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Saturday, September 28, 2002Subject: Indian Site Preservation Pushed Indian Site Preservation Pushed By KIM BACA Associated Press Writer http://www.activedayton.com/shared/news/ap/ap_story.html/National/AP.V5643.AP-Sacred-Sites.html For centuries, young American Indians have run a series of trails that stretch from the muddy red waters of the Colorado River to the Arizona-California line. Running the trail has been at the center of the Quechan Nation's religion, traditions and history. Now 30 young men are running to try to save the paths for the next generation. The runners are making a 700-mile relay trek through California to focus attention on state legislation that seeks to protect ancient sites like the one they hope to safeguard from becoming a gold mine. The group wants Gov. Gray Davis to sign a bill that would require local governments to notify a tribe of proposed construction within 20 miles of a reservation and to protect sacred sites from development. Opponents of the bill said it could grant tribes veto power over both private and public land. The California Chamber of Commerce said the bill threatens to delay or stop public improvement projects, school buildings and new homes. Davis, who has until month's end to sign or veto the bill, has not publicly taken a position. ``This is not only for politics,'' said 15-year-old runner Richard ``Ticky'' Smith, a Quechan tribal member who has sweated through triple-digit temperatures in California's Central Valley this week. ``It's for all the elders--the ones that passed on, the ones who are sick, the ones who can't run or walk or hear or see. It's also for the future.'' The run began last Friday in Sacramento, Calif., and is expected to end Saturday at the tribe's Imperial Valley reservation. The proposed mine site--at Indian Pass, a remote spot near the Arizona-California line--sits on federal land outside their reservation. Lillian Sparks, an analyst for the National Congress of American Indians, said no state has enacted legislation similar to the bill before the governor. ``California is really taking initiative to protect Native American sacred places, and we're hoping other states will follow through until we can get protection at the federal level,'' said Sparks. Across California, about 300 sites that average a quarter-acre each need protection, according to the Native American Heritage Commission. Under the legislation, a local government would hire an outside investigator such as an anthropologist to check historical records and determine whether a site has long been considered sacred. The investigator also would look at whether the area has a shrine or other religious artifacts. The bill stems from Quechan opposition to plans by Glamis Gold Ltd., a Reno, Nev.-based company that wants to build an open pit gold mine on 1,600 acres of BLM land near the tribe's reservation. The Bureau of Land Management parcel includes a site of religious ceremonies that contains ancient pottery shards and petroglyphs. Charles Jeannes, senior vice president of Glamis, said the proposed state bill could ruin the company's efforts to create an operation on which it already has spent $15 million. Jeannes said the bill now on Davis' desk would hamper development statewide by only allowing construction of projects on sacred sites that have an overriding environmental, public health or safety reason. ``It's a fairly narrow exception and it gives the native tribe any right to veto any project they deem sacred,'' he said. The Clinton administration rejected the gold mine plan, citing ``undue impairment'' to Quechan sacred land, but the Bush administration rescinded that ruling in October 2001. Quechan president Mike Jackson said the issue is about continuing a tradition for his 3,000 tribal members. ``We want to preserve our history just like any other person,'' he said. ``We should enjoy our religious rights like anybody else.'' On the Net: The bill, SB1828: http://www.sen.ca.gov Indian Pass: http://www.sacredland.org/indian_pass.html California Chamber of Commerce: http://www.calchamberstore.com Subject: Telescope opponents take U protest to KSTP-TV Telescope opponents take U protest to KSTP-TV Mary Jane Smetanka http://www.startribune.com/stories/459/3326974.html Published Sep 26, 2002 SCOP26 Protesters pounded drums and waved signs in front of KSTP-TV in St. Paul on Wednesday, trying to get Hubbard Broadcasting CEO Stanley Hubbard to pull financial support that will allow the University of Minnesota to buy time on a controversial Arizona telescope. In two weeks, university regents are expected to vote on a proposal to buy time on the telescope on Mount Graham, which traditional Apache tribal members say is sacred and is being desecrated by development. Last year, Hubbard gave the university $5 million so the school's Astronomy Department could buy time on the telescope, which will be completed in 2004 and will be the most powerful in the world. Before daylight Wednesday, someone climbed the antenna behind the station and hung a 60-foot yellow banner that included the words "Mount Graham is sacred." It was removed by 9 a.m. Hubbard declined to speak to reporters. Through a spokesperson, he indicated that he will not reconsider his donation. "We are committed to the university, and that commitment is not going to change," he said. "We have a contract with the University of Minnesota, and the entire situation rests in the hands of the university." Relevant Links: Mount Graham: Sacred Mountain, Sacred Ecosystem - http://www.seac.org/seac-sw/mtg.htm Mount Graham International Observatory - http://mgpc3.as.arizona.edu http://www.indianz.com/News/show.asp?ID=2002/09/26/telescope Subject: Indian student top of his class Tucson, Arizona Tuesday, 24 September 2002 http://www.azstarnet.com/star/tue/20924STUDENTOFWEEK.html Star-Eyewitness News 4 Student of the Week Antonio Benavidez, 17 Tops his high school class and takes university math By Inger Sandal ARIZONA DAILY STAR Senior Antonio Benavidez is ranked No. 1 in his class at Desert View High School, and is on track to be the first American Indian valedictorian in the school's history. Benavidez, who turns 18 on Saturday, has maintained an A-plus grade average, with a heavy schedule of advanced placement classes. He's already taken university-level math and is auditing a class three evenings a week at the University of Arizona that extends calculus to three dimensions. "He is very focused and very disciplined - much more than most high school students and more than most college undergraduates, too," said Lisa Berger, a graduate teaching assistant in the UA's math department. Berger used to teach pre-calculus at Desert View, and Benavidez was one of her students. Berger described him as a bright, intuitive teen who works extremely hard. Also, she said, "He's one of the nicest kids I've had the pleasure to teach." Benavidez is researching universities and considering the UA and Arizona State University, where he has studied math the past three summers. "I'm thinking of studying pure mathematics or going into some field of engineering, probably computer-related," he said. Benavidez comes from the Tohono O'odham Nation. He discovered he liked algebra in the eighth grade in Gila Bend. Although some people find math cold and impersonal and write it off as soon as it gets difficult, Benavidez said, he sees beauty in its structure. "Even though it gets complicated, it always returns back to the elements of being simple. Math is built on very simple things." His mother, Martha Murillo, is a strong influence. "She has always been positive," he said, "and she puts her kids first." Benavidez has two sisters. Murillo, who lives in Ajo, said her son attends Desert View in Tucson's Sunnyside district because he thought it would be more challenging. "It was hard for me to let him go away," she said, adding he has always earned top grades and was eighth-grade valedictorian. Murillo said her son encouraged her to continue her education, and he also tutors an older cousin, who attends Pima Community College, in math. "I'm very proud of him," she said. "He's a great son." Joni Keating, Desert View's adviser for American Indian students, said Benavidez is the top-ranked student in his class in academics and is certain to be valedictorian or tie for the honor at the school, which opened in 1985. The school at 4101 E. Valencia Road has about 90 American Indian students, with most coming from the San Xavier District of the Tohono O'odham Nation. The next largest number come from the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. * Contact reporter Inger Sandal at 573-4115 or at isandal@azstarnet.com Ariz. reservation schools denied funds THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2002 http://www.indianz.com/News/show.asp?ID=2002/09/26/school The Arizona Board of Education is withholding more than $30,000 per month from schools on on the Tohono O'odham Reservation. The board said the money will be disbursed when a public school district corrects financial problems. Five schools and about 1,200 students are affected. Get the Story: O'odham school funds held up (The Arizona Daily Star 9/25) Subject: Life in Uptown, Chicago's Indian country Life in Uptown, Chicago's Indian country September 22, 2002 BY STEPHEN J. LYONS http://www.suntimes.com/output/books/sho-sunday-power22.html The stories and essays in Roofwalker portray women and men negotiating an impossible path between Native American culture and a transplanted urban life in Chicago. Susan Power, awarded the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award for the 1994 novel The Grass Dancer, is a product of such extremes, and her experience dominates this masterly mix of fiction and nonfiction. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, there are 15,496 American Indians and Alaska Natives from more than 100 tribes in Cook County. Power's mother is Dakota; her father an Albany, N.Y., white. The author herself has red hair--like "Black Hills gold"--a detail that surfaces throughout the book to metaphorically answer her own query, "Half Yanktonnai Dakota (Sioux) and half white, I tortured myself with the obvious question: Whose side am I on anyway?" Roofwalker contains seven short stories and five essays, every one of them a keeper. New arrivals afflicted with "relocation fever" struggle to salvage satisfying lives in the city's Uptown neighborhood. The men have dark and empty eyes like "watermelon seeds," and they often run back to the reservation. The women are left behind to negotiate hard times and raise children in stuffy apartments. They know that the city offers an economic upward mobility that the reservation does not, but they also know the disruptive cost of relocation. A rich cultural past is sometimes their only salvation. In the powerful title story, 10-year-old Jessie mourns her father's leaving, but is strengthened by her grandmother's stories from North Dakota's Indian country. "When I was little I had blind faith in family legends, my grandmother's stories, and even in my handsome father, who was temporarily lost, searching for the road Grandma Mabel told me was beneath my own feet. After all, he had been the one to catch me before I slipped to the floor, the one who kept me in the world once my mother released me. Grandmother Mabel told me that life is a circle, and sometimes we coil around on ourselves like a drowsy snake." Never bitter, and never overtly depressing, Power uses a tone that maintains dignity for her characters and even allows playfulness and humor. In the delightful "Angry Fish," a Native American named Mitchell finds a small plastic statue of St. Jude that comes to life and petulantly demands that his poems be transcribed, "maybe put together a little chapbook." Mitchell soon finds St. Jude to be more of a curse instead of a blessing and the ending is too good to reveal here. "Chicago Waters" is one of the finest essays ever written about Lake Michigan. Power recalls swimming in the lake alone as a young girl and with her entire family. She learned to skip stones across the water's surface and to read the colors of the lake like a mood ring. To Power, the lake was instructive. "Once I stopped struggling with the great lake, I flowed through it, and was expelled from its hectic mouth." In the poignant essay "Museum Indians," Power's mother weeps before a stuffed buffalo at Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History. "'I am just like you,' she whispers. 'We should be in the Dakotas, somewhere a little bit east of the Missouri River. This crazy city is not a fit home for buffalo or Dakotas." Only later do we learn that Power's mother has been living in Chicago for 55 years. Some attachments are too strong to be broken. "On the reservation," Power writes, "memory is a sap that runs thick and deep in the blood. The community memory is long, preserving ancient jealousies, enmities, and alliances, until they become traditional. In my family, memory was a soldier's navy blue tunic, stiffened on the left side with a splatter of sacred brown blood." Roofwalker is a significant book for Chicagoans who want to further understand the elements of diversity that make the city so culturally attractive. The writing should resonate with all of us. For the Native American experience in urban America, as isolated as it might appear, is the American story of rising above impossible odds in an attempt to remake oneself while preserving traditional roots. Power reshapes this age-old story with poetic grace and universal appeal. Stephen J. Lyons is a fiction writer living in Monticello, Ill. Subject: Indiana news: Indian Days may not see many Native Americans and more Indian Days may not see many Native Americans By JOE ATKINSON Courier & Press staff writer 464-7450 or atkinson@evansville.net September 21, 2002 http://www.myinky.com/ecp/local_news/article/0,1626,ECP_745_1430969,00.html Angel Mounds Historic Site will celebrate American Indian Days next weekend - and the celebration will be held without many area American Indians. Several American Indian groups will skip the event as part of a statewide boycott of sites run by the Department of Natural Resources. The boycott started more than a year ago in protest of department policies on site preservation and the handling of American Indian remains, said Mary Alexander, executive director of the American Indian Center of Indiana. Angel Mounds itself has been a focal point for much of the controversy, including questions about preservation and about the department's transferring the site's only American Indian employee, Bill Spellazza, off the site. Spellazza has since been returned to Angel Mounds. "The employment issue with Bill Spellazza was the straw that broke the camel's back," Alexander said. "If it hadn't been for the Native American community speaking out against his transfer, I think he'd still be (in New Harmony where he was temporarily transferred) - I don't think it was anything honorable by DNR, but that they felt like they were pressured into doing that." That's part of the reason the boycotting groups may actively protest Native American Days next weekend, Alexander said. So far, no decision has been made as to what will happen during the event itself. "In terms of the actual event, if there will be people picketing -I think there will be some meetings going on this weekend to organize that," Alexander said. "If there is going to be a demonstration, it will be a peaceful demonstration; it will be a chance for the Native American community to voice their concerns with what's been going on with DNR." Officials at Angel Mounds, however, said they aren't terribly concerned about the boycott affecting Native American Days, which will run Friday and Sept. 28. Area school children will take part in several events Friday, while Sept. 28 will play host to everything from a planetarium presentation and craft presentations to a spear throwing competition. The boycott hasn't affected attendance at the park, said Mike Lindermann, Angel Mounds' site manager. Despite the fact the site opened late this year, attendance figures are nearly the same as the year before, he said. "Our figures are holding firm from last year, and the donations are at least double from what we had last year from the public," Lindermann said. "We opened a month later this year, and we're within 200 people of our year-to-date from last year -so even with losing that month, the attendance is almost the same." Lindermann said he expects to see that trend carry over to Native American Days. Budget cuts at the Department of Natural Resources forced Angel Mounds to cut the event's typical third day this year, though, which makes it hard for Linder-mann to speculate what the attendance will be this year. Two sites offer Native American events By ROGER McBAIN Courier & Press staff writer 464-7520 or rmcbain@evansville.net September 26, 2002 http://www.myinky.com/ecp/events/article/0,1626,ECP_765_1439918,00.html Organizers say it's more a case of coincidence than competition, but a history of controversy figures into the scheduling of two separate Native American events this weekend in Southern Indiana. The best-known is the 20th annual Native American Days at Angel Mounds State Historic Site, presented on a Mississippian American Indian site east of Evansville. After a year of state budget cuts and public protests, with some American Indian groups shunning the event as part of a statewide boycott of Department of Natural Resources sites, Native American Days will go ahead in an abbreviated form with American Indian presenters, demonstrators, traders and three dancers, performing to recorded music. Instead of running into the night and extending over three days, as it has in the past, this year's Native American Days will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday. "We hope everything works out fine for everybody." - Patricia Warner, a member of the Pike County Arts Council whose family plans to attend both Native American events The area's new event is a Native American powwow making its debut as part of this year's Pike County Arts Festival, an annual children's hands-on art fair at Hornady Park in Petersburg, Ind. The Petersburg powwow, coordinated by the same group that presented Native American Day programs at Angel Mounds in previous years, will feature Indian traders, demonstrators, drummers and What: Native American Days When: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday Where: Angel Mounds State Historic Site Admission: Free with a $5-per-car parking fee Information: Call 455-3478 What: The Pike County Arts Festival and the First Day of the Eagle Powwow When: Powwow events run 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Other arts festival activities will run 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Where: Hornady Park, Petersburg, Ind. Admission: Gate admission, $2; crafts activities, free Information: Call (812) 354-6511, 354-6860 or 354-2800. scores - perhaps hundreds - of dancers competing for $2,000 in prize money, said Don Cox. Cox is president of the Shadow of the Buffalo, a not-for-profit organization that promotes Native American events in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. He coordinated American Indian dancing demonstrations and other activities at Angel Mounds in 2000 and 2001. The groups aren't returning to Angel Mounds this year for a couple of reasons, Cox said. For one, they weren't invited back. In response to statewide budget cuts and a drop in local funding for Native American Days, Angel Mounds is spending only $5,000 to $6,000 - about half of last year's budget - on the event this year, said Mike Linderman, Angel Mounds site manager. This year, three members of the Haskell Nations University Dancers from Lawrence, Kan., will demonstrate and explain a variety of Native American dances, including men's traditional, fancy and grass dances and ladies' traditional, fancy and jingle dress dances. They'll perform to recorded music, said Linderman. For another thing, some of the groups that have participated at Angel Mounds in previous years have joined other Native Americans boycotting Indiana DNR sites this year to protest a variety of issues ranging from the department's handling of American Indian remains to management of ancestral sites. Some had protested the temporary transfer of Bill Spellazza, Angel Mounds' only Native American employee, to another DNR site in New Harmony, Ind. Spellazza returned to Angel Mounds Sept. 6. "I don't want to get involved in the political aspects of it," said Cox, "but I'm not going against my own people." The concurrent scheduling of both Native American events this weekend is coincidence, however, said Cox. So does Patricia Warner, a member of the Pike County Arts Council. For a dozen years the annual children's arts festival has been at the end of September or the beginning of October, she said. But because of repeated experiences with rain in October, "we have permanently changed it to this weekend," she said. She has attended Native American Days at Angel Mounds for years, she said. Last year she met Cox, who arranged for a smaller group of American Indians to demonstrate native dances and crafts at the 2001 Pike County Arts Festival, presented a week after Native American Days. This year, with Angel Mounds out of the picture, Cox was able to bring a full powwow to Petersburg this weekend. Warner sees the powwow as an addition, not a new focus, for the Pike County event, which will continue to offer a variety of free, hands-on children's activities, including pumpkin decorating, face painting, and parasol and fan painting. As part of the powwow, American Indian traders, craft demonstrators and food vendors will join the arts festival's offerings of food, games and traditional crafts. Warner doesn't want the Pike County event, which usually draws 1,000 to 2,000, to compete with Native American Days, which last year drew an estimated 20,000 visitors to Angel Mounds. Warner's own children and grandchildren plan to go to Angel Mounds, she said. "We hope everything works out fine for everybody." Linderman doesn't look for 20,000 visitors to Native American Days this year for a variety of reasons. Last year's event was bigger, ran longer and featured the public opening of Angel Mounds' new visitors and interpretive center. With Native American Days' smaller dance program and reduced schedule, and with the powwow in Petersburg running the same weekend, "I'd be happy with 10,000 visitors this year," he said. Linderman expects to lose some Native American Days regulars interested primarily in seeing a drum circle and powwow, "but we're not a powwow, and we've never tried to portray our event as a powwow," he said. For those who do come to Native American Days, there will be plenty to see and do, Linderman said. In addition to dancing, this year's Native American Days will feature a living-history Cheyenne lodge demonstration, atlatl demonstrations and a competition using the atlatl - the notched stick Native Americans used to throw short spears at game and targets. Other activities will include a Native American market, food booths, games, storytelling, and hands-on demonstrations of flintknapping, basketry, shell bone and gourd carving, fingerweaving and stone tool and weapon making. Education key role of Indian Center By MARK WILSON Courier & Press staff writer 464-7417 or mwilson@evansville.net September 19, 2002 http://www.myinky.com/ecp/local_news/article/0,1626,ECP_745_1425935,00.html The American Indian Center of Indiana will use its new Evansville office as a base for educating Indians in 26 Southern Indiana counties. The Indianapolis-based organization dedicated its satellite office at the Evansville Small Business Center at 100 NW Second St. on Wednesday afternoon with native flute music, prayer and speeches. An estimated 3,000 to 5,000 American Indians live in Southern Indiana, said Melissa Williams, the Evansville native who will serve as the group's Southern Indiana regional case manager. Williams, a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee, based in North Carolina, has long aspired to help other American Indians reach their educational goals. "When I was in the fourth grade I had a teacher who said that I would never amount to anything because I was an Indian," she said. That, and her parents' message of "overcome, overcome, overcome," was all it took, she said. Williams said she will work with community volunteers, area businesses, schools and universities to educate area American Indians about health, education and employment issues. "We're looking at in a way that it will be center for Native American interaction and communication. This office in Evansville will help to be an outreach to the public," said Rodney Richardson, president of Council for Preservation of American Indian Culture. "Native Americans are alive and well and not behind some glass in a museum. We are an active part of society. Hopefully this will create an awareness that will change the public view of Native Americans." According to the 2000 Census, there are 305 Native Americans/Alaska Natives in Vanderburgh County. posted by Webmaster@ AIM Support 10:42 AM
Friday, September 27, 2002From: "The Spike Newsletter" Subject: Bush proposal to take 'unclaimed' Indian land Bush proposal to take 'unclaimed' Indian land THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2002 The Bush administration has drafted legislation to take "unclaimed" land belonging to individual Indian beneficiaries whom the Department of Interior cannot locate. In an effort to reduce the complex division of the trust land base and reduce management boondoggles, Secretary Gale Norton can claim "abandoned" Indian property under the bill. Although a key duty of a trustee is to keep current information about beneficiaries, the proposal would allow the government to skirt this requirement. For example, Individual Indian Money (IIM) account holders who don't respond to a public notice of unclaimed land would lose their rights. But Norton can forego an announcement if the department believes the land is worth less than $50, according to a provision in the draft. The bill places the burden on beneficiaries despite the fact that in some cases, the department doesn't have a full name, address or other key data for land owners. In quarterly reports to a federal court overseeing the debacle, officials admit they will never be able to locate every individual Indian. "It is unrealistic to assume that, at any given time, there would be zero account holders whose whereabouts are unknown given the volume of accounts under management," the most recent report stated. At least 63,000 American Indians and Alaska Natives who have an interest in 11 million acres of land would be affected by the proposal. Additional owners are also impacted due to the increased fractionation of the Indian estate. The proposal is still in the early stages of development but at a meeting today in Washington, D.C., department officials plan to float the idea as an amendment to a bill pending in Congress. Copies have already been distributed to tribal leaders and Indian advocates. Keith Harper, an attorney for the non-profit Native American Rights Fund, called the bill a disaster. His group represents 500,000 American Indians whose billion-dollar trust is at the heart of the largest class action in government history. "This is unconstitutional on its face," he said. "This is the most clear demonstration of bad faith yet." A department spokesperson could not comment on the draft. "I don't know anything about it," said Dan DuBray. He noted that land management issues will be addressed at the meeting of the trust reform task force. Fractionation results when Indian owners pass on property to their descendants. The land gets divided up among dozens and dozens of heirs, increasing the cost and management of IIM accounts. Efforts to manage the problem, however, have not been successful. Indian beneficiaries have gone all the way to the Supreme Court to protest the unconstitutional taking of their land. They secured two key victories that forced the government to scrap land laws. The issue is touchy because it reminds some of a destructive Indian policy. Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb in January addressed the issue with tribal leaders and said he doesn't want to "terminate" Indian rights. "I used the t-word and I wish I hadn't," he said. "That's not what I'm advocating." Under a Bureau of Indian Affairs program to reduce fractionation, Indian owners can voluntarily have their land transferred to a tribe. But their IIM accounts are closed and, under the Bush administration's historical accounting plan, these owners are not a top priority. Indian leaders already voiced opposition to another trust reform bill designed to address the same issue. The legislation, S.1340, limits Indian allotments to tribal members, leading to fears of a reduction in trust holdings. Today's meeting will discuss possible amendments. Adding to the tension is a growing sentiment that the views of individual Indians are often overlooked in favor of tribal leaders who might not share the same priorities. In another court report, Larry Scrivner of the BIA's Office of Trust Responsibilities, said "internal problems are being created between the Indian tribe and the individual owners" by land fractionation programs "and may be detrimental to the individual Indian owners." "I don't think anyone has asked the IIM beneficiaries," said Paul Homan, a former Interior official who was tapped to reform the trust but left after his powers were limited by the Clinton administration. "The only people that are representing them today in the federal government seems to be Judge [Royce] Lamberth," he added, referring to the federal judge overseeing the IIM lawsuit. Relevant Documents: Draft of Unclaimed Property Proposal | S.1340: A bill to amend the Indian Land Consolidation Act Related Stories: Rift widens on trust reform negotiations (9/12) Tribes scrap talks on trust standards (9/11) Tribal leaders debate trust reform bill (5/23) McCaleb gets too close to termination (1/29) Interior moving to close trust fund accounts (1/25) Copyright © 2000-2002 Noble Savage Media, LLC / Indianz.Com Jimmy Boy Dial Lumbee-Cheraw Editor, The Spike Admin@TheSpike.com posted by Webmaster@ AIM Support 9:46 PM
posted by Webmaster@ AIM Support 9:39 PM
Wednesday, September 25, 2002Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 Subject: Lakota tribal leaders cite government's broken promises Senate Committee on Indian Affairs meets in South Dakota Lakota tribal leaders cite government's broken promises By Jim Kent http://www.okit.com/news/2002/SEPTOCT/cheyennehearing.html Rapid City, S.D. - How do you decide which of your children to feed and which will go hungry? That analogy for the needs of American Indians is what Cheyenne River Sioux tribal chairman Gregg Bourland offered to Senator Daniel Inoyue during a Senate Committee on Indian Affairs field hearing at the Rapid City Central High School cafeteria on September 14. Two hundred Lakota tribal members joined Bourland, along with eight other tribal presidents or their representatives, for the three hour meeting that was frequently peppered with candid remarks about the federal government and its failure to live up to treaty obligations and trust responsibilities. Bourland noted that the Lakota tribes had initially asked for a hearing that would target health care needs in the Great Plains region, with the intention of inviting tribes from across a five-state region. "Unfortunately, or fortunately, however you want to look at it, we ended up with a meeting on priorities and goals of the Lakota tribes," he remarked, "which is a mighty tall topic. Native Americans find every need to be equally important, yet each and every year the federal government asks us to prioritize our particular programs or particular needs. But I continue to refuse to do that because it's like trying to decide which of your 10 children will eat and which will go hungry." There's also a fear on the part of many Indian people, Bourland explained, that if their "needs" are prioritized, the federal government will someday deem that the items at the bottom of the list are considered unnecessary or of a lesser importance to the Lakota people. Since he viewed the meeting's topic as vague and ambiguous Bourland, instead, offered the Committee - represented by Chairman Inoyue and South Dakota Committee member Senator Tim Johnson - a list of four Lakota goals based on treaty agreements. "We want you to go to Congress and tell them to return the Black Hills to the Great Sioux Nation," Bourland remarked to cheers and applause from the entire room. "We will never accept money for them. Return all federal treaty lands, address our concerns and claims - such as the buffalo...we're owed huge sums of money for the number of buffalo that were almost exterminated, and fourth is compensation for the stolen resources that have been taken from us, things like timber and oil and gas." The soon-to-be-former Chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe advised the Committee that the Lakota expect a full accounting of all that is due to them so that they may enjoy their own Marshall Plan, pointing to the program enacted by Gen. George C. Marshall at the end of World War II that, literally, rebuilt Europe and Japan. Among the list of additional concerns brought up by the other tribal representatives in attendance were the need for additional funding for health care and substance abuse treatment centers, the protection of sacred sites, the need for jobs and economic development, raising the South Dakota moratorium on nursing homes in order to allow for the construction of tribal homes for the elderly, the need for Congress to prohibit the Department of Interior from using general appropriations funds for the restructuring of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and increased funding for education and schools. "You know, I was just admiring what a nice school this is," Bourland told the Committee, commenting on the Central High School building. "And I was thinking that it would be nice if the kids on my reservation had someplace like this to go to." Oglala Sioux tribal president John Yellow Bird Steele requested the Committee's assistance in protecting sacred treaty land areas of the Badlands, especially near the historic Stronghold site, from desecration by the National Park Service and the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. He then spoke to the importance of treaties and the government-to-government relationship that is expected by the Lakota people in their relationship with the federal government. "Treaties are the supreme law of the land," Steele noted. "If treaties had been kept, we wouldn't be here at this meeting today." Echoing the Oglala leader's remarks, Standing Rock Sioux tribal member Jessie Taken Alive reminded the Committee that American Indians are not a minority, nor a special interest group. "We are Indigenous peoples who are renting you our lands," Taken Alive advised. He then asked the Committee to examine the illegality of the 1889 Act which broke up the already-diminished Great Sioux Nation into separate reservations, and eventually led to the loss of millions of acres of treaty lands to non-Indian homesteaders. "I'd just like to note that an Act of Congress does not supercede a treaty," Taken Alive commented. "And I'd like to thank you for being here on this beautiful day in our lands." In closing the meeting, Sen. Johnson noted that the reason for having the hearing in South Dakota was to give the Committee the opportunity to see and hear the needs of the Lakota people first-hand. Sen. Inoyue advised that all comments made during the meeting had been recorded and would be reviewed by the entire Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in Washington. "One of the speakers today commented, apologetically, 'I hope my words are not unpatriotic," Inoyue observed. "Well, let me tell you, it is the height of patriotism to speak up, to be criticizing the highest authorities. Treaties are of concern because Indian Country is sovereign. When sovereign nations deal with each other, they usually make agreements that are called treaties. But I'm sad to say that we have violated those treaties left and right. We must remember that Indian people are not asking for handouts when they bring up these issues, you've paid your dues. I've heard your sad voices of anger and I understand your frustration." The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs will accept written comments on Lakota tribal issues until September 30. posted by Webmaster@ AIM Support 11:17 PM
Tuesday, September 24, 2002Date: Mon, 23 Sep 2002 Subject: Octgan Mound visit Thursday Sept. 19 fourteen people went to the Octagon Mound for a prayer circle. The Moundbuilders Country Club did not say anything to us. Several of the older men spoke to me with a smile and a nod. Some of the younger golfers acted as if they wish we were not there, but they did not speak or hit balls toward us. Channel 4 TV crew was there, I suppose having the cameras rolling played a big part in how we were treated. Kyle Anderson of Ch.4 and a staff reporter from the Advocate Newspaper did the reporting. I ask the staff reporter how did you know we were here? he said "I called ch. 4 and Kyle told me." Kyle then spoke up and said "I called Mrs. Crandell And she told me She and several people were going to the mound and I ask if I could go with them, she said that is what the big issue is about, I keep saying it is public ground everybody is welcome, the MBCC keeps saying it is not open to the public. You are welcome to be there as far as I am concerned, So here I am." I will not name the people that attended the prayer circle because I did not ask them if I could use their name, but I would like to say their presence was like a big dose of feel good tonic. Three people traveled from Ross county, one person came from Cambridge Oh, several from columbus, and our own local Indians. I was so depressed over the trial date being screwed up and knowing in my heart the delay was meant to be a form of harassment against me. I am going to hang in there and see this thing through. We may not win but they will know we were in the running. Two of the men that came to the mound was so ill they could hardly stand up. That is the spirit that the MBCC is up against. I don't believe they can beat that kind of good will and determination. One of our friendsofthemounds had a digital camera and took some pictures. Maybe we could ask her to post a few of them on the friends and support group net. I have seen some of the pictures and they are good. Barbara Crandell ============================= Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 Subject: A Pox on Our House September 22, 2002 A Pox on Our House By GREGG BOURLAND as told to SUSAN BURTON http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/22/magazine/22LIVES.html?pagewanted=print& I'm the tribal chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe. We're in west-central South Dakota, probably farther away from civilization than any other reservation in the United States. You would think that being out here, we wouldn't be so worried about potential terrorist attacks. I don't think that Al Qaeda is the least bit concerned about Native America. But smallpox is highly contagious. A lot of the tribal council members are jet-setting around the country. One carrier could travel to 10 major cities in the United States in just a couple days' time and spread it God knows where. I was reared by my grandparents on the reservation. My grandmother would tell me how she had lost uncles and her grandma to the disease, how it had devastated our family. The recent talk about smallpox brought back those horror stories. It's estimated that smallpox and European-borne diseases killed at least half of the Native Americans on this continent. Of course, some diseases also had devastating effects on the European populations. Native Americans had virtually no tolerance, no immunity, to smallpox. It's a historical fact that in the 18th century, some Europeans deliberately tried to infect Native Americans with the disease. In 1763, British officials gave Native Americans blankets that had been used in a hospital for people with smallpox. The rest of the world just might get a taste of what Native Americans went through when conquistadors planted their feet on our soil. I wrote a letter to Senator Tom Daschle. Because his office had an anthrax attack, I felt that my letter would be very close to his heart. I was asking that vaccines be provided for every Native American who wishes to be immunized. I'm all for the health-care workers, doctors, nurses, people on the front lines, soldiers -- I'm all for them getting it. But the Native American people have always been the last to get anything. Our feeling is that we better start shouting now. What are the plans in the event of an outbreak? None of the politicians want to talk about it. Native America wants to talk about it. We all need to be aware of the symptoms. If I came down with smallpox today, I wouldn't even know what the heck it was. When I was a kid, the entire reservation was inoculated for smallpox. I remember the day that I got it because the big to-do was that it always left a little round mark on your arm. But when they vaccinated me, it didn't leave the little round mark. It left no mark at all. So I always used to wonder if I was really vaccinated or not. Last November, I was on a radio talk show, ''Native America Calling.'' Quite a few people called in. One lady said, ''Maybe Native Americans built up an immunity; maybe you guys are more immune than the rest of us.'' I told her, ''It would be nice if your theory would work, but how do you test that?'' On the same show, I chastised one guy, a Native American, who was ready to give up. He said, ''If smallpox hits . . . well, we're at war; people will die.'' I told him: ''That's not a warrior's attitude. That's a defeatist's. When you go to war, you're going to have your weapons to fight back. Smallpox is preventable. We can fight back.'' Smallpox is personal for me because of the stories my grandmother told me as I was growing up. My grandma's grandma, my great-great-grandmother, her name was Blue Earrings. She was a powerful Lakota medicine woman. They say that she drank water all the time. She got sick from smallpox, and when she was getting ready to die, she asked for a bowl of water. She said, ''I'm going to show you part of my powers, and why I'm sick.'' They put the bowl in front of her, and she spit into it, and out of her mouth flew four little water creatures. Here in the Dakotas, around the edge of lakes, there are these insects. They look as if they can walk on the water. They skitter. Three of them were jumping around in the bowl, and the other was dead. She pointed and said: ''See, that one got sick from this white man's disease, from smallpox. If that one can't live, I can't live, either.'' And she died. I don't know if you believe in spiritual things. But I think Blue Earrings would want me to do what I'm doing right now, fighting for my people, for their right to survive in a world free from smallpox. These stories are very real to us. They're vivid in our memory yet. Unfortunately they're not vivid in the memory of the general populace. In our Lakota way, the children are the future, and the elders are the keepers of wisdom. I am very concerned that the elders and the children are protected first, then the rest. If there isn't enough vaccine to go around, fine, I've lived 45 years, I'll be glad to donate mine to some child or elder. I don't want to see anyone suffer. I just hope that they come up with enough vaccine for everybody in our country. I don't want to seem selfish just for Native Americans. But I have to defend my people first. posted by Webmaster@ AIM Support 4:20 PM
Monday, September 23, 2002Indian recognition proccess could be issue in 2nd District By Kathryn Masterson, Associated Press, 9/22/2002 17:27 HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Early this summer, people worried that an Indian tribe in northeast Connecticut could receive federal recognition and build a casino in the Quiet Corner had begun mobilizing. By the end of the season, Connecticut Citizens Against Casinos had drawn hundreds of people to its several forums and was working toward forming a statewide anti-casino coalition, said Mary Beth Gorke-Felice, a Woodstock innkeeper who heads the group. Casinos and the federal process that grants tribes the recognition that opens the door to gaming complexes have occupied a prominent place in the political landscape of southeastern Connecticut for more than a decade. The area, home to the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos, has seen increased traffic and demand for emergency services. But this year, casinos and tribal recognition have stirred up the public statewide. Much of the attention comes from the June decision by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to recognize a historic Eastern Pequot tribe from two separate tribal applications. There's speculation about where the tribe may build a third casino in Connecticut, and worry that the BIA decision could ease the way for other tribes to get recognition and run gaming operations of their own. Politicians have noticed. ''I think that lit a lot of fires and got a lot of people moving again,'' said U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, the congressman from Eastern Connecticut's 2nd District. Simmons, a Republican, lives in Stonington, near the two casinos and the reservation shared by the tribes of the historic Eastern Pequots. Simmons worked on casino impact issues as a state representative in the 1990s and has met with municipal and state officials to discuss an appeal of the Pequot decision. He talks passionately about the issue of reforming the recognition process, calling the recent BIA decision unanticipated, unexpected and incomprehensible. Two years ago, Simmons campaigned on reforming the BIA, accusing then- Rep. Sam Gejdenson of doing nothing about the issue. ''It's an issue he ran away from,'' Simmons said in a November 2000 debate. Running from the issue isn't likely to be criticism lobbied at the outspoken Simmons. But the Democratic Party and its candidate, Joe Courtney, may question whether Simmons has been effective in changing the system, says Chris Barnes, associate director for the University of Connecticut's Center for Survey Research and Analysis. And though both candidates support a moratorium on federal recognition until the system can be reformed, Courtney could draw attention to the fact that Simmons is in the same party as the president whose administration just recognized another tribe. ''If Courtney can effectively make that argument, then he can turn the issue away from Simmons,'' Barnes said. ''If he doesn't make that argument, than the issue is neutralized.'' Neither candidate has yet made a big deal over the other's record with the issue, instead focusing on possible war with Iraq, prescription drug plans for senior citizens and the economy. Courtney, a Vernon lawyer who headed the public health committee as a state legislator, has focused on health care and prescription drugs. But he said he expects Indian recognition to be an issue. ''Rob made it an issue two years ago and made some pretty extravagant promises,'' Courtney said. ''I think by his own words his performance and record are an issue. He has delivered nothing.'' Simmons said he expects that type of criticism, but isn't worried about it. ''There's every reason to think I have the experience and background with these issues and my opponent does not,'' Simmons said. ''His record just doesn't stand up to mine.'' It's not clear how significant the issue is for voters in the 2nd District. The district is a large one, consisting of 65 towns and covering a third of the state. On Tuesday, UConn is expected to release its first poll on the 2nd District election. The poll does not ask specifically about casinos, but asks an open-ended issues question that could register voter interest in the issue. Some activists in the anti-casino fight say they're staying away from endorsing one candidate or another, so they can work with all sides to halt the spread of gaming complexes in the state. Jeff Benedict, who wrote the book ''Without Reservation'' questioning the legitimacy of the Mashantucket Pequots, ran against Courtney for the 2nd District nomination. After failing to get enough delegate support in July to wage a primary, Benedict has stepped up his activism, traveling the region to speak to different groups. Casinos aren't a partisan issue, Benedict says. Publicly picking candidates would distract from the message he's sharing with Republicans and Democrats in Greenwich, Danbury, Old Lyme, New London and the dozen or so other places where he's scheduled to speak. ''The minute you do that, your message about casinos is not about casinos it's about politics.'' Connecticut Citizens Against Casinos isn't endorsing a candidate either, Gorke-Felice said, unless one suddenly comes out in favor of new casinos. ''People will have to decide for themselves,'' she said. posted by Webmaster@ AIM Support 3:14 PM
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