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Wotanging Ikche and Native American News Copyright c. 1996-2008 nanews.org
Aboriginal/AmerIndian Perspective about the First Nations of Turtle Island
November 10, 2008
Assiniboine Cuhotgawi/Frost Moon
Potawatomi Pne'kesis/Moon of the Turkey and Feast
Cree Kaskatinopizun/Moon when rivers begin to freeze
Mountain Maidu Tetem-Tsampauta/Moon when Large Trees Freeze
Saginaw Chippewa Baashkadodinb-Giziis/moon of the freezing ground
+-------------------------------------------------------+
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
+ -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- +
| Once a language is lost, it is gone forever |
| * Of the 300 original Native languages in North America, |
| only 175 exist today. |
| * 125 of these are no longer learned by children. |
| * 55 are spoken by 1 to 6 elders; when they die, |
| their language will disappear. |
| * Without action, only 20 languages will survive the next |
| 50 years. |
| Source: Indigenous Language Institute |
| http://www.indigenous-language.org |
+ -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- +
This issue's Quote:
"The Cherokee Nation, like the state of Oklahoma, has to protect the water
quality interests within our jurisdiction. It may be a fallacy for
corporations to think that an environmental regulatory structure put in
place by the Cherokee Nation would be any less rigorous than the state
of Oklahoma's."
__ Chad Smith, Principal Chief, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma
<================<<<< >>>>================>
O'siyo Brothers and Sisters
An interesting play of the "Tribal Sovereignty" card is occurring in
Oklahoma. Read the details in this issue's lead article, "Cherokees own
Illinois River, industry claims".
In a nutshell here's how it is being played:
- The poultry companies in the state polluted the Illinois River.
- Oklahoma Attorney General, W.A. Drew Edmondson, filed suit against the
poultry companies over water pollution and costs of subsequent clean-up
of the Illinois River.
- The State Poultry Community requested dismissal of the lawsuit,
claiming the waterway is owned by the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, thus
the State of Oklahoma lacks legal jurisdiction to prosecute for the
pollution.
Of course, if the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma had sued the poultry
industry to clean up the river, the immediate response by the polluters
would have been that the Tribe lacked jurisdiction over non-tribal
entities.
Looking at past rulings by the United States Supreme Court we know the
following:
- Johnson v. McIntosh held that the federal government alone has the
right to negotiate for American Indian land.
- Worcester v. Georgia maintained that only Congress has plenary
(overriding) power over Indian affairs and that state laws do not
apply in Indian Country.
- Tribes remain sovereign nations and possess self-government.
- Tribes have a nation-to-nation relationship with the U.S. federal
government.
- Only Congress has plenary (overriding) power over Indian affairs.
- State governance is generally not permitted within reservations.
These decisions do seem to support the poultry industry argument, "To
decide the claims without the Cherokee Nation's involvement would impose
state control over tribal lands, waters and biota in clear violation of
the political integrity, economic security and welfare of the Cherokee
Nation,"
Attorney General Edmondsons stated, "Today's legal gimmick comes
straight from the 'polluter's guide to PR' textbook. Step one, divert
attention. Step two, pass the buck. Step three, throw lots of junk around
to see what sticks. Step four, confuse the issue. They got it all in."
While the poultry industry may have come up with a cute "Catch-22", the
simple truth is they cannot win this game - they can only delay the
inevitable, and the cost of the clean-up will only increase.
For the record CNO Chief Chad Smith made the Cherokee Nation's position
very clear. He said, "...I have to point out that the Cherokee Nation
has not filed this motion to dismiss, and it would be a mistake to assume
that we support the unconditional dismissal of this lawsuit." "The
Cherokee Nation, like the state of Oklahoma, has to protect the water
quality interests within our jurisdiction. It may be a fallacy for
corporations like Tyson to think that an environmental regulatory
structure put in place by the Cherokee Nation would be any less rigorous
than the state of Oklahoma's."
It is interesting to see the dominant society try to use an Indian Nation
to "divide and conquer" their own.
, ,
Gary Smith (*,*) wotanging@bellsouth.net
5186 CR-5 (`-') gars@nanews.org
Ashland, AL 36251, U.S.A. ===w=w=== http://www.nanews.org
----------- News of the people featured in this issue -----------
Editorial Section: - SIMMONS:
. Industry plays Sovereignty Card Spotlight on Brunot Agreement
- Cherokees own Illinois River, - YELLOW BIRD: Rituals differ,
Industry claims grief is the same
- Wanblee bouncing back - EDITORIAL: Kudos for
from blizzard Navajo Language School Book
- Strengthening Accountability - JODI RAVE: Work starts
of Indian Programs on Native Campus Center
- Study looks at Native Suicides - HODGSON-MCCAULEY:
- Steps toward restoring Out with Old, in with New
Delaware Recognition - MOUNTAIN:
- The Long Road West Margaret Nazon's Fish-Scale Art
- Rosella Hightower - CUTHAND: Canadians
- Master Canoe Carver not ready to elect Aboriginal
shapes Students' Lives - Iacobucci to mediate
- IAIA hosts Open House, Native Reconciliation Issue
Groundbreaking - When Cops Become Thugs
- Choctaw Code Talkers - Alert:
finally recognized Tyendinaga Mohawks facing arrest
- Lumbee offers heating cost help - Aboriginal Children's Survey
- Elder spreads Native knowledge - First Nations reach
in Holland Land Deal with B.C.
- Western Caro. joins - Province censured
Cherokee Language Partnership for not consulting First Nation
- Last known fluent - Group calls for inquiry
Mandan Speaker honored into Police Shootings
- Sacred Soil on the Navajo Nation - Letter from
- Carter Camp: Leonard November 5, 2008
Update on Ahmbaska's Condition - Prosecutors defend charges
- JODI RAVE: Blackfeet in Aquash Murder Case
Sculptor's work on display - Native Justice
- YELLOW BIRD: -- Supreme Court ponders
Ban reflects poorly on Council meaning of a Word
- GIAGO: - Native Crossings
Ignorance and Racism in Mascots -- Nakima Joseph Frye
- ABOUREZK: Time for Natives -- Rosella Hightower (2 entries)
to Flex Political Muscles -- Jimmy Carl Black
- ST. CLAIR: Indian Wars - Nativepreps.com launches Website
have never really ended - Chinle's Jumbo lets her running
- JODI RAVE: First Native do the talking
to win Statewide Office - Rustywire: A trembling touch
- BARKMAN: A list of questions - Lee Goins Poem:
for next President A Journey of Time
--------- "RE: Cherokees own Illinois River, Industry claims" ---------
Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2008 06:28:44 -0700
From: Gary Smith
Subj: NA News Item
- - - - - - -- - - - - - -
filename="POULTRY POLLUTERS USE TRIBAL SOVEREIGNTY TO TRY TO DUCK LAWSUIT"
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?
articleID=20081101_11_A13_hPoult543530
Cherokees own Illinois River, industry claims
by: CURTIS KILLMAN World Staff Writer
November 1, 2008
Poultry companies use that argument in trying to get a lawsuit over water
pollution dismissed.
The state of Oklahoma's lawsuit against the poultry industry should be
dismissed in part because the Illinois River is owned not by the state but
by the Cherokee Nation, which is not a party to the case, Tyson Foods Inc.
and others claim in legal papers filed Friday.
The poultry industry requested that the case be dismissed, claiming that
the court cannot adjudicate the state's claims without first determining
who owns the Illinois River and its resources.
Jackie Cunningham, director of community relations for the Poultry
Community Council, said, "The attorney general is using natural resources
that legally belong to the Cherokee Nation as a pawn in his politically
motivated lawsuit.
"We believe this is wrong, especially since he's trying to use these
resources to win a damage award to help pay private lawyers working for
him under an unlawful contingency fee agreement."
The poultry industry claims that the lawsuit places it in the middle of
a "two-century-old conflict" over who controls the Illinois River
watershed and who is entitled to sue based on its alleged injuries.
"To decide the claims without the Cherokee Nation's involvement would
impose state control over tribal lands, waters and biota in clear
violation of the political integrity, economic security and welfare of the
Cherokee Nation," a motion filed on behalf of the poultry industry states.
Further, even if the Cherokees do decide to join in the lawsuit, the
state of Oklahoma cannot be a part of the case because it lacks standing,
the poultry industry argues.
"The state has no basis to apply its nuisance, trespass, environmental
or agricultural laws to the lands and natural resources belonging to
Indian tribes without congressional approval," the filing claims.
Attorney General Drew Edmondson fired back, calling the filing a legal
gimmick designed to distract and delay the "real issue - poultry
pollution."
"Native American law is complicated and complex, and we will diligently
defend Oklahoma's standing to protect the natural resources inside our
borders from pollution," Edmondson said, in a written statement. "If the
defendants truly believed their standing argument, they would have filed
it three years ago.''
In a statement, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chad Smith did not
address the poultry industry's specific claims but did maintain that the
tribe's water rights have remained intact.
"However, I have to point out that the Cherokee Nation has not filed
this motion to dismiss, and it would be a mistake to assume that we
support the unconditional dismissal of this lawsuit," Smith said.
"The Cherokee Nation, like the state of Oklahoma, has to protect the
water quality interests within our jurisdiction. It may be a fallacy for
corporations like Tyson to think that an environmental regulatory
structure put in place by the Cherokee Nation would be any less rigorous
than the state of Oklahoma's."
The tribe will analyze the filing and "act according," Smith said.
"In the meantime, the Cherokee Nation hopes to continue working with the
state on water-rights discussions so that tribal and state regulatory
structures can cooperate in advancing our common interests," Smith said.
The state, led by Edmondson, sued 13 poultry companies in 2005, claiming
that they are legally responsible for handling and disposal of poultry
waste that has damaged portions of the Illinois River watershed in
Oklahoma.
"No one can deny that the Illinois River watershed is in trouble,"
Edmondson said. "The corporate polluters first said it was the state's
problem, next they blamed it on the farmers, now they want to dump it at
the feet of the Cherokee Nation.''
Edmondson's statement continues: "Today's legal gimmick comes straight
from the 'polluter's guide to PR' textbook. Step one, divert attention.
Step two, pass the buck. Step three, throw lots of junk around to see what
sticks. Step four, confuse the issue. They got it all in."
A trial in the case, filed in the Tulsa-based U.S. District Court for
the Northern District of Oklahoma, is scheduled to begin in September.
Copyright c. 2008 Tulsa World, World Publishing Co. All rights reserved.
--------- "RE: Wanblee bouncing back from blizzard" ---------
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2008 06:54:03 -0700
From: Gary Smith
Subj: NA News Item
- - - - - - -- - - - - - -
filename="PINE RIDGE HAMMERED IN FIRST WINTER STORM"
http://indianz.com/News/
http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2008/11/10/
news/top/doc4917b2c6639e8189175523.txt
Wanblee bouncing back from blizzard
By Kayla Gahagan, Journal staff
November 10, 2008
WANBLEE - Stephanie Richards stared at herself in the bathroom mirror and
began the first of many long brush strokes through her wet black hair. She
used the same sink to wash her hair and brush her teeth and flopped a pale
purple towel over the bathroom stall door behind her.
"I'm just real used to it, but some people are annoyed by it," she said
in a nearly inaudible soft voice.
The 15-year-old is talking about the last five days - living alongside
more than 200 people in the Crazy Horse School building in Wanblee, about
20 miles southwest of Kadoka on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
A blizzard last week left a wide swath of destruction through South
Dakota, downing powerlines, dumping more than two feet of snow in some
areas and leaving hundreds of people stranded.
But many of the communities have started to move on, plowing paths to
reopen businesses and returning to work and life as soon as Friday. But
the people in Wanblee, a small rural town of about 550 on the reservation,
are still struggling for basic needs like food, water, shelter and
clothing. And many are living or picking up food and supplies from the
school, which has a generator for a few dim lights and enough warm bodies
inside to counter the outside chill.
"It's been a real nightmare," said Phyllis Wilcox, a community member
who has been organizing the effort to assist people. Inside the school she
carries a list of how many families need Pampers diapers, how many are
without propane, and how many are in the country and have not even been
heard from.
t's been five days, and many of the people don't have power at their
house for heat, gas for their cars, batteries for their cell phones, or
electricity for their refrigerators. As of Sunday afternoon, the local
store was still closed, the tribal dispatch center was inundated with
calls and food was running low at the school.
"We haven't taken baths; we have no shampoo. We're getting cabin fever,"
Betty Red Bird said in the cafeteria of the school, which has doubled as a
jungle gym, living room and bedroom for the more than 150 kids and dozens
of adults staying there.
We have nothing to go back to," said Susan Thunder Shield, who said
people are looting homes. "We have no water, not food, no heat. We're
lost; we don't know what to do."
For some of the people, who rely on assistance regularly, or are under
special circumstances, the storm has pushed them too close to the edge.
Foster Conroy and Stefanie Cordier brought their four kids, including a
17-day-old baby girl, to the school after handmade fires outside for
cooking and boiling water grew too difficult.
Conroy said he remembers when he started to worry.
"When we started running low on diapers and formula," he said.
Home base
When the community lost power Wednesday night, the school board agreed
to open the Crazy Horse school, a large building built at the top of a
slight hill that many have hitchhiked to in desperation.
Roland Morrison became somewhat of a celebrity Sunday when he showed up
at the school after having walked and hitchhiked 18 miles. Community
members seated him with a bowl of hot soup and dry socks.
he supplies have trickled in from community organizations and private
donors, like Ruby Clifford and her daughter Belva, who came the first
night with food and blankets and stayed until Sunday.
But paper plates, generators, diesel fuel, milk, formula, cots and bread
are still needed, Wilcox said.
On Sunday, the front office was converted into a command center by local
community members, who, frustrated by a lack of leadership from the tribal,
state or federal entities, have taken it upon themselves to help the
community.
"I hope I don't step on toes here, but we've got to get organized," said
Jon Siedschlaw, former Todd County emergency response director. The
Wanblee resident used a front-end loader after the storm let up to help
residents because there is not a single plow in the community and the one
grader overheated.
"You just jump in and do what you've got to do," Wilcox said, which for
her has meant giving KILI Radio daily updates, helping organize National
Guard assistance and pushing for a Black Hawk helicopter to land next to
the school to take patients for dialysis.
"When it happened Wednesday, it was 'what do you do? Who do you call?'"
she said.
Many people in school said they called tribal leaders and got no help.
"Our hands are tied; we have no political power," Siedschlaw said.
Lack of help
Pastor Gus Craven has also helped organized relief efforts and was
frustrated by the lack of help - mainly that no organization - tribal,
FEMA, Red Cross - had yet set up an emergency command station to help
people.
Red Bird said they should have been able to rely on John Steele, the
tribe's current president.
"Somebody should be at the houses, asking people what they need," she
said.
Steele said he wasn't able to get out of his house east of Manderson
until Saturday.
He said the USDA commodity program has provided food, the Red Cross has
been dispatched, a truck of food and water was sent to the area Saturday
and the Oglala Sioux Tribe transportation program has included the area as
a top priority for assistance.
He said he's received many calls from residents asking him to officially
declare it a disaster area, but he's not ready to do that. The power
outage is the biggest problem, he said, and that could stretch on for
another week.
"We're taking care of matter and trying to think of people in the
countryside," he said. "I think we were on top of it from the beginning by
providing help with shelter, by getting food and water out there."
But many say it's not enough.
"We have no water, not food, no heat," Thunder Shield said. "We're lost,
we don't know what to do."
Red Cross trucks from Rapid City arrived at the school a little after
noon with much needed supplies, and most importantly, a plan.
Supplies would be dropped off at the school and then four-wheel drive
vehicles would take water, medicine and other supplies to rural residents.
Trips would be made to Allen and Potato Creek, small communities also
suffering.
"We're trying to resolve immediate needs," said Red Cross executive
director Richard Smith. "We're limited on the amount of resources, so
we're going to have to identify immediate needs of people who need it the
most."
While Red Cross volunteers and families carried armfuls of oatmeal and
sugar, corn and green beans into the school Sunday, kids tossed snowballs
back and forth, undaunted by the crisis their parents shoulder. Only a few
miles down the road, a downed electrical line moved in the wind like a
plucked guitar string, the wooden pole that was once its anchor snapped in
half like a twig.
Eleanor Charging Crow was feeling a little like they were all remnants
of the storm, too.
"It was a shock to our community," she said. "We haven't had one of
these for ages."
Siedschlaw is hoping that as people return home within the next week,
and the damage is rebuilt, something good is going to come of this.
"I'm not into politics, but hopefully this will be a learning experience
for everybody," he said.
Contact Kayla Gahagan at394-8410 or kayla.gahagan@rapidcityjournal.com
Power outages
* Butte Electric Cooperative: restored power to 50 people Sunday; more
than 200 people without electricity
* West River Electric: 45 residential meters without service; 150 wells
without service
* Four other area electric cooperatives have 1,700 customers without
power; 1,740 poles down
* Black Hills Power: 100 residential meters without service
West River Electric and Black Hills Power expect to return service to
all customers by today.
Copyright c. 2008 Rapid City Journal, Rapid City, SD.
--------- "RE: Strengthening Accountability of Indian Programs" ---------
Date: Fri, 7 Nov 2008 07:05:09 -0700
From: Gary Smith
Subj: NA News Item
- - - - - - -- - - - - - -
filename="GAO REPORTS TO OBAMA ADMINISTRATION"
http://www.indiantrust.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=
OtherMedia.ViewDetail&Other_id=18&Month=11&Year=2008
Strengthening the Accountability of Indian Programs:
The GAO Tells the Obama Administration What Needs to Be Done at the Interior Department
November 6, 2008
The Government Accountability Office has released the following
recommendations about what Indian issues the Obama administration will
need to address at the Interior Department:
GAO has identified a number of long-standing financial and programmatic
deficiencies in Interior's Indian programs.
* While Interior has taken significant steps in the last 10 years to
address weaknesses in certain Indian programs, it is still in the process
of implementing key trust fund reforms, including preparation of a
timetable for completing remaining activities, to effectively manage more
than 300,000 trust fund accounts with assets of more than $3 billion.
Further, in the department's consolidated financial statements, the
management of Indian trust funds continues to be reported as a material
internal control weakness.
What Needs to Be Done
To improve the timeliness and transparency and ensure better management
of BIA's land in trust process, the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs
should move forward with adopting revisions to the land in trust
regulations that include
* specific time frames for BIA to make a decision once an application is
complete, and
* guidelines for providing state and local governments with more
information on the applications and a longer period of time to provide
meaningful comments on the applications.
* GAO has also reported on serious delays in the Bureau of Indian Affairs'
(BIA) program for determining whether the department will accept land in
trust - as of the end of fiscal year 2005, more than 1,000 land in trust
applications from tribes and individual Indians were pending. While BIA
generally followed its regulations for processing land in trust
applications, it had no deadlines for making decisions on them.
Copyright c. 2008 Blackfeet Reservation Development Fund, Inc.
All rights reserved.
--------- "RE: Study looks at Native Suicides" ---------
Date: Sat, 8 Nov 2008 08:36:09 -0700
From: Gary Smith
Subj: NA News Item
- - - - - - -- - - - - - -
filename="SUICIDE"
http://www.gallupindependent.com/2008/11november/110708suicide.html
Study looks at Native suicides
Copyright c. 2008
Gallup Independent
By Bill Donovan
Staff writer
GALLUP - Why do Native American students commit suicide at rates three
time the national average?
That's the question that a wide rage of health professionals who make up
the Project Trust Partnership have been looking at for the past two years.
Representatives of the group presented their findings this week to
members of the Gallup-McKinley County School District.
The group is composed of many members from the McKinley County area who
got involved because in 2005, the county school district saw the district
suicide rate soar with 13 suicides reported among district students.
That resulted in the district starting programs to tackle the problem
and although the suicide rate has since dropped to the normal levels, area
health officials have been looking at ways to deal with mental health
problems of Native American students.
Kimberly Ross-Toledo, who is Navajo-Sioux and director of the Coalition
for Healthy and Resilient Youth, said that one of the things that the
group did was hold meetings in four area communities - Crownpoint, Gallup,
Shiprock and To'Hajilee - to talk to people in those areas about the
trauma that young Native Americans feel.
They also talked to a number of Navajo medicine men and got their
thoughts.
What they found is that the healing system in this area is backward.
Instead of having Western medicine be the primary way of healing, they
said the area should give that responsibility back to the medicine men.
"Native American traditional practices and ceremonies have been
effective since time immemorial, but federal policies at different times
have prohibited them, disregarded them, perpetuated questions about their
credibility and validity and resulted in their loss across generations in
some communities," the report said.
Ross-Toldedo said that as a result, community leaders are saying that
the current reliance on Western medicine is not actually meeting the
health needs of Native American youth and may in fact be harmful.
To understand Native American youth and their mental health needs
requires someone with a knowledge of tradition and culture, according to
the report, which also said their interviews revealed a feeling that
sending the Native American kids with mental health problems to
institutions that promote Western values and Western ideas of treatment
may only re-traumatize them.
The group has come up with a lot of recommendations to reduce the trauma
that many native American students feel. They include:
* Acknowledgment of past mistreatment is a very important component of
healing "so the United States should issue a formal apology" as the
Canadians and the government of Australia have done to their natives.
* The United States needs to make funding level adequate to address the
level of need for health care. This will help restore the trust that is
now lacking among young Natives.
* A system must be set up so that federal, state and local behavioral
health systems will have a mechanism for paying traditional practitioners
for their services.
* If policymakers and providers truly want to be culturally appropriate,
it is essential that they become culturally humble and more conscious of
what people are doing in communities that works.
The group has come up with some 42 recommendations that they say area
health providers need to look at if they want to improve the mental health
of Native American students.
Johnny R. Thompson, who has been the strongest support of providing
traditional culture course in the school system, said that while the
report brings up a number of issues, he didn't think that it would change
the approach that the district is now using to address these mental health
issues.
"I don't think the report will have any effect," he said.
A copy of the 120-page report can be found on
http//hsc.unm.edu/chpdp/Assets/Projects
/Assets/TRUST-Report.May08.pdf
Copyright c. 2008 Gallup Independent.
--------- "RE: Steps toward restoring Delaware Recognition" ---------
Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2008 06:28:44 -0700
From: Gary Smith
Subj: NA News Item
- - - - - - -- - - - - - -
filename="DELAWARE RECOGNITION"
http://nativetimes.bizweb5.tulsaconnect.com/index.php?
option=com_content&task=view&id=466&Itemid=55
Cherokees take steps toward restoring Delaware's federal recognition
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. - The Cherokee Nation Tribal Council has taken another
step toward supporting the recognition of a separate nation for the
Delaware Tribe of Indians. The measure ratifying the memorandum of
agreement between the Cherokees and the Delawares was passed unanimously
during a special CN Tribal Council meeting Oct. 23.
"We are pleased with the constructive method that the Delaware
administration has taken on an issue that has divided us for a number of
years," said CN Principal Chief Chad Smith. "This collaborative agreement
protects our concerns about Cherokee Nation sovereignty and allows the
Delaware their separate recognition."
The MOA recognizes the consultative, inter-governmental relationship
between the two nations and preserves and protects CN interests by not
allowing the Delawares to put land into trust, have gaming operations, or
issue vehicle tags within CN boundaries.
"I know it's not a perfect agreement for them, I understand some of the
issues they have, but as an elected representative of the Cherokee Nation,
my duty is to support and defend the sovereignty of the Cherokee Nation
and if we can do that and come to an agreement and not encroach on our
sovereignty then I am in support of it," said Bradley Cobb, the CN
councilor who sponsored the resolution.
The Delaware Tribe is based in Bartlesville, Okla., in the area Cobb
represents on the CN Tribal Council.
The resolution compliments House Resolution 6786, a piece of federal
legislation introduced by Congressman John Sullivan (R-Okla.) that would
restore the federal recognition of the Delaware Tribe of Indians.
In 1979, the Department of the Interior terminated the separate tribal
status of the Delawares living in eastern Oklahoma. The DOI rescinded that
decision in 1996 but the action was contested in federal court by the CN.
In 2004, a 10th Circuit Court decision ended the Delaware Tribe's federal
recognition.
Ernest Tiger, spokesman for the Delaware Tribe, said that once
recognized the tribe will be able to resume their 8(a) program status,
which is a government small business assistance program. Within it,
companies can form beneficial teaming partnerships and allow federal
agencies to streamline the contracting process. This enables those
businesses to compete in the federal contracting arena and take advantage
of greater subcontracting opportunities available from large firms.
"With federal recognition, we will be able to operate at a level to
develop businesses and industries to supply jobs and services to our
citizens. We'll be able to take advantage of federal loan programs and
assistance that is only available to federally recognized tribes," Tiger
said. "Without recognition, we are really limited in what we are able to
do."
CN representatives worked closely with Delaware officials to negotiate
the proposed agreement defining the inter-governmental relationship
between the two nations.
"Today is a very significant day for the Delaware Tribe," said Delaware
Chief Jerry Douglas. "After years of hard work by Cherokees and Delawares
alike, this agreement paves the way for the restoration of the tribe's
separate federal recognition and resolves decades of uncertainty for both
tribes. The tribe looks forward to continuing to work with the Cherokee
Nation cooperatively and as allies under the framework embodied in the
MOA."
The MOA defines the inter-governmental relationship between the two
nations, including agreements on jurisdictional boundaries, administration
of governmental programs and provisions for 8(a) minority contracting.
"I thank both Cherokee and Delaware administrations and their legal
staffs for their hard work on this MOA," said Cobb. "We are inherently
aware and respect the difference in cultures of our two tribes and I am
extremely pleased that we are able to come together and hammer out an
agreement that will benefit both our tribes and our citizens in the long
run," Cobb said.
Copyright c. 2008 Native American Times.
--------- "RE: The Long Road West" ---------
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 07:57:08 -0700
From: Gary Smith
Subj: NA News Item
- - - - - - -- - - - - - -
filename="WHAT WILL HAPPEN NOW?"
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2008/11/long-road-west.html
The long road west
By Brenda Norrell
November 5, 2008
When the news was announced that Barrack Obama had won, that the United
States had elected a black President, my mind sped back to Natchitoches,
Louisiana. The year was 1970 and my friend Mary, with her flaming red hair,
had just fallen in love with a lean, tall and good looking black college
student named Greg. On campus at Northwestern State University, popular
with farmers and cow milkers, Mary and Greg had tomatoes and eggs thrown
at them when they walked hand in hand on campus. More violence was
threatened.
As for me, the Ku Klux Klan, I was told by a person attending their
meetings, had placed me on their hit list to be killed. I laughed when my
friend told me, because my small efforts were only to gather food for poor
families. In fact, usually just one friend, my friend Effie who lived
alone with her children in the country. She struggled with empty cupboards
in the kitchen, walking and limping long distances to work, while her
children had rocks thrown at them walking home from the school bus.
I had also helped organize race unity picnics, a cerebral splitting
event for racists in the south.
Still, I couldn't imagine I had done anything significant enough to be
placed on a hit list. As college students, we were all young, and never
believed that any harm could touch us. Still the three of us, Mary, Greg
and I fled to Phoenix, Arizona, where tolerance awaited us. Mary and I
drove out in her old blue convertible and rented an apartment downtown. I
painted houses for the summer and returned to graduate in the fall. I knew
somehow I would make it back to the west.
What I could have never imagined is that I would be living here in the
west and witness the election of an African American as President of the
United States.
Wherever you are, Mary and Greg, and my dear friend Effie and her
children, and all those others at those race unity picnics in Natchitoches,
Louisiana, let's celebrate a road well traveled.
Still, it is with caution that I write these words. Neither partisan
politics or US politicians have proved to be America's healing salve or
strong point. This is new territory.
There remains the question of whether Bush and Cheney will be charged
with war crimes, including torture and other violations of the Geneva
Conventions.
There is no act that can bring back the dead - the women, children,
soldiers and innocents - killed in Iraq. There is no one that can erase
the torture of detainees at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and secret cells around
the world. There is no one that can give children in Iraq, or soldiers,
the arms and legs blown off in Bush's fraudulent war.
There remains to be seen what role global corporations will play,
especially war contractors, in the future.
And, there's also another question: What happened to that $700 billion?
The big question is, what will happen now.
Posted by brendanorrell@gmail.com
CENSORED NEWS brendanorrell@gmail.com
--------- "RE: Rosella Hightower" ---------
Date: Thu, 6 Nov 2008 07:41:16 -0700
From: Gary Smith
Subj: NA News Item
- - - - - - -- - - - - - -
filename="ROSELLA HIGHTOWER"
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?
articleID=20081106_11_A12_Presid801717
Tribal leaders are hopeful after Obama's victory
by: CLIFTON ADCOCK World Staff Writer
November 6, 2008
President-elect Barack Obama, who mentioned American Indians in his
victory speech Tuesday night, likely will bring positive changes to the
U.S. Department of Interior and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, tribal
leaders said Wednesday.
The election of the nation's first African American president, the
mantra of change he brings to office and a fresh set of eyes looking at
problems facing Indian Country have excited many tribal leaders, said
Osage Nation Principal Chief Jim Gray.
"There's every issue under the sun that I think is open for discussion
at this point," Gray said. "It's rare to be able to see such a sea change
like what we saw last night happen."
Obama's election will affect the understanding of what the federal
government can and should do to address problems in Indian Country and
beyond, such as energy, the environment, health care, education, trust
reform and economic development, Gray said.
"I think this is an exciting time for tribal leaders around the country,
" he said. "They may have gotten cynical or lost interest in the hope that
the United States government could be a force for change in a way that can
really help people in a more healthy way. Obama represents the
possibilities."
Muscogee (Creek) Nation spokesman Thompson Gouge said his tribe is
hoping that American Indians will have a voice in the Obama administration.
While Obama had not named members of his Cabinet and aides Wednesday,
some names have been floated about as the possible head of the Department
of Interior, which encompasses the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The Politico, a political news outlet, reported that Rep. Jay Inslee, D-
Wash., and environmental attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr. might be
considered for secretary of the interior, while former Democratic South
Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle, physician and Democratic National Committee
Chairman Howard Dean, and former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber could be
tapped to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which
includes Indian Health Services.
Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chad Smith said appointments to the
posts are extremely important for Indian Country and that he hopes to see
Obama issue a policy statement that would reflect his campaign statements
to guide the people he appoints.
"Regardless of which party won, it was historic," Smith said. "It gives
us a chance to grow as a nation and focus on issues that are in common
rather than issues that divide."
In May, Obama broke with members of the Congression- al Black Caucus
when he stated that courts should decide the Cherokee Nation's freedmen
issue, rather than have Congress write legislation that would penalize the
tribe for not accepting the descendents of freedmen - former slaves of the
Cherokees - into the tribe. His position was almost identical to arguments
the tribe was making on the issue.
"For us, the principle we believe that Sen. Obama adheres to is to
respect tribal sovereignty and let us exercise self-governance," Smith
said. "If his appointments adhere to the same principles, we should be in
pretty good shape."
Clifton Adcock 581-8462
clifton.adcock@tulsaworld.com
Copyright c. 2008 Tulsa World, World Publishing Co. All rights reserved.
--------- "RE: Master Canoe Carver shapes Students' Lives" ---------
Date: Thu, 6 Nov 2008 07:41:16 -0700
From: Gary Smith
Subj: NA News Item
- - - - - - -- - - - - - -
filename="TEACHING"
http://indiancountrynews.net/index.php?
option=com_content&task=view&id=4979&Itemid=1
Master canoe carver shapes students' lives
By Mike Lewis
Seattle, Washington (AP)
November 2008
Maybe canoe building is the inevitable conclusion for a man floating
along epic streams of consciousness, for a man who steers with the current
rather than against it, for a man who cares about quality of passage
rather than speed of arrival.
Maybe, but it's a little hard to say.
Conversations with Saaduuts, the self-taught Haida carver and artist-in-
residence at Seattle's Center for Wooden Boats, don't follow a linear,
ask-to-answer path. Replies turn and loop back, stop and drift away.
Answers do arrive - sometimes before a question is launched, sometimes
after a question is forgotten.
"This is all about cultural connections," Saaduuts (pronounced: Sa-
doots) said, when asked how a dugout canoe is carved. "This is about
honoring the Earth Mother. We first talk about the blessing of the log. We
show honor to the log."
And so on.
Specifics about the years it takes to chip out, shape and steam open a
600-year-old red cedar into a 37-foot canoe come eventually. But Saaduuts,
whose cadence, message and gravelly rasp sound like a blend of Deepak
Chopra, a late-night R&B disc jockey and Tommy Chong, does not see
conversation as a simple trading of information any more than he sees a
Haida canoe as just another boat.
We are here, he said, to learn about everything else. "To do that," he
continued, "we'll make a canoe." It was another shaper, Michelangelo, who
said, "I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free."
And it was Saaduuts who pointed to a cedar log in front of the wooden
boat center and said, "It's been waiting to become a canoe a long time
now."
Dick Wagoner, founder of the center and the man who hired Saaduuts 13
years ago, chuckled when asked about the center's artist. In 1995, Wagoner
got a call from a King County-funded arts agency. The caller told Wagoner
he knew of a talented Haida carver who wanted to craft canoes on a site
off the reservation.
"I said, `Send him down,' " Wagoner remembered, and Saaduuts arrived
less than 30 minutes later. "We talked for about five hours," Wagoner said.
"About what he wanted to do on our site. It seemed like a perfect fit."
Indeed, as dugouts were the first wooden boats in the area, the center
needed him. But there was a hitch: Saaduuts, whose was born Robert Peele
but has gone by his tribal name for 20 years, had never carved a full-size
canoe by hand. Not once. Although he had seen it done as a child in Alaska
and already had serious carving skills - his halibut hooks fetch hundreds
of dollars - canoes were new.
"But I really believe it's genetic," said the man who has now completed
six elaborate canoe projects.
What also appears innate is his ability to teach, to relate to hundreds
of students - regardless of background - who stop by each week for a
lesson on how to use an adz and walk away with much more. Saaduuts never
lets them work angry, and he never criticizes. He says he tries to get
them to reveal their own true shape in the same way they draw the canoe
from the cedar.
"The beauty of having him here is the way he makes connections," Wagoner
said. "He's a great connecting link."
Indeed as Wagoner spoke, Saaduuts was busy connecting Wagoner's visiting
students from the Northwestern School of Wooden Boat Building with a box
of hand tools. Wagoner made the mistake of meeting the group within
earshot of Saaduuts' outside carving house.
The Haida carver didn't hesitate. He sang for the students.
Then, one by one, he put the adz in each hand and they chopped away the
shavings to free the canoe from its former shape.
It's the trick Saaduuts did for himself during a childhood on the
reservation in Massett, on the Queen Charlotte Islands, B.C. It's the
trick he's helped hundreds of students mimic when he asks them to spend
months chipping away at enough wood to uncover themselves.
Copyright c. 2008 News From Indian Country.
--------- "RE: IAIA hosts Open House, Groundbreaking" ---------
Date: Mon Nov 3 5:13
From: Karen Shadowdancer
Subj: IAIA hosts open house, groundbreaking
Mailing List: Blackfoot Nation
http://nativetimes.bizweb5.tulsaconnect.com/index.php?
option=com_content&task=view&id=285&Itemid=34
IAIA hosts open house, groundbreaking
Written by S. Golar
Santa Fe, N.M. - The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) is a hidden
gem in Santa Fe's back yard. Many may not know UNESCO called IAIA one of
the world's most significant art education institutions, or that it is the
only school in New Mexico with accreditation by the National Association
of Schools for Art and Design. Located on 140 acres with incredible 360
degree views, the college educates over 200 full time students (most of
whom are American Indian) in creative writing, studio arts, Indigenous
liberal studies, new media arts and museum studies. The public is invited
to learn about all of these programs, and more, at an open house and
groundbreaking ceremony September 26, 2008 from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. The IAIA
campus is located at 83 Avan Nu Po Road near the Rancho Viejo housing
community.
Campus tours will start at the dance plaza at 9am, while visitors can
see the latest student exhibit, Art in the Raw at the Primitive Edge
Student Gallery beginning at 10 a.m. At 11 a.m. a special blessing and
groundbreaking ceremony will take place for the Center for Lifelong
Education, a state of the art building that will house conference
facilities, a new college cafeteria, the Achein Center for Lifelong
Education offices, distance education offices, and a new IAIA bookstore.
The facility is scheduled for Gold LEED certification because of its many
energy saving, environmentally friendly and sustainable features. Patrick
Trujillo, a traditional practitioner from Cochiti Pueblo will conduct the
blessing while special guests New Mexico Speaker of the House, Ben Lujan,
Lieutenant Governor Diane Denish, New Mexico Senator Michael Sanchez and
more will speak. Hayes Lewis, director of the Achein Center for Lifelong
Education will moderate the ceremony. Immediately following the ground
breaking will be a complimentary community lunch for all visitors. At 1 p.
m. attendees can view the touching, humorous and dramatic short films from
IAIA's 2008 Summer Television and Film Workshop.
Dr. Robert Martin (Cherokee), President of IAIA, hopes that the
community will take this opportunity to visit the IAIA campus. "IAIA is
moving forward with strong vision and ambition and we want Santa Fe to
visit and see what we have to offer. The groundbreaking of IAIA's Center
for Lifelong Education is the most recent example of the incredible growth
the school has undergone in the past ten years. We are able, now more than
ever, to empower leadership and creativity in Native arts and cultures,
and the community of Santa Fe has been an integral part of this."
For more details email sgolar@iaia.edu. Online visit www.iaia.edu.
Copyright c. 2008 Native American Times.
--------- "RE: Choctaw Code Talkers finally recognized" ---------
Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2008 07:36:28 -0700
From: Gary Smith
Subj: NA News Item
- - - - - - -- - - - - - -
filename="CHOCTAW CODE TALKERS"
http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/politics/33595349.html
Choctaw code talkers finally recognized
By Ron Jenkins, Associated Press
October 31, 2008
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Tewanna Edwards remembers her late great-uncle as a
gentle old man who fed her raisins and laughed as she grimaced while
eating them.
She had no idea as a child that the 6-foot-3-inch Choctaw Indian was one
of the first American Indian code talkers.
He was among 18 original Choctaw code talkers who never lived to see
public recognition of their war deeds. Legislation signed by President
Bush in mid-October authorizes congressional medals to be issued to the
Choctaw Nation and family members.
The law also recognizes members of Oklahoma's Comanche Tribe and other
code talkers of the world wars from tribes across the country.
Code talkers is a term given to Indians who used words from their Native
languages to transmit strategic messages from the American military in the
two world wars. Their work is credited with saving hundreds of thousands
of lives and shortening both wars.
The Choctaws used words like tali, the word for "stone," to describe a
grenade; ittibbi, for "fight," when they needed to warn of an attack; and
iti tanamp, the word for "bow," to describe a "company."
The enemy never deciphered the code and the Choctaws laid the groundwork
for the U.S. military using Indians for communications in other conflicts.
They include the Navajos of the southwestern part of the country, whose
actions during World War II were portrayed in the 2002 movie,
"Windtalkers," starring Nicolas Cage. They were authorized to be recognized
through congressional medals in 2001.
For descendants of the original Choctaw code talkers, also being honored
by congressional medals is recognition long overdue.
They point out that the young Choctaws enlisted in the military to fight
for their country in 1918, even though they had yet to be given the right
to become U.S. citizens.
After the war, they were told to keep their communication techniques
secret, so they could be used again.
Edwards, who lives in Shawnee, Okla., about 35 miles west of Oklahoma
City, did not find out her uncle was a code talker until she was in her
20s.
"I was shocked. He never talked about it. They were sworn to secrecy. He
wrote a diary when he was in the trenches in World War I and never
mentioned being a code talker using the Choctaw language."
At the time, she said, she could not mentally link the cruel war with
her jovial uncle, the large man in his 70s who liked to sit in his rocking
chair, watch Tarzan movies with her when she was 8 years old and laugh
when she choked down raisins.
"To me, he was kind of like Santa Claus. He just radiated warmth."
Nuchi Nashoba, who lives in Blanchard, about 40 miles south of Oklahoma
City, never met her great-grandfather, Choctaw code talker Ben Carterby,
who died two weeks before she was born.
"But granny always kept a picture of grandpa in the house. He was in
military uniform."
She said she researched history of the code talkers as a young adult and
came to realize the significance of their war effort.
"I have a lot of pride, knowing my grandfather was in the war and helped
fight for this country."
Under the Code Talkers Recognition Act, a congressional gold medal will
be designed in honor of the 18 original Choctaws and their families will
get duplicate silver medals. Also, bronze duplicates will be sold by the U.
S. Mint.
Besides Leader and Carterby, other Choctaw original code talkers were
Albert Billy, Mitchell Bobb, Victor Brown, George Davenport, Joseph
Davenport, James Edwards, Tobias Frazier, Benjamin Hampton, Noel Johnson,
Solomon Louis, Pete Maytubby, Jeff Nelson, Joseph Oklahombi, Robert Taylor,
Walter Veach and Calvin Wilson.
The legislation honoring them was introduced in the House in 2007 by Rep.
Dan Boren, D-Okla., who gathered up 300 co-sponsors. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-
Okla., sponsored a Senate companion measure. Both passed the Senate with
ease.
The Choctaws, members of the Army's 142nd Infantry Regiment, 36th
Division, have been deceased a long time, but their war acts have become a
part of the consciousness of their descendants and tribal members.
"Our people, they are very quiet, but the honor is so important, to have
their heroes finally recognized," said Gregory Pyle, chief of the Choctaw
Nation.
Allen, who has done extensive research on code talkers, said the Choctaw
code talkers came into existence during World War I in 1918 at a time U.S.
forces were in France and suffering a string of defeats at the hands of
enemy forces.
"The Germans were tapping into our phone lines and were experts at
decoding our messages. They knew where our ammunition dumps were; they
knew where our troops were. We couldn't make a move without the German
Army knowing about it.
"A commanding officer happened to walk by two Choctaw men speaking in
our Native language. It was as if a light bulb went off in his head,"
Allen said.
What was unique about the Choctaw code talkers, Pyle said, is that "they
died with secrets that were never really revealed" in their lifetime so
that Indian code talkers could be used in future wars, such as WWII.
Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Copyright c. 1998 - 2008 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved.
--------- "RE: Lumbee offers heating cost help" ---------
Date: Sun Nov 2 10:59
From: 'anahuy59'
Subj: Lumbee offers heating cost help
- - - - - - -- - - - - - -
www.robesonian.com/articles/2008/11/02/robesonian/news//4heating%20nov2.txt
Mailing List: First Peoples News
Lumbee Tribe offers heating cost help
November 2, 2008
PEMBROKE - To help with heating costs, the Energy Office of the Lumbee
Tribe of North Carolina will make a one-time payment in February to
American Indian households that meet eligibility requirements. Most
households that received food stamp assistance in October this year will
be eligible for assistance.
This application period will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. beginning Monday
through Nov. 14. at the Tribal Office.
Applications will also be taken at the following locations from 9 a.m.
to 4 p.m. on the designated days: Cumberland County Association for Indian
People, Fayetteville, Thursday and Nov. 13; Hoke County DSS, Raeford,
Monday and Nov. 10; and Scotland County at the Indian Museum of the
Carolina in Laurinburg, Wednesday and Nov. 12. Anyone who is elderly or
disabled may send someone to apply for them.
To qualify for assistance, an applicant must be directly responsible for
heating bills. A household income must be at or below 110 percent of the
poverty level, and meet the reserve requirements. This means that a one-
person household can have an income of no more than $954 a month, and a
family of four can have an income of no more than $1,944 a month.
For information, call the Energy Office of the Lumbee Tribe of North
Carolina at (910) 522-2206 or CARE-LINE Information and Referral Services
at (800) 662-7030 (TTY/Voice), Mondays through Fridays, from 8 a.m. to
5 p.m.
Copyright c. 2008 The Robesonian, Lumberton, NC.
---
Teresa Anahuy
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FirstPeoplesNews
--------- "RE: Elder spreads Native knowledge in Holland" ---------
Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2008 07:46:08 -0700
From: Gary Smith
Subj: NA News Item
- - - - - - -- - - - - - -
filename="NATIVE KNOWLEDGE"
http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/living/33581244.html
Elder spreads Native knowledge in Holland
By Rob Capriccioso
November 1, 2008
WASHINGTON - Scott Frazier, a Crow/Santee elder, spent the latter part of
October visiting educational institutions and companies in and around
Holland to offer perspectives on Native life and environmental issues.
As part of his educational outreach, Frazier presented a program, titled
"Native Perspectives on Environmental Issues," for the faculty of
environmental science at Utrecht University. The university is one of the
oldest in the Netherlands and among the largest in Europe.
He later presented a cultural diversity program, called "A Native
Perspective on Communication and Dialogue," for employees of the Stipo
company, an outlet focused on city renewal that supports the introduction
of arts and culture into residential areas.
A rare opportunity was also given to Frazier for a lunchtime program
scheduled at The Hague. During another public event, "Kiva Day," he spoke
and provided a workshop in Zutphen.
"Some of the people in Holland have a better understanding of the Native
culture than non-Native people in the United States," he reflected during
his voyage. "Perhaps this is due to their not living near the culture and
carrying some of the many stereotypes held in the U.S.
"I see a greater curiosity and willingness to learn truths about the
Native people. Europe generally, in my opinion, has a strong cultural
respect for American Indian people."
Locals asked many questions about his tribal and family history,
cultural background, biodiversity, cultural diversity, communication and
the indigenous vision for the future as it applies to climate change,
global warming and care for the Earth.
The queries were very much welcomed by Frazier, who has decades of
experience in the environmental arena. He said he now looks forward to
sharing what he learned from his visit with Natives at home, especially in
terms of energy development.
"[W]hat stands out right now is the greater understanding [in Holland]
of utilizing green energy such as windmills.
"I will also share their experiences with protecting/utilizing water
resources and plans to construct huge dyke projects.
"Also, with any journey abroad, I always gain an insight into the
culture and people of that area which, in turn, may be shared with those I
meet and address at functions held in the U.S. or across the Earth, for
that matter."
Frazier's trip from Bozeman, Mont., was hosted by the Red Thunderbird
Agency, a Dutch firm that promotes Native art and culture. The firm
regularly organizes events in Europe featuring Indian representatives from
across the U.S.
On the U.S. side, the voyage was facilitated by a Montana-based firm
called Project Indigenous, which provides educational programs that teach
from an indigenous perspective. It focuses specifically on fields relating
to the preservation and respect of Native lands, natural resources and
Native cultures.
The firm recently launched into a formal business structure. Previously,
its work and projects have been independently and privately organized.
The aim of Project Indigenous' cultural diversity programs is to
highlight facts about Native cultures and aid audiences in understanding
truths versus stereotypes and myths. The programs are meant to bring
greater respect and understanding about different ethnic backgrounds.
Shelley Bluejay Pierce, a coordinator for Project Indigenous, said more
teaching trips overseas are currently in the planning stages.
"We are no longer isolated individual countries... we are truly an
interconnected species with many of the same struggles," Bluejay Pierce
said.
"Our trips abroad allow us to learn, expand our knowledge base and
return that back to the variety of outlets in the U.S. Our sharing with a
vast audience allows an expanded appreciation and understanding for the
indigenous point of view on a wide variety of topics."
Copyright c. 1998 - 2008 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved.
--------- "RE: Western Caro. joins Cherokee Language Partnership" ---------
Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2008 07:36:28 -0700
From: Gary Smith
Subj: NA News Item
- - - - - - -- - - - - - -
filename="WESTERN CAROLINA TO HELP REVITALIZE CHEROKEE LANGUAGE"
http://indiancountrynews.net/index.php?
option=com_content&task=view&id=4940&Itemid=1
Western Carolina University joins Cherokee Language partnership
Cherokee, North Carolina (WCUPR)
October 2008
Chancellor John Bardo earlier this year committed Western Carolina
University to joining a community-university partnership focused on
revitalizing the Cherokee language.
"Language does more than allow us to communicate with each other.
Language is how we conceptualize the world," said Bardo, a sociologist by
training. "I'm very excited that Western is a part of keeping alive what
it means to be Cherokee."
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the Cherokee Nation and
Northeastern State University, in Tahlequah, Okla. (capital of the
Cherokee Nation) are Western's partners in the effort. Bardo formally
committed Western to the partnership by adding his signature to a
memorandum of agreement between all parties. Eastern Band Principal Chief
Michell Hicks accompanied Bardo during the signing, which took place
during the fourth annual Language Revitalization Symposium in Cherokee, an
event that Western helped plan and sponsor.
"The Eastern Band has enjoyed great relations with Western Carolina
University," Hicks said. "We're starting to see universities really reach
out and find ways for us all to help each other."
The agreement acknowledges the Cherokee language as "a living, viable
language" deserving of academic attention, and supports seeking
"opportunities for faculty, staff, students and communities to advance the
study of the Cherokee language, history and culture."
"We are able to come together because we all have the same needs and
goals," said Hartwell Francis, director of Western's Cherokee Language
Program. Among the primary goals of the agreement are sharing resources
and combining efforts in seeking outside funding for language projects.
The partnership should help attract funding because funding agencies
appreciate joint efforts between universities, and between universities
and communities, Francis said. A Cherokee dictionary, shared teacher
training and a "study abroad" experience between the EBCI and Cherokee
Nation are among the first goals of the partnership.
As is the situation with Indigenous groups worldwide, Cherokee people
are in danger of losing their language as tribal members who are able to
read, write and speak Cherokee grow older. By one estimate, only 309 of
the Eastern Band's 13,400 members are fluent in the language. The decline
of Cherokee literacy beginning in the early 20th century is tied to -
among other factors - federal boarding school education, which discouraged
Native languages; increased mobility; intermarriage; and the rise of
electronic communications.
Through annual funding from the Cherokee Preservation Foundation, which
supports economic, cultural and environmental initiatives related to the
Eastern Band, Western already is actively countering the language's
decline. Working with the Eastern Band's preservation and education
program, Western is developing curriculum content and training students to
teach in the tribe's Cherokee language immersion classrooms. Other
projects include an online first-year Cherokee language course, offered
for the first time in fall 2008; a Cherokee literature course for spring
2009; and Cherokee language children's books used in the immersion
classrooms.
Western Carolina University is one of the 16 senior institutions of the
University of North Carolina system. Western enrolls 9,056 students in
undergraduate and graduate programs of study, and is located about 50
miles west of Asheville, N.C., near Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
---
For more information about Western's Cherokee Language Program,
contact Hartwell Francis at (828) 227-2303 or mail: hfrancis@email.wcu.edu
Copyright c. 2008 News From Indian Country.
--------- "RE: Last known fluent Mandan Speaker honored" ---------
Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2008 07:36:28 -0700
From: Gary Smith
Subj: NA News Item
- - - - - - -- - - - - - -
filename="LAST FLUENT MANDAN SPEAKER"
http://indiancountrynews.net/index.php?
option=com_content&task=view&id=4940&Itemid=1
Last known fluent Mandan speaker honored
Twin Buttes, North Dakota
Associated Press
October 2008
Students at the Twin Buttes school have honored their longtime teacher
with the words he taught them.
Students, parents and community members celebrated Edwin Benson's 77th
birthday in a ceremony of gifts and food. The man known as "Grandpa
Benson" plans to cut back is work at the school from full time to a few
hours a day.
One by one, the elementary students came to the microphone to say a word
or a phrase in the Mandan language.
Benson, believed to be last person to speak the language fluently, is
sought out by linguists from around the world. But his most important work
has been on the Fort Berthold Reservation at the Twin Buttes school, where
he has taught words and stories for 16 years.
"He's a pretty cool guy," said 5-year-old Roy Morsette. "He plays bingo
with us."
Benson used the game to show the same word in English and Mandan.
Tiffany Weigum, the kindergarten teacher, said the children love to see
him in their classroom.
Cory Spotted Bear, a language apprentice, is working for the Twin Buttes
community council on a Mandan language initiative. He works with Benson to
preserve the language, getting as much taped, digitized and memorized as
he can.
"It's like the reservation - it's not what we've been given, but what
hasn't yet been taken away. It's the same with language," he said.
Benson said most people at the community center could, at best, speak a
word or two of Mandan.
"The language really got lost when we couldn't speak it at school, until
we got on the playground and we could use it on the sneak," Benson said.
He knows the history of the Mandan. He remembers when the Missouri River
was flooded in the 1950s to make way for the Garrison Dam and the Mandan,
Hidatsa and Arikara people were forced off the river and the nearby towns
to the reservation.
"When I was young, sadness never bothered me so much, until the dam
came," Benson said. "We were forced out and I lost my language. I can't
use it. That's my sadness in my life and I'll never get over that loss."
Copyright c. 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright c. 2008 News From Indian Country.
--------- "RE: Sacred Soil on the Navajo Nation" ---------
Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2008 07:36:28 -0700
From: Gary Smith
Subj: NA News Item
- - - - - - -- - - - - - -
filename="UNDERSTANDING NAVAJO BEGINS AT CANYON de CHELLEY"
http://indianz.com/News/
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/
story/0%2C25197%2C24565970-5002031%2C00.html
Sacred soil
To understand the history of the Navajo,
spend time at Arizona's Canyon de Chelly,
advises Stanley Stewart
November 1, 2008
By the time soldiers arrived, the Navajo knew their fate. They came on a
cold morning, in the first week of January 1864. Silhouetted against the
low winter sun, lines of cavalrymen split in two groups, fanning out along
the rim of Canyon de Chelly in Arizona, one heading to close the eastern
end, the other the western.
They had been dispatched by general James Henry Carleton, who was
seeking a final solution to the "Navajo problem". The Navajo knew Carleton
as a man with "a hairy face, fierce eyes and a mouth that never smiled".
For his part, Carleton described the Navajo as "wolves who run through the
mountains and must be subdued". His orders were to present the tribe with
two options: to abandon its lands and surrender to life on a reservation,
or to suffer the full wrath of the US Army in a scorched earth campaign.
In the end the Navajo people would suffer both fates.
"The people had got wind of the army's approach," Dave tells me. He and
I are standing in the canyon leaning on the front of his pick-up truck.
Over his shoulder, I see the shadows of kite hawks gliding across the
canyon walls.
"Many of our warriors had retreated north towards the Little Colorado
River. Others climbed Fortress Rock here (he points to a tall free-
standing butte behind us) and pulled their ropes and their ladders up
behind them. In the canyon the soldiers found mostly women, children and
old people."
Dave is a burly Navajo with a copper-coloured face and narrow piercing
eyes. All morning he has been guiding me through the Canyon de Chelly. In
the Navajo phrase for this remarkable place, we had been "walking in
beauty" or, at any rate, driving in Dave's battered Chevy. We lumber
through flooded stream beds. We skirt cottonwood groves and fields of
planted corn. In the still morning we stop to admire the clouds
disappearing over the canyon rim.
Dave is not a man of many words. His commentary on the canyon has been
on the succinct side. But beneath the Fortress Rock, as he begins to tell
the story of the Long Walk and the great tragedy of Navajo history, the
words begin to flow more freely.
"It had been a hard winter," Dave says. "The snow was deep, food was
scarce. In the end everyone here surrendered. The soldiers just waited.
Hunger drove the warriors down off Fortress Rock."
Dave looks away up the canyon to where the cottonwoods are feathering in
the morning breeze. Two young men pass on piebald horses, riding bareback
up the stream bed. "Once the soldiers had rounded the people up, they set
to destroying everything in the canyon, killing our livestock, burning our
villages and cutting down the peach orchards."
The destruction in the canyon was only the beginning. During the next
four years the soldiers nearly destroyed the entire tribe. In today's
world we might have called it genocide.
TO the indigenous people of the American southwest - the Navajo, the
Apache, the Hopi and numerous others - the great ellipsis of red rock
country between the Rio Grande and the Colorado River is the sacred heart
of the earth, the innocent land of their own beginnings. It was here that
the first of the Old People climbed through the sipapu, the hole in the
earth, to emerge in this world. Among the spectacular buttes and dry mesas
of the area is their Garden of Eden.
At the heart of the region is an area known today as the Four Corners,
for the four states that meet here: Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico.
It is one of the emptiest parts of the continent and one of the most
physically dramatic. To the west it abuts the Grand Canyon. To the north
it fades towards the surreal rock formations of Monument Valley, which
have played a starring role in countless movies, from John Ford's
Stagecoach to Back to the Future III.
And at the heart of the Four Corners (indeed occupying the largest part
of it) is the Navajo Reservation, a patch of country almost the size of
Scotland. Though the Navajo is one of the most numerous of America's
tribes, the population of the reservation is only 300,000. I have come
down from the Kaibab Plateau on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon into the
lands of the Navajo Nation. The road drops to the Painted Desert, named
for the strange colours of its rock faces.
Distant mountains stand against flat horizons, like islands. Treeless
hills rise from dry stream beds. This is a skeletal land, a country
stripped of all but the most minimal vegetation. Thin yellow grasses cover
gravel plains. Tumbleweed tumble across the highway. Herds of ponies
appear occasionally, wandering aimlessly.
I pass a sign for dinosaur tracks; the landscape has that look about it:
the hard earth before man turned up.
In this bleak expanse the Navajo houses seem to have been caught by the
wind and scattered arbitrarily. Many are temporary structures, such as
mobile homes set on cement blocks, prefab houses surrounded by junk yards
of old cars.
It is as if the tribe has never really reconciled itself to a settled
existence in a settled world. The dwellings seem a kind of making-do, a
short-term solution, until life gets back to what it once was.
To find what it once was I travel on to the Canyon de Chelly, the
geographic soul of the Navajo Nation. When the Holy Ones migrated across
the earth, the canyon was one of the places they alighted, marking it as a
sacred site. It holds a special place, according to Dave, in every Navajo
heart.
Between sheer sandstone walls rising to more than 300m, Canyon de Chelly
is an oasis: sylvan, pristine, magical. Spring-fed streams meander through
cottonwoods and tamarisks. Scrub jays dance through the apple and peach
orchards. Sheep graze in the pastures. Fields of corn dip their feathery
heads.
There are no modern facilities here: no roads, only tracks, no buildings
other than traditional Navajo hogans with lines of rising smoke. At night
the only lights are lanterns and moonlight.
These days outsiders require a Navajo guide to enter the Canyon de
Chelly as it is a national park and sacred ground for the tribespeople.
For the Navajo people, the canyon is full of ghosts, their own and others.
Perched on ledges in the canyon walls are the substantial stone and adobe
ruins of villages of the Anasazi, the Ancient Ones, a people once
widespread throughout this region. They disappeared from the canyon late
in the 13th century; historians are unsure why.
Dave is my guide and he points out the petroglyphs on the rock walls.
The earliest are Anasazi: a dotted figure of eight to represent the phases
of the moon, flute players, antelopes, hand prints, concentric circles.
Other cliff drawings, including mounted figures and Spaniards with lances,
belong to the later Navajo period.
At Fortress Rock the mood changes. "It took the soldiers almost a month
to destroy the canyon. They cut down over 4000 peach trees. The orchards
had been here for generations. The destruction of the canyon seemed to
signal the end of Navajo resistance."
During the following months, thousands of Navajo were transported nearly
500km south to Fort Sumner in New Mexico. It was a nightmarish journey.
Many had little covering but rags; there was no shelter along the way and
very little food. It is an experience etched on the tribe's collective
memory. They know it as the Long Walk. The route was littered with corpses.
Those who survived were settled at Bosque Redondo. Planned as a Navajo
reservation, it is now more clearly identified as an internment camp.
Barely 100sqkm, it was meant to hold 5000 people. Almost twice that number
were interned there. Water and firewood were scarce. Supplies were badly
distributed and often stolen by Comanche raids. The soil was alkaline and
crops failed. Famine set in. By the time the government had recognised the
failure of the experiment, it is estimated 3000 Navajo had died, one-third
of the internees.
In 1868 a new treaty was brokered. The Navajo asked only one thing. "I
hope to God you will not ask me to go to any other country except my own,"
pleaded Navajo chieftain Barboncito.
A new larger reservation was created in their traditional homelands and
the people returned to Canyon de Chelly. With time the farms were restored
and the orchards replanted. Today the canyon is a timeless portrait of
Navajo life.
"This is one place all Navajo must visit," Dave says. "To understand who
they are."
---
Stanley Stewart was a guest of the Arizona Office of Tourism.
Checklist
Thunderbird Lodge, close to the mouth of the canyon, is the only
accommodation in the national park; www.tbirdlodge.com.
All visitors must have a guide to enter the Canyon de Chelly. The one
exception is at White House Trail, a lovely walk from the rim down to an
Anasazi site in the canyon. Guides and tours can be arranged through the
park visitor centre. There are two scenic drives overlooking the canyon
along the North and the South Rims that can be done in your own car
without a guide; www.nps.gov/cach.
Navajo weaving and jewellery are much sought after. A good place to start
is Hubbell's Trading Post, a general store founded in the 19th century
when the Navajo returned from internment at Bosque Redondo. It still sells
everything from horse tack to soap, and has one of the best collections of
native crafts, including rugs and jewellery, in Arizona; www.nps.gov/hutr.
www.arizonaguide.com
The Australian - Copyright c. 2008 News Limited.
--------- "RE: Carter Camp: Update on Ahmbaska's Condition" ---------
Date: Fri, 7 Nov 2008 07:05:09 -0700
From: Gary Smith
Subj: NA News Item
- - - - - - -- - - - - - -
filename="AHMBASKA CAMP"
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2008/11/carter-camp-update-on-ahmbaskas.html
Carter Camp: Update on Ahmbaska's condition
>From Carter Camp
Wichita, Kansas
November 6, 2008
Ah-ho My Relations,
I wanted to write this update about Ahmbaska just before what we hope is
his final operation. Since the last update I wrote Linda and I have stayed
here in the hospital with Ahmby. It has been a long five weeks but the
reward has been watching my son overcome in his fight for life and grow
stronger every day. For the first couple of weeks it was touch and go, he
could have died from his injuries then and I didn't want to leave his side
for a moment. His head and brain were swollen and he was kept under
sedation in a drug induced coma until the swelling could go down and he
could heal somewhat. It worked and after two weeks they began to bring him
up to consciousness every day to test his reactions and progress. Slowly
but surly he improved until one by one they could take him off the various
machines they were using to keep him alive. Tubes were removed and the
biggie, his "ventilator" was finally taken off and he began to breath on
his own. After that he was moved from the surgical ICU up to the
intermediate care unit.
That was a big step for him (and us) and then we finally knew he was
going to recover from his wounds. Then we had a setback, the surgery to
replace his skull-piece failed because his brain re swelled when he was
under sedation and it couldn't be done. Now it was back to the S-ICU and
we began our journey all over again. This time wasn't as life threatening
and after a few days he was moved up to the IMU again and began his
recovery and healing. His head healed just fine again and he began therapy
once again.
Here's the good news... Ahmbaska has regained all his mental faculties
and has regained the full use of his arms and legs even though they are
weak from being in bed for so long! I'm very happy to report that to all
of you because I know everyone has been worried about how he would be
post-surgery. Except for the accident itself, which remains fuzzy to him,
his memory seems fine and he talks and thinks just fine also.
You guys know me and that I'm a believer in prayer so I truly believe
that all of you, your prayers, thoughts and best wishes had a big effect
on Ahmby's recovery. So many of you called and wrote about the ceremonies
and prayers you were having on our behalf, I was overwhelmed with
gratitude for each and every one. Some of the local skins here in Wichita
fixed up a sweat lodge for me and allowed me to have some Inipi for him.
This was a big thing to Linda and I as it gave us a place to pray too. I'm
eternally grateful to everyone for all these efforts on our behalf, I hope
one day I'll be able to shake each and every one of your hands and tell
you personally how much you helped us get through this hard time.
On the more mundane side some of you have seen fit to help us out with
money so we could stay here in a town where we have no support system or
place to stay. You know, even though we had a cot in Ahmby's room we still
had to eat a big mac every once in awhile:) and we had to buy the
necessities of living for this past five or six weeks. Like everyone I
hate to ask anyone for money or make a big deal of my needs, with good
friends and family like you all I didn't have to, you took it upon
yourselves to help and I truly appreciate your thoughtfulness. Without
that and the support from our families Linda and I would have had a very
hard time of it. We still have those needs and I'll put our address at the
bottom of this update in case you care to help once more.
Today, this evening, Ahmbaska is going into surgery for another try at
replacing his skull part which should finish his surgery and clear the way
for him to be released from the hospital soon. He may have to go to a
rehab place for awhile but we look forward to that part of the recovery.
So I'm asking you all once more for your prayers and kind thoughts for my
son. Shortly after sundown we'll be praying together as he is taken in for
the operation and I know if you'll join me it will all come out ok and
he'll begin his final road to good health.
Weebla-ha means thank you in my Ponca language, Wopila in Lakota. So I
say WEEBLA-HA to all of you who have helped us through our trying time.
Wopila for your powerful prayers and kind feelings for my son. On behalf
of Linda and our whole family...
I remain your friend and relative, Carter Camp.
The address here is...
Ahmbaska Camp
c/o Carter Camp Room
1018 Wesley Medical Center
550 N. Hillside
Wichita, Kansas 67214-4976.
---
On Fri, 10/3/08, Carter Camp wrote:
Ah-ho my Friends and Relations,
This is to update you all on my son Ahmbaska's condition etc. There has
been an out pouring of love and concern since his accident, so many that I
haven't had time to answer folks. First for those who haven't heard; my
son Ahmbaska was involved in a very bad auto accident down in Oklahoma. He
was thrown from the car and suffered severe injuries the worst of which is
a head injury which required an operation to relieve pressure from his
brain, he also suffered broken ribs, ankle, and a cracked shoulder blade.
The head injury is the worst of course. He was life-flighted from Ponca to
Wichita, Kansas to the Wesley Medical Center where the brain surgery was
done. Since the accident last weekend he has been kept in a drug induced
coma while his swelling goes down.
The good news is that the operation went well and Ahmbaska is doing
better. He is now able to recognize us and move his arms and legs on
command. The surgeon tells us he is a remarkably strong young man and is
doing better than expected. I attribute that to so many prayers and good
wishes that have been sent to us from around the country and world. His
Mom and I have been pleasantly surprised at how fast word of his injury
spread throughout Indian Country and by how many people have taken it upon
themselves to pray for us and help us out in our time of dire need. Kind
people also from Canada, Mexico and even France have joined us in praying
for our boy and I truley believe it has made all the difference.
As some of you know, old activists don't have any retirement plan so
coming when it did this accident put quite a strain on my wife and I but
good people like my brother Gene McCowan help provide us enough gas money
to get from Rosebud to Wichita and my nephews kindly drove from Oklahoma
to pick me up and take us down to the hospital. Others have had ceremonies
for us on their own and did things for his healing that I'll probably
never be able to thank them for, but I want to tell you all that every
prayer and good thought has been recieved by Ahmbaska, I know they have
because he has defied the odds and come out of that critical time with
hope for recovery. He's still in the Surgical ICU but each day brings some
improvement and he's battling for his life like a Sundancer should. I
thank each and every one of you from the very bottom of my heart.
The next few weeks Linda and I will have to remain in Kansas and take
care of him during a long convalesence before he'll be released to go home.
So far we haven't left the hospital but many family and friends have made
their way here to help out and we're glad Chief Crowdog is on his way to
help too. As I said there has been so many messages I can't answer them
all right now(I'm using a hospital computer when I step away from his bed)
so I hope this update can take the place of my personal thank you (Weebla-
-ha) and that of my wife Linda. Again Ahmbaska is getting better every day
and we hope thaat Wakonda will see fit to return him to us whole and
strong once more... and that it will be soon. I love you my people, my
friends, my loved ones. One day maybe I can return some of the kindness
you have shown me during this hard time in my life. Right now I humbly ask
that you continue your prayers on his behalf. They are working.
I say this, For All My Relations, Carter Camp
Posted by brendanorrell@gmail.com
CENSORED NEWS brendanorrell@gmail.com
--------- "RE: JODI RAVE: Blackfeet Sculptor's work on display" ---------
Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2008 07:36:28 -0700
From: Gary Smith
Subj: NA News Item
- - - - - - -- - - - - - -
filename="JODI RAVE: JAY LABER, BLACKFEET SCULPTOR"
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/11/02/jodirave/rave14.txt
from junked cars to expressive art -
Blackfeet sculptor's work on display at MAM
By JODI RAVE of the Missoulian
November 2, 2008
Once he gets started, Jay Laber can twist, turn, carve, cut and weld
abandoned cars into spectacular images with so much detail it's possible
to see the nose hair on a buffalo.
Now any visitor to the Missoula Art Museum can look closely at Laber's
work outside on the north side of the building - and see the texture of
the buffalo's tongue.
He wasn't always that committed to detail.
Laber, a Blackfeet artist who lives on the Flathead Reservation, used to
look at a junked, rusted car and imagine the infinite possibilities - wild
hair swirling above the head of a dancing warrior, a horse running on an
open plain, an eagle soaring above the antlers of a bugling elk.
He has succeeded in capturing time and sealing the moment in steel.
The MAM is displaying Laber's work as part of its "Elk Dogs" exhibit,
which continues through Feb. 21. It's being displayed in the Lynda M.
Frost Contemporary American Indian Gallery.
A gallery talk and artist reception is scheduled on Dec. 5.
The "Elk Dogs" installation features four invited artists, including
Laber, Damian Charette, David Dragonfly and Jeneese Hilton. Additional
"elk dog" art was chosen from the museum's contemporary Indian art
collection.
In many indigenous languages, the name elk dog is the historical
translation for the horse, an animal brought to the North American
continent by the Spaniards. The Natives described the horse as an animal
as big as an elk and saw an animal that could be used to pack goods like a
dog.
The MAM exhibit is a tribute to horses, seen through the eyes of Natives.
Some of the first metal horses Laber created were designed to be seen
from a distance, like a mile away.
"I purposely didn't want people to know it was made from junk," he said.
So, he didn't care much if his warrior had eyebrows.
But now that his sculptures are being purchased for upward of $10,000,
he finds his art being displayed up close and in easily accessible places,
like on the front lawn of a museum in downtown Missoula. So, he's careful
to take his time and shape tubes of metal into a finely detailed necklace.
What hasn't changed is his penchant for automobile parts, barbed wire
and farm machinery. He credits Corky Clairmont, an art instructor at
Salish Kootenai College in Pablo, for inspiring him to use what was in his
immediate environment.
"I'm from Browning," said Laber. "I think he thought I was going to use
rocks or dirt. On my reservation, it was junked cars."
Clairmont remembers when Laber first started taking art classes at the
college on the Flathead Reservation. As a pupil, the Blackfeet student
tended to think of his art projects on a larger-than-life scale.
"He had some real ambition, a lot of creative energy," said Clairmont.
"He asked if he could do a larger sculpture than the one assigned in class.
He eventually got it all put together. It was a large buffalo made of
recycled car parts, and parts of a combine."
That piece was later sold and shipped to Germany.
Stephen Glueckert, MAM curator, said Laber brings a sense of humor to
his work, as well as a celebration of tribal history in which his
ancestors once used every part of the buffalo.
"He has art in his blood," said Glueckert.
In Montana, Laber's work can be seen at entrances to the Blackfeet
Reservation, in Glacier National Park and on the Salish Kootenai College
campus.
The permanent art display on the campus was commissioned for a political
event. With that in mind, Laber said he was inspired to do a piece on
"what a buffalo thinks of politicians."
The artist molded and shaped a giant rusted buffalo - and welded a
mirror under its tail.
---
Jodi Rave covers Native issues for Lee Enterprises.
Reach her at (800) 366-7186 or at jodi.rave@lee.net.
Copyright c. 2008 Missoulian, a division of Lee Enterprises.
--------- "RE: YELLOW BIRD: Ban reflects poorly on Council" ---------
Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2008 10:59:07 -0700
From: Gary Smith
Subj: NA News Item
- - - - - - -- - - - - - -
filename="YELLOW BIRD: TURTLE MOUNTAIN CHIPPEWA ABORTION BAN"
http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=91516
DORREEN YELLOW BIRD: Ban reflects poorly on council
Dorreen Yellow Bird Herald staff report
October 31, 2008
The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa's tribal council wobbled out on a
limb to pass a resolution that bans abortions on their reservation. "Under
no circumstances," their resolution reads, "will abortions be performed
and allowed."
But the council's on a branch that could easily snap.
When tribal governments pass resolutions such as this one - resolutions
that run counter to the U.S. Constitution - those government leaders tend
to be depicted as neophytes who are less than knowledgeable of federal
laws that all citizens, including tribal members, must abide by. In other
words, the resolutions make the tribal councils look bad and give the
appearance of poor government.
The Turtle Mountain Band is a North Dakota tribe with a small land base
and an enrollment of more than 30,000 members. The reservation borders
Canada.
Here is the ruling that the tribe is up against: The 1973 Supreme Court
ruling Roe v. Wade overturned all state and federal laws outlawing or
restricting abortions. Further, it declares that a woman can have an
abortion up until a fetus becomes viable, meaning the point where it could
live outside the mother's womb.
That ruling is constitutional law unless and until it's changed.
Regarding the tribe, I wondered: Why now? Roe v. Wade has been on the
books since the 1970s. To find out, I made some calls and reached Ernie
Azure, council member from Turtle Mountain. Azure said their chairman,
David "Doc" Brien, told them in a council meeting that he'd heard Indian
Health Service was going to allow abortions.
"It might or might not be true," Azure told me, but the council passed
the resolution just to be safe. The superintendent of the Bureau of Indian
Affairs met with them, but they are sticking with the resolution. "This is
the way the tribe is going to go," he said.
Turtle Mountain isn't the first tribe to step out on such a limb. The
Oglala Sioux of Pine Ridge S.D., dealt with abortion in 2006, although in
that case, the limb was on the other side of the ideological tree.
Then-tribal Chairwoman Cecilia Fire Thunder took on the state of South
Dakota, which had, earlier in 2006, tried to challenge the Supreme Court
by banning almost all abortions.
Fire Thunder objected to the move. "To me, it is now a question of
sovereignty," she said.
"I will personally establish a Planned Parenthood clinic on my own land,
which is within the boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation where the
State of South Dakota has absolutely no jurisdiction."
It didn't work.
Pro-choice Fire Thunder was impeached by the anti-abortion tribal
council. "Life is sacred - the winged, two-legged, four-legged," said
Patrick Lee, than the chief judge. "You hear constant references to
respect for life. It is tribal law. Respect for the unborn is specifically
stated in the juvenile code of tribal law." He added the law applies when
"a child is conceived."
The BIA requires copies of tribal resolutions from most tribes, and most
of those resolutions require no federal action.
There are, however, resolutions that run counter to federal law or the U.
S. Constitution. The Secretary of the Interior can disapprove those
resolutions.
The resolution to ban abortion is likely to meet that fate.
Unfortunately for tribes, "many resolutions don't mean anything because
there are no penalties for breaking the law nor anyone to enforce them,"
Thomas Disselhorst, attorney for United Tribes Technical College in
Bismarck, told me.
Enforcement is a big problem on reservation.
Furthermore, the federal government does not provide funding for
abortions. The Indian Health Service clinic and hospital in Belcourt is a
federal program. That's one reason why no abortions have been performed
there, Indian Health Service sources say. I suspect the same is true on
the Pine Ridge and other reservations that have Indian Health Service
facilities.
I realize that tribal councils try to do their best for their people.
But tribal governments sometimes are saddled by laws that they don't like,
as the Turtle Mountain council is by Roe v. Wade. In those cases, the
councils have few good ways to show their displeasure.
As you can see by the situation at Turtle Mountain, their resolution is
just paper. They're running counter to constitutional law, and when you
couple that with the fact that federal health programs don't pay for
abortions, the issue is moot.
In order for tribal governments to be stronger, they must prove that
they can run their governments with insight, thoughtfulness and certainly
an awareness of the laws that they operate under. If they take a stand
against abortion, how are they going to enforce it on the reservation?
Besides, if abortions are not funded at Turtle Mountain, they probably
won't be performed in the first place, at least not in the local hospital
or clinic.
If tribal leaders feel that strongly about the issue, they should get
involved with anti-abortion advocates and work to overturn Roe v. Wade.
---
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: GIAGO: Ignorance and Racism in Mascots" ---------
Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2008 07:46:08 -0700
From: Gary Smith
Subj: NA News Item
- - - - - - -- - - - - - -
filename="GIAGO: MASCOTS"
http://indianz.com/News/2008/011757.asp
Tim Giago: Ignorance and racism in mascots
November 3, 2008
Sixteen years ago I was on the Oprah Winfrey Show with Michael Haney and
Suzanne Harjo to talk about the use of Native Americans as mascots for
America's fun and games.
It was the first time in television history that a major talk show
allowed Native Americans to openly discuss why we do not appreciate our
use as mascots for sports teams.
I believe that tape is still available through Harpo Productions if
anyone wants to see what happened on that show. In the ensuing years no
other major network has found the topic interesting enough to pursue.
After all, the mascot issue affects only a very small and politically weak
segment of the U.S. population and there are those dissenters even among
the Indian people who defend this nefarious practice.
Sixteen years is a very long time and memories fade. Michael Haney,
Seminole, has since made that long journey to the Spirit World. Michael
was larger than life. Everyone took notice when he entered a room and his
booming laughter made everyone stop, listen and smile. He was large in
stature, but even larger in his undying battle against the use of Indians
as mascots. He could never grasp the concept that the American people
could not see this blatant conduct as racism.
Harjo and several others challenged the legality of the logo of the
Washington professional football team, but after several years a judge
ruled against them and the one case that might have hit a professional
team ownership in the pocketbook, a target that would cause irreparable
harm, is gone and probably gone forever.
Twenty five years ago when Native Americans like Haney, Harjo, Charlene
Teters, Vernon Bellecourt, Bill Means, Floyd Westerman and I wrote about
and spoke out against using Indians as mascots, we were thoroughly and
soundly vilified. I was told by a caller on a radio show I did for a Los
Angeles station, "What in the hell are you complaining about? We kicked
your Indian butts from the east coast to the west coast so why don't you
whiners go back to where ever it is you came from."
How does one argue against such redneck stupidity? And speaking of "red"
what exactly is a "redskin." When I talked about the Washington
professional football team that uses this name as its motto and logo, I
stopped at using the "R" word, because I find it disturbingly racist. What
is a "redskin?" It is the pigmentation of the skin of an ethnic minority.
Americans might use "brownskin" for example when talking about Mexicans or
Pakistanis. For years they used "black" to describe people of African
descent. Even the Spanish word "Negro" literally meant "black."
When the white Americans were running roughshod over Indian country they
chose many colorful names for the indigenous inhabitants. They called the
indigenous people redskins, red niggers, prairie niggers, savages, and
worse. The name redskin was never intended to be a word to honor Native
Americans. It was a word intended to insult and to put the Indian people
in their place. The word made a clear distinction between the master race,
the white people, and the inferior people, the redskins.
Florida State University has taken this perverse practice to another
level in this modern day. The student body and faculty there have taken
the honored name of the Seminole people and cut it in half. On their sweat
shirts and banners they have renamed the Seminoles, "The Noles." Should
that new name be taken as an honor, as some Seminole people claim, or as
an insult, which most Native Americans would claim?
It was only after Americans decided that the indigenous people were the
"Vanishing Americans," that colleges and high schools began to use names
like warriors, braves, Indians and redskins as mascots. Since Native
Americans would soon disappear from the face of this earth, the names
given to sporting teams were meant to honor a vanishing people. We fooled
them and survived. One high school in Illinois used "Chinks" as their
mascot, but when it was pointed out by Asian Americans that the name was
racist, they dropped it.
Michael Haney, Floyd Westerman and Vernon Bellecourt, all great Native
Americans, went to their graves with no victory in sight for their years
of fighting the use of Indians as mascots. Charlene Teters, Suzanne Harjo
and I often grow weary carrying on their fight because we have found that
it is much more difficult to fight ignorance than racism. In a way,
ignorance and racism are one in the same, but until white and black
Americans walk one mile in our moccasins, they will never see the
difference.
---
Tim Giago, an Oglala Lakota, was born, raised and educated on the Pine
Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. He was the founder and first president
of the Native American Journalists Association and the founder and
publisher of Indian Country Today, the Lakota Times, and the Dakota/Lakota
Journal. He was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard in the Class of 1991. He can be
reached at najournalist@msn.com.
Copyright c. 2008 indianz.com.
--------- "RE: ABOUREZK: Time for Natives to Flex Political Muscles" ---------
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 07:57:08 -0700
From: Gary Smith
Subj: NA News Item
- - - - - - -- - - - - - -
filename="ABOUREZK: NATIVE VOTE MUST NOT BE ONE SHOT EVENT"
http://www.reznetnews.org/blogs/red-clout/time-natives-flex-political-muscles
Red Clout
Time for Natives to Flex Political Muscles
By Kevin Abourezk
November 3, 2008
Never in my lifetime.
It's a phrase we've all heard often by people describing this year's
presidential election.
"Never in my lifetime did I think I would see this country elect its
first black president."
"Never in my lifetime did I think I would see a woman elected vice
president."
Let me add yet another "never in my lifetime": "Never in my lifetime did
I think I would see so much focus on the Native American vote."
Maybe it's too soon to pronounce this election's Native voter
registration efforts a success. But as I await this country's verdict on
the next four years, I can't help but feel proud to have watched so many
work so hard to get Indians out to vote and enlist Native candidates.
And I feel obligated to encourage more Natives to get out and vote.
Let's not waste the efforts of leaders such as Jacqueline Johnson Pata
of the National Congress of American Indians and Kayln Free of INDN's List
to get Natives registered to vote and Native politicians on the ballots.
Johnson Pata said in a news release Monday that Native voters in Alaska,
Arizona and Wisconsin - states with significant Native populations - have
the opportunity to swing important state elections. They also could swing
the presidential election in swing states such as Colorado, Montana,
Nevada, New Mexico and North Dakota - states the NCAI has targeted as part
of its Native Vote Campaign.
"Over the last year, the presidential candidates have paid particular
attention to Native American voters and tribal needs in hopes to gain
support, and now the day has come for Native voters to engage in democracy
and do their civic duty," Johnson Pata said. "We're anticipating a strong
Native turnout."
Native Vote staff are working with the campaign's state leaders and
community organizers to ensure young and old Native voters make it to the
polls Tuesday, Johnson Pata said.
And in anticipation of minor voting problems, NCAI has created a toll-
free election protection number.
In recent elections, Native voters have encountered efforts to deny them
access to the polls and Native language assistance, interference from
partisan poll monitors and unwillingness to accept tribal government
identification cards as a form of ID.
Voters can also call the hotline if their polling location opens late or
closes early, if there are not enough ballots or if a vote was challenged
for any reason.
The number, 1-866-OUR-VOTE, is a volunteer-based, non-partisan voting
rights helpline designed to assist Native voters if they experience
difficulties with voting. For more information, visit www.866ourvote.org.
Let's not waste these precious efforts and fail to flex our political
muscle across the country Tuesday, showing our nation's leaders that
neglecting Native voters could cost them their own political survival.
Let's not allow either party take us for granted or forget their
promises.
The price for failing to vote is too high and the reward too promising.
For me, the reward will be having the chance to say on Wednesday: "Never
in my lifetime did I think I would see Native voters decide a presidential
election."
---
Kevin Abourezk, Oglala Lakota, is a reporter and editor at the Lincoln
(Neb.) Journal Star. He writes reznet's "Red Clout" political blog and
teaches reporting at the Freedom Forum's American Indian Journalism
Institute. Abourezk was awarded a Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism
in 2006.
Copyright c. 2008 Reznet.
Reznet is a project of The University of Montana School of Journalism.
--------- "RE: ST. CLAIR: Indian Wars have never really ended" ---------
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 07:57:08 -0700
From: Gary Smith
Subj: NA News Item
- - - - - - -- - - - - - -
filename="ST. CLAIR: INDIAN WARS"
http://www.gallupindependent.com/2008/11november/110408NA.PDF
Gallup Independent Native American Section
November 4, 2008
The Indian Wars have never really ended
By Jeffrey St. Clair
October 31, 2008
The Navajo environmentalist Leroy Jackson had been missing for eight days
when an anonymous tip led New Mexico state police to a white van, its
windows concealed by towels and blankets, parked at a rest stop atop the
Brazos Cliffs south of Chama, New Mexico. The doors were locked; a putrid
odor emanated from inside.
Patrolman Ted Ulibari broke the driver's door window and looked inside.
In the back seat, under a thick wool blanket, he found the sprawled body
of Leroy Jackson. He had been dead for days.
Jackson was the charismatic leader of Dine CARE, an environmental group
of traditionalists on the big Navajo reservation. He was also my friend.
Jackson was on his way from Taos to Washington, DC, where he planned to
confront the Clinton administration over logging in the old-growth
ponderosa pine forests in the Chuska Mountains, a mysterious and beautiful
blue range that rises out of the high desert in northern Arizona and New
Mexico. The Chuskas are a sacred place for the Navajo and Hopi, an earthly
anchor of their complex cosmology.
Only days before Jackson disappeared, he had spoken out against the
logging plans at a public hearing in Window Rock, Arizona. The Bureau of
Indian Affairs (BIA) had just requested an exemption from the Endangered
Species Act, which would allow the Navajo Forest Products Industries to
clearcut the old-growth forest habitat of the Mexican spotted owl, a
threatened species, in the Chuska Mountains near Jackson's home.
In the exemption request to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the BIA
had arrogantly claimed that because owls are "symbols of death" to some
Navajo, the extirpation of the bird from reservation lands could be
legally justified on religious and cultural grounds. During the hearing,
Jackson eviscerated the Bureau for promoting a racist ruse to sanction the
destruction of sacred forestlands.
More critically, Jackson hinted publicly at possible corrupt practices
by the tribal logging company and officials at the BIA. He urged the
Navajo Nation to return to its traditional respect for the land and to
support practices that preserved local jobs and forests.
Jackson's remarks were greeted with angry gestures and threats of
violence from loggers and millworkers. He received threats from Navajo
Forest Products Industries (NFPI) executives and from employees at the
Bureau of Indian Affairs. Leroy and his wife Adella, a nurse, were rudely
awakened by late-night phone calls threatening to burn down their home.
Jackson dismissed them at the time, but these and other threats led many
of Jackson's closest friends to conclude that he was assassinated because
of his environmental activism.
Although initial reports indicated that blood, possibly in large
quantities, was found at the scene, state police later said that there
were no obvious signs of foul play. A cursory autopsy ruled out most
natural causes of death, including stroke, heart attack, and carbon
monoxide poisoning. The results of a toxicology report showed trace
quantities of marijuana and methadone in Jackson's blood and tissue. Even
though Jackson was not a known drug user, the police swiftly dismissed his
mysterious death as a drug overdose.
Jackson's friends claimed that the investigation into his death was
cursory at best and pointed to irregularities and possible cover-ups. For
example, the police refused to look into several credible reports that
Jackson's van had not been parked at the Brazos overlook during the
preceding week. The police also failed to photograph the crime scene or
dust the van for fingerprints. For nearly a week, police left the van
outside in a Chama parking lot before towing it to the crime lab in Santa
Fe.
Although the New Mexico state police told Jackson's wife, Adella Begay,
that only a small amount of blood was found on a pillow near Jackson's
body, a source who was at the scene shortly after the van was discovered
said the interior "looked staged. His body was posed and there was blood
on the carpets and the seats."
Responding to a request from Jackson's friends, Bill Richardson, then
the congressman representing northern New Mexico, sent a letter to the
director of the FBI asking the agency to investigate the circumstances
surrounding Jackson's death. In his letter, Richardson noted the recent
threats Jackson had received for his environmental activism and suggested
that, "a major crime may have been committed." Ultimately, the FBI
declined to launch an inquiry, citing that the state police had concluded
that Jackson had overdosed on methadone.
At Jackson's burial, his friends vowed to continue the search for his
killer and to intensify the fight to protect the old forests on the Navajo
reservation. "Those who killed Leroy thought they could silence him," said
Earl Tulley, a traditionalist Navajo who co-founded Dine CARE with Jackson.
"But they only made his cause stronger than when he was alive."
I met Leroy Jackson three times and talked to him often on the phone. We
were friends. Kindred spirits. His voice radiated a rare combination of
power, eloquence, and humility.
Leroy Jackson cared about his culture and the Navajo people as much as
those forests on the slopes of the Chuskas. Indeed, for Jackson, the
future of the Navajo forests was inseparably tied to the future of the
Navajo people and their religion. That's what motivated his struggle.
The last time I spoke to Jackson was about two months before his death.
He described in sharp detail plans by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and
Navajo Forest Products Industries to clearcut much of the last remaining
old-growth ponderosa pine forest on the Big Reservation.
Jackson was angry, but not discouraged. He explained that his new
alliance of traditionalist Navajo leaders and energetic young activists
was growing in strength and power on the reservation. He believed that
Dine CARE was on the verge of dramatically reshaping logging practices on
Navajo lands.
"They are going after the heart of the old forest in the sacred
mountains," Jackson told me. "But they will not get it. There is a new
respect for the old ways."
Ultimately, Jackson was aiming to change something much broader and more
fundamental than simply the layout of a timber sale. Like other
traditionalists, Jackson understood that outside forces, including the BIA,
uranium and coal companies, oil and gas corporations, and the timber firms,
had assiduously corrupted the Navajo tribal council. Under the banner of
jobs, sovereignty, and future prosperity, these forces had begun stripping
the reservation of its natural resources and cultural and spiritual
heritage. This path had put millions in the pockets of the corporations, a
few tribal leaders and some officials at the BIA, but had left the
reservation itself impoverished: economically, ecologically, and
culturally.
In response, Jackson and his companions were seeking a return to
traditional Navajo values of the land and its use. This was dangerous
ground and Jackson knew it. He told me about weekly death threats and
about how loggers had hung him in effigy from their trucks the previous
summer.
I remember telling him to be cautious. Yes, most hardcore
environmentalists get threatened and we treat the threats almost as badges
of honor - something to laugh and brag about, but not lose much sleep over.
But I warned him that in the Southwest it's different. There, the threats
have a history of being backed up by violence.
I wasn't telling Jackson anything that he didn't already know intimately.
One of the last times we spoke he told me that he believed he would
probably die in the fight to save the Chuskas.
* * *
Leroy Jackson was buried under ancient ponderosa pines high in the
Chuska Mountains, the way to the burial site marked by pink ribbons. Some
were tied to trees and shrubs, others to root-wads and slash left by the
extensive clearcutting, testimonial to the Chuska's ignoble claim as the
most intensely logged range in the Southwest.
Under a soft wind, looking out over the blue mountains, etched in the
autumnal hue of aspens turning gold, the Navajo traditionalist John
Redhouse spoke about Leroy's life: "Leroy was no different from the other
Dine warriors and patriots who gave their lives. He took a vow to protect
the male deity represented by the Chuskas and to preserve balance and
harmony for the Navajo people. He saw that the Navajo tribe has not shared
this vision, that they have pursued the white man's values. We will
continue his struggle. It is a struggle for our destiny and our future."
---
This article is adapted from Born Under a Bad Sky:
Notes From the Dark Side of the Earth.
Jeffrey St. Clair is the author of Been Brown So Long It Looked Like Green
to Me: the Politics of Nature and Grand Theft Pentagon. His newest book,
Born Under a Bad Sky, is just out from AK Press / CounterPunch books.
He can be reached at: sitka@comcast.net.
Copyright c. 2008 CounterPunch,
Edited by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair.
Copyright c. 2008 Gallup Independent.
--------- "RE: JODI RAVE: First Native to win Statewide Office" ---------
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 07:57:08 -0700
From: Gary Smith
Subj: NA News Item
- - - - - - -- - - - - - -
filename=" JODI RAVE: DENISE JUNEAU"
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/11/05/jodirave/rave13.txt
Native News
Juneau will be first Native to win statewide office
By JODI RAVE of the Missoulian
November 5, 2008
Denise Juneau - the unofficial winner in the race for Montana's top K-12
educator - was on her way to making history Tuesday night as the first
Native elected to a statewide office, and arguably the first Native woman
in the nation to do so.
"Montanans should be proud we're on the brink of her being the first
Native woman to hold a statewide office in the nation," said Olivia Riutta,
a Democratic campaign field organizer. "I'm thankful we're moving in this
direction. It's telling. It gives me hope. This is the United States we're
taught about in school. It's the great American dream."
As of press time, early voting results placed Juneau with 53 percent of
the total votes cast in a three-way race for the state's superintendent of
public instruction; Republican Elaine Herman had 41 percent of the vote;
Libertarian Donald Eisenmenger, 5 percent.
The winner of the race will replace Linda McCulloch, who was prevented
from seeking re-election based on term limits.
"We're excited and hope the numbers hold," said Juneau, director of the
state's Indian education office. "If the trend keeps going - with Obama
winning Montana - it really looks good for all the Democrats in the state
right now."
Juneau, an enrolled citizen of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation,
watched election returns with supporters and family Tuesday night at the
Great Northern Hotel in Helena. A count of early absentee votes showed her
with a solid lead in some of the state's most populated counties,
including Big Horn, Lewis and Clark and Missoula.
Juneau's campaign to lead the Office of Public Instruction marks her
first political race, although she is no stranger to political
strategizing. Her mother, state Sen. Carol Juneau, D-Browning, has served
in both the state House and Senate for nearly a decade.
"She will make history here in Montana," said Carol Juneau. "It's a
wonderful night. A mother couldn't be more proud. We'll keep our fingers
crossed and wait until the final vote. What's really amazing is the amount
of people who stepped forward to help Denise. The outpouring of support
from the people of Montana has been wonderful."
Juneau has been actively campaigning around the state since announcing
her candidacy.
Riutta, who helped organize Juneau's campaign in Missoula, credited the
educator with working hard and connecting to grass-roots voters. "Denise
is an exceptional candidate. She's running for a statewide race at a time
when voters are looking for change. She's in line with what voters are
feeling in the state and in the country."
---
Jodi Rave covers Native issues for Lee Enterprises.
Reach her at (800) 366-7186 or at jodi.rave@lee.net.
Copyright c. 2008 Missoulian, a division of Lee Enterprises.
--------- "RE: BARKMAN: A list of questions for next President" ---------
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 07:57:08 -0700
From: Gary Smith
Subj: NA News Item
- - - - - - -- - - - - - -
filename="BARKMAN: WILL YOU RESTORE AND RESPECT TRIBAL SOVEREIGNTY?"
http://indianz.com/News/
http://www.cleburnetimesreview.com/opinion/
local_story_308090600.html?keyword=secondarystory
Patrick Barkman: A list of questions for the next president
"If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.
If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it
is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of
others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern
diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully."
- Romans 12:6-8
Some questions for the next President of the United States:
The manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy has been declining rapidly
since the 1950s and is now on the verge of collapse. Do you believe the U.
S. can continue to be an economic superpower if we don't make anything
anymore?
"Free" trade agreements put America in unfair competition with countries
that subsidize their businesses, ignore environmental and workplace safety
laws, and pay slave wages. What will you do to make sure other countries
play by the rules?
Organizations such as the World Trade Organization are gaining increasing
control over the American economy, despite being unelected, undemocratic,
unaccountable corporate bureaucracies. Will you continue to surrender
American sovereignty to these agencies?
U.S. agriculture is in crisis because of the virtual disappearance of
small farms, taxpayer-subsidized agribusiness corporations paid to grow
unhealthy foods, and such insanities as shipping American poultry and fish
to China to be prepared and then shipped back to America for sale. What
will you do to end subsidies for junk food and restore the country to a
sustainable farm system?
Sooner or later, our current economy, based on cheap petroleum, will come
to an end. What steps will you take to help transition the country to a
post-petroleum economy?
Will you honestly tell Americans what it will take in terms of lifestyle
changes to combat the global climate crisis?
Will you end subsidies to big corporations that exploit public lands and
resources and require them to pay fair market value?
Will you stop corporate welfare to giant corporations who ship American
jobs overseas?
Will you pledge never to add signing statements to bills but rather show
the intestinal fortitude to either sign or veto them?
Will you abide by the War Powers Act, which has been systematically
ignored by every president, Democrat or Republican, since it was enacted?
What will you do about illegal immigration? Pro-immigration advocates are
right that it would be impossible to deport 15 million to 20 million
people without seriously curtailing everyone's liberties and that a "guest
worker" program would only drive down wages and lead to a permanent and
possibly radicalized underclass. On the other hand, the anti-immigration
forces are right that we can't just go on declaring a general amnesty
every 20 years and that it is a threat to national security to have a
border that leaks like a colander.
Will you pledge to fully restore and respect tribal sovereignty?
Will you offer a fair settlement of the Cobell v. Kempthorne trust
lawsuit? If hundreds of billions of dollars are available for Wall Street
welfare, surely there's enough money to compensate thousands of Indians
who were ripped off by the government that was supposed to protect them.
Will you restore to tribes the power to prosecute crimes committed by non-
Indians in Indian country?
Do you support some form of mandatory national service to address urgent
problems at home and hopefully re-create a national sense of duty as
opposed to entitlement?
This has been the most expensive presidential campaign in history.
National politics are corrupted by torrents of special-interest money.
Will you support either the overturn of the Buckley v. Valeo decision
where the Supreme Court decided that money equals free speech or public
financing of campaigns?
Will you amend the loathsomely misnamed USA Patriot Act to conform it to
the Bill of Rights?
Will you pledge not to allow the use of torture?
Will you agree to stop wire-tapping Americans without a warrant?
Do you agree with George W. Bush that the president, on his sole
discretion and without review by Congress or the courts, can arrest
American citizens on American soil and lock them up for the rest of their
lives without a trial, formal charges, or access to the courts?
Thank you, Mr. President. Please remember that you must answer in complete
sentences, show your work, and neatness counts. And yes, this will all be
on the test.
---
Patrick G. Barkman is a Cleburne attorney who writes on religion, politics,
culture and Native American issues. He invites you to comment on this
column at his blog, localcrank.wordpress.com.
Copyright c. 2006 Cleburne Times Review, Cleburne, TX.
Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.
--------- "RE: SIMMONS: Spotlight on Brunot Agreement" ---------
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 07:57:08 -0700
From: Gary Smith
Subj: NA News Item
- - - - - - -- - - - - - -
filename="SIMMONS: UTE TRIBES' AGREEMENTS WITH COLORADO"
http://www.pechanga.net/
http://www.alamosanews.com/V2_news_articles.php?
heading=0&story_id=10115&page=74
Rabbitbrush Rambler
BY: Virginia Simmons
Spotlight on Brunot Agreement
November 3, 2008
Capturing attention in Colorado's media at present is an agreement
concerning the right of Southern Ute Indians to hunt and fish year around
in a large portion of southwestern Colorado. Exercising this right would
be in accord with terms of the Brunot Agreement that President Ulysses
Grant signed into law in 1874.
The Southern Ute Tribe and Colorado's Division of Wildlife, Wildlife
Commission, and Governor Bill Ritter have signed a memorandum of
understanding about rights and management. The area of land involves
Mineral, Hinsdale, Archuleta, La Plata, San Juan, Ouray, San Miguel,
Dolores, and Montezuma Counties, excluding private lands.
Explanation of this privilege goes back to the 1870s, when mining
activity accelerated, illegally and rapidly, in the San Juan Mountains on
land belonging to the Colorado Consolidated Ute Reservation, which was set
apart for Ute Indians in 1868. As a first step in settling the trouble, in
1872 the U.S. Commissioner of Indians Affairs, Felix R. Brunot, and two
others met in Denver with eleven Ute Indians, including Chief Ouray, to
discuss selling the area where mining was occurring.
Two councils followed at the Los Pinos Indian Agency, northwest of the
town of Saguache. The first council, attended in August 1872 by about 1,
500 Ute Indians, heard this proposal to sell but produced only strong
opposition, including that of Ouray.
During subsequent months, the usual invitation to Washington, DC, drew a
delegation of Ute Indians and white dignitaries from Colorado to observe
the formidable Eastern power structure firsthand. (Remember that this was
a period when the crafters of the Mining Law of 1872 were playing a strong
hand in the power structure, behind the scenes.)
Next, in Spring 1873, Brunot met with Ouray at Cheyenne and proffered a
carrot - namely, that if Ouray would support an agreement, a concerted
effort would be made to locate Ouray's son Pahlone who had been stolen
several years earlier by Plains Indians. (Although the correct individual
seemed to have been found, this episode ended sadly for all.)
Meanwhile, summer brought thousands more miners into the San Juans.
While the Secretary of Interior threatened to evict the trespassers with
military force, a Miners Cooperative and Protective Association promised
armed resistance.
In this tense atmosphere, the second council was held in August 1873.
About 2,000 Ute Indians gathered at the Los Pinos Agency, erecting their
tipis in the fields a little east of the agency, and then waited for about
six weeks, until finally, the council was ready to start after numerous
officials, soldiers, minor functionaries, merchants, and spectators had
jounced across Old Cochetopa Pass Road to the agency.
By then, many Indians had left and others were disgruntled. When chances
of success of an agreement appeared slim, the omnipresent Otto Mears of
Saguache suggested that an annual stipend of $1,000 for Ouray might help
things along, and the deal was made.
Essentially, the Ute Indians of Colorado agreed to sell a parcel of land,
called the San Juan Cession, for half a million dollars. The land measured
approximately 60 by 90 miles, with the narrow strip along the southern
border was excluded for the Southern Ute Reservation, which at that time
included what later became the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation also.
The Ute Indians retained the right to hunt on the ceded lands "so long
as the game lasts and the Indians are at peace with the white people."
These words are key to the present proposal about hunting and fishing
rights.
Steve Whiteman, division head of the Southern Ute Indian Wildlife
Department at Ignacio, tells me that the new agreement would replace a
previous agreement, negotiated with state agencies in 1972 but not
exercised. On the other hand, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe at Towaoc
arranged an agreement in 1978 that has been exercised, but they are now
considering renegotiating another, similar to the new Southern Ute
agreement.
Conforming with past Colorado court decisions, other Ute Indian bands
that were removed from Colorado to Utah in the 1880s are not involved in
similar negotiations and rights in our state, Whiteman says.
A few additional words will explain why the Brunot Agreement should not
be called a treaty, as some do, incorrectly. Congress decided in 1871 that
Indian tribes were not sovereign nations and, thus, treaties should not be
negotiated with them - a mere technicality, one might argue, since the
government often broke its treaties with Indians anyway.
Copyright c. 2008 Valley Courier, Alamosa, CO.
News Media Corporation.
--------- "RE: YELLOW BIRD: Rituals differ, grief is the same" ---------
Date: Thu, 6 Nov 2008 07:41:16 -0700
From: Gary Smith
Subj: NA News Item
- - - - - - -- - - - - - -
filename="YELLOW BIRD: DEALING WITH LOSS OF LOVED ONE"
Rituals differ, but grief is the same
Dorreen Yellow Bird Grand Forks Herald
November 5, 2008
When I learned that Barack Obama's 80-year-old grandmother passed away, I
thought how awful it must have been for Obama to be so far away from her
in her last moments. I'm sure the momentum of the campaign carried him
forward, but his thoughts must have been full of memories of her.
I was reminded of Obama's grandmother Tuesday when a friend from Oregon
called. Her father was very ill and not expected to live, she told me.
He's been talking about his family, many of whom (including his wife) have
passed on. He misses them, he told his daughter. He also talked about
friends and relatives who are alive.
Then he asked about me. This man is now 94, and I met him some 40 years
ago when he and his wife came to Salem, Ore. He worked with my ex-husband,
and his wife adopted me as her daughter.
Before I left Oregon, his wife went to sleep one night and didn't wake
up. It was a peaceful death, they said. She was well-remembered as a kind,
gentle and caring woman.
They are and were American Indians.
Thoughts of these elders - Obama's grandmother and |
