_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 14, ISSUE 010 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 11, 2006 Cherokee nvda kola/windy moon Passamaquoddy siqon/spring moon Zuni li'dekwakkya ts'ana/little sand storm 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; Native American Poetry Mailing List; 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: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + =================== "The conscience of America can never be clear, the state of American education can never be strong, so long as Indian Country lives on a lonely island of educational poverty, amidst of vast ocean of wealth and educational opportunity for all Americans, except the first Americans," __ Ryan Wilson, Oglala Lakota +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! Janet has more to report regarding the Georgia Parks and the DNR. --- Last week's editorial described the beginnings of a struggle by an intertribal group of Indians in Georgia to gain access to Georgia state parks as a legitimate representation of part of Georgia's living culture - not as an interesting but extinct bit of history. As of last week, this group had obtained a copy of a proposed policy the state's park's department had authored without knowledge or input from any of the state's three recognized tribes, any federally enrolled Indians living in the state, or the one state government council with any Indian representation at all (formed originally to deal with repatriation of Indian burial remains, the nine-member Council of American Indian Concerns is required to have only four Native Americans in its membership). After Indians came forward to protest this arbitrary policy that once more has non-Indians dictating how Indians may represent themselves, the Parks Divison of the state Department of Natural Resources belatedly decided that they would meet again with the Indians to "address our concerns." A report of this meeting written by Larry Mindler follows. As Larry points out -- ongoing updates are being posted at http://www.owlstar.com/issues. February 28, 2006 Osiyo All Well, I had another meeting today with Becky Kelley, Director, John Thompson, Chief of Operations, Stephen Saunders, Assistant Chief of Operations and Chuck Gregory, Resource Management & Interpretation of the Georgia State Parks & Historic Sites. (DNR) I have to tell you about it, but first let me do a little house keeping. Please, send all replies and inquiries to GatheringofNationsGeorgia@Yahoo.com, and encourage others to correspond about this issue using that address. This issue has gotten too big for me to handle all the email and phone calls alone, so, I've asked others to help. This account is accessible to all of us in that group. All parties, please be aware that news about this issue is posted in its entirety at http://www.owlstar.com/issues.htm I will email everyone on this list each time there is new information. But to be up to date, and when informing others of this issue who have Web access, please refer them to the site above. This assures that everyone gets first hand, accurate, up-to-date information, instead of rumors, second-hand stories or outdated interpretation. I am getting many requests for more information from people who are just now getting e-mails sent out almost two week ago, That is why, in order to make sure everyone is up-to-date, you should get background or updates from the link. Thank you. Now back to today's meeting. We met at the DNR offices at 9:00 am. My group was on time. DNR members were 15 minutes late. I opened with talking to Becky Kelley about her difficult job. I then asked them to reconsider letting us do the Pow wow at Ft. Yargo for the benefit of Camp Wil-A-Way. Becky Kelley responded that they would take it into consideration. I then presented her with a copy of the document that I had asked for in the previous meeting (the memo that was sent out in 2004), and that Chuck Gregory had repeatedly said in that meeting did not exist. I then addressed Chuck Gregory and told him that it really hurt my heart that he had sat right there and lied to me about this document, when I knew before the meeting that it existed. It had been read to me over the phone before our meeting on February 22, 2006, and I received it the night of the 22nd. This upset the DNR group badly. They did not believe that anyone had that letter to show. Becky Kelley stopped the conversation and said that the DNR had never intended that the department's document of the draft on Policy (dated February 16, 2006), which she gave to us on the 22nd, be made public. I told them again that I told them at that meeting that I would give the document to my elders to review, and, at their urging, would bring back information about how the document could be improved. That was the whole point of my having the document in the first place. Ms. Kelley said that we should be quiet about our conversations with/at DNR. Well sorry Becky Kelley. I can't keep quiet about this. Lisa asked for a board meeting and we were told that we had to go through the Council on American Indian Concerns, first. From this point on, the DNR officials really didn't want to talk to me. They are taking the stand that they will NOW talk to the Council on American Indian Concerns. I informed them they should have done that before beginning to consider these policies. Also, as the State of Georgia has at least 3 recognized tribes, it would seem they should have consulted with these 3 tribes before writing any policies that affect them. The officials really didn't like hearaing that either. Chuck wanted to know if I was speaking for all the Native Americans in Georgia. I told them, I speak for myself. But I report to all that want to know. As I said. They now have taken the stand that they will not talk to me. I will have to go through the state's Council on American Indian Concerns group. This isn't any trouble as I will be talking to one member as soon as I complete this. This issue on policy was kept secret from them also till after the meeting on the 22nd. On the 23rd one of them got their first copy of this policy. You had it on the eve of the 22nd. As of now, we have the date of March 15, 2006 at 1:00 pm for a meeting with the Council. As this continues, Chuck Gregory wants clarity on what is a real "Indian". Chuck wants guidelines drawn (black and white) as to how to identify Native American people. I have tried to inform them that as with all cultures, it isn't black and white. We have people that have Native blood but we also have people that walk the red road. Some being adopted, some being accepted for their walk. At this time, I don't believe they can understand our way of life. It doesn't fit in their box. Please continue emailing them and calling them about this. It is having an effect. Please also pass this information (and the web site listed above for background) to others that are interested. Red, Yellow, Black or White. This IS about the people as a whole. Not just Native People. And it could impact people in any state, not just Georgia. Aho Larry Wisdom Bear Becky Kelley Director Becky_Kelley@dnr.state.ga.us Phone 404-656-9448 John Thompson Chief of Operations State Parks and Historic Sites 2 MLK, Jr. Drive, SE Suite 1352 East Atlanta, Georgia 30334-9000 (404)-656-2770 (404)-656-6522 fax john_thompson@dnr.state.ga.us Steve Saunders Assistant Chief of Operations Steve_Saunders@dnr.state.ga.us 404-656-6544 Chuck Gregory Resource Management & Interpretation Georgia State Parks & Historic Sites 2 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, S.E. Suite 1352 East Atlanta, GA 30334 ChuckG@dnr.state.ga.us www.gastateparks.org 404-656-6539, office 404-290-6984, cell Debbie Wallsmith Park Interpretive Supervisor Debbie_Wallsmith@dnr.state.ga.us Linda Moye: Administrative Operations Coordinator 2 Phone 404-656-5335 Governor Sonny Perdue Can be contacted through a contact form online--here is the link: http://www.gov.state.ga.us/contact_dom.shtml +/// 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 ----------- - DoI playing 'hardball' with Tribes - YELLOW BIRD: - Indian Educator Cursing gambling, blessing bars asks Congress for help - Indigenous Lands - Friend at DoI help protect Amazon Forests for Water users fighting Tribes - Handley grilled - Navajo President by N.W.T. Native Leaders criticizes Bush cuts, snub - Community gets Cultural Funding - Indian Country's Meth problem - Spiritual leaders - Fight over San Francisco Peaks seek Peace Center not over with yet - Conservatives off to - County will not oppose poor Aboriginal Policy start Leech Lake Trust Status - Indian Affairs Minister - Tribal Member hopes to make it hedging on Funds 14 Legislators - Health Canada disputes - Urban Indian clinics First Nation Arsenic Claims in Oklahoma safe from cut - Project aims to help - Idaho House kills Me'tis Youth in City Rez Gas Tax Proposal - Native Fishers seek more say - US Indian Tribes eye - B.C. eyes Native Jail Programs Rocky Mountain Energy Plans - Accused used Indian-owned Bank - Fewer Audits done as cover for Scam of Oil Leases on U.S. Land - Coeur d'Alene Tribe - Grant to study requesting funds for Jail renewable Energy Options - Judge allows FBI - Hoopa get $103,000 to withhold Peltier Documents for River Hydropower Study - Native Prisoner - Gover returns to Oklahoma -- Language Lawsuit - TVA swaps out nearly 600 Acres - Rustywire: Medicineman a Singer to Developer - Lee Goins Poem: Roses in the Snow - Indians' removal - Language classes focus of History Series help Students embrace Culture - Capitol honors - Saving the Language slain American Indian - Language is on - Bill revising the agenda of many Nations Native Shareholder rules OK'd - Navajo Herbalist combines - Fisheries Service the best of Two Worlds broadens study on Makah request - 2006 Lori Piestewa National - Media Coverage of Native Americans Native American Games - Editorial: Racism - From the Rez to the Big Apple behind proposal for new County - Penn Cove Water Festival - RICHARD BABB: - Kent Ware, Sr. Memorial Fleecing the Indians thrice - BellSouth Mosaic Career Fair --------- "RE: DoI playing 'hardball' with Tribes" --------- Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2006 08:54:43 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HEALTH, SERVICES CUTS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.kaimin.org/content&task=view&id=1224&Itemid=55 Dept. playing 'hardball' with tribes, UM prof. says Contributed by Laurel Wall-MacLane/Montana Kaimin 28 February 2006 The Department of the Interior recently announced that a plan to cut American Indian programs is a "scare tactic" aimed at pitting American Indians against plaintiffs of a decade-long class-action lawsuit against the federal government, said Ray Cross, a professor of law at the University of Montana. Elouise Cobell, a member of the Blackfeet Tribe, filed the suit in 1996 for lost royalties on lands that the Interior and Treasury Departments have been managing in trust for Indian landowners for more than 100 years. A federal judge directed the Department of the Interior to pay plaintiffs $7.1 million, mostly for unpaid lawyer's fees, which it plans to take out of existing Indian programs. "This is hardball," Cross said. "You have to read between the lines to know what is really going on." Among the funds to be cut are $2 million from a fund for lawyers to provide legal work for tribal members and another $2 million from funds to do a historical recounting of Indians' trust accounts. Jim Cason, associate deputy interior secretary, said that the Interior Department was forced to take the funds out of various programs because the $7.1 million was an unexpected expense, according to The Associated Press. Nikki Ducheneaux of the Native American Law Student Association said that Indians lose out either way; programs are cut or the Cobell case takes a loss. "It's called robbing Peter to pay Paul," Ducheneaux said. Cobell, along with 500,000 mostly unnamed plaintiffs estimate that the government owes Indians $100 billion in royalties for land-related assets such as oil, gas, agriculture and grazing. They are willing to settle for $27.5 billion. Neal DuBois, another member of NALSA, said he thinks if Indians could afford to lose the money from other programs, it would be worth it in the long run to pay for the lawsuit. "The question is, can we live without that money right now?" DuBois said. The Interior Department is scraping for money because the federal government does not have the funds to pay for a suit like this, especially while re-constructing the Gulf Coast, continuing the war in Iraq and rebuilding Afghanistan, Cross said. "The U.S. is in a huge fiscal hole right now," said Cross, who is also a tribal member of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nations in North Dakota. The history behind the suit goes back to 1887 when the Allotment Act parceled off 80 to 160 acres of private property to tribal members. The government held the land in trust, working as what Cross calls the "largest real estate property manager it the world." The allotted parcels of land have been fractioned off to the heirs of the property, so in three generations it is possible for 1,000 people to own part of the original property. But the government did not have a system in place to record what was owed to whom. "What's at issue is the trust responsibility. The federal government promised to take care of the land, and the money made off the land," Ducheneaux said. Instead, records have been destroyed and computer systems have been taken off line, said Richard Sattler, a cultural anthropologist and professor at UM. "The federal government has resisted, under both the Clinton and Bush administrations, efforts to change or reform the system - or even to recognize there is a problem," Sattler said. In 2001, a federal judge ordered the Bureau of Indian Affairs' computers to be taken off line after a report was released finding the BIA's record keeping inaccurate and disorganized. To this day, most of those systems are still not running, costing tribes untold amounts of money, Sattler said. Copyright c. 2005 Montana Kaimin. --------- "RE: Indian Educator asks Congress for help" --------- Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2006 08:54:43 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NIEA LEADER ASKS CONGRESS TO HELP" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=7602 Indian educator asks Congress for help NIEA head gives annual address WASHINGTON DC Native American Times February 27, 2006 A plea for Congress to take note and action of the problems facing Indian youth comes from the head of the National Indian Education Association. The association's Ryan Wilson (Oglala Lakota), gave the State of Indian Education address at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. "The conscience of America can never be clear, the state of American education can never be strong, so long as Indian Country lives on a lonely island of educational poverty, amidst of vast ocean of wealth and educational opportunity for all Americans, except the first Americans," Wilson said. Wilson began his address with a history lesson. In 1969, Congress requested a study of the learning conditions in Indian Country. The results of that study, published as "Indian Education: A National Tragedy - A National Challenge, were a "stinging critique," Wilson said. "We ranked at the bottom of every social, health, economic, and yes, education indicator in America." Fast-forward 37 years and thing have not improved much, he said. "American Indian and Alaska Native children live in conditions that the rest of America would never accept. The poverty rate of our children is three times that of white children. The suicide rates of our children are more than double the national average," he said, adding that Native children are 200 times percent more likely to die in a car accident because reservation roads are the most dangerous in the country. There are some bright spots. Wilson commended tribal colleges for producing "more Native graduates in institutions of higher learning in the last 30 years than all of the mainstream universities across America combined" and said that "Indian Head Start programs have graduated thousands of Native American children who do remarkably better than their counterparts who have never had those opportunities to attend Head Start." He closed the address by making a series of requests: - Asked Congress to convene an Indian education summit. - Requested a "commitment to fuel the tribal language revitalization movement, greater teacher support, flexibility and acknowledgment of the unique contexts of Native schools, and data collection, and research with culturally appropriate design models and methodologies." - Re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. - Greater input from Native leaders when Congress debates the No Child Left Behind Act. According to the NIEA website, the association is a "membership based organization committed to increasing educational opportunities and resources for American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian students while protecting our cultural and linguistic traditions. Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Friend at DoI for Water users fighting Tribes" --------- Date: Fri, 3 Mar 2006 08:33:13 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CONFLICT OF INTEREST" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/03/national/03water.html?_r=1&oref=slogin For Thirsty Farmers, Old Friends at Interior Dept. By TIMOTHY EGAN March 3, 2006 FRESNO, Calif. - For more than 10 years, Jason Peltier was a paid advocate for the irrigation-dependent farmers here in the Central Valley of California, several hundred landowners who each year consume more water than the city of Los Angeles does. Jim Wilson/The New York Times Some Central Valley farmers supplied by the Delta-Mendota Canal may be able to make money reselling the water. More Photos > The Westlands Water District is seeking a government contract. More Photos > Now Mr. Peltier works for the Bush administration, and he helps oversee the awarding of new water contracts for the people he used to represent as head of the Central Valley Project Water Users Association. The federal contracts, tying up water for a quarter-century or more from the world's largest irrigation project, have the potential to bring the farmers a huge windfall if they turn around and sell the water on the open market. At the same time Mr. Peltier - as the deputy assistant secretary for water and science at the Interior Department - is involved with reviewing a request by the water association to stop paying up to $11.5 million a year into an environmental restoration fund, as required by a 1992 law. Mr. Peltier's role influencing decisions that could have a direct financial impact on his former employer is part of a pattern at the Interior Department over the last five years, critics say, with a revolving door between managers on the government side, and the people who buy or lease federal water, land or forests on the other side. At the Interior Department, at least six high political positions have been occupied by people associated with businesses or trade associations tied to public lands or resources. One of those appointees, J. Steven Griles, a deputy secretary, continued to receive $284,000 a year from his old lobbying firm while working for the government. Mr. Griles stepped down last year, saying he had not done anything to violate ethics rules at the department. Mr. Peltier, in an interview, said that when he first came to the Bush administration in 2001, he recused himself from some decisions involving the landowners he used to represent, but he said he was granted an exemption because of his expertise in California water issues. "I was given dispensation early on because of my knowledge of these issues," he said. He added, "I have not had the strict bar of separation on certain issues, but I've been very mindful of the appearance of a conflict and operated accordingly." Interior Department officials said Mr. Peltier, who is the chief policy adviser on California water issues, had cleared his activities with the ethics office. Mark Limbaugh, the assistant secretary for water and science and Mr. Peltier's immediate supervisor, said in a telephone interview that Mr. Peltier's role was only advisory on water issues that involve his former employer. "He provides background, insight and advice," Mr. Limbaugh said. "He is not in a position to make the ultimate decisions." But others say the arrangement is inappropriate, and they point to contract terms that could give farmers in the Central Valley, including the ones Mr. Peltier once represented, far more federally subsidized water under their new contracts than they could ever use. And because the water will be provided at a fraction of the price it would cost on the open market, the farmers could act as brokers to resell unneeded water at a huge markup, making them some of the most powerful players in Western water politics for well into the middle part of this century. Some of the farmers will pay about $40 per acre foot of water (roughly 326,000 gallons) under the new contracts for water that could fetch up to $200 an acre foot on the open market in dry years, according to groups that monitor the Central Valley Project. "They're basically locking up the last available water in California for 50 years, which they could then sell at big profit made on the back of taxpayers," said Tom Stokely, a water policy and planning official with Trinity County, in Northern California, which has been at odds with water users in the Central Valley for decades. The biggest pool of water at stake under Mr. Peltier's watch involves the Westlands Water District, a group of San Joaquin Valley landowners and the largest and most prominent member of the trade association that Mr. Peltier used to represent. The new contract for Westlands, stuffed with arcane and obscure language, would give the landowners water from the government-financed Central Valley Project for 25 years, with an option for another 25 years. Central Valley Project Irrigation Asked about his role in the Westlands contract negotiations, Mr. Peltier said, "I've tried to steer away from the nuts and bolts" of the contract because of his prior job. He also said, "There are a lot of layers of management beneath me - plenty of horsepower in there" to represent the government side. But critics in Congress like Representative George Miller, a Democrat from California who has long advocated loosening agriculture's grip on federal water supplies, said Mr. Peltier should have nothing to do with the contract. Mr. Miller also said far too much water was being offered to the Westlands farmers, violating the spirit of the 1992 environmental restoration law that tried to give competing interests in California equal access to water. "This is a clear conflict of interest and has been since his appointment," Mr. Miller said. Bush administration officials, including Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton, have said that top political positions in the Interior Department have always been filled by people who are more responsive to the party in power. They note that President Bill Clinton filled his Interior Department with former leaders of environmental groups that have long lobbied the government. But the difference, critics say, is that some of the current appointees came from groups that stand to benefit financially from the decisions made at the Interior Department about how much businesses will have to pay for public water, grazing land, timber and minerals. The appointees, both former and current, include William G. Myers III, who was the department's solicitor from 2001 through 2003 after working as a lawyer for ranching interests which rely on public grazing land; Bennett W. Raley, who was assistant secretary for water and science from 2001 to 2004 after working at a law firm whose clients had clashed with the federal government over the use of public water; Rebecca W. Watson, assistant secretary for land and minerals management, who is a lawyer who represented mining, logging, oil and gas interests; and Kit Kimball, director of external and intragovernmental affairs, who was a lobbyist on behalf of mining, oil and gas companies doing business on public lands. "It is one thing to have someone with a certain ideological bent fill a political position, but it's another to have somebody who is so identified with a special interest that they cannot be expected to make fair decisions," said Larry Noble, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit group that monitors how money and politics intersect. Interior Department officials say the Westlands and other contracts do not show favor to one group or the other and do not noticeably depart from the approach taken by the Clinton administration in dividing the water supplies. John Leshy, the department's solicitor general under Mr. Clinton, disputed that, saying the Clinton administration had tried harder to balance water deliveries between environmental needs and agriculture, as required by the 1992 law. In the case of the Westlands contract, the Bush administration officials said they had recently started to negotiate provisions so that excess water will not be hoarded to be sold by the farmers. The terms under consideration would let Westlands receive up to 1.15 million acre-feet of water a year, about the same as it has been entitled to in the past - equivalent to the amount needed to supply roughly 2.5 million urban families for a year. But because at least 90,000 acres and maybe as much as 200,000 acres of the 580,000 acres of farmland used by Westlands may no longer be suited to growing because of its heavy mineral content, critics question why the district should continue to get such a large amount of water. A Westlands official, Thaddeus Bettner, the deputy general manager, said the district had no intention of selling any of the water at a markup. "Everyone talks about this reselling, but it's not even discussed by us," Mr. Bettner said. "We have a real need for the water." He said Mr. Peltier had not helped Westlands beyond his steering the contract to an orderly conclusion. He said he expected the new contract to be signed in the spring. The old one expires next year. Separately, the water users' association wrote a letter in December to the Interior Department requesting that the financial burdens on them from the 1992 environmental restoration law be revisited. It is first time the federal government has considered a review of the payments, and environmentalists say there is no evidence that significant improvements have been made to justify reducing payments. Mr. Peltier said, "I would not anticipate that we're going to end up reducing the amount, but we're willing to talk about it." At the time the law passed, Mr. Peltier, then serving as a manager of the trade association, indicated that the irrigators might resist complying. "We'll do anything and everything to keep from being harmed," he told The San Francisco Chronicle then. "If that means obstructing implementation, so be it." Mr. Peltier says his views have changed now that he is on the other side, representing government. "I was younger and brasher then," he said. Copyright c. 2006 The New York Times Company. --------- "RE: Navajo President criticizes Bush cuts, snub" --------- Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2006 08:54:43 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="JOE SHIRLEY DISPLEASED WITH BUSH ADMINISTRATION" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=4557989&nav=menu216_2 Navajo president criticizes administration cuts, snub February 27, 2006 WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. Navajo President Joe Shirley Junior is critical of the Bush administration's proposed cuts in tribal programs. Shirley says the tribes weren't consulted on the cuts and Bureau of Indian Affairs officials snubbed tribal leaders at a budget meeting. He says the tribes need input as to what the U-S government is doing in Indian Country. President Bush's budget calls for tens of (m) millions of dollars in cuts in B-I-A school construction, the B-I-A's Johnson-O'Malley assistance grants and the Urban Indian Health Program. Shirley says if the tribes are going to be self-determining, then they need financial help in order - as he put it - "to really go back to our independence and to standing on our own two feet." Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Indian Country's Meth problem" --------- Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2006 08:51:37 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="METH PROBLEM" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=7612 NCAI leaders, lawmakers vow to conquer Indian Country's meth problem Session brings promise of congressional hearings Sam Lewin March 1, 2006 Concerns over the epidemic of methamphetamine use dominated the annual winter session of the National Congress of American Indians, the NCAI reports. "Methamphetamine is killing our people and devastating our communities," said NCAI president Joe Garcia. With many people living in Indian Country likely already witnessing firsthand the problems meth brings, Garcia cited a newspaper article to hammer the issue home. "According to a report by the Denver Post, from 2003 to 2004 - the year characterized by the highest documented increase in crystal methamphetamine use - criminal charges for drug possession increased 353 percent, assaults tripled, theft nearly doubled, and child abuse increased by 85 percent on the Wind River Indian Reservation. Similar reports are cropping up from reservations nationwide," Garcia said. "Farther south, the Navajo Nation has experienced a more than 100 percent increase in meth use on the reservation in the past five years. Recent data from the Indian Health Service estimate that 30 percent of American Indian youth have experimented with methamphetamines." A tribal leader reported on the impact meth has had on her community. "There have been 120 suicide attempts and 84 actual suicides in my tribe alone since 2002," said San Carlos Apache Chairwoman Kathleen Kitcheyan. "Some of these were directly related to the abuse of meth. Last year, in my tribe, 63 babies were born addicted to crystal meth. This has to change." Meth use in Oklahoma appears to be on the decline. Officials credit this to a 2004 law restricting the sale of cold tablets, but at least one elected official says the problem, while perhaps diminished, is still too large to ignore. "Meth trafficking is destroying our communities. Sales restrictions like Oklahoma's are an important and necessary step in combating this epidemic, but not the end of the road, Oklahoma," U.S. Representative Dan Boren said during the winter session. "Just because people aren't making meth doesn't mean they're not using it. Local, state and tribal officials in Oklahoma are now seeing fewer meth labs, but just as much of the drug as high- quality meth from the super labs in Mexico flood the state. We have to address this problem on all fronts." The attacks on meth were more than just words. The winter session closed with a vow from Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) Byron Dorgan (D-ND) to hold congressional hearings. Officials will examine proposals laid out by Garcia, including input from the both the White House and other tribal leaders on an initiative for interagency cooperation on drug enforcement. "What it represents is another terrible, terrible attack on Indian Country," said McCain. Also during the NCAI session, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community of Minnesota donated $1 million to the Embassy of Tribal Nations Capital Campaign. The campaign is an effort to establish an "embassy" in Washington, D.C. "It makes great sense for there to be an Indian Embassy in the nation's Capitol," said Shakopee Vice-Chairman Glynn A. Crooks "When Indian people are in town visiting their Senators and Congressman they will also have a place they can call home." Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Fight over San Francisco Peaks not over with yet" --------- Date: Fri, 3 Mar 2006 08:33:13 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TOILET BOWL" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=7616 Fight over San Francisco Peaks not over with yet Tribe appeals decision Sam Lewin March 2, 2006 The Navajo Nation is appealing a federal court decision that allowed a ski lodge to pollute a sacred site with "reclaimed" water. "We not only disagree with the lower court opinion on moral and ethical grounds, there are a number of legal errors that we believe provide us with a solid basis for appeal," attorney Howard Shanker said. Along with the Navajos, Shanker represents several Southwestern tribes upset by a ruling letting management at the Arizona Snowbowl, a lucrative ski lodge boasting thousands of rooms, use what could be in some cases processed toilet bowl water on the San Francisco Peaks. The cause is being heard on the federal level because the Peaks are on public land. The tribes say that letting the lodge proceed with the plan is a violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. In January a judge ruled that the use of reclaimed wastewater on the Peaks does not constitute under the legal definition a substantial burden on the ability of the tribes to exercise their respective religions, as required by law. U.S. District Judge Paul Rosenblatt also asserted that tribes did not show that their exercise of religion will be impacted by the Snowbowl upgrades, and he claimed that protectors of the Peaks "have identified no shrines or religious ceremonies that would be impacted by the Snowbowl decision." Tribal representatives, including Navajo medicineman Steven Begay countered that the entire mountain is sacred, not just portions of it. Ramon Riley, Cultural Resources Officer for the White Mountain Apache Tribe, said if allowed to continue, the project would deeply compromise tribal values. "It would probably destroy our people, our way of life," he said. "Our prayers are not going to be strong." Rosenblatt's ruling allows the lodge to immediately begin work on the Peaks. Tribes are hoping to get an injunction. Other tribes involved in the suit include the Yavapai-Apache Tribe and the Havasupai Tribe. Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: County will not oppose Leech Lake Trust Status" --------- Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2006 08:51:37 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRIBAL COLLEGE LAND TRUST STATUS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.walkermn.com/placed/index.php?sect_rank=1&story_id=215757 Cass Board will not oppose Leech Lake Band's application for trust status on tribal college land Joint committee will be formed to discuss future fee-to-trust issues Gail DeBoer, Staff writer The Pilot-Independent February 28, 2006 Cass County commissioners agreed Feb. 21 not to oppose the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe's efforts to place a 30-acre parcel into tribal trust status for the Leech Lake Tribal College. After hearing from Tribal Attorney Wayne Bohn and County Attorney Earl Maus, the board voted 4-1 to support fee-to-trust status for the 30-acre parcel. Commissioner Jim Dowson cast the lone dissenting vote. No action was taken on two other fee-to-trust applications. A second motion named Dowson and Commissioner Virgil Foster to a committee of Tribal Council and county representatives to study future fee-to-trust transfers. The fee-to-trust transfer also is supported by Pike Bay Township. Cass County historically has opposed all Leech Lake Band fee-to-trust applications to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) because they remove properties from the county tax base without reducing demand for services, thus placing an unfair burden on remaining taxpayers. Bohn argued that the beneficial economic impacts of Leech Lake Gaming from employee wages, health care, taxes paid and construction projects, far outweighs any lost tax revenue. He also cited the benefits of a tribal police force to back up the Sheriff's Department, and contributions Leech Lake makes to fire protection and ambulance services. Because less than 5 percent of land inside reservation boundaries is owned by the Leech Lake Band, rebuilding the land base through fee-to- -trust transfers is very important, he explained. The BIA has recommended the Band apply for 9 to 12 parcels each year. If Cass continues to object, the process takes about three years; without objections, 15 months. "You can take the position that the county will always oppose fee-to- trust transfers, but this will continue," Bohn declared. "We are trying to rebuild the land base for the Leech Lake people by reacquiring land that was sold, taken, stolen or illegally transferred." Commissioner Jim Demgen wondered how many of the alleged illegal land acquisitions involved state and federal governments and how many involved the county. Virgil Foster said he felt the county should support the fee-to-trust application in this situation. Even with the Tribal College property, which is currently not taxed, Maus said Cass opposes transfer because at some future time, the property use might change. He agreed the Band was a good employer but countered that economic benefit is not a valid argument. Other large private employees generate economic benefits and still pay property taxes. "This is a national trend; counties are opposing putting land into tribal trust," Maus declared. Bohn replied that Carlton County, home to the Fond du Lac Reservation, supports fee-to-trust transfers. Maus encouraged the Band to apply for state tax exemptions on several parcels that very likely would be approved, based on the parcels' current uses. Bohn said he was working on that issue. Copyright c. 1998-2005 Multi-Media Interactive. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Tribal Member hopes to make it 14 Legislators" --------- Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2006 08:51:37 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HOPING TO INCREASE OKLAHOMA TRIBAL REPRESENTATION" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=7610 Tribal member hopes to make it 14 in Oklahoma's House of Representatives BigHorse says his priorities are education, jobs, and seniors TULSA OK Sam Lewin March 1, 2006 A Cherokee/Osage man has declared his candidacy for Oklahoma state office. Scott BigHorse says if elected he will focus on education, senior- citizen issues and helping small businesses. "I understand the needs of our community, and I pledge to work as hard as I can to address those needs in the Oklahoma legislature," BigHorse said. BigHorse is running for Oklahoma House of Representatives, District 36. Incumbent Joe Sweeden is leaving to run for the Oklahoma State Senate. BigHorse, a Democrat, may have an easy time in the summer. He's a Democrat, and according to the Oklahoma State Ethics Commission, no other candidate has yet filed to run in that party's primary. If that stands and BigHorse runs unopposed, he will face Republican Eddie Fields of Bristow in November's general election. BigHorse works for Youth Services of Osage County, and says he has a track record on juvenile issues. "I worked for 14 years for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections in the adult section and it was my hope to get out of the adult system to begin working with juveniles and save them from going into the adult system," he said. "We've got a few youth offenders who have made it through the justice system and are currently attending college. That's what the program is all about." Bighorse was named the Officer of the Year for Dick Conner Correctional Center in 1990, and followed that up in 1991 with Officer of the Year for Division Institutions, which includes twelve separate correctional facilities. He also member of the Pawhuska Planning and Zoning Committee. "What we need to do now is establish a vehicle for economic development for small businesses in Osage County." BigHorse said. There are currently 13 American Indians in the 101-member Oklahoma House of Representatives. BigHorse's Campaign Field Coordinator Libbi Ramirez told the Native American Times that BigHorse is a member of both the Cherokee and Osages tribes. Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Urban Indian clinics in Oklahoma safe from cut" --------- Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2006 08:31:08 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="OKLAHOMA URBAN HEALTH CLINICS SPARED" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://newsok.com/article/1773696/ State's 2 clinics for urban Indians safe from cuts By Judy Gibbs The Oklahoman February 28, 2006 The special status of Oklahoma's two urban Indian clinics will save them from serious harm under a Bush administration proposal to eliminate funding for the urban Indian health program. Earmarked "Oklahoma Demonstration Projects" in 1987, the Oklahoma City Indian Clinic and the Indian Health Care Resource Center in Tulsa have a different funding source from 34 other urban Indian clinics across the country. As a result, they would survive if Congress approves President Bush's request to eliminate the $33 million urban Indian health program, said Terry Hunter, chief executive officer of the Oklahoma City clinic. Hunter credits former U.S. Sen. Don Nickles, R-Ponca City, for the financial security of the two Oklahoma clinics. In late 2004, Nickles added language to an Interior Department appropriations bill making the Oklahoma Demonstration Projects permanent. "I think he felt like it would give us a more solid base to work from," Hunter said. "If you look back at history, the urban programs are the ones that are always on the bubble." Fighting proposed budget cuts In other cities with large Indian populations, clinic administrators and their allies are scrambling to fight the proposed budget cut. "We're writing letters and lining up tribal support," said Greg Fine of the National Council of Indian Health in Washington, D.C. "Most tribes think this is a very bad idea because they're not equipped to handle" the patients currently treated at urban clinics. The 34 urban clinics funded under Title 5 of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act get 1 percent of the Indian Health Service budget even though at least 60 percent of Indians now live in cities. "Thirty-three million is a small cut for the government but for the urban clinics, it's everything," Fine said. Some urban clinics outside Oklahoma would have to close immediately without federal funding. Others would survive on alternative funding sources but in a reduced capacity, said Maile Taualii, associate director of the Urban Indian Health Institute in Seattle. Although they would not be affected, the Oklahoma clinics have joined the fight to save the urban Indian health program. Additionally, the Oklahoma clinics are concerned about a future in which Oklahoma would have the only urban Indian clinics in the nation, said Russell Burkhart, director of planning and development for the Tulsa clinic. "The thought is if you start unraveling the fabric ... who knows where it would stop," Burkhart said. Copyright c. 2006 The Oklahoman/News 9. Produced by NewsOK.com. --------- "RE: Idaho House kills Rez Gas Tax Proposal" --------- Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2006 08:40:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GAS TAX PROPOSAL KILLED" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.idahostatesman.com/20060305/603050344/1001/NEWS House committee kills proposal to tax gas sold on reservations The Associated Press March 5, 2006 A bill to allow Idaho to collect about $3.3 million annually in taxes on gas sold from American Indian reservation pumps died Thursday in the House Transportation Committee after opponents argued it would almost certainly lead to a costly lawsuit. A 7-7 deadlock kept the bill from advancing to a full House vote. "Why in the world would we go to court before we have the chance to negotiate?" Rep. Joseph Cannon, R-Blackfoot, asked the committee before the vote. Since 2001, Idaho has spent more than $1 million on legal costs to craft legislation to collect the tax, lawmakers said, including an unsuccessful effort to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005. Before the vote, lawmakers heard more than three hours of testimony from Coeur d'Alene, Nez Perce and Shoshone-Bannock tribal leaders, all of whom operate service stations, who said their rights as independent nations would be trampled. The bill's demise in committee comes less than a month after the state's American Indian groups fended off a separate plan in the Idaho Legislature to challenge the state's tribal gaming laws. "In both instances, these issues represent the sovereignty of tribal government," said Rebecca Miles, chairwoman of the Nez Perce Tribe. "It would threaten a vital revenue stream. Passage of this bill is an action that seems both premature and unnecessary." American Indian tribes sold 13 million gallons of gas from reservation- -run stores last year. The Nez Perce and the Coeur d'Alene tribes assess a 25-cent tax, the same amount as the state tax, on every gallon sold from their pumps. They say they need this money, as well as proceeds from gaming, to help fund roads, education and other projects. Their reservations are in isolated areas far away from commercial centers that would otherwise boost their economies. Meanwhile, proponents of the failed bill said Idaho, which collects about $210 million annually from the state fuel tax, is being deprived of money that could be used to bolster necessary highway construction projects. Some fear reservation gas stations whose fuel isn't taxed by the state enjoy a competitive advantage over off-reservation stores. Rep. Lawerence Denney, R-Midvale, crafted his bill based on a Kansas tax law that was upheld by the Supreme Court on Dec. 5, 2005. In its 7-2 vote, the high court ruled Kansas can tax distributors who sell fuel at an American Indian-owned and operated gas station near the Prairie Band Potawatomi tribe's casino. "This recent decision in the Kansas case has given us a blueprint to close this loophole," said Denney, who worked with the Idaho attorney general's office to strip language from the bill that caused the state to lose a 2-1 decision before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in August 2004 over its previous law. This bill "puts the tax on the distributor, not the retailer on the reservation, over whom Idaho doesn't have any taxing authority," said Deputy Attorney General Ted Spangler, adding that nothing stops the distributor from passing the cost on to retail stores on the reservations that buy the gas. Squaring off against the tribes in the standing-room-only, fourth-floor Statehouse meeting room were proponents of the bill, including business groups, service station owners, petroleum distributors, trucking companies and Idaho county and city associations. "The tribes didn't send you a check and they sell the same things that I sell," said Charley Jones, president of Stinker Stations, a chain of 88 gas stations and convenience stores across Idaho. "Idaho and its citizens need every tax dollar that (they) can get." Others were skeptical of reaching a tax agreement with tribes without the law. "Those of us who have been around this building for many, many years have seen disappointment when we try to negotiate," said Rep. Shirley McKague, R-Meridian. Copyright c. 2006 Idaho Statesman. --------- "RE: US Indian Tribes eye Rocky Mountain Energy Plans" --------- Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2006 08:54:43 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="JOBS FOR RESOURCES" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060227/us_nm/energy_indians_dc_1 US Indian tribes eye Rocky Mountain energy plans By Laura Zuckerman February 27, 2006 MISSOULA, Montana (Reuters) - Resource-rich but job-poor American Indian tribes in the Rocky Mountain region are targeting energy development as a remedy for their economic ills. "We want to become the developer and the manager of our own resources," said Dan Belcourt, a lawyer for the Chippewa Cree Tribe in northern Montana. The push to develop Indian lands is tied to higher energy prices and provisions in the 2005 federal Energy Act for grants, low-interest loans and other incentives to develop tribal oil and natural gas resources. Only 43 of the nation's 279 Indian reservations boast oil and gas reserves and the vast majority of those are in remote, rugged regions in the West where casino gaming and other economic developments are not feasible. While the 56 million acres that make up Indian lands constitute 5 percent of the total U.S. land area, they hold about 10 percent of the nation's energy resources. With the federal government forecasting a record 11,000 applications for oil and gas onshore drilling in 2007, with a heavy concentration in the Rocky Mountain region, Indian property is "a kind of last stronghold" yet to be tapped, said Rick Stefanic, an environmental specialist with the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs in Billings, Montana. We're seeing a spike in activity on our reservations," said Stefanic, whose office oversees tribes in Montana and Wyoming. The Navajo Nation, for example, seeks to partner with Sithe Global Power LLC, 80 percent owned by Blackstone SGP Capital Partners, to generate coal-fired electricity in New Mexico. Montana's Gros Ventre and Assiniboine tribes plan to offer oil and gas leases for the first time in decades and to seek higher royalty rates for development. HIGH JOBLESS RATES The Gros Ventre, Assiniboine and other Western tribes have reason to push for more profits: the unemployment rate on some reservations runs as high as 70 percent. But tribal leaders say there is no way to measure the damage that comes from chronic poverty and joblessness. In 2005, more tribes brokered deals with energy companies to explore for oil and gas reserves, including the Crow Tribe in Montana and the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming. The Crow Tribe is working with Westmoreland Coal Co. on possible energy projects in Montana. Montana's Chippewa Cree Tribe, on the state's smallest reservation, has big energy plans. It aims to set up a company to acquire a controlling interest in gas exploration and production and to build a $90 million ethanol fuel plant, but does not have a partner yet. Chippewa Cree Chairman John Houle said tribes want to reap more profits from joint energy deals "and not leave them on the table anymore." With the formation of Chippewa Cree Tribal Energy, the tribe hopes to duplicate the success of Red Willow Production Co., an energy developer wholly owned by the Southern Ute Tribe in Colorado. The success of joint ventures, however, has been spotty, said Don DeCarlo, a manager at Devon Energy Corp.. "There's no doubt the industry will have to play a strong role to get the lands developed," DeCarlo said. "Historically, tribes haven't had a lot of capital to invest." The prospect of large-scale development of oil, gas and coal is a source of tension on Indian lands, with some tribes balking at exploiting natural resources because of cultural and environmental issues. "A lot of tribes are split over whether they want to risk their lands," said Tom Power, chairman of the economics department at the University of Montana. "But you'll always have someone saying: 'What the hell, it's the only thing we have going for us.' That debate has never quieted." Copyright c. 2006 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Fewer Audits done of Oil Leases on U.S. Land" --------- Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2006 08:54:43 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRIBES PROTEST LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.theledger.com/20060301/ZNYT01/603010402/1001/BUSINESS Fewer Audits Being Done of Oil Leases on U.S. Land - The Ledger By EDMUND L. ANDREWS New York Times March 1, 2006 WASHINGTON, Feb. 28 The Bush administration is scaling back on audits of energy companies that pay billions of dollars for leases to produce oil and gas on federal property, state officials said. The changes have drawn protests from several oil-producing states and American Indian tribes, which receive a share of the royalties energy companies pay the federal government for oil and gas produced on public lands. Those royalties have risen much more slowly than prices for oil and gas, which reached record highs last year and are expected to remain high for several years. Officials at the Interior Department, which oversees federal leases for oil and gas, say the apparent shortfall stems largely from changes in production and lag times in reporting that distort the government's published statistics. But in a letter last week to House members, a group of state and tribal auditors said that the Interior Department had cut back on audits in favor of a much looser approach known as "compliance review" that could miss many instances of cheating. "Compliance reviews do not involve getting underneath the reported information to look at company books," wrote Lisa Dockter, chairwoman of the association of state and tribal auditors. As a result, she said, the government would not be able to confirm whether a company's report was accurate. Yusef Robb, a spokesman for California's state controller, said the Bush administration's approach was based largely on spotting inconsistencies between different forms that energy companies file to the Interior Department. "Under the compliance review system, if you fill out your fraudulent form correctly, you can get away with the fraud," Mr. Robb said. "We know we can't trust companies to do what's right without regular auditing." Last year, the government collected about $8.5 billion in royalties from oil and gas sales on federal land and in the Gulf of Mexico. The Bush administration has cut spending over the last five years for what it calls "compliance and asset management" the job of verifying royalty obligations even as it has sharply expanded oil and gas leasing in the Gulf of Mexico. The administration is proposing to spend $43.1 million on compliance efforts in 2007, up slightly from $42.7 million in 2006 but well below the $51.3 million that was spent in 2001. The Bush administration is also proposing to sharply cut the amount it pays several oil- and gas-producing states, notably California and Colorado, for auditing work on behalf of the federal government. The federal government essentially hires state governments and Indian tribes to keep track of oil and gas leases within their boundaries. California officials asked for $1.2 million in 2006, the amount they said was necessary to keep the number of auditors at 10. The Interior Department provided $800,000, enough for eight auditors, and California officials say it wants to cut spending next year to about $700,000. Similar cuts are being imposed on Colorado, which monitors thousands of oil and gas leases in the Rocky Mountains. Colorado's budget for auditing and compliance was reduced to $750,000 in 2006, from $975,000 in 2005, and the Bush administration is seeking additional cuts for next year. Administration officials say they have developed better strategies. "We implemented a new management strategy that increases efficient use of our internal resources, and in fact allows us to do as many or more audits with fewer auditors," Johnnie M. Burton, director of the Minerals Management Service wrote to House members last month. Administration officials said they had been able to reduce auditing costs by letting more companies pay royalties in the form of oil and gas rather than in cash. Supporters of this approach, known as "royalties in kind," say it permits the government to do away with much of the arcane accounting that goes into determining the sales value of oil and gas in dollar terms. Administration officials also say they have concentrated more of their money on the biggest oil and gas producers, a tactic that leads to a more efficient use of auditors. Some state auditors say the government is short-changing itself, and by extension the nation's taxpayers. California officials say their auditors typically recover three times as much money from underpayments as they spend on auditing. Dennis R. Roller, a state auditor in North Dakota, said the Interior Department occasionally misses even the most obvious lapses in payments. Mr. Roller said the Interior Department had not noticed that a bankrupt company in North Dakota had stopped paying royalties, even though it was still producing oil and gas, until North Dakota officials alerted Washington in December. Copyright c. 2006 The Ledger - Lakeland, FL. --------- "RE: Grant to study renewable Energy Options" --------- Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2006 08:54:43 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MORONGO BAND WINS ENERGY STUDY GRANT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.thedesertsun.com/20060301/NEWS06/60301030/1003 Tribes win federal grant to study renewable energy options Debra Gruszecki The Desert Sun March 1, 2006 The Southwest Tribal Energy Consortium, led by the Morongo Band of Mission Indians of Cabazon, has landed a $199,267 federal grant to harness the wind, sun and a "hybrid" for renewable energy options. The grant was announced Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Energy. The consortium's project will focus on use of wind, solar and wind/gas hybrid systems to study the feasibility of developing a regional model that could be used on other reservations. Six tribes from California, Arizona and New Mexico are participating in the consortium, among them: Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, Pauma Band of Mission Indians, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, Fort Mojave Indian Tribe and Jicarilla Apache Tribe. Together, the tribes are chipping in $165,510 as their commitment to the two-year feasibility study. "The Department of Energy is committed to helping our Native American neighbors develop clean, affordable energy resources," Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman said. "These renewable energy projects encourage tribal self-sufficiency, reduce electricity costs on tribal lands and create jobs." One other tribe in the Inland Empire was selected for a grant - the Augustine Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians. The Augustine Band was granted $72,196 in First Steps funds to develop renewable energy and energy efficiency on tribal lands at any given level of economic development. The tribe has committed $25,000 to this project. "I think it's great," said Rick Daniels, executive director of Coachella Valley Economic Partnership. "Any research or development of alternative energy sources only adds to that cluster of businesses we're trying to attract to the valley." "It'll bring in other people - national experts - who are interested in doing advanced research and application of this state-of-the-art technology," Daniels said. "It will help create a critical mass of people with experience in solar, wind and other alternative energy sources. That's exactly what we're aiming for," Daniels said. Karen Kupcha, Augustine tribal administrator, said the tribe plans to look at wind and solar energy to develop and put in place conservation measures and alternative energy infrastructure on its reservation in Coachella. Tribal officials with the consortium could not be reached for comment. Copyright c. 2006 The Desert Sun. --------- "RE: Hoopa get $103,000 for River Hydropower Study" --------- Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2006 08:40:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="RIVER HYDROPOWER GRANT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.eurekareporter.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ArticleID=8987 Hoopa tribe gets $103,000 for river hydropower study by Rebecca S. Bender March 4, 2006 The Hoopa Valley Tribe is getting a $103,000 boost from the U.S. Department of Energy to study the feasibility of harnessing water power from Trinity River tributaries to generate electricity. "We're looking at a number of small-scale systems to decrease our consumption substantially and to increase our independence," said Curtis Miller, environmental planner for the Hoopa Tribal Environmental Protection Agency and the author of the grant application. "We get a lot of power outages up here." In addition to providing electricity to the reservation, thus reducing its physical and economic reliance on outside sources, excess energy could be sold back to Pacific Gas and Electric Co., he said. The Hoopa Valley Tribe's reservation is bisected by the Trinity River, into which many smaller creeks and streams flow. These tributaries are the focus of the proposed hydropower systems, not the main river, as was reported in a DOE news release. "We are not channeling water from the Trinity," Miller emphasized. "We would borrow water from the tributaries - and then put it back." The feasibility study will assess the capability of a number of small, on-site hydroelectric systems. It will also identify issues related to construction and ongoing operations, including potential impacts on stream flow, natural resources, endangered species and the community. "Our focus is on making sure that we maintain the environment, first and foremost," Miller said. The tribe will contribute nearly $17,000, much of it in in-kind goods and services, bringing the total funding allocated for the study to more than $120,000. The award was one of 11 bestowed on Native American tribes for renewable energy projects. A total of $1.5 million was handed out for wind, water, solar, biomass and hybrid project studies and implementation. The Hoopa Valley Tribe received the fifth largest award nationally. Although a DOE news release announcing the award was widely disseminated to the media on Tuesday, Miller said on Thursday that the tribe had yet to receive any notification of the honor. "It's curious; we haven't even heard of it," he said. "We'll remain cautiously happy until we actually see something." Copyright c. 2005, The Eureka Reporter. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Gover returns to Oklahoma" --------- Date: Fri, 3 Mar 2006 08:33:13 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GOVER SELECTED FOR TOBACCO FIGHT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=7618 Gover returns to Oklahoma Former BIA official selected for state/tribal disagreement Native American Times March 3, 2006 A former honcho at the Bureau of Indian Affairs has been hired by the Osage Nation to arbitrate their dispute with Oklahoma officials over a tobacco compact. Kevin Gover, a member of the Pawnee Tribe of Oklahoma and a native of Lawton, served as the head of the BIA from 1997 until 2000, when he left for private practice. While in office he was involved in controversy for overruling staff input in making decisions related to federal recognition. In late 2004 he was selected as a judge for the Arizona-based Tonto Apache Tribe. The Osages say emergency rules passed by the state to limit tribal tobacco sales should have been first put up to arbitration. A federal judge recently agreed. Each side gets to select a mediator. The state has picked retired federal judge Michael Burrage, the same man they chose to hear a separate disagreement between the state and the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Gover and Burrage will in turn select a third mediator. Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: TVA swaps out nearly 600 Acres to Developer" --------- Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2006 08:54:43 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SACRED LANDS INCLUDED IN SWAP" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.thedailytimes.com/sited/story/html/231435 TVA swaps out nearly 600 lakefront acres to developer Maryville Daily Times by Bill Poovey The Associated Press March 1, 2006 JASPER - The Tennessee Valley Authority swapped away 578 acres of pristine lakefront Tuesday to a politically connected Chattanooga developer's company designated as the lone qualified bidder for land that some American Indian groups consider sacred. John "Thunder" Thornton, a University of Tennessee trustee, booster, political contributor and Blount County native, plans to build a $450 million gated community with up to 1,100 luxury homes, a golf course and boat slips on Nickajack Lake. He is turning over to TVA three other nearby parcels - 615-acre Little Cedar Mountain, a 260-acre farm and 220-acre Burns Island. About a half-dozen American Indians who consider the land Thornton is getting sacred and historic protested at the auction, which was held on the property about 30 miles west of Chattanooga. Banners stretched between trees read, "Eminent domain. Stolen land. End TVA land theft for profits" and "TVA - stop the land rape! TVA duty - protect the land." "I understand their viewpoint," said Thornton, who attended the auction. "I am a conservationist. ... I want to develop property in the right way." Corky Allen of Chattanooga, president of the Intratribal Sacred Land Trust, said TVA failed to properly include American Indian heritage groups in the decision-making. He said Indians are considering a lawsuit to stop the development. Spencer Boardman, TVA's manager for watershed operations and special projects, said the utility "consulted with the Native Americans and fulfilled all our obligations." Tom Kunesh of the Sacred Little Cedar Mountain Defense Coalition has said there are "significant Native American remains" on the land. Thornton said he has been focused on protecting Indian artifacts and the environment. An archaeological study that he funded showed the island he swapped to TVA to be much more historically valuable than the 578-acre tract. The Tennessee Wildlife Federation, the Tennessee River Gorge Trust supported the swap, due partly to the 2-for-1 acreage return for TVA. Gov. Phil Bredesen urged TVA to approve the swap in a May 2005 letter, months after his campaign account received $2,500 from Thornton. Thornton, whose $1 million donation to University of Tennessee athletic programs won him the opportunity to run into Neyland Stadium with the football team one game day, said construction would begin shortly after the transaction closes in 120 days and will create about 150 permanent jobs. Lots will sell for between $60,000 and several hundred thousand dollars, he said. Marion County school superintendent Fred Taylor supported the deal. "It basically doubles the property value of the county," Taylor said, and could mean as much as an additional $4 million annually for schools. "That doesn't include the sales tax," he said. To close the deal, Thornton's Nickajack Shores LLC development group must pay TVA $7.2 million to cover fair market value, mitigation fees and the federal utility's administrative costs. TVA officials said the only other potential bidder for the property did not meet requirements. TVA, which supplies electricity to 8.5 million residential customers in Tennessee and parts of Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia, owns more than 200,000 acres of shoreline along the Tennessee River system - much of it acquired using eminent domain powers. John E. Webb of Gainesville, Ga., whose father was forced to sell his 110-acre Tennessee River farm for the building of Nickajack Lake, declined comment about the auction, saying it wouldn't do any good. "With the simple stroke of a pen, my father's farm was gone, completely against his will," Webb said in an October letter to TVA opposing the land swap. Copyright c. 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 2006 Maryville Daily Times. --------- "RE: Indians' removal focus of History Series" --------- Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2006 08:54:43 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="POTAWATOMI REMOVAL TO PLAINS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/news-16/1141057243129080.xml&coll=7 Indians' removal from area is focus of history series By Chris Meehan cmeehan@kalamazoogazette.com 388-8412 February 27, 2006 Imagine being hunted down, captured and forced to join a group of people being led on foot from the woods of southwestern Michigan to the prairie lands of Iowa or Kansas. This is exactly what happened in the late 1830s to scores of Potawatomi Indians who had been living for hundreds of years in what is now the Kalamazoo area, says Tom Dietz, president of the Kalamazoo County Historical Society. "The U.S. Army sent out units to track down individuals who were hiding out in swamps and forests," said Dietz. Dietz will discuss the removal of the Potawatomi from southwestern Michigan starting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at the Portage District Library. His presentation will be part of the local historical society's monthly series of programs. The decision to address the governmental policy of removal arose out of the recent controversy surrounding a sculpture in Kalamazoo's Bronson Park that depicts an American Indian kneeling before a white settler. Several residents of American Indian heritage called on Kalamazoo city officials late last year to remove the statue, which is part of the Iannelli Fountain in the downtown park. One woman called the statue "a monument to the injustice and humiliation" of Kalamazoo's earliest settlers. As officials study the issue, questions have come up about the forced removal of area Indians, Dietz said. A common misunderstanding, he said, is that the Indians were rounded up in one group in 1840 and sent by train to land west of the Mississippi River. Trains didn't start running in Kalamazoo until the mid-1840s, meaning they had to walk west under Army guard, said Dietz, curator of research for the Kalamazoo Valley Museum. The removal of Indians from this area stemmed from a policy instituted by President Andrew Jackson, who wanted to clear land for white settlers. Many of the Indians left the area, joining tribes elsewhere, or - as is the case with Gun Lake Band of Potawatomi Indians - found shelter under the auspices of a Christian missionary. In the case of the Gun Lake tribe, they moved to a mission in Bradley, near where the group hopes to build a casino. "Of all of the removals, about 2,000 actually were removed from Michigan," Dietz said. Copyright c. 2006 MLive.com. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Capitol honors slain American Indian" --------- Date: Fri, 3 Mar 2006 08:33:13 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="APOLOGY FOR 1884 LYNCHING" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.theolympian.com/20060302/NEWS0402/60302018/1018 Capitol honors slain American Indian 1884 lynching of boy called an injustice By RACHEL LA CORTE The Associated Press March 2, 2006 Beating drums and deep resonant chants calling for unity and healing echoed in Washington state's Capitol on Wednesday in remembrance of a 14- year-old American Indian boy lynched 120 years ago just across the border in Canada by a Washington Territory mob. The healing circle in the rotunda followed the presentation of a resolution on the state Senate floor to one of several grand chiefs of the Sto:lo Nation, the Canadian tribe of the slain boy, Louie Sam. "Through this resolution, the Senate joins its peers in the government of British Columbia, acknowledging the unfortunate historical injustice to Louie Sam and the proud Sto:lo people," Lt. Gov. Brad Owen said before handing the resolution to Grand Chief Clarence Pennier. "It is meant to further ensure that such a tragedy will never be forgotten, nor repeated." Pennier, who received a standing ovation, thanked the senators for the resolution, which was passed Monday night. The House passed a similar resolution later Wednesday afternoon. "On behalf of the Sto:lo ... I want to lift up my hands to you and thank you," said Pennier, wearing a tribal blanket and a woven cedar headpiece with mountain goat woven braids. The resolution is not a formal apology from Washington state, which did not become a state for another five years, in 1889. Following the resolution, members of the Sto:lo (STAH-lo) Nation, as well as members of the Quileute and Makah tribes from Washington state, joined in the healing circle in the rotunda. Sto:lo Grand Chief Doug Kelly's voice boomed off the marble walls as he called for unity and honored the work that was done by the Legislature. "Things happen when they are meant to happen," he said after the ceremony. "What we had a chance to do here is to express a bit of celebration, express prayers, honor songs and welcome songs to one another." Sam had been accused of killing a shopkeeper in Nooksack, in what is now Whatcom County. More than a century later, Owen and others said there was convincing evidence the boy had nothing to do with the killing and was framed. Owen said he first learned about Sam in September, while attending a Government House reception in Victoria, British Columbia. Owen's counterpart, British Columbia Lt. Gov. Iona Campagnolo, recounted the lynching in a speech. Owen's staff enlisted two historians, one of them Keith Thor Carlson from the University of Saskatchewan, to help with wording the legislative resolution. Carlson, a former historian for the Sto:lo Nation, has researched the Sam case for more than a decade and is writing a book about it. Using government archives, Carlson has reconstructed the events leading up to the lynching and the futile efforts by British Columbia to bring the mob leaders to justice. Sam lived just north of the U.S.-Canadian border in a small Sto:lo community near what is now the border town of Sumas, Wash. He had been offered a job south of the border, but when he got there he found there wasn't any work, Carlson said. The night Sam headed back home, storekeeper James Bell was killed and his store set afire. Sam was accused by two local men. Sto:lo leaders turned the boy over to provincial police, believing he would be treated fairly. But between 65 and 120 vigilantes seized Sam at the homestead where he was being held by a deputized British Columbia constable. His body was found later, hanging from a tree just north of the border. Carlson said the lynching nearly sparked a cross-border race war, with some members of the tribe arguing that 120 Americans should be killed, or that one American should be kidnapped and lynched from the same tree Sam was. To keep the peace, the B.C. government sent two undercover officers south, posing as laborers. They returned with statements from witnesses that implicated two Washington men, including the man who recruited Sam for the nonexistent job and later took over Bell's business. The other man married Bell's widow. Carlson's research was made into a documentary, "The Lynching of Louie Sam." Dalton Silver, Chief of the Sema:th (SEA-muth) First Nation and a relative of Sam's, said he was searching through old letters and came upon stories about Sam's death. He learned more about the story from his uncle who had heard the tale passed down from his ancestors. "It's an honor to be here," he said. "It's a recognition that's a long time coming." Copyright c. 2006 The Olympian - Knight Ridder. --------- "RE: Bill revising Native Shareholder rules OK'd" --------- Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2006 08:54:43 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="EASIER TO ENROLL NEW SHAREHOLDERS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7244~3255205,00.html Bill revising Native shareholder rules OK'd By SAM BISHOP News-Miner Washington Bureau March 1, 2006 WASHINGTON - The House passed legislation Tuesday that will make it easier for Doyon Ltd. and other Alaska Native corporations to enroll new shareholders. The Senate passed the bill last year. It was introduced by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. The bill now goes to President Bush for his signature. The House passed the bill Tuesday on a voice vote, meaning the positions of individual representatives weren't tallied. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, had introduced similar legislation, but it was Murkowski's bill that passed. The bill will revise the way in which Alaska Native corporations can issue new stock to descendants of original stockholders. The corporations were formed in 1971 to accept land and money from Congress as settlement of aboriginal land claims. Corporations, at present, can only issue new stock to people born since 1971 if a majority of all shareholders approve at a meeting. Since many shareholders are unable to travel from villages to the annual meetings in regional towns or cities, getting a approval to issue stock from a majority of all shareholders has been difficult, Murkowski said. The bill on its way to the president changes the law so new stock can be issued if approved by a majority of votes cast at a general membership meeting. Shareholders who don't attend meetings could still be represented if they give their proxies to people who do attend. Doyon, the 14,000-member regional Native corporation based in Fairbanks, had hoped to put such a question before shareholders at the annual meeting this month, but Congress didn't act soon enough. The question could be considered at next year's meeting. Doyon shareholders in 1992 agreed to give stock to people born by that year. Officials have estimated that about 4,000 people born since 1992 could become shareholders if the offering is approved. Murkowski's proposal has been opposed by some shareholders in Alaska's 13 regional corporations. They have said they don't want to dilute the value of their corporations' existing stock. Washington, D.C., reporter Sam Bishop can be reached at (202) 662-8721 or sbishop@newsminer.com . Copyright c. 2006 MediaNews Group, Inc. and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Inc. --------- "RE: Fisheries Service broadens study on Makah request" --------- Date: Fri, 3 Mar 2006 08:33:13 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MAKAH REQUEST TO RESUME WHALING" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/sited/story/html/231675 Fisheries Service broadens study on Makah request to resume whaling by JIM CASEY March 3, 2006 SEATTLE - The National Marine Fisheries Service will broaden its study of the Makah request to resume whaling by including the tribe's proposed whale quotas under the Whaling Convention Act. The 1949 law makes the United States a member of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling. Since late last year, the fisheries service has been writing an environmental impact statement on the Makah's petition for a waiver from the Marine Mammal Protection Act. To that end, the fisheries service held scoping meetings last October in Neah Bay, Port Angeles, Seattle and Silver Spring, Md. Some participants at those meetings said the tribe must satisfy the dual requirements of the marine mammal act and the whaling law. "We took those comments to heart," Donna Darm, assistant regional administrator for the fisheries service, said Thursday. "It makes more sense to analyze them together. We hope it makes it easier for the public because we are combining all the things we need to consider into one environmental impact statement." "It's a step in the direction of what emerged in the scoping meetings," said Makah Tribal Councilman Micah McCarty. "All of these actions are related. The logic on the Makah side is that this would be a logical step to include it in the environmental impact statement." McCarty said it also would "strengthen the study against scrutiny by the opposition." Copyright c. 2006 Kenai Daily Peninsula, Horvitz Newspapers, Inc. --------- "RE: Media Coverage of Native Americans" --------- Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2006 08:51:37 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LEADERS DISCUSS MEDIA COVERAGE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://news.yahoo.com//tribal_leaders__legislators__journalists Tribal Leaders, Legislators, Journalists, Religious Organizations Discuss Media Coverage of Native Americans March 1, 2006 Tribal leaders, members of Congress, journalists, scholars, and religious leaders will gather in Washington, March 2 through March 3, for the conference, "Hear Our Story: Communications and Contemporary Native Americans." Native and non-Native leaders will discuss the contemporary situation of American Indians and explore ways to overcome invisibility and to challenge distorted depictions of indigenous people in the United States. "The focus on lobby scandals and gambling has almost drowned out all other coverage of Native Americans in the United States today," explained Pat Power, director of the Native American Program at the Friends Committee on National Legislation, the Quaker organization that is coordinating the conference. "We hope this event will provide the journalists, legislators, and others who attend with a first-hand view of the reality of Native American life today." Leaders of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), Native American service organizations, and journalists from Native American media will share facts, stories, and successes from the Native American experience with political leaders, journalists, and leaders of faith-based organizations. This unique event will provide an opportunity to talk about the collective Native American experience today and share personal and professional stories. Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, Sen. Daniel Inouye (news, bio, voting record) (Hawaii), and key congressional staffers will also be participating. Faith-based organizations, among others, are sponsoring this symposium to provide an opportunity for Native Americans to give their diverse, but strong perspectives on the media and on controversial subjects. The day-and-a-half symposium has attracted national attention. Almost every Native-owned and operated print and broadcast organization has praised and publicized the event. Among the speakers are a Native philosopher and thinker of the first rank (John Mohawk), a Native journalist who is editorial page editor of a mainstream newspaper (Mark Trahant) and the only Native American member of Congress (Rep. Tom Cole (news, bio, voting record)), but also the President of the Center for Media and Public Affairs known for its content analysis studies (Robert Lichter) and key speakers from Capitol Hill. Full program and details at http://www.fcnl.org/nativeam/media_symp.htm -- http://www.usnewswire.com/ Copyright c. 2006 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/ --------- "RE: Editorial: Racism behind proposal for new County" --------- Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2006 08:31:08 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PROPOSAL MIGHTY WHITE OF CHARLES MIX COMMISSION" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.argusleader.com/20060228/OPINION01/602280307/1052 A divisive proposal Idea to split Charles Mix County, after court ruling on Indian voting, smacks of racism February 28, 2006 Divide Charles Mix County? Because of racism? No. There might be good reasons to look around our state and consider reconfiguring some of our counties - merging, taking a piece of one and adding it to another. But racism isn't one of those good reasons. That seems the basis, though, of petitions circulating that would divide our California-shaped county that borders Nebraska and the Missouri River. The petitions call for taking 11 northern townships - with Platte and Geddes - and creating a new county, Hill County. The southern part - with Lake Andes, Wagner and Marty, headquarters of the Yankton Sioux Tribe - would remain as Charles Mix County. "Basically, as far as I'm concerned (the petition) is coming out of a racist response," said Charon Asetoyer, executive director of the Native American Women's Health Education Resource Center in Lake Andes. It's difficult to view this in any other way. The border of the new counties would coincide with where Charles Mix borders the Yankton Sioux Reservation. And the petitions come only a few months after U.S. District Judge Lawrence Piersol ruled that the three county commissioner districts are unconstitutional because there's too large a deviation in population. In other words, the districts effectively keep Native Americans out of the political process. Charles Mix Commissioner Keith Mushitz says a division has been discussed for 10 years. This simply is the first time a petition has been circulated, he said. "We've got a diverse county," Mushitz said. "It's 105 miles from the northwest corner to the southeast corner. There's just different needs at different ends of the county." Platte Mayor John Stekly agreed there are differences. "Our weather here is different and our ideology is different, too, from one end of the county to the other." But split the county? Stekly said that's a stretch. Good. There only are about 10,000 people in all of Charles Mix County, and the last thing we need now in South Dakota is to create two tiny counties. We need to be looking at consolidating our resources, not dividing them. And for racism? Perhaps the worst reason. Charles Mix residents understand what this is all about, even if people behind the petition - who want to remain under the radar - aren't forthcoming publicly. They know it's racism, and that's why they won't be viewed as supporters. "All kinds of people have said they would sign it, but no one will circulate it," Platte Enterprise newspaper editor Ralph Nachtigal said of the petition. This is a foolish endeavor that would be damaging to the county as a whole - and especially its residents. Wouldn't it be simpler just to work together? Copyright c. 2006 ArgusLeader.com All rights reserved. --------- "RE: RICHARD BABB: Fleecing the Indians thrice" --------- Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 08:51:09 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="RICHARD BABB: DoI TRIPLE THEFT" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=213716 RICHARD BABB: Fleecing the Indians thrice Daily Journal February 26, 2006 Unlike Democratic scandals, which historically are straightforwardly lurid matters, Republican turpitude is usually of such giddying complexity that you need a program to tellthe players. Case in point: former high- rolling lobbyist Jack a/k/a, Black Jack or Casino Jack Abramoff. Abramoff, a former president of the College Republicans, recently got five years in the federal slammer for fraud, tax evasion and bribery. Rising to power with the 1994 Republican takeover in Congress, Abramoff propelled himself to the rank of superlobbyist, giving lots of money to members of Congress, which is the time-honored American way of scoring influence in centers of power. But Casino Jack wasn't just giving away money, he was also laundering that money through charities to fund his operations. Abramoff was also plucking another tax-free entity: Indian tribes. The tribes were doling out millions to Abramoff in return for influence on Capitol Hill. Turns out that Abramoff was scamming the Indians - certainly not an American first. For instance, the Mississippi Choctaws paid Casino Jack $15 million, which was promptly diverted to fund an Orthodox Jewish boys school and a sniper workshop for Israeli Defense Forces. The scandal has even ensnared former Christian Coalition director Ralph Reed, who was lobbying against organized gambling in Alabama with money provided by the Mississippi Choctaws gambling holdings. Long tentacles The prodigious tentacles of Abramoff's operation are more convoluted than the leftover entrails from a botched pig autopsy performed by an inebriated first-year vet student. Some pundits are saying that if all is uncovered it will be the biggest congressional scandal in years. Since most of the recipients of Abramoff money are Republican and Republicans now hold every lever of power in the federal government, I wouldn't hold my breath that we will ever get to the bottom of the scandal. And from the "truth is absurd" department, ABC news reported that in the weeks leading up to 9-11, employees of a small Sun Cruz gambling ship owned by Abramoff witnessed some of the 9-11 hijackers enjoying gambling excursions. One of the tentacles yet to be uncovered may yet involve Indians, but not for the cause of gambling. Cobell vs. Norton is a decade-old lawsuit against the Department of Interior in which the plaintiffs claim that Indian interests have been swindled out of perhaps $150 billion by the Department of Interior and oil and gas interests who lease Indian trust land. The Dawes Act, passed in the 19th century, took land given to the Indians and charged the Department of Interior with managing the land on behalf of tribes and individuals. In the law it is called a fiduciary responsibility. Turns out that perhaps the Indians haven't been getting full value from the oil and gas interests who have leased the land. Imagine that. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit have attempted to get at the books of the Department of the Interior to verify the mismanagement of these leases. However, much of the accounting was destroyed. Imagine that. So, plaintiffs are attempting to get an audit of the oil and gas companies to ascertain exactly how much money was involved. The Department of Interior has been fighting this audit hammer and tongs and the process provoked Judge Royce Lambert to cite various officials from the previous and the present administration for contempt. Congress to rescue? The only solution for Interior and the oil and gas interests is for Congress to step in and reach a settlement. This action would terminate the lawsuit and save the oil and gas interests from an independent audit. The audit could produce evidence of massive swindling. Since the Indian tribes are already suffering a public relations problem because of the Abramoff scandal, Congress may be provided with enough cover to give a lowball settlement to Indians. And while at this point there appears to be no direct connection between Casino Jack and the enforcement of a settlement by Congress, the irony is that the Indians may end up being hoo-dooed thrice by the fallen lobbyist. The Indians lose their money to Jack. They don't get what they paid for. And the resulting publicity of the Abramoff scandal may allow Congress to stop an audit of oil and gas companies by settling a case which goes back decades. A triple play. Speaking of triple plays, Thad, Trent and Roger have all been the recipient of some Abramoff money, but that may not be as important as seeing how they vote on whether to settle this lawsuit. Here's why: If Congress intervenes and passes a lowball settlement, it will be proof abundant of who Congress truly represents: the swindler (oil and gas), not the swindled (Indians). An estimated $150 billion is in play. As all of us continue to pay more to heat our homes and run our cars, and as energy interests enjoy record profits, we would do well to see which side our Congress favors. Richard Babb is an attorney in Ripley. He may be reached at rjbabb56@yahoo.com Appeared originally in the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. Copyright c. 2004 djournal.com, Tupelo, Mississippi. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: YELLOW BIRD: Cursing gambling, blessing bars" --------- Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 08:51:09 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YELLOW BIRD: COMPARING GAMBLING VENUES" http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/columnists/13961462.htm DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: Cursing gambling, blessing bars February 25, 2006 Eight Nebraska meat-processing plant workers shared in a $365 million Powerball jackpot last weekend; they'll each get about $15.5 million after taxes. And North Dakota players shared in some big prizes, too, including A $200,000 Powerball win. There was joy and jubilation on the prairies. I began thinking about gambling and the casino issue after conversations with friends about what we would do with $15.5 million. More important, we also thought there was a two-faced view about charity gambling and Indian gaming. I wonder: When Powerball winnings make headlines, do casual gamblers who buy lottery tickets and/or play bar bingo see these games as somehow "less gambling" than the proposed Turtle Mountain casino? Charitable gambling is a way to help people in our communities who need assistance. The Turtle Mountain tribe is less fortunate than other tribes in the state, including my own the Three Affiliated Tribes of New Town, N.D. The main reason, of course, is location. I am lukewarm about a casino in Grand Forks because I question the demand for one here. But I certainly don't question Turtle Mountain's need to help its community and understand the tribe's need to open a facility in or near a bigger market. The tribe was dealt short in this case. Location and access are the keys to making profits in the billions. Take, for example, the Mashantucket Pequots casino in Connecticut, the six New York casinos or the 19 California resorts located near big cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco. Small reservations with small memberships run these, but the profits are in the billions. When you compare profits, Turtle Mountain is a drop of dew on a flower compared to Mashantucket Pequot casinos' Niagara Falls. I also have my own "reservations" about casinos and our Indian nations that have turned into gambling moguls. Casinos are sprouting too fast nationwide. There must be a saturation point. When will there be too many casinos, and when will we become a nation of gamblers? Still, I question the rationale of some of the opponents of the Turtle Mountain casino. Is it a moral issue because the casino could bring prostitution and mob behavior to our city? Just across the river, East Grand Forks used to have 48 bars and several houses of "ill-repute," plus gambling. That's a fact of history. Things changed, of course. The number of bars dropped dramatically, gambling just about disappeared, and those "houses" no longer exist. Even so, bars, saloons and taverns in North Dakota and Minnesota alike haven't lost their popularity. Yet somehow, drinking has become more "moral" than gambling. I think about the alcohol abuse that causes so many car accidents and deaths, as well as the fights and injuries in and near saloons. Too much booze also is a cause of family breakups as well as child and spouse abuse. So it seems the conflict is between death and injury as a result of alcohol abuse or empty pockets as a result of gambling. It is profits for the bar owners versus profits for the casino owners in this case, the humble Turtle Mountain tribe. I am lukewarm about casinos, yes. But I question the perspective of those who circulate petitions opposing a Turtle Mountain casino but don't say a word about the lottery, bingo or all of our bars, saloons and taverns. ---- Dorreen Yellow Bird's column appears Tuesday and Saturday. Reach her at (701) 780-1228 or dyellowbird@gfherald.com Copyright c. 2006 Grand Forks Herald/Grand Forks, ND. --------- "RE: Indigenous Lands help protect Amazon Forests" --------- Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2006 08:51:37 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PEOPLE OF AMAZON PROTECT AMAZON" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/02/0228_060228_amazon_2.html Indigenous Lands Help Protect Amazon Forests, Study Finds Scott Norris for National Geographic News February 28, 2006 While deforestation in the Amazon continues at a rapid pace, a recent study sounds a hopeful note. Reserve areas established for Indian peoples in Brazil (map) are as effective as uninhabited nature parks in preventing burning and clear- cutting, the study finds. An international team of researchers tested a longstanding assumption: that land in uninhabited parks is better protected than that in reserves with human populations. The scientists used satellite data taken from 1997 to 2000 to compare rates of fire and deforestation inside and outside the boundaries of different reserve types. Only protected areas larger than 25,000 acres (10, 100 hectares) were included in the analysis. In the February issue of the journal Conservation Biology, the researchers report that reserves of all types are providing significant Amazon forest protection, but tribal lands may be especially important to preventing region-wide deforestation. "Many indigenous groups are very well organized, and they are also willing to use force to defend their lands," said Daniel Nepstad of the Woods Hole Research Center in Falmouth, Massachusetts, who led the study. In the Line of Fire The study confirms new thinking about conservation priorities in the Amazon. In the past, efforts have focused largely on protecting isolated areas with little human presence. Nepstad and others argue that while establishing parks in inaccessible regions is important, that alone doesn't slow deforestation where it most commonly occurs: along the forest's retreating edge. In fact, it is the proximity of many indigenous lands to Brazil's advancing agricultural frontier that makes them so important, conservationists say. The front line of deforestation in the Amazon has been moving into the forest from the south and east, leaving soybean fields and pastureland in its wake. But in the states of Para' and Mato Grosso, that march of destruction has been halted by a vast complex of indigenous lands occupied by the Kayapo and Xingu peoples. The protective barrier created by these tribal lands is enormous-two and half times larger than the country of Costa Rica. Here, study findings confirm what is visible to the naked eye from satellite maps. "Where indigenous land in the Amazon starts is where the frontier stops, " said Stephan Schwartzman, an anthropologist with New York-based nonprofit Environmental Defense and a co-author of the study. The study did not examine how protected areas with human populations- including indigenous lands and national forests-maintain aspects of environmental health other than standing forest. In some parts of the Amazon, gold mining, selective logging, and illegal hunting have caused extensive damage. But these threats are less severe in many indigenous territories, where tribal groups guard against outside intrusions. "Logging and hunting aren't trivial, but I'd far rather have these kinds of impacts than have lands with little or no forest at all," said William Laurance, a staff scientist with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Manaus, Brazil. "Despite often being under staggering pressures, the indigenous lands are doing a pretty good job of protecting the Amazon," Laurance said. New Alliances By demonstrating such protection, the new study underscores the value of strategic alliances among conservationists, indigenous tribes, and other rural land users. Such alliances have helped tribes like the Kayapo gain official recognition of reserve areas and aided them in enforcing bans on forest clearing and other illegal activities. Study co-author Paul Lefebvre, a research associate at the Woods Hole Research Center, says a number of groups share a common interest in maintaining the forest. "There are some who still argue that you need to put up fences and keep people out to protect the forest," Lefebvre said. "What we're seeing now is that by keeping the people there, you can actually enhance protection." After proceeding at a record rate from 2002 to 2004, Amazon deforestation slowed a bit in 2005. While falling prices of commodities found in the region are thought to be partly responsible, new reserves and improved enforcement also played a role. Last year the Brazilian government created nearly 20,000 square miles (51,800 square kilometers) of new sustainable-use reserves north of Kayapo lands. These reserves create a formidable new barrier to frontier expansion, and alongside other reserves they form a nearly continuous protected zone over 90,000 square miles (233,000 square kilometers). "The alliance between conservation and indigenous groups has now extended to 'smallholder' organizations," Nepstad said, referring to groups of small-scale farmers and forest users whose advocacy helped lead to the new protected areas. "They are, in one respect, the Amazon's new conservationists," Nepstad said. With additional new reserves planned over the coming years, more than 40 percent of the Brazilian Amazon forest will have some protected status. "This is cause for optimism," Nepstad said, "but reserves will not be enough. We also must harness market pressures on large-scale ranchers and soybean farmers to improve their environmental performance." Copyright c. 1996-2006 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Handley grilled by N.W.T. Native Leaders" --------- Date: Fri, 3 Mar 2006 08:33:13 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="N.W.T. PREMIER GRILLED" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.cbc.ca/north/story/handley-afn-03032006.html?ref=rss Handley grilled by N.W.T. native leaders CBC News March 3, 2006 Northwest Territories Premier Joe Handley received a rough reception at the regional Assembly of First Nations meeting in N'Dilo, N.W.T., on Thursday, with a number of chiefs taking shots at the territorial government and its priorities in dealing with aboriginal people. Imperial boss feels the heat The head of Imperial's Mackenzie Valley Gas Project, Randy Ottenbrite, told N.W.T. chiefs the proposed $7-billion pipeline is well on its way to become a reality. But Chief Kenya Norwegian demanded to know how he could say that when the company has yet make an acceptable offer for access to Dehcho lands. "My concern is you are moving forward and not respecting us as the Dene people of the land," she said. "Those are the things that should have been priorities - making sure you have access to people's lands before you spend millions of dollars on joint review panels and environmental assessements." Ottenbrite refused to discuss the issue, suggesting Norwegian raise her concerns at the Joint Review Panel public hearings. "My sense is that that discussion is best left not at this particular forum but thank you for your comments," he said. Grand Chief of the Dene Nation Noeline Villebrun says the Dene have good reason to distrust promises of fair treatment "There was an agreement 106 years ago that we would share the land and resources and Dene people have lived up to that agreement but the government and Industry has not," she said. Ottenbrite told the Chiefs that several access agreements have been successfully reached in other regions and negotiations with the Deh Cho are on-going. Handley updated the regional AFN chiefs on the status of agreements, such as resource revenue sharing and devolution. But a number of chiefs wanted to talk about other issues. "Your government talks about resources and revenue and devolution and so forth, but I think sometimes your government forgets whose land this really is," said Lidlii Kue Chief Keyna Norwegian. "Who are the people that lived here before the territorial government was even set up?" Norwegian also accused the premier of undermining Dehcho efforst to cut a deal with Imperial Oil over pipeline benefits and access. She asked Joe Handley why there was no mention of the need for agreements with aboriginal people in a "letter of comfort" he sent to the Mackenzie Gas Project last fall. The letter assured Imperial that royalty rates and taxes are not likely to increase should a devolution agreement be reached with Ottawa. "Your letter didn't help us at all, it just supported them and it kind of gave them a feeling that there was no need for or urgency to really sign or negotiate proper access and benefits," she said. But Handley says the letter only dealt with issues controlled by the territorial government, and access agreements are privately signed between aboriginal organizations and the pipeline proponent. The Dehcho people have been unable to reach an agreement with Imperial Oil on an access and benefits agreement for the pipeline project (see sidebar). Settle land claims, chief urges Dettah Chief Peter Liske of the Yellowknives Dene says Handley's government should focus on settling unresolved land claims. "If we resolve the Akaitcho process, I think devolution and resource revenue will happen," he says. "And if he concentrated on Dehcho, he wouldn't be having any problems with Mackenzie Valley pipeline." Handley says his government is elected by all people in the territory, not just aboriginals. "We are very much a public government and try to represent everyone and try to achieve that balance," said Handley in response to the criticism. "Sometimes it's very difficult to achieve it but it is a balance that we have to continue to deal with every day." Handley says he will sit down with leaders to further discuss their concerns sometime Friday. Copyright c. CBC 2006. --------- "RE: Community gets Cultural Funding" --------- Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 08:50:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WIKWEMIKONG UNCEDED RESERVE GETS CULTURAL FUNDING" http://www.ammsa.com/birchbark/birchbark-Jan1-2006.html Community gets cultural funding By Cheryl Petten, Birchbark Writer, Wikwemikong January 2006 Members of cultural organizations on Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve will be able to spend less time trying to raise funds and more time planning and holding events in 2006, thanks to funding from Canadian Heritage. The money-a maximum of $500,000 according to the press release from Canadian Heritage-comes along with the community's designation as one of five Cultural Capitals of Canada for 2006 and is to be used to fund cultural and artistic activities. Doris Peltier is program manager of the Wikwemikong Heritage Organization (WHO), the organization that submitted the winning application to Canadian Heritage. Peltier stressed that putting together the application was a team effort, with a number of community organizations contributing. That same team effort will be present throughout the year as each of funded activities takes place. Some of the funding will be spent on the community's annual cultural festival, which celebrates its 46th anniversary in 2006. The festival, scheduled to be held Aug. 5 to 7, will not only provide a showcase for the songs, dances, arts and culture of the Anishnabe people, but will also feature exhibitions of Inuit culture. "We'll be doing Inuit dance and drum demonstrations and will also be providing Inuit traditional games as workshops to the youth of the community." Organizers of the festival try to feature different cultures in the event each year, Peltier said. "I think it helps provide not only the visitors to the community, but our community members, with the option to see different cultures that might not be accessible to get to." A seven-week cultural awareness conference is also planned, scheduled to run from June 21 to Aug. 4. There will be a different theme for each week of the conference, based on the Seven Grandfather Teachings-love, respect, humility, bravery, honesty, truth and wisdom. "We'll start off with lodge building, and hopefully once the lodge is completely covered, that's where we will conduct most of our workshops," Peltier said. "The Seven Grandfather Teachings workshops will be done within that teaching lodge, as well as talking about the seven clans-the origins of the clans, the different clans-so that people can come in and begin to understand what their clan is and what their responsibilities are." The conference will also teach participants about moccasin making, traditional dance, traditional arts, harvesting of wild plants and traditional cooking. The Wikwemikong Agricultural Society will be hosting a rodeo as a way of recognizing the important role agriculture played in the history of the community, Peltier said. In addition to the rodeo events themselves, there will also be opportunities for people to learn more about that agricultural tradition. "They will be having information booths set up and talking about 4-H and how we want to bring that back to the community, and things like that." Wikwemikong artists will also take part in commemorating the Cultural Capital of Canada designation by hosting an art show. Currently these are the only events in the works, but Peltier is hopeful the funding from Canadian Heritage will allow the community to organize even more cultural and artistic events throughout 2006. To keep track of any new events or activities added to the schedule, she advises people to check in periodically on the WHO Web site at www.wikwemikongheritage.org. The other cultural capitals of Canada for 2006 include Saskatoon, which will receive up to $2 million, St. John's, which will receive up to $750, 000 in funding, and Saint-Joseph-de Beauce, Que. and the District of West Vancouver, B.C., which will each receive a maximum contribution of $500, 000. The 2006 cultural capitals of Canada were selected by an advisory committee comprised of representatives of the 2005 cultural capitals of Canada- Algonquins of Pikwakanagan, Ont., Toronto, Victoria, Annapolis Royal, N.S. and Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Que. Copyright c. 2006 Ontario Birchbark, AMMSA, Aboriginal Multi-Media Society. --------- "RE: Spiritual leaders seek Peace Center" --------- Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 08:51:09 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PEACE CENTER SOUGHT" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?feature=yes&id=1096412539 Spiritual leaders seek peace center by: Jim Adams / Indian Country Today February 24, 2006 OTTAWA - According to writers on architecture, Douglas Cardinal's mentors are giants in the field like Frank Lloyd Wright and Antonio Gaudi. But Cardinal himself said his guides are elders like Ermineskin Band Cree Chief Robert Smallboy and, now, William Commanda. "He's a teacher to me," Cardinal said of Commanda, 92, widely known as the "grandfather of the Algonquins." The partnership between the world-famous architect and Commanda, keeper of three wampum belts, is taking concrete form in plans for an indigenous center on Victoria Island, unceded Algonquin land in the river that flows through Ottawa. Cardinal has drafted plans for the center, which has support from the National Capital Commission but is still up in the air because of the Canadian government's recent change. The center is Commanda's vision for an inclusive meeting place for indigenous people that would advance harmony with all races. In an invitation to a gathering of nations pipe ceremony on the site last year, he wrote: "My people have been crushed for a long time and sometimes it seems like we beg for crumbs and acknowledgement at a table where the world seeks its place. We see churches, cathedrals, synagogues, temples and mosques reflecting the great diversity of cultures here, but there is still no place where indigenous peoples can gather together in the spirit of unity that used to mark our heritage." The proposed site on the eastern part of Victoria Island overlooks what used to be the Great Kettle, a giant whirlpool generated by the Chaudiere Rapids before the river was dammed. "It was the power center," said Cardinal, "the place where all the Algonquin chiefs would meet and plan their future." Cardinal said the Algonquins never signed away the land on which Ottawa is built, and as a matter of addressing their land claims they want to preserve their legacy on Victoria Island. He has designed a layout on the eastern point featuring Commanda's vision of an international peace center. Commanda pressed the plans last year in a personal address to former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, but he recently complained that progress has been slow and that the government itself seems unsure about which department should be responding to him. Nonetheless, the vision is gaining attention as Commanda, Cardinal and other aboriginal leaders embrace and promote the concept. "Douglas has the ability to cultivate support from leading Canadian business people, academics and progressive government leaders," said Larry McDermott, an Algonquin who is also active in national municipal affairs as the mayor of Lanark Highlands. McDermott sees the development of the indigenous center as a fitting symbol of aboriginal perseverance. Copyright c. 1998-2006 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Conservatives off to poor Aboriginal Policy start" --------- Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2006 08:54:43 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CONSERVATIVES TRUE ATTITUDE SHOWING EARLY" http://www.manitobadrum.com/story_2006_02_28_conservatives.html Conservatives off to poor start on Aboriginal policy Editorial by James Wastasecoot March 1, 2006 The conservatives had an opportunity during the election campaign to demonstrate to Aboriginal peoples and their leaders that, under a Harper government, the issues of most concern to them would be dealt with respectfully and with an even hand across all the various groups and categories of "peoples" that make up a crowded and admittedly difficult portfolio. But they blew the chance and, instead of getting off to a good start as the new minority government, they have acted in a manner that raises questions about their honesty and their true motives behind their commitments to Aboriginal peoples. The AFN is the official political umbrella of First Nation leaders, the Chiefs. The AFN National Chief is elected by the Chiefs of the approximately 630 First Nations across Canada. (For years, various leaders, Fontaine included, have paid lip service to the idea of a wider mandate by including First Nations citizens in the vote, but like a lot of things that are left to the leaders circle alone, the promise is quickly forgotten after the election of the National Chief..) Over the years, the exclusion (perceived or real, it doesn't matter) of off -reserve Indians, women and Indians who have lost their status for various reasons, from the AFN political process, has led to the emergence of Aboriginal organizations who have laid claim to represent or advocate on behalf of these groups. As a result, the stage is now crowded with players who all say they represent "Aboriginal peoples" of some form or other and there isn't always agreement about who represents who. This is particularly the case with the AFN and the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP). The AFN says "Indians" have portability of their treaty and Aboriginal rights and remain citizens of their nations when they move off the reserve. Off reserve are therefore included in the AFN umbrella. CAP says they represent off-reserve because the AFN and its affiliates across the country have largely "forgotten" them. CAP also represents the cause of non-status Indians and Me'tis. However, CAP does not purport to speak for on-reserve Indians. During the campaign, both the CAP and AFN leaders sent letters to the party leaders making legitimate inquiries on where the parties stood on various issues. The party leaders responded to both organizations. Who knows what really went on behind the scenes, but CAP, based on the Conservative reply, straight away endorsed Stephen Harper as the man who could best deliver the goods their constituents need to improve their lot in Canada. Fontaine chose to remain neutral but is perceived to have close Liberal ties. He was not pleased, to say the least, with the reply from the Conservatives. Not only was Harper all but saying no to the $5.1 billion Kelowna deal hammered out with First Ministers under the Liberals, but he was giving only qualified support to the Residential School Settlement struck by the AFN and the Martin government over the past year. And then to rub salt in the wound caused by these setbacks, the Conservatives, no doubt emboldened by their growing strength in the polls, wanted to signal Fontaine - and Indian people - their true standing in the new regime in Ottawa, should Harper win a now much anticipated majority government. They decided that Fontaine should receive only a general, summary statement of their plans for Indians and Aboriginal peoples. As a result, the letter sent to Fontaine was all of two pages in length. If Fontaine really wanted to know what the Conservatives had in store for First Nations and on-reserve Indians, let him read it in the more detailed, substantive reply sent to their rival, CAP. That letter was eight pages in length. It was in the CAP l