And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
College Has Served State's Indians Through 3 Decades of Adversity
Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/
Davis, Calif.- Slowly, in the darkness just before dawn, the small group of young
Native Americans crept up to the metal fence surrounding the drab cinder-block Army
buildings. The cool November morning in 1970 was foggy, providing even more cover. On
cue, they climbed over, surprising the few soldiers left to guard the defunct
communications center. The carefully planned "occupation" had succeeded and, in a
symbolic exclamation point, the Native American group pitched a tepee. Outside,
Chicano supporters cheered. Not exactly the way most schools of higher learning begin
... "We were accused of having guns and training revolutionaries. We were supposedly
sending messages overseas to the Soviet Union and China, using the old communications
equipment," said Dave Risling, a Hupa Indian from Humboldt County, a DQU founder and
now chairman of its Board of Directors. Nearly 30 years later,
Deganawidah-Quetzalcoatl University, California's only tribal college, survives.
Tempers have !
!
cool
ed, replaced by the unglamorous work of building a school from nothing. Few noticed,
for example, when the lights went out because DQU could not pay its electric bill ...
If the dream of Indian self-determination were the sole criterion for survival, DQU's
future would be assured. What the school lacks, and always has, is money--just like
the nation's 30 other tribal colleges, the most poorly funded higher education
institutions in America. The ongoing financial difficulties have pushed DQU to a
perpetual existence on the brink, which shows in the inability to pay competitive
salaries, its revolving door of instructors and its deteriorating buildings ... The
school may "not be glamorous or architecturally beautiful, but DQ has an honesty and
is at peace with nature. We're not going in circles here," said Karla Valenzuela, a
20-year-old from the nearby town of Dixon who is part of a troupe of Aztec dancers ...
As part of its evolution, the school, while still cognizant of its C!
!
hica
no roots, is now entirely controlled by Native Americans, who make up the entire Board
of Directors. The parting was generally amicable, both sides say. What has not changed
is the school's bleak financial condition. Its $ 2-million annual budget relies mainly
on the federal Tribal College Act, which provides only about two-thirds of the amount
California provides state community college students. DQU doesn't qualify for state
funding ... If the school can hang on, the financial future may be brighter. In 2001,
the government will give the school full title to the property, giving DQ the freedom,
for example, to sell part of the land to raise money.
!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Work On Subdivision Halted Upon Discovery of Grave Sites
The Providence Journal
http://www.projo.com/
Charlestown- Contractors halted work in an area off Ross Hill Road recently after
uncovering unrecorded grave sites in an area under development as a 2-lot residential
subdivision. Developer Michael Kent, who owns the land, ordered construction to stop
immediately and notified the town and the Narragansett Indian tribe after workers
found several headstones and footstones last Thursday, said Kent's lawyer, Douglas
DeSimone ... John Brown, Narragansett tribal historic-preservation officer, believes
the grave sites - which appear to date from the late 100s - may be those of
Narragansetts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Indian Leader Says HISD Retreats on Mascot Issue
The Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/columnists/index.html
A local American Indian activist says HISD board President Laurie Bricker promised
that the district was going to change its policy regarding the use of Indian-related
mascots after reviewing related material earlier this year. Lawrence Sampson,
co-founder of the Southeast Texas American Indian Movement, said Bricker told him in
May that the mascots with the Indian-related names would change ... "She (Bricker)
told me point blank they were changing the mascots," he said. "She told me the
decision had been made." However, Bricker, who brought up the mascot issue during last
month's board meeting, said she never promised Sampson there was or would be a change.
Mascots are a school-based issue, she said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Town Officials May Scrap Overlook Due to Finding Indian Artifacts
The Providence Journal-Bulletin
http://www.projo.com/
South Kingstown: Town officials may jettison a scenic overlook on the Saugatucket
River because a New York company last month found American Indian artifacts on the
shore. Town officials had wanted to build an observation deck as part of a $ 700,000
park and path ... According to Joel Klein, senior project manager with John Milner
Associates, the river area is probably an American Indian site that predates contact
with European settlers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reno, Nev - Former tribal police chief at Reno halfway house
By Tim Anderson
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
October 5th, 1999
The former chief of the Washoe tribal police force has reported to a halfway house in
Reno to begin serving a one-year prison term, generating additional controversy about
how his case has been handled.
U.S. Bureau of Prisons officials confirmed Monday that Lionel Ahdunko is in the
"corrections component" of Bannum Place on Gentry Way.
In a plea-bargain deal earlier this year, Ahdunko pleaded guilty to illegally
possessing a fully automatic rifle and for making false statements in a police report
about a 1997 vehicle accident.
"He has very limited access to the community," said Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman
Diane Griffin in Dublin, Calif. She said Ahdunko is allowed only to leave the facility
to work or attend religious services.
Even so, a leader of the Washoe Peoples' Reform Council thinks the punishment is
unsatisfactory.
"Justice hasn't been served," Vernon Wyatt of Gardnerville said. "A halfway house
doesn't mean prison. Why bother to sentence him at all?"
Tribal reformers have been critical of initial delays in getting Ahdunko charged _ and
then with the plea-bargain agreement that reduced the level of his offenses.
Ahdunko, fired by the Gardnerville-based tribe last year, faced the possibility of
being charged with felony theft. He was accused of taking an M-14 rifle from the
tribe. In his deal with federal prosecutors, Ahdunko agreed to plead guilty to
misdemeanor theft.
Also, a second complaint of making false statements, for allegedly giving erroneous
information to a Bureau of Indian Affairs investigator in an attempt to cover up the
accident, was dropped.
In sentencing Ahdunko in late July, U.S. District Court Judge Howard McKibben noted
the plea-bargain terms helped the defendant and said the weapons charge demanded
prison time.
Under federal law, an M-14 is considered a machine gun. According to court documents,
Ahdunko took the firearm to his Carson City residence and later to Washington state
after he landed a job as police chief for the Makah Tribe.
McKibben declined comment on whether the placement of Ahdunko in a halfway house is
appropriate. He said this is the call of federal probation officials.
However, records on file with the Bureau of Prisons show the judge recommended the
halfway-house confinement, Griffin said.
"And based on the information we have, this is a reasonable place for him (Ahdunko) to
be," Griffin said.
At his sentencing, Ahdunko also was ordered to be on probation for three years for
making false statements and for one year on the weapons charge. He was fined $2,500
and $1,000 on the complaints.
In weighing options for sentencing, McKibben agreed not to consider Ahdunko's legal
problems in Oklahoma in the early 1990s. A grand jury looking into a murder conspiracy
case indicted Ahdunko, then employed at the Cleveland County Sheriff's Department.
Ultimately, Ahdunko pleaded no contest to perjury in connection with the case.
The defense in the recent case had requested Ahdunko be placed on home confinement
with electronic monitoring in lieu of prison time. McKibben denied this but agreed to
ask prison officials to search for a prison center as close as possible to the Reno
area or in the Pacific Northwest.
Ahdunko, who had a 17-year career in law enforcement _ including a brief period as a
Carson City deputy _ apologized for his actions and appealed to the judge for
leniency, saying he needed to work to help support his six children.
The Makah tribe terminated him after Bureau of Indian Affairs officials threatened to
cut off federal money to the tribe if it continued to keep him on in wake of his
confession.
While heading the Washoe tribal police force, Ahdunko was a center of controversy
among reformers. Opponents said he allowed a climate of police brutality and
intimidation to prevail throughout areas of tribal jurisdiction.
A federal grand jury indicted Ahdunko late last year. According to the indictment,
Ahdunko reported to the General Services Administration that a government vehicle was
being used on official business when it became involved in an accident with a civilian
vehicle a tribal probation officer owned. Ahdunko was accused of ordering a tribal
officer to fill out the accident report form before he signed it.
By agreeing to the plea negotiation, Ahdunko confessed he was using the government
vehicle for his own private use at his residence..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ghori, Imran. "Another Tribal Official Quits San Manuel Band Council
The Press-Enterprise (Riverside, Ca.)
http://www.inlandempireonline.com/
San Manuel Reservation - Less than a week after the San Manuel tribe's top leader quit
suddenly, the second-ranking tribal official has also resigned. Ken Ramirez,
vice-chairman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Tribal Council, quit his
position as of Friday, according to a tribal official. Ramirez's resignation was
unrelated to the surprise departure of tribal chairman Henry Duro, who quit at the end
of a tribal council meeting last week, council secretary/treasurer Audrey Martinez
said ... Ramirez is also vice-chair of California Nations Indian Gaming Association.
A spokesperson for the organization could not be reached Monday to say whether Ramirez
is continuing in that position.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Halt Churchill Project: Innu: Quebec Chiefs Want Land Rights
Compensated in Power Deal
The Montreal Gazette
http://www.montrealgazette.com/
Quebec's Innu chiefs want an immediate halt to development of the Churchill Falls
hydroelectric megaproject, and are insisting the federal government step in to ensure
Quebec and Newfoundland offer adequate compensation for aboriginal territorial rights.
Some field work and environmental assessments have already begun as a prelude to the
project, a joint venture of the Quebec and Newfoundland governments to harness
Labrador's mighty Churchill River. Innu leaders yesterday said they are ready to seek
a court order preventing further development on the $10- billion project unless the
governments involved produce a treaty within 60 days spelling out the Innus' ancestral
rights to land surrounding the proposed dam.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Historic Partnership for National Monument Announced; Interior Secretary
Babbitt and Agua Caliente Tribe Enter Into Unique Land Management Project
http://www.businesswire.com
Palm Springs, Calif.: U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt was joined
today by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians Tribal Council in announcing a
historic partnership in public land management in the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto
mountains. The partnership will create a new opportunity for tribal-federal
collaboration in the protection of these irreplaceable resources ... The Agua Caliente
Tribe and the Department of Interior are jointly seeking the protective designation of
these mountains as a new national monument. "This designation merely represents to us
a course charted by our ancestors," said Tribal Council Chairman Richard Milanovich.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Native Corporation and Environmentalists Work to Repair Logging Damage
The Associated Press
http://www.ap.org/
Anchorage - A conservation group and an Alaska Native corporation have created an
unlikely partnership by working together to restore salmon streams damaged by logging.
The Copper River Watershed Project is a Cordova-based group that promotes sustainable
development. It teamed with the Eyak Corp. last summer to rehabilitate and stabilize
the banks of three streams flowing from Elsner Lake, in the Copper River Delta. About
15 miles of stream habitat was restored, said Kristin Smith, head of the watershed
project. Eyak logged the area - about 3,800 acres east of Cordova - in the early
1990s. The clear-cutting created deep rifts among Cordova residents. It was some of
the first significant logging in the Prince William Sound area, and it came on the
heels of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill ... Like many other Native corporations, Eyak
has gotten out of the logging business, selling 75,000 acres and timber rights to the
Exxon Valdez Trustee Council for $ 45 million in 1998.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tribe, Air National Guard Negotiate Deal for Target Range
http://www.ap.org/
Fort Belknap: The Montana Air National Guard plans to lease a prairie controlled by
the Fort Belknap Indian Community and use it as a target range. Under an agreement
announced by military and tribal officials, F-16 jets from Great Falls would fly about
1,000 missions a year over the target field, dropping dummy bombs from altitudes of
1,000 to 25,000 feet and firing at targets. The Guard anticipates flights by four
airplanes a day, four days a week ... Fort Belknap Community Council Chairman Joe
McConnell said the tribe welcomes jobs the range is expected to generate. The
unemployment rate on the reservation is about 70 percent.
Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine
of international copyright law.
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Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
UPDATES: CAMP JUSTICE
http://shell.webbernet.net/~ishgooda/oglala/
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