_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 14, ISSUE 042 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 21, 2006 Abenaki Penibagos/leaf falling moon Yuchi Tsotohostane/corn ripening moon Anishnaabe Binaakwe-giizis/falling leaves moon Cree Opinahamowipizun/moon the birds fly south Potawatomi E'sksegtukkisis/moon of the first frost +-------------------------------------------------------+ | 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 N.A. Poetry Mailing Lists; UUCP Mail IMPORTANT!! ----------- In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, all material appearing in this newsletter is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for educational purposes. <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters who share our Spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the Red Road. ++ It may be subscribed to via email by sending a request from your own internet addressable account to gars@speakeasy.org ++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org <================<<<< >>>>================> +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + | As historian Patricia Nelson | | Once a language is lost, it is | | Limerick summarized in "The | | gone forever | | Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken | | * Of the 300 original Native | | Past of the American West... | | languages in North America, | | "Set the blood quantum at | | only 175 exist today. | | one-quarter, hold to it as a | | * 125 of these are no longer | | rigid definition of Indians, | | learned by children. | | let intermarriage proceed as | | * 55 are spoken by 1 to 6 elders;| | it had for centuries, and | | when they die, their language | | eventually Indians will be | | will disappear. | | defined out of existence." | | * Without action, only 20 | | "When that happens, the federal | | languages will survive the next| | government will be freed of | | 50 years. | | its persistent 'Indian problem.'"| | Source: Indigenous Language | +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ | Institute | |http://www.indigenous-language.org| This issue's Quote: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + =================== "Poverty and unemployment go hand in hand with suicide rates." "It's how you view yourself culturally that determines how happy a person you are." "Without their culture, a lot of these kids are drifting aimlessly." __ Ted Bessett, Council Member - Confederated Tribes of the Colville +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Indian Pledge of Allegiance | The Indian Pledge of Alleg- | | iance was first presented | I pledge allegiance to my Tribe,| on 2 December '93 during the | to the democratic principles | opening address of the Nat- | of the Republic | ional Congress of American | and to the individual freedoms | Indian Tribal-States Relat- | borrowed from the Iroquois and | ions Panel in Reno, NV. NCAI | Choctaw Confederacies, | plans distribution of the | as incorporated in the United | Indian Pledge to all Indian | States Constitution, | Nations. | so that my forefathers | | shall not have died in vain | Walk in Beauty! Night Owl +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Journey | In the summer and early fall | The Bloodline | of 1998 the Treaty Unity Riders | | rode a thousand miles on horse- | For all that live and live by law | back, carrying a staff and | We Stand, we Call, We Ride | praying each step of the way. | For All that fear and fear by sight | | We Hear, we Listen, we Ride | These prayers were offered for | For all that pray and pray by strength| each of us, and that the Unity | We Feel, we Move, we Ride | of all Peoples might happen. | For all that die and die by greed | | We Hurt, we Cry, we Ride | Tatanka Cante forwarded this | For all that birth and birth by right | poem on behalf of all the Unity | We Smile, we Hold, we Ride | Riders that we might stop and | For all that need and need by heart | ask if the next words we say, the | We Came, we Went, we Rode. | next act we make is for the good | | of the People or is it from ego | Treaty Unity Riders | for self. +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ O'siyo Brothers and Sisters! The Lovely Janet has some remarks about loyalty and the fact it does not appear to be reciprocated.... (See the first article in this issue for details) --- It was with a sense of sad irony that I read that Alaskan villages rejected donations of free Venezuelan oil in defense of the U.S. President. This is not a trivial or meaningless stand on their part. These are the same villages whose livelihoods (fishing and hunting) are threatened by government-encouraged corporations. These villagers live in old, ramshackle buildings, and their lives depend on heat provided by oil -- oil that at more than $5 a gallon, they cannot afford. These villages are literally putting national loyalty ahead of their elders' and children's lives. Here's yet another irony. Alaskan oilfields produce millions of barrels of oil that are dutifully piped down to the lower 48, and 86 percent of state business is funded by taxes collected from the oil companies drilling that oil. Yet the state can't manage to get oil to its own original inhabitants. Yes, Venezuela's president called our president "a devil." Whether or not I disagree with that assessment of George Bush's character, the fact that these villagers rejected a life-giving gift from Venezuela out of honor for the presidency speaks strongly to the character of Alaskan villagers and US government authorities. Yet again, members of our First Nations exhibit greater loyalty to the government than the government does to them. +/// Janet Smith owlstar@bellsouth.net /*/+ P. O. Box 672168 OwlStar Trading Post + / * Marietta, GA 30008, U.S.A. http://www.owlstar.com * + jewelry, music, flags, herbs =========================================== - 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: - Oaxaca protest reaches Capital . What price Unreciprocated Loyalty - Seven Council Fires: . Warrior Mocassins Message to Tawatinsuyo . Winter Help - East Coast Fishery subject - Alaska villages to rising tensions reject Venezuela oil - Caledonia Rally Will Go Ahead - Sacred site at risk - Dozens of police - Tribe to challenge zoning oversight contain Caledonia Rally - New York Tribes cite Sovereignty - Sonntag eyes B.C. agreement in Tax suit with First Nations - Cherokee Freedmen - Historic Nisga'a Treaty to challenge Special Election may face Court Challenge - Women plan Window Rock - Response to appointment march against Racism of new OPP Commissioner - Flooding extends - Native Leader warned across the Navajo Nation against Fantino - New era begins for Hopi, Navajo - Cultus Sockeye: Brutal lesson - Tribes sign in 'Conservation' transportation agreement - Native fishing rights - Mortgages to Native Americans shuffled under Harper increase - Six Nations Tobacco Firm - Tulalips see Suit as major threat Wins Ruling in U.S. Fight - Colville Tribes alarmed - U.S. Supreme Court by recent rash of Suicides refuses Russell Means Case - Native Youth seek Roots, Self - Nez Perce Tribe seeks - Umatillas' new Company more authority over probate to offer up to 250 Jobs - 13 victims of Fort Apache - Honeywell to spend $451 Million Reservation rapist to clean up Lake - BIA makes arrest - Editorial: No recognition in serial rapist case for Virginia's Tribes - Pine Ridge boy dies in stabbing - Historical Debt to Native People - Inaction allows still not paid for release of Inmates - HARJO: Whiteman magic - Native Prisoner - GIAGO: Termination an ugly word -- Mentally Ill in Jail/Prison in Indian country - Rustywire: Navajo Skinwalkers - Play brings Lesson - Lee Goins Poem: Wolf Howling on Indian Treaty to Life - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - Native Journalists hold future - Eastern Band in their Hands translates `Thirteen Moons' - Sunrise blessing to be offered - Native American titles on NA Center Site for Young Readers - YELLOW BIRD: Leaders could do well - Native Voice 1 with Old Ways officially launches --------- "RE: Alaska villages reject Venezuela oil" --------- Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2006 16:28:25 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LOYALTY ABOVE POTENTIAL FREEZING" http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061009/ap_on_re_us/oil_from_chavez Alaska villages reject Venezuela oil By JEANNETTE J. LEE, Associated Press Writer October 10, 2006 ANCHORAGE, Alaska - In Alaska's native villages, the punishing winter cold is already coming through the walls of the lightly insulated plywood homes, many of the villagers are desperately poor, and heating-oil prices are among the highest in the nation. And yet a few villages are refusing free heating oil from Venezuela, on the patriotic principle that no foreigner has the right to call their president "the devil." The heating oil is being offered by the petroleum company controlled by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, President Bush's nemesis. While scores of Alaska's Eskimo and Indian villages say they have no choice but to accept, others would rather suffer. "As a citizen of this country, you can have your own opinion of our president and our country. But I don't want a foreigner coming in here and bashing us," said Justine Gunderson, administrator for the tribal council in the Aleut village of Nelson Lagoon. "Even though we're in economically dire straits, it was the right choice to make." Nelson Lagoon residents pay more than $5 a gallon for oil - or at least $300 a month per household - to heat their homes along the wind-swept coast of the Bering Sea, where temperatures can dip to minus-15. About one-quarter of the 70 villagers are looking for work, in part because Alaska's salmon fishing industry has been hit hard by competition from fish farms. The donation to Alaska's native villages has focused attention on the rampant poverty and high fuel prices in a state that is otherwise awash in oil - and oil profits. In 2005, 86 percent of the Alaska's general fund, or $2.8 billion, came from oil from the North Slope. The Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association, a native nonprofit organization that would have handled the heating oil donation on behalf of 291 households in Nelson Lagoon, Atka, St. Paul and St. George, rejected the offer because of the insults Chavez has hurled at Bush. Chavez called Bush "the devil" in a speech to the United Nations last month. He has also called the president a terrorist and denounced the war in Iraq. Dimitri Philemonof, president and chief executive of the association, said accepting the aid would be "compromising ourselves." "I think we have some duty to our country, and I think it's loyalty," he said. Over the past two years, Citgo, the Venezuelan government's Texas-based oil subsidiary, has given millions of gallons of discounted heating oil to the poor in several states and cities - including New York, Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Maine - in what is widely seen as an effort by Chavez to embarrass and irritate the U.S. government and make himself look good. Maine Gov. John Baldacci, who approved an agreement last winter to buy discounted oil, said he had no plans this year to seek a similar arrangement. In Boston, a City Council member wants a landmark Citgo sign near Fenway Park taken down and replaced with an American flag. In Florida, a lawmaker asked the state to cancel Citgo's exclusive contract to sell fuel at turnpike service stations. About 150 native villages in Alaska have accepted money for heating oil from Citgo. The oil company does not operate in Alaska, so instead of sending oil, it is donating about $5.3 million to native nonprofit organizations to buy 100 gallons this winter for each of more than 12,000 households. "When you have a dire need and it is a matter of survival for your people, it doesn't matter where, what country, the gift or donation comes from," said Virginia Commack, an elder in the arctic village of Ambler, an impoverished Eskimo community of 280 where residents are paying $7.25 a gallon for fuel. For years, Alaska natives have accused the state and federal governments of sending too little money to their tiny, far-flung communities, where fuel and grocery prices are bloated by the high costs of delivery by plane and barge. An editorial last month in the Anchorage Daily News bashed the Legislature's rejection in March of an $8.8 million state supplement to a federal program that helps poor Alaskans with home heating costs. "It's embarrassing that residents in a state with so much oil wealth should be looking to a foreign nation for help," the newspaper said. "It's hard to blame villagers for accepting the gift." A spokesman for Gov. Frank Murkowski, John Manly, said the governor believes Chavez's donation is a ploy to undermine Americans' faith in their government. But he said it is up to each village to make its own decision. "It seems like a very strange irony that we produce the oil and yet every year there seems to be a chronic problem in getting the fuel to people that need it," Manly said. Joan Eddy, principal and teacher at Nelson Lagoon's school, said most buildings in town were erected 30 to 40 years ago, which makes them pretty old, considering how they get battered by the constant 20-25 mph wind coming off the ocean. Their heating systems are aging, too. She noted the fuel barge is late arriving this year, and said residents are turning on their furnaces for only a few hours in the morning and at night. "We're conserving as much as we can because we are concerned. It looks like it's going to be a snowy winter and cold," she said. Copyright c. 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Sacred site at risk" --------- Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 08:39:03 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CORPS APPROVED CONSTRUCTION" http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096413811 Sacred site at risk by: Stephanie Woodard October 10, 2006 NEWARK, Ohio - "No, no, no!" said Barbara Crandell, a Cherokee elder who co-founded the Native American Alliance of Ohio in 1992. Composed primarily of descendants of Eastern Woodland Indians, NAAO works to increase public awareness of Indian people in Ohio and to protect mound complexes and other sacred sites. "We did not receive any notice of any projects." The announcement to which Crandell was referring was the June 22 to July 22 public-notice period for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' review of Heath-Newark-Licking County Port Authority's plans for industrial construction near the Newark Earthworks, about 30 miles east of Columbus. The 2,000-year-old National Historic Landmark is the world's largest set of geometric earthworks; the installation encodes important lunar events via mounds and enclosures built by ancient indigenous people. Crossing the 300-acre construction site is what appears to be the remains of a 200-foot-wide, walled ceremonial road connecting the Newark Earthworks to another mound grouping with lunar and solar alignments 60 miles away. (This stretch of road is south of a better-preserved section, with surviving walls, that another builder has promised to save; see "Golfers control ancient lunar observatory" Iss. 13, Vol. 26.) Ohio Historical Society archaeologist Dr. Bradley Lepper has spent many years documenting the ancient roadway. Wetlands on the construction site meant the port authority had to obtain a permit from the Corps of Engineers. This brought the project under federal jurisdiction and caused the National Historic Preservation Act to apply. Under Section 106 of the law, the corps asked the port authority to do an archaeological review to uncover any historic properties that were eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. The corps' Huntington District, which covers this part of Ohio, then gave individuals and groups the opportunity to become consulting parties to the project and comment on it. The district placed Public Notice 200300870 on its Web site and sent the notification to a mailing list of Ohioans who'd previously asked to receive announcements, as well as to out-of-state federally recognized Indian tribes, according to Corps Regulatory Specialist Susan Fields. Many of Ohio's Native people were removed to other states during the 19th century, so Ohio has no federally recognized tribes that might have participated. In consultation with the Ohio Historic Preservation Office, in Columbus, the corps compiled another mailing list of potentially interested Newark- area parties. No indigenous people or groups, such as NAAO, the Ohio Center for Native American Affairs and the Native American Indian Center of Central Ohio, were on this list. "That's amazing," said community member Gail Zion. "They've been in the forefront on these issues for a long time." "They have no special standing under the law, as federally recognized tribes do," explained Valerie Hauser, coordinator of the Native American Program of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, in Washington, D. C. Meanwhile, OHPO assumed Native people would hear through the grapevine. "I believe word was passed along," said Dave Snyder, OHPO archaeology reviews manager, though he later added, "It was clear information wasn't getting out to folks." Alan Tonetti, chairman of the government affairs committee of the nonprofit Ohio Archaeological Council, criticized the lack of broader participation: "We asked for a public hearing because a lot of groups that may have been interested were not aware of the project. Unfortunately, to become involved you have to know a project is about to happen, know how to look for its public notice and realize you can ask the corps for consulting party status." OAC received this official standing, described as "posturing" by Snyder, who said he preferred "informal talks." The state preservation office appears to have felt pressure to move quickly. "The developer was quite far along before we ever heard about it," Snyder said. Fields confirmed that the corps had issued a cease-and-desist order to stop construction so the preliminary, or phase-one, archaeological tests could take place. OAC analyzed the tests and offered its opinion that they were insufficient. The archaeologist doing the studies also recommended further, or phase-two, tests. Without that extra work, Tonetti said, it is impossible to know whether the planned 50-foot buffer zone around certain areas provides adequate protection, in particular for the ancient road. No further testing was done, and the buffer zone remains unchanged. "The developer and the corps were not very receptive to what OAC was proposing," Snyder said. The opportunity to make comments is over, the corps has issued a final Memorandum of Agreement, and the bulldozer drivers may start their engines. Some in the Newark area are left wondering what happened. Understanding Section 106 Members of the public with concerns about federal projects should get involved and offer comments, said John Eddins, historic preservation specialist of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. If you're not a member of a federally recognized tribe and wish to learn about projects in your area, get on the mailing list of your local corps of engineers' district. "Anyone can ask to receive public notices," said Eddins. Go to www.usace.army.mil for your local office's contact information, then call, write or e-mail with your request. To learn about the Section 106 process, go to the Advisory Council's Web site (achp.gov) for the text of the National Historic Preservation Act and Section 106 regulations, as well as summaries and guidebooks. Your state historic preservation office may also offer information and workshops. Copyright c. 1998 - 2006 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Tribe to challenge zoning oversight" --------- Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 08:39:03 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SHINNECOCK TAKE ZONING ISSUE TO COURT" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ ny-lishin114927954oct11%2C0%2C3184901.story?coll=ny-linews-headlines Tribe to challenge zoning oversight BY JOSEPH MALLIA Newsday Staff Writer October 11, 2006 For the first time since a federal judge gave legal recognition to the Shinnecock nation, it has begun to make use of that status by challenging the authority of Southampton Town to regulate zoning on the 79-acre parcel in Hampton Bays where it wants to build a casino. In U.S. District Court in Central Islip yesterday, the tribe's lawyers argued before Judge Thomas Platt - who granted recognition in November - that Southampton's own tax maps prove it has no zoning power over the land. Attorney Christopher Lunding of Manhattan introduced the town's official tax map, which labels the parcel "Ind Res" - short for Indian Reservation - the same land category applied to the tribe's main reservation. The tribe calls the land Westwood because it is an ancestral source of firewood west of its main Southampton reservation. The town doesn't dispute the status of the main reservation, but only that of the Westwood property. The town argued that the Westwood land consists of three residential lots, each of which is permitted to contain only a single-family home. The tribe also produced in court a May 20, 1987, letter from then- Southampton Town attorney Fred Thiele, who is now the region's state assemblyman, saying "the Town does not enforce zoning on the Shinnecock Indian Reservation. Rather, it is accorded the same exemption as government owned land used in a governmental capacity." Jefferson Murphree, the Southampton town planning and development administrator, testified that the town views the land as a residential classification in which a casino would not be allowed. The chairman of the tribe's board of trustees, Randy King, said later, "This nation will persist in believing in its future and having the facts of this case broadcast to a larger audience ... [who] might also learn some Shinnecock history." Copyright c. 2006 Newsday Inc. --------- "RE: New York Tribes cite Sovereignty in Tax suit" --------- Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 08:39:03 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SMOKE SHOP TAX DISPUTE" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzslug4927692oct11%2C0%2C3535372.story? coll=ny-business-print Indian nations claim sovereignty in cigarette suit BY KEIKO MORRIS Newsday Staff Writer October 11, 2006 A federal judge heard arguments yesterday from attorneys on both sides of a lawsuit brought by a New York City supermarket chain against two Long Island Indian nations for selling untaxed cigarettes to non-Indians. Attorneys representing the Unkechaug and Shinnecock nations made a motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Gristedes, saying both tribes had sovereign immunity. In U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, Conly J. Schulte from Omaha, an attorney for the tribes, pointed to a 2005 decision by Brooklyn-based U.S. District Judge Thomas Platt in which he recognized the Shinnecocks as a tribe. He also noted a half-dozen state court cases in which the Unkechaug were acknowledged as a tribe, as well as the state legislation of both tribes. "The whole notion that the Unkechaug and Shinnecock are not tribes is defied by 400 years of history," Schulte said. Gristedes, which filed the lawsuit in March, claims that the smoke shops on Unkechaug and Shinnecock reservations have sold untaxed cigarettes at reduced prices, undercutting cigarette sales by non-Indian merchants in the metropolitan area. The lawsuit also casts the Indian smoke shop as black-market suppliers funding everything from organized crime to international terrorists. Gristedes' lawyer, Howard Kleinhendler of Manhattan, argued that neither tribe has sovereign immunity because the Bureau of Indian Affairs has not acknowledged either tribe as a sovereign nation. The bureau's process of granting tribal recognition is only one of several ways tribal sovereignty is determined, Schulte said. The Shinnecock have applied for Bureau of Indian Affairs recognition, but that process can take 15 to 20 years or longer. Kleinhendler argued that the only other way for a tribe to obtain sovereignty was if a federal court reviewed the Bureau of Indian Affairs' process or if there was a court decision made before 1978, when the agency initiated its recognition program. "They are just like everybody else," Kleinhendler said after the hearing. "They can't hide behind so-called Indian immunity to sell cartons at $20 when everybody else sells at $50 to $60 a carton." Federal Judge Carol Amon expressed skepticism on points made by both sides, including Gristedes' charge that cigarette sales funded criminal or terrorist activities. Amon set no timetable for a ruling on the motion. Smoke shop owner Harry Wallace, an Unkechaug and a chief on the Poospatuck reservation in Mastic, said, "I'm cautiously optimistic that this case will be summarily thrown out. This is an obvious attempt to attack the smallest tribes with the smallest financial resources." Some 70 supporters who sat in the hearing and also displayed banners outside the courthouse chafed at the idea of the Bureau of Indian Affairs as the single authority able to bestow sovereignty upon them. Many echoed the sentiments of Shinnecock tribal chairman Lance Gumbs, who said that the bureau's process of recognition is for the purpose of receiving social service programs. "Sovereignty is inherited," he said. "We are sovereign because we are a nation unto ourselves. The Colonial period recognized us and the State of New York recognized us. Basically for 400 years we have been recognized." Copyright c. 2006 Newsday Inc. --------- "RE: Cherokee Freedmen to challenge Special Election" --------- Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 08:51:39 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DECIDING WHO IS CHEROKEE" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.newsok.com/article/2953514/ Cherokee freedmen to challenge special election By Christina Good Voice Associated Press Writer October 9, 2006 OKLAHOMA CITY - Descendants of black slaves who have lived with the Cherokee Indian tribe for more than a century said Monday they are outraged at an attempt to exclude all non-Indians from the tribe. Members of the tribe will vote Feb. 10 on a measure that would make Indian ancestry a requirement for tribal membership. Marilyn Vann, who has ancestry of Black, Cherokee, Choctaw and Chickasaw cultures, is the president of the Descendants of Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes. She said her grandparents and great-grandparents were original Dawes Tribal enrollees. Vann is a registered Cherokee citizen and is registered to vote in the special election, as are many other freedmen. But Vann said her rights as a Cherokee citizen are trying to be stripped by her fellow Cherokees. "I am outraged for several reasons... We have our rights by treaty. Most of the freedmen have blood rights," Vann said. "We're only asking for what we've been promised. We're not asking for apologies. We're not asking for money. We're asking to be treated the same as other tribal citizens." Jon Velie, attorney for Vann and the Descendants group, said the attempts to remove freedmen from the tribal citizenship is "racist." "Turning this against the Cherokee freedmen is a racist, ugly act," Velie said. "There's nothing positive that comes out of this. I believe that's the particular feeling of this particular chief and administration." Velie, an immigration attorney out of Norman, said he just heard about the tribe's intentions on Monday, but plans to take action quickly. "We'll certainly oppose this with the BIA as soon as we possibly can," Velie said. "I'm not surprised, since the chief's been trying to do this for a while." "The Cherokees' unbending pursuit to alienate these Cherokee citizens from their rights can have an adverse effect on sovereignty for all Native Americans." Velie said there will be a legal challenge but said he couldn't give specifics on the what he plans to do because it's too early in the process. In an e-mail statement to the Associated Press, Chief Chad Smith wrote: "More than 3,000 citizens have signed this petition asking for a special election; more than 2,200 of them have been certified as registered Cherokee voters. This is the largest outpouring of public sentiment in recent Cherokee history _ no other recent petition has gotten even a fraction of these signatures. It is my duty to act on a petition after it has been certified as valid, regardless." Nearly 3,000 Cherokee citizens signed a petition that would add an amendment to the tribal constitution, barring non-Indians _ including freedmen_ from its tribal membership. The Supreme Court of the Cherokee Nation OK'd the petition last week, allowing Smith to call for a special election Feb. 10 that would add the amendment if passed by Cherokee voters. If passed by voters, the amendment would change citizenship requirements to require "descendancy," or a Cherokee blood-relative. There wouldn't be a specific blood percentage requirement as long as a parent, grandparent or other ancestor was Cherokee on the Dawes Rolls. The Dawes Commission Rolls are the historical documents that tribes use as proof of Indian blood, blood line or family ancestry. In March, the Cherokee Nation's highest court reversed a previous decision and ruled that the Cherokee Nation's Constitution allowed citizenship for non-Indian descendants who were listed on the tribe's historical rolls. Membership had previously been tied to Indian ancestry. Smith said he expects both the proponents and opponents of the petition to be active in trying to get their message out, and that since the election is several months away, any challenges could be decided before then. Vann said she believes the motives of trying to remove freedmen from the tribe are of a "political" nature by Chief Smith and some tribal councilors, including Cara Cowan Watts, who represents District 7 of the Cherokee Nation. Cowan Watts said it appears Vann's motivation is political. "It appears (Vann) does not like the democratic process at work," Cowan Watts said. "She does not want the people to vote on a constitutional issue. She accuses people who support the right to vote of being racists with complete disregard for the democratic process all Cherokees participated in, publicly." Vann said the special election and freedmen issue is a "smoke screen" for people to stay in office, but Cowan Watts said there's only one issue at hand. "The only issue is the Cherokee people have a right to decide who Cherokee Nation citizens are, and only Cherokee people have this right," Cowan Watts said. Copyright c. 2006 News 9/The Oklahoman, Produced by NewsOK.com. --------- "RE: Women plan Window Rock march against Racism" --------- Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2006 16:28:25 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MIXED-BLOOD STATEMENT ALLEGED" http://www.gallupindependent.com/2006/oct/101406nkj_rcsmmrch.html Women plan Window Rock march against racism By Natasha Kaye Johnson Dine' Bureau October 14, 2006 WINDOW ROCK - A group of Navajo women have organized a march against racism, which they said was triggered by a comment made from a staff member of the Joe Shirley Jr. administration. This past week, several woman came together to begin to organize a march, claiming that Clinton Jim, a staff assistant to Shirley, made a racist and discriminatory comment at a meeting at Whiterock Chapter on Monday. According to a press release by the organizers, Women Against Racism (WAR), Jim was with several people from the Shirley re-election campaign, when he allegedly made a statement indicating "that they are Navajo and they want to have Navajo all the way" in an apparent reference to those of mixed ethnic backgrounds. "There were some racial remarks made," said organizer Freida White, though she was not present at the chapter house and didn't know the specific remarks made. Jim could not be reached for comment, as well as the two women present at the chapter who were offended by Jim's comments. The women organizing the march believe that with an increase in interracial marriages, there is no place for racial discrimination of any type, and are demanding a public apology from Shirley. White said the march is not politically driven, but is a women's issue. "It's not anything political as trying to vote for one or the other (candidate)," said White. White was not sure if the women attempted to contact the staff to ask for an apology and did not know if the Shirley administration was aware of the march. Organizers expect primarily women to participate, but said that the march is open to men as well. The march will be on Monday beginning at 9 a.m. at the Navajo Nation Museum and will end at the Veterans Memorial Park, where a guest speaker, who has yet to be announced, will address participants. The women will also be wearing pink shirts in recognition of breast cancer awareness month. Copyright c. 2006 the Gallup Independent. --------- "RE: Flooding extends across the Navajo Nation" --------- Date: Tuesday, October 10, 2006 02:36 pm From: frostyca2000 Subj: FLOODING EXTENDS ACROSS NAVAJO NATION, WASHING OUT ROADS, WIND MICROBURST LEVELS SHEDS, DESTROYS ROOFS IN TUBA CITY Mailing List: Frostys AmerIndian FLOODING EXTENDS ACROSS NAVAJO NATION, WASHING OUT ROADS, WIND MICROBURST LEVELS SHEDS, DESTROYS ROOFS IN TUBA CITY WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. - Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley, Jr., assessed flooding across the Navajo Nation by helicopter on Friday and inspected damage to residences in Tuba City caused by a wind microburst some witnesses described as a tornado. Joining the President on the aerial survey was Navajo Nation Emergency Management Incident Commander Johnny Johnson and Navajo Nation Safety & Loss Program Supervisor C.J. Woodie. On Friday morning, the Navajo Nation Commission on Emergency Management convened to declare a state of emergency. This will help set processes in motion to acquire financial assistance and resources from Apache, Navajo and Coconino counties as well as the state of Arizona and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA and the Navajo Nation signed a memorandum of understanding last year to assist in emergencies like this, and a FEMA site visit had already been scheduled for next week. Heavy rains over the last two days filled thousands of washes to capacity throughout the Nation from Window Rock in the east to Bodaway-Gap in the west. "There was a lot of mud over in the Bodaway-Gap and LeChee areas, all the way to Page, Kayenta, Dennehotso, Tachee, Blue Gap, around Mexican Water, there's a lot of water, Round Rock, Lukachukai, around Tsaile/Wheatfields," President Shirley said. "So those of you who might need some help and you can get to a phone, you can go ahead and call Emergency Management Operations here in Window Rock." In Tuba City, residents spent the day cleaning up debris strewn throughout town, particularly in the southern and central areas. Workmen with chainsaws cut fallen cottonwood trees into manageable sections from the Tuba City Trading Post, up Main Street past the Tuba City Boarding School and on toward the Tuba City Public Schools. Streets were filled with pieces of broken tree limbs, and here and there a fallen tree could be seen resting on a vehicle's roof. "It looks like there have been some roofs that have been torn off, some of the shingles, some of the roofing minerals that have been torn off by the wind," the President said. "There was a real strong wind that has come through. And there were some trees blown over even on vehicles and on houses. And it looks like some sheds have been blown completely apart." From the air, about a dozen Tuba City residents could be seen patching roofs in different parts of town where the strong wind blew off shingles, tarpaper and entire sections. Porches were torn from in front of homes and numerous sheds were reduced to flattened piles of plywood and lumber. "With the aerial tour of Tuba City and the surrounding areas, we have seen a lot of roof damages and also buildings that have collapsed and some are even demolished," said To' NaNees Dizi Council Delegate Raymond Maxx, who accompanied the President on that portion of the assessment. "All you see is frames, material scattered by the prevailing wind. And also a lot of additions like porches, they're gone." Most electrical power was restored around 2 a.m. Friday morning but Arizona Public Service linemen spent the better part of Friday restoring electricity throughout town. An Emergency Operations Command Post was established at the Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation where hospital staff and Navajo and Hopi law enforcement officials worked throughout Thursday night and all day Friday answering calls from the public and continually re- assessing needs and the situation. Local merchants such as Bashas' Markets, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Edge donated food and drinks to the emergency workers. To' NaNees Dizi Chapter officials also kept their doors open Friday, updating the public who came for information and providing food and beverages throughout the day. At the chapterhouse, Coconino County supervisors Louise Yellowman and Deb Hill helped keep the public apprised of the situation. Marnie Hodahkwen, tribal liaison for Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, also was on hand to keep the governor informed about and to determine what help the governor's office might provide, if necessary. On his way to Tuba City, the first stop President Shirley made was the Blue Gap Chapter which was practically surrounded by water. There he met with chapter officials and residents, who were not expecting him, to tell them how to get the help they may need. "We'll go ahead and put a team together to help you," he told Blue Gap office specialist Ella Kaye. "We declared an emergency already this morning. We should start bringing state resources, too, and county resources. Let us know what you need. I need to know what your needs are." "We're trying to do everything we can to try to meet some of the needs that have arisen because of the storm that had taken place last night," he said. "We know there's a new storm coming in so we're doing everything we can to be ready for it." "Please, those of you who are able to, take care of your elderly and take care of the children if you can," he added. --------- "RE: New era begins for Hopi, Navajo" --------- Date: Fri, 13 Oct 2006 08:40:12 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="AGREEMENT ENDS CHECKERBOARD, BENNETT FREEZE" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/50587.html New era begins for Hopi, Navajo By ASSOCIATED PRESS October 13, 2006 WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) - The Navajo and Hopi tribes have settled a decades-old dispute over reservation boundaries that for years kept some residents from fixing leaky roofs or installing running water or telephone service. The Hopi Tribal Council voted 18-0 Wednesday to approve an intergovernmental compact with the Navajo Nation, whose territory surrounds the Hopi reservation. "We hope this is the beginning of a new era in Hopi-Navajo relations," Cedric Kuwaninvaya said in a statement. Kuwaninvaya chairs the Hopi Land Team that negotiated the agreement. "The members of both tribes could benefit from the kind of cooperation that produced this agreement," he said. "We look forward to those further opportunities." The dispute centered on 700,000 acres of Navajo land that Hopis claim as their aboriginal homeland. Because of the dispute, then-U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs Robert Bennett imposed a ban on construction in 1966, which severely limited development in the area. Minor problems such as broken windows or roof repairs could not be fixed on the disputed land unless approved by the Hopis. The agreement will provide for religious access and use by members of each tribe on the lands of the other tribe and lift the construction ban. It also would end litigation the Hopis filed against the Navajos in 1974 as part of the land dispute. The Hopi tribe would not receive any Navajo land other than that already awarded by the courts. The Navajo Nation covers about 23,000 square miles, including much of northeastern Arizona and parts of northwestern New Mexico and southern Utah. The Hopi Reservation, in the center of the Navajo land, covers more than 2,400 square miles. Under the deal, Navajos would be allowed to enter Hopi land without a permit for traditional religious practices. In turn, Hopis would be allowed to enter Navajo land without a permit for religious practices. The Navajo Nation Council approved the agreement in September. Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. said he received news of the Hopi's approval from Navajo Nation Attorney General Louis Denetsosie. "Few phone calls I've received as president have ever been such good news," Shirley said in a statement. "This is another day both the Navajo and Hopi people have waited 40 years for. I send my warmest congratulations to the entire Hopi Tribal Council and Vice Chairman Honyaoma." The agreement still must be approved by the federal government and U.S. District Court in Phoenix. Copyright c. 2006, Santa Fe New Mexican, all rights reserved. --------- "RE: Tribes sign transportation agreement" --------- Date: Fri, 13 Oct 2006 08:40:12 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRAFFIC ACCIDENT REDUCTION SEEN" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=8245 Tribes sign transportation agreement Study shows tribal members impacted disproportionately by traffic accidents October 12, 2006 Multiple tribes have signed what is being touted as an "historic" agreement with the Federal Highway Administration. The agreement comes after the Congress passed and President Bush signed legislation letting the secretary of transportation to enter into government-to-government agreements with Indian tribes for the tribes to assume many responsibilities and the associated funding previously handled by the Department of Interior. "Our tribe has long been leader in Indian Country on transportation matters, and we are proud to be the first tribe in the country to enter into this historic new partnership with the federal government to promote traffic safety and build the roads and bridges we need for greater economic development. We are thankful that Congress worked with the tribes to include this important new program in the highway legislation," said Archie Fool Bear, a councilman with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. The other tribes signing the agreement are the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Reservation, the Ramah Navajo Chapter and the Oglala Sioux Tribe. "Tribal roads should be as safe as any in the United States. The need for roadway safety does not end at the reservation's border," said Frederick Wright, executive director of the highway administration. According to a 2004 study performed by the highway administration: "American Indians have the highest rates of pedestrian injury and death per capita of any racial or ethnic group in the United States.... Contributing factors such as alcohol involvement on the part of the pedestrian or driver, rurality, poverty and lack visibility and traffic control devices were identified. Relative rates of pedestrian injury were calculated as a measure of risk disparity between the American Indian population in each state and all other races." Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Mortgages to Native Americans increase" --------- Date: Fri, 13 Oct 2006 08:40:12 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MORTGAGE DENIALS DECREASE" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=8244 Mortgages to Native Americans increase while denials decrease Trend credited to "mortgage literacy" WASHINGTON DC Native American Times October 12, 2006 According to the annual Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data just released by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) for 2005, Native Americans increased their number of mortgage originations - reflecting progress in their mortgage literacy, asserts the National American Indian Housing Council, a Washington, DC-based non-profit that trains and advocates for tribal housing authorities. From 2004 to 2005, the number of conventional home purchase loan originations expanded among Native Americans (+5.4%), but much more so among Caucasians ("whites" in the HMDA tables; +19.2%), and total (+18.6%). However, for the latter two categories, the expansion represented significant decreases in terms of proportion of applications (whites -4. 4%; total -3.5%), while Native Americans showed a slight gain in that regard (+0.5%). The number of denials of Native Americans actually decreased slightly (- 0.13%) despite 4.7% more applications. In terms of proportion of applications, their denial rate of 21.3% in 2005 represented a -4.5% change from 2004. Meanwhile, the white denial increase (+35.9%) far outpaced their increase in applications (+24.1%). Although denied in 2005 at a rate (14.3%) that was barely two-thirds that of Native Americans (21. 3%) for the year, that rate represented a +9.2% change from 2004. "Clearly, the more favorable loan outcomes for Native Americans show that they are catching up with the population at large in terms of their homeownership knowledge," says Marty Shuravloff, chairman of the housing council. "So their continued disfavor as borrowers - as demonstrated by their lesser rise in originations relative to the general population - is a point of concern." Because HMDA data on Native Americans currently do not distinguish between those living on and off tribal lands, exact figures on Indian Country are not available, Shuravloff admits. "However, knowing what we do know about living conditions and housing programs in tribal communities, we can reasonably assume that Indian Country accounts disproportionately for the Native American disadvantages - and their gains," he says. "And I dare say that the gains can be attributed to homebuyer counseling and mortgage financing training such as that provided by NAIHC, because we've been promoting homeownership in a big way." To boost homeownership among Native Americans, who still have the lowest homeownership rate of any ethnic group, NAIHC today launched a new website, www.NativeAmericanHomebuyer.com, and recently conducted a series of specific training seminars for its members focusing on "Planning for Homeownership Projects." A seminar on "Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) for Tribal Homeownership Programs" is also slated for the future Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Tulalips see Suit as major threat" --------- Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2006 16:28:25 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SALMON HARVEST THREATENED" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/06/10/15/100loc_a1tulalips001.cfm Tulalips see suit as major threat Tribes say more limits on salmon harvests could shut down their last commercial fishing operations. By Lukas Velush Herald Writer October 15, 2006 A lawsuit that aims to reduce the number of Puget Sound chinook salmon caught by fishermen could spell the end of what has been a traditional way of life for the Tulalip Tribes for more than 10,000 years, tribal officials say. A group of environmentalists and sport fishermen is suing the federal government, saying a recovery plan for endangered chinook does not do enough to restrict fishing in the Pacific Northwest. If fishing restrictions become any more severe, the Tulalip Tribes' last commercial fishing boats may have to shut down, said Terry Williams, the Tulalip Tribes' commissioner of fisheries and natural resources. "We've reduced our fishing by 80 to 90 percent," Williams said. "We can't scale back any more. There just isn't anything left." In the 1970s, the Tulalips had 130 boats fishing Northwest waters, all exercising their treaty right to continue their traditional way of life. "Today we maybe have 10 (boats)," he said. "It's been pretty well hammered." There's a handful of occasional fishermen who go out once in a while, who can be kept afloat by a tribal hatchery, Williams said. But the 10 commercial fisherman, the last tribal members who make a living off fishing, are running out of options, he said. The lawsuit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Seattle, charges that the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and the Wildlife Service sets the bar too low for the number of chinook returning to rivers such as the Snohomish and Stillaguamish. "We're not trying to shut down tribal fisheries," said Svend Brandt- Erichsen, an attorney for the groups that filed the suit. "We're trying to get more fish back into the rivers. I do know there won't be any fishermen if there aren't any fish." He said there is a giant gulf between the number of fish the chinook recovery plan says should be returning to rivers draining into Puget Sound and the harvest thresholds set by federal, state and tribal regulatory agencies. A recovery plan was drafted by tribes, counties, cities and businesses for each major river system in the Puget Sound region. Those plans were then adopted by the federal government. The plan establishes the number of chinook that need to return to spawn in the Snohomish, Stillaguamish and every major river system in the region before the fish can be declared recovered For example, the recovery plan goal for the Stillaguamish River is to have 33,000 chinook return to spawn each year, Brandt-Erichsen said. Reaching the target means the fish have recovered on that river. Chinook harvest plans put together by the tribes, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and the federal government call for less than 1,000 fish per year returning to spawn in the river. The gap is similar in the Snohomish River system, with the recovery plan calling for having 39,000 chinook returning to the Skykomish River and 25,000 chinook returning to the Snoqualmie River. In contrast, the harvest threshold for the Skykomish is about 3,600 and about 1,000 for the Snoqualmie. It's illegal to directly fish for chinook because the species is listed as threatened on the federal endangered species list. But they are caught and killed when fishermen go after hatchery-raised chinook. The harvest threshold is a number fish managers use to model how many hatchery fish fishermen can take. By accounting for how many wild fish are accidentally caught, the model presumably guarantees that that at a minimum number of salmon return to spawn - 1,000 on the Stilly, 3,600 on the Skykomish and 1,000 on the Snoqualmie. Brandt-Erichsen said the number of chinook returning to spawn has to be much higher if the fish are going to have a chance to recover. The lawsuit, filed by the Salmon Spawning & Recovery Alliance, the Native Fish Society, Washington Trout and the Clark-Skamania Flyfishers, aims to make federal regulators require that more fish return. Tribal fishermen say it's unfair to be singled out, saying that the recovery plan requests for raising the number of fish that should return to spawn each year will go up as spawning habitat in rivers and streams is improved. Already the number of chinook returning to spawn in rivers such as the Stillaguamish and Snohomish is climbing, but the number of fish being born is staying flat, said Mike Grayum, executive director of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission. "What they fail to say or recognize is (that) the recovery plan goals and objectives are based on a state in which the productivity of the habitat is also recovered," he said. "Our current harvest plan is based on current habitat conditions." Since more returning fish aren't reproducing, tribal fishermen should be allowed to catch those fish, Williams said, explaining that the Treaty of Point Elliott allows them to continue their tradition of catching salmon. "It's kind of like the habitat is the cap, and that's what we're trying to fix," he said. Williams said the recovery plan's focus on habitat restoration is already paying dividends in Snohomish County. Over the past six years, a coalition of government and private agencies called the Snohomish Basin Salmon Recovery Forum has put $6 million toward habitat restoration in the Snohomish River basin, money that has been leveraged into $46 million worth of investment, he said. Williams said the group has identified another $137 million in work that needs to be done over the next 10 years. "To me, we've already seen results," he said. "I believe that (the focus on habitat) is working." Reporter Lukas Velush: 425-339-3449 or lvelush@ heraldnet.com. Copyright c. 2006 The Daily Herald Co., Everett, Wash. --------- "RE: Colville Tribes alarmed by recent rash of Suicides" --------- Date: Fri, 13 Oct 2006 08:40:12 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SUICIDES" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.spokesmanreview.com/tools/story_pf.asp?ID=153811 Colville tribal leaders seek help with high suicide rate Kevin Graman Staff writer October 10, 2006 NESPELEM, Wash. - Tribal leaders have asked for federal assistance to combat an alarmingly high suicide rate among young adults on the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. Tribal Business Council Chairman Michael Marchand said he contacted the Portland office of Indian Health Services in response to nine suicides on the reservation in the past year. A front-page article in the most recent edition of the tribal newspaper, the Tribal Tribune, said a crisis response team is now available "to assist members in dealing with personal crisis issues." It didn't mention the suicides. Marchand said Monday that he requested the team after tribal members had asked the council for help in dealing with a suicide rate on the reservation that is 20 times the national average. Such a high rate has had a devastating effect on the small and isolated community, made up of 12 bands of American Indians. There are about 8,700 enrolled members of the Colville Confederated Tribes. Only about half of them live on the 1.4 million-acre reservation, according to council member Andy Joseph. Joseph, chairman of the council's health and human services committee, said most of the deaths were among young adults, "some of them new parents." According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicides occur nationally at a rate of about one in 10,000 people. The suicide rate among Native Americans is about four times the national average. But the rate on the Colville reservation this year would equate to about 20 per 10, 000 people. The Colville, like many Indian reservations, suffers from high unemployment, alcoholism and drug use, tribal leaders said. "Poverty and unemployment go hand in hand with suicide rates," tribal council member Ted Bessett said Monday. While tribes with casinos near major populations have profited in the state, the Colvilles, with three casinos in rural areas, have not done so well in recent years, council members said. Recent health care statistics show depression is epidemic among Native Americans. "It's how you view yourself culturally that determines how happy a person you are," Bessett said. "Without their culture, a lot of these kids are drifting aimlessly." Copyright c. 2006 Idaho Spokesman-Review. --------- "RE: Native Youth seek Roots, Self" --------- Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2006 16:28:25 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LEADERSHIP CAMP" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=8238 Native youth seek roots, self through leadership camp "This focuses on rooting them in place" JUNEAU AK Julie Speegle October 11, 2006 "Who am I?" About 40 Native youth came face-to-face with that question at this year's Latseen Leadership Training Camp, held late summer in Juneau, Alaska. The answer is complex for young Natives, who may lose sight of their unique cultural heritage as they seek to fit into mainstream society. "Our youth are no longer raised in the traditional way," said Barbara Cadiente- Nelson, educational director for Sealaska Heritage Institute. "This camp focuses on rooting them in place, reconnecting them to who they are in history. It is important to know your past in order to go forward." Jennifer Hanlon, a 21-year old Sealaska intern who participated in the program, recently returned to Southeast Alaska after attending school on the east coast for two years. "I've felt disconnected since I left," she said. "This camp helped me remember who I am, where I come from. It's something I wish I could have participated in when I was in high school." "Latseen" means "strength" in the Tlingit language. Elders and Southeast Alaska Native scholars taught students the art of leadership through the development of self-knowledge, physical and spiritual strength. "We've learned a lot from the elders," said Tiffany LaRue, a 15-year old sophomore from Juneau, "how to carve a dagger and how to build a smokehouse. We dissected and smoked fish, and learned how to prepare other traditional foods." Activities at the 2-week camp focused on the three Rs: rigor, relevance and relationship. Campers began each day with a martial-artslike "freedom dance" at 7 a.m. They also tended to graves at the Native Graveyard on Douglas Island (across the channel from Juneau), prepared meat and rendered seal oil, and learned the traditional way to cook salmon - wrapped in leaves and baked in the ground. "Our scholars envisioned this camp to build up Native youth and train them to be tradition bearers," added Cadiente-Nelson. Campers are all descendents of Sealaska Corp. shareholders, ranging in age from 11 to 21. Each student earned four college credits for attending the camp: one credit in Tlingit language, one in physical education, and two in Alaska Native history. "Statistics show that when high school students earn college credit, most go on to attend college," said Cadiente- Nelson. This was the second year for the camp, which is funded through a partnership between the SHI, the University of Alaska Southeast, and the Forest Service. Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Umatillas' new Company to offer up to 250 Jobs" --------- Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 08:39:03 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF UMATILLA OPEN NEW FACILITY" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.tri-cityherald.com/tch/business/story/8288815p-8185356c.html Umatilla tribes' new company to offer up to 250 jobs By Anna King, Herald staff writer October 10, 2006 PENDLETON - Officials of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation recently announced the start of a new tribal company that plans to hire nearly 250 people in the next two years. The company, Cayuse Technologies, will be built at the tribe's Coyote Business Park and will provide services like digital document processing, software development and a call center to government agencies and private companies. Cayuse Technologies is owned by the tribes and will be operated through a five-year management agreement by Accenture, a management consulting and technology services company. Accenture employs more than 140,000 people in 48 countries and will provide equipment, training and marketing for the new business. "It's a good opportunity for the tribe as a whole because it helps us diversify our economy," said Debra Croswell, the tribes' public affairs director. The company will hire about 25 people and break ground on the 40,000- square-foot facility by the end of the month, she said. The facility should be completed by next year, but until then the company will be in a temporary facility, she said. "We're responding to the tremendous demand among Accenture clients for lower-cost outsourcing services performed by professionals within the United States," Randall Willis, managing director for Accenture, said in a news release. Antone Minthorn, chairman of the tribal Board of Trustees, said in a news release that he hopes the new business will attract other companies to the business park. The tribes have been working on the park for the past couple of years and Cayuse Technologies will be the first company to move there, Croswell said. In the next year, utilities and roads will be built at the site. The tribes have been working for several months with Accenture and local, state and federal officials to get support and grants for the project. Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski has promised the tribes $300,000 to help build the company. And the U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded $196, 000 to the tribes for the business park. Like the tribes' Wildhorse Resort & Casino, tribal members will be given preference for jobs at Cayuse Technologies, but there will be plenty of opportunities for others in the community, Croswell said. "There is not enough of us to fill all of the positions," she said. " A lot of the positions will be held by non-Indians who live in the area." Annual salaries are expected to start around $18,000 a year and go up to $75,000 a year for managers. Of the tribes' 1,100 employees, about half work at the casino. Since the casino was built in 1995, many tribal members have moved back to the reservation and have been able to better provide for their families, Croswell said. Before the casino, the Umatilla Reservation had about 37 percent unemployment, she said. Now the reservation has about 15 percent unemployment. And with the revenue from the casino, the tribes have been able to hire more employees and offer families more services. Since 1990, the tribe has hired an additional 400 people to help provide services like education, public safety and natural resource management. Cayuse Technologies would offer tribal members another opportunity that isn't often found in rural Eastern Oregon, Croswell said. "Not everyone wants to work for the casino or for the tribal government," she said. - Reporter Anna King can be reached at 582-1537 or via e-mail at aking@tricityherald.com. Copyright c. 2005 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press and other wire services. --------- "RE: Honeywell to spend $451 Million to clean up Lake" --------- Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2006 08:37:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ONONDAGA LAKE" http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/manufacturing/ 2006-10-12-honeywell-superfund_x.htm?csp=34 Honeywell agrees to spend $451 million to clean up N.Y. lake By William Kates, Associated Press October 12, 2006 SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Honeywell (HON) will spend $451 million to help clean up Onondaga Lake, once a sacred American Indian waterway turned into a toxic stew by a century of municipal and industrial pollution. The agreement announced Thursday is one of the largest legal settlements against a polluter in state history, said Gov. George Pataki and Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. Honeywell will commit to a nine-year cleanup plan that calls for dredging 2.65 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment from the five- mile long lake on Syracuse's northeastern limits, according to a consent order to be filed in U.S. District Court in Syracuse. Additionally, Honeywell, based in Morris Township, N.J., agreed to seal 579 acres of lake bottom with a cap of sand, gravel and other material. Meanwhile, Onondaga County is spending $500 million on a 15-year project to stop polluting the lake with sewage by 2012. The county is under a federal court order to make the lake safe for swimming and fishing and comply with the federal Clean Water Act. Much of the lake's contamination is the legacy of a former Allied Chemical complex that closed in 1986, leaving behind mercury and other contaminants. Honeywell took over Allied in 1999 and became responsible for the pollution. Municipal sewage overflows have also fouled the lake. Onondaga Lake was once the spiritual center of the Onondaga Nation, one of the six upstate New York tribes that formed the Iroquois Confederacy. The great Onondaga Chief Hiawatha once canoed on its waters. In the late 19th century, the lake was ringed by grand resorts and amusement parks and was a popular sports fishery. Today, it is one of only three lakes in the country listed as a federal Superfund site. Copyright c. 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 2006 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. --------- "RE: Editorial: No recognition for Virginia's Tribes" --------- Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 08:51:39 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WHITE VIEW OF VIRGINIA TRIBAL RECOGNITION EFFORTS" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006/102006/10102006/227811 Talking tribes Due the Indians: honor, but not federal recognition Federal recognition for Virginia's Indians? October 10, 2006 LET'S FACE IT. Without them, we probably wouldn't be here. Those "first contact" Indian tribes, like the Patawomecks from our area [see our two- part series, "A Tribe's Tale," Oct. 1-2], gave us much more than interesting place names. They provided early colonists with food and local knowledge and helped Jamestown survive when that English beachhead was first established in 1607. But the relationship between American Indians and the European colonists was an on-again, off-again affair, sealed on occasion by intermarriage, trading, and a mutual need to survive, yet more often marred by mutual distrust, outright hostilities, and eventually, legal discrimination. Four hundred years down the path, we've learned a bit more about living together and today, some of the commonwealth's Indians are seeking federal recognition for their tribes. Is this a status due our first residents? The answer is not easy. On the one hand, honoring the contributions and the distinct ethnicity of Virginia's Indians is simply right. On the other, federal status opens a Pandora's box of problems. There are two paths to federal recognition: the first, through the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the second, through an act of Congress. To pass muster at the BIA, Indians must prove "substantially continuous tribal existence" and that they have "functioned as autonomous entities throughout history until the present." There are seven specific criteria that must be met, a high bar that is difficult to surmount, especially in Virginia. In 1924, the state's registrar of vital records insisted that Indians be designated as "colored." To avoid that classification (which led to much discrimination), some Indians simply dropped their heritage. In other cases, records have been destroyed, for example, when courthouses were burned in the Civil War, making it impossible to prove Indian descent. Some tribes in America, notably the Mashantucket Pequots of Connecticut, bypassed BIA and achieved federal recognition directly from Congress. Sen. George Allen introduced legislation to do the same for six Virginia tribes in 2005, but it languishes in committee. Which may be for the best. For as important as it is to honor our Indians, federal recognition brings with it many negative effects. It essentially creates a state within a state: Indian reservations become autonomous, dealing directly with the federal government on a nation-to- nation level, bypassing the state government. Freed, then, from state taxes, property and safety regulations, and other local laws, the reservations also are able to establish a most lucrative enterprise: casinos. The Pequots of Connecticut, for example, own Foxwoods Casino, cited by some as the "biggest moneymaker in the Western Hemisphere." That may sound like a good deal until you analyze the human suffering, social welfare, and crime costs associated with the proliferation of gambling. The upside of federal recognition for tribes is access to programs that help with housing, health care, education, and economic development, and the ability to sell artistic products. In a misguided attempt to keep phonies from selling "Indian" goods, the Native American Arts and Crafts Act of 1970 forbids marketing of these items by anyone other than a member of a federally recognized tribe. That leaves out a lot of gifted Native American artists. Would that we could recognize our Indians without all the baggage current federal law brings. Would that we could applaud and encourage the Indians' contributions and heritage and provide aid as needed without creating yet another division in our culture and opening the door to casino gambling. Until we can, federal recognition should remain out of reach. Copyright c. 2006 Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star. --------- "RE: Historical Debt to Native People still not paid" --------- Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2006 08:37:29 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ROBIDEAU: MYTH KEEPERS OF COLUMBUS" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://counterpunch.org/robideau10102006.html The Historical Debt to Native People Has Still Not Been Paid The Myth Keepers of Columbus By ROBERT ROBIDEAU October 10, 2006 In 1993, 500 years after European invaders of the Americas had brought the first Native Americans to Europe in chains, my plane landed in Barcelona, Spain, I had been invited to the International Cultural Symposium to speak on behalf of Leonard Peltier . The day after my arrival, I took a walk down their famous Rambler to the Placa del Portal de la Pau where I ran head long into a monument of Christopher Columbus. Build for the World Exhibition in 1888, the iron column is an impressive 197 feet tall and weighs 205 tons. On top the column stands a 26 foot statue of Columbus with head sculptured high, positioned to face out over its outstretched arm, with finger pointing over the Mediterranean sea and out to the distant horizon toward the Americas. As I moved around its base I discovered a series of relief's depicting the "new lands." What I saw was not the innocence that had been carved, but instead the first stages of colonization, the rape and plunder of the land and people of the Americas. Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in Genoa, Italy. At age 14 he became a sailor, shipwrecked off of Portugal in 1470, he remained until his idea to sail west to India, known then as "Hindustan," was financed by Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain in 1492. He reached the Bahamas on October 12th, visited Cuba and Hispaniola (Haiti), where he left a small colony before returning to Spain on March 15th, 1493 bringing with him 6 captive Taino people, taken from the Caribbean islands, who were presented to Ferdinand and Isabella in the royal court of Barcelona as proof of his travel. A painting that today hangs in (government building) show the Taino people at the feet of the king and queen in servile postures of slaves. The 6 Tainos never saw home again, their spirits still linger in the streets of Barcelona. In his delirium Columbus thought he landed in Paradise. He wrote in his journal that Tainos had beautiful, tall, slender olive bodies. They wore short haircuts with a long hank at the back of the head. They were clean- shaven and hairless. According to Columbus the Taino tongue was "gentle, the sweetest in the world, always with a laugh." Friendly relations did not last long, many Tainos were beaten and murdered. The Spanish brought diseases with them that the Tainos lacked immunity to. The weapons that the Spanish were far superior to the Tainos. An estimated fifty thousand Tainos perished within two years of Columbus landing. The Spanish jammed more then five hundred Taino prisoners into a boat for Spain. They became homeless in their own land. They were devastated by abuse, starvation, and disease. Life was never the same for Indians of the Americas after 1492. Puerto Rico, an Island once occupied by Tainos were almost wiped out within two decades. With the arrival of Columbus begin the onslaught of genocide in the Americas that Europeans only whisper about. The legacy of Columbus has kept Native Americans at the very bottom of the socio-economic ladder. Population surveys of the Americas estimates that at the time Columbus stumbled onto the Americas 100 million people inhabited it, a count far greater then that of all Europe in those times. More then 10 million resided in the United States, today less then a million remain in the United States. Many tribes have long become decimated and extinct. The myth that continues to be propagated is that Native Americans were savages and the civilization brought by Europeans saved them. Reality is that the foods, medicines and political structures of Native Nations in the Americas not only saved Europeans from constant famine in Europe but also taught them much about freedom and democracy, later adopted by the forefathers of Euro Americans. The model of Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee, also known as the League of Peace and Power) enabled the United States to form in part its constitution which, thanks to President Bush's Patriot Act, is well on the road to become myth. Today, the myth of democracy, has become a perverted tool to dominate, subjugate and colonize other countries around the world such as Iraq and Palestine. The United States held their first celebration of the "discovery of America" in New York, on October 12, 1792. At that time the only statue of Columbus in existence was in New York. In 1876, Italian Americans of Philadelphia erected a statue of Columbus in Fairmount Park. In 1905 Italian Americans in Denver, Colorado were the first to observe Columbus Day. It was not until September 1934 that President Franklin D. Roosevelt made it national holiday. Finally, Columbus Day became a federal legal holiday in 1971 after lobbying from the National Columbus Day Committee. Columbus Day or "El Dia de la Raza" has brought a wave of dissent across the United States and Canada by many Native Americans who feel that it perpetuates a myth that breeds bias and racism toward them. Since 1970 Native Americans have gathered to commemorate a National Day of Mourning on Thanksgiving in remembrance of the genocide of millions of Native Peoples, theft of Native lands and the relentless assault on Native cultures since Columbus open the flood gates to European invasions of the Americas. It is curious that Columbus Day is, except for religious holidays, the only historical event which all Pan-American countries celebrate. Since 1989 the Colorado AIM chapter has lead a protest against the Columbus Day Parade in Denver declaring, "As the original people of this land, we cannot and will not, tolerate social and political festivities that celebrate our genocide. We are committed to the active, open and public rejection of disrespect and racism in its various forms---including Columbus Day and Columbus Day Parades." For these last 17 years they have tried to educate the general public about their feelings for Columbus Day; they have protested, blockaded and gone to jail for their efforts to stop this parade of indoctrinated myth keepers. The issue of Columbus and Columbus Day is not easily resolvable in a society spoon feed on its propaganda of myths and historical lies that propagate the idea that Europeans were a superior race of two legged homo sapiens that came to save the Indians from their barbaric ways. The Europeans who came and settled invented and schooled the myth that they had created the New World by their imaged "discovery, " just as they had come to create the creation myth of its origins known as the "Bearing Strait Theory." Native Americans just had to have come from somewhere, but not the western hemisphere. What good does Columbus Day contribute by celebrating racist propaganda and myths that perpetuate genocide in institutions of education. Nazi Germany is perfect example of where such false, racist and opportunistic ideas lead. The most popularly believed myth of scholars is that native Americans were Jews. Louis Hennepin, in his New Discovery of a Vast Country in America wrote, "These savages originally sprung from the Jews," because they lived "in a form of tents, like as did Jews" and they are "subtle and crafty as Jews." The first thought that crept to mind was that the encounter with the statue of Columbus must represent some sort of warning and I had better watch my step. Sure enough in 1996 I was teased back to Barcelona, Spain where I began a new life out of the reach of the FBI and the emergence of fascist rumblings in the States. Europe too, I felt, had a historical debt and there was social need to transmit that Indian cultures had not been completely destroyed. We still existed despite 500 years of genocide and so I founded an AIM museum to bring awareness of it to Europeans so that they would not forget. --- Robert Robideau is Co Director Leonard Peltier Defense Committee. He can be reached at: robertrobideau@yahoo.com Copyright c. 2006 CounterPunch. --------- "RE: HARJO: Whiteman magic" --------- Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2006 16:28:25 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HARJO: WHITEMAN MAGIC" http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096413830 Harjo: Whiteman magic by: Suzan Shown Harjo / Indian Country Today October 13, 2006 Washington's scandal du jour - a predatory legislator's sexually explicit e-mail and instant messages to congressional pages, and a possible cover- up - prompts the musical question: What were they thinking? We know then-Rep. Mark Foley's thoughts because the Florida Republican committed them to writing as he was being paid to do the people's business, sometimes while responsible for the page program. We can guess what was on his mind as he checked out of the House and into rehab. When the dust settles from the FBI and House investigations, we will know what Foley's colleagues were thinking about his overtures to the pages and what, if anything, they did about it. We will know on Nov. 7 what the voters think. If they are telling the truth to pollsters, Democrats will control Congress in January 2007. We already know what the pages were thinking, although their voices are nearly impossible to hear through the accusations and denials by barking heads on every channel. Some pages told other pages to watch out for Foley. Some pages told members of Congress that Foley had his eye on them. People have been telling on Foley with increasing frequency over the past six years. One of his ex-staffers already resigned and others are expected to be overtaken by the scandal. The pages, in their junior Washington-speak, are saying they did not complain much or loudly about Foley's advances because they wanted to maintain good relations with a member of Congress who could help them in the future. Whether or not there was any physical contact with Foley, the pages wanted what Monica Lewinsky wanted from Pres. Bill Clinton - to get close enough to power to take home some fairy dust. The pages wanted what the clients of Team Abramoff wanted - for the leaders in Washington to shake their hands for photos and for fortune to smile on them. They all want whiteman magic. Whiteman magic is the stuff of dreams and shams. It's the appearance of causing a solar eclipse or eating fire, or some other rabbit-out-of-the- hat tricks that kept the Europeans from being killed in indigenous peoples' countries. Whiteman magic enabled the historic whiteman to get away with murder and to claim he stole the Western Hemisphere fair and square. Whiteman magic protects politicians when they harm innocent or defenseless people. Whiteman magic permits pages and interns - and even some officials, bureaucrats and lobbyists - to help people who are in need and to make the world a better place. It's the reason most Hill and White House staffers work 16-hour days and seven-day weeks. During the 1976 Carter/Mondale campaign and transition, a friend asked if I knew that people would kill to do what we were doing (that particular day, we were placing dots of various colors by names of people who should and should not be considered for appointments). Referring to a book by a Watergate figure, who wrote of overpowering ambition when he was next to power, my friend said she did not want to experience such reptilian ambition. She declined a fancy title and office, and never returned to Washington. There are many people still in D.C. with that kind of integrity. But some have difficulty maintaining equilibrium, especially if they are at all susceptible to perks and sycophantic attention. It's both sad and laughable to see people begin to believe their own press, particularly when it is well known that they hire, fire and sign the paychecks of those whose primary jobs are to garner accolades, awards and media mentions for their bosses. Lest anyone think this is just a Washington thing, think for a moment about the vain and petty tyrants in spheres outside of the District of Columbia. Because I am a Washingtonian now (by way of Oklahoma and New York), I feel the need to stick up for the people of D.C.: so here goes. D.C. is home to venerated families who've lived in the same neighborhoods for generations. Hundreds of thousands of District residents aren't connected to official Washington or any of its scandals. Myriad people come to the Washington metropolitan area and don't cause any trouble at all. Every time there's a change of administrations, thousands of political appointees, operatives and entourages follow the new White House residents to town. The same thing happens when there is a change of leaders or parties in control of offices on Capitol Hill. The Presidents Bush are well known to the local moving companies. Both are closely identified with Washington and Texas, but aren't from either place. George W. is from New Haven, Conn., and George H.W. is from Milton, Mass. The hometown of the last Democratic president is Hope, Ark., while Lewinsky hails from San Francisco. Not one of the Abramoff scandal figures who bilked Indian tribes out of more than $80 million is a Washingtonian. The two lobbyists who've entered guilty pleas and are turning in their cohorts are from Atlantic City, N.J. (Jack Abramoff), and Rehoboth Beach, Del. (Michael Scanlon). Team Abramoff consultant Ralph Reed is from Portsmouth, Va. The former Christian Coalition leader was on track to win the Republican nomination for Georgia's lieutenant governor until his role in duping both Indians and Christian conservatives was revealed. Reed, while not under indictment, is no longer a rising political star. Former Rep. Bob Ney is a Republican from rural Ohio. He resigned from the House after pleading guilty to Abramoff-related bribery and corruption charges. Former Rep. Duke Cunningham, Republican from San Diego, is serving time for his part in a defense contracting conspiracy not connected to Abramoff. Cunningham resigned last year, after pleading guilty to taking more than $2 million, with which he bought houses, a yacht and a Rolls-Royce. Rep. William J. Jefferson, Democrat from Lake Providence, La., also is embroiled in non-Abramoff scandal. Still in Congress and not charged with anything, he is the subject of an ongoing investigation into allegations that he took money for official acts. During a search of his home, $90,000 in cash was found in his freezer. Growing numbers of Team Abramoff members have copped pleas or resigned from White House and Capitol Hill jobs. More are leaving town as quietly as they can, but their ooze remains in Washington. Former Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, was forced from his position as House Majority leader following indictment on charges of conspiracy and money laundering. The trial he now faces in his home state is unrelated to the Abramoff scandal, but his ties to the former lobbyist go back to the start of the K Street Project, which promoted hiring Republican lobbyists and donating to Republican candidates only. Abramoff sold his services to tribal clients on the basis of his friendship with DeLay. But most tribal witnesses testified before the Senate that they didn't know how Abramoff was connected, just that he was. They didn't know DeLay and some thought he was a senator. So, we pay millions to someone we don't know who will say something we can't hear to someone else we don't know, and it may or may not help us. Now, that is whiteman magic. --- Suzan Shown Harjo, Cheyenne and Hodulgee Muscogee, is president of the Morning Star Institute in Washington, D.C., and a columnist for Indian Country Today. Copyright c. 1998 - 2006 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: GIAGO: Termination an ugly word in Indian country" --------- Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 08:51:39 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GIAGO: THE 'T' WORD" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=8231 Notes from Indian Country Termination is an ugly word in Indian country Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji) Copyright c. 2006 Native American Journalists Foundation, Inc. October 9, 2006 To most Americans the word "termination" usually means getting a pink slip with your final paycheck telling you that your employment has been terminated. To the Indian people of America it means that their lands or nations have been removed from the rolls of protected lands and are now open to sale and settlement by anyone. In other words, their nation has been "terminated." On August 1, 1953 the 83rd Congress of the United States passed House Concurrent Resolution 108 calling for the termination of all Indian tribes located within the States of California, Florida, New York, and Texas. They added to the list The Flathead Tribe of Montana, the Klamath Tribe of Oregon, the Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin, the Potowatamie Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, the Chippewa Tribe of the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota. The Resolution also called for all of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' offices serving these tribes or any other tribe "freed from Federal supervision" be abolished or closed. The passage of Resolution 108 was immediately followed by a number of termination bills drafted as a direct result of the Resolution. From 1954 to 1960, 61 tribes, groups or Indian communities were terminated. In 1957, four bands of Paiutes (the Shivwits, the Koosharem, the Indian Peaks and the Kanosh) were terminated. When asked why they did not object to termination they said they did not understand what was happening. They didn't understand the legal language and they were much too poor to ask for legal advice. Their land was leased to cattlemen at low prices or put into trust in a bank in Salt Lake City until it could be sold or leased. Termination for the Paiutes meant they were on their own without birth certificates, Social Security numbers, land deeds, etc. In essence, they were landless, homeless and left without the proper identification to move forward. Some of the above facts can be found in a book called "Makoce" published by Vivian One Feather with cooperation by the Black Hills State College with Charles Underbaggage serving as the consultant through a grant from the U. S. Office of Education's, Department of Health, Education and Welfare. It is available at the Prairie Edge Bookstore in Rapid City, SD. Most of the tribes terminated in those terrible days of the Eisenhower Administration, fought for and eventually regained their status as federally recognized Indian tribes. But not all. The Court of Claims awarded the Confederated Bands of Ute Indians of Utah more than $31 million on July 31, 1950. A rivalry between the mixed bloods and full bloods, one that had been brewing for many years, caused the two groups to divide and set up their own individual programs. In 1954 the federal government decided to "terminate" the mixed bloods. The termination of the full bloods was supposed to follow, but it never happened. As a result the mixed blood Utes soon found themselves on the worst end of poverty. They did not understand how this happened to them and like the terminated Paiutes, they never understood the legal language that led up to their termination and they were also too poor to contest it. Dennis G. Chappabitty serves as the attorney for the "mixed-blood" Utes. In a letter to Senator Orin Hatch (R-UT) he wrote, "On November 4, 2002, the mixed blood Uinta Utes filed an action in the U. S. District Court, District of Columbia, alleging that the U. S. Department of the Interior failed to properly implement the "Ute Partition Act" thereby illegally stripping them of their Indian status. On January 27, 2006, their case was dismissed on the basis of their failure to file within the six-year statute of limitations. We will appeal the Court's dismissing the Felter case to the U. S. Court of Appeals." Chappabitty said, "Our government criticizes other nations for their bad human rights records. The socially destructive, backward and abhorrent policies of Apartheid in South Africa, Jim Crow in the South and Communism in the Soviet Bloc are dead. Yet this Nation's fraudulent termination of the mixed-blood Uinta Utes remains alive as one of the civilized world's darkest stains where the rich and powerful dominated the weak and intimidated the poor and defenseless Indians." Oranna B. Felter, a member of the terminated tribe, the lead plaintiff in the legal battle to get the rights of the Uinta restored, wrote recently, "I'm one of the original terminated 490 and I was there when termination started. I was 11 years old when we were terminated and I am now 61 years old. When I was younger I didn't understand what had happened to us. I was raised knowing who I was and living as an Indian. Then when termination hit the Mixed Blood Uintas like a bomb in the Nevada desert in the 1950s, it totally ripped the hearts and souls out of most of our people." What happened to the Mixed Blood Uintas is an ongoing story. Tribal members like Oranna Felter have been fighting all of their adult lives to correct this grievous wrong. For more information on this case you can contact Dennis B. Chappabitty at P. O. Box 292122, Sacramento, CA 95829. Termination is an ugly word especially when it involves the future hopes and dreams of a people. It is a word we no longer need to use in Indian country. --- 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: Play brings Lesson on Indian Treaty to Life" --------- Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 08:51:39 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="JODI RAVE: PLAY INTEGRATES RELATIONSHIPS THAT FORGED TREATIES" http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2006/10/10/jodirave/rave63.txt Educator's play brings lesson on Indian treaty to life By JODI RAVE of the Missoulian October 10, 2006 Sally Thompson will have to get past the pitfalls that have plagued so many educators before her when it comes to teaching students about the relationship between whites and Indians. It's not always easy. Thompson, a University of Montana educator, opened the topic for discussion on Monday by inviting community members to participate in a "dry-run" reading of curriculum designed to introduce students to the process of peace treaty negotiations. "It integrates the relationship between the United States history of the federal government and tribes in the region," said Thompson, director of the UM Regional Learning Project. More than a dozen people joined her at St. Paul Lutheran Church to help the educator read through what amounted to a three-act play. Everyone was assigned a role, ranging from Indian reservation agents and peace treaty negotiators to chiefs representing tribes throughout the region. Thompson calls her project the "Readers' Theater: The Great Peace Council of 1855," otherwise known as the Lame Bull Treaty - Lame Bull was a Blackfeet chief and the first to sign. The script was designed for students between grades eight and 12, and college students. The curriculum eventually will be available for teachers as they incorporate more Native-based curricula into the K-12 classroom as required by the state constitution. Mack Bohrmann, a UM junior and anthropology student, participated in the trial-run reading, playing at least two roles in the script as he helped re-enact the Blackfeet Treaty Council. The treaty gathering occurred more than 150 years ago at a place where the Judith and Missouri rivers meet in central Montana. Government bureaucrats representing the "Great White Father" in Washington, D.C., summoned thousands of Indians from tribes, including the Blackfeet, Nez Perce, Salish, Bloods and Pend d'Oreille. The tribes were gathered under extreme drought conditions to sign a peace treaty upon the request of federal agents. Thompson's script uses historical documents, personal diaries and official reports written by mostly white men. "Do you think any of this treaty was lost in translation?" said Bohrmann. Some of the participants in the room thought that was certainly the case. Linda Juneau, a UM liaison between tribal colleges, Montana tribes and the university, said the script "white-washed" the actual intent behind the treaty process. Even though the 1855 peace treaty never created a reservation, said Juneau, it laid the path so whites could cordon tribes into specific areas, thereby allowing whites to settle and move freely throughout Indian Country. "It was about land," said Juneau, who is Blackfeet. "Most academics never present it that way." While the Lame Bull Treaty didn't create a reservation, it required tribes to stay in designated hunting areas and to keep peace with each other. As part of their payment, federal officials promised to supply them with food rations as buffalo herds dwindled. Thompson's script does little to address the hidden intent behind the treaties but the topic is ripe for discussion by students, she said. The script package includes discussion questions from a Blackfeet educator who asks: "Did the United States keep its part of the bargain?" Some of the greatest battles in the West - be they on the prairie or with a pen stroke - involve the loss of Indian lands. Thompson's script of the Lame Bull Treaty shows how there are many sides to a single story. "It's a riveting history, from the time they left Hell Gate council in July to signing the treaty in October. People were scavenging for food in a drought impacted area. "Some people never made it to council." Said Juneau: "It was more than making peace between the tribes. It was about a passage way for white people." 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: Native Journalists hold future in their Hands" --------- Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 08:39:03 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YELLOW BIRD: GETTING NATIVE NEWS OUT" http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=12912 Native journalists hold future in their hands Dorreen Yellow Bird Grand Forks Herald October 11, 2006 A recent conference in South Dakota was an eye-opener for me regarding new issues in Indian country. And it helped me realize that as a member of the media, I can affect positive changes on reservations. The conference, called the 2006 Native American Media Symposium, was held at South Dakota State University in Brookings. I had to drive several hundred miles to get there, but the weather last weekend was perfect, and I love driving through those rolling hills - that's the Dakotas for me. Once I got there, it wasn't before I realized that this wasn't just another conference. The panelists and speakers came from around the country and were excellent. I was a panelist for both the student and the adult media group, I'm proud to say. About 200 to 300 American Indian students came from Indian schools in South Dakota such as Red Cloud, Flandreau, Pine Ridge, Crow Creek and Sisseton. These were high school students who had expressed an interest in journalism careers, including photography and graphics as well as, of course, writing and reporting. Their enthusiasm and energy reminded me that I was once a classroom teacher. Dr. Cristina Azocar, the director of the Center for Integration and Improvement of Journalism at San Francisco State University, asked us: What are the biggest issues facing Indian people today? There were more non-Indians on Azocar's panel than Indian people, so the hot issue was how to get stories on reservations and, at times, even how to know if is a story. It was hard for non-Indians because they didn't understand Indian culture, were afraid of getting something wrong when they covered Indian people or tribal leaders wouldn't respond to them. I knew that our reporters probably would agree that it can be hard to get a response from some North Dakota and Minnesota tribal councils, even when the story is positive. There seems to be an unwritten rule among tribal council members that you don't speak to the media. Is that a historical issue? I wondered. Way back in the 1940s and '50s, tribal leaders answered questions as best they could. I remember how some of those interviews read in the paper: The misinformation was laughable at times and gave such an awful spin to Indian life that we cringed at the reaction we'd get the next time we went to town. That has changed. Back then, newspapers would identify "Indians" while not identifying other people, especially when reporting a bad-news story. Today, race can be mentioned only if it's important to the story. But the dilution of the Indian culture is the main issue for me. Much of what's happening in Indian country today hinges on how much we have lost, as a people and culture. Young people today are influenced by the media - TV, the Internet, magazines, newspapers and so on. On most reservations, you'll find young people looking as if they just walked out of a hip-hop neighborhood in New York City, complete with baggy pants, chains, bandanas and jive talk. Or they might be wearing the colors of a gang that they've learned about from television or the Internet. I'm also pleased that I see a growing number of young people sporting braids like their grandfathers. Some are attempting to learn their language and look for ways to understand Indian culture, which means knowing who they are. That is most important. I met a young woman at the conference who seemed troubled. She lived in a big city most of her life, she said. When she returned to her home reservation, what she saw wasn't pleasant - poverty, alcoholism and such. That is the face that we sometimes see on reservations and often in the media. But we don't see the gentle, peaceful elders and spiritual leaders or the woman who cares for a large family with a smile and good humor. We often don't see the gifts the Creator gave to Indian people in the form of ceremonies, knowledge of the land and creatures as well as powerful, spiritual beliefs. I am talking with her. When we had eaten the last Krispy Creme donut, I said my "good-byes" to Doris Giago, a friend and professor who is instrumental in the success of the SDSU project; Billy Mills, the South Dakota Olympic gold medallist; Tim Giago, nationally syndicated columnist; Michele Pasena, one of the keynote speakers from the American Indian Graduate Center and other great journalist. Then, I breathed a sign of satisfaction. This was a conference well worth the time. ---- 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: Sunrise blessing to be offered on NA Center Site" --------- Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 08:39:03 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="JODI RAVE:ALL 12 MONTANA TRIBES REPRESENTED IN BLESSING CEREMONY" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2006/10/11/jodirave/rave62.txt Sunrise blessing to be offered on site of Native American Center By JODI RAVE of the Missoulian October 11, 2006 Spiritual leaders representing all 12 Montana tribes are preparing to gather for the first healing and blessing ceremony to take place on the University of Montana campus in more than 100 years. "This has been a long time in coming," said Felena Ditmar, a tribal elder from the Fort Belknap Reservation, who will be among the leaders to offer a prayer and blessings at the future building site of the UM Native American Center. The public is invited to attend the blessing and sunrise ceremony, which is scheduled from 7:15 to 9 a.m. Friday, on the Oval, south of the grizzly bear sculpture on campus. UM President George Dennison and Salish Kootenai College President Joe McDonald will share their vision of the Native American Center following the morning ceremonies. The center will be built on the last available land on the Oval, just west of the Math building. Native plants and a garden will surround the site, and a specific outside area will be dedicated to storytelling. "It makes me feel good that the university is going to recognize there is Indian population on this campus," said Linda Juneau, a UM alumna who is organizing Friday's sunrise blessing. "It will be a place where we can go and all gather. We can have ceremonials in there." She has many stories of how it's been difficult for students to pray in a traditional manner, which usually consists of smudging the heart and mind with the smoke of sage, sweet grass or cedar. Juneau, who is also the university's Confluence of Cultures director, said those who attend the land blessing will share in the hope for present and future generations of Indian students who will study on campus, gather knowledge and make new allies and friends in an environment that respects their learning needs. It will likely be between three to five years before ground is broken on the new structure. But the architectural plans are complete and a $6 million fundraising effort is under way. UM Foundation director Julia Horn and others have raised $1 million so far. The spiritual leaders who will bless the land and offer prayers of healing have said they are glad the university is starting the center's future "in the right way, meaning to bless the site where you are going to do something significant with Indian people," Juneau said. Many of the leaders have children or grandchildren who attend UM. For elders like the 79-year-old Ditmar, the thought of the Native American Center warms her. She embraces the idea that those who want to learn about Indian people will have a ready resource when the building is complete. "I'm happy this cultural center will be built in Missoula so people will have access to our culture," she said. Reporter Jodi Rave can be reached at (406) 523-5299 or at jodi.rave@lee.net. Copyright c. 2006 Missoulian, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: YELLOW BIRD: Leaders could do well with Old Ways" --------- Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2006 16:28:25 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YELLOW BIRD: HOW IT USED TO BE, SHOULD BE" http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=13267 New leaders could do well with old ways Dorreen Yellow Bird Grand Forks Herald October 14, 2006 As I've written about the chicanery and disruption on reservations and pointed to tribal governments as the perpetrators, I wondered also if the stories I've heard from elders have deceived me into thinking all our early governments were perfect. Most of what I know about those old tribal governments comes either from books, most of them written by people who had little understanding of the culture and life ways of Indian people, or from the mouths of oral traditionalists. How accurate can passing stories down for hundreds of years be? They rely, after all, on the oral tradition.These thoughts bounced around in my head early Thursday as I stood looking out at the trees now bare after the hard north wind had shaken them to their roots. It was just getting light, but I could see patches of snow below me. I welcome winter, but the first snow that turns my world into a graveyard of leafless trees is sad. The first cold white always makes me nostalgic and lonesome for my grandmother and mothers - for their comfort. As I stood there, I could almost smell the fresh perked coffee. I would have sat with my Aunt Pearl - she with her heavily sweetened coffee and I with my green tea - and I would tell her about this uneasiness I felt about our tribal government. Were those leaders of the past true leaders like we are told? How do we know? Part of our culture and who we are was stolen along with our land. Perhaps, it would be the grand old chief, White Shield, that she would use as an example. She would tell me stories that I'd heard a thousand times, but I'd sit and listen as if it were the first time. Compare this old chief to those of today, she would say. The old man, when he was in his late 70s, went to battle against the Sioux. As an elder and the chief, he wasn't in the thick of the battle at first, but this poorly armed and much smaller group of Arikara had only the Creator to protect them. When the battle was nearly lost, White Shield, on his old white horse, sat up straight on its back, his buckskin fringes and war bonnet blowing in the wind. Then, he nudged his horse forward to the front of the skirmish, raising his weapon as the rode. He challenged any man to come and fight him for the victory. Whoever wins here, wins the battle, the old chief shouted. I am a toothless old man, but I challenge you, he said. And he rode back and forth in front of the enemy, my aunt said. None of the enemy came forward to challenge him. Rather, they turned and left the battlegrounds. It was his courage and the sacredness of his age that turned away the enemy. She told me this, but it also is written in the history. White Shield fought other enemies, too. The U.S. government assigned agents to deal with tribes. The one at Fort Berthold, N.D., was a scoundrel - this according to written history from journals. The agent would take goods provided for the tribes, keep and sell much of them, then give the people what was left - usually poor goods such as flour with weevils. White Shield called the agent to give the people what was promised. These commodities had been paid for with land and their lives, he said. The agent said White Shield was an old red man who didn't have any sense. White Shield said he would rather be an old red man without sense than a scoundrel such as him. The agent deposed the old chief and appointed Son of the Star. But the people continued to look to White Shield in spite of the agent's declaration. Those stories are told in the oral tradition - a tradition that is sacred and done with strict rules. Those old men lived by life codes brought forward from the time of our beginnings. They certainly weren't perfect, but the community chose leaders based on their leadership abilities because these leaders had to make life-and-death decisions for the tribe. Today, leaders tend to be elected by the white man's way, in that the candidate who has the most money and biggest smile convinces the people they are leaders. Admittedly, there are some good leaders who are elected by this method. But too many today are enticed by salaries and freebies - the power they gain as tribal chairmen. They hire and fire with little regard to policies and rules they might have made when they were part of the community. As I turned from the window to start my day, I knew Aunt Pearl would smile and say, "Tell them that it is true; we did have good governments with honest ways. The people will listen." ---- 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: Oaxaca protest reaches Capital" --------- Date: Thursday, October 12, 2006 12:12 am From: Chiapas95-english Subj: En;Proceso,Oaxaca protest reaches capital,Oct 10 Mailing List: Chiapas95-En -- This message is forwarded to you by the editors of the Chiapas95 newslists. To contact the editors or to submit material for posting send to: . Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 21:37:01 +0200 From: "Dana Aldea" Protest reaches capital By John Gilber/Special to The Herald Mexico El Universal October 10, 2006 Juan Pe'rez, a thin, 25 year-old teacher from Jocotepec, Oaxaca, has been walking for the past 19 days. He wears rough leather sandals, jeans, a hand-woven straw hat, and a shirt with "APPO: a dream in construction" painted in orange letters across the front. "No revolution is going to come from behind a desk," he says as he swings his small backpack over his shoulders and sets out from Nezahualco'yotl on the final 8 miles of his journey. "For the government, the voices of the people don't count," he says, "that is why we have to take to the streets, to do something with the impotence we feel." Pe'rez and several thousand of his colleagues from the Oaxaca People's Popular Assembly (APPO) have walked from Oaxaca City over 250 miles and through four states to bring their demand that Gov. Ulises Ruiz Ortiz be ousted. The march, which left Oaxaca City on Sept. 21 and arrived in Mexico City on Monday, comes on the heels of a four-month struggle to force the Ruiz Ortiz out in response to a failed attempt on June 14 to violently break up a teachers strike in Oaxaca's central plaza. "This is an example of people's having reached the limit of patience with decades of neglect," says Ce'sar Mateos, one of the march's organizers. "The movement in Oaxaca seeks deep structural changes, and the first step in these changes is the exit of Ulises," he says. "But we want to achieve these changes through a peaceful movement, which is why we have done this march. This is the true face of the APPO." The march began with over 4,000 people, dipped to around 1,000 on the last few days, but then swelled to at least 10,000 as it entered Mexico City. The APPO protesters walked an average of 8 hours a day, through both rainstorms and blistering heat, over mountains and through valleys, enduring chilly nights of mosquito bites and scorpion stings. They were often met with support along the way, including much needed nourishment from sympathetic food and juice vendors along the highway. "The support kept me motivated even though my feet hurt," said Betty, a 40 year-old preschool teacher from San Mateo on the Oaxaca coast. "I cried twice, not from the pain, but because there was so much support from people." The marchers, carrying handmade signs, puppets mocking Vicente Fox, and cardboard coffins for Ulises Ruiz, walked down busy avenues leading to the Zo'calo, blocking traffic and enduring the full force of the late-summer sun. Hundreds of people from nearby neighborhoods and street-side markets lined the streets to hand out water and sandwiches along the way. They plan to set up a protest camp in front of the Senate and have vowed to stay in Mexico City until Ulises Ruiz is forced from office. -- 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: Seven Council Fires: Message to Tawatinsuyo" --------- Date: Friday, October 13, 2006 02:11 pm From: frostyca2000 Subj: Seven Council Fires: Message to Tawatinsuyo Mailing List: Frostys AmerIndian Seven Council Fires: Message to Tawatinsuyo Oceti Sakowin Seven Council Fires Dakota - Nakota - Lakota Nation October 11, 2006 Good greetings to all Indigenous Nations and Pueblos gathered at thistime at the Continental Indigenous Encounter of La Paz, Bolivia - Tawatinsuyo. We send this message to you from our traditional council, gathered today in our traditional territories of our continent Abya Yala North, Confederacy of the Eagle and the Buffalo. May your hearts be strong and your minds clear like the sacred waters, as you gather in Tawatinsuyo Bolivia to bring spiritual strength to the continental indigenous movement for decolonization. Relatives, at this time we ask that you consider offering support and prayers for our struggle here in the North to reclaim our sacred territory of the Black Hills which was illegally expropriated from our nations by the United States government. At this time we attach a copy of the 1851 and 1868 Fort Laramie Treaties between our nations and the US government which validates our claims on this issue. In addition, we also include the 1794 Jay Treaty which recognizes our rights as Indigenous Peoples to freely travel and trade across the international borders of the signatory government states. We ask that you now submit this documentation on our behalf to President Evo Morales of Bolivia, as an initiative of the Indigenous Peoples of Abya Yala for the purpose of establishing an official Archive of Treaties between our Nations and the government states of the Americas. As indigenous nations of Abya Yala North, we stand with the nations of Tawatinsuyo as well in your struggles against the economic policies of colonization such as the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas - FTAA, which undermines our collective rights as Indigenous Peoples of the continent. We call for an Indigenous Economic Plan for the Continent, with strategic mechanisms of global linkage. This Indigenous Economic Plan for the Continent, which would be constructed as protection for our territorial and cultural bases, would be an indigenous driven economic strategy of self- determination, which should prioritize regenerating Indigenous Trade networks between our nations. As we send this message to you today, we recall when we of the Oceti Sakowin conducted the Treaty Ceremony of continental spiritual alliance at the First International Indigenous Summit of Teotihuacan, Mexico in the year 2000