And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: >From BIGMTLIST [EMAIL PROTECTED] Swaneagle is back from Big Mountain and she sent me this report. I have added one comment of clarification. Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 17:02:06 -0800 (PST) From: SWANEAGLE <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Arrest of supporters at Big Mountain Blessings People of Conscience:, I just got home from going to Big Mountain. Was heavy down there. I occuppied the BIA offices with Arlene Hamilton on March 15th after talking with those in charge of impounding livestock for 4 hours. We asked them to stop impoundments immediately because of the terror it is causing in the lives of Dineh people. Arlene told Eugene Secakaku that she had been told that impoundments would cease if it was causing undue hardship upon the people and that the BIA is legally supposed to be protecting the health and well being of the people. No one in that office sees to that. We talked to Robert Caroline in Phoenix, Mark Bradford and Dave Etheridge in D.C. over Eugene's speaker phone. All of those guys said someone else was in charge acting as if they were helpless. Bob Caroline said they are impounding the sheep because of the drought. Save the land so that Peabody can permanently ruin it. When we exhausted our pleas, we went into the central office to display our position that today was not busines as usual in a nonviolent act. Arlene laid down in Fred Chavez's office and i sat on the floor next to her. We were then arrested by BIA police. Arlene went limp and they dragged her out. We were charged with criminal trespass and released 3 hours later. My heart aches with a depth that defies description. The suffering is extreme and Dineh people are living in a state of sustained anxiety. The stress is tremendous. Truly slow motion genocide. I cannot say what must be done. All that continues coming to me is the need for millions of white skinned Americans to be willing to lay their lives on the line. I am one of terribly few who have shown up to do just this. My privilege disgusts me knowing i have such freedom to do civil disobedience with minor consequences and still have no impact upon the driving force of unfettered greed's genocide. Police drive around the reservation going into hogans unannounced wearing guns on their hips. Pauline has taught herself to write so that she can document incursions by police recording their license plate numbers, time, date and description of appearance. There are not enough people bearing witness on the land at this time. It tore me up to leave when i did. I feel under the thumb as i struggle to survive going to school while i am also on call to the struggle. I am afraid i will once again end up quitting school because the situation is deadly serious and Pauline is my mother. Right now, they are threatening to kick me out of TESC because my fall quarter is incomplete due to my awful illness. At least my student loan paid for my trip down there. The day after our arrests, we were told by supporters that an impoundment crew was driving around with police. So we changed course to go find out what was going on. We saw two impoundment trailers and marked and unmarked police escorts in 7 to 9 vehicles. We faced the "army" with my car that Willie Lone Wolf was driving. Arlene and i got out to talk to the drivers. We asked why so many police were needed to count livestock? Then we were approached by a bunch of police that followed Fred Chavez to confront us. Again we asked why so many armed police to count sheep and he said, that Marcia had threatened them so he had to protect his men. Arlene said, "You are using that as an excuse." The cops zeroed in on Arlene and grabbed her. When she pulled away, they handcuffed her and put her in the police rig. I called out to the other drivers to quit scaring my friends, quit scaring the Elders and the children. One cop had a hand on my arm the whole time. He grabbed me a little tighter and said,"If you don't leave this land, I will arrest you." I said, "I am not leaving." He let me go. Then Mary Katherine drove up and said she would take care of these 2 yahoos. The cops let her take me, but they wouldn't let her take Arlene. She was humorous and assertive. I enjoyed her encounter with the cops. Again she was told that words Marcia had used caused them to bring in so much force. ----------------- IMPORTANT COMMENT: This business about Marsha making threats has been spread around quite a bit. I will repeat a portion of my previous BIGMTLIST post here for the benifit of those new to the list who missed Marsha's explanation: "First of all, I would like to respond to rumors that are rampant with regard to my conversation with Fred Chavez which was purposely misquoted for purposes known only to the BIA. In fact, the only reason that I called him initially was at the request of Pauline Whitesinger who was afraid that her animals may have been impounded. I first told Fred that I was calling on behalf of Pauline Whitesinger to see if they impounded her animals. He said that he did not have her animals. I asked him if he could hold off on the impoundments since were were holding a series of community meetings that would provide a basis for a proposal to the BIA in Washington, DC - for community range management, supplementary hay and feed for the above permitted animals so that we could avoid any impoundments. I asked him what his plans were for future impoundments. He said that he is just following the law and he has the legal right to impound these animals to protect the range. I told him that as a Non Governmental Organization (NGO) I was appealing to the UN community for human rights observers to come to witness what they were doing to the elders. Even an army of Human rights observers are not a threat. Their role is to witness and support. And this was never mentioned after this occasion. However, I do apologize for giving Fred Chavez something to misquote me on." ----------------- Willie drove my car and we all met up at Katherine Smith's. Dineh people came out of the hills to find out what had happened. Some had been hiding along with their livestock and others had their animals counted. One guy said that hundreds of supporters are needed who are COMMITTED TO NONVIOLENCE. Ofcourse, that's what i am into.... After we ate, Willie and i went to pick up Arlene from Keams Canyon. They may be charging her with felony failure to disperse and disorderly conduct. Ridiculous. When they let her out, they said they were gonna send someone out to find her with a Federal Warrant. That didn't happen. The in fighting is terrible. I don't know what to do. I am afraid if i say anything to anyone, i will be attacked as well if it isn't already happening. I see that trust is limited and that means we are in danger of loosing everything. How to bring people together? How? Are humans just too flawed to be part of significant solution? Has oppressor won? Is any hope i carry in my heart illusion? I will return to Big Mountain as soon as possible. I am planning a fast to prepare myself for what is to come. I don't know what else to do. I feel that i am part of a profound failure. Pray for the people. In peaceful struggle, Swaneagle ******************************************** You are on the BIGMTLIST, a moderated mailing list of Big Mountain relocation resistance information (not discussion or debate). To unsubscribe, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe" in the subject header. For non-list members receiving this post as a forwarded message, you may subscribe by emailing [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word "subscribe" in the subject header. For Big Mountain and other activist internet resources, visit "The Activist Page" at http://www.theofficenet.com/~redorman/welcome.html Also, for great internet tools please visit: http://www.msw.com.au/cgi-bin/msw/entry?id=1271 ******************************************** &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
