were working on efforts to keep the funding. "As a government employee I have to support the president's budget." In past budgets, programs were zeroed out, only to be resurrected by congressional action. Urban Indian officials are also hopeful that FY '07 will be the same. Hart said he was not so optimistic because of the political climate and the Republican control of both houses of Congress, even though Congress is usually reluctant to cut programs in election years. An additional $120 million has been budgeted for IHS and will be used for rural and reservation health care. Hart said urban Indian health clinics don't want those funds: "we just want what we had. "The part that outrages me is there is an abdication of the government's obligations," Hart said. As part of the opening comments made during the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs budget hearing on Feb. 14, Sen. John McCain, chairman of the committee, expressed concern about the lack of information, data and statistics to support "such a drastic change in the public policy," such as zeroing out the urban Indian health budget. Copyright c. 1998-2006 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Lac du Flambeau control over water opposed by DNR" --------- Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2006 08:43:45 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LAC DU FLAMBEAU WATER CONTROL" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.ashland-wi.com/dailypress/index.php?sect_rank=1&story_id=208770 Lac du Flambeau control over water opposed by DNR The Daily Press February 23, 2006 MADISON, (AP) - A pending request of the Lac du Flambeau Chippewa band for authority to control water quality on its northern Wisconsin reservation is opposed by the state Department of Natural Resources, which has also opposed similar previous requests by the Lac du Flambeau and other tribes. The DNR said in notifying the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of its objections that the proposed change has the potential to create a patchwork of water regulations and to be "misapplied in an expansive way unintended" by federal law. Congress passed legislation in 1989 permitting tribes to apply for so- called "treatment as a state" status, which allows them to set air and water standards on their reservations. If granted, the tribe could set stricter clean water standards than under state laws. The EPA is reviewing the tribe's application and the deadline for the DNR to submit public comments to the agency was Tuesday. According to Todd Ambs, DNR water administrator, hundreds of individuals and organizations offered comments on the tribe's plan, with about 75 percent of them opposing it. The Lac du Flambeau applied for the authority several years ago and it was approved - along with applications from the Oneida and Menominee tribes, but the approval was withdrawn in 2000 after the state sued over the decision and it was discovered an EPA official had falsified some documents. The Lac du Flambeau submitted a new application last October. Only 34 of the nation's 290 federally recognized tribes have obtained the needed authority to regulate water quality on their reservations, said Don DeBlasio of the EPA's Midwest region. The Mole Lake Chippewa band was granted the authority in 1995 and is the only Wisconsin tribe that has it, which was granted in 1995, DeBlasio said. Two Chippewa bands in Minnesota also have the authority. Copyright c. 1998-2005 Multi Media Interactive. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Jourdain denies allegations of blocking Drug Probe" --------- Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 08:50:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NEW YORK TIMES REPORT INACCURATE, STUPID" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_052090826.html Jourdain Denies Allegations Of Blocking Drug Probe February 21, 2006 (AP) Red Lake, Minn. Red Lake Tribal Chairman Floyd Jourdain Jr. angrily denied allegations that he thwarted investigations into drug activities on the northern Minnesota reservation, according to a published report. The allegations by a former tribal law enforcement officer, reported Sunday in the New York Times, are "ludicrous ... character assassination and slander by a disgruntled former employee" trying to influence tribal elections in May, Jourdain told the Star Tribune of Minneapolis in a story published on Tuesday. Jourdain said he will seek another term as chairman. Clifford Martell, a former police investigator at Red Lake, accused Jourdain of hampering investigations of relatives, friends and political associates, according to the Times report on burgeoning drug trafficking on American Indian reservations. Martell said he was fired for clashing with tribal authorities over investigations. Martell and two other former officers told the Times that their anti- drug activities also had been hindered by fellow cops and court officials. "The statements by this ex-cop Martell are absolutely absurd," Jourdain said. "I challenge anyone to come forward with any evidence they have that I hindered law enforcement in any way on this reservation. I've encouraged a more aggressive and effective police force. When I was elected (in 2004), I encouraged that." Martell was fired in July 2005 while he was a member of a joint task force involving the FBI, Red Lake and two other reservations, area sheriff's offices and other agencies. Red Lake has since pulled out of the arrangement, with Jourdain maintaining that the tribe's involvement threatened Red Lake's sovereignty. In an incident that led to his firing on the same day, Martell "was found to be enforcing state law" on the closed reservation, Jourdain said. Federal authorities have jurisdiction over felony crimes at Red Lake but state law does not apply. "He was accompanying an FBI agent out of Bemidji attempting to execute a state court order" in a custody matter, the chairman said. "They were both out of their jurisdiction. ... It had absolutely nothing to do with drugs." Tribal attorneys are working on a new task force agreement that would not intrude on Red Lake's sovereignty, he said. "We want to deal with crime on the reservation," Jourdain said. "It will require a certain amount of cooperation with other agencies and tribes, and we're open to that. We don't want to be an island left alone." The reservation's main hindrance to fighting drugs is not official interference but lack of funding, Jourdain said. Copyright c. 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Navajo Nation asks BIA to fund Seismic Study" --------- Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 08:59:08 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GAS & OIL FEASIBILITY" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.gallupindependent.com/2006/feb/022106seismic.html Nation asks BIA to fund seismic study By Kathy Helms Dine' Bureau February 21, 2006 WINDOW ROCK - The Navajo Nation plans to seek $209,934 in funding from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to fund two seismic survey projects on trust lands in San Juan County, Utah. George Arthur, chairman of the Navajo Nation Resources Committee and prime sponsor of the legislation, said the studies are being sought for two areas that have routinely been producing oil and gas. "We're looking to see if there's adequate data that could reflect whether or not there's sufficient resources to expand on any of the oil and gas activities," he said. The request is being submitted to BIA by the Navajo Nation Minerals Department and Navajo Nation Oil and Gas Co. Inc. for a 3D seismic survey in the Aneth Unit area and the Greater Aneth Field, north of the San Juan River near Montezuma Creek. NNOGC has a working interest in the unit and will participate at a 25 percent level of interest with Resolute Resources, operator of the unit. Environmental and archaeological surveys of the study area, required prior to seismic survey, already are in progress. "The idea is to find out if there's adequate supply that could be further explored," Arthur said. "The way I understand it is that when you have a well, most general practices are that they get to a certain point and people walk away from it. "In this case, we want to know on this particular well where normally people would walk away, knowing the technology that exists now, whether we can go to it and expand on the extraction of the resources," he said. According to the legislation, there has been no exploration drilling activity in the area since 1993. "This survey will be the first step in the realization of the additional undiscovered oil and gas potential of the Navajo Nation," the funding request states. "The most recent oil and gas exploration on the Reservation in southeastern Utah added to the reserves and the life of the Nation's production, and indicated the potential for additional discoveries." The Minerals Department/NNOGC request states that the proposed project is essential for the Nation to enhance its oil and gas reserves which have declined at a rate greater than 10 percent over the last three years. The decline has been somewhat reduced by the use of secondary and tertiary crude oil recovery methods. Oil and gas have been produced in the Paradox Basin in southeastern Utah on the Navajo Reservation since 1956 when the Greater Aneth Field was discovered. As of 2001, the giant oil field had produced 420 million barrels of oil and 370 billion cubic feet of gas. The Navajo Nation is requesting the grant of $209,934 to fund NNOGC's 25 percent acquisition costs of the 3D seismic program. Data acquired from the survey will be used as the basis for interpreting and mapping prospective underground hydrocarbon bearing zones. According to the proposal, the 3D program will cover about 42 square miles. Dawson Geophysical has been selected as the acquisitions contractor using helicopter support, shot hole drilling, and a quality control supervisor. Processing of the seismic data will be contracted to a professional outside seismic entity. Arthur said Aneth Delegate Mark Maryboy was concerned "that there was going to be a renewal of oil and gas activities, including flaring and all this stuff. But that's not what it's going to do. I think they can do it basically by satellite. "There's oil and gas activity there right now. As far as I know these would be existing oil wells that are already producing," he said. The 3D data will be mapped and evaluated by technical staff at NNOGC at no cost to the BIA. NNOGC also will be responsible for 100 percent of the drilling costs. "The overall goal of the project is to bring the leads up to a drillable prospect standard and to reduce the risk of dry holes either in the exploration or developmental stages. This is of direct interest to the Navajo Nation," the proposal states. If the exploration effort is successful, the Nation would benefit from increased royalty revenue and the dividends paid to the Navajo Nation as 100 percent stockholder in NNOGC. A second benefit would be "the renewed industry interest in exploration on Navajo Nation lands," according to the proposal. The third benefit would be the creation of employment opportunities within the Navajo Nation. The proposal states that the results could indicate the need for additional seismic study at a later time to define the potential of remaining acreage in the Echo House Mesa project area. All data, conclusions and interpretations resulting from the project will be kept confidential. The Navajo Minerals Department proposes that the BIA office in Lakewood, Colo., store the seismic data when processing is complete, and that all information be considered proprietary. Copyright c. 2006 the Gallup Independent. --------- "RE: Montana Tribes awarded Economic Development Funds" --------- Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 08:50:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MONTANA TRIBES AWARDED FUNDS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.greatfallstribune.com//NEWS01/602210306/1002 Montana tribes awarded economic development funds From Staff and Wire Reports February 21, 2006 Two Montana tribes received Indian Country Economic Development funds from the state Department of Commerce. The Little Shell Tribe received $50,000. The tribe in Great Falls plans to use the money to support a feasibility study, grant writing for potential support and the creation of a business plan for a tribal capitol and a visitor center. Tribal Vice President James Parker Shield said a tribal capitol will be a point of contact and pride for the Little Shell people. "This will also add another tourism attraction to the local economy," Shield said. The Little Shell have been fighting for more than a century to prove their legitimacy as a tribe and to win federal recognition and land for a headquarters near Great Falls. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes also received $50,000 to support the purchase of equipment at the tribally owned Flathead Stickers and Lathe Plant. The equipment will allow the plant to make better use of forest slash piles and designated thinning blocks, reduce fire potential and salvage otherwise unsalvageable raw product. It also will provide tribal welfare recipients with more diversified training opportunities. The funds have been available to tribes since Oct. 1. Department officials have awarded six grants in that time. The grants are typically a small part of a larger tribal project that may have a significant impact on a tribe's larger economic growth and development. Copyright c. 2006 Great Falls Tribune. --------- "RE: Cayuga Land Claim heads toward Supreme Court" --------- Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 08:50:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CAYUGA LAND CLAIM" http://www.indianz.com/News/2006/012617.asp Cayuga land claim heads toward Supreme Court February 21, 2006 The Bush administration is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate the Cayuga land claim in hopes of protecting more tribes from seeing their cases dismissed. In a petition filed earlier this month, the Department of Justice called on the justices to reaffirm the right of tribes to seek redress for stolen lands. Government lawyers said cases across the country could be thrown out of court unless the high court revives the claim filed by the Cayuga Nation of New York and the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma. "In the Trade and Intercourse Acts and the Treaty of Canandaigua, the United States committed the nation to protecting the interests of the Cayugas and other New York Indian Nations in their lands," the brief stated. "This court should ensure that the United States is able to honor that commitment by affording some measure of recompense for New York's clear violation of that undertaking." The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision last June, held that the Cayuga tribes waited too long to file their lawsuit. The ruling was based on an expansive interpretation of the Supreme Court's March 30, 2005, opinion in Sherrill v. Oneida Nation, another New York case. By an 8-1 vote in Sherrill, the justices ruled that the Oneida Nation has to go through the land-into-trust process before asserting sovereign rights on land covered by the Treaty of Canandaigua. The court said it would be too "disruptive" to remove the land from local and state jurisdiction without analyzing the impact on the community. Although the high court was careful to note that its ruling didn't "disturb" the Oneida Nation's right to seek remedy for stolen lands, the 2nd Circuit nonetheless said Sherrill "dramatically altered the legal landscape" of tribal land claims. Government lawyers argue that such an interpretation needs to be corrected in order to protect more tribes from suffering the same fate as the Cayugas. "The decision below deprives the Cayugas and similarly-situated tribes of any remedy for the state's unlawful acquisition of their lands and renders superfluous the protracted litigation that was the natural and foreseeable consequence of this court's earlier ruling, the brief stated, referring to the Supreme Court's 1985 decision that allowed the Oneida claim to be pursued. Several tribes indeed face defeat if other courts take the same position as the 2nd Circuit. In the 3rd Circuit, a federal judge dismissed the Delaware Nation of Oklahoma's bid to reclaim rights in Pennsylvania, the tribe's ancestral home. Land claims pending in Ohio, Illinois, Colorado and Michigan could also be thrown out of court. For that reason, the Cayuga claim is drawing interest as it heads toward the Supreme Court. The National Congress of American Indians and the Native American Rights Fund, through their joint Tribal Supreme Court Project, are closely monitoring the case and plan to take part in it. "I think a lot of tribes have an interest in this case," John Dossett, NCAI's general counsel, said last November. "The legal doctrine of 'it's been a long time' is not a good legal doctrine for tribes." The Cayuga tribes were awarded $247 million for 64,000 acres stolen from by the state of New York, The 2nd Circuit, despite throwing out the award, acknowledged that the land was taken without federal approval in violation of federal law. The tribes, like the Oneida Nation, have repurchased land covered by the Treaty of Canandaigua but they have since agreed to pay property taxes to local counties rather than risk foreclosure. The Cayuga Nation also has filed an application with the Bureau of Indian Affairs to have its properties taken into trust. The tribes filed their petition earlier this month along with the Department of Justice one. A response from the New York defendants is due March 8, after which the court will determine whether to take the case. Participating in the discussions will be new Chief Justice John G. Roberts and new associate Justice Samuel A. Alito. Roberts, who was confirmed last September, has already heard and decided one Indian law case, a state tax dispute that went against the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation of Kansas. Roberts has had significant experience in Indian law, having argued two major cases before the Supreme Court. Alito was a judge on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, which hasn't heard any Indian law cases due to the lack of federally recognized tribes in the region. The Delaware claim is the first such case before the court. Copyright c. 2000-2006 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: New York: Taxes on NA Stores put off again" --------- Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2006 08:43:47 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TOBACCO TAXES" http://www.democratandchronicle.com//NEWS01/602230367/1002/rss01 Taxes on Native American stores put off again Yancey Roy Albany bureau February 23, 2006 ALBANY - There's almost no chance the Pataki administration will begin collecting taxes on tobacco and gasoline from Native American merchants come March 1, defying the state Legislature once again. And with this latest delay, some lawmakers and anti-smoking activists are convinced that Gov. George Pataki will stall the issue until he leaves office at the end of the year. "My estimate is they're going to simply ignore the law and ride it out until the end of the governor's term," said Russell Sciandra, director of the Center for a Tobacco Free New York. "And everyone I've talked to seems to feel the same way." This week, state Tax Commissioner Andrew Eristoff told a legislative panel the agency would not collect the taxes on March 1 as required, largely because the administration wants lawmakers to consider its idea to delay implementation by one year. Pataki is stepping down Dec. 31, declining to run for a fourth term. The administration's postponement frustrated the Legislature's chief anti-smoking advocate. "It's a bit disingenuous for you to say you can't enforce the law because we're considering changing it," Assemblyman Pete Grannis, D- Manhattan, told Eristoff. In a later interview, Grannis said, "If their approach is 'we're going to ignore it,' then what can be done to force a commissioner to obey the law? You can try a public relations campaign ... outlining how many teachers this pays for, for example. But that's a means of embarrassment and maybe the administration is beyond embarrassment in their swan-song year." The long-running tax issue is no small matter: Hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake. On one side are convenience stores that compete with reservation stores and state legislators who view the taxes as a way of helping to pay for the state budget. Joining them are anti-smoking groups that want to see cigarettes made more expensive. On the other are customers who enjoy cheaper prices and Native American tribes that insist the law would intrude on their sovereignty. "The Seneca people commend Gov. Pataki for his consistent position recognizing and respecting the unique, sovereign status of the Seneca Nation," Seneca President Barry E. Snyder Jr. said in a statement a day after the administration said it would not collect the taxes on March 1. "At the same time, we continue to be amazed that the New York state Legislature persists with the debate about sales tax collection on Seneca territories when federal laws and treaties are clear." The Department of Taxation and Finance is recommending against a March 1 start date because the agency is asking lawmakers to give the governor more power to negotiate agreements with Indian nations, without having to seek legislative approval, spokesman Tom Bergin said. The Legislature is also being asked to consider an Indian export decal system to track sales of cigarettes out of state, he said. "As a matter of practical administration, we think it would be premature to begin implementing March 1, at the same time the Legislature is reviewing the substantive changes to the law," he said. A state Senate report figured New York could reap $1 billion from the tax collections, though others have estimated less than half that. The state's per-pack tax on cigarettes is $1.50; it charges about 29 cents in taxes per gallon of gasoline. Pataki in January proposed increasing the cigarette tax by an extra dollar a pack. Courts have ruled that states can impose taxes on sales by Indian-run stores to non-Indians. The state could do so by collecting tax payments from cigarette distributors. Reservation stores would then raise prices, but Native American customers would be eligible for rebates, legislators said. Tribes think they are being made scapegoats for New York's sales tax losses on cigarettes. "The majority of the losses are coming from Internet sales, bootlegging and out-of-state sales," said Mark Emery, spokesman for the New York Oneidas, who have a reservation west of Utica. "The reservations are not located near population centers. They are generally located in rural areas. So we don't think the majority of loss is coming from reservations." When Pataki raised the sales-tax issue in 1997, about 1,000 members of the Seneca Nation burned tires and shut down the state Thruway between Hamburg and Silver Creek south of Buffalo. There was a melee, triggering the arrest of 11 people. The issue faded away. Pataki may still want to "avoid front-page news with another flareup," Grannis said. The governor is exploring a 2008 presidential run. The issue was revived in 2003 amid the recession. Faced with a $12 billion budget gap, legislators threaded together a hodgepodge of tax, fee and tuition hikes, sold off a good portion of the state's share of a national tobacco settlement, borrowed heavily and expanded gambling. They also banked on collecting $164 million in taxes from sales at Indian reservations, primarily on cigarettes and gasoline. But collections never began. Every year since, legislators have called for collecting the tax and Pataki has ignored them. Last year, legislators included it in the budget with the provision that the state begin collecting on March 1. "The Legislature, we make the laws. The executive branch is supposed to implement and enforce them," said Sen. Raymond Meier, R-Western, Oneida County. Pataki officials have repeatedly said they want to address the issue through "cooperation, not confrontation." They have tried to negotiate "parity" deals in which tribes would voluntarily raise the prices of gas and cigarettes to match what nearby non-Indian stores charge - without paying taxes to the state. But tentative agreements - sometimes included as part of a way to settle longstanding Indian land-claim lawsuits and open Indian-run casinos - have always fallen through. The latest delay was all too familiar to convenience store owners. "We have the governor once again using his delay tactics and dog-ate-my- homework excuses for not enforcing (the) law," said James Calvin, president of the Association of Convenience Stores. Yet he's not convinced that the issue is dead this year. "We don't have any doubt that, in one way or another, the taxes on sales to non-Indians are going to be collected by New York," Calvin said. "The question is: How soon?" YROY@Gannett.com Includes reporting by Albany bureau writer Cara Matthews and Albany bureau chief Jay Gallagher. Copyright c. 2006 Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: State recoups much of Catawba Pact Money" --------- Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 08:50:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SOUTH CAROLINA GETS BACK 75% OF SETTLEMENT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/local/13921786.htm State recoups much of Catawba pact money By JAMES T. HAMMOND Staff Writer February 21, 2006 South Carolina state government has recovered three-quarters of the money it contributed to the Catawba land settlement in York County. The state has received 75 percent of the $12.5 million it paid into the state-and-federal $50 million settlement. The settlement recognized the Catawba Indian tribe and ended the cloud over ownership of 144,000 acres of York County land a decade ago. Through the close of the financial year that ended June 30, the state Department of Revenue had collected $9.5 million through the 10 percent tax levied by the state on the Catawba tribe's bingo gambling operations on its reservation in York County. Jay Bender, attorney for the Catawba tribe, said that since the state gets its share based upon the gross revenue, and the tribe must pay expenses to operate the bingo games, the state might well have netted more money on the games than has the tribe. Bender criticized the General Assembly for obstructing the tribe's efforts to set up a second bingo operation in Santee, a right the tribe is guaranteed in the settlement agreement. The pact provides that the tribe may have one bingo operation on its reservation, and another at a second location in the state with the local government's consent. The state has been collecting the bingo tax since 1998, in annual sums ranging from $837,664 to $1.5 million. Catawba bingo revenues have been declining since South Carolina began operating a statewide lottery, a competition with Indian gambling operations that Bender described as "hypocritical" and unfair. Bender is a Columbia attorney who specializes in media law and First Amendment issues. Among his clients are The State newspaper and the South Carolina Press Association. The State is a member of the press association. State Sen. Wes Hayes, R-York, helped negotiate the Catawba settlement. He said the state has done everything it promised to do in the settlement. "It was understood when we gave them the two big bingo operations, that there would be a tax," Hayes said. "We didn't guarantee them that they would make a profit. We didn't say we would never create a state-run lottery," Hayes said. Hayes also said that while the state guaranteed the tribe a second bingo venue somewhere in the state, it did not guarantee them the right to establish a large-scale casino featuring video-gambling machines with a bingo theme. "They know they have to change the law to get what they want in Santee. I oppose the casino," Hayes said. Bender maintains that the settlement agreement guarantees the tribe economic self-sufficiency, and that the right to expand their gambling operations is essential to achieve that independence. He also said that while the settlement does not set a date for the bingo tax to end, that should be re-negotiated to eliminate the tax once the state has recouped the $12.5 million it contributed to the settlement. "The state got a pretty good deal (in ending the Catawbas' claim to 144,,000 acres of York County land), especially since the federal government picked up most of the settlement cost," Bender said. "I think most people forget what an impediment that land claim was in York County in the 1980s." Hayes said he opposes ending the tax because it is tied to the cost of regulating the Indian gambling business, not recouping the settlement money. Copyright c. 2005 Knight Ridder. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: USFS responds to Blackfeet concerns" --------- Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 08:50:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="FOREST SERVICE RESPOND TO BLACKFEET" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.montanaforum.com/article&sid=4695 USFS responds to Blackfeet concerns People and Places Associated Press February 21, 2006 GREAT FALLS - The U.S. Forest Service has agreed to split up a proposed travel plan for the Rocky Mountain Front and spend more time analyzing an area the Blackfeet Indian Tribe says is sacred. Early last summer, the agency issued a draft travel plan containing five options for the 392,000-acre Front, a rugged and wildlife-rich swath of country south of Glacier National Park where the mountains meet the plains. One option would make no changes in existing regulations, an option the Forest Service legally had to include. The four other alternatives range from no motorized travel to use of trails separating motorized users of the Front from people moving about on foot or horseback. The plan covers forest land in Glacier, Lewis and Clark, Teton and Pondera counties, but does not include designated wilderness areas. An option worked out in conjunction with the Blackfeet tribal government would ban motorized travel in the Badger-Two Medicine area, an important historical, cultural and religious site for the tribe. The Badger-Two Medicine is also one of the more popular areas along the Front for motorized use. The Forest Service expects to decide on a travel plan by the end of March, but that decision will not include the Badger-Two Medicine area, according to Forest Service travel planner Dick Schwecke. "The forest supervisor is talking with the tribe to see if there are more options," he said. William "Allen" Talks About, a member of the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council, said the Forest Service recognizes the tribe's concerns about the area and is respecting its request for additional analysis. The tribe has offered to co-manage the area to enforce travel restrictions, he said. "This is one of the last pristine places, and it is our sacred hunting ground," Talks About said. Splitting the Front into two sections has created some complications, Schwecke said. Information in the draft proposal covers roads and trails throughout the Front, so officials had to revise the analysis to examine road systems in the two areas. "We have to show just what exists in the southern two-thirds," Schwecke said. The management plan currently in place restricts motorized travel to a system of designated routes. Copyright c. 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Cheyenne Water Project gets Grant" --------- Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 08:50:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CHEYENNE WATER PROJECT GETS BOOST" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.keloland.com/News/NewsDetail5440.cfm?Id=0,46169 Cheyenne Water Project Gets Grant February 21, 2006 A federal grant is being awarded to help pay for an emergency intake to get water to 14,000 people on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. USDA Rural Development is awarding 3.3 million dollars to a rural water system on the reservation. It will be part of a 16 million-dollar funding package. Tribal official Wayne Ducheneaux says the tribe has no other way of getting water the 14,000 people who get water through the system. Officials say six years of drought threatens to expose the water intake for the rural water system. Officials think the water level will fall below the intake level within six months. Ducheneaux says if the intake isn't extended, the water supply will stop. The grant will be added to money from the US Army Corps of Engineers, the state, the Indian Health Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs and other sources. Copyright c. 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Tribe honors Elders' Legacy" --------- Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 08:50:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MASHPEE WAMPANOAG HONOR ELDERS' LEGACY" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/tribehonors20.htm Tribe honors elders' legacy By SEAN GONSALVES STAFF WRITER February 20, 2006 MASHPEE - The venerated role of elders among the Mashpee Wampanoag is evident immediately upon entering the tribal council office. On the wall opposite the front door is a plaque inscribed with the names of eight tribal elders who have died since 1999. And photographs of the elders adorn the walls in the council's small dining and meeting room. "We venerate our elders because of their life experience, they have more insight and vision," says tribal council chairman Glenn Marshall, an elder now himself. Soon there will be six new names added to the plaque, representing the honored elders who died in 2005. Their deaths, and the deaths of a number of key elders over the past five years, have been particularly untimely, coming just before a decision on the tribe's petition for federal recognition is reached. As he talked about the significance that elders have within the tribe, he pointed to the pictures of those who will never get to hear whether or not their fight for federal recognition will end in victory. Tribal elders provide spiritual guidance and play an official role in governing the tribe. The remaining elders hope to live long enough to hear the Bureau of Indian Affairs decision on the tribe's federal recognition petition. A preliminary finding is due by March 31, with a final determination slated for March 2007. Recent deaths difficult While all elders - tribal members 55 and over - are given an elevated status within tribe, the recent deaths, including that of longtime tribal genealogist Hazel Oakley in 1999, have been particularly painful, as tribe's history is being scrutinized by the BIA. There are currently 1,468 tribal members, including 360 elders. "It's sad. So many have passed away. I hope I can live long enough to see it," said Pete Fermino, a 68-year-old tribal elder whose uncle and fellow elder, Clinton Haynes, died in December. "It," for Fermino and others, is federal recognition as a tribe. The petition was first filed with the BIA's Office of Federal Acknowledgment in 1975 when Fermino was 37, long before he approached tribal elderhood. The first-hand accounts of tribal elders who saw Mashpee transform from an all-Wampanoag town to the fastest-growing town on Cape Cod - home to 15, 000 year round, nontribal residents today - is crucial, Marshall said. "The knowledge they have in their heads and hearts came from decades of being taught by our grandparents and great-grandparents." That knowledge is of particular interest to BIA researchers. Included in the tribe's voluminous petition - contained in dozens of boxes in the BIA's Washington D.C. offices - are the oral history accounts of several tribe members who are now dead. Last month a BIA anthropologist came to Mashpee to conduct a field visit in which she interviewed 27 tribe members, seeking to corroborate information included in the petition. But some tribe members, like the late Hazel Oakley who was interviewed in 2000 by a former BIA researcher, are no longer around for new interviews. Elders are confident Marshall said he is confident the BIA will rule favorably, based on the massive amount of historical, genealogical and political records Bureau researchers are now analyzing. Also confident in the petition is tribal elder Pete Pells. "It's frustrating not having an answer (on the petition) yet and every time someone asks me about it, the first thing they ask is: 'When are you going to get a casino?"' said Pells. "That's the last thing on our mind. We need education, health and housing services. You can hardly afford to live on the Cape anymore," he said. He pointed out the petition for federal recognition was filed 15 years before the 1988 Indian Gaming Act was enacted. Marshall points to the decade-long delay on the tribe's petition and the loss of an appellate court case that would have ordered the BIA to speed the review of the Mashpee petition as reason why he sought ways to access influential legislators through lobbyists. His effort paid off, gaining tribal leaders access in 2003 to powerful congressmen who later wrote to the Interior Department, which oversees the BIA. The letters urged officials to speed the review of the Mashpee petition. One letter, written in October 2003 by Deputy Whip U.S. Rep. John Doolittle, R-Calif., and sent to Interior Secretary Gale Norton, spoke of the Mashpee elders in particular. "These delays have caused anguish among the tribe's elders, many of whom have not lived to see their petition fully evaluated," Doolittle wrote. Copyright c. 2006 Cape Cod Times. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Census offers insight into Native American Life" --------- Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 08:50:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CENSUS FACTS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=7581 Census report offers insight into Native American life today Contains stats on tribal membership, education, marriage, employment Sam Lewin February 21, 2006 A new report by census officials shows that more people claiming American Indian heritage identify with the Cherokees compared to any other tribe. The study also reveals other data about modern-day Native Americans, including hard numbers. "In Census 2000, 4.3 million people, or 1.5 percent of the total U.S. population, reported that they were American Indian and Alaska Native. This number included 2.4 million people, or 1 percent, who reported only American Indian and Alaska," the report states. Of the respondents queried, 302,569 people classifying themselves as Indian and no other ethnicity reported they are Cherokee, with 276,775 in that category saying they are Navajo and 40,487 identifying as Creek. There are a total of 2,447,989 people that identify as solely Native American. A separate category for people characterizing themselves as Native and another ethnic group shows 875,000 part Cherokees and 310,000 part-Navajos. Other statistics contained in the report: - About 33 percent of the American Indian and Alaska Native population was under age 18, compared with 26 percent of the total population. In the older age group, 5.6 percent of the American Indian and Alaska Native population, compared with 12.4 percent of the total population, was 65 and older. - Less than 10 percent of all American Indian tribal groupings were 65 and older. - The median age of 29 years for American Indians and Alaska Natives was about 6 years younger than the national median of 35 years. - American Indians and Alaska Natives had a higher percentage of family households maintained by a woman with no husband present and a higher percentage of family households maintained by a man with no wife present than the total population. - Household type varied among the American Indian tribal groupings. The percentage of family households ranged from 68 percent to 80 percent. - Twenty-five percent or more of Sioux, Pueblo, and Navajo households were family households maintained by women with no husband present. - Among the Alaska Native tribal groupings, the percentage of family households ranged from about 65 percent to 76 percent. Forty-two percent of Eskimo households were married-couple families, which exceeded the 31 percent of Alaskan Athabascan households. - Seventy-two percent of individuals 5 years and older who reported their race as American Indian and Alaska Native spoke only English at home; 18 percent spoke a language other than English at home, yet spoke English "very well"; 10 percent spoke a language other than English at home and spoke English less than "very well." - Ninety percent or more of Cherokee, Chippewa, Creek, Iroquois, Lumbee, and Tlingit- Haida spoke only English at home. - The Navajo had the highest percentage that spoke a language other than English at home and reported they spoke English less than "very well" (25 percent). - Ninety-one percent of Tlingit- Haida spoke only English at home, compared with 53 percent of Eskimo. - Seventy-one percent of American Indians and Alaska Natives 25 and older had at least a high school education, compared with 80 percent of the total population. Eleven percent of the American Indian and Alaska Native population had at least a bachelor's degree, compared with 24 percent of all people. - The labor force participation rate for American Indian and Alaska Native men (66 percent) was lower than that of all men (71 percent), while the rate for American Indian and Alaska Native women (57 percent) was slightly lower than for all women (58 percent). You can reach Sam Lewin at sam@okit.com Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved --------- "RE: Official: Blood Quantum Requirement too Narrow" --------- Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 08:50:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BLOOD QUANTUM" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_051071154.html Official: Blood Quantum Requirement Too Narrow February 20, 2006 (AP) Nett Lake, Minn. A tribal official says the federal system of blood quantum that determines enrollment in the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe is too narrow. Kevin Leecy is the chairman of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, one of six American Indian bands that make up the MCT. He's announced an initiative to make some changes to the system. He says he wants a fair allocation of federal resources to the Chippewa Tribe. The current system requires a person seeking enrollment to show that he or she has at least one quarter degree Minnesota Chippewa Indian blood derived from one or more of the six bands. But Leecy says the heritage of Chippewa in Minnesota includes other bands that are not MCT members, such as the Red Lake Band in northern Minnesota and other bands in Wisconsin, Michigan, Canada, North Dakota and Montana. The Bois Forte Band will introduce a resolution calling for an amendment. Copyright c. 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Federal Judge dismisses Si Tanka Bankruptcy Case" --------- Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 08:59:08 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NO ASSETS LEFT TO LIQUIDATE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2006/02/22/news/state/state01.txt Federal judge dismisses Si Tanka bankruptcy case February 22, 2006 HURON (AP) - After deciding there weren't enough assets to give anything to unsecured creditors, a federal bankruptcy judge dismissed Si Tanka University's Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization case. The bankruptcy trustee in the case, Bruce Gering, had asked that it be dismissed or converted to a Chapter 7 liquidation. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Irvin Hoyt said the only reason to convert it to a liquidation bankruptcy would be if there were enough assets to liquidate. "There are no assets to convert to cash to pay unsecured creditors," he said. Former faculty members who have wages due them objected to the motion to dismiss. Hoyt said any creditors can try to get relief through state court. Si Tanka University in Eagle Butte bought the former Huron University property in 2001 and created Si Tanka-Huron. Classes in Huron ended in early March when teachers and staff walked off the job after months of financial troubles. In April, the college filed for bankruptcy protection. Hoyt found that there's no chance of reorganizing under Chapter 11 and no reason to postpone any possible remedies. Assets are defined as anything owned that is of value, such as real property, computers and furniture. The primary secured creditor and first lien holder is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development office. Unsecured creditors are those with no pledges or liens filed on any of the assets - including former employees and those who did business with Si Tanka. Officials said a spring auction could be held for the former Si Tanka University buildings, equipment and fixtures in Huron unless someone can be found before then to take over the campus. A 13-member task force formed to find a buyer heard earlier this month from Ron Volesky and Gary Montana of National Native American Education Corporation. They proposed reopening the campus as a four-year school to educate American Indian teachers. A spokesman for the task force has said the group won't discuss the proposal publicly and is interested in any suggestions or contacts from the public about uses for the campus. The property is owned by the Farmers & Merchants Bank, which bid $3.9 million for it at a sheriff's auction last summer. The bank and the Rural Development office had been the lenders for Si Tanka University. Farmers & Merchants Bank is proceeding with the auction plan, bank President Tom Gietzen has said. An auction company has been hired and has started taking an inventory. Officials said the real estate will be kept separate from the equipment and fixtures, but if it goes to auction, all will sell at the same time. Copyright c. 2006 Rapid City Journal. --------- "RE: Indian Education Positions would not be funded" --------- Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 08:59:08 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NEBRASKA BUDGET SLASHES INDIAN EDUCATORS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/313a87f6abff9faf8625711d001555a0.txt American Indian education positions would not be funded under budget February 22, 2006 LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - No state money would be made available to pay the salaries of workers who help schools with issues related to American Indian education, school safety and health issues under decisions made Tuesday by a legislative committee. The budget-writing Appropriations Committee did not include the $318,000 requested by the state Education Department for four of the six positions it had requested. Money will be put in the budget to pay for statewide coordinators for school arts programs and issues related to Hispanic students. None of the $491,000 for the positions was included in Gov. Dave Heineman's budget, even though the funding was made the top priority of the state Board of Education. "We're disappointed, of course," said deputy Education Commissioner Polly Feis when told of the committee's decision. Of the six positions, the two that work with Indian students were the only ones currently filled. Feis said the department will take another look to see what other options there are to keep those positions filled. During the committee's discussion of the issue, chairman Sen. Don Pederson of North Platte said they were all important but they couldn't all be funded. He advocated for funding of the new position to deal with the education of Hispanic students. The committee approved putting that $86,000 in the budget. It had earlier approved $86,000 for the visual and performing arts consultant who will support student achievement in the arts, coordinate Youth Art Month, as well as work with educators and act as a liaison for state art groups. Pederson said all of the requested positions would address areas of need in the state, but he said tackling issues related to Hispanic education was vital. Of the state's 326,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade, there are more than 32,300 students of Hispanic origin, many who are in the country for the first time and learning the language. Omaha Sen. Lowen Kruse argued for $146,000 to keep two existing coordinators employed who work with American Indian students, but could not muster enough support. The two Indian education positions had been paid with federal funds that run out after this year. "What have they accomplished up to this point?" asked Sen. Pat Engel of South Sioux City. One person works with issues related to substance abuse among the Indian population and the other focuses on curriculum development. No one pushed for the $86,000 each for consultants to work with schools on safety and health services and physical education. Education Commissioner Doug Christensen had argued for all the positions, saying they were needed to better coordinate educational efforts across the state, including teacher training, and avoid duplication. The committee continues to work on the budget and could revisit its decision. Funding for the positions could also be added by the full Legislature later. On the Net: Education Department: http://www.nde.state.ne.us/ Copyright c. 2006 Sioux City Journal. --------- "RE: Budget cuts wipe out Indian Education Plan" --------- Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 08:59:08 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="VIRGINIA INDIAN EDUCATION DUMPED" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.vagazette.com/news/va-news4_022206feb22,0,4430805.story?coll=va-news Budget cuts wipe out Indian education plan By Bill Tolbert The Virginia Gazette February 22, 2006 JAMES CITY - Much of the hype for the upcoming Jamestown 2007 commemoration is that the event is designed to promote the history of three cultures European, Virginia Indian, and African that came together at Jamestown in the early part of the 17th century. But while the General Assembly pumps millions of dollars into the 2007 budget, $500,000 earmarked Virginia Indian Heritage Program has been slashed 85% by the Senate and eliminated altogether by the House of Delegates. Karenne Wood, chair of the Virginia Council on Indians, worries that proposed state budget cuts will kill plans to make long-term improvements in the way Indian history is taught in state schools. Outgoing Gov. Mark Warner proposed the funding over two years. The goal was to bring more focus to the commemoration and provide effective ways to educate both tourists and Virginians about native history and cultures within the state over the past 400 years. The current Senate budget includes only $75,000 for the program. The House version provides no funding at all. "We're grateful to the Senate for considering its funding," Wood said Tuesday. "But that [amount] doesn't enable us to do very much of our mission at all." The cut in proposed funding will "cripple" the Virginia Indian Heritage Program, Wood said. "There will be Indians participating in events with the commemoration. But in terms of impacting education in Virginia in any kind of sustainable way, there won't be any without this program." Wood said the program would create a database and website "we hope would be a definitive source for people to use in learning." The program would create "accurate and culturally sensitive materials that hopefully would end up in our schools." Wood said Virginia tribal leaders have been discussing the heritage program for three years. She sent out e-mails Tuesday urging people to call members of the budget conference committee after appointments are made. One round of e-mails went to chiefs of the Chickahominy, Upper Mattaponi, Monacan and Eastern Chickahominy tribes. She and David Bearinger, director of grants and public programs for the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, will draft a statement that outlines the core reasons for funding the program. The statement will help people who pitch legislators for reinstating the funding. Wood noted that this is the first time that the Virginia Indian people have ever asked for a program that allows them to participate in the presentation of their own history. It makes use of unprecedented partnerships between tribes and Virginia agencies and organizations, and it has the support of all eight tribes in itself unprecedented. "Everyone was on board," she said of the collaboration of tribes. "It's devastating to see it could be cut." Wood's plea to salvage money for the program has drawn at least one local notable ally, retired Colonial Williamsburg archaeologist Ivor Noel Hume. He has done years of research on early Jamestown and other settlements along the James River, including Wolstenholme Towne and Martin's Hundred. Noel Hume said Tuesday that he has been working with members of the Kaine administration in Richmond to get a memorial statue at Jamestown as a tribute to Powhatan and his tribes. He fears that a demise of the heritage program likely means there's no chance for the tribute he envisions. He noted there is a statue of John Smith at Historic Jamestowne. There also is a statue of Pocahontas, which he called "a sideshow." "The Indians are not getting their due. They never have," Noel Hume said Tuesday. "This comes at a time when we are celebrating, I call it gloating, English accomplishments." He said the Virginia Indians "are the people who took the brunt of it, just as the Spaniards destroyed the Incas and Cortez destroyed the Aztecs. So we destroyed the Indians of Tidewater, Virginia. That's essentially what it comes down to." Virginia Indians have long opposed the characterization of Jamestown 2007 events as a celebration. Noel Hume said any "celebration" would be "glorifying the most abominable atrocities that we performed against the Indians, like shooting their children in the water. "The most useful thing we could do is to encourage them to take pride in what's left," Noel Hume continued. "We should be learning more about them, and we haven't done it. We have Black History Month. Where, for God's sake, is Indian History Month? It's not enough to have them just turn up at the governor's mansion every year with a turkey. That's insulting, in my view." Copyright c. 2006 Virginia Gazette. --------- "RE: Mashantucket Pequots plan Language Conference" --------- Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 08:50:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LANGUAGE CONFERENCE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.courant.com/artfeb21,0,4392493.story?track=rss Mashantucket Pequots Plan Language Conference - Hartford Courant By RICK GREEN, Courant Staff Writer February 21, 2006 Singer and activist Buffy Sainte-Marie highlights a three-day conference on "Revitalizing Algonquian Languages" that will begin Wednesday and is sponsored by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. The conference, which takes place at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center on the tribal reservation near Ledyard, features more than two dozen presenters from Indian tribes and academia, as well as the screening of the PBS documentary "The Last Speakers." Sainte-Marie, a Cree Indian whose Cradleboard Teaching Project educates schoolchildren about native culture and history, will appear Thursday at 3:30 p.m. In addition to her recording and television career, Sainte-Marie has a doctorate in fine arts from the University of Massachusetts. Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council Secretary Charlene Jones said the 3- year-old conference brings together "tribal representatives, scholars and writers from across the continent on this crucial subject. Each conference has helped to advance the understanding of the strength that tribal languages bring to our living cultures." The museum owns two essential documents in studying lost native language - early editions of a Bible translated into an Algonquian dialect. Museum research director Kevin McBride said other tribes have recovered languages no longer spoken, but it requires a significant commitment from the tribal community. Reviving a language can provide immense insight into a tribe's history, he said. "The language of a people really helps inform you about many things about them," McBride said. There are no living fluent speakers of the Algonquian dialects once spoken by Indians in Connecticut, but New England tribes are working to revive the languages. Jessie Little Doe Baird, a Mashpee Wampanoag tribal member and co-founder of the Wopanaak Language Reclamation Project, will speak Wednesday at 9 a.m. about efforts to revive the Wampanoag dialect. The fee for the three-day conference is $125, $85 for students and senior citizens, including breakfast and lunch each day. For more information, contact 860-396-2167 or dgregoire@mptn.org. Copyright c. 2006 by The Hartford Courant. --------- "RE: GIAGO: SD Legislator likens Abortion to Slavery" --------- Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 08:50:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GIAGO: SD RACE RELATIONS" http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=7578 Notes from Indian Country South Dakota legislator likens abortion to slavery Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji) Copyright c. 2006 Native American Journalists Foundation, Inc. February 20, 2006 Whenever the elected representatives in South Dakota gather for their annual assembly, I cringe. There is a bill advancing in the South Dakota State Legislature, HB1215 that would place a ban on nearly all abortions. South Dakota hopes to get itself on the national map by presenting itself as the guinea pig for anti-abortionists. Knowing full well that the action will be challenged and end up in front of the U. S. Supreme Court, the determinedly nai've delegates are willing to spend $1 million dollars of the taxpayer's money for this dubious distinction. Oh yes, they also claim that an anonymous donor is willing to foot the bill. Who is that donor and what are his, her or its motives? Our local daily mentioned the donation but did not investigate the donor. Two representatives with a little common sense, Dale Hargens, D-Miller, and Tom Hennies, R-Rapid City, offered amendments to allow abortions for victims of rape or incest. This prompted Larry Rhoden, R-Union Center, to bleat, "The way life is conceived does not lessen the preciousness of that life." That's right Mr. Rhoden, the pregnant woman should be forced to live with the assault or the act of incest for the rest of her life. I don't mean to be flip about this but I am continuously appalled at the extreme right turn the state representatives have taken in the past few years. Mind you, these legislators are the descendants of those settlers who smiled in agreement when an editorial by L. Frank Baum in the Aberdeen (SD) Saturday Review, called for the extermination of the Indian people of South Dakota six days after the Massacre at Wounded Knee. Of course, we all know that Baum went on to national acclaim when 10 years later, he wrote "The Wizard of Oz." In the 1970s when Indian women accused the Indian Health Service of secretly sterilizing them, their protests fell on deaf ears. Of course, these same legislators would have thought of this procedure as just another form of birth control and a bit more effective than the "abstinence" they a pushing. Having published the obituaries in newspapers I have owned for the past 25 years, I know without a doubt that Indian babies are dying at a proportion much higher than that of the state's white population. I had to print their pitiful obits every week. Not once in all of those years did I ever hear one state representative cry out indignantly over this dreadful situation. In support of his vote to ban abortion, Rhoden said, "At one time slavery was constitutional until somebody stood up, challenged it and said enough is enough." Slavery is comparable to abortion? Now where in the world did Rhoden come up with this twisted logic? As I wrote recently, most white South Dakotans still believe Indians do not pay taxes and that we all get a check from the government every month. If they haven't got past this misconception in more than 100 years, where can we find progress? At the massacre of Indian people at Wounded Knee and Sand Creek, American soldiers drove bayonets into the bellies of pregnant women killing the baby and the mother. My point is that the biggest problem in South Dakota is not Roe v. Wade. Instead it is the horrendous race relations between Indians and whites. Many white visitors from back East are stunned to hear the racist remarks about Indians made t