And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: 11/19/99 http://www.indiancountry.com/headlines.html [excerpts...see URL above for complete stories] >>>><><<<<><<<<<><<<<>>>><><<<<><<<<<><<<< Report documents plight of the Innu people RANKIN INLET, Labrador - With suicide rates among the highest in the world, a national Aboriginal rights organization blames the Canadian government for providing some of the worst living conditions in the world. Violence, sexual abuse, drunkenness, gas sniffing, deprivation and suicide are everyday conditions for the Innu people of northeast Canada. Government being blamed for highest suicide rates in the world .. >>>><><<<<><<<<<><<<<>>>><><<<<><<<<<><<<< Sen. Inouye urges new image for American Indians TUCSON, Ariz. - Hold fast to sovereignty and self-governance, while improving mainstream America's image of Indians, urged Sen. Daniel K. Inouye. "You better make certain that your sovereignty remains intact. Once you lose that, then, as President Reagan said, 'You'll be one of us,'" the Democrat from Hawaii told tribal leaders attending an economic development conference here. Unsettling to some were his descriptions of "shacks" on Pine Ridge, the "smell" of Navajo hogans, and his reference to California and Oklahoma as "dumping grounds" for Indians. The vice-chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs said he grew up with the image of cowboys and Indians, and those negative stereotypes held by mainstream America should be changed. "Indians were always treacherous; Indians were always cruel; Indians were drunks." >>>><><<<<><<<<<><<<<>>>><><<<<><<<<<><<<< A ceremony of healing honors slain humanitarians WASHINGTON, D.C. - It is a bustling mid-week November afternoon here in the nation's capitol. Just across the street from the White House at a small park the office lunch crowd lounges in the warm autumn air. And in this same park, friends gather to wrap their arms and spirits around the families of three loved ones murdered last winter in Columbia, South America. This weeping ceremony is one of the most poignant moments during a month-long campaign to raise awareness on the continuing struggle to free Leonard Peltier and injustices throughout Indigenous communities worldwide. >>>><><<<<><<<<<><<<<>>>><><<<<><<<<<><<<< Lecturer under attack in Aquash case Native lecturer/author Ward Churchill, Creek, Metis and Cherokee, came to the University of Northern Kentucky in Highland Heights to talk about a new vision of Native America from the Indigenous perspective. Instead he found himself under attack as a conspirator in the 1975 death of Anna Mae Aquash on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. In his opening statements Churchill said Leonard Peltier is "illegally incarcerated in a federal prison," reminding his audience that supporters were calling special attention to Peltier's situation with daily demonstrations in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere. "You have no right to speak about Leonard Peltier, you're not a member of the American Indian Movement. You're a cop, Ward. You've always been a cop," Tom Pierce, an AIM supporter from Louisville, yelled from the audience. He was promptly escorted from the auditorium by university officials. Shortly after, a young woman ordered Churchill to "Stop lying!" The speaker told her to sit down and keep quiet. She and her male companion were escorted from the room. Members of a local AIM support group had handed out a press release entitled, "US Government War Against the American Indian Movement" released by the AIM Council on Security and Intelligence. It alleges Churchill is part of a conspiracy to sow disruption, division an! ! ! d co nfusion about the legitimate leadership of the American Indian Movement. Asked why he was being heckled, Churchill said, "This is the work of a couple of destitute men who were at one time famous and are seeking to make money on this past fame," ........... [Churchill stated]He had not met Pictou-Branscombe until that day, Churchill said, adding the press conference, was for Pictou-Branscombe to present information he claimed solved the murder of Anna Mae Aquash in 1975. That day Pictou-Branscombe accused Vernon and Clyde Bellecourt of being FBI informants. The brothers, directors of the national chapter of AIM, deny any involvement. Vernon Bellecourt said he is pursuing legal remedies against activist Russell Means, Pictou-Branscombe, Churchill and any news media that carried names of people publicly accused but never charged with any crime relating to the Aquash death. Churchill claimed Vernon Bellecourt has always been an FBI operative and receives large amounts of federal money for his AIM operations. He went on to say he has been convinced of that since 1994 - after the 1993 AIM tribunal where Vernon Bellecourt was found guilty of treason in the death of Anna Mae Aquash. Branscombe misspoke at an Ottawa press conference in September when he accused Means of involvement in the Aquash murder, Churchill maintains. "The only person who I've heard accuse Russell of involvement with the Aquash murder is Vernon Bellecourt, and he knows better." Ward Churchill is called a conspirator disrupting AIM >>>><><<<<><<<<<><<<<>>>><><<<<><<<<<><<<< Sister Act Robinsons' voice their generation The Robinson sisters, Carla and Eden are two of the most powerful young Native voices today. Carla, 28, appears every week at 10 p.m. (EST) as an anchor on CBC's Newsworld, a nightly national television newscast in Canada. On Jan. 23, Eden, 31, will launch her first novel, "Monkey Beach" (Knopf Canada, 2000). Her first book of short stories, "Traplines" (Knopf Canada, 1996) received rave reviews three years ago. The sisters are the flowers of a new generation of Native journalists and writers in Canada and the United States. Since the '60s, the numbers of working Native journalists and writers has grown, but until recently, media coverage of Native people's issues was limited. The Robinsons are determined to do something about that. .............. As more Native people join the ranks of professional journalists and writers, the breadth and depth of coverage of Native issues expands. The U.S.-based Native American Journalists' Association membership for this year is about 300. They work in all media, including newspapers, television and radio. For years, Native journalists have worked in Native communities for tribally run media organizations. Now, that journalists like Carla are seated in prominent positions in organizations like CBC, she and others like her can influence non-Native journalists. "One of the things I noticed talking with other Native journalists is that our colleagues are getting to know us as peers. That's a big step ' usually we're victims or source material," Carla said......... Indians in Canada did not become citizens until 1964. >>>><><<<<><<<<<><<<<>>>><><<<<><<<<<><<<< Colville artist lives to paint, but dreams of family and fishing >>>><><<<<><<<<<><<<<>>>><><<<<><<<<<><<<< Native cable program reaches 350,000 homes >>>><><<<<><<<<<><<<<>>>><><<<<><<<<<><<<< Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. <><<<<<>>>>><><<<<> Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ <><<<<<>>>>><><<<<>
