Post by Okwes on Mar 22, 2006 10:10:45 GMT -5
A book for all seasons and a challenge to a governor
Notes from Indian Country
Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji) 3/20/2006
© 2006 Native American Journalists Foundation, Inc.
What weighs nine pounds and is red all over?
No, it’s not a very large Indian baby. The question is always “spoken”
so the sound “read” comes out “red.” Of course, we all knew the answer
to that question while still in elementary school. What’s black and
white and read all over? A newspaper, of course.
But the book that weighs nine pounds is a hefty, 1,120 pages book named
“Tiller’s Guide to Indian Country” and if you haven’t seen it yet you
really don’t know what you are missing.
The book was first published in 1996, but with the fast changes taking
place in Indian country the second and expanded version came out in
2005. It was edited and compiled by Veronica Tiller, PhD, and a member
of the Jicarilla Apache Tribe of New Mexico.
Using websites and shoe leather, Tiller set out to publish the most
comprehensive list of Indian tribes, nations, villages, pueblos, and
rancherias ever put into one book. In the foreword Tiller wrote, “In
addition to the research and inquiries conducted from our offices, we
also dispatched a small army of field researchers made up almost
exclusively of my sisters and nieces to visit more than 220 reservations
and Indian communities in the ‘Lower 48’ states. From treaty fishing
grounds at the very mouth of the Klamath River in Oregon to the bottom
of the Grand Canyon; from the Las Vegas-style Indian casinos of San
Diego County to the tribal bison herds on the high plains of Montana and
the Dakotas; and from the Florida Everglades to the island chain of the
Penobscot River in Maine, we ‘kicked the tires’ of Indian country USA
for this 2005 edition of Tiller’s Guide.”
I love this book because when Tiller gave it the name “Guide,” she knew
exactly what the book was about. It is a guide through Indian Country
like no other. Pick any tribe in the United States or Alaska and if you
want to know the size of the tribe, how many of its members have college
degrees, what are its main sources of economy or what its basic language
is, you will find it all in Tiller’s “Guide to Indian Country.”
As a publisher of a newspaper for many years I found this book to be the
bible of my business. Just helping my writers find the correct spelling
of an Indian tribe can be most difficult because many of the tribes
spell out their names in their own language.
Every Indian nation is pinpointed on a map showing where it is located
within the state. The Guide will tell you the total land area of the
tribe, the population and total enrollment and even how many people are
in the workforce. Does the tribe have a casino? Does it have a high
school? How about an Indian college? The answers to all of these
questions are explained in detail. Oh yes, and the book is also
beautifully illustrated.
I seldom tout any book or product unless I find it to be essential to
Indian country. This book fills that bill. I would highly recommend it
to anyone working in Indian affairs, to every high school and college on
and off the Indian reservations of America, and to all public libraries.
BowArrow Publishing Company of Albuquerque, NM publishes this book.
South Dakota’s abortion law
When Governor Mike Rounds signed HB 1215 into law it effectively banned
all abortions in the state with the exception that it did allow saving
the mother’s life. There were, however, no exceptions for victims of
rape or incest. His actions, and the comments of State Senators like
Bill Napoli of Rapid City, SD, set of a maelstrom of protests within the
state.
Napoli suggested that if it was a case of “simple rape,” there should be
no thoughts of ending a pregnancy. Letters by the hundreds appeared in
local newspapers, mostly written by women, challenging Napoli’s
description of rape as “simple.” He has yet to explain satisfactorily
what he meant by “simple rape.”
The President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation,
Cecilia Fire Thunder, was incensed. A former nurse and healthcare giver
she was very angry that a state body made up mostly of white males,
would make such a stupid law against women.
“To me, it is now a question of sovereignty,” she said to me last week.
“I will personally establish a Planned Parenthood clinic on my own land
which is within the boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation where the
State of South Dakota has absolutely no jurisdiction.”
Notes from Indian Country
Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji) 3/20/2006
© 2006 Native American Journalists Foundation, Inc.
What weighs nine pounds and is red all over?
No, it’s not a very large Indian baby. The question is always “spoken”
so the sound “read” comes out “red.” Of course, we all knew the answer
to that question while still in elementary school. What’s black and
white and read all over? A newspaper, of course.
But the book that weighs nine pounds is a hefty, 1,120 pages book named
“Tiller’s Guide to Indian Country” and if you haven’t seen it yet you
really don’t know what you are missing.
The book was first published in 1996, but with the fast changes taking
place in Indian country the second and expanded version came out in
2005. It was edited and compiled by Veronica Tiller, PhD, and a member
of the Jicarilla Apache Tribe of New Mexico.
Using websites and shoe leather, Tiller set out to publish the most
comprehensive list of Indian tribes, nations, villages, pueblos, and
rancherias ever put into one book. In the foreword Tiller wrote, “In
addition to the research and inquiries conducted from our offices, we
also dispatched a small army of field researchers made up almost
exclusively of my sisters and nieces to visit more than 220 reservations
and Indian communities in the ‘Lower 48’ states. From treaty fishing
grounds at the very mouth of the Klamath River in Oregon to the bottom
of the Grand Canyon; from the Las Vegas-style Indian casinos of San
Diego County to the tribal bison herds on the high plains of Montana and
the Dakotas; and from the Florida Everglades to the island chain of the
Penobscot River in Maine, we ‘kicked the tires’ of Indian country USA
for this 2005 edition of Tiller’s Guide.”
I love this book because when Tiller gave it the name “Guide,” she knew
exactly what the book was about. It is a guide through Indian Country
like no other. Pick any tribe in the United States or Alaska and if you
want to know the size of the tribe, how many of its members have college
degrees, what are its main sources of economy or what its basic language
is, you will find it all in Tiller’s “Guide to Indian Country.”
As a publisher of a newspaper for many years I found this book to be the
bible of my business. Just helping my writers find the correct spelling
of an Indian tribe can be most difficult because many of the tribes
spell out their names in their own language.
Every Indian nation is pinpointed on a map showing where it is located
within the state. The Guide will tell you the total land area of the
tribe, the population and total enrollment and even how many people are
in the workforce. Does the tribe have a casino? Does it have a high
school? How about an Indian college? The answers to all of these
questions are explained in detail. Oh yes, and the book is also
beautifully illustrated.
I seldom tout any book or product unless I find it to be essential to
Indian country. This book fills that bill. I would highly recommend it
to anyone working in Indian affairs, to every high school and college on
and off the Indian reservations of America, and to all public libraries.
BowArrow Publishing Company of Albuquerque, NM publishes this book.
South Dakota’s abortion law
When Governor Mike Rounds signed HB 1215 into law it effectively banned
all abortions in the state with the exception that it did allow saving
the mother’s life. There were, however, no exceptions for victims of
rape or incest. His actions, and the comments of State Senators like
Bill Napoli of Rapid City, SD, set of a maelstrom of protests within the
state.
Napoli suggested that if it was a case of “simple rape,” there should be
no thoughts of ending a pregnancy. Letters by the hundreds appeared in
local newspapers, mostly written by women, challenging Napoli’s
description of rape as “simple.” He has yet to explain satisfactorily
what he meant by “simple rape.”
The President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation,
Cecilia Fire Thunder, was incensed. A former nurse and healthcare giver
she was very angry that a state body made up mostly of white males,
would make such a stupid law against women.
“To me, it is now a question of sovereignty,” she said to me last week.
“I will personally establish a Planned Parenthood clinic on my own land
which is within the boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation where the
State of South Dakota has absolutely no jurisdiction.”