Wotanging Ikche--nanews07.039

Gary Night Owl (gars@netcom.com)
Tue, 21 Sep 1999 19:10:50 -0700 (PDT)

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_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ O
' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) O o O
/ / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ O o O
(_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' O o o o o O
____ _ , ___ _ , ___ VOLUME 07, ISSUE 039 O o O
/ ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' September 25, 1999 O o O
/ /-< / /--/ /-- Wishram her acorns moon O
__/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, Kiowa moon when the leaves fall off
KANOHEDA ANIYVWIYA Ha-Sah-Sliltha Otapi'sin Atsinikiisinaakssin Un Chota
Es'te Opunvk'vmucvse ni-mah-mi-kwa-zoo-min Aunchemokauhettittea
Ximopanolti tehuatzin, inin Mexika tlahtolli
( N A T I V E A M E R I C A N N E W S )
This issue contains articles from Big Mountain, Creek-Southeast-L, Innu-L,
Paths-L, NatFilm & Minn-Ind Lists; Newsgroup: alt.native; UUCP email;
http://hometown.aol.com/nascnews/NASC.html

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.

"You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle and that
is because the Power of the World always works in circles and everything
tries to be round. The sky is round and I have heard that the earth is
round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest
power, whirls. Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the
same religion as ours. Even the seasons form a great circle in their
changing and always come back again to where they were. The life of a
man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything
where power moves."
__ Black Elk, Oglala Holy Man

O'siyo Brothers and Sisters!

I had the honor of serving as emcee at the PowWow held in Waterloo, Al
in conjunction with the "Trail of Tears" motorcycle ride. One of the
articles in this issue covers the ride far better than I can.

What is important, in my estimation, about this "largest ride in history"
is that the Mayor of Waterloo, Sharon Barron, the civic leaders I met, and
every single rider I met (certainly not even 10% of the 30,000 who rode
into this town of 250) all were focused on the purpose of the ride, which
was to remember those who suffered on the Trail of Tears.

The area historian plans to send me his speech for inclusion in next
week's issue. I hope so - it is a keeper, as was this weekend.

Peace! Night Owl
, , Gary Night Owl gars@netcom.com
(*,*) P. O. Box 672168 gars@nanews.org
(`-') Marietta, GA 30397, U.S.A. gars@crl.com
===w=w== Fax: 770-528-9643

----------- News of the people featured in this issue ----------
- Trail of Tears Ride - Sober Warrior's Page
of Epic Proportion - Ipperwash
- A Quest for Ancestral Roots - Camp Justice Update
- Creek Nation Election - Press Conf. by Family of
- Chickasaw Nation Starts Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash
8-day Festival - Former Leavenworth Prisoner
- Sequoyah Graduate Fellowships Speaks about Peltier
- Shawnee Tribe Sues State - Native Prisoner
Over Casino - A Hundred Years Ago
- Apology Due from the US Navy - Somewhere in the Southwest
- Sacred Objects an Old Place
Returned to Navajos - Poem: Follow the Earth
- Call of the Past - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days
- Innu Country Food Study - Benefit Concert
- Santee Casino Showdown - Treaty Gathering
- Confederation of - Upcoming Events
Elders of America - Native America Calling

--------- "RE: Trail of Tears Ride of Epic Proportion" ---------

Date: Sun, 19 Sep 1999 04:05:25 -0400
From: iktomi <iktomi@HYPERTEXT.COM>
Subj: Trail of Tears Ride of Epic Proportion

Mailing List: Minnesota Indian Affairs <MINN-IND@tc.umn.edu>

This item appeared in The Times & Free Press on Sunday, September 19, 1999.
----------------------------------------------
Trail of Tears Ride of Epic Proportion
----------------------------------------------
By STUMP MARTIN Staff Writer
When an estimated 15,000-plus motorcycles roared out of Ross's Landing
Saturday morning, history was in the making.
The pack was expected to grow to 20,000 and stretch for 20 miles for the
Sixth Annual 230-mile Trail of Tears Commemorative Bike Ride to Waterloo,
Ala.
Mickey Halper, a field producer for Easyriders Television, said the ride
may be the biggest of its kind in American history.
"They say the Love Ride (for Muscular Dystrophy in California) is the
biggest, but the bikes don't stay together in a pack," said Mr. Halper, who
has been covering biker rallies for Easyrider for 21 years. "If this ride
stays in a pack all the way to Waterloo it will be the largest in America.
But in terms of length compared to the number of bikes it already is the
longest. There's not another one even close."
Bill Cason, a retired pipefitter, who along with co-worker Jerry Davis
originated the ride in a conversation on the way to work at the Redstone
Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala., in 1994, couldn't stop smiling as he listened
to Mr. Halper talk about the ride.
"My goal to start with was over 4,000 riders," said Mr. Cason. "That number
helped to represent each Indian, man, woman, and child who perished along
the Trail of Tears when they were driven from their land in the Appalachian
Mountains westward to Oklahoma back in 1838-39.
"Achieving that goal was great, now I don't know what it will grow to. We
were the largest ride in the South and I'm pretty sure we can say we're the
largest in the nation now."
When Mr. Cason pulled out of Ross's Landing with only seven bikers back in
1994, little did he know how the number of participants would multiply.
"It has turned into some kind of show," said Mr. Cason. "Nobody will be
able to forget the Trail of Tears and what happened to the American Indian
now."
Leather-wearing, hard-riding bikers from across America began rolling their
custom motorcycles into Chattanooga on Friday for a Kickoff Rally and Party
at Steeles Harley-Davidson.
Nobody was any happier to be back for another ride along the Trail of
Tears than retired Georgia Highway Patrol helicopter pilot Tom Shaw of
Cedartown, Ga.
Mr. Shaw was back in the Scenic City aboard his Harley-Davidson
Electra-Glide for his second Trail of Tears ride. Mr. Shaw joined another
large procession of bikes that rode together on a Memorial Ride from Earl
Small's Harley-Davidson in Marietta, Ga., on Friday morning.
"Whatever you do, don't stop and pick up anything along the way," said Mr.
Shaw. "I drove over leather chaps, Trail of Tears T-shirts, denim jackets
and who knows what else on the ride last year. Get ready, because there
were over 15,000 bikes last year and that is 15,000 different styles of
riding."
Terry Sweet, who serves as one of the Alabama ride captains, laughed when
he was asked about the mass of motorcycles that traveled Highway 72 across
the state of Alabama.
"It gets extremely hairy," said Mr. Sweet. "But there is nothing like
looking back in your rearview mirror and seeing the lights of motorcycles
as far as you can see. And the sound is just incredible. It's like a huge
thunderstorm is rolling in on you when you hear the bikes coming down the
road."
The money raised from the ride goes to put commemorative Trail of Tears
markers along the roads, according to Judy Ridge, who serves as one of the
event organizers.
With the resurgence of the Indian Motorcycle Company, Mrs. Ridge decided
to have a 1999 Indian motorcycle put on the front of the commemorative
T-shirts.
The company followed up by getting involved with the ride, including
bringing in American Indian television star Branscombe Richmond, who plays
Bobby Sixkiller in the TV series Renagade.
Mr. Richmond represents Indian Motorcycles and was aboard his beautiful
blue bike in the front of the pack when the mass of rolling thunder set out
from Ross's Landing.
Copyright c. 1999, Chattanooga Publishing Co. All rights reserved.

--------- "RE: A Quest for Ancestral Roots" ---------

Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 08:35:11 -0500
From: berryj@okstate.edu
Subj: (FWD)Indian News 09-19-99
Roger Iron Cloud
FirstNations Listserv
202.358.3252
rironcloud@acf.dhhs.gov

A quest for ancestral roots on trail suffused with tears
By GARY LEE
c. Miami Herald
August 29, 1999
Sometime near the end of 1837, a Creek Indian named Samuel Carr quashed
out his fire, packed his belongings and set out on an 1,800-mile journey
across central Alabama and into one of the darkest chapters of American
history.
A few weeks ago, I tried to follow his footsteps, chugging in a dusty
blue Chevy from the streets of Montgomery, Ala., to the plains of central
Oklahoma.
My sojourn was not quite the same one as Carr endured. By most accounts,
he and a contingency of Creek tribesmen traveled by foot about 12 miles a
day, taking five or six months to reach his goal. By car, I tackled the
distance in a week. Veritable captives as they moved west, the Indians had
to sleep in crowded canvas tents and subsist on cornmeal and other meager
rations. I dined in restaurants and overnighted in roadside motels.
Twice I found myself lurching up in one of those motel room beds from
startling dreams about Carr's trek. Here he was shivering under a blanket
in a barge crossing the Mississippi. There he was standing on the banks of
the Arkansas River, looking into the barren plain that would become his
home. The more I traveled, the more absorbed I became with his saga. And
no wonder: Samuel Carr was my great-great-great-grandfather.
Carr's cross-country trek came about as the result of a White House
policy to uproot the Creek and four other tribes occupying vast expanses
of the South and force them into the rough territory beyond the
Mississippi. The plan, enforced without mercy in the late 1830s, resulted
in the eviction of about 60,000 Indians. One of six would perish en route.
A Choctaw tribesman, asked by a newspaper reporter to describe the
historic crossing, gave it a name that resonates even today. He said it
was nothing but "a trail of tears."
By following his path, I hoped to explore my Native American roots. A
fifth-generation Oklahoman born of an African-American mother and a father
of mixed Creek and black blood, I remembered childhood tales from
relatives of ancestors who followed the trail to Oklahoma. My father, who
is suffering from Alzheimer's disease, has lost almost all memory of his
family's past. Reanna, my Creek grandmother, died when I was 5, leaving
only the recipe for sofkie, a hominy dish beloved among Creeks. My
grandfather Robert, who had been a Creek freedman -- a descendant of
blacks who had been enslaved to Creeks and made a member of the tribe
after emancipation -- had also long since passed. A portrait sitting on my
father's mantel is the only picture I have left of them.
Whenever I look at the image of my grandmother in that picture -- with
her black tresses and high cheekbones -- I pause to reflect on what it
means to be descended from Indians. Over 2 million Americans claim Indian
ancestors, according to official census estimates. And yet, many of us so-
called mixed bloods have no sense of how our Native American heritage
shaped us, what mark it left on our characters, what mannerisms it
bequeathed us.
And so I took to the road hoping to find some answers. The trip
delivered me headfirst into Native America, both past and present. One day
would find me in a carload of Cherokee on a Tennessee highway, searching
for a cedar tree they needed to ward off evil spirits. A few days later I
was in the home of a Cherokee woman in Missouri, hunched over a plate of
kanachi, the dish of ground hickory nuts that is one of her tribe's
passions. And then there was the night I spent in a lonely corner of
Oklahoma at a Creek stomp dance -- a tribal religious ritual -- chanting
all night around a blazing fire.

A GRIM BEGINNING
Montgomery, Ala., newspaper reveals horror
My first stop on the Trail of Tears was Alabama, a former stronghold of
the Creek, where I began looking through old census records and microfilm
files in the archives of the Montgomery Advertiser. There I stumbled
across a faded lifelike reproduction the newspaper had published on the
front page in July 1837. It featured several hundred Creek warriors,
shackled at the feet and chained hand to hand, being prodded by bayonet-
wielding soldiers down a street in Montgomery.
The scene was a reminder of the brutal tug of war that was taking place
between Indians and whites across the South in the early 1800s. Until then,
the federal government sought to assimilate the Indians -- who had long-
established tribal lands throughout the region -- into the culture of
immigrants arriving from Europe. Washington eventually abandoned the
policy of "civilizing" the Indians in favor of an all-out campaign to push
them into the less-settled West. Several Indian chiefs signed treaties
exchanging their tribal lands in the South for tracts on the other side of
the Mississippi. But rank-and-file tribesmen bitterly opposed the move.
And so the stage was set for the horrors of the Trial of Tears.

CHARACTERS AND CULTURE
Preservation officer, scholars share passion
The road to Oklahoma was lined with characters who seemed to know a lot
about Indian culture and the forging of the trail. Like a butterfly I
wandered from one to the other, taking a taste at every stop.
In Sweetwater, Tenn., it was Joyce Bear, the schoolmarmish cultural
preservation officer of the Oklahoma-based Creek Nation, who first caught
my ear. The setting was the annual meeting of the Trail of Tears
Association, a four-year-old national grass-roots group, composed of
descendants of Indians who traveled on the trail, as well as scholars,
government officials, history buffs and a few curiosity seekers.
I sat on the edge of my chair in a hotel conference room as Bear gave
the gathering highlights of Creek history: of the Creek War of 1813-14, in
which the tribe's warriors fought U.S. military incursions into Alabama,
only to fall decisively at the Battle at Horseshoe Bend; of the events of
1825, when principal Creek Chief William McIntosh was executed by Menawa,
one of the tribe's fiercest warriors, for selling tribal lands to the U.S.
government; of the diehard resistance some tribesman put up when U.S.
troops came to round them up for the move westward.
Over a dinner of buffalo ribs and sweet potatoes, I met Duane King, one
of the country's best-known scholars on Indian culture, who explained the
distinctions in the experiences tribes had on the trail. The Chickasaw,
who had assimilated the most into the culture of the European settlers,
apparently went with little fuss. The Cherokee, who had the most developed
government, negotiated terms to take charge of their own passage rather
than be subjected to hired guards. The Seminoles and Creek put up the
strongest resistance.
When I told King of my efforts to recapture the spirit of the journey of
my forebear and others who marched along the trail, he warned of the
complications of the task. For one thing, he said, the tribes took at
least a dozen different paths. For another, the experiences of the
marchers were all different. "In a sense, the trail started at the home of
every Indian yanked from their houses throughout the South," he said, "and
it ended wherever they put down stakes and made a new home."

SAD DRAMA REENACTED
In Cherokee, N.C., Unto These Hills
Relaxing on the side of a tree-covered mountainside in Cherokee, N.C., I
closed my eyes and let a soft breeze brush across my face. Before the
moment passed, however, I was yanked back in time to the sounds of a
heart-wrenching dispute over the trail. Troops had arrived to round up
local Cherokees, and panic broke out as everyone desperately sought a
place to hide.
No, the saga of the trail wasn't creeping into my daydreams. I was in
the audience of Unto These Hills, an outdoor drama staged about the Trail
of Tears every summer by a local theater group.
Produced for its 50th year this summer, the reenactment of the events
leading up to the removals was one of three substantial Indian attractions
in Cherokee. Populated by descendants of Cherokee tribe members who hid in
the surrounding mountains during the removals and emerged after they were
complete, the town is now the base of the eastern band of Cherokees, a
separate tribe from the Oklahoma-based Cherokee Nation.
If you want to know anything about the Cherokee, the Museum of the
Cherokee Indian probably has the answer. The town's second-biggest draw,
the museum features exhibits on just about every detail about the tribe --
from its history dating back to the Paleoindian period to the alphabet
created in the early 19th Century by Sequoyah, the most celebrated
Cherokee scholar.
At first blush, Cherokee struck me as a heavily touristed town cluttered
with too many Indian gift shops and kitschy sideshows. But it also gave me
a chance to spend some time with tribe members, all of whom offered advice
on understanding the soul of Cherokees. Bo Taylor, a young archivist from
the eastern band of Cherokees, stressed how the tribesmen -- who have long
favored western dress and mannerisms -- have had to adapt to the mountain
culture of North Carolina. But it was the message of Joyce Dugan, chief of
the eastern band, which resonated most. "We have faced dramatic changes
over the years and had to adjust to survive," she said in a chat in her
office. "But we've never forgotten our spirituality. It's at the heart of
who we are."

FAMILY AFFAIR
Sister joins in trip across Oklahoma
My sister Lilla rejoined me for the last leg of the trip, and as we
barreled across the rolling hills of northeastern Oklahoma, it was easy to
imagine the setting the Indians encountered when they arrived here in the
late 1830s. The landscape was probably much the same sprawl of tomato-
colored earth and gnarled pine trees that rose before us. Except for
billboards and the occasional clusters of Wal-Marts, Dairy Queens and
other stores, this part of Oklahoma seemed stuck wistfully somewhere deep
in the past.
The mark early Indian settlers left was strongly felt. The names of
every other town we passed appeared to be taken from Indian villages in
the South -- Broken Arrow, Wewoka, Muskogee. Shop windows everywhere were
plastered with signs welcoming all comers to powwows, Indian cultural
celebrations held throughout the state all summer. Several posters
trumpeted the coming of the Red Earth Festival. A gathering of Indian
artisans, dancers and singers held every June in Oklahoma City, is billed
as the country's largest Native American cultural gathering.
Although the census counts only about one in 10 residents of the state
as Indian, Oklahoma -- translated "land of red men" in the Choctaw
language -- lives up to its name. And no enclave in the state lives up to
it more than Tahlequah. It would take us the better part of day to tour
this town, which the Cherokee Nation has fashioned as its capital.
We started with the Tsa-La-Gi Ancient Village, created on the grounds of
the Cherokee Heritage Center as a reminder of what life among Cherokee had
been like before the Europeans came. Barefoot Cherokees performed a show
and told of how they made spear points, played stickball, wove baskets and
moved between open cabins in summer and moundlike earthen houses in winter.
Adams Corner, a cluster of small cabins, was designed to demonstrate the
way living conditions of the tribe had evolved by the end of the 19th
Century.

CREEK NATION CAPITAL
Tribe fighting to keep culture alive
By the time we reached the town of Okmulgee, the capital of the Creek
Nation, my curiosity about my forebears was near bursting. We passed
through the Creek tribal lands in central Oklahoma. At first blush, the
dusty town of 50,000 bore no noticeable marks of Indian culture. There
were no souvenir shops, no museums and no guides to point us to places of
interest. The surrounding Creek tribal lands, whittled down over the past
century and a half, reflected little of the expanses the tribe had left
behind in Alabama and Georgia. Downtown Okmulgee, as sleepy as a pasture
of cows, was dominated by a stretch of brick office buildings and
furniture stores.
For visitors, the most tangible symbol of the tribe is the Creek Nation
Council House, in downtown Okmulgee. A stately 19th-century two-story
building once used for tribal meetings, it is now a small museum
exhibiting pictures of the tribe's early chiefs, as well as spinning
wheels used to weave cloth and other tribal artifacts. A library has books
about the tribal history.
Although the current Creek tribal rolls currently list 48,000 members,
only a fraction of that number plays an active role in the community. But
the tribe is fighting to keep its culture alive. Three years ago, Creek
cultural leaders developed a plan to teach the Creek tongue to local
schoolchildren. Earlier this year, efforts began to repatriate tribal
remains and artifacts discovered in different parts of the country. And a
search has just begun to locate and mark the graves of tribe members who
arrived on the trail. But many -- including, alas, my great-great-great
grandfather Samuel Carr's -- have not been found.
As evening fell, a couple of tribe members invited me to a stomp dance
on the edge of Okmulgee. It was the beginning of the celebration of green
corn, the Creek new year, when tribesmen make pilgrimages to these parts
to partake in traditional tribal rituals. Around midnight, the lighting of
a huge campfire began. One by one, participants began marching around it
and singing Creek chants. I joined in slowly but gradually warmed to it,
picking up the rhythm and the lyrics. By the first light of day, I felt I
had just begun to penetrate the world of Samuel Carr.
As Lilla and I finished our whirlwind tour of Creek country, I
remembered what King, the scholar in Indian history, had told me about
where I could find the beginnings and ends of the trail.
And so I would bring my own journey to a close with a stroll down
Cheyenne, a street in Tulsa. I started at one end, where a ceremonial oak
tree, planted by Creeks when they first arrived from the East, towers near
the banks of the Arkansas River.
I ended two miles north, in the wooden two-story house where I was
raised and where my parents have lived for more than three decades.
As a result of the trip, I think I know myself a bit better. I
understand a few things about my father, too -- his lifelong aversion to
travel, his stubborn insistence on holding his ground to the bitter end of
an argument. These characteristics may be in his historical memory.
But most of all, I think I know why, even as he gradually loses that
memory, he spends a few minutes every day looking into the piercing eyes
of his mother and the soft smile of his father, in the photograph sitting
on his mantel.

--------- "RE: Creek Nation Election" ---------

Date: Sat, 18 Sep 1999 13:28:06 -0500
From: berryj@okstate.edu
Subject: (FWD)Indian News 09-11-99
Roger Iron Cloud
FirstNations Listserv
202.358.3252
rironcloud@acf.dhhs.gov

Creek Nation election is Saturday
By ROB MARTINDALE
c. Tulsa World
9/17/99
A bevy of candidates for chief, second chief and 26 council seats awaits
voters.
OKMULGEE -- One of the largest fields of candidates in modern-day tribal
history will await Creek Nation voters when they go to the polls Saturday
to elect a new chief.
Voters will choose from among seven candidates during polling from 7 a.m.
until 7 p.m.
A runoff election, if necessary, will be held Dec. 4.
The election is being conducted by an Albuquerque, N.M., firm which also
coordinated the Cherokee Nation elections earlier this year.
Six candidates are seeking the office of second chief, and 44 people have
filed for the 26 national council seats that are up for grabs.
Twelve council candidates are unopposed.
Chief Perry Beaver of Jenks, who is completing his first four- year term,
drew six opponents, including the tribe's second chief, George Almerigi of
Okmulgee.

Others seeking the top spot are:
Roger Barnett of Bristow, a tribal council member; Kenneth Childers of
Glenpool, the tribal council speaker; Graydon Flud of Jenks, owner of Flud
Farms; Joseph Rogers of Sand Springs, a Creek Nation Housing Authority
employee; and Thomas Yahola of Wetumka, a tribal council member.

Candidates for second chief are:
Perry Anderson of Eufaula, the tribe's personnel director; Wilson Bear of
Checotah, a former tribal council member; A.D. Ellis of Twin Hills, a
tribal council member; Edwin Marshall of Wetumka, a tribal community
services director; George Tiger of Sapulpa, a tribal council member; and
Dean Williams of Okmulgee, a tribal facilities employees.
Candidates for the tribal council include former Chief Bill Fife of
Weleetka, who is opposed by Sandi Golden of Weleetka, who has served on
tribal committees.

--------- "RE: Chickasaw Nation Starts 8-day Festival" ---------

Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 08:35:11 -0500
From: berryj@okstate.edu
Subj: (FWD)Indian News 09-19-99
Roger Iron Cloud
FirstNations Listserv
202.358.3252
rironcloud@acf.dhhs.gov

Chickasaw Nation starts 8-day festival
c. Tulsa World
9/18/99
The 39th meeting of the Chickasaw Nation and the tribe's 11th annual
festival will kick off an eight- day run on Saturday in Tishomingo.
Activities -- including the Chickasaw Princess Pageant, a Junior Olympics,
gospel singing and a traditional meal -- will take place at the Chickasaw
Capitol grounds, Murray State College, the Tishomingo High School athletic
field and the Johnston County Sports Complex.
The annual meeting day will be held Oct. 2. A ceremonial swearing in of
newly elected tribal officials will be held, and Chickasaw Gov. Bill
Anoatubby will deliver his State of the Nation address at 11:30 a.m.

--------- "RE: Sequoyah Graduate Fellowships" ---------

Date: Fri, 17 Sep 1999 15:49:25 -0700
From: Nancy Thomas <nlthomas@YvwiiUsdinvnohii.net>
Subj: SEQUOYAH GRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS - AAIA

Mailing List: Paths-L <paths-l@YvwiiUsdinvnohii.net>

SEQUOYAH GRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS - AAIA
SPONSOR: ASSOCIATION ON AMERICAN INDIAN AFFAIRS (AAIA)

PURPOSE: To help Native American people and their communities in
meeting the challenges they face - in ways they see fit.

DEADLINE: October 1, 1999

SUMMARY: Since 1923, The Association on American Indian Affairs
has been dedicated to helping Native American people. Guided by
its majority Native American Board of Directors, AAIA is developing
new and creative ways to expend its resources where they are
most needed today.

The Association on American Indian Affairs will accept applications
>from July 1st through October 1st of each academic year for the
Sequoyah Graduate Fellowship for American Indian and Alaskan Natives
who are pursuing graduate degrees in may diverse fields. All
applicants must be enrolled full time and provide a class schedule.

Requirements:
--Completed application, with the bottom portion filled out and signed
by the Financial Aid Officer.
--Applicant must be minimally 1/4 degree Indian blood from a federally
recognized tribe. Please include a certificate of enrollment and
blood quantum from your tribe or B.I.A.
--An essay of 1-2 pages describing educational goals.
--Most current financial aid award letter, including tuition, books,
etc.
--Most recent transcript (does not have to be official, a student copy
will suffice).
--Schedule of Classes.

We receive thousands of scholarship requests each year. We cannot
process incomplete applications nor do we have the time to contact you
for missing information. You must submit a complete application to be
considered for assistance. Applications are due October 1st. The
selection of ten Sequoyah Fellows will be announced by the Association
in October of each year.

CONTACT:
Association of American Indian Affairs, Inc.
P.O. Box 268
Sisseton, South Dakota 57262
Phone: (605) 698-3998/3787
Fax: (605) 698-3316
http://www.usalert.com/htdoc/usoa/fnd/any/any/proc/any/aaia08129801a.htm
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--------- "RE: Shawnee Tribe Sues State Over Casino" ---------

Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 08:35:11 -0500
From: berryj@okstate.edu
Subj: (FWD)Indian News 09-19-99
Roger Iron Cloud
FirstNations Listserv
202.358.3252
rironcloud@acf.dhhs.gov

Shawnee tribe sues state over casino
c. The Oklahoman
09/17/1999
The Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma has filed a lawsuit against the
state of Oklahoma in an effort to force the governor to allow the tribe to
conduct casino gambling.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Oklahoma City federal court, says the
tribe has been trying since 1991 to negotiate a compact with the governor's
office that would allow the tribe to offer Class III gaming.
Under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, the state is required to
negotiate a gaming compact with a tribe within 180 days after a request is
made, the lawsuit says.
The law does not obligate a state to grant tribes casino gaming authority
if such gaming is outlawed by the state. The state has traditionally taken
the position that casino gambling is against Oklahoma law.
The tribe, however, contends the state has a history of allowing "games of
chance including craps, blackjack, poker, chuck-a- luck, roulette and other
casino-like games, along with raffles, at various charitable fund raising
or customer appreciation events."

--------- "RE: Apology Due from the US Navy" ---------

Date: Tue, 14 Sep 1999 10:03:33 -0600 (MDT)
From: Barbara Russell <brussell@oz.net>
Subj: Apology due from the US Navy

Sunday, September 12, 1999
A culture comes home
Sacred relic given to Tlingits
By DAVID WHITNEY
Daily News reporter
NEW YORK CITY - In 1911, the
American Museum of Natural History
bought the Tlingit Indians' most sacred
item, a carved beaver that once sat on
the prow of the only war canoe to
survive the U.S. Navy's bombardment
of the Southeast Alaska village of
Angoon in 1882.
The museum paid artifacts collector George Emmons $45 for the piece,
which may never have been displayed. On Saturday, in a quiet ceremony in a
private third-floor conference room of the landmark Central Park museum,
72-year-old Angoon elder Peter Jack and, though a bit less fluently,
Tlingit leader Dean George spoke in their native tongue to welcome the
beaver back into tribal hands. George wondered what it must have been like
when, 107 years ago next month, young John Paul steered the war canoe
around the bend of Catham Strait and saw only black smoke rising from
where his village once stood.
John Paul had been out hunting for food for the village when the
warships arrived and leveled the village in what was either an outrageous
case of a young officer's arrogance or a tragic example of cultural
ignorance. In the following weeks and months, the canoe became the
Tlingits' lifeblood. It was their only tool to bring game and wood to the
isolated, starving villagers who had fled into the forest to escape the
attack.
The canoe was so vital to the survival of Angoon that years later, when
it finally cracked apart in a winter storm, villagers cremated it as if it
were one of their people. To them, the canoe was a living creature whose
spirits were freed on the funeral pyre. They believe those spirits still
live today in the beaver carving that was removed before the canoe was
burned.

SIGN OF HOPE
How the carving ended up in Emmons' hands is not clear. But the beaver's
return now, when Alaska Natives again are feeling that their culture is
under attack as state protections for traditional hunting and fishing
rights are debated, is taken as a sign of hope. Rather than the black
smoke of a village's remains on its return to Angoon, Jack said, this time
the beaver "will see a different kind of smoke that we see as a threat to
our children for subsistence and living off the land, our way of life.
"That smoke can be less threatening by bringing home something like this,
" Jack said solemnly with half a dozen spellbound museum staff members and
security guards as his only audience. "This beaver coming home will be
significant to the village of Angoon." There are an estimated 1,000 or so
Tlingit artifacts in New York and Chicago museums that Kootznoowoo Inc.,
the Natives' business arm, is looking to collect under the 1990 Native
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. None compares to the
significance of the canoe beaver, the return of which museum officials
processed at breakneck speed when they learned of its significance in
January. The return of such artifacts can take years, but the beaver's
repatriation took only six months. So grateful were the Tlingits that they
gave Martha Graham, the museum's registrar for cultural resources, a
tribal name: "Noowtaayei," which means anchor of the fort.
Graham said Saturday that the museum never knew the significance of what
it had on its back shelves. "It was an honor to hear the story," she told
Jack and George. 'PROBLEMATIC OBJECTS'
Its dramatic uncovering occurred when a group of 13 Tlingits were at the
museum to look at its collection of Tlingit artifacts. The beaver wasn't
among them. It was shelved with a collection of artifacts that museum
curators call "problematic objects," whose identify is not known. Harold
Jacobs, then a repatriation specialist for the Tlingit-Haida Central
Council, was the person who discovered it in the stacks. He said in an
interview that it was as if the spirits were drawing him to it. "I was
standing in one of the aisles, looking at objects, and I kept looking down
at the end," he said. "I could see something of that face sticking out.
I would look at more things, then look back and look at that face. ...
When I got alongside it, I gasped because I knew what it was." The piece
of the prow was brought out onto a table, and the Tlingits gathered around
in wonderment. Elders began to tell stories, each in turn, about the canoe,
how it had been the only one to survive the bombardment, how it became the
tool for the village's survival. "That stopped all the work for the next
couple of hours," said Steve Henrikson, curator of collections for the
Alaska State Museum in Juneau, who was along on the trip.
"The elders say that when it is time for artifacts to be found, they
will reveal themselves," Henrikson said. "That is what everyone felt
happened in this case."
The following morning, the group gathered again at the museum and
conducted a Tlingit ceremony to welcome the item home, and once again the
tears flowed.
"We opened with prayer, and then from there we called upon the clan
leaders," said Leonard John, who headed the trip for Kootznoowoo Inc.
"While they were talking, the impact was so powerful, just to hear the
story and just to see the emotion that was caught up with it, the
realization that had it not been for this war canoe, I probably would not
be here," John said. "We were hanging on by a thread because the United
States government had bombed Angoon. Just this one war canoe is what kept
our village alive. Even now it brings a lump in my throat."

DARKEST DAY
The bombardment of Angoon dug long-festering wounds into the village's
soul. It is without doubt the Tlingits' darkest day, the response of a
young Navy commander to a threat the Tlingits never posed. Two days before
the Oct. 26, 1882, bombardment, a harpoon gun on a whaling vessel operated
by the Northwest Trading Co. discharged, killing a Tlingit shaman, or
spiritual leader, named Tith Klane, who was on board.
As was their custom, Tlingits on the vessel began a three-day period of
mourning. They sailed the whaling vessel to their village and, also in
keeping with tradition, demanded payment of 200 blankets, roughly the
equivalent of $600, for the shaman's death. Word of the event soon reached
Sitka, where E.C. Merriman had just taken over command of a Navy ship
named the Adams. Merriman, who was not very friendly to Natives anyway,
interpreted the events in Angoon as an insurrection.
Merriman ordered the Adams and another vessel and some 60 troops to head
for Angoon, directing his lieutenants to first try to persuade the
Tlingits to surrender the boats and release the Northwest Trading Co. men.
But when village leaders complied, the military leaders demanded payment
from the them as punishment. When the Tlingits failed to meet that demand,
the bombardment began. Six children died, and what property was not
destroyed by the shelling was burned to the ground. Only five houses were
left standing. Food that had been gathered and dried throughout summer and
fall was destroyed.

'BRUTAL AND COWARDLY' ACT
Recently, a letter a sailor aboard the Adams wrote to relatives in
Massachusetts was found, and in it appears what is believed to be the only
account of the bombardment other than what Merriman provided. The letter
writer, believed to have been Frank H. Clark, the assistant paymaster on
the Adams, described the Angoon bombardment as Merriman's first
opportunity for "glory" that wasn't going to be wasted.
"Most of the officers including myself consider it a brutal and cowardly
thing and entirely uncalled for," Clark said. In 1973, the Tlingits filed
a damage lawsuit and were eventually paid $90,000, the estimated value of
the property losses in 1882. And in 1982, the centennial of the
bombardment, the Navy gave the Tlingits a letter acknowledging that the
attack should never have happened but did not apologize for it.
But the wounds of that night remain emblazoned on the minds of the
Tlingit people today, the story told and retold by elders. Leonard John
said he hopes the return of the beaver prow might begin to end the
nightmare. That was in the group's thoughts when it celebrated the
discovery in January.
"We used that opportunity to pray to God and ask God to bring healing to
our people because as a result of this bombardment, our people have
suffered from alcoholism and drug addiction and low self-esteem," he said.
"Our culture was taken away from us," he said. "We've been struggling as
a people. So we called upon God to help our people as he helped us survive
so that we could be made whole again." Jack restated that prayer Saturday.
"This will bring our people together, and then hopefully they'll be able
to realize who they are," he said. The beaver's return will be celebrated
next week when it arrives at the Alaska State Museum in Juneau. Eventually,
it probably will end up at a museum in Angoon, where traditional Tlingit
ways still are practiced. But some Tlingits, including Matthew Fred, head
of the Deisheetaan clan to whom the canoe belonged a century ago, said the
beaver's return won't end the pain of 1882.
"We won't breathe good until there's an apology," he said. "We will
always remember."
Reporter David Whitney can be reached at dwhitney@adn.com
Barbara Russell
S/V Pokai

--------- "RE: Sacred Objects Returned to Navajos" ---------

Date: Sat, 18 Sep 1999 13:28:06 -0500
From: berryj@okstate.edu
Subject: (FWD)Indian News 09-11-99
Roger Iron Cloud
FirstNations Listserv
202.358.3252
rironcloud@acf.dhhs.gov

Sacred Objects Returned to Navajos
.c The Associated Press
By MICHELLE RUSHLO
9/16/99
PHOENIX (AP) - Four sacred artifacts will be returned to the Navajo
Nation, more than a decade after they were taken from a cave in New Mexico.
Tribal officials plan a public prayer ceremony Friday in Window Rock to
mark their return. Federal officials identified the centuries-old objects
as a mask, a tortoise shell and two coverings that may be drum heads or
ceremonial vessel coverings.
Dozens of items held by museums and private collectors have been returned
voluntarily to the tribe since federal legislation in 1990 cracked down on
looting of American Indian sites.
But the objects being returned Friday are some of just a handful the
Navajos have received through criminal investigations.
Steven Begay, Navajo cultural specialist, said Navajo leaders are pleased
the items will be back in the hands of their rightful owners. Begay declined
to say what the items were or how they are used.
"These artifacts were given to the Navajo people by our superiors, the
powers," he said. "For other people to have those items was not what they
were intended for. They don't know how to use them or what they are used
for."
Noel Johns, an agent with the Bureau of Land Management, said the items
were taken from a cave in northwestern New Mexico in 1986, before it was a
crime. They were recovered in 1991 after tracking them through dealers in
Santa Fe, N.M., and New York. The mask was found at a Tucson home. The other
objects were at a Sante Fe gallery.
A New Mexico man pleaded guilty in 1992 to selling the artifacts.
Johns said it has taken years to return the objects to the Navajo Nation
because federal regulations require that authorities ensure the objects are
being returned to the proper tribe.

--------- "RE: Call of the Past" ---------

Date: Sat, 18 Sep 1999 13:28:06 -0500
From: berryj@okstate.edu
Subject: (FWD)Indian News 09-11-99
Roger Iron Cloud
FirstNations Listserv
202.358.3252
rironcloud@acf.dhhs.gov

The call of the past
The strange echo resembling a bird's call in the Mayan Temple of Kukulkan
has two disparate academic fields collaborating. Will acoustical
archaeology dig up the next batch of history? By Jennifer Ouellette c.
Sept. 15, 1999
Visitors to the Mayan Temple of Kukulkan at Chichen Itza in Central
Mexico have long been fascinated by an unusual sound effect of the ancient
structure: A mere handclap at the bottom of one of the massive staircases
produces a piercing echo, similar to a shriek. To some, the echo sounds
eerily like the call of the quetzal, a brightly colored exotic bird native
to the region and prized for its long, resplendent tail feathers. The echo
effect is so pronounced that it has raised a provocative question: Could
the Maya have deliberately designed the pyramid to emit the distinctive
sound?
Until recently, this question seemed unanswerable. How, after all, does
one prove intent when the architects of a building have been dead for a
millennium? But thanks to an emerging new field -- acoustical archaeology
-- it may now be possible to shed new light on this and other enduring
mysteries once thought to be irretrievably locked in the past. Taking a
literal riff on the German poet Goethe's reference to architecture as
"frozen music," acoustical archaeologists believe important information
about the past can be gleaned from the acoustics of ancient structures.
The unusually sophisticated acoustics of Mayan temples have puzzled
visitors for years. And understandably so: In the Great Ball Court at
Chichen Itza -- 545 feet long and 225 feet wide -- a whisper at one end
can be heard clearly at the other. But sound is an aspect that, until now,
has largely been ignored by archaeologists. Nor have acousticians taken
much interest in work usually done by archaeologists. But the traditional
boundaries that have kept the two fields apart are beginning to blur as a
handful of respected acousticians apply their expertise to such acoustical
phenomena.
Among them is David Lubman, an acoustical consultant in Westminster,
Calif., who frequently serves as an expert witness in civil and criminal
trials. That's his bread and butter. His passion is studying the strange
acoustical effects of ancient Mayan architecture, particularly at Chichen
Itza, a former Maya-Toltec city in the northern Yucatan region of Mexico.
Intrigued by the debate surrounding the mysterious chirped echo, he is the
first to make scientific measurements of the echo and provide a
scientifically credible explanation of its cause.
The science behind the sound turns out to be quite simple. Staircases
are periodic elements -- that is, they are repeated at regular intervals
in a region of space. The gaps in the step faces constitute a diffraction
grating, causing a series of periodic sound-wave reflections, or tonal
echoes -- a phenomenon commonly known as a "picket fence effect." Lubman
likens the effect to a rainbow. "An optical diffraction grating transforms
white light, spreading its frequencies over space," he explains. "An
acoustical diffraction grating transforms white noise by spreading its
frequencies over time." The chirped echo, in other words, is a rainbow of
sound.
Lubman compared sound recordings of a quetzal chirping in its natural
rain-forest habitat and the echo. They weren't identical, but he found
striking similarities in sound quality, frequency, length and harmonic
structure -- striking enough to convince him that the echo was
intentionally designed to mimic the quetzal's call.
His discovery sparked considerable excitement and controversy,
especially among archaeologists. Other examples of tonal echoes can be
found in classical architecture, such as the ancient amphitheater at
Epidaurus, in Greece. But these are largely believed to be the result of
design defects. Lubman's theory of deliberate design implies that the
essentially Stone Age Mayan people possessed a grasp of engineering and
acoustical principles far beyond what archaeologists thought possible. If
Lubman's theory proves correct, the pyramid at Chichen Itza would be the
world's first and oldest sound recording, and the Maya the earliest known
inventors of the soundscape -- a concept only recently employed by modern
urban artists to create sonic architecture, such as sound parks.
Few doubt that the quetzal held a place of honor in Mayan culture. Mayan
priests are believed to have performed their theatrical ceremonies draped
in quetzal feathers, accentuating their larger-than-life appearance.
Following the Spanish conquest of Central America, the quetzal became a
symbol of freedom for the indigenous people of the region, since it was
believed that the bird could not long survive in captivity. Although near
extinction today, the quetzal is the national bird of Guatemala and the
name of its primary unit of currency. And in what some call a critical
piece of circumstantial evidence, a Mayan glyph from the Dresden Codex
depicts the serpent god Kukulkan with a giant quetzal behind him.
Lubman sees further proof in the pyramid's famous "shadow show." The
temple is aligned astronomically so that during the spring and fall
equinox, an undulating serpentine shadow projects against the balustrades
of the north side of the staircase. "The quetzal sound could have been
evoked by a priestly handclap made at a critical moment in the ceremony,"
Lubman says. "This would reinforce the dramatic impact and religious
purpose."
But does it all add up to intentional design? Samuel Edgerton, an
architectural historian at Williams College in Massachusetts, has his
doubts. "It's an interesting theory and there's a certain validity to it,"
he says, citing instances where the Maya are known to have used
architecture to denote spiritual symbolism. It is also clear that, in an
age without electronic amplification, the Maya designed their buildings
with acoustical concerns in mind. "But it's limited, as far as we know, to
human sounds. To have it replicate the call of a bird is getting to be a
stretch." He believes Lubman may be overstating the relevance of the
quetzal to the temple at Chichen Itza. "The quetzal bird had a semi-
sacredness to the Maya, but more for its colorful feathers," he says.
"There's no solid evidence that it was ever worshiped or transmogrified
into a god or deity."
Those native to the region seem less skeptical. While visiting
ceremonial centers in Mexico, Chilean archaeologist and ethnomusicologist
Claudio Mercado was told by locals that the echo effect is known locally
as "la cola del quetzal," or "the quetzal's tail." His colleague, Jose
Perez de Arce, a specialist in pre-Columbian musical instruments, heard
similar reports while visiting the same regions, lending further credence
to Lubman's theory. But George Izenour, a fellow acoustical archaeologist
who specializes in the acoustics of Western classical structures, shares
the archaeological community's skepticism: "It's all nonsense, but it's
charming nonsense."
Edgerton and Lubman agree on one point: The Maya would most likely have
discovered such effects by accident, developing their unique acoustical
architecture by trial and error over time. "There's no evidence whatsoever
in the history of architecture, until the middle of the 16th century A.D.,
where any builder made drawings to scale on paper a priori and then
constructed it afterwards," says Edgerton. "Not that the Maya couldn't
have done that; they just didn't." He believes the same is true of the
serpentine shadow at Chichen Itza, even though academia's most famous
Mayanist, the late Linda Schele, believed the Maya deliberately planned
the stunning effect. "It's so unique and so remarkable that the debate is
understandable," Edgerton says. "But I have to defend what I know about
ancient architecture."
Edgerton admits he would find the theory more convincing if there were
more than one instance of such an effect in Mayan architecture. No problem,
says Lubman, pointing to similar phenomena reported at the Mayan pyramid
at Tikal in Guatemala, and at the Pyramid of the Magicians in Uxmals,
Mexico. In fact, one could expect to hear such echoes from any Mayan
temple with a stone staircase facing an open plaza. "It's much easier to
find reports of these echoes than it is to get archaeologists to
investigate them," he says.
Nor are the unusual acoustical effects at Mayan sites limited to tonal
echoes. Guides in Tulum on the Yucatan coast will report that the temple
there emits a clear, long-range whistle when the wind direction and
velocity are just right -- a possible signal to warn of developing storms.
Then there are Chichen Itza's "musical phalluses": a set of artillery-
shell-shaped stones that produce clear, nearly melodic tones when tapped
with a wooden mallet.
"Echo chambers" similar to the Great Ball Court can be found in many
European domed cathedrals -- most notably St. Paul's in London and St.
Peter's in Rome -- and the large theater near Syracuse in Sicily, known as
the "Ear of Dionysus." In each case, the amplification is created by sound
waves echoing off the curved surfaces of the dome. But the Great Ball
Court has no vaulted ceiling to provide the requisite curved surface for
the reflections, and although theories abound, the source of its
amplification is still not fully understood. The famed conductor Leopold
Stowkowski of the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra spent four days at the
site in 1931, determined to uncover the ingenious design principles behind
the effect, hoping to adapt them to an open-air concert theater he was
designing. He left empty-handed.
Questions of intent aside, Edgerton recognizes the benefits archaeology
could gain from acoustical expertise. Still, he urges a cautious
collaboration. "Let us reconstruct from what we know, rather than
conjecturing about birds."
The rest of the archaeological community seems to be slowly coming
around: Lubman recently presented his first paper at an archaeology
meeting, the first non-archaeologist to do so, albeit with traditional
"crackpot" placement: dead last in a contributed session. But the response
was cautiously positive and he's been asked to contribute an article to a
prominent Mayan journal on the topic. Acousticians are responding in kind.
Next month's meeting of the Acoustical Society of America will feature an
entire session devoted to the work of acoustical archaeologists.
To Lubman, the fledgling field of acoustical archaeology can only
augment traditional archaeology's long list of accomplishments in
rediscovering our human past. And he remains convinced of his theory about
Chichen Itza's chirped echo. "It's ironic that an entity as ephemeral as
sound can persist longer than the creators of the space," he says. "Where
else in the world have an ancient people preserved a sacred sound by
coding it into stone, so that a thousand years later, people might hear it
and wonder?"

--------- "RE: Innu Country Food Study" ---------

Date: Thu, 16 Sep 1999 10:55:45 -0300
From: Larry Innes <innuenv@web.net>
Subj: News: Innu Country Food Study

Mailing List: Innu People Forum list <INNU-L@YORKU.CA>

Environment Canada is funding a three-year, $300,000 study to be done
by the Innu Nation and the Atlantic Veterinary College in Labrador -
Interview with "John Van Leewen", Epidemiologist at the Atlantic
Veterinary College.
Key Words:
Media: CFGB-FM Reporter: PAUL PIGOTT
Date: 7:46:05, 9/13/99
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Don Lockhart: The Innu have known it for years. Something is
changing the way animals taste in Labrador. Last winter an informal
study by the Atlantic Veterinary College discovered one possible
cause, abnormal levels of cadmium and agonchlorines were found in
some ducks and caribou. Those toxins could cause health problems for
the Innu.

Cindy Wall: But they need more information. So Environment Canada is
funding a three-year, $300,000 study to be done by the Innu Nation
and the Atlantic Veterinary College. John Van Leewen is an
Epidemiologist at the College and reporter Paul Pigott reached him in
Prince Edward Island.

Paul Pigott: Your veterinary college is about to start off on some
studies in Northern Labrador, what is this all about, what is this
project?

John Van Leewen: Well there are two main parts to this project and
the first one is a harvesting and consumption survey. What we would
like to do is get a better handle of exactly which species are
consumed by the Innu people and how many pounds per person roughly,
to get some estimate of that. Once we have that baseline data then
we can, with the second part of the study, determine what kind of
exposure the average person in the Innu Nation would be receiving in
terms of toxin levels. So the second part of the study is actually
taking samples of animals that have been harvested and sending them
away for toxin analysis, various things, oganochlorines, PCB's, those
sort of things, pesticides, metals. Also we will be doing some
autopsies on these animals that have been killed for consumption and
looking at the carcass, weighing the carcass and seeing if there are
any abnormalities of the liver, the kidney, those sort of things that
typically happen when they are exposed to higher levels of toxins.

Paul Pigott: So first of all you have to find though what the Innu
are eating. I'm just wondering how you are going to do that.

John Van Leewen: Well we've got a diary set up and so the people, the
harvesters, in particular the hunters will be keeping track of every
animal that they have hunted or caught. So we will have a total of
that for a year and then we will be conducting some surveys as well,
some interviews with the people to determine what they are actually
consuming from these animals and that will give us an idea how much
on a per person basis they are consuming from these animals.

Paul Pigott: So when do you plan to get started on this project?

John Van Leewen: We are actually heading to Goose Bay, a group of us
from the Atlantic Vet College, next week and we are going to hold our
first meetings with them with regard to this project, Larry Innes,
who is the environmental advisor there, he has already been speaking
with some of the elders and people of the community to let them know
that this is on it's way.

Paul Pigott: You got into that a little bit about what the reason for
this project is but I guess there are concerns about the health of
the Innu people because of contaminants that are getting in their
wild food?

John Van Leewen: Well we don't know how much of a health concern
there is so I don't want to overstate the health concern. The
purpose of the study is to determine what level of exposure they are
actually undergoing. We actually applied for a third part of the
study to sample some of the people themselves, looking at levels of
metals in their hair and breast milk and that sort of thing but that
part of the study wasn't funded for various reasons and so we are
seeking money to do that part of the study as well. That would kind
of complete the picture of going from what they consume to what they
are being exposed in terms of the animals themselves to what the
levels are in their bodies and whether that is having any health
effect on them. So that's the larger picture of what we would like to
achieve and look all the way along. At this point we just have the
funding to look at what are they consuming, what are the levels of
toxins in there, what is the parent exposure as best as we can
estimate and is that a concern at this point.

Paul Pigott: So you won't be answering the question I think a lot of
people here in Labrador were quite surprised to hear that these kind
of pollutants were getting into animals. We always thought is was a
very clean environment up here but you won't answer the question on
how those pollutants are getting into the animals.

John Van Leewen: No that wasn't our mandate at the start when we were
looking for funding. We just wanted to answer the question, is there
a concern at this point? Because if there isn't a lot of exposure
then that other next question of how is it getting there isn't
relevant. So this kind of has to be done first. If we do find there
are significant levels of toxins there that are health concerns then
that next question certainly is important and would be pursued
subsequent. At this point we need to establish what the level of
concern is.

Paul Pigott: So is there anything now that hunters of Innu, Inuit or
even some of the white people here in Labrador, what should they do?

John Van Leewen: If they catch anything that looks out of the
ordinary at all in any way, in terms of meat color or that the liver
doesn't look quite right to them or something like that then they
want to hesitate in actually consuming that animal. That would be on
the precautionary side. Beyond that we don't have really very good
guidelines to suggest much more at this point. What we hope to do
is, with the toxin analysis, be able to tell them after three years,
yes these older animals of this species had higher levels regularly
and so you want to avoid the older ones of this particular species.
That's what we hope to obtain by the end of the study.

Paul Pigott: Okay well I guess we will have to follow this as the
study goes along and hopefully in three years we will have a better
picture.

John Van Leewen: For sure.

Paul Pigott: Thank you very much for talking to us.

John Van Leewen: Okay your very welcome.

Don Lockhart: John Van Leewen is an epidemiologist at the Atlantic
Veterinary College in Prince Edward Island.

--------- "RE: Santee Casino Showdown" ---------

Date: Tue, 14 Sep 1999 12:54:06 -0500
From: "Shunkmanitu Ska" <shunka-ska@altavista.net>
Subj: Santee Casino

Newsgroup: alt.native

Published Tuesday
September 14, 1999
Nebraska to Babbitt: Stay Out of Santee Casino Showdown
BY ROBERT DORR
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt should not intervene in the Santee
Sioux Tribe's effort to win legal permission to operate a casino in
Nebraska, the State of Nebraska says.
In a response to the tribe's request for Babbitt's intervention, the
state cited its oft-stated position that it can't permit the Santee Sioux
Tribe to operate a type of gambling that isn't legal in Nebraska.
Gov. Mike Johanns and Attorney General Don Stenberg responded jointly in
a letter made public Monday.
In May, the tribe asked Babbitt to intervene under a new federal rule
permitting the Interior Department to become involved in certain Indian
gambling cases. The Interior Department has said its new rule permitting
intervention would apply only if a state had denied a tribe the right to
run a type of gambling that otherwise is allowed in that state.
The state, under Johanns and former Gov. Ben Nelson, consistently has
taken the position that it can't make an exception for the Santees.
In view of Nebraska's long-held position, the state's response to the
tribe's request for Interior Department intervention isn't surprising,
Conly Schulte, an attorney for the tribe, said Monday.
In a 38-page response, Johanns and Stenberg said the tribe's contention
that numerous video slot machines are operated illegally in Nebraska isn't
a reason to authorize the tribe to conduct similar gambling.
They denied that the state is lax in enforcing a ban on video slot
machines. "The Nebraska State Patrol has undertaken numerous
investigations relating to illegal gambling activities over the years and
continues to do so," they said in a Sept. 9 letter to George T. Skibine,
the Interior Department's director of Indian gaming.
On another point, Johanns and Stenberg said that while some charities,
schools and private clubs have conducted Las Vegas nights and casino
nights in "isolated instances," the state has "clear public policy"
against such gambling and investigates and prosecutes offenders.
The Santees continue to operate a gambling casino on their Knox County
reservation in northeast Nebraska even though courts have ruled that the
casino is violating a federal law in remaining open without a state
compact. However, authorities haven't been able to get the casino shut
down.
Johanns and Stenberg said "the tribe should accept the fact that it has
litigated the scope of the gaming issue and lost."
In the latest court hearing on Aug. 27, the tribe's leaders staved off
an effort by the U.S. Attorney's Office to persuade a federal judge to
hold the tribe's leaders in contempt of court for not closing the casino.

--------- "RE: Confederation of Elders of America" ---------

Date: Thursday, September 16, 1999
From: Robert Dorman <redorman@theofficenet.com>
Subj: Confederation of Elders of America
------- FORWARD, Original message follows -------
From: Alex and Carmen Perez <alexandcarmenperez@juno.com>

Mailing List: Big Mountain List <BIGMTLIST@onelist.com>

Hi Robert.
Thank you for responding so quickly. I'm sorry we took so long
to reply. We have been very busy with this project. All the help
you can give us will be greatly appreciated.
On September 28 thru October 10, we are hoping to gather
over 400 Indigenous Elders from North, South and Central
America. A gathering like this has never happened here in the
United States. It will be taking place in three different sights
here in New Mexico. These Elders will gather in unity to make
a declaration to the world for the sake of the Earth and all of
its inhabitants.
Terry Fischer, one of the board members of the organizing
committee, was here today and I gave her a copy of your
e-mail to us. She will be sending you more info. too.

The website for CIEPA (Confederation of Indigenous
Elders and priests of America) is http://www.ciepa.org/
E-mail address is elders.guides@juno.com

Thanks for your interest in this most auspicious event.
Alex and Carmen Perez
email: alexandcarmenperez@juno.com
- - - - --
Subj: [BIGMTLIST] Confederation of Elders Update
From: Robert Dorman <redorman@theofficenet.com>

The following information was received just now from Lilia at the
Confederation of Elders organization. The upcoming (international) elders
meeting is for ELDERS ONLY and not the public, supporters, or press.
However, there will be a chance for some people to meet with the elders on
October 9th at Nambe Falls Pueblo in New Mexico. This meeting will occur
from sunrise to sunset. No press allowed. There may be a press conference
on Oct. 10th in Sante Fe or Nambe. It was emphasized that this is a very
serious meeting of the elders, "the real thing."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
You are on the BIGMTLIST, a moderated mailing list of Big Mountain
relocation resistance information (not discussion or debate). .
For non-list members receiving this post as a forwarded message, you
may subscribe by following this link:
http://www.onelist.com/subscribe/BIGMTLIST.
For Big Mountain and other activist internet resources, visit "The
Activist Page" at
http://www.theofficenet.com/~redorman/welcome.html
Also, for great internet tools please visit:
http://www.msw.com.au/cgi-bin/msw/entry?id=1271
------------------------------------------
This message was sent to you by
Name: BIGMTLIST
Email Address: redorman@theofficenet.com
IP Address: ppp-66.odienet.net

--------- "RE: Sober Warrior's Page" ---------

Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 22:35:10 EDT
From: Takkon1@aol.com
Subj: SOBER WARRIOR'S PAGE.............Tuesday,Sept.21,1999

"DRUG ADDICTION, ALCOHOLISM AND THE NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN'S"
<>><>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>
"PLEASE NOTE"
For those of you that wish to share your experiences, strengths, hopes
and tragedies about drug addiction & alcoholism, please forward them, alone
with written permission, so we may published your related story within this
page, please send to: SbrWarrior@aol.com
For those of you that wish only to comment about this page, please send your
comments to: SbrWarrior@aol.com
<>><>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>
In the past few weeks, I have related a small amount of some of the
experiences I have had while being actively addicted to alcohol, and what
it had done to me. This week I would like to relate a little on what
recovery from alcoholism and drug addiction is like. I'm sure that many
of you can remember the pain that alcoholism and drug addiction put us
through, and the feelings of hopelessness. I won't kid you in saying that
the first step in recovery is an easy one, it is in most parts, the
hardest thing we have ever done in our lives. There are no easy ways, or
shortcuts to begin recovery, but it all begins when we admit that we are
powerless over alcohol, or drugs, our lives had become so insane for the
want of alcohol, or drugs, that we could no longer function as normal
human beings. We have to keep in mind that alcohol, or drugs tell us that
we don't have a problem. Its people, places, things and situation that
are our problems, and not the drinking we are doing, or the drugs we are
using. I'm sure if you were to ask an active alcoholic if he/she has a
problem drinking, their answer would be something like, no, I can drink
just fine, thank you, or you could ask a drug addict if they have problems
with drugs, and they would say, yes, their wondering where their going to
make their next hit? What it all boils down to, is that alcoholism and
drug addiction is an affliction that tells us we don't have a problem
with it! The first important step in recovery is to set aside our denials,
and admit that we do have a real problem with alcohol, or drugs! Although
this might sound like an easy beginning to the road of recovery, it is
not by all means that easy, we have to remember that the alcoholic, or
drug addict live in their own self made world of denial. For many, there
is the feeling of hopelessness, alcohol, or drugs have just about wiped
most of our memory's of what it was like to live sober, or clean. For
myself, I think the hardest part in the beginning of my recovery, was
going through the withdrawals of what alcohol had done to me? For those of
you that don't understand, withdrawals is what happens when you take the
alcohol, or drugs away from an alcoholic, or drug addict. Alcohol, or
drugs have seeded themselves so well into our body's, that when taken
away, it will put us through a living hell for the want of it? For many,
they have gone through the shakes, vomiting and their minds have been in
utter turmoil. I know that this doesn't paint a very pretty picture for
those that want to quit, but I have to be honest to give you a better
understanding of what it takes to begin your recovery. As you have fought
so hard to make sure you had your next drink, or drug, you will fight
even harder to say no more! During your recovery, many questions will
cross your minds, like, what will I do with all the time I will have now
on my hands? Believe me, your going to wish you had more time in a day,
then you had thought? We have to remember, we're learning all over again
to live sober, or clean. Next thought will be, how will we benefit in
recovery? I think that the simplest way to answer this question is to say,
take a piece of paper and make a list of all the things that alcohol, or
drugs, have beneficially done for you on one side, and on the other side,
write what you have gained from not drinking, or drugging has done for
you? I think in time you will be amazed in what you will come up with for
an answer? The first thing I found, was the word, hopelessness has
changed into hope, powerlessness, has now become power in knowing that I
can now make the right choices in life, shame and humiliation have become,
self-respect within ones self, the, I can't do this, becomes, I can do
this. The list goes on, and on, day after day in recovery, there is no
end to it. For many out there in this world, you will hear, I can't do
this alone! Take hope my friends, there are fellowships out there that
will help you along the hard path you have ahead of you in recovery, seek
them out, their not all that hard to find. For some, they will ask, what
is a fellowship? A fellowship is a group of people that gather together
to support one another in the need to stay sober, or clean of drugs. You
might find these groups in Alcoholic's Anonymous, or Narcotic's Anonymous,
you might also find help within your clergy, or your spiritual guide. The
point being, that you don't have to go through the pain of recovery alone,
there are people out there that are willing to help you through this
difficult time in your life, to help you walk again on a path that is
second better then to none! If you want to see what I have seen within
recovery, then seek these people out! My first day of recovery was with
such a group. I knew I couldn't do this alone, I couldn't remember how to
live life sober, I had no idea what was expected of me to live life sober?
Its hard to put into words what I felt at my first gathering, other then,
I wanted what these people had, and I was willing do anything it took to
have it! I wish I could find the words to express the feeling I felt when
I entered that room of people? All I can say is, it was the first time in
a very, very long time that I have ever known what the true meaning of
serenity meant to me. I was within a group of people that fully
understood just what I was going through, and opened their minds, and
hearts to me freely. They shared with me a wealth of wisdom that I had
never known before in my life, a way of life that I could now stand
strong, sober and free for just one more day of what the booze and drugs
were doing to me. I learned how to live life, just one day at a time, all
the yesterdays were now behind me, and all the tomorrow's have not
happened yet, but for today, this I have. I learned how to do battle with
my alcoholism day by day, and that for today, I will not drink, or drug.
In the beginning, the battle was hard fought, I had to learn now to
become a mighty warrior within myself, a sober warrior. Please try to
understand, a sober warrior is not just for the Indian, but for all that
do battle with their alcoholism, and drug addiction, day after day, and
win the battle for that day, that is the true meaning of what a sober
warrior is. There are many sober warrior's within our lives, all we need
do is to seek them out and join them on their path of recovery. We are
many in number, and in time you will come to quickly come to recognize
them by their smile on their faces, the love that beats within their
hearts, and the freedom that now lives within their spirits. There is no
truer meaning of what a sober warrior is until you have felt the freedom
within your spirit for the want of alcohol, or drugs. We are a nation of
many that stand strong and proud of who and what we have become in life
being in recovery. For the active alcoholic, or drug addict out there,
you have but one of two choices in life to now make. You can die in
despair, with much pain, humiliation and shame, or live a meaningful,
productive life in recovery, the choice is yours! Your life, or death all
depends upon your choice, no one can make this choice, but you!
<>><>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>
For those of you that wish to seek some information on drug and alcohol
among children, please go to this web site?
<>><>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>
Drug and Violence Prevention Story and Activity Book
http://www.ihs.gov/PublicInfo/Publications/McGruff/lessons/index.asp
McGruff & Scruff Kids Comics About Health and Safety
http://www.ihs.gov/PublicInfo/Publications/McGruff/lessons/index.asp
<>><>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>
National Association for Native American Children of Alcoholics
http://www.nanacoa.org/
National Association for Native American Children of Alcoholics
http://www.nanacoa.org/
<>><>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>
Drug-addicted moms
http://www.azcentral.com/news/0919methmoms.shtml
Arizona Central: Mom learns about sobriety
http://www.azcentral.com/news/
<>><>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>

--------- "RE: Ipperwash" ---------

Date: Sun, 19 Sep 1999 10:36:33 -0700
From: Nancy Thomas <nlthomas@YvwiiUsdinvnohii.net>
Subj: Ipperwash
---------------- Original message follows ----------------
Date: Friday, September 3, 1999
From: Russ Mitchell <russell@nt.net>

Mailing List: Paths-L <paths-l@YvwiiUsdinvnohii.net>

Justice / Aboriginal Affairs
September 3, 1999
Queen's Park
Immediate Release
Harris has no choice but to call a public inquiry on fourth
anniversary of Dudley George's death, says Hampton.
Toronto - After four years of trying to stall the court process and
denials few believe, Harris has no choice but to call a public inquiry
into the death of Dudley George at Ipperwash Park on September
6, 1995, said Howard Hampton, Leader of the Ontario NDP today.
"It's been four years now since the death of Dudley George and the
Harris government hasn't been able to wriggle their way out of this,"
said Hampton. "The issue won't go away, they have to agree to a
public inquiry and accept that they're accountable for their actions
like everyone else and tell the truth about what happened at Ipperwash
Park." The family of Dudley George alleges that the Harris government
ordered the OPP to assault the native protesters at Ipperwash Park
instead of negotiating a peaceful settlement and are partly responsible
for the death of Dudley George, who was shot during the assault.
In July of this year, the court rejected the Government of Ontario's
request to be excluded from the George family lawsuit on a technicality.
Premier Mike Harris, then-Solicitor General Bob Runciman and, then
Attorney General Charles Harnick, will have to appear before the court
this Fall.

For more information, please contact Robin Cantin
Phone: (416) 325-7324 Opseu 593
Petition For A Public Inquiry Into The Death Of Dudley George
URL: http://www.nt.net/~russell/petition.html
----------------------------------------
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--------- "RE: Camp Justice Update" ---------

Date: Wed, 15 Sep 1999 23:30:07 GMT
From: wlfskr@leba.net (Pat Morris)
Subj: Camp Justice Update 9/15/99

Newsgroup: alt.native

Today the members of Camp Justice went to the Oglala Tribal Council
meeting and asked to be put on the agenda. They were told that they
could not be on the agenda until next month. Therefore they handed the
following out to each member of the Council:
<> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <>
September 15, 1999

To the Oglala Council from Camp Justice:
We realize that a 2/3 vote is necessary to be placed on the agenda,
however we at Camp Justice feel that the issues of: (1) the unsolved
murders of Ron Hard Heart and Wally Black Elk and (2) the land claim,
are very important. We need the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council to begin
getting involved in these issues as they concern the overall
membership of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. Your attention in this matter is
appreciated.
Thank you.

We at Camp Justice are requesting Judge Patrick Lee to expedite the
injunction before him. We at Camp Justice are requesting the Oglala
Sioux Tribe to direct the Department of Public Safety to start
exercising their authority pursuant to the law and order code of a dry
reservation and start initiating roadblocks to prevent alcohol and
drugs from entering our reservation. The Whiteclay land issue should
be immediately addressed to prevent accidents and deaths due to
alcoholism. The Oglala Tribal Council does possess the power to
address these critical issues. We at Camp Justice pray that the Oglala
Sioux Tribal Council will adhere to our request.

Makoce is sacred and our wakanyega are sacred.
Mitakuye oyasin.

--------- "RE: Press Conf. by Family of Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash" ---------

Date: Sun, 19 Sep 1999 20:33:11 -0500
From: not@inthe.game (justanoldman)
Subj: The Ottawa Press Conf re AnnaMae

Newsgroup: alt.native

d'laan'te'...
Some days ago I travelled back to the city of Ottawa & went to the
Parliament buildings for a press conference called by the Pictou family, &
I met AnnaMae's 2 little girls. They are no longer little & have children
of their own. And I cried as I held these two women in my arms, as I once
held their mother. They are full of the beauty as their mother held, & it
felt very good. They have a hard road ahead, bringing to justice the
animals that snuffed out the light that was AnnnaMae, so I ask each of the
real people here to pray that strength be shared with them.
And now as to what I heard at the press conference.
First & foremost it must be understood by all who read this that AIM, the
American Indian Movement, was not & is not the "target" of this campaign
to clear the name of Anna Mae Pictou & to bring justice to her memory &
relief from pain to her family. That the kidnapping, rape & murder of
AnnaMae Pictou was carried out by semi-humans that pretended (& still
pretend) to be "AIM Warriors" is coincidental.
Again I will say it: AIM is a movement, NOT an "organization", & in the
same way that a movement has no leaders, no one task or person more or
less important than the next, no warrior of AIM, man or woman, is less
human than any other. That's one thing AnnaMae's rapist-killers forgot, or
probably never knew. AnnaMae was AIM, all the way. Feeding & clothing the
poorer relations, caring for urban brothers & sisters ground down by the
uncaring.., sharing with the wounded survivors of the War of Genocide..,
fighting for land & language & most of all for the dignity of each person
of every Nation is just as important as manning headline-marches &
barricades. The 1000's of AIM Warriors who fight each day on those 1000's
of "smaller" battlefields is what AIM, the REAL AIM is all about. The REAL
AIM had nothing to do with this.
The press conference took place at the Centre Block of Canada's Parliament
on Thurs 16th Sept at 11AM. It was carried live across Canada on the
Canadian Parliamentary Channel, & televised on all of the national news
networks including overseas broadcasts.
Press kits were handed to 1-2 dozen journalists, containing statements by:
1) the Pictou family; 2) the governments of the Mi'qmaw Nation (who are
part of the land now called Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward
Island and Gaspe'-Que'bec); 3) the community where AnnaMae was born
(Shubenacadie); 4) the AFN; 6) the Native Women's Association of Canada; &
5) several Members of Parliament of Canada (these politicians have
committed themselves to pushing for speedy arrests of the guilty).
First to speak were AnnaMae's 2 daughters, with much heart & tears in
their words, asking for an end to their pain, & that their mother be given
the dignity in death that was torn from her in her final few days. AnnaMae
spoke next, from a long-lost recording she's made in July of '75.
Chief Ghislain Picard of the Montagnais-Innu & an AFN Regional Vice-Chief
expressed the full support of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN - the
political organization representing all 653 First Nation governments in
the country currently called Canada). As well, Cree Nation kookum
(grandmother) Marilyn Buffalo, President of the Native Women's Association
of Canada expressed the decision of the women of the Nations to put all of
their support & resources into the drive to bring speedy resolution to
this case.
[All First Nation governments, & all First Nation people (esp women) in
Canada are asked to put pressure on their local Members of Parliament
demanding that the government of Canada immediately ACT to bring
resolution to this case & break down the wall of silence erected by the
FBI to hide their responsibility for AnnaMae's death. I remind you all
that by doing so it will also uncover the FBI's responsibility in the
deaths of hundreds of people of the Nations, especially among the Lakota.
And such an investigation will undoubtedly free Leonard Peltier.]
Robert Pictou-Branscombe spoke next, briefly describing the incredibly
complex investigation to date, the many sworn depositions & authenticated
audio/video & other recorded testimony by several dozen witnesses, &
touching on some of the more recently-discovered evidence secured by
wiretaps & DNA tests. He also named those who did this deed, & how they
killed AnnaMAe to shut her up NOT because she was an FBI informer, but
because she'd discovered who WAS actually working for the FBI.. AND ALSO
since she had been heard to say that she would publicly declare who had
actually killed the 2 FBI agents at Oglala on 26 June 1975. (One of the 2
men who actually killed those agents was an FBI informer, but since
Leonard Peltier was the FBI's #1 target, the FBI did not want the truth to
come out. AnnaMae had to die, they decided.)
This massive political support expressed at this one news conference
has already sent many messages to flying between the offices of the
immigrant-governments in Washington & Ottawa. The Solicitor-General of
Canada has ordered the Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
(RCMP) to follow up & report the initial findings of their investigation
to him AND to the Pictou family, the Mi'qmaw Nation and to the AFN.
Raymond Chretien, canada's Ambassador to the USA, has asked to meet with
USA A-G Janet Reno to discuss the FBI's continued obstruction of the
investigation into the kidnapping, rape & murder of Anna Mae Pictou, a
Canadian citizen.
As for those named as the two-legged turds that killed Anna Mae:
You all know by now that Theda Nelson Clark, Arlo Looking Cloud & JohnBoy
Patten picked up AnnaMae from the house of Troy Lynn Yellow Wood in
Denver. AnnaMae had been told to skip bail on her charges in Pierre & to
go to Troy Lynn's "safe house". No matter what Troy Lynn says to the press
these days, about being AnnaMae's "friend" who "tried to talk her out of
going..", the fact is that AnnaMae already had her arms tied together
behind her back long before she left Troy Lynn's house. She was seen being
led from the house to the car & thrown into the back seat.
AnnaMae was taken to Rapid City, to Thelma Rios' apartment, where she was
kept tied up & locked in a closet between "interrogations". She was beaten
several times, supposedly to force her to "confess" to being an FBI
snitch. AnnaMae was raped by both Arlo & JohnBoy in that apartment. The
"tribunal" that tortured her was composed of Vern Bellecourt, Clyde
Bellecourt, Bruce Ellison, Crow Dog, Ted Means, Herb Powless, Thelma Rios.
Given that Dennis Banks was "in charge" of SD AIM at the time, it's hard
to believe that he did not participate in this "tribunal". Dennis
definitely learned about what was going on in that Rapid City apartment
well before AnnaMae was killed, yet he did nothing & said nothing to stop
it. The same must be said [& this one breaks my heart to imagine] of John
Trudell. A couple of other lesser-known so-called warriors took part in
this crime, but I leave others to identify them, as their participation
[in my eyes] was lesser, mostly accessories after the crime.
To prevent AnnaMAe clearing Leonard Peltier of murders he did not commit,
to stop her from blowing Clyde Bellecourt's financial arrangements with
his handlers in the FBI [Agents David Price & William Wood], AnnaMae was
ordered killed. Early in the pre-dawn hours of the 12th of December,
1975, AnnaMae Pictou-Aquash, a warrior of the people, a mother of the
Mi'qmaw Nation, sister to 100's of men & women, was taken to that ravine
at Wanblee by Theda Nelson Clark, Arlo Looking Cloud & JohnBoy Patten,
with her hands tied behind her back, thrown face-first into the ground.
She asked for a minute to pray. She was kicked in reply. Arlo had the gun,
but put it in JohnBoy's hand, & JohnBoy Patten grabbed her by the hair &
shot her once behind the right ear. The ropes around her wrists were cut
away & she was left to the coyotes. When her body was found 2 months
later, the FBI agents who attended her farce-autopsy ("died of exposure")
they made sure that her hands were cut off at the place where the rope had
marked her wrist, but close-up photos taken during the second autopsy
clearly show the rope marks.
That is what is said of the kidnapping, rape & cold-blooded murder of Anna
Mae Pictou-Aquash.
Theda Nelson Clark is now living quietly in a small community in Nebraska.
Arlo Looking Cloud is staggering around the skids of Denver, with some
kind of "immunity from prosecution" protection from the FBI, & JohnBoy
Patten has been living as John Graham in the small Indian reserve at
Kwanlin Dun, just outside of Whitehorse, Yukon for the past 20 years. He's
married into the community & is a good father & husband, by the reports
I've received from relations in the area. But now that the people of his
small community know who he is & what he did, the elders of the Tlingit,
Gw'ichin & T'chutone Nations in that village have called community
assemblies & he has to answer to them. The Grand Chief of the Yukon
Council of Indians, Albert James, has visited him twice to discuss the
situation, & elders of the Pictou family & the Mi'qmaw Nation are going to
work with the elders of his married-into family & Nation to see that his
arrest is as minimally painful as possible to all families concerned in
this tragedy caused by hatred of Indians & greed for power by a few
twisted FBI & Indian hearts.
The Bellecourt brothers, Bruce Ellison, Crow Dog, Ted Means, Thelma Rios &
Herb Powless, as well as Dennis Banks & John Trudell [I am told] all have
their legal counsel retained & waiting in the wings. The final Grand Jury
on the kidnap, rape & murder of AnnaMae Pictou-Aquash will be convened in
Denver shortly. AnnaMae's name will be cleared, AIM will lose the cancer
that has polluted it & tried to turn a movement into "AIM INC.", the FBI
agents who set the whole scenario up will be forced to answer publicly for
their death-dealing games.., & Leonard Peltier will be cleared of the
fabricated murder charges for which he was convicted.
That is all that I have to report on this matter at this time, as it was
told to me and to the world.
I ask for prayers for all those who have suffered for the self-interest of
a few twisted spirits.. May the truth shine bright, & may the guilty
suffer as horribly as they deserve for the rest of their days.
masi:cho...
jaom/e'ne'thekwe'

--------- "RE: Former Leavenworth Prisoner Speaks about Peltier" ---------

Date: 17 Sep 1999 20:23:36 GMT
From: "Celine" <Celine.Vaquer@wanadoo.fr>
Subj: Fwd: Luis Rosa, former Leavenworth Political Prisoner
speaks about Leonard Peltier
------- FORWARD, Original message follows -------
Date: Wed, 15 Sep 1999 16:58:40 -0500
From: "LPDC" <lpdc@idir.net>

Newsgroup: alt.native

A Leonard Peltier Defense Committee interview with Luis Rosa, former Puerto
Rican political prisoner, one day after his release from Leavenworth
federal penitentiary-September 10, 1999

LPDC - Congratulations on your release and thank you very much for taking
the time to call us. We know that it was a very difficult decision that
you and the other prisoners were faced with in regard to President
Clinton's offer to release you under such restrictive and unjustified
conditions. Would you mind talking a little bit about the process you all
went through in making the decision you did as well as what your
apprehensions might be now that you are out, but still not free?

LR - The conditions was something that for years we had said we would not
accept-We knew what the political motives were behind them. These
conditions attempted to strip our voice for the liberation of Puerto Rico-
the conditions said that we could not associate with each other or partake
in the political process in violation of our civil rights. This is what
we had a problem with-the condition of renouncing violence was no problem.
We issued a statement in 1997 where we did renounce violence and we were
self critical about any harm or injuries that our movement had ever caused
to anyone. To make our decision, we had to enter into a discussion
through conference calls and I looked to my elders, Leonard Peltier and
Jaan Laaman, and Ernie Santiago-Fernando Torres. I ran it through them
and sought their opinions to reach the decision-I was really against
accepting the conditions right up until the last minute-but the unified
position of the prisoners was that we come out-I was really proud of my
comrades though, it would have been easy to just take the offer right away
after spending twenty years in prison-but we decided that everyone would
either sign or everyone would stay-we took our time to make a decision--
and we had the blessings of those who did not want to sign to go ahead and
do so.

LPDC - Of course, you know that Leonard's supporters have been watching,
and following what has been going on politically with this because we too
have been asking for clemency from Clinton and we know that Leonard could
be faced with a similar type of decision one day. A lot of us have been
calling the White House and asking them to drop the conditions on your
release. Though the deal you all received was bad, we were still pretty
surprised that Clinton would be willing to release you at all, knowing his
track record over the years. Can you tell us, what did your network do
right, what do you think it is that really made him release you?

LR - I have to give my thanks to the National Committee and the National
Liberation Movement and the human rights groups in Puerto Rico-Jan Sussler
and Michael Doiche-who did not rest until we were out-I really think the
catalyst was that all sectors of society were involved-including groups in
Europe and Africa-workers unions of Puerto Ricans, students-the ability to
touch every sector of society-the effort was not divided by political
ideology-when it came to the prisoners, the only goal was our release.
When we made this decision we were especially thinking about the other
prisoners, especially Leonard Peltier-even if we come out with these
conditions, people will see us-we will adhere to the conditions-we will
show that we can reintegrate into the political arena with no reprisals-we
knew the negative campaign would be there-it surpassed the viciousness we
expected-we can turn it around with our conduct though, and open doors for
others. We can prove them wrong.

LPDC - We work with a lot of former prisoners and we know that one of
hardest things for them, once they are out, is the thought and the
knowledge that many of their brothers and sisters are still inside. A lot
of prisoners subscribe to this news paper, is there any message that you
would like to send out to them today?

LR - Greetings, and my strongest revolutionary embrace to all of them.
When we came out, we took a part of every political prisoner out with us-
and we left a part of ourselves inside with them. We are not going to
rest until all of the prisoners are out-hopefully our voice will
contribute to the freedom of every political prisoner. I want to thank
every political prisoner and prisoner of war for their embraces, love and
inspiration, and we want them to know that we want to be a service to them.

LPDC - While you were in prison did you ever feel like there was pressure
on you to have to live up to an image, or a perception that activists have
of political prisoners? Are there any misconceptions about what it means
to be a political prisoner that you would like to clear up?

LR - Living up to the image-we live up to our own principles-not a dress
or a suit we put on -it is the fabric of who we are-when people see us-we
don't stand out-we don't walk with our heads up higher--with well
manicured images-we are known for our consistency-when there is an issue
we step forward-we use our voice when there is abuse-we are known for our
humility-our willingness to help others. If you look at the conduct of
all political prisoners-it is not one of arrogance but one of a person who
sits back and listens before he speaks and appreciates the opinions of
others and can learn and be willing to teach. It is a misconception that
we walk too straight of a line with no time for humor or sports or for
leisure-the last thing I did before I left is play hand ball with Leonard
and eat with Leonard-we joked and played practical jokes on each other-
laughter is what inspires us the most and you know, Leonard is one of the
biggest jokers in there.

LPDC - yeah, he makes us laugh here at the LPDC too-he really keeps us
going-he calls and cheers us up when we are feeling frustrated-you would
think it would be our job to do that for him.

LR - That's the other thing, we nourish ourselves from you-it-s a mutual
thing-we are not just the inspiration for you-we get it from you all-in
spirit and physically from the love we feel from you out there-we may be
down and we make a phone call-we are picked up-I have done work for
political prisoners before-you don't see the fruit right away-you can get
discouraged-you lack confidence to do something new, something that will
maybe make a spark to get out of the routine of going to a march or doing
the same old activity-you need that lift-it goes both ways.

LPDC - I remember when the National Committee was organizing the tour to
free all Puerto Rican Political Prisoners and Prisoners Of War and they
were going to each prison to demonstrate. There was a small protest for
your release outside of Leavenworth and you were put in the hole soon
afterwards. Are you able to tell us what happened that day? Do you
suggest that supporters not hold demonstrations in front of the prison
where the prisoners are being held?

LR - I was having a visit during the demonstration and afterward, the
warden said, "the captain has ordered you to segregation," and I said,
"why?" He said, "I don't know." Later he said it was because of the
demonstration, so I said "what does that have to do with me?" He said,
"Well, someone made a gesture-an obscene gesture-but, I know it is out of
character of your committee, so you will be out tomorrow." But they
didn't let me out-I spent two weeks in there. Afterwards, we were self
critical about that-the person who had made the gesture apologized-so we
have to be careful-We have to keep ourselves in line and we have to be
consistent with the character of the prisoner who we represent-we have to
show discipline or you can jeopardize the prisoner-just remember
everything done outside has an effect on the inside-if it gets rowdy out
there-it's gonna get rowdy for us inside. We have to remember that people
can be won over. Some of our brothers went home to Puerto Rico, when they
got off the plane-even the police and security were helping them-even they
were in tears-people can be won over like that-most of the time it depends
on the character and the disposition of the people doing the work-even the
warden said-he knew that behavior was out of character for us.

LPDC - Can you tell Leonard's supporters how he is treated inside?

LR - For a while now he has had this problem with his jaw-and he has been
denied the kind of treatment he needs-it really concerns us greatly-
hopefully soon he will get the medical attention he needs. The
administration is going to treat Leonard Peltier like any other political
prisoner-they will be cautious yet vigilant-certain things others can get
away with we can't. Leonard Peltier is loved by the other prisoners, he
is surrounded by people who love him and he is well respected inside by
them.

LPDC - Thank you Luis and congratulations again on your release. Is there
anything else you would like to add?

LR - Yeah, once Leonard took me to a sweat and it was the greatest
experience I ever had-it was incredible-Although I didn't appreciate that
he brought in all the rocks at one time (laugh)-no, I love Leonard-when he
gets out I asked him to come spend some time with me in Puerto Rico too.

LR - Thank you and LOVE to all-I will serve as best as I can.

It's 1999, why is Leonard Peltier still in prison???

Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
PO Box 583
Lawrence, KS 66044
785-842-5774
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> with your old address in the Subject line
http://members.xoom.com/freepeltier/index.html

--------- "RE: Native Prisoner" ---------

Date: Sun, 19 Sep 1999 19:41:37 -0400
From: "Janet Smith" <jansatlcom.net@mindspring.com>
Subj: Contacting those in the Ironhouse

Tell a Native American Prisoner someone cares!

I'm sending excerpts from a note sent me about recent Canadian policy
changes in regard to aboriginal prisoners. This was an abbreviated message
to begin with, but I thought it something that might interest people working
toward prison reform and traditional corrections for Natives in the US.
-----Original Message-----
Date: Monday, September 20, 1999 12:14 AM
From: Valerie Scott <valerie@polarnet.ca>

Greetings Janet,

Just passing along some information from Canada that you may or may not be
aware of. During my research for AIRR, I was in communication with Waseskun
House (Mohawks) in Quebec, which has done a considerable amount of work
with aboriginal prisoners. Their contact, Stan, has passed along the
following information that may be of interest to you:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"On the basis of these results, Corrections Canada will sign a Section
81 Agreement with us. This is care, custody, and total responsibility
(and total liability) of Native offenders at the minimum security and
sometimes medium security level. This will be an arms length agreement,
and our healing center, which has Elders living there and 2 two
sweatlodges on site, will not be seen as a prison."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Canada has legislation, in particular Sections 80-84, which guarantee
aboriginal prisoners many of the things their U.S. counterparts are
fighting so hard to obtain. I am currently summarizing some of this
information for the prisoners and will pass it along if you wish.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"We purchased a large site with 5 buildings for our healing center, and
had a 4 day Spiritual Gathering this past June. At that gathering were
4 representatives, including the tribal chairman, from Lac du Flambeau
reservation in Wisconsin, and 3 representatives from the Great Lakes
Inter-Tribal Council, which represents the 11 Native communities in
Wisconsin. We were invited to a preliminary meeting in July and a full
council meeting 2 weeks ago in Milwaukee. Being aware of all the things
you stated above, and the fact that prisons do nothing but punish and
leave people angrier than before, we proposed that we start working
together to either take over a facility such as the MacNaughten
Correctional Camp, turn it into a healing center alternative to prison,
and basically function as our center up here will. A two day
workshop/development meeting will take place between Waseskun and Native
community workers from Wisconsin, Minnesota and possibly South Dakota in
early January, 2000, at the Lac du Flambeau reservation. Perhaps you
could participate in this. Our approach to change is always from the
top down and the bottom up, and for the political leadership this is
seen as a self-determination issue(s) - justice and corrections. Many
of the wars that need to be fought can be won by taking things to a
level where they are controlled by the collective Native community, in
our opinion, and not by fighting the endless battles with a system that
is set in its ways.
Our second of 4 Spiritual Gatherings will be on June 9-11, 2000, north
of Montreal, at our new center. Anyone down there is welcome to join
us, including the prisoners - if they can."
+++++++++++++++++++
Stan will forward the exact dates of the gatherings once they are
announced. I think it would be good to have as many spiritual advisors,
etc., in attendance at these gatherings. I will pass this information
along to Lenny Foster, and will try to attend the gathering in Canada.
Corrections Canada does not view long hair, sweat lodges, etc. as security
threats. What they are starting to find in many cases is that the prisoners
do not have as good a support system on the outside as they do on the
inside. The clause Stan refers to, enables Native communities to take
custody of Native prisoners to aid in their rehabilitation.
Will pass along any other pertinent info I manage to locate. There are
several interesting reports, but will have to send web sites, etc., rather
than the actual reports.
NAPS (the online directory I mentioned) is nearly set for launching. They
are just trying to get the last of the kinks out.
I did write to one of the prisoners you listed in Oklahoma, and hope to
hear from him soon.
Take care,
Valerie
-----------------------------
I would like to emphasize a point made above: "What they are starting to
find in many cases is that the prisoners do not have as good a support
system on the outside as they do on the inside." In the US, particularly in
the federal system, this alienation from the outside support system is
exacerbated by the tactic of transferring prisoners to prisons far from
their homes and communities so that neither their former families nor
friends can maintain contact. We are in a position to partly counteract
that cultural alienation by volunteering to work with Native prisoners in
Iron Houses near us if we can, and becoming pen pals if we cannot.
I've been hearing from friends who have made contacts with some of our
list, and was gratified to learn that they feel they are benefiting from
the correspondence. Writing to a prisoner is not purely a gift from you to
them -- they have something to give in return.

-----Original Message-----
Date: Saturday, September 11, 1999 4:21 AM
From: gisela <gisela@namibnet.com>
Subj: New Addition - Prisoner

Dear Janet

RE: ADDITION TO THE "PRISONERS WITH WWW HOMEPAGES" AND "WOTANGING IKCHE"
AN INNOCENT MAN ON DEATH ROW!
I am not sure if I am going about it the right way, if not please just
let me know.
I would appreciate it if Milo Rose's homepage could be included here.
His web page is: www.zafu.demon.co.uk/milorose/milorose.htm
Please advise whether there are any other sites where I can have Milo's
homepage included.
Milo desperately needs assistance or help, so if there is anybody out
there, please contact him.
Either direct (snail mail as per the address on the website), through
myself at: gisela@namibnet.com,
or John Pollex at: pollex@zafu.demon.co.uk
I also would like to thank you for what you are doing for these prisoners.
Best wishes from a very cold Windhoek, Namibia (Southern Africa)
Edi Arangies
using gisela@namibnet.com
-------------------
The website mentioned below was given to me as a place that supports Native
American prisoner's needs for spiritual supplies. The site itself does not
give a specific report as to where their supplies are going and who they
are, and I have not corresponded with them directly yet. Since I have not
checked this organization, I cannot represent it as anything other than one
that came to me as doing good things for the Native American prison
community, so would caution contributors to look into their references
before sending contributions. It may well be worthwhile, though -- and this
kind of effort is badly needed.
Janet
-----Original Message-----
Date: Saturday, September 11, 1999 11:17 PM
From: Kii yaa tuk & Waweeyis <howanji@sopris.net>
Mailing List:CREEK-SOUTHEAST-L@rootsweb.com <CREEK-SOUTHEAST-L@rootsweb.com>

It is good to hear that there is a remembrance of Native American
Prisoners. However, in remembering Leonard Peltier there is a tendency to
focus only upon his plight and to forget the thousands of other prisoners in
the iron houses who are regularly struggling with the same issues of health
care, religious freedom, and other abuses. In so many instances Leonard
Peltier's situation is not due to his being involved with AIM as much as it
is due to the conditions of incarceration itself.
It is good justice is supported. Having been deeply involved with the
prison system for years I have seen the lack of support of virtually all
organizations in meeting the everyday needs of ceremonies and traditional
healing which would benefit all native prisoners---things such as firewood,
stones, tarps, travel expenses for our traditional medicine people---the
things needed to keep the native programs operating (which are not funded
by the government unlike the Christian sponsored programs in prison).
Our group works extensively in bringing Native American Traditional
Spiritual practices into the prison systems. There are many needs of our
sisters and brothers and we ask your support in being able to work
addressing these things---for all incarcerated native people. You are
invited to visit the Ho Wanji---One >Voice web pages at
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Andes/2407/ This page is
dedicated to our sisters and brothers in the iron houses.
Thank you

Laura Brook's website is being updated and old pages moved to a mirror site
temporarily. The current address for Laura Brooke's Native American
Prisoner pen pal archive list is:
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/9118/penpal.html. I'll try to keep an
eye on the page to see where it finally ends up and let readers know
immediately.
Reminder and Caution: It is common for prisoners to be moved abruptly.
If your correspondent suddenly quits writing, don't assume it's by choice.
Inquire about his location and situation -- often the prison chaplain can
help you with this. If you know a prisoner on our list has been moved,
please let me know.
If your correspondent requests that you send him anything, particularly
ceremonial items, check the prison to ensure the requested items are not
contraband. Sometimes items of religious significance that are ordinarily
banned may be given to the prisoner by the chaplain.
----------------------------------
Please especially remember - this is the "Year of Leonard".
Leonard Peltier #89637-132, Box 1000, Leavenworth, KS 66048
---------------------------------
Write Eddie Hatcher directly at North Carolina Central Prison:
Eddie Hatcher, 1300 Western Blvd., Raleig

--------- "RE: A Hundred Years Ago" ---------

Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 19:15:02 -0700
From: Kriete <dotchuck@epix.net>
Subj: [NAT-FILM] History: A Hundred Years Ago - Carlisle - Week 120

Mailing List: NAT-FILM <NAT-FILM@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU>
[Editorial Note: These reprints are being included in this
newsletter so that you might know the mind of those who
ran institutions like Carlisle.]

THE INDIAN HELPER
~%^%~
A WEEKLY LETTER
-FROM THE-
Indian Industrial School, Carlisle, Pa.
================================================
VOL. XIV. FRIDAY, August 11, 1899 NUMBER 42
================================================
What shall I do to be forever known?"
Thy duty ever.
"This did full many who yet sleep unknown,'
Oh, never never!
Think'st thou perchance that they remain unknown
Whom thou know'st not?
By angel trumps in heaven their praise is blown;
Diving their lot.

"What shall I do to gain eternal life?
Discharge aright
The simple duties with which each day is rife?"
Yea, with thy might.
Ere perfect scheme of action thou devise
Will life be fled;
While he who ever acts as conscience cries,
Shall live, though dead.
-SCHILLER.
==============================================
HAPPY COUNTRY GIRLS.
The girls at the sea-shore are having a happy time in their work and at
their play. Mamie Ryan, one of them, writes an interesting letter telling
some of their exploits.
She says in part:
Dear Man-on-the-band-stand: I want you to know what grand times we girls
are having here at Cape May.
You know Cape May is acknowledged to be one of the finest sea-shore
resorts, and I am proud to think that we have such lovely homes.
For sea-bathing, there is nothing like it when we get in once, but we
have to look out for the waves which are very strong sometimes.
Susie Yupe swims like a fish and little Eunice Baird enjoys herself
riding along the beach on wheel
Last week I went to visit Nettie Pierce and Ella Sturm at Court House,
and while there I was the guest of the Sheriff's wife. I went all through
the jail and as for cleanliness it was as clean as could be.
Cape May Court House is the county seat of Cape May county, and the
house where I staid is where all the business is transacted.
Sometime soon I am going to visit the light house and life saving
station which I am sure will be very interesting to me.
Amelia Clark and I often wish that the boys and girls could come down
here and enjoy themselves as we do.
We hope to go back in a few weeks and then we will study real hard.<