Indigo Girls Care About Environment - Supermarket Brings Progress To Rosebud

Indigo Girls Promote Indigenous Issues Through Music!
By Kathy Helms
Dine Bureau
FLAGSTAFF – For more than a decade the Grammy-award winning musical duo, Indigo Girls, has entertained millions of fans with their infectious melodies while also educating concert-goers about environmental concerns in the world around them.

The group performed Thursday evening at Pine Mountain Amphitheater in Flagstaff where they collected canned goods for the local food bank, food for pets, and set aside time for members of Dine CARE to raise awareness about the proposed 1,500 megawatt coal-fired plant known as the Desert Rock Energy Project.

Dine CARE and Dooda Desert Rock are just two of the groups supported by Indigo Girls Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. Their activism efforts stretch from coast to coast and their Web site (http://www.indigogirls.com/) is probably of few that lists an “Activism” section along with their discography, tour news and merchandise.

“Way over a decade ago, like '91 or so, at an Earth Day concert Amy met Winona LaDuke, and they started talking about what their environmental activism entailed,” said Saliers. “Then I met Winona shortly after that and we all started brainstorming about how we could work together.

“Through a process of her mentorship and us meeting other Indigenous community leaders, we could only see our environmentalism through the lens of a Native perspective,” she said, adding that it is much different from the way the country now operates. LaDuke, a White Earth enrollee, was twice a vice presidential candidate with Ralph Nader on the Green Party ticket.

“We started a group called Honor The Earth. It has a Native-run board and Amy and I are the musical liaisons and we sort of serve as a bridge between Native and non-Native communities,” Saliers said.

“We play concerts and have fund-raisers to bring attention to and raise money for different Indigenous issues, primarily now environmental justice issues, which is how we came to be involved with Dine CARE and got involved with the proposed Desert Rock coal plant.

“That's why we're here, standing in solidarity with Dine CARE to voice our opposition to Desert Rock,” she said.

Earl Tulley and Dailan Long of Dine CARE were on hand to educate concert-goers about the group's opposition to Desert Rock – opposition which stems from what they believe will be increased pollution, contamination of waterways, and an increase in respiratory problems for residents of the Four Corners area.

“Regardless as to what the situation is,” he said, “it's not only going to impact humans but aquatic life too,” Tulley said.

“New Mexico has 51 waterways. Of the 51 waterways, 49 of them are contaminated, which is why San Juan boasts they have a great catch-and-release program. That's something that's really important to understand. The reason they're not consuming the fish is that they know the high mercury content of these particular fish.”

Long said several residents from the Burnham area, where the proposed power plant is to be built, were on hand for the Indigo Girls concert.

“We're here for increasing the awareness of Desert Rock and some of the struggles of fossil fuel development in Burnham. We're here to show that we've been in the area for years and that we will continue to be there, and that Desert Rock Energy Project is just a continuing line of energy development.

“Even with the U.S. EPA's recent decision on Desert Rock, we have to expect in the future that there is going to be another Desert Rock. We're here to increase that awareness and to show that we're not going to step down from this genocidal energy development in our area,” Long said.

Honor the Earth has funded and granted to Dine CARE over a long period of time, as well as a lot of other groups in the Southwest, Ray said, “to work on transitioning from fossil fuels to an energy economy based on sustainable energy and renewables.”

“The communities here should not have to trade their cultures, their land, and their public health for an economy. That's basically Honor the Earth's stance, generally, about environmental justice. We find groups that are fighting the good fight, and this happens to be one of the really important issues that is going on right now.

“We know about it and we want to educate some of the non-Indian communities that may not know about it so they can also support these people that are fighting an important fight,” she said.

The group is trying to help people make connections between all of the issues, and bridge the gap between Native and non-Native communities “so that we can all understand that this is not just about a certain group of people and a certain blotch of land. This is about all of us. This is about all of our survival and it's about changing the energy paradigm across the land,” Saliers said.

It's also about educating people on the viability of a green economy.

“We need to be reducing emissions rather than creating more. There are viable opportunities to institute solar power and wind power, and so that's another part of our purpose – to help educate and spread the word that those are indeed viable and that there's a hope for the future through the green economy,” Saliers said.

Indigo Girls latest record, a two-CD set called “Poseiden and the Bitter Bug” was released in March. “One of the cool things about this record is we made it a double record. One record is all of the songs of the whole band and the other record is all of the songs done acoustically,” she said.

The group will continue its U.S. tour for the next few months before heading out to the United Kingdom, Scotland and Ireland in October.

Things are looking up for Rosebud!
Posted by: admin in Rosebud Sioux, Tribal Economy

Want quality of life in a community? Get a grocery store. That’s my personal philosophy, but way smarter people have said the same thing in way smarter terms. You know a neighborhood is going downhill when the food store departs.

Well, Rosebud is on the way up. A ribbon-cutting this week marked the opening of the Turtle Creek Crossing supermarket, a SuperValu store, in Mission, S.D., the Rosebud Reservation’s largest town.

According to this Rapid City Journal story, the market has an in-store deli, a bakery, and signs in both English and Lakota, and is open seven days a week. Although final costs haven’t been tallied, early estimates were around $8 million, with funding from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community in Minnesota and loans from Denver’s Native American Bank.

Oh, and the store’s presence has meant 40 new jobs, not to mention a big improvement for area families. Seems like somebody ought to order a great big cake from its bakery to celebrate.
Gwen Florio

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Commemoration Of Church Rock Tailings Spill - FCC Indian Telecomm Workshop

July 16th Commemoration of Church Rock Tailings Spill
By Kathy Helms
Dine Bureau
CHURCH ROCK – For Larry King, an underground mine surveyor at United Nuclear Corp.'s Churchrock mill, July 16, 1979, started out as just another work day.

Every other Friday he and members of the engineering department came in at 6 a.m., before the day shift workers, to take measurements of all the production done within the last two weeks. “Based on those measurements, that's how the miners got paid,” he said.

As he was driving to work that Friday morning, “It was kind of dark and I didn't see anything. I was still sleepy and I didn't look around; I just drove in, put my underground equipment on – slickers, boots and everything,” he said. When day shift workers starting arriving around 8 a.m., “that's when I started hearing, 'Did you see that break in the dam?'”

Not too long before the break occurred, King said he and other workers had been called out to the tailings dam to take some measurements. “I remember those cracks running across the dikes, some of them were so wide you could put your whole hand in there.” The cracks went “way down,” he said.

When he got off work at 2:30 p.m., July 16, as he was leaving, “I looked that way and I saw a huge gaping hole through the dam. I thought, 'Wow, that's where the cracks were.'

“By the time I got down by the Puerco Wash bridge there was just a small stream going through. It was just like after a huge flood where all the mud was still on the sides.”

This Thursday, King and others will recount their memories of the July 16 event during the “30th Anniversary Commemoration of the Church Rock Uranium Tailings Spill,” sponsored by the Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment, or MASE, a coalition of community groups affected by uranium mining.

The commemoration is designed to remember and honor the Diné communities that were affected by the largest release of radioactive waste in U.S. history. Nadine Padilla of MASE said that during the press conference Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. is expected to reaffirm the Navajo Nation's ban on uranium mining and processing, as set forth in the Diné Natural Resources Protection Act of 2005.

Thursday's ceremony will kick off at 7 a.m., at the home of Teddy Nez, 29E Red Water Pond Road, next to the Northeast Churchrock Mine. A prayer walk to the site of the spill across from the United Nuclear Corp. mill site begins at 8 a.m., along Route 566, with participants arriving around 11 a.m. at the King Family Ranch on Old Churchrock Mine Road at SR 566.

A press conference will be held at the King Ranch before walkers continue on to Churchrock Chapter House for a recognition luncheon at 12:15 p.m. Uranium films and a panel discussion will be held 5-9 p.m., at Calvin Hall Auditorium on the University of New Mexico-Gallup Campus.

“We felt it was really important to remember the communities and the families that were affected by the Churchrock uranium spill,” Padilla said. “We just wanted to honor those people and encourage people to remember the uranium legacy that still exists in this area, and all of the abandoned mines and all of the health problems that were caused from past mining.”

When the earthen tailings dam at the UNC mill failed, 1,100 tons of radioactive mill waste and an estimated 95 million gallons of mine process effluent flowed down Pipeline Arroyo and into the north fork of the Puerco River – more radiation than was released in the Three Mile Island reactor accident four months earlier.

The spill ranks second only to the 1986 Chernobyl reactor meltdown in the amount of radiation released. According to a September 2007 article by Doug Brugge, Jamie L. deLemos, and Cat Bui that appeared in the American Journal of Public Health, the massive amount of radioactive water “backed up sewers, affected two nearby aquifers, left pools along the river, and transported contaminants” to a point near Navajo, Ariz.

The spill, combined with more than 20 years of discharges of untreated or poorly treated uranium mine water, has contributed to long-term contamination of the Puerco River in New Mexico and Arizona. A formal cleanup plan for the Northeast Churchrock Mine was issued in June, 27 years after the mine closed.

Larry Livingston, whose family lives in the Superman Canyon area, said last week that his father worked at the mine. “He's been having problems lately. He has a lot of sores on his legs. My mom died of cancer about three months ago,” he said, adding that the cancer was radiation-related.

“I was just talking to my grandma from my dad's side about the spill that happened in the '70s. Back then we were herding sheep around that arroyo. We saw water that was really bad down on the northeast of our place, and we figured it was just the water that ran through from there,” he said.

“But then we heard that there was Navajo police and the sheriff there. We didn't know what was going on,” he said. “After that we lost like half a dozen cattle, half a dozen horses, sheep” that drank from the arroyo. He said they noticed the cattle and sheep “were having a lot of saliva coming out of their mouths and they were having a hard time breathing.”

When the animals were butchered, he said, the meat “was kind of like yellowish. It was all over the meat inside, the intestines.”

During 2007 hearings before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, King testified that the contaminated fluids that escaped from the UNC uranium mill tailings pond ran right through their property, in the Puerco River, where they watered their livestock.

“I remember the foul odor and yellowish color of the fluids. I remember that an elderly woman was burned on her feet from the acid in the fluid when she waded into the stream while herding her sheep.

“Many years later, when water lines were being installed in the bed of the Puerco, I noticed the same odor and color in a layer about 8 feet below the stream bed. To this day, I don't believe that contamination from the spill has gone away,” he said.

Indian Telecommunications Initiative Workshop, July 27-29
The Federal Communications Commission will have its eighth regional workshop and roundtable July 27-29 in Rapid City and Pine Ridge, S.D.

The event, sponsored by several groups including the National Tribal Telecommunications Association, NAPT, the National Congress of American Indians and Native Public Media, is part of the FCC's Indian Telecommunications Initiatives program and national outreach for developing a broadband plan.

The meeting will focus on ways to expand the deployment of new broadband technologies in Indian Country.

To register for the roundtable, contact Kamala Hart of the FCC's Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-1765 or kamala.hart@fcc.gov.

For more information about the FCC's ITI program, contact Shana Barehand, senior attorney and liaison to tribal governments, at 202-418-0385 or shana.barehand@fcc.gov.

Updates and more information about ITI South Dakota will also be made available on the FCC's Tribal Initiatives website at www.fcc.gov/indians

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Suit To Be Filed Against Navajo Nation Over Bennett Freeze Recovery Plan - Native Students in U Of A Med-Start Program

Group Files Intent To Sue Over Bennett Freeze Recovery Plan
By Kathy Helms
Dine Bureau
WINDOW ROCK – Forty-three years to the day the Bennett Freeze first was imposed, the Forgotten People Community Development Corp., announced Wednesday that it plans to file suit against the Navajo Nation for public disclosure of the “Former Bennett Freeze Area Recovery Plan.”

U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs Robert Bennett imposed the Bennett Freeze on July 8, 1966. The freeze, which blocked home and property improvements on disputed land between the Navajo and Hopi tribes, made poverty a way of life for thousands of people living on 1.5 million acres in the western portion of the Navajo Nation. Countless more were displaced.

The freeze made it illegal for Navajo people living in the disputed area to repair their homes, build new homes, have access to running water, electricity, infrastructure and development. Elderly people whose wells ran dry could not drill a new well and, in many cases, were forced to drink uranium- and arsenic-contaminated water.

The ban on construction and high unemployment rate forced the area's young people to work away from their homes and families. It also had a devastating effect on a traditional Navajo socio-economic systems centered around raising livestock and farming.

On May 8, President Obama signed legislation to end the freeze. Though an Albuquerque consulting firm, WHPacific Inc., held public meetings in 2008 to develop a recovery plan for chapters impacted by the former freeze, no plan for rehabilitation has been made public.

Attorney James W. Zion of Albuquerque, who represents the Forgotten People, sent a notice Monday by registered mail to Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. and Attorney General Louis Denetsosie, notifying them of the group's intent to file suit against Scott House, manager of the Former Bennett Freeze Area Recovery Plan Task Force, the Navajo Nation, and WHPacific Inc. for production and public disclosure of the Former Bennett Freeze Area Recovery Plan.

There was no immediate response from the president's office.

“There's been the complaint over the decades that the people themselves are not listened to by their own government, the feds or anybody else, and what's going on with the Bennett Freeze is extremely important,” Zion said Wednesday.

“I was excited when there was an announcement that an engineering firm out of Albuquerque was going to be putting together a report. I watched the deadlines over the past year and I noticed President Shirley mentioning it in his address to the Council, but the reports haven't been released.

“What's frustrating is a number of months ago I was at a meeting at Navajo Housing Authority, and there was a stack of the Bennett Freeze reports. I asked for one and I was told they were confidential. So, basically, I told the Forgotten People that they ought to make a formal demand for a copy under the Privacy Act and that if there was no reply in the three-month time period that I would bring a suit for them,” Zion said.

The Forgotten People made a formal demand March 31 for a copy of the plan under the Navajo Nation Privacy Act. Because there has been no response, the group intends to bring suit and to make the plan public when a copy is obtained.

“We're actually giving notice of the possibility of bringing a couple of claims – one under the Free Speech provision under the Navajo Nation Bill of Rights to attempt to establish a right of access to government information, and the other is the right of access to information under the Fundamental Laws,” Zion said.

Despite WHPacific's promise that the “final project deadline” would be Sept. 15, 2008, and despite President Shirley's Jan. 26 announcement to Council that he would produce the plan, it has not been made public so it can be reviewed by the victims of the Bennett Freeze, the group said.

“We now have legislation in place that formally terminated the freeze,” the group said in a press release. “What we do not have is either a plan or a program of rehabilitation to deal with the freeze, or effective involvement of the victims of the freeze to address its severe impacts.”

Native Students Participate In UA College Of Medicine's Med-Start Program In Tucson
Submitted by Jean Spinelli,
U of A Information Specialist Coordinator
July 08, 2009

Most people remember the summer of 1969 as the time when man first walked on the moon and Woodstock happened. But a group of high school students from rural areas of Arizona, the reservations, South Tucson and South Phoenix remember it as the first time a world of opportunity in health care was opened up for them, changing the direction of their lives.

Forty years ago -- just two years after The University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson opened its doors to its first class of medical students -- the College opened its doors to a group of about 20 high school students who came to the campus to attend the first Med-Start summer program and learn firsthand what it takes to be a health-care professional.

“The Med-Start program is an intensive experience in which the students acquire basic medical knowledge while learning about health-care careers,” says Linda K. Don, assistant dean with the UA College of Medicine’s Office of Outreach and Multicultural Affairs, which administers the program. “In addition, they’re introduced to college life, which is vital to students entering health professions.”

“The real magic of Med-Start is revealed in the personal stories of career success,” she notes. “Whether the youth who have benefited from Med-Start became direct-care providers or chose career paths outside of the health professions, many have had a tremendous impact on the lives of others.”

As examples, she cites:
- Mariana Amaya, MD, a 1992 participant who graduated from the UA College of Medicine in 2001 and practices obstetrics and gynecology in Phoenix. Dr. Amaya also participated in the UA Minority Medical Education Program (MMEP) in 1994.

- Ernestine Bustamante, MD, a 1988 participant who graduated from the UA College of Medicine in 1997 and practices obstetrics and gynecology in Phoenix.

- Carlos R. Gonzales, MD, a 1970 participant who graduated from the UA College of Medicine in 1981 and is an associate professor with the UA College of Medicine Department of Family and Community Medicine. An award-winning family practice physician, he is a leader in addressing the challenges of border health issues.

- Evelinda Gonzales, a 2002 participant and daughter of Dr. Carlos Gonzales (see above) who is a member of the UA College of Medicine class of 2011.

- Larry Oñate, MD, a 1978 participant who graduated from the UA College of Medicine in 1989, is a psychiatrist in Tucson who also is medical director of the Southern Arizona Mental Health Corp.

- Celida Rangel, MD, a 1990 participant who graduated from the UA College of Medicine in 2002 and is a pediatrician in Phoenix.

Dr. Gonzales, one of the original Med-Start students, recalls that as a student at Pueblo High School, “I had an inclination to dream about going into medicine, but it was just a major dream.
“Med-Start motivated me,” he added, explaining that he became the first in his family to go on to college. “Without Med-Start, it wouldn’t have happened. I would have worked in the mines or gone into construction.”

The program was developed to improve health care in rural and economically disadvantaged areas and to increase the number of minority health-care professionals in Arizona. UA College of Medicine Founding Dean Merlin K. “Monte” DuVal, MD, who helped shape the College, from choosing its site and designing the original facility to recruiting faculty and raising funds, lent his support in 1968 to a group of idealistic and innovative minority medical students who championed the Med-Start cause.

Those students included Marcos Duarte, Ruth Smothers and Yuel Tom, all of whom later completed their medical degrees at the UA. After Dr. DuVal’s death in 2006, generous gifts from family and friends established The Merlin K. “Monte” DuVal Memorial Med-Start Endowment, which pays tribute to the founding dean while supporting this vital program.

Today, in addition to the summer program, Med-Start promotes youth exploration of health careers year-round -- through tours of the Arizona Health Sciences Center, high school career days, student health events and other activities.

Several thousand students have participated in Med-Start since it was launched in 1969. In 2004, Med-Start grew to include a second program in Phoenix (then called Maricopa Med-Start or M2, now Med-Start PHOENIX), which initially accepted only Maricopa-area high school students. Med-Start is held on The University of Arizona campus in Tucson and at The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix in partnership with Arizona State University in Phoenix.

The five-week academic summer program is for Arizona students who will be entering their senior year of high school and who are interested in careers in the health professions, are of underrepresented or diverse backgrounds, are living in rural areas or are economically disadvantaged. The program encourages them to pursue health-care careers by helping them prepare for college life, introducing them to health-career opportunities and informing them about educational pathways.

Med-Start participants explore a variety of health professions, engage in hands-on presentations, and take college-level coursework in chemistry, composition and study skills.

Med-Start TUCSON participants live on campus in a UA residence hall; this year, Med-Start PHOENIX is a day-only program.

This summer, 61 high school students from across the state are participating in Med-Start: 39 in Med-Start TUCSON and 22 in Med-Start PHOENIX. Both programs are being held through July 11.

Native American Med-Start TUCSON participants include:
- Victoria Cannon, Pascua Yaqui, of Tucson, a student at Cholla Magnet High School.
- Jonathan Credo, Navajo, of Flagstaff, a student at Coconino High School.
- Sky Fimbres, Pascua Yaqui, of Tucson, a student at Rincon High School.
- Chanse Foster, Navajo, of Tuba City, a student at Tuba City High School.
- Samantha Nez, Navajo, of Mesa, a student at East Valley Academy.
- Natasha Yazzie, Navajo, of Mesa, a student at East Valley Academy.

For more information about the Dr. Merlin K. “Monte” DuVal Endowment, or to contribute to this important effort, call the UA College of Medicine Development Office, (520) 626-2827, or e-mail health@email.arizona.edu

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Crossing The Great Divide Via The Camel's Eye Treaty - American Indian Youth Needs Runners

Crossing The Great Divide
Submitted by Daniel Crowe

The Cornwall Standard Freeholder
CORNWALL ISLAND, AKWESASNE -- Kanietakeron has managed to do what most Akwesasne residents haven't since the Kahwenoke port of entry closed on May 31: He crossed onto Cornwall Island from the U. S. without being stopped by the New York State Police.

Ever since the border crossing was shut down, the Canada customs building on Kahwenoke (Cornwall Island) - the Canadian island district of Akwesasne Mohawk Territory - has remained closed because of an alleged threat posed by one community member to the safety of Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers.

While no one is at the post to receive people crossing into Canada, the CBSA has asked U. S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the New York State Police to keep traffic from crossing the south span bridge between Massena, New York and Cornwall Island.

Frustrated with his inability to cross over to Cornwall Island by land, Kanietakeron (formerly known as Larry Thompson) decided to find out "who is calling the shots" at the southern blockade of the bridge. "Who is denying our freedom of movement by shutting this (Canadian customs) building down?" he said. "That's what we wanted to find out because they keep passing the buck. They gave us the run around. We couldn't get nothing solid."

Kanietakeron, technically a resident of the U. S. side of Akwesasne, doesn't recognize the border between Canada and the United States because it's all Akwesasne Mohawk territory to him. He says he lives his life according to natural law, which means he doesn't recognized the authority of the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe or the traditional longhouse council because they are mandated by the Canadian and U. S. federal governments.

Kanietakeron said blocking the movements of Akwesasne residents on the U. S. bridge is contrary to the international law his group follows, which is known as the Camel's Eye Treaty signed in 408 A. D.

"That international law supersedes the corporation of Canada ... and the corporation of the states," Kanietakeron said. "They're outside of natural law, which is given to us by the Creator . . . that disrupts the integrity of our sovereignty." Kanietakeron said he has denounced government allegiances to become "an original Indian."

Eventually Kanietakeron and several others were granted a meeting with CBP Massena port director Bob Stevenson and officials from the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, the CBSA and N. Y. State Police. He provided the officials with documentation of the Camel's Eye Treaty violations to pass along to government higher-ups.

Kanietakeron said the officials he met with told him the CBSA requested traffic be blocked from crossing the south span bridge. "I indicated that they have no authority over me because I have no contract with them," he said. "I'm not of the five nations, six nations, seven nations. "I'm just an Indian trying to live in peace."

Kanietakeron said the legal papers served explained how his life and those who share his beliefs have been disrupted and that they have the right to roam freely. A clan mother instructed him to cross the south span bridge, something Kanietakeron said he notified U. S. customs officials of Sunday evening. He attended a meeting with them the next morning along with five friends to witness the interaction, but the CBP allegedly only wanted four people to attend the meeting.

The two parties ended up conducting the meeting in the foyer of the new customs building instead. Kanietakeron said U. S. President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Stephen Harper Queen Elizabeth, Pope Benedict, New York Governor David Paterson and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be served the same legal papers concerning the rights violated under the Camel's Eye Treaty.

Kanietakeron told Stevenson that if "any of your officers put a hand on me and stop me from doing what I have to do, heading north on the bridge, then natural law will befall you. "It would be out of our hands, but I don't wish that on no one."

When Kanietakeron arrived at the roadblock, a customs official said he is free to pass, but gave him a warning he could be charged by Canadian officials. Kanietakeron made the crossing without incident.

"I have every intention of crossing again."
Copyright © 2009 The Cornwall Standard Freeholder

Running Strong For American Indian Youth Needs Runners
Submitted by Stephanie Schwartz

Greetings!
Have you ever wanted to meet Billy Mills, run a marathon, and make a difference?

You can, as part of Team Running Strong! Run in the Marine Corps Marathon on Sunday, October 25, 2009 as part of our team! General registration for the race has sold out! But, Team Running Strong still has a few available spots!

Team Running Strong is the only group in this Marathon running for American Indian Youth. It can help you cross the finish line! Hear Billy's inspiring message at a unique team honoring ceremony. Be a part of the only team making a difference for American Indian kids. These children grow up knowing poverty and hunger. Be a hero to American Indian kids with your marathon effort! You can do it and we'll help you.

Don't forget, you have to register by August 30!

For more information,
email us [mailto:marathon@indianyouth.org]
or call 1-888-491-9859 today.

Running Strong for American Indian Youth
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The Other Trail Of Tears - First Nation Catholicism

Submitted by Eleanore Fanire
Essay - From the June 15, 2009 issue of High Country News

Selling Your Father's Bones: America's 140-Year War Against the Nez Perce Tribe
Brian Schofield
368 pages, hardcover: $26.00.Simon & Schuster, 2009.

A white 30-something British guy might not seem like the obvious source to turn to for a definitive history of the persecution and flight of the Nez Perce — one of the most complex, tragic chapters in the history of the West. But Americans have a long tradition of receiving incisive cultural criticism from foreigners on road trips — think Alexis de Tocqueville, Charles Dickens, even Borat. Sometimes you just need an outsider's perspective. This is especially true today, as Americans shake off eight years of stubborn disregard for overseas opinion.

Reading Selling Your Father's Bones, you can't help but suspect that first-time author Brian Schofield sees recent American exploits abroad as an extension of the same Jacksonian mindset that prompted land grabs against the Nez Perce in the mid-1800s. Consider the book's original subtitle in the U.K.: "The Epic Fate of the American West." For Schofield, the tribe's subjugation is more than just a single dramatic campaign from the Indian Wars — it's the entire saga of American history, written in miniature.

Which is pretty devastating, when you get right down to it. The book opens in pre-Columbian Oregon, among the Nimiipuu people of the Wallowa Valley, before they adopted their French nickname — "Nez Perce," a misapplied moniker most likely inspired by the tribe's nose-pierced Chinook neighbors. Then it delves straight into the decades of encroachment, abduction, broken treaties and forced assimilation that preceded eviction from the tribe's ancestral lands.

We meet the players from that summer and fall of 1877: meek, articulate Joseph, miscast as a fierce warrior-king by the blustering American press; proud Looking Glass, whose misplaced trust in neighboring tribes dooms the refugees; and hapless General Oliver Howard, the "Christian General" whose frequent battlefield bungling might pass for comic relief in another context.

When several of the tribe's hotheaded young warriors murder a group of white settlers, it touches off a 1,700-mile exodus for more than 700 Nez Perce men, women and children — families who'd been forced from their Wallowa Valley home just days before the incident. By the time the tribe surrenders in northern Montana four months later, some 120 Nez Perce and 180 white Americans have been killed in the pursuit.

With a historian's diligence and a travel writer's eye for detail, Schofield renders each tough river crossing and bloody battle in vivid, novelistic scenes. He also flashes forward, examining the flight's modern-day repercussions. These first-person asides, which constitute half of the book, sketch the broad cultural and ecological legacy of white conquest in the West.

Be warned: This is an ideological text. Schofield is a dyed-in-the-wool environmentalist, and he doesn't equivocate when it comes to modern-day "crime(s) against the landscape" along the old Nez Perce Trail. When he mentions how much toxic wastewater Potlatch Corp. released into the Clearwater River, or that the milltown of Lewiston, Idaho, stinks to high hell, he doesn't follow up with a note on how many jobs were created in the process or whether the company later built a new baseball diamond.

The book isn't naive about the complexity of Western resource management — on the contrary, that's a major theme — but Schofield is far from charitable to extractive industries and their cheerleaders. In fact, he saves his harshest criticism not for genocidal generals, but for past and present-day Westerners who loudly espouse rugged libertarianism while reaping rewards from federal dam investments and timber subsidies.

The man did his research, though (a detailed, quote-by-quote bibliography fills 25 pages), and in some instances, his ideological transparency helps him steer clear of awkward, academic terminology. After quoting a historian who says the West's small farms were "squeezed by history," Schofield is quick to remind us that they were actually squeezed by large farms — not by "history," but by people, and greedy people at that.

To Schofield, what happened to the Nez Perce is not as simple as "a tragic clash of cultures" or "a conflict between two ways of life." It cannot be reduced to euphemism. It's the story of large groups of selfish and essentially rotten people committing theft and murder against much smaller bands of relative innocents. And whether or not you chalk it up to the author's outsider status, it's refreshing to hear the story told that way.

The author writes from Missoula, Montana.

First Nation Catholicism
Submitted by Jonathan

Dear Ms. Bobbie O'Neill,
I am looking forward to browsing through your blog and other Native oriented blogs you posted. I am by no means a pure blood, but rather a mix of three ancestral origins: First Nation (Taino), West African (The Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Logs do not list region of origin) and Spaniard (but for all the groups who have occupied Spain, only GOD knows what mixes I might have in me). I started my own network and would really appreciate it if you could join (as well as spread the word to other people).

My network is called First Nation Catholicism : Past & Present (www.firstnationcatholicism.ning.com). I basically created the group, because all too often the witness of First Nation Catholics is overlooked by members of The church. Join and learn of their witness to The Faith.

Some really interesting discussions should be coming up (people are pretty much amazed to think that such a system exists). Mind you the group is open to Non-Catholics as well (as well as Natives and Non-Natives). I just started the network on 07/03/2009.

I would really like to see some action going on in The First Nation Culture and Tradition Forum (particularly about foodways) as well as the Inter and Intra Nation Discussion Forum. I hope to see you there.
Yours in Christ,
Jonathan

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The Black Hills Are Everything - Native Workplace Green Job Recruitment

Traditional Lakota Spiritual Leader and Head Man,
David Swallow, Speaks Out on the Sacred Black Hills

by David Swallow, Jr.
Traditional Lakota Spiritual Leader
and a Head Man of the Lakota Nation
Edited by Stephanie M. Schwartz,
Member, Native American Journalists Association (NAJA)
Originally published at www.SilvrDrach.homestead.com/Schwartz_2009_Jul_05.html

July 5, 2009 Porcupine, South Dakota
The white man calls me David Swallow, Jr. but my real name is Wowitan Yuha Mani. I am a Tetoh Lakota of the Wa Naweg’a Band and I live on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

This is the way my Grandpa Najutala told me, a long time ago. He was a teenager when the 1868 Treaty was signed. He’s gone now but this is how he told me about the sacred Black Hills.

The Black Hills used to be occupied by the Crow Tribe. That was way back, like in the 1700’s, even the 1600’s. Then, the Black Hills were taken by the Shahiyela (the Cheyenne). Then, the Lakota took them from the Cheyenne. Finally, the white man took them from the Lakota.

The Lakota look at the Black Hills as having spiritual power. All the Plains Tribes look at them that way. But the white man saw only the yellow rock called gold. They tried to make deals to get the land in the Treaties of 1825, 1851, 1868, and even the Bradley Bill of the 1980’s.

However, the only Treaty that should be recognized concerning the Black Hills is the Treaty of 1851. At that time, all the tribes signed this Treaty and they signed it in a holy way. The Lakota brought the Sacred White Buffalo Calf C’anunpa, the Cheyenne brought their 7 sacred arrows, and the Crow, Arikara, and other tribes brought their sacred bundles.

They all held ceremonies before they held the pen. They all agreed that no settlers should enter that sacred area, the Black Hills. The way that Treaty was written, this became a non-negotiable matter from that time on. No other Treaty would have the right to change that.

But the government and homesteaders, the settlers and prospectors kept invading the Black Hills.

As a result, the Federal Government renegotiated the terms and called it the Fort Laramie 1868 Treaty. This time, the original signers of the 1851 Treaty didn’t want to sign. Many were fighting. There were no sacred ceremonies done and only one sacred c’anunpa, only one sacred prayer pipe, was present.

The prospectors and homesteaders brought in whiskey to get many of the signers drunk so they would sign. My grandfather told me all about this. He saw it, personally. Mni wakan, sacred water, is what the Lakota called alcohol because it affected our people so strongly.

So this is how we lost the Black Hills.

Six years later, in 1874, General George Armstrong Custer took an expedition into the Black Hills which included a geologist and numerous miners. What they found immediately caused a major gold rush and the white settlers and miners began pouring into the Black Hills. The treaties were completely ignored.

In 1876, the Indian Appropriations Act demanded the Sioux give back the Black Hills or starve under siege. Then they ordered the destruction of all the buffalo herds. By 1889, the Federal Government had forced the Lakota into prisoner of war camps which they now call Reservations. According to government documents, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is prisoner of war camp #344.

Around 1990, I rode 7 years with many young people to the Crazy Horse Monument. When we crossed our so-called homelands, we were stopped by the white landowners because we didn’t have their permission. One old homesteader showed us his deed showing where he had bought the land from the Federal Government. He told us that if we didn’t like it, we should go talk to the Federal Government who got it from the Louisiana Purchase.

So, we lost our Black Hills. Some said we sold them. If so, I believe somebody took the money without any of us Lakota, Dakota, Nakota, Cheyenne or Arikara knowing it. There is no money.

In 1980, the United States Supreme Court said the Black Hills did rightfully belong to the Lakota. They wanted to buy them from us but our People have refused that money. The sacred Black Hills are not for sale.

But that’s why the Bradley Bill was introduced in 1987 in Congress, to make it look good. It supposedly would have let us live in the Black Hills while the Federal Government could still mine, trespass, and do whatever they wanted. But even that was never approved.

So, saying the Black Hills are ours and belong to us are just hollow, empty words. If they are really ours, why can’t we live there? It’s only occupied by white people with land deeds.

We cannot even go to the Black Hills and exercise our spiritual ways. We are forbidden. We have to get permission from the Government and the BLM and then we have to follow their rules and regulations. But if we are a sovereign nation like they said, we would have our own jurisdiction (county-state-reservation).

If we do still own the Black Hills, we need a new treaty, to renegotiate a new treaty. All the other treaties were violated or abandoned, often with the approval of Congress, without us knowing about it. That’s not supposed to happen in nation to nation dealings.

We have a treaty council, a council of elders, all kinds of councils but none of them are effective. The government and state have kept us hungry and distracted with their projects which accomplish very little.

Every other foreign nation conquered by the United States has received huge efforts towards rehabilitation and rebuilding. Yet, while the U.S. cries about 20% unemployment, we have 80% unemployment. We remain isolated and have living conditions which are as bad as or worse than any “third world country.” Our life expectancy is only 48 years old for men and 52 years old for women.

We are the longest prisoners of war in the world’s history. It must change. We need to be set free so we can deal with our own people and our children and their children.

Unfortunately, most of our old people are in the spirit world. Today, our young people have no knowledge of the treaties, the massacre of Wounded Knee, the struggle of Wounded Knee 2, or our history. These are the reasons our culture is dying. No one remembers the language, culture, virtues, or spirituality. No one knows the real history.

But they need to know. If we are to survive, people need to understand. When we’re talking about the Black Hills, it’s not just the land that was lost but our way of life. It’s not just money. Money is the least important thing. We have lost our way of life.

When we talk about the Black Hills, it is about everything. That place is holy and sacred.

Ho he’cetu yelo, I have spoken these words.

David Swallow, Wowitan Yuha Mani
Porcupine, South Dakota - The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

This article may be reprinted, reproduced, and/or re-distributed unedited with proper attribution and sourcing for non-profit, educational, news, or archival purposes.

Stephanie M. Schwartz may be reached at SilvrDrach@aol.com

Stephanie M. SchwartzFreelance Writer http://www.silvrdrach.homestead.com/ Member, Native American Journalists Association (NAJA)President, Link Center Foundation http://www.linkcenterfoundation.org/

Native Workplace Green Job Recruitment Notice
* This recruitment is part of the Native Workplace Green Trades Training Program, which was designed as a response to the feedback we receive from Indian country. We have chosen our initial trainings based upon what our community is facing right now in relation to stimulus funding. This is Green career training that can be applied to employment or small business development.

Native Workplace is organizing a “Train the Trainer” class for certified electricians to become KVAR trainers nationwide. Trainees should be journeyman, master electricians, or electrical engineers. However, non-certified electricians with experience should apply and will be considered. Class size is limited to 30 trainees.

What is KVAR? We realize that KVAR is new to Indian country, read KVAR FAQ’s

Trainees will receive two certifications:

KVAR Factory Certified Master Trainer: Trainers will work regionally will earn approximately $1500.00- $2000.00
per week as a trainer. Travel and per diem is paid.

Certified KVAR Master Installer: Trainer will also be able to make residential, commercial & industrial installations. On residential installations, the rate of pay is $100.00 -$150.00 per unit installed. However, Master Installers also work on commercial projects that require a more complex process, so the rate of pay is approximately $75.00-$125.00 per hour on commercial and industrial installations.

If the trainees choose, they can operate their own KVAR installation company, take installation subcontracts from Native Workforce, or work for an existing KVAR contractor.

To Apply: Resumes or WIA intake forms may be used as an application. Deadline to apply for the Train the Trainer class will be July 22nd, 2009. Class will be closed after we receive 30 attendees.
Send to: info@nativeworkplace.com

* Eligible under the Stimulus Plan so contact your local WIA training coordinator and request this training!

Contact us with any questions or if you are urban and need help locating the WIA office serving your area.

* pay rates above reflect R.O.P with Native Workforce, KVAR or self employment..rates may differ from contractor to contractor

Want a Green job as a KVAR Residential Installer? Learn More

Certified KVAR Residential Installer: This vocational training is for residential installations only. Prior electrical knowledge is helpful, but not necessary. Installers make from $50.00-$100.00 per unit installation, which takes approximately 20-30 minutes each. Training is two days and can be provided regionally once the trainers are certified. There is a small installation business opportunity with this training.
Addendum:

Tribes are eligible for federal grant dollars for energy efficiency retrofits under the Recovery Act. KVAR qualifies as an energy efficiency upgrade. Tribal housing departments can apply for grants to purchase and install these energy efficiency units, and employ tribal members to make the installations.

Contact us for a copy of the Department of Labor Weatherization & Energy Efficiency Training grant
There is a manufacturing, tribal business and small Native-owned business opportunity.

* Note: Native Workplace is developing a separate database for recruitments. If you are signed up for the newsletter only, please be patient while we make the changes.

http://www.nativeworkplace.com/

TO SUBMIT an ARTICLE, OPINION PIECE, COMMENTS to the Native Unity Digest, e-mail bobbieo@digitaldune.net.

NATIVE UNITY - A place for Native American Peoples to solidify their tribes to make a positive impact on the cultural, social, economic and political fabric of American society and a place for non-Natives to better understand the ways of the American Indian.

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'Swearing in Ceremony For Larry EchoHawk'

THE BUFFALO POST - Missoulian Montana's Native News Blog about Native People And The World We Live In.
'Around Indian Country'
http://buffaloppost.net/

Check Out NATIVE PRIDE- It's a great site!
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Navajo EPA Recognized As Outstanding - Sunday Rally For Murdered Child

Navajo EPA Recognized For Outstanding Environmental Protection, Leadership.
By Kathy Helms
Dine Bureau
WINDOW ROCK – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency formally recognized the Navajo Nation EPA during a ceremony today (TUESDAY) in Window Rock for its efforts to protect and preserve the environment over the last 30 years.

Navajo Nation leaders met with federal officials to discuss environmental priorities for the Nation, which administers several of the country’s largest and most sophisticated tribal environmental programs.

“For over 30 years we have partnered with the Navajo Nation to protect precious natural resources,” said Laura Yoshii, acting regional administrator for the EPA’s Pacific Southwest region.

“The EPA applauds the Navajo Nation EPA not only for their achievements on the reservation, but for their leadership role in the development of tribal environmental programs nationally. The Navajo Nation continues to build and implement its programs, has enacted seven of its own environmental laws, and set a national precedent for tribal sovereignty and environmental protection.”

Navajo Nation EPA has the most capable tribal underground storage tank leak prevention program in the country with two federally credentialed inspectors and a field citation pilot program, the first of its kind in the country. Recently, the federally credentialed tank inspectors began inspecting the Nation’s 125 underground storage tank facilities on behalf of the EPA.

Navajo's two inspectors will write EPA field citations for federal violations as part of a two-year pilot project.

The Navajo Nation Pesticide Program also has federally credentialed inspectors. Last year, this program conducted 120 federal pesticides inspections and 25 inspections using tribal authority.

The Navajo Nation EPA has been successfully implementing its Title V air-permitting program for five years, and collecting the permitting fees for 13 major sources. Navajo was the first tribe in the nation to achieve authority to implement this program.

Since December 2000, the Navajo Nation remains the first and only tribal government that has received authority from EPA to implement the federal drinking water program under Section 1413 of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. The Nation’s Drinking Water Program ensures that the 162 public water systems serving approximately 150,000 people on the Navajo Nation meet federal drinking water requirements.

In February 2008, the Navajo Nation Council passed the Navajo Nation Comprehensive Environmental Response, and Liability Act, or Superfund, modeled after the U.S. EPA’s program. This is the first tribal Superfund law in the country, and is a huge success for the Navajo Nation, as it gives the tribe the authority to address hazardous contamination across the Nation.

Information: http://www.navajonationepa.org/

Rally This Sunday In Vancouver For Vicky Stewart - Murdered Child
Submitted by Monica Davis

Kwé,
I will be with you all in spirit. But may I as an elder give one piece of advice. Do not do things in outrage.

Do it all you will be doing in a spiritual mind. Ask that the Creator avenge her and all the natives since the beginning of time.

We must put our complete faith in the Creator as He is the one who created us all. The rain and sun fall on the good and the bad.

Only the Creator knows how to avenge anyone who appeals to him. So have all beat the drums in prayer to the Creator. Trust me the Creator will if we ask him to. They will pay one way or another and in ways worse than we could even imagine.

If all the natives across the world would all at the same time come out and beat the drums in prayer to the Creator to bring justice to all the natives in the world..He would.

We must not be like them .. we must do all with love and in peace .. and trust the Creator to avenge and bring justice.

Meegwetch and may the Creator be will you all on that day and may every beat of the drum be heard by the Creator as a prayer plea for His help.
Chef Marie Jacquelyne Clement
Nation Wanigouch, Ste. Agathe des Monts
Confedration of Aboriginal Peoples of Québec

We Remember Vicky Stewart, age 9,
Murdered by United Church employee Ann Knizky at the Edmonton residential school

Rally to Remember Her, and to hold the United Church Accountable!
Sunday, July 510:00 am
St. Andrew's Wesley United Churchcorner of Nelson and Burrard St., downtown Vancouver(or gather first at 9 am at Carnegie Centre, Main & Hastings)
Bring drums, banners and outrage!
A relative of Vicky will be present to speak

Like countless other children, Vicky Stewart was killed at a United Church residential school and her murderer never brought to justice.The United Church's officers are collectively responsible and liable for her death. But they refuse to answer the Stewart family or agree to their demands:
1. That the church admit its killing and surrender those responsible;
2. That the church explain why it covered up her death;
3. That the church erect a memorial site for Vicky and pay reparations to her family;
4. That the United Church's head officers present themselves before an international inquiry into the murdered residential school children, and come clean about their genocide of native children.
Justice for Vicky Stewart and all the innocent victims!

Sponsored by The Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared, and downtown eastside eldersInformation: 1-888-265-1007 or this email.www.hiddenfromhisto ry.org

Please post.Link to media coverage of Vicky's murder:http://www.theprovi/ nce.com/news/ Family+residenti al+school+ girl+died+ give+United+ Church+deadline/1647410/ story.html

Read and Hear the truth of Genocide in Canada, past and present, at this website: http://www.hiddenfromhistory.org/

Film Trailer to Kevin Arnett’s award-winning documentary film UNREPENTANT:http://www.youtube/. com/watch? v=j8HB5cbKHDU&feature=related

“Kevin is more deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize than many who have received it in the past.”- Dr. Noam Chomsky Institute Professor EmeritusMassachusetts Institute of Technology“

A courageous and inspiring man." (referring to Kevin Annett)- Mairead Corrigan-MaguireNobel Peace Prize LaureateBelfast , Northern Ireland

"As a long time front line worker with the Elders' Council at the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre, I stand behind what Kevin Annett is trying to do for our people. The genocide that continues today and which stemmed from the residential schools needs to be exposed. Kevin Annett helps break the silence, and brings the voice of our people all over the world."
Carol Muree Martin - Spirit Tree Woman, Nisgaa Nation

"I gave Kevin Annett his Indian name, Eagle Strong Voice, in 2004 when I adopted him into our Anishinabe Nation. He carries that name proudly because he is doing the job he was sent to do, to tell his people of their wrongs. He speaks strongly and with truth. He speaks for our stolen and murdered children. I ask everyone to listen to him and welcome him."
Chief Louis Daniels - Whispers WindElder, Turtle Clan, Anishinabe NationWinnipeg, Manitoba

TO SUBMIT an ARTICLE, OPINION PIECE, COMMENTS to the Native Unity Digest, e-mail bobbieo@digitaldune.net.

NATIVE UNITY - A place for Native American Peoples to solidify their tribes to make a positive impact on the cultural, social, economic and political fabric of American society and a place for non-Natives to better understand the ways of the American Indian.

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http://falmouth-air.blogspot.com
'Interior Swearing-In Ceremony For Larry Echo-Hawk'

THE BUFFALO POST - Missoulian Montana's Native News Blog about Native People And The World We Live In.
'Grumble, Grumble'
http://buffaloppost.net/

Check Out NATIVE PRIDE- It's a great site!
http://letstalknativepride.blogspot.com

FOR ANNIE'S NATIVE CELEBRITY NEWS - go to www.nativecelebs.com

CATCH COLORADAN PETER JONES AT:
http://indigenousissuestoday.blogspot.com

SUPPORTING NATIVE AMERICAN/FIRST PEOPLE - ARTISTS, FILM MAKERS, ENTERTAINERS, ETC. http://www.krystynmedia.blogspot.com.