 American Native Issues
|
To be vanquished and
yet not surrender, that is victory.
Josef Pilsudski
source of this is unknown
This remains an excellent
source for news
from all around American Native Country.
Native Web News Digest

March 26, 2013
A press release announcing
recent winners from the Kellogg Foundation:
First Nations Awards $375,000 to 10 Native Food-System Projects
March 9, 2013
Moccasins On the Ground
At Pine Ridge
March 8 -10, 2013
For those wishing to join
and learn more, there will be an
Activist Training
Instruction Conference for three days at Pine Ridge.
The three day event will be
held near Manderson, South Dakota.
Activist Instruction
January 29, 2013
A 40th Anniversary
Gathering
Next month on February 27,
2013, is the 40th Anniversary of Wounded Knee 1973.
Come to Pine Ridge and
stand with those there who will never forget what was
done to the 150 innocent
Lakota men, women and children massacred in 1890.
There will be a Four
Directions Walk,
Meet at the Wounded Knee
Gravesite for honoring and prayers
from 9 AM to 1 PM
Gun salute by AIM
Grassroots security.
For more information call:
605 441-4219
January 22, 2013
Pine Ridge Is Where We All Need to Be
As you can see, by
the links below, so much is happening at Pine Ridge right now.
The resistance is strong and growing and Lakota Elders are speaking clearly.
It is way beyond the time to get involved, come on, do something,
help whenever and
wherever you can.
Be there!
Strong Lakota
Women
Who Are Not Going To
Accept Defeat
Support Wounded Knee
Medals Of Dishonor
January 20, 2013
Warrior Up Resistance Tour
6 PM Tonight!
Pine Ridge, South Dakota
Billie Mills Hall
Many Guest Speakers
Mitakuyepi - Free Your Mind
November 23, 2012
This recent incident is
just one more in a very long history
of abhorrent crimes
against Native people in this Country.
The complete lack of
respect or conscience in non natives is difficult
to understand for those who
treasure Mother Earth and all within her.
Ancient Petroglyphs Stolen In California
Ancient Native American Rock Carvings Stolen
June 21, 2012
Can You See Through Your Glass Of Water?

Pipeline Spill in North Dakota
Photo:
Peter Carrels
This story is so important on so many levels.
Just in case you did not minor in Geology, here is something
that
was pounded into my head by a Professor at CSUN years ago.
When our water is poisoned, it could take as long as 10,000 years to clean
it up.
At the time he was speaking of the poisons in California's water
from the fertilizers
and pesticides used in the San Joaquin Valley, or the
Vegetable Bowl of America.
Now, it is Dirty Tar Sands Oil, and it is just as lethal and will take
just as long to clean up.
Millions of innocent people all over this country are being
bullied by these Oil Companies
and the environmental disaster certain to be created by
these greedy, ruthless people,
will be left behind for our children to contend with for
centuries.
The
Ogallala Aquifer is just one of many, many American water
sources
that are right now in very grave jeopardy.
When our glass is full of toxins, it will be too late to
object:
Visuals: Dirty
Oil Sands
Great story, well done!
Protecting The Cultural And Historic Values Of The Powder River Basin
June 2, 2012
Stop Poisoning The
People
Moapa Paiutes in Nevada are
being poisoned by the pollution from Coal Mining
and have become prisoners
in their own Reservation homes.
This is a Petition to be
sent to the EPA,
please read it and sign if
you agree with it:
Protect My Family From Dirty Coal Pollution
But, Coal is not the only
poison that has been inflicted on
our Native People in
this country.
In Arizona, White Mountain
Apaches have suffered horrific deformations
for years from U.S.
Government Uranium
mining.
White Mountain Apache: The Forgotten People
March 27, 2012
Who Is the Savage You
Say?
This news is not news to
Native people, but it is nice to have another reason
to say "I told you so" to
non Natives once again.
This story shows what we
have always known, that Native people
have been using so
called "natural medicines" since the beginning of time.
A great story and one to
show to your children when or if, they doubt that
their ancestors are a race
of which they can be truly proud.
Rediscovered Native American Remedy Kills Pox Virus
February 15, 2012
There is a new petition at
the top of this page,
please read it and think
about how you might have felt in this
young girls place and then
sign it if you believe the teacher
made an error in judgment.
October 14, 2011
I have for many years
admired the work of Diane Sawyer on ABC and
have found her for the
most part, to be honest, respectful and sincere.
But this morning on Good
Morning America, Sawyer came to promote
her 20/20 special which airs tonight:
A Hidden America, Children of the Plains.
It was a double edged sword, as the chance for the people of Pine Ridge
to have any exposure of the
deplorable conditions that exist there,
could have been a positive
thing, but the tone in Ms. Sawyers voice during
the entire interview with
Robin Roberts was offensive, to me at least.
I have been to Pine Ridge
many times and know well the conditions that exist there,
but the way Sawyer
presented the information made the Lakota people there
seem not only pathetic, but
people to be pitied.
None of this could be
further from the truth, at least to me.
The Lakota People of Pine
Ridge know what it means to have outsiders,
come to their Reservation
and stare and gawk and do stories and then leave.
Most, never to be heard
from again and little if anything, ever gets changed.
Ms. Sawyer, whom I believe
probably has some Native Blood, though she may,
or may not be aware
of it, did no favors today for the people of Pine Ridge.
She insulted the conditions
and the struggles of the people,
by acting so dramatically weepy during the entire interview.
Lakota, indeed all Native
people in this country, know what the ultimate
agenda of outsiders are
when they come to their Reservations,
a new book, or movie, personal advancement, or
sadly, ratings!
For Sawyer to prove me
wrong, she would have to come back to Pine Ridge
and just talk, listen and
learn, without a camera crew.
Take the time to go to Big
Bats and meet some of the locals,
go to the cemetery at
Wounded Knee and hear the cries of those who died there,
travel through the
Badlands and just listen to the wind.
Walk the tall
grasses and know the power of Mother Earth.
Take the time to appreciate
how the people feel about this land,
Paha Sapa, that they call home.
But, it would take a
lifetime to understand what it really feels
like to live on a
Reservation, any Reservation.
As for the people of Pine
Ridge and the other Reservations, they do not need pity,
or least of all, sympathy
or to quote Sawyer, "a rope up."
What they really need is
for the US Government to give the Native People in this
country back all of the money
and land that they have stolen for the past 200 years.
Washington's meaningless
Treaties are stained with the real tears of Native People,
unlike a weepy conversation
meant mostly to promote a new TV show!
This web site was
created in 1998 after a promise to someone at Wounded Knee,
she knows who she is and
that this web site is dedicated to her and all of the people.
October 13, 2011
For the
past two hundred years Bison/Buffalo in this country have
been teetering on the edge of extinction.
Beginning with the era of the railroads and continuing today
with ranchers, American Bison/Buffalo have been killed and
their numbers have become once again dangerously reduced.
If you
care for them and want to help, please sign the
National Wildlife Federation Petition here:
NWF Action Center: The Wildlife
Please,
click on the link Help Restore Wild Bison
and then please sign it.
You
only have until October 19th.
The
future of the Wild Bison is in your hands. |
August 27, 2011
From the Sachem Uncas Blog
today
This is NOT Just a Navajo Problem!
This disturbing story barely touches the reality that is everyday
life on many Reservations in the United States.
As the woman said, "people have better shacks for their lawnmowers"
than these people live in.
One needs only travel to anywhere, to any state, in America and
spend a few minutes on a
Indian Reservation to understand that these same conditions are
everywhere in Indian Country.
An example is the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, one of
the most impoverished places in America,
where many Elders have no indoor plumbing, some even have no
windows, many do not have enough warm clothes,
and this is an area with 60 degree below zero winters.
It is difficult to see so many Hollywood stars traveling all over
the world to bring awareness to the plights of other people,
when the conditions on many Reservations in this Country are just
as bad, if not worse.
When will those who have everything in this country, even
acknowledge that many of the First People of this land
are in trouble and need their help just as much as those thousands
of miles away?
What is that old saying, "Charity begins at Home?"
Program Aids Native Americans
August 11, 2011
This petition was just
received and it is something that must be done.
Please help protect the
Ramapough Mountain Indian Tribe.
We have friends in this
Tribe and the area is one of the most beautiful places in New Jersey.
The polluter here is the
Ford Motor Company and they have all of the money,
lawyers and lobbyists
necessary to avoid being forced to clean up their poisons.
Please read this page and
then sign it, if you feel it is the right thing to do:
The Ringwood
Landfill Superfund Site Petition
August 5, 2011
From the Sachem Uncas Blog
today
Report
Shows Native People More Harmed By Climate Changes
This has happened because our People are more dependant on natural
resources.
We are also less able to avoid this because many of us live on Reservations
in areas where these extreme
weather conditions are much more likely to occur, like the
southwest deserts or the high plains.
Many people on Reservations cannot afford the modern conveniences that other
Americans take for granted,
like the heating and air conditioning that most homes in America
already have.
This makes the cold and heat much harder to bear and more likely to
cause fatalities among our people.
In fact, many Reservation people do not have proper clothing, food
and other simple
basic
human needs that Natives and others who do not live there
have.
Reservation life for our people is an every day struggle just to
survive.
Climate Change Hurts Indian Tribes Disproportionately
March 9, 2011
Republicans have taken aim at America's Minorities once again.
"They have no interest in immigration reform, if they did we would have had it by now".
They simply want everyone who isn't one of them to get out of
America.
Women, Elders, Hispanics, African Americans, Native Americans,
everyone who is not a part
of their ugly hate campaign must stand together against this latest
form of repression.
If we do not unite, they will do what all conquerors and bullies
throughout
world history have always done, they will divide and conquer!
Minorities Need to Band Together to Fight Racism
March 6, 2011
The U.S. Government has
begun a program aimed at connecting Tribal Elders
on Indian
Reservations to the rest of their people.
But, what the U.S. Government and most people are unaware of, is that
many
Elders in these communities do not even have electricity,
heating,
cooling or at the very least, decent shelter, which includes
windows and doors to keep out the heat and the cold!
FCC
Targets Low Broadband Adoption by Native Americans
December 17, 2010
The letter below was
just received today, leaving very little time to react.
But, if you are able and
want to help, please do so.
The information for the BLM in
Cedar City, Utah who is responsible for this is:
Bureau of Land Management
Cedar City Field Office
176 East DL Sargent Drive
Cedar City, Utah 84721
Phone: (435) 586-2401
Fax: (435) 865-3053
Email:
utccmail@blm.gov
The ASPCA has more about
this as well:
http://capwiz.com/aspca/issues/alert/?alertid=20819646
Dear Madame/Sir,
If you could please forward this to American Native Tribes, I
do not want these last remaining precious horses to die by the
Bureau of Land Management's hand. They are lawless criminals
using force and death to kill these last remaining precious Wild
Mustangs and Burros.
Systematically, the Bureau of Land Management has ignored the
protection act of 1971 to keep the Wild Mustangs and Burros
alive. President Bush signed into law which counters all the
preservation of these wonderful horses and burros. The
government has voted to spend more than $12 Million dollars more
bring up the cost to $84 Million dollars a year. The detainment
camps are bursting with these horses who are withering away,
dying of malnutrition and will be sent to slaughter houses. The
estimate that within 10 years these horses will become extinct.
My gut estimate is that within 5 years the Wild Mustang and
Burros will become just a picture of what an iconic figure of
America was. They will become extinct. Please, please, pass
this on to your friends and family to save these horses and
burros. The final vote is on December 18th. Call the White
House 202-456-1111 and say no to anymore roundups and a
moratorium on these horse and burro roundups is imperative!
There are more Wild Mustangs and Burros now in captivity than in
the wild. Please click on the ASPCA's website under Oppose
FY-2011 Wild Horse Roundups. Let your voices be
heard. If we
don't act now, there will be no more Wild Mustangs or Burros at
all!
Thank you for your support!
Ms. Athena Coroneos
P.S. I know that this may be a stretch, but, every voice counts
to save these precious horses.
July 10, 2010
As a descendant of the Ohio
Valley farming community, this story concerning
the inequalities and
prejudices that frequently occur during interactions between
Native People and the US
Government, is just the latest sad reminder of the
ongoing history of abuse
towards the First Residents of this Country.
Native Farmers, USDA Loans and Lawsuits
February 14, 2010
Thanks to Keith Olbermann
and a great many generous people across the country,
help will be coming for
those on Reservations in South Dakota.
These links will take you
to places that will tell you how you can also help:
dailykos/keitholbermannstory
keitholbermann
cheyenneriversiouxstormrelief
November 5, 2009
Two notable stories made
the News today
concerning Native People in
America.
The first is positive, the
second, not so much.
President Obama is meeting
today with over 500 Tribal leaders
to discuss very
important issues for all Native People,
Health Care, Education and
Housing.
This story is here:
President Obama Hosts Summit
The second story concerns
the apparent growing of marijuana
on American Indian
Reservations by Mexican gangs.
That story is here:
Mexican Pot Gangs
October 2008
Two recent news stories are
offered here today:
a huge decline in Mohegan
Casino Gambling profits
and the Bush's padding of
the family assets.
The story about the Bush's
should come as no surprise to
anyone who has watched this
family for the past twenty years:
Bush Family Cleaning up on Land Transfers
September 2008
There are so many awesome advances
being made
today in renewable Alternative Energy,
as with this new
Native Company started
recently by Native musician
Lightfoot:
Native Company Launches Wind Energy Project
So why then, are Native People still
being terrorized
by dirty power companies?
This is an excellent
encapsulation of the Power
struggle many Nations have had
to deal
with for too many years.
Coal and Native American Tribal Lands
October 2006
This letter was received
from a friend dear
to Walkingfox and I several days ago.
It is posted here with permission.
Please respond to Chief Van
Dunk and
support them if you are near enough to do so.
From:
Anthony Jay Van Dunk
To: Ramapough Lenape Indian Nation
Subject: Protest on October 13, 2006
Date: Sat, 7 Oct 2006 21:45:04 -0400
PROTEST ALERT!!!
Show we still want Justice for the Death of Emil
Mann
and the unfair prosecution of Otis and Katlin
Mann!!!
Rally for Justice,
We are not Targets.
Friday, October 13, 2006 at 12:00PM
10 Main Street
Hackensack, NJ 07601
US Eastern District
Court, Room 10D, 10th Floor
EVENT: a press conference and rally/peaceful
demonstration. Drummers, singers,
speakers, friends and allies of native
peoples welcome.
STOP the attack
on native peoples and make justice fair.
PREVENT burying of the facts and the delay!
BE THERE to show
support in person. We need to fill the Court Steps
to make our message heard.
Help is needed! Sign materials, bottled
waters, and monetary donations are appreciated.
We will make signs on Wednesday evening at the
Ramapough Lenape Indian Center
189 Stag Hill Road,
Mahwah, NJ at 5:00 PM.
*We will begin to
gather at 12:00PM on the plaza.
Please be prompt so
we can show our strength to the government.
**Please bring
paper/cardboard signs or cloth banners.
Anthony Jay Van Dunk
Tribal Chief
Ramapough Lenape Indian Nation
January 2006
An update.......
Over the weekend, I called
a close friend and asked him to
double check on the validity of the
disturbing story below.
I had a strange feeling
when I did not see an author for the story,
but not the time to
do any in depth searching
before leaving for the weekend.
He sadly advised me that
the terrible story
found at their web site was
a complete fraud.
It would seem that this
paper named The Onion writes parodies,
something not obvious to me
when I read
just that one particular story last week.
My thought is this.
What kind of humor could
anyone,
especially any American
Native in this country find
in that story after the way
that we have been
decimated by outsiders for the past 300 years?
And as an animal lover,
I am also curious as to how
funny it would be to these
persons if someone killed their beloved pet?
What a very sad way to make
a living.
I sincerely apologize for
any pain that this false and
terrible story may have caused anyone,
I was in a hurry to leave
for the Coast and
did not stop to verify the accuracy
or
source of the story as
it had been forwarded
to me by a very close friend whom I trusted.
Something that I will never
do again.
January 2006
Several issues are causing concern
to Native people right now.
The first is the story of a
Cherokee man and his family in Georgia who
have been evicted from their
home and shipped off to Oklahoma.
It would seem that there is a
hundred year old law in Georgia which
allows the local
authorities to evict Indians from their homes and send
them packing to a
Reservation. Not sure where the law says that it is also
fine to murder their pets,
but this was also done to this particular family.
Their very disturbing story
can be found here:
Area Cherokee In
Violation
The second issue which is
written very well is here:
The Indians Are Coming
And lastly, don't forget to keep
your eye on Lobbyist, Abramoff,
who is spilling his guts out in
Washington right now.
He will probably not do
jail time, but if he does,
hopefully he will take many down with him.
The story about him is
here:
Abramoffgate
They just cannot resist the
juicy carrot dangling
in front of their mouths called Casino money.
March 2005
After months of silence, it
seems apparent that there
are subjects in need of discussion.
A time long ago when I was
a child, there was an innocence to the world
and things and people were
usually what they appeared to be.
But it is a different world
we live in now and sometimes it seems that there
are not many who still
care about the old ways of honesty, integrity and dignity
and even fewer
willing to stand up for these things and do what we know is right.
It would seem that many of
us have become instant gratification junkies,
whose function in life is
simply in what new pleasure we can buy.
What is prominent in news
about American Natives this week,
"the news", what an awful place to
gather information,
is that we, American
Natives,
have
now become political fodder for the Government.
They all choose sides and
then as was the case with
Former Governor Dean of
Vermont, Senator Lieberman
of Connecticut and many others, they reverse sides
when the
subject concerns Natives
and the terrible "R" word.
Recognition!
In many parts of this
country today, American Natives
are being told that they are not really
Natives
and many who have been
given either State or
Federal recognition are having it revoked.
In Vermont, Abenakis are
fighting for their very being as
Native people in an uphill battle with a
doubtful outcome.
In the Iroquois Nation,
Traditionals are being pushed
aside so that those who favor Casinos
may be
seen as the new face of their people.
The words ID cards and
numbers are being thrown
about and Native people everywhere
are pointing fingers and
calling those
who do not have them not "really
Natives".
As we travel this land we
see and hear things
that are distressful and even alarming.
It would seem that many
Natives are on a path
with only two possible outcomes,
neither of which are
acceptable to some of us.
The one side pushes for
Recognition, Casinos,
Tribal ID numbers and cards and the monetary rewards
they believe will accompany it, the others shun
this fearing that the evils of gambling, Casinos
and Government controls will
surely bring
heartbreak to all who succumb to it.
Something we had not
considered until it was recently
pointed out to us by a Lakota Traditional
who
will never read this,
because he "doesn't do computers"
is that the blood quantum
percentage system
that the Government currently uses to categorize
"card
carrying Indians"
is really just another form of Genocide.
As each generation marries
and has children,
unless they only marry full bloods,
what ever that means, the
amount of blood quantum
will continue to decrease until finally,
just as was planned,
American Natives
will have eliminated themselves completely.
So, as we watch, Nations of
Native people are lining up
and taking sides, as are the politicians.
Where will the journey take
us all?
The Ancestors are watching
and waiting for us to get it right.
December 2004
For those who have offered
kind letters of support over the nearly
8 year tenure of this web
site, this topic may be somewhat alarming.
So, I am offering this as a
warning for any of you with your own web sites.
What has happened to me
could happen to you.
Recently, I received a
series of emails from a company called Register.com.
At first, the letters
seemed confusing and somewhat vague, but by the fourth one,
I began to feel a sense of
urgency and finally responded by calling their 800 number.
It would seem that someone
out there liked my web site so much,
that he had initiated the
process of taking it.
Now you may be inclined to
disparage this at first, but please do not.
I am quite fortunate that
Network Solutions, the company who has held my
domain name/web site since
its inception, had done something with out my knowledge,
that may have saved me a
great deal of heartache/heartbreak,
they had put a lock
on my domain name/web site.
For those of you not
familiar with the terminology, this is meant to prevent
would be internet thieves
and hackers from taking a domain name/web site
and moving it to a new Host
and claiming it as their own.
This person identified in
the emails from Register.com as Eric Kuckuk,
this may or may not be
his real name they said,
is trying to steal what I
have spent many years of my life creating, my web site.
Now, anyone who knows me
would tell you that this is a big mistake, on his part, HUGE!!
I am not only Native, but
Irish and Scottish as well and this combination
of genes makes for a person
who can be stubborn beyond sensibility.
I have no intention of
losing my web site to this or any other fool because of
the new rule from ICANN that went into effect November 12,
saying that if a web site
is not locked, it is free for the taking.
Representatives from both
Register.com and Network Solutions
have indicated
that this new rule may
cause trouble for many poor unsuspecting people.
It appears that few if any
domain/web site owners have been alerted to this new
rule and the possible
impact it might have on them by those thoughtful people at ICANN.
Web site thieves are now
able to move unlocked web sites to new homes
and then hold them hostage,
until their owners pay them to get them back.
This would be blackmail,
right?
Nice move on the part of
ICANN.
So, I offer this advice to
those of you out there with domain names/web sites
that you have spent many
years creating and nurturing,
get them locked up, keep
them paid up and keep your eyes open.
And my advice to you
Eric Kuckuk, or whoever you are,
"go build your own web
site".
November 2004
Now that the Presidential
elections are over, many American Natives must
learn to cope with a future
that will certainly include four more years
of neglect for our
environment and our people.
So, it is time to return to
the issues that some of us face everyday in our lives.
These may seem innocuous at
first, but perhaps not after considering all the facts.
Over the past three years,
we have participated in events called pow wows
all around the country,
many of which have had a communality in their
complete lack of respect
for Traditional Native people and their culture.
A few examples follow
without making reference to who or where:
At the top of this list
would have to be the use of alcohol and drunken brawls
taking place on Reservation
grounds by the nation putting on a pow wow.
Another was an MC whose
disparaging remarks and dictatorial
attitude nearly spawned a
riot and ended a pow wow.
A group of paratroopers
landed in the middle of the circle at one pow wow
and in another they shot
off rifles during the Veterans dance.
At a recent "pow wow" a so
called "Spiritual leader" led a group of non Native
into a circle, where they
were given the opportunity to participate in not only
a sacred pipe ceremony, but
also the four directions prayer inside the circle.
Earlier that morning, a
costumed caricature had been dancing
around in this circle
entertaining the crowd.
This same circle was
"blessed" so many times that weekend,
that it became a joke to
the Natives who were there.
What bothered most of us
was the fact that these non Natives, right off the street,
were in a circle taking
part in what should have been very private ceremonies
done either very early in
the morning or late in the day and always before
outsiders or non Indians
were around to observe, let alone take part in.
Incidents like these have
been happening all over Native Country,
as noted in this
interesting story from October 5, 2003 in Native Press:
Native Beliefs for
Sale
cont., October 2004
I regularly receive emails
from non Natives all over this country and even the world,
who want me to tell them
how to perform sacred pipe or sweat lodge ceremonies.
I am not qualified, nor do
I wish to suggest, that I could attempt to do this.
Lately, it seems that
people are becoming Medicine men nearly overnight,
carrying silly fake staffs
with Turkey feathers into circles and
putting their hands on
people telling them that they are "healed".
Others who are not even
qualified are giving people their "Native names".
MC's are sitting at
microphones insulting the non Natives who come to the
pow wows and blasting them
with hate and venom from the 300 years past.
No wonder attendance is
down at many pow wows in this country.
Why would anyone want to
pay to go to an event where they are verbally battered.
The news story above speaks
of selling American Native culture,
but we are not selling it,
we are allowing it to be stolen.
Non Native groups all over
this country are putting on pow wows and
profiting from Indian
culture, forming committees of non Natives with perhaps
a single token Native and
then bringing in a few Natives to perform for the crowds.
What follows is a parody at
best.
All weekend long at these
pow wows, non Natives are led to believe
that what they are seeing
is what American Natives are all about:
the dollar pipes, rubber
snakes, bows and arrows from Taiwan,
the face painting and a
myriad of imported goods being sold
by people who are supposed
to be "real" American Natives.
The wealthy Casino Nations
put on elaborate extravagances that draw
thousands of people, but
what happens there is mostly all about
the huge sums of prize
money for the drums and the dancers.
The tiny poorer nations and
there are many of them, struggle to put on
a pow wow each year hoping
to keep their culture and traditions alive.
Few outsiders come to these
"little" local pow wows and even fewer support
them in their vigil to
maintain their Traditional Native culture.
If all that we are left
with in this country are the non Native and Casino pow wows,
Traditional Native culture
may rarely be seen by the outsiders
whose support we will
desperately need if we are to secure its future.
Because they are the
majority in this country and they elect the politicians,
as was just witnessed by
this Presidential election,
who make the laws that will
determine our future.
In the end, no matter how
many brilliant American Native lawyers we have,
they have many hundreds
more.
What is at stake for them
is the usual, money.
What is at stake for
American Natives is a way of life.
October 2004
As the Presidential
election approaches,
the TV ads are getting nastier.
Tonight Cheney and Edwards
will debate?
What a strange term for
what will actually occur.
The last debate was mostly
about dirty looks
and did very little to enlighten the undecided voter.
Neither man came away
looking like a strong leader,
but each was probably
assured by their people
that they had done a superb job.
Too bad we can't just take
away all of the rules and
posturing and make this a real battle of wits.
These are after all two
Yale graduates, so they should be
able to make intelligent conversation,
right?
Would we be able to learn
more about who these two men
really are without their staffs to shield
them?
Hard to say.
This is probably the most
important election of my life
and I plan to vote next month.
I hope that every person in
this country whose family
and lives have been affected by the
current
administration will also do the same.
A new ad by Robert Redford
can be found on this web site:
NRDC Action Fund
It is about our environment
and the way that
the Bush administration has treated/mistreated it.
Hopefully, you will find
the time to review this commercial and
then do whatever your
heart and conscience dictate.
But what ever you do,
please vote in this Presidential election.
If you don't, then please
do not complain about the way things are,
because you will have done
nothing to try to make them better.
September 2004
The Presidential campaigns
are now fully engaged,
each side making the usual promises,
but saying little new to
those without jobs, money or in some instances, hope.
We must forget the past,
forget Florida, the hanging chads, the blocked polling places,
the crooked politicians,
the lies, deceit, fraud and ultimately the bitter disappointment
felt by all of those in
this country who did not vote for Bush.
All of the terrible things
that happened in the 2000 election are now a part of history.
We need to change policy in
this Country, we must take back our Government
and the way to do this is
to VOTE in this Presidential election.
Staying away in disgust in
November, will only guarantee that the present
administration will be kept
in place and continue unabated.
Your right, your privilege
to vote came at the cost of many thousands of lives
and their sacrifice must
not be in vain.
It is your duty as an
citizen of this country to do one thing in November,
please for all of our
sakes, please VOTE!
July 2004
Freedom of Speech is not
really an American Native issue,
as we have had so little of it over
the past few hundred years.
But now, the apparent lack
of it in this season of heated Presidential politics
makes it evident that if
you are not a supporter of the current administration,
you should and will be
silenced, one way or another.
Linda Rondstat, Whoopi
Goldberg and before them, the Dixie Chicks were all
rebuked for pretty much the
same reason, they publicly objected to the way
this country is being run
and the person and persons doing so.
This dangerous precedent
now set in motion must make those
who may share their
opinions wonder where it will end.
The fact that they are all
women, may or may not be part of the equation, however,
one thing is clear, these
very opinionated women were punished for their opinions.
What does this mean for the
rest of us as the November elections draw near?
Should we all be afraid to
speak out against this President
and his behavior for fear of reprisal?
As the winner of the last
election was eventually determined by illegal voting
and counting procedures,
one wonders if the outcome of this election
will become the victim of
threats of retaliation, implied or real?
Only we can change the
course of this country and we must do so with our vote.
June 2004
The Oneida Indian Nation
has become, as have many others,
divided between those who
favor Casinos and all that comes with them
and the Traditionals,
who seek to keep the old ways of the Ancestors.
The current situation in
New York with these strong and proud people,
has two sides and both must
be known to understand what is happening there.
Please see both of these
web sites to learn more:
Oneidas for Democracy
Oneida Nation
May 2004
This may not seem like a
American Native issue
to you at first glance,
but consider this.
In Utah, there exists a
pristine place called
Nine Mile Canyon
and there is a plan to
invade this area that has been the safe home
to Ancient Indian writings
or petroglyphs for thousands of years.
You may read the whole
story here:
http://www.nationaltrust.org/11Most/2004/nine_mile_canyon.html
The purpose of this
proposed intrusion is for oil exploration.
Our country is now so
terribly dependent on cheap energy,
that we have become what I
refer to as fuel junkies.
Very few people have been
willing to pay the higher costs for solar
and or other sources of
renewable energy until now,
but perhaps this current
situation may help change that.
As the current gas prices
get higher and even become
unavailable in some places,
wait and watch
what we become like in this
country again.
Anybody remember the gas
lines of the 70's?
Some gas station owners
here in Connecticut are now simply hanging up
closed/no gas signs
and are switching to other business that might
actually allow them to make
a living unlike selling gas, as in auto repairing.
The point of all of this is
this.
The present administration
of this country has continued to
threaten every part of this
Continent with oil development,
from Alaska to the Rockies,
or any place that might produce oil or gas.
Mr. Bush, his family and
close friends are all quite well invested
in 4 major categories of
stock: oil/fuel, war/weapons,
energy and beef and
the value of these
particular stocks has skyrocketed over the past three years.
Mr. Bush and his group of
investors have all made huge fortunes
and we are paying the
bills, in both dollars and lives:
Oil land leases consolidated among big, White House-tied companies
The current plan to run
amuck through
Nine Mile Canyon
with it's fragile treasures
of Ancient Indian Writings would hardly
bring a raised eyebrow to
this man and his fellow investors, but I fear that the
worst may be in the future
for any area that Mr. Bush may be able to profit from.
The energy disaster 2 years
ago in California was eventually blamed on Enron,
a company very close to Mr.
Bush and as California has never been very cordial to him,
Bush in return, showed
little concern for the millions there who suffered from this.
February 2002
For nearly three years
since moving here to Connecticut, I have driven up Route 395
and sadly observed the use
of the word Squaw
for a road that passes over it.
After the many recent
events in this country regarding the use of logos,
mascots and this
shameful word, it is amazing to me that not one Native
in this state, to my
knowledge, has objected to the name of this road
or even suggested that it
should be changed to something else.
Am I the only one here who
finds the continuing use of
this word for public place
names reprehensible?
Are we in Connecticut not
as forward thinking as those in the state
of Maine who banned the use of thishurtful word
nearly 2 years ago?
November 2001
A National Day of
mourning at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts
UAINE leader Wampanoag Moonanum James (far right with Sachem Walkingfox)
photos by Donna Jones
Once again this year
Walkingfox and I spent this day of mourning, or
Thanksgiving as it is known
to the rest of America, in Plymouth, Massachusetts,
participating in a
remarkable day of solemn prayers and passionate speeches,
on Cole's Hill followed by
a quiet march to the top of Post Office Square
to learn about the brutal
history of this place and Metacom or King Phillip.
The day ended with a
wonderful dinner graciously served by our UAINE hosts and
was enjoyed by all who had
come to lend their support to this groups endeavors.
You can learn more about
UAINE and the truthful history of Plymouth
and its Indians here:
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~uainendom
The press release below
was just received and
is posted in its entirety below my comments.
If these events were
taking place anywhere but in America,
we would have already sent in troops to protect
the innocents from these thugs and bullies.
However, it is happening
in American Native Country
and thence the dilemma, or non dilemma.
We must defend the rights of the First people to
inhabit this continent, to maintain their culture
and their ancestral homes.
Please contact your
local congressperson and inform
them that this kind of behavior is unacceptable
for any country to be imposing on its inhabitants,
but most especially for one which boasts of
its support and tolerance of individual rights.
August 27, 2001
From: Black Mesa support
Press Conference Called
to Address
DESTRUCTION OF SACRED
SUNDANCE SITE
AT BIG MOUNTAIN, ARIZONA
Due to the crisis resulting
from the destruction
of a sacred sundance site,
Camp Anna Mae at Big
Mountain, Arizona, and
continuing threats being
made against the civil and
religious rights of the
people involved in those
spiritual ceremonies, a
panel of civil, traditional
and religious leaders will
be holding a press
conference at 6 p.m. on Aug. 29, 2001,
at Little America, 2515
Butler Ave., Flagstaff, Arizona.
On Aug. 17 at 5:30 a.m.,
the Hopi Tribe's Land Team,
with assisitance from the
Bureau of Indian Affairs
and the Navajo County
Sheriff's department, raided
the Camp Anna Mae sundance
site with up to 60
officers, a bulldozer, a
backhoe, chainsaws, and other
equipment. Heavily armed
for their assault, they
brought ambulances along.
Without warning or warrant,
the ceremonial site was
invaded. The sundance tree
was torn down and
shredded, the entire site
bulldozed, including the sweat
lodges, and two people were
arrested and taken to jail
for interferring, even
though there was no proof given
of the legality of the
action. In view of the ongoing
conflicts between the
Navajo and the Hopi Tribal Council
and the potential this
incident presents for an
escalation of violence,
this is a matter of great urgency.
We sincerely hope that you
will attend this press conference.
For More Information
contact:
Berta Benally
520-527-1041
berta_benally@yahoo.com
Black Mesa
Indigenous Support (BMIS) is a group of individuals acting to support
the sovereignty
of the indigenous people affected by mining activities on Black Mesa,
who face forced relocation,
environmental devastation, and cultural extinction at the hands of
multi-national corporations,
and United States and tribal governments.
http://www.blackmesais.org
November 23, 2000
Thanksgiving Day in
Plymouth, Massachusetts,
a National day of
Mourning for American Natives.
Sachem Walkingfox at the Thanksgiving Day gathering at
Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts.
photos by Donna Jones
This was our first trip to
participate in this annual event.
It was a bitter cold day,
but we were warmed by the spirit of those
all around us who had come
here today as we had, to lend support
to those who maintain this
vigil every year to assure that all Americans
are aware of what the true
meaning of Thanksgiving is for America's Native people.
October 27, 2000
Forgive my obvious
ignorance or perhaps,
just lack of political
awareness,
but why is Ben Nighthorse,
according to Mother Jones News,
in their July 28th
article/story about
Tribal
Politics,
the only American Native in
Congress?
If there are American
Natives on the Ballot in November,
I sincerely hope that we
will vote for them and begin
a process of correction to
this obvious dismal state
of non-representation for
Native people in this country.
You may also wish to read
the disturbing story in Mother Jones
which reveals that although
many Tribes are being
offered their sacred
property back by Museums,
this may not be an entirely
healthy prospect
as these same artifacts
have now become poisoned.
October 13, 2000
This letter, which was
received this week, is posted,
with consent and without editing.
blessings people
of conscience i want to let those who care know that families at big
mountain are suffering extreme hardship right now. bonnie
whitesinger has asked me for assistance. food, children's clothing
and cash are urgently needed to meet her family's basic needs.
please help in any way possible. her address is: bonnie
whitesinger p.o. box 1073 hotevilla, az 86030 helicopters have
been harassing the people and a few weeks ago, one landed on a sacred
site with 6 armed rangers getting out and walking around before they got
in and took off. there is need for a permanent peace camp for
human rights observers to be of service to the resisters. please
contact me for more information: frontlinemom@yahoo.com
livestock impoundment crews are at it again and confiscated some of
jesse biakkedy's animals a few days ago. don't forget the people
struggling to defend sacred land!!! in peaceful struggle,
swaneagle hariajan
Additional
thoughts from this same source are here:
bordertown murders
September 18, 2000
This eloquent poem was
received in a letter yesterday
and as the content of it is
reflective of many others
received over the past
year, with the authors consent,
the letter and the poem are
included here together,
in these beautiful words
from Africa.
September, 2000
A tidy "official" press
release from the BIA's Kevin Gover.
This long overdue and much
needed apology is a
small step in the direction
towards addressing over a
hundred years of abuse and
neglect of Native Americans
at the hands of the US
government.
August, 2000
An online
petition requesting a National Holiday
for America's Native people has been
forwarded to me,
please read it and respond
if you are in agreement.
It has a few flaws, as do
most of us,
but it is a very important
start in the right direction.
All further updates to the
Squaw
issue in Maine,
will be posted
here for easier reading.
The ongoing struggles of
the Elders on the Navajo Reservation
continue to dominate the
news in Indian Country.
This home page for the
Black Mesa Support Group,
has a wealth of information
about the Dineh people.
February, 2000
The first issue to
be addressed on this page,
is one that is
most important to both
Sachem Walkingfox
and I about a hurtful word.
Kind permission
was given by its author,
Paul Carrier, of
the Portland Press Herald
to share this
vital story about
hurtful words.

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