INDN Plaintifs Ask Govt For $58 Bil - Remember Native Americans - Poem, 'Come Hopi'
JUST SAY NO TO URANIUM MINING NEAR GRAND CANYON!
SUPPORT GRAND CANYON BY ATTENDING A PUBLIC HEARING IN FLAGSTAFF
When: Friday, March 28 at 10:00 am
Where: Flagstaff City Hall
211 West Aspen Avenue
Congressman Raul Grijalva, Chairman of the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands of the House Natural Resources Committee will hold a Field Hearing on uranium mining near Grand Canyon. The hearing will explore the environmental and community impacts of more than 2000 mining claims surrounding the Grand Canyon.
Congressman Grijalva recently introduced the Grand Canyon Watersheds Protection Act of 2008 (H.R. 5583), which, if passed, will withdraw nearly 1 million acres near the Grand Canyon from mineral exploration.
It’s important that you attend the hearing to show Congress that safeguarding one of the world’s natural wonders is important to local communities. Your attendance will also serve to thank Congressman Grijalva for his work to promote conservation of these lands.
For more information please contact Richard Mayol at 928.774.7488 or rmayol@grandcanyontrust.org
American Indian Plaintiffs Ask Govt For $58 Billion
Submitted by Ann VanWert
By MARY CLARE JALONICK
Associated Press Writer
Bismarck Tribune
WASHINGTON - American Indian plaintiffs say the United States owes them $58 billion in a long-running lawsuit over government mismanagement of lands.
Plaintiffs in the 12-year-old lawsuit submitted the filing to federal court this week after U.S. District Judge James Robertson asked for their input. The suit, first filed in 1996 by Blackfeet Indian Elouise Cobell, claims the government has mismanaged billions of dollars in royalties held in trust from American Indian lands dating back to 1887.
In a January decision, Robertson said Interior Department accounting for billions of dollars owed to American Indian landholders has been "unreasonably delayed" and is ultimately impossible.
At the same time, Robertson said the overall task is not hopeless, and he has set a June trial date to find a remedy for the seemingly endless legal battle. The government will have a chance to respond to the plaintiffs' filing before the trial.
In a statement, the plaintiffs said the $58 billion number represent the accumulated savings the government has earned from dollars that should have been promptly deposited into individual Indian trust accounts.
Cobell said the $58 billion number is reasonable. Earlier estimates by the plaintiffs have had the government owing $100 billion or more. "We believe that our numbers are very conservative and represent the minimum harm that Indians have suffered under our broken trust system," she said.
The government proposed paying $7 billion partly to settle the Cobell lawsuit last year, but that was rejected by the plaintiffs.Interior Department aides did not immediately return requests for comment.
Remember Native Americans
The challenges Native Americans face can seem overwhelming. It’s easy to feel powerless when poverty, malnutrition, inadequate schools, and intolerable living conditions persist on reservations. These injustices threaten to undermine our hope for a brighter future.It is possible to overcome these challenges, but only if we refuse to remain powerless.
You can help us build strong, self-sufficient American Indian communities. Discover your strengths and how to use them to maintain a hopeful vision for the communities we serve by taking the Remember Native Americans Quiz. Once you complete the quiz, we’ll match you with special, individualized actions you can take to Remember Native Americans.
Thank you again for helping us work towards a better tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Shannon Albert President
http://remembernativeamericans.org/
What's Your Strength?
Question 1:
You hear forest fires are raging across land on an Indian Reservation, threatening the lives, homes and communities of hundreds of Native American families. What is your response?
a. You search through the Internet and the news for more information.
b. You send an email to friends and family alerting them to the crisis.
c. You volunteer to help or donate to one of the organizations already responding.
Question 2:
What do you believe to be the most important factor needed to raise Native Americans out from under the poverty many living on reservations endure every day?
a. Bestow appropriate training at a young age and ensure proper resources are available for continuing education
b. Organize sustaining industry to provide employment opportunities
c. Make sure community support groups are available.
Question 3:
If you could sit down and have lunch with just one of the following three notable Native Americans, who would you choose?
a. Chief Joseph, chief of the Wallowa band of Nez Pierce Indians, whose resistance to his people’s forcible removal from their homelands to a smaller reservation in Idaho has earned him a reputation as a great peacemaker and whose famous surrender speech includes the line "I will fight no more forever."
b. Sitting Bull, about whom his friend Catherine Weldon wrote "The great hope and purpose of his life was to unify the tribes and bands of the Dakotas and hold the remaining lands of his people as a sacred inheritance for their children."
c. Sherman Alexie, famous Native American author, who was reading Steinbeck by age five, was the first of his tribe to graduate from college, and about who’s writing the New York Times Book Review has said "These spare, disturbing stories trace with stark, lyric power the experience of American Indians in the modern world."
Question 4:
What motivates you to improve the lives of Native American families struggling to make it day to day?
a. It is wrong that Native Americans have been ignored for generations. I want to make a difference.
b. I don’t like to see others suffer and feel that Native Americans have been forgotten for much too long.
c. I know about all the broken promises made to Native Americans and feel strongly that as a nation we should be more knowledgeable about our history.
Question 5:
What aspect of Native American culture do you believe is most important for society to reconnect with?
a. Community. In our fast paced, me first world, we’ve forgotten how to slow down and connect with our families and neighbors, and care for those members of our community who are less fortunate than us.
b. Ecology. The Earth doesn’t belong to us, but we belong to the Earth, and we need to protect and nurture it so that future generations have the same opportunities to thrive on this wonderful planet.
c. Wisdom. In the information age, it can be hard to remember that more information isn’t always better, and that the road to true wisdom is found through contemplation and looking inside oneself.
http://remembernativeamericans.org/
Come Hopi, Come Shoshone, Come Mayans and Mamos
Upon this sacred vein, the white men came,
Upon this wild land, along came his band,
Andebichi Woho Nee Bide Pe,
Who is they, Who am I
A Nabidengehdaigwahni.!
Who am I warrior to? When Upon these veins of Blue
Upon these veins where copper Bliss,
When they mixed these people, and they kissed,
Forming this blue turqouise stone,
You Shoshone, are not Jewelers borne
Trade off your stones, Shoshone,
I am the White Buffalo Dainah that holds the Sun,
I am the grasper of the sand released to the Wind,
the directions of semme, wahatehwe, bahaitee and watsewite
Come Hopi, come Shoshone, come Mayans and Mamos !!
Find this White turqouise stone,
Who did not blend with the Iron, that took your green home,
We made it green, this turqouise blend,
The strangers made a promise, and claimed to be your friend
Taking land, breaking contracts and deeds,
Banishing you to exile, you were no longer free !
Who took the power, These men of iron won,
Who will cry out to creator, to the Dabai of Sun.
The Dainah comes for Wa'ipi, she is his Muh
This prophecy of this Oneness, to restore the land that was took.
Come Father Sun, and Mother Moon,
Restore the Lands of these ancestors, from when the Iron came
Blue Turqouise and Green, where in the Dry Creek
do you long for the White turqouise of your seed?
Do you long for Copper and Iron free?
Unite this WE, ALL TURQOUISE shall sing !
I bear this staff of the Buffalo Skull,
I hold the Dabai in my hand,
To the winds of the four directions, I release these sands.
Flow your tears of BAA,
Do the Sacred dance of Sun,
Unite O Shundahai, till we are all the ONE !!
Daystar Aldebaran, OV
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.
'MAKING THE WORLD SAFE FOR HYPOCRISY' By Joe Perez
http://www.mtwsfh.blogspot.com
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 ANNIE'S NATIVE CELEBRITY NEWS - go to www.nativecelebs.com
CATCH COLORADAN PETER JONES AT:
http://indigenousissuestoday.blogspot.com
SUPPORTING NATIVE AMERICAN/FIRST PEOPLE - ARTISTS, FILM MAKERS, ENTERTAINERS, ETC. http://www.krystynmedia.blogspot.com.
SUPPORT GRAND CANYON BY ATTENDING A PUBLIC HEARING IN FLAGSTAFF
When: Friday, March 28 at 10:00 am
Where: Flagstaff City Hall
211 West Aspen Avenue
Congressman Raul Grijalva, Chairman of the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands of the House Natural Resources Committee will hold a Field Hearing on uranium mining near Grand Canyon. The hearing will explore the environmental and community impacts of more than 2000 mining claims surrounding the Grand Canyon.
Congressman Grijalva recently introduced the Grand Canyon Watersheds Protection Act of 2008 (H.R. 5583), which, if passed, will withdraw nearly 1 million acres near the Grand Canyon from mineral exploration.
It’s important that you attend the hearing to show Congress that safeguarding one of the world’s natural wonders is important to local communities. Your attendance will also serve to thank Congressman Grijalva for his work to promote conservation of these lands.
For more information please contact Richard Mayol at 928.774.7488 or rmayol@grandcanyontrust.org
American Indian Plaintiffs Ask Govt For $58 Billion
Submitted by Ann VanWert
By MARY CLARE JALONICK
Associated Press Writer
Bismarck Tribune
WASHINGTON - American Indian plaintiffs say the United States owes them $58 billion in a long-running lawsuit over government mismanagement of lands.
Plaintiffs in the 12-year-old lawsuit submitted the filing to federal court this week after U.S. District Judge James Robertson asked for their input. The suit, first filed in 1996 by Blackfeet Indian Elouise Cobell, claims the government has mismanaged billions of dollars in royalties held in trust from American Indian lands dating back to 1887.
In a January decision, Robertson said Interior Department accounting for billions of dollars owed to American Indian landholders has been "unreasonably delayed" and is ultimately impossible.
At the same time, Robertson said the overall task is not hopeless, and he has set a June trial date to find a remedy for the seemingly endless legal battle. The government will have a chance to respond to the plaintiffs' filing before the trial.
In a statement, the plaintiffs said the $58 billion number represent the accumulated savings the government has earned from dollars that should have been promptly deposited into individual Indian trust accounts.
Cobell said the $58 billion number is reasonable. Earlier estimates by the plaintiffs have had the government owing $100 billion or more. "We believe that our numbers are very conservative and represent the minimum harm that Indians have suffered under our broken trust system," she said.
The government proposed paying $7 billion partly to settle the Cobell lawsuit last year, but that was rejected by the plaintiffs.Interior Department aides did not immediately return requests for comment.
Remember Native Americans
The challenges Native Americans face can seem overwhelming. It’s easy to feel powerless when poverty, malnutrition, inadequate schools, and intolerable living conditions persist on reservations. These injustices threaten to undermine our hope for a brighter future.It is possible to overcome these challenges, but only if we refuse to remain powerless.
You can help us build strong, self-sufficient American Indian communities. Discover your strengths and how to use them to maintain a hopeful vision for the communities we serve by taking the Remember Native Americans Quiz. Once you complete the quiz, we’ll match you with special, individualized actions you can take to Remember Native Americans.
Thank you again for helping us work towards a better tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Shannon Albert President
http://remembernativeamericans.org/
What's Your Strength?
Question 1:
You hear forest fires are raging across land on an Indian Reservation, threatening the lives, homes and communities of hundreds of Native American families. What is your response?
a. You search through the Internet and the news for more information.
b. You send an email to friends and family alerting them to the crisis.
c. You volunteer to help or donate to one of the organizations already responding.
Question 2:
What do you believe to be the most important factor needed to raise Native Americans out from under the poverty many living on reservations endure every day?
a. Bestow appropriate training at a young age and ensure proper resources are available for continuing education
b. Organize sustaining industry to provide employment opportunities
c. Make sure community support groups are available.
Question 3:
If you could sit down and have lunch with just one of the following three notable Native Americans, who would you choose?
a. Chief Joseph, chief of the Wallowa band of Nez Pierce Indians, whose resistance to his people’s forcible removal from their homelands to a smaller reservation in Idaho has earned him a reputation as a great peacemaker and whose famous surrender speech includes the line "I will fight no more forever."
b. Sitting Bull, about whom his friend Catherine Weldon wrote "The great hope and purpose of his life was to unify the tribes and bands of the Dakotas and hold the remaining lands of his people as a sacred inheritance for their children."
c. Sherman Alexie, famous Native American author, who was reading Steinbeck by age five, was the first of his tribe to graduate from college, and about who’s writing the New York Times Book Review has said "These spare, disturbing stories trace with stark, lyric power the experience of American Indians in the modern world."
Question 4:
What motivates you to improve the lives of Native American families struggling to make it day to day?
a. It is wrong that Native Americans have been ignored for generations. I want to make a difference.
b. I don’t like to see others suffer and feel that Native Americans have been forgotten for much too long.
c. I know about all the broken promises made to Native Americans and feel strongly that as a nation we should be more knowledgeable about our history.
Question 5:
What aspect of Native American culture do you believe is most important for society to reconnect with?
a. Community. In our fast paced, me first world, we’ve forgotten how to slow down and connect with our families and neighbors, and care for those members of our community who are less fortunate than us.
b. Ecology. The Earth doesn’t belong to us, but we belong to the Earth, and we need to protect and nurture it so that future generations have the same opportunities to thrive on this wonderful planet.
c. Wisdom. In the information age, it can be hard to remember that more information isn’t always better, and that the road to true wisdom is found through contemplation and looking inside oneself.
http://remembernativeamericans.org/
Come Hopi, Come Shoshone, Come Mayans and Mamos
Upon this sacred vein, the white men came,
Upon this wild land, along came his band,
Andebichi Woho Nee Bide Pe,
Who is they, Who am I
A Nabidengehdaigwahni.!
Who am I warrior to? When Upon these veins of Blue
Upon these veins where copper Bliss,
When they mixed these people, and they kissed,
Forming this blue turqouise stone,
You Shoshone, are not Jewelers borne
Trade off your stones, Shoshone,
I am the White Buffalo Dainah that holds the Sun,
I am the grasper of the sand released to the Wind,
the directions of semme, wahatehwe, bahaitee and watsewite
Come Hopi, come Shoshone, come Mayans and Mamos !!
Find this White turqouise stone,
Who did not blend with the Iron, that took your green home,
We made it green, this turqouise blend,
The strangers made a promise, and claimed to be your friend
Taking land, breaking contracts and deeds,
Banishing you to exile, you were no longer free !
Who took the power, These men of iron won,
Who will cry out to creator, to the Dabai of Sun.
The Dainah comes for Wa'ipi, she is his Muh
This prophecy of this Oneness, to restore the land that was took.
Come Father Sun, and Mother Moon,
Restore the Lands of these ancestors, from when the Iron came
Blue Turqouise and Green, where in the Dry Creek
do you long for the White turqouise of your seed?
Do you long for Copper and Iron free?
Unite this WE, ALL TURQOUISE shall sing !
I bear this staff of the Buffalo Skull,
I hold the Dabai in my hand,
To the winds of the four directions, I release these sands.
Flow your tears of BAA,
Do the Sacred dance of Sun,
Unite O Shundahai, till we are all the ONE !!
Daystar Aldebaran, OV
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.
'MAKING THE WORLD SAFE FOR HYPOCRISY' By Joe Perez
http://www.mtwsfh.blogspot.com
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 ANNIE'S NATIVE CELEBRITY NEWS - go to www.nativecelebs.com
CATCH COLORADAN PETER JONES AT:
http://indigenousissuestoday.blogspot.com
SUPPORTING NATIVE AMERICAN/FIRST PEOPLE - ARTISTS, FILM MAKERS, ENTERTAINERS, ETC. http://www.krystynmedia.blogspot.com.
posted by BobbieoAZ @ 6:44 PM
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