Updates On The Land Loss Of Crow Creek Souix

Updates On The Land Loss Of Crow Creek Souix
Why is that the BIA, a federally funded agency, continues to walk away with a clean slate, when they in fact perpetuated the entire incident with one of the nations poorest of Nations, the Crow Creek Sioux?

The land was already part of the original Crow Creek Res., established by the Treaty of 1868. This very land was stolen & bought back by said Crow Creek.

The entire ordeal is suspect at best & deserves a delay on the auction of the land on behalf of the Creek Sioux.

I look forward to your reply in all earnest.

Teresa Kurtzhall
anahuy59@msn.com

PRESS RELEASE .. .. For immediate release
December 3, 2009
IRS AUCTIONS OF 20% OF TOTAL CROW CREEK SIOUX TRIBE'S LAND HOLDINGS
(Ft. Thompson, S.D.) Former Crow Creek tribal council member and secretary Crystal St. John, who was elected in 2002, gave background information on the IRS claims. She said that "back in 2001, the Tribe got an IRS letter saying Tribe was delinquent in payroll taxes. The BIA Area Contracting Office Richard Zephier, BIA Superintend Steve McLaughlin, BIA CFO Harold Condon, and Tribal Chairwoman Roxanne Sazue entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) in which all tribal finances were placed under a BIA appointed monitor. The BIA appointed Harold Condon as monitor."
"In August, 2002, the Tribal Council was informed by Mr. Condon that all the Tribe's finances were in order and everything was okay. Then, in a Council Meeting, former council member Ronnie Kirkie asked Mr. Condon if it was true that the Tribe owed the IRS any taxes. Mr. Condon replied "no."
"In September, 2002, the Tribal Council received an IRS levy notice stating that the Tribe owned the IRS delinquent taxes. The Tribe also found out that Mr. Condon had written a letter to the IRS stating that 'the Tribe is a sovereign nation and does not owe any payroll taxes so abate that.'" "This was the beginning of the Tribe's problems with the IRS, " she said
"The problem was exacerbated when the BIA said no federal funds could be used to pay off the previous tax liabilities caused by Mr. Condon. From that point on, each time the Tribe would set aside funds to pay off its current quarterly IRS taxes, every week or month the IRS would levy these funds for past taxes, which would take the tax money needed for us to keep current on the quarterly taxes. This started with the mess created by Mr. Condon, and resulted in the current situation in which prevents the Tribe from ever catching up with its IRS tax debt," she said.
The Crow Creek Reservation was created by the Act of March 2, 1889, which carved up the Great Sioux Reservation created by the 1868 Treaty. Congress has continually reduced the Tribe's land base down to its current size, including flooding out the Tribe's remaining prime agricultural land along the Missouri River by the Flood Control Act of 1944. In 1997, Congress set up a trust fund to provide additional compensation for the loss of its Missouri River lands, and the Tribe used some of these trust funds to purchase 7,100 acres of fee land called the LeMaster Ranch lands. These 7,100 acres constitute about 20% of the Tribe's current land base on the reservation. To buy back some of their land that was lost under the flood control Act of 1944. Congress approved Crow Creek Infrastructure Development Trust Fund Act of 1996 setting up Trust Fund dollars controlled by the BIA. The Le'Master land was purchased with these Federal dollars.
"Because the lands were purchased with Infrastructure Development Trust Funds, I feel that the IRS needed the approval of the BIA to auction these lands off for taxes. The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe (since the purchase of the Le'Master land) approved numerous resolutions asking the BIA to put the land into trust when there were no taxes or levies/liens on this land. Because of BIA misfeasance in failing to put the land in trust, we lost the land in question in an IRS auction today!!," said Tribal Council member Norman Thompson.
The Tribe, whose reservation sits in one of the poorest county in the United States according to the 2000 Federal Census, was planning to use the LeMaster Ranch lands for a new wind energy farm, since it sits next to the second largest federal electrical quid in the United States and is in one of the areas with the highest wind velocities according the Department of Energy's Wind Energy Map.
Brandon Sazue, Chairman of the Tribe, said that the IRS auction "was downright shameful and contrary to the Government's trust responsibility to the Tribe. The lands were purchased with Infrastructure Development Trust Funds and should have been exempt from an IRS levy. In addition, the lands should have been exempt under the 1834 Non-Intercourse Act, which requires tribal consent before any tribally owned lands can be conveyed. We regard our lands as sacred and they are and never will be for sale."
The Tribe succeeded in stopping the sale in July, 2009, by transferring them to a tribally chartered corporation called Crow Creek Sioux Tribal Farms, Inc. and having the corporation file a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case which stayed the sale. Eventually, the bankruptcy case was withdrawn in November, 2009, when it was determined that the Indian law claims should be filed in U.S. District Court.
The Tribe has been negotiating a loan from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community in Minnesota to pay the IRS off. Shakopee had its attorneys, the Dorsey and Whitney Law Firm assisting the Tribe in negotiating the IRS loan down, but to no avail. IRS set a new date for the auction and eventually time ran out and the Tribe filed a lawsuit in U.S. District court on December 1, 2009 to stop the IRS auction.

At a telephonic hearing held on December 2, 2009, U.S. District Judge Roberto Lange made the following ruling in denying the Tribe's motion for a temporary restraining order:

1. The Tribe did not make a sufficient showing to establish irreparable harm to grant a TRO;
2. There is a 180 day redemption period for the Tribe to repurchase the land plus a 20% penalty under the IRS Code.
3. The land is currently leased to an individual (for another year) and there will be no change in the possession of the land within the next 180 days;
4. A trial will be held on March 29 and 30, 2009 on the merits of the Tribe's claims; and
5. If the Tribe prevails, the court will order the Government to pay back the purchase price and the 20% penalty.

Regardless, the Tribe still has 180 days redemption period to purchase the land back.

News of the action has generated the a lot of interest among tribes across the United States. The Chairmen of other Sioux tribes have also rallied behind the Tribe by contacting the Interior Department and IRS to stop the auction, but to no avail.
The Tribe contemplates asking Senator Dorgan and the S.D. Congressional Delegation to hold congressional hearing on the IRS's auction of its tribal treaty lands. In the meantime, the Tribe will pursue its federal court action and continue negotiating its loan with Shokopee.

crow-creek-sioux-tribe-motion-..for-tro.pdf has been uploaded to the home site under "Files" section on the left.
Contributed by Sister Jodie Whiteljwhite@restel.net/
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF SOUTH DAKOTA
CENTRAL DIVISION
CROW CREEK SIOUX TRIBAL FARMS,
INC., AND CROW CREEK SIOUX TRIBE,
Plaintiffs,
v. Civil No. 09-3031
UNITED STATES INTERNAL REVENUE
SERVICE AND JAMES DAUGHERTY, E.
HANNIFIN, AND STEVE HOPKINS,
EMPLOYEES OF THE INTERNAL
REVENUE SERVICE, IN THEIR OFFICIAL
AND INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY,
Defendants.
MEMORANDUM OF LAW IN SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR
TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER
INTRODUCTION
Plaintiffs Crow Creek Tribal Farms, Inc. (“CCTF”) and Crow Creek Sioux Tribe
(“the Tribe”), by and through undersigned counsel, hereby submit this memorandum of
law in support of their Motion for Temporary Restraining Order.
STATEMENT OF FACTS
Plaintiff Crow Creek Sioux Tribe is a federally recognized Indian Tribe, with a
governing body recognized by the Secretary of the Interior that exercises sovereign
power and authority over the Crow Creek Indian Reservation in Brule and Hyde County,
South Dakota. The Crow Creek Indian Reservation was created by the 1868 Treaty, Act
of April 29, 1868, 15 Stat. 635, and by Section 6, Act of March 2, 1889, 25 Stat. 888.
The Tribe has a government-to-government relationship with the United States of
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America.
Crow Creek Tribal Farms, Inc. (CCTF), is a corporation that was formed and
organized under Crow Creek Sioux Tribal Laws as a legal entity separate and distinct
from the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe. CCTF currently holds ownership and title to certain
real estate located in Hyde County, South Dakota, commonly known as the LeMaster
Ranch. CCTF is not delinquent on any taxes owed to the Internal Revenue Service.
The Defendant Internal Revenue Service (IRS), an agency of the United States of
America, has been delegated the power and authority to impose and collect employment
taxes from employers in the United States. The agency has levied on property and
money owned by the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe for failure to pay delinquent employment
taxes amounting to approximately $3,123,789.73. The IRS proposes to sell at auction,
the auction to be held on Thursday, December 3, 2009, that real estate held by Crow
Creek Sioux Tribal Farms known as the LeMaster Ranch.
A. The Delinquent Taxes
Because of erroneous tax advice received from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the
Crow Creek Sioux Tribe became delinquent in the payment of employment taxes
collected by the IRS beginning in 2003. The BIA had informed the Tribe that, because it
was a federally recognized Tribe, it was not necessary to pay federal employment taxes.
The delinquency relates to the filing of and payments due under Forms 940 and 941 from
September 20, 2003 until the present time.
The Tribe has attempted to pay the arrearages and subsequent amounts as they
come due, but has been unable to bring the employment taxes current. Meanwhile, the
IRS has levied and garnished various accounts of the Tribe making it impossible for the
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Tribe to bring the taxes current. As of August 17, 2009, the total amount outstanding and
due the Internal Revenue Service, including all related penalty and interest, was
$3,123,789.73.
B. The LeMaster Ranch Property
In 1998 the Tribe, as part of a land consolidation effort on its reservation,
purchased the LeMaster Ranch, consisting of approximately 7,100 fee patent acres in
Hyde County, South Dakota, from the LeMasters, private owners. This land is located on
the Crow Creek Indian Reservation and was previously held in trust by the United States
government for the Tribe or its members. The land subsequently came out of trust and
was acquired in fee status by the LeMasters, from whom the Tribe subsequently acquired
the land in 1998. The Tribe also owned 10 acres of fee patent land in Hughes County,
which land forms a part of the LeMaster Ranch property.
The LeMaster Ranch lands are located within and were a part of the original Crow
Creek Indian Reservation as established by the Treaty of 1868, Act of April 29, 1868, 15
Stat. 635, and Act of March 2, 1889, 25 Stat. 888, and once were held in trust by the
United States for the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe. The lands were subsequently allotted and
came out of trust when sold to non-Indians, and they were ultimately sold to the
LeMasters.
These lands were allotted and conveyed to individual Indian landowners pursuant
to Sections 8 through 12 of the Act of March 2, 1889, 25 Stat. 888. However, these
allotments and conveyances were unlawful in that the following proviso to Section 9 of
the Act was never complied with: “Provided, That these sections as to the allotments
shall not be compulsory without the consent of the majority of the adult members of the
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tribe, except that the allotments shall be made as provided for the orphans.” No
referendum was ever held by which a majority of the adult members of the Crow Creek
Sioux Tribe consented to the allotments.
The appraised value of the LeMaster Ranch lands has been estimated to be
$4,634,000 by Wendell Appraisal Services. (See Exhibit I attached to the Complaint.)
C. The Imminent IRS Sale By Public Auction of the LeMaster Ranch Lands
The IRS, through its employees, James Daugherty, E. Hannifin, and Steve Hopkins,
is proposing to sell, by public auction, the LeMaster Ranch lands, including the Hughes
County real estate, on December 3, 2009 at the hour of 10:00 o’clock A.M. at Hyde
County Courthouse in Highmore, South Dakota, to satisfy the IRS tax lien in the amount
of $3,123,789.73. (See Exhibit II attached to the Complaint.)
The LeMaster Ranch, however, is currently owned and in the name of the Crow
Creek Tribal Farms, Inc., as shown by the Deed attached as Exhibit 3. CCTF has no
delinquent tax liabilities owing to the IRS.
ARGUMENT
I. Plaintiffs Will Be Irreparably Harmed Absent Issuance Of A
TRO.
The purpose of preliminary equitable relief, such as a TRO, is to preserve the status
quo until the court rules on the merits. Devose v. Herrington, 42 F.3d 470, 471 (8th Cir.
1994) (en banc). To obtain a preliminary injunction, the moving party must show (1) that
he is likely to succeed on the merits, (2) that he is likely to suffer irreparable harm in the
absence of preliminary relief, (3) that the balance of equities tips in his favor, and (4) that
an injunction is in the public interest. Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Council, 129
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S. Ct. 365, 374 (2008). These four factors are identical to those that apply in evaluating
requests for temporary restraining orders. See Oglala Sioux Tribe v. C&W Enterprises,
Inc., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25881, *3 (D.S.D. March 25, 2009) (No. CIV. 07-5024-
KES), stating that “[w]hen ruling on a motion for a TRO, the court must consider (1) the
threat of irreparable harm to the moving party; (2) balancing this harm with any injury an
injunction would inflict on other parties; (3) the likelihood of success on the merits; and
(4) the public interest,” citing Dataphase Systems, Inc. v. C.L. Systems, Inc., 640 F.2d
109, 113 (8th Cir. 1981).
As the Eighth Circuit has emphasized, care must be exercised in balancing the
equities, especially since a preliminary injunction motion is too early a stage of the
proceedings to woodenly assess a movant's probability of success on the merits with
mathematical precision. General Mills, Inc. v. Kellogg Co., 824 F.2d 622, 624 (8th Cir.
1987); Dataphase, 640 F.2d at 113. The essential inquiry in weighing the propriety of
issuing a preliminary injunction is whether the balance of other factors tips decidedly
toward the movant and the movant has also raised questions so serious and difficult as to
call for more deliberate investigation. General Mills, Inc. v. Kellogg Co., 824 F.2d at
624-625; Dataphase, 640 F.2d at 113.
When seeking a preliminary injunction or TRO, the movant has the burden to show
that under the factors set forth in Dataphase it is entitled to preliminary injunctive relief.
General Mills, Inc. v. Kellogg Co., 824 F.2d at 628. The district court has broad
discretion when ruling on requests for preliminary injunctive relief. Id. at 625.
A threat of irreparable harm must exist for a preliminary injunction or TRO to
issue. United Healthcare Insurance Co., 316 F.3d 737, 740 (8th Cir. 2002). An
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irreparable harm is an imminent injury that is both great and certain to occur, and for
which legal remedies are inadequate. Wisconsin Gas Co. v. F.E.R.C., 758 F.2d 669, 674
(D.C. Cir. 1985). In other words, irreparable harm is injury that is beyond remediation
by monetary damages. Chaplaincy of Full Gospel Churches v. England, 454 F.3d 290,
297 (D.C. Cir. 2006).
In this case, Plaintiffs will suffer several kinds of serious irreparable harm absent
the issuance of a TRO. First, the Tribe realizes revenue from leases issued on the
LeMaster Ranch, which revenue is used by the Tribe to provide services necessary to
further the health, education and welfare of the Tribe's members. The imminent sale of
the LeMaster Ranch by the IRS would interrupt the Tribe's receipt of this revenue and
curtail or terminate the provision of necessary services to tribal members, thereby
causing irreparable harm to the health, education and welfare of the Tribe's members,
injuries for which legal remedies are wholly inadequate. For example, in Winnebago
Tribe of Nebraska v. Stovall, 216 F. Supp. 2d 1226 (D. Kan. 2002), aff'd, 341 F.3d 1202
(10th Cir. 2003), the defendant Kansas state officials seized the trucks and fuel of the
plaintiff tribes and of a tribal corporation (HCI Distribution) in an attempt to enforce the
Kansas Motor Vehicle Fuel Tax Act. The Winnebago Tribe argued that it had thereby
suffered irreparable harm, pointing out that the seizure of their property had resulted in
the loss of revenues and profits, which were used for services for the Winnebago tribal
members including police service, fire service, health care service and educational
services. Other plaintiff tribes (the Kansas Tribes) similarly asserted that the defendant's
actions had caused lost sales and profits, and that, without such revenues, they would be
unable to fund tribal government programs and government services for tribal members.
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The district court, in issuing a preliminary injunction, found that “plaintiffs have
demonstrated that they will suffer irreparable injury in that monetary damages will not be
sufficient to undo the damage with which plaintiffs are currently faced.” 216 F. Supp. 2d
at 1233.
Secondly, the LeMaster Ranch is a significant part of the land consolidation plan of
the Tribe, and its retention by the Tribe will insure the continued existence of the Crow
Creek Indian Reservation into the future. The imminent sale by the IRS of the LeMaster
Ranch for back taxes will seriously undermine the Tribe's land consolidation plan,
thereby causing the Tribe an injury that cannot be measured in monetary damages.
Third, the IRS's seizure and sale of tribal assets, specifically the LeMaster Ranch
lands together with the rental income stream from those lands, “significantly interferes
with the Tribe's self-government,” an interference that constitutes irreparable harm. See
Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma v. Hoover, 150 F.3d 1163, 1171-1172 (10th Cir. 1998);
Seneca-Cayuga Tribe v. Oklahoma, 874 F.2d 709, 716 (10th Cir. 1989) (finding
irreparable injury where threatened loss of revenues and jobs created "prospect of
significant interference with [tribal] self-government"). “[H]arm to tribal selfgovernment
is not easily subject to valuation[.]” Prairie Band of Potawatomi Indians v.
Pierce, 253 F.3d 1234, 1251 (10th Cir. 2001).
Fourth, the jurisdiction of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe will be decreased by over
7,100 acres if the IRS is allowed to sell the LeMaster Ranch for the back taxes owned by
the Tribe. Again, the resulting loss and impairment of tribal jurisdiction and sovereignty
cannot be measured in or remedied by monetary damages. “[A]n invasion of tribal
sovereignty can constitute irreparable injury.” Wyandotte Nation v. Sebelius, 443 F.3d
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1247, 1255 (10th Cir. 2006); see also Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska v. Stovall, 216 F.
Supp. 2d at 1233 (finding irreparable injury where “scope of tribal sovereignty” is
threatened because such “can not be measured in dollars”).
In sum, Plaintiffs have made a strong showing of irreparable harm that is certain to
occur if a TRO restraining the IRS from selling the LeMaster Ranch property is not
issued.
II. Plaintiffs Have Demonstrated A Sufficient Likelihood of Success on the
Merits.
The moving party for a preliminary injunction or TRO need not demonstrate a
mathematical probability of success, such as greater than 50 percent. Heartland
Academy Comm. Church v. Waddle, 335 F.3d 684, 690 (8th Cir. 2003); Oglala Sioux
Tribe v. C&W Enterprises, Inc., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25881, *6. Instead, the movant
need only demonstrate that it has a “fair chance of prevailing” after discovery, formal
procedures, complete evidence, and a full trial on the merits. Id.
A. The IRS Lacks Authority To Seize And Sell The 7,100 Acres, As
Such Seizure And Sale Of Tribal Land Acquired Through Purchase In
Fee Violates The Indian Nonintercourse Act, 25 U.S.C. § 177.
The Indian Nonintercourse Act (INA) provides in relevant part that
No purchase, grant, lease, or other conveyance of lands, or of any title or
claim thereto, from any Indian nation or tribe of Indians, shall be of any
validity in law or equity, unless the same be made by treaty or convention
entered into pursuant to the Constitution.
25 U.S.C. § 177. “In other words, land owned by an Indian nation is inalienable (except
with the approval of Congress, a circumstance not present here).” Oneida Indian Nation
of New York v. Madison County, 401 F. Supp. 2d 219, 227 (N.D.N.Y. 2005).
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The INA “broadly protects Indian tribes' rights to and interests in land.” Tonkowa
Tribe of Oklahoma v. Richards, 75 F.3d 1039, 1045 (5th Cir. 1996). As “perhaps the
most significant congressional enactment regarding Indian lands,” the INA's “overriding
purpose is the protection of Indian lands.” United States on behalf of Santa Ana Indian
Pueblo v. University of New Mexico, 731 F.2d 703, 706 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, 469 U.S.
853 (1984) (citations omitted).
The INA “applies to 'any title or claim' to real property, including nonpossessory
interests.” Tonkowa Tribe of Oklahoma v. Richards, 75 F.3d at 1045. Thus, it has long
been recognized that “[t]his statutory provision [§ 177] is very general and
comprehensive. Its operation does not depend upon the nature or extent of the title to the
land which the tribe or nation may hold.” Id., quoting Lease of Indian Lands for Grazing
Purposes, 18 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 583 (July 21, 1885).
More specifically, “[t]he Nonintercourse Act protects a tribe's interest in land
whether that interest is based on aboriginal right, purchase or transfer from a state.”
Tonkowa Tribe of Oklahoma v. Richards, 75 F.3d at 1045 (emphasis added); see Alonzo
v. United States, 249 F.2d 189, 196 (10th Cir. 1957) (lands acquired through grants made
by governments of Spain and Mexico and by purchase), cert. denied, 355 U.S. 940
(1958); Joint Tribal Council of Passamaquoddy Tribe v. Morton, 528 F.2d 370 (1st Cir.
1975) (grants by state); United States v. 7405.3 Acres of Land, 97 F.2d 417, 422 (4th Cir.
1938) (“It makes no difference that title to the land in controversy was originally
obtained by grant from the state of North Carolina."). Thus, the Tenth Circuit in Alonzo,
after pointing out that “the word 'lands' is in nowise limited by any express or implied
language in the Act,” 249 F.2d at 196, reasoned in pertinent part as follows:
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The reason for the imposition of the restrictions [set forth in § 177] is in
nowise related to the manner in which the Indians acquired their lands.
The purpose of the restrictions is to protect the Indians . . . against the loss
of their lands by improvident disposition or through overreaching by
members of other races. There is as great a need for such protection of
the Pueblos in New Mexico, with respect to their lands acquired by
purchase, as there is to lands otherwise acquired.
Id. (emphasis added and footnote omitted).
Furthermore, the INA reaches not only voluntary conveyances by a tribe but also
“any action” by a state or by the Federal government “which purports to divest a tribe of
an interest in land.” Tonkowa Tribe of Oklahoma v. Richards, 75 F.3d at 1045; see
Tuscarora Indian Nation v. Federal Power Commission, 265 F.2d 338 (D.C. Cir. 1958)
(applying INA to condemnation proceeding), rev'd on other grounds, 362 U.S. 99 (1960);
Tuscarora Nation of Indians v. Power Authority of New York, 257 F.2d 885, 893 (2d Cir.
1958) (Nonintercourse Act applied to condemnation proceeding by state), vacated as
moot, 362 U.S. 608 (1960); United States v. First Nat'l Bank, 56 F.2d 634, 635 (D. Neb.
1931) ("The Omaha tribe owned its lands before Nebraska became a state . . . . It is not
competent for either the Congress by legislation or the states by court decisions to impair
those rights."), aff'd, 59 F.2d 367 (8th Cir. 1932). Thus, action by a state or by the
Federal government to foreclose on or to seize and sell tribal real property for unpaid
back taxes is barred by the INA, absent congressional approval. See, e.g., Oneida Indian
Nation of New York v. Madison County, 401 F. Supp. 2d at 227 (“Proceeding with the
state court foreclosure would result in the transfer of title to land owned by the Nation to
the County--alienation of Indian land. This is precisely what is prohibited by the
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Nonintercourse Act.”); accord, Oneida Indian Nation v. Oneida County, 432 F. Supp. 2d
285, 289 (N.D.N.Y. 2006).
To establish a prima facie case for a violation of the INA, the Debtor must prove
four elements: “(1) that it is or represents an Indian tribe within the meaning of the
Nonintercourse Act; (2) that the land in issue is covered by the Nonintercourse Act as
tribal land; (3) that the United States has never approved or consented to the alienation of
the tribal land; and (4) that the trust relationship between the United States and the tribe,
established by coverage of the Nonintercourse Act, has never been terminated or
abandoned.” Catawba Indian Tribe of South Carolina v. State of South Carolina, 718
F.2d 1291, 1295 (4th Cir. 1983), aff'd, 740 F.2d 305 (4th Cir. 1984) (en banc), rev'd on
other grounds, 476 U.S. 498 (1986); accord, Delaware Nation v. Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, 446 F.3d 410, 418 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 549 U.S. 1071 (2006); Golden
Hill Paugussett Tribe of Indians v. Weicker, 39 F.3d 51, 56 (2d Cir. 1994); Epps v.
Andrus, 611 F.2d 915, 917 (1st Cir. 1979).
Plaintiffs have established all four elements. With regard to the first element, the
Crow Creek Sioux Tribe is an Indian Tribe within the meaning of the INA, and CCTF is
a corporation chartered by the Tribe and thereby constitutes an agency and representative
of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe. See Black's Law Dictionary 84 (4th ed. 1968) (defined
“agency” as “[i]nclud[ing] every relation in which one person acts for or represents
another by latter's authority”); id. at 1465 (“To represent a person is to stand in his
place.”); id. at 1466 (defining “representative” as meaning “[o]ne who represents or
stands in the place of another”). The Supreme Court has defined a "tribe" as "a body of
Indians of the same or a similar race, united in a community under one leadership or
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government, and inhabiting a particular though sometimes ill-defined territory . . . ."
Montoya v. United States, 180 U.S. 261, 266 (1901). The Supreme Court has applied this
definition to bring within the scope of the INA a tribe of Indians that did not have a
federally recognized form of government. United States v. Cadelaria, 271 U.S. 432,
441-442 (1926); see also Catawba Indian Tribe of South Carolina v. State of South
Carolina, 718 F.2d at 1298. The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe is a body of Indians of the
same or similar race, see Constitution of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe [“CCST Const.],
Art. II (1948) (defining membership in Tribe); united in a community under a single
tribal government that is federally recognized, see CCST Const., Art. III, Section 1 (“The
governing body of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe shall be the Tribal Council.”); Indian
Entities Recognized and Eligible to Receive Services from the United States Bureau of
Indian Affairs, 74 Fed. Reg. 40218, 40219 (Aug. 11, 2009) (listing as one of the “Indian
Tribal Entities Within The Contiguous 48 States Recognized And Eligible To Receive
Services From the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs,” the “Crow Creek Sioux Tribe
of the Crow Creek Reservation, South Dakota”); and inhabiting a particular reservation
territory. See CCST Const., Art. I (“The jurisdiction of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe shall
extend to the territory within the original confines of the diminished reservation
boundaries, which are described by the Act of March 2, 1889 (25 Stat. L. 888), and
including trust allotments without the herein mentioned boundaries and such other lands
as may be hereafter added thereto under any law of the United States, except as otherwise
provided by law.”). Plaintiff Crow Creek Sioux Tribe thus clearly qualifies as an Indian
tribe for purposes of the INA, and Plaintiff CCTF represents the Tribe.
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As for the fourth element, the trust relationship between the United States and the
Crow Creek Sioux Tribe has never been terminated or abandoned. See 74 Fed. Reg. at
40219.
Turning to the second element of an INA claim, the land in question was acquired
by purchase by the Tribe, and title to the land was held in fee by the Tribe until it was
recently transferred to Crow Creek Tribal Farms, Inc. CCTF is a tribal corporation
created and chartered by the Tribe for tribal purposes. Such a corporation has been
treated by the federal courts as an arm or agency of the Tribe itself. See Weeks
Construction, Inc. v. Oglala Sioux Housing Authority, 797 F.2d 668, 670-671 (8th Cir.
1986) (“As an arm of tribal government, a tribal housing authority possesses attributes of
tribal sovereignty, . . . and suits against an agency like the Housing Authority normally
are barred absent a waiver of sovereign immunity.”); Dillon v. Yankton Sioux Tribe
Housing Auth., 144 F.3d 581, 583 (8th Cir. 1998) (same); Hagen v. Sisseton-Wahpeton
Community College, 205 F.3d 1040, 1043 (8th Cir. 2000) (community college served as
an arm of the tribe and not a mere business and was thus entitled to tribal sovereign
immunity); Allen v. Gold Country Casino, 464 F.3d 1044, 1046, 1047 (9th Cir. 2006)
(pointing out that a tribal casino “is not a mere revenue-producing tribal business” and
holding that, “[i]n light of the purposes for which the Tribe founded this Casino and the
Tribe’s ownership and control of its operations, there can be little doubt that the Casino
functions as an arm of the Tribe” and “accordingly enjoys the Tribe’s immunity from
suit”), cert. denied, 549 U.S. 1231 (2007). The land therefore remains tribal land within
the meaning of the INA, although title to the land is formally held by CCTF. As
discussed above, it makes no difference whether the land in question was acquired by
Case 3:09-cv-03031-RAL Document 6 Filed 12/02/2009 Page 13 of 23
14
purchase or whether it is land to which the Tribe holds aboriginal title. See, e.g., Alonzo,
249 F.2d at 196.
Finally, the United States has never approved or consented to the alienation of the
tribal land in question here. While the tribal land in question, namely the 7,100 acres
comprising the Le Master Ranch, was originally held by the Tribe by an aboriginal title
and was purportedly allotted under Sections 8 through 12 of the Act of March 2, 1889, 25
Stat. 888, the allotments were illegal for lack of compliance with the proviso in Section 9
of the 1889 Act, which proviso states: “That these sections as to the allotments shall not
be compulsory without the consent of the majority of the adult members of the tribe,
except that the allotments shall be made as provided for the orphans.” (Emphasis added.)
The 7,100 acres in question were allotted in violation of Section 9 of the 1889 Act in that
no referendum was ever held in which the majority of the adult members of the Tribe
approved the allotments now comprising the 7,100-acre Le Master Ranch. Given the
lack of compliance with Section 9 of the 1889 Act, Congress has never approved or
consented to the alienation of the tribal land in question, either while it was held by the
tribe by an aboriginal title or subsequently after the tribe reacquired the land through
purchase.
Thus, even assuming that, ordinarily, Indian land approved for alienation by the
federal government through the adoption of allotment acts and then later reacquired by a
tribe is not subject to the protection of the INA, see Lummi Indian Tribe v. Whatcom
County, Wash., 5 F.3d 1355, 1359 (9th Cir. 1993) (“parcels of [Indian] land approved for
alienation by the federal government and then reacquired by the Tribe [do] not then
become inalienable by operation of the Nonintercourse Act”), cert. denied, 512 U.S.
Case 3:09-cv-03031-RAL Document 6 Filed 12/02/2009 Page 14 of 23
15
1228 (1994), this principle has no application here. The approval for alienation
embodied in allotment provisions, namely Sections 8 through 12, of the 1889 Act was
expressly conditioned by Congress on compliance with the proviso of Section 9 that the
majority of the adult members of the Tribe consent to the allotments. Because this
condition was never complied with, in that no referendum was ever held by which a
majority of the Tribe's members consented to the allotments, the allotments were in fact
unlawfully made to individual tribal members without federal government approval or
consent.
In other words, because the allotments were never “lawfully conveyed” to
individual tribal members in accordance with the requirements of Section 9 of the 1889
Act, the 7,100 acres comprising the Le Master Ranch remain subject to the protections of
the INA. Cf. Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin v. Village of Hobart, 542 F. Supp. 2d
908, 933, 934 (E.D. Wis. 2008), rejecting “contention that reservation lands lawfully
conveyed in fee upon issuance of a patent issued by the United States pursuant to the
Allotment Acts regain federal protection from taxation and alienation merely upon
reacquisition by the tribe” (emphasis added), and distinguishing Oneida Indian Nation
cases on the grounds that “Congress never consented to the removal of federal protection
of the property there at issue. The State of New York had acquired the lands unlawfully.”
To summarize, “[t]he Nonintercourse Act, in plain language, prohibits the
conveyance of lands from any Indian nation.” Oneida Indian Nation of New York v.
Madison County, 401 F. Supp. 2d at 228. The seizure and sale sought by the IRS would
be a conveyance of lands from either the Tribe, an Indian nation, or from CCTF, an
Case 3:09-cv-03031-RAL Document 6 Filed 12/02/2009 Page 15 of 23
16
agency and arm of the Tribe. As there has never been congressional approval for this
action, the IRS seizure and sale is prohibited by the INA.
B. The IRS Lacks Authority To Seize And Sell The 7,100 Acres, Which
Have Always Been Tribally Owned Trust Lands, Since They Were
Allotted In Violation of Section 9 of the 1889 Act.
The 7,100 acres comprising the Le Master Ranch were originally part of the Crow
Creek Sioux Tribe's 1868 treaty lands, to which the Tribe held an aboriginal title. These
lands were purportedly alloted to individual tribal members under Sections 8 through 12
of the 1889 Act.
Section 9 of the 1889 Act provided as follows:
That all allotments set apart under the provisions of this act shall
be selected by the Indians, heads of families selecting for their minor
children, and the agents shall select for each orphan child, and in such
manner as to embrace the improvements of the Indians making the
selection. Where the improvements of two or more Indians have been
made on the same legal subdivision of land, unless they shall otherwise
agree, a provisional line may be run dividing said lands between them, and
the amount to which each is entitled shall be equalized in the assignment
of the remainder of the land to which they are entitled under this act:
Provided, That if any one entitled to an allotment shall fail to make a
selection within five years after the President shall direct that allotments
may be made on a particular reservation, the Secretary of the Interior may
direct the agent of such tribe or band, if such there be, and if there be no
agent, then a special agent appointed for that purpose, to make a selection
for such Indian, which selection shall be allotted as in cases where
selections are made by the Indians, and patents shall issue in like manner:
Provided, That these sections as to the allotments shall not be compulsory
without the consent of the majority of the adult members of the tribe,
except that the allotments shall be made as provided for the orphans.
Act of March 2, 1889, 25 Stat. 888, Section 9 (emphasis and underlining added).
The 7,100 acres of the Le Master Ranch have always been and remain tribally
owned trust lands to which the tribe holds an aboriginal title because they were allotted to
Case 3:09-cv-03031-RAL Document 6 Filed 12/02/2009 Page 16 of 23
17
individual members of the tribe in violation of the proviso to Section 9 of the 1889 Act,
in that no referendum was ever held in which the majority of the adult members of the
Tribe consented to or approved the allotments.
Consequently, even assuming 25 U.S.C. § 177 does not apply to lands recently
acquired by a tribe through purchase on the open market, the 7,100 acres in question here
have always been trust lands to which the Tribe holds an aboriginal title, due to the
failure to comply with the referendum requirement of Section 9 of the 1889 Act. Thus,
because Congress never approved of or consented to the alienation of these trust lands,
the IRS is barred by 25 U.S.C. § 177 from seizing and selling such lands.
C. Because Crow Creek Tribal Farms, Inc., a Tribal Corporation, Is a
Distinct Legal Entity from the Tribe, the IRS Cannot Seize and Sell the
LeMaster Ranch Lands Currently Owned By CCTF for Back Taxes
Owed by the Tribe.
The courts have generally recognized that “tribal corporations are legal entities
distinct from the tribe.” Roberson v. Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs
Reservation of Oregon, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9991, *6, 103 L.R.R.M. 2749 (D. Ore.
Feb. 4, 1980), citing Parker Drilling v. Metlakatla Indian Community, 451 F. Supp. 1127
(D. Alas. 1978), and Atkinson v. Haldane, 569 P.2d 151 (Alaska 1977); see also Stock
West Corp. v. Taylor, 942 F.2d 655, 657 (9th Cir. 1991) (Bureau of Indian affairs
determined that contracts entered into between Stock West Corporation and two tribal
governmental corporations of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, for
the construction and operation of a sawmill on the reservation, did not require BIA
approval under 25 U.S.C. § 81 “because the contracting tribal corporations were distinct
legal entities, separate from the Tribes”), aff’d in part and vacated in part on other
Case 3:09-cv-03031-RAL Document 6 Filed 12/02/2009 Page 17 of 23
18
grounds, 964 F.2d 912 (9th Cir. 1992) (en banc).
In this case, the LeMaster Ranch lands consisting of 7,100 acres is held in the
name and ownership of CCTF, which, as a tribal corporation, is a legal entity separate
and distinct from the Tribe. CCTF does not owe the IRS any money for delinquent
taxes, and it is not a guarantor of the tax liability or other debts of the Tribe.
Consequently, the IRS has no power, authority, or jurisdiction to sell land owned by
CCTF for the tax debts of a different legal entity, namely the Tribe.
D. NEPA Requires the Preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. § 4321 et seq.,
requires the preparation of an environmental impact statement (EIS) when major federal
action undertaken by a federal agency significantly affects the human environment, 42
U.S.C. § 4332(2)[C]. The standard for determining whether a project would
significantly affect the human environment is whether the plaintiff has alleged facts
which, if true, show that the proposed project may significantly degrade some human
environmental factor. Foundation for North American Wild Sheep v. U.S. Department of
Agriculture, 681 F.2d 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 1981). If substantial questions are raised as to
whether the proposed project may have significant effect on the human environment, an
EIS must be prepared. Id.
The NEPA requirement has been held to apply to leases of Indian lands approved
by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Manygoats v. Kleppe, 558 F.2d 556, 557 (10th Cir.
1977); Davis v. Morton, 469 F.2d 593, 597-598 (10th Cir. 1972) (approval by BIA of 99-
year lease by Pueblo Indians of restricted Indian lands constituted “major federal action”
within meaning of 42 U.S.C. § 4332, necessitating preparation of EIS). While the Indian
Case 3:09-cv-03031-RAL Document 6 Filed 12/02/2009 Page 18 of 23
19
lands at issue in Manygoats and Davis v. Morton were tribal trust lands, nothing in those
cases indicated that the their holdings were limited to Indian lands held in trust by the
United States. The rationale of those cases indicates that NEPA applies with equal force
to major federal actions affecting Indian fee lands
The IRS’s threatened seizure and sale of over 7100 acres of Indian lands in this
case, namely the LeMaster Ranch lands acquired in fee by the Tribe in 1998 and
currently held by an agency of the tribe, CCTF, likewise constitutes a major federal
action within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. § 4332. The plaintiffs, moreover, have alleged
facts which, if true, show that the proposed sale of these lands may significantly degrade
several human environmental factors, necessitating the preparation of an EIS. Because
the IRS has not yet prepared such an EIS, the plaintiffs are entitled to an injunction
against the threatened seizure and sale of Indian lands pending the IRS’s conduct of an
environmental assessment and its preparation of an appropriate EIS.
III. The Balance of the Equities Weighs in Favor of Issuing the
Requested TRO.
Plaintiffs respectfully submit that the balance of the equities weighs heavily in
favor of issuing the requested TRO, in that the harm faced by the IRS from the issuance
of the requested TRO is negligible compared to the harm caused to Plaintiffs if the TRO
is not issued. The IRS merely will be temporarily delayed in carrying out a seizure and
sale of the LeMaster Ranch property, and interest and penalties will continue to accrue in
favor of the Government. By contrast, Plaintiffs are faced with a loss of revenue and a
corresponding loss or curtailment of essential government functions and services,
impairment of the Plaintiff Tribe's land consolidation program, significant interference
Case 3:09-cv-03031-RAL Document 6 Filed 12/02/2009 Page 19 of 23
20
with the Tribe’s self-government, and impairment of the Tribe's territorial jurisdiction
and sovereignty. When faced with a similar balance of equities, the district court in
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska v. Stovall, supra, 216 F. Supp.2d 1226 (D. Kan. 2002),
concluded that a preliminary injunction should issue:
The harm to the parties must be measured in terms of the plaintiffs' ability
to carry on essential tribal services versus the defendants' ability carry out
their responsibilities [regarding enforcement of the Kansas fuel tax law]
uninterrupted. The court finds that in this capacity, issuance of the
injunction will not affect the defendants in any appreciable way in that
they will be able to continue to carry out their responsibilities. If,
however, the injunction is not issued, the impact on the tribes could be
tremendous. The court agrees that a final order granting the relief
requested could very well adversely affect the state of Kansas'
sovereignty, but in terms of the standard for issuing a preliminary
injunction, plaintiffs are faced with more devastating losses than the state's
temporary inability to enforce its fuel tax law.
216 F. Supp. 2d at 1233.
In this case Plaintiffs are faced with multiple irreparable injuries, including a loss
of rental income affecting their ability to carry on essential tribal services for the tribe’s
members, interference with tribal self-government, and impairment of tribal sovereignty,
while the IRS, if the TRO issues, will suffer only a temporary delay in selling the
LeMaster Ranch property for the satisfaction of the Tribe's federal tax liability. Indeed,
full collection of the tax liability owed by the Tribe would play only a “very minor role”
in the federal Government’s budget. Cf. Sac & Fox Nation of Missouri v. LaFaver, 905
F. Supp. 904, 907 (D. Kan. 1995) (damage caused to State of Kansas from preliminary
injunction against collection of state fuel tax on tribal retail sales on Indian lands
negligible where tribes’ tax dollars played only a very minor role in the state’s funding
Case 3:09-cv-03031-RAL Document 6 Filed 12/02/2009 Page 20 of 23
21
scheme). Consequently, the balance of the equities tips heavily in favor of issuing the
requested TRO.
IV. Issuance of the Requested TRO Would Not Be Against the Public
Interest
Issuance of the requested TRO would not be against the public interest. First, the
public has a strong interest in assuring the continued presence of social services, public
safety and educational programs that benefit tribal members. Winnebago Tribe of
Nebraska v. Stovall. 216 F. Supp. 2d at 1233; Sac & Fox Nation of Missouri v. LaFaver,
905 F. Supp. at 907-908 (“[T]he public interest will be ill-served by the potential influx
of Tribal members into the state’s social service and welfare programs.”). “The public
also has a genuine interest in helping to assure Tribal self-government, self-sufficiency
and self-determination.” Sac & Fox Nation of Missouri v. LaFaver, 905 F. Supp. at 907-
908. “[T]he injunction promotes the paramount federal policy that Indians develop
independent sources of income and strong self-government.” Seneca-Cayuga Tribe v.
Oklahoma, 874 F.2d at 716.
The public also has a strong interest in enforcing the Indian Nonintercourse Act
and NEPA and thereby protecting tribal lands and the human environment.
On the other hand, the IRS is only being required to stay the sale of the LeMaster
Ranch property until the very important issues regarding the application of the Indian
Nonintercourse Act can be finally adjudicated. Under the circumstances of this case,
issuing the requested TRO would not be contrary to the public interest.
Case 3:09-cv-03031-RAL Document 6 Filed 12/02/2009 Page 21 of 23
22
CONCLUSION
In sum, if the requested TRO is not issued, Plaintiffs will suffer severe irreparable
harm, including the loss or curtailment of essential services to tribal members and
significant interference with tribal self-government, while the harm that will be suffered
by the IRS from the temporary stay of the sale of the LeMaster Ranch for back taxes will
be negligible. Given that the balance of the equities, as well as the public interest, weigh
heavily in favor of the issuance of a TRO, it is enough that Plaintiffs have raised
substantial questions on the merits in order for a TRO to issue. Dataphase Systems, Inc.
v. C.L. Systems, Inc., 640 F.2d at 113 (“[W]here the movant has raised a substantial
question and the equities are otherwise strongly in his favor, the showing of success on
the merits can be less[.]”). In other words, “where[, as here,] the balance of other factors
tips decidedly toward plaintiff[s] a preliminary injunction [or TRO] may issue if
movant[s] ha[ve] raised questions so serious and difficult as to call for more deliberate
investigation.” Id.; see also Sac & Fox Nation of Missouri v. LaFaver, 905 F. Supp. at
908 (“Having established the first three prerequisites for temporary injunctive relief, the
plaintiffs need only show that the issues presented are so serious, substantial, difficult,
and doubtful as to make them a fair ground for litigation.”) As Plaintiffs have
demonstrated all four elements for the issuance of a TRO, Plaintiffs Crow Creek Sioux
Tribe and Crow Creek Tribal Farms, Inc., respectfully request that their motion for a
temporary restraining order be granted, and that the IRS be temporarily enjoined from
proceeding with the sale of the LeMaster Ranch lands for back taxes until there is a final
adjudication by this Court of the issues raised by Plaintiffs' Complaint.
Case 3:09-cv-03031-RAL Document 6 Filed 12/02/2009 Page 22 of 23
23
Respectfully submitted,
s/ Terry Pechota
Terry L. Pechota
PECHOTA LAW OFFICES
1617 Sheridan Lake Rd.
Rapid City, South Dakota 57702
605-341-4400
Fax: 605-341-0716
Email: tpechota@1868treaty.com
/s/ Mario Gonzalez
Attorney for Crow Creek Sioux Tribe
GONZALEZ LAW FIRM
522 Seventh Street, Suite 202
Rapid City, South Dakota 57701
Telephone: 605-716-6355
Fax: 605-716-6357
Email: mario@mariogonzalezlaw.com
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that on this 2nd day of December, 2009, a true and correct copy of
the foregoing motion for temporary restraining order was served on the following via
electronic transmission, to wit:
Brendan Johnson
United States Attorney
Box 2638
Sioux Falls, SD 57101
Brendan.Johnson@usdoj.gov
Cheryl Schrempp Dupris
Assistant United States Attorney
Box 7240
Pierre, SD 57501
Cheryl.Dupris@usdoj.gov
/s/ Terry L. Pechota
Terry L. Pechota
*This document was filed electronically.
Case 3:09-cv-03031-RAL Document 6 Filed 12/02/2009 Page 23 of 23

UpDate From UC Berkeley Museum Hunger Strike for Return of Human Remains. & Ways To HELP Our Non-Federally Recognized Brothers & Sisters Gain The Same

UpDate From UC Berkeley Museum Hunger Strike for Return of Human Remains. & Ways To HELP Our Non-Federally Recognized Brothers & Sisters Gain The Same Human & Civil Rights as Federally Recognized Tribes.
Oakland Tribune Story
http://www.insidebayarea.com/my-town/ci_13902776

LA Times story from last year with more info:
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jan/13/local/me-bones13

It Would Be Nice To See The Organizers Of This Event Stay With Jun San During Her ENTIRE Time Fasting For The Return of The Non-Federally Recognized Indian Nations Human Remains. Maybe We Should All Be Fighting For All Our Brothers And Sisters To Be Federally Recognized. . .

We As United Native Americans, Inc Fully Support The Federal Recognition Task Force Proposed By The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI)
And Will Help In Any Way We Are Asked To.


We Must Help Our Non-Federally Recognized Brothers & Sisters Gain The Same Human & Civil Rights as Federally Recognized Tribes. . .

http://www.ncai.org/Federal-Recognition.70.0.html




The Federal Recognition Task Force

The Federal Recognition Task Force was formed at the 58th Annual Conference in Spokane, Washington in recognition that all tribes, both federally and non-federally recognized, have a governmental interest in any recommended changes in policies, procedures or strategic plans in the tribal acknowledgment process currently being administered by the Branch of Acknowledgment and Research (BAR). Co-Chairs of this task force are: Rosemary Cambra, Chairwoman of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, and James Cunha, Chairman of the Eastern Pequot Nation.

For more information about the Task Force contact Christina Morrow at cmorrow@ncai.org or 202.466.7767.

Federal Recognition Status

There are roughly 562 federally recognized tribes in the United States, with a total membership of about 1.7 million. In addition, there are several hundred groups seeking recognition, a process that oftentimes takes decades to complete.

Federal recognition is important for tribes because it formally establishes a government-to-government relationship. Status as a sovereign entity carries with it significant privileges, including exemptions from state and local jurisdiction. These exemptions generally apply to lands that the federal government has taken into trust for a tribe or its members. Additionally, federally recognized tribes are eligible to participate in federal assistance programs. Through these programs, tribal governments may receive funds that they can then use to provide community services, such as health clinics.

Historically, tribes have been granted recognition through treaties, by the Congress, or through administrative decisions within the executive branch. In 1978, the Bureau of Indian Affairs established a regulatory process for recognizing tribes. The current process for federal recognition, found in 25 C.F.R. 83, is a rigorous process requiring the petitioning tribe to satisfy seven mandatory criteria, including historical and continuous American Indian identity in a distinct community. Each of the criteria demands exceptional anthropological, historical, and genealogical research and presentation of evidence. The vast majority of petitioners do not meet these strict standards, and far more petitions have been denied than accepted. In fact, only about 8 percent of the total number of recognized tribes have been individually recognized since 1960.

Documents



Tribal Acknowledgement Task Force Meeting Agenda for 2/27/03
BIA Response to GAO Report and Strategic Plan
GAO Report 02-49: Improvements Needed in Tribal Recognition Process


National Congress of American Indians (NCAI)
1516 P Street NW, Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 466-7767, Fax: (202) 466-7797
Email: ncai@ncai.org


Copyright © 2001-2009 National Congress of American Indians

A Remarkable Year At Honor The Earth

A Remarkable Year At Honor The Earth
December 2009













HONOR'S WORK NEWSROOM DONATE NOW








NATIVE CLIMATE CHANGE WORKSHOP A HUGE SUCCESS!




Honor the Earth played a central role in helping to organize the Native
Peoples Native Homelands Climate Change Workshop in mid-November on the lands of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Dakota in Minnesota. This high impact workshop brought together nearly 400 tribal leaders, elders, scholars, activists and students to discuss climate impacts and solutions. A key outcome of the workshop was the Mystic Lake Declaration, a document with an urgent message to the world community regarding actions needed to protect the Earth and preserve Indigenous cultures.







Photo from left to right: Campus Climate Challenge Coordinator Kandi Mossett, REDOIL founder and Honor board member Faith Gemmill, Workshop Co-chair Winona LaDuke, Emma Long & Anne Frazier of Dine CARE. Photo by Dick Bancroft.




Read more about and see photos of the Workshop.


Read the Mystic Lake Declaration.






BECAUSE OF YOU, A REMARKABLE YEAR





As a result of your support, Honor the Earth has had a remarkable year. We launched our new website and this bulletin to create a growing community of online supporters; we held a model solar panel installation at a women’s shelter on the Yankton Reservation with the Native American Women’s Health Education Resource Center and installed the tower for our wind turbine on the White Earth Reservation; we worked diligently with our allies to defeat the proposed Big Stone II coal plant near the Sisseton-Wahpeton Reservation-- and won!; we helped plan and coordinate the national Native Peoples Native Homelands Climate Change Workshop; and we granted over $175,000 to front-line Native groups across the country working to restore clean energy, traditional foods and sustainability in our communities.




It is because of your commitment to Native peoples and the Earth, and because of your generosity, that this work was possible. Thank you.

SPECIAL THANKS TO HOUSE PARTY HOSTS, DONORS & INDIGO GIRLS


We want to issue a special miigwech (thank you!) to all who supported our work during this financially challenging year. Supporters from Massachusetts to California held house parties and/or sent in donations and as a result, we were able to reach our $100,000 fall fundraising goal! We send a big thank-you to Indigo Girls Amy Ray and Emily Saliers for their help with the house party campaign.




Photo: Amy and Emily with Heather, our Georgia house party host.



You can still volunteer as an Honor the Earth house party host! Read details here.






SOLAR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL RAFFLE FOR HONOR THE EARTH




Our partners at Solar Energy International have joined our fundraising effort by raffling a 12 volt LED lighting system to benefit our work! A donation of $50 or more enters you into the drawing for this great system, which contains a solar module, controller, battery and bamboo light fixtures. You can enter the raffle until December 15th on SEI's website. Miigwech for all of their incredible support!




And in case you missed it, the model solar project we installed on the Skull Valley Goshute Reservation in Utah with SEI was profiled in a recent issue of Home Power Magazine! Read the full article here.


PLEASE CONSIDER MAKING A YEAR-END GIFT



This holiday season, please consider making a gift to Honor the Earth. We are the only Native-led environmental organization in the country providing critical funding and organizing resources to grassroots Native groups actively engaged in building a sustainable future. Please give today. We will put your donation directly to work creating a vital new energy economy in Native America. Help us protect the Earth we all share.

The most effective way to ensure we maintain our capacity to create change is to donate. You can make a secure donation online or make out a check payable to: "Honor the Earth/Tides", 2104 Stevens Ave S., Minneapolis, MN 55404. All contributions are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law.





Miigwech (thank you) for your continued support of our work!






















©2009 Honor the Earth, 2104 Stevens Ave. South, Minneapolis, MN 55404

Multiple Issues & Indigenous News Vol. 2 (Part 2)

LA SKINS FEST
@ American Indian Resource Center
Saturday, December 12, 1 -3 PM
1st Floor Meeting Room

This year's AIRC screening will include popular selections from LASKINFEST 2009 featuring original and innovative animation, documentaries on subjects relevant to Indian County , and film shorts about various NDN communities, that explore where we come from, where we are, and where we are going.

Award winning filmmakers, young and old, have produced these works that will entertain and enlighten. This is an opportunity to support the work of aspiring Native and non-Native filmmakers who dedicate much time and energy to keep our stories and our experiences alive, and to share them with the world.

American Indian Resource Center
Huntington Park Library
6518 Miles Avenue
Huntington Park , CA 90255
airc@library.lacounty.gov
rsvp: email or (323) 583-2794
______________________________..__________________
Rocks Go Camping
(2009, 1min) Canada
Director: Syrena Kaiser-Fox

Peer pressure always leads to bad consequences. Rocks Go Camping is an animation piece produced by Native students at the Weengushk Film Institute in Ontario, Canada.


Finding D-QU: The Lonely Struggle of California’s Only Tribal College.
(2009, 30 min.) USA
Director: Christopher Newman

In 2005, D-Q University, California’s only tribal college, was shut down after a 35-year struggle. Since then, the school’s board of trustees, past students, and community members have tried to reopen the school against all odds. This documentary is structured around a group of occupants who illegally live at the closed D-QU campus amid threats of arrest by the school’s board of trustees.


Walking On Turtle Island
(2008, 20 min.) USA
Director: Ian Skorodin

"Walking on Turtle Island" is a fresh, exciting Native American story. In the spiritual tradition of Kung Fu, the heartwarming Highway to Heaven and the thoughtful surprise of Quantum Leap, come two Native American heroes for these times. Killed in a gun fight, a young Lakota warrior sees his traditions and his own life ebb away at the hands of white intrusion. He and the obnoxious, endearing trickster, "Iktomi," arrive in the Spirit World where they are given a sacred and daunting task. . .travel through time together, helping people in need.


Mayan Reign
(2008, 5 min.) USA
Director: Jose Olmos

Told in stunning animation, Mayan Reign is a fictional story about a Mayan Rain God. Director and USC student, Jose Olmos, interprets indigenous culture with vivid visual images and original music.


A Gift From Talking God: The Story of the Navajo Churro
(2008, 29:30 min) USA
Director: Peter Blystone
Producer: Peter Blystone and Margaret Chanler

The Navajo-Churro sheep is the original breed. Known for its hardiness and long, coarse fleece, it sustained Navajo, Pueblo and Hispanic people for nearly 400 years. Almost extinct a generation ago, the Navajo-Churro is making a comeback. Ensuring the survival of the breed and the rich heritage associated with it.


Crazy Ind’n The Sequel
(2009, 20 min) USA
Director: Ian Skorodin
Producer: Manuel Hamilton, Joseph Hamilton, Patricia Gomes
Cast: Jason Grasl, Lidia Pires, Alex Wright, Robert Vestal

The anticipated sequel to the stop motion animation phenomenon is back and rocking the white man’s world. Stunning visuals, a harrowing soundtrack, and incredible animation; CRAZY IND’N THE SEQUEL delivers.
--------------------


Corine Fairbanks sent a message to the members of American Indian Movement Santa Barbara.

--------------------
Subject: vote for AIM West brother John Powers to win the Cox Environmental award!

Brothers and Sisters,

Our friend John Powers has been nominated for the KTVU2 Cox Conserves Heroes award for 2009. His stream-restoration project, which is just getting off the ground, stands to win $5000.00 in funding if he receives enough votes to win.

John's project is called Visions of the Future Environment (http://www.facebook.com/l/..1c0b3;www...visionsofthefutureenvironment...com). He wants to implement a series of collaborations between tribal governments and Native youth to restore natural fish habitat in California streams and educate the younger generation about how to live sustainably as a functioning part of our natural environment.

You can help John with just a couple of mouse clicks by voting for him on the Cox Conserves Heroes website (see below). Its for a good cause and takes all of 30 seconds of your time. KTVU did a nice promo spot for John's project which you can view on the voting page.

vote here:
http://www.facebook.com/l/..1c0b3;www.coxconservesheroes...com/san-francisco-bay-area-ca/..finalists.aspx

thanks everyone!

Mark Anquoe@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
ACLU to Argue FRIDAY for Kindergartener's Right to Religious Expression Before Appeals Court

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 3, 2009
CONTACT: ACLU
Will Matthews, ACLU National, (212) 549-2582 or 2666;media@aclu.org.
Dotty Griffith, ACLU of Texas, (512) 478-7300 ext. 106;dgriffith@aclutx.org.
NEW ORLEANS - December 3 - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit will hear arguments Friday, December 4, in an appeal of a federal judge's ruling that the Needville, Texas Independent School District (NISD) violated the U.S. Constitution and Texas state law by punishing an American Indian kindergarten student for wearing his long hair in braids as an expression of his heritage and religious faith.

U.S. District Court Judge Keith P. Ellison in January granted a request by the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Texas that the boy, known in court proceedings by his initials, A.A., be allowed to wear his hair at school in two long braids in observance of his religious heritage. School officials, who had initially placed the student in in-school suspension for violating the school district's dress code requiring boys to have short hair, appealed the ruling.

The ACLU and ACLU of Texas sued the NISD in October 2008 after school officials refused to exempt the boy from its dress code requirements and instead mandated that he stuff his long hair down the back of his shirt while at school - a requirement that would cause A.A. shame, embarrassment and physical discomfort.

WHAT: ACLU arguments defending a Houston federal judge's ruling that stopped a Texas school district from punishing a five-year-old student for wearing his long hair in braids as an expression of his American Indian heritage and beliefs.

WHO: ACLU of Texas Legal Director Lisa Graybill and ACLU of Texas staff attorney Fleming Terrell will argue before a judicial panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

WHEN: Friday, December 4, 2009 at 9 a.m. CST

WHERE: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
En Banc Courtroom
600 South Maestri Place
New Orleans, LA 70130
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The ACLU conserves America's original civic values working in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in the United States by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
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reaking News Release: 9th Circuit Issues Injunction Against Barrick Gold Mine at Mt. Tenabo (Western Shoshone)


For Immediate Release:
Contacts:
Larson Bill, South Fork Western Shoshone, 775-397-6726, 775-744-2537
John Hadder, Great Basin Resource Watch, 775-722-4056
Julie Cavanaugh-Bill, Western Shoshone Defense Project, 775-397-1371
Roger Flynn, Western Mining Action Project, 303-823-5738


Western Shoshone Prevail at Ninth Circuit Court on Mt. Tenabo - Court Issues Ruling Enjoining Cortez Hills Open Pit Gold Mine

Court Agrees with Western Shoshone and Allies that the Interior Department's Approval of the Mine Likely Violated Federal Law

December 3, 2009: San Francisco,CA and Crescent Valley, NV - In a major ruling, the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today issued its ruling enjoining the construction and operation of the Cortez Hills gold mine, proposed by Barrick Gold Corporation. The Ninth Circuit reversed the decision of the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada, which had denied the motion for preliminary injunction filed by the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs in the case are: the South Fork Band Council of Western Shoshone, the Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians, the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe, the Western Shoshone Defense Project, and Great Basin Resource Watch (the "Plaintiffs"). The Plaintiffs challenged the U.S. Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management ("BLM") decision to approve the Cortez Hills Mine in November of 2008.

In overturning the District Court's decision, the Ninth Circuit ruled that the Plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits of their legal arguments that BLM violated federal environmental and public land law in approving the Mine. The Ninth Circuit also found that enjoining the Mine was in the public interest due to the "irreparable environmental harm threatened by this massive project." Among other issues, the Ninth Circuit ruled that the Plaintiffs were likely to succeed on their claims that BLM violated the National Environmental Policy Act in failing to properly analyze the environmental impacts from the Mine on groundwater, air quality, and other resources. "Suspending a project until that consideration has occurred thus comports with the public interest."

The Cortez Hills Mine would be one of the largest open pit cyanide heap leach gold mines in the United States. It would be located on the flank of Mount Tenabo - an area well-known for its spiritual and cultural importance to the Western Shoshone. The area is home to local Shoshone creation stories, spirit life, medicinal, food and ceremonial plants and items and continues to be used to this day by Shoshone for spiritual and cultural practices. Over the years, tens of thousands of individuals and organizations from across the United States and around the world have joined with the Shoshone and voiced their opposition to this mine. The proposed mine area has been found by the BLM, in repeated ethnographic studies, as being of extreme spiritual and cultural importance to the Western Shoshone. One report says: "Mt. Tenabo is . considered a traditional locus of power and source of life, and figures in creation stories and world renewal. As the tallest mountain in the area - the most likely to capture snow and generate water to grow piñon and nourish life - it is literally a life-giver. Water is to earth what blood is to the body, and these subterranean waterways are likened to the earth's arteries and veins."

The Mine is proposed by Barrick Gold Corporation, the world's largest gold mining company, headquartered in Toronto, Canada. The Mine would blast and excavate a new massive open pit on Mount Tenabo over 800 acres in size, with a depth of over 2,000 feet. It would include several new waste disposal and processing facilities (including a cyanide heap-leaching facility), consisting of approximately 1,577 million tons of waste rock, 53 million tons of tailings material, and 112 million tons of spent heap leach material. The Mine would include an extensive groundwater pumping system to dewater Mount Tenabo (in order to keep the open pit and mine workings dry during mining) and associated water pipelines that will transport the pumped water away from Mount Tenabo. In total, the mine would permanently destroy approximately 6,800 acres land on and around Mount Tenabo, over 90% of which is classified as federal "public" land. Despite the pending case before the Ninth Circuit appealing the District Court's denial of the Plaintiff's motion for preliminary injunction in January, 2009, Barrick decided to begin construction of the Mine. The Ninth Circuit's ruling today orders the District Court to issue an injunction against the Mine.

"We are pleased with the Ninth Circuit's ruling," said Larson Bill, Tribal Council Member of the South Fork Band Council and Te-Moak Tribe. "This is a result of Western Shoshone people remaining committed to protecting our land and environment. It is unfortunate that the company decided to push this forward without addressing all concerns, especially those of the Shoshone people. Barrick operates world wide and is well-versed on these issues - they knew that an injunction was a possibility - especially where there has been continuous opposition and litigation." continued Larson Bill.

Carrie Dann, a world renowned Western Shoshone grandmother, and recipient of the Right Livelihood Award (known as the "alternative Nobel Peace Prize") has been among those to lead the fight to protect Mount Tenabo from mining for over 15 years. "Mount Tenabo should be left alone - no further disturbance. This mine will drain the water from Mount Tenabo. They will be sucking the water out of the mountain forever. The destruction of the water is like the destruction of the blood of the earth; you are destroying life of the earth and the people and wildlife that depend on it. Dewatering is taking the life of future generations. Water is sacred, all life depends on it," says Carrie Dann.

"None of us are opposed to mining, if it is done responsibly, however this project is as irresponsible as it gets. The BLM has a legal responsibility to protect the air, water, and ecological values of the area as well as the religious freedom of Western Shoshone, and to fully analyze the impacts of a proposed project. The Ninth Circuit correctly found that BLM failed in its legal responsibilities," said John Hadder, Executive Director of Great Basin Resource Watch.

The Plaintiffs are being represented in court by Roger Flynn of the non-profit legal firm, the Western Mining Action Project, based on Colorado, which specializes in mining, public land, and environmental law.

For more information on the Cortez Hills Project,Mount Tenabo, and the legal challenge go towww.gbrw.org and www.wsdp.org. The Ninth Circuit Decision can be downloaded at:http://www.gbrw.org/images/..stories/publications/tenabo/..Ninth_Circuit_injunction_..ruling_12-3-09.pdf.

Multiple Issues & Indigenous News Vol. 2

Multiple Issues & Indigenous News Vol. 2

Buffalo Field Campaign
P.O. Box 957
West Yellowstone, Montana 59758
Phone: 406-646-0070
Fax: 406-646-0071
bfc-media@wildrockies.org
http://www...buffalofieldcampaign.org

TELEVISION SHOW HIGHLIGHTS YELLOWSTONE BISON CONTROVERSY
"Buffalo Battle" Airs on Discovery's Planet Green December 5

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - December 1, 2009
Contacts:
Stephany Seay, Buffalo Field Campaign 406-646-0070,bfc-media@wildrockies.org
Mike Mease, Buffalo Field Campaign, 406-646-0070,mease@wildrockies.org

WEST YELLOWSTONE, MONTANA: On Saturday, December 5 at 10pm EST, Discovery Channel's Planet Green will air Buffalo Battle, a one-hour television documentary on the plight of America's only continuously wild bison population and the work of Buffalo Field Campaign.

Buffalo Battle captures the ongoing war against wild bison and the conflict between bison advocates, government agencies and Montana's cattle industry as wild bison follow their seasonal migratory instincts from the high country of Yellowstone National Park into the state of Montana. State and federal agencies - including Yellowstone National Park and the Montana Department of Livestock - spend millions of federal dollars to enforce Montana's intolerance for native bison. Government agents have killed more than 3,600 wild bison since 2000.

"We are very excited for the opportunity to bring the buffalo's plight into the living rooms of so many Americans," said Mike Mease, Campaign Coordinator with Buffalo Field Campaign, "Buffalo Battle will allow viewers to experience the buffalo's mistreatment firsthand, learn about the forces behind the slaughter, and take part in efforts to protect the bison and their habitat."

Matthew Testa, creator of the award-winning 2001 documentary The Buffalo War, is the executive producer of Buffalo Battle. Testa and his film crew spent weeks in the field with Buffalo Field Campaign, interviewing activists, government agencies, and local ranchers while witnessing first-hand the continuing struggle wild buffalo face on their native landscape.

"I'm fascinated and inspired by the dedication of Buffalo Field Campaign volunteers," said Matt Testa, executive producer of Buffalo Battle. "BFC is a diverse group and everyone has a unique story about how they came to join the cause. No matter where you stand on the buffalo issue, I think these volunteers show us that anyone can take a stand for what they believe in. And when you add lots of action, a beautiful setting, and a controversial animal issue in our crown jewel National Park that many Americans don't know about, it makes for great television."

For thirteen years Buffalo Field Campaign volunteers have come from all over the nation and around the globe, withstanding one of the most inhospitable climates in the Lower 48 states to stand on the front lines in defense of wild bison. Buffalo Field Campaign is a comprehensive source of news and information on the bison issue, documenting all actions made against wild bison and advocating for their right to roam.

Buffalo Field Campaign video footage and photographs were used in the production of Buffalo Battle.

For more information, video clips and photos visithttp://www...buffalofieldcampaign.org
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Upcoming Relocation Hearings, The Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission (NNHRC)
Lehman Brightman sent a message to the members of United Native Americans, Inc.

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Subject: The Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission (NNHRC) Upcoming Relocation Hearings

The Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission (NNHRC) Upcoming Relocation Hearings


Good Morning!

The Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission (NNHRC) will be conducting several public hearings in or near your community in the coming weeks and months. The public hearings are specifically geared for those who may be experiencing the effects of the 1974 Navajo-Hopi Settlement Act. We would like to extend a welcome to you and your peers to attend the hearings.

Dec. 16 - Tonalea Chapter - 2-5PM
Dec. 17 - Pinon Chapter - 10AM-3PM
Dec. 18 - Nahata Dzil Chapter - 10AM-3PM

I'd like to request you forward the information to all your contacts. I thank you for joining our efforts in advancing Navajo Human Rights.



Sheree D. Peshlakai - Public Information Officer
Office of the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission
P: (928)871-7436
F: (928)871-7437
speshlakai@navajo.org
http://www.facebook.com/l/..a6a99;www.NNHRC.navajo.org

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Oneida Indian clan mother, Maisie Shenandoah, dies at 77

By Glenn Coin / The Post-Standard
December 02, 2009, 10:16AM


Michelle Gabel/The Post-Standard, 2000


Oneida Indian clan mother Maisie Shenandoah

Oneida Castle, NY -- Maisie Shenandoah, an Oneida Indian Nation clan mother who was among the first to return her family to the tribe’s ancestral lands, died at 3:30 a.m. today at the Oneida Castle home of her daughter, Joanne Shenandoah. She was 77.

Shenandoah and her twin sister, Elizabeth Robert, were born on Onondaga Nation land but brought their children back to the Oneida's 32-acre territory in the early 1960s when it was little more than bare land.

Shenandoah installed her nephew, Ray Halbritter, into a position of power in the tribe, but later tried to remove him and fought for traditional values as the tribe moved into high-stakes gambling with Turning Stone casino.

In the late 1980s, Shenandoah, a member of the tribe’s Wolf Clan, was an instrumental force in erecting a traditional longhouse on the territory, recalled her daughter Joanne Shenandoah.

“We had that longhouse full of people dancing and singing for years,” Joanne Shenandoah recalled. “We had many, many ceremonies there.”

Maisie Shenandoah’s funeral service will be held in the longhouse, Joanne Shenandoah said. The current Oneida Nation land straddles the border of Madison and Oneida counties, about 25 miles east of Syracuse.

Maisie Shenandoah, whose Oneida name means “She teaches,” often took her six children and her extensive collection of American Indian art to local schools to talk about Oneida history. Maisie Shenandoah also continued the Oneida nation art of beadwork; some of her necklaces are in the collection of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.

One of her life’s goals was to re-establish a homeland for the Oneida people, Joanne Shenandoah said.

Maisie Shenandoah traveled widely, often with Joanne, a Grammy-winning singer and songwriter. The elder Shenandoah met a variety of famous musicians and politicians, and was once serenaded with “Happy Birthday” by country singer Willie Nelson.

Maisie Shenandoah was named a clan mother in 1977. Traditional Oneida society is matriarchal, and clan mothers hold the power to appoint and remove leaders. After her clashes with Halbritter in the mid-1990s, however, Maisie Shenandoah and her daughters were denied Oneida nation benefits and a voice in nation affairs.

Contact Glenn Coin at gcoin@syracuse.com or 470-3251.

http://www.syracuse.com/news/..index.ssf/2009/12/post_105...html



Tamra Brennan
Founder/Director
NDN News
www.NDNnews.com
www.protectsacredsites.org
www.protectbearbutte.com

NDN News is a grassroots organization which acts as an information hub and resource for many issues in Indian Country. We are dedicated to providing information featuring headline stories, on-going issues, action alerts, and upcoming events.

PROTECT BEAR BUTTE!!!!!!!!
Our Sacred Ground is NOT Your Playground!

"Our sacred lands are all that remain keeping us connected to our place on Mother Earth, to our spirituality, our heritage and our lands; what’s left of them. If they take it all away, what will remain except a vague memory of a past so forgotten?" ......excerpt from One Nation, One Land, One People by Tamra Brennan, 2006

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American Indian Display Vandalized in Rimrock
Dec. 02, 2009
RIMROCK, Ariz. - Yavapai County Sheriff's Office deputies are investigating a vandalism at a Rimrock honey store over the Thanksgiving holiday.
The owner's dream catcher was vandalized while on display in front of the store.
The dream catcher is about 12 feet tall. The vandals cut the interior strings and stole pieces of turquoise. The Dream Warrior is valued at over $4,500. It was last seen intact Thanksgiving at 6 p.m. and was found vandalized at 8 a.m. Nov. 27.
The display trailer that the dream catcher was sitting on was found at the edge of a nearby embankment.
Anyone with information is asked to call police. A reward will be offered if an arrest is made.
TIPLINE: 928-771-3260 or 1800-932-3232
http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/..dpp/news/local/dreamcatcher-..vandalism-12-02-2009

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The Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission Upcoming Relocation Hearings

The Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission (NNHRC) will be conducting several public hearings in or near your community in the coming weeks and months. The public hearings are specifically geared for those who may be experiencing the effects of the 1974 Navajo-Hopi Settlement Act. We would like to extend a welcome to you and your peers to attend the hearings. Attached is a flyer indicating place/date/time/description of the hearings. I'd like to request you forward the information to all your contacts. I thank you for joining our efforts in advancing Navajo Human Rights.

Dec. 16 - Tonalea Chapter -AZ- 2-5PM
Dec. 17 - Pinon Chapter -AZ- 10AM-3PM
Dec. 18 - Nahata Dzil Chapter -AZ- 10AM-3PM


Sheree D. Peshlakai - Public Information Officer
Office of the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission
P: (928)871-7436
F: (928)871-7437
speshlakai@navajo.org
www.NNHRC.navajo.org

Clean Coal Air Freshener. . . Too Bad The People Whom Own Stock In Peabody Coal Company Don't Have a Bottle In Their Homes To Ingest Daily!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?..v=W-_U1Z0vezw

An Old Enemy To Our Tribal People. Crisis on Black Mesa

http://wiki.colby.edu/display/..es298b/Black+Mesa+Peabody+..Coal+Debate

http://www.youtube.com/watch?..v=h-b1rmQt8gM

http://www.indiancountrytoday...com/opinion/letters/63847702...html

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National Indian Child Welfare AssociationBulletinPosted by Eddie Sherman
Dear NICWA Cause Members:

Robby Boston, a member of the Chickasaw Nation, embodies the next generation of leaders in his community. However, that was not always so. As a youth growing up in southeast Oklahoma, he struggled with severe depression after losing his father and turned to alcohol and drug abuse to find solace from his despair. Sadly, Robby was convinced that ending his own life was "... the only way to get away from everything. All this hurt. All the pain I've been through. This is the only way..." Robby was not alone in his struggle.

Today, the suicide rate among young American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) males continues to be two to three times higher than the general U.S. rates (ages 15 to 24 accounting for 64% of all AI/AN suicides). Despite these appalling statistics, more than half of those who committed suicide in Indian country had never been seen by a mental health provider, yet 90% of all teens who die by suicide suffer from a diagnosable mental illness at the time of death.

Fortunately for Robby, he was able to overcome his depression by engaging services in his community to address his mental health needs. An equally important part of his healing process was taking an active role in traditional ceremonies, which helped him find a "place of belonging" and guided his "spiritual well-being." We met Robby when the National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) provided training and technical assistance (T/TA) to the Circles of Care initiative at the Indian Health Care Resource Center of Tulsa. Finding strength in his culture, family, and community, Robby is working with NICWA to advocate and create change for children experiencing emotional or behavioral difficulties.

This work is far from done and we need your help to advance the effort to improve mental health services for American Indian children. In delivering our services, NICWA is engaging youth in all levels of the organization; from the board to the communities we serve, and is committed to fostering young leaders like Robby and empowering them to be advocates for their community. But we need your help.

Here's how you can make a difference. Make a donation and ensure that our crucial work continues. Now more than ever, your gift to NICWA can go a long way towards improving the lives of American Indian children. I hope you will support NICWA and consider making a tax-deductible contribution.

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. TO MAKE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION, PLEASE VISIT OUR SECURE DONATION SITE POWERED BY NETWORK FOR GOOD:
https://npo.networkforgood...org/Donate/Donate.aspx?..npoSubscriptionId=1001861&..code=Email%20Appeal%20Holiday%..202009

If you have any thoughts or questions, please feel free to contact me. I would enjoy hearing from you.


With warm wishes this holiday season,


Terry L. Cross (Seneca Nation)
Executive Director
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Buffalo Field Campaign
Yellowstone Bison
Update from the Field
December 3, 2009

BFC Klean Kanteen Water Bottles Make Perfect Gifts.Order Yours Today While They Last!

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In this issue:
* Update from the Field
* Buffalo Battle: BFC Will Be on TV's Planet Green This Saturday!
* BFC Needs Vehicles for Field Patrols
* LAST CHANCE: Help the Buffalo with Your Comments to APHIS
* Take Action: Quarantined Bison Need Our Help
* Last Words ~ We Miss You, Rodeo: Mourning the Loss
* Kill Tally
* Important Links

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* Update from the Field

A bull buffalo was shot yesterday on Horse Butte. For a few weeks he had maintained a space for himself outside of the hunt zone, in the buffalo-friendly Yellowstone Village housing area. The last time we saw him alive he was bedded downinside Montana's largest "buffalo safe zone" on the Galanis property. I can still see his wooly head and horns just peaking over a small rise, hoping that he would keep refuge there, but knowing that buffalo will go where they choose, even if the consequences are fatal. The Galanis property borders Gallatin National Forest land which is in the hunt zone; once he stepped across that imaginary line he became a target and was killed.

It feels as if something has been stolen from the landscape; the bullet extinguished his beneficial and majestic presence, further diminishing the wild bison gene pool by yet another senseless killing of a species moving toward extinction. The Montana Department of Livestock has manipulated wildlife management so severely that hunters are blindly doing some of the killing for them. They call it a hunt but to me it looks more like just another way to kill buffalo that step into Montana. Wild bison still have no year-round habitat in Montana and they are ecologically extinct through most of their native range. Hunting wild bison is extremely premature and bison need to be given the opportunity to recover as a wildlife species in Montana before a hunt can be deemed fair, sustainable, or even ethical.

Snow has been slow to come this season, and we hope that means fewer buffalo will need to make the journey into Montana while the hunt is underway. For those that do, we will be watching over them, and while we cannot stop the bullet, we can give all we have to help change hearts and minds.

Roam Free,
~Stephany

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* Buffalo Battle: BFC Will Be on TV's Planet Green This Saturday!


Tune in this Saturday night, December 5 at 10pm EST (check local listings) for the premier of Buffalo Battle on Discovery Channel's Planet Green. Buffalo Battle is a one-hour television documentary on the plight of America's only continuously wild bison population and the work of Buffalo Field Campaign. Buffalo Battle captures the ongoing war against wild bison and the conflict between bison advocates, government agencies and Montana's cattle industry as wild bison follow their seasonal migratory instincts from the high country of Yellowstone National Park into the state of Montana. Help spread the word by sharing this Buffalo Battle E-Postcard with everyone you know!

Many thanks to Executive Producer Matt Testa and his amazing crew at Authentic TV for being in the field with us, learning from all sides of the issue, and helping BFC tell the world about the last wild buffalo!

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* BFC Needs Vehicles for Field Patrols

We currently have one working vehicle to convey patrols to and from the field, leaving us in dire need of vehicle donations for our campaign. Many of our vehicles have hundreds of thousands of miles and after serving us well, have moved to the vehicle graveyard. Ideally, we need vehicles that have less than 160,000 miles, are 4-door, and have 4WD to carry our patrols through the season. If you can help us with a car or truck donation, please contact BFC's Mechanic Dennis atmechanic@buffalofieldcampaign...org.

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LAST CHANCE: Help the Buffalo with Your Comments to APHIS

Tomorrow, Friday December 4, is the deadline to submit comments to the Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) about their Bovine Brucellosis Program, which maintains the status quo of harming wild bison and elk in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. If you haven't submitted yours yet please do so today. If you have, thank you, and please spread the word to save these herds! Click here to learn more and submit your comments today!

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* Take Action: Quarantined Buffalo Need Our Help

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) is poised to hand over to billionaire Ted Turner 74 Yellowstone bison that were captured as calves from Yellowstone National Park, setting a negative precedent of commercializing wild bison that are protected for the benefit of enjoyment of all people. These buffalo have been held captive for five years in a quarantine feasibility study by the U.S. Dept of Agriculture APHIS and FWP to produce "disease-free" bison for conservation and recovery of American bison as a wildlife species. That was the agencies stated goal, and that is the reason why the U.S. Congress funded millions for the experiment. BFC has strongly opposed quarantine when wild bison have yet to be recovered on their native range in Yellowstone.

Turner is a commercial entity: if the buffalo go to him, they belong to him. The Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Tribes of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana put in a proposal for obtaining these buffalo, and they've been working on bringing buffalo home for years. Why would the State of Montana and the U.S. government deny them this opportunity? One thing is certain, these poor buffalo need to get out of their quarantine prison as they still have 5 more years of captivity ahead of them . . .

TAKE ACTION: We need your help to put pressure on decision-makers to give Yellowstone bison a chance to remain as public wildlife on lands available to all people. Start by asking the decision-makers below to answer some pointed questions:

1. Contact the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) commissioners and urge them to develop a proposal to open State Wildlife Areas for these bison. FWP has hundreds of thousands of acres of suitable bison habitat available on State Wildlife Areas.
Question: Where is the FWP proposal to reintroduce them onto these lands?
Email the FWP Commissioners at fwpcomm@mt.gov or write and call them individually:
Shane Colton, Chairman, 335 Clark Billings, MT 59101 (406) 259-9986
Dan Vermillion, Vice-Chairman, PO Box 668 Livingston, MT 59047 (406) 222-0624
Bob Ream, Commissioner, 521 Clarke Street Helena, MT 59601 (406) 443-2595
Ron Moody, Commissioner, 109 Bach Avenue Lewistown, MT 59457 (406) 538-2698
Willie Doll, Commissioner, PO Box 1142 Malta, MT 59538 (406) 658-2120

2. Give Fort Belknap a helping hand by getting the Department of Interior involved. The tribes have long sought to establish a permanent herd from Yellowstone bison on 22,000 acres "on tribal and public lands in a manner that promotes cultural enhancement, spiritual revitalization, and ecological restoration."
Ask DOI:
A) Where is the initiative in the Department of Interior's Bison Conservation Initiative? Interior is the largest land owner in the US. Surely there are suitable Parks, Refuges, BLM lands for reintroduction of bison. Why did they not submit a proposal? Without qualification the bison in Yellowstone are the most important population to the survival of American bison as a wildlife species.
B) Why has Yellowstone National Park walked away from these bison? Why are they not offering assistance to keep them in the public trust? Millions of dollars has been allocated to YNP to kill bison and biologists, scientists, rangers have put in thousands of hours to carry out their bison plan. YNP handed over a million dollars to Church Universal & Triumphant to let a few bison on and through their land. So where is the commensurate action to restore these bison for conservation?
Email National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis atjon_jarvis@nps.gov
Email Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar atfeedback@ios.doi.gov
For full contact information, including phone and address, click here.

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* Last Words ~ We Miss You, Rodeo: Mourning the Loss

In the land of true winter, where we measure snowfall in feet and low temperatures in the neighborhood of 40 below zero, we were lucky enough to meet a gentle giant of a man who lived in a tipi with two dogs. This man, who lived on the BFC property when we first began renting here, shared his skillful wisdom with us and made it possible for us to survive our first winter. He showed us how much wood we would need, how to keep the pipes from freezing, and all the other little tricks needed to stay warm through a Yellowstone winter.

He accepted me as a brother and before long was cursing me (in jest) after he was arrested while saving the buffalo. But we were friends for life. At first we knew this man simply as "Rodeo" but after his arrest we learned his name was Roger Vincent. He never stopped giving to anyone: friend, foe, or new acquaintance. He was the kind of guy who would stop his work to help you with yours. I could go on and on about his positive attributes but he would have made me stop by now. Every night in the tipi where I have lived for the past 11 years I thank Rodeo for teaching me how to live like this.

I will miss you, my friend, as will many others. I am sure you are already in the lead in that dog-sled race up in the sky. I will never forget you because what you taught me I use every single day.

For one who inspired so many stories it is only fitting to end this remembrance with a story. Jeremy, a young native man who was with the Campaign back in our beginning told Rodeo one day that he had come up with an Indian name for him. Rodeo, feeling honored, turned bright red and waited with pride to hear his new name. Jeremy then pronounced "From now on you will be known as "Walking Eagle." Rodeo, obviously honored by the new name, smiled from ear to ear.

"Don't you want to know what it means?" Jeremy asked.

"Yes," replied Rodeo, "of course I do."

"It means you're too full of poop to fly," Jeremy, smiling, told him. Everyone erupted in laughter, especially Rodeo.

So Walking Eagle, fly high and watch over us, because we will always need your help.

To read more about this great man an an event he inspired, please click:
http://www.islandparknews.com/..atf.php?sid=7512¤t_..edition=2009-12-03

For the Buffalo,

Mike Mease
Buffalo Field Campaign

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* Kill Tally

AMERICAN BISON ELIMINATED from the last wild population in the U.S.
2009-2010 Total: 2

2009-2010 Slaughter: 0
2009-2010 Hunt: 2
2009-2010 Quarantine: 0
2009-2010 Shot by Agents: 0
2009-2010 Highway Mortality: 0

2008-2009 Total: 22
2007-2008 Total: 1,631
Total Since 2000: 3,704*
*includes lethal government action, quarantine, hunts, highway mortalities
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Media & Outreach
Buffalo Field Campaign
P.O. Box 957
West Yellowstone, MT 59758
406-646-0070
bfc-media@wildrockies.org
http://www...buffalofieldcampaign.org

BFC is the only group working in the field every day
in defense of the last wild buffalo population in the U.S.

KEEP BFC ON THE FRONTLINES WITH A TAX DEDUCTIBLE CONTRIBUTION TODAY

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LA SKINS FEST
@ American Indian Resource Center
Saturday, December 12, 1 -3 PM
1st Floor Meeting Room

This year's AIRC screening will include popular selections from LASKINFEST 2009 featuring original and innovative animation, documentaries on subjects relevant to Indian County , and film shorts about various NDN communities, that explore where we come from, where we are, and where we are going.

Award winning filmmakers, young and old, have produced these works that will entertain and enlighten. This is an opportunity to support the work of aspiring Native and non-Native filmmakers who dedicate much time and energy to keep our stories and our experiences alive, and to share them with the world.

American Indian Resource Center
Huntington Park Library
6518 Miles Avenue
Huntington Park , CA 90255
airc@library.lacounty.gov
rsvp: email or (323) 583-2794
______________________________..__________________
Rocks Go Camping
(2009, 1min) Canada
Director: Syrena Kaiser-Fox

Peer pressure always leads to bad consequences. Rocks Go Camping is an animation piece produced by Native students at the Weengushk Film Institute in Ontario, Canada.


Finding D-QU: The Lonely Struggle of California’s Only Tribal College.
(2009, 30 min.) USA
Director: Christopher Newman

In 2005, D-Q University, California’s only tribal college, was shut down after a 35-year struggle. Since then, the school’s board of trustees, past students, and community members have tried to reopen the school against all odds. This documentary is structured around a group of occupants who illegally live at the closed D-QU campus amid threats of arrest by the school’s board of trustees.


Walking On Turtle Island
(2008, 20 min.) USA
Director: Ian Skorodin

"Walking on Turtle Island" is a fresh, exciting Native American story. In the spiritual tradition of Kung Fu, the heartwarming Highway to Heaven and the thoughtful surprise of Quantum Leap, come two Native American heroes for these times. Killed in a gun fight, a young Lakota warrior sees his traditions and his own life ebb away at the hands of white intrusion. He and the obnoxious, endearing trickster, "Iktomi," arrive in the Spirit World where they are given a sacred and daunting task. . .travel through time together, helping people in need.


Mayan Reign
(2008, 5 min.) USA
Director: Jose Olmos

Told in stunning animation, Mayan Reign is a fictional story about a Mayan Rain God. Director and USC student, Jose Olmos, interprets indigenous culture with vivid visual images and original music.


A Gift From Talking God: The Story of the Navajo Churro
(2008, 29:30 min) USA
Director: Peter Blystone
Producer: Peter Blystone and Margaret Chanler

The Navajo-Churro sheep is the original breed. Known for its hardiness and long, coarse fleece, it sustained Navajo, Pueblo and Hispanic people for nearly 400 years. Almost extinct a generation ago, the Navajo-Churro is making a comeback. Ensuring the survival of the breed and the rich heritage associated with it.


Crazy Ind’n The S

Multiple Issues & Indigenous News (Part 2)

Ahniin, everyone,

This job remains open and it would be good to have some strong indigenous applicants, especially if working in the area of educating/activism about ecology/environment/..sustainability. Please pass on to your networks or encourage someone you know to apply. If you have grad students who are completing their doctorates by June 2010...please encourage them too.

IDeally, the application will come in early december before a short list can be made.

miikwec,
Jean-Paul
______________________________.._______________________
Jean-Paul Restoule, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Aboriginal Education
Dept. of Adult Education and Counselling Psychology
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto
252 Bloor St. West, Toronto ON M5S 1V6
416-978-0806
jrestoule@oise.utoronto.ca
jeanpaul.restoule@utoronto.ca
Fax: 416-926-4749
______________________________.._______________________



Title:~Assistant Professor - Adult Education and Community Development~~-~~0900647~~~


Job Field:~Tenure Stream~
Faculty / Division:~Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto~
Department:~Adult Education & Counseling Psychology~
Campus:~St. George (downtown Toronto)~
Posting Date:~20/Aug/09~
Closing Date:~01/Nov/09~~~
Description
:~
The Department of Adult Education and Counselling Psychology, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto invites applications for a tenure-stream appointment in the field of Adult Education and Community Development. The appointment will be at the rank of Assistant Professor and will begin July 1, 2010.~
We seek candidates with a research record in the environment, social economy and community development, a commitment to outstanding graduate level teaching and experience in adult education, to prepare students in our graduate program in Adult Education and Community Development.~
The Adult Education and Community Development program at OISE provides a place to study and contribute in creative and innovative ways to scholarship, practice, and policy~in relationto~adult learning in organizations communities, workplaces, and social movements in local, national, and international contexts.~~
~
We seek a scholar in the area of~ adult education, with particular attention to issues of sustainability and the social economy.~ Among other things, the successful candidate is expected to undertake teaching and research in the areas of sustainability, community development and social economy organizations.
~
Familiarity with the connections among environmental, social and economic dimensions of the social economy, expertise assessing the impact of sustainable initiatives and experience in conducting community-university research are important assets for this position.~ Applicants for this position should have an earned Ph.D., a record of research in addressing issues related to the role of social economy organizations in developing a sustainable society, and experience in advancing academic scholarship with application to the field of practice.~ Ability to contribute to the Initial Teacher Education program will be an asset.
~
We encourage you to submit your application online by clicking on the link below. Please ensure that you include a current Curriculum Vitae by November 1, 2009. If you are unable to apply online (or alternatively have large documents to send), please submit your application and other materials to Professor Marilyn Laiken, Chair, Department of Adult Education and Counselling Psychology, OISE, 252 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1V6, Canada.
~
For more information about the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, please visit http://aecp.oise.utoronto.ca/
http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/..oise/
http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/..depts/aecp/
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herokeeLink Newsletter
**************************
For The HTML Format of the Newsletter:
(Having Problems With The Links? Try this version instead.) http://www.cherokee.org/home...aspx?section=newsletter&Date=..11/30/2009

AOL - http://www.cherokee.org/..home.aspx?section=newsletter&..Date=11/30/2009">11/30/2009 Newsletter
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Osiyo,

Last year through the Angel Tree program, the Cherokee Nation was able to provide 1,500 area children with Christmas gifts and program officials say they hope to give even more this holiday season. The Cherokee Nation kicked off this year’s Angel Tree effort and is encouraging community members to get involved. For more information about how you can participate in the Cherokee Nation Angel Tree program call Brandy Lemley at 918-453-5000, ext. 7730.

Also to kick off this holiday season, the Cherokee Nation is hosting a holiday tree lighting program on the Cherokee Nation Courthouse Square in downtown Tahlequah. For more information visit http://www.cherokee.org/..NewsRoom/FullStory/3058/Page/..Default.aspx.



Wado! (Thank you)
Cherokee Nation
P.O.Box 948
Tahlequah, OK 74465
918 453-5000
communications@cherokee.org

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**************************
***Cherokee Nation News***
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Cherokee Nation Honors Indian-Owned Businesses: 11/25/2009 5:08:00 PM
(C) Cherokee Nation
To honor the success and accomplishments of Native American owned businesses, the Cherokee Nation recently held the second annual Tribal Employment Rights Office Awards Ceremony at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Catoosa.
http://www.cherokee.org/news...aspx?id=3057

Cherokee Nation Accepting Energy Assistance Program Applications: 11/25/2009 4:50:00 PM
(C) Cherokee Nation
The Cherokee Nation is again providing funding through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program for eligible Cherokees and other Native Americans this winter.

http://www.cherokee.org/news...aspx?id=3056

Tribe to Host Downtown Tree Lighting Ceremony: 11/25/2009
(C) Cherokee Nation
Music, fellowship and refreshments are among the highlights planned for the tribe’s holiday tree lighting program on the Cherokee Nation Courthouse Square in downtown Tahlequah on Friday, Dec. 4.

http://www.cherokee.org/news...aspx?id=3058

Tulsa area nonprofits receive nearly 3,000 turkeys Tuesday in surprise donations: 11/24/2009
(C) Cherokee Nation
Salvation Army staff works with Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa and Cherokee Nation employees to unload 1,000 frozen turkeys that the casino donated to the organization on Tuesday.
http://www.cherokee.org/news...aspx?id=3055

Cherokee Nation Seed Exchange Program Grows: 11/23/2009 3:17:00 PM
(C) Cherokee Nation
This spring when the Cherokee Nation announced a small program offering free seeds to grow rare Cherokee heirloom plants, Pat Gwin assumed he would probably send out about 20 to 30 packages of seeds to local citizens.
http://www.cherokee.org/news...aspx?id=3053

Sequoyah Volleyball, Softball Teams Earn Academic Award: 11/23/2009 3:14:00 PM
(C) Cherokee Nation
The Sequoyah Schools’ fast-pitch softball and volleyball teams received recognition form the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association for their outstanding academic performance. Both teams earned the OSSAA’s Distinguished Academic Award for the fall 2009 season.
http://www.cherokee.org/news...aspx?id=3052

Cherokee Nation Opens Housing Waiting List for Sequoyah and Adair Counties: 11/23/2009 8:39:00 AM
(C) Cherokee Nation
The Cherokee Nation is temporarily opening a Mutual Help/ Rural Rental Homeownership waiting list for qualified Native American families in Sequoyah and Adair Counties. Families may submit applications to live in re-inventoried homes located in the northeast Sallisaw area, Cherry Tree Addition, Smith Addition, Hogner Heights and the Westville Christie areas.
http://www.cherokee.org/news...aspx?id=3051

Sequoyah Grad to Play to Bring College Game “Home”: 11/23/2009 8:32:00 AM
(C) Cherokee Nation
2007 Sequoyah graduate Zach Goodrich went on to play basketball at Sterling College in Kansas after graduation, but that won’t stop him from gracing the floor of Sequoyah’s Place Where They Play once again. Sterling will play against Hillsdale College on Saturday, Nov. 28 at 4 p.m. at Sequoyah Schools in Tahlequah.
http://www.cherokee.org/news...aspx?id=3050

Ride for Free on Fun Free Fridays: 11/23/2009
(C) Cherokee Nation
The Cherokee Nation has partnered with two area transit systems to provide public transportation, and is now announcing some big changes to make commutes even more affordable and a lot more fun.
http://www.cherokee.org/news...aspx?id=3054

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**** Other Links of Interest ****
******************************..***
Games - http://www.cherokee.org/home...aspx?section=culture&culture=..games

Community Calendar - http://www.cherokee.org/home...aspx?section=calendar
RSS Feed - http://rss.cherokee.org
Podcasts - http://podcasts.cherokee.org
E-Cards - http://ecards.cherokee.org
------------------------------..------------------------------

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**** Cultural Tidbits ****
**************************

The Treaty of July 19, 1866 gives the Cherokee Nation the right to elect a delegate to U.S. Congress. This is a right that has not been extinguished. This was the last treaty signed with the Cherokee.
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Time to make a stand
Forwarding this along from James Swan. If you have had any personal experiences with RCJ, please contact him.

I have to agree with his statements, RCJ thrives on controversial NDN issues. I know that they have continually allowed extremely racist comments to go thru on their comment section, and when we try to respond, we don’t get our responses posted most of the time. We both have experienced that, I know! I have called RCJ on these comments only to be told……we didn’t know they were on there…..yea ok, all comments are moderated…………hmmmmm…..

James, keep me posted on the website and rally………I will be there with bells on!

Regards,
Tamra

Date: Sunday, November 29, 2009, 1:45 PM
Its really sad that our local newspaper is so biased in the way they report the news and in their "typical Rapid City mentality" towards Native Americans. I have struggled with them. They allow non-natives to bash and say negative things towards Indians and when a Native speak in defense or tries to defend there self, the Rapid City Journal turns them away. I have spoken to many people that complain,they don't get heard through the paper. The media should be a leader in our community and should by example, lead the way to a better relationship with the Native American community. They don't, I have tried to communicate, agitate and get their attention...their editor called me a "Racist". Imagine that? That is so far from any truth its comical. I have always been a voice for our people. I will not give in to this news paper. I will take up this fight..This summer I'm thinking of having a couple protests, Right in front of their office. to let them and the world know, how biased they are. There has been different groups of people trying real hard to unite our peoples in a positive way. The media is the best tool for this. they just cant figure it out. and anyone like myself that tries to say something or stand up to them, they just blow me off. This attitude needs to stop. our country has enough problems as it is. then to have these petty little mentalities from our media. I encourage everyone to take note. send me your experiences with the Journal....Its time they listen to us! and let us be part of the Rapid City community. We do have a say and this is our home too. If they are going to have a "commit section", then they need to stand by there own standards and stop "picking and choosing" based not on content, but there own personal agendas. Some things just havent changed in Rapid City in the last 150-years. Please pass this along. we need to encurage the media to be a non-biased publication, no matter what. Mitakuye Oyasin

Thanks

PS..I will be working on a website...Where all this can be expossed.

James Swan (Magaska)

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Leonard Peltier
Holiday Gift Drive

Leonard Peltier is organizing a holiday gift drive for the children of Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and the Turtle Mountain Reservation in Belcourt, North Dakota. Leonard grew up on the Turtle Mountain Reservation and many of his family members still live there.

This annual gift drive is one way in which Leonard continues his humanitarian work for his people. Help Leonard reach out beyond the bars that imprison him.

Remember... The gift drive helps the children and families, but also Leonard himself. Help keep Leonard's spirit strong through the difficult holiday season.

Mail all gifts to:

Waha Peltier
PO Box 159
Pine Ridge, SD 57770

Turtle Mountain Tribal Agency
Gifts from Leonard
c/o Cindy Malaterre
PO Box 900
Belcourt, ND 58316

Send new (unwrapped) toys, warm clothing, books, school supplies, etc., for children of ALL ages (newborn to 18 years). To ensure delivery by Christmas, mail your gift no later than December 17.

Thank you for your generous support.

For more information please contact the Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee athttp://www.facebook.com/l/..c1f74;www.whoisleonardpeltier...info

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Kids Reenact the First Thanksgiving:
http://www.babelgum.com/..4012129/kids-reenact-the-..first-thanksgiving.html

Multiple Issues & Indigenous News (Part 1)

Multiple Issues & Indigenous News (Part 1)
Feds acknowledge withholding permits for Snowbowl
Nov. 25, 2009
http://www.azcentral.com/news/..articles/2009/11/25/..20091125skiflap25-ON.html
FLAGSTAFF - The U.S. Forest Service said Wednesday it was withholding snowmaking permits for a northern Arizona ski resort as a way to promote settlement talks in a long-running dispute between American Indian tribes and the resort's owners.
The permits were delayed despite a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June that upheld the Arizona Snowbowl's right to spray man-made snow on San Francisco Peaks.
In addition, Snowbowl owner Eric Borowsky said talks aimed at reaching a deal had ended a month ago.
"So far, there have been no new ideas, so we're just waiting for the notice to proceed," he said.
The stalemate marks the latest development in the dispute in which tribes insist making snow with wastewater would desecrate land they hold sacred and infringe on their religious beliefs.
Snowbowl officials counter the man-made snow is necessary to ensure the survival of the ski area, which opened in 1937 on Forest Service land and has struggled with short seasons because of a lack of snow.
Sen. John McCain and other members of the Arizona congressional delegation have been pressuring the Forest Service for months to explain why the permits haven't been issued. The Forest Service said in a brief prepared statement that it hoped ongoing talks between the tribes and the Snowbowl's owners would end in a mutually beneficial agreement.
"Ongoing conversations between Native-American tribes and the ski area operator may resolve outstanding concerns for the more controversial aspects of the Snow bowl improvement request," the statement said.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Forest Service, did not answer several phone calls seeking additional comment.
Borowsky said his talks with Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr. have ended and no further discussions were planned. Even so, he said he expects to have the necessary permits "in the very near future."
The Forest Service is allowing the Arizona Snowbowl Limited Partnership to move forward with plans for conveyor belts to take skiers up the beginner slopes. Other improvements, however, including clearing about 100 additional acres of forest at the 777-acre resort, remain on hold.
Boronsky's talks with tribes included a possible sale of the resort. He maintained Snowbowl is not for sale but added he has an obligation as a general partner to present any valid offers to the limited partners for a vote.
The current owners purchased the Snowbowl in 1992 for $4 million. Any sale price could be much higher.
Navajo lawmaker Raymond Maxx said he and other tribal lawmakers were encouraged by the Forest Service's delay in granting permits.
"We're glad that there are some people that are still respectful of our native culture within the United States and trying to help us preserve what's sacred to us," he said. McCain, Sen. Jon Kyl, and Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick said the USDA is simply dragging its feet in permitting the improvements upheld by the courts.
"There doesn't appear to be any defined point when the USDA will move forward," said McCain spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan.
A pending lawsuit in federal court in Arizona seeks to halt the project, saying the Forest Service failed to consider the human health risks of ingesting artificial snow.
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Please Watch~~Ple..ase Help
http://www.youtube.com/watch?..v=sBrYdu7HXdg

I have talked about this situation with my Uncle many times. I have an ever increasing need to do something. Maybe "Save Our Tribal Youth" (SOTY) can help me out with contacts. Or, maybe NativeProgress.org.

Ya know how sometimes you get a feeling that you really need to do something? Well, this is one of those times for me. I cry, I tie, I pray. But you are well familiar with protocol so I am not about to just show up.

www.youtube.com

If you have trouble just clicking on the link, you can type the URL in
or I have added it to myspace page and am about to put in on the Foundation's page.

I love you all.......................

"Life is of the good road I follow and the road of difficulties you have made me cross; and where they cross is a holy place where I have learned much."
Black Elk

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Did You Know?

I hope you can open this link. You may have to put it in your brrowser. Interesting about which actors/actresses, atheletes and singers have NA blood. I was surprised at some..............


http://www...nativeamericanmusicawards.com/..didyouknow.cfm




“The Great Spirit knows that I have spoken the truth.”
--STRUCK BY THE TREE,
YANKTON SIOUX, 1865
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1. Report Human-Ecological Rights Abuses to the UN(with thanks to Brenda Norrell and Elouise Brown) The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) recently took particular note of problems in areas of "spiritual and cultural significance to Native Americans" (Report CERD/C/USA/CO/6,29,30 of May 2008 - http://tb.ohchr.org/..default.aspx). To quote,
"The Committee is concerned about reports relating to activities, such as nucleartesting, toxic and dangerous waste storage, mining or logging, carried out or planned in areas of spiritual and cultural significance to Native Americans, and about the negative impact that such activities allegedly have on the enjoyment by the affected indigenous peoples of their rights under the Convention"
The UN committee recommends that the U.S.:". . . ensure that activities carried out in areas of spiritual and cultural significance to Native Americans do not have a negative impact on the enjoyment of their rights under the Convention.. . . recognize the right of Native Americans to participate in decisions affecting them. . . consult and cooperate in good faith with the indigenous peoples concerned before adopting and implementing any activity in areas of spiritual and cultural significance to Native Americans.
and even further
. . . take appropriate legislative or administrative measures to prevent acts of transnational corporations . . . which negatively impact on the enjoyment of rights of indigenous peoples in territories outside the United States."
In its response (CERD/C/USA/CO/6/Add.1), the United States
"recognizes, as a historical matter, that indigenous people throughout the world have been unfairly deprived of lands they once habitually occupied or roamed. Such ancestral lands once constituted most of the Western Hemisphere"
but did not address the recommendations above

WHAT YOU CAN DO
Help the US hold itself accountable! Report government activities that result in negative impacts on areas of spiritual or cultural significance to:
Petitions Team
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
United Nations Office at Geneva
1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
+ 41 22 9179022 (particularly for urgent matters)
tb-petitions@ohchr.org

cc (if writing): Julian Burger
Indigenous & Minorities Unit CoordinatorUnited Nations High Commissioner for Human RightsGeneva OfficePalais Wilson, Room 4-0811211 Geneva 10SWITZERLAND

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/..bodies/petitions/individual...htm

Reference the quoted UN recommendations above and the "Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination"

For more information on UN action, please also see the International Treaty Council athttp://www.treatycouncil.org


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2. Assorted News

In looking backward, yesterday, the Organic Consumers Association gave special thanks to the indigenous farmers and wildcrafters of the Western Hemisphere for cultivating and preserving our food, fiber, medicinal herbs, and biodiversity for thousands of years. Today, the Friday after Thanksgiving, was officially declared Native American Heritage Day by June 2009 decree of the Obama Adminstration.

And in looking foward, NASA has identified nine planetary boundaries with. . . quantifications for seven of them:

"- climate change: CO2 concentration in the atmosphere <350 ppm and/or a maximum change of +1 W/m2 in radiative forcing;
- ocean acidification - mean surface seawater saturation state with respect to aragonite ¡Ý 80% of pre-industrial levels;
- <5% reduction in statosphere ozone concentration from pre-industrial level of 290Dobson Units
- limit industrial and agricultural fixation of N2 to 35 Tg N/yr and annual P inflow to oceans not to exceed 10 times the natural background weathering of P;
- global freshwater use (<4000 km3/yr of consumptive use of runoff resources);
- land system change (<15% of the ice-free land surface under cropland); and
- the rate at which biological diversity is lost (annual rate of <10 extinctions per million species)."

http://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/cgi-..bin/abstract.cgi?id=ro06010m

Our collective work is to keep within these limits.
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[Lenapehok..ing_Long_H..ouse] 400 years later, Collegiate Church apologizes to Lenape, a Native American tribe
Whether or not their apology be sincere or not, at least the church made an attempt on recognizing my tribe to be valid. A long story but condensed;the United States government does not and nor is it likely to acknowledge the New Jersey Lenni Lenape. This occurred when my ancestors refused to be marched to Oklahoma behind the Cherokee. 1904 came and went and part of our ancestors refused to be there hense the Lenape in New Jersey does not exist. Regardless, at least the church chose to do the right thing. Hopefully, the Federal Government will follow suit and give us the recognition that we proudly deserve.

There is a ton of wrong doings that need to be dealt with; this, within our Tribe. Two people from the Oklahoma Lenape stopped a conversation with me in an elevator when they found that I was a New Jersey Lenape. We do have a bit of a journey to go but this jesture gives us a starting point.

Wanishi Grandfather!




400 years later, Collegiate Church apologizes to Lenape, a Native American tribe

BY ERICA PEARSON AND OWEN MORITZ
NY DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Saturday, November 28th 2009, 4:00 AM

Exchanging wampum in a gesture of reconciliation, members of New York's oldest church apologized Friday to Native Americans for their suffering that began 400 years ago.

http://www.nydailyn ews.com/ny_ local/2009/ 11/28/2009- 11-28_400_ years_later_ collegiate_ church_pologizes _to_a_native_ tribe.html
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Historic Feature Film, to be released in 2010

The Diary
"Canada's Anne Frank Story"
Directed by Louie Lawless
Based on a story by Kevin and Lori Annett and Louie Lawless,
Producers of the award-winning documentary film UNREPENTANT


The Diary is the only feature film ever to shed light on the horrible truth of genocide and murder in Canada's Indian Residential Schools - and one man's struggle to hold his church and country accountable. Filmed on Vancouver Island, on the very land where these crimes occurred and continue, and featuring native people and actual residential school survivors, The Diary goes where no film has gone before.

Based on the life and books of Rev. Kevin Annett, The Diary is set for release in 2010.

To view the trailers of this amazing film, go to:

www.thediarymovie.com/trailer



For more information and to assist in the distribution and release ofThe Diary, contact Louie Lawless at : louie0@telus.net or Kevin Annett at hiddenfromhistory@yahoo.ca .



www.thediarymovie.com



Read and Hear the truth of Genocide in Canada, past and present, at this website:www.hiddenfromhistory.org , and see the trailer to Kevin's award-winning documentary UNREPENTANT film on the same website.

Soon to be released feature film, THE DIARY, based on Kevin Anett's epic struggle to bring to light genocide in Canada - see the trailer at:
www.thediarymovie.com/trailer

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Blanding artifacts arrests on line
The KUED Utah Now program on the Blanding artifacts arrests can be viewed on line at

http://www.kued.org/..productions/utahnow/?action=..viewShowDetails&id=187

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Bear Butte Update: Upcoming Hearing Meade County Commission..ers 12/2 [1 Attachment..]
There will be a hearing at Meade County Commissioners on Wednesday, December 2nd at 3:00 p.m. This hearing will be for the retail on-sale liquor/package liquor licenses renewals, which will include all the locations near Bear Butte. This includes the large venues we have been battling against including Glencoe, Broken Spoke Campground, Buffalo Chip, Monkey Rock and Full Throttle.

There are some major new developments with the Bear Butte issue. Full Throttle Saloon, which is currently located on hwy 34 & 79, is proposing to move locations further to the east. They have purchased a property just east of Bear Butte off 9 mile road. This location is directly east approximately one mile from the mountain. See attached map for details.

This hearing will include Full Throttle’s request to transfer their liquor license to the new location. The reason they are attempting this is, the City of Sturgis has proposed an annexation of city limits, which will include up to hwy 79, the venues affected are Full Throttle, Glencoe and Monkey Rock. If the City is successful in this annexation, they will begin to regulate liquor sales and property taxes will sky rocket. It appears that this is an attempt to avoid the regulation, moving just outside the proposed annexation boundaries.

Each year things are progressively getting worse, with more attempts at expanding further east towards the sacred mountain, Bear Butte. The 2010 Sturgis Rally will potentially be the largest rally in years, since it is the 70thanniversary. The City has already expanded the Rally beginning in 2010 from 7 to 10 days.

It’s time to take a stand a show a mass presence at this upcoming hearing, to let the Meade County Commissioners know this needs to stop NOW!

If you are able to attend the hearing, please come and show your support and oppose these licenses and the transfer request from Full Throttle Saloon.

If you can not make it and would like to send the Commissioners a letter of opposition, please see the contact info listed below.


When:
December 2nd @ 3 pm

Where:
Meade County Commissioners Courthouse
1425 Sherman St
Sturgis, SD 57785
605-347-2360
605-347-5925 fax
Email: meade@meadecounty.org


For more information, please visit our website atwww.protectbearbutte.com or contact me directly attamra@protectsacredsites.org


Tamra Brennan
Founder/Director
Protect Sacred Sites Indigenous People, One Nation
www.protectsacredsites.org
www.protectbearbutte.com

PROTECT BEAR BUTTE!!!!!!!!
Our Sacred Ground is NOT Your Playground!

"Our sacred lands are all that remain keeping us connected to our place on Mother Earth, to our spirituality, our heritage and our lands.. If they take it all away, what will remain except a vague memory of a past so forgotten?" ......excerpt from One Nation, One Land, One People by Tamra Brennan, 2006