Native Village
Youth and Education News
February 4, 2004, Issue 127, Volume 3
"We did not cross any land bridge like the scientists tell us. Our religion tells us we were created here. Period." Armand Minthorn. Umatilla
Long Awaited Recognition
for Schaghticoke
The Schaghticoke Tribal Nation has received federal recognition. The
decision, signed by acting BIA head Aurene Martin, immediately caused political turmoil in Connecticut, and even
impacted the Democratic presidential campaign. But for the day it brought an outburst of celebration at tribal
headquarters in Derby. About 100 tribal members cheered, and a drum group beat a victory song as the news emerged from a
tribal council conference call with the BIA. A statement from Indian Affairs said the Schaghticoke meet the regulatory
requirements for a government-to-government relationship with the United States. The 200-page report summary will be
published in the Federal Register in February, making it official.
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
West Coast Mi'kmaq Feeling
out in the Cold
The Ktaqamkuk Mi'kmaq Alliance feels shortchanged by the French Heritage
2004 celebrations held throughout Atlantic Canada. Chief Bert Alexander says the lack of recognition for his people --
about 7,000 members -- is upsetting because of their long presence in Newfoundland and Labrador. "I have
frustration because the French community seems to be able to get funding whenever they want it, and we're being denied
funding of any type," he said. "That's blatant discrimination for a large group of people. There
are far more Mi'kmaq people in western Newfoundland than the French community."
H-Amindian LISTSERV
Workers From Mandaree
Company Helping Rebuild Iraq
A Three Affiliated Tribes business, Mandaree Enterprise Corp, ND, is
helping rebuild the infrastructure in Iraq. Three of the company's computer specialists are in Iraq, and a fourth will
soon join them. The employees are working to help Iraqis with supplies from food to machinery
http://www.imdiversity.com/Article_Detail.asp?Article_ID=21913
A Passion for Politics
Most people didn't vote for Timothy Bearheart in September's primary
election in Duluth, MN. He was a 21-year-old Lake Superior College student running in an eight-way race for a seat on
the City Council. He was up against well-known incumbents. And he didn't even have a driver's license. So it was no
surprise Bearheart placed second-to-last. Still, he captured 2,100 votes and the eye of Herb Bergson who was
running for mayor. After Bergson won, he asked Bearheart to lead his transition office. "I was immediately
impressed with Tim's kind personality and tenacity," Bergson said. "He is a gentle giant of a young man I
nicknamed 'Bigheart.' He's also a champion for the less fortunate, a cause I find very attractive in him."
Bearheart, a 6-foot-2, 310-pound American Indian, was given the birth name of "Nahgahwahdun,"
which means leader. His persistence is commendable. He ran for several student offices in junior high and high
school, losing more than he won. But he always returned with a bigger smile on his face. The Duluth primary loss
reminded him of that. "Decisions are made by those who show up, and by those who decide that they won't quit until
they've made a difference," Bearheart said Wednesday. "I want to be one of those people."
http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/7819616.htm
Has Your Life Become Too
Much A Game of Chance?
Washington is supposed to help all Americans achieve better lives. But
some enjoy much better odds than others. Overall, many claim Washington has structured "the game" so
there are a few winners but a lot more losers. Donald Campbell, a computer specialist, earned $60,000 a year, but had to
give up his job unless he transferred to India. "When you take the high-tech industry and send it overseas, where's
your economy going? They pay $5,000 to $6,000 a year. How can you compete with that?" he asked.
Campbell decided to apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance, a program for manufacturing workers when they began losing
their jobs to imported goods. The idea was that a worker who lost a job could receive up to two years of retraining, a
cash allowance when unemployment benefits ran out, and money to cover relocation expenses. When Donald was refused
assistance, the Labor Department basically said: if you work in a factory and lose your job to imports, you
get help. If you are in a service industry and your job is moved abroad, you don't qualify. Campbell says that's the way
Congress runs it. They rig it, which is also why the health care problems are increasing:
44,000,000 people have no health insurance;
Tens of millions who do have insurance don't understand what it doesn't cover until it's
too late;
You pay more for your prescription drugs than do people anywhere else in the industrialized
world;
The biggest losers in the healthcare lottery are middle-income folks and the working poor,
who can least afford to pay for medical services;
If you are uninsured and admitted to a hospital in an emergency, you are charged at higher
rate than seniors covered by Medicare or working people with health insurance through their employers;
And if you fail to come up with the money, you may lose your house or have your wages
attached.
<><><><>Other
Facts<><><><>
In 1992 the 400 individuals and
families with the highest income in the U.S. averaged $12,300.000
in "salaries and wages."
By 2000, the latest year available, the income had more than
doubled to $29,000,000
.
In 1992 the combined wages of 287,400
retail clerks at, for example, Wal-Mart, equaled the pay of the top 400
employees;
By 2000 it required the combined pay of 504,600
retail clerks to match the pay of the top 400
employees.
http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101040202/bintro.html
Regional paper points
finger at Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs
In December 2003, the (Portland) Oregonian ran a series of articles which
has sparked widespread reaction. The series began with the sentence: "The Warm Springs Reservation is the deadliest
place in Oregon for a child to grow up." The articles reported that death rates for Warms Springs children age 1-19
is 300% that of Oregon’s total population and almost 200% that of other American Indian tribes. "Things are
grave on the reservation. They really are. I have felt despair over these issues forever," said Warm Springs
Elementary principal Dawn Smith. "Maybe now something’s going to be done." The Oregonian cited traffic
accidents and domestic neglect and abuse as the main causes of child mortality. Reporters also pointed the finger at the
tribal council who spent $147,000 for a yearly skybox for the NBA's Portland Trailblazers' games. The Oregonian claims
the tribal council approved skybox expenses while cutting back on sobriety checkpoints and programs designed for
children. Jacqueline Peterson, history professor at Washington State University, felt the series had an
unnecessary accusatory tone that embarrassed the Warm Springs people. "The articles felt short on the tragic
history of this community," she said. "They did not convey the struggle it has gone through maintaining its
culture and building an economic base. As a result the idea that the public needs to be understanding and support the
Warm Springs people as they work through these problems seemed overshadowed." Warms Springs, one of
Oregon’s poorest communities, has a population of 3,800. Unemployment and alcohol and drug abuse runs high.
http://www.indiancountry.com/?1074965227
Man travels cross-country
in a wheelchair
Brian Eaglehelper, 40, is traveling across America in an electric
wheelchair. His goal is to raise awareness and funds for better healthcare and medical equipment for those living on
America's Indian reservations. "I became a person with physical disabilities, Eaglehelper explains.
"I was raised in the Indian and white world and I walked in both of them. I saw the health care that I was getting
in the urban areas. They have all these agencies and you just pick up a phone and they can help you. Out on the rez, you
can't do that. You don't have independent living centers and the United Way." Brian, a member of the Iroquois
Nation, has been riding for over 16 months through icy winds, sweltering heat, torrential downpours--and even a brief
encounter with a black bear. His goal is to reach Washington D.C. where he plans on giving an ear-full to government
officials. "I will try to meet with all of them. I am trying to raise awareness. I am trying to save lives."
Brian's project is called the American Indian Freedom Ride.
American Indian Freedom Ride: http://www.freedomride.bizhosting.com/
http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=3575
More dentists turning away
native patients
Increasing numbers of Canada's dentists are refusing to accept native
patients. "Our people are being turned away from dental offices throughout British Columbia because they
cannot afford dental services," said Soowahlie Chief Doug Kelly, chairman of the province-wide Chiefs Health
Committee. "Dentists don't trust the federal plan, so they either demand up-front payment or refuse to accept
aboriginal patients altogether." Dr. Wayne Halstrom, president of the Association of Dental Surgeons in B.C., said
the federal dental insurance plan for natives is "appalling" and "badly mismanaged." "I
couldn't agree more with Chief Kelly," he said. "This is one federal bureaucracy that needs a good jerk on its
choke chain.
http://www.canada.com/search/story.aspx?id=4db90274-0b8a-4153-b908-f6a690ac2fdf
Natives Pin Hopes on
Martin
Rapid Lake, a 29-hectare reserve in Quebec, is now home to the displaced
Algonquins of Barriere Lake. Postcard-pretty views clash with third world conditions, showcasing a housing crisis
faced by native people across Canada. Prime Minister Paul Martin says aboriginal poverty must be a national
priority "like never before." Toddlers there risk infectious splinters from playing on crude and sagging
plywood floors. Toxic mould is blamed for asthma and chronic, hacking coughs. Three phone lines connect a
community of 400 people. And a cluster of 61 run-down houses and trailers draws power from an overworked diesel
generator that frequently conks out.
H-Amindian LISTSERV
Brazil orders hospitals to
obey Indian birth rites
Sao Paulo, Brazil, has ordered public hospitals near Indian villages to
abide by ancient tribal customs when delivering the babies of Guarani Indian women. This obliges hospitals to allow
tribal midwives to assist in childbirth. Hospitals must also respect the Indians' traditional diet by serving
chicken, rice, corn and a porridge made from the cassava root. Hospitals will also preserve the mother's placenta so it
can be buried in the tribe's village or kept with the community's most prized possessions, in accordance with Guarani
traditions. "The Indians believe the ritual of burying the placenta has an impact on the rhythm of life of the
newborn baby. We're just respecting their wishes," said Augusta Sato, who tracks Indian health issues for Sao
Paulo.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N20103966.htm
City doc gives boy from
Ariz. new ear
Nature blessed little Edmund Hobbs with a right ear. Recently, medical
science took care of the left. Curly-haired Edmund from the Hopi tribe in Arizona was born with microtia, a small flap
of skin in place of his left ear. His plastic surgeon, Dr. Thomas Romo 3rd, pioneered synthetic ears, an alternative to
using rib bones. He has performed the surgery some 300 times but noted that Edmund weighs just 41 pounds. "He's one
of the tiniest we've ever had," he said. After sculpting the ear, Romo used stitches and staples to attach it to
Edmund's head. Minutes after the surgery, the boy awoke to his mother's voice: "Mama's here." Edmund;s
expenses were covered by Romo's Little Baby Face Foundation. The operation was performed free of charge
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/157223p-138074c.html
NCAI spearheads effort to
stop violence against women
Native women are the most victimized group in the country. Indian women
are assaulted at more than twice the rate more of women from other races. The Department of Justice says the violent
crime rates against women from 1992-1996were:
98 per 1,000 Native American women;
40 per 1,000 among white females;
56 per 1,000 among black females.
"We are trying to get national leadership to look at this," said Cecelia Fire Thunder, Lakota, of Pine Ridge,
S.D. "As a Lakota woman, my voice is not as strong as having the weight of national leadership. We need more
resources in Indian communities to respond to these women." Women’s safety is inextricably tied to the
sovereignty issues of Native people, said Karen Artichoker, director of Sacred Circle, a national resource center in
Rapid City created to end violence against Native women. "As women, we’re visionaries," she said.
"Our goal is restoration of individuals and families. As Native people we have the advantage because we have these
teachings. But until women have access to safety, they won’t be in an environment for self-growth."
http://www.indiancountry.com/?1072707974
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