Post by Okwes on Jul 6, 2006 13:53:42 GMT -5
IN THE MAIL: UND honors Indians as does the Navy
GRAND FORKS - I must say, I'm surprised. Where is Lakota activist Russell Means? Where are UND anti-nickname activists Lucy Ganje and Leigh Jeanotte? Where is Herald columnist Dorreen Yellow Bird?
Where is the outcry from the defamed and denigrated, the opponents of all things named after Indians?
The unmitigated gall of the U.S. Navy - to name a combat logistics force vessel, the USNS Sacagawea, after an Indian princess, one of the most famous in North American Indian history! The shame that it must bring to Native Americans everywhere.
OK, enough sarcasm: I guess such names only matter in North Dakota or on the UND campus. Still, I could not believe my eyes when I read about the ship.
"Descendants of Sacagawea cracked champagne bottles on the hull of a new Navy resupply ship bearing the Indian guide's name just before it was launched into San Diego Bay," one story reported.
"Amy Mossett, a Sakakawea scholar from the Three Affiliated Tribes in North Dakota, served as an honorary matron of honor, the Defense Department said.
"'Finally, after 200 years, people are noticing the contribution she made,' Mossett said. 'The legacy of good will, generosity, hospitality and guidance from not just her but 50 American (Indian) tribes finally is getting its due.'"
Personally, I, too, am proud that Sacagawea was chosen to be honored in this way. But then again, I also am proud of what UND and its alumni do on a daily basis to honor the Sioux name and to promote the future of all students, regardless of their ethnic background or nationality.
Don Barcome Jr.
Objectifying a group doesn't square with honoring them
BARTLESVILLE, Okla. - The Fighting Sioux nickname debate has attracted some familiar arguments for and against the name's future use. Clearly, there will be no Indian cleansing of other Native-named institutions unless it is harmful or hostile. That argument is used in other areas of the country and is meant to anger proponents and frighten the masses.
Also, nickname supporters note that many all-Indian schools in the area have Indian mascots and team names. But at the time every Indian school was created, Indian people were not part of the decision to name the mascots.
What is needed are some clear positions. One position is honor. While UND has tried to do a better job of using the nickname, it remains pretty clear you cannot objectify someone and be respectful at the same time.
It really doesn't make sense to ask someone whom you've been mocking for years if it's all right to keep doing so in an attempt to find a reason to keep an inappropriate school mascot.
I applaud UND's excellent record in educating Native Americans. That is how one honors Indian people, not by misusing their image.
Louis Gray
Gray is president of the Tulsa Indian Coalition Against Racism.
Don't let dog park become canine litter box
GRAND FORKS - I've been reading about the proposed dog park lately and want to tell you about our experience with a nice dog park at a rest stop in Nebraska.
We pulled into the rest stop and took our little dog to the dog park. But upon entering it, I was just amazed to find that the chain-link fence enclosure smelled absolutely awful.
We always have picked up after our dog with a plastic baggie and paper towels. I couldn't even let my little dog run in the enclosure because there were so many big piles of dog poop all over. A woman took her big dog in after I left the dog park; he did his big job, and she didn't pick it up, either.
There isn't any courtesy to others any more.
My point in writing this letter is this: If a dog park gets created in Grand Forks, can we be assured that there will be rules for owners to pick up after their dogs? If so, who will monitor the park to make sure the picking-up-after-the-dog is being done?
Or is it going to be run like the dog park in Nebraska?
I walked my dog in the city park near my home, and there were "big dumps" there, too. People think only of themselves; they could care less about the many other people who walk in the same area. They are just plain lazy, and I am afraid the same thing will happen in the proposed dog park.
Lazy people don't change. They just continue to be lazy.
Marlene Spicer
Bush's legacy centers on abuse of power
GRAFTON, N.D. - President Bush worries about his legacy. He should. Integrity issues have dogged his administration for six years.
Here's an example. To suppress leaks of classified information, the White House plans to prosecute reporters under the espionage laws. The danger is that the White House can cloak its crimes by classifying them. Exposing such crimes then becomes a felony - a "threat to national security."
Other integrity issues include torture, a futile war, a debt crisis, destructive environmental policies, a widening gap between poor and rich, an unfeeling Katrina response, warrantless wiretaps and Jack Abramoff.
It all seems so ugly. Even our friends in England and Canada resent us. I want to feel clean again.
That is why I watch "Commander in Chief." This delightful TV series is about a president who honors principle over politics.
I also admire the Dixie Chicks. Three years ago, they took a principled stand against war and paid a price. They were blacklisted and demonized.
That was then. Not long ago, their new CD, "Taking the Long Way," was No. 1 in the land.
The popularity of "Commander in Chief," the resurgence of the Dixie Chicks, Bush's plunge in the polls - these are positive signs. A new spirit is awakening in America, a yearning for decency and responsible government.
Bush's legacy may be an Election-Day voter revolt that begets kinder, gentler leadership and the rebirth of a nation.
Richard Hanson
Area offers more than job; it makes good home
GRAND FORKS - To the residents of Grand Forks, East Grand Forks, the Lake Region and the northern Red River Valley: Thank you for you help, support and viewership over the last three years.
I left WDAZ-TV Channel 8 at the end of June. I have decided to make a career change and will attend UND's School of Law in the fall.
When I moved to Grand Forks fresh out of college, I didn't know what to expect. What I found was a community with a lot to offer and people willing to be patient with a new reporter. Thank you for that.
Grand Forks is more that just a temporary stop for me. It's now my home.
Again, thank you for your viewership and support.
Lori Cowan
Cowan has been a reporter and anchor at WDAZ-TV Channel 8.
GRAND FORKS - I must say, I'm surprised. Where is Lakota activist Russell Means? Where are UND anti-nickname activists Lucy Ganje and Leigh Jeanotte? Where is Herald columnist Dorreen Yellow Bird?
Where is the outcry from the defamed and denigrated, the opponents of all things named after Indians?
The unmitigated gall of the U.S. Navy - to name a combat logistics force vessel, the USNS Sacagawea, after an Indian princess, one of the most famous in North American Indian history! The shame that it must bring to Native Americans everywhere.
OK, enough sarcasm: I guess such names only matter in North Dakota or on the UND campus. Still, I could not believe my eyes when I read about the ship.
"Descendants of Sacagawea cracked champagne bottles on the hull of a new Navy resupply ship bearing the Indian guide's name just before it was launched into San Diego Bay," one story reported.
"Amy Mossett, a Sakakawea scholar from the Three Affiliated Tribes in North Dakota, served as an honorary matron of honor, the Defense Department said.
"'Finally, after 200 years, people are noticing the contribution she made,' Mossett said. 'The legacy of good will, generosity, hospitality and guidance from not just her but 50 American (Indian) tribes finally is getting its due.'"
Personally, I, too, am proud that Sacagawea was chosen to be honored in this way. But then again, I also am proud of what UND and its alumni do on a daily basis to honor the Sioux name and to promote the future of all students, regardless of their ethnic background or nationality.
Don Barcome Jr.
Objectifying a group doesn't square with honoring them
BARTLESVILLE, Okla. - The Fighting Sioux nickname debate has attracted some familiar arguments for and against the name's future use. Clearly, there will be no Indian cleansing of other Native-named institutions unless it is harmful or hostile. That argument is used in other areas of the country and is meant to anger proponents and frighten the masses.
Also, nickname supporters note that many all-Indian schools in the area have Indian mascots and team names. But at the time every Indian school was created, Indian people were not part of the decision to name the mascots.
What is needed are some clear positions. One position is honor. While UND has tried to do a better job of using the nickname, it remains pretty clear you cannot objectify someone and be respectful at the same time.
It really doesn't make sense to ask someone whom you've been mocking for years if it's all right to keep doing so in an attempt to find a reason to keep an inappropriate school mascot.
I applaud UND's excellent record in educating Native Americans. That is how one honors Indian people, not by misusing their image.
Louis Gray
Gray is president of the Tulsa Indian Coalition Against Racism.
Don't let dog park become canine litter box
GRAND FORKS - I've been reading about the proposed dog park lately and want to tell you about our experience with a nice dog park at a rest stop in Nebraska.
We pulled into the rest stop and took our little dog to the dog park. But upon entering it, I was just amazed to find that the chain-link fence enclosure smelled absolutely awful.
We always have picked up after our dog with a plastic baggie and paper towels. I couldn't even let my little dog run in the enclosure because there were so many big piles of dog poop all over. A woman took her big dog in after I left the dog park; he did his big job, and she didn't pick it up, either.
There isn't any courtesy to others any more.
My point in writing this letter is this: If a dog park gets created in Grand Forks, can we be assured that there will be rules for owners to pick up after their dogs? If so, who will monitor the park to make sure the picking-up-after-the-dog is being done?
Or is it going to be run like the dog park in Nebraska?
I walked my dog in the city park near my home, and there were "big dumps" there, too. People think only of themselves; they could care less about the many other people who walk in the same area. They are just plain lazy, and I am afraid the same thing will happen in the proposed dog park.
Lazy people don't change. They just continue to be lazy.
Marlene Spicer
Bush's legacy centers on abuse of power
GRAFTON, N.D. - President Bush worries about his legacy. He should. Integrity issues have dogged his administration for six years.
Here's an example. To suppress leaks of classified information, the White House plans to prosecute reporters under the espionage laws. The danger is that the White House can cloak its crimes by classifying them. Exposing such crimes then becomes a felony - a "threat to national security."
Other integrity issues include torture, a futile war, a debt crisis, destructive environmental policies, a widening gap between poor and rich, an unfeeling Katrina response, warrantless wiretaps and Jack Abramoff.
It all seems so ugly. Even our friends in England and Canada resent us. I want to feel clean again.
That is why I watch "Commander in Chief." This delightful TV series is about a president who honors principle over politics.
I also admire the Dixie Chicks. Three years ago, they took a principled stand against war and paid a price. They were blacklisted and demonized.
That was then. Not long ago, their new CD, "Taking the Long Way," was No. 1 in the land.
The popularity of "Commander in Chief," the resurgence of the Dixie Chicks, Bush's plunge in the polls - these are positive signs. A new spirit is awakening in America, a yearning for decency and responsible government.
Bush's legacy may be an Election-Day voter revolt that begets kinder, gentler leadership and the rebirth of a nation.
Richard Hanson
Area offers more than job; it makes good home
GRAND FORKS - To the residents of Grand Forks, East Grand Forks, the Lake Region and the northern Red River Valley: Thank you for you help, support and viewership over the last three years.
I left WDAZ-TV Channel 8 at the end of June. I have decided to make a career change and will attend UND's School of Law in the fall.
When I moved to Grand Forks fresh out of college, I didn't know what to expect. What I found was a community with a lot to offer and people willing to be patient with a new reporter. Thank you for that.
Grand Forks is more that just a temporary stop for me. It's now my home.
Again, thank you for your viewership and support.
Lori Cowan
Cowan has been a reporter and anchor at WDAZ-TV Channel 8.