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Thursday, November 18, 2004

articles-november 18

AFN calls for immediate $10,000 payment to residential school survivors
Last Updated Wed, 17 Nov 2004 21:21:45 EST

OTTAWA - The Assembly of First Nations is calling on Ottawa to give every former student of a residential school a minimum cash payment of $10,000. That recommendation is part of a sweeping series of reforms the AFN is proposing to the current system of compensation.

National Chief Phil Fontaine says the govenment's handling of residential school abuse cases is deeply flawed, but not beyond repair.

Ottawa is faced with nearly 12,000 lawsuits stemming from residential school abuse. Last year it launched an alternative dispute resolution system. The voluntary system doesn't recognize loss of language or culture. It only provides compensation for verifiable acts of abuse, not for the consequences. full article

Tribe tells of questionable practices by lobbyist
Senate conducts second hearing in lobby scandal

WASHINGTON -- A Washington lobbyist and his associate worked behind the scenes to shut down a tribal casino in Texas, then got the same tribe to hire them to lobby Congress to try to reopen the casino, according to e-mail and documents disclosed at a Senate hearing Wednesday.

The documents indicated that lobbyist Jack Abramoff and public relations consultant Michael Scanlon worked with conservative activist Ralph Reed to persuade Texas officials to shutter the Speaking Rock Casino, which was operated by the Tigua Indian tribe of El Paso.

"We should continue to pile on until the place is shuttered," Abramoff wrote in an e-mail to Reed in January 2002, a month before the casino was closed. full article

What's next for Delaware Tribe?
"We have several options before us "
BARTLESVILLE OK
Sam Lewin 11/18/2004
The former leader of the Delaware Tribe of Indians says the tribe has several options in the wake of a federal decision to revoke the tribe’s sovereignty.

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals said the Delawares gave up their independent sovereignty when they signed a treaty with the Cherokee Nation in 1866. In doing so the court has reversed an earlier decision by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. When the BIA granted that recognition Curtis Zunigha was leader of the tribe. Now back on the tribal council, the court decision came as an unpleasant surprise.

“ Within the first week of being back the court has issued this decision in favor of the Cherokees,” Zunigha told the Native American Times.

He says the tribe now has to look at the next step. full article

Ruling helps salmon, not developers
Flood insurance must consider environment
By ROBERT McCLURE AND LISA STIFFLER
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTERS

Development alongside rivers and streams in the Puget Sound region might have to be curtailed or stopped to protect endangered chinook salmon under a new federal court ruling.

In a case with potentially far-reaching effects, U.S. District Judge Thomas Zilly of Seattle held that federal flood insurance supporting development in many fast-growing towns must be conditioned so as not to harm salmon.

Environmentalists rejoiced at the legal victory. Representatives of development interests were outraged.

Although targeted at protecting local runs of chinook salmon, the ruling could set a precedent across a broad swath of the West -- from California to Washington and east across Idaho to western Montana. full article

Few Indians will be celebrating Lewis and Clark commemoration
The Daily Herald

Mary Annette Pember

The Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commemoration essentially celebrates discovery by conquest, and as an American Indian, it sticks in my craw. Indians did not benefit from the Lewis and Clark expedition. In fact, it signaled the beginning of genocide for us. This is not an occasion for celebration in Indian country.

I do not laud the group of history buffs, clad in19th-century garb, who are retracing the steps of Lewis and Clark. These voyageurs began in Missouri in August and were to reach Bismarck, N.D., on Nov. 4, where they intend to winter over before continuing along the trail in the spring.

Nor do I rejoice in the National Park Service-sponsored Lewis and Clark Visitor and Interpretive Centers that dot the trail. These are beautiful monuments to modern museum science and design. The buildings and grounds are immaculate with large bathrooms and parking lots. The gift shops sell Meriwether Lewis and William Clark books, CDs and all manner of themed items, including dolls and candy. full article




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