_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 14, ISSUE 033 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 August 19, 2006 Lakota Wasuton Wi/moon of ripening Anishnaabe miini-giizis/berry moon Cree opunhopizun/moon young ducks begin to fly +-------------------------------------------------------+ | Much more happens in Indian Country than is reported | | in this weekly newsletter. For daily updates & events | | go to http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm | +-------------------------------------------------------+ Otapi'sin Atsinikiisinaakssin -- Blackfeet -- News for All the People Ni-mah-mi-kwa-zoo-min -- Ojibwe -- We Are Talking About Ourselves Aunchemokauhettittea -- Naragansett -- Let Us Share News Kanoheda Aniyvwiya -- Cherokee -- Journal of the People O Es'te Opunvk'vmucvse -- Creek -- People's New News O o O Acimowin -- Plains Cree -- Story or Account O o O Tlaixmatiliztli -- Nahuatl -- News O o o o o O Agnutmaqan -- Listuguj Mi'kmaq -- News O o O Sho-da-ku-ye -- Teehahnahmah -- Talking Birchbark O o O Un Chota -- Susquehannic Seneca -- The People Speak O Ha-Sah-Sliltha -- Ditidaht Nation -- News of the People Ximopanolti tehuatzin, inin Mexika tlahtolli -- Nahuatl -- For you we offer these words It-hah-pe-hah Ah-num pah-le -- Chickasaw -- Together We Are Talking Dineh jii' adah' ho'nil'e'gii ba' ha' neh -- Navajo Nation -- What's Happening among The People News Okla Humma Holisso Nowat Anya -- Choctaw -- People(s) Red Newspaper Hi'a chu ah gaa -- Pima -- The stories or the talk of the People s ch mA mL tL squee Lux -- Okanogan -- News from the People Native American News -- Language of the Occupation Forces ++>If you speak a Native American language not listed above, please send us your words for "News of the People." We'd rather take up this whole page saving these few words of our hundreds of nations than present a nice clean banner in the language of the occupation forces who came here determined to replace our words with their own. email gars@nanews.org with the equivalent of "News of the People" in your tribal language along with the english translation <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is produced in straight ASCII text for greatest portability across platforms. Read it with a fixed-pitch font, such as Courier, Monaco, FixedSys or CG Times. Proportional fonts will be difficult to read. <================<<<< >>>>================> This issue contains articles from www.owlstar.com; www.indianz.com; www.pechanga.net; Frostys AmerIndian, Chiapas95-En and NetRez-L Mailing Lists; UUCP Mail IMPORTANT!! ----------- In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, all material appearing in this newsletter is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for educational purposes. <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters who share our Spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the Red Road. ++ It may be subscribed to via email by sending a request from your own internet addressable account to gars@speakeasy.org ++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org <================<<<< >>>>================> +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + | As historian Patricia Nelson | | Once a language is lost, it is | | Limerick summarized in "The | | gone forever | | Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken | | * Of the 300 original Native | | Past of the American West... | | languages in North America, | | "Set the blood quantum at | | only 175 exist today. | | one-quarter, hold to it as a | | * 125 of these are no longer | | rigid definition of Indians, | | learned by children. | | let intermarriage proceed as | | * 55 are spoken by 1 to 6 elders;| | it had for centuries, and | | when they die, their language | | eventually Indians will be | | will disappear. | | defined out of existence." | | * Without action, only 20 | | "When that happens, the federal | | languages will survive the next| | government will be freed of | | 50 years. | | its persistent 'Indian problem.'"| | Source: Indigenous Language | +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ | Institute | |http://www.indigenous-language.org| This issue's Quote: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + =================== "Individually and collectively, Cherokee people possess an extraordinary ability to face down adversity and continue moving forward. We are able to do that because our culture, though certainly diminished, has sustained us since time immemorial. This Cherokee culture is a well-kept secret." __ Chief Wilma Mankiller, Cherokee +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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 Sisters! On August 8, 2006 my half-side and I bid farewell to a beautiful gentle giant, our beloved Agi. She had already risen from one terrible malady that had stricken her. I had carried her into a ceremony she walked out of - with help, but she walked. She had come into our life at the age of 5 weeks. She slept that first night on my chest, and the next night next to us, never once whimpering or crying in her new surroundings. She left with the same quiet dignity. Janet had rushed her to the vet after she collapsed on their morning walk. Janet was petting her as the last breaths came. Again, she never whimpered or cried as she entered her new surroundings. She will be missed. That big grey muzzle and ruff in the lap asking for - no, demanding a pet... Always she gave far more love than she received. Shortly after she crossed over it rained. Even the grandfathers cried for our sorrow. In the growing dusk that evening we sent her on her journey. Creator had called home a beautiful, loving giant. A-gi-se-qua-a-ge-v-li did not walk away from this ceremony... she soared with the eagles. She leaves a legacy of loyalty and unwavering devotion. 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 ----------- - Kempthorne holds meeting - Fired Editor with Tribal Leaders launches Independent Newspaper - Letter: Nearly $1B wasted - Ontario Communities on Swimmer's trust reform draw line in Sand - Open Letter from Elouise Cobell - Low aboriginal graduation rates - Removal of Judge Lamberth a concern was a Tragedy - The Rule of whose Law? - Navajo Nation leaders - Ontario to contest request march permit 'No-Negotiation' decision - Flooding creates State of Emergency - Clayoquot Sound truce reached in Navajo Land - Tla'Amin seeks tailored Treaty - Blackfeet Officials - Canada votes against assessing Fire Damage Rights Declaration - Native American Bank - Mexico Elections and the Otra approaches profitability - Acteal killers given 25 Years - Tribes have energy potential - Fish kill likely intentional - Talking Circle helps Veterans - Last Interview with Rod Coronado cope with stress before Prison - Nez Perce return to Oklahoma - Native Prisoner - DAGSTINE: A look at Sioux -- Was Judge's remark Racist and Nez Perce Tribes - Rustywire: Who am I? - Editorial: Indian Languages - Del "Abe" Jones Poem: worthwhile Investment The Narragansett Indians - GIAGO: The "domino effect" - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days in Indian Country - Upcoming Events - JODI RAVE: Accurate Media coverage of Natives --------- "RE: Kempthorne holds meeting with Tribal Leaders" --------- Date: Mon, 7 Aug 2006 08:28:55 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DoI MEETS SOUTH DAKOTA TRIBAL LEADERS" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/ SD_INDIANS_KEMPTHORNE_SDOL-?SITE=SDSIO&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT Interior secretary holds quick meeting with tribal leaders By CARSON WALKER Associated Press Writer August 7, 2006 RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - The president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe got what he wanted Sunday: a meeting with the new U.S. Interior Secretary over various American Indian reservation problems. Secretary Dirk Kempthorne had the meeting set up on short notice one day before his scheduled appearance at the nearby Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. He met for more than an hour with tribal leaders from five of South Dakota's nine reservations, took notes and promised to do what he could during his two years in office. Kempthorne, a former U.S. senator and governor of Idaho, was approved for the post by the Senate in May. Alex White Plume, president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, said he had 2,000 issues to take up but only addressed four, the biggest of which is poverty. "I don't mean any disrespect," White Plume told Kempthorne, seated across the table. "Your whole Bureau of Indian Affairs is a worthless organization that just siphons money from the tribes." He said the BIA spends too much money administering government programs for Indians and gives tribes little flexibility in how the money is spent. White Plume, who helped organized a protest of the encroachment of biker bars near Bear Butte, also asked the secretary to do something at the federal level to protect the site Indians consider sacred. Kempthorne listened intently to White Plume and the other leaders and said some of the issues were too large to address during his tenure but he would do what he could. He said he plans to travel around the country over the next month and take input on other issues. Kempthorne said he wasn't offended at White Plume's comments. "I hope you feel the respect I'm showing you by sitting here and listening to you," he said. "These are serious issues. I don't think you expect a quick solution because these took time to develop." Other problems the leaders discussed are a shortage of law enforcement officers, education funding and the proliferation of methamphetamine. Pat Ragsdale, director of Bureau of Indian Affairs, which is under the Interior Department, also attended the meeting and said that on some reservations, "I'm afraid we could lose a generation" because of meth. Avis Little Eagle, vice chairwoman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, said because the reservation has just 10 officers, no law enforcement responded to a recent gang fight until the next day. One other problem is the drought, the leaders said. "All the counties around us were able to get disaster assistance," said Rodney Bordeaux of the Rosebud Indian Reservation. Kempthorne said his father grew up in Aberdeen and he's been to South Dakota before, but this was his first trip as Interior secretary. "This has been very helpful," he said. Copyright c. 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 2006 Argus Leader. --------- "RE: Letter: Nearly $1B wasted on Swimmer's trust reform" --------- Date: Mon, 7 Aug 2006 08:28:55 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HARPER DISPUTES SWIMMER'S REMARKS" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/280019_ltrs4.html Letters to the Editor INDIAN TRUST Nearly $1 billion wasted under trustee's tenure August 4, 2006 The July 28 op-ed by Ross Swimmer, Special Trustee for American Indians, is as flawed as the Interior Department's management of our assets. His claim of a "very different" trust operation is strikingly at odds with all credible evidence and the most recent decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Perhaps Swimmer believes that incompetence and malfeasance is all that individual Indians deserve. Contrary to his op-ed, the trust management system remains hopelessly broken - plagued by inaccurate and incomplete data, incompetent management and corrupt bureaucrats, not to mention that Swimmer has utterly failed to install even the simplest and most rudimentary systems. Here's but one example. The government readily concedes that still today it has no accounts receivable system. Think about that for a minute. The government "manages" hundreds of thousands of leases and is required by law to collect over $350,000,000 of our money by its own count annually, yet it has no system in place to tell when a payor owes beneficiaries a payment. It's an honor system. Worse still, all payments for oil and gas are based on self-reporting. So, the oil companies tell Interior how much they have taken and the grade of crude. Based on these self-reports, the company calculates a payment. Audits are unconscionably rare and often fraudulent themselves, as reported by Interior's inspector general in 2003. Even when audits prove that companies intentionally underreported and underpaid us, there is no penalty assessed. Nearly a billion dollars has been wasted during Swimmer's miserable tenure and the trust is in terrible shape still. The courts know that. Indians know th at. And surely by now even he understands that. Keith Harper Attorney in trust litigation Washington, D.C. SHAREHOLDER SUIT Copyright c. 1996-2006 Seattle Post-Intelligencer. --------- "RE: Open Letter from Elouise Cobell" --------- Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2006 08:58:55 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="OPEN LETTER FROM ELOUISE COBELL" http://www.indiantrust.com/ Open Letter from Elouise Cobell The summer of 2006 has been an extremely volatile one for our cause. On July 11 the U.S. Court of Appeals removed U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth from our case. In so doing, we lost the services of a dedicated and fair jurist who had presided over our case since its inception in 1996. All individual Indian trust account holders should consider Judge Lamberth's removal a travesty of justice. It is, as columnist Suzan Shown Harjo said, yet another rebuke to one of the "good people" who is trying to change the way the U.S. Government deals with Native People. Because the appeals court removed the judge at the same time that it was finding the government's conduct in our case deplorable, we plan to appeal his removal. We will argue that the removal of a judge from a case he has faithfully presided over for 10 years is itself without precedent. We will also tell the Supreme Court that the very conduct that made Judge Lamberth so troubled with the government was, in fact, well documented by the appeals court. The decision of the three-judge appeals court panel was as strong a denouncement of the trustee-delegates' conduct as we have ever seen: "To be sure, Interior's deplorable record deserves condemnation in the strongest terms," the court said. "Words like 'ignominious' and 'incompeten[t]'...and 'malfeasance' and 'recalcitrance' are fair and well-supported by the record." It reinforced earlier rulings by the appeals court that the government has abused its trust obligation and has failed to fulfill its most basic responsibilities to the individual Indian trust beneficiaries. It should be stressed that, according to the court of appeals, the removal of our judge in no way exonerates the Departments of Interior and Justice. Most importantly, the decision reaffirms the merits of our case (a "worthy cause") and it underscores the core theme of Judge Lamberth's most recent decisions. His removal was unusual because the appeals court noted approvingly that Judge Lamberth's strong language was based properly on irrefutable evidence of government misconduct. Indeed, Judge Lamberth's order of July 12, 2005, was "nothing more than the views of an experienced judge who, having presided over this exceptionally contentious case for almost a decade has become exceeding ill disposed toward [a] defendant that has flagrantly and repeated breached its fiduciary obligations." As we have learned from the past decade, the United States government resists change fiercely. That's even when the need for that change is well documented and punctuated by a century of malfeasance and continuing abuse. We expect they will fight our effort to get the Supreme Court to review both the judge's removal and the vacation of the injunction he had issued on the Interior Department's computer system. Those systems were shown to be wide open to computer hackers, placing all our trust records at risk of being altered. Even the appeals court acknowledged that fact. "To be sure," it said, "we have no doubt Interior's trust account information has serious reliability problems." That makes the need for an injunction even more pressing. Finally, the appeals court ruling urged the parties "to work with the new judge to resolve this case expeditiously and fairly." Of course, this is precisely what we have engaged in for the last 10 years only to be thwarted time and again by the Department of the Interior and its Department of Justice attorneys who would rather delay a resolution of this matter and leave it to the next administration. Even now, less than a month after the July 11 decisions, we are aware that mid-level bureaucrats in Interior and Justice are urging members of Congress to reject legislation that would resolve the case. As usual, the government has no interest in a resolution that is "expeditious and fair". This is not to say that my attorneys and I believe these decisions will further delay a resolution of this case. Indeed, there are reasons to be hopeful that a new judge will not wait another 10 years (or more), as the government now proposes, to render an historical accounting. Especially since the material facts are not even disputed by the government. Moreover, various media outlets are now reporting that Senator McCain is pressing legislation that would settle the case for $8 billion. This is a far cry from the over $27 billion we proposed last summer, but after bearing personal witness to the hardship and abuse that continues to be heaped upon the individual Indian beneficiaries after 10 years of hard-fought, acrimonious litigation I have directed my attorneys to seriously consider this offer. This nation's first citizens are also its poorest and any resolution that is "expeditious and fair" should be seriously and thoughtfully considered. We will be examining this legislation t o make sure it is just that. If you are an account holder or a trust beneficiary, now is the time to express your concerns and hopes about a possible settlement to your member of Congress. It's time for Indian Country to speak. The bureaucrats have had their say. /s/ Elouise Cobell Copyright c. 2006 Blackfeet Reservation Development Fund, Inc. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Removal of Judge Lamberth was a Tragedy" --------- Date: Wed, 9 Aug 2006 08:53:48 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LAW PROFESSOR DECRIES LAMBERTH'S REMOVAL FROM TRUST CASE" http://www.indiantrust.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=Articles.ViewDetail& Article_id=367&Month=8&Year=2006 A Judgment Call: A Law Professor Says Removal of Judge Lamberth From the Trust Case Was "Nothing Short of a Tragedy" by Peter B. Rutledge Associate Professor of Law, Catholic University Legal Times August 8, 2006 Adverse judicial orders are a reality for every lawyer. The possible responses range from acceptance, to appeal, to downright anger in the case of orders that, in the lawyer's mind, are unduly harsh or critical. Rarely, though, does a lawyer take the extraordinary step of seeking the judge's removal from a case based on an adverse ruling. Yet that is precisely what the U.S. government recently did, and last month the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit gave the government exactly what it wanted. A unanimous panel of the D.C. Circuit ordered the removal of U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth from Cobell v. Kempthorne, the decade-long litigation over the federal government's admitted mismanagement of American Indian trust accounts. For some, particularly the government parties and their lawyers, this decision undoubtedly is seen as a victory. In my view, it's nothing short of a tragedy. Not only is the court's July 11 removal order wrong, but it also threatens to damage the essential independence of this nation's federal judiciary. A bit of background on Cobell v. Kempthorne: In the 19th century, the United States took title to various Indian lands and thereby assumed a trustee's role for certain tribes. Ten years ago, several members of those tribes filed suit against the secretary of the interior and others. The suit alleged that the government had breached its fiduciary obligations, lost critical documents, and converted trust assets to its own use. After an extensive trial, Lamberth found that the federal government had breached its duties, ordered it to come into compliance, and retained jurisdiction over the case, requiring the government to file quarterly reports. The 1999 decision is known as Cobell v. Babbit (this case has outlived the tenures of several secretaries of the interior). The D.C. Circuit unanimously affirmed Lamberth's decision in virtually all material respects in Cobell v. Norton (2001). The ensuing five years have seen protracted litigation over implementation of the government's fiduciary responsibilities. The events precipitating Lamberth's removal stem from a July 2005 decision. In that decision, the judge ordered the Interior Department to include a notice in all written communications to trust beneficiaries, essentially telling them that based on evidence unearthed in the case, information from the Interior Department about the trust may be unreliable. On appeal, the government both sought reversal of that order and asked the appellate court to remove Lamberth from the case. The D.C. Circuit granted both requests. Although the court's reversal of Lamberth's decision is defensible, its removal order is not. HARSH WORDS Stripped to its essence, the D.C. Circuit's opinion gives two reasons for removal, neither of which withstands close scrutiny. First, the court claims that Lamberth's July 2005 decision "all but accuses current Interior officials of racism." But Lamberth's opinion does not condemn any particular current official of the Interior Department in that way. Instead, it makes more general observations about the department's attitude, past and present, toward American Indians - observations that are undeniably harsh (such as his use of the phrase "morally and culturally oblivious") but do not, contrary to the appellate court's suggestion, label current officials as racist. Even if the D.C. Circuit's reading is accurate, there is something simply Orwellian about grounding the removal of a judge in part on the language of his opinion. Ordinarily, as the D.C. Circuit acknowledges, judges are removed on the basis of something they do, such as engaging in impermissible ex parte contacts. But here, Lamberth is being removed on the basis of what he said (or, more accurately, did not say) in a judicial opinion. This is remarkable. The reality is that judges regularly fill their opinions with strong words, especially in the face of a recalcitrant litigant. The D.C. Circuit itself grants that "condemnation [of the Interior Department] in the strongest terms" is appropriate in this case. As with any speech that might be offensive, the proper remedy is to permit counterspeech, not to muffle the speaker. A STRING OF REVERSALS The second reason the D.C. Circuit gives for removing Lamberth is "a string of reversed district court orders." Since its opinion affirming his original findings and judgment, the D.C. Circuit has on eight occasions set aside his post-trial orders. Among other things, those orders held Interior officials in contempt, appointed a special master to oversee the case, required disconnection of portions of the department's computer system from the Internet, and required the department to formulate costly plans to fulfill its fiduciary obligations. Although this reversal rate is troubling, the court's opinion fails to tell the full story. It was the D.C. Circuit itself that set the stage for these orders. In its 2001 opinion affirming Lamberth's judgment, the D.C. Circuit stressed that absent congressional restriction, federal courts possess the full range of legal and equitable powers "necessary to cure the [government's] legal transgressions" and analogized the case to the school-desegregation decisions. While conceding that judicial oversight of the Interior Department, like judicial oversight of segregated school districts, might seem intrusive, the court justified the intrusion on the basis of "the magnitude of government malfeasance and potential prejudice" to the Indian tribes. With this broad license from the D.C. Circuit, one can understand why Lamberth rode herd on the Interior Department. Even if Lamberth's orders went too far, erroneous orders do not support a judge's removal. Higher courts routinely reverse inferior court decisions. The remedy for an erroneous order is simple - vacate it. And if the lower court is repeatedly entering orders that the reviewing court finds erroneous, the proper remedy is for the appellate court to provide more detailed instructions in its remand order. Not only is Lamberth's removal a disproportionate remedy, it is woefully inefficient. As noted, he has spent nearly 10 years on this case. He knows the parties and the issues better than anyone else. His institutional knowledge of the dispute is something the D.C. Circuit should value, not scorn. Reassigning the case to another judge squanders that knowledge. It saddles another overworked district judge with the responsibility to learn a long and convoluted record afresh. And it wastes judicial resources at a time when our federal trial judges, who already carry a heavy caseload, can ill afford the added burdens. FREE TO DECIDE? Even more important than its intemperance or its inefficiency, the D.C. Circuit's decision to remove a judge on the basis of his opinions threatens to harm judicial independence. The case of Cobell v. Kempthorne perfectly illustrates the value of the independence of Article III judges. A federal judge, an arm of the government and himself a Republican appointee, has punished the executive branch, also an arm of the government and currently run by the same political party that appointed the judge, for its handling of assets belonging to a small group of people that the government had defeated in armed conflict. In how many other nations would such healthy self-scrutiny even be possible? In a less independent system, a judge could hardly be expected to withstand the political pressures that might incline him to defer to the sovereign and his appointing party. The independence at the core of Article III enabled Lamberth to stand firm and insist that an incredible injustice be remedied. Removing him only encourages the executive branch to shop for a judge who it believes will be more inclined to support its view (notably, this is not the Interior Department's first attempt to secure Lamberth's removal). If it encounters another less-than-sympathetic judge, the department may dig in its heels even deeper, hoping to develop a new record of reversals and enough provocative morsels in that judge's opinions to seek his removal under the logic of the D.C. Circuit's opinion. IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE JUDGE . . . Moreover, the implications of the D.C. Circuit's decision extend far beyond this case, where the equities are relatively one-sided. Though no one doubts that the Interior Department engaged in a serious injustice, imagine a true clash of legal principles, such as an abortion dispute or the Terri Schiavo case. The D.C. Circuit's opinion gives passionate litigants an entirely new battleground - not simply whether a judge is correct on the law, but whether the judge's language is too critical of them. Judicial opinions will be pored over for bad word choice. Judges in long-running disputes will need to develop a superhuman ability not to remember or reflect on litigants' past behavior in that very case. Under the logic of the D.C. Circuit's opinion, litigants should not wait for a final decision in the case. If a judge has criticized a party elsewhere or has been hit with multiple reversals in favor of the party, the D.C. Circuit's opinion suggests, that party should immediately seek the judge's removal. I certainly do not wish to suggest that the D.C. Circuit faced an easy call or to blame the government lawyers for their litigation strategy. The panel that unanimously ordered Lamberth's removal consisted of three respected judges from across the jurisprudential spectrum. The executive branch, as a party in the matter, had every right to vindicate its interests through the available procedural mechanisms, including seeking removal of a judge. Friends have told me that senior people at the Interior Department feel personally besieged by Lamberth's orders about a problem they inherited but did not create. Yet despite the reasonable intentions of these actors, the decision has dealt an unfortunate blow to the independent judiciary so essential to our freedom. No one doubts that the Interior Department has mismanaged the American Indians' trust assets - the D.C. Circuit described "a serious injustice that has persisted for over a century" - or that Judge Lamberth has helped to expose the very injustice that the D.C. Circuit laments. Removing him this way sends an unfortunate message to other federal judges that the next time they uncover a "serious injustice" perpetrated by the people's government, they should beware what they do and what they say. --- Peter B. Rutledge is an associate professor at Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law, where his teaching and research interests include international dispute resolution and criminal law. Copyright c. 2006 Blackfeet Reservation Development Fund, Inc. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Navajo Nation leaders request march permit" --------- Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2006 08:40:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NAVOJO PLAN TO MARCH IN BORDER TOWNS" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.daily-times.com/news/ci_4149360 Navajo Nation leaders request march permit By Nathan Gonzalez The Daily Times August 8, 2006 FARMINGTON - Navajo Nation officials have requested an application for a Sept. 2 memorial march within the city, said Farmington City Manager Bob Hudson. Shiprock Chapter President Duane "Chili" Yazzie said the event would commemorate those Navajos impacted by violence in the Nation's border towns. "We want to emphasize that it will be a peaceful memorial march and in no way should it be thought of as a protest march or anything of that nature," Yazzie said Friday. The city requires a permit for any march or parade to take place in the city. As part of the application process, organizers must determine the location and approximate size of the event, said Hudson. March organizers are scheduled to meet next week to finalize plans, including a location for the event, Yazzie said. Until then, few details have been released. However, Yazzie said the preferred starting point is west of the city limits, near Troy King Road. Participants would walk eastbound to the parking lot at American Plaza or to the city's fire station six, which opened recently, Yazzie said. Hudson said the route will require approval of the state Department of Transportation if the march calls for closure of the roadway. Approval of that route may not be forthcoming. "We will have to see if New Mexico Department of Transportation will be able to accommodate us," Yazzie said. Yazzie said he also approached Hudson about donating property to construct a monument within the city. Hudson said that decision would require the approval of the city council. "What we are looking at is to establish a memorial, monument where a sculpture would be put in place," Yazzie said, adding that it would serve as "a memory for those that have been hurt in the city." "We will be approaching the city council at some point," he said. However, some Navajos living in Farmington believe a march is not the best way to vent frustration over race issues between the city and Nation. Local businessman David John, who served as Red Mesa, Ariz., chapter delegate and Mexican Water, Ariz., chapter delegate between 1991 and 2000, said a march would harm local business and Navajo people living in the city. "I don't think a march is going to solve anything," John said. "A lot of Navajo people live here. Their kids go to school here. (A march) will make it look bad for the ones that live here." The march was planned following the fatal shooting of Clint John, 21, of Kirtland. Clint John was fatally shot June 10 by Farmington police officer Shawn Scott, who was responding to a call that Clint John was beating his girlfriend at the east side Wal-Mart. According to the San Juan County Sheriff's Office, which investigated the shooting, Clint John charged the officer after taking his police baton and was shot four times. Scott was cleared of any wrong doing in the sheriff's office investigation. Nathan Gonzalez: ngonzalez@daily-times.com Copyright c. 2006 Farmington Daily Times, a MediaNews Group Newspaper. --------- "RE: Flooding creates State of Emergency in Navajo Land" --------- Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 08:44:09 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NAVAJO NATION FLOODING" http://www.gallupindependent.com/2006/aug/081006wtrwoes.html Water Woes: Flooding creates state of emergency across much of the Navajo Nation Line breaks a headache for residents, NTUA By Kathy Helms Dine' Bureau WINDOW ROCK - Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink seems to be the order of the day for Navajo Tribal Utility Authority customers in central, western and northern parts of the Navajo Nation. Regional flash flooding is causing to breaks in major NTUA water lines, causing outages in a number of tribal communities, according to Denise Becenti, public affairs officer for NTUA. Becenti said NTUA district offices have been receiving calls daily from customers reporting water outages. Depending on the location of the water line break, anywhere from five to 20 homes have been affected at any one time by the outages, which have lasted from several hours to overnight. "The rushing waters put tremendous pressure on our water lines, causing them to break," said Wilfred Brown, NTUA Chinle District field superintendent. "In some cases, we repaired the water line break and overnight, another flash flood broke the same water line." Brown said NTUA is working hard to take care of the outages. "Believe me, we are just as frustrated as customers," he said. NTUA is asking its customers to bear with them as they work to correct the problems, Becenti said. Water lines and water systems in Ganado, Iyanbito, Crownpoint, Twin Lakes, Tohlakai, Ya-ta-hey, Kayenta, Round Rock, Smoke Signal, Blue Gap, Low Mountain, Burnt Corn, Lukachukai, Cudeii, Sheepsprings, Two Grey Hills, Rock Point and Cameron all have been affected since heavy rains began last week. NTUA recently provided help in the form of a 5,000 gallon water tanker to Sage Memorial Hospital in Ganado after its water supply became contaminated by E. coli and required a week-long chlorine flush. Navajo Mountain also needed assistance after a spring-fed reservoir used by the community was contaminated by chemicals used to douse a month-long fire that kept fire crews busy from June 10 through mid-July. Both communities operate water systems independent of NTUA. Brown said, "Our goal is to provide safe, reliable water services; however, sometimes we have to remember the power of Mother Nature. We hope that customers can understand this and know that we are working to fix the water line breaks and take care of the outages just as soon as they happen." NTUA will notify customers of water outages and repairs through regional radio announcements, according to Becenti. The tribal utility has been working closely with Navajo Emergency Management and has been fielding requests for assistance, depending on available resources. The Commission on Emergency Management declared a state of emergency Monday due to flash flooding, according to Selena Manychildren, public information officer for the Department of Emergency Management. She said it is recommended that all branches of the Navajo Nation begin planning their respective emergency responses and implementing the use of emergency funds associated with those plans. The Department of Public Safety in Window Rock has activated its Emergency Operations Center. Six incident command posts have been up in the communities of Rock Point, Black Mesa, Dilkon, Alamo, Wide Ruins and Pinon. Others will be established as needed. Heavy rains have washed out roads and caused power outages. Delegate Ray Berchman (Oak Springs/St. Michaels) said Tuesday that water overflowed a culvert Monday evening and flooded the roadway near Oak Springs Chapter, causing traffic delays as motorists waited for the floodwaters to recede. Manychildren said the public is asked to be on alert, especially those living in floodplains, and are advised to monitor neighbors who might need assistance. Community Health Representatives and chapters are assisting with assessments and providing relief. Sand bags are available upon request from the Department of Emergency Management, (928) 871-6892. Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. said, "We've been blessed with much-needed moisture and rainfall now that the monsoon season is here, but it comes with flooding of washes and our roads, and we have to take measures to help those families who become stranded to ensure everyone remains safe." Fort Defiance Delegate Harold Wauneka said Tuesday that the ongoing weather emergency is one reason the Navajo Nation Council needs to refrain from raiding the Undesignated, Unreserved Fund. The $100,000 or so remaining after Monday's council session probably will be needed to cover expenses associated with the emergency, he said. Alamo Chapter continues to have water problems after a flash flood washed out the water system that fed the north side of the community, according to Manychildren. Tachee/Blue Gap reported a waterline washout on Monday. Flash flooding stranded 16 families in Rock Point, three families in Black Mesa, and one family in Dilkon. Two people in a vehicle were caught in flood waters in Wide Ruins, Manychildren said, while one family got on top of its house Monday evening to escape the flooding. Herman Shorty, Emergency Management Commission chairman, said the state of emergency declaration is the first step in allowing the Bureau of Indian Affairs Roads Department, Navajo and Apache counties, and the states to extend emergency funding to the tribe. Copyright c. 2006 the Gallup Independent. --------- "RE: Blackfeet Officials assessing Fire Damage" --------- Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2006 08:58:55 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="RED EAGLE FIRE FINALLY CONTAINED" http://www.goldentrianglenews.com/articles/2006/08/09/ glacier_reporter/news/news5.txt Tribal officials assessing the damage as crews contain, mop up the Red Eagle Fire. By John McGill, Glacier Reporter Editor August 9, 2006 "I'm standing on Divide Mountain and I'm looking at the devastation to our tribal lands, and it makes me want to cry," said Blackfeet Councilwoman Betty N. Cooper on her cell phone Friday, Aug. 4. Suppression efforts against the Red Eagle Fire continued last week, as lines were constructed around the north and eastern perimeter and flare-ups were attacked from the air. Estimated at around 27,500 acres Tuesday morning, Aug. 8, Incident Command officials said it was about 65 percent contained. Cut Bank resident Jan Haemig took several shots of the aftermath of the Red Eagle fire on Saturday. According to Haemig, "Most of this scenic area surrounding the highway was nearly totally burned, with a few trees on the edge that looked barely alive." Haemig described the above shot with the small lake as a "contrast of beauty and burned trees." More than half the damage, about 15,000 acres or 55 percent of the total area, is on Blackfeet tribal lands. Having begun in a two-acre spot, nine miles inside Glacier National Park Friday, July 28, the initial 22,500 acre run was accomplished in a single weekend. Since that time, cooler temperatures combined with a Level 1 national priority for equipment assigned the blaze have allowed the 663 personnel (as of Tuesday morning) to make substantial progress. However, winds continue to blow, the humidity is well under 30 percent and no rain has fallen to relieve the fire-prone conditions. Robert Mad Plume, the Blackfeet Tribe's fire liaison representative, estimated the expense of the fire's suppression efforts to date at around $3.5 million. He said local resources are moving in as they return from fighting fires elsewhere in the United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs Fire Management Officer Andrea Gilham said she was able to field two crews at Red Eagle, making seven Tech II Hand Crews as well as miscellaneous overhead and camp crews out from the Blackfeet Agency, on fires around the U.S. She said there are around 185 local firefighters on the Red Eagle Fire. "We reopened our drug, pack and other tests to get the numbers up," said Gilham. "We had around 77 drug tests on Saturday and Sunday. We're doing our best to get equipment filled locally, but it has to be registered with the federal government, and that's a challenge for the local folks." She said the Bureau of Indian Affairs has supplied a pair of inspecting officers to facilitate local equipment getting in on the action. "The Blackfeet Tribe has worked with the BIA and the Incident Command Team to get as many locals as possible hired on for the fire," added Mad Plume. Mad Plume said he works with Gilham and the Incident Command to keep the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council informed. "The Tribal Council is very well informed about the natural resources we've lost," he said. Mad Plume said he'd seen "lots of wildlife loss" inside the fire perimeter, estimated Tuesday morning at around 52 miles long. "It was very sad for me to see and hear that." In his job around the fire scene he said he'd talked to many of the people who'd been evacuated from their homes in the St. Mary area, seeking official information. "It was devastating to them," he said. "Their view-shed is gone and it will probably been gone for a generation." He said the fire has progressed to burn new areas, as well as rekindling areas lost in the 2002 fire near St. Mary. "It will probably stay about this size," said Mad Plume. "Everybody is looking at mopping it up, but it is a dangerous area." A heartening sign, Mad Plume said he'd also observed wildlife activity in the green areas surviving in the burn area, including moose and grizzly bear. "Within the fire perimeter, fire teams work closely with local game wardens and bear study expert Wilbur Calf Robe. They all work together," Mad Plume said. Of the three structures the Incident Command notes as having been lost, Mad Plume said one was probably a barn and was located about a mile and a half outside the fire perimeter; therefore he believes it was not related to the Red Eagle Fire itself. Another structure, he said, was a small trailer located south of Divide Ridge. Residents of St. Mary were allowed back to their homes last week and US Highway 89 has been reopened. Travel is permitted along the road, but drivers are urged to observe the 35 mph speed limit posted between Milk River and St. Mary, as well as around the Incident Command at Chewing Blackbones campground about six miles north of St. Mary. "It's a very devastating scene to see," said Mad Plume. "For Blackfeet members it's sad not only for them, but also for the tourists to see." Fire information is updated daily and posted all around Blackfeet country, said Mad Plume, including the Blackfeet Tribal Offices, P&M Convenience Store in Browning and at locations around St. Mary. Copyright c. 2006 Browning Galcier Reporter - Golden Triangle Newspapers. --------- "RE: Native American Bank approaches profitability" --------- Date: Wed, 9 Aug 2006 08:53:48 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SBA DESIGNATION IMPROVES BOTTOM LINE" http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?feature=yes&id=1096413454 Native American Bank approaches profitability through SBA designation by: Jerry Reynolds / Indian Country Today August 8, 2006 When well-known Native banker J.D. Colbert agreed to helm the Native American Bank, he inherited daunting challenges. The biggest of these was that the bank had not turned a profit in its five years of operation. Like bankers nationwide, he looked at fee income as a path to profitability. But the bank serves Indian country and is owned by 26 federally recognized tribes, Alaska Native corporations and tribal organizations. Given the household income profile of Indian country, just hiking bank fees wasn't the answer for NAB that it has been for larger banks. But recently, the Small Business Administration approved Colbert's first alternative by giving NAB a HUBZone designation. The acronym stands for Historically Under-Utilized Business Zones; the program stands for economic growth in distressed communities, by offering the businesses that serve them access to a percentage of federal contracting opportunities. With its HUBZone designation in place, NAB is eligible to be awarded federal contracts relating to financial services, worth up to $3 million per contract. As a recognized HUBZone entity, Native American Bank hopes to take advantage of federal contracting opportunities in the finance sector, such as providing prepaid debit cards to federal employees, and managing financial programs and products - including government programs and products aimed at Native communities. Colbert called the designation "a natural fit for NAB, since we are the only bank focused primarily on serving historically underutilized business zones on Indian reservations." The fees from the new services NAB can provide under federal contract should help bring profitability to the bank and employment to Indian country, Colbert said. "We pride ourselves on the fact that over 65 percent of our staff is from Indian country. Now, with greater federal contracting opportunities, we look forward to hiring more staff members in the numerous Indian communities we serve." The president and CEO added, "We really do have the potential to be the -and I emphasize the - national Indian bank across Indian country, with dozens of branches." To Colbert's knowledge, NAB is the first bank designated a HUBZone entity in the program's 10-year history. "I think a lot of other banks will be coming up behind us," he said, noting that federal agencies are struggling to meet the minority business contracting goals they must set. If small businesses under $165 million in size do not apply for the contracts, those contracts go out to businesses with revenues far beyond $165 million annually. The number of small businesses eligible for HUBZone financial services contracts is near zero, Colbert said. And without Native American Bank, it would be zero. So for an $81 million HUBZone bank, headquartered in Denver with a branch in Browning, Mont., and loan offices in Rocky Boy, Mont., and Anchorage, profitability by the end of 2006 is looking better all the time. Copyright c. 1998 - 2006 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Tribes have energy potential" --------- Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2006 08:32:31 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MOST TRIBES COULD BECOME ENERGY SELF-SUFFICIENT" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.themorningsun.com/stories/081406/loc_energy001.shtml Tribes have energy potential By MARK RANZENBERGER Sun Staff Writer August 14, 2006 Most Native American Tribes have the capability of becoming entirely energy self-sufficient, according to the leader of a Tribal energy group, but that self-sufficiency could come at a cost. A few groups of Native people have benefited greatly from the recent increase in energy prices, while others, especially those without fossil fuels, have had to pay substantially more for the energy they consume. Even those Tribes that have fossil fuel resources are not seeing their royalty incomes increase as fast as the rising cost of gasoline, diesel fuel and heating oil, said A. David Lester, executive director of the Council of Energy Resource Tribes. That coalition of more than 50 Tribes and First Nations met last week in Mt. Pleasant at the Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort. Part of the reason is due to locked-in royalty agreements, and part of the reason is declining production. But almost every Tribe has an opportunity, through conservation and alternative energy production, to increase its energy self-sufficiency. "They have the capability within their means to influence their energy supply and consumption, and benefit their Tribe's economy," Lester said. Lester pointed out that often, it is still less costly to buy energy off the electric grid than to produce it. But the economics of energy production are changing, and many Tribes have resources that could make alternative energy production practical. Near the top of the list is renewable biomass-based energy, said U.S. Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Ray. "Biomass has surpassed hydropower as a source of energy," Ray said. Many Tribes, particularly those in the western United States, have land that produces potential fuel. Ray pointed out that efforts to clear tinder-dry brush from fire-prone forests has produced substantial quantities of wood. Wood-pellet burning stoves have become so popular in the Southwest that pellets have become hard to come buy. He pointed to an effort between New Mexico's Mescalero Apache Tribe and the U.S. Forest Service. Tribal land and Forest Service land are adjacent to each other, and the Tribe works closely on collecting the dry wood. Ray also said Tribal forests could be a supply of cellulose to produce ethanol fuel. Other Tribal lands could grow switchgrass, which reportedly could be a more potent source of ethanol than corn. "Switchgrass has a very high Btu potential," Ray said. A Btu, or British Thermal Unit, is a measure of energy content. But he noted that the plant has very little use as wildlife feed or cover, and no one has much experience growing and harvesting it. The federal government has numerous programs designed to help Tribes and other rural communities improve energy efficiency. Ray said the USDA's Rural Development program offers substantial grants and loans available in Indian Country, and those can be used to finance energy projects. The Department of Interior has launched the Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development with an eye toward helping Tribes become self- sufficient in areas of energy. "Energy development will be a large component of any economic development effort," said Bob Middleton, director of that office. Lester said that Tribes and energy companies still are learning how to work together. He noted that the concept of Tribal sovereignty over Tribal lands still is a foreign idea to many non-Native people, and it takes a long time to build trust needed to do business. The conference was hosted by the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, in conjunction with the American Spirit Award dinner, a fundraiser for Native education. The Saginaw Chippewas made a substantial donation to the fundraiser, and a sculpture by Saginaw Chippewa artist Dennis R. Christy was auctioned to benefit the council's scholarship program. Copyright c. 2006 The Morning Sun - Mt. Pleasant, MI. Morning Star Publishing Company, an affiliate of Journal Register Company. --------- "RE: Talking Circle helps Veterans cope with stress" --------- Date: Mon, 7 Aug 2006 08:28:55 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TALKING CIRCLES PROVE WORTH TO VA" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2006/08/06/ news/regional/afe519388411c664872571c100210d2a.txt Talking circle helps Indian veterans cope with stress By CASEY PHILLIPS The Albuquerque Tribune August 6, 2006 ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - In this plain, white room at Albuquerque's Veteran Affairs Medical Center, many stories have been told; few of them have happy endings. But the five veterans sitting in a circle facing each other are tied together by more than their unhappy tales. They all served in Vietnam, they all suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and they're all Navajo. On the first and third Friday of every month, they and other veterans meet to share things with each other they say no one else - not even family members - can understand. And when one of them speaks, everyone else listens. This is a talking circle, a form of group therapy and discussion used in a number of cultures with roots stretching back thousands of years, said James Gillies, a psychologist in the center's PTSD clinic. "There is generally a high level of respect and an almost sacred quality to the talking circle," he said. "With PTSD, people feel very alone and don't tend to talk about their inner experience. "Being in a group with other people who share similar experiences and being able to talk about those experiences, even if they're difficult, brings a lot of hope." The talking circle is just one of the ways the VA works with approximately 5,000 veterans suffering from PTSD, depression and anxiety. And the number is growing. Since 2003, 336 veterans of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan have been treated at the VA for PTSD, depression and anxiety, according to hospital records. "I would say the number of people we're treating is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of need," Gillies said. Al Benalli, 58, a Navajo who served as a combat medic in Vietnam, said he understands how rough the road to recovery can be. "People with PTSD get afraid of getting better because they don't know wellness, don't know peace of mind," he said. "I can imagine the isolation they feel, thinking they've been out there all by themselves and what just a little time can give them," he said. That's what a talking circle provides: time to talk and people to listen, Gillies said. "Coming to the group and feeling part of the community goes a long way to help resisting the urges of drugs or alcohol," he said. "They can share their experiences and let them out of the bag a little bit. With all they experienced, they feel that civilians can't relate to them, but among the group, they feel they are able to talk." The talking circle is open to veterans of all races and conflicts. Although not exclusively Navajo, all of the group's 30 to 35 participants are American Indian. An average of 10 to 12 turn out for each meeting, Gillies said. The method works best with Indians because it conforms to their cultural practices, Gillies said. "We understand that the world view Native Americans hold is really, really different from the Western world view," he said. "If you don't relate to them from that point of view, it's just not going to work." The VA's talking circle formed 10 years ago but stopped meeting in June 2004 when its facilitator left the clinic, Gillies said. In January, Gillies arrived and became the circle's new facilitator because of his prior experience with a talking circle at Acoma Pueblo west of Albuquerque. In addition to combat trauma, Indian vets carry feelings of subjugation branded on their genes, Gillies said. "For a people that are basically treated like second-class citizens in their own country, Native Americans are always the first ones to volunteer and step up to go to war," Benalli said. "It took a lot of adversity and a lot of conflict to make me feel proud to be an Indian." Chester Clah, 56, of Farmington, said he felt obligated to serve. "The warrior is in our blood," Clah said. "When I first went, I felt like I had to do it, because if I didn't, I couldn't live with myself. Looking back on it, I should have gone to Canada, the way I'm suffering now." Some versions of the talking circle use a rock, stick or other ceremonial object to designate the speaker, but at the VA, whoever feels the greatest need to speak simply begins when the time feels right. The sense of respect is overwhelming - there are no interruptions, no shouting matches. When a speaker pauses during a particularly emotional story, the room waits silently for him to continue. "People like stories that have a beautiful ending, but none of the stuff we're here for has a beautiful ending," said Thomas Bitsie, 59, a Navajo from Shiprock who said he lost his religion to alcohol after watching too many friends die during combat. "The only thing that war determines, I suppose, is who's left. I put up with it, but I needed a lot of cooling off, and I did it with a Coors Lite." Before finding a brotherhood of sufferers to lean on, many of these men say they thought of death as a welcome escape. "A lot of Vietnam veterans died there and didn't know it until they came home," Clah said. "You come to a point when there's nothing else you can do - it seems there's no future anymore. That puts thoughts in your mind, but suicide is the easy way out - to learn to stay around and fight is hard." Choosing life with PTSD over death means continually fighting to separate the past from the present, Gillies said. "PTSD is reinforced after the event by all the symptoms of re- experiencing, like nightmares and flashbacks," he said. "People develop avoidance strategies and hyperarousal - being tense and keyed up - unable to sleep and constantly on guard to fight off negative experiences, whether real or just in the mind." For Benalli, walking unnecessary baseline patrols is just one side effect of the blurred world he lives in. "I don't sleep with a knife under my pillow anymore, but at work every three days, I walk a perimeter to make sure everybody's OK," he said. "I can't go hiking because I'm checking for booby traps and snipers." Everyone is given a chance to speak, but sessions tend to average around two hours, regardless, Gillies said. "There's sort of this sense when an issue has been discussed and everybody has gotten out what they needed to get out that day," he said. Copyright c. 1995 - 2006 Casper Star-Tribune, Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Nez Perce return to Oklahoma" --------- Date: Wed, 9 Aug 2006 08:53:48 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TELLING THE REST OF THE STORY" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=8074 Nez Perce return to Oklahoma to tell the rest of the story Tribe hopes to have remainder of historic trail certified by Congress TONKAWA OK Sam Lewin August 8, 2006 Come September, a tribe that made a brief, painful foray over a century ago into what is now known as Oklahoma returns to lay claim to a trail of historical significance. The Nez Perce is developing interpretive signs for portions of the Nez Perce (Nee-Me-Poo) National Historic Trail, hoping to have the full path accorded the same honor as the Trail of Tears and the Santa Fe Trail. "For Congress to authorize this we have to have individual sites certified," said the tribe's Brian McCormack. The Nez Perce trail is already recognized as historic. Problem is, the current trail only runs from Wallowa, Oregon, to Bear Paw, Montana, and doesn't tell the whole story. "If you research the history it always ends with the Nez Perce war and surrender," the Nez Perce Trail Extension Project's Crystal White told the Native American Times. "You might get a few pages-maybe- on the surrender and then you're done. It skips to present day." White, McCormack and the other members of the tribe hope that by making the rest of the trail a site of historical significance, they can shed light on those forgotten years. That's why Nez Perce officials will find themselves in Oklahoma on September 16, installing a sign at the Nez Perce Cemetery. The first two signs were unveiled last November at Baxter Springs, Kansas, and Bicentennial Park, near Quapaw. Originally inhabiting a large swath of the Pacific Northwest, the Nez Perce in the mid-1800s waged a series of battles against the Army before eventually surrendering in 1877. In a well-known statement made after the death of his father, and carrying great weight with his ancestors today, Nez Perce leader Chief Joseph said: "A man who would not defend his father's grave is worse than a wild animal." Even though Chief Joseph negotiated a safe return for the tribe, they were instead forcibly moved to what was then known as Indian Territory, living in exile from 1878 to 1885. Historians say the time spend in the region was brutal, with epidemics wiping out whole families. "Most of the children born to the Nez Perce when they were in Oklahoma died," said McCormack. Chief Joseph lobbied President Rutherford B. Hayes for justice, and the Nez Perce were allowed to return to the West Coast, although far away from other members of the tribe. Fast-forward over a hundred years and this time around the Nez Perce luck out in Oklahoma. In order to get a stretch of trail certified the tribe has to obtain permission from the community in the area. Part of the trail runs through the town of Tonkawa, home to one of the state's federally-recognized tribes, the Tonkawa Tribe of Oklahoma. Not only were the Tonkawas receptive, they have been acting as stewards of the land while the Nez Perce were away. "They are fabulous, doing things they didn't have to do," White said. "They managed the cemetery. The town of Tonkawa has also been supportive, as well as the tribe." The public is invited to attend the ceremony on the 16th. Slated to attend are Nez Perce tribal leaders, elders, historians, and descendants of the Nez Perce War of 1877 and tribal leaders and historians from Kansas and Oklahoma. You can reach Sam Lewin at sam@okit.com Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: DAGSTINE: A look at Sioux and Nez Perce Tribes" --------- Date: Wed, 9 Aug 2006 08:53:48 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DAGSTINE: SIOUX AND NEZ PERCE" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=8076 A look at the Sioux and Nez Perce tribes Guest column Lawrence R. Dagstine August 8, 2006 Some say Custer's death might have dropped into oblivion instead of many of the history books we read today, had it not been for national repercussions. Such speculation still exists on the topic of Custer's Last Stand, a nation infuriated and the Army freed to wage all-out war. Let's look at the circumstances surrounding the immediate outcome at the time for the Sioux and Nez Perce. South Dakota's Paha Sapa section of the Black Hills was sacred to the Sioux, a reservation which had been ceded to the Indians in the Treaty of 1868, made with Chief Red Cloud. In 1874 the intrepid Indian hunter, Lieutenant Colonel George Custer trespassed into the holy grounds following reports that there was possibly gold in the hills. And gold he found. Foreseeing the predictable reaction, he went and broadcasted his find, inevitably enticing gold-diggers to the area. The United States government attempted to purchase the land but the Indians refused to sell. The Sioux were then ordered to return to their reservations, without recompense of any kind, and without regard to whether the passage was possible in advancing winter weather. But it was General George Crook, later known and trusted by the Indians for his dealings, who was ordered to round up recalcitrant bands north of the Platte River. In this instance he attacked without provocation, and the braves fought hard and were fo rtunately reinforced by the heroic young Crazy Horse and his band of Cheyennes. Left no choice, the Cheyennes joined the Sioux to endure together the bitter last fights against white encroachments. As 1876 came, General Crook once again advanced but north of the Platte and into Indian hunting grounds in central Montana. He was stopped by the Indians, led by Crazy Horse and his Oglala band at Rosebud Creek. By early summer, the Cheyenne and Sioux encampment at Little Bighorn River was quickly turned into a massacre when Custer disobeyed orders and contacted the enemy prematurely. He and 250 of his men were slaughtered, having incautiously attacked two to four thousand braves. Some had called the Battle of Little Bighorn Custer's Last Stand and, historians and Native Americans alike, have cynically called it the Last Stand for the Sioux as well, because the nation was so revolted by the defeat that in time it tacitly concurred in the extinction of their nation. Army efforts were savage but successful. By May 1877 hunger had forced Crazy Horse to surrender. The Sioux, whose war by this time with the white encroachments was over, were boxed away into the intolerable conditions of t he reservations and never seriously threatened white settlers again. These were the final days of the mighty and fearless Sioux, yet the same could be said about the Nez Perce' Indians, as it involved the same era and battling with the white man over territory and gold. By the 1870s, further west, the Nez Perce', whose chief was a great statesman and fighter the white man called Chief Joseph, were reduced to a small reservation at Lapwai in northeastern Oregon. As Native American history tells it, Chief Joseph was well remembered as the Red Napoleon of fighting for his daring and skill in battle. Trouble for the Nez Perce's broke out in 1877, much like the Sioux, and Chief Joseph had sadly agreed to go to a smaller reservation only because gold had been found in the area ceded to him by a treaty with the white man. Through usual methods of trickery and bribery, Indian land had managed to be signed away by a dubious document purporting to it. The Nez Perce' objected that the document held no binding force, as it had not been signed by one of the chiefs ; but it was to no avail. Wishing to avoid a suicidal fight, Chief Joseph agreed to retreat to the smaller reservation. On the way, several younger braves, unhappy with the way things were going, attacked settlers along the Salmon River, killing almost twenty. Troops instantly counterattacked but were defeated by the desperate Indians: a total of 34 soldiers and two Indians were killed; thus began one of the great epics of Native American history. Oddly enough, while at Camp Robinson, the Sioux and Crazy Horse was once again recruited by the Army, but this time to help scout against the Nez Perce' but in an attempt to close in on their northward bound trail. Chief Joseph saw no way of coming to terms with the Army. Afraid to let the Nez Perce' go, the Army pursued them with ruthless, wasteful vengeance. And the Chief's only hope was to escape with his tribe to Canada. At the severe and brutal Battle of Clear Water, the Army was defeated and the Indians captured all of their artillery and their pack train. Sustained by this victory, the Nez Perce's proceeded through the Bitterroot Mountains. At Big Hole Basin in Montana, the Nez Perce's defended themselves against a surprise attack by a Colonel John Gibbon, but still successfully killed most of the white infantry. In the Bear Paw Mountains, a few miles south of the Canadian border, Colonel Nelson Miles, considered by many of his peers as a veteran of Indian battles, trapped the Nez Perce's. His troops vastly outnumbered Chief Joseph's tired band. Pursued by the Army, which was freshly reinforced at each stage, the Indians had carried their wounded, their women, children and old people with them. The tribe had managed to cover 1300 miles before their pursuers stopped them at the very gates of freedom. Though the Indians had had five major engagements with the enemy, they had lost the most important one. The last. In the end, the Nez Perce' tribe was sent to the malaria-ridden reservations of Oklahoma where most, like the Sioux of that same era, were unable to endure the harsh conditions. Later, remnants of the tribe, once their spirits had been broken and the land they had once called home taken from them, were permitted back to Oregon-Washington Territory. --- About the author: Born and raised in New York City, Lawrence R. Dagstine has been writing since 1996. Since graduating journalism school, he has appeared well over 150+ times in the genre press. He is also the author of four novels, entitled: "Espionage First," "Spencer Prague," "Death of the Common Writer," and "Allegiance to Arms." Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Editorial: Indian Languages worthwhile Investment" --------- Date: Mon, 7 Aug 2006 08:28:55 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SAVE NATIVE LANGUAGES" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2006/08/07/ news/opinion/editorials/doc44d50e2bee68f491841422.txt Indian languages should be preserved History matters. August 7, 2006 From the public resources spent on museums, historical sites and school curriculum to the care with which a great-grandmother passes down a treasured family Bible, we feel a link to our past. A federal initiative aimed at preserving American Indian languages marks another worthwhile investment in our heritage. The program that legislation would set up would cost in the neighborhood of $8 million, Ryan Wilson, president of the National Indian Education Association, said in a recent story by Zach Franz, of the Tribune. The money would fund grants for establishment of immersion schools, where Indian students would start learning Native languages at an early age, when children's brains are most receptive to language training. Preserving history has value in itself, and as Tex Hall noted at the same meeting attended by Wilson, there remain only eight fluent Mandan speakers. The time is now to make sure these endangered Indian languages don't fade away. But beyond the intrinsic value of perserving history is the educational benefit of teaching these languages. Immersion schools, which may be bricks-and-mortar schools or programs set up within other schools, start students as young as possible learning a Native language and other concepts through that language. As the students grow, more English and less Native language is emphasized. Wilson argues that Indian students aren't thriving in our current educational system. He said that more than half of the Indian students entering kindergarten will drop out before graduating from high school. Thus far, Wilson noted, immersion schooling has resulted in lower drop- out rates and higher levels of academic achievement. Eight million dollars won't fund a lot of schools, but it will give more students an option, and it will give educators even more information in evaluating success. The schools would most likely be established in areas where there are concentrations of a single tribe, like on a reservation, rather than in a place like Bismarck-Mandan, where many tribes are represented. This type of education isn't a threat to English. Stores and restaurants won't be posting bilingual signs. The educational opportunities this initiative would fund would help a limited number of Indian students get off to a better start in life. And the knowledge passed along would preserve dying languages that are part of our nation's cultural heritage. Sounds like money well spent. Copyright c. 2006 Bismarck Tribune, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: GIAGO: The "domino effect" in Indian Country" --------- Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2006 08:40:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GIAGO: TRIBES WILL TOPPLE FROM OWN EXCESSES" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=8065 Notes from Indian Country The "domino effect" in Indian Country Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji) Copyright c. 2006 Native American Journalists Foundation, Inc. August 7, 2006 Denying the authority of the National Labor Relations Board to impose its rules, regulations and laws upon the Indian nations, Joe Garcia, President of the National Congress of American Indians said, "A tribe is a government. Tribal policies must come from within the tribe's government, rather than being imposed from outside." Oh really? When the Indian nations started to sign compacts in order to gain a license to build gaming casinos on their lands, they exposed their government to "outside" policies. By signing the compacts the tribes allowed an "outside" government to tell them how many slot machines they could have in their casinos, what games they could have, and finally risk losing their gaming licenses for infractions real or imagined to the state government. The Hoopa Tribe of California is considering joining the Humboldt County Association of Governments prompting former supervisor Harry Prichard to say, "If they want to be members of HCAOG, the first requirement should be a waiver of their immunity as a sovereign nation." Eureka Times Standard columnist Leo Sears wrote, "I agree with Harry, but I don't see it happening. Tribes have a history of wanting to have things both ways depending on what benefits them most in a given circumstance. On the national level the tribes have a friendly lawmaker, Rep. J. D. Hayworth, R-Ariz., who has introduced legislation specifically exempting them, as sovereign nations, from the National Labor Relations Board's jurisdiction. In 1987 Hoopa had a friendly lawmaker, Assembly member Dan Hauser, D-Arcata, who pushed through legislation conferring public agency status which would allow their membership in HCAOG with the approval of the member municipalities, the county and seven cities." The county is now looking for ways to change the rules that would allow Hoopa to join their organization. So what is going on here? Since when did sovereign tribal governments consider it imminent that they join county organizations? What is happening in California on several fronts is indeed frightening to tribal governments across America. California is a powerful union state. The gaming tribes of California employ more non-Indians in their casinos than they do members of their own or members of other Indian nations. It should have been evident to them at the beginning that a state with a strong union representation would want to strengthen their union ties to the employees of the casinos. Sovereignty be damned in their minds. When the California tribes invoked their sovereign status in the suit brought against them by the labor unions, the NLRB snickered and was victorious. Introducing legislation to the contrary is still an uphill battle. Getting that legislation passed is the next vital step. If it fails the sovereign status of the Indian nations will take another pounding. Labor unions will then have the authority to come on to the Indian reservations and impose their labor standards and wages upon the employees of the Indian-owned casinos. So much for sovereign immunity. It seems to me, and to other Indians to whom I have spoken, that the erosion of tribal sovereignty was a precursor of Indian gaming. Every time a tribe had its sovereign status challenged in state court, whether it involved hunting and fishing or legal boundaries, a little bit of sovereignty went by the wayside. The tribes always had to give up something in order to gain something. The creeping colonization of the Indian nations is not only ongoing, but appears to be winning the 500-year battle. One need only look at the Christian led council of the Oglala Sioux Tribe to realize that colonization is nearing victory. In their haste to gain sudden wealth, tribes signed away much of their sovereignty beginning in 1988 with the introduction of the National Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. If the tribal leaders from those early days thought everything would come out all right in the end, they were wrong. The key word here is "Regulatory." Not only did the regulation of gaming start on the federal level, the clause that forced tribal governments to get state approval prior to getting a gaming license placed tribes under the direct control of state governments. This was a horrifying thought to most tribal leaders even 25 years ago. If labor unions gain a foothold on tribal lands and if tribes continue to join organizations that place them under even tighter control of counties or cities, they will have completed the "hat trick" that will eventually totally diminish their imagined status as sovereign nations. The colonization of the Indian nations that started with the incursion of the settlers and the formation of new governments outside of tribal governments followed by the religious and educational immersion intended to mold minds has, for the most part, been a resounding success. The rich gaming tribes are now held captive to their own success and the less fortunate tribes are simply caught up in this tangled web over which they have little or no control. When longtime tribal members find themselves kicked from the tribal rolls in order to increase the per capita payments to those still on the rolls and when tribal leaders lose all sense of fair play and objectivity in order to line their own pockets, the erosion of the Indian nations then is not from the outside, but from the inside. The colonization of the Indian nations will be complete when tribal governments topple themselves. --- Tim Giago is the president of the Native American Journalists Foundation, Inc., and the publisher of Indian Education Today Magazine. He can be reached at najournalists@rushmore.com or by writing him at 2050 W. Main St., Suite 5, Rapid City, SD. He was also the founder and publisher of the Lakota Times and Indian Country Today newspapers. Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: JODI RAVE: Accurate Media coverage of Natives" --------- Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 08:44:09 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="JODI RAVE: TELL IT LIKE IT IS" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.poynter.org/content/content_print.asp?id=105839 Poynteronline Keeping It Real: Accurate Coverage of Native Culture How Oprah's visit to a Navajo powwow missed the mark -- and what journalists can do to improve coverage of Native culture. By Jodi R. Rave National Correspondent, Lee Enterprises August 10, 2006 I was finishing lunch with my husband on the patio outside the newsroom recently, when I mentioned that I had to go back inside and finish a column on Oprah Winfrey's recent visit to the Navajo Nation. "Oprah visited the Navajo Nation?" he asked. Frankie is usually on top of the news. But long work hours -- he's a senior engineer on an Interstate construction project in Oregon -- have kept him from his normal online news sources. "Yes," I said. I told him I was writing about how Oprah had asked the Navajo to stage a powwow when she and a film crew arrived in Window Rock, Ariz. "What the hell?" said Frankie, a Navajo who grew up in the Four Corners area of the sprawling 17-million-acre Navajo reservation land base that reaches into Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. His reaction to Oprah's powwow request isn't lost on many Navajos. Asking the Navajo to stage a powwow is like asking Catholics to get Evangelical. But when Oprah's Harpo Productions asked Navajo Nation representatives to get some dancers together for a powwow in June, it was done. Contemporary powwows are popular social gatherings where spectators watch dancers compete in different men's and women's categories, such as traditional buckskin or jingle dress competitions. And while the dancing can be fun, the dance arena is considered sacred because of all the eagle feathers and sacred items carried or worn by dancers. Unfortunately, powwow venues seem to be one of the few ways Native people make the news. The powwow photo is always a quick, easy hit for newspapers. It's a lot more difficult to find substantive news stories and photos about Native communities. It's not hard to see why the Navajo were eager to please. If Oprah wanted to visit any community in the country, plenty of people would move boulders to accommodate her. While powwows reflect the beauty of Native people, they also stand as a roadblock between Natives and those who know nothing about them. The powwow dancer reinforces the public's stereotypical image of Indians donning beads and feathers. Oprah's request for a powwow in the heart of Navajoland was a disservice to the Navajo, who call themselves Dine', because the powwow culture has its roots among tribes of the Great Plains. The United States is home to 560 federally recognized tribes, all incredibly diverse. All these tribes have great stories. One could certainly find some interesting powwow stories, but I've never seen one written. And it will be a safe bet Harpo Productions won't be telling one either. Michelle McIntyre, a spokesperson for Harpo Productions, said the show's producers confirmed that powwows did take place in Window Rock. But it's not the story anyway, if you're in Navajoland. The Navajo Nation -- home to some 200,000 Dine' -- could easily produce a trove of stories for any news gatherer. After all, this is the land of the Yeibichai. This is the land that has sustained the Dine' art of rug weaving. This is home to some of the world's finest silver-and-turquoise jewelry makers. The Navajo have a rich, vibrant culture and a living language, something atypical of most tribes in the country. The use of traditional languages is a strong indicator of a tribe's cultural stability. A stranger might feel out of place in the Navajo Nation's tribal council chambers, where all the tribal delegates conduct governmental meetings in the Navajo language. Priests on the reservation know the language defines the Navajos' cultural and religious existence. Knowing a language is a way to enter a closed society. I've seen white Jesuit priests conduct funeral rites entirely in Navajo. They do so out of respect for the Navajo. My visits to Navajoland have left many indelible memories -- and they don't include any powwows. I've sat with my husband's grandmother outside her home in Chilchinbeto at the foothills of Black Mesa in eastern Arizona on the Navajo Reservation. We sat below rocky hills and ate mutton roasted over a fire pit. My husband's grandmother didn't say much. The family says the most English words she ever spoke were, "Same to you." A storyteller could write volumes on the magnificent Navajo landscape nestled within the Four Sacred Mountains. And the tribe's cultural cuisine is something to write home about. My mother-in-law, Lilly White, ranks among the best of Navajo cooks. She's whipped up delectable batches of frybread and mutton stew for me and some two dozen U.S. and international journalists. We enjoyed every bite. Lilly and I have made trips to the Saturday flea market in Shiprock, where we ate warm blue corn mush on a cool fall morning. She has also kindly packed kneel-down bread for me, a roasted-dried-then-baked corn concoction she makes that suits my Mandan and Hidatsa taste buds. Last summer, my mother-in-law graced us with a visit in Montana. My husband and I took her to the Coeur d'Alene Julyamsh powwow in Idaho. It was the first powwow my 59-year-old mother-in-law had ever been to in her life, which illustrates how far removed the powwow culture is from the traditional Navajo lifestyle. Oprah has been educating, entertaining and enlightening television audiences for 20 years. The cultural icon has made viewers cry, hope and believe. She's given us angels, book clubs and life-changing stories. Her world- wide credibility keeps viewers tuning in, not tuning out. Oprah and her crew have yet to truly discover Indian Country. But Harpo Productions is stepping in the right direction by stopping in Navajoland. The powwow was reported to be the first Native dance Oprah had ever seen. "Oprah is our key to let the world in," said Priscella Littlefoot, a Navajo who helped arrange Oprah's visit [PDF]. "This program is going to be shown in the United States, it's going to be international. ... Hopefully, Oprah's visit will portray that... we're still rich in our heritage, our culture and language." Unfortunately, that's not likely to happen. If the Navajo are claiming powwows as part of their heritage, something's wrong. "That (powwow) was out of the ordinary," Ryan Williams, 17, of Window Rock told the Gallup (N.M.) Independent. "That is only during fair time. It's nontraditional." Said Isabel Deschinny, 62, to the paper: "I love Oprah, I love her show... but we're not giving her the real look of the Navajo people." The Navajo Nation's willingness to put on a powwow for Oprah shows how far Native people are willing to go to see themselves reflected in the media. When Oprah's road show finally airs, viewers will probably not see an accurate reflection of one of the country's' largest and most vibrant cultures. A word to Oprah: Keep it real. -- http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=105839 Copyright c. 1995-2006 The Poynter Institute --------- "RE: Fired Editor launches Independent Newspaper" --------- Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 08:44:09 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BONNIE RED ELK BEGINS NEW PAPER" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=8081 Fired editor launches independent newspaper "People need to know what their leaders are doing" TULSA OK Sam Lewin August 10, 2006 She's barely five feet tall and looks like a grandmother, but Bonnie Red Elk is a warrior on the frontline of the battle for a free press in Indian Country. Since 1976, Red Elk had been writing at the Wotanin Wowapi newspaper, a publication partially funded by the Fort Peck Tribes of northeastern Montana. But Red Elk ran afoul of Fort Peck chairman John Morales and he sacked her. Red Elk says she angered Morales when she asked too many questions about a personal trip he took that had been paid for with tribal money. Morales countered that Red Elk, 53, was fired for failing a drug test, although her official termination letter makes no mention of any drug use. Red Elk, who certainly does not look like a drug user, strongly denies the charges, saying that her dismissal is an all-too-common-occurrence on the rez: A tribal leader that wants to be the final arbiter of what information his constituents have access to. "They think they can control it. They think that if a tribe has put even one dime into a newspaper no one should question them," Red Elk told the Native American Times while in Tulsa for the annual convention of the Native American Journalists Association. Since she was canned by Morales, Red Elk has launched a new publication, hoping to give tribal members the stories they won't find in the Wotanin Wowapi. "We wanted to keep getting the news out," Red Elk said. "I knew they weren't going to fill the need for news." Her new paper is called The Fort Peck Journal, and carries the slogan: A new independent voice of the Fort Peck Reservation. Red Elk is a grand total of one-half of the paper's staff, handling reporting and editorial duties. Marian Montclair deals with advertising. Family members also chip in here and there, assisting in what needs to be done to make deadline. "We wanted to get out the real news," Montclair said. "Our chairman is controlling and he wanted to tell us what to say." The Fort Peck Journal has only been around since April 7, and it's doubtful Red Elk and Montclair are making much money from the venture. That's not the point, they say, proudly adding they have thus far sold out every issue. "People need to know what their leaders are doing," Red Elk said. "It's like in mainstream society. Everything President Bush does is scrutinized and it should be that way with the tribes." You can reach Sam Lewin at sam@okit.com Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Ontario Communities draw line in Sand" --------- Date: Mon, 7 Aug 2006 08:28:55 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="FIRST NATIONS SERVE NOTICE" http://www.ammsa.com/windspeaker/articles/2006/wind-aug-06-3.html Ontario communities draw line in sand By Paul Barnsley Windspeaker Staff Writer BIG TROUT LAKE, Ont. August - 2006 As resource companies line up to pay multi-million dollar royalty fees to the provincial government for the right to harvest the vast untapped resource wealth of northern Ontario, First Nations have served notice that their interests can no longer be ignored. Two remote Ontario First Nations find themselves at ground zero in the battle to bring a halt to the jurisdictional ping pong game that gets played between federal and provincial governments when Aboriginal land rights are involved. The fight against resource harvesting permits issued by the province on lands under claim at the federal level has already landed in court. Ontario Superior Court Justice Nancy Spies ordered the province to pick up the $3-million legal bill for the ongoing dispute at Grassy Narrows. Lawyers for the band will make the case that Treaty 3 protects their traditional lands from provincial jurisdiction. The judge ruled the case is of pressing public interest and told the Ontario government to pay the bills for both sides. The Asubpeeschoseewagong First Nation (formerly known as Grassy Narrows) is located 80 km north of Kenora. In December 2002, Grassy Narrows established a blockade on a logging road in its territory where forestry companies Weyerhaeuser and Abitibi were logging under a provincial permit without the Aboriginal community's consent. Grassy Narrows has been unable to prevent the logging of the vast territory but continues to oppose it whenever possible. Hundreds of billions of dollars are at stake north of the 51st parallel. The question of resource revenue sharing for Native people in Canada could well be decided in this part of the country. And it will be a battle. After members of the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation (or KIFN, formerly known as Big Trout Lake) prevented mining exploration company Platinex from searching for platinum deposits on their traditional lands, the company fought back by filing a $10-billion lawsuit against the band. The band filed a counterclaim naming the company and the province as defendants. KIFN is within the boundaries of the 1929 adhesion to Treaty 9. The community of 1,550 members is located 600 km northwest of Thunder Bay. KIFN Councillor Jon Cutfeet was reached by telephone as lawyers were making his council's case in Thunder Bay provincial court on June 24. He noted that the Stephen Harper government dismissed his council's concerns even though the rights of First Nations to be involved in meaningful consultation before action is taken on their traditional lands has been strengthened in several recent high court decisions, most notably in the Mikisew, Haida and Taku cases. But federal and provincial officials have been slow on the uptake, Cutfeet said, forcing his community to go to court to force those governments to follow the rule of law. "The [federal] government sees us as executing criminal acts as we stand up for our rights, rights that are constitutionally entrenched. The federal government is claiming that this is a law enforcement issue for the province. They have a land claims policy that covers land entitlement cases of which we have an outstanding one," Cutfeet said. "Both Premier [Dalton] McGuinty and Prime Minister Harper talk about enforcing the rule of law as first peoples stand up for their land rights- rights that are entrenched in the Constitution, the highest law of the land. Both governments, however, fail to enforce this constitutional law. Either they are selective in which laws they enforce or they are intentionally ignoring constitutional law." Cutfeet, who holds the lands and environment portfolio on the KIFN council, said Ontario has not updated its mining act to be in compliance with the recent Supreme Court of Canada decisions. "Before they handed out the permit to Platinex to do drilling in our territory they never came and talked to us about it. That is the requirement of Mikisew, that before they hand out any permits to companies they need to consult with us," he said. Ontario NDP leader Howard Hampton grew up in northern Ontario and his constituency office is located in his hometown of Fort Francis. He addressed the chiefs at the 32nd annual All Ontario Chiefs Conference at KIFN on June 28. He encouraged the member First Nations of the Nishnswbe Aski Nation (NAN) to stand firm. "I simply pointed out to everybody there, especially the NAN First Nations, that $80 billion takeovers are only happening because mining companies see what's happening to the world price of gold, silver, nickel, zinc, copper, lead, you name it. The prices are all very high. There's a connection between that and the drive, by just about every mining company on the continent and some from off the continent, to get into NAN territory," he said. Hampton said the biggest part of northern Ontario is still untouched by resource companies. "If you look at mining in Ontario, the existing mining region extends from about the 49th parallel up to almost the 51st parallel. At Red Lake near the Manitoba border about $10-billion worth of gold has come out of there in the last 10 to 15 years," he said. "That's a long slender belt. Most of NAN territory is immediately north of there. NAN territory is huge both geographically and in terms of its mineral potential. It's essentially the same geology and the mining companies know that, which is why all the mining companies are beating themselves up to get access to NAN territory. In many ways it is the last frontier in Canada because no mining development-with two small exceptions-have been permitted there since the mid-1970s. In the mid-1970s, because of some political issues that arose at the time, all development of the north in forestry and mining was essentially suspended while the Royal Commission on the Northern Environment was held." While First Nations in other regions have sat at negotiating tables and looked out the window as trucks rolled by loaded with the resource wealth from the lands that were the subject of the negotiations, Ontario First Nations have learned not to fall into that trap, he said. "I really take my hat off to the people of KI because they're obviously taking on a battle for all of the NAN First Nations. I told the chiefs 'It's very important that you win this.' Mining and forestry can be done with some good environmental rules and some land use planning with Aboriginal people having some control over what happens and being able to share the revenues and share in the economy. That's one option," he said. "But the other route that has been followed too often in the past is that mining companies come in helter-skelter, dig a hole, take out what's most valuable and leave behind some debris that's not very nice. And they essentially exclude Aboriginal people from having any say or any involvement in the economy." He pointed out that NAN chiefs are not opposed to development. "The consensus that has been expressed is that they're not opposed per se to mining activity, nor are they opposed per se to forestry activity. But the communities are saying after you sit down with us and negotiate and sign a comprehensive agreement like the Quebec agreement, then we can talk about individual mining sites, mining exploration and forestry development operations," Hampton said. "Until those issues are addressed I don't think NAN First Nations are going to allow any of this to proceed. Frankly, I'm in 100 per cent agreement." Copyright c. 2006 Windspeaker - AMMSA - Aboriginal Multi-Media Society. --------- "RE: Low aboriginal graduation rates a concern" --------- Date: Friday, August 11, 2006 01:24 pm From: frostyca2000 Subj: Low aboriginal graduation rates a concern for all Canadians: report Mailing List: Frostys AmerIndian Low aboriginal graduation rates a concern for all Canadians: report CBC News August 10, 2006 An alarming number of First Nations students living on reserves are not graduating from high school, a recently released report says. According to the report of the Ottawa-based Caledon Institute of Public Policy - titled Aboriginal Peoples and Post-secondary Education in Canada - high school graduation rates of aboriginal people are far below those of people in the rest of Canada, and the situation is particularly bad on reserves. The report, which is based on census data, found that 58 per cent of on-reserve aboriginal people between the ages of 20 and 24 had not graduated from high school. Among all people across Canada, the comparable 2001 rate was 16 per cent. In Saskatchewan and Alberta, the on-reserve rate for people 20-24 with less than high school was 61 per cent. In Manitoba, it was 71 per cent. "The reality is not great," said researcher Michael Mendelson, who authored the report. "I was surprised, frankly, at the result." It's something all Canadians should be deeply concerned about, Mendelson added. The economy is evolving, and in the future virtually every job, even minimum wage jobs, will require a higher level of knowledge than is presently needed, he said. Urgent action needed Mendelson said urgent action is needed, including the increased establishment of school boards on reserves. First Nations, governments and other organizations must also work together to set measurable goals for improving education from kindergarten to Grade 12 and then work towards achieving them. Some people question Mendelson's statistics, however. Saskatchewan MP Gary Merasty said he doesn't think the situation on reserves is as dire as Mendelson's report suggests. The former grand chief of the Prince Albert Tribal Council noted that among 33 on-reserve schools that were under his tribal council's jurisdiction, the Grade 12 graduation rate increased from 34 per cent to 92 per cent between 1998 and 2004. "We're seeing huge increases in the number of students graduating," he said. Still, he agreed that on-reserve schools are facing challenges - such as providing a full slate of high school classes with limited resources - and these need to be addressed. Copyright c. CBC 2006. --------- "RE: The Rule of whose Law?" --------- Date: Friday, August 11, 2006 01:51 pm From: frostyca2000 Subj: The rule of whose law? Mailing List: Frostys AmerIndian The rule of whose law? GIMAA J. EDWARD WILLIAMS Moose Deer Point First Nation MacTier, Ont. - As chief of the small, proud community of Moose Deer Point on Georgian Bay, Ont., I grow tired of your paper making pronouncements on life in First Nations' communities. In your editorial Judge Marshall And The Rule Of Law (Aug. 10), we have yet another preconceived notion that the rule of law is obviously the rule of Canadian law. There is another law that we subscribe to: First Nations' law that has been handed down to us orally and enshrined in our gchi- naaknigewin, our supreme law by which order has been and continues to be maintained in our communities. We suffer the frustration of being overwhelmed by a European culture that does not acknowledge even today that we are different from you. Federal political policies grown from the racist emotions and prejudices of the late 1800s inform too many people's basic understanding of the root causes of Caledonia. Your society acknowledges the differences of new immigrants more than it does the original people who still inhabit their homeland. So when you talk about the rule of law, make sure you identify whose law you are talking about because, in our community, First Nations' laws prevail. And that's why we need self-government agreements. We need to maintain peace, order and good government between the First Nations and all other Canadian communities. --------- "RE: Ontario to contest 'No-Negotiation' decision" --------- Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 08:44:09 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ONTARIO HOPES TO QUASH JUDGE'S DECISION" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/ Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1155161413998&call_pageid=968256289824&col =968342212737 Ontario to contest decision Ottawa is joining attempt to allow talks to resume Tensions high as natives continue to occupy land ROB FERGUSON, ROBERT BENZIE AND JESSICA LEEDER STAFF REPORTERS August 10, 2006 The Ontario government is heading to court in hopes of quashing a judge's controversial order to halt land-claim negotiations over a site in Caledonia until native protestors leave. "We will act as expeditiously as possible," Attorney General Michael Bryant said yesterday, noting a hearing could take place within days to determine whether the order should be suspended until a full appeal can be heard. An appeal to formally overturn the order could take place in a few weeks or months before the Ontario Court of Appeal. "One of the grounds of the appeal will be that the court has no jurisdiction to order the parties to cease negotiations, which we will argue is in the public interest and the best way to resolve this dispute," Bryant said. Tensions have flared between Caledonia residents and natives since Tuesday's ruling by Superior Court Justice David Marshall, who said native protestors must obey previous court orders to leave the site as a way of restoring the rule of law in the strife-torn community of about 10,000 near Hamilton. In response to friction from the ruling, the Ontario Provincial Police deployed extra officers to the area last night. Six Nations protestors have been occupying the former Douglas Creek Estates housing development, which is now owned by the province, for more than five months. They argue the land is theirs as part of a much larger land claim. The federal Conservative government joined the province in saying it doesn't think Marshall's order would help end the dispute. Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice said Ottawa fully supports Ontario's decision to appeal the Cayuga judge's decision, adding that forcing the natives off the disputed property will resolve very little. "It is an unusual decision, and quite frankly we are anxious to get back to the negotiating table to keep moving forward with progress that we were making," Prentice told the Toronto Star. "This is a difficult dispute. It goes back in Canadian history over 200 years, so it is not going to be resolved overnight." But until the appeal can be heard, Marshall's decision has effectively halted the negotiations between the federal and provincial governments and the Six Nations. Negotiations were set to resume Aug. 24, when natives and the two levels of government were to present their respective documentation as to who owns the land. Prentice emphasized that the protestors are not doing anything wrong as long as the province says it's okay for them to occupy the former housing development. Bryant was clearly pleased with the federal support - which resulted from telephone calls between Premier Dalton McGuinty, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Prentice - given strong backing for the judge's ruling from Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory. "Ontarians and Canadians should know that the Prime Minister and the premier are ... of the view that peaceful resolution is the right approach to take," Bryant said. Tory said he doesn't care that he's on a different side of the fence from Harper and McGuinty. "There were incidents taking place (Tuesday) night that if you did it on the corner of ... College and University (in Toronto), you'd probably be placed under arrest," Tory said. Ontario NDP Leader Howard Hampton, a former attorney general, said while the government can argue Marshall does not have the jurisdiction to halt negotiations, "what is completely within his jurisdiction is to order that the law now be enforced." In Caledonia, citizens were angered at news of the province's plan to appeal the decision. "No one wants to take responsibility for this," said Ken Hewitt of the Caledonia Citizens' Alliance. "How can you negotiate when they say they're not getting off the land?" Hewitt said that in spite of continuing talks between the province, Ottawa and Six Nations over the disputed land development at the edge of town, the conclusion is "foregone." "It would appear that they've (protestors) made it very clear this is their land." At the site, Six Nations protestors stood behind a broken hydro tower that had been dragged across the entrance, bearing a cardboard sign with a message for the judge: "David Marshall, we own the land where you lay your head. We are not Canadians, but true North Americans." The comment is part of ongoing criticism protestors have levelled at Marshall since he first got involved in the case in the spring. They argue that because Marshall lives on land bordering the Grand River - which is called the Haldimand Tract and is central to the natives' land claim - his court orders have had a hidden agenda designed to serve his interests. The tract covers an area 10 kilometres on each side of the Grand River, amounting to about 385,000 hectares. Marshall has previously denied the accusation in court. Until yesterday, he has not responded to the Star's requests for an interview. Asked for comment yesterday, a spokeswoman said, "He would be glad to, although he feels it would be inappropriate for a justice to make a comment." At the protest site, Six Nations spokesman Clyde Powless applauded the province's decision. "It seems to me the province is stepping up," he said. Asked why protestors won't clear off the land while negotiations continue, Powless said that "everybody in the six-mile (10-kilometre) tract can clear out, then when we see whose land it is, they can come back." Former premier David Peterson, the province's appointed negotiator at the outset of the conflict, said the situation in the town is still "tender," and he called Marshall's decision "extremely unhelpful." OPP Acting Supt. Doug Babbitt called for "calm and common sense" to prevail. "Anger and violence will not resolve this situation." With files from Richard Brennan Copyright c. Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Clayoquot Sound truce reached" --------- Date: Thursday, August 10, 2006 05:46 pm From: frostyca2000 Subj: Clayoquot Sound truce reached Mailing List: Frostys AmerIndian Clayoquot Sound truce reached Lindsay Kines CanWest News Service; Victoria Times Colonist August 10, 2006 VICTORIA - There won't be another so-called "war in the woods" over B.C.'s Clayoquot Sound . Eco-groups and First Nations have reached a temporary truce, less than two weeks after finding themselves on opposite sides of a debate over the future of the Vancouver Island site. The environmentalists were alarmed by a recent decision to allow logging in what they claim are eight "pristine" watersheds on the west coast of Vancouver Island. They said that decision violated a 1999 memorandum of understanding with First Nations that put the valleys off-limits. Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations, however, backed the plans. They described them as a needed tool that would allow the harvesting of logs in a sustainable way while still protecting some areas of cultural and spiritual significance. The brief but heated dispute led to warnings by some environmentalists of a return to the barricades of the early 1990s. Back then, the battle received international attention when more than 800 people were arrested trying to stop logging in the old-growth rainforest. The two sides issued a joint news release Wednesday vowing to work together on a new memorandum of understanding, to find alternatives to logging the valleys, and to establish a lasting peace in the woods. "I said to the chiefs, 'What I'd like to say is we're really relieved that no logging is planned in the pristine valleys at this time, and that we're going to work together to explore alternatives," Tzeporah Berman of ForestEthics said Wednesday. "So are the watershed plans going to be changed, are they shelved, are they not approved? I don't think we have an answer to that question yet. But we have a willingness to work together, to explore alternatives, and to ensure that there's no surprises." "There's a new spirit of collaboration in Clayoquot Sound," she added. Joe Tom, chief councillor of the Hesquiaht First Nation, said in a release that the First Nations want legislation that gives hereditary chiefs decision-making power over their territories. The news release said the chiefs and environmental groups want the provincial and federal governments to pump more money into finding economic alternatives for Clayoquot Sound. They plan to strike a working group and issue a status report by early fall. Agriculture and Lands Minister Pat Bell said the Coast Sustainability Trust and the North Island Trust both have money available to invest in different projects. "But I think really, for me, we need to start respecting the Nuu- chah-nulth and the decision-making processes that we've asked them to participate in," he said. Bell said First Nations were part of the Clayoquot Regional Board that approved the watershed plans, which called for limited "single- tree extraction" logging. "If they choose to change their decision and move away from very limited tree extraction, then certainly that's within the realm of their decision-making," Bell said. 'But it is their decision to make." Victoria Times Colonist Copyright c. CanWest News Service 2006. --------- "RE: Tla'Amin seeks tailored Treaty" --------- Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 08:44:09 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BC COOKIE CUTTER APPROACH WILL NOT WORK" http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm? newsid=17033851&BRD=1998&PAG=461&dept_id=221589&rfi=6 Tla'Amin seeks tailored treaty Laura Walz, Peak Editor August 9, 2006 Negotiator congratulates Lheidli T'enneh for agreement but looks to create an arrangement specifically for Tla'Amin While the first treaty agreement under the BC treaty process works well for the first nation that negotiated it, it wouldn't work for Tla'Amin (Sliammon) First Nation, according to chief treaty negotiator Roy Francis. Tla'Amin negotiators have been very close to Lheidli T'enneh, said Francis. "We're quite excited for them. We want to congratulate them for arriving at an arrangement that works for them." Negotiators for the Lheidli T'enneh Band, the province and Canada announced last week they had reached the first treaty agreement under the BC treaty process. The terms of the treaty include self-government, $27 million in one-time funding, $400,000 per year in revenue sharing for 50 years, 4,330 hectares of treaty lands, 107,000 cubic metres in long-term wood supply, 9,000 to 10,000 sockeye for food, social and ceremonial purposes annually and 6,000 sockeye for sale annually. The agreement must yet be ratified by a majority of Lheidli T'enneh members as well as by BC and Canada. The Lheidli T'enneh Band, with about 300 members, is located near Prince George and was the first band to conclude an agreement in principle (AIP) under the BC treaty process in July 2003. Tla'Amin is a different community than Lheidli T'enneh, Francis said, including being larger, with over 850 members, and being involved in business initiatives. "The arrangement that Lheidli T'enneh has arrived at works well for them, but we have quite a bit more work to do to arrive at an arrangement that works well for Sliammon," he said. In particular, the fiscal arrangements wouldn't work for Tla'Amin, Francis said. "There are federal transfers that flow into each first nation," he explained. "For Sliammon it's about $6.5 million annually. What's contained in the fiscal arrangements is this notion that once a treaty is completed and once first nations start to generate revenues from the land base, from the tax authorities, from the business ventures, there's clawbacks that the feds implement in our federal transfers." For Tla'Amin, there's a lot of negotiation work that remains, Francis added. "We want to be able to generate revenue, apply it to our programs and services, to supplement the levels that the feds provide for us. But the model that is currently on the table doesn't allow us to do that." Tla'Amin is investing time, energy and resources into developing businesses, Francis said. "We're doing it at our own cost, taking on our own risks to do it, and we don't believe the feds should benefit from that." As well, there is a general concern that once the Lheidli T'enneh agreement is ratified, it becomes the template for the other treaty tables, Francis said. "We just can't accept that entire template." Tla'Amin still wants to take the parts of its negotiations where it has agreement with the province and the federal government and create an interim agreement. "We're lobbying heavily to establish a commitment to that approach from the province and federal government." Copyright c. The Powell River Peak 2006. --------- "RE: Canada votes against Rights Declaration" --------- Date: Mon, 7 Aug 2006 08:28:55 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="UN DRAFT VOTE ADDS TO CANADA'S SHAME" http://www.ammsa.com/windspeaker/articles/2006/wind-aug-06-1.html Canada votes against rights declaration By Paul Barnsley Windspeaker Staff Writer GENEVA August - 2006 After more than a decade of international intrigue, the United Nations draft declaration on Indigenous rights will finally go before the UN general assembly for ratification later this year, despite the efforts of Canadian government representatives. The June 29 vote of the new 47-member United Nations Human Rights Council, which replaces the much criticized UN Human Rights Commission, was 30 in favor and two against, with 12 abstentions and three countries absent. Canada and Russia were the only countries to vote against the declaration. The Canadian vote generated an angry reaction throughout the human rights community. In Canada, Opposition members said the move reveals that Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government is not interested in Aboriginal rights. "Is this what passes for leadership?" asked Liberal Indian Affairs Critic Anita Neville on June 30. "For 20 years, Canada had taken a leadership role in seeing this declaration developed. Canada was a driving force in ensuring the resolution could overcome any roadblocks in its way. Now, at the moment where Canada was needed the most to give approval to the resolution, we have turned our backs on it, thanks to the Conservative government." Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice defended the decision to vote against, saying the terms of the draft declaration could have unforeseen and unintended consequences in Canada. He and representatives of the other large former British colonies - the United States, Australia and New Zealand - have asked that certain parts of the declaration be re-written. Neville blasted that position. "The government's argument that the draft resolution may be inconsistent with Canadian laws is a non-starter," she said."The wording of the declaration explicitly states that the declaration must be interpreted in a fair and balanced manner with other laws and standards, the principles of democracy and good government in support of the rights of all. The declaration is a non-binding document. It is a statement of aspiration. Approving it would simply provide Canada's Aboriginal population with a sign of good faith." NDP critic for Aboriginal Affairs Jean Crowder said she was "appalled" by Canada's actions. "It is a slap in the face to Aboriginal peoples in Canada for the Conservatives to tell our representatives in Geneva to vote against sending the declaration to the general assembly," said Crowder. "I was at a land claims conference in Gatineau (Quebec) this weekend and everyone I spoke to brought up the declaration on Indigenous peoples' rights as an indication of how this new government really feels about honoring its commitments to Aboriginal peoples in Canada. They feel betrayed because the government turned its back on this ambitious document." Aboriginal leaders also took aim at the federal government. "Canada's opposition to the declaration has soured the first meeting of the Human Rights Council," said Beverly Jacobs, president of the Native Women's Association of Canada."The council was created in the hope that states would set aside domestic considerations and work impartially to advance the human rights of all. It's a bitter disappointment that Canada would mar the very first session by openly pursuing a dubious domestic agenda." "We are grateful that the council has recognized the importance and urgency of moving ahead with human rights protections for Indigenous peoples," said National Chief Phil Fontaine. "It is very unfortunate that in trying to stand in the way of the declaration, Canada has done so much harm to its credibility and influence on a council that it worked so hard to create." International observers also criticized Canada's actions in Geneva. "We are outraged that Canada would demonstrate such bad faith in opposing a text that it helped write," said Alex Neve, secretary general of Amnesty International Canada. "It is even more astounding that Canada would then try to persuade other states that another round of negotiations is needed. It was fortunate, though embarrassing for all Canadians, that Canada quickly found itself isolated on a council that was prepared to move forward with a principled defense of Indigenous peoples' human rights." Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, wrote a long letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper two days before the vote, urging that Canada not work to undermine ratification of the declaration. After the vote Phillip blasted the federal government. "Since the federal election, Canada's consistent and evolving discriminatory actions towards Indigenous people at both the domestic and international levels are disgraceful. This attitude is reflected in the gross failure to support the Kelowna accord and now evident in its conduct as a member of the Human Rights Council. As a council member, Canada agreed and is required to uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights, but its actions against the approval of the draft declaration are totally contrary with this essential commitment." Kenneth Deer, chairman of the UN's Aboriginal caucus, was in Geneva for the vote. He said Prentice's claim that the agreement could have a negative effect on existing self-government agreements in Canada is not credible. "It recognizes what's already happened, anything positive. What it does do is it gives alternatives if things break down. For instance, treaty negotiations. If treaties are being violated and you can't get any domestic satisfaction, the declaration suggests that there should be an impartial board that would look at those kinds of disputes, something outside the jurisdiction of Canada or outside Indigenous jurisdiction, something that's really neutral. It's non-binding. It's just to put pressure on governments to be more honest," he said. Deer said the Canadian government betrayed Indigenous people. "When we talk about betrayal, we're not fooling around. We don't throw those words around lightly. And we're not the only ones that feel betrayed; other governments feel betrayed. They told us so. The UK said Canada was disingenuous because they get the feeling that Canada was against the declaration all along and was stringing everybody along. They're pissed," he said. As editor of the Kahnawake-based Eastern Door weekly newspaper, Deer vividly remembers the actions of the Mulroney government in the days before the confrontation at Oka in 1990. He sees parallels in the actions of the Harper government. "I can use a term that the other reporters won't use: I think we're heading into a dark age of relations between Indigenous peoples and the Canadian government. I'm not saying the Harper government. I'm saying the Canadian government because it doesn't matter if it's a Liberal or a Conservative or NDP, it doesn't matter. It's the government of Canada that you negotiate with," he said. "When the prime minister of Canada signed the Kelowna agreement, he signed on behalf of Canada and on behalf of Canadians. When another prime minister comes along and tears that up, he diminishes the value of the prime minister's signature. Who can Indigenous people trust if you can't trust the prime minister of Canada?" Deer believes the general assembly will approve the declaration later this year. "December 10 is international human rights day. That would be the most logical time," he said. "I anticipate it'll be passed. It should be passed by consensus. But if they want to call for a vote then we'll have to make sure governments are supporting it. If the same ratio of governments holds, it'll pass easily. The governments that voted for it will vote for it again and carry other governments. If Canada, the U.S. and Australia want to water it down, those governments won't want to water it down." Some observers say that the United States, which is not a member of the Human Rights Council, was against the declaration and asked Canada to oppose it. Talk at the UN, which Deer said was prompted by a U.S. initiative, was that there would be no further funding for work on the declaration. "So the chairman said ,'If that's the case then I will decide.' He proposed wording that would satisfy no one but satisfy everyone. The majority of governments saw the wording and said, 'We don't like it but we can live with it.' We would have had consensus," he said. Canada made a point of making its position as visible as possible, Deer added. "It's one thing to vote against, but it was Canada that asked for a roll call vote. If they hadn't done that, I don't think Russia would have voted against it and it would have passed by consensus," he said. He suggested that the government ignored advice from its officials. "I think the diplomatic corps were suggesting don't do it. The decis