NATIVE_NEWS: FBI launches probe into death of Mobridge man
And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: FBI launches probe into death of Mobridge man By Lee Williams - American News Writer Mobridge -- The FBI has launched a federal civil rights investigation one day after charges were dismissed against four Mobridge area teens in the death of Robert "Boo" Many Horses. An FBI spokesman from Sioux Falls said two agents from the Aberdeen FBI office were sent to Mobridge to begin an investigation that is for now, centered on the four. Initially, the FBI probe will be center on results of an investigation already completed by state and local law enforcement officers assigned to the Many Horses case, but officials say it could lead to other areas. Once that investigation is completed, the report will be sent to Washington D.C. for review. In Mobridge, and on the Standing Rock Reservation, reaction to the dismissal of state charges is mixed. Mark White Bull, a member of the Justice for Boo Committee, said that he feels frustrated by the court's decision. "We were afraid that this would happen and our fears were confirmed. We had been told that charges were likely to be dismissed, and that is why we remained active." Committee members have organized several memorial events in the Mobridge area. White Bull said his committee will look to the American Indian Movement for lawyers, funding and expertise. He has contacted AIM leaders Clyde Bellecourt and Dennis Banks to ask their help. White Bull said he is hopeful that action will be taken, "If we give up -- we'll die. They're killing us too." Many Horses was found dead June 30, in a garbage can in Mobridge after he had been drinking with the four teens. Autopsy results show that the cause of death was alcohol poisoning. Layne Gisi, 19, Mobridge, faced first degree manslaughter charges or second degree manslaughter and aggravated assault charges, while Jody Larson, 19, Mobridge; Hahne, 17, Trail City; and Ryan Goehring, 16, Mobridge, had been charged with assisting with a crime, accessory to a crime and failure to report a felony. Judy Fiddler, a Mobridge businesswoman, said community reaction to the dismissal is mixed, but that it may be too soon to gauge public sentiment. "Most people are just now finding out about it. Boo was pretty well spoken of, and we're not oblivious to the family's loss."end excerpt Judge's Decision: http://www.aberdeennews.com/news/special_reports/manyhorses/decision1.html AIM REACTION (posted by JD Chipps to the FN list: From the Offices of: AMERICAN INDIAN MOVMENT STILL STRONG E-mail Address: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dear friends in the struggle. The unbelievable has happened. The FBI kept their word. Last week when Dennis and myself met with the head of the FBI for South Dakota he assured us he would follow up on the developments in the case of "Boo" Many Horses who was killed several months ago by four residents of Mobridge, SD As you may already know, yesterday, all charges were dismissed against the four. Since that decision, outrage has rippled throughout Indian country. Today, true to their word, The FBI launched an investigation into the various civil rights violations of the case. This is good news because it takes the case out of the hands of the Mobridge thugs. It is important to understand that yesterdays decision merely dismissed the charges it is not the same as an acquittal. They can still be brought to justice. CAN IT BE TRUE THAT FINALLY INDIVIDUALS WITH RESPECT FOR OUR PEOPLE HAVE EMERGED FROM THE RANKS OF THE FBI? We can only wait and see how this plays out. I believe ! ! caut ious optimism is the best course at this time. We will not let down our guard! I believe this development to be the result of thousands and millions of prayers. Our voices have been heard individually and collectively that abuse of our people will not be tolerated. We are reclaiming our rich and noble heritage. This is a victory for people of all nations. "Don't confuse AIM with any particular individual, or individuals, who march under its banner-however worthy or unworthy they may be. AIM is The People. AIM will be there when every one of us living today is gone. AIM will raise new leaders in every generation. Crazy Horse belonged to AIM. Sitting Bull belonged to AIM. They belong to us still, and we belong to them. They are with us now." ~Leonard Peltier~ Matt Sherman, National Field Office, AIM A HREF="www.aberdeennews.com"Complete Story!/A URL: www.aberdeennews.com (click on news) Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
NATIVE_NEWS: Occupation of Alcatraz 30th Anniversary Celeration
And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message-ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.turtle-island.com/alcatrazreunion.html Millie Ketcheshawno Event Producer/Director Event Assoc. 510-615-0603 650-738-9105 James Fortier Director/Benefit Coordinator [EMAIL PROTECTED] Event: Occupation of Alcatraz 30th Anniversary Celeration Date: Sat Oct 23, 1999 Time: 9:00 am - 4:30 pm Description: Come join hundreds of Bay Area Native Americans in this special musical and cultural celebration commemorating the 30th anniversary of the 1969-71 Indian occupation of Alcatraz Island, an event which many people credit as the spark which ignited the "Red Power" movement of the 1970s. The occupation lasted 19 months and reclaimed the island as Indian land. In June of 1971, U.S. Federal Marshals removed the remaining Indian occupants. Today the Occupation stands out as a beacon of pride for Native American people, a symbol of freedom and self-determination, and a rebirth of identity, culture and traditions. Performances by John Trudell, Rita Coolidge. Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
NATIVE_NEWS: Request for legitimate contacts (name, address, phone) for Winter time donations
And now:Ish [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Every year we (at the MJB site) prepare a short article and provide a list of "known" sources that act as clearinghouses or distributors for donations of warm clothing, blankets, gifts, supplies and monetary, in regard to the Winter needs of First Nations Peoples. As there has already been snow in the Plains this is already belated. Please send (privately to [EMAIL PROTECTED]) your known and experienced contacts so we can update our seriously outdated list. I request that you only provide addresses or sources that you have verified or had personal and positive experience with as there are many charlatans out there looking for a quick profit at others expense ;-) If you aren't sure, don't send it please.. Best wishes and thanks nokwisa Contributing Editor Minorities Job Bank Native American Village http://minorities-jb.com/native.htm
NATIVE_NEWS: Natives promise to defy new fishing rules
And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: From: "chris" [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Natives promise to defy new fishing rules Date: Mon, 11 Oct 1999 11:37:12 -0700 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal Natives promise to defy new fishing rules The Canadian Press, October 11, 1999. BRIAN DALY AND CASSANDRA SZKLARSKI BURNT CHURCH, N.B. (CP) - At least one Maritime aboriginal band says new rules on the native fishery will be broken Monday. Federal Fisheries Minister Herb Dhaliwal imposed strict guidelines Sunday on two bands that insist on fishing out of season under newly won treaty rights. But native fishers in Burnt Church, who are now restricted to setting only 600 lobster traps, say they plan on setting as many as they want. "I don't think he has the justification to do that as the fisheries minister," Alex Dedam, Burnt Church band manager, said Sunday. "He cannot cancel our treaty rights . . . . We're determined to exercise our fishing rights. His offer is not acceptable." Under pressure from commercial fishers to cap native lobster hauls, Dhaliwal said a limited native fishery would be allowed until the end of the month. But there will be limits on catch sizes, the number of traps, and the type of fishing gear. Burnt Church fishermen were limited to 600 traps while fishermen from the Shubenacadie band in Indian Brook, N.S., were limited to 800. The guidelines are to be enforced by officials with the Fisheries Department. By contrast, individual commercial fishers are allowed to set up to 300 traps each. Dhaliwal said 33 other Maritime bands have voluntarily agreed to stop fishing for 30 days while Ottawa comes up with a long-term plan to regulate the fishery. He called that a "victory," despite failing to reach agreement with the Burnt Church band - New Brunswick's most active native fishing community and recently responsible for setting an estimated 4,000 traps. Dhaliwal said his decision came after lengthy consultations with aboriginal bands, commercial fishermen and provincial ministers. "I'm confident that this will be accepted as a compromise that took into consideration the views of all the groups," Dhaliwal told a news conference in Ottawa. The minister also announced he will allow a commercial fishery in the Bay of Fundy to open as scheduled Thursday. Atlantic chiefs had requested Ottawa close the fishery entirely while new rules are hammered out. "Certainly this is great news for us," said Jim Wood of the Alma Fishermen's Association, who had argued last week that a moratorium would financially devastate fishing families. Gary Hurley, of the Fundy East Fishermen's Association, credited Chief Brian Toney of the nearby Annapolis band for persuading the minister to allow non-natives to fish. Toney joined a meeting of commercial fishermen and fisheries officials on Friday and urged the government to maintain the commercial season. "We sure owe thanks to the First Nations in this area for their support," said Hurley. "They didn't need to come forward and support us but they did." Dhaliwal's announcement Sunday followed weeks of tension between native and non-native lobster fishers after the Supreme Court of Canada upheld on Sept. 17 an ancient treaty allowing aboriginals unfettered fishing rights. Many non-natives met the court ruling ruling with anger, fearing that wide-open native fishing in the off-season would deplete the resource. While Burnt Church natives vowed to defy Ottawa's new rules, the chief of Indian Brook's Shubenacadie band said his members will likely find no trouble complying. "I don't think it will affect us at all, really," said Reg Maloney, noting his band already imposes very similar restrictions on its fishermen, including limited catch sizes and trap numbers and a season ending Oct. 31. But he was uneasy about letting the government dictate how natives exercise their rights. "If we have a right, we should be able to exercise that right according to our own regulations that we decide," said Maloney, whose community numbers 1,500. Dedam, of the Burnt Church reserve, said the new rules undermine his community's treaty rights. "The Supreme Court had indicated that a moderate livelihood would be considered," said Dedam. "Now 600 traps for a community of what, 1,200 people? That's not even half a trap per person. Come on, I think this is ridiculous." Dedam said if any Burnt Church natives are charged under the new limits, the band will take their fight to the Supreme Court. Some facts on the aboriginal fishing dispute: Number of native traps set after Supreme Court ruling compared with the number of commercial traps set annually: New Brunswick - Commercial: 600,000. Aboriginal: 5,000. Prince Edward Island - Commercial: 400,000. Aboriginal:3,000. Nova Scotia - Commercial: One million. Aboriginal: 4,000. 30 Day
NATIVE_NEWS: Native woman starving to protest squalid conditions
And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: From: "chris" [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Native woman starving to protest squalid conditions Date: Mon, 11 Oct 1999 11:31:05 -0700 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal Native woman starving to protest squalid conditions The Canadian Press, October 11, 1999. SUE BAILEY OTTAWA (CP) - Yolande Redcalf says she is prepared to die. The 32-year-old mother of two, a member of the Sunchild First Nation in Alberta, has consumed only water since Aug. 31, she said in an interview. She won't eat until a public inquiry is held into how her community's chief and band council spend federal government funding, she said by telephone from her reserve. "I really feel it's time to look into what's happening on reserves. "It's heart-breaking for me to have to do this," she said, describing provisions she has made for her daughter, 12, and eight-month-old son in a will. But Redcalf says she won't turn back. "Because that would be accepting defeat, and (like) saying what's happening on the reserve is okay. And it's not." Redcalf's weight has dropped to less than 135 pounds from about 170. Weakness, trouble concentrating and dehydration have set in. Rhonda Chapman of Calgary was stunned by her sister's appearance when she arrived last week to visit. "Her gums are turning black and her jaw line is skeletal," she said. "Sure, I think Yolande has valid reasons for what she's doing. "But we need her here." Redcalf, Chapman and two of their sisters were removed as youngsters by child welfare workers from their mother's home on the tiny Sunchild reserve northwest of Red Deer. Redcalf grew up with a white family and only returned to the reserve 2½ years ago. It was a rude homecoming. Her mother lives in a three-bedroom house with up to 17 relatives at a time, Redcalf said. In summer, a sheet or blanket hangs in the front door frame because there's no screen door. The basement is unfinished and wiring hangs exposed. Redcalf's aunt makes do in a decrepit home with a leaky roof, foul-smelling water and rotting floor boards. The conditions are starkly squalid when compared to new homes which Redcalf says are enjoyed by band councillors, their families and friends. Financial audits required of the band by Indian Affairs aren't sufficiently detailed, she said. And Redcalf was turned away by an Indian Affairs allegations officer because she had no proof. "Nobody ever comes forward with the proof because it's impossible to get," she said. "You need someone on the inside to get the proof for you." Redcalf planned to complete her second year at University of Alberta before she and several supporters staged a protest in late August. They pitched tents near the Sunchild band office to decry housing conditions. Dissatisfied with band council's reaction and bureaucratic indifference, Redcalf stopped eating. Glenn Luff, spokesman for the Alberta office of Indian Affairs, said the band's last independent audit confirmed $175,000 earmarked for housing was spent for that purpose. But it's up to the chief and band council to decide who gets the money and when, he said. "We receive allegations all the time from First Nation members," Luff said. "And not all of them are valid. "I don't know if there's really anything, as a government department, we can do about somebody on a hunger strike." Sunchild Chief Harry Goodrunning took office last March. He's grappling with a reserve jobless rate of 80 per cent, a list of 60 people awaiting houses, and population growth that will compound both problems. About 460 of the band's 780 members live on reserve. Housing funds from Ottawa help pay for just five new units per year, said Goodrunning. But a one-time cash infusion of $288,000 will help pay for several new houses, of which two will go to the Redcalf family, he said. Redcalf is right about one claim, he added: Federal funds allocated for housing have been used in recent years to pay down the band's deficit. But Goodrunning blamed that on lack of government funding. Houses are provided to those in greatest need, he said. Redcalf has received whatever financial information she requested and is welcome to view the most recent audit, the chief added. Outsiders who come home to the reserve are often disappointed, Goodrunning said. "It's a lot different from what they expected." Redcalf wants Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault to call a public inquiry into the band's books. "If one little Indian dying isn't enough to make the Minister of Indian Affairs look twice then I guess . . . he doesn't care," she said. Calls to the minister's office were not returned. Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
NATIVE_NEWS: Y2K: third Quarter Filings,Weiss Ratings
And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Y2K Fears Start to Surface (M. J. Zuckerman, USA Today) http://www.usatoday.com/money/mds1.htm This piece begins: "Corporate America is exhibiting nervous ticks and twitches as the Year 2000 nears. For almost two years, companies made mostly rosy predictions about their ability to handle the Y2K computer glitch. But now, some of the nation's largest corporations are expressing reservations in quarterly Y2K status reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission." This article, and two sidebar pieces, take a look at information and trends gleaned from recent Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Highlights include: "Companies are recognizing that there are likely to be failures resulting from the complex relationships of systems. Mobil Oil, for instance, says the failure of one or more systems that individually are minor could 'trigger a cascade of other failures for Year 2000 reasons, the combination of which could have a material adverse effect on Mobil's operations, liquidity and/or financial condition.' Enron, one of the world's largest suppliers of energy, admits that it, its suppliers and other firms on which it depends won't be able to find and fix all its embedded chips. Philip Morris reports that it considers 700 of its 6,000 'key business partners' likely to suffer some Y2K failures. Reebok International has been overhauling its information technology worldwide and told the SEC it was relying on that conversion to protect it from Y2K. But in its most recent SEC filing, Reebok says that because of technical difficulties, it has decided to delay full implementation until after January 2000. The firm will address Y2K by modifying its existing software, a project it expects to have done this fall." The sidebar pieces: A Worst-Case Y2K Scenario http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/ctg390.htm takes a look at the "worst-case scenario" in energy giant Enron's SEC Y2k disclosure. Expected Y2K Expenses http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/ctg389.htm lists 80 of the largest corporations and what they expect to spend on Y2K. The Top five are: Citigroup $950 ATT $756 General Motors $628 General Electric $575 IBM $575 SEC filings can be searched for using the EDGAR Database. http://www.sec.gov/edgarhp.htm Another easy way to find SEC filings is with FreeEDGAR. http://www.freeedgar.com/ Vital U.S. Industries Harbor Y2K Laggards; Many Large Companies in Telecommunications, Pipelines, and Airlines Rated 'Low' or 'Below Average' for Y2K Readiness (Business Wire) http://www.businesswire.com/webbox/bw.101199/192840239.htm Weiss Ratings, "the only provider of Y2K readiness ratings," came to some conclusions based on second quarter SEC filings. Highlights here include: "In the telecommunications industry, 73.3% of the 19 rated companies were in one of these two categories, including MCI WorldCom (rated below average), Bell Atlantic Corp. (below average), and Comcast Corp. (low). Among companies involved in vital oil, gas and other pipelines, 5 of the 6 rated companies were rated unfavorably, such as Dynegy Inc. (low) and El Paso Energy Corp. (below average). Even in the U.S. airline industry, supposedly further along in fixing its computer systems than its counterparts in most other countries, half of the eight rated companies received Y2K ratings of 'low' or 'below average.' The largest among them were UAL Corp. (below average), Northwest Airlines (below average) and Trans World Airlines (below average)." This piece includes this explanation: "Although not intended to be an exact evaluation, the Weiss Y2K ratings are believed to provide an approximate indication of each company's relative progress. Overall, among the 552 Fortune 1000 companies making complete disclosure on Y2K budgets and costs in their second quarter 1999 filings with the SEC, the aggregate budget estimate is $30.5 billion. But only $19.6 billion of those budgeted funds had been allocated to actual expenditures. All other factors being equal, a company should have spent at least 70% of its budget by mid-year in order to qualify for a Weiss Y2K rating of 'average.'" Companies that rates "high" include Exxon Corp., Mobil Corp., AMR Corp., American Express Co., AlliedSignal, Walgreen Co., Rockwell International Corp., Publix Super Markets, and Texas Instruments. Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
NATIVE_NEWS: MICHIGAN:Native Americans fight to save burial grounds,Proposed state law
And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: [note: some addresses are blind copied] Native Americans fight to save burial grounds Proposed state law protects graves from development http://detnews.com/1999/metro/9910/11/10110096.htm Alan Lessig / The Detroit News Susan Pierzynowski, an eighth-grader at Medicine Bear American Indian Academy at Historic Fort Wayne, pauses at an ancient burial mound near the Detroit school. By Shawn D. Lewis / The Detroit News BROWNSTOWN TOWNSHIP -- Steve Gronda's tears flowed and his heart swelled. It was a mourning delayed by 350 years. His Native American ancestors, the Wyandots, who were among the first to live in what is now Grosse Ile, Brownstown Township, Wyandotte, Boblo Island and other parts of Canada, were returned to the Wyandot nation for burial -- again. The remains of the Brownstown Township resident's ancestors were dug up and given to the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto for study 50 years ago. Now, they have been repatriated to their original burial site near Midland, Ontario. "It was an extremely emotional time for us," Gronda said. "That kind of pain does not go away." As millions of Americans celebrate Columbus Day today, a day many Native Americans consider a time of mourning, representatives from several tribes in Michigan and Canada are fighting for what most Americans take for granted: that ancestors' graves will not be desecrated or looted. They are drafting a proposed law, ! ! the Michigan Native American Graves and Repatriation Act, that would protect Native American burial grounds on private property and state land, as a federal act does on public property. Tribal leaders plan a lobbying campaign in Lansing. But with hundreds of burial grounds across the state, any new law would slow construction of new homes as time is taken to check property for grave sites. Any costs from the delays, developers say, would then be passed to the new homeowner. Michigan would not be the first to pass these laws; 16 states already have enacted similar legislation. "If the state laws are complementary and do not diminish or violate the rights outlined in the federal law, then I support them and have no complaint," said U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, D- Hawaii, who introduced the original legislation that was signed in 1990. 'Show respect' "No one would dream of going to Gettysburg and digging up the remains of the soldiers who fought in the Civil War to study them," said anthropologist Kay McGowan of Grosse Ile, whose background is Choctaw, Cherokee and Irish. She's part of the group of 12 members of various tribes drafting the proposed law, as is her twin sister, Faye Givens, executive director of Americ! ! an I ndian Services. "So, why dig up the remains of Native Americans?" asked McGowan, who teaches Native American studies at Marygrove College. "Show our ancestors the same respect that any other American is afforded." The issue is of tremendous importance to native people. In 1995 in Ontario, Anthony O'Brien George, a 38-year-old Chippewa Indian, was killed and two others were seriously injured in a gun battle with provincial police over the Ipperwash Provincial Park on Lake Huron, 155 miles southwest of Toronto. Chippewas believe it is a sacred burial ground. Five years earlier, a group of Mohawks battled over burial grounds with army troops in Oka, Quebec, 18 miles west of Montreal. The Mohawks had constructed barriers blocking a bridge to protest a planned golf course expansion on burial grounds. The standoff lasted more than two months. Near the end, a corporal was killed and more than 400 soldiers surrounded 20 remaining Mohawk warriors. In this country, U.S. Rep. Doc Hasting! ! s, R -Wash., is trying to amend Inouye's law to halt archeological digs "when the benefits are outweighed by preservation or cultural concerns." Joe Reilly, 21, a senior at the University of Michigan and member of the Cherokee nation, wants a new state law. "We wonder why native people were once on display in museums, and our sacred items still are, but no other groups are disrespected in this way," Reilly said. "It just shows how American society views native people. That does not equate with much respect in my eyes." Costly construction delays But there is another side to the debate. Builders, developers and new homeowners also are affected. A few weeks ago, work on a housing subdivision in Monroe was halted when excavators found human bones, apparently from a French cemetery. "There is an expense for stopping work on a home or building, and it is the homeowner who ultimately will pay for it," said Nancy Rosen of the Building Industry Association of Southeastern Michigan. "Builde! ! rs a re concerned, and they do take care. "For instance, builders on the Brush Park project (in Detroit) conducted an archeological dig to see if there was anything there before they began development." But rather than halting work, Rosen said builders
NATIVE_NEWS: NAC program schedule for October 12-15
And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: From: Eric Martin [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: NAC program schedule for October 12-15 NAC program schedule for October 12-15 LIVE everyday M - F, 1300 - 1359 ET Listen online at the NAC website: www.nativecalling.org TUE - 10/12: The White Clay Alcohol War: Indian leaders are planning to file an application with the state liquor commission in Nebraska and they plan on opening a beer store in the tiny uncharted town of White Clay. They say they will use the profits to treat the alcoholism that is running rampant on the nearby Pine Ridge Reservation. Is this the answer to this long-standing problem? Guests include Frank LaMere of the Winnebago Nation. WED - 10/13: Renewable Energy for Native America: Financing renewable energy projects within Native America is becoming more of a reality today. There are more and more federal initiatives today that provide tribes support for creating alternative energy resources. Can Native America become the new model for alternative energy and sustainable lifestyles? Invited Guests include Patrick Spears of the Intertribal Council on Utility Policy. THU - 10/14: Chief Illiniwek: This weekend a group of Native Americans will hold a march and rally against racist mascots at the University of Illinois homecoming football game. They are protesting the schools refusal to stop using Chief Illiniwek as their sports mascot. Will the university and their faithful ever give up their cherished chief? Invited guests include Michael Haney, director of the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and the Media. FRI - 10/15: Raising Girls to Women in Indian Country: On this "Wellness Edition" we talk about raising our Native daughters to be good women who can walk in both the traditional and western worlds. How do we teach them to draw on their traditional Native life ways when faced with contemporary challenges? Join host Sharon McConnell and her guests, on the next "Wellness Edition" of Native America Calling as they talk about raising our Native daughters to be strong women. --- Eric Martin American Indian Radio On Satellite Director of Distribution [EMAIL PROTECTED] 402.472.3287 Comming this fall from the National Museum of the American Indian: Coyote Bites Back: Indian Humor Memory and Imagination: The Legacy of Maidu Indian Artist Frank Day Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
NATIVE_NEWS: Future of Ogallala depends on conservation
And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Date: Mon, 11 Oct 1999 20:59:19 -0500 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Future of Ogallala depends on conservation Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" http://cjonline.com/stories/101199/kan_ogallala11.shtml Future of Ogallala depends on conservation Just because it is there isn't reason to drain aquifer, one farmer notes. By CHERYL WITTENAUER The Associated Press SHARON SPRINGS -- William Mai settled in Wallace County during the Dust Bowl. In 1948, he drilled the first irrigation well in the region. Discouraged by irregular cycles of rain, the small-time farmer next door to Colorado wanted the land to produce enough to feed his family and a handful of cows. Neighbors, impressed by his results, began drilling their own wells in the Ogallala Aquifer, especially during the parched years of the mid-1950s. Early, modest wells like Mai's foretold what would become a near explosion of irrigation in western Kansas that took off in the 1950s. Now Mai's son, 63-year-old Bill Mai, who farms 2,000 acres on the land where his parents settled in the '30s, says it's time to stop extracting the precious resource. Next planting season, he will switch to dryland farming, raising corn and wheat without the benefit of irrigation. He'll compensate by leaving land fallow some seasons to maximize use of soil moisture. Irrigation, far and away above all other uses, places the biggest demand on the aquifer in western Kansas. "Sure, we can pump it, who's to stop us?" Mai asked. "But is it the right thing to do, particularly if we don't need it? If we can produce crops without it, it doesn't seem like a smart thing to do." Experts say the future of the Ogallala and the economies that sprang from it depend on conservation and careful planning to slow the rate of depletion. Continued tapping of the aquifer presents perhaps the biggest natural resources challenge for Kansas in the next century. The Ogallala Aquifer won't last forever, especially with the arrival of large hog and dairy operations in western Kansas, said David Kromm, a professor of geography at Kansas State University who has been researching the Ogallala for 20 years. Bill Mai started his experiment with 100 acres of dryland corn in 1984, gradually adding acres until he was confident it would work. He had worried about the aquifer's depletion, evidenced by a rapid decline in the rate of water flowing from his father's well. The flow rate dropped from 1,000 gallons a minute in the 1950s to 300 gallons a minute more recently. The younger Mai also wondered why he couldn't duplicate what agricultural records showed Wallace County farmers were doing a century ago, growing non-irrigated corn as the primary crop. But it was a more nagging moral question that persuaded him to switch to dryland farming. Did he have the right to take water from future generations? For now, his willingness to return the land to dryland farming might be the exception. But he could prove to be as much a prophet of things to come as his father was 50 years ago. Kansans weren't always so conservation-minded. While much of the Ogallala in Kansas is off limits to new appropriation, at one time the state encouraged well development because it was thought that groundwater reserves were limitless. In fact, the aquifer is not recharged except in a few areas such as the Nebraska Sandhills and the sand-sage prairie of southwestern Kansas, Kromm said. So, water that is "mined" from the aquifer is gone forever. The Ogallala, an underground cache of water-saturated sands and gravels, was formed 10 million years ago by deposits from the Rocky Mountains. It underlies parts of eight High Plains states from South Dakota to West Texas -- including fingers reaching into the western third of Kansas. The aquifer's depth or "saturated thickness" varies greatly throughout its expanse. In some places in Nebraska, which has the largest aquifer reserves, the depth is 1,300 feet. In Kansas, the range is several hundred feet to less than 100. Western Kansas farmers began irrigating in the late 1800s by diverting surface water from the Arkansas River. After the turn of the century, they began tapping groundwater. The emergence of turbine-engine pumps in the 1940s powered by abundant reserves in the Hugoton natural gas field allowed water to be lifted easily and economically. Large-scale tapping of the aquifer escalated in the 1950s, transforming western Kansas from an arid semi-desert to a verdant and productive land. In southwestern Kansas, which has the state's richest reserves of the Ogallala and the most to lose from its steady depletion, irrigation produces corn. That has led to a proliferation of cattle feed lots, a myriad meatpacking plants and associated businesses. The region also has had an influx of large dairies that pulled out of California and Arizona for western Kansas's open range and mild climate. Associated
NATIVE_NEWS: NEWS BRIEFS
And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: University Project Reveals American Indian History on Internet TheAssociated Press http://www.ap.org/ ATHENS, Ga. -- Rare manuscripts depicting the life of American Indians from 1763 to 1842 will soon be in the domain of ordinary readers under a venture by the University of Georgia and the University of Tennessee to post the documents on the World Wide Web. The collections depict everything from the first contacts of whites and American Indians to the bacon-and-bread rations that defeated natives were given upon being forced from their lands. "Original manuscript material of this type and from this time period generally exists only in paper form, buried within vaults and closed stacks, available only to the persistent researcher," said Bob Henneberger, project head with the University of Georgia's libraries. "Digitization of these materials will provide Web access to a substantially larger audience." The site will display 1,000 or more original documents and pictures, and will centralize collections from Tennessee and the University of Georgia's Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscri! ! pt L ibrary. An Indian Poet Rocks on the Rock The San Francisco http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/ "It's always good to go home," says American Indian poet-performer John Trudell about his recent visit to the Santee Sioux reservation in Nebraska, where he was born. "It's strengthening to see your past and know you have someplace to go where you're part of a people." Since the late '80s, Trudell has been creating spoken-word rock 'n' roll to articulate his experiences and the plight of Indians. It's raised a cultural consciousness that's much different from his turbulent political past, one that thrust him into the national limelight 30 years ago as a spokesman for the American Indian Movement ... But it was his role as the voice of the 1969-71 Indians of All Tribes occupation of Alcatraz that brought Trudell to "lefty" prominence, as he broadcast reports from the island live over KPFA with a portable transmitter. To commemorate the event's 30th anniversary, the performer returns with his band on October 23 for a celebration and reunion. Activist veterans are expected, along! ! wit h performers such as comedian Charlie Hill, New Mexico vocal ensemble Ulali and the indigenous punk rocker Arrigon Starr. The anniversary brings attention to an event that reintroduced indigenous people to the American social conscience through "red power" ... During the occupation of Alcatraz, the issues were about land, sovereignty and legal realities. Trudell agrees that establishing a tribal economic base is a good thing, but the struggle is not over. "There have been some positive things that have happened for the tribes, but it's a constant, vigilant fight about protecting what resources we have in terms of land and rights. It has improved to some degree for us as humans. There's not as much political activism coming out of the Native community as there was 25, 30 years ago, but there's much more cultural and artistic work taking place. Dhaliwal Sets Limits for Fishing by Two Bands CBC Newsworld Online http://newsworld.cbc.ca/cgi-bin/go.pl?1999/10/10/fish_dispute991010 Burnt Church, N.B. - The Department of Fisheries and Oceans will enforce a ban on lobster fishing supported by 33 of 35 native bands, and will impose regulations on two other bands who chose last week to keep fishing. But native fishermen in Burnt Church, New Brunswick, say the fisheries minister's rules are unfair. Dhaliwal's rules apply to Burnt Church and to Indian Brook in Nova Scotia. In those places, where native fishermen have voted to keep fishing, Dhaliwal says the DFO will regulate the fishery to comply with conservation standards ... In his speech, Dhaliwal said he hoped all sides would "focus on the long term and not be distracted by the short-term situation." ... DFO officials spent the past several days trying to work out a compromise with the reserve's band council. But native fishermen said they were furious with the latest offer ... But the part of the offer that angered native fishermen was the fact that they would only be allowed 300 lobster traps for the en! ! tire community and they would be restricted to fishing only in the nearby bay. A band council spokesperson says straight dollar compensation was also talked about, but the community wants nothing to do with that idea. Many natives believe the idea of compensation sounds too much like selling their aboriginal rights. Hawaii and Race The Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/ The Supreme Court heard arguments last week in the case of Rice v. Cayetano, a constitutional challenge to a voting scheme in Hawaii overtly based on an ethnic criterion ... In other words, one's ability to vote in certain statewide elections in Hawaii is contingent on one's race, though the 15th Amendment to the Constitution
NATIVE_NEWS: History: A Hundred Years Ago - Carlisle - Week 123
And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Date: Mon, 11 Oct 1999 23:27:00 -0700 From: Barbara Landis [EMAIL PROTECTED] THE INDIAN HELPER ~%^%~ A WEEKLY LETTER -FROM THE- Indian Industrial School, Carlisle, Pa. VOL. XIV. FRIDAY, September 1, 1899 NUMBER 45 VERSES FROM WHITTIER'S "REFORMER." --- Our friend, John A. Laing, of Quakertown, says that when the White Wing of Peace hovers over the whole world, then the following verses of Whittier will be realized: - WHERE frowned the fort, pavilions gay And cottage windows, flower-entwined, Looked out upon the peaceful bay And hills behind. Where the doomed victim in his cell Had counted o'er the weary hours. Glad school-girls answering to the bell. Came crowned with flowers. Through prison walls, came Heaven-sent hope, Fresh breezes blew, and sunbeams strayed, And with the idle gallows-rope The young child played. == MRS. PRATT IN SOUTHERN OREGON. - From Mrs. Pratt we get the following interesting description of some recent sights: In Southern Oregon, among the foothills of the Cascade Mountains is located the Klamath Indian Agency, ninety miles from the railroad. To reach the Agency we left the railroad from a little station in Northern California, named Ager, "staged it" twenty miles the first day to Klamath Springs, where many people from California, and from all over Oregon, to get relief from rheumatic pains by bathing in hot, sulphur mud-baths. A day's rest, and we are in a four-house wagon climbing the mountains, up and down, over "rocks and rills," twisting around mountain peaks, with precipice on one side, where one could slide down hundreds of feet to drop into the deep and swift-running Klamath river. But we did not drop. Instead, we enjoyed the wildness and the tall pine trees, as we listened to our driver's bear stories. The second day's experiences were thirty-five miles long, when we came upon a pretty little town snuggling among the hills, where we were to rest for the night. The next day's journey was a pleasant change from the mountain climbing, as we then embarked upon a beautiful lake; our little steamer was not of the most improved pattern and could not well be called a staunch vessel, but it carried us safely 40 miles to the upper end of the lake, where Agency wagons awaited us. Then three miles of dust, and we were at the end of our destination. The Agent, Captain Applegate, is a most hospitable man; his home was our home for ten days, his genial family, our friends. Several picnics and fishing excursions were arranged for our entertainment, and one special and interesting trip I wish our HELPER friends to know about. Many centuries ago- the most learned geologist cannot tell how many, but it was ages and ages ago - there was a great volcano that towered above the lofty peaks now in evidence, like Mt. Hood and Mt. Shasta. This volcano must have been a grand sight in its day, and it must have burned with wonderful fury, sending out fire and lava, as the whole Klamath country plainly shows that it was once an immense volcanic field. In course of time, this burning mountain, in the very heart of the Cascade Range, sank thousands of feet, and now in its caldera a beautiful lake reposes - "The Crater Lake." Our party of 15 started from the Agency on the morning of August 9th on a pilgrimage to this lake. Besides our three wagons there were three saddle horses for our young people to enjoy in turn, as a rest from three-on-a-seat in the wagon. A shower of rain the night before laid the dust, so that we were able to enjoy looking at the pines, lovely mountain flowers, and further on at the noble ferns that were impressive in their loftiness. Our road for some distance ran beside a deep canyon, intensely beautiful with its chis- -- (Continued p. 4) == (page 2) THE INDIAN HELPER PRINTED EVERY FRIDAY --AT THE-- Indian Industrial School, Carlisle, Pa., BY INDIAN BOYS. --- THE INDIAN HELPER is PRINTED by Indian boys, but EDITED by The man-on-the-band-stand who is NOT an Indian. --- P R I C E: --10 C E N T S A Y E A R Entered in the PO at Carlisle as second class mail matter. Address INDIAN HELPER, Carlisle, Pa. Miss Marianna Burgess, Manager. Do not hesitate to take the HELPER from the
