_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 14, ISSUE 041 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 October 14, 2006 Passamaquoddy Toqakiw/autumn moon Kiowa Gakinat'o p'a/ten-colds moon Blackfeet Sa'aiksi itaomatooyi/moon when ducks leave Algonquin Pepewarr-/white frost on grass and ground moon +-------------------------------------------------------+ | Much more happens in Indian Country than is reported | | in this weekly newsletter. For daily updates & events | | go to http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm | +-------------------------------------------------------+ Otapi'sin Atsinikiisinaakssin -- Blackfeet -- News for All the People Ni-mah-mi-kwa-zoo-min -- Ojibwe -- We Are Talking About Ourselves Aunchemokauhettittea -- Naragansett -- Let Us Share News Kanoheda Aniyvwiya -- Cherokee -- Journal of the People O Es'te Opunvk'vmucvse -- Creek -- People's New News O o O Acimowin -- Plains Cree -- Story or Account O o O Tlaixmatiliztli -- Nahuatl -- News O o o o o O Agnutmaqan -- Listuguj Mi'kmaq -- News O o O Sho-da-ku-ye -- Teehahnahmah -- Talking Birchbark O o O Un Chota -- Susquehannic Seneca -- The People Speak O Ha-Sah-Sliltha -- Ditidaht Nation -- News of the People Ximopanolti tehuatzin, inin Mexika tlahtolli -- Nahuatl -- For you we offer these words It-hah-pe-hah Ah-num pah-le -- Chickasaw -- Together We Are Talking Dineh jii' adah' ho'nil'e'gii ba' ha' neh -- Navajo Nation -- What's Happening among The People News Okla Humma Holisso Nowat Anya -- Choctaw -- People(s) Red Newspaper Hi'a chu ah gaa -- Pima -- The stories or the talk of the People s ch mA mL tL squee Lux -- Okanogan -- News from the People Native American News -- Language of the Occupation Forces ++>If you speak a Native American language not listed above, please send us your words for "News of the People." We'd rather take up this whole page saving these few words of our hundreds of nations than present a nice clean banner in the language of the occupation forces who came here determined to replace our words with their own. email gars@nanews.org with the equivalent of "News of the People" in your tribal language along with the english translation <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is produced in straight ASCII text for greatest portability across platforms. Read it with a fixed-pitch font, such as Courier, Monaco, FixedSys or CG Times. Proportional fonts will be difficult to read. <================<<<< >>>>================> This issue contains articles from www.owlstar.com; www.indianz.com; www.pechanga.net; Frostys AmerIndian, Chiapas95-En and Indian Heritage-L Mailing Lists; UUCP Mail IMPORTANT!! ----------- In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, all material appearing in this newsletter is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for educational purposes. <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters who share our Spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the Red Road. ++ It may be subscribed to via email by sending a request from your own internet addressable account to gars@speakeasy.org ++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org <================<<<< >>>>================> +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + | As historian Patricia Nelson | | Once a language is lost, it is | | Limerick summarized in "The | | gone forever | | Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken | | * Of the 300 original Native | | Past of the American West... | | languages in North America, | | "Set the blood quantum at | | only 175 exist today. | | one-quarter, hold to it as a | | * 125 of these are no longer | | rigid definition of Indians, | | learned by children. | | let intermarriage proceed as | | * 55 are spoken by 1 to 6 elders;| | it had for centuries, and | | when they die, their language | | eventually Indians will be | | will disappear. | | defined out of existence." | | * Without action, only 20 | | "When that happens, the federal | | languages will survive the next| | government will be freed of | | 50 years. | | its persistent 'Indian problem.'"| | Source: Indigenous Language | +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ | Institute | |http://www.indigenous-language.org| This issue's Quote: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + =================== "The message now from Indian Country is we're not going to take it anymore," "Indian Country is alive, well and active, and we vote." __ Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Northern Cheyenne, retired U S Senator +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! Please read the lead articles in this issue carefully. Understand how far this Republican White House has gone to deny Native People their just due. The treaty-promised health care, meager as it was, was jerked out from under the most impoverished people in the United States. The bill to restore needed health care has languished at the behest of the Bush Administration. Likewise, the Cobell Trust suit that seemed a certainty to finally be resolved has been dragged through every single delay tactic possible. The result is that neither the stolen money owed nor the health care promised by treaty obligations is likely to be restored during this legislative session. These are only a few of the many measures this administration has proposed and supported to deny our Nations' rightful recognition, and limit our Nations' sovereignty and opportunity to establish self-sufficiency. This is shameful, but I am convinced those responsible for this fiasco are incapable of feeling shame. They are only capable of feeling the sting of rejection. I will not tell anyone reading this what they should or should not do. That is not how I was taught by my elders. I will tell you I am going to vote every chance I get, and each vote will be against anyone who supports those responsible for the suffering they have brought our People and our Nations. =========================================== - Warrior Moccasins Project seeks out your help Date: Sunday, September 24, 2006 02:10 pm From: Sherry Subj: Warrior Moccasins Project seeks out your help! Mailing List: Frostys AmerIndian Warrior Moccasin Project seeks out experienced beaders, moccasin makers and names for a pair of moccasins for their service in the military. Those interested in donationg Deer Hides, please email me so i can give you the name and address of where to ship it to. Deer hides CAN be donated to this project. To do so, you must first salt the hides with medium grade salt which can be purchased at any farm supply store. After salting the hide(s) ship them to the address i will give you following the laws as specified BY YOUR STATE. A copy of the possession tag which was issued by the game warden must be included for each hide being shipped. Any monetary donation to this project is also greatly appreciated. Each cost of the pair of moccasins is $32.00 (includes shipping/handling charge). Those serving in harms way and those who have returned state side are encouraged to get in touch with my via email. If you know of a native military troop member who you want to honor, please get a hold of me through my email. Thank you :) =========================================== Again, this winter this editorial section will feature groups or individuals who are helping those in need, primarily on reservations and especially those who aid children and elders. Urban help will not be excluded. I have lived in the Cedar-Riverside area of Minneapolis and been a guest in Lakota Housing in Rapid City and in Shiprock. The need to eat and be warm does not end because a person has left the rez. PLEASE forward contact information for all you know who help those less able to do so make it through the harsh winter months. ------ Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2006 16:15:49 +0300 From: "Brigitte Thimiakis" Subj: HYS WINTER 2006 Toys & Clothing Request Winter & Christmas 2006 - Toys and Clothing Request Winter will set in soon in many places of the world, but once again it will not be the same for all the children. Some are lucky and have everything they need, other children have much more than they need... and yet there are also the children who have very little - or nothing... They don't have the right clothes, and they have no toys. These children need warmth, and they need hope, and loving support. You can be there for these children, and make a difference in their lives. Even if the Northern Cheyenne Reservation is far away from you, toys, warm clothing and shoes can be sent to them directly on the reservation, where they will be distributed by trusted Northern Cheyenne contacts who have helped so much the previous years. There is a large need especially for new and good quality used warm items, as well as toys. During Montana winters, the temperature can drop to 30 or 40 degrees below zero so warm winter clothing and blankets can be lifesaving. These items will be distributed right away. The toys will be distributed during the Christmas give away. Here is a list of things that can be sent in support of these children: - warm clothing such as knitted items for children of all ages from babies to teenagers, children's jeans, coats and warm T-shirts - socks, gloves, boots, hats and scarves - blankets - toys for Christmas Other items that would also be appreciated: grooming supplies like toothpaste, tooth brushes, soaps and shampoos, combs, hair brushes, hair barrettes, rubber bands or other types of hair or pony tail holders. Last but not least : pampers diapers or pull-ups. Please make sure that the items sent are safe, and sensitive to the culture of the children and their People. When sending a box, it would be appreciated if you could send us a short email with your name or location, type of items sent ('toys', 'clothing', etc), approximate weight and shipping date, so that we can help our contacts by keeping a list of what is sent to them. Our aim is to always make sure that everything reaches the reservation. The priority of our group, "Honor your Spirit - Protect the Children" is to make sure all donations get to where they are supposed to and recognized. It is very important to us to make sure that everything is distributed fairly and to those in the greatest need. Our goal is to help the children of families unable to make ends meet due to the high unemployment rate, the difficult conditions and the extreme poverty on the reservation. These children need all the help and encouragement they can get, so if you can help, please contact us for more information. Contact Info: Dodie Finstead, USA dodie_finstead@yahoo.com JR Robertson, USA Jim_ Robertson@BarefootCreations.com Dominique Larrede, France d.larrede@wanadoo.fr Brigitte Thimiakis, Europe thimiakischool@the.forthnet.gr Respectfully, Honor Your Spirit, Protect The Children "Your help makes a huge difference for those who have never received help. Your donations provide hope and encouragement to those who have never known these qualities. Your concern and solidarity can improve the lives of many children, elders, families, on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation. There is still a lot to do but all together you can help us make these dreams come true. Thank you for being a part of this project and supporting it." Respectfully, Manuel Redwoman, Northern Cheyenne/Lakota/Arapaho To learn more about the HYS projects, please visit: http://www.geocities.com/honoryourspirit/home Our heartfelt thanks to everyone for your support ! <>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o<>o ==[This message may be forwarded under the condition that it is not altered in any way] == 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 ----------- Editorial Section: - JODI RAVE: Book recalls . Native People being denied Just due Father's rage and violence . Warrior Mocassins - JODI RAVE: Open College doors . Winter Help to Native Students - White House blamed - YELLOW BIRD: Again we learn for another delay in Cobell no Community is exempt - Billions in payouts - WALKER: Growing up to Indians in jeopardy in a Traditional Community - White House hit over delays - Oaxaca Teachers brace for takeover in Health and Cobell - Mexico's Two Presidents - Venezuela offers cheap Heating Oil and Two Governments - Ruling - Oaxaca Grassroots announce in Lower Brule's favor stands support for APPO - Virginia Indians - Jump in TB cases called a warning examine Governmental Policy - Premier: Talks step closer - Protest vowed - Crowd causes delay for Columbus Day fete in Residential School Hearings - Alaskans offer prayer - Teen accuses Winnipeg police for Native American Health of assault - Unique approach against Meth use - State, Tribes argue - Delaware Town Hall Meeting over Sovereign Immunity examines Cherokee Deal - Peltier defense team - Carvings provide glimpse moves to Lewisburg at Crow History - Native Prisoner - Border town racism -- Time to go back on Navajo Nation Council agenda to Traditional thinking - Spiritual Perspectives: - Rustywire: Saturday Nite Navajo Night Chant - Spiritdove Poem: Indian Summer... - GIAGO: Unraveling the source - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days of domestic violence - Eastern Band - JODI RAVE: Community rallies translates `Thirteen Moons' against abuse, Drugs - Upcoming Events --------- "RE: White House blamed for another delay in Cobell" --------- Date: Tue, 3 Oct 2006 09:10:17 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BUSH ADMIN CONTINUES TO DELAY TRUST SETTLEMENT" http://www.indianz.com/News/2006/016223.asp White House blamed for another delay in Cobell October 3, 2006 Efforts to settle the Cobell trust fund lawsuit are in danger because the White House has failed to provide a settlement number, a top senator said on Monday. The Senate Indian Affairs Committee presented an $8 billion figure to the Bush administration more than two months ago. Despite a commitment to resolve the case, officials have not responded to the offer, said Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota). "We're just not there yet," said Dorgan, the vice chairman of the committee, told tribal leaders via videotape at the National Congress of American Indians conference in Sacramento. "The administration has not been very forthcoming." Dorgan said Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales have been very "helpful" to the committee. The delay in the settlement comes from elsewhere in the administration, he said. "It's the White House and the Office of Management and Budget that have not given us a number," Dorgan elaborated. Kempthorne, in a speech delivered prior to Dorgan's videotape message, told NCAI he was committed to resolving the 10-year-old case. But when asked by Bill Martin, a Tlingit-Haida council member, to explain his position on the settlement bill, he deferred to Carl Artman, President Bush's nominee to head the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Artman cited "ongoing discussions with this bill" but did not state the Interior Department's position. His response to the question appeared to place most of the responsibility on Congress, not the administration. "Hopefully, when they get back to Congress after the elections, they can get to that," Artman said of the legislation. Later in the afternoon, two key Senate aides confirmed Dorgan's assessment of the situation. David Mullon, the general counsel and policy director for the Republicans on the committee, said he had planned to come to NCAI with a firm settlement figure. "I cannot tell you that," he said. "We have not heard from the administration with a number. We do not have a proposal back from the administration." Allison Binney, the general counsel for the Democrats on the committee, was more downbeat. "The situation is dire," she told tribal leaders. Mullon and Binney believe some of the delay comes from the many agencies involved in the settlement. In addition to Interior, the Treasury Department, the Department of Justice, the White House, the White House OMB and the White House Domestic Policy Council have a stake in the outcome. "It's hard for them to get on the same page," Binney said. But with Congress out of session until November, the aides said time is running out for resolution this year. The Senate and the House are scheduled to return for just one week following the elections. Keith Harper, one of the attorneys for the Cobell plaintiffs, wasn't surprised by the latest delay. He pointed out that the settlement bill was introduced more than a year ago, giving the administration more than enough time to come up with a response. "This is their modus operandi," he said at the conference. "This is how they behave." Tribal leaders attending NCAI plan to press the issue further when Ruben Barrales, the director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, shows up on Wednesday. Copyright c. 2000-2006 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: Billions in payouts to Indians in jeopardy" --------- Date: Fri, 6 Oct 2006 08:52:06 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BUSH DELAYS TRUST SUIT" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1006mccaintrust1006.html Billions in payouts to Indians in jeopardy Billy House Republic Washington Bureau October 6, 2006 WASHINGTON - What has been seen as the best hope for settling a decade- old lawsuit over billions of dollars owed to Native American landowners is quickly fading, the victim of politics and timing. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has proposed an $8 billion compromise bill. But if it is not passed before Congress adjourns its two-year session, the matter could be in jeopardy of lingering without a resolution for years longer. The longest and largest class-action suit brought against the government, it already has dragged through two presidential administrations and six congressional sessions. "The likelihood of anything getting enacted this year is very slim," said Keith Harper, a lawyer for the lead plaintiff in the case, Elouise Cobell. advertisement "The key is McCain. It is in his almost sole power to push the (Bush) administration to bring this to closure," he said of McCain, whom he notes has successfully used his political will and clout to take on the White House on other issues. The lawsuit asserts that as many as a half-million Native Americans and their heirs, including 50,000 in Arizona, may be owed more than $100 billion in unpaid royalties, plus interest, for grazing, mining, logging and drilling on their land. At issue is property held in trust in their names for more than a century by the Department of the Interior, which includes the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The case has been a political hot potato, in part because of the hit the U.S. Treasury would take with a settlement, which would also require funds for retracing and verifying individual accounts and money owed. Today in Sacramento, the National Congress of American Indians is expected to pass a resolution embracing McCain's proposed settlement. It says the settlement is not perfect but is the quickest and fairest way to settle claims that the trust has been mismanaged for more than a century. But there are still major wrinkles, not the least of which is that the Bush administration hasn't agreed to the proposed settlement figure. McCain, the outgoing chairman of the Senate's Indian Affairs Committee, could not be reached. But lawyers involved with the case say his committee staffers have been busy trying to finalize a settlement. As the case has lingered, no one knows how much is really owed, especially when unpaid interest is added. Reaching a settlement has been complicated not just by the large amount of any potential settlement but also by the fact that trust records were destroyed over the past century, adding to accounting disagreements. Meanwhile, plaintiffs are growing older. When he took over in 2005, McCain promised he'd make trust reform a priority during his committee chairmanship and would give finding a solution "one good shot." In January, he is expected to move on to the chairmanship of the Armed Services Committee. Lawyers for the plaintiffs have offered to accept $27.5 billion, to be spread among individual Indians who have accounts in the trust program. But the Bush administration has rejected that. The lawyers have been mum on McCain's lower settlement figure. "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 work on the part of this committee and interested parties," McCain said at a hearing last month. But there may be some movement. Today's resolution comes days after Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne told the Indian congress that he is working with administration officials and McCain to find a "fair, full and final" resolution. "I hope that we will soon have a final settlement," Kempthorne said Monday. Interior Department spokesman Shane Wolfe declined to elaborate. But John Dossett, the Indian congress' general counsel, said he believes the Bush administration is seriously considering what a potential settlement may look like. And although chances a resolution could be reached this year are slim, he doesn't rule it out. "I certainly think a lot of progress has been made," he said. "And I think a good deal of the impetus comes from the work of Senator McCain and his committee." Whether that progress will lead to a resolution during this term remains increasingly unlikely, however. "If they're going to wait for the administration to sign off on every aspect of the bill, they're going to wait a long time," Harper said. Delaying the matter into the next Congress may make a congressional resolution even more difficult, he said, because lawmakers would have to persuade a lame-duck president and his budget aides to go along. Catherine Aragon, a lawyer for the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, said tribal members support McCain's bill and appreciate his efforts. She would not comment on how many members may be owed money. But Alan Taradash, an Albuquerque lawyer who represents 25,000 to 30,000 Navajo landowners in New Mexico and southern Utah and their heirs, including some in Arizona, said he doesn't like the settlement. He said he opposes provisions that would prevent some future claims of mismanagement of individual and tribal resources. "I would never agree to that," he said. Reach the reporter at billy.house@arizonarepublic.com. Copyright c. 2006, azcentral.com. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: White House hit over delays in Health and Cobell" --------- Date: Fri, 6 Oct 2006 08:52:06 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BUSH DELAY TACTICS HIT" http://www.indianz.com/News/2006/016270.asp White House hit over delays in health care and Cobell October 5, 2006 A senior White House official sought to explain the Bush administration's stance on Indian health care and the Cobell settlement amid angry questions on Wednesday. Attendees of the National Congress of American Indians annual conference in Sacramento criticized the administration for its last minute objections to the Indian Health Care Improvement Act. The bill was cleared for passage in the Senate until the Department of Justice, on the eve of consideration, sent a memo that was used by some Republicans to delay action. "What will the White House do to help us deal with this last minute ambush?" asked Rachel Joseph, the chairwoman of the Lone Paiute Shoshone Tribe of California and the head of the steering committee that has been working on the bill for several years. Ruben Barrales, the target of the remark, didn't have much of a response. He indicated that the DOJ memo was as much a surprise to him as it was to Indian Country. "All I can tell you is I have the same question," said Barrales, the director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. Linda Holt, the chairwoman of the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board and a council member for the Suquamish Tribe of Washington, said administration officials have been given numerous opportunities to provide comments on the measure. She called the DOJ salvo an affront to the federal-tribal relations. "They've never done that and then at the last minute they turn around and say, 'We have these objections,' and the bill is pulled," Holt said. "That is not true government-to-government relations." Barrales defended the administration's handling of the overall talks. "I do have to disagree with you," he said. "We were working in good faith on the issues." But when he appeared to downplay President Bush's role by noting that the his boss has only been in office for five years while the bill expired 13 years ago, former Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colorado) took the floor. As chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee during the time in question, he laid the blame at the administration's feet. Campbell said former HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson, a Bush appointee, repeatedly told him the administration supported reauthorization. But he said officials kept coming back with piecemeal changes that delayed action for years. "I get the feeling the same thing has been happening again," said Campbell, who called the reauthorization "a matter of life and death for many of our people." In addition to facing fire on health, Barrales acknowledged the White House was behind the delay in the Cobell case. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota), the current vice chairman of the committee, told NCAI on Monday that the administration has failed to provide a response to the $8 billion settlement proposal. "That is absolutely true and we are conscious of that," Barrales said. But he said the settlement is "more than a number." Although he didn't delve into specifics, he indicated trust management going forward was a key concern of the administration, whose officials have called for a bill that addresses land consolidation and other issues. "I think everyone understands that the federal government has not done a good job in terms of its trust responsibility," he admitted. "It's all related," he said of trust management issues. "It's related to the number itself." Like the Indian health care bill, however, the settlement legislation has been on the table for more than a year. On the day before the Senate committee was going to clear the bill for a floor vote, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales asked for more time. "There is one recalcitrant entity here and its' the administration," said Keith Harper, an attorney for the Cobell plaintiffs who spoke to NCAI on Monday. As he has done at past conferences, Barrales repeated his pledge to keep an open door for tribal people. He hailed the creation of an "Indian Country Working Group," composed of federal agencies with involvement in Indian issues, that meets once a month at the White House. He said the administration is working to develop an "Indian Country 101" course for federal employees and appointees to educate them on sovereignty and the government-to-government relationship. But Campbell, in his remarks during the question-and-answer session, said more action is needed. "The message now from Indian Country is we're not going to take it anymore," said Campbell, who now works as a lobbyist. "Indian Country is alive, well and active, and we vote." Copyright c. 2000-2006 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: Venezuela offers cheap Heating Oil" --------- Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2006 08:35:46 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GOOD HEATING OIL PRICES OFFERED TO REZ's" http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?feature=yes&id=1096413741 Venezuela offers cheap heating oil September 29, 2006 by: Estar Holmes / Today correspondent by: Gale Courey Toensing / Indian Country Today NEW YORK - An unprecedented gift of warmth is destined for North American reservations this winter, where tribal governments have been offered drastically discounted heating oil by Venezuela's nationally owned petroleum company. The offer comes through Houston-based CITGO Petroleum Corp., which has committed to 10 million gallons of fuel for tribes at a 40 percent discount, with the discounted portion treated as a charitable donation to American Indians and Alaska Native governments. CITGO is a subsidiary of Venezuela's Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., which distributed 40 million gallons of discounted fuel through nonprofit organizations last winter in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The program has been expanded to a total of 100 million gallons this year. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez inaugurated the program before an enthusiastic audience in New York on Sept. 21, where blacks, Latinos and more than 300 American Indians packed Harlem's Mount Olive Baptist Church. "It makes us feel good to give," Chavez told the festive crowd that waved Venezuelan flags and chanted his name. Chavez, who is of mixed indigenous, African and Spanish ethnicity, greeted the tribal representatives as "our indigenous friends, our brothers and sisters." "They are the original tribes of this country and the real owners of this land," he said. "The British and Spanish colonists, the Portuguese, Dutch, French, the whole of Europe came to America and devastated it. We have to remember this without any kind of hatred. It's just the truth, and today we are here 500 years later. As Jesus said, we should love each other. We should live as brothers and sisters without prejudices. It's the only way to bring equality and peace in our world." Chavez became interested in supplying affordable heat to northern Natives after Maine tribes participated last year. Now the initiative has expanded to 18 states and more than 200 tribes from Maine to Alaska, with a potential savings of more than $10 million to Indian communities. Penobscot Chief James Sappier, who is also president of the National Indian Environmental Council, said he thinks it's a good deal. "I've been in the business of Indian affairs since 1969," Sappier said. "This is probably one of the most exciting programs I've seen in Indian country. It's strange that it's coming from a country outside the United States." A founding member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Venezuela has one of the world's largest oil reserves and supplies the United States with about 11 percent of its petroleum. Chavez, who promulgates socialist ideologies, is on a mission to free Venezuela from imperialist interference by forming alliances to help re-establish sovereignty over its vast oil wealth while funneling profits towards social programs. The Maliseet, Micmac, Passamaquoddy and Penobscot governments worked through a nonprofit group last winter, but CITGO is now prepared to deal directly with tribal authorities, due largely to the efforts of the Penobscots, who administered distribution to Maine tribes and helped develop the expanded program. "It was really an administrative nightmare, but we did it," Sappier said. "We had a language problem. We had industry using business and oil language, talking to a government who had tribal government language. It was difficult. They have an accent and they talk fast. We had to tell them many times, 'E-mail me.' Telephone conversations were rough." Natives from America's chilliest region are among the first to sign up. Ian Erlich, chairman of the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council, said his group struck a deal with CITGO on behalf of some 140 tribes from the Aleutian Ranges above the Arctic Circle, where wind chills reach 75 below zero and heating fuel averages $7 a gallon. "The Alaskan Inter-Tribal Council is thankful for the help CITGO has extended in such a generous and practical way to the villages of Alaska," Erlich, who attended with a contingent of 50 Alaska Natives, said. "The oil companies in America and throughout the world are enjoying unprecedented, skyrocketing profits. The state of Alaska has a budget surplus from oil of well over a billion dollars this year, and this while Alaskan villages face a crisis due to the high cost of heating fuel. Where are the oil executives from Alaska and where are the politicians?" Notwithstanding the gratitude radiating from those who appreciate CITGO's generosity, the offer comes amidst political controversy surrounding Chavez, who attended the Sept. 21 event a day after making worldwide headlines for personifying President George Bush as the devil before the U.N. General Assembly. "Yesterday, the devil came here," Chavez told the world body. "As the spokesman of imperialism, he came to share his nostrums, to try to preserve the current pattern of domination, exploitation and pillage of the peoples of the world." Similar assertions sparked a probe into his fuel program last February by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which questions Venezuela's ties to Cuba, Syria, Iran and Libya. "Many of President Chavez's public statements concerning the United States government suggest that his purportedly altruistic motives may camouflage his true motivations," Committee Chairman Rep. Joe Barton, R- Texas, and Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., wrote in a letter to CITGO, demanding information and corporate records. The company remains in the committee's investigative crosshairs, but no hearing has been scheduled, a staff member said. Far from any evil intentions, however, CITGO says the oil is a gift to America's poor spurred by the request of several U.S. senators who wrote to major petroleum producers requesting relief for the needy in the wake of skyrocketing energy costs and record profits. Only CITGO responded favorably. The National Congress of American Indians has not taken a position on the program, but encourages tribes to embark on innovative economic development opportunities that affirm their authorities as sovereigns and allow them to better meet the needs of their people, according to a statement by President Joe Garcia. "While NCAI does not have a specific position on the Venezuelan oil proposal, we will closely monitor the Venezuelan government's proposal and their relationship with tribes," Garcia said. Copyright c. 1998 - 2006 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Ruling in Lower Brule's favor stands" --------- Date: Mon, 9 Oct 2006 08:25:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LAND INTO TRUST CONFIRMED" http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article? AID=/20061009/NEWS02/610090320/1001/NEWS Ruling in tribe's favor stands Lower Brule's land near I-90 now can be taken into trust PETER HARRIMAN pharrima@argusleader.com October 9, 2006 A 16-year federal litigation that tribes nationwide feared could lead to a devastating limit on tribal sovereignty might finally be resolved since the U.S. Supreme Court this week declined to hear the case. It means an 8th Circuit Court ruling stands, and 91 acres along Interstate 90 near Oacoma owned by the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe may be taken into trust for the tribe by the Department of the Interior. The case arises from South Dakota's effort to block that, going back to a lawsuit originally filed in federal court in 1990. The land purchased privately by the tribe and about eight miles from the Lower Brule reservation would go off the state tax rolls once it becomes trust land. Even more important, according to South Dakota Attorney General Larry Long, if tribes are allowed to establish trust lands outside reservations, the state loses an important ability to regulate land use. Long cites an unsuccessful attempt in the 1980s by a private developer to try to give land to the Oglala Sioux Tribe and get it enrolled in trust to operate a landfill and avoid state environmental regulations. He also points to the hog rearing operation that is a partnership between a North Dakota company, Sun Prairie, and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe that evades the state anti-corporate farming provision. "That's got way more to do with what's at issue here than the simple loss of the real estate tax," Long says. But in seeking to block Lower Brule's efforts at Oacoma, in its lawsuit the state questioned the constitutional authority of the federal government to take land into trust outside the contiguous borders of reservations. It was the equivalent of firing a nuclear weapon at a mosquito, say proponents of tribal sovereignty, and it reverberated through all of Indian Country. In an editorial in July, Indian Country Today wrote that "enemies of tribal sovereignty have targeted land-into-trust as the next Indian policy to throw into the meat grinder of the U.S. Supreme Court. They have attacked it from one end of the country to another. So far, they've failed." The 1934 Indian Reorganization Act that allows the government to take land into trust for tribes is the primary tool tribes use to regain traditional land holdings lost in the 1887 Indian Allotment Act when reservation lands held in common by a tribe were broken up and assigned to individual tribal members, who often sold them. Acquiring trust land off reservations also can be a powerful economic development tool, said Lower Brule Chairman Michael Jandreau. To resolve what amounts to a business dispute by attacking the fundamental principle that allows tribes to reach beyond reservation borders to establish trust land, the state has shown it still considers Indian tribes adversaries, Jandreau insists. "I say this bluntly," he says of the lawsuit. "To me it is nothing but the social bigotry underlying all treatment of Indian tribes by state government that is fostered and promoted by the attorney general's office. In this case, it appears to be supported by the governor of our state." Jandreau calls Long's concerns about land use regulation "red herrings," and he says the tribe offered to negotiate with the state and Lyman County about how the tribe would develop the Oacoma land. Plans for development With the Supreme Court decision not to hear the case and to let the appeals court ruling stand, the tribe now will create a development plan and seek financing. A truck stop and tourist amenities promoting the Native American Scenic Byway are likely uses for the land, Jandreau says. "We need dollars to do that," he says. Tax incentives because the land is in trust help the tribe garner such funding, Jandreau says. On its face, negotiating uses for trust land with state and local government sounds good, but the basic shortcoming, says Long, is the ambiguity in determining who enforces a negotiated settlement. The tribe? The Interior Secretary? Someone else? "Let's assume a deal is made for a piece of ground off the reservation that it can only be used for a museum. Sometime in the future, the use changes to a gas station or a casino or a hog-confinement facility. Who is the individual, the entity who has the responsibility to make sure the original use is abided by?" Long asks. In declining to hear the South Dakota case, the Supreme Court adhered to a pattern of turning down such trust cases. Long notes that the court decided not to hear a similar case from Utah at the same time it decided not to hear the Lower Brule case. "It's troubling. It's disappointing. But it's not surprising," Long said of the court's decision. "We had a lot invested in this case and wanted them to take it. "Sooner or later, there will be one of these cases that gets on somebody's radar. We hope it's sooner," he said. Sovereign rights Jandreau insists the state simply is looking for opportunities to restrain tribal sovereignty, and the Oacoma trust case is just one illustration of that. Lower Brule also was rebuffed in its attempt to have its cattle herd become part of the state's certified beef program because it would not waive sovereignty, Jandreau says. "I said I'll sign any statement you need to come and examine our processes and ensure yourselves that we are doing everything we need to do to qualify for the certified beef program," he says. "But we're damn sure not going to waive our sovereign immunity. "We're not interested in trying to do anything that is counter- productive to the state of South Dakota," Jandreau said. But in its approach to the tribe, the state is fostering the illusion of a desire to cooperate with a sovereign entity, he maintains. "There seems to be this ongoing hand outstretched," Jandreau said. "But it has this invisible barrier at the tips of the fingers so you cannot reach forth and grab it." Reach Peter Harriman at 575-3615. Copyright c. 2006 ArgusLeader.com. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Virginia Indians examine Governmental Policy" --------- Date: Fri, 6 Oct 2006 08:52:06 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="VIRGINIA TRIBAL CONFERENCE" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/williamsburg/ dp-46050sy0oct06,0,1830593.story?coll=dp-news-local-wbg Indians examine governmental policy A three-day conference in Williamsburg highlights Virginia native cultures, history and traditions. BY CAROL SCOTT 223-5686 October 6, 2006 WILLIAMSBURG - Virginia Indians have maintained their unique cultures, sovereignty and strength as indigenous peoples since English settlers arrived in 1607, Chief Anne Richardson of the Rappahannock Tribe said Thursday. But they've spent the past 399 years fighting prejudice and legislated racism, Richardson said during an educational conference at the Williamsburg Lodge devoted to Virginia Indian history, cultures and legal issues. Richardson led a panel about government policy as it relates to American Indians. The three-day conference continues today and Saturday, with bus tours to different tribal grounds in the state. More than 360 people are expected at the conference, a Jamestown 2007 spokesman said this week. The conference is part of the Jamestown 2007 commemoration that marks the 400th anniversary of the Americas' first English settlement. Richardson said that while Virginia had become more cooperative in recent years, Virginia Indians still need more help and money from the state. Every Virginia Indian child should receive a free college education, she said. Because numbers of Indians are low, it wouldn't cost much, she said. Divisions among tribes over who has federal and state recognition - and who doesn't - only hurts the larger goal of more successful lives for native people everywhere, she said. Six of the eight state-recognized Virginia tribes are lobbying for federal recognition from the U.S. government, which many Western tribes have. Federal recognition means more money for health care and education. Other Virginia tribes are striving for state recognition. Mark Tilden of the Native American Rights Fund is a Navajo attorney who works in Washington with tribes seeking federal recognition. He called the recognition process for Indian tribes expensive, cumbersome and unfair. He called for reform of the process. Copyright c. 2006 Daily Press, Hampton Roads, Virginia. --------- "RE: Protest vowed for Columbus Day fete" --------- Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2006 08:35:46 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="AIM VOWS TO PROTEST PARADE FOR MURDERER" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_4434071 Protest vowed for Columbus Day fete Continuing enmity between members of AIM and some Italian-Americans is on display at a news conference. By Mike McPhee Denver Post Staff Writer October 3, 2006 Organizers of this weekend's Columbus Day Parade clashed Monday with American Indian supporters, who say they will continue their annual protest of the Italian-American community's parade honoring Christopher Columbus. Parade organizers held a news conference Monday, at which a Comanche Indian who flew in from Oklahoma told the media that "Columbus was not responsible for the 500 years of history" that followed his sailing from Spain to the Caribbean. Some claim Columbus was responsible for the "genocide" of American Indians that followed. "Columbus never made it to the mainland (the United States) and never met an American Indian," said David Yeagley, who said he holds a Ph.D. from the University of Arizona in music composition, as well as a master's degree from Yale University's School of Divinity. "The dominant image of this parade is that American Indians are opposed to anything white or European. I don't consider Columbus to be a threat to American Indians. I consider (CU professor) Ward Churchill to be more threatening to American Indians," Yeagley said. Parade organizer George Vendegnia said it was Yeagley who called his organization recently and volunteered to come to Denver to address the protesters, who are led by the American Indian Movement (AIM) of Colorado. He said Yeagley was not paid. The organizers expect several thousand marchers to begin staging at West 14th Ave. between Bannock and Elati streets at 7:30 a.m. Saturday for the 10 a.m. parade that concludes at Civic Center. Protesters plan to meet Friday night at Veterans Park at East Colfax Avenue and Lincoln Street for their "Four Directions March." Three representatives of AIM, who said they were not invited but came to the news conference, challenged Yeagley as an extreme right-wing conservative whose writings attack the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and the notion that "innocents" are being killed in Iraq. "You wrote once that Martin Luther King Jr. was a 'blight' on American history and that women and children in Iraq should be destroyed so that they don't grow up to be terrorists," said Glenn Spagnuolo, who said he is an Italian-American but affiliated with AIM. "I think you've written a lot of hateful things." Yeagley challenged Spagnuolo on AIM's threats of violence against parade marchers in previous years, and the gathering degenerated into accusations from both sides. Organizer Vendegnia said the two sides had been trying to resolve their differences for at least 10 years with no progress. "We want our day," he said. "They can have their day." Staff writer Mike McPhee can be reached at 303-954-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com. Copyright c. 2006 Denver Post. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Alaskans offer prayer for Native American Health" --------- Date: Thu, 5 Oct 2006 08:47:12 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NATIVE ALASKANS PRAY FOR NATIVE HEALTH" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=8225 Alaskans offer prayer for Native American health Wellbriety totem pole to stand as beacon of hope Native American Times October 4, 2006 It's over 2,000 miles from Tulsa to the Alaskan town of Sitka-which, by the way, is the largest city in area in the United States- but folks over there are dedicating an icon in the hopes that all Natives, in Oklahoma and all points beyond, will benefit. The Koote'eyaa Project Wellbriety totem pole will be raised on Oct. 14 during a ceremony in front of a local community health building. The plan is for dozens of people to carry the totem pole from the area where Tlingit carver Wayne Price has been working on it since last April to its resting place. The pole's Tlingit name is "Yei e'ek kwa ne'ix," which literally means, "you are going to get well." "The raising of the Koote'eyaa pole has tremendous significance," said Mark Gorman, vice president of the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, the organization funding the pole. "The Koote'eyaa pole will serve as a beacon and symbol of hope, health and healing for all who come into contact with it." The pole represents the Native journey to wellness, support for substance abuse and prevention treatment programs, and the process of transformation to and the continuing journey of wellbriety. Wellbriety is a term coined as part of a national movement that uses a Native journey to wellness-one that links physical, mental, spiritual and emotional health- as part of its process of healing the total person. Representatives from White Bison, the Colorado-based non-profit group that fostered the national Wellbriety movement, will be on hand with their sacred hoop, marking the hoop's hoop's first time in Alaska. "Wellbriety Koote'eyaa means healing, hope, unity and forgiveness for Tlingit people and anyone who is working on the healing of mind, body and spirit," said project chairwoman Roberta Kitka, a drug and alcohol treatment specialist. During the carving process, groups of around 10 community members each formed several circles of healing. Each healing circle met to discuss an aspect of Wellbriety, then each person in the circle made his or her mark on the pole. Some of the topics discussed in the circles of healing included alcohol and substance abuse, domestic violence, mental illness, suicide, the methamphetamine epidemic, multi-generational trauma, hepatitis C, HIV/AIDS, cancer, nicotine dependency, homelessness, issues applicable to vets, eating disorders and diabetes. Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Unique approach against Meth use" --------- Date: Mon, 9 Oct 2006 08:25:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ROCKY BOY APPROACH TO METH CRISIS" http://www.havredailynews.com/articles/2006/10/06/local_headlines/local.txt Tribe to utilize a unique approach against meth use Tim MacDonald Havre Daily News tmacdonald@havredailynews.com October 6, 2006 Like much of rural America, Rocky Boys Indian Reservation is facing a crisis with the drug methamphetamine, and they are intent on changing this situation. "Some time back, a group from the Chippewa Cree Tribe attended a seminar in Billings. They came back with some pretty alarming news," state representative and tribal business committee member Jonathan Windy Boy said. "Rocky Boy was way up there as far as drug use, and on top of that, 40 percent of the women in women's treatment centers (in the state) were Native American, and of that 80 percent were meth related." The tribe formed a task force and they decided to confront the issue with a unique approach. "We could see that incarceration wasn't working, what we needed was some kind of system to make it easier for the drug user to make a smoother transition from the institution to the home," Windy Boy said. "We needed to deal with the mental health of the user, as well as the physical and emotional health and something that seems to be missing from most peoples lives, the spiritual well being. We decided to do this through our traditional culture and spirituality," he said. Sam Vernon Windy Boy, a cultural researcher with the tribe's Stone Child College had had experience working with cultural programs to solve substance abuse problems. "I worked on a similar project at Alkali Lake in British Columbia. We were able to turn around a situation where there was 99 percent of the population involved in alcohol abuse to the point where the community was about 99 percent alcohol free within a decade," Sam Vernon Windy Boy said. "To try and simplify the way it works - say a 15- year-old boy, for example - is having drugrelated problems with the law. He would go before tribal court,And instead of spending time in detention, he would go before the elders and they would recommend that he spend so much time on cultural related endeavors," Jonathan Windy Boy said. "The parents would be responsible to see to it that he follow through." Most of what is needed to confront the drug abuse problem already exists on the reservation, and, according to Jonathan Windy Boy, the y are all sympathetic to the cultural solution to the problem. "We have the support of all of the services on the reservation: law enforcement; judicial services; health service; and education. We have good mental health care through the health services, but it is the cultural aspects that will help with the emotional needs of the drug user." Sam Vernon Windy Boy said. Federal money is available through several sources involved in the nationwide battle against meth and substance abuse, but the tribe has begun the fight without any special funding. "Like I said, we have most of the things we need already in place, and we are developing a plan to utilize them. We have what the government is looking for in such a situation, sustainability and community involvement. So I am confident we are going to get some help. We have worked up a plan and are going to hand carry it to Washington," Jonathan Windy Boy said. Copyright c. 2006 Havre Daily News, Inc. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Delaware Town Hall Meeting examines Cherokee Deal" --------- Date: Thu, 5 Oct 2006 08:47:12 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DELAWARE DISCUSS CNO DEAL" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=8224 Delaware town hall meeting examines Cherokee deal Tribal elections set for November BARTLESVILLE OK October 4, 2006 Candidates for political office with the Delaware Tribe of Indians attended a recent town hall meeting and fielded questions from audience members on issues ranging from an agreement with the Cherokee Nation that would restore the Delawares federal recognition to the method in which the tribe's current elected officials disseminate information to tribal members. The Delawares are holding elections November 4th. Four candidates are running for chief: Incumbent Jerry Douglas and challengers Mike Standeford, Titus Frenchman and Curtis Zunigha. Six people are vying for three open council seats. They are: Incumbents Berna Crawford and Doyle Hayes and challengers Rusty Brown, Annette Ketchum, Susan Cade and Raymond Cline. The third incumbent, Jenifer Pechonik, is not seeking reelection. Brown said a large portion of the town hall meeting centered on proposed legislation that would formally separate the Cherokees and Delawares, allowing the Delawares to pursue land outside of the Cherokee's borders and enabling the Bartlesville-based tribe to go back on the Federal Register, entitling them to millions in federal funds. The Delawares lost federal recognition after an appeals court ruled they abandoned independent sovereignty by signing a treaty with the Cherokees in 1866. Feelings among the 10,000- member tribe regarding the Cherokee deal are mixed, with supporters heralding the move as a way to regain crucial programs and dollars and opponents fretting over provisions allowing the Cherokees ultimate say over Delaware land-into-trust applications, which mirrors an arrangement between the Shawnees and Cherokees. Brown, the candidate for tribal council, said he opened the town hall meeting by asking attendees: "What are your personal expectations for federal recognition?" Brown, admitting that it's a "complex situation and compromises need to be made," is opposed. "Under this legislation we are subservient to the Cherokee Nation and that is not okay with me," he said. Douglas is attending the National Congress of American Indian's annual convention in Sacramento and could not be reached for comment, although he has made his feelings on the Cherokee/Delaware proposal clear. "Our council has already passed our resolution, and I would just like to see the Cherokees and Delaware get along for a while," he was quoted as saying by the Cherokee Phoenix last month. Zunigha, a current member of the Delaware tribal council and a former chief of the tribe, admits "many people are opposed" to the proposal, but also says: "We are really in a situation where we have little choice. We are trying to negotiate the best deal possible and we have little leverage because we lost the federal recognition court case." US Rep. John Sullivan, R-Okla., has agreed to help the Cherokees and Delawares push their legislative solution through Congress, although no formal action has been taken since leaders of the two tribes took a trip to Washington, D.C. this past July to tout the plan. "I don't support congressional action on this bill until it has been presented to the Delaware people in the form of a referendum," Zunigha said. You can reach Sam Lewin at sam@okit.com Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Carvings provide glimpse at Crow History" --------- Date: Sun, 1 Oct 2006 07:31:41 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ROCK CARVINGS" http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/10/01/news/state/25-rocks.txt Rocks of the Ages: Carvings provide glimpse at Crow history By LORNA THACKERAY Of The Gazette Staff October 1, 2006 Not far from the present town of Bighorn on the south side of the Yellowstone River, a Crow war chief incised his biography in a sheltered rock outcropping. He may have been on his way to trading posts near the confluence of the Bighorn River when he paused to recount his war deeds in explicit detail on the sandstone rock. His shield bore a design that would have identified him to his contemporaries, but in the 160 or 170 years since, his name has been lost. These figures carved in the rock would be nearly invisible to the average hiker, if someone hadn't traced many of them in chalk years ago. For all but a few tribal elders and skilled rock art experts, they are virtually indecipherable. One such expert is Tim McCleary, a teacher at Little Bighorn College in Crow Agency and a doctoral student in archaeology at the University of Illinois in Champaign. His dissertation, which he hopes to finish this spring, is on Crow rock art. "All of the Yellowstone Valley is just covered with it, and most of it is Crow," he said as he climbed through brush and over deer scat on a grassy riverbank trail to where the chief had carved his deeds in stone. He can tell the warrior was Crow by the long flowing hair depicted in the petroglyph. "The most common way tribes are identified is hairstyle," he explained. In battle, he said, Crow warriors either wore their long hair loose or in a knot on top. Braids would have been too easy for an enemy to grab. Three Shoshone he boasted of killing were identified by circles representing heads. The heads were bisected by a squiggle signifying a single braid, McCleary said. The two Sioux he killed were symbolized by heads sprouting short, disheveled hair. Above two Sioux heads and two of the Shoshone heads are what appear to be French-type tomahawks preferred by the Crow, McCleary said. The chief apparently used a spear to dispatch the third Shoshone. McCleary said the artist was identifying himself as a chief with two war bonnets he carved near his own mounted figure. That he had performed the four deeds necessary to attain status as chief is also evidenced in the rock. An "X" shows that he has counted coups, striking his enemy with a coups stick. A rifle mounted near his back says that he has taken an enemy weapon. The rope around the neck of his horse boasts that he has captured an enemy horse. A second rider following him signifies that he led a successful war party. The petroglyph illustrates his pursuit of two Sioux warriors, his coups stick striking them on the head. In addition to his other accomplishment, the chief was an artist, McCleary said. His abstract portrait of the horse is especially fine. Like most Crow art, it conveys motion, he said. Sioux and Cheyenne art is more detailed and more static, he said. Blackfeet art is very different and much more conservative, sometimes using stick figures to tell a story. There is more to learn from the Crow figures rendered so long ago. The presence of a gun and horses likely dates the carvings to the mid-19th century. McCleary said the warrior probably visited the area sometime in the 1830s or 1840s. McCleary has studied Crow rock art for years, relying on the help of Crow elders including Barney Old Coyote, John Pretty On Top and the late Tyrone Ten Bear. He's built on the work of such experts as Stu Conner and Larry Lorendorf of Billings. Many of the sites he's examined were recorded by earlier rock art experts or were known to members of the tribe. In finding new sites, he would study those identified by the Crow and learn how they were interpreted by the elders. Then he would look for other sites that seemed similar. With the help of Crow elders, he's learned to decipher some of it. "It was their shorthand," he said. "If they knew what the components meant, they could actually read it." Sandstone cliffs and outcrops characteristic of the Yellowstone Valley provided the perfect tablet for warrior artists, McCleary said. It could easily be scraped to a smooth surface and was soft enough to advertise deeds to friends and warnings to interlopers who might want to invade the Crow homeland. "It gives you a sense of place," he said. "Obviously the Yellowstone Valley was the center of their world." Most of the art in the valley is biographical and most of it boasts of war deeds, McCleary said. That makes a certain amount of sense, he noted, because the fighting took place in the low country and the spiritual aspects of Crow life were more likely to be found in sacred high places. The biographical art is a declaration, he said. "It says they were warriors, and they were successful, and this is what will happen to you if you come onto our land." But the malleability of the sandstone also makes it vulnerable to time and weather. Most of the petroglyphs and pictographs that remain are not much more than 100 to 150 years old, he said. Those of greater age are in sheltered areas or south-facing slopes. Pictograph Caves south of Billings protected some of the earliest evidence of Crow habitation in Montana, though now it is fading quickly. Some of the pictographs display the "shield-bearing warrior," their first depiction of themselves. They date to the era before horses appeared on the Northern Plains. Their shields are huge, not the shrunken version better adapted to mounted warrior. McCleary said that in pre-horse warfare, two men would stand behind the shield. One would hold the shield and an implement that could be used to snatch the enemy warrior's shield. The other man would shoot arrows at the enemy as they closed in on each other. All tribes used shield-bearing warriors in rock art, he said. But only the Crow painted people with black teardrop eyes. That was the way Crow people indicated bears, he explained. Some shields in Pictograph Caves also contained depictions of bears. Artifacts in the earliest Crow occupation layer imply that in the pre- -horse era, Crow people spent enough time at the caves for the women to catch up on domestic chores and the men to record their deeds on the walls, he said. Archaeologists uncovered evidence of women's work -tanning of hides, for instance, and toys discarded by children. Also in the early layers were pieces from a dice game favored by Crow women. The coming of the horse changed everything, McCleary said. The Crow were more mobile and so were their enemies. After the horse, cave layers produced little cultural material related to everyday life, he said. During this period, the Crow avoided the caves, believing they were inhabited by ghosts who could change the images on the walls, he said. The ghosts could create images that would show the viewer's death. In the Crow language, the caves were referred to as "the place where there is ghost writing." "The only Crow who came here after the horse were the bravest warriors," he said. Some of them may have painted the series of red rifles that are the most visible, and probably latest, images left on the walls. Another theory is that warriors from another tribe knew about the caves and made their own marks. The rifles are similar to those identified with the Salish, he said. Generally, Crow rock art is read right to left, McCleary said. But sometimes it appears that the drawings flow in the physical direction of the action portrayed. The artist may have made his record of events that occurred right where he was drawing. If the action he was depicting moved in a northerly direction, the art might flow that way too. Often there are clues to help date the art. Shield-bearing warriors are pre-horse figures. The Crow started acquiring horses from the Shoshone in the early 1700s. Artists, at first, seemed a little uncertain about how to portray a horse and rider, McCleary said. In the early 1800s, flintlock rifles became part of the artists' repertoire. One of the earlier surviving pieces of art in the Yellowstone valley was scratched into a cliff front on Pease Bottom Road, the old route between Fort Custer (Hardin) and Fort Keogh (Miles City). The warrior chose a sandstone pallet stained red by mineral seepage. There are seven flintlock rifles in the tableau all aimed at a warrior on horseback. Several clues to its age are discernable, including the presence of a horse. But the rider, depicted only as a shield with no arms or legs, probably indicates the artist was from an era where the shield- bearing warrior was predominant. Also present in the petroglyph is a Spanish sword and a Spanish spear. Fur trader Manuel Lisa operated Montana's first trading post at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Bighorn rivers from 1807 to 1811. His objective was trading south with the Spanish, McCleary said. A map drawn by George Drouillard, who had thrown in with Lisa after returning from the Lewis and Clark Expedition, showed Spanish traders only about 14 days from the Bighorn trading post. The artist appears to be describing the successful theft of a horse from an enemy camp. The enemy gave chase. A circle incised above the horse and rider indicates that the warrior was forced to make a stand. Depictions of arrows may mean that the participants ran out of ammunition and took up spears and arrows. Not far from this older panel, is a more modern petroglyph depicting an intertribal raid sometime after Gen. Phillip Sheridan claimed in 1877 all such warfare had ended, McCleary said. McCleary can tell the petroglyph post-dates that claim because the artist has designed his work around graffiti left by John Moore, a soldier at Fort Keogh, in 1877. Rock art spans the Crow presence in Montana from prehistoric times right up to World War I. At a site on private property near Joliet, which was once included in Crow reservation boundaries, two World War I Crow heroes, George Stevens and Joe Cooper, etched their deeds in stone. Contact Lorna Thackeray at lthackeray@billingsgazette.com or 657-1314. Copyright c. 2006 The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Border town racism on Navajo Nation Council agenda" --------- Date: Wed, 4 Oct 2006 08:34:23 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BORDER TOWN RACISM" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.daily-times.com/news/ci_4434192 Navajo Council sets agenda for fall council session By Erny Zah The Daily Times October 4, 2006 SHIPROCK - The Navajo Nation Council fall session agenda, which has 30 new business items and five old business items, was approved last Friday by the Ethics and Rules Committee at the Shiprock Chapter House. The fall session begins Monday, Oct. 16, at the Council Chambers in Window Rock, Ariz. The agenda outlines a number of bills and reports that deal with discrimination, more groundwork for Navajo gaming, land purchases and appropriation bills, which total more than $21 million in spending. Addressing discrimination Aside from the proposed legislative bills, the council will hear verbal reports from Speaker Lawrence Morgan and DNA People's Legal Services regarding "Hate Crimes in the Border Towns of the Navajo Nation." The directive for a report about the issue came from Council Delegate Ervin Keeswood, of Hogback, during a June special council session. Another verbal report from Council Delegate Katherine Benally, of Dennehotso, and the Tom Claw family will address discrimination. The agenda states their report will focus on the "discrimination by law enforcement agencies of Coconino County, Ariz., and the city of Flagstaff, Ariz." Also, legislation is slated to be introduced that would create the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission Act. Legislation No. 0719-06 is sponsored by Keeswood and would create a "foundation" for an office Keeswood said he hopes will give Navajo people an avenue to report human rights violations. "It could be a way for (community members) to have their issues heard," he said. Navajo gaming Three items are on the agenda. Two of the agenda points help Hogback Chapter establish its footing in the gaming enterprise and the other is another step for the Navajo Nation to solidify its gaming endeavors. Legislation No. 0707-06 would approve a memorandum of agreement between the chapter and the Navajo Nation for purposes of gaming. "(The legislation) outlines how the revenue is going to be spit between Hogback and the central government," said Council Delegate LoRenzo Bates, of Upper Fruitland. Keeswood said the net revenue of a gaming enterprise in Hogback would split the money with the Navajo Nation, Hogback and the other 109 chapters that may not have gaming. He said for the first five years, Hogback would get 10 percent of the net revenue, then 5 percent in the following years. Also involving Hogback, legislation No. 0687-06 would change the name of Hogback Chapter to Tse' Daa' Kaan Chapter. The name translates to "rock ground into the river," Keeswood said, adding that is the name the community members use instead of Hogback. Another bill proposes the establishment of a Gaming Development Fund. Legislation No. 0448-06, if passed, would create the fund and provide a plan for money to be deposited into the account. Bates said he expects that bill will pass. Purchasing land If legislation No. 0575-06 passes, the Counselor Trading Post Properties could become property of the Navajo Nation. The act would use $1.23 million from the Land Acquisition Trust Fund to purchase the trading post and adjacent properties, which total nearly 300 acres. Bates said the legislation may get tabled because the bill lacks a report from the Navajo Environmental Protection Agency. The report would outline the environmental status of the land. Bates said some delegates have questioned the purchase of the land because if it is contaminated, the nation would be responsible for cleaning it up. More spending Not including spending bills from the old business portion of the agenda, five bills will be introduced that total more than $21 million in spending measures that would come from the Undesignated Unreserved Fund Balance. The largest measure is a $16.8 million bill that would be used for capital improvements in the judicial and public safety facilities. Another bill would take $3.75 million for use at the Raytheon expansion project on the Navajo Nation. Raytheon is a company that builds military equipment, such as missiles, and is located near Navajo Agricultural Products Industry. Erny Zah: ezah@daily-times.com C opyright c. 2006 Farmington Daily-Times. --------- "RE: Spiritual Perspectives: Navajo Night Chant" --------- Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2006 08:35:46 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NAVAJO NIGHT CHANT" http://www.gallupindependent.com/2006/sept/093006sp_nnchant.html Spiritual Perspectives Navajo Night Chant By Johnson Dennison Special to The Independent September 30, 2006 The Ye'ii bicheii Ceremony is called Tleeji in Navajo. It means "Night Way." Normally, it is translated into English as "Night Chant." It is considered a distinctive and popular ceremony. This ceremony is complicated, attractive, and expensive. It attracts many people during the nine nights it is done. It takes a lot of commitment, cooperation, and support from family members, relatives, and community members to sponsor the Night Chant. The Night Chant is a healing ceremony. It treats a patient who is experiencing problems with his or her vision, hearing, and mind. It is also used to treat a prolonged illness. A Navajo diagnostician, who is called "tinilei yeena'idilkidigii" or the "hand trembler" is usually sought to diagnose an illness. After a consultation with the diagnostician, the patient is prescribed to have the Night Chant Ceremony. First, the patient notifies his or her parents or close relatives who head the family. A discussion is usually held with relatives to make a final decision to sponsor the ceremony for the patient. During the discussion, everyone is in consensus on sponsoring the ceremony. If the family is inexperienced with the Night Chant Ceremony, a medicine man specialized in the ceremony is consulted for advisement and clarification. After the final decision is made, the preparation for the ceremony starts. It usually takes a long time to put everything together for the ceremony. It could ta ke from three months to a year to get everything planned and prepared. It is a ceremony that can be done only in autumn to mid winter months: October to January. There are not many medicine men who are specialized in the Night Chant which could cause the family difficulty finding a medicine man to do the ceremony. Once a medicine man is located, the patient's family requests the medicine man to perform the Night Chant Ceremony. It is appropriate to pay the medicine man in advance, which is called "ookaah." Once the ceremony is scheduled, the preparation begins. Preparation for the Night Chant includes setting up the place, buying needed materials, informing relatives, friends, and community members, and informing ye'ii bicheii dancers. Setting up the place takes time and work. The family builds a ceremonial hogan and a cook shed. When the ceremony is finished, the hogan can be taken down or used for other future Night Chant ceremonies. The cook shed is built within walking distance to the ceremonial hogan on the southwest side. Food preparation and cooking are done in the shed. The visitors are welcome to come and eat in the shed. The materials needed for the ceremony are obtained by the family members of the patient. Four to five ceremonial baskets are needed for the ceremony. The patient has to get these baskets. Other needed materials are fabric, shawls, robes, blankets and buckskin. Some of the needed materials are donated by relatives and friends. Obtaining needed materials could become a financial burden to the patient and family, but the generosity of relatives and neighbors help ease the stress through donations. After months of preparation, the Night Chant is finally started with the arrival of the medicine man. He arrives with his helpers to get everything ready for the opening night of the ceremony. This section of the ceremony is done with three to four beautifully dressed ye'iis doing the purification rites while the medicine man sings. These rites are done in the hogan with visiting singers and helpers. Some people just watch as well. Once the purification rites are done, everyone goes home. The ye'iis dress in costumes and wear masks that are sacred. Only an initiated and trained person can perform as a ye'ii. He has to know how to perform and do the purification rites. The daytime ceremony begins at sunrise. The patient is treated at a sweat a short distance from the hogan on the east side. A hole is dug into the ground early in the morning for the sweat. The hole is heated and cleared, but the hot coals are left in it. These then are covered with various evergreen leaves and herbs to make a bedding. The patient gets to lie on the bedding and is covered with blankets and buckskin. The medicine man sing songs. An offering ceremony is done after the sweat ceremony. A prayer service is also done by the medicine man at this time. This daytime ceremony is repeated for four days. The Blessing Way Ceremony is performed on the fourth day. Many visitors show up for the Blessing Way. The purpose of the Blessing Way Ceremony is to bless the masks to be used for dancing. During the night of the Blessing Way Ceremony, the masks are all laid out on the finest materials. The medicine man and his helpers will sing blessing songs all night. There are a number of Blessing Way chanters participating as well. The sand painting ceremony is done daily after the Blessing Way Ceremony for the next four days. The sacred sand painting is constructed by the skilled sand painters every day in the morning. When the sand painting is done in the afternoon, the patient is treated while sitting on the sand painting. These sand paintings are of a particular designed learned by the medicine man. During the evening activities of the sand paintings, the four main dancers call "atsaleeh" dance and they dance every night until it's over. The seventh day of the ceremony, "ye'ii yi'aash," is an important and popular event. "Ye'ii yi'aash" literally is "two ye'iis are coming." The biggest sand painting is also done in the hogan the same day. Many sand painters, under the supervision of the medicine man, do the huge and detailed sand painting. It is started in the morning and completed by late afternoon. When the sand painting is completed, two male ye'iis and one female ye'ii perform their ritual rites outside the hogan. People watch the event. The patients is in front of the hogan with a basket of corn meal. The ye'iis perform a sacred rite while the patient stands in front of the hogan facing the East. Then, the patient and the ye'iis go inside the hogan. Inside, the patient sits on the sand painting and the ye'iis bless the patient. That evening, various beautifully dressed male and female dance teams arrive to dance. Each team sings beautiful songs and dances four times in front of the hogan. Many people watch the dances and listen to the songs all night. The final day the ye'ii masks are decorated with fir branches. The decorated masks are taken to the cedar shelter east of the ceremonial hogan. The shelter is called "ye'ii bighan," or "the home of the ye'iis." During the final day, there will be some dancing in the late afternoon hours. It is a good time to watch the dancers dancing in the shelter. The final night is when the dancers sing and dance wearing masks. All the dancers are painted with white clay. While the dance is going on outside, inside the hogan the medicine man and his helpers sing sacred songs throughout the night. They, men and women, sit in a circle around a ceremonial basket used as a drum to sing. This is called "ts'aa' yaasita." The beauty of the singing is the rhythm and togetherness. The Blue Bird Chant and Dance is a closing ceremony at dawn. It is a sacred chant and dance. The dancers perform the final dance and everyone will participate with offerings and prayers during the process. The dancers will remove their masks and place them back in the medicine bundle. The Night Chant Ceremony is completed and the medicine man is off to another place to start another Night Chant Ceremony. The dancers and spectators will return back to their homes. The patient will stay for another four days before normal living again. The medicine people usually inform the patient to have reverence for the ceremony for four days. If the patient is employed, he or she may be informed not to go back to work until after four days. --- Johnson Dennison, a Navajo medicine man, is a coordinator in the Office of Native Medicine for the Indian Health Service in Chinle, Ariz. This column is the result of a desire by community members, representing different faith communities, to share their ideas about bringing a spiritual perspective into our daily lives and community issues. For information about contributing a guest column, contact Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola at the Independent: (505) 863-8611, ext. 218 or lizreligion01@yahoo.com. Copyright c. 2006 the Gallup Independent. --------- "RE: GIAGO: Unraveling the source of domestic violence" --------- Date: Tue, 3 Oct 2006 09:10:17 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GIAGO: ENCOURAGES MORE DEPTH WITH JODI RAVE SERIES" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=8221 Notes from Indian Country Unraveling the source of domestic violence in Indian country Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji) Copyright c. 2006 Native American Journalists Foundation, Inc. October 2, 2006 A recent news series by Jodi Rave, an American Indian writer for the Lee Enterprises newspaper group, has focused on violence against Indian women, and rightfully so. The series includes a number of interviews with women that have been abused or comments from those women involved in programs intended to address this most serious issue. But what the series does not address are the possible reasons behind this abuse and it also lacks comments from Indian men working to address the same issues, nor does it include interviews with men who stand accused as abusers. As a Lakota man now in his seventh decade, one that has been an observer of Indian people and issues as a journalist for more than 40 years, I would like to expand upon the series of articles by Ms. Rave, but from an Indian male perspective. As one might not gather from the series, most of us are not women abusers or wife beaters. For the past 40 years I have employed Indian people, both men and women. I employed them in a coffee and donut shop I owned when I was young and I have employed them for the many jobs it takes to publish a weekly newspaper over the past 26 years. I didn't keep statistics, but I did make certain observations simply because of the number of women I had in my employ. Yes, I did have women employees that lived in an abusive atmosphere. When they came to work wearing dark glasses to cover the bruises around their eyes I often sat them down and talked to them. Now mind you, in nearly every case, these female employees of mine were the breadwinners. They were the ones who held the jobs and brought home the paycheck. Their husbands or significant others were the stay-at-homes who did nothing to help support their family. Much of the abuse usually happened right after a payday. The workingwomen go out with their husbands or boyfriends to a local watering hole to unwind, which of course means getting drunk. At some point in the evening the woman realizes her kids are home alone and she has to get home to carry out her duties as a mother. If her spouse or boyfriend has not confiscated her paycheck by then, her attempt at leaving the party seems to be reason enough for him to make a grab at getting the money from her purse so that he can continue to party. When the women come to work the next day broke and bruised, I always talked to them. "Why are you letting this bum live off of you? You are a good and decent woman and yet you have this terrible guy living in your house with your children taking your paycheck every week and blowing it on booze while you and your children go without? Why are you letting this happen?" The stock answer usually is, "But I love him." And the fact that she loves him allows this man to continue to beat her up, take her weekly paycheck, abuse her children and leave her on the fringes of extreme poverty. Historically, when Indians were forced to settle on small reservations, the Indian male was stripped of his weapons which kept him from doing the jobs that made him a man: Feeding and supporting his family. While many Indian women found jobs with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Indian hospital, the schools or with the tribal government, most Indian males found themselves without jobs. Unemployment on many Indian reservations to this day exceeds 50 percent. When an Indian male discovered that he could no longer assume his role as leader and provider for his family he felt totally emasculated. This loss of self-esteem and self-confidence caused many men to turn toward substances like alcohol and drugs to help them forget and to help them cope. Too often this culminated in the man striking out at the one object he loved, his spouse or girl friend. The hurt he felt within himself often manifested itself in violence against others, especially against someone near to him. Stripped of his ability to provide for his family through the hunt, an activity that was as much spiritual as economical, and denied the opportunity to find gainful employment, many Lakota men retreated within themselves boiling with an anger even they did not understand. And then came the horrific time when Indian men and women were forcefully taken from their homes and placed into boarding schools where they were physically, emotionally, and oftentimes sexually abused by their well-intentioned keepers. How much of the abuse we see today in Indian families is a harbinger of those horrible days spent at Indian missions and Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding schools has never been researched in-depth. But from my personal perspective, I think many of today's problems of alcoholism, drug abuse, and spousal abuse involving both men and women; can be traced back to those days. I encourage Jodi Rave to continue her articles on this very touchy subject, but I would also advise her to use the deep pockets of her news organization to further research this topic by including the harm caused by the boarding school experience. Too often all of the blame falls upon the shoulders of the Indian male and if this is the case, the reasons this happens should also be a part of the topic. After all, it is impossible to find a cure if one does not know the source of the problem. --- McClatchy News Service in Washington, DC distributes Tim Giago's weekly column. He can be reached at P.O. Box 9244, Rapid City, SD 57709 or at najournalists@rushmore.com. Giago was also the founder and former editor and publisher of the Lakota Times and Indian Country Today newspapers and the founder and first president of the Native American Journalists Association. Clear Light Books of Santa Fe, NM (harmon@clearlightbooks.com) published his latest book, "Children Left Behind". Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: JODI RAVE: Community rallies against abuse, Drugs" --------- Date: Mon, 9 Oct 2006 08:25:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="JODI RAVE: FIGHTING ABUSE, DRUGS" http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2006/10/07/jodirave/rave66.txt Community rallies against abuse, drugs By JODI RAVE of the Missoulian October 7, 2006 PABLO - Flathead Reservation community members marched and rallied Friday at the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes' headquarters in a stand against drugs, alcohol and domestic abuse. "Seeing the young people here, that makes me encouraged," said Kevin Howlett, CSKT tribal health director. "When you throw a rock into the pond, it begins to ripple." Suset Rossbach, a 12-year-old student at Two Eagle River School, attended the rally with peers, a girls' club that meets regularly to talk about how the group can support each other and live a healthy lifestyle. She held a sign that read "Women are Sacred. End Abuse." "I thought it was awesome and powerful in a spiritual way, and that a lot of people came out to the rally," Rossbach said. Nearly a dozen speakers, from crime victim advocates to state legislators to law enforcement officers spoke to tribal community members about how drug, alcohol and domestic abuse affects men, women and children. In Montana, there were more reports of domestic abuse than there were babies born last year, amounting to more than 11,000 cases, said CSKT Chairman James Steele. Also, domestic violence on the Flathead Reservation is among the highest in the Bureau of Indian Affairs region that serves Montana, Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming, said Craige Couture, CSKT chief of police. Rally speakers also talked about the troubling effect drug, alcohol and domestic abuse has on children. In one month, Lake County and the tribal police referred nearly 30 children who suffered sexual abuse to child protection services, said Couture. The Salish and Kootenai tribes are revising tribal codes to better protect children. "It's to protect the rights of those most vulnerable; those most vulnerable are our children," Steele said. The comment period for revising the code has been extended for 30 days beyond the original deadline. The rally was organized by Louise Stasso, a CSKT tribal citizen, in recognition of October as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. "How sad that we have to have a month to remind us that men, women and children are being abused on a daily basis," said Rep. Jeanne Windham, D- Polson. Windham told the audience that Montana now has a bill recently approved by the Legislature that allows domestic violence victims to collect 10 weeks of unemployment so they can stay with their families and keep them safe. And she also asked people to remember that domestic abuse goes beyond bruised skin and broken bones. It can be spiritual, economical, sexual, verbal or emotional, she said, but many services are available to victims. "You are not alone," she said. Joyce Silverthorne, CSKT tribal education director, spoke of how drug, alcohol and domestic abuse had roots in the boarding school experience, where parenting skills crumbled as generations of children were subject to beatings and de-culturalization. "It's part of our history," Silverthorne said. "But we're coming full circle." By some estimates, as much as 80 percent of the domestic violence cases in Lake County and the reservation are associated with drugs. In a single year, CSKT law enforcement dismantled 22 methamphetamine labs on the Flathhead Reservation, most of them in Arlee. Advocates against abuse spoke of the need to stand together. "What we need to do as women and girls is to take our power back," said Evelyn Hernandez, Tribal Crime Victim Advocate for CSKT. "We have the power to not accept abuse anymore." The violence is always closer than most would like, said Joe McDonald, president of Salish Kootenai College. "It's some of our families. It's some of our friends involved in the violence. It's our friends and families being abused. "We need to work together," he said. "We need to get our victims to tell their abusers, `No more.' " Rep. Carol Juneau, D-Browning, asked the audience to be role models. "We always tell the kids, `Don't drink. Don't use.' Well, I'm going to tell the adults. Don't drink. Don't use. "If we use at night or on the weekend, what kind of message are we sending? Role models are so important to kids. In order to be a role model, you have to be sober all the time." She thanked the girls who carried signs calling for an end to abuse and a call for healing. And she acknowledged the male students who carried signs, too. "Young boys need to step up," Juneau said. Her message wasn't lost on them. "I stand up for stopping violence," said Charles Shull, a 17-year old who attends Two Eagle River School. "I see it every day. I see it in my family. It's hard seeing a woman being beat." Reporter Jodi Rave can be reached at 1-800-366-7186 or at jodi.rave@lee.net Copyright c. 2006 Missoulian, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: JODI RAVE: Book recalls Father's rage and violence" --------- Date: Mon, 9 Oct 2006 08:25:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="JODI RAVE: BOOK RECALLS VIOLENCE" http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2006/10/09/jodirave/rave64.txt Commentary: Book recalls father's rage and violence By JODI RAVE of the Missoulian October 8, 2006 Author Barbara Richards writes gripping first-person accounts about her dad, his horses, domestic violence and sexual assault in her self- published book, "Dancing on his Grave." The following is from the first page in the prologue: During my mother's life with my dad, he gave her many opportunities to remember what her sister Virginia, or "Din," told her when she first started dating him. "You don't want to get serious about that guy." "Why not? I thought you liked him," Mom asked. "I thought I liked him, too, until someone pointed out that all his horses are head-shy," Din said. "What's that supposed to mean?" Mom demanded. Din said, "It means he beats them over the head with a fence post because he can't do enough damage with a whip." "I don't believe that!" Mom retorted. "If you don't believe me, ask a horseman," Din said. Mom laughed and told Din she thought that was a funny way to judge a man. "Anyway, what does that have to do with me?" Richards goes on to paint a graphic scene about a blinded, dying horse on her father's ranch in western Montana. I closed the book and put it down after reading the first two pages. I wondered how I would get through the rest of the book. Richards recently spoke on a panel about domestic violence in the West as part of the Montana Festival of the Book. She started writing "Dancing on his Grave" in 1982, shortly after her father's death. Richards, her four sisters and her mother all suffered cruel beatings unleashed upon them during her father's violent rages. But Richards also speaks of the strength of the human spirit and how victims of abuse can survive and move on. The book panel consisted of three women, including Richards. She was the last to speak. And when it was time for the audience to clap in expected appreciation, it was as if they didn't know how to stop clapping. Audiences everywhere have had a similar response, Richards said when we spoke later. Yet Richards has found it difficult to find a book publisher, which is why she self-published the book in August. And it's not that top-tier book publishers didn't like the manuscript. Here are some of the reviews in praise of "Dancing on his Grave": "I've finished Barbara Richards' memoir. She's a wonderful writer, graceful and clean and powerful, and this book is just full of memorable scenes." - Sarah McGrath, Simon and Schuster "Dancing on his Grave... is mesmerizing, heartbreaking, vivid and utterly terrifying." - Aimee Taub, Penguin Group "I read the manuscript - avidly, compulsively, because it was impossible not to finish once I started." - Beth Rashbaum, Random House When I attended the Festival of the Book, I told myself I would not buy any books. I have too many unread ones at home. But after reading the publishing house reviews and listening to Richards, I bought her book. I only have a few pages left before I'm finished. When the publishing houses started turning her down, Richards decided to publish the book herself through Trafford Publishing at www.trafford.com. Her oldest sister, "Catherine," turned 70. Richards wanted the book to be published before another birthday passed. "Catherine" contributed dozens of first-person accounts of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her father. Although Richards' book has been praised, top-tier book agents also told her they didn't think there was a market for a book on domestic violence. Readers should be the judge. Reporter Jodi Rave can be reached at 1-800-366-7186 or at jodi.rave@lee.net Copyright c. 2006 Missoulian, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: JODI RAVE: Open College doors to Native Students" --------- Date: Wed, 4 Oct 2006 08:34:23 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="JODI RAVE: TUITION BOUNDARIES" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2006/10/04/jodirave/rave67.txt Native News with Jodi Rave Opinion - New tuition boundaries could open college door October 4, 2006 BOULDER, Colo. - Some colleges open the door a little wider when recruiting Native students. University of Colorado officials are taking greater notice of indigenous students who might attend the state's premier university. The efforts are seemingly linked with CU's need to move past the recent firing of Ward Churchill, the controversial CU professor, a self-proclaimed Cherokee, who was ultimately dismissed in June for academic research misconduct. This fall, CU awarded 12 scholarships, each in the amount of $10,000, to Native undergraduate students as part of the newly created First Nations Scholarship program. The awards - which are given to out-of-state students belonging to federally recognized tribes - are unprecedented in the history of CU's recruiting relationship with Native students. The intent behind the scholarships is to cultivate, support and sustain an Indian community on the CU-Boulder campus. As a CU graduate, I was fortunate to be there when students and others benefited from staff and faculty like Rick Williams, now president of the American Indian College Fund, and the late Vine Deloria Jr., a professor in the history department. CU's new scholarships will hopefully reinvigorate the Native campus community. Already, the scholarships have helped the university claim its largest freshman class ever, with a total of 55 Native students, a 112 percent increase over last year. But if CU and other universities around the country wanted to really increase Native student enrollment, they would start by honoring the geographical, contemporary and migratory history of all tribes connected to the state. Land-grant colleges should take specific notice. The schools could use that information to offer in-state tuition rates to Native students. As a recent two-day guest lecturer at CU's School of Journalism, I was invited to speak with several university officials, including a vice chancellor and college dean, about ways to increase the number of Native students on campus. Like many schools across the country, out-of-state tuition gets in CU's recruitment path. Today, students outside Colorado borders pay $22,000 in tuition and fees. It costs about $8,000 more just to live in Boulder. My husband, also a CU graduate, is still paying off student loans acquired as an out-of-state student. I lived in Denver for a year before applying to CU, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to afford tuition. If the school wants to make tuition affordable to students from tribes outside Colorado, I suggest CU officials take the lead offered by the University of Nebraska's Board of Regents. In 1994, the board agreed to offer in-state tuition to students from any federally recognized tribe that had a historical or contemporary connection to Nebraska. The end result: Qualified applicants belonging to one of 25 tribes became eligible for in-state tuition. And that included all undergraduate and professional programs at three campuses - Kearney, Lincoln and Omaha. So potentially an Arapaho student living in California could receive in- state tuition at the University of Nebraska's Medical Center in Omaha. The other tribes who made Nebraska's list: Arikara, Blackfeet, Northern Cheyenne, Southern Cheyenne, Comanche, Crow, Hidatsa, Iowa, Jicarilla Apache, Kickapoo, Kiowa, Mandan, Missouria, Omaha, Otoe, Pawnee, Ponca, Potawatomi, Sac and Fox, Winnebago, Dakota, Lakota, Nakota and Santee Sioux. In-state tuition not only makes college affordable to more Native students, but also increases the odds of securing a seat in the classroom. At least 85 percent of all students accepted into the University of Nebraska's medical school - which offers 17 programs - are from Nebraska. This year, more than 1,000 students applied for one of the medical programs, but only 122 students were accepted. Today, there are fewer than 10 Native students at NU's Medical Center. Nebraska's Board of Regents revealed a progressive thought process when they agreed to passing on in-state tuition costs to students from tribes with ties to the state. The act stands as a wonderful commemoration of the indigenous people who lived on the land before white settlement. Tens of millions of acres - tribal ancestral homelands - were lost to white settlers and state governments through graft and thievery. Tribes throughout the country were unwillingly relocated and marched thousands of miles from their traditional hunting and gathering areas. Native people have never received just compensation for their displacement. Instead, many land-related injustices continue. A Native homeowner living on a reservation in a state such as Wisconsin, California or Wyoming is obligated to pay property taxes to the local government if their home isn't located on land held in trust by the federal government. That's just one example of how the disenfranchisement continues. As many tribal colleges work hard to educate tribal citizens, states could lighten the load by making tuition affordable for students who plan to transfer to a four-year state college program. Tuition waivers would also allow many Native students to reconnect with ancestral lands. For example, a Seminole from Oklahoma could attend the University of Florida at no extra cost. In-state tuition would be a small gesture to right some old wrongs. --- Jodi Rave covers Native issues for the Missoulian and other Lee Enterprises newspapers. She can be reached at 1-800-366-7186, Ext. 299, or at jodi.rave@lee.net. Copyright c. 2006 Missoulian, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: YELLOW BIRD: Again we learn no Community is exempt" --------- Date: Wed, 4 Oct 2006 08:34:23 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YELLOW BIRD: SCHOOL VIOLENCE" http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=12150 Again we learn that no community is exempt Dorreen Yellow Bird Grand Forks Herald October 4, 2006 What happened must be unthinkable to them - their innocent, God-loving children dead in spite of their efforts to keep their community free from outside influences. The shootings took me back to the day I drove to the Red Lake Indian reservation in Minnesota to cover the shootings there, in which nine people were murdered. The 10th was Jeffrey Wise himself, the killer; he took his own life following his spree. The Red Lake shootings stunned that Minnesota reservation. It's an isolated place, but you can't compare Red Lake and Nickel Mines. True, as I watched the aftermath of the Pennsylvania school shootings unfold, I could see a similarity - but only in the fact the Amish are a somewhat closed community, as are some reservations. Unlike the Amish, however, reservations are protected by federal laws. Although reservations don't have armies, they do have the protection of a police force. At Red Lake during the school shootings, police officers from surrounding reservations came into the area, doubling the force. The Amish school shootings make all of us realize again that no community is exempt from this kind of tragedy - including my own, I might add. I sat with a friend over coffee this past weekend, and he told me the story of a killing that happened not long ago right in our reservation community. A drug dealer killed his nephew, my friend said. Could one of the reasons for the growth in violence in our communities be the influence of television and the Internet? After all, on TV we see crimes committed hourly as if it's an everyday occurrence out there. And if you travel to some reservations, you will find many young people copying the young people from inner city they've seen on television or from Internet. They see crimes committed and a negative heroism portrayed. Only a few days ago, I saw three young men from one of the local reservations who might have walked out of Harlem or the barrio in San Francisco. We were taken aback by their appearance: They were wearing head bandannas, sporting tattoos, dressed in big shirts and baggy pants and walking with a big-city strut. As they staggered toward us to drop a beer bottle in a trash can, we wondered what they were up to. Maybe they were drug-free and innocent of any criminal thoughts, but it's hard to know. Criminals on television usually mean bad business. Then again, maybe I watch too much television. When reservation kids themselves talk about drug problems and crime, you have to take notice. A few weeks ago, I walked the grasslands of the Pankratz Memorial Park with Red Lake students who are studying forest technology at Northwest Technical College-Bemidji. They talked about the problems at Red Lake. There are some things that have improved, they said, but law enforcement isn't one of them. When dealers and users gather, the police let the offenders go, maybe because the officers and the offenders are related, students told me. Later, I talked with a woman at Red Lake. The drug problems are out of control there, and the users and dealers are protected by some adults who should be civic leaders, she said. These problems generate many criminal acts such as shootings. Our tribal and nontribal leaders must take steps to ensure the safety of the community. The time for giving criminals a free pass is gone. We live in a world in which horrific crimes are committed easily - and, to repeat, no place is free from violence. Tribal leaders must be vigilant and protect our people from the growing problem of violence, much of which is ignited by things such as illegal drugs. ---- Dorreen Yellow Bird is a reporter and columnist. Her columns appear Wednesdays and Saturdays on the opinion pages of the Herald. Reach her at (701) 780-1228 or dyellowbird@gfherald.com Copyright c. 2006 Grand Forks Herald, Forum Communications Co., Fargo ND. --------- "RE: WALKER: Growing up in a Traditional Community" --------- Date: Thu, 5 Oct 2006 08:47:12 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DALTON WALKER: GROWING UP TRADITIONALLY" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.startribune.com/462/story/722480.html Old ways flourish - but not among the young Growing up in Ponemah made the writer different from most of his peers growing up on Red Lake. Dalton Walker, Star Tribune October 4, 2006 PONEMAH, Minn. - Basketball hoops are planted in most yards alongside pine, maple and birch trees. Homes hug Indian Highway 18 for many miles in both directions. A short drive north of the village leads to a secluded high point where Upper and Lower Red Lakes are both visible. On a clear day, it's hard to tell where the water ends and the sky begins. In Ponemah - the most remote and traditional of the towns on the Red Lake Reservation - maple trees are tapped for syrup in the spring. Legends of a cultural trickster are told during the snow months. Bears knock over trash bins. Dogs run in packs. This is where I grew up. Name calling to basketball For Ponemah kids, the first day of school in Red Lake is the worst. After the first day I felt like I never wanted to go back. I was called names, harassed and threatened just because I was from Ponemah. I never understood why I was called a Ponemah "sav" - a savage - until years later, when I thought about my background. My roots are in Ponemah, and so are Red Lake's ancient and sacred ceremonies. I was called a savage because other reservation kids grew up thinking that technology left Ponemah behind when, in fact, Ponemah fought it off. Learning respect In Ponemah, old ways flourished. Elders performed traditional ceremonies and I acknowledged that being from Ponemah was different than being from Red Lake. Growing up in a traditional community taught me how to observe and respect a culture. I attended the local elementary school and later rode the bus 30 miles to Red Lake for middle and high school. In Ponemah, students learn basic Ojibwe vocabulary such as numbers, greetings and the names of animals - words that, 15 years later, I still remember. About 20 students were in my sixth-grade class. Over the years the 20 dwindled to 15, and, later, to 10. When I graduated in 2000 I was one of maybe three students from Ponemah to receive my diploma. Some had dropped out because they had become pregnant, moved or just quit. In Ponemah, it's rare for the young to approach the elders to learn the "old ways." The old ways include the burials. I have a sense of pride when a loved one is buried and guided to the spirit world by elders through their wisdom and prayers. I can only hope when my time is up that someone guides me just as my grandpa was. Road signs scattered throughout the reservation maintain that the children are the future. It's true. But what type of future will it be? Dalton Walker dcwalker@startribune.com Copyright c. 2006 Minneapolis Star-Tribune. --------- "RE: Oaxaca Teachers brace for takeover" --------- Date: Tuesday, October 03, 2006 03:20 am From: Chiapas95-english Subj: En;Universal,Oaxaca teachers brace for takeover,Oct 02 Mailing List: Chiapas95-En This message is forwarded to you by the editors of the Chiapas95 newslists. To contact the editors or to submit material for posting send to: . Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2006 14:57:24 +0200 From: "Dana Aldea" Teachers brace for takeover Interior Secretary Carlos Abascal said the helicopters flying over the city were running routine supply runs Wire services El Universal October 02, 2006 OAXACA - Protesters fortified street barricades and readied gasoline bombs Sunday as navy helicopters buzzed over this southern city for a second straight day, sparking rampant rumors that federal forces were planning to retake the area. But President Vicente Fox's top Cabinet member, Interior Secretary Carlos Abascal, insisted the helicopters and military plane seen during the weekend were running routine supply runs that had nothing to do with the more than four months of unrest gripping this usually charming colonial city. His comments came after national news media gave heavy coverage to the flyovers. A headline in the Mexico City daily Milenio proclaimed, "Preparations for war in Oaxaca," while Mexico City's EL UNIVERSAL newspaper reported that helicopters, planes and 15 troop trucks had assembled in Huatulco, a Pacific tourist getaway and military hub a short flight - but a long and difficult drive - from Oaxaca city. An official who answered the phone at the Defense Secretariat in Mexico City on Sunday said he had no details about the flyovers or the reported buildup of forces in Huatulco. Protesters responded to the flights by detonating hundreds of powerful firecrackers, which shook streets and historic buildings and further frayed nerves. Reinforcing barricades with bags of cement and tree trunks, they vowed to beat back any police and soldiers who moved on the city. Streets were largely deserted on Sunday. Elsa Siguenza, a 73-year-old who ventured from her home to watch a helicopter speed by, said she hopes federal troops move in. "Of course it's scary to see helicopters," she said. "But we need peace." In May, tens of thousands of teachers seized the capital's leafy central plaza to demand wage increases. The following month, Gov. Ulises Ruiz sent police to attempt to retake the heart of the city. Since then, thousands of activists, students and anarchists have joined striking teachers, building street barricades, burning buses and taking over radio and television stations. They demand that Ruiz resign, alleging that he rigged the 2004 election and uses paramilitary gangs to attack dissidents. At least two people have been shot to death and dozens more injured in clashes between protesters and police. At night, protesters burn tires and stop and search vehicles for plainclothes state agents they say are sent to attack them. Abascal has personally overseen negotiations to end the standoff, but the federal government has said it will not force Ruiz to resign. Protesters maintain their demand that he leave office. On Friday, Abascal indicated the situation was nearing a breaking point, saying "everything has its limit and the limit is close." "It is urgent that (the protesters) stop kidnapping the heart of Oaxaca and its inhabitants," Abascal said. Meanwhile, the city continues to slide toward chaos. Before dawn on Sunday, a man suspected of driving drunk crashed through a number of street barricades. Protesters hurled dozens of rocks at his vehicle and punched out all four tires. They detained him for hours before turning him over to authorities. Nearby, gunshots could be heard, though their origin was unknown. -- To subscribe to this list send a message containing the words subscribe chiapas95 (or chiapas95-lite, or chiapas95-english, or chiapas95-espanol) to majordomo@eco.utexas.edu. Previous messages are available from http://www.eco.utexas.edu/faculty/Cleaver/chiapas95.html or gopher to Texas, University of Texas at Austin, Department of Economics, Mailing Lists. --------- "RE: Mexico's Two Presidents and Two Governments" --------- Date: Saturday, October 07, 2006 05:55 pm From: Chiapas95-english Subj: En;ZNet,Mexico's Two Presidents and Two Governments,Oct 04 Mailing List: Chiapas95-En -- This message is forwarded to you by the editors of the Chiapas95 newslists. To contact the editors or to submit material for posting send to: . Date: Sat, 7 Oct 2006 09:20:31 +0200 From: "Dana Aldea" Mexico's Two Presidents and Two Governments Dual Power, Revolution, or Populist Theater? by Dan La Botz Znet, October 04, 2006 http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionIDY&ItemID 118 The Mexican Electoral Tribunal recognized Felipe Calderon as president- elect, while a massive National Democratic Convention has proclaimed Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to be the "legitimate president of Mexico." AMLO is now creating an alternative government, and says he will call a constituent assembly that will write a new constitution. What is happening here? Is this a radical fight for reforms? A potentially revolutionary movement? Or a spectacular piece of populist theater? More than a million people gathered on September 16, Independence Day, on Mexico City's national Plaza of the Constitution and the surrounding streets for blocks around and-after enduring a drenching cloud burst- proclaimed that Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was the legitimate president of Mexico. The massive National Democratic Convention (CND) repudiated the "usurper" Felipe Calderon and called for the end of the existing Mexican government, for the "abolition of the regime of privileges." The CND also called for the organization of a campaign of national civil disobedience with one of its objectives being to prevent Calderon from taking the oath of office. Lopez Obrador has once again demonstrated that he is a brilliant populist politician with a remarkable ability to mobilize the masses and to maintain a posture of defiance toward the government, while avoiding the danger of direct confrontation. In calling the Convention, Lopez Obrador stated that he was operating in the great Mexican revolutionary tradition beginning with Miguel Hidalgo y Castillo and Jose Maria Morelos in the Independence struggle of 1810-1825; Benito Juarez, leader of the Liberals in the Reform Movement and the war against France in the 1850s and 60s; and Francisco Madero and Emiliano Zapata in the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1940. Yet, while claiming the revolutionary inheritance, and adopting a revolutionary rhetoric, Lopez Obrador and his Party of the Democratic Revolution, are hard at work attempting to make the most of the foothold they have in the old order. While proclaiming a position tantamount to revolution, Lopez Obrador and the PRD have continued to work within the existing power structure. The National Democratic Convention authorized the parties which made up Lopez Obrador's For the Good of All Coalition, the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), the Workers Party (PT), and Convergence, to reorganize to create the Broad Progressive Front (FAP) which will work as a bloc in the newly elected Mexican parliament ^ that is, in the parliament of the actually existing Mexican government. The PRD's legislative coordinator, Javier Gonzalez Garza, met with coordinators of the conservative National Action Party (PAN) and the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), to create a more efficient and dynamic congress, one that would, according to the PRD's Gonzalez end log-jams in the lower house. The PRD has also agreed to serve with the PAN and the PRI in the collective leadership of the legislature, with Ruth Zavaleta Salgado as vice-president. PRD governors in Baja California Sur, Guerrero, Michoacan, and Zacatecas will also take power within the existing governmental structure. PRD governors have just participated in the National Governors Congress (Conago) with PAN and PRI governors. So, apparently, while repudiating the old regime, the PRD will also continue to work and to serve in leadership positions within it. Just what is happening here? Are we witnessing the emergence of a revolutionary alternative? Or is this an extraordinary and spectacular populist theater intended to project Lopez Obrador into power in the next election? >From the Election to the CND The current situation results from the irregularities, challenges, and disappointments with the Mexican election of July. The Mexican Electoral Tribunal had earlier rejected Lopez Obrador's call for a vote-by-vote, polling-place-by-polling-place recount of the election. And, while the court recognized that Mexico's President Vicente Fox had violated the election laws by intervening in the election campaign and that Mexican corporations had violated the law by paying for last-minute advertising attacking Lopez Obrador, they would not on that basis overturn the election results, as they could have done. The National Association of Democratic Attorneys (ANAD) issued a statement asserting that the courts could have and should have overturned the election for those reasons. The court instead proclaimed Felipe Calderon the president-elect of Mexico, although Lopez Obrador and his supporters have refused to accept the decision. Believing that the national election in July had been stolen from them, hundreds of thousands of supporters of Lopez Obrador and the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) rallied in the national plaza and then camped there for 48 days and at the same time blocked the length of the city's principal boulevard, Avenida Reforma, and its major intersections, paralyzing the heart of the city. The night of September 15 they struck camp, clearing away their lean-tos and tents, to permit the Mexican Army's annual Independence Day march, but then they returned the next day for the CND joined by over a million other Mexicans from Baja California in the North to Chiapas in the South. The organizers claimed that 1,025,724 delegates had actually registered to be present at the convention, coming from all of the 32 states of Mexico. Many of those present on the plaza were los de abajo, Mexico's underdogs: factory workers, peasants, the self-employed, street vendors, school teachers, and college and high school students. Entire families and neighborhoods, from babes-in-arms to the elderly, filled the streets, many carrying hand made banners and signs. The CND Conducts Business by Voice Vote in the Open Air The CND assembly, in a series of voice votes, proclaimed Lopez Obador the legitimate president, instructed him to create a cabinet, and to establish the seat of government in Mexico City, the national capital. At the same time, the government was instructed to be itinerant, moving about throughout the country to hear from and to lead the Mexican people. The new government was instructed to take power on November 20, the anniversary of the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution of 1910. Getting the jump on his rival, Lopez Obrador will then "take office" as "legitimate president" more than a week before Felipe Calderon, who will not be sworn in until December 1. The CND also created a national commission to lead the movement of civil disobedience and to prevent Calderon from taking office, the commission is to meet on September 27 and continue between October 2 and 13, concentrating all of its efforts toward the official presidential swearing-in ceremony at the beginning of December. The next full CND assembly was scheduled for Sunday, March 21 of 2007. At that next assembly the CND is expected to organize the convocation of a Constituent Assembly to write a new constitution and re-found the Mexican government. A Constitutional and Peaceful Revolution Lopez Obrador claims that Felipe Calderon, "the usurper," has violated the institutional order of Mexico. Lopez Obrador argues that he is the defender of Mexico's democratic traditions, and bases the calling of the National Democratic Convention and the projected Constituent Assembly on Article 39 of the Mexican Constitution which reads, "The national sovereignty resides essentially and originally in the people All public power originates in the people and is instituted for their benefit. The people at all times have the inalienable right to alter or modify their form of government." This article, he argues, give the people the right to meet and to re-found their government. The Constituent Assembly which is to take place, he argues, will establish a more democratic government, protect the national patrimony and stop the privatization of the oil and electric power industries, will provide for the good of all Mexicans, but will put the poor first on the list of national priorities. Throughout the weeks of protests, sit-ins, and marches, Lopez Obrador has constantly cautioned his followers to remain non-violent, to refuse to be provoked into confrontation, and remarkably not a window has been broken nor a slogan painted on a single wall in the city. Many among the hundreds of thousands participating in the events commented that the city was actually safer during the huge mobilizations. All of this has been made possible by the fact that the PRD controls the government of Mexico City which has been the host of these massive protests. The PRD government has insured that the police have functioned to facilitate the protests and protect the protestors, rather than to suppress them. Unable to control the capital, President Vicente Fox decided not to give the traditional "grito" or Independence Day shout from the