_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 15, ISSUE 010 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, WOTANGING IKCHE - Lakota - Common News Wotanging Ikche and Native American News Copyright c. 1996-2007 nanews.org Aboriginal/AmerIndian Perspective about the First Nations of Turtle Island March 3, 2007 Kiowa kaguat p'a/bud moon Cree migisupizum/eagle moon Lakota Istawicanyazan Wi/moon of Snow blindness Anishnaabe bebookwaadaagame-giizis(oog)/snow crust moon +-------------------------------------------------------+ | Much more happens in Indian Country than is reported | | in this weekly newsletter. For daily updates & events | | go to http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm | +-------------------------------------------------------+ Otapi'sin Atsinikiisinaakssin -- Blackfeet -- News for All the People Ni-mah-mi-kwa-zoo-min -- Ojibwe -- We Are Talking About Ourselves Aunchemokauhettittea -- Naragansett -- Let Us Share News Kanoheda Aniyvwiya -- Cherokee -- Journal of the People O Es'te Opunvk'vmucvse -- Creek -- People's New News O o O Acimowin -- Plains Cree -- Story or Account O o O Tlaixmatiliztli -- Nahuatl -- News O o o o o O Agnutmaqan -- Listuguj Mi'kmaq -- News O o O Sho-da-ku-ye -- Teehahnahmah -- Talking Birchbark O o O Un Chota -- Susquehannic Seneca -- The People Speak O Ha-Sah-Sliltha -- Ditidaht Nation -- News of the People Ximopanolti tehuatzin, inin Mexika tlahtolli -- Nahuatl -- For you we offer these words It-hah-pe-hah Ah-num pah-le -- Chickasaw -- Together We Are Talking Dineh jii' adah' ho'nil'e'gii ba' ha' neh -- Navajo Nation -- What's Happening among The People News Okla Humma Holisso Nowat Anya -- Choctaw -- People(s) Red Newspaper Hi'a chu ah gaa -- Pima -- The stories or the talk of the People s ch mA mL tL squee Lux -- Okanogan -- News from the People Native American News -- Language of the Occupation Forces ++>If you speak a Native American language not listed above, please send us your words for "News of the People." We'd rather take up this whole page saving these few words of our hundreds of nations than present a nice clean banner in the language of the occupation forces who came here determined to replace our words with their own. email gars@nanews.org with the equivalent of "News of the People" in your tribal language along with the english translation <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is produced in straight ASCII text for greatest portability across platforms. Read it with a fixed-pitch font, such as Courier, Monaco, FixedSys or CG Times. Proportional fonts will be difficult to read. <================<<<< >>>>================> This issue contains articles from www.owlstar.com; www.indianz.com; www.pechanga.net; www.indiancountrytoday.com; Mailing Lists: Chiapas95-En, Rez_Life, Frostys AmerIndian, Anumpa Achukma/Good News, Amazon Alliance and Native American Poetry; 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: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + =================== Along the U.S.-Mexico border, the body count continues to pile up daily. Meanwhile, the Minutemen patrol the U.S.-Mexico border and shameless politicians find it easy to denounce illegal immigration as the cause of all the nation's problems - including linking it with "the war on terror." Amidst all the clatter, the only views not being heard are the ones that matter most. Thus here, we bring you a truly historic column, featuring the views of those that have come before us to these lands: American Indians: "Indigenous peoples are brothers and sisters, regardless of which side of the line drawn in the desert sand they are from. Our historic relations pre-date any European conquest. Our 'free trade' was much less conflictual, and was on more of an equal basis. Corporate 'free trade' is the driving force behind American politics and international actions.... It continues to be, contradictory to the interests of humanity." woliwon chi miigwech, __ Karen S., Ypsilanti +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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 In this issue there are several references to how new passport regulations fly in the face of tradtional free border passage granted U.S. Indian Tribes and Canadian First Nations. While this is all quite true, it ignores a very real threat I spoke of in the Volume 15 (this year) Issue 3 editorial - George W. Bush very much wants to abolish the Jay Treaty. Apparently, this is a Bushism that is flying under a lot of personal and tribal radar. For this reason, I am going to repeat much of what I wrote in the previous editorial regarding this affront to Indian Peoples. I am asking every single person who reads this to make sure it gets in the hands of at least one other Native person and/or one Congressional representative, with the clear message that abolition of Article III of the Jay Treaty (Jay's Treaty) only robs border Native Peoples of the needed free passage. It does little or nothing to enhance Homeland Security. [A Kiowa elder once told me the longer he hears those two words used together, the sooner we will have neither. He's right.] ---- excerpted from Wotanging Ikche Volume 15, Issue 003, editorial: Aboriginal rights Article III of the Jay Treaty declared the right of aboriginal peoples (people indigenous to Canada and/or the US) to trade and travel between the United States and Canada, which was then a territory of Great Britain. This right was restated in section 289 of the 1952 Immigration and Naturalization Act: Nothing in this title shall be construed to affect the right of American Indians born in Canada to pass the borders of the United States, but such right shall extend only to persons who possess at least 50 per centum of blood of the American Indian race.[1] Article III is the very article President George W. Bush is determined to nullify. Please read the following from the August 28, 2006 issue of Indian Country Today. The entire article is available at http://www.kumeyaay.com/news/news_detail.html?id=4058 -- National Congress of American Indians responds to border concerns 08/28/2006 - TUCSON AZ by: Brenda Norrell / Indian Country Today The Bush administration recently initiated efforts that would nullify the benefits of the Jay Treaty, which recognizes the right of border passage to indigenous peoples at the northern border; further, the administration planned to press for new laws to require DNA tests to determine Indian blood, according to Louis Guassac, executive director of the Kumeyaay Border Task Force. "The Indian tribes said, 'No way,'" Guassac said, speaking at a border workshop hosted by the Alianza Indigena sin Fronteras/Indigenous Alliance Without Borders in Tucson. Guassac said that in response to these plans of the Bush administration and other new regulations for border-crossers, the National Congress of American Indians has passed two resolutions. The resolutions call on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to enter into government-to-government consultation with Native tribes on border issues, including consultation on a proposed national Indigenous Identification Card for border pass and re-pass. -- It is essential to the Native Nations along both borders that these rights of passage be retained. It seems many Native peoples are blind to the importance of yet one more Treaty right being taken away, because this particular treaty right does not directly impact them or their nations. They are not a border tribe with relations on both sides of the border. Their tribe does not have trade with Canada or Mexico, nor do they as individuals plan to travel regularly to either country. What these people do not understand is political momentum. Each time a right, especially a sovereignty right (which this is) is removed, it creates an easier path for the next sovereignty right...and the next...and the next, until all tribal sovereignty is gone. Dohiyi Ani Oginalii , , Gary Smith (*,*) wotanging@bellsouth.net P. O. Box 672168 (`-') gars@nanews.org Marietta, GA 30007, U.S.A. ===w=w=== http://www.nanews.org ----------- News of the people featured in this issue ----------- Editorial Section: - YELLOW BIRD: . Abolishing the Jay Treaty Warrior Woody: A true hero - Money awaits American Indians - COOK-LYNN: - American Indian traditions Decolonization of American Indians to help soldiers heal - Pararamilitaries - Tulsa, Tribes reach out Invade and Pillage - Cherokee Nation - Ecopetrol ordered to halt Special Election Results production on Bari Land - Native American Center - Support return of Nukak-Maku lacks money to stay open to Ancestral Lands - Lawmakers want Committee - AFN lobbies for exception for Indian issues to Border Rules - Tribe gets say on Wind Farm - Caledonia negotiations - EPA tells State Uranium Mines near turning point are on Indian Land - One Year after Six Nations - Tech Tidal Wave heads toward Tribe reclaimed Douglas Creek - Conversation: - Toronto butts up against Presidential Candidate Richardson the Iroquois Curse - Language Loss can be Reversed - Businesses urged - Language as old as the Hills to help create jobs on Reserves - Keweenaw Community seeks - Natives underfunded, to save Ojibwe language neglected by feds: Group - GIAGO: A view from South Dakota, - Inquiry into the death the 'Red' State of Frank Paul - JODI RAVE: Weaving a Story - First Campaign Barbs - CUTHAND: Passport restrictions tied to Peltier fly in Face of Tradition - Peltier denied access - OPINION: Alaska Natives to FBI Documents know more about Wildlife - Native Justice - JODI RAVE: Environmental racism -- Tracking Crimes on Indian Land expert to speak - Rustywire: You are not Navajo - Lee Goins Poem: Meadow of my Mind --------- "RE: Money awaits American Indians" --------- Date: Sun, 4 Mar 2007 16:43:56 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="OST SEARCHING FOR THOSE IT OWES MONEY" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770301134 Money awaits American Indians Eastern Band members among those owed millions by Diana Marrero, and Faith Bremner, Gannett News Service March 2, 2007 WASHINGTON - Federal officials want to distribute millions of dollars they owe to thousands of American Indians - if only they can find them. More than $100,000 awaits some people. It is money owed from land the federal government has held in trust for individual Indians. In all, the government has $63.3 million to distribute to about 54,000 people. The Interior Department collects about $330 million a year in royalties and leases on behalf of 300,000 Indians, including those officials have been unable to find. In a stepped-up effort to find them over the past three years, the department has hired private investigators and more than 50 trust officers to work on the cases. So far, officials have distributed $79 million to about 60,000 people. Among those whose whereabouts are unknown are seven members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, said Herb Sakalaucks, the fiduciary trust officer whose territory includes 27 tribes and stretches from New England to Florida. These are people who have moved away from Western North Carolina, he said. The Eastern Band of Cherokee members are owed a total of $16,000, said Sakalaucks, who is based in Nashville, Tenn. Finding people sometimes requires deciphering records, he said. For example, his office discovered that the birth year for an Eastern Cherokee member seemed to indicate the person was born in 1969. Sakalaucks said it turned out the person had been born in 1869 and was long dead. The money reverted to the tribe. Sometimes the greatest challenge of his office comes when they actually find people. "The biggest thing is contacting them and getting them to believe we're not con artists," he said. "I've got one person we've located, but we can't get them to send in the paperwork because they think it's a scam." Copyright c. 2007 Asheville Citizen-Times. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: American Indian traditions to help soldiers heal" --------- Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2007 08:51:12 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HEALING SOLDIERS TRADITIONALLY" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/ stories/2007/02/26/02262007wacphoenixproject.html Camp uses American Indian traditions to help soldiers heal By Cindy V. Culp Tribune-Herald staff writer February 26, 2007 For decades, Richard Thompson has struggled with an injury he received during Marine Corps training. But the Gholson resident doesn't dwell on the loss of most of the hearing in his left ear. Instead, he is troubled that the resulting medical discharge rendered him unable to serve in Vietnam. As Thompson got news of buddy after buddy getting killed in the war there, the question of why he was spared ate at him. The question lingered for decades - until he got an invitation last year. A friend at the local Veterans Administration office called him and asked if he would volunteer at a retreat camp for soldiers and their spouses. Called Project Phoenix, the camp is located about 45 miles north of Dallas and is designed to help soothe the invisible wounds of war. Organizers wanted Thompson's help because of his American Indian heritage. His grandmother was a Shawnee and grandfather was a Nez Perce. The idea was for Thompson to lead retreat participants through traditional American Indian warrior ceremonies. It made sense to him, the 59-year-old said, because even though weapons and strategies change from war to war, the psychological impact is much the same. So Thompson and his wife, Kelli, a social worker, decided to give it a try. They attended their first retreat in April. By the end of that weekend, they were convinced they had been called there by a higher power. The camp is open to any U.S. soldier, but most participants have recently returned from deployment in the Middle East, Thompson said. The majority suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, he said, and many are suicidal or are a signature away from divorce. But when the soldiers participate in the ceremonies of his ancestors, Thompson said, they undergo a visual transformation. The rituals validate their service, he said, and prepare them for the future, whether that means living on the home front or going back to war. Rite of passage "The Native American ceremony helps them let go," said Thompson, who drives a truck for a local company. "I like to think I show them a sacred way, a gift that has been gifted to me." Thompson is the first to say that he and his wife are only a couple of the many volunteers who make the camp a reality. Trained counselors, massage therapists and others provide vital services, he said. Plus, there are many generous donors who allow the program to operate at no cost to the soldiers. But Thompson is convinced that American Indian culture has something special to offer soldiers. One example is a ceremony in which they place their hands in a bowl of red dirt, which symbolizes the blood of combat. The dirt is washed off by their spouses, and they are thanked and welcomed back by the larger group. Thompson also helps soldiers pray in a traditional sweat lodge. The lodge is not for everyone, he said, but many soldiers and spouses find it to be a fulfilling religious experience. Soldiers also can get help deciphering their dreams and nightmares from an American Indian viewpoint, Thompson said. That service is one of many provided by a volunteer at the camp, D.M. Redeagle. Since that first retreat, the Thompsons have gone to the camp nearly every weekend. They even have used vacation time to volunteer on weekdays. The experience has erased much of Thompson's pain, he said. After years of questioning, he now sees his service at the camp as the reason why he was allowed to survive when so many of his Marine Corps buddies didn't. "I wouldn't say it's a healing," Thompson said. "But it's a great sense of relief that I am able to give back to people who took my place." Program endangered? Thompson's new fear is about the camp's future. The executive director of the organization that runs Project Phoenix - the Military, Veteran and Family Assistance Foundation - is currently under investigation by officials at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The Washington, D.C., facility, which has long been esteemed as the crown jewel in military medicine, has been under the microscope in recent days due to a series of articles in The Washington Post. The stories documented substandard living conditions for some soldiers who are there after suffering war injuries. The articles also talk about the bureaucratic red tape that keeps soldiers from getting treatment and getting on with their lives. In one of the stories, military officials say the foundation's director, Michael Wagner, appears to have solicited support for the camp while on the clock at Walter Reed. His job there was to match up soldiers in need with businesses, charities and individuals who want to help. Soliciting for a charity on the side would be considered an illegal conflict of interest under federal law, Army regulations and Defense Department ethics rules, the article says. The story also quotes some Walter Reed employees and soldiers' family members as saying that Wagner treated them callously and made it difficult for them to receive assistance. Wagner, who resigned from his position at Walter Reed last month, denies all the charges, according to the article. Thompson said he has no doubt that Wagner is innocent. He said he thinks Wagner has become a scapegoat because Project Phoenix has been successful in helping veterans outside of the dysfunctional bureaucracy, he said. Although Thompson said he is confident the camp will survive the controversy, he is worried that Wagner may have to resign his position with the foundation. If that happens, it would be a terrible loss to America's soldiers, he and his wife said. "Dr. Mike's dream is to heal one veteran at a time," Kelli Thompson said. "And he's doing that." cculp@wacotrib.com 757-5744 Copyright c. 2007 The Waco Tribune-Herald, Cox Newspapers, L.P. --------- "RE: Tulsa, Tribes reach out" --------- Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2007 08:28:22 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRIBES WITH TULSA JURISDICTION DISCUSS VIEWS WITH CITY" http://www.tulsaworld.com/NewsStory.asp?ID=070226_To_A1_Cityt43947 City, tribes reach out By P.J. LASSEK World Staff Writer February 26, 2007 Officials of Tulsa and the Cherokee, Creek and Osage discuss working together. The chiefs of the three major tribes with jurisdictions inside Tulsa's city limits had a historic meeting with Tulsa officials last week to talk about building a partnership for economic development. "This is a huge step in breaking down these artificial barriers that have kept us from working together," Osage Chief Jim Gray said. "The fact that you have all three tribal leaders sitting at the same table with Mayor Kathy Taylor shows there is a willingness." During their nearly two-hour session Tuesday, tribal leaders, Taylor, and members of the city's Economic Development Commission decided that the meeting was only a first step with many more to come. A key issue was finding what the long-term interest would be for the tribes, individually or as a group, in helping Tulsa to grow. Cherokee Chief Chad Smith said he needed to determine how helping Tulsa would help his tribe, which is based in Tahlequah. "What may be good for Tulsa may not be good for the Cherokees," Smith said. He stressed that the key to a partnership is understanding the long-term, sustainable goals and how the Cherokees choose to fit into them. Muscogee (Creek) Chief A.D. Ellis said his tribe was ready to diversify its economic development beyond gaming. The tribe owns land along both banks of the Arkansas River near 81st Street and Riverside Drive. The Creek Nation Casino operates on the east bank and the tribe has plans to develop the west bank, Ellis has told the Economic Development Commission. Gray said the Osage tribe wanted to create an environment that will draw out-of-state Osage members back, but "we can't do it alone." All three tribes operate large casinos either in Tulsa or just outside the city limits. Former U.S. Rep. Brad Carson, who works for the Cherokee Nation, said city officials first need to understand the tribes, their commonalities and differences, and their competitiveness. "The tribes have worked together, but there is rivalry," he said. The session produced a suggestion that the city have meetings with individual tribes. "What we have around this table is historic," Carson said. "There are people that control tens of millions of cash flow and can spend it on projects of their choosing. But for the tribes here, Tulsa is not the focus, it's a hub." Carson said the challenge for the tribal leaders is that if they do something big in Tulsa, they will have to explain how it benefits other towns in their jurisdictions such as Stilwell, Okmulgee and Pawhuska. Better communication between the city and the tribes also was encouraged. Taylor said one frustration in efforts to work with the tribes is that the city has no legal expertise in tribal laws or affairs. It is like working with a different country, she said. Carson said the city needs to understand the capacity of the tribes because they have their own governments and can be frustrating to work with. Taylor said city officials believe downtown development projects hold a lot of opportunities for the tribes. She also pointed out the city's desire to work with the Creek Nation on Arkansas River development. Carson said the tribes could offer incentives to bring businesses to the Tulsa area, but that would come at a price because tribal land is exempt from sales taxes. Economic Development Director Don Himelfarb said the tribes "should have a strong voice and presence here." "Starting today we have developed a point of contact with the tribes through the Economic Development Commission committee on tribal affairs and through my office so that hopefully, the tribes, which are such an important and valued part of our business community, will be able to call on us if they hit a bottleneck," he said. Margo Gray - an Osage tribal member, Tulsa businesswoman and member of the Economic Development Commission - said the discussion with the tribes "is just another portal to where we can move the economic engine that benefits everyone." Claude Sumner, the executive director of the Creek Nation, said that when tribes "are the focal point for the discussion on economic growth, investment and participation in a development program, there has to be a heartfelt, mental capturing of the information necessary to deal with Native American tribes, and I haven't seen that." "The tribes have been here for many generations, and have been given legal status, and have some powerful ability to make life easier in the business world of this country and in Tulsa especially," he said. "The leader role has to start with the (mayor) who sees the nations as an international entity to do business with. I applaud her." Copyright c. 2007 , World Publishing Co. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Cherokee Nation Special Election Results" --------- Date: Sun, 4 Mar 2007 16:43:56 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PENDING CERTIFICATION, MEMBERSHIP RESTRICTED" http://www.cherokee.org/home.aspx?section=story&id=FGOzZCl+mNE= Cherokee Nation Special Election Results February 5, 2007 TAHLEQUAH, Okla. - A Cherokee Nation Constitutional amendment restricting membership to descendants of Indians listed by blood on the Dawes Rolls has passed. Cherokee voters overwhelmingly approved an amendment to the Cherokee Nation Constitution in a special election Saturday, March 3, by a decisive vote of 6,693 (77%) for the measure to 2,040 (23%) against. The amendment limits citizenship in the Cherokee Nation to descendants of people who are listed on the Final Rolls of the Cherokee Nation as Cherokee, Delaware or Shawnee and excludes descendants of those listed on Intermarried White and Freedmen rolls taken at the same time. "The Cherokee people exercised the most basic democratic right, the right to vote," said Chad Smith, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. "Their voice is clear as to who should be citizens of the Cherokee Nation. No one else has the right to make that determination. It was a right of self-government, affirmed in 23 treaties with Great Britain and the United States and paid dearly with 4,000 lives on the Trail of Tears." Smith added that the number of voters who turned out to vote on the constitutional amendment was actually more than the approximately 6,700 who approved the Cherokee Nation Constitution four years ago. "This was an unexpectedly high turnout, considering it was a special election with nothing else on the ballot," Smith said. "I think that reflects the idea that this is an issue that has been close to the heart of the Cherokee people and an issue they have thought about carefully before voting." The special election was brought about by a petition of registered Cherokee voters, and was an historic event for the Cherokee Nation, as its first ever stand-alone election to vote on a Constitutional amendment. Election results are unofficial until certified by the Cherokee Nation Election Commission, but percentages are not expected to change significantly. Copyright c. 1998-2006. Cherokee Nation. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Native American Center lacks money to stay open" --------- Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2007 08:50:39 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="OHIO INDIAN CENTER TAPPED OUT" http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php? story=dispatch/2007/03/02/20070302-D4-00.html Native American center lacks money to stay open Director hopes to reopen food pantry and clothing operation Rita Price THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH March 2, 2007 The gardens outside the Native American Indian Center of Central Ohio look the way they're supposed to look in early March: brown, withered, lonely. Inside, the center is dark and chilly, too. Carol Welsh wants to believe in a springtime rebirth for both areas. But she knows the flowers are the only sure bet. "We don't have any money," said Welsh, the executive director. On Feb. 5, financial crisis forced the South Side center to close and suspend food-pantry service for the first time in its 32-year history. Welsh said she hopes to reopen the pantry and clothing part of the center on Monday, thanks in part to a minimum-wage employee who is willing to work for free. "Even if I don't get paid, people still need to get fed," Rick Collins said. "I have a very patient landlord." Welsh's mother, a Sioux Indian from South Dakota named Selma Walker, founded the center in 1975. Supporters dug and sold earthworms to raise the startup money. Now at 67 E. Innis Ave., the center has outlived Walker, survived two fires and moved various times. Discontinued grants are another matter, Welsh is learning. In 2005, the center received roughly $200,000 in grants, and $76,663 from the Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Board of Franklin County, according to records supplied by Welsh. For 2006, the only large grant to come through was roughly $70,000 from ADAMH, Welsh said. Counting donations and program fees, the center's reported revenue dropped from $352,336 to $182,963 in just one year. Welsh said she hasn't looked hard enough for other funding sources. "We don't reach out. We don't have the savvy to reach out," she said. "I had just kind of quit worrying about funds, because it was going well." Now she pays herself for five hours of work some weeks, nothing other weeks. Welsh's husband, Mark, also works at the center. Together, the parents of five earned barely $29,000 last year, she said. "Our credit cards are maxed out. We haven't had health insurance for years." Still, she isn't ready to give up. Corinne McManus, a spokeswoman for ADAMH, said the agency is satisfied that the prevention and addiction services it funds are continuing. "We're holding our meetings," Rick Collins said. "Those programs are still going on." The Mid-Ohio FoodBank stands ready to resume the center's pantry supply, said Evelyn Behm, associate director. In the meantime, other area pantries are available to serve the 200 or so families who use the center each month. Mrs. Welsh said the center's pantry is for anyone, not just American Indians, although she estimated that about 60 percent of those who visit are of Indian heritage. According to a 2005 U.S. Census survey, about 2,100 Franklin County residents identified themselves as solely American Indian or native Alaskan. Even if the pantry is open, other referral programs and on-site social activities might remain on hold after Monday, Welsh said. The Selma Walker Memorial Powwow, however, still is planned for Memorial Day weekend at the Franklin County Fairgrounds. rprice@dispatch.com Copyright c. 2007 The Columbus Dispatch. --------- "RE: Lawmakers want Committee for Indian issues" --------- Date: Thu, 1 Mar 2007 08:52:18 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NEBRASKA LAWMAKERS WANT INDIAN COMMITTEE" http://www.fremontneb.com/articles/2007/02/28/ap-state-ne/d8nisl6o0.txt Lawmakers want committee for American Indian issues February 28, 2007 LINCOLN, Neb. - Lawmakers think state government needs to be more knowledgeable of issues facing American Indian tribes in the state. The Legislature gave first-round approval Wednesday to a bill (LB34) that would create a seven-member group of state senators called the State- Tribal Relations Committee. Sen. DiAnna Schimek of Lincoln, who introduced the bill, said the committee could inform lawmakers of issues that need addressed. The committee would monitor legislation that might affect relations between the state and tribes, and it could also craft legislation for the Legislature to consider. Membership on the committee would be based on interest and knowledge of tribal issues. A service of the Associated Press(AP) Copyright c. 2007 Fremont Tribune. --------- "RE: Tribe gets say on Wind Farm" --------- Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2007 08:50:39 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WAMPANOAG GET SAY ON NANTUCKET WIND FARM" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/tribegets1.htm Tribe gets say on wind farm By KAREN JEFFREY STAFF WRITER March 1, 2007 Along with federal recognition comes a seat at the table for members of the Mashpee Wampanoag, who will have a voice in determining the future of a proposed wind farm in Nantucket Sound. Members of the tribal council have made their views clear: While emphasizing support for alternative and renewable energy projects, they oppose Cape Wind Associates' plans to build 130 turbines on Nantucket Sound. They've asked that alternative sites be considered. Members of the tribal council are concerned about aboriginal fishing rights and damage to potential underwater archaeological sites. "Historically the Sound is of great importance to the tribe," tribal spokesman Scott Fearson said. "The tribe considers the Sound to be ancestral waters. There are a number of concerns about this project." The Mashpee Wampanoag, like their sister tribe, the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), have been designated as a cooperating agency by the U. S. Department of Interior's Mineral Management Service, the agency that will have the final say on the project. That means the tribal council's views and its analysis of the proposed plan have been actively solicited by the federal government. And while the tribal council will not participate in the actual decision-making process, like the Coast Guard, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Massachusetts Historical Commission and the Cape Cod Commission, to mention a few, the tribal council's views will carry great weight. As federally recognized tribes, the Mashpee Wampanoag and their sister tribe on Martha's Vineyard are considered sovereign nations. As such, interactions between the tribes and the Department of Interior are considered "government to government" communications. Donald Widdess, chairman of the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribal council, said his tribe has not taken a public stand on the proposed wind farm but is keeping an eye on the issue. A tribe, he said, "is a community, and in that community there are diverse views on a subject such as this." Until such time that it becomes clear "who is the beneficiary of this project, we will probably not issue an opinion," he said. He added, "Projects like this are usually driven by self interest. Whether that means a benefit to the consumers or to the project developer could affect what, if anything, we will say." However, members of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council voiced their concerns months before federal tribal recognition was assured. Last summer they met privately with a representative of Minerals Management Service - the deciding agency on the wind farm proposal. In a follow-up letter dated Aug. 24, 2006, members of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council wrote, "The Tribe's economic health and cultural heritage are virtually defined by our reliance on our coastal resources. "The Cape Wind project would disrupt the fragile habitat of these aboriginal fishing grounds and pose new navigational hazards to our fleet. The consequences would be devastating, in terms of both economic development and public safety." Also of concern to the tribe are potential archaeological sites in and around Horseshoe Shoal. In 2003, during an archaeological survey paid for by Cape Wind Associates, scientists found evidence of an ancient forest buried 6 feet under the floor of Nantucket Sound. Pieces of birch wood, grass, soil and insect parts were found in what scientists believe was a forest floor some 5,500 years ago. And while this prehistoric landscape suggests the area was above sea level then, questions remain as to whether there are archaeological artifacts in the same area. As a result of these finds, Cape Wind altered its plans, moving some turbines farther from the discovery site. Still, members of the tribe told the federal government of concerns that siting a wind farm on Horseshoe Shoal could be a hazard to future archaeological investigations. Mark Rodgers, spokesman for Cape Wind Associates, offered no opinion on the position staked out by the Mashpee tribe. But he said, "We believe at the end of the day, when all the analysis and assessments have been done, Horseshoe Shoal will prove to be the most viable site." Karen Jeffrey can be reached at kjeffrey@capecodonline.com. Copyright c. 2007 Cape Cod Times. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: EPA tells State Uranium Mines are on Indian Land" --------- Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2007 08:50:39 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NAVAJO COURT VICTORY" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://sfreporter.com/articles/publish/outtake-022807-tribe-triumph.php Tribe Triumph By Laura Paskus February 28, 2007 EPA tells state uranium mines are on Indian land. For almost two decades, the Navajo Nation and environmental activists have held the line against a company trying to open four uranium mines near the reservation towns of Church Rock and Crownpoint. Now, a recent decision from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has given activists new cause for hope. In February, after consulting with the US Department of the Interior's Office of the Solicitor and wading through public comment, the EPA determined that the private land slated for development is, in fact, a dependent Indian community. That means one thing, the EPA's David Albright says: The federal government - and not the state of New Mexico - has final say in issuing an underground injection control permit. For the tribe, the EPA's decision is a "huge victory," attorney Eric Jantz with the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, which represents opponents of the mine, says: "This is really a struggle for self- determination, tribal sovereignty and the right of people to be able to say what kind of industries they host in their communities." In February, activists filed another lawsuit, asking the court to review the NRC's decision granting Hydro Resources, Inc.'s (HRI) license, which they say violated federal environmental laws. According to a press release from Uranium Resources, Inc., parent company to HRI, it will appeal the EPA's decision to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. Since 1988, when the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) first issued Hydro Resources, Inc., a license, opponents have repeatedly appealed decisions from the federal agency. In 2005, the tribe even passed a law banning uranium mining and processing from the reservation. All the while, HRI has had to stand down while its license was on hold. The company estimates it has already spent more than $25 million on the project, and claims the state has lost more than $37 billion in revenue. In December, the NRC dismissed the last of the appeals and validated the company's license, but there remained one major sticking point: whether the state or federal government could issue the project's required "underground injection control permit." During in situ leach mining, as it's called, water fortified with chemicals is pumped into the ground. The uranium is removed from the resulting sludge, while the water - contaminated water, activists say - is pumped back into the groundwater. Because the project area includes private land, HRI and the state have said the state can issue the permit. In fact, the state granted one to the company in 1989. The tribe, however, claims control of mining activities on those 160 acres, saying its ban applies to any and all lands within the external boundary of the reservation. To sort out the issue, in 2005 the New Mexico Environment Department requested that the US Environmental Protection Agency determine whether or not the private allotments are part of a "dependent Indian community." As uranium prices continue climbing, the Navajo reservation isn't the only place slated for uranium mining. Sen. David Ulibarri, D-Cibola, has introduced a bill to the state Legislature requesting that the state work better with industry to "resolve existing barriers" to uranium production in the state. Copyright c. 2000-2006 by the Santa Fe Reporter. --------- "RE: Tech Tidal Wave heads toward Tribe" --------- Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2007 08:50:39 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="INTERNET SUPERCENTER ON NAVAJO NATION" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_5326782 Tech tidal wave heads toward tribe By Electa Draper Denver Post Staff Writer March 1, 2007 In one of the most starkly beautiful and sparsely populated deserts in the country, among a Navajo people who live in large numbers without electricity, running water, paved roads or telephone service closer than 10 miles, cutting-edge supercomputer technology is about to hook them up. "We're going to end the digital divide in one of the poorest nations, one poorly served by public utilities," says Tom Davis, dean of instruction at Navajo Technical College in Crownpoint, N.M. "We're going to leapfrog the Navajo Nation ahead of what's available in the finest homes and communities in New York City or Denver." The Internet to Hogan Project combines the newest innovations in radio and wireless technology, high bandwidth (OC3, or Optical Carrier level 3) and the world's largest supercomputer, TeraGrid. On a reservation the size of West Virginia - and one that sprawls over parts of New Mexico, Arizona and Utah - it will cause an explosion in educational opportunities, emergency communications, business possibilities, scientific and technological research, and state-of-the-art telemedicine, according to Davis and the cadre of young and zealous Navajo engineers and partners at the University of California-San Diego, University of New Mexico and so on. This is not trickle-down technology. It is technology transfer as tidal wave. Hans Werner-Braun, a networking giant who is now principal investigator with the High Performance Wireless Research and Education Network in San Diego, says the Navajo contacted the program after hearing about it from California tribes. "The Navajos are starting at the leading edge" Werner-Braun says. "... You need the confluence of the technology and the right, enthusiastic people. It would have been nearly impossible to do this a few years ago. It's really cool, from my point of view." The project has about $2.5 million in startup costs and hopes to get about $3 million a year until it is complete, in about five years. This grid of supercomputers is the most powerful connection one can have and will give the Navajo Nation and its estimated 250,000 people the research and computational capabilities of a major university, Davis says. "We will be able to reach homes outside the power grid, using alternative energy such as solar and wind," says 26-year- old Jared Ribble of Little Water, N.M., the network system administrator. "We can use this technology to get around our mesas." It will be a network owned and operated by Navajo professionals, says 39-year-old Jason Arviso of Crownpoint, the team's Internet specialist, who, for years, had to live off the reservation to work in his field. "It was always our goal to return one day to apply technology to the community," Arviso says. "...I asked an elder, 'Do you welcome it?' She said: 'I see my grandchild smiling."' The project, which saw construction of its first tower Jan. 29, entails a wireless "pipe" from Albuquerque to Crownpoint, roughly 120 miles to the northwest. College students, faculty and other community members will build an extended mesh of broadband towers and install Little Fe (Little Iron) portable mini-supercomputers, connecting the college and the TeraGrid to some of the 31 Navajo community centers by July. Then, over the next few years, the project will connect schools, clinics, hospitals, police departments, firehouses and homes throughout the eastern part of the reservation in New Mexico. Arviso said the network eventually will spread west into the Arizona and Utah portions of the reservation - 110 small supercomputers, one in every Navajo chapter house (the equivalent of a rural town hall). This is an elegant solution to the last-mile problem - the challenge of getting technology into homes, in this case, hogans, some of the most remote homes in the country, Davis says. "I like dealing directly with the community, from the elders to the young kids. We're training. We're teaching," says team member Chris Yazzie, 26, from Kayenta, Ariz. The college has tapped several universities, the Department of Energy and the state of New Mexico, among others, for expertise and startup funding of several hundred thousand dollars. "We were discouraged by some experts from even attempting it," Ribble said. "Being a Navajo technologist, and going to people who are the experts who say, 'You're Navajo, you shouldn't even attempt it,' it hurt me. But it fueled my drive to make sure we're successful. A lot of our partners are so excited this is a Navajo project." Diane Baxter, education director with the San Diego Supercomputer Center, recalls her first visit to the reservation in January. "The first thing that struck me was how isolated it was. Nobody's cellphone worked. This community will no longer be victimized by big utilities (limited service at high cost). This technology will allow the Navajos to determine their own future. This is one community college with big dreams." Werner-Braun says he also is "pretty proud" of it. "It's not about technology. It's about people," Werner-Braun says. "Isolation should be a choice ... not a barrier." Staff writer Electa Draper can be reached at 970-385-0917 or edraper@denverpost.com. Copyright c. 2007 The Denver Post. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Conversation: Presidential Candidate Richardson" --------- Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2007 08:28:22 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SONNY SKYHAWK INTERVIEWS NEW MEXICO GOVERNOR" http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096414557 'I would have a cabinet department for Native American affairs' by: Sonny Skyhawk February 23, 2007 A conversation with presidential candidate Bill Richardson Editor's note: New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson in January began his run for the Democratic presidential nomination, betting on a solid record and his longstanding relationships with the Indian and Hispanic peoples of his region. Indian Country Today's special correspondent, Sonny Skyhawk, sat down with Richardson to discuss his relationship with the Native peoples of New Mexico and his plans to continue improving that relationship if he were president. Following Skyhawk's introduction are excerpts from their conversation. SANTA FE, N.M. - I'm an elder of sorts and have worn out a few pairs of moccasins in this life. Not much by way of politics piques the interest of this old warrior, let alone state politics. But Gov. Bill Richardson's second term finds me paying attention. I talked with him in his office in Santa Fe about his ideas on improving the relationship between New Mexico and the American Indian people of the state. Sonny Skyhawk: How was it possible for you to establish such a strong rapport with the Pueblo population in New Mexico, and yet many other governors are having difficulty addressing the Native population in their own states? Gov. Bill Richardson: Since the beginning, since I was a congressman, [the] Secretary of Energy, United Nations ambassador, I felt that our Native American people have not gotten the priority attention they deserve, so I've made them partners. I've treated them not just with respect, but I've also used deeds. When I was in Congress, we passed a lot of legislation [that involved] returning lands to the Pueblos, respecting religious beliefs, Indian religious rights, national parks, [and] joint efforts between the Pueblos and the federal government. When I was [the] Secretary of Energy, we returned millions of acres to the Utes in Utah for energy development, and then at the United Nations I very proudly presided over a conference on Native peoples from around the world. [...] As governor, I've had two cabinet members [who were] Native Americans; I've elevated the Indian affairs to cabinet level - it never used to be cabinet-level. I've appointed Native Americans to not just jobs in the administration, but commissions that deal with water and infrastructure. We just negotiated a gaming pact, an Indian gaming agreement, with all the pueblos for 45 years from now and it was built on trust; the Native American people get assurance and exclusivity in their gaming for another 40 years [and] the state gets more revenue from the casinos and that's a fair arrangement based on respect. I've never felt that it is a matter of just trying to get votes or feeling good, but that the Native American people are real partners; and if you want to resolve problems in New Mexico involving land, water or energy, you got to have the Native people with you. [...] If I'm elected president, I would propose to make the cabinet secretary of Indian Affairs the Secretary of Indian Affairs; I would make it cabinet level. I would try, because I believe within the Department of the Interior it does not get the attention it deserves. I would have a cabinet department for Native American affairs. [...] In terms of being governor, we have said that we recognize all tribes as equals, self-determination and government-to-government. And a Pueblo governor is equal to the governor of New Mexico. They're citizens of New Mexico. I just feel very strongly about it and I'm going to continue doing that if I'm elected president. Skyhawk: I know you have a good relationship with Joe Garcia [president of National Congress of American Indians] ... Richardson: He swore me in. No governor in New Mexico has ever been sworn in by a Pueblo governor. It's traditionally the Supreme Court, the chief justice; but I said no, I'm going to break tradition. I want a Pueblo governor. Skyhawk: What kind of message would you give Indian leaders throughout the United States as to how you would like to see the government-to-government relationship continue? Richardson: [As president] we would deal with each tribe as a sovereign entity, we would respect that; we would have a cabinet-level agency that dealt with Indian affairs, we would upgrade it and it would be a relationship of respect and consultation. I would probably be the first president to have a Native American in the cabinet ... I would be inclusive; I would have, in my administration, a cabinet that looks like America. Skyhawk: As a candidate that is running for the highest office in this land, can you see the relationship with American Indians as being not only vital to the presidency but vital to the point that you try to acquire the acceptance of Native Americans throughout America? Richardson: Yes, I would consider it a vital relationship and today it's not considered that. I'm very concerned about the lack of commitment by the federal government, not just in the area of health care but also education. This is why in New Mexico, because there is no strong federal commitment, we have the statewide Indian Healthcare Act where the state, not takes over, but supplements the health care that is not happening [on the federal level]. I'm particularly concerned about the plight nationally: not just of reservation Native Americans, but urban Indians. Many are living in our cities, off the reservations, and they are not getting health care - they are not getting assistance. We need to develop some better delivery systems for urban Indians throughout the country in our major cities. I would consider it vital. I would make it a government-to-government relationship. I would include also a number of initiatives that would bureaucratically elevate that status, such as a cabinet agency; such as an effort to deal with each tribe as a sovereign nation and I would try to resolve this Indian trust fund issue. I would try to resolve some of the issues related to waters and public lands and the disputes that exist. First, I would fully fund the Indian Healthcare Act. There would be a stronger budget in my administration on Indian health care. When it comes to education and when it comes to childhood obesity, the highest suicide rate is among Indian kids. I would try to set up on the reservations, as I have here in New Mexico, school-based health clinics: health clinics in schools that are able to work with kids, counsel them and give them early intervention. I would change the way the federal government deals with Indian people by giving them more priority and more funding, but also giving them more access and more respect and trust. Skyhawk: How would you ask for help from Native Americans? Richardson: I would ask the Indian people for help because I would say, "Look at my record. Look at what I've done, not just the speeches I'm giving or the votes I've cast. I've actually done things, in New Mexico and as a congressman, that have helped Indian people. Look at deeds, not words." I've had a long record with Indian people and they would be very much a part of my administration. I would not forget that I was elected in 1982 because of the Indian vote, because I had a very strong Hispanic candidate and I'm Hispanic, too; but it was the Indian vote that went with me and I won very narrowly to become a congressman. I remember my debts. But I also ask for the help of the Indian people because I believe I'm honest, I'm passionate and I've got a proven record with Native Americans. Copyright c. 1998 - 2007 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Language Loss can be Reversed" --------- Date: Sunday, February 25, 2007 07:56 pm From: George Ann Gregory Subj: language revitalization Anumpa Achukma/Good News Language Loss Can Be Reversed 2006.08 This is a newsletter dedicated to reporting the successes in revitalizing endangered languages worldwide. Share your good news with us by sending us an article about your program or current activity in revitalizing an endangered language. Please forward this newsletter to anyone who might be interested. Restoring Prestige During the question/answer period of a presentation at a conference, a young Cherokee man brought up the issue of young people being ashamed to speak their native tongues, the reason being that these languages were non-prestigious in the areas where they lived - in this particular case, Navajo in Arizona. This speaks to recent and on-going suppression of Native languages and cultures by non-Indians in that area, particularly through schools. This, perhaps, is a social argument for having education via the Native language - this increases the prestige of the Native language. This use of language has been used successfully by the Hawaiians and the Maori, and to some extent even Irish, to increase the viability and longevity of their indigenous languages. While there are fewer and fewer native speakers of Irish, having twelve years of Irish insures that there are many second language speakers of Irish and consequently keeps the language alive (Dr. Alan Hudson, PC, January 14, 2007). Other prestige uses of language include for governmental and religious purposes. There are groups in the Southwest, who conduct government business via their own languages. Young Dine' (Navajo) who cannot speak their own language have little chance of being heard at a Chapter House meeting, for example. And, of course, this principle has been used successfully by Christian missionaries around the world to convert indigenous people. There are many churches where the service is conducted entirely in an indigenous language. This is still the case, for example, among many Choctaw churches. Since many elders are Christian, going to church is the place to go to learn the language. Unfortunately, young people are no longer going to church in the same numbers as in times past. What draws young people today (for any time for that matter) is popular culture. And popular culture has an effect on the language of young people. This suggests that we need to expand our languages into all possible domains - prestigious and popular. Success Stories Alutiiq (Aluet) speakers of Kodiak record CD to preserve dying language http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/rural/story/8594236p-8487031c.html Alutiiq is likely spoken by fewer than 100 people in Alaska. Alutiiq Museum Director Sven Haakanson Jr., a Harvard-trained anthropologist who is also Sugpiak, estimates that between 35 and 50 original speakers live on Kodiak Island today. A CD from the sessions will be available for sale later in the year, and museum workers say demand from visitors already exists. In Bolivia, Speaking Up For Native Languages http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ article/2007/01/29/AR2007012901665.html LA PAZ, Bolivia - Andrea Mamani stood in front of her students the other day and started the afternoon lesson by pointing to her head. The 22 students, aspiring public heath-care professionals in white labcoats, responded in ragged unison: "P'iqi." She pointed to her arm. "Ampara," they answered. Mamani was teaching them Aymara, an indigenous language spoken mainly in the rural highlands of Bolivia and Peru. The students in her class, most of them urbanites, had scant previous knowledge of the language. But they are pioneers in a training program that President Evo Morales -the country's first indigenous president - hopes will become standard for all government employees. Evo Morales wants to make Quechua and Aymara the official languages of Bolivia, instead of Spanish - an estimated 37% of the population speak an indigenous language. Universities report that enrollment in indigenous language programs is up since he took power,and the Education Ministry continues to open new centers where the languages are taught. Last year, a student at San Pablo Catholic University in Bolivia wrote his graduate thesis in Aymara - a first for the country. Spelling game creator aims to revive Shuswap The Shuswap Spelling Game is a new creation from Sugar Cane resident Winston Alphonse to help people learn the language. http://www.wltribune.com/portals-code/list.cgi? paper=37&cat=59&id=826301&more=We'ytkp . If you don't understand this word - "hello" to a group of people - you may want to consider the Shuswap Spelling Game, a new creation from Sugar Cane resident Winston Alphonse. He says Shuswap, the original language of the Williams Lake area, is about 90 per cent lost in this region. So he wanted to find a way to bring it back and get young people interested. "When I hear a conversation (in Shuswap) between young people, then my job will be done," he says. The game is comprised of a board with crossword-like spaces. There is a bag of Shuswap letters complete with accents. The object of the game is to form words across the squares. If you are interested in the Shuswap Spelling game contact Winston Alphonse at ShuswapSpellingGame@yahoo.ca. Immersion unlocks language for Cree students http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/third_page/story.html? id=453e26b0-4518-4556-8c62-d0bae581b0ce Cree immersion is a bright idea that was introduced in Saskatoon two years ago with a group of 13 kindergarten kids at Confederation Park School. Coupled with the Grade 1 class added last September, there are now 23 students enrolled in the program. The numbers will multiply again in the fall when a Grade 2 class joins the lineup. For all but two of the students, Cree is a new language. Growing up in the city, immersed in urban life, most of them speak only English. Rabbitskin (the teacher) dreams of a day when there is not just a class, but a whole school in the city dedicated to the teaching of everything Cree. She envisions students from K to 12 learning the language and drumming up the history and maintaining the Cree traditions."We teach songs, rhymes, prayers. And humour. There's a lot of humour in Cree." Classes in Cree are offered at three high schools in Saskatoon. Dogniez says this program goes beyond that. More than learning the language, this is about preserving a culture. bflorence@sp.canwest.com Ph.D. program helps to preserve Hawaiian language http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096414452 The Hawaiian language and culture's ongoing revitalization is evident in the more than 1,000 children, ages 3 to 18, who are currently receiving their education in the Hawaiian language within the 10 schools located on Oahu and in the University of Hawaii-Hilo's doctor of philosophy degree in Hawaiian and indigenous language - the country's first doctorate of its kind, according to the school. ] Five students are enrolled in the new program, which was established this fall for a doctor of philosophy degree in Hawaiian and indigenous language and culture revitalization. "We're not an ivory tower Ph.D. We're a community service Ph.D.," said UH-Hilo Hawaiian professor Pila Wilson. There are 15,000 people who can speak Hawaiian reasonably well, but only about 100 remaining elders who grew up speaking it, Wilson said. The goal is to make English the language of business and work, and Hawaiian the language of the home for Hawaiian families, Wilson said. "The Hawaiian language is not going to live if you are below average when you speak," he said. Strengthening Hawaiian has the broad value of strengthening Hawaiian families and strengthening the economy, because Hawaiian culture is a major reason when tourists come here, he said. American Indians Urge Oklahoma State Lawmakers to Oppose 'English Only' Measure http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,251092,00.html American Indian leaders, citing a desire to preserve their native languages, urged state lawmakers Thursday to defeat "English only" legislation that would declare English Oklahoma's official language. In a letter to lawmakers, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chad Smith said the measure, approved on Wednesday by the House General Government and Transportation Committee, "is really just an ugly symbol of intolerance." "Our great state has been blessed with more than 35 Indian nations, each of which has a unique culture," Smith said. "Part of that culture comes from the richness of native languages, which have been spoken here for centuries before Oklahoma became a state." In a separate statement, George Tiger, a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and chairman of the United Indian Nations of Oklahoma, said tribal governments support school language preservation programs that could be harmed by the measure. Meanwhile, the bill's author, Rep. George Faught, R-Muskogee, said he is working with other lawmakers, including members of the Legislature's Native American Caucus, to resolve concerns. "We're exploring that right now," Faught said. "I've obviously walked into a hornet's nest. I didn't realize this was going to be this heated. Lawmakers of Indian heritage said they will work to defeat the measure. Poetry in Indigenous Languages annie g. ross First Nations Studies School for the Contemporary Arts Simon Fraser University 8888 University Drive Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6 annier@sfu.ca Telephone: 604-291-3575 Facsimile: 604-291-5666= Halito, George Ann thank you so much for writing. i and the project would be honored to be mentioned in your newsletter. we do have a deadline of march 15. do you think that is enough time? i hope so. we could extend to the end of march if necessary. we hope to keep poems to 100 words or less. however, if someone is writing in their heritage language, those powerful indigenous words, they could translate into english the 100 words, but take as many words as they like for the original form. thank you so much annie Mayan languages enjoy renaissance http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=236772007 A bilingual education drive in the mostly Mayan country is reviving 21 languages pushed aside since the Spanish conquest, some of which were close to extinction. Students at a school in the mountain village of Popabaj two hours west of the capital simultaneously learn numbers and vocabulary in Spanish and the Kaqchikel Mayan language. Each of Guatemala's Mayan languages is being standardised with dictionaries and school grammar books. The Internet has made it easier to create and distribute them. "There has been a significant growth of young people speaking Mayan languages," said Maya lawyer Amilcar Pop. "This is a historic moment." Youth want to boost language skills http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660194357,00.html When asked if they spoke their indigenous language, only about a third of the students attending an American Indian youth conference raised their hands. When asked if they wanted to learn to speak it, nearly everyone else raised their hands. Shirlee Silversmith, Indian education specialist in the Utah State Office of Education, told youths at the Salt Palace Convention Center Friday they could make a difference by encouraging Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, to make funding for "indigenous heritage languages" a priority. "Many languages are becoming extinct," Silversmith said, urging students to support a proposal to add $275,000 each year in ongoing funding to the Office of Education budget to develop curriculum for each of Utah's five principal indigenous languages and dialects: Navajo (Dine), Ute (Nooahpahgut), Paiute (Numic), and Goshute and Shoshone (Shoshoni). The proposal didn't make it onto a final priority list legislators are looking at. The San Juan District offers Navajo language courses in its K-12 curriculum and has a media center that is producing curricula materials. If the earmarked funding is restored, it would fund such efforts statewide. "This is having an impact on students academically," Turk said, pointing to an analysis that showed for English proficient Navajo students, learning the Navajo language narrowed achievement gaps with non-Indian peers. In language arts, the achievement difference between white and Navajo students narrowed from 22 percent to 15 percent; in math it went from 35 percent to 23 percent; and in science from 45 percent to 10 percent. E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com Dear Friends of Indigenous Languages: The web site for the 14th annual Stabilizing Indigenous Languages Symposium is now up and running at http://linguistlist.org/sils/ with a call for papers and information on the conference site. Descendants of the Joseph Band are laboring to preserve the Nez Perce language Agnes Davis, 82, is the daughter of the last recognized chief of the Joseph Band of the Nez Perce tribe. She and a few others from her tribe are spending countless hours working to preserve a dialect of Nez Perce. (Colin Mulvany The Spokesman-Review ) There are other native speakers of Nez Perce, particularly on the Nez Perce Reservation in central Idaho and on the Umatilla Reservation in eastern Oregon. But Davis and Andrews think and speak a dialect of the language as it evolved in Oregon's Wallowa Valley, a place for which the elders of the Joseph Band still yearn."We carry that grief still today," Redstar said. "Our ties are to the land and the people interred in the land." Davis' father, Willie "Red Star" Andrews, was raised by Joseph and his two wives in Nespelem after his own mother died at Fort Spokane, where the Joseph Band wintered in 1885. As a little girl, Davis sat by the side of the woman she called "grandma," one of Joseph's wives who was then old and blind. I would sit by her bed and she would cry for Wallowa," Davis recalled. "I was 8 or 9 and I didn't understand. (Nespelem) was my home. Today, it is estimated that more than 400 descendants of the Joseph Band live on the Colville Reservation. Many of them, including Davis and Redstar, keep the traditional ways alive in the Walahsat Longhouse, a mile north of Nespelem, on land donated by Redstar's mother. In April, the Nez Perce celebrate the First Roots feast at the longhouse as part of the Walahsat religion, sometimes called the Washat, Longhouse or Seven Drum religion. The longhouse is divided into two large rooms. One has tables and chairs and is used for informal occasions. The other room is used for ceremonies, including funerals. A large rectangular dirt floor, called the ha`wtnin' we`yes, or sacred floor, is cut into the center of the ceremonial room to maintain the Wallowa people's ties to Mother Earth. "Our language reaches into the earth and becomes part of it and ties you to the ground," said Redstar, who often leads longhouse adherents in song and prayer in Nez Perce. "The words tie you back to Mother Earth. It is the language into which we were born." Nez Perce is a Sahaptin language similar to the dialects spoken by Yakima, Cayuse, Walla Walla, Palouse and Umatilla tribes. The Cultures and Language Program of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation is working to preserve two other native languages, Okanogan and Moses Columbia, which are Salish. Grants and Conferences https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/glf_charter.pdf Genographic Legacy Fund Offers Grants to Support Indigenous Communities Worldwide Deadline: June 15, 2007 The Genorgraphic Legacy Fund aims to empower indigenous and traditional peoples on a local level while helping to raise awareness on a global level of the challenges and pressures facing these communities. Reflecting the values and missions of the Genographic Project ( https://www3. nationalgeographic.com/genographic/ ) partners - the National Geographic Society, IBM ( http://www.ibm.com/ ), and the Waitt Family Foundation ( http://www.waittfoundation.org/ ) - support from the fund will be directed primarily toward education initiatives, cultural conservation, and linguistic preservation and revitalization efforts. Genographic Legacy Fund grants are open to individuals, groups, and organizations. Applicants must provide a record of current or prior work in support of indigenous education programs and/or cultural or linguistic conservation efforts. Applicants should be seeking to expand their service to indigenous communities and have a demonstrated commitment to improving general awareness of indigenous cultures, histories, and heritages. The majority of the people forming the group responsible for providing project governance must be members of the indigenous community in which the project will be implemented. Projects are divided into two general categories: 1) Micro - smaller, discrete projects that typically require lower amounts of funding; funding for these projects will be capped at $25,000 each. 2) Macro - larger, more complex projects undertaken in conjunction with other entities such as NGOs, local education institutions, government agencies, etc. Grant amounts are more flexible but will not typically exceed $100,000 each. Applications are accepted on a semi-annual basis. Submissions for semi- annual review will close on June 15 and December 15 of each year for the duration of the project. More information on the fund and the grant application process as well as an FAQ can be found on the Genographic Legacy Fund Web site. Sponsor: Administration for Native Americans/ACF/DHHS Program Number: 12676 Title: Native American Languages Preservation and Maintenance E-mail: tichappelle@acf.hhs.gov Program URL: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/open/HHS-2007-ACF-ANA-NL-0016.html SYNOPSIS: The sponsor provides funding to assist applicants in designing projects which will promote the survival and continuing vitality of Native American languages. Deadline(s): 03/19/2007 Link to full program description: http://www.infoed.org/new_spin/spin_prog.asp?12676 Nahuatl Language and Culture Workshops Mapitzmitl offers these workshops. You can contact him at pazehecatl@hotmail.com. You can view video footage and photographs of Kalpulli Ehecatl (Community of the Wind) at http://kalpulliehecatl2.blogspot.com. Cherokee Language Lessons http://nativepeople.net/moodle http://www.cherokee.org Send your stories to holabitubbe@gmail.com. Tell us about your language programs, plans, proposals, etc. Thanks to the ILAT Digest for sharing stories. If you do not wish to receive any further newsletters, I apologize. Please hit "reply" and type in unsubscribe. I will remove your email address from our mailing list. If you received a forwarded copy and would like to receive this newsletter, please send us your email address. I will add it to our mailing list. Ho Anumpoli! is a New Mexico non-profit organization. For more information about us, go to http://www.geocities.com/hoanumpoli For previous issues of Anumpa Achukma, go to http://www.geocities.com/hoanumpoli/anumpa.html -- George Ann Gregory, Ph.D. Choctaw/Cherokee Fulbright Scholar --------- "RE: Language as old as the Hills" --------- Date: Tuesday, February 27, 2007 07:37 pm From: Dale M. Subj: Language as old as the Hills http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/547062.html Language as old as the hills In Western North Carolina, Cherokee are on a mission to keep the language and culture of their ancestors alive Travis Long, Staff Writer February 25, 2007 Cherokee - The 10th-graders in Laura Hill Pinnix's class stand in the shadow of Cherokee Central High School as a Cherokee traditionalist explains the rules of a Cherokee marble game. There's something else very traditional and very Cherokee about the scene: the language the students are using. Pinnix encourages them to speak only Cherokee while playing the game, which vaguely resembles boccie. "O-s-da!" she calls as a student makes a good toss. Another student quietly asks Pinnix to translate the words big nose into Cherokee. The teenager then giggles as she taunts an unsuspecting opponent with "ay-kwa ga-ya-so-li." Pinnix and others at the Cherokee Reservation in Western North Carolina are on a mission to keep the language and culture of their ancestors alive. Cherokee language classes, such as Pinnix's, are required for graduation. This is a stark contrast to past efforts to rid the Native American students of their culture by assimilation and, in some cases, force. "I want to make it personal, " Pinnix says of her efforts. "There are a lot of cultural traits that are still existent, but a lot of students, they don't know they have it. ... Nobody has ever said to them, 'This is what makes you Cherokee.' " Pinnix, who is in her 50s, says Cherokee was the only language spoken in her home when she was a child. She didn't learn to speak English until the second grade. Now, she teaches her native tongue to students who know very little Cherokee - if any - when they enter her class in high school. A recent study conducted on behalf of the Eastern Band of Cherokees concluded that the Cherokee language is between Stage 6 and Stage 7 of the eight stages of language loss. Stage 1 would be considered dynamic survival of a language, while Stage 8 means extinction. Of the estimated 13,400 members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians- about 9,000 of whom are on the North Carolina reservation - just 460 are fluent in the Cherokee language, the study found. And 72 percent of the fluent speakers are older than 50, and an average of three Cherokee speakers die every two months. Margaret Bender, associate professor of anthropology at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, says the Cherokee language was eroded over the years by constant contact with English. Almost from the outset, the Cherokee Reservation relied heavily on tourism to sustain its economy. Thus, many Cherokee assimilated with modern culture and their native language went away, says Bender, author of "Signs of Cherokee Culture: Sequoyah's Syllabary in Eastern Cherokee Life." Aside from everyday exposure to English, the Cherokee language was once forcefully stripped from the culture of the Eastern Band of Cherokee under the guise of civilizing Cherokee youth. From 1880 to 1954, Cherokee children were required to attend the Cherokee Boarding School. Originally founded by Quakers, the school was taken over by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1892. At the time, the government was intensifying its efforts to remove Indian culture from native youth. Cherokee tribe elder Jerry Wolfe, now 82, remembers sneaking up the hill behind the school with childhood friends to play Cherokee marbles, one of many activities forbidden at the school. He also remembers students being punished for speaking Cherokee. "The disciplinarian would wear that belt across his shoulders crisscrossed," Wolfe says. "If he thought you were even just thinking about speaking Indian language, he'd just about give you a good whack ... one that would really make you hurt." Today, efforts to preserve the language are evident across the reservation. Signs display street names in English and the Cherokee syllabary (a form of writing invented by Sequoyah in 1821). Public buildings and many businesses bear names in both languages, and billboards remind elders to speak Cherokee to children on a regular basis. With help from a $17,500 federal grant matched by the Eastern Band, the tribe bought and is programming 10 hand-held voice-translation computers, called "Phraselators." A user can speak into the devices in English, then get an equivalent recorded phrase in Cherokee. "Thirteen Moons," the latest book by "Cold Mountain" novelist Charles Frazier, is being painstakingly translated into Cherokee by translator Myrtle Driver. And adult Cherokees are showing increased interest in some of the language immersion classes and speaking groups available in Eastern Band communities. Perhaps the most aggressive initiative to revitalize the language is a partnership with Western Carolina University in Cullowhee to create the first phase of the Kituwah Immersion Academy. The tribe has invested nearly half a million dollars in the academy, which serves 27 preschool-age children. "English Stops Here" is posted on a red octagonal sign in the day-care center's hallway. For five to six hours a day, five days a week, the children are cared for and spoken to exclusively in the Cherokee language. Children are referred to by their Cherokee-pronounced names, and the syllabary replaces the ABCs. The tribe plans to expand the program through sixth grade. 'Incredibly rich' Bender, the Wake Forest professor, says the Cherokee language is still relevant. She thinks it has the ability to evolve, adapt to modern concepts and, in some cases, meld with English vocabulary to form a modern Cherokee language. "Cherokee is an incredibly rich and beautiful language," Bender says. "The fact that it is so different, in particular, makes it a resource and a part of our heritage in this country that we all should be supportive of maintaining and revitalizing. "I think if we really think about it, we'll realize it's not just the Eastern Band that stands to lose if this language is lost." For 16-year-old Jakeli Swimmer, the motive for keeping the language alive is personal. Learning Cherokee creates opportunities for him to connect with elders in his family. His grandmother, Amanda Swimmer, is a renowned potter who speaks fluent Cherokee. "She likes it better than talking in English because she can speak it faster. She feels more comfortable talking in Cherokee," Jakeli says. He plans to leave the reservation someday, so his basic Spanish skills will probably be of more use to him than Cherokee. Still, Jakeli is one of Pinnix's most enthusiastic students. "If everyone doesn't pass it on, pretty soon there won't be any more speakers," he says. "We wouldn't really be Cherokee anymore. We would be just another group of Indians." Copyright c. 2007, The News & Observer Publishing Company A subsidiary of The McClatchy Company. --------- "RE: Keweenaw Community seeks to save Ojibwe language" --------- Date: Wed, 28 Feb 2007 08:40:44 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="KEWEENAW SAVING OJIBWE" http://www.in-forum.com/articles/printer.cfm?id=157827 Keweenaw community seeks to save Ojibwe language Associated Press February 26, 2007 BARAGA, Mich. - With few living native speakers left, the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, like many American Indian groups across the country, is launching an initiative to preserve "the first people's language." The reservation in Michigan's remote Upper Peninsula is one of those belonging to the Ojibwa tribe, whose native language is Ojibwe. Members say the language is an essential aspect of their culture. "Language is communication, but also it tells who you are," said Earl Otchingwanigan, professor emeritus of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University in Minnesota. "Within the language itself, there is history and culture built into it." "Other cultures around the world ... have brought their languages back from the brink of extinction, such as the Maori in the South Seas," he said. "The Jewish people in Israel have brought their language back, so it can be done." A $109,708 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is financing a study of the language's level of use. On Jan. 22, the Keweenaw community sent out 1,200 questionnaires to members, with questions including, "Where do you use the Ojibwe language?" "Do you feel comfortable using the Ojibwe language?" and "If you had the opportunity to participate in language instruction, what fluency level would you hope to attain?" "Ojibwe is spoken all across the Great Lakes, but there are many different dialects," project director Jesse Luttenton told The Daily Mining Gazette of Houghton. "We want to preserve and revitalize the language as it is specific to the Keweenaw Bay." Copyright c. 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. Copyright c. 2007 InForum, Fargo - Moorhead, Forum Communications Co. Fargo, ND 58102 - All rights reserved. --------- "RE: GIAGO: A view from South Dakota, the 'Red' State" --------- Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2007 08:28:22 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GIAGO: SOUTH DAKOTA MORALITY POLICE" http://www.indianz.com/News/2007/001536.asp Tim Giago: A view from South Dakota, the 'red' state February 26, 2007 Many Americans view South Dakota as a backward red state. It is not a red state because of the nine Indian reservations within its borders because the voters residing on those reservations are historically blue. Check an election-day map by coloring all of the red and blue counties and you will find that every Indian reservation in the state will be colored blue. It is a red state because its legislative body is fast becoming the most determined morality police" in the nation. The state became a laughing stock last year when it tried to push through an anti-abortion law that would have put doctors in jail. The voters put the proposed law on the ballot and soundly defeated it. Was that the end of it? Not on your life. Here it is 2007 and the "morality police" in state government have made amendments to the defeated proposal and are trying to get it passed again. Last week a legislative committee suffering from abortion fatigue rejected this year's version of the abortion ban. The bill was amended to include exceptions for rape, incest and the health of the mother in an effort to put the objections of the majority of state citizens to rest. But the bill is not dead yet. State Senator Dennis Schmidt of Rapid City, a Republican of course, said, "It's too important. It's a life-or-death issue." I am reminded of a comment I saw on a blog on huffingtonpost.com. It said those lawmakers pushing to overturn Roe v. Wade "are a bunch of old white men trying to tell women how it is to be a woman." It is ironic that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has joined this religious parade. Last year we had a bunch of tribal council members on the Pine Ridge Reservation trying to do the same thing. They broke with a long history of culture and tradition in order to express their new Christian ethics. They impeached their first ever woman president, Cecelia Fire Thunder, because she was an advocate of Roe v. Wade. In the turbulent 1960s and 1970s South Dakota was known amongst American Indians as the Mississippi of the North. Racial prejudice and discrimination was not only widespread but also inherent to a white culture still steaming over the demise of Custer and his 7th Cavalry at the Little Big Horn. Troopers sporting Seventh Cavalry banners still march in present-day parades. White South Dakotans are still enamored of an editorial written in 1891 by L. Frank Baum in the Aberdeen Saturday (SD) newspaper calling for genocide against the remaining Sioux population after the massacre at Wounded Knee when he wrote, "perhaps we should wrong them one more time and wipe these untamed and untamable creatures from the face of the earth. " He must have been thinking about that comment when we wrote the flying monkey scene is his book The Wizard of Oz 10 years later. When I was a student at Holy Rosary Indian Mission on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, a school run by the Jesuits of the Catholic Church, there was a strict code fashioned by the Church that governed the morals of movies produced in that era. On the one night of the week when we were allowed to see a movie we had no idea that the movie we watched had to be approved by the Church. Things haven't changed much in communities like Rapid City. The local movie theater owner decides which movie is going to be shown in this city. It reminds me of the good old days when the Catholic Church did the same thing. When the Michael Moore movie Fahrenheit 9/11 came out a couple of years ago many of us had to make strong vocal protests to the theater owner before he would screen the movie. The Last King of Scotland and Queen have not been shown in Rapid City yet although the lead actors in both movies have been nominated for Oscars. That's the kind of mind control and moral policing I am talking about that is a regular occurrence in this fair state. Indian columnists like myself are barred from writing for the state's two largest dailies, one owned by Lee Enterprises and the other by Gannett. I am sure that neither Lee Enterprises nor Gannett would approve of this censorship if they knew about it. It is strictly a local decision. The old adage that "Freedom of the press belongs to those who own the press" is never truer than in South Dakota. When a white columnist for the local daily can compare the Pine Ridge Reservation to Iraq and get away with it that should tell everyone about the state of mind in this state. Former Democratic Senator Tom Daschle just endorsed Barak Obama for president and since Daschle is from South Dakota his endorsement will hardly matter because this red, red state will never go blue for a black man. Perhaps South Dakota would shed its identity as a "redneck" state if its legislative body and its governor spent more time trying to solve its horrendous racial problems between Indians and whites and worried less about policing the morals of its mainly white citizens. The efforts of racial reconciliation in South Dakota died with former Republican Governor George Mickelson and there hasn't been a politician or governor of courage and true morals since. It seems they are too worried about telling women what it is to be a woman. --- 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. He was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard in the class of 1990-1991. Clear Light Books of Santa Fe, NM (harmon@clearlightbooks.com) published his latest book, "Children Left Behind." Copyright c. 2007 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: JODI RAVE: Weaving a Story" --------- Date: Wed, 28 Feb 2007 08:40:44 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="JODI RAVE: ARTIST HONORS HERITAHE IN BLAMKET DESIGN" http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2007/02/28/jodirave/rave19.txt Native News with Jodi Rave Weaving a story: Missoula artist Jesse Henderson honors his Chippewa-Cree heritage By JODI RAVE of the Missoulian February 28, 2007 When the nation's premier woolen company asked artist Jesse Henderson to design a Pendleton blanket, he took it seriously. "I was trying to be sensitive to my people," said Henderson, a Chippewa- Cree from the Rocky Boy's Reservation in northern Montana. "It's not just another pretty blanket. I set out to show a good representation of us." The Missoula resident met with a Cree Canadian spiritual leader. They went into a sweat lodge and prayed about how to respectfully represent the First Nations Cree in Canada and the United States using the designs of thunderbirds, drums and the sun. With the blessings of tribal spiritual leaders, Henderson has since designed a blanket that depicts the Cree communicating with the Creator. The design is well on its way to becoming a best-seller in the Pendleton Woolen Mills Legendary Blanket series. Each blanket in the series is given a name. And each blanket design is based on a specific tribe's beliefs, traditions and ceremonies. The best- seller to date reflects the horse culture. "`Celebrate the Horse' has been a home run," said Robert Christnacht, a senior manager for Pendleton's home and blanket division. "It exceeded our expectation by a factor of two or three." Yet, early blanket sales already have Henderson's "Sacred Dance" running neck-and-neck with the horse, which was designed by in-house artists rather than as a commissioned piece. Since 1976, the Legendary series has introduced one blanket a year. And each year, one is retired. The White Buffalo Calf Woman blanket was taken off the market in 1996. It's now enjoying a secondary market life selling for about $1,000, said Christnacht. Indian blankets have a storied history dating back to the late 19th century. Barry Friedman details the history of trade blankets in his book, "Chasing Rainbows." The colorful blankets typically were of a geometric design and created by whites to appeal to Indians. Pendleton, a Portland, Ore.-based company, started weaving blankets in 1896. Prior to World War II, 800 woolen mills operated in the United States. Today, only a handful of mills remain in operation. Although Pendleton's blanket appeal has spread far and wide, Natives still make up half the demand. "We're the No. 1 blanket retailer in the state," said Barry Cubas, an owner of Desmond's clothing store, where the "Chief Joseph" Pendleton blanket outsells all the Legendary blankets, reflecting national sales trends. Cubas credits design, color and variety for the sales from Montana to Japan. Babbitt's Wholesale in Flagstaff, Ariz., is one of the top Pendleton sellers in the United States. Helene Babbitt, whose husband's family started in the trading post business more than a century ago, estimates that some 40,000 Pendleton blankets are sold annually in the Southwest. "Almost all my business is to Native customers," said Babbitt, who is located near the Navajo Reservation. Once a popular trade item, the blankets remain integral to Native traditions, often used as "giveaway" items and to honor others. "It's a tradition," Babbitt said. "It's so incorporated into the culture." Henderson took his commission to design a Pendleton blanket to heart. His two final designs proved so popular with the company, they used both. The second design is being used on a children's blanket, called "Chiefs Robe." Eight of the Legendary blankets are now available in stores, where they retail for $188, on average. Henderson's "Sacred Dance" will be available in stores beginning March 25. Meanwhile, Henderson is counting his blessings as an artist. He credits legendary artist C.M. Russell for being an inspiration that led the Chippewa-Cree to develop a style that is becoming recognized across the United States. Southwest Arts magazine named Henderson one of the top young Native American artists in the country in 2005. Henderson's work commands attention through style and composition. "His warm and richly detailed style of Western art, along with unique sensibilities, makes this year's blanket exceptional," Christnacht said. "We know it will be a favorite for the story it tells, but also simply for its beauty." --- Reporter Jodi Rave can be reached at (406) 523-529 or at jodi.rave@lee.net. Copyright c. 2007 Missoulian, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Passport restrictions fly in Face of Tradition" --------- Date: Sun, 4 Mar 2007 16:43:56 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PASSPORT RESTRICTIONS vs JAY'S TREATY" http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096414582 Cuthand: Passport restrictions fly in the face of tradition by: Doug Cuthand March 2, 2007 A new chapter began in January with Canada's relationship with the United States concerning new regulations that require passports for air passengers entering the U.S. All non-Americans need a passport to enter the United States and Americans require one to re-enter. This is not going over well in Indian country, and for good reason. The border has been in place only for about 200 years and it's completely arbitrary when it comes to our traditional national boundaries. In Saskatchewan, members of the Dakota Nation sought asylum in Canada following the Battle of the Little Bighorn. In reality, they had been coming to Canadian territory for years, with their hunting territory extending into southern Manitoba and Saskatchewan. In the late 1800s, members of the Cree Nation hunted in the Bear Paw Mountains of Montana and went as far south as the Missouri River. The Rocky Boy's Reservation is a Cree community located in Montana. The borders for the First Nations of Turtle Island have been fluid and overlapped the boundary for years, with the 49th parallel or "medicine line" considered only a minor inconvenience. Probably the strongest example of disregard for borders is the Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne - a unique tract of land that spans the Ontario and Quebec borders and the Canada/U.S. border. There are three councils and three jurisdictions, but people freely cross to work, live and marry on all sides of these lines. The Jay Treaty between Great Britain and the United States came into effect in 1794 and First Nations, who had territory and people on both sides of the border, were granted free access. The United States recognizes the Jay Treaty, but Canada doesn't. First Nations people from Canada are thus allowed to work in the United States, and some communities have built their economy on it. Mohawk ironworkers have built the skyline of many American cities, including the former World Trade Center towers in New York. Because they recognize the Jay Treaty, Americans welcome First Nations individuals from Canada into the armed forces. Our people go because the pay is better than in the Canadian military. Many young Mohawks have joined the U.S. Marines and served overseas. This fact came out during the Oka Crisis, when the Canadian government found out that Mohawk warriors were the real thing. Other First Nations people whose territory straddle the border or live close by also have traveled across freely. Participants and followers of rodeos and pow wows travel across the line during summers to visit friends and relatives on both sides. As First Nations people, we have a close kinship with our brothers and sisters in the United States. We don't see it as different country, but another occupied part of Turtle Island. I was doing a documentary a few summers ago and attended a rodeo in Montana, where I met a Crow Indian who said he had a cousin in Canada. It turned out that his cousin was my cousin. Many of our people also travel south for seasonal work. At one time, people from the Blood Reserve in southern Alberta traveled to Moses Lake in Washington to pick apples. A community on the reserve was called "Moses Lake" because of this. Many members of the Mohawk Nation don't consider themselves Canadians or Americans, and oppose the new passport restrictions on political grounds. In the good old days, before all this paranoia, the former National Indian Brotherhood sent a delegation to England to lobby against the patriation of the British North America Act. One of the elders for the brotherhood was Ernie Benedict, a citizen of Akwesasne, who showed up at Heathrow carrying a "Mohawk passport." I was a member of the delegation and we were meeting with officials at the Canadian embassy. Our contact received a call and told us that he just got an urgent message that "some Indian chief has showed up at the airport with a Mohawk passport." He saw the humor in it, and the issue was smoothed over with a temporary solution. I doubt that we would be so lucky today. Benedict, most likely, would be on the next plane home. A year from now, the passport requirement to enter the United States will be extended to include land travel. This will be a difficult pill for First Nations to swallow because it flies in the face of the Jay Treaty and the tradition we have of free access within Turtle Island. Times have changed, and not necessarily for the better. Whatever the outcome, we still have friends and relations on both sides of the border. --- Doug Cuthand is an independent producer, director, writer and journalist. His weekly columns appear in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix in Saskatchewan, Canada. Copyright c. 1998 - 2007 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: OPINION: Alaska Natives know more about Wildlife" --------- Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2007 08:50:39 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="OPINION: ALASKA WILDLIFE KNOWLEDGE" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://newsminer.com/2007/03/01/5584/ Alaska Natives know more about wildlife Opinion: Pollock "PJ" Simon March 1, 2007 I have been an assistant hunting guide for five years, big-game transporter for three, wolf trapper for 10, and an Alaska Native for 35 years. Growing up in my hometown of Allakaket, I have with my people lived a subsistence assimilation with the earth and have helped manage our traditional hunting lands as did my forefathers. Villages survived by having a handful of great hunters who respected the quarry and always shared the catch with everyone in the village. This is a true practice in every village here in Alaska. Alaska Nati ves watch the weather as it changes on our traditional hunting grounds, temperatures during the four seasons, health of the animals we harvest, berries, fish numbers, how often it rains or snows, and we all respect the animals we harvest down to returning the bones back "into the woods" so our quarry will be plentiful for future generations. It is an extreme taboo to waste our harvest, so from when we begin to hunt with our fathers, uncles, or grandfathers we are taught only to take what we need. Hunters and elders communicate to find guidance within our tribe and relate sightings along to others. With this all said, I find it distasteful and disrespectful that the Alaska Natives are never mentioned in the great debate over predator control from the News-Miner to self- proclaimed visionaries like Vic Van Ballenberghe. It is like no one lives out in rural Alaska that is worth mentioning. It seems the only time the villagers make the paper is when the troopers fly out to the villages, yet we are never mentioned in the debate over predator control. Living in Galena and now Fairbanks has enriched my knowledge of all consumptive users of ungulates here in Interior Alaska. Truth be told, the consumptive users will only grow in the future. It is up to us all to find checks and balances within the game populations. Alaska Natives have a deep respect for the wolf, wolverine, and grizzly bears. They are intertwined within our lives and traditional practices. We never want to see these animals wiped out, but the numbers can be culled in order for seasonal harvests by all user groups. In 2002 I founded a group called Friends of Moose in Galena which was comprised of subsistence, sport, and commercial guides that came together and all worked towards a common goal, "Promoting abundant wildlife, educatio and cultural preservation." We all were vocal about not eradicating the predators but culling enough so that there would be enough game for all user groups. This was when the state and federal governments were having meeting after meeting and not much was getting accomplished. You can't kill wolves with paper, you kill them with steel snares, traps, and bullets. I was tired of all the political "bigness" that was taking place and found out that locals can make an immediate impact by working together. The animal rights activists have always pushed for the abolishment of all hunting practices. If this were to happen, my Athabascan culture would surely disappear and die in short order. Alaska Natives are efficient hunters, what would we do without being able to harvest our traditional foods? We cannot scale a Hot Pocket, skin a box of chicken, or pluck a can of Spam. We all want to go to heaven, but we don't want to die right now! Somehow we must all work together and solve the real problems. We all live here in Alaska and that is what makes us unique from other states. In Mr. Ballenberghe's recent column in the newspaper, he pointed out how extreme it was that so much wolves were getting killed. I wonder if it occurs to him that there are hungry people living in rural areas that are having a tough time? With fuel prices at $6 per gallon in Allakaket and the price of basic groceries going up, life will only get tougher. We are proud people and all Americans. Yet somehow we get shoved under the carpet of politics and still the tourists take our pictures. Sometimes I think we are a third world country like Haiti, but at least it is warm there. So Mr Ballenberghe, the next time you go to a village take a few photos and trade a local for a pair of moccasins, because the way you see things, we are not in your future. Pollock "PJ" Simon was born Allakaket and currently resides in Fairbanks. Copyright c. 2007 Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: JODI RAVE: Environmental racism expert to speak" --------- Date: Thu, 1 Mar 2007 08:52:18 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="JODI RAVE: ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM SPEAKER" http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2007/03/01/jodirave/rave18.txt Native News with Jodi Rave Environmental racism expert to speak at UM By JODI RAVE of the Missoulian March 1, 2007 The majority of hazardous waste facilities are located near poor communities of color, and the numbers have increased since a groundbreaking study on environmental racism was first released 20 years ago. "When we think of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, we think society has made great strides towards equality, justice and fair treatment of people of all stripes," said Robin Saha, a University of Montana professor who helped update the original report, which is now titled "Toxic Waste and Race at Twenty, 1987-2007." The study, said Saha, shows "we still have a long way to go." The environmental racism report was spearheaded by Robert Bullard, director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark University in Atlanta. The full report, which was sponsored by the United Church of Christ, will be released in mid-March. An executive summary of the report shows that more than 9 million people live within two miles of the nation's 413 commercial hazardous waste facilities, which includes byproducts from chemical manufacturing companies. More than 5.1 million Hispanics, blacks, Asians and Native people live in neighborhoods with one or more commercial waste facilities. The following states have the highest disproportionate numbers of minorities living in waste-host neighborhoods: California, Nevada, Illinois, Alabama, Michigan, Tennessee, Washington, Arkansas, Kentucky and Kansas. An estimated 2.5 million Hispanics, 1.8 million blacks, 616,000 Asians and 62,000 American Indians live near hazardous waste sites, and 83 percent of the locations are in metropolitan areas. Many of the waste chemicals can't easily be reused, leaving those in the business of waste to find ways to store or get rid of their products, including incinerators and landfills. "They are chemicals you don't want in your proximity," said Saha. "These facilities are supposed to manage them properly, but they don't always do it." Reporter Jodi Rave can be reached at (406) 523-5299 or at jodi.rave@lee.net Copyright c. 2007 Missoulian, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: YELLOW BIRD: Warrior Woody: A true hero" --------- Date: Sun, 4 Mar 2007 16:43:56 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YELLOW BIRD: WOODROW WILSON KEEBLE" http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=29412 Warrior Woody: A true hero Dorreen Yellow Bird March 3, 2007 What makes a man care so much about his fellow man that he would risk sure death to save another? Is war justified killing? I woke up at 4 a.m. Friday - wide awake. The snowstorm I'd been watching earlier that evening was curling around toward North Dakota. A large part was moving menacingly, like a wolf on the prowl, toward us. Predictions said it was going to slam into our area, so I scoured the sky for the storm, but the trees were barely moving. There was some new snow, but the anger and frustration of the storm seemed tamed. As I stared outside at the snow swirling softly off the roof the garage, it all seemed so ordinary. And a vision of the amazing stories told to me about Woody Keeble came clear to me. The story appeared in the Feb. 25 Prairie Voice. Keeble was a World War II and Korean War hero. (There is a detailed three-part story of Keeble in the "Soldier of Fortune" magazine by Galen Geer with research by Merry Helm.) I followed Keeble through World War II and the Korean War from stories told by his stepson, Russell Hawkins, superintendent at Sisseton Agency, S.D. As words tumbled out of his mouth, I was transfixed in the drama of the battle. In World War II, Woody was part of a battle to hold Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, a supply line for the Allies. Jim Fenelon, a Lakota man from Standing Rock, S.D., told Hawkins this about that battle. Fenelon stayed close to Woody because he not only was a ferocious warrior but an excellent shot. When the battle was over, Fenelon said, they looked over a horrific sight of thousands of dead enemy. As they stood in awe, three of the Japanese soldiers stood up from that mass grave with guns cocked, ready to fire. Fenelon said he couldn't react fast enough, but Woody, pulled a grenade and threw it right into the middle of these gunners. He saved his life, he said. One e-mailer wrote to me and said, "his father was an umpire in an area amateur baseball league." "Woody," he said, "was the most feared pitcher in the league and a strikeout master." Tossing grenades must have been natural, he wrote. I asked Hawkins about Woody's baseball years. He said laughingly, Woody had a 100 mph fastball that could scare anyone at the batter's plate. He was recruited by the Chicago White Sox before war interfered and changed his path, Hawkins said. I've talked to Hawkins several times after writing the story. I was interested in any details of Woody's ancestry. Surely, I thought, he must have warriorship in his background. I knew some of the stories of the Dakota and the uprising that resulted in the mass hanging of 38 men in Mankato, Minn., in 1862. It was the largest hanging in the history of this country. Many of those Dakota families moved to the Sisseton, S.D., area. Woody's family are enrolled members of the Sisseton/Wahpeton Dakota nation. Were the older Keebles warriors from those battles? Hawkins said they didn't know much about the generations before Woody's father, Isaac. I learned from Hawkins that Woody's father's last name was Buffalo, but it was changed to Keeble during the years when the federal government preferred and tried to change all Indian names into English. Hawkins did know about Woody's father, Isaac (Buffalo) Keeble. He was a big man. He had a 22-inch neck, and he could have been a linebacker for the National Football League, Hawkins said. The old man was tough on his sons, Woody and Tom, Hawkins said. He would have them jump in Pickerel Lake near Waubay, S.D., all year long or until the lake froze over. He told them they would have strong hearts if they did it. I suspect the family believes this is true now. In the years I've listened to stories of the men in my family and our tribe, I've heard extraordinary stories about their bravery, too. Uncles who were captured and lived through torture, witnesses who saw some of these men do deeds that ordinary men wouldn't do. Most were private and humble about their deeds. I also know that it isn't just American Indian men who were courageous. There are heroes from every war and every race. Does war separate the good from the bad so killing is defensive? The enemy is always the bad guy. I know the Keebles of this world are heroes because they give themselves for others, and they are not the people who place a signature on a declaration of war. I wished I had met Woodrow Wilson Keeble. He was a hero with a good and gentle heart and extraordinary strength and prowess. --- 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: COOK-LYNN: Decolonization of American Indians" --------- Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2007 11:34:39 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PART ONE: COOK-LYNN: DECOLONIZATION" http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096414555 Cook-Lynn: Decolonization of American Indians by: Elizabeth Cook-Lynn February 23, 2007 Editor's note: The following is an excerpt from a speech given by Cook- Lynn at a recent Indian Studies conference. The conclusion will appear next week. American Indians tell the counter-story, which has been neglected by much of the academic world to Western ideas, which have permeated so much of the dialogue in the modern world. It is in the political dialogue that I have centered much of my work ... because it is in the political dialogue that we can disrupt the rules of the game. It is in the political dialogue that we urge ourselves toward practices that can expose a vast critical examination of what has happened to us and how we must go forward. This dialogue is now called "decolonization." Politics are about power relations and how we are governed. I can think of no subject more useful to those of us who want to culturally affirm our survival; how to define and create indigenous realities; how to rise above oppression and how to value our lives. It is my observation that the life and times of reservation-based and urban Indians - all of us who are working hard every day to improve our lives - are sort of taking one step forward and one step backward. Scholars of Indian Studies are constantly probing the relationship between the indigenous populations of this continent and its colonizers. We recognize that it is a power relationship of enormous consequence. Indians remain the most colonized people in this democracy, and colonization has brought about the loss of tribal power to affect our own lives. One of the pragmatic realities of enforced colonialism, and one of the first strategies for making colonialism work, is the challenge of the power status of women and the dogged dispossession of women's rights. Though I've been called a feminist, I don't want this discussion to be understood as a feminist issue. It is not that. It is an issue of colonization and imperial power based in religion. This was never clearer to me than in 2006 when South Dakota passed a bill which outlawed all abortions for all women in the state, including Native women. It was intended for the ultimate overturning of 1973's Roe v. Wade, which recognized a woman's human right to privacy, thereby assuring the right to health services concerning reproduction in the United States. We all know that the colonial-based Indian Health Service failed in this regard, but now all health organizations were to be bound by this ruling. State political coalitions, including Native women's groups, recognizing the exploitation and extremism of the legislative measure, secured a referendum to put the legislation on the state election ballot in November 2006. Almost 70 percent of the voters rejected the state law. As is often the case in Indian law and politics, a woman was in the crossfire. Cecelia Fire Thunder, Lakota, had two years before been elected by a substantial margin to the presidency of the Oglala Sioux Tribe at the Pine Ridge Reservation, the first woman in modern times to achieve this status. Fire Thunder proposed putting a private health clinic on her privately-owned land on the reservation to serve the reproductive and health needs of all women and children in the region. In my view, it was the best idea for health services anybody had in this region in a hundred years. Not everyone agreed. Within months, Fire Thunder was impeached by her own tribal council, including several women council members. Vice President Alex White Plume, a longtime member of the American Indian Movement, became temporary chairman of the tribe. People on the reservation were torn. A fellow councilman, Will Peters, probably following the ideals of the Christian school systems which have functioned on this reservation since 1860, stood in the council chambers and blasted those who disagreed with the impeachment proceedings: "We don't want to be known in Indian country as the tribe that kills babies." He didn't mention that several Sioux reservation counties have the highest infant mortality rate in the U.S. Within weeks, Oglala activist Russell Means, describing himself as an attorney, though he has no law degree, spoke at public meetings proclaiming that the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie disallowed Native women in leadership roles. He said that the treaty, which ironically had been used successfully as a defense mechanism in the Black Hills land case, disenfranchised Lakota women. He was quoted widely in local and national media. His cohort, Lyman Red Cloud, great-great-grandson of the famed chief of the 1800s who negotiated that treaty, was accompanied by white female church representatives as he gave interviews to news organizations saying: "I would never vote for Cecelia Fire Thunder because she is a woman and cannot be a leader of the tribe." A former chief judge of the Oglalas and lifelong Catholic, Patrick Lee, wrote an op-ed piece saying that a woman having an abortion would be violating tribal law. He is now in retirement from the tribe, a respected faculty member of the Oglala L akota University and teaches law courses even though he apparently fails to make the necessary distinction between tribal law and federal law and state law. Traditionally, in accordance with tribal law, which is thousands of years old, Sioux women have always had access to abortion and birth control and reproductive rights and knowledge. You have only to read the works of the late Lakota scholar, Dr. Beatrice Medicine, to know this is true. Her book, "The Hidden Half," is one of the many anthropological works which document Native women's rights and knowledge. Is it possible that some of the contemporary speakers and leaders of the Oglala Sioux Tribe have failed to remember their traditions in this modern world? Worse yet, have they have failed to reject state law and state jurisdiction on our homelands? Our relatives of past generations who fought hard wars and difficult negotiations for the survival of the people must be mourning the moral and political tragedy of this recent attack on women, tribal government and the law. -------- PART TWO: http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096414583 Cook-Lynn: Decolonization of American Indians by: Elizabeth Cook-Lynn Part two March 2, 2007 Our relatives of past generations who fought hard wars and difficult negotiations for the survival of the people must be mourning the moral and political tragedy of this recent attack on women, tribal government and the law. The truth is, Oglala Sioux men have never interfered in the reproductive lives of Oglala Sioux women until this moment ... until this modern age when domestic violence is increasing and tribal sovereignty is reduced to signing gaming contracts with the state for casino halls. Indian men, now believing in the Christian notion of the inferiority of women, have forgotten who they are. In the old days it would have been the subject of ridicule for men to have forced the submission of women and the dispossession of their roles as creators of life. Men like Russell Means and Lyman Red Cloud would have had no authority in traditional times because misogynistic behavior on the part of men was condemned by tribal authority and not given agency by ignorant media figures and white power systems. That's where men like Means and Red Cloud get their influence, and the tragedy is that I wouldn't have said that 30 years ago when I saw the American Indian Movement as an essential political movement t oward the empowerment of tribal nations. We must decolonize entire communities held in the grip of damaging non- tribal ideologies, which are the basis for tribal/state and tribal/federal relationships that have not changed in 200 years. Among the ideologies responsible for our condition are Christianity, which has brought about a belief in male privilege so that even Native men and women harbor this belief; Manifest Destiny, which has brought about anti-Indian legislation, the superiority of white colonizers and land theft; and capitalism, an economic system based in the exploitation of resources. We must ask ourselves to what extent we have adopted, and adapted to, these ideologies and how these adaptations have been a detriment to us. As we look at this attack on Cecelia Fire Thunder, tribal government, the courts and women, who make up half of the population in any tribe, it seems evident that ideologies embedded in American history have devastated Indian tribes in the last century and that they are now in a crisis situation. Lakotas are the survivors of Wounded Knee, the theft of the Black Hills, the survivors of the unconstitutional Allotment Act and the survivors of federal Indian policy which is a study of colonization and genocide. We are not fooled into believing that casinos are going to rescue us. They will not because the ideologies that are the basis for their contemporary dilemmas are left intact. It's possible that casinos will rescue some tribes, maybe at Fort McDowell, just outside of Scottsdale, Ariz., but not at Fort Thompson, S.D., or Wellpinit, Wash.; not at Crow Agency; not at Shields, N.D.; and not at Pine Ridge. There is a study going on now - a three-judge panel brought together by Oglala Sioux Tribal President John Yellow Bird Steele - that could lead to a new presidential election. It may even lead to the writing of a new Constitution. This is called Democracy at Pine Ridge. White Plume said his rights were "grossly violated" when he was removed from the ballot and Steele won a subsequent election. Little was said about the impeachment of Fire Thunder, and nothing about the attack on the court systems that followed her impeachment. Two female tribal judges have resigned in the last year. Nothing was said about the failure of the courts and the political process. The regional BIA office deferred comment on the OST matter to the Indian affairs office in Washington, D.C. Three judges selected to serve on this panel are John St. Clair, chief judge of the Court of Indian Offenses of Wind River; John Thorne, an American Indian lawyer and Court of Appeals judge for the state of Utah; and Daniel Naranjo, a former chief judge of the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas, a former U.S. magistrate and an "expert on alternative dispute resolution." This entire matter is being handled as a tribal dispute, not as a systems failure. Examiners of tribal governments know that the failure of a legislative function in these governments, the corruption of the court systems by heavy-handed executives and the lack of separation of powers inherent in these systems will never bring about fair and just government to indigenous peoples. These systems were set up to fail in 1934, and it should come as no surprise that they have failed. To treat this as a petty tribal dispute in need of "alternative dispute resolution" is like handling the Black Hills land case like it was a real estate matter, not as a historical theft with unimaginable consequences to peoples and democratic ideals. What can be done? When we recognize the enemy, lots can be done. The enemy is not people who stand up in tribal council meetings and denounce women out of fear and ignorance. The enemy is a system of trust and dependency that makes us all powerless. We must all concern ourselves with this seeming powerlessness. We have to remember that power corrupts, and the white man in his dealings with us has proven his corruption. We have to remember that the absence of power also corrupts. That is what can happen to colonized and powerless people if we don't pay attention to the controversies that divide us. We, too, become corrupt. We are in danger of becoming the colonized and oppressed, and the corrupt people we have long feared we would become. The first thing is to recognize that when white men took away tribal power they challenged us to fight back and recognize the weaknesses brought upon our communities through the theft of our lands, and of our rights and responsibilities as indigenous peoples. We must dismiss the notion that our weakened systems cannot be reformed. We must become political because within politics is the necessary dialogue that challenges the status quo. We must understand that just law is a major agent of social change. When law becomes unjust, the consequence is chaos, and, therefore, we must struggle to make an egalitarian law in accordance with our Native belief systems. We must understand that treaties are the basis for our relationships with other nations, and that includes the defense of our traditional homelands