_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 14, ISSUE 017 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 April 29, 2006 Passamaquoddy Ponatom/spring moon Abenaki Sogalikas/sugar maker moon Mohawk Onerahtokha/budding time 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; American Indian Justive, Rez_Life, Frostys AmerIndian, Chiapas95-En, Indian Heritage-L, NetRez-L and Metis Mailing Lists; UUCP Mail IMPORTANT!! ----------- In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, all material appearing in this newsletter is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for educational purposes. <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters who share our Spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the Red Road. ++ It may be subscribed to via email by sending a request from your own internet addressable account to gars@speakeasy.org ++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org <================<<<< >>>>================> +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + | As historian Patricia Nelson | | Once a language is lost, it is | | Limerick summarized in "The | | gone forever | | Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken | | * Of the 300 original Native | | Past of the American West... | | languages in North America, | | "Set the blood quantum at | | only 175 exist today. | | one-quarter, hold to it as a | | * 125 of these are no longer | | rigid definition of Indians, | | learned by children. | | let intermarriage proceed as | | * 55 are spoken by 1 to 6 elders;| | it had for centuries, and | | when they die, their language | | eventually Indians will be | | will disappear. | | defined out of existence." | | * Without action, only 20 | | "When that happens, the federal | | languages will survive the next| | government will be freed of | | 50 years. | | its persistent 'Indian problem.'"| | Source: Indigenous Language | +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ | Institute | |http://www.indigenous-language.org| This issue's Quote: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + =================== "Not one Indian nation has been contacted on how to protect the border, or how to control undocumented people coming onto their lands." "Our leaders are our ceremonial people. The tribal governments cannot be too pushy with the United States government. They can't take a radical stance because the United States could create sanctions against them; the elected tribal officials operate under the mandates of the BIA." __ Jose Matus, Yaqui, Director of the Indigenous Alliance Without Borders +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! Mohawk are being attacked by Ontario Provencial Police in a manner hauntingly reminiscent of the 1995 attacks at Ipperwash Park that resulted in the death of Dudley George. Understand this - the Mohawk are protesting a housing construction site on unceeded Mohawk Territory. The Ontario Government argues otherwise, but cannot prove the land was ever ceeded. This is very similar to the blatant disregard for Mohawk Territory that lead to the Oka Crisis in 1990. The Mohawks and other Native Peoples who came to Caledonia to support the Mohawks will not back down. This is Mohawk Territory. There is no reason to respond to the court order to vacate the property except to appease the dominant society - and we have all seen what that gets you... Another beating or theft. Every person reading this editorial needs to stand with the Mohawk. 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 ----------- - Battling HIV/AIDS and Suicide - Sixteen arrested in Police raid among Native Youth on Native Protest - Bear Butte update - Natives block Rail Line - Cobell Trust Case - Six Nations: enters critical phase 'They've started a war!' - Indian Programs to take a hit - Canadian Natives vow in Bush Budget to press Land Protest - Tribe works to have - NYM: Stop Attacks Johnson-O'Malley restored on Native Peoples - Rights vs. Rights of Way - B.C. and First Nations - Osages sue Oklahoma choose Cooperation - Pawnee Soldier - Teen dies at School seriously injured in Iraq bombing - Probe of Student's Suicide - Students dropped continues from local Test Reports - Murder charge filed - GIAGO: Saving Indian Children in 2003 Meth Lab Fire in here and now - Ex-cop sentenced for Murder - YELLOW BIRD: of Alaska Native Woman The Queen of the Drive-Inn - Native Prisoner - Indigenous caught -- Prisoners sue for right in Web of Border Policies to use Sweat Lodge - Rising Tide in Mexico - History: Carlisle Indian School - Marcos asks the People to - Rustywire: Macheveant Listen to Each Other - Spiritdove Poem: Whale Dream - Water Level drops - Red Nation Web TV Channel near threatened First Nation - Upcoming Events - Occupation to stop outside construction --------- "RE: Battling HIV/AIDS and Suicide among Native Youth" --------- Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2006 08:43:08 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HIV, AIDS, SUICIDE" http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=7765 Battling HIV/AIDS and suicide among Native youth Teens invited to Pawnee fundraiser, Indian child welfare group encourages health awareness day Sam Lewin April 17, 2006 Events taking place in the next month aim to spotlight to two issues that health officials say do not get enough attention in Indian Country: HIV and AIDS and teen suicide. In Pawnee an HIV/AIDS prevention group is hosting a "BUH" session. BUH stands for Battling stigma Uniting Indian youth against HIV/AIDS. "We're going to get the word on HIV/AIDS prevention out to our children," said June Hamilton, committee organizer for PANI HOPE, the organization sponsoring the event. The BUH takes place Saturday, May 6, at the Pawnee Multi-Purpose room. The event is replete with cultural performances, including the Riverside Apache Fire Dancers. Officials say they will give a cash prize to the family that comes costumed in the most traditional dress. Students from boarding schools Riverside Indian School in Anadarko and Sequoyah High School in Tahlequah are also slated to attend. For more information call Hamilton at (918) 762-2193. The Pawnee event takes place about a month after the United Methodist Native American International Caucus and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention held what is believed to be the first-ever national conference for Native youth addressing AIDS and HIV awareness and prevention. "If one youth becomes HIV infected, it puts the whole community at risk," said the Rev. Alvin Deer, the Creek/Kiowa head of the caucus. "We feel that this potential community endangerment is more dangerous to our communities than, say, us worrying whether the bird flu will come to America." Two days after the Pawnee BUH is National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day, May 8. Officials with the National Indian Child Welfare Association, a group with the stated mission of being "dedicated to the well-being of all American Indian children and families," are encouraging tribes to use the day to address the high rate of suicide among Native youngsters. American Indian and Alaska Natives youth have a 2.5 times higher rate of suicide compared with that of other young people, according to a report from Indian Health Service. "I does not have to be this way," said Terry Cross, the Seneca executive director of the association. "Many of the resources need to bring change are within the families and the youths themselves. In every Indian community there are concerned and caring advocates that can and do make a difference, and many tribal communities are taking advantage of a federal grant program to accomplish more positive outcomes for their children." Cross said that over the past decade the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has awarded grants to almost 40 different American Indian and Alaska Native area to improve the lives of youngsters and their families. The association's website is www.nicwa.org, and their number is (503) 222-4044. You can reach Sam Lewin at sam@okit.com Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Bear Butte update" --------- Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 12:23:47 -0400 (Eastern Daylight Time) From: "Kris" Subj: Bear Butte update-Carter Camp Mailing List: Am Ind Justice Mailing List: Rez_Life with everything going on in the Six Nations..we cant forget what is happening here either... please pray for our brothers and sisters at Bear Butte! Bear Butte update-Carter Camp Ah-ho My Relations, Many things have happened since I sent out the last update from the "Intertribal Coalition to Defend Bear Butte" but one thing has overshadowed everything else. Jay Allen HAS BEGUN CONSTRUCTION on the huge, 600 acre, "biker bar/concert venue" only a few hundred yards north of the Sacred Mountain!! We have posted some of the pictures on our web site www.defendbearbutte.org but I warn you they're ugly. He began the construction well before the county granted him the license to sell booze so both he and we knew how the vote would go. Last Tuesday over a thousand Indian people gathered to pray on Bear Butte and march to the Meade County Courthouse to show the County just how serious a step they were taking when they vote to approve the liquor license for Jay Allen. We were led by Treaty Council Chiefs Oliver Red Cloud and Floyd Hand and many other traditional Chiefs and Headsmen. The Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council came to stand with us, as did Councilmembers from Pine Ridge, Rosebud, Cheyenne River and Lower Brule. A group of Akicita, Eagle Staff Carriers, were followed by a group of veterans in camo dress carrying the American Flag and the black MIA flag alongside the Tribal flags. Walking in front of us all in pride and dignity was the 19th generation, "Keeper of the Sacred Pipe Bundle", Chief Arvol Looking Horse. As is always the case as the morning dawned on Tuesday those of us who organized the protest wondered how many people would take time from their weekday schedule and travel from the reservation homelands to stand with us for the sacred mountain. At first the parking lot held a few knots of people standing around talking and shaking hands greeting each other. Then as the ten o'clock starting time came closer more and more cars began to arrive and the lot began to fill. A school bus from Takini pulled in and the energy all around rose. Then up the road came our invited escort of bikers on their big Harleys who had ridden in from Denver. Veterans in their fatigues began to assemble and a speaker system was mounted on Tom Cook's flatbed truck and the drum placed in the middle. Six or eight young men jumped up on the truck to sing an opening prayer song before our honored Sicangu Elder, Lorraine Iron Shell Walking Bull, an honored woman who has been steadfast in her work to defend Bear Butte, offered a prayer to the Mountain for all of us. After the opening prayers I was called upon to explain the recent history of our struggle and how the gathering was organized. As I looked around I was struck by the singular honor that I was being given to speak at such a historic gathering of Indian people. Our people gathered in a large circle as the prayers began so I was able to look into the crowd and recognize strong traditional leaders and Sundance Chiefs like Rick Two Dogs, Wilmer Mesteth, Keith Horse Looking, Russell Eagle Bear and others. (I shouldn't have begun mentioning names because so many were there that my poor memory will fail to mention some notable people like Rocky Afraid of Hawk and his wife Pam who are founding members of the Coalition.) I say these things to tell you how truly awe inspiring the gathering was to me as I stood facing Mato Paha and a thousand brave Indian people who were determined to save our mountain that day. It's hard for me to describe the many inspiring talks were given in front of the mountain that morning. Organizers like Debra White Plume of our Coalition and Owe Aku, Anne White Hat of the BBIA and Sicangu Way of Life spoke for all of us who have spent the past year getting ready for this struggle. Alex White Plume, Vice Chair of the Oglala Lakota Nation spoke of his nations determination to defend the entire Black Hills and the Oglala's willingness to take a stand for Bear Butte. The Thunderhawk drum then sang a special strongheart song for Crazy Horse that Chief Floyd Hand requested before he told the people to stand strong no matter how hard it gets. He told us the entire Teton Nations Treaty Council was behind us and that if we stay together we can win. Then Chief Red Cloud spoke to us about how his Grandfather had fought for the Black Hills and drove the whiteman out of them. He said Mato Paha still belongs to our people and that we must fight for her in the name of our future generations. Then Chief Looking Horse came forward to offer a wonderful prayer to and for Bear Butte and all the red nations. With that the hearts of the people soared and we happily began to get into cars for the caravan to Sturgis. The caravan was led from Bear Butte by our biker allies, followed by a van with our own security men and the flatbed truck with the drum and singers. Following them was a long caravan of cars, pickups, school bus and tribal Elders vans. It was well over a hundred cars and from where I was we could barely hear the drum and singers as we slowly drove into Sturgis. Once in Sturgis we dismounted in the park to march the final eight or ten blocks into town. Now the truck with the drummers went first, then Chief Arvol striding alone in his Headress and Chief's shirt. Behind him were the Eagle Staff Carriers, including me with the Coalition Staff, behind us the veterans marched with the American, Tribal and MIA flags. Then a thousand beautiful people came, the young ones chanting "Save Bear Butte!" "Save Bear Butte!" all the way through town. The route the local cops had planned out for us went down a small side street and only came on the main thoroughfare the final block or so. However my son Poj Camp was in charge of security and he had mapped out a different route:), at the right corner he turned the lead truck left so now the march was going past the Broken Spoke Saloon and turning right down the main drag! At first I could see every cop grab their mics and report what had happened, the lead cops were already going down the sidestreet alone while the Indians were marching right past the B.S.Saloon! Then we turned down the main street and spread out across the entire street instead of one way, I loved it as now we could then march where all of Sturgis had to see us. As we reached our destination the drum began the AIM song and all the women sang in chorus, Chief Looking Horse began to dance and all the Staff Carriers and Flag carriers danced behind him to the steps of the community building where we were to gather. It was a powerful march and as we made our way into the building I could feel the energy and power of my people, all with one mind and united in purpose. After a meal we once again assembled to march the final three blocks up the hill to the courtroom where the hearing would be held. The only difference in the march order was we were led by a Cheyenne River police car manned by two young Lakota policemen who were also sundancers and traditional men. As we began the drums sang warrior songs for us and the women trilled their encouragement to be strong when facing an enemy. Once again Arvol led us up to the courthouse door and we gathered in a large circle around him, dancing with our staffs until the songs were finished then whooping in defiance to let the wasicu know we had arrived. In a way the following hearing was a farce and at the same time a wonderful thing. It was a farce because the outcome was a foregone conclusion. It was wonderful because so many leaders of our people were able to tell the world, on the record, about our Sacred Mountain and what she means to our Nations. Our rally filled the street outside while seventy of our people were able to fit into the crowded auditorium inside. Elders, Chiefs and Tribal leaders explained for over an hour the history of Bear Butte, her place in our beliefs and ceremonies and how the noisy, drunken biker bar would forever destroy the sanctity of the sacred places upon her. Tribe after Tribe, leader after leader gave testimony, we told them how bad the location was for a beer bar and just what the mountain meant to our various Nations. We told them of ten thousand years of peaceful worship that has taken place on Bear Butte and how the spirits and medicine on the mountain would be threatened by the noise and filth of Jay Allen's proposal. It was wonderful to hear. On behalf of the bar a lawyer spoke briefly, a town racist spoke, a bar maid testified that Allen was a good boss and Allen testified that he respected Indians. Based on everything they had heard that day the Meade County Commissioners then voted unanimously to give Jay Allen a liquor license. Not one commissioner had ears. Adding to this alarming development is the fact that the Meade County Commissioners have renewed all the liquor licenses for the other booze and concert venues surrounding Bear Butte. Plus the State legislature refused to even hear the bill introduced by Indian legislators to establish a buffer zone around Bear Butte. Even though we expected these bad developments they are none the less disappointing and show us all that Indian people will not be heard in the normal channels of political discourse in South Dakota. These actions only serve to make it even more vital that the people gather at the time of the "Sturgis Bike Rally" to show America that if they destroy this sacred place, they also destroy we Indians as a people. We must gather to show them that the destruction of our sacred mountain is an act of genocide against the indigenous people of this land just as the destruction of the buffalo was to our Grandparents. If you care to help us please visit our web site www.defendbearbutte.org and sign up for the long hot summer that faces our people. We had one thousand Tuesday, this summer we need ten times that many, I hope you will be one of us. Carter Camp, Inter-Tribal Coalition to Defend Bear Butte Kris "Someone must speak for them. I do not see a delegation for the four footed. I see no seat for Eagles. We forget and we consider ourselves superior, but we are after all, a mere part of the Creation." Oren Lyons, ONONDAGA --------- "RE: Cobell Trust Case enters critical phase" --------- Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2006 08:43:08 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="COBELL CASE" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?feature=yes&id=1096412826 Cobell trust case enters critical phase by: Jerry Reynolds / Indian Country Today April 14, 2006 WASHINGTON - The issues before the court in the Cobell v. Norton class action lawsuit over the Individual Indian Money trust are accounting issues. The plaintiff class has demanded that the government account for deposits and withdrawals for approximately 500,000 accounts over as many as 119 years. The accounts have been established by the federal government for individual Indians over the years. The accounts receive revenue from the lease of property assets - oil, water, land, timber - that are also held in trust for individual Indians by the government. Billions of dollars flow through the accounts annually, depending on economic factors. The government's much-criticized management of the property assets is not before the court in Cobell. Many Indians use their IIM account as a kind of bank, much as a shareholder uses stock dividends: relying on it, with plans to spend it once it comes in. But tales of delays in IIM check issuance are legion. The holders of multiple trust property assets have no way of knowing from lump-sum checks what the separate assets have produced in revenue, masking the lease rates settled on by the government. But again, while the government's mismanagement of trust assets has generated a world of media attention, the issues before the court in Cobell are issues of accounting for balances in the IIM trust. The government and its delegate agency, the Department of Interior, must reform the IIM accounting systems for the future and reconcile its accounting from the past. The past or historical accounting cannot be performed in full because of missing records. The plaintiffs have therefore asked the courts for a restatement of the accounts that would restore a considerable sum to Indian beneficiaries - $27.5 billion if the plaintiffs get their way. An independent accounting firm estimated in 2002 that the government owes IIM account holders between $10 and $40 billion for its mismanagement of the accounts. Legislation now before Congress to settle the accounts may weigh in with a lesser figure, if the warning of one of its sponsors that Indians will be disappointed by a legislated restatement of accounts holds true. For 10 calendar years now, Judge Royce Lamberth of the District of Columbia federal circuit has presided over the case. He has held two Interior secretaries in contempt, ordered a full historical accounting, forbade the statistical accounting methods favored by Interior, ordered the disconnection of Interior computers over security concerns, ordered Interior to notify IIM beneficiaries that the figures recorded in their accounts may not be credible and routinely scolded the government for the conduct of defense attorneys, as well as Interior, for the actions (and inaction) of employees. He has been overturned on appeal on the contempt citations, the order for a historical accounting and the ban on sampling. On April 11 in appeals court, government attorneys argued their motions to reconnect Interior computers, end the notifications and hold Lamberth accountable for his aggressive language - in other words, the government hopes to remove him from the case because his language in court orders and opinions suggests he cannot be impartial. The government made especially much of a passage from a decision in which Lamberth characterized Interior as "the morally and culturally oblivious hand-me-down of a disgracefully racist and imperialist government that should have been buried a century ago." Keith Harper, the Native American Rights Fund attorney who has logged marathon hours on the case, argued that Lamberth's language is simply suitable to the government's conduct in the case. Dismissing the judge would send a message of exoneration for Interior, he added. The court has not established a date for its decision, but Department of Justice attorneys said the government hopes for an urgent disposition of its three motions. Outside the courtroom, following a march to the nearby National Museum of the American Indian, Three Affiliated Tribes Chairman Tex Hall, an IIM account holder, also brought up practical concerns, among them: How can any other judge get up to speed on the long-running case with its many complexities and almost countless documents? "It was real difficult," he said of the hours in court, "and especially the motions to remove a judge. A judge that's been there for 10 years and understands the Cobell case better than ... [any] other legal person in America perhaps. And so I just think it's a bad precedent ... Judge Silberman, you know, kept reading over and over the inflammatory remarks [of Lamberth] on not being impartial [the government's allegation], and then of course Keith Harper got up and I thought did a tremendous job. And being an attorney, and stating they've lost several cases themselves, so it is a balance, he does have balanced decisions ... So again in closing I just thought that Keith just did a wonderful job as being an attorney, but also being an American Indian. When he started using the word 'we' - you know, 'we have been wronged for all this time' - and maybe the judge felt a certain reason because of all of the not complying with the court orders, that he had to use the language that he did." He said if the judge is removed from the case, 10 years of work would be for nothing and litigation would have to begin all over again. "And also there's a piece of legislation ... before Congress. That [Lamberth's removal] could move the dollar figure [of a legislated settlement] a lot further down. There's a tremendous amount of stakes here ... But I'm hopeful. I hope and pray. I hope Indian country does the same. This is a serious time for the case ... Every Indian in America needs to get up on this, this case, because it's coming down to the fourth quarter ... fourth quarter of the game." At the same gathering before the museum, Victoria Graves, an IIM account holder from Oklahoma, said she hopes to see Lamberth retained on the case. She also hopes Congress will pass a legislated settlement, and she's not overly particular about the settlement amount. "I think more importantly I want a healthier future, with mutual respect between governments - government to government. Native Americans' government and the federal government, state and local government ... We need justice for people. We need to set a precedent. We need to make an example of this." At a Center for American Progress forum on Cobell, the case's namesake, lead plaintiff Elouise Cobell, said she supports the legislative settlement effort going forward in Congress. She renewed a call to put Interior's IIM accounts in temporary receivership. "Drastic mismanagement, as in this case, really needs drastic measures to fix ... I'm a banker. I know how financial institutions are fixed. When there's a big problem with financial institutions, they bring in somebody from the outside to fix the system and put the other players on the bench until that is fixed. That's how it's done in the real world." Emphasizing, however, the unreal world of IIM trust accounting, Harper said there is no accounts receivable system in place for the accounts; no way to know if lease payments have been made. It's an accounts receivable system based on trust, he said with heavy irony. Hall related one of the heartbreaking cases of delayed trust payments from the IIM trust - an older woman with diabetes wanted to put her IIM check into the purchase of a van with a hydraulic lift to enable her to get around a little, the one thing she wanted most, according to Hall. She waited and waited as diabetes increasingly immobilized her. The long-delayed check arrived, Hall said, but not until after she had passed away. Harper said one of the best things about a legislated settlement is that all living IIM beneficiaries would see an immediate per capita payment of some amount, meaning no one else would pass away without getting at least some of the money that should have been theirs all along. Copyright c. 1998 - 2006 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Indian Programs to take a hit in Bush Budget" --------- Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2006 08:43:08 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="INDIAN COUNTRY BUSH WHACKED" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096412837 Indian programs to take a hit in proposed Bush budget by: David Melmer / Indian Country Today April 17, 2006 WASHINGTON - The president's fiscal year 2007 budget is an attack on Indian country and reflects skewed priorities, according to some U.S. senators. "What is lacking is not the money; what is lacking is the political will. Native Americans deserve better than that kind of low priority," said Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D. Johnson joined Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota in an attempt to restore $1 billion to the budget for Indian country. The measure was defeated along a party-line vote, Johnson said. He added that the administration can't afford the $1 billion at the same time it awards tax cuts to those who earn more than $1 million. The two most egregious cuts in Bush's budget, according to Johnson, are the zeroing out of the Johnson-O'Malley and urban Indian health programs. "The Johnson-O'Malley program was already underfunded in last year's budget, but now we are fighting just to maintain those levels since the president has zeroed the program out. Budgets are about priorities, and education shouldn't be an afterthought," he said. The Johnson-O'Malley grant program serves about 93 percent of all American Indian students in public schools in 23 states. Johnson, during a recent news conference that focused on American Indian budget programs, criticized the administration and promised to work to restore some of the cuts. According to the Department of Interior, the Johnson O'Malley program was shifted from the BIA education program to the Department of Education. "There are efforts in the Bush administration to move programs from one box to another. They are trying to kill 42 education programs and they claim a different department will run the program. They moved the box but took away the funding. It is very unlikely it would be funded. "Budgets are about priorities, and the president's are backwards," he said. Johnson, in a letter to Sen. Conrad Burns, chairman of the subcommittee on Interior and other agencies, encouraged the senator to support continued funding of the Johnson O'Malley program. "If the federal government is committed to promoting self-determination in Indian communities, we cannot cut funding for programs critical to the education of Indian children. "At a time when tribes are working hard to improve the status of their communities, the president's FY '07 budget requests for the Bureau of Indian Affairs calls for a $65 million decrease from FY '06. Indian communities cannot afford the loss of the JOM grant program as well. If Indian communities are to succeed, Indian children must succeed in their education. The tutoring, counseling and other special resources provided to Indian students through JOM grants are critical to Indian children's success in grade school," Johnson said. In addition to cuts in some education programs, additional funds will be required to reorganize the BIA programs by eliminating line officers at the local level and combining the duties with regional officers. The proposal is estimated to cost an additional $14 million and is opposed by the tribal governments. "The Bush administration is doing this administratively and the South Dakota tribes are adamantly opposed. To move education people away from local communities and schools works against responsiveness. "They are going about this with no meaningful consultation. They spring initiatives on us without listening to the tribes themselves and then there is no meaningful consultation." Johnson said it will be difficult to change the plan because it is an administrative move, which is difficult to legislate against. "The process is wrong as well. Bush needs to spend more time listening to the tribes," he said. Another issue facing Indian country that needs more funding to combat is the rise in the use and distribution of methamphetamine on the reservations. "Indian country is hit especially hard; it extends beyond [the] user and hurts the entire community." Within the Patriot Act reauthorization is legislation based on the Combat Meth Act of 2005. This provision limits access to large quantities of cold medicines that contain pseudophedrine. "We must do all we can to stem the tide on this drug. We need to make sure the bill is implemented and fully funded." Training is available for tribal law enforcement officers through the Department of Justice to combat the growing use of meth. Again, Johnson said, underfunding law enforcement creates an environment where the limited number of officers are overworked. The Bush administration proposes to help fund education with revenues acquired through the sales of 300 million acres of public lands. Most of Indian country will be affected by this proposal, whether it involves the sale of taken lands or lands located within a tribe's original homeland. "I am opposed to the Bush proposal; it's only a proposal and I will do all I can to make sure doesn't occur. To sell off part of our heritage for a one-time windfall ... we need a way to fund all education, but not by selling off the land." Copyright c. 1998 - 2006 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Tribe works to have Johnson-O'Malley restored" --------- Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2006 08:30:13 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BUDGET BATTLE" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=7768 Oklahoma tribe works to have Johnson-O'Malley restored Creeks blast feds for messing with 1934 law Sam Lewin April 19, 2006 One Oklahoma tribe is launching head on into a battle with federal officials seeking to cut Indian programs. The tribe has taken the unusual step of publishing and publicly distributing a "position paper" on the proposed Bureau of Indians Affairs budget for the next fiscal year calling it a "broken trust" by the BIA. Especially galling to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation are plans to freeze funding for the Johnson-O'Malley program. In all, the budget is $2.33 billion, which is $65 million less than the current budget. The Creeks say their Johnson-O'Malley program serves 14,500 students enrolled in 46 Oklahoma public schools. There are 70 school districts in the tribe's service area, but the Creek's position paper states that because of a "1994 `student count freeze' imposed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Muscogee Creek Nation JOM program has not been able to provide services to the remaining twenty-four schools districts due to funding elimination... by freezing the student count, the BIA has taken upon itself to say which child deserves to be served." The tribe says the key issue behind Johnson-O'Malley is preserving tribal heritage. The tribe's "leaders believe that the survival of the Muscogee Nation is dependent upon the survival of the traditional language and culture. This is the foundation of establishing a positive self-identification and serves as the conduit for involvement of the parents in the education of their children and the corner stones for students to strive towards excellence in education and achievement in life," states the position paper. "These two elements of the language and culture are areas that are incorporated into the very groundwork behind the statutory authority of the Johnson-O'Malley program." The BIA has defended their spending plan. Associate deputy secretary for the Department of Interior James Cason said: "We have worked in consultation with tribal leaders to develop a BIA budget that more accurately reflects their needs and priorities." The agency also says that funding for Johnson-O'Malley can be shifted from the BIA to the Department of Education. Virginia Thomas, the president of the National Johnson- O'Malley Board, has criticized that proposal. Thomas recently told the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs that the Department of Education's Indian education program "is run directly through the school districts and is not subject to tribal control." Johnson-O'Malley was the brainchild of Senator Hiram W. Johnson and Representative Thomas P. O'Malley. The legislation, passed in 1934, mandates that Congress provide federal assistance to supplement local efforts in order to educate Indian children in public schools. Since then it has been used with countless students. Each program is required to have a committee made up of the parents of the Indian students that are eligible for the program. The Creeks want the program's budget restored the 1994 level of $24 million. "Tribes are serving an increase in students yet are receiving the same dollar amount based on the 1994 student count. It is now at the point of reducing services or reduce the number of children to be served," states the position paper. "If a child meets the criteria of eligibility stated in the federal regulations that govern the JOM programs, they should be served and counted as all other eligible students." There is some political support for the Okmulgee-based tribe. Johnson-O'Malley is "very important to tribes," said Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D. "The program is run by tribes, is dependent on input from parents, and covers a broad range of educational needs of Indian students including education in Indian culture and history, remedial instruction, retention programs, as well important personal needs such as books and eyeglasses." Johnson said he would work with other lawmakers to lobby Congress to have the program restored, although e recent attempt to return $1 billion to the BIA's budget failed in the Senate. Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Rights vs. Rights of Way" --------- Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2006 08:32:54 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ENERGY COMPANIES WANT CHEAP RIDE ACROSS INDIAN LAND" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_3725202 Rights vs. rights of way Tribes deny they're overcharging energy industry By Kim McGuire Denver Post Staff Writer April 19, 2006 American Indian tribal leaders told government officials Tuesday they've been unfairly accused of overcharging energy companies for rights of way for pipeline and utility-transmission lines. Representatives of tribes from across the nation are in Denver this week for a three-day joint hearing between the federal Department of the Interior and the U.S. Energy Department for a federal study on the tribal right- of-way issue. Several tribal leaders say the study has fostered false accusations that they are trying to disrupt the energy market. "These issues that have been raised are a dagger to the very heart for rights to be who we are," said David Lester, director of Council of Energy Resource Tribes, a Denver-based tribal organization. The study is focusing on how the tribes have been historically compensated. It will also recommend standards to determine fair compensation and assess tribal sovereignty interests. The study is due to be sent to Congress on Aug. 7. "We are making every effort to talk to the tribes, talk to the tribal leaders and talk to the tribal representatives," said Bob Middleton, director of the Interior Department's office of Indian energy and economic development. Authorized by the federal Energy Policy Act of 2005, the study has galvanized the tribes and the energy industry - each struggling to balance tribal sovereignty with energy demands. The industry says it may be forced to pass increased right-of-way costs to consumers if the tribes are able to negotiate lucrative contracts. The Navajo Nation and El Paso Corp. are locked in a bitter dispute over how much the Houston-based company should pay for the right to cross tribal lands with a 900-mile pipeline. Carol Harvey, a representative of the Eastern Shoshone tribe, said the Navajo dispute is the only one that the industry can cite in the current right-of-way debate. "This injustice is compounded given the lack of tribal technical expertise," Harvey said. "Tribes across the country are having to retain consultants and outside counsel to assist them in protecting their rights." Staff writer Kim McGuire can be reached at 303-820-1240 or kmcguire@denverpost.com. Copyright c. 2006 The Denver Post. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Osages sue Oklahoma" --------- Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2006 17:29:04 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BREACH OF TRUST" http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=7779 Osages sue state Allege broken trust in compact dealings PAWHUSKA OK Native American Times April 21, 2006 The Osage Nation has filed a lawsuit against the state of Oklahoma, charging that emergency rules passed by state commission are a "direct violation" the tribe's compact, the Osages said in a statement. The tribe's argument is that they signed an agreement with the state in good faith, but that Governor Brad Henry's administration changed the terms after the fact. "The state is showing their disregard for dealing with the Indian tribes by passing these restrictive rules, in direct contempt for the agreements they have already made. Under these circumstances, the Osage Nation has no choice but to protect commerce on our reservation by filing this claim in Federal Court," said Osage chief Jim Gray. State officials recently announced they would not enforce the emergency rules, passed by the Oklahoma Tax Commission, until May 1 in order to give time for further renegotiations. "The time to negotiate was before the rule was passed, not after. They were only interested in dictating another rule, which will damage commerce on the reservation, and are now calling for negotiation after they have clearly broken the compact. This does not show good faith, and this action will not be tolerated by the government of the Osage Nation," Gray said. This is the second time this year the tribe has gone to court over a compact broken by the state. The first was in February when a judge agreed that the tribe's compact requires state authorities to enter into arbitration. The tribe says that since the first batch of emergency rules was passed in February they have seen a significant decline in tribal tax revenue. Native American Times. Copyright C. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Pawnee Soldier seriously injured in Iraq bombing" --------- Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2006 08:30:13 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PAWNEE SOLDIER SERIOUSLY INJURED" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=7771 Pawnee soldier seriously injured in Iraq bombing "We are praying for him" Sam Lewin April 19, 2006 An American Indian soldier originally from Oklahoma has been seriously injured in an Easter Sunday bomb attack in Iraq. Pvt. Joshua P. Stein is now recovering in Germany following the assault on his unit by insurgents using an Improvised Explosive Device. Stein, a member of the Pawnee Nation, suffered two broken arms, burns and other injuries in the attack. Doctors have amputated both of his legs above the knee. Stein's mother is Sandy Kaulaity of Perkins, Oklahoma. He is the grandson of Yvonne and Hershall Kaulaity. Stein's aunt, Carol Kaulaity, said her sister has flown to Germany to be at her son's bedside. "Joshua is a spirited boy," Carol told the Native American Times. "Sandy said he's still himself after everything that has happened to him. He's joking and making everyone laugh. They asked him to wiggle his fingers and he flipped them off. That's the type of spirited guy he is." Stein serves in the Army's Echo Company, 1st Battalion, 66th Armored Regiment. He had been stationed at Fort Hood and was dispatched to Iraq last fall. After living in Perkins for a stint as a youngster he moved to stay with his father, who has a home overseas. Stein has a wife and a two-year-old daughter. His wife is pregnant and expecting another child in August. She has joined her mother-in-law in Germany. Carol Kaulaity said her sister reported that upon waking, the first thing Stein asked was "did the other guys make it through?" He was informed that they did. Stein now faces intense physical therapy. He will soon be transferred stateside for further medical treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. "It hurts because we know what happened and we are praying for him," said Carol Kaulaity. "My sister said he knows that people prayed for him." You can reach Sam Lewin at sam@okit.com Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Students dropped from local Test Reports" --------- Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2006 08:32:54 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="INDIAN KIDS ARE BEING LEFT BEHIND!" http://www.theithacajournal.com/20060419/NEWS01/604190323/1002 Scores of some minority students dropped from local test reports Some test scores unreported in county White students' scores excluded at Ithaca's BJM By KERRIE FRISINGER Journal Staff April 19, 2006 ITHACA - In Tompkins County and nearby districts, no test scores for Hispanic and Native American students were factored independently into school progress reports in 2003-04, due to a loophole in federal law. Six of 12 schools in the Ithaca district were the only ones in the area to report the results for black or Asian students, according to an Associated Press analysis. In all, around 9,940 students from 12 local school districts and a handful of special schools took standardized tests in 2003-04. More than 730 of those scores, most of which belonged to students from racial minorities, were excluded from required categories. That's because the federal No Child Left Behind Act allows schools to avoid reporting on some trends in academic progress if the numbers of children tested in specified subgroups fall below a threshold. In New York state, the cut-off is 30 children in a school. By putting up fewer categories for scrutiny, schools encounter fewer opportunities to miss a federal target and face penalties. Another required category evaluates the scores of the entire school population as a whole, including too-small subgroups, but that figure does not provide specific insight into the performance of poor, disabled or minority students who have traditionally scored lower on standardized tests and whom the No Child Left Behind Act aims to help. The threshold, though, helps small schools such as those in Lansing avoid unfair sanctions, said Superintendent Mark Lewis. If, for example, 50 percent of students needed to pass a math test in order for the school to earn the government's "adequate yearly progress" approval, the school would fall short if only six students in a group of 10 failed, versus the 51 students who would need to fail in a group of 100. "The sanctions that come with No Child Left Behind are rather severe," Lewis said. "If such a small percentage of your student enrollment fails to meet adequate yearly progress, should the boom be lowered on the whole school?" In 2003-04, the subgroup results of 11 black, 20 Asian, one Native American and five Hispanic students overall were excluded from reports on Lansing's elementary, middle and high school. Between 67 and 95 percent of Lansing students that year passed various standardized tests, rates that all exceeded standards. While some scores may not end up on official reports, the schools track where individual students struggle on exams and pair them with academic intervention teachers if necessary, Lewis said. In the Ithaca City School District, both regular middle schools tested enough black and Asian students to report for the subgroups in 2003-04. Northeast and South Hill elementary schools had subgroups for Asian students, while Belle Sherman and Beverly J. Martin elementary schools reported for black students. BJM was also home to one of the few subgroups of white students that were excluded locally. Kim Fontana, director of staff development for Ithaca schools, said many more subgroups should start to appear on reports because schools are now required to test all students in grades three through eight, rather than just fourth and eighth. That could cause declines in overall progress, she said, but it will also cast a stronger light on the performance of individual students, especially those who have traditionally fallen behind their peers. "This is the promise of the legislation," Fontana said. "The goal that every subgroup gets addressed, that's a good thing." Contact: kfrising@ithacajournal.com Copyright c. 2006 The Ithaca Journal. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: GIAGO: Saving Indian Children in here and now" --------- Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2006 08:43:08 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GIAGO: BRAINWASHING" http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=7763 Notes from Indian Country Saving the Indian children in the here and now Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji) April 17, 2006 Copyright c. 2006 Native American Journalists Foundation, Inc. The first time I heard the word "brainwashing," was during the Korean Conflict. Back then several GI's underwent this procedure while prisoners of war. Afterwards, they shifted their allegiance to the North Koreans and Chinese. The analogy would be like removing someone's brain, washing it clean of all it contained and then re-programming it with a different set of values, philosophy, religion, and political beliefs. This happened to many Native Americans. It happened in the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Indian mission boarding schools. It is happening again today on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Cecelia Fire Thunder, proposed building a Planned Parenthood Clinic on the reservation after the nearly all-white legislative body of South Dakota passed HB1215 banning all abortions in the state and made no exceptions for rape or incest. Fire Thunder immediately became a target of the anti-abortion movement and worse yet, a target of some of her own people. Let's stop for a minute and look at what Fire Thunder had in mind. First of all and foremost, she wanted a Planned Parenthood Clinic that would help the women of the reservation find treatment for the myriad of problems they face, problems that include rape, incest, teen pregnancies, AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases, and terrible spousal and boyfriend abuse. And, as a last resort, the opportunity to obtain an abortion in a case of rape or incest. The teen pregnancy rate on the reservation is far above the national average. The number of babies born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome caused by alcoholic and drug addicted mothers is steadily increasing and many of those babies have since grown into adults that are wreaking havoc with the lives of innocent people. Some violent FAS teenagers appear to have no conscience. They often rob, kill, abuse and maim without remorse. And as their numbers grow so will the increase in violent crimes. Far too many girls of high school age are dropping out of school because they got pregnant. These are problems that have grown to epidemic proportions and as a former nurse, Fire Thunder has had a front row seat to this ongoing disaster. Planned Parenthood offers lessons and products specifically for birth control. Rather than debate the issue in a mature manner, some are already calling for Fire Thunder's impeachment. Fire Thunder saw a problem. She expressed her concerns and suggested a possible solution. Is expressing an opinion now an impeachable offense? I would say only to those who have a political agenda. The juvenile code some dissenters are using against Fire Thunder has never been enacted into law. And even if it had, it can certainly be amended to coincide with the more traditional beliefs. Let's get back to brainwashing. Some of the Indian people vehemently opposed to a Planned Parenthood Clinic are devout Catholics or of other religious denominations. When they first took up the mantle of Christianity they stepped outside of the beliefs of their ancestors. They embraced the religious beliefs of the foreigners who came to the shores of this continent determined to convert the Indian people to their own beliefs and to force them to denounce their own cultural and traditional beliefs. There are far too many children on Indian reservations that have been abandoned and left to be raised by their grandparents, or worse, left in the hands of social welfare agencies. Until the Indian Child Welfare Act came along these unfortunate children were often adopted out to non- Indians, especially to white church groups who then passed them on to members of their parish. Louis Winters, a friend of mine and former classmate from Holy Rosary Indian Mission, with the help of then Senator Tom Daschle, set up a home for abused and abandoned children in Pine Ridge Village. He has had to fight with all of his might to secure funds and help every year to feed, clothe and heal these damaged children. Where were all of those Lakota people now attacking Ms. Fire Thunder when "Louie Boy" Winters needed their help? Fire Thunder is a strong woman. As such she has drawn the wrath of some male politicians who fear her forward-looking ideologies. She is the first woman ever to be elected president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. She has taken a strong stand for the rights of women. Could it be that some Lakota men fear that their women may have found a voice? Perhaps some of those who would derail Fire Thunder's idea of having a Planned Parenthood Clinic on the reservation should start making an effort to help those children, some of them still babies, that have been abandoned and abused. These children are alive in the real world and in dire need of any kind of help. One Lakota wicasa wakan (Holy Man) told me on the condition that I protect his anonymity, that those people attacking Fire Thunder do not know their own cultural history and he used the term I used at the beginning of this column. He said, "They have been so `brainwashed' into thinking like the white man that they can no longer think as an Indian. Traditionally Indian men never interfered with the rights of a woman to do whatever it was she chose to do when it came to having or not having a child. He always assumed that the woman knew what she was doing and didn't need direction from any man." One can only hope that those critics who have been so brainwashed as to abandon their traditional beliefs will go back to their roots and look at this proposed clinic with an open mind. -- Tim Giago is the president of the Native American Journalists Foundation, Inc., and the publisher of Indian Education Today Magazine. He can be reached at najournalists@rushmore.com or by writing him at 2050 W. Main St. Suite 5, Rapid City, SD. He was also the founder and former publisher of the Lakota Times and Indian Country Today newspapers. Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: YELLOW BIRD: The Queen of the Drive-Inn" --------- Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2006 08:32:54 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YELLOW BIRD: UNSUNG HERO" http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/columnists/14374101.htm An unsung hero: The Queen of the Drive-Inn Column by Dorreen Yellow Bird April 19, 2006 On Monday, Larson's Drive Inn in Larimore, N.D., opened for the 2006 season. This year's opening is the beginning of a new era for this eatery. Marlene, the owner and manager, retired after some 26 years, and her daughter, Sandra, took Marlene's place at the Drive Inn. This simple, small-town drive-in is an example of those rare rural outlets that are growing while others shrink or go out of business. Rural depopulation and migration to bigger cities are closing doors faster than the businesses can catch their second wind. Before so many people moved away, small towns provided services such as restaurants, movie theaters and other amenities to their community. Many of these niceties now are gone, but Larson's Drive Inn is unique. It has grown with the community, just as Marlene became central in the community. Marlene told me that she and her husband, Art, saw the place years ago and decided back then they wanted a drive-in - something from the era that they'd lived. Marlene and Art fell in love during the 1960s and still are together after all these years - another theme that seems to be disappearing with new ways. Their dating included roller-skating near Bachelor's Grove in the 1960s. That's roller-skating, not in-line skating. Their vintage roller skates hang on the wall in the Drive Inn. My guess is that some of the young people who are frequent customers wonder about the theme - the old Coke pictures, vintage wallpaper and food from a timeless era. If you sit in your car with headlights turned on, a carhop will show up at your car window, take your order and bring it to you on a tray that's hung on your window. I haven't seen a carhop do that at Larson's yet, so I keep getting a vision of a ponytailed teenager in a short skirt, rolling out the drive-in door on skates with "Rock Around the Clock" blaring in the background. It's a scene right out of 1962, "American Graffiti"-style. Marlene told me one day that she probably would continue cooking and serving food there until she left this world. Well, in December, she suffered congestive heart failure and was hospitalized for eight days. During her stay in the hospital, she realized that it was time to cut down on the stress in her life, she told me. As we talked Monday, she stopped visiting and walked over to clear tables (the restaurant was full), then started to wash dishes until her daughter made her go back to visiting. I had to smile to myself; hard work is so typical of our era. When Marlene started the drive-in, she decided she would get her workers from the local high school. "I am good to them and treat them like family, and they respond," she said. By that, she means she listens to them and rewards the young people with parties and gifts on Christmas for their good work habits. When they graduate from high school - once a young person works at Larson's, he or she tends to stay on throughout the high school years - they get a quilt in their favorite color. Then, when they marry and have children, those events are remembered with handmade quilts. When I saw Marlene on Monday, she was finishing the fifth of six quilts she was making for her girls. Each of these quilts take more than two days to complete; but then, she's an expert at putting them together. When men or women from our community are killed while serving in the military, Marlene and a group called "Military Comfort Quilts" sew quilts for the family. She called me when Pvt. Sheldon Hawk Eagle was killed so she could present his family with a quilt. She and her daughter bring foreign exchange students into their homes and have done so for several years. Some of them work at the Drive Inn. It is a good study in the American culture, she said. She opens the doors of the Drive Inn during high school games so that young people can get hamburgers, fries and sodas after vigorous activities such as volleyball or basketball. One of the favorite foods that Sandra, her daughter, invented is called "smothered fries." That's fries with cheese, taco sauce and other toppings - calorie-laden but good. Marlene Larson is one of the unsung heroes of our community. She is someone who has helped young people and her town; she has made life better for this region. It is good to see she is stepping back and taking time for herself. ---- 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 caught in Web of Border Policies" --------- Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2006 17:29:04 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BORDER BOOGIE" http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?feature=yes&id=1096412864 Indigenous caught in web of border policies by: Brenda Norrell / Indian Country Today April 21, 2006 TUCSON, Ariz. - Indigenous communities living on both sides of the border are caught in the web of bi-national politics, the struggle to survive and a growing racism fueled by fear in the United States, said Jose Matus, Yaqui, and director of the Indigenous Alliance Without Borders. Matus said the current racism and hysteria in the United States stems from the fact that the Hispanic population is growing rapidly in America. "There are those that think that if something isn't done, that people of color are going to take over," Matus told Indian Country Today. "The bottom line is they are afraid that undocumented workers will become citizens and change control of America; that America will become controlled by brown people." Matus joined 100,000 protesters marching in downtown Phoenix on the Day of Immigrant Rights, April 10, who delivered a powerful message of migrant rights to Arizona lawmakers at the state capitol. Matus said the rising racism in America is reflected in the U.S. border wall being constructed, which will damage Indian sacred places and destroy the fragile ecosystem of the Sonoran Desert. Further, 24-hour stadium lights in the desert will upset the pattern of animals that feed at night. "The people will still be coming in. It is not going to stop them; it will just mean that smugglers will make more money." Meanwhile, describing civilian patrols at the border, Matus said Minutemen and Border Guardians members are racists. However, he praised the Minutemen for bringing attention to border issues, which activists have been struggling to do for years. Besides indigenous coming north for work, there are eight tribes with communities on both sides of the international border between California and Texas: Kumeyaay, Cocopah, Tohono O'odham, Yaqui, Gila River Pima, Yavapai, Ysleta del Sur (Tigua) and Kickapoo tribes. "Crossing the border was never a big issue for indigenous prior to the current border hysteria that has been going on for the past 20 years," Matus said. Further, Matus said none of the Indian tribes living along the border between California and Texas has been contacted by the U.S. government and involved in border policy-making. "Not one Indian nation has been contacted on how to protect the border, or how to control undocumented people coming onto their lands." Matus said the U.S. government must involve traditional communities and ceremonial leaders in planning for border laws, and not just Indian tribal councils, which are designed to work with the U.S. government. "Our leaders are our ceremonial people. The tribal governments cannot be too pushy with the United States government. They can't take a radical stance because the United States could create sanctions against them; the elected tribal officials operate under the mandates of the BIA." Currently, Matus said segments of the international border wall, already constructed in towns between New Mexico and California - Agua Prieta, Douglas, Nogales and San Diego - have only served to push undocumented migrants into treacherous terrain. These are the lands where migrants can easily die in summer, the mountains of southern California and Arizona deserts, including Tohono O'odham and Cocopah tribal lands in Arizona. "There is also a lot of smuggling of humans and a lot of smuggling of drugs," Matus said, adding that tribal members living on the border face increased fear of smugglers. But, he said, U.S. Border Patrol agents are adding to the problem. "The U.S. Border Patrol is harassing people and involved in high-speed chases. They are violating basic civil rights and instilling fear into residents. The border patrol comes to their homes at all hours of the day and night, wanting to know who they have in there." At the center of the complex issues of border politics and race are the indigenous people of the Americas. "The poorest of the poor are Indians. A large portion of those coming across on foot are Indians from Chiapas, Veracruz and Sonora," Matus said, referring to the states in southern and northern Mexico. For the past 30 years, Matus has struggled to secure border passage for Yaqui ceremonial leaders. Matus said immigration and customs officials, searching for drugs at the border, have destroyed Yaqui ceremonial deer heads and masks. In an effort to secure border passage for Yaqui ceremonial leaders, Matus and the Pascua Yaqui Tribal Council negotiated an agreement with immigration officials and the U.S. Consulate in Nogales, Mexico. With this agreement, the Pascua Yaqui Tribal Council agreed to be responsible for those Matus escorted across, including Yaqui deer dancers, deer singers, Pascola dancers and traditional musicians who play the violin and harp. However, as border officials changed positions, the problems returned. "One of the problems is immigration officials consider indigenous from Mexico to be Mexicans, but indigenous who live in Mexico say, 'We are Indians."' Meanwhile, at the border, Yaqui and other indigenous from south of the U.S. border are expected to secure visas to enter the United States. But Matus pointed out that the solvency requirement means providing proof of a job, utility payments, ownership of property or a letter from an employer. These are documents which Yaqui villagers do not have. Further, the visa fee is $100, plus the additional cost of a Mexican passport of $30 and the cost of photos. Since many Yaqui in the eight Rio Yaqui villages near Obregon work as goat herders or cattle herders for 200 pesos or $10 a day, visas are cost-prohibitive. Most of the 40,000 Rio Yaqui live in traditional homes without running water or electricity. Until about three years ago, most Yaqui from Sonora came to the United States to work, saved their money and then returned home to their village. Now, however, more Yaqui youths are staying in the United States because of the lack of jobs in Mexico. Matus described one youth from Rio Yaqui. "He has a law degree and he's packing chickens in Oklahoma. He couldn't find work in Mexico. Well, he could get a job as a goat herder or work in the fields, but he said, 'I didn't go to school to do all that."' Matus said, "Sometimes they get the American dream of the American paycheck and say, 'I'm not going back."' When asked if indigenous along the border are winning or losing the battle for their rights, Matus responded, "Everyone in America is losing the battle." Copyright c. 1998 - 2006 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Rising Tide in Mexico" --------- Date: Tuesday, April 18, 2006 04:23 pm From: Chiapas95-english Subj: AlterNet,Rising Tide in Mex,Apr 18 Mailing List: Chiapas95-En -- This message is forwarded to you by the editors of the Chiapas95 newslists. To contact the editors or to submit material for posting send to: . Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2006 10:58:17 -0500 (CDT) From: Chiapas 95 Moderators A Rising Tide in Mexico By Chuck Collins, AlterNet Posted on April 13, 2006, Printed on April 18, 2006 http://www.alternet.org/story/34690/ In the southern state of Oaxaca, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, or "AMLO," as he is affectionately known across Mexico, is approaching the podium to speak to 13,000 supporters. But first, he must be cleansed. A short medicine woman, wearing the traditional dress of the Mixtec Indians, swats him with green branches and perfumes him with copal incense. Lopez Obrador stands respectfully still with his eyes closed while assembled crowds howl with delight. The Mexican presidential election is in full swing, and Lopez Obrador is one of three major candidates running for the office. Barring the possibility of massive electoral fraud, external meddling or assassination, AMLO will likely become the next president of Mexico. But these are not unthinkable "what ifs." In 1988, by all accounts, massive fraud denied candidate Cuauhtemoc Cardenas the presidency. And in 1994, the popular leading candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio was gunned down in the streets of Tijuana in a murder that has never been solved. Mexicans are all too aware of the seamy history of direct or covert U.S. involvement in shaping or overturning the outcome of elections throughout Latin America. President Bush, in advance of last week's Cancun summit meeting, met with Mexican journalists and pledged that the United States would not be involved in the Mexican election and would work with the choice of the Mexican people. But U.S. progressives should remain vigilant. It's been many decades since a leftist president was tolerated on our southern border. Mexicans go to the polls on July 2 to elect their next president to a constitutionally mandated single six-year term, along with 628 members of Congress. Six years ago voters elected Vicente Fox, the first president in 71 years who was not from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), Mexico's traditional ruling party. The 2000 election was largely free of irregularities, thanks in large part to Mexico's independent and well-resourced Federal Election Institute. Fox, who ran as the candidate of the conservative National Action Party, or PAN, as it is called in Spanish, remains personally popular. While his legislative agenda has been thwarted in the PRI dominated legislature, Mexicans give him credit for serving honorably and not personally looting the treasury, as many of his predecessors have. Fox has vocally supported Bush administration free trade policies such as the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas -- earning the accusation of being a "lapdog of empire" from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. At the same time, Fox has distanced himself from U.S. policies in Iraq and been openly critical of U.S. immigration policy and proposals to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border. Running for president as the nominee on the PAN ticket is 44-year-old Felipe Calderon, who served in Fox's cabinet as energy secretary. Calderon's candidacy has sputtered, and he recently removed his top campaign staff and changed his campaign slogan for the third time. The PRI candidate is Roberto Madrazo, a long-time fixture of national politics. Madrazo grew up in the governor's mansion in the oil-rich gulf state of Tabasco, where his father also served as governor and later as PRI party president, positions his son would later hold. Madrazo inherits the remarkable PRI political machinery, with its legendary get-out-the-vote and steal-the-vote capacity. While claiming that he represents a reformed and chastened PRI, his campaign has been hampered by lackluster campaigning and tainted by his reputation for bullying and arm-twisting. Mexicans wonder out loud about how Madrazo could be so rich after two generations of public service. Internet savvy Mexicans have been circulating the Google Earth coordinates (19 14' 22.79" N, 99 10' 16.50" W) to view Madrazo's 14,000-square-foot home on a 3.6-acre estate overlooking Mexico City, one of five houses and multiple sports cars that Madrazo reported on his financial disclosure statements. Madrazo's wealth is a startling contrast to austere Lopez Obrador, a widower who lives in a modest apartment and who drove his own compact car to work when he served as mayor of Mexico City, the continent's largest metropolis. While Madrazo grew up in a life of privilege, AMLO is the son of a shopkeeper who worked in his youth as an advocate for indigenous groups in Tabasco. In the 1980s, he led efforts to successfully force the oil industry to pay reparations for damaging indigenous lands. Polls show Lopez Obrador opening up a lead over his rival candidates. A mid-March poll conducted by El Universal showed Obrador as the preference of 36 percent of voters, with Calderon at 27 percent and Madrazo at 14 percent. Meanwhile Subcommander Marcos, the visible leader of the Zapatista rebellion in the state of Chiapas, has launched the "other campaign." He is traveling to all the states of Mexico to raise issues left out of the main campaigns. He accuses all three major party candidates of being all the same -- and predicts Lopez Obrador will be unable to fulfill his promises. U.S. analysts want to cast Lopez Obrador as part of the leftist tide sweeping Latin America, with the recent election of Evo Morales in Bolivia and Michelle Bachelet in Chile. But Lopez Obrador quickly dismisses any comparisons to trends or leaders in other countries. His role model, as he cautiously points out, is Mexico's beloved Benito Juarez, the Zapotec Indian from humble origins who as president unified the country during a time of external aggression and repelled French invaders in 1867. Lopez Obrador's outsider and independent status was confirmed in April 2005 when national legislators from the PRI and PAN tried to prevent him from running on a minor legal matter. But their tactic backfired as millions of Mexicans took to the streets to support AMLO, forcing opposition party leaders to back off. AMLO has polled as the presidential front-runner ever since. Unlike the other two candidates, AMLO's campaign doesn't bus in banner-waving supporters, and provide free food and T-shirts to bolster his campaign appearances. His popularity is rooted in his plain-spoken commitment to address the growing inequalities of Mexican society. His campaign slogan, "For the Good of All, First the Poor," powerfully connects with the half of Mexico's population who live in poverty and feel forgotten. From the outside, Mexico appears to have had a decade of stability. But the reality is that poverty and insecurity are rising. Real wages have plummeted, and many communities in rural Mexico are now ghost towns after being devastated by the loss of 2 million agricultural jobs. Mexican farmers, after NAFTA, are unable to compete with the imports flowing in from subsidized U.S. farmers, particularly in corn. A Lopez Obrador presidency would likely lead to some significant changes in U.S-Mexican relations. For instance, AMLO would not, like President Fox, carry the banner of U.S. free trade policies at meetings throughout Latin America. In fact, one of AMLO's "50 promises" calls for a renegotiation of the provisions of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement that deal with the importation of corn and beans. AMLO would also reverse the drift, initiated under President Fox, of privatizing the public sector and opening up Mexican oil production to foreign investment. AMLO has made some business leaders nervous by his proposal to make public the beneficiaries of the 1994 bank bailout. As Lopez Obrador stays in the lead, the attacks from other campaigns are turning more vicious. Both Madrazo and Calderon attack AMLO as an authoritarian and messianic populist. Calderon told a recent rally that Lopez Obrador was an enemy of foreign investment. "I'm the one who can make an economy grow," Calderon claimed. "All he knows how to do is chase jobs away." Calderon's campaign has recently been running television spots to link Lopez Obrador to the left revolutionary politics of Venezuela's President Chavez. The ads show clips of both Chavez and AMLO criticizing President Fox and imply that they are working together. AMLO denounces these ads, pointing out that he has never met or spoken with Chavez. We should expect the attacks to increase and should be vigilant for signs of U.S. involvement. After all, the stakes for U.S. corporate elites are high. If there is a tide sweeping Latin America, it involves citizens electing leaders who will no longer subordinate the health and economic security of their people to a Washington-driven corporate free trade agenda. Mexico is about to join their ranks. -- Chuck Collins is the co-author of "Economic Apartheid in America: A Primer on Economic Inequality and Insecurity" (New Press). He currently lives in Oaxaca, Mexico, and is covering the Mexican election. -- To subscribe to this list send a message containing the words subscribe chiapas95 (or chiapas95-lite, or chiapas95-english, or chiapas95-espanol) to majordomo@eco.utexas.edu. Previous messages are available from http://www.eco.utexas.edu/faculty/Cleaver/chiapas95.html or gopher to Texas, University of Texas at Austin, Department of Economics, Mailing Lists. --------- "RE: Marcos asks the People to Listen to Each Other" --------- Date: Thursday, April 20, 2006 04:02 pm From: Chiapas95-english Subj: Marcos Asks the People to Listen to Each Other,Apr 17 Mailing List: Chiapas95-En This message is forwarded to you by the editors of the Chiapas95 newslists. To contact the editors or to submit material for posting send to: . From: "Dana" To: Subject: NN,Marcos Asks the People to Listen to Each Other,Apr 17 Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2006 05:49:01 +0200 Marcos Asks the People to Listen to Each Other In Anencuilco, Morelos, the Zapatista Subcomandante, Speaking on the Political System, Draws a Line in the Sand By Bertha Rodri'guez Santos The Other Journalism with the Other Campaign in Morelos April 17, 2006 NarcoNews ANENCUILCO, MORELOS: A profound feeling of connection between the local people and the Zapatista delegate of the commission promoting the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle, Subcomandante Marcos, was expressed in these lands in which the noble and valiant spirit that guided the revolutionary struggle of General Emiliano Zapata Salazar can still be perceived among the peasant farmers and the people from below. The gestures of affection toward the Zapatista delegate occur after and despite the history that gave birth to this movement: the violence of the rich toward the peasantry, the repression, the blood, the suffering, the lives of those who have committed suicide because they no longer have any way to survive the economic crises, the lack of work and hunger, the brazen theft of their land; the stories cut short of those souls devoured by a system that has placed humanity on the edge of the abyss. The people make clear that a visit from Marcos to any part of the country is a special event, especially the forgotten people of the countryside. Marcos' words, far from the politicians' elaborate discourses, come out calmly, often with a large dose of humor, and break with the worn-out and empty language heard in the mass media. Not reading from any script, Marcos shares these words as if talking among friends. At other times, however, they are strong words charged with rebellion. In this way, he is able to connect with the people. As Professor Alberto Hijar told the Other Journalism, Marcos - unlike many activists and politicians - uses "the chueco (literally, 'crooked') language of the common people." Through his voice, the people understand better what the Other Campaign is all about. Delegate Zero's tour consists of listening, thinking and synthesizing the experiences of anguish, pain, death and suffering, as well as the dreams and aspirations of those who have nothing and with these experiences put together what it is we want to make of this world and this country before it slips completely from between out fingers. The Other Campaign is a challenge to imagination, tolerance and intelligence; it is a trial by fire that will test the authenticity that exists between discourse and practice, between words and deeds, between the ego and essence of the human being and its most noble aspirations: Liberty, Justice and Democracy. It is a commitment from those who, with their own work, add their little grain of sand to help build an other Mexico. And among all the voices trying to forge that other country, one can hear the campesinos - the peasant farmers - calling Delegate Zero by their own names like Tata (a term the indigenous of Michoaca'n state use to show someone respect) Marcos; Brother Marcos as some of the church-based communities in Tetelcingo, Morelos region call him; a sensitive man, and also a guerrilla. The people often call him "Comandante Zero," Comandante Zeta, et cetera, despite the fact that Marcos himself explains to them that his is not a comandante but a subcomandante, a sub-commander, a "zero to the left" as he said when he began the tour. (The nickname "Comandante Zero" also noticeably irritates him because the people who use it don't realize that this was the nom de guerre of former Nicaraguan Sandinista Ede'n Pastora, who later allied himself with the US-backed "contra" paramilitaries.) Other say that Marcos is no longer Marcos, but the incarnation of something we all wish we were: Zorro, Robin Hood, Chucho el Roto, a poet in love, a lover of life and enemy of boredom and solemnity. Whatever he is, Marcos himself at times takes on the role of an indigenous person, a woman, et cetera, when he speaks of "we the indigenous" or "we the women." Sometimes, community representatives are the ones who best explain what is hurting Mexico from below and the way in which they would like to live; they are the ones who show Marcos this country's true wealth. They give him poems, they include him in their chinelo dances (an ancient custom of mocking the whites by dressing up as European kings), they hang necklaces around his neck made of mayflowers or Guiechachi, give him cuexcomates, or old-fashioned clay jars used for storing corn, and in the Huichol towns they even presented him with a gift of two colorful bracelets, one with an image of the sacred peyote plant which he still wears as he takes notes on the testimonies of the people in struggle in each state. In Tetelcingo, Morelos, the Catholics sang to him: "In this corner of Ame'rica, the future is being born, a man with young blood goes through the valleys saying that on this fertile land, a new man is being born." In Morelia, Michoaca'n, the young people chanted as they marched: "Mar-cos es- un in-sur-gente, lo-quiere- toda- la gente, yo- tam-bie'n soy- za-pa-tista, mar-xis-ta-leni-nista" ("Marcos is an insurgent, all the people love him, I too am a Zapatista, a Marxist, a Leninist.") The men of the fields, sometimes choked up with emotion, show their commitment: "If I am the only one left it still won't matter, they will have to pass over me, but they will not pass on to my land." They assure that they will fight to the end to protect their land, their natural resources and their rights. At other times, as in the case of the Willow Gorge, in the middle of a Cuernavaca residential neighborhood, the gift is for everyone. It is an unforgettable lesson. Flora Guerrero, Carlos Pe'rez, Alberto Mora, Azalea Calleja, Ruth Jimenez and Astrid Arias chained themselves to an oak, a guava, a laurel and other shade-giving trees, to prevent construction equipment that had arrived to to begin work on a bridge from uprooting them. On April 10, around 9 in the morning, the neighbors and others organized by the environmental group Guardians of the Trees, camped out since April 5 in the entrance to the gorge, witnessed the arrival of four state police vehicles, mounted police, as well as 20 elite "grenadier" police. With the police arrived two ambulances, predicting that the demonstrators' removal would be a violent one. Nevertheless, as soon as the Other Campaign caravan traveled to the site, the police left, "running like hens." "They saved our lives. They saved us from the repression," the environmentalists would later say. Through the gorge runs the Salto de San Anto'n River, extremely polluted by the wastewater from the city once considered a land of "eternal spring." There are many ahuehuete cyprus trees and amate fig trees there, as well as a great diversity of flora and fauna, including iguanas and macaws. The presence of veteran guerrilla Fe'lix Serda'n, who fought with Rube'n Jaramillo for the rights of the Zacatepec sugar plantation workers, lifted the demonstrators' spirits, as did the machetes of the Atenco peasant farmers. From community to community, Delegate Zero offers his words after listening to the participants, sometimes in short presentations and sometimes long ones. At all of these events he touches on the great themes of the anti-capitalist Other Campaign, often incorporating the histories of local struggles. The details change - he never gives the same speech twice - but the big issues such as the problem of the parties and the political system appear in many forms, over and over. For example, sometimes in rural or indigenous communities he will tell the story of how the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN in its Spanish initials) was founded and grew before the 1994 uprising. "Lend Us Yours Ears to Listen to Others" In Anenecuilco, the Morelos town where Zapata lies buried, Delegate Zero drew a line in the sand between the traditional form of doing politics - which in these times is characterized by wasting millions of pesos on electoral propaganda in the hopes of winning the presidency - and the Other Campaign. Referring to the electoral season our country is currently in, he compared the political parties with employees of the old rich hacienda owners: "Up there, they have something we call foremen, to make a reference to the haciendas in the time of Porfirio Diaz, which Emiliano Zapata's peasant movement destroyed. For us, these are today's political parties." He speaks of the modern version of the old company stores, owned by the rich farmers and where instead of money, the peons used tokens to acquire the products necessary to survive the slavery of the farms. "Commodities are the basis of this system that we are confronting," says Marcos, and adds: "This capitalist system converts everything into commodities and in these times, during this year and these months, we are now seeing politics' conversion into a commodity. In that sense, just like before, they offer some clothes, some shoes, a bit of shampoo. And now they offer candidates and political parties. "Lately, the policy proposals, the organizations that are fighting over the government, trying to govern, don't matter. If there is a lesson to be learned, which is what we have to do with the politicians' proposals as part of the Other Campaign, it is that there is no difference between them." Speaking to the cooperativists and the practitioners of liberation theology, among other adherents, Marcos explained: "That is to say, the politicians are not really proposing a transformation of the conditions that we are suffering. And so, as politics is no longer about moving forward, they offer us some food or products to buy our votes, they offer us a candidate, and now, not even a real political party. And an advertising campaign is built around that candidate." "We," he continued, "we as workers, whether from the countryside or the city, as teachers, as students, even as grassroots Christian communities, are the consumers who have been given a credit card called a voter ID and which can only be used every three or six years. That credit card is then ceded to the winning candidate so that he can use it and profit for three years, for six years." In the middle of an advertising war between the presidential candidates, he said: "During this period we act even more as consumers. They try to convince all of us that the product we will be consuming is the good one, but the truth is that a landless peasant farmer, a street vendor or someone selling juice in the market is not the same as a big media owner, a landowner, the owner of Coca-Cola or its managers." "So, the same candidate, the same product tries to convince many different people. If we analyze this well, we will see that the street vendor or the landless peasant does not want the same thing as the big landowner or the owner of a shopping mall." Marcos explains: "We find that this product that is being sold in the elections changes. When it speaks with businessmen it tells them, 'I am the good one'; when it speaks with the peasant farmers, 'I am the good one'; as it speaks to the consumer, it says, 'I am the good one.'" Delegate Zero speaks about something that everyone wants to hear, and goes to the heart of the matter. "There is this trap, the politician that says, I am going to govern, I am going to lead this country for the benefit of all, 'for the good of all.' 'So that things get done,' as (Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, candidate Roberto) Madrazo says. 'For the good of all,' (Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD candidate Andre's Manuel) Lo'pez Obrador says. And as for (Felipe) Caldero'n, the National Action Party's (PAN's) candidate, I don't know if he has managed to formulate any kind of proposal; he just looks at the audience and smiles with his eyes. He who keeps his hands clean can better wash the plates, that is what the PAN's candidate proposes. What we are proposing in the Other Campaign is the complete opposite of this. First, we are not selling a product, not even a candidacy, a party or a national product. Rather, what we are doing is trying to build is something else from below, and this other thing is completely radical in its difference with what is happening up there." He alludes to something that is always in view but which many people pass over: "It is not about convincing different people of the impossible; anyone who is below knows that as his or her misery progresses, so progresses the wealth up above. If there is a pattern we are finding in our tour through Morelos, it is this: residential areas and big shopping malls, and right next to this the deepest misery and desperation. In this way the conquista - as we say, a War of Conquest just like 500 years ago - becomes more and more brutal and bloody. As we say, as if the rich didn't have enough, as if six, seven houses, cars, vacations in other countries, good cloths and all that didn't satisfy them and they still wanted more. The Zapatista illustrates: "And so what happens is that there are people that have a lot of money, and they say, 'we can sell them things at high prices.' But there are also people with little money, and one would think, 'well, they will at least leave them alone.' But they want all the money we have as well." He touches on sensitive issues: "So, there is this line over on the side of politics from above that says, 'gamble everything you have,' even if it is very little, on the hope that someone up there can resolve your problem. And when that bet needs to be made again every three or six years, the result for us is that we have less and less money in our pockets, at suppertime we have less food on the table and that food is of lower quality. But now, in addition to this, a new kind of destruction and death appears that wasn't here before, and it is particularly painful in Morelos, which has always been emblematic for its natural wealth. The water, the forests and the air have in fact been converted into more commodities. That is why Morelos is being settled, not by big landowners such as those that Zapata rebelled against in earlier times, but with tourist developers and real estate entrepreneurs. Where there were once haciendas and later ejidos (communal farms) and communities, residential zones, shopping malls and tourist centers are being erected over communal lands." Again he utilizes irony and humor: "We might think that capitalism is going to take care of nature at least to be able to enjoy it, but capitalism is so stupid, and its top representative here is (Governor) Estrata Cagui. Cajigal. Caguijal, we'd say, because he is just fucking it all up (cagando in Spanish) all the time in his rush to make money," he said, unleashing side-splitting laughter among the crowd. Marcos reveals the relationship between the politicians and the capitalist system: "It is all about making money, it doesn't matter what is getting destroyed, and it doesn't matter that this destruction even goes against their interests sometimes. If someone thinks that capitalism is somehow rational, when the process of destruction runs rampant as it is doing now, everywhere, that person realizes that it is not rational at all. Capital is a big, stupid criminal." He argues: "We could make the effort to try to convince capital to be more rational, to think things through better, to not be such an idiot. And so, there is another line with regards to this zone destruction that the country is becoming, which says, 'we are going to try to humanize capitalism, to rationalize it, to make it good.' That is the proposal that they are playing with up there." But Marcos emphasizes: "We who are in the Other Campaign think that this is useless, that it is not going to produce any results because capitalism's basis is in its origin. Just as at was born spilling blood, sludge and shit, so it has grown up and so it continues developing." "We Are Not Talking About Switching Governments, but Rather Switching Systems" "So, we say, 'we are going to do something else,' we as Zapatistas and we together with all of the organizations, groups, and collectives that are in the Other Campaign, families that have appeared here, individuals such as those that have shown up, we're betting on the hope that down below we are going to find many small groups, because the success of the electoral marketplace depends on the fact that there are people voting for someone. They are fighting over millions of people and we are talking to ten, fifteen people when sometimes, as one compa~ero was saying, we were expecting 100 and then suddenly a whole crowd shows up from someone else. It's great! We are betting on this and everyone feels that his or her struggle is very small, that it is not enough to oppose that which is very large. The Other Campaign says, 'yes, we are small but if we are able to unite all of this strength we won't be so small anymore, we won't be so few, and, above all, we won't have to be separate." The Zapatista spokesman personalizes things; he is direct: "That is what the Other Campaign is trying to do: we are going to listen to the people, we are going to find them and we are going to find that which is 'other.' We have already, in other states, met the 'other' church, and here we are speaking to the ecclesiastical communities that have given off so much light and continue to shine in Morelos. Once, there was a man, don Sergio Me'ndez Arceo (the late bishop of Cuernavaca and a pioneer of liberation theology), who we might say synthesized and concentrated this light and never doubted. He could have been like (ultra-rightwing bishop of Mexico state) One'simo Zepeda, but Sergio Me'ndez Arceo chose to be Sergio Me'ndez Arco. He decided not to be a minister or preacher for a church that was in the service of the powerful and preached resignation to the poor." Marcos provides details on how the movement is being built: "What we are saying is that we are going to unite this other church with the other gays and lesbians, with the other workers' movement, with the other peasant farmers' movement, with the other student, youth, women's and Indian peoples' movement, and we will find that two paths open for us beginning this year, in 2006: the path that leads to the destruction of our land and of us as Mexicans, or the path that makes possible the construction of something else, of another country." Delegate Zero shares one certainty: "What will end up marking us, defining us, will be the product of this massive listening at a national level with the people from below. That is what is going to say what we are, what we want, and where we're going." He assures the people: "That is why the Sixth Declaration from the Lacandon Jungle starts with a basic definition, which is: we are against those from above; they are our enemies. We do not want to change them or humanize them, or tell them not to be so cruel or give them courses in humanitarianism. What we want is to destroy them and those who serve them, the political parties." "When the Sixth Declaration and the Other Campaign defines its enemy, it defines its horizon. We are not talking about switching governments, but about switching systems, at when the time comes to switch systems, everything else comes as well: changing land ownership, changing ownership over politics, defining what politics does, and among other things defining what to do with religion, with the belief that each person has or doesn't have, and this begins to produce other effects as well." He dispels some uncertainties: "We already know what we don't want. We don't want this system because it gives pain to everyone, and charges them for it, too. That is the most absurd thing about this year's elections: they are selling us pain and then they are charging us for it, and they will keep charging us for the next six years if we let them. But we who are in the Other Campaign won't let them." He arrives at the heart of the issue, the marrow that sustains this movement. "We are talking about an other politics, and that is what is at stake here. All of us, all these political organizations of the left and other movements are here to make an other politics and we trust the people to understand that this is different and the value it has, no matter that person's size, if that person is and old man or woman whom no one respects, if it is a boy that everyone scorns or push to the side because they think he has no judgment, it doesn't mater if it is an indigenous person who can't speak, read or write; the important thing is one's heart and our goal of building a new country." He offers straightforward analysis: "The Other Campaign's call would not be so dramatic if it didn't go through what it is going through right now. We say; 'we are not talking about a long-term project.' Up there, the sectors of the moderate left, so moderate that they have crossed into the right, the intellectuals, say, 'yes, what those from the Other Campaign are planning is very pretty and good, just like Gandhi and ancient Christianity, and that is what will happen in a hundred years, but right now we need to resolve this and this.' No, the country won't last that long. Our call is so dramatic because we say: 'if we, if the others that we are don't do what we have to do, there will be nothing left of what we see right now, nothing left of that which we fight for.'" The subcomandante makes commitments: "This is what we are proposing: what is going to happen, we will all see it no matter how old we are. It is not something that is going to change throughout many years and that perhaps our children or grandchildren will live to see. Rather, it is something we have to do; we have to see why it is necessary as we all make ourselves actors in this process. We make ourselves its conductors." He invites those listening to make the movement theirs and to fight for this space through communication: "We must enter the Other Campaign and win our space there, construct it and defend it as women, as children, as young people, as elderly people, as Indian peoples, as workers, as students, as teachers, as homosexuals, as lesbians, as whatever each person is. We have to conquer that space, defend it and convince the Other Campaign of our existence. And we wage that conquest in two ways, with the fist and with the word, and the Other Campaign has chosen the word." "At this step, just as you have given us the gift of your word, from now on we ask that you also give us your ears in order to listen to others." -- To subscribe to this list send a message containing the words subscribe chiapas95 (or chiapas95-lite, or chiapas95-english, or chiapas95-espanol) to majordomo@eco.utexas.edu. Previous messages are available from http://www.eco.utexas.edu/faculty/Cleaver/chiapas95.html or gopher to Texas, University of Texas at Austin, Department of Economics, Mailing Lists. --------- "RE: Water Level drops near threatened First Nation" --------- Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2006 08:32:54 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WATERS RECEDE" http://www.cbc.ca/sask/story/water-levels060418.html?ref=rss Water level drops near flood-threatened First Nation CBC News April 18, 2006 Emergency workers on the Red Earth First Nation in northern Saskatchewan heard good news on Tuesday, even though flood waters had already poured into eight homes and threatened others. Officials said levels in the Carrot River had dropped about 10 centimetres near the reserve, which is about 240 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon. However, the waiting isn't over for about 900 people who live on the reserve but were forced to seek refuge in Prince Albert and Saskatoon on Friday and Saturday. It could still be days before they get the word that it's safe to return. Dwayne Rowlett, a spokesman for the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority, said Tuesday's water readings were promising, but the community is not out of the woods yet. "This is our first report of water levels going down," he said. "I think we want to see a couple reports of water going down before we start to relax a little bit." Emergency workers at the reserve are now able to use four-wheel drive vehicles on the road connecting two settlements. It had been closed due to high water. The eight houses were being pumped out earlier in the week. There was concern another half-dozen homes could be at risk if the marshy areas behind them continued to fill with water. Chief Miller Nowakayas said residents continue to be concerned about their homes and their personal belongings. Richard Kent, an emergency organizer with the Prince Albert Grand Council, said the chief and band did a good job of organizing teams before the flood hit. Pumping continues and evacuees may know by the weekend whether they can return home, he said. Copyright c. CBC 2006. --------- "RE: Occupation to stop outside construction" --------- Date: Wednesday, April 19, 2006 01:59 pm From: frostyca2000 Subj: This occupation to stop outside construction Mailing List: Frostys AmerIndian This occupation to stop outside construction on our land has been going on for over 6 weeks. Here's an update. Your continued concern and support is needed. Kahentinetha Horn CANADA'S `3 BLIND MICE' WANT TO APPEASE SQUATTERS AT THE EXPENSE OF THOSE `BAD' SIX NATIONS INDIANS. MNN. April 17, 2006. Ontario has a population of about 10 million. It's growing so that within a very short time there will be 13 million. They have to take over Indian lands to accommodate these people. They don't want the Haldimand Tract to be in dispute. They want investors from all over the world to have no fear of putting their money into towns, homes, golf courses, highways and industries throughout Rotino'shon:ni land in southern Ontario. They should instead be working on a plan to make Indians, who will never relinquish title to our lands, to become their partners in all of these developments. The Crees of Quebec were made beneficiaries in the James Bay Agreement instead of being robbed. If millions of people are coming onto our land, we demand a say in what's happening. As the land is held by the Indigenous Women, they need our permission to do anything. We must be consulted on everything that's going to be done on all of the Haldimand Tract. Ontario and Canada can't do anything without consulting us, the Confederacy. They can't go running to their illegal band council puppets. If you read the Hamilton Spectator, you would think everything is "hunky dory". They state there is going to be a buy-out of Henco, land is going to be returned to the Indians and the Ontario Provincial Police are going to take down their command post. There is even going to be a campaign to educate our tenants about us. Indian Affairs even brought some puppet chiefs from British Columbia into the circus to guide the Six Nations into the Canadian way of how land claims should be dealt with. They're putting out the lie that Douglas Creek Estates is "privately held" land which is being claimed by Six Nations people. It is and always has been communally held sovereign land. The land under the protection of the Haldimand Proclamation is 384,451 hectares of land which is six miles on both sides of the Grand River from its mouth to its source. The whole tract consists of over 1 million hectares. The land was stolen, natural resources were fraudulently extracted on numerous occasions over the centuries and funds were misappropriated and invested. Sometimes they were outright unauthorized loans made to such institutions as McGill University and the Law Society of Upper Canada. They never paid back these loans. This creates a major bias on the part of the judiciary against the Six Nations. We need an international mediator that is neutral, has no interest in the outcome and is acceptable to both parties. Canada says they are not accountable for actions of the British Crown before Canada was founded in 1867! They've been running that lie for years. This is like the colonial practice of sleazy business men who abandon one bankrupt company and start fresh with a new one. The 1978 Vienna Convention on the Succession of States says you can't get out of your obligations by turning yourself into another state. The consent of the other parties is required before a successor state can escape the obligations undertaken by a predecessor state. We never gave that. Canadians seem to have forgotten that they're the ones who benefited from Britain's agreements with us. There is no reason why the people who are Indigenous to Britain and stayed behind should have to compensate the Indigenous people of Turtle Island for the benefits they got as the people who immigrated to our land It is sad that Canada refuses to decontaminate its laws and get rid of colonial thinking. Those people negotiating on behalf of Canada could be presenting the kind of partnership and solidarity that could lead to a strong economic partnership. It should be based on Canada honoring its agreements with Indigenous people. When people work together in a positive way more can be achieved. This proposed solution means that millions of more dollars and decades of more effort will be misspent on legal battles. Are we going to continue to throw documents and legal arguments at each other? There is no dispute. We own this land. Is Canada going to continue to harass and imprison the brightest and best of our young people? When is Canada going to allow us human rights? The Spectator is moaning on and on about losses to non-native developers, carpenters, plumbers, roofers, brick layers and home owners. It completely ignores our losses over the past two centuries. We have been denied our own economic, social and political system. Most of Six Nations people are opposed to the band council. Negotiations are still at the point of an OPP gun. They are itching to try out their fancy weaponry and enforce an illegal court order on us. We never gave consent for Canada and Ontario to have jurisdiction over us. They complain that this standoff "is giving rise to disrespect for the law and the police!" However, they represent the country that has totally disrespected our laws and agreements to conduct a nation-to-nation relationship. The OPP has no respect. When will they come clean on exactly what they did at Ipperwash when they killed Dudley George over a land issue? We're waiting to hear them say, "We're going to talk instead of shoot you". As stated by the Australian court in Mabo, "we were not a "legal desert" when the British arrived". The idea that only British colonists or their descendants like Australians and Canadians were the only people who had "law" is a legal fiction. At the Sunday April 16th emergency meeting [an emergency for Canada], the band council voted 7 to 6 in favor of turning land matters over to the Rotino'shon:ni Confederacy. In other words, we'd like to see them keep the same standards of excellence that they had back in the 1920's. Council meetings were open to the public and were fully recorded so that the public had a better understanding of the Six Nations people. The newspapers then were not advocates for any side. They were not a propaganda sheet for the government and the police like they are now. The band council decision to hand matters concerning land over to the traditional Confederacy council that Canada violently deposed in 1924 is a political breakthrough. It suggests that Canada can no longer "buy" enough support to keep up its pretense that their puppet government is legitimate. It shows that even those people who take part in the band council elections are aware of the frauds that were perpetrated on the Six Nations people. This does not mean that Canada will respect the right to self- determination of the Six Nations people. The Minister of Indian affairs still has a right to veto it. This Indian Act provision violates international law and is ultra vires the Six Nations. We don't really need the Minister's consent or a resolution from the illegal band council to do anything! The band councilors' move reflects the attempt by the Six Nations people to express their will in terms that Canada must accept. Canada and Ontario were told to honor our wishes. The Supreme Court of Canada has recognized that "aboriginal rights" must be interpreted as understood by the Indigenous people. How do you think Indian Affairs responded to this? Their point man, Dave `Colonial' General, did not vote in favor of this resolution. Instead he read out his, Canada and Ontario's schemes on how to resolve the occupation. They want an extension to the current Douglas Creek Estates' injunction to May 24th 2006 [rather than disposing of it because it's illegal]. They want a poll to be conducted of all members 18 years of age and older on whom should oversee the land issue. Will it be the traditional Confederacy, the band council or a jointly appointed committee? The band council is supporting the Confederacy and Dave General is still pushing the colonial agenda. Hey, Dave, whose payroll are you on anyway? Dave, Canada and Ontario, the Three Blind Mice, want to send a notice out on April 19th. The want the poll to take place on May 22nd, on "Bread and Cheese Day" [when everybody gets constipated. Let's hope that's not how they vote!]. This is when Queen Victoria distributed bread and cheese to celebrate her birthday. After she died the practice fell into disrepute. It was revived in the late 1920's when the people were struggling to control the Agricultural Hall they had built and was illegally confiscated by the band council. Dave asks for this, "in good faith [so that] all parties will honor the result of the poll". Dave and the other mice know full well that this is an old deceptive trap. It is like the time in 1686 when Marquis de Denonville invited the Rotino'shon:ni for a peace meeting in Montreal. When they arrived, most of our people were either killed or forced into galley slavery or died in prisons in France. Is Dave trying to invite all the Six Nations people to his peace treaty and trick us into sanctioning this land theft? We are very suspicious of voting in any polls or election run by his colonial master. We have our own way of making decisions which includes all people of all ages according to the Kaianereh'ko:wa. Only about 3% will take part and they are all employed by the band council. Dave and his puppet masters want an agreement with Henco Industries, a colonial court date as soon as possible, the appointment of a polling officer [we thought polls were for dogs] and to get the vote done right away. Let's ask them this! Would the colonial people agree to be dispossessed of their lands and homes on the basis of a poll? We don't think so. There are 22,000 members of the Six Nations community. A legitimate poll should have at least 13,000 to 14,000 people voting. Only 500 people voting would be completely illegal according to international law. A valid poll would sanction the traditional chiefs to speak on our behalf. There has to be complete disclosure and fully informed consent of a majority of the people. Otherwise it would be the decision of a small group of elitists who are likely pawns of the outside interests. They want to use such a fraudulent vote as showing that we have agreed to cede the entire Haldimand Tract. Dave and his cohorts want to say, "We have settled this conflict once and for all. We have relinquished all our interests except for where our people actually live. Just think, we will get some cheese, beads, promises of some money and a few parcels of land", or words to that effect. Remember, the vote will be run by Indian Affairs. To be fair and legal, it should be run by the United Nations. The people say emphatically once again, "We aren't leaving until all the land is in our name and we have control over it. Any settlers who want to occupy and use our land has to consult us and get our permission, according to law. Start showing us some good faith!" Kahentinetha Horn MNN Mohawk Nation News Kahentinetha2@yahoo.com Contact: Dick Hill 519-865-7722; Hazel Hill at 519-445-1351 or 519- 445-0719; thebasketcase@on.aibn.com; Jacqueline House 905-765-9316 jacqueline_house@hotmail.com ; Please send your concerns to: Globe and Mail - letters@GlobeandMail.ca; Toronto Star - letterstoed@thestar.ca; CBC - national@cbc.ca; Politicians: Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper harper@parl.gc.ca; Justice Canada webadmin@justice.gc.ca; Indian Affairs InfoPubs@ainc-inac.gc.ca; European Union press.office@consilium.eu.int; Minister Indian Affairs Jim Prentice prentice.j@parl.gc.ca; Ontario Govt. Brendan.Crawley@jus.gov.on.ca; Ontario Premier Dalton.McGuinty@premier.gov.on.ca; Some of the towns around Six Nations that are on our land - warden@duffereincounty.on.ca; OnondagaCo. info@city.woodstock.on.ca; Waterloo sken@region.waterloo.on.ca; Henco Industries owner mhancock@brantford.ca; anyone anywhere in the world who will listen. --------- "RE: Sixteen arrested in Police raid on Native Protest" --------- Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2006 08:44:20 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PROVINCIAL POLICE ILLEGALLY ARREST MOHAWK" http://thechronicleherald.ca/Canada/498273.html Sixteen arrested in police raid on native protest Officers retreat to avoid violence By JENNIFER GRAHAM The Canadian Press April 21, 2006 CALEDONIA, Ont. - The spectre of a deadly standoff that scarred Ontario's conscience 11 years ago sprang back to life Thursday as police mounted a dramatic pre-dawn raid against a group of native protesters staking their claim to a disputed tract of land. No sooner had police arrested 16 protesters in the early-morning darkness, hundreds more members of the nearby Six Nations reserve scrambled to the scene to take up their defence of land they say was stolen from them more than two centuries ago. "We're not asking for anything more than what belongs to us," said Six Nations member Buddy Martin, who was among the hundreds of protesters taking up residence on the land. "What are you supposed to do when no one will listen? It doesn't matter what you do, it almost brings you to tears. It's hard to keep it together." The dispute was eerily reminiscent of the 1995 clash at Ipperwash Provincial Park, where a police sniper took the life of protester Dudley George, touching off a controversy that continues to this day. "We, unfortunately, are in the situation where we have no negotiating power, if you will - we are caught in the middle of this situation," provincial police deputy commissioner Maurice Pilon told a news conference. "We are going to maintain peace in the area, and that is our primary focus at this time." As nightfall neared, a busload of supporters from other Ontario reserves arrived on the scene, and more were expected through the night at a tent city which had begun to resemble a makeshift refugee camp dotted with Mohawk flags. Huge truckloads of gravel and makeshift barricades adorned with flags blocked the main road into the disputed territory, a 40-hectare tract where some 250 homes are slated for construction. Well aware of the political impact Ipperwash had on the Conservative government of Mike Harris, Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty denied Thursday that he knew police were poised to storm the makeshift encampment some 25 kilometres south of Hamilton. "This police action comes completely independent of me, my office and my government," McGuinty said. By midday, protesters, many with bandannas over their faces, had blockaded the main road with a dump truck and a massive pile of flaming tires, which sent a huge plume of thick black smoke into the sky. Officers used considerable restraint and the least amount of force required, said Pilon, who noted that protesters were armed with axes and clubs. Three officers were treated for minor injuries, including one who was struck on the head with a bag of rocks. "They swarmed every which way, I couldn't even hazard a guess how many cops," said Clyde Powless, a protester who was on the scene when police moved in. Occupiers have been unarmed since the situation began, he added. Federal, provincial and native officials were set to meet Friday to restart negotiations, but it's time for Ottawa to also get involved, said Ontario Native Affairs Minister David Ramsay. Ramsay said he has suggested to federal Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice that he send a personal envoy to help find a resolution to the dispute. Speaking in Montreal, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said his government is keeping tabs on the conflict, but offered little in the way of concession. "It's a situation we're obviously watching carefully," Harper said. "We obviously prefer to have peaceful resolutions, but I gather there has been some attempt at that and the situation is quite complex on the ground." Police were still hopeful that a violence-free solution remained within reach. "The community of Caledonia and Six Nations have lived together peacefully for many years. At the end of the day, we need to regain that sense of peace and harmony," Pilon said. Supporters from near and far were expected to descend on the scene overnight and through the weekend. "There's people on their way from all over Canada and the United States," said protester and native supporter Dave Heatley, who used the Internet to contact native groups and reserves elsewhere in Canada in an effort to attract support. "There's a few hundred people here now; I think as things progress, you'll see it swell to a lot more than what's here now. The longer they're here, the more people they're going to draw." Near Montreal, the Kahnawake Mohawk Peacekeepers briefly snarled traffic Thursday when they raised a banner and flags on a bridge in a show of solidarity with the Six Nations. The Six Nations of the Grand River Territory is the largest populated First Nation in Canada with more than 21,000 members, more than half of whom live on the reserve. Copyright c. 2005 The Halifax Herald Limited. --------- "RE: Natives block Rail Line" --------- Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2006 08:44:20 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="RAIL LINE BLOCKED IN SHOW OF SOLIDARITY" http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2006/03/22/1500487-cp.html Natives block rail line April 21, 2006 CALEDONIA, Ont. (CP) - A native standoff over a disputed tract of southwestern Ontario land spawned a sympathy protest Friday that halted at least a dozen CN freight trains and disrupted Via Rail's passenger service in one of Canada's busiest travel corridors. About 50 Mohawks from the Tyendinaga reserve near Belleville, Ont., about 200 kilometres east of Toronto, lit bonfires on either side of a CN track to show their support for hundreds of native protesters at a housing development in Caledonia, south of Hamilton. Acrid black smoke billowed from the scene, just west of the small Ontario community of Marysville. A pair of school buses were being used to block a small road leading to the rail tracks. Provincial police officers were watching the protest, but keeping their distance, staying at least 500 metres away. The genesis for the protest near Belleville came early Thursday, several hundred kilometres to the southwest in the town of Caledonia, where a police raid aimed at ending a seven-week native occupation turned it instead into a full-blown standoff. At least 16 people were arrested in the raid, but by Friday morning the number of protesters had swelled dramatically, blockading a main highway with burning piles of tires, makeshift barricades and massive piles of gravel. At least 12 freight trains were waiting to get through the protest near Belleville, which CN Rail intends to fight by seeking a court injunction that would allow the trains to pass unimpeded through the area, said CN Rail spokeswoman Julie Senecal. "We're going into court as soon as possible in order to end this blockade," Senecal said. Via Rail said trains operating between Toronto and Kingston, Ont., were being replaced by chartered buses that wou