_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 14, ISSUE 020 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 May 20, 2006 Mvskogee kee-hvsee/mulberry moon Pomo umchachich-da/seeds ripen moon Mohawk onerahtohko:wa/time of big leaf moon Eastern Cherokee nvda gahlvsga/planting 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; Frostys AmerIndian, Chiapas95-En and Indian Heritage-L 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: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + =================== "What we need is an honest and fair settlement of the Cobell lawsuit. But what we also need is an acknowledgement from the U.S. government that they have lost and mismanaged our money and don't know where it is - plain and simple." __ Tex Hall, chairman of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation and past president of National Congress of American Indians. +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! A Federal Appeals Court has reinstated the Native American Voting Rights Lawsuit in South Dakota with the proviso that if the city of Martin sees a need to redraw its voting districts it should have the right to do so. In essence the lawsuit must go forward, but Martin has the right to gerrymander the voting boundaries in such a way to nullify the effects of the lawsuit. This nation saw this same chess game played with the black vote in the 60s, and finally determined 1) the right of people of black descent in this nation would prevail and 2) it was getting expensive and senseless to keep going to court over the same futile arguments. Isn't it high time the same sensible decision that in many states (and districts within some states) Native Americans have been excluded from the electoral process and it's prudent to grant our people the same rights and privileges in the voting booth the rest of the nation enjoys? 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 ----------- - Swimmer calls Cobell settlement - AIAI contract awarded 'reparations' to Mississippi Choctaw unit - TEX HALL: - Santa Fe dig reveals Swimmer has preposterous Position City beneath City - Group supports Indians in Office - YELLOW BIRD: - Health bill reauthorization All creatures great and small more important now - SEAN KIRST: Land claim questions - Funding for Indian clinics remain unsettled restored - YELLOW BIRD: - Washington Tribes Tribal Governments need checks could escape Gas Tax - OPINION: - Redden ruling could affect United Tribes doing great job Nez Perce agreement - Fontaine: No clawback - Tulalip Tribe floats plan on Residential School Payout to restore Marsh - Native Indians win compensation - Yakama Nation works for abuse to restore Salmon Runs - Six Nations short on supplies - No Final Rest at Caledonia for Chief Old Joseph - Me'tis Federation prepares - Appeals Court revives for long Court battle Native Voting Rights Lawsuit - Visible Homeless only - Haudenosaunee file brief part of Problem on Prairies to support the Cayugas - Reality of the Atenco Violence - Top court won't review - Nukak Tribe in Colombia Cayuga Land Claim Case displaced from Home - Prairie Band Potawatomi - Message from Leonard Peltier regains Homeland - Native Prisoner - Creeks, Cherokees -- Pen Pal Request, Crafts supplement learning Programs - Rustywire: - Yavapais remember Saturday Flea Market in Gallup Government Standoff - Del "Abe" Jones Poem: - Mescal Roast Military Moms showcases Tribal Ceremonies - Spiritdove Poem: Mother - Navajo Education Committee - Author preserves dying Language Vice Chair Statement - Native American Times - They want to lead Red Lake Job Fair coming up --------- "RE: Swimmer calls Cobell settlement 'reparations'" --------- Date: Tue, 9 May 2006 09:06:05 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRUST SUIT: SWIMMER SHOOTS SELF IN MOUTH AGAIN" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/43337.html Counting up what American Indians are owed By JOHN HEILPRIN | Associated Press May 7, 2006 LENEXA, Kan. - Seventy feet beneath the prairie, the government is filling limestone caverns - protected by guards and a bomb-sniffing dog - with truckloads of American Indian financial and cultural records. What is ground zero for an accounting that will take seven years and cost $335 million owes its existence to a bitter class-action lawsuit brought against the Interior Department a decade ago. Still, it's only a short version of the historical accounting that Indians demanded but no longer want - because they don't think it can be done properly. The Indians say the government mismanaged a trust in their names for 120 years and now owes them tens of billions of dollars. The dispute dates to 1887, when Congress made the Interior Department trustee for 145 million acres of Indian lands. Indians were supposed to benefit but the government gave most of the land to white settlers. Today, Interior manages 10 million acres of trust land for individual Indians and 46 million acres for tribes. In 1996, the Indians sued to reconcile their historical accounts. They, and Congress, demanded an audit. The Indians may be owed a century's worth of grazing rents, oil and gas royalties and timber sales from the land, plus interest. Both the Indians and the Interior Department agree $13 billion was collected between 1909 and 2001. The Indians had claimed the unpaid interest could be more than $150 billion, but they've offered to drop the whole thing if the government coughs up $27.5 billion. That money would be spread among individual Indian accountholders, about a fifth of the nation's 2.5 million Indians who live mainly in the West. No way, the Bush administration replied: The government has been forwarding most of the rents and royalties to tribes and individual Indians all along. "It could be just $30 million that's owed to the Indians," said Ross Swimmer, the Interior Department's special trustee for American Indians and also a member of Oklahoma's Cherokee Nation. During a tour of the Kansas cave, Swimmer and other Interior officials were eager to show that many more Indian records exist than people realize. They also wanted to demonstrate their ability to check the accuracy of financial transactions with Indians. "They're finally going to get their accounting," Swimmer said. "For once we've gotten something right for the Indians." In an irony befitting an Alice's Adventures in Wonderland legal war, the government is relying on the Indian-demanded accounting - actually, it's a statistical sampling - to come up with figures that Indians claim lowball what they're owed. "It's a number in the m's, not the b's," said Fritz Scheuren, who oversees Interior's statistical sampling and was president of the American Statistical Association last year. The Indian plaintiffs now say too many records have been destroyed to come up with an accurate figure. Before 1990, the Treasury Department routinely destroyed the Indian trust's canceled checks, and court documents attest to numerous destroyed trust records. "The documents that the government has preserved are a fraction of those that have been lost and destroyed," said Dennis Gingold, an attorney for the suing Indians. "Massive hard copy and electronic destruction ... make the accounting legally and factually impossible." The Indians' biggest ally is embattled U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, a former Reagan administration official whose strongly worded rulings condemn the Interior Department. After nine years presiding over the case, Lamberth concluded last July the agency is a "pathetic outpost" that has bungled its fiduciary duty. "For those harboring hope that the stories of murder, dispossession, forced marches, assimilationist policy programs, and other incidents of cultural genocide against the Indians are merely the echoes of a horrible, bigoted government-past that has been sanitized by the good deeds of more recent history, this case serves as an appalling reminder of the evils that result when large numbers of the politically powerless are placed at the mercy of institutions engendered and controlled by a politically powerful few," the judge wrote. Not surprisingly, the Interior Department wants Lamberth removed from the case and another judge assigned to it. Semi-secretive facility Down the rabbit hole, tractor trailers disappear into an obscure grassy knoll just off the Prairie Star Parkway. Situated in an industrial park a half hour southwest of Kansas City, the cave offers few indications it houses a semi-secretive government facility. Several minutes of driving through the dark, and the corridors get curiouser and curiouser. A faint dankness and dust fill the nostrils. Pocked walls climb into shadow. Painters have brightened them, like gardeners painting red roses white. In dimly lit parking spaces, trucks disgorge box after box of documents to be cataloged, computerized and stashed away. Two years and $120 million into the accounting, the archive has amassed 140,000 boxes with 300 million pages of old leases, bills, ledgers, account statements, school records, maps, letters and black-and-white photographs. In a space the size of Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium and managed by the Interior Department and the National Archives, boxes extend close to the ceiling and down aisles so long they fade into the caverns - reminiscent of the fate met by Indiana Jones' recovered ark. "People come in and ask, 'Where is the Lost Ark?' " said Jeffrey Zippin, deputy executive director of Interior's Office of Historical Trust Accounting. The shelves are coated with an electrostatically charged powder to resist corrosion or chemical action. The air within the painted cavern walls is kept at 60 degrees Fahrenheit and 40 percent humidity. High- -efficiency air filters catch 99 percent of all microscopic particles. The facility is leased for $900,000 a month from Minneapolis-based Meritex Enterprises Inc. Its security and climate controls are matched only by the National Archives itself in Washington and an annex in College Park, Md. The cavern teems with a small army of federal contractors - five accounting firms and 15 other businesses - assisting about a dozen Interior and National Archives employees. Thirty students at Haskell Indian Nations University, in nearby Lawrence, use the documents for training. It is closed to all but federal workers, contractors, Indian tribal representatives and researchers; privacy laws protect the names of living accountholders. The boxes come from about 100 of Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs offices and National Archives' record centers around the country. At a nondescript warehouse nearby, 100 workers sort through the boxes and log their contents into computers. The records are an eclectic mix: 1943 photographs of Navajo women cooking; a handwritten appeal from a Great Plains Indian for compensation because some of his cattle died; and a 16-page list of Sioux Indians killed and wounded - bearing ill-fated names like Black Moon, Sore Eyes Woman and Afraid of Left Hand - on Dec. 29, 1890 at Wounded Knee. Some boxes are tattered, faded or water-damaged. A few were decontaminated because of animal droppings. Loss of trust Concerns about the how the trust accounts are managed are almost as old as the trust itself. In 1915, the Joint Commission of Congress on Indian Funds warned of "fraud, corruption and institutional incompetence almost beyond the possibility of comprehension." In 1928, the Interior Department found Indian trust data unreliable and almost useless. Dozens of other, scathing reports followed. Finally, in 1994, Congress demanded Interior fulfill an obligation to account for money received and disbursed. A year later when account statements still hadn't been reconciled, Elouise Cobell of the Blackfeet Indian tribe in Montana joined with the Boulder, Colo.-based Native American Rights Fund and others in filing suit. So-called "fractionalization" of accounts is a major obstacle in managing the trust. As ownership of the 160-acre and smaller land parcels transferred from generation to generation, proceeds from the trust accounts had to be divided among more and more descendants. Interior officials say 90 percent of the transactions are for less than $100. "In every category it has cost us more to find the errors than the total amount of the errors we found," said departing Interior Secretary Gale Norton. "When you consider that we have millions of transactions under $1, you're spending $3,500 to find out if we handled $1 correctly." Norton's plan for the accounting includes checking half the 57 million transactions and a quarter of the $5 billion at stake between 1985 and 2000. "We don't have every single record of every single transaction that has occurred since the 1800s. We certainly do have enough records to do a complete accounting," she said. Accountants are examining nearly all financial transactions over $100, 000 in the 1985-2000 window. That represents $276 million - or about 5 percent of all the money at stake. Also being checked is nearly every payment an Indian tribe made to its members or resulted from a lawsuit or settlements. They total $784 million - or 16 percent of the transactions. Another 4 percent of the money - 19 million transactions, most for less than $1 - is considered interest. That represents $177 million. All those transactions are checked, too. For the other half of the transactions - three-quarters of the $5 billion at stake - the department uses statistical sampling to the check the accuracy. It's a method the Indians and Lamberth rejected, but a federal appeals court approved for use as a tool. The courts must sign off on any final accounting. 'Just pick a number' After 10 years of battling in court, no one knows exactly how much was collected or paid out to the Indians. "The previous administration as well as ourselves tried in good faith to tackle this problem. It was a much larger undertaking than anyone imagined," Norton said. Early in her tenure, Norton half-joked about how she divided her time. "Indian trust, Indian trust and Indian trust," she told the AP. Geoffrey Rempel, an accountant working for Indian plaintiffs, said the evidence is undisputed that trust records were destroyed over the past century, so there is no way Interior officials can claim to have enough of them for a proper accounting. "All they're doing is matching bad documents to bad documents, showing you what they want you to see," he said. "People would be thrown in jail if they audited banks like this. This is completely unacceptable - unless it's for the Indians." Most people agree the only acceptable solution will come from Congress. Senate Indian Affairs Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., and House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Calif., co-chaired a recent hearing to find the quickest and fairest way to end the dispute. Experts urged them to study the legal arguments - then arbitrarily pick a settlement figure. Stuart Eizenstat, a former deputy treasury secretary in the Clinton administration, believes Congress should create an Indian claims settlement commission to process claims, similar to the reparations made after World War II. "It would be a disaster to go back to court. It would just resign the Indians to another decade of fruitless litigation," he told The AP. "This cries out for an administrative, rough justice solution." Eizenstat negotiated the historic agreement with Switzerland's two largest banks to pay Holocaust survivors $1.25 billion. He said Congress should pick a figure that errs on the side of overpay to handle both accounting claims and anticipated claims from Indians challenging how the government actually managed the lands. "You presume that if the records weren't there, it's because of mismanagement," he said. "If they themselves as trustees mishandled records, then they have to handle the burden." Even Swimmer, who wants Congress to give Interior some "clear direction on its responsibilities," agrees with the concept of a big, somewhat arbitrary payout. "Just pick a number," he told The AP. "It's reparations, not repayment." Copyright c. 2006 Santa Fe New Mexican. --------- "RE: TEX HALL: Swimmer has preposterous Position" --------- Date: Sun, 14 May 2006 20:21:55 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TEX HALL: SWIMMER" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096412961 Hall: Interior's Swimmer has preposterous position by: Tex Hall / National Congress of American Indians May 12, 2006 Once again, the U.S. Department of the Interior's special trustee, and by extension the Bush administration, has chosen an especially preposterous position to take, and I have to speak out. Not because I feel the need to on my own, but because I have since heard from an overwhelming number of Indian trust account holders from across the country who feel that Special Trustee Ross Swimmer has launched an attack on them, too. Any time Interior decides that the best course of action in a given situation is to attack the credibility of a deceased but kind old Indian lady whose only sin was to unfortunately contract diabetes and then ask for help in enjoying the remaining days of her life, we know there is a major problem in decision-making, and lack of common sense, at the department. Swimmer compounds his mistake by choosing the media to propagate his unwise position. I am almost relieved that the special trustee didn't use his phone calls to Indian Country Today to challenge whether this Indian lady even had diabetes when she was alive. The big difference between Indian tribal leaders and the department is that when our citizens come to us in pain and need, we take them seriously. We believe our own people when they come to us and tell us what their situation is. So, while I think it is one thing for the special trustee to try and attack me, I think it is entirely unfair, unwise and definitely dangerous for him to attack our Indian elders and other Indian account holders. We are not going to stand for it. I also have to say that if ever there was a strong argument for settling the Cobell v. Norton lawsuit over the government's mishandling of Indian Trust accounts, the special trustee's actions have made that clear too. The special trustee's claim that this lady's trust account had no money in it shows exactly why more than 500,000 Indians have joined Elouise Cobell and are suing the U.S. government. The fact is that the government's own records are unreliable. And the system is flat-out broken and Indian people have no faith in it. It's no surprise that the government's position all along has been that everyone's account is fine, and no one is missing any money. But we all know that's not the case. You don't have to take my word for this. Just take the word of the government's own officials who have testified under oath to the following: John M. Miller, former deputy special trustee, said the "database is plagued by missing records, unreliable information, severe security deficiencies and unverifiable audit trails." Principal Deputy Special Trustee Tommy Thompson said that the government knew of serious "issues with the quality of the data and the integrity of the data." Paul Holman, the first special trustee, has said the "electronic databases ... do not contain accurate ownership information. They do not contain accurate revenue and expense information that can be verified." "Do you believe that those systems are reliable?" he was asked. "Absolutely not." "Do you think that the data in the systems has integrity?" "No." Deputy Special Trustee Donna Erwin has said there is "no way of determining whether the majority of Individual Indian Money account statements could be accurate or not." Interior's own auditor says this: "Certain of these internal control weaknesses are so pervasive and so fundamental as to render certain significant accounting systems unreliable." More recently, a 2005 report by Interior's inspector general noted: "Interior procedures and control were not adequate to ensure that Indian trust activities and balances were properly recorded." The accounting firm of KPMG said, "Inadequacies in trust-related systems make it impractical for the auditors ... to determine the fairness of trust balances." There's little wonder that most Indians don't believe the department when it claims it knows exactly how much is in each trust holder's account. What we need is an honest and fair settlement of the Cobell lawsuit. But what we also need is an acknowledgement from the U.S. government that they have lost and mismanaged our money and don't know where it is - plain and simple. What we don't need is for the government to wage an individual account- by-account attack on every single Indian trust beneficiary. Let's get some leadership at the highest levels who can come up with real solutions to fix this broken trust. I pledge to do my part. It's up to the government to do theirs. -- Tex G. Hall, chairman of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation in North Dakota, is a past president of National Congress of American Indians. Copyright c. 1998 - 2006 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Group supports Indians in Office" --------- Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 08:57:11 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WORKING TO PLACE MORE INDIANS IN POLITICAL POSITIONS" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://newsok.com/article/1843413/ Group supports Indians in office By Michael McNutt Capitol Bureau May 14, 2006 Kalyn Free is working to make sure more American Indians get a chance to do as she did and seek political office "Indians especially here in Oklahoma can have a tremendous impact on the political structure and on races," said Free, a Tulsa lawyer and 2004 congressional candidate. "We have not quite honestly flexed that muscle in Oklahoma to any real degree of certainty, but the possibility's there." Free, a Choctaw Nation member, is principal organizer of the Indigenous Democratic Network and its campaign financing arm known as INDN's List. It is modeled after EMILY'S List, which in 2004 supported liberal female candidates including Free. The group's mission is to elect Indians and Democrats. "What we want to be able to do is to mobilize the Indian voters and Democratic voters to turn out and vote for candidates who may not be Indian, but who care about the same things that Indian Country cares about and care about the same thing that Democrats care about," she said. The Democratic Party has the same values as Indians -- taking care of the elderly, children and those less fortunate, providing health care and protecting the environment and Social Security, she said. "It makes sense that we align ourselves with the Democratic Party," said Free, 42. However, 10 of the 13 Indians in the state House of Representatives are Republican. One state senator identified as an Indian is a Republican. Free, one of 75 at-large members of the Democratic National Committee, said: "The Republican Party has no qualms or no problems, unfortunately, finding their token candidates to put up to run for public office. Indians are traditionally Democratic both in Oklahoma and across the country. Clearly 85 percent of the national Indian vote goes to Democrats; in some areas it's as high as 95 percent." State Rep. Lisa Billy, R-Purcell, said Indians in Oklahoma are identifying more with the Republican Party. "Native American people are conservative by nature," she said. "I prefer less government interference in my life as a Native American," Billy said. "We've seen the effects of government on my race of people, and it hasn't always been positive." Billy, who helped organize the Native American Caucus, said the number of Indian legislators today could be the most serving at any one time. Billy, elected in 2004 and who previously served six years as a Chickasaw tribal legislator, said the Native American Caucus is a bipartisan effort open to all legislators. In the House, the goal is to educate members about tribes and get legislators acquainted with tribes in their districts, she said. Billy applauds Free's efforts. "We absolutely need more people to be active," Billy said. "Hopefully I'm doing that in my district, whether they be Native American, European or whatever race they are." Free had hoped to be the first American Indian woman in Congress. She was elected district attorney for Haskell and Pittsburg counties in 1998 and resigned in 2002 to run for Congress. But redistricting occurred and she would have had to run against incumbent Brad Carson, a Democrat, so she sat out that year's congressional race. When Carson opted to run for U.S. Senate in 2004, she ran for his 2nd Congressional District seat. She lost the Democratic primary to eventual winner Dan Boren. Her organization, which started in February 2005, will sponsor a training for candidates from diverse backgrounds June 10 in Tulsa. Speakers will include U.S. Rep. Mike Honda, D-Calif., and a former vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee. In Oklahoma, the group is supporting at least two legislative candidates this year. INDN's List gave $2,500 each to Scott Bighorse of Pawhuska, who is seeking the District 36 House seat, and to Charles Hoskin of Vinita, who is seeking the District 6 House seat. The organization also is backing first-time legislative candidates in California, Washington and Minnesota. Copyright c. 2006 The Oklahoman/News 9, Produced by NewsOK.com. --------- "RE: Health bill reauthorization more important now" --------- Date: Wed, 10 May 2006 08:36:19 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HEALTH BILL" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096412937 Health bill reauthorization 'more important than ever' by: Jerry Reynolds / Indian Country Today May 8, 2006 WASHINGTON - Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. has made a name for himself in Indian country as a lawmaker who stands up for tribes, even though few Indians populate his New Jersey district. But as a member of the Resources Committee, the committee of jurisdiction in the House of Representatives on many Indian-specific issues, the New Jersey Democrat seldom misses a chance to advocate for fairness toward Indians in the formulation of policy. A good example came early in the second session of the current 109th Congress, as it became clear that the federal budget would seek to save on health outlays by reducing Medicaid benefits and increasing the program's co-payment and premium costs. Medicaid is the United States' federal/state program that helps pay for health care for the needy, aged, blind and disabled, and for low-income families with children. At present, American Indian Medicaid beneficiaries with incomes below the poverty line are not required to pay premiums, co-payments and other forms of cost-sharing with their health care providers. Pallone criticized the "enormous consequences" of the policy change for individual Indians, the IHS, and tribal and urban health care providers. "Native American beneficiaries ... would be subject to new out-of-pocket costs," he said. "This may cause them to go without much-needed care and contribute to worsening health outcomes. Native American beneficiaries will then be forced to seek care from IHS, tribal and/or urban Indian health facilities, which already suffer from severely limited resources." To prevent that, Pallone offered companion legislation in the House to a Senate bill of Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., that would exempt American Indians and Alaska Natives from the "more pay or less service" demands of the budget-crunched Medicaid program. "But the budget problem is there," Pallone said. "It's inherent in everything we do." Most Indian health care funding comes out of the domestic discretionary budget, that small percentage of federal expenditures that is being targeted for cutbacks through the budgeting process because larger savings would take politically daunting changes in law. The domestic discretionary budget is up for renegotiation every appropriations cycle, meaning Indian health care funds are on the firing line every year for as long as the federal budget remains in deficit mode (that is to say, for the foreseeable future). "One of the things we've talked about doing is making the IHS an entitlement, so that it's not subject to these appropriations vagaries," Pallone said. He has introduced stand-alone legislation to that effect, arguing that the federal budget for fiscal year 2007 (which begins in October) "falls well short of the level of funding that would permit American Indian and Alaska Native programs to achieve health and health system parity with the majority of other Americans." If entitlement status can be gained for IHS funding, Congress will have to fund the unmet health needs of Indian country. Tribal leaders have put forward a $19.7 billion "needs-based budget" for the IHS, almost six times the Bush administration's initial budget request of $3.2 billion, and sure to far exceed any amount enacted by Congress. Pallone acknowledges steady, small budget increases to the IHS during the George W. Bush presidency, but terms them "still entirely inadequate" to even maintaining the current level of IHS services. The ultimate disposition of the fiscal year 2007 IHS budget remains under discussion in Congress. In the meantime, Pallone is part of a cohort of congressional members who are backing reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act. "It's more important than ever," he said of the reauthorization. A bill introduced in the Senate, Senate Bill 1057, would revise and extend the act, updating it to address the current health care needs of Indian country. It is far from a simple reauthorization, and an IHCIA reauthorization bill being developed in the House by Rep. Don Young, R- Alaska, is not expected to be identical with the Senate bill when and if it is introduced. The two bills would have to be reconciled before a law can be enacted, raising the prospect that on a legislative calendar already shortened by the presence of November elections, IHCIA reauthorization could run out of time for the second consecutive Congress. "We can't count on a last-minute flurry [of legislation passed by unanimous consent at the end of the 109th Congress], because it didn't work last time," Pallone said. "Accordingly, it is important for us to move soon so time does not once again run out on this legislation. We need to move quickly to have this bill voted on in the House, reconciled with the Senate bill and sent to the president's desk for his signature." Pallone is also trying to restore funding cuts to clean drinking water programs and the Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund program for cleaning up toxic pollution. For the first time ever, the EPA has announced that it is restoring a Superfund site to its list for priority cleanup. The site affects the New Jersey state-recognized Ramapough Lenape Indian Nation. Among Pallone's other Indian-specific priorities in the 109th Congress are beefing up law enforcement funding for tribes and empowering them to access U.S. Department of Homeland Security programs for border patrols outside state administrative channels. And like just about everyone else with an allegiance to Indian country, Pallone has found himself condemning the raids of the Interior Department on Indian program funds and fending off the usages made by anti-Indian interests of indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff's misdeeds with tribal fees and donations. Pallone attended the March 1 joint hearing of Congress announcing an attempt to settle the trust funds lawsuit, Cobell v. Norton, legislatively. He told a National Congress of American Indians audience afterward, "It has become very clear to me that the Department of Interior seems more interested in delaying negotiations on a fair settlement so it can try to divide Indian country and get Congress to force a settlement that is unjust. The recent cut of $1 million ... to Indian programs to pay for attorney fees ordered by the court [in Cobell] is the latest in the unconscionable tactics used by the Department of Interior." As for the time of trouble brought on tribes by Abramoff, Pallone hopes tribes have overcome the worst of it. "Obviously the Abramoff thing has been used by the opponents of Indian tribes, of Indian gaming, to get limits on gaming, to get limits on political donations ... But I think you just have to keep pointing out that tribes are the victims ... I think that we've done a pretty good job with their advocacy conferences, where they've been visiting Congress and explaining themselves. I think they've had some success ... they can dissipate that negativity." Copyright c. 1998 - 2006 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Funding for Indian clinics restored" --------- Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 08:57:11 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BUSH LOSSES, INDIANS WIN" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/270071_urban13.html Funding for Indian clinics restored House panel's action may keep Seattle site open By CHARLES POPE P-I WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT May 13, 2006 WASHINGTON - Turning its back on the White House once again, the House Appropriations Committee restored $33 million in funding for urban Indian health clinics. The decision Wednesday by the committee was good news for the Seattle Indian Health Board, the nation's largest urban Indian clinic, which would have lost 40 percent of its funding if the White House's budget request had been approved. With the money back in the budget and awaiting Senate action, the Seattle clinic would collect about $3.5 million to underwrite its programs, which include primary care, dental care, drug and alcohol abuse counseling and prenatal care. "These clinics are really specialized and target issues that affect tribes," said Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., who along with Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., led efforts to keep the funding. This year marked at least the sixth time since 1983 that federal funding for the center came under assault. Each of those efforts failed. Dicks called the proposal "one of those mindless cuts" that White House budget officials recommend only to have them rejected by Congress. The 34 clinics across the nation have broad support in Congress. McDermott was able to get signatures of more than 40 members - in both parties - for a letter demanding that funding be fully restored. "The Seattle Indian Health Board would have great difficulty surviving without this federal program, and the evidence is clear that the program makes a cost-effective - not to mention life-saving - difference for thousands of my Seattle constituents," McDermott said. Although small in dollar terms when compared with the federal budget, eliminating the Urban Indian Health program would have significant real- life effects in Seattle, McDermott and Dicks argued. The Seattle clinic, at 611 12th Ave. S., provides a full range of medical, dental, lab and pharmacy services along with programs aimed at drug and alcohol abuse. The White House said closing the clinic would not affect patients because they can get similar services at community health clinics. The House version will have to be reconciled with whatever the Senate decides, but Dicks said he expects most - if not all - of the funding to be approved. "These are really good programs. If you didn't have these clinics the patients would end up in the emergency room. And that's much more expensive." P-I Washington correspondent Charles Pope can be reached at 202-263-6461 or charliepope@seattlepi.com. Copyright c. 1996-2006 Seattle Post-Intelligencer. --------- "RE: Washington Tribes could escape Gas Tax" --------- Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 08:57:11 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="EXEMPTION UPHELD" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/5738027p-5134845c.html Tribes could escape gas tax State fears impact if more sue, win JOSEPH TURNER; The News Tribune May 14, 2006 What if you could drive onto a tribal reservation and fill up your gas tank for 31 cents a gallon less than you're paying now? It isn't happening yet, but the prospect alarms state officials. They're fussing about a series of "what ifs" after a federal judge's ruling late last year that the state cannot collect its 31-cent tax on gasoline sold at tribal gas stations. For now, the ruling applies to only the Squaxin and Swinomish tribes, both of which sued to stop paying the state gas tax. But what if all the other tribes in Washington also sued and won an exemption from the state tax? What if a tribe built or bought a refinery and sold tax-exempt gasoline to stations around the state? What if tribes undercut nontribal gas stations and sold gas for 10, 20 or 31 cents less than their competition? The answer: Washington state could lose millions - perhaps hundreds of millions - of dollars every year from lost gas tax revenues. That would jeopardize billions of dollars in highway, bridge and ferry projects the state hopes to build over the next decade. "Can you imagine if they got a station along I-5 some places and it's 5 cents, 10 cents cheaper?" state Sen. Ken Jacobsen, D-Seattle, a member of the Senate Transportation Committee, said of the tribes. "We've got to get to a solution," he said, "because it definitely has a financial impact on the state." So far, the financial impact on the state is negligible. Last month, the Squaxins stopped paying the state gas tax, but immediately imposed an equivalent 31-cent tribal tax. So they're not undercutting the price of gas at nontribal stations, but the state is losing the money it used to get from the tribe. `NO MAD DASH' "There's no change in the price to the public," said Kelly Croman, Squaxin tribal attorney. And there's no "mad dash" to try to undercut the price of gas on the market, she said. Money from the tribal tax is going to pay for roads, bus service, bridges, police and other tribal functions, she said. But if other tribes sued and were able to buy gasoline from distributors without paying the state tax, the loss to the state could be substantial. If 10 percent of all gasoline sales were exempt from the state tax, the state would lose $118 million a year by 2010, said Amy Arnis, deputy director for planning and programming for the state Department of Transportation. No one knows how much gas the tribes would sell - the Squaxins and the Swinomish have only one station apiece. And no one knows if all of Washington's tribes would ask the federal courts for the same exemption. So precise estimates are impossible. However, the state currently rebates about $4.87 million a year to 14 of the state's 29 tribes because they have long-standing agreements. Overall, the state collects more than $1 billion a year in gas taxes. JUDGE: no tax on reservations The amount of money refunded to the Nisqually, the Tulalip and other tribes comes from a formula based on the number of tribal members who live on or near their reservations, average annual gasoline consumption and the amount of the state gas tax. That formula tries to approximate the amount of gas purchased by tribal members and exempts that amount from the state gas tax, while still collecting tax on gas sold to nontribal drivers, said Art Farley of the state Department of Licensing, which collects the state gas tax. But U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Zilly ruled in November that the state didn't have the right to collect state gas tax for any gas sold on reservations, regardless of whether the buyer was a tribal member. Although the state argued that the gas tax ultimately is paid by consumers, Zilly sided with the tribes' argument that the burden of paying the state tax falls on retailers. That's because tribal stations still have to pay the state tax on all the gas they bought from distributors and have no way of recovering that tax from a driver who takes off without paying. On the other hand, the state gives tax rebates to fuel suppliers and distributors who don't receive payment from their customers. The state has appealed Zilly's ruling, which means other tribes aren't likely to get a similar arrangement as the Squaxins until the higher courts have ruled on the appeal. The Spokane tribe already has asked for similar treatment. The Puyallup Tribe, which has no gas tax compact with the state, is just beginning to look at the Zilly ruling, said tribal spokesman John Weymer. Currently, the Puyallups collect the state gas tax and give all of it to the state. Governor seeks agreement Tom Fitzsimmons, Gov. Chris Gregoire's chief of staff, said the state is negotiating with the tribes, refineries, suppliers and distributors in the hope of reaching an agreement on the tax issue. A bill that would have made the tax payable by anyone who buys gasoline from suppliers passed the state Senate earlier this year but died in the House. As well it should have, said Charlie Brown, lobbyist for the gasoline distributors. Distributors are the ones who buy gasoline and deliver it in tanker trucks to gas stations and other clients. The bill that died, Senate Bill 6785, also would have put distributors in a bind by potentially making them pay the gas tax 30 to 45 days sooner than they do today. That would cost them $5 million a month, Brown said. A scenario that could be costly to the state is one in which tribes get into the refinery or manufacturing business. "Theoretically, a tribal entity could buy fuel at one of the refineries, throw their own additive in it and then they might be able to argue that they are a manufacturer," Brown said. That means tribes could sell tax-free gasoline to nontribal retailers and the state could lose huge amounts of tax revenues. "That makes the state very nervous," Brown said. The Legislature has $12.7 billion in transportation projects that are relying on gas tax revenues, including a 5-cent increase approved in 2003 and a phased-in 9.5-cent hike approved in 2005. The state gas tax is scheduled to go up 3 cents on July 1, another 2 cents in 2007 and 1.5 cents in 2008. That would make it 37.5 cents a gallon. Copyright c. 2006 Tacoma News, Inc. A subsidiary of The McClatchy Company. --------- "RE: Redden ruling could affect Nez Perce agreement" --------- Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 08:57:11 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SNAKE RIVER AGREEMENT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.kbcitv.com/x51828.xml Redden ruling could affect Nez Perce agreement on Snake water The Associated Press May 14, 2006 LEWISTON, Idaho Some Idaho water groups say a judge's upcoming decision on whether farmers who take water from the Snake River for irrigation are harming endangered salmon could disrupt a historic pact between the state, the Nez Perce Tribe and the federal government. U-S District Court Judge James Redden of Portland, Oregon, is expected to rule in the case soon. Norm Semanko, director of the Idaho Water Users Association , said irrigators in southern Idaho could pull out of the Snake River Adjudication depending on how Redden rules. The agreement is part of a 20-year-old attempt to sort out 180-thousand water claims in the river basin that makes up 87 percent of the water in Idaho. Despite Semanko's concerns, others involved say they still believe final settlement could come within months. Steve Strack, an Idaho deputy attorney general, says the state is still on track. Copyright c. 2006 Fisher Communications, Inc. (KBCI TV) --------- "RE: Tulalip Tribe floats plan to restore Marsh" --------- Date: Tue, 9 May 2006 09:06:05 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MARSH RESTORATION" http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/06/05/10/100loc_a1marsh001.cfm Tribe floats plan to restore marsh The Tulalips hope to partner with state and local government to improve remove dikes in Marysville. By Scott Morris Herald Writer May 10, 2006 MARYSVILLE - The Tulalip Tribes wants to reverse the tide of dike- building on the Snohomish River delta. The tribe and its federal, state and local partners would like to hear from the public about a plan to breach some of those dikes and reclaim the estuary. Loggers, farmers and industry built the dikes to dry out all but 17 percent of the estuary, according to the Qwuloolt Estuary Restoration Project. Qwuloolt means "great marsh" in Lushootseed, the native language of the area. The project would let the tides reclaim some of that once-sizable marsh for young salmon, wildlife and plants. To do so, the project partners want to spend up to $4 million to remove large sections of dike, plus four tide gates, on the northeast side of Ebey Slough. That would allow tides to flood 385 acres of former dairy pasture the tribes now own. In spots, the water would push in close to Sunnyside Boulevard and some newer neighborhoods there. The project could be ready by 2009, said Kurt Nelson, a biologist for the Tulalip Tribes. The city of Marysville is working closely with the project so a trail system can be included to connect the Sunnyside area with the new Ebey Waterfront Park, Mayor Dennis Kendall said. The trail would go on top of a new dike that would be built farther inland at the edge of the marsh, Kendall said. That dike would be necessary to protect Brashler Industrial Park, the city's wastewater treatment plant and some of the Sunnyside neighborhoods. Tribal officials remain open to the trail idea, but no design has been chosen, Nelson said. Residents will have a chance to comment on three alternatives, plus an option to keep the existing dikes intact, Nelson said. The cheapest of the three would be to remove the existing dike on that section of Ebey Slough, Nelson said. Another option is to remove 2,000 feet of that dike, he said. A third but less likely option would be to keep the existing dike and open two 200-foot breaches - big enough to let the tide in but small enough for the gaps to be spanned with footbridges. The initial idea was to put a trail on top of the existing dike, but Kendall said the bridges would have proven too costly. Instead, the new interior dike would suit the city's trail plans, Kendall said. Walking along the dike earlier this month, Maria Calvi, a restoration ecologist with the Tulalip Tribes, said the trail idea has some educational value. People could get a close-up view as marsh plants re- establish themselves over time, she said. "It could be a really good learning opportunity for what restoration is, " Calvi said. Estuaries are important transition zones for juvenile salmon as they adjust from fresh water to salt water, Nelson said. Young salmon eat insects and shellfish that thrive in tidal estuaries, Nelson said. Other species, such as starry flounder and perch, also need estuaries, he said. The project also would remove four tide gates where Jones and Allen creeks spill into Ebey Slough. Migrating salmon could enter the streams more easily, and the tides would flush stagnant Allen Creek and improve the water quality, Nelson said. The project was conceived to offset the damage from 4 million tons of industrial waste dumped from 1964 to 1979 into the former Tulalip landfill at the mouth of Ebey Slough. Audrey Hobeck, a commissioner for Diking District 3, which maintains the Ebey Slough dike, supports the project. Many of the project's neighbors didn't agree at first, but opposition seems to have quieted, Hobeck said. "When they first talked about it, there were a lot of fears" that their properties would be flooded, said Hobeck, who owns a metal fabrication shop in Brashler Industrial Park. Over time, those fears have lessened, particularly when the new interior dike was included, Hobeck said. Lingering worries have more to do with the fears of some residents about an influx of rats and other rodents once the area starts to flood, Nelson said. "I'm not sure how to answer that," Nelson said. Now the project partners want to know what people think, he said. "We want a project that everybody can agree to," Nelson said. "That might be difficult to obtain, but that's our goal." Reporter Scott Morris: 425-339-3292 or smorris@ heraldnet.com. Copyright c. 2006 The Daily Herald Co., Everett, Wash. --------- "RE: Yakama Nation works to restore Salmon Runs" --------- Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 08:57:11 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YAKAMA WORK TO RESTORE SALMON, STEELHEAD" http://www.yakima-herald.com/page/dis/286096698308619 Yakama Nation works to restore salmon runs on Klickitat River By PHIL FEROLITO YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC May 15, 2006 GLENWOOD - If things go as planned, salmon and steelhead could soon reach the upper watershed of the Klickitat River - something that hasn't happened in more than a half century. As Columbia River dams began decimating fish runs in the 1950s, fish returns to the upper Klickitat suffered as well. But new fish-rearing practices and habitat restoration pioneered by the Yakama Nation may help change that. After six years of planning and negotiating, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife on Friday turned over operations of the Klickitat Hatchery to the Yakama Nation. Although the state still will have a hand in the hatchery - which employs six full-time workers - the Yakama Nation will lead fish management there. While the state has been successful in building hatchery stock, wildlife officials admit the tribe has developed superior fish-rearing practices to rebuild native fish populations. And the tribe likely would be more successful in garnering federal funds to support such a project, says Bill Tweit, a state fisheries spokesman. "They're the pioneers in that," he says. "That's what they've been doing at the Cle Elum Hatchery for quite some time now." The smell of freshly cooked salmon and buffalo meat hung in the air Friday at the Klickitat Hatchery just east of Glenwood, as tribal member Gerry Lewis captured the attention of more than 200 well-wishers with a traditional Yakama song. The song thanked the Creator for everyone who attended the open house announcing the hatchery's transfer. Lewis followed with a prayer, giving thanks for "the land that we stand upon, the air that we breathe and the water that we drink," before those in attendance were treated to lunch. In February 2005, the state agreed to hand over to the tribe not only operations, but hatchery facilities and the land they sit on. Public access to fishing and rafting would continue in the area. But the agreement stalled after Klickitat County commissioners voiced disapproval, citing a long-standing boundary dispute between the tribe and the county on hatchery property. Commissioners also questioned the project's possible environmental impacts. According to tribal officials and federal maps outlining reservation boundaries, the hatchery property is situated within the closed section of the Yakama reservation, as is much of the Klickitat River. But county officials say otherwise, citing maps from the state Department of Natural Resources and other state agencies. County officials also say they weren't included in discussions about any hatchery changes, but should have been, says Klickitat County Commissioner Joan Frey. Under a modified agreement, however, the tribe will lease the hatchery free of charge for three years while leading operations of the 50-year-old hatchery, says Bill Sharp, the tribe's leading fish biologist on the project. Tweit hopes that during the three years, county officials will see how the tribe's plan will benefit everyone and be willing to support a more permanent agreement. Taking such a lead will not only help the Yakamas continue to restore a fish sacred to their culture, but also improve fisheries for everyone, says Yakama Klickitat Fisheries manager Mel Sampson. Now, fish reared at the hatchery return to the hatchery, where they spawn. But the Yakamas want to proportionally gather wild fish from fish runs and have them spawn at the hatchery. Their offspring would then be placed in acclimation ponds in the upper watersheds of the 100-mile-long Klickitat, where they eventually will return and spawn. The cycle would be repeated, skipping every other generation of wild fish. "Hopefully it will lead to more fish production that will eventually lead to more fisheries for everyone," Sampson says. The Klickitat Hatchery would employ fish-rearing settings similar to those in place at the Cle Elum Hatchery. The raceways would have vegetation and be painted to mimic natural habitat, simulating natural river bottoms. In addition, repairs are needed at the facility and the staff might have to be increased to fully initiate the plan, Sampson says. "The sophistication that's required is far beyond what this facility now has," he says. Upgrades could cost nearly $10 million, and money is mostly being sought through federal grants, he says. But before those changes can be made and the project is completed, an environmental impact study must be conducted, Sharp says. Tweit, however, says the project will have only positive effects on the environment. Bonneville Power and the Northwest Power and Conservation Council are reviewing the project's fish plan, which focuses on fall chinook and coho salmon rearing, Sharp says. "Principally, we are taking aggressively the appropriate steps that are involved," Sampson says. "The tribe's participation is going to be for the betterment of fish production." Phil Ferolito can be reached at 837-6111 or pferolito@yakimaherald.com. Copyright c. 2006 - Yakima Herald-Republic - www.yakimaherald.com --------- "RE: No Final Rest for Chief Old Joseph" --------- Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 08:57:11 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="RETURN OF SKULL ASKED" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.oregonlive.com/1147397122180800.xml&coll=7&thispage=3 No final rest RICHARD COCKLE May 14, 2006 JOSEPH - When the remains of Chief Old Joseph of the Nez Perce were moved 80 years ago to their current grave site near Wallowa Lake, historical accounts say 6,000 people attended the ceremony for the venerated leader. But the records avoid a terrible subject that probably was on everyone's mind: The chief's skull was gone, stolen 40 years earlier by a white settler. One tale suggests it was displayed for many years in a dentist's office in Baker City. The theft remains "a festering sore" to the tribe, even after so many decades, said Vera Sonneck, cultural resources director for the Nez Perce Reservation in Lapwai, Idaho. "It is almost like a cancer that goes into remission, and that cancer can come back again," she said. "Yeah, it does hurt. . . . Indian people do regard their ancestors dearly." If Old Joseph's skull still exists, the tribe hopes to have it returned, said Bobbie Conner, one of his descendants and the director of the Tamastslikt Cultural Institute on the Umatilla Reservation near Pendleton. That the Nez Perce lost their homeland was a terrible blow, she said, but to have Old Joseph's remains disturbed added insult to injury . Old Joseph, known to the tribe both as Tuekakas and Wellamotkin, became chief of the Wallowa Band of the Nez Perce by right of succession in 1832. He died in October 1871, the year the first white settlers moved into Wallowa County in northeastern Oregon. Nearly blind and forced to ride double on a horse behind a young boy who served as his eyes, the aged chief desperately wanted his people to remain in their spiritual homeland, the hauntingly beautiful mountains, valleys and canyons of what is now Wallowa County. But he knew the pressures of white settlement soon would become harder to fend off. Old Joseph exhorted his oldest son, Hinmatooyalatkekt, soon to be known as Chief Joseph, never to abandon the Nez Perce's ancestral home, wrote the late Alvin M. Josephy Jr. in his book "The Nez Perce Indians and the Opening of the Northwest." "My son, my body is returning to my mother earth and my spirit is going very soon to see the Great Spirit Chief," the old chief said. "You must stop your ears when you are asked to sign a treaty selling your home." The grieving Nez Perce buried him near what is now the town of Wallowa and suspended a bell over the grave, a symbol of respect. But a white settler stole the bell three years later, and new landowners opened the grave and removed his skull in 1886 after the tribe had been pushed out of Wallowa County, Josephy wrote. Historians appear to have lost track of the skull after an early report, related by Josephy, that it was displayed in a dentist's office in the early part of the century. Sonneck recalls a story from 50 years ago that two white men in Nevada had the skull and used it as an ash tray, but she doesn't know where it is today. Body moved in 1926 Old Joseph's death came at a time of crisis for the Nez Perce. The tribe's Wallowa Band was ordered out of Wallowa County in 1877 and faced forced resettlement on a reservation at Lapwai, Idaho, under what Native American and white historians contend was a fraudulent 1863 treaty with the government. Young Chief Joseph led 750 Nez Perce in an epic running war with 2,000 U. S. Cavalry soldiers, fighting 20 battles and skirmishes and riding a grueling 1,170 miles before defeat in the Bears Paw Mountains of Montana. In 1926, 55 years after Old Joseph's death, his headless body was laid to rest for a second time near the shore of Wallowa Lake. Moving the grave became necessary because the owners of the original grave site were tired of working around it in their farming operation, wrote Harley Horner, an early Wallowa County historian. Ironically, the absence of a skull made it easy for the shovel-wielding white volunteers, all members of a civic group called the Joseph Commercial Club, to identify his body from among the remains of other tribal members buried there, wrote Horner, himself a club member. "I said, 'We will dig here and if the head is gone, it is the right one,'" he wrote, adding that after finding the body, "We had all the skeleton but the head." Before the new grave was dedicated, the club went to George P. Cheney, editor of the Record Chieftain newspaper in Enterprise, and urged him not to mention the theft in print. Horner argued that the Sept. 26, 1926, dedication would be ruined for the Nez Perce if the story were told. Left unspoken was the fear that the Nez Perce, then living on the Umatilla Reservation, the Colville Reservation northwest of Spokane and the Nez Perce Reservation in Idaho, might not attend if word got out. "End this travesty" But the Nez Perce already knew and came anyway, said Conner, whose grandfather attended the ceremony. Among the mourners were Yellow Wolf, Otis Halfmoon and the Black Eagle Clan, all veterans of the 1877 Nez Perce War, she said. Francis McFarland, a Nez Perce leader from Lapwai and a descendant of Old Joseph, described him during the ceremony as "a great man of our country. He loved his children and he loved his country and he loved to worship the Spirit of Heaven." The commercial club had commissioned a $150 monument that was dedicated during the ceremony and still stands over the grave, but erroneously gave the year of his death as 1870. Many Nez Perce women openly wept, even though Old Joseph had been dead for half a century, Horner wrote. But the missing skull wasn't mentioned, probably because so many on both sides still remembered the battles, betrayal, treachery and suffering that ended with the Nez Perce's exile from Wallowa County. Conner says the time has now come to talk about it. "Probably that is the one way to make people understand how we have been dehumanized, to the degree that our ancestors' remains are souvenirs," she said. She says the return of the skull would make it possible for Old Joseph and his son to rest in peace. "Our heart's desire would be to end this travesty by paying respect to him and reburying all of him," Conner said. "He is our grandfather. Quite simply, we hope to lay our ancestors to rest as should have been done long ago." Copyright c. 2006 The Oregonian. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Appeals Court revives Native Voting Rights Lawsuit" --------- Date: Tue, 9 May 2006 09:06:05 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="VOTING RIGHTS LAWSUIT" http://www.indianz.com/News/2006/013837.asp Appeals court revives Native voting rights lawsuit May 8, 2006 Native Americans in a South Dakota reservation border city have been given another chance to pursue their Voting Rights Act lawsuit. American Indians and Alaska Natives make up nearly 45 percent of the population in Martin, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The city is located next to the Pine Ridge Reservation and the Rosebud Sioux Reservation. Despite the high percentage of Native Americans, only two Indian- preferred candidates have been elected in over two decades. That record prompted Pearl Cottier and Rebecca Three Stars, both members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, to file a lawsuit against the city, arguing that the voting system dilutes the voting power of Native Americans. A federal judge dismissed the suit in March 2005, ruling that the tribal members failed to show that city's redistricting plan violated the Voting Rights Act. But the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday disagreed and sent the case back for further review. "If the district court then finds in favor of the plaintiffs, it shall develop a plan under which Native Americans will have a reasonable opportunity to elect an Indian-preferred candidate," Judge Gerald W. Heaney wrote for the 2-1 majority. Should Cottier and Three Stars prevail, Native voters could make history by electing their first preferred candidate. In court, the plaintiffs provided alternatives to the city's redistricting plan to draw at least one majority-Indian district. Evidence introduced in court also showed that Native voters typically vote in a block. But due to the way the city's three wards are drawn, the white majority always prevailed, the 8th Circuit majority said on Friday. "The record clearly reflects that in 2002, the Indian-preferred candidates for alderman in each of the three wards lost," the 8th Circuit observed. "In 2003, the Indian-preferred candidates for alderman in Wards I and III lost. And in 2004, the Indian-preferred candidates for alderman in each of the wards lost." "Because Native Americans and whites make up more than 99% of Martin's population, the only conclusion available is that whites voted as a bloc to defeat the Indian-preferred candidates," the decision stated. One member of the 8th Circuit, however, disagreed with the majority's ruling. Judge Steven M. Colloton, an appointee of President Bush, said Cottier and Three Stars failed to provide evidence that their voting rights were violated. Due to the split, a rehearing before the 8th Circuit is possible. But for now, the American Civil Rights Liberties Union, which filed the case on behalf of the tribal members, declared victory. "I am pleased that the Eighth Circuit recognized their right to finally have a say in how their town is run," said Jennifer Ring, the executive director of the ACLU of the Dakotas, "Nothing beats an actual seat at the table." The ACLU has filed a string of voting rights and discrimination lawsuits in South Dakota on behalf of tribal members. In nearly every single case, the Indian plaintiffs have prevailed in court or reached a favorable out- of-court settlement. Nationwide, Native voters in South Dakota have gained attention for their ability to sway key elections. In 2002 and 2004, Native Americans helped Sen. Tim Johnson (D) and Rep. Stephanie Herseth (D) win their seats. Copyright c. 2000-2006 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: Haudenosaunee file brief to support the Cayugas" --------- Date: Thu, 11 May 2006 08:45:42 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HAUDENOSAUNEE SUPPORT CAYUGAS" http://members.aol.com/miketben1/briefiled.htm HAUDENOSAUNEE FILE BRIEF TO SUPPORT THE CAYUGAS BY: BARBARA GRAY INDIAN TIME - Vol. 24 #17 - Onerahtohko:wa May 4, 2006 On April 7th, the Mohawk Nation along with other Nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy filed an Amicus brief to support the Cayuga. In 2001, the Cayuga Indian Nation of New York and the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma won a ground-breaking victory in their land claim against the State of New York. The Federal court in Syracuse Ruled that the Cayugas were entitled to nearly $250 million in compensation for the loss of their lands through illegal treaties with New York in the late 1700s and early 1800s. These treaties violated the Indian Trade and Intercourse Act of 1790, which was created to protect Indian Nations from being plundered by State governments. Before any money was paid, the State of New York appealed the Ruling, and in 2005 the Federal Appeals court in New York City overturned the decision. The Appeals court found that the Cayugas and the United States, who supported them in the case, had waited too long to file their claim in court, and that providing compensation now would be too "disruptive." The court's Ruling applied directly to the Cayugas, and it rewrote the rules for all the land claims pending in New York. Under the new rules, no Indian Tribe or Nation could count on winning its case. Even Tribes and Nations seeking a negotiated resolution to their land claims could be affected. The Cayugas turned to the United States Supreme Court after their efforts to convince the Appeals court failed. In February of this year, the Cayugas asked the Court to review their case. The Supreme Court can choose whether or not it will review such cases, and they may be influenced in this decision not only by those directly involved in a given case, but also by others with a particular interest in the case. Recognizing the critical importance of the case, the Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs, together with the Haudenosaunee, prepared a brief to the Supreme Court to ask it to hear the case. In their brief, the Nation and the Haudenosaunee argued that the Supreme Court should take the case because the Appeals court Ruling against the Cayugas conflicted with well-established Federal law. The Nation argued that the Cayugas could not be accused of waiting too long to make their claim because the courts were not open to them until very recently. In addition, the Nation argued, to bar the Cayugas' claims would be unfair because New York had treated the Cayugas in such bad faith. The Nation and the Haudenosaunee tied these points in to the broader history of New York State's efforts to remove all the Haudenosaunee Nations from their lands. "The Mohawk/Haudenosaunee brief goes to the heart of the matter of whether a court can bar an Indian Nation simply because time has gone by," said Alex Page, an attorney for the Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs. "It's a critical part of the effort to get the Supreme Court to review the Cayuga case and restore some justice to the Cayugas and o ther Indian Nations." On the same day the brief was filed, the State of New submitted its brief arguing that the Supreme Court should not review the case. If the Supreme Court does not reverse the Appeals court decision, the result will be devastating to Native peoples who may forever lose their rights to sue for lands illegally taken. It is expected that the Supreme Court will decide whether or not to review the case by the middle of May. If you would like to read the Haudenosaunee Amicus Brief, it can be found at www.mohawknation.org --------- "RE: Top court won't review Cayuga Land Claim Case" --------- Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 08:57:11 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CAYUGA LAND CLAIM CASE REJECTED BY SUPREME COURT" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1963218 Top court won't review Indian land claim case By James Vicini Reuters News Service May 15, 2006 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday let stand a ruling that two Indian tribes are not entitled to $248 million as compensation for New York state's unlawful acquisition of their land 200 years ago. The justices refused to review a ruling by an appeals court that overturned the monetary damages awarded to the Cayuga Indian Nation of New York and the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma. Without comment or recorded dissent, the justices rejected separate appeals by the tribes and the U.S. government arguing the ruling conflicted with Supreme Court precedent and the intent of the Congress that such Indian land claims should go forward. The case stemmed from a lawsuit filed in 1980 involving more than 64,000 acres of land in central New York that the tribes said was taken from them in violation of federal law and federal treaties. The land was purchased in accordance with treaties between the state and the tribe in 1795 and 1807. But a federal judge then ruled those treaties were invalid because they had not been properly ratified by the federal government. The judge ruled the state could be held liable for wrongfully taking the tribal land. A jury awarded the two Cayuga tribes $36.9 million in damages for the land's current worth and the loss of two centuries of fair-market rental value. The judge then added $211 million in interest, for a total award of almost $248 million. The appeals court overturned the award and cited the legal doctrine that long-neglected rights cannot be enforced if there has been an unduly long lapse in time in bringing the claim. The appeals court cited a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2005 in a tax case involving the Oneida Indians and the upstate New York town of Sherrill. The court said too many years had passed for the Oneidas to claim that reacquired former reservation lands were tax-exempt. Copyright c. 2006 Reuters News Service. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Prairie Band Potawatomi regains Homeland" --------- Date: Thu, 11 May 2006 08:45:42 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HOMELAND REGAINED" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=7835 Prairie Band Potawatomi regains homeland Gaming proceeds achieve what state and feds wouldn't Sam Lewin May 10, 2006 It's small, but rich in historical significance for a Wichita-based tribe. And once again it belongs to them. The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation has purchased a 128-acre farm in Illinois that houses land signed over to the tribe more than 150 years ago. "Today is one of great joy and celebration for our tribe; and we are here to celebrate and share with you the re-acquisition of a piece of our ancestral homelands," said Potawatomi leader Tracy Stanhoff. "If you are Native peoples, then you can imagine what we are feeling today as we stand, sing and pray upon this beautiful land - land that our ancestors lived on and land that we were forced to leave in the mid-19th century." Chief Shab-eh-nay, a leader of the band that eventually became the Prairie Band Potawatomi, secured the land in what is known as the 1829 Treaty of Prairie du Chien. Band members were kicked off the property a few years later and forced to move to Kansas. Stanhoff hyped the fact that the tribe was able to regain the land without any outside help. The tribe's lucrative casino in Kansas draws over one million visitors a year, and help pay for the acquisition. "Over the past few days, I have spoken with many members of our Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation and have heard many similar stories-stories that tell us where our people originated and stories about the sad history of our forced removal," said Stanhoff. "At the same time, we are deeply moved by the way in which this wonderful community of Shabbona has always remembered and held in the utmost respect one of our tribe's great leaders-Chief Shab-eh-nay." The tribe has sought for years to have the land returned to them, enlisting the help of sympathetic federal officials inclined to be of assistance. "The Shab-eh-nay land and Shab-eh-nay himself have been a part of the tribe's interest, history and culture for more than 150 years," Potawatomi historian Gary Mitchell told a congressional committee in 2002. Two years later the tribe submitted a proposal for the area to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The first-term Democrat ignored them. In the end it was the Prairie Band Potawatomi's business acumen that paved the way for the land return, which carried a price tag of almost $9 million. "After more than 150 years we have a piece of our original homelands back; and this purchase rightfully and successfully ends more than 150 years of our efforts by our forefathers to get this land back," said Stanhoff. Tribal officials said they would conduct development on the land, but they offered scant further details. Stanhoff said a casino in the region was "not out of the question." You can reach Sam Lewin at sam@okit.com Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Creeks, Cherokees supplement learning Programs" --------- Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 08:57:11 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BOOSTING EDUCATION" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060514 Creeks, Cherokees supplement learning programs By Cathy Spaulding Phoenix Staff Writer May 14, 2006 A grant from the Creek Nation could help hundreds of Muskogee school kids experience the rigors of athletics and academics this summer. Muskogee Public Schools has received $50,000 from the Creeks to help fund the district's annual Rougher Summer Pride Camp, a multi-week program that combines athletic training with academic training. The funding is one way area tribes and Native American organizations go beyond the Johnson O'Malley Indian Education Program to help public schools. For example, in February, the Cherokee Nation gave out $2.3 million in tag revenue to schools in 14 counties within its jurisdiction. The allocation amounted to 38 cents from each dollar the nation raised on tag revenue and were based on the number of Cherokee students in each district. As a result, Tahlequah Schools received $147,869, while Muskogee received $64,316.91. The Cherokee Nation also offers Learn and Serve subgrants to help public school students learn about Cherokee culture and community service, said Sammye Rusco, the tribe's communications director. "The program connects schools with community service projects," she said. In January, Cherokee Nation awarded Muskogee Public Schools a $19,000 subgrant to help Whittier Elementary students learn about Cherokee and other cultures. The Learn and Serve subgrant funded a program in which each Whittier teacher builds a project that may include intergenerational learning and extended studies of Cherokee history, Principal Ed Wallace said. Whittier third-grade teacher Heather Moles, who is coordinating the program, said she hopes "to see all our kids get a greater appreciation of their culture and heritage." She said the school, which is in the Cherokee Nation's jurisdiction, has a high percentage of Native American students. Whittier will use part of its funding for a cultural fair Friday. Third-grade teacher Amy Gardner said the cultural fair, which runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., will feature a Cherokee meal including Indian tacos and grape dumplings. The grant, which runs through June 30, could be renewed and expanded to other schools, said Muskogee Schools Indian education Coordinator Maxine Glory. As for the Creek funding of the Rougher Pride camp, Muskogee Public Schools Athletic Director Bobby Jefferson said, "We would not be able to do the camp without the money." Jefferson said he also is working on securing funding from the Cherokee Nation, but hasn't heard from them. Last year's seven-week Rougher Pride Camp drew up to 400 students between third and 12th grades. Native American organizations also help fund school programs. In 2005, the Checotah Indian Community Center agreed to donate $25,000 for a new playground at Checotah's Marshall Elementary School. Total cost of the playground was $38,000. Copyright c. 2006 Muskogee Phoenix. --------- "RE: Yavapais remember Government Standoff" --------- Date: Sun, 14 May 2006 20:21:55 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SOVEREIGNTY MARCH" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.azcentral.com/0513sr-sovereignty0513Z8.html Yavapais remember government standoff March shows how far community has come Jessica Coomes The Arizona Republic May 13, 2006 FORT MCDOWELL - The route of Fort McDowell's annual sovereignty march is ined with new homes and community amenities, reminders of how the Yavapai Nation has prospered with its independence. About 400 people made the symbolic four-mile trek through the reservation early Friday to remember the start of a May 12, 1992, standoff with the federal and state governments over gaming rights. Tribal members blockaded trucks that would have removed 349 slot machines from the reservation. Fort McDowell's eventual victory to keep its casino reaffirmed the tribe's sovereignty. "When you become dependent on other people, it's hard to determine your own future," President Raphael Bear said. As tribal members, employees and supporters walked Friday for the Fort McDowell Sovereignty Day holiday, they passed modern homes under construction, the recently completed health clinic and sprawling farmland. The marchers started at a community recreation center and ended at the luxurious Radisson Resort. Gaming revenues have snowballed to sustain other prosperous businesses and community benefits. Felipa Camacho walked under the morning sun and remembered the day 14 years ago when FBI agents came into the Ba'Ja Bingo Center with guns, bulletproof vests and dollies. She was at work when the raid started, and she tried to save the money from the machines. Camacho stayed at the casino all day and all night, then she and other tribal members took shifts standing guard over the machines, which were stored in the blockaded moving trucks. She came out to march Friday "to support our tribe in remembrance of it all. We're not going to back down." Adults, teens, children and elders all walked together. Times and generations have changed, tribal elder Tom Jones said. He grew up on the Fort McDowell reservation without a lot of money, but children today know only prosperity, and he hopes they do not forget history. "You have to remind them day after day, and then it'll soak in," Jones said. "But it's going to take awhile. Maybe when they're my age." Vanessa Reed, 15, came to the march Friday with her friends. She said her mother tells her every day that she had better appreciate her tribe. Reed said she does. As the marchers rounded out the route to the casino, they passed two haul trucks from Yavapai Materials, the tribe's sand and gravel company. In 1992, workers from the materials company acted quickly and used similar haul trucks to blockade the moving trucks containing the slot machines. The tribe even created haul truck mementos to remember the anniversary. Copyright c. 2006, azcentral.com. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Mescal Roast showcases Tribal Ceremonies" --------- Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 08:57:11 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRADITIONAL WAYS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.roswell-record.com/archives/051406/news06.html Mescal Roast showcases tribal ceremonies Andrew Poertner Record Managing Editor May 14, 2006 CARLSBAD - Songs of ancient battles and ancestral spirits greeted the descending shroud of night as revelers celebrated traditions from long ago but not forsaken. Visitors to the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens State Park in this small city in southeastern New Mexico are experiencing a unique opportunity this weekend to taste the culture, history and foodstuffs of the Mescalero Apache tribe as the park hosts its 20th annual Mescal Roast. Friday, spectators watched traditional Mescalero Apache dances including war dances and the Mountain Spirit Dance, which tells the ancient story of benevolent spirits who helped two brothers trapped in a cave. Ken Britt, park superintendent, said the four-day event complements the park's year-round goal of educating visitors about the surrounding environment and does so in an entertaining manner people will long remember. "It fits together with the park very well," Britt said. "We tell the stories of the plants and the animals of the Chihuahuan Desert, but what we were lacking was the story of how the people connected with the desert." Britt said about 250 people attended Friday's event, and based on past years, he said the park expects about 2,500 people to visit this year's roast. While the colorful pageantry is the most visible attraction of the event, there was more to be experienced by visitors. Attendees were able to enjoy native foods and purchase jewelry and other crafts. At the heart of the event was the roasting of the mescal plant. The roast, Britt said, is intended to provide a better understanding of traditional methods used by the Apache to survive the harsh Chihuahuan Desert. The mescal plant, also known as agave or century plant, was a staple for the Apache who once populated the Pecos River Valley and Guadalupe Mountains of southeastern New Mexico. Apache tribal members opened the ceremonies on Thursday by blessing the roasting pit in which the mescal is placed to prepare for tasting today. Ancient Mescalero roasting pits are found in the Guadalupe Mountains, now considered protected archaeological sites. The main feast began Friday with an interpretive presentation and native art sale, followed by the Mescal Roast feast dinner and dancing. The dinner was modeled after traditional feasts served during coming-of-age ceremonies for young women on the reservation. The ceremonies were not re- enactments or staged pageants, but actual ritual observances. While some of the roasted mescal will be sampled by park visitors today, much of it will be taken back to the reservation to be used in spiritual ceremonies, including coming-of-age rituals your young girls. While roasting mescal has been a tradition for area tribe members for centuries, it wasn't until 20 years ago that the park extended an invitation to host an annual roast. Mark Rosacker, who was the park's animal curator for 26 years before retiring, organized the first roast at the park and was on hand for Friday's festivities. Rosacker said the first roasts were small, intimate affairs which have grown over the years. He credited the event's success and growing popularity to the good will of the Mescalero Apaches, hard work by park staff, support from local business and also to those attending the event. "You each come from a different place, you each have a different heart and mind ... and just to have you living and breathing here together is a special thing," Rosacker said. Among the tribal members performing at the roast was Abraham Chee. Friday night, Chee enlightened the audience on the origins and significance of war dances. He told spectators the songs and dances honor warriors, including those who fought long ago. "When we sing these songs we honor them, our forefathers," Chee said. The songs are also for modern-day warriors. Chee said the music expresses a hope that those in uniform far from home will one day journey back unharmed. "They're also praying for them, so they can have a safe return home," he said. The spiritual nature of the songs visibly touched many of the audience members, including Carlsbad resident Sherri Shoulders, 55, who said she had wanted to attend the roast for many years, but this year's event is her first time to experience the event. "I live across the street from one of the men who work here and I've been to pow wows all my life, but never the Mescaleros and I wanted to learn about their culture and way of life," Shoulders said. Shoulders added she was touched by the songs and dances Friday night. She said she found some comfort in the ceremony which helped soothe a tragedy in her life. "I lost my son and it helps when I listen to something spiritual like this," she said. Copyright c. 2006 Roswell Record. --------- "RE: Navajo Education Committee Vice Chair Statement" --------- Date: Thu, 11 May 2006 09:34:52 -0600 From: Karen Francis Subj: Statement from Education Committee Vice Chairperson Contact: Karen Francis, Public Information Officer Navajo Nation Council Office of the Speaker (928) 871-7160 karenfrancis@navajo.org www.navajonationcouncil.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATE: May 11, 2006 Vice Chairman of the Navajo Nation Council's Education Committee Wallace Charley (Shiprock) released the following statement: To the Navajo Nation People: In the last week, the Navajo Nation Council Education Committee has held four meetings to address the recent summary suspension of the Navajo Head Start program by the United States government, through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. On May 9th, the Committee also heard the official performance audit report of the Head Start Program from the Navajo Nation Auditor General. It was the Education Committee that requested the audit of this program in 2004. The Federal government and the Navajo Nation's own audit have found serious problems in the operation and management of the Navajo Nation Head Start Program. In fact, the Committee has been raising questions about the program for some time, but has not received satisfactory answers from the Navajo Nation executive branch. Hopefully, the Federal suspension, no matter how painful, that in the end, it be a good thing if it leads to a better program for our Navajo children, families and communities. Last year, the Education Committee brought to the Navajo Nation Council legislation that made significant changes to our tribal education laws. The Navajo Nation established its own Department of Education. Through this new law, we said we can and will take control of our own education affairs. While the suspension of Head Start is a black eye to this effort, we know that achieving what is good brings with it obstacles and challenges. This is what our elders taught us and what we tell our children today. We will be tested, and that there are times when we must admit our weaknesses so that we can flourish. We will overcome this challenge, but will only make progress if we learn from it and apply those lessons to all our education programs. The Education Committee met first on Wednesday, May 3, 2006, the day after the summary suspension notice was received. At that meeting the Committee questioned Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley, Jr. regarding how this situation had arisen and how it would be addressed. At that meeting, there was no final answer to these important questions. The final answers may not be easy or comfortable, but if we do not address them our programs cannot succeed. The Committee will continue to pursue these questions in our roles as leaders overseeing the education of our children. The Committee also met on Monday, May 8, 2006, and heard from Navajo Nation Vice President Frank Dayish, Jr., as the President was on travel to Washington, DC to meet with Head Start officials. While the Committee was glad to hear that the President was traveling to Washington with 13 other individuals to meet on this matter, it is unfortunate that the Navajo Nation must incur so much additional cost to fix a problem that should have been recognized and fixed long ago. Finally, the Committee met on Tuesday, May 9, 2006, to receive testimony from President Shirley, the Navajo Nation Department of Education and the Navajo Nation Department of Justice regarding the meetings in Washington. Based on those meetings, we are optimistic that parts of the suspension will be lifted shortly and that the whole suspension could be lifted before regular Head Start classes begin in the Fall. The Committee will be holding more meetings on the Navajo Nation Head Start Program. I want to take this opportunity to encourage Head Start families and employees to give us your thoughts, both positive and critical about the program. We want to preserve the Program's many good characteristics, but quickly correct the Program's failures. The Education Committee has been approached by many Head Start parents who are concerned about the program and, most of all, about their little ones. The Committee understand and respects their concerns. Navajo Head Start has many great, long-time employees. The reported criminal records of some employees should not give a black eye to all Head Start employees. Head Start employees who are not the subject to this concern should remain to be listened to and honored as they have taken care of our children. I urge you to stick with Navajo Head Start as it goes through this challenging time. The outcome will be a better and stronger Head Start Program. Head Start should provide a place that is nourishing and safe for our little ones. The suspension of the Navajo Head Start program is a serious matter and the Education Committee is taking it seriously. There is nothing more precious than our children. The Committee will not back down in its efforts to ensure that this program is not only restored, but achieves excellence. Sincerely, Wallace Charley, Vice Chairman Education Committee of the Navajo Nation Council --------- "RE: AIAI contract awarded to Mississippi Choctaw unit" --------- Date: Thu, 11 May 2006 08:45:42 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="IKBI AWARDED CONTRACT" http://www.msbusiness.com/article.cfm?ID=3106 IKBI awarded contract in New Mexico May 11, 2006 CHOCTAW - According to IKBI Inc., a business unit of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, it will design and build the $15-million Center for Life Long Education and Dormitory for the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, N.M. Design of the facility is underway with construction scheduled to begin around June 15. The project is expected to take 12-14 months to complete.. Students and faculty will use the new 54,000-square-foot facility as dormitories as well as the campus' central gathering place, named the Center for Lifelong Education (CLE). It will feature, in two separate buildings; 130 single occupancy rooms, alumni reception area, computer labs, caf?-style dining, administrative space, classrooms, recreational/fitness and wellness space, conferencing and multi-education space and climate-controlled archive/artifact storage. All of this overlooks the Jemez, Santa Fe and Sangre de Cristo Mountain ranges and will be one of the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-certified buildings in the Santa Fe area. "We are extremely proud that the Institute has evaluated our qualifications and chosen us for the first phase of their expansion," said Josh Gamblin, president of IKBI. "Our many customers throughout the southeastern U.S. already know we're committed to offering quality services. This is an opportunity for us to extend our solid reputation to the west." Copyright c. 2006 Mississippi Business Journal. --------- "RE: Santa Fe dig reveals City beneath City" --------- Date: Thu, 11 May 2006 08:45:42 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ANCIENT PUEBLO DISCOVERED" http://www.krqe.com/expandedb.asp?RECORD_KEY[newsb]=ID&ID%5Bnewsb%5D=15068 Santa Fe dig reveals city beneath city Source: KRQE News 13 May 10, 2006 SANTA FE, N.M. - Archaeologists working in Santa Fe believe they have made a world-class discovery although the public may never get the chance to see it. There's no doubt the civic center construction project next to Santa Fe City Hall has tourists and locals talking. But it's not the noisy construction that interests them it's the delicate work of the archaeological dig and the mystery of what's being found. "This is actually a world class site because this is a city underneath a city," project director and chief archaeologist Steven Lentz said. "So in the oldest capitol in North America, which is Santa Fe, we have another older capital underneath." Between the modern city and an ancient pueblo lie the remains of Fort Marcy, dating from the 1850s, and the Spanish presidio from the 1600s. "I'm standing in the courtyard of what was the soldiers quarters right here," Lentz said. "In this well, for example, we found a cross infantry insignia, but right next to it we found a woman's filigree earring." Below that is the bigger find. A Native American pueblo covering more than three acres built around 1175. But it's behind a tarp, and no one from the dig or the city will talk about what they found. "In our negotiations with the pueblo leaders we agreed to confidentiality, Santa Fe Mayor David Coss said. Sources have told KRQE News 13 archaeologists have found more than one underground circular structure which may have been used for worship. In the Chaco Canyon area similar ruins are called kivas. Scientists in Santa Fe also have unearthed remains which may be the ancestors of the Tesuque pueblo. Following their wishes, the remains are processed on site in a trailer then returned to rest. When work on the civic center is done, all that will remain of the dig will be artifacts and mounds of data. "We extract all of the data from it, but the data is then preserved conceptually," Lentz said. While some involved want to preserve Fort Marcy and make it part of the civic center, the mayor said that would take more money than the $40 million already allotted for construction. Copyright c. 2006 KRQE News 13, Albuquerque, NM. --------- "RE: They want to lead Red Lake" --------- Date: Sun, 14 May 2006 20:21:55 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="RED LAKE - TRIBAL POLITICS UNDER STRESS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.grandforks.com/14575274.htm?source=rss&channel=grandforks_news They want to lead Red Lake Still dealing with life after great tragic loss, three challengers are set to oppose the incumbent chairman in Wednesday's key election By Dorreen Yellow Bird Herald Staff Writer May 14, 2006 RED LAKE, Minn. - For the Red Lake Band of Chippewa, tribal government is at a critical juncture. More than a year after tragic community shootings that left 10 people dead, including teen shooter Jeff Weise, the tribe still is re-evaluating its course. The people are trying to find solutions for problems on the reservation and build on new successes, such as the recovery of its Red Lake fishery. The incumbent tribal council chairman, Floyd "Buck" Jourdain Jr., faces challenges from three people: tribal secretary Judy Roy, former tribal chairman Bobby Whitefeather and former councilman Francis "Chunky" Brun Sr. Jourdain said if he didn't run, that would be an admission of guilt for his son, Louis Jourdain, who is serving an unspecified sentence away from the reservation. The young Jourdain admitted exchanging threatening e- mails with Weise. Jourdain said he wants to complete some of the things he started during his administration. The tribe, he says, needs a continuation of a government for stability. For Brun, the impetus that drove him to seek the tribal chairmanship is the death of his youngest son, Derrick, who was the school security guard killed in the Red Lake shootings. Whitefeather, who spent eight years as tribal chairman, says his administration made a noticeable difference in tribal programs, and he wants to make a difference again. Although Roy isn't the first woman on the Red Lake tribal council, if elected, she would be the first tribal chairwoman. When first elected tribal secretary in 1994, she was only the third woman ever elected to the Red Lake tribal council. --- ONLINE EXTRA: Jourdain wants to finish what he's started By Dorreen Yellow Bird May 14, 2006 RED LAKE, Minn. - Tribal Chairman Floyd "Buck" Jourdain waited until after the anniversary of the Red Lake school shooting to announce his candidacy for re-election because, he said, he didn't want the election to be about the March 21, 2005, tragedy. Jourdain wants to run on the strength of the work he started before that event so terribly disrupted life on the reservation community. During his administration, Jourdain said, he began a "scathing look" at law enforcement and how effective it was on the reservation because he believed in holding people accountable, and the government and agencies that deal with social ills need to be performing to their potential. That examination was cut short by the upheavel of the shooting. Probably the most difficult issue Jourdain will have to overcome is the conviction of his son, Louis, for his participation in the school shootings. Louis reportedly had e-mail conversations with shooter Jeffrey Weise about the shootings, although Jourdain said his son tried to discourage Weise's violent talk. "If I stepped down or resigned or didn't run in the next election that would be an admission of guilt for him," Jourdain said. He said he has an obligation not only to Louis but to the people to be strong.Use this link to see Herald staff writer Dorreen Yellow Bird's April 2 story about Jourdain: www.grandforks.com. --- ONLINE EXTRA: Brun driven by loss of son in school shooting By Dorreen Yellow Bird May 14, 2006 RED LAKE, Minn. - For Francis "Chunky" Brun Sr., the impetus that drove him to throw his hat in the ring for the upcoming tribal chair election was the death of his youngest son, Derrick, who was the school security guard killed March 21 in the Red Lake shootings. "When Derrick died, it crushed me," Brun said. He blames the violence, drugs and social problems on the reservation and wants change. And he can do that as tribal chairman, he says. Brun's resume reads well. With three years experience in the Navy, tech school for accounting and a degree in business administration from Bemidji State University, he was able to find positions with the tribe. In 1966, Brun took his first step into tribal politics. He ran for tribal treasurer, was elected and served for four years. Brun served under then-Chairman Roger Jourdain, but didn't always see eye-to-eye with him. Perhaps, Brun said, he was immature himself, because some of the elder councilmen scolded him, too. He was not re-elected. After some negotiations, he was hired by Roger Jourdain as director of Indian Action a pilot education program that Red Lake was chosen to model. Students received certificates and diplomas for building trades, he said. Working for the tribe proved to be difficult for Brun. As each administration took the reins, he found he was passed over for promotions and lost authority. Finally, when Floyd "Buck" Jourdain became tribal chairman, Brun was out. Brun, 71, has lived on the reservation most of his life. Unemployment is a big problem, he said. Even with the casinos, he says, there isn't enough employment. He is interested in education after years working with the local schools. Brun says they need more parental involvement. "I would go out to the community and say have you had enough of the violence going on? Are you willing to help me reclaim our reservation so we can live in peace without fear or suicide? The truancy and absenteeism before March 21 was bad, but it's wors than ever." Brun blames drugs for many of the problems. People know who is selling these drugs, he said. If they don't do something about drugs on the reservations, there will be more deaths, he predicts. He sees the need to develop more jobs and industries on the reservation. Red Lake fishing is an issue he will take to the people. Another casino on the shores of the lake could be an answer to unemployment on the reservation. "I have enough spunk in me to convince the councilmen of what we have to do," he said. "I can't do it alone. I would have to win the majority of the council." --- ONLINE EXTRA: Roy would be first woman chair of Red Lake Ojibwe By Dorreen Yellow Bird May 14, 2006 RED LAKE, Minn. - Although Judy Roy isn't the first woman on the Red Lake Tribal Council, if elected, she would be the first tribal chairwoman. When she was elected tribal secretary for the first time in 1994, she was only the third woman to be elected to the Red Lake Tribal Council. After a long career as director of the local Head Start program in Red Lake, Roy was appointed executive administrator for the tribe by then- Chairman Gerald "Butch" Brun in 1990. When Brun decided not to run for re- election, Roy decided it was time to enter the political arena. She was elected and re-elected as tribal secretary for the next 12 years. Roy is from the Red Lake community. She spent her life on the reservation. She grew up in the small community of Shemagan Creek, which is the divider between the Red Lake and Redby districts. Roy knows her community. Many of her former Head Start students married, have children of their own and have become part of her constituency. Sitting on an 11-man and one-woman tribal council was a little disconcerting, Roy said with a smile, because she grew up watching an all- male council. But then, she said, she remembered something she learned from a well-known Ojibwe writer, Gerald Visnor. He described the Ojibwe society as "a covert matriarchy." A local spiritual leader reinforced that thought. He said the women are in charge of the family and maybe it's time for a woman to run the tribe. Women do have a different view of life, she said. She is "Migizi-equay" - Eagle Woman - and has a worldview of things. She sees more of a whole than little discreet parts. She talked about the Red Lake school shooting and what seemed to stick out in her mind was the media. They descended on the tribe in hordes, she said. They were not civilized and she was a little angry. What they did when they reached the reservation wasn't fair, either, she said. Reporters from Fox News drove down state Highway 89 and focused their cameras on some abandoned trailers that looked derelict and aired that, while in the next yard, only a few feet away, was a beautiful well-kept house with a manicured lawn. She agreed, the tribe has problems with drugs, gangs, poverty and a high rate of unemployment, but it also has great strengths too that have allowed it to endure all of this. What people need to know is that Red Lake is a wonderful place, Roy said, and it has strong traditions. People have ways of dealing with life that are in tune with the rhythms of the day and season. The Red Lake Band of Ojibwe Midawin - the religion - was never lost and it is a guide for how they live. Roy is seeking the tribal chair position because she has spent her life in service to the tribe and that experience in government makes her a good leader. Her leadership is also important for young women because she is a role model for them, she says. --- ONLINE EXTRA: Whitefeather's political followers seek his return to power By Dorreen Yellow Bird May 14, 2006 RED LAKE, Minn. - Bobby Whitefeather, candidate for the Red Lake tribal chair position, spent much of his early career under the tutelage of chairman Roger Jourdain, a well-known national leader who almost single- handedly ran the Red Lake Band of Ojibwe for 32 years. Whitefeather cut his political teeth when Jourdain tapped his shoulder for his administration. He was only 24 years old. But his Vietnam experience, college background and cultural awareness helped him succeed, Whitefeather thought. "Jourdain took me to Washington, D.C., when he testified and would call me up in front of the senators. He was unorthodox, but somehow he pulled it off," Whitefeather said. Whitefeather credits his congressional experience and what he learned from Jourdain as pivotal in the 1990 tribal election when he was elected tribal secretary. Roger Jourdain lost the election for chairman to Gerald (Butch) Brun in 1990. In 1994 Jourdain decided not to run again, but encouraged Whitefeather to run for chairman. Whitefeather was elected. Whitefeather is proud of his eight years as tribal chairman. During his administration the tribe assumed control of tribal programs such as natural resources, education, tribal courts and social services. "There was a noticeable differences in the tribal programs," he said, with quicker action than the tribe used to get from the Bureau of Indian Affairs programs. Whitefeather consolidated several programs including employment training, education and social programs in one building and called it "New Beginnings." A person could go into one door and get all the services they needed in one place, he said. They also started community meetings to ask people for solutions and directions for the tribe. After his administration, the meetings seemed to disappear, he said. In 2002, Whitefeather lost his bid for tribal chairman. "I just sat at home and watched the walleye grow," he said with a smile. On March 21 last year, their whole reservation was turned upside down. Whitefeather was in his basement doing some woodwork when his companion called and said she heard her brother was killed. Her brother, Derrick Brun, was the Red Lake High School security guard when Jeff Weise walked in determined to kill. In was during those dark hours when people began to approach Whitefeather and urge him to run for tribal chairman. He accepted the challenge with this: "We have a unique situation at Red Lake in that we can fix ourselves. We don't need to worry about the 'white man' like other places. We have a solid base of sovereignty based on culture, tradition and land. There is no reasons for us not to be successful if we take ownership of our problems," Whitefeather said. Copyright c. 2006 Grand Forks Herald. --------- "RE: YELLOW BIRD: All creatures great and small" --------- Date: Tue, 9 May 2006 09:06:05 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YELLOW BIRD: RESPECT FOR ALL LIFE" http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/opinion/14533211.htm All creatures great and small Column by Dorreen Yellow Bird May 9, 2006 At first, I wondered if People for Ethical Treatment of Animals or PETA was trying to beat a drum without a stick when a PETA staffer wrote a column about a man who killed his girlfriend's goldfish. It was, after all, just a fish. I had to remind myself that all things have a spirit and relationship with the Creator. The column tells the story of the children and fish in this way: Michael Garcia, the boyfriend, threw a tank full of goldfish into the television, shattering both and warning his girlfriend she could be next. As the children ran into the room upon hearing the loud noises, Garcia stomped on one fish and killed it instantly. The children were attached to the fish and had named each fish after themselves. Garcia's lawyers argued that in this case, a fish is just a fish. But the New York appeals court upheld a cruelty conviction against Garcia and sentenced the fish killer to two years in prison. The court pointed out the growing awareness of the intelligence of these animals and their importance in people's lives. The column went on to make a number of claims about things that fish can do: talk to one another underwater, form complex social relationships, use tools, learn by watching and so on. Fish experience fear when being chased and pain when impaled on hooks, PETA reports. PETA compares fish to domestic animals. Would you put a hook in your dog or cat's mouth? the group asks. Or fry up your child's goldfish?As my brain twirled under these notions, I found no instant answer, because it was only a couple of years ago that I fished for the first time. And, I remember we used OTHER fish as bait. That's sort of cannibalistic on the fish's part, wouldn't you think? I didn't have to put the minnow on the hook, so I didn't think much about it. But I did cook and eat the walleyes that we caught, and dare I say they were delicious. That almost hurts even to say, considering what I just I learned about fish. I wonder about other animals, too. Isn't it common to make friends with cows, chickens and turkeys, and then eat them, too? The mother of a friend of mine lives on a farm near Grand Forks. She treats her chickens very well and told me she never would eat one of them. They live in a very nice chicken coop - one specially built for them - and they die of old age. The chickens are her pets, although she does fry a few eggs for breakfast. On the other hand, years ago when I stayed with my aunt, we had the job of helping butcher chickens in the fall. It was an unpleasant job, but it was food for the winter. And during the year, my aunt would identify the old hens who weren't laying very well and kill them for chicken soup, chicken and dumplings or just stew. Boiled, they are tender. This was a trauma, too, for some children who took part in 4H projects. They developed a relationship with the pig, sheep or cow that they raised for the county fair. Then, the animal became steaks and roasts for winter. It is hard to separate the animal from the need to survive. As children, we were also pulled toward the PETA focus. Look at all the childhood films and stories that show animated or talking animals. Children's books turn all kinds of animals into thinking and caring beings and even heroes. Remember some of these stories? "Bambi" (the beautiful fawn whose mother was killed by a hunter), "Charlotte's Web" (the spider and pig), "Finding Nemo" (a real fish story), "Ants," (there were a couple of these), "The Lion King" (a wonderful, inspiring story with several animals as heroes) and even "Shrek," (although we're not sure whether Skrek is man or beast, but Donkey is an animal, of course). And then there's my all-time favorite "Ice Age" (the mammoth, sloth and saber-tooth tiger.) As a Native person, I do remember the care my brothers, father and grandfather took when hunting. When they took a deer, they thanked the animal in a prayer for giving its life that we may survive. And animals and birds such as the eagle, buffalo, wolf, owl and others became a part of our ceremonies. We readily acknowledge these spirits and appreciate their help. Things are changing, but the short story about the children and their relationship with their fish is a good reminder that all things, man and beast, should be treated with respect and dignity. They have a spirit and relationship with the Creator. ---- 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: SEAN KIRST: Land claim questions remain unsettled" --------- Date: Tue, 9 May 2006 09:06:05 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SEAN KIRST: LAND CLAIMS" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.syracuse.com/news-0/1147251402127530.xml Land-claim legal ground expected to stay shaky SEAN KIRST POST-STANDARD COLUMNIST May 10, 2006 We live in a complicated, quickly changing time, when the early history of our region can seem impossibly remote. Yet the Supreme Court of the United States is expected to decide over the next few days whether to review a case linked to Central New York's original, most emotional questions of law. It is a reminder that relations between the Six Nations and the "white" settlers who carved communities from these lands is hardly a matter lost on dusty shelves. Inside Department of Interior visits Turning Stone as part of land trust application. Regardless of where you stand or which side you support, the issue revolves around justice, intertwined with commerce. And the court's decision, one way or another, could have far-reaching effects on how some Indian nations buy new land, and how much cash they have to buy it. But it won't end the land claims. "This is pretty big," said Clint Halftown, federally recognized representative of the Cayugas of New York, an Iroquois people who maintain the last 64,015 acres of their ancestral homeland were illegally taken by the state in the 1790s and early 1800s. Even so, Halftown said, this week's decision is not "do or die," and he said the Cayugas will continue to push ahead with putting land in federal trust if the Supreme Court turns away the case. The damage, he said, would come from the precedent, not only for the Cayugas but for all Iroquois nations who have gone to court to press a claim behind the same essential issues. The question, in its simplest form, boils down to time. Not quite a year ago, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the Cayuga land claim. By a 2-1 vote, the court overturned a decision to provide the Cayugas with a $247.9 million judgment for lands taken illegally. The circuit court based its decision upon "laches" - the idea the Cayugas waited far too long to seek court remedies for disputes dating back roughly two centuries. Linked with a separate Supreme Court defeat for the Oneidas, it was a devastating reversal to a string of court victories for the Iroquois over the past 30 years. Joe Heath,lawyer for the Onondaga Nation, likes to compare the Cayuga outcome to the Dred Scott decision, the famous case in which the Supreme Court rejected the idea of African Americans as fully equal. The judges ignored earlier decisions and "made it up as they went along," said Heath, who has helped the Onondagas with their own federal court action to assert ownership of a long, 40-mile-wide swath of Upstate land. Harry Pettingill Jr., however, contends those federal judges who decided the land-claim cases finally came to their senses. "I think, myself, we've got a 99 percent chance of winning this one completely," said Pettingill, historian for the Seneca-Cayuga Chapter of Upstate Citizens for Equality, a group that has battled for years against the land claims. "History is the whole key to this thing," Pettingill said. "I think (the Supreme Court) will throw it out." Robert Odawi Porter, an American Indian law expert at Syracuse University, would agree with Pettingill about the role of history, although Porter's vision is dramatically different. He said there's little historical doubt that thousands upon thousands of acres of Indian land were taken illegally by the state in defiance of federal law, and he said the Iroquois until the recent past were blocked from any avenues for fighting back in court. If anything, Porter said, he remains pleasantly surprised that so many federal judges had the courage to support the Iroquois, and he described the Cayuga setback as more representative of the traditionally harsh treatment of Indians in the United States. "Flip it around," said Porter, a member of the Seneca Nation. If opponents of the land claims were told that an Iroquois court would have the final say on who should rightfully own the land, would those opponents truly believe they had a chance? "I'm actually pretty impressed the legal system has gotten it this far," Porter said. Like Heath and Halftown, he said the land claims will be hindered, but won't disappear, if the Supreme Court rejects the case. "You'll still have the technical problem that Congress never ratified the taking of Indian land," Porter said. "It still doesn't clear the title." As for Jim Calvin,president of the New York Association of Convenience Stores, he doubts it will matter to his membership if the Supreme Court hears the case or not. Last week, the association sued Gov. George Pataki, claiming Pataki has failed to enforce a mandated tax on the sale of cigarettes and gasoline to Indian retailers. "Land claims aren't our issue," Calvin said. "Casinos aren't our issue. Our issue is fair taxation, and if the state of New York to going to tax certain (items) at exorbitant levels, it's not fair to allow certain retailers, notably Native American retailers, to not charge that tax and, in the process, gain an unfair advantage." Certainly, Calvin said, he can understand why so much attention this week is focused on the Supreme Court. But he concluded with an observation that may be the only point on which everyone over the last 200 years, who has supported or opposed land claims, might agree: "Having lived through this like I've lived through it for the past 10 years or so," Calvin said, "it seems as if nothing is ever over." --- Sean Kirst is a columnist with The Post-Standard. His columns appear Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Call him at 470-6015 or e-mail him at skirst@syracuse.com or visit his blog and forum at www.syracuse.com/kirst. Copyright c. 2006 The Post-Standard. Used with permission. --------- "RE: YELLOW BIRD: Tribal Governments need checks" --------- Date: Sun, 14 May 2006 20:21:55 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YELLOW BIRD: KEEPING TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS IN CHECK" http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/columnists/14572351.htm DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: Tribal governments need checks May 13, 2006 Some tribal governments have a reputation as having too much power and too little experience in governing. Inept and abusive governments can and do affect the tribal members. Unfortunately, that's also true in the federal and state governments. It isn't uncommon to read of a congressman or senator tendering his resignation amid scandal or as a result of unscrupulous deals. And its no secret that presidents have been impeached or threatened with impeachment because they were caught in some kind of misdeed. That said, here is some of what I learned about the t