California tribe steps forward
San Manuel donates $1.7 million to Haitian relief efforts
By Staff reports
Story Published: Jan 29, 2010
HIGHLAND, Calif. – The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians is contributing $1.7 million to the American Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders to assist with ongoing relief and recovery efforts in earthquake ravaged Haiti.The contribution will enable these organizations to continue to provide critical services as survivors recover in the aftermath.
The gift will be provided as a $1.5 million donation to the American Red Cross with an additional $200,000 given to Doctors Without Borders.“At this time of unimaginable grief and destruction we are called to act to prevent the further loss of life and ease the suffering of survivors,” said San Manuel Chairman James Ramos.
“We stand behind and support the American Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders as they remain on hand with their volunteers to assist those who are impacted.”San Manuel has a long history of supporting relief efforts following natural disasters in its home state of California, along the gulf coast and on reservations across the United States.
In 2005, the tribe donated $700,000 to help in the relief efforts for those affected by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, followed by a $1 million donation in 2007 to aid in wildfire recovery in southern California. Additionally, the tribe has supported relief for Sudanese refugees by donating a total of $1 million to relief groups in war-torn Darfur.“The entrusted partnership with the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians is critical to the ability of the American Red Cross to provide help and hope for the people of Haiti during their time of need,” said Gail McGovern, American Red Cross president and CEO.
“Because of the generosity of donors like the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, people in Haiti will recieve more than immediate relief – they will receive, support and training from the Red Cross that will help them recover and rebuild for years to come.”As a concerned and responsive tribal community, San Manuel continues to evaluate and monitor the situation as it unfolds, offering continued community and staff support. Emergency service professionals from the San Manuel Fire Department are on active standby to be deployed to Haiti to assist in recovery, and the youth of the reservation are holding fundraisers to provide additional contributions to the Haitian relief effort.
The tribe calls for the continued support for Haiti and implores individuals to also contribute to the ongoing humanitarian mission.
Indian Country Today-Jan. 29, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
CREATOR'S GREAT HOLINESS
"Bright days and dark days were both expressions of the Great Mystery, and the Indian reveled in being close to the Great Holiness."
Chief Luther Standing Bear, SIOUX
The Great Spirit created a world of harmony, a world of justice, a world that is interconnected, a balanced world that has positive and negative, this way and that way, up and down, man and woman, boy and girl, honest and dishonest, responsible and irresponsible, day and night.
In other words, He created a polarity system. Both sides are to be respected. Both sides or anything are sacred.
We need to do good and we need to learn from our mistakes. We need to honor what takes place in the daytime and we need to honor what takes place in the nighttime.
We learn that we need to learn and we see what we are supposed to see by staying close to the Great Spirit.
We need to be talking to Him all the time, saying "Grandfather, what is it you want me to learn?"
Chief Luther Standing Bear, SIOUX
The Great Spirit created a world of harmony, a world of justice, a world that is interconnected, a balanced world that has positive and negative, this way and that way, up and down, man and woman, boy and girl, honest and dishonest, responsible and irresponsible, day and night.
In other words, He created a polarity system. Both sides are to be respected. Both sides or anything are sacred.
We need to do good and we need to learn from our mistakes. We need to honor what takes place in the daytime and we need to honor what takes place in the nighttime.
We learn that we need to learn and we see what we are supposed to see by staying close to the Great Spirit.
We need to be talking to Him all the time, saying "Grandfather, what is it you want me to learn?"
Friday, January 29, 2010
BROWNBACK OFFERS OBAMA POLITICAL COVER ON NATIVE APOLOGY
Brownback offers Obama political cover on Native apology
By Rob Capriccioso
Story Published: Jan 29, 2010
WASHINGTON – The nation’s top legislator who is pushing for an out-loud apology to Native Americans is offering political cover to President Barack Obama during a contentious election year.Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., said in an interview that political games shouldn’t be played with something as important as a Native American apology, but he senses the White House may be facing pressure, as it does not want to appear weak or overly politically correct.“I am concerned about people doing political calculations in the White House, looking at it that way,” Brownback said regarding an apology resolution Obama quietly signed Dec. 19 – to no fanfare.
“My hope is that they would look at this, noting it has been a bipartisan issue. They could use me and others to shield themselves on it. They don’t have to take all the responsibility themselves. I do think there’s strength in the nature of this being bipartisan for them to use that. I just think there is so much good that could come out of this.”Brownback had been pushing for an apology since 2004 after collaborating with former Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, a citizen of the Northern Cheyenne Nation. The Senate passed his congressional resolution in October, and then the president signed it into law as part of a defense appropriation bill just before Christmas.The resolution apologizes “on behalf of the people of the United States to all Native peoples for the many instances of violence, maltreatment and neglect inflicted on Native peoples by citizens of the United States.”
It also “urges the president to acknowledge the wrongs of the United States against Indian tribes in the history of the United States in order to bring healing to this land.”Many Native Americans find it odd that Obama chose to sign the resolution, yet the White House has made no mention of the president making an apology, nor was there even an effort to tell Native Americans, or the general public, about the resolution.“What kind of an apology is it when they don’t tell the people they are apologizing to?” asked Robert T. Coulter, executive director of the Indian Law Resource Center.For the apology to have real meaning, Brownback said it should be said out loud by the president.“To me, it starts the reconciliation process,” said the senator, who is retiring from Congress this year to run for governor of his state.“It doesn’t finish anything, it doesn’t conclude anything – but it hopefully starts a process of reconciliation in the country where there will be thought and remembrance, reconciling.
“That’s what apologies have done in other areas, whether it’s the Japanese internment, other international ones. It really brings into the public consciousness that something happened that was deeply troubling and wrong.”Brownback said he and his allies are pulling together a coalition to urge the Obama administration to issue an apology in a “formal, dignified manner” in front of an audience of Native American leaders.“That is important and significant to say something happened here that is dreadfully wrong, and we own up to it.”White House spokesman Shin Inouye said earlier in January that there were “no updates” on how Obama might proceed.Later, the White House did not respond to requests for comment on Brownback’s offer of political cover.To tribes and Indian citizens who don’t think an apology is important, Brownback explained his rationale:
“To me, if somebody does you wrong, you may still work with them, but you might always have a suspicion. If he owns up to it and asks for forgiveness, it changes the dynamics of the relationship. You’re still going to watch him closely, but you might have the chance at building a new relationship. That’s what tribes should take out of this.”
Indian Country Today- Jan. 29, 2010
By Rob Capriccioso
Story Published: Jan 29, 2010
WASHINGTON – The nation’s top legislator who is pushing for an out-loud apology to Native Americans is offering political cover to President Barack Obama during a contentious election year.Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., said in an interview that political games shouldn’t be played with something as important as a Native American apology, but he senses the White House may be facing pressure, as it does not want to appear weak or overly politically correct.“I am concerned about people doing political calculations in the White House, looking at it that way,” Brownback said regarding an apology resolution Obama quietly signed Dec. 19 – to no fanfare.
“My hope is that they would look at this, noting it has been a bipartisan issue. They could use me and others to shield themselves on it. They don’t have to take all the responsibility themselves. I do think there’s strength in the nature of this being bipartisan for them to use that. I just think there is so much good that could come out of this.”Brownback had been pushing for an apology since 2004 after collaborating with former Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, a citizen of the Northern Cheyenne Nation. The Senate passed his congressional resolution in October, and then the president signed it into law as part of a defense appropriation bill just before Christmas.The resolution apologizes “on behalf of the people of the United States to all Native peoples for the many instances of violence, maltreatment and neglect inflicted on Native peoples by citizens of the United States.”
It also “urges the president to acknowledge the wrongs of the United States against Indian tribes in the history of the United States in order to bring healing to this land.”Many Native Americans find it odd that Obama chose to sign the resolution, yet the White House has made no mention of the president making an apology, nor was there even an effort to tell Native Americans, or the general public, about the resolution.“What kind of an apology is it when they don’t tell the people they are apologizing to?” asked Robert T. Coulter, executive director of the Indian Law Resource Center.For the apology to have real meaning, Brownback said it should be said out loud by the president.“To me, it starts the reconciliation process,” said the senator, who is retiring from Congress this year to run for governor of his state.“It doesn’t finish anything, it doesn’t conclude anything – but it hopefully starts a process of reconciliation in the country where there will be thought and remembrance, reconciling.
“That’s what apologies have done in other areas, whether it’s the Japanese internment, other international ones. It really brings into the public consciousness that something happened that was deeply troubling and wrong.”Brownback said he and his allies are pulling together a coalition to urge the Obama administration to issue an apology in a “formal, dignified manner” in front of an audience of Native American leaders.“That is important and significant to say something happened here that is dreadfully wrong, and we own up to it.”White House spokesman Shin Inouye said earlier in January that there were “no updates” on how Obama might proceed.Later, the White House did not respond to requests for comment on Brownback’s offer of political cover.To tribes and Indian citizens who don’t think an apology is important, Brownback explained his rationale:
“To me, if somebody does you wrong, you may still work with them, but you might always have a suspicion. If he owns up to it and asks for forgiveness, it changes the dynamics of the relationship. You’re still going to watch him closely, but you might have the chance at building a new relationship. That’s what tribes should take out of this.”
Indian Country Today- Jan. 29, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES ASSEMBLY 2010
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES ASSEMBLY 2010
Friday, February 5 - Monday, February 8, 2010Neskonlith, un-surrendered Secwepemc Nation(so-called Chase, British Columbia, Canada)Contact: nymcommunications@gmail.comIndigenous Peoples Only.
The Secwepemc Peoples and the Native Youth Movement are inviting Indigenous Peoples throughout the Western Hemisphere and the World to come and join with us at an Indigenous Peoples Assembly at Neskonlith, un-surrendered Secwepemc Territory from Friday, February 5th to Monday, February 8th, 2010.
Considering that we, as Indigenous Peoples, have continued to resist the invasion and destruction of our Water and Territories for 518 years.
That the last of our remaining Lands, Water and Territories are being plundered and raped and that it is our duty and responsibility to defend Life by any means.We understand that our common oppressor has used all tactics to try to exterminate our Indigenous Peoples and Ways and by doing this they are waging War on the Earth itself.
All Indigenous Peoples are encouraged to come and share their history, stories and struggles of Resistance, so we may begin to know each other and build our alliance and unity of Resisting Red Nations.
At the time of this Indigenous Peoples Assembly, so-called British Columbia and Canada will be in the global spotlight, with the 2010 Winter Olympic Games taking place just days away in the neighboring Indigenous Nations of un-surrendered Coast Salish and St’at’imc Territories.It will be an opportunity for Us, as Indigenous Peoples, to come together to send a clear and unified message and let our Struggles be known Worldwide.
We also call on all Indigenous Peoples and Peoples of the World to attend the 2010 Convergence, the mobilization against the 2010 Winter Olympic Games from February 10-15, 2010 in Vancouver, un-surrendered Coast Salish Territories.
All Indigenous Peoples, Communities and Nations are invited to demonstrate their clothing, songs, dances, and other traditional forms of expression, both at the Indigenous Peoples Assembly and the 2010 Convergence.We hope to see you all there.
To get directions, discuss travel information and confirm attendance contact:nymcommunications@gmail.comTo make a donation to the Indigenous Assembly contact:Secwepemc Nation Youth Networksnyouthnetwork@hotmail.comTo get more information about the 2010 Convergence contact:olympicresistance@riseup.net
Posted by brendanorrell@gmail.com
Friday, February 5 - Monday, February 8, 2010Neskonlith, un-surrendered Secwepemc Nation(so-called Chase, British Columbia, Canada)Contact: nymcommunications@gmail.comIndigenous Peoples Only.
The Secwepemc Peoples and the Native Youth Movement are inviting Indigenous Peoples throughout the Western Hemisphere and the World to come and join with us at an Indigenous Peoples Assembly at Neskonlith, un-surrendered Secwepemc Territory from Friday, February 5th to Monday, February 8th, 2010.
Considering that we, as Indigenous Peoples, have continued to resist the invasion and destruction of our Water and Territories for 518 years.
That the last of our remaining Lands, Water and Territories are being plundered and raped and that it is our duty and responsibility to defend Life by any means.We understand that our common oppressor has used all tactics to try to exterminate our Indigenous Peoples and Ways and by doing this they are waging War on the Earth itself.
All Indigenous Peoples are encouraged to come and share their history, stories and struggles of Resistance, so we may begin to know each other and build our alliance and unity of Resisting Red Nations.
At the time of this Indigenous Peoples Assembly, so-called British Columbia and Canada will be in the global spotlight, with the 2010 Winter Olympic Games taking place just days away in the neighboring Indigenous Nations of un-surrendered Coast Salish and St’at’imc Territories.It will be an opportunity for Us, as Indigenous Peoples, to come together to send a clear and unified message and let our Struggles be known Worldwide.
We also call on all Indigenous Peoples and Peoples of the World to attend the 2010 Convergence, the mobilization against the 2010 Winter Olympic Games from February 10-15, 2010 in Vancouver, un-surrendered Coast Salish Territories.
All Indigenous Peoples, Communities and Nations are invited to demonstrate their clothing, songs, dances, and other traditional forms of expression, both at the Indigenous Peoples Assembly and the 2010 Convergence.We hope to see you all there.
To get directions, discuss travel information and confirm attendance contact:nymcommunications@gmail.comTo make a donation to the Indigenous Assembly contact:Secwepemc Nation Youth Networksnyouthnetwork@hotmail.comTo get more information about the 2010 Convergence contact:olympicresistance@riseup.net
Posted by brendanorrell@gmail.com
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
CONNECTTICUT ATTORNEY TALKS WITH INDIAN COUNTRY FOR SENATE SEAT
Blumenthal is ‘ready to listen and learn’ from Indian country
Connecticut attorney general seeks new role as US senator
By Gale Courey Toensing
Story Published: Jan 26, 2010
HARTFORD, Conn. – State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said he is ready to listen and learn from tribal leaders and Indian country as he prepares to run for the U.S. Senate.
Blumenthal announced the first week of January that he would seek the Senate seat currently held by Democrat Sen. Chris Dodd, who is not seeking re-election after serving five terms.Long seen as a foe of Indian country, Blumenthal said that, if he is elected, his new role as senator will require a different approach to Indian issues.“I view these issues as extraordinarily important, so I can talk to you a little bit about them now, but my responses will be somewhat more general than they may be in a month or two after I think through some of the implications.”Blumenthal intervened in the San Manuel and Carcieri cases mentioned in the interview.
In San Manuel, a federal court panel ruled that tribal nations are subject to the National Labor Relations Act; in Carcieri, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Interior secretary does not have authority to take land into trust for tribal nations federally acknowledged after the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act.Following are excerpts from the interview:Indian Country Today: You have been perceived as a foe of Indian country. What is your understanding of the reasons for that perception? What is your response to it?
Richard Blumenthal: My view is some perceptions of me as a public official and perhaps as a person are based on misconceptions. I have deep and unshakeable respect for the principles of sovereignty and I have emphasized at every opportunity how soundly significant the principles of sovereignty are as legal and policy precepts. I believe in the concept of sovereignty as the two tribes here (Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and Mohegan Tribe) know well. I’ve made that belief a matter of action as well as words, and the respect for sovereignty is one of the reasons that I have opposed some of the petitions for federal recognition when tribal groups fail to meet the legal criteria. I believe that federal recognition bestows a status of sovereignty that is solemn and historic, and it changes the relationship between the state and the tribe. It becomes a government-to-government relationship, which I respect, and it should be done only when all the criteria are met.I’ve also emphasized that the two federally recognized tribes in Connecticut merit federal recognition on the facts so I’ve not opposed all tribes seeking recognition. I’ve opposed those I felt lacked sufficient evidence to meet the criteria. Those tribal groups may contend I was wrong in my assessment of the evidence, but ultimately the federal government agreed.
ICT: While you’ve often said you support tribal sovereignty, your interventions in Carcieri and San Manuel are seen as contradictions of that assertion. Would you see a need to mend fences with Indian country if you are elected, and if so what will your approach be?RB: The point is I’m seeking a new and different role as an elected official. I really hope to begin a conversation with tribal leaders across the country, because if I am fortunate enough to be successful in becoming a U.S. senator, my role will be a very different one than it is right now.Obviously, I’ve taken positions on these issues as a state official and attorney general advocating Connecticut’s interests and I would continue to have as my priority the people of Connecticut, but I want to be fully understood and I want to fully understand the perspectives and information that Indian country can provide to me.A national legislator has a completely different role and assignment and mission, and I would hope to listen – and I really mean listen carefully and thoroughly – to the messages and the insights that tribal leaders have, and perhaps to dispel some of the misconceptions, but more importantly, to learn from them.
ICT: San Manual and Carcieri directly diminish sovereignty, especially Carcieri, because sovereignty is land based and there are some tribes, including newly acknowledged ones that are landless. How do you reconcile that perceived contradiction?RB: I stand by the positions I’ve taken as attorney general. These issues are by no means simple in so far as they involve statutory interpretation. For example, San Manuel involved an issue of the National Labor Relations Act statutory interpretation. Carcieri involved a U.S. Supreme Court stating and I’m quoting ‘plain and unambiguous intent of the Indian Reorganization Act.’ The positions I took legally in those cases were vindicated by the courts. Nobody can say that I took outlandish or even unfounded legal positions. In fact, they were successful and correct, according to the courts.
ICT: Your position on Carcieri was upheld, but the law is not carved in stone and Congress is contemplating a ‘Carcieri fix.’ How do you think you’d approach the Carcieri fix if you were in the Senate now?RB: I would want to talk to Indian leaders before setting forth any detailed set of positions on how the IRA can be improved and I’ve said that about a number of other issues. But the overall conversation I would like to have with Indian country is not about statutory interpretation or technical legal points. It’s about ultimate goals and common grounds – that’s the most important point because my responsibilities, again if I’m fortunate enough to be elected, would be much larger than just legal advocacy in court.
Indian Country Today-Jan. 26, 2010
Connecticut attorney general seeks new role as US senator
By Gale Courey Toensing
Story Published: Jan 26, 2010
HARTFORD, Conn. – State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said he is ready to listen and learn from tribal leaders and Indian country as he prepares to run for the U.S. Senate.
Blumenthal announced the first week of January that he would seek the Senate seat currently held by Democrat Sen. Chris Dodd, who is not seeking re-election after serving five terms.Long seen as a foe of Indian country, Blumenthal said that, if he is elected, his new role as senator will require a different approach to Indian issues.“I view these issues as extraordinarily important, so I can talk to you a little bit about them now, but my responses will be somewhat more general than they may be in a month or two after I think through some of the implications.”Blumenthal intervened in the San Manuel and Carcieri cases mentioned in the interview.
In San Manuel, a federal court panel ruled that tribal nations are subject to the National Labor Relations Act; in Carcieri, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Interior secretary does not have authority to take land into trust for tribal nations federally acknowledged after the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act.Following are excerpts from the interview:Indian Country Today: You have been perceived as a foe of Indian country. What is your understanding of the reasons for that perception? What is your response to it?
Richard Blumenthal: My view is some perceptions of me as a public official and perhaps as a person are based on misconceptions. I have deep and unshakeable respect for the principles of sovereignty and I have emphasized at every opportunity how soundly significant the principles of sovereignty are as legal and policy precepts. I believe in the concept of sovereignty as the two tribes here (Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and Mohegan Tribe) know well. I’ve made that belief a matter of action as well as words, and the respect for sovereignty is one of the reasons that I have opposed some of the petitions for federal recognition when tribal groups fail to meet the legal criteria. I believe that federal recognition bestows a status of sovereignty that is solemn and historic, and it changes the relationship between the state and the tribe. It becomes a government-to-government relationship, which I respect, and it should be done only when all the criteria are met.I’ve also emphasized that the two federally recognized tribes in Connecticut merit federal recognition on the facts so I’ve not opposed all tribes seeking recognition. I’ve opposed those I felt lacked sufficient evidence to meet the criteria. Those tribal groups may contend I was wrong in my assessment of the evidence, but ultimately the federal government agreed.
ICT: While you’ve often said you support tribal sovereignty, your interventions in Carcieri and San Manuel are seen as contradictions of that assertion. Would you see a need to mend fences with Indian country if you are elected, and if so what will your approach be?RB: The point is I’m seeking a new and different role as an elected official. I really hope to begin a conversation with tribal leaders across the country, because if I am fortunate enough to be successful in becoming a U.S. senator, my role will be a very different one than it is right now.Obviously, I’ve taken positions on these issues as a state official and attorney general advocating Connecticut’s interests and I would continue to have as my priority the people of Connecticut, but I want to be fully understood and I want to fully understand the perspectives and information that Indian country can provide to me.A national legislator has a completely different role and assignment and mission, and I would hope to listen – and I really mean listen carefully and thoroughly – to the messages and the insights that tribal leaders have, and perhaps to dispel some of the misconceptions, but more importantly, to learn from them.
ICT: San Manual and Carcieri directly diminish sovereignty, especially Carcieri, because sovereignty is land based and there are some tribes, including newly acknowledged ones that are landless. How do you reconcile that perceived contradiction?RB: I stand by the positions I’ve taken as attorney general. These issues are by no means simple in so far as they involve statutory interpretation. For example, San Manuel involved an issue of the National Labor Relations Act statutory interpretation. Carcieri involved a U.S. Supreme Court stating and I’m quoting ‘plain and unambiguous intent of the Indian Reorganization Act.’ The positions I took legally in those cases were vindicated by the courts. Nobody can say that I took outlandish or even unfounded legal positions. In fact, they were successful and correct, according to the courts.
ICT: Your position on Carcieri was upheld, but the law is not carved in stone and Congress is contemplating a ‘Carcieri fix.’ How do you think you’d approach the Carcieri fix if you were in the Senate now?RB: I would want to talk to Indian leaders before setting forth any detailed set of positions on how the IRA can be improved and I’ve said that about a number of other issues. But the overall conversation I would like to have with Indian country is not about statutory interpretation or technical legal points. It’s about ultimate goals and common grounds – that’s the most important point because my responsibilities, again if I’m fortunate enough to be elected, would be much larger than just legal advocacy in court.
Indian Country Today-Jan. 26, 2010
TO ENTER CREATOR'S SPIRIT WORLD
Mike (Ali) Raccoon Eyes Kinney doing a traditional Cherokee Sing to the Ancestors that have gone to the Spirit World
"The journey to the Spirit World is a long one, my friend. But when you die, that doesn’t mean that this is the end."
Buddy Red Bow, LAKOTA
The Elders tell us of the other dimension, the Spirit World.
Our spirit in our bodies does not die, it only looks that way to our eyes and our brains. Some of our ceremonies allow us to see into the Spirit World.
Death is only part of a process of life. It shows the transition into the Spirit World.
The Elders tell us this is a joyful life journey.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
CREATOR CLEANSES OUR DEFECTS
"Also ask your heart to purify and cleanse this defect and harmful desire. Ask also the help of the inner father and mother. Every time we eliminate a defect, we build our soul, our inner temple. We ascend. like going up a stairway."
Willaru Huayata, QUECHUA NATION, PERU
The building blocks to knowledge and wisdom are constructed through the lessons of our character defects if we constructively review our conduct each day, asking where we are resentful, selfish, dishonest, or afraid.
Remember, we need to review constructively, not destructively. Destructive review is when we ask, "what's the matter with me anyway." or "how could I be so stupid?" These question lead to morbid reflection or remorse and seriously affect our self esteem.
In constructive review we ask, "what will I do next time?"
With constructive review we progressively eliminate the defect and replace it with wisdom.
Willaru Huayata, QUECHUA NATION, PERU
The building blocks to knowledge and wisdom are constructed through the lessons of our character defects if we constructively review our conduct each day, asking where we are resentful, selfish, dishonest, or afraid.
Remember, we need to review constructively, not destructively. Destructive review is when we ask, "what's the matter with me anyway." or "how could I be so stupid?" These question lead to morbid reflection or remorse and seriously affect our self esteem.
In constructive review we ask, "what will I do next time?"
With constructive review we progressively eliminate the defect and replace it with wisdom.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
NATIVE STUDENTS RUN TO REMEMBER
Students run to remember
By Jodi Rave, Today correspondent
Story Published: Jan 22, 2010
Story Updated: Jan 22, 2010
LAME DEER, Mont. – After a five-day journey through four states, youth runners from the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana completed a 400-mile journey Jan. 15 in commemoration of their relatives who escaped from a military fort in Nebraska in January 1879.
Earlier this month, 97 runners from the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, mostly grade school and high school students, participated in the Fort Robinson Outbreak Spiritual Run. About 30 more supporters followed them to cook, drive and offer support as one highway mile marker eventually blurred into hundreds through Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming and finally the southeastern corner of Montana. Many runners and supporters shared stories about how the run changed their life.“This was my first time, I didn’t know what to expect except what I heard from my grandchildren on previous runs,” said Alaina Buffalo Spirit, whose granddaughter and grandson joined the run. “It was very emotional hearing the horrific events that happened to our ancestors. I was moved to tears when I heard Jenny Parker tell the story of her grandmother who ran into the night with a baby. When she went to take the baby off her back, the baby’s head had been blown off.”
Nikki Melin (left) carried the Northern Cheyenne flag and Wacey Roundstone ran with an eagle staff during the Fort Robinson Outbreak Spiritual Run, a five-day, 400-mile relay that ended Jan. 14 in Busby, Mont.
More so, said Buffalo Spirit, she was moved by the positive effect the run had on the youths who returned home full of pride, joy and energy. Indeed, the students remained in high spirits beginning with the first day of the event, which started with a prayer at Bear Butte in South Dakota, to the exuberant homecoming reception in Ashland, Mont., where hundreds of people lined the streets to greet the returning runners. People whooped, hollered, honked car horns and shed tears of pride when the runners ran as an entire group into town. Otherwise, they had run the entire 400-mile stretch as relay, with male and female runners paired together.
The girls carried the Northern Cheyenne flag while the boys carried an eagle feather staff.The run is organized by Phillip Whiteman Jr. and Lynette Two Bulls of Yellow Bird Inc., a nonprofit organization on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation. The event started 14 years ago as a run around the reservation. Eleven years ago, they decided to expand it to commemorate Cheyenne relatives who were rounded up and forcibly removed from Montana to Oklahoma after defeating Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876.After sickness and heat killed more than half of the Northern Cheyenne while in the Indian Territory, about 300 people left Fort Reno Sept. 9, 1879.
In the middle of the night, the military societies said enough is enough and they walked away,” said Whiteman. Before they could make it home, Dull Knife’s band was imprisoned at Fort Robinson. They were starved at the fort because they refused to return to Oklahoma. On Jan. 9, 1879, the group decided to break out of the fort’s log barracks, choosing death over starvation and imprisonment.Today, many American Indians are still recovering from the historical trauma associated with death, disease, imprisonment and unemployment associated with a change in their traditional way of life. “After four generations, I feel hope,” Whiteman said. “That’s what inspires us to fight this battle of ongoing extermination of our people. At the same time, I see the faces of the young people who have so much pride. Doing something like this takes a lot of hard work. You have to have a lot of passion to overcome negativity. That’s what those original warriors had to face. They faced overwhelming odds that didn’t discourage them from breaking out.”The five-day journey is about more than running. All along the way, they participate in prayers and ceremonies. Additionally, inspirational speakers are invited to talk with the young people about how to be better human beings. Speaker Gerard Baker, superintendent at Mount Rushmore National Park in South Dakota, asked some of the younger kids to do three things every day, including supporting everyone around them and daily prayer.“He inspired us to look in the mirror and say, ‘I am a warrior,’” said BreeAnna Little Coyote, 13.
“He made me want to cry, he was so inspiring. He told us we were all brothers and sisters.”Even though one might expect the kids to get more tired with each passing highway mile, their joy and energy only seemed to increase the closer they got to home. When the community in Lame Deer hosted their return with a dinner, the youths painted their faces.To an outsider, they may have appeared militant, said Buffalo Spirit, who traveled with the group. But the run has a much more powerful effect, she said, noting how a few years earlier, the run motivated Cinnamon Spear to enroll and later graduate from Dartmouth College. The war paint signified their “warrior spirit. They were being prideful.”Little Coyote and Roshandra Little Cherries, 13, were among a number of students on the trip who were convinced their warrior relatives of Fort Robinson joined them on the run.One of Little Coyote’s friends, said, “’BreeAnna. BreeAnna, can you hear that? Just listen.’ And I could hear old people singing way out there while we were running. It was awesome. When we were finished they stopped. You could hear a drum, too. It was really loud but way out there.” After the song, the girls also heard the women’s cry of honor. “There was ‘luluing,’” said Little Coyote.
By Jodi Rave, Today correspondent
Story Published: Jan 22, 2010
Story Updated: Jan 22, 2010
LAME DEER, Mont. – After a five-day journey through four states, youth runners from the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana completed a 400-mile journey Jan. 15 in commemoration of their relatives who escaped from a military fort in Nebraska in January 1879.
Earlier this month, 97 runners from the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, mostly grade school and high school students, participated in the Fort Robinson Outbreak Spiritual Run. About 30 more supporters followed them to cook, drive and offer support as one highway mile marker eventually blurred into hundreds through Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming and finally the southeastern corner of Montana. Many runners and supporters shared stories about how the run changed their life.“This was my first time, I didn’t know what to expect except what I heard from my grandchildren on previous runs,” said Alaina Buffalo Spirit, whose granddaughter and grandson joined the run. “It was very emotional hearing the horrific events that happened to our ancestors. I was moved to tears when I heard Jenny Parker tell the story of her grandmother who ran into the night with a baby. When she went to take the baby off her back, the baby’s head had been blown off.”
Nikki Melin (left) carried the Northern Cheyenne flag and Wacey Roundstone ran with an eagle staff during the Fort Robinson Outbreak Spiritual Run, a five-day, 400-mile relay that ended Jan. 14 in Busby, Mont.
More so, said Buffalo Spirit, she was moved by the positive effect the run had on the youths who returned home full of pride, joy and energy. Indeed, the students remained in high spirits beginning with the first day of the event, which started with a prayer at Bear Butte in South Dakota, to the exuberant homecoming reception in Ashland, Mont., where hundreds of people lined the streets to greet the returning runners. People whooped, hollered, honked car horns and shed tears of pride when the runners ran as an entire group into town. Otherwise, they had run the entire 400-mile stretch as relay, with male and female runners paired together.
The girls carried the Northern Cheyenne flag while the boys carried an eagle feather staff.The run is organized by Phillip Whiteman Jr. and Lynette Two Bulls of Yellow Bird Inc., a nonprofit organization on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation. The event started 14 years ago as a run around the reservation. Eleven years ago, they decided to expand it to commemorate Cheyenne relatives who were rounded up and forcibly removed from Montana to Oklahoma after defeating Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876.After sickness and heat killed more than half of the Northern Cheyenne while in the Indian Territory, about 300 people left Fort Reno Sept. 9, 1879.
In the middle of the night, the military societies said enough is enough and they walked away,” said Whiteman. Before they could make it home, Dull Knife’s band was imprisoned at Fort Robinson. They were starved at the fort because they refused to return to Oklahoma. On Jan. 9, 1879, the group decided to break out of the fort’s log barracks, choosing death over starvation and imprisonment.Today, many American Indians are still recovering from the historical trauma associated with death, disease, imprisonment and unemployment associated with a change in their traditional way of life. “After four generations, I feel hope,” Whiteman said. “That’s what inspires us to fight this battle of ongoing extermination of our people. At the same time, I see the faces of the young people who have so much pride. Doing something like this takes a lot of hard work. You have to have a lot of passion to overcome negativity. That’s what those original warriors had to face. They faced overwhelming odds that didn’t discourage them from breaking out.”The five-day journey is about more than running. All along the way, they participate in prayers and ceremonies. Additionally, inspirational speakers are invited to talk with the young people about how to be better human beings. Speaker Gerard Baker, superintendent at Mount Rushmore National Park in South Dakota, asked some of the younger kids to do three things every day, including supporting everyone around them and daily prayer.“He inspired us to look in the mirror and say, ‘I am a warrior,’” said BreeAnna Little Coyote, 13.
“He made me want to cry, he was so inspiring. He told us we were all brothers and sisters.”Even though one might expect the kids to get more tired with each passing highway mile, their joy and energy only seemed to increase the closer they got to home. When the community in Lame Deer hosted their return with a dinner, the youths painted their faces.To an outsider, they may have appeared militant, said Buffalo Spirit, who traveled with the group. But the run has a much more powerful effect, she said, noting how a few years earlier, the run motivated Cinnamon Spear to enroll and later graduate from Dartmouth College. The war paint signified their “warrior spirit. They were being prideful.”Little Coyote and Roshandra Little Cherries, 13, were among a number of students on the trip who were convinced their warrior relatives of Fort Robinson joined them on the run.One of Little Coyote’s friends, said, “’BreeAnna. BreeAnna, can you hear that? Just listen.’ And I could hear old people singing way out there while we were running. It was awesome. When we were finished they stopped. You could hear a drum, too. It was really loud but way out there.” After the song, the girls also heard the women’s cry of honor. “There was ‘luluing,’” said Little Coyote.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
GOP LEADER CONTINUES 'HONEST INJUN' CONTROVERSY
GOP leader continues ‘honest injun’ controversy
MSNBC commentator uses ‘off the reservation’
By Rob Capriccioso
WASHINGTON – Instead of apologizing without condition for using a racist term, the top GOP leader parsed his own words, while calling on another politician to step down for using racially offensive words.Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele encountered criticism after his Jan. 4 appearance on the Sean Hannity Fox News program for using the phrase “honest injun” to punctuate a point he was making about conservative ideals.
Several Native American leaders, including the Native American Journalists Association and congressional advocates, noted that the term is racist, and said Steele should apologize.But Steele did not do so in the immediate days after the program aired, and calls to the Republican National Committee for comment went unreturned on the matter.
Then, later that same week, word came by way of a new political book that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., had said during the 2008 presidential campaign that now-President Barack Obama had a good chance at winning the election since he is “light-skinned” and has “no Negro dialect.”Almost immediately, Steele called on Reid to step down from his Senate leadership post because the words are racist.Reid instead apologized and several top Democrats, including Obama himself, came to his defense, saying he has a strong record on race issues.It was during another Fox News appearance, this time on Jan. 10, where Steele was confronted with his apparent hypocrisy.
After covering Steele’s distaste for Reid’s remark, host Chris Wallace asked the top GOP politico about his own “honest injun” remark, noting that congressmen from both parties said that it is a racial slur. Dictionaries agree, noting that the phrase is considered impolite and politically incorrect because “injun” is a slang term for American Indians.
“Well, if it is, I apologize for it,” Steele responded on the show. “It’s not an intent to be a racial slur. I wasn’t intending to say a racial slur at all.“The reality of it is that’s not the same as what we were talking about before. That’s not saying I’m some loose cannon and wild, you know, dog out here running around not being able to be controlled.”Steele’s conditional take on the phrase has outraged some Native Americans, as they say he is qualifying his own racism, while hypocritically calling for the resignation of a person who has said he was wrong – and apologized unconditionally – for using a racist term.
“It is astounding that his mind can separate himself from Sen. Reid when it comes to deciphering racist remarks,” said Ronnie Washines, president of the Native American Journalists Association.“How can Steele let others decide if his words were racist – and then surmise that if others think so, then he would apologize?” asked the Yakama Nation citizen.“All that I have heard or read coming out of his mouth since does not resemble anything close to an apology.”Nick Reo, director of the Native American Institute at Michigan State University, said Steele was being hypocritical, and that the statements by Reid and Steele are problematic in similar ways.“They both used disrespectful and disparaging language,” said the citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.“Each has claimed that they didn’t intend their comments to be hurtful, and I believe them both.
”He doesn’t think either Steele or Reid should lose their jobs over their comments.But Jeff Harjo, director of NAJA and a citizen of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, believes Steele should indeed be punished for his hypocrisy.“From reading parts of the [Jan. 10] transcript, it seems that Mr. Steele is never wrong, he is arrogant and I would think the Republican Party needs to ask him to step down.”The Steele scenario has called increased attention to the complexities of racial language in America – and the sometimes divergent ways people think about Native Americans and racism, compared to African Americans and racism.Michelle Bernard, a political commentator for MSNBC, hit that point home when discussing Reid’s words on-air Jan. 11.Bernard, an African American, discussed the Reid situation, saying she didn’t think the words he used were completely “off the reservation
.”Ironically, many Native Americans have a problem with the “off the reservation” phrase, saying it’s disparaging and infers that Indians should be kept in line.No MSNBC hosts called Bernard on the irony.Calls to the RNC to ask Steele to clarify the continuing controversy have gone unreturned.
Indian Country Today- Jan. 14, 2010
MSNBC commentator uses ‘off the reservation’
By Rob Capriccioso
WASHINGTON – Instead of apologizing without condition for using a racist term, the top GOP leader parsed his own words, while calling on another politician to step down for using racially offensive words.Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele encountered criticism after his Jan. 4 appearance on the Sean Hannity Fox News program for using the phrase “honest injun” to punctuate a point he was making about conservative ideals.
Several Native American leaders, including the Native American Journalists Association and congressional advocates, noted that the term is racist, and said Steele should apologize.But Steele did not do so in the immediate days after the program aired, and calls to the Republican National Committee for comment went unreturned on the matter.
Then, later that same week, word came by way of a new political book that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., had said during the 2008 presidential campaign that now-President Barack Obama had a good chance at winning the election since he is “light-skinned” and has “no Negro dialect.”Almost immediately, Steele called on Reid to step down from his Senate leadership post because the words are racist.Reid instead apologized and several top Democrats, including Obama himself, came to his defense, saying he has a strong record on race issues.It was during another Fox News appearance, this time on Jan. 10, where Steele was confronted with his apparent hypocrisy.
After covering Steele’s distaste for Reid’s remark, host Chris Wallace asked the top GOP politico about his own “honest injun” remark, noting that congressmen from both parties said that it is a racial slur. Dictionaries agree, noting that the phrase is considered impolite and politically incorrect because “injun” is a slang term for American Indians.
“Well, if it is, I apologize for it,” Steele responded on the show. “It’s not an intent to be a racial slur. I wasn’t intending to say a racial slur at all.“The reality of it is that’s not the same as what we were talking about before. That’s not saying I’m some loose cannon and wild, you know, dog out here running around not being able to be controlled.”Steele’s conditional take on the phrase has outraged some Native Americans, as they say he is qualifying his own racism, while hypocritically calling for the resignation of a person who has said he was wrong – and apologized unconditionally – for using a racist term.
“It is astounding that his mind can separate himself from Sen. Reid when it comes to deciphering racist remarks,” said Ronnie Washines, president of the Native American Journalists Association.“How can Steele let others decide if his words were racist – and then surmise that if others think so, then he would apologize?” asked the Yakama Nation citizen.“All that I have heard or read coming out of his mouth since does not resemble anything close to an apology.”Nick Reo, director of the Native American Institute at Michigan State University, said Steele was being hypocritical, and that the statements by Reid and Steele are problematic in similar ways.“They both used disrespectful and disparaging language,” said the citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.“Each has claimed that they didn’t intend their comments to be hurtful, and I believe them both.
”He doesn’t think either Steele or Reid should lose their jobs over their comments.But Jeff Harjo, director of NAJA and a citizen of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, believes Steele should indeed be punished for his hypocrisy.“From reading parts of the [Jan. 10] transcript, it seems that Mr. Steele is never wrong, he is arrogant and I would think the Republican Party needs to ask him to step down.”The Steele scenario has called increased attention to the complexities of racial language in America – and the sometimes divergent ways people think about Native Americans and racism, compared to African Americans and racism.Michelle Bernard, a political commentator for MSNBC, hit that point home when discussing Reid’s words on-air Jan. 11.Bernard, an African American, discussed the Reid situation, saying she didn’t think the words he used were completely “off the reservation
.”Ironically, many Native Americans have a problem with the “off the reservation” phrase, saying it’s disparaging and infers that Indians should be kept in line.No MSNBC hosts called Bernard on the irony.Calls to the RNC to ask Steele to clarify the continuing controversy have gone unreturned.
Indian Country Today- Jan. 14, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
INDIAN COUNTRY'S LEADERSHIP ACKNOWLEDGED
Strong values and collaboration credited for tribes’ success
By Elizabeth Woody, Special to Today
Story Published: Jan 20, 2010
PORTLAND, Ore. – Ecotrust recognized five of the West’s most innovative indigenous leaders Dec. 3 for their efforts to improve community conditions. The Ecotrust Indigenous Leadership Award annually honors Western tribal, First Nation, and Alaska Native leaders who possess long-range vision, a sense of place in the growing global economy, sustainable societal values and integrated historical knowledge of the land’s marine and terrestrial ecosystems.The 2009 awardee, Jim Manion, general manager of Warm Springs Power & Water Enterprises and chair of the Deschutes River Conservancy, received $25,000.
The four finalists who each received $5,000 were Janeen Comenote of Wash., founding member and director of the National Urban Indian Family Coalition that comprises 24 urban Indian centers in 19 cities; Allen Pinkham, Idaho, co-founder of the Chief Joseph Foundation; Brian Wallace, who is serving four four-year terms as tribal chairman of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California; and Patricia Whitefoot of Wash., advocating in tribal, regional, and national efforts to improve Indian education at all levels.On the night of the Ecotrust honoring ceremony, the first fish since 1968 passed through a 270-foot high underwater tower rising from the bottom of Oregon’s Lake Billy Chinook behind Round Butte Dam into new waters. The fish was a beneficiary of Manion’s work and innovative leadership by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.
Under Manion’s pivotal leadership, CTWS worked with 22 federal, state, county, and nonprofit entities from 1994 on to develop a comprehensive plan to restore these fish to the Deschutes Basin, while becoming first time tribal co-owners of a hydroelectric dam. CTWS financed a restructure of debt from this purchase through Wall Street in November 2009.CTWS owns one-third of the 465-million-wattage project. Portland General Electric owns two-thirds. The 20-mile long complex of three dams, some 440 feet high, had blocked fish migration from 226 miles of streams and impounded the Deschutes River just above the section of river designated a Wild and Scenic River, and a tributary of the Columbia.
The new underwater tower, built by CTWS and PGE, allows the hydro project to blend water from bottom and top, creating ideal temperatures for the water quality required for optimum fish health. It can now attract seaward salmon smolts and allows them to migrate, while also allowing for continued production of low-cost hydroelectric power at the facility that improves the tribes’ fish harvest and benefits recreational fishing.Manion credits tribal leadership of both council and administration for support of his development. They charged him while still in his mid-20s to explore and learn the energy business to properly manage this asset. In the mid 1990s, his test of mettle occurred when the Warm Springs Power Enterprise and PGE sat at the table to renegotiate compensation for the dams situated on tribal land on the border of the reservation, a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission requirement to license Pelton Dam.
The tribes felt the compensation proposed from PGE was inadequate and both parties left the table “agreeing to disagree.”Over the next three years, CTWS and PGE submitted competing FERC relicensing plans. Eventually PGE came back to the table to make a deal. Manion and the now deceased CTWS tribal attorney Jim Notebook worked out a global settlement with PGE agreeable to the Warm Springs tribal council and the tribal membership.At the award presentation in Ecotrust’s Billy Frank Jr. Conference Center, Warm Springs Chief Delvis Heath and CTWS tribal council vice-chair Aurolyn Stwyer-Pinkham spoke of Manion’s strength as an innovative and responsive tribal leader. Heath described their recent journey to Wall Street to interest institutional bond buyers skeptical due to a recent default by another American Indian tribe, in the restructuring of debt acquired in the purchase of Pelton Dam.
They convinced the buyers the financial restructuring of this debt was entirely different from a casino operation. This project rated as a reliable asset with a history of success by Standard and Poors, a bond rating company that rates risk of investments. In closing the deal they overcame a barrier greater to tribal peoples than dams are to salmon.Heath closed the evening with a song to strengthen all in attendance, honoring the goodwill of the tribes represented and future efforts of the leaders present.
Indian Country Today-Jan. 20, 2010
By Elizabeth Woody, Special to Today
Story Published: Jan 20, 2010
PORTLAND, Ore. – Ecotrust recognized five of the West’s most innovative indigenous leaders Dec. 3 for their efforts to improve community conditions. The Ecotrust Indigenous Leadership Award annually honors Western tribal, First Nation, and Alaska Native leaders who possess long-range vision, a sense of place in the growing global economy, sustainable societal values and integrated historical knowledge of the land’s marine and terrestrial ecosystems.The 2009 awardee, Jim Manion, general manager of Warm Springs Power & Water Enterprises and chair of the Deschutes River Conservancy, received $25,000.
The four finalists who each received $5,000 were Janeen Comenote of Wash., founding member and director of the National Urban Indian Family Coalition that comprises 24 urban Indian centers in 19 cities; Allen Pinkham, Idaho, co-founder of the Chief Joseph Foundation; Brian Wallace, who is serving four four-year terms as tribal chairman of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California; and Patricia Whitefoot of Wash., advocating in tribal, regional, and national efforts to improve Indian education at all levels.On the night of the Ecotrust honoring ceremony, the first fish since 1968 passed through a 270-foot high underwater tower rising from the bottom of Oregon’s Lake Billy Chinook behind Round Butte Dam into new waters. The fish was a beneficiary of Manion’s work and innovative leadership by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.
Under Manion’s pivotal leadership, CTWS worked with 22 federal, state, county, and nonprofit entities from 1994 on to develop a comprehensive plan to restore these fish to the Deschutes Basin, while becoming first time tribal co-owners of a hydroelectric dam. CTWS financed a restructure of debt from this purchase through Wall Street in November 2009.CTWS owns one-third of the 465-million-wattage project. Portland General Electric owns two-thirds. The 20-mile long complex of three dams, some 440 feet high, had blocked fish migration from 226 miles of streams and impounded the Deschutes River just above the section of river designated a Wild and Scenic River, and a tributary of the Columbia.
The new underwater tower, built by CTWS and PGE, allows the hydro project to blend water from bottom and top, creating ideal temperatures for the water quality required for optimum fish health. It can now attract seaward salmon smolts and allows them to migrate, while also allowing for continued production of low-cost hydroelectric power at the facility that improves the tribes’ fish harvest and benefits recreational fishing.Manion credits tribal leadership of both council and administration for support of his development. They charged him while still in his mid-20s to explore and learn the energy business to properly manage this asset. In the mid 1990s, his test of mettle occurred when the Warm Springs Power Enterprise and PGE sat at the table to renegotiate compensation for the dams situated on tribal land on the border of the reservation, a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission requirement to license Pelton Dam.
The tribes felt the compensation proposed from PGE was inadequate and both parties left the table “agreeing to disagree.”Over the next three years, CTWS and PGE submitted competing FERC relicensing plans. Eventually PGE came back to the table to make a deal. Manion and the now deceased CTWS tribal attorney Jim Notebook worked out a global settlement with PGE agreeable to the Warm Springs tribal council and the tribal membership.At the award presentation in Ecotrust’s Billy Frank Jr. Conference Center, Warm Springs Chief Delvis Heath and CTWS tribal council vice-chair Aurolyn Stwyer-Pinkham spoke of Manion’s strength as an innovative and responsive tribal leader. Heath described their recent journey to Wall Street to interest institutional bond buyers skeptical due to a recent default by another American Indian tribe, in the restructuring of debt acquired in the purchase of Pelton Dam.
They convinced the buyers the financial restructuring of this debt was entirely different from a casino operation. This project rated as a reliable asset with a history of success by Standard and Poors, a bond rating company that rates risk of investments. In closing the deal they overcame a barrier greater to tribal peoples than dams are to salmon.Heath closed the evening with a song to strengthen all in attendance, honoring the goodwill of the tribes represented and future efforts of the leaders present.
Indian Country Today-Jan. 20, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
HEAL YOURSELF
"Heal yourself - your physical and spiritual bodies. Regenerate yourself with light, and then help those who have poverty of the soul. Return to the inner spirit, which we have abandoned while looking elsewhere for happiness."
Willaru Huayta, QUECHUA NATION, PERU
It is difficult to look inside ourselves, especially when we see conflict or confusion.
During times of conflict we need to realize that we are talking to ourselves about our thoughts.
This conversation is printing in our subconscious and forming our beliefs.
During times of conflict we need to ask the spirit to control our self-talk.
Only thorough finding that inner place and going there during troubled times will we ever find happiness.
Willaru Huayta, QUECHUA NATION, PERU
It is difficult to look inside ourselves, especially when we see conflict or confusion.
During times of conflict we need to realize that we are talking to ourselves about our thoughts.
This conversation is printing in our subconscious and forming our beliefs.
During times of conflict we need to ask the spirit to control our self-talk.
Only thorough finding that inner place and going there during troubled times will we ever find happiness.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
INDIAN COUNTRY MUST TRY HARDER TO RECOMMITTING TO THE VISION OF MORE HUMAN AND CIVIL RIGHTS TO INDIAN COUNTRY
INDIAN COUNTRY MUST BE MORE COMMITTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF OUR PEOPLE
By Mike (Ali) Raccoon Eyes Kinney
Greetings to all of my Relations in Indian Country,
I was reflecting today on how We in Indian Country, are slacking off on the advancement and commitment in the vision of our People to have more Human and Civils within Indian Country.
As the 'new Indian wars' are being waged against us by mainstream culture and in some cases by our own People, I tend to think at times we are no better off than we were 100 years ago.
Let me blunt, let us put the blame were it truly lies, we in Indian Country allowed this to happen!
We must put aside our issues and stop this fighting that we do against each other.
We must quit being our own worst enemies and bring UNITY among ourselves.
We must have goals and objectives that are realistic in order to bring about and achieve more Human and Civil Rights for Indian Country.
We must not forget that we are the Creator's original Holy People, and we must have good self-esteem, good self-value and good self-worth about ourselves at being Native People in the first place.
As the honorable Kicking Bear once stated: "We cannot live on your lies and broken promises."
We must spiritually empower our own People. We must understand that mainstream cultur does not give a damn about as being Native People.
They could care less if we as Native People live or die.
We can spiritually transform all of this negative thinking around and simply recommit to the empowerment of us as Native People and in turn starting the work of having more Human and Civil Rights for our beloved Indian Country.
Let us look for ourselves and to take care of our own!
Cousins, let us warrior up and get the job done.
These are the spiritual acts and values we must do for the advancement of more Human and Civil Rights for Indian Country.
Wado and A-ho!
Mike (Ali) Raccoon Eyes Kinney
Editor - Teaching the Values of Peace
Thursday, January 14, 2010
CHEROKEE JOCK KEEPS THE MUSIC COMING
Cherokee West Coast Trance jock Atum; is seen editing a series of new tunes that he will soon be playing and jocking.
Atum a veteran Burning Man jock has been composing, charting and arranging a series of new progressive spiritual tunes he will soon unveil to the marketplace.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
GOP LEADER USES RACIST TERM
GOP leader uses racist term
No apology issued
By Rob Capriccioso
Story Published: Jan 12, 2010
WASHINGTON – The leader of the GOP wanted to sell a few books. Instead, he stuck a foot in his mouth, using a derogatory term for Native Americans on national TV, in turn letting down many tribal citizens.During a Jan. 4 appearance to promote his new book on the Sean Hannity Fox News cable program, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele discussed conservative principles, at one point insisting that the Republican Party does not need to modernize. He hit home the point with the words, “Honest injun on that.”
Almost immediately, many American Indians suggested he had done wrong; some blogged about the incident, linking to a widely circulating YouTube video of the gaffe.Several online commenters pointed out that the word “injun” has historically been used by detractors and racists to knock the American Indian race.Reference books, including dictionaries, back up those claims, noting that the phrase “honest injun” is considered impolite and politically incorrect because “injun” is a slang term for American Indians. Some observers said using it equates to calling an African American a “nigger.”
With the words being loaded with that much negative weight, some American Indian leaders and Congress members are rebuking Steele, saying he needs to make amends.“[A]s a black American, Chairman Steele has significant points of empathy that, upon reflection, should help him realize that there’s no room in the lexicon of a public official for terms like ‘honest injun,’” said Nick Reo, director of the Native American Institute at Michigan State University and a citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.
“I would ask Chairman Steele to reflect on similar terms that are used regularly in our society that are unintentionally hurtful or demeaning and to think about the collective impact such terms have on groups of people. In such circumstances, it’s the impact that matters, not the intent.”Robert Miller, a legal scholar with the Lewis & Clark Law School, said that regardless of Steele’s race, he has the responsibility as a public official to choose his words carefully.“By using this offensive term, one wonders if he is as ignorant about all Native American issues as he seems to be about derogatory language.”Miller, an enrolled citizen of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, said Steele should apologize even though some Indians may not have been offended
.When Indian Country Today called the RNC requesting comment from Steele, a staffer said the organization had received many inquiries about the incident. The person, who did not give her name, said a communications director would return a call for comment.No comment was issued by press time, and Steele did not address the controversy during several television appearances since the remarks.Many liberal blogs and mainstream media outlets have picked up on the gaffe, however, using the incident to indicate that the GOP leader is out of step.Rep. Dale Kildee, D-Mich., went further, saying he is “outraged and disgusted” that the head of the Republican Party would make such a “derogatory and offensive” statement about Native Americans on national television.
Kildee, co-chair of the Congressional Native American Caucus, noted, too, that Fox News, in the published transcript of the appearance, changed the words Steele spoke.“In an effort to cover up Michael Steele’s racist comment, Fox News altered the transcript online to read ‘honest engine’ instead of ‘honest injun,’” Kildee said in a statement.“For those of us who have been fighting to reverse decades of mistreatment of Native Americans, we all know what Mr. Steele said and what he meant.“His insensitive comment undermines and threatens to reverse the progress we have made to correct those wrongs.
“A cursory look through a dictionary or even some knowledge of Native American history would show Mr. Steele that the term is a racial slur for Native Americans. I strongly urge Mr. Steele to publicly apologize to the Native American community immediately for his derogatory comment.”Fox News did not respond to requests for comment on the alteration.“I am thoroughly outraged that the leader of the National Republican Party would use such repulsive language on national television,” said Ronnie Washines, president, Native American Journalists Association. “Those of us in journalism have tirelessly worked to ensure that political leaders, newsrooms and the public be respectful to all cultures when speaking publically. Michael Steele’s scurrilous tongue does no service to his group and only undermines the positive work of those who sincerely seek to respect one another in all of our working relationships. I urge Michael Steele to carefully word a sincere apology to the Native American community, which could help stop such uneducated archaic racist remarks from being made in the future. We here at NAJA are available to assist him and his organization with obtaining an accurate understanding of Native America.”Republican radio host Rush Limbaugh has used “injun” many times on his broadcast, and has not issued an apology, despite calls to do so.
This story was originally published on Friday in the ICT newspaper. Steele then addressed the remarks over the weekend and Fox News has offered clarification. ICT is working on an update.
No apology issued
By Rob Capriccioso
Story Published: Jan 12, 2010
WASHINGTON – The leader of the GOP wanted to sell a few books. Instead, he stuck a foot in his mouth, using a derogatory term for Native Americans on national TV, in turn letting down many tribal citizens.During a Jan. 4 appearance to promote his new book on the Sean Hannity Fox News cable program, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele discussed conservative principles, at one point insisting that the Republican Party does not need to modernize. He hit home the point with the words, “Honest injun on that.”
Almost immediately, many American Indians suggested he had done wrong; some blogged about the incident, linking to a widely circulating YouTube video of the gaffe.Several online commenters pointed out that the word “injun” has historically been used by detractors and racists to knock the American Indian race.Reference books, including dictionaries, back up those claims, noting that the phrase “honest injun” is considered impolite and politically incorrect because “injun” is a slang term for American Indians. Some observers said using it equates to calling an African American a “nigger.”
With the words being loaded with that much negative weight, some American Indian leaders and Congress members are rebuking Steele, saying he needs to make amends.“[A]s a black American, Chairman Steele has significant points of empathy that, upon reflection, should help him realize that there’s no room in the lexicon of a public official for terms like ‘honest injun,’” said Nick Reo, director of the Native American Institute at Michigan State University and a citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.
“I would ask Chairman Steele to reflect on similar terms that are used regularly in our society that are unintentionally hurtful or demeaning and to think about the collective impact such terms have on groups of people. In such circumstances, it’s the impact that matters, not the intent.”Robert Miller, a legal scholar with the Lewis & Clark Law School, said that regardless of Steele’s race, he has the responsibility as a public official to choose his words carefully.“By using this offensive term, one wonders if he is as ignorant about all Native American issues as he seems to be about derogatory language.”Miller, an enrolled citizen of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, said Steele should apologize even though some Indians may not have been offended
.When Indian Country Today called the RNC requesting comment from Steele, a staffer said the organization had received many inquiries about the incident. The person, who did not give her name, said a communications director would return a call for comment.No comment was issued by press time, and Steele did not address the controversy during several television appearances since the remarks.Many liberal blogs and mainstream media outlets have picked up on the gaffe, however, using the incident to indicate that the GOP leader is out of step.Rep. Dale Kildee, D-Mich., went further, saying he is “outraged and disgusted” that the head of the Republican Party would make such a “derogatory and offensive” statement about Native Americans on national television.
Kildee, co-chair of the Congressional Native American Caucus, noted, too, that Fox News, in the published transcript of the appearance, changed the words Steele spoke.“In an effort to cover up Michael Steele’s racist comment, Fox News altered the transcript online to read ‘honest engine’ instead of ‘honest injun,’” Kildee said in a statement.“For those of us who have been fighting to reverse decades of mistreatment of Native Americans, we all know what Mr. Steele said and what he meant.“His insensitive comment undermines and threatens to reverse the progress we have made to correct those wrongs.
“A cursory look through a dictionary or even some knowledge of Native American history would show Mr. Steele that the term is a racial slur for Native Americans. I strongly urge Mr. Steele to publicly apologize to the Native American community immediately for his derogatory comment.”Fox News did not respond to requests for comment on the alteration.“I am thoroughly outraged that the leader of the National Republican Party would use such repulsive language on national television,” said Ronnie Washines, president, Native American Journalists Association. “Those of us in journalism have tirelessly worked to ensure that political leaders, newsrooms and the public be respectful to all cultures when speaking publically. Michael Steele’s scurrilous tongue does no service to his group and only undermines the positive work of those who sincerely seek to respect one another in all of our working relationships. I urge Michael Steele to carefully word a sincere apology to the Native American community, which could help stop such uneducated archaic racist remarks from being made in the future. We here at NAJA are available to assist him and his organization with obtaining an accurate understanding of Native America.”Republican radio host Rush Limbaugh has used “injun” many times on his broadcast, and has not issued an apology, despite calls to do so.
This story was originally published on Friday in the ICT newspaper. Steele then addressed the remarks over the weekend and Fox News has offered clarification. ICT is working on an update.
Monday, January 11, 2010
ENEMY OF SOVEREIGNTY TO SEEK US SENATE SEAT
‘Enemy of sovereignty’ to seek US Senate seat
By Gale Courey Toensing
HARTFORD, Conn. – A popular state attorney general with an anti-Indian sovereignty reputation is making a bid for the U.S. Senate.Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal announced Jan. 6 that he will seek the Senate seat held by fellow Democrat Chris Dodd, who has served five terms, said a day earlier he would not seek re-election in the 2010 race.Blumenthal began a press conference with Connecticut Democrats in Hartford with praise for Dodd.“I’m also here to say that I intend to be a candidate for the United States Senate. I’ll be making a formal announcement very, very shortly, but I want to leave no doubt today that I intend to be a candidate and I have the goal of fighting as tirelessly and tenaciously in the U.S. Senate for the people of Connecticut as I have done for the last two decades as attorney general. I will be a fighter in Washington for change.
I will stand strong against scams and special interests,” Blumenthal said to loud applause.Blumenthal, who has been the state’s attorney general since 1991, is popular in his home state.Not so much in Indian country.According to his state biography, the attorney general has advocated “aggressive law enforcement for consumer protection, environmental stewardship, labor rights and personal privacy.”
But throughout Indian country, Blumenthal is known for advocating aggressively against tribal sovereignty, federal recognition, and tribal governments’ jurisdiction on tribal land, and for leading other state attorneys general to join him in court cases that aim to diminish tribal sovereignty.For example, Blumenthal intervened in San Manuel v. the National Labor Relations Board in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Court disregarded 75 years of tribal exemption and ruled that federal labor laws apply on sovereign Indian land.He also led a coalition of more than a dozen state attorneys general to intervene in the Narragansett Indian Tribe’s efforts to place 31 acres of land into trust for elder housing.
The years-long case wended its way through district court and the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled in the tribe’s favor, and ended up last year as Carcieri v. Salazar in a U.S. Supreme Court decision that said the Interior secretary does not have the authority to take land into trust for tribes recognized after the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act.In November, Blumenthal testified in front of the House Resources Committee against legislation to fix Carcieri v. Salazar. He recommended, among other things, that “Congress should have sole authority to approve post-1934 tribal trust land requests.”
In Connecticut, Blumenthal has fought the federally recognized Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and Mohegan Tribe on land claims, land into trust, taxation, jurisdiction on tribal land over labor issues, sovereign immunity, smoking bans in casinos, and other issues.But he is perhaps most notoriously known for his successful effort in 2005 to reverse the federal acknowledgment of the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation and the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation.
Blumenthal worked with Dodd and the other members of the state’s congressional delegation, state and local elected officials in the town of Kent where the Schaghticoke Nation has a 400-acre reservation, and a group of wealthy casino-opposing Kent land owners, who hired the power lobbying firm of Barbour Griffith and Rogers to pressure the BIA to overturn its decision to acknowledge the tribe.
Chief Harry Wallace of the Unkechaug Indian Nation, a New York state recognized tribe that has not sought federal acknowledgment, was dismayed by the news of Blumenthal’s possible election to the Senate.“I don’t think that’s good for Indian country. I think he’d certainly be an enemy of sovereignty. I think he will be someone who will bring his prejudicial notions of Indian tribes and Indian nations and his political influence against the tribes of Connecticut, and spread that further across the country. I think he’ll be an impediment to sovereignty and issues of land claims, taxation, economic development, security – all these things
Indian Country Today- Jan. 11, 2009
By Gale Courey Toensing
HARTFORD, Conn. – A popular state attorney general with an anti-Indian sovereignty reputation is making a bid for the U.S. Senate.Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal announced Jan. 6 that he will seek the Senate seat held by fellow Democrat Chris Dodd, who has served five terms, said a day earlier he would not seek re-election in the 2010 race.Blumenthal began a press conference with Connecticut Democrats in Hartford with praise for Dodd.“I’m also here to say that I intend to be a candidate for the United States Senate. I’ll be making a formal announcement very, very shortly, but I want to leave no doubt today that I intend to be a candidate and I have the goal of fighting as tirelessly and tenaciously in the U.S. Senate for the people of Connecticut as I have done for the last two decades as attorney general. I will be a fighter in Washington for change.
I will stand strong against scams and special interests,” Blumenthal said to loud applause.Blumenthal, who has been the state’s attorney general since 1991, is popular in his home state.Not so much in Indian country.According to his state biography, the attorney general has advocated “aggressive law enforcement for consumer protection, environmental stewardship, labor rights and personal privacy.”
But throughout Indian country, Blumenthal is known for advocating aggressively against tribal sovereignty, federal recognition, and tribal governments’ jurisdiction on tribal land, and for leading other state attorneys general to join him in court cases that aim to diminish tribal sovereignty.For example, Blumenthal intervened in San Manuel v. the National Labor Relations Board in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Court disregarded 75 years of tribal exemption and ruled that federal labor laws apply on sovereign Indian land.He also led a coalition of more than a dozen state attorneys general to intervene in the Narragansett Indian Tribe’s efforts to place 31 acres of land into trust for elder housing.
The years-long case wended its way through district court and the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled in the tribe’s favor, and ended up last year as Carcieri v. Salazar in a U.S. Supreme Court decision that said the Interior secretary does not have the authority to take land into trust for tribes recognized after the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act.In November, Blumenthal testified in front of the House Resources Committee against legislation to fix Carcieri v. Salazar. He recommended, among other things, that “Congress should have sole authority to approve post-1934 tribal trust land requests.”
In Connecticut, Blumenthal has fought the federally recognized Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and Mohegan Tribe on land claims, land into trust, taxation, jurisdiction on tribal land over labor issues, sovereign immunity, smoking bans in casinos, and other issues.But he is perhaps most notoriously known for his successful effort in 2005 to reverse the federal acknowledgment of the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation and the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation.
Blumenthal worked with Dodd and the other members of the state’s congressional delegation, state and local elected officials in the town of Kent where the Schaghticoke Nation has a 400-acre reservation, and a group of wealthy casino-opposing Kent land owners, who hired the power lobbying firm of Barbour Griffith and Rogers to pressure the BIA to overturn its decision to acknowledge the tribe.
Chief Harry Wallace of the Unkechaug Indian Nation, a New York state recognized tribe that has not sought federal acknowledgment, was dismayed by the news of Blumenthal’s possible election to the Senate.“I don’t think that’s good for Indian country. I think he’d certainly be an enemy of sovereignty. I think he will be someone who will bring his prejudicial notions of Indian tribes and Indian nations and his political influence against the tribes of Connecticut, and spread that further across the country. I think he’ll be an impediment to sovereignty and issues of land claims, taxation, economic development, security – all these things
Indian Country Today- Jan. 11, 2009
Sunday, January 10, 2010
NATIVE IMMIGRANTS TO BE COUNTED 2010 CENSUS
Indigenous immigrants to be counted in 2010 Census
By Juliana Barbassa and Manuel Valdes, Associated Press Writers
Story Published: Jan 10, 2010
MADERA, Calif. – For most people, describing themselves on the U.S. Census form will be as easy as checking a box: White. Black. American Indian.But it’s not so simple for indigenous immigrants – the Native Americans of Mexico and Central America.
They often need more than one box because their ancestry can cover multiple Census categories, and they must also overcome a significant language barrier and a mistrust of government.The Census Bureau wants to change that in the 2010 count as it tallies immigrant indigenous groups for the first time ever, hoping to get a more complete snapshot of a growing segment of the immigrant population.
In the 2010 Census, the bureau will tabulate handwritten entries specifying that the respondent belongs to a Central American indigenous group such as Maya, Nahua, Mixtec, or Purepecha. The list of different populations that end up being counted will be made public when results are released in 2011, said Michele Lowe, spokeswoman for the Census Bureau.“We’re always striving to present an accurate portrait of the American people, and this is part of that effort,” said Lowe.An accurate count is important to the indigenous groups themselves, and to the federal government, which allocates resources to state and local government according to the results.
The U.S. Department of Labor estimates indigenous migrants make up about 17 percent of the country’s farm workers, and may represent up to 30 percent of California’s farm worker population. Florida also has a large indigenous immigrant population.Indigenous organizations are independently working within their own communities to dispel apprehension and encourage participation in the federal survey.
They speak many different languages, making a single educational campaign impossible. Some speak Spanish; but not all.Many have encountered discrimination in their home countries because of their indigenous origin, and in this country for their immigrant status. All this makes them less likely to volunteer sensitive personal information to a government agency.“In the past, many people wouldn’t want to say they were indigenous,” said Santos Miguel Tzunum Vasquez, from the Asociacion Esperanza Maya Quiche in Florida. “Even I hid it sometimes.
”Vasquez’s organization was founded to help the survivors of a 1997 massacre in a village in Guatemala called La Esperanza. Guatemala’s 36-year civil war left tens of thousands of civilians dead, many of them indigenous civilians who were suspected of helping insurgents.Vasquez feels safer in the United States – enough to look forward to telling the government of his indigenous background.“I’m proud of what I am. I am indigenous, I am Maya,” he said. “That is what I will say.”Political awareness and organizing within indigenous groups, particularly in California and Florida, has helped, said Jonathan Fox, a professor of Latin American and Latino Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
“More indigenous migrants are willing to come out in public and claim their ethnic identity.” But that progress hasn’t happened equally around the country, he said.The Binational Center for the Development of Oaxacan Indigenous Communities in Fresno represents indigenous immigrants from the Mexican state of Oaxaca. The organization has recently launched a campaign promoting participation in the Census through workshops, public forums, flyers and radio broadcasts.
“We want to be counted as we are – as Mixtecos, Zapotecos, Triques,” said Rufino Dominguez, executive director of the organization. “It’s important so everyone knows we are here, and that there are many of us.”Oralia Maceda, a Mixtec community organizer with the Binational Center, told a recent gathering of indigenous women in the rural Central Valley town of Madera, Calif., that the tally can have implications for their everyday lives. Census data will help determine how more than $300 billion in federal funds are distributed to state and local governments each year.The women had been debating how to get a community clinic – the only one they can access – to provide interpreters in their language.
Knowing how many indigenous live in the county, and which languages they speak, will help, Maceda told them.Hundreds of miles north, in the naval town of Bremerton, Wash., a community of 350 Mam speakers from Guatemala discussed the 10-question form. Hoisting a giant printout of the Census questionnaire, lawyer Andrea Schmitt spoke in Spanish to the group. Mariano Mendoza, a group leader, interpreted in Mam, a tonal Mayan language that about 50,000 people in the world speak.Schmitt pointed out two questions that will be important for indigenous immigrants: race and ethnicity.Question 8 asks whether they consider themselves to be “of Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin.”
The next question asks their race. The Census recommends indigenous immigrants from Latin America choose “American Indian or Alaska Native” as their race, then write in the name of their community.“If everyone agrees to put down Maya, the government will have an idea that in Bremerton there’s a group that is Maya that speaks a language that is not Spanish,” she said.Her remarks cause some confusion. A man in the crowd says that he put down Latino in other government paperwork. “Is it lying?” he asks.
Schmitt clarifies that it isn’t, and makes an important point. The Census Bureau cannot share information – any information, including immigration status – with other branches of the federal government.“They’re really torn. They’re afraid there will be a backlash,” said Lourdes Villanueva of the Redlands Christian Migrant Association in Florida. “But there is a lot of excitement, too. They want to be counted, and to be counted as indigenous.”
Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
By Juliana Barbassa and Manuel Valdes, Associated Press Writers
Story Published: Jan 10, 2010
MADERA, Calif. – For most people, describing themselves on the U.S. Census form will be as easy as checking a box: White. Black. American Indian.But it’s not so simple for indigenous immigrants – the Native Americans of Mexico and Central America.
They often need more than one box because their ancestry can cover multiple Census categories, and they must also overcome a significant language barrier and a mistrust of government.The Census Bureau wants to change that in the 2010 count as it tallies immigrant indigenous groups for the first time ever, hoping to get a more complete snapshot of a growing segment of the immigrant population.
In the 2010 Census, the bureau will tabulate handwritten entries specifying that the respondent belongs to a Central American indigenous group such as Maya, Nahua, Mixtec, or Purepecha. The list of different populations that end up being counted will be made public when results are released in 2011, said Michele Lowe, spokeswoman for the Census Bureau.“We’re always striving to present an accurate portrait of the American people, and this is part of that effort,” said Lowe.An accurate count is important to the indigenous groups themselves, and to the federal government, which allocates resources to state and local government according to the results.
The U.S. Department of Labor estimates indigenous migrants make up about 17 percent of the country’s farm workers, and may represent up to 30 percent of California’s farm worker population. Florida also has a large indigenous immigrant population.Indigenous organizations are independently working within their own communities to dispel apprehension and encourage participation in the federal survey.
They speak many different languages, making a single educational campaign impossible. Some speak Spanish; but not all.Many have encountered discrimination in their home countries because of their indigenous origin, and in this country for their immigrant status. All this makes them less likely to volunteer sensitive personal information to a government agency.“In the past, many people wouldn’t want to say they were indigenous,” said Santos Miguel Tzunum Vasquez, from the Asociacion Esperanza Maya Quiche in Florida. “Even I hid it sometimes.
”Vasquez’s organization was founded to help the survivors of a 1997 massacre in a village in Guatemala called La Esperanza. Guatemala’s 36-year civil war left tens of thousands of civilians dead, many of them indigenous civilians who were suspected of helping insurgents.Vasquez feels safer in the United States – enough to look forward to telling the government of his indigenous background.“I’m proud of what I am. I am indigenous, I am Maya,” he said. “That is what I will say.”Political awareness and organizing within indigenous groups, particularly in California and Florida, has helped, said Jonathan Fox, a professor of Latin American and Latino Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
“More indigenous migrants are willing to come out in public and claim their ethnic identity.” But that progress hasn’t happened equally around the country, he said.The Binational Center for the Development of Oaxacan Indigenous Communities in Fresno represents indigenous immigrants from the Mexican state of Oaxaca. The organization has recently launched a campaign promoting participation in the Census through workshops, public forums, flyers and radio broadcasts.
“We want to be counted as we are – as Mixtecos, Zapotecos, Triques,” said Rufino Dominguez, executive director of the organization. “It’s important so everyone knows we are here, and that there are many of us.”Oralia Maceda, a Mixtec community organizer with the Binational Center, told a recent gathering of indigenous women in the rural Central Valley town of Madera, Calif., that the tally can have implications for their everyday lives. Census data will help determine how more than $300 billion in federal funds are distributed to state and local governments each year.The women had been debating how to get a community clinic – the only one they can access – to provide interpreters in their language.
Knowing how many indigenous live in the county, and which languages they speak, will help, Maceda told them.Hundreds of miles north, in the naval town of Bremerton, Wash., a community of 350 Mam speakers from Guatemala discussed the 10-question form. Hoisting a giant printout of the Census questionnaire, lawyer Andrea Schmitt spoke in Spanish to the group. Mariano Mendoza, a group leader, interpreted in Mam, a tonal Mayan language that about 50,000 people in the world speak.Schmitt pointed out two questions that will be important for indigenous immigrants: race and ethnicity.Question 8 asks whether they consider themselves to be “of Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin.”
The next question asks their race. The Census recommends indigenous immigrants from Latin America choose “American Indian or Alaska Native” as their race, then write in the name of their community.“If everyone agrees to put down Maya, the government will have an idea that in Bremerton there’s a group that is Maya that speaks a language that is not Spanish,” she said.Her remarks cause some confusion. A man in the crowd says that he put down Latino in other government paperwork. “Is it lying?” he asks.
Schmitt clarifies that it isn’t, and makes an important point. The Census Bureau cannot share information – any information, including immigration status – with other branches of the federal government.“They’re really torn. They’re afraid there will be a backlash,” said Lourdes Villanueva of the Redlands Christian Migrant Association in Florida. “But there is a lot of excitement, too. They want to be counted, and to be counted as indigenous.”
Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
HOPI AND NAVAJO STOP PEABODY COAL MINE EXPANSION
Hopi and Navajo Residents Stop Peabody’s Coal Mine Expansion on Black MesaDepartment of Interior Administrative Law Judge Vacates Mining Permit for Peabody’s Black Mesa Mines
BLACK MESA, Ariz. —Peabody Western Coal Company’s Black Mesa Coal Complex has suffered a major setback as an Administrative Law Judge for the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) vacated a permit for the massive coal mining complex. The judge vacated the permit in response to one of several appeals filed by Navajo and Hopi residents as well as adiverse coalition of tribal and environmental groups.
The permit, issued by the DOI’s Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), allowed Peabody to operate and expand the Black Mesa mine and the Kayenta mine under a single permit.Wahleah Johns, co-director of Black Mesa Water Coalition and one of the petitioners in the appeal said, “As a community member of Black Mesa I am grateful for this decision.
For 40 years our sacred homelands and people have borne the brunt of coal mining impacts, from relocation to depletion of our only drinking water source. This ruling is an important step towards restorative justice for Indigenous communities who have suffered at the hands of multinational companies like Peabody Energy. This decision is also precedent-setting for all other communities who struggle with the complexities of NEPA laws and OSM procedures in regards to environmental protection.
However, we also cannot ignore the irreversible damage of coal mining industries continues on the land, water, air, people and all living things.”The Administrative Law Judge’s order decides issues raised by members of the Hopi Nation in one of many appeals brought in response to OSM’s final permit, which was issued in the waning days of the Bush Administration. The “life of mine” permit issued by OSM authorized and expanded mining operations at Black Mesa beyond the year 2026 for the remainingportion of an estimated total of 670 million tons of coal. The order cited violations of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
“This is a huge victory for the communities of Black Mesa impacted by coal mining and proof that Peabody can’t have its way on Black Mesa anymore,” said Sierra Club’s Hertha Woody, also a member of the Navajo Nation. “Coal is a dirty, dangerous and outdated energy source that devastates communities, jeopardizes drinking water and destroys wildlife habitats. Thisdecision is yet another example of why it no longer makes sense to burn coal to get electricity.
”The Black Mesa Coal Mine Complex has a long history of controversy stemming from concerns about air and water pollution, impacts to local residents, the drying of aquifers and sacred springs, and coal’s contribution to global warming. Heavy metals and pollutants that result from mining operations are toxic to humans and harmful to wildlife.“This is a vindication of what we have been saying for years,” said Amy Atwood of the Center for Biological Diversity. “
As a result of this huge victory, business-as-usual at Black Mesa has come to an end and a transition toward a green energy economy in the Four Corners region can truly begin.”“It is good news that our concerns were heard. Water is very precious that should not be used for coal mining but instead should be used for our people. I am pleased with this outcome,” said Calvin Johnson of the grassroots organization C-Aquifer for Dine’.“Dine' C.A.R.E. commends DOI Judge Holt,” said Anna Frazier of Dine’ C.A.R.E. “
This is a hopeful step toward a better consultation with OSM and other regulatory entities. The ultimate goals for our people and our land are for OSM to withdraw the life of mine permit, as there is no purpose and need for it, to move toward permanent closure of the existing Kayenta Mineand transportation complex and to begin total reclamation on Black Mesa.”
The coalition of tribal and environmental groups who filed a related appeal of OSM’s permit included the Black Mesa Water Coalition, Diné C.A.R.E., Dine Hataalii Association, Inc., To Nizhoni Ani, C-Aquifer for Diné, Diné Alliance, Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, Natural Resources Defense Council. Legal representation in the appeal was given by theEnergy Minerals Law Center attorneys Brad Bartlett and Travis Stills and Atwood, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity.- For more background information please visit:
http://www.blackmesawatercoalition.org/
Posted by brendanorrell@gmail.com
BLACK MESA, Ariz. —Peabody Western Coal Company’s Black Mesa Coal Complex has suffered a major setback as an Administrative Law Judge for the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) vacated a permit for the massive coal mining complex. The judge vacated the permit in response to one of several appeals filed by Navajo and Hopi residents as well as adiverse coalition of tribal and environmental groups.
The permit, issued by the DOI’s Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), allowed Peabody to operate and expand the Black Mesa mine and the Kayenta mine under a single permit.Wahleah Johns, co-director of Black Mesa Water Coalition and one of the petitioners in the appeal said, “As a community member of Black Mesa I am grateful for this decision.
For 40 years our sacred homelands and people have borne the brunt of coal mining impacts, from relocation to depletion of our only drinking water source. This ruling is an important step towards restorative justice for Indigenous communities who have suffered at the hands of multinational companies like Peabody Energy. This decision is also precedent-setting for all other communities who struggle with the complexities of NEPA laws and OSM procedures in regards to environmental protection.
However, we also cannot ignore the irreversible damage of coal mining industries continues on the land, water, air, people and all living things.”The Administrative Law Judge’s order decides issues raised by members of the Hopi Nation in one of many appeals brought in response to OSM’s final permit, which was issued in the waning days of the Bush Administration. The “life of mine” permit issued by OSM authorized and expanded mining operations at Black Mesa beyond the year 2026 for the remainingportion of an estimated total of 670 million tons of coal. The order cited violations of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
“This is a huge victory for the communities of Black Mesa impacted by coal mining and proof that Peabody can’t have its way on Black Mesa anymore,” said Sierra Club’s Hertha Woody, also a member of the Navajo Nation. “Coal is a dirty, dangerous and outdated energy source that devastates communities, jeopardizes drinking water and destroys wildlife habitats. Thisdecision is yet another example of why it no longer makes sense to burn coal to get electricity.
”The Black Mesa Coal Mine Complex has a long history of controversy stemming from concerns about air and water pollution, impacts to local residents, the drying of aquifers and sacred springs, and coal’s contribution to global warming. Heavy metals and pollutants that result from mining operations are toxic to humans and harmful to wildlife.“This is a vindication of what we have been saying for years,” said Amy Atwood of the Center for Biological Diversity. “
As a result of this huge victory, business-as-usual at Black Mesa has come to an end and a transition toward a green energy economy in the Four Corners region can truly begin.”“It is good news that our concerns were heard. Water is very precious that should not be used for coal mining but instead should be used for our people. I am pleased with this outcome,” said Calvin Johnson of the grassroots organization C-Aquifer for Dine’.“Dine' C.A.R.E. commends DOI Judge Holt,” said Anna Frazier of Dine’ C.A.R.E. “
This is a hopeful step toward a better consultation with OSM and other regulatory entities. The ultimate goals for our people and our land are for OSM to withdraw the life of mine permit, as there is no purpose and need for it, to move toward permanent closure of the existing Kayenta Mineand transportation complex and to begin total reclamation on Black Mesa.”
The coalition of tribal and environmental groups who filed a related appeal of OSM’s permit included the Black Mesa Water Coalition, Diné C.A.R.E., Dine Hataalii Association, Inc., To Nizhoni Ani, C-Aquifer for Diné, Diné Alliance, Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, Natural Resources Defense Council. Legal representation in the appeal was given by theEnergy Minerals Law Center attorneys Brad Bartlett and Travis Stills and Atwood, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity.- For more background information please visit:
http://www.blackmesawatercoalition.org/
Posted by brendanorrell@gmail.com
Friday, January 8, 2010
CREATOR HAS HAS GIVEN US PURE MINDS
"Native Americans are essentially calling for righteousness. By this they mean a shared ideology developed by all people using their purest and most unselfish minds."
Lorraine Canoe/Tom Porter, MOHAWK
The Native way is to first focus on decisions that will be good for the people and then for yourself. Righteousness means "to think right."
Our way is to consider the good of all first. This helps our minds to be unselfish and pure. This it he spiritual way.
This can be very hard to do because the world we live in says to take care of yourself first.
A man of God cannot be taken advantage of unless it is the will of the Creator. The Creator really controls everything.
To have a good future, the people must gather in a circle and pray for the highest good for the people.
Lorraine Canoe/Tom Porter, MOHAWK
The Native way is to first focus on decisions that will be good for the people and then for yourself. Righteousness means "to think right."
Our way is to consider the good of all first. This helps our minds to be unselfish and pure. This it he spiritual way.
This can be very hard to do because the world we live in says to take care of yourself first.
A man of God cannot be taken advantage of unless it is the will of the Creator. The Creator really controls everything.
To have a good future, the people must gather in a circle and pray for the highest good for the people.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
TOP TEN EVENTS OF THE DECADE IN INDIAN COUNTRY
TOP 10 EVENTS OF THE DECADE IN INDIAN COUNTRY
By Brenda Norrell-Censored News
Indigenous Peoples made history throughout this decade, struggling to protect Mother Earth, resisting colonization and exposing genocide. In the movements to resist oppression and protect the sacred, Native people carved out their place in history.
Here are the top 10 of those events of Indian Country
Five Navajo women were arrested as they brought the Sundance Tree in at Big Mountain on Navajoland. Then, the Sundance grounds were destroyed at Big Mountain by BIA, Hopi Rangers and Apache County officers, who put the Sundance Tree through a wood chipper.
Navajos resisting relocation at Big Mountain also joined Hopi and Lakota in New York and addressed stockholders of Lehman Brothers, demanding a halt to Peabody Coal's mining on Black Mesa.
Lakota protected the remains of the Ghost Dancers from excavations at the Stronghold. The Ghost Dancers fled there from the Massacre of Wounded Knee, to the Stronghold in the Badlands on Pine Ridge, S.D. It was also here that the US seized Lakota lands and displaced families for a bombing range during WW II.
Also in this decade, Lakotas faced off with the Lewis and Clark Expedition in Chamberlain, S.D., demanding the Expedition halt, because Lewis and Clark were harbingers of genocide for American Indians.Kahentinetha Horn and Katenies, publisher and editor of Mohawk Nation News, Mohawk grandmothers beaten by Canadian border guards. Kahentinetha suffered a heart attack, induced by border agents in a stresshold and is now recovering. Katenies is now in jail, resisting the colonizers court system in Canada.
Solidarity between Native Americans in the United States and the Zapatistas Subcomandante Marcos and the Comandantes, solidified when the Zapatistas came to Sonora, Mexico, near the Arizona border, and were hosted by the O'odham, Yaqui, Kumeyaay and other Indian Nations along the northern border of Mexico.
The Indigenous Border Summits of the Americas, 2006 and 2007, brought together Indigenous Peoples from the northern and southern borders to document human rights abuses for the United Nations. Mohawk Warriors led the resistance by speaking out against the arrest of Indigenous Peoples, a federal spy tower and construction of the border wall, all on Tohono O'odham land.
The struggle to protect American Indian sacred places: From gold mining on Mount Tenabo on Western Shoshone land, coal-fired power plants on Navajoland and snow made from sewage water on San Francisco Peaks, to biker bars at Bear Butte, Native Americans struggled throughout the decade to protect Mother Earth. Havasupai and Acoma Pueblo hosted forums to halt uranium mining in the Southwest.
The passing of great Native American leaders and pathmakers, including Floyd Westerman and Roberta Blackgoat, and the rise of the mediums of video, music and the Internet to tell stories and document the facts. During the collapse of the mainstream media, these mediums exposed atrocities, including the assassinations of Indigenous mining activists, and inspired action, including the Indigenous Environmental Network's actions for climate change in Copenhagen.
Indigenous women rising to the forefront to speak out against border oppression, US colonization, oppression by elected tribal governments and the truth about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. From Big Mountain on Navajoland to the O'odham on the border in the south to the Mohawks on the border at the north, Indigenous women's words were flames of truth.
Humanitarian aid at the border: Even now when faced with arrest and prosecution, volunteers continue to put out water for the dying and rescue migrants dying in the Sonoran Desert.The sovereign self: The rise in resistance to oppression, based on personal sovereignty, in the collective movement for justice, dignity and autonomy.
Posted by brendanorrell@gmail.com at 3:58 PM
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
THE CREATOR HAS GIVEN US THE TOOLS TO RESOLVE PROBLEMS
"When we're through with this earth and all these problems, we don't have to come back. But as long as we're here we have a job to do and a purpose to fulfill, and that means dealing with the circumstances around us."
Rolling Thunder, CHEROKEE
We are put on the earth to participate in life.
We have a beautiful mind, we have the ability to pray, we have the ability to change, we have the ability to accept, and we have choices.
All things God created are constantly changing. This constant change causes our circumstances to change. Sometimes we say life is difficult.
During these times we need to use our tools: the tools of prayer, and the tools of meditation. We are designed to change and live joyfully on this earth.
The only requirement for living joyfully is to live according to the laws, principles, and values given to us by the Creator.
Rolling Thunder, CHEROKEE
We are put on the earth to participate in life.
We have a beautiful mind, we have the ability to pray, we have the ability to change, we have the ability to accept, and we have choices.
All things God created are constantly changing. This constant change causes our circumstances to change. Sometimes we say life is difficult.
During these times we need to use our tools: the tools of prayer, and the tools of meditation. We are designed to change and live joyfully on this earth.
The only requirement for living joyfully is to live according to the laws, principles, and values given to us by the Creator.
Monday, January 4, 2010
CENTRAL VALLEY ME-WUKS DEMOSTRATE AT BIA HQ- SACRAMENTO, CA ON JANUARY 6 & 7 2010
CENTRAL VALLEY ME-WUKS TO DEMOSTRATE AT BIA HQ IN SACRAMENTO,CA
Our Tribe is a federally recognized Tribe that is listed in the Federal Register as an Indian Entity Recognized and Eligible to receive services from the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The Central California Agency — BIA is illegally trying to re-organize a federally recognized Tribe that has never been terminated, that has a Custom and Tradition Tribal Constitution ratified by the Tribe in March 2000.
The local BIA has been illegally withholding our Mature Status 638
Contract since 2008 and by refusing to confirm to the California Gambling Control Commission who our duly elected Chairperson is, BIA has caused the CGCC to illegally withhold the Tribe's Revenue Sharing Trust Fund Monies (RSTF) since 2005.
Our civil rights have been violated. The local BIA is also violating federal law.
We (the "Tribe") have no money to fund our Tribal Programs, all employees have been layed off since Dec 2007.
The Tribe cannot pay its bills, and the only Tribal Property (1% acres of land at 10601 Escondido Pl., Stockton, CA 95212) has been foreclosed on.
The Sheriff's Department is scheduled to evict the Tribe and its members off the Tribal Property on January 15, 2010.
We are demanding that our funding be released immediately so we can save our Tribal Property and not be homeless. We are demanding fair treatment by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. We are demanding that an investigation into the inappropriate actions and treatment of our Tribe, by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Dept of the Interior - BIA mission is to "protect and honor its trust responsibilities to American Indians, Alaskan Natives and Affiliated Island Communities", so why have they failed so miserably with protecting the California Valley Miwok Tribe?
Come join us, voice your concerns and issues.
Show strength in UNITY!!
Where: John Moss Building - Central Calif. Agency/Bureau of Indian Affairs 650 Capitol Mall,
Sacramento, Calif. 95814
When: Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 & Thursday, January 7 th, 2010
Time: 10:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. (each day)
followed by a 1 hour Press Conference (each day)
For more info contact the California Valley Miwok Tribe at (209) 931 -4567
http://www.californiavalleymiwoktribe-nsn.gov
and http://californiavalleymiwoktribe.us
All are welcome to join us, voice your concerns and issues, Show strength in UNITY!!
Our Tribal funds are being illegally withheld,
Our civil rights and Federal Law is being violated.
Our Tribe is facing forced eviction on Jan 15 th, 2010
The Bureau of Indian Affairs must be held accountable.
The Public needs to know the truth about how American Indians rights are being abused!
Please join us! We need your support!
Our Tribe is a federally recognized Tribe that is listed in the Federal Register as an Indian Entity Recognized and Eligible to receive services from the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The Central California Agency — BIA is illegally trying to re-organize a federally recognized Tribe that has never been terminated, that has a Custom and Tradition Tribal Constitution ratified by the Tribe in March 2000.
The local BIA has been illegally withholding our Mature Status 638
Contract since 2008 and by refusing to confirm to the California Gambling Control Commission who our duly elected Chairperson is, BIA has caused the CGCC to illegally withhold the Tribe's Revenue Sharing Trust Fund Monies (RSTF) since 2005.
Our civil rights have been violated. The local BIA is also violating federal law.
We (the "Tribe") have no money to fund our Tribal Programs, all employees have been layed off since Dec 2007.
The Tribe cannot pay its bills, and the only Tribal Property (1% acres of land at 10601 Escondido Pl., Stockton, CA 95212) has been foreclosed on.
The Sheriff's Department is scheduled to evict the Tribe and its members off the Tribal Property on January 15, 2010.
We are demanding that our funding be released immediately so we can save our Tribal Property and not be homeless. We are demanding fair treatment by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. We are demanding that an investigation into the inappropriate actions and treatment of our Tribe, by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Dept of the Interior - BIA mission is to "protect and honor its trust responsibilities to American Indians, Alaskan Natives and Affiliated Island Communities", so why have they failed so miserably with protecting the California Valley Miwok Tribe?
Come join us, voice your concerns and issues.
Show strength in UNITY!!
Where: John Moss Building - Central Calif. Agency/Bureau of Indian Affairs 650 Capitol Mall,
Sacramento, Calif. 95814
When: Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 & Thursday, January 7 th, 2010
Time: 10:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. (each day)
followed by a 1 hour Press Conference (each day)
For more info contact the California Valley Miwok Tribe at (209) 931 -4567
http://www.californiavalleymiwoktribe-nsn.gov
and http://californiavalleymiwoktribe.us
All are welcome to join us, voice your concerns and issues, Show strength in UNITY!!
Our Tribal funds are being illegally withheld,
Our civil rights and Federal Law is being violated.
Our Tribe is facing forced eviction on Jan 15 th, 2010
The Bureau of Indian Affairs must be held accountable.
The Public needs to know the truth about how American Indians rights are being abused!
Please join us! We need your support!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
WE CAN BE WHAT WISH TO BE
"We don't have to say or think what we don't wish to. We have a choice in those things, and we have to realize that and practice using that choice."
Rolling Thunder, CHEROKEE
Having choices makes us fully accountable.
No one can make us think anything we don't want to think. No one can determine our behavior and how we act.
It's not what's going on but how we look at what's going on. If someone does something and we get upset, we can change how we look at it any time we want.
We can tell ourselves in the morning that the day is going to be beautiful and that we have expectations that great things will happen. Doing this daily sets our mind to look for the joy and the excitement of each day.
Rolling Thunder, CHEROKEE
Having choices makes us fully accountable.
No one can make us think anything we don't want to think. No one can determine our behavior and how we act.
It's not what's going on but how we look at what's going on. If someone does something and we get upset, we can change how we look at it any time we want.
We can tell ourselves in the morning that the day is going to be beautiful and that we have expectations that great things will happen. Doing this daily sets our mind to look for the joy and the excitement of each day.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
WHO IS REALLY THE TRUE DRUNKARDS!!???
> Just downhill from our sacred Mahto Paha is Sturgis, SC.
> Apparently the wasiciu can't handle their firewater.
> Somebody should lock them up on a little piece of land where they won't
> bother anybody.
> Ya'll be safe driving and walking around there.
>
> Woman's blood alcohol content topples state records
> A Sturgis woman had a blood-alcohol level of .708 percent, possibly a
> state record, when she was found earlier this month behind the wheel of
> a stolen vehicle parked on Interstate 90, according to Meade County
> State’s Attorney Jesse Sondreal.>
>
A South Dakota Highway Patrol trooper discovered Marguerite Engle, 45,
> on Dec. 1 passed out behind the wheel of a delivery truck reported
> stolen in Rapid City.
>
> Her blood-alcohol level was almost nine times South Dakota’s legal limit
> of .08 percent.
>
> Checks with local and state labs where blood-alcohol levels are tested
> suggest Engle’s reading may be the highest ever recorded in South
> Dakota, Sondreal said.
>
> Sondreal said a state chemist recalled a sample that tested .53, but
> nothing higher, in his more than 30 years on the job.
>
> Dr. Robert Looyenga, who recently retired from the Rapid City Police
> Department’s forensic laboratory, told Sondreal that the highest
> blood-alcohol sample he tested measured .56 percent.
>
> Sondreal’s research indicates that a blood-alcohol level of .40 is
> considered a lethal dose for about 50 percent of the population.
>
> “Engle’s was almost double that,” Sondreal said.
>
> After she was found, Engle was hospitalized and freed on bond.
>
> She failed to appear in court on Dec. 15, but Sturgis police located her
> Monday evening in another stolen car sitting in a ditch along S.D.
> Highway 34 near Fort Meade.
>
> Engle was arrested for second offense driving under the influence and
> taken to jail.
>
> Engle made her initial appearance in Meade County magistrate court
> Tuesday. She is being held without bond.
>
> Sondreal said Engle has been living in a hotel after recently moving
> here from Minnesota.
>
> Engle is most likely facing charges in Pennington County since both
> vehicles were stolen in Rapid City, Sondreal said.
>
> Contact Andrea Cook at 394-8423 or andrea.cook@rapidcityjournal.com.
> Apparently the wasiciu can't handle their firewater.
> Somebody should lock them up on a little piece of land where they won't
> bother anybody.
> Ya'll be safe driving and walking around there.
>
> Woman's blood alcohol content topples state records
> A Sturgis woman had a blood-alcohol level of .708 percent, possibly a
> state record, when she was found earlier this month behind the wheel of
> a stolen vehicle parked on Interstate 90, according to Meade County
> State’s Attorney Jesse Sondreal.>
>
A South Dakota Highway Patrol trooper discovered Marguerite Engle, 45,
> on Dec. 1 passed out behind the wheel of a delivery truck reported
> stolen in Rapid City.
>
> Her blood-alcohol level was almost nine times South Dakota’s legal limit
> of .08 percent.
>
> Checks with local and state labs where blood-alcohol levels are tested
> suggest Engle’s reading may be the highest ever recorded in South
> Dakota, Sondreal said.
>
> Sondreal said a state chemist recalled a sample that tested .53, but
> nothing higher, in his more than 30 years on the job.
>
> Dr. Robert Looyenga, who recently retired from the Rapid City Police
> Department’s forensic laboratory, told Sondreal that the highest
> blood-alcohol sample he tested measured .56 percent.
>
> Sondreal’s research indicates that a blood-alcohol level of .40 is
> considered a lethal dose for about 50 percent of the population.
>
> “Engle’s was almost double that,” Sondreal said.
>
> After she was found, Engle was hospitalized and freed on bond.
>
> She failed to appear in court on Dec. 15, but Sturgis police located her
> Monday evening in another stolen car sitting in a ditch along S.D.
> Highway 34 near Fort Meade.
>
> Engle was arrested for second offense driving under the influence and
> taken to jail.
>
> Engle made her initial appearance in Meade County magistrate court
> Tuesday. She is being held without bond.
>
> Sondreal said Engle has been living in a hotel after recently moving
> here from Minnesota.
>
> Engle is most likely facing charges in Pennington County since both
> vehicles were stolen in Rapid City, Sondreal said.
>
> Contact Andrea Cook at 394-8423 or andrea.cook@rapidcityjournal.com.
NATIVE SONG BIRD CHUCKI BEGAY, KEEPS THE MUSIC MOVING!
Variety of performers
The Aztec-based band, Chucki Begay and the Mother Earth Blues Band, is the real deal. Begay, who like nearly all of the performers was Native American, sang dark and earthly versions of songs about Native pride and unrequited love.
A song called “Geronimo” paid homage to the folk-lore Apache warrior.
Begay, dressed in black and with an alluring stage presence, captured long notes with focused meticulousness, casting a soulful pall around El Morro that would have made acclaimed singers Amy Whitehouse, Annie Lennox, and Sade envious.
“I’m trying desperately to get you off my mind, but you keep coming back to me,” went one of the songs sung by Begay and backed on guitar by Begay’s husband, Richi Anderson, and the versatile Merlin Yazzie, who performed at last month’s “Open Mic.” Begay said that it was Yazzie who told her about the event.
Begay and the band returned later to center stage to close out the show. The band’s aura had a dramatic effect on the audience.
“They are one of the best bands I’ve ever seen,” said Knifewing Segura, production coordinator for “Open Mic.” “They are big time.”
Gallup Independent-January 2009
The Aztec-based band, Chucki Begay and the Mother Earth Blues Band, is the real deal. Begay, who like nearly all of the performers was Native American, sang dark and earthly versions of songs about Native pride and unrequited love.
A song called “Geronimo” paid homage to the folk-lore Apache warrior.
Begay, dressed in black and with an alluring stage presence, captured long notes with focused meticulousness, casting a soulful pall around El Morro that would have made acclaimed singers Amy Whitehouse, Annie Lennox, and Sade envious.
“I’m trying desperately to get you off my mind, but you keep coming back to me,” went one of the songs sung by Begay and backed on guitar by Begay’s husband, Richi Anderson, and the versatile Merlin Yazzie, who performed at last month’s “Open Mic.” Begay said that it was Yazzie who told her about the event.
Begay and the band returned later to center stage to close out the show. The band’s aura had a dramatic effect on the audience.
“They are one of the best bands I’ve ever seen,” said Knifewing Segura, production coordinator for “Open Mic.” “They are big time.”
Gallup Independent-January 2009
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