NATIVE_NEWS: Coalition, Inquest, Dudley George's murder
And now:Ish [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.5 (32) Date: Mon, 07 Jun 1999 10:10:23 -0400 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: Lynne Moss-Sharman [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Coalition, Inquest, Dudley George's murder Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Monday, June 7, 1999 Coalition for George inquiry eyes new approach By JULIE CARL, London Free Press Reporter A coalition pushing for an inquiry into the shooting of a native protester has vowed to continue despite the Tory election victory last week. Dudley George was gunned down three months after the Harris-led Tories first swept to power in 1995, following a clash between the OPP and native protesters occupying Ipperwash Provincial Park. The Harris government has refused to hear calls for an inquiry, saying related issues are still before the courts. OPP Acting Sgt. Kenneth Deane was convicted of criminal negligence causing death in the shooting, but is appealing. The Coalition for a Public Inquiry into the Death of Dudley George failed to make the inquiry a major issue in the recent provincial election. Coalition members will meet this week to set new priorities, said spokesperson Ann Pohl. "It is our sense Canada won't want to go back to the UN without an inquiry," she said, referring to a scathing report this spring by a United Nations human rights committee on need for an inquiry. The federal government is to respond to the report by the end of 1999, said Pohl. Indian Affairs Minister Jane Stewart and her predecessor, Ron Irwin, who was minister when George was shot, have both called on the province to hold an inquiry. George was killed by police just outside Ipperwash Provincial Park Sept. 6, 1995. The natives were protesting the desecration of a burial ground there. Pohl said the Federal Inquiries Act precludes the federal government holding an inquiry into provincial matters. But her group obtained a legal opinion stating the federal government could investigate clashes between natives and police by using the Ipperwash shooting as an example. Coalition members were heartened that two politicians who championed their cause, Liberal MPP Gerry Phillips and New Democrat Leader Howard Hampton, were re-elected last week. Pohl plans to write Premier Mike Harris to follow up on his campaign comment he wasn't ruling out the need for an inquiry. Meanwhile, a wrongful death lawsuit filed by some of George's brothers and sisters against Harris, the provincial government and others, will be back before a Toronto court again tomorrow. Lawyer Murray Klippenstein said he and his partners will continue to argue the government file a list of related documents. He said he was served a day after the election with papers indicating government lawyers would argue the proceedings should be halted while the government appeals -- to the Supreme Court, if possible -- a ruling the lawsuit be allowed to continue. "It was a stark new direction from what Mike Harris had been saying a couple of days earlier," said Klippenstein. Harris said during the election campaign he'd instructed his lawyers to co-operate fully. ~~~ Quote of the Day: "Asked what he would do to reach out to "the little people," Mr. Harris said, "I come from little people." Photo: Mike Harris clutching his campaign bus mascot teddy bear [National Post Gord McLaughlin interview with Mike Harris June 05] "Mark David Chapman told psychiatrists at Bellevue Hospital of the "Little People" who lived inside his mind. Nearly 6 months after the John Lennon murder, Chapman sketched this diagram on June 2, 1981 at the request of psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Schwartz, to illustrate the interactions between the various governmental bodies and committees in his head. The Little People, he says, "were appalled," and they abandoned him when he told them of his decision to kill the music legend." [p.129 Let Me Take You Down Jack Jones Villard Books '92] ~ "Let Us Consider The Human Brain As A Very Complex Photographic Plate" 1957 G.H. Estabrooks www.angelfire.com/mn/mcap/bc.html FOR K A R E N #01182 who died fighting 4/23/99 [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.aches-mc.org 807-622-5407 Reprinted under the fair use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
NATIVE_NEWS: 11,000 yr old spearhead found, Alberta
And now:Ish [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Date: Mon, 07 Jun 1999 10:11:32 -0400 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: Lynne Moss-Sharman [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: 11,000 yr old spearhead found, Alberta Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Monday, June 7, 1999 Pre-pyramid spear head unearthed in dig near Banff By CP LAKE MINNEWANKA, ALTA. -- Calgary archeologists have discovered a stone spear head, believed to be 11,000 years old, in a dig on the sandy shores of Lake Minnewanka near Banff. The hunting tool is the first of its kind found undisturbed in Alberta soil. It may also prove to be the oldest, said archeologist and excavation leader Alison Landals. "This site is important to all of North America," she said. Aboriginal people dropped the spear point thousands of years before Egypt's pyramids were built. The point was found buried beside the remains of a prehistoric campfire. Ashes from the fire will be radiocarbon-dated to confirm the tool's age. Students Matt Moors and Jill Milner found the narrow, palm-sized point in a layer of sandy soil more than one metre deep. Landals suspects the treasure was left behind by a small family group, camped around a fire during an overnight stay near the lake. But if more hearths and spear points emerge, it's possible the lakeshore may have been a regularly used hunting site. The dig has also yielded a partial skull from an extinct bison and other stone tools. Archeologists could be in a race against time to complete the dig as glacial runoff fills the Lake Minnewanka reservoir over coming weeks. "Let Us Consider The Human Brain As A Very Complex Photographic Plate" 1957 G.H. Estabrooks www.angelfire.com/mn/mcap/bc.html FOR K A R E N #01182 who died fighting 4/23/99 [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.aches-mc.org 807-622-5407 Reprinted under the fair use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
NATIVE_NEWS: [nativeamericanlaw] Nez Perce mediation settlement
And now:Ish [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message-ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Mon, 7 Jun 1999 11:07:07 EDT http://proxy-mail.mailcity.lycos.com/bin/redirector.cgi?http://www.lawnewsnet. com/stories/A2025-1999Jun4.html A $39M End to Tribal Troubles P. Kennedy Page The National Law Journal June 7, 1999 A major electric utility has agreed to pay $39 million over the next 44 years to an Indian tribe whose ancestors bartered with the Lewis and Clark expedition, as compensation for damage to the salmon and steelhead fishery caused by the construction and operation of hydroelectric dams, according to an attorney for the tribe. Avista Corp., formerly the Washington Water Power Co., represented by Paine, Hamblen, Coffin, Brooke, Miller, of Spokane, Wash., and the Nez Perce tribe of Boise, Idaho, which was represented by the Tribal Council's Office of Legal Counsel and Denver's Holland Hart L.L.P., both credited a patient, two-year mediation process for a settlement that both described as fair. The settlement concludes a 1991 case, Nez Perce Tribe v. Washington Water Co., CV-91-00518-5-BLW, brought in the U.S. District Court of the District of Idaho by the Nez Perce against Washington Water Power, claiming damage to the salmon and steelhead fishery on the Clearwater River in northern Idaho. The tribe claimed that the fishery is guaranteed by a treaty from 1855. Peter C. Houtsma, who worked on the case for eight years out of the Holland Hart office in Denver, described the mediation as a painstaking but ultimately satisfying process of bridging cultural gaps as well as resolving legal differences. The mediation process was overseen by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. The mediator was Alice Shorett, of Triangle Associates of Seattle, Wash. "The tribe is very poor," Mr. Houtsma said. "They have no taxing base, and they didn't know if they could even front the costs of mediation. But WWP, to their credit, agreed to front the costs. "What was unique is, we had two parties from entirely different cultures, a large business that gets involved in litigation and a sovereign nation, the Nez Perce tribe, that does not often get involved in litigation," Mr. Houtsma noted. "The Nez Perce have their own court system and their own way of resolving disputes. The mediation process forced both sides to go outside the forums they would usually rely on to settle disputes." Avista Chairman and CEO Tom Matthews said in a statement that the "agreement provides a foundation for a long-term positive, mutually beneficial relationship between the Company and the Nez Perce tribe." Samuel N. Penney, chairman of the Tribal Executive Committee, said that the settlement gives financial stability to the tribe of 3,000, without compromising its cultural links to the salmon and steelhead in the rivers of the Pacific Northwest. This article will appear in the June 14, 1999 issue of The National Law Journal. Copyright ©1999 NLP IP Company -- American Lawyer Media. All rights reserved. Reprinted under the fair use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
NATIVE_NEWS: June 5th pro-Makah rally and next counter protest
And now:Ish [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Date: Mon, 7 Jun 1999 08:55:41 -0700 Message-Id: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: arthur [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] please post widely From: ANTI-RACIST EMERGENCY ACTION NETWORK--TACOMA C/0 NWLPSN P.O. BOX 5464 TACOMA, WA 98415-0464 EMAIL: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AREAN REPORT ON JUNE 5TH PRO-MAKAH RALLY PAWS working through the Communty Action Network and with some Seattle Earth First! members had called an anti-Makah whaling rally for June 5th in Seattle. Their purpose was to protest the Makah Nation resuming their heritage as a whaling people. This heritage (which is guaranteed under the 1855 Treaty with the U.S. Government) the Makahs voluntarily suspended over 70 years ago after the white whaling industry almost wided out the Gray Whale. Now that the Gray Whale has come back in such numbers that it is no longer endangered, the Makah decided to resume their heritage and treaty right. The night before their rally, the organizers of the anti-Makah rally called it off. The reason for calling off the rally was that they found out that there was going to be a counter protest which was being called by AREAN, Radical Women and a number of Native activists. In a statement issued by PAWS spokesperson Will Anderson, he wrote about PAWS meeting that day rather than ralling and that they would be deciding "how best to handle the rude, brown-shirt methods Mr. Miller and his group use to disrupt free speech and peaceful assemblies." I find this a rather interesting statement considering the fact that the anti-Makah people have tried to disrupt some many Makah ceremonies. I guess this is another example of some white people claiming all rights for themselves and denying them to others. I also find it interesting that PAWS would call our counter protesting "brown-shirt methods" while at the same time useing Jack Metcalf, a well known fascist and racist, as a speaker. When I found out about PAWS calling off their rally I tried to contact those that I could, mainly those that would be coming out of town, that the anti-Makah rally had been called off. Still around 40 pro-Makah people did show up and we had a victory rally. There were tribal members from the Makahs, Puyallups and other Native Nations. Along with anti-racist/pro-Native Sovereignty activists. We had an open mike in which people came up and spoke what was on their minds. Including those who spoke were two Makah Elders. I was most moved by a young Makah women who spoke about how all the harassment felt like and how it had pulled her people together. For if the purpose of the harassment was to break the spirit of the Makah people, then it was a great failure for it was only making them stronger. Reports of harassment continue to come to us. One report that showed the true nature of the anti-Makah people was that a Makah Head Start bus full of children of ages 3 - 6 years old was terrorized in the town of Forks by protesters. The protesters hit the bus with their signs and shouted profanities at the children inside. I guess the anti- Makah people just view this as an act of their of free speech. Also, on the day of the rally I met a young Native man who told me that he and two friends had been standing on a Seattle street when a car came up and gun shots were fired with one bullet hitting him in his leg. Then someone in the car yelled out to them "blubber eaters". PAWS claims that they are not responsible for the racist harassment of Native people in this state. I disagree, it is well known that there are strong racist anti-tribal elements in the state of Washington. Native people have come under attack everytime they have tried to do anything for their people. Be it fishing and shellfishing rights, or smokeshops, elk hunting, the Muckleshhoot amphitheater, the People's Lodge in Seattle, trying to enforce environmental protection on their land and many other examples, there have been white people actively attacking Native people. The anti-Makah people know this and have just added fuel to the fire of racism in this state. And it has been their decision to exploit the racism in this state for their purpose. Why else would they join forces with someone like Metcalf? Metcalf does not care about the environment, his voting record in congress shows that, rather Metcalf has been at the forefront of the anti-tribal movement. And all he is trying to do is use the whaling issue to help his campaign to eliminate all Native treaty rights. Will Anderson in his statement says that PAWS "will ensure that Mr. Miller does not step over the line." I am not sure what line that is and what actions PAWS plans to take against me. But I will be very clear about what I will do, I will continue to speak out against racism and in support of Native treaty rights and sovereignty. I will continue to confront the racists when
NATIVE_NEWS: New Release re: NAGPRA Grants
And now:Ish [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Via NAGPRA-L FYI. Please e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] with any questions about the NAGPRA Grants Program. --- NPS NEWS RELEASE NPS NEWS RELEASE NPS NEWS RELEASE For Release: May 27, 1999 Melissa Cahn: (202) 208-6843 Francis P. McManamon: (202) 343-8161 NATIONAL PARK SERVICE AWARDS $2.1 MILLION IN NATIVE AMERICAN GRAVES PROTECTION AND REPATRIATION ACT GRANTS The National Park Service (NPS) announced today the award of $2,166,035 to assist museums, Indian tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, and Alaska Native villages and corporations with implementation of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). The award was divided among 38 projects. Projects to be undertaken by grant recipients include: the repatriation of the remains of nearly 2,000 individuals to the Pueblo of Jemez; a project to document ancestral Wichita human remains using anthropological methods; a statewide conference to discuss chemically contaminated cultural materials in museum collections; a project to develop a comprehensive series of land maps that delineate the traditional homelands and hunting territories of the Lakota Indians; as well as numerous tribal consultation visits to museums. The National Park Service (NPS) received 77 applications from 52 Indian tribes, Alaska Native villages and corporations, and Native Hawaiian organizations, and 20 museums for a total request of approximately $4.4 million. Proposals were reviewed by NPS staff and a selection panel of Native Americans and museum professionals. NAGPRA, enacted in 1990, requires museums and Federal agencies to inventory and identify Native American human remains and cultural items in their collections and to consult with culturally affiliated Indian tribes, Alaska Native villages and corporations, and Native Hawaiian organizations regarding repatriation. Section 10 of the Act authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to award grants to implement provisions of the Act. Additional information regarding these awards can be obtained from Dr. Francis P. McManamon, Chief, Archeology and Ethnography Program, National Park Service, 1849 C Street, NW, NC340, Washington, D.C., 20240. -NPS- Editor's note: Specific awards and contacts are listed on the following pages. Fiscal Year 1999 Grants to Assist Implementation of Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) List of Awards and Contacts ALASKA Bering Straits Foundation, Nome, AK Vera Metcalf (907) 443-5252 Award amount: $67,875 Denakkanagga, Inc., Fairbanks, AK Catherine Ipalook (907) 456-1748 Award amount: $75,000 Kootznoowoo, Inc., Juneau, AK (2 projects) Leonard John (907) 790-2992 Award amount: $87,650 Native Village of Teller, Teller, AK (repatriation project) Allan Okpealuk (907) 642-3381 Award amount: $915 ARIZONA Hualapai Tribe, Peach Springs, AZ Loretta Jackson (520) 769-2223 Award amount: $74,175 University of Arizona, Arizona State Museum, Tucson, AZ Alyce Sadongei (520) 621-4609 Award amount: $44,785 CALIFORNIA Barona Band of Mission Indians, Lakeside, CA Steve Banegas (619) 443-6612 Award Ammount: $60,815 Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, Havasu Lake, CA Lynn Fraher-Petach (818) 885-7066 Award Amount: $67,145 Karuk Tribe of California, Happy Camp, CA Leaf Hillman (530) 627-3446 Award Amount: $74140 Robinson Rancheria, Nice, CA Irenia Quitiquit (707) 275-0205 Award Amount: $75,000 Sherwood Valley Rancheria, Willits, CA Pauline Girvin-Montoya (707) 485-1778 Award amount: $75,000 UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, Los Angeles, CA Wendy Giddens Teeter (310) 825-1864 Award amount: $74,715 Yurok Tribe, Eureka, CA Thomas Gates (707) 444-0433 Award amount: $72,660 COLORADO Colorado Historical Society, Denver, CO Carolyn McArthur (303) 866-2303 Award amount: $73,255 Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO Nancy Blomberg (303) 640-7572 Award amount: $70,070 Denver Museum of Natural History, Denver, CO Robert Pickering (303) 370-6492 Award amount: $75,000 University of Denver Museum of Anthropology, Denver, CO Jan Bernstein (303) 871-2543 Award amount: $75,000 HAWAII Hui Malama I Na
NATIVE_NEWS: Electronic Program Guide (Big News for Native America Calling)
And now:Ish [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: 1) Native America Calling celebrates four years on the air 2) New Affiliates in Kentucky and Idaho 3) Earthsongs: Dave Trezak 4) Native America Calling Topics (June 7-11) ** (1) Native America Calling celebrates four years on the air ** On June 6th, 1999 Native America Calling celebrated four years of bringing a voice to Indian Country. In celebration, we have put together a collection of shows from over the years that you can listen to on-demand in RealAudio. To listen go to nativecalling.org ...as we add more memory for storage we will offer more and more programs on-demand. * (2) New Affiliates in Kentucky and Idaho * Internet listeners in Kentucky and Idaho can now liste to AIROS's newest affiliates on their radio dials. Starting June 4th KISU in Pocatello, is carrying Native America Calling LIVE everyday from 11am-noon MT. Their frequency is 91.1 FM. They have a very strong, clean signal in Pocatello, Chubbuck, American Falls and Blackfoot. We also have an affiliate in Murray Kentucky...its call letters are WKMS and it's at 91.3 FM, and people in the area can tune into Different Drums every 2-3pm ET on Saturdays. * (3) Earthsongs: Dave Trezak (June 10-14) * Dave Trezak: (June 10-14) When he saw Elvis live on TV with a big band, that's when he knew what he wanted to do. Dave Trezak is our featured artist this week on Earthsongs, and his smokey-voice big-band sound would make Elvis proud. Also this week, we'll dive into modern native music from Seventh Fire, Arigon Starr, Jerry Alfred the Medicine Beat and Alice Gomez. Listen live on the web Thursdays at 10am, 4pm, 10pm Fridays at 4am Saturdays at 4pm Sundays at 5am and 4pm Mondays at 5am and dont't forget to check out www.earthsongs.net where you can see the names of the songs and artists as you are listen to the show... ** (4) Native America Calling Topics (June 7-11) ** MON - 6/7: Innovative Indian Homes: Have you ever wondered if the house you live in affects your quality of life? A number of new housing projects in Native communities are now using traditional building techniques, styles and materials to create energy efficient, environmentally sound and culturally appropriate homes. What is a culturally appropriate home? Join our guests Dennis Holloway of the Colorado Solar Hogans Project and James Poley of the Hopi Foundation, as they explain. TUE - 6/8: The Ups and Downs of Nuclear Energy: The nuclear industry has started a massive media campaign saying technological advances have made nuclear power a safe, clean and abundant source of energy. Industry officials say nuclear power is the only true alternative to burning fossil fuels, which has contributed heavily to global warming. Is it time we consider nuclear energy as a safe source of energy? Invited guests include the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Nuclear Information Resource Center. WED - 6/9: Labor Unions on Tribal Lands: Workers on tribal trust lands do not have the same rights as most U.S. workers because of the sovereign immunity of tribal governments. This gives tribes the authority to reject any fair labor laws for employees on their reservation, such as a minimum wage, healthcare and other benefits. In response, the hotel and restaurant labor movements are organizing union efforts for tribal casino workers in California. What workers rights come with sovereign immunity? THU - 6/10: TBA FRI - 6/11: Coming Home: Thousands of American Indians and Alaska Natives find themselves serving prison sentences. When they're released, these men (and an increasing number of women) find themselves trying to re-enter a society that often has trouble accepting them. On this "Wellness Edition" of Native America Calling, host Sharon McConnell and her guests discuss how can we successfully re-integrate these Native brothers and sisters back into our communities. --- Eric Martin American Indian Radio On Satellite Director of Distribution [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Rock n' Roll is based on revolutions going way past 33 1/3." -- John Trudell, Baby Boom Che On June 5th, 1999 Native America Calling celebrates four years of bringing a voice to Indian Country. Join the electronic talking circle every Monday-Friday from 1pm-2pm ET. Reprinted under the fair use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
NATIVE_NEWS: LIIBULLETIN, Monday June 7 (2 cases)
And now:Ish [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: From: "Peter W. Martin" [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: LIIBULLETIN, Monday June 7 excerpt Date: Mon, 7 Jun 1999 10:35:02 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal --- AN E-BULLETIN LEGAL INFORMATION INSTITUTE -- CORNELL LAW SCHOOL [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- The following decisions have just arrived via the LII's direct Project HERMES feed from the Supreme Court. These are not the decisions themselves nor excerpts from them, but summaries (syllabi) prepared by the Court's Reporter of Decisions. Instructions for accessing the full text of any of these decisions are provided at the end of this bulletin, as are instructions for subscribing in the event that this bulletin has been given you by a colleague and you'd like a subscription of your own. === AMOCO PRODUCTION CO. v. SOUTHERN UTE TRIBE (98-830) Web-accessible at: http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/98-830.ZS.html Argued April 19, 1999 -- Decided June 7, 1999 Opinion author: Kennedy === Land patents issued to western settlers pursuant to the Coal Lands Acts of 1909 and 1910 conveyed the land and everything in it, except the "coal," which was reserved to the United States. Patented lands included reservation lands previously ceded by respondent Southern Ute Indian Tribe to the United States. In 1938, the United States restored to the Tribe, in trust, title to ceded reservation lands still owned by the Government, including the reserved coal in lands patented under the 1909 and 1910 Acts. These lands contain large quantities of coalbed methane gas (CBM gas) within the coal formations. At the time of the 1909 and 1910 Acts, such gas was considered a dangerous waste product of coal mining, but it is now considered a valuable energy source. Relying on a 1981 opinion by the Solicitor of the Department of the Interior that CBM gas was not included in the Acts' coal reservation, oil and gas companies entered into CBM gas leases with the individual landowners of some 200,000 acres of patented land in which the Tribe owns the coal. The Tribe filed suit against petitioners, the royalty owners and producers under the leases, and federal agencies and officials (respondents here), seeking, inter alia, a declaration that CBM gas is coal reserved by the 1909 and 1910 Acts. The District Court granted the defendants summary judgment, holding that the plain meaning of the term "coal" in the Acts is a solid rock substance that does not include CBM gas. In reversing, the Tenth Circuit found the term ambiguous, invoked the canon that ambiguities in land grants should be resolved in favor of the sovereign, and concluded that the coal reservation encompassed CBM gas. The Solicitor of the Interior has withdrawn the 1981 opinion, and the United States now supports the Tribe's position. Held: The term "coal" as used in the 1909 and 1910 Acts does not encompass CBM gas. Pp. 6-14. (a) The question here is not whether, based on what scientists know today, CBM gas is a constituent of coal, but whether Congress so regarded it in 1909 and 1910. The common understanding of coal at that time would not have encompassed CBM gas. Most dictionaries of the day defined coal as the solid fuel resource and CBM gas as a distinct substance that escaped from coal during mining, rather than as a part of the coal itself. As a practical matter, moreover, it is clear that Congress intended to reserve only the solid rock fuel that was mined, shipped throughout the country, and then burned to power the Nation's railroads, ships, and factories. Public land statutes should be interpreted in light of the country's condition when they were passed, Leo Sheep Co. v. United States, 440 U.S. 668, 682, and coal, not gas, was the primary energy for the Industrial Revolution. Congress passed the Acts to address concerns over the short supply, mismanagement, and fraudulent acquisition of this solid rock fuel and chose a narrow reservation to address these concerns. That Congress viewed CBM gas as a dangerous waste product is evident from earlier mine-safety legislation that prescribed specific ventilation standards to dilute such gas. Congress' view was confirmed by the fact that coal companies venting the gas while mining coal made no attempt to capture or preserve the gas. To the extent that Congress was aware of limited and sporadic drilling for CBM gas as fuel, there is every reason to think it viewed this as drilling for natural gas. Such a distinction is significant, since the question is not whether Congress would
NATIVE_NEWS: Court Seeks Views on Indian Case
And now:Ish [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Mon, 7 Jun 1999 10:36:45 EDT Subject: Court Seeks Views on Indian Case Court Seeks Views on Indian Case .c The Associated Press By LAURIE ASSEO WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court today sought the Clinton administration's views on a lawsuit by a Hopi Indian tribe member in Arizona who says an electric power plant on the Navajo reservation illegally refused to hire him because he is not Navajo. The court said it wants to hear from Justice Department lawyers before acting on an appeal in which the plant operator argued that federal law allows non-Indian employers doing business on a reservation to give hiring preference to members of that reservation's tribe. A federal appeals court ruled that the Hopi's lawsuit should go to trial. The Navajo Generating Station is operated by the Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District, an Arizona quasi-government body. The district's lease with the tribe requires it to give job preference to ``qualified local Navajos.'' Harold Dawavendewa, a Hopi Indian who lives near the Navajo reservation, applied for a job at the plant in 1991. He ranked ninth among the top 20 applicants in an employment test, but said he was not further considered for the job because he was not a Navajo or married to a tribe member. Dawavendewa sued, saying the district violated Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which bars job bias on grounds of race, sex, religion or national origin. A federal judge threw out the lawsuit. Title VII includes language exempting tribal preferences, the judge said. But the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated Dawavendewa's lawsuit. The exemption in Title VII does not permit preferences based on which tribe someone belongs to, the appeals court said. The appeals court also said hiring preferences allowed by a separate law, the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, did not apply to the power plant job. In the appeal acted on today, the Salt River district's lawyers said the 9th Circuit court's ruling means tribes no longer can require on-reservation employers to give preference to tribe members. Dawavendewa's lawyers said federal law allows tribes, but not other employers, to give preference to their own tribal members in limited circumstances. The case is Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District vs. Dawavendewa, 98-1628. AP-NY-06-07-99 1036EDT Copyright 1998 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press. Reprinted under the fair use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
NATIVE_NEWS: THEY MOVED THE WHOLE RESERVE INSTEAD
And now:Ish [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Via Paths-L From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Kathy Kern, Rochester, NY) To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Monday, June 7 1999 Subject: GRASSY NARROWS, ON: THEY MOVED THE WHOLE RESERVE INSTEAD-- CPTNET June 4, 1999 Asubpeeschoseewagong (Grassy Narrows), ON: THEY MOVED THE WHOLE RESERVE INSTEAD by Doug Pritchard "There's my father-in-law's house," said my guide, pointing to a small log cabin on an island at the edge of the rain-swept English River. "All the other families had similar houses on the river. There's where we built our community hall. There's where we kept a common herd of cows. Over there we had a common cellar for storing the produce of our gardens." We had come by boat to visit the "old reserve" of Asubpeeschoseewagong Netum Anishnabek (Grassy Narrows First Nation), 80 kms north of Kenora in NW Ontario. The Anishnabek had invited a CPT fact-finding mission to come and learn about the latest threat to their community posed by clear-cut logging. But this threat is set against a backdrop of several other traumas experienced by the community. The story of the old reserve is part of that backdrop. In 1963, Indian Agent Eric Law announced it would be "better" if the Grassy Narrows people were relocated to a new reserve five kilometres away on the road to the town of Kenora. He promised the people the "civilizing" benefits of government housing, electricity, water, sewage and a school staffed by white teachers. When the people resisted the move, he threatened to cut off their Family Allowance checks. The Anishnabek families were relocated and, 20 years later, the "benefits" did eventually all arrive. But their community was almost destroyed. The new reserve was on a small, stagnant lake away from the big, wide-open river. The new houses were too close together and many lacked access to the water. The soil was too poor to support kitchen gardens. The Indian Agent assigned houses heedless of family ties and friendships. The road to Kenora lured many into trouble. The people of Asubpeeschoseewagong still treasure their memories of the old reserve and the strength of its community. Some visit it frequently to tend gardens or their memories of a better time. Indian Agent Law had insisted it was "impossible" to provide a road or school for the old reserve and so relocation was imperative. But the old-timers reply, "I say, look here...you white people built a highway right across Canada, a big highway from the Atlantic to the Pacific. You built a railroad too, coast to coast. Now tell me, why couldn't Indian Affairs build a road, just a few miles to the old reserve from the Jones Road? Why? No, they moved the whole reserve instead." ___ Christian Peacemaker Teams is an initiative among Mennonite and Church of the Brethren congregations and Friends Meetings that supports violence reduction efforts around the world. CPT P. O. Box 6508 Chicago, IL 60680 tel:312-455-1199 FAX: 312-666-2677 To join CPTNET, e-mail network, fill out the form found on our WEB page. URL: http://www.prairienet.org/cpt/ ___ Reprinted under the fair use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
NATIVE_NEWS: Indian Trust Documents Questioned
And now:Ish [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Indian Trust Documents Questioned .c The Associated Press By PHILIP BRASHER WASHINGTON (AP) -- A court-appointed investigator found the government still handles American Indian trust records carelessly more than three months after two Cabinet officials were held in contempt of court over them. In a report issued Monday, the official said trust documents are stored in ``patently substandard conditions'' at several Bureau of Indian Affairs offices he inspected recently. At Anadarko, Okla., records were kept in wooden sheds. Files were spilled loosely around and stuffed in unmarked boxes strewn among truck tires, the report said. Alan Balaran was appointed a special master in a lawsuit against the government after U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth found Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin in contempt for delaying the turnover of trust records. The judge said he had ``never seen more egregious misconduct'' by the government. The lawsuit alleges the government has been mishandling the accounts for decades. They include 300,000 accounts held by individual Indians, subjects of the lawsuit, and an additional 1,600 tribal accounts worth $2.5 billion. The money includes lease revenue, royalties and court settlements. Balaran recommended the judge order safeguarding of the documents. ``The absence of an order affirmatively mandating the preservation of Indian trust records risks the possibility that the deficiencies ... will continue unchecked and that the opportunity for a meaningful accounting will be forever lost,'' Balaran wrote. Bureau of Indian Affairs officials say trust records are kept in 108 offices, and it takes time to ensure that all have proper storage. Balaran visited a dozen offices in April and said most were ``models of efficiency.'' ``It's a big job,'' said BIA spokesman Rex Hackler. ``I think we're doing very well in most places. There's always a way to do better.'' The Interior Department released a memorandum dated June 2 that ordered all its agencies to ensure preservation of Indian fund records they might hold. Records have been lost or ruined over the years, and ownership of reservation property has been divided so often through inheritances that only a few cents a year passes through many of the accounts, officials say. Lawyers for the plaintiffs claim the government could be liable for billions of dollars in underpayments to account holders. While making no estimates, Bureau of Indian Affairs officials have acknowledged that the liability could be substantial. The bureau is to start using a new computer system this month for handling the accounts. The lawsuit is to be tried in two phases, with the first trial set to begin Thursday. On Monday, the judge declined a request by government attorneys to appoint a mediator in the case, because lawyers for the plaintiffs said they prefer a trial. end excerpt Reprinted under the fair use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
NATIVE_NEWS: Fwd: Conservatives, Casinos Square Off
And now:Ish [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Mon, 7 Jun 1999 01:26:05 EDT Subject: Conservatives, Casinos Square Off Conservatives, Casinos Square Off .c The Associated Press By JONATHAN D. SALANT WASHINGTON (AP) -- Now that a national study commission has ended its work with recommendations for new controls on gambling, the action shifts to Congress and state governments -- and the lobbies that will fight for and against the changes. Rep. Frank Wolf, the Virginia Republican whose bill created the commission, says he'll introduce legislation based on the panel's call for federal action. He also plans to write to the governors and urge them to approve the recommendations for state and local governments. The National Gambling Impact Study Commission's recommendations include a moratorium on new lotteries and casinos, bans on gambling on the computer Internet and on college sports and increased help for problem gamblers. The report is scheduled to be presented to President Clinton, Congress, American Indian tribes and governors on June 18. Republican presidential candidate Gary Bauer, a former head of the conservative Family Research Council, has endorsed the recommendations. The Christian Coalition also is prepared to lobby on the issue, said the group's executive director, Randy Tate. But the gambling industry, which prefers the word ``gaming,'' is well-heeled and prepared to challenge its opponents. The American Gaming Association, a trade group, has taken top congressional Democrats and Republicans on behind-the-scenes tours of casino operations and held million-dollar fund-raisers for both parties. ``In Congress right now it would be a struggle to get any anti-gaming thing passed,'' said William Thompson, a professor of public administration at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. ``They've got the bucks and the opposition doesn't.'' Among the industry's champions are Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., whose state is home to a growing casino industry, and House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri, a home to riverboat gambling. Lott led a group of Senate Republicans in 1997 to the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, where they toured an employee training center before mingling with political donors. In 1998, Gephardt and other top House Democrats toured the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas before joining donors at a shrimp and lamb chop buffet. Gephardt and the ranking Democrat on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, returned last month to meet with Mirage Resorts chairman Steve Wynn and accept a $250,000 campaign contribution for House Democrats. ``They acknowledge we're going to take the House back and they're hedging their bets because they know the odds are in our favor,'' said Rep. Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Frank Fahrenkopf, the gambling industry's chief lobbyist and a former Republican Party chairman, said touring casinos and mingling with their executives helps educate lawmakers so they will better understand the business. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., a former board chairwoman of the Nevada Hotel-Motel Association, also has urged the casino industry to bring her fellow freshmen to Las Vegas. ``Gaming in Nevada is akin to cars in Detroit,'' she said. ``It is important for members to understand gaming is a business like any other.'' The American Gaming Association's lobbying expenses increased from $760,000 in 1997 to $860,000 in 1998. Besides Fahrenkopf, the group's lobbyists include former Rep. Dennis Eckert, D-Ohio, and Kenneth Duberstein, White House chief of staff under President Reagan. Since forming a political action committee in December 1995, the association has given $194,410 to federal candidates and political parties. Some of the individual casinos have given far more. Harrah's has contributed more than $1 million since 1995. Mirage boosted its giving from $159,800 in 1995-96 to $528,846 in 1997-98. ``We have a right to be heard and represented in the halls of Congress,'' Fahrenkopf said. ``We want to be players.'' This increased financial support for congressional candidates is troubling to many religious conservatives. ``The more the parties become beholden to the gambling lobby, the more our families are at risk,'' the Christian Coalition's Tate said. ``We see this is as a disturbing trend. Gambling does nothing to enhance the local quality of life but does a lot to disrupt the family structure.'' AP-NY-06-07-99 0125EDT Copyright 1998 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press. Reprinted under the fair use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law.
NATIVE_NEWS: TEXAS: 19th Century Skeletons found, being moved to lab
And now:Ish [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Discovery of 19th-century skeletons presents problems http://www.dallasnews.com/texas_southwest/0602tsw10skeletons.htm 06/02/99 By Darren Barbee / Scripps Howard News Service REFUGIO, Texas - Archaeologists have started the delicate process of removing as many as 60 human skeletons from a 19th-century mission cemetery discovered beneath a highway. What happens before the remains are reinterred may be even more delicate. The burial ground was found in March by a construction crew that was widening U.S. Highway 77. Since then, the crew has held up construction pending notification of next of kin - a task made daunting by the passage of more than 150 years in some cases. But officials couldn't continue to wait because of congestion on the highway, said Becky Kureska, a Texas Department of Transportation spokeswoman. For that reason, Refugio County Judge Roger Fagan ruled that the Transportation Department could proceed with excavation. A six-member crew will spend about three weeks on the excavation, Ms. Kureska said. As many as 60 sets of remains may be found in the site that lies 2 feet below the highway surface near Our Lady of Refuge Catholic Church, officials estimate. The building occupies the location of the original Spanish colonial mission founded in 1795. Authorities believe the burials took place between 1800 and 1830. The remains of seven people have already been found. As the dirt is carefully sifted for bones, and as those bones are in turn separated skeleton by skeleton, at least one American Indian tribe disagrees with plans for the bones before they are reburied. After the remains are unearthed, they will be packed and sent to the Center for Archaeological Research at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said Nancy Kenmotsu, branch supervisor of archaeological studies for the Transportation Department. There, the remains will be studied to identify descendants. Failing that, bone structures may at least reveal the ancestry of the person - an American Indian or Spaniard, for instance. The bones will also be examined to glean insights into the lifestyle at the mission. "The issues of trying to study them is tied to an obligation under the National [Historic] Preservation Act," Ms. Kenmotsu said. Tribes including the Caddo, Tonkawa and Mescalero Apaches have been notified of those plans. Don Patterson, tribal president of the Tonkawa, said he had no problem with relocating the remains to another cemetery - but not to a laboratory. "That's what Indians object to," said Mr. Patterson, who lives in Oklahoma. "Pulling people out of the ground and putting them on shelves and letting them sit there. It's an indecent thing. "Why don't we go dig up Sam Houston and study him? He's of historical significance," he said. The Rev. John Vega, pastor of Our Lady of Refuge, said the transportation department had taken pains to handle the situation with discretion. The department "doesn't plan on making a museum exhibit out of all of this," he said. "They are trying to learn any useful information on the life and times of people. Then they will be reinterred properly." Reprinted under the fair use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
NATIVE_NEWS: LUMBEE: Indian panel named 17 appointed to set up vote
And now:Ish [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Friday, June 4, 1999 Indian panel named 17 appointed to set up vote http://www.fayettevillenc.com/foto/news/content/1999/tx99jun/n04lumb4.htm By Bob Horne Staff writer LUMBERTON -- Superior Court Judge Howard Manning has named his 17 appointments to a commission that will arrange a governmental election for the Lumbee Indian Tribe. With Mannings appointments, which were filed Tuesday, the 39-member Lumbee Self-Determination Commission is complete. The commissions mandate will be to find out what kind of government the Lumbee people want and to set up a way for creating it. Both the Tribal Council of the Lumbee Tribe of Cheraw Indians and the Lumbee Regional Development Association contend that they are the rightful government of the nations 40,000 to 50,000 Lumbee Indians, most of whom live in and around Robeson County. On April 21, Manning ordered the Lumbee Tribal Referendum Election Committee to stop its effort to hold an election and announced the formation of the commission. The Tribal Council has appealed that decision. Manning named Jim Lowry of High Point to be chairman of the commission. His other appointments are Joyce F. Locklear of Lumberton, Helen S. Lowry of Pembroke, Dr. Waltz Maynor of Durham, Richard D. Locklear of Landis, Weldon Freeman of Cary, Kent Chavis of Maxton, Ruth L. Revels of Greensboro, Vail Carter of Charlotte, Renee O. Hunt of Rowland, Furnie Lambert of Maxton, Linda B. Locklear of Maxton, James E. Goins of Red Springs, Velenda Morgan of Shannon, Proctor Locklear Jr. of Raeford, Larry Locklear of Red Springs and Ralph Hunt of Lumberton.END EXCERPT Reprinted under the fair use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
NATIVE_NEWS: ARGENTINA: Last of Argentina's Ona Indians dies
And now:Ish [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: This is one of the saddest articles..my heart is heavy for all that has passed, for all that has been lost..Ish Last of Argentina's Ona Indians dies http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/americas/9906/03/BC-ARGENTINA-INDIAN.reut/index.html June 3, 1999 Web posted at: 7:58 PM EDT (2358 GMT) BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) -- The last of Argentina's full-blooded Ona Indians has died, ending a 9,000-year history of a tribe that was hounded by settlers and bounty hunters at the tip of South America, authorities said on Thursday. Virginia Choinquitel, 56, died of a heart attack on Wednesday in Rio Grande, Tierra del Fuego, a priest in the town said. Argentine anthropologist Miguel Angel Palermo told the daily Clarin that the last Ona man died in 1995 and Choinquitel was the last full-blooded Ona woman. Her long-time friend, Roman Catholic priest Father Jose Zink, confirmed that she was the last member of the Ona tribe. "There are many people of mixed blood but to the best of our knowledge she was the last full-blooded Ona," Zink said in a telephone interview with Reuters from his Rio Grande home in Tierra del Fuego. The nomadic Ona people's roots in Tierra del Fuego date back 9,000 years. Its people were short and stocky with Asiatic facial features and were the victims of campaigns by armed settlers intent on exterminating them. By the late 19th century, several missions were established in Tierra del Fuego and nearby islands to protect the remaining survivors. But the ancient tribe continued to be threatened by epidemics and bounty hunters. About 300 Ona were left at the time of the most recent government census of the native population taken in 1965 - among them Virginia Choinquitel. By 1970 there were only 10 Onas left in the world, according to Palermo. END EXCERPT
NATIVE_NEWS: NUNAVUT: Bureaucratic rules leaves burned woman with no care
And now:Ish [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Nunavut Edition Headline News June 4, 1999 Bureaucratic rules leaves burned woman with no care http://www.nunatsiaq.com/nunavut/nvt90604_02.html Nunavik leaders are furious that a combination of red tape and bureaucratic wrangling led to a nine-hour delay in the rescue of a woman who had been badly burned out on the land. JANE GEORGE Nunatsiaq News PUVIRNITUQ A 70-year old Kangiqsujuaq woman suffering severe burns over most of her body waited nine hours for medical treatment because no nurse from the nearby community was willing to go out on the land and help her. Two nurses in Kangiqsujuaq said that they weren't allowed to travel out of the community to help Sarah Ningiuruvik at her camp because of "internal regulations." "It's inacceptable," said Jean Dupuis, the head of Nunavik's Regional Board of Health and Social Services. "It doesn't make sense that people who are paid big bucks don't respond to people who are suffering." Ningiuruvik couldn't be immediately medevaced out to Kuujjuaq, either, because pilots at every northern airline said they'd already flown their allotted hours for the day. According to the federal Civil Air Services Navigation Commercialization Act, pilots can only fly eight hours in a 14-hour shift. The community's mayor, Charlie Arngak, tried to convince the nurses to go to help the woman, but to no avail. He made call after call, without any luck, to help organize a medevac. Increasingly more desperate, he finally appealed to local leaders in Puvirnituq attending a meeting of the Kativik Regional Government. Dupuis and KRG chairman Johnny Adams stayed up all night on the telephone, trying to convince medical authorities and airlines to get some urgent assistance to Ningiuruvik. Hours of wrangling This wrangling went on for hours. Finally, accompanied by a nurse, a group of local Canadian Rangers, and the police constable, arrived at the scene seven hours later. They didn't arrive back in Kangiqsujuaq until 3 am. At daybreak, a helicopter finally able to leave Kuujjuaq to bring the burned woman to Kuujjuaq, and then on to Montreal. Ningiuruvik's feet are the only parts of her body that were not burned in the explosion that rocked her cabin around 6 pm on Tuesday evening. Ningiuruvik, who has poor vision, was attempting to light a camp stove, but had apparently filled the stove's reservoir with gasoline instead of naptha. Her son, Pitsiulak, who was outside chopping wood when the blast occurred, looked up through the window to see his mother's face on fire. Pitsiulak, whose hands were also burned when he rescued his mother, then travelled by skidoo back into Kangiqsujuaq, some ten kilometers away. Nurse not allowed to leave Nurse Philippe Poirier had wanted to answer the call for help, but Poirier was reminded by his co-worker, Diane Trudelle, that nurses are not permitted to leave the village, even to respond to medical emergencies. "It's a good policy," she said. "We're only two and if we go to the site, there's a loss of time and resources. Even with two people, it took us one and a half hours to prepare the equipment." Trudelle said that she'd been up for more than 26 hours by Wednesday morning. She said that outpost nurses would require more back-up and better facilities if they're expected to offer pre-hospital care, too. Police and Canadian Rangers, she maintained, have enough First Aid training to bring in patients. "We're not responsible for the transport of the injured," said Trudelle's boss, Minnie Grey, executive director of Kuujjuaq's Tulattavik Health Centre. "It was a total example of panic, not knowing what to do and depending on the nurses." Grey said existing rules protect the nurses and do not jeopardize patients. By badgering the nurses to go to the woman, she feels rescuers lost valuable time in getting
NATIVE_NEWS: ENVIRO:WWF study: Are contaminants making Arctic animals sick?
And now:Ish [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: WWF study: Are contaminants making Arctic animals sick? http://www.nunatsiaq.com/nunavut/nvt90604_14.html The World Wildlife Fund is trying to find out if poisons in the Arctic environment are affecting the health of Arctic wildlife species. DWANE WILKIN Nunatsiaq News IQALUIT The World Wildlife Fund plans to lead a major study into the health effects of chemical pollution on animals in the Canadian Arctic, beginning this summer on Baffin Island and Nunavik. The conservation group will enlist the help of Inuit to determine if reported abnormalities in certain species of wildlife can be linked to known contaminants in the arctic food chain. "There are a lot of abnormalities that hunters are seeing, people who are intimately involved with wildlife," said Susan Sang, the principal investigator with WWF's wildife toxicology program. No solid scientific evidence currently exists to show the link between contaminants and disease or mutation in the Arctic. But several concerned Inuit who participated in meetings of the federal Northern Contaminants Program committee in Iqaluit last November reported a number of unusual conditions among the animals they hunt, including blind caribou, hairless seals and discoloured or diseased internal organs. "We want to find out for sure if its's related to contaminants or not," Sang said. Findings of the three-year-long WWF study will likely complement research being carried out the Canadian Wildlife Service, which recently received funding to study the effects of contaminants on the growth and reproductive hormones of polar bears. "We can correlate some of their findings to what we see actually in the field," Sang said. Seeking advice from elders Phase one of the World Wildlife Fund study will consist in documenting historical abnormalities in Arctic wildlife by speaking with Inuit elders. Select hunters and trappers in a number of Arctic communities will also be trained to record and collect specimens from specific animals exhibiting gross abnormalities, Sang said. This will permit tissue samples to be analyzed in the laboratory. "That part would bring us the scientific evidence that these abnormalities might be related to the contaminants which they found in the tissue," Sang said. Depending on the funding it attracts, the WWF's Arctic Wildlife Abnormality Project could evolve into an ongoing contaminants monitoring program in the Arctic, something that aboriginal groups have supported in the past. High levels of persistent organic pollutants and heavy metals have been detected in the tissue of wildlife and people who live in the Arctic and eat high on the food chain. Pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) accumulate in the fatty tissues of marine mammals, and in fish and polar bear livers. Lower concentrations of these pollutants have been found in caribou of the eastern Arctic. Bears with damaged sex organs Last year, scientists in Norway reported a link between PCB contamination and the strange mutation of eight polar bears on Svalbard Island, each born with male and female sex organs. Norwegian scientists plan a similar study of bears near Churchill, Manitoba on Hudson Bay this summer. More information on the incidence of this condition, known as hermaphroditism, in Canadian polar bears is expected to come out later this year when results of the ongoing Davis Strait Polar Bear Survey are released. In its 1997 landmark State of the Arctic Environment report, the federal government confirmed the presence of pesticides and such industrial chemicals as PCBs and heavy metals like cadmium and lead in the northern environment. Most of these contaminants originate in southern Canada and other industrialized nations, and are carried to the Arctic by wind and
