_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 14, ISSUE 029 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 July 22, 2006 Klamath Speluish/return from harvest moon Mohawk Ohiarihko:wa/moon of much ripening Lakota Canpasapa Wi/moon when chokecherries are red +-------------------------------------------------------+ | 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; Chiapas95-En, Frostys AmerIndian, NetRez-L, and Native American Poetry 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: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + =================== "Native Americans have served in the armed forces in the U.S. in all of the conflicts of the last century and this one." "And they've been a greater percentage of armed forces than they are of the general population. This is in part a cultural reflection on the importance we put on the protection of our homes and protection of our families and culture." __ Frank Ettawageshik, Chairman Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa 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! The US Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia this week removed U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth from the Indian Trust case, a longstanding legal battle involving billions of dollars of royalties individual Native Americans should have been paid for their lands and resources held in trust by the US Government, saying the judge appeared to be biased against the Interior Department. Specifically, the court stated Lamberth went a step too far in his condemnation of the Department of Interior last July, when he accused the government of racism. Of course, the appeals court judges, appointed by the government so accused, did not comment on whether the judge might have pointed that accusing finger in the right direction The appeals court did, however, reaffirm the Indian position in the long-standing Indian Trust Case that malfeasance and mismanagement by the Department of Interior has lead to the loss of Billions in Indian Trust monies, and must be rectified monitarily and new procedures with adequate oversight implemented. The Justice Department's constant waffling and numerous appeals had the effect of wearing down the patience of the appeals court. We recall that only a few years ago, Justice Department lawyers proved that this same appeals court could be worn down by exhaustive, repeated appeals, causing not just one, but two judicial replacements in the Microsoft case. It's clearly a "judge shopping" strategy that resulted in the government finally landing on a sympathetic judge who would make the findings it wanted in that case. We can only hope these same "in your face" tactics will not intimidate the replacement for Lamberth or alter what appears to be a resolution that favors Cobell, et al. 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 ----------- - Bush team finally - Our View: gets Judge Lamberth dumped Life and Death in Robeson - HUD releases Block Grants - A State-Recognized Indian Tribe for Tribal Housing for Hawaii? - Ignoring Obligation - The real winners in Mexico to Indian Health Care - Band ends blockade - Florida AIM: of Highway near Regina Why celebrate mass murder - Blockade of Trans-Canada Highway - BIA changing policy near Kenora on Standing Rock fires - FN seek PM meet - Program aims to Improve over 'racially-divided' Fisheries American Indians' Health - Fontaine to revive Kelowna Accord - Paiute Tribe challenges - Debit Cards could plan to export Water replace Assistance Cheques - Wyandotte Nation - First Nations prepare wins big decision on gaming to fight for Rights - Groups want Taxes collected - Canada blasted for opposing on Indian Enterprises U.N. Rights Treaty - Native American Veterans - Feds under fire at Inuit gathering hold special Place - AMC quashes Grand Chief's - Man plans Topless contests deal with Province at Bar near Bear Butte - Published Peltier - Bill proposes misinformation not retracted compensation for Tribe - Native Prisoner - Tribe teams with Orthodox Jews -- Aboriginal youth incarceration to run Meat Plant report alarming - Attacks recall racist History - Rustywire: Angel of the Morning of New Mexico Town - Lee Goins Poem: What Do You See - A Nation denied a Homeland, - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days right here in America - Arizona man - Indian Tribe sues Opponents saves the Zuni Language - Lumbees head to Washington - BC Team dominates NAIG to seek Recognition - Revised Indian play - Lumbees clash with Cherokee remakes a Tradition at Senate hearing - Upcoming Events --------- "RE: Bush team finally gets Judge Lamberth dumped" --------- Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2006 08:59:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LAMBERTH PRAISED BY COBELL" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.indiantrust.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases. ViewDetail&PressRelease_id=162&Month=7&Year=2006 COURT RULINGS UPHOLDS BASIC TENETS OF TRUST CASE, ELOUSIE COBELL SAYS; PRAISES JUDGE LAMBERTH FOR HIS HEROIC ROLE IN CASE July 11, 2006 Statement by Elousie Cobell of Browning, Mont., lead plaintiff in Cobell vs. Kempthorne and a member of the Blackfeet Tribe WASHINGTON, July 11 - Today's decisions reaffirmed the basic tenets of our case: that the government owes substantial fiduciary duties to the more than 500,000 individual Indian Trust beneficiaries, that the Interior Department has been and continues to be in "egregious" breach of those duties and that the courts play a critical role in remedying that breach. Moreover, the U.S. Court of Appeals reiterated that the government's conduct is unconscionable: "To be sure, Interior's deplorable record deserves condemnation in the strongest terms. Words like 'ignominious' and 'incompeten[t]' ...and 'malfeasance' and 'recalcitrance' are fair and well-supported by the record." We are disappointed that Indian trust case has been reassigned because this will end the truly heroic efforts of a sincere and devoted jurist, the Honorable Royce C. Lamberth, to remedy the century of abuse of Indian people by the Department of Interior. That abuse continues to this day. The appeals court's opinions reaffirmed the fundamental basis of our class-action lawsuit: that the government has abused trust beneficiaries and has failed to fulfill the most basic trust responsibilities owed to us. Further, the decisions emphasize that the government has yet to perform the basic accounting that it must offer trust account holders. The rulings did much to underscore the key points that we have been making: "To be sure," the court said, "we have no doubt Interior's trust account information has serious reliability problems." Even Judge Lamberth's strongly worded opinion of July 12, 2005, was described by the court as "nothing more than the views of an experienced judge who, having presided over this exceptionally contentious case for almost a decade has become "exceedingly ill disposed toward [a] defendant' that has flagrantly and repeated breached its fiduciary obligations." In no way do these decisions exonerate the behavior of the Interior Department, lessen the obligations owed to Individual Indians or shrink the extraordinary liability of the United States. Moreover, the court's rulings today make clear that Judge Lamberth's finding that Interior's computer systems are insecure are indisputable. Removing the injunction he had ordered will cause further problems to that data. Because the computer security decision is in conflict with the Supreme Court's decisions in Mitchell II and White Mountain Apache, we plan to petition the Supreme Court for relief. The removal decision provides a clear mandate for a new judge to move promptly and directly to resolve this matter. We agree with the court's suggestion that this litigation has gone on too long. We have attempted to resolve the case out of court and we are continuing to do so. Our success in this case is based on the evidence, facts and applicable law. With any new judge, we will continue to prevail. The 500,000 Native People we represent should know that the basic foundations on which both Judge Lamberth and the Court of Appeals have based their many rulings against the government remain intact. The fact that the government has breached its trust obligation to Native People was once again written into law today. It should give a new judge a roadmap to resolve this litigation expeditiously and fairly. As for Judge Lamberth, he is, as Dennis Gingold, the lead counsel, has said, "a great judge. He had the courage to speak the truth about the repugnant behavior and deplorable record of the Interior trustee delegates. We will miss him." Copyright c. 2006 Blackfeet Reservation Development Fund, Inc. --------- "RE: HUD releases Block Grants for Tribal Housing" --------- Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2006 08:39:11 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="JODI RAVE: HUD RELEASES BLOCK GRANTS" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2006/07/09/jodirave/rave9.txt HUD releases block grants for tribal housing By JODI RAVE of the Missoulian July 9, 2006 Tribal housing authorities around the country began receiving letters Friday from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, notifying them that hundreds of millions of dollars in housing block grants would be released following a federal judge's ruling. "They're trying to get the funding out as quick as they can," said Marty Shuravloff, chairman of the National American Indian Housing Council. "I'm just relieved we've got to the point that the funds have been released. It would be very detrimental to the tribes whose funds were being withheld to not receive those services." The block grant dispute began after the Fort Peck Housing Authority, an agency of the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of Montana, filed suit against HUD for unfair block grant appropriations. U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch of Colorado agreed in a May 25 ruling. Matsch said HUD's interpretation of a federal statute was unreasonable, resulting in haphazard funding allocations "with reductions to some tribes and windfalls to others - based on factors that are not related to tribal housing needs." HUD responded to the court ruling by deciding to withhold all undistributed 2006 block grant funds to nearly 200 tribes around the country. HUD Assistant Secretary Orlando Cabrera had warned tribes the Fort Peck case could affect current, past and future block grants awarded under the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996. But Matsch ruled otherwise in a June 30 amendment to his earlier decision. The court order, he said, "does not extend beyond Fort Peck Housing Authority." "This action was not certified as a class action," Matsch wrote, "because other Indian tribes are not parties in this case and have had no opportunity to take a position with respect to the rule as it affects them." Consequently, Cabrera began notifying tribes this week that his department would resume processing the 2006 Indian Housing Block Grant awards "effective immediately." Tribal leaders and National American Indian Housing Council representatives earlier had implored U.S. senators and HUD officials to ensure that $300 million - about half of all 2006 Native American Housing Block Grant funds - would be delivered to 189 tribes. Block grants comprise the bulk of the money used by tribal housing programs. Reporter Jodi Rave can be reached at 523-5299 or at jodi.rave@lee.net Copyright c. 2006 Missoulian, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Ignoring Obligation to Indian Health Care" --------- Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2006 09:05:27 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BUSH ADMIN/CONGRESS IGNORE INDIAN HEALTH" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/3406 Congress, President Still Ignoring Obligation to Indian Health Care by Catherine Komp July 13, 2006 Despite a widely acknowledged obligation to provide for the well-being of American Indians, the federal government has allowed Native health and healthcare to decay horribly. July 12 - Despite the federal government's own admission that the health of American Indians is below US averages, lawmakers may once again fail to reauthorize one of the principal mechanisms for funding Native healthcare programs. When the federal government brokered treaties with American Indian tribes during the 19th Century, it promised to provide health care and medical services in exchange for millions of acres of land. But today, Native Americans - one of the most marginalized demographic groups in the US - continue to experience higher rates of chronic diseases, mortality, suicide and alcoholism. According to public-health advocates, a deficient healthcare infrastructure and lack of qualified providers largely contributes to tribes' inability to provide their communities with the level of care they need. The Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA) was originally passed in 1976 to enhance the Snyder Act of 1921, another bill providing legislative authority to fund Native American health programs. But the IHCIA expired in 2000, and thirteen years after the last reauthorization, Congress has yet to renew it. Congress has continued to fund the act through budget appropriations of about $3 billion per year. But indigenous advocates say this sum is inadequate, and that without reauthorization, it also remains uncertain. They point to President Bush's proposal to eliminate the Urban Indian Health Program in the 2007 budget. Funding for the program, which provides health care for Native Americans living in urban areas, was only recently restored by the Senate. Health advocates also say that tribes need a new bill to address changing health problems and needs on reservations. Jim Roberts is a policy analyst with the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board who has worked on reauthorization issues for the last six years. "It's been particularly during this administration that we have met with a number of objections related to different provisions of the bill," he told The NewStandard. "Unfortunately we don't have the political clout that a lot of other groups have to influence members of Congress, to put pressure on the administration to get these folks to the table to address our concerns." The current reauthorization proposal would fund numerous programs, including those that recruit, train and maintain American Indian health professionals; address mental and behavioral health treatment and community education on mental illness; and provide disease prevention and cancer screenings. After several years of education campaigns, negotiations and compromises, a version of the IHCIA Reauthorization of 2006, introduced by Senator John McCain (R-Arizona), passed out of the Committee on Indian Affairs and was placed on the legislative calendar in March. It has yet to be called to the floor for a vote. Representative Don Young (R-Alaska) introduced a companion bill in the House a few months later, though advocates for the bill are concerned it could be held up in various committees and fail to come to a vote this session. Similar legislation was introduced in 2004, but conflicts between lawmakers were not resolved before the 108th Congress ended. Most recently, the bill was held up by opposition from some lawmakers and interest groups to the Dental Health Aide Therapist Program, which trained people to provide dental care in rural parts of Alaska where there is a severe shortage of dentists. The pilot program was supported by the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services and the federal Indian Health Service, an arm of the Department of Health and Human Services that provides health care and related assistance to tribes. However, the American Dental Association, the trade group that protects dentists' interests, led a vigorous campaign opposing the program, citing the "principle of patient safety" and arguing that the new class of dental-health therapists was receiving inferior training. Though such specialists are used in dozens of countries around the world, the tribes had to compromise on that provision, limiting the program to Alaska and subjecting it to review after four years. Tribal advocates say other provisions that held up the bill related to co-payments for Medicare and Medicaid and the extension of the Federal Tort Claims coverage to third-party providers of health care to tribes. The bills - both more than 300 pages long - begin by stating, "Federal health services to maintain and improve the health of the Indians are consonant with and required by the federal government's historical and unique legal relationship with, and resulting responsibility to, the American Indian people." The language also states that a major national goal of the US is to raise the health status of American Indians to "the highest possible level." But some Native health advocates see this as empty rhetoric. "We have a federal government... [that] is essentially turning their head on a population of the US that is increasingly getting sicker," said Joe Finkbonner, executive director of the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board and member of the Lummi Nation in Washington. According to the Indian Health Service, American Indians experience drastically higher rates of many health problems than the rest of the US population. According to January 2006 statistics on the agency's website, American Indians have seven times the rate of tuberculosis, more than six times the rate of alcoholism, nearly three times the rate of diabetes and a 62 percent higher rate of suicide. The Indian Health Service also estimates that more than two-thirds of health care that is needed for American Indians and Alaskan Natives is denied. A 2004 report on Native American health issued by the US Commission on Civil Rights connected these divergent realities to a continued climate of racism in the US. "While some disparities result from intentional discrimination based on race or ethnicity, more frequently discrimination must be inferred from the continued existence of a chronically underfunded, understaffed and inadequate healthcare delivery system," wrote the report's authors. "For Native Americans, the existence of glaring disparities across a wide range of health-status, outcome and service indicators - combined with the manner in which the disparities mirror patterns of historical discrimination - makes a convincing argument that the current situation is in fact discriminatory." The report found that inadequate federal funding was a major obstacle to eliminating disparities in Native American health care. It stated that annual increases in funding for the Indian Health Service did not include adjustments for inflation or population growth and were significantly less than those allocated to other arms of the Health and Human Services Dept. The lack of funding often means Native health providers can only offer so-called "life or limb" services to the most desperate. Speaking on the Senate floor in June, Senator Byron Dorgan (R-North Dakota) shared the message of a tribal chairman in his state: "Don't get sick after June," because the funding has run out for Contract Health Services. Dorgan, who has visited reservations' health facilities and talked to tribes about their experiences, told his colleagues, "It is not uncommon to see 75 people stand in line waiting to have a prescription filled." Dorgan added that he also visited a health care facility where one dentist was in charge of serving 5,000 people from a small trailer house. Finkbonner and Roberts believe the biggest barrier to securing an adequate level of funding for Native health care goes back to the federal government's failure to uphold the federal trust obligation. "This administration is treating the American Indian population as a special-interest group," said Finkbonner. "This administration... [chooses] to look at it as a civil-rights issue of not wanting to treat Indians differently from other races. So in that regard, whether that's a true belief or whether they're using that as an argument to justify less spending, the result is the same: it's still an underfunding of the Indian health system." Copyright c. 2006 The NewStandard. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Florida AIM: Why celebrate mass murder" --------- Date: Saturday, July 15, 2006 02:16 pm From: ireneokie@aol.com Subj: Fwd: PLEASE READ! MESSAGE FROM FL AIM >To: gars@speakeasy.org -----Original Message----- Date: Sat, 15 Jul 2006 7:46 AM From: jessie_matotoyela@yahoo.com -----Forwarded Message----- Date: Sat, 15 Jul 2006 04:24:03 -0700 (PDT) From: Audrey Beavers WHY CELEBRATE MASS MURDER WHY DO GROWN-UPS PLAY INDIAN WHAT IS AIM? WHY DO I CARE? On July 29th at 2:30 at the Tyron branch library in Pensacola, FL the American Indian Movement of Florida (Florida AIM) and Natives and Allies Teaching Indigenous Values Effectively (NATIVES) will host a forum on the Festival of Five Flags in which the Pensacola community honors genocidal maniac Tristan De Luna y Arellano while a group of them dress in grotesque stereotypical representations of what they think Native people dressed like while acting goofy and in a stereotypical manner. American Indian peoples constitute less than 1/2 of 1% of the entire population of the United States. Yet 30% of all violent hate crime victims in America are American Indians. The United States Civil Rights Commission, meeting in Rapid City, SD in the summer of 2000 noted that statistically a person stood a greater chance of receiving the maximum sentence allowable for the killing of a dog, than to do any time for killing an Indian in heavily Indian populated states in America. In every American city and town there are statutes and even festivals to people, whose sole act of distinction was the mass murder and genocide against American Indians. Yet not a single statue in the United States honors Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Adolf Hitler or Pol Pot. The difference - Those without statues did not kill Indigenous peoples. In Pensacola, the city rightly celebrates its rich history and heritage through a festival known as the Festival of Five Flags. It, however, honors mass murderer , Tristan De Luna y Arellano. Arellano is noted for the mass murder of Mixtec peoples at Oaxaca, Mexico . Because of his propensity of genocide against Indigenous peoples he was given charge of the invasion of Ochuse (Pensacola). With some thirteen warships and 1,500 soldiers Tristan De Luna's trip to Ochuse can only be described as the military invasion it was. Having suffered genocide at the hand of previous genocidal maniacs such as Hernando De Soto, the Native peoples fled for their own survival - leaving the invaders to loot and pillage as they desired. There is no celebration in Pensacola of Ted Bundy, who is a historic figure who traveled through the city and murdered nearby and no celebration of other mass murderers. It is only those who commit genocide against Indigenous Peoples for whom statues are built and festivals are centered around. This kind of perverted logic affects Indigenous Peoples today, as hate crime murders of Natives get scant, if any attention. The murders of dozens of Lakotas in hate crimes in the late 1990's in Rapid City, SD and White Clay, NE went entirely unnoticed by the media. Imagine if dozens of African-Americans or Hispanics were killed in unsolved hate crimes. Imagine the justifiable outrrage and uprroar. Yet the ethnic cleansing of Natives goes unnoticed-in part because in America the killers of Indians are honored with statues and festivals-like this one honoring Tristan De Luna y Arrelano in Pensacola. This honoring of those who committed genocide must stop and cannot be tolerated. Adding insult to injury, some residents of Pensacola take their time to play Indian, dress in grotesquely stereotypical garb and act in manners that can only be described as stereotypical. They call themselves the Mayoki Indians, a fake name. Imagine if in Germany the Germans decided to dress in psuedo Hassidic Jewish Garb and act in stereotypical Jewish fashion while celebrating the NAZI regime's slaughter of Jews and advancement of Germanic scientific thought. Such a concept would be found to be repulsive by the majority of the world. Yet here in Pensacola, the exact same thing is being done. The sole difference is that the military invasion of Ochuse is the event being celebrated and the victims of Genocide are native peoples and not Jews. Otherwise, this is the exact same thing. If one is repulsive and should never occur, neither should the other. Florida AIM is committed to halting the celebration of genocide and the grotesque stereotypical representation of Indigenous peoples. Lucia M. Tryon Branch Library 5740 North Ninth Avenue Pensacola, Florida 32504 For more information, directions etc contact American Indian Movement of Florida at AIMFL@aol.com --------- "RE: BIA changing policy on Standing Rock fires" --------- Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2006 08:37:04 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BIA TO ASSIST WITH SOME SRST FIRES" http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/15047713.htm Dorgan: BIA changing policy on Standing Rock fires Associated Press July 16, 2006 BISMARCK, N.D. - Sen. Byron Dorgan says the Bureau of Indian Affairs will allow its firefighters to help battle blazes in private structures on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, but that the change in policy does not go far enough. BIA firefighters are authorized to fight fires on grasslands and other natural resources, and in government structures on the reservation. Dorgan, D-N.D., said the Interior Department has now agreed to issue a directive allowing the firefighters to battle blazes in private structures from the outside, though they will still not be allowed to enter the buildings. Dorgan said it is a step forward but still not enough. "The BIA has a trust responsibility to fight fires on reservation land, and that just smacks of bureaucratic incompetence," Dorgan said of the revelation last month that BIA firefighters were not allowed to assist on private structure fires. "I plan to ask Congress to light a fire under these bureaucrats, and that's one fire I'm sure they'll put out." The reservation does not have a volunteer fire department. Two residences have burned to the ground this summer. "Young men with garden hoses - that's how we have to fight our fires down here," said Tribal Councilman Archie Fool Bear. Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., said the lack of fire protection from the BIA "defies common sense." He said officials are pursuing possible grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help fund firefighting efforts. Fool Bear said little progress has been made in organizing volunteer firefighters, largely because the reservation has no equipment. A pump also remains out at the water treatment plant, cutting capacity in half. Reservation residents have been asked to conserve water until Monday, when the pump can be replaced. "That adds another threat," Fool Bear said. "If a fire happens, you can put 50 fire hydrants out there and it won't do any good because there's no pressure. We have a very, very sensitive fire situation right now." Copyright c. 2006 Grand Forks Herald/Grand Forks, ND. --------- "RE: Program aims to Improve American Indians' Health" --------- Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2006 08:59:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MAYO HEALTH PROGRAM" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/564153/program_aims_to_improve_ american_indians_health/index.html?source=r_health Program Aims to Improve American Indians' Health By Jeff Hansel, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn. July 8, 2006 American Indian, federal and Mayo Clinic officials will meet in Rochester Monday to mark a new direction for the Indian Health Service and Mayo's Native American programs. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will publicly sign an official Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of the Indian Health Service that shapes a path for cooperation between Mayo Clinic and IHS. "My hope is that the tribes, the Indian Health Service and Mayo will have stronger working relationships that benefit the quality of care that patients receive," said Dr. Judith Kaur, medical director for Native American Programs at Mayo Clinic's Comprehensive Cancer Center. Mayo will collaborate with IHS to try to improve educational opportunities for American Indians and Alaska Natives. The clinic will also work with academic medical centers nationwide to encourage opportunities for, and recruitment of, students interested in biomedical fields such as research and medicine, Kaur said. There is already a history of collaboration between the groups. "In treating American Indian and Alaska Native patients, Mayo Clinic and the IHS have worked to integrate traditional medicine practices into their care when this has been requested," IHS Director Charles Grim said in a statement release by Mayo Clinic. As collaborative efforts continue, Mayo and IHS will work to improve health care on reservations, Kaur said. The clinic, with cooperation from IHS, is considering conducting research targeting American Indian health issues. The agreement, planners hope, will lead to better preventive health services, and care that is more cost-effective, for American Indians. All three of Mayo campuses including Rochester; Scottsdale/Phoenix; and Jacksonville, Fla., will participate in the national effort to improve health care for American Indians nationwide. Copyright c. 2006, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn. --------- "RE: Paiute Tribe challenges plan to export Water" --------- Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2006 08:54:16 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PYRAMID LAKE PAIUTE EXPRESS CONCERNS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060714/NEWS10/607140426 Local Paiute tribe challenges plan to export water, citing potential impacts JEFF DELONG RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL July 14, 2006 The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe is challenging a plan to export water from Honey Lake Basin to support development in the North Valleys. Citing potential impacts to water quality at Pyramid Lake, the tribe has appealed a decision by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to allow a 28- mile pipeline to cross federal land. "It could have serious impacts," Tribal Chairman Norm Harry said of the water importation proposal by Vidler Water Co. "We had no alternative" but to appeal. "We feel there's no impact to Pyramid Lake," said Dorothy Timian-Palmer, Vidler's chief operating officer. "We feel we have a really great project. We're moving forward as scheduled." The appeal claims the government's environmental studies on the project were inadequate and seeks a stay to prevent BLM's decision from taking effect until the appeal, filed last week with the Department of Interior, is decided. The importation project, expected to cost up to $70 million, would pipe 8,000 acre-feet of water a year from the Fish Springs Ranch near Susanville to the hills east of Reno-Stead Airport for storage and distribution in Lemmon Valley. But the tribe fears the project could reduce the flow of groundwater to Pyramid Lake and two groundwater basins within the reservation. Tribal officials say they also are concerned wastewater from thousands of new homes the imported water would serve could ultimately make its way into the Truckee River and Pyramid Lake, impacting a sensitive environment. Those concerns increase should Vidler at any time attempt to import more water than the 8,000 acre-feet now proposed, Harry said. The company owns rights to up to 13,000 acre-feet, the amount of water previously proposed for importation in the early 1990s. That project died amid intense controversy after then-Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt refused to prepare any environmental studies on the pipeline. "We're looking at the long-term prospects of Vidler going beyond" the 8,000 acre-feet, Harry said. "Even at the 8,000 acre-feet there are impacts." Timian-Palmer said any move to import additional water is a "remote" possibility that would be at least a decade away, would require a new environmental impact report and a finding by Washoe County that any additional water withdrawn from Honey Lake Basin is sustainable. "We told the tribe we have no expectations to import anything else," she said. Wastewater produced from expanded development would be re-used in the North Valleys and not impact the Truckee River, Timian-Palmer said. She said the tribe is trying to "leverage" money or water from Vidler in exchange for not opposing the project. Harry denied that. The tribe is trying to ensure it receives fair compensation for the impacts of the water importation project, he said. "The tribe's policy is to do everything we can to resolve these complex water issues with our neighbors through negotiation, not litigation," Harry said. "That's still our policy." Copyright c. 2006 Reno Gazette Journal. --------- "RE: Wyandotte Nation wins big decision on gaming" --------- Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2006 08:39:11 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WYANDOTTE OF OKLAHOMA CAN OPERATE KANSAS CITY CASINO" http://www.indianz.com/News/2006/014839.asp Wyandotte Nation wins big decision on gaming in Kansas July 7, 2006 The Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma can cross state lines and operate a casino in downtown Kansas City, a federal judge ruled on Thursday. In a 44-page decision, Judge Julie A. Robinson handed the tribe yet another victory in its long-running battle with the state of Kansas and the federal government. After suffering numerous setbacks, the tribe has won two major court cases in just the last few months. The third win comes in a case against the National Indian Gaming Commission. The agency told the tribe that it couldn't operate the casino in Kansas because the site didn't qualify under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. But Robinson said the NIGC's decision misinterpreted a key provision in the law. She said the agency went too far by determining that tribe didn't meet the land claim exception of IGRA even though the Kansas City property was purchased with land claim settlement funds. Since the passage of the law in 1988, only one tribe -- the Seneca Nation of New York -- has satisfied the land claim exception. Robinson said NIGC's decision for the Wyandottes conflicts with the "plain meaning" of IGRA and with the Seneca Nation decision. "The NIGC has required the Wyandotte to meet criteria that it has not required in other cases, and the Secretary of the Interior has allowed lands to qualify for the settlement of lands exception in circumstances at least as suitable as the case at bar," wrote Robinson, citing the Seneca Nation decision. Robinson's ruling means the tribe can reopen the small Class II facility in Kansas City. The casino had been open only a few months before the state of Kansas raided it and seized more than $1.25 million in tribal cash and equipment. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a unanimous decision, has since ruled that the raid violated the tribe's sovereignty because the state lacked jurisdiction over the land. "There was no legal basis for the state's action and very little likelihood that the state will ever have a legal justification," the court said in April. A few weeks later, Judge Robinson affirmed that the tribe bought the land, known as the Shriner Tract, with funds that were authorized by Congress. She upheld the Bureau of Indian Affairs' decision to take the half-acre property into trust but waited until now to rule on the legality of gaming at the site. Under IGRA, tribes cannot engage in gaming on land taken into trust after 1988 unless certain exceptions are met. The exceptions cover tribes in Oklahoma with former reservations, newly recognized tribes, restored tribes and tribes with land claim settlements. If a tribe can't meet any exception, it can seek what is known as a two- part determination that requires the approval of the federal government and the concurrence of the governor in the state where gaming will take place. In the history of IGRA, only three tribes have successfully navigated the process. Despite the rare use of the two-part determination and the land claim settlement exception, Congress is seeking to eliminate these provisions from IGRA. Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) says unscrupulous developers are using tribes to exploit the process. McCain's bill, S.2078, has been cleared for the Senate floor. But it would still allow Oklahoma tribes, newly recognized tribes and restored tribes to open casinos. These exceptions have been utilized many more times than the two-part determination or land claim exception. Copyright c. 2000-2006 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: Groups want Taxes collected on Indian Enterprises" --------- Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2006 08:39:11 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TWO SEPARATE SUITS FILED" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.auburnpub.com/2006/07/07/news/latest_news/latestnews03.txt Groups want taxes collected from Indian enterprises Amaris Elliott-Engel / The Citizen July 7, 2006 Oral arguments were held simultaneously in two separate lawsuits Friday seeking to force the collection of state taxes on sales of tobacco products and gasoline at American Indian enterprises. The arguments were held in the Albany courtroom of state Supreme Court Judge Michael Kavanaugh. A convenience store operators lobbying group, the New York Association of Convenience Stores, has sued Gov. George Pataki's administration to compel the enforcement of a law requiring sales tax collection. Seneca County has filed a similar lawsuit against the state Department of Taxation and Finance, the Cayuga Indian Nation of New York and several cigarette wholesalers. Seneca County argued Friday that those taxes are earmarked for Seneca County and the non-enforcement of the taxes deprives them of their property, said Seneca County Attorney Steven Getman. The Cayuga Nation reiterated their stance that their enterprises are sovereign and not subject to taxes. The state Attorney General's office, arguing on behalf of the state, said there is a rational basis to not enforce the law. One of the wholesalers sued by Seneca County, Frank Colucci Inc., of Niagara Falls, has entered a consent order and agreed to not sell any cigarettes to Indian enterprises, Getman said. Kavanaugh reserved decision. Getman said he was "cautiously optimistic" that Kavanaugh would rule in favor of the county, though he didn't have any indication when his ruling would come. Pataki's administration has refused to enforce a new law requiring sales tax collection that was to come into effect March 1. Pataki officials cited the need to make revisions to the law, and the governor himself has argued that any tax collecting from Indian enterprises should come about from a negotiated compact. Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or at amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net Copyright c. 2006 The Auburn Citizen - Lee Publications, Inc. --------- "RE: Native American Veterans hold special Place" --------- Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2006 08:41:11 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="VETERANS" http://www.petoskeynews.com/articles/2006/07/07/local_regional/news01.txt Native American veterans hold special place in tribe, country BY BETHANY ROOT, NEWS-REVIEW STAFF WRITER July 7, 2006 From Pershing's Indian scouts to Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders to World War II's Navajo codetalkers, Native American soldiers have spent much of the last 100 years honoring and protecting the United States, even when the United States didn't necessarily honor and protect their tribes. According to the Navy Historical Center, 12,000 Native Americans served in the United States military during World War I, and 44,000 out of a total population of less than 350,000 served with distinction in World War II. Frank Ettawageshik, chairman of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, said that while Native Americans are citizens of the tribal nation first and the United States second, their dual citizenship comes with dual responsibilities. "Native Americans have served in the armed forces in the U.S. in all of the conflicts of the last century and this one," he said. "And they've been a greater percentage of armed forces than they are of the general population. This is in part a cultural reflection on the importance we put on the protection of our homes and protection of our families and culture." Some area Native American veterans entered the military to gain opportunity. Others followed a family tradition. But all perpetuated a long legacy of Native Americans who have put their lives on the line, not only for their tribal nation, but for the United States. Always there For David Kagabitang, his experience as a Native American in the military was illustrated by one thing - his name. Most of his military brethren couldn't pronounce it, let alone interpret it. "Everybody thought my name was funny and always asked me what kind of name it was," said Kagabitang, who was born in Petoskey and now works as a mental health therapist for the tribe. "They wouldn't call me my regular name. They called me 'alphabet' or 'cabbage,' and toward the end they just started calling me 'Tang.'" In fact, when Kagabitang was promoted, his sergeant major wrote him a note that merely said, "Corporal Tang has a nice ring to it." Kagabitang was used to nicknames. In high school, many people called him Kagab, meaning "somebody who is always there," he said. And while he was first there for the United States, he is now there for his tribe. The time he spent in the military helped motivate him to reconnect with his culture once he returned to the area. Kagabitang joined the Marines a year before he graduated from high school in 1988. At the time, he had varied reasons for choosing that branch of the military, including the fact that he didn't want to end up on a ship. Ironically, that's where he was stationed much of the time. "Part of the reason why I joined the military had to do with just getting out of an economically depressed area," said Kagabitang, who was living in L'Anse at the time of his enlistment. "I didn't see much of a future staying in that town." Kagabitang also hoped to earn money for college and to travel to places he wouldn't normally have gotten a chance to see. But he was motivated by more than ambition and curiosity. "I grew up on welfare, so I thought I owed something back to the state," he said. He didn't want to owe anyone anything. After going to boot camp in San Diego and infantry school at Camp Pendleton in California, Kagabitang served in the 1st Marine division, the 1st Marine regiment, the 1st battalion, 9th Marines, as part of the fleet Marine force. Members of the force would serve six-month tours of duty in areas of the world where the United States had interests. Kagabitang went on two tours, in 1989 and 1991, both in the Western Pacific region. He traveled to Thailand, Korea, and Hong Kong, but one of his most memorable experiences was helping to clean up after Mount Penatubo exploded in the Philippines, leaving an ashy coating covering the surrounding towns like dirty snow, sometimes 2 feet deep. Part of the Western Pacific geographic area was the Persian Gulf, and Kagabitang's unit served some time there during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. It was there, sitting on the deck of the ship during a drill, that he had an epiphany. "Sitting in flight deck, we had hand grenades and all this ammo packed on us," said Kagabitang, who met only one other Native American soldier during his time in the Marines. "We had rockets strapped to us and I was thinking, 'I have to do something else with my life.' "From the Native American perspective, I was thinking to myself, I'm an Odawa. What am I doing over here, going to fight with this person from over here? What real beef did I have with somebody over there?" At that moment, Kagabitang decided to get out of the military. While he originally had been motivated by patriotism and a loyalty to his country, he became more interested in his heritage, which he previously had little knowledge about. One day soon after his honorable discharge, his uncle Joe held a pipe ceremony for him, during which Kagabitang exchanged his "war" colors - Marine Corps browns - for red, black, white and yellow, the colors of his tribe. While he later joined the National Guard for five years, his new alliance was to his Odawa culture. "My new focus as a warrior wasn't the warlike warrior, but the peaceful warrior," Kagabitang said. After using the GI bill to help pay for room and board, he received a bachelor's degree in social work from Northern Michigan University. A few years ago, he received a master's degree in the same field from Grand Valley State University. Although he worked at a Wisconsin residential treatment center for a while, he was hoping a job would open up at the tribe. One finally did in 2000. "There was some kind of pull to get back home and share my experience and education with the community," he explained. Kagabitang has applied the things he learned in the military to his service to the tribe. Before his unit went to the Persian Gulf, a general spoke to them about self-sacrifice and self-discipline, and the words stuck with him. "The self-discipline to do what needs to be done, and the self-sacrifice meaning that sometimes you need to put others ahead of yourself," he said. "It's about the community, not about you, because the community supports you." "I try to teach those things every day, working with mentally ill and substance abusing clients," he said. "They're the same things you want to teach your kids." Once he became more involved in his culture, he learned that veterans play an important part in the tribe. They carry the flags and eagle staffs during many activities. During his time as a veteran, Kagabitang has walked with staffs on Veterans Day and spoken at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. "It's a great honor and responsibility that you're respected and asked to do that," he said. "You hold the place of honor in the community." Warrior woman After years of military service, Margaret Gasco received the ultimate compliment - the Indian name Gascoigne Ogicchidaa Kwe, or "Muskrat Warrior Woman." She received the name in a 2005 ceremony, after becoming a official member of the tribe in 1996. "I was very proud of that name, very proud of it," said Gasco, who has worked for the tribe's housing department for four years. After Gasco graduated from Harbor Springs High School in 1983 and held a series of odd jobs for four years, she was eager to leave Northern Michigan and do something different. As a young man her father had been drafted and served for a few years in Vietnam, but Gasco didn't think her parents would be pleased to find out she had enlisted, so she didn't tell them. "I did it without my parents knowing," she said. "Until my recruiter called them. That's how they found out!" Gasco decided to become a motor transport operator like her father. She spent two and a half years at a duty station in Germany, then was stationed at Fort Campbell in Kentucky. In 1990, she was deployed to Saudi Arabia, where she drove a tractor-trailer full of ammunition during Operation Desert Storm. "I was scared at first when I got over there," Gasco said. "I was hit with reality. The second day, seeing missiles going above you, that's when you realize, 'hey, this is real.'" Gasco wasn't intimidated for long, though. Soon, she was living up to her Native American name, climbing the ranks to sergeant. "I liked everything about it," she said. "That was my place in life, that was where I felt I was meant to be." But while Gasco put her heart and soul into the job, she was often distracted by others who were surprised about seeing a Native American female truck driver. "I was amazed at the amount of people who have never met a Native American before," said Gasco. "I was shocked. They always asked me, 'what are you?' "It was tough, because I had a job to do." While Gasco typically encountered mild curiosity about her status as a Native American soldier, she often came across shock and sometimes animosity because of her status as a female soldier, she said. "Being a truck driver and female, people said 'oh, you can't do this or that,'" recalled Gasco, who handled everything from 5,000 gallon water tankers to gas tankers. "Oh yes I can." "They'd see me jump out of a truck and think, 'oh my gosh, it's a female,'" she added. Gasco was a natural talent at truck driving, but while she was in Saudi Arabia, native men especially were taken aback by seeing a woman driving a military truck. During one trip, an Arab man stuck his foot in the truck window, Gasco recalled. In Saudi Arabia, she said, showing the bottom of the feet is an offensive gesture. "The men over there did not like women in the military," she recalled. "And they let you know." Upon her return to the United States and her re-enlistment in November 1992, Gasco was shipped to Fort Bragg, N.C., to train officers. Although Gasco loved her job in the military, she decided not to re- enlist after her father was diagnosed with leukemia - he died five years later. As a child, her father taught her and her seven siblings some of the Odawa language. After his death, she wanted to become more involved in the tribe. At one point, she said, "The tribe asked me to carry the flag, as their way of honoring me for what I did. I felt very honored." Gasco also has a 3-year-old daughter, Emma Louise, whom she plans to immerse in the Odawa culture and hopes to have dance in the pow-wow this year. "I have no regrets," said Gasco, who would have been eligible to retire from the military next year had she remained enlisted. "That was an awesome experience and my place in life, I loved it." "There was some prejudice," she added. "But I just showed 'em what I could do, and most of the time I did better than the men in company." Serving and protecting Upon his return from serving in Iraq, Marine Corps. and National Guard veteran Vince Cook received something from the tribe that was more tangible than a name - he got his job back. Cook, descended from the Tlinket tribe in Alaska and the regulatory director for Little Traverse Bay Bands, said that the fact that the tribe kept his position open in his absence spoke volumes about how veterans are honored by the tribe. After spending his life in professions that involve taking care of people, someone finally took care of him. "When we got back, several soldiers didn't necessarily have employment waiting for them," he said. "I'm just thankful I didn't have to face the situation that some of the guys did. I really thank the LTB Bands for what they did." Cook joined the Marines immediately after high school. He worked mainly as a helicopter mechanic, and was stationed in Okinawa, Japan, three times. He also served in search and rescue in Yuma, Ariz., for three years. After 12 years of active duty in the Marine Corps, he decided to enlist in the National Guard for eight years in order to fulfill the 20 years required for retirement. Little did he know, one of those years would include time in Iraq. Cook's wife, Nadine, said she never expected her husband to be deployed somewhere. But after Sept. 11, she realized he might have to go. So every time he returned from National Guard week, she'd ask him if it was his turn yet. Eventually, the answer was yes. "Our battalion was tasked to put a unit together to go," he said. "We pulled names from all four different batteries in the unit to get enough people to go. Somehow my name ended up on that short list." "With my background in both the Marine Corps and law enforcement and security, I felt I might have something to contribute to help make sure guys came back," he added. Cook went to Iraq in the summer of 2004 and stayed for 11 months. His main duties included working with the Mobile Launch Rocket System and ensuring safety. One of his primary assignments was to train Iraqi police, he said. Because of the corruption running rampant in the area, they focused on sharing police tactics with the Iraqi forces, and not military ones. "All we are trying to do is teach them some lessons to help them when we are gone," he said. "There are just so many things there that need to be fixed. It's just going to be many years from now before things get a lot better." While he was gone, Nadine was left to raise their two children, 14-year- old Nicholas and 11-year-old Suzann. Although she had a hard time as a suddenly single parent, they were able to communicate with Cook through e- mail and Web cam. "I'd always joke with Vince, you took the easy way out and went over to Iraq and let me handle our son and puberty," Nadine said with a laugh. Nadine often caught her daughter watching cable news channels, looking for her dad. She ended up blocking channels. "There was all this violence she didn't need to see," she said. Iraqis had different reactions to him and other American soldiers, Cook said. Some of the Iraqis were happy because they thought change was necessary. In certain areas, soldiers are greeted with waves and smiles. Other times, when people saw a military vehicle they started throwing rocks and bottles. At one point, Cook's Humvee had 50 or 60 children chasing it. "We were constantly changing the windows," he said. One time, he recalled, he and his fellow soldiers asked native children to help them clean up an area of Baghdad. They started out with about a dozen kids ranging from 8 to 14 years old, and offered to pay them each 2000 dinar (less than $2) for their help. "Our line grew so huge, we had adults trying to push kids out of the way to get the money," he recalled. "We had to shut it down, we thought we were going to start a riot for a second there." Cook also encountered an older woman who told her story with the help of an interpreter. She lived in a household of 10 women and children, and all of the men had died in different conflicts. The woman said $10 would feed the entire family for a week. "Everybody has a story over there, it's terrible," Cook said. During his time in Iraq, Cook was asked to fill in for the platoon sergeant and platoon leader at the same time. He basically ran the platoon for a month and a half, making a few changes and keeping things running smoothly. He also filled in for the platoon sergeant multiple times, as well as other squad leaders who were on vacation. Overall, he was a strong leader in his unit, which was instrumental in setting up training for the Iraqi police. While he never saw the paperwork, he said that this leadership is probably what earned him his Bronze star. Still, Cook is modest about his award. He preferred receiving his Bronze star from the platoon sergeant quietly, rather than in a big ceremony. He also thinks that others probably deserved it as much as he did. "I look at the job everyone else did over there, the people in vehicles that have to head out every day, in the most vulnerable position," he said. "Those are the people who should be receiving something for going above and beyond." Cook returned from Iraq on Dec. 21. He arrived in Lansing, where a short ceremony took place before the soldiers went home with their families. "The night before was like Christmas Eve," Nadine said with a laugh. Cook has about two years left until he should be able to retire. Currently, Cook is setting up training for the soldiers from his unit who volunteered to return to Iraq. He's "not allowed" to go back himself, he said, looking at Nadine with a smile. Still, Cook considered it an honor to protect the United States. "Being Native American, I've always felt a sense of patriotism," he said. Cook and other area Native American veterans may serve the United States out of love for their tribe or country. But the tribe makes sure it loves them back. Ettawageshik said that veterans are flag carriers and represent protectors of the people. "We acknowledge that sacrifice that they've made throughout the rest of their lives," he said. "We hold them in great respect." During pow-wows, one of the early dances is a song that honors veterans, he added. The song thanks them for their services and acknowledges their sacrifices. "Those people who put their lives at risk so that the rest of us can have safe and peaceful homes and have a protected place, often carry scars from those battles," he said. "Those scars are sometimes physical, but also emotional and mental, and it's important that we acknowledge that and that we help take care of them just as they've taken care of us." Bethany Root can be reached at 439-9397, or broot@petoskeynews.com. Copyright c. 2006 Petosky News --------- "RE: Man plans Topless contests at Bar near Bear Butte" --------- Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2006 08:54:16 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GREED JUSTIFIES DESECRATION" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://online.wsj.com/article_email/article_print/ SB115282726581906199-lMyQjAxMDE2NTEyNDgxMjQ3Wj.html Development in South Dakota Prompts Unlikely Coalition: Christians, Indians, Ranchers By STEVEN GRAY July 14, 2006 STURGIS, S.D. - Jay Allen expects to spend $3 million on his new development near this town of 6,400. The three-story, 22,500-square-foot barn will house six bars, a restaurant, stores and a stage. But his ambitions now rest on a hotly disputed beer license for which he paid just $250. Mr. Allen hopes his development, the Sturgis County Line, will attract many of the half-million bikers who come here each August for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. For now, though, it has attracted the opposition of an unlikely coalition: American Indians, white ranchers and Christian activists. The main problem, as they see it, is that the Sturgis County Line and another complex are being built about two miles from Bear Butte, which rises about 1,100 feet from the prairie surrounding it. For thousands of years, Bear Butte - or Mato Paha in the language of the Lakota American Indian tribe - is considered sacred ground by dozens of tribes who pray there and view it as "the womb of mother Earth." When Anne White Hat read about Mr. Allen's plans in a local newspaper, she was speechless. "We just couldn't believe someone would actually be so nai've to think they could do this, with total lack of respect and knowledge about native people," says Ms. White Hat, a Lakota. Christians see an opportunity to limit the spread of rowdy biker bars and strip clubs. Ranchers complain their cattle have contracted pneumonia after breathing copper-colored dust stirred up by bikers thundering across gravel roads. Mr. Allen, 52 years old, originally thought to call his project "Sacred Ground." He planned to build an 80-foot statue of an Indian man and have tribal dances performed during dinner. He changed the name after hearing it might be disrespectful. "To them, I was a white man capitalizing on their culture," he says. "But my heart's in the right place." In 1938, J.C. "Pappy" Hoel, a Sturgis motorcycle enthusiast and businessman, started the Black Hills Motor Classic. Even then, some citizens worried about an invasion of out-of-town bikers. Today, bikers from around the world nearly double South Dakota's population of 775,900. Although the rally officially lasts one week and this year's doesn't start until Aug. 7, bikers already have started arriving. Much of the year, most of downtown Sturgis is shuttered - except for the weeks just before the rally, when building owners rent their space to vendors, who leave again after the rally. Mr. Allen's infatuation with motorcycles began at age 12, when he was hit by one. He used money from the accident settlement to buy a 1959 Harley Davidson Sportster. He came to Sturgis in 1986 to sell deerskin gloves during the rally. Seven years later, he bought his favorite bar, the Broken Spoke, and began opening bars in Daytona Beach, Fla., and other biker Meccas. Last year, he says, he paid a rancher a little over $1 million for the 600 acres where he's building Sturgis County Line. The development will include a campground and a 150,000-square-foot asphalt parking lot for semi-tractor trailers and RVs. Only the barn will be open for this year's rally. Tall and lean, in a tie-dyed T-shirt and shaggy brown hair, Mr. Allen one recent day surveyed workers building the barn. Gazing at the amphitheater facing the butte, which will hold up to 40,000 for sunset concerts, he says, "You're not going to see nothing but God." Not far away, local businessman Gary Lippold is building a rival concert venue; he didn't return calls seeking comment. American Indians have stopped developments near Bear Butte before. A few years ago, they joined environmentalists to block plans for a shooting range, using scientific tests to show that gunshots would disrupt the butte's tranquility. Before she moved to the Sturgis area three years ago, Ms. White Hat had worked as an activist for indigenous people in South Africa, Cuba and Washington, D.C. She lives with her husband and three small children in a house near the base of the butte, where several tribes have bought land in the hope of blunting development. After hearing about Mr. Allen's project, Ms. White Hat met with him at the Broken Spoke. Sitting inside the cavernous tavern, surrounded by Mr. Allen's motorcycle collection, she says she explained how more Indians are coming back to the butte to pray as they seek to reconnect with their heritage. Mr. Allen agreed to change the name from Sacred Ground. She was at a local tire shop last fall when she began chatting with Jessie Levin, a white Sturgis native who with her husband owns a 16,000- acre cattle ranch within view of the butte. Ms. Levin said, "Do you think they're really going to put that bar up there by the butte?" Soon Ms. Levin was hosting strategy sessions at her home for ranchers, Native Americans and Christians. Ms. White Hat tapped into her network of activists, who created a Web site and wrote to local newspapers criticizing Messrs. Allen and Lippold's projects. Other anti-development groups stepped in. In February, a bill that would have banned alcohol sales within four miles of the butte died before reaching South Dakota's full legislature. In April, the board of commissioners of Meade County - of which Sturgis is the seat - opened hearings about Mr. Allen's application for a malt liquor license, which costs $250 a year. Debate on Mr. Lippold's application for a full liquor license, which requires an initial $500,000 fee and renews for $1,500 a year, started in May. At a string of county hearings, debate centered on private property rights and the rally's effects on the locale. Meade County has no zoning regulations, and ranchers tend to be staunch supporters of property rights. Yet the county spends as much as $200,000 each year hiring police officers for the rally. It also pays to care for revelers jailed for public drunkenness, drug use and other infractions. While Sturgis has recently turned a small profit, local officials say most rally money winds up out of town. "What we have here is a carpetbagger industry," says Marvin Kammerer, a cattle rancher who with Ms. White Hat and others spoke out against the new projects before the commission. Mr. Allen says he told the commissioners, "I have a respect for the people [American Indians], but I have a right to do what I'm doing." Mr. Allen's license was awarded in April, and Mr. Lippold's in May. Ms. White Hat says commissioners were insensitive to their concerns and refused to hear testimony from all the activists. Commissioner Dean Wink, a Republican cattle rancher, says he listened hard. "There will be some nights that will be noisy, but that's not going to deny them the ability to worship," he says. Landowners have a right to create a business "and that includes having a beer license." Richard Fisher, a retired area pastor who opposes the projects, says, "I doubt the county commissioners would issue similar licenses next to any of the Christian churches." The opponents solicited petitions to force commissioners to hold a countywide vote on the licenses. They collected enough signatures on Mr. Allen's license, but not Mr. Lippold's. After commissioners nevertheless refused to call a referendum, opponents asked a county judge to order them to do so. Last week, the judge declined. The opponents say they'll appeal. They're also planning pre-rally protests and lobbying musicians to boycott. And Ms. White Hat has declared herself a candidate for county commissioner. If elected, she says, she would be the first Native American, and woman, on the panel. Mr. Allen says he's lining up musical acts. He plans to be the main announcer at the concerts; on the sidelines, there will be topless contests and tattooing. "I'm not doing anything to degrade a mountain," he says. "I'm not backing down." Write to Steven Gray at steven.gray@wsj.com1 Copyright c. 2006 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Bill proposes compensation for Tribe" --------- Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2006 08:59:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CRST COMPENSATION BILL" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2006/07/11/news/local/news10.txt Bill proposes compensation for tribe July 11, 2006 WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. House of Representatives Water and Power Subcommittee is scheduled to discuss a bill regarding the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe at a legislative hearing on Wednesday morning. Up for discussion is HR3558, a bill that would entitle tribal members from the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe to be compensated from flooding caused by the Oahe Dam and Reservoir. The flooding caused damage to about 8 percent of Cheyenne River Indian Reservation in northeastern South Dakota. The bill was introduced by Rep. Stephanie Herseth, D-S.D., in July 2005. It would amend the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Equitable Compensation Act, a bill passed in 1998 that helped offer restitution to the tribe. However, Congress found that the compensation paid was inadequate. Copyright c. 2006 Rapid City Journal. --------- "RE: Tribe teams with Orthodox Jews to run Meat Plant" --------- Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2006 08:59:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="OGLALA KOSHER MEAT PLANT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2006/07/10/news/state/117536.txt Tribe teams with orthodox Jews to run meat plant June 10, 2006 GORDON, Neb. (AP) - The tall Oglala Lakota with the gray braid asks if the man in the black yarmulke is a rabbi. "I thought all of them were rabbis," says Walt Big Crow, a member of the Oglala Tribal Council. Then Big Crow smiles at his assumption. "Like we all live in tipis." For almost a year, Oglala from South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and an ultra-orthodox Jewish family from New York City have partnered to start a kosher meatpacking plant in Gordon. Recently, they showed their progress to the community and, in the process, maybe got to know each other a little better. Local Pride hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony in its parking lot that featured a free lunch of grilled kosher hamburgers and hotdogs. Several hundred people, including plant workers, community officials, politicians and business leaders, ate under temporary awnings as Sholom Rubashkin, one of the plant's owners, mused about his family's latest business venture. "Why did we come to Gordon, Nebraska?" he asked. "I don't know. Believe me, I don't know." As the crowd's laughter died down, he amended his answer: "Good cattle, good water, good people." It's not the first small-town packing plant Rubashkin, his father and brother have opened. In 1989, they started a kosher plant called Agriprocessors in Postville, Iowa. The Nebraska plant is unique in its partnership with the Oglala Lakota Nation, which is just north of Gordon in South Dakota. Oglala leaders declared the plant and 300 surrounding acres of Gordon part of its economic empowerment zone. For every person living within the zone it employs - Indian or otherwise - the company qualifies for a $3,000 federal tax credit. The company gets labor and tax breaks. But what does the tribe get? "The goal of the empowerment zone designation is to reduce dependency," said David "Tally" Plume, executive director of the Oglala Oyate Woitancan Empowerment Zone. Plant manager Gary Ruse said about 65 of the nearly 100 plant employees are Indian. Two highly trained rabbis perform the ritual kosher slaughter of each animal. One of the rabbis inspects the organs and lungs of the animal to determine if it qualifies as kosher. The plant slaughters about 110 cattle per week, Ruse said. Until recently, all carcasses were quickly trucked to the Iowa plant for further processing, but the Gordon plant has just started to do some boning. By soon adding two additional rabbis, the company hopes to double its daily slaughter. Copyright c. 2006 Bismark Tribune. --------- "RE: Attacks recall racist History of N.M. Town" --------- Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2006 09:05:27 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="FARMINGTON" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_4044405 Attacks recall racist history of N.M. town Recent violence against Navajos has tribal and Farmington leaders asking whether the incidents are isolated or a re-emerging trend. By Electa Draper Denver Post Staff Writer July 13, 2006 Farmington, N.M. - Navajo leaders are trying to judge whether a beating last month of a Navajo man by three white men and a fatal shooting of another tribal member by a white police officer six days later are aberrations or an old pattern of racism reasserting itself in this reservation border town. The mayor, police chief and other leaders in the Four Corners' largest commercial hub say they will do everything they can to reassure American Indian neighbors that this is a place that won't tolerate racism and violence. "We're burdened with a past," Farmington Mayor Bill Standley said. "They have the right to ask if these are isolated incidents or a trend." Ever since the mutilation murders of three Navajo men by white teens near Farmington in 1974 brought the U.S. Civil Rights Commission to town, along with scores of American Indian protesters, Farmington has struggled with its image, Standley said. The local practice of "Indian rolling," as such beatings came to be known, and other crimes were documented in the book "The Broken Circle," and it's still the phrase invoked when strained race relations erupt into violence. Navajo President Joe Shirley said he wants to believe recent incidents are isolated. "We need to be very careful about bashing anyone as a racist," he said. "We've come a long way with the city of Farmington. I'd like to continue in that vein." But some leaders and residents from the nearby Shiprock Chapter of the Navajo Nation are calling for a protest march and boycott of Farmington businesses this summer. Rumors that a July 4 march might disrupt Farmington's holiday parade caused police to deploy extra units for the festivities, which were well- attended by American Indians and took place without incident. "We were disappointed to see police helicopters and SWAT teams after Navajo leaders told the city there would be no march," Shiprock Chapter President Duane "Chili" Yazzie said. "It didn't exactly increase our trust or positive feelings." The possibilities of any future public protests probably will be discussed at next week's session of the Navajo Nation Council, which includes delegates from across the reservation. In recent weeks, the council appropriated nearly $300,000 for a study on race relations in border towns. The June violence was disheartening for many in a city that had made progress dispelling its racist image. The Civil Rights Commission returned to Farmington in 2004 and last year issued "The Farmington Report: Civil Rights for Native Americans 30 Years Later." It cited progress and credited local leaders with promoting better interracial relations. Discrimination is real but has grown subtler, said 53-year-old Russell Thomas, a Navajo from Chinle, Ariz., who was shopping in Farmington on Friday. "To me, it was much more difficult when I was growing up. But still ... you just can't assume that everything is cool. Anytime you go out, you have to expect that anything can happen." Standley said there are racist individuals, but he rejects that label for the community. "We want swift and severe justice for racists," he said. "They will not be tolerated." Indeed, Farmington police arrested three local men, ages 18 to 20, soon after William Blackie, 46, was allegedly attacked and subjected to racial slurs June 4. Police Chief Mike Burridge said the jailed trio have been charged with kidnapping, aggravated battery and robbery. The district attorney has been asked to consider hate-crime charges, which could provide some sentence enhancement. And police contacted federal authorities to ask whether they would consider charges of civil-rights violations. Burridge said violence between whites and Indians is not the bulk of the problem in Farmington. "In this city, 95 percent of the violent crime is Native American on Native American. And most of it is alcohol-related," he said. But the police response to a beating in a Wal-Mart parking lot June 10 put Farmington officials on the defensive. Police said Clint John hit his girlfriend in the face as she lay in the cab of their pickup. After John ignored orders from police, officer Shawn Scott hit him several times in the leg with his police baton. John wrested it from Scott and threatened the officer with it, according to investigators. Scott shot John twice in the torso and, when he continued to advance, again in the chest and head. In the days following John's death, Farmington officials met with Shirley and local Navajo leaders. City officials called the Civil Rights Commission, requested a mediator from the U.S. Department of Justice and notified the governor, who sent his secretary of Indian affairs for talks. An internal inquiry and an investigation by the San Juan County Sheriff's Office have concluded that the killing was justified. "John had a lethal weapon ... a baton," Burridge said. Shirley said he wants an independent investigation. "I want a completely objective law enforcement agency to determine whether lethal force was necessary," he said. "I don't believe it was." Standley said the city will cooperate fully with an outside investigation. Staff writer Electa Draper can be reached at 970-385-0917 or edraper@denverpost.com. Copyright c. 2006 The Denver Post or other copyright holders. --------- "RE: A Nation denied a Homeland, right here in America" --------- Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2006 09:05:27 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ONEIDA" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.forward.com/articles/8106 A Nation Denied a Homeland, Right Here in America By Carole Goldberg and Joseph Singer Forward Forum July 14, 2006 In 1795, the homeland of the Oneida Indian Nation, located in upstate New York, was obtained by the State of New York in clear violation of federal law. Today, more than two centuries later, representatives of the state are trying to prevent the federal government from restoring a small part of that homeland to the Oneida. Not a Jewish issue, some might argue. It should be, and not just because Jews ought be concerned when an injustice is perpetrated. As Jews, we should be troubled by the state's position because our own history of resistance to forced assimilation asks of us special empathy with the Oneida. The Oneidas' saga is a long one. The Oneida Nation was one of the few Indian tribes allied with the Americans in the Revolutionary War, and actually brought crucial supplies to Washington's troops when they were nearly too exhausted to continue at Valley Forge. In gratitude, the United States made treaties with the Oneida between 1784 and 1794, guaranteeing them peaceful enjoyment of their lands, which by this time had been reduced to 300,000 acres. Even though a federal law prohibited land transfers from tribes without the consent of the United States, New York made an illegal treaty with the nation in 1795 that gave the state nearly all of the 300,000 acres. Over the next 150 years, despite their lack of familiarity with the non-Indian legal system and their shortage of resources, the Oneidas tried to raise legal objections to the transfer and to regain their lands. They were stymied, however, at every turn. The United States failed to sue New York on their behalf, the federal courts indicated that tribes lacked capacity to sue on their own, and the state courts were completely unreceptive to lawsuits against the state. In the 1960s, tribes were finally able to get a clear mandate from Congress to litigate federal claims in federal court, and with the advent of federally funded legal services, they were able to get representation. Shortly thereafter, the Oneida filed their land claim, seeking money for the trespass to their lands over so many years. While that lawsuit was pending, the Oneida were able to establish a thriving resort and casino on their tiny plot of remaining land. With funds from that enterprise, they have been trying to buy back their ancient homeland, focusing on parcels within the territory guaranteed to them in their treaties 200 years ago - land which had never been extinguished as their reservation. For these parcels to make up a homeland, however, the Oneida need more than ownership of the tracts. They need recognition as the governmental power over those lands. Only as a government can they advance their own goals regarding environmental protection, child welfare and preservation of their burial grounds and other culturally significant places, among other matters. These lands have deep significance within Oneida culture, as the sites of important events in their history and narratives, giving meaning to their world. It is established federal law that Indian nations are governments exercising inherent powers that predate the United States, at least until the United States clearly curtails those powers. So initially, the Oneida believed that once they reacquired land within their reservation, they would automatically receive federal and state recognition of their governmental powers. When the City of Sherrill in upstate New York tried to tax some of those reacquired lands, the Oneida refused and brought suit to establish that just as New York can't tax California, it can't tax an Indian nation. In a 2005 decision harshly criticized by legal scholars, the Supreme Court ruled that the Oneida Indian Nation had waited too long to assert their governmental status on their own lands, even though this issue had not been briefed or argued in front of the court. In the court's view, upholding the Oneidas' claim would be too disruptive to surrounding communities and landholders, even if the title of those landholders was invalid. But while the court's decision was questionable, the state's position could only be described as chutzpah. The state had wrongfully taken land from the Oneidas and refused to entertain their legal claims, and then had the gall to argue in front of the Supreme Court that its longstanding presence on those lands justifies denying the Oneidas their homeland. Part of the reason the court was reluctant to intervene is that there is a federal political process available to confirm tribal governments' powers over particular lands, known as the "land into trust" process. Once the federal government accepts title to Indian lands as trustee for their benefit, federal law says that tribal and federal authority displace most state authority on those lands. So the Oneida, determined to regain their homeland, have now patiently petitioned the Department of the Interior to take their lands into trust. In a letter to the secretary of interior, Senator Charles Schumer has argued against this action, placing heavy reliance on the Supreme Court's decision in the City of Sherrill case. In its 2005 decision, however, the court was deferring to the political process - not trying to preempt it. Federal regulations make it much easier for tribes to put land already within their existing reservation boundaries into trust, precisely because so much injustice has surrounded the loss of such lands. The Oneida are prepared to work with the surrounding communities to coordinate governmental services and land-use decisions. But they want to do so from their rightful position as the government within their homeland - something we, as Jews, should be able to understand. --- Carole Goldberg, a professor of law, is director of the program in law and American Indian studies at the University of California at Los Angeles. Joseph Singer is a professor of law at Harvard University. They are co-editors of "Felix Cohen's Handbook of Federal Indian Law" (LexisNexis,2005). Copyright 2006 c. The Forward. --------- "RE: Indian Tribe sues Opponents" --------- Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2006 08:59:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SCHAGHTICOKE FIGHT BACK" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-ctapschaghticokesuit0711. artjul11,0,6337789.story?track=rss Indian Tribe Sues Opponents Associated Press July 11, 2006 Connecticut's Schaghticoke Tribal Nation sued a Washington lobbying firm and a Kent, Conn., group Monday, accusing them of unfairly winning a reversal of federal recognition of the Indian tribe. The Schaghticokes accused the lobbying firm of Barbour, Griffith and Rogers and its client, Town Action to Save Kent, of making "surreptitious and overt contacts" with officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Department of Interior. The lawsuit also names Kenneth Cooper, TASK's president. Capping a 25-year bid, the tribe won recognition in January 2004. State officials appealed, arguing that the tribe had substantial gaps in evidence related to its social continuity and political governance. An agency appeal panel overturned the bureau's decision, and the Interior Department upheld the reversal in October 2005. In January, the Schaghticokes asked a federal court to overturn the Interior Department's decision. That request is still pending. The Schaghticokes filed the lawsuit in Superior Court of the District of Columbia, accusing the lobbyists and local opponents of violating federal law by providing secret arguments and evidence to the bureau. "We believe Mr. Cooper, his group TASK and his hired lobbyists served one purpose - to further the culture of corruption in Washington, D.C.," tribal chief Richard Velky said at a news conference Monday at the state Capitol in Hartford. Copyright c. 2006 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. Copyright c. 2006 by The Hartford Courant. --------- "RE: Lumbees head to Washington to seek Recognition" --------- Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2006 08:59:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LUMBEE RECOGNITION" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.fayettevillenc.com/article?id=237173 Lumbees head to Washington to seek recognition By Venita Jenkins Staff writer July 10, 2006 PEMBROKE - Lumbee leaders will be in Washington this week trying to convince lawmakers that the tribe should be fully recognized by the federal government. They plan to argue that it's an issue of fairness. The tribe made the same argument three years ago before the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. Tribal leaders will address the committee again at a hearing Wednesday. "We feel like the old message certainly needs to be reiterated," said Tribal Administrator Leon Jacobs. "The fact that Congress recognized us in 1956 and yet 50 years later we are still not receiving services, I think that is important." The hearing begins at 9:30 a.m. in the Hart Office Building. Congress passed legislation in 1956 that granted the tribe recognition but denied the benefits other federally recognized tribes receive for education, economic development and health care. The 1956 legislation also prohibited the tribe from going through the Bureau of Indian Affairs to obtain full recognition. The bureau has estimated that the tribe is missing out on about $77 million each year in services. U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole and U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre submitted bills in February 2003 to grant recognition. The bill stalled in the Senate and remained in the U.S. House Resources Committee. McIntyre resubmitted his bill in January 2005. Dole reintroduced her bill two months later. Those bills are still in committee. Wednesday's hearing is to get Dole's bill out of committee for a vote by the full Senate. This is the third time since 2003 that the tribe has testified before congressional leaders. The last time was in April 2004 before the House Resources Committee. Tribal leaders and supporters say the Lumbees are in a better position now to move the bill forward. The tribe has hired a lobbyist to sway key politicians who have not supported the Lumbees in the past. Only time will tell whether the lobbyist has been successful, said Tribal Speaker Lawrence Locklear. "Once the hearing is over and it is time for a vote, we will know," he said. "The lobbyist may have been able to open some doors that we may not have normally been able to open." Also, one of the tribe's allies - Sen. Richard Burr - serves on the Committee on Indian Affairs. Tribal officials plan to spend Tuesday with Burr discussing their strategy. "We are not sure what route he is going to take since he is on the committee,'' Jacobs said. "He may be allowed to make an opening statement or testify. We don't know yet." Three panels of witnesses will testify. They include a congressional panel consisting of Dole and McIntyre, a federal panel represented by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and a tribal panel. Also testifying could be Tribal Chairman Jimmy Goins, tribal lawyer Arlinda Locklear and anthropologist Jack Campisi, who has served as a consultant and federal recognition expert for numerous American Indian tribes. "We are not quite sure what approach we will take and who will speak at this time," Lawrence Locklear said. "That will be hashed out between now and the committee hearing." Dole plans to focus her testimony around the issue of fairness, said Katie Norman, a spokesman in Dole's office. "The senator's message has always been about fairness and that the Lumbee Acknowledgment Bill will right a wrong," Norman said. "She would like the committee to move the bill out as quickly as possible." Tribal officials also expect to hear from opponents. The Eastern Band of Cherokee spoke in opposition during 2004 hearing. "We hope to be sitting at the table during the discussion of the Lumbee recognition issue," said Michell Hicks, principal chief for the Eastern Band of Cherokee. Other Indians opposed The Eastern Band has opposed federal acknowledgment of the Lumbees since at least 1910 because of questions about the tribe's identity, Hicks testified in April 2004. He argued that the Lumbees should go through the Bureau of Indian Affairs to gain recognition. The United South and Eastern Tribes Inc. - a nonprofit, inter-tribal organization consisting of 24 federally recognized tribes - took the same position in 2004. It is uncertain whether a representative from the organization will speak this week. The Tuscarora Nation of Indians of the Carolinas has asked to testify. Its leaders claim that the Lumbees are using the Tuscarora history and lineage to make the case for recognition. "We find it disturbing to see pictures of our own ancestors blatantly displayed as Lumbee without our consent," Tuscarora Chairman Katherine Magnotta wrote in a letter to committee members. Tuscarora representatives plan to meet with congressional leaders Tuesday, said Don Grove, a Washington lawyer who represents the tribe. "We understand that Chairwoman Magnotta will not be able to testify," he said. "Perhaps after some discussions between now and then, she will be able to testify briefly and talk about her tribe's views and concerns." Despite the opposition, Lumbee leaders remain optimistic. "Things look very encouraging, and we hope all goes well," said Jacobs, the tribal administrator. "One of the things we are extremely happy about is how both our senators have led us this far. They are committed to helping us get this discrimination stopped and we are grateful." Packing up the campsite late Sunday, the family is preparing for next year, with plans for tie dye parties and new additions to their tent city. "You need this. It comes and then you can't wait for next year," Dragicevich said. "You wash the dirt off and you're ready for more." Copyright c. 2006 The Fayetteville (NC) Observer. --------- "RE: Lumbees clash with Cherokee at Senate hearing" --------- Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2006 09:05:27 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LUMBEE RECOGNITION" http://www.indianz.com/News/2006/014928.asp Lumbees clash with Cherokee at Senate hearing July 13, 2006 The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina made yet another plea for federal recognition on Wednesday but faced opposition from the powerful Cherokee lobby. After more than a century of petitioning for full status, the Lumbees are in legal limbo due to a special act of Congress passed during the termination era. The 1956 law identified the Lumbees as Indians but denied them treatment as a federally recognized tribe. "In 1956, Congress finally did pass an act for the Lumbees, but he gave with one hand and took with the other hand," Lumbee Chairman Jimmy Goins told the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, recounting attempts as far back as 1888 to gain recognition. S.660, the Lumbee Recognition Act, would repeal the part of the 1956 that effectively terminated the tribe. The bill is sponsored by North Carolina's two senators, both of whom appeared at the hearing yesterday to support the Lumbees. "Their legitimacy has been established time and time again," Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R) testified. But significant opposition to the bill comes from some of the most politically active and prominent tribes in the country. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, North Carolina's sole recognized tribe, the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, also from Oklahoma, are fighting the measure. Along with the United South and Eastern Tribes, the Cherokees say the Lumbees should go through the federal recognition process established by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Cherokees support a rival measure, H.R. 4171, that would clear the way for the BIA to review a petition the Lumbees filed in 1980. "The question we ask is whether the Lumbees want to avoid the administrative process because it is unfair, or because they know it will truly examine the factual issues about Lumbee tribal identity," said Eastern Cherokee Chief Michell Hicks. Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), the chairman of the committee, opposes legislative recognition as a general policy. But he pointed out that the Lumbee act was passed during the termination era, "a time when many of our Indian tribes were not treated fairly." In questioning Hicks, McCain also noted that the Eastern Band gained recognition through an act of Congress. Several members of USET, including some of the most wealthiest in the nation, were recognized by legislative means as well. Sen. Richard Burr (R), a member of the committee and a co-sponsor of S. 660, carefully treaded on the inter-tribal dispute when he questioned R. Lee Fleming, the head of the BIA's Office of Federal Acknowledgment. Fleming responded that he is a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Fleming's testimony on S.660 essentially supported the Cherokee view that the Lumbees should go through the BIA process. "At a minimum, Congress should amend the 1956 act to afford the Lumbee Indians the opportunity to petition for tribal status," he told the committee. But even though the Lumbee petition was submitted in 1980, the tribe will have to wait a decade, if not longer, for an answer, Fleming said. Several other groups are ahead of the Lumbees and are given priority in the BIA's process. The Lumbees, with about 53,000 members, outnumber the 10,000-member Eastern Cherokee Band, and though the Lumbees have the support of the state's two senators, the Eastern Cherokees are well connected. Their Congressman is Rep. Charles Taylor (R), the sponsor of H.R.4171 and the chairman of the House Interior Appropriations subcommittee, which handles funding for all Indian programs. In his testimony, Hicks raised the funding issue and said Lumbee recognition would draw funds away from other tribes. Flush with gaming revenues, the Eastern Cherokee are a major political and economic powerhouse in their region. Combined with the Cherokee Nation, the second-largest tribe in the nation and another big political player, the Cherokee lobby represents a huge force that poses big hurdles for the Lumbees. The Cherokee influence was evident at a House Resources Committee hearing in April 2004, when several members, Democrat and Republican, were unwilling to back Lumbee recognition even though some had done so in the past. The Eastern Cherokees have increased their lobbying efforts in recent years and have scored several legislative coups. But with the help of the Arlinda Locklear, a tribal member and attorney who used to work for Patton Boggs, the number one lobby firm in Washington, the Lumbees have won converts as well. One of those is Burr, who now supports Lumbee recognition even though he had signed onto a previous version of Taylor's BIA process bill when he served in the House. Copyright c. 2000-2006 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: Our View: Life and Death in Robeson" --------- Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2006 08:59:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ROBESON COUNTY LINKED TO STATE OF LUMBEE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.fayettevillenc.com/article?id=237217 Our View: Life and death in Robeson are the business of both a tribe and a state. July 11, 2006 Lumbees are not responsible for all of Robeson County's violence, and are responsible for much that is good. But a tribe that hopes to win full federal recognition in the months ahead is wise to home in on a startlingly high homicide rate. The rate - 27.1 cases per 100,000 people versus 5.5 cases per 100,000, nationwide, for all races - is high enough that it suggests something more serious than a statistical twitch. And the most unflinching analysis comes from among the Lumbees. Tribal Administrator Leon Jacobs called it "a large problem within the tribe." It is not, he added, "just a law enforcement problem. It is a family and tribal situation." Other tribal leaders have taken it seriously enough that meetings with local and state officials have been held. One local official, Lumberton Police Chief Robert Grice, noting the high percentage of killings involving drugs, warned: "In order to have an impact on the homicide rate, we will have to do something about drugs and more resources to deal with the aftermath of drug use." But drugs can be found in any community. Do Lumbees account for a disproportionate share of drug abuse and/or drug trafficking in Robeson? The same sort of question arises when the subject turns to poverty or domestic friction. Another statistic is no less alarming than the murder rate: In almost a third of the homicides investigated by the Robeson County Sheriff's Office last year, both killer and accused were Lumbee. Fortunately, the tribe has been working with the state Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities. A grant request was written and approved. A study of homicides and other problems is in prospect, and the movers and shakers hope to enlist the aid of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke and UNC-Chapel Hill to develop a proper plan of action. That's good news, but one more number remains: $30,000. This grant is for organization and planning. Carrying out whatever plan emerges will require a lot more than that. The tribe, the county, state health officials and, if necessary, the legislature itself should expect to make the necessary investment. Lives are at stake. "It won't make a dent in the problem," Jacobs noted, "unless the entire tribe buys into the situation of respecting each other and unity." That holds true, too, for the much larger community in which the tribe lives. Copyright c. 2006 The Fayetteville (NC) Observer. --------- "RE: A State-Recognized Indian Tribe for Hawaii?" --------- Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2006 08:41:11 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NATIVE HAWAIIANS MAY USE LUMBEE AS BLUEPRINT" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story. aspx?95baf4cb-ab5e-40f1-99ab-24d1d9bbc102 A State-Recognized Indian Tribe for Hawaii? By Andrew Walden June 10, 2006 After the thumping defeat of the Akaka Bill in the United States Senate, the State Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) is debating 'Plan B' methods to create a Hawaiian tribe. While Senators Dan Inouye (D-HI) and Dan Akaka (D-HI) pledge to bring the Akaka Bill back for a vote next session, a "Nation Building Proposal to the Trustees" published in the HawaiiReporter.com on June 28th indicates that after 6 years of attempts, OHA is no longer going to continue waiting for the Akaka Bill. Instead, the document, "Hooulu Lahui Aloha - To Raise a Beloved Nation" outlines a non-Akaka strategy patterned on state-recognized Indian tribes. The OHA document, labeled "draft-confidential", outlines six steps ending with "convening of a representative governing entity". These are followed by a seventh step; "Negotiating the transfer of Hawaiian assets to the Native Hawaiian Governing Entity". An eighth step envisions further efforts to win federal recognition as a tribe. Without federal recognition, the tribal government is unlikely to succeed in shielding Kamehameha schools and other Hawaiians-only entitlements from federal lawsuits alleging racial discrimination. Also there is also no precedent for a state tribe to orga The Supreme Court decision in Rice v Cayetano presents a more immediate obstacle. In this landmark 1999 ruling, the Supreme Court invalidated the use of a Hawaiians-only voter roll in OHA elections and the restriction of candidate eligibility to only those with Hawaiian ancestry. The document states: "...Hawaiian delegate elections will not be considered State elections since no State funds will be utilized, it will still behoove us to follow the various legal precedents which have been established concerning elections to avoid legal challenges in the future." If this is an attempt to dodge Rice by claiming the elections are not State of Hawaii elections, it is a pretty thin dodge. The document itself is evidence that state funds are being used to organize the elections. Another possibility is that elections will be open to all Hawaii voters, as OHA elections currently are. If so, that would bring into question exactly what it is that is being organized, since the electorate and candidates are not restricted to members of the purported Hawaiian 'tribe. There is nothing in the document which indicates this will be OHA's plan. OHA, however is a State of Hawaii body, elected by the entire electorate of the State and led by elected officials of any racial background. The State of Hawaii is organizing a racially-defined subsection of the population into a tribe whether they want it or not. The Kau Inoa registration list is claimed by OHA to have "approximately 50,000 registrants" as of June, 2006, "including individuals who are...under the age of 18 years." According to the document, Kau Inoa will form the electorate for the Hawaiian tribe. A timeline is proposed working towards a Hawaiian Constitutional Convention which will run from June 11, 2007 to September 14, 2007, conveniently missing the 2007 legislative session. According to OHA's timeline, Kau Inoa will close registration April 7, 2007. While Kau Inoa tribal registration continues, apportionment of Constitutional Convention Delegate districts will be conducted starting August 1, 2006 until November 15, 2006. The deadline for candidates to file to run for delegate to the Hawaiian Constitutional Convention is January 17, 2007. Elections for delegates will occur three months later, April, 21, 2007. Fifty thousand out of 401,000 Hawaiians is not exactly a rousing mandate for tribal government, but Kau Inoa is not an effort to register every Hawaiian - just those who support establishing a government or believe that signing up will give them an edge in claiming some future benefits. The Kau Inoa registration form reads in part: "The Native Hawaiian Registration Form should be completed by Native Hawaiians who would like to participate in the formation of the Native Hawaiian government." A poll conducted for the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii in June, 2006 shows 59.5 % support for the Akaka Bill among native Hawaiians. OHA's Numbers Game In its document, OHA plays a strange little number game in order to make the 50,000 seem larger than it is. Of 401,000 Hawaiians about 240,000 are living in Hawaii and 161,000 living on the mainland. OHA's numbers ignore Hawaiians living outside Hawaii and start with a 2000 census figure of 177, 328 Hawaiians over age 18 living in Hawaii. From this they extrapolate potential registration numbers of 118,378 based on 66.7% voter registration levels in the population of Hawaii as a whole. From that number they again extrapolate another 66.7% voter participation leaving 78,891 ballots expected to be cast. This number doesn't look half bad compared to "approximately" (OHA-speak for "less than") 50,000 Kau Inoa registrants - including those under age 18. All one need do is forget about the Hawaiians living outside Hawaii, forget the unknown number of minors on the Kau Inoa rolls, forget about the native Hawaiians who do not support the Akaka Bill and forget about the fact that 78,891 is only 19.7% of 401,000 and then "almost 50,000" almost looks good. The fact that Hooulu Lahui Aloha is a "confidential" nation-building proposal "to the Trustees" says it all. As long as OHA has the nearly- unanimous backing of Hawaii's political class, participation by actual Hawaiians is secondary. With a state-recognized tribe likely unable to protect Hawaiian entitlements against court challenges to their constitutionality why would OHA go forward? One reason comes from Senator Dan Inouye (D-HI). Inouye's office indicates that the Senate has appropriated more than $1. 2 billion for Native Hawaiian programs over the past 26 years. Inouye's total of federal pork is equal to about $3000 for every Hawaiian, but in this spoils system, 'trustees' are more equal than other Hawaiians. In Inouye's scheme of things, a native Hawaiian 'tribal' government is just one more excuse to feed taxpayer dollars into Hawaii's oligarchic state-capitalist economy. State recognized tribes are usually allotted very limited land, benefits and other assets, but much more could be on offer from the State of Hawaii. It is possible that ownership of as much as one-fifth of all "ceded lands" - former property of the government of the Hawaiian Kingdom which passed to the Hawaii Republic, then to the US federal government and in 1959 to the State of Hawaii --could be transferred to a Hawaiian tribe by the state. OHA already receives 1/5 of the revenues of the ceded lands every year. Between federal and state pork, land ownership and development deals, the income possibilities for a state tribe are enough to make even the greediest and most ambitious professional "trustee" blush. Hawaiian Lumbees? State recognized Indian tribes operate in a little known grey area of Indian law with few legal precedents and under varying state laws. In Hawaii state law there is no precedent at all. Lack of clear legal precedent creates a playground for corrupt politicians and their many friends in the judiciary. The largest state tribe is the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. With over 40,000 members, the Lumbees have been recognized by the State of North Carolina since 1885 but are still denied full federal recognition as a tribe. One issue surrounding challenges to federal recognition of the Lumbee is whether they are truly an Indian tribe or whether they are a community descended from an Indian tribe (the Cheraw or Cherokee of South Carolina) which then evolved into a refuge for escaped slaves, free blacks and any other people over the last 150 years who were on the outs with the North and South Carolina slave-owning Democrat elite, the Confederate dictatorship, or the Democrats' Jim Crow system of segregation. Civil Rights After 86 Years of Shooting at Democrats Lumbee formed the nucleus of a community which resisted the Democrats system of slavery until slavery's Civil War defeat in 1865. Towards the end of the Civil War and during Reconstruction, armed Lumbee guerillas fought Confederate and ex-Confederate Democrat planters who were attempting to steal Indian landowners' property and force Indian men into indentured servitude. This conflict is known as the Henry Berry Lowrie War. Eighty six years after the Lowrie War ended, as many as 1,000 armed Lumbee men shot up a 1958 rally of the terrorist wing of the Democrat Party, the Ku Klux Klan. By 1964 the civil rights movement had made it impossible for Democrats to maintain the support of white southerners as a voting bloc by sustaining segregation. Jim Crow segregation collapsed. In order to replace their lost white dependency voters Democrats enacted the mis-named "Great Society" programs in order to build a new dependency base (at taxpayer expense) among the victims of their former dependents. In 1968, ten years after they shot up the Klan rally, the Lumbee got federally funded social services programs under the newly-formed "Lumbee Regional Development Association, Inc. (LRDA)" Notably the LRDA describes its goal in non-racial terms as working "aggressively to improve services for members of the Lumbee River community." The evolution of the Lumbee community from a group of displaced Indian families to a center of resistance to Democrat slavers and segregationists to a means of distributing social services benefits poses some of the same legal and historical issues as native Hawaiian recognition. Are the Lumbee really an Indian tribe - or a socio-political 'tribe'? These issues are at the core of why the Lumbee have not been federally recognized. Ethnicity Becomes an Ideology Jon Osorio, taro protester and chair of the UH Manoa Department of Hawaiian Studies calls for the Hawaiian Nation to include the "activist community". In a recent OHA infomercial touting the need to pass the Akaka Bill, OHA Chair Apoliona suggested that a future Hawaiian Nation would be open to non-Hawaiians. The Lumbee, including enemies of racism in the Democrat South, were a community of progressive freedom fighters who understood the importance of the Second Amendment to the US Constitution and knew where to aim their guns. A future Hawaiian Nation, if politically selected to include those from the 'activist community', would be an agent for the destruction of Hawaiian culture and the evisceration of a Hawaiian nation in order to transform it into a tool of an anti-American ideological agenda cooked up at UH Manoa. Their paradigm? Ward Churchill, a 100% non-Indian person who is still held up as an Indian spokesperson by UH Manoa ethnic studies professors in spite of lying about his ancestry to get ahead in academia and steal affirmative action preferences reserved for real Indians. In the view of the UH academic Marxist taxpayer funded 'activist community', ethnicity is an ideology. If you have the right ideology, you can become any ethnicity you wish. On the other hand, actual Indians (or Hawaiians or African Americans for that matter) who dare to challenge 'politically correct' dogma are personally attacked in terms once used by the Klan and labeled sell-outs. The transformation of Hawaiian ethnicity into an ideology would be the end of the Hawaiian people. Like the Lumbee, Hawaiians did not proceed directly from tribal society to a recognized tribe with a reservation. King Kamehameha instead unified the islands and chose to form a modern Kingdom. The Hawaiian Kingdom adopted modern ways including individual ownership of private property, advanced technologies, a postal system, a national currency, international trade, and diplomatic relations with other nations around the world. Connected to its modernization, the Hawaiian Kingdom also chose to admit non-Hawaiians as equal subjects and even as high level officials. Because of King Kamehameha's wisdom and all of the history which has occurred since the arrival of Captain Cook, native Hawaiians have the greatest degree of political liberty, personal independence and freedom and highest standard of living of any Polynesian group. Since a state tribe will not be able to defend Kamehameha Schools or Hawaiian Homelands against 'the lawsuits' it is a mystery why anybody not personally benefiting from pork and corruption would want to trade the modern Hawaiian lifestyle for a mid-Pacific Indian reservation. If OHA goes through with its plan, this is where they will be leading Hawaiians over the next 14 months. Hooulu Lahui Aloha - To Raise a Beloved Nation Andrew Walden is Editor of the Hilo, Hawaii-based Hawaii Free Press. He may be contacted at mailto:hfpeditor@email.com Copyright c. 2006 Hawaii Reporter, Inc. --------- "RE: The real winners in Mexico" --------- Date: Tuesday, July 11, 2006 10:24 pm From: Chiapas95-english Subj: En;SC,The real winners in Mexico,Jul 10 Mailing List: Chiapas95-En This message is forwarded to you by the editors of the Chiapas95 newslists. To contact the editors or to submit material for posting send to: . Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2006 07:15:11 +0200 From: "Dana" The real winners in Mexico No matter who the Federal Electoral Tribunal declares winner in July 2's contested presidential election, the power will belong to someone else. By Dick J. Reavis Salon.com July 10, 2006 MEXICO CITY - When Andre`s Manuel Lo'pez Obrador, leftist candidate and ostensible loser of Mexico's still contested presidential election, called a rally Saturday afternoon in the Zocalo, Mexico City's main square, 300,000 people answered. It was three times the turnout for the biggest rally held by his rival and the declared winner of the election, Felipe Caldero'n. The crowd greeted Lo'pez Obrador's claims that Caldero'n's rightist allies stole the election with a chant of, "Andre`s, hang on, the people are rising!" As the rally dispersed, the crush was so intense that a more common cry was, "Don't push, there are children here!" Official results, however, put Caldero'n and his PAN party ahead of Lo'pez Obrador by about the number of people gathered in the Zocalo. Lo'pez Obrador presented his formal protest of the final tally to the Federal Electoral Tribunal on Sunday, July 9, the day after the Zocalo rally, but soothsayers in all three of Mexico's major parties still expect the Tribunal to declare Caldero'n the winner. Yet no matter how the Tribunal ultimately rules, neither Lo'pez Obrador nor Caldero'n will win the power he seeks. The real winners of the July 2 presidential election are the Televisa and Azteca television networks, the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which ran Mexico from 1929 to 2000, and Subcomandante Marcos, the leftist guerrilla turned pop culture icon. Television was an obvious winner, and in Mexico TV means the twin behemoths Televisa and Azteca. The PAN spent $68 million for 70,000 commercial spots, about $4.50 for each of the 15 million votes Caldero'n received. The poorly capitalized Democratic Revolutionary Party, Lo'pez Obrador's party, spent half Caldero'n and PAN's total for a nearly identical number of votes, while the PRI burned through $40 million for fewer than 10 million votes. Half the Mexican population lives on less than $10 a day. If the Mexican population remains evenly split between three competitive parties, the networks will continue to reap the benefits in coming elections. The party that came in third, the PRI, also came out a winner. It will now hold few important national offices, but its stamp on Mexican politics endures. The PRI, which once ran Mexico as single-party state, still makes the rules by which the other parties play the game. Part of that dominance is purely cultural, as was evident on Sunday, June 25, when Caldero'n held his traditional cierre, or closing rally, in Mexico City. The PAN would've preferred to stage the finale elsewhere, both because it advocates the decentralization of Mexican life and because its strength lies in the nation's north and west. But during its 71 years in power, the PRI always staged everything in Mexico City, making it unthinkable for any party to close a political campaign anywhere else. The PRI also always did everything over-the-top, citing Aztec tradition, and the austere, conservative PAN was forced to follow suit. Since Mexico City is PRD territory, the PAN had to import supporters to fill the 100, 000-seat Azteca soccer stadium, bussing in bodies from the provinces, even flying in volunteers from the Yucatan. A soap opera star, a dozen bands, and a pro wrestler named the Blue Demon provided the entertainment, before Caldero'n delivered a 40-minute speech with the aid of a radio receiver strapped to his body. Blue, white and orange balloons flooded the stadium, and cannons shot confetti into the sky. More important than symbols, however, the PRI also won a share of power. No matter what the outcome of any ballot recount, the Mexican Congress will be almost evenly divided between the PAN and PRD. In the 500-seat lower house, the PAN will have 210 seats, the PRD 163, and the PRI 113. Because any coalition between the PAN and the PRD is inconceivable, the PRI will have the swing vote. -- To subscribe to this list send a message containing the words subscribe chiapas95 (or chiapas95-lite, or chiapas95-english, or chiapas95-espanol) to majordomo@eco.utexas.edu. Previous messages are available from http://www.eco.utexas.edu/faculty/Cleaver/chiapas95.html or gopher to Texas, University of Texas at Austin, Department of Economics, Mailing Lists. --------- "RE: Band ends blockade of Highway near Regina" --------- Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2006 08:59:26 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BLOCKADE ENDED" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/story/2006/07/11/ muscowpetung-blockade.html?ref=rss Band ends blockade of highway near Regina CBC News July 11, 2006 An aboriginal band near Regina has ended a roadblock on a provincial highway it had set up earlier in the week in a bid to force the federal government to return fiscal powers it took away six years ago. On Sunday, the Muscowpetung First Nation set up the Highway 27, a road northeast of Regina that connects the communities of Cupar and Edenwold, an RCMP official said. Earlier Tuesday, Chief Todd Cappo said band members planned to continue blocking the highway until the Indian and Northern Affairs Canada returned management of the reserve, about 65 kilometres northeast of Regina, to the band itself. A third party now oversees the $2.5 million the band receives in federal funding for services and programs. Twelve Saskatchewan bands are under third-party management. "We're a sovereign people, a sovereign nation. We have the right to govern our own people. And the government of Canada has a responsibility to fulfill that agreement and provide the funding," Cappo told CBC TV News in Regina. Late Tuesday, Cappo and the government said they had reached an agreement and that they will work with the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs to take control back. "I feel I'm more comfortable now," Cappo said. "We've instructed the band members to remove the barricades. So as far as the agreement right now, I'm comfortable enough to direct the members to take down the barricades." Trevor Sutter, spokesman for Indian and Northern Affairs Canada in Regina, said the band would have to provide a detailed financial audit and a plan for the future to regain financial control. It has failed to provide the department with a consolidated audit report for its 2004-2005 fiscal year. "We have impose third-party management when we've lost confidence in the first nation's ability to manage that debt," Sutter said. "It's very basic what we're asking from the first nation. And we're willing to work jointly with them to help them take the next steps," he said, adding the band had been unwilling to co-operate with the department. Copyright c. CBC 2006. --------- "RE: Blockade of Trans-Canada Highway near Kenora" --------- Date: Thursday, July 13, 2006 07:37 pm From: frostyca2000 Subj: Aboriginals and anti-logging activists are blocking the Trans-Canada Highway near Kenora, Ont. Mailing List: Frostys AmerIndian http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060713/ logging_protest_060713/20060713?hub=Canada Aboriginals and anti-logging activists are blocking the Trans-Canada Highway near Kenora, Ont. KENORA, Ont. (CP) - Aboriginals and anti-logging activists are block