McDonalds - Bah Humbug!!!! - Part 2

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL FROM ‘NATIVE UNITY'!

Do you have a New Year’s resolution? Tucson civil rights activist Carmela Confesor has one and it is to get to the bottom of the alleged racial discrimination charge that the Los Alamos McDonald’s restaurant refused to service to members of a middle school basketball team from the Santa Fe Indian School because they are Indian.

The story originally appeared in “The Shadow Warrior News”(affiliated with the Oyate Music Corporation owned and operated by NAI) on December 22nd which was passed on to me by Annie of Native Celebs and was posted on “Native Unity”, December 23rd.

Charges of racial discrimination should be taken very seriously and not be made as a prank or a ruse to get even with an individual or business. I tried to contact the original source of the story – The Shadow Warrior News – to get more information, but my e-mail was not answered. The site does not list an e-mail address for a contact person other than an address to begin a subscription for their newspaper. I probably have become a subscriber.

Later that day, I received the following message from Carmela: “Dear Bobbie – I read Annie’s submitted article to “Native Unity” about the alleged racist incident at the Los Alamos, NM McDonalds restaurant so I sent off an e-mail to Mcdonald’s corporate headquarters and asked them for information about the incident.”

“Got my answer a few minutes ago. They said they do not discuss with anyone rumors of what may have happened, end of message. I’ve got news for McDonalds — Carmela Confesor does not take “NO” for an answer from anyone. She writes, “Guess they think I will go away - NOPE!”

Carmela has also tried to e-mail the Warrior News with no success, so she has called Oyate Music Hdqs. and asked them to return her call. She has made some progress with McDonalds through an e-mail from a person from their Customer Response Center. They report they do not condone any type of racial intolerance by their employees and stated they are going to immediately look into the alleged incident.

You don’t mess with Carmela Confesor. She has a powerful ally in Tucson – Jobs with Justice. “We carry some weight around here,” she said., “and can protest and picket all of the McDonalds in Tucson just like we did for a year with Taco Bell because of their discrimination against tomato pickers.” JWJ also has affiliates all over the country.

“It’s the apathetic public that makes it so hard on victims of racial discrimination,“ Carmela added. So, let’s start the New Year on a positive note and clear up the “McDonald’s - Bah Humbug!!!” incident. Was this for real or someone’s idea of a Christmas joke?.

Dear Bobbie: Here is what I just received. Well, it shows that this did happen. Its all true and we are going to continue with Jobs with Justice to make sure this will not happen again. I am not going to respond to McDonalds right now. We will respond on letterhead from Jobs. To think that it did happen bothers me a lot. Will continue to keep in touch with you about this. Love Carmela

From: McDonaldsCorporation@mcd.com
To: chanteistar@earthlink.net

Hello Carmela: Thank you for contacting McDonald's to share your concern regarding an allegation of discrimination in Los Alamos, NM. We appreciate the opportunity to respond to your concern.First and foremost, McDonald's values the diversity of all of our customers. McDonald's is committed to 100 percent customer satisfaction for each and every customer with every visit.

In light of that dedication and in response to the customer complaint, McDonald's and the restaurant owner/operator are working with the School District Superintendent, as well as other school officials to provide a resolution that will benefit the children of the community.

Again, thank you for taking the time to contact McDonalds.

Native Artifacts On E-Bay

Submitted by Jean Bedell-Mashkikinabinais

My hope is any Native newspaper will print this article. This is a outrage and must be stopped. This is not the first time we Native people have had problems with the exploitation of our people. .

Subject: ANOTHER Corpse Tag on EBAY......

We stopped the last one now we have to stop this one.. I am so angry over this because not only is this just not done but a person claiming to be of Indian heritage is selling this...his address and address of e-bay are below. Thank you...please let’s gather and stop this again...many blessings - red tree woman”

17-1800's WYOMING TERRITORY CORPSE TAG INDIAN Artifacts
Description Item number: 3944393535
Ends 1840 hours 2 Dec 04 (just less than 24 hours from NOW)

This auction is for a very unique Indian relic from Wyoming territory. It is in good dug condition, measures 3" across. Made from heavy weight silver metal. It has some minor damage, very slightly bent. The tag is marked Bureau of Indian Affairs Wyoming Territory.

There is a rectangular box for the corpse number to be inscribed. Says "corpse No."alongside the box. The reverse of the tag has no writing or markings.The person who dug it up found several others with this one, so maybe it was the stash. Not sure if they were ever used or not. Very nice antique item with great historical value! Ideal Christmas gifts.

This is 100% GUARANTEED AUTHENTIC as stated from the personal collection of a Sioux/Menomonee Native American Indian, that's me! I have enjoyed collecting Indian artifacts since my boyhood days of walking the freshly plowed fields.

I am excited to be sharing this great personal collection with others who love my culture as deeply as I do. PLEASE READ THE RED SECTION BELOW FOR INFO ON OUR **FREE SHIPPING** OFFER AND TO GET THE CHRISTMAS SHOPPING INFORMATION YOU ARE LOOKING FOR!

I will be selling more dug and non-dug authentic Native American Indian, Indian War, wars relics and artifacts, Cherokee removal relics from my personal collection in the days to come. To find out what else I have, see my seller list.

To find out more about myself and my wife, who also sells with me, just click on the "ME" icon next to our ebay user name. We accept all major credit cards through paypal, paypal payments, money orders, cashier's checks, personal checks accepted in special circumstances. We will ship anywhere, so overseas customers may bid on our items. Shipping charges combined if you win more than one auction. Think that just about covers it all! Thank you and good luck!

IF YOU NEED TO REACH US OUR, EMAIL ADDRESS IS AS FOLLOWS:...lakotaghostdance@wi.rr.com

Mitakuye Oyasin...we are all related...sometimes unfortunately!”

,

__________________________________________________

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.

For news and information on Native American and First Nations actors, go to Annie's site at www.NativeCelebs.com and follow the threads.

A Christmas Message To All

Look! Listen! Feel!
Submitted by Melody Little Wolf

The man whispered, "Creator, speak to me."
And a meadowlark sang.
But the man did not hear.

So, the man yelled, "Creator, speak to me!"
And thunder rolled across the sky.
But the man did not listen.

Then, the man looked around and said,
"Creator, let me see You!"
And a star shone brightly.
But the man did not notice.

And the man shouted, "Creator, show me a miracle!"
And a life was born.
But the man did not know.

So, the man cried out in despair...
"Touch me Creator, Let me know You are here!"
Whereupon the Creator reached down and touched the man.
But the man brushed the butterfly away and walked on.

author unknown

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.

For news and information on Native American and First Nations actors, go to Annie's site at www.NativeCelebs.com and follow the threads.

Reviving A Native Tradition - Basket Weaving

Terrol Dew Johnson, one of the co-founders of TOCA, Tohono O’odham Community Action, remembers his mother picking yucca, bear grass and devil’s claw but she and her sisters never learned how to weave the grasses into baskets. They were part of the " generational gap" during the boarding school era when Native children were sent away to special schools to become “Anglosized”.

“Today, Johnson, 32, is helping to reweave that gap in an effort to preserve the tribe’s culture.” Johnson and his partner, Tristan Reader, 39, founded TOCA in 1996. The cooperative teaches weaving to young tribal members and how the tribe’s history and its relationship to the land are represented in the baskets.

Woven from plants, the baskets were designed to harvest, carry and store food and seeds to feed the family. The inner coils are of bear grass, the green and white stitches are made from the yucca plant and the black decoration comes from the devil’s claw. Reddish stitches are from the root of the banana yucca.

Reader states that half the creation of a basket originates long before the first stitches are ever made. “Weavers have to harvest materials seasonally. Green yucca is harvested in the winter; white yucca has to be bleached by the summer sun.”

According to Reader, it is getting increasingly difficult to find some of the raw materials. Much of it grows on private or public lands, now. Broom-making companies are now competing for bear grass, getting permits to cut on public lands.

Whereas a weaver will prune the plant, take maybe 10 percent of the growth and come back to the same plant, year after year, the broom company takes the whole plant which can take from 10 to 15 years to become productive, again. TOCA is trying to cultivate the plants on a farm where it is also growing traditional desert plants and food to fight diabetes, which now affects some 50 percent of the tribe’s adults.

Johnson was first exposed to weaving at a Native American summer camp and back at school, he took a weaving course as part of his Native American history requirement where he worked to learn traditional shapes and designs.

Through one teacher, he met another, then a third – Clara Havier who was older than the others and used different styles and stitches. She spoke only O’odham so my grandparents would go with me each day to translate.

Being dyslexic – and boy, can I relate to that – Johnson got As in art and Ds and Fs in everything else so he dropped out of school at the ninth grade level. He worked at a store buying and selling Native art, then struck out on his own as a weaver. He decided a collective was the answer for both the weaver and collector. The non-profit organization markets the baskets through its office and shows so the weaver no longer has to go to the shows to make sales and the organization has hundreds of baskets to show collectors.

Today, weavers like Johnson have elevated their work to a fine art, perfecting traditional forms and branching out to new decorative techniques. He incorporates carved gourds weaving open work on the top. His artistic innovation has brought him numerous awards and his baskets each sell for thousands of dollars.

Reader adds, “With the loss of traditional foods and harvest, the tribe was losing the songs, legends and ceremonies that go with tradition. It’s all related to culture, health, and economic development.”

Wisdom comes from our past creating solutions for our future. The TOCA motto.

This story, edited for content and length, is from the December 3rd issue of “The Arizona Republic”, bylined Judy Nichols.

More than 200 basket weavers gathered for THE CELEBRATION OF BASKETWEAVING AND NATIVE FOODS FESTIVAL at The Heard Museum on the weekend of December 4th and 5th where the basket weavers revealed their individual stories of why and how the tradition is necessary to their daily lives and in carrying their cultural connections to the younger generation.

Karen Antone, Tohono O’odham – “Somebody’s got to keep the tradition going. Nowadays, we hardly see the young girls making baskets”

Rose Martin. Tohono O’odham – “Behind every basket is a person because every minute of your life is going into the basket. Basket weaving is how I deal with my life and feeling in control of my life.”

Mary Pablo, Tohono O’odham – “We have five generations of basket weavers in our family. The youngest that weaves is six. I was taught that our basket is like another human. We were taught to be in our right mind when we create baskets.”

Rhonda Lomakema, Hopi – “Not everybody can learn this. We’re lucky we still have the tradition and culture. We’re lucky we can still pass this on to the younger kids.”

Irwin Rope, San Carlos Apache – “Basket weaving slowed me down quite a bit. I’m not rushing to get things done. I used to wonder what my grandmother was thinking about while she was weaving. I think I have an idea, now.”

Elfreda Holmes, Hopi –“A long time ago mothers didn’t work. They had to make these baskets and sell them at the trading post to buy food for us.”

Ramona Tewayguna, Hopi – “We learn from our godmothers, our mothers and grandmothers. I’ve been making coiled baskets for many years. Being recognized motivates me to encourage all the young ladies to get involved with their culture and learn the skills from their elders.”

By Angela Cara Pancrazio – The Arizona Republic

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.

Lead In Mexican Candy At Issue - Again

Some Mexican candy tested positive for lead content in California is now readily available on Arizona grocery shelves, but state officials have no plans to conduct tests on the candy or try banning the imported sweets. Instead, AZ officials say the federal government should move in and force Mexican candy makers to remove the lead from their sweets.

Authorities believe the chili powder or tamarind used in some Mexican candies can become contaminated when: (1). Raw materials are dried in areas with high levels of airborne lead. (2). Raw materials are stored in containers glazed with lead paint that leaches into the materials. (3). The chilies are brought to the processing plant in large sacks, with the grower being paid per weight of sack, oftentimes, he adds rocks or metal parts to increase its bulk weight which are ground in with the chilies in the initial manufacturing process.

In addition, some of the products may be sold in packaging or wrappers that contain lead which can seep into the candy which also poses a hazard if the child licks the wrapper or their fingers after handling the wrapper.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends that children under 6 years of age should not consume more than 6 micrograms of lead per day from all food sources.

Consumers are advised to avoid Chaca Chaca, a chili coated fruit bar after tests found that a child could ingest nearly twice the level of lead by eating just one 30 gram bar. Also on the avoidance list are the Lucas candy and seasoning products made with salt and chili powder and
candy made with tamarind fruit is suspect.

Information about lead poisoning:

Lead is toxic to humans, especially young children and fetuses because their bodies are growing and they readily absorb the poison.

Both short and long tern exposure to lead can damage the brain and nervous system which can lead to learning disabilities and behavioral disorders that can last a lifetime.

Headaches, abdominal pains, loss of appetite, clumsiness, constipation, agitation or decreased activity are all symptoms of lead poisoning at higher levels. But a child may not show symptoms at lower lead levels.

The only way to tell if a child has lead poisoning is to have a blood test.

For more information on lead poisoning and tainted candy go to - www.azdhs.gov/phs/oeh/invsurv/.lead/index.htm or www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/lead.htm.

To view test results of candy analyzed by the CA Dept of Health Services go to www.dhs.ca.gov/ps/fdb/ and scroll down to Lead Test Results for Imported Candy.

This story has been edited for content and length from the pps of the December 16th issue of The Arizona Republic bylined Daniel Gonzales.

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.

Ten 'Project Vote Smart' Research Internships Available

Submitted by Alyssa Burhans Macy

Project Vote Smart has received $210,000 in additional Scholarship Grant Money for our Internship Program. We are seeking to immediately place 10 students in research positions for 10 weeks. The students may start anytime between Jan 1 and May 1 2005.

Our political research center, founded by national political leaders Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, John McCain, Geraldine Ferraro and 40 other prominent political leaders, is now handling millions of citizen inquiries a day and was recently recognized by over 100 news organizations as the best there is.

We provide an extraordinary experience for interns in one of the most beautiful places on earth. Our young people's efforts to defend the citizens right to the facts about those that govern do not stop on Election Day.

We will have over 10,000 newly elected officials to track- their speeches, voting records, backgrounds, issue positions and campaign contributions (that's right; they will already be
fundraisingfor their next go around). Project Vote Smart collects exciting and important research, that U.S. News and World Report says, "would make the founders weep with joy."

Students interested in applying may visit the internship page of our website - http://www.vote-smart.org/program_internships.php- or email intern@vote-smart.org for an application form and more information.

Teachers: We would greatly appreciate it if you could tell your students about this opportunity. The Project pays all living expenses.Thank you and please don't hesitate to contact me if you have questions.

Sincerely-

Lisa Coligan
Internship Coordinator

Project Vote Smart
1 Common Ground
Philipsburg, MT 59858
406.859.8683 (ph)
406.859.8680 (fx)
lisa@vote-smart.org
www.vote-smart.org

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.

Two Congressional Bills Aid Natives

One passed - One pending

Senator Jon Kyl,(R-Ariz) has worked several years to get the Arizona Water Settlement Act ratified by Congress and finally succeeded with a final vote in the House last month under the sponsorship of Representative J.D. Hayworth, (R- Ariz). President Bush signed the bill into law the other day giving two Indian tribes control of nearly half the Colorado River water set aside for Phoenix and Tucson.

According to Erica Rosenberg, director of the program on Public Policy at the College of Law, Arizona State University, Native Americans, who have the highest military service record of any ethnic group in the nation, have been discriminated against by illegally withholding state taxes from their paychecks. For decades the Department of Defense withheld wages of thousands of enlisted Native Americans whose legal residence is on the reservation, and so according to the U.S. Constitution should not have been paying state taxes.

Now, the American Indian Veterans Pay Restoration, a bill introduced by Representative Tom Udall (D-NM) aims to put that money back in Native pockets.

It is, indeed, gratifying to see both Democrats and Republicans working together in Congress for the benefit of the Native tribes in our country.

The tribes – Gila River Indian community and the Tohono O’odham Nation benefiting from the Water Settlement Act - could lease some of the water to cities, but they will probably keep most of the water to support agricultural activities on their reservations.

Sen. Kyl states, “This legislation demonstrates that even a vast army of diverse groups with divergent interests can resolve strong differences over scarce and critical resources if they persevere and operate in good faith.”

Rosenberg writes, that four years ago, after congressional pressure, the defense department conceded its withholding practices against Native veterans was wrong and offered the vets an opportunity to stop illegal withholding and get some of their money back. Yet, many recently aware of their rights won’t recover their lost wages.

Why? Some may decide the cost of pursuing the refund of their taxes and all of the red tape isn’t worth their time. Those who do have legitimate claims are often stymied by bureaucratic roadblocks. If they are no longer in the service, they may be out of luck because of the statutes of limitations or the states have not kept the necessary records.

Emil Beck, a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee who has lived on the reservation since 1976 and joined the coast Guard in 1982 didn’t give up. Shortly after he enlisted, he filed a protest with North Carolina’s Department of Revenue over his state tax return. The state responded that he, like all military personnel who were state residents, was subject to the state tax.

He filed the same protest for the next five years and got the same response from the state. In 1996, he tried amending his returns for the previous four years and the state still denied his refund. He finally got legal assistance in 1999. Citing the relevant law and after 17 years of effort, Beck finally recovered the full amount that was owed to him, $22,000 including interest.

Not everyone has Beck’s persistence and stamina, but if Congressman Udall’s American Indian Veterans Pay Restoration Act is passed by the House and Senate, the way has been paved to right a wrong perpetrated on Native vets.

This story has been edited for content and length from the pps of The Arizona Republic. Rosenberg’s editorial appeared in the December 5th edition of the paper.

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.

Free Native Seeds!

They Hold The Keys To Today's Desert Farming

A Tucson-based group called “Native Seeds/SEARCH" is a seed bank that works to preserve varieties of plants that have grown in Native communities for centuries.

The group formed in 1983 as an off-shoot of a gardening project designed to improve the diet of the diabetes stricken Tohono O’odham community in Southern Arizona. It was the beginning of a seed bank of crops native to the region’s climate and culture.

Now, seeds collected by Native Seeds do more than just help to preserve a culture of farming. Many of the crops have resistances to heat, lack of water, alkaline soil and
certain diseases that have developed over centuries and are a source of genetic information that can be used to breed new types of drought resistance plants for modern agriculture.

Kevin Dahl, executive director of Native Seeds/SEARCH, gives the example of the tepary bean, a relative of the pinto bean that requires very little water for growth which is being researched for the drought-stricken areas of Africa.

The seed bank has grown to include more than 2,000 varieties of plants across 99 species coming from 18 tribal groups. Each variety of plant is preserved in the group’s seed bank for 10 years, then are planted so new seeds can be collected.

Last year, Native Seeds gave more than 5,000 seed packets to individual Native farmers and Native farming groups for free. Dahl added, “People have to request them … we want our seeds to go to good homes.”

The group also sells seed packets of 400 varieties. Last year 30,000 seed packets were sold at $2,50 per packet to people in far away places such as South Africa and Norway.

In 1997, the group, along with the Nature Conservancy purchased 160 acres in southern Arizona to serve as the Native Seeds/SEARCH farm. The land allowed the group to return even more ancient crops to the modern world.

Most popular packets requested from Native Seeds:

Tepary Beans – First grown during the time of the Hohokam. Teparies mature quickly and are tolerant of the desert heat, drought and alkaline soils.

Minnie’s Apache Hubbard Squash – Fruits are of variable sizes and shapes, light to dark orange skins with white and tan seeds.

Hopi Black-Eyed Sunflowers – called “iceqa”. The blue black hull is used as a dye.

Tohono O’odham Yellow Meated Watermelon – Originally from Africa. A high yielder of green oval fruit with a sweet and crisp yellow to orange flesh.

Chapalote “Pinole Maiz” – One of the most ancient corns. It is small-kerneled with slender ears and is the only brown corn.

Native Seeds/SEARCH offers free membership and free seeds, in limited quantities, to Native peoples from or living in the Greater Southwest region.

For more information, CONTACT US:

Website – http://www.nativeseeds.org/
Phone – (520) 622-5561
FAX – (520) 622-5591
E-mail – info@nativeseeds.org

Mailing address:
Native Seeds/SEARCH
526 N. 4th Avenue
Tucson, AZ 85705-8450

This article has been edited for length and content from the pps of The Arizona Republic bylined Matt Dempsey and the Internet Native Seeds/SEARCH website.

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.

Government And Native Leaders Agree To Great Lakes Cleanup

Submitted by Aleah Sato, Senior Writer, Ricksticks, Inc.

December 06, 2004 — By Maura Kelly Lannan, Associated Press

CHICAGO − Dozens of government and tribal leaders are joining forces to preserve the Great Lakes from environmental dangers, but some say more money and a clear action plan are still needed make sure the job gets done.

Friday's gathering, where participants signed a declaration of support for cleaning up the Great Lakes, was prompted by an executive order issued in May by President Bush. He named a 10-member Cabinet-level task force, chaired by Environmental Protection Agency chief Michael Leavitt, to coordinate cleanup among states, federal agencies and Canada.

"For the first time, we'll demonstrate to the Congress and the nation that the Great Lakes community speaks with one voice. For the first time, we will make the restoration of the Great Lakes a national priority," said Ohio Gov. Bob Taft, co-chairman of the Council of Great Lakes Governors.

Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., said he supports the effort if it is backed with a funding commitment from Congress. He said action must be taken soon to reduce environmental threats to the Great Lakes.

The General Accounting Office found last year that 33 federal and 17 state programs have spent more than $1.7 billion on the environmental restoration of the Great Lakes. The efforts were uncoordinated, however, and the results were difficult to measure, the GAO said.

Source: Associated Press
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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.

Historic Water Rights Settlement For Native Tribes

Final congressional approval of the most far-reaching Indian water settlement in history now awaits the President’s signature. The bill would cede to Indian tribes – the Gila River Indian Community and the Tohono O’odham Nation in Arizona - half the Colorado River water originally set for Phoenix and Tucson and allow those tribes to lease it back to those burgeoning cities for a profit.

If the tribal claims had been left unresolved, they could have dragged through the courts for years and cost the state significantly more in time, money and water.

Of the 1.5 million acre-feet of Colorado River water that flows down the Central Arizona Project canal each year, 650,784 would be set aside for Indian claims.

The bill would directly allocate 102,000 acre-feet of CAP water to the Gila River Community and shift an additional 53,700 acre-feet of water from other users.

It would reallocate 28,200 acre-feet of water to the Tohono O’odham Nation and shift an additional 9,600 acre-feet to the tribe. An additional 67,300 acre-feet would still be available for future tribal settlements.

“We’ve been in this struggle to regain our water rights for almost a century,” said Gila River Governor Richard Narcia, who was in the Nation’s Capitol when the settlement was passed. “Our traditional name is translated to ‘River People’, and to regain that water is not only something we’ve been working toward, it’s a cultural issue for our people.” They can become farmers again!

The Gila Community plans to put most of the water to work restoring farmland left fallow for generations with a small amount leased to Valley cities. The water battles won’t end as The Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe in northern Arizona want their claims to the Colorado settled.

Negotiations over the final draft took several years and failed several times to make it out of Congress. The Senate finally approved the package on October 10th. On Wednesday, November 17th, the measure was passed by the House thus sending it to President Bush who has announced support for the bill which also sets aside money to help tribes build needed water infrastructure, with aid specifically for the San Carlos Irrigation Project which was initiated in the 1930s but was never completed and establish water delivery requirements and construction obligations to the San Xavier Indian Reservation near Tucson. Other claims involve the San Carlos Apache and the White Mountain Apache Tribes.

From the November 23rd edtorial pps of The Arizona Republic.
“In an arid environment, nothing is more precious than water and with the historic passage by Congress of the Arizona Water Settlements Act, the state’s water future just got a little more certain – and better – for everyone.”

This story was edited for content and length from a front page article in the November 18th edition of The Arizona Republic bylined – Shaun Mckinnon and Billy House.

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 Woman 'Sounds Off!'

My People the Ojibwe and Mazina’igan

Submitted by Jean Bedell-Mashkikinabinais

Tribes are disappearing with the mixed bloods or rather more chimookman than Indian who I call just members because they do not care about preservation of anything except for government handouts and partying. This worries me and my children who are in graduate school in environmental sciences to help the Native people and give back to our earth mother.

It is sad; I had hoped that the next generations could try to assist in preservation of the lands and water and mostly the culture and language. The great lake tribes are trying their best in the management of resources and to clean up the water, land and animal populations to include Bay Mills, Michigan who are still in a conflict for fishing rights and management over treaty waters.
In an article "the Mazina'igan", they mention attorney Kathryn Tierney, who is preparing for her third major Ojibwe Treaty case. This is to concur that the 1836 inland Treaty rights are scheduled to go on trial in January 2006.

The focus of this case will be: "what did everyone understand in 1836? And based on what they understood, what does it mean today?” Tierney replied, "This is seen as a popular trend in courts today and it is the response on allot of Treaty issues today. They were written in a time where there was little comprehension of the English language so it is hard to decipher why most leaders would sign compacts with the U.S government where people didn't understand the content of those Treaties.”

Another aspect is the “with holding of rations” unless tribes conformed to agreements through state laws. These states mostly did not recognize Treaties even though they were supposed to be recognized through the federal government. Fishing rights may not be an issue for the future generations, if pollution of the great lakes continues and Indians are forced not to consume any fish from the Lakes.

Already we see animals developing illnesses unheard of 100 years ago, and foreign plants destroying natural vegetation in the Great Lakes, in agriculture, and in forest areas.

Already shorelines from Duluth to Bad River are suggesting that there is no swimming allowed or fishing because of harmful pollutants. Near the shoreline in Duluth, there bares a sign that warns people not to even put their hands in the water because this could stir up contaminants to the surface.

It reminds me of a staff of victory or a chilling resemblance of long ago when Native people used lances to signify a status and or in times of war, except now this is someone else’s war no one takes responsibility for.

"The Mazina’igan: A Chronicle of the Lake Superior Ojibwe" (1) has done an excellent job at presenting these issues through their monthly paper. They present environmental issues with supplemental illustration that is colorful and they also integrate the Ojibwe language and cultural perspective throughout. We can see how different species of plants and animals are at risk in the ceded territories and the Great Lakes region of the United States, which are the largest body fresh water lakes in the world.

(1) The Mazina’igan: A chronicle of the Lake Superior Ojibwe. (2004-2005). GLIFWC, P.O. Box 9 Odanah, WI. 54861

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.