_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 15, ISSUE 011 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 10, 2007 Cherokee nvda kola/windy moon Passamaquoddy siqon/spring moon Zuni li'dekwakkya ts'ana/little sand storm moon Lakota i`sta wi`ca niyan wi/moon of snow blindness +-------------------------------------------------------+ | 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, Frostys AmerIndian, Remember The Cherokee/Tsalagi; 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: "Are 'immigrants' the appropriate designation for the indigenous peoples of North America, for enslaved Africans and for the original European settlers? No. Are 'immigrants' the appropriate designation for Mexicans who migrate for work to the United States? No. They are migrant workers crossing a border created by US military force. Many crossing that border now are also from Central America, from the small countries that were ravaged by US military intervention in the 1980s and who also have the right to make demands on the United States. So, let's stop saying 'this is a nation of immigrants.' " __ Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz - mixed-Cherokee activist, professor, writer +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Indian Pledge of Allegiance | The Indian Pledge of Alleg- | | iance was first presented | I pledge allegiance to my Tribe,| on 2 December '93 during the | to the democratic principles | opening address of the Nat- | of the Republic | ional Congress of American | and to the individual freedoms | Indian Tribal-States Relat- | borrowed from the Iroquois and | ions Panel in Reno, NV. NCAI | Choctaw Confederacies, | plans distribution of the | as incorporated in the United | Indian Pledge to all Indian | States Constitution, | Nations. | so that my forefathers | | shall not have died in vain | Walk in Beauty! Night Owl +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Journey | In the summer and early fall | The Bloodline | of 1998 the Treaty Unity Riders | | rode a thousand miles on horse- | For all that live and live by law | back, carrying a staff and | We Stand, we Call, We Ride | praying each step of the way. | For All that fear and fear by sight | | We Hear, we Listen, we Ride | These prayers were offered for | For all that pray and pray by strength| each of us, and that the Unity | We Feel, we Move, we Ride | of all Peoples might happen. | For all that die and die by greed | | We Hurt, we Cry, we Ride | Tatanka Cante forwarded this | For all that birth and birth by right | poem on behalf of all the Unity | We Smile, we Hold, we Ride | Riders that we might stop and | For all that need and need by heart | ask if the next words we say, the | We Came, we Went, we Rode. | next act we make is for the good | | of the People or is it from ego | Treaty Unity Riders | for self. +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ O'siyo Brothers and Sisters The forced sterilization of Native Women by the IHS has been documented in this newsletter, and other Native American reporting venues; but ignored to a large extent by mainstrem media. Now, BBC Radio Four, the UK's most respected speech based radio network, is sending an all women production team to the US to interview as many women as are willing to tell their story. They assure all there will be complete confidentiality. This genocidal practice by the very government service entrusted to provide health care to American Indians is a shameful story that must not be kept in the dark. If you are among those women who had your life giving gift taken by the IHS please let your voice be heard. Let the world hear about the devil you faced. That same IHS has been instrumental in making sure medical health has been denied to urban Indians. With all the noise being raised about the treatment of military injured at Walter Reed, please get word to congressional representatives that Indians are being allowed to die due to denial of medical proceedures. DO NOT LET THE GENOCIDE BY IHS CONTINUE! 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: - Higher ed goes on Ute agenda . IHS Genocide - RELEASE: Arizona Tribes - BBC Radio Four: meet with Howard Dean Mistreatment of Native Women - YELLOW BIRD: Extra! - Indian health Rations Native Media Center prospers in Walter Reed's Shadow - JODI RAVE: Rapes against - Some urban Indians denied care Native Women on the rise at request of IHS - GIAGO: Cherokee Nation - Bush Admin. takes limited view votes out Freedmen of Indian Health - YELLOW BIRD: - Interior's Problems due to Fight over Land never ends Lack of Accountability - OPDDIC and URCI aggressions - Interior Department against Zapatistas still in denial over Cobell - Chiapas march turns ugly - Do we need a new - Inuit say Carbon Emissions Eagle Feather Law? violate their Rights - 9th Circuit blocks snowmaking - Government funds at Sacred Peaks Sask. Me'tis Group for Women - OP/ED: - Group gets funding About time for Little Shell Tribe for Womens' Violence Issues - Demotion offer accepted - Healing Project to get by Board of Game Chairman assistance from Feds - Native American trackers - Custody fight of to hunt bin Laden White Woman, Seneca Man - American Indian group - Supreme Court plans W. Ky. Memorial won't hear Jurisdiction Cases - School celebrates - American Indian Historic Recognition Trackers vs. Smugglers - Tribes mourn loss of Falls - Native Justice - Largest single corporate -- Indian inmates' acquisition by a Tribe Religious Rights supported - Military Technology used - Rustywire: She Comes from Lechee to record and teach - Del "Abe" Jones Poem: - Lakota Educator brings Walter Reed Hospital Traditions to Classroom - Upcoming Events --------- "RE: BBC Radio Four: Mistreatment of Native Women" --------- Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2007 08:29:35 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="RADIO FOUR ANNOUNCEMENT" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=8632 Announcement from BBC Radio Four: Mistreatment of Native American women March 8, 2007 BBC Radio Four, the UK's most respected speech based radio network, is making a documentary about the forced sterilization of women in the United States by the Indian Health Service. We would be very grateful to hear from the women who suffered from either being forced or coerced in to having a sterilization operation during the 1970's onwards. It is crucial for us is to hear people's stories in their own words. Very few interviews with women directly affected by these practices have ever been recorded, and through this documentary we would like to put on the record the experiences of Native American women. This is a story which remains completely unknown and untold in the UK. As this is an extremely sensitive topic we would keep all names, locations etc completely confidential. Our female production team will be flying out to record interviews in the US for 4 days from the 10th of April this year and we would like to hear from any women that would potentially like to speak to them for this programme. We understand that this is an incredibly sensitive area and will be extremely grateful if people take part. Please email in confidence the following producers: Jo.meek@allout.co.uk Cordelia.rayner@allout.co.uk Many thanks for taking time to read this request. Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Indian health Rations in Walter Reed's Shadow" --------- Date: Sun, 11 Mar 2007 07:59:22 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="INDIAN HEALTH CARE" http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096414624 Indian health care rations in Walter Reed's shadow by: Editors Report / Indian Country Today March 9, 2007 By now, the entire nation knows about veterans under the care of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. Veterans who had given everything to the war effort were found to be living in squalid conditions, with the usual complement of rotting floors and mouse droppings, wall mold and cockroaches, flophouse mattresses and carpet stains. Such were their government-assigned way stations in their transition back to civilian life after suffering grievous wounds. These wounded were outpatients, a key word that will suggest to many Americans a far remove from the confines of Walter Reed hospital. In fact, as emphasized in the original reporting of the Washington Post, the worst of the outpatient buildings was right down the street from Walter Reed, in close proximity to Capitol Hill and the White House. Any Washingtonian who wants to can drive by it without serious inconvenience. This means that 535 members of Congress and their multitudinous staffs, the White House and its employees, and federal agencies with their own staffs could not summon the energy necessary to care for our wounded even when they were right under the very noses of oversight authorities. It took citizen concern for men and women who could not altogether care for themselves, as well as national newspaper attention, to bring their plight to the light of day. Officials make plenty of stopovers at Walter Reed, of course. But to take a cue from national commentator E.J. Dionne, they serve only to modernize, for media consumption, the Potemkin village of yesteryear - take the photo op and get the VIP types outta here. They've got fund-raising to do and re-election to worry about. The question everywhere in Washington these days is pretty obvious: if Congress, the White House and the agency secretariats couldn't be bothered with such dire problems on their home turf involving the most deserving among us ... what else will they overlook until the publicity turns sour? Indian people are not outpatients so much as out-of-the-way patients. Their health care plight takes place, for the most part, a thousand or more miles from the outpatient warrens of Walter Reed. Like wounded veterans, they've given about all they could to this nation, and they've served in its armed forces in greater proportion than any other population group. The first people of this land will never begrudge veterans the greater care they are bound to receive because concerned citizens and the Fourth Estate exposed a modern Potemkin village. But more than others, they have to wonder how long it will be before their own health care system gets proper exposure. Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, has begun to bring the health care rationing of tribes home to a disengaged White House. In listening sessions around the country, he is hearing actual examples of real-life health care rationing and sharing them with his colleagues on the Senate floor and in every other available forum. As the case becomes clearer, the day comes nearer when Indian health care will get the funding it needs. The hunch in this corner is that if Indian health care were adequately funded, the Indian Health Care Improvement Act reauthorization would not dominate the debate on Indian issues in Congress. But we now know that funding, and the priorities of compassion that drive it, is not the only strike against Indian health care. In derailing the reauthorization last year, the Justice Department put out an unofficial white paper that argued against the reauthorizing bill on grounds it would establish a religion (some healers have a numinous status in some Native cultures), expose the government to legal liabilities (in the event of malpractice by traditional Indian healers) and transgress the constitutional ban on racial preferences (urban Indians, including some not enrolled in tribes, might receive services under the reauthorization, meaning funds would be directed not on the basis of tribal affiliation but of racial identity). Given the white paper's unofficial status (it wasn't even on DOJ letterhead), the reaction from Indian country was furious - and that last clause is the reason why. The White House has found a thousand reasons to be against the reauthorization, so an eleventh-hour attack on health care for Indians as race-based was a new frontier in gratuitousness. The White House contention that it wasn't aware of the DOJ white paper reeks of plausible deniability; you don't find a thousand reasons to oppose a bill, only to faint with astonishment when a thousand-and-first is found. The DOJ paper shows a whiter shade of pale now, having been to the White House for polishing as official policy. The thing to remember about a Potemkin village is that the more complex it becomes, the more unreal it seems. Dorgan's reckoning seriousness, bolstered by Indian community voices far from Washington and Indian organizations and allies within it, is the best prescription we know of for bringing Indian country the full ration of health care. Copyright c. 1998 - 2007 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Some urban Indians denied care at request of IHS" --------- Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2007 08:29:35 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="IHS DENIES URBAN HEALTH CARE" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/58131.html Some health clinics deny care to urban Indians By GARANCE BURKE | Associated Press March 7, 2007 FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - American Indians say they are being illegally denied care at taxpayer-funded clinics that have long served all people of native ancestry but recently began excluding members of tribes that lack formal recognition by the U.S. government. Federal officials deny that qualified patients are being turned away and say they're doing all they can to ensure a health program for urban Indians isn't shut down entirely. The Indian Health Service oversees 33 clinics nationwide that provide free or discounted, culturally sensitive medical services to city-dwelling Indians. Native groups say federal law requires the clinics to serve all patients of Indian ancestry, but some have recently stopped admitting those who can't document their federal tribal status, patients and clinic officials told The Associated Press. "They said if you don't have federal paperwork you can't get service anymore," said Vera Quiroga, a Yaqui elder who was turned away from a clinic she helped found in Santa Barbara and now has to drive to a far-off reservation to get her teeth cleaned. The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs doesn't recognize the 82-year-old as Yaqui, even though her children and grandchildren have tribal documentation. Another former Santa Barbara patient, Janet Darlene Garcia, 50, is a member of the Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation, which does not have federal status. She relied on the clinic for her diabetes counseling sessions. Martin Young, chairman of the clinic's board, says it received a letter last fall from the IHS regional office in Sacramento instructing it to stop offering free health services to patients from unrecognized tribes or who don't have a BIA identification card. It has since turned away about 200 patients, he said. An IHS spokesman said the letter explained who was eligible for care, but denied the agency instructed Santa Barbara to withhold services. However, clinic managers in Tucson, Ariz., Wichita, Kan., and Boston reported getting similar directives. "IHS is suddenly saying that you can't serve this Indian even though he looks Indian, and his family says he's Indian and has all of this history of being Indian, but he doesn't have this piece of paper," said Susette Schwartz, director of the Hunter Health Clinic in Wichita. "We need some consistency." The question of who is entitled to free health care will likely be discussed Thursday during a hearing of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. Under the American Indian Health Care Improvement Act of 1976, Congress funds health care programs for members of tribes recognized by states or the federal government, as well as their descendants. Many states recognize tribes the federal government does not. In California, the right to government-sanctioned medical care is extended a step further, to those whose ancestors lived here in 1852 and are "regarded as an Indian by the community." Phyllis Wolfe, who oversees urban Indian programs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said clinics that are granted federal dollars must follow those guidelines. Program officials did not answer requests to clarify any possible exceptions. Wolfe could not explain why the clinics would have changed their policies. "I don't believe they would do that, but I can't say that that's not been done," Wolfe said. Nationwide, more than 60 percent of American Indians and Alaska natives live in urban areas, according to the U.S. Census. For the poorest of them, the clinics are a lifeline, a place to get diabetes treatment or alcohol counseling delivered by doctors well-versed in native culture. Urban Indians have higher rates of infant mortality and deaths attributed to diabetes and alcohol consumption than city dwellers of all other races, according to a 2006 report in the American Journal of Public Health. The urban clinics are managed by local contractors with funding from IHS, a division of Health and Human Services. But President Bush's 2008 budget proposal would eliminate the program's $32.7 million annual allocation altogether. Under the circumstances, federal officials say, the cash-strapped clinics are doing everything they can to care for all patients in need. "We recognize that the urban Indian population is in need of care and we don't want to disenfranchise any native Americans who are living in urban areas," said Paul Redeagle, deputy director of the IHS office in Sacramento. "We're currently working with the urban programs in California to resolve their problems." Another California clinic, the Fresno Native American Health Center, closed its doors in January. Clinic officials there said they were asked why they were treating patients from tribes the BIA didn't recognize. Redeagle said the Fresno clinic was closed because it was seeing too few patients and did not hire qualified staff, violations of its contract with the federal government. In Boston, workers at the North American Indian Center said they were told not to treat the Mashpee Wampanoag of Cape Cod, whose ancestors shared Thanksgiving dinner with the Pilgrims. But they were allowed to keep offering free health services to the tribe's members after they read the text of the 1976 law to their federal funders. "We actually got requests from IHS to deny service to the Mashpees," said Barbara Namias, who oversees community health programs at the Boston clinic. "We had to refer them back to the legislation." Throughout American history, defining who is Indian _ through tracing family trees or calculating a person's percentage of Indian blood _ has always been political. Each tribe defines its membership differently. In California, just 12 percent of the state's 433,000 American Indians belong to BIA-recognized tribes. The Santa Barbara clinic removed most of its board members in September and replaced them with members of federally recognized tribes. Nonnative staffers who were let go the year before are suing over the alleged bias. Redeagle said his office had looked into questions about the management of the Santa Barbara clinic and had found no proof of wrongdoing. But that's no consolation to Vera Quiroga, who helped start the clinic in the 1970s, long before it moved to its current home in a shopping center. She said her already limited finances are taxed by regular 40-mile trips to the tribal lands of the Santa Ynez Band of Mission Indians. "Now I have to go up to the rez to get seen," said Quiroga, who lives on $1,600 a month from her pension and social security checks. The clinic where she now receives dental work is run by a federally recognized tribe whose members each get sizable checks in casino revenue, but they still qualify for free care from the Santa Barbara facility. Many urban clinics are already trying to make do with less by following the example set by Oakland's Native American Health Center. The clinic has applied for grants from other funders and opened its doors to all urban dwellers to bring in new sources of revenue. "We just want to do what we're here for, which is to help the working poor," executive director Martin Waukazoo said. But Lisa Flores, an environmental planner and documented Pascua-Yaqui member who attended diabetes counseling classes at the now-defunct Fresno clinic, has given up on getting native-focused care in her area. "From a tribal perspective we're all supposed to take care of each other, " she said. "Now that they closed it, the question then becomes: Are you unworthy of health care?" Copyright c. 2007, Santa Fe New Mexican, all rights reserved. --------- "RE: Bush Admin. takes limited view of Indian Health" --------- Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2007 08:40:22 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BUSH ADMIN. PUSH TO ELIMINATE URBAN HEALTH" http://www.indianz.com/News/2007/001803.asp Bush administration takes limited view of Indian health March 12, 2007 The Bush administration's push to eliminate the urban Indian health program comes with a much heavier price tag than reduced services and shuttered clinics. As part of its long-standing objections to the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, the Department of Justice is questioning whether urban Indians, lineal descendants and certain Alaska Natives can receive federal services at all. The stance threatens health care for the majority of Native Americans who live away from reservations. Although federal law, treaties and the trust responsibility have provided the legal basis for Indian health care, the Bush administration now argues such services must be tied to membership in a recognized tribe. Otherwise, the programs could be struck down by the courts as unconstitutional because they are based on race, according to DOJ. "Under the Supreme Court's decisions, there is a substantial likelihood that legislation providing special benefits to individuals of Indian or Alaska Native descent based on something other than membership or equivalent affiliation with a federally recognized tribe would be regarded by the courts as a racial classification," Frederick Breckner III, a deputy assistant general, told the Senate Indian Affairs Committee last Thursday. To tribal leaders, such a view ignores the federal government's obligation to provide health care to Native Americans. They also note that it is legally unsound. "The definition of Indian in the reauthorization is the same definition that has been in law for 30 years and has never been challenged on constitutional grounds," Rachel A. Joseph, the co-chair of the national steering committee to reauthorize the IHCIA. Joseph pointed out that a similar definition of Indian is found in the No Child Left Behind Act, which the Bush administration pushed through Congress six years ago. That law is also up for reauthorization. Supporting the tribal viewpoint at the hearing was Edward P. Lazarus, a lawyer and constitutional scholar. Even if Congress were to expand health care to Native Americans and Alaska Natives who may not be enrolled in a recognized tribe, he said health statistics support the need to address high rates of suicide, alcoholism, diabetes, suicide and other ailments, he said. "It seems to me that a very, very compelling case could be made -- given the conditions of Indian health, both in the cities and on the reservations -- that this is legislation that meets all those [constitutional] criteria," Lazarus testified. Breckner said the Bush administration is willing to work with the committee to address its objections to health care for urban Indians, lineal descendants and Alaska Natives. But the effort to reauthorize the IHCIA has been tainted by the release of a "white paper" by DOJ last fall, on the eve of consideration in the Senate. The paper cited constitutional questions about urban Indian and Alaska Native health care, prompting Senate Republicans to put a hold on the bill. Those same Republicans blocked a Native Hawaiian measure on the same grounds and, with the support of conservative groups, have been questioning a wide range of programs as "race based." Government lawyers have been quietly backing up these objections since the start of the Bush administration. The department's former solicitor general, Ted Olson, represented a white rancher in a U.S. Supreme Court case that denied Native Hawaiians a similar trust status as American Indians and Alaska Natives. With that victory on the books, the administration and its Republican supporters appear to have turned their sights on urban Indians, lineal descendants, terminated Indians and Alaska Natives. "Since 2001, one arm of the Bush administration -- the Health and Human Services Department -- has engaged tribal leaders and authorizing committees in various bill- drafting exercises. But another executive arm -- the Office of Legal Counsel, in the Justice Department -- has secretly crafted reasons to oppose the drafts," Suzan Harjo, a columnist for Indian Country Today, wrote last month. The cut to the $33 million urban Indian program, however, was presented on non-legal grounds. The White House Office of Management and Budget argues that urban Indians can find care at community health centers. Members of Congress of both parties reversed the cut in the 2007 budget and are poised to do the same for the 2008 budget. "The 2000 Census indicated that as much at 66 percent of the American Indian and Alaska Native population live in urban areas," the Senate Indian Affairs Committee wrote in a views and estimates letter on March 2. "The 34 urban Indian organizations serve 430,000 eligible Indian users at 41 sites throughout the U.S., and provide health services such as dental, pharmaceutical, vision, alcohol or mental health treatment, suicide prevention and family wellness," the committee of eight Democrats and seven Republicans wrote. Copyright c. 2007 Indianz.Com. --------- "RE: Interior's Problems due to Lack of Accountability" --------- Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2007 08:24:38 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="IG LAYS DoI PROBLEMS AT LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY" http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096414585 Interior's problems due to 'lack of accountability,' inspector general says by: Jerry Reynolds / Indian Country Today March 2, 2007 WASHINGTON - Despite charges of a criminal conspiracy at the Interior Department and attacks on his own investigatory report, Interior Inspector General Earl Devaney maintained a stoic insistence Feb. 16 that the department is becoming more ethical and more accountable under Secretary Dirk Kempthorne. He blamed Interior's long-standing problems on "a culture replete with lack of accountability," on the vast sums of money that flow to Interior from its stewardship of national resources and on a handful of bad actors among Interior's more than 73,000 employees. Devaney did not volunteer comparative percentages on the number of those unworthy employees who manage to gravitate toward Indian resources; an issue of the first concern in Indian country. (Indian tribes and individuals have relied on Interior to manage or administer their resources for more than a century.) But the example Devaney gave went straight to the heart of Indian country. Jack Abramoff, the erstwhile Republican lobbying impresario, is in prison now in part due to the criminal uses he made of astronomical fees from client tribes. Devaney implied that Interior personnel were a target of Abramoff's blandishments. "From my office's perspective," Devaney said, reading from written testimony, "I would point to the Abramoff scandal as an example of how the conduct of one or two people can cause an enormous diversion of resources, best evidenced by the commitment we have made to that investigation, with 10 agents dedicated to the case, now three years running. Since my office has had no increase in staffing levels in the seven years I have been the IG at Interior, we have little capacity to adjust for such diversions of staff." The big money associated with resources under Interior's control attracts bad actors, Devaney added. "Outside of the money at the Treasury Department, everything else that someone would want is at Interior: oil, gas, mines, land and water. It's been my experience that when a lot of money is at stake, bad people will show up eventually." Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., raised doubts about Devaney's interpretation, pointing to the long chronicle of faults previous IG investigations and audits have uncovered at Interior. He got Devaney to agree that monetary losses identified by previous reports on Interior's activities amount to tens of billions of dollars. But he couldn't get Robin Nazzaro of the Government Accountability Office, appearing alongside Devaney at the witness table, to say that incompetent employees are a problem at Interior. The combination of missing billions and competent employees didn't add up for him. "Department by department, the minerals management, the National Park Service, the BLM [Bureau of Land Management], where, you know, almost - it appears as if every issue has been resolved against the taxpayers of this country. Is this policy here if it's not competency?" Miller demanded of Devaney and Nazzaro. "I mean, the leakage that you've outlined here in both of your testimonies is just ... horrifying. And if it's not competency, it starts to look like policy or it starts to look like criminal activity. ... I really thank you both for your service and your offices' service. Apparently you're all that stands between us and a wholesale criminal conspiracy here. ... To continue to receive these reports year after year after year raises, I think, the most serious questions. ... "I have great respect for public servants. I do not use the word 'criminal' lightly. But you cannot have this much leakage going on and this many issues resolved against the taxpayer without some intent, without doing somebody a favor. Something is very, very wrong in this department. And it's tens of billions, and it may be in excess of a hundred billion, dollars. And maybe we should add up all of your reports, because you just don't get to operate on behalf of the public in a manner that this department's been operating." Both Devaney and Nazzaro mentioned Indian country; Devaney to deplore the lack of staffing at Native detention facilities, Nazzaro to recommend that the BIA revise its land into trust regulations by June 30. Nazzaro also noted that GAO audits through fiscal year 2006 continued to report Interior's Indian trust funds management as "material internal control weaknesses, and information security was reported as an internal control weakness." But the overall hearing was broader in its reach. Several Democratic members of the Committee on Natural Resources in the House of Representatives praised Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., the committee chairman, for holding an oversight hearing they said was long overdue. Members devoted much of the three-and-a-half-hour session to partisan repartee on how and when another Interior agency, the Minerals Management Service, managed to leave a price threshold clause out of deep-water oil and gas leases signed between MMS and private-sector oil companies. The standard clauses link oil and gas royalty payments to the rising price of oil on the theory that deep-water oil exploration is prohibitively cost-intensive. The lower up-front royalty encourages oil exploration and development; the later high royalty, paid from oil that has been found if it rises in price, in a sense recompenses the federal Treasury for value lost on national resources at the front end of the lease. But the price threshol ds were left out of the leases in question, at a cost of billions of dollars in public revenue. "Although we found massive finger-pointing and blame enough to go around, we did not find a 'smoking gun' or any evidence that the omission of price thresholds was deliberate," Devaney said. "This was, however, a very costly mistake." Copyright c. 1998 - 2007 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Interior Department still in denial over Cobell" --------- Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2007 08:29:35 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DoI PROPOSES "SLAP IN FACE" SETTLEMENT" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.havredailynews.com/articles/2007/03/07/local_headlines/world.txt Feds propose settlement in Cobell case MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press Writer March 7, 2007 WASHINGTON - The U.S. government has proposed paying $7 billion to settle lawsuits over the management of Indian trust lands - an offer met with immediate objections from Indian plaintiffs. At issue is a decade-old lawsuit by Indians against the government claiming that the government has mismanaged more than $100 billion in oil, gas, timber and other royalties held in trust from their lands dating back to 1887. The litigation, filed in 1996 by Blackfeet Indian Elouise Cobell of Browning, Mont., deals with individual Indians' lands. Several tribes have also sued, claiming mismanagement of their lands. Senate Indian Affairs Committee Chairman Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said he will hold hearings on the proposal and said the settlement offer is the first time the federal government has acknowledged a multibillion dollar liability for mismanagement of the trust funds over the past century. "That is a significant admission," Dorgan said, adding that he believes the conditions attached to the settlement offer will be controversial. Associate Deputy Interior Secretary James Cason, who has overseen Indian issues in past years, took issue with Dorgan's words. He said the proposal is not an admission but a "recognition that where we are right now is not very productive." Cobell and one of her attorneys, Keith Harper, said the Interior Department is asking for too much. Under the terms of the offer, the government would pay $7 billion over ten years, without interest. In exchange for the money, all tribal and individual mismanagement claims against the government would be dropped and the government would be relieved of future liability. The proposal would also end, over a period of 10 years, most of the government's responsibilities to manage Indian trust lands and would consolidate ownership of Indian lands, which are now often held by many people. Cason said roughly half of the $7 billion would go toward settling individual and tribal claims, with the remainder covering other parts of the proposal. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales sent the proposal to Dorgan last week, saying they strongly support comprehensive legislation that would help the parties move "from a litigation-oriented relationship to one of economic prosperity, empowerment and self-reliance for tribes and individual Indians." Harper said the proposal is an insult. "There's no sum specific for how much is going to be used for Cobell," he said. "It's pennies on the dollar." He said the plaintiffs estimate the government's liability could exceed $100 billion, though they have in the past considered settling for less. Cobell said the government is trying to do too much at once. "It's not fair to throw every problem that exists in Indian country that has been created by the Department of Interior into our lawsuit," she said. "This lawsuit is about individual Indians and accounting." Interior Department spokesman Shane Wolfe said the department looks forward to working with Congress on the proposal. Congress has attempted to wade into the dispute in recent years, but has yet to find resolution. "We believe this proposal looks to the future," he said. Copyright c. 2007 Havre Daily News, Inc. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Do we need a new Eagle Feather Law?" --------- Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2007 08:24:38 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="IMPACT ON INDIAN FREEDOM OF RELIGION" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=8624 Do we need a new Eagle Feather Law? By DaShanne Stokes, M.A. March 5, 2007 Think your religious freedom is protected? Think again. As many people across Indian country are aware, American Indians are the only ethnic group in the United States that require a federal permit for religious freedom. The law upholding this is commonly referred to as the "eagle feather law," referring to Title 50, Part 22 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (50 CFR 22), and it governs the possession and use of eagle feathers. Many people don't know how problematic the eagle feather law really is. To possess eagle feathers, citizens must be able to legally prove their ethnicity and only individuals of certifiable American Indian ancestry enrolled in a federally recognized tribe are authorized to obtain permits. Those caught without permits face imprisonment and fines up to $25,000 - for practicing their religion. But there's a problem. Falsification of state records in what has been termed "paper genocide" has artificially decreased the true number of indigenous people in the United States and terminated the "official" existence of many tribes. Consequently, many Native Americans cannot be found on the Dawes Rolls (the major determinant of tribal enrollment and application for an eagle permit) and many tribes are unable to win federal recognition. As a result, many people lose access to eagles and the ability to practice and preserve traditional customs otherwise protected for "recognized" tribes and their members. There are consequences to breaking these rules. In one case, Robert Soto, a Lipan Apache, had his feathers confiscated at a Texas pow wow in March 2006. As a member of a non-federally recognized tribe, Soto did not possess an eagle permit. Soto remains in a legal battle for the return of his feathers. In another case last year, Winslow Friday, a member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe, was arrested for shooting a bald eagle without a permit. Friday needed the feathers for use in his tribe's Sun Dance, for which only "clean eagles" (that had not died by electrocution or vehicle collision) could be used. Speaking in his defense, the tribe argued that the taking of eagles is a protected act of religious belief and the tribe had repeatedly attempted to obtain a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In U.S. v. Friday, the court dismissed the case - a victory for tribal sovereignty - but federal prosecutors are determined to appeal the decision. In 1996, Raymond Hardman, a Caucasian living in Utah, was arrested for possessing eagle feathers given to him by a Hopi tribal member. Hardman's wife and children were members of the federally recognized S'Kallum Tribe. In 1993 Hardman's son's godfather died and Hardman transported the body to Arizona so that appropriate services could be performed. As part of the cleansing ritual, a Hopi religious leader gave Hardman a bundle of prayer feathers, which included several eagle feathers, to be kept in the truck that had transported the deceased body. After returning home, Hardman contacted the Utah Division of Wildlife to obtain a permit to keep the feathers. However, he was informed that he would not be allowed to apply because he was not a member of a federally recognized tribe. Hardman later separated from his wife, after which she informed Ute tribal officials that he was in possession of the feathers. Hardman was found guilty of violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, even though there was no question that his religious beliefs were sincerely held. Hardman's case remains on appeal. Of course, many people believe only enrolled tribal members should be allowed to possess eagle feathers. While this feeling is easily understood after centuries of genocide and marginalization of Native people in American society, the value for blood quanta and tribal enrollment is of relatively recent import. Historically, many tribes and nations shared their spiritual practices with other tribes and non-Native people have been welcomed into indigenous familial and spiritual lives since the early 1500s, including runaway slaves and historical figures such as Daniel Boone, Gen. Sam Houston, Gov. Gray Davis and former Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt. Now consider the irony. Tribal enrollment wasn't so heavily valued until the passage of the 1887 Dawes Act (Dawes Rolls), which was instituted to assimilate indigenous people into an Anglo value system and seize tribal lands. The Dawes Rolls became a major criterion for tribal enrollment and helped form the basis of CDIB (Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood) numbers used to determine tribal membership and eligibility for eagle permits. The problems of the eagle feather law are immeasurable. The law creates a value system for bloodlines that creates and sustains in-fighting that is rampantly tearing apart families and cultural ties on many reservations. The law creates racial barriers for those who have or wish to adopt non- Natives into Native families. The law also makes it impossible for tribes that remain officially "unrecognized" since the 1950s "termination era" to preserve traditional customs. Like many people, I believe it's time for new and improved eagle feather law. It was for this reason that I founded Religious Freedom with Raptors, dedicated to changing the law. RFR was founded on Feb. 27, 2006, to coincide with the occupation of Wounded Knee in 1973-a major historical event in which Native and non-Native people stood together and in a unified voice demanded fair treatment from the government-an event forever symbolic of racial and cultural unity in support of indigenous rights. While there are many forms this new law might take, it is critical that we replace the race requirement of tribal enrollment. One promising option would be the creation of a Certificate of Religious Participation endorsed by a tribal member or spiritual leader. This certificate would replace the tribal enrollment requirement while ensuring that only approved participants in bona fide Native American customs are eligible to receive eagle permits. This allows for direct oversight of eagle feathers to ensure that feathers and ceremonies will not be abused. The certificate would also give legal protection to those Native Americans who wish to exercise their right to include others of their choosing in traditional customs involving eagle feathers. The certificate would also ensure that applications for eagles are reviewed on a case-by- case basis-ensuring that applicants are judged on factors that have traditionally governed eagle feather distribution, such as personal merit and individual character-rather than skin color. The time for a new eagle feather law is now. Let it be one in which we stand united around traditional indigenous values and say in one voice that we will not be undone by our skin color. Let that be our legacy. --- DaShanne Stokes, M.A., is director of the public interest advocacy group, Religious Freedom with Raptors (www.geocities.com/eaglefeatherlaw). A frequent speaker on topics in education, culture, and religion, Mr. Stokes's work has appeared in publications such as The Chronicle of Higher Education, Diverse, Indian Country Today and The University in Your Future (California State University, Long Beach: 2006). Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: 9th Circuit blocks snowmaking at Sacred Peaks" --------- Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2007 08:40:22 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="COURT BACKS TRIBES" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/ 20070312-1046-environment-navajos.html U.S. Court backs Indian Tribe on Sacred Mountain By Adam Tanner REUTERS March 12, 2007 SAN FRANCISCO - An Arizona ski resort's plan to use treated sewage to make snow on a mountain sacred to several Native American tribes violates religious freedom laws, a U.S federal appeals court ruled Monday. "We hold that the Forest Service's approval of the proposed expansion of the Snowbowl, including the use of treated sewage effluent to make artificial snow, violates RFRA," a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA, holds that the federal government may not "substantially burden a person's exercise of religion." The dispute is one of the most prominent in recent years pitting the religious beliefs of American Indians against local economic interests. According to the Navajo Nation, the San Francisco Peaks are sacred to more than 13 Native American nations. "They walked all over our dignity," Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. said in 2005. "You're committing genocide; you're demeaning us." The Arizona Snowbowl ski resort, 150 miles north of Phoenix, wanted to use artificial snow to enable skiing throughout the winter and says the move in the San Francisco Peaks is crucial to its economic survival. Organized skiing started at Snowbowl in 1938, but has depended on highly variable natural snowfall rather than using artificial snow as at many U.S. resorts. In many years, enthusiasts can ski for more than 100 days a year, although in the especially poor 2001-2 season there were only four days when skiing was possible. Last year, a U.S. District Court judge backed the plans to allow a $25 million upgrade on the 777-acre facility on federal forest land to include the use of treated sewage water. The Navajo Nation, which has an estimated 300,000 tribal members in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, joined several other tribes and environmental groups to fight the decision. The appeals court decision described the religious significance of the Peaks to the Navajos, Hopi, Hualapai, Havasupai tribes, among others, and how sewage is treated to make reclaimed water. "The record supports the conclusion that the proposed use of treated sewage effluent on the San Francisco Peaks would impose a burden on the religious exercise of all four tribes discussed above - the Navajo, the Hopi, the Hualapai, and the Havasupai," wrote Judge William Fletcher. "We are unwilling to hold that authorizing the use of artificial snow at an already functioning commercial ski area in order to expand and improve its facilities, as well as to extend its ski season in dry years, is a governmental interest 'of the highest order." Copyright c. 2007 Union-Tribune Publishing Co., A Copley Newspaper Site. --------- "RE: OP/ED: About time for Little Shell Tribe" --------- Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2007 08:29:54 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="EDITORIAL: LITTLE SHELL DUE RECOGNITION" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.helenair.com/articles/2007/03/04/opinions_top/a04030407_01.txt About time for Little Shell Tribe By The Helena IR March 4, 2007 So what if it's 100 years late? We're sure Montana's Little Shell Chippewa Tribe will still take it. That's how long the 4,300 Little Shell members have been trying to obtain federal recognition as a tribe - the recognition that is necessary to qualify for government services already available to other Native Americans. Montana's congressional delegation - Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester and Rep. Denny Rehberg - introduced legislation last week that requires immediate action. The tribe was recognized by the state seven years ago, joining the seven other tribal nations in Montana. At about the same time, the Department of the Interior issued a positive finding for the tribe. Since then, however, the matter has been snarled in what the delegation called "bureaucratic obstacles." As "landless" Indians, the Little Shell Tribe, based in Great Falls but with many members in the Helena area as well, has long been denied basic services afforded to Indians on reservations. The bill includes tribal land as well making members eligible for education, housing, health care, and other assistance. Many Native Americans, whether on reservations or not, suffer from poverty and all the problems that come with it, including substance abuse and poor health. Given their history, they of all people deserve the assistance they need. We wish the delegation well in quickly pushing the measure through Congress and onto the president's desk. Copyright c. Helena Independent Record; a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Demotion offer accepted by Board of Game Chairman" --------- Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2007 08:29:54 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BIGOT STEPS DOWN, BUT NOT OUT" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/anchorage/story/8682011p-8577978c.html [Editorial Comment: Mighty white of Mr. Sommerville to step down after public bigotry. I just wonder why he still has a job and a position on the game board.] Demotion offer accepted By ALEX deMARBAN Anchorage Daily News March 3, 2007 Ron Somerville, stung by criticism after implying that Natives missing from an October meeting were off drinking beer, announced Friday he'll step aside as Board of Game chairman. He did not resign from the board. Gov. Sarah Palin twice asked Somerville to quit the board but he refused, said Palin spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton. Palin has said his remarks created a cloud of controversy that detracted from the board's business. After Somerville wouldn't resign, Palin then asked him to give up the chairmanship, Stapleton said. "She feels it clears much of the cloud the board is working under, so she's satisfied," Stapleton said. Somerville's three-year term on the board ends next March. "The governor will have the opportunity to evaluate the seat at that time," Stapleton said. Somerville, appointed by former Gov. Frank Murkowski, could not immediately be reached Friday. The board's members elect the chairman. After Somerville stepped down, board members elected Cliff Judkins of Wasilla to replace him as chairman. The controversial remarks came after some Natives who had signed up to speak at the board's Oct. 7 meeting didn't come to the microphone when Somerville called their name. "There must have been a run on free beer or something," he said. The next person he called came forward. "Don't like beer, Donna?" he asked. Natives from the Copper River region led the call for his removal. They feel he threatens subsistence hunting, and wish he'd been removed, said Ken Johns, president of Ahtna, the region's Native corporation. "He's still in a position to do damage to our area either verbally or by his actions on the game board, so we're not too happy he's sticking around," Johns said. Somerville announced the decision on the first day of a marathon meeting in Anchorage where the board is considering, among other things, allowing bear hunting near areas such as the McNeil River State Game Sanctuary, one of the world's premier bear-viewing areas. Copyright c. 2007 The Anchorage Daily News, a subsidiary of The McClatchy Company. --------- "RE: Native American trackers to hunt bin Laden" --------- Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2007 08:40:22 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SHADOW WOLVES TO TRACK BIN LADEN" http://www.indianz.com/News/ http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/ story/0%2C20867%2C21364526-2703%2C00.html Native American trackers to hunt bin Laden March 12, 2007 WASHINGTON: An elite group of Native American trackers is joining the hunt for terrorists crossing Afghanistan's borders. The unit, the Shadow Wolves, was recruited from several tribes, including the Navajo, Sioux, Lakota and Apache. It is being sent to Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to pass on ancestral sign-reading skills to local border units. In recent years, members of the Shadow Wolves have mainly tracked smugglers along the US border with Mexico. But the Taliban's resurgence in Afghanistan and the US military's failure to hunt down Osama bin Laden - still at large on his 50th birthday on Saturday - has prompted the Pentagon to requisition them. US Defence Secretary Robert M.Gates said last month: "If I were Osama bin Laden, I'd keep looking over my shoulder." The Pentagon has been alarmed at the ease with which Taliban and al- Qa'ida fighters have been slipping in and out of Afghanistan. Defence officials are convinced their movements can be curtailed by the Shadow Wolves. The unit has earned international respect for its tracking skills in the Arizona desert. It was founded in the early 1970s to curb the flow of marijuana into the US from Mexico and has since tracked people-smugglers across hundreds of square kilometres of the Tohono O'odham tribal reservation, southwest of Tucson. Harold Thompson, a Navajo Indian, and Gary Ortega, from the Tohono reservation, are experts at "cutting sign", the traditional Indian method of finding and following minute clues from a barren landscape. They can detect twigs snapped by passing humans or hair snagged on a branch and tell how long a sliver of food may have lain in the dirt. Some military experts want the Shadow Wolves to help to track down bin Laden. Despite a $US25million bounty on his head and the use of billions of dollars worth of sophisticated equipment, US forces have so far failed to fulfil President George W. Bush's promise to capture bin Laden "dead or alive". But a senior US official insisted last week that bin Laden's trail had "not gone stone cold". Vice-Admiral Mike McConnell, the new US director of national intelligence, told a Senate committee that bin Laden and his lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahiri, were setting up new training camps in northwestern Pakistan. The deployment of the Shadow Wolves came as Iraqi militants holding a German woman and her son threatened yesterday to kill their captives unless Germany started withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan within 10 days. The 61-year-old woman made a tearful plea for help to German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a video posted by the abductors on an Islamist website. "I'm asking you to help me," she said in German, sobbing. "We're Germans as well. These people want to kill my son before my eyes and then kill me. I don't want to die like this." Hannelore Marianne Krause and her adult son were seized on February 6 by armed men who burst into their family home in Baghdad. One of the kidnappers read a statement in Arabic on behalf of a little-known group calling itself the brigade of the Arrows of Righteousness. "We give the German Government 10 days from the date of this statement to announce and start the withdrawal of their troops from Afghanistan, otherwise ... they will not even see the bodies of these two agents," he said. The Sunday Times Copyright c. 2007 The Australian. --------- "RE: American Indian group plans W. Ky. Memorial" --------- Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2007 08:24:38 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PILLAGED BY LOOTERS" http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ article?AID=/20070305/NEWS01/703050442 American Indian group plans W. Ky. memorial Burial mound site once was pillaged Associated Press March 5, 2007 UNIONTOWN, Ky. - Members of the American Indian Movement are planning a four-day memorial service at a Western Kentucky burial site that artifact hunters desecrated nearly 20 years ago. The ceremony, planned for May 24-27, is expected to draw many of those who participated in an encampment in Union County in 1988. Activities will include construction of sweat lodges for purification of participants, drumming, dancing and ceremonial prayers, said Marcia C. Mulford of Golden Gate, Ill., who is of Apache descent and participated in the 1988 encampment. "We wanted it on Memorial Day when everybody else gets to honor their ancestors. It is important that we as an independent people take control of our lives and honor our history," Mulford said. The ceremonies will be held on land owned by the Army Corps of Engineers near downtown Uniontown and about three miles from the Slack Farm, where the burial mound is located. Mulford, of the American Indian Movement, said the public will be invited to observe and participate in some events, including making tobacco ties to be used at the burial site. Tobacco is also burned during some of the ceremonies. Movement co-founder Dennis Banks is expected to lead a sunrise service on May 24 and a walk to the burial mound, which is on private property and where access will be limited to American Indian participants. The desecration of the burial mound drew attention in 1987 after artifact hunters paid the landowner $10,000 for access to the property to dig for pottery and other artifacts. Digging into more than 1,000 ancient graves, they scattered bones about. Kentucky State Police finally stopped the digging, and American Indians converged on the community for purification and reburial ceremonies. Publicity about the digging led the Kentucky General Assembly to upgrade destruction of a burial site from a misdemeanor to a felony. The incident is also credited with spurring Congress in 1990 to adopt the Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act, which protects burial sites on federally owned land. The Slack Farm mound is a 40-acre Mississippian culture site, similar to Evansville's Angel Mounds and other mound-builder sites in the Ohio and Wabash river valleys. The Smithsonian Institution conducted an excavation there in 1868. Although the land was farmed extensively over the years, the Slack family protected the site. When the property changed hands, the new owners accepted the offer of cash for the right to dig. Copyright c. 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. Copyright c. 2005 The Louisville Courier-Journal. --------- "RE: School celebrates Historic Recognition" --------- Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2007 08:24:38 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CHILOCCO" http://www.newschannel10.com/global/story.asp?s=6180309 Native American school celebrates historic recognition March 6, 2007 ARKANSAS CITY, Kan. About 300 alumni of a tribal school that taught generations of American Indians along the Oklahoma-Kansas border gathered Sunday for a celebration. The group celebrated the addition of the former Chilocco Indian School to the National Register of Historic Places. American Indians were educated at the school in northern Oklahoma from 1884 until it closed in 1980. Leaders of all five of the Council of Confederated Chilocco Tribes attended with state lawmakers as a group of Native American singers and drummers performed several traditional songs during the ceremony. Pawnee Nation President Ron Rice says an alliance is being formed between the Confederated Chilocco tribes and the Chilocco Alumni Association to renovate Chilocco. Copyright c. 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 2000 - 2007 WorldNow and KFDA. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Tribes mourn loss of Falls" --------- Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2007 08:40:22 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CORPS OF ENGINEERS DAMAGES WAY OF LIFE FOR TRIBES" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003613860_celilo12m.html Tribes mourn loss of falls By Lynda V. Mapes Seattle Times staff reporter March 12, 2007 CELILO VILLAGE - Fifty years of silence. A loss so big, it took tribes from all over the Northwest to count its measure in a commemoration over the weekend of the death of Celilo Falls 50 years ago March 10. They came from all over. By canoe, from Puyallup and Suquamish, Chinook and Wanapum. By plane and by car from around the Northwest. More than a thousand strong, tribal members gathered to help the people of Celilo remember the spectacular Columbia River falls and what was lost when they were flooded. As the people of Celilo welcomed the canoes ashore, along with travelers from many other tribal nations and directions, they were gathering as their forefathers had by the thousands to fish, gamble, socialize and feast during the salmon runs. The falls are considered to have been one of the world's most productive salmon fisheries. It all came to an end in six hours March 10, 1957, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers closed the gates on The Dalles Dam, flooding out Celilo Village and washing away fishing scaffolds where Indians had caught the salmon that fed their families, and their souls, for thousands of years. Today the river that once crashed and boiled through miles of basalt chutes, islands and rocks is a placid, 24-mile lake. "My ancestry is right here, underwater," said Yakama tribal member James Kiona, as he worked at roasting some 700 pounds of chinook salmon over alderwood fires to feed thousands of people gathered throughout the weekend to mourn the falls. Born at Celilo in 1949, he still remembers the cool mist of the falls on his face. He remembers scooting over the falls in a cable car and getting soaked by the mist while the car swayed in the wind created by the crashing water. "It was so loud, I couldn't even hear myself scream." He remembers watching his father fish, and being awestruck by the massive chinook hauled up in dip nets. "The fish were bigger than us [kids] in those days." Head salmon cook at Celilo, Kiona comes back to the place he calls home for every ceremonial feast. About 20 cooks and 18 servers rose at dawn to prepare lunch: salmon, taken from the river the season before; the meat of 13 deer, an elk and a buffalo; along with corn, salad, biscuits and pie. Teenage girls in traditional wing dresses, head scarves, woven belts and moccasins brought the food to tables that ran the length of the earthen- floored longhouse. The meal was late: Speeches ran on during the morning's commemoration in the longhouse. The speakers were too emotional to think of the clock. Col. Thomas E. O'Donovan, commander and district engineer for the Corps of Engineers' Portland District, holds the same job today as the man who closed the gates at The Dalles Dam in 1957. O'Donovan was aware of the burden of history his agency carries. "I feel it very deeply," he said in an interview. "The corps is a contentious member of this community. There are many people who hate us deeply for what we did. But we can transcend it by behaving as nations do who are at peace, by talking things through about where we want to be today, and 50 years from now." Part of that healing, tribal leaders noted, was properly commemorating the loss of Celilo Falls. In ribbon shirts and in white buckskins, in eagle-feather war bonnets with ermine tassels and gleaming beaded regalia, tribal members turned out in their finest to mourn the falls, which they regard as an ancestor. "Nothing is free," said Wilbur Slockish Jr., hereditary chief of the Klickitat people. "To the politicians and the ones who do all this massive construction, we are the invisible people. Wherever these massive construction projects go, someone has to pay. And there is another invisible people, the animals. No one asked them if they wanted to be flooded, or their feeding grounds taken. "This is a sad time for us. We were a self-sufficient people. These are the things we have sacrificed. Fifty years of silence. Here. These are some of the things that need to be remembered." His family would not let him watch the day the falls were flooded, Slockish remembered. "We were not supposed to be here," Slockish said. "It was like someone dying." Nez Perce tribal member Allen Slickpoo Jr. thanked the U.S. government representatives who listened to the speeches stoically -- the folks from the corps, the Bonneville Power Administration, the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, members of Congress and others. "It's not your fault, what happened to us," Slickpoo said. "Perhaps it's a spiritual spanking, though, for you forced our forefathers to agree to this Dalles Dam, and you told us we would not remove our sacred burial grounds or our petroglyphs. They are underwater now, like the falls." To Rebecca Miles, chairwoman of the Nez Perce tribal executive committee, continued puzzlement about what the tribes want today, in return for the millions of acres ceded in the treaties, is disrespectful. "What we want was spelled out in 1855," she said. "And that is a very small thing to ask in exchange for millions and millions of acres, to have fish for future generations and to be able to continue our way of life." For all its massive power generation, if The Dalles Dam were proposed in its same location today, it would never be built, said Stanley Speaks, area director of the Northwest regional office of the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. "What a change in 50 years," Speaks said. "It took us so long to learn we could not make progress and destroy history and sacred sites and artifacts. For Celilo Falls, 50 years came a little too late." Yet the river, and the salmon that even now are returning in the spring run, are still vital to the Columbia River tribes, said Yakama tribal member Debra Whitefoot, as she worked at a sink in the longhouse kitchen, thawing chinook for the feast. "What's done can't be undone now, but we are trying to hold on to the memories of our ancestors," Whitefoot said. "That's not the way of our people to carry bitterness. That holds you down, it keeps you from enjoying the life you do have here. I still feel really connected here." Her family still fishes nearly year round from a scaffold over the Columbia, she said. "It feels great to be by the river, it's calming. It's like a medicine to be down here, because my people's spirit is down here, and the spirit of the salmon." Lynda V. Mapes: 206-464-2736 or lmapes@seattletimes.com Copyright c. 2007 The Seattle Times Company. --------- "RE: Largest single corporate acquisition by a Tribe" --------- Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2007 08:24:38 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SEMINOLE MARK ACQUISITION OF HARD ROCK" http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-c signing06mar06,0,7186318.story?coll=sfla-news-broward Seminoles mark largest single corporate acquisition by American Indian tribe By Jon Burstein South Florida Sun-Sentinel March 6 2007 Seminole tribemembers met under the sprawling oak tree more than 50 years ago. They gathered to forge a government and constitution, fighting for federal recognition as a tribe while their children played nearby. Seminole Tribal Council member Max Osceola was one of those children. He sat Monday under the same tree - the Council Oak - with other tribal leaders to usher in a new economic era for the Seminoles, one that gives them a presence around the globe. The Tribal Council signed a ceremonial resolution to buy Hard Rock International Inc. for $965 million from London-based Rank Group PLC - the largest single acquisition by an American Indian tribe. The Hard Rock deal gives the tribe a foothold in the restaurant and hotel industries, adding to its thriving Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino complexes near Hollywood and Tampa. The tribe of 3,300 members has averaged an annual profit of more than $500 million from their gambling operations since the two Hard Rock casinos opened, according to court documents. The tribe closed on the Hard Rock International acquisition hours before holding a press conference at the Council Oak near State Road 7 and Stirling Road. "It's a great day not just for Seminoles, but for other native tribes," Osceola told a crowd of more than 300 people. "Now main street [in the] business world knows you can do business with native tribes and make a profit." The tribe bought the Hard Rock brand name, the world's largest collection of music memorabilia and 68 company Hard Rock Cafe' restaurants, primarily in the United States. The Seminoles also acquired licensing or franchise agreements for 56 more restaurants, five hotels and two Hard Rock Live! concert venues. "The acquisition of the Rank-Hard Rock system today makes our economic survival a little bit more sure," said Moses Osceola, the Tribal Council's vice chairman. "There's going to be a lot of work ahead of us to make it profitable and successful. ...We are bound and determined to make this thing work." Jon Burstein can be reached at jburstein@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4491. Copyright c. 2007, South Florida Sun-Sentinel. --------- "RE: Military Technology used to record and teach" --------- Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2007 08:49:24 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TEACHING TRADITIONAL DAKOTA WITH PHRASELATOR" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=8629 Military Technology Used to Record and Teach Ancient Tribal Language March 6, 2007 Prairie Island tribal elders use "Phraselator" to teach traditional Dakota language to future generations Red Wing, Minn., Feb. 28, 2007 - Tribal elders from the Prairie Island Indian Community this week began to learn how to use an advanced piece of military technology to help teach their traditional Dakota language to future generations. The technology, the Phraselator(r) P2, developed by defense contractor Voxtec International, is a handheld tool that allows the user to instantly translate spoken English words and phrases into any Native language. The Phraselator(r) currently is used in Iraq combat zones to enable communication between American soldiers and Iraqis. Through the end of the week, Prairie Island tribal elders will use the device to record the Dakota language. Once recorded, the Phraselator technology will be used at Prairie Island Language Center to teach the traditional Dakota language. Thornton Media, Inc. (TMI), a California-based language tool company devoted to Native languages, worked for more than a year to get the contractor's approval to use the Phraselator(r) to revitalize Native languages. TMI is currently working with more than 35 tribes across the country to learn how to use the tool. The Prairie Island Indian Community has purchased five of them. "The Phraselator technology is allowing us to preserve an integral piece of our native culture that we are in danger of losing," said Tribal Council President Audrey Bennett. "Traditionally, the Dakota Language was passed down from generation to generation but fewer tribal members know how to speak the language well enough to teach it to our young people. Now we have a way to preserve the language and teach it to our children, and future generations." The Minnesota legislature also has recently begun an effort to support the preservation and revitalization of the state's many unique tribal cultures and languages. If passed, the Minnesota Indigenous Language Act would allow the state to collaborate with tribal communities to award grants and develop programs to help K-12 children learn the speaking, reading and writing of Native languages. "Tribes are an important piece of Minnesota history," said Bennett. "If the loss of tribal languages and culture continues at the current rate, within two or three generations, it could be lost completely. Hopefully, the use of the technology and work with the state government will help restore our language and reinvigorate our tribal culture." The Prairie Island Indian Community is a federally recognized Indian nation located 50 miles southeast of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul and near the cities of Red Wing and Hastings, Minn. Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Lakota Educator brings Traditions to Classroom" --------- Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2007 08:49:24 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CULTURE AND LANGUAGE CLASS" http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096414600 Lakota educator brings his traditions to the classroom by: Tara Pretends Eagle March 7, 2007 PORCUPINE, S.D. - Sunday mornings on KILI Radio, located on the Pine Ridge Reservation, the quick-witted "Blues Disc Jockey" Bryant High Horse spins blues tunes that are heard throughout Lakota country. His good sense of humor ironically goes well with his blues tunes radio show. He is always good for an on-air joke that usually ends with a long, winded "Eh." The boisterous disc jockey, the great-grandson of High Horse, is a teacher and guidance counselor for the Indian Education Department in the Rapid City School District in South Dakota. During the school week, High Horse, Sicangu Lakota, can also be heard cracking humorous one-liners in the hallways at North Middle School. In January, High Horse implemented a Lakota Culture and Language class for sixth-grade students. Students, both Native and non-Native, signed up on their own initiative to be in it. Initially there was only one class, but so many students signed up that a second class was added. High Horse was excited to teach this new class and said he feels his students are starting to understand the accurate history of the Lakota people. Seeing that they are eager to learn, because they ask a lot of questions, he tries to encourage them to help each other learn as a group. Together, they learn about the traditional ways of the Lakota people and understand their virtues of bravery, wisdom, generosity, respect, traditional roles, historical timelines and the medicine wheel. "I feel my responsibility as a Lakota man is to teach our kids to respect each other and teach our boys and men to respect the women. I teach the boys that they need to respect all women and they all have a mom, sister or grandmother in their lives who deserves that same respect. Lakota men need to learn how to respect Lakota women," High Horse said. He also teaches the same traditions to his students at Oglala Lakota College, where he is an adjunct professor of Native psychology and Lakota studies. "Native American psychology is an entirely new field and includes the study of the Lakota people both past and present. It is the study of how Natives infuse their language, cultural and traditional philosophy into today's world. We always had 'Native psychology,' but our ancestors did not record or write about it. They just lived it. We as Lakota people have gone through so many tragedies that we are still on a healing journey. If we can let that pain go, I think we can succeed," High Horse explained. Much of what he learned from his grandparents while growing up on the Rosebud Reservation is passed on to his students. High Horse was taught the ways of his ancestors and how to speak and write fluently in English and Lakota. He grew up hearing that a good education was very important. His uncle was his teacher, principal, basketball coach, role model and mentor who also stressed the importance of education. He was a big factor in helping High Horse believe in himself. High Horse is one of a group of educators who presently are working toward the preservation of the Lakota language. Everyone in the group can speak and write fluently in Lakota, and they are developing strategies to preserve the language. He spoke proudly of the group: "All these great people with such knowledge are all working hard to preserve the Lakota language. I am honored to be a part of this group." "Oyate Nawicajin" is High Horse's Lakota name, which means "Stand for his People." He stands for his people through his work with the Lakota youth and has changed lives by teaching through music, humor and education. It is all in a day's work for this briefcase warrior. Copyright c. 1998 - 2007 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Higher ed goes on Ute agenda" --------- Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2007 08:49:24 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="UTE MOUNTAIN UTE PROMOTE HIGHER EDUCATION FOR MEMBERS" http://www.cortezjournal.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp? article_type=news&article_path=/news/07/news070306_4.htm Higher ed goes on Ute agenda Tribe creates advisory position to promote enrollment in college BY JOHN R. CRANE | Journal Staff Writer March 6, 2007 The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe plans to encourage more of its members to enter college, and officials began last month by hiring a new higher- education adviser. Robert Galin hit the ground running in his new position when he visited the Colorado State University campus in early February - along with the tribe's planning director and council members - as part of an effort to renew and strengthen their ties. "Education is a priority for us to help us move forward," Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Councilman Gary Hayes told the Journal Feb. 5. Tribal enrollment in postsecondary institutions is at its highest ever - 39 out of about 2,000 Ute Mountain Ute Tribe members - and that excludes those attending vocational schools, Galin said Feb. 27 at his interim office in Towaoc. While the tribe seeks a new education director, Galin is wearing two hats. Galin, 50, holds a bachelor's degree in liberal studies and journalism from Regents College in New York, and a master's degree in writing from the University of San Francisco. Galin's three main goals as adviser are to encourage tribal members to pursue some type of advanced education after high school, prepare them for campus experience, and help them succeed once they begin their studies. Also, we're "making sure we have excellent working relationships with educational institutions at all levels," he said. Besides being a low-income, isolated community, another obstacle for the tribe and similar rural populations is seeing no short-term benefits from higher education, Galin said. Many tribal members want to find work immediately after high school, he said. "They want to get a job and take care of their family," he said. "We want to convince them that some type of education after high school is useful." In addition, tribal scholarships are available for enrolled members. The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe is the largest employer in Montezuma County, and most of the jobs require at least a high-school diploma or GED. But tribal job providers prefer employment seekers to possess some type of advanced degree, Galin said. Learning enhances quality of life, Galin said. "Higher education is a good way to improve people's lives," he said. "You can earn more money, more prestige, more opportunities in life." Galin, who has taught at several colleges and teaches part-time at Pueblo Community College, knows both sides of academia and feels his new job is a perfect fit. "It's easy for me to explain what it's like to be a student," he said. "But I also know what professors expect of them." Reach John Crane at johnc@cortezjournal.com. Contents copyright c. 2007 Cortez Journal. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: RELEASE: Arizona Tribes meet with Howard Dean" --------- Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2007 17:12:10 -0700 From: Joshua Lavar Butler Subject: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Arizona Tribes meet with Howard Dean [Editorial Comment: If the Republicans send me a release telling what they have done or are doing for the Indian Peoples I will include it in an issue, as well. Here, the message is from the Democrats. You need to read it and decide for yourself if it is full of truth.] Contact: *Joshua Lavar Butler* Director of Public Relations Coconino County Democratic Party Phone: (928) 214-0393 Fax: (928) 774-9346 joshualavarbutler@yahoo.com joshualavar.butler@ccdem.org www.ccdem.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATE: Thursday, March 8, 2007 *Arizona** Tribes meet with Howard Dean* *Democratic Party vows to strengthen political ties* PHOENIX, Ariz. - The blue dots have been connected and the ties have been strengthened as Native American leaders met with Howard Dean, the Chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), on March 2 in Phoenix. Dean's visit symbolizes the DNC's outreach efforts to Native Americans, a goal that Dean hopes to improve and expand on in the coming years. Many Native American communities across the nation say that Democrats have neglected Indian Country and their concerns have been ignored for years. Native Americans have recently made some headway into Washington, D. C. and Dean hopes to strengthen these political ties in order to elevate concerns of Native Americans. The Democratic Party recently increased outreach efforts throughout Americaand Dean advocated for more Native American political involvement. "We will build a stronger Native America through a government-to- government relationship. We will have a better presence and improve communication. I want a government that meets with Native Americans on a regular basis," said Dean to a room-full of Native American leaders and community political activist from throughout Arizona. Dean said that the Democratic Party will empower the Native Americans and no one will be left out. The Democratic Party has the most Native American Democratic employees than ever before and they pride themselves on its diversity. Dean explains that "it is an important partnership for us all." Arizona State Sen. Albert Hale explained that Native Americans are frustrated by being told over and over that there is no money for their programs, "this is common among all Native nations and we hear the same answer every year of no money. All the money is being diverted to Iraq. We need to get beyond the rhetoric and get things organized. We need to strengthen Native American ties to the Democratic Party and I want to see a cabinet-level position in the White House, get a representative from Indian Country." "Native Americans have been patient and respectful long enough," said Wendsler Nosie, Chairman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe. "I feel sad that nothing has changed, no one has worked with us. A partnership with the U.S. Government is needed. Native Americans need to be proactive and educate themselves about the issues. The education will eventually filter back down to our younger generation. I see change and I want Native Americans to move into the county, state, and federal levels." Voter turnout in the last Congressional elections certainly recognized the voting power that Native American nations possess. Lamont Yazzie from the Office of the Navajo Nation President and Vice-President, said that American Indian communities continue to play a role in the success of the Democratic Party. "The Native American voter turn-out continues to increase. We need to continue the challenge in educating the U.S. Congress about their unique relationship with Indian Nations. Our two-prong approach should be to continue exercising our sovereignty in government- to-government relations and increase our participation." Arista LaRusso, Democratic Party Tribal Outreach Director, said that the visit by Dean was groundbreaking. Dean had a chance to listen and discuss concerns with Arizona's tribal leaders. LaRusso explained that the DNC passed a resolution supporting Native Americans on December 3, 2005 and the Arizona Democratic Party continues to make inroads to further the foundation between the tribes and the Democratic Party. Dean is excited that the increased participation of Native Americans across the country will make the difference in the mid-term Congressional elections in 2008. LaRusso explained that she would like to see more meetings like this held in the future. "The Party has reached out and Native Americans need to take the initiative to participate and make their concerns known. Let them [Democratic Party] know who they would like to see in office and what initiative and referendums will affect their tribes. Many times, we think we don't make a difference, but in reality we do. Vote and be heard." For more information about the Arizona Democratic Party, visit their website at www.azdem.org and in Coconino County - www.ccdem.org. For further questions, please contact Joshua Lavar Butler, Director of Public Relations - Coconino County Democratic Party. -- Joshua Lavar Butler Director of Public Relations Coconino County Democratic Party Native American Democrats of Northern Arizona Phone: (928) 214-0393 Fax: (928) 774-9346 joshualavarbutler@yahoo.com joshualavar.butler@ccdem.org www.ccdem.org --------- "RE: YELLOW BIRD: Extra! Native Media Center prospers" --------- Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2007 08:49:24 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YELLOW BIRD: NATIVE MEDIA CENTER" http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/includes/printer.cfm?id=29887 Extra! Extra! Native Media Center prospers Dorreen Yellow Bird March 7, 2007 American Indian camp criers sitting atop an earth lodge and with hands cupped would be hoarse yelling this good news to the community: The Native Media Center at the UND School of Communication has grown legs and is running full-out. In the past, the Native Media Center experienced a long series of problems that bogged it down until it was like a child sitting in the corner in a pointed dunce cap. The new explosion of excellence comes from the tenacity of Pam Kalbfleisch, professor and director of the School of Communications, who worked through problems at the school and now can see the advantages of those long hours. One of the right decisions Kalbfleisch made was to hire Monique Vondall Rieke as director of the Native Media Center. Vondall Rieke complements Holly Annis, assistant director. Annis will graduate in May with a degree in journalism and Indian Studies at UND. She earned the degree while working at the center. Vondall Rieke and Annis have become the Native Media Center's dynamic duo. One of the center's important projects is to recruit students and help them see the exciting and important role of the media. One of the ways they are doing this is by providing a Native Community Studio each fall and spring. Last year, these young women were able to boost the then- lagging numbers of participants, from about six students the previous year to 25. The numbers had been even lower in years past; there were times when the project wasn't able to carry on because it lacked funding and student participation. During the Northern Interscholastic Press Association workshop last year in Grand Forks, the Standing Rock nation, Fort Yates, N. D., brought a group of about eight students from the reservation who also became acquainted with the Native Media Center. They liked what they saw, and many of these students then attended the Native Community Studio the following month. Organizers of the upcoming studio in the spring are counting on about 40 student participants, Kalbfleisch told me. One of the reasons why these studios are so successful is that they provide hands-on learning for the students, who hail from tribal colleges as well as high schools. They learn reporting skills such as writing, interviewing and fact-checking from experienced journalists. When the students have completed their stories, the stories are published in an online publication called Red Nation News. Red Nation News is an electronic newsmagazine that has news and feature stories about American Indian people throughout the Midwest. The e- magazine is hosted by the School of Communication and the Native Media Center. The center itself has been a magnet for students. Students come to O'Kelly Hall and the Native Media Center from all over campus. The center offers state-of-the-art computer systems, a place for student to meet or have meetings and a place to study or work on projects. Annis and Vondall-Rieke usually are on hand for support and counsel. How has the center impacted students? Vondall Rieke was delighted that three of the 23 who were at the Native Community Studio are planning to attend UND. Two of those students have said they were interested in attending the School of Communications. Another student, she said, is transferring from Yale and will enrolled at UND. That why Annis and Vondall-Rieke have earned the name "dynamic duo." The Media Center isn't just standing idle in the winners' circle; Annis and Vondall-Rieke are planing to expand the center, too. They'd like to partner with the UND School of Law, where they could join forces with UND faculty members Kathryn R.L. Rand and Steven Light to research better ways of communicating the positive effects of Indian gaming on Indian communities. Annis and Vondall-Rieke also have other partnerships in mind and are waiting only to find the right fit with funding and program. I've been involved with the Native Media Center as a member of its advisory board since my tenure began at the Herald. So I, too, understand the lengths that the staff and directors of the media center have gone to bring the school into the light, so to speak. There were times when the frustration with the organization's internal problems was overwhelming. But Kalbfleisch stayed the course through the storms - and probably her best step was the hire Vondall Rieke, who, as I mentioned, complements Annis. Vondall Rieke and Annis work as a team, and that's one the reason why the center is becoming something that other institutions of higher education are looking at as a model. --- 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: JODI RAVE: Rapes against Native Women on the rise" --------- Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2007 08:40:22 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="JODI RAVE: RAPES" http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2007/03/11/jodirave/rave14.txt Rapes against Native women on the rise By JODI RAVE of the Missoulian March 11, 2007 Norma Rendon has seen too many women blame themselves for being raped. But women need to learn to report the crime to police, she said, and understand that rape is not their fault. "Too often, they are not being reported," said Rendon, a women's advocate at Cangleska, a shelter on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. "There is so much shame that comes with being a victim." Only one in five adult women report being raped to the police. While more than 17 million women have been raped in their life, according to a U.S. Department of Justice report for 2006, Native women reported the highest number of rapes of any racial or ethnic group in the United States - a rate 2.5 times higher than the national average. The FBI reports that women in Alaska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Washington, Minnesota and Colorado are among the most-raped in the country. Each state has a significant population of Native women. Amnesty International, a worldwide human rights organization, has spent two years researching sexual assaults in urban and reservation areas. Amnesty officials have scheduled an April 24 press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The following day, organization leaders will release a report titled, "USA: Maze of Injustice - The Failure to Protect Indigenous Women from Sexual Violence." A reprieve from the violence seems distant. The 2005 Violence Against Women Act authorized Congress to spend $50 million annually on sexual assault services, which have never been funded. Meanwhile, women's advocates agree assault rates continue to climb. Already, one in three Native women will be raped in their lifetime, according to a 1999 report from the Bureau of Justice. Tess Curley on Montana's Flathead Reservation is especially concerned at rising numbers of sexual assaults and at the age of victims. Thirty-three percent of women are raped between the ages of 12 and 17. "It's increasing more, especially on our reservation," said Curley, who works for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes' crime victim advocate program. "And they are beginning to target our youth. The positive thing is they (girls) are coming in and reporting this more and saying, `This happened to me.' " Sexual assault penalties vary state to state. In Montana, a woman who has been raped has 10 years to report it. If a girl or teenager is raped, she has 10 years starting from her 18th birthday. The Cangleska shelter hired its first, full-time worker in February to work specifically with sexual assault victims on the Pine Ridge Reservation where women have had to drive 120 miles for aid in Rapid City, S.D., now ranked fourth in the nation for rapes per capita. The shelter has since acquired rape kits to collect samples from victims and to fill out reports. "In many of the cases, they were raped in our border towns," said Rendon, referring to cities near the reservation. The U.S. Justice Bureau reports that the majority of violent crimes against Native women are committed by white men. Not only is it important to report sexual assaults, women should seek a support group, said Rendon. Mothers are also encouraged to consider how physical and sexual assaults against them affects their children. A National Institute of Justice report shows 64 percent of children had witnessed abuse against their mothers by age 3. Youth, ages 12-18, of sexually abused mothers showed more depression and had more behavioral problems than children of mothers who had not been sexually assaulted. Rebecca St. George, a women's advocate with Mending the Sacred Hoop in Duluth, Minn., is working with local police on documenting sexual assaults. While she reaches out to assist women, she also counts herself among the victims. "I was raped a couple of times," St. George said. "The first time, I was at a party. I had never had sex before. I went with a guy to his car to get some beer. It was cold in northern Minnesota. He invited me to the front seat of his car and he raped me. I was shocked and confused and didn't even identify it as rape until three years later." The Ojibwe woman said she was raped a second time after drinking too much alcohol and passing out. Rape occurs when sexual intercourse occurs without consent. "It never occurred to me to report any of those to anyone." St. George didn't go to the police, but she said simply reporting it can be therapeutic. "For some women, it's incredibly healing just to get the guy charged, whether there's a prosecution or not," she said. "It's powerful to make a public statement that, `What he did to me is wrong.' " "By my silence, I certainly allowed them to continue," she said. "It's not a guilt thing, but it's true. I didn't do anything to stop them from raping the next person." --- Reporter Jodi Rave can be reached at 1-800-366-7186 or at jodi.rave@lee.net Copyright c. 2007 Missoulian, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: GIAGO: Cherokee Nation votes out Freedmen" --------- Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2007 08:40:22 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GIAGO: CNO VOTE" http://www.indianz.com/News/2007/001790.asp Tim Giago: Cherokee Nation votes out Freedmen March 12, 2007 After she and 2,800 descendants of slaves once owned by the Cherokee Nation were denied membership or disenrolled from the tribe, Marilyn Vann, president of the Descendants of Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes of Oklahoma said, "We're not going away. We are calling on the American people to bombard Congress, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, all media outlets, that justice be done." Vann was referring to a special election held last week on the Cherokee Nation in which 77 percent of the eligible voters removed them as members of the tribe. The vote followed a petition drive for a ballot measure to determine who is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. Principal Chief Chad Smith said after the election that the vote was not about race, but represented a right of self-government to decide who is a member of the nation. "My roll as Principal Chief was to bring the issue of citizenship to a vote. Determination of citizenship is the decision of the people, not the Principal Chief, not the tribal council and not the court." Smith said, "The Cherokee People spoke clearly that as long as you had a Cherokee ancestor on our base roll of 1906, it did not matter what other blood, race or appearance you have." He accused Vann of trying to play the race card, "But it did not work because we know we have thousands of citizens who look Black, white, Hispanic or Asian," he said. Columnist Tommy Felts of the Coffeyville (Kansas) Journal was outraged over the election results. He wrote, "A victim of one of the worst chapters in American history, the Cherokee Nation has lost the moral high ground." Felts continued, "These are the people whose ancestors were forced from their land, denied civil rights and treated as worthless dregs unfit for life within the new society. With their stunning vote the Cherokee have put their black and mixed-race brethren on a path toward the same fate." Although the freedmen will lose their tribal rights they will not be forced marched to a new location. And they will not lose their property or their jobs. But the vote of the Cherokee people does bring up a matter of self-government and sovereignty. The Indian people were herded on to reservations and denied the most basic of human rights. They had no control over their government, they had no freedom of the press, and they had not control over their finances. Everything they owned was placed into "trust" by the Department of the Interior and the Indian people were designated as "wards" of the United States and deemed incapable of making the very decisions that impacted every avenue of their daily lives. And that included decisions of health, education, welfare, self-government, law enforcement or justice. Every tribe from the Navajo Nation to the tribes of the Lakota and Dakota speaking nations fought tooth and nail to recover the basic rights of freedom and independence that had been their inherent rights since time immemorial. It took thousands of dollars and thousands of hours in order for the Indian nations to regain a semblance of those basic rights. They fought their way through the local federal courts and oftentimes reached the U. S. Supreme Court in their valiant fight to establish their status as sovereign nations. Many died as patriots of their nations in establishing these rights. At one time not so long ago tribal membership was established by the Bureau of Indian Affairs without consideration of the rights of the different tribes. Oftentimes the very people charged with this responsibility skewered these rights of citizenship. The Richard Nixon Administration passed legislation known as the Indian Education and Self- Determination Act in the mid-1970s that sought to re-establish sovereignty amongst the Indian nations. The legal ability to determine actions that impact the very future of the tribes now rests in the hands of the duly elected tribal governments. Each tribe has set its own criteria for membership. In some cases this has meant hardships for innocent victims that have been removed from the tribal rolls by decision of the tribal council. This is particularly evident amongst the many Indian tribes in California. There are times when persons of Indian ancestry cannot meet the strict criteria established by the tribe for membership and even though they may have what they consider to be legitimate claims, the decision as to whether they can be enrolled is entirely in the hands of the tribal government. And like the Cherokee Nation, most tribes go back to their original rolls and an applicant must prove a direct relationship to those original tribal members. Some members that have been denied membership or that have been disenrolled blame the situation on greed. They claim that the tribe is diminishing tribal membership because they do not want to dilute the income they receive from their casinos. In some cases this may be the truth. The Cherokee Nation has been particularly vulnerable because so many non-Indians claim membership in the tribe. I don't know how many times non-Indians have approached me after I give a speech and tell me, "My grandmother was a Cherokee princess." Granted there are many African Americans with Indian blood that are not enrolled members of any Indian tribe. They speak of their Indian blood with great pride. But the Indian nations, in order to protect themselves, have set down hard rules and regulations that determine membership. It is an inherent right they have fought for centuries to retain and it is too bad that some claimants to membership fall through the cracks, but if they lose out because of dishonest tribal leadership that brings up a whole different set of circumstances. But as an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota Nation I must stand behind the rights of the Cherokee Nation to determine its own membership. --- McClatchy News Service in Washington, DC distributes Tim Giago's weekly column. He can be reached 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: YELLOW BIRD: Fight over Land never ends" --------- Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2007 08:40:22 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YELLOW BIRD: LAND" http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=30373 Fight over land never ends Dorreen Yellow Bird March 10, 2007 Another heated dispute between North Dakota and the Three Affiliated Tribes on the Fort Berthold Reservation is bubbling to the surface. It's not a new issue. It involves 24,000 access acres around Lake Sakakawea in the western part of the state. Long before the issue of "too much land" around the lake became the problem in fact, way back when the Army Corps of Engineers built the dam that created the lake the engineers measured more land than they needed. The lake didn't fill the land area marked for it, so there was a good, wide lakeshore. Years later, downstream needs caused Lake Sakakawea to give up more water, and she slimmed down some more, leaving an even wider and bigger belt around her lakeshore. So, the question of the day is this: Who owns that land or has jurisdiction the Three Affiliated Tribes, the state, American Indian individual owners or non-Indian individual owners? I support the tribe's governance over the 24,000 acres. Here's why. The handprint left by the Sahnish (Arikara), Mandan and Hidatsa people is indelible. They lived along and near many rivers of the Midwest, making many moves to find new and better places to live or get away from conflicts between tribes. Rivers such as the Missouri always have been a draw for Indians because they meet the critical need for water, and that water provides food (fish and animals), fuel, transportation and a pleasant living area. After several hundred years of moving about, the Mandan and Hidatsa lived at the mouth of the Knife River, then moved to a bend in the Missouri River called Like-A-Fishhook Village. The Sahnish joined the two tribes about 1862, across the river at Star Village. Many tribes had sophisticated societies and lived quite well. Yet, European explorers and settlers laid claim to their land via the Document of Discovery that gave them moral sanction for seizing Native lands. As the societies of Indian people came into conflict with the explorers and settlers, hostilities resulted. In an effort to bring calm, the U.S. government in 1851 forged the Treaty of Fort Laramie. The treaty set up boundaries for the many tribes in the area. All three tribes Sahnish, Mandan and Hidatsa signed the treaty. The territory for the Three Affiliated Tribes "commenced at the mouth of Heart River; thence up the Missouri River to the mouth of the Yellowstone River; thence up the Yellowstone River to the mouth of Powder River in a southeasterly direction, to the headwaters of the Little Missouri River; thence along the Black Hills to the head of Heart River; and thence down Heart River to the place of beginning," the treaty says. But the U.S. government later had second thoughts about how much land had been given to the tribes. Through the Fort Berthold Agreement in 1866, the land was reduced by almost 99,000 acres. In 1870, the government claimed the Fort Laramie Treaty had not been ratified by Congress, so no legal reservations existed. Then, in 1870, a smaller area was established. The Northern Pacific Railway was granted land, further ceding and reducing the reservation down to less than 1 million acres and to its present boundaries. The tribes are hearing the sound of the same ol' tune. Land that should belong to the tribes is up for grabs, as the state is opposing the tribe's claims. The state is supporting individuals who owned land in the taken area and this, in fact, is a worthy cause for the state. The state should take care of its people, including individual Indian landowners. I hear the complaint of individual Indians loud and clear from people at Fort Berthold; the elders who are in their 80s or 90s remember when they lived on the bottomlands near the then-free-flowing Missouri River, when living was easy. The soil was fertile, and corn grew so high that a person could ride his horse through it and barely see over the top, one elder told me. I would guess that the elders see land returned as a lifestyle returned. Marcus Wells, Jr., chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes, says that if the land is returned to the tribe, the tribal council certainly will consider those individuals who lost land to Lake Sakakawea. There also are non-Indians who own land in the "Taken Area." This makes both the state and some national politicians unhappy with the federal government's 1992 plan, which said they would return the excess land to former owners, tribes, individual Indians or individual non-Indians. That, however, included recreation and wildlife areas, so the act of Congress was repealed. In the meantime, the Three Affiliated Tribes and North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven have met and are talking about solutions. When I lived in the area several years ago, I found some of the marina owners were dumping waste into the lake. That's not true today, Wells told me. The tribes take care of garbage and waste from the marinas. The tribes also do weed control and have added three new roads for the marinas, Wells said. The relationship between the tribes, the state and federal government is said to be a good working relationship. Wells is optimistic that a resolution to the issue can be worked out and agreed to by all sides. I hope this optimism will be rewarded. --- 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: OPDDIC and URCI aggressions against Zapatistas" --------- Date: Thursday, March 08, 2007 01:59 am From: Chiapas95-english Subj: En;Frayba,OPDDIC and URCI aggressions,Mar 05 (corrected) Mailing List: Chiapas95-En This message is forwarded to you by the editors of the Chiapas95 newslists. To contact the editors or to submit material for posting send to: . From: "Dana Aldea" Subj: Frayba report on the OPDDIC and URCI aggressions against Zapatistas, Mar 05 (corrected) Originally published in Spanish by the Human Rights Center Fray Bartolome de Las Casas http://www.frayba.org.mx/Boletines/2007/070305_acciones-paramilitares.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------- HUMAN RIGHTS CENTER FRAY BARTOLOME DE LAS CASAS, A.C. San Cristo'bal de Las Casas, Chiapas San Cristo'bal de Las Casas, Chiapas, March 5, of 2007 Press Bulletin 02 Violent actions of the OPDDIC and URCI against Zapatista support bases on recuperated lands of the municipality of Ocosingo. - Army reported to provide armament, training and support in these actions - Denunciation of the autonomous municipalities pertaining to the Caracol in Resistance Towards a New Dawn The Human Rights Center Fray Bartolome de Las Casas received on this March 1 several denunciations of the municipalities constituting the Caracol in Resistance Towards a New Dawn of La Garrucha: San Manuel, Ricardo Flores Mago'n, Francisco Go'mez and Francisco Villa. They report violent incidents against Zapatista communities on recuperated lands, provoked by members of the Organization for the Defense of Indigenous and Campesino Rights (OPDDIC) and the Regional Campesino and Indigenous Unio'n (URCI). Both the OPDDIC, which is linked to the extinct paramilitary group Antizapatista Revolutionary Indigenous Movement (MIRA), as much as the URCI, a splitter group of the paramilitary organization Peace and Justice (Development, Peace and Justice AC) are accused of displacements and threats with firearms and in association with units of the Mexican Army. Incidents: 1. - Emiliano Zapata, Autonomous Municipality Flores Mago'n (Municipality of Ocosingo) According to the Zapatista autonomous authorities, on July 14, 2006, several Zapatista families were displaced by 60 armed URCI members firing shots in the air, and were forced to abandon 16 hectares fields, domestic animals, corn and beans, and personal belongings such as clothes. The aggressors remained in the village, took apart the planks and metal sheets (of the houses) and sold the animals. They installed armed detents and let nobody pass. In February 2007, the Zapatistas returned again to recover their lands, and managed to take possession of a house, which is inhabited by 45 persons, and of some "trabajaderos" (agricultural plots). On Monday, February 26, 2007, at 12:00 hours, the URCI members arrived, firing in the air: one shot caliber 38 and 20 shots caliber 22. On the morning of March 1, 2007, they were occupying the "trabajaderos" of the Zapatistas. According to the received denunciation, the URCI members who seized the recuperated Zapatista lands in Emiliano Zapata have walkie-talkies, make revisions and wear green uniforms like the Mexican Army, but without the body armour. They say that this group of 60 armed persons is headed by Julio Ce'sar Perez from the municipality of Tumbala', and identify the regional delegate of the URCI as Francisco Lo'pez Me'ndez from the Ejido Egypt, municipality Salto de Agua. The group also includes persons from La Palma Tulija'. 2. - Nuevo Rosario, Autonomous Municipality Francisco Go'mez, former Rancho Jaibolito, Ocosingo. According to the denuncia of the autonomous authorities and inhabitants of Nuevo Rosario, the aggressions have intensified since January 17, 2006. OPDDIC Members came to clear 400 meters of the community that has an area of 5 hectares. They threw fire in a courtyard, took out the fencing (28 rolls) and carried it away, in addition they broke the collective furnace, and they smeared on the walls of the chapel to scorn the Organization: "Let Marcos come if he dares". They forced Alonso Rodriguez to sign his resignation from the Organization and beat him. They tied up Jose Rodriguez and forced him to carry to rolls of wire to Nuevo Jerusale'n; his wife defended him and they struck her. On January 18, 2006, around 8:00 a.m. they let Jose Rodriguez go and threatened: "if they won't leave peacefully, we must remove them by force". In June 2006 the aggressors returned. They cut the wire, opened the fence and drove the cattle into the corn fields until they destroyed them. Again, on February 20, 2007, they drove their cattle on the corn fields destroying them. They destroyed 300 coffee plants, a total of 43 and a half hectares. On the same day they cut down the pines belonging to the land with three power saws. The wood was carried away by 140 people. On Thursday, February 22, they returned to finish clearing the mountain. When they arrived the Zapatistas had already withdrawn. They mention that the aggressors are coming from the village Jaibolito and from Jerusalem, an ejido in Cuxulha'. They are members of the OPDDIC and the ORCAO (Regional Organization of Autonomous Coffee Growers of Ocosingo AC) and carry rifles caliber 22 in the attacks. Jose' Pe'rez Go'mez, leader of the ORCAO and councillor of Ocosingo, already presented himself to the community of Nuevo Rosario and assured them that the actions of their members were reprehensible, and they would be expelled from the organization. 3. - Community Pancho Villa, Autonomous Municipality San Manuel. Formerly Rancho El Jorda'n, Ocosingo, Chiapas. According to the autonomous authorities, in December 2006, 40 armed OPDDIC members from the village Nuevo San Jacinto invaded the lands of Francisco Villa to harvest and carry away the corn of the Zapatista community. They were accompanied by 29 uniformed soldiers of the Mexican Army carrying G-3 and UZI arms, from the Operation Base "Ri'o Jorda'n". The soldiers told the inhabitants of Pancho Villa that they had no rights and "drove them back with their rifle butts". The EZLN recuperated the lands of this community in 1994. Formerly they belonged to a rancher named David Domi'nguez, whose wife is living near the Operation Base "Ri'o Jorda'n". On February 28, 2007, the sons of the rancher, Andre's Domi'nguez Gutie'rrez and Jesu's Domi'nguez Gutie'rrez, situated in Ocosingo, appeared and placed a plane on the recuperated land, assuring that it belonged to them. The Zapatista authorities called them to engage in a dialogue on the issue and asked them to leave and take away the plane. These individuals said that they were not going to leave and that they were prepared to stay there no matter what happened. The Zapatistas informed the Good Government Junta "Way of the Future" of the Caracol Resistance Towards a New Dawn, of La Garrucha, which sent a summons to Andre's Domi'nguez Gutie'rrez and Jesu's Domi'nguez Gutie'rrez. A few days later the authorities of the Autonomous Council received a letter from the OPDDIC of the village Nuevo San Jacinto, which attested that these persons belonged to that organization and asked the Autonomous Authorities to not direct any dialogue request in this matter to these persons but to the OPDDIC leadership. The letter is signed by Manuel Hernandez Jime'nez with the title of Regional Coordinator, Gustavo Va'zquez Cross as Secretary, and Antonio Ruiz Ruiz as treasurer. It is enclosed with 21 seals with the name of the OPDDIC from different "regions" and its symbol, and in between the reference number (Registro Rel. Ext. 44000576). The authorities of the Council affirm that two months ago these persons did not belong to the OPDDIC, moreover this land has already been indemnified by the State since a part of it is occupied by the military encampment of Ri'o Jorda'n. According to the autonomous authorities, OPDDIC members are receiving military training in the surroundings of Nuevo San Jacinto every ten days between 21:00 p.m. and 4:00 am of the next morning, by two soldiers from the Operation Base Ri'o Jorda'n. The village Nuevo San Jacinto is comprised from 100 families and growing, both humble people as well as cattle ranchers. They affirm that they have military titles, like sergeants, commanders etc. They say they are armed, and that the Army gave them arms about two months ago "to provoke confrontations between families of the EZ and paramilitaries". According to what OPDDIC members from Nuevo San Jacinto have told the Zapatistas, they possess 40 arms, ranging between R-15 and M-16. They also mention that the OPDDIC maintains a presence in the region on the ranches San Caralampio, Guadalupe Tecoja', Nuevo San Jacinto, Zaragoza, La Trinidad, San Jose' de la Soledad, Rancho El Coroso and others. They are considered to have about 500 members. Every 15 days they have meetings in Monte Libano. This Human Rights Center observes with concern the convergence of violent aggressions against the Zapatista support bases on lands recuperated in 1994, that has emerged since the second semester of the last year. The incidents here described indicate a possible escalation of violence with paramilitary characteristics as part of the counterinsurgency strategy that the Mexican State has maintained during all these years. The involvement of forces from the Mexican Army in these events reminds of occurrences in previous years, whose denounced human rights violations still await justice and remain largely unpunished. This Human Rights Center will continue to document and inform about similar actions in other regions of the conflict zone that will come to our attention. * * * (translation Dana) -- To subscribe to this list send a message containing the words subscribe chiapas95 (or chiapas95-lite, or chiapas95-english, or chiapas95-espanol) to majordomo@eco.utexas.edu. Previous messages are available from http://www.eco.utexas.edu/faculty/Cleaver/chiapas95.html or gopher to Texas, University of Texas at Austin, Department of Economics, Mailing Lists. --------- "RE: Chiapas march turns ugly" --------- Date: Saturday, March 10, 2007 04:30 am From: Chiapas95-english Subj: En;Universal,Chiapas march turns ugly,Mar 09 Mailing List: Chiapas95-En This message is forwarded to you by the editors of the Chiapas95 newslists. To contact the editors or to submit material for posting send to: . Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2007 13:30:16 +0100 From: "Dana Aldea" Subject: Universal,Chiapas march turns ugly,Mar 09 Chiapas march turns ugly Two journalists were assaulted at an anti-EZLN demonstration El Universal Viernes 09 de marzo de 2007 SAN CRISTO'BAL DE LAS CASAS, Chis. - Members of an indigenous group opposed to the long-quiescent Zapatista rebels beat two reporters from alternative media outlets as they were covering a rally in Chiapas. There also were initial reports that La Jornada newsman Hermann Bellinghausen had been held by the demonstrators for several hours Wednesday, but the newspaper's directors told EFE that Bellinghausen denied that version of events. Reporters that had been in the area confirmed that two of their colleagues, Alonso Luna Giro'n from Enlace Civil, and Carlos Va'zquez Guzma'n of Promedios-Chiapas, were beaten by the indigenous who were staging a demonstration in the municipality of Ocosingo. Members of the Organization for the Defense of the Rights of Indigenous and Campesinos, or OPDDIC, which is engaged in land disputes in the area with supporters of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN), were taking part in the rally. At one point during the demonstration, members of the OPDDIC launched verbal attacks against the journalists filming the rally and physically assaulted two of them. Francisco Va'zquez, legal representative of the local community group Promedios, confirmed that Va'zquez Guzma'n was covering the OPDDIC march and said he had received reports that the journalist had been attacked, along with another cameraman, by demonstrators who accused them of belonging to the EZLN. In a note publish