"Could I once see the day that whites and reds were all friends, it would be like getting new eye-sight." Piamingo, Chickasaw
May 1, 2008 Issue 188 Volume 3
Most racist' article attacked Native peoples in Paraguay
Paraguay: The Most Racist Article of the Year Award for 2007 goes to a La
Nacion of Asuncion, Paraguayan newspaper. La Nacion that published an editorial
describing Native people as ''a cancer'' and as having ''filthy habits.''
Survival International, which sponsors the award, gave the winner a certificate
inscribed with a quotation by Luther Standing Bear, Lakota:. ''All the years of
calling the Indian a savage has never made him one.'' SI's award is a new
feature of its ''Stamp it Out'' campaign, which aims to challenge racist
depictions of tribal people in the world's media.http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096417113
Native American Tribal Leader Not Allowed to Testify in Committee
Oklahoma: Chad Smith, Principle Chief of the Cherokee Nation, was barred from
speaking to a State House committee about an English-only language policy
included in the Senate Bill 163. “The bill, unfortunately, is more about
politics than policy,” said Representative Jerry McPeak. "... The author claims
that he is not aiming this bill at Native Americans. Then who is his focus?"
Committees are the only part of the Legislative process that permit public
testimony. Yet, while Chief Smith was denied a voice in committee, foreign Iraqi
nationals were pr emitted to speak on the House floor,. "I find it absolutely
outrageous that Principal Chief Smith was not allowed to speak in a committee,"
McPeak said. Representative Mike Brown agrees. “This is reprehensible,” he
said. “ To not allow the leader of one of the great native nations who has
contributed so much to our state is inexcusable. Our Native American tribes are
some of the biggest and most philanthropic entities in Oklahoma. ... to
disrespect the leader of a nation like that is unacceptable." https://www.nativetimes.com/
NCAI President Joe Garcia Statement on Racist Broadcasts
Washington, D.C.: Recently, radio hosts on two radio programs, "Bob and the Showgram" (Raleigh N.C.) and "Woody and Wilcox" (Anchorage, Alaska) made racist and insensitive remarks about Native Americans. Joe A. Garcia, president of the NCAI (National Congress of American Indians) issued a statement in response to the slurs. He said the NCAI condemned the remarks, and that these ignorant and hurtful comments have no place on America's airwaves. While some defend the broadcast as humorous, Garcia said he "had yet to hear from an American Indian or Alaska Native who sees humor in these insulting and derogatory remarks". Garcia said such negative stereotypes cannot be tolerated and praised sponsors who pulled their support from these programs. He also encouraged radio stations to work with tribal members to repair the damage these remarks caused.
NAMAPAHH First People's Radio
CELEBRATION OF SPIRIT
Florida: An American Indian Nations gathering will be held at Disney World from
August 20-23. Some 3,000 Indians will celebrate this event in meetings and
conferences, then later with dance, song, food, and sports. The event will
include prominent leaders and native celebrities from indigenous nations through
the Americas. Also attending are major U.S. firm such as Lockheed Martin,
Wal-Mart, IBM, Marathon Oil, UPS and BNSF. And, in what may be a first for
Indian Country, the presidential candidates will speak about Indigenous issues.
“Given the many challenges facing the American Indian and Alaskan Native today –
unemployment, poverty, education, housing, contaminated lands – it will be
important for our next president to clearly speak to an agenda which will
address these needs,” said Carroll Cocchia from Houston's Native American
Chamber of Commerce. All of the Disney World profits will go to education and
native achievement centers. Inquiries can be addressed by email to Carroll Cocchia: cocchia1@sbcglobal.net
Houston's Native American Chamber of Commerce
Tribal court rules against hog farm
Yankton Sioux Reservation, S.D.: A Yankton Sioux Tribal judge has issued a
ruling which prohibits workers from traveling across the tribe's lands to reach
Longview Hog Farm the construction site. While the farm is on deeded land, it's
surrounded by the Yankton Sioux reservation. "To be able to get to their deeded
land, they would have to cross the Yankton Sioux Reservation to get there ..."
Judge Abourezk said, "...so they're now prohibited from being on reservation
land, and that can be enforced by tribal law enforcement." Patrice Kunesh, an
assistant law professor at USD, says the situation may be similar to other
American Indian jurisdiction cases. While tribes can't regulate non-Indians on
non-Indian land, there are important exceptions. "As a matter of federal Indian
law, the power of a tribe to exclude people from its reservation has been
absolutely upheld at all levels of the federal courts. That's one of the
inherent powers of tribes that has never been taken away, the power to exclude."
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2008/04/15/news/south_dakota/eaf35552976e6d758625742c0013349c.txtArrest reported at hog farm protest
Yankton Sioux Reservation, S.D.: Gov. Mike Rounds says seven people were detained and one arrest made during a protest at the Longview Hog Farm site near Wagner. ''We had one individual who was observed standing behind a vehicle that was not moving, falling down and then apparently claiming that the vehicle had hit them - although the vehicle, according to our officer on duty ... did not move,'' Rounds said. Yankton Sioux tribal members with environmental concerns over the proposed farm were trying to block machinery digging an access road. John Stone, tribal vice president, said the Highway Patrol and county authorities escalated things at the protest. ''When the Highway Patrol sent 30 officers in, it escalated into something we never intended ... It's just absurd to think there would not be any impact to our lives, our health or our property. Even the odor would be a concern to people driving by, Stone said.
http://www.mitchellrepublic.com/articles/index.cfm?id=26250§ion=news&freebie_check&CFID=29318351&CFTOKEN=61264857&jsessionid=8830df63d87b327d6035
Suit filed in federal court to stop work on hog farm
Has not met federal environmental requirements;
Louisiana: Louisiana may be many things, but it's also Indian Country, land of
the mostly forgotten. This includes the United Houma Nation who live in the
state's southeastern parishes [counties]. With 17,000 enrolled members, the
Houma are the largest tribe in Louisiana. When Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit
the state in 2005, nearly 8000 Houma became displaced when their homes were
destroyed or flooded. "Our people suffered a lot, and many people don't know
that," said Brenda Dardar Robichaux, principal chief of the Houma Nation. "We're
still recovering, and it's been a slow process." While most attention is
focused on New Orleans, the Houma Nation's suffering is also severe and dramatic
--just not as visible. For generations, the Houma have lived along Louisiana's
southern marshes, bayous and the open sea areas. They worked land and water,
traveled in pirogues, and used palmetto leaves and cypress plants for their
crafts and weapons and homes. "We were here before the French. We were here
before the Spanish, and we were here before the Americans," said Michael Dardar,
Houma Nation vice principal chief. "We'll be here after they're all gone."
Other coastal tribes suffered in the hurricanes, including the Bayou Lafourche,
Grand Caillou/Dulac and Isle de Jean Charles bands of the Biloxi-Chitimacha as
well as the Pointe-au-Chien tribe. 
Alaska: Dr. Nora Nagaruk is an Inuit Eskimo who, at age 29, was diagnosed with
acute leukemia in 2004. The next day she was on a plane to Seattle for
treatment and eventually, a stem-cell transplant. With her weak immune system,
the foods she ate and how they were handled became critical to her survival.
"Lots of restrictions," said Nora, who was diagnosed during her residency as a
family practice physician. "The rule was, if it wasn't clear or understood,
don't risk it. So I had to avoid a lot of the stuff I like to eat -- dried fish,
seal and berries." That's why Nagaruk, as both a cancer survivor and a
physician, is grateful for the new "Traditional Food Guide for Alaska Native
Cancer Survivors." The guide proves what subsistence eaters have known all
along: wild foods are rich in nutrients. Christine DeCourtney of the Alaska
Native Tribal Health Consortium spearheaded The Traditional Food Guide. The book
presents subsistence foods in a simple format and weaves in stories from Native
people about why these foods matter. The colorful 142-page guide shares the
nutrition in foods such as musk ox, muskrat, wild celery, fiddlehead ferns,
fireweed and other subsistence plants. It also explains serving sizes and
includes recipes. 
