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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - News Items of Interest, 5.12.99 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "H-AMINDIAN's FYI: News Items of Interest" website: <http://www.public.asu.edu/~wendel/fyi/> "Today's News" webpage: <http://www.public.asu.edu/~wendel/fyi/today.htm> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [1] "Aboriginal Inmates on Increase," The Gazette (Montreal), 12 May 1999, A12. ["The head of Canada's prison service says the number of aboriginal offenders behind bars could mushroom over the next decade if current trends continue. Ole Ingstrup, commissioner of federal corrections, said yesterday, ''We would probably see a 40-per-cent increase'' in the aboriginal population in the federal correctional system in 10 years unless patterns change. Ingstrup told a Commons committee that aboriginal correctional problems are ''a very complex issue'' for the service, mainly because it has no control over how many aboriginal offenders are sentenced to prison. The Correctional Service says that, while aboriginals constitute only 2.8 per cent of the general population, they make up 16 per cent of federal inmates. In the Prairie region, aboriginals constitute more than 60 per cent of the population in some institutions. The service says programs and services for aboriginal prisoners must address cultural and spiritual requirements if they are going to be safely reintegrated into society."] http://www.montrealgazette.com/ [2] Batt, Tony. "Babbitt to Gain Power to OK Compacts for Indian Gaming," Las Vegas Review-Journal (Las Vegas, NV), 12 May 1999, 3D. ["Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt will gain power today to approve Indian gaming compacts without the consent of governors, but it is not clear how soon he will exercise his new authority or if a federal court or Congress will intervene to take it away. 'We will begin receiving and processing applications (today),' Interior spokeswoman Stephanie Hanna said. But Babbitt will not approve any Indian gaming compacts until a federal court in Tallahassee, Fla., rules whether he has that authority, Hanna said. 'We would not issue any procedures to permit gaming until a federal court has acted in reviewing questions of our authority under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (of 1988),' Hanna said. She was referring to a lawsuit filed by Florida and Alabama the day after Babbitt published final regulations April 12 in the Federal Register that would enable the secretary to step in when tribes and states reach an impasse on gaming compacts."] http://www.lvrj.com/ [3] Bettineski, Lori. "Cowlitz Indians Say Area Casino Still a Possibility," The Columbian (Vancouver, WA.), 12 May 1999, A1. ["The Cowlitz Indian Tribe hasn't ruled out the possibility of building a gambling casino along Interstate 5 near Clark County if the tribe receives recognition from the federal government. Tribe members won't say definitively whether a casino, which they could seek to build once they are formally recognized, is part of their plans. They say they expect to receive word on the recognition by mid-August. "It's been talked about, but nothing official has been done," said John Barnett, tribe chairman. "The tribe hasn't even approached any economic plans at this time and won't until we get a positive determination" (on federal recognition.) At least indirectly, Barnett is responsible for talk of a casino in the Clark County area. Speculation and alarm about the possibility of another tribe building a casino surfaced in March when the Shoalwater Bay Indians, a recognized tribe, announced plans to build 1,580 town houses on 170 acres east of Ridgefield. At a neighborhood meeting April 5 attended by hundreds, Barnett accused the Shoalwaters of having a hidden agenda with plans to build a casino, not town houses."] http://www.columbian.com/ [4] Brady, Erik. "Cleveland Might be Next in Line for Suit," USA Today, 12 May 1999, 2C. ["Expect more lawsuits to be filed challenging federal trademark protection for pro sports teams with Indian names. Vernon Bellecourt, president of the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and Media, said his group is considering filing trademark suits against baseball's Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves and football's Kansas City Chiefs. Stephen R. Baird and other lawyers for seven American Indians in the case against the Washington Redskins successfully argued that redskin is a pejorative term. The nickname Indians, by itself, is not pejorative. But Baird thinks the Lanham Act, which bars trademarks that are disparaging, could be used in a suit against the Cleveland Indians anyway."] http://www.usatoday.com/ [5] Brady, Erik. "Term of Non-endearment? Redskins, Petitioner at Odds Over Meaning of Nickname," USA Today, 12 May 1999, 1C. ["Suzan Shown Harjo says redskin is a racial slur, like then-word, a euphemism that exists precisely because the epithet it replaces is so damnable. The National Football League team in Washington says redskin is a neutral term that is interchangeable with Indian. It says it uses Redskins as its nickname to honor American Indians."] http://www.usatoday.com/ [6] Bronskill, Jim. "Number of Natives in Prison Could Soar, Commons Told: A 40-per-cent Increase is Predicted in the Next Decade if Patterns Don't Change," The Vancouver Sun, 12 May 1999, A3. ["The head of Canada's prison service says the number of aboriginal offenders behind bars could mushroom over the next decade if current trends continue. Ole Ingstrup, commissioner of federal corrections, said Tuesday ''we would probably see a 40-per-cent increase'' in the aboriginal population in the federal correctional system in 10 years unless patterns change. Ingstrup told a Commons committee that aboriginal correctional problems were ''a very complex issue'' for the service, mainly because it has no control over how many aboriginal offenders are sentenced to prison. The Correctional Service says while aboriginal offenders constitute only 2.8 per cent of the general population, they make up 16 per cent of federal inmates."] http://www.vancouversun.com/ [7] Burkhart, Barry. "San Carlos Tribe Files Lawsuit to Save Lake," The Arizona Republic, 12 May 1999, B1. ["Most of the San Carlos Apache Tribal Council was having a picnic Tuesday at a ramada overlooking what's left of San Carlos Lake. It was a funeral for perhaps the best bass and crappie fishing lake in Arizona, now at only 5 to 6 percent of capacity because of drought. The lake also is home to the bald eagle, the peregrine falcon and the razorback sucker, a native fish. But even as it dries up, the remaining water is being released downstream to users as part of a historic water-rights agreement. Fulfilling the agreement would kill the lake and trigger an environmental nightmare of dead fish, the tribe says. Last Friday, the tribe filed suit in federal court in Tucson and requested an injunction against the United States and two Indian tribes downstream who own water rights from the lake. The injunction asks that the dam gates be closed and seeks $1.5 million to $2.5 million to purchase Central Arizona Project water for users downstream from San Carlos, according to Velasquez Sneezy Sr., Vice chairman of the Tribal Council."] http://www.azcentral.com/ [8] Cordes, Henry J. "Red Cloud Sought in Hall of Fame," Omaha World-Herald, 12 May 1999, 1. ["It's little wonder Red Cloud was among the very first nominees considered for induction when the Nebraska Hall of Fame was created almost four decades ago. The great Sioux chief is steeped in the state's early history and even today remains among the most recognizable of Indian figures. He was a superior warrior - the only Indian leader ever to win a war against the white men - who also became a leading statesman and advocate for his people. He's even a native Nebraskan, born on the banks of Blue Creek in present-day Garden County. But Red Cloud was not among the first few inductees in the early 1960s. And he continued to be passed over in the decades that followed as the Hall of Fame grew to 22 - a list that features a number of less widely-known Nebraskans, including a livestock auctioneer and a Lincoln department store owner. What some historians consider the slight of Red Cloud appears due in part to the vagaries of the selection process and some mixed feelings even among his own people about his legacy ... But whatever the reason, state Indian leaders and some historians hope the situation will change when a commission starts to consider the choice of the next Nebraska Hall of Fame member later this year."] http://www.omaha.com/OWH/ [9] "Dictionaries Cite Redskin as 'Offensive Slang,'" USA Today, 12 May 1999, 2C. ["Excerpts from the 145-page decision handed down by a three-judge panel of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board that cancels (pending appeal) seven federally registered trademarks of the Washington Redskins: "We find that the petitioners have clearly established, by at least a preponderance of the evidence, that, as of the dates of the challenged registrations (1967-1990), the word 'redskin(s)' may disparage Native Americans, as perceived by a substantial composite of Native Americans.""] http://www.usatoday.com/ [10] Dorr, Robert. "Santees Ask Interior To Step in to Fray," Omaha World-Herald, 12 May 1999, 17. ["The Santee Sioux Tribe will deliver a request today for federal government intervention that might permit the tribe to legally operate its casino on its northeast Nebraska reservation. Tribal Chairman Arthur "Butch" Denny of Santee, Neb., and a tribal lawyer will take documents requesting intervention to the Interior Department's offices in Washington, D.C. The Interior Department has published a new rule that will permit Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt to intervene in some disputes when a tribe and a state have failed to negotiate a gambling agreement. The rule takes effect today. The State of Nebraska never signed a gambling compact with the Santees, contending that state law doesn't permit casinos in Nebraska. Even without a compact, the Santees have run a small casino in Knox County most of the time since early 1996."] http://www.omaha.com/OWH/ [11] "Eighth Grader's Native Designs to be Featured at Heritage Fair," The Vancouver Sun, 12 May 1999, B5. ["The artwork of Victoria Mok, a Montgomery middle school Grade 8 student, will be showcased at the Regional Heritage Fair in Abbotsford's Sevenoaks shopping centre this weekend. The 14-year-old's tattoo design of a First Nations' raven is one of 24 national winners from more than 5,200 entries in the Tattoo Our Moose contest, sponsored by the Charles R. Bronfman Heritage Foundation. Her design will be made into a decal available at the regional heritage fair. She also received a framed print of her winning artwork. Mok, who says she's not artistically inclined, also won the regional fair's T-shirt contest. Her design of a Canadian heritage stamp will be featured on shirts worn by fair participants. The stamp features a totem pole that divides Canada's past from the present with an eagle flying over teepees on the right and an airplane above GM Place, CN Tower and other buildings on the left."] http://www.vancouversun.com/ [12] Fialka, John. "Treasury Workers May Have Trashed Indian Documents," Wall Street Journal, 12 May 1999, B4. ["Treasury Dept employees in January 1999 destroyed 162 boxes of old records that may have included files subject to a court order in a lawsuit accusing the government of mishandling Indian trust funds; the Justice Dept's lead lawyer in the case admitted the destruction in a letter to Judge Royce C. Lamberth of federal district court in Washington DC."] http://www.wsj.com/ [13] Hicks, Nancy. "Ponca Tribal Holiday Honors Standing Bear," Omaha World-Herald, 12 May 1999, 9. ["Standing Bear, the Ponca chief who was the center of a landmark court decision, will be honored today during the first tribal holiday set aside for that purpose. It was 120 years ago today that a federal judge in Omaha ruled that Indians were human beings and entitled to the legal protection of the laws of the United States. The judge also found no legal authority for the government's removal of Indians from their homelands to distant reservations. Gov. Mike Johanns proclaimed today a tribal holiday. "It is very important to remember that there was a day when Chief Standing Bear could not come into our state to bury his son," Johanns said. "It was a sad day in our history." Standing Bear was arrested on a charge that he had left his assigned reservation in Oklahoma, when he returned to his homeland in Nebraska to bury his dead son. They were being driven like cattle back to Oklahoma when some Omaha citizens intervened."] http://www.omaha.com/OWH/ [14] "Indian Mounds Listed on Historic Registry," The Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA), 12 May 1999, 1A. ["They are a prime spot to play "king of the hill," a meeting place at football games, a hub of campus life at LSU. And now the Indian Mounds are on the National Register of Historic Places. The twin mounds, near the northwest corner of the central-campus Quadrangle, have served inhabitants one way or another for almost 5,000 years, according to radio-carbon testing results, said Christopher Hays, archaeologist at LSU's Museum of Natural Science."] [15] "Kamloops Indian Band Agrees to Contract Talks," The Vancouver Sun, 12 May 1999, B7. ["The question of whether the Kamloops Indian band has the right to enact its own labour code has been put on hold as the band agreed Tuesday to begin collective bargaining with its employees. The band will sit down with the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union, which represents the band's 85 employees, on May 18 to begin negotiating a first contract. Both sides have agreed to postpone the question of whether the band's labour code -- which bans strikes and the collection of union dues -- is legal."] http://www.vancouversun.com/ [16] Mapes, Lynda V. and Chris Solomon. "Frustrated Whaling Foes Can Only Fling Jeers," The Seattle Times, 12 May 1999, A1. ["Outnumbered, outgunned and, in some cases, just about out of patience, some protesters of the Makah whale hunt are wondering how long they'll be here. "We may have bigger whales to fry," said Lisa Distefano of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which also has seals to defend in Newfoundland, sturgeon to save in Russia, and whales to protect elsewhere in the world. Distefano and Paul Watson, leader of the conservation group, have no plans to pull out of Neah Bay. But unlike last fall's hunt, they are not committing to an indefinite stakeout. Watson said he is no longer convinced the Makah are a commercial-whaling threat, which was a major theme of the opposition last fall. "The idea of making this a commercial venture isn't going to go anywhere." The tribe has long insisted it has no intent to hunt commercially, and has an agreement with the federal government not to do so."] http://www.seattletimes.com/ [17] "Natives Appeal Adoption," Calgary Herald, 12 May 1999, A11. ["A Saskatchewan Indian band is appealing a B.C. Supreme Court ruling allowing a non-native Vancouver-area couple to adopt their eight-year-old foster daughter who is a Cree. The Ochapowace Indian band and the child's natural father are going to the B.C. Court of Appeal to overturn the April 6 court ruling. ''My family has had enough,'' adoptive father Tim Murphy of Surrey said Tuesday on being told of the appeal. He said the family has spent seven years going through paperwork with the B.C. Children and Families Ministry, two tribunals -- a B.C. child and family review board and a B.C. human rights tribunal -- and spent thousands of dollars in legal fees to win adoption of the child who is now eight years old."] http://www.calgaryherald.com/ [18] Nelson, Deborah. "Paperwork Flaws Won't Cost Tribes, HUD Decides," The Seattle Times, 12 May 1999, B1. ["Three Northwest tribes won't have to repay millions of dollars to the federal government for failing to file a two-page form, officials say. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Andrew Cuomo yesterday announced his agency would drop $ 5 million in proposed penalties and let the tribes correct the paperwork snafu. "Indian families should not - and will not - lose desperately needed housing because of minor paperwork errors," Cuomo said in a written statement. His decision means families will soon be able to move into dozens of nearly completed houses that have sat empty since early this year, when the regional HUD office in Seattle froze funding for new developments at the Yakama and Lower Elwha Klallam reservations in Washington and the Coeur d'Alene reservation in Idaho. HUD staff members told tribal officials they couldn't have any more money for the projects and had to repay money already spent, all because they hadn't filed a form certifying they'd completed an environmental analysis before they began construction."] http://www.seattletimes.com/ [19] O'Neil, Peter. "Changes Expected in Indian Expropriation Bill," The Vancouver Sun, 12 May 1999, A12. ["Indian Affairs Minister Jane Stewart is expected to signal today her willingness to amend C-49 in a bid to calm Canadians fearful of the broad expropriation powers the legislation gives to 14 Canadian Indian bands. Stewart is to appear before the Senate's aboriginal peoples committee and will likely reveal her willingness to make changes that respond to the demands of third parties, such as Musqueam Park leaseholders in Vancouver. ''They're looking at clarity and they (the amendments) are going to be of substantial meaning to the third parties,'' said Robert Louis, a native leader who has been consulted on the planned changes."] http://www.vancouversun.com/ [20] Peterson, David. "Two Try to Change Burnsville Baseball Team Name Policy," Minneapolis Star Tribune, 12 May 1999, 2B. ["Seven years after Burnsville went through the wrenching experience of deciding to stop calling its high school athletic teams the "Braves," the issue of offensive American Indian nicknames is back. This time some parents are wondering why youth baseball teams are still running out onto baseball diamonds wearing the logos of the major-league Indians and Braves ... Tom Schuenke, president of the Burnsville Athletic Club, which runs youth baseball and other programs, said his group discussed the issue when the major-league use of the nicknames was a hot issue locally, but decided not to ban youth teams from using Atlanta or Cleveland names or logos if they chose to."] http://www.startribune.com/ [21] Sangiacomo, Michael. "Pow-wow Penniless; Benefit to Go On," The Plain Dealer, 12 May 1999, 2B. ["A post office mistake that caused mailed contributions to a Cleveland American Indian group to be returned to senders has the organization scrambling for money to put on its annual fund-raiser, a pow-wow at Edgewater Park. The Lake Erie Native American Council said the Postal Service accidentally closed the organization's post office box account and returned to senders an estimated $2,000 worth of checks, fees and donations needed to put on the May 22-23 pow-wow. A pow-wow is a celebration of American Indian culture, with competitive tribal dancing, Indian food and merchandise, and other events for Indian and non-Indian people."] [22] "Seeking Tribal Recognition," The Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA), 12 May 1999, 6A. Randy Verdun ... of the Biloxi-Chitimacha Confederation [made] a pitch Tuesday for state recognition as a new Indian tribe before the Senate Judiciary Committee. SCR87 by state Sen. John Siracusa, D-Morgan City, would have granted state recognition to the Biloxi-Chitamachas, but drew protests from the Houma Nation, which claims the group is trying to break away from its tribe. The committee voted to study the situation until the next legislative session."] [23] Zacharias, Patricia. "Michigan at the Millennium: Indians Drawn to Mackinac Island's Riches," The Detroit News, 12 May 1999, C8. ["Archeologists have discovered prehistoric fishing camps at St. Ignace, Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island that pre-date Europeans at the Straits of Mackinac by 700 years. Native people considered the straits region and Mackinac Island, with its towering bluff of limestone, a sacred place. According to ancient lore, the island became the first land to appear after the waters of the Great Flood began to recede. The Great Hare, Michibou, retrieved a grain of sand from the lake bed and blew on it until it expanded into an island, Mackinac."] http://www.detnews.com/ - - - - - H-AMINDIAN will not reproduce and redistribute current articles, files, or images from newspapers, magazines, journals and news wires. We believe doing so may exceed academic fair use and violate copyright.
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