Nativepeoples's topics - tribe.net

Boarding schools

Kimowan — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 23:32:19 GMT

In Canada, my Mother's generation were forced to attend culturally repressive boarding schools. They were horrible places that shook not only my mother's generation, but mine as well. The church and government are trying to close the issue with cash settlements, but I can't help but imagine that it just opens old wounds and pressures forgiveness where it does not exist. If you have the time, here is an exccellent documentary about that awful history. It's called "Unrepentant"
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6637396204037343133

posted in Nativepeoples - 13 replies

Ellen Moves Camp

WabanakiWmn — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 05:25:54 GMT

*tears* They are all going home~what will become of us?

Ellen Moves Camp - Hero of Wounded Knee
By Stephanie Hedgecoke
Published Jun 8, 2008 9:34 PM
Photo: Anne Pearse Hocker

Ellen Moves Camp, known along with Gladys Bissonnette as the “Grandmas of the American Indian Movement (AIM),” passed April 5 at the age of 77 on Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Moves Camp and Bissonnette played key roles before, during and after the 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee, which moved the Indigenous struggle into the view of the whole world.

The struggles of Indigenous people globally are illustrated in the story of Ellen Moves Camp and Wounded Knee.

The Lakota Nation’s title to most of South Dakota and parts of Montana and Nebraska, including the Black Hills (Paha Sapa), was recognized in the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty. George Armstrong Custer took miners to the Black Hills to find gold and the U.S. broke the treaty and stole 34 million acres of land, leaving the Lakota divided among separate reservations. Over time that land base was further eroded as the Oglala Lakota were forced to lease their land to ranchers for pennies.

In the 1970s, the federal government moved Oglala families into cluster housing to reduce spending on utilities, freeing more land to be leased by cattle ranchers. Meanwhile over 100 Indians had been murdered in racist white towns surrounding Pine Ridge.

Unemployment was at 90 percent. Traditional families and activists were attacked by the Bureau of Indian Affairs-installed reservation government of Dick Wilson and his paramilitary GOONs (Guardians of the Oglala Nation), armed by the FBI. Wilson signed over some 200,000 acres of land to the U.S. for a bombing range.

Underlying these events, the U.S. had secret plans to turn the Paha Sapa into a “National Sacrifice Zone.” The continent’s richest deposits of weapons-grade uranium lie under the bombing range. Uranium and coal were to be mined, over 188,000 acres destroyed, and incredibly toxic smog and debris would have poisoned the region and destroyed countless square miles of waterways and ponds.

Energy companies signed up to create dozens of coal-fired plants to surround the Black Hills and build a “nuclear energy park” of 25 reactors. Test drilling began on a huge scale. Leaking uranium poisoned the aquifer, the only source of drinking water.
Resistance at Wounded Knee

On the basis of estimates of half a billion dollars in uranium revenue, the U.S. was determined to eliminate AIM and traditional opposition. But the strength of resistance at Wounded Knee forced the Interior Department to retreat from some of its plans.

In 1973 traditional elders with the Oglala Sioux Civil Rights Organization (OSCRO) called AIM to Pine Ridge to protect the people from the GOONs. Denied access to the BIA building at Pine Ridge by federal marshals, AIM held a meeting at Calico with 600 supporters where 1,500 grievances against the BIA and Wilson were taken in a two-day meeting. Then traditional elders Ellen Moves Camp and Gladys Bissonnette stood and challenged the men to take action.

AIM warrior Dennis Banks said of that meeting: “The decision to take Wounded Knee came when Ellen Moves Camp pointed at us and said, ‘What are you men going to do about it?’ If the women hadn’t done that we’d still be meeting at Calico.”

Clyde Bellecourt recalled Bissonnette asking AIM, “Haven’t you heard enough? Go back to Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Los Angeles or Portland. We are going to stand here and be warriors.” He said that he “was stunned by that confrontation with an elderly woman, wrinkles all over her face.”

Wounded Knee was chosen for the takeover protest as it was still held by the Lakota community. The village is the site of the 1890 historic massacre of Big Foot’s band of 300 Lakota Sioux women, men and children as they were peacefully moving to the Pine Ridge Reservation to avoid starvation. Instead, they were viciously murdered by the U.S. Army Seventh Cavalry in the snow. The world had heard of Wounded Knee through Dee Brown’s book, “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.”

Some 200 Native people went to Wounded Knee on Feb. 27, 1973, to hold an early morning press conference. The government attacked. The press conference was never held. And the big business media did not report the total government deployment of 17 armored personnel carriers, 130,000 rounds of M-16 ammunition, 41,000 rounds of M-40 high explosives for grenade launchers, helicopters and other aircraft. An army assault unit in Colorado was put on 24-hour alert.

The standoff held the attention of the world. Support committees formed to help educate non-Native people about the conditions of the Indigenous on the reservations, and the significance of Native American Indian culture, language and the land in the fight against genocide.

During the 71-day struggle against the U.S. military assault of the National Guard and armed FBI agents, Moves Camp served as negotiator for the protesters with the Justice Department. As Banks recalls: “Once the strength was reawakened with the Oglalas, they became the principal negotiators—especially the women. Because it was their future. From there, AIM took a backseat. The further we stepped back, the further the Oglalas stepped forward.”

Moves Camp was from Wanblee and had lost family members in the 1898 massacre. During the military assault in 1973, her nephew Buddy Lamont was one of two Indians killed. On the occasion of the 1998 commemoration of the struggle, Ellen Moves Camp said it’s “just a matter of time before another Wounded Knee and ... a violent confrontation with the U.S. government.”

On the loss of Ellen Moves Camp, Native political prisoner Leonard Peltier said: “Those of us who really knew her will dearly miss her as she was a big inspiration to all of us. She loved and fought for her People and the Nation without ever once that I know of complaining or asking for something for her personal use.”

Ellen Moves Camp stands as an inspiration to Indigenous people in struggle everywhere.

Sources include articles by Ian Record, Lakota Student Alliance; Jon Lurie’s article on the 25th anniversary of Wounded Knee for the Pulse of the Twin Cities; and the Sioux Falls Argus Leader.
Articles copyright 1995-2008 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
www.workers. org/2008/ us/ellen_ moves_camp_ 0612/

posted in Nativepeoples - 0 replies

Barack Obama Addresses Native Issues

anistara1 — Wed, 21 May 2008 21:40:07 GMT

Yay!

Watch here:

www.youtube.com/watch

www.youtube.com/watch

and more from reznetnews.org

Crows Thrilled to Be Obama's 'Brothers and Sisters'

By Mary Hudetz

CROW AGENCY, Mont.—Some Crow tribal members waited in line more than six hours to ensure they would have a good view when the first presidential candidate to visit their reservation stepped to the stage to speak.

Others spent those hours braiding their hair and fastening the ties of their traditional outfits so they would look their best when Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama took the microphone and explained his stance on issues that affect hundreds of Native American tribes throughout the country but often go unmentioned by candidates running for national office.

"Somebody finally recognized us enough to come an extra few hours," said Beverly Big Man, a Crow Agency Elementary School teacher. "We're always the forgotten ones."

Big Man, 73, was among the first dozen people to arrive and stake out a place in line around 8 a.m. for the 2:45 p.m. event. Once a Hillary Clinton supporter, Big Man said she decided to vote for Obama after hearing him mention Native Americans on television. She called Obama's visit to the reservation "a once-in-a-lifetime event."

Obama, the front-runner in a race with Sen. Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, became the first presidential candidate to visit the Crow Reservation Monday. He spoke to a crowd of several thousand people gathered at the Apsaalooke Nation Veterans Park on Monday.

To welcome Obama, Crows showered his family with gifts that included a beaded medallion for him to give to his wife, Michelle, and beaded, doll-sized cradleboards for his two daughters, Sasha and Malia. Sen. Obama was adopted into the tribe's Whistling Water clan and given a Crow name, "One who helps people throughout the land."

Joe Medicine Crow, who at 94 is one of the tribe's eldest members and a tribal historian, wore a beaded buckskin vest and pair of pants, and commented on the historic day.

"This man is the first presidential candidate who has made a stop here with the Crow people," he said. "I consider that an honor not only for Crow Indians but for Indian Country."

As the crowd waited for Obama to arrive from Billings, where he held a morning town hall-style meeting, the Black Whistle Singers sang powwow songs and a score of tribal members wearing traditional clothing danced on the lawn of the park that lies just to the south of the Little Bighorn River, which winds through town.

Medicine Crow stood watching, bouncing his knees to the music's beat and smiling.

"It is my prayer that he will go all the way," he said of the candidate who often evokes the word "hope" on the campaign trail. "His door will be open to Indian people. He's going to change things around."

During an 11-minute speech here, Obama vowed to bring change to Indian Country if elected president. While the speech was shorter than the 40- to 50-minute talks the Illinois senator often gives during rallies held in larger venues, he said the Crow Agency stop marked one of the campaign's most important events.

He promised to improve the Indian health care system and noted that he co-sponsored the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, a bill approved by the Senate last February. Clinton and John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, co-sponsored the bill, too.

Obama also said he would make sure children on the nation's Indian reservations received a "world-class education" and he would end "nearly a century of mismanagement of Indian trust."

"Too often Washington has paid lip service to working with tribes, while making a one-size-fits-all approach with tribal communities across the nation," he said. "That will change under my administration."

The pledge drew cheers from the mostly Native crowd as eagle-feathered fans and the Obama campaign's blue "Change We Can Believe In" signs waved in the air.

Susan Quilt, a 36-year-old Lodge Grass resident who came for the event, said she hoped that if Obama wins his party's nomination and beats McCain in November, he would keep the promises he made as a candidate.

"Hopefully some of the tribes' needs will be fulfilled," she said. "Past elected officials and past presidents haven't done anything about that."

Before he stepped down from the stage to shake hands with supporters, the Illinois senator pledged that an Obama administration would deliver on the promises he made to Native Americans.

"I will never forget you," he said. "Since now I'm a member of the family, you know that I won't break my commitment to my own brothers and my own sisters."

A group of teenagers chanted "Obama" as the senator made his way toward his bus, shaking hands and embracing supporters before moving on to his next stop in Bozeman.

When he reached for the last hand and waved goodbye, Darrin Old Coyote, the tribe's vice secretary, called out to Obama to tell him Crows say "Shinuk," a Crow expression for "I'll see you later." For the Crows, there is no word that translates to goodbye.

"Shinuk," Obama answered before turning away and climbing aboard his bus.

***

Obama Adopted Into Crow Tribe

CROW AGENCY, Mont. (AP)—Pledging to usher in a new era of honest federal dealings with tribes, Democratic presidential front-runner Barack Obama on Monday made an unprecedented stop in Indian Country for a rally at the Crow reservation.

Obama told several thousand American Indian supporters that he would honor long-ignored treaty obligations and revamp health care and education on reservations across the United States. Such services have long suffered because of inadequate funding and the much criticized oversight of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

"Few have been ignored by Washington for as long as Native Americans, the first Americans," Obama said. "That will change when I am president of the United States."

Obama said treaty commitments with Indian nations were "paramount to law" and could not be ignored when Washington makes funding decisions affecting Indian Country. He characterized the Bureau of Indian Affairs as a bureaucracy out of touch with those it serves, and said the agency needs to be shaken up so it will perform better.

"You guys pay taxes too. You deserve to get decent services from Washington," he told the crowd in Crow Agency, Mont.

Earlier, in a private ceremony, the candidate was adopted into the Black Eagle family of the tribe under the name Awe Kooda Bilaxpak Kuuxshish, or "One Who Helps People Throughout the Land."

Crow Vice Chairman Cedric Black Eagle said a purification ceremony was performed in which the candidate faced east — the source of new life — and was prayed over by his adopted father, Hartford Black Eagle.

Tribal representatives from across Montana said it was the first time such a high-profile candidate had appeared on one of the state's reservations. The closest precedent, they said, was a visit to the Crow Reservation by first lady Lady Bird Johnson in the 1960s.

"Here's a gentleman who could be president of the United States who is putting his hand out to us," said Roger Running Crane, vice chairman of the Blackfeet Tribe of northwest Montana. "It's great to see someone take an interest and see what is really happening with Indians today."

By reaching out to Native Americans, Obama was playing to a traditional Democratic constituency, but one with limited influence at the ballot box, said political analyst Craig Wilson of Montana State University-Billings.

He said Native Americans represent about 6.5 percent of Montana's population, one of the highest percentages in the nation.

"It's good politics, certainly for a Democrat," Wilson said. "Will it matter in terms of the election? No."

Matthew Brown is an Associated Press staff writer.

posted in Nativepeoples - 22 replies

Graduation Inspiration

Hoopes — Sat, 10 May 2008 16:46:09 GMT

Out of tragedy, success
Grad achieves top honors in wake of horrific losses
By Karrey Britt
May 10, 2008

It seemed fitting that 27-year-old Willow Abrahamson Jack was the first to walk across the stage and receive her bachelor’s degree Friday during Haskell Indian Nations University’s commencement ceremony.

That’s because fellow students, teachers and family say she is a leader and an inspiration.

“When I see what Willow has went through, it’s incredible to finally see this day,” said her mother, Rose Ann Abrahamson, of Sacramento, Calif. “She persevered despite the many challenges and obstacles that she had to face.”

About three years ago, Willow lost her husband, Daryl, and 4-year-old daughter, Maliah, in a rollover accident near Butte, Mont. She and her son, Nakeezaka, who was 6 at the time, survived, but Willow suffered severe injuries to her spine, pelvic region and head. Doctors told Willow, an award-winning jingle dancer, that she would need a wheelchair or walker.

“I was feeling like the whole world was caving in. It was like I was living a real-life nightmare, something I would never want to see anybody go through,” she said.

“It was a really, really, really hard time. All of my hopes and dreams were completely crushed. I felt like giving up.”

What kept her going was a visit a month after the deaths from the Dalai Lama, who after hearing her story wanted to meet her. He reminded Willow that she still had a son and happiness to share.

“It was a humbling experience,” she said.

In fall 2006, she returned to Haskell where she and Daryl had earned associate’s degrees just months before the fatal accident.

“I decided I can’t be sitting there acting like a crybaby. I am the mother and the father now. I have a child to raise. I’ve got to quit this road of self pity,” she said.

Just as Willow and Nakeezaka were settling down and “things were fine,” tragedy struck again. They were in another rollover accident last June on the South Lawrence Trafficway. They were taken by helicopter to Kansas City hospitals. Her son broke his arm and femur. She shattered her pelvic region and her right knee. Doctors, again, told her that she would need a wheelchair or walker.

“I thought about giving up a lot last summer,” she said. “But, me and my son — we helped each other.”

Willow said she often thought of the passage: “This too shall pass.”

On Friday, she walked across the stage with Nakeezaka, who will turn 9 on Mother’s Day. Both waved to the cheering crowd with big smiles on their faces. The announcer read that Willow dedicated her graduation to her son and daughter. She graduated magna cum laude.

“This is like completing that walk that I wish they could have been here for. This was our plan for our family,” she said.

Today, she will be the head lady dancer at Haskell’s powwow — a high honor. Last month, she helped organize Haskell’s first Indigenous Empowerment Summit.

Her sister, Leela Abrahamson, 17, said she admires Willow and her accomplishments.

“She’s amazing and always has a positive aura,” Leela said. “She’s one of those women who leads by example.”

Willow will pursue a master’s degree in social work at Kansas University in the fall. She would like to establish community-based programs on American Indian reservations and work on preserving Native American culture and traditions.

“Whether I make pennies or I don’t make anything, I don’t really care because it’s about living a happy life,” she said.

Originally published at: http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2008/may/10/out_tragedy_success/

posted in Nativepeoples - 2 replies

Perfectly-Indian sage

Kimowan — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:50:37 GMT

Anistara, my friend delivered your gift of sage (and the shell). Thank you so much. It's perfectly Indian sage. I ain't gonna lie, I do scoff at the non-Indian idea of sage. I'm speaking here of those big zuchinni-sized hunks os sage, wrapped in plastic, hanging in the nature shop aisle, waiting to be purchased along with the scented candle and organic toothpaste. They are like some kind of novelty cigar, once lit, they can't be extinguished. I've watched my friends, who didn't know any better, run in panic to unplug the smoke detector, dropping lit ambers across the carpet, trying madly to butt out the smoke-fire in their best China.

Anyway, Anistara, your sage is perfectly Indian. It is different from the sage we use back home, but it has all the traits of good Indian sage.

We offer tobacco to Mother Earth, then pluck a little sage from the ground and put it in a small bag. Later, we can take out a pinch and roll it into a small ball. When we light the ball, we can set it on a shell with the hot side down so it can burn its way upward. It's a small ball, the size of a green grape, so it only burns for a few minutes. It makes just enough smoke to lightly smug, say a prayer or two, then it goes out on its own. That's Indian sage. What you sent me is different, but the same.

For those of you reading along, Anistara sent me a lightly-packed bundle of dry sage leaves, nested in a shell the size of a child's palm. Like sage back home, it gracefully makes just enough smoke for what needs to be done.

People are always coming here to find out what is Indian. They think maybe it has to do with sage, so they want to catch as much as the Indian vibe they can so they buy those banana-sized bundles of sage. What they overlooked, was that we just use a little bit. We don't dig in the wallet because sage if given freely from Mother Earth, or, as in this case, freely from a friend. A little bit is more than enough. You see, this is the true Indian vibe. The lesson is always right in their faces. They want more, the big size, and they already have too much. This is why they make a four-storey mansions when a little bungalow would do. They can have warehouses full of sage, but it will get them no closer to the Indian soul than the thickness of a dolllar bill.

posted in Nativepeoples - 1 reply

California Peoples

anistara1 — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 22:12:21 GMT

Well, I missed this weekends gathering in favor of choosing which gathering I can attend realistically with the gas crunch and my decision to take the hoop teacher training, so much going on!! Our annual White Blanket Gathering is growing as more Kern Valley Intertribal becomes interested and dedicated in the event, like me. Its a 4 hour drive from where I sit. My hope is that my hooping ventures will allot more free time in the near future to be active with the socials and ceremonies. I'd love to take the language class soon. I may want to take hooping to the cultural center, for the fitness aspect. We'll see how things move along...

Tubatulabals host three days of healing events:

ONYX - The 11th annual White Blanket Spiritual Gathering will feature three days of healing events, including a Bear Dance ceremony.

The gathering is April 25 - 27 on the White Blanket Rancheria near Onyx, in the Kern River Valley (off Highway 178 east of Bakersfield). It is sponsored by the Owens Valley Career Development Center and White Blanket Rancheria.)

The gathering begins with a Health Run/Walk for diabetes awareness, starting at 10 a.m. at the Onyx Emporium, the oldest continuously operated store in California. The walk will continue to the White Blanket Gathering. T-shirts will be given to all runners and walkers who participate.

Gathering events include a community Sweatlodge ceremony; drumming with Walter Hansen, Shoshone-Paiute; Pakaaniil language with Betsy Johnson and Anthony Stone, Tubatulabal hand games with Monty Bengochia, Bishop Paiute; and Bear dancers, Tachi Yokuts.

The Bear Dance was revived by Tachi Yokuts spiritual elder Clarence Atwell Sr., who was given a vision to bring back the Bear Dance to the people for healing. Bear dancers wear bear skins and become the Bear. The Bear takes on the ills of the people assembled and the ills are transmuted into healing power. The dancers are bathed in sage smoke so the dancers themselves don't take on the illnesses.

The Bear Dance is sacred and photographs are not allowed. For more information, call Dee Dee Scott at (760) 378-1032 or Josephine Stone at (760) 417-2618.

...I opted for our Monache Gathering next month since its hosted by family and I couldn't do both this year. Its pretty much the same gathering, but at a higher elevation, so more people from the north head down for cooler weather as well. I look forward to the Bear Dance this year, as ever.

posted in Nativepeoples - 1 reply

Baby Eaglet

WabanakiWmn — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 03:31:15 GMT

We have a new baby eaglet over at Bartons Cove...take a look...this is footage from Eagle Cam

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LhqVmzz7uo

posted in Nativepeoples - 4 replies

Ahead of you

Kimowan — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:20:08 GMT

In case your people we thinking of going out to the world, don't bother. These guys are ahead of you.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=vQMktpHdP8U&feature=related

posted in Nativepeoples - 7 replies

Mixed Up!

anistara1 — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:31:29 GMT

I, at times, go through this thing. Its usually when I haven't attended a ceremony or gathering in awhile, or even just connected with relatives. Its been awhile due to change in location and getting back on my feet. I found this article and thought I would post it. Monache gathering and bear dance next month... good medicine!

http://www.imdiversity.com/villages/native/history_heritage/whitehead_mixedbloods_genocide.asp

posted in Nativepeoples - 7 replies

Native American Evil Spirits

WabanakiWmn — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 20:27:21 GMT

Here's an interesting one....

These spirits, though generally considered evil, were/are far more complex than the demons of Christian fundamental duality (B&W). Some spirits would trade off. Others, though greatly feared, were/are also neccessary in that they were co-creators of this universe and world.

Down below is a small sample of some of these spirits.

Aipalookvik---Malevolent spirit living on the sea bottom (Inuit, Canada).
Atlantow---Evil spirit who can lure hunters as a seal. (Inuit, Canada).
Chinday---Evil Gods(Navaho, Arizona, and New Mexico).
Eyak---Evil spirit (Koniaga, Pacific Northwest).
Iya---"Chief of all evil spirits" (Lakota and Dakota, South Dakota).
Nunasish---Usually misshapen evil spirits of the underworld (Chumash,Ca.).
Omaha---Evil spirit who tries to snatch the souls of the dying (Trinity River, Ca.).
Paija---One-legged female evil spirit- to see her is to die (Ihalmiut Inuit, Keewatin District, Canada).
Pishuni---Evil spirit of temptation and disease (Acoma, New Mexico).
Sye-elth---Evil goddess who tempts human beings to evil (Yurok, Ca.).
Makalay---one-horned evil spirit- to see him usually means death. (Trinity River Indians, Ca.).
Tahquitz---Evil God of San Jacinto Peak who stole souls and caused misfortune, disease, and death.(Cahuilla, Ca.).

"the Works of Howard HoweBancroft" (1886)

* the Trinity River seemed to have the largest list of angry Gods while some tribes had none at all. Evil might've been seen as undiserable states of being or the Trickster scaring someone for his own reasons disguised as an Evil God.

posted in Nativepeoples - 9 replies

The Mysteryof the Anasazi

WabanakiWmn — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:08:23 GMT

Here is a link to a really interesting article in today's New York Times about the vanishing culture of the Anasazi people.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/science/08anasazi.html?th&emc=th

posted in Nativepeoples - 0 replies

Just a reminder

Kimowan — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 16:32:46 GMT

Abuse policy/guidelines:

If you've received a message that is harassing, abusive, or contains another violation of our Terms of Use agreement, please forward the message immediately to abuse@tribe.net. To ensure that Tribe is a safe, trusted environment where all members are respected, we investigate all reports of inappropriate behavior.

Who is TOU Guy?
Terms of Use Guy works with Tribe to enforce the guidelines to which all members must agree before they may join our service.

posted in Nativepeoples - 1 reply

My favorite qoute...

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 01:31:45 GMT

It kinda goes like... If I thought the Creator has sent you, I might bee induce to think you had the right to kill me. I had to tell someone this tonight... This person says I'm a fake. Hi, I'm fake David now...
No, wait a minute... HAHAHA I used this the other day as my Light Saber.. Hi, my Rainbow name is Pahana Fo Paw... Anybody seen Michael Jackson?
HA...

posted in Nativepeoples - 6 replies

Blue Corn Comics

anistara1 — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:52:42 GMT

have you seen? i know its been around while, but in case you haven't... or whatever!

http://www.bluecorncomics.com/

they need writers also!

http://www.bluecorncomics.com/writers.htm

posted in Nativepeoples - 1 reply

How amny Mi'kmaqs are on tribe???

WabanakiWmn — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 15:46:41 GMT

http://tribes.tribe.net/micmacs

so far just the three of us...where are the rest of you?

posted in Nativepeoples - 31 replies

U.S. History 101

CupcakeExpress — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:23:04 GMT

Tribe: A Governmental phrase; an Anglo-American concept with Germanic roots applied to the Indigenous peoples of North America during the Reorganization Act of 1934.

Creating a "Tribe": After the Dine peoples returned to their homelands, in the late 1800s, from Bosque Redondo, where they had been held as prisoners of war following the historic Long Walk, the discovery of minerals and natural recourses was made on their land. Because of the nature of federal trusteeship, it became necessary for the Federal Government to create a "tribal" government, with "chiefs" i.e. leaders or chairmen among the Navajo. This chiefdom system of government (totally foreign to the Navajo, who are traditionally democratic) had to be created so that corporate interests could acquire official land leases from the "tribe" in order to exploit their lands.

In other-words, because reservation land is held in trust to Native communities, only those communities have the authority to let outsiders dig for Uranium and other resources on their lands. Because the majority of Native peoples during the 1930s wanted no part of such desecration, the only way the slime balls could get such blasphemous land leases out of them was to force them into creating Anglo-American-style governments. You get the idea.

posted in Nativepeoples - 3 replies

Love (Indian) Style!

Kimowan — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 23:11:52 GMT

This is fun. My friends over at Native America Indigenous Cinema and Arts(NAICA) send me this email request for love stories for their online magazine (which I LOVE!). It was so cute I am just posting it word-for-word:

NAICA is gearing up for it's Spring edition and in keeping with the
season of blossoming love and flowers and shit like that we were
wondering what the hell is American Indian (South, North, Central...all
western hemispheric and whatnot) love all about anyway? What does it
look like-besides sweaty a la Chief Prairie Fire pants who beds down
with Rebecca, the strong willed Irish lassie he found roaming on the
burning plains on a hot summer afternoon after her family was murdered
by Pawnees because the Pawnees were always murdering immigrant families
looking to steal land.

Indeed! What is love amongst Indigenous folks of the western hemisphere
all about if it's not like what they write in romance novels? NAICA
wants to know so we can let middle aged middle American women
know-assuming they read our zine.

Tell us your grand love stories whether they be Indio encima Indio,
cross generational, multi-cultural or inter-tribal, we want to hear how
and why Native people fall in love these days-with or with out an open
bar-because we're tired of reading about it in romance novels!
Reply with your insights and we will reprint them in an upcoming
editorial on this very topic in our all new all love on all pages next
edition of NAICA online.

Caveats:
-Must be 18 years or older.
-No pornography please. We don't care about the physical mechanics of
"love" only the esoteric/romantic why of it all.
-Must give NAICA onine permission to reprint your ideas/stories OR we
will use your shit and give you a pseudonym like "Jennifer Tickles
Cocks" cause we're professional like that.
-Must be Indigenous in some provable way (ahahahahahaaaahahahaha).

Send your reply to:
naica.content@gmail.com
with your name, age and verifiable email address so we can send you a
release form.

Limit (250-300 words or so) please
BTW, this is a truly serious piece of scholarship we're aiming for
...hmmm.

P.S. If you are too shy but know of some other less shy Indian who wants
to spill their heart out, pass this on. xoxoxo
Maria Colon
Editor in Chief-NAICA online
www.thenaica.org
maria@thenaica.orgsonny
http://www.myspace.com/naicaonline

posted in Nativepeoples - 2 replies

Upcoming DVD, what do you think?

Kimowan — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 02:10:20 GMT

There is a new DVD coming from Worldwidewave productions, a firm out of West Sussex, UK. It's announced in this newsletter: http://www.whatever.com.sg/enewsletter/2007/February/index.htm

Any thoughts?

posted in Nativepeoples - 5 replies

8000 Drums

WabanakiWmn — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 22:35:27 GMT

I received this in my email today from Elder Three Feathers in Canada on the Pabineau Reserve, new Brunswick:

Fwd: 8,000 DRUMS on March 21, 2008 at noon

Wow wouldn’t this sound amazing to hear
and to know we were all doing this together……….please forward on. I
think if all nations who played a drum could also participate that would be so
beautiful to see that too. There are people from other Nations that would drum
on this day in Solidarity…so I’m passing this onto
them……….take care, D.

PLEASE
DO YOUR PART AND FORWARD TO ALL OF OUR RED NATIONS…SUPPORT ALL OF OUR BROTHERS
AND SISTERS…LET US STAND TOGETHER AS ONE PROUD UNITED NATION!
Passing along the word to bring healing for our Mother Earth
This special event will take
place 12 noon EST. It is also a full moon that day and spring equinox is March
20, 2008 (eg. if you are on the west coast, your time will be 10am this will be
your time to be aligned with us here in EST etc. etc.)
8,000 DRUMS on March 21
at noon
HELLO, GREETINGS, ANIIN, TANSI, HAN,
HAKODA!!
Darlene Courchene was contacted by my friend Gilles Novaks who is a Montagnais Indian from Montreal. He is a Medicine Man and a Healer. He asked me to get as many Tribal people to participate in a worldwide ceremony called the “8,000 Drums”.
He was contacted by two Huron Clan Grandmothers from up there in Canada and they asked him to help spread the word to all Indians everywhere.
It will take place on March 21, 2008 at 12:00 noon.
All you need to do is play a drum either alone, or with a group or have the whole Tribe participate.
The purpose is to fulfill the OTOMI PROPHECY. The Otomi’s are Mayan Olmec and Toltec descendants. The drums will be played so that the Creator will hear us and grant our wishes as we pray for help in the Healing Process of our Mother Earth. …People are destroying Her and our Mother Earth needs our prayers. Thank you.

Ewo-wox-co-dah-wa

posted in Nativepeoples - 36 replies

This is very importent news

Exodus — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 17:58:28 GMT

Sentence for man who called Indians 'subhuman' Sat, March 15, 2008 - 10:52 AM
A Washington man who referred to Indians as "subhuman" was sentenced to 21 years in prison for murdering a man from the Yakama Nation.

Kevin Jory Braa, 47, was convicted of first-degree manslaughter for the death of Simeon Whitney, 35. Braa shot Whitney after Whitney and an Indian friend complained about Braa's racial comments.

The incident occurred on November 11, 2006. Whitney was from Wapato, on the Yakama Reservation.

By Jim Haley, Herald Writer

EVERETT -- A Marysville man who picked a fight in a tavern and then shot his opponent to death was sentenced to nearly 21 years in prison Thursday.

Kevin Jory Braa, 47, told a jury in February that he acted in self-defense when he killed Simeon Whitney, 35, of Wapato. The jurors didn't believe him.

The jury found that Braa acted recklessly. The shooting was not justifiable and he was guilty of first-degree manslaughter, the jury found. He was being tried on a charge of second-degree murder.

Braa on Thursday told the judge he was sorry that Whitney had to die.

"I do take issue with your statement that it was too bad Simeon had to die," Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Ellen Fair said. "He didn't have to die."

She gave him nearly a year more in prison than the 20 years deputy prosecutor John Stansell recommended. Marybeth Dingledy asked for her client to be sentenced at the low end of the sentencing range, about 17 years.

One reason the sentencing range was high for Braa is that he also pleaded guilty to five counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Felons are not supposed to have guns unless a judge has restored that civil right. Braa was convicted in 1994 of drug possession.

Fair pointed out that Whitney would still be alive if Braa had not taken a loaded 9 mm pistol to Kuhnle's Tavern in downtown Marysville on Nov. 11, 2006.

The fight started after Braa made racist remarks about American Indians. Whitney, an American Indian, took exception.

Braa was told to leave the bar and Whitney followed him outside to the parking lot, where the shooting happened. Mortally wounded, Whitney stumbled back into the bar, collapsed and died.

Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or jhaley@heraldnet.com.

Being Indian is an attitude a state of mind a way of being in harmony with all things and all beings It is allowing the heart to be the distributor of energy on this planet to allow feelings and sensitivities to determine where energy goes bringing aliveness up from the Earth and down from the Sky putting it in and giving it out from the heart

posted in Nativepeoples - 0 replies

Indians Gather to Save the Planet

Hoopes — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 02:48:26 GMT

PALENQUE, Mexico (AP) — North American Indians assembled in the shadow of ancient Mayan pyramids Monday discussed how their tradition wisdom could help save the planet, and were told that even indigenous cultures have struggled with environmental abuse.

More than 200 leaders from 71 American Indian nations in Mexico, the United States and Canada came together in this Mexican jungle to find indigenous solutions to pollution and ecological problems threatening the planet.

"Our Mother Earth is being polluted at an alarming rate, and our elders say that she is dying," said Raymond Sensmeier, a Tlingit leader from Yakutat, Alaska. "The way the weather is around the world ... a cleansing is needed."

The conference began with a pre-dawn ceremony that included fire, copal incense, chants in Lacandon Maya and blasts from a conch shell.

Speakers reminded attendees that even Indian cultures have battled with environmental abuse and pointed to theories that deforestation contributed to the collapse of the Maya who built the temples at Palenque.

"As we stand here, very near Palenque, I am mindful that some scholars have suggested that environmental stressors contributed to the decline of the Mayan civilization," said U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regional administrator Elin Miller. "The planet-wide stress on the environment today means that collaborative efforts ... are not just good things. They may well be essential for our survival."

But, as Bill Erasmus, a representative of the indigenous people of Canada's Northwest Territories noted, "part of our role is to wake up the world. It is very obvious to us all that the climate is changing."

Mexico's environment secretary, Juan Elvira Quesada, said the gathering is meant "to present the teachings of the original peoples of North America."

"In this way, the indigenous communities can become the natural guides to restoring balance and harmony in the world," he said.

The lessons they have to teach are simple — based on reviving Indian notions about ownership, use, compensation and respect.

"I sometimes talk to scientists," said Sensmeier, "and they compartmentalize things, put things in boxes and disconnect them, and doing so promotes disharmony and imbalance."
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jc6oTnNUIBs5sEpldHPNe57rjljAD8VB1U500

posted in Nativepeoples - 1 reply

Massive Oil Deposit Could Increase US reserves by 10x

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 00:21:34 GMT

Attn: Republic of Lakota Supporters

America is sitting on top of a super massive 200 billion barrel Oil Field that could potentially make America Energy Independent and until now has largely gone unnoticed. Thanks to new technology the Bakken Formation in North Dakota could boost America’s Oil reserves by an incredible 10 times, giving western economies the trump card against OPEC’s short squeeze on oil supply and making Iranian and Venezuelan threats of disrupted supply irrelevant.

In the next 30 days the USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) will release a new report giving an accurate resource assessment of the Bakken Oil Formation that covers North Dakota and portions of South Dakota and Montana. With new horizontal drilling technology it is believed that from 175 to 500 billion barrels of recoverable oil are held in this 200,000 square mile reserve that was initially discovered in 1951. The USGS did an initial study back in 1999 that estimated 400 billion recoverable barrels were present but with prices bottoming out at $10 a barrel back then the report was dismissed because of the higher cost of horizontal drilling techniques that would be needed, estimated at $20-$40 a barrel.

http://www.nextenergynews.com/news1/next-energy-news2.13s.html

http://www.republicoflakotah.com/index.htm

posted in Nativepeoples - 0 replies

First Peoples Bioregional Animism site

WabanakiWmn — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 19:44:31 GMT

Hey Everyone~

Check us out.... http://bioregionalanimism.org/firstpeoples/

Enjoy

posted in Nativepeoples - 3 replies

Lake Superior Chippewa? Natural Villages?

mello — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 02:32:35 GMT

Greetings,

I am new to this tribe. A quick scan of the topics here leads me to believe that the subjects here are predominantly Lakota related.

Is there anyone here with the Lake Superior Chippewa, specifically the Bad River and Red Cliff bands? I will be doing a year of community service with these communities and am looking for online resources and contacts that I may become familiar with in order to keep myself up to date on traditions and current issues, and how some of my visions may be percieved/accepted by those I will be working with.

Also for the Lakotas here, is there anyone familiar with the Natural Villages project? http://www.natural-villages.org/ If so, what kind of feedback could you provide about it and how it is being integrated into the community? If not, what is your first impression of their vision/work?

Thank you, Mello

posted in Nativepeoples - 8 replies

Rez Robics

mello — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 20:41:14 GMT

http://www.dreamcatchers.org/rezrobics/

I saw this video recently and was impressed by the concept and the message. What a great way to inspire the youth to fight obesity and diabetes! Very easy to get a video for your own communities as well as completely legal to make and distribute copies.

posted in Nativepeoples - 0 replies

Another Cree winter story for you

Kimowan — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 19:58:40 GMT

Still time for stories. Here's one called Wesakecak and the Magic Headgear. Sorry it ends so abruptly, but that's all there is anyway.

It's 5:30 long. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag2cpbr2L48

posted in Nativepeoples - 10 replies

The Longest Walk 2

anistara1 — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 19:43:59 GMT

http://www.longestwalk.org/

On Feb. 11th, Longest Walk participants will embark on a 5 month journey from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. arriving on July 11th. The Longest Walk south route is being led by AIM co-founder Dennis J. Banks. It is an extraordinary grassroots effort on a national level to bring attention to the environmental disharmony of Mother Earth, sacred site issues, and to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the original longest walk.

posted in Nativepeoples - 9 replies

Some Kawaiisu Stories

anistara1 — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 21:21:19 GMT

First food and the population problem

Coyote said, "there will be a lot of people". A little bug (who lives in the ground) said, "There must not be too many people. They've got to die some time."

A long time ago there were millions of people. Above Bena (near Tehachapi Pass) they sampled the earth. They ate up a whole mountain. Coyote said "No, we must not eat dirt or there won't be any earth left, it won't work." The people stopped eating the earth. There is still a big hole there where they sampled the earth.

Coyote said, "There will be a lot of people." No one had died yet. Potato Bug said people should live forever. Coyote disagreed. He said, "No, the world will be too crowded." That is why people don't live forever. Potato Bug said, " I will will eat them when they die."

posted in Nativepeoples - 4 replies

A note on the awkwardly nature of Wesakecak stories

Kimowan — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 18:35:42 GMT

To our contemporary ears, Wesakecak stories, Cree legends, can feel clumsy, unseemly, out of order. It is this awkwardly nature that points to their age and authenticity.

The malapropos character assures me that the story has safely existed in a place and time too distant from mainstream culture to be gentrified.

You can find Wesakesak stories on the shelves of Canadian bookstores. But the publishers bend the narratives into the pace and patterns familiar to their white readers. I think the publishers see the stories as quaint piddlings of Indian culture. Often, you will see Wesakecak stories as children's books, when really, these stories are meant for adults.

Real Wesakecak stories can be taboo, if not horrifying. There is a story about a mother's decapitated head, on fire, rolling over the landscape in pursuit of her sons. In another tale, people eat a pizza-sized scab that has fallen from a sore on someone's bum, a woman has sex with a bear, and so on. You can imagine Totonto publishers, "Oh my, we can't print *that.*"

Wesakecak stories are structured differently than english narratives. They are really short linear exerpts from a larger tangle of stories, so a tale may end abruptly only to suddenly continue elsewhere within that narrative network. They can even wander into the realm of religious parable--and backagain to the profane.

"Trickster" is a term overused and too vague to describe Wesakecak. Really, is is the story itself, and the teller, who are the tricksters. What tricks do they play, beyond fooling animals and such? The stories are subversive and taboo. They often challenge power.

"Wesakecak and the Wolves," for example, is a mock parody of the Catholic communion ritual. The bits of poisoned fat are communion wafers. The promise of living forever is the everlasting soul of the committed believer in Christianity. But the story shows how believers are gullible, how they, in fact, die from the white religion, rather than live forever. Why? Here the story switches to social commentary, "because the church wants to pay off its debts to the French (the French corporations in operation with the French monarchy).

I told a version of that story as told by man who was already old in 1930. He and his community would have witnessed firsthand the arrival and establishment of the church within their own communities. "Wesakecak and the Wolves" would surely have been one of many tales of entertainment, but not a story that the priests would have approved. It's a story that criticizes the power at your doorstep.

"Wesakecak and the Magic Headgear" is taboo for another reason. Here, the victim of the telling is Indian religion itself, in particular, a ritual that should never be openly discussed, the shaking-tent ceremony. The story allows for a somewhat safe and proper way to tell and listen to plot analogies to an otherwise taboo subject for Cree listeners and tellers.

Anyway, I don't know how this entry could spark discussion. I just thought I would spell out the more subversive aspects of the stories. I want to also push against gentrification.

It's the same basic argument I have against world music, like flutey-piano stuff. Some musical notes are not meant for the major scale.

posted in Nativepeoples - 9 replies

Native Americans at the Grammys tonight

Kimowan — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 16:08:32 GMT

Did you watch the 2001 Grammy Awards back in 2001? It was a big deal because it was the first time for Best Native American Music Album (Vocal or Instrumental). And, since it was a "historic" event, the Grammy organizers televised it live, on the mainstage, right there in spitting distance of Bono and Eminem, with something like a billion viewers worldwide.

Robbie Robertson presented the award. Of course he had to make a little joke about Leonard Peltier that just immediately evaporated. First groan.

Then the first-ever winner came out. I wish I could remember who he was, but he was the lead singer of a powwow drum group, which I thought was very cool.

So the guy walks out to the podium, probably no Indian has ever had the attention of so many eyes and ears. What does he say? I can't recall exactly, but something like, "To the greatest warrior who ever lived, " he announced. "Jesus Christ, my personal lord and savior." I could hear a collective groan that swept around the planet in both directions. I could not believe it. Our category will never be televised again, not that it would have, but there went our shining moment. Does anyone remember who that guy was?

Anyway, here are the nominees for tonight's Grammy Awards, category number 70, just before best Hawaiian and best Zydeco:

Oklahoma Style
Walter Ahhaitty and Friends

Watch This Dancer!
Black Lodge

The Ballad Of Old Times
Davis Mitchell

Reconnections
R. Carlos Nakai, Cliff Sarde and William Eaton

Totemic Flute Chants
Johnny Whitehorse

I'm rootin' for Black Lodge.

posted in Nativepeoples - 11 replies

US Apartheid of Indigenous Peoples documented in UN reported

Andrew — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 04:12:43 GMT

US Apartheid of Indigenous Peoples documented in UN reported

Friday, 18 January 2008
by Brenda Norrell

http://www.atlanticfreepress.com/content/view/3258/81/

The systematic racism, forced assimilation and apartheid of Indigenous
Peoples in the United States has been documented in the "Consolidated
Indigenous Shadow Report," to be presented by the International Indian
Treaty Council to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of
Racial Discrimination.

Dedicated to Floyd Red Crow Westerman, who passed to the Spirit World
on December 13, 2007, the report is compiled from the testimony of
individuals and groups of Indigenous Peoples and includes data from a wide
range of sources.

The data reveals "a system of Apartheid and forced assimilation," where
Indigenous Peoples are "warehoused in poverty and neglect" in the
United States. The racism permeates Indian life, including life at its
foundation, at American Indian sacred places.

Indian treaty rights, the abrogation of treaties and discrimination
toward non-federally recognized Indian Nations are detailed. Statistics
are included for unemployment, violence against women and sexual abuse in
residential schools. The destruction of sacred places, environmental
racism and border injustices are revealed. Further, the high rate of
incarceration and disproportionate long prison sentences for American
Indians are exposed in the 87-page report.

The exportation of banned pesticides by corporations in the United
States to Sonora, Mexico, where Yaqui are suffering from death and toxic
illnesses, and other Indigenous Peoples' territories, is also documented.

Alberto Saldamando, IITC board president, and board member Lenny
Foster, Navajo, who reported on the freedom of religion for Indigenous
prisoners in the US, will present the report to the UN Committee in Geneva in
February. Western Shoshone and other organizations and Nations will
join Saldamando and Foster.

"As described in this Shadow Report, the colonialist policies of racial
subjugation have not ended for the Indigenous Peoples in the United
States (US). Under US constitutional doctrine first established in the
early 1800's, Indigenous Peoples can be unilaterally deprived of their
lands and resources without due process of law and without compensation;
Indigenous governments can be terminated or stripped of their rightful
authority at the whim of the federal government and their lands
'allocated' as 'surplus lands.' Treaties made between Indigenous Peoples and
the Colonialist governments and the Successor State may be arbitrarily
abrogated. Religious freedoms and religious practice, Sacred Lands and
the cultural integrity of Indigenous Peoples go virtually unprotected,"
the report states.

The data includes the overwhelming disparities in income, life
expectancy, poverty and unemployment. The disproportionate number of Indians in
prisons is revealed with statistics from Montana.

"Native Americans are not counted separately from whites in the
Department of Justice statistics but statistics from states with higher
percentages of Native populations show that they are also overrepresented in
the jail and prison population. For example, in Montana, according to
the 2000 U.S. Census, Native Americans, the state's largest non-white
group, comprise just 6.2 percent of Montana's population but 20 percent
of those in correctional institutions. Nineteen percent of the 3,704
Montana men and boys being held in correctional institutions are Native
American. Nearly one-third of the 429 women in correctional institutions
are Native American."

While sacred places are destroyed by energy development at an alarming
rate, the report reveals the special relationship of the Lakota Nation
and Bear Butte (Mato Paha), Black Hills, in South Dakota.

Miguel Alfonso Martinez, the special rapporteur on treaties, agreements
and other constructive arrangements between states and Indigenous
Peoples' populations, is quoted.

"Probably the most blatant case in point is the United States federal
Government's taking of the Black Hills (in the present day state of
South Dakota) from the Sioux Nation during the final quarter of the
nineteenth century. The lands which included the Black Hills had been reserved
for the indigenous nation under provisions of the 1868 Fort Laramie
Treaty. It is worth noting that in the course of the litigation prompted
by this action, the Indian Claims Commission declared that 'A more ripe
and rank case of dishonorable dealing will never, in all probability,
be found in our history,' and that both the Court of Claims, in 1979,
and the Supreme Court of that country 61 decided that the United States
Government had unconstitutionally taken the Black Hills in violation of
the United States Constitution. However, United States legislation
empowers Congress, as the trustee over Indian lands, to dispose of the
said property including its transfer to the United States Government.
Since the return of lands improperly taken by the federal Government is not
within the province of the courts but falls only within the authority
of the Congress, the Supreme Court limited itself to establishing a
$17.5 million award (plus interest) for the Sioux. The indigenous party,
interested not in money but in the recovery of lands possessing a very
special spiritual value for the Sioux, has refused to accept the monies,
which remain undistributed in the United States Treasury," according
to the information available to the Special Rapporteur.

Further, the Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance, Mr.
Abdelfattah Amor drew special attention to the forced relocation of Navajos on
Black Mesa and the United States refusal to take into consideration the
spiritual practices of Navajos.

"On the subject of Black Mesa, the Special Rapporteur also calls for
the observance of international law on freedom of religion and its
manifestations. In the case of the Navajo elders, the reconciliation of their
human rights and other legitimate concerns were not taken into
account. No consideration was given their spiritual practices and beliefs by
the United States government in ordering their relocation."

As lands are seized or leased for energy developments, human rights
violations increase. On the Navajo Nation, coal mining and uranium mining
have been detrimental.

"Economic interests, such as the coal mine, have often prevailed over
Indigenous human rights. These are principally private ventures that do
not have a true public interest, and their activities rarely consider
the fundamental rights or freedom of others. International law had not
been observed with regard to the Navajo Elders," Amor stated.

There are over 1,000 abandoned uranium mines and mills on the Navajo
Nation that have not been reclaimed. It has been over 50 years since the
federal government or the corporations reaped millions of dollars in
the mining and milling processes. These contaminants pose a continuing
health hazard to traditional Navajos who live in close proximity to these
sites.

"The Navajo Nation, which spans the New Mexico-Arizona border, was
polluted in 1979 when an accident at the United Nuclear Corporation's
Church Rock Mill near Gallup, New Mexico released 94 million gallons of
radioactive waste into the Puerco River. The river flows through
reservation communities impacting a population of 10,000 Navajos who live along
the river using shallow wells and springs which flow from the Puerco to
draw water for livestock and personal needs. Despite the fact that the
spill is considered the second worst nuclear accident in U.S. history
after the Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant meltdown in Pennsylvania
and the designation as superfund site by the EPA the area remains
un-reclaimed almost 30 years after the spill."

Nearby the Navajo Nation, Acoma and Laguna Pueblos were also victims of
radiation from uranium mining.

The Jackpile Mine on the Laguna Pueblo Reservation in New Mexico grew
to be the largest open pit uranium mine in North America from 1952-1982.
The mine site is 2,000 feet from the Laguna village of Paguate which
has a population of 2,500 people.

Water quantity and quality were directly impacted by the mining of
uranium in the Grants Mineral Belt in New Mexico. Surface water sources
like the Puerco River became contaminated due to the close proximity of
mines and mills which spread contaminants through run-off and wind. These
contamination issues have impacted domestic water consumption and use
as well as agriculture and livestock watering and have drawn
correlations to cancerous related illnesses among the impacted population.

Western Shoshone have been leaders in the fight against racism, nuclear
dumping and the abrogation of treaties. As Western Shoshone continued
their fight against the planned Yucca Mountain waste dump in Nevada,
Goshute fought a battle in Utah.

"Currently the Goshute Tribe in Utah is being considered for a low
level nuclear Monitored Retrievable Storage Site despite vehement
opposition by a majority of tribal members and the state of Utah. Disposal of
spent fuel and high level radioactive waste being proposed by the U.S
government at Yucca Mountain, Nevada has been an on-going proposal for
over 25 years. Yucca Mountain is a sacred site to the Western Shoshone.
Transportation of nuclear waste to repository sites poses a problem for
the entire country," the report states.

While the past tragedies are exposed, the Bush administration has
pressed for more development on Indian lands already suffering from
atrocities.

"As the Bush administration has advocated the use of nuclear power as
an answer to global warming and climate change indigenous peoples must
strongly consider the historical past that have left the legacy of
health impacts from human exposure, land, air and water contamination,
contamination to traditional food sources, sacred sites, tradition and
culture from past uranium exploration and production."

Indigenous Peoples at the borders are now the victims of Homeland
Security as Americans respond with paranoia and xenophobia.

"Under the guise of Homeland Security, and under the rubric of
'homeland security,' the United States has increasingly become paranoid and
isolationist, and is ahead of schedule in building a barrier, a steel wall
along 700 miles of the US Mexican border. This wall and US xenophobia
greatly affect Indigenous Peoples whose lands straddle both sides of
the border," the report statesm

The end result of US policies is many deaths of undocumented
immigrants, many of whom are Indigenous, including Mayans from Chiapas, Oaxaca
and Guatemala.

O'odham in Mexico Lt. Gov. Jose Garcia described the impact of the
border on his people in Sonora, Mexico. "Our people live on both sides of
the border, and we maintain relations with each other on a regular
basis, crossing the border to attend baptisms, weddings, funerals and our
traditional ceremonies, maintaining our Spiritual practice in spite of
the obvious difficulties the border poses for us.

"We understand that the United States is to build a steel wall on the
border and we are concerned as to how it will affect us, that it will
further divide our people. It will certainly be an obstacle not only to
immigrants but to the Indigenous Peoples of both the United States and
Mexico.

"We really need to look at it. It affects our centuries old traditions
and customs," Garcia said.

"It will block our customs and traditions and is not any solution to
the problem. The problem is one of poverty and the lack of economic
opportunity in Mexico. The migration of people, crossing into the United
States, will continue as people search of a better way of life.

Since July, Lipan Apache elders of El Calaboz, Texas have been the
targets of threats and harassments by Border Patrol, Army Corps of
Engineers and other US officials related to the proposed building of a fence on
their levee. The National Security Administration has demanded that
elders give up their lands. They have been told that they will have to
travel 3 miles to go through checkpoints, to walk, recreate, to farm and
herd goats and cattle on their own Apache lands.

Eloise Tamez, Lipan Apache in El Calaboz, describes the harassment and
threat of the seizure of her lands by eminent domain.

"In mid July 2007, I was informed by telephone that Homeland Security
plans to split my property with a wall/fence. The informant (Border
Patrol Agent Rick Cavazos) indicated that the government, under a National
Security Directive, plans to build a fence on my private property with
or without my consent or approval. For the record, land grant title
holders currently own properties which extend to north of the levee but
also south of the levee of the Rio Grande. Of this, the only 'choice'
given me is that I can access my land south of the levee via a proposed
checkpoint that will be built three miles east of my property (Garza
Road). Many elders in our community will be denied basic freedoms to access
their private property, due to the burden this 'access' will impose on
their daily lives. The government denies the economic, social and
cultural divides which are entrenched in the agrarian, land-based cultures
indigenous to South Texas. Significant sectors of our communities will
not be economically or socially positioned to travel three miles and
through a security check-point to access their land grant private
property holdings. Effectively, this measure would seriously sever an
indigenous community from cultural resources, and cause immeasurable injury to
community economic, social, ecological proprietorship and future
development."

Meanwhile, representatives of 19 Indigenous Nations of the Americas met
in Tucson, Arizona, on November 17, 2007, to examine the situation of
the Border and Indigenous Peoples. They issued a report, wherein they
expressed their "… collective outrage for the extreme levels of
suffering and inhumanity, including many deaths and massive disruption of way
of life, that have been presented to this Summit as well as what we
have witnessed in our visit to the border areas during the Summit as a
result of brutal and racist US policies being enforced on the Tohono
O'odham traditional homelands and elsewhere along the US/Mexico border."

In the report, the segments include: "Dishonored Treaty, Seeking
Recognition: The Winnemmem Wintu of Northern California, McCloud River;"
"Indigenous but with No Recognized Rights: the Native Peoples of Hawai'i,
Mauna Kea;" and "No recognition and no rights at all: The Taino, Native
Peoples of Puerto Rico, The Sacred Caguana Ceremonial Center in Utuado,
Borikén."

The recommendations to CERD are:

Racist Constitutional Doctrines:

· Although there have been no dialogues or conversations with
Indigenous Peoples with regard to the abolition of the racially discriminatory
constitutional doctrines described in this Shadow report, including the
so-called Trust Relationship, there is a well founded fear among many
that simply abolishing the present relationship between recognized
tribes and the United States would lead to individual States exerting
jurisdiction over Indigenous Peoples, the loss of land and its collective
nature, and many rights valued by recognized tribes as well as
unrecognized Indigenous Peoples. Consultations should take place with Indigenous
Peoples, including the right to free, prior and informed consent, with
the view of abolishing these racist doctrines while protecting the
rights of Indigenous Peoples as reflected by international customary law
and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

· That the United States recognize all Indigenous Peoples in the
United States as Indigenous Peoples with Indigenous rights, consistent with
the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and
with international customary law, including terminated Tribes,
unrecognized Tribes, Alaskan Natives, Native Hawai'ians and the Taino Peoples
of Puerto Rico. It should also comply with its Charter responsibilities
of ensuring the well being of the Native Peoples of Guam and Puerto
Rico.

· The "Plenary Powers Doctrine" should be immediately abolished.
Consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples, General recommendation XXIII, and customary international law,
Indigenous lands taken under this doctrine should be restored.

· The United States should begin a process of reinstating abrogated
and unrecognized Treaties with Indigenous Peoples, with the view of
respecting and adhering to their terms, and provide, with the free prior and
informed consent of the Indigenous Peoples affected, restitution and
where appropriate, compensation for damages as a result of their
abrogation or failure of recognition.

1. Sacred Lands and Religious Freedom:

· Consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples, General recommendation XXIII, and customary
international law, Sacred Lands should be returned to Indigenous Peoples with
particular attention paid to the Black Hills of South Dakota to the Lakota
Nation.

· Indigenous Peoples should be allowed to practice their religion
without the necessity of permits or the observation and encumbrances of
tourists, bikers and rock climbers;

· Development that affects the Sanctity of Sacred Lands should
immediately cease and should only be allowed with the free, prior and informed
consent of the Indigenous Peoples affected; and,

· Prison Inmates, in both Federal and State prisons should immediately
be allowed their religious practice as is allowed all other religions
in United States prisons, including but not limited to, last rites for
condemned Indigenous inmates.

2. Environmental Racism

· Development with potential harm to Indigenous Peoples' rights,
whether on recognized reservations or not, should not be done without their
free, prior and informed consent. The United States should take
immediate steps to remediate and compensate for the legacies of development
harmful to Indigenous Peoples.

· The United States should be held accountable for its behavior and
that of US trans-national corporations that violate the rights of
Indigenous Peoples abroad. It should immediately cease these racist policies
and practices and take appropriate legislative and administrative
measures to prevent these adverse activities and to explore ways of holding
transnational companies registered in the United States accountable.
Particularly, the United States should:

— Outlaw the manufacture of banned pesticides for export.

— Stop the spraying of herbicides in Colombia and other countries

— Cease their economic and logistical support of paramilitary death
squads under the guise of "economic development."

3. US Apartheid and Coerced Assimilation

· The United States must cease its de facto system of apartheid on
Indian Reservations as places to warehouse its Native American poor,
leaving them only option for "an economic existence worthy of human dignity"
the abandonment of community, language and culture.

· The United States must comply with its Treaty Obligations as well as
customary international law, and provide the means by which Indian
Reservations can develop and provide for future generations in keeping
with their cultures and traditions.

· Congress should act to reauthorize and update the Indian Health Care
Improvement Act to reflect both current needs of Indian health and the
current health care systems enjoyed by most Americans. Equally
importantly, it should receive the necessary funding to be effective.

· In order to better protect tribal female citizens from sexual
violence, the United States should recognize full tribal criminal
jurisdictional authority over all crimes occurring within Indian country. In
addition, Congress should provide adequate funding to fully implement Title
IX of the Violence against Women Act.

· The United States should afford Native Americans the full right to
participate in government by addressing the rampant voting
discrimination practices throughout the nation, and particularly in South Dakota.

4. Articles 6 and 7 of the CERD Convention

· The United States should provide just and adequate reparation and
compensation for any damages suffered by indigenous victims of abuse by
the United States under its historical practice of mandating that Native
children attend federally sponsored boarding schools.

· The United States should promote the development of textbooks and
the teaching of culturally appropriate and historically accurate
curriculum for all school age children, particularly Native American children,
of the dignity and worth of Indigenous Peoples and cultures, as well as
their human rights.

posted in Nativepeoples - 1 reply

Thoughts of Racism, Politics and Spiritual Sovereignty by ben

Andrew — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 10:34:35 GMT

Thoughts of Racism, Politics and Spiritual Sovereignty

In the late 1990â€™s, I worked for a company in Oklahoma who had a
contract to lay phone cables for Southwestern Bell. At a job one day,
my boss and a phone repairman were talking about some land my boss had
purchased. The phone repairman said, â€œWell, if I bought some land some
Indians will probably come and take it away from me.â€ He knew I was
Native and that I heard everything he said, so I simply told him, â€œNo,
we wouldnâ€™t. I know what it feels like to be homeless in my
homelands.â€ He didnâ€™t know what to say, so I continued on working.

My comment reflected a thought that has been with me for a very long
time. I had wanted to pose this question to the late Vine DeLoria Jr.,
but the time is past. I know his answer would have been amusing, while
at the same time, thought provoking. If we were to have our lands
returned, and sovereignty recognized with the jurisdiction of our
authority restored tomorrow morning. What would it look like? Are we
even ready? And how would we treat the non-Native people who have been
here for generations? Would we just repeat what we have been taught
and nothing will have really changed? Would our leaders begin to fight
one another for control of territories? Will some nations begin
treating non-Natives as we had been treated? What of our relatives
from the South? They are just Spanish speaking Indians who are being
called illegal aliens or immigrants by the descendants of immigrants.

I find it very sad that my relatives from the South are being hunted
down and sent back home. Oklahoma had recently passed a law
prohibiting aiding any â€œillegal immigrantsâ€ with food, shelter, or
work, or even a ride to work. The Indian way is to provide our
relatives who visit with food, water and the comfort of shelter. In an
indirect way, our way of life is being criminalized in our homelands,
like in the 1800â€™s when they imposed the Code of Religious Offenses.

Many of us, including myself, have made the demand for the
recognition of our sovereignty. It is the reality of the past acts of
assimilation/ genocide has made that impossible for most of the First
Nations. The one exception would be the consensus making process of
the Iroquois Confederacy. The Clan Mothers of the confederacy have the
authority to direct the War Chief to throw out the Todaho if he acts
contrary to the wishes of the people. Benjamin Franklin thought their
form of government so effective that he patterned the US Constitution
after it. That is with the exception of including women.

In the 1700â€™s and 1800â€™s, the government made over 300 treaties with
the First Nations, often at the threat of being starved or murdered,
and in other cases, the Chiefs were given alcohol by the barrels to
get them to sign the treaty the government had written. Later, when
the Supreme Court ruled that treaties were made on a nation to nation
basis, the government began to pass acts of Congress, without the
consent or knowledge prior by Native people. By then most of the
Native people had been hunted down and placed under the custody of the
War Department. So in effect, our ancestors became prisoners of war.
That status had never been rescinded, with the exception of the Ft.
Sill Apaches who were pardoned a few years after the 1924 American
Indian Citizenship Act was passed.

The government had signed a treaty with my people (Choctaw) that
promised if we moved to Indian Territory (Oklahoma) it would never be
made into a state or a part of the Union. Originally, Indian Territory
was home to the Caddoâ€™s, Wichitaâ€™s, and Wacoâ€™s people. The land was
considered barren and useless, but to the government, it was an ideal
place to exile the Native prisoners of war. However, it wasnâ€™t long
before the rumors of statehood prompted Native people to draft a
proposal to Congress to allow them to form the State of Sequoyah, an
Indian state. This proposal was ignored, and the move to turn Indian
Territory into a state by non-Natives accelerated. My Choctaw people
made a proposal to the government to allow them to sell off their
lands so they could move to Mexico. This was also ignored.

By 1889, Senator Dawes decided that to make the Indians more
productive, they needed to begin farming their lands. His proposal,
the Dawes Allotment Act, was that each family would be allotted 180
acres per household and the remaining lands would be opened up for
settlement to pioneers.

Some Muskogeeâ€™s, Choctaws and Cherokees, including others followed
Chitto Harjo in an attempt to stop their people from signing up for
the allotment, but the government sent troops to quash the â€œCrazy
Snake Rebellionâ€. Those who did not sign up for allotments have
descendants today who cannot prove their ancestry as Native.

These surplus/stolen lands, called unassigned lands were the subject
of the 1889 Land Run. At the sound of a cannon shot, thousands of
people raced into Indian Territory to stake a claim. These people were
known as the â€œBoomersâ€, whereas another group of people who sneaked
into Indian Territory earlier were called the â€œSoonerâ€. Oklahoma is
known as the Sooner state and its flagship universityâ€™s football team
is called the OU Sooners. Dishonesty and thievery is deceitfully
herald in Oklahoma.

Many of the people we call Chiefs consider themselves Americans and
salute the flag that the cavalry waved as they murdered men, women,
and children at Wounded Knee, Sand Creek and so many other places of
pain. When the European immigrants arrived and embarked upon the
mission of Manifest Destiny to conquer and exploit the land. It was
the missionaries who came and stole our children away from their homes
to teach them their education. Then they sent them back to their
communities where government agents recognized them as the leaders.
Their minds had been colonized and they worked on behalf of the
colonizer.

The 1934 Indian Reorganization Act established procedures where
Natives could apply for federal recognition. They had to create
written democratic constitution and council system. In the mid 70â€™s,
the American Indian Self-determination Act was passed and more First
Nations began to seek federal recognition, some real and some
fraudulent. This Act permitted the First Nations to administer their
own programs through federal funding.

Since the cession of treaty making with First Nations, many of the
Acts of Congress has been to our detriment. Many of the so-called
Chiefs have been convicted of fraud and mismanagement of federal
funds. Their position has led to an abuse of office for self-serving
interest.

The huge minus to these Acts is when I went to the United Nations in
Vienna, Austria, I learned from the delegates that because of these
Acts, we no longer have a voice in the UN. We are considered a
domestic concern of the US government and if we have a problem, then
we have to take it up with them.

In 1993, then President Bill Clinton signed the apology resolution in
which he apologized for the illegal overthrow of the lawful Hawaiian
Kingdom by the United States military and it agents. The Native
Hawaiians began to seek liberation and full autonomous control of
their lands. In response the government has been trying to pass
legislation similar to the 1934 IRA to keep them under their control.
I testified at this hearing in opposition to the proposed action. I
urged the Kanaka Maoli to not accept this bill, because if they did
they would lose any chance at regaining their sovereignty. The senate
committee was so angry they turned off my microphone, recessed the
hearing and walked out. Meanwhile the people urged me to speak louder
so they could all hear what I had to say.

Politics is an unusual word if you really look at it. An armchair
definition I think is more appropriate here. Poly is defined as many,
and a tick is defined as a blood-sucking parasite. So we have a lot of
ticks in congress sucking up all the money and power they can. With
that bit of facetiousness said, my honest opinion is that our
sovereignty will not come from the government. We need to look elsewhere.

Sovereignty â€" A State of Mind
It was in prison that the birth of my activism took place. A brother
there offered a few words, which was the key to my freedom. He
explained that the Creator gave each of us free will, and that no one
has the power to take it away or deprive you of it unless you allow
them to do so. He asked me if the judges, cops or warden took away my
freedom? I sad no, I had pled guilty to my burglary charges. Then he
said do you think you can take it back? I looked around the yard and
said that if I could get on top of the rotunda across to the
administration building and then onto the other side of the wall and
fence without getting shot I could. He said that even if I could make
it to the other side of the fence and they shot me and placed me in
chains and put me in a cell, they still couldnâ€™t take away my choice
to be free. Their physical obstacles and threats of force is not
enough to keep you from choosing to be free. You can be free right
here and now without trying to escape.

To anyone else, this may have been the craziest mumbo-jumbo anyone has
ever heard, but the strangest thing is I understood him with such
clarity that all of a sudden everything in the prison changed for me.
I knew that I lived in a repressive environment, a maximum-security
prison, and even if I was out, I still lived in a very racist state. I
knew I would never allow the prison officials to manipulate me with
parole, loss of days off my sentence or threats of transfer to a more
restrictive prison. I knew that if I spoke out or challenged the
officials or guards, I could get into trouble, but I was no longer
going to be intimidated. I made my choice of my own free will to stand
upon my principles. I was not going to be controlled as a puppet on a
string, so I became well versed in the prison polices and procedures,
and studied constitutional & civil law as a law clerk in the prison
law library. I was left alone for the most part.

In 1986, I filed a lawsuit against prison officials to prevent them
from forcibly cutting my hair after a grooming code was put into
effect. At the same time, I discovered a letter written by the
director of the prison system who said that the Native American
religion is in the same category as the Ku Klux Klan and the Aryan
Brotherhood, and was therefore non-religious in nature. His arrogance
in comparing our Native spirituality to two deadly white supremacy
organizations only fueled the ire of Native people from around the
country, and of socially conscious people worldwide. Media interviews
were requested and letters from around the world was written to prison
officials demanding that the Native prisoners be allowed to practice
their religion. Although the judge ruled against us, he instructed the
prison officials to develop a policy, which would allow Native
prisoners to apply for an exemption.

On December 10, 1987, I was given the Oklahoma Human Rights Award. The
first time in this country an award such as this was given to someone
currently serving a prison sentence. The only other exception was
political prisoner, Leonard Peltier, who received his award from the
country of Spain. This recognition caused further embarrassment to
prison officials. So much that caseworkers and other employees began
persuading me to apply for parole. After discussing this with a few of
my friends, I agreed. I had been waiving my parole appearances for a
number of years. The prison officials were overjoyed with the news. I
may have the distinction of being one of the few people kicked out of
a maximum-security prison and then the prison system altogether. By
then I had served over 7 1/2 years of a 12 year sentence for burglary.

Upon being paroled I was enrolled at the University of Oklahoma
studying Public Affairs and Administration. Within two months after my
release, the University paper featured a huge story about my
involvement the struggle for long hair in prison and immediately
22,000 students knew who I was. When the paper came out, I almost
didnâ€™t go to class, all day students and professors came up to me and
congratulated me for what I had done. Being a campus celebrity was not
the most comfortable thing I have been in my life, but it gave me more
of an opportunity to speak out about the rights of Native prisoners.

Later, I formed the Spiritual Alliance for Native Prisoners, which was
successful to a point in educating First Nation leaders and the
officials of the corrections department about our rights. Then I
became a National spokesperson for the Leonard Peltier Defense
Committee and the League of Indigenous Sovereign Nations. Iâ€™ve
testified on behalf of Native people and the Kanaka Maoli (Native
Hawaiians) before three congressional committees. Iâ€™ve spoken with
delegates at the United Nations in Vienna and traveled to the South
American country of Columbia, as a Human Rights delegate, to meet with
Indigenous peoples there, including those in prison. Iâ€™ve served as a
Chaplain at the Oklahoma City bombsite counseling rescue workers and
as a Spiritual Advisor to state and federal prisoners. I lived with
Native Youth groups camped in the mountains of British Columbia
conducting roadblocks, occupation of federal buildings and reclaiming
Indigenous lands. I was at the occupation of a military base in
Ontario after the police murdered Dudley George who was protecting the
people when the police launched a raid to remove the Natives who were
reclaiming their land. Iâ€™ve participated in several major
demonstrations, including making the welcoming address on behalf of
the Piscataway Indian nation whose lands Washington, DC and the White
House sits upon.

All this and much more in the 19 years I have been out of prison. I
remember someone named Robert Gann said, â€œSovereignty is a state of
mind.â€ If we believe we are sovereign then we must conduct ourselves
as if we are sovereign. This was part of what has motivated me to do
what I have done, and the other part is my traditional spirituality.

Spirituality â€" A way of life
After completing my parole in 1991, I had been going to several
different ceremonies all around the country, and had begun to fulfill
a Sun Dance commitment. Although, I did not feel I was ready, Chief
Tayac of the Piscataway Indian Nation and his son, Mark, the Sun Dance
Chief urged me to go into the prisons as a Spiritual Advisor.

When I went into the prison and ran a sweat for my family there, I
have never felt anything more fulfilling. I was doing what the Creator
had set out for me, and I also saw more clearly how the assimilative
effects of conformity in prison was a barrier to our traditional
values and philosophies. One example is listening to some of the
brothers talking about what they were going to do when they got out. I
heard the word â€œbitchesâ€ used quite often around the fireplace of the
sweat. I waited until we were in the lodge and close the door. I spoke
to everyone about the language I heard around a place of prayer. I
told them being an ex-con; I understand where that language comes
from. I explained that the prison system originally held white males
and that they developed their code of honor according to their
culture. Later, when blacks and Indians were being held in prison,
they adopted that code of honor to conform. Most everyone wanted to be
known as a â€œGood Convictâ€, someone who is solid and wonâ€™t steal or rat
you out. So in order to conform, I told them they were doing nothing
more than trying to be a white prisoner. I asked them, â€œWhat is so
wrong with being a Native person here in prison? We donâ€™t have to be
like them. And think about who taught you to call your grandmothers,
mothers, sisters, aunties, cousins and nieces - bitches. Where is the
respect for the Woman Nation in that? Is that how you guys are going
to conduct yourselves when you get out?â€ You could feel the shame and
guilt pour out of these brothers.

Whether it is in prison or on the streets, without our spiritual or
cultural identity, we feel lost and find ways to conform with our
peers so that we can fit in.

When we make a pledge to Sun Dance, it isnâ€™t just for eight days of
the year or for the four years of our commitment, it is for the rest
of our lives. As a Sun Dancer, our life is lived in service to the
people. Adhering to these spiritual principles becomes a development
of our personal self on a physical, mental and spiritual level. In our
hearts, minds, and spirit, we need to remove the negative forces of
racism, sexism and elitism, and many other ismsâ€™ that blocks our path.
Often we have become our own worst enemies when we allow ourselves to
become corrupt with the desire for power, status and financial gain.
None of those negativities are fulfilling, they only eat away at your
life like an addictive drug. When those forces get in the way of our
visions, we lose the focus of our path.

Eagle Mountain â€" Sacred Sovereign Territory
For more than 25 years it has been my vision to have land where I/we
could build a community utilizing alternative forms of energy and have
ceremonies and host conferences. I was in Canada when the twin towers
went down on Sept. 11th. As I sat there watching the news, I realized
that I couldnâ€™t keep participating and conducting direct-action
activities. The ensuing result was that I would end up in prison for a
long time or I would end up dead. Not that I was afraid of those
things happening, but with the changes in the laws, it was time for a
different strategy. I decided to return to the states and make my
vision a reality.

Today we have 160 acres with water rights to two springs on the
foothills of the Sheep Mt.. We are almost ready to submit an
application for tax-exemption to act as a non-profit. And to date,
with the help of friends, family and past speaking engagements, we
have paid over half the value of the land. It has been our intention
that once the land is paid off, we would place it into a trust so that
it never be sold off or used as collateral for loans.

We can build energy efficient homes below ground that can maintain a
constant temperature without having to utilize excessive amounts of
energy or wood. We have clean spring water to sustain us, and we have
been collecting organic seeds to plant in our gardens.

We have friends who are Sun Dancers, Aztec dancers and Peyote people
who are planning on moving onto the land. There are future plans to
host a conference bringing in Indigenous Spiritual leaders from across
the hemisphere to share their prophecies with us. Next summer, we will
host the 3rd Annual Eagle Mountain Sun Dance.

I have sensed that there are so many important things that need to be
done within the next five years, and having this land is going to be
the only way I can accomplish it. In 1976, Thomas Banyacya, Hopi, told
a committee of the UN during a meeting in Vancouver that many of their
prophecies have been completed and that it is time for the people to
return to a spiritual path and leave the material one behind.

The end of the Mayan Calendar
www.water-conscious ness.com/ must/must_ article09, in 2012, signifies a
cross roads the world is coming to. In short, the Mayans have said
that we are in a period where the powers of darkness and light are at
their peak. One is on a conquest for power and control, while the
other is praying for peace and balance to be restored. Over the next
five years this spiritual battle between dark and light will determine
our future with the conclusion of the Mayan Calendar.

To help illustrate this point, consider how the government has been
using fear as a marketing tool to coerce people to give up their civil
and constitutional freedoms since the Oklahoma City bombing which
broadened police powers, and then so much more after Sept. 11. Those
police powers would have been abhorrent to people in the 1960â€™s, and
been reminiscent of fascist police states.

The Real ID Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-13), effective on Dec. 31,
2009, is being opposed by several states. This Act was attached as a
rider to a military spending bill and passed. The component of the
implementation of the Act is that no federal agency will accept any
driverâ€™s license as valid identification for federal purposes. The
federal Transportation Security Administration will not let you board
a plane without further screening. And employers will not hire you,
nor will banks provide services.

The National Animal Identification System is a program regulated by
the USDA (http://animalid. aphis.usda. gov/nais/ index.shtml). The first
step of this program is premises registration, which allows the USDA
access to your property at any time for inspection.

The second part of NAIS is that all of your livestock must be chipped
at your expense. If you have livestock that is not micro chipped, you
can be fined. The microchips are being implanted into livestock so
that the government can keep track of your livestock. If a cow leaves
your property to eat in a neighbors pasture and you donâ€™t report it.
You can be fined a thousand dollars a day, even if you werenâ€™t aware
of it. If your animals become infected with a curable disease, your
entire livestock could be destroyed without compensation. There are
several organizations that are opposed to NAIS, such as,
www.nonais.org. Consider that if everyone had to register his or her
firearm, and then one day the government decides to confiscate it.
They know where to look. If there is a food shortage, and the need
more, theyâ€™ll just show up and take it.

We have issues of Global Warming, and the chemtrails, along with the
GMO foods manufactured by Monsanto. If you live near one of their
â€œmanufacturingâ€ areas, and if the wind blows pollen from their
â€œproductsâ€ into your organic garden, they can have your garden
destroyed because they have the copyright.

Water is being currently bought up by the wealthy and powerful. Real
estate magnate, Warren Buffet has been said to sell off much of his
holdings prior to the market dropping out. Nearly 80 to 90 % of
sub-prime home loans are being foreclosed upon. Oil is nearly $100 a
barrel, which will be passed on to consumers in gas, commercial
travel, and products. For the first time in history, the Canadian
dollar is above the US dollar. And a possible war with Iran will bring
China and Russia against the US.

Somehow the future doesnâ€™t look so great.

In facing the current events of the world, the birth of the White
Buffalo Calfâ€™s is assuring that something spiritual is taking place.
In heeding the words of Thomas Banyacya and the Mayan Calendar, it may
not be such a bad idea for the Ghost Dance to make its return in the
form as it was presented to Wovoka. Not the versions in which people
believed that if the dance was done, the whites would disappear and
our ancestors would return, along with the buffalo. It has always been
difficult for me to believe the Creator would show us a ceremony to
eradicate our relatives. From what I have understood about Wovokaâ€™s
vision is that the dance was to bring peace and understanding to all
people.

My idea of sovereignty based upon a spiritual way of life. Through
this way of life, I have found a stronger connection to the Creator
and Mother Earth. There appears little can be done politically, Bushâ€™s
â€œselectionâ€ in 2000 seemed pretty obvious, and there was no national
outrage that I heard about. But if the news media is 95% corporate
controlled, it wouldnâ€™t be on the front page.

There is little we can do against a government with no honor or
morals. We do know the power of prayer and we have witnessed true
miracles according to todayâ€™s definition take place. So if we are to
return to a spiritual path, then I am thankful for all of my lifeâ€™sâ€™
experiences that have brought me here. There are terrible things
happening, and more are going to take place. This is a time to educate
one another and to become spiritual warriors devoid of any negativity.
Get out of the cities and acquire some land to grow & raise your own
food. Bring like-minded friends and families with you because there
may come a time that you need a community to help defend the land.
Being a spiritual person doesnâ€™t mean we have to turn the other cheek,
nor is self-defense an act of violence. If all of our prayers are
strong and sincere, it will be our defense and a way to bring peace
and balance into the world. Weâ€™ll see.

To All of My Relations,
Ben

posted in Nativepeoples - 7 replies