_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 15, ISSUE 040 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 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 October 1, 2007 Hopi Angaqmuyaw/long hair moon Mohawk Kentenha/moon of poverty Lakota Canwape Kasna Wi/moon when the wind strips the leaves Assiniboine Tasnaheja-hagikta/striped gopher looks back moon +-------------------------------------------------------+ | Much more happens in Indian Country than is reported | | in this weekly newsletter. For daily updates & events | | go to http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm | +-------------------------------------------------------+ Otapi'sin Atsinikiisinaakssin -- Blackfeet -- News for All the People Ni-mah-mi-kwa-zoo-min -- Ojibwe -- We Are Talking About Ourselves Aunchemokauhettittea -- Naragansett -- Let Us Share News Kanoheda Aniyvwiya -- Cherokee -- Journal of the People O Es'te Opunvk'vmucvse -- Creek -- People's New News O o O Acimowin -- Plains Cree -- Story or Account O o O Tlaixmatiliztli -- Nahuatl -- News O o o o o O Agnutmaqan -- Listuguj Mi'kmaq -- News O o O Sho-da-ku-ye -- Teehahnahmah -- Talking Birchbark O o O Un Chota -- Susquehannic Seneca -- The People Speak O Ha-Sah-Sliltha -- Ditidaht Nation -- News of the People Ximopanolti tehuatzin, inin Mexika tlahtolli -- Nahuatl -- For you we offer these words It-hah-pe-hah Ah-num pah-le -- Chickasaw -- Together We Are Talking Dineh jii' adah' ho'nil'e'gii ba' ha' neh -- Navajo Nation -- What's Happening among The People News Okla Humma Holisso Nowat Anya -- Choctaw -- People(s) Red Newspaper Hi'a chu ah gaa -- Pima -- The stories or the talk of the People s ch mA mL tL squee Lux -- Okanogan -- News from the People Native American News -- Language of the Occupation Forces ++>If you speak a Native American language not listed above, please send us your words for "News of the People." We'd rather take up this whole page saving these few words of our hundreds of nations than present a nice clean banner in the language of the occupation forces who came here determined to replace our words with their own. email gars@nanews.org with the equivalent of "News of the People" in your tribal language along with the english translation <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is produced in straight ASCII text for greatest portability across platforms. Read it with a fixed-pitch font, such as Courier, Monaco, FixedSys or CG Times. Proportional fonts will be difficult to read. <================<<<< >>>>================> This issue contains articles from: www.indianz.com; www.pechanga.net; www.indiancountrytoday.com; Mailing Lists: Mohawk Nations News, Native Poetry UUCP Mail IMPORTANT!! ----------- In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, all material appearing in this newsletter is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for educational purposes. <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters who share our Spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the Red Road. ++ It may be subscribed to via email by sending a request from your own internet addressable account to gars@speakeasy.org ++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org <================<<<< >>>>================> +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + | As historian Patricia Nelson | | Once a language is lost, it is | | Limerick summarized in "The | | gone forever | | Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken | | * Of the 300 original Native | | Past of the American West... | | languages in North America, | | "Set the blood quantum at | | only 175 exist today. | | one-quarter, hold to it as a | | * 125 of these are no longer | | rigid definition of Indians, | | learned by children. | | let intermarriage proceed as | | * 55 are spoken by 1 to 6 elders;| | it had for centuries, and | | when they die, their language | | eventually Indians will be | | will disappear. | | defined out of existence." | | * Without action, only 20 | | "When that happens, the federal | | languages will survive the next| | government will be freed of | | 50 years. | | its persistent 'Indian problem.'"| | Source: Indigenous Language | +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ | Institute | |http://www.indigenous-language.org| This issue's Quotes: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + "Wholesale massacre occurred and I have never heard of a more brutal, cold-blooded massacre than that at Wounded Knee. About two hundred women and children were killed and wounded; women with little children on their backs, and small children powder burned by the men who killed them being so near as to burn the flesh and clothing with the powder of their guns, and nursing babes with five bullet holes through them." __ General Nelson A. Miles, division chief officer, during the Wounded Knee Massacre "This war did not spring up on our land, this war was brought upon us by the children of the Great Father who came to take our land without a price, and who, in our land, do a great many evil things... This war has come from robbery - from the stealing of our land." __ Chief Sinte Gleska (Spotted Tail), Little Thunder Chief of the Brules "We were once friends with the whites but you nudged us out of the way by your intrigues, and now when we are in council you keep nudging each other." __ Chief Motavato (Black Kettle), Cheyenne +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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 This editorial will be very short and to the point. One article in this issue, "Appeal court reserves decision in Stonechild Case", explains the two cops fired in the Neil Stonechild case managed to get their appeal decisions reversed. Further, they have petitioned the Saskatchewan Supreme Court to quash all findings from the hearing. The inquiry lasted a long time and was very careful how facts and testimony were dealt with. Further, the way the inquiry was handled and the findings were lauded by both aboriginal and non-aboriginal, alike. The appeal totally upheld the findings arrived at by the inquiry. Now, this reversal based on facts? Nope... on the right of the inquiry to make the findings it made. Ask yourself one question: "What would the results have been if the dead young man had been non-aboriginal and the officers had been First Nation?" ' ' 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: - HARJO: Reject Genocide-denier's . Non-aboriginal Cops get appeal Propaganda reversal on technicalities - GRAHAM: Americas - Tales of harassment National Terrorist Holiday in Hate Crime Case - YELLOW BIRD: Don't let Diabetes - $150M System failing get best of you to track Royalty Payments - JODI RAVE: Auction - Senate hears Stories reveals Blackfeet spirit of Sexual Assault - Opposition to Salmon Farming - Tribes most vulnerable in British Columbia to climate shift - Kahnawake Mohawks walk CPR Tracks - Cherokee Nation definition - 6 Nations Defenders of Tribe challenged charged with "mis'chief" - Blackfeet Border Guards - 6 Nations Spokespersons - NA Legislators hear "Suckered" by Politicians sobering School Statistics - First Nation 'digs in heels' - Indigenous organize at Blockade to halt mining in Americas - Kahnawake Band Council - Peru's Indigenous arise attacks "Council of Elders" in defense of Earth - Appeal court reserves decision - Proposed Deal reached in Stonechild Case for Michigan Tribes - Tribes to pilot - Washington Tribes, State Indian Country Amber Alert to meet over Rights - Expert: - Council Donates $200,000 Tribal Courts should beware to Code Talkers Monument - S.D. Supreme Court: - It's time for Indians Tribe has no Jurisdiction to look to better Future - What happened to the - American Indian College Fund Wampanoag Museum Money? granted $500,000 - Investigators raid Cairo, GA. - NA Natural Foods Set Insurance Agency to launch Tanka Bars - Native Group sues Ramras - Washo Elders help compile over request for Probe Online Dictionary - Native Justice - LONGFEATHER: -- Muscogee Nation helps Inmates Working to understand One Another re-enter Society - YELLOW BIRD: Learning Culture - Rustywire: takes time,devotion Never Known Anything Like This - GARCIA: It's time for action - Lee Goins Poem: Spirit Talker --------- "RE: Tales of harassment in Hate Crime Case" --------- Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2007 07:09:03 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ASSAULT ON 13-YEAR-OLD" [Editorial comment: Addresses were listed for the Prosecutor's Office and other officials involved in the case in last week's editorial. Do not let up on the letters. Make sure they know they are being watched.] http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2007/09/28/ap-state-id/d8ru1f181.txt Victim, mother share harassment tales in hate crime case September 28, 2007 LEWISTON, Idaho - A 13-year-old American Indian girl and her mother say they have been constantly harassed since the girl was beaten two weeks ago. Prosecutors say the teen's beating was a hate crime and allege that brothers Michael S. Moody, 22, and David C. Moody, 18, intimidated her in anticipation of the trial. The Moody brothers are each charged with two counts of felony attempted witness intimidation, accused of chanting "white power" at the girl and her mother three days after the beating. At the men's preliminary hearing Wednesday in Nez Perce County Magistrate Court, the teen and her mother testified that they have moved twice and the girl has transferred schools since the beating on Sept. 12. Court documents say the beating occurred outside an apartment complex where a group of men were yelling "white power" and "white pride." The teen was walking by the apartment complex at the time, according to prosecutors, and said something to the effect of, "What about Native pride?" Court documents say a woman then punched the teen, knocking her to the ground. When the teen began to fight back, an older woman kicked her in the head and stomach. The teen, who suffered injuries to her face and arm, was treated and released from a local hospital. Jill R. Grant, 40, and her 21-year-old daughter, Ashley N. Grant, have each been charged with one count of felony malicious harassment in connection with the beating, and four other people _ including the Moodys _ have been charged with felony attempted witness intimidation in the days since the beating. Preliminary hearings for 19-year-old Jason R. Grant and a 16-year-old boy are scheduled to be held separately from the Moody's proceedings. The girl and her mother testified that on Sept. 15, they were returning to their apartment from picking up a cousin a few blocks away when two or three men began yelling "white power" as they made their way through Pioneer Park. When asked by public defender Robert Van Idour, the girl said "white power" was the only phrase she heard the men shout. But the teen's mother testified that the two men also use other obscenities considered degrading to American Indians. The girl's mother said she feared for her life and for the life of her child because of the initial attack. The two walked quickly back to their apartment, she said, where they called 911. "I thought they were going to attack us because we were Native American, because we were the only Native Americans on the street at that time, and the rest were white," the mother said. Lewiston police Officer Mike Rigney testified that police officers watched the incident with binoculars. "They were chanting 'white power' and raising their fist into the air," Rigney said. Rigney testified their actions were characteristic of neo-Nazism. In talking to the men later, Rigney said, Michael Moody allegedly first denied chanting the slogans but later "became remorseful" and said he no longer believed in that ideology. Rigney then arrested Michael Moody and Jason Grant. About an hour later, after watching two people shout the same phrases below the girl's apartment window, officers arrested David Moody and the 16-year-old boy, Rigney testified. Defense attorneys Van Idour and Neil Cox asked the judge to dismiss the case, contending the brothers were protected by the First Amendments' promise of freedom of expression. But county Deputy Prosecutor Nancy Berger-Schneider said both men knew about the earlier beating and that the girl and her mother had already been subpoenaed into court. Magistrate Judge Gregory Kalbfleisch agreed with the prosecutor, saying if the two men had simply been chanting the phrase they probably wouldn't have faced criminal arrests. But given the earlier beating and the other evidence, there was probable cause that a crime had taken place, Kalbfleisch ruled. Both men are scheduled to appear before District Judge Jeff M. Brudie on Oct. 10. Their bond remains at $50,000. Information from: Lewiston Tribune, http://www.lmtribune.com A service of the Associated Press(AP) Copyright c. 2007 Magic Valley Times-News, Twin Falls, ID. Lee Publications, Inc. --------- "RE: $150M System failing to track Royalty Payments" --------- Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2007 07:18:03 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ALL THAT MONEY FAR A COMPUTER THAT CAN'T TRACK THAT MONEY AT ALL" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/ news-34/1190838651200760.xml&storylist=louisiana $150 million computer system failing to track royalty payments By H. JOSEF HEBERT The Associated Press September 26, 2006 WASHINGTON (AP) - A $150 million computer system that is supposed to help the government keep track of oil and gas royalties has been a "profound failure," contributing to possibly millions of dollars in lost revenue, according to Interior Department investigators. The department's inspector general cited the computer system's shortcomings in a scathing report released Wednesday that said the royalty collection process is riddled with mismanagement, ethical lapses and conflicting relationships with the energy industry. The yearlong investigation found "a Band-Aid approach to holding together one of the federal government's largest revenue producing operations," Inspector General Earl E. Devaney wrote Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne. The government collects about $10 billion in royalties a year from oil and natural gas taken under federal leases covering federal coastal waters. Copies of the IG report were sent to the oversight committees in both the House and Senate, which had asked for an investigation into the Minerals Management Service's royalty collection system and complaints by four whistle-blowers that millions of dollars were not being collected from energy companies. Many of the findings and management shortfalls cited in the IG report have been previously raised in reports, court papers and at congressional hearings. But the report for the first time delved into allegations that the agency was losing perhaps millions of dollars in uncollected interest on overdue royalty payments in part because of computer problems. Investigators found that the agency had agreed decades ago to calculate such interest payments, instead of requiring the energy companies to do it, claiming that would be a "hardship" on the companies. In an attempt to improve the process, the report said, the government in 1999 contracted for a new computer system that is supposed to track and dispense royalties paid by the oil and gas companies and also bill and collect interest. The IG report said nearly $150 million has been spent on the program and supposed improvements. But the problems have persisted and in some cases interest payments continued to be calculated manually causing further delays and some payments being missed altogether, investigators were told. The agency "has manually calculated interest for oil companies for years, while it has also spent considerable amounts of money to modify its (computer) system to calculate interest automatically," Devaney wrote, adding that "to date the effort to automate interest calculations has been largely unsuccessful." He said the inspector general's office has begun a separate investigation into the procurement of the system and its development. Minerals Management Service employees involved in royalty collection "outlined numerous concerns regarding the system since its inception," the IG report said. One accountant told investigators that because of the delay - and in some cases the failure - to collect interest energy companies "were continuing to have the use of their money to the detriment of the government" in some cases for many months, even years. It was not certain how much interest was lost. But the agency told investigators that from 2002 through 2006 energy companies were billed for $21.4 million in interest because of overdue royalty payments. It said $13. 6 million was collected. One accountant told investigators that the computer system had an array of problems, dating bills incorrectly, billing interest when companies paid early and sometimes not identifying overpayments. Another accountant said it took him twice as long to bill companies for interest using the computer system compared to a previous system. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., chairman of the House Resources Committee, said the report "raises a number of troubling questions" about the management of the government's oil and gas royalty collection system. They said they were concerned about the conflicting roles and relationships between the agency and the energy industry as well as the IG report's reference to "systemic communication failures" that hinder auditors in their attempt to collect all the royalties owed the government. Copyright c. 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright c. 2007 New OrleansNet LLC. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Senate hears Stories of Sexual Assault" --------- Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2007 07:09:03 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SEXUAL ASSAULT ON THE REZ" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.azfamily.com/news/local/stories/KTVKLNews 20070927_sexual-assault_reservations.1176363bc.html Senate hears stories of sexual assault on reservations By The Associated Press September 27, 2007 The Senate Indian Affairs Committee says Congress will try to help decrease violent crimes against women on reservations. Senator Byron Dorgan is the Democratic chairman of the panel. He says he'll introduce legislation this year to try and lessen some of the confusion about whether state, federal or tribal police can respond when a violent crime is reported. Dorgan says crimes against women on reservations can't be ignored. An Amnesty International report released earlier this year says American Indian women are more than twice as likely to be raped as other U.S. women. The Report says suspects often go free because of confusing police jurisdictions and a lack of resources. Today's hearing was the latest in a series held by the committee to investigate the lack of law enforcement on Indian reservations. Copyright c. 2007 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. Copyright c. 2007 KTVK-TV, Poenix. --------- "RE: Tribes most vulnerable to climate shift" --------- Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2007 07:01:42 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WATER, FOOD SUPPLIES AT RISK" http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0925climate-tribes0924.html Report: Tribes most vulnerable to climate shift Water, food supplies at risk Shaun McKinnon The Arizona Republic September 25, 2007 Climate change will exacerbate problems on American Indian reservations, says a new report that warns of flooded homelands, ruined fish habitat and long-term water shortages. "While climate change will affect everyone, it will affect some disproportionately," said Jonathan Hanna, a research fellow at the University of Colorado at Boulder and author of the report. "Native American communities are among the most vulnerable to a changing climate." Deepening droughts expected by climate scientists could further squeeze water supplies across the Southwest and worsen shortages for tribes, such as Arizona's Navajo Nation, that lack secure water rights, the report said. Rising ocean levels and melting Alaskan tundra would wipe out native lands, while changing river cycles threaten salmon that have sustained Northwest tribes for centuries. The researchers say reservations could benefit from the need for more renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power, but the tribes need help from state and federal leaders. Copyright c. 2007 Arizona Republic, azcentral.com. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Cherokee Nation definition of Tribe challenged" --------- Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2007 07:12:47 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WHO SHOULD DECIDE WHO IS CHEROKEE" http://www.kotv.com/news/local/story/?id=136547 Cherokee Nation Definition Of Own Tribe Being Challenged AP September 24, 2007 TULSA, Okla. (AP) - A dispute involving race and tribal identity that was supposed to play out in the courts now seems headed for Capitol Hill, where some lawmakers want the country's second-largest Indian tribe stripped of $300 million in federal money. U.S. Rep. Diane Watson, a California Democrat who claims Indian blood and ties to Oklahoma, is demanding the Cherokee Nation reinstate 2,800 descendants of the tribe's former black slaves, known as freedmen. She calls a March election that booted the freedmen descendants from the tribe "ethnic cleansing" and doesn't want to wait on the courts to decide the matter, a process that could take years. The tribe is digging in to fight the legislation, and its chief, Chad Smith, has called Watson's bill a "scorched-earth" policy aimed at hurting the poorest and sickest of the nation's 270,000 members. Neither side shows signs of giving up ground as lawmakers are expected to have a hearing on the matter next week in Washington. At stake are millions of federal dollars for health clinics, Head Start programs, elderly care and housing assistance for the Tahlequah-based tribe. More than 6,000 nation employees could lose their jobs, touching off a ripple effect that would economically devastate northeastern Oklahoma. Health care to 126,000 patients would be axed. "If the Cherokee Nation were to fold, I'd be with it," said David Rabon Comingdeer, a 15-year employee of the nation. "It would be like our whole world just fell out from under us." But to Watson, those are consequences the nation should have thought of before the election was called. "We can't even fund education properly or health care properly," said Watson, whose bill has 23 co-sponsors, including support from Congressional Black Caucus lawmakers. "Why should we fund this kind of disenfranchisement?" Watson wants Chief Smith and his supporters "to come to their senses and see this is throwing out the blacks, and using federal dollars to do it." "I stand on the law, I stand on what's right, and I'm not going to massage it for phony reasons," she said. For decades, descendants of freed Cherokee slaves fought to reclaim their citizenship, even though they were adopted into the tribe in 1866 under a treaty with the U.S. government. A ruling last year by the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court held that the Cherokee constitution assured freedmen descendants of tribal citizenship. That led to a petition drive for a ballot measure to determine who is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. In March, nearly 77 percent of Cherokee voters decided in a special election to amend the nation's constitution to remove the freedmen descendants and other non-Indians from tribal rolls. Critics of the vote said then it was hardly a mandate because only a fraction of the nation's tribal citizens - about 9,000 - cast ballots. For months, the matter has been tied up in the federal and tribal courts. Introduction of Watson's bill in June escalated the issue. Some Oklahoma congressmen, such as Rep. Dan Boren, say the chances Watson's bill will become law are "almost nonexistent," but acknowledge such legislation, if successful, would have far-reaching consequences on the state's economy. Recent history shows that her bill has a chance of gaining traction. In 2000, after the Seminole Nation voted to oust freedmen descendants from its tribe, the government cut off federal programs and refused to recognize its election. The freedmen were later allowed back in the tribe. "When you design a legislative bill to hurt the most vulnerable and weak of the population, the young people in their Head Starts and schools, the infirm and frail in our clinics, then that truly is a scorched-earth policy," Smith said in an interview this week with The Associated Press. "I anticipate this is going to be a long, hard battle, and the sad thing is, it doesn't have to be." Smith expressed surprise some lawmakers took up the issue, and has said the March election had nothing to do with race and everything to do with common heritage. He wants the matter to be decided in the courts. "This is not my choice," Smith said. "Three-thousand Cherokees, by their own initiative, signed a petition and it was brought to a vote. It was the people's decision." But freedmen descendants, such as Marilyn Vann, say the tribe is resorting to scare tactics to defend itself, and welcomed the "additional actions of Congress and additional court cases which continue to pound this on the table." "We're the little people to Mr. Smith," said Vann, president of the Oklahoma City-based Descendants of Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes. "We're not supposed to go to Congress, only Mr. Smith and his supporters are allowed." Results of the election are on hold pending the legal challenges, but if allowed to stand, descendants such as Tahlequah resident Charlene White would lose tribal benefits, including medical coverage. That means she would have to find a way to pay for the $200 in groceries the tribe provides her each month, as well as the expensive medical care for her glaucoma now covered at a local clinic. "It would be a big hardship on me," she said. But White says she's fed up with the war of words over her right to be recognized as a Cherokee citizen and wants to wait on the courts, whatever their decision. "I know where I came from," said White, who can trace her lineage back seven generations. "They can take away everything today if they want, but I'm still a freedman." Copyright c. 2007 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. Copyright c. 2007 KOTV, A Griffin Communications, LLC Subsidiary. --------- "RE: Blackfeet Border Guards" --------- Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2007 07:33:17 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LITTLE FEDERAL ASSISTANCE" http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/09/26/ news/state/18-border_s.txt Reservation shares 65 miles of border with Canada By MARTIN J. KIDSTON Independent Record September 26, 2007 CUT BANK - When Robert DesRosier looks north into Canada and east toward the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, he remarks that if he were a smuggler, or perhaps a terrorist, he would take advantage of the reservation's lack of security. DesRosier, a tall and easy-speaking man, is one of just two tribal members working to secure the reservation's 65 miles of international border. It's a daunting task and one DesRosier says goes largely unsupported by the federal government. "The things that come through here could affect the rest of the nation," he said after a scouting flight over the border. "But one of the things that affects us the most with Homeland Security is that we don't often get the money to operate or maintain a good border protection program." DesRosier took on the Blackfeet Nation's Homeland Security mission one week after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. He and his partner - a Blackfeet man who asked that his name not be used - represent the sum total of the reservation's effort to secure the border. The program has made progress since its inception. Relationships have been forged with nearby law enforcement agencies, including the Glacier County Sheriff's Department and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Even the Blackfeet Tribal Council supports the mission, helping out in a pinch if DesRosier needs it. But DesRosier acknowledges that his program has taken small steps backward. It hasn't grown much during the past six years, and that leaves him frustrated. What's more, he said, it continues to struggle for funding. "We'd like to have a full-time program that puts Blackfeet people to work on the northern border," he said. "I'd like to see 10 to 12 people who are full-time employees working Homeland Security for the Blackfeet Nation. I'd like to do rotating shifts, and that means vehicles and equipment." DesRosier and his partner, along with a host of Native American agents from southern Arizona, have gathered in Cut Bank to fly the border with a drug interdiction pilot from the Montana National Guard. Doing so, DesRosier hopes, will reveal the illegal crossing points that lie invisible to those on the ground. Knowing where the roads and trails lie will help his team devise a better plan, one he may deploy with limited manpower. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that funding isn't going to the reservations like it is to the rest of the country," he said. "If I was a smuggler, I certainly wouldn't go through the Port of Sweetgrass or the Port of Piegan. It's common sense. The smugglers aren't dumb. They know what's going on." DesRosier's words mirror those spoken by Hill County Sheriff Greg Szudera two weeks earlier. The 14 ports of entry dotting Montana's northern frontier are well-secured. But the 545 miles between them are lonely, open miles with only farmers and a handful of Border Patrol agents keeping watch. "Putting myself in the shoes of doing criminal activity, it's a toss-up whether I'd try to cross at a busy station or at a location with limited personnel," Szudera said at his Havre office. "I personally would take the risk of doing it in a location with a smaller amount of traffic." That's what has DesRosier concerned. Aside from the weather and expansive terrain, there's little to stop smugglers and illegal aliens from crossing the reservation and reaching the highway, where they may disappear into the Montana population. Smugglers have been known to fly drugs across the border and drop them for collection. Others move on four-wheeler or foot. They set their package by a trail or road, marking it in some unsuspecting way for future collection. In land this big and rugged, catching them, says one Native American agent, is a game of luck, good intelligence and planning. "We've seen increased activity on the border," the agent said, shaking his head. "You'll see roads, illegal crossings on the border. If somebody wanted to get across the international boundary bad enough to go around a port of entry, it usually means there's something on their mind." DesRosier's team has won small victories in securing funding for border security, mainly a small grant from the Department of Justice and funds for two-way radios. Still, he says, the tribe remains at a disadvantage due to the way Homeland Security funding is distributed. For starters, he said, the tribe must apply for money at the state level while the state, in contrast, gets money directly from the federal government. There's no money for tribal salaries, nothing in the tribal budget to pay personnel to actively patrol the border or do Homeland Security work. "We've always maintained that we need to have a funding path in place directly to the federal government," he said. "Not to say that we're going to be competing with the states. But the federal government must recognize Indian Country's needs when it comes to Homeland Security. We don't think they adequately address that now." As a result, DesRosier fears that smugglers and illegal aliens who want to cross the international border will do so on the reservation. Others agree. Up here, tucked against the rise of Glacier National Park, law enforcement is thin at best. What officers there are keep busy with crisis management. As DesRosier puts it, tribal police don't even have time to work traffic. "I think the criminal element will target a reservation because there's not adequate law enforcement," he said. During his flight, DesRosier marked the GPS coordinates of each illegal crossing discovered below. They found three on this morning. Back at base, he and his men gathered around a contour map of north-central Montana, marking the crossings on the map. These, says DesRosier, are the places he'll begin watching. He'll take to a secret vantage high in the hills to do so - one that lends an expansive view of the border. While DesRosier remains hopeful that funding will someday come his way, he knows how the game is played. He acknowledges that the northern border is nothing like the southern border, at least when it comes to the level of activity streaming across it. He called the difference significant and one he can't compete with. Still, he wants to spread the word to smugglers and illegal aliens - if you're looking to enter the U.S. through Montana, the Blackfeet Indian Reservation isn't the place to do it. "By far the most important thing to me is the Homeland Security mission," DesRosier said. "It's important for the Blackfeet Nation that we maintain our identity as far as our northern border. We're one of the most unique tribes in the nation because we have 65 miles of international border. We try to remain very observant." Contact Martin Kidston at mkidston@helenair.com or 447-4086. Copyright c. 2007 The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: NA Legislators hear sobering School Statistics" --------- Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2007 22:43:08 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="INDIAN CHILDREN BEING LEFT BEHIND" http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2007/09/28/ news/top/doc46fdc07c7823c098044446.txt Native American legislators hear sobering school statistics The Associated Press September 29, 2007 HELENA, Mont. - Native American legislators from throughout the country were told Friday that Native students lag far behind their peers, and something must be done about it. The National Caucus of Native American State Legislators is meeting in Helena to consider ways to close the so-called "achievement gap." A study on the issue headlined the conference. The group was told that only 54 percent of Native students graduate from high school, compared to 70 percent of the general population. The group is also more likely to think about, or commit, suicide. And Native grade-school students are often performing about two grade levels below their peers -- only one of many problems found, said a social-sciences researcher whose work has contributed to Montana Office of Public Instruction data. "To be frank, the results could not be more troubling," Christopher Lohse said. Lohse said poverty on Indian reservations plays a role in the underachievement. "Breaking up concentrated poverty matters," Lohse said. He found many indicators pointing to the problem, such as evidence that teachers in areas experiencing greater poverty are more likely to be teaching out of their specific areas of expertise. The Native students face greater challenges and enormous risks that limit their chances for success, Lohse's report said. His report looked at states with dense populations of Native Americans. Lohse said that a number of improvements can be made, such as increasing culturally relevant education that appeals more to Native students. He said further study of other methods being used needs to take place. "This is one of the greatest challenges facing our K-12 schools today," Montana state Sen. Carol Juneau, D-Browning, said. The group was scheduled on Saturday to finalize policy recommendations that state legislatures nationwide can use to deal with the issue. Copyright c. 2007 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. Copyright c. 2007 Rapid City Journal. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Indigenous organize to halt mining in Americas" --------- Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2007 22:43:08 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PROTECTING NATIVE LANDS FROM PLUNDERERS" http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/ Empowered: Indigenous Peoples organize to halt mining in Americas By Brenda Norrell September 29, 2007 TUCSON, Ariz. - Indigenous Peoples from throughout the Americas fighting mining gathered to organize and support one another to halt the mining destroying their communities and the environment. The first in the series of articles focuses on the delegation from Peru, fighting copper mining and the poisoning of water sources. Coal, gold, silver, copper and uranium mining in Indigenous territories has reached the level of a global crisis. Nikos Pastos of Alaska's Big Village Network said climate change and melting ice, combined with oil drilling, result in unprecedented dangers for polar bears, walruses and whales. On the Navajo Nation and near its borders, proposals for new uranium mines, coal mining and the Desert Rock Power Plant pose threats to land and air already heavy with toxins. Manny Pino, Acoma Pueblo, said the sacred sites endangered by new proposed uranium mining include Mount Taylor in New Mexico, sacred to Pueblos, Navajos and other tribes in the region. At the root of the problem, says Western Shoshone Carried Dann, are the IRA tribal governments who are acting in the best interest of energy companies, rather than the best interest of the people. Louise Benally, Navajo from Big Mountains, Ariz., said the Earth is being "butchered" by mining and elected leaders at both the tribal and federal level are responsible and must be replaced. In a story which repeats itself in every geographic region of the Americas, mining is rupturing communities and poisoning the environment, including the First Nations in Canada, Mayan in Guatemala and the Spokane Nation in Washington. Censored and under-reported news: brendanorrell@gmail.com --------- "RE: Peru's Indigenous arise in defense of Earth" --------- Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2007 22:43:08 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PERU INDIGENOUS PEOPLES PREPARE FOR 'DAY OF GENOCIDE'" http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/ Peru's Indigenous Peoples arise in defense of Earth from mining Andean Indigenous Peoples organize in defense of land, prepare for mobilization on 'Day of Genocide,' October 12 By Brenda Norrell http://www.narconews.com/ September 29, 2007 TUCSON, Ariz. - Indigenous Peoples from Peru say that while their country's leaders have endorsed the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples at the international level, at home the federal government is preparing to forcibly claim Indigenous lands for mining. Indigenous Peoples are now struggling to protect their territories from a proposed law that would claim the right to appropriate Indigenous territories based on the Peruvian government's claim that it is a matter of "national interest." Speaking out against mining, Quechua leader Miguel Palacin of Lima, Peru, said Andean Peoples from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina have organized to protect Indigenous territories in this region. Palacin is coordinator of the Coordinadora Andina de Organizaciones Indigenas (Andean Federation of Indigenous Organizations.) "This group is working to protect Indigenous rights," Palacin said, speaking through a translator during an interview at the Western Mining Action Network Conference 2007, held in Tucson on Sept. 28 - 29. Palacin said the concept of Indigenous territories does not only refer to the lands of Indigenous Peoples, but also to Indigenous' languages, cultures, values and clothing. Indigenous territories include the right to autonomy and self-governance based on Indigenous Peoples' own legal systems and principles. "This is a fundamental right, a right that is being offended by the politics of globalization, the invasion of transnational corporations and the contamination that is damaging the life and culture." Palacin said it is essential to grow in visibility and expose the mining, energy and hydroelectric corporations seizing Indigenous territories for profit. He said Indigenous territories are under attack by governments. "The governments are campaigning against the social movement." This is particularly true in Colombia, where Indigenous Peoples are confronted by the federal government, FARC and the paramilitaries. "In Colombia, there has been a lot of death and displacement." However, Palacin said there is also hope. In both Bolivia and Ecuador, new Constitutional reforms propose changes that respect Indigenous Peoples rights. Further, the Andean Federation of Indigenous Organizations is now proposing the establishment of Indigenous Diplomats, to meet with governments to explain their positions. These include opposition to Free Trade agreements and militarization. Further, concerns are arising because of new visa and passport requirements. In support of these struggles, Indigenous Peoples plan mobilizations throughout South America on the "Day of Genocide," October 12, followed by a delegation to Europe on Oct. 13, he said. "The Indigenous movement has power in the south. We want to be included in the transformation of our countries. Indigenous Peoples have the right to govern their countries," Palacin said. Attorney Javier Aroca of Lima, Peru, said the government of Peru has criminalized the social movement to protect the land. "Mining is very strong. The government really supports this industry because they view it as a means of receiving a lot of revenues. "Whoever opposes mining is seen as a terrorist and anti-patriotic," Aroca said, during an interview in Tucson. At issue now are the mining companies who obtain their leases from leaders without consultation of the community, including copper mines. "The biggest concern is water," Aroca said, pointing out that water from the mountain tops flows throughout the region. Where copper mine exploration is being carried out, there are natural protected reserves in the high mountain region. "These mountain top areas are the source of water." Aroca said the Peruvian government supported the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, including the right to free, informed and prior consent and Indigenous Peoples' rights to their territories. "But in practice, the Peruvian government is doing the opposite." Currently, opposition is mounting to oppose a law in the Peruvian Congress, which would allow Indigenous lands to be appropriated in the name of "national interest," Aroca said. "If this law is passed, it would trash eight years of work in support of Indigenous Peoples rights." The representatives from Peru joined Indigenous Peoples from throughout the Americas at the Western Mining Action Network conference, including Western Shoshone Carrie Dann; Navajo Louise Benally from Big Mountain, Ariz.; Manny Pino, Acoma Pueblo and member of the International Indian Treaty Council; Tom Goldtooth, Navajo/Dakota director of the Indigenous Environmental Network; Twa-le Abrahamson of the Shawl Society Spokane Nation, Wash.; Flora Natomagan, Hatchet Lake Band of First Nations from Canada who served previously as chief; Dailan Long, Navajo from Dine' CARE, Wahleah Johns, Navajo from the Black Mesa Water Coalition and other Indigenous Peoples whose communities have been devastated by uranium mining, coal mining, power plants, copper mining and other natural resource extractions and contaminating energy development. --- Miguel Palacin, Quechua, is the first coordinator of the Andean Federation of Indigenous Organizations. He is originally from Vicco in the central Andes of Peru. Earlier, in 1999, he founded the National Federation of Peruvian Communities Affected by Mining, CONACAMI, an organization that defends the rights of communities affected by mining. - Javier Aroca is an attorney specializing in Indigenous Peoples, rural communities and Native Rights law. He is currently the Regional Coordinator for Oxfam America's Extractive Industries Program at the South American Regional Office. Censored and under-reported news: brendanorrell@gmail.com --------- "RE: Proposed Deal reached for Michigan Tribes" --------- Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2007 07:33:17 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HUNTING, FISHING, LAND USE AGREEMENT" http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20070926/APA/709260583 Proposed Deal Reached for Mich. Tribes By JOHN FLESHER Associated Press Writer September 26, 2007 TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - Five American Indian tribes will regulate hunting, fishing and plant gathering by their members on millions of acres in Michigan under a tentative agreement announced Wednesday with the state. Supporters hope the proposal will end decades of bickering over what rights Indians retained when they signed away ownership of land that amounts to 37 percent of the state. The 1836 treaty helped lead to Michigan acquiring statehood the next year. State officials and the leaders of most tribes and sporting groups were lining up behind the plan, saying it doesn't give the tribes all they want but does protect their interests. It "will provide stability and predictability in an area of former legal uncertainty," said Rebecca Humphries, director of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The proposed consent decree needs approval of each tribe's government and U.S. District Judge Richard Enslen to take effect. Several have already signed on, while the largest tribe - the Sault St. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians - has submitted the pact to its 23,870 adult 29,000 members for a referendum. Both sides hope to submit the document to Enslen before the next court hearing, scheduled for Oct. 22. Conservation and property rights groups that observed the negotiations described the agreement as "tough but fair." "We have worked to ensure healthy and sustainable game and fish populations, to protect private property rights and to preserve Michigan's sportspersons' heritage," said Dennis Muchmore, executive director of the Michigan United Conservation Clubs. In a statement, the Burt Lake Preservation Association voiced "disappointment with the negotiation process because there was little public involvement." The group said it feared the deal would put the lake's walleye fishery at risk. "But we must accept the conclusion and work toward a positive resolution with the state and the tribes," the association said. Tribal leaders say they have demonstrated over many generations their responsible stewardship of natural resources. "We've wanted all along to make sure people wouldn't feel the need to lash out because they were afraid we were going to destroy the resource," said Jimmie Mitchell, natural resources director for the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians based in Manistee. The proposal affects much of the western and northern Lower Peninsula and the eastern Upper Peninsula. The five tribes are the Bay Mills Indian Community, the Sault Tribe, the Little River Band, the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, and the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. --- On the Net: Michigan Department of Natural Resources: http://www.michigan.gov/dnr Copyright c. 2007 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. Copyright c. 2007 Daily Comet, Thibodaux, Lafourche Parish, Louisiana. --------- "RE: Washington Tribes, State to meet over Rights" --------- Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2007 07:12:47 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CLEAR PASSAGE FOR FISH" http://www.indianz.com/News http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/161173.html Clear passage for fish at stake SUSAN GORDON; The News Tribune September 21, 2007 A recent federal court ruling could step up efforts to restore fish habitat by removing or replacing problem culverts around Puget Sound and on the Olympic Peninsula. But it's unclear how many millions of dollars that might cost, how quickly it could be accomplished and where state officials will find the money. "To me, it's a very simple fix to fix the culverts and their huge impact on salmon recovery," said Billy Frank Jr., the Nisqually leader whose tribe is among 20 that sued in 2001 to force the state into action. Harking back to the historic 1974 Boldt decision, U.S. District Court Judge Ricardo Martinez sided with the tribes in August. Since the blocked culverts reduce fish habitat, he said, they violate tribal treaty rights to fish. Martinez stopped short of demanding an immediate fix. Instead, he encouraged state and tribal officials to work out a solution. Official talks begin Monday in Seattle. The goal is to have a proposal ready by December, in time for the 2008 legislative session that begins in January, said Steve Dietrich, senior counsel for the office of the state attorney general. "He wants us to check in by Nov. 1 and every 60 days after that," Dietrich said of the judge. "I think there'll be a series of meetings. This is pretty complicated." Simple, according to Frank. Complicated, to Dietrich. Here's the essence of the issue: Just because a buried pipe carries a stream from one side of a road to the other, it doesn't guarantee that fish can pass through. Or that gravel and sand don't build up on the upstream side and threaten to clog up the passage. Or that a plugged pipe won't fail, causing a flood or road collapse, which also damages the stream bed and kills fish. Biologists for both the state and the tribes generally agree that all of those things are problems. That said, there's little consensus on the scope of the problem, including how many miles of usable habitat are blocked. Lawyers for the tribes contend that culvert problems in the area covered by the lawsuit - around Puget Sound and the Olympic Peninsula - render about 750 miles of salmon streams useless. On the state side, it's hard to get a single number because multiple agencies are involved. Beyond that, from the tribes' perspective, the dispute revolves around deadlines, priorities and appropriate culvert design. On the state side, agency representatives cite cost as the primary reason why so many culverts haven't been fixed. CONCERNS ABOUT COST On and off for years, tribal and state officials have tried to resolve the dispute. A last round of court-sanctioned mediation ended unsuccessfully last May before Martinez weighed in. For the upcoming settlement talks, Gov. Chris Gregoire's office is coordinating the state's response. That doesn't sit well with at least state lawmaker, Rep. Joel Kretz, a Republican from Wauconda, Okanogan County. Kretz is a rancher and forest landowner who became politically active representing his county's Farm Bureau in a dispute over state forest road maintenance and abandonment rules. He's had firsthand experience with culvert requirements. What worries Kretz most is the cost. "There have been billions of dollars spent on salmon recovery efforts and now the governor may negotiate more money away in private without consideration for the taxpayers of this state," he said. The culvert case involves the state agencies that oversee transportation, forests, fisheries and parks. "We're the lion's share," said Paula Hammond, the Transportation Department's interim secretary. "We do care about fish and it's been something we've tried to work on," she said. Since 1991, the Transportation Department has spent $40 million to fix the problem. So far, 200 culverts have been corrected statewide. Over the next 12 years, the department plans to spend an additional $69 million, she said. As for the Puget Sound area, she estimated the Transportation Department's culvert repair or replacement obligation at a minimum of $300 million. Transportation officials have identified about 850 problem culverts in watersheds around Puget Sound and the Olympic Peninsula. "They're on pace to complete the job sometime in the next century," said lawyer John Sledd, who represents Nisqually and several other tribes in the lawsuit. "That's certainly not adequate." But Paul Wagner, who manages the department's biology branch, said the state's timetable is based on a priority list. "We know we can get most of the habitat from less than half of the culverts. If we fixed the top 40 percent of the priority list we would get 80 percent of available habitat, " he said. While Transportation Department officials deal with highway culverts, the Natural Resources Department handles forest roads. Natural Resources, the parks department and the Department of Fish and Wildlife are subject to a previously negotiated 2016 deadline for culvert correction. Natural Resources Department officials put the total number of problem culverts in the lawsuit area at about 700. "We are fixing them all over the place all the time as we are doing work in various locations," said Patty Henson, department spokeswoman. BAD PIPE DESIGN, PLACEMENT Sometimes culverts that are bad for fish also are bad for people. That's true of one just outside of Roy, where three 4-foot-tall arched culverts are supposed to carry Lacamas Creek under Highway 507. Lacamas Creek runs into Muck Creek, a Nisqually River tributary and home to a native run of chum salmon. When Lacamas Creek runs high, the culvert stands in the way and the creek floods parts of town. And even before the creek jumps its banks, the fish can't get through, state biologists said. Debris now blocks two of the three barrels. It's a troublesome design. "You never want to have rows of pipe" next to each other, said Dan Wrye, Pierce County watershed services manager. "The fish can be impaled. They hit the sharp edges and it can be lethal." A 2005 county watershed plan calls for culvert replacement and estimates the cost at $345,000. The state Department of Transportation could pick up at least part of the tab, but so far it's not budgeted, officials said. Closer to the Sound, on the east fork of Hylebos Creek and near Federal Way's Wild Waves Theme Park, a pipe spills water out of an embankment beneath Enchanted Parkway South. The water drops into a scour hole where young coho swim, but they can't get through the conduit because it's perched too high above the creek, a tribal biologist said. If not for that poorly placed pipe, fish could move upstream an additional 6,000 feet or so, said Russ Ladley, the Puyallup Tribe's resource protection manager. From his perspective, that's significant. Such blockages "contribute to a sizable loss of fish production," he said. "It's the death-from-1,000-wounds type of argument." Susan Gordon: 253-597-8756 susan.gordon@thenewstribune.com Copyright c. 2007 Tacoma News, Inc. A subsidiary of The McClatchy Company --------- "RE: Council Donates $200,000 to Code Talkers Monument" --------- Date: Friday, September 28, 2007 12:40 am From: Joshua Lavar Butler Subj: Navajo Nation Council Donates $200 Thousand to Code Talkers Monument Navajo Nation Council - Office of the Speaker Contact: Joshua Lavar Butler, Public Information Officer Phone: (928) 871-7160 Cell: (928) 255-2946 Fax: (928) 871-7255 joshualavarbutler@navajo.org joshualavarbutler@yahoo.com www.navajonationcouncil.org September 26, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Navajo Nation Council Donates $200 Thousand to Code Talkers Monument WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. - The Intergovernmental Relations Committee (IGR) unanimously approved a $200 thousand donation to the Navajo Nation Code Talkers Memorial Foundation on Wednesday - Sept. 26, 2007. The Honorable Speaker Lawrence T. Morgan (Iyanbito/Pinedale) sponsored Legislation No. 0684-07, which authorized the reallocation and disbursement of funds to the Code Talkers Memorial Foundation. The legislation was co-sponsored by Young Jeff Tom (Mariano Lake/Smith Lake). The monument is being designed by Oreland C. Joe, Sr., a world-renown Navajo master sculptor. Mr. Joe will work closely with Metal Arts Foundry towards the successful completion of the bronze sculpture. Metal Arts Foundry will cast eight bronze plaques that will be attached to the monument as well. The plaques will include the names of approximately 429 Navajo Code Talkers. As directed by the 21st Navajo Nation Council, the Office of the Speaker has been working to insure that this project is completed. The Office of the Speaker, through the direction of Speaker Morgan, has been persistently working with Sylvia Laughter of the Navajo Code Talkers Memorial Foundation to solidify funding appropriations for the monument. The monument is slated to be completed and in place on the front lawn of the Arizona State Capitol by January 1, 2008. Speaker Morgan expressed his gratitude to his colleagues and his staff. Speaker Morgan is a strong advocate for veteran's issues and has often expressed his concern for more recognition of Native American veterans. Speaker Morgan said that he wholeheartedly supports the contributions that our Navajo people provided during World War II (WWII). "We need to make sure to educate all people about the contributions of our Native American warriors to this country." Speaker Morgan explained that Navajo people come from a long line of warriors and he said that Native American soldiers constitute the highest number in per capita serving in the U.S. military forces all over the world. "It is for this very reason that I supported this legislation to fund the Navajo Code Talkers Memorial." Sylvia Laughter, Founder and Board Member of the Navajo Nation Code Talkers Memorial Foundation, also expressed her appreciation on behalf of the Foundation immediately after the passage of Legislation No. 0684-07. "I want to thank the Navajo Nation Council, specifically the Honorable Speaker Lawrence T. Morgan and Young Jeff Tom for sponsoring this piece of legislation and moving it forward." The Navajo Code Talkers Memorial Foundation has been working on this project for years and has been able to raise some money. Laughter explained that the money that they have raised was just not enough to erect the second monument. The first monument was placed in the Veteran's Park in Window Rock, Ariz. "To say that I am excited today is an understatement. I am very grateful to the Navajo Nation Council members who voted in favor of this particular legislation - this has been a long awaited process," Laughter said. "It's great to know that the Navajo people will finally see a monument that represents our pride and honor of the Navajo Code Talkers who bravely represented the U.S. during WWII." The Code Talkers monument will be a significant and historical marker that will be here forever. "People will be able to see how proud Arizona is for their Navajo Code Talkers and their undying service to our country," Laughter explained as she was elated with appreciation to everyone who helped in the process. Laughter said that they are planning to host an unveiling and dedication ceremony in January, just in time for the state's Tribal Legislative Day. Laughter encourages everyone to come down to the State Capitol and celebrate the dedication of the memorial. For more information about the Navajo Nation Code Talkers Memorial Foundation, log-on to their Myspace.com profile at www.myspace. com/123376482 or contact Joshua Lavar Butler with the Office of the Speaker at (928) 871-7160. --------- "RE: It's time for Indians to look to better Future" --------- Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2007 07:09:03 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DO NOT DWELL ON GRIM PAST" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/ articles/2007/09/28/news/50yellowtail.txt It's time for Indians to look to better future, not grim past, Yellowtail says By GAIL SCHONTZLER Chronicle Staff Writer September 28, 2007 It's time for American Indians to stop being victims of a horrific past and start being self-sufficient individuals and entrepreneurs, determined to build a brighter future, Bill Yellowtail told a Bozeman audience Thursday night. "We Indians have to stop identifying ourselves by our tragedies and start identifying ourselves by our hopes, expectations and successes," he said. Yellowtail received standing applause from a crowd of about 200 at the Museum of the Rockies, where he gave the 2007 Phyllis Berger Memorial Lecture. Yellowtail, 59, holds Montana State University's Katz Endowed Chair in Native American studies. Originally from Wyola, the son of a Crow father and Irish mother, he has been a regional Environmental Protection Agency director in the Clinton administration, a Montana state senator, and in 1996 an unsuccessful candidate for Congress. It is time, Yellowtail said, to return to traditional Indian values of self-sufficiency and of the powerful individual, and time to end 200 years of waiting for the great white father, the church, the U.S. government or even tribal governments to come to the rescue. He recounted the ills plaguing Indian country - high rates of poverty, infant mortality, teen suicide, obesity and diabetes, and epidemic substance abuse. Of the 33 schools that failed No Child Left Behind tests last year, every one serves principally native students. The poorest county in the nation is on a South Dakota reservation, and the poorest three counties in Montana all have Indian reservations. Unemployment for all of Montana is 2.8 percent, but in Indian country it soars to 50, 60 or 70 percent. Yellowtail said it's time to be blunt, not politically correct, and to face difficult truths. Native people have the choice to stick with bleakness and despondency, he said, "or say `Enough!'" Some blame history - genocide, bigotry, injustice, the white man, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, he said. But, he argued, "Victimhood is even more destructive." In addition to seeking college training to become teachers and lawyers, native people need to study economics and entrepreneurship, he said. Yellowtail cited the example of David Anderson, a Chippewa-Choctaw tribal member who founded the successful Famous Dave's BBQ national restaurant chain and later became an assistant secretary of the Interior. People on the Crow reservation are also showing spirit and ambition and starting their own businesses, he said, and it makes them feel proud. Some think that individual enterprise is contrary to tribal values of kinship and community, or that it means greed, but it actually means being resourceful, Yellowtail said. It's imperative that Indian people give themselves permission to pursue education and excellence, to pursue a livelihood outside the reservation community, and yet be welcomed back later, he said. Yellowtail applauded native schools that have students start each day by shouting out their values: "Integrity! Respect! Justice! Stewardship! Spirituality! Excellence! No excuses! Step up!" Asked by an audience member about the guilt and shame that white people feel over the historic mistreatment of Indians, Yellowtail said such feelings only promote a sense of victimhood. "As regrettable as that history might have been," he said, "now it's time to move forward." Gail Schontzler is at gails@dailychronicle.com Copyright c. 2007 Bozeman Daily Chronicle. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: American Indian College Fund granted $500,000" --------- Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2007 07:53:39 -0700 (PDT) From: Dina Horwedel, Public Education Director-American Indian College Fund Subj: News from the American Indian College Fund FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Raymond Foxworth rfoxworth@collegefund.org 303-430-5327 American Indian College Fund Granted $500,000 for Mellon Faculty Research Program Denver - September 25, 2007 - American Indian people are one of the fastest-growing populations in America. Yet, they are often deemed statistically insignificant, resulting in their voices and perspectives being excluded. The nation's tribal colleges and universities are taking hold of the research agenda in Indian Country to serve as a voice for Native communities. To address the acute lack of research conducted by Native people, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation granted the American Indian College Fund (the Fund) $500,000 to establish the Mellon Faculty Research Program for faculty at tribal colleges. Tribal colleges and universities are integral to the success of American Indian communities. With the growth of the American Indian population and the increased number of Native people attaining degrees, the need for tribal college faculty to conduct research on behalf of tribal governments and Indian communities is at an all-time high. The three-year Mellon Faculty Research Program will permit selected faculty to complete research sabbaticals to strengthen intellectual capacity at the nation's tribal colleges and universities. The Mellon Faculty Research Program will fund American Indian faculty research projects for the tribal colleges and Indian communities, placing Native professors in the rightful place of telling the Indian story. The Mellon Faculty Research Program will allow tribal college faculty and students the rare opportunity to pursue scholarly research in their respective fields. Over the three-year grant period, a total of eight tribal college faculty members will be awarded one-year research fellowships valued at $34,000 each. Selected faculty will also receive an annual travel and supply allowance to assist with their research. The project will also provide undergraduates with the opportunity to serve as research assistants, sparking an interest in research, writing and advanced studies. At the conclusion of the three-year program, the Fund will publish a manuscript of faculty and student research projects and make it available to the public. To be eligible for the Mellon Faculty Research Program, applicants must currently be a tribal college faculty member possessing at least a master' s degree, have an identified tribal college research assistant, and possess a demonstrated commitment to Indian education, Native communities and scholarship. Faculty also must agree to serve at least two years at a tribal college after their project completion to build intellectual capacity and sustain research efforts. The Mellon Faculty Research Program will greatly contribute to tribal communities, and reverse the negative educational attainment trends that have persisted in Indian Country. This initiative will allow tribal college faculty and students to contribute to the national dialogue of Indian scholarship. About the American Indian College Fund With its credo "Educating the Mind and Spirit," the Denver-based American Indian College Fund is the nation's largest provider of private scholarships for American Indian students, providing more than 6,000 scholarships annually for students seeking to better their lives and communities through education at the nation's 30 accredited tribal colleges and universities. For more information about the American Indian College Fund or to make a donation, visit www.collegefund.org. Copyright c. 2007 American Indian College Fund. --------- "RE: NA Natural Foods Set to launch Tanka Bars" --------- Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2007 07:01:42 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TANKA BUFFALO ENERGY BARS" http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=9033 Native American Natural Foods Set to launch Tanka Bars Oct. 5-7 Pine Ridge-based company creates new food category with buffalo energy bars KYLE SD September 24, 2007 Following two years of intense product development, Native American Natural Foods is preparing to launch its new buffalo energy bar at the Black Hills Pow Wow, Oct. 5-7, in Rapid City, S.D. The Tanka Bar, which pairs prairie-raised American buffalo with Wisconsin cranberries, is a modern artisanal take on a traditional Native American recipe for "wasna" or "pemmican," which has been described by many nutritionists as the perfect energy food. The 100 percent natural bar is 70 calories per 1 ounce serving and no trans fats. According to Karlene Hunter, CEO of the company, which is based in Kyle, S.D., on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, the Tanka Bar introduces a new product category: the meat-based energy bar. "Tanka Bars don't taste medicinal or like a candy bar," Hunter said. "They are tender, flavorful and good for you. We're convinced that once people taste them, they'll choose pure meat protein-based energy over `enhanced' cereal bars every time." The Tanka Bar, already a household name on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, has also won the endorsement of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, the Great Plains Tribal Chairman's Association and several nutrition experts around the country. According to Mark Tilsen, president of Native American Natural Foods, the Tanka Bar is receiving an enthusiastic reception from Native American people across the country. "It shows that people want healthy, authentic Native foods with all the modern conveniences," he said. Native American Natural Foods has partnered with Rapid City's Rushmore Plaza Civic Center and the Black Hills Pow Wow Association to share its milestone with the community that has helped nurture the tiny company's big brand ambitions. Tanka Bars will be available at www.tankabar.com or at 1-800-416-7212. Native American Times. Copyright c. 2005 All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Washo Elders help compile Online Dictionary" --------- Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2007 07:12:47 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WASHO ONLINE DICTIONARY" http://www.indianz.com/News http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-washo21sep21%2C0%2C1852254.story A final say? They hope not Tribal elders are helping a linguist compile an online dictionary of Washo, a language close to extinction. More than just words are at stake. By Larry Gordon Los Angeles Times Staff Writer September 21, 2007 WOODFORDS, CALIF. - In a classroom amid the dusty hills southeast of Lake Tahoe, an unlikely duo sit across from each other and conjugate the verb "to sleep." They are working in Washo, a language with, at best, an uncertain future. Elshim, to sleep. Lelshimi, I am sleeping. Elshimi, he is sleeping. Shelshimi, they are sleeping. On one side of a yellow plastic table sits Ramona Dick, a 74-year-old elder of the Washo tribe, a great-grandmother and retired cook whose formal education ended at the eighth grade but who has a deep knowledge of the Native American language she learned as a child. Facing her is Alan Yu, 30, a Hong Kong-born linguist who immigrated to California as a teenager, earned a doctorate at UC Berkeley and now is an assistant professor at the University of Chicago. Despite differences in age, culture and education, the two have bonded in a way that they hope will bring lasting results. What brings them together is their mutual interest in Washo, a tongue that tribe members estimate is spoken fluently by no more than 20 or 30 people. The big picture is even grimmer: Half of California's 100 Native American languages no longer have fluent speakers, and many of the rest have just five or six hanging on, experts say. Attempts to document, if not revive, many of those languages have been going on for years. The goal is to preserve more than just conversation and literature; a vital part of cultural identity -- what it means, for example, to be a Washo -- slips away when a language becomes extinct. Now, Yu and Dick are part of newer efforts applying contemporary technology worldwide. Last year, Yu received a $160,000 federal grant to compile an online dictionary of 5,000 Washo words and phrases, complete with digitally recorded pronunciations by Dick and other Washo elders. Scheduled to be finished in 2009, the dictionary is designed partly as a tool to help younger Washos learn the language -- even if just a few words, such as da'aw (Lake Tahoe), gewe (coyote)and gu'u (maternal grandmother). "It's going to be lost, I think, if nobody tries to teach them," Dick said of Washo, which had no written form until 20th century scholars began transcribing it phonetically. "If the young people could learn, maybe they can tell their children down the line a bit that it's important to our tribe. Because we are not a very big tribe." Washo (some spell it Washoe) leaders estimate that there are about 1,500 tribal members, mainly in the eastern Sierra on both sides of the California-Nevada border. Dick lives in Woodfords, in an isolated Washo community known as Hung-a-lel-ti (Southern Washoes) on rolling ranchland with stunning mountain vistas. Its 350 or so residents can walk to the lime-green education center, where Yu and Dick meet, but must drive 10 miles north into Nevada for most shopping. During his summer and vacation-time visits to the Washo towns, Yu said, he tries to avoid the paternalistic attitudes that strained some past relationships between nonnative researchers and Native Americans. Yu, who spoke only Cantonese until he started elementary school, stressed that his goal is to document Washo, not to save it. "I think the consensus these days is for a language to be revitalized," he said. "It's really a community effort. It's something that an outsider can't come in and force it onto people." The Washos have a better chance at revitalization than many other tribes, scholars say. About 60 adults and teens attend several Washo language classes, and teachers introduce Washo words and phrases to young children in pre-kindergarten and after-school programs. Besides, Yu said, it is a "gift" to meet fluent -- and vibrant -- volunteers for the dictionary project like Dick, her cousin Steven James and his cousin Eleanore Smokey. Nevertheless, everyone agrees it will be an uphill effort against assimilation and English-language television. Another formidable obstacle: the educations of many middle-aged and elderly tribe members, who were sent away from Washo-speaking homes to government boarding schools that discouraged the use of Washo. Dick learned the language from a grandmother and great-grandmother, neither of whom had a full grasp of English. A widow, Dick says that none of her own five children, 18 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren really speak Washo, although some are trying to learn and most understand when she speaks at home or at a class she is leading. Lynda Shoshone, the tribe's language and cultural preservation coordinator, said she could "kick myself in the rear for not paying more attention" as a child when her grandmother spoke Washo. Shoshone said she knows Washo words but has trouble putting sentences together. However, her 22-year-old son, she said, attended a now-defunct immersion school and is quite fluent. So, she said, the language has a shot at survival. James, 74, is pessimistic. "There's too much competition from the present-day world," said the retired electrical construction worker from Dresslerville, Nev. "Everyday living, your job, just trying to survive in this world is difficult." Still, he and Dick are willing to spend long days, sometimes from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., answering Yu's detailed lists of questions. The elders' responses about nouns, adjectives, verbs and sentences are captured on a digital recording device, and Yu's graduate students splice them and upload them online. On a recent day, Dick visited the classroom leaning on the cane she now requires and sat in front of the microphone. A full-faced, vivacious woman with a graying ponytail and gold hoop earrings, she paused only when she was unable to pull a word from the memory of her late grandmother's kitchen or when her voice got "froggy" from overuse. After all, "Dr. Yu," as she calls him despite his pleas for informality, "comes from far away, and when he does, it's always nice to sit down and talk with him." Wearing jeans, a pullover shirt, sneakers and squarish glasses, Yu queried her in a low-key and respectful manner, like a grandson fishing for a family story. But he also was persistent and, for accuracy, asked the same thing in various ways. Taking lots of handwritten notes, he wanted equivalents of English words and inquired about Washo words or sentences he had picked up from other sources. "Do you know how to describe someone who has a big tummy?" Yu asked. "Have you ever heard people talk about Ngalbuli?" "It means he's got, like, a pot belly," Dick responded, chuckling. They tackled other verbs after "sleep." How would you say, "I'm laughing?" Yu asked. Lasawi. How about a lot of people laughing? Sasawi. Can you say that one more time? Sasawi. To swim? Yeem. I'm swimming? Diyeemi. He's swimming? Yeemi. Sometimes Dick gently corrected Yu's backward word order or mangled pronunciations. Sometimes Yu pushed her into shades of meaning, such as the difference between shooting something and trying to shoot it. Then came nouns: paternal grandmother (ama), maternal grandfather (elel), maternal grandchildren (gu'yi). What about shrimp? She shook her head, drawing a blank. The word for fish is atabi, but apparently there is no word for shrimp. "There was no shrimp around here," she later explained, "until white men brought them into markets." Yu has posted a preliminary Washo pronunciation guide online at http://washo.uchicago.edu and has compiled about two-thirds of the words he needs before he makes the dictionary and its voicing technology available to the public late next year. That progress is "very impressive, " said Douglas Whalen, a program officer at the National Science Foundation's program known as Documenting Endangered Languages. The program, which also involves the National Endowment for the Humanities, is funding Yu's dictionary and similar work in about 60 other languages worldwide. "Language is part of our human heritage," Whalen said. "It's part of what makes us human. Not having any record of what's gone on in a language is regrettable." The rate of world language extinction is alarming, a study sponsored by the National Geographic Society warned this week. Of the world's 7,000 languages, two are disappearing every month, and half may be gone by century's end, including scores of Native American tongues in the Southwestern U.S., researchers said. To an English speaker, Washo sounds difficult, with frequent glottal stops that change meanings and a throaty "ng" sound (ngawngang is child). Verbs change prefixes as they shift among "I, he, we, they," and verbs also have several forms for the recent or distant past. Its oddities include some double-negative expressions, such as "I don't not know." Washo is very unlike the other Native American languages -- Miwok, Maidu and Northern Paiute -- that surround it, according to William H. Jacobsen Jr., a professor emeritus at the University of Nevada, Reno, who conducted groundbreaking linguistic research on Washo starting in the 1950s and published a basic grammar guide in 1996. The tribe's linguistic isolation fed into a sense of cultural distinctiveness in the Indian world, even as white settlers took over traditional Washo fishing and hunting territory for silver mining, ranching, lake resorts and casinos in the 19th and 20th centuries, Jacobsen said. Jacobsen said he too is compiling a Washo dictionary, albeit a print one. But he is gloomy about Washo's future, although he said he hopes his work, language classes and Yu's dictionary will help young people learn a few words and phrases. "Even though they don't know the language or the grammar, there is some value in this," he said. "It gives them some identity and they can say, 'I'm a Washo.' " Internet dictionaries are the latest tools for language survival but are not the sole answer, said former UC Berkeley linguistics professor Leanne Hinton. Tribes showing some success have put special effort into classes for children and for adults, such as the Pechangas, who are working to revive Luisenno in communities near Temecula, and the Yuroks in northwestern California, said Hinton, an expert in tribal languages. Those and other tribes have people "who don't want to go down without a fight, so to speak," said Hinton, who has helped organize the biennial "Breath of Life -- Silent No More" conferences at UC Berkeley that seek to revive endangered Native American languages in California. Yu, one of Hinton's former students, became fascinated with Washo when he was assigned to help out at one of the conferences. Hinton described Yu as a good match for the Washo elders: "He is extremely competent as well as being good with people. He is a very patient person." Besides Cantonese and English, Yu can speak Mandarin and has a rudimentary knowledge of Turkish and Russian. He has a grasp of some Washo vocabulary and grammar but is not fluent. "I am picking it up slowly. In general, I'm not a very good language learner. That may seem odd for a linguist to say, but linguists are not necessarily polyglots," said Yu, whose new book on linguistics was recently published by Oxford University Press. Last month, the Chicago professor went public with his own Washo abilities. The tribe held a luncheon for anyone involved in learning the language. Yu prepared a brief speech in Washo but was clearly nervous. So he first ran the speech past Dick: I'm happy to be here today. Wading ebe dihamu' angawi wa' le'iga' a'alu. . . As I do not speak Washo very well. Washiw diwagay'angaweesinga. . . Eat well and drink well. Gemlu'angaw geme'angaw. Dick gently brushed up Yu's pronunciations here and there and sought to calm his concerns about the lunch crowd's reaction: "They can't expect to hear you talking like a lawyer." That afternoon, about 20 people attended the baked chicken and salad luncheon in the education center. Melba Rakow, who teaches Washo classes in Nevada, offered a blessing and urged the tribe, she later translated, "not to throw our language down." Yu initially hung back a bit before screwing up his courage. Then, clutching his notes, he seemed to carry off the speech flawlessly, finishing up with "Di'nga ledinga" ("That's all I'll say.") The audience applauded, and Dick declared: "I think he did real well." larry.gordon@latimes.com Copyright c. 2007 Los Angeles Times. --------- "RE: LONGFEATHER: Working to understand One Another" --------- Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2007 07:33:17 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LONGFEATHER: WALKING ANOTHER'S PATH" http://www.indianz.com/News http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2007/09/26/ news/columnists/longfeather/139992.txt Working to understand one another September 26, 2007 Ask any child: It's really hard to walk when you want to run. I was reminded of this with the release of a recently published report about American Indian and non-Indian perceptions of each other. The report, "Walking a Mile: A First Step Toward Mutual Understanding," references a frequently quoted American proverb: "Don't judge a man until you have walked a mile in his boots." The hackneyed Native version of the proverb is typically phrased as the prayer, "Great Spirit, grant that I may not criticize my neighbor until I have walked a mile in his moccasins." The study was conducted by the nonprofit organization Public Agenda. The report is described by the organization as "one of the most in-depth examinations ever made of the thinking of American Indians and non-Indians about each other." The research methodology consisted of 12 focus groups conducted over a two-year period across the United States with Native and non-Native groups. The 12 focus groups were comprised of seven groups of Native Americans, including two conducted in the Crow language, in such diverse states as Montana, Washington, New Mexico, Oklahoma and New York. The other five focus groups were conducted with non-Natives in areas removed from reservations, such as New York, Philadelphia and Minneapolis, and in areas near Indian lands and major Indian populations, such as Oklahoma and Colorado. The report claims to explore "Indians' perceptions of their own place in contemporary American society and how non-Indians view American Indians, what they know (or think they know), the generalizations they make and stereotypes they hold, how their perceptions were formed and their interest in learning more." The principal observations culled from the focus groups were that most American Indians believe the past has a significant impact on contemporary life while non-Indians had little to no understanding of negative historical events; that Native participants believed prejudice and discrimination continue to exist, while non-Indians were largely blind to the issue; and that non-Indians know very little about Native American history, legal status, daily life or contemporary issues, but that non- Indians, in general, would like to learn more about American Indians. The report, while helpful, will be somewhat of a disappointment for American Indians and culturally competent non-Natives. Non-Indians' negative perceptions, obliviousness to our lives and issues, and resentment toward perceived preferential treatment might be ground- breaking to the researchers, but they are common experiences for Native people. Unfortunately, one of the most significant impacts of the report might be the validation of these Native experiences. The study does make some interesting recommendations, however, that provide hope for the future of the research and Indian/non-Indian relations. The report suggests that "the content of education in museums, schools and the media should not only include more in-depth, less stereotyped information about Indians' history, but also be expanded to include information on Indians' contemporary life, culture and political rights." It goes on to propose that "Non-Indians need to recognize and respond to the feelings, perceptions and issues uppermost in the minds of American Indians - at the levels of policy and public education. ... It is not enough to know, and feel guilty, about Indians' mistreatment in the past or even their poverty and isolation today." While the report was long overdue and a little inceptive, perhaps with conscientious follow-up to helpful recommendations such as these, more communities can get our mutual walk together up to a healthy jog. The full report can be found online and downloaded at http://www.publicagenda.org. --- Cheryl Long Feather - Hunkuotawin - is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. She writes from Bismarck and can be reached at longfeather@;bis.midco.net Copyright c. 2007 Bismarck Tribune, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: YELLOW BIRD: Learning Culture takes time,devotion" --------- Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2007 07:33:17 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YELLOW BIRD: CROSS CULTURE PARENTING" http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=51628 Learning culture takes time, devotion September 26, 2007 It's a little overwhelming to recognize the responsibility American Indian people have for preserving their culture, language and ceremonies. It is these things that will help the public understand American Indians, and that's important. For American Indian children, the culture, language and ceremonies also will help them understand who they are. I say this because a few days ago, I received a letter from a non-Indian woman who was married to an American Indian. They had a son. Things didn't work out, and they divorced. From her letter, she reminded me of a mother bear wanting to protect and help her cub - they can be fierce. She had seen, from her view as a non-Indian, a point of view that she said "I can't stand." It was what she'd read and heard - the atrocities committed against Indian people, people like her son. She wants to be able to teach and nurture him to be proud of his tribe. The boy's father did not give him any cultural wisdom or lore, she said. She could be stepping into a landmine of prejudice and will be in an area where she may be chastised by both sides. This non-Indian woman is trying to provide information on a unfamiliar culture that she is only peripherally a part of. How do you tell your son about tribal history or the stories of their grandmothers and grandfathers when you yourself don't know them? How do you teach understanding to your son about a history that denigrates or belittles him? And most important, how do you help the child use these negatives to create a positive understanding about himself and the world around him? In other words, how do you teach him to be American Indian and proud of it? I applaud her efforts, and thank the Creator for these women who try. Her problem will be in trying to get the Indian community to help her help her child. Without the help of elders, relatives or a kind friend - and there are those people -- it will be difficult. It's a merry-go-round, and you have to know where to jump on. It is most important, however, that she try and try in a real way. Attending a powwow once a year and explaining what tribal outfits means is like attending a Russian Barynya folk dance and expecting to know Russian culture, life and even the language because of it. One of the most important lessons I learned, although I didn't know it at the time, is how critical it is to live in an Indian community or have close ties to it. Even though there was no set lesson plan, and I wasn't told this is a cultural lesson, I absorbed Indian culture because it was what was happening every day. When I started school, I came home and asked my grandmother, who lived with us, if the Sahnish (Arikara) word for bear that I used was English or Arikara. I didn't know because English and Sahnish were used interchangeably at home. I absorbed those words like I absorbed the ceremonies. They were part of what we did each day, like the family who says a Catholic blessing before eating. It was also hard as a child to understand why my classmates didn't do the same things we did. I learned that Indian culture, language and ceremonies were far too difficult to explain, so I kept quiet and became one of the quietest elementary school students at Sunnyside in Minot. I learned how important the language is for this reason, too. It is the culture. I learned that words paint pictures of who we are, so to understand a culture, you must understand its language. This is true not just for Indian languages and culture, but all languages and all cultures. During my 14 years as a Sundancer, I've learned many of the Lakota words used in that ceremony. But while I did learn how to say the word, I didn't learn the word parts and the meanings of those. That is something I am trying to learn now. Unfortunately, there is no manual for learning Indian culture, language and ceremonies. That would be nice, but it's really left up to the good people who help and teach not only their relatives, but also people such as the non-Indian woman and her son. --- 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. 2007 Grand Forks Herald, Forum Communications Co., Fargo ND. --------- "RE: GARCIA: It's time for action" --------- Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2007 07:09:03 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="VIOLENT CRIME IN INDIAN COUNTRY" http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096415814 Garcia: It's time for action by: Joe Garcia September 27, 2007 Indian country has lived with horrifically high rates of violent crime in our communities for years, and it appears that this reality has finally caught the attention of policy-makers and the public. Much of the momentum on this issue was sparked by the efforts of the Indian women leaders who pushed the tribal amendments to the Violence Against Women Act of 2005. We have also been aided by countless visits by tribal leaders to Washington to raise this issue, federal crime reports that demonstrate the dramatically higher rates of violent crime on Indian reservations, news articles that have highlighted the problems, and most recently the Amnesty International Report, "Maze of Injustice." Recent actions of important members of Congress and the Bush administration suggest that Washington, D.C., is finally listening, and there is a window of opportunity right now to make constructive change. I had the opportunity to testify recently before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and made the following four proposals. First, we need to reaffirm and support tribal government authority to protect their communities. Since the Oliphant decision in 1978, the National Congress of American Indians has urged Congress to reaffirm tribal inherent criminal jurisdiction over all persons within Indian country. NCAI has also long advocated for an amendment to Public Law 280 that would allow tribes to initiate retrocession. We know that restoring tribal criminal jurisdiction has historically proven controversial, but the lives of our people are on the line and we must make progress where it is possible. There is growing support to restore tribal law enforcement in one area where federal and state enforcement is failing completely - domestic violence committed by non-Indian family members. Congress should affirm tribal authority to prosecute crimes committed by non-Indians who cohabitate with an Indian family on Indian land. Jurisdiction would be based on domicile and consent - by living in the tribal community on tribal land, a person consents to tribal laws regulating domestic relations. This is a common-sense solution to a very real problem. Second, we need to improve and hold accountable the federal law enforcement response at the Department of Justice. The one-two punch of the Major Crimes Act and the sentencing limitations in the Indian Civil Rights Act leave tribes dependent on the DOJ for investigation and prosecution of major felonies on most reservations. But federal prosecutors decline as many as 85 percent of the cases referred by tribes. We have serious concerns that the DOJ leadership places no priority on addressing crime in Indian country, and is subject to no oversight. To ensure accountability, Congress should establish an Office of Assistant Attorney General for Indian Law Enforcement within the DOJ. This position should be appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate to make sure that there is leadership and oversight on Indian country crime. Congress should also require the DOJ to collect and share data on referrals and declinations of prosecution by the U.S. attorneys' offices and to coordinate with tribal and BIA police on crime statistics reporting. With these tools in place, Congress, the administration and tribal leaders can make sure that federal prosecutors are doing their job. Third, we need to increase cooperation between tribal, state and federal law enforcement. Criminals do not respect jurisdictional boundaries. Law enforcement has been significantly improved where tribal, state and local police work together, but too many local law enforcement agencies are reluctant to work with tribal law enforcement. Congress should establish incentives to increase cooperation between tribal, state and federal law enforcement. This program can be modeled after a successful tribally initiated Wisconsin law that provides additional funding to county and tribal law enforcement agencies who enter into cooperative agreements. Fourth, we need to increase resources for law enforcement. Basic law enforcement protection and services are severely inadequate on Indian reservations. To put it in perspective, Indian country law enforcement officers make up 0.004 percent of all law enforcement officers in the United States, yet they patrol 2 percent of the land of the United States and 1 percent of the population. Funding must be increased and streamlined for police, courts and detention and rehabilitation facilities. These recommendations and others are explained in greater detail in my testimony, which is available on the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Web site. Lives are on the line, and I feel a tremendous responsibility as NCAI president to push forward on these issues. Of course NCAI needs tribal leaders to help us shape the solutions that will work best for Indian country. We have been talking with Sen. Byron Dorgan and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, chair and vice chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, about the development of a legislative vehicle. We have also been meeting with DOJ officials and met with outgoing Attorney General Roberto Gonzales. We will be hosting a one-day summit on improving law enforcement in Indian country at the NCAI Annual Meeting in November in Denver, Colo. I encourage all tribal leaders to join us and engage on this critically important issue. Joe A. Garcia is president of National Congress of American Indians. Copyright c. 1998 - 2007 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: HARJO: Reject Genocide-denier's Propaganda" --------- Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2007 07:18:03 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HARJO: MEDVED LIES ABOUT WHITE GENOCIDE" http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096415813 Harjo: Reject genocide-denier's propaganda by: Suzan Shown Harjo / Indian Country Today September 27, 2007 Michael Medved wants his audience to "reject the lie of white 'genocide' against Native Americans" and says this is one of the "most urgent needs in culture and education." The neocon author blogged on Sept. 19 that "the word 'genocide' in no way fits as a description of the treatment of Native Americans by British colonists or, later, American settlers." Colonial and American government "never endorsed or practiced a policy of Indian extermination," wrote Medved. Rather, "official leaders of white society tried to restrain some of their settlers and militias and paramilitary groups from unnecessary conflict and brutality." Medved rose to national prominence as guest-host for talk radio star Rush Limbaugh and as a movie critic who defended director Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" when many other Jewish-Americans denounced it as anti-Semitic. Medved claims that the "real decimation of Indian populations had nothing to do with massacres or military actions, but stemmed from infectious diseases that white settlers brought with them at the time they first arrived in the New World." Would that Medved were correct in his use of the word "decimation." That would mean that only 10 percent, rather than 95 percent, of Native people actually died by 1900. Medved is wrong about his main point, too. While many Native people died of foreign diseases, non-Natives killed and nearly killed entire nations and cultures, and meant to do so. Thus, genocide is the right word. The most widely accepted definition of genocide is in the United Nations' 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Article 2 defines genocide as "any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group." Article 3 lists the following punishable acts: (a) Genocide; (b) Conspiracy to commit genocide; (c) Direct and public incitement to commit genocide; (d) Attempt to commit genocide; (e) Complicity in genocide. Article 4 states, "Persons committing genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in Article 3 shall be punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals." A reasonable person (or even just a reading person) would be hard- pressed to make a case that there were no European or American genocidal crimes committed against Native peoples. Did officials, entities or individuals intend, direct, incite or conspire to commit genocide? Yes. Were some complicit in genocide? Yes. Did they succeed in genocide in some cases? Yes. Did they attempt genocide without actually succeeding? Yes. That about covers it. Medved claims that describing early colonists and settlers in "Hitlerian, mass-murdering terms represents an act of brain-dead defamation." Official colonial and territorial bounty proclamations, which announced pay scales for scalps as proof of Indian kill, were Hitlerian, mass-murdering edicts that produced Hitlerian mass murders. All the forced marches of Native peoples under President Andrew Jackson's Indian removal policies - notably, the Muscogee and Cherokee Trails of Tears, the Potawatomi Trail of Death and the Navajo Long Walk - resulted in Hitlerian mass murders, ethnic cleansings and generational dislocation and damage that continues today. It is more precise chronologically to say that Hitler's Holocaust or the genocides in Rwanda or Cambodia may be described in Jacksonian or Sheridanesque or Custerish, mass-murdering terms. In analyzing genocidal plans, it is fair to compare the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question" to the federal "Indian Crania Study" or to the "Civilization Regulations" that brutalized, confined and killed American Indians, criminalized traditional ceremonies and customs and wrenched Indian children from their families. The world knows there was genocide and attempted genocide against Native peoples. Only fools and propagandists would make a claim to the contrary, which brings us back to Medved, who is no fool. We need not guess why he is raising this issue now. He tells us. And he reveals much along the way: "The notion that unique viciousness to Native Americans represents our 'original sin' fails to put European contact with these struggling Stone Age societies in any context whatever, and only serves the purposes of those who want to foster inappropriate guilt, uncertainty and shame in young Americans. A nation ashamed of its past will fear its future." Where to start? Let's jump right in at "Stone Age societies," shall we? Medved is very smart, so he probably knows about those Native peoples who perfected irrigation systems, performed brain surgery and formed democracies and confederacies, which some Europeans dreamt about but never saw until coming here. He might respond that only some Native peoples did that. And I would like to say to him that, of all the ships and wagons filled with white folks, there wasn't a Shakespeare among them. Medved uses that "Stone Age" term to plant a falsehood in readers' minds that advanced Europeans simply had to do something about the backward Native peoples - kill them or tame them. Using this "context," Medved actually pins genocide on the colonists and settlers. As Christians, they were supposed to help struggling societies, not try to exterminate them. I don't know what "inappropriate guilt" means, but a quest for historical truth is not the same as a guilt trip. Honorable people are strengthened by facing their fears, even if acknowledging past shame is part of it. Medved calls on his readers to discard the "stupid, groundless and anti- American lies that characterize contemporary political correctness" and "to confront, resist and reject the all-too-common line that our rightly admired forebears involved themselves in genocide." The truth is that many admired forebears did involve themselves in genocide. Georgians and Coloradoans and Californians and all those who killed Indian people in their rush for gold were involved. Those who massacred innocents at Sand Creek and Wounded Knee were involved. Those who raped Native women and children were involved. Those who killed Indian people for praying, decapitated them and robbed their graves were involved. Anyone who looked the other way was involved. Here are a few lies that are anti-American Indian: that Native children and women and men had it coming; that massacres were battles; that "harvesting skulls" was science; that torturing little kids for speaking their mother's language was OK in anyone's culture; that genocide wasn't genocide when it was committed against Native peoples. --- Suzan Shown Harjo, Cheyenne and Hodulgee Muscogee, is president of the Morning Star Institute in Washington, D.C., and a columnist for Indian Country Today. Copyright c. 1998 - 2007 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: GRAHAM: Americas National Terrorist Holiday" --------- Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2007 07:09:03 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GRAHAM: COLUMBUS DAY" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=38797 'Columbus Day' Americas National Terrorist Holiday Mike Graham September 27, 2007 Americans are calling into question their tax dollars are paying for Columbus Day holiday when the true history of the man cannot be taught in our nations schools. State school officials are on record saying it would be harmful to teach young school children about atrocities Columbus committed against Indian men, women and children. Americans do not want their tax dollars paying for Columbus Day when the true history of this "sick criminal" clearly shows he was not a man of honor toward other human beings. Change Columbus Day to Native American Day: www.UnitedNativeAmerica.com True: Columbus did not discover America! Columbus never set foot in America! Columbus is one of the first Europeans to discover the Americas, after the European Vikings. Columbus did, by luck find Islands in what's now called the Caribbean. Indians living there told him to sail West in hopes of getting rid of him. Columbus then set foot in now what's called Central America, and then on to South America during four of his voyages to the so-called new world. True: Columbus was a slave trader. He kidnapped and enslaved Indians he came in contact with. Columbus and his men with superior weapons forced Indians to mine for gold on their Island homelands, this included Indian children. Columbus and his men punished Indians by cutting off their ears, nose, hands and feet. Columbus and his men, for sport, would hunt Indian children with dogs and let the dogs kill them. Columbus would tie Indians to his ship's mask and let his dogs eat them alive for food when sailing back across the Atlantic Ocean. Indians that survived the voyage were sold as slaves. Columbus was not a holy crusader; that's another myth. Columbus is personally responsible for the killing of about half a million Indian men, women and children. It's a national sick joke for our U.S. government to honor him with a national holiday and not the Native Americans here in their true homeland! Columbus the sailor was lost! Indians saved his life, unfortunately, for them and others. http://www.2think.org/ah.shtml Columbus was relieved of his duties as governor over the newfound lands. Columbus and two of his brothers were arrested for their atrocities against Indians. Columbus was placed in manacles on his arms and chains on his feet and thrown into prison to await his return to Spain. He was 53 years old at this time in the year of 1500. After all was said and done by Columbus, toward Indian people, he was ordered never to return to the Americas. Columbus Arrest and Removal from the Americas http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus#Governorship_and_arrest It's time for the Italian American community to rethink how they honor their national holiday. Changing Columbus Day to Italian Heritage Day is only offered as a suggested new name. The Italian American community should have the opportunity to voice their support for this action. The Native American community stands ready to join side by side with all Italian Americans in the celebration of their heritage under any name other than Columbus. Progressive Italians to Transform the Columbus Holiday (PITCH) http://www.transformcolumbusday.org/pitch.html The Native American community fully respects all Italians, but will not show support for Columbus, the man, nor support his having a national holiday in America. This issue has been discussed with Italian American community leaders and Italian groups around the country. Many are in support of doing away with Columbus representing their history and heritage in America. United Native America Working With Italian Americans http://www.unitednativeamerica.com/letters/Italian_Americans.html Seventeen states have dropped Columbus Day holiday. South Dakota state law changed Columbus Day to Native American Day. No American Indian Nation supports Columbus having a national holiday, especially when you look at the fact that there's not a federal national holiday recognizing American Indians for all they have endured, to include helping the country America come about, plus our government being set up on the principals of American Indian governments. It's time for America to come full circle and give credit where it's deserved on our countries national holiday list. Across America multiple ethnic groups are set to protest this coming Columbus Day. University of Southern Maine, opening ceremonies will begin on the Portland campus lawn at 1:00 and end with a peaceful walk to Deering Oaks. Follow the drumbeat to the Portland Campus and join us, our Elders, and guest speakers for a truly educational experience. Protesters will propose a bill to the legislature in Maine to remove Columbus Day. This action will be taking place at cities and University's throughout America; Columbus Day started in Colorado in 1905. On October 6, 2007, a massive national coalition of groups will descend on Denver, Colorado to protest and call for an end to Columbus Day by the state. Protesters will assemble on the west steps of the state capitol beginning at 8 am on October 6. Transform Columbus Day Alliance www.transformcolumbusday.org United Native America a national group based in Oklahoma and part of the Transform Columbus Day Alliance will be in Denver with their banners, one states: "Christopher Columbus The Americas' first Terrorist" Native Americans refer to the holiday as Columbus-Hitler Day. These two men's action sparked the killing of over one hundred million people each. Columbus is past racist slavery history in the Americas. His holiday should also be past history. Columbus went to hell for his sins against Indian men, women and children. Mike Graham, Citizen Oklahoma Cherokee Nation Founder United Native America www.UnitedNativeAmerica.com The American Chronicle and its affiliates have no responsibility for the views, opinions and information communicated here. The contributor(s) and news providers are fully responsible for their content. American Chronicle is a trademark of Ultio LLC. --------- "RE: YELLOW BIRD: Don't let Diabetes get best of you" --------- Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2007 22:43:08 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YELLOW BIRD: DIABETES" http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=51983 Don't let diabetes get the best of you Dorreen Yellow Bird September 29, 2007 If you had a disease that might kill you, would you want to know what it is and how to help yourself? There's no doubt you'd be concerned. Diabetes is one of those killer diseases. It's so prevalent in North Dakota, it's commonly considered benign. Yet, it's the sixth-leading cause of death in our state. Four percent of all 2003 deaths in North Dakota were from diabetes. Diabetes also is a contributing cause for an additional 7 percent of deaths in our state. Diabetes is caused by excess glucose in the bloodstream because the body doesn't produce or use sufficient levels of insulin. The most common form of diabetes is Type II, which can be controllable by diet and exercise. Type I is characterized by a partial or complete loss of insulin producing beta cells as a result of an autoimmune disorder and is most common in young people and children. Finally, there is gestational diabetes, which is when a mother experiences diabetes during pregnancy. What health problems are associated with diabetes? Associated problems are hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), hyperglycemia (high blood sugar), heart and kidney diseases, stroke, eye complications, neuropathy (nerve damage), amputation and ketoacidosis (building up of fat byproducts in the blood). Most adults in North Dakota have one or more of these five risk factors for diabetes: high blood pressure; high cholesterol, overweight; lack moderate physical activity and eat fewer than five fruits and vegetables per day. The number of adults who have one or more of these risk factors maybe the reason diabetes in North Dakota is increasing at an alarming rate. Those most at risk are adults 65 years and older and American Indians. Native people have diabetes 1.9 times as high as white adults. Diabetes among American Indians is familiar to me. Of my 10 brothers and sisters, two of my sisters have diabetes. That's my immediate family, but aunts, uncles and other family members have diabetes, too. It seems unusual, but my mother and father didn't have diabetes. And it seems that in the larger family of my mother and father's brothers and sisters, there are whole families that have the disease. Diabetes is common, so common, most of us know how to give insulin shots and administer pills to family members. At my aunt's house years ago, part of the morning ritual was shots and pills rather than the cereal, toast and coffee. A few weeks ago, when I was home visiting my sisters, we had our meals together those days. I couldn't help but notice how my two sisters who had diabetes seem drawn to the syrup, pancakes, sweet rolls and bacon. At lunch, when they chose dessert, they pushed it back behind the rest of their food. I made a remark the first day about the pancakes but could tell it wasn't well received. They've let us know in the past that what they eat is their decision and I know that reminding them really doesn't help. We laughed when one of my diabetic sisters ordered a large, chocolate sundae and called it a Type II diabetes ice cream sundae. Like I said, it is a common disease, and we laugh in the face of it. Unfortunately, we also are no stranger to the results: amputations, kidney dialysis or death. It isn't just North Dakota that has a high incidence of diabetes. It affects 20.8 million people nationwide, about 6.2 million of whom don't know they have it for several years. We are fortunate to have at Altru Health System in Grand Forks a pre- diabetes project that is experimenting with heading off diabetes before it becomes a problem. I believe, from our sessions, that it is possible. I am one of those who participate and who is at risk: I am female, American Indian, overweight, older than 65 and have a family history. But I've come to understand that I don't have to walk that road. I've learned in the project that my future is dictated by my choices, according to Dr. James Brosseau, who is a diabetes and internal medicine specialist for Altru. During the meetings, which last two to three hours once a month, we go over ways to prevent the disease, talk about the problems we are having, listen to speakers and hope we can keep this wolf at bay. I also am involved in a project to raise funds for diabetes prevention. The fundraising event will be held at 6 p.m. Oct. 6 in the Alerus Center. It's called the Harvest Gala and is a silent and live auction with a social and a dance. If you would like to attend, you can register (it is a RSVP event) either online at altru.org, or call Jennifer Dobrowski at (701) 780-5611. --- 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. 2007 Grand Forks Herald, Forum Communications Co., Fargo ND. --------- "RE: JODI RAVE: Auction reveals Blackfeet spirit" --------- Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2007 07:51:07 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="JODI RAVE: BLACKFEET ART AUCTION" http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2007/10/01/jodirave/rave34.txt Native News Column: Auction reveals Blackfeet spirit By Jodi Rave of the Missoulian October 1, 2007 EAST GLACIER - Two bidders, a cowboy and an Indian, quickly drove up the price on a painted buffalo robe Saturday night at the Harvest Moon Ball here. "Seven thousand, now going eight ? who'll give me 11?" asked auctioneer Fred Burow. A blond-haired Rusty Garrett calmly tipped his black cowboy hat to signal he was still in the game. The ballroom audience whooped and clapped their hands. The auctioneer coaxed J.D. Colbert, a Chickasaw/ Choctaw from Denver, Colo., to bid higher. The man in the black hat from Tucson, Ariz., ended the duel with a $12, 000 final bid, prompting a German woman at a nearby table to joyfully wave her arms in the air. It was Angelika Norman, the wife of Darrell Norman, painter of the buffalo robe. Some 200 people in Glacier Park Lodge punctuated Garrett's bid with wild applause. But he and Colbert were only warming up, as the art auction continued through the night in "the big tree" lodge where 800-year-old cedar and pine poles soar 50 feet to the wood-planked ceiling. Garrett and his wife Mary were in East Glacier to support dozens of regional and local artists who gathered for the 11th annual Harvest Moon Ball, a project of the Blackfeet Community Foundation, which is working to build a $1 million endowment for community projects. So far, about $400,000 has been earned through the art auction. Artwork from Saturday's sales raked in $95,000, marking the most successful ball yet for the foundation. "It's an incredible event for the Blackfeet, and the community, to have a gathering like this in a setting like this," said Byron Mallott, director of the Sealaska Corp. in Juneau, Alaska. "There's a lot of fun that goes into the serious business of raising money." Founders of the Blackfeet Community Foundation once wondered how they could fundraise for community projects on the Blackfeet Reservation, where unemployment rates can reach 80 percent. The task seemed daunting. But organizers also knew they had one, undeniably rich resource. They lived in a community of artists, where painting and beadwork had long been a way of life. The late Blackfeet artist Ernie Pepion suggested the foundation host an art auction. Today, money is earned through dinner ticket sales and a 50-50 split on auction items with the artists. Theodora Weatherwax of Browning counts herself among the ball's annual supporters. "This is one of the things we look forward to each year," she said, noting the importance of nurturing local artists. Art aficionados from around the country joined the locals at Saturday night's event. The ball proved so popular this year that some 100 people were added to a waiting list after the ball sold out three weeks ago. "Every year it gets better and better," said Lyle Omeasoo, a Blackfeet artist. "It really helps us artists get out there and show our work to the community." Darrell Norman, Blackfeet and owner of the Lodgepole Gallery and Tipi Village in Browning, said many of the artists at the auction have space in his gallery. This year, his business was featured on the "The Today Show," and in Sunset and Travel and Leisure magazines. "We're proud of the artists we represent and the beautiful work that they do," said Norman. Mary Garrett, a citizen of the Blackfeet Nation, arrived at the ball with her husband, Russell. "We love the Indian art and love to see it go as high as possible," said Mary, who is also Blackfeet. "These artists work really hard." Art is their livelihood, said Russell. While the Garretts prompted a bidding war for Darrell's painted buffalo robe, the evening's crown jewel - a painting by Terrance Guardipee - was yet to be auctioned. Guardipee is best known for ledger art, which consists of paintings on old maps, government records and antique paper. "Everybody brings out the best this time of year," said Mary. Guardipee, who was born and raised on the Blackfeet Reservation, arrived at the ball from his home near Seattle. His painting," Big Sky, Northern Pacific Railroad," created the biggest stir of the evening. Once again, Russell Garrett and Colbert dueled through the auctioneer. As the bid moved past $20,000, Colbert, president of the Colorado-based Native American Bank, started to have second thoughts. "I looked at my CFO," said Colbert. "Should I keep going?" She said no. A few nods of the hat later, Garrett ended the battle with a final bid of $22,000. Guardipee, an internationally acclaimed artist, was thrilled with the final price. "I was expecting, maybe, $9,000 or $10,000," he said. "Tonight was awesome because it was in front of my hometown. I couldn't ask for anything more." Reach reporter Jodi Rave at 800-366-7186 or jodi.rave@lee.net. Copyright c. 2007 Missoulian, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Opposition to Salmon Farming in British Columbia" --------- Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2007 07:01:42 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="THREAT TO WILD SALMON CITED" http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=9041 Continuing Opposition to Salmon Farming in British Columbia By BJ McManama September 24, 2007 On September 17, 2007, thirty-three notable scientists sent an open letter to Prime Minister Stephan Harper and Premier Gordon Campbell regarding the threat to British Columbia's wild Pacific salmon from sea lice due to farmed salmon. Indigenous people have inhabited and