Articles appearing have been previously posted for public dissemination
and/or permission for inclusion has been secured.
Letters of authorization are on file. A list of those granting permission
to repost their words in this issue are listed at the end of part A.
I thank each of you for allowing your words to be shared with the people.
IMPORTANT!!
-----------
To all who send copywrite protected articles, make very sure you have
permission from the copywrite holder (a newspaper, the AP, a magazine, an
author) because a new law is now in effect that says you can be prosecuted
even if there is no monetary gain. Just because a newspaper has a website
where it posts some or all of its editions does not grant permission for
their redistribution. Be careful and be sure you pass on the items you do
with full permission.
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, all material appearing in
this newsletter is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a
prior interest in receiving this information for educational purposes.
<----<<<< >>>>---->
This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters who share our
Spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the
Red Road.
++ It may be subscribed to via email by sending a request from your own
internet addressable account to gars@netcom.com
++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org
++ There is also a hyperlinked version of the Current Issue at
http://bearvisions.com/NativeNews/NEWS.html
Borries Demeler advises AISESnet doesn't exist anymore, instead there is now
NativeNet where people can search for archives of Wotanging Ikche issues:
_ All past AISESnet archives (1992-1998) can now be found in:
http://aises.uthscsa.edu/discussion/
_ All new messages will be archived in:
http://nativenet.uthscsa.edu/archive/nn-dialogue/archive.html
The mailing address for AISESnet/NativeNet the lists have changed.
Please make a note of the new address.
The old address aisesnet_discussion@listserv.umt.edu should *NOT*
be used any longer. Instead please use:
nn-dialogue@nativenet.uthscsa.edu
Downloading Wotanging Ikche on AOL From: MAANG1419@aol.com <Valentina>
Just thought I would share some info. I could not download on to a .txt
because I kept getting the message (when I tried to retrieve it) that the
text editor could not handle the volume. This time I downloaded it on to
a .doc and when I retrieved it out of file manager, IT WORKED.
"The Heart Knows What It Is..."
"I had a Comanche mother and an Irish father. But I'm Comanche.
I'm not Irish...."
"When the Comanche took in someone, he became Comanche. He wasn't
part this, part that. He was all Comanche or he wasn't Comanche at
all. Blood runs the heart. The heart knows what it is."
__ LaDonna Harris, Commanche, in Literature of the American Indian,
by Thomas E. Sanders and Walter W. Peek
+- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+
| Indian Pledge of Allegiance | The Indian Pledge of Alleg-
| | iance was first presented
| I pledge allegiance to my Tribe,| on 2 December '93 during the
| to the democratic principles | opening address of the Nat-
| of the Republic | ional Congress of American
| and to the individual freedoms | Indian Tribal-States Relat-
| borrowed from the Iroquois and | ions Panel in Reno, NV. NCAI
| Choctaw Confederacies, | plans distribution of the
| as incorporated in the United | Indian Pledge to all Indian
| States Constitution, | Nations.
| so that my forefathers |
| shall not have died in vain | Walk in Beauty! Night Owl
+- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+
+- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+
| Journey | In the summer and early fall
| The Bloodline | of 1998 the Treaty Unity Riders
| | rode a thousand miles on horse-
| For all that live and live by law | back, carrying a staff and
| We Stand, we Call, We Ride | praying each step of the way.
| For All that fear and fear by sight |
| We Hear, we Listen, we Ride | These prayers were offered for
| For all that pray and pray by strength| each of us, and that the Unity
| We Feel, we Move, we Ride | of all Peoples might happen.
| For all that die and die by greed |
| We Hurt, we Cry, we Ride | Tatanka Cante forwarded this
| For all that birth and birth by right | poem on behalf of all the Unity
| We Smile, we Hold, we Ride | Riders that we might stop and
| For all that need and need by heart | ask if the next words we say, the
| We Came, we Went, we Rode. | next act we make is for the good
| | of the People or is it from ego
| Treaty Unity Riders | for self.
+- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+
O'siyo Brothers and Sisters!
Rain finally came to a very thirsty earth this past Sunday in Northwest
Georgia. I had recently filled some holes in the yard with the red clay
that Georgia is so well known for. It is so red because it is loaded with
red ochre. As the rain fell the holes ran, leaving trails of blood red clay
down the hill, reminding me of the story I was taught about this part of
Turtle Island. Grandmother spider spun the web of life, and in her haste
dropped an egg. It broke and the embryo inside covered this place with the
blood of the first man.
I was also reminded of a recent demographic in the "Atlanta Journal-
Constitution" demonstrating how developers had removed trees in the metro
area, turning the counties and communities into a growing "urban/suburban
heat island". This is a nice phrase that describes a modern-day desert.
Within a week of that demographic the commissioners in the county my wife
and I live in made a big production of their new policy that would limit
sprawl, and the resultant removal of trees - many of them old-growth.
The very weekend of that great proclamation a construction project about
two miles from our home leveled several acres of grandfather trees to make
room for a Target/Lowes Super Complex. They burned these old warriors on
the site, not saving a single one for the parking area, or even trying to
salvage the lumber. The smoke hung in the spring sky like ribbons of death
for days.
So much for a cleaner environment...
The last four weeks we have been under an "air-advisory". This area has
never been under a smog alert for such a length of time. Do you think for
even a brief moment someone in a tall building in metro Atlanta has made
the "cause-and-effect" connection between those burning grandfather trees
and the burning lungs? If so, it only made them more determined to "get
theirs" before tougher restrictions are actually enforced.
Not a one will realize a higher authority is already enacting some very
tough restrictions, and Creator can't be "bought off" during a round of golf.
Peace! Night Owl
, , Gary Night Owl gars@netcom.com
(*,*) P. O. Box 672168 gars@nanews.org
(`-') Marietta, GA 30337, U.S.A. gars@igc.apc.org
===w=w== Fax: 770-528-9643
----------- News of the people featured in this issue ----------
- Phoebe Elizabeth (Rock) Saxon - Georgia Governor
- America's Athlete of the Century Does Not Want Casino
- For My Sister - Casinos and Non-Indian
- Cherokee Nation Still has Wounds Rights on Reservations
- Adopt-A-Grandparent - Details/November Leonard Peltier
Program in S.D. - County/Nez Perce
- Possible Home for Hia-Ced O'odham Police Pact Update
- Jim McDermott/Slade Gorton - Commemoration of
- Lubicon Lake Negotiations Dudley George's Death
- Vermont's Sterilizations Uncovered - Hundreds Gather to
- Big Mountain Support List Remember Young Man
- Painted Skull Offers - Tribal Law
Glimpse of an Old Ritual Used Against the U.S.
- Indians' Lawyers - Native Prisoner
Seek Funds Watchdog - Singing Wire
- Grants for Blackfeet Tribe - Poem: Lonely Walk
- Cherokee Nation Chief Joe Byrd - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days
Pleads Innocent - Peace Treaty Unity Ride 1999
- Upcoming Events
- Native America Calling
--------- "RE: Phoebe Elizabeth (Rock) Saxon" ---------
Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 16:53:49 -0500
From: <eaglerok@NORTHERNNET.COM>
Subj: Passing of Elder
Mailing List: Minnesota Indian Affairs <MINN-IND@tc.umn.edu>
Phoebe Elizabeth (Rock) Saxon, age 62, Chairwoman of the American Indian
Center of St. Cloud, Minnesota passed over to a better place on Tuesday,
July 27, 1999. Phoebe was born October 20, 1936 on the White Earth Indian
Reservation to Samuel and Martha (Brown) Rock. She married David E, Saxon,
Sr. on October 31, 1954 at Breck Memorial Church in Pine Point. She lived
in Foley, Minnesota prior to moving to St. Cloud. She worked at Burlington
Northern Railroad in Minneapolis for 19 1/2 years.
>>---------------->
North Central Minnesota
Native American Veterans
Outreach and Resource Center
Vets helping Vets
Leech Lake Indian Reservation
--------- "RE: America's Athlete of the Century" ---------
Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1999 02:43:34 -0700
From: Nancy Thomas <nlthomas@YvwiiUsdinvnohii.net>
Subj: James Francis Thorpe `America's Athlete of the Century'!!!
------- FORWARD, Original message follows -------
*From: "Dr. Ben Irvin" <birvin@ronan.net>
*INDIAN EDUCATION FORUM
*August 5, 1999/ORP/Pablo, Montana
Jim Thorpe was recently designated the "Athlete of the Century"
by both houses of Congress (May, 1999). These resolutions and the
information should be shared with students. It would be appropriate to
do a ceremony honoring this during American Indian Day in September.
Deawga'wik, Ben
1. Resolution submitted to Senate
2. Senate Resolution 91
3. Bill Introduced To Name Jim Thorpe Athlete of the Century
4. House Resolution 198 Separate Printable Versions:
1 2 3 4.
from Congressional Record - Senate S4607
Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I rise today to submit a resolution
recognizing Jim Thorpe as the Athlete of the Century.
Born to an impoverished family on Sac-and-Fox Indian land, Jim
Thorpe overcame adverse circumstances to excel as an amateur and
as a professional in three sports; track and field, football and baseball.
Thorpe, who was voted `Athlete of the First Half of the Century' by the
Associated Press almost fifty years ago, is the only American athlete
ever to excel at this level in three major sports.
As a student at Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania, Thorpe proved
his athletic ability early on. One anecdote recalls how the 5-foot-9 1/2
inch, 144-pound Thorpe almost single-handedly overcame the entire
Lafayette track team at a meeting in Easton, Pennsylvania, winning
six events. Also while attending the Carlisle Indian School, Jim Thorpe
established his amateur football record playing halfback, defender,
punter, and place-kicker. In 1911, he was named an All American. In
1912, he represented the United States and the Sac-and-Fox Nation
in the Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden. To this day, Thorpe is the
only athlete to win gold medals in the pentathlon and decathlon. After
his Olympic feats in Sweden, Thorpe returned to Carlisle's football team
and was named an All-American again.
In 1913, Thorpe left amateur athletics and signed a $5,000 contract
to play baseball with the New York Giants. As an outfielder with the
Giants, and later with the Cincinnati Reds and Boston Braves, his best
season was his last one, when he batted .327 in 60 games for Boston.
In 1915, Thorpe agreed to play professional football for the Canton
Bulldogs. Thorpe went on to become a key part of this team as it was
recognized as the `world champion' in 1916, 1917, and 1919. Thorpe's
professional football career later included stints with Cleveland, Rock
Island, the New York Giants, and the Chicago Cardinals. In 1920,
Thorpe became the first president of the American Football Association,
which was later to become the National Football League. Today, he is
recognized as a founding father of professional football.
Recently, I had the privilege of attending a luncheon honoring Jim
Thorpe's daughter, Grace, at the Jim Thorpe Memorial Hall in the
Carbon County, Pennsylvania, a town named for the great athlete.
Grace Thorpe has traveled around the country asking people to sign
petitions declaring her father athlete of the century. She plans to send
the petition to cable sports networks and national sportswriters. As
Jim Thorpe Area Sports Hall of Fame president, Jack Kmetz has noted,
Thorpe unfortunately missed out on the modern-day media blitz that
surrounds popular athletes today. Nonetheless, I promised Ms. Thorpe
and the people of Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania that I would introduce this
resolution which I hope will raise awareness of this true legend's
achievements and give him the recognition he deserves.
106th Congress -1st Session
SENATE RESOLUTION 91
EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT JIM THORPE
SHOULD BE RECOGNIZED AS THE `ATHLETE OF THE CENTURY'
(Senate - May 03, 1999)
Mr. SANTORUM submitted the following resolution; which was referred to
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: S. Res. 91
SECTION 1. SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT JIM THORPE SHOULD
BE RECOGNIZED AS THE `ATHLETE OF THE CENTURY'. )
Findings: The Senate finds the following:
) Jim Thorpe is the only athlete ever to excel as an amateur and a
professional in 3 major sports--track and field, football, and baseball.
) Prior to the 1912 Olympic Games, Jim Thorpe won the pentathlon
and the decathlon at the Amateur Athletic Union National Championship
Trials in Boston, Massachusetts.
) Jim Thorpe represented the United States and the Sac and Fox Nation
in the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden, where he won a gold
medal in the pentathlon, became the first American athlete to win a
gold medal in the decathlon, in which he set a world record, and became
the only athlete in Olympic history to win both the pentathlon and the
decathlon during the same year.
) The athletic feats of Jim Thorpe resulted in worldwide publicity that
helped to ensure the viability of the Olympic Games.
) During his major league baseball career, Jim Thorpe played with the
New York Giants, the Cincinnati Reds, and the Boston Braves, and ended
the 1919 baseball season with a .327 batting average.
) Jim Thorpe established his amateur football record playing halfback,
defender, punter, and place-kicker while he was a student at the
Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania, and was chosen as Walter Camp's
First Team All-American Half-Back in 1911 and 1912.
) Jim Thorpe was a founding father of professional football, playing
with the Canton Bulldogs, which was the team recognized as world
champion in 1916, 1917, and 1919, the Cleveland Indians, the Oorang
Indians, the Rock Island Independent, the New York Giants, and the
Chicago Cardinals.
) In 1920, Jim Thorpe was named the first president of the American
Professional Football Association, now known as the National Football league.
(9) Jim Thorpe was voted America's Greatest All-Around Male Athlete and
chosen as the greatest football player of the half-century in 1950 by
an Associated Press poll of sportswriters.
) Jim Thorpe was named the Greatest American Football Player in History
in a 1977 national poll conducted by Sport Magazine.
) Because of his outstanding achievements, Jim Thorpe was inducted
into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame, the Professional Football
Hall of Fame, the Helms Professional Football Hall of Fame, the
National Indian Hall of Fame, the Pennsylvania Hall of Fame, and the
Oklahoma Hall of Fame.
) The immeasurable sports achievements of Jim Thorpe have long been
an inspiration to the youth in Pennsylvania and throughout the United
States.
) Sense of the Senate: It is the sense of the Senate that Jim Thorpe
should be recognized as the `Athlete of the Century'.
News From:
Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski11th District/Pennsylvania June 1, 1999
Contract: J.J. Balaban (202) 225-6511
Kanjorski Introduces Bipartisan Bill To Name Jim Thorpe Athlete of
the Century Washington, DC - Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski (PA-11)
introduced a bipartisan resolution in the United State House of
Representatives last week to name Jim Thorpe "America's Athlete
of the Century".
Congressman Kanjorski said, "Over the past one hundred years, America
has been fortunate enough to be the home of many talented athletes
who have distinguished themselves in their sport, but none deserves the
label of "The Greatest" more than Jim Thorpe. His achievements were on
a scale almost unimaginable today. His most famous achievement is winning
both the decathlon and the pentathlon during one Olympic year, a feet
that has not been matched in the ensuing 87 years. After that triumph,
he excelled at both professional football and baseball, participating in
both sports concurrently for seven years."
Congressman Kanjorski continued, "It is unsurprising that an Associated
Press poll in 1950 named him to be the America's Greatest Al-Around
Male Athlete and that a 1977 national poll found him to be the Greatest
American Football Player in History. It Would be a great error to
overlook Jim Thorpe as America's Greatest All-Around Male Athlete
and America's Greatest Football Player of the 20th Century simply
because his career occurred in the first half of our century, before
the age of television. Congress would be wise to name him America's
Greatest Athlete of the Century.
Congressman Kanjorski introduced the legislation with Congressman
Wes Watkins of Oklahoma, a senior Republican who represents Thorpe's
birthplace. Congressman Kanjorski said that he thought having both a
senior Republican and a senior Democrat backing the bill increased the
likelihood that the resolution would be approved by the House of
Representatives.
106th CONGRESS - 1st Session
H. RES. 198
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that James
Francis Thorpe should be designated `America's Athlete of the Century'.
(Introduced in the House)HRES 198 IH May 27, 1999
Mr. KANJORSKI (for himself and Mr. WATKINS) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that James
Francis Thorpe should be designated `America's Athlete of the Century'.
Whereas James Francis Thorpe, known as `Jim Thorpe'
Wathahuck-Brightpath, of the Thunder Clan of the Sac and Fox
Tribe, was born May 22, 1887, on the Sac and Fox Indian Reservation,
Prague, Oklahoma, and died March 28, 1953, in Lomita, California;
Whereas Jim Thorpe began his amateur football career as a student
at the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania, where he was named
All American Half-Back in 1911 and 1912;
Whereas Jim Thorpe represented the United States at the 1912 Olympic
Games held in Stockholm, Sweden, though he did not become a citizen
of the United States until 1917;
Whereas King Gustav V of Sweden said, `You, Sir, are the greatest
athlete in the world,' when he awarded 2 gold medals to Jim Thorpe
for winning the pentathlon and the decathlon;
Whereas Jim Thorpe founded professional football, played professional
football for, and later was the first elected president of, the American
Football Association (now the National Football League);
Whereas Jim Thorpe played major league baseball for 20 years with
the New York Giants, the Cincinnati Reds, and the Boston Braves;
Whereas Jim Thorpe is the only American athlete to excel at the
amateur level and at the professional level in 3 major sports--track
and field, football, and baseball;
Whereas Jim Thorpe was named America's Greatest All-Around
Athlete in 1950 by the Associated Press and in 1977 by Sport
Magazine; and
Whereas Jim Thorpe has been enshrined in the Helms Professional
Football Hall of Fame and the Professional Football Hall of Fame in
Canton, Ohio:
Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the United States House of
Representatives designates James Francis Thorpe `America's
Athlete of the Century'.
----------------------------------------
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--------- "RE: For My Sister" ---------
Date: Sat, 07 Aug 1999 09:27:00 -0500
From: not@inthe.game (justanoldman)
Subj: For my sister
Newsgroup: alt.native
I made you a promise 23 years ago, sis.. Soon you will be free to go
home.. We are finishing this for you.., real soon..
jaom/e'ne'thekwe'
------
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/gam/International/19990807/UANNIN.html
A Badlands trail of secrets and murder
The slaying of Canadian Anna Mae Aquash, 'Woman Warrior
at Wounded Knee,' has confounded police for 23 years.
But the mystery soon may be solved.
ERIN ANDERSSEN
The Globe and Mail
Saturday, August 7, 1999
Pine Ridge Reservation, S.D. -- When Anna Mae Aquash was buried, women
from the Pine Ridge Reservation dug her grave themselves in the March
cold.
Her body was wrapped in a traditional star quilt and a medicine man
presided at the funeral. More than 100 people came in a snowfall to show
their respect for the Canadian Micmac whose tombstone reads, "Woman
Warrior at Wounded Knee."
Twenty-three years later, friends still leave remembrances at her grave:
a broken cigarette to bring good will, a piece of sweetgrass, a turtle
rattle.
Ms. Aquash grew up poor in Nova Scotia, but she became a powerful voice
in the American Indian Movement.
She came to Pine Ridge to join the AIM protest at Wounded Knee in 1973,
and stayed to fight for native rights on this struggling reservation in
southwestern South Dakota.
Then, in June of 1975, tension on the reservation peaked after two
federal agents came to the town of Oglala to investigate a pair of
stolen cowboy boots. They and one AIM member died in a gunfight.
By late summer, the AIM leaders Ms. Aquash knew best were on the run.
And the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation was hunting her, intent on
finding witnesses to the shooting.
Backed by the federal government, tribal council chairman Richard Wilson
had his private police force prowling the reservation openly at war with
anyone connected to AIM.
Worst of all, people within the movement were whispering questions about
Ms. Aquash's loyalty. Some said she was a snitch.
Back in Shubenacadie, N.S., her eldest sister, Rebecca, begged her to
come home. But, frightened as she was, she refused to leave. Her friends
said she had started predicting her own death. In her last letter to
Rebecca that fall, she wrote: "I know that sooner or later I'm going to
be killed."
During the months after the June killings, she tried to keep a low
profile, but she was arrested twice. She was quickly released on bail --
fuelling the rumours about her being an informant. In November, she fled
to Denver to hide out at a friend's house.
Three months later, on Feb. 24, 1976, Anna Mae Aquash's body was found
at the bottom of a ravine, near a desolate reservation highway on the
edge of the Badlands of South Dakota. She had been shot,
execution-style, with the muzzle of the gun pressed into the back of her
neck.
No one has ever been charged with her killing. After a botched autopsy,
the FBI investigation went nowhere. Grand juries heard testimony, but
produced no indictments.
While her death made headlines in the United States, it was largely
ignored in Canada, beyond a few calls for justice from the federal
government and the odd query in the House of Commons.
But in the past few years, a new investigation has developed a shocking
theory about how -- and why -- Ms. Aquash died. The trail has taken
detectives from the reservation where she died in South Dakota to the
house in Denver where she was hiding, to the doorstep of a native
Canadian in Whitehorse who is thought to have information about the case
and is being watched by the RCMP.
Investigators now believe that the people who shot Ms. Aquash came from
within the very movement she left her family to join. They claim to be
close to laying charges.
Roger Amiotte found the rotting body of a woman on a mild February
afternoon in 1976. He had gone out to sight a new fence line for his
1,215-hectare ranch on the Pine Ridge Reservation to stop his cattle
from drifting across the highway.
The body lay at the bottom of a steep ravine, 30 metres from the road,
in the path he had planned for his new fence. She was curled in the
snow, as though she had fallen asleep.
The woman was wearing blue jeans, sneakers and a burgundy jacket. She
was lying on her side with her knees bent, near a curve in a dry creek
bed. She had a turquoise bracelet on her left arm. Her hair covered her
face, but she had been there long enough that her skin had turned grey
and animals had eaten at her nose and right ear.
Mr. Amiotte never went close enough to touch her. He drove home and
called the police.
Two decades of wind and rain have changed the Badlands, and Mr. Amiotte
can no longer find the exact spot. He has taken so many police
investigators and reporters out to the site that the story bores him.
He sat cross-legged in the wheat grass a safe distance from the cliff,
dribbled a line of tobacco into a sheet of rolling paper and waited to
give the same answers to the same old questions. "It don't take long to
see a dead body," he drawled. "But you sure ain't expecting it. A dead
cow, you can kind of see."
The day after Mr. Amiotte's discovery, pathologist W. O. Brown
conducted an autopsy for the FBI, which is responsible for investigating
all suspicious deaths on U.S. reservations.
He concluded that the woman, whom no one could identify, had died of
exposure seven to 10 days earlier.
There were no signs of a violent death, he wrote in his report. Most
remarkably, he noted that her scalp and skull appeared normal, that
there was nothing unusual about her brain.
Her hands were cut off and sent to the bureau's lab in Washington to see
if the fingerprints turned up a match.
On March 2, the woman was buried in a pauper's grave in a Roman Catholic
cemetery. The next day, thanks to the fingerprints, she was identified
as 30-year-old Anna Mae Aquash.
Her friends and family immediately started asking questions.
Nothing made sense.
Ms. Aquash would never have travelled into the Badlands alone, they
said.
And if she had, she had lived in the cold long enough to survive bad
weather. There was no alcohol or drugs in her system to explain how she
could have died of exposure.
And how was it that no one recognized her at the hospital, when one of
the FBI agents who saw her body had questioned her only a few months
before?
Rumours of an FBI cover-up mushroomed at Pine Ridge.
Few people believed the argument that Ms. Aquash had gone unidentified
because of decomposition, and there was talk that federal agents had
killed the AIM activist to set an example, then chopped off her hands to
scare others.
Others -- including the FBI -- spoke of another motive, suggesting that
she may have been killed by AIM supporters because of suspicions that
she had snitched to federal agents.
Her family pushed for an exhumation and on March 11, a second autopsy
was performed by Dr. Gary Peterson, an independent pathologist.
It took minutes for him to discover a .32-calibre bullet lodged in her
left cheekbone. The bullet had tracked through her brain and lodged in
her cheek.
It seemed incredible that it had been missed; hospital staff told the
FBI that they had noticed dried blood on the back of Ms. Aquash's neck
and even felt a wound when she was brought in by the ambulance. They
assumed that the coroner would find it. Dr. Brown said later that he had
"inadvertently overlooked" the bullet wound.
The Pine Ridge Reservation, home of the Oglala Sioux, lies at the bottom
of South Dakota, a land of clay hills and hailstorms fierce enough to
spider-crack car windshields. It borders on the Rosebud Indian
Reservation, and they are both a collection of small, struggling towns
divided by stretches of empty highway. People are poor and many live in
run-down trailers.
The roads are lined with state signs that ask "Why Die?" and mark the
spot of fatal car accidents. Nothing brands the land clearly as a
reservation, except the Sioux-language stop signs in the town of Pine
Ridge, which read Inajin.
In 1973, a group of traditionalists on the reservation appealed to the
leaders of AIM for help. They were trying to impeach Richard Wilson, the
new tribal chairman, who amid charges of nepotism and vote buying had
failed to hold public council meetings and done nothing to stop ongoing
uranium leases for white companies on reservation land.
Stridently anti-AIM, Mr. Wilson had used government funds to create a
private police force on the reserve, dubbed the "goon squad" by many
residents because of its brutality. The force appropriated the name as
an acronym for "Guardians of the Oglala Nation." In the war against AIM,
the GOONs were the tribal chairman's army. Drive-by shootings became
common and scores of Indians were estimated to have been killed from
1973 to 1975.
On Feb. 27, 1973, after attempts to impeach Mr. Wilson had failed, a
large group of angry Sioux and AIM leaders assembled a caravan of cars
and drove out to the small reservation town of Wounded Knee. It was a
symbolic decision: In 1890, a calvary troop had opened fire on a Sioux
encampment at the site and massacred an estimated 350 men, women and
children.
This time, the Indians seized a white-owned trading post and the Roman
Catholic church. FBI agents and U.S. Marshals swarmed to the scene and
set up roadblocks to cut off access. They were equipped with
high-powered rifles, helicopters and tanks for bunkers. The protesters
refused to leave, and the standoff soon became a symbol of native
resistance.
Watching the news in Boston, a young Canadian Micmac named Anna Mae
Pictou was captivated. How could she not get involved in something that
might make a better future for her two daughters, then still toddlers?
she would later tell her friends.
March 10, 1973, was her last day on the assembly line of the General
Motors plant in Framingham, Mass. She left her daughters in a sister's
care in Boston, and with her boyfriend, Nogeeshik Aquash, a Chippewa
from Ontario, drove to South Dakota. Carrying food and supplies, they
slipped past the police barricades and joined the AIM protest at Wounded
Knee.
Life for the protesters was hard; not planning to stay long, they had
brought little with them.
Scarcity was nothing new to Ms. Aquash, who was born on March 27, 1945,
and grew up poor on the Pictou Landing reserve near the Northumberland
Strait. Living in a rickety house without plumbing or electricity, she
had learned early to lug water and chop wood, and to get by on potatoes
at dinner.
She was always the last to get sick among her three siblings, and though
she never stood taller than 5-foot-2, she was tough enough to win fights
with the boys at school.
She dropped out of school before finishing Grade 9, and joined the
annual summer migration from the reserve to pick blueberries in Maine.
>From there, she travelled with another Micmac named Jake Maloney to
Boston. The couple had two daughters, and eventually married, but it
didn't work out.
Three years later, she fell in with the city's native activists,
including Nogeeshik Aquash. She helped to form the Boston Indian
Council, which planned the protest on the Mayflower II on Thanksgiving
Day in 1970. By the time AIM moved into Wounded Knee on Feb. 27, 1973,
it only made sense that she would go.
In South Dakota, she quickly became known for her organizing skills
and her passionate idealism; on several occasions, she slipped by the
federal agents and sneaked fresh supplies into the encampment. She was
outspoken and intelligent, keen to talk of treaties while the other
women spent their time rolling cigarettes for the men. Days after
arriving at Wounded Knee, she and Mr. Aquash were married in a
traditional native ceremony.
The standoff ended after 71 days, with two native men killed by
government gunfire and several others wounded; the people who remained
inside Wounded Knee were arrested.
In the most high-profile case, AIM leaders Dennis Banks and Russell
Means were acquitted on several charges of conspiracy and assault. Ms.
Aquash, who had left before the protest ended, faced a minor charge for
violating reservation law. In 1973, the Aquashes travelled to Ottawa and
the next year, she helped to organize a native fashion show staged at
the National Arts Centre.
Ms. Aquash was soon back in the States, working with the Wounded Knee
Legal Defence Committee and organizing fundraisers for AIM. Her marriage
had fallen apart.
She spent time teaching native students at the Red Schoolhouse in St.
Paul-Minneapolis. She talked about recording a true history of the
American Indian, work she never completed. She was sent to California in
1974 to raise money in the AIM Los Angeles office.
By the time she returned later that year to Pine Ridge -- where the
violence continued between the goon squads and AIM supporters -- she was
a prominent force in the movement and greatly admired by the women on
the reservation.
By then, she had given up drinking and she did not take drugs.
Ms. Aquash joined the women's quilting bees and encouraged them to
discuss the politics behind the movement, rather than simply follow
their men. She organized clothing swaps so that mothers could dress
their children in the right sizes, and fussed that families were not
eating properly.
Amid the violence that dominated the reservation, Ms. Aquash was a
dreamer. She believed that her work in AIM was forcing white society to
recognize the poverty on the country's reservations; she was often
chosen to seek donations from charities and Hollywood types.
If asked, she would say the secret to saving her people lay in educating
the children.
"She saw the big picture," said Melvin Lee, who had become friends with
Ms. Aquash during the Wounded Knee standoff. "She had the power of
reasoning. And she didn't try to be a star."
On June 26, 1975, FBI agents Ray Williams and Jack Coler arrived at the
AIM encampment at Harry Jumping Bull's property near Oglala, asking for
a young man named Jimmy Eagle. They wanted to question him about a pair
of cowboy boots taken from a white farmhand during a drunken brawl three
days earlier. A gunfight broke out. Six hours later, the two agents and
Joe Stuntz, a 24-year-old native man, were dead.
The FBI needed information, someone they might persuade to talk. Among
the list of potential witnesses, they produced Anna Mae Aquash's name.
Ms. Aquash was not on the reservation that morning; she was in Ohio
giving a fundraising speech. But she quickly learned that the FBI was
looking for her and, like many other AIM activists that summer, she laid
low, often staying with friends.
On Sept. 5, Ms. Aquash was sleeping in a tent on the Rosebud
Reservation, on property belonging to an AIM supporter, when federal
agents arrived at dawn. She heard men shouting and crawled out in her
bare feet.
When the agents saw her, they announced that they had been looking for
her. Stumbling upon Ms. Aquash was a bonus. They had come to Rosebud to
execute a search warrant for illegal explosives.
Standing with the other women while a helicopter flew overhead, Ms.
Aquash watched them rifle through the cars and heard them crash around
inside the main house. In the tent where she had been sleeping, the FBI
found hand grenades, dynamite and a sawed-off shotgun. She was
handcuffed, arrested for possessing a gun without a serial number and
taken in for questioning.
The FBI wanted to quiz her about the two dead agents. They threatened
to deport her to Canada, she said later, and promised her a deal if she
co-operated. Ms. Aquash told them that she hadn't even been in South
Dakota the day of the shootings.
They started listing names to her, including Dennis Banks and Leonard
Peltier. Did she know these men? they asked. She refused to answer. She
put her head down on the table. "You can either shoot me or throw me in
jail," she said, "as those are the two choices I am taking."
Ms. Aquash was released, pending a trial in the state capital of Pierre
on the weapons charge. But a month later, on Nov. 14, she was arrested
again while travelling through Oregon with a group of AIM activists --
including Mr. Banks and Mr. Peltier -- in a motor home belonging to
actor Marlon Brando.
State police stopped the vehicle on a tip from the FBI. When the women
were ordered to lie face down on the highway, one of the men fired shots
at the officer, and Mr. Banks and Mr. Peltier escaped. Ms. Aquash and
four others were arrested and charged with transporting illegal
explosives across state lines. (Mr. Peltier eventually made his way to
Canada; two weeks before Ms. Aquash was found dead, he was arrested in
Alberta for shooting the FBI agents in Oglala. He is serving two life
sentences in Kansas.)
In a letter to her sister dated Nov. 19, 1975, and written from jail,
Ms. Aquash said: "They're sending me back to Pierre and I know I'll be
sent up. South Dakota is a very racist state. My efforts to raise the
consciousness of whites that are so against Indians was bound to be
stopped by the FBI. But no sweat. I'm Indian all the way and I'm not
going to stop fighting until I die."
Ms. Aquash was taken in shackles back to South Dakota to appear in
court for the weapons charge stemming from the Rosebud raid. Her trial
was adjourned until the next day, and she was released into the custody
of her lawyer. Some time during the night, on Nov. 24, she walked out of
the St. Charles Hotel. A female friend picked her up and drove her to
Colorado.
After her body was discovered, the FBI claimed to commit the resources
of 16 offices and more than 175 special agents, who interviewed 200
people.
In May of 1976, when the Canadian government requested an inquiry into
her death, the FBI forwarded what amounted to a two-page press release
detailing their efforts.
"We were sincerely looking to solve this case," said Norman Zigrossi,
who headed the investigation for the FBI. "Of course, at the time, we
were being accused of murdering Anna Mae. [The first autopsy] really
made us look bad."
The FBI was in no position to win the trust of Indians. People on the
reservation refused to co-operate; if an agent produced a nickname, no
one would provide him with the person's real name. A grand jury heard
testimony that spring, but the investigation died quietly.
In 1994, a newly appointed U.S. Marshal named Bob Ecoffey approached
his supervisors about the unsolved homicide and received permission to
officially reopen the investigation.
He had grown up on Pine Ridge; he was a senior in high school when AIM
followers protested at Wounded Knee. He did not agree with the violence
back then, though at least, he said, "AIM made us proud to be Indians."
AIM activists tend to associate him with the GOONs: he was friendly
with FBI agents, was an officer with the Federal Bureau of Indians and
eventually married Richard Wilson's niece.
But while his motives are questioned, Mr. Ecoffey -- the first native
American to become a marshal -- said he believes that he was destined to
solve the Aquash case.
It is hard to explain to someone who is not a native, said the
barrel-chested man with a braided ponytail. But he offered the story
anyway:
Two decades ago, while working the night shift in the Pine Ridge jail,
he heard a woman crying on the intercom from a cell downstairs. There
was no one there, but the sound had been so clear and sharp that it
haunted him and he appealed to a medicine man for an explanation.
He said he was told that one day he would be in a position to help a
woman who was terribly wronged. He believes that woman is Anna Mae
Aquash.
When he became a marshal, Mr. Ecoffey was friendly with enough people on
the reservation to piece together a theory about the Aquash case; he had
sources an outsider could never reach.
People have not forgotten her, he said. "There has been some healing in
Pine Ridge, and they want something done."
By 1995, the case focused on three people: two men and a woman. But it
was complicated by jurisdictional problems, and so much time had passed
that witnesses had forgotten details or had died.
Another grand jury heard testimony, but again no charges were laid.
hat same year, Mr. Ecoffey met with Abe Alonzo, a Denver detective
with 29 years of experience who works in the intelligence section of the
city's police force, protecting presidents and monitoring extremists.
The story of Ms. Aquash captivated Det. Alonzo and he is bent on seeing
her killers in court before he retires. Shortly after Mr. Ecoffey left
the U.S. Marshal's Office in 1996, the Denver detective took over the
case.
Working with the district attorney's office, he hopes to lay charges at
the state level, stemming from the theory that Ms. Aquash was kidnapped
from Denver and taken by force to die in South Dakota. He talks about
pursuing indictments with a grand jury as early as this fall.
Early one evening, in the second week of December, police believe that
three people knocked on the first door of a one-storey brick triplex at
4494 Pecos St. in Denver. They were looking for Ms. Aquash to take her
to Rapid City, S.D.
The apartment, in a housing project in a Hispanic neighbourhood, was
rented to Troy Lynn Yellow Wood. Ms. Aquash had been hiding there for
several weeks, Ms. Yellow Wood said.
At least one witness has told investigators that Ms. Aquash would hide
in the crawl space in the ceiling when strangers came to the door.
"She was afraid of everybody," Ms. Yellow Wood agreed. "She was afraid
of the police. She was afraid of feds. She was afraid of some Indian
people. She was paranoid. But she wasn't the only one. Sometimes I felt
like I was her only friend. Everyone wanted to believe the worst."
At least one of the people arriving that night in December was someone
Ms. Aquash knew through AIM. Ms. Yellow Wood said they made it clear
that Ms. Aquash was being ordered back to South Dakota. "She was unhappy
about going," she said. "She did not want to go. But she also wanted to
get things straightened up. She was tired of people making statements
about her."
The three people left with Ms. Aquash after dark. When Ms. Yellow Wood
tried to talk them out of taking her, Ms. Aquash said she would go, so
she wouldn't make trouble for her. "I think she had little choice," Ms.
Yellow Wood said. "But she walked out on her own."
The police believe that she was then taken back to Rapid City and to
the office of the Wounded Knee Legal Defence Committee, where she was
interrogated about being an informant.
The police now suspect that Ms. Aquash was taken to a vacant apartment
on the north end of Rapid City that was rented by an AIM member who had
yet to move in. Some time within the following 48 hours, it is believed
that she was driven out to the Badlands by the same people who took her
from Denver, and shot with her back turned, at point-blank range.
In a strange twist, the case has led investigators to another Canadian
native, who was involved with AIM in Denver the year Ms. Aquash was
killed.
That man now lives with his wife and children on the Kwanlin Dun First
Nation on a hill near Whitehorse. He is in his 40s, a wiry, compact man
with a hard face who wears his hair long and his mustache like a
horseshoe.
But in 1975, he was a young warrior within AIM, and police believe that
he has information connected to the killing of Ms. Aquash. Eight months
ago, the RCMP received a call from Det. Alonzo, who was seeking their
help in finding him.
The man refuses to discuss the case, and responded with suspicion to
questions about AIM. "I want to know who sent you," he demanded.
"I'm not going to talk to you," he said repeatedly, and finally slammed
the door.
Investigators into Ms. Aquash's killing claim to be closing in, but the
strength of the case remains unclear.
Witnesses are said to be inconsistent on certain details. Sources say
one of the men believed to have been present at the shooting was granted
immunity from prosecution by federal authorities in exchange for his
testimony -- but it is not expected to be enough, on its own, to obtain
indictments.
There seems to be little physical evidence linking the suspects to the
killing. The FBI uncovered nothing when they returned to the crime scene
with a metal detector in March of 1976.
One of the FBI Polaroids of Ms. Aquash's body appears to show the faint
marks of a rope on her wrist, below her bracelet and where her hands
were severed before the second autopsy. But the picture is inconclusive,
and the marks went unnoticed by both pathologists.
Mr. Ecoffey, now the superintendent for the Bureau of Indian Affairs at
Pine Ridge, acknowledged: "It's one thing to know who did it. Proving it
is a different level."
The story of Anna Mae Aquash still lingers on the Pine Ridge
Reservation, though much has changed.
Former GOONs and AIM supporters march together these days, protesting
against a strip of beer stores built on the Nebraska boundary of the
reservation, which has banned alcohol.
At a recent march, Mr. Ecoffey carried a sign that said, "Justice for
Anna Mae."
"She would have been right here with us," said AIM activist Tom Poor
Bear, who organized the marches. "We've always looked at the women as
the backbone of our nation. She was a symbol of their strength. She hung
in with the warriors. She was ready to die like the men."
Cause of death: Two autopsies, two findings
THE FIRST AUTOPSY
Performed by: FBI pathologist W. O. Brown on Feb. 25, 1976, the day
after the body was discovered.
Time of death: Dr. Brown determined that the woman, who could not be
identified, had been dead between seven and 10 days.
Specific findings: He found evidence of frostbite on her nose, finger
and toes, and signs that the body had begun to decompose. The scalp and
skull appeared "normal" and there was nothing in her brain to suggest a
violent death. There was no alcohol or drugs in her system. Her hands
were cut off to try to identify the body through the fingerprints.
Cause of death: Exposure. (When later told by the FBI that he had
overlooked a bullet in her head, Dr. Brown replied: "I sure missed that
one, didn't I?"
THE SECOND AUTOPSY
Performed by: Independent Minnesota pathologist Gary Peterson on March
11, 1976, after the body, now identified as Anna Mae Aquash, was
exhumed.
Time of death: No specific determination, although Dr. Peterson suggests
now that she was dead for at least two to three weeks, and could have
been lying in the ravine as far back as December.
Specific findings: Almost immediately, Dr. Peterson noticed a hard,
reddish bruise in her left cheek, from which a .32-calibre bullet was
removed. At the base of the back of her neck, he discovered a small
gunshot entrance wound.
Cause of death: A gunshot wound.
Motives: Three theories on who targeted Anna Mae
1. AIM
At the time of Anna Mae Aquash's death, it was widely rumoured within
the American Indian Movement that she was a snitch for the FBI, although
there had never been any evidence that the rumour was true. (On the day
of the second autopsy, the FBI even put out a press release denying that
she had been an informant.)
People were willing to believe the accusation for several reasons:
Ms. Aquash was a foreigner, which raised questions about her motivation.
People wondered why she was repeatedly released after encounters with
the FBI when others remained in custody.
At the AIM office in Los Angeles in 1974, she had worked briefly with
Douglas Durham, who had recently been discovered to be a true FBI
informant. Although friends of Ms. Aquash emphasize that she did not
like Mr. Durham, people noted that they both had developed a close
relationship with AIM leader Dennis Banks.
The case against her was all circumstantial, but people in AIM were
extremely paranoid in last half of 1975, after the agents were shot.
As a snitch, Ms. Aquash would have been extremely dangerous to AIM.
Her close relationship with the organization's leadership meant that she
knew key information about the Oglala shootout, and other AIM
activities.
2. THE FBI
The shooting of the agents at Oglala spiked tensions on the reservation.
When Ms. Aquash was found dead, the prevailing theory among AIM
supporters was that she had been killed by federal agents as an act of
revenge, or to disrupt the organization.
The natives on the Pine Ridge Reservation were not the only ones
questioning the actions of the FBI. After the death of Ms. Aquash, the
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights criticized the bureau for its work on
the reservation and called on the U.S. attorney-general to investigate,
though with little effect.
3. THE GOON SQUAD
The private police force -- which took the name "Guardians of the Oglala
Nation" and was controlled by Pine Ridge tribal chairman Richard Wilson
-- was openly at war with AIM supporters. Scores of Indians were
estimated to have been killed by the force from 1973 to 1975.
Ms. Aquash, a foreigner who moved in and out of the Pine Ridge, would
have been an obvious target.
ON THE TRAIL OF A MYSTERIOUS DEATH
Feb. 27, 1973
A group of Sioux and members of AIM begin a standoff at Wounded Knee,
the site of a massacre of Indians in 1890.
March 10, 1973
Anna Mae Aquash, inspired by the standoff, quits her job near Boston to
join the protest. She quickly becomes a key activist and strategist.
May 8, 1973
The standoff ends with two native men killed by government gunfire and
several wounded. AIM leaders Dennis Banks and Russell Means are
arrested, then acquitted of charges stemming from the standoff.
June 26, 1975
Two FBI agents, investigating a minor theft, are killed in a shootout
near Oglala. A native is killed as well.
Summer, 1975
The FBI becomes interested in Ms. Aquash and information she might have
about the shooting and about AIM activists Leonard Peltier and Dennis
Banks. Rumours start within AIM that Ms. Aquash may be an FBI informant.
Sept. 5, 1975
FBI agents, investigating the deaths, conduct a raid on the Rosebud
Reservation and arrest Ms. Aquash on weapons charges.
Nov. 14, 1975
A month after her release, she is arrested again and charged with
transporting explosives.
Nov. 24, 1975
Ms. Aquash skips bail in Pierre, S.D. She is picked up by a female
friend who drives her to Denver, Colo.
Early December, 1975
Police believe Ms. Aquash was abducted from a friend's house in Denver
and taken back to Rapid City, S.D., where she was questioned about being
an FBI informant. Police say sometime in the following few days she was
driven to a desolate area of the Pine Ridge Reservation and shot,
execution-style.
Feb. 24, 1976
Anna May Aquash's body is found at the bottom of a ravine.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright c. 1999 Globe Information Services
------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/gam/International/19990807/UANNIN.html
--------- "RE: Cherokee Nation Still has Wounds" ---------
Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 07:40:42 -0500
From: berryj@okstate.edu
Subj: (FWD)Indian News 07-28-99
Roger Iron Cloud
FirstNations Listserv
202.358.3252
rironcloud@acf.dhhs.gov
Tribe still has wounds
By ROB MARTINDALE
c. Tulsa World
7/27/99
Lawsuits could make a smooth transition of power bumpy for the TAHLEQUAH
The Cherokee Nation is getting a new chief and its election process
received high reviews, but there are still trying times ahead for
America's second-largest Indian tribe.
Court lawsuits are pending against the incoming chief, the outgoing
chief and other present and former tribal officials in federal courts in
Tulsa and Muskogee, state court in Tahlequah and the Cherokee Nation court
system.
In Saturday's tribal election, attorney Chad Smith defeated Chief Joe
Byrd and hope was expressed for the tribe's wounds to heal.
The tribe has been in turmoil since February 1997 when Byrd's own
marshal service raided his headquarters in search of evidence of
allegations of misuse of funds.
Byrd fired the marshal service and then refused to acknowledge contempt
charges brought against him in the tribe's court system. A tribal supreme
court justice had signed the search warrant for the raid.
The 15-member tribal council has been split with six anti-Byrd
councilors boycotting meetings and forcing the lack of a quorum. The
council to be sworn into office Aug. 14 will have eight new members.
The Atlanta-based Carter Center, which monitored Saturday's Cherokee
Nation election, said it was "conducted up to the highest standards with a
few flaws which in our judgment had no impact on the outcome."
In addition to electing a chief, tribal members named a new deputy chief,
Hastings Shade, and two council members.
The center, which also observed the tribe's May primary, said tribal
election officials showed no political bias and only one voting machine
malfunction.
In addition to absentee balloting, the Cherokee Nation has 32 voting
precincts. The election was handled by Automated Election Services of
Albuquerque.
The Carter Center, which had an 11-member team in Oklahoma, has
monitored elections in 16 foreign countries and twice organized
international groups to observe elections in the state of Georgia.
The 200,000-member tribe has an estimated 150,000 eligible voters, but
only around 26,000 are registered. The center called on Cherokee officials
to increase the registration.
The Carter Center ended its preliminary statement by saying:
"When the Carter Center was invited to observe these elections, one of
the factors that figured in the decision . . . was the sentiment within
the Cherokee Nation that a free and fair election could contribute to the
process of healing. Hopefully, that process will now begin."
--------- "RE: Adopt-A-Grandparent Program in S.D." ---------
Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 07:40:42 -0500
From: berryj@okstate.edu
Subj: (FWD)Indian News 07-28-99
Roger Iron Cloud
FirstNations Listserv
202.358.3252
rironcloud@acf.dhhs.gov
Adopt-A-Grandparent Program in S.D.
.c The Associated Press
By CHET BROKAW
7/27/99
WAKPAMNI, S.D. (AP) - Emily Has No Horse struggles to make ends meet with
her $513-a-month Social Security check and the few dollars she earns
sewing clothes.
Yet the 80-year-old widow's income doesn't provide enough for her
family's needs in this small village on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation,
part of a county that has been labeled the nation's poorest.
That's where the Adopt-A-Grandparent Program comes in. Mrs. Has No Horse
and other elderly Oglala Sioux have received money, clothing and other
supplies from across the nation from people who have chosen to become
their adopted grandchildren.
"When the program came on, it really helped a lot of us. I know it
really helped me," she says. "That's the only help we do get from the
outside world."
The outside world often seems a long way from the sprawling, 5,000-acre
reservation in southern South Dakota. Wounded Knee is here. So are the
Badlands. Diabetes, alcohol and traffic accidents are prolific killers in
this windswept region where summers are hot and the winters savagely cold.
President Clinton called attention to the reservation's 75 percent
unemployment rate and lack of adequate housing during his visit earlier
this month, the first by a president to Indian country in 60 years.
Shannon County, which includes the Pine Ridge, was the nation's most
impoverished, according to 1994 Census Bureau data; a more recent report
said 57 percent of the reservation's children lived in poverty in 1995.
The Adopt-A-Grandparent Program was started in 1987 by a freelance
photojournalist, Gail Russell, who had visited the reservation while on
assignment for a magazine.
"I was appalled," says Russell, who lives in Taos, N.M. "I had no idea
that living conditions were like that."
During one visit, she learned that three elderly people had recently
frozen to death, and Russell discussed the problem with Nellie Red Owl,
who has since died.
"I was nagged into it by a 73-year-old grandma," Russell says. "One time
as I was leaving, she said: `Don't you think somebody down your way would
like to adopt a grandparent?"'
Today, about 350 members from around the nation and abroad provide aid
and letters to some 230 elderly reservation residents as part of the
program. In exchange, sponsors get a chance to make a new friend and learn
about the culture, tradition and history of the Oglala Sioux.
"I know everybody in her family," says Barbara Whitestone of Glen Ellen,
Calif., who sponsors Mrs. Has No Horse and visits her adoptive grandmother
almost every year. "It's an amazing experience."
Last year the nonprofit program spent $83,000 for salaries, rent and
other operating expenses. Another $63,000 paid for propane, wood,
electrical bills and groceries for elders who needed quick help.
Members also sent an estimated $125,000 worth of clothes, food and other
items directly to their adopted grandparents, Russell says. Cash is
usually sent directly to a store or utility company.
Sponsors can choose to adopt grandparents from a list.
Sue Gerome, a school counselor in Guilderland, N.Y., has enlisted the
help of students and staff at the Northeast Parent and Child Society Grout
Park School to support Pine Ridge elders.
The students have held bake sales, sold flowers and put on a talent show
to raise money. "For the students, they are learning a lot of history and
culture, that there are people in this country who need their help,"
Gerome says.
Gerome recently sent flannel sheets to elderly people in the Wakpamni
community to help them stay warm in the winter. One woman cried because
she had never before had new sheets.
"It can be discouraging. You can feel like you could spend every dime
you had within that community for many years and it wouldn't make a dent,"
Gerome says.
"I'm hoping over time through our school we can raise the standard of
living in that community," she says.
Russell says she often makes the 12-hour drive from her home in Taos to
deliver food and other supplies to the reservation. And she organizes a
get-together for grandparents and sponsors during the Oglala Sioux's
annual meeting.
"So much of the things that happen with this program are things that are
not measurable in dollars," Russell says.
Ben and Alvina Conquering Bear would like to have someone adopt them.
The retired couple raised 10 children and now have 35 grandchildren and 14
great-grandchildren.
"It's a struggle and a half for my family," Mrs. Conquering Bear says.
"Sometimes I have four families here."
--------- "RE: Possible Home for Hia-Ced O'odham" ---------
Date: Sat, 07 Aug 1999 04:38:23 GMT
From: "AliceH" <AliceH@gte.net>
Subj: "Once-nomadic Indians may get Air Force land"
Newsgroup: alt.native
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/news/stories/Story1251962.html
Friday, August 6, 1999
Tucson Citizen
page 1A, 3A
'People With No Home' want one
Once-nomadic Indians may get Air Force land.
SELLS - They call themselves "the People With No Home." But fortunes may
change for the Hia-Ced O'odham, a band of American Indians who once lived
in a desert area west of what's now the Tohono O'odham Nation.
Hia-Ced O'odham (pronounced he-yet-chet) have since 1984 been allowed to
enroll as members of the Tohono O'odham Nation but consider themselves
distinctly different from the rest of the tribe. With four parcels of
land from the nearby Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range expected to be
withdrawn from military use in 2001, the Tohono O'odham Nation is
pressuring Congress to allow it to become the new steward of the property.
One of the parcels, near the Ajo airport, would be designated as
reservation land for the Hia-Ced and a 12th district of the Tohono
O'odham Nation, said the nation's vice chairman, Henry Ramon.
"The Air Force doesn't need the land, and I think we could make it work
for us," Ramon said. "We need to look at the land first because it may
not be suitable. We may need to resoil it. But the tribe will be willing
to support that as part of our cultural preservation."
Hia-Ced is O'odham for "sand people." The nomadic band earned its name,
according to Hia-Ced members, because it once lived in parts of Mexico
near the beaches of Puerto Penasco and made a living trading salt. The U.
S. Department of Interior is about to embark on a yearlong study on
potential uses for the gunnery range, said a spokeswoman for Sen. John
McCain, R-Ariz. One matter to be studied is the possibility of handing
the land over to the tribe.
A 15-year congressional approval for the Department of Defense to use
the 2.7 million-acre gunnery range expires in November 2001. The four
parcels, which the Defense Department has deemed "no longer needed for
military training," total about 116,000 acres.
The four parcels include the Sand Tank Mountains area, the Sentinel
Plains and land surrounding the Ajo airport. The plan supplements the
three parcels with nine acres to make the Sand Tank Mountains area
contiguous with the current Tohono O'odham Nation.
The Tohono O'odham Nation wants to acquire the land to expand its
reservation, a move that would require an act of Congress. Ramon and
other tribal officials have been in Washington in recent weeks to meet
with McCain, Rep. Ed Pastor, D-Ariz., and officials from the Department
of the Interior.
Part of the tribe's plan in seeking the gunnery range property, Ramon
said, is to give the Hia-Ced O'odham a place of their own.
Tribal officials say 1,000 to 1,500 Hia-Ced O'odham live in the United
States, most of them on and around the Tohono O'odham reservation. Many
Hia-Ced say they want to become a 12th district of the 23,000-member
Tohono O'odham Nation, a notion the Tohono O'odham Nation favors.
"In the past we didn't have the resources to manage this land," Ramon
said in a recent interview. But, thanks to revenues from the nation's
casinos, "Now we have the funds and the expertise to handle it."
The tribe is working with its 14-year-old Hia-Ced O'odham Program to
secure one of the four gunnery range parcels specifically for Hia-Ced
members.
"The 1934 Indian Reorganization Act identified the Hia-Ced as extinct.
They were entirely left out of the reorganization," Ramon said. "With
that act, the Hia-Ced had no homelands." T he Tohono O'odham Nation,
once known as the Papago Nation, did not immediately accept the Hia-Ced
as enrolled members. The Hia-Ced spent several years lobbying the tribe
before members were allowed to enroll, according to Lorraine Eiler, a
Glendale resident who leads the non-profit Hia-Ced O'odham Alliance.
Although the tribe eventually accepted the Hia-Ced, many Hia-Ced say
they have never felt completely at ease on the Tohono O'odham reservation.
"In certain (Tohono O'odham) districts they really don't want outsiders,
" said Laura Manuel, a Hia-Ced who is a council member for the Tohono
O'odham Nation's San Lucy District.
"We belong to San Lucy but we're not really a part of it. We don't have
a place to call home."
Manuel and fellow San Lucy council member Naomi Carmello say they both
would gladly give up their seats to have their own Hia-Ced community.
Both women say that if the gunnery range property near the Ajo Airport
were withdrawn and given to the tribe for the Hia-Ced, they would eagerly
move.
Not all Hia-Ced members, however, are interested in the gunnery range
land. "It would satisfy some, but not me," Eiler said. "We need an area
away from the gunnery range. Working with the Bureau of Land Management
would be the better thing. Who wants to live near a place where a bomb
might fall? . . . The Tohono O'odham Nation has always complained about
the noise of the planes on the range."
The Hia-Ced O'odham Alliance has been conducting its own research into
the Hia-Ced heritage, separate from the Tohono O'odham Nation's Hia-Ced
program, since 1994. Eiler would rather see the Hia-Ced become its own
tribe instead of another district of the Tohono O'odham Nation.
"The area we (Hia-Ced) lived in had a definite border, and it didn't
cross into the Tohono area," Eiler said. "And they in turn did not cross
over our border. If (the Tohono O'odham) ever knew anything about us,
they did not make any attempts to include us."
Before its withdrawal for military use, the Goldwater range was what's
known as "public-use land" operated by the Department of Interior's
Bureau of Land Management.
Unless Congress directs otherwise, the BLM would take stewardship of
the four parcels in question if the land is released from military use,
said Michael Taylor, field manager for the Phoenix field office of the
BLM. Taylor stressed that any change in management of the land would
require an extensive public process.
"The Hia-Ced have waited so long. This (gunnery range) is the best
opportunity we've had in years," said Leroy Juan, research coordinator
for the Hia-Ced O'odham Program.
"The video we're making is called 'The People With No Home.' But they
actually do have a home. It's just not there for them right now."
Stephanie Innes' e-mail: sinnes@tucsoncitizen.com
--------- "RE: Jim McDermott/Slade Gorton" ---------
Date: Fri, 06 Aug 1999 13:33:38 -0700
From: "Frank LaFountaine" <lafountaine@justicemail.com>
Subj: Jim McDermott-Slade Gorton
Mailing List: TRIBALLAW (triballaw@thecity.sfsu.edu)
Here's a news article which was posted by the Seattle Times on
July 8, 1999, which speculates that U.S. Congressman Jim McDermott
from Seattle may challenge Senator Slade Gorton. Jim McDermott is
a well-known political figure in the State of Washington. He has
twice ran for governor and lost. He is a liberal Democrat Congressman.
There has been more recent news articles about him running, but I
cannot locate them. Frank
Copyright ) 1999 The Seattle Times Company
Local News : Thursday, July 08, 1999
McDermott gets valve job, should be running soon
by Seattle Times staff
Seattle Congressman Jim McDermott is recovering from surgery at Swedish
Medical Center, where he underwent open-heart surgery yesterday to
replace a faulty valve he's had since birth.
During a checkup several weeks ago, doctors told McDermott, 62, it was
finally time to have the valve repaired. The operation took three hours
and, according to the doctors, went well.
McDermott is expected to remain in the Seattle hospital for about six
days.
The surgery is not expected to affect McDermott's decision on whether to
seek the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican Slade Gorton - and of late
it's looking more and more like he will run.
While McDermott's office says a decision won't come until early August,
his chief of staff, Mike Williams, reportedly has talked with several
people about the job of state field director, a position not needed if
McDermott was just running for his safe House seat.
Losing three previous statewide races apparently hasn't dampened
McDermott's urge to try again. At the very least, it would afford him the
opportunity to do two of the things the liberal Democrat enjoys most:
talking about society's inequities and ridiculing conservatives, in this
case Gorton.
Two months ago McDermott sent his supporters a fund-raising letter,
asking for money and their opinion on whether he should run for the
Senate. According to spokesman David Schaefer, reaction has been mixed.
So far the only announced Democratic candidate for the Senate is state
Insurance Commissioner Deborah Senn, who got dissed big time by her own
party's chairman at the Magnuson Awards Dinner on June 26.
Senn was seated at the absolute back of the room, perhaps out of view
of state party Chairman Paul Berendt, who failed to even mention her name
when he was introducing Democrats running for office next year. Berendt
has made little secret of his desire to see another Democrat enter the
Senate race. His fear is that organized labor and Seattle liberals will
not get behind Senn.
Never mind. Last week a couple of politicians who count both Bill Gates
and George W. Bush among their acquaintances were building up a meeting
between the two in Redmond today.
Bush was to "meet Gates and crew" during a lunchtime visit to Microsoft,
said Rep. Jennifer Dunn, R-Bellevue, a top Bush fund-raiser and supporter.
It was a natural, anyway, given that the purpose of the Republican
presidential candidate's visit to the software giant was to emphasize his
support of innovation - as opposed to government regulation - in the
industry, said Dunn and Gorton.
In addition, both Dunn and Gorton suggested there was a possibility,
however remote, that the Microsoft chairman might attend a fund-raiser
for the Texas governor tonight.
There's just one problem: Microsoft spokesman Dan Leach says Gates
is scheduled to be out of town and does not plan to meet with Bush. Why
won't the two get together? "They've already met," Leach said.
Do what I say . . . Democrats talk a good game about the need for
employers to pay a livable wage and provide health insurance to workers,
but they don't appear to be willing to provide that when doing the hiring
themselves.
Al Gore's presidential campaign is looking for a Northwest field director
to coordinate fund raising and his visits to Washington and Oregon. The
pay is $2,000 a month - and don't look for the vice president to pay for
health-care benefits.
Role reversal. Washington state Democrats should consider what has
happened to one of their own, pollster Tim Hibbitts, who several years
ago gave up working for political candidates. He has done the unthinkable
by registering in Oregon as a Republican.
During the 1980s Hibbitts was the guy Democrats in Washington turned
to to gauge the mood of voters. Throughout that decade he was a valued
political adviser and confidante to the likes of then-Seattle Mayor
Charles Royer, then-U.S. Rep. Al Swift, and then-Gov. Booth Gardner.
In recent years Hibbitts stopped working for candidates, in part because
they occasionally don't pay their bills, and because The Oregonian, the
newspaper for which Hibbitts does polling, required someone who was
without potential partisan conflicts.
Hibbitts calls his transformation from Democrat to Republican "an
evolutionary sort of thing" that grew out of the Democrats' positions on
national defense and taxes. He calls the party's stance on communism
"totally wrong." As the owner of a small business, Hibbitts says talking
to liberal Democrats about taxes is "like talking to a wall."
Neither, it seems, is Hibbitts terribly enamored with the right wing of
the GOP. He opposes the party's stances on abortion, gay rights and the
environment.
"I probably should be registered as an independent," says Hibbitts. "Like
Groucho Marx, I probably shouldn't belong to any party that would have me."
Inside Politics is written by The Seattle Times politics staff and
compiled by Times Olympia Bureau reporter David Postman. His phone-
message number is 206-878-3337.
His e-mail address is dpostman@seatimes.com
--------- "RE: Lubicon Lake Negotiations" ---------
Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 10:35:42 -0500
From: fol@tao.ca
Subj: First meeting with province in Lubicon negotiations
Mailing List: FOL-L <fol@tao.ca>
Tuesday, 3 August 1999
Peace River Record-Gazette
Provincial negotiator joins talks, awaits instructions
By DEB GUERETTE
RECORD-GAZETTE STAFF
Provincial government negotiators entered Lubicon Lake First Nation land
and entitlement claim discussions Thursday.
Head provincial negotiator John McCarthy, a Calgary based lawyer, and
Alberta International and Intergovernmental Relations assistant Steven
Andrews, met in Little Buffalo with Lubicon Chief Bernard Ominayak,
Lubicon council and advisors and federal chief negotiator Brad Morse and
team. The day long session was "a positive introductory meeting,"
conducted in a "cordial and businesslike" manner, McCarthy told the
Record-Gazette.
"We were updated (on bilateral progress) and had some discussions about
oil and gas companies and a few other things," he said.
McCarthy said he had no official position on land or other issues to
share with the negotiating parties at this time.
"I indicated I have to meet with the new minister... as soon as I can,"
he said.
Lubicon band advisor Fred Lennarson says that although provincial
position taking on proposals before it was "kind of deferred because of
the new minister thing," the Grimshaw Accord was discussed.
Negotiators were told by McCarthy that former Aboriginal affairs
department minister Mike Cardinal withdrew the accord in 1995 to "give
negotiations a fresh start," Lennarson said.
"We don't accept that Mike Cardinal had the right to do that," and
Lubicon leadership suggested that McCarthy "talk to his Minister and
hopefully she will give him a better mandate than (what) Mike Cardinal
did."
The bilateral progress review filled the day with "lots and lots of
talk," Lennarson said, adding that the Lubicon encouraged McCarthy to "go
get a mandate and come back."
The Lubicon are "most anxious to see a satisfactory resolution and
anything that delays productive resolution is disappointing," he said.
Morse says the day's discussions were "very useful and quite positive
from my perspective." Bilaterally "we have done a lot of work and have
moved things forward quite a bit," Morse said adding that the first
meeting with the province "gave them a chance to hear in detail the
ground that has been covered" and that "they indicated it was helpful."
"There was nothing earth-shattering, nothing agreed to that wasn't
agreed to before," but it was "the first time the province has sat down
with the Lubicon and the federal (government) in almost 10 years, perhaps
over," Morse said.
The chief federal negotiator confirmed that McCarthy indicated he needs
to "brief the new minister and get new instructions."
McCarthy is expected to meet with his minister towards the end of
August and further tripartite negotiations should be scheduled after that,
Morse said. Following the three party meeting Thursday, federal and
Lubicon negotiators held further talks in Little Buffalo Friday.
--------- "RE: Vermont's Sterilizations Uncovered" ---------
Date: Mon, 09 Aug 1999 10:10:29 -0400
From: "D. Bambi Kraus" <bambi@itc.org>
Subj: Abenaki Indians -- from Wash. Post
NATION IN BRIEF
>From news services
Sunday, August 8, 1999; Page A21
Vermont's Sterilizations Uncovered
BOSTON -- A doctoral student has uncovered a dark secret in Vermont's
past: Scientists in the 1920s and '30s had an active eugenics plan to
eliminate the state's "degenerate" bloodlines and replenish "old pioneer
stock."
In a book to be published later this year, Nancy Gallagher details the
plan, called the "Vermont Eugenics Survey."
The 12-year survey, developed by an independent team of social
scientists, studied "good" and "bad" families in the state and listed
those that it determined needed to be eliminated, Gallagher told the Boston
Globe. The report was circulated among policymakers at the time and led
to the passage of a 1931 sterilization law.
Several hundred poor, rural Vermonters, Abenaki Indians and others
deemed unfit to procreate were sterilized, the newspaper said.
Vermont was hardly alone in embracing eugenics, the science of human
breeding that branched from social Darwinism and attempted to manage
the misery of the poor. In 1931, Vermont became the 31st state to enact
a sterilization law for the handicapped or "the feeble-minded."
Records do not show the extent to which the sterilization policy was
enforced or how the option was presented to its subjects. The laws were
rolled back in the 1960s and '70s.
--------- "RE: Big Mountain Support List" ---------
Date: Thu, 05 Aug 1999 21:48:27 -0700
From: Robert Dorman <redorman@theofficenet.com>
Subj: SPECIAL BIGMTLIST
Mailing List: Big Mountain List <BIGMTLIST@onelist.com>
I am starting a special Big Mountain mailing list. It will not be through
onelist, but will be administered by me. Its purpose will be FINANCIAL AID
for the Dineh causes. Its postings will be messages concerning financial
(and sometimes material, like clothes or building supplies) needs of the
Dineh and projects of their support persons and organizations.
I ask that ONLY persons committed to help the Dineh with at least some
(however small) level of financial support join this list. This is not
intended to be legally binding; but, by the number of subscribers, it may
help supporters to determine the likelihood of of various projects (like
sponsoring trips to the UN for elders, rebuilding hogans, buying firewood,
etc.) being completed. Also, and this is not a requirement but would be
vary helpful, if you could indicate a rough figure for the amount
(annually) you might be willing to donate. This personal information will
NOT be posted to the list.
I will NOT be collecting any money. The list postings will show how much
is needed, where the funds are to be sent, how they will be used, and
whether or not they will be tax-deductible. The list names will be kept
confidential. If you are going to respond to a posting with a
contribution, it would be helpful if you could let me know your intent, so
that I can keep track of how close to the target amount we are. As soon as
the target amount is reached, I will post to the list so that the rest of
you will hold off on further contributions to that project. If very little
seems to be coming in for a project, and the deadline is getting close, I
will make an emergency appeal to the list to inform you that more funds are
needed quickly.
This list is not a replacement for BIGMTLIST, but a supplement strictly
for finance matters. I hope that you will all consider how important
supporting the Dineh cause is, not only from a humanitarian standpoint, but
for helping them to continue with their sacred ceremonies that are so
important for the welfare and healing of our planet and its peoples.
If you wish to be included in this special financial effort, please email
me at redorman@theofficenet.com indicating that you wish to help out and
want to be placed on the BMFINANCE list.
Thank you all for your continued support for the Dineh in whatever
capacity you are able.
--Bob Dorman, BIGMTLIST moderator.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
You are on the BIGMTLIST, a moderated mailing list of Big Mountain
relocation resistance information (not discussion or debate). .
For non-list members receiving this post as a forwarded message, you
may subscribe by following this link:
http://www.onelist.com/subscribe/BIGMTLIST.
For Big Mountain and other activist internet resources, visit "The
Activist Page" at
http://www.theofficenet.com/~redorman/welcome.html
Also, for great internet tools please visit:
http://www.msw.com.au/cgi-bin/msw/entry?id=1271
------------------------------------------
This message was sent to you by
Name: BIGMTLIST
Email Address: redorman@theofficenet.com
IP Address: ppp-66.odienet.net
--------- "RE: Painted Skull Offers Glimpse of an Old Ritual" ---------
Date: Mon, 9 Aug 1999 15:03:02 -0500
From: berryj@okstate.edu
Subj: (FWD)Indian News 08-06-99
Roger Iron Cloud
FirstNations Listserv
202.358.3252
rironcloud@acf.dhhs.gov
Painted skull offers glimpse of an old ritual
By AP Wire Service
8/5/99
WOODWARD (AP) -- A painted buffalo skull found amid the 10,000-year-old
skeletons of 78 bison is the oldest evidence of a ritual conducted to bring
hunting success, says Leland Bement of the Oklahoma Archaeological Survey.
The skull found in 1994 has a simple jagged red line that zigzags across
the forehead.
Bement said the skull was taken from an earlier kill at the same plains
gully near Fort Sup ply where bison were speared in three late summer kills
three to five years apart more than 10,000 years ago.
The painted skull was left to face toward the opening as bison were herded
into the gully to be speared by hunters on the rim above.
"This is the oldest evidence of this ritual in North America," Bement said
at a recent appearance at the Plains Indians and Pioneers Museum in Woodward.
This being 10,000 years ago, this skull is the oldest painted `something'
of North America."
Bement dates the kills at 10,200 to 10,900 years ago.
The site where the bones were found began with an outcropping of bones
discovered in a bluff along the river.
Archaeologists found complete skeletons of 29 bison atop bones of another
29 bison atop bones of 20 bison.
--------- "RE: Indians' Lawyers Seek Funds Watchdog" ---------
Date: Mon, 9 Aug 1999 15:03:02 -0500
From: berryj@okstate.edu
Subj: (FWD)Indian News 08-06-99
Roger Iron Cloud
FirstNations Listserv
202.358.3252
rironcloud@acf.dhhs.gov
Indians' Lawyers Seek Funds Watchdog
.c The Associated Press
By MATT KELLEY
8/5/99
WASHINGTON (AP) - The federal government cannot be trusted to fix
decades-old mismanagement of about $500 million of American Indians'
money without court oversight, lawyers for the Indians argued to a
federal judge.
In court papers filed shortly before midnight Wednesday, the Indians'
lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth to appoint an independent
watchdog to make sure the government fixes problems with some 300,000 trust
accounts.
The Interior Department oversees the accounts, which mainly hold proceeds
from oil drilling, mining, logging or grazing on reservation land owned by
individual Indians.
"Without judicial intervention, reform efforts will fail, since the
(Interior) Department will ultimately lose focus and interest," the
Indians' lawyers wrote.
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and other federal officials have strongly
opposed appointing a court watchdog, known as a special master, to oversee
efforts to fix the problems with the trust accounts. The department's
Bureau of Indian Affairs is working on a computerized system to track the
accounts, but Babbitt admitted this summer that the plans wouldn't fix all
of the problems.
Babbitt and other officials acknowledge that for decades, many records
regarding the trust accounts were never kept, collected haphazardly or
eventually destroyed. Millions of dollars were invested improperly or not
at all, and record-keeping is so lax that officials cannot say whether
billions of dollars' worth of transactions were legitimate or not.
Lamberth held Babbitt, BIA head Kevin Gover and then-Treasury Secretary
Robert Rubin in contempt of court earlier this year for repeatedly failing
to hand over documents.
That contempt citation helped speed federal efforts to clean up the
problems, said Keith Harper, one of the Indians' lawyers. Without continued
court pressure, reform efforts would likely flounder, he said.
"You turn off the lights and all the roaches start coming out again,"
Harper said Thursday. "It's difficult to get the Department of Interior to
focus on this issue for an extended period of time."
Tom Clark, the Justice Department lawyer heading the government's defense
team, did not return repeated telephone calls seeking comment Thursday.
Five Indians sued the federal government in 1996 on behalf of all Indian
account holders, seeking to force the government to clean up the problems
and repay account holders for lost revenue. Lamberth split the trial into
two parts: One dealing with solving the trust management systems and the
other with determining how much the Indian account holders should be paid.
Final written arguments in the first phase were filed this week. The
Indians plan to seek billions of dollars in the second phase.
--------- "RE: Grants for Blackfeet Tribe" ---------
Date: Mon, 9 Aug 1999 15:03:02 -0500
From: berryj@okstate.edu
Subj: (FWD)Indian News 08-06-99
Roger Iron Cloud
FirstNations Listserv
202.358.3252
rironcloud@acf.dhhs.gov
Cuomo Announces $500,000 in Grants for Blackfeet Tribe
U.S. Newswire
4 Aug 1999
Cuomo Announces $500,000 In Grants For Blackfeet Tribe, Bringing
Total HUD Aid To Tribe This Year To $7.4 Million
To: City and State desks
Contact: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development,
Office of Public Affairs, 202-708-0685;
Web site: http://www.hud.gov/news.html <http://www.hud.gov/news.html>
BROWNING, Mont., Aug. 4 /U.S. Newswire/ -- U.S. Housing and Urban
Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo today awarded $500,000 to the
Blackfeet Indian Tribe to rehabilitate substandard housing and build
a park. The grants bring total HUD assistance to the tribe this year
to about $7.4 million.
Cuomo announced the assistance while visiting the Blackfeet
Reservation to see housing conditions and meet with Tribal Chairman
William Old Chief and other tribal leaders to discuss housing, jobs,
and economic development opportunities. Located east of Glacier
National Park in Montana, the reservation is home to about 14,600
members of the Blackfeet Tribe.
"I have come to meet with the Blackfeet Tribe as part of the
Clinton Administration's efforts to build new relationships and new
partnerships with Indian nations," Cuomo said. "For far too long, the
first Americans have been locked out of the American Dream of a home,
a job and a chance to build a better tomorrow for their children.
For far too long, reservations have been islands of poverty in a sea
of American prosperity. We will not allow this to continue."
Severe housing shortages and substandard housing are common on the
Blackfeet Reservation, and homeownership is rare. Many homes lack
kitchens and indoor plumbing. An estimated 28 percent of the
population earns less than $7,000 per year.
Since 1993, the Blackfeet Tribe has received $41.4 million in HUD
funding.
Nationwide, HUD will provide over $700 million for Native American
housing programs this year.
The $500,000 in assistance to the Blackfeet Tribe that Cuomo
announced today is in the form of Indian Community Development Block
Grants.
A total of $200,000 of the new grants will be used to rehabilitate
nine substandard houses. The remaining $300,000 will be used to
build a 12,000-square-foot cultural development park that will
include a maze, picnic and gathering area, children's dance arbor and
amphitheater, natural garden area, walking/running path and rest
rooms. The park will be next to the Tribe's Head Start building and
will target Head Start children and their families.
HUD assistance granted to the Blackfeet Tribe earlier this year
includes:
-- $6.1 million in Indian Housing Block Grant funds to increase
homeownership opportunities on the reservation. Homeownership
activities include: creating partnerships with lenders, homebuilders
and others; assisting potential homebuyers with loan applications;
and working with the tribe to identify homebuilding sites. In
addition, the grant will be used to develop 20 low-rent units for
senior citizens, maintain existing housing stock, improve
accessibility to housing, and continue the Section 8 low-income
housing program on the reservation.
-- $800,000 in two Rural Housing and Economic Development Grants.
A total of $200,000 will be used to support development efforts of
the Siyeh Corporation, which is working to increase economic
opportunities for the community and will act as a business arm for
the Blackfeet Tribe. The remaining $600,000 will be used for
economic development support for Pikuni Industries, a manufacturer of
steel home products that will create jobs and affordable housing.
Reservation residents will be hired and trained by Pikuni to perform
welding, carpentry, plumbing, engineering and other work. Pikuni
will manufacture steel frame assembly line homes to create affordable
housing for reservation residents.
The Blackfeet Reservation is the second reservation that Cuomo has
visited this summer. Cuomo joined President Clinton and corporate
CEO's in July on a trip to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South
Dakota -- home of the Oglala Sioux Tribe -- as part of the
President's New Markets Initiative tour. The tour focused attention
on urban and rural areas where unemployment is too high and jobs are
too scarce. During the tour, millions of dollars in public and
private housing and economic development commitments were secured to
help areas left behind.
Cuomo announced a Native American Housing and Economic Development
Initiative last spring at the Summit on Native American
Homeownership, Legal and Economic Development in Chicago. The
initiative goes beyond most federal programs by enabling tribal
governments to create non-profit groups that can apply for a share of
more than $1 billion in annual assistance under several HUD programs.
Because only local governments and non-profit groups are eligible for
this type of HUD funding, tribal governments were previously unable
to benefit from most of the programs.
--------- "RE: Cherokee Nation Chief Joe Byrd Pleads Innocent" ---------
Date: Mon, 9 Aug 1999 15:10:43 -0500
From: berryj@okstate.edu
Subj: (FWD)Indian News 08-07-99
Roger Iron Cloud
FirstNations Listserv
202.358.3252
rironcloud@acf.dhhs.gov
Byrd, 4 others plead innocent
By ROB MARTINDALE
c. Tulsa World
8/7/99
The Cherokee Nation chief is accused of operating an illegal court system.
TAHLEQUAH -- Innocent pleas to indirect contempt of court charges were
entered Friday for Cherokee Nation Chief Joe Byrd and four others accused
of operating an illegal district court system.
Charged in addition to Byrd are Deputy Chief J. Garland Eagle, Associate
District Judge Dewayne Littlejohn, former District Judge Tina Jordan and
former Chief of Staff Gary Stopp.
Byrd, Eagle and Stopp are accused of continuing to pay Littlejohn and
Jordan after they were suspended by the tribe's Judicial Appeals Court on
the grounds that they were operating an illegal court at tribal
headquarters.
Littlejohn and Jordan are accused of improperly accepting pay despite
their suspensions.
The tribunal, the tribe's supreme court, said offices for district judges
are at the Cherokee Nation Courthouse in downtown Tahlequah.
The district court system was established at tribal headquarters after
Byrd had differences with the supreme court, where he also was facing
charges of illegally firing the tribe's marshal service after it raided
his headquarters in search of evidence of misuse of funds.
Represented by their attorneys, the defendants didn't make court
appearances Friday.
The innocent pleas were entered for them by Justice Darrell Dowty after
their attorneys said they didn't wish to enter pleas at this time.
Dowty said the next hearing on the matter is scheduled Sept. 10, at which
time it is hoped a vacancy on the three- judge tribunal will have been
filled by incoming Chief Chad Smith, whose appointment must receive tribal
council approval.
Attorney Donn Baker, who represents Jordan, asked the court to ensure
that the new justice is "fair and unbiased" if he is allowed to sit in on
the tribunal's hearings, which will consider the defendants' motions to
have the charges dismissed.
Smith will be sworn into office Aug. 14.
The defense attorneys indicated that they might seek a jury trial if the
charges aren't dismissed.
A tribal conviction on an indirect contempt of court charge carries a
fine of $500 or one year's incarceration or both.
The special prosecutor, Darrell Moore, said the indirect contempt of court
charges stem from the defendants' failure to obey a tribal court order that
Littlejohn and Jordan were to return court files to the downtown courthouse
and not perform any judicial acts.
Defense attorneys said the suspensions of Jordan and Littlejohn equate to
a removal from office by the supreme court. Cherokee Nation law, they said,
gives the right to remove a district judge to the tribal council.
Tim Baker, an attorney for Byrd, said in a court brief that the February
1998 suspension order signed by former Justice Ralph Keen "was issued to
harass and retaliate against Chief Joe Byrd."
The tribe has been in a constitutional crisis for 2-1/2 years, often with
the administration pitted against the court system.
At one point, the Byrd administration locked the justices out of the
downtown courthouse and Byrd's majority on the tribal council impeached
the jurists.
The impeachments later were rescinded on the advice of an independent
commission, which made a study of the tribe's problems.
--------- "RE: Georgia Governor Does Not Want Casino" ---------
Date: Mon, 9 Aug 1999 15:10:43 -0500
From: berryj@okstate.edu
Subj: (FWD)Indian News 08-07-99
Roger Iron Cloud
FirstNations Listserv
202.358.3252
rironcloud@acf.dhhs.gov
Georgia governor does not want casino
c. AP
8/7/99
ATLANTA (AP) -- Gov. Roy Barnes said again Friday he opposes casino gambling
in Georgia and that he sought to discourage Hancock County officials from
working with an Oklahoma Indian tribe to build one.
Barnes wrote Hancock County officials on July 13 and told them, "My
position in regard to casino gambling has been, and is, that I do not
believe it is in the best interest of the state of Georgia."
He said Friday that he reiterated his position to the officials in a
meeting July 30, telling them: "You can chase the rainbow all you want to.
You're not going to get it, in my view. . . . You'd be much better off
concentrating on improvement in education and economic development."
However, the governor's interpretation of the meeting appears to be at
odds with the message Hancock County officials think they received.
"We came away believing that the governor does not want to be the villain
in this piece," Lesley Roberts, Hancock County's program director, told The
Atlanta Journal- Constitution.
The newspaper said Hancock officials believed following the meeting that
the state would not try to block the project.
Hancock officials are negotiating with the Kialegee, an Oklahoma tribe of
about 450 which claims ancient ties to Georgia, for a casino, hotel and
golf course in their economically strapped county. The tribe has offices in
Wetumka, Okla., which is in Hughes County.
Two other counties -- Haralson and Carroll -- have turned the tribe down.
--------- "RE: Casinos and Non-Indian Rights on Reservations" ---------
Date: Sun, 8 Aug 1999 08:59:14 -0700
From: "Victor Rocha" <wstsidela@mediaone.net>
Subj: Today in the Arizona Daily Star
http://www.azstarnet.com/public/dnews/LQ7113.html
Growth of tribal casinos brings questions about non-Indian rights on
reservations
VIEJAS INDIAN RESERVATION, Calif. (AP) - Tucked away in these back-country
foothills, a thriving casino and upscale mall are luring visitors from the
nearby interstate and, as a small roadside sign informs them, onto Indian
land.
That border, which requires no passport, no customs and no inspection,
is under increasing scrutiny nationwide as new tribal enterprises, like the
Viejas Casino & Turf Club, attract increasing numbers of people to their
reservations.
The growth has led to questions about the rights on reservations of non-
Indians - especially workers - and to attempts to redefine the limits of
Indian sovereignty, which makes tribal land nominally independent from the
U.S. government.
"Economic development has been the catalyst and has created the dynamic
that you see now," said Mark Macarro, a prominent tribal leader in
California and chairman of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians, whose
reservation is about 80 miles northwest of the Viejas' eastern San Diego
County land.
"Tribes are now trying to put actions behind the words (of Indian
sovereignty)," he said. "It's my sense that when this starts occurring,
those powers-that-be begin to take another look at tribal sovereignty and
seem to come to the conclusion that `this isn't quite what we meant.' "
Challengers in court and Congress have tried - and failed so far - to
whittle away at tribes' immunity to lawsuits, exemptions from most taxes
and exclusion from labor laws that give unions access to other businesses.
Congress rejected two measures in 1997 that would have denied federal
benefits to tribes that refuse to waive immunity and forced tribes to
provide an accounting of their income.
An estimated 260 casinos or bingo halls operate on Indian reservations
nationwide compared with 70 in 1988, when Congress made Indian gambling
legal, according to the National Gambling Impact Study Commission.
That development has brought workers who, in some cases, have complained
to unions about conditions at casinos. Defenders of tribal sovereignty
discount such complaints.
"It's a new set of laws, when you go to Indian country. It is their law,
their country," said Ken Adams, a gambling consultant who has worked with
several tribes in various states and managed a non-Indian casino in Reno,
Nev., for 20 years.
Jack Gribbon, political action coordinator for the Hotel Employees and
Restaurant Employees International Union in California, insists his union
supports Indian sovereignty, but would like tribes to agree to collective
bargaining rights.
"The reality here is the vast majority of these workers are U.S. citizens
who live in the United States," he said. "They are the engine behind a
multibillion-dollar industry. . . . It doesn't seem fair that they should
have no rights whatsoever."
Gribbon said his union is not against the practice of favoring tribal
members in hiring.
--------- "RE: Details/November Leonard Peltier " ---------
Date: Thu, 5 Aug 1999 02:25:54 EDT
From: "LPDC" <lpdc@idir.net>
Subj: Details-November Leonard Peltier
Details-November Leonard Peltier
Freedom Month
Dear Leonard Peltier Supporters,
Below is more detailed follow up on the November Leonard Peltier Freedom
Month Campaign. Take a look and let us know what you can do, what you
think, and any suggestions you may have. Those who would like to be in DC
for part of the month but are not sure when will be the best date to come,
you may want to be there at the opening. We are hoping the event will begin
November 1, but we are waiting to hear from Archbishop Desmond Tutu who we
have asked to open the event. We will keep you up to date on this.
We especially need people from the East Coast to come during different
parts of the month so that there will be an ongoing presence. Please
collect names of people an organizations on the East Coast who can help
who are not registered with us. Thank you for your support.
(If you and/or your organization can contribute in any of the ways listed
please get in contact with us ASAP.)
In solidarity,
The LPDC
PS If you are in graphic design and/or printing and can help us to design a
poster for this campaign please call us!
NOVEMBER 1999 LEONARD PELTER FREEDOM MONTH
Its 1999, why is Leonard Peltier still in prison?
MORE SPECIFICALLY
We realize that what we are proposing will be difficult to organize and
implement, especially with the very short amount of time we have to organize
it. However, it is crucial and extremely urgent that we put all of our
efforts together and make a strong attempt to do this now, before Leonard's
health further deteriorates, before the current momentum is lost, before
Clinton leaves office, and before another year of Leonard's life is stolen
away from him, his people and his family. Please make a serious commitment
in whatever way you are able to help free Leonard Peltier before the year
2000.
DESIRED EFFECT
The desired effect of the November Freedom Campaign is to:
1. Draw enough positive attention to Leonard's case to bring about serious
concern in both the White House and Congress.
2. One of the most serious concerns of politicians is popular public opinion
which is largely impacted by the media. We must get enough media attention
to bring about such concern.
3. To have a unique and visual theme that will attract the necessary media
attention.
4. To further educate the public and the government about the Peltier case.
5. To build up enough pressure from Congress and the public to get Clinton
to grant Executive Clemency to Peltier.
6. If Clinton does not grant clemency, to build enough pressure in Congress
and the public so that he will be granted parole this Spring.
CHARACTER AND IMAGE OF THE EVENT
This event should be representative of all that Leonard Peltier stands for
and symbolizes. Therefore the event should be strong, largely spiritual,
cultural, traditional, and respectful. The event should culminate all of
the reasons why he should be freed. Leonard Peltier is a symbol of
injustice and persecution of Indigenous Peoples and therefore we urge all
who resist such injustice and persecution to come and represent Leonard at
this time.
IN WHAT WAY WILL WE PORTRAY THESE ASPECTS?
SPIRITUAL ASPECTS:
1. Run For Freedom-The event will begin with a traditional, spiritual Run
For Freedom
which will start at the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia and finish in
Washington DC.
2. Opening prayer - Each morning will begin with a prayer and ceremony that
are appropriate to be held in public. Traditional Spiritual leaders such as
David Chief and Arvol Looking Horse will conduct these and others such as
Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa are being invited as well. (Care
will be taken so that ceremonies are not filmed or photographed when
inappropriate).
3. Freedom Fasters - There will be a presence of at least ten people fasting
in front of the White House for designated amounts of time during the entire
month. This will be a spiritual fast; those fasting will prepare themselves
with the guidance of spiritual advisors.
4. Vigils - Each night a candlelight vigil will be held in front of the
White House. All are welcome to take part. At this time people in
attendance can make offerings or say a few words about why they are there.
CULTURAL ASPECTS:
1. Traditional - Daily cultural activities will be scheduled in front of the
White House during November. Traditional Native music, story telling, etc.,
should be present. The participation of several Native American drum groups
and dancers are needed. Additionally, people from Indigenous Nations
outside of the US are encouraged to come and represent their people and
culture as well.
2. Contemporary - Contemporary Native musicians, rappers, poets, and actors
will be invited to perform in front of the White House too. A few examples
are Ulali, Litefoot, Rage Against the Machine, Black Fire, Jimmy Baca,
Rodney Grant, and Buffy St. Marie.
ASPECTS OF INDIGENOUS RESISTANCE
1. Speakers from representatives of different land struggles (Big Mountain,
Western Shoshone, Mississippi River Lakota Treaty Land Transfer,Mt. Graham,
etc.), struggles for self determination, movements against racism, struggles
for freedom of religion, etc., are invited to come and speak to show their
solidarity.
VISUAL ASPECTS
1. Teepees will be put up in areas permitted in close proximity to the White
House to bring visual attention to the ongoing activities. Teepees to
borrow and trucks to ship them in are needed.
2. Flags from several Native Nations will be displayed in front of the White
House. Flags to borrow are needed as well.
3. A wall modeled after the veterans memorial will be constructed with the
names of Native people who lost their lives fighting for their people on it.
Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Anna Mae Aquash, Joe Stuntz, and all of those
killed during the reign of terror are some examples. Others can add names
as part of the activities.
4. Several large banners and signs are needed for display.
5. A possible reenactment of the Wounded Knee I Massacre will be planned.
MEANWHILE, INSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE AND CONGRESS
DELEGATIONS of Leonard's family, Oglala survivors, Indigenous Organizations,
Human Rights Organizations, Tribal Governments, Foreign Dignitaries, etc.,
are invited to meet with the Clinton Administration and Congress during
November. Rigoberta Menchu has already committed to bring a delegation of
Nobel Laureates. Scheduling meetings during November will be tricky because
of elections and the holiday so it is important that all who can bring
delegations contact us as soon as possible. Delegations who cannot come
during November can be scheduled during January and February as well. This
will help to keep the momentum going.
PHONE TREES
Those who cannot come to Washington DC in November will be coordinating
phone trees to bring additional and focused attention to the Congress and
White House during November.
STATEMENTS, LETTERS, AND RESOLUTIONS OF SUPPORT
Those organizations who cannot physically come to show support during the
November activities in DC are encouraged to send messages of support which
can be read and delivered during this time
SPECIFIC, IMMEDIATE NEEDS
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
We urgently need financial support to make this effort a success. Travel
expenses, advertising, copying, etc., will be extremely costly. A fund
drive is planned for Leonard's birthday which is September 12. Make
personal donations if possible, plan benefits, and collect funds for the
LPDC. Also, suggestions for funding agencies are welcome.
COMMITTEES
Committees of people who can take responsibility for certain portions of
this campaign are needed. Help is needed from all over, however, help is
especially needed from the East Coast.
1. Regional Transportation Committees: Have a meeting to find out if there
are people in your area who want to be in DC for part of Leonard Peltier
Freedom Month. If groups of people can come for designated days to take
part in the activities and especially the nightly vigils, volunteer to
organize caravans, buses, logistical details, etc., and let the LPDC know as
soon as possible approximately how many people can come and for what portion
of the month.
2. Outreach and Publicity Committee - A committee to be responsible for
outreach and publicity, especially in the DC area and the East Coast.
People who can distribute and post flyers and posters, contact radio
stations to announce events, and make sure scheduled events are covered in
local publications are needed.
3. Art Committee - People who can help paint banners, build the memorial
wall, etc., are needed.
4. Local Washington DC Organizing Committee - A group of people in DC who
can help in general on all levels is needed. Help with logistics,
scheduling, set up, etc. - this group will be assisting Jennifer Harbury.
We will also need help with lodging, food, airport pick ups, etc.
CALENDAR
If you belong to or know of a cultural group, an organization to bring a
delegation, speakers, etc., who will want to participate please let us know
immediately so that we can schedule it and fill in the November calendar.
TEE PEES
If you know of people who will lend out their tee pees for this event please
put us in touch with them. If you know of anyone with a truck who can help
us ship them to and from DC please let us know. (Borrowed tee pees will be
insured.)
EAST COAST CONTACTS
If you know of groups and/or individuals who will help us organize this on
the East Coast please let us know.
Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
PO Box 583
Lawrence, KS 66044
785-842-5774
--------- "RE: County/Nez Perce Police Pact Update" ---------
Date: Thu, 05 Aug 1999 08:58:50 -0700
From: Charles Petras <cpetras@stratos.net>
Subj: Nez Perce Treaties : County, tribal police pact still in the works
Mailing List: Nez Perce Treaties <Nez_Perce_treaties@listbot.com>
With Perfect Justice...
Nez Perce Treaties - http://members.stratos.net/cpetras
Lewiston Morning Tribune (Lewiston, Idaho)
Thursday, August 5, 1999. pp. 6A, 8A.
County, tribal police pact still in the works
* But officers are already cooperating in some areas
By REBECCA BOONE
OF THE TRIBUNE
Progress is slow on a jurisdiction agreement between Nez
Perce tribal police and Nez Perce County Sheriff's Office.
But the deputies and tribal officers already are working together
cooperatively, say Sheriff Randy Kingsbury and Tom Idol, chief of tribal
police.
Despite initial concerns, maintaining services on the reservation has
gone smoothly, says Kingsbury.
"When they first rescinded the resolution, there was a lot of knee-jerk
reaction by my guys. There were comments like 'maybe we shouldn't go out
on the reservation.' It's the fear of the unknown."
Idol says the concern was understandable, and highlights the 'need for a
cooperative law enforcement agreement.
"Deputy and state officers were concerned about making a wrongful arrest.
Where there's lack of information, there's confusion. People don't want to
get sued or end up in court for wrongful arrest."
A draft of the cooperative law enforcement agreement is being reviewed
by the Idaho Counties Risk Management Program -- the state insurance pool
-- and will have to be approved by both state and tribal governments.
The negotiations began after the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee
rescinded a 1965 resolution that granted the state jurisdiction On the
reservation over a dozen crimes, such as battery and disturbing the peace.
Major crimes, including murder and rape, fall under a different
agreement with the federal government and weren't affected by the decision.
The change brought up questions, including who is responsible when a
call for help comes in, says Kingsbury.
"Right now, liability isn't really an is' sue because between the tribal
police and us, we aren't putting each other in a situation where there
would be a problem. But we're working on a formal agreement, so that it
never will be an issue."
Until the agreement is approved, sheriff's deputies will wait to respond
to a call involving Indians until tribal police arrive, says Kingsbury.
The wait is necessary, he says, because if a tribal member strikes a
deputy who responds to a call, the deputy can't arrest the person for
battery.
If a deputy comes upon a crime, the deputy can detain a tribal member
for a short time, but cannot make an arrest. Idol says the distinction is
important. "When I convey to you that you are no longer free to go where
you want to go, that's an arrest."
Safety of law enforcement officers is paramount, says Idol. "I want
their deputies to feel safe because our officers are backing them up, and
our officers to feel safe because the deputies are backing them up."
The tribal police force has been building up the ranks to make sure
there are enough officers to cover the entire reservation, says Idol.
There are six officers now, and Idol expects to have 30 officers by the
end of the year.
While the two groups work well together, Idol says, "at the political
level, there's issues on both sides."
The resolution was rescinded after a long court battle between a Nez
Perce tribal member and a Lewis County's sheriff's deputy in the late
1980s.
The tribal member sued the deputy in tribal court for false imprisonment
and won. After Lewis County appealed and lost, the case went to federal
court, which ruled in the deputy's favor.
The federal court decision was appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals, which ruled the tribe gave up some of its authority when it
granted criminal jurisdiction to the state in 1965.
In a letter to the Nez Perce County Sheriff's Office, NPTEC chairman
Samuel M. Penney said, ."We consider it essential to the sovereignty of
the Nez Perce Tribe that the law enforcement jurisdiction transferred by'
(the resolution of 1965) be returned to the exclusive control of the
tribe."
______________________________________________________________________
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--------- "RE: Commemoration of Dudley George's Death" ---------
Date: Thu, 5 Aug 1999 03:44:24 -0700
From: Nancy Thomas <nlthomas@YvwiiUsdinvnohii.net>
Subj: Commemoration of Dudley George's Death (September 6, 1999)
------- FORWARD, Original message follows -------
Date: Thursday, August 5, 1999
From: Russ Mitchell <russell@nt.net>
Mailing List: Paths-L <paths-l@YvwiiUsdinvnohii.net>
Coalition for a Public Inquiry into the Death of Dudley George
Summer Newsletter #24 ~ August 3, 1999
*** Uphold Aboriginal Land and Treaty Rights ***
SEPTEMBER 6, 1995 - 4 YEARS SINCE IPPERWASH
STILL NO INQUIRY - NOT EVEN AN INQUEST!!
Commemorate the 4th Anniversary of Dudley George's Death
Demand a Public Inquiry into the Ipperwash Affair
An Injury to One is an Injury to All!
Remember Other Victims of Human Rights Violations
at APEC and Gustafsen Lake
Speak out on Aboriginal Rights Issues across Ontario
LET YOUR VOICE HEARD
~ JOIN THE LABOUR DAY PARADE ~
SEPTEMBER 6, 1999 - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Meet us in front of the Provincial Courthouse,
one block north of Queen West on University Avenue
GATHER FROM 8:30 AM
BRING DRINKS FOR THE LONG WALK
DRUMS, SINGERS ASKED TO SUPPORT
More than 20,000 organized workers participate in Toronto's annual
Labour Day Parade, organized by the Toronto and York Labour Council
(TYLC). The Coalition for a Public Inquiry is mobilizing a contingent for
the annual Labour Day Parade. The Parade celebrates the human rights
protections won by unions, for workers, over the past century. This year,
the Parade occurs on September 6th - a very significant date for our
Coalition. On that day in 1995, numerous human rights violations
occurred at Ipperwash Park, including the fatal shooting of non-violent
Aboriginal rights protestor Dudley George.
Since 1995, the Labour Council has been one of the most dedicated
allies on the call for a Public Inquiry. The founding organization of the
Coalition, Turtle Island Support Group, developed a strong fraternal
relationship, on land, treaty and inherent rights issues, with the TYLC
through-out the '90's. The Labour Council's advocacy for an Ipperwash
Inquiry is just one element of their strong support on Aboriginal rights
issues.
TYLC is affiliated with both the OFL (Ontario Federation of Labour)
and the CLC (Canadian Labour Congress, it's national 'parent'
organization). The members of these groups have helped us reach
out to social justice activists across Ontario and at the national level,
broadening the call for an Inquiry from being just about what and how
decisions are made at Queen's Park. Organized labour understands
that an armed, lethal attack by the Police on persons engaged in
peaceful protest is a dangerous precedent. The motto of organized
labour is "an injury to one is an injury to all".
We are participating in this Parade as a way of continuing to
educate the larger public about the horrible abuses which occurred
at Ipperwash. Turtle Island Support Group, and others involved in
the Coalition, will also be carrying information which speaks about
Aboriginal rights concerns in other parts of Ontario. The Parade
contains thousands of activists with whom we can share ou