Porcupine Clinic Out Of Heat - Update From Grand River - First Nations Mohawk- 1st 'Native American SRI' Gathering

Porcupine Clinic Out of Heat
Submitted by Western Shoshone Defense Project
By Stephanie M. Schwartz, Freelance Writer
Member, Native American Journalists Association
October 26, 2007 Firestone, Colorado

Porcupine Clinic, located in the small community of Porcupine, South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota [Sioux] Reservation is out of heat. According to Stella White Eyes, Administrative Assistant for the Clinic, the Clinic has closed its doors until it can find resources to fund their heating costs.

Porcupine Clinic is the only independent Indian community-controlled health clinic in the United States. It is not connected with the Federal Indian Health Services (IHS) program and is funded primarily by grants and donations. Unfortunately, those resources have become exceptionally rare this year.

Porcupine Clinic opened its doors in 1992 and serves the entire Reservation as well as the Porcupine District in which it is located. Patients are billed according to their ability to pay and many patients, including low-income Elders and children, receive free health care there.

In 2004, the Porcupine Clinic opened its dialysis unit, saving countless lives of those diabetic patients who could not journey 120 miles away to Rapid City for needed dialysis treatment several times a week. The only other dialysis treatment available on the 11,000 square mile (2.7 million acres) Reservation is located in the small IHS Hospital in the community of Pine Ridge. But that facility hosts only a handful of dialysis beds, is up to 100 miles away from the more remote areas of the Reservation, and is completely unable to treat the vast need of the entire Reservation.

Recent statistics state that the diabetes rate on Pine Ridge is 800% that of the National average and the life expectancy rate is 52 to 58 years old. It is said that 55% of the adults on Pine Ridge over the age of 40 have diabetes.

Ms. White Eyes states that the Clinic has been unable to pay their annual propane tank rental fees of $245 (for both the Clinic and dialysis unit tanks) or for the propane to fill them. They have three tanks: a thousand gallon tank which services the main clinic and two five hundred gallon tanks servicing the dialysis unit. The minimum propane delivery from their provider, Western Cooperative (WESTCO) out of Chadron and Hay Springs, Nebraska, is $360.

If all the tanks were filled, at $1.69 per gallon, it would cost well over $3,000. Further, that will need to happen more than once this winter. While the dialysis unit helps to fund at least part of its own propane use, the Clinic is out of funding now, just as winter is approaching fast.

Harvey Iron Boy, Porcupine District Vice President and Head Man, spoke of the vital role that the Clinic plays in the local district as well as the Reservation as a whole. Not only are the health care services, bi-lingual assistance, diabetic education, and dialysis treatments all meeting critical needs on the Reservation but there are more basic needs met by the Clinic as well. He pointed out that locals often come into the Clinic simply to get warm on days when they have no heat in their own homes.

Ms. White Eyes has contacted various non-profits and assistance organizations but has largely gone unanswered. Link Center Foundation, a small all-volunteer non-profit organization out of Longmont, Colorado, was contacted this week and was also unable to help. With their own heating assistance program for the elders and disabled on the Reservation struggling due to lack of donations, there simply was no funding available to help the Clinic.

However, Audrey Link, Founder/President of the Link Center Foundation (www.LinkCenterFoundation.org), personally paid the $245 out of her own pocket for the annual tank rental fees for the Porcupine Clinic and dialysis unit on Friday.

Largely retired and on limited income herself, Link stated that “She couldn’t go to sleep tonight if she thought the dialysis patients and Clinic were going to lose their propane tanks. At least now, if they can raise any money at all elsewhere, they can use the money for propane to fill them.”

Anyone wishing to donate towards propane fuel for the Porcupine Clinic may do so directly to the propane company. Please contact:
Loretta at Western Cooperative (WESTCO)
170 Bordeaux St – Chadron, NE 69337-2342
Call Toll Free 800-762-9906

Credit Card and Bank Card donations by phone will be accepted. Small donations are also welcome and will accumulate until the minimum delivery has been reached and then the company will make a delivery of propane to the Clinic. Please clearly mark any donation “For Porcupine Clinic.”

Donations may also be sent directly to the Clinic. For more information, please contact:
Porcupine Clinic
Stella White Eyes, Administrative Assistant
P.O. Box 99 – Porcupine, SD 57772
Internet Information: http://www.lakotamall.com/porcupine/
Phone: 605-867-5655
Note: Due to lack of heat, there may or may not be anyone available to answer the phone at the Clinic at this time. Please leave a message.

Stephanie M. Schwartz may be reached at SilvrDrach@Gmail.com
Visit other writings of Stephanie M. Schwartz at www.SilvrDrach.homestead.com

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

Update From Grand River - First Nations, Mohawk
Submitted by Monica Davis
By Hazel Hill

When the land reclamation of Kanonhstaton first started over 18 months ago, the people involved asked for three conditions.
*They asked that the Confederacy Council be giving the lead. They wanted our traditional government to handle our lands and to protect and uphold our treaty rights.

*They asked that the clanmothers be involved. They wanted to help bring back the responsiblities of the clans and to ensure that the clan families were given a voice.

*They also asked that lawyers not speak for us and the Law to which we would be working under would be the Kaienerekowah, the Great Law, which is the foundation of our relations with all of Creation.

To date, all of these requests have been not only acknowledged, but adhered to. The Confederacy Chiefs are in the lead. Even the elected council agreed with this.

The clanmothers have been actively involved in this process and are working with their clan families and working with the women of this community to help those who are unsure of their clans understand where they fit in and how the clan process works.

They are working at establishing a meeting place where people can go to find out the history of their family and their clans if they are uncertain.

The Law, which we are upholding and working with is, the Kaierenekowah. The lawyers, who are involved, be it with the Haudenosaunee or the Elected system, are there to advise and to assist.

They are providing assistance, especially when the Crown representatives try to influence the negotiations by trying to bring their Canadian laws to the table through the Department of Justice, or through their ‘specific claims process’.

Because those individuals who are there to assist are fully aware of Canadian laws, they can easily recognize when the Crown tries to box us in, or when they attempt to pull the Haudenosaunee into the Crown’s boat and under the Crown’s laws.

They are not there to tell our Chiefs or any of our people what to do, they are only there to advise. We are sitting at the table according to our ancient covenants and treaties, specifically the Two Row and the Silver Covenant Chain. The Crown representatives have agreed in writing to this process.

These were the words used when the Onkwehonwe entered into the Two Row Wampum Treaty with the United States, and they were a re-affirmation of the words that were used in the same Treaty relationship with the French and the English.

The same words were used in the Friendship Treaty Belt between the Onkwehonweh and the Dutch when asked by the Dutch which symbols will you go by...

“ We will go by these symbols: when the Creator made Morther Earth and created man to walk upon this earth to enjoy all nature’s fruits saying no one shall claim Mother Earth except the rising faces which are to be born;
(1) as long as the sun shines upon this earth that is how long our agreement will stand;
(2) as long as the water still flows; and
(3) as long as the grass grows green at a certain time of the year. Now we have symbolized this agreement and it shall be binding forever as long as Mother Earth is still in motion.

We have finished and we understand what we have confirmed and this is what our generation should know and learn not to forget.”

(These words were taken from a publication from the library of Jacob & Yvonne Thomas, 1978.) They weren’t just words sang by the original man in black!

Today, we are left with trying to get the Crown to uphold its end of this Treaty Relationship. The task has never been more in the forefront as it has been since the land reclamation of Kanonhstaton (former Douglas Creek Estates) began in February 2006 by the Onkwehonweh of what is now known as the Six Nations.

Since this negotiation process has started, the Haudenosaunee representatives have continually reminded the Crown representatives of Canada that their obligation to uphold and protect this relationship is just as binding today as it was in the early 1600’s when the first friendship treaty was established.

No law or any unilateral acts of the British Crown in the formation of what is now known as Canada or the United States can take away from those responsibilities, nor can any other law supercede these Treaties.

To continue with Hazel’s article go to:
Hazel Hill’s link - Mohawk
http://verbena19.wordpress.com/2007/09/27/
hazel-update-from-grand-river-september-25-

First Ever 'Native American Leaders For SRI' Gathering
WASHINGTON, D.C.///News Advisory///The first of its kind “Native American Leaders for Socially Responsible Investing (SRI)” gathering will take place November 2, 2007 at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya at the Santa Ana Pueblo in New Mexico. More than 25 Native American leaders from across the United States are expected to attend the event.

The meeting on November 2nd aims to expand an ongoing dialogue among Indigenous Communities in the US and the Social Investment Forum (SIF). The one-day “Native American Leaders for SRI” event takes place immediately before the 18th annual SRI in the Rockies Conference November 3 - 6, 2007 at the Hyatt Regency.

Susan White, director of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin Trust Department, and Chair of SIF’s Indigenous People’s Task Force, said: “This is an historic occasion. There has never been an official meeting between the Native American world and the socially responsible investing world. I believe that there is an incredible opportunity to strengthen both worlds through greater collaboration and cooperation. I am committed to elevating Native American issues by having more tribes join in SRI.”

Social Investment Forum CEO Lisa Woll said: “The social investment community, represented by the Social Investment Forum, is greatly looking forward to dialoguing and networking with indigenous communities, sharing information on how to undertake socially responsible investing, and learning more about how we can better address indigenous peoples’ issues through SRI.”

Featured speakers include J.D. Colbert, Chickasaw-Creek, president and CEO of Native American Bank, who will talk about the role of the bank in pooling Indian economic resources to increase Indian economic independence.

Larson Bill, Western Shoshone, and a community planner with the Western Shoshone Defense Project (WSDP) will speak about the project’s work to secure land rights, particularly WSDP’s fights against mining companies and the role that SRI has played in these efforts.

Rebecca Adamson, a Cherokee, is the founder and president emeritus of First Nations Development Institute and founder and president of First Peoples Worldwide. She will speak at the conference dinner on indigenous issues from a global perspective.

Other key panelists and speakers will include Jonny BearCub Stiffarm, business development manager, Native Energy; Elsie Meeks, executive director, Oweesta; Chris Peters, president, Seventh Generation Fund; Ron Solimon, president and CEO, Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, Inc.; Roland Johnson, former governor, Laguna Pueblo; Steve Cornell, co-founder of the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, director of the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at the University of Arizona; Tim Smith, board chair, SIF and vice-president of Walden Asset Management; Paul Hilton, director, Advanced Equities Research, Calvert; Stephanie Leighton, vice president & director of Equity Research, Trillium Asset Management Corp.; Laura Berry, executive director, ICCR; Steven Heim, director, Social Research, Boston Common Asset Management; and Justin Conway of the Calvert Foundation.

The sponsors of the event are: Boston Common Asset Management, Calvert, Mercer Investment Consulting, Oneida Nation, Pax, Spectra, Trillium Asset Management, and Walden Asset Management.

More information about the conference, please go to http://www.socialinvest.org/projects/indigenous.cfm on the Web.

ABOUT THE SOCIAL INVESTMENT FORUM

The Social Investment Forum (http://www.socialinvest.org) is the national membership association for the social investment industry. It is dedicated to advancing the concept, practice, and growth of socially responsible investing. The Forum's 500-plus members include financial planners, banks, mutual fund companies, research companies, foundations, and community investing institutions.

CONTACT: Patrick Mitchell, (703) 276-3266 or pmitchell@hastingsgroup.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.

NATIVE ISSUES BLOG
Professor Robert J. Miller
http://lawlib.lclark.edu/blog/native_america/

AIROS NATIVE NETWORK plays music, news and other great programs from Indian Country - www.airos.org

FOR NATIVE CELEBRITY NEWS - go to www.nativecelebs.com

Visit Vietnam Vet. LARRY MITCHELL at http://www.potawatomivet.com and click on his blog at the site.

NATIVE BIZ LEARNING CENTER - www.learn.nativebiz.com was developed for tribal education specialists serving tribal communities. Any tribal community can register at NO COST.

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

Attention: Hoax - NAJA Opportunities - Grijalva Protecting Tribes - Info For Juniper Ash

ATTENTION - A very disturbing e-mail has been sent to me which is a HOAX!!!!

Separatists claim responsibility for California Wildfires
ORANGE COUNTY, California (CNN) -- Radical Hispanic separatist organization MEChA ("Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan") is taking responsibility for setting the wildfires in California, confimed Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. HOAX - HOAX - HOAX!!!

Fake CNN web page ran bogus story on California wildfires
New York, PTI:

The web page, which has since been removed by the service provider after CNN lodged a protest, was picked up and reported on as real by several bloggers over the weekend.

A web page which copied the design and style of Cable News Network (CNN.Com) ran a fake story blaming the California wildfires on "radical Hispanic separatist", triggering complaints to the news organisation.

The network said it took action immediately when reports of the hoax surfaced. "Given the sensitivity of the situation in the state of California, we believe it is necessary to set the record straight that the fake news story implicating 'a Hispanic separatist organisation' in causing the wildfires is a hoax," CNN said in a written statement.

"Based on the gross misuse of the CNN brand, we demanded that the Web service provider hosting the page on which the fake story appears pull it immediately, and they are cooperating."

The California fires have scorched more than 500,000 acres and were the direct cause of seven deaths, according to officials. They also destroyed more than 1,600 homes. Damage could run into the billions of dollars.

National Minority Consortia Seeks J. Fellows -
NAPT - Native American Public Television - a member of the National Minority Consortia, invites you to submit an application for the NMC Journalism Fellowship, a partnership between the NMC and journalism schools around the country to create fellowships for recent journalism graduates and second year journalism graduate students.

The NMC's goal is to bring a younger and more diverse set of voices into the reporting around the 2008 elections on PBS and other public media outlets.

The fellows will create election-related multi-platform programming for public television, radio and online from a minority perspective leading up to the general elections in November 2008.

The hope is that by giving younger journalists a venue for their work through partners like: NewsHour and NewsHour Online, NPR, Frontline World Election series and the Tavis Smiley show as well as journalism mentoring by the NewsHour staff and the faculty at the J-schools, both the young people in the program and public media will benefit.

Ideal Candidates
Ideal CandidatesCandidates for the fellow program will be recent graduates of some of the premiergraduate journalism programs in the nation.

These reporters will possess strongmultimedia reporting and producing skills, including the ability to shoot and edit video,produce stand-alone audio reports, create interactive Web elements as well as strongwriting and copyediting abilities.

An interest in politics and familiarity with minority communities or the issues facing ethnic communities are a plus.

Copyright
Material produced by the fellows will be published under a Creative Commons licensethat encourages reproduction and attribution. All work will be bylined by the Fellow incharge of the project, should other Fellows or NMC, NewsHour or other public mediastaff assist in the reporting, they will be credited on the Web site.

To Apply
Interested candidates are to submit a properly formatted resume, and three additional writing samples demonstrative of their analytical writing and critical thinking skills. Additionally, college professors and advisors are encouraged to submit recommendations for eligible students directly to NAPT by contacting Shirley K. Sneve at ssneve2@unl.edu

PLEASE SEND ALL OTHER SUBMISSIONS VIA EMAIL TO: native@unl.edu by December 1, 2007.

Berkeley School of Journalism:
Application Deadline December 1

Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism would like to invite members ofthe Native American community to consider a two year professional degree in journalism. The application deadline is December 1 for the 2008-2010 cohort.

If you are interested, please contact Pam Gleason, Director ofAdmissions and Student Affairs at pgleason@berkeley.edu. More information is available at http://journalism.berkeley.edu/.

Pam GleasonDirector of Admissions and Student Affairs
Graduate School of JournalismUniversity of California, Berkeley
112 North Gate HallBerkeley, CA
94720-5860510-642-3654

Protecting Tribes From Mining Projects
Filed under: News Shorts, Tribes, Mining — Jodi Peterson

Native Americans may find they have more control over mining projects on their lands, thanks to Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz. The House Natural Resources Committee, which is laboring to overhaul the obsolete 1872 Mining Law, adopted a provision sponsored by Grijalva to help tribes harmed by mining. H.R. 2262, the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2007, had originally included language addressing tribal impacts, but it was later removed from the bill. (See our earlier stories on mining reform here and here.)

The reinstated amendment allows tribes to request that certain lands not be mined. According to the Indigenous Environmental Network, the amendment will:
“… enable Tribes to petition the Secretary of Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to withdraw federal lands from mining activities that have cultural and religious values. A separate process will require the Secretaries to establish regulations in consultation with Tribes to determine the appropriate information needed for a Tribal petition requesting withdrawal on land important for cultural and religious reasons.”

Welcome news for all the Indians harmed by mining — the Hopi who fought to reclaim their groundwater from the Black Mesa coal mine, the Navajos sickened by uranium mining, and many more …

Juniper Ash
Hello, I've read your webpage or blog and found it interesting. I was wondering if you could help me find a place to purchase Juniper Ash flour. There are several of us looking for someone that sells it. All of us are into Native American recipes but some ingredients are difficult to find. Thank You....Bethany Whitt

Bethany Whitt
ppcn@earthlink.net
EarthLink Revolves Around You.

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.

NATIVE ISSUES BLOG
Professor Robert J. Miller
http://lawlib.lclark.edu/blog/native_america/

AIROS NATIVE NETWORK plays music, news and other great programs from Indian Country - www.airos.org

FOR NATIVE CELEBRITY NEWS - go to www.nativecelebs.com

Visit Vietnam Vet. LARRY MITCHELL at http://www.potawatomivet.com and click on his blog at the site.

NATIVE BIZ LEARNING CENTER - www.learn.nativebiz.com was developed for tribal education specialists serving tribal communities. Any tribal community can register at NO COST.

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

Uranium Legacy Outrages Congress - Part 2

Congressman Henry Waxman (D – CA): 'The primary responsibility for this tragedy rests with the federal government'

By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau,
Gallup Independent

Radioactive Soil
Because statistics alone do not tell the full story, Etsitty demonstrated, using a sample of radioactive soil shipped from the Rare Metals site in Tuba City, “a site that we call Highway 160,” he said. “I have in front of me an instrument (Ludlum 19) that the Navajo Superfund uses to detect radioactive contaminants.

”This particular device detects gamma radiation. Gamma radiation is al throughout the cosmos and the atmosphere ... The sample that I have before me is covered, and as we get closer to it, you’ll hear the detection device starting to recognize the gamma radiation from the source,” he said.

There were a few audible beeps as Etsitty moved closer to the sample, which was 30 times above background level. “I’ll remove the cover and just let the device tell you what’s going on,” he said. The instrument began to beep furiously.

”The sounds that you have heard are just a small demonstration to show that Navajo families are, oftentimes, living within a few hundred yards of materials that we’re told we shouldn't be exposed to for more than an hour. But we have Navajo residents that have been living in these areas sometimes more than 40 or 50 years,” he said.

Dr. Brugge told the committee, “There has been too little research on the health impacts of uranium mining in Navajo communities. One study under way,for example, will mostly assess kidney disease, and not birth defects, cancer or neurological problems.

”Today, as we begin the public process of addressing community exposures, Ican only hope that the path is far shorter than the one traveled by theuranium miners and their families.”

Churchrock Spill
Larry King, a former uranium miner, described the foul odor and yellowish color of the fluids associated with the Churchrock spill. "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 waterlines 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.

Edith Hood, who worked at Quivera, also known as the Kerr-McGee mine, was diagnosed with lymphoma in the summer of 2006. She talked about living on Red Water Pond Road, sandwiched between two abandoned mines, where she can still see equipment and “vent bags sticking out of the earth.”

”These places are still contaminated. I know because I learned how to survey the ground for radiation when our community got involved in a monitoring program in my area four years ago. I know because the government people told us it was,” she said.

”My father has pulmonary fibrosis. My mother was diagnosed with stomach cancer. My grandmother and grandfather died of lung cancer. Many of my family members and neighbors are sick, but we don’t know what from. Today, there is talk of opening new mines. How can they open new mines when we haven't even addressed the health impacts and environmental damage of the old ones?” she asked.

Resources’ Harrison of Red Valley grew up in uranium mining camps, watching children playing on waste piles and drinking mine water, which also was used to mix infant formula. “My little brother, Herman James Harrison, died of a stomach ailment at the age of 6 months. He drank the uranium-contaminated water.”

My father died of lung cancer in 1971 at the age of 46. My cousin's father, also a mine worker, died of lung cancer at the age of 42. All of my brothers and sisters have thyroid problems and disorders. They didn't work in the mines but they grew up in places around contamination.

”I have scarring on my left lung. In 1999 my kidneys failed and I was on dialysis until 2001 when I received a kidney transplant from my sister. My story is not unusual,” he said.

Yellowcake Grill
Ray Manygoats of Tuba City told how his family cooked their meals on a grill his father brought from Rare Metals. The grill had been used to sift yellowcake. “We would play in the yellowcake sand at the mill, jumping and rolling around in it. We also found many small metal balls at the mill. The balls were used to crush and process the uranium. We played marbles with them and had contests to see how far we could throw them.”

Manygoats has had surgery three times to remove growths from his eyes. His father had breathing problems, he said. “Many of my sisters and brothers also have had problems with their eyes. I lost my mother to lung cancer and stomach cancer ... Another family member, Lucille, was never able to grow her hair and always wore a wig all her life.

"Today, I still live in the same area, the land of my family. The mill is nolonger operating, but the waste from the mill is everywhere,” he said.

Harrison told the committee, “It’s been about 25 years since the last mines closed. My people shouldn't have to wait another 25 years for the federal government to accept a responsibility that it should have accepted many years ago.”

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.

NATIVE ISSUES BLOG
Professor Robert J. Miller
http://lawlib.lclark.edu/blog/native_america/

AIROS NATIVE NETWORK plays music, news and other great programs from Indian Country - www.airos.org

FOR NATIVE CELEBRITY NEWS - go to www.nativecelebs.com

Visit Vietnam Vet. LARRY MITCHELL at http://www.potawatomivet.com and click on his blog at the site.

NATIVE BIZ LEARNING CENTER - www.learn.nativebiz.com was developed for tribal education specialists serving tribal communities. Any tribal community can register at NO COST.

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

Uranium Legacy Outrages Congress - Part 1

Congressman Henry Waxman (D – CA): 'The primary responsibility for this tragedy rests with the federal government'

By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau, Gallup Independen
WINDOW ROCK - A picture may be worth a thousand words, but the sound of an instrument used to detect radioactive contamination, clicking away over a soil sample from Tuba City, set a federal oversight committee on its ear Wednesday during a hearing in Washington

Chairman Waxman’s Committee on Oversight and Government Reform heard from a Navajo Nation delegation about the health and environmental impacts of uranium contamination during a four-hour hearing.

Several congressional leaders expressed outrage at the federal government for allowing such conditions to remain unchecked on Navajoland for so many years, saying they were “ashamed” and “embarrassed.” They offered apologies to the Navajo people.

Their eyes were opened as they listened to George Arthur and Phil Harrison of the Navajo Resources Committee; Stephen B. Etsitty of Navajo Environmental Protection Agency; Doug Brugge, associate professor at Tufts University School of Medicine; Larry King and Edith Hood of Churchrock; andRay Manygoats of Tuba City.

Waxman’s committee has held a series of hearings throughout the year, focusing on programs or agencies that once were effective but are now broken or dysfunctional. “This morning we are looking at an instance where the government has never worked effectively. It’s been a bipartisan failure forover 40 years. It’s also a modern American tragedy,” he said.

"The primary responsibility for this tragedy rests with the federal government, which holds the Navajo lands in trust for the tribe. Our government leased the lands for uranium mining, purchased the uranium yellowcake produced from the mines to supply our nuclear weapons stockpile, and then allowed the operators of the mines and mills to walk away without cleaning up the resulting contamination,” Waxman said.

”Over the years, open-pit mines filled with rain, and Navajos used the resulting pools for drinking water and to water their herds. Mill tailings and chunks of uranium ore were used to build foundations, floors, and walls for some Navajo homes. Families lived in these radioactive structures for decades,” Waxman added.

"When the U.S. EPA took readings at one mine site, the radium levels wereover 270 times the EPA standard. That was last year,” he said.

Reservation Stories
The Navajo delegation brought Waxman’s words to life with a few stories of their own.

Resources’ Chairman Arthur said the Navajo Reservation has served, “in the words of a government study, as an ‘energy colony’ for the United States ...The Department of the Interior has been in the pocket of the uranium industry, favoring its interests and breaching its trust duties to Navajo mineral owners.

”We are still undergoing what appears to be a never-ending federal experiment to see how much devastation can be endured by a people and a society from exposure to radiation in the air, in the water, in mines, and on the surface of the land. We no longer are willing to be the subjects of that ongoing experiment,” Arthur said.

"I myself was present in Shiprock, the largest community on the Navajo Nation, in the late 1970s when federal officials decided to simply pile up all the radioactive mill tailings on land near the center of town, with no lining under the wastes and a lot of rocks on top to limit erosion. In what other town would the government allow this to occur and remain?

"In Tuba City, an open dump and unlined mill tailings site pose an immediate threat to the main aquifer in the western Navajo area. “The government has devoted the money needed to remove similar tailings from a rural area nearMoab. Are those people or their water resources more valuable than Navajos?” he asked.

Navajo EPA’s Etsitty said the legacy from past uranium activities lingers "due to the current slow pace of cleanup and the poor quality of remediationof known contaminated sites.” Five former uranium processing sites have been cleaned up by the U.S. government, he said, “meaning that the radioactive mill tailings were capped with clay and rock and left in place at or adjacent to the former mill site."

However, none of them were lined, he said.

“As we gather mounting evidence that these unlined landfills seep uranium waste into our groundwater, we watch the federal government dig up and properly remediate a similar site located near Moab, Utah, which is outside of the Navajo Nation borders. Why," he asked, " is this not happening on the Navajo reservation?”

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.

NATIVE ISSUES BLOG
Professor Robert J. Miller
http://lawlib.lclark.edu/blog/native_america/

AIROS NATIVE NETWORK plays music, news and other great programs from Indian Country - www.airos.org

FOR NATIVE CELEBRITY NEWS - go to www.nativecelebs.com

Visit Vietnam Vet. LARRY MITCHELL at http://www.potawatomivet.com and click on his blog at the site.

NATIVE BIZ LEARNING CENTER - www.learn.nativebiz.com was developed for tribal education specialists serving tribal communities. Any tribal community can register at NO COST.

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

No Nobel Prize For Shelia - Arctic Briefs - Oct. 25th, 2007

Submited by Ann VanWert
Iqualuit, October 19, 2007

Watt-Cloutier Says Earth Wins With Peace Prize Decision
by CHRIS WINDEYER
By her own admission, Sheila Watt-Cloutier is not a morning person.

"I think this is the most work I've done before 9 a.m.," she said, driving from a radio interview to a photo shoot, before driving to a news conference.

Sheila Watt-Cloutier stands on Iqaluit's breakwater Oct. 12, after learning she didn't win the Nobel Prize for her work on climate change. But she told reporters "the Earth is a winner" with the announcement that former U.S. vice-president Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had been given the prestigious award

And while last Friday morning was a hectic one, it could have been much, much busier.

Watt-Cloutier, 53, was up before 4 a.m. that day to await a possible phone call informing her she'd just won the Nobel Peace Prize, but that call never came.

Instead, former U.S. vice-president Al Gore, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, split the prestigious award. The Norwegian Nobel Committee said the decision was to recognize "their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change."

At a news conference in Iqaluit, Watt-Cloutier told reporters she's only a little disappointed by the committee's decision.

"As long as the Earth is a winner I am pleased at the outcome," she said.

That outcome was somewhat of a surprise, because Watt-Cloutier and Gore were nominated jointly by two Norwegian lawmakers. And Agence France Presse reported Oct. 11 that Norwegian TV channel NRK - which has a history of accurately predicting winners - picked Gore, the IPCC and Watt-Cloutier to win.

But in the halls of CBC's Iqaluit studio, where Watt-Cloutier spent much of her day, well-wishers offered hugs and congratulations. And members of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, the group that Watt-Cloutier led from 2002 to 2006, plus Nunavut MP Nancy Karetak-Lindell, and Mary Simon, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, also offered congratulations.

Watt-Cloutier was nominated for the Nobel Prize for putting an aboriginal face on the effects of climate change.

As president of ICC Canada, Watt-Cloutier represented Arctic indigenous peoples during the negotiations which resulted in the Stockholm Accord, which banned certain organic pollutants that cause cancer, infertility and brain damage.

In 2005, she spearheaded a petition to the Inter-American Commission that argued climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions from the United States was a violation of Inuit human rights. That petition was dismissed, but it put Watt-Cloutier on the road to becoming a household name in environmentalist circles.

"I think my work got propelled way out there beyond what I would have expected," she said last week. "I try to be in the business of changing public opinion into public policy."

A Nobel win would have instantly made Watt-Cloutier a hot ticket on the lecture circuit and transformed her life into a whirlwind of flights, hotels and speaking engagements. As it is, Watt-Cloutier said she already receives speaking invitations every day.

And she said she wants to set aside some time to write a book.

Welcome To The City of Iqaluit:
It's hard to imagine anywhere in Canada with greater prospects. The city's alive with the anything's -possible attitude of a young community. Bursting with new growth, exciting economic and social opportunities, this bustling Arctic capital is home to a diverse mix of people enjoying the leading edge of development and phenomenal potential. Young and old are working to create a future that will preserve the strengths of traditional culture, while embracing the surging changes of the 21st century.

Even though it's located on the remote Arctic tundra, Iqaluit aims to be every inch a capital city, with the amenities and quality of life to rival any in Canada. Iqaluit's economy -based mainly on a government that has expanded rapidly since the city became the capital of Nunavut in 1999- is growing by leaps and bounds. The city's infrastructure is developing at a steady clip, trying to catch up with population growth. As well as being Canada's newest and most northerly capital, Iqaluit is also Canada's fastest growing community.

Mission Statement:
Working together with our citizens, we will create a sustainable and environmentally responsible Arctic capital. By respecting our rich historical and cultural heritage, we will succeed in forging a community government that empowers our citizens to participate in positive community development.

We strive to ensure that the services we provide meet the needs and aspirations of young and old, Inuit and non-Inuit, long-time and new residents, business owners and employees. We welcome your comments and hope that you will participate fully in our community.

Grow with us, and help shape the city of the future.

Man Who Runs Baker Lake 'House Of History'
Nunavut, October 19, 2007
"What's important for us to leave children who know where they are from"
BY CHRIS WINDEYER

BAKER LAKE - Hugh Nateela is Baker Lake's new custodian of Inuit culture.

Nateela, who also works as a taxi driver in this hamlet of 1,500, took over the curator's job at the Baker Lake Inuit Heritage Centre about a month ago after veteran curator Winnie Owingayak retired.

Hugh Nateela, manager of the Baker Lake Inuit Heritage Centre, stands in front of a display depicting a traditional caribou hunt. The centre serves as a meeting place for elders and to preserve Baker Lake's unique Inuit traditions.

"I figured this would be a good opportunity to learn about my history," he said. "I wanted to be able to help promote our heritage."

A museum portion of the centre contains numerous artifacts depicting the inland Inuit cultures that coalesced around Baker Lake after the establishment of an airstrip nearby in the 1950s.

As in many other Nunavut communities, the RCMP, the Hudson's Bay Co. and Christian missionaries soon followed, as well as Inuit from the nine separate groups who lived on the barrens, ranging from areas near Arviat to Chantrey Inlet and the shores of the Queen Maude Gulf.

Some of the pieces, like the caribou-skin tent and kayaks, were made by local volunteers, while others, including guns, tools and bone fragments, were found by hunters on the land.

Nateela said he tries to encourage local hunters to leave such items undisturbed, but admits they're better off housed in the heritage centre than in the hands of private collectors.

The centre, which opened in 1998, also serves as a hub for the local elders committee, and Nateela wants to use it as a way to transmit Inuit traditions to younger generations. Students from Baker Lake's schools already make visits, and Nateela hopes to start bringing youth and elders together for demonstrations of traditional skills.

"I know the older generation is concerned the younger generation is losing touch with their heritage," Nateela said. "We don't have so much of that one-on-one passing of knowledge anymore."

In the summer, the centre sees some tourists, including a growing number of paddlers who travel the Kazan and Thelon rivers each summer. The community has even built a place for paddlers to stay, complete with showers and places to camp.

And even a few of the booming number of transient workers drawn to Baker Lake by the fast-growing mining industry pass through, Nateela said.

The mining boom is forcing another period of transition for Inuit culture. While the jobs, money and infrastructure are welcomed both by governments and regular people, industrial working life is also putting the squeeze on traditional culture.

Nateela said fathers working nine-to-five jobs get less time to pass on hunting skills to their sons, which are why school trips on the land are important.

In this day and age, with so much going on, it's very easy to lose yourself in this world. What's important is for us to leave children who know where they are from.

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.

NATIVE ISSUES BLOG
Professor Robert J. Miller
http://lawlib.lclark.edu/blog/native_america/

AIROS NATIVE NETWORK plays music, news and other great programs from Indian Country - www.airos.org

FOR NATIVE CELEBRITY NEWS - go to www.nativecelebs.com

Visit Vietnam Vet. LARRY MITCHELL at http://www.potawatomivet.com and click on his blog at the site.

NATIVE BIZ LEARNING CENTER - www.learn.nativebiz.com was developed for tribal education specialists serving tribal communities. Any tribal community can register at NO COST.

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

Andrew And The Indians - 'Journey Home' - Clips From Christine

By: Teresa McElhenie
I have a friend who tells me to write of my pain. My friend is a storyteller. My friend is an Indian. To people of the white race, a storyteller is just a person who tells stories. To an Indian, a storyteller is a special person, revered by the clan. They hold the past in their heads, and the gift of seeing unseen things in their eyes.

Storytelling is a gift. Writing is an art. The two do not always link hands together. To be able to do both is truly a great accomplishment.

I have the heart and desire of a writer, a storyteller, but pen and ink fail me more times than not.

Some people sing in the shower. I write. Not on paper, but inside my head. As the water sluices over my head and body, washing away the cares of the everyday world, thoughts seep through the pores of my brain and into the pulsating drops of steam. I magically string words together that express what I feel; wonderful words that say who I am, what I am and why I am; words of wisdom; thoughtful, caring words that anyone can understand. As I turn the water off, and it evaporates from my body, the cooling vapors rinse away the splendid words with the soap bubbles. Oh, if only I could bring pen and paper to the shower!

Did I say I was an Indian? I thought I did. No matter, I’m saying it now. My mother was born on what is today known as the ‘Poarch Indian Reservation’ outside of Atmore, Alabama. My mother never talked about being an Indian. It was engrained into her as a child not to let that be known. “Hide your heritage.” Her home was not a reservation when she was born there.

The United States government said she didn’t exist as an Indian.

Why did she not exist as an Indian? Because Andrew Jackson, one of the heroes in every child’s history book, said she did not exist as an Indian. That hero, who killed a thousand of my people in only one day at Horseshoe Bend, made this decision. This man, this President, said the American Indian did not deserve to be treated as a human. He stated that they should be herded like sheep or cows and put into pens.

My mother’s ancestors did not understand his reasoning, and hid out in the dense forest of southern Alabama to escape this indignity. As a consequence, they later suffered the indignity of being denied their heritage, their birthright, and their right to exist as an Indian because they were not listed on the “proper” roles.

My mother was made to feel small in school because she knew that she was a “dirty” Indian. She learned to deny being what she was. She learned to “pass” as a white eyes.

When I was a child she whispered to me that she was an Indian – “sshhh,” she hummed in my ear, “don’t tell anyone. It’s our secret.” Suddenly, I realized why, during games of Cowboy and Indians, I always wanted to be the Indian…even though it meant I had to be the one who died. We all watched Tom Mix, Roy Rogers, The Lone Ranger, and other cowboy heroes. The cowboy was always the good guy wearing the white hat.

The Indians were always the stinking coyotes, sneaking up on people and doing dirty deeds to poor unsuspecting white settlers who were just minding their own business. Here comes Hop-a-Long Cassidy and he saves the day…BANG, BANG, “You’re dead, you dirty Injun.” Still, it didn’t feel right to me to play the cowboy, or even Annie Oakley.

My mother was never allowed to be proud of her heritage, not only as a child, but also for most of her adult life. I have an older brother who was born in Alabama. His birth certificate states his race is Indian. I was born later after my mother moved to Louisiana. No one knew she was Indian. It was easy enough to “pass” in Louisiana with so many dark skinned people there. My birth certificate even denies me my heritage. I am white. My birth certificate says so.

Time moves forward. Views change. Things once hidden are released to the liberal sunlight of acceptance. Your sins will find you out. ‘GENOCIDE’ that horrible word associated with Hitler never happened here in our wonderful land of the free. But, it did. Ask the Creek, the Choctaw, the Cherokee, and the other two “civilized” tribes who adopted the ways of the white man only to be betrayed and murdered by their mentors. Long before the “death march” of Bataan, there was the “Trail of Tears.”

Our stories are not taught in the classroom. My child went to school and he learned the same things about American history I did. His children will go to school and will probably be taught the same. Our stories are not written down in any true sense of the word. They are told from one generation to the next. The Storytellers.

The white man does not understand how I feel about the attempted genocide of my peoples. When I say my peoples, I am not just speaking of my mother’s Creeks, I am speaking of the Cherokee, Choctaw, Seminole, Comanche, Apache, Ute…every tribe that suffered the same indignities simply because they were born Indian. We were different. We didn’t believe the same as the whites.

Here in the home of the brave and the land of the free, we were not allowed to be brave or free. This country, founded on religious freedom, took away our most sacred ceremonies and declared them illegal. Yet, they say it happened a long time ago. “Get over it. You can’t expect us to keep making it up to you.” I feel unsettled when I hear these things. Why is that? They didn’t do those things to me personally, and they cannot understand why it affects me. Why do I feel this pain so? I have no real answers, but the pain is there. It is real. It hurts.

I recently stood on the steps of the Riverwalk in New Orleans. A beautiful place! Lots of ambience! Across the distance was a bronze statue of a man riding a horse. This man must be a wonderful person for them to raise a statue in his honor! To name a section of the city after him! This man was Andrew Jackson. I stood in Jackson Square. By my side was my friend, the storyteller. When I looked at him, I saw the same pain written on his face that was on mine. We did not need to speak. Each knew what the other felt.

'Journey Home' Documentary Has Solid Roots But Needs Additional Funding!
To Bobbie at Native Unity ,
Thank you so much for posting our article – “Chicamauga Cherokeer Indian Creek Tribe Seeks Federal Recognition” on June 5th of this year. We receive new signatures every nearly every day. Thank you!!

To sign the petition go to:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/476156032

I am working on an American Indian Historical documentary called “Journey Home” . I follow 5 boarding school survivors “home” and document what happened to them through their letters and their descendants words.

Two of the principals in the documentary changed the face of Indian Law way back in the 1800s and very early 1900s. If it weren’t for them, Native people would not have the records or access to the courts the way we do now.

I was the first person to crack the seal on the Society of American Indians microfilm reel. It sat in the library for 37 years. This documentary is ground breaking but I am having trouble raising funds for the project.

NAPT (Native American Public Telecommunications) has given us substantial funding but I have to raise 100k more to get the documentary produced. I know there are a lot of invitational funding opportunities out there. Would you run an article about my documentary to see if we can generate additional interests from funders?

It would be such a waste and loss to all Native people if this story is never told which shows both the dark and positive side of boarding schools and documents a historical era that is rarely covered.

We face it head on and listen to the words of those who were in boarding schools and also follow two native people as the formed the society and fought for our rights in Congress and the courts. We use their letters for Native youth today.

I believe this story needs to be in the history books. NAPT is going to distribute and stream the program if I can get the additional funding. The script is available to interested parties.

Mother Kimberly Lyman
nativevoicesonthewind@hotmail.com

NAPT – In Production

JOURNEY HOME Producers: Cynthia Pardy (Mohegan/Pequot), Kimberly Lyman (Chickamauga Cherokee/Choctaw), WHRO-TV

Journey Home is a one-hour documentary that will provide a new perspective about the boarding school experience by revealing reforms in government policies made by those who attended American Indian educational institutions. Thomas Sloan (Omaha) and Henry Roe Cloud (Winnebago) fought for civil rights, proper education and sovereignty.

Clips From Christine
The Los Angles City/County Native American Indian Commission presents American Indian Heritage Month Celebration 2007. Mayor Antonio R.Villaraigosa, City Council Members, City Attorney & City Controller Cordially invite you to the Opening Ceremony on Friday, October 26th,2007 at 10:00 AM.

Location: City Hall, Council Chambers, followed byprogram and reception on the Forecourt, 200 N. Spring Street, LosAngeles, CA 90012. RSVP and reserve parking by October 23rd at 213-922-9762. Please remember to RSVP if you will need parking.

The American Indian Dance Theatre presents "DANCES FROM A TRIBAL LIFE" four performances - opens Thursday, Oct. 25th.

The company includes Jocy Bird, Isaiah Bob, Adrian Cross, Tawny Hale,Kevin Haywahe, Nate Littlechild, Maria Mahkimetas, Randy Paskemin,Marty Pinnecoose, Doug Schofield, Andy Vasquez, Jason Whitehouse andJosette Wahwasuck.

The program features a newly staged Honoring Ceremony, in which the company pays tribute to the elders who have passed on the traditional dances to the younger generations; an Eastern Woodlands Suite of social dances common to many tribes on the east coast of North America; an Eagle Dance suite from the Hopi and Zuni pueblos; as well as dances paying tribute to some of the animals and birds revered by many tribes, including the Deer and the Buffalo.
American Indian Dance Theatre. Artistic director: Hanay Geiogamah. Produced by Buddy Wilson.

Performances run from Oct. 25 to 28, 2007. Thurs.-Sat. at 8 PM, Sun. at 3 PM. Los Angeles Theater Center (fourtheaters) located at 514 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013.

Admission: $28. Students, seniors and groups of ten or more, $15. Also available via the fall festival Cultural Green Card (four tickets for$100).

Reservations call 323- 461-3673; Group Sales call 213-489-0994. Online Ticketing at http://www.thenewlatc.com/

Sandy and Yasu Osawa (Makah, the filmmaking team from Seattle, have just released their new film featuring America's first prima ballerina, Maria Tallchief (Osage). The program will air statewide in Oklahoma(on KETA and KWET in Oklahoma City and KQET in Tulsa) on Nov. 4th at 9 Pm & Nov. 9th at 9 PM on KCLS PBS Station-Los Angeles.

The film will also open the American Indian San Francisco Film Festival for its world premier on November 2, 2007.

Christine Yazzie ~ Los Angeles, CA USA
Email: krystyn_media@yahoo.com
Web: http://www.krystynmedia.blogspot.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.

NATIVE ISSUES BLOG
Professor Robert J. Miller
http://lawlib.lclark.edu/blog/native_america/

AIROS NATIVE NETWORK plays music, news and other great programs from Indian Country - www.airos.org

FOR NATIVE CELEBRITY NEWS - go to www.nativecelebs.com

Visit Vietnam Vet. LARRY MITCHELL at http://www.potawatomivet.com and click on his blog at the site.

NATIVE BIZ LEARNING CENTER - www.learn.nativebiz.com was developed for tribal education specialists serving tribal communities. Any tribal community can register at NO COST.

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

Colorado Law Firm Battles RECA Inequities For Navajos

By Kathy Helms
Dine Bureau – Gallup Independent

WINDOW ROCK ­ For Native Americans, there was no escaping the fall out resulting from atomic tests conducted by the United States in the 1950s and 1960s. Yet a half-century later, more or less, those who developed various types of cancers and other radiation-related illnesses still are trying to prove their cases.

Series of tests known as Ranger, Tumbler-Snapper, Upshot-Knothole,Teapot, and Plumbbob ­ conducted at Nevada Test Site largely by Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Department of Defense ­ spawned radio active clouds that crossed the reservations of Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, Ute and Ute Mountain Ute, as well as several pueblos in New Mexico including Laguna andAcoma.

Though Navajo was bombarded time and again, as of Sept. 25, out of 15,209 downwinder claims filed nationally, only 656 were from Navajos. Of those, 391 were approved while about 40 percent were denied.

About one-quarter of all uranium mined in the United States during the Cold War era came from the Navajo Nation. Yet out of 7,548 total claims filed by uranium miners, only 1,925 were filed by Navajos, with 989 of those approved.

Claims filed nationally by millers totaled 1,319. Of those, 144 were filed by Navajos, with 92 approved; ore transporter claims totaled 299 nationally, with 17 filed by Navajos and six approved. Only one Navajo on-site participant filed a claim and was compensated out of 2,652 total participant claims.

But the law firm of Killian, Guthro & Jensen, P.C., of Durango, Colo., is hoping to improve those odds. The firm has been contracted by the Navajo Nation to lobby members of Congress in Washington, D.C., for changes in the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.

J. Keith Killian said last week that the law firm is aiming for at least six different changes in the statutes to improve compensation for Navajo downwinders and uranium workers, as well as for other Native Americans and post 1971 miners.

Killian said there should be thousands of additional downwinder claims, but those have not been filed due to difficulty of proving residency and disease, bureaucratic red tape, and inability to locate competent counsel.

“We are currently involved in a lobbying effort to modify the laws and regulations to permit Navajo tribal members to have more equality in the administration process. In addition, changes should be made to include the post 1971 uranium workers and core drillers. Also, the eligibility for downwinder claims, including the Trinity test site, should be broadened,” he said.

New Mexico currently is not included as a downwind state. Killian said they are hoping to have San Juan and McKinley counties added to the list of eligible counties for RECA claimants.

“If you’re a downwinder, you don't get medical for downwind claims. If you're dying because you contracted cancer as a downwinder, that cancer isn't going to kill you any differently than if you were a miner,” he said.”So, why not give them the same compensation, the same medical coverage as you give uranium workers?”

Killian said there are a lot of legitimate claims that are held by Native Americans, including Navajos, that are difficult to prove. “They’re difficult to prove because they don't have residency records,” he said.

“One of the things that we can do is allow affidavits ­ sworn statements­ where people say, ‘This person lived here during this time frame, or this person worked in this mine and was doing milling and ore hauling.’

“Right now, the way it works, affidavits are allowed for miners, but not allowed for ore haulers or millers or downwinders,” he said.

Another goal is to gain compensation for Post-71 uranium workers. “One of our proposals is to extend the timeframe of coverage to 1990. Uranium was and still is a heavily regulated industry. It’s regulated by the government, so it’s in the government’s best interest to mine uranium, and since they're regulating it, we don’t see there’s any difference between what happened before 1971 and what happened afterward.

“As a matter of fact, as a result of all this gearing up to do additional mining, we think that it’s best just to say there’s no timeframe. If you obtain a currently compensable disease ­ a cancer or respiratory disease, or a kidney disease easily related to exposure to radon gases or uranium ­ then you ought to be compensated,” he said.

Another logical extension of coverage relates to kidney disease, he said.”If you’re a miner, you can contract lung cancer or certain respiratory diseases such as silicosis or fibrosis and be compensated. If you’re a miner and you have a kidney disease, you can’t be. However, if you’re a miller and you have a kidney disease, you can be.

“The research out there, from what we understand, is such that miners can get kidney diseases and do, just as easily as millers.”

Killian also is looking at changes in exposure qualifications. “Let’s say you have limited exposure as a miner and limited exposure as a miller, and you don't meet the criteria under either one of them. If you combine them, you would meet it,” he said.

There is also the issue of double exposure as a uranium worker and a downwinder, particularly for Navajos in Arizona. “If we can't qualify them as a miller or ore hauler or a miner, then we'll try to qualify them as a downwinder.”

It’s possible that some Navajos, theoretically, could qualify for all four -­ downwinder, miller, ore hauler and miner ­- and not be able to prove any of them, he said. That’s how difficult sometimes it can be.”

A technicality that many people don’t even come close to comprehending, Killian said, is that exposure for Navajo uranium workers in the 1940s and1950s was determined by the amount of money earned as constructed by the government.

“Let’s say you worked for two years in a mine. They construct a wage for you ­ let’s say $2 an hour, and let’s say you were actually making 75 cents an hour. Then, what they do is they say, ‘Well, this person earned $3,000 in one year and $2,000 in the next year.’

“So we construct their wage by assuming they worked 40 hours a week at $2 bucks an hour, and we say the exposure they have is not consistent with an of those months. Therefore, you don’t qualify because you didn’t earn enough to prove that you worked enough to prove that you had exposure enough.

“When in reality, the person was making less and there's no way we can use an affidavit to prove that they were earning that little because affidavits are only permitted for miners. If they were a miller, for instance, then you couldn't use the affidavit.

“So you’ve got a real bizarre scenario here where the government constructs your exposure by the amount of money you earn. But if you're underpaid or paid under the table -­ many of them were -­ then you're not going to be able to prove your claim even though you've got the disease and you worked for two years.”

However, he said, if you’re an Anglo living in Salt Lake City who had Social Security withheld from the mine and you've got a disease and you’re on your death bed, then you can prove it. “But most of the claims that are existing today are not like that. There are many of them that don't have Social Security records.”

Several years ago, all RECA claims were compensated on a contingency basis at 10 percent, Killian said. “So if you got someone $100,000 ­ you proved it for them ­ they got $90,000, the attorney got 10 percent. So what happened was the law was changed to reduce it to 2 percent on an initial claim and 10 percent on a denied claim.”

The problem with that, he said, is that potential clients now are having problems finding attorneys to represent them. “We have to take cases that are pretty clean because we can’t spend hours and hours and hours on a case that we’re going to make $2,000 on,” he said.

Downwind claims are worth $50,000. “An attorney gets paid $1,000 to prove an impossible case. You just can't do those cases,” he said.

“There really ought to be a compensation schedule that would allow attorneys to represent these people who have difficult claims to prove, because what's happening is they’re dying without representation. They just don’t get compensated.

“So, I think, the bad intent, if you will, was to write the statute in away so that attorneys would not be involved and so there's only a handful of attorneys across the United States that do this. There are many of them who are representing widows whose husbands died years ago and they’ve lost the records. You can’t easily find the medical records, and you need affidavits to prove it.

“You have to put your butt in the chair and start making phone calls and work your butt off to get those claims proven and you can’t do it for$1,000. And look, ­ they knew this,” Killian said.

“Lily Tomlin has a quote I like to throw out there, and she said: ‘No matter how cynical I am, it’s not enough’..”

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.

NATIVE ISSUES BLOG
Professor Robert J. Miller
http://lawlib.lclark.edu/blog/native_america/

AIROS NATIVE NETWORK plays music, news and other great programs from Indian Country - www.airos.org

FOR NATIVE CELEBRITY NEWS - go to www.nativecelebs.com

Visit Vietnam Vet. LARRY MITCHELL at http://www.potawatomivet.com and click on his blog at the site.

NATIVE BIZ LEARNING CENTER - www.learn.nativebiz.com was developed for tribal education specialists serving tribal communities. Any tribal community can register at NO COST.

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

'Indigenous Peoples' Border Summit' Plus Human Rights Training

Submitted by Western Shoshone Defense Project

Invitation And Announcement
We are honored and pleased to invite you to the “Indigenous Peoples’ Border Summit of the Americas II” from November 7-10, 2007 at the San Xavier Community Center, 2018 W. San Xavier Rd, Tohono O’odham Nation. It is hosted and coordinated by the San Xavier Tohono O’odham District Community.

The “Indigenous Peoples’ Border Summit of the Americas II” will provide the opportunity for Indigenous peoples of the border regions to exchange experiences and information about how the international borders impact their respective communities.

It will also create a way to unite Indigenous Peoples to address and resolve issues of mutual concern affecting our traditional homelands, cultural and ceremonial practices, sacred sites, treaty rights, health and way of life.

The San Xavier Community/District previously hosted border summits in 1989 and 2006, recognizing the critical issues facing the Tohono O’odham and other indigenous nations divided by international borders (US/Mexico/Canada).

By again hosting an “Indigenous Peoples’ Border Summit of the Americas”, San Xavier Community wants to promote the human rights of indigenous peoples and support each other in our common struggles.

The International Indian Treaty Council (IITC) is co-sponsoring the Summit, and will be the fiscal sponsor. The IITC is an organization of Indigenous Peoples from North, Central, South America and the Pacific, working for the sovereignty and self-determination of Indigenous Peoples and the recognition and protection of Indigenous rights, Treaties, traditional cultures and sacred lands.

IITC representatives will provide training and updates on new developments at the United Nations during the Summit, including the recent adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and how we can use the UN to hold countries, including the US, accountable for human rights violations.

The “Indigenous Peoples’ Border Summit of the Americas II”, will build awareness and educate all peoples about the impacts of polices and practices being carried out along the borders. We hope that you, your Nations and your organizations can participate and we look forward to seeing you in the San Xavier Community in November, 2007.

Should you have any questions or need additional information please contact: Kim Garcia at (520) 573-4000 or by e-mail at kgarcia@waknet.org or Mike Flores, (520) 235-2406, email: Michaelflores_@hotmail.com. Thank you for your interest.

Indigenous Peoples’ Border Summit of the Americas II
San Xavier, Tohono O’odham Nation
PROPOSED AGENDA

Wednesday, November 7th
6 am – Sunrise Ceremony
7 am – Breakfast
9 am – Introductions
Human rights, Indigenous Peoples and impacts current Border policies
12 pm – Lunch
1 pm – Humanitarian Aid and saving lives along the Border
3:30 pm – Break
4 – 5 pm – Indigenous Peoples’ Rights and the Border: Human Rights, Treaty Rights and Rights to Traditional Lands and Territories
6 pm -- Dinner
7 pm -- Oral Testimony

Thursday, November 8th
6 am – Sunrise Ceremony
7 am – Breakfast
9 am – Immigration/Indigenous Traditional Mobility
12 pm – Lunch
1 pm – Militarization/Surveillance of the Border
3 pm – Break
3:30 pm - Detention Centers/Prisoners of the Border
5 pm – Oral Testimony
6 pm – Dinner- on your own

Friday, November 9th
6 am – Sunrise Ceremony
7 am – Breakfast
9 am – Implications on Lands, territories, and national resources & environment
12 pm – Lunch
1 pm – Religious/Cultural/Spiritual Rights, traditional mobility, ceremonial practices and sacred sites
3:30 pm – Break
4 pm – Women/Children and the Borders
6 pm – Dinner – on your own
7 pm Oral Testimony

Saturday, November 10th
6 am - Sunrise Ceremony
7 am – Breakfast
9 am – Current Review of the US by the UNCERD: “Using the UN to hold the US Accountable for Racism”
11 pm – UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: a new international framework for upholding our human rights
12 pm - Lunch
1 pm – Conclusions, Summaries, Recommendations & Resolution
2 pm – Break, dinner on your own
7 pm – Concert

Andrea Carmen Executive Director, International Indian Treaty Council Web
Site: http://www.treatycouncil.org/
E-Mail: andrea@treatycouncil.org
Office: 907-745-4482
Fax: 907-745-4484

Human Rights Training At Border Summit
Submitted by Alyssa Macy
Also submitted by Brenda Norrell

Using the United Nations to hold the US accountable for Racism towards Indigenous Peoples & Strategies for Implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Thursday, November 8, 20071 p.m. - 6 p.m .

Indigenous Peoples' Border Summit of the Americas II, San Xavier, Tohono O'odham Nation
The International Indian Treaty Council (IITC) will conduct a workshop focusing on holding the United States' accountable to its legally binding obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).

The US will be examined by the CERD Committee in March of 2008, in Geneva, Switzerland. This workshop will provide information as to how Indigenous Nations, tribes and organizations can use this historic opportunity to inform the CERD Committee on the true state of racial discrimination in this county and how it affects Indian Nations, Peoples and communities.

This information will be very important to help the UN CERD experts get a more accurate picture of racial discrimination in the US and hold the US accountable to their obligations under international human rights law.

An additional focus will be on strategies to defend our human rights, border rights, and protect our sacred sites and traditional land rights using the newly-adopted UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples from the local to the international levels.

MC:
Bill Means (IITC Board Member);

PRESENTERS: Andrea Carmen (IITC Executive Director);
Ron Lameman (IITC Board Member, Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations Canada),
Francisco Cali (CERD Member, IITC Board President).

This workshop is being held in conjunction with the "Indigenous Peoples' Border Summit of the Americas II" from November 7-10, 2007, at the San Xavier Community Center, 2018 W. San Xavier Rd, Tohono O'odham Nation.

For more information on the Indigenous Peoples' Border Summit, contact Kim Garcia at (520) 573-4000 or by e-mail at kgarcia@waknet.org or Mike Flores, (520) 235-2406, email: Michaelflores_@hotmail.com
http://www.treatycouncil.org/

Working for the Rights and Recognition of Indigenous Peoples

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.

NATIVE ISSUES BLOG
Professor Robert J. Miller
http://lawlib.lclark.edu/blog/native_america/

AIROS NATIVE NETWORK plays music, news and other great programs from Indian Country - www.airos.org

FOR NATIVE CELEBRITY NEWS - go to www.nativecelebs.com

Visit Vietnam Vet. LARRY MITCHELL at http://www.potawatomivet.com and click on his blog at the site.

NATIVE BIZ LEARNING CENTER - www.learn.nativebiz.com was developed for tribal education specialists serving tribal communities. Any tribal community can register at NO COST.

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

Utes Base Water Claim On Proposed Coal-Fired Power Plant

By Kathy Helm
Dine Bureau
Gallup Independent
WINDOW ROCK ­ Though an economic feasibility analysis for a proposed coal-fired plant on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation was conducted in February 2004, it wasn’t because the tribe wanted to build a plant, so much as it wanted to lay claim to waters in the San Juan River Basin.

“We don’t have a prospect of a plant in the near term, nor are we required to,” Boulder attorney Daniel Israel said Friday.

National Economic Research Associates Inc. was retained by the Ute Mountain Ute tribe to conduct a study of the economic feasibility of constructing the power plant and was asked to assess the economic viabilityof the project.

Israel said a Winters water right claim filed Sept. 28 in the 11th Judicial District Court in San Juan County by the United States, as trustee for the tribe, looks to aquifer water. The tribe has a separate claim that looks to surface water in the San Juan River, 7 miles from the reservation. Both claims justify the water on the basis of a hypothetical power generating project, he said.

“Under the reserved water right doctrine, non-Indians get the amount of water that they have historically used, measured by the date when they began their use. That’s called the Appropriation Doctrine and it applies everywhere west of the Missouri. Indians, primarily Indians from national parks, have what’s called federally reserved water,” he said.

“The idea is you don’t measure the quantity by the actual use. It’s the exception to the rule. Tribes tend to be the biggest exception. The theory is that when these reservations were created, that as a matter of law S it’s implied that they get enough water to satisfy the purposes of the reservation.”

Over the passage of time that manner has changed, Israel said. “The way you get the most water, typically, is by irrigation because that requires the most water. But you’ve got to make a showing that it’s economically feasible.

"If you can show that you can irrigate 1,000 acres and you make $500 grand, after taking out all of your costs, including the cost of bringing water, if you make $50 grand or $10 grand, then you're entitled to that amount of water.”

Irrigation on Ute lands in New Mexico is not highly profitable. But there are other ways of quantifying what is economically viable, he said. “In this case, the most economically viable use of this water would be for a hypothetical power facility.

“If you do it on the basis of farming, you don’t actually have to go out and irrigate all the land to make the entitlement, nor do you have to build a power plant. You just have to have engineering and economists show that a plant could be built here and there is a market for it and here is the water supply required.”

He compared it to the proposed Desert Rock Energy Project on the Navajo Nation. The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe has opposed the Environmental Impact Statement for the project, which some have interpreted as the tribe is opposed to the Desert Rock project, yet at the same time is proposing a power plant of its own.

“There’s no question there’s a market for additional power out of the Four Corners. There’s no question that there’s coal. Clean air is an issue, Israel said. However, the United States has used the concept of a power plant to justify getting water and to pump water. The tribe (UMU) is trying to use the same argument for getting some surface supplies.”

The 2004 report stated that the Four Corners area is a viable location for new coal generation. The San Juan River and Navajo Dam reservoir provide water to San Juan Generating Station and the Four Corners Power Plant.

"Coal is readily available from sources in New Mexico, and also from Colorado, Wyoming and Utah. In fact, there are significant coal reserves on the Ute Mountain Ute reservation in New Mexico. New planned transmission capacity will offer the ability to move power toward load centers to the west,” the report said.

Given a large projected capacity shortfall in 2012 and the need for baseload generation in the region, a 600 megawatt plant located on the Ute reservation would fit well with the projected need, the report said.

Pete Ortego, general counsel with the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe in Towaoc, Colo., said that under the Winters Doctrine, the tribe is able to secure water for potential future uses.

"The federal government, when they forced the Indians to live on their tiny pieces of their original homeland, one of the things that they gave them in exchange was they promised them that they would always have water,”Ortego said.

”So for a tribe to simply look at its current situation and say, ‘OK, well this is all the water I need,’ that may not be very realistic when you think about the treaty promises. So the tribe had had to sort of look toward the future about what types of things it could do down in New Mexico.

“I don’t think the tribe is necessarily saying that we will do those things. I know there has been some confusion, particularly with our opposition to the Desert Rock. A lot of people came back and said, ‘Well, wait a minute. You guys are saying you’re going to build a coal-fired power plant, too.’ But that’s not true.

“We haven’t said we’re going to. We’re just reserving open the possibility. Who knows, in the future we may need to or we may want to. So when we look at potential future uses for the area, those are some of the things that the federal government came up with.”

Ortego said the tribe is negotiating with some companies that might be interested in removing high-grade coal from the reservation, but added, “I think I can tell you with some assurance that if there is going to be a power plant out here, we're a long way from it happening.

“What we are actively pursuing is renewable energy. We are looking into wind energy, we’re looking into solar, and we’re looking into geothermal,” he said.

The tribe is opposed to the Environmental Impact Statement for Desert Rock, he said, because “We didn’t feel that the EIS dealt with the cumulative impacts, given that there are so many other potential polluters out here.”

“Our view of the EIS is that it did not adequately look at development in the whole area. We're simply asking for the EIS to do a better job. We don’t want to get in the way of the Navajos doing what they think is the best for their people, and I can understand that this is an economic opportunity for them and we respect that.

“We don’t want to interfere with that. Nonetheless, we’re very close to their proposed power plant. If they can build a clean power plant that won't affect the environment, then all the power to them. We just need to make sure to protect the tribe’s resources and the tribe’s tribal members, that the EIS is done accurately and truly assesses what’s going to happen when this thing is built,” he said.

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.

NATIVE ISSUES BLOG
Professor Robert J. Miller
http://lawlib.lclark.edu/blog/native_america/

AIROS NATIVE NETWORK plays music, news and other great programs from Indian Country - www.airos.org

FOR NATIVE CELEBRITY NEWS - go to www.nativecelebs.com

Visit Vietnam Vet. LARRY MITCHELL at http://www.potawatomivet.com and click on his blog at the site.

NATIVE BIZ LEARNING CENTER - www.learn.nativebiz.com was developed for tribal education specialists serving tribal communities. Any tribal community can register at NO COST.

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

Titla Running For Congress - Mayans Evicted - Nunavat Briefs - NAPT - Bellecourt Obit

Apache Running For Congress, Could Be First Ever Elected
Mary Kim Titla, an Apache, is running for Congress in northern Arizona and would become the first Native American woman ever elected to the U.S. Congress if she wins.

Titla, a Democrat, is running for the congressional seat vacated by Republican Rick Renzi, who resigned after becoming the target of a federal investigation into federal land deals bought by his former associate.

Knowing the Latino vote will factor heavily in the election, Titla named Randy Camacho, a two-time candidate for U.S. Congress and former vice chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party, as her campaign manager.

Titla is a known face in Arizona . She was a TV journalist for almost 20 years for KPNX 12 News in Phoenix. "My name recognition will go a long way," Titla told Latino Perspectives magazine. "It is something that a candidate can only hope for when they announce that they are running for office. They (viewers) believed in me and trusted me as a journalist, and I believe they are ready to trust me as a candidate."

Canadian Mining Company Evicts Mayans From Own Community
Please check out this video, sent by Seventh Generation Fund’s sister, Mariana Xuncax, (Mariana Francisco mxuncax@clinicaromero.com) of Maya Vision. It documents the eviction of Mayas from their community for a Canadian Company (Skye Resources) It also provides information at the end to contact the company directly.

Guatemalan military evicting Mayan villagers to make way for a Canadian nickel mining operation see video at:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Q20YxkM-CGI

Nunavat Briefs
Submitted by Ann VanWert

Inuit Need New National Language Center
"You need to preserve the old language and come up with new terminology to keep up."
By Jane George
Inuit need a nation-wide language and culture resource centre to preserve and promote Inuktitut throughout Canada, says Mary Simon, the president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami.

"It would be important for us as Inuit to have this kind of centre where you can work on the language, as in the Faroes," Simon said, following a meeting of the National Inuit Language Committtee in Ottawa.In the Faroe Islands, the Faroese Language Committee is an advisory institute, founded in 1985.

Kusugak Hopes Kivalliq Gets Plugged In
"Power line to Manitoba would cut cost of living even more than proposed highway,” Rankin mayor says
By Chris Windeyer
RANKIN INLET - A proposed road between the Kivalliq and Churchill would be good, but a connection to Manitoba's electrical grid would be better, says Rankin Inlet's mayor.

In an interview Tuesday, Lorne Kusugak said he's not against the proposed $1.2 billion road, backed by the Kivalliq Inuit Association, that would connect the three southernmost Kivalliq communities with Churchill, Manitoba and the rest of the Canadian highway system at Gillam.
But he said a hydro connection would do more to lower the cost of living in the region. "If I had a magic wand I would push for a power line to Nunavut," Kusugak said.

Like the rest of Nunavut, Kivalliq communities generate their electricity by burning diesel fuel. Kusugak said a power line could end the costly annual bulk shipments of diesel, and the environmental risks that come with them. Kusugak also suspects a power line would have a much lower environmental impact than a road.

The Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Board has expressed concern a road would disrupt caribou migration patterns."I would think a [power line] would be a heckuva lot more environmentally friendly," Kusugak said.The idea isn't new. Former Arviat MLA Kevin O'Brien lobbied for years to get a power connection for the Kivalliq, but without success. And Manitoba Hydro has shown interest in the project, since the Kivalliq would become a market for the utility's surplus electricity.

New Education Act Will Still Have Critics, Picco Admits
"DEAs will be displeased as revamped legislation doesn't download hiring"
By John Thompson
Ed Picco, Nunavut's education minister, admits he will have trouble pleasing everybody when he tables the proposed new Education Act in the legislature later this month.

For the past year he's heard complaints from the small bands of elected people who sit on district education authorities, which help oversee the administration of schools. They want more power, including the ability to hire and fire teachers. They also want more money to cover the cost of these administrative tasks.

Picco says he doesn't see much sense in the request. It would cost the government several million dollars each year to download these responsibilities to individual DEAs, he says, and he'd rather see that money spent in the classroom.

So he says he's included a compromise on the matter in the new Education Act. Picco calls it a "happy medium," but it probably won't give DEAs much satisfaction.The act includes a provision for Picco, the minister, to give additional powers to individual DEAs as he sees fit. But he adds that, as it stands, he doesn't see any reason why he'd let a DEA hire and fire teachers.

Native American Public Telecommunications
Way of the Warrior Coming to PBS November 1

The warrior has a special place in Native American communities. Those who protect are exalted throughout Indian Country. This one-hour documentary about the warrior ethic explores how Native communities have traditionally viewed their warriors and why, during the 20th century, Native men and women have signed up for military service at a rate three times higher than non-Indians.

Vernon Bellecourt Takes Flight To The Spirit World
From: Chris Spotted Eagle
Sat, 13 Oct 2007

Vernon Bellecourt (WaBun-Inini) passed over into the spirit world earlier today, October 13, 2007. Minneapolis, Minnesota surrounded by his friends and family.

Vernon Bellecourt (WaBun-Inini) Anishinabe/Ojibwe Nation 1931 - 2007

Vernon was a principal spokesman for the American Indian Movement and a leader in actions ranging from the 1972 occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington to the 1992 Redskin Superbowl demonstrations. He Co-founded and was the first Executive Director ofthe Denver AIM Chapter. His involvement at Wounded Knee in 1973 led to a Federal indictment.

He was a special representative of the International Indian Treaty Council and helped organize the firstTreaty Conference in 1974. He was jailed for throwing his blood on the Guatemalan Embassy to protest the killing of 100,000 Indians.

He was elected to a 4-year term in his White Earth tribal government and developed a model program for the spiritual education of Indian prisoners. Vernon was President of the National Coalition on Racism in Sports & Media and recipient of the City of Phoenix, Martin Luther King Human Rights Award 1993

Monday, October 15, 2007 - 5pm - Celebration of Vernon's Life
All Nations Indian Church
1515 E 23rd Street Minneapolis, MN 55404

Tuesday, October 16, 2007 -
Wake Circle of Life School, White Earth Reservation, MN

Wednesday Morning, October 17, 2007 -
BurialWhite Earth Reservation, MN

Vernon had no medical insurance plan and the Bellecourt family is collecting donations to help pay for medical and burial costs.

Donations and cards can be sent to:
Clyde Bellecourt
3953 14th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55407

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.

NATIVE ISSUES BLOG
Professor Robert J. Miller
http://lawlib.lclark.edu/blog/native_america/

AIROS NATIVE NETWORK plays music, news and other great programs from Indian Country - www.airos.org

FOR NATIVE CELEBRITY NEWS - go to www.nativecelebs.com

Visit Vietnam Vet. LARRY MITCHELL at http://www.potawatomivet.com and click on his blog at the site.

NATIVE BIZ LEARNING CENTER - www.learn.nativebiz.com was developed for tribal education specialists serving tribal communities. Any tribal community can register at NO COST.

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

Vernon Belcourt Has Died - Rally Spurs Tribes, Allies To Escalate Protest Against University

Late Breaking News:
Vernon Belcourt, AIM leader, spokesman and orator for the Native Peoples passed away this afternoon (Saturday Oct 13th) in Minnesota.

Triumphant Rally Escalates Protest Against UC Berkeley
Chancellor Ignores Sovereign Tribes Once Again; Native Americans to Proceed with Lawsuit and Demand Respect from Regents, UC System President
Submitted by Western Shoshone Defense Project

BERKELEY, Calif., Oct. 8, 2007 – After a dramatic demonstration that attracted hundreds of Native Americans, tribal leaders and social justice allies from around the country, the Native American NAGPRA Coalition (NANC) today announced it would escalate its protest against the University of California at Berkeley and the entire UC system.

The three-hour rally and Chancellor Birgeneau’s continued refusal to meet with the Coalition have energized Native American opposition to the elimination of the tribally approved UCB NAGPRA unit, the biased UC repatriation committee process, the failure of the University to comply with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and the complete disrespect on the University’s part toward Federally recognized tribes.

“Friday’s rally was a remarkable show of unity and support for just Native American claims on our ancestors’ remains and sacred objects,” said Mark LeBeau, a citizen of the Pit River Nation and NANC spokesman. “We intend to build on the momentum and take our protest to the courts, Congress, the state legislature, the Regents and the new acting UC system president, Rori Hume. Berkeley’s Chancellor Birgeneau has snubbed tribal nations multiple times, and now refers us to his assistants. We will not negotiate with underlings. We will not tolerate disrespect, and we expect California public officials to repudiate it as well.”

Friday’s demonstration was prompted by Chancellor Birgeneau’s original refusal to meet with NANC concerning the elimination of the Hearst Museum’s autonomous NAGPRA unit. This unit was a highly trained, cohesive team that fairly and impartially administered federal NAGPRA and a soon-to-be-implemented state law (AB 978) affecting the second largest collection of Native American ancestral remains and sacred objects in the Nation.

NANC strenuously rejected the University’s decision-making process, which deliberately and completely excluded Native Americans, and denounced the anti-NAGPRA bias in the resulting organizational structure.

Over the last several months, however, NANC has also recognized that the problems are far broader and more systemic, and include the lack of fair Native American representation on repatriation committees, the failure of UC to meet NAGPRA-mandated tribal consultation requirements, and the system’s unwillingness to acknowledge that Native American ancestral remains belong to Native Americans. The Coalition will adopt a comprehensive and aggressive strategy to deal with all of these problems.

The demonstration started at noon on Friday in UC Berkeley’s famous Sproul Plaza, the birthplace of the Free Speech Movement. It began with prayers and traditional healing ceremonies; included passionate speeches and poems from tribal leaders and other Native Americans; and was interspersed with ceremonial drumming and singing. After an hour, a throng of hundreds marched peacefully to California Hall to again request a meeting with the Chancellor.

The Chancellor was “unavailable.” Assistant Chancellor Beata FitzPatrick emerged briefly from the building to say, without apparent irony, “Our Chancellor has very great respect for native peoples.” She accepted the Coalition’s petition, and the group then moved on to the faculty glade, a former site of a Native American village. After a brief ceremony, the march continued and ended with a demonstration in front of the Phoebe Hearst Museum, where the remains of over 13,000 Native Americans are stored in basement drawers and boxes.

NANC members urged other tribes to join the Coalition and all Americans to insist that public officials redress the longstanding injustice that allows Museums and scientists to keep huge collections of Native American remains and conduct research that violates tribal religious beliefs.

Tribes and individuals can add their voices by contacting congressional and state representatives; by writing or calling Provost Rori Hume at the University of California Office of the President, 1111 Franklin Street, Oakland, CA 94607, 510-987-9020; or by writing or calling the Governor and other University Regents at the addresses listed at http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/contact.html.

For additional information on the UCB NAGPRA issue, visit
http://nagpra-ucb-faq.blogspot.com/ and
http://nagpra-ucb.blogspot.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.

NATIVE ISSUES BLOG
Professor Robert J. Miller
http://lawlib.lclark.edu/blog/native_america/

AIROS NATIVE NETWORK plays music, news and other great programs from Indian Country - www.airos.org

FOR NATIVE CELEBRITY NEWS - go to www.nativecelebs.com

Visit Vietnam Vet. LARRY MITCHELL at http://www.potawatomivet.com and click on his blog at the site.

NATIVE BIZ LEARNING CENTER - www.learn.nativebiz.com was developed for tribal education specialists serving tribal communities. Any tribal community can register at NO COST.

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