_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 14, ISSUE 038 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 23, 2006 Assiniboine Wahpegiwi/yellow leaf moon Eastern Cherokee nvda udatanun/nut moon Mvskogee Otowoskucee/little chestnut moon +-------------------------------------------------------+ | Much more happens in Indian Country than is reported | | in this weekly newsletter. For daily updates & events | | go to http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm | +-------------------------------------------------------+ Otapi'sin Atsinikiisinaakssin -- Blackfeet -- News for All the People Ni-mah-mi-kwa-zoo-min -- Ojibwe -- We Are Talking About Ourselves Aunchemokauhettittea -- Naragansett -- Let Us Share News Kanoheda Aniyvwiya -- Cherokee -- Journal of the People O Es'te Opunvk'vmucvse -- Creek -- People's New News O o O Acimowin -- Plains Cree -- Story or Account O o O Tlaixmatiliztli -- Nahuatl -- News O o o o o O Agnutmaqan -- Listuguj Mi'kmaq -- News O o O Sho-da-ku-ye -- Teehahnahmah -- Talking Birchbark O o O Un Chota -- Susquehannic Seneca -- The People Speak O Ha-Sah-Sliltha -- Ditidaht Nation -- News of the People Ximopanolti tehuatzin, inin Mexika tlahtolli -- Nahuatl -- For you we offer these words It-hah-pe-hah Ah-num pah-le -- Chickasaw -- Together We Are Talking Dineh jii' adah' ho'nil'e'gii ba' ha' neh -- Navajo Nation -- What's Happening among The People News Okla Humma Holisso Nowat Anya -- Choctaw -- People(s) Red Newspaper Hi'a chu ah gaa -- Pima -- The stories or the talk of the People s ch mA mL tL squee Lux -- Okanogan -- News from the People Native American News -- Language of the Occupation Forces ++>If you speak a Native American language not listed above, please send us your words for "News of the People." We'd rather take up this whole page saving these few words of our hundreds of nations than present a nice clean banner in the language of the occupation forces who came here determined to replace our words with their own. email gars@nanews.org with the equivalent of "News of the People" in your tribal language along with the english translation <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is produced in straight ASCII text for greatest portability across platforms. Read it with a fixed-pitch font, such as Courier, Monaco, FixedSys or CG Times. Proportional fonts will be difficult to read. <================<<<< >>>>================> This issue contains articles from www.owlstar.com; www.indianz.com; www.pechanga.net; Frostys AmerIndian and RezLife 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: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + =================== "The American Indian population has long had the lowest life-expectancy rate in the country, and to find out the lowest of the low is right here in South Dakota is not a surprise." __ Jacqueline Left Hand Bull, Sicangu Lakota, Administrative Officer, Aberdeen Area Tribal Chairmen's Health Board +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! The United States of America is known for being founded on the principle of freedom, including freedom of religion. The following are names and views of one set of Sacred Peaks in Arizona: Dine' Doko'oo'sliid, "the place where snow never melts." Hopi Nuva-tu-ka-ovi, "place of snow on the very top", the home of the kachina spirits Acoma Tsii Bina, "protection shrine" Apache Dzil Tso, "big mountain", the place where adolescent girls ascend into womanhood in the Sunrise Ceremony Havasupai Wikagana pa'dja, "snowy mountain", the origin of humans Hualapai Wik' hanbaja, "snowy mountain" Yavapai Wimonogaw'a, "cold mountain" Zuni Sunha K'yabachu Yalanne, "mountain with the volcanic water caches" Apache belief: Above the mountain called Tso dzil there is a square hole in the sky. And this hole in the sky is mirrored in a lake which lies between the two highest peaks of the mountain. There were three names given to the hole in the sky: the first is called Tse'an an hi'habetine, the Place Where the Most High Power Came Up; the second is Sash yota'betine, the Bear's Upper Sky Path; and the third name is Hojon yota'betine, Whose Ways Are Beautiful's Path. It is said that the Sun stops at this place at midday and eats his lunch; and the place where he stops and eats is called Nitsi ya'hatsis, The Place Where the Sun Man Has His Lunch and His Horse Eats Out of a Basket. The following are names and views of one Sacred mountain in South Dakota: Lakota Mato Paha, "bear mountain" Cheyenne Noahvose, "beneficent mountain" Cheyenne belief: Noahvose is the place where Maheo (God) imparted to Sweet Medicine the knowledge from which the Cheyenne derive their religious, political, social, and economic customs. The mountain is sacred to many American Indian tribes who come here to hold religious ceremonies. The following are held as Sacred or Religieous shrines by some residents of the United States: Temple Emanu-El in New York City is the world's largest synagogue, accommodating 2,500 worshippers. The Salt Lake Tabernacle, known worldwide as the Mormon Tabernacle, is located in Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Taberacle was built to house meetings for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Mission Dolores (Mision San Francisco de Assisi), San Francisco's oldest standing structure, the Mission San Francisco de Asis (more commonly known as Mission Dolores), has withstood the test of time as well as two major earthquakes. St. Patrick's Cathedral is the seat of the Archdiocese of New York and the largest Roman Catholic cathedral in the United States. Over 3 million people visit St. Patrick's each year. All of the above are held as Sacred places. The first, called San Francisco Peaks by the occupation forces, now has reclaimed sewer water blown on it to make snow for a resort. The second, called Bear Butte by the occupation forces, now has a topless biker bar at its base. The others, since they are held Sacred by members of the occupation forces, are left untainted by greed and filth. 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 ----------- - Arizona Ski Resort - GIAGO: 500 years of Terrorism desecrates Sacred Mountains - Editorial: Bush punishes - Tribes press Sacred Site case Indian Country yet again before 9th Circuit - YELLOW BIRD: - Tohono O'odham Nation A time for canning, remembering caught in Border Battle - Editorial: Find solution - Meeting set over Mohawk 'Prayer' for Tribal Trust Issues - YELLOW BIRD: - McCain blasts Administration Nepotism fetters Tribal Government for inaction on Indian Case - TERZELLA: - Oklahoma's top Conservationist Taxing Native American Sellers steps down - Report: Indigenous in danger - Michigan Tribes of disappearing oppose Bush Court Nominee - Claims to Me'tis ancestry - Las Vegas Paiutes fear for skyrocket future of Petroglyphs - New northern mine worries Natives - House committee to consider - Canada's reputation for tolerance DOI irresponsibility took a beating - Norton protected Griles - Chief appalled by conditions after $1M investigation at Whitedog School - Interior Official Assails Agency - Enbridge is knowingly for Ethics Slide violating our rights - NCAI campaign to - Scams ranging from support Trust Settlement Canada to Oklahoma - In Shadow of 70's Racism - Court blasts removal - Albuquerque Indians of Natives from Jury Pool discuss state of Health Care - Minor riot - Native Remains found at Ch'ooshgai Boarding School in Mass Grave in Utah - BIA to pay $1.8M to family - 3rd rare White Buffalo for Student's Death born on Wisconsin Farm - Looking Cloud gets new Lawyer - Life expectancy sags - Native Prisoner on S.D. Reservations -- Honoring Sisseton-Wahpeton - Oglalas to swim from Alcatraz couple for supporting to San Francisco our Prisoners - Why Native vets should support - Rustywire: Oh, the Sweet Sound a Service Medal - Starkey: What it means - Opinion: U.S. still blind to be an American Today to reality after 9/11 - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days --------- "RE: Arizona Ski Resort desecrates Sacred Mountains" --------- Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 08:41:43 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MORE DESECRATION BY SNOWBOWL" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/49089.html Indians say Arizona ski resort desecrates their sacred mountains By DAVID KRAVETS | Associated Press September 12, 2006 SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A dozen Southwestern Indian tribes plan to ask a federal appeals court Thursday to block upgrades to an Arizona ski resort they say already desecrates the mountains they hold sacred. The San Francisco Peaks are said to be the mother of the Navajo, where White Mountain Apache adolescent girls ascend into womanhood in the Sunrise Ceremony. For the Havasupai, the peaks overlooking Flagstaff, are the origin of humans. To the Hopi, they are the point in the physical world defining the tribe. But on the western flank of these peaks, which have names like Humphrey's, Agassiz, Doyle and Fremont, rests what the tribes say is an affront to their religion: the Arizona Snowbowl ski resort. The tribes say the 777-acre resort in the Coconino National Forest desecrates the land and might be cause for the Sept. 11 attacks, the tsunami, recent hurricanes and the Columbia shuttle crash. The tribes want the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to block proposed resort improvements, which include the spraying of machine-generated snow, for fear of more universal ills and further desecration of their land. "The peaks are a single living entity. What they are doing is poisoning that entity and disrupting the spirits that live there and the whole balance of life," said Howard Shanker, a Navajo attorney who will argue before a three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based appeals court. A federal judge in Phoenix said adding a fifth lift, a tubing area and other resort facilities on federal lands could go forward. U.S. District Judge Paul Rosenblatt ruled in January the tribes "have failed to present any objective evidence that their exercise of religion will be impacted by the Snowbowl upgrades." Rosenblatt said the tribes would still have access to the peaks. And the judge noted that the tribes' religion has endured despite timber harvesting in the area, mining and the installation of gas, electric and water lines. The area also includes cellular towers, camping, motocross, mountain biking and horseback riding, the judge noted. The ski resort, one of two in Arizona, opened in 1937 and has recently suffered erratic snow conditions, allowing only 15 days of skiing last year. The resort is seeking to use snowmaking equipment, fueled by reclaimed water from nearby Flagstaff, and hopes to get more than 100 days of skiing per season. Without steady income from skiing, the resort may go under, said J.R. Murray, the resort's general manager. "Basically, we're talking about the survival of the business," he said. On busy days, he said, the resort may see 4,000 skiers. The upgrades would increase skiing from 139 acres on the resort to 205 acres, and would require more than 100 acres of forest thinning and grading. Arizona Snowbowl is about 14 miles northwest of Flagstaff and 140 miles north of Phoenix, where temperatures often sizzle. Murray suspects the tribes' lawsuit is a legal tactic to force the resort to go under. "There's no doubt they have deeply held beliefs. But it's public land," Murray said. Putting snow on the slopes when nature has not intended it is just another insult to the peaks, the tribes say, especially snow generated by reclaimed water that Arizona state health officials say poses no health risks. "The fact that the ski area is there is an affront and that they want to expand it is an affront and basically put this sewer water on it," Shanker said. "The Navajo say the peaks are mother and this is mother raped and defiled." The case is Navajo Nation v. U.S. Forest Service, 06-15371. --- David Kravets has been covering state and federal courts for more than a decade. Copyright c. 2006, Santa Fe New Mexican, all rights reserved. --------- "RE: Tribes press Sacred Site case before 9th Circuit" --------- Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 08:47:08 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SAN FRANCISCO PEAKS" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.daily-times.com/news/ci_4328271 Navajo attorney has 8 minutes to argue for peaks protection By Erny Zah The Daily Times September 14, 2006 FARMINGTON - An attorney representing the Navajo Nation and other tribes will have about eight minutes on Thursday to argue a critical aspect of tribal and Navajo cultural life, said George Hardeen, Navajo President Joe Shirley's spokesman. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco will hear arguments in a legal battle that seeks to halt a ski resort on the San Francisco Peaks from using reclaimed waste water for snowmaking purposes. The resort, Snowbowl, is located near Flagstaff, Ariz. The peaks are considered sacred to the Navajo people and at least a dozen other Indian nations in Arizona and New Mexico, according to a press release from Shirley's office. "We'll have about eight minutes and 20 seconds," said Howard Shanker, attorney for the Navajo Nation and eight other clients. He added that his time for arguments is split with two other attorneys who are representing the Hopi and Hualapai tribal nations. The arguments will be heard by a panel of three judges. "The San Francisco Peaks are the Sistine Chapel to the Navajo," Hardeen said. "(Navajo medicine people) carry the soil and minerals from the mountains. It's a part of everything they do." On Jan. 11, U.S. District Judge Paul Ronsenblatt ruled that the use of reclaimed waste water on the peaks doesn't constitute a substantial burden on the ability of the tribes to exercise their respective religions. In addition, the Native tribes in their argument failed to show the shrine or ceremonies that would be impacted by Snowbowl's decision to use waste water, Rosenblatt ruled. The U.S. Forest Service issued a decision in 2005 stating the approval of using waste water for snowmaking. Shanker said he plans to introduce arguments pertaining to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, National Environmental Policy Act and other religious freedom issues. Also, he wants to shed light on some issues about the Forest Service's decision to allow snowmaking. In a press release, he said the Forest Service failed to disclose scientific viewpoints and to consider that children may eat snow made from the reclaimed waste water. Federal law prohibits the government from burdening a person's exercise of religion. "We should've won in the lower court," he said. Ronsenblatt's decision also noted that wildlife and plants that hold religious significance for the Navajo people exist on areas of the San Francisco Peaks not occupied by Snowbowl. Shirley didn't agree with the court's January ruling. "The District Court ruling makes no sense. The entire mountain is a shrine, not just parts of it," Shirley said in a press release. Should either side lose the decision, Shanker said, the Navajo Nation and others can file a petition to have the case reheard with all of the appellate judges hearing the case, or they can petition the U.S. Supreme Court. Erny Zah: ezah@daily-times.com Copyright c. 2006 Farmington Daily Times, a MediaNews Group Newspaper. --------- "RE: Tohono O'odham Nation caught in Border Battle" --------- Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 08:51:09 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TOHONO O'ODHAM VICTIMS IN BORDER CONFLICTS" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ article/2006/09/14/AR2006091401827.html As Border Crackdown Intensifies, A Tribe Is Caught in the Crossfire By John Pomfret Washington Post Staff Writer September 15, 2006 ALIR JEGK, Ariz. - Elsie Salsido was breast-feeding her baby when Border Patrol agents walked into her house unannounced this summer. "Are you Mexicans?" they demanded. Salsido's four other children cowered on the bed of her eldest, a girl in second grade. Night had fallen on this village on Arizona's border with Mexico, nestled in a scrubland valley of stickman cactuses hemmed in by mountains that look like busted teeth. The agents explained their warrantless entry into Salsido's house as "hot pursuit." They said they were chasing footprints, she recalled, of illegal immigrants sneaking in from Mexico, just 1,000 feet away. But the footprints belonged to Salsido's children - all Americans. As the United States ramps up its law enforcement presence on the border with Mexico, places like Alir Jegk, a village of 50 families in south- central Arizona, are enduring heightened danger, as they are squeezed between increasingly aggressive bands of immigrant and drug smugglers and increasingly numerous federal agents who, critics say, often ignore regulations as they seek to enforce the law. Alir Jegk's experience is complicated by the fact that it is on the second-biggest Indian reservation in the United States, belonging to the Tohono O'odham, or Desert People, who hunted deer and boar and harvested wild spinach and prickly pear in this region before an international border was etched through their land in 1853. Now, the Tohono O'odham Nation occupies the front line of the fight against drug and immigrant smuggling - costing the poverty-stricken tribe millions of dollars a year and threatening what remains of its traditions. "We have the undocumented and drug smugglers heading north and law enforcement heading south. We're smack in the middle," Vivian Juan- Saunders, chairwoman of the tribe, said in an interview at the tribal headquarters in Sells, Ariz. "We are being squeezed." In testimony to the U.S. Senate, the tribe's vice chairman, Ned Norris Jr., described a "border security crisis that has caused shocking devastation of our land and resources." About 11,000 Tohono O'odham live on a 2.8 million-acre reservation, the size of Connecticut, with a 75-mile-long border with Mexico. A rickety four-foot-tall, three-strand barbed-wire fence delineates the border, which is punctuated by 160 trails and four cattle crossings. For decades the nation saw little or no illegal traffic from Mexico. The main movement was members of the Tohono O'odham who live in the Mexican part of the reservation trickling into the United States for health services in Sells. In the mid-1990s, however, the Clinton administration cracked down on illegal crossings in San Diego and El Paso. Instead of stopping illegal immigration and drug running, however, the operations simply rerouted traffic through the deserts of the Southwest. And in Arizona, Tohono O'odham land, bisected by State Highway 86 - an easy link to Phoenix to the north and California to the west - became ground zero. The flow of drugs and undocumented immigrants through the reservation has caused a host of problems. Juan-Saunders estimated that about 1,500 illegal immigrants cross reservation land each day, depositing on average six tons of trash. Some well-traveled knolls have been renamed "Million Backpack Hill" because of the refuse. The tribe routinely devotes more than 10 percent of its budget to coping with the crisis. Annually, Juan-Saunders said, the 71-member Tohono O'odham Police Department spends $3 million on problems related to illegal immigrants and drug traffickers. The reservation pays an additional $2 million each year to provide emergency health services for undocumented travelers. Since 2002, 315 crossers have died on the reservation's land, including, this year, a 3-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl. The Tohono O'odham are a poor nation, with an average per capita income of $8,000 a year, well below the U.S. average of $23,000 and the Indian average of $13,000. Forty percent of the families on the reservation live below the federal poverty line, and unemployment is at 42 percent. Juan- Saunders said an increasing number of nation members are sucked into the drug- and immigrant-smuggling business. Two of Juan-Saunders's relatives have been arrested on drug-related charges, tribal officials said. And in Alir Jegk, drug smugglers have plied Elsie Salsido's sister with so many narcotics over the years in their attempts to turn her into a mule that the woman has never been the same, residents say. "The pressures have dramatically increased on the tribe over the last five years," said Robert A. Williams, a law professor at the University of Arizona who works as a judge in the tribe's courts. "The community is fairly well isolated, so they are very vulnerable to coyotes [immigrant smugglers] and drug runners. We've seen signs of gang activity coming from L.A. and Mexican gangs coming up." Fifteen years ago, the nation, invoking its limited sovereignty, barred the Border Patrol from the reservation because its agents harassed the population, said Eileen M. Luna-Firebaugh, an expert on American Indian policy at the University of Arizona. But that policy changed after drug and immigrant smuggling skyrocketed, although the tribe was always more focused on narcotics, she said. The tribe is home to the Shadow Wolves, a storied, largely Indian unit of U.S. Customs and Border Protection that uses ancient tracking techniques to chase down drug smugglers. But after the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, the Border Patrol has run the Shadow Wolves and has shifted their focus away from drugs and toward immigrant smuggling, prompting several senior officers to quit. Nonetheless, under Juan-Saunders's leadership, which began in 2003, the tribal council has welcomed more federal law enforcement. It has allowed the Border Patrol to establish two permanent facilities on its land. It recently agreed to the construction of a 75-mile vehicle barrier, costing more than $1 million a mile, to replace the wobbly fence. The tribe has complied with Border Patrol wishes to close one traditional gate connecting the American side of its land to the Mexican side. It has also recently consented to allow the National Guard to operate on the border, on the condition that the Guard repairs roads and "respects the people and the laws of this land," Juan-Saunders said. Winning that respect, however, has not been easy. Tribal members are routinely harassed by federal agents, Juan-Saunders said. "They cross property without asking. They enter homes without knocking," she said. In March, Juan-Saunders was driving her 8-year-old son in her Jeep, going 45 mph in a 55 zone, when she was ordered to pull over by a Border Patrol officer. She stopped by the side of the road, and the officer leapt out of his vehicle and pointed his gun at her. "Now I know what my constituents are experiencing," she said. Juan-Saunders acknowledged having mixed feelings about ceding more of her nation's sovereignty to federal agencies. "But we are in dire straits here," she said. Chuy Rodriguez, a spokesman for the Border Patrol in Tucson, said relations between the Border Patrol and the tribe are "getting better and better over time." "There's a lot more dialogue with folks in positions of power," he said. He said that Border Patrol community relations officers make regular visits to the reservation and that his agency has established a process for complaints. Tribal representatives instruct Border Patrol agents about the tribe and its traditions. "We can't go into anyone's property," he said. "We have to get someone from the Tohono O'odham police to come. However, if it's hot pursuit, it's a different story." Back in Alir Jegk, Margaret Garcia, 68, and an older neighbor, Francisco Garcia, sum up the pressures facing the tribe. Margaret Garcia, who lives in a two-room shack with, at last count, 19 cats and six dogs, said she awoke late one night to discover that Border Patrol agents, with shotguns and night-vision goggles, had established an observation post in her yard. Francisco Garcia, on the other hand, used to live in Mexico. He was kicked out of his village by drug dealers, so he moved to the American side of the line. "I didn't want to die," he said. "A long time ago there was no one but us," Margaret said. "It was peaceful. When the cactus was ripe, my daughters would go out with a stick to harvest the fruit. Now if we go out, the Border Patrol follows us. Everyone is a suspect." Copyright c. 2006 The Washington Post Company --------- "RE: Meeting set for Tribal Trust Issues" --------- Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 08:47:08 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GREAT PLAINS ALLIANCE" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2006/09/14/news/local/news09.txt Meeting set for tribal issue September 14, 2006 RAPID CITY - Rosebud Sioux Tribe and the Sicangu Treaty Council will host the Great Plains Tribal Water Alliance conference next week at the Best Western Ramkota Hotel in Rapid City. The Sept. 20-22 conference will discuss claims that tribes file against the U.S. Department of Interior and other federal entities for alleged mismanagement of their tribal trust accounts and trust lands and assets. Because of the statute of limitations, tribes have until Dec. 31 to file claims, which prompted the alliance's concern that many tribes were unaware of the deadline. The conference begins at 9 a.m. with registration at 8 a.m. each day and includes presentations by Keith Harper, lead counsel in the Cobell litigation; Erik Kaardahl, Walter Lack and Tom Girardi, who have successfully represented the states of New Mexico and California and other plaintiffs in multi-billion-dollar litigation; and Paul Little, Oglala Sioux Tribe Council representative and president of the Great Plains Tribal Water Alliance. -- For more information, call Ann Hart at 716-6355, fax 716-6357 or send e-mail to annhart34@hotmail.com, or Janet Clairmont at 747-4775. Copyright c. 2006 The Rapid City Journal. --------- "RE: McCain blasts Administration for inaction on Indian Case" --------- Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 08:37:14 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="McCAIN BLASTS BUSH NOMINEE OVER TRUST INACTION" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0918AzinDC0918.html McCain blasts administration for inaction on Indian case - Billy House September 18, 2006 Sen. John McCain gave an earful Thursday to President Bush's nominee to be the assistant secretary of Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior, blasting as "incomprehensible" the administration's inaction on a proposed settlement to the 10-year-old Indian trust case. The Arizona Republican, overseeing a hearing of his Senate Indian Affairs Committee, told the nominee, Carl Artman, that it's been five weeks since he and Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, the top Democrat on the committee, met with Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. McCain said he and Dorgan presented "what we believed to be a reasonable solution." "Both the secretary and attorney general said they'd circulate that within the administration and get back to us," McCain told Artman. At issue in the case is billions of dollars in land lease and mineral royalties owed by the government to Native American landowners in Arizona and across the nation because of government mismanagement over their trust accounts. Lawyers for the lead plaintiff, Elouise Cobell, have alleged that Indian landowners are owed at least $100 billion in royalties tied to farming, grazing, mining, logging and other activities on tribal lands. They have said they would consider the Arizona senator's compromise bill, which has been explained to them as offering $8 billion in settlement money. However, McCain said on Thursday that, to date, "we've had no official response" from the administration, "and the window for action this year is closing fast." McCain is expected to leave the committee's chairmanship at the end of this year, which concludes the two-year congressional session. "Therefore, we've sent a letter to the secretary and the attorney general again asking for a final assessment and response," McCain said. He asked Artman to take a message back to the administration, as well. "It's incomprehensible that the administration not be able to come up with at least a response to what is the product of years of effort on the part of this committee and the interested parties," McCain said. If left to linger unresolved in the courts, Dorgan warned, this trust case "will weigh over all the other issues and have profound impact on virtually everything else" that the Department of the Interior is trying to do with respect to Indian issues. Told of McCain's comments, Interior Department spokesman Shane Wolfe said, "We continue to have excellent discussions with congressional staff and look forward to bringing the issue to closure with a mutually acceptable resolution." In his testimony to the committee, Artman, a former chief counsel and member of the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, said resolution of the case is critical, "whether it comes from Congress, the administration or the courts." "The sooner this litigation ends, the sooner we improve our relationship with tribes, and the sooner we increase for Indians and Alaska Natives the benefits of that relationship," Artman said. Reach the reporter at billy.house@arizonarepublic.com or at 1-202-906-8136. Copyright c. 2006, azcentral.com. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Oklahoma's top Conservationist steps down" --------- Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2006 08:19:32 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CHOCTAW CONSERVATIONIST FORCED OUT FOR TELLING TRUTH" http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?feature=yes&id=1096413636 Oklahoma's top conservationist steps down by: Gale Courey Toensing / Indian Country Today Early retirement allegedly due to 'political retaliation' September 8, 2006 STILLWATER, Okla. - Oklahoma's top conservationist - a man with a sterling reputation for competency and leadership - will take an early retirement rather than accept a demotion and transfer after being tarred by an allegation of ineffectiveness by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service. Oklahoma's conservation community and elected officials say State Conservationist Darrel Dominick, a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, has been targeted for political retaliation because they probed the federal agency regarding $500 million in conservation technical assistance funding that has not been distributed to the states. A Natural Resources Conservation Service spokesman denied that Dominick has been the subject of a political vendetta and said all of the appropriated conservation money has been distributed for the purpose Congress intended. But according to a letter from another NRCS spokesman, more than $20 million of the $500 million was diverted in a supplemental bill to the Defense Department as part of a government-wide "across-the-board" expropriation of 1 percent of discretionary budgets. The service so far has not accounted for the remaining $480 million, Oklahoma officials said. Dominick is the third generation of his family to work for the USDA, a combined 91 years of service. He has a bachelor of science in agriculture and a master's degree in public administration from the Oklahoma State University, and is a senior executive fellow of Harvard University. He has worked in seven states, including Maine and New York. Dominick won nine performance awards since 2000 when he became the USDA's State Conservationist for Oklahoma, working with farmers, ranchers, conservation commissions and organizations on protecting and preserving the state's water, soil and wildlife resources. Under Dominick's leadership, the Oklahoma NRCS received four major USDA outreach awards for service to tribes and minorities. "To have our legacy end like this is very hard for our family," Dominick said in an e-mail to Indian Country Today. Dominick's forced "discontinued service retirement" will result in a large deduction in his annuity, but he and his wife decided to remain in Oklahoma to care for his elderly father and mother-in-law and where their eldest daughter attends graduate school and youngest is a high school senior. "Mobility for the family is not possible," Dominick said. He declined to discuss further details of his decision because his situation remains sensitive until after his retirement, which is effective Sept. 15. "I have asked no one to speak for me or take up for me. I will continue to not expect or ask for assistance. We are going to transition and trust in the Creator. My family has been sustained by lots of prayers, friends and support. The Choctaw Nation of Okla., my big family, has been supportive. We are blessed because of this support," Dominick said. Dominick was given the choice of reassignment or retirement in a letter dated Aug. 9, from USDA Undersecretary Mark E. Rey, who said Dominick had "failed ... to facilitate a cohesive partner relationship with your state and to provide an example to NRCS employees as to how that partner relationship should be cultivated." Mike Thralls, executive director of the Oklahoma Conservation Commission, said Rey's allegation "is an absolute lie." Thralls' response is typical of the firestorm of protest Rey's actions have provoked among conservationists and state officials, who deluged USDA Secretary Mike Johanns with letters, asking for Dominick to remain the state conservationist. "Darrel has not only worked with the conservation district and conservation commission, but also he was really good at tearing down institutional walls that divide agencies and he was exceptional with the tribes. He really broadened the base of folks working together," Thralls said. Oklahoma has 38 federally recognized American Indian tribes. Clay Pope, Cherokee, and executive director of the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts, said Dominick was particularly valued in Indian country. "Darrel is a native Oklahoman. State Conservationist was Darrel's dream job and he did it from his heart. Darrel is the highest ranking Native American in NRCS and may be the highest ranking in the USDA and it's something the tribes in Oklahoma are extremely concerned about, that one of their own has been a real example and role model for a lot of folks joining the government service from the American Indian community," Pope said. "A lot of times, the fact that you're going in and you're faced with leaving your cultural ties, well, Darrel has shown you can do it and still hold on to the things you hold dear and at the same time rise up the ranks of a federal agency and achieve the things you want to, and then to have him targeted this way really causes a lot of concern," Pope said. Thralls said Dominick is being blamed for something he didn't do - probe the NRCS on the whereabouts of $500 million appropriated for conservation technical assistance that has not been distributed to the states for the past two years. It was the Conservation Commission, not Dominick, that discovered the missing funds and pushed for answers, Thrall said. The commission's accountant reviewed a six-year report of NRCS funding and discovered the figures balanced for 2000 - '04, then showed $265 million for 2005 had not been distributed to the states. In the 2006 fiscal year, the commission found a $182 million shortage as of Jan. 28, only four months into the fiscal year, Thrall said. In response to his inquiry, Thrall got a letter dated April 27 from Dana York on behalf of NRCS Chief Bruce Knight. "First, she told me my figures were wrong, but then she admitted NRCS withheld something like $251 million in '05; then she says they withheld $245 million in '06. Then she implied that the $251 million held in '05 was just carried over to '06 and they still had it and it didn't go to any other area. I've asked for further clarification and as of yet haven't received anything," Thrall said. Meanwhile, Rep. Frank Lucas, R-3rd District, who praised Dominick for his effective leadership in the state's conservation efforts, received the same non-response from NRCS to his own inquiry. Later in the spring, Lucas introduced and passed an amendment to this year's agricultural bill that cut funding the undersecretary funding for natural resources' operating salary, personal salary, and travel budget. "It was a pretty dramatic set of circumstances and clearly whether it's directly related or indirectly related [to Dominick's reassignment], there's been a chain of events that's gone off since then," Lucas said in a recorded interview with Ron Hays, editor of the online Oklahoma Farm Report. Lucas promised to address the issue "face to face" when he returned to Washington, D.C., after Labor Day. In her letter to Thrall, York said a Defense Appropriations/ Emergency Supplemental bill cut "$10 million in carryover funding from the Conservation Operations account" and "a government-wide 1 percent across-the-board cut to discretionary budget resources [that] resulted in a net decrease of $10,047,130, for a total of $20,047,130," York said. In a phone interview, NRCS Director of Legislative and Public Affairs Doug McKalip said he didn't know if the conservation funding expropriated by the Defense bill was used for the war in Iraq. McKalip said there were additional cuts in the conservation account, including around $120 million in 2006 for "Congressional earmarks," and around $93 million in 2005 and 2006 for products and services to the NRCS charged by the Agriculture Department. He said he would get the "detailed numbers" on the balance of the funding from his staff. In an earlier interview, McKalip said questioning the whereabouts of the $500 million "doesn't make sense to me. The funding the agency gets each year is all distributed and it goes for the purpose Congress intends if for. Without knowing the details, yes, I think that, yes, it has been distributed." Copyright c. 1998 - 2006 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Michigan Tribes oppose Bush Court Nominee" --------- Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 08:41:03 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ANTI-TRIBAL SOVEREIGNTY RECORD" http://www.indianz.com/News/2006/015836.asp Michigan tribes oppose Bush nominee to federal court September 11, 2006 More than half of Michigan's federally recognized tribes moved Friday to oppose one of President Bush's judicial nominees. The six tribes wrote a letter to Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D) and Sen. Carl Levin (D) to voice their opposition to Robert Jonker. Citing his role in a slew of anti-tribal litigation, they called the attorney "an unsuitable candidate for a lifetime appointment to the federal court." Jonker, the tribes noted, has been representing several anti-gaming groups in their fight to block Michigan tribes from opening casinos. The lawsuits have challenged the ability of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to take land into trust and have delayed gaming projects for several years. But the federal courts have rejected nearly every single challenge as meritless, the tribes said. In a recent decision, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the BIA to take land in trust for the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, one of the signatories to the letter. According to the tribes, "Jonker's ethics, motivations, and alliances ... reveal a bias against Indian tribes and raise serious questions regarding his fitness to serve as a federal district court judge." The letter marks the first time Michigan tribes have mobilized against a judicial nominee. Historically, tribes across the country have not played a role in the selection and consideration of federal judges. But with the stakes rising in sovereignty, gaming, land-into-trust, land claims and other disputes, Indian Country has joined the battle over the makeup of the bench. Prompted by tribes in California, the National Congress of American Indians, the National Indian Gaming Association and the California Nations Indian Gaming Association successfully defeated one of Bush's appellate court nominees last year. Just two weeks ago, the White House rekindled the debate by submitting Myers' name for a spot on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. As for Jonker, Bush sent the nomination to the Senate on June 28. In their letter, the Michigan tribes ask their senators to persuade the White House to withdraw Jonker's name. Bush had done that with Myers after the anti-tribal and anti-environmetnal campaign in 2005. In the alternative, the Michigan tribes want their senators to block Jonker from moving forward. Senate Democrats were able to filibuster Myers in 2004. Jonker's role as an attorney in the lawsuits isn't the only quibbling point for the tribes. They cite his membership in the anti-gaming group 23 is Enough, named for the number of casinos in the state. The group has disseminated information characterized as "anti-Native American" by state lawmakers. An e-mail to supporters included materials from a man whose web site includes a depiction of an Indian scalping a white man in front a tribal casino. The signatories to the letter are: the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, the Little River Band of Odawa Indians, the Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi, the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, the Hannahville Indian Community and the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe. Michigan's other tribes are considering signing on to the campaign, according to a spokesperson for the Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band. Copyright c. 2000-2006 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: Las Vegas Paiutes fear for future of Petroglyphs" --------- Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2006 08:19:32 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HIGHWAY MORE IMPORTANT THAN PRESERVATION" http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096413644 Las Vegas Paiutes fear for the future of petroglyphs by: Jerry Reynolds / Indian Country Today September 11, 2006 LAS VEGAS - For years to come, motorists will see Indian-inspired rock art on the overpasses near the master-planned modern community of Summerlin. But as vandalism continues in Nevada's Red Rocks, Little Red Rocks and Sloan Canyon areas, Las Vegas Paiutes fear the region's original rock art - ancient figures etched in stone by Paiute ancestors throughout the Las Vegas Valley - will be compromised to the point of eclipse. "They're being destroyed right now, by vandalism," said Kenny Anderson, a cultural resource officer and environmental program manager for the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe. "We're located right outside Las Vegas, less than a mile," he added, describing the kind of kicks young Las Vegans seek before they're of age for the famous strip. "They take cars out there [into the desert, near the petroglyph sites] and burn them." Or they fire paint guns at them in the latest variation on graffiti. Vandals don't always target the petroglyphs, Anderson said. But recently they did, following an article in a local newspaper that made the petroglyphs easy to find. The loss is everyone's, in Anderson's view. "They're special for everybody," he said of the petroglyphs. "They overlook the whole valley, the Las Vegas Valley." He predicted that the presence of ancient roasting pits in the region will raise Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act problems as development proceeds in the vicinity of the petroglyphs. The Howard Hughes Corp., a leading real estate development company, owns the land the petroglyphs occupy. Tom Warden, the corporation's vice president of community and government relations, has met with Las Vegas Paiute Tribe leaders and elders about their concern for the petroglyphs, Anderson said. Warden spoke supportively, and the corporation claims to have met with state and federal officials, tribes and the archaeological community as part of what the promotional trade publication Real Estate News terms "a volunteer stewardship program" to protect the Little Red Rocks petroglyphs as well as others. Visitors to the petroglyph areas are supposed to have a permit issued by the company. None of that has slowed down the vandals, however, and Warden hasn't hired guards for the petroglyph sites, Anderson said. Some of the petroglyphs relate stories of the Paiute past, according to Anderson, and tribal elders fear the Paiute culture is under duress, much like the etchings. "We actually go out to look at them," he said, but said no more because of security concerns. Warden said the company has owned the Little Red Rocks land for 50 years and has always intended to respect the petroglyphs and preserve them. "Yes, there has been degradation," he added, primarily because Las Vegas is now home to approximately 2 million people and Little Red Rocks is among the more accessible of five petroglyph sites in and near the Las Vegas Valley. An explosion in the use of all-terrain vehicles has made all of the petroglyph sites more vulnerable, he said. "We've spent something north of 1 million dollars trying to prevent this ... to absolutely no avail." Howard Hughes Corp. has tried to fence access roads, only to see the fences brought down within 24 hours. Boulder walls, put in place with heavy machinery, have been displaced within days: "We don't know how they did it." Heavy iron gates, sunk in the roadway, have been dismantled and "No Trespass" signs are routinely appropriated for target practice. "We don't know exactly what the solution is," Warden said. "We're at the point now where development is cutting off the easy access for some of these people." Development in the vicinity of petroglyphs will be culturally appropriate, including buffer zones and open areas, he insisted, though extensive development in those areas is a decade away. The protection of petroglyph and other cultural sites is usually associated with federal lands, Warden said. "We want to be the example of a good way to do it when it is on private land." He said he intends to renew contact with the Las Vegas Paiutes, and repeated the company's longstanding commitment to work with them in protecting the petroglyphs. "The Paiutes in particular, they want to tell the story of the people in this valley." Copyright c. 1998 - 2006 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: House committee to consider DOI irresponsibility" --------- Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 08:41:43 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="INTERIOR ROYALTY LEASES" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/12/business/12oil.html?_r=1&oref=slogin Chevron Could Avoid Huge Royalties on New Field By EDMUND L. ANDREWS Published: September 12, 2006 WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 - A group of oil companies led by Chevron, which said last week that they had discovered a huge new oil field in the Gulf of Mexico, could avoid more than $1 billion in royalty payments to the federal government for the oil. The potential bonus to Chevron and its partners stems from a mistake the Interior Department made in signing offshore leases in the late 1990's for drilling in federal waters. The magnitude of the oil discovery - estimated in a range of 3 billion to 15 billion barrels is likely to intensify a battle in Congress over incentives for drilling in publicly owned waters. Under pressure from lawmakers, Chevron and other big producers have said that they would renegotiate their leases. But they have not said how much they are willing to give up, and the Interior Department has virtually no bargaining power under current law. Chevron and its partners, Devon Energy and Statoil ASA of Norway, have six leases in the Jack oil field, about 175 miles off the coast of Louisiana. Two of the leases allow the companies to avoid royalties on as much as 87.5 million barrels of oil per lease. The benefit, known as royalty relief, was supposed to be halted if the price of oil climbed above $36 a barrel. But that restriction was omitted on all leases signed in 1998 and 1999, including the two held by Chevron and its partners. The exact value of the potential break on federal payments will depend both on the price of oil and how much of it comes from the two leases. At $70 a barrel, the Chevron group could save about $1.5 billion in royalties if the government agreed that both leases were contributing to Chevron's production. But the actual savings would be much lower if oil prices slumped to $40 a barrel. And the savings would disappear if the government insisted that none of Chevron's output was coming from the two leases, but from the four not eligible for the break. A spokesman for Chevron, Don Campbell, said Monday that "any conjecture about forgone royalties" would be "pure speculation and an academic exercise." The Chevron leases are the biggest, but hardly the only leases that allow oil companies to avoid royalties regardless of how high energy prices climb. Even before Chevron and its partners confirmed the discovery last week, the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, had estimated that the Treasury could lose as much as $20 billion over the next 25 years. On Wednesday, the House Committee on Government Reform will begin two days of hearings on how the original calculation came to be. Republicans have been eager to blame the Clinton administration, which was in office when the leases were signed. But the Interior Department's inspector general is expected to testify that the Bush administration may be in danger of making exactly the same move on new leases. According to Congressional aides, the inspector general has uncovered evidence that midlevel Interior Department officials warned as recently as July that a new batch of leases could cost the government billions of dollars beyond the original misstep. Republican lawmakers are also angry about the Interior Department's response to the problem, which was first disclosed by The New York Times in March. Representative Thomas M. Davis III of Virginia, chairman of the Committee on Government Reform, complained of "systematic delays" and said the Interior Department had withheld large volumes of "critical information" from Congressional investigators. Chevron's huge potential savings highlight a dispute about how to remedy the leases signed in the late 1990's. The Bush administration and many Republican leaders argue that those leases are binding contracts that cannot be changed except through an agreement by the companies. Democrats acknowledge that the contracts are binding, but support a measure that would punish companies that refuse to renegotiate their contracts by prohibiting them from acquiring additional oil and gas leases. The House passed the Democratic proposal, over objections from Republican leaders, as an amendment to the Interior Department's spending bill. The Senate Appropriations Committee attached a similar measure to its bill, but the overall measure has been stalled for months. The hearings this week are expected to focus on how the Interior Department blundered on the leases. The inspector general, Earl E. Devaney, has concluded that the leases were a mistake rather than a result of any collusion with industry. But Mr. Devaney is also expected to say that the Interior Department continues to suffer from a "lack of accountability." Investigators have combed through 5,000 e-mail messages and are believed to have found some written as recently as this summer in which frustrated midlevel officials warned that the Interior Department had not fixed the bureaucratic and procedural problems that led to the original mistake. Representative Davis and Representative Darrell Issa, Republican of California and chairman of the Government Reform energy and resources subcommittee, accused the Interior Department in August of deliberately obstructing their investigation. "We are deeply concerned that the department may have intentionally withheld critical information from the subcommittee," the two lawmakers wrote in a letter on Aug. 3 to Dirk Kempthorne, the new Interior secretary. "If this is the case, then it has intentionally impeded this duly authorized Congressional investigation." Copyright c. 2006 The New York Times Company. --------- "RE: Norton protected Griles after $1M investigation" --------- Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 08:47:08 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GRILES PROMISED NOT TO BE A BAD BOY AGAIN" http://www.indianz.com/News/2006/015884.asp Norton protected Griles after $1M investigation September 14, 2006 Former Interior secretary Gale Norton refused to rebuke her top deputy, J. Steven Griles, despite his questionable behaviors, a top official said on Wednesday. In striking testimony to a House subcommittee, Interior Inspector General Earl E. Devaney described an ethical void at the department. "Simply stated, short of a crime, anything goes at the highest levels of the Department of the Interior," told lawmakers. That characterization apparently included Norton and Griles, both of whom have left the Bush administration. Griles admitted to Norton that he "exercised bad judgment" when he made decisions that affected his former lobbying clients, Devaney said. Yet Norton was "unwilling to take any action against him," Devaney recalled. The reason: Griles made a "promise not to do so again," Devaney testified. "Ethics failures on the part of senior department officials - taking the form of appearances of impropriety, favoritism, and bias - have been routinely dismissed with a promise 'not to do it again,'" Devaney said of his seven years serving through the Clinton and Bush administrations. That wasn't the only startling revelation Devaney made in his testimony. He disclosed that his office spent "well over $1 million" on the investigation into Griles, who represented oil and gas companies before joining the Bush administration in July 2001. The figure is alarming considering that Griles continued to receive $284, 000 a year from his former lobbying firm on top of his federal government salary. His outside payments totaled more than $1 million over four years, about the same cost of the investigation. Griles is now back at work in the lobbying field. His clients include mining companies and two tribes - the Quapaw of Oklahoma and the Colville of Washington - with mining-related issues. The revolving door culture was a prime target of Devaney's testimony. "I have watched a number of high-level Interior officials leave the Department under the cloud of OIG investigations into bad judgment and misconduct," he said. "Absent criminal charges, however, they are sent off in usual fashion, with a party paying tribute to their good service; wishing them well, to spend more time with their family or seek new opportunities in the private sector," he continued. Griles resigned nine months after Devaney released the results of his 18-month investigation in March 2004. He soon came under more scrutiny after a former colleague accused him of making decisions to benefit the clients of Jack Abramoff, a convicted lobbyist. Griles has denied any wrongdoing in that scandal and Norton continued to defend him even after she resigned from her post in March of this year. "I was in a position to see whether Steve influenced any decisions to favor Abramoff - and I did not see Steve take any step in that direction," she told The Denver Rocky Mountain News. Griles is said to be a part of the Justice Department's ongoing investigation into Abramoff, according to various news reports. Devaney was asked to testify before a subcommittee of the House Committee on Government Reform on royalty leases. Taxpayers stand to lose out on billions because the Interior Department forgot to include certain provisions in more than 1,000 leases with oil and gas companies. The leases only affect drilling on federal land. Indian lands are not at issue based on information on the record. The hearing continues today with testimony from P. Lynn Scarlett, the current deputy secretary at Interior, and Johnnie Burton, the director of the Minerals Management Service. Copyright c. 2000-2006 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: Interior Official Assails Agency for Ethics Slide" --------- Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 08:51:09 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="INTERIOR SLAMMED FOR LACK OF ETHICS" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/14/business/14oil.html?_r=1&oref=login Interior Official Assails Agency for Ethics Slide WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 - The Interior Department's chief official responsible for investigating abuses and overseeing operations accused the top officials at the agency on Wednesday of tolerating widespread ethical failures, from cronyism to cover-ups of incompetence. "Simply stated, short of a crime, anything goes at the highest levels of the Department of the Interior," charged Earl E. Devaney, the Interior Department's inspector general, at a hearing of the House Government Reform subcommittee on energy. "I have observed one instance after another when the good work of my office has been disregarded by the department," he continued. "Ethics failures on the part of senior department officials - taking the form of appearances of impropriety, favoritism and bias - have been routinely dismissed with a promise 'not to do it again.' " The blistering attack was part of Mr. Devaney's report on what he called the Interior Department's "bureaucratic bungling" of oil and gas leases signed in the late 1990's, mistakes that are now expected to cost the government billions of dollars but were covered up for six years. While these leases were the specific focus of the hearing, Mr. Devaney directed most of his criticism at what he called a broader organizational culture at the Interior Department of denial and "defending the indefensible." He expressed particular fury at the willingness to dismiss two dozen potential ethical lapses by J. Steven Griles, a former industry lobbyist who served as deputy secretary of the interior during President Bush's first term. Mr. Griles resigned after allegations surfaced that he pushed policy decisions that favored some of his former oil and gas industry clients and that he tried to steer a $2 million contract to a technology firm that had also been one of his clients. In a 145-page report in 2004, the inspector general described Mr. Griles as a "train wreck waiting to happen." But on Wednesday, Mr. Devaney said he was appalled that the Interior Department's office of ethics dismissed 23 out of 25 potential ethical breaches against Mr. Griles and that Gale A. Norton, then secretary of the interior, decided not to act on the two remaining allegations. Mr. Griles is once again a lobbyist in Washington. Efforts to reach Mr. Griles on Wednesday evening at his lobbying firm, Lundquist, Nethercutt & Griles, were unsuccessful. Mr. Devaney said that case was typical of a much broader "culture of managerial irresponsibility and lack of accountability" in the top reaches of the Interior Department. "I have unfortunately watched a number of high-level Interior officials leave the department under the cloud of O.I.G. investigations," Mr. Devaney said, referring to the Office of Inspector General. "Absent criminal charges, however, they are sent off in the usual fashion, with a party paying tribute to their good service and the secretary wishing them well, to spend more time with their family or seek new opportunities." That was almost exactly what happened to Mr. Griles, who was never charged with any wrongdoing, though he admitted to using bad judgment in some cases. Dirk Kempthorne, who succeeded Ms. Norton as interior secretary earlier this year, said Wednesday that he took the inspector general's allegations "very seriously" and had sent a letter to all employees on his first day at the department on the need to follow ethical guidelines. Mr. Kempthorne declined to say what additional actions he might take until he saw Mr. Devaney's final report. Mr. Devaney, a burly man who began his career as a police officer in Massachusetts, is no stranger to combative investigations or confrontations with top officials. He spent more than 20 years as a special agent in the Secret Service, specializing in white-collar crime, eventually being put in charge of the service's fraud division. In the 1990's, he became director of criminal enforcement at the Environmental Protection Agency. He was named inspector general at the Interior Department in 1999, just as whistle-blowers outside the government were pressing huge lawsuits alleging that oil companies were fraudulently underpaying royalties. Three years ago, Mr. Devaney scathingly criticized the Interior Department's auditing program for oil and gas royalties. Beyond finding that investigators had missed millions of dollars in underpayments, his office uncovered evidence that agency auditors had lost key files, then tried to fool investigators by forging and backdating the missing documents. In an acid rebuke of the agency, Mr. Devaney noted that the agency gave a bonus to the official who came up with the false papers. Mr. Devaney's broadside against the Interior Department's culture dovetailed with his tentative conclusions in his most recent investigation, into how the department had managed to sign 1,100 leases for offshore drilling that inadvertently let energy companies escape billions of dollars in royalties on gas and oil produced in the Gulf of Mexico. The leases, signed in 1998 and 1999 during the Clinton administration, allow companies to escape normal federal royalties - usually 12.5 percent of sales - on the tens of millions of barrels of oil on each lease. The royalty break was intended as an incentive for deepwater drilling, but it was also supposed to end if oil prices climbed above a "threshold" level of about $34 a barrel. The leases at issue omitted that restriction, and department officials kept quiet about their mistake for six years after they discovered it. The problem was first disclosed by The New York Times in March. Government officials now estimate that the mistake could cost the Treasury as much as $10 billion over the next decade. "The Interior Department holds our natural resources in trust for the American people," said Representative Darrell Issa, Republican of California and chairman of the House Government Reform subcommittee on energy and resources. "It squandered billions instead." Mr. Devaney said the error, a result of compartmentalized thinking within the department, might have remained buried if senior officials had had their way. "We do not have a 'smoking gun,' " Mr. Devaney said. "We do, however, have a very costly mistake which might never have been aired publicly absent The New York Times, the interest of this committee, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and several other interested members of Congress." Felicity Barringer contributed reporting. Copyright c. 2006 The New York Times Company. --------- "RE: NCAI campaign to support Trust Settlement" --------- Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 08:51:09 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NCAI TRUST SETTLEMENT CAMPAIGN" http://216.109.157.86/press_release/National%20Congress%20of%20 American%20Indians%20Launches%20Grassroots%20Web%20Campaign%20to%20 Support%20Indian%20Trust%20Settlement.htm FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Adam McMullin at 202-466-7767 or amcmullin@ncai.org National Congress of American Indians Launches Grassroots Web Campaign to Support Indian Trust Settlement WASHINGTON - September 14, 2006 - The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) has launched a grassroots web campaign on its website, www.ncai.org/indianfairness, to give a voice to thousands of supporters and to increase awareness of their effort to support a resolution to the Indian Trust Settlement issue. The launch of this web campaign, titled "Indian Fairness," was originally timed to coincide with the pending markup on Senate Bill 1439, which was taken off of the Senate agenda yesterday. NCAI is asking Congress to move forward with "The Indian Trust Reform Act of 2006," which would end years of litigation and create an $8 billion settlement to return funds that rightfully belong to Indian account holders. Visitors to the site can email their representative to urge them to act on the pending legislation, forward the site to a friend, and sign up as a supporter of NCAI's "Indian Fairness" campaign. "The tools on our website are a great way for us to continue spreading our message that it is time to move on," said Jackie Johnson, Executive Director of NCAI. "We are disappointed that the markup on 1439 is not happening this week, but this gives us an opportunity to emphasize the importance of moving forward with a resolution. This issue is one of the most important issues facing Indian country today." In 1887, the federal government imposed allotments of land for individual Indian people. The government made itself the "trustee" and used this land for oil, gas, timber, minerals and grazing while paying royalties and lease fees into trust accounts. The Department of the Interior has severely mismanaged the accounts and is unable to provide an accounting of the trust funds. In 1996, a class-action lawsuit was filed by Blackfeet tribal member, Elouise Cobell, against the U.S. Government for the U.S. Department of Interior's failure to account for the trust funds and failure to reform the system of tribal trust management. The litigation has dragged on for ten years with no end in sight. ### Founded in 1944, the National Congress of American Indians is the oldest, largest and most representative American Indian and Alaska Native organization in the country. NCAI advocates on behalf of more than 250 tribal governments, promoting strong tribal-federal government-to- government policies, and promoting a better understanding among the general public regarding American Indian and Alaska Native governments, people and rights. ------------------------- http://www.ncai.org/indianfairness/ GET THE FACTS What is the trust settlement issue? In 1887, the federal government imposed allotments of land for individual Indian people. The government made itself the "trustee" and used this land for oil, gas, timber, minerals and grazing, and paid royalties and lease fees into trust accounts. The Department of the Interior has severely mismanaged the accounts and is unable to provide an accounting of the trust funds. In 1996, a class-action lawsuit was filed by Blackfeet tribal member, Elouise Cobell, against the U.S. Government for the U.S. Department of Interior's failure to account for the trust funds and failure to reform the system of tribal trust management. The government is required to perform an accounting, which will take a decade and cost billions. The National Congress of American Indians is asking Congress to move forward with the Indian Trust Reform Act of 2006, which would end years of litigation and create an $8 billion settlement to return funds that rightfully belong to the Indian account holders. Our message is simple: * Fair is fair, no matter how you say it. * It's time to move on. * Everyone loses - litigation is costing everyone. ------------------------- Fair is fair, no matter how you say it. It is time to return the billions of dollars that have been wrongfully taken from American Indians over the past 100 years. * In 2002, the government's own witness estimated liability at $10 to 40 billion. The accounting could cost as much as $12 billion. * The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs has determined that $8 billion is a fair settlement, representing an approximately 5% error rates on the accounts. This is a very conservative estimate of the error rate. ------------------------- It's time to move on. Historical accounting and litigation has proven ineffective. Continuing the process will just use more tax dollars with little or no effect. * The Department of Interior is under court order to complete an enormous historical accounting for Indian trust funds. * This accounting will take at least a year to complete and will cost billions of dollars. * The accounting can never be complete, as the Department does not have the records needed to satisfy the assignment. ------------------------- Everyone loses - litigation is costing everyone. In June 1996, Elouise Cobell brought a class action lawsuit against the Secretary of Interior for breach of trust. Litigation has dragged on for ten years with no end in sight. And it is costing Indian tribes an annual $100 million in accounting costs; costing American tax payers, whose money is better spent elsewhere; and hurting the tribal-federal relationship. It is costing Indian Tribes: It is unconscionable that Indian tribes are being forced to pay $100 million annually for the mismanagement of Indian funds. It is costing you as an American taxpayer: The energy and funding the Department of Interior is using on this litigation takes away from things they should be focusing on. It is hurting the tribal-federal relationship: An embattled mindset has developed at the Department of Interior that prevents dialogue with the tribes. The bottom line is: This is affecting everyone, including you! Copyright c. 2006 NCAI. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: In Shadow of 70's Racism" --------- Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2006 19:16:49 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="RACIAL VIOLENCE ON THE REZ BORDER" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI= http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/17/us/17navajo.html&OQ=_rQ3D1&OP= 3bbcedb3Q2FH4Q5DNHDZFQ24Q7EZZ_bHb55-H5pHn.HjQ24Hn.esQ27sQ3DZQ22r_EQ3C In Shadow of 70's Racism, Recent Violence Stirs Rage By DAN FROSCH September 17, 2006 FARMINGTON, N.M. - The memory of 1974 still hangs heavily over this troubled New Mexico town, like a bad spirit drifting down from the sandpaper mesas and scrub-speckled hillsides. That was the year the bodies of three Navajo men were found in nearby Chokecherry Canyon, burned and bludgeoned. The three white high school students charged in their killings were sent not to prison but to reform school. The violence and mild sentences incited marches by Navajos through Farmington's streets and exposed tensions between them and the town's largely white residents. The United States Commission on Civil Rights eventually investigated and found widespread mistreatment and prejudice against Navajos. Now, more than three decades later, Navajo leaders here are again calling for federal intervention. On June 4, the police said, three white men beat a Navajo man, William Blackie, 46, and shouted racial slurs at him after asking him to buy beer for them. The men were charged with kidnapping, robbery and assault, and are being prosecuted under the state hate crimes law, which allows for longer sentences. Six days later, a white Farmington police officer killed a Navajo man, Clint John, 21, after a struggle in a Wal-Mart parking lot. The police said Mr. John had assaulted his girlfriend and attacked the officer - grabbing his baton and moving aggressively toward him - before the officer shot Mr. John four times. Mr. John had a history of violence, the police said. Mr. John's family says he did not have the baton when he was shot and is filing a wrongful death lawsuit against city officials, the Police Department and the officer. The San Juan County Sheriff's Office, which investigated Mr. John's death, concluded that the shooting was justified. But after an outcry from Navajo Nation officials, the United States Justice Department is reviewing the matter to determine if a federal inquiry is necessary. Both events have rocked this commercial hub of about 42,000 residents on the eastern edge of the Navajo Nation. After Mr. John's shooting, the Navajo Council allocated $300,000 to study racial violence in the 11 towns that border Navajo land and to finance the John family's lawsuit. On Sept. 2, amid growing unease, Navajo leaders organized a march they said drew 1,000 participants. The march snaked along Highway 64, which leads to the Navajo community of Shiprock. "We marched to memorialize the people that have died because of racial violence here," said Duane Yazzie, president of the Shiprock chapter of the Navajo Nation. "This was an outlet for people who are frustrated and angry." Similar marches 32 years ago protested the severe, sometimes violent treatment of Navajos, like the practice of beating drunken Navajos passed out on Farmington's streets. In 1975, the Civil Rights Commission released "The Farmington Report: A Conflict of Cultures," which described widespread prejudice against American Indians in Farmington and said they had suffered in almost every area from injustice and maltreatment. These days, Farmington is no longer the Selma, Ala., of the Southwest, as some derisively called it then. The town has more Indians - about 17 percent of its residents, compared with less than 10 percent in the mid- 1970's. The Civil Rights Commission, revisiting Farmington in 2004, found marked progress. Mayor Bill Standley cited improvements including the creation of a citizen police advisory committee, an intertribal service organization and a Navajo behavioral health center. Mayor Standley categorized this year's violence as isolated. "When these things happen, we still have to be concerned, and we have to listen," he said. "We have thousands of interactions between people in Farmington where nothing happens. But when things do go wrong, the culprit is usually alcohol. For the most part, it's not racism that drives Farmington's problems today, it's alcohol." Indeed, a study this year by the Police Department showed that most crimes against Indians in Farmington were committed by Indians. Police Chief Mike Burridge said the 12 Indians among the 124 officers on his force had supported the department after Mr. John's shooting. "They told me they wished it was a Native American officer that was involved," said Mr. Burridge, adding that his officers underwent cultural sensitivity training that specifically addressed Navajo issues. But Larry Emerson, chairman of the New Mexico Indian Education Advisory Council, said white residents had not absorbed the history of Indian subjugation and its psychological and social effects. "The bias, the unfairness, this has been going on all along," said Mr. Emerson, who is Navajo. "Our people have suffered intergenerational trauma. They're so numb to it, they can't feel own their feelings anymore." Racial violence - like the bludgeoning death in 2000 of a 36-year-old Navajo woman by two white men - still occurs, if less frequently. Mr. Emerson and Mr. Yazzie said many crimes against Navajos went unreported. "We've become so accustomed to our treatment by the Anglo community, we just accept it as normal," said Mr. Yazzie, who was shot by a white hitchhiker in 1978 and lost an arm in the attack. Mr. Yazzie said he believed outsiders, new to Farmington and its complicated racial dynamic, were to blame for the upswing in violence. He said he considered Mr. John's shooting unjustified and wanted the federal government to intervene, as it did in the 1970's. Other tribal leaders agree. "We've come a long way since 1974, but sometimes it takes the feds to move things in the right direction, said Joe Shirley Jr., the president of the Navajo Nation. "Otherwise, it doesn't get done." A stroll down Main Street, lined with antique shops and Navajo art galleries, reveals familiar divisions. "The majority of Navajos are good people," said Joann Carney, a white saleswoman at a clothing shop. "But a few give them a bad name." "Navajos get a lot of looks walking down the streets here," said Patrick John, an American Indian from Shiprock. "There's a lot of tension here. This is a border town." For George Arthur, a Navajo Nation delegate who lives near Farmington, the problems are escalating. A few years ago, Mr. Arthur said, his son was beaten by white youths who tried unsuccessfully to set him on fire. Mr. Arthur said no one was charged in the crime. "The Navajo are a proud people," he said. "We've learned to survive, and we can tolerate certain aspects of life. But not when it comes to our dignity." Copyright c. 2006 The New York Times Company. --------- "RE: Albuquerque Indians discuss state of Health Care" --------- Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 08:41:43 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="INDIAN HEALTH CARE DISCUSSED" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.dailylobo.com/media/storage/paper344/news/2006/09/12/News/ Health.Care.Concerns.Voiced-2267470.shtml?norewrite200609130840 &sourcedomain=www.dailylobo.com Health care concerns voiced by Jes Abeita Daily Lobo Greg Ortiz, former governor of Acoma Pueblo, said he is not happy with the American-Indian health care system in Albuquerque. "My family's been here (in Albuquerque) for decades, and they have to drive to Acoma sick," he said. Ortiz spoke Monday at a meeting of the Native Health Council of New Mexico that addressed the Albuquerque Indian Health Services' Contract Health Services Program. Some audience members said they were frustrated with the system. Vietnam veteran Albert Cata was one of them. "It's a crazy game we've got to play," he said. The meeting was the second in a series of gatherings put together by the council. The council was formed to address the health care needs of Albuquerque's American-Indian population, which is estimated at more than 45,000, said Roxane Spruce Bly, who helped organize the event. American Indians living in the city must navigate the contract health process in order to access many needed medical services, she said. Contract health is the process that is used when a tribal member cannot get into a direct care facility, said Maria Rickert, acting CEO of the Albuquerque branch of the program. It is one of the most confusing programs at IHS, she said. Medical services include anything IHS does not provide, such as specialized X-rays, Rickert said. Eligibility criteria, the approval process and how to file an appeal were all covered in the meeting. IHS is the governmental organization set up to deliver health services to members of federally recognized tribes. She said the funding system doesn't address the more than 50 percent of American Indians who now live in cities. American Indians in large cities are more likely to make use of contract health, she said. Dr. Ron Lujan said that many times tribal members who have moved to cities face resentment when they come back to their home reservations. That can make going home for medical treatment daunting, he said. Many people in the audience said it was time to rewrite the residency rules that cause such inconveniences. Rickert said such a change would be up to individual tribes. If the rules were changed, some people who have coverage could lose it, she said, Although the meeting clarified the system, it did not make it less frustrating, Cata said. That frustration is compounded by the fact that the program consistently loses funding from Congress, Rickert said. She said the chronic underfunding of the program by Congress only makes matters worse. Sometimes a patient that applied one year would get paid from funds for the next year, she said. Spruce Bly said the Native Health Council planned to meet again in October. The topic and time will be announced at a later date. Copyright c. 2006 Daily Lobo. --------- "RE: Native Remains found in Mass Grave in Utah" --------- Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 08:51:09 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="1837 MASSACRE BY MORMONS" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_4341777 Skeletons found in Nephi may reveal details of 1853 massacre 'AN IMPORTANT STORY TO TELL' By Jeremiah Stettler The Salt Lake Tribune Salt Lake Tribune September 15, 2006 State archaeologists have unearthed a 150-year-old crime scene that could shed light on the slaying of seven American Indians in Nephi. Archaeologists have excavated seven bodies from a mass grave in downtown Nephi. They say the men were the victims of a killing during the Walker War in 1853. The skeletons, tangled together in a shallow grave, were discovered last month, when a home builder dug into an old ravine, now filled with about 6 feet of sand, to pour the foundation for a new home. The bodies lay on top of each other - their bones splintered by bullets that hit some in the head and others in the hip or leg - in a grave just 3 feet wide. Archaeologists also found buttons attached to cloth, glass shards and a copper tube that contained what appeared to be a braid of hair. Ronald J. Rood, assistant state archaeologist, described the discovery as "extremely important" to the history of how early Utah settlers and American Indians interacted during the state's formative years. "These people have an important story to tell," he said. Their story goes back more than century to a pair of oxen-drawn wagons traveling to Salt Lake City from Manti with wheat, according to accounts by Springville historian D. Robert Carter. The wagons paused overnight at Uintah Springs, despite counsel to stop earlier. Isaac Morley, leader of the Manti colony, had urged the four men to wait for a company of horse-drawn wagons en route to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' general conference before venturing into hostile country, the history states. As feared, the men were attacked and killed on Sept. 30, 1853. The killing outraged settlers as the men's bodies were carted to Nephi for burial. What happened that following Sunday, Oct. 2, remains of historical dispute. Some accounts say that a group of Indians came to camp looking for protection and food. Instead, the townspeople rose up against them and killed them "like so many dogs," a state history records. Another account suggests that the Indians were summoned to town by military commander Maj. George W. Bradley. When ordered to drop their weapons, the men refused. A squabble ensued. One settler was struck with an arrow and the seven Indians were killed. The killings came as part of a larger conflict between Mormon pioneers and American Indians known as the Walker War. The violence, sparked by pioneer encroachment upon the Utes' hunting and gathering grounds, lasted almost a year with tit-for-tat skirmishes between settlers and Indians. The parties reached a peace settlement in May 1854. Rood has found nothing to change the history of the Nephi massacre. Rather, he has evidence to suggest that seven men, ages 16 to 25, were killed that day and thrown in a mass grave. The archaeologist has found a ball of lead inside one man's skull, bullet holes penetrating other bones and a head fracture stained green by a copper trinket that suggests one Indian was killed with blunt force trauma. Rood said he simply hopes to shed light on that skirmish so many years ago. "I don't see it as revising history," he said. "I see it as adding another chapter." Yet the fate of the seven skeletons remains uncertain, Rood said. State law allows American Indian tribes to make claims on their ancestors' bodies only if they are unearthed on public land. The law gives no such allowance for bones found on private land, like the ones discovered in Nephi. Unless a family link is found, the state retains custody of the bones. Forrest Cuch, executive director of the state Division of Indian Affairs, said more than 1,500 sets of human remains are boxed in state repositories and universities without any legal provision for returning them to the American Indian community for a proper burial. Cuch said he will push for change during next year's legislative session. He hopes to expand tribal rights and hasten a repatriation process that now takes from seven months to a year. Cuch, a member of the Ute tribe, described it as a "top priority" for Utah's tribes who consider it a breach of spiritual law to deny those bodies a proper burial. "I am an Indian and was raised to have respect for the dead and to understand that there are certain physical laws and spiritual laws," he said. "I don't think we have been honoring the spiritual laws." Homeowner Kevin Creps, who found the Indians' remains while preparing his foundation, said he wants nothing more than to see the bodies returned to their tribes. The Nephi man chuckles about the repeated references to the film "Poltergeist II," which features a home built atop a mass grave, and said he won't lose any sleep over it. Instead, he said it would "break [his] heart" if the remains ended up in a box in some state warehouse. "I want to make sure they are taken care of correctly," he said. "I want to make sure they get back to where they belong with a proper burial and proper funeral service." jstettler@sltrib.com Copyright c. 2006 The Salt Lake Tribune. --------- "RE: 3rd rare White Buffalo born on Wisconsin Farm" --------- Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 08:47:08 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ANOTHER MIRACLE" http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_White_Buffalo.html 3rd rare white buffalo born on Wis. farm By EMILY FREDRIX ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER September 14, 2006 MILWAUKEE - A farm in Wisconsin is quickly becoming hallowed ground for American Indians with the birth of its third white buffalo, an animal considered sacred by many tribes for its potential to bring good fortune and peace. "We took one look at it and I can't repeat what I thought but I thought, 'Here we go again,'" said owner Dave Heider. Thousands of people stopped by Heider's Janesville farm after the birth of the first white buffalo, a female named Miracle who died in 2004 at the age of 10. The second was born in 1996 but died after three days. Heider said he discovered the third white buffalo, a newborn male, after a storm in late August. Over the weekend, about 50 American Indians held a drum ceremony to honor the calf, which has yet to be named, he said. Floyd "Looks for Buffalo" Hand, a medicine man in the Oglala Sioux Tribe in Pine Ridge, S.D., said it was fate that the white buffaloes chose one farm, which will likely become a focal point for visitors, who make offerings such as tobacco and dream catchers in the hopes of earning good fortune and peace. "That's destiny," he said. "The message was only choose one person." The white buffalo is particularly sacred to the Cheyenne, Sioux and other nomadic tribes of the Northern Plains that once relied on the buffalo for subsistence. According to a version of the legend, a white buffalo, disguised as a woman wearing white hides, appeared to two men. One treated her with respect, and the other didn't. She turned the disrespectful man into a pile of bones, and gave the respectful one a pipe and taught his people rituals and music. She transformed into a female white buffalo calf and promised to return again. That this latest birth is a male doesn't make it any less significant in American Indian prophecies, which say that such an animal will reunite all the races of man and restore balance to the world, Hand said. He said the buffalo's coat will change from white to black, red and yellow, the colors of the various races of man, before turning brown again. The birth of a white male buffalo means men need to take responsibility for their families and the future of the tribe, Hand said. The odds of a white buffalo are at least 1 in a million, said Jim Matheson, assistant director of the National Bison Association. Buffalo in general have been rare for years, thought their numbers are increasing, with some 250,000 now in the U.S., he said. Many people, like Heider, choose to raise the animals for their meat, which is considered a healthier, low-fat alternative to beef. Gary Adamson, 65, of Elkhorn, who is of Choctaw and Cherokee heritage, said tribal elders will help interpret the animal's significance. "There are still things that need to be done, and Miracle's task wasn't quite done yet, and we feel there's something there," he said. Copyright c. 2006 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. Copyright c. 1996-2006 Seattle Post-Intelligencer. --------- "RE: Life expectancy sags on S.D. Reservations" --------- Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 08:41:43 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LOWEST LIFE EXPECTANCY IN US" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2006/09/12/news/state/state01.txt Life expectancy sags on S.D. reservations By Chet Brokaw, Associated Press Writer September 13, 2006 PIERRE - A study that found American Indians living in southwestern South Dakota have the nation's lowest life expectancy shows the need to continue efforts to improve health care on reservations, health officials said Monday. The national research study, led by Dr. Christopher Murray of the Harvard School of Public Health, reported that six counties that include Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and Rosebud Indian Reservation have the lowest life expectancy in the nation. People in that area can expect to live 66.6 years, well short of the 79 years for low-income rural white people in the Northern Plains. South Dakota ranked 18th in the study with an average life expectancy of 77.7 years. Jacqueline Left Hand Bull, administrative officer of the Aberdeen Area Tribal Chairmen's Health Board, said she is not surprised by the study's findings. American Indians in South Dakota have high rates of infant mortality, cancer, diabetes and heart disease, and many live far from hospitals and clinics, she said. "The American Indian population has long had the lowest life-expectancy rate in the country, and to find out the lowest of the low is right here in South Dakota is not a surprise," Left Hand Bull said. The Aberdeen Area Tribal Chairmen's Health Board works with the Indian Health Service to improve health care for Indians in the area. The national study underscores the board's long-held position that more services are needed and that access to health care must be improved, Left Hand Bull said. "We know the Indian Health Service is doing the best it can with the funding it receives, but it needs more funding," she said. IHS reports show American Indians in the Aberdeen region have a death rate more than double the national average. Indians in the area particularly exceeded the national average in infant mortality and deaths from accident, liver disease and problems related to diabetes. The counties listed as having the lowest life expectancy also consistently rank among the nation's poorest counties, with low annual incomes. "Alcoholism is one factor that has plagued American Indians ... possibly because of a lack of being able to live the American dream," said Ray Grandbois of the IHS. That alcoholism can result from depression caused by high unemployment and an inability to provide for a family, he said. A recent state Health Department study also found that 53 percent of Indians reported smoking, compared with only 21 percent of white people in South Dakota. Sarah Patrick, a professor and director of the Center for Rural Health Improvement at the University of South Dakota medical school, noted that the IHS and tribal officials have established a commission that is looking at the most effective ways to provide health care in Indian communities. Patrick also said the national study can help officials improve health care for Indians. "I think studies like this are important because they can give us benchmarks. And the important thing is to get together as a community and decide what is it we need to work on, what is it that makes the most sense right here to work on," Patrick said. "I still think we can look at it with some hope in terms of being able to measure improvement over time." The national study found the nation's lowest life expectancy in Bennett, Jackson, Mellette, Shannon, Todd and Washabaugh counties. Washabaugh County, which has been absorbed into another county, includes the part of the Pine Ridge reservation outside Shannon County. Copyright c. 2006 Rapid City Journal. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Oglalas to swim from Alcatraz to San Francisco" --------- Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 08:51:09 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="EXTREME HEALTH" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=local&id=4562670 South Dakota Indians Get Extreme Health Makeover Sioux Tribe Gets Fit In San Francisco By Carolyn Tyler September 14, 2006 KGO - A San Francisco doctor is leading the way for an unusual group of tourists preparing for a special challenge. It's all in the name of health and wellness. She's not a swimmer, but that's not stopping Jesse Big Crow from tackling one of the biggest challenges ever. She and three friends from the Pine Ridge Indian reservation have traveled from South Dakota to San Francisco to swim in the bay. David Mills: "When I tell people I'm coming here I'm going to jump in that ice cold water, I'm going to swim with the sharks." ABC7's Carolyn Tyler: "Do they look at you like you're crazy?" David Mills: "Some do, yes." You see it's not just dipping their feet in the ocean. They are planning to swim all the way from Alcatraz to San Francisco. This is one of several tune-ups since they arrived on Monday. Joni Tobacco is not an accomplished swimmer. Joni Tobacco: "No, I've swam like twice this summer." But she is sure she can make it. Joni Tobacco: "Traditionally when something comes out of your mouth, you say you'll do something you're expected to uphold that." These members of the Ogalala Lakota Sioux tribe were invited here by Dr. Nancy Iverson. Iverson is a San Francisco pediatrician who grew up in South Dakota. She came up with the Alcatraz swim as part of an innovative wellness program after visiting the reservation a few years ago, Dr. Nancy Iverson: "It's so sad. The life expectancy on the Pine Ridge is about 20 years less than the rest of the United States and there's a terribly high rate of heart disease and diabetes." Dr. Iverson regularly swims in the bay to help her back problems, but her program, now in its fifth year, is more than that. She calls it PATHStar - Preservation of Authentic Traditions and Healing. During their week-long stay her groups learns yoga and gets lessons on nutrition health and wellness. Nakina Mills: "I look at this opportunity as a chance to get back to watch what I eat, exercising." They'll take what they learn back home with them, as well as the tale of a confidence-boosting experience. For the big adventure they'll be accompanied by veteran swimmers, boats and kayaks, but in the end it's a personal journey. Copyright c. 2006 ABC Inc., KGO-TV San Francisco. --------- "RE: Why Native vets should support a Service Medal" --------- Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 08:41:43 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="EUROPEAN DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=8171 Why Native vets should support a Europe Defense Service Medal Guest opinion Joe Martin September 12, 2006 Native American veterans are aware the United States government has historically created and awarded congressionally authorized military medals for service. These medals represent individual participation in theaters of operations for defense of the geographical area in which the action occurred. This honor is recognizable on many of the veterans who served in the US Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard when they wear the colorful medals or ribbons on their regalia or vests at powwows and gatherings. Some veterans may wear only one medal: The Good Conduct Medal, from their respective service branch, or the National Defense Service Medal. And then other veterans may go unnoticed and almost invisible wearing no medal at all on their chest - though they have received their honorable discharge from the service. The veterans who have no service medal to wear at all they may be able to only receive from the government a substitute- a bland impersonal civilian recognition certificate. As a matter of fact, no civilian certificate in our country's military history has ever been substituted for a military award before. Some veterans refuse the certificate as an insult, but it is touted as impressive and worthy of the paper it is printed on by the government. So a commemorative phenomenon is born. This is where a veteran can be directed by the government and the Department of Defense to go out and purchase a commemorative medal to honor themselves. But if a veteran buys one of these, and then tries to wear one on their old military uniform on Veterans Day or Memorial Day and the like, stiff fines or even jail time can result via the US Code. This is unsatisfactory. Some other veterans also know that benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Vet Centers are entitlements usually based on service and the time of service, as well as on what type of military awards an individual received. Too many know what it is like to get services when they are required to travel long distances, or to go to mobile outreach, if and when it arrives on the reservation. Some find out too late when they attempt to access Vet Center services for service- connected psychological readjustment counseling for, say, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, By law, those without a correct theater service medal or other award are denied service. VA hospitals or clinics also can deny help because an individual's service was at the wrong time in military history. That is wrong. The government's failure to award a theater service medal for the defense of Europe during the Cold War years of 1945-91 causes these injustices. This has happened by an apparent oversight due to the fact that the Cold War victory in Europe occurred at about the same time as the first Persian Gulf War was fought. By awarding a Europe Defense Service Medal, the government will be doing the right thing and taking a strong step toward equalizing services for all military veterans. Some people misinterpret the Cold War in Europe as a time of peace. However it was an actual war pitting US-North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allied military forces against the numerically superior USSR-Warsaw Pact military forces. Forty-six years in duration, the Cold War in Europe stands as the longest undeclared war in US military history occurring outside America's borders. Out of all ethnicities, Native Americans serve in the military at the highest per capita rate. They were stationed in, deployed to, and actively involved in operations, exercises, and activities in the European Theater of Operations. Yet no wearable recognizable uniform recognition has ever been given for their service. This shows dishonor toward veterans who put their life on the line and their lives on hold when America needed them the most. The least America can do is to act on this situation and recognize the efforts of those individuals for their service overseas on the front and on the flanks in Cold War Europe. Considering their outstanding level of service, it stands to reason at least some Native Americans were killed, wounded or lost in-theater during the Cold War in Europe. At least 62 Americans were Killed in Action, 100's were Wounded in Action, 18 are still Missing in Action, and an estimated 5000 died in military operations, exercises, missions, and support activities. The Cold War in Europe was a real war, fought with real weapons, with real ammunition. An actual military theater of operations existed. Five million US military members teamed up with NATO allied nations military forces to prevent the USSR-Warsaw Pact military forces from invading Western Europe. Veterans were in harm's way by being conventional deterrence forces in a situation that carried the prospect of nuclear war. There are cases of US aircraft and their crews being shot down on missions across Eastern European borders. US military personnel were also subject to terrorist actions from the Marxist Red Army Faction and other similar pre-9/11 organizations. On the front, on the north flank, on the south flank, on land, in the air, at sea and under the sea border clashes and hostile encounters with opposing military forces occurred. It appears the government has conveniently forgotten all of this sacrifice. All service in Cold War Europe was not combative, just the same as in other theaters of operations where service medals were awarded. In the preparation for combat, in the standing of guard, in the manning of outposts on traditional invasion routes into Europe from the East along the borders of the Soviet states, and other areas, many US military veterans suffered and endured the cold and heat in silence. While separated from their families, friends and loved ones, they were ordered by their military superiors to provide peace, freedom, and stability for 400-plus million European citizens. They did their duty. Many remember the alerts and not knowing if it was the real event they had trained for. However they stood their posts, ready to fulfill their responsibility to protect Europe. If it were to have been the real thing they were ready to serve and fight, to be, in essence, a speed bump to slow down the Soviet-Warsaw Pact Divisions until additional help could arrive to repel the invaders. By protecting the people of Europe, they protected the American people as well. Former US President Dwight D. Eisenhower recognized the importance of the Cold War in Europe when he stated, "There is but one way to avoid total war - that is to win the Cold War." US-NATO allied military forces won the Cold War in Europe on December 25, 1991 and the USSR and the Warsaw Pact collapsed and ceased to exist. Many of these same former enemy countries have since joined NATO as allied nations and embrace NATO's ideals. Meanwhile, our veterans who participated in the Cold War in Europe go without. Now is the time for the government to act and come to recognize the solid and honest efforts of all those quiet American cold warriors that protected the Europeans. US military veterans who served in the Cold War deserve a medal to wear on their regalia and vests, to be treated equal. They have already run the gauntlet by serving honorably in the military, in their war, their theatre of operations. It is time. --- About the author: Joe Martin, Metis, is the national commander of the Europe Defense Veterans of America and keeper of the Europe Defense Veterans of America Cold Warriors Honors Blanket. He is a PFC USMC Infantry 2nd Marine Division FMF Cold War European Theater Veteran 1978- 79-80. The Europe Defense Veterans of America is based in Lake Placid, New York. Their website is: www.edva.us. To support their efforts and sign an online petition, go to: http://www.petitiononline.com/edsm/petition.html Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Opinion: U.S. still blind to reality after 9/11" --------- Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 08:41:03 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="OPINION: IDENTIFY VICTIMS" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2006/sep/11/mike_ford_age_36_lawrence/ Mike Ford, age 36, Lawrence September 11, 2006 Very little reality has been cast on Sept. 11, 2001, outside of the manipulated pro-administration mantra that I've tolerated for five years. Here's my take. This country acted like a victim on 9/11. Those 3,700 people who died did nothing directly to the hijackers who attacked the twin towers. They just worked in a building that was a sign of capitalistic greed and oppression. Similarly, the minorities in this country who were oppressed by capitalism by virtue of their slave labor, their lands being taken and their people being overlooked politically and underpaid, were subjugated by capitalists who wished for their wealth and their silence. No one hears much about the racial massacres of the Munsee People at Gnadenhutten, the Cheyenne People at Sand Creek, the Lakota at Wounded Knee or the African- Americans in Tulsa in 1921. All of these atrocities and many others were committed by Euro-Americans in the name of subjugation for exploitational purposes. This country has blood on its hands on its own soil. Soil that it refuses to compensate the victims for to this day. Double standards and naivety are no excuse. This country is not innocent. In both examples, the innocent died for the actions of the corrupt. I remember going to my sociology class on Sept. 12, 2001, at Johnson County Community College. The whole smallpox and anthrax scare was on. My professor had the brilliant idea of having students act like Cabinet members to determine which segments of the population would get smallpox vaccines and which ones wouldn't. Being a Choctaw descendant and knowing what was used by colonists as a biological weapon in the French and Indian War, I gave her an incredulous look. She caught on and reworked the classroom hypothesis. This just goes to show the naivety of this country and the short- sightedness of this administration. They expected a loyal wall of silence in spite of their shortcomings pre- and post-9/11. If people vote someone into office in a democracy, they have a right to question that office holder by virtue of participating in the political system. No one should have immunity from questioning unless they have something to hide. No one should try to silence opposition unless they have something to hide. I've seen both since 9/11, and it disgusts me. I've known young people who've served in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001. What were they fighting for and when will it be done? Will the absurd amounts of governmental waste in Iraq as referred to by the GAO ever stop? Will any of that money go to hurricane victims or the plaintiffs in the Cobell v. Norton case? Will I ever have my First and Fourth Amendment rights respected again? What I've said here is not "un-American." It's pro-responsibility, pro- civility and pro-educational. Living in a post-9/11 world has made me angry at the unaccountable people who seek scripted and controlled comments on their inept actions. I hope 2008 changes this. Copyright c. 2006 The Lawrence Journal-World. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: GIAGO: 500 years of Terrorism" --------- Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 08:41:03 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GIAGO: TERRORISM IS NOT NEW TO INDIAN COUNTRY" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=8166 Notes from Indian Country 500 years of terrorism Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji) Copyright c. 2006 Native American Journalists Foundation, Inc. September 11, 2006 This morning as I drove through downtown Rapid City I realized that many of the signs that appeared all over this city several days after 9/11 and months thereafter, flags, banners and magnetic stickers on automobiles, SUVs and pickup trucks were nearly all gone. I suppose it is because most Americans have a short memory. Most Indians do not. The terrorism that struck at the very heart of the Indian people for several centuries is still in their hearts and minds. I wrote about this three years after 9/ll and for those folks with short memories, I repeat those words on this 5th anniversary of that horrible day. The Indian people never knew what act of violence or terror would befall them from the invaders. But death did come. It came in the form of biological warfare when small pox tainted blankets were distributed to the unsuspecting victims. It came to them from the muzzles of guns that did not distinguish between warriors, women, elders or children. It came to them in the ruthless name of Manifest Destiny, the American edict that proclaimed God as the purveyor of expansion Westward. Indian people were often slaughtered like animals often while waving the American flag in pitiful efforts to convince their killers that they were not bad people. At Wounded Knee in 1890, a slaughter took place that the white man often called the last great battle between Indians and the United States Army. It was not a battle. It was one the last heinous acts of terror against innocent men, women and children. The attack by Islamic terrorists on 9/11 was another. The Indian people died not knowing why as did the people in the World Trade Center. The Lakota died in fear. They died in the frozen snow of that bitterly cold December day at Wounded Knee while fleeing to find safe harbor amongst the Oglala Lakota. These Lakota experienced terrorism by a government that did not consider them to be human beings. They died in the Twin Towers at the hands of a radical people seeking revenge for reasons the victims did not understand. When human beings can be labeled as less than human their deaths become meaningless. This is the apparent belief of the terrorists and the early settlers. By portraying all Indians as murdering savages, rapists, kidnappers and worse, the national media of the day laid the groundwork for Wounded Knee. In article after article urging the government to remove the Indian people by any means from their homelands, the media stood guilty of fomenting acts of terrorism. Similar articles in the media and speeches in the mosques in the Nations of Islam expressed similar views of Americans. This laid the groundwork for 9/11. A lie repeated often enough becomes a fact in the minds of impressionable people. Indians are savages, Americans are infidels and Arabs are heathens. Do you see how this logic works? Just as the Crusaders believed it was their Christian duty to conquer and kill those Arabs they considered as sub-humans and heathens, so too did America duplicate their misguided logic against the First Americans. The people of the Islamic Nations never forgave nor forgot. The Indian people have largely forgiven, but they have not forgotten. The Christians of the Crusade de-humanized the Arabs, the early Americans de-humanized the Indians and the People of Islam now de-humanize Westerners. It is a vicious cycle that is centuries old. Just as news stories and movies about Arabs portrayed them as less than human, so did the media portray the indigenous people of America. Their lives then became expendable and meaningless and therefore easily sacrificed for what is believed to be a greater cause. Westerners are now fitted into this same category by the Islamic terrorists. I think America missed a mighty lesson and opportunity when it did not learn how to treat the rest of the world after its mistreatment of its indigenous people. America has still never settled its debt, either morally or financially, with its indigenous people. America, as a nation, wept when nearly three thousand of its citizens died at the World Trade Center on 9/11. The Indian people still weep for the thousands killed in the more than five centuries of terrorism foisted upon them by a Nation that did not care. They also weep for those lives lost on 9/11 and for the lives of the many soldiers lost in Iraq. A philosopher once said, "Great Nations are judged by how they treat their indigenous people," and I am sad to say that America has failed to pass the test of time. After 500 years the Indian still lives in fear of the terror that is still lurking just around the corner. The Indian people have lost so much in the past 500 years and they still live in terror of what will come next for them. When the Indian people pray in song, they sing for the lives of all who have come before, for all who are here now, and for all that are to come. To the Lakota life is "hocoka," a circle. They know that what goes around comes around. It is a lesson that America should learn and live by. "Great nations are judged by how they treat their indigenous people." If America had treated its indigenous people fairly and justly and had taken this lesson to heart in the way it treats the indigenous people of other worlds, would 9/11 have happened? It is something to ponder. The signs, posters and stickers may be gradually disappearing, but I hope the deep feelings that caused them to be exhibited are never lost. --- Tim Giago, an Oglala Lakota, is the former editor and publisher of Indian Country Today. He is the founder and first president of the Native American Journalists Association. McClatchy News Service of Washington, DC distributes his weekly column. He can be reached at najournalists@rushmore. com or by writing him at P.O. Box 9244, Rapid City, SD. His new book "Children Left Behind" is available at harmon@clearlightbooks.com. --------- "RE: Editorial: Bush punishes Indian Country yet again" --------- Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 08:41:03 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="OPED: BUSH ADMIN PULLS END AROUND AGAINST GOSHUTE" http://www.indianz.com/News/2006/015838.asp Editorial: Bush punishes Indian Country yet again September 11, 2006 Politicians in Utah are patting themselves on the back after the Interior Department rejected a lease for a nuclear waste dump on the Skull Valley Goshute Reservation. They couldn't win on the merits so they took to lobbying the Bush administration, with Sen. Orrin Hatch (R) boasting of a meeting with his old friend, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, a former senator. "Utah had such a strong case in my eyes, so I did everything I could to make sure the administration understood my position," Hatch said in an interview with The Salt Lake Tribune. "I felt pretty confident from the beginning that I could convince anybody this was not the way to go." And so Interior went. In two decisions last week, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Land Management said they would be shirking their trust responsibilities if they allowed the tribe to store to 44,000 tons of nuclear waste on less than 100 acres of their 18,000-acre reservation. The problem is that the decisions are far from the role of "prudent trustee" claimed by Interior officials. The BIA document in particular smacks of paternalism and hypocrisy, and whose reasoning calls attention to the Bush administration's repeated punishment of Indian Country for the federal government's failures. Take police protection, for example. Jim Cason, a non-Indian who has run the BIA for more than a year, admits that the agency has failed to carry out its obligation to provide law enforcement on reservations. So does the "prudent trustee" try to find a solution to the lack of police officers on the ground? No, Cason simply rejects an economic development project for a tribe whose members suffer from sky-high unemployment rates. "With limited resources to meet law enforcement responsibilities throughout the rest of Indian Country, it would be imprudent to approve leases that allow an activity that the Secretary does not have the resources to support," Cason wrote. Translation: It's easier on us if you stay poor and jobless. Find a project that doesn't make us do any work. Another troubling aspect of Cason's decision comes in the form of Yucca Mountain, the federal government's official nuclear waste repository. Located on Western Shoshone treaty land in Nevada, the project is so far behind scheduled that's it not clear when it will open. So what does the "prudent trustee" do? He tells the tribe that its project has to be denied because politicians and bureaucrats can't get their act together and carry out a federal law passed way back in 1982 that mandated a U.S. nuclear dump. Translation: We screwed up. So you don't get anything. Not every Goshute is unhappy with the rejection of the lease. Some tribal members have been fighting their chairman, who recently declared himself "chief for life," for years over this project and other issues. Their voices deserve to be heard, particularly by their "prudent trustee." But that's not what happened here. Interior punished the tribe for the federal government's failures. Tragically, it's a familiar tale in Indian Country. Remember the $3 million that Cason stole from the BIA to pay for the Cobell lawsuit? It looks like this debacle won't ever end. Copyright c. 2000-2006 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: YELLOW BIRD: A time for canning, remembering" --------- Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 08:47:08 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YELLOW BIRD: CANNING, MEMORIES" http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm? id=9865&forumcomm_check_return&freebie_check&CFID=590710&CFTOKEN=54493552 DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: A time for canning, remembering Grand Forks Herald September 13, 2006 At this time of year, my nose tickles at the smell of cooking jellies or roasting pork; they bring back memories of my life on the reservation. It's the time of the year when my mother and grandma, Little Sioux, would can and dry, dry and can, until the first frost. This is the tail end of the season, and the caboose, so to speak, is buffalo berries. Buffalo berries need one good frost or the worms will stay in them, my grandma used to say. We ate them before the frost, though. I guess I didn't believe my grandmother until one day, I collected a jar full to take home with me. When I got there, I looked in the jar and there were worms all right. I never told my brothers and sisters; I figured they were better off not knowing since the worms didn't seem to hurt us. I usually eat buffalo berries lightly before the first frost, however. So the season went - jellies, jams, soups or sauces, chopped cabbage for slaw, cucumbers sliced and stuffed for pickles, syrup of all kinds. I would even say anything that stood still long enough to be caught, shot or hooked on a line would find itself looking out of an old mayonnaise jar in those days. Below the house at my grandma's where we lived until I was 7, there was a huge grove of wild plums. We'd all go down the marshy hill - spring water ran out of the hill and made it pretty boggy - cross the creek, then set down our pails and pick plums. It was there where I got my first harvest injury. I was barefoot. When I jumped out of a tree, I landed on a branch with a 2-inch thorn that went into the arch of my foot. Chokecherries are another thing. They were abundant. My grandmother had planted seeds on the hillsides years ago, and they produced good crops each year. We grew up on those tart berries. We developed a taste and then a desire for them. The August sun made it a time of brown teeth and dark skin. I mentioned roasting pork because in the fall, my mother sometimes would get a pig from the relatives and butcher it for side-pork and pork products. Then she'd cook all the fat parts down for lard for the winter. Now, that is an artery-blocking, fat-producing product if ever I heard of one. When she cooked the pork down, what was left was pork rinds, which we loved. When I first found pork rinds on the grocery shelf, I was hopeful. But of course, they were only a hint of what those homemade pork rinds were like. My father also hunted prairie chicken, pheasants and deer. We canned them, too. I remember telling our Herald resident cooking expert about canned venison. It wasn't new to him. This year, I found only a few chokecherry trees with much fruit in Grand Forks. My sisters told us to come home, and there we found plenty in the drought-stricken western part of the state. I guess chokecherries aren't too needy when it comes to rain. I picked three buckets with my sisters. Then, a friend of my mothers, who always told her when the cherries were ripe in their shelter belt, started calling us about the ripe chokecherries. We picked several more buckets, and she picked and froze even more for us. My sister and I got plums from a good friend, too. And on the way home from a Minnesota trip, I saw a sign for vegetables, and we stopped. I was going to get only some eating tomatoes, but ended up with $40 worth of cucumbers, onions, peppers, a watermelon and too many tomatoes. Last year, after my canning marathon, I ended up in the emergency room with shoulders and arm muscles in spasms so bad that I had to take pain pills, and then the pain pills made