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.
"I have seen that in any great undertaking it is not enough for a man to
depend simply upon himself."
__ Isna-la-wica (Lone Man), Teton Sioux
+- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+
| 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!
After last week's Wotanging Ikche, a reader wrote to question the story I
retold in my editorial about the consequences of disinterring and studying
the remains of Native American ancestors. He pointed out that if scientists
had indeed contracted smallpox via ancient bone contact, the story would
have been widespread, yet he'd not heard this story before. I had not
researched the story before printing it. I heard it from a respected elder
who was personally involved in the events being reported and it is not my
way to challenge or check behind elders. The whole point of having elders
is to learn from them. It's not my place to challenge their knowledge
(though I acknowledge they are not always perfect or all-knowing). There
clearly is at least one reader, and maybe more who believe I should do so,
and perhaps the outcome of this story will feed their belief.
When I was given Wotanging Ikche to do, one reason was precisely because
the dominant media, educational and research institutions and government
bureaucracy mostly ignored and in some cases obscured and hid the truths of
our teachings, our past history and our current events. When our stories are
told, usually they are given in a manner that serves the ends of the
dominant society -- not our people. How many times have we been told the
truth or the truth been told about us? Has any newspaper of the dominant
media reported the truth about Leonard Peltier's trial? About the
sterilizations of our women? About the education of our children in
boarding schools? About the slaughter of the Osage for their oil rights? I
was by no means sure that it would be reported if people handling Native
burial remains became ill or died of the disease that had been brought here
by Europeans and had, in fact, killed those whose remains were touched. The
CDC might hear of it and research it, but I am convinced they would have
done so in secrecy. That said, since the question was asked, I looked into
the matter and found no evidence yet that the story is verifiable. What I
have learned from Dale Mitchell follows:
Date: Sun, 12 Sep 1999 12:39:26 EDT
From: Wanige@aol.com
Subj: Questions
Gary,
Only myself & the host (Robin Lockwood) showed up at the cemetery planning
meeting yesterday. She is also one of the TDOT defendants, and usually gets
to talk to the others involved with the case more than I do; so, I asked her
about the smallpox angle.
She said at one of the vigils held at the disputed site, Lou made a
comment
along the lines of: "Who knows what might happen when those bones are dug
up?
Someone might contract smallpox or some other disease, because a lot of our
people died from these diseases that were brought in by the White man."
This gave her some thought for concern, so she looked up smallpox on the
internet. While it seems that it can be transmitted by live humans, or by
other means over a short period of time, there has never been a reported
case
of transmittal though bare human bones; especially not bones with no blood
or
tissue remaining.
To the best of our knowledge, there have been no disinterments at this
site, anyway. The graves were discovered, marked, and left as-is. With the
exception of one stone box grave that was accidentally cracked open by heavy
machinery, everything is pretty much as it was found. But there is evidence
that some artifacts (but no human remains) may have been removed.
If someone had contracted smallpox by exposure to the remains, surely the
local newspapers would have jumped on it by now. (Especially if there were
three cases reported!) Maybe it was just wishful thinking on Lou's part,
that something of that nature would befall someone who desecrates the
Ancestors' resting place.
I still haven't spoken with Lou, himself, but I intend to do so at the
earliest convenience.
As far as the court case goes, it's not over, yet. Yes, we won in
Williamson County Chancery Court, but the case is now before the Appeals
Court, and we are basically starting all over again. But, at least Judge
Heldman made some strongly worded rulings that would be hard for an appeals
court to set aside or overrule without looking foolish!
Keep praying for our victory in this battle!
Wado,
Dale
Peace! Night Owl
, , Gary Night Owl gars@netcom.com
(*,*) P. O. Box 672168 gars@nanews.org
(`-') Marietta, GA 30387, U.S.A. gars@crl.com
===w=w== Fax: 770-528-9643
----------- News of the people featured in this issue ----------
- Update on TNAT Shutdown - Lawmaker Urges Railroad
- Persistent Organic Pollutants to Respect Tribes
- Chiapas Initiative - Pequots Protest Against
- More Fear and Loathing Tribal Money Management
in Chiapas - Indian Music
- Escalating Crisis in Chiapas Enjoys Soaring Success
- Report Faults - Concern About School
Indian Affairs Bureau Racism Widespread
- Activist Urges Press to - Still No Progress in
Ask Tougher Questions Rosebud Girl's Murder
- Teen-ager's Life - Council May Consider
Crossed Cultural Lines Impeachment of President
- Voting by Indian Representatives - Naropa Institute Sued/
Unconstitutional Charges Cultural Genocide
- Eagle Feathers - McCain and Gorton
- Mississippi Band of Remain Worlds Apart
Choctaw Thriving - Camp Justice Update
- Hay for Livestock Feed - Pictou-Branscombe Justice Website
- Dineh Matriarch's - NC Wants Execution
Defiance Update of Eddie Hatcher
- Children Try to Walk Line - Leonard Peltier Freedom Month
Between Old and New - Peltier CD
- The Visions of Cha Tullis - Native Prisoner
- Site May Unlock Tragic - Institute of American Indian
History of the Caddo Arts/Santa Fe
- Report: Indian Tribes Need Help - Poem: The Creek
- Indians Are No Strangers - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days
in this Strange Land - Vechet's Food For Thought
- More BC Bands Consider - Upcoming Events
Logging Without Permit - Native America Calling
--------- "RE: Update on TNAT Shutdown" ---------
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 09:43:22 -0600 (MDT)
From: joseph c winter <jwinter@unm.edu>
Subj: update on TNAT shutdown
Please let your readers know that I appreciate very much the many
messages of encouragement that I have received concerning the forced
shutdown of The Traditional Native American Tobacco Seed Bank and
Education Program (TNAT) by the University of New Mexico. I wish that
I could answer all of the messages but I can't, so I am writing this
message to all of them instead. I am also forwarding them on to university
administration.
I also wish that I had good news to report but unfortunately that is not
so. I will let you know in a few days what is happening. In the meantime,
I want to emphasize that I am in this for the long haul, and will challenge
it through the courts if necessary, all the way to the Supreme Court. The
bottom line is that I am being told that I do not have the right to grow
ceremonial tobacco and to give it to Native Americans for religious
purposes, even on my own time, without a federal permit. This is an
extremely serious threat to Native American religious rights, as well as
constitutional rights, and I will fight it as long as necessary. If any of
the readers are lawyers specializing in this area and want to get
involved, please contact me as I may need all the help that I can get.
Thank you again. Joe Winter
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Joseph C. Winter Phone: 505-277-5853
(former)Director, Traditional Native American Tobacco FAX:
505-277-6726
Seed Bank and Education Program email:jwinter@unm.edu
University of New Mexico
1717 Lomas Blvd NE
Albuquerque, NM 87131 USA
http://www.unm.edu/~jwinter/tnat.htm
--------- "RE: Persistent Organic Pollutants" ---------
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1999 11:09:03 CDT
From: "tom goldtooth" <tomgoldtooth@hotmail.com>
Subj: Inuit Statement at POPs
Third Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee For A Global Convention on
Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
Geneva, Switzerland
September 7, 1999
Sheila Watt-Cloutier
Good morning. My name is Sheila Watt-Cloutier. I am President of the
Inuit Circumpolar Conference Canada (ICC), Vice-president at the
international level of ICC which defends the rights and represents the
interests of Inuit in Canada, Greenland, the Federation of Russia and the
United States. With me are Shirley Adamson of the Council for Yukon First
Nations, and Larissa Abroutina of the Russian Association of Indigenous
Peoples of the North. I spoke to you in Montreal and Nairobi about the
effects of contaminants on our land, our country food, and our peoples,
and of our growing fear of this threat to our cultures and our very
existence.
We had hoped to make this intervention yesterday, my apologies Mr.
Chairman. However, I feel my intervention at this time is most related to
Article D.
Let me remind you that the breast milk of Inuit women in the eastern
Arctic contains 1,210 ppb of DDT and DDE. By comparison, milk of non-
native women in southern Canada have levels of DDT and DDE measuring 171
ppb. These levels in our people cause us great concern.
For those of you who have heard me speak before, the following may sound
repetitive, however, it is my feeling that these issues cannot be
overstated when it comes to the survival of my people and the indigenous
peoples of the circumpolar world. Anyone who has an eye on the
circumpolar indigenous world will understand that the challenges we face
as a people are monumental. We are trying on a daily basis, because of
the tumultuous change that has occurred in our homeland over the past 50
to 60 years, to pick up the pieces for our children, to create solid,
strong institutions that reflects wisdom and security. In terms of our
children, the last thing we need to worry about is endocrine disrupting
pollutants that affect the health and intellect of our children whom we
are trying to prepare for strong leadership so that we may be able to
survive culturally. We must not be made to choose between our cultural
heritage and our country food. This is our bottom line.
We heard yesterday about the importance of DDT in much of the developing
world. Stark figures of potential deaths were used to illustrate the need
for continued use of DDT to control Malaria. Death and disease are not
hypothetical, nor potential. They are real. We know. We are few in
number--there are only 100,000 indigenous peoples in northern Canada, 140,
00 Inuit in the whole world and only 200,000 indigenous people in all of
northern Russia--but we know about disease and death.
That we are few in numbers must not detract from our case. The loss of
any of our people has an enormous impact on our societies. For example,
last year, most of the world heard that we lost nine people in one of our
communities through an avalanche. In terms of scale of loss this was the
equivalent of 50,000 people dying in Montreal or 400,000 in all of Canada.
We must not see this solely in terms of numbers. In my stating these
figures I am certainly not attempting to play the numbers game but rather
to show a clear picture of our sense of loss. In the circumpolar
indigenous world where we are most affected by POPs, this issue is about
the survival of whole peoples. I ask you to understand this. Earlier this
century Inuit in the Beaufort Sea region of Canada and Alaska were
virtually annihilated by smallpox. In the last hundred years our people
in some communities have had 2/3 of their community wiped out in one
outbreak of disease. Very few families were spared. Some indigenous
people in northern Russia stand now on the brink of physical extinction.
Contaminants in our food may yet lead to our cultural extinction--a loss
to the whole world. We just won't - cannot - allow that to happen. This
is why we are working with you to get a comprehensive, verifiable and
rigorously implemented POPs convention.
We empathize with people who feel they need DDT to preserve life and
health. We will not be party to any agreement that threatens others. This
is just not our way. Nobody should repeat the experience of our pain or
loss. I am sure that many in the room share these sentiments.
Do not think of the DDT issue in "either or" terms. This road leads to
inappropriate choices. I can not believe that a mother in the Arctic
should worry about contaminants in the life giving milk she feeds her
infant. Nor can I believe that a mother in the South has to use these
very chemicals to protect their babies from disease. Surely we must
commit ourselves to finding and using alternatives. While simultaneously
adopting elimination, not perpetual management as an ultimate goal, the
POPs convention must ensure that cost-effective alternatives,
particularly for DDT, are made available in the developing world.
We have heard the request by developing nations for financial and
technical assistance. Your requests must be answered positively and we
urge developing nations to do so. New money must be committed to
implement this convention either through a reformed and refinanced Global
Environment Facility or a multilateral fund. Financing is the other side
of the coin to effective implementation and compliance. We look for a
compliance regime that provides monitoring and inspection to help
developing countries implement obligations detailed in the convention and
to build confidence that all parties are implementing the agreement.
Please bear in mind what I said in Montreal: one poisoned Inuk child, a
poisoned Arctic, and a poisoned planet is one and the same. This shared
understanding will, inevitably, lead us to an effective POPs convention,
which will protect the health of peoples throughout the world.
Nakomek
--------- "RE: Chiapas Initiative" ---------
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 14:16:05 -0400
From: "Smith, Janet" <jansatlcom.net@mindspring.com>
Subj: CHIAPAS! (from AP reports - Mexican govt.)
We can all pray this is a sincere initiative, not a trick-bag. The history
of the Mexican government's dealings with the Indians, like that of the US
history, does not make me confident this is a good thing, however.
Janet
Mexican president launches surprise peace initiative in Chiapas
September 7, 1999
Web posted at: 7:13 PM EDT (2313 GMT)
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- In Mexico's first significant initiative in years to
end a simmering rebel war, President Ernesto Zedillo asked Congress to
bolster Indian rights and pledged Tuesday to resume negotiations with
rebels and investigate human rights abuses in southern Chiapas state.
"The government is resolved to seek a political solution and has taken
this new step with frankness, seriousness and in good faith, for the good
of Mexico and Chiapas," Interior Minister Diodoro Carrasco said in
announcing Zedillo's initiative.
Carrasco, who is in charge of national security, didn't take questions
on the initiative. Zedillo's office said the president wouldn't elaborate
on Carrasco's comments.
The Zapatista National Liberation Army staged a brief uprising in
January 1994 to seek greater rights for the country's 11 million ethnic
Indians. Fighters have since remained hidden in the Chiapas jungle, while
the government has deployed troops throughout the state.
Negotiations with the rebels have been stalled since 1996, when federal
negotiators and the rebels signed a partial peace agreement. The rebels
claim the Zedillo administration reneged on the agreement; the government
says it complied with most of it.
In his initiative, Zedillo urges Congress to consult with the rebels and
pass new legislation on Indian rights. He also calls for further
negotiations to fully implement the 1996 accords.
And he calls for the creation of a new mediation commission, promises a
full investigation of alleged human rights abuses by Chiapas authorities,
and offers amnesty to jailed rebels and sympathizers who are not charged
with violent crimes.
There was no immediate reaction from the Zapatistas, who often take
several days to react to government announcements.
Carrasco acknowledged the lack of a peace agreement has fueled violence
in Chiapas, including the December 1997 massacre of 45 Tzotzil Indians in
the hamlet of Acteal by pro-government gunmen.
The most recent violence came Monday night, when police in the Chiapas
town of Palenque clashed with Indians angry about alleged corruption by
their mayor. One peasant was killed and 23 people were wounded, including
two policemen, state officials said.
Residents angry about the violence looted and vandalized Palenque's City
Hall early Tuesday. Some 200 officers in riot gear are now protecting the
building, Chiapas' deputy attorney general Ricardo Sosa said.
Copyright 1999 The Associated Press.
--------- "RE: More Fear and Loathing in Chiapas" ---------
Date: Thu, 2 Sep 1999 07:37:08 -0500 (CDT)
From: Chiapas95 <owner-chiapas95@eco.utexas.edu>
Subj: More Fear and Loathing in Chiapas, Sep 1
This message is forwarded to you as a service of Zapatistas Online.
Comments and volunteers are welcome. Write zo-editors@deliberate.com.
Send submissions to chiapas-i@eco.utexas.edu
------- FORWARD, Original message follows -------
Date: Wed, 1 Sep 1999 11:13:20 -0700 (PDT)
Subj: MORE FEAR &LOATHING IN CHIAPAS by John Ross
MORE FEAR & LOATHING IN CHIAPAS
THE OLD SOUTH LIVES - CHIAPAS GOVERNOR DEFENDS STATES RIGHTS "UNTIL THE
ULTIMATE CONSEQUENCES"
*Note: Author John Ross is seeking dates for an East Coast speaking tour
September 20th-October 4th. If you have any ideas, please contact him in
Mexico City. tel. 011 (525) 510-3376 email: johnross@igc.apc.org
SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASA CHIAPAS
(August 31st) - Roberto Albores Guillen, the substitute governor of
Mexico's southernmost state of Chiapas, is a throwback to the prototypical
southern U.S. politicians who used to block the school house doors and sic
their dogs and their lynch mobs upon anti-segregation activists in order
to preserve white privilege and what used to be called "states rights".
In his 18 months in office Albores, the son of a Comitan rancher (the
equivalent in Chiapas of a Mississippi plantation owner) has
transmogrified himself into the consummate Chiapas patriot who will defend
the sovereignty of this conflictive state until "the ultimate consequence
- even if it should cost me my job."
"Chiapas for us, the Chiapanecos!" he regularly rants, threatening to
post billboard warnings to that effect, and boot all "outside agitators"
out of the entity. By "outside agitators" Albores includes both Mexicans
and non-Mexicans who travel to Chiapas in support of the rebel Zapatista
Army of National Liberation.
The substitute governor's obstreperous xenophobia does not fit the
voluminous Albores very well. A long-time "Chilango" (Mexico City
resident), Albores served as a borough president during Manuel Camacho
Solis's stint as regent (unelected mayor) of the capital. He returned to
Chiapas in 1994 after a lengthy hiatus in the big city when Camacho was
appointed government peace negotiator and sought unsuccessfully to strike
a treaty with the EZLN. In 1998, in the aftermath of the horrendous
massacre of 46 pro-Zapatista Tzotzil Indians at Acteal in the mountains
above San Cristobal, Albores was appointed interim governor of Chiapas by
the then new Interior Secretary Francisco Labastida - the massacre cost
Labastida's predecessor his job.
The governor whom Albores Guillen replaced, Julio Cesar Ruiz - recently
promoted to a plum job at Mexico's Washington embassy - was also a
substitute governor who took over when Eduardo Robledo, elected in fraud-
riddled 1994 balloting resigned and was shipped off to Argentina. Albores
is Chiapas's fifth governor in six and a half years - only two of whom
have been elected by the citizens of that southern state.
After Camacho left the long-ruling (70 years) Institutional
Revolutionary Party (PRI) in 1997, Albores attached his political fortunes
to Labastida, now President Ernesto Zedillo's unofficial choice for the
PRI presidential nomination in 2000. Carrying out orders from the capital
with the exemplary discipline of a trained bulldog, the Governor, whom the
local press has taken to referring to by his initials (RAG) has directed
his bombast - and firepower - at the rebel Zapatistas.
Three months after assuming the substitute governorship, Albores ordered
the dismantlement of four EZLN self-declared "autonomous municipalities" -
ten were killed by the state police and federal army at El Bosque in May
1998 and hundreds of rebel supporters were jailed, including a Mexico City
art professor who had supervised the painting of a mural in a Zapatista
jungle community - Sergio Valdez was held by Albores in the state's
maximum lock-up at Cerro Hueco for over a year.
The governor demonstrated his compassion for Chiapas's Indians when he
sent the rotting cadavers of those killed at El Bosque back to the
community in cardboard boxes.
Other Albores mischief includes the creation of 13 PRI-governed new
municipalities or counties imposed upon Zapatista "autonomias" in the
Ocosingo region, a sure-fire formula for provoking fresh violence,
Governor RAG justified the creation of the new municipalities by the PRI's
"mandate" in October 1998 local elections, which, never one to miss an
opportunity for self-aggrandizement, the Governor describes as "historic."
In Ocosingo, 24% of all registered voters cast ballots in that "historic"
election.
One of Albores Guillen's most celebrated stunts was a bit of jungle
vaudeville wherein he hired PRIistas to dress up as Zapatistas and pretend
to turn in their guns. In a shameless promo for his freshly-minted
amnesty program last Spring, the governor flew the press into an Ocosingo
jungle resort to witness the gun turn-in. The actors in the caper were
rewarded with 20 head of Sebu cattle and a sports utility vehicle - and,
reportedly, their guns back. When some weeks after the performance, the
Sebu began to disappear,Albores sent state police and President Ernesto
Zedillo the federal army to occupy suspect Zapatista hamlets.
To say that Governor RAG has not endeared himself to the quixotic
Zapatista spokesperson Subcomandante Marcos would be a gross
understatement. The rebel leader has nicknamed Albores Guillen "Croquets"
(he looks like one) and accuses him of alcoholic dementia and pocketing
flood relief donations that poured into the state after a catastrophic
October 1988 storm.
Of late, one of the portly governor's more attention-grabbing ploys has
been to pick a war with neighboring Oaxaca over the Chimilapas reserve
straddling both states - the zone includes some of Mexico's last
untrammeled forests which Chiapas wood poachers have long coveted. In 1986,
Zoque Indians, to whom most of the Chimilapas pertain, captured the
brother of another Chiapas governor in the act of clear-cutting their
reserves.
The long simmering dispute between the two states was apparently settled
in a 1995 agreement protecting the Chimilapas from outside intrusion. The
agreement was signed by then-Chiapas Secretary of Government Pablo Salazar
and the governor of Oaxaca. Now Salazar has left the long-ruling (70
years) PRI and will be an opposition coalition candidate in gubernatorial
elections set for July 2nd, 2000 - the same day as the presidential
balloting - and Albores does not miss an opportunity to attack the ex-
PRIista as a "traitor" who sold out his beloved Chiapas in the Chimilapas
deal, a charge that must not play very well with current Interior
Secretary Diodoro Carrasco who as governor of Oaxaca in 1995 signed the
Chimilapas agreement with Salazar.
Albores' continuing obeisance to Labastida, who is predestined to win
the PRI presidential nomination in November, seems based more on the
governor's galloping opportunism than on personal conviction. According
to the political "chisme" (gossip), the life-blood of the cafes of Tuxtla
Gutierrez, the Chiapas state capital, Governor RAG has his heart set on
occupying the Secretary of the Interior slot under a Labastida presidency.
When Labastida came to Chiapas for a July campaign swing, Albores rolled
out the red carpet and lavished public moneys on transporting thousands of
PRIistas to pad out sparsely attended rallies, a violation of campaign
ethics frowned upon both by the Institutional Revolutionary Party
management and President Zedillo who had instructed that government
resources should not be used to promote the candidacies of PRI
presidential hopefuls. In an unprecedented ruling, the PRI primary
election watchdog commission was forced to warn the Chiapas governor of
the inappropriateness of his largesse.
Always spoiling for a fight, "Croquets" was undeterred by the party's
slap on his thick wrist. In his relentless campaign to provoke the EZLN
into an aggressive response, Albores - and a consortium of friendly
contractors - have been building a network of state roads that penetrate
deeper and deeper into the Lacandon jungle enclave where the Zapatista
high command is encamped.
The roads, being carved out of the forest under the pretext of bringing
social progress to remote communities, link up military installations in
the region, endanger the neighboring Montes Azules United Nations-
sponsored biosphere, and irritate jungle villages who complain that the
arrival of the soldiers is inevitably accompanied by truckloads of
prostitutes and the sale of alcohol - an item prohibited in EZLN base
communities.
When this past August 15th, pro-Zapatistas villagers in Amador Hernandez
used civil disobedience to block road surveyors, state police and federal
troops - some of them parachuted in - moved to subdue the Tzeltal Indian
protestors. Much like southern U.S. sheriffs during the anti- segregation
struggles of the 1960s, military police used batons and tear gas on the
Indian settlers. The tear gas canisters reportedly contained an English
language warning that they were for "the exclusive use of the U.S. Army."
Albores and several television crews immediately helicoptered into the
nearby military base at San Quintin to take charge of the deteriorating
situation. Lashing out at "outside agitators" like the celebrated actress
Ofelia Medina, a staunch Zapatista supporter, and a handful of students
from the strike-bound National Autonomous University who had journeyed to
Amador Hernandez to document the military incursion, the Ghiapas governor
threatened to have them all thrown in Cerro Hueco for high felonies unless
they speedily abandoned the state. "Chiapas for us Chiapanecos!" the
pear-shaped, sweating Albores roared to a few Indians assembled by the PRI
for the occasion. Echoing the epithets of petrified old South states
rightists, Albores swore to defend the honor and sovereignty of a Chiapas
to which he has only recently returned against the impositions of the
Zedillo government.
The lynch mob ambiance stirred up by the Governor kicked in right away
in Lacandon jungle communities under PRI control. On Saturday, August
21st, a Mexican doctor and two Basque human rights observers were beaten,
robbed, and sexually abused by PRI villagers on a track leading out of the
area that is heavily patrolled by security forces. Up in San Cristobal,
the capital of the Chiapas highlands, the city council which is dominated
by a right-wing PRI clique known as the "authentic Coletos" declared
Medina (her most popular film role was playing Mexican icon Frida Kahlo)
"persona non grata" and gave her 72 hours to get out of town or face the
consequences.
Apparently stimulated by the latest hostilities, Governor RAG staged a
self-congratulatory parade of government workers on Sunday August 22nd in
the state capital. The next day, outraged by Albores' incendiary
proclamations, 8000 Tzotzil Indian supporters of the EZLN descended from
the mountains above San Cristobal to demand RAG's resignation - among the
marchers was Ofelia Medina in open defiance of the get-out-of-town-or-else
orders. According to Hermann Bellinghausen, crack "cronista" for the
national daily La Jornada which pays particular attention to the Chiapas
conflict, the march was led by an extremely skinny mongrel with a sign
around its neck that warned "Croquets" he would wind up like the mangy
"chucho" (Tzoztzil slang for dog.)
Lamentably, most Chiapanecos never got to see Bellinghausen's chronicle
of the march, the largest in San Cristobal since the Acteal massacre.
Governor RAG's press policy is to buy off local Chiapas media in standard
PRI fashion and to send his agents out to every newsstand in the state to
confiscate all the Jornadas when they arrive each day at noon from Mexico
City.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Author, poet, and aging bon vivant John Ross is desperately seeking
venues for an East Coast swing September 20th-October 4th. Any ideas?
To contact John Ross:
525-510-3376 johnross@igc.apc.org
++++++++++
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107,this material is distributed
without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest.
This information is for non-profit research and education purposes only.
++We encourage you to reproduce this information but please give credit to
the source, translator and publication. Thank you.**
-- For MAI-not (un)subscription information, posting guidelines and links to other MAI sites please see http://mai.flora.org/--------- "RE: Escalating Crisis in Chiapas" ---------
Date: Sun, 12 Sep 1999 19:37:17 -0400 From: Carol <radred@ix.netcom.com> Subj: Fwd: Escalating Crisis in Chiapas ------- FORWARD, Original message follows ------- Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1999 22:53:12 -0500 (CDT) From: Michael Eisenscher <meisenscher@igc.org> Subj: Escalating Crisis in Chiapas
THIS IS A MESSAGE FROM THE MILWAUKEE PLEDGE OF RESISTANCE. If you wish not to receive these notices, reply to that effect by return mail. Virtually all will relate to foreign policy issues. For newsletter archives, foreign policy lecture notes, coming events, links to other information, etc., consult our website at <http://www.execpc.com/~forpolcy>http://www.execpc.com<http://www.execpc.com /~forpolcy>/~forpolcy. J.M. Barrett, Coordinator +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The essence of a message from Mexico Solidarity Network via Michigan Peace Team michpeacteam@peacenet.org follows:
As bad as it has been it is getting much worse. Since August 14, the Mexican army has sent another 10,000 soldiers into new camps in the Lacandon Jungle. For the first time since 1994, the army has penetrated the Montes Azules biosphere where the general command of the EZLN is presumed to live. Approximately thirty communities in the region are in a virtual state of siege. Army troops attacked the inhabitants of Amador Hernandez in the municipality of Ocosingo with US-made tear gas, wounding several indigenous men and women. Access to the community has been obstructed, even for the people who live there. The army has taken possession of lands near the community and has surrounded them with barbed wire. The community is being terrorized by constant airplane and helicopter flights over the area and by the presence of Public Security forces. The government claims the army is there to protect the people. But it is terrorizing them. Many are wounded and some are killed and many flee into the jungle as the "search and destroy mission" of the army continues to escalate. Please call your representative and senators and encourage them to contact the State Department with a request that the State Department call on the Mexican government to end the militarization of Chiapas, respect human rights and implement the San Andres Accords. Ask your representative and senators or an aide to accompany the Mexico Solidarity Network's emergency delegation to Chiapas, September 16-21. For more information, please contact the Mexico Solidarity Network <http://www.mexicosolidarity.org/>http://www.mexicosolidarity.org <http://www.mexicosolidarity.org/>/ or 773-583-7728 or Global Exchange at 415-255-7296 ext. 236 or 239
--------- "RE: Report Faults Indian Affairs Bureau" ---------
Date: Sat, 11 Sep 1999 22:24:31 -0500 From: hdqrs@worldnet.att.net Subj: Report Faults Indian Affairs Bureau
Mailing List: TRIBALLAW (triballaw@thecity.sfsu.edu)
Thursday September 9 6:33 PM ET Report Faults Indian Affairs Bureau By MATT KELLEY Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - The federal agency responsible for most programs serving American Indians is so badly mismanaged it often breaks the law, according to an outside report released Thursday. The Bureau of Indian Affairs "has been unable to meet the basic requirements for administrative systems within the federal government," said the report from the National Academy of Public Administration. "The lack of credible management at BIA appears to impair its capacity to represent Indians within the administration and before Congress," the report said. "Its administrative problems are real and must be corrected for BIA to meet governmental requirements and regain management credibility." BIA head Kevin Gover had asked for the report to provide a blueprint for reforming the often-criticized agency, which has a $1.7 billion budget and oversees programs for 1.2 million Indians in 558 tribes. "These are deserved criticisms of the bureau," Gover said at a news conference where the report was released. The report is the latest to criticize BIA management. A group of Indians also is suing the agency over mismanagement of about $500 million in accounts benefiting individual Indians. The judge in that case held Gover and his boss, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, in contempt of court for repeated delays in handing over documents. At a trial in part of that lawsuit this summer, Gover and Babbitt admitted the funds had been mismanaged for decades but said they were working to fix those problems. Examples of BIA management failures cited by the NAPA report include: -Recordkeeping is so incomplete and haphazard that the Interior Department's internal watchdog cannot fully document BIA spending. -Money management is so lax that the BIA routinely violates federal laws governing agency finances, including rules on loan costs, debt collections and prompt payments. -Systems for buying goods and services have been flawed for decades and are getting worse. -Job manuals either are out of date or missing entirely. Gover and Babbitt blamed much of the problem on the BIA's chronic lack of adequate funding, especially budget cuts in 1996 that hit administrative employees the hardest. For years, the BIA cut administrative staff to focus on providing services, Gover and Babbitt said. "All of a sudden, they're looking around and saying, 'Hey, there's nobody here,"' Babbitt said. Gover, who was appointed in 1997, said he plans to follow several of the report's suggestions immediately. Chief among them is creating a policy, management and budget office to focus on correcting the management problems. Gover said the BIA would likely need as many as 250 new management employees to fix the problems, though he added that estimate was just a guess. The report said fixing the management problems could cost between $10 million and $15 million for new staff.
--------- "RE: Activist Urges Press to Ask Tougher Questions" ---------
Date: Sat, 11 Sep 1999 11:47:24 -0500 From: "Shunkmanitu Ska" <shunka-ska@altavista.net> Subj: From Lincon JS
Newsgroup: alt.native
Indian activist urges press to ask tougher questions ------------------------------------------------------------------------ OMAHA (AP) -- An American Indian activist arrested for protesting beer sales in Whiteclay says most Nebraskans know the motivation of the Santee and Oglala Sioux tribes in their current conflicts with the state. But Frank LaMere said Friday the press needs to find what motivates the people trying to stop American Indians from improving their lives. "Don't let them get by without tough questions. Don't let them get by without a fight," LaMere said at the Nebraska Associated Press Association meeting. When the right questions are asked, LaMere said, reporters probably will find some enemies. LaMere said journalists can take advantage of a lesson he recently learned from an Apache holy man. "Life is not all that it seems," he said. LaMere said the state's newspapers have been fair in reporting controversies about the Santee Sioux casino in northeast Nebraska and beer sales at Whiteclay in the northwest, but there is more to the stories. He encouraged journalists to know and understand the people they write about. LaMere said the public will gain trust in the press when that happens. LaMere said if you ask the people who oppose the Santee and Oglalas why they are doing so, "It probably has to do with money." "Right now in the state of Nebraska there are 20 Indians the state stands ready to prosecute, the state stands ready to incarcerate," LaMere said. He is one of them, having been arrested during protest marches on Whiteclay. LaMere said the Oglala only want to sober up their people, stop highway carnage and end domestic abuse caused by beer sales in Whiteclay. The Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, across the border from Whiteclay, has one of the nation's highest alcoholism-related mortality rates. Eleven members of the Santee tribal council recently avoided jail for disobeying a court order to close their casino when a judge ruled a tribal referendum prevented them from acting. The government still wants the casino closed. American Indians risk going to prison because they want things to be better, LaMere said. "Find the motivation of those who seek to silence those individuals," he urged.
--------- "RE: Teen-ager's Life Crossed Cultural Lines" ---------
Date: Sat, 11 Sep 1999 11:47:24 -0500 From: "Shunkmanitu Ska" <shunka-ska@altavista.net> Subj: From Lincon JS
Newsgroup: alt.native
NICE NEWS Teen-ager's life crossed cultural lines BY JODI RAVE Lincoln Journal Star ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tawni Perez once told her father she wanted to be buried the same way her grandmother was -- in a Native American Church ceremony. And so she was. On Wednesday morning hundreds attended her funeral service at the Lincoln Indian Center. The 15-year-old Lincoln High School student died Friday when a suspected drunken driver hit a car she was riding in, pushing it into oncoming traffic. At the funeral, dozens of the popular teen-ager's friends wore white "Tawni Perez - R.I.P. 1984-1999" T-shirts emblazoned with her photo. The red-lettered shirts were the idea of Matthew Kulawik, the sophomore student's boyfriend. "This is the cutest girl I've ever seen in my life," said Kulawik, his fingers lightly tracing the outline of Perez's face. She was the one person, he said, who had time to "just sit down and listen to me." Kulawik, a 16-year-old Lincoln High School junior, was among the hundreds of white, brown, tan, olive and black-skinned faces of those who came to say good- bye to a young woman born into American Indian, Hispanic and white cultures. Her multicultural funeral service, held within the Lincoln Indian Center's powwow arena, borrowed from both Protestant values and native traditions. Pastors Geoff Gonifas and Kevin Pringle encouraged worshipers to seize the day and enjoy moments with loved ones because time spent together may be the last. "I have a 15-year-old daughter," said Mayor Don Wesely, who attended the funeral. "I was very moved. I wanted to share (the community's) concern for the family and the sense of loss we all feel." Young and old uniformly described the teen-ager as a comedic angel: funny, caring, understanding, cool, bright, strong and nurturing. "She made everybody smile," said her uncle, Roger Perez. Said Twyla Schaub, her great aunt: "Tawni knew unconditional love." Summed up 14-year-old Shawnta Olsen: "She was a real good kid. She was nice to everybody." About 40 of Perez's friends attended an all-night Native American Church wake prior to the funeral. Mitchell Sheridan oversaw the services, just as he had done for her Omaha Indian grandmother 1 1/2 years ago. Shortly after the grandmother's funeral, Perez told her father she wanted to be buried the same way, said Sheridan. Last year a liaison for Indian education classes in the Lincoln Public Schools system asked Perez to talk about her most significant cultural achievement. She said it was the night she spent at her grandmother's side. Said the liaison, Emma Cayou Phillips: "She said when her grandmother died she was able to speak to her."
--------- "RE: Voting by Indian Representatives Unconstitutional" ---------
Date: Sun, 12 Sep 1999 11:09:14 EDT From: MarthaET@aol.com Subj: Maine Attorney General: Voting by Indian representatives unconstitutional
Mailing List: TRIBALLAW (triballaw@thecity.sfsu.edu)
Attorney General: Voting by Indian representatives unconstitutional http://www.boston.com/dailynews/254/region/ Attorney_General_Voting_by_Ind:.shtml
By Associated Press, 09/11/99 14:20 AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) The Maine Attorney General's office says giving the vote to the Legislature's two tribal representatives would violate the state and U.S. Constitutions. Assistant Attorney General William Stokes appeared Friday before a panel that is examining the issue, amid a new push for voting rights by members of the Penobscot Nation and Passamaquoddy Tribe. Members of the two tribes say they cannot have full representation without the power to vote on new laws. But Stokes said giving the vote to a representative of about 2,000 Indians would violate the "one person, one vote" principle of the U.S. Constitution, since other lawmakers represent about 8,000 people. The tribal representatives can speak on the floor, but are barred from voting on legislation or in committee, under current regulations. The panel, called the Committee to Address the Recognition of the Tribal Government Representatives of Maine's Sovereign Nations in the Legislature, will hold more meetings before reporting back to the Legislature. The group has few precedents to go on, since Maine is the only state with tribal representatives. Richmond resident Donna M. Loring, a representative of the Penobscot Nation who sits on the study commission, noted that the Indian nations predate both the state and national government. That means they have enjoyed special "government-to-government" relationship that could justify voting rights for the tribe's representatives, she said. Princeton resident Donald G. Soctomah, representing the Passamaquoddy Tribe, suggested that obstacles in the state constitution could be removed through popular referendum. The Maine Constitution says lawmakers must be elected by popular vote to cast votes on legislation, but Indian representatives are elected by tribal vote. Penobscot Nation attorney Kaighn Smith said the "very soul" of Indian culture is the ability to self-govern. Giving their representatives the full vote has "tremendous potential" for alleviating the tensions between the tribes and state government, he said. But that's more say in state government than some tribes have, such as the Micmac and Maliseet tribes. Maliseet Chief Brenda Commander said representation could help ease the tribe's problems with police protection and taxes. She said local, state and county police departments are often confused about who should respond to tribal emergencies, and Houlton officials have demanded full taxation for a tribal low-income housing project, complicating funding for additional projects.
--------- "RE: Eagle Feathers" ---------
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1999 09:57:48 -0700 From: Ron Andrade <randrade@sprynet.com> Subj: Eagle Feathers
Mailing List: TRIBALLAW (triballaw@thecity.sfsu.edu)
Since this issue had come up before, I thought some of you might be interested in the problem the Governor is having with an Eagle feather. This appeared in the LA Times. Ron
Thursday, September 9, 1999 An Eagle Feather--and Controversy--for Governor Rituals: It is a misdemeanor to possess the item without a permit. Tribal official's gift troubles some Indians. By DAN MORAIN, Times Staff Writer SACRAMENTO--Among Native Americans, there is no honor higher than receiving an eagle feather. It's a symbol of high achievement and great spiritual power. Few Native Americans ever attain such status. So Gov. Gray Davis' aides used reverential tones to announce that an eagle feather had been bestowed upon their boss at a meeting with Indians last week as Native Americans and Davis negotiated the future of casinos on tribal land. In the non-Indian world, however, possession of an eagle feather is known by a different term: misdemeanor. It's punishable by six months in jail or a $1,000 fine, or both--unless the person possessing it is a Native American or has a government permit. "It's in his office," Davis spokesman Michael Bustamante said of the feather Wednesday. "As I understand it, it is a very high privilege." But while California's governor has a great deal of power over many things, Davis has no permit from state or federal wildlife officials to possess the plumage. "You can't possess any raptor feather under state law or federal law," a California Department of Fish and Game spokesman said--although, after further thought, the spokesman noted that there is an exemption allowing the state to own eagle feathers. Perhaps, he suggested, given that Davis is governor of the state, it is legal for him to have the feather after all. On Wednesday, Bustamante said Davis accepted the feather "on behalf of the state," not himself. But Bustamante said Davis' lawyers "are looking at obtaining the necessary permits." Legalities notwithstanding, the feather--delivered by a Cabazon Indian representative who is not Native American--caused some Native Americans in Davis' conference room that day to squirm. "My tribe doesn't give eagle feathers," said the chairman of another Southern California tribe. "It's not even appropriate to pass them around. " Davis received the feather from Mark Nichols, chief executive of the Cabazon band of Mission Indians, located outside Indio. Nichols has been in the news recently, fighting a federal charge of conspiring to defraud the Federal Elections Commission in connection with federal campaign donations. Nichols, a participant in negotiations on the future of gambling on California reservations, could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Pat Schoonover, director of legal affairs for the Cabazon band, said the tribe did not "give" Davis the feather. Rather, he was "entrusted" with it. Native Americans, he noted, believe that "no one can own an animal. Only the creator can own an animal." Clarence Atwell Jr., chairman of the Santa Rosa Rancheria near Lemore and a spiritual leader of the Tachiyokut tribe, described eagle feathers as "one of the strongest medicines we have." Being brushed by an eagle feather is spiritually cleansing, he said, akin to being blessed by the pope. Atwell has eagle wings and feathers. He uses them in his role as a tribal leader. But to obtain them, Atwell had to fill out lengthy applications to a federal eagle repository, justifying why he wanted them, and join a long waiting list. About four years later, the eagle parts arrived. "You have to earn it," Atwell said. At last week's meeting, Nichols asked Atwell to bless the feather. He did so. But whether Davis has earned the honor is another question. "It has been given," Atwell said. "We'll just let it sit there, and work on him."
--------- "RE: Mississippi Band of Choctaw Thriving" ---------
Date: Sun, 12 Sep 1999 10:55:11 +0000 From: "Rita Mattera" <ebicom.net@Edison.EBICom.Net> Subj: Choctaws thriving
Mailing List: TRIBALLAW (triballaw@thecity.sfsu.edu)
Tribe's industries generating millions in wages, income tax By Patrice Sawyer Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians' industries generated more than $172.6 million in wages and $4.8 million in state income tax in 1998, according to the first complete study on the tribe's direct and indirect economic impact. The tribe's industrial, service and governmental sectors place the tribe among the 10 largest employers in the state, said Lowell Goodman, president of the Hattiesburg-based consulting firm The Goodman Group and author of the impact study. He said the tax revenues generated are significant and higher than most would expect. "(The tribe) actually puts money into the system. There is a general consensus that reservations absorb money. It's actually quite the opposite," he said. While Indians employed by the tribe don't pay income taxes on revenues, its non-Indian employees do, and it purchases goods and services in the state. The Choctaws employ 5,822 people, of which 2,637 are Indian. The study shows 6,290 additional jobs were created in 1998 because of the Choctaws' various enterprises, which include nine manufacturing facilities, a construction company and a casino. The tribe commissioned the study through the University of Southern Mississippi's economic development department to find out what was the impact on the state's economy, said Chief Phillip Martin. "Many in the state say the tribe doesn't pay tax. I think the study will prove the tribe is contributing heavily to the state Tax Commission," he said. Unlike the state-regulated casinos, the tribe's Silver Star Resort and Casino does not pay state taxes on its revenues. However, Martin noted that its revenues remain in the state, unlike revenues generated by those state-regulated casinos that are based elsewhere. The reservation's unemployment rate dropped from 75 percent in 1979 to 4 percent in 1998. The tribe's progress was featured in a July 23 article in The Wall Street Journal. The article said Martin, 73, is unique because he runs a conglomerate that does everything from making auto parts to running casinos. The Choctaws manufacture products for companies such as Ford, DaimlerChrysler, McDonald's and Xerox. "U.S. government assistance has never been adequate. Our philosophy has been why not develop our own economy. It has been long and hard," Martin said. The 25,000-acre Choctaw reservation, principally in East Central Mississippi, includes portions of Neshoba, Attala, Jackson, Jones, Kemper, Leake, Newton, Scott and Winston counties. State Sen. Terry Jordan, D-Philadelphia, said he hasn't seen the study yet, but he is familiar with the economic development the tribe brings to his region of the state. "They are a fantastic employer. As the national economy goes up and down, our economy stays fairly stable or grows because of the industries of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians," he said. Neshoba County is home to the majority of the tribe's employees, 2,867. One of the best known economic endeavors has been the Silver Star Resort and Casino in Philadelphia, which has a 500-room hotel, a 525,000-square foot casino complex and two championship 18-hole golf courses. It's an integral part of the tribe's economic plan for the next five years, Martin said. He is considering a shopping center next door, more hotel rooms, additional casino games, an entertainment auditorium, parking garage and cultural center. Rob Stillwell, spokesman for Boyd Gaming Corp. in Las Vegas, which manages the casino, said the Choctaws' willingness to reinvest in the property has made is successful. "Their vision from where that property would become is what we liked," he said. "The Choctaw Indians had a proven track record in other businesses, and Chief Martin and Bill Boyd (chairman of Boyd) really hit if off." High-paying, technical jobs rank high on the list of goals for the future. Many local Choctaws now earn more than minimum wage, and the number of people willing to work for low-paying jobs is few. That's why the Choctaws moved one of its manufacturing plants from Mississippi to Mexico. "We felt we didn't have enough people there to employ for the increase of volume, so we sent most of our increases to Mexico. We're looking for higher-paying jobs and higher technology jobs we can manufacture ourselves," Martin said. "Now, we have better-educated people. I think we can move up to high-tech." He said because of the tribe's success at the beginning, many manufacturers heard about it and wanted to do business with minority enterprises. That's what he hopes will spark more economic development in the state. "I think all of us, all Mississippians, should have an interest in trying to provide opportunities for its people so that the living standards and opportunities will increase and will certainly create a better way of life," he said. "Success brings on success." The Clarion-Ledger Jackson, Mississippi Sunday, Sep. 12, 1999
--------- "RE: Hay for Livestock Feed" ---------
Date: Wed, 08 Sep 1999 08:24:49 -0800 From: BMFINANCE <redorman@theofficenet.com> Subj: HAY FOR LIVESTOCK FEED ------- FORWARD, Original message follows ------- Date: Tue, 7 Sep 1999 21:04:01 -0400 From: Carol Halberstadt <carol@migrations.com>
Mailing List: BMFINANCE <redorman@theofficenet.com>
I just got this message from Suzanne (below). Local alfalfa hay, which is a complete food, can be bought from the Navajo tribe locally for about $50-$60 ton (half what it costs at full retail). This is ideal for the corralled "unpermitted" livestock (horses, cows, sheep, donkeys) and any HPL animals on the Winslow Tract. It's also a lot less expensive to deliver the hay from local sources--so funds for purchasing it locally would seem more practical than hauling it from LA. "Spoke with Marsha's sister, Rita Sebastian, this morning who asked me to pass on this information to you regarding livestock HAY. Apparently, Marsha would like to be able to purchase hay intended for livestock locally, in Arizona, and asked if the Caravan Team could set up a collection or fund for that specific purpose. The reason is, it seems the cows didn't eat (did not like) the hay forwarded from L.A. (or wherever its origin was), as it had bleach or other foreign substances in it that the cows did not respond to. ....The cows like local hay..." GOOD LUCK WITH "Operation Grandmother Relief." I'll try and ship some good quality clothes--good women's sweaters, skirts, pants--out to you in time for the caravan. Otherwise, I'll just send it off to Glenna's. all the best, Carol -- Carol S. Halberstadt, Migrations (carol@migrations.com) Native American art and crafts http://www.migrations.com ------------------------------------------ This message was sent to you by Name: BMFINANCE Email Address: redorman@theofficenet.com IP Address: ppp-55.odienet.net
--------- "RE: Dineh Matriarch's Defiance Update" ---------
Date: Sun, 12 Sep 1999 22:01:21 -0700 From: Robert Dorman <redorman@theofficenet.com> Subj: [Fwd: Dineh Matriarch's defiance Update.....] ------- FORWARD, Original message follows ------- From: "nabahe keediniihii" <iindon49@hotmail.com> Subj: Dineh Matriarch's defiance Update.....
Mailing List: Big Mountain List <BIGMTLIST@onelist.com>
This outgoing update has a limited mailing list from the previous one concerning Pauline Whitesinger resisting Police Order. Please, distribute this far and wide, and also, take note that this is not being posted on any other host sites.
On Friday September 10, 1999, Pauline and supporter Ms. Swangeagle returned from doing business outside the HPL when they notice that large sized, hiking boots prints led up to the site of the Peace Camp. There they saw a posted notice that was put up by the BIA Hopi Agents (either the Monitors or the Police). Excepts from the posted noticed said:
THIS NOTICE IS FOR:
-PAULINE WHITESINGER, BONNIE WHITESINGER, BOB CHAD, MS. SWANEAGLE, AND 'THE OTHER CAUCASIAN WOMAN' NAMED CONNIE.[This must have referred to a supporter named, Carrie and also, Ms. Swaneagle's six yr. old daughter, Taina, was not mentioned.]
YOUR ARE ALL WHEREBY BEING ASKED TO DISMANTLED THIS 'UNAUTHORIZED' STRUCTURE IMMEDIATELY. THIS 'UNAUTHORIZED' STRUCTURE IS INDICATING THAT IT IS INTENDED TO BE USE FOR PERMANENT PURPOSES. FAILURE TO DISMANTLED THIS STRUCTURE WILL RESULT IN THE APPROPRIATE INSTITUTION OF LEGAL PROCESS IN ORDER TO REINSURE 'HOPI RIGHTS.'
Dineh Non-Signer, Pauline Whitesinger, was in Flagstaff last night and was wanting to have someone (supporters) to send additional message out on her behalf. She had, also, wish for another translation of this notice, but even I (Bahe) can't translate what the term "result in the appropriate 'institution' of legal process" means or how I can translate that to a traditional Dineh elder. Pauline is still determine to resist this order and wants immediate witnesses at her cornfield where the Peace Camp is located. Myself and the Black Mesa Indigenous Support group will try our very best to get recording or documenting resources up there. A couple of supporters have gone up this pass weekend, and we're hoping to hear more by Monday. If anyone with some legal understanding can help us what that terminology means, please, inform us so that we can let Pauline know. Also, take note that Pauline feels that no American attorney will adequately represent her case. She wants to represent herself in case this results in going to court. Lets hope she does not get arrested or harm. I (Bahe) want to reaffirmed that the Deadline for Support networking for Feb. 2000 has passed! So, please do what you can do to intervene with this BIA threat. We realize many of you cannot come out. However, from here on we must all take extreme considerations for on-land strategies to take hold as many Non-Signers have indicated. Pauline has said while in Flagstaff that, Supporters need to spread the message that more helpers/witnesses are needed throughout the coming fall and winter. People need to commit themselves to stay for a short or long-term on the land (HPL). Again, they must try to be self-sufficient, strong minded: mentally and spiritually, physically healthy, and believe in the implementation of appropriate Human Rights. Also, if you have alternative media contacts please get their interests. Finally, we ask for further efforts in raising awareness and perhaps, through local to large musical events. We must all stress that THIS IS NOT A DINEH (NAVAJO) VERSUS HOPI ISSUE, BUT THE US GOV'T WILL USE THIS AS A COVER-UP UP UNTIL FEB. 2000!! For more information, please contact the Black Mesa Indigenous Support at 520-773-8086 and leave all information needed on the Voice Mail. Or contact myself at this e-mail address. We thank you for your time and prayers. In the Spirit of Chief Barboncito, Bahe
--------- "RE: Children Try to Walk Line Between Old and New" ---------
Date: Mon, 6 Sep 1999 11:11:54 -0700 (MST) From: chris@U.ARIZONA.edu Subj: Where Tradition Meets Today: Children try to walk line between old, new, bear burden of guilt (fwd) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sept. 5, 1999 http://www.azcentral.com/news/reid/index.shtml
Children try to walk line between old, new, bear burden of guilt By Betty Reid The Arizona Republic Sept. 5, 1999 It's not yet 4 a.m. and my mother is already stirring inside her hogan perched on the ledge of a sandstone ridge. Her arthritic hand fumbles beneath the pillow for her flashlight. She needs the flashlight so that she can find the matches stashed in an empty Gerber bottle on a shelf. She needs the matches so she can light a kerosene lamp. By the light of the lamp, my mother limps across the uneven floor and out the front door to perform her morning prayer ritual to the Dawn People. She holds up a fistful of white cornmeal and lets it sprinkle slowly through her fingers so that the Navajo gods will bless the day. Afterward, she makes her way to the outhouse 50 feet north of the hogan. Her calico skirt swishes among wild plants as she walks with care, fearful of tripping over the tiny gullies made by recent rains. "Desk'aaz -- it's cold," Dorothy remarks as she re-enters the hogan, her morning rituals complete. "Diyoo'l shii," says my Aunt Jeanette, who has just awoken and is forecasting wind. The lives my mother and aunt lead in Tuba City on the Navajo Reservation seem even farther removed than the 237 miles that separate them from me in Phoenix. They have no electricity, no running water, no phone, no heat other than that provided by the wood stove. They live in a space no bigger than a large living room. Their beds are foam mats covered with cloth and placed on the dirt floor. The nearest neighbor is half a mile away. The health clinic and the trading post are more than three miles, too far for two women in their 70s to walk easily anymore. Their isolation is new to the four generations of my family that have grown up on the reservation in remote northeastern Arizona. My aunt sums up the change when she plaintively asks: "Al'chinii Haa'ji'adahaskai -- where are the children?" The children's photos are pinned to the hogan's octagonal walls along with outdated calendars, tapestry, political literature, a faded copy of the National Enquirer, two wall clocks and bags of herbs. In contrast, my two-story, red-roofed townhouse in the Valley is filled with modern comforts. It has two bedrooms, three baths and a kitchen. A tiny box attached to the wall controls the temperature. Clean white walls hold carefully positioned family photos and Native American art posters that complement the Southwestern-style furniture. I love my home and my cul-de-sac of neat homes, manicured lawns, pruned bushes and towering palm trees. But I feel guilty. There is an old Navajo saying: "Nima, nizhe'e baa aholya -- take care of your mother, take care of your father." It is a tradition every Navajo child is taught. It is a tradition, a way of life, that I have broken with my distance. I live in a house where hot water boils simply by punching buttons on a microwave oven. My mother must build a fire before she can boil water. If I lived nearby, I could order my teenage daughter to chop wood and build a fire for them. She could fill the shelf with cut wood every day. When I was a child, six people held our family together like a tight weave in my aunt's patterned rugs. They were my paternal grandmother Edith; her daughters, Dora, Lutie and Jeanette; and my mother, Dorothy, who married Edith's son Willie, my late father. Jeanette cared for my late paternal grandmother, feeding her soft food, cleaning her bed and making sure Edith wore clean clothes. My girl cousins cared for their late mother, Lutie, during her last illness. In our generation, more than 30 children emerged from this camp. "Don't be scared, Yahze (little one)," my mother would tell me. "You are among your relatives." I felt warm and safe then. I do the best I can for them now. I make the four-hour drive about twice a month, taking my two daughters with me. We stay the weekend, chopping and hauling wood, getting their truck repaired and herding sheep. During dry spells, we haul barrels filled with water to the livestock tanks. When the heavy work is done, we cook, wash dishes and clean clothes. I have tried to persuade my mother and aunt to come share my easy life, but they don't want to leave their sheep, their familiar things, their home. Occasionally, my mother agrees to visit. I remember one such weekend in 1997. She fell asleep on the couch watching a college football game. She wasn't interested in my husband's attempt to show her the Web. And when I took her to the Heard Museum, the Southwest native exhibits bored her. " 'A'lk'idaa'yee -- that's the old," she told me. What did she want to see? A fabric shop, she said. She spent hours touching and admiring the fabrics, especially the velveteen and silk, which are handsome barter for the services of a medicine man. While most of the conveniences in my house failed to interest my mother, the tub did. During her two-day visit, she took four 50-minute baths, luxuriating in hot water. Each time she left the tub, my daughter scrubbed off the red ring of dirt common in northern Arizona. Weeks later, we heard from relatives how my mother summed up our urban lifestyle: We slept a lot and allowed machines to control us, she said. Particularly annoying was the noisy machine that browned bread and spat it out. "The city makes people lazy," Dorothy was quoted saying. "People say they go to work, then they come home, sit down and watch television." One time I asked my mother to spend an entire week with me. She declined. "I'll be alone. I can't communicate with my granddaughters or your husband," she said in Navajo. "What will I do here while you work? I have my relatives and my flock at home. Who will care for my sheep?" My mother and aunt are proud of their vigorous, seminomadic lifestyle. They snort at the wilderness and the hardships. They drive a 1990 Toyota pickup with 200,000 miles on it, following their sheep and goats from one camp to another. They value sheep, relatives and sprawling land tied to their religion of hozho: beauty, balance, calm and stability. "We are able," my mother tells me each time I visit. But I notice her limp grows worse and more wisps of white hair peek out from beneath her blue scarf. When we were growing up, no one told us how to care for our parents and still make our way in the world. My father encouraged us to hold tight to our religion and Ke', a term that defines how Navajos relate and treat each other. "Saanii doo baa jood loh da, baa jighaah -- don't make fun of elders, because you'll get there eventually," he said. And "if you have children, raise them yourself, because grandparents are too worn out from working with the sheep to care for your children." But he also told us to get jobs and support our families. He encouraged us to go out and work, but he forgot to tell us to come back. My father spent his last three years in a nursing home, immobilized from the effects of Parkinson's disease. Relatives criticized us for allowing him to wither away in a nursing home while we worked to improve ourselves. The remarks hurt. We pledged to do better for my mother and Jeanette. Last winter, my sister and two brothers, two of Jeanette's sons and I met to discuss how we should care for the aging sanis, an affectionate term for old women. "They were there when we were young," said my eldest sister, Earlene, who lives in Salt Lake. "They fed us, kept us warm and made decisions for us at one time. Now it is our turn to help them." This is called Nihidaah nijikai -- children meeting their elders on their journey to old age, called sa' in Navajo. We discussed selling their flock of goats and sheep, but the sanis were horrified. "Dooakot'ee da - that's not how it's done," they said. We agreed that ideally, either my sister or I would return to the reservation and care for the ladies full time. Jobs, however, are scarce in Navajoland. And we have children to raise. Finally, we agreed that my cousin Vera, who lives nearby with her two young children, would look after the sanis. She would chauffeur them to clinics, read their mail and help them with the sheep when she can. In return, the six of us would help Vera with basic needs, such as hauling wood or buying clothes and groceries. So we live with the compromise - and the guilt that it is not enough. And Vera is armed with our phone numbers. -------- Betty Reid can be reached via e-mail at betty.reid@pni.com or by phone at (602) 444-8885.
--------- "RE: The Visions of Cha Tullis" ---------
Date: Wed, 1 Sep 1999 07:51:46 -0500 From: berryj@okstate.edu Subj: (FWD)Indian News 08-31-99 Roger Iron Cloud FirstNations Listserv 202.358.3252 rironcloud@acf.dhhs.gov
The visions of Cha Tullis By Jim Butcher c. Daytripper 8/29/99 He has a new vision and would like to have 10,000 acres, but will settle for less, in a final creative adventure that will bring even more visitors to Hominy. Today about 230,000 art lovers, tourists, curiosity seekers and others visit this Osage County town to see his 40 murals which brighten downtown and has made Hominy an important stop when visiting northeastern Oklahoma. The first vision of Cha Tullis, a Blackfoot Indian, began in 1990 in which the local chamber of commerce offered him black paint to begin a series of murals as part of the Oklahoma Homecoming '90 celebration with the completion of three murals. He has spent from four hours to as many as 200 hours per mural and using five to 22 gallons of paint. High on a hill to the northwest of Hominy appear 15 dark figures on horseback. They hold lances, feathers dangle from their hair and fringe from their clothing stands stiff in the breeze. Even from downtown Hominy they are an imposing sight on the horizon, a tableau of just-arrived visitors titled "New County," according to writer Ann DeFrange. "On top of the hill, it is, therefore amazing that they are thin, metal silhouettes firmly planted in the ground." The figures stand between 16 and 19 feet tall. Their total weight is about 30,000 pounds. They are mounted in some 6,800 pounds of cement and braced by 2-inch oil-field pipe and sucker rods in 54 holes dug five feet in the ground. Tullis calls the natural pedestal Hominy Hill, the place where he played in his youth. Soon after he started the murals, in 1990, the familiar hill connected with the image of Indians on horseback. He's through with the massive sculpture. As far as he's concerned, it belongs to the town and the owners of the hill now. Like the murals, Tullis has not been paid for any of the artwork he's created for the Hominy public. No one gets to tell him how to do free work, he said. The third and final vision of this likeable man, who started drawing at the age of 2, is a sculptured art park, a concept he's developed over many years of imagining. It will include his home, a gallery for his artwork, outdoor sculptures, places for people to come and stay and forget that they are in the 21st century. He isn't concerned about the fact that this project also has no funding. "It will be done," he said. "The secret to life is someone to love, something to do, something to look forward to. We make life too complicated," he has been quoted. When you come to the park, you may stay for a day or a month, being stripped of the mechanics and technology of today's civilization and discover who you really are. "Here, you will get away from what man thinks is entertainment," Tullis, 43, said. "Here, whether you are 8 or 98, you will be able to let your hair down and feel the clay between your fingers." He see's the project as a "long, long road to reality. But it will happen before I die."
--------- "RE: Site May Unlock Tragic History of the Caddo" ---------
Date: Wed, 1 Sep 1999 07:51:46 -0500 From: berryj@okstate.edu Subj: (FWD)Indian News 08-31-99 Roger Iron Cloud FirstNations Listserv 202.358.3252 rironcloud@acf.dhhs.gov
Texas Archaeological Site May Unlock Tragic History of the Caddo Culture: The tribe occupied a vast stretch of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma for a millennium, but in 1840s those who survived were forced onto a reservation. By MIKE DRAGO, c. Associated Press c. 8/30/99 AUSTIN, Texas--In a nondescript state office building, Mark Parsons sorts remnants of a once-great civilization into cardboard box lids. There are colorful pottery shards. Rusted pieces of a flintlock gun. Scores of emerald-green and blood-red beads--each meticulously assigned a serial number. Parsons and state archaeologists are reconstructing the recent history of the Caddo, American Indians who for a millennium occupied a vast stretch of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma until 160 years ago, when they were forced onto a reservation. An excavation sponsored by the Texas Historical Commission is underway in east Texas; the project has confirmed the site near Caddo Lake as Sha'chadinnih, the last Caddo village. Jim Bruseth, director of the commission's archeology division, ranks Sha'chadinnih alongside the Alamo--and among Texas' most important historical sites. "For a long period of time there's been a real bias in terms of identifying important Anglo-American sites in Texas," he says. "Here we have one of the most important Native American sites in Texas, not only because of the artifacts we find but also because it represents the last location of a culture." Before their land was gradually taken by European-Americans and the Osage, the Caddo farmed, hunted and traded from villages established throughout the region. Parsons calls them a powerful people, revered by other Indians as "the father of tribes." In "Caddo Indians: Where We Come From," historian Cecile Carter writes that "the Caddo appear to have been, even in the earliest times, very good diplomats, able to establish good relations with tribes along their borders." Carter traces the tribe's earliest reference back five centuries, when Indians told Spanish explorers of a nation to the north with a strong sociopolitical structure, where "no one dared cross their borders without permission." In the late 1700s and early 1800s, the Caddo became a political force due to geography, positioned between the Americans and the Spanish in what would later become Texas. The state, incidentally, is named for the Caddo word for "friend," pronounced "taysha." "They were being courted right and left and made all these promises," Bruseth says. "Then just as soon as those issues got resolved and Texas became a republic, the Caddo were no longer important. So they were kicked out of their homeland." Sha'chadinnih is a phonetic approximation of the Caddo name. The language was never written. The village was settled in about 1800 after disease--probably smallpox imported from Europe--decimated their population. The survivors--some 2,000 villagers--might have been the remnants of several Caddo groups trying to preserve their tribe by boosting population, Bruseth says. The Caddo, who mistakenly believed their land was part of U.S. territory when in fact it was Mexico's, sold it to the United States in 1835. Then the last of them left in 1842, relocated first to a reservation near the Brazos River and then to Oklahoma in the 1850s. "Today," Bruseth says, "the Caddo are largely relegated to a footnote in our history books," their story "one of terrible tragedy." Lost for a century and a half, Sha'chadinnih was found in six weeks by two Louisiana men. Jaques Bagur, a historian at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, scoured maps from the 1800s. Then Claude McCrocklin, an amateur archaeologist from Shreveport, used Bagur's research and spotted a distinct loop in James Bayou on an 1841 map. McCrocklin found the same loop on a modern map, near the bend where Caddo Lake sweeps northeast into Louisiana, and headed there with a metal detector early last year. It wasn't long before he found the village site, amid 70-foot pines on gently rolling terrain about 40 miles northeast of Marshall. International Paper Co. owns the land in Marion County. "It was great, the satisfaction," says McCrocklin, a retired west Texas cattle buyer. "This had been looked for [for] many years." The Cypress Valley Alliance, a nonprofit group dedicated to preserving the county's history and environment, supported an exploratory dig last February by lining up free motel rooms and meals while McCrocklin, Parsons and others probed 75 square yards. Experts are already drawing conclusions based on some 1,350 artifacts recovered. To Parsons, tiny brass thimbles sewn on Caddo clothing suggest trading with whites who manufactured them. To Bruseth, the ear of a brass kettle suggests Caddo pottery already had lost importance. Some finds, such as shards of engraved pottery, might even help modern Caddoans reclaim the lost art of their ancestors. Stacy Halfmoon, the tribe's cultural affairs officer, endorses such gains, physical as well as spiritual. "There is much to be learned," she concedes, "as long as we can do it in a way that is respectful." Other Caddoans--about 4,000 reside in southwestern Oklahoma--are less enthusiastic about the salvage. The tribe wants to help decide what to do with artifacts and where to excavate next. "We're glad to have that information. We want to know," Halfmoon says of the find. "We would like the opportunity to express our opinion on the disposition of the site." Under Texas law, artifacts belong to International Paper. But forester Neil McGinness, representing the company, says several hundred acres near the site may be designated "unique areas" to be protected. "We're really trying to do something that would please everybody," he says. Duke DeWare says the Cypress Valley Alliance that he heads will stake no claim to artifacts, despite the group's hopes to set up displays. And, McGinness adds, although a few relics might displayed locally, most will likely be returned to the tribe. The biggest question may not be display, but pay. Five more months of work could yield a good idea of what's there. So far, the state has budgeted no funds to study the site, though the legislature could allocate them. Says Bruseth: "It's a great project waiting to be funded."
--------- "RE: Report: Indian Tribes Need Help" ---------
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 12:28:48 -0500 From: berryj@okstate.edu Subj: (FWD)Indian News 09-09-99 Roger Iron Cloud FirstNations Listserv 202.358.3252 rironcloud@acf.dhhs.gov
Report: Indian Tribes Need Help .c The Associated Press By MATT KELLEY 9/8/99 WASHINGTON (AP) - Despite high-profile successes of a few American Indian tribes with casinos, most tribes still need hundreds of millions of dollars more each year to meet basic needs, a federal report says. The Bureau of Indian Affairs calculated that tribes get about a third of the money they need for programs such as child welfare, courts, land management and assistance to the elderly. In the 1998 fiscal year, federal funding fell short by about $1.2 billion in those areas, the report said. Meanwhile, 166 of more than 550 tribes had casinos in 1996, with 28 tribes losing money and only 54 tribes making casino profits worth more than $10,000 per tribal member. The basic BIA funding to those tribes is only about $10 million a year, or about $185,000 per tribe, the report said. "The results of shifting federal Indian policies, coupled with limited resources and investments in Indian communities and Indian people, cannot quickly be reversed by a few good years of casino revenues," said the report. The report was obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press. Kevin Gover, the head of the BIA, and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt are scheduled to release its findings at a news conference Thursday. Congress had asked for the report - due in April - amid debate over whether the BIA should shift funding from successful casino tribes to more poverty-stricken tribes. A study by Congress' General Accounting Office found that some smaller and relatively affluent tribes got much more funding per person from the BIA than larger, poorer tribes. Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash., has criticized the disparity for years and made several attempts to force the BIA to shift funding from richer tribes to poorer ones. Gorton's spokeswoman, Cynthia Bergman, said the new BIA report is disappointing because it offers few recommendations. "It's so frustrating," Bergman said. "It sounds like they waited six months to opt for the status quo, and the rich tribes will continue getting richer and the poor tribes will continue to get poorer." Tribes have opposed proposals to redirect the BIA funding, arguing that they do not get enough money to begin with and that such funding is part of the federal government's constitutional and treaty obligations. "The tribes hold a firm position that it's not your money, the money was there for the benefit of our people," said Ron Allen, president of the National Congress of American Indians. The BIA report agrees that the tribal funding should not be reallocated. "The predominant view (among tribal leaders) is that all tribes are underfunded, and to take from one tribe and give to another is only trying to equalize the poverty," the report said. The Senate Indian Affairs Committee is likely to hold a hearing on the issue either later this year or early next year, said Chris Changery, spokesman for committee Chairman Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo.
--------- "RE: Indians Are No Strangers in this Strange Land" ---------
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 12:28:48 -0500 From: berryj@okstate.edu Subj: (FWD)Indian News 09-09-99 Roger Iron Cloud FirstNations Listserv 202.358.3252 rironcloud@acf.dhhs.gov
A major minority By OMER GILLHAM c. Tulsa World 9/8/99 Indians are no strangers in this strange land For many people in eastern Oklahoma, English is a second language. Others don't speak English at all. The language in which they think and live is Cherokee. Ask Terry Mays, a non-Indian school official, who was reared in Oklahoma's "most- Indian" county -- Adair County. Mays, 41, attended Greasy High School, south of Stilwell. He is fluent in Cherokee, a language that officials say still is spoken by about 15,000 Cherokees. "I learned the language because all my friends growing up spoke some Cherokee," said Mays, who is the superintendent of Rocky Mountain Schools. "It was a simple but wonderful way to live. We ate together, went to school together and stayed over at each others' house. I saw no differences among us." U.S. Census records show that 42 percent of Adair County's 20,112 residents claim to have American Indian blood. Mays believes that the percentage is much higher, possibly 70 percent or 80 percent. Adair County is among eight northeastern Oklahoma counties that make up the state's Top 10 Indian counties. Cherokee County has more Indian residents than Adair County; however, the area is second in American Indian percentage with 32.4 percent. Cherokee Nation headquarters are located in Cherokee County in Tahlequah. "I wouldn't change a thing about the way I was raised or where I was raised," Mays said. "I can still go to the houses of my (Indian) friends and I bet there would be welcomes and food on the table." Being Oklahoma's "most-Indian" county gives Adair County a different flavor. Cherokee is often spoken at rural schools, such as Bell and Dahlonegah. Bilingual signs adorn business fronts, and discussions about tribal sovereignty rank alongside gun control or abortion. It also means that the turnout for 4th of July activities is equaled by those attending the Cherokee National Holiday, which corresponds with the Labor Day weekend. Columbus Day is tolerated but not observed by many Adair and Cherokee county residents. Every other person on an Adair County roadway is either American Indian or believes he is. Only 16 blacks and 22 Asians inhabit the entire county, according to 1997 Census estimates. Cherokee language teacher and tribal Vice Chief Hastings Shade said 12, 000 to 15,000 elders and young adults continue to speak Cherokee and observe native customs. The tribe, the second-largest in the nation, claims 202,000 members worldwide. At least 5,000 full-blood Cherokees remain alive and can trace their lineage to Trail of Tears survivors, tribal officials said. The white-Indian relationship in Adair County stays mostly sunny because both races accept one another on a meaningful level, said Cheryl Sequichie of the Cherokee Nation office in Stilwell, the county seat. "We respect white people because they respect us," Sequichie said. "They don't look down on you when you speak your language, but it's a different matter in other counties. You can feel the stares and the intolerance." Adair County District 1 Commissioner Roy Ogden said the Cherokee Nation cooperates fully with county government. "I have nothing but positive things to say about the Cherokees," said Og den, a non-Indian. "They work with us on the roads. They are involved in the schools. It's a solid, working relationship."
--------- "RE: More BC Bands Consider Logging Without Permit" ---------
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1999 05:56:55 -0700 From: "Frank LaFountaine" <lafountaine@justicemail.com> Subj: More BC bands consider logging without permit
Mailing List: TRIBALLAW (triballaw@thecity.sfsu.edu)
The following article is from The Vancouver Sun newspaper in Vancouver BC. Posted on September 9, 1999. Its website is at http://www.vancouversun.com. More bands consider logging without permit The Vancouver Sun Kim Pemberton in Kelowna and Jim Beatty in Victoria Two more B.C. Indian bands may join the Westbank band in logging land without Victoria's permission, band representatives said Wednesday. Members of the Okanagan and Adams Lake bands will vote within the next two weeks on whether to go ahead with their own logging operations. The B.C. government was expected to issue a formal stop-work order to the Westbank band today, after the band ignored a verbal request from forest ministry officials Wednesday to stop logging. Chief Ron Derrickson said the work will continue until he gets a commitment from Victoria to negotiate a timber deal for the band. Forest Minister Dave Zirnhelt spoke with Derrickson on Wednesday, but refused to negotiate a timber deal. "We won't negotiate while they're conducting an illegal activity." Zirnhelt said there is nothing in the province's Forest Act that allows government to directly allocate large quantities of timber to native bands. That, he said, would have to be negotiated at the treaty table. Meanwhile, Okanagan band Chief Dan Wilson told a press conference at the Westbank tribal nation's office Wednesday that native groups are frustrated with just "getting the crumbs" in their own territory. "We fully agree with the Westbank strategy," said Wilson. Penticton Chief Stewart Phillip, who is also president of the B.C. Union of Indian Chiefs, said aboriginal communities are becoming angrier about being denied access to resources on their own land. "The government continues to pursue a policy of economic marginalization. In our view it's economic racism." More than a dozen Westbank band members began logging on Crown land without the appropriate tree-cutting licences at about 1 p.m. Tuesday. By late Wednesday, they had filled 20 logging trucks as they cut into 19 hectares of timber claimed as being on traditional territory. The logging is taking place about 20 kilometres northwest of Westbank, just across Lake Okanagan from Kelowna. Both Derrickson and Zirnhelt took steps Wednesday to quell fears the logging could turn violent. "I have instructed my staff unequivocally that they are not to use foul language, there will be no drinking, there is to be no one there that is unauthorized," Derrickson said. "If somebody tries to arrest them, [I've told them to] lay down." Said Zirnhelt: "Above all we intend to keep the peace." Aboriginal Affairs Minister Dale Lovick said the province has no easy solution to the Westbank band's problems. "Even though we want to do something with First Nations to give them the economic wherewithal to prosperity and success and all of that, you can't overnight suddenly manufacture harvesting rights because the resource is allocated [to forest companies]." The province annually issues timber cutting licences to large companies for about 7.6 million cubic metres of wood from the aboriginal area claimed by the Westbank Indians. Of that, the band asked the province for 600,000 cubic metres of timber annually. But the forest ministry offered small amounts of wind-blown and burned timber outside the band's traditional territory. --------- "RE: Lawmaker Urges Railroad to Respect Tribes" ---------
Date: Mon, 13 Sep 1999 08:12:44 -0400 From: Biah Yazzie-Seminole & Michael Cloud-Butler <yona@infi.net> Subj: ndn news fyi 9-13-99 monday morning p1 --------------------------------------------------------------------- ndn news fyi is distributed for educational purposes only, never for profit. if you wish to be deleted from the list or added to the list or would like to submit information, please email yona@infi.net.. thanks to all who submit information and the encouragement to continue.... ---------------------------------------------------------------------
"American Indian Lawmaker Urges Railroad to Respect Tribes," The Associated Press State & Local Wire, 10 September 1999. ["Huron, S.D.: The Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad project will be good for the state and Indians, state Rep. Ron Volesky says. But Volesky, D-Huron, also said Thursday the company must be sensitive to the rights of Indian tribes in western South Dakota. Volesky, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, said meetings with DM&E officials have convinced him the railroad is committed to taking care of Indian people. Of concern to them are treaty rights, cultural rights and sacred sites, he said ... "I see it as a real opportunity for development of our Indian tribes out west," he said. "I don't see it as an opportunity or a time of confrontation.'"] http://www.ap.org/
--------- "RE: Pequots Protest Against Tribal Money Management" ---------
Date: Mon, 13 Sep 1999 08:12:44 -0400 From: Biah Yazzie-Seminole & Michael Cloud-Butler <yona@infi.net> Subj: ndn news fyi 9-13-99 monday morning p1
"Mashantucket Pequots Protest Against Tribal Money Management," The Associated Press State & Local Wire, 10 September 1999.
["Mashantucket, Conn.: A group of Mashantucket Pequots is criticizing tribal leadership, arguing their moves are widening a gulf between the wealthy and the poor on the reservation. About 60 tribal members demonstrated Thursday outside of the reservation. The protesters complained the leadership is flawed, secretive and spends too much money on frivolous items that only increase the tribe's debt."] http://www.ap.org/
--------- "RE: Indian Music Enjoys Soaring Success" ---------
Date: Mon, 13 Sep 1999 08:12:44 -0400 From: Biah Yazzie-Seminole & Michael Cloud-Butler <yona@infi.net> Subj: ndn news fyi 9-13-99 monday morning p1
Tianen, Dave. "Indian Music Enjoys Soaring Success," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10 September 1999, 19. [The trickle has become a stream and the headwaters for a river are starting to build. Native American music traditionally has been a droplet in the popular music pond. In the '70s, the L.A. rock band Redbone and Canadian folk rocker Buffy Sainte-Marie achieved mid-level stardom, but their success never translated into anything resembling a national Indian music scene, with radio support, its own record labels, a diverse community of nationally known artists and even its own awards show. All of that has come to pass in the '90s. Although not nearly as dramatic as the commercial breakthrough for Latin music, Native American music has been experiencing its own distinct surge in popularity ... The root sound of Native American music is the traditional flute and percussion known as powwow music. But artists Native American and non-Native American have been augmenting and experimenting with it in many ways ..."I think that shows the culture is dynamic and we are constantly evolving," [Flutist Douglas] Spotted Eagle said. "The real strength of Native American music is in the four words: We Are Still Here." ... In some ways, the Native American music phenomenon mirrors the surge in popularity for Celtic music. Soundtracks for "Titanic," "Rob Roy," "Last of the Mohicans" "The Long Journey Home" fueled the Celtic boom. In the same way, movie and television projects such as "Dances With Wolves," "500 Nations," "The Way West," "Wolves," "Smoke Signals" and Peter Buffett's "Spirit" have all brought Native American sounds before a new audience.] http://www.jsonline.com/
--------- "RE: Concern About School Racism Widespread" ---------
Date: Mon, 13 Sep 1999 08:12:44 -0400 From: Biah Yazzie-Seminole & Michael Cloud-Butler <yona@infi.net> Subj: ndn news fyi 9-13-99 monday morning p1
"Concern About School Racism Widespread Among Indian Parents," The Associated Press State & Local Wire, 11 September 1999. ["Pablo: Concern about racism is widespread in Montana schools with large American Indian enrollments, researchers told a statewide Indian parent's forum in Pablo on Friday. "Racism was the underlying theme throughout all our discussions" with parents, trustees, teachers, administrators and students, said Denise Juneau of the Indian education office in the state Office of Public Instruction. Juneau and Mike Jetty, another Indian education specialist at OPI, spent much of the last year traveling to school districts on Montana's seven Indian reservations. They also visited urban school districts with significant Indian enrollments. Juneau said many schools they visited were dirty, poorly maintained and lacked a welcoming environment for Indian students and parents ... Juneau said many Indian parents and students also worry that their schools are doing little to prepare Indian students for college and off-reservation employment. Data show that schools with high Indian enrollment are almost always the schools with lowest academic achievement."] http://www.ap.org/
--------- "RE: Still No Progress in Rosebud Girl's Murder" ---------
Date: Mon, 13 Sep 1999 08:12:44 -0400 From: Biah Yazzie-Seminole & Michael Cloud-Butler <yona@infi.net> Subj: ndn news fyi 9-13-99 monday morning p1
Kucera, Joshua. "Two Years Later, Still No Progress in Rosebud Girl's Murder," The Associated Press State & Local Wire, 11 September 1999. ["Mission, S.D.: Ask just about anyone here, and they'll tell you who they think killed Richynda Roubideaux. Almost two years ago, the 11-year-old girl was found dead in a remote wooded area just north of Mission, the largest town on the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation. The FBI, which investigates major crimes on reservations, has not made any arrests in the case. But rumors continue to circulate in Mission that three of the girl's male relatives killed her after a week-long binge of drinking and doing methamphetamine ... Posters advertising the reward remain posted all over town, though they are yellowing from the sun. And Richynda is still in people's thoughts two years later, said Teema LaDeaux, one of her relatives ... As in similar cases, the FBI is a flashpoint for criticism that it doesn't adequately investigate crimes in Indian Country. "If they did do a good job, somebody would have been arrested by now," LaDeaux said."] http://www.ap.org/
--------- "RE: Council May Consider Impeachment of President" ---------
Date: Mon, 13 Sep 1999 08:12:44 -0400 From: Biah Yazzie-Seminole & Michael Cloud-Butler <yona@infi.net> Subj: ndn news fyi 9-13-99 monday morning p1
Palazzetti, Agnes. "Tribal Council May Consider Impeachment of President," The Buffalo News, 11 September 1999, 5C. ["Duane J. "Jim" Ray, president of the Seneca Nation of Indians, may be facing the toughest battle of his short political career. At a meeting next Saturday, the tribal council is to consider a request to open impeachment proceedings against Ray, who has been entangled in a power struggle with the councilors -- including those from his own Seneca Party -for most of his first year in office ... One of the casualties of the internal struggle has been a high stakes Indian gambling casino in Western New York ... Ray, who could not be reached to comment Friday, has persisted in his attempts to override the casino compact negotiating team appointed by the tribal council by naming his own executive negotiating team. He also has held secret meetings with members of Gov. Pataki's negotiating team and with interested casino developers both in Buffalo and Niagara Falls."]
--------- "RE: Naropa Institute Sued/Charges Cultural Genocide" ---------
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1999 17:29:25 GMT From: "SMITHORG" <smithorg@bellatlantic.net> Subj: Naropa Institute Sued -Charges Cultural Genocide
Newsgroups: alt.native,own.natives,soc.culture.native, soc.religion.native-american
To: All Press and Media dateline 09/08/1999, Boulder, CO ---------------------------------------------------- Press Conference Date: Thurs. Sept. 9, 1999 Time: 9:00am Place: Boulder Justice Center, 6th and Canyon Contact: Lydia White Calf Represented by Atty Lee Hill Phone: 303-449-9244 Fax: 303-444-6349 ---------------------------------------------------- Press Release NAROPA INSTITUTE SUED BY FORMER STUDENT WHO CHARGES FRAUD AND OUTRAGEOUS CONDUCT Tribal leaders have traveled to Boulder, CO to examine charges of cultural genocide leveled at Naropa Institute in a lawsuit to be filed by Indian activist attorney Mr. Lee Hill on behalf of former Naropa student, Mrs. Lydia White Calf. Attorney Hill has been one of Leonard Peltier's lawyers. Ms. White Calf is married to an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota Nation. In court papers White Calf charges Naropa with Fraud and Intentional Misrepresentation, sponsoring "Spiritual Hucksterism," "spiritual tourism," Negligent Hiring and Supervision, Harassment, and outrageous conduct in an attempt to conceal the truth about its very profitable, but corrupt, "Native American Studies Program." The complaint states that Naropa was made aware by White Calf of the illegal use of animal body parts such as feathers and eagle bones by non- natives, a violation of Federal Law. Naropa published advertisements, catalogs and course descriptions claiming "Native American Studies" courses were taught by qualified, competent and appropriately credentialed faculty. This was false. The complaint charges that certain of the faculty were completely unqualified and that the courses taught distorted Indian issues and presented inaccurate information. Despite complaints, Naropa did nothing to correct the problems. Well-known Indian activist Russell Means, a leader of the traditional Lakota Nation and leader of the American Indian Movement along with other supporters is traveling to Boulder to appear at the press conference with Ms. White Calf . Mr. Means is a staunch advocate of Indian Rights, traditional culture and spirituality who stood at Wounded Knee on Pine Ridge Reservation during the 1973 standoff with the U.S. government. Mr. Rudy James, Leader of the Kuiu Thlingit Nation of Alaska and Chairman of the United Native Nations (an international Indigenous organization) has flown into Boulder for the press conference following meeting with California gaming tribes. James' Tribe made international headlines for the banishment of two Thlingit youth to remote tribal islands in Alaska. Boulder attorney, Mr. Lee Hill will file suit against the Naropa Institute in Boulder District Court Thursday, September 9, 1999 at 9:00 am. The Press Conference will follow on the steps of the Courthouse. Mr. Hill and others will be available to answer questions following the filing. ---END--- For full text of legal pleading please see: http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/9672/ Ellis Smith - North American Desk - ONE GLOBAL ONE- -AMERI-ADVOCATE - - Amsterdam - New York - Santa Cruz - New Zealand News, Views and Actions Visit us at http://members.tripod.com/~ellis_smith/ameri-advocate.html * ICQ# 22499125 * AOL-IM - SMITHORG *
--------- "RE: McCain and Gorton Remain Worlds Apart" ---------
Date: Sun, 12 Sep 1999 21:58:39 -0700 From: "Mark N. Trahant" <mtrahant@seattletimes.com> Subj: McCain and Gorton remain worlds apart on Indian treatment
http://www.seattletimes.com/news/local/html98/trah_19990912.html Posted at 11:07 p.m. PDT; Sunday, September 12, 1999 Mark Trahant / Times Staff Columnist McCain and Gorton remain worlds apart on Indian treatment Are Sens. Slade Gorton and John McCain really in the same political party? Both call themselves conservative Republicans. Both will be on Washington's GOP primary ballot on Feb. 29, Gorton running for re-election to the U.S. Senate and McCain making a presidential bid. And, to be fair, on most issues these two are philosophically closer than, say, Gorton and Washington's Democratic senator, Patty Murray. But their views regarding federal-American Indian relations could not be more different. Gorton, when state attorney general, carried the arguments against tribal fishing rights to the Supreme Court - and lost. As a senator, Gorton has been a consistent critic of tribal sovereignty and treaty rights. He has tried to use the appropriations process to strip tribes of governmental authority, shift federal dollars away from wealthier tribes and rewrite the historical government-to-government relationship. Indian affairs is rarely an issue that drives voters. But it can open a lens that reveals much about candidates and their views of the world. In contrast to Gordon, picture McCain under the Window Rock - a large hole surrounded by red sandstone - at the Navajo Veterans Memorial a few weeks ago. McCain waits patiently while a woman prays in Navajo, then while another sings the national anthem with a drum. The senator notes the irony: The U.S. government once forbade Indians from speaking in their own language; then, during World War II, the government encouraged Indians to use their native language skills to transmit code across the Pacific; now a native woman sings - in native tongue - an anthem to that government. McCain champions tribal sovereignty and treaty rights because, he says, America's honor is at stake. "Go back and read the treaties and you'll have little doubt about the obligations," he said during his campaign stop in the Navajo Nation. McCain promised that if elected president - "and I wouldn't place any bets on that at a Native American casino," he said - he'll return to Window Rock before his inauguration. "We will talk. I will listen and we'll forge new policies for our nation," he said. McCain's commitment was born in 1983, when House Interior committee Chairman Morris Udall, the late Arizona Democrat and a longtime advocate of tribal rights, asked him to be the Republican voice on Indian matters. Most of McCain's advisers urged him to pass because, no matter what he did, it wouldn't help him win elections. But he said he "was honored to get close to Morris Udall," who taught him to respect this country's solemn treaty obligations. McCain eventually became chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, and worked closely with Udall on legislation, winning praise - and votes - from his American Indian constituents. McCain, a Navy fighter pilot and Vietnam prisoner of war, also is popular because of the high concentration of military veterans on reservations. "There's a higher percentage of Native American names on the Vietnam wall than those in any other population group," McCain said. In every war, he adds, Indian country sent its young people first. McCain's visits to reservations weren't designed, at least originally, to win votes, but there has been a payoff. Even former Navajo President Peterson Zah, who has long been active in Democratic Party politics, is urging supporters to register Republican and vote for his friend, McCain, in Arizona's presidential primary. "If you're a Democrat, like me, you can change over (to the GOP) during the primary, and then back again later . . . that's allowable under the rules," Zah said at the rally. Back here in Washington, American Indian voters don't even need to change parties to vote for or against Gorton (any voter can pick up either party's ballot). But there's already considerable fund raising and other anti-Slade slates at work for the 2000 election. If that seems odd, remember that federal Indian policy has never followed predictable party lines. Several decades ago, for example, Washington Sen. Henry Jackson, a Democrat, supported bills in Congress to terminate the federal government's relationships with tribes. But he changed his mind in the early 1970s when President Nixon, a Republican, supported tribal self- government. Even today many American Indians have fond memories of the Nixon White House and its Indian policy - the same sort of hopes they have for a McCain administration. (Copyright) 1999 Seattle Times Company
--------- "RE: Camp Justice Update" ---------
Date: Sun, 12 Sep 1999 13:25:06 -0500 From: Freedom Heart Rising <freedom@prairienet.org> Subj: Camp Justice update 9/11/99/FWD. from Kola
<+>=<+>KOLA Newslist<+>=<+> Date: Sat, 11 Sep 1999 16:18:19 -0600 From: "Sandra Matchen" <cle@onlinecol.com> Subj: Camp Justice - Update
Note: All news releases from Camp Justice must be approved by Leader, Tom Poor Bear Send money, anything you can, even if it is $5, to help with maintaining amp Justice, along with letters of Support you have written, copies of news articles for the families of the victims (they don't get many) to: Camp Justice, c/o Tom Poor Bear, P.O. Box 823, Pine Ridge SD 57770
If you can, when you come to march or help maintain Camp Justice please ring lots of food, camp supplies of any kind. Money sent will be used to continue our efforts and pay the expenses. Send Donations of food & supplies or Camp Justice:
Camp Justice c/o Fay Cedar Face, 200 Eastridge Rd, Pine Ridge, SD 57770 Please network this information.
<+>=<+> http://users.skynet.be/kola/ http://kola-hq.hypermart.net <+>=<+> if you want to be removed from the KOLA Email Newslist, just send us a message with "unsub" in the subject or text body
--------- "RE: Pictou-Branscombe Justice Website" ---------
Date: Thursday, September 09, 1999 1:50 PM From: APictou <apictou@aol.com> Subj: Pictou-Branscombe "Justice Website"
Newsgroup: alt.native
NEW PAGES on "Bring Justice for Anna Mae" website by Robert A. Pictou-Branscombe
http://members.aol.com/APictou/pictou-branscombe.html
"Biography" with photo of Robert at Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash's grave on Pine Ridge reservation-Oglala, South Dakota.
"Tribute to Veterans of War" Receiving Silver Star, and messages extracted from high profile Military of the Purple Heart magazine.
"Interview Transcripts" (unedited) The late Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash (1-1/2 minutes of transcripts from a recording, dating back to 1975 just months before she was killed. Anna Mae speaks of being surrounded and questioned by FBI.
Anna Mae's daughters, Denise and Deborah and cousin Robert are interviewed, sharing memoirs and goals for the new millennium and statements regarding the investigation into the death of Anna Mae.
--------- "RE: NC Wants Execution of Eddie Hatcher" ---------
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1999 09:16:32 -0400 From: "Clyde Crashcup" <clyde_crashcup@netzero.net> Subj: Eddie Hatcher - some recent news
Hey Gary -- attached is some recent news about Eddie Hatcher. If you already have it, sorry for the duplication. If you decide to run it in the newsletter, please credit A-INFOS, not me. Thanks, -- C.C. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: 2 Sep 1999 16:24:56 GMT From: arthur <bayou@blarg.net> Subj: USA/Corruption: NC wants execution of Native activist Eddie Hatcher
Newsgroup: misc.activism.progressive ________________________________________________ A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E http://www.ainfos.ca/ ________________________________________________
EDDIE HATCHER: STATE CALLS FOR EXECUTION!!! District Attorney Johnson Britt and the media of Robeson County, North Carolina have already convicted Tuscarora Indian activist Eddie Hatcher and called for his execution! Will you allow the white establishment to put Eddie Hatcher to death?
ONLY YOU CAN STOP THIS... On June 1, 1999, Indian activist Eddie Hatcher was surrounded at a busy intersection by dozens of state and local agents and thrown to the pavement, hand-cuffed and arrested. He was charged with First Degree Murder and other weapons charges. Eddie was immediately taken to North Carolina's highest security prison, Central Prison, and placed in maximum lockup next to death row. Eddie says, "I had forgotten how much this state, this government hates me. They are moving beyond all speed in this case. They are trying me for my life. They are trying to put me on death row. And something about this case really scares me." Robeson County District Attorney Johnson Britt says Eddie Hatcher should be put to death. The state seeks the death penalty because of Eddie's past convictions - the takeover of The Robesonian newspaper offices.
EDDIE HATCHER: Former Political Prisoner Eddie Hatcher is known worldwide for his action of February 1, 1988 when he occupied the offices of The Robesonian newspaper in Lumberton, North Carolina, in a desperate attempt to focus attention on corruption in Robeson County. Eddie demanded that the government investigate local and state officials' involvement in major drug trafficking; investigations into more than two dozen unsolved murders, mostly Natives and Blacks; investigations into the local judicial system; and investigations into the death of a young African American, who died under suspicious circumstances in the Robeson County jail The takeover ended peacefully. One of the hostages, Bob Horne, former editor of The Robesonian, walked out of the building with Eddie. "Somebody called in and said they were going to gun them down... I went out with them to make sure that didn't happen. That wouldn't have been right," says Thorne. Eddie became the first person prosecuted by the Federal Government under Ronald Reagan's 1984 Anti-Terrorist Act. Between his arrest and his trial, seven witnesses scheduled to offer testimony to support Eddie's allegations of government drug trafficking were murdered or died under suspicious circumstances. After a three week trial in federal court, where Eddie was ordered, by Judge T. Boyle, to represent himself, the jury found Eddie not guilty on all counts. They said he was justified in his actions. Six weeks later, in December 1988, Eddie was re-indicted by the State of North Carolina for the same charges he had been cleared of in federal court. Eddie's attorneys, including William Kunstler, were removed from the courtroom by Judge R. Farmer and again Eddie was forced to represent himself. On February 14, 1990, Eddie was sentenced to 18 years, with a projected parole date of 1992. Still imprisoned in 1993, the National Council of Churches declared Eddie Hatcher a political prisoner. They, along with Amnesty International and many prominent people including Senators, Congressmen, and movie stars, demanded Eddie's release from prison. Eddie was forced to serve 7 years and was not released until May 1995, after he was denied medical treatment by the prison for AIDS related pneumonia and almost died. He was then held on house arrest and intensive parole for an additional two years until 1997. The documentary, "Takeover: The Trials of Eddie Hatcher," which was released in 1998, details Eddie Hatcher's life and his long battle with a corrupt, racist government. It has won countless awards across the country and has been shown on PBS stations nationwide.
AFTER PAROLE In 1998, after completing all paroles, Eddie returned to Robeson County and again became very vocal in local politics, even contemplating running for public office. Now the District Attorney and the State of North Carolina say that Eddie Hatcher drove down a dark country road, in a 5-speed truck, on a curve, and shot through a house that sits more than 200 feet down a slope, and shot a man right between the eyes with a high powered rifle. Eddie's right arm is permanently disabled. He could have not done this. Yet, if the corrupt courts of North Carolina continue as they have, Eddie will receive the death penalty. Now Eddie sits in maximum lockup in Central Prison. He has refused government appointed attorneys and was ordered to represent himself by Judge F. Floyd. Judge Floyd implied, in open court, that as long as Eddie had writing paper and a pen, this was all he needed to defend himself on a capital murder charge. This is Robeson County. This is North Carolina... the Mississippi of the New Millennium.
HOW YOU CAN HELP... We need your help. We are in desperate need of emergency funds to operate the small office, which is all volunteer. We need money for postage, printing, and telephones. We need you to write or call the prison system and let them know we are watching the case of Eddie Hatcher. Write or fax: Theodis Beck, Secretary North Carolina Dept. of Correction 214 West Jones Street, 4201 MSC Raleigh NC 27699-4201 Fax: (919) 733-4790
We need you to write the following news organizations and ask that they closely monitor this case: WRAL-TV 5 PO Box 12000 Raleigh NC 27606 Fax: (919) 821-8541
WTVD-TV 11 PO Box 2243 Fayetteville NC 28302 Fax: (910) 323-0120
Fayetteville-Observer 203 North Elm Street Lumberton NC 28359 Fax: (910) 738-7742
Associated Press Dennis Patterson Suite 300 4020 West Chase Blvd. Raleigh NC 27607 Fax: (919) 834-1078
We need you to contact these people and demand that Eddie receive a fair trial: Governor Jim Hunt Office of the Governor 116 West Jones Street Raleigh NC 27603 Fax: (919) 715-3175
Attorney General Michael Easley 2nd Floor Justice Building 2 East Morgan Street - PO Box 629 Raleigh NC 27602 Fax: (919) 716-6750
Senator Frank Ballance Room 53, Legislative Office Building Raleigh NC 27601
United States Senator John Edwards 825 Hart Building Washington DC 20510 Phone: (202) 224-3154
You can write to Eddie at: Eddie Hatcher Central Prison 1300 Western Blvd. Raleigh NC 27606
Eddie has been asking for reading material but the prison will only accept books mailed directly from the publisher. If you can afford it, please order a book from an independent on line book seller and have it sent to Eddie at the prison.
For more information on how you can help, contact: Eddie Hatcher Defense Committee PO Box 2702 Pembroke NC 28372 Phone: (910) 521-8850 Tuscarora Tribe Fax: (910) 521-1996 email: parc@prisonactivist.org
A website is now under construction for Eddie at http://www.prisonactivist.org Thank you for your support. ******** The A-Infos News Service ******** COMMANDS: lists@tao.ca REPLIES: a-infos-d@lists.tao.ca HELP: a-infos-org@lists.tao.ca WWW: http://www.ainfos.ca/ INFO: http://www.ainfos.ca/org
--------- "RE: Leonard Peltier Freedom Month" ---------
Date: Wed, 08 Sep 1999 10:44:44 -0600 From: Zoltan Grossman <mtn@igc.apc.org&g