issues and news From STSSA Freinds and Family

issues and news From STSSA Freinds and Family
Posted By: Tjay Henhawk
To: Members in First Nations & Aboriginal Rights
B.C. First Nations celebrate self-government
ANACLA, B.C.—Fireworks lit up the night sky one minute after midnight Friday, as members of five Vancouver Island First Nations marked a historic milestone with the implementation of a modern-day treaty.

The Maa-nulth treaty was 20 years in the making for the five bands that represent about 2,500 people near the communities of Bamfield, Port Alberni, Campbell River and Ucluelet.

“This is our new beginning,” Chuck McCarthy, president of the Yuuluilath Nation, said in a news release.

He said the treaty process has been a long journey, but “it feels good knowing that we are in charge of our future.”

Under the agreement, the Ucluelet, Toquaht, Uchucklesaht, Ka:’yu:’k’th’/Che:k’tles7et’h, and Huu-ay-aht bands get a land settlement of 24,550 hectares, $73 million over 10 years, annual resource revenue payments between $600,000 and $1.8 million, and an additional $900,000 over five years.

They will also receive $10.5 million a year in ongoing funding for programs and services, as well $47.9 million for implementation of the treaty.

But most important of all to the bands, they gain powers of self-government that give them control over their land and resources, taxation rights and frees them from the jurisdiction of the federal Indian Act, other than in the determination of Indian status.

“On Nuu-waas-sus (Our Day) we look forward to meeting the challenges of self-government with both fear and excitement,” Therese Smith, legislative chief of the Ka:’yu:’k’t’h’/Che:k’tles7et’h’, said in a statement.

“Our treaty has fast-tracked our path to independence and self-reliance in the aftermath of the residential school era and Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. We no longer look to or are controlled by INAC, we are now fully accountable to ourselves, for our own destiny.”

The Maa-nulth are part of Vancouver Island’s 14-member Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, but the five bands decided to negotiate a treaty as a separate group after an earlier Nuu-chah-nulth treaty failed.

The agreement is only the second modern-day treaty in B.C., where unlike other provinces the colonial government for the most part did not sign treaties with First Nations hundreds of years ago as they settled the land. The two-year-old Tsawwassen First Nation treaty was the first, while the majority of native bands in the province are still waiting.

There are currently 60 B.C. First Nations in treaty talks, with seven in the final stages, although the pace of successful negotiations has slowed to a near standstill in recent years.

The Maa-nulth, however, will continue celebrations of their treaty and gather Saturday for a ceremony involving representatives of the provincial and federal governments, as well as the B.C. Treaty Commission.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version said government representatives and the B.C. Treaty Commission will gather today for a celebration, and that the bands represent 2,100 people.
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Buffalo Field Campaign is the only group working in the field
and in the policy arena to protect America's last wild bison.
Dear Sharon,
Buffalo Field Campaign is happy to announce the return of our immensely popular Mother's Day card fundraiser. With the recent passing of barb abramo, BFC's Office Coordinator and one of two women who gave incredible amounts of time, energy, and passion to make this project possible, we weren't sure if we would be able to offer cards this year. But when Kathleen Stachowski--the artist whose vision and dedication gave rise to this popular fundraiser--told us that she wanted to make a special card this year, we knew that it would be the perfect way to honor barb's memory.
For just $15 Buffalo Field Campaign will send one of these beautifully designed and hand-colored cards to the recipient of your choice. Please scroll down for all the details and remember that the deadline for ordering is Monday, April 25. We will send the cards to arrive by Mother's Day, May 8.
Click on photo to view full size image.
Spring is the season of rebirth, and this year’s card embraces the miracle! Our hand-made, hand-colored Mother’s Day card features a copy of an original drawing—a flower bedecked baby bison—and a Walt Whitman quote: “As to me, I know of nothing else but miracles.”
The sentiment inside reads:
“Where there is great love there are always miracles.”~Willa Cather
A gift has been made in your honor by
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to further the work of Buffalo Field Campaign for a miraculous animal.
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!
The drawing, entitled “barb’s baby bison,” is a loving tribute to BFC’s recently departed Office Coordinator barb abramo (who insisted on no capital letters). While never a mother herself, she was heartily committed to all endeavors to raise babies—human or animal—in peace.
When you send a card to the special women in your life—whether or not they are mothers—you celebrate the miracle of spring, the miracle of birth and rebirth that is our shared experience, and the miracle of a new generation of bison—born into the only place on Earth where a wild bison herd has survived continuously since prehistoric times. You also fund the work of BFC as we protect and defend these shaggy miracles.
Our cards, suitable for all the nurturing women in your life, are copies of a hand-drawn original; each one is colored by hand. For your minimum donation of $15 per card, we'll send one to the recipient(s) of your choice, timed to arrive before Mother's Day. (A note on the envelope flap will advise the recipient to open on May 8th!)
Our card-maker has committed to crafting a limited number of cards; to ensure that your special recipient receives a BFC card, please order early.
To place your order, click HERE or send a $15 check or money order (no cash please) to Buffalo Field Campaign, PO Box 957, West Yellowstone, MT 59758. We must receive your order by Monday, April 25. Remember to clearly state the name and address of the person/people you'd like us to send the card to as well as any message you'd like us to write in the card.
For the Buffalo,
Dan Brister
Executive Director
Buffalo Field Campaign
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Youtube postings of our latest actions in Toronto, late March - please share and post

Toronto March 26 Public Lecture by Kevin Annett on his family in the 1837 Rebellion in Upper Canada, and how Tory dictatorship still runs Canada and caused the indigenous genocide:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf5GI74AwTE&feature=related

Sunday March 27th 2011 Protest at Toronto churches by the Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared in memory of the murdered residential school children:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YmtZezRHgk

See the evidence of Genocide in Canada at www.hiddennolonger.com and on the website of The International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State at www.itccs.org .
Watch Kevin's award-winning documentary film UNREPENTANT on his website www.hiddenfromhistory.org
"If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters."~ Frederick Douglass
"We will bring to light the hidden works of darkness and drive falsity to the bottomless pit. For all doctrines founded in fraud or nursed by fear shall be confounded by Truth."
- Kevin's ancestor Peter Annett, writing in The Free Inquirer, October 17, 1761, just before being imprisoned by the English crown for "blasphemous libel"
"I gave Kevin Annett his Indian name, Eagle Strong Voice, in 2004 when I adopted him into our Anishinabe Nation. He carries that name proudly because he is doing the job he was sent to do, to tell his people of their wrongs. He speaks strongly and with truth. He speaks for our stolen and murdered children. I ask everyone to listen to him and welcome him."
Chief Louis Daniels - Whispers Wind
Elder, Turtle Clan, Anishinabe Nation, Winnipeg, Manitoba

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: URGENT! Glen Cove Sacred Mound Under Attack Again from City of Vallejo, Ca -
A Call from Wounded Knee DeOcampoby Rob Dunaway on Monday, April 4, 2011
I just spoke with Wounded Knee DeOcampo by phone after receiving an e-mail that the Glen Cove Mound is under attack again. He stated that the city has claimed that they were going back in to remove portions of the mound or use chemicals on it by the middle of April. He does not trust that quote, as we have seen with other mounds, time tables are usually given to throw protests or actions off. He is beginng a round the clock watch on the site, and he is calling for help from everyone in the area. He states that the talk has gone long enough, and they have approached the city over and over again to stop this destruction and disrespect. According to Wounded, the city does not have enough money to maintain the parks because they are bankrupt, yet they have enough money to tear a mound down and build another park for the wealthy communities who live around the site.
We have listed the offices and city leaders on our site, http://www.facebook.com/l/cb3a2bDIZj9Oa8PPxcXcDUklOpg/www.strongheartpreservationmovement.com, and you can find the information under "Sacred Sites that Need Saved." Scroll down from the mound in Oxford, Alabama, and you will see the contact information, information regarding the Glen Cove, and articles concerning what is going on there.

The League of Indian Nations of North America and The International Parliament of Safety and Peace are going to be working on letters for the city. We have written them several times, and we will continue to do so. Please call, write, go in the building and ask questions, or whatever you can do to make the city stop. Also, if you know of a good lawyer in the area, please let Wounded know. I will also accept information and connect you with Wounded if you do not know how to get in touch with him. As Wounded states concerning Native heritage, "Our ancestors are crying. There is no more time for talk."
Here is the contact information for the city:
Let your voice be heard! Please send your emails to the following recipients:
Mayor of Vallejo, Osby Davis
eMail: mayor@ci.vallejo.ca.us
NOTE: Please include us in your eMail (cc: peaceWalk@helloWorld.com) so we can make a hard copy that can be personally delivered to each member of the Vallejo City Council, the Greater Vallejo Recreation District (G.V.R.D.), the Vallejo Times-Herald Newspaper, and "The Land People," the construction company, operated by Randy Anderson, contracted to do the work.
To contact the Vallejo Inter-tribal Council directly, please call or write:
Wounded Knee DeOcampo
400 Keats Drive
Vallejo, CA 94591
Comments should focus on why permits should not be issued to grade and blade the area which is rich in cultural resources and is a major burial site. Of course also mention objections to adding toilets and a parking lot on top of or near a burial site.

You can also request to be notified of all opportunities to comment on the proposed Glen Cove Development. Comments should go to GVRD General Manager Shane McAffee, eMail: smcaffee@gvrd.org

Also, cc your comments to the Mayor of Vallejo, Osby Davis. eMail: Mayor@ci.vallejo.ca.us
Thanks for spreading the word!

Rob Dunaway
Strong Heart Preservation Movement
Counselour for League of Indian Nations of North America
International Parliament of Safety and Peace
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BREAKING NEWS: LAKOTA ELDER OCCUPATION, PRAYER VIGIL, ILLEGALLY REMOVED UNDER COVER OF NIGHT!
Cante Tenza Okolakiciye - Strong Heart Warrior Society
Free & Independent Lakota Nation
Box 512, Hill City, South Dakota 57745 | 605-454-0449 or 605-517-1547
http://www.facebook.com/l/cb3a2iuP9Xw9rmfQvdNzzfDOamg/www.lakotaoyate.net | Facebook “Lakota Oyate” | Twitter @CanteTenza
Strong Heart Internet Radio News at http://www.facebook.com/l/cb3a2RpfR7fKLf-8fidRbJvlzwQ/audioboo.fm/CanteTenza
MEDIA RELEASE
April 6, 2011: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Naomi Archer (Strong Heart media liaison) 828-230-1404
Contact: Doris Respects Nothing (elder’s legal advocate) 605-407-9654
Contact: Lorraine White Face Eagle Elk (elder) 605-441-0086
ELDER’S OCCUPATION DAY 34
LAKOTA ELDER OCCUPATION, PRAYER VIGIL, ILLEGALLY REMOVED UNDER COVER OF NIGHT!
OST President, Tribal Attorney Had Guaranteed Protection, Order Comes From Kyle Judge
BREAKING NEWS Elder’s Occupation, Porcupine Elderly Meals Building, Pine Ridge Reservation, SD – At 2:30am, under the cover of night, Oglala Sioux Tribe (OST) Public Safety police removed the Elder’s Occupation at the Porcupine Meals for the Elderly building by threat of overwhelming force. No arrests were made, and the young warriors defending the building did not resist the large number of police who arrived.
The peaceful elderly sit-in and prayer vigil seeking remedy for elder abuse, neglect, and fraud began on March 4th and is in its 34th day.
Elder Lorraine White Face Eagle Elk had stepped away from the building for a short time, and when she tried to re-enter was told she would be arrested. Other elders had returned home last night in order to get a good nights sleep before today’s continuing legal motions involving their occupation and the false imprisonment of Duane Martin Sr.
“Tribal Attorney Mario Gonzalez said the elders [sit-in] were protected by the Older Americans Act on the council floor [March 31],” explained Doris Respects Nothing, legal advocate for the elders. “Someone has overstepped their authority.”
OST President John Yellow-Bird Steele had also assured elders that no action would be taken against them.
Abusive retaliation against elders participating in Federally funded elder programming is prohibited by The Older American’s Act. The American with Disabilities Act expressly protects the whistle-blowers of discrimination, and the False Claims Act protects whistle-blowers of fraud involving Federal money. Elders claim that over one million dollars in U.S. grant or contract funds may be missing from the Elderly Meals Program.
The court order that removed the occupation reportedly came from Judge Fred Cedar Face in Kyle, South Dakota, apparently avoiding a Pine Ridge Judiciary that is facing an increasing level of outside scrutiny for delaying action on the elder’s complaints of abuse and fraud as well as the politically motivated prosecution of whistle-blower and elder advocate Duane Martin Sr. The order was also served in the early morning hours, outside of normal court procedure.
“What was so bad that they had to do it in the illegal hours of the night,” Respects Nothing questioned. “It should have been served in the daylight.”
The court order removing the sit-in also references a code that no protest can occur within 100 feet of any tribal building. Elders say their action is not a protest, but a prayer vigil and sit-in to get relief for their claims. Traditional Lakota ceremony, prayers, honoring of the sacred canupa (pipe), as well as hosting the Longest Walk prayer run over the recent weekend are all examples of the religious nature of their sit-in.
Also, according to the 2007 United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous people have right to full access of their lands and resources, as well as traditional social customs and judiciary practices.
Chief of Police Pat Mills reportedly told those being removed from the elderly meals site last night the police would have come in the daytime, but it would have been, “more of a problem.” Advocates point out police action in the middle of the day when more elders were present would indeed have been a problem as each act to threaten or physically remove an elderly whistle-blower would be a crime under both OST Law and Order Code and Federal law.
For months leading up to the peaceful sit-in, elders repeatedly sought relief from OST Tribal Council, officials, and Porcupine District officials for their abuse claims, but to no avail.
“We tried to have meetings with them, but when we went [to the meals building] the doors were locked,” shared duly elected Porcupine Elderly Meals president Enoch Brings Plenty. “ They called the police on us and chased some of them elderly away from there.”
Additional actions seeking remedy from multiple claims of elder abuse, neglect, fraud, and discrimination were rebuffed by OST tribal officials, and legal retaliation from the OST Judiciary was used. Continued neglect from OST and Porcupine officials resulted in the peaceful sit-in which began on March 4, 2011 and is currently in its 34th day.
“There has been discrimination against the elders – they have been abused,” added Brings Plenty. “The elders have every right to be in the building. Tribal council recognized that, that’s why we are here.”
Legal advocates for the elders will be seeking an immediate dismissal of Judge Cedar Face’s order in Pine Ridge court today so the sit-in can continue without police intervention. The elders have stated they will continue their prayer vigil for as long as necessary until they get relief for the claims of abuse and fraud and until elder advocate Duane Martin Sr. is released.
Information on the elder-led sit-in and vigil in Porcupine can be found at “Lakota Oyate” on Facebook or http://www.facebook.com/l/cb3a2iuP9Xw9rmfQvdNzzfDOamg/www.lakotaoyate.net.
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Cante Tenza Okolakiciye also known as the Strong Heart Warrior Society of the Lakota Nation is an ancient Lakota warrior society as well as a broad-based civil rights movement that works to protect, enforce and restore treaty rights, civil rights, and sovereignty of Native people and their communities across Turtle Island. In addition to activist efforts to protect the land and people, each year Cante Tenza collects and freely distributes shoes, winter coats, school supplies, food, and other support to Oglala Lakota elders, children and families.
http://www.facebook.com/l/cb3a2iuP9Xw9rmfQvdNzzfDOamg/www.lakotaoyate.net | “Lakota Oyate” on Facebook

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Posted By: Tjay Henhawk
To: Members in First Nations & Aboriginal Rights
Voyageurs left TB time bomb with First Nations
A distinctive tuberculosis strain was left by 18th century Voyageurs in remote Aboriginal communities along their trade routes and still plagues those communities today, new research shows.
Remote First Nations communities in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta share the same dominant strain of the infectious lung disease because they all got it from French Canadian fur traders in the 1700s — a century before any TB epidemics were reported in those communities, says a study published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The research shows that tuberculosis spread by a brief historical interaction can stay dormant in a community for 100 years or more before emerging as an epidemic, said Caitlin Pepperell, the Canadian researcher at Stanford University who led the study.
"It points out why it's so difficult to eradicate TB," she added in an interview Wednesday.
Pepperell, who is originally from Toronto, has been studying TB epidemics in aboriginal populations for about five years.
During an earlier study, she noticed that DNA fingerprints from remote Ontario and Saskatchewan communities were very similar to each other, "which I thought was odd, because they're very distant populations," she said.
'To have a single strain...that's so dominant is really unusual.'—David Alexander
It was also peculiar because TB has thousands of strains across Canada, said David Alexander, a molecular microbiologist with the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion and assistant professor at the University of Toronto. He was one of 12 Canadian and U.S. researchers who co-authored the study.
In urban areas like Toronto, every infection usually belongs to a different strain, Alexander said: "To have a single strain or a single variant that's so dominant is really unusual."
Pepperell suspected that the Ontario and Saskatchewan communities' location along historical fur trade routes was the common link between them.
With help from researchers in Ontario, Alberta and Quebec, Pepperell analyzed genes from the bacterium that causes tuberculosis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis or M. tb, from the French Canadian population of Quebec and Aboriginal populations outside urban areas in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta over the past 20 years. However, the data from Manitoba was too limited to do the type of analysis done for the other provinces. Pepperell then compared the genetic data to trade routes used by the voyageurs.
Brief, ancient contact
Only a few thousand French Canadian voyageurs were involved in trading furs with Aboriginal populations between 1710 and 1870, resulting in close trade relationships and intermarriages. After that, French Canadians had almost no contact with those distant, isolated Aboriginal communities.
In Canada, there are thousands of strains of the infectious lung disease tuberculosis. But one particular strain dominates in remote First Nations communities in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta. In Canada, there are thousands of strains of the infectious lung disease tuberculosis. But one particular strain dominates in remote First Nations communities in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta. (Associated Press)And yet, genetic data in Pepperell's study showed that the French Canadian population of Quebec was the source of the dominant tuberculosis strain in found Aboriginal populations along former fur trade routes today. It also showed that the original transmission took place in the 1700s.
"It's surprising that the signals of these 18th century historical events are so clear in the genetic data," Pepperell said.
No large-scale TB epidemics were reported in Aboriginal communities until the late 1800s and early 1900s — about 100 years after the disease was first transmitted to them.
The researchers suggested that means tuberculosis can be spread widely by a small number of people in the absence of epidemics. Epidemics could arise later when the environment changed in a way that allows tuberculosis to thrive - for example, if conditions become crowded or social, housing or health conditions deteriorate.
That's because TB requires very close contact to spread and most healthy people infected with TB do not become sick, Alexander said. However, the disease can emerge later if an infected person is put under stress.
Pepperell said the study helps researchers understand how TB works and moves between populations, and may be useful to policy makers interested in curbing the spread of TB

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Campo Santo How Does the County of Los Angeles Handle Human Remains?
Posted: April 7th, 2011
In one of the haunting legacies of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, the remains of 1,123 of the victims, 41 percent of the total, have not been identified, leaving many of their relatives yearning for closure. At the same time, nearly 10 years later, 9,041 pieces of human remains — mainly bone fragments but also tissue that has been dehydrated for preservation — are still being sorted through by the city’s medical examiner . . . .
How to handle remains is one of the most delicate questions that confront those trying to commemorate the darker chapters of human history. Over the past 20 years, museums across the country have grappled with how to repatriate Native American skeletons, scalps and bones to their tribal heirs, as prescribed by a 1990 federal law. At its inception, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington debated whether to display human hair from the Nazi death camps, and decided not to when some survivors felt it would be offensive.
In Oklahoma City, unidentified remains of the 168 victims of the 1995 bombing are buried under a grove of 168 trees on the State Capitol complex — two and a half miles from the museum chronicling the events. In Shanksville, Pa., where Flight 93 crashed on Sept. 11, only family members are allowed access to the crash site, which is assumed to contain some remains of the 40 passengers and crew members, though there will eventually be an elaborate memorial open to the public surrounding it. At Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, ashes from the Nazi death camps are kept in the Hall of Remembrance, separate from the museum, which turns away people who bring remains from the fields surrounding the camps. . . .
“When you go to the genocide museum in Phnom Penh, when you go to genocide museums all around Rwanda, there have been decisions in those places to present corpses, skulls, evidence of human remains. When you go to Auschwitz, the entire facility is made up of human remains[," according to Alice Greenwald, the head of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum underneath where the twin towers stood.]
Read the rest of this story on the dispute over victims’ remains at the 9/11 museum in the New York Times . . .
How has the County of Los Angeles handled the unearthing of 118 sets of human remains and artifacts, including Native American remains and artifacts, at El Pueblo Campo Santo since October 28, 2010? By moving the remains and artifacts in over 300 garbage bags and buckets, first to California State University at Los Angeles and then to the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History. By not disclosing the truth to anyone after five months. By not engaging in respectful government to government consultation with Native Americans and other impacted descendants. By denying Native Americans full and fair access to the site of Campo Santo and the remains and artifacts. By defying federal and state laws. By “dining and dancing” at the site of the excavations at a gala on April 9 . . .
Imagine the public reaction if the County of Los Angeles and LPCA had been in charge of handling the remains from 9/11 at Ground Zero and Shanksville, Pennsylvania . . . At the federal building in Oklahoma . . . At the Holocaust museums and memorials in Washington and Jerusalem . . .
Click here to read archeologist Prof. Paul Langenwalter’s testimony before the Native American Heritage Commission on March 28, 2011 about the excavations at Campo Santo. Prof. Langenwalter testified that the remains were being removed piecemeal; legs, skulls, and beads were separated; accepted archeological practices were not followed; and the supervisor’s office put undue pressure to keep going despite the unearthing of human remains. Prof. Langenwalter testified that there was reason to believe the remains and artifacts included Native American remains and artifacts. He pulled his archeology students from the site after a few days rather than associate them and Biola University with the devastation. Prof. Langenwalter concluded:
I hope that this will result in a full day-lighting of all excavation records, all documentary records that are associated with the project. That these will be evaluated by an independent third party. That the human remains will be fully reconstructed and studied archaeologically and then properly reentered with respect. Also, that the Native American community can be allowed access to the Native American remains.
Click here to read archeologist Monica Strauss’s testimony before the Native American Heritage Commission on March 28, 2011. Ms. Strauss testified that she was “flabbergasted” by the way human remains were unearthed because conventional archeological practices were not followed.
Click here to learn about archeological best practice examples: the African American Burial Ground in New York City and the original site of Jamestown.
Visit www.saveancestors.org and www.savecamposanto.org and www.saveyaangna.org and www.cityprojectca.org/blog for regular updates.

Robert García
President and Counsel
The City Project
1055 Wilshire Avenue, Suite 1660
Los Angeles, CA 90017
rgarcia@cityprojectca.org
213-260-1035
Visit our web page and blog at
www.cityprojectca.org

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Buffalo Field Campaign is the only group working in the field
and in the policy arena to protect America's last wild buffalo.
Buffalo Field Campaign
Yellowstone Bison
Update from the Field
April 7, 2011

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* Urgent Action Needed Now!
* Send a Mother's Day Card to Help the Buffalo
* Contacting APHIS for Bull Buffalo
* Buffalo in the News
* By the Numbers
* Last Words
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* Urgent Action Needed Now!
A wild buffalo cow walks alone in the Gardiner Basin, seeking to join friends below. BFC file photo. Click photo for larger image.
Dear Friends of the Buffalo,
This week we have an urgent call to action for your help in protecting America's last wild buffalo. More than 660 wild American buffalo are now held in traps by the National Park Service. They urgently need your help.
First, buffalo need you to contact Members of Congress requesting that they co-sign a letter to National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis encouraging Yellowstone National Park to find habitats for wild buffalo to roam. Take Action Now!
Second, several bills that would cause great harm to wild bison and bison restoration efforts in Montana have moved through the Montana Legislature. Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer has hinted that he may veto these bad bills. Americans everywhere should contact Governor Schweitzer asking him to veto HB 318, SB 174, SB 184, and SB 212. Take Action Now!
Your consistent pressure applied to decision-makers on behalf of America's last wild buffalo is really making a positive difference. Just this week the agencies finalized an agreement to have "greater tolerance" for wild bison in the Gardiner Basin. While we are still waiting to see the details of this agreemeent, we remain optimistic that it is a step in the right direction, though we do not like the idea of a 'drop-dead zone' north of Yankee Jim Canyon, the arbitrary May 15 deadline at which this "tolerance" abruptly ends, nor the idea of hundreds more buffalo being killed in the hunt. We will continue to monitor the situation in the field and will let you know what this agreement looks like on the ground for the buffalo.
It is critical that we keep the pressure on! Thank you for taking action to protect the buffalo and their descendants, and for honoring them as a valued wildlife species with a birthright to freely roam Montana and elsewhere.
Roam Free!
Dan Brister
Executive Director
Buffalo Field Campaign
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* Send a Mother's Day Card to Help the Buffalo
Buffalo Field Campaign is happy to announce the return of our immensely popular Mother's Day card fundraiser. With the recent passing of barb abramo, BFC's Office Coordinator and one of two women who gave incredible amounts of time, energy, and passion to make this project possible, we weren't sure if we would be able to offer cards this year. But when Kathleen Stachowski--the artist whose vision and dedication gave rise to this popular fundraiser--told us that she wanted to make a special card this year, we knew that it would be the perfect way to honor barb's memory.
For just $15 Buffalo Field Campaign will send one of these beautifully designed and hand-colored cards to the recipient of your choice. Please use this link to view and order cards and remember that the deadline for ordering is Monday, April 25. We will send the cards to arrive by Mother's Day, May 8.
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* Contacting APHIS for Bull Buffalo
Thank you all for contacting APHIS and MTFWP about their unsavory and unnecessary bull bison study. Your messages are making an impact. In fact, we've been getting calls from APHIS asking us to back off a bit. Good work! Apparently, Becky Frey, the APHIS scientist who is actively molesting bull buffalo, has put in some complaints, claiming that some of the messages she's receiving contain "threatening" language. Some of you may have even received responses from special agents with the Office of the Inspector General, complete with warnings. We've also been sent a few examples, and have been hard pressed to find anything that would qualify as "threatening." APHIS seems to believe they are above public reproach, and are forgetting that as a federal agency they are accountable to the people and that the actions they take are absolutely up for public scrutiny. We encourage you to keep writing APHIS, and would never condone any type of censorship. Nor would Buffalo Field Campaign ever encourage violent or threatening language of any type. The bull buffalo are the ones being threatened by the APHIS study. They are the ones that need protection from harm.
APHIS did come to West Yellowstone last week, looking for bulls to molest. But it seems that weather has been working in the buffalo's favor. APHIS was unable to travel the landscape successfully and we've not seen them around in a number of days. It is also possible that your letters are making it uncomfortable for APHIS to swarm into our backyard with the intent of harming bull buffalo.
Keep the pressure on!
Watch BFC's video
Contact FWP's Wildlife Chief Ken McDonald and urge him to revoke APHIS's permit
Contact Becky Frey, APHIS, and tell her she is not welcome to molest bulls buffalo on our public lands or anywhere else!
Don't let any more bull buffalo become needless victims of APHIS's experimental study! BFC file photo by Cindee. Click photo for larger image.
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* Buffalo in the News
Obituary: barb abramo
West Yellowstone News
Buffalo Field Campaign: On-the-ground Activism
Bozeman Daily Chronicle
LETTER: Step Up to Save America's Wild Bison
The Examiner
LETTER: Buffalo Important Part of Our Heritage
Billings Gazette
Agreement to let Yellowstone bison roam in southern Montana, where hunting would increase
Associated Press, The Canadian Press
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* By the Numbers
AMERICAN BUFFALO ELIMINATED from the last wild population in the U.S. The last wild population is currently estimated at fewer than 3,700 individual buffalo.
2010-2011 Total: 221
2010-2011 Government Capture: 659
2010-2011 Government Slaughter:
2010-2011 Died In Government Trap: 3
2010-2011 Miscarriage in Government Trap: 1
2010-2011 State & Treaty Hunts: 211
2010-2011 Quarantine: 0
2010-2011 Shot by Agents: 2
2010-2011 Highway Mortality: 5
2009-2010 Total: 7
2008-2009 Total: 22
2007-2008 Total: 1,631
* Total Since 2000: 3,932*
*includes lethal government action, trap-related fatalities, quarantine, hunts, highway mortality
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* Last Words
"Not all who wander are lost."
~J.R.R. Tolkein
Do you have submissions for Last Words? Send them to bfc-media@wildrockies.org. Thank you for all the poems, songs, quotes, and stories you have been sending; you'll see them here!
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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
Join Buffalo Field Campaign -- It's Free!
Tell-a-Friend!
Take Action!
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: Two more days until the Spirit Run! Prayer in Motion through the sacred sites of West L A
This will be a Relay Prayer Run done in an Indigenous ceremonial fashion and be Westside L.A. specific. It will start with a Sunrise Ceremony at Ballona Wetlands (Huaxpet/Sa'agna) near Linoln & jefferson Blvds. in Playa del Rey. The Sunrise ceremony will be conducted by Tongva representaive(s), the Indigenous people of the L.A. Basin.
The Spirit Runners will run Relay, either individually, or in small teams carrying their energy and prayers through the streets, neighborhoods, and Sacred Sites of West Los Angeles .
It will culminate early afternoon at Kuruvunga Springs on the campus of University High School in West Los Angeles where we will enjoy food & drink, ceremonial dancing, and a few educational guest speakers.
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Good day Relatives!
All is good, please believe it…Two more days until the Spirit Run!
FOCUS on your visions and intentions that you want to plant for the 4 Corners community and any aspect of your life that needs prayers and assistance. Also, review the homepage of the website to get reacquainted with the focus and purpose(s) of the run. http://www.facebook.com/l/3944a-DDd6ApbRCmnQQH92aTpOQ/www.spiritrun.ws
Please, please review the Guidelines and Route. It is very important that we are on the same page and unified with protocol and information as much as possible. http://www.facebook.com/l/3944aZ0bndPpakTBLq_oeEuw9hA/www.spiritrun.ws/guidelines.pdf http://www.facebook.com/l/3944aEvKoEt7m2RpfMZ1v7LyvZw/www.spiritrun.ws/route.pdf
There will be water, fruit, and some snacks available but please bring your own supply in case we are short.
Don’t forget to bring you’re Children too, everyone is welcomed and has a role, child or elder.
If we have not contacted you via phone please be patient. If we miss on contacting you please do come anyway! We are all helpful and friendly people. Just make sure you check in when you get there with me (Miguel), Gina, Sandy, or Ozzy.
Any questions or concerns please call us.
Ahau..tlazocamatli, gracias, thank you!
Miguel 310-425-4141
Sandy 310-703-7506
Gina 310-266-2810
Ozzy 310-500-7339
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MESSAGE FROM DENNIS BANKS RE. THE LONGEST WALK..DONATIONS NEEDED
Friday, April 15 at 11:30pm - April 16 at 2:30am
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Location http://www.facebook.com/l/b795b1xtetMB55OXhD_mB9oQIdQ/longestwalk3.com
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Created By Dennis Banks
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More Info We are in immediate need of funds for food, water, medical supplies, shelter, gas and auto upkeep. We will be walking acrosss America for a total of 5 months - 5400 miles

OSDA SUNALEI AGIDOI ALE AGILVGI OSDA!
GOOD MORNING GUYS N DOLLS!
PLEASE HELP MR. DENNIS BANKS AND THE LONGEST WALKERS TO COMPLETE THEIR JOURNEY. SUPPLIES ARE NEEDED SUCH AS WATER, FOOD, GASOLINE. YOU CAN DONATE WITH ANY MAJOR CREDIT CARD. JUST GO TO HTTP://LONGESTWALK3.COM ... IT IS THAT SIMPLE. EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS.
MR. BANKS HAS DEDICATED HIS LIFE TO WIPING OUT DIABETES, WHICH IS THE 3RD LARGEST KILLER OF AMERICAN INDIANS, IN OUR LIFE TIME. DIABETES IS RAMPANT IN MY FAMILY AND I CAN ATTEST TO THE HORRORS OF THIS DEADLY DISEASE.
MANY BLESSINGS TO ALL FOR YOUR KINDNESS AND GENEROSITY.
DONADA GOHV,GAGEVI, NOQUISI
LOVE TO ALL! STAR
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: ITS GIVE AWAY SUNDAY AT RED SHOULDER COUNCIL! MR. DENNIS BANKS NEEDS DONATIONS TO CONTINUE THE LON
osda sunalei agidoi ale agilvgi osda!
good moring brother & sisters!
as always, its GIVE AWAY SUNDAY! if you can share, do share. please send clothing, shoes, emergency items, school supplies, pampers, etc. to a reservation of your choice. go to http://www.facebook.com/l/bb892gcF2fvKnWgCnKqye_P0Y3Q/indians.org and pick one. locate a school on that rez and send a package there. do not send to tribal offices or any specific individual. if you send to a school, the people will be sure to get the items. many elders are in need and the schools will be happy to distribute to them.
PLEASE HELP MR. DENNIS BANKS AND THE LONGEST WALKERS TO COMPLETE THEIR JOURNEY. SUPPLIES ARE NEEDED SUCH AS WATER, FOOD, GASOLINE. YOU CAN DONATE WITH ANY MAJOR CREDIT CARD. JUST GO TO HTTP://LONGESTWALK3.COM/ ... IT IS THAT SIMPLE. EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS.
MR. BANKS HAS DEDICATED HIS LIFE TO WIPING OUT DIABETES, WHICH IS THE 3RD LARGEST KILLER OF AMERICAN INDIANS, IN OUR LIFE TIME. DIABETES IS RAMPANT IN MY FAMILY AND I CAN ATTEST TO THE HORRORS OF THIS DEADLY DISEASE.
***diabetic testing supplies, blood pressure cuffs, eyeglasses, hearing aids, canes, walkers, wheelchairs are always in demand. if yu can donate, please do. baby supplies are also an item that is always needed. car seats, strollers, cribs, can always be recycled as long as they are in safe, useable, clean condition.***
please continue to send cards to mighty max. let's help him reach his goal of 1 million cards!
remember, if you cannot donate blood, you can always help with a blood drive and donate cookies and juice and bottled water to your local american red cross.
please keep yolanda tahy and her daughter in your prayers. yolanda is suffering from pneumonia and her daughter has been stricken with a brain illness. they desperately need our support, love and prayers.
please check the home wall for those in need of prayer. many of our members have been stricken with illness and hard times. keep each other in your prayers, this is a divine and precious way of giving love.
blessings to all, have a safe and wonderful week. never ever drink and drive.
love to all,
gagevi,
star
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Posted By: Tjay Henhawk
To: Members in First Nations & Aboriginal Rights
First Nations leaders launch voting campaign, Taiaiake Alfred: "Bullshit"
The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs is launching a campaign to encourage more First Nations people to vote in the upcoming federal election.
Grand Chief Ron Evans, actor/comedians Lorne Cardinal and Craig Lauzon, authors Ian Ross (Joe from Winnipeg) and Beatrice Mosionier (April Raintree) and many others gathered today to launch the “I Am First Nation and I Vote” campaign.
On average, less than one-third of the voter population on First Nation communities in Manitoba cast a ballot in the last federal election.
n partnership with the Indigenous Leadership Development Institute and the Dakota Ojibway Tribal Council, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs is encouraging all First Nation people to vote in the federal election, May 2, and participate in the census on May 10.
“Many First Nation people live in third world conditions and think that nothing will ever change,” says Grand Chief Evans. “By voting, by filling in the census, basically by using our democratic rights, we can and will make a difference.
“We know that other Canadians support us and will do the same when they vote.”
The AMC wants to boost those numbers with a campaign called 'I Am First Nation and I Vote.'
Winnipeg's Amber-Rae Wood, 26, is an international model who is one of the faces of the campaign. She said she wants to help change the perception that aboriginal people feel their vote doesn't count.
"I just think maybe it's just a lack of confidence that they can actually make a change — and just to empower themselves," she said.
Taiaiake Alfred, a professor at the University of Victoria, stated in an interview to CBC radio that efforts to induce indigenous peoples to vote is "bullshit." (See Column in this section.)
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CherokeeLink Newsletter
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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=4/11/2011

AOL - 4/11/2011 Newsletter
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Osiyo,
Watch the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council Meeting tonight at 6:00, CST streamed on the internet at http://www.cherokee.org/NewsRoom/StreamingEvents.aspx?Tab=NewsRoom
You have until May 13, 2011 to request an Absentee Ballot for the Cherokee Nation elections. Cherokee Nation registered voters may download an application here: http://www.cherokee.org/docs/electioncommission/2011_Absentee_request.pdf

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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Chief Proposes Adding $14 million to Cherokee Nation Budget for Health and Other Services: 4/8/2011
(C) Cherokee Nation
The legislative branch of the Cherokee Nation voted last week in committee to move forward with a budget modification proposed by Principal Chief Chad Smith that increases the tribe’s budget by more than $14 million.
http://www.cherokee.org/news.aspx?id=3566
Native-Inspired Nike Shoes Available through Cherokee Nation at a Discount: 4/6/2011 9:25:00 AM
(C) Cherokee Nation
The Cherokee Nation is offering an opportunity for Native people to order unique athletic shoes at a deeply discounted price. Those interested will be able to order men’s and women’s Nike N7 shoes on Friday, April 29, and Saturday, April 30, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Tahlequah at the Cherokee Nation Male Seminary Recreation Center.
http://www.cherokee.org/news.aspx?id=3565
Global Agency Affirms Cherokee Nation’s High Credit Rating: 4/6/2011 8:20:00 AM
(C) Cherokee Nation
The Cherokee Nation's good credit rating was reaffirmed recently in a report released by Fitch Ratings, an agency that provides investors with credit opinions of organizations around the world.
http://www.cherokee.org/news.aspx?id=3563
Native-inspired Nike Shoes Available Through Cherokee Nation at a Discount: 4/6/2011
(C) Cherokee Nation
The Cherokee Nation is offering an opportunity for Native people to order unique athletic shoes at a deeply discounted price. Those interested will be able to order men’s and women’s Nike N7 shoes on Friday, April 29, and Saturday, April 30, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Tahlequah at the Cherokee Nation Male Seminary Recreation Center, 1501 Graham Ave. Available in the offer are the new men’s black N7 and the new women’s white N7.
http://www.cherokee.org/news.aspx?id=3564
Cherokee Nation Accepting Cherokee Promise Scholarship Applications: 4/5/2011 4:43:00 PM
(C) Cherokee Nation
Cherokee Nation is accepting applications for its innovative new Cherokee Promise Scholarship until Friday, April 29. The Cherokee Promise provides financial assistance to low-income Cherokee students pursuing higher education at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah.
http://www.cherokee.org/news.aspx?id=3562
Sequoyah Schools Dean Earns Doctoral Degree: 4/5/2011 8:34:00 AM
(C) Cherokee Nation
Sequoyah Schools’ Dean of Academics Geary Don Crofford recently earned his doctoral degree from the University of Oklahoma.
http://www.cherokee.org/news.aspx?id=3561
Cherokee Nation Stilwell - Tahlequah Transit Schedule Adds Stops: 4/4/2011 11:54:00 AM
(C) Cherokee Nation
In response to user feedback, Cherokee Nation has changed its “park-n-ride” schedule for the Stilwell to Tahlequah route. The new route adds stops at the Cherokee Nation’s Male Seminary Family Recreation Center and Northeastern State University. The route will no longer stop at the Cherokee Nation courthouse.
http://www.cherokee.org/news.aspx?id=3559
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**** Other Links of Interest ****
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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 ****
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1967: Cherokee Foundation formed to purchase land for tribal complex
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Fwd: Request from Arvol Looking Horse and World Peace Day
Posted by: "Christina Rose"
Mon Apr 11, 2011 7:52 am (PDT)


If you are interested in attending World Peace Day in Minnesota or hosting a World Peace event in your own community, see the link below and download the event poster attached.
World Peace Day is an annual international day of prayer.
I have also received a request for a decent car to be donated to Arvol Looking Horse's 501 C3 tax deductible organization in South Dakota. Arvol and Paula's own car is no longer operable and it is becoming difficult for them to attend the events to promote peace. As most surely know, Arvol Looking Horse is considered by many to be the spiritual leader of the Lakota people, and he is the keeper of the Sacred Pipe given by the White Buffalo Calf Woman so many generations ago.
For more information about World Peace Day and Arvol Looking Horse, please visit their website noted below. I am forwarding the poster but if you cannot download it, just write to me and I will send it individually. You can also contact them personally by writing to paula "at" wolakota.org.
Respectfully,
Christine Rose
-----Original Message-----
From: Paula Horne-Mullen
To: Christina Rose Sent: Wed, Apr 6, 2011 11:38 am
Thank you for your interest in praying united for Mother Earth's healing!
Here is a poster, one to activate your own site.
If your organization can sponsor a mailing to Peace Centers, Tribal groups, environmental organizations, Religious Groups, etc..this help would be appreciated in getting as many places in the world activated and alert the People how they an help.
Www.worldpeaceandprayerday2011.org
Tail Feather Woman Information of the Ride that is happening as well June 6th-18th.
INFORMATION, FYI:
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Throughout history many great men leaders are revered, but seldom are the great women remembered.
All women are sacred and remembered as a whole for what they gave and sacrificed as the ‘back bone’ for the People.
Wiyaka Sinte Win (Tail Feather Woman) is deserving of additional honor because she received a vision which still today blesses all the People. She deserves recognition and honor for the remarkable feat that she performed and the vision she was given by the Creator. Historians called her Santee. If she would not have received the vision and completed her commitment, our culture would be so different today, perhaps our existence. Therefore it is important that we re-educate our People, as it seems that somewhere in history, her story has been forgotten and her memory has not been fully honored.
The vision was given during a time when our People were running for their lives. It was told to her that the sound of the drum would not only unite the People, but especially during that time when the Calvary was massacring our People, the creation of the Big Drum would stop the bloodshed.The Big Drum ceremonycame from Tail Feather Woman, the story as follows:
Tail Feather Woman was by her camp gathering food sometime after Little Big Horn, when the Blue Coats invaded her traveling camp. There are some versions that say she told the Anishinabe that her four sons died in the invasion, somedo not mention this, in any case, she ran for her life from the Blue Coats who were on horse back.
She dove in the lake and thought quickly enough to grab a reed to breath through, hiding under the water for a long period of time (some say over night, some say for four days, in which case, it was very long for hours on end…) While under the water, she prayed for her People to live because after Little Big Horn, the Calvary were retaliating against any traveling camps leaving from the area, targeting those that had participated in the Battle.
After much suffering and prayers, the Creator gifted the People by giving Tail Feather Woman a vision of the Big Drum. The pounding of the drum is to bring healing for the People and to bring them together in unity. It was also told that the drum would cause the white man to put down their weapons toward the people and stop the bloodshed.
After the Blue Coats camped and waited for her to come up, Tail Feather Woman arose from the water by the calling of the spirit and wept of loosing her children, where upon she was able to walk through the camp of the blue coat soldiers, unseen. Tail Feather Woman was invisible to them and walked across the plains to find her other family members that got away. Exhausted and ill, she finally found them, they nursed her back to health and she told of her experience and vision. As directed by the Creator she headed east with her family. She left to the area she was born and found the Anishinabe People in northern Minnesota.
As directed, she passed on the vision, along with the songs and protocols for the ceremony. This ceremony still exists today with many Big Drum Societies. The Big Drum was not only was embraced by the Tribes mentioned and our own People, but it spread to many other tribes in the four directions, but only parts of her teachings seeped along with the knowledge of the Big Drum. Today popular version is the Pow-wow drum, but the knowledge of where it derived from somehow got erased.
There is a belief of a Tribe in the South, that we as humans should carry on our life in honor of our family and People, we should never suffer the 3rd death. The first is when our spirit leaves our body, the second is when our body goes in the ground, the third death (that one should never suffer); is to suffer the death in the memory of your family and relatives.
So we remember Tail Feather Woman (aka Eagle Tail Woman), a unique name, as it is the part of the eagle that is used for any of our ceremonial rites, you need that eagle tail feather to participate in most of our seven sacred rites, a powerful name. She was one of our Nation’s women that survived a tremendous feat, through strength and endurance, earning a powerful vision of healing. We should not allow her memory to die with her own people or rather; this story should be reborn to her People that she lived in honor of our people.
In 2008, Chris Leith, who is half Ojibway and half Dakota shared the knowledge from his Grandmother; she told him the story of Tail Feather Woman attending Little Big Horn Meeting, she also asked him to remember the place of her vision, Pickerel Lake ( better known as Hog’an Tanka "Big Fish Lake" which is located in the west in South Dakota.
In the same year, we took a horse to the Mill Lac Big Drum Society and presented them with the gift and were met by emotional Elders.
The horse (whose name is Ox) carried gifts of pendletons and star quilts brought by each band of the Lakota, Dakota, Nakota members who wanted to learn about her vision and the Anishinabe Big Drum Society. It was told later by the Elders why they were emotional, Tail Feather Woman left a prophecy of a time in the future when her People would come to their People and bring a gift of a horse, which would be a sign of great healing between the Nations.
In 2008 we held an honoring ceremony at Pickerel Lake, inviting the Big Drum Societies.
We honored the memory of Tail Feather Woman with a Horse Dance and Puppy ceremony, two ceremonies the Anishinabe had lost.
This summer we will begin a ceremonial Horse Ride from the site of Pickerel Lake where Tail Feather Woman’s vision took place on the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Reservation. The ride will begin on June 6th covering a 250-mile journey to Bdote (aka Fort Snelling area) arriving for an opening ceremony on June 18th to start World Peace and Prayer Day activities. The riders from the west will participate in a Horse Dance on June 19th.
The memory of Tail Feather Woman will be known!

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This year marks the 43 anniversary of the assassination of ML King, Jr. Co-producer Heather Gray spoke briefly about the events around the assassination on the Just Peace program last week. Below is the article she wrote in 2006 about the assassination and funeral.
There was a lot happening then –It was a lesson for a lot of us.
Peace, Heather

http://www.counterpunch.org/gray04102006.html
April 10, 2006
A Month of Infamy, 38 Years Ago
Atlanta and the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
By HEATHER GRAY
In 1968, the tragic events in the first week of April turned the world upside down. Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed in Memphis on Thursday, April 4. He was there to support sanitation workers who were on strike. In a recent interview with Amy Goodman of Pacifica Radio's "Democracy Now", Harry Belafonte described the sequence of events that day. He was in Atlanta when Coretta King received the news of her husband's death. The grieving Mrs. King asked him to help select the clothes for her deceased husband's showing and funeral. She expressed her concern, like all the rest of us in America, about the aftermath of his assassination and what she could or should do. Belafonte recommended that she continue in the support of the Memphis workers. She did exactly that.
On Monday, April 8, the day before her husband's funeral, Mrs. King was in Memphis marching with the sanitation workers. This remarkably brave and determined woman, along with her three oldest children, marched in silence in the company of 15,000 supporters from all over the country. Mrs. King told the crowd, "His work must go on.We are concerned about not only the Negro poor but the poor all over America and all over the world. Every man deserves a right to a job and an income so that he can pursue liberty, life and happiness."
I was in Atlanta at that time as well. Earlier in the week a Chinese friend who taught at Spelman College in Atlanta had asked me to attend an event and spend the night in the campus dorms. That was my plan. Little did my friend or I know how events that week would dramatically affect us all. Dr. King was assassinated on Thursday and by the weekend his body was in state at Sister's Chapel on the Spelman campus.
In the introduction to his excellent book "Undaunted by the Fight: Spelman College and the Civil Rights Movement 1957-1967" (2005) Harry Lefever provides a brief history of Spelman. It is "the nation's oldest and best-known black liberal arts college for women, founded in 1881.In 1929, Spelman signed an Agreement of Affiliation with Morehouse College and Atlanta University, two black institutions located directly across the street from Spelman." Ultimately other black schools of higher learning in the adjoining location joined the agreement. "Today, the total consortium of six institutions, known as the Atlanta University Center (AUC), represents the largest affiliation of predominantly black institutions in the United States." Dr. King received his undergraduate degree from Morehouse College in 1948.
That weekend a long line of mourners stood outside Sister's Chapel to honor the fallen leader. The silence was deafening. It was April, the onset of Spring, and I stood there shivering. All you could hear was the sound of feet slowly walking toward the chapel and people crying. As we walked into the Chapel toward the coffin, you saw men on either side of the coffin wiping away the tears that fell on the glass over Martin King's body. Only later did I learn that because so many people were crying, resulting in tears cascading into the coffin and over Dr. King, that a decision was made to cover it with glass. Once by the coffin I observed this physically small, yet great man of peace, and found it virtually impossible to believe that his resounding, powerful voice and message were no more. It was an incredibly sad moment to witness his still body and to even think of the contemptible violence that killed him. But I was also angry. I kept thinking "What now? What on earth is now in store for America?"
By Monday, April 8, people starting arriving into Atlanta for the funeral. I drove for the Student Non-Violent Committee (SNCC) to greet people arriving at the airport. My parents and hundreds of others were doing the same in their own cars. Along with two SNCC students from Atlanta University, the first person I escorted from the airport was Ralph Bunche. Dr. Bunche was the first black Nobel Peace Prize recipient. He had received the award in 1950 for his negotiations in the creation of the State of Israel after World War II. In 1968 he was an Undersecretary of the United Nations and was representing the UN at the King funeral. The City of Atlanta had sent its Vice Mayor Sam Massell to accompany Dr. Bunche, but he insisted on coming with us SNCC folks instead. Arrangements had been made for him at Atlanta's Regency Hyatt, but he insisted on staying at Paschals, Atlanta's renowned Black owned hotel and restaurant on Hunter Street, now Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive. So here I was, driving Dr. Bunche, who sat in the passenger seat of my little car. His son was squeezed into the back with the other SNCC students. Bunche's son had brought his tennis racket. Life goes on I realized!
Lyndon Johnson was the U.S. President at the time. Johnson had decided to send his Vice President, Hubert Humphrey, to the funeral. We were told that this decision was made because of Humphrey's renowned advocacy for civil rights. That being the case, protocol called for U Thant, the UN General Secretary at the time, to send someone under him of rank at the UN, such as Ralph Bunche, so as not to up-stage Johnson.
Interestingly, Bunche had been one of prominent Black leaders in 1967 encouraging the NAACP to write a statement criticizing King's opposition to the Vietnam War. Bunche said King should not be both a civil rights leaders and an antiwar advocate and that he needed to be one or the other. He later called King to apologize for his public statement and that he agreed with King's position on the war. King complained that Bunche did not have the courage to state his views in public.
The next person I picked up at the airport was Allard Lowenstein, an attorney in the movement, and one of his colleagues. He first wanted to pay his respects to Mrs. King. I drove them to her house that was surrounded by at least a hundred or more people. Next, he wanted to greet Reverend Ralph David Abernathy, known as King's right hand man, who was to take over the leadership of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), now vacated by King. Lowenstein said that this time he was taking me into the house with him. We drove to Reverend Abernathy's house and what a dramatic experience this was.
To set the stage, King had just been assassinated. No one knew what this meant exactly. No one knew what other violence could be expected. It was not known how white and black communities across the country would respond or what challenges and threats where ahead in the movement. It was assumed, of course, that the work was to be increasingly more dangerous.
As we walked into the Abernathy house there were four men sitting in silence in the living room. The Reverend was resting at the time. Then we walked into the kitchen where Mrs. Abernathy was on the phone. Suddenly, here I was, a young white student who had never met Juanita Abernathy. Once off the phone she grabs my hand, holds on to it and recounts the events of the past few days. For some five minutes or so, she described her husband's frightening experience of being at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis where King had been killed just five days ago, and how nervous and concerned she was about her husband taking over the leadership of SCLC. I stood there in awe and silently sympathized.
Then Reverend Abernathy appeared. He seemed rested and congenial. I was amazed at his composure but then thought what else could he do? Everyone knew the work had to continue. We all shook hands, spoke briefly, and I drove Lowenstein and his friend into town.
The funeral was on Tuesday, April 9 at Ebenezer Baptist Church on Auburn Avenue in Atlanta--affectionately known as the King church. I joined the funeral march through the City of Atlanta. The Reverend James Orange, of Birmingham protest fame, had organized the mule drawn funeral cart to take Dr. King to his resting place. Thousands of us of all races followed the cart while holding hands and singing an abundance of chants. It was a movement funeral to be sure. One of the most memorable experiences that day was walking in front of the Georgia State Capitol. A wire fence barricade, along with the ominous presence of military sentries, surrounded it. As was intended, the whole area seemed bleak and foreboding. The arch segregationist and erratic Lester Maddox was Georgia's governor at the time. I fully expected him to run out of the building at any moment, stand on the Capitol steps, and shout all kinds of curses at us.
There has been and will continue to be speculation as to why J. Edgar Hoover's FBI under the Johnson administration intensified its surveillance and propaganda against King. It was known, for one, that Johnson was furious about King's outspoken opposition to the Vietnam War, but it is also clear that King was shifting his emphasis to economic justice. While economic justice had always been a part of his message, the primary focus of civil rights and voting rights took precedence in the early movement work. By 1964 the Civil Rights Bill had passed in Congress and in 1965 the Voting Rights Act was a reality. All of this took enormous energy and a death toll. But King and others acknowledged that if there was the right to go to a hotel, what was the point if you couldn't pay the bill?
At the end of his life King was advocating for the economic rights of sanitation workers in Memphis and this was just the beginning. SCLC was in the planning stages of the national Poor People's Campaign march to be held in Washington, DC on April 22. On April 3 in Memphis, in his last speech, King called for boycotts against Wonder Bread, Hart's Bread, Sealtest Milk and, importantly, Coca Cola, for their appalling and unfair hiring practices. He encouraged everyone to follow through on this and to put pressure where it hurts. He said "if something isn't done, and in a hurry, to bring the colored peoples of the world out of their long years of poverty, their long years of hurt and neglect, the whole world is doomed."
In relation to the loss of Dr. King., years later I have often thought about insightful and powerful song by "Sweet Honey and the Rock" about Stephen Biko, the black leader who was killed by South African authorities in 1977 They sang, "You can kill one human body, I see ten thousand Bikos!" It rings true. You can kill the messenger, but not the message. As Lefever states in his book on Spelman College activism, that while he focused on individuals in the movement "it is clear" he said, "that their successes were much more than 'individual' successes. The study reveals the significance of the 'group' context in their actions." This has been true all over the U.S. and the world. A Filipino organizer once told me, "You can't organize yourself, who have to organize yourselves."
But it is also rather sobering to realize that when the economic or civil status quo of western "white" dominance is seriously challenged, countless young leaders of color all over the world have either been killed directly by those of us of European descent or by our proxies. Harry Belafonte describes King once telling him that given the outrageously violent and unjust behavior of white America that they were attempting to "integrate" into a burning house. Belafonte asked what should be done. King said, "we all need to become firemen"--and firewomen I might add. Indeed!
Heather Gray is the producer of "Just Peace" on WRFG-Atlanta 89.3 FM covering local, regional, national and international news. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia and can be reached at hmcgray@earthlink.net.

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Nadia Ali, Ph.D.
Co-producer, Just Peace
WRFG 89.3 FM
www.wrfg.org
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Celebratin​g Human Sacrifice

Dear Sharon,
In Washington, DC, the leaders of both parties are celebrating. “Woo-hoo, we made a deal! Isn’t that great?!”
Well, it depends on the deal.
There is one particular part of the federal budget that I’ve been following closely for the past couple of weeks. Since March 30th. When Rajiv Shah, the head of the US Agency for International Development, testified that Republican budget cuts would kill 70,000 children.
“We estimate, and I believe these are very conservative estimates, that H.R. 1 [the original Republican budget proposal] would lead to 70,000 kids dying,” he said.
“Of that 70,000, 30,000 would come from malaria control programs that would have to be scaled back specifically. The other 40,000 is broken out as [follows:] 24,000 would die because of a lack of support for immunizations and other investments, and 16,000 would [die] because of a lack of skilled attendants at birth.”
Now, admittedly, all these children deliberately chose to be born outside the United States. To make things worse, they selected parents living in poverty. And, of course, most of them have brown skin.
Notwithstanding all that, I would very much prefer to see these children alive. Maybe it’s just me, but it disturbs me to think that 70,000 innocent children will die in pain from malaria or some other horrible disease, or die at birth because no one in the neighborhood happens to know how to perform an episiotomy.
Not to mention the mothers. Among women, at the time when my mother was born, the second leading cause of death was birth. Childbirth, specifically. That’s still true in some other parts of the world.
After I heard about Shah’s testimony, I looked up the bill he was referring to, H.R. 1. It’s true. In Title XI of the bill, the section on the State Department and Foreign Operations appropriations, there are big cuts.
Then yesterday, when the Republicans posted their new budget bill H.R. 1473 online, I looked that up, too. And, starting on Page 364, I saw big cuts in the State Department and Foreign Operations appropriations. Not quite as big as H.R. 1. But still big.
Personally, I’d like to know how many children H.R. 1473 is going to kill. But no one in Washington, DC is likely to provide that figure, because the leaders of both parties are so busy celebrating the “compromise.”
But there is no compromise, there is no middle ground, between life and death.
The record for human sacrifice was established in 1487, by the Aztecs. Aztec priests slaughtered 80,000 prisoners of war, to celebrate their new temple. (The event was loosely portrayed in Mel Gibson’s 2006 movie Apocalypto.)
So no matter how many children H.R. 1473 may kill, it won’t set a record. At most, it will earn the silver medal for cruelty.
I just wish that someone, in either party, would make the case that the federal budget is not simply 500 pages of large numbers. It also represents our collective effort to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, and heal the sick. To help people accomplish whatever it is that they can accomplish in life, unburdened and undefeated by poverty, bigotry, hunger, unemployment, disease, racism, sexism and ignorance. Our collective effort to fulfill the last four words of the Pledge of Allegiance: “and justice for all.”
Ain’t that America?
Courage,
Alan Grayson

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"When crazy people call you crazy, you know you're sane.
When evil people call you evil, you know that you are a good person.
When lairs call you a liar, you know that you are truthful.
Know who you are and don't let others tell you who you are." - Dave Kitchen