_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 14, ISSUE 035 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 September 2, 2006 Klamath Speluish/dancing moon Passamaquoddy Toqakiw/autumn moon Pomo Shachluyiau-da/soaproot dug for fish poison moon Algonquin Pohquitaqunk/middle moon between harvest and eating Indian corn +-------------------------------------------------------+ | 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, Native American Poetry, NetRez-L and Mohawk Nation News 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: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + =================== "Protecting the Sacred Place Where Life Begins - the calving and nursery grounds of the porcupine caribou herd - is the unified stand the people of the Gwich'in Nation have stood by and reaffirmed since 1988. The porcupine caribou herd provides the basis of the cultural context for life in the Gwich'in Nation, which has stewarded and shared its history and stories with the herd for hundreds of uninterrupted generations. Drilling in the Arctic Refuge will threaten the entire context of the life of the caribou and the Gwich'in Nation." __ Luci Beach, Gwich-in Steering Committee +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! Ever-so-often I feel compelled to make clear I am a mixed-blood. This is one of those times, and I am. The Europeans who came to this "new world" conquered one nation at a time, often with the help of enemy tribes who had been made promises that would never be kept. Those tribes then found themselves on the receiving end of the unquenchable hunger for land from the invaders. Today those same invaders in the Canada and the United States and throughout Central and South America are facing growing hostility and determination to see balance brought from the Native (Aboriginal) Peoples they conquered. Their deceit and manipulative ways cannot hide in the shadows from the truth. Native land claims in Canada continue to boil over into one conflict after another. British Colombia believes they have found the answer by simply denying all claims. What BC does not realize is that by screwing the cap on ever tighter while the fire continues to burn will eventuate in a much more dramatic boil over. The idiot commissioners who let greed guide them rather than common sense and respect for another's beliefs and permitted a topless biker bar near Sacred Bear Butte have only begun to understand how far-reaching and never-ending that decision was. The Maya and other oppressed tribal people in Mexico will not let the atrocities of Atenco and Chiapas drive them into meek submission. Only an idiot would believe so. Probably the same idiots that don't see the link between NAFTA rules and an attempt to stamp out the Mayan way of sharing work and reward (communal living) that the oppressors only see as a form of socialism that must be ground out. Hint to the oppressors: The Maya were living this way centuries before Karl Marx was ever born. In Venezuela and Argentina we see the rise of the Native voice in politics. It will be met with force I am sure. It will also rise again. One final reminder from history. Remember always what happens when the oppressed becomes the oppressor. Wouldn't it be better, simpler, cheaper, wiser to live and let live? That does mean admitting your thefts (does the name Cobell ring a bell?) and settling current and past injustices openly and honestly. 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 ----------- - BEACH: The Sacred and the drilled - We don't know where our next - Indian Trust Settlement Meal is coming from under review - Clearing up Land Claim - American Indians backlog major Priority advance Trust Case - Six Nations Women - Indians appeal action lay claim to Windmills that removed Judge - BC cashes in - Protecting the Sacred on Aboriginal Land Claims - Only California Tribal College - New Health Centre close to collapse in Canoe Lake Cree First Nation - Reservation schools look - Dudley died at creative funding standing up for Aboriginal Rights - Healthcare and the Urban Indian - Harris did 'the unthinkable' - Attacks on Red Lake Sovereignty on Ipperwash - Tribe zeroes in on Ethanol Plant - Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe - Best Colleges for Native Students threatened with Lawsuit are in Oklahoma - Missing Lower Brule Woman's - Separated by distance, Body found united by Language - Denied Unemployment Aid - KITCHEYAN: after refusing to cut Hair Apaches will defy Mine Deal - Native Prisoner - YELLOW BIRD: -- Jameson Prison Signature event lives up to name Spiritual Gathering - JODI RAVE: Native Athletic Events - History: Carlisle Indian School an inspiration - Rustywire: - Totem Pole's return to Haisla Tell me where can I find her - Peace Legacy gone awry - Lee Goins Poem: - GRAY: Haudenosaunee To Believe in the Rhyme Rule of Law: Caledonia - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - Upcoming Events --------- "RE: BEACH: The Sacred and the drilled" --------- Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2006 08:45:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BEACH: ANWR - AGAIN, STILL, YET" http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096413534 Beach: The sacred and the drilled by: Luci Beach / Gwich-in Steering Committee August 24, 2006 Proponents 'drooling' to open Arctic Refuge Once again, the oil industry's one-trick spin ponies began chompin' at the Arctic Refuge bit as soon as there was trouble a-brewing at Prudhoe Bay. "Drill in the Arctic Refuge" is the mantra they live by and repeat at every opportunity. Never mind that the mess in Prudhoe Bay is just that - a mess. So they want to bring the same scenario to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? They consistently return to the table with empty baggage - devoid of visionary thinking and redundantly full of their perennial misconceived Arctic Refuge "solution." But there are no real solutions from these supposed conservatives in terms of conservation or even marginally- improved CAFE (corporate automobile fuel efficiency) standards. Elementary school children understand that if you only have 3 cents (3 percent of the world's oil supply) and spend 25 cents (25 percent of the world's oil supply), it does not add up. Yet the oil proponents keep coming up with the same "nonsolution" to drill in the Arctic Refuge, and they keep saying it over and over as if they are praying to some god that will magically fill up the genie's lamp - and the taxpayers' supersized gas tanks. Knee-jerk tactics and tedious, inflammatory words are like worn-out tunes used incessantly against those with valid concerns for environmental health and basic human rights of the peoples of the Gwich'in Nation. Protecting the Sacred Place Where Life Begins - the calving and nursery grounds of the porcupine caribou herd - is the unified stand the people of the Gwich'in Nation have stood by and reaffirmed since 1988. The porcupine caribou herd provides the basis of the cultural context for life in the Gwich'in Nation, which has stewarded and shared its history and stories with the herd for hundreds of uninterrupted generations. Drilling in the Arctic Refuge will threaten the entire context of the life of the caribou and the Gwich'in Nation. Drilling activity in the Prudhoe Bay oil fields has repeatedly demonstrated that natural areas are at risk - an average of 504 spills annually, mismanagement of safety regulations and insufficient monitoring. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation has documented 4,352 spills between 1996 and 2004, totaling more than 1.9 million gallons of toxic substances. Vast areas of the North Slope of Alaska are already available to development, whereas the ANWR is virtually the last 5 percent of the North Slope that is off-limits to development. In June, 40,000 - 50,000 caribou calves were born in the biological heart of the Arctic Refuge, right where the proponents of drilling are drooling to drill. The feeding frenzy salivates around Section 1002 - the one section of public land that was set aside for further study of its development potential AND for its wilderness values. The 1002 area cannot be developed without the consent of Congress. So far, sound science and good sense have prevailed; but the news of British Petroleum's mismanagement and resultant shutdown on the North Slope has raised oil fever to a feverish pitch. Let us not rush to judgment and ruin what is left in America's Arctic, or sacrifice the culture and human rights of the Gwich'in Nation for a penny at the pump 10 years from now. -- Luci Beach is the executive director of the Gwich'in Steering Committee mandated to protect the calving and nursery grounds of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on behalf of the Gwich'in Nation. Copyright c. 1998 - 2006 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Indian Trust Settlement under review" --------- Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2006 08:45:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SENATE INDIAN AFFAIRS REVIEWING SETTLEMENT" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2006/08/24/news/local/news12.txt Indian trust settlement under review August 25, 2006 RAPID CITY - The U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee invites South Dakota tribal officials and American Indian land owners to comment on the $8 billion settlement of an Indian trust lawsuit against the federal government at a meeting Friday in Rapid City. Indian landowners and tribes will review and comment on Indian Trust Reform Act, 2005, also called S. 1439 Cobell Settlement, that will be introduced next month by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to congress. The meeting begins at 9 a.m. Friday, Aug. 25, in the amphitheater at LaQuinta Inn & Suites at 1416 N. Elk Valley Road. The Great Plains Tribal Chairmen's Association will host the Senate Indian Affairs staff, which includes David Mullon, general counsel, majority staff, Allison Binney, minority staff and National Congress of American Indians legal advisor John Dossett. Elouise Cobell filed a class-action suite in June 1996 to force the federal government to account for billions of dollars belonging to a half- million American Indians and their heirs, which was held in trust since the late 19th century. Officials and landowners will review each section of Cobell Settlement with senate legal staff, who will take comments on the $7 billion awarded to settle the lawsuit, $1 billion awarded for land mismanagement and the establishment of a new five-member Trust Policy Review Commission. Copyright c. 2006 Rapid City Journal. --------- "RE: American Indians advance Trust Case" --------- Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2006 08:45:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="COBELL MOVING AHEAD WITH CASE" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/politics/4139781.html American Indians advance trust case By JENNIFER TALHELM Associated Press Writer August 24, 2006 WASHINGTON - American Indians are moving ahead with their 10-year-old lawsuit against the government despite congressional efforts to settle the dispute. Indians involved in the case said Thursday they plan to ask the Supreme Court to review an appeals court decision last month to remove the trial judge because of an apparent bias against the government. "It is unprecedented for a federal judge to be reassigned under these circumstances, especially where, as here, the judge has presided over a complex case for 10 years," said the lead plaintiff Elouise Cobell, a Blackfeet Indian from Browning, Mont. Indians also filed papers Thursday appealing a decision to throw out U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth's order to shut down some government computer systems to protect trust accounts managed for Indians. The developments come as lawmakers try to broker a settlement. The Indians accuse the government of mismanaging more than $100 billion in oil, gas, timber and other royalties from their lands, dating to 1887. Indians in the suit say aides for the Senate Indian Affairs Committee approached them this summer offering to settle for $8 billion. The Indians had said they were eager to work with Congress, and the committee had scheduled a hearing this month to work out the details of the settlement legislation. But the hearing was postponed until the fall after a meeting between the chairman, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Bush administration officials. Interior Department officials said Thursday that they respect the Indians' right to appeal. In July, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ordered Lamberth removed from the trust case, saying he had lost his objectivity. The panel said he went too far in several decisions, including one that accused the department of racism. But Indians said Thursday that Lamberth's "apparent bias" was justifiable frustration with the government's treatment of them. Copyright c. 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. Copyright c. 2006 Houston Chronicle. --------- "RE: Indians appeal action that removed Judge" --------- Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2006 08:45:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PLAINTIFFS APPEAL REMOVAL OF LAMBERTH" http://www.sltrib.com/ci_4235457?source=rss Indians appeal action that removed judge Lengthy lawsuit: They object to contentions that the jurist was biased in their favor in suit against U.S. By Jennifer Talhelm The Associated Press August 25, 2006 WASHINGTON - The American Indian plaintiffs in a 10-year-old class-action lawsuit against the government are moving ahead with their court case despite an ongoing effort by Congress to settle the dispute. Plaintiffs on Thursday said they will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review a July 11 decision to remove U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth from their case for apparent bias in favor of the Indians. "It is unprecedented for a federal judge to be reassigned under these circumstances, especially where, as here, the judge has presided over a complex case for 10 years," said lead plaintiff Elouise Cobell, a Blackfeet Indian from Browning, Mont. "To take a judge of this caliber and integrity from a case as complex as this is terribly unfair and a travesty of justice," she said. "It is another dark chapter in the history of this nation's mistreatment of Indian people." Plaintiffs also on Thursday appealed a decision throwing out Lamberth's order to shut down some government computer systems to protect trust accounts managed for Indians. The plaintiffs' announcement comes as lawmakers are trying to broker a settlement deal between the government and the Indians. The Indians accuse the government of mismanaging more than $100 billion in oil, gas, timber and other royalties from their lands, dating back to 1887. Plaintiffs say staffers for the Senate Indian Affairs Committee approached them earlier this summer offering to settle for $8 billion. The Indians had said they were eager to work with Congress, and the Indian Affairs Committee scheduled a hearing earlier this month to work out the details of the settlement legislation. But the hearing was postponed until later in the fall after a meeting between Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., and Bush administration officials. McCain said afterward that he had decided to spend Congress' August recess negotiating a deal both sides could agree to. Bill McAllister, a spokesman for the plaintiffs, said the Indians had always made it clear they would continue with their lawsuit. He said the decision to file the appeal was not directly related to the ongoing settlement talks. Interior Department officials said Thursday that they respect the plaintiffs' rights to appeal. A panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ordered Lamberth removed from the Indian trust case in July, saying he had lost his objectivity. The conservative Reagan appointee is well-respected, but appeals judges said he went too far in several decisions, including one accusing the Interior Department of racism. Copyright c. 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 2006, The Salt Lake Tribune. --------- "RE: Protecting the Sacred" --------- Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2006 08:44:43 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HUMAN RIGHTS MAGAZINE: PROTECTING SACRED" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.abanet.org/irr/hr/spring06/coyle.html Protecting the Sacred By Courtney Ann Coyle Spring 2006 Human Rights Magazine My associates' and my representation of the Quechan Indian Nation has taken us from learning about the great mysteries of the California desert to walking the halls of Congress - and many interesting places in between. We collaborated with other tribal governments, environmental and labor groups, and federal entities to deny Glamis Gold Ltd.'s plan to commence operation of an open pit hardrock mine, the first time the federal government has denied such a permit in American history. When the Bush administration rescinded the denial so Glamis's Imperial mine could be reconsidered, it enabled us to create and pass precedent-setting mining reclamation, sacred place consultation, and confidentiality laws for California. When the Department of the Interior lawyer who recommended the mine rescission was nominated for the Ninth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals, the mine dispute catapulted the Quechan to the forefront of the successful filibuster of his nomination. And now the tribe is poised at the front of indigenous participation in disputes under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In 2003, Glamis filed a claim against the United States pursuant to NAFTA Chapter 11, asserting that the California mining measures indirectly and discriminatorily expropriated the proposed mine's value. The tribe filed a submission underscoring the nature of the sacred places and the domestic and international frameworks supporting indigenous cultural resource protection. Its brief was the first of its kind accepted in an international economic law dispute. Cultural rights are widely recognized as human rights. Yet, the extent to which human rights law may be considered by investment tribunals remains mostly the subject of academic debate. This dispute may well bring such issues to center stage. Some academics argue that human rights obligations could be used to mitigate the level of damages owed. We believe human rights norms are relevant in interpreting the substantive provisions of an investment treaty and establishing the reasonableness of the challenged measures. Moreover, such obligations, legitimate objectives of public interest, can be used to further justify the challenged measures to completely defeat a claim. Otherwise, investment principles would be allowed to trump human rights principles by default. Two things have been a constant. First, the work is never boring: the technical, legal, policy, and moral aspects are varied, and the issues are cutting edge. Second, it continues to be an honor and privilege to represent the Quechan on these issues. It is a sacred trust, and we feel blessed to participate in part of that journey. --- Courtney Ann Coyle, attorney for the Quechan Indian Nation, is in private practice in La Jolla, California, focusing on environmental litigation and tribal, cultural, and natural resource landscape protection. To read the NAFTA submissions in this matter, including those of the tribe, visit the U.S. Department of State Web site at www.state.gov/s/l/c10986.htm. As published in Human Rights, Spring 2006, Vol. 33, No. 2, p.1. Copyright c. The American Bar Association. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission. --------- "RE: Only California Tribal College close to collapse" --------- Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2006 08:45:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="D-Q ON LAST LEG" http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/08/22/ tribal.college.ap/index.html?section=cnn_latest California's only tribal college close to collapse August 22, 2006 DAVIS, California (AP) - On a remote stretch of land where stray chickens outnumber students, California's only tribal college is clinging to life against seemingly insurmountable odds. D-Q University has had its share of hard times since it was founded on the outskirts of this liberal university town west of Sacramento in 1971, during the peak of the American Indian self-determination movement. Its turbulent history includes land disputes with the neighboring University of California at Davis, low enrollment and a loss of federal accreditation in early 2005. But even its most ardent supporters acknowledge that the school has now hit an all-time low. In June, the board dismissed the university's interim president, Art Apodaca, accusing him of squandering the school's few remaining assets. It also rejected his proposal to boost enrollment by dividing D-Q into an Indian-only school and a separate, non-Indian one. With the remaining six students drifting away and no money for even a working telephone line, a handful of board members and community volunteers are desperately searching for a way to keep the school and its mission alive. "Every day it's a new crisis," said Susan Reece, a former board member. "Every day there's a new group of bills and new debts we didn't know about." In early August, the six-member board decided to abandon its efforts to keep students on campus for the fall semester. Instead, it will try to attract revenue by renting space for workshops and conferences. Reece said her biggest fear is that D-Q will lose its 600 acres to the federal government if it is found to be violating its federal property deed, which stipulates that the land must be maintained as an educational institution. The demise of D-Q University would deal a heavy blow to the tribal college movement, supporters say. D-Q stands for Deganawidah-Quetzalcoatl, two iconic native leaders. The school was one of the six original tribal colleges in the United States, all founded between 1968 and 1972. Nationwide, the U.S. Department of Education recognizes 34 tribal colleges, most of which are two-year schools. The programs range in size from several hundred students to several thousand, serving about 30,000 total students nationwide each year, according to Department of Education estimates. They offer two-year associate degrees, and some provide bachelor's and master's degrees and vocational certificate programs. Indian students "were failing miserably in mainstream institutions before the tribal college movement came around," said Gerald Gipp, executive director of the Virginia-based American Indian Higher Education Consortium. While many of the current colleges are thriving, he said they have faced their share of hardships. For example, the schools receive about $4,400 per student from the federal government -- far less than their average annual expenses require. In addition, many of the schools are geographically isolated and have to provide basic coursework to students who arrive with a sub-par high school education. D-Q's turbulent history was preceded by a dramatic birth. In 1971, two California-based American Indian scholars applied for control of the land, a former Army communications center. After it was learned that the federal government intended to award the land to UC Davis instead, a group of Indian and Hispanic activists jumped the barbed wire fence and refused to leave. UC Davis withdrew its application, and the government gave in to the activists' demand that the area be made a college for indigenous people. In January 2005, D-Q's accreditation was revoked, stripping the school of its ability to grant degrees or offer course credits that students could transfer to other institutions. Stable leadership and support from a tribal government and the surrounding community are crucial to a tribal college's success, Gipp said. But he added that ultimately, D-Q and other struggling schools must figure out their own solutions. "What does it take to develop a viable institution?" he asked. "We haven't really answered that question at this point." Copyright c. 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 2006 Cable News Network LP, LLLP. --------- "RE: Reservation schools look at creative funding" --------- Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2006 08:44:43 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="FUNDING RESERVATION SCHOOLS" http://www.billingsgazette.net/ articles/2006/08/22/news/state/20-indian-ed.txt Reservation schools look at creative funding possibilities By LORNA THACKERAY Of The Gazette Staff August 22, 2006 Without grant writer Gary Hopkins, Lame Deer School District would lose almost one-third of its teachers. "Thirty percent of our staff is hired with money we go out and find," said Gary Scott, school superintendent on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation. "We would lose 30 people if we didn't have the ability to go out and find money." When employees identify a need at the school, where most of the 600 students are American Indian, Hopkins goes to work to meet it, he said. "I think there is a lot of money out there. You just have to go out and find it. Our whole staff is oriented that way," Scott said. Grants are one of the ways officials are able to keep schools on or near Montana Indian reservations afloat. Most of these school districts contain little taxable land and a lot of poor families. Educating children raised in poverty can be an expensive enterprise. They enter the school system behind, and it takes intense efforts to meet the national goal of getting each child up to grade level by third grade. It means more teachers, smaller class sizes and costly educational programs. Most schools in Indian Country spend more per student than other Montana schools and are not bound by state-established budget authorities that can limit the amount a district can spend. Montana allocates money to schools based on the number of students. Enrollment numbers are used to establish budget authority for each district, and state tax dollars cover 80 percent of a district's general fund budget - each school's minimum budget. If a district wants to use more than the minimum, trustees must put a levy before the voters. They can ask up to the additional 20 percent that would bring funding up to maximum budget authority. "We don't go to that vote," said Ivan Small, superintendent of Poplar schools on the Fort Peck Reservation. "We make up the difference with impact money." In fact, federal money can more than make up the difference. In some school districts, federal impact aid nearly equals the state contribution. Impact aid is based on the number of students who live on tax-exempt lands, not on the number of Indian students, Small explained. Somewhere between 45 and 50 percent of the Poplar district's budget comes from federal impact aid. At Lame Deer, it's about 50-50. "Not all kids live on Indian trust land," he said. "If an Indian student lives on taxable property, I don't get a dime for that kid. But if a non- Indian kid lives on trust lands with parents who are employed by the government, we get money for that kid." The formula for impact aid also increases with the concentration of students on federal lands, he said. About 80 percent of his students live on trust lands, he said, so his district will get more per student than schools with a smaller percentage of impact students. In Montana, 75 school districts will receive a total of about $42 million in impact aid this year, said Madalyn Quinlan, chief of staff at Montana's Office of Public Instruction in Helena. Many are Indian Country schools, but districts serving children from military bases and some Forest Service lands also receive impact funds, she said. Most districts use the money for operations and maintenance, she said. "The average expenditure per student is fairly high," she said. "If you look at our schools, we spend a good sum," Small agreed. "But to give these kids a chance to catch up, we need it." Paul Huber, superintendent at Wolf Point schools on the Fort Peck Reservation, said it really isn't that Indian Country schools spend a lot per student, it's that per-student spending in Montana schools generally is so low. "It sounds like we have a lot of money compared to other Montana schools, and maybe we do. But we're just at the national average of spending per student," he said. Often the combination of state and impact money isn't enough to meet educational challenges faced by Indian Country schools. At Wolf Point, state money covers $2.6 million of its proposed elementary $4.9 million elementary budget. The district is anticipating $1. 5 million in impact aid. To make up the $800,000 shortfall, the district will be digging into a stash of impact money socked away in the 1980s and early 1990s to build a new elementary school. "There was a large chunk of money in the bank at one time," Huber said. But increasing costs during the last several years have forced the district to dig into the stash for millions of dollars. A new school is no closer than it was 20 years ago. "One of these days that money is going to run out," he said. "Three more years and that impact money will be gone. I don't know what we'll do then." Schools in poverty areas, which includes Montana schools in Indian Country, are also eligible for other funding programs aimed at giving low- income students the extra help they often need. Drop Out Prevention grants are funding programs for at-risk students in Poplar, Heart Butte and Box Elder. Many reservation schools qualify for federal Reading First funds that are distributed to schools with high numbers or percentages of elementary students reading below grade level. Federal funds through Title 1 programs represent the biggest chunk of federal aid, Quinlan said. Eligible schools will share between $45 and $50 million in Title 1 money this year, she said. Title 1 allocations are based on the number of students in each school eligible for free or reduced-cost school lunch programs. "Free and reduced lunch is a heavy indicator of at-risk students," Small said. At his schools in Poplar, 85 percent of the student body qualifies for those lunch programs. At Lame Deer, Title 1 brings in a combined high school-elementary allocation of more than $689,000 of the $7 million in revenue that came in for the year. The budget sounds big, said Scott, the superintendent, but it's eaten up quickly in his remote and isolated community. The district has 31 housing units that it must maintain; to attract staff, the district has to be able to offer them a place to live, he explained. Maintenance of the schools is expensive, too. The buildings are in use constantly by the community as well as the district, he said. Capital improvements can pose special problems, especially when there is little taxable land and voters are reluctant to approve costly mill levies. For Wolf Point, where part of one of its elementary schools is 100 years old and another is much too small, the situation is especially frustrating. Because the district has hoarded impact money to use for operating expenses, it has too much money in the bank to qualify for federal construction grants from the U.S. Department of Education that have built, repaired or expanded many Indian Country schools in Montana. "Here's the next gotcha," Huber said. "Even if the voters said yes to a mill levy, we don't have the bonding capacity to build a new school." To get on the list for impact construction money, at least 50 percent of a district's students must qualify as "federally connected." American Indian students living on trust lands are considered federally connected. Funds are usually allocated based on need and availability. When Lame Deer needed a new high school after a student-set fire ruined its old facility, the district obtained a grant from the federal impact construction program to rebuild. "A mill levy would have bankrupted everybody on the reservation," Scott said. Last year, Lame Deer got a $687,632 impact grant for its junior high school to remove black mold and add classroom space. Other recent grants went to Plenty Coups at Pryor for emergency repairs to structural, mechanical and electrical systems, $901,200; Wyola Elementary to replace a modular structure with a classroom addition, repair the septic system, replace the boiler and remove asbestos tiles, $492,382; and to Lodge Grass to replace a roof and repair the foundation of the school, $1.3 million. Copyright c. The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Healthcare and the Urban Indian" --------- Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2006 08:40:19 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HEALTH DISPARITIES" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=8111 Healthcare and the urban Indian Study reveals disturbing disparities Native American Times August 23, 2006 Editor's Note: A group of medical professionals employed statistics from the census bureau to examine health disparities that exist among Natives living in urban locales such as Tulsa and Oklahoma City.This is an edited version of their final report. The authors are: Mei L. Castor, MD, MPH, Michael S. Smyser, MPH, Maile M. Taualii, MPH, Alice N. Park, MPH, Shelley A. Lawson, MPA, and Ralph A. Forquera, MPH. --- Despite their increasing numbers, little is known about the health of American Indians/Alaska Natives living in urban areas. We examined the health status of American Indian/Alaska Native populations served by 34 federally funded urban Indian health organizations. Over the past three decades, American Indians and Alaska Natives have increasingly relocated from rural and reservation communities to the urban centers of the United States. Census data show that 6-percent of American Indians/Alaska Natives resided in these areas in 2000, up from 38% in 1970. Although urban living offers more of certain opportunities, the departure of American Indians/Alaska Natives from reservations has typically resulted in a loss of access to health care, historically provided by the Indian Health Service (IHS). To provide health care for the increasingly urban American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) population, the IHS awards contracts and grants to 34 nonprofit agencies located in major metropolitan areas across the United States. These agencies, referred to as urban Indian health organizations (UIHOs), exist largely in cities designated in the past as AIAN relocation sites by the federal government. Despite the increasing numbers of urban American Indians/Alaska Natives, little is known about their health. It is difficult to identify and target this group because of the geographic dispersal and small numbers of urban American Indians/Alaska Natives relative to the general population of the United States. Also, unlike reservation populations, the urban AIAN population comprises multiple tribal groups with diverse ethnic, cultural, and social characteristics. Political diversity exists between tribes that may or may not be recognized by the federal government or state governments. Moreover, degrees of urban acculturation vary, and movement around urban centers may be high as a result of feelings of social and cultural isolation associated with nonreservation living. Finally, in some regions of the country, American Indians/Alaska Natives are misclassified on vital statistics records. Such errors result in consistent underestimation of AIAN rates of infant mortality, injuries, cancer, and overall mortality; some rates are as much as 47% higher after correction for miscoding. Studies also indicate a greater likelihood of racial misclassification when American Indians/ Alaska Natives die in urban settings. A few studies have addressed the health status of urban American Indians/Alaska Natives but only on a local or regional basis. One population-based investigation compared urban American Indians/Alaska Natives with other urban racial groups residing in a metropolitan area of Washington State. Disparities were found between urban American Indians/ Alaska Natives and urban Whites in rates of low birth weight, risk factors for poor birth outcomes, communicable diseases, and mortality among nonelderly individuals, injuries, and alcohol-related deaths. The results of studies have confirmed the disparities found between these two urban groups. There is also little information available on the urban AIAN population targeted by the 34 federally funded UIHOs. Such information is necessary for these organizations to allocate their resources effectively, customize health care services, implement program evaluations, and launch policy initiatives. As a group, UIHOs have minimal technological infrastructure with no shared standardized data system that can be used to provide a collective description of their target populations. Our primary goal was to assess the health status of the urban AIAN population served by UIHOs. RESULTS: In the 2000 census, of approximately 4.1 million Americans who reported AIAN heritage (alone or mixed race), 60% (2.5 million) reported AIAN heritage alone. Sixty-one percent (1.5 million) of the AIAN-alone group lived in urban areas, and 34% (500000) of these urban residents lived in counties served by UIHOs. The number of American Indians/ Alaska Natives living in different UIHO service areas ranged from 700 to 77000. According to 1999 figures, approximately 25% of American Indians/Alaska Natives living in UIHO service areas and nationwide were members of households with incomes below the poverty level, a percentage roughly twice that of the corresponding general populations. Analyses conducted by age group showed that the highest poverty rates were those among AIAN children (30%-32%). The percentages of American Indians/ Alaska Natives with a 4-year college degree, both in UIHO service areas and nationwide, were less than half the percentages found for the corresponding general populations; similar disparities were observed in unemployment rates. In addition, the percentages of AIAN children living in UIHO service areas and nationwide who were members of single parent families were substantially higher than those of the corresponding general populations. Nearly 1 in 4 American Indians/Alaska Natives living in UIHO service areas and nationwide had a disability (defined in this study as a long- lasting physical, mental, or emotional condition making it difficult for one to engage in activities such as walking, climbing stairs, dressing, bathing, learning, and remembering), compared with 1 in 5 members of the corresponding general populations. In all but 1 UIHO service area, the percentage of American Indians/Alaska Natives who were disabled exceeded the percentage observed in the general population. Maternal and Child Health Between 1991 and 2000, of approximately 400000 AIAN infants born nationwide, roughly 20% were born in UIHO service areas. Whereas the nationwide AIAN birth rate during this period was similar to the general population rate (15.5 and 14.8 per 1000, respectively), the birth rate among American Indians/Alaska Natives living in UIHO service areas was approximately one quarter lower than that in the general population (12.8 and 16.5 per 1000, respectively). The percentages of AIAN infants with low birth weights born to mothers living in UIHO service areas and nationwide were significantly lower than the percentages for all mothers combined (i.e., the general populations) in these areas. Patterns of disparities varied between UIHO service areas. Over time, from 1991 to 2000, low birth weight rates significantly increased in all populations with the exception of American Indians/Alaska Natives living in UIHO service areas. Rates of premature births among AIAN mothers living in UIHO service areas and nationwide were higher than rates among all mothers combined in these areas. Analyses of risk factors for poor birth outcomes revealed significant disparities between American Indians/Alaska Natives and the general population in birth rates among mothers who were teenagers, who were unmarried, who received late or no prenatal care, and who smoked or consumed alcohol during their pregnancy. Birth rates among teenage AIAN mothers living in UIHO service areas and nationwide were 80% higher than rates among all teenage mothers combined. Over time, birth rates among teenage mothers significantly decreased in all populations with the exception of the UIHO AIAN population. Mortality Statistics Unmarried status was associated with 70% of the AIAN infant deaths in UIHO service areas and 65% nationwide. Other associated factors included maternal smoking, teenage motherhood, late or no prenatal care, and maternal alcohol consumption, the last of which was 3 to 4 times more common among AIAN mothers living in UIHO service areas and nationwide than among all mothers combined in these areas. From 1995 to 2000, AIAN infant mortality rates in UIHO service areas and nationwide were higher than rates for the corresponding general populations.. Over time, infant mortality rates significantly decreased in the general populations living in UIHO service areas and nationwide; however, no such trends were observed in the AIAN population. From 1995 to 2000, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) was the leading cause of AIAN infant mortality in UIHO service areas. The SIDS rates among American Indians/ Alaska Natives in UIHO service areas and nationwide were at least twice the rates observed in the corresponding general populations. Over time, SIDS rates significantly decreased in all populations with the exception of American Indians/Alaska Natives living in UIHO service areas. Of approximately 100000 AIAN deaths reported nationwide from 1990 to 1999, roughly 20% occurred among American Indians/Alaska Natives living in UIHO service areas. The mortality rate in the UIHO AIAN population was substantially lower than that in the nationwide AIAN population (574 and 769 per 100000, respectively). Also, the UIHO AIAN mortality rate was lower than the rates observed in the general population living in the UIHO service areas (884 per 100000) and the overall US general population (902 per 100000). From 1990 to 1999, mortality decreased significantly in all of the populations examined with the exception of the nationwide AIAN population, in which there was a significant increase. UIHO AIAN mortality rates ranged from 120 to 1388 per 100000. Heart disease was the leading cause of death in the AIAN and general populations. As was the case with overall mortality, heart disease mortality rates were substantially lower among American Indians/Alaska Natives living in UIHO service areas than in the nationwide AIAN population and the corresponding general populations. From 1990 to 1999, heart disease mortality rates decreased significantly in all populations. UIHO AIAN rates ranged from 46 to 385 per 100000. Cancer was the second leading cause of death among American Indians/Alaska Natives living in UIHO service areas and nationwide. Rates of mortality attributable to unintentional injuries, chronic liver disease/cirrhosis, diabetes, and alcohol use among American Indians/Alaska Natives, both in UIHO service areas and nationwide, surpassed those of the corresponding general populations. From 1990 to 1999, unintentional injury mortality rates decreased significantly in all of the populations assessed with the exception of American Indians/Alaska Natives living in UIHO services areas; UIHO AIAN rates ranged from 6 to 140 per 100000. From 1990 to 1999, chronic liver disease mortality rates decreased significantly in the general population; however, no such trends were observed among American Indians/Alaska Natives. From 1990 to 1999, diabetes mortality increased significantly in all populations; UIHO AIAN rates ranged from 4 to 105 per 100000. Finally, from 1990 to 1999, mortality rates related to alcohol consumption decreased significantly in all populations; UIHO AIAN rates ranged from 3 to 71 per 100000. Health Disparities The present findings reveal striking health disparities between the AIAN and general populations both in UIHO service areas and nationwide; it is likely that disparities in socioeconomic status contribute to many of the other disparities identified. American Indians/ Alaska Natives were approximately twice as likely as the general populations of these areas to be poor, to be unemployed, and to not have a college degree. Similar differences were observed in births among mothers who received late or no prenatal care or consumed alcohol and in mortality attributed to SIDS, chronic liver disease, and alcohol consumption. Most striking was the alcohol consumption rate among AIAN mothers, which was as much as 3 to 4 times that of all mothers combined. The disparities observed in maternal and child health were consistent with the results of previous studies. The percentages of AIAN infants born in UIHO service areas proportionally mirrored the percentages of American Indians/Alaska Natives living in these areas. It is not clear why UIHO AIAN birth rates were lower than those observed in the general populations assessed. This result contrasted with UIHO AIAN infant mortality rates, which exceeded those of the general populations. A possible reason for the lower UIHO AIAN birth rates is increased mobility among the maternal UIHO AIAN population that results in deliveries taking place outside of UIHO service areas. Further clarification is needed on this issue. Although the findings just described may suggest improved health among American Indians/Alaska Natives living in UIHO service areas, the differences seen between urban and nationwide AIAN rates were not mirrored by the differences seen between urban and nationwide general population rates. An explanation for the lower UIHO AIAN mortality rates is movement among American Indians/ Alaska Natives to locations outside of UIHO service areas. The extreme variability in rates between UIHO service areas, however, suggests racial misclassification errors; such errors occur more frequently in urban settings and on death certificates. Limitations As mentioned, our goal was to provide an understanding of the health status of the urban AIAN population residing in UIHO service areas. However, 66% of urban American Indians/Alaska Natives do not live in these areas. Although exclusion of this group may affect the some of our findings, there are several points to consider. For example, the indicator rates and degrees of disparity observed among American Indians/Alaska Natives residing in UIHO service areas largely mirrored those in the nationwide AIAN population, suggesting that the former was a reasonable proxy for the urban population not included in our analyses. Also, given that our results indicate the presence of significant disparities between American Indians/Alaska Natives and the general populations living in UIHO service areas, UIHOs can use our data to better serve these urban populations. Our findings show that urban American Indians/Alaska Natives are faced with an ongoing health crisis. We found significant health disparities between the AIAN population and the general population both in urban areas and nationwide. Partnerships between tribal, federal, state, and local public health institutions should be pursued to successfully assess, address, and eliminate these disparities. Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Attacks on Red Lake Sovereignty" --------- Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2006 08:40:19 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="REPUBLICANS ATTACK RED LAKE SOVEREIGNTY TO BUY WHITE VOTES" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.walkermn.com/placed/index.php?story_id=224156 The politics of distraction Mary Olson, DFL candidate for State Senate District 4 The Pilot-Independent August 22nd, 2006 It is very disheartening to see anyone in politics attempt to use racially divisive issues for what that person believes will be a political advantage. How else does one explain the timing of a threatened challenge to the Red Lake Nation's long recognized sovereignty over their homeland and waters? While I am an attorney, I am not an expert in Indian law, nor do I claim to be an expert on the history of how the Red Lake Nation retained sovereignty over its tribal lands and waters. What I do know is that in recent years, repeated attempts by states to challenge treaties between the Federal government and tribal governments have resulted in a waste of taxpayers' money and other limited legislative resources. Federal courts continue to remind states that we are a nation of laws - laws going all the way back to the U.S. Constitution - that protect the constitutional and contract rights of the tribes involved in these types of disputes. Wouldn't we all expect our contract and constitutional rights to be upheld by these same courts, if it were our rights being challenged? In my opinion, the politicians and others who intend to get voting mileage from this issue already know their argument lacks legal merit, so their only recourse is to try and rally their cause by playing on peoples' emotions. What's really disturbing is that they appear to believe the people from our area are so easily manipulated that we will latch onto whatever distractions are thrown our way, and simply vote along racial lines. Why do these politicians think they need to distract us with racist arguments? Perhaps because people in our area are suffering from out-of- control gas prices (with no relief in sight from investment in alternative energy sources), out-of-control health care costs (with a promise of more to come in the form of higher deductibles and premiums), out-of-control property taxes (regardless of ability to pay), out-of-control college tuition ... and the list goes on. These politicians believe that if we can find other scapegoats, we may not hold them accountable for the policies that have lowered the standard of living in rural Minnesota. I believe the majority of people in our area have worked hard to overcome a history of distrust and misunderstandings between Indian and non-Indian people. We know that our entire region will benefit by working together to promote cooperation and communication in education, law enforcement, economic development, environmental issues and the fostering of mutually respectful and mutually beneficial government-to-government relations. We do not need outsiders coming into our area attempting to undo our progress for their perceived political gain. I'm proud of the people in the greater Bemidji area who see through and reject this type of unhealthy, racially motivated politics and who work together every day to build stronger ties between Indian and non-Indian communities throughout our region. Mary Olson, DFL candidate for State Senate District 4 Copyright c. 1998-2006 MultiMedia Interactive. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Tribe zeroes in on Ethanol Plant" --------- Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2006 08:40:19 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CHIPPEWA-CREE ETHANOL PLANT" http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ article?AID=/20060823/NEWS01/608230304/1002 Tribe zeroes in on ethanol plant By KIM SKORNOGOSKI Tribune Staff Writer August 23, 2006 The Chippewa-Cree Tribe Tuesday secured $20 million in tax credits - the potential key to landing private investors for a proposed $100 million ethanol plant near Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation. Neal Rosette, the National Tribal Development Association's CEO, said the tribe is weeks away from inking a deal with a major international investor. Construction could begin in spring 2007, with the plant going online a year later. The plant would be capable of producing 40 million gallons of ethanol a year - enough to satisfy the requirement made by the 2005 Legislature to blend most gasoline with 10 percent ethanol. The project also will be a boon for the tribe, creating about 200 construction jobs and another 43 to man it. But an even bigger economic benefit will be the $45 million of wheat it would buy from Hi-Line farmers every year. And rather than having to ship wheat out of Montana, farmers within 100 miles of Box Elder will have a local market. "What we're creating here will have a sustainable impact on the area economy," Tribal Vice Chairman Bruce Sun Child said. The plant will produce three products from the wheat stock, wheat gluten - which is used in products such as pizza dough - ethanol and animal feed. Cargill, an international provider of food, agriculture and risk management products, will be marketing all of the gluten and ethanol. The tribe has been working out the details of the plant for the last 23 months. Tuesday, Rural Development Partners, an Iowa company that focuses on rural investment projects, authorized the allocation of $20 million in tax credits through the U.S. Treasury Department. Sen. Max Baucus pushed for the creation of the "new market tax credits," which are aimed at Native American reservations, poor rural areas and inner cities. In return for investing in the ethanol plant, backers will get a 39 percent tax credit spread out over seven years. "This is a very significant incentive to invest in low-income communities," said Rural Development Partners consultant Steve Baker, who has been working with the tribe on the project. The money should be finalized when the next fiscal year's budget passes Congress. With investors already on line, Rosette expects the tax incentive to kick-start construction. The Chippewa-Cree Tribe will own 51 percent of the plant, which would be located on a 160-acre industrial park six miles north of Box Elder. The project is one of several economic developments the tribe is working on. In May, it broke ground on a 27,000-square-foot casino that will employ 80 people. Future plans call for the addition of a hotel and water park. A tribal construction company was created and has been working to improve infrastructure, including water pipelines that will receive water from a $267 million treatment plant at Lake Elwell. And plans are underway to start a tribal natural gas company. "We have a lot of different projects on our plate right now," Tribal Chairman John "Chance" Houle said. "(The ethanol plant) was our first priority. "From the beginning we have had the support from the surrounding communities - Big Sandy, Chester, Havre. This is not only a big project for the tribe, but for northcentral Montana and the rest of Montana as well," he added. Reach Tribune Staff Writer Kim Skornogoski at 791-6574, 800-438-6600 or kskornog@greatfal.gannett.com. Copyright c. 2006 The Great Falls Tribune. --------- "RE: Best Colleges for Native Students are in Oklahoma" --------- Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2006 08:46:28 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BEST COLLEGES" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=8110 Report: The best colleges for Native students are in Oklahoma NSU gives out the most degrees, Oklahoma State University ranks second TULSA OK Sam Lewin August 23, 2006 When it comes to earning a college degree, Native students should consider furthering their education in Oklahoma, a report reveals. The figures, quantified by a national magazine dedicated to improving diversity in the classroom and workplace, show that a trio of schools in the state round out the top three in awarding degrees to American Indians. Northeastern State University in Tahlequah gave out 328 degrees, a decrease of eight-percent since the previous list was released. NSU's lofty numbers are perhaps not surprising considering the school has long boasted the largest enrollment of Native American students of any public institution of higher education. The school was founded in 1846 and was originally called the Cherokee National Female Seminary. Oklahoma State University sits in second place on the list, awarding 297 degrees-an increase of ten-percent from last time-while the University of Oklahoma placed third. OU handed out 251 degrees, a jump of eight-percent. Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant bestowed 160 degrees on Native Americans, good enough for sixth on the list. Other Oklahoma colleges appearing on the chart are East Central University in Ada, placing tenth on the list with 93 degrees, and the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, ranked eleventh after awarding 92. Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford is tied in fiftieth place with two other schools, University of Florida and Ohio State University, after awarding only 33 degrees to Native Americans. Rogers State University in Claremore comes in at number 55 with 32 degrees and Oklahoma Wesleyan University is number 65. The numbers show the Bartlesville-based Christian college awarded 29 degrees. Tied with OWU is another Oklahoma institution of higher education, Cameron University in Lawton. The two Oklahoma schools appearing the furthest down in the rankings are the University of Tulsa and the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma in Chickasha. The two colleges are tied at number 81 after awarding 24 degrees. TU's numbers are actually an eight-percent drop from the previous year. The figures are contained in the magazine "Diverse: Issues in Higher Education" and represent stats from the 2004-2005 academic year. They include all academic disciplines. "The quality of life for current and future generations of all people depends on the ability of our colleges and universities to confer post- baccalaureate degrees on a diverse array of competent, ethical and caring individuals," said Dr. Victor M. H. Borden, one of the officials that tabulated the statistics. Borden is the associate vice chancellor at Indiana University/Purdue University at Indianapolis. Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Separated by distance, united by Language" --------- Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2006 08:40:19 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="900-YEAR SHOSHONEAN LANGUAGE REUNION" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=8107 The 900-year reunion Separated by distance, united by language Sam Lewin August 22, 2006 A coalition that existed a century ago will be replicated in a mid-sized Oklahoma town next month. The Shoshonean Language Reunion takes place Sept. 25-27 at the Comanche Nation's tribal complex in Lawton. The reunion stems from the Snake Tribe, a partnership located in what is now the state of Montana and made up of "Shoshone, Paiutes, Utes and Comanches," according to Comanche historian Reaves Nahwooks of Indiahoma, OK. Nahwooks tells the Native American Times that he became interested in the Snakes while living at the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in Idaho during the 1960s and seeing how close his Comanche language is to the dialect spoken by the Shoshone of the region. Years of research led Nahwooks to continually contemplate one tantalizing mystery: Why did the Snakes split? Various theories abound and many are passed off as fact. One idea is that the groups separated because of a "fight over meat or a fight between kids where one was killed while they were playing, so the families left," Nahwooks said. But he discounts that theory, saying that the tribes involved "don't forget, and they hold grudges. There would be some very prevalent stories [about the feud] still around." Another thought, which Nahwooks give more credence, is that the Comanches left in order to follow the buffalo, moving south into Mexico then north to Texas and Oklahoma. The idea for a reunion had been bandied about for many years but it wasn't until that late 1990s that the ball really got rolling, motivated primarily by the fact that there remained a group of tribes living 3000 miles apart yet speaking the same language. The Comanches today number about 10,000, with roughly half living in Oklahoma. Some historians believe the tribe may have once numbered 20,000. With a dwindling membership, the desire to learn more about the past apparently became even more pressing. Another factor in creating an annual reunion is use of peyote, which created a "more intense reason to promote communication," according to a write-up in the Comanche Nation News attributed to the Reunion Committee Staff. Up until the reunions began, "most information has been put together by non-Indian anthropologists, teachers, explorers, linguists, writers and others. Though this is a valuable service, it does not include in-depth information about tribal customs and traditions," the article states. The reunion places a strong emphasis on the cultural, Nahwooks said, featuring "storytelling, singing and talking about the cultures. Every tribe there does that." "Highlighted in every reunion was the hospitality that each tribe extended to visitors," the Comanche Nation News article relates. "The histories began to come together and the tribes seemed to become comfortable with each other." The first and second reunions were held in Fort Hall, with the Comanches hosting the third. Subsequent reunions have taken place in Wyoming and Nevada. With the seventh incarnation returning to Oklahoma, reunion organizers are seeking to pull out all the stops. The Comanche newspaper account is accompanied by an announcement that the reunion committee is putting out bids for caterers. "We are one people in language and tradition, but learn more customs in food and practices which makes us more knowledgeable and proud to be together," the reunion staff says. You can contact Sam Lewin at sam@okit.com Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: KITCHEYAN: Apaches will defy Mine Deal" --------- Date: Sat, 26 Aug 2006 06:48:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="KITCHEYAN: APACHES WILL PROTECT SACRED LANDS" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/ articles/0828kitcheyan28.html Apaches will defy mine deal that threatens sacred lands Kathy W. Kitcheyan My Turn August 28, 2006 Editor's note: The following is in response to the Thursday editorial "Firm hand needed to guide mining deal," which supported efforts in Congress to effect a complex land exchange to enable the Resolution Copper Co. to begin site preparation for a huge underground copper mine near Superior. Our position is simple and straightforward. For the Apaches, this area, which includes Oak Flat campground and Apache Leap, belongs to the Gaan, who are our sacred Crowndancers. Since time immemorial, we have found refuge there and gathered precious medicinal herbs and traditional food there. Our goal is to protect these sites from potential ruin. Once they are lost, they can never be regained. Our people will not sacrifice our ancestors' legacy and our children's future for the political expediency of moving legislation forward that does not protect these sites. The Republic's editorial stated that tribal concerns have been "satisfactorily addressed." However, this is simply not true. The fact is that SB 2466 does not contain provisions that adequately protect our sacred sites. For example, the Oak Flat Campground will be closed after two years due to safety concerns associated with the mining process. Also, while the conservation easement accommodates the town of Superior's concerns over its scenic view, as well as the rock-climbing communities' concern over its continued recreational enjoyment in that area, it does not address the Apache people's cultural, religious and historical concerns. When Resolution Copper Co. was putting together this land exchange package over the past few years, it reached out to many groups to discuss the legislation but it never approached the San Carlos Apache Tribal Council. Resolution Copper never once sat down with the council to discuss the land exchange, and instead, chose to rely on the U.S. Forest Service's representations of the tribe's views. We are now in the process of trying to learn as much as possible about the potential impacts of the proposed mining on this land, including the environmental effects and the impact on our sacred sites. Resolution Copper is still trying to determine the extent of the impact of operations on the site. Resolution Copper has indicated it is not sure what the extent of the "crinkling" on the surface would be from the mining but that it would be at least a mile in diameter. Also, we understand that it is still trying to determine what the impact of the mining would have on the water table below the surface. In order to bypass objections to these impacts, we understand that Resolution Copper is pushing for the land exchange to be exempt from the National Environmental Policy Act. If this occurs, then the environmental impacts will not have to be assessed on the project. The Apaches will not, under any condition, allow our ancestral lands to be compromised. No society would allow for the religious desecration of their sacred sites and neither will the Apache The writer is chairwoman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe. Copyright c. 2006, azcentral.com. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: YELLOW BIRD: Signature event lives up to name" --------- Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2006 08:44:43 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YELLOW BIRD: REUNION AT HOME OF SAKAKAWEA" http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/columnists/15329528.htm DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: Signature event lives up to name August 22, 2006 It was an event that gave meaning to the word event. Over the weekend, the 14th in a series of 15 national signature events was held to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition. The event, "Reunion at the Home of Sakakawea," was held at the home of the Three Affiliated Tribes - the Arikara (Sahnish), Mandan and Hidatsa tribes - near New Town, N.D. The event was a first for the tribe and a tremendous undertaking. My mother might have said, "They bit off more than they could chew, " and if you looked at the events calendar, you might agree. They had everything: demonstrations, games, dancing, speakers, a trade fair, powwow, Lewis and Clark re-enactors and much more. But in spite of the fact that the schedule would make you dizzy just looking at it, things worked fairly well, to the credit of the tribal planners. Yes, a few events were late or ran into unforeseen problems, but the small number of them was amazing considering the complexity of the three-day event. On Friday, the women who participated in the Warriors of the Plains competition (call it an Iron Woman contest) ran, swam, rowed boats and rode horses over high buttes, slick hills and in a steady rain. Readers who know the western part of the state know rain can turn an innocent country road in a bluish gumbo. When I walked from the road to an earth lodge for Arikara demonstrations and looked down at my feet, I saw they were wider than a shoebox and sticky with gumbo. As I stood outside the earth lodge and on the hill above the finish line, I could see riders (the team of Natka Baker, Tisha Fredericks and Skylee Luger) dash through the finish line. But I couldn't help feeling sorry for the second-place winners, in that the lead rider's horse suddenly had stopped short and wouldn't cross the line. The rider behind had passed her for the win. Most of the events were held on the peninsula immediately across the wide, tall new bridge from New Town. Events also were held in New Town itself, and the streets were packed with vendors, chairs and people. There were about 25 teepees along the route and on the peninsula, I was told, and one official told me a very unofficial count numbered visitors and participants at 25,000 people. The peninsula itself was filled with campers, teepees, tents and cars, along with the powwow arena, casino and tribal buildings. It looked like new city and smelled deliciously of hot dogs and hamburgers. Loudspeakers announced new events and speakers, and through it all, the drum songs and jingle of dancers echoed off the high eastern cliffs. In all this hype, it was easy to forget that the Mandan and Hidatsa actually lived farther south at what is called Knife River. The Arikara were even farther south near the mouth of the Grand River, then called the Arikara River. There was disagreement about the event, too. Who was Sakakawea - Lemhi- -Shoshone or Hidatsa? We know she lived with the Hidatsa and was married to Toussaint Charbonneau. Sakakawea's contribution showed some of what Indian women did as a part of their daily lives. They were skilled and courageous but rarely written about. Her belated fame in the last 5 or 10 years helps give Indian women credit. So, was she Hidatsa or Shoshone? My opinion, based on Lewis and Clark's journals, is that she was Shoshone. Another question: Was the Corps of Discovery the beginning of the end for Native people? Did the Corps open the door to the onslaught of non- Natives "who took the heart out of the people," as a Lakota man expressed to me? Based on my research of the tribes in this area, those events probably were inevitable, I believe. And if it hadn't been Lewis and Clark, it might have been "yahoos" who would have been much more destructive. Few Native people were killed in the course of the Lewis and Clark expedition, and the Corps brought some understanding of Native people to the East. At the signature event, I talked with the great-great-great grandson of William Clark. He played Clark in this four-year journey. This former Ford engineer knows the history and played the role well. Later, we discussed the lack of understanding of the ways of Native people then and today. As I ate breakfast Sunday morning at the casino buffet, "Clark" and a couple of his men - in full dress - came in to eat. Why weren't the re- -enactors down by the river cooking deer meat and eating roots? I asked with a smile. He laughed, but I think a little nervously. The Corps of Discovery II, the National Park Service's traveling exhibit that the re-enactors were a part of, spoke well of the Native people on this trip and was a good fit to the event. Large groups of people came through the Arikara earth lodge, many of them from around the area. In spite of that, most of them never had been to a Native American event, they said - which surprised us. The Three Affiliated Tribes shouldn't let the event end there. It should become an annual event showcasing, teaching and bridging the cultures of these groups of people. ---- Dorreen Yellow Bird's column appears Tuesday and Saturday. Reach her at (701) 780-1228 or dyellowbird@gfherald.com Copyright c. 2006 Grand Forks Herald/Grand Forks, ND. --------- "RE: JODI RAVE: Native Athletic Events an inspiration" --------- Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2006 08:47:03 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="JODI RAVE: RETURN OF NATIVE ATHLETIC EVENTS" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2006/08/27/jodirave/rave84.txt Return of Native athletic events sign of a healthy lifestyle By JODI RAVE of the Missoulian August 27, 2006 NEW TOWN, N.D. - Marty Young Bear stood in the middle of the dance arena as singers slapped drumsticks against rawhide drums and spectators whooped and hollered in a salute to the Warrior of the Plains. The 26-year-old smiled and modestly accepted a new saddle, part of an award that accompanied a $1,500 cash prize in an ultimate test of athletic endurance. The Warrior of the Plains contest was held last week during the Fort Berthold Reservation's "Reunion at the Home of Sakakawea," the second-to- last of 15 national Lewis and Clark signature events staged around the country over the past two years. Young Bear of Mandaree earned his warrior title during an eight-mile race requiring him to run a grueling cross-country course, paddle a windy stretch of lake and ride a fast and spirited horse. Prizes were given to the top three finishers. David Dobbs of New Town and Michael Linklater of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, placed second and third, respectively. My nieces, sister and I walked up a steep hill overlooking Lake Sakakawea on a Friday morning to watch the contest as hundreds of others cheered from below. We had a spectacular view of the course, which was monitored from atop the hill by some race officials. Linklater of the Thunderchild First Nation Reserve took the lead early on foot and in the canoe. But Young Bear caught him at the first lake buoy. Dobbs held a steady position among the top five contestants in the canoe and on foot. Linklater, 23, reclaimed his lead once he landed his canoe and started running. The shirtless, shoeless champion runner - he decided not to put on his shoes after getting out of the canoe so he wouldn't lose time - quickly put hundreds of yards between him and the pack. The contest was ultimately determined by horsemanship. Linklater lost his lead to Young Bear and 15-year-old Dobbs - both citizens of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation. Young Bear's feet never touched the ground as he moved from one horse to the next. Dobbs - my brother's son - is a rodeo champion who has been competing since he was 10. Women competed the day before in a similar contest plotted as a three- person relay. The Warrior of the Plains contest marks a recent surge among tribes in the past five years to recognize outstanding athletes, many leading drug- and alcohol-free lives. In Arizona, the annual Lori Piestewa National Native American Games were introduced three years ago, drawing 1,500 athletes from five states. And in July, more than 7,000 Native athletes - a record - participated in the North American Indigenous Games. The event marked only the second time the games were played in the United States. The NAIG competitions are expected to draw 9,000 athletes to British Columbia in 2008. Also, the Native American Basketball Invitational, or NABI Hoops, debuted in 2003. It attracts some of the country's best high school basketball players. Teams should be organizing now if they plan to compete in the 2007 tournament July 8-14 in Phoenix. Fort Berthold's Warrior of the Plains contest is the first such event on the reservation in recent memory. Organizers modeled the all-around sporting event after the Crow Nation's Ultimate Warrior Challenge Triathlon - that event was organized about six years ago. This year, the Ultimate Warrior winner took home a $6,000 prize, while the women's relay competitors split a purse for the same amount. Young Bear not only claimed the warrior title this year at Fort Berthold, but also won the Ultimate Warrior Challenge last year in Crow Agency. I've been fortunate to see athletes compete in nearly all of these sporting events. They've been an inspiration to me, their families and communities. The recent surge in Native athletic events is a positive signal that tribal people are once again embracing a healthy lifestyle once ingrained in the culture. Now it's up to families and communities to keep the momentum alive. Jodi Rave covers Native issues for the Missoulian. Reach her at (800) 366-7186 or jodi.rave@lee.net Copyright c. 2006 Missoulian, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Totem Pole's return to Haisla" --------- Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2006 08:44:43 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TOTEM POLE COMES HOME" Totem pole's return to Haisla By Rudy Kelly Raven's Eye Writer KITAMAAT August - 2006 After standing for 77 years in a foreign land far, far away, the G'psgolox totem pole is back where it belongs: in Haisla territory. Hundreds of Haisla Nation members joined dignitaries and members of other First Nations in Kitamaat village July 1 to celebrate the homecoming of the G'psgolox pole. It is believed to be the first North American First Nation totem pole ever to be repatriated from Europe and it was welcomed with appropriate ceremony. The pole welcoming and feast was held at the Kitamaat community centre, preceded by a procession of chiefs and dancers that started at the waterfront and ended about a half-hour later with a grand entry into the packed hall. Joining the celebration were representatives from other area First Nations, as well as Skeena MP Nathan Cullen, renowned environmentalist Dr. David Suzuki, and a contingent from Sweden, from where the pole was repatriated. "We don't see it as being that we have lost a totem pole, but that we have gained friends," said Anders Bjorklund, director of the Museum of Ethnography in Stockholm, Sweden, to the large crowd. "It is a great day for you, the Haisla people, and a special day for us who have come from Sweden. Hopefully, this will inspire other museums in other countries to start this kind of relationship with First Nations people." The pole was placed horizontally on its back at the front of the hall, covered by a heavy, non-transparent, plastic sheet. Tree branches were laid over it. After a lunch of soup dished out by volunteers, and when speeches had been made, it was time for the unveiling, which involved a little bit of sleight of hand. The ancestors of G'psgolox were all brought forward and lined up in front of the pole and, after several minutes, they marched out of the hall. Unbeknownst to the audience, workers had been taking off the plastic cover in behind the ancestors so that, when they proceeded out, they acted as a human curtain being drawn back, revealing the pole in a breathtaking, magical moment. Keen audience members and photographers had to be told many times to stand back as chiefs and Elders were given the first opportunity to look upon the pole, its age noticeable by wear and long cracks here and there. There was a sense of awe and reverence as people walked along the pole. They stood for long moments to gaze upon a once long-lost piece of their history. "I remember the first time we saw the pole," said Gerald Amos, a lead member of the committee that travelled to Sweden in the early 1990s to confirm the pole's identity. "The power we felt from it was indescribable. It is a symbol of hope that is going to live with us forever." The pole was originally commissioned by Haisla Chief G'psgolox in 1872 to commemorate an encounter he had with the spirit, Tsooda, who showed compassion to G'psgolox after he had suffered a great loss, losing all of his children. The pole features three images: at the top, Tsooda, who wears a hat that revolves on his head; in the middle, Asoalget, a personified image; and, at the bottom, a mythical grizzly bear that lives under the water. The pole was cut down in 1929 at the Haisla village Misk,Aousa, located in B.C.'s Kitlope Valley, by an Indian agent. It was sold under dubious circumstances to Sweden. It wasn't until 62 years later that the Haisla discovered the pole's whereabouts and began negotiations with Sweden to repatriate it, which the Swedes finally agreed to in 2005. The pole was welcomed back to Canadian soil in April by Chief G'psgolox (Dan Paul, Sr.) at the UBC Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver, where it stayed until its July return to Haisla territory. Fundraising efforts have already begun towards the creation of a Haisla Cultural Centre, the centerpiece of which will be the G'psgolox pole. ,AuTo the totem pole committee, I say, ,Ao'a job well done,,Ao,Au' said a beaming Kitamaat Chief Councillor Steve Wilson. ,AuHaisla culture is alive and well." Copyright c. BC Raven's Eye - AMMSA - Aboriginal Multi-Media Society. --------- "RE: Peace Legacy gone awry" --------- Date: Monday, August 21, 2006 03:44 pm From: frostyca2000 Subj: Peace legacy gone awry Mailing List: Frostys AmerIndian Peace legacy gone awry American author Alan Taylor looks askance at native clashes and the fatalism surrounding the standoff at Caledonia Becky Rynor Citizen Special August 20, 2006 CREDIT: Julie Oliver, for the citizen's weekly Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alan Taylor says First Nations relationships were once a model of cooperation and partnership. As Pulitzer prize-winning author and historian Alan Taylor views the ongoing clashes between whites and First Nations -- most recently in Caledonia -- one has to wonder: Is it with a sense of irony? Deja vu? Frustration or futility? That this is how the relationship between natives and non-natives was, is and ever shall be? "Tragedy," he says bluntly, on an overcast Ottawa morning, where he was busy once again delving deep into files at the National Library and Archives. "It is with a sense of tragedy because history had different possibilities," the 50-year-old American author says definitively. "Sometimes we tend to tell history in terms of continued polarity. Always been at each other's throats, always will be. There's a certain fatalism. Hindsight creates an illusion of inevitability," he says. Yet he knows otherwise. From extensive research, exhaustive fact-finding, from poring over centuries-old accounts chronicling the lives of Indians and settlers he found there were, and are options to an all-too familiar scenario. Recently, the conflict between members of the Six Nations Reserve in Southwestern Ontario and white residents over a tract of land near Caledonia erupted again with violence, racial slurs, finger-pointing and new accusations of dirty dealings on both sides. Non-native residents favour a housing development proposed for the land near the Grand River. Natives -- whose ancestors have occupied the area since 1780, Taylor points out -- are opposed to it. As the anger escalates, Taylor says history clearly shows there were different examples, hopeful possibilities, even successful partnerships between two sides who once stood on virtually the same land, and who once stood together. Taylor had set out to research a book about the Civil War of 1812 between the Americans and the British when he "got sidetracked." He was approaching that book in trademark style, "from the top down." In other words, a history of the war not from the point of view of the leaders, the generals and the captains, but from the people on the ground. In the 1700s, that would have been the settlers, the loyalists, the rebels and the Indians. "I'm trying to do it as more of a social history," Taylor says. "Social history tries to read between the lines. I'm interested in the people who are caught in the middle. The people who are in the margins in the official story. I want to get at the common people." When he went looking, he found that overwhelmingly, the surviving documents were about First Nations. "I wanted to understand the 1790s, and the events leading up to the war of 1812," he says. "I was struck by what I learned about First Nations. You had this phenomenon of councils where the chiefs would get together with the British and American leaders. The speeches of the chiefs are recorded and so are the replies. "People ask me, 'how do you find out the words and thoughts of Native people?' These are very rich documents," he says. "From reading all these documents, mostly about Indians, I became convinced that this -- the Indian story from the 1760s to the War of 1812 -- was a story I wanted to tell on its own." That story became Taylor's fourth and most recently-published book, The Divided Ground, Indians, Settlers, and the Northern Borderland of the American Revolution. "Indian people in the 1790s still had considerable military authority," Taylor says. "They were well-armed. They understood the land. It was their land, after all. So the British and American leaders took them very seriously. There was hyperconcern to be on good terms with Indians." Indeed, the book acknowledges that 300 Indian warriors were more than a match for 1,000 soldiers. The First Nations were also astute in recognizing the need to hang on to their land as waves of settlers arrived, casting covetous eyes on fertile land and game-laden forests on Indian territories. "On both sides of the border, there were some very clever and sophisticated Indian leaders who didn't want to sell their land, which they would get pennies for. So they came up with a system of leasing land to the settlers. This allowed them to remain autonomous. So there were some successful examples of settlers living on land paying Indian leaders." In the late 1790s, Thayenendaga, also known as Joseph Brant, the pre- eminent chief of the Iroquois confederacy of the Six Nations, regarded settlers and natives as equal partners in defending a shared province. During the American Revolution, settlers and Indians had fought side by side as allies against the rebels who had created the United States of America. In his research, Taylor found classic examples of how two cultures understood jockeying for ownership of land and how the two sides approached that goal in very different fashions. "Compared to the colonists," he writes, "the Iroquois used land extensively rather than intensively. The natives did clear and cultivate compact fields near their villages, but they kept most of their domain as a forest to sustain wild plants and animals." Taylor remains hopeful those early partnerships by "ancestors of today's protesters" will prevail on both sides of the barricades. "If people understand history, they understand their present better," Taylor says. "It might be useful for us, in the present, to understand that the past had many different paths to what is now our present. There were hopeful possibilities in the past. Not just inevitability." Becky Rynor is an Ottawa writer. Copyright c. The Ottawa Citizen 2006. --------- "RE: GRAY: Haudenosaunee Rule of Law: Caledonia" --------- Date: Sat, 26 Aug 2006 06:48:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BARBARA GRAY: HAUDENOSAUNEE RULE OF LAW" http://members.aol.com/miketben1/ruleolaw.htm GUEST EDITORIAL HAUDENOSAUNEE RULE OF LAW: CALEDONIA BY: BARBARA GRAY INDIAN TIME - Vol. 24 #32 Seskeha August 17, 2006 Whose Rule of Law is being violated in Caledonia? Many First Nations people consider themselves to be citizens of their own Aboriginal Nations. This seems to be a fact that the newspaper media is forgetting as they report that the Rule of Law is being violated in Caledonia where Six Nations citizens are maintaining a protest over housing being built on land that was secured to them in the Haldimand Tract Proclamation of 1784. Citizens of Six Nations are standing up for their Rights; while citizens of Caledonia believe they are standing up for their Rights, too. Six Nations leaders reiterate that the problem is not between the residents of Caledonia and the Six Nations. The conflict is between Six Nations and the Crown. The land conflict is just happening in Caledonia's backyard; but, such a problem could arise anywhere on Turtle Island, North America, the Aboriginal homelands of First Nations peoples, which is why everyone is watching and many are willing to become involved in helping the people of Six Nations. What we are seeing in Caledonia is a modern day example of the clashes that can occur when the teachings of the Two Row Wampum are forgotten, not respected, or simply not taught to new generations. The Two Row Wampum is a belt that represents Haudenosaunee sovereingty when dealing with non-Haudenosaunee Nations. The belt contains foundational laws and principles used when dealing and entering into Treaties and Agreements with non-Haudenosaunee governments and their agencies. The Belt has two parallel rows of purple on a field of white wampum. Each purple row represents the two Nations of people who are travelling down the same river in separate vessels. The Haudenosaunee are in their canoes with their culture, their laws, their customs, and their traditional life ways. The non-Native people are in their own ships with their culture, their laws, their customs, and their traditional life ways. The foundational principle and teaching of the wampum is that each are in their own vessels and are not to steer the other's vessel, which means they are to respect each others' sovereignty, differences, and ways of life. How can a law, asserted by the Ship, control the Canoe? Is that respecting Haudenosaunee sovereignty? What is the rule of law? It depends on where your feet are standing. If you are a Haudenosaunee citizen, following your traditional teachings, then your feet are in the canoe with your laws, customs, and traditional teachings. The Haudenosaunee are not lawless. The Haudenosaunee Nation leadership and each person in the Canoe have to keep in mind their actions' effect on the peace, the environment, and the future generations. This is a heavy burden to carry because it means that one is responsible for each action taken, or not taken, and how that action shapes the future. Those individuals who do not take the time to think, or those who burn tires, or cause destruction are not living according to the traditional teachings, for such actions negatively impact the environment and health and welfare of the present and the future generations. There are a few citizens of the Canoe and Ship who are violating their Nation's own rule of law. If there is going to be a peaceful resolution to the situation in Caledonia, it will depend on keeping those who are violating their respective laws, in check. The Clanmothers and Chiefs are doing their best to keep the peace and reprimand violators. Are the leaders of the Ship doing their part to keep their violators in check? Clearly, the way to a peaceful resolution is through government-to- government negotiations between Six Nations and the Crown. However, these negotiations have been stalled, for the time being, by Ontario Superior Court Justice David Marshall's Court Order to suspend negotiations with the Six Nations Confederacy until the protest site is cleared. Here Marshall is wielding the Ship's law as a sword and not as a tool for justice and peace. The Ship is using its process to determine the rule of law, for itself, meanwhile the Attorney General, Michael Bryant, of Ontario and Ontario representatives of the Crown are Appealing Justice Marshall's decision. When the Ship is ready, the people of Six Nations will be ready to resume negotiations. Copyright c. 1999-2006 INDIAN TIME Newspaper. --------- "RE: We don't know where next Meal is coming from" --------- Date: Monday, August 28, 2006 02:35 pm From: frostyca2000 Subj: WE DON'T KNOW WHERE OUR NEXT MEAL IS COMING FROM Mailing List: Frostys AmerIndian "WE DON'T KNOW WHERE OUR NEXT MEAL IS COMING FROM" MNN. Aug. 25, 2006. This is a request from the Men and Women's Councils of the Six Nations Reclamation Site. We are asking you, our brothers, sisters, friends and allies, to reach into your pockets to help those of us who are in need. On February 28th 2006 we repossessed our land formerly known as "Douglas Creek Estates" [near Caledonia Ontario] to stop the continued illegal encroachment on our territory. It is now almost 6 months later. We have held steadfast, despite many attacks from the courts, governments, Ontario Provincial Police, US ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) and state sponsored hate groups. Our Six Nations Confederacy Chiefs and Clan Mothers continue to carry out the will of the People, to repossess our property through peaceful means. We are going nowhere but here! Talks with Canada and Ontario are continuing despite the attempt of one renegade judge to interfere. There's tons of money on the other side. We don't have a cent. We have been able to stay here despite redneck renegades and the bureaucratic machine that tried to steamroll us. This is an important time. They want to starve us out but things are changing fast. If we can hold our own for a while longer, we may be able to show them a path to a peaceful solution. TO STAY HERE WE URGENTLY NEED MONEY. We are going to stay and protect "Kanenstaton", our repossessed land. The cold weather and winter are coming. We would greatly appreciate your making donations to the Six Nations through the MNN Mohawk Nation News website www.mohawknationnews.com at the "Donate" link using PayPal; or send checks to Janie Jamieson, RR#6, Hagersville (Ontario, Canada) N0A 1H0; or deposit directly into Bank of Montreal account: transit #3752 Account #3011-285. Contact Hazel at thebasketcase@on.aibn.com 519-445-0719, 519-865-7722, 905-517-7006. MNN Mohawk Nation News has been here since day one and we will always be here. If you want to know more about what's been going on, visit our website at www.mohawknationnews.com. Nia:wen Kahentinetha Horn kahentinetha@mohawknationnews.com --------- "RE: Clearing up Land Claim backlog major Priority" --------- Date: Thursday, August 24, 2006 01:59 pm From: frostyca2000 Subj: Clearing up land claim backlog major priority, says Prentice Mailing List: Frostys AmerIndian Clearing up land claim backlog major priority, says Prentice 23 August, 2006 - by Joseph Quesnel A major priority for the new federal government will be to clear up a major backlog of outstanding treaty land agreemnts in the province of Manitoba, said Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice. Prentice made the announcement yesterday to the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs' annual general meeting at Opaskwayak Cree Nation, located near The Pas, Manitoba. "This land has been identified, it's been selected, and to have a process where it takes 10 to 20 years before it's made available to the First Nations is not acceptable," he said, during his announcement. Prentice mentioned to the chiefs assembled that he will simplify the process of converting agreed-upon land, which can involved up to 26 separate steps. He also added that the slowness of handling land claims was an issue of concern in a recent report by the federal auditor general. Prentice pledged to convert about 150,000 acres a year for the next four years, with the help of the provincial government. The government will also provide whatever extra resources are necessary to speed things up, he said, including the hiring of more land surveyors. One chief from the Opaskwayak Cree Nation mentioned that their community alone is owed more than 65,000 acres of land near The Pas. Many leaders are concerned over the agreements as they affect projects they want to build on their land. Native leaders who were in attendance at the general meeting expressed their support for the minister's announcement, stating that this is the first time in over a decade that an Indian Affairs minister has met with them. --------- "RE: Six Nations Women lay claim to Windmills" --------- Date: Wednesday, August 23, 2006 02:36 pm From: frostyca2000 Subj: Six Nations women lay claim to windmills Mailing List: Frostys AmerIndian Six Nations women lay claim to windmills By John Burman The Hamilton Spectator August 19, 2006 Two Six Nations women title holders have laid claim to a $27-million green power wind farm project near Shelburne. Kahentinetha Horn, who lives at the Kahnawake reserve near Montreal and another woman from the Akwesasne reserve near Cornwall, have filed what they say is a notice of seizure on behalf of the greater Six Nations population which includes residents of Six Nations of the Grand Reserve near Caledonia. Traditionally, title to Mohawk land is vested through the women as caretakers of the land for future generations. The two have also laid claim to an Etobicoke Board of Education outdoor site in Nottawasaga Township as well as the Highway 407 toll expressway at different times recently. None of these sites has been occupied. Janie Jamieson, spokesperson for the Six Nations Confederacy members occupying the Douglas Creek Estates subdivision property in Caledonia since February, said yesterday the wind farm claim does not originate with local Six Nations but is done on their behalf as part of the North American Six Nations population. Speaking for herself, Jamieson said she supports the windmill seizure because, as a native mother, she does not wish to see her children have to man barricades and protest to claim what is theirs. In her seizure announcement, Horn says the private, 45-turbine project by Canadian Hydro Developers Inc., of Calgary, located in Melancthon Township and its planned 88-unit expansion is on native land and therefore the turbines are native property. The second stage of the project has been undergoing environmental assessment. However the province says that has been put on hold pending the outcome of the land claim. That's news to Canadian Hydro. CEO John Keating says neither the provincial or federal government has told the company there is a native claim on the land they lease from farmers in the area. Keating says that because the company leases the land, the turbines would not belong to Six Nations anyway. He said the company has only been told the environmental assessment hearing was pushed up a level because there were 15 letters of concern filed with the Ministry of Environment about the second phase of the project. None of those were from native groups, he said, adding Canadian Hydro notified all the native groups the federal government had told them to and none objected. He said Six Nations was not on that list. A spokesman for the Department of Indian Affairs has said no formal claim has been filed on the land. Keating said it is the company's understanding that the provincial Ministry of Environment is looking for a meeting with Six Nations and he expects the firm will be invited. "We told everyone we were told to notify about the project about it," he said. Horn also says Six Nations can take credit for stalling the next phase of the wind farm which was to proceed next year. Horn, who teaches history at Concordia University in Montreal and is a passionate and prolific contributor to the Mohawk Nation News, says the site is on the Haldimand tract, a strip of land six miles either side of the Grand River from its source to Lake Erie which was granted to the Six Nations people "forever" in 1784 for their service as Allies of the British Crown during The American Revolution. She says a Mohawk resident of the township called the title holders in January to tell them the windmills are on native land and an objection was filed to an "illegal" incursion," adding that Canada has allowed native land and resources to be stolen through illegal land transfers and fraud, she said. Now, she said, Canada is "stealing another of our resources, the wind." She said the company invited native representatives to a meeting but the title holders wanted all financial information about the company. It is not known if the meeting took place. "We say, 'Thanks for the windmills. Now we can sit down and talk about what we're going to give you out of it, if we want to...The windmills are on our property. It's ours. You'll just have to keep your hands off them and talk to us about it." With files from Spectator wire services jburman@thespec.com or 905-526-2469 --------- "RE: BC cashes in on Aboriginal Land Claims" --------- Date: Thursday, August 24, 2006 01:54 pm From: frostyca2000 Subj: BC Government Cashes in on Aboriginal Land Claims Mailing List: Frostys AmerIndian BC Government Cashes in on Aboriginal Land Claims According to the BC Financial Statements the score is 100% for the province of British Columbia and 0% for Aboriginal Peoples. The BC government depends upon the BC Financial Statements to maintain confidence in the BC government and boost their credit rating with Standard and Poor's from ?AA to AA. The Canadian government extinguishment and land selection process is the backbone behind the British Columbia strategy to keep power and control over our natural wealth and resources. In fact the grassroots must insist that the people who are negotiating under the BCTC should stop. The BC government is using these negotiations in their Financial Statements to justify their business as usual approach. The data in this hand out clearly shows us that we are getting almost zero percent recognition of our Aboriginal Title. It is clear that negotiations under the present policy are totally lopsided in favor of the provincial government. The Maritimes and other groups accepting the so called BC model should seriously look at these facts because this is what you are buying into. It is a very slippery slope that is why those caught at the negotiation table in BC cannot get away because the loans. Arthur ________________________________ Arthur Manuel Indigenous Network on Economies and Trade (INET) Suite 714 Dominion Building 207 West Hastings Street Vancouver, British Columbia, V6B 1H7 CANADA Cell: (250) 319-0688 e-mail: amanuel@telus.net or artmanuel@earthlink.net --------- "RE: New Health Centre in Canoe Lake Cree First Nation" --------- Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2006 08:44:43 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HEALTH CENTRE OPENS" http://news.gc.ca/cfmx/view/en/index.jsp?articleid=234349 Minister Prentice Opens New Health Centre in Canoe Lake Cree First Nation August 22, 2006 CANOE NARROWS, Saskatchewan - The Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Me'tis and Non-Status Indians, on behalf of the Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Health, today participated in the official opening of the Senator Jonas Lariviere Health Centre at Canoe Lake Cree First Nation. Health Canada's First Nations and Inuit Health Branch provided just over $1.6 million dollars in funding for the construction of the new health centre, which includes three new residences for nurses, as well as enhancements to existing residences. "Our investment reflects the priorities and goals we share and is an important step to achieving positive health outcomes for First Nations people," said Minister Clement. "The services provided at Canoe Lake Cree First Nation are a good example of quality health care delivered by First Nations with support from Health Canada." The Canoe Lake Cree First Nation receives health services through the Meadow Lake Tribal Council (MLTC) under a transfer agreement with Health Canada. A range of health services and programs are delivered from the new enhanced health centre, including community health and treatment; nursing; drug, alcohol and solvent abuse prevention; mental health promotion; children's programs; home care services; community health co-ordination; and, dental therapy services. "This new health centre is an important step forward for this community, and will directly contribute to an improved quality of life," said Minister Prentice. "It is also a symbol of how communities like yours and the government can work together to find solutions that build stronger communities and create opportunities." The facility is named in honour of Senator Jonas Lariviere, who at 99 years of age is the oldest resident of the Canoe Lake community. He was one of the five founding members of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN), and has been a FSIN senator for many years. Government of Canada Newsroom. --------- "RE: Dudley died standing up for Aboriginal Rights" --------- Date: Monday, August 21, 2006 02:34 pm From: Don Subj: Dudley George died standing up for aboriginal rights: brother Mailing List: Frostys AmerIndian http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/21082006/2/ national-dudley-george-died-standing-aboriginal-rights-brother.html Dudley George died standing up for aboriginal rights: brother August 21, 2006 FOREST, Ont. (CP) - Dudley George's brother says the aboriginal protester died standing up for the rights of his people. Sam George says he's proud of his brother for defending aboriginal land, even though it cost the 38-year old his life. George's words to the Ipperwash inquiry come as the judicial probe into his brother's death hears final submissions. Dudley George was shot by a police sniper on Sept. 6, 1995 when provincial police marched on Ipperwash Provincial Park, on the shores of Lake Huron. A splinter group of aboriginals from the nearby Kettle and Stony Point reserve had taken control of the park two days earlier, claiming they were protecting burial grounds. His brother says Dudley can rest in peace now that inquiry is heading into its final phase. Four days of final arguments will be heard this week, with a closing ceremony set for Friday. Justice Sidney Linden says he expects to deliver his final report to the Ontario government before year's end. The inquiry has heard testimony from 139 witnesses during 229 days of hearings. The extent to which the former Conservative government interfered with the police handling of the standoff has been a key issue at the judicial probe. Copyright c. 2006 Yahoo! Canada Co. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Harris did 'the unthinkable' on Ipperwash" --------- Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2006 08:40:19 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HARRIS' WORDS BECAME OPP LETHAL ACTION" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/ Article_Type1&c=Article&pubid=968163964505&cid=1156241412646&col= 968705899037&call_page=TS_News&call_pageid=968332188492 &call_pagepath=News/News Harris did 'the unthinkable' on Ipperwash GREGORY BONNELL CANADIAN PRESS August 22, 2006 FOREST, Ont. - Long-standing allegations that Mike Harris deliberately influenced the police action at Ipperwash Provincial Park in 1995 were both dismissed Tuesday as a "character assassination" and held up as the true impetus behind the fatal shooting of protester Dudley George. As then-Ontario premier, Harris - by his own admission - wanted a quick end to the Ipperwash occupation, a view he expressed during an informal government meeting held just hours before George was killed. Julian Falconer, who represents Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto, was incredulous as he argued before the inquiry into George's death that Harris ought to have known the impact his words would have. "What the premier has done is the unthinkable," Falconer told the inquiry, which is expected to wrap up this week after more than 25 months and more than 139 witnesses. "(Harris) has expressed an opinion to someone who is from the OPP... Quite predictably - in fact, I say quite deliberately on the part of Premier Harris - that opinion was then conveyed to incident command." Several seconded provincial police officers attended the so-called dining room meeting at the provincial legislature on Sept. 6, 1995. The incident commander at Ipperwash, Insp. John Carson, later received a phone call from one of them, and was told how critical Harris was of the way police were handling the crisis. That criticism guided Carson's judgment when he failed to call off the riot squad that had been ordered to march on the protesters in his absence, Falconer said. "When you have your judgment challenged by the most powerful political figure in the province... how quick are you going to be to apply the brakes?" he argued. "There is a direct link between the actions of the Harris government and the absolute mess that was that march by the riot squad." Harris's lawyer, meanwhile, warned against interpreting the premier's questions about how police were handling the standoff as ``implied direction." "It is not reasonable to attempt to stretch the asking of this question by Mike Harris into a direction to police," Peter Downard told the inquiry. "No participant in the meeting thought that it was a direction to police." Outside the inquiry, Downard expressed dismay at the allegations that have long dogged his client. "I think these are very unfortunate accusations, they are plainly just malicious tactics designed to assassinate Mr. Harris's character," he said. "I think there's been a very unfortunate focus on trying to find a bogey man, and build an unmeritorious case against Mike Harris personally throughout this matter." Copyright c. 2006 Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe threatened with Lawsuit" --------- Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2006 08:45:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LAND USE TALKS STALL" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2006/08/25/town_tribe_stalls.php Town, Tribe Agreement Stalls at Special Meeting; Future Remains in Doubt By IAN FEIN August 25, 2006 A land use agreement negotiated by town and tribal leaders this spring is now in a state of limbo, after Aquinnah voters at a special town meeting on Tuesday decided to put the untested venture on hold. Reacting to the vote, which they called a shocking betrayal by members of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), two town selectmen, as well as their attorney, vowed this week to press the tribe to secure town permits for the Wampanoag Community Center, a 6,500 square-foot building which is nearing completion on tribal lands. Unless the tribe moves forward with the proposed land use agreement or community center permits, the two governments which share the small town of Aquinnah may soon find themselves back in court. Tribal council chairman Donald Widdiss said on Wednesday that he hopes an agreement will still be reached, but acknowledged that its fate at this point appears uncertain. "We're talking at least, which is an important sign of respect for each other's authority," Mr. Widdiss said. "But if we can't get both sides together, then the scenario which nobody wants is to let the courts decide. And that means a continuing process of litigation." At issue is whether the federally recognized tribe must obtain town permits for development projects on tribal lands. The two governments waged a costly four-year court case over a small shed and pier that the tribe built on Menemsha Pond, and, after the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled against the tribe, it applied for and received the necessary town permits this spring. Designed as a way to prevent future litigation over such projects, the document titled Intergovernmental Agreement on Cooperative Land Use and Planning proposed a parallel regulatory process that respected the rights of both governments and laid out a lengthy path of mediation to resolve disputes. Negotiated over the course of four public summit meetings this spring, the 11-page document had the strong support of town leaders, Mr. Widdiss, and attorneys for both governments. But after a half-hour discussion at the town meeting this week, it was evident that many tribal members, who are also town voters, had lingering concerns about the document. Tribal council member Durwood (Woody) Vanderhoop on Tuesday suggested that the tribe might seek to alter parts of the document in the weeks ahead, and that the town should wait to adopt the agreement until it is in a final form. On a motion by Mr. Vanderhoop, voters decided 36-18 to table the issue - receiving exactly the two-thirds approval needed to carry the motion. The vote was split largely, though not entirely, along tribal and non-tribal lines. Assuming it was a joint document drafted by both governments, selectmen reacted with surprise, and said they did not realize the extent of dissent within the tribe. But strong feelings of opposition were apparent among tribal residents at the meeting who spoke of their inherent right and ability to govern themselves. "As a town resident and tribal member, it makes as much sense for the Wampanoag tribe to accept [this document] as going to Wounded Knee and saying `Please shoot us,' because this destroys any semblance of sovereignty," said former tribal council member Robert MacDiarmid, referring to perhaps the most infamous instance of violence between Native Americans and the United States military - the Wounded Knee massacre. "My personal vote: I object," Mr. MacDiarmid said. The tribal council originally planned to take up the document at its next meeting, on Sept. 9, but Mr. Widdiss on Wednesday said the tribe's attorney, Douglas Luckerman, cannot make the meeting, so it will be rescheduled. And though the tribal council this winter endorsed an earlier version of the proposed agreement as a starting point for discussion, there is now serious question about whether the document will be approved. It is understood that eight of 11 tribal council members must agree to sign it, and that the council may choose to present the proposed agreement to the general tribal membership for a referendum vote. A number of tribal members said they are hesitant to sign the document because it would explicitly waive their sovereignty with respect to land use issues. Many members of the tribe are still unhappy with the historic 1983 settlement agreement, signed by town and tribal leaders and codified by state and federal government, which included a similar provision. The state's highest court in its landmark December 2004 decision relied on the 1983 agreement in ruling that the tribe had waived its sovereignty, at least with respect to land use, when it agreed to abide by state and local zoning laws. But some believe the ruling was narrowly confined to the Cook Lands. Mr. Vanderhoop on Wednesday confirmed that the sovereignty issue was at the heart of the matter, and that the 1983 agreement is at the forefront of tribal minds. "The tribe worked hard and gave up a lot in 1983 when we had the first agreement," he said, "and we want to make sure that now we don't erode our rights any more than is necessary in order to reach a good understanding with the town." Tribal member Berta Welch said yesterday that some tribal members, like herself, who were opposed to the 1983 document at the time, are feeling similar pressure now to sign the new land use agreement. "Some of us back then knew that we were always going to have problems with the settlement, and I think history has shown that it was a poor document," said Mrs. Welch, who is also a member of the town planning board. "If townspeople today say they want to get along and live side-by- side and make sure everybody's rights are protected, then we should take the 1983 settlement agreement back to the government and start all over again." Town officials, meanwhile, will turn their attention back to the community center, which is located near tribal headquarters off Black Brook Road. The tribal land use commission approved the building in April 2004, while the sovereignty case was working its way through the courts; the tribe has so far declined to apply for town permits. The building is set for discussion at the next meeting of the board of selectmen, scheduled for Sept. 5, and two of the three members are in favor of pressing the issue. Town counsel Ronald H. Rappaport on Wednesday also said it must be addressed. "There is another building - namely the community center, which does not have town permits, And that is something that the town cannot allow," Mr. Rappaport said. Selectman Michael Hebert, one of the framers of the latest land use agreement, said he was shocked and surprised by the town meeting vote on Tuesday. But yesterday he said he remained optimistic, and was not ready to discard the document. He said he wanted to give the tribal council some more time to discuss the agreement before pushing too hard on the community center permits. "I will not encourage further action until they have had time to look at the document and have their questions answered," said Mr. Hebert, whose wife Eleanor is on the tribal council. Selectman James Newman, who did not attend the special town meeting because of personal reasons this week, disagreed with his colleague and said it was time to enforce the town bylaws. Selectman and planning board member Camille Rose said the town had already waited too long to address the unpermitted building, and that the town meeting vote eroded her recently built trust in the tribe. "Most of us who worked on this latest document cannot possibly have faith in any future negotiations," Ms. Rose said yesterday. "Honestly I think this [vote] was a fatal mistake on the part of the tribe. Where we had the impetus going for goodwill and good faith, it's been a betrayal." Copyright c. 2006 The Martha's Vineyard Gazette, Inc. --------- "RE: Missing Lower Brule Woman's Body found" --------- Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2006 08:45:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="VICKI EAGLEMAN FOUND DEAD" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/ 20060824/NEWS05/608240312/1001/NEWS Missing Lower Brule woman's body found Jennifer Rezac-Leither For the Argus Leader August 24, 2006 The search is over for a missing Lower Brule mother. Search crews found Vicki Eagleman's body near Medicine Creek, close to Pierre, Wednesday afternoon. Her cause of death has not yet been disclosed. Eagleman disappeared almost a month ago. Her mother, June Lefthand, last saw her daughter on July 27th, leaving with her boyfriend Bernard LaRoche. According to LaRoche, Eagleman dropped him off, and he doesn't know where she went next. On Tuesday, nearly 200 people from the Lower Brule community helped look for Eagleman on horseback, ATV and on foot. The search was organized by the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe. Eagleman leaves behind five children. Copyright c. 2006 Sioux Falls Argus Leader. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Denied Unemployment Aid after refusing to cut Hair" --------- Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2006 08:47:03 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NO HAIRCUT, NO ASSISTANCE" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.whotv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5331696&nav=2HAB American Indian denied unemployment aid after refusing to cut hair August 28, 2006 DES MOINES, Iowa An American Indian has been denied unemployment benefits after being fired from his trucking job for refusing to cut his hair. The Employment Appeal Board denied benefits for Dewey Harris, who had worked full-time for Heartland Express of Cora