Paging Gazhekwe

**gazhekwe** · August-13-11, 07:38 PM

**gazhekwe** · August-16-11, 10:11 AM

Humans: Earth’s Most Invasive Species By Ruth Hopkins August 14, 2011

I grow wildflowers. Part of the price one pays for enjoying the beauty of an organic flower garden is spending a considerable amount of time pulling weeds.

A weed is any plant that humans consider unattractive, undesirable, or bothersome, that persists in a place where it is not wanted. Invasive weeds all possess the ability to spread rapidly, and are associated with decreasing property values as well as reducing the production of livestock or crops. Most invasive weeds are not indigenous to the locale in which they’ve been designated as such.

While weeds may be classified as invasive, no plant—even ones that are poisonous—are bad, per se. What makes them invasive is the fact that they have been harmful or troublesome to humans or livestock, or are highly competitive with plant species that humans prefer.

Despite the negative connotations associated with invasive weeds, many of the same plants have medicine uses. St. John’s wort, [[Hypericum perforatum) is classified as an invasive weed in my home state of South Dakota; however, tea made from St. John’s wort has been used by American Indians for centuries as a pain reliever and in the treatment of tuberculosis. Today, St. John’s wort is used as a herbal remedy to treat depression. Hypericin, a complex molecule found in St. John’s wort, is strongly antiviral and is currently being investigated for its ability to inhibit HIV [[human immunodeficiency virus) and HPV [[human papillomavirus).

Not all invasive species belong to the plant kingdom. Invasive animal species are not indigenous to the habitat where they have become a problem. They upset the natural balance of their new home because natural population controls like predators are no longer present. As a result, invasive animal species disrupt their new environment by essentially taking over, often to the detriment of species native to the area.
Most invasive species have been introduced by humans. History is replete with examples of how humans have brought non-indigenous species to new habitats, often during the process of colonization. The majority of animal species introduced by humans eventually become invasive.

Ship rats [[Rattus rattus) originated in India, but because of human exploration and colonization via ships infested with rats over the past several centuries, the species has spread to nearly everywhere on Earth. The rat is now classified as an invasive species that has caused the extinction of multiple wildlife species abroad and contributed to the decline of others.

In 1854, a mere 24 European wild rabbits [[Oryctolagus cuniculus) were released in Australia for the purpose of recreational hunting. Rabbits soon infested much of Australia and are now held responsible for the extinction of a number of species on that continent. They continue to cause millions of dollars of damage a year.

In North America, the German cockroach [[Blattella germanica) is an invasive species originally from Asia that now infests countless human dwellings.

Even though plant or animal species may be classified as invasive, they could be viewed as evolutionary successes. They’ve adapted to their environment, and successfully reproduced offspring on a grand scale. What makes them invasive is that we as humans deem them so, and most of the time the species in question became invasive because they were introduced to foreign habitat by humans.

Evolutionarily speaking, human beings [[homo sapiens) have been successful too, but not in any romanticized version we might like to imagine. Much like the invasive species we disdain, we’ve thrived at the expense of other species and become adapted to the progressive destruction of our collective environment. We’ve managed to eliminate or weaken most of the natural population controls that kept the human species in check. Thanks to humans, the majority of predators that once preyed upon humans, like tigers and wolves, are either endangered or extinct.

Because of modern humans’ irresponsible management of resources and inability to live in balance with Earth’s natural systems, we could have more in common with invasive weeds, rats, and cockroaches than the majestic endangered animals we admire. We have allowed ourselves to become scavengers and opportunists who strip Earth of its resources at a rate that cannot be replenished, and take from every other species on Earth to our advantage. One can only conclude that there’s been a major oversight on the list of invasive species plaguing natural habitats abroad: humans are the most invasive species on Earth.

That said, if humans were to be classified as invasive, it does not mean that we as a species are all together bad. Like St. John's wort, we too have medicine. We have the ability to change our behavior and help heal our planet. Unlike the beasts of the field, we can make a conscious choice to start living in balance with Earth. We can choose to respect the laws of nature and life in all its forms.

As indigenous people, natives should reject the slash-and-burn “Drill, Baby, Drill” mentality of many modern humans in western society and instead take a leadership role in showing the entire human race how to live in balance with the earth, our mother. Let us heed the advice of Tatanka Iyotanka, Hunkpapa Lakota Chief Sitting Bull, who said, “It is not necessary for eagles to be crows.”

Ruth Hopkins [[Sisseton-Wahpeton/Mdewakanton/Hunkpapa) is a writer, a pro-bono tribal attorney, a science professor, and a columnist for the Indian Country Today Media Network.

**gazhekwe** · August-19-11, 02:12 PM

Working with the Jay Treaty --

Border Agents in Detroit give me a hard time when I give them my Tribal ID trying to cross into Canada or come home. At the International Bridge, they don't bat an eyelash.

So for a different kind of Dream Cruise today and tomorrow, a flotilla of Indian canoes crosses the Detroit River.

Aug19-Aug21 2011 : AIM Canoe Border Crossing and Traditional Pow Wow Belle Isle Park and Council Point Park, Lincoln Park, MI

The Coast Guard kept watch for the canoeists as three freighters passed by during a crossing.

Name: 299173_2319988487104_1471304528_2625151_2820488_n.jpg
Views: 772
Size: 34.6 KB

Name: 299173_2319988487104_1471304528_2625151_2820488_n.jpg
Views: 772
Size: 34.6 KB

NOTE: In the Jay Treaty of 1794, it states that Indians on either side of the border retain the right to move freely back and forth across the border, the so-called “free passage” right.

Here in the US, that right is freely extended only to Indians born in Canada, per the Immigration and Naturalization Act. Every now and again, someone will challenge this.

Bill Miller with some wonderful music to celebrate the Border Crossing Dream:

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

**gazhekwe** · August-20-11, 07:37 PM

A little music to celebrate old cars:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKjd_...layer_embedded

The video part is from the road trip from DreamKeeper.

**gazhekwe** · August-27-11, 01:59 PM

Paintballer Gets 15 Months for Damaging Native American Petroglyphs
Indian Country Today August 27, 2011

According to the Las Vegas Sun, 21-year-old David Smith of Bullhead City, Arizona will spend 15 months in prison, pay $9,995 in restitution and perform 50 hours of community service after pleading guilty to shooting at petrogplyphs with a paintball gun in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area in March 2010. According to The Associated Press Smith will also serve one year of supervised probation after being released from prison.

Considering a March 2010 Las Vegas Sun story, it could have cost Smith more. The newspaper said fines could have been up to $100,000 and reimbursement for the cost of cleanup, which was coordinated by the National Park Service [[NPS) and area tribes.

“This area in particular is incredibly sensitive and sacred to the Native American tribes of the Lower Colorado River. It’s unimaginable to think of someone having a paintball fight in the Sistine Chapel; however from the perspective of local tribal members that’s what happened here,” said Rosie Pepito, chief of cultural resource management for Lake Mead National Recreation Area, in a March 2010 statement.

The August 22 Las Vegas Sun story reported that members of six Colorado River Native American tribes addressed the court on May 18.

It was then that Smith plead guilty to unlawful defacement of an archaeological resource, which is a felony and a violation of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979. The act was passed to protect “irreplaceable” archaeological resources that were “endangered increasingly because of the escalating commercial value of a small portion of the contents of archaeological sites.”

According to the Las Vegas Sun, Smith admitted to being in Grapevine Canyon, shooting paintball pellets at the rock art panels and that he passed signs saying it is illegal to deface the rocks.

The NPS estimates some of the petroglyphs in the Lake Mead Recreation Area were created as recent as 150 years ago, and some are more than 800 years old.

The article includes a video of the extensive damage and an attempt at cleaning the site. I don't think you could take a scrub brush to the actual petroglyphs.

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwor...an-petroglyphs

**gazhekwe** · August-29-11, 02:08 PM

The way we are taught in this country, we learn certain things about how this country was formed. Almost nothing has to do with American Indians, except maybe Squanto and Pocahontas early on, and then later Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull and oh, yeah, Geronimo. It's a colonial history that teaches what the colonists did after they established colonies, but very little about who was already here and the impact of colonization on them. In later years, what was done to the colonists by those original inhabitants has been toned down a bit and treated with a little more balance, as they were shown to be defending their homeland to some degree, though wrongheadedly of course. I found this interesting article about how Indians are portrayed in the National Park system. I won't reproduce the whole thing but will add a link at the end. It has lots of interesting stories and insights in it.

One day, I might tell the story of how I, with the backing of the Michigan Commission on Indian Affairs, was able to get Michilimackinac Park to re-do its interpretation and presentation of the history of the Fort and more accurately portray the "Massacre" they were using to draw in tourists.

No Longer Circling the Wagons: Many National Parks Get Indian Stories Wrong
By Robert Pahre August 29, 2011
National parks are America’s great outdoor classrooms, and they attract about 300 million visitors a year, from school groups to senior citizens, mountain climbers to families in minivans. The vast majority of those people will flip through the park’s brochure, browse exhibits at in the visitor center, and read some of the informational signs posted at the roadside turnouts. The more organized or ambitious of the visitors perhaps even checked out the park’s website before they came. In all those venues the National Park Service [[NPS) interprets the site for visitors, teaching them about the park and why it is important.

That adds up to a lot of history, a lot of stories. There are stories about the American Revolution in Boston and Philadelphia, about the Confederacy on Civil War battlefields, about segregation along the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail, about pioneers and Indians along the monuments to Western Expansion. The parks that preserve wild nature, such as Yellowstone, Yosemite or the Everglades, also tell a lot of historical stories. Even a national recreational area or seashore like Lake Mead or Fire Island will interpret the area’s history for visitors on their way to those beaches.

Because American Indians lived everywhere in this country, the NPS could tell Native stories at almost every site. After all, it has chosen to tell the stories of settlers at most park units. Unfortunately, the NPS usually leaves out the Native stories in the parks, letting Indians vanish from most park landscapes.

Too much of the NPS’s interpretation of our history is incomplete, and it usually leaves out the Native stories. And when it does tell a Native story, all too often, it is through the eyes of other people, the way it has been done it in too many movies. In Dances With Wolves, for example, Kevin Costner portrays the Lakota sympathetically, but through the eyes of a white military man who falls in love with a white woman who had been adopted by the tribe. A less benign example of that can be found at Indiana Dunes National Seashore, which tells of the Potawatomi tribe through the experiences of a white man, Joseph Bailly. A sign at the Bailly homestead explains that he bought beaver furs and other items from the Potawatomi in exchange for various trade goods. Another sign says the United States gave Bailly $6,000 for counseling the Potawatomi when they sold their land in the Chicago Treaty of 1833. That was a huge sum of money back then, but the sign doesn’t say what he did in those negotiations that made the U.S. government so grateful. Nor does the sign finish the story—the Potawatomi ended up on a “Trail of Death” westward, across the Mississippi.

Do please see the article for more interesting stories about more parks:

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwor...stories-wrong/

**gazhekwe** · August-30-11, 05:33 AM

TimeTuesday, August 30 · 3:30pm - 5:30pm

LocationSeattle waterfront park
Created ByJohn T. Williams Memorial Totem Pole Project

Please join us in a traditional ceremony to release John, bless the completed pole, examine the changes in Seattle in the past year, and kick off our fundraising campaign!

Ndns for Justice will have a peaceful candle light vigil at Boren and Howell where the late JT Williams got shot from 6-9:00 pm tomorrow night.

We must be peaceful and not block traffic. Please bring your prayers and candles.

**gazhekwe** · September-01-11, 10:56 AM

Blessing Ceremony For Totem Pole In John T. Williams' Memory
Phyllis Fletcher
08/31/2011

The family of John T. Williams celebrated his life Tuesday in a ceremony on Seattle's waterfront. A Seattle police officer shot and killed Williams a year ago as he crossed the street, holding a carving knife. Yesterday's ceremony was also a blessing of two totem poles carved by family, friends and supporters. KUOW's Phyllis Fletcher reports.

TRANSCRIPT
Jose Vicente Guillermo is 22. He's Williams' nephew. He helped put two mother ravens and a man, carving, into the totems. He says carving with his family has been the only good thing for him that came as a result of his uncle's death.

Guillermo: "Before this, I really couldn't tell you anything much about — this side of my heritage. So to be here, it's pretty good. I — enjoy being here. In a way, like, it has done something good as, like, far as getting me to come into my culture and understand it and learn more about it."

The Williams family is First Nations.
Before Guillermo started carving, he was selling cologne and perfume. Now he carves, and he's part of security staff that watches over the totem poles at night to make sure someone doesn't vandalize them.

City Councilmember Bruce Harrell spoke at the ceremony. Word got out there that Harrell is part Native American — Choctaw, from Louisiana. But Harrell says he was there to show support regardless of his heritage.

He says the city will accept the totem poles as a gift from the Williams family.

Harrell: "They will go up. We've agreed to it. There is a sum we have to raise. Somewhere around $126,000 or so. We have about $25,000 seed money. And like any other capital project, we'll find the money and make it work."

A spokesperson for Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn has said the city can't display the poles without money to take care of them properly. The Williams family is part of a group that's trying to raise that money.
Where the poles will go is still in question. A couple possibilities are Seattle Center and Victor Steinbrueck Park.

I'm Phyllis Fletcher, KUOW News.

© Copyright 2011, KUOW
http://kuow.org/program.php?id=24412

John-T-Williams-Memorial-Totem-Pole-Project
The non-profit was set up by Atty. Connie Sue and Danny Martin.

Update: 8/29/11, Connie Sue Martin of the John T. Williams Memorial Totem Pole Project says just recently they have reviewed four potential sites with Seattle Center as to the permanent location. The favored first site would be in a grove of trees next to the Space Needle and the existing Ronald Bladen’s sculpture Black Lightning with the Totem Pole facing West. Other sites considered were the Peace Garden, near the existing Totem Pole across from the Center House and a North end park.
Currently the Memorial Project has raised $30,000 of the $160,000 needed by February 27th to raise the Totem Pole at Seattle Center.

http://blog.seattlepi.com/capitolhil...e-will-locate/

**gazhekwe** · September-04-11, 03:15 PM

Well, there have not been many. American Indians as a whole group were granted citizenship in 1924, although some groups got in earlier.

Charles Curtis, 1/8 Kaw US Rep, 1892 -1906, US Senate, 1906 - 1929, VP 1929 - 1932

Benjamin Lone Feather Reifel, Lakota, US Rep, 1961 - 1971

Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Northern Cheyenne, US Rep 1986 -1992, US Senate 1992 - 2005

How about we send someone from Michigan?

Chairman Derek Bailey of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians

Derek Bailey's Decision: Tribal Chairman considers a run for Congress
By Rick Coates 8/22/2011

Chairman Derek Bailey of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians [[GTB) recently postponed a family getaway to the Upper Peninsula to speak at a memorial service. These constant schedule changes and being accessible 24/7 as the Tribal Chairman have become the lifestyle Bailey and his family have adopted since his election three years ago.

“We were looking forward to our trip, but I was asked to speak at a memorial service for Helen Hornbeck Tanner. I considered it not only an honor but my obligation to be there,” said Bailey. “Tanner, while not Native American, played several crucial roles in the recent history for Indian tribes of the Great Lakes region. She is not the only reason but she certainly is a key reason why we [[the GTB) are where we are at today. It was important that I let her family and friends know how much we appreciate what she did for us and equally important that our tribal communities know of her importance.”

TANNER'S CONTRIBUTION
Tanner, a long time Beluah resident, was considered the leading authority on the Native American history of the Great Lakes. She authored several books and research papers during her tenure as a professor at the University of Michigan and as a senior research fellow at the Newberry Library in Chicago. Her “Atlas of Great Lakes Indian History,” documented the displacement of Indian communities from 1640 to 1871. Her research and expertise played a crucial role in upholding Indian treaty rights with the federal government, including fishing rights on the Great Lakes.

Bailey’s presence at the memorial service marked the type of leadership style those within the GTB have come to expect. That leadership style has also made its mark throughout Northern Michigan, as well as in Lansing and even in Washington D.C..

In 2008 at the age of 36, Bailey became the fifth and the youngest Tribal Chairman elected by the GTB. Bailey has set out a course to build partnerships throughout Michigan and in the nation’s capital. In just three years of creating collaborations and partnerships, some in the Northern Michigan business community are calling on Bailey to consider either running for the Michigan State Senate or U.S. Congress.

BOTH SIDES OF AN ISSUE
“I think Derek would make an excellent representative for Northern Michigan in Lansing or Washington D.C.,” said Don Coe, managing partner of Black Star Farms Winery and chairman of the Michigan Commission on Agriculture and Rural Development. “What he has been able to accomplish in just a couple of years as tribal chairman is remarkable and his leadership skills in Lansing or Congress would be a valuable asset for us here in Northern Michigan. Derek has worked hard to not only better the GTB but also the greater Northern Michigan community.”

Coe is impressed with Bailey’s ability to understand both sides of an issue and bring opposing sides together.

“What I like is his ability to represent the GTB positions on issues and put those forward in a way that that is not threatening but accepting, and he is also able to put forward the issues of others back to his membership,” said Coe.

Coe adds that Bailey is also an exceptional listener, and has attracted the attention of the Obama administration. "You don’t call the White House, they call you and the Obama administration has been calling.”

That most recent call came a few weeks back when President Obama visited Holland and the White House called Bailey to let him know that the president requested his presence in Holland for a brief meeting.

AN HONOR
“It was a true honor and my second time meeting with the president,” said Bailey, who last year was appointed by President Obama to the National Advisory Council on Indian Education. “Our first meeting I was able to discuss Indian education issues with the president. A few weeks back I had hoped to discuss in detail the Asian carp issue with him but time was cut short so that discussion will take place at another time. The important thing for me is that the White House recognizes the GTB, and so getting this type of face time whether with the president or the governor puts a face to who we are. It says that we are active and engaged in our community.”

Bailey feels honored that business and community leaders are approaching him to consider running for an elected office outside of his current role as chairman of the GTB.

“First of all, I was elected to a four year term as chairman of the GTB and I will fulfill those responsibilities that expire in May of 2012. So any type of political appointment or elected office would have to come after I meet my current obligation,” said Bailey. “A couple weeks ago a business and community leader pulled my wife aside and said you need to let Derek run for office, we need people like him representing us. I have had people ask me directly to consider state and national elected offices. I am definitely going to explore that possibility.”

INTRIGUING IDEA
Prior to being elected as Tribal Chairman Bailey served on the Tribal Council for four years. While he is eligible to run for as many terms as he would like as Tribal Chairman the idea of serving in Lansing or Washington D.C. intrigues Bailey on several fronts.

“There have been few Native Americans elected to Congress,” said Bailey. “There are issues that our Tribal Nations are facing throughout the country that I could be a voice for. I also feel I could be a voice for all of Northern Michigan, I understand many of the issues our region is faced with, our economic challenges, the potential threats to our Great Lakes and our environment. Certainly, there are many other issues that face our region and our country and I have found that my success to date has come from taking time to listen to others and understand their positions and viewpoints. If I run for a state or national office that will be my approach.”

DISTRICT 1
If Derek Bailey decides to look at running for Congress it would be in District 1. The 2010 census resulted in the Michigan losing one seat in Congress and the Michigan legislature redistricting all Congressional seats. That redistricting will start with the 2012 election and now puts several Northern Michigan counties into District 1 including Manistee, Leelanau and Grand Traverse and moves some current Central Michigan counties to other districts. The seat is currently held by Republican Dan Benishek, a Tea Party candidate, who defeated Senator Jason Allen by 15 votes in the Republican Primary last year.

Chairman Bailey will get a chance next month to get a little taste of life in Washington D.C. While not a political appointment Bailey was nominated to participate in the The Joint Civilian Orientation Conference [[JCOC). The program is sponsored by the Secretary of Defense for civilian public opinion leaders interested in growing their knowledge of the military and national defense issues. JCOC alumni are encouraged to share their experiences with their circles of influence when they return home. Attendance in JCOC is very competitive with more than 1,000 nominations put forward and only 80 candidates chosen to participate.

“I consider this a great honor and will be heading to Washington D.C. in a month to participate,” said Chairman Bailey. “The program gives the participants a behind the scenes look at how the Department of Defense works and the functions of each of the five military branches. I will get to meet with high ranking military leaders, participate in some of the training and come away with a better understanding of how our military works. I will then share that knowledge with not only the GTB but the community of Northern Michigan as a whole.”

When Chairman Bailey returns home after participating in the JCOC he will have a lot on his plate to consider this fall. If he decides to run for public office he will need to make a decision soon as the 2012 political campaign season is underway.

http://www.northernexpress.com/edito...es.asp?id=5647

**gazhekwe** · September-06-11, 11:01 AM

is a threat to all. It is obvious when you realize that here, in the land founded on religious freedom, American Indians were denied the right to practice our religion, indeed our whole spiritual lifestyle, until 1978 when President Jimmy Carter signed the American Indian Religious Freedom Act. We can still see the results of that oppression today.

Now, here we are, rearing up in fear of Sharia. How could that hurt us? Read on for excerpts from a paper by Gale Courey Toensing, a Lebanese and Palestinian woman who writes for Indian Country Today. Full article linked at the end.

Coming! Campaign Against Sharia Law a Threat to Indian Country
The growing movement in the United States to ban the use of international law and Islam’s Sharia law in state courts sets a dangerous precedent for Indian country, spiritual leaders and legal authorities say.
In the past year, anti-Sharia laws have been passed or introduced in more than a dozen states—Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arizona and Tennessee are among the states that have passed bills restricting judges from consulting Sharia in their rulings, and Michigan is the most recent to introduce a similar bill. [[My emphasis)

The movement against Sharia [[or Shariah) not only targets Muslim Americans and their First Amendment right to freedom of religion, but also threatens American Indian sovereignty, law and the government-to-government relationship between indigenous nations and state and federal governments, says Gabriel Galanda, a member of the Round Valley Indian Tribes and partner in the law firm Galanda Broadman of Seattle.

“The various state laws being passed or proposed would quite literally prevent any state court judge from ever considering the laws of sovereign Indian nations, including tribal common law,” he says. “Anti-Sharia laws also fly in the face of the United States’s recent adoption of the [U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples], especially insofar as such laws could disallow state courts from ever considering the declaration and its import domestically.”

The controversy over Sharia—the broad body of Islamic religious law—bubbled over recently in New Jersey, when Republican Governor Chris Christie was scorched by conservatives for appointing a Muslim to the state Superior Court. Never one to stand down from a fight, Christie called a press conference to answer his critics.

“The folks who criticize my appointment,” he said, “are ignorant. I nominated Sohail Mohammed because he’s a good lawyer and an outstanding human being.”

Christie praised Mohammed as “an extraordinary American” who played an important role in building bridges between the Muslim American community and law-enforcement agencies post-9/11.
When asked if he was concerned that Mohammed would bring Sharia law to the bench, an exasperated Christie let loose:

“Sharia law has nothing to do with this at all. It’s crazy! The guy’s an American citizen who’s been admitted to practice law in New Jersey, swearing an oath to uphold the laws of New Jersey, the Constitution of the state of New Jersey and the Constitution of the United States of America…. This Sharia law business is crap! It’s just crazy, and I’m tired of dealing with the crazies!”

“The crazies” Christie referenced, also known as Islamophobes, seem to be multiplying. The Internet abounds with fear-mongering, bigotry-spreading websites such as Creeping Sharia, Anti-Sharia and Atlas Shrugs, the latter site managed by anti-Islam activist Pamela Geller. The killing of Osama bin Laden in May has apparently not eased the minds of the many Americans who seem to see all Muslims as either real or aspiring terrorists. Republican celebrities Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich and Michele Bachmann have all recently warned about the “threat” of Sharia law, even though many of the proponents of anti-Sharia law movement would be hard-pressed to explain what Sharia law is.

Bachmann, for example, recently promised a “rejection of Sharia Islam [sic] and all other anti-woman, anti–human rights forms of totalitarian control”—a statement that reveals a total lack of knowledge about both Islam and its religious laws.

What is Sharia? [[my emphasis)
Sharia [[which literally means “the way to the watering hole”) is Islam’s guide for how to live a moral life. Sharia deals with all aspects of daily life, such as family [[marriage, divorce, custody, inheritance); finance, banking, and contracts [[investing, forbidding the paying or charging of interest); social issues [[dress, hygiene); religion; and acts which are almost universally viewed as crimes [[theft, murder, rape). Because Islam does not separate church and state, Sharia is not just a legal system or a form of criminal justice, it is a code for living—similar to the Old Testament’s Ten Commandments, which are the moral basis of both Judaism and Christianity. Sharia law is not embodied in written statutes or policies, but rather is based on the Qur’an, the sayings and traditions of the prophet Muhammad, and the interpretations of legal scholars.
Sharia law, like Jewish law, most often comes into play in U.S. state courts in divorce and custody cases, or cases dealing with commercial or financial issues, but is always subject to compliance with state or federal law. [[my emphasis)

Banning any kind of religion or spiritual practice is a mistake, says Mohawk spiritual leader and Longhouse Chief Tom Porter, Bear Clan. “It’s a danger to everybody. This country is supposed to have been founded on the principle of people being allowed to practice any religion they want, so I don’t know how they can make a law against any religion,” he says.
......

“This order addresses issues that go to the very foundation of our country, our Constitution and, particularly, the Bill of Rights,” Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange wrote in her ruling. “Throughout the course of our country’s history, the will of the ‘majority’ has on occasion conflicted with the constitutional rights of individuals.”

Galanda heartily endorses Miles-LaGrange’s ruling and cautions that “anti-Sharia laws could set Indian law back decades, if not centuries. By that I mean that statutory and common-law notions of state-tribal full faith and credit and comity—in other words, honoring the decisions of each other’s courts—could be vitiated,” he says, explaining that under an anti-Sharia provision, state courts could no longer consider tribal laws that bear on issues ranging, for example, from whether a tribe waived its sovereign immunity for commercial dispute, to whether a tribe has codes or customs and traditions regarding what is in the best interest of an Indian child in an Indian Child Welfare Act dispute.

See more, about the Code of Handsome Lake as practiced among the Haudenosaunee, thr federal court ruling preventing the implementation of anti-Sharia law in Oklahoma, and exposing a shadowy figure behind the movement to demonize Sharia and Muslims:

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwor...paign=fb-posts

**gazhekwe** · September-07-11, 10:51 AM

Separation of Church and State? Not When Indians are Concerned
By Peter d'Errico September 7, 2011
The ugly face of the 1955 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Tee-Hit-Ton v U.S. appeared recently in Plymouth County [[MA) Superior Court, in Greene v. Pacheco, et al., a case challenging interference by the Town of Mattapoisett with Mashpee Wampanoag fishing rights.

Here’s the quote: “‘Aboriginal rights’ are those derived from the ‘legal theory that discovery and conquest gave the conquerors sovereignty over and ownership of the lands thus obtained’ with the preservation of permissive right to use and occupy granted to the Native Americans.”

Tee-Hit-Ton is ugly because it stands for the proposition that Indigenous peoples have no basic land rights. The case says Indians have only a “permissive right” to live on their own lands, and that the government may take Indian property at will and without compensation. The Court said the U.S. did not need the consent of the Tee-Hit-Ton in order to take their timber, and owed nothing to them for taking it, despite the 5th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, part of the Bill of Rights, which says the federal government must pay “just compensation” if it wants to take property.

What is the basis for this ugly precedent? The answer is in the Brief filed in the case by the United States itself, a document that will shock many readers:

“…The Christian nations of Europe acquired jurisdiction over newly discovered lands by virtue of grants from the Popes, who claimed the power to grant to Christian monarchs the right to acquire territory in the possession of heathens and infidels.

“… Although the nations of Europe … ceased to recognize the Popes as the source of their titles to newly acquired lands, the new concept of title by discovery was based upon the same idea that lands occupied by heathens and infidels were open to acquisition by the Christian nations.

As stated in Johnson v. McIntosh: ‘The potentates of the old world found no difficulty in convincing themselves, that they made ample compensation to the inhabitants of the new, by bestowing on them civilization and Christianity, in exchange for unlimited independence.’”

On the basis of this argument, the Supreme Court Tee-Hit-Ton decision reaffirmed the Doctrine of Christian Discovery announced in 1823 in Johnson v. McIntosh: “It is well settled that…the tribes…held claim to…lands after the coming of the white man, under…permission from the whites to occupy…. This position of the Indian has long been rationalized by the legal theory that discovery and conquest gave the conquerors sovereignty over and ownership of the lands thus obtained.” The Court quoted Johnson v. McIntosh, “that discovery gave an exclusive right to extinguish the Indian title.”

After thus deciding that Indians are, by their nature, inferior to the colonial invaders, the Court rubbed salt into the wound by quoting Beecher v. Wetherby, another case involving a taking of Indian timber: “It is to be presumed that, in this matter, the United States would be governed by such considerations of justice as would control a Christian people in their treatment of an ignorant and dependent race.” Apparently, for the white colonizers, Christian justice means “just us.”

Some commentators say Christian Discovery is not the law of the United States any more; some say Christian Discovery was never the law of the U.S. Tee-Hit-Ton puts both those arguments to rest: It reaffirms Christian Discovery as the basis for U.S. law regarding Indian Nations; and it says this racist religious doctrine is still in full force and effect. It also says Indians as Peoples are not covered by the U.S. Constitution, which undermines the arguments of those who believe the Constitution ‘protects’ Indians.

The U.S. claims it has a separation between church and state. In the case of federal Indian law, however, exactly the opposite is true: state and religion are bound together at the roots. For anyone who believes in religious freedom, this is intolerable. For anyone who believes in property rights, it is also intolerable. For anyone who worries about the volatile mixing of government and religion around the world, it is seriously dismaying to find that the U.S., instead of being a beacon of freedom and rights, is still waging a holy war that might be compared to a jihad.

No court has over-ruled Tee-Hit-Ton or Johnson v. McIntosh. However, the time is ripe, especially in light of the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Tee-Hit-Ton decision is as bad as the old racist rule that Black people are “separate but equal.” That law is now history; but federal Indian law is in the present. There’s a challenge for Indian lawyers.

Peter d’Errico graduated from Yale Law School in 1968. He was staff attorney in Dinebeiina Nahiilna Be Agaditahe Navajo Legal Services from 1968 to 1970, he taught Legal Studies at University of Massachusetts, Amherst, from 1970-2002, and is currently a consulting attorney on indigenous issues.

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwor...paign=fb-posts

**gazhekwe** · September-08-11, 12:14 PM

There are two ways to look at it. The Detroit News thinks we should love having a sulfide mine in the middle of the pristine Yellow Dog and Salmon Trout watershed. A number of environmental groups and the Keweenaw Bay Band of Ojibwek think otherwise. According to them, the mine threatens our drinking water and prevents access to and unconditionally alters a sacred site. According to Kennecott, blasting at the site could begin as early as September 14, next Wednesday.

First, the Detroit News:
Return Mining to the UP
Michigan's Upper Peninsula has thousands of miles of unspoiled natural beauty, with pristine rivers and lakes, lush forests and breathtaking coastlines. What it doesn't have a lot of are good-paying jobs.

Kennecott Eagle Minerals Co. wants to start changing that by opening a nickel and copper mine in Marquette County. Three hundred workers are already on the job preparing the site for the start of construction, 500 workers will be employed building the mine, and 200 miners will be needed once it opens.

This is a return to the U.P.'s traditional employment base born of its bountiful natural resources. In the late 19th century and first half of the 20th century, the Upper Peninsula boomed based on iron ore and copper mining, and lumbering.

Kennecott believes a mining renaissance of sorts might be coming, particularly due to the high demand for nickel in the batteries that will power electric cars. And there's plenty of copper left, if it can be extracted economically.

Before the potential of renewed mining can be explored, however, the Eagle Mine must get past one more hurdle thrown up by environmentalists who are opposed to any industrial activity in the U.P. that might disturb the environment, even minimally.

Kennecott has spent eight years going through the permitting process, and now must convince Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Paula Manderfield to uphold the state Department of Environmental Quality's 2007 approval of the mine.

The permit was granted by the DEQ under the Granholm administration, which did not readily come down on the side of business in environmental disputes. It was granted after Kennecott agreed to extraordinary measures to protect the environment, including taking precautions against the release of sulfuric acid from the sulfide rock that encases the nickel and copper.

The company also relocated the mine's entrance to address concerns from local Indian tribes about disturbing a traditional worship site.

And yet opponents still have gone to court to block mining.

The Eagle Mine promises to be one of the most environmentally friendly mining operations in the world. If it is successful, it could revive the mining industry in the U.P. and do so in an environmentally responsible way. It could also lead the way to a much-needed employment surge in the region.

The judge should put an end to the obstructions, trust that the DEQ acted in the best interests of the state's environment and allow construction of the mine to begin as scheduled later this month.

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110907/...#ixzz1XNi5VbEW

Now for the opponents' story:
Groups make last-ditch legal effort to block Kennecott mine

Eartha Jane Melzer| 09.02.11 | 1:06 pm

Opponents of a nickel and copper mine that is slated to begin blasting this month have asked a judge to issue an injunction on drilling while she considers an appeal of permits granted for the project.

The Huron Mountain Club, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, National Wildlife Federation and Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve say that the Dept. of Natural Resources ignored their own experts during the permitting process.

The groups warn that acid runoff from the mine is likely to impact Lake Superior and destroy habitat for the rare coastal brook trout.

They also argue that mining at the site will destroy Eagle Rock, a 60-foot-high outcrop on the Yellow Dog Plain that holds cultural significance for the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community.

“My people have prayed and held ceremonies at Eagle Rock since time immemorial,” Susan LaFerniere, a member of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community said in a statement Thursday. “No one should be allowed to blast it apart. I hope the judge grants this request.”

Michigan’s mining law forbids activities that damage places of worship but in a controversial 11th hour decision last year the DNR approved the project, stating that only buildings are to be considered places of worship.

Former Upper Peninsula congressman Bart Stupak has warned that Michigan is not prepared to regulate Kennecott’s mining project.

Last year he said that Kennecott’s parent company, Rio Tinto, is known for cutting corners on environmental and safety matters and that a $17 million assurance bond put up by the company would not be enough to deal with damage that the mine could create.

Responsibility for regulating operations at this massive project falls entirely to the state and DEQ officials have acknowledged that may not not be able to inspect the mine even once a year.

http://michiganmessenger.com/52206/g...kennecott-mine

My note: Kennecott planned to put the portal for the mine directly under Eagle Rock. Any changes to the location would be minor. Access to the Rock for purpose of ceremony and worship has been denied since a group camping there for ceremonial protest purposes was evicted in early June. The site is fenced off and guarded.

**gazhekwe** · September-11-11, 01:28 PM

Tribe opposes possible moose hunt in the U.P.
By JOHN FLESHER ASSOCIATED PRESS

TRAVERSE CITY — An American Indian tribe has come out against any possible moose hunt in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and claims to have the legal authority to stop it. A state official called that conclusion premature. In a statement on its Web site, the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians said Thursday that its Inland Conservation Committee believes the U.P. moose herd isn’t healthy or stable enough to justify a hunt.

“The Sault Tribe is not in agreement with the State of Michigan concerning the appropriateness of a moose hunt,” said Joe Eitrem, the tribal chairman.

In 2007, the state signed an agreement with five tribes outlining inland fishing and hunting rights for tribal members in an area covered by an 1836 treaty that includes parts of both peninsulas. According to the Sault Tribe’s statement, the agreement stipulated that there could be no moose hunts “unless the state and the tribes agree that such a harvest is appropriate and agree on an allocation of such harvest.”

That provision means all five tribes must endorse a hunt for it to go forward, said Michelle Bouschor, spokeswoman for the Sault Tribe. Other tribes covered by the agreement include the Bay Mills Indian Community, the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians.

Mary Detloff, spokeswoman for the state Department of Natural Resources, declined to comment on the Sault Tribe’s interpretation of the law but said, “We feel their response is premature. We’re not even at the point where we have a moose hunt. We may never have one.”

DNR biologists say they believe about 430 moose are scattered among portions of Marquette, Baraga and Iron counties in the western U.P., while fewer than 100 range across parts of Alger, Schoolcraft, Luce, and Chippewa counties in the eastern U.P. The western population grew from a group of 59 moose transported to Marquette County from Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada, in the mid-1980s. The herd fell short of the official goal of 1,000 moose by the year 2000. Scientists say a number of factors probably have limited their growth, including an increase in numbers of whitetail deer, which carry a brainworm parasite fatal to moose. The warming climate also may be a problem. Moose are cold-weather animals, and the Upper Peninsula is on the southern fringe of their comfort zone. The Sault Tribe said the herd appeared to be growing little if at all, with biologists reporting low pregnancy rates.

The Legislature established an advisory panel on moose hunting last year. In August, the panel recommended an initial season in which 10 bull moose could be killed. Licenses to hunt the moose would cost $100 and be awarded by lottery. The final decision would be made by the Michigan Natural Resources Commission, which sets hunting and fishing policies for the state. If the commission decides to proceed with a hunt, the state would negotiate with the tribes, Detloff said. One question to be resolved is whether the agreement with the five tribes gives them any authority over the western moose herd, because its range is outside the area covered by the 1836 treaty. A separate treaty signed in 1842 covers the western U.P. “It’ll be a deliberative process ... a long road,” Detloff said.

**gazhekwe** · September-13-11, 01:47 PM

It is not often discussed, what happened to the Cherokee landowners who were expelled to Oklahoma under the auspices of the despicable Indian Removal Act rammed through and expedited by President Andrew Jackson. We refer to the Trail of Tears and shake our heads. But there is much to the story that we don't discuss, including the slaves that were owned by these Cherokee landowners.

After the Emancipation Proclamation, in 1866 a Treaty was signed, giving these freedmen membership in the Cherokee Nation. So they continued for more than 100 years. In 2007, the Cherokee Nation voted to expel the 2800 descendants of these freedmen. Now the US is telling the Cherokee Nation its action was unconstitutional.

Larry Echohawk, Assistant Secretary of the Interior, wrote a letter to the Tribal Chairman recently, explaining the US position.

"The [Interior] Department's position is, and has been that the 1866 Treaty between the United States and the Cherokee Nation vested Cherokee Freedmen with rights of citizenship in the Nation, including the right of suffrage," Echo Hawk said in a letter to acting Chief Joe Crittenden.

Further, he explained that the action was never approved by the BIA in accordance with the Cherokee Constitution, therefore it is not valid.

The decision threatens the tribal election for principal chief scheduled September 24, 2011.

**gazhekwe** · September-15-11, 11:30 AM

I had to cut this a lot, see link at the bottom for full article
Tsunami Warning From the Cherokee Nation

By Steve Russell, 9/14/2011

When does a tribal supreme court decision affect all of Indian County? Not often enough, in the sense that the mechanisms of tribal law application beside but not within the state and federal systems are a work in progress with which we can help each other. Too often, in that a blunder in tribal court can have consequences that spill outside the homelands of the affected tribe.

The Cherokee Supreme Court just rendered a poorly reasoned decision that may or may not stay confined within the Cherokee Nation, so consider this comment an early tsunami warning.

For those who have not followed the circus the Cherokee Principal Chief election has become, there were a number of ballot countings, including one directly supervised by the Supreme Court in a stunning trespass outside the judicial function. The several counts produced conflicting results, with vote margins ranging from one to 266. It was the kind of election you shove in the face of people who don’t want to vote because “ my one vote does not matter.”
...[For the detailed discussion of the election issues, see link at the bottom]

The Cherokee Supreme Court, without favoring Cherokees with a written opinion stating which standard was applied and how, held hearings behind closed doors. The result was a bare statement that the true result could not be stated “with mathematical certainty,” a phrase that appears in the tribal election code but is simply useless in the practice of counting votes without some reference to the method for dealing with ambiguous ballots. The Court ordered on July 21 that a new election be held for Principal Chief.

Meanwhile, back at the tribal sovereignty ranch, a lawsuit had been pending for some time regarding the citizenship status of the Cherokee freedmen. We have a long history of tolerating “white Cherokees,” but Oklahoma being what it is, “black Cherokees” have always been more problematic. That simple racism is the social issue, but of course it takes more to make a legal issue.

The legal issue in the treaty signed between the United States and the Cherokee Nation in 1866, ending Civil War hostilities, is the declaration that both blacks freed by that war and all “free colored persons” living in the Cherokee Nation or who returned within six months “shall have all the rights of native Cherokees.”

By this provision, slaves that had escaped during the war could either return and “have all the rights of native Cherokees” or take their chances elsewhere with the Freedmen’s Bureau, which was thought at the time to offer “40 acres and a mule” to help former slaves get situated, an offer never to come to fruition.

The claim being made now is that “all the rights of native Cherokees” did not include citizenship or, specifically, the right to vote. That is, the real choice for the freedmen was to be US citizens or not be citizens of any nation on the earth, an absurd result. At that time, Indians were not US citizens for most purposes. They could at will move from “Indians not taxed” to “Indians taxed” by quitting the tribe, but that would not gain them the right to vote.

Another fact of the time was that most of Indian Territory was held by Indian nations, including the Cherokee, who had guarantees by treaty that they would never become part of a state without their consent.

In those times, the issue was not like living in Arkansas or living in Oklahoma. Nations were nations, and the freedmen were allowed to choose the benefits of US citizenship or the benefits of Cherokee citizenship but not both. In modern times, we get the claim that the benefits of Cherokee citizenship were somehow different from the citizenship itself.

By Cherokee tribal court decision, the citizenship of the freedmen was reaffirmed in 2006. The opinion was carefully reasoned and covered the entire modern history of Cherokee citizenship.

In response, a group of Cherokees undertook by referendum to amend the Cherokee Nation Constitution to limit which part of the Dawes Rolls one’s ancestor had to be on to support modern citizenship. The effect of this amendment would be to expel approximately 2,662 black Cherokees and eight white Cherokees. Delaware and Shawnee Cherokees were retained.

“The Cherokee people” voted in a special election called by the current chief rather than in a general election. In the last federal census prior to the election, 729,533 individuals claimed to be Cherokee-American. About 268,000 of them were tribal citizens at the time, and three quarters of those individuals were of less than one-fourth Cherokee blood. The turnout in the special election was 8,743 of about 35,000 registered voters, of which 6,702 voted to disenroll their follow citizens. By comparison, the last Cherokee general election turnout had been 13,914.

....[Discusses racism here]

Another lawsuit was begun in tribal court testing whether this amendment could remove citizenship retroactively and whether this was a proper method for abrogating a treaty with the United States. Nobody considers it a serious question whether an Indian nation can abrogate a treaty—of course it can.

Within this lawsuit, a temporary injunction had kept the voting rights of the currently enrolled freedmen in place, and the case had been pending in the Cherokee Supreme Court since January of this year.

Having ordered a new election for Principal Chief on July 21, the Court cut loose an opinion on the freedmen case on August 22 striking freedmen from the voting rolls. Most observers would agree that the bulk of the freedmen vote belonged to Bill John Baker, the challenger in the election just ordered redone.
...[Discusses the appearance that the court is trying to manipulate the election, Dred Scott and trying to cast off responsibility for slavery]

The Cherokee Supreme Court has just tried to cast off the moral burden of chattel slavery on behalf of the Cherokee Nation. It is that implication of the decision that threatens other tribes.

The freedmen are left with two remedies, one of which operates in derogation of tribal sovereignty and one of which does not.
The first remedy is to encourage the US to cut off federal funding in retaliation for violating the 1866 treaty and as required by the statutes enacted to destroy Jim Crow. As a Cherokee, I am embarrassed to see this happen but I can see no objection. We have a sovereign right to abrogate the treaty, and the US can respond however it likes.

The second remedy involves a lawsuit pending in federal court, where the freedmen have requested a temporary restraining order against the Cherokee Supreme Court decision so they may vote in the coming election. The federal court may grant the order as a means of maintaining the status quo, but any such order is in derogation of Cherokee sovereignty.

Any mixing of the fictional concept of race and tribal sovereignty in federal court is hazardous to the latter. As we speak, the white citizens of Hawaii continue to beat down native Hawaiians with the claim that any attempt to preserve their land and customs is discrimination against white people.

This is the same argument that got the US Supreme Court in Grutter v. Bollinger to set a presumptive date for the death of affirmative action in college admissions, 2028.

This is the same argument deployed against Indian sovereignty in community organizing by One Nation United in Oklahoma, Upstate Citizens for Equality in New York, Citizens Equal Rights Alliance in Montana, Arizona People for the West, Protect Americans’ Rights and Resources in Wisconsin, and no doubt a number of other organizations, real and Astroturf.

These modern Indian fighters have the advantage that their organizing strategy and their litigation strategy are the same. The argument is that Indian citizenship is race-based privilege and therefore anathema to everything this nation believes. With this argument, they bring in people with economic designs on Indian property and young people who, the Obama campaign showed, are coming up without color prejudice but also without much consciousness of their own history.

The Cherokee Supreme Court has walked right into the crosshairs of the Indian fighters without bothering to drop any analysis of the race/citizenship distinction that is fundamental to federal Indian law.
Compounding the legal jeopardy is the political jeopardy in making enemies of the Congressional Black Caucus. Indians are a tiny minority and can only accomplish legislative goals by making coalitions. In this matter, a major Indian tribe is urinating on the shoes of longstanding allies.

If the impact of this decision can be confined to merely it’s obvious goal of swinging the Cherokee election, the rest of Indian Country can breathe a sigh of relief. Give how well the new Indian fighters are organized and how consistent their message has been from New York to Hawaii, confining the blowback to the Cherokee Nation only would be a win for tribal sovereignty.

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwor...paign=fb-posts

**gazhekwe** · September-15-11, 03:59 PM

News is stepping all over itself today. Here is some bad news for our people and for the water everybody relies on:

Judge: Blasting can start at mine
A judge dealt another blow Wednesday to opponents of a planned nickel and copper mine in the Upper Peninsula, refusing to delay initial underground blasting until their appeal of state permits runs its course.

Ingham County Circuit Judge Paula Manderfield rejected a motion to delay a permit that the state Department of Environmental Quality issued to Kennecott Eagle Minerals Co. in 2007. A company spokeswoman said drilling will begin in coming weeks.

Kennecott Eagle, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto, is targeting an underground ore deposit in northwestern Marquette County that is expected to yield up to 300 million pounds of nickel and about 200 million pounds of copper, plus smaller amounts of other metals. It would be the only U.S. mine where nickel is the primary target, not just a by-product from extraction of other minerals.

Opponents — the National Wildlife Federation, the Huron Mountain Club, the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve — contend it would pollute groundwater and streams.

Kennecott Eagle promises to protect the environment and says the mine would create hundreds of jobs.

Of particular concern to opponents is Eagle Rock, a 60-foot-high outcrop that the Keweenaw Bay tribe considers sacred ground. The company says it will leave the outcrop undisturbed and fenced off so tribal members can continue worshipping there.

From today's Free Press.

**gazhekwe** · September-20-11, 09:31 PM

Cherokee tribe reaches agreement to reinstate 2,800 Freedmen

By Molly O'Toole
WASHINGTON | Tue Sep 20, 2011 9:05pm EDT
[[Reuters) - The country's second-largest Indian tribe came to an agreement on Tuesday that could reinstate some 2,800 African Americans to the Cherokee Nation, just four days before an election for its principal chief.

The ousted group, known as the "Cherokee Freedmen," are descendants of slaves once owned by wealthy Indians.

"We've agreed to everything," Freedmen attorney Jonathan Velie said. "We've agreed upon an order between the Cherokee Freedmen, Cherokee Nation, the [[federal) government ... to essentially reinstate the citizens into the Cherokee Nation, so that they may vote equally with fellow Cherokee citizens."

The agreement was reached as a preliminary hearing was held in federal court in Washington, D.C. to decide whether the September 24 election for principal chief of the 300,000-member Cherokee tribe could proceed without Freedmen votes.

The hearing involved two cases regarding the controversy, in which the Freedman have brought suit against the Cherokee tribe and the federal government to guarantee their tribal rights, such as the right to vote and other benefits.

Amber Blaha, representing the U.S. government, seconded the agreement and told U.S. District Judge Henry Kennedy the government only anticipated a few provisions.

Attorney General for the Cherokee Nation A. Diane Hammons said, "This basically returns to the status quo."

Kennedy required the agreement in writing by 10 a.m. Wednesday. Both parties were working together to hash out the wording and details.

The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs had threatened to not recognize Saturday's election for principal chief of the 300,000 member Cherokee Tribe after the Cherokee Supreme Court ruled last month that the tribe had the right to change the constitution on citizenship. The Department of Housing and Urban Development also withheld $33 million in disbursement.

By the 1830s, most of the Cherokee tribe -- and many of these slaves -- were forced to move from the Eastern United States to present-day Oklahoma.

After the Civil War, in which the Cherokee fought for the South, the Cherokee and the government signed a treaty guaranteeing tribal citizenship for the freed slaves.
The U.S. government has argued that the 1866 treaty guaranteed the Freedmen tribal citizenship, regardless of Cherokee blood relation.

But last month's decision by the Cherokee Supreme Court to only recognize citizenship for those who could prove Cherokee blood relation meant many black members of the tribe were no longer considered citizens. This made them ineligible to receive benefits or vote in the coming tribal elections.

Acting Principal Chief Joe Crittenden has criticized what he called federal threats to the tribe's sovereignty.

Plaintiff Marilyn Vann, a leader of the Freedmen, was one of the number stripped of Cherokee citizenship and pursuing restoration of citizenship and voting rights, or to delay the vote for principal chief until resolution.

About 3,500 more slave descendants have citizenship applications pending with the tribe, according to an attorney who represented the Freedmen in a tribal lawsuit.
Tuesday's agreement, which will extend voting to October 8 to allow the Freedman to participate, marked an initial resolution to the long-standing tensions in the tribe.

"When I was sworn in as chief," Crittenden said in a statement Thursday night, "I swore to abide by the Cherokee Constitution and the U.S. Constitution."
[[Editing by Greg McCune)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...78K08D20110921

**gazhekwe** · September-24-11, 11:48 AM

It seems that Nanabozho angered the water spirits and they brought a big flood that covered the land. Nanabozho was trapped at the top of a pine tree. It's another story how that all happened. Around him gathered birds and animals of the earth, desperate for shelter.

One by one, he asked them to go to the bottom and bring up some mud. Loon, the best diver, tried and failed, then beaver, then one by one, all the others tried and failed. Finally, the little muskrat, that everyone scorns, spoke up and said she will try.

Everyone laughed but down she went. Down and down, into the darkness. She was gone a long time. Finally, when everyone had given up on her, she floated back lifeless to the surface. In her claws, she had a tiny bit of mud she had managed to grasp with her last effort. Joyfyully, Nanabush took her head and blew into her mouth and nose, and she revived to everyone's gratitude.

He spread the mud on the back of Turtle and told her to swim to a place and start turning from east to south to west to north continuously. With each revolution, the earth on the turtle's back grew. Bigger and bigger it got, until Nanabozho sent the Fox to run around it. It took the Fox longer and longer to reappear as the island got bigger and bigger. Finally, one day, the Fox did not reappear, and it was then that Nanabozho knew that the island had grown big enough to support the lives of the animals and birds and people.

**gazhekwe** · September-25-11, 06:58 PM

Well, Flint Twp, near Bishop Airport, actually.

News Article- Flint Casino Update

FLINT TWP., Michigan -- The Bay Mills Indian Community wants to build a new casino on 28 acres it owns here, a proposal that the tribe claims could supercharge Genesee County's economy by creating 700 new jobs.

Tracy Tucker, township economic enhancement director, said local officials have already been briefed by Bay Mills representatives, who are scheduled to discuss plans for the property near the northeast corner of Lennon and Dutcher roads at the Oct. 3 meeting of the township Board of Trustees.

Tucker said Bay Mills officials told the township the development would created about 700 jobs.

Before it's even unveiled, the plan faces big obstacles -- not the least of which is not having state, federal , or tribal permissions to open a casino.

But Bay Mills has shown it's unconventional fight to open off-reservation casinos during the past year.

Earlier this year, it has appealed a a federal judge's ruling that forced the tribe to close a small casino in Vanderbilt, a slots-only gaming operation in northern Michigan that also opened without traditional approvals in place.

"I think they are ready to get [[the plans) out there and get reaction to it," Tucker said.

The Flint Journal could not reach Jeff Parker, Bay Mills executive council chairman, for comment on details of the proposal or plan for the legal fight the Bay Mills tribe would almost surely face if it tried to push ahead with the casino development without state and federal approvals.

Flint Township Trustee Belenda Parker said she hadn't heard what Bay Mills officials were going to present at the meeting

"I want more information before I make a decision," Parker said.

James Nye, a spokesman for the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe and the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Indian Tribe, said Bay Mills appears to be too anxious to test how far it can go in the Flint area.

"If they are already talking about jobs, it appears they have some sort of expedited time frame in mind," Nye said. "I would be highly skeptical of anything Bay Mills is proposing."
Nye called Bay Mills' casino campaign "unordinary" in that it opened one casino that was shut down by the federal courts ,without following state or federal rules and without the required consent of other tribes in Michigan, including the Saginaw Chippewas.

Genesee County is considered part of the Saginaw Chippewas aboriginal lands.

Bay Mills was ordered to close the casino it opened in Vanderbilt in March byt he federal district court, and appealed that decision to the federal circuit court which confirmed the closing, It has also filed a lawsuit against Gov. Rick Snyder, claiming the state has no jurisdiction over the tribe's land in Vanderbilt. [[The State of Michigan had previously sued the Bay Mills Executive Council individually and believes it will get criminal convictions.)

Snyder said just last month that he will not support casino proposals that are on non-Indian land

The state also claimed in its lawsuit against the Bay Mills that it could not open casinos on non-Indian land, but the tribe has argued the land is tribal because it was purchased with funds from the Michigan Indian Land Claims Settlement Act.

**Bigb23** · September-26-11, 06:17 AM

Originally Posted by Sstashmoo

Semihole, that's a half-ass indian. Ok I'll stop.

Sounds like a joke - but my Irish cousin, his Italian and Jewish friends took off from the west side of Detroit in the early 70's, to get in the skilled trades out west in Arizona. They had to make do in the meantime by making Indian turquoise jewelery for sale.

They called themselves the Jive-a-hoes.

A brand new tribe. They are all still out there.

**Bigb23** · September-26-11, 06:30 AM

Gaz- have you ever seen the movie "Casino Jack" about Jack Abramhoff? They somewhat screwed themselves,but it turns out he really screwed the First Nation here in Michigan. They only wanted to renovate the Rez. [[Among other things), I hate how Washington works sometimes. I take that back, [[All the time). But a great movie.

**gazhekwe** · September-26-11, 07:32 AM

I haven't seen the movie, but it doesn't come as a huge surprise that lobbyists have their hands in everybody's pockets. Here's a sketch of the issue from Wikipedia:

June 2002 - Team Abramoff lobbyists worked on behalf of the Saginaw Chippewa tribe in Michigan to secure a $3 million federal grant for school construction.

July 3, 2003: Doolittle's PAC, Superior California collects a $5,000 check from the Saginaw Chippewa of Michigan, an Abramoff client.

November 2, 2003: Julia Robb at the Alexandria Daily Town Talk reported that people within the Saginaw Chippewa and LA Coushatta tribes were criticizing tribal leaders [[like Chief Poncho) for spending multi-millions on lobbyists, so that was likely when the house of cards started falling [[Chief Poncho had recently been voted out of the tribal council). More notes to follow.
November 2003: According to the first SIAC hearing transcripts, the Saginaw Chippewa first confronted Abramoff and asked if he had a side 'agreement' with Scanlon.

There are more details in the criminal charges, on page 7, including the deal with Scanlon:

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/moyersonam...amoff_plea.pdf

**gazhekwe** · September-27-11, 12:20 PM

Results for Cherokee Chief May Not be Known Until October 10
Native News Network Staff in Native Currents.
TAHLEQUAH, OKLAHOMA - Voting was reportedly heavy by Cherokee Nation members on Saturday, September 24 as they cast their ballot for next Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. A recent court order added additional voting days for freedmen descendant citizens and stipulates that no ballots be counted until after the last voting opportunity on October 8.

"I think today's voting day went really smoothly. Judging by the higher in-person voter turnout, it seems Cherokee Nation citizens still have faith in the election process," said Susan Plumb, chairperson of the Cherokee Nation Election Commission. "The Election Commission has and will continue working tirelessly to preserve the integrity of this election."

According to the Cherokee Nation Election Commission, more than 8,700 ballots were cast during precinct voting and more than 1,100 citizens cast ballots during early walk-in voting. These are preliminary numbers that will be verified when the Commission tabulates the ballots after voting concludes on October 8.

The Cherokee Nation Election Commission said they would secure and safeguard the ballots with the help of the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service until commissioners begin counting them on October 8. Commissioners have set a 48-hour time frame for announcing certification of the results. Official results will be announced within that window.
posted September 27, 2011 8:15 am edt

**gazhekwe** · September-28-11, 06:31 PM

Name: 316132_235090213207661_104214679628549_640120_1489224795_n.jpg
Views: 609
Size: 20.6 KB

Chief Raoni cried when he learned that the President of Brazil approved the Belo Monte dam project on the Xingu indigenous lands. Belo Monte will be bigger than the Panama Canal, flooding nearly a million acres of rainforest & indigenous lands. 40,000 indigenous and local people will be forced off their native lands [[as well as millions of unknown species & plants) In the name of "progress".

More about Belo Monte: http://amazonwatch.org/work/belo-monte-dam

Myth #1: The dam will not displace or negatively affect indigenous people
The project's environmental impact assessment [[EIA) considers directly affected areas to be only those that will be flooded by dam reservoirs. The distinction between “direct” and “indirect” impacts is a dubious one: Belo Monte's supporters claim that few people will be “directly affected” by flooding, yet indigenous communities will endure “indirect” impacts that will undoubtedly displace them from their traditional lands. These include severely reduced stream flow, water scarcity, loss of river navigation, the decimation of fish species, and an increase in water-borne diseases like malaria.

Concerns About Methane Plague Brazil's Belo Monte Dam
In tropical areas such as the Amazon, research indicates that hydropower's climate impact can be just as bad as fossil fuels. Environmentalists add that smaller hydroelectric projects may not be any better.
September 9, 2011 | Jon Beaupré and Sonya Angelica Diehn | Source: DW-World

After final approval this June, Brazil has started construction on Belo Monte Dam, a controversial project which would power the world's third-largest hydroelectric plant.

International Rivers, an environmental organization, claims that the Belo Monte dam complex, in Pará state near the Amazon delta, would divert nearly the entire flow of the Xingu River along a 62-mile stretch, creating a 100,000-hectare lake where rainforests currently grow, and displacing 40,000 people.

When completed, the Belo Monte project is expected to have a capacity of 11,000 megawatts, putting it behind China's Three Gorges Dam [[22,500 MW) and the Itaipú Dam [[14,000 MW) along the border between Brazil and Paraguay.
But scientists say dams, especially those in the tropics, actually produce so much methane that they may not be any "cleaner" than power from fossil fuel sources.
And while the Belo Monte project has been receiving the lion's share of attention, in a country that gets more than two-thirds of its power from dams, smaller projects are increasingly an environmental concern.

Continued here: http://amazonwatch.org/news/2011/090...belo-monte-dam

**Bigb23** · September-28-11, 08:10 PM

I remember reading years ago about a similar project with a Surinam Reservoir in the early 60's that involved a massive rescue of starving jungle animals from almost submerged trees. All for Alcoa aluminum.

Also if you get a chance,[[anybody), I just read "Pink Boots and a Machete" - My Journey from NFL Cheerleader to National Geographic Explorer. [[Mireya Mayor).
Among other things, she went 900 miles through the African Bush, on foot, in four weeks, without modern technology, to recreate the Stanly/Livingston story.
A good read, and she received a Phd. in Primatology. A librarian sent it over to me unsolicited. I love what librarians do for patrons.

Thread: Paging Gazhekwe

Thread Tools

Search Thread

Display

Some music for a stormy night

The most invasive species on Earth

A Different Kind of Dream Cruise

Dumb kids and their dumb toys

What we take for granted about American Indians

John T. Williams Memorial

John T. Williams Memorial Report

American Indian Reps in Congress

Ethnocentrism, racism, whatever you want to call it

Expecting Something Different from the Supremes?

Eagle Rock's fate haning in the balance

Soo Tribe opposes DNR proposal to hunt moose

Slavery rears its ugly head again

And the Cherokee Citizenship Battle is ON!

Eagle Rock opened for blasting

Cherokee Agreement [[duplicate from other thread)

Muskrat's Story

Bay Mills on the March, Casino in Flint?

Tales of the Cherokee Polls

A tragedy in the making as we stand idly by

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

Instagram

DetroitYES Forums

DetroitYES navigation

DetroitYES Management

DetroitYES Affiliated Sites