INDIGENOUS INSTITUTE of the AMERICAS
INSTITUTO INDIGENA de las AMERICAS
Current News and Ongoing Struggles for Indigenous People
National Indian Education Association
110 Maryland Avenue, N.E.
Suite 104
Washington, D.C. 20002
P: (202) 544-7290 / F: (202) 544-7293
July 18, 2006
Broadcast #06-039
The NIEA and the NCAI Join Forces to Encourage Indian Country to Send Letters to Congress
The National Indian Education Association and the National Congress of American Indians are jointly urging Tribes to send a message to Congress to support legislation that would help revive Native languages. H.R 4766, H.R. 5222 and S. 2674 are bills that would amend the Native American Languages Act to create a competitive grant program within the Department of Education to support Native American language immersion programs in Native communities that would be called language nests and language survival schools. The language nest grants would be for Native language immersion programs for children under the age of seven and their families. The language survival school grants would be for immersion programs for students in elementary and secondary schools. Currently, immersion programs can only compete for very limited funding provided under the Administration of Native Americans.
On August 31st, the House Education and Workforce Committee will hold a field hearing in Albuquerque, NM. This field hearing will be chaired by Rep. Buck McKeon and will focus on H.R. 4766, a bill introduced by Rep. Heather Wilson to amend the Native American Languages Act. Please urge your Congressmen to support this bill and other pending legislation calling for revitalizing these languages and honoring the code talkers who used them in defense of our country.
Additionally, NIEA and NCAI are requesting that schools and tribes weigh in with their Congressional representative to express their support for a mark up on the Senate bill and floor vote before Congress breaks in August. Please send the attached letters to your Congressional representatives.
Pending bills regarding Native language revitalization programs include: S. 2674, H.R. 4766 and H.R. 5222. Bills recognizing the code talkers of tribes around the country include S. 1035, H.R. 4597, H.R. 4299 and H.R. 3466.
For more information or if you cannot access the letters, please contact NIEA at (202)544-7290 or at niea@niea.org.
Never forget SuAnne Big Crow!
SuAnne led Pine Ridge to a State "A" Championship in 1989, making Pine Ridge the only native amercian girls team to win a state championship in South Dakota .
Here is a story of her leadership:
In the fall of 1988, the Pine Ridge Lady Thorpes went to Lead to play a basketball game. SuAnne was a full member of the team by then. She was a freshman, fourteen years old. Getting ready in the locker room, the Pine Ridge girls could hear the din from the fans. They were yelling fake-indian war cries, a "woo-woo-woo" sound. The usual plan for the pre-game warm-up was for the visiting team to run onto the court in a line, take a lap or two around the floor, shoot some baskets, and then go to their bench at courtside. After that, the home team would come out and do the same, and then the game would begin. Usually the Thorpes lined up for their entry more or less according to height, which meant that senior Doni De Cory, one of the tallest, went first. As the team waited in the hallway leading from the locker room, the heckling got louder. The Lead fans were yelling epithets like "squaw" and "gut-eater." Some were waving food stamps, a reference to the reservation's receiving federal aid. Others yelled, "Where's the cheese?"the joke being that if Indians were lining up, it must be to get commodity cheese. The Lead high school band had joined in, with fake-Indian drumming and a fake-Indian tune. Doni De Cory looked out the door and told her teammates, "I can't handle this." SuAnne quickly offered to go first in her place. She was so eager that Doni became suspicious. "Don't embarrass us," Doni told her. SuAnne said, "I won't. I won't embarrass you." Doni gave her the ball and SuAnne stood first in line.
She came running onto the court dribbling the basketball, with her teammates running behind. On the court, the noise was deafeningly loud. SuAnne went right down the middle; but instead of running a full lap, she suddenly stopped when she got to center court. her teammates were taken by surprise, and some bumped into one another. Coach Zimiga at the rear of the line did not know why they had stopped. SuAnne turned to Doni De Cory and tossed her the ball. Then she stepped into the jump-ball circle at center court, in front of the Lead fans. She unbuttoned her warm-up jacket, took it off, draped it over her shoulders, and began to do the Lakota shawl dance. SuAnne knew all the traditional dances she had competed in many powwows as a little girl and the dance she chose is a young woman's dance, graceful and modest and show-offy all at the same time. "I couldn't believe it she was powwowin', like, 'get down!'" Doni De Cory recalled. "And then she started to sing." SuAnne began to sing in Lakota, swaying back and forth in the jump-ball circle, doing the shawl dance, using her warm-up jacket for a shawl. The crowd went completely silent. "All that stuff the Lead fans were yelling it was like she reversed it somehow," a teammate said. In the sudden quiet, all you could hear was her Lakota song. SuAnne stood up, dropped her jacket, took the ball from Doni De Cory, and ran a lap around the court dribbling expertly and fast. The fans began to cheer and applaud. She sprinted to the basket, went up in the air, and laid the ball through the hoop, with the fans cheering loudly now. Of course, Pine Ridge went on to win the game.
"It was funny," Doni De Cory says, "but after that game the relationship between Lead and us was tremendous. When we played Lead again, the games were really good, and we got to know some of the girls on the team. Later, when we went to a tournament and Lead was there, we were hanging out with the Lead girls and eating pizza with them. We got to know some of their parents, too. What SuAnne did made a lasting impression and changed the whole situation with us and Lead. We found out there are some really good people in Lead."
One of SuAnne’s visions was the establishment of a facility for the youth on Pine Ridge; a safe, supportive place that was free of drugs and alcohol, jealousy and violence; a place where everybody got along and people were proud of each other. When other youth were discouraged, SuAnne told them of this vision and called the place she saw “Happytown.” After the shock of her tragic death in an automobile accident in 1992, her courageous family and the community decided to take action on SuAnne’s vision by founding the SuAnne Big Crow Boys and Girls Club. and the adjacent ‘50s and ‘60s theme restaurant called "Happytown USA."
The Truth about Pocohantas
In 1995, Roy Disney decided to release an animated movie about a Powhatan woman known as "Pocahontas". In answer to a complaint by the Powhatan Nation, he claims the film is "responsible, accurate, and respectful."
We of the Powhatan Nation disagree. The film distorts history beyond recognition. Our offers to assist Disney with cultural and historical accuracy were rejected. Our efforts urging him to reconsider his misguided mission were spurred.
"Pocahontas" was a nickname, meaning "the naughty one" or "spoiled child". Her real name was Matoaka. The legend is that she saved a heroic John Smith from being clubbed to death by her father in 1607 - she would have been about 10 or 11 at the time. The truth is that Smith's fellow colonists described him as an abrasive, ambitious, self-promoting mercenary soldier.
Of all of Powhatan's children, only "Pocahontas" is known, primarily because she became the hero of Euro-Americans as the "good Indian", one who saved the life of a white man. Not only is the "good Indian/bad Indian theme" inevitably given new life by Disney, but the history, as recorded by the English themselves, is badly falsified in the name of "entertainment".
The truth of the matter is that the first time John Smith told the story about this rescue was 17 years after it happened, and it was but one of three reported by the pretentious Smith that he was saved from death by a prominent woman.
Yet in an account Smith wrote after his winter stay with Powhatan's people, he never mentioned such an incident. In fact, the starving adventurer reported he had been kept comfortable and treated in a friendly fashion as an honored guest of Powhatan and Powhatan's brothers. Most scholars think the "Pocahontas incident" would have been highly unlikely, especially since it was part of a longer account used as justification to wage war on Powhatan's Nation.
Euro-Americans must ask themselves why it has been so important to elevate Smith's fibbing to status as a national myth worthy of being recycled again by Disney. Disney even improves upon it by changing Pocahontas from a little girl into a young woman.
The true Pocahontas story has a sad ending. In 1612, at the age of 17, Pocahontas was treacherously taken prisoner by the English while she was on a social visit, and was held hostage at Jamestown for over a year.
During her captivity, a 28-year-old widower named John Rolfe took a "special interest" in the attractive young prisoner. As a condition of her release, she agreed to marry Rolfe, who the world can thank for commercializing tobacco. Thus, in April 1614, Matoaka, also known as "Pocahontas", daughter of Chief Powhatan, became "Rebecca Rolfe". Shortly after, they had a son, whom they named Thomas Rolfe. The descendants of Pocahontas and John Rolfe were known as the "Red Rolfes."
Two years later on the spring of 1616, Rolfe took her to England where the Virginia Company of London used her in their propaganda campaign to support the colony. She was wined and dined and taken to theaters. It was recorded that on one occasion when she encountered John Smith (who was also in London at the time), she was so furious with him that she turned her back to him, hid her face, and went off by herself for several hours. Later, in a second encounter, she called him a liar and showed him the door.
Rolfe, his young wife, and their son set off for Virginia in March of 1617, but "Rebecca" had to be taken off the ship at Gravesend. She died there on March 21, 1617, at the age of 21. She was buried at Gravesend, but the grave was destroyed in a reconstruction of the church. It was only after her death and her fame in London society that Smith found it convenient to invent the yarn that she had rescued him.
History tells the rest. Chief Powhatan died the following spring of 1618. The people of Smith and Rolfe turned upon the people who had shared their resources with them and had shown them friendship. During Pocahontas' generation, Powhatan's people were decimated and dispersed and their lands were taken over. A clear pattern had been set which would soon spread across the American continent.
Chief Roy Crazy Horse
It is unfortunate that this sad story, which Euro-Americans should find embarrassing, Disney makes "entertainment" and perpetuates a dishonest and self-serving myth at the expense of the Powhatan Nation. http://www.powhatan.org/pocc.html
Mystery of why Indians still don't trust 'white men' resolved
Posted: June 30, 2006 indiancountry.com
Harold Monteau Monteau & Peebles, LLP
Or: Kemosabe, why do you make rules so Tonto never wins the race?
''Our [BIA] research revealed that most Native Americans view the white man as a deceitful, avaricious, exploitive mass murderer, just as their ancestors did. It remains unclear why, in an age when so much of their culture has been lost to time, this tradition remains as strong as ever.'' - James Cason, Interim Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs (''The Onion,'' May 4, 2006)
Dear Assistant Secretary Cason: First of all, let me allay your fears that we all hate ''white men.'' We don't. What we do hate are the policies and restrictions foisted upon us and our homelands by the lawmakers of the prevalent race of human beings in the United States, and that just happens to be people of the Anglo persuasion. Particularly, males of the species. I won't go over past sins. I will leave that to old AIM activists and our ''thorn in the side'' Indian humorists like Charley Hill, Drew Lachopa and Don Burnt Stick. (P.S. - if you don't know who these guys are - we have a cultural gap issue.) The pervasiveness of the attitude ''revealed'' in the above-referenced study is based not only on past treatment of Indians in this country, but by the way we are treated right up to today. ''How's that,'' you ask? Well, let me tell you. The United States passes laws that are supposed to enhance the economic development of Indian tribes and Native Alaskans. A few of us use the laws to create corporations and go out and compete in the marketplace around the world, and someone says, ''What's going on - we can't have these Indians and Natives making millions of dollars from these 'loopholes.' Let's change the law.'' What about the ''loopholes'' for private energy companies that reap ''billions'' in profits? Since when did economic recovery for Indians and Alaska Natives become a ''loophole''? Yet Congress is ready to hold hearings and change the laws, just when we are realizing some success. The states were in a
panic in 1988 because Indian tribes beat them in the U.S. Supreme Court and we are allowed to have ''gaming'' on our lands free from state restrictions. The private casino industry comes unglued and demands that Congress not allow the destruction of ''their industry'' and allow tribes to force ''gambling'' upon the states without the states having a say. It does not matter that Indian gaming will pay for schools, hospitals, health insurance, food, medicine, education, elderly care, youth programs, law enforcement, court systems and a myriad government services rather than to enrich individuals. Las Vegas and the states say, ''Let's change the law so that Indians can't run gambling without the great white father looking over their shoulder and without the permission of the states.''
When Indian tribes beat the U.S. attorneys (our ''trustee'') in court and in 2002 the National Indian Gaming Commission adjusted its rules to comply with the court rulings, the Justice Department responds, ''Let's change the rules to make it illegal or impossible for the Indians to use Class II machines or make a decent profit at it, even though the courts have said that's what Congress intended.'' The NIGC (our trustee) says it has to stand with its ''Federal Family'' and carry the Justice Department's water and change the rules so we lose, even though we won. The states are in a panic again. The Indians are ''buying back America,'' they say. Be assured, we don't want most of it back because you screwed it up so badly. But maybe we should take it back, as we have acted more responsibly about such issues as water quality, air quality, conservation, global warming and historic/cultural preservation than the states have. So what do you do? Well, the states and counties want a law that makes it nearly impossible for Indians to recover even a small amount of their original homelands by placing requirements that allow the states and counties (and, in some cases, private do-gooders) to obfuscate the fee-to-trust process and in some cases ''veto'' the acquisition of what little of our former lands we can afford to purchase back. Then the Supreme Court ''makes'' a law that says, essentially, ''If your land was stolen fair and square by the states and you didn't have the knowledge or wherewithal to start a claim within this amount of time, once the land came up missing and white people moved onto it (or you moved off it at the end of a bayonet), you can't expect us to right a wrong that is 'old' and based on 'old' treaties that our 'old' ancestors signed with your 'old' ancestors. (Didn't you know that you were sitting on your rights all this time? What did you think that pain in your behind was? You must have known you were getting the shaft, and you didn't do anything about it.) And oh, by the way, you can't get money damages anymore either, and you can't go back to buy a piece of the homelands we drug you off of because they are too far away from the reservation we put you on.'' Congress passes another law that says that tribes can take over services that were formerly provided by the government. Then Congress essentially says, ''We expect you to serve an ever-increasing population with fewer dollars per head than we were spending when you took it over.'' And: ''Oh, by the way, we can't give you the amount we know you need in order to maintain administrative capability in order to effectively run the programs, and you will have to spend tribal funds to make it up.'' And: ''If you dip into program dollars to pay for administrative shortfalls, we will make you pay it back, penalize you and, possibly, send your leaders to jail.'' Then Congress asks, ''Why aren't more tribes engaging in self-determination contracting and compacting?'' Why would we want to let our trustee out of its responsibilities and then have to use tribal funds to make up for money Congress refuses to appropriate despite knowing we can't maintain adequate levels of services and, at the same time, maintain administrative capabilities to run services efficiently and competently? On top of it all, the president lets our Bureau of ''Indian'' Affairs and our National ''Indian'' Gaming Commission languish without permanent appointments because we can't be appointing Indians to watch the Indians. They might advocate on behalf of Indians, heaven forbid. The states are also up in arms because the federal government is ''giving'' tribal status to ''groups'' of Indians without consulting the states enough, even though the state may have recognized the tribes, as a matter of state law, for centuries. Our trustee, by its inaction, says, ''Let's allow the states to spend million of taxpayer dollars to get the United States to declare certain Indian tribes dead and to prove that we killed them off a long time ago - they don't exist anymore and the state made a mistake in recognizing, as a matter of state law, that they still were a tribe.'' Isn't there some international law that prevents the singling out of an identifiable group and putting them under such circumstances that are designed to bring about their disappearance? I seem to recall something called the ''Geneva Conventions against Committing and Complicity in Genocide.'' In fact, how much of state or federal policy has, as its goal or as a natural effect of its application, the disappearance of the Native groups of America? Perhaps Congress should filter every law it passes affecting Indian tribes and Native groups though a process that determines whether the law ''places an identifiable group under such living conditions or circumstances that would facilitate their disappearance.'' Much of our present federal law and policy would fail to pass through that filter.
Is it legal to spend state and federal taxpayer dollars for an illegal purpose that violates international and federal law? Looks legal in Connecticut and, apparently, Washington, D.C., as long as it facilitates the ''final solution of a state's 'Indian problem.''' Our fathers and grandfathers, sisters and brothers, fought wars on behalf of the United States in numbers far greater than our proportions in the general population. We fought a war against tyrants who would
have annihilated the Jewish nation and who would have made all other peoples of the Earth servants of the ''master race.'' Our young men and women are fighting and dying in a war to rid the world of yet another terrorist regime that believes that the destruction of the Jewish nation and other ''infidels'' is the sacred duty of all of Islam. Back home, Indian brothers and sisters are being attacked by state and federal politicians (some of them Jewish) and face annihilation by administrative fiat or legislation. Assimilation, elimination, annihilation, equalization - genocide has many euphemisms.
I wish I had more space, but the editor thinks I'm long-winded as it is. Suffice it to say, in conclusion, that our ''distrust'' has as much to do with the present as it does with the past. Indian country, please excuse the tongue-in-cheek humor. If it weren't so damned true, it would be funny. Harold Monteau is a partner in the National Indian Law Firm of Monteau & Peebles, which practices federal Indian law, Indian law, Indian economic development and tribal sovereignty enhancement. He can be reached at www.ndnlaw.com.
Bush administration withholds $300M from Indian housing
Thursday, June 29, 2006
The Bush administration's decision to withhold up to $300 million in Indian housing funds came under fire on Wednesday. Key members of Congress questioned why the Department of Housing and Urban Administration appeared to be punishing nearly every single federally recognized tribe by denying them access to their money. They suggested a legislative fix may be needed to prevent what tribal housing leaders predicted would be a total disaster. "Whew," said Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), the chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, after being told that $300 million, nearly half of the entire Indian housing block grant program, was being withheld from over 500 tribes. "It seems to me that would lend some urgency to resolving this situation," he added. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota), the vice chairman of the committee, agreed. He said HUD was going overboard by tying up the entire program over a lawsuit filed by just one tribe. "I understand that you may have to recalculate [housing grant awards] but I assume you could create reserves that would allow you to do that and at least distribute some portion of the housing funds," he said. Tribal housing leaders drove the same point home during the hearing and at a briefing following the hearing. Marty Shuravaloff, the newly elected president of the National American Indian Housing Council, said some tribes may have to stop building homes altogether as a result of the administration's move. "This potentially is going to affect every tribe in the country," said Shuravaloff, a housing director from Alaska whose tribe won't be able to access $4 million in the coming year unless HUD changes course. "They could potentially be looking at closing their doors," he said of other tribes across the country. Orlando Cabrera, the assistant secretary in charge of public and Indian housing, did not dispute the gravity of the situation. "The impact is that there currently are no awards, no money going to any of the tribes," he told the committee. But he said the lawsuit forced HUD to suspend the entire program because a federal judge invalidated a key housing regulation. In a May 25 decision, the judge said the way block grant funds are distributed under the Native American Housing and Self-Determination Act (NAHASDA) is unfair to tribes. "This particular order throws the entire formula into question," said Cabrera of the ruling. Not everyone buys that explanation. Susan M. Hammer, the executive director of housing for the Ute Tribe of Utah, accused the administration of trying to "pit tribes against each other" after losing the lawsuit. "It's just seems unfair that they are restricting funding to all tribes," she said via telephone during NAIHC's briefing. "To punish us all for an adverse position ... it just doesn't seem right." The lawsuit at issue was filed by the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes on the Fort Peck Reservation in Montana. The tribal housing authority had received block grant funds in order to "provide affordable housing for low income families," the judge's decision sated. HUD claimed that the Fort Peck Housing Authority received excess funds under the NAHASDA regulation. A 2003 letter stated that the tribe "received overfunding" in excess of $1 million over a five-year period. After losing an administrative challenge within HUD, the tribes went to court. U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch examined NAHASDA and the HUD regulation, and found that the regulation has a "perverse effect" on tribes seeking to increase Native American homeownership rates. "The housing needs of people living on an Indian reservation are not reasonably determined by a formula" in the regulation, he wrote in the 19-page decision. "As a result, tribes with large numbers of homeownership units suffer decreases in their share of the annual apportionment, and tribes with a large percentage of rental units receive a greater share each year," he wrote in describing the funding inequity. Cabrera said HUD is trying to find a way to resolve the situation. The Department of Justice has asked for a stay but he said the judge isn't likely to grant it. The case could conceivably go to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. HUD officials were meeting with Senate staff to further discuss the situation. McCain said he hoped a solution could be reached before the case goes any further. "Probably's not good enough," he said after Cabrera indicated Congress might not need to step in.
--
______________________________________________________________________________
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
- Herm Albright
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Message from the Argentinean Representative - UN Declaration
This is a message I've just received from the Argentinean representative in Geneva regarding the Human Rights Council’s
agenda items and the UN Draft Declaration. it does not appear that consensus will be achieved as the Canadian government's position, as publically stated by Indian Affairs Minister, Jim Prentice, is that Canada does not support the existing language and will be seeking a two year delay in order to work out their concerns.
He says that under the Council's preliminary agenda the UN Draft Declarationwill be addressed next Tuesday. With respect to the
Argentinean position on the Draft Declaration, he says that they’re still waiting for new instructions from capital (Buenos Aires). He added that the Argentineanposition on this issue had been a positive one, Argentina had already stated their problems with the language of some articles, but, they won't oppose to the consensus.
Leo
-----Original Message-----
From: Sebasti n Rosales [mailto:sebros_4@hotmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, June 21, 2006 3:56 AM
To: lcrippa@indianlaw.org
Subject: RE: Sesion del Consejo de Derechos Humanos
Hola Leonardo,
disculpame por no escribirte antes pero estamos con much simo trabajo. El proyecto de declaraci n se tratar la semana pr xima y de acuerdo con lo que dice la agenda preliminar que tengo a mano ser a el martes. Aguardamos todav a instrucciones de la capital sobre la posici n que adoptaremos en relaci n con las posibilidades que se plantean para la semana pr xima en el tema. Hasta ahora, el pa s ha apoyado el instrumento y su aprobaci n y ha sostenido que tiene problemas con la letra de algunos arts. pero que no obstruir al consenso sobre la actual redacci n del texto.
Espero que andes muy bien y que nos veamos la semana
un abrazo,
Sebasti n.
migrants
DAVID HOUSE - Star-Telegram Staff Writer
May 26, 2006
Associated Press Archives
An undated photo of Sitting Bull.Whether illegal immigration issues stir brilliant debates or cries of fear and intolerance, one historical fact is always overlooked: America' s own holocaust, carried out by (guess who?) illegal immigrants from (guess where?) Europe -- uninvited foreigners who came to these shores and took everything they could. That's not getting much mainstream attention. I'm taking off my reader advocate hat to offer some personal thoughts about this matter out of love for my mixed Cherokee/Scots-Irish heritage. Somehow the deaths of a guesstimated 11 million Native Americans at the hands of attacking, manipulative immigrants during a 400-year span seems worth bearing in mind as Americans respond to alarms about porous borders, jeopardized healthcare and threats to justice and quality of life posed by "illegals."
Americans can say, surely not with pride, that our country knows from centuries of personal experience how unchecked immigration devastates life and why it's an issue that deserves the best of our thinking and empathy. Our history brims over with examples -- brutal, bloody instances of inhuman immigrant actions that are far removed from the basic aspirations so often associated these days with "illegals."
Most "illegals" might dream of a better life, but it's doubtful that, like the earlier immigrants and the perpetual forces they set into motion, they're plotting to seize others' property, kill babies and earn bounties based on body parts brought back from raids. Consider that, in the late 1630s, the British wiped out every man, woman and child of the powerful Pequot tribe of southern New England in retaliation related to conflicts arising out of fur-trade struggles. A few years later, Dutch authorities in charge of the settlement of "New Netherland" on the island of Manhattan carried out unspeakable actions against a local tribe they feared.
Russell Shorto's national bestseller, The Island at the Center of the World, examines Dutch Manhattan and includes a pamphlet account of one nighttime raid by D utch soldiers against that local tribe: "[I]nfants were torn from their mothers' breasts, and hacked to pieces in the presence of their parents." More graphic detail is included, and as Shorto noted, the account probably involved some exaggeration, but there's no reason to doubt that the bloody raid occurred and that soldiers were as lavishly praised as documentation says.
Immigrant authorities were just beginning in their efforts to obliterate "the savages," as American history chronicles. One tiny detail includes legislation approved in Massachusetts and elsewhere in New England in the 1700s that authorized bounty payment for scalps or heads of Indians, young and old. This is not to detract from the good -- friendships, sympathies, exchanges of knowledge and philosophies -- that flowed between Indians and foreigners, but the relationship's bottom line is what we have today: a shameful record of attempted extermination, abuse and destruct ion that accompanied virtually every aspect of the immigrants' taking of North America.
Some of the best-known names in American history are soiled with prejudice and arrogance aimed at Native Americans. As lovely a patriot as Thomas Jefferson, who spent months with the Iroquois learning about their Great Law of Peace and later writing their philosophy into his draft of the Constitution, was convinced that the best solution in dealing with Native Americans was to drive all of them west of the Mississippi.
That earthy war hero-president, Andrew "Old Hickory" Jackson, is one of the most despicable Indian-haters on record -- and not just because he made no bones about his racism and championed the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Even today, some Native Americans hate the sight of a $20 bill because it bears Jackson's image. The 19th century in particular was dark with accounts of foreign intruders' invasions of Indian country, especially in the Sou theast and West, and the carnage that resulted. Among the overwhelming number of accounts of that horrible period are the killings of legendary Oglala warrior Crazy Horse and famed Hunkpapa Lakota chief and spiritual leader Sitting Bull.
To make long stories short:
In 1877, Crazy Horse was fatally bayoneted from behind while struggling in custody at Fort Robinson, Neb. In 1890, Sitting Bull was dragged from his cabin on the Standing Rock reservation in South Dakota by Lakota policemen appointed by white authorities. One of the officers killed the defenseless chief with a shot to the head. A few weeks later, the St. Louis Republic in Missouri editorialized: "So when Sitting Bull was surprised and overpowered by the agents of the Great Father, he set his greasy, stolid face into the expression it always took when he was most overcome by the delusion that he was born a native American from native American ancestry. Disarmed and defenceless [sic] he sat in the saddle in which he had been put as a preliminary to taking him to prison, and without a change of countenance urged his handful of greasy followers to die free. This idiotic proceeding he kept up until he was shot out of the saddle.
"So died Sitting Bull. So was removed one of the last obstacles in the path of progress. He will now make excellent manure for the crops, which will grow over him when his reservation is civilized." Sitting Bull might have been one of the last obstacles to Anglo settlement of the West, but his killing wasn't the last abuse of Native Americans by any means. Abuses of property and rights continue to this day, and they spring from the same destructive immigrant practices such as greed and elitism that were brought here by foreigners long ago, which help to explain why illegal immigration is of special, if grim, interest among some Indians. JoKay Dowell, a media consultant and Quap aw-Peoria-Cherokee activist based in Park Hill, Okla., has been closely following developments related to illegal immigration. She views the matter from a Native American perspective.
"The immigrant nation that is the U.S. has a short memory," she said, "and is in denial of their own historical facts: they are descendants of immigrants who came here and took, either by force, coercion or dishonesty, lands and resources and banned the religions, languages and cultures of the original indigenous peoples of this continent. "Now those descendants of Uncle Sam's immigrant children fear the karma of their ancestor's actions. But those they fear do not come to take, destroy and claim. They have always been here and always will be." These are thoughts that cross some of our minds when we hear rhetoric about the so-called invasion of illegal immigrants (many of whom are -- gasp -- Indians) and calls to protect "our" land. If we smile in response, it's not so much out of agreement. We see a payback coming home to roost.
David House is senior editor/reader advocate for the Star-Telegram. He is a member of the Native American Journalists Association.
INDN’s List Endorses two WA Candidates
Today we are proud to announce the endorsements of Dr. Don Barlow and Rep. John McCoy, candidates for Washington’s State House Districts 6 and 38, respectively.
Dr. Barlow is a member of the Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma who will bring to state government a real plan for the residents of Washington’s Sixth District and people across the state. A licensed mental health counselor and current president of the Spokane School Board, Dr. Barlow understands what children and families need to succeed. He will fully fund public education and restructure curricula so that students are given the tools they need to build a better Washington.
Rep. McCoy is a member of the Tulalip Tribe who is dedicated to improving the lives of working families. An Air Force veteran and a legislator since 2003, Rep. McCoy brings years of public service to communities and a proven record of working with business and citizens alike to accomplish the goal of building a better Washington.
“So often we as voters are offered candidates with values but not vision, priorities but not plans,” Kalyn Free commented of the candidates. “Don and John have such a robust vision for not only their constituents but all people across Washington.”
Each offers plans for improving education, plans for ensuring access to healthcare, plans for bolstering jobs and wages, and plans for meeting the exciting potential in Washington. Both are currently running unopposed in the primary race.
Constituents can cast their votes for Dr. Barlow and Rep. McCoy in the September 19 primary. The general election will be held November 7.
To read more about Don Barlow and John McCoy, visit their profiles on our candidates’ page at:
To help INDN’s List ensure these two terrific candidates win their races, click here to contribute today.
Commission to Convene in Wisconsin for Fourth Hearing Successful Interventions Helping Schools Achieve Academic Success
Washington, DC---Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and former Georgia Governor Roy Barnes announced the fourth in a series of hearings on the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). This hearing will help inform the Commission's recommendations on how NCLB's school improvement, corrective action and restructuring provisions have impacted schools which have not made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). The hearing will take place on Friday June 9, 2006 at 9:30 AM CST and will be held at the Monona Terrace Multimedia Lecture Hall in Madison, Wisconsin.
The Commission on No Child Left Behind is an independent, bipartisan effort to improve the No Child Left Behind Act and ensure it is a more useful force in closing the achievement gap that separates disadvantaged children and their peers. The Commission will uncover the successes of NCLB, as well as provisions which need to be changed or eliminated. The Commission, after a year of hearings, analysis and research, will report to Congress and the Administration in early 2007 with its recommendations.
WHAT: Hearing on how NCLB is impacting schools which are academically struggling (not making AYP)
WHO: Commission on No Child Left Behind
WITNESSES:
* The Honorable Elizabeth Burmaster, Superintendent, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
* The Honorable Gene Hickok, Senior Policy Director, the Dutko Group
* Mr. John Ashley, Executive Director, Wisconsin Association of School Boards, Inc.
* Ms. Yvonne Caamal Canul, Director, Office of School Improvement, Michigan Department of Education
* Ms. Cheryl Clancy, Principal, Kosciuszko Middle School, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Additional witnesses to be announced.
WHEN: Friday June 9, 2006 @ 9:30 AM CST
WHERE: The Monona Terrace Multimedia Lecture Hall, One John Nolen
Drive, Madison, WI 53703 **THE HEARING WILL BE LIVE ON THE INTERNET AT: www.nclbcommission.org
BACKGROUND: Enacted in 2002, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) required states to set up a series of interventions for consistently struggling schools. Interventions include initial targeted assistance, providing options for students attending schools labeled "in need of improvement", and an escalating list of sanctions for those schools that consistently fail to meet "adequate yearly progress" targets in subsequent years.
Adequate Yearly Progress, discussed during the Commission's previous hearing in Atlanta, is a state developed measure of progress for all school districts and schools. The law requires states to annually assess student performance in meeting academic standards for reading and math in grades three through eight and in grade ten. In order to make AYP, schools must demonstrate that all children, including disadvantaged and minority students, are achieving at the state defined "proficient" level of achievement. Last school year (2004-2005), 16% or 14,121 schools were identified nationwide as not meeting AYP. This means that at least one or more of several disadvantaged subgroups of children at these schools did not meet the state standard of proficiency.
Specifically, students in schools that fail to make AYP for two consecutive years are given the opportunity to transfer to another public school. If a school fails to meet AYP for a third year, students are given the option of receiving free tutoring (supplemental services) from state approved providers which can include school districts, non-profit organizations and for-profit companies. For schools that continue to struggle, these interventions are followed by requirements to develop and implement school restructuring plans that include actions such as: replacing all or most of school academic staff; entering into a contract with an outside organization to operate the school; re-opening the school as a charter school; restructuring the school's governance and other actions.
These NCLB requirements, as well as some state accountability systems which predated the law, have helped focus teachers, principals, school board members, superintendents and others in taking action to turn around the performance of schools that are not succeeding for all groups of children and to provide immediate help to struggling students.
Since the adoption of NCLB, these provisions have produced mixed results including notable successes in some cases and a lack of measurable progress in others. Some have argued that NCLB's provisions are punitive in nature and do little to spur academic improvement. Others have sited progress in student achievement and successful turnaround efforts by schools that have implemented the reforms outlined in the law. With regard to NCLB's choice options, questions have arisen about: district implementation struggles that have resulted in low participation rates among eligible children; state oversight of the quality of tutoring providers; and the need for effective evaluation of student achievement gains as a result of these interventions.
THE HEARING: At this hearing, the Commission will closely examine how NCLB's school improvement, corrective action and restructuring provisions have impacted schools which have not made AYP. Have these provisions helped schools take appropriate action to make improvements that produce results? What are some of the successful reform options under NCLB that have helped schools address their academic difficulties? Has NCLB created any barriers to effective reform?
The Commission will also examine the impact of NCLB's public school choice and supplemental services provisions. What are the causes for the current low level of participation in these options among eligible students? How have they contributed to improvements in student achievement? How effective are State oversight efforts over supplemental service providers?
DETAILS FOR SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COMMENTS: Any persons or organizations wishing to submit written comments for the hearing record may do so by sending such comments electronically to nclbfeedback@aspeninstitute.org please include 'Hearing Testimony' in the subject line. Written comments can also be sent through the U.S. Mail to: The Commission on No Child Left Behind, One Dupont Circle, Suite 700, Washington, D.C. 20036. ALL WRITTEN COMMENTS MUST BE RECEIVED BY COB JUNE 16, 2006. Written comments mailed to the Commission must be accompanied by an electronic version on computer disk. Those submitting comments must clearly identify themselves with a valid mailing address and clearly indicating any affiliations the comments represent. Submissions will be included in the record of the hearing at the discretion of the Commission. The Commission will not alter the content of your submission, but does reserve the right to format it accordingly.Submissions must be no longer than 10 pages in length, including any attachments. The Commission on No Child Left Behind is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the Spencer Foundation. This document is published to communicate the results of the Commission's work. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in the Commission's documents are entirely those of the author(s) and should not be attributed in any manner to the donors.
Jennifer W. Adams
Communications Director
Commission on No Child Left Behind
One Dupont Circle
Suite 700
Washington, DC 20036
202.736.3858 office
202.285.4268 cell
Petition addresses environmental issues associated with the Pascua-Lama mining operation in Chile
Status: True.
Origins: The Pascua-Lama project is an effort being undertaken by the Barrick Gold Corporation to mine rich gold and silver fields in the mountainous region along the border between Chile and Argentina. Environmental concerns associated with the project, particularly the potential destruction or relocation of glaciers that sit atop gold fields, have led to a number of protests and petitions entreating the Chilean government to intervene and stop or modify the Pascua-Lama mining plan.
As the controversial plan was described by The Santiago Times in March 2005:
Canadian international mining company Barrick Gold has plans to relocate three glaciers in the mountain range between Argentina and Chile to gain access to 17.6 million oz. of rich gold and silver deposits.
Chilean farmers and residents of the surrounding Huasco Valley are strongly opposed to the proposal of transferring the ice masses. The glaciers' tributaries are used for irrigation by the farmers, and their removal would threaten the ecological balance and agricultural production of the fertile river valley.
Barrick hopes to transfer 300,000 cubic meters of ice with a 20-hectare surface area from the glaciers that surround the deposits. To mitigate ecological impact and prevent ice from melting, Barrick hopes to transfer the three glaciers, Toro I, Toro II and Esperanza, to an area with similar surface characteristics and elevation by merging the three into a larger glacier, Guanaco, located several kilometers south with a surface area of over 200 hectares.
The proposal is part of the "Pascua Lama" mining treaty, signed by Chile and Argentina in August 2004 after four years of discussion.
Citizens of the Huasco Valley and Region III are taking a stand against the multibillion-dollar foreign company. Last week an environmental group, Valley Defense, organized a demonstration against the project, where close to 200 farmers, community leaders and neighbors marched in protest.
"We don't want to live in an area contaminated by the fault of foreign economic interests," they said.
Raúl Montenegro, Argentine biologist and Alternative Nobel Prize (formally Right Livelihood Award) winner agrees with the farmers.
"The issue is serious in that the project would put pressure on two important river basins which serve as the principle water supply for communities within a semi-arid environment," Montenegro said.
In a letter earlier this year to President Ricardo Lagos, agricultural and community associations of the Huasco Valley voiced their concerns about the mining initiative, insisting that it threatens the ecosystem, agriculture and water quality of the valley, which not only sacrifices agricultural exports and trade agreements, but human health as well.
"If almost 24 hectares of glacier have been exploited solely for the project 's experiments, imagine how much could be destroyed in the end," said Fransisco Bou, leader for the Huasco Valley agriculturists.
Other environmental concerns involve potential contamination from the chemicals to be used in the mining operation:
"Pascua Lama will use sodium cyanide, arsenic, and produce toxic byproducts. The rivers El Estrecho, San Félix and El Tránsito together with Santa Juana dam are liable to be polluted by Pascua Lama. These dangerous poisons will be handled at the sources of the rivers and could damage water supplies to farms," said César Padilla of the Latin American Observatory for Environmental Conflicts.
A December 2005 statement from Barrick downplayed the expressed concerns:
Vincent Borg, vice president of corporate communications at Barrick in Canada, said 'glacier experts' had defined the icefields in question as 'ice reservoirs or icefields'.
"Regardless of what the experts call them, Barrick is committed to their preservation and conservation. We will move only 5 acres of ice and it is a straightforward procedure that has been proven in the past to conserve the ice. The ice in question only affects about 3-4% of the ice in the Valley so it is not an amount that some sensationalists would like to make it appear," he said.
On the issue of use of toxic chemicals such as cyanide he said, "Cyanide is used worldwide and can be safely used in many industrial applications. Mining comprises only 13% of cyanide use."
Opponents contend that Barrick's planned procedures to move ice from the glaciers is not nearly as straightforward and safe as the company asserts they are:
The lack of relevant technical expertise in removing glaciers implies an irreversible environmental impact. What is certain is that the three affected glaciers would suffer an environmental impact. Nevertheless, there is no certainty whatsoever of what the impact would be on glaciers or permafrost (frozen rock or soil) from the road network and the associated stabilization measures that generally involves the use of salts.
With respect to the measures and actions that will be implemented for handling glaciers there are the following concerns:
The "clearing" of ice or "pieces of glacier" will be done by bulldozer and front-end loader until the entire rock bed is uncovered. In this case, any mechanical action on the glacier will cause heat transfer, which will raise the temperature of the ice, and which in turn would be exacerbated by the high local insolation. Despite the fact that diurnal temperatures are low, the radiative balance includes more than caloric energy. There are no measurements of radiative energy but the albedo differences between ice and rock mean that the absorption of energy is greater in rock, which would expose the glacier even more.
This also the case for controlled blasting and pushing the glaciers by the afore-mentioned means until their final disposition. In the case of blasting, this could elevate the temperature to thresholds of melting and evaporation which would further encourage destruction of the glacier.
Last updated: 23 May 2006
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sources:
Frank, Jade. "Farmers Protest Mining Project in Chile's Region III."
The Santiago Times. 31 March 2005.
Jimena, Jaquelina. "Vast Chilean Gold Mine Meets Opposition."
Decanter.com. 2 December 2005.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear friends who care about our earth,
Judge for yourself if you want to take action. In the Valle de San Felix, the purest water in Chile runs from 2 rivers, fed by 2 glaciers. Water is a most precious resource, and wars will be fought for it.
Indigenous farmers use the water, there is no unemployment, and they provide the second largest source of income for the area. Under the glaciers has been found a huge deposit of gold, silver and other minerals. To get at these, it would be necessary to break, to destroy the glaciers - something never conceived of in the history of the world - and to make 2 huge holes, each as big as a whole mountain, one for extraction and one for the mine's rubbish tip.
The project is called PASCUA LAMA. The company is called Barrick Gold. The operation is planned by a multi-national company, one of whose members is George Bush Senior (what a surprise eh?). The Chilean Government has approved the project to start this year, 2006. The only reason it hasn't started yet is because the farmers have got a temporary stay of execution. If they destroy the glaciers, they will not just destroy the source of specially pure water, but they will permanently contaminate the 2 rivers so they will never again be fit for human or animal consumption because of the use of cyanide and sulfuric acid in the extraction process. Every last gram of gold will go abroad to the multinational company and not one will be left with the people whose land it is. They will only be left with the poisoned water and the resulting illnesses.
The farmers have been fighting a long time for their land, but have been forbidden to make a TV appeal by a ban from the Ministry of the Interior. Their only hope now of putting brakes on this project is to get help from international justice. The world must know what is happening in Chile. The only place to start changing the world is from here.
We ask you to circulate this message amongst your friends in the following way. Please copy this text, paste it into a new email adding your signature and send it to everyone in your address book. Please will the 100th person to receive and sign the petition send it to noapascualama@yahoo.ca to be forwarded to the Chilean government.
No to “Pascua Lama Open-Cast Mine” in the Andean Cordillera, on the Chilean-Argentine frontier.
We ask the Chilean Government not to authorize the Pascua Lama project to protect the whole of 3 glaciers, the purity of the water of the San Felix Valley and El Transito, the quality of the agricultural land of the region of Atacama, the quality of life of the Diaguita people and of the whole population of the region.
Signature, City, Country
1) Katharine Proudfoot, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
2) Laura Cole, London, UK
3) David Platt, London, UK
4) Diane Platt, Manchester, UK
5) Tanya Corker, Manchester, UK
6) Nicola Hargreaves, UK
7) Nicholas Jones, UK
8) Johann Don-Daniel, Germany
9) Ashley Berger, Germany
10) Sarah Downie, Leeds, UK
11) Belle Paterson, Leeds, UK
12) Claire Jenkins, Leeds, UK
13) Carlos Ch?vez, Leeds, UK
14) Anita Howard, Leeds, UK
15) Tertia Montgomery, London, UK
16) Karen Boyle, Leeds, UK
17) Andrea Hamblett, Leeds, UK
18) Samantha Hemingway, Gibraltar
19) Debbie Neiman, Brighton, Uk
20) Bob Poplett Brisbane Australia
21) Michael Berry, Brisbane Australia
22) Christie Cole, Dublin, Ireland
23) Melinda Rekdahl, Brisbane, Australia
24) Sarah Forder, Brisbane, Australia
25) Carolyn Forder, Brisbane, Australia
26) Todd Owen, Nelson, New Zealand
27) Dominic Szeker, Dunedin, New Zealand
28) Aleeza Stettner, Auckland, New Zealand
29) Elanor, Te Rapuora, Aotearoa
30) Julie, Te Rapuora, Aotearoa
31) Tristan Lockerbie, Aotearoa, New Zealand
32) Jonathon Acorn,Auckland, New Zealand
33) Christine Small, Ruby Bay, Nelson, New Zealand
34) Mark Fielding, Nelson, New Zealand
35) Paul Galloway, Nelson New Zealand
36) David Orsbourn,Nelson, New Zealand
37) Don McLeod, Nelson, New Zealand
38) Bev Creed, Nelson, New Zealand
39) Murray Creed, Nelson, New Zealand
40) John Black, Nelson, New Zealand
41) Linda Todd, Wellington , New Zealand
42) Alejandra Inostroza, Australia
43) Michelle De Sant'Anna, Australia
44) Lynton & Jeanette Wade, Melbourne, Australia
45) Kathryn Bunn
46) Robyn Dalby, Singapore
47) Melanie Webster, Perth, Australia
48) Carlyn Villani, Melbourne, Australia
49) Jacinta Ivory, Melbourne, Australia
50) Sarah Easby, York, England
51) Ruth Easby, York, England
52) Dawn Easby, Worcester, England
53) Kim Shaw, Worcester, England.
54) Sacha Brooks. Birmingham. England.
55) Michael Boland, Birmingham, England
56) Kathrine Brekke, London, England
57) Sara Richheimer, Denver, CO USA
58) Carol Biel, Portland, OR USA
59) Sandra Wenrich, Lake Oswego, USA
60) Connie Huebner, Faifield, IA, USA
61) Molly Cutter, Fairfield, IA, USA
62) Coralee Dey, Fairfield, IA USA
63) Tony Estrada, Dallas, TX USA
Call to Artists
AISES is holding its 28th Annual National Conference in Detroit, Michigan, November 2-4, 2006 and is seeking artwork that reflects this year's theme, "Generations of Innovation”.
The artwork will be used on National Conference materials including the Conference program, t-shirts, conference bags, and other materials. Artwork will be donated to AISES for its complimentary use. AISES considers the artwork as an in-kind contribution.
Artwork will appear on the print materials for the conference (Registration Brochure and the Conference Program) and the artist’s bio will be included as well. AISES will provide Conference bags and t-shirts to the artist for their portfolio.
Please submit artwork digitally for consideration no later than close of business June 9, 2006.
Artwork may be multicolor but should easily convert to one color. Preferred formats are: .pdf, .jpg or .gif files. Please include the artist's contact information, including phone number(s), mailing address, and email addresses. If you have any further questions please contact Cristy Davies, Events Coordinator at cristy@aises.org or (505) 765-1052, x108.
Thank you,
AISES
Submit to:
AISES
2305 Renard SE, Suite 200
Albuquerque, NM 87106
- PECHANGA.net Your Internet News Source
