Natives Urged To Vote

Everywhere Regi Nordgulen goes she asks one question, “Are you registered to vote?”

Nordgulen, a Phoenix resident and member of the Chickasaw, Choctaw and Sioux nations, has worked for months to find and register Native Americans for the Moving Forward Foundation.

“According to the U.S. Census, there are more than 320,000 Native Americans in Arizona and the Phoenix Indian Center estimates some 76,000 live in the Valley. The Foundation, which is nonpartisan, registered thousands this year.
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“With the presidential election a statistical dead heat, and many swing states having a significant number of Native Americans, there has been an unprecedented effort to get out the Native vote, both on and off the reservation.

“In the swing state of Minnesota, the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe is planning luncheons and carpool for Election Day. On Arizona’s Salt River Reservation bus caravans have taken members to early voting. and a Valley grass-roots organization has put together Native-Poll-Ooza!, an Election Day concert to show the voting bloc of urban Indians.

“Both candidates have courted the Native vote, but there is more visible support for Democratic hopeful. John Kerry, according to tribal leaders. ‘I see a lot of Native Americans for Kerry-Edwards buttons’, said George Goggleye, chairman of the Leech Lake Band in Minnesota. ‘I don’t see any George Bush ones. If they’re here they are in the closet.

Nordgulen, 20, is a sophomore at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas who used her semester break to help register Arizona Natives. She plans to knock on doors this weekend to remind people to vote on Tuesday.

This article,. from the October 31st edition of The Arizona Republic bylined Betty Reid and Judy Nichols, has been edited for content and length


‘Native Vote’ Has It Together!

Submitted by Alyssa Burhans

IT'S TIME TO GIVE NOTICE!
November 2 is around the corner and Native people are mobilizing at levels we’ve never seen before. Before you leave the office today tell your boss, colleagues, family, and friends that on November 2, you’ll be voting and urge them to also volunteer with the local Native Vote effort.

IT'S ALREADY HAPPENING!
Throughout the country, non-profit groups and Tribes have registered new Native Voters on reservations and urban areas. The next step, getting them to the polls, is the most critical and will rely on the collected efforts of many. In states like Florida, Nevada, Oregon, Iowa, and New Mexico, volunteers are already working tirelessly to get voters to the polls in record numbers and need your help.

LET’S VOTE IN RECORD NUMBERS!
In order to have record numbers of Native people participate in the political process this year – we need Native voters in tribal communities and urban areas to VOTE. The Native Vote efforts across the country depend on people like you to door knock, phone bank, poll monitor, and transport voters to the polls. If your not sure where to plug in, please contact me at alyssa@nationalvoice.org or 612-860-3300 to get information on Native Vote efforts across the country.

DON'T JUST TALK ABOUT CHANGE - BE THE CHANGE!
By participating in the political process, we are creating change in our communities – tribal and urban. We are demonstrating to elected officials, Washington, D.C. and the Nation that we are here and we are organized. Now is the time for us to work together – to have an impact at the polls and more importantly to strengthen our communities and our collected identity. Be a part of that change – vote early and volunteer.Make your voice heard on November 2.

HELP PROTECT MINORITY VOTING RIGHTS
Federal law recognizes that many Americans require information in languages other than English in order to be informed voters and participate in our representative democracy. The keystone of these federal laws, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, makes it illegal to discriminate based on someone’s language proficiency

On Election Day, individuals who are not proficient in English have the right to bring a family member or friend into the polling booth to help interpret the ballot and other election materials. However, many voters and election workers are unaware that this is the law.

FROM TUCSON
Carmela Confesor writes that the Democratic party in Tucson has more than 200 attorneys well-versed in political law who will be poll watchers in the Native American, Black and Hispanic communities in case they are needed for assistance at the voting places.

“We have never had problems before but,” she added, “Arizona is a swing state we want to ensure that no problems do arise.”

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.

Hearing Scheduled In Voting Rights

Submitted by Alyssa Burhans
A hearing has been scheduled for 10:30 am on Friday,October 29th before Judge James Rosenbaum in the U.S.District Court in Minneapolis to hear arguments filed earlier today against Minnesota's Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer.

The NationalCongress of American Indians and the Minnesota ACLU combined with American Indian plaintiffs are to file a lawsuit against the state for discriminating against American Indian voters by denying them the right to vote using tribal government-issued ID cards.As many as 32,000 American Indians in Minnesota live off-reservation in the greater St. Paul/Minneapolisarea, and many have only a tribal identification card for government-issued ID.

The Secretary of State has ruled that Minnesota law requires her to accept tribal ID cards only if the person lives on an Indian reservation. In addition, the Secretary is requiring that tribal ID's have not only a name and photo, but must also have an address and a signature. The Secretary will accept student ID's and military ID's when combined with a utility bill, even if they don't have address and signature.

However, American Indian voters will not be allowed to use tribal ID cards incombination with a utility bill. The Secretary has the power to authorize any form of ID for voting, but has allowed the use of tribal ID's only under these extremely limited circumstances.NCAI President Tex G. Hall said the lawsuit seeks justice and equal opportunity for Native voters. "The state has said essentially that if you leave thereservation, you lose the right to vote," Hall said."Requiring more stringent rules for one group of people, and limiting their ability to vote if theydecide to move, violates federal law and the United States Constitution.

"We are saddened that the Minnesota Secretary of State refuses to use her discretion to comply with federal law and ensure that American Indians get the opportunity to vote. Many states, nationwide, are accepting tribal IDs as thelegitimate governmental identification that they are.This is a setback to the fundamental rightto vote that all Americans enjoy, except Native
Americans in the state of Minnesota."

Hall stressed. “The tribes of Minnesota have been diligent
in their efforts to organize and motivate voters at the
grassroots level and this is a battle we must engage in
To ensure rights are protected and our voices heard.”

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.

Faith Abuse: When God Becomes A Campaign Ploy

By Arianna Huffington
This is my last column before Election Day. With less than a week to go, I plan on doing everything in my power to defeat George W. Bush (need a ride to the polls?). Then I'm going to get down on my knees and pray to a higher power.

As someone for whom faith is incredibly important, and who regularly prays for all the people and things that matter to me, I'm hopeful that God is as appalled as I am with the way His name is constantly being taken in vain on the Bush campaign trail, and with how the president is abusing his faith to justify to himself and to the world his disastrous policies.

Lord knows there's a very long list of things to be angry with Bush about, but this one has moved to the top of my personal hit parade because, as Catholic theologians teach us, "The corruption of the best is the worst." And George W. is truly corrupting faith and dragging it into the political gutter. In two fundamental ways:

First, he's using it as a spiritual inoculation against uncertainty and complexity.

Ron Suskind's recent piece in the New York Times Magazine painted a chilling portrait of a presidency in which thoughtful analysis and moral questioning have been replaced by "God-given" certainty, and where facts and open debate have become an anathema.
Suskind reveals a president who uses his faith to numb himself against reality. It anesthetizes him in the same way a stiff drink — OK, 20 stiff drinks — used to, and allows him to drown out the voices of doubt. Yet great thinkers throughout history have extolled the virtues of doubt. As Paul Tillich put it: "Doubt isn't the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith."
But not in the Bush White House, where doubters are treated as traitors, and inconvenient facts are the work of the Devil — because facts can lead to questioning, and questioning undermines faith.

And that would be blasphemy in an Oval Office where unbending resolve has become a holy sacrament. No wonder Bush is unwilling to admit to even a single mistake.

The second way the president is corrupting his faith is by using it as a marketing tool designed to garner support among the over 60 million Americans who identify themselves as evangelical — particularly the 4 million born-again voters who stayed home in 2000.

Nowhere is this blending of church and campaign more evident than in "George W. Bush: Faith in the White House," a DVD being distributed to tens of thousands of America's churches.

Although not officially the work of the Bush-Cheney campaign, it obviously has its approval, and indeed was screened at a party for Christian conservatives hosted by the campaign at the GOP convention in New York.

In the documentary, President Bush is presented as a man with "the moral clarity of an old-fashioned biblical prophet" — and is shown sharing a beatific split screen with the Son of God himself.

So, in 2004, Jesus is not only the president's favorite philosopher — he's his surrogate running mate. I'm surprised we haven't seen any "Bush-Christ 2004" bumper stickers yet. It would make for a heck of an October surprise.

All this pious posturing is also being used as a cudgel with which to attack John Kerry, portraying him as a sorry second in the faith sweepstakes.

Forget that Kerry carries a Bible and a rosary with him on the campaign trail, used to be an altar boy, and has said, "My faith affects everything that I do." The Bushies have made it seem as if they are running against Joe Pagan. Just check out the "Kerry: Wrong for Catholics" page on the official Bush-Cheney campaign Web site.

What's next? Attack ads from Altar Boys for Truth claiming Kerry never actually swallowed the body of Christ during communion?

What the president calls faith is actually nothing of the sort. It is fanaticism, pure and simple. The defining trait of the fanatic is an utter refusal to allow anything as piddling as evidence to get in the way of an unshakable belief.

This zealot's mindset is what allows President Bush to take in the death and destruction in Iraq and see them as "freedom on the march." And it's also what allows Abu Zarqawi and his followers to coldly put a bullet in the back of the head of four-dozen unarmed Iraqi Army recruits because they are "apostates."

"Either you're with us or you're against us" plainly cuts both ways.

"This is why George W. Bush is so clear-eyed about al-Qaida and the Islamic fundamentalist enemy," explained Bruce Bartlett, a domestic policy advisor to Reagan and Bush 41. "He understands them because he's just like them."

I pray that every American of real faith keeps this in mind when stepping into the voting booth on Election Day.

© 2004 ARIANNA HUFFINGTON.
DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

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.

WWll Native Vet And His Dream

When Kent Ware Sr. died on August 13th, 2004 at age 82 he left behind a dream of creating an American Indian Veterans Memorial in Phoenix.

Ware was born in Chickasha, Oklahoma on September 29th, 1922. He was a member of the Kiowa Tribe and a member of the Kiowa Black Leggings Warrior Society. He served during WWll as a tech sergeant and aerial gunner on B-17s in the Army Air Corps.

Ware had put 33 combat missions behind him, by the time he returned home. He was highly decorated for his service and proudly displayed four Bronze stars, a Distinguished Flying
Cross and a Purple Heart.

He never lost his satisfaction for having served his country and in recent years that he discovered he had one mission left to do. One day while sitting at a restaurant with other Native Americans veterans, the group began discussing a blueprint for creating a national memorial dedicated to American Indian veterans.

The concept, which was created in 1996, began to take shape as part of a site plan at Steele Indian School Park at Third Street and McDowell Road in Phoenix which opened in 2001 where space has been dedicated for the memorial.

About $70,000 has been raised by a committee working on the project said committee member Loren Tapahe, publisher of the “Arizona Native Scene”, a Mesa-based magazine.

“Speaking of Ware, Tapahe said, “he was a vibrant, hard-working man who didn’t take any guff from anyone.” Now the people who supported Ware want to complete his dream.

This memorial will be a national memorial for all Native Americans – male and female – who fought even prior to WWl.
Ware and his family will be honored during a program at 6pm, November 11th at the Heard Museum in Phoenix.

Pat Viss, Ware’s neighbor, said she will remember not only his passion for the memorial but his kindness as a friend and neighbor. “He would bang on door and often stop to being fruits and vegetables he had picked up at a roadside farm. He had a commanding presence about him and I can still feel his endearing spirit.”

Information about the memorial is available at (602) 448-0260 or by e-mailing www.aivmo.org.

This article from “The Arizona Republic”, bylined Connie Cone Sexton, has been edited for content and space.

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.

Navajos Favor Kerry

Why? Because of schools – Navajos seek educational help. Those reasons start with the belief that Kerry will adequately fund a program like “No Child Left Behind”, something Bush has failed to do.

They also wonder what happened to the millions of dollars for Native American schools that Bush promised four years ago. They feel that money could have gone a long way toward funding bus rides home in the late afternoon for students who participate in after school activities.

Kerry has promised to catch up with an estimated $2 billion in repairs needed for federal Bureau of Indian Affairs schools and to concentrate on improving the reading ability of Native Americans and other rural students.

Take Greasewood Springs Community School (K-8) as an example. The walls of this school have chasms a foot wide covered by metal plates. Styrofoam fills other gasps to keep out rats where the metal runs out. The antiquated 40 year old electrical lines cannot accommodate air-conditioning and computers at the same time for the 250 enrolled students.

“The Kerry-Edwards campaign has vowed to fully fund ‘No Child Left Behind’ by adding $27 billion to the program and to create a National Education Trust Fund for students with disabilities.

“It has also announced a $30 billion program to recruit and retain 500,000 teachers over four years with pay initiatives to help I million additional students graduate in the next five years and to fund after school programs for 3.5 million students.”

Bush has stated he will give priority in funding to states that improve their preschool programs and will promote a variety of literacy programs among children. He points out his achievements in the four years he has been in office – a rigorous academic state scholars program and increased college financial-aid assistance to $73 billion, a 55 percent increase from 2001.

Carol Begay is a Greasewood School parent who lives in a traditional Hogan with no electricity or running water.
Begay is going to vote for Kerry just because a new person needs a chance. “There needs to be a lot more discipline in these schools and the kids need to be challenged a whole lot more academically. We also need money for an activity bus because my daughter wants to play sports after school but there’s no way to her to get home”

Thomas Yazzie, a member of the Greasewood Springs School Board also supports Kerry. He sent his own children 70 miles away to a school in Holbrook because of the lack of music and art education at Greasewood. He adds that funding needs to be dramatically increased for computers and upgraded technology along with Navajo language programs ”which have really suffered for funding under Bush.”

“I think Kerry will do a better job of delivering dollars,” Yazzie said, “because he came here by train in August and told us exactly how he would help.”

This article has been edited for content and length from a story in the October 25th edition of The Arizona Republic bylined Mark Shaffer.
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.

Native Fishermen Worry About Mercury In Nation's Waters

Submitted by Aleah Sato – Senior Writer – Ricksticks Inc.

October 19, 2004 — By Ashley H. Grant, Associated Press

ST. PAUL, Minnesota — American Indians are adding their voices to the controversy over mercury in the nation's waters, saying they are among the biggest consumers of fish and therefore more at risk from contamination.

"It is a real issue," said Bob Shimek, a member of the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota, who says he fishes to put food on the table. "It's not something abstract."

A recent report by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, which analyzed 2003 data collected by the Environmental Protection Agency, showed that 44 states including Minnesota had active mercury consumption advisories last year.

Earlier this year, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency listed about 1,900 lakes and streams as "impaired," meaning they contain harmful levels of pollutants like mercury or excess nutrients like nitrogen.

People who buy their freshwater fish at markets usually aren't at risk because most of it is raised on farms but it's a different story for tribal members like Shimek, 51, who fish on their reservation. The practice is a treaty right and something members of his tribe have relied on as a dietary staple for generations.

"What good is a treaty-reserved right if it's not safe?" said Shimek, who works for an Indian environmental group on a mercury education project.

Shimek believes he suffered mercury poisoning in 1996 from eating fish he netted regularly from a lake on the reservation. He said he initially believed he had suffered a stroke when tingling in his left hand spread and affected his feet and speech.Though Shimek never saw a doctor for his symptoms — he said he wasn't able to take time off from work — he's sure of the cause.

"Once I ran out of (fish), over a period of quite a number of weeks, the symptoms began to diminish," said Shimek. Mercury can be harmful to the nervous system if consumed in large quantities, especially by children or pregnant women.

The EPA recently announced a mercury-reduction plan that envisions a 70 percent cut in mercury emissions from coal-burning power plants by 2018, from the current 48 tons a year to 15 tons.
Source: Associated Press

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.

Native Voice 'Special Elections Issue'

The NATIVE VOICE newspaper (www.native-voice.com)recently published a Special Elections Issue which was distributed throughout the country. Another issue is set to go out this week to groups across the country - are you one of them? The first shipment of newspapers to voter projects was sponsored by National Voice and we'd like to make sure that your voter project/organization is included in the next bulk shipment.

The Native Voice Special Elections Issue is a great resource to educate and mobilize voters and is written especially for Native peoples. If you are interested in receiving a shipment of these papers, please send a PHYSICAL mailing address, along with the name of the voter project/organization to: alyssa@nationalvoice.org

Shipment of the next NATIVE VOICE SPECIAL ELECTIONS ISSUE is set to go out this week so please respond ASAP.Thank you! Alyssa Burhan

NATIVE VOTE 2004: ELECTION PROTECTION PROJECT
Lawyers and other volunteers are still needed for the Native Vote non-partisan Election Protection/PollWatching project for native communities.

The goal of the Native Vote 2004: Election Protection Project is to understand the election rules in each state in order to help ensure that every eligible voter is able to have their vote cast and counted on election day.

Volunteers will be available throughout Indian Country on election day to help answerquestions about voting rules and requirements. Please contact your state leader about training andvolunteer opportunties!

NATIONAL - Heather Dawn Thompson
heather@heatherthompson.org(202) 258-3767

ALASKA - Natalie Landreth
natalielandreth@hotmail.com(907) 276-0680

ARIZONA - Jonodev Osceola Chaudhuri
jchaudhuri@swlaw.com(602) 382.6336

COLORADO - Jennifer Harvey
Jharvey@hollandhart.com(303) 295-8244

MICHIGAN - Valeri Biro
vjbiro@comcast.net(313) 268 8414

MINNESOTA - Judy Hanks
nativepr@paulbunyan.net(218) 444-6686

MONTANA - Eli Parker
Eliparker@hotmail.com(406) 439-3394

NORTH DAKOTA - Wenona Singel
wsingel@hotmail.com(701) 777-2262

NEW MEXICO - Heather Whiteman Runs Him
hwhitemanrunshim@abqsonosky.com
(505) 238-2383

OKLAHOMA - Dana Jim
dana_jim@yahoo.com(405) 878-8989

OREGON - Cyndi Starke
cjs@karnopp.com(541) 382-3011

SOUTH DAKOTA - Contact - Bret Healy
bjhealy928@yahoo.com (605) 380-9486

WASHINGTON - Gabe Galanda
ggalanda@wkg.com(206) 628-2780

WISCONSIN - Brian Pierson
bpierson@vonbriesen.com(414) 287-1221

The Native Vote 2004: Election Protection Project is a joint program between the National Congress of merican Indians (NCAI) and the DC Native American Bar ssociation (NABA DC).

INDIAN ATTORNEY ASSOCIATION
TO HELP VOTERS OKLAHOMA CITY, OK

With many political races being so close, many feel that Oklahoma's Native American voters could make a critical difference in various contests throughout the state for both state and federal seats.

The Oklahoma Indian Bar Association(OIBA), a statewide group of attorneys and law students in Oklahoma, is part of a greater nationwide effort, referred to as "Native Vote 2004." Spearheaded by the DC Chapter of the Native American Bar Association and the National Congress of American Indians, the concern of the group is not with backing one candidate or another, but rather, making sure that voters don't have problems casting their vote at the polls.

"If they do have problems, we'll be available to help them sort out what to do to exercise their rights," said Dana Jim, Secretary of the OIBA and co-chair of OIBA's Native Vote 2004 Project. On election day, November 2, persons may call 405/272-9241 for assistance.

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.

Home On The 'Rez'

Until a few years ago new homes on an Indian reservation were almost unattainable but “reliable jobs from casino gaming and innovative legal and financial programs now have private lenders looking at reservations as safe investments for the first time,” writes Arizona Republic reporter Judy Nichols in her page one, October 13th story.

In the past, the trust status of reservations, prohibiting the sale of land outside the tribe, made a home on the reservation an unsafe investment for banks. If the borrower defaulted, the bank was unable to foreclose on the property. Employment and the legal structure to allow mortgages formerly were impediments to reservation Indians.

Indian gaming has changed that status. Tribes are educating members about financing and helping them with credit problems which formerly took up to three years through the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Gaming has also lessened the dependence of tribal members on the BIA – in some Native educational circles known as the “big tit to the Indian world.”

“Tribal members who qualified as low-income could get on a long waiting list for subsidized cookie-cutter housing built by the BIA. Those who did not qualify were relegated to trailers unless they had enough cash to for pay for construction.”

Shelia Harris, director of the Arizona Department of Housing, which is helping to funnel money and resources to tribes said, “People finally understood the way the BIA did things would never change. So we had to figure out how to take the money we have and do more with it.”

Gaming has created jobs not only on the reservations but also in the public sector through tribal sponsored educational and job training programs. These newly employed people are making money. They want to buy their own homes and invest in the community. Arizona Governor, Janet Napolitano has formed a Tribal Housing Task Force to work on ways to increase reservation housing.

Serena Norris, a business manager with the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Reservation Saddleback Communications is the first in her community to build a home using the new mortgage guarantee program. Her three bedroom, 2 and a half bath home cost $90,000 to build. The federal government guarantees the mortgage. If Norris fails to pay the mortgage, the bank can foreclose and the tribe can buy the house.

On the Navajo reservation, four and a half years of negotiations has resulted in allowing the Navajo Housing Authority to guarantee loans. “We are taking what American people enjoy and bringing it to the reservation,” said Chester Carl, chairman and executive officer of the Navajo Housing Authority, “We’re in the process of closing the first loan”.

The White Mountain Apache Tribe was the first in the nation to issue tax-exempt bonds for housing. The tribe used block-grant money from the federal government to leverage the bonds paying $900,000 in fees said A.J. Yazzie, a financial consultant for the tribe. It has raised $25 million, which has financed more than 300 homes, leased to tribal members with the option to purchase them.

Now, instead of sharing a 10 foot by 10 foot room in her mother’s home, Norris and her 6 year old daughter, Jamie, wake up in separate bedrooms, eat breakfast in a spacious tiled kitchen and watch movies in their own living room.

The American dream has finally reached the Indian reservations of Arizona.
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.

About Columbus - Fact Or Fiction

Submitted by Marinell deGraffen

On Columbus Day, a different view of 'discovery'
BY KEVIN ABOUREZK / Lincoln Journal Star

Only days after 200 Native demonstrators were arrested while protesting aColumbus Day parade in Denver, educators and students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln staged a protest of their own Monday.

It was a different kind of protest. A quieter one. Devoid of the spectacle of the Denver demonstration - where Natives held banners that read "Christopher Columbus, America's First Terrorist" - those who took part in Monday's protest nevertheless presented a powerful message. And their message was: Columbus was a murderer of Native people and should not be remembered as the "discoverer" of America, a land already populated when he accidentally found it while searching for the East Indies.

"A lot of people just think Native Americans are just being silly and oversensitive about the use of the word 'discovery,'" stated Victoria Smith, aUNL assistant professor of history.

The occasion for Monday's "protest" was a panel discussion and presentationson the "real" history of Columbus held on the UNL campus. The event was hosted by the University of Nebraska Intertribal Exchange and was held to educate people on the historical myths surrounding Columbus' voyages to theAmericas. Among those myths: That Columbus was friendly with the indigenous people he met and had little effect on the small numbers of Natives who existed at the time of his arrival in the New World.

"Not so", declared Donna Akers, a UNL assistant professor of history."On the island of Hispaniola, site of present-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Columbus was responsible for the systematic murder of nearly nine million indigenous people over the course of 40 years after his arrival there in the late 15th century. In less than a normal lifetime, a whole culture was destroyed."

She related stories of the cruel and torturous treatment of indigenous people by Columbus. Stories of infants fed alive to hungry dogs as their mothers watched. Stories of Natives impaled on swords and thrown down cliff walls with slit throats. Stories of 70,000 infants lost to starvation and murder in Cuba over the course of three months. According to Akers, "It is a history you won't find in textbooks. In those pages, Columbus is a hero. That's what we're teaching our children."

James Garza, an assistant UNL professor of history, described how Columbus only came to be seen as a hero during the 19th century as Americans searched for a past of their own. "Columbus was reinvented to suit the needs of 19th-century nationalism," he said. "It's the sort of simplistic history that ignores reality. The reality was that Columbus initiated the genocide of indigenous people throughout the Americas."

"And that genocide continues today," asserted Carleen Sanchez, a UNL assistant professor of anthropology and geography. She cited the assassinations of indigenous leaders in Honduras and the sterilization of female Central American textile workers in recent years. "We're not here to talk about something that happened 500 years ago," she said. "We can still see the effects of genocide."

Greg Chappelle, a 21-year-old UNL elementary education student, said he never knew the extent of Columbus' cruelty toward Natives. "I hadn't heard those details before but I knew he wasn't the greatest person in the world."

Reach Kevin Abourezk at 473-7237 or kabourezk@journalstar.com.--

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.

'No Audience For American Indians' - The Answer?

I agree with Paul Winters, writer-director of “Nate and the Colonel” when he wrote, “One must realize that these (film) companies are not making a racist or moral decision when they decide not to carry a film such as Nate and the Colonel … it’s about money. They firmly believe that there is no money in it.”

What do the film production companies mean when they make the statement “No one will come to see a film about Indians?”

Perhaps Bill Muller, film critic for The Arizona Republic has hit upon the answer in his October 1st critique of Rick Schroeder’s film “Black Cloud”

“Black Cloud is quite an achievement for director Rick Schroeder. He doesn’t leave out a single stereotype.

“The story, written by Schroeder, is bland formula with a plot built around the same old stuff that haunts every movie about Indian reservations. Perhaps it’s not humanly possible but it would be nice to see one of these films that doesn’t have a sweat lodge, a wizened grandpa, a crooked White fed, an alcoholic parent and repeated trips to the spirit world.

“During a boxing match Black Cloud, the Navajo boxer who is aiming for a spot on the 2008 Olympic Boxing Team, is knocked down and travels to the spirit world to have a little talk with a dead relative while the referee looks down upon him – Dempsey and Tunney have nothing on this.”

These scenes about Native spirituality, unless in a documentary, have a tendency to confuse rather enlighten a White audience. So, attention script writers: Mainstream Hollywood is not against the Native American in film. It is against the stereotyping of the Native American in film.

Hollywood seems to be looking for the American Indian in an urban setting - living the life and doing the things that non-Native Americans do without intervention from the spirit world. Next, what Hollywood needs to do to accomplish this goal is to find the Native equivalents of Halle Berry/Denzel Washington and JLo/Antonio Banderas. They are out there waiting to be promoted in the right vehicle.

Native Roscoe has announced on his website that Mark Reed, Apache/Mohawk, who has racked up credits in film and TV and a member of the Working Stage Theater Company in L.A., has been named as a Alternate Director to the Screen Actor’s guild where he will represent Native actors within the industry.

Progress is being made by Natives in Hollywood albeit one step at a time, but it is a positive step in the right direction.

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.

Native Casino Management 101!

Why not college courses in casino management when 80 to 90 percent of Americans support Indian gambling? According to a 2003 survey by the American Gaming Association more people visited casinos than zoos or attended a major league baseball game.

There are college course in hotel and resort management so why not casino management particularly when in the state of Arizona where gamblers at Indian casinos in fiscal 2004 spent more than $1.3 billion playing cards and slot machines yielding some $40 million to the state’s treasury.

Marvin Phillips, a young Mohawk spent most of this past summer at the St. Regis Akwasasne Casino at Hogansburg, New York taking in some poker, roulette and live music for college credit for his senior year at Morrisville State College.

This AP story, which appeared in the Yuma Daily Sun means more to me than just another edit and rewrite. I was born in Massena, New York a few miles up the St. Lawrence River from the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation. This is a story touching on my home turf and people I grew up with, went to school with and worked with at Alcoa Aluminum before moving west to attend the U of A in Tucson.

Anyway, young Morris, 21, is part of a growing movement of college educated blackjack dealers, casino security experts, pit bosses, dealers, slot machine repairers, restaurant and entertainment operators and managers who are entering the casino management field – a multi-billion dollar industry in America.

Advance courses may include the study of gambling laws, operating on sovereign Indian land, biometrics and “facial recognition” for casino security.

Class labs may take on new definitions with on and off campus casino nights using play and real money, for charity benefits, and field trips to Las Vegas and Atlantic City in addition to visiting the countless Indian casinos throughout the states.

Not everyone is in favor of this new trend. “It’s disgusting”, said state Sen. Frank Padavan, a New York City Republican. “I think it’s inappropriate for the state to become a vehicle by which people are in increasing numbers addicted… To have that policy reinforced through a curriculum in a public university is reprehensible.”

In recent years, critics have rapped the Indian gambling industry as being largely unregulated, not paying its full share of taxes and failing to lift most American Indians out of poverty.

Also gambling opponents have stressed that tribal casinos increase crime rates and contribute to other social and economic ills: Problems not measured by revenue figures.

However, tribal leaders argue that the economic benefits of Indian gaming have far outweighed the negative effects especially for Native Americans with the increase of housing, health care centers, schools and educational opportunities plus improvements in infrastructure on reservations.

Here’s another plus. I read a survey the other day that points out seniors who gamble at casinos exercise their brains and reduce their risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Sounds like a plan!

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.

'No Audience For American Indians!' - Part 2

Letter submitted from Paul Winters, reprinted with his permission.

Bobbie:

As the writer/director of ”Nate and the Colonel”, I am discouraged that the film is not available in mainstream distribution outlets like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video. It is a real shame because this is a very fine film with a message that crosses all cultures. Many people cry after seeing the film...to some, it is that powerful.

For me, as a writer/director who likes the Western genre and along with it the Native American themes, it is always an uphill battle to get these stories made on film. I have heard countless times that "no one cares about Indian pictures."

One must realize that these companies are not making a racist or moral decision when they decide not to carry a film such as Nate and the Colonel...it's about money. They firmly believe that there is no money in it.

Well, the way to get the video companies to change their mind is by a concerted effort by all Native peoples across the land to demand better treatment. Write a letter, make a phone call and let them know that you are angry and that you want Nate and the Colonel* available for rental.

Nate and the Colonel is the first feature film to ever use the Ojibway language. This in itself is historic. Past that, the film is quite entertaining with lots of action. It's a good film and it deserves a better reception.

Paul Winters

*A call to my local Blockbuster store in Yuma , AZ verifed that “Nate and the Colonel” is available on DVD but not on tape - b.

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.

Native American National Voter Conference Invite

NATIVE VOTE PROJECT
125 W. DAKOTA AVE. • P I E R R E, S D 5 7 5 0 1
OFFICE 605-224-4823 • FAX 605-224-4839
WEBSITES: WWW.NAVOTING.COM • WWW.UNITEDSIOUX.ORG

To: Tribal Leaders and Interested Parties:

The Native Vote Project, a non-profit organization, in conjunction with the United Sioux Tribes, formally invites you to attend a two-day Native American National Voter Conference. The conference will be held at the Hyatt Regency in Albuquerque, NM on October 19th and 20th, 2004.

The conference is designed for Tribal Leaders, political and grassroots organizers, college students etc., and will feature informational and training sessions ranging from voter registration strategies to fundraising to campaign management. In addition, both the Bush and Kerry campaigns have accepted invitations to attend the conference and will be sending surrogates to discuss issues that are important to Native communities.

As Native People we have long been political. But over the past few years, our power to sway elections through locally organized voter mobilization cannot be denied. As a result, politicians are scrambling to develop relationships with tribal nations. But it will take national coordination to take our voting power to the next level.

We are on the cusp of a breakthrough. Our people represent a formidable voting block in several states. And although we are a politically diverse group, we all share in the desire to focus more attention on Native issues. The better equipped we are to exercise our voting power, the more attention our common interests will demand nationwide.

The longer Native People are fragmented, the easier it is for politicians to ignore our common interests. But no politician can afford to ignore organized voters. And once in office, no politician can afford to forget them either.

More information and registration materials are available at www.navoting.com. If you have additional questions, please call Kim Morin at (605) 224-4823. We look forward to seeing you in Albuquerque.

Sincerely,


Brian Drapeaux
State Coordinator
Native Vote Project

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.

Former NCAI Head Supports Kerry

‘Allen says as a Republican he wanted to support Bush but couldn’t.’

A reprint from “Native Times” submitted by Melody Little Wolf.

Sam Lewin 10/4/2004

A former head of the National Congress of American Indians and a member of the Republican Party says he is supporting the Kerry/Edwards ticket this year. W. Ron Allen, also the Chairman of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe of Sequim of Washington State, announced the endorsement at the National Native Vote Rally this weekend.

Allen said he wanted to support the GOP but concluded that it was not in his best interest to do so. “I am a Republican and have attempted to support the Bush administration, but have been disappointed in the lack of support and the broken promises for our Tribe’s agenda.

“They have not advanced our sovereignty; nor assisted our Tribes in achieving our goals of self governance, self-reliance, protection of our Treaty rights; nor addressed our community health care, economic/jobs needs, housing, transportation, protection of our natural resources and public safety needs.”

Allen said in a statement, “I have been particularly disappointed in President Bush’s budgets that have penalized the Tribes’ BIA budget to pay for federal mismanagement of Tribal and individual trust resources. I believe that a Kerry/Edwards administration will honor its commitments and promises to the Tribes and our communities. I’m confident that a Kerry Administration budget will correct the injustice imposed on Tribes over the past four years.”

Kerry has been touting a plan to boost health care on tribal lands, an idea that Bush administration officials have criticized as too costly. In his statement, Allen also echoed a call that has been heard quite a few times this election year: Get out the vote.

“With only a month until Election Day, Native Americans have an opportunity to shape a national election like never before. By exercising our right to vote, we will have our voices heard. If we want an administration in the White House that will give us a seat at the table and listen to our concerns, we must get out and vote in November. This election is too important to sit on the sidelines,” he said.

Indians are still overwhelmingly Democrats, although there are a growing number of exceptions. Thirty-seven Indian delegates attended the Republican Convention in New York this summer as opposed to the 87 who went to the Democratic Convention.

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.

'No Audience For American Indians!'

There is a disturbing message coming from Hollywood concerning Native Americans in film. I saw it on Native-Roscoe’s Entertainment website with the headline ”Blockbuster Video Says NO To ‘Nate and the Colonel’. They claim there is no audience for American Indians.”

I received an e-mail from Carmela Confesor of Tucson stating she attended a recent showing of Rick Schroeder’s “Black Cloud” at the Tohono O’odham’s Desert Diamond Casino about a young Navajo’s dream of becoming an Olympic boxer. Schroeder told a mixed-race audience of some 3,000 that Hollywood told him, “No one would come to see a film about Indians.”

Schroeder added that after he was turned down for funding by Hollywood for the film, he went to Indian tribes to get $700,000 for the low budget movie which was filmed on the Navajo Reservation. Can this funding from Indian tribes possibly present a threat to Hollywood production companies?

Perhaps, someone should have told the producers of “Little Big Man”, “Last of the Mohicans”, ”Dances With Wolves” “Legends of the Fall,” “Dreamkeepers”, “Skins”, that no one would go to see their films about Indians. How many “Westerns” have been made without Indians? Most westerns have a historical background and Native Americans were always part of the scene even if they were portrayed by white men.

Has anyone told New Line Cinema director Terrence Maslick his feature film “The New World” , which should be wrapped up sometime this month, is doomed to failure.? The picture is set in 1607 Virginia. It stars Colin Farrell as Captain John Smith, Wes Studi is Opechancanough with Christopher Plummer in the role of Sir Christopher Newport and features more Indians than white folks. This makes a great deal of sense as in those days there were a lot more Indians in Colonial Virginia than white people.

I talked with Lee Whitestar about “Nate and the Colonel” in which he has the role of the Chippewa chieftain, “Offers the Pipe”. According to Lee, the film was to be released in video stores late in the summer, but it is nowhere to be found, adding the video can be ordered through the Internet or video stores but it is not being sold over the counter, anywhere.

The Indian role, here, is secondary as this film tells the story of a Confederate colonel, his freed black slave friend, Nate; stolen gold; the murder of the colonel’s wife; and revenge.

It is going to be tough to convince the more than 4 million Native Americans of pure and mixed blood in this country they have “no audience”, but I can bet Blockbusters and other video outlets will find out differently, particularly at those stores located in communities near reservations.

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.