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Post by blackcrowheart on Jul 3, 2008 13:15:39 GMT -5
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Post by blackcrowheart on Jul 3, 2008 13:11:30 GMT -5
Medicine Crow honored for WWII service Former general, French official award medals to Crow historian
By BECKY SHAY Of The Gazette Staff GARRYOWEN - For Joe Medicine Crow, Wednesday was "it'chik."
That's Crow for "very good."
The Crow warrior chieftain was awarded the Bronze Star with valor from the U.S. Army and made a knight of the French Legion of Honor during ceremonies Wednesday. The awards recognize his service with the Army during World War II.
Medicine Crow counted four coups during the war and became a warrior chief when he returned home. He sat stoically through the events, sometimes accepting the arm of his brother, William, also a veteran, while standing. At 94, Medicine Crow is the oldest living veteran of the Crow Tribe. "In my old age, I feel that all the things I did in Europe have finally been recognized and given awards for, so I am quite pleased," Medicine Crow said after the ceremonies.
The French consul general based in San Francisco awarded Medicine Crow the Legion of Honor, which he called the highest distinction of his country.
"The French Republic recognizes his great heroism during World War II as well as his outstanding accomplishments since," Pierre-Francois Mourier said. "France has not forgotten - France will never forget - your sacrifices."
Before the presentation, Mourier talked about the land that once belonged to his country. He said France's decision to sell the land that is now Montana "was not the wisest decision, but it's too late now."
Montana was part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, in which the United States bought more than 800,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River from France for about $15 million.
Mourier read a history of Medicine Crow's life, including his doctoral-level education, his work as a "remarkable author" of five books and his successful government career. He saluted Medicine Crow's wife, Gloria, and noted that they have been married 60 years.
"As we say in French, 'Bravo,' " he said.
Medicine Crow's great-great-grandfather, Pierre de Shane, was French. He came to America, traveled West, married a Crow woman and was adopted into the tribe. While Mourier and Medicine Crow share French heritage, "I can always dream I have Crow blood," Mourier said.
Retired Army Lt. Gen. Paul Funk awarded the Bronze Star to Medicine Crow.
Throughout his life, Medicine Crow has shown "the fixed resolve not to quit" and the tenacity of an excellent soldier, Funk said.
Among the other dignitaries was Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who wore a beaded buckskin vest for the event. Schweitzer has been adopted into the Crow Tribe. Like Medicine Crow, he is a member of the Bad War Deeds Clan. The clan got its name after others alleged that the coups they counted in battle were not valid, Schweitzer said. There is no doubt that Medicine Crow's coups are legitimate, he said.
"The coups that he counted on the battlefield in France was counted by the people who were with him there that day," Schweitzer said, and the other coups are a documented part of history.
In a booming voice, Medicine Crow recounted his four coups:
• He led a war party by taking a detail of soldiers, under fire, to retrieve dynamite to use to attack German guns.
"My (commanding officer) says if anyone can get through, you can," Medicine Crow recalled. "That young lieutenant knew an Indian warrior was pretty versatile."
• A photographer from "Stars and Stripes" photographed Medicine Crow as he leaped onto German soil and led a charge.
"I was the first American soldier to jump into Germany and an Indian warrior at that," Medicine Crow said.
• He touched the first fallen enemy and stole his weapon when Medicine Crow and a German met on a street in France. Medicine Crow knocked down the German and kicked his rifle away, counting coups twice.
• He entered an enemy camp and captured horses at a farm where German officers were holed up for the night. Medicine Crow stealthily entered a barn and corral, mounted a horse and, with a Crow war cry, ran the horses toward the Americans.
"I took off for the hills," Medicine Crow said.
"Boy, these were pretty horses, great big thoroughbreds," he said, noting that the Germans used the horses for "showing off and parading."
Enjoying his reminiscing, Medicine Crow said "and another thing," then told of helping liberate a concentration camp near Poland. His unit was in the area when locals told them of the camp. Medicine Crow and his commanding officer took a Jeep to the camp. The guard let them enter unchallenged and they were met "by a Jewish inmate wearing a green and white pajamalike outfit," he said.
The Germans ran.
"The two of us stampeded a bunch of SS guards," he said.
On Wednesday, in Crow tradition, he led the dance while an honor song was performed for him by a Crow drum group. Medicine Crow wore his war bonnet, traded his Army uniform jacket for a buckskin vest and carried a staff with an eagle feather.
Medicine Crow said one of the things he received in a blessing before going to fight in World War II was an eagle feather. He put that feather in his helmet while fighting in Europe. "That was my strong Indian medicine that brought me back," he said.
Schweitzer and Mourier also laid a wreath on the tomb of the unknown soldier at the Custer Battlefield Museum, where the events took place.
Dennis Clark, the chief of curriculum development for the Center for Army Tactics, presented Medicine Crow with a plaque and announced that his legacy will be passed along in a program for American Indian officers. The college, at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, is near Haskell College, one of the universities from which Medicine Crow graduated.
Letters were read from Montana's congressional delegation, and the Montana National Guard provided a flyover in a Chinook helicopter. Honor guards were provided by the Montana National Guard and the Patriot Guard Riders.
Medicine Crow also has been nominated to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. That honor is expected to be bestowed this summer.
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Post by blackcrowheart on Jul 3, 2008 13:09:30 GMT -5
Shinnecocks are pushing to protect sacred sites J
[Tribe member Rebecca Genia explained that the Shinnecocks buried their chiefs at the highest points in the town and always facing east.] Tribe member Rebecca Genia explained that the Shinnecocks buried their chiefs at the highest points in the town and always facing east. view more photos Standing atop Sugarloaf Hills, the highest summit in Southampton Town, Rebecca Genia of the Shinnecock Indian Nation looks to the east and states: "This is our most sacred site."
The reason for this, Ms. Genia explains, is that her ancestors buried their sachems, or chiefs, at the highest points in the town and always facing east. "This was so the sunrise could greet them on their journey to the spirit world," she notes.
In fact, Ms. Genia says Sugarloaf Hills derives its name from the white sand that the Shinnecocks would use to raise the burial grounds even higher. When the Europeans arrived in Southampton in the mid-17th century, they observed that the white sand resembled sugar.
Arguing that the graves of her ancestors have been desecrated and disrespected by development throughout Southampton Town, Ms. Genia, for years an activist regarding issues affecting the tribe, is now pushing to get the Town Board to halt further development on sacred Shinnecock sites. "All we are asking for is justice," Ms. Genia says. "No one's grave should be disturbed."
Town Supervisor Linda Kabot recently had the official Shinnecock Seal placed at Town Hall, a sign that her administration is interested in not only recognizing the Shinnecocks but working with them to address their needs—a significant change from recent years, when interaction between the tribe and town was mostly limited to court appearances. The supervisor notes that she respects Ms. Genia's beliefs and emphasizes that her requests "have not fallen on deaf ears."
Ms. Genia says she believes that Ms. Kabot is acting in good faith, but adds that she is hoping for Town Board action to back it up—such as the purchase of 9.3 acres along Montauk Highway in Water Mill, the site of the former St. James Hotel. In November 2006, a 1,000-year-old skull, believed to be the remains of a Native American boy, was discovered during a state-mandated archeological dig. That find halted development on the site, and Greg Konner, the property's owner, agreed to forego his development plans and sell his property to the town.
Ms. Genia says it was customary for her people to bury family together. "Because he was a young boy, it's only logical that there are other remains there," she adds. The Shinnecocks believe that an ancient fishing village, dating back thousands of years, was located on the property as well.
Though a last-minute legal entanglement has prevented the town from purchasing Mr. Konner's property, Ms. Kabot says the municipality is poised to buy the 9.3 acres with Community Preservation Fund money. The town is expected to spend $5 million to buy and preserve the property.
Ms. Kabot notes that since she took office in January, there has been a thaw in the relationship between the town and the tribe—a chilling effect blamed largely on the tribe's push to open a casino on the East End, and the legal battles that ensued as the town fought to stop it. "We can reach out to each other before something becomes a crisis," Ms. Kabot said. "I certainly respect and understand their desires to protect the graves of their ancestors."
Though one homeowner now residing in Sugarloaf Hills has dismissed claims that several houses in Shinnecock Hills sit above the most hallowed of Shinnecock ground, a local expert on Long Island's indigenous people not only supports Ms. Genia's claim but takes it one step further.
"It's not just one of the most significant sites in Southampton, it's one of the most important burial sites in the State of New York," says Dr. John Strong, former professor emeritus at Long Island University's Southampton College, now Stony Brook Southampton.
Dr. Strong, the author of three books on Long Island's Native Americans, says the "orient burial pattern" was first uncovered in the 1930s by Roy Latham, a North Fork archeologist. "This pattern began in Orient Point, ran through Jamesport and up to Sugarloaf," Dr. Strong says.
In 1959, William Ritchie, a state archeologist who studied Mr. Latham's work, published "Stony Brook Site: Its Relation To Archaic and Transitional Cultures on Long Island," which, according to Dr. Strong, validated the burial pattern.
"These burial sites are well documented," he says. "Not only that, the Shinnecocks' genealogy is one of the most well documented of any tribe in the country." This is because, Dr. Strong says, the tribe has been filing its elections with the town clerk's office since 1792.
What makes the Sugarloaf Hills site even more special to Ms. Genia is her belief that the last chiefs with Algonquian names are interred on the grounds. "After the Europeans landed, my people adopted Christian names," she explains.
Chief Munguntucksee, and his sons, Wyandance, Nowedanah and Mommeweto, are all buried in Sugarloaf Hills, according to Ms. Genia. Algonquian is the root of the Shinnecock native tongue, Dr. Strong says, similar to Latin being the root for Italian, Spanish and French.
Ms. Genia asserts, and Dr. Strong concurs, that Shinnecock ancestors are buried all over the East End and, in particular, in Southampton Town. The 62-acre Parrish Pond subdivision is another parcel that Ms. Genia says is sacred to her tribe. In 2004, this site was embroiled in a lawsuit stemming from the discovery of a Native American skull by a worker near Montauk Highway and Tuckahoe Road. Shinnecock activists, including Ms. Genia, tried to prevent the property from being developed, but ultimately failed. The state courts ruled that the development could go ahead, though they did set aside about one third of an acre based upon evidence presented by the Shinnecocks that it contained ancestral remains.
Ms. Genia explains that the site was used by her people to make wampum, beads from local clam shells used as an ancient form of currency and jewelry. "There are now 37 luxury homes on this site," she says, "And all we got was 0.3 acre."
But, in Ms. Genia's opinion, the most egregious desecration is the Shinnecock Hills Golf Course, a property that she says runs across countless tribal remains. "This is the playground for the rich and famous," she says. "But when you play golf, you should know that you are walking across the remains of our ancestors."
What upsets Ms. Genia the most is that the golf course was constructed in the 1890s—utilizing Shinnecock laborers.
The effort to protect sacred Native American sites is not confined to Southampton Town. Ms. Genia says the movement is afoot nationwide. On June 10, the Shinnecock Indian Nation hosted "Honoring Sacred Places," an Inter-Tribal Historic Preservation Task Force symposium at Southampton High School. The invited speakers included Ruben Valdez of the Shinnecock Indian Nation, Chief Harry B. Wallace of the Unkechaug Indian Nation in Mastic, and brothers Vic and Posh Camp of the Lakota Indian Nation, who made the trip from South Dakota.
"It is shameful to desecrate our graves," said Chief Wallace who then quoted the famous Chief Seattle, who lived in what is now the state of Washington. "When we walk upon the Earth, we walk upon the ashes of our grandfathers. Whatever befalls Mother Earth befalls men. If you spit on the ground, you spit on yourself."
Posh Camp spoke about Mato-Paha, or Bear-Butte, the most sacred of all mountains, a mecca for Native Americans that is nestled in the Black Hills of South Dakota. For thousands of years Native Americans have gone to Mato-Paha, Mr. Camp said, for "vision quests" and to collect medicines and pray.
In 2006, a massive biker bar was built in sight of the sacred mountain. Originally called "Sacred Grounds," plans for the bar included an 80-foot-tall wooden Indian statue facing the mountain. Mr. Camp said his people were able to stop the developer from using the name "Sacred Grounds" and from erecting the wooden statue. However, they could not prevent the construction of the bar.
"The bar is full of drunkenness and nakedness, and it is next to our most holy site," Mr. Camp said. "All we wanted was a reasonable buffer zone. You would never see a bar like that built next to a church or temple.
"Despite all our people who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces to protect this beautiful land, we still have to fight for our sacred sites," he continued.
Mr. Camp's brother, Vic, explained that Native Americans "don't pray in buildings. Most people don't understand that. We pray outside, to the wind, to the stars." He added: "Mother Earth is sacred. She is tired of being stepped on. We see signs all across the planet that she is cleansing herself."
Speaking for the Shinnecocks, Mr. Valdez said development on the East End has gone from the basic sustenance of providing for one's family to greed. "The great American ideal of working hard for one's family has been abused," he said. "The subdivision process is the worst enemy of this town. The land is getting cut up in smaller and smaller pieces, and those developments are disturbing our sacred burial sites."
In his opinion, the developer mindset is crippling the town's future. "We need to start focusing on what's best for Mother Earth," Mr. Valdez said. "Some developments in this town are crimes against the planet and acts of war against my ancestors."
Elizabeth Thunderbird Haile, Ms. Genia's mother and a Shinnecock tribal elder, agrees that greed drives much of the development that is disrupting the peaceful rest of her ancestors. "It's not about need or about surviving," Ms. Haile says. "There's no balance."
Ms. Genia notes that when the Europeans came ashore in 1640, her people welcomed them and provided them with food and shelter. Now, she says, they would like for the ancestors of those Europeans to extend them a similar courtesy.
"We have always been a peaceful people living in harmony with Mother Earth," she says. "We've given and given. And now all we want is for the graves of our ancestors to be protected."
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Post by blackcrowheart on Jul 3, 2008 13:08:39 GMT -5
Tribal decree stresses sovereignty June 28, 2008 bangornews.com/news/t/city.aspx?articleid=166412&zoneid=176<http://bangornews.com/news/t/city.aspx?articleid=166412&zoneid=176> INDIAN ISLAND, Maine - The chiefs of more than 40 tribes from across Canada and New England attending a conference here this week passed a resolution stressing their right to self-governance. In addition to exploring cultural options and economic development opportunities, tribal leaders met at the Wabanaki Confederacy Conference to discuss issues such as sovereignty, environmental and sustenance rights, and indigenous rights in general. The most significant resolution passed dealt with tribal sovereignty and the right to self-govern. The four-page resolution appeals to the United Nations arm that deals with indigenous rights and reaches out to the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Canadian government, holding them responsible for trust responsibilities. "There were a lot of tribes facing the same issues," said Chief Kirk Francis of the Penobscot Nation, which hosted the event. The Penobscots' decision to sever their relationship with the state came after Gov. John Baldacci vetoed a bill that would have allowed the tribe to operate 100 slot machines at its high-stakes bingo facility at Indian Island. The Legislature failed to overturn Baldacci's decision and Francis said at the time that it was "the last nail in the coffin" for tribal officials. The resolution passed at the Wabanaki Conference recognizes and supports the U.N. Declaration of Indigenous Rights, including that of self-governance, which the United States and Canada previously voted against. The National Council of American Indians and United South and Eastern Tribes Inc. already support the Penobscots in their attempt to achieve true sovereignty and self-governance. The Wabanaki Confederacy is an alliance of the Penobscots, Passamaquoddys, Micmacs and Maliseets, but other tribes were invited to attend the conference which began with ceremonies last weekend. The confederacy allowed the member tribes to negotiate with Europeans, share their cultures with one another, and address issues in a unified manner. A second resolution passed at the conference dealt with repatriation of tribal members' remains. "A big concern this week was about tribal members' remains being held by state entities," Francis said. Although the resolutions aren't laws, Francis said he hopes they send a strong message to political leaders that the tribes are united. "Resolutions are great," he said. "What happens is the strength of these resolutions really is in the follow through." The Wabanaki Confederacy Conference officially ended Friday, and was to be followed by the Penobscot Nation's first annual pow-wow over the weekend.
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Post by blackcrowheart on Jul 3, 2008 13:07:41 GMT -5
Meeks: Native consumers beware: Payday lenders are predators © Indian Country Today June 27, 2008 Posted: June 27, 2008 by: ElsieMeeks / First Nations Oweesta Corporation The payday lending industry is mounting quite a campaign to appear legitimate. It reminds me of the old adage, ''Watch out for wolves in sheep's clothing.'' It is certainly a fitting analogy. Both wolves and payday lenders are predators and need to disguise their true purpose.
The payday lending industry is vigorously courting our lawmakers to facilitate these disguises, giving large campaign contributions and influencing the process in Washington, D.C. This was evident at a recent hearing of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, convened to discuss predatory lending in Indian country, where there were more witnesses from the payday lending sector than consumer advocates. As the chair of the Native Financial Education Coalition and a spokesman advocating for increased financial education and increased limits on predatory lenders, I was called on to give background information for the hearing.
I was looking forward to presenting testimony; however, days before the hearing, pressure from the payday lending industry prevented that from happening.
I am willing to bet that if you asked a hundred random people if they thought an annual interest rate of 350 percent is predatory, they would say, ''Of course!'' Unfortunately, rates of 350 percent per annum are on the low side of the average rates charged by payday lenders. Credit cards that are charging 29.95 percent are thought of as predatory, but seem favorable when compared to payday lending rates of 350 percent.
The most common argument that I have heard is that people who borrow from payday lenders have no other alternative. While that may be true, that is hardly an argument for charging astronomical interest rates. I do not deny that some people do find themselves in the occasional desperate situation, sometimes beyond their control. But I also know that many people lack financial management skills that help them handle their money. Since predators prey on the weak, these are the people that payday lenders target and from whom they make their greatest profit.
This leads me to the next discussion: How do we increase financial education and provide alternative lending opportunities to those offered by the payday lenders? One answer is community development financial institutions. These organizations are leading the way by providing financial education to their community members, especially in Native communities. Many Native CDFIs, recognizing the strength of a common voice, have joined the NFEC, a group of local, regional and national organizations and government agencies whose purpose is simply to promote financial education in Native communities.
The NFEC has worked with the National American Indian Housing Council to build the capacity of housing entities to offer financial education, and with the National Congress of American Indians and the National Indian Gaming Association to help tribal departments' structure programs to promote financial education opportunities. Most importantly, we are working with the National Indian Education Association to institute financial education in schools so that Native youth will be better equipped to face the financial challenges they will encounter in today's competitive marketplace.
As for alternatives to payday lending, several Native CDFIs have demonstrated that it is possible to offer fairly priced products combined with financial education to help break the cycle of borrowing that many payday lenders try to maintain to milk their profits. Citizen Potawatomi Community Development Corp. (www.potawatomi.org), Four Bands Community Fund (www.fourbands.org) and Lac Courte Oreilles Federal Credit Union (www.lcofcu.com) all offer products specifically designed for Native consumers who encounter financial difficulties and have few options other than payday lenders.
At Oweesta, we are working with Native CDFIs across the country to help them replicate these types of consumer loan products. In the meantime, the best ''fix'' to combat these predatory practices is to pass legislation that would limit the interest rates of payday lenders. Congress did pass legislation that limits the interest rate that payday lenders can charge to military personnel to 35 percent. This shows that Congress understands and acknowledges that some consumers are more likely to fall victim to predators than others.
In my travels, it struck me how similar the landscape is on the borders of both military bases and Native communities, especially reservations: payday lenders and pawnshops as far as the eye can see. Shouldn't all Americans benefit from the same protections? Especially Native consumers, who have been so historically underserved by the financial services industry, have been victims of discrimination and haven't had the opportunity to sharpen their financial management skills? The answer is an unequivocal YES!
Payday lenders don't lend to provide a service to help consumers. They do it because it is profitable. Instead of supporting an industry that capitalizes on financial crisis and lack of experience, why not support efforts to prevent the problems that create long-term patterns of dependency in the first place?
Interest rate caps and support for financial education and Native CDFIs would make it easier for Native consumers to avoid these sly wolves. But will our lawmakers keep giving them their sheep's clothes?
Elsie Meeks is president and CEO of Oweesta Corporation and chair of the Native Financial Education Coalition.
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Post by blackcrowheart on Jul 3, 2008 13:03:51 GMT -5
American-Indian group walks the US to press causes
Photo Participants in the Longest Walk 2 from San Francisco to Washington D.C. walk along a highway in Richmond, Va., Tuesday, July 1, 2008. The walk is a journey to help protect the environment and Native American sacred sites.
RICHMOND, Va. --With hopscotch speed, Shanawa Littlebow leapt to the side of the road, scooped up a plastic bottle cap and fell back into line with his fellow walkers, passing trailer homes and gas stations along Jefferson-Davis Highway.
Sweat beaded at his temples and dampened the seat of his cargo shorts.
The Tigua Indian man walked and searched for litter - a feathered staff in the crook of his right arm - in honor of Mother Earth.
"There may be a lot of people who don't even care," he said. "But at least we're out here, and we're speaking out."
The 100-person caravan passed through Virginia Tuesday in the final stretch of the Longest Walk 2, an 8,300-mile trek from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. to draw attention to the effects of environmental devastation on American Indians and all people.
The walk began Feb. 11, and is expected to end July 11, when organizers plan to present a 30-page manifesto of American-Indian environmental concerns to Rep. John Conyers, a Detroit Democrat who advocates on a wide range of minority issues, on the U.S. Capitol steps.
The walk marks the 30th anniversary of the first Longest Walk, a 3,600-mile effort that gathered support to successfully halt bills before Congress that Native Americans said threatened their sovereignty.
This year's walk was longer by demand, said national organizer Dennis Banks, 76, who founded the first walk in 1978.
"A great number of tribes in the Southwest insisted that we come through," he said.
Banks said two groups of walkers set out from San Francisco and split up - the southern delegation passing through states like Texas, Alabama and Tennessee, while the northern group has walked through Pennsylvania and surrounding states.
They'll all meet in Maryland and continue to Washington.
Along the way, Banks said they've picked up 3,800 bags of trash.
They've also gathered a running list of American-Indian worries - everything from concern about burial grounds under threat in Kentucky to fears about the future of Arizona mountains threatened by ski resort development.
There are 11.9 million American Indians across the nation, according to the Census. Their concerns gained renewed attention in May as Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama visited Montana's Crow Indian reservation and was adopted into the nation during a private ceremony.
American Indians have been mixed on their reaction to Obama's attention, with some questioning his intentions as the election shifts into high gear.
"I just hopes he sticks to his words," Karl Red Horse, a Navajo man said Tuesday, as he marched. "At least we (will) have somebody in there other than Caucasian."
He said he'd done 1,000 miles of the walk, which was expected to spend several days passing through central Virginia.
Some skeptics, even in black America, where marches for social change are historic, have begun to question the impact a group of people on foot can have.
Shanawa Littlebow isn't among the doubters. He marched beneath a rainbow of fluttering flags, to the tum of drums.
To say it doesn't work, "it's to say a wheel doesn't work when it's turning. We're turning. We're walking. It's working," he said.
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Post by blackcrowheart on Jul 3, 2008 12:52:59 GMT -5
Strawberry ceremony returns to Meherrin Nation after two centuries
Posted: June 30, 2008 by: Bobbie Whitehead Indian Country Today
Meherrin Nation -- The Meherrin Nation of North Carolina participated in the first Strawberry ceremony held in more than 200 years on their tribal grounds, with Michael Jock (Kanaratanoron), Mohawk, and Joe Logan (Sky-yoh-wee-yoh), Oneida/Onondaga, leading the ceremony. Logan stood with James Lewis, Meherrin; Jock; and Meherrin Chief Wayne Brown (Sha-goie-watha). WINTON, N.C. - More than 50 Meherrin Nation tribal members, dressed in traditional Iroquois regalia from the Snipe and Turtle clans, participated in the first Strawberry ceremony held in more than 200 years in North Carolina.
Kanaratanoron (Michael Jock), of the Bear Clan People of Mohawk Territory in Akwesasne, N. Y., and Sky-yoh-wee-yoh (Joe Logan), of the Wolf Clan of Oneida Territory, led the ceremony on Meherrin Nation grounds May 31 in Winton.
In his first visit to meet the Meherrin Indians in North Carolina, Jock said he came to lead the ceremony to carry a message from the Tuscaroras of New York.
''The message is to bring our people together and to unite our people together under the Great Law of Peace,'' he said in an interview after the ceremony.
The strawberry is the first fruit of the year; therefore, it is the first thanksgiving observed among several thanksgiving ceremonies held throughout the year, according to the Iroquois lunar calendar, said Meherrin Nation Chief Sha-goie-watha (Wayne Brown).
''The ripening of the strawberries in North Carolina is a month ahead of our season,'' Jock said.
He conducted the ceremony prayer in the Mohawk language, and each person at the ceremony received a copy of the prayer written in Mohawk and English.
''The celebration gives thanks, in general, to the strawberry and, more specifically, to the Creator for giving the fruit for the good of all men,'' Brown said, adding that Jock and Logan explained to the Meherrins ''when and how each person was to participate in the prayer as well as to answer in Iroquois when prompted.''
''Images of my forefathers flashed before me,'' he said. ''The melodious words and the beat of the turtle rattle resonated all over the grounds'' as Jock recited the Strawberry Thanksgiving Prayer in Mohawk, a language linguistically similar to the Meherrins' language. ''I was pleasantly astonished to hear the 50 or so voices responding in unison to the prayer.''
Brown also said he could feel the presence of his ancestors during the prayer and ceremony.
''It is simply beautiful to hear my people speak the Iroquois language again.''
After the prayer, sacred songs and the Great Feather Dance were performed.
''This is a day that I have dreamed about, for some of our Iroquois brothers to come to lead us back to the old way,'' Brown said. ''I feel the presence of my mother, Arlene Brown, who went to be with my father in September of last year.''
Brown said when he saw his mother's sisters, Mamie Mercardo Franklin, 87, and Yvonne Baker, 73; and his mother's cousins, James Lewis, 75, and Michael Reid, 72; participating in the Feather Dance, for a ''fleeing moment'' he said he could see his mother leading them and looking back with a smile of approval.
''I felt that all my Meherrin ancestors were with us.''
Jock plans to return to visit the Meherrins in the fall to recite the Great Law, an event that he said takes 10 days and is a function in which everyone has a voice.
''When I met the Meherrin people for the first time, I stood back, and I took a look at the people who greeted me, and I could see that our people have been scattered across this continent,'' Jock said. ''I felt a strong, strong connection with the Meherrin people. We all connect - every nation. I'm grateful to the Meherrin people, and I was very proud of the Meherrin people.
''They all wore Iroquois clothes; there was not a one that wasn't wearing Iroquois clothes. There wasn't a one who wasn't willing to listen.''
Brown said Jock told the Meherrins that they had made history with the Strawberry ceremony and that ''this day shall be written in the history of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.''
''I have an agenda here that I need to fulfill before I go to the spirit world,'' Jock said. ''We're in 2008, and we need to prepare our people for what's coming.''
Adding that he's willing to share this message with any nation that wants to hear the message of the Great Law, Jock said he saw the uplifting of the Meherrin people.
''They have a powerful nation, and I respect that.''
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Post by blackcrowheart on Jul 3, 2008 12:51:55 GMT -5
TREATMENT OF ABORIGINALS Harper's apology to natives puts pressure on Bush U.S. lawmaker says he hopes President will follow suit as bill acknowledging wrongs winds its way through Congress July 2, 2008
OTTAWA -- Canada's residential-schools apology has opened the possibility that U.S. President George W. Bush may do the same in his final months of office, says Republican Senator Sam Brownback.
In an interview with The Globe and Mail, the senior senator from Kansas said Canada's apology has increased the pressure on Washington, and he expressed hope that Prime Minister Stephen Harper will raise the issue directly with the President.
Mr. Brownback has already secured the support of his Senate colleagues for a historic, broadly worded apology to native Americans. The three-page apology was added as an amendment in February to legislation dealing with Indian health care. It now must be approved by the U.S. House of Representatives and then ultimately the President.
Mr. Brownback has written Mr. Bush urging him to support the apology, and said Mr. Harper's statement last month aids his campaign in Washington.
"It does help. And coming from a Conservative government I think helps, too," he said. "This is something that I think that people of faith orientation should be very strongly supportive of. ... I'd love to hear that [Mr. Harper] would contact [Mr. Bush] or that it would come up in one of their meetings."
In a U.S. election year, time is running out for Mr. Brownback to get the apology through the House and onto the President's agenda, but he's optimistic.
"If the House will move it, it will happen. I think we've got a decent chance," he said.
A U.S. apology would be a remarkable development for a country whose history with natives has been far more violent than what occurred north of the border. The image of heroic cowboys battling Indian enemies has long been ingrained in American mythology, a staple of pulp fiction and films. But the apology adopted by the U.S. Senate would turn some of that on its head.
It acknowledges that "many Native Peoples suffered and perished" due to official federal government policies that removed natives from the land, as well as "during bloody armed confrontations and massacres, such as the Sand Creek Massacre in 1864 and the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890."
The latter saw roughly 300 natives killed, including Sitting Bull, a Lakota chief who helped lead the resistance against the U.S. government. The battle is perhaps best known as the concluding chapter of the 1971 book Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, by historian and author Dee Brown.
Canada's Indian residential schools were in fact modelled after what was already taking place in the United States, and the Senate's apology recognizes the impact of the American boarding schools as well.
"The Federal Government condemned the traditions, beliefs and customs of Native Peoples and endeavored to assimilate them by such policies as the redistribution of land ... and the forcible removal of children from their families to faraway boarding schools where their Native practices and languages were degraded and forbidden," it states.
Should the United States adopt the apology, it would cap a historic year of reconciliation around the world. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd issued an apology to his country's indigenous peoples in February. The new Australian PM has since been criticized, however, for refusing to commit to a compensation package along the lines of Canada's multibillion-dollar settlement approved by the Harper government in 2006.
The Senate's move would be open to the same criticism.
Nonetheless, American native leader Tex Hall said he can live with that disclaimer if it produces an apology from the President.
"To me, it's a huge first step for the U.S. to finally say that," said the former president of the National Congress of American Indians, who said he received a call from Mr. Brownback out of the blue several years ago to discuss a possible apology. "It's a breakthrough in Canada that helps the initiative down here."
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Post by blackcrowheart on Jul 3, 2008 12:50:39 GMT -5
Two Makah Indians get jail time for illegal hunt
Jun, 30, 2008
Two Makah Indians get jail time for illegal hunt
TACOMA, Wash. -- Five Makah Indian whalers who killed a gray whale in an illegal hunt last September were sentenced Monday in federal court. The sentences include jail time for two men considered the leaders of the group. Wayne Johnson received five months in jail, and Andy Noel was sentenced to three months in jail. Both men also will be supervised for a year after their release, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
The other three men - Frankie Gonzales, Theron Parker and William Secor - received two years of probation and between 100 and 150 hours of community service.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Kelley Arnold determined that Johnson and Noel led the effort. Both men received longer sentences than the 60 days prosecutors had recommended.
The Makah, who have been whalers for centuries, have sought to resume their hunts as part of their cultural heritage. Tribal members legally killed a whale in 1999. But since then their treaty rights to hunt whales have been tangled in the courts.
Arnold said the illegal hunt had hurt the tribe's efforts to obtain a legal hunting permit and pointed at Johnson in particular.
"I don't believe there is one ounce of remorse on Mr. Johnson's part and I believe he will do this again unless deterred by this court," Arnold said Monday.
As part of the sentencing, Arnold also said all five men have lost their privilege to hunt whales during their supervision period, even if the tribe obtains a federal permit for a legal whale hunt.
Lawyer Jack Fiander, representing Noel, said, "It's not clear that the court can restrain them" from hunting because it's an issue of a federal treaty.
The sentence "was harsher than expected," he added.
In another development, The Peninsula Daily News of Port Angeles has reported that a court document filed prior to sentencing by Parker alleges that at least some Makah tribal leaders had knowledge of the hunt before it happened.
At Monday's sentencing, Arnold indicated he did not believe the five undertook the hunt with the implied permission of tribal council members.
"I don't believe it, and if they did it's no excuse," he said.
The five men harpooned the whale four times and shot it at least 16 times last Sept. 8. The animal died nine hours after the attack.
The men did not have a federal permit to kill the whale, which eventually sank and was not harvested. After the hunt, the Makah Tribal Council called it "a blatant violation of our law."
The killing was a public relations disaster for the tribe, which had been working with federal authorities to obtain a permit for a legal hunt, and Makah officials rushed to Washington, D.C., shortly after the hunt to assure the government they did not approve.
In one of five statements filed with the court in support of Parker's bid for a more lenient sentence, a witness said then-Tribal Chairman Ben Johnson Jr. told council members, "I think it's time to go fishing."
"He was referring to getting a whale," wrote Luke Warkishtum of Port Angeles, who said he heard the comment almost two months before the hunt. "The whole tribal council nodded in agreement."
Another witness, Paul Parker of Neah Bay, was quoted in the court document as writing about what he said was an exchange between Theron Parker and Ben Johnson: "Theron asked Chairman Johnson, 'What if I went out and got a whale?' The chairman's response was 'Go ahead, get one.'
"Theron asked if he would have the Makah Tribal Council's support.
"Ben (Johnson) said they would support the whale hunt if Theron decided to go out for a whale."
The tribe's current chairman, Micah McCarty, told the newspaper, "I'm not aware of this."
Associated Press calls for comment Monday to Ben Johnson, the tribal council, and the tribe's Seattle lawyer John Arum, were not immediately returned.
In April, Arnold convicted Johnson and Noel of conspiracy to violate the Marine Mammal Protection Act and unlawfully taking a marine mammal, both misdemeanors.
A month earlier, Theron Parker, Secor and Gonzales accepted a federal plea deal, admitting that they violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act, also a misdemeanor, after prosecutors agreed they would not recommend jail time.
In May, a Makah tribal judge deferred prosecution for the five men.
The federal government removed the gray whale from the endangered species list in 1994.
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Post by blackcrowheart on Jul 3, 2008 12:49:42 GMT -5
Gangs in Indian country Posted: July 01, 2008 by: Greg Peterson <http://www.indiancountry.com/author.cfm?id=770> www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096417637<http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096417637> Niso Frank Caywood works toward a solution PORTLAND, Ore. - Before putting on a seminar at a reservation, Niso Frank Caywood, Cree, hangs out on some of its toughest streets getting to know local teens because he believes it's the best way to start working on a solution to Native gangs that have infected Indian country. His black hair pulled tight in two braids tipped with leather ties, he has met thousands of gang members and the frightened tribal members who are trying to rid their reservations of the disillusioned youth that often know little about their culture. Many adults are preoccupied with blame and eliminating the gangs rather than trying to take back their youth, said Caywood, who moved around a lot in his youth because his dad was a Marine. A Portland resident for 15 years, the 49-year-old Caywood is a nine-year trainer/consultant for Native American Homeland Security and the federal Community Oriented Policing Services program. Caywood is the program manager for the Striving Together to Achieve Rewarding Tomorrows, a substance abuse project operated by Neighborhood Houses Inc. in three high-risk Portland schools whose goal is keeping high-risk 8- to 13-year-olds away from drugs, alcohol and crime. For nine years, Caywood has given gang workshops at more than 350 tribes, including one June 4 and 5 at the North Sound Tribal Mental Health Conference in Bow, Wash. He's also worked with youth in California's inner-city gangs and assisted a federal gang task force. He often travels with former Portland gang member Glenn Lamotte, 28. The product of alcoholic ancestors and a broken home, he knew little about his heritage, was called stupid by teachers and expelled from every school. Lamotte was seemingly destined for a life of crime. He was only 17 when he started a three-year prison term that literally ''saved my life.'' Angry and disillusioned with everything, Lamotte's new life began when spirits spoke to him as he started weekly sweats while incarcerated. ''I crawled in [the prison sweat lodge] - they put water on the stones and since then I have never been the same. I don't know how I lived before that day. It was like I was given a second chance for everything.'' Lamotte, whose roots are in the southern Mississippi Choctaw Nation, has spent the last eight years trying to help teens, including most recently as a youth gang prevention specialist for Native American Youth Association Family Center in Portland. He credits his turnaround to wise advice from elders who cared and the big break from Caywood. ''I chose to do something different because that's what felt good to me - that's what the spirits told me to do,'' Lamotte said. An outspoken opponent of ''gang 101'' lectures that only spotlight the problem, Caywood discusses constructive solutions and encourages adults to reach out to troubled youth instead of plotting ways to drive them off the reservation or into jail. Caywood said reasons for gang popularity vary as widely as the nations themselves. He's talked with gangs on rich and poor reservations and where heritage is a priority. Reasons for gang success include ''families returning to the reservation from a metropolitan city, lack of supervision and care, and living near a gang-infected city,'' said the former career orientation, cultural diversity and social studies teacher for a Job Corps high school in Reno, Nev. Among numerous reasons Native teens join gangs are fragmented families, abuse, depression-generated apathy and pressure to assimilate into modern society, Caywood said. Gangs are a ''symptom of a larger problem,'' he said, adding that reservation gangs fill a cultural void by providing a sense of belonging and initiations similar to tribal rights of passage. While not coddling or making excuses for gangs, he said gang members are often the latest victims in a vicious circle of child abuse that started with their parents. Abuse begets abuse. Victims become perpetrators often addicted to alcohol and drugs. While Caywood has some sympathy for gang members, he ''draws the line'' at violent crimes like murder and rape. Youths tempted to join gangs need other fulfillment including physical challenges, mental inspiration and spiritual stability. ''Native teens are selling their souls to assimilate into materialism like videos, cars and TVs,'' Caywood said. ''They want to be famous; they want to be recognized.'' For many reasons, including America's notorious boarding school era, some tribes have lost their customs and can't find elders who remember the old ways. ''We've always been taught our culture and belief systems are wrong - don't drum, don't dance and don't sing,'' Caywood said. ''A lot of the Navajo kids don't know their language, or the healing songs and healing ways that all Pueblo tribes practice. These are the kids that are in the gangs.'' Some Native gangs have roots in prisons with disproportionately large minority populations. While prison is a temporary fix, Caywood believes that Native inmates are ''getting their education from the real gangs.'' ''All it takes is a charismatic leader who will unite some heavy duty gangs on reservation - then you will really start seeing a problem. ''Our relations returning home from serving prison time'' will be ''a major influence'' that's ''vital to the increase and existence of gangs in Indian country.'' Lately, Native girls are starting gangs, said Caywood, who expects an increase in imprisoned females. ''In my last four to five trainings, I found it's the females that are fighting, uniting and forming gangs. Nobody is taking that seriously - they had tattoos and are more established than the boys.'' And teen girls are facing ''that demand of being pretty and having material things.'' Caywood said reservation leaders and the community must work on solutions with input from teens if they expect to stop youth interest in gangs.
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Post by blackcrowheart on Jul 3, 2008 12:48:57 GMT -5
Native American high schoolers learn about MSU through science and film July 02, 2008 -- By Michael Becker, MSU News Service Natural History Filmmaking graduate student Jaime Jelenchick, clockwise from top left, watches video with Nikki Senapati, Michelle McKay and Mikayla Frasier after a trip to the Fish Technology Center in Bozeman. (MSU Photo by Kelly Gorham) BOZEMAN -- In an editing lab at Montana State University, recent high school graduate Martina Wilson was worried about her production schedule. The 19-year-old graduate of Wolf Point High School, who will attend MSU this fall, didn't think her team would have time to finish their three-minute film about frogs and salamanders before the screening in two days. "It takes a long time," Wilson said while her teammates clicked their way through video editing software on a nearby computer. "I understand now why it takes a year for the big Hollywood movies to come out." Wilson is one of 20 Native American high school students from Montana and across the country who are on campus for the Montana Apprenticeship Program (MAP), a six-week camp designed to show them what it's like to work in science and math at a university level. MAP is part of the American Indiana Research Opportunities program and has been bringing Native American and minority students to campus for more than 20 years. "It's another way of getting students interested in science and math," said MAP coordinator Scott Zander. "It's another component instead of sitting inside and just doing bookwork and math work." In addition to spending time in the classroom and in labs across campus, the students also spent a week learning about nature filmmaking, courtesy of graduate students in the Natural History Filmmaking program and MSU's TerraPod project. TerraPod encourages students ages 10 to 18 to create science-related video podcasts - think of them like blogs in video form, with periodic updates no longer than about 3 minutes each. The finished products are uploaded to TerraPod's Web site, which also provides filmmaking tips, links to science sites and copyright-free music and graphics for students to use in their films. "They get what it means to make a film and how to communicate with film," said Charles Dye, a graduate student the natural history Filmmaking program who was helping the MAP students create their videos. Filmmakers must know their subjects very well before they can make an effective film, Dye said. In that way, the filmmaking project will help the MAP students learn even more about their films' topics. "We're taking skills for communicating science and given them to these students who are here studying hard science," he said. The students working in the lab chose the topics for their films and shot footage earlier in the week at the Fish Technology Center near Bozeman. They used computers to edit the scenes and add text, music and other special effects designed to wow the rest of the MAP students when they screen the films Saturday night. Melanie Grant, 16, was working with her teammates on a parody of "The Crocodile Hunter," complete with an over-the-top Australian-accented host. Grant, a senior at Browning High School, also attended MAP last year. She said she was excited to return to MSU for a second year with MAP, which has provided her with a valuable glimpse into the kind of science work done at the university level. "I actually learn a lot working in the labs with a mentor," she said. "I think it's a good experience, a hands-on preview of what goes on in the labs." For related stories see: "MSU program brings Native Americans into school leadership roles," Jan. 31, 2008, www.montana.edu/cpa/news/nwview.php?article=5552"Program powers record number of American Indian engineering grads," May 9, 2008, www.montana.edu/cpa/news/nwview.php?article=5912"MSU receives $6.5 million grant for health research partnerships with Montana tribes," Nov. 16, 2007, www.montana.edu/cpa/news/nwview.php?article=5363"MSU science and nature film site wins Webby," May 25, 2007, www.montana.edu/cpa/news/nwview.php?article=4901"MSU filmmaking program starting to prove its point," Oct. 20, 2003, www.montana.edu/cpa/news/nwview.php?article=1325Contact: John Watts, American Indian Research Opportunities director, at (406) 994-5567 or jwatts@montana.edu
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Post by blackcrowheart on Jul 3, 2008 12:47:59 GMT -5
Carving, art yields expression
'Watch out for the cars' Posted: June 25, 2008
courtesy Erica Chatelain/Bottom photo courtesy Eric Schweig -- Eric Schweig, Inuk, began carving at an early age and refined his scope toward the traditional masks of his ancestors, the Inuit. He hand-carves the masks from the red cedar of Vancouver, British Columbia. Carving, art yields expression
CANASTOTA, N.Y. - Eric Schweig, Inuk, isn't shy. He's not afraid to share his opinion. His ability to not block that expression is shown with his skill of carving.
Carving was a gift he acquired at an early age. It started as a love that was nurtured into adulthood.
Schweig studied traditional Pacific Coast carvings before refining this scope toward the traditional masks of his ancestors, the Inuit. He hand-carves the masks from the red cedar of Vancouver, British Columbia.
''I've been doing it my whole life, since I was a kid, just because it was the most organic form of expression that I could think of.''
Schwieg explained how he and his clients conceptualize a mask.
''It's art. You can do anything with it. It doesn't matter. ... It's open to interpretation. It's alchemy. You make something out of nothing. It just depends on what I want to do, or what I feel like doing, or what a client feels like doing, or your state of mind. Whether you're happy, sad or angry; whether the client's happy, sad or angry. It just depends on what he or she wants, or what you want. You can do anything. It's wide open. It's freestyle and it's wide open. So, there's no one way to design something. Absolutely no [limitations].''
The masks can take up to a few months to complete, depending on the level of intricacy. He said that while the colors used can symbolize different things, they're often chosen because they hold special meaning to the client.
''It's usually open to interpretation. If somebody wants something done, I'll usually get a color swatch from them and then I'll go to an art store and I'll match it, and that'll be it.''
His signature style includes a certain distinction.
''To me, the only thing that sort of sticks out that I like is contrast. That's why I always put a white base coat on everything. So anything I put on top of that is going to pop out.''
Schweig recently received an honorary doctorate in education from Nipissing University in North Bay, Ontario.
''That's like a once in a lifetime thing. It was cool. And it was so nice, everybody was so nice. The graduates were polite and accommodating. ... It was a really classy event and I was glad to be a part of it.''
Schweig told Indian Country Today the words of wisdom he shared with the graduates.
''Creativity is the building blocks of intelligence. And when they're given the chance to incorporate as much of that alchemy and creativity, there's a sort of sense of originality in their schoolwork. Because right now, the reason why everybody is stupid - and everybody is stupid - is because the education system is more preoccupied with teaching kids what to think instead of how to think. And when you teach kids how to draw or let them express themselves through art, they develop their own sense of individuality and identity and then they're able to form their own thoughts and opinions about a number of issues on a number of different levels.
''But, the education system ... is more interested in getting kids in line, pay attention to the rules, watching the stoplights instead of the cars. If I had kids ... I'd want them to watch out for the cars, not the stoplights, because stoplights fail, but your eyes don't.''
In addition to being an artist, he's an actor, musician, and a volunteer representative and motivational speaker for street outreach. He appears throughout North America speaking to indigenous, American Indian and First Nations youth about suicide prevention, alcohol abuse and adoption, among other things.
He also wanted to prepare the graduates for the world they're about to enter.
''I was trying to tell them from an outreach point of view, that the kids they're going to see, they're going up to some really troubled communities. ... They're going to run into some of the areas in Canada where the socioeconomic conditions of indigenous people up there are horrific. It's the bottom of the barrel and that's where they're being sent.
''A lot of those kids that are graduating don't have any life experience, so they don't know. When they get thrown curve balls or fast balls or drop balls, they don't know how to hit them. They're going to back off the plate. They might not know how to handle that and they need to be prepared.''
For more information on his masks, or to book a speaking engagement, contact Michelle Shining Elk at (818) 302-6122 or michelleshiningelk@gmail.com
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Post by blackcrowheart on Jul 3, 2008 12:45:43 GMT -5
Supreme Court limits tribal jurisdiction over non-Indians Thursday, June 26, 2008 Filed Under: Law
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday limited tribal jurisdiction over non-Indians in a 5-4 decision that was split along conservative and liberal lines.
In the eyes of many in Indian Country, Plains Commerce Bank v. Long was a contract dispute between two members of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and a non-Indian bank. Since Plains Commerce Bank in South Dakota voluntarily entered into an agreement with Ron and Lila Long, tribal advocates believed the case would withstand scrutiny.
But Chief Justice John G. Roberts recast the dispute in a way that precluded tribal jurisdiction. Writing for the majority, he said just everything about the case was non-Indian in nature.
"This case concerns the sale of fee land on a tribal reservation by a non-Indian bank to non-Indian individuals," Roberts wrote in his opening.
By noting that the Longs mortgaged fee land to the bank, Roberts was able to rely on Supreme Court precedents that limit tribal jurisdiction over lands that are not held in trust.
"Our cases have made clear that once tribal land is converted into fee simple, the tribe loses plenary jurisdiction over it," Roberts noted.
Roberts, a nominee of President Bush, was joined in the decision by two of the most conservative members on the court -- Justice Antonin Scalia and Justice Clarence Thomas. Justice Samuel Alito, another conservative Bush nominee, gave Roberts four votes.
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, often considered a swing vote, joined the majority, tipping the decision to the conservative side of the court.
The more liberal justices sided with the Longs in upholding tribal court jurisdiction. In her dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg disagreed with the characterization of the case as one over fee land.
"Resolving this case on a ground neither argued nor addressed below, the court holds that a tribe may not impose any regulation -- not even a nondiscrimination requirement -- on a bank's dealings with tribal members regarding on-reservation fee lands," Ginsburg wrote.
But even if the case were about the sale of fee land, Ginsburg said tribal courts are the proper place to resolve a dispute involving a non-Indian bank that voluntarily entered into a business agreement with tribal members. "Sales of land -- and related conduct -- are surely 'activities' within the ordinary sense of the word," she wrote, citing some of the same precedents that Roberts relied on.
Justice John Paul Stevens, Justice David Souter and Justice Stephen G. Breyer, who often side with tribes in Indian law disputes, joined the dissent.
The decision means the Longs are not entitled to a $750,000 jury verdict awarded by a Cheyenne River Sioux court. With interest, the judgment would have to about $870,000.
The case was Alito's first Indian law case since he joined the court in February 2006. He previously served as a judge for the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, where there are no federally recognized tribes.
The court's next big Indian law case is Carcieri v. Kempthorne, which challenges the ability of the Interior Department to acquire land for the Narragansett Tribe of Rhode Island.
A date for oral arguments hasn't been set but the case will be heard after the court reconvenes in October 2008.
The Tribal Supreme Court Project, a joint effort of NCAI and the Native American Rights Fund, is keeping track of five other cases that could be heard in the coming term. One is US v. Navajo Nation, a breach of trust case that previously went before the justices during the 2002 term.
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Post by blackcrowheart on Jul 3, 2008 12:44:55 GMT -5
BIA proposes new rule for tribal-state gaming compacts Wednesday, July 2, 2008 Filed Under: National | Politics
With just a few months left in the Bush administration, the Bureau of Indian Affairs is proposing a new regulation to address review and approval of tribal-state gaming compacts.
Notice of the rulemaking was published in the Federal Register today. The regulation doesn't appear to break new ground but it's the first time since the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed in 1988 that the agency has taken steps to define the process.
"The submission process for the tribal-state compact or compact amendment is not clear," the notice stated. "Therefore this proposed rule establishes procedures for submitting tribal-state compacts and compact amendments."
The notice was actually signed by former assistant secretary Carl Artman on May 22, the day before he left office. Review of the regulation by the White House Office of Management and Budget likely delayed its final publication in the Federal Register.
Even though he was nearly out the door, Artman narrowly escaped a deadline to get the rule finished. The White House ordered federal agencies to stop proposing new regulations by the end of May and OMB won't allow final rules to be published after November 1.
Although Artman barely made the deadline, the regulation faces uncertainty should any delays arise in the rulemaking process. Comments are being accepted until September 2, giving the BIA less than two months to publish a final rule before the November deadline.
Though the new rule is not particularly complicated, it deals with a controversial subject. Another gaming regulation that Artman finalized before he left office took months to publish even after all comments were received.
The BIA, however, rushed the proposal in what appears to be record time. The rule didn't even show up on any of the regulatory agendas that federal agencies are required to submit to Congress every six months.
The BIA only held two tribal consultation sessions -- both in April -- before the rule published. "The draft regulation was modified to reflect comments received during the consultation, as well as written comments received from Indian tribes," the notice stated.
The proposed rule closely tracks the provisions of IGRA that address review and approval of Class III gaming compacts. The law gives BIA 45 days to consider a compact or an amendment to an existing compact.
The rule states that extensions to existing compacts will be considered an amendment that is subject to review and approval. The issue has surfaced in litigation in Wisconsin.
Under IGRA, the BIA may only disapprove a compact or an amendment if it violates IGRA, provisions of other federal laws, or the "trust obligations" of the federal government. Trust obligations aren't defined in IGRA or in the proposed rule.
If the BIA doesn't take action within 45 days, a compact is considered "deemed approved" under IGRA. This situation recently occurred with four controversial compacts in California that somehow got misplaced after the state mailed them to the Interior Department.
As a result, the BIA was forced to publish notice of the compacts even though state voters had not approved them. The BIA has since instituted internal changes to prevent recurrences, officials said.
The final decision on the rule will be made by George Skibine, who has been assigned the duties of assistant secretary. He is a career BIA employee who serves as director of the Office of Indian Gaming Management, which reviews gaming compacts.
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Post by blackcrowheart on Jul 3, 2008 12:43:27 GMT -5
Please visit our website at www.protectbearbutte.com for the rest of the story, see my write up Corporate America ~vs~ Sacred Sites! There is alot more going on, than this than people are realizing. Bear Butte bar gets nod for liquor license By Andrew Gorder, Journal staff Wednesday, July 02, 2008 The 3-2 vote came after about an hour and a half of testimony from representatives of Target Logistics -- a Boston-based company that intends to buy the embattled campground -- and Native Americans, concerned citizens and other activists who support a development buffer or an alcohol ban near Bear Butte. In recent years, opponents have regularly testified before the commission about their opposition to alcohol near the mountain. It is a sacred landmark and prayer site for the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and other Native American tribes. "I'm really disappointed that the Meade County commissioners did not take all of us into account," said Tamra Brennan, director and founder of grass-roots group Protect Sacred Sites. The Broken Spoke Campground, formerly known as Sturgis County Line, has been in a fight to renew its on-sale liquor and beer licenses since commissioners voted to deny them last year. The campground, northeast of Sturgis, is within 1-1/2 miles of Bear Butte. Former owner Jay Allen lost the beer license for his campground last June after commissioners received complaints from local contractors who claimed they had not been paid by Allen. Alcohol licenses can be denied on the basis of the character of the owner-operator or the location of the venue. In December, the commission also rejected Allen's renewal application for an on-sale liquor license, again citing unsettled debts with contractors. Allen appealed the decision, and on April 4, Circuit Court Judge John Bastian ruled the county commission must reconsider its decision because of the proposed change in ownership. Target Logistics is an international company that provides housing, transportation and hospitality services. It intended to buy controlling interest in the venue several months ago but was leasing the property until the liquor license issue was settled. Representatives of the firm said that, when the sale is final, Allen will have a 30 percent, noncontrolling interest in the campground. During Tuesday's hearing, commissioners heard from several character references for David Shue, an employee of Target Logistics and the newly hired managing officer for Sturgis County Line LLC. Shue, a former director of operations for the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan, spoke on his own behalf, highlighting his service in Iraq and Afghanistan and promising to be a "good neighbor." Commissioners also heard from several concerned Meade County residents and Native American activists who urged them to deny the alcohol licenses. Opponents mainly voiced concerns about the growing size of the campground and its encroachment on Bear Butte. They said they believed the new owners will only continue the expansion. "The new investors, Target Logistics, have already proceeded with plans for additional development and expansion," Brennan said. "We've had a drought for the last eight years, and here they're building the world's biggest biker pool," she said. "We love this land, and we don't want anything to happen to it," said Jace DeCory, another concerned resident. After hearing testimony, Commissioner Dean Wink said he sympathized with opponents but did not agree that the location of the venue was the issue at hand. Wink said most of Allen's debts being settled was reason enough for him approve the license. "I think that probably shows a good faith effort on the part of Target Logistics, to be a good business for this area," Wink said. Commissioner Dayle Hammock said he did not feel comfortable with Jay Allen's continued involvement with the company and sponsored a motion to deny the license. That motion failed, and the committee then voted to renew the license. "They're basically standing behind corporate America," said Brennan, who also said her organization plans to appeal the commission's decision. "We're not done." www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2008/07/02/news/top/doc486afab8cafaa463592499.txt?show_comments=true#commentdiv
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