Paging Gazhekwe

[gazhekwe]

[Jimaz]

LOL! He's having trouble trying to attach a Medal of Freedom.

Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded to Medicine Crow

[gazhekwe]

Yes! That's it. I looked for the picture last night but all I could find was nasty captions. This morning I Googled Native American Chief gets medal and found the picture with caption.

Obama reaches around Joe Medicine Crow's headdress to give the Plains Indian war chief his medal, at which point Crow proclaimed, "I am highly honored!"

Maybe it is time to say a little bit about being a warrior. It isn't just about fighting and killing, it is about respect, love, wisdom, bravery, truth, honesty and humility [[the Seven Grandfathers). A true warrior is humble. He or she protects those around them and treats them with love and respect. A warrior is aware of all around him or her, and watches to make sure all is safe and protected. Joe Medicine Crow, it is said, completed four deeds on the battlefield to earn the honor of being named War Chief. Those deeds are, coming into contact with an enemy, taking his weapon from him, taking the enemy's horses, going safely through enemy fire.

Dr. Medicine Crow talks about his history here: http://www.teachingbooks.net/content/MedicineCrow_qu.pdf

[gazhekwe]

[gazhekwe]

OTTAWA - Chief Theresa Spence, the leader of northern Ontario's remote Attawapiskat First Nation, has agreed to end her hunger protest after six weeks of forgoing solid food, her spokesman said Wednesday.

Spence has been subsisting only on fish broth and medicinal tea since Dec. 11 to push for a meeting between First Nations leaders, the prime minister and the Governor General.

Both she and Elder Raymond Robinson, who has been engaged in a similar protest, have agreed to stop, spokesman Danny Metatawabin said in a statement.
The breakthrough comes after a coalition of Liberal and NDP politicians and First Nations chiefs agreed to a declaration spelling out 13 specific demands for continuing negotiations between First Nations and the federal government.

The declaration calls for improvements to housing and schools on reserves, as well as an immediate meeting between the Governor General, the federal and provincial governments and all First Nations.

It also says historic treaties that originally defined the relationship between many First Nations and Ottawa should be modernized and fully implemented within five years.

"We fully commit to carry forward the urgent and coordinated action required until concrete and tangible results are achieved in order to allow First Nations to forge their own destiny," the preamble to the draft declaration reads.

Numerous other chiefs and band councillors from the northern Ontario region around Attawapiskat are travelling to the capital to be part of the Thursday procession.
The resolution will likely serve to maintain pressure on the Conservatives as MPs return to the House of Commons next week after their Christmas break.

Not only will Harper face criticism for allowing First Nations unrest to boil over, but he will also face fresh demands to revisit environmental oversight that was dramatically changed in the government's two controversial omnibus budget bills.

"We have political and legal and constitutional issues to deal with. That's the road that Mr. Harper has chosen," said NDP critic Romeo Saganash.

Harper is focused instead on his plans for forthcoming talks with Atleo based on an agenda they agreed to earlier this month — some of which overlaps with the Spence declaration.

"The important thing is that we continue to make progress so that the living standards of our aboriginal people improve and that their opportunities for participating in the economy continue to improve," Harper said Wednesday at an event in Cambridge, Ont.

"Those opportunities exist with resource development in remote areas, with the shortage of labour the Canadian economy is going to be experiencing. And I want to see aboriginal people, particularly young aboriginal people, take advantage of those opportunities."

An informal delegation that includes interim Liberal leader Bob Rae, Saganash and northern Ontario deputy grand chief Alvin Fiddler has been working closely with Spence to hash out a dignified solution.

Rae brings a reputation as a firm but respectful mediator in tricky situations such as the Burnt Church aboriginal fishing dispute in 2000. Fiddler is from the same region as Spence and is known as a practical, sharp thinker.

Together with Spence's team of close confidants and with moral support from some aboriginal women leaders, they settled on a declaration that clarifies Spence's concerns and commits signatories to carry on her fight.

The declaration also demands a thorough review of the two Conservative government omnibus bills, which dramatically changed environmental oversight.

"Far too long we have been denied an equitable stature within the Canadian society," the draft declaration states. "The time is ours and no longer will we be silenced and idle."

Thursday is significant. It's the day Spence and the AFN originally wanted Harper and Gov. Gen. David Johnston to hold a broad meeting with the country's chiefs, in part to commemorate the first anniversary of last year's Crown-First Nation Gathering, which was supposed to have reset relations between the two sides.

Those encouraging Spence to end her protest have been describing how they count her victories: greater national awareness of First Nations issues; a meeting between the AFN, Harper and several cabinet ministers; and a commitment to modernize treaties and aboriginal rights, with negotiations between chiefs and the top levels of government.

They also note that Spence's resolve helped galvanize thousands of protesters across the country under the Idle No More banner.

Spence's protest also attracted unwanted attention: much publicity surrounded a government-ordered audit of her band's finances that showed a lack of proper documentation for about $100 million in funding.

Her protest has also left the AFN badly injured.

Atleo attended the meeting with Harper on Jan. 11 even though the Governor General was not included in the meeting, as Spence had demanded. She boycotted the meeting, as did many chiefs from Manitoba, Ontario and other parts of the country.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/01/23/theresa-spence-protest_n_2531717.html

[gazhekwe]

CBC-TV's Senior Correspondent in Ottawa, Terry Milewski gets a public dressing down as Liberal leader Bob Rae responds to a question that Milewski asked regarding the goals of First Nations and #idlenomore in Canada. The question revealed much about what is wrong with mainstream media coverage of FN in Canada. At the end of the video, Milewski declines a follow-up! Posted by Kevin Bourassa [[Twitter: KevinBourassa)

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jcYq668M2w
• 
  

[gazhekwe]

Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 28
"We call it the `sacred' red road because it is the road that will lead us to living the good life, an honest and healthy life."
-- Larry P. Aitken, CHIPPEWA
The Red Road is the path we walk on when we want a direct relationship with the Great Spirit. This requires sacrifice. This requires us to have our beliefs tested. To walk this path is really an honor. The returns for doing so are exciting, not only for ourselves but for the effect that will be felt for three generations. This means your children will see the benefits as well as your grandchildren. Do I want to walk this sacred road?

Great Spirit, guide [us] on the Red Road.

[gazhekwe]

[gazhekwe]

1 pm Lansing, Michigan at the Capitol. School is in at the Lansing State Capital today! Free Round Dance Lessons at 1pm. History and Environmental perspectives you won't learn in their school! Drive Carefully.

Bay Mills, Michigan, two pix




Sidney, Australia


Bad River, Wisconsin



Sami Americans [[Finland's caribou people) in Pacific Northwest



Afghans in Canada


CN track blockade at Portage La Prairie, Manitoba


Dunnville, Ontario



London Bridge


McDonald Bridge, Halifax, Nova Scotia



Samiland, Norway



Zadar, Croatia


Oxford, UK


Ottawa I think



Parliament Hill, Ottawa



Valle dei Templi, Agrigento, Sicily


UN, NYC


Lansing



Edmonton

[gazhekwe]

The Native American zodiac signs are wholly unique, and you’ll not find these totemic birth animals anywhere else but here. Determine which sign you are, and check out its meaning.
Wolf http://bit.ly/QiXr4M
Deerhttp://bit.ly/QiXxt2
Woodpecker http://bit.ly/V2cYh2
Beaver http://bit.ly/QiXDAX
Otter http://bit.ly/V2d7Ru
Salmon http://bit.ly/V2d8F5
Falcon http://bit.ly/QiXNsc
Raven http://bit.ly/V2dbAT
Goose http://bit.ly/QiXT2X
Bear http://bit.ly/V2dknN
Owl http://bit.ly/QiY12x
Snakehttp://bit.ly/V2dmMv
#NativeAstrology

Here is mine, don't think it is close to the real me, but I do love crows, ravens, and jays: http://nativeamericanencyclopedia.co...animal-zodiac/

Highly enthusiastic, and a natural entrepreneur, the Crow is quite a charmer. But he/she doesn’t have to work at being charming – it comes easily. Everyone recognizes the Crow’s easy energy, and everyone turns to the Crow for his/her ideas and opinions. This is because the Crow is both idealistic and diplomatic and is quite ingenious. In nurturing environments this Native American animal symbol is easy-going, can be romantic, and soft-spoken. Further, the crow can be quite patient, and intuitive in relationships. Left to his/her own devices, the Crow can be demanding, inconsistent, vindictive, and abrasive.

[Jimaz]

Idle No More: From Grassroots to Global Movement

[gazhekwe]

Oklahoma City:



Lansing



More Lansing

[gazhekwe]

Many in defense of these colonies entitlement to the land have raised the Land Bridge theory to show that Native Peoples also colonized the place. What a crock! Imagine, after less than three centuries as a country, and only five on the continent, these people think this gives them a superior right. I submit that the Indigenous People, with at least 15-20 millenia on the continent, have a much superior claim. We TRUMP your 2.25 centuries.

The land bridge theory was advanced as the way people got on this continent as anthropologists and other scientist explored the geography and history of the last ice age. If you go just by the Ice Age, that takes us back only 12,000 years [[12 millenia to your 2.25 centuries). Carbon dating came along and debunked that time frame, showing some artifacts dated far before 12,000 years. Now there are multiple theories at hand, none which seem to dislodge the land bridge due to lack of information in mass media. Here are some articles to show the trends in thinking among scientists.

Other theories, National Park Service: http://http://www.nps.gov/bela/histo...n-theories.htm

What do Indians say about the Land Bridge theory? http://www.native-languages.org/bering.htm

NYT, Who got here first? http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/20/opinion/sunday/who-arrived-in-the-americas-first.html

A&M find may shatter land-bridge migrant theory www.chron.com

[gazhekwe]

The colonists want the land. They take the land and kick anyone who is on it already the hell off "their land." Who cares what happens to the people who lived there, depended on the land for their survival, and have no comparable place to go? They are not the same kind of people as the colonists, so do not really matter.



This picture is to go around the world.
The evacuation of the Kayapó tribe - an Indian people of the Amazon region in Brazil's Mato Grosso has started.
The construction of the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam has begun, despite numerous protests and more than 600,000 signatures collected to stop it.


Stop Belo Monte, spelled out by 300 indigenous protestors occupying the site in June, 2012

Protests and lawsuits have abounded since 2005 as the Belo Monte dam has moved from the proposal phase to construction. While the Brazilian government continues construction, considering Belo Monte to be an integral part of its plans to reduce carbon emissions and maintain energy security, indigenous populations and environmental groups vehemently oppose the project, fearing it could lead to irreversible and dire consequences for the Amazon’s unique ecosystem and the local indigenous peoples who rely on the river for survival.
Opponents claim the dam could displace up to 40,000 people and impact nearly 579 square miles of the Amazon River basin, a unique and fragile ecosystem along the Xingu River. The government claims that once active in 2015, Belo Monte will provide nearly 60 million Brazilians with clean and affordable energy. With so much to gain and so much at stake, the construction of the Belo Monte continues as protesters rally with the cry: What is the price of development?
...
The indigenous impact
Belo Monte will disrupt the Xingu River’s water flow, causing the river’s “Big Bend” to completely dry up. This will impact the livelihoods of hundreds of indigenous peoples who rely on the river for survival and transportation. The Enawene Nawe tribe experienced a similar problem when dams on their river, the Juruena, depopulated their fish resources so devastatingly that Brazilian authorities had to deliver emergency aid in the form of farmed fish. Belo Monte might also cause flooding in the nearby city of Altamira, possibly requiring the relocation of people and damage to the city’s infrastructure.
...
http://www.theinternational.org/arti...te-life-on-the

[gazhekwe]

The Dominant Culture Fears the Idle No More Movement

Donna Ennis, February 05, 2013

Much of the current resistance to Idle No More movement is rooted in fear from the dominant culture, that Indigenous people want social change, are feeling agitated and seem determined to make this change a reality.

.....History shows when indigenous people who are “outside” the normal decision making establishment push for change, the dominant culture establishment will resist and use force if necessary. W.E.B. Du Bois once wrote, "Agitation is a necessary evil to tell the ills of the suffering.

Dr. King called it “Creative Tension.” Creative tension is essentially a structure that helps to facilitate creativity and change. You form creative tension when you clearly articulate your vision and your current reality and the gap between your vision and your current reality becomes apparent. This creates an emotional and energetic tension that seeks to be resolved. Through a comparison of violent tension, which is undesired, and nonviolent tension, which is constructive, Dr King established the concept that the "constructive, nonviolent tension" will "help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood."

The official website for Idle No More states that the vision of the movement “revolves around Indigenous ways of knowing rooted in Indigenous sovereignty to protect water, air, land and all creation for future generations." The current reality of the indigenous people then is that the Conservative [[Canadian) government bills beginning with Bill C-45 threaten treaties and this Indigenous vision of sovereignty. This gap is what has agitated us into action.

Historically efforts to take back our ways of life have been met with fierce resistance, genocide even. When the Lakota people began practicing the Ghost Dance spiritual movement, the belief that Lakota people had been defeated and confined to reservations because they had angered the Gods by no longer practicing their Native ways, many believed that if they rejected the white man ways that the world would be recreated and all non believers would be destroyed. [[This is my understanding of the Ghost Dance as an Ojibwe woman). The U.S. government took notice and worried about the increase in number of the Ghost Dancers, especially at Pine Ridge. On December 29, 1890 a band of ghost dancers were surrounded by the Calvary and ordered to surrender their weapons. A brutal massacre followed and subsequently an estimated 300 Lakota were killed, mostly women and children. Whatever the motives, the massacre ended the Ghost Dance movement.

The Idle No More founders, organizers and Elder advisors issued the following press release emphasizing their call for peaceful non-violent action:

Idle No More has a responsibility to resist current government policies in a Peaceful and Respectful way. It can be done. It can be done without aggression or violence. This is an energetic, exciting and transformative time.

This movement has been guided by Spiritual Elders, dreams, visions, and from peoples’ core values. We are here to ensure the land, the waters, the air, and the creatures and indeed each of us, return to balance and discontinue harming each other and the earth.

To keep us on this good path, we ask that you, as organizers create space for Elders or Knowledge/Ceremonial Keepers to assist in guiding decisions as we move forward. It is up to each of us to see that this movement respects all people, the environment, and our communities and neighbors.

So even as the Idle No More effort strives to make our voices heard in a peaceful and constructive way through non violent tension aka Dr King, the fear of the dominant culture is that, as in the Ghost Dance, the indigenous people are trying to recreate the world and they as non believers will be destroyed.

In her book Holding Our World Together, Brenda J. Child details the ways in which women have shaped Native American life and the influence that they have had. Women and their rituals served as ballast for an Indian nation long buffeted on the waves of depression, forced removal, and ethnic cleansing. It is time, once again, for the wisdom of our female elders to lead and sustain our nation.

Donna Ennis is currently thechair of the Minnesota Indian Child Welfare Advisory Council, as well as the eastern regional director and cultural director for North Homes Children and Family Services, a professional foster care agency.

Read more athttp://indiancountrytodaymedianetwor...ovement-147456

[gazhekwe]

Idle No More: Native-Led Protest Movement Takes On Canadian Government

Idle No More, Canadian Embassy, Prague Gerard Gratadour/isifa/Getty Images

Brooke Jarvis, February 4, 2013 11:32 AM ET

As members of Canada's House of Commons returned to work last week in Ottawa, they found several hundred protesters waiting for them under a heavy snowfall on Parliament Hill. Many were dressed in traditional clothing of Canada's First Nations. Their chants were punctuated by drumbeats.

Similar protests took place in Halifax, Calgary, Winnipeg, Montreal, Vancouver and other cities across Canada and in the United States. They were part of a "world day of action" organized under the banner of Idle No More – a native rights movement that has been heating up since October, when the Canadian government proposed a bill, known as C-45, that included provisions to undermine environmental protection and indigenous sovereignty.

C-45, which passed in December, changes the way that First Nations approve the surrendering or leasing of territory, making it easier to open indigenous treaty lands to development. The law also reduces the number of development projects that require environmental assessment and dramatically changes the nation's Navigable Waters Protection Act – which, since 1882, has made it illegal to "block, alter or destroy any water deep enough to float a canoe without federal approval." Now, only specifically enumerated bodies of water have that protection.

Opponents see a clear connection to Canada's controversial tar sands industry, which requires the construction of new oil and gas pipelines directly through First Nations territories and across waterways in order to get its product to refineries. Native groups have been strong opponents of pipeline proposals, including the Northern Gateway – sometimes referred to as "Canada's Keystone XL" – which would stretch more than 730 miles from Alberta to the shores of British Columbia, where oil would be pumped into tankers for export.

But when First Nations representatives visited the House of Commons to discuss their concerns about C-45 in early December, they weren't allowed to enter. A week later, Chief Theresa Spence of the Attawapiskat began a hunger strike that lasted six weeks, elevating the profile of the movement. Soon, rallies and flash mobs – often involving circle dances – were breaking out not only in Canada, but in London, New York, and at the Mall of America in Minnesota. Activists shut down rail lines and blockaded highways, including one leading to the Alberta tar sands. Protesters outside of Canada – both native and non-native – began using the "Idle No More" slogan in their opposition to Keystone XL, coal export terminals in the Northwest, and more.

Shalane Pauls is a 24-year-old biochemistry student at the University of Northern British Columbia and a member of the Tsimshian and Tahltan nations. In the last few months, she has organized three Idle No More rallies. She is in the process of planning a teach-in to discuss what she calls myths about the movement, primarily claims that First Nations receive unfair government support. But the biggest myth, she said, is that water pollution only matters to native people. "It's not just a First Nations issue," says Pauls. "It's a human rights issue. It's a Canadian issue. It's not just aboriginal children we're looking out for; it's the children of the nation."

Idle No More has been subject to many of the same criticisms as other social movements: that its purpose isn't sufficiently clear, that tactics will turn off potential allies, that infighting and tribal mismanagement mar the message. There's no way to tell how long its momentum will last. Still, Pauls sees the movement as a turning point in the political involvement of Canada's First Nations. "For so long, we haven't been heard. And so, for so long we just sat, idly. But the title in itself really wakes people up. To be like, 'Hey, I don't want to be idle anymore – this is what I want to see, this is how I feel.' There's always going to be something worth fighting for."

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics...#ixzz2KAmIi0cU

[gazhekwe]

Indian Affairs Chair:
I am not going to treat Native American Women as Second Class Citizens
Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Challenges.

WASHINGTON – During a fierce debate that argued the merits of of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013, known as S. 47, the United States Senate heard from Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Senator Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, who urged swift passage of the Act that contains strong Tribal provisions.Senator Cantwell also called for the rejection of an amendment that would remove Tribal provisions from the bill. The amendment, which is scheduled for a vote on Monday, would overturn Tribal jurisdiction and limit the ability of Tribal courts to punish non-Indian domestic violence offenders who assault Indian women. The amendment would lower the crime of domestic violence by Non-Indians against Indian women from a felony to a misdemeanor level punishment, regardless of the circumstances or severity of the crime.

“I would say to my colleagues it's time to pass this legislation, and to protect these rights for all individuals,”

Senator Cantwell said.

“We cannot vote for an amendment on the other side of the aisle that basically strips the rights of Native American women and treats them like second-class citizens. Nor can we just go silent on what is an epidemic problem in our country.”

Senator Cantwell is an original co-sponsor of the bill introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont. on January 22. Since the first VAWA bill passed in 1994, domestic violence has decreased by 53 percent. The reauthorization bill includes critical improvements to extend domestic violence protections to individuals, including women in Tribal communities, who are currently not protected. An estimated 40 percent of Native women experience domestic violence in their lifetimes. Eighty percent of perpetrators of these crimes are non-Indian, and under current law, are not likely to be prosecuted by Tribal governments.

Previous reauthorizations of VAWA have been approved in a timely fashion with overwhelming support. Last Congress, a similar Senate version of the VAWA reauthorization bill passed the Senate by a bipartisan vote of 68-31, but ultimately stalled in the House. S. 47 has 60 co-sponsors and is expected to head to the Senate floor for final passage next week.

Senator Cantwell has been a consistent champion for the reauthorization of VAWA. In December, she joined six of her female Democratic Senate colleagues to all for House passage of VAWA before Congress adjourned for the year. In April 2012, she joined Senator Patty Murray, D-Washington, at the King County Sheriff's office to highlight the benefits of the bill to local law enforcement.

http://www.nativenewsnetwork.com/i-a...-citizens.html

[gazhekwe]

February 8th, 1887 the Dawes General Allotment Act was enacted by the U.S. Congress regarding the distribution of land to Native Americans in Indian Territory.

[[Remember, this followed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, requiring most tribes to move to Oklahoma, displacing them from their lands east of the Mississippi.)

The act provided for the division of tribally held lands into individually-owned parcels and opening "surplus" lands to settlement by non-Indians and development by railroads. [[Guess who decided the land was "surplus?" Not the Indians} By dividing reservation lands into privately owned parcels, legislators hoped to complete the assimilation process by forcing the deterioration of the communal life-style of the Native societies and imposing Western-oriented values of strengthening the nuclear family and values of economic dependency strictly within this small household unit.

The land granted to most allottees was not sufficient for economic viability, and division of land between heirs upon the allottees' deaths resulted in land fractionalization. Most allotment land, which could be sold after a statutory period of 25 years, was eventually sold to non-Native buyers at bargain prices.

Additionally, land deemed to be "surplus" beyond what was needed for allotment was opened to White settlers, though the profits from the sales of these lands were often invested in programs meant to aid the American Indians. Native Americans lost, over the 47 years of the Act's life, about 90 million acres [[360,000 km²) of treaty land, or about two-thirds of the 1887 land base. About 90,000 Native Americans were made landless.


https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=1&theater

[gazhekwe]

Help our Mother Earth and our Feast providers, bring your Feast Bags, we say.
Feast Bags? Here is an explanation of a good old tradition:

[gazhekwe]

Michigan Department of Civil Rights Wants a Ban on Native Mascots

ICTMN Staff

February 12, 2013

The Michigan Department of Civil Rights is asking the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights for a ban on the use of American Indian mascots, nicknames and logos.

“A growing and unrebutted body of evidence now establishes that the use of American Indian imagery reinforces stereotypes in a way that negatively impacts the potential for achievement by students with American Indian ancestry,” the filing argues. “Continued use of American Indian mascots, names, nicknames, logos, slogans, chants and/or other imagery creates a hostile environment and denies equal rights to all current and future American Indian students and must therefore cease.”

The complaint, filed February 8, highlights studies that show decreased achievement, self-esteem and self-identity among American Indian students.

“The research empirically demonstrates, for the first time, that the negative stereotypes promoted by American Indian mascots reveal negative consequences for the targeted minority group and positive consequences for the mainstream majority group,” says a statement made by Stephanie Fryberg, an assistant professor of social and cultural psychology at the University of Arizona, to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in 2011.

A doctoral dissertation sited in the complaint titled “Psychological Distress Between American Indian and Majority Culture College Students Regarding the Use of the Fighting Sioux Nickname and Logo” found that after viewing the Fighting Sioux logo American Indian students reported higher psychological distress levels than non-Indian students.

The complaint names 35 Michigan schools that currently use Native mascots, among the mascots are the Warriors, Redskins, Indians, Mohawks, Braves, Chieftains, Big Reds and Chiefs.
One Michigan school was already way ahead of this ban, Ottawa Hills High School in Grand Rapids changed its mascot from the Indians to the Bengals about 10 years ago.

“There was a rumor at that time that it could one day become a mandate so we just took a proactive approach,” Kurt Johnson, executive director of athletics for Grand Rapids Public Schools, toldWZZM 13. He was part of the team responsible for the mascot change.

“Understanding the concern of the Native American Council we wanted to make sure that we were not being offensive to any group,” he said, adding that the change has positively affected the school environment.

“Look at making sure the school environment is inclusive and is supportive and is representative of all, then it should be an easy decision for them to make,” Johnson told WZZM in giving advice to the 35 other schools in Michigan that still have Native mascots.

Some don’t agree with changing the names. A community Facebook page called Bay City Western Warriors Forever We Stand As One has been created asking the Department of Civil Rights to drop its complaint. The Bay City Western Warriors is one of the 35 schools listed in the department's complaint. The page was created February 10 and in just two days has more than 1,000 likes.

One commenter named Stefanie says “Why do they have to take it as a negative..... That is their and our history and they were warriors, strong and brave. I don't feel it's disrespectful to use our history.”

This complaint does not name any of Michigan’s universities, one of which—Central Michigan University—does have an American Indian mascot. The university calls itself the Chippewas with the consent of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, but does not have any Native imagery in its flying C logo.

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwor...mascots-147622

[gazhekwe]

SENATE READING OF BILL C-27 TODAY [[ Financial Transparency and Accountability Act) This bill undermines Treaty, the Treaty relationship and Indigenous sovereignty.

*This bill imposes standards on First Nations governments that far exceed those for municipal, provincial and federal officials in other jurisdictions.

*It requires First Nation owned businesses [[unlike non Aboriginal businesses) to publicly report income and expenses, thus undermining competitiveness.

*It adds additional bureaucracy to the existing requirement that each First Nation provide Ottawa over 150 financial reports each year, contrary to the recommendations of Canada’s Auditor General and the Treasury Board.

*These changes are based on a common, racist assumption that First Nations’ officials are all corrupt – an assumption that is factually and statistically incorrect.

[Jimaz]

"When We Take Care of the Land, It Takes Care of Us": Chief Jacqueline Thomas Opposes Keystone XL - YouTube

[gazhekwe]

World Champion Hoop Dancer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...v=4hbtmxpVehM#!

[gazhekwe]

Travel Advisory

150 ft wide section of US 89 has Buckled from a Geologic Event

Native News Network Staff in Native Briefs.

WINDOW ROCK – Navajo Nation Division of Transportation is reporting that a 150 foot section of the road buckled this morning about 25 miles south of Page. The NDOT advises motorists traveling to and from Page to avoid driving on US 89 south of Page.

US 89 has been closed due to buckled road conditions 25 miles south of Page

Motorists are advised to travel an alternate route to Page, which will take drivers east on US 160 to SR 98 [[about 50 miles) and north on SR 98 to Page. The detour is about 45 miles longer than the direct route.

Damaged road conditions have prompted this safety warning. NDOT is currently working with the Arizona Department of Transportation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs to address repairs on this section of road. Arizona Department of Transportation stated; the road damage occurred from a geologic event and is not weather related.

The damaged road was due to a geologic event and not the weather.

At this time, there is no timeframe established for when the road will be opened to travelers. For the latest highway conditions across Arizona, visit: www.az511.gov or call 511.
posted February 20, 2013 4:50 pm est

[gazhekwe]

Violence Against Women Act, first enacted on 9/13/1994, provides $1.6 billion toward investigation and prosecution of violent crimes against women, imposes automatic and mandatory restitution on those convicted, and allows civil redress in cases prosecutors chose to leave unprosecuted. It also covers male victims of domestic violence, stalking and similar crimes.

In the 2000 Supreme Court case United States v. Morrison, a sharply divided Court struck down the VAWA provision allowing women the right to sue their attackers in federal court. By a 5–4 majority, the Court overturned the provision as an intrusion on states' rights.VAWA was reauthorized by Congress in 2000, and again in December 2005.^[5] The Act's 2012 renewal was opposed by conservative Republicans, who objected to extending the Act's protections to same-sex couples and to provisions allowing battered undocumented immigrants to claim temporary visas.^[6] In April 2012, the Senate voted to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, and the House subsequently passed its own measure [[omitting provisions of the Senate bill that would protect gay men, lesbians, American Indians living in reservations, and undocumented people who were victims of domestic violence). Reconciliation of the two bills has been stymied by procedural measures, leaving the reauthorization in question. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violence_Against_Women_Act


Top GOP Senator: Native American Juries Are Incapable Of Trying White People Fairly

By Scott Keyes on Feb 21, 2013 at 1:30 pm
— Republicans have offered a number of reasons why they oppose the Violence Against Women Act. Some think it’s unconstitutional. Others argue that it’s just a meaningless bill with a patriotic title.
On Wednesday, Sen. Chuck Grassley [[R-IA) added a new one: Native Americans supposedly aren’t capable of holding fair trials.

Last week, Grassley was one of just 22 senators—all Republican men—who voted against reauthorizing VAWA. During a town hall meeting in Indianola on Wednesday, a woman asked him to explain his vote. Grassley responded that the legislation is unconstitutional, a belief shared by at least five of his colleagues.

Since the Constitution guarantees citizens the right to a trial among a jury of peers, Grassley reasoned that white men would be deprived of their rights if those who were accused of violence against Native American women had to appear in a tribal court. “On an Indian reservation, it’s going to be made up of Indians, right?” Grassley said. “So the non-Indian doesn’t get a fair trial.”

[The way I see it, a white man who rapes an Indian woman on Indian land deserves to be tried by a jury of that nation. In the US, we try people from other countries all the time. Sometimes diplomats get involved, but in most cases, the trial is held and the verdict is reached, then the sentence is handed out. If an American man is tried in Mexico, same thing happens. If you commit your crime under a different jurisdiction you are subject to that jurisdiction. In treaties with Indian nations, the US has upheld tribal sovereignty time and again, why take it away now?"-- Gazhekwe]

There is actually no requirement that juries reflect “society as a whole.” The Sixth Amendment requires juries to be drawn from the “State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed,” and Supreme Court decisions establish that criminal defendants also have a right to a jury which is “drawn from a fair cross section of the community,” where the trial court convenes to hear their case. But this does not entitle anyone to be tried by a jury that reflects the whole of American society.
A person who is tried in Vermont is likely to have an all-white jury because over 95 percent of Vermont is white. Similarly, a person who commits a crime in the Navajo Nation will face a jury of Native Americans because the population of the local community is made up of Navajo people. There is no reason to believe that Navajo jurors are any less impartial than white Vermonters, and Grassley is wrong to suggest otherwise.
Grassley went to great lengths to tell attendees that he had supported VAWA in the past. “I support 98 percent of what’s in the bill,” he said. If it weren’t for his belief that Native Americans’ are incapable of conducting a fair trial, perhaps he would have voted for it again.
If you want Congress to reauthorize VAWA, sign ThinkProgress’ petition here.

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/02/21/1619501/chuck-grassley-native-americans/


Why the Violence Against Women Act Is Crucial for Native American Women

Saturday, 16 February 2013 11:48By Winona LaDuke, AlterNet | News Analysis

Republicans until Tuesday, had proposed amendments to strip Native American rights and jurisdiction over non-Native perpetrators of violence on the reservation.

“A nation is not conquered until the hearts of its women are on the ground…”-- Cheyenne proverb
This week’s debate on the Violence Against Women Act marks, what may be a very important stage in improving relations between tribal governments, state and federal governments and the protection of women. The law has been up for re-authorization for five years, and has a few sticking points, mostly around the protection of Native and immigrant women, and gay and lesbian people. Republicans until Tuesday, had proposed amendments to strip Native American rights and jurisdiction over non- Native perpetrators of violence on the reservation. In what appears to be a change of heart, Tuesday’s passage of SB 47 with tribal jurisdiction intact, was a step in recognizing that as Senator Patrick Leahy said, in debates, “… a victim is a victim is a victim."


Why is this particularly important? Presently, 34% of American Indian and Alaska Native women will be raped in their lifetimes; 39% will be subjected to domestic violence in their lifetimes; 67% of Native women victims of rape and sexual assault report their assailants as non-Native individuals, and, on some reservations, Native women are murdered at more than ten times the national average. Not good. This set of facts is paired with unfortunately high declination rates: U.S. Attorneys declined to prosecute nearly 52% of violent crimes that occur in Indian country; and 67% of cases declined were sexual abuse related cases. This means, in the end, that Native women have been, in the words of Senator Maria Cantwell, “ treated as second class citizens under the law.”

I asked Lisa Brunner, Executive Director of Sacred Spirits, a national tribal organization working on the issues, her thoughts. “Some of the concern stems from a lack of understanding of tribal jurisdiction, in some cases, tribes are just implementing criminal codes in place which allow this legal process. The answer is to fund the tribal justice system. As well, there are safeguards built into the provision which ensure that all rights guaranteed under the Constitution are given to non-Native defendants in tribal court.”

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/1...american-women