NATIVE_NEWS: TX: Hindus, others picket Baptist church
And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: sent by Wanita.. Religious bigotry is alive and well http://www.cnn.com/US/9911/07/prayersforhindus.ap/index.html Hindus, others picket Baptist church over prayer booklet November 7, 1999 Web posted at: 8:02 PM EST (0102 GMT) HOUSTON (AP) -- More than 100 people protested outside one of the nation's largest Baptist churches Sunday over a booklet that urges Southern Baptists to pray for Hindus' deliverance from the "power of Satan." "We want all people to understand that religious intolerance is rearing its head in this country," said Houston attorney Amit Misra, a leader of the coalition of local Hindu groups who organized the protest. "Some people aren't aware of the type of hate that is being preached by mainstream churches," Misra said. The booklet, distributed during Divali, the major Hindu festival of lights, says Hindus have no concept of sin or personal responsibility and "worship gods which are not God." "Pray that the darkness and the power of Satan will be broken," the guide says. Similar guides have been distributed by the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board asking Baptists to pray for the conversion of Jews and Muslims, and a booklet focusing on Buddhists is planned. "I think it is our God-given responsibility to pray for them to be converted," Second Baptist Church member Tara Imani said after speaking to a woman demonstrating outside the church. "She asked me what I think about (the Hindu belief that there are) many paths," Ms. Imani said. "I said that there is one path. If there were many paths, then (Christians) would be fools. If they were right, it would mean Jesus was a liar, God was a liar." Copyright 1999 The Associated Press. 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: WithOut Rez Productions
And now:Ish [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1999 06:15:46 -0800 (PST) From: Eugene Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: WithOut Rez Productions Hey everyone, Check out the WithOut Rez Productions web site. WithOut Rez Productions is a Native owned and operated record label. Their site is www.thegrid.net/worp. Help support these Native businesses. Eugene Johnson (He Who Laughs A Lot) Hey again everyone, I'd like to bring another website to your attention. Shadowyze is a Native rapper from Florida. His music deals with the issues in Central America. "Murder In Our Own Backyard" is his CD. If you want your children to get involved in the issues around the world, this man's music just may bring them into the fold. His website is www.shadowyze.com. Support those Native American businesses. Eugene Johnson (He Who Laughs A Lot) = Copyright ©1999 Eugene D. Johnson. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to redistribute this message, with this proviso attached.
NATIVE_NEWS: PELTIER: Fw:Tuesday's events
And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: From: "LPDC" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Fw:Tuesday's events Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1999 17:41:35 -0600 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit It's 1999, why is Leonard Peltier still in prison??? Leonard Peltier Defense Committee PO Box 583 Lawrence, KS 66044 785-842-5774 To subscribe, send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe, send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your email address, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with your old address in the Subject line http://members.xoom.com/freepeltier/index.html -Original Message- From: Mary Hunwicks [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Sunday, November 07, 1999 11:13 AM Subject: Please forward to our list Hi Pat, Please forward this message to the LPDC List to advertize for Youth for Justice Day, November 9th in DC. Take care, Sylvain and Gina Please distribute widely LEONARD PELTIER FREEDOM MONTH NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH YOUTH FOR JUSTICE Native American youth speak out for the rights of Indigenous Peoples and the release of political prisoner, Leonard Peltier NOVEMBER 9, 1999 All are welcome to come and listen to Native performers and speakers Schedule: 11:30am -2:00 pm Ellipse Park Washington DC Indoor Night Event: 8pm-9:30pm (open mike poetry) 9:30pm-12:00pm music Mangos 14 and U st NW (accross from the Reeves Center) 4.00 cover charge (no one turned away for lack of funds) - OJ, Anishinabe from Canada, took part in the defense of the Shuswap Sun Dance ground at Gustafsen Lake, British Columbia. During the stand off, he survived a military assault when his truck hit a government land mine which blew his truck up. He was a recognized political prisoner along with Shuswap leader, Wolverine who was recently released from prison. - Melissa Copeland helps to coordinate the Northern Maryland Anti-Racist Action chapter. Anti-Racist Action is an organization dedicating itself to combating racism through direct action. They confront racism on many fronts including police brutality, the Klan, political prisoners and more. - Blackfire is a rock band whose members are the grandchildren of Roberta Blackgoat, a Dineh Big Mountain resister. They use their music to raise awareness around Indigenous issues like Big Mountain and Leonard Peltier. Band members, Klee, Jeneda and Clayson Benally will also speak on the behalf of Leonard Peltier and Indigenous rights. - Natay is a Dine Hip Hop artist whose music is inspired by his experiences growing up in a traditional Dine home and later moving to the city and winding up in prison. He uses his music to positively influence young people and to raise awareness around Indigenous issues. He is a dedicated supporter of Leonard Peltier. - Warriors Blood is a Mohawk rap group from Akwesasne. They use their music to raise awareness around issues facing Indigenous peoples. They have performed at numerous benefits to help raise funds around important issues. -Moya Progressive Soul Music - Native Students from the DC Art Institute, TBA 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: MASCOT ISSUE: kansas mascot article, TN says,get a life
And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: From: "Robert Eurich" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Nov. 8, 1999 Capitol-Journal http://cjonline.com/stories/110899/kan_mascots.shtml clipped excerpt Mascots still a contentious issue School symbols promoting stereotypes, professor says.. By MATT MOLINE Special to The Capital-Journal MANHATTAN -- As a former public school principal, Cornel Pewewardy heard plenty of horror stories from Native American parents about the stereotyped use of Indian mascots at Friday night football games. Typically, parents told of polyester-clad mascots performing bogus Indian-style dances, while high school bands performed supposedly authentic "tom-tom" music, Pewewardy said in a lecture last week at Kansas State University. "They'd say, 'Believe it or not, people are going out in these stadiums and they're donning these feathers and headdresses and playing cowboys-and-Indians,' " Pewewardy said. "I'd say, 'You're very right: That's perpetuating stereotypes that should not be a part of any school-related activity.' A lot of people think they're having just a lot of fun, and I say, 'Well, at whose expense?' " Currently an assistant professor of education at the University of Kansas, Pewewardy spoke at the K-State Union as part of the school's Native American Awareness Week, which ended Saturday. For the past 20 years, Pewewardy has been on the lecture circuit arguing against the continued use of degrading Indian mascots by high school and college athletic teams -- with few results, until recently, he says. "This issue is starting to see mainstream America listening up," said Pewewardy, who is of Indian descent. "Before, it wasn't this way. It was, 'Oh, oh, here comes that Indian guy talking about Indian mascots.' It's not a new subject. It's just new to people who are just now starting to deal with it. And I'm happy to see this." end excerpt From: "Robert Eurich" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Letters to the Chattanooga Times can be e-mailed to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Letters to the Chattanooga Free Press can be e-mailed to [EMAIL PROTECTED] They may also be mailed to the Editors, P.O. Box 1447, Chattanooga, TN 37401, or faxed to 423-757-6383. http://www.timesfreepress.com/1999/NOV/08NOV99/OPIFP0408NOV.html Free Press Editorial --- Advice to Activists: Get a Life We received an essay via e-mail the other day, addressed "TO ALL NEWS OUTLETS WORLDWIDE," from Mr. Vernon Bellecourt, president of the National Coalition on Racism in Sports Media. The essay (which in the spirit of fair play we print on this page) ascribes the Cleveland Indians' and Atlanta Braves' perennial frustrations on the baseball diamond to the supposed insult their mascots offer to "real Native Americans." The issue of whether an "Indian mascot" is demeaning to American Indians has been raised here before. In response to activists' complaints -- and with the approval of the student body -- the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga bid farewell three years ago to "Chief Mocanooga" and changed its mascot from Moccasin to Mockingbird. If Ted Turner wants to do likewise with the Atlanta Braves, that's his business. If he doesn't, ditto. But it's disturbing to see Mr. Bellecourt brag about the coercive pressures he and his colleagues are bringing against outfits, such as small-town high schools, that don't have Mr. Turner's resources. In a sane legal system, a lawsuit claiming that a sports team's mascot does anyone any kind of damage would be laughed out of court. In Minnesota, for example, the NFL franchise is styled "the Vikings." Does that demean people of Scandinavian descent? Should they organize into pressure groups and sue for damages? The absurdity of such a course is obvious. One of the Indian activists' arguments is that Chief Wahoo offends their sense of the sacred. But what about the San Diego Padres and the Anaheim Angels? We don't see anyone going to court over those mascots, nor should we. People choose mascots in the first place because they see something in them -- courage, prowess, strength, spirit -- that they like and admire. The campaign against Indian mascots ignores that very obvious point. Worse, it seeks to bully people throughout the country into accepting the idea that if their ancestors hail from some other part of the world, then they aren't "real Native Americans." Everyone born in the Western Hemisphere is a native American. Those who think otherwise should find some other way to amuse themselves besides carrying on about the "tomahawk chop." American Indian Sports Team Mascots http://earnestman.tripod.com/ "Little drops of rain wear away the greatest of stones." =-=-= =-=-= "We simply chose an Indian as the emblem. We could have just as easily chosen any uncivilized animal." Eighth Grade student writing about his school's mascot, 1997 =-=
NATIVE_NEWS: Hank Williams Honored by Natives
And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Received: from [EMAIL PROTECTED] by imo22.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v23.6.) id oCCGa11978 (4222) for [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Mon, 8 Nov 1999 18:54:08 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1999 18:54:07 EST forwarded for informational purposes only...contents have not bee verified.. From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1999 14:46:06 EST Subject: Hank Williams Honored by Natives Hank Williams Honored by Natives .c The Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - The late country legend Hank Williams has been inducted into the Native American Music Awards Hall of Fame. Williams, who died in 1953, had Cherokee and Creek ancestry. Also at Saturday's second Native American Music Awards, Tom Bee, founder of the 1970s rock group XIT (Crossing of Indian Tribes), took home the lifetime achievement award. Bee is a member of the Dakota tribe and president of Sound of America Records in Albuquerque. AP-NY-11-08-99 1445EST Copyright 1999 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: NEWS BRIEFS
And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: "H-AMINDIAN's FYI: News Items of Interest" website: http://www.public.asu.edu/~wendel/fyi/ "Civil Rights Panel to Investigate Indian Deaths," The New York Times, 7 November 1999, 19. ["The United States Civil Rights Commission has decided to hold a hearing in South Dakota to investigate the recent deaths of American Indians in the state. The commission, an independent fact-finding agency that approved the action on Friday, tentatively scheduled a visit to South Dakota for Dec. 5 and 6, with a public hearing in Sioux Falls ... Among the deaths to be investigated are those of eight men -- six of them Indian -- whose bodies were found in a creek in Rapid City over the last 18 months ... The commission can make recommendations but has no enforcement power."] http://www.nytimes.com Dirck, Joe. "Time Passes, and So Should Wahoo," The Plain Dealer, 7 November 1999, 1B. ["If I may be immodest enough to say so, I used to have a pretty good Chief Wahoo rap. When the controversy first heated up five or six years ago (just about the time the Indians started getting good), I didn't have a lot of patience for the argument that Wahoo is a racist symbol perpetuating unfair stereotypes about Native Americans ... Now, I am not so naive as to suggest Cleveland is free of racism, but although I have heard many disparaging, hateful comments directed toward this or that ethnic group, I never one time heard anyone in this town make an anti-Indian remark ... Over time, though, my feelings have changed. The opposition has become more broad-based, including many people whose opinions I deeply respect. And the last few demonstrations I have witnessed had a dignity lacking at the earlier ones ... I was hoping, frankly, for a quiet retirement ... With the sale of the club, this seemed like the perfect moment. New owner, new century ... But prospective owner Larry Dolan apparently has no such thought in mind. If he did, he could have finessed the inevitable question when he was introduced Thursday. Instead, he was emphatic that the contentious Chief Wahoo logo would stay. Too bad."] http://www.cleveland.com/pd/buffer.ssf Harris, John. "Finding His True Identity, Indian Protects Tradition," The Seattle Times, 7 November 1999, B8. ["BELLINGHAM: Kenneth Cooper grew up ... not far from where the north and south forks of the Nooksack River meet. As a young man he worked as a fisherman and logger in Whatcom County and on the Olympic Peninsula. He later became cultural-resource specialist for Lummi Nation, fighting for the rights of indigenous people at Lummi and beyond ... Recently, he boarded a jetliner and flew to Rome, where he met with Pope John Paul II and other religious leaders to discuss how to achieve peace and solidarity for all people in the next millennium. He didn't go as Kenneth Cooper ... His elders came to him when he was initiated into the tribal, or long house, tradition at age 21 and urged him to take his true identity. They gave him the name Cha-das-ska-dum Which-Ta-Lum, for his grand-uncle, his grandmother's brother ... And so, in the late 1980s, he legally changed his name to Cha-das-ska-dum Which-ta-lum. "Cha-das-ska-dum is my true identity," he says. "I refuse to carry a white-man's name in my family. To me, it's like calling a Honda a Cadillac. They're both vehicles, but they're different ... Cha-das-ska-dum, 57, is the only [Lummi] who has taken his Indian name legally, and he has gained recognition for it by traveling the world fighting to preserve the land of Native Americans and other indigenous people ... Cha-das-ska-dum's way is the long house, the traditional practices followed by natives of this area. They lived close to the earth, making baskets from bark they stripped from trees and sweaters from the wool they took from sheep's backs. "For lack of a better word in English, we're traditionalists," he says. "But it's not a religion per se." God isn't a single entity or a trinity; God - the creator - is all things."] http://www.seattletimes.com/ McGrory, Barry. "Let's Do a Deal on Native Rights," The Toronto Star, 7 November 1999. ["George R. Sinclair proposes a ''solution'' to Fisheries Minister Dhaliwal's ''conundrum'' over aboriginal fishing rights (Natives should stick to their traditional way, letter, Oct. 28) ... But, were the minister to propose Sinclair's solution, the Mi'kmaq might respond: ''Yes, we'll keep to the 1760 methods, if all those who came to the Atlantic provinces after 1760 go home.''"] http://www.thestar.com/ Odato, James M. "Farmer Trying to Hold onto Land That Indians are Trying to Reclaim," The Houston Chronicle, 7 November 1999, A42. ["CHITTENANGO, N.Y.: He is soft spoken, frail and polite. But Daniel F. Gates is powerful stuff in his farming community ... Gates is the leader of Madison Oneida Landowners Inc., or MOLI, an organization of about 2,500 people in the two rural counties east of Syracuse.
NATIVE_NEWS: Ottawa wants Labrador Innu to kill themselves
And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: From: "chris" [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Ottawa wants Labrador Innu to kill themselves Monday, November 08, 1999 Ottawa wants Labrador Innu to kill themselves, lobby group says Policies cause highest suicide rate: report Stewart Bell National Post The Innu of Labrador have the world's highest suicide rate, claims a report to be released today by a British aboriginal rights organization that blames ''racist government policies'' for the deaths in "Canada's Tibet." Canadians may find it far-fetched to compare Canada with occupied Tibet, where Chinese security forces have engaged in a brutal crackdown, but the report claims Ottawa is trying to wipe out the "troublesome minority" of Innu to gain access to Labrador's land and resources. "They do not need to be shot -- they are killing themselves, at a rate unsurpassed anywhere in the world," says Canada's Tibet, the killing of the Innu, a report to be released in the U.K. by the group Survival for Tribal Peoples. "The Canadian government bears responsibility for this outrage but does nothing to avoid it -- indeed, its actions are calculated to bring about exactly these conditions." But the claim that the Innu have the world's highest suicide rate is based on just eight self-induced deaths since 1990 in Davis Inlet -- one a year. The figure, however, is proportionally high because the town has a population of only 500. A spokeswoman for Survival said yesterday Jean-Pierre Ashini, one of the Innu who had travelled to the U.K. for the report's release, had to return home because his son had committed suicide. The plight of the Innu came to national attention in 1992 when six children were killed in a house fire while their parents were out drinking. The following year, children were videotaped sniffing gasoline and shouting they wanted to die. The report is being distributed in North America by the Canadian Environmental Defence Fund, which includes among its honorary board members David Suzuki, the CBC host, and authors June Callwood and Farley Mowat. The group behind the report is the same organization that hung a banner reading "Canada: Let the Innu Live" on Nelson's Column outside the Canadian High Commission in London in July, 1998. "In the tundra of the Labrador peninsula, a tragedy is being played out," says the report. "An indigenous people suffers the highest suicide rate on Earth as one of the world's most powerful nations occupies their land, takes their resources and seems hell-bent on transforming them into Euro-Canadians." The only way for Canada to "salvage" its international reputation is to stop all development on land claimed by the Innu, change land-claims policy to let natives keep their traditional lands and let the Innu run their own lives, it says. The report concludes with a plea for donations to be sent to the organization in London. There are about 1,600 Innu in two Labrador communities, Davis Inlet and Sheshatshiu. The Labrador Innu are currently negotiating a land claim and suing the federal and Newfoundland governments over the Voisey's Bay nickel project. This isn't the first time European activists have tried to link Canada to troubles in other countries. Earlier in the decade, a "Brazil of the North" campaign was launched by anti-logging protesters. 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: Oneida Nation Offers Reward in Investigation of Threats
And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: From: Dan Umstead, Oneida Nation http://oneida-nation.net November 8, 1999 Oneida Nation Offers Reward in Investigation of Threats ONEIDA NATION HOMELANDS - The Oneida Indian Nation is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for authoring and distributing a letter threatening violence against Oneida Members, employees and enterprises. The Nation Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New York State Police, and the Oneida and Madison County Sheriff's Department are investigating these threats and will spare no effort in bringing the responsible parties to justice. While the Nation believes that this threatening letter - and its systematic distribution - was intended to do nothing more than terrorize the community and create widespread panic, we will not dismiss these threats until the perpetrators have been Identified. Mailing or electronically distributing a bomb threat is a federal felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. This letter, combined with the rhetoric and protests of the landowners groups who are trying to sabotage the otherwise peaceful and legal process behind the Oneida Indian Nation's land claim, has created an atmosphere of intimidation here in Central New York. The Nation is pursuing its legal rights in the proper forum under federal law; it is not advocating threats to a civilized society. The Nation will not tolerate such threats from others; Upstate Citizens for Equality, Madison-Oneida Landowners Inc., the Central New York Fair Business Association and the American Citizens Association should do likewise. We believe the four landowner groups have a solemn obligation to ensure that their members are not responsible for these terrorist threats. We again challenge the leaders of these groups to identify and turn over to authorities the person or persons responsible for making these threats. Anyone with information regarding this illegal activity is encouraged to contact Nation police at 361-6358. Officers are available 24 hours a day to collect information relating to this investigation. All information will be kept confidential. You may also email information to [EMAIL PROTECTED] All information is kept confidential. Dan Umstead, MLS Manager of Internet Services Oneida Indian Nation http://oneida-nation.net 315-361-6300 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: Union of BC Chiefs--Various
And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Date: Mon, 08 Nov 1999 20:19:33 -0800 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: Tehaliwaskenhas-Bob Kennedy [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Union of BC Chiefs--Various Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" As reported by Turtle Island Native Network http://www.turtleisland.org The Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, angry over recent remarks made by a Liberal member of the provincial legislature, is demanding his resignation and is considering launching legal action against him. At their 31st Annual General Assembly, UBCIC delegates unanimously endorsed a resolution that demands the resignation of Kevin Krueger, member of the B.C. Legislative Assembly for Kamloops-North Thompson. The resolution also reads, - Be it further resolved that in the event Kevin Krueger refuses to resign, that the UBCIC Annual General Assembly hereby demand that B.C. Liberal Leader, Gordon Campbell expel Kevin Krueger from the B.C. Liberal Caucus.-First Nations leaders accuse Krueger of making ignorant and racist comments in a tv interview on November 1st on CFJC-TV regarding logging. He called the Native people who are logging on their traditional territory 'thieves'. Krueger also made light of the living conditions of First Nations people, -..it is not as though anybody is starving or freezing in the dark. I mean these are people just trying to push their concerns ahead of everybody else's -, he is quoted as saying in a transcript of the interview.The communities of Adams Lake, Neskonlith, Okanagan, Spallumcheen and Westbank are currently in court because of logging on crown land without BC licenses --- in their words, -Aboriginal Title Timber Harvest Operations-. The UBCIC points out the First Nations are defending their Aboriginal rights and title before the courts, -Whereas the Delgamuukw decision has confirmed the existence and source of Aboriginal title is not from any Crown Grant or proclamation, but from our pre-existing laws as Aboriginal Nations.-But the Liberal MLA Kevin Krueger's take on the situation is, -That unauthorized, unpermitted logging is a theft for the people of British Columbia and the people who are committing the theft should be treated as any other thieves-.The Union of BC Indian Chiefs resolution says Krueger must resign because of, -1) calling our people 'thieves', 2) denigrating our way of life, 3) dismissing the poverty within our communities, and 4) prejudging the outcome of the judicial process-. --- PRESS RELEASE Assembly Endorses Actions Exercising Aboriginal Title Combatting Racism (Vancouver, Coast Salish Territory/November 8, 1999) The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs held their 31st Annual General Assembly last week in Kelowna. During the meeting, the delegates unanimously endorsed the protection, enforcement, defense and implementation of Aboriginal title and rights presently underway and confirmed more Aboriginal title implementation activities will take place. The delegates also agreed to vigorously combat the emerging racism against Aboriginal peoples, and their title and rights, currently being orchestrated by the B.C. provincial Liberal Party and the federal Reform Party. Some of the highlights of the UBCIC Assembly are as follows: A Review of Aboriginal Economic Rights. A Review of the 1986 Federal Comprehensive Claims Policy; Continued Rejection of the B.C. Treaty Commission Process; and Update on Assembly of First Nation (AFN Resolution #5/99) Legal Action Against the Government of Canada, regarding the Implementation of the Delgamuukw Decision. An Update on Legal Defense of Aboriginal Title Timber Harvest Operations. A Review of the "Overlap" of Indian lands in Land Claim Agreements; and Support for the Gitanyow/Gitxsan. Support for the Release of Political Prisoner; Leonard Peltier. Condolences to Family and Community of Ronald "Lasagna" Cross. Commitment to Exercise Aboriginal Border Crossing Rights at Organized Events. As a first step in combatting racism against Aboriginal peoples, the UBCIC Assembly also unanimously passed a Resolution (see attached) demanding the resignation of Kamloops-North Thompson MLA, Kevin Krueger, and/or his expulsion from the Liberal Caucus, for making racist comments on television last week. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Chief Stewart Phillip Office: (604) 684-0231 or Cell: (250) 490-5314 Penticton Indian Band President, Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs Turtle Island Native Network Your Aboriginal News and Information Network on the Internet http://www.turtleisland.org Winner - 1999 Aboriginal Media Arts Award. "Let's do it before we don't do it!" Tehaliwaskenhas - G.R.(Bob) Kennedy INFOCOM Management 1 - 1986 Glenidle Road, Sooke, BC V0S 1N0 Phone: (250) 642-0277 Fax: (250) 642-0278 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.turtleisland.org
NATIVE_NEWS: [BIO-IPR] Indigenous raise debate in Geneva
And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: From: GRAIN Los Banos [EMAIL PROTECTED] BIO-IPR docserver TITLE: Traditional Knowledge Under Commercial Blanket AUTHOR: Someshwar Singh PUBLICATION: South-North Development Monitor (SUNS) #4545 DATE: 5 November 1999 SOURCE: Third World Network, Geneva URL: http://www.twnside.org.sg/ The SUNS Bulletin is edited by Mr Chakravarty Raghavan ([EMAIL PROTECTED]). SUNS #4545 Friday 5 November 1999 TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE UNDER COMMERCIAL BLANKET Geneva, Nov 4 (Someshwar Singh) -- It is all in the name of progress. Centuries-old cures, customs and practices, derived from man's harmonious interaction with nature, must now open up to the world of dollars and cents, thanks to the new international trade regime rules on intellectual property, the TRIPS Agreement.. A two-day round-table on intellectual property and traditional knowledge, organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) ended here Tuesday. Many experts, government NGO representatives assembled to discuss how to bring the essentially "informal" domain of traditional knowledge into the "formal" intellectual property system. While most developing countries are struggling with implementing new laws which may face a backlash of public outcry as essential drugs prices, for instance, start sky-rocketing, WIPO describes the upcoming deadline for implementing TRIPs agreement in glowing terms. "A hallmark of the new, worldwide relevance of intellectual property is the upcoming entry into force, on January 1, 2000, of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual property Rights (TRIPs) for developing country members of the World Trade Organization." Despite the fact that many groups representing the "traditional knowledge" sector have reservations about being forced to put a price on ideas that they have nurtured for generations, and the fact that for years - in fact even now - the modern, technologically advanced sectors are virtually usurping ideas and practices without adequate or no compensation, WIPO says "constructive engagement" will bring progress. "As has happened so often in the past regarding newly-discovered or developed forms of protectable subject matter (computer programs, integrated circuits, data bases, for example), constructive engagement with legitimate, if newly-articulated needs for protection of human creativity and innovation will enable the formal intellectual property system to contribute effectively to economic growth and social and cultural progress." Financial stakes are high. For example, in 1995 the estimated market value of pharmaceutical derivatives from indigenous peoples' traditional medicine was $43 billion world wide. Under current intellectual property law, there is no obligation for companies which utilize the traditional medical knowledge of Aboriginal Peoples to provide any compensation to recognize their equity in the commercial application of this knowledge. Moving beyond the confines of "folklore", which was typically discussed in copyright and copyright-plus terms, traditional knowledge (TK) would be broad enough to embrace traditional knowledge of plants and animals in medical treatment and as food, for example. By so doing, the focus shifts from copyright to those of patent law and biodiversity rights. This shift is, in part, an explanation for the suggestions for sui generis solutions to the protection of TK. A WIPO background paper, in fact, notes that "a particular contemporary impetus for the formulation of Indigenous positions on the protection of traditional knowledge has been the current debate concerning the review of Art. 27.3 (b) of the plant variety provision of the TRIPS Agreement." A number of developing countries (India, Kenya on behalf of the African Group and some of the Latin American countries) have formulated proposals at the WTO, in terms of the review of Art. 27.3(b) and current preparations to the Seattle meeting and the review of the relevant provisions of the TRIPS, rules for the protection of rights of indigenous peoples and their folklore and knowledge. But some leading industrialized countries like Canada have tried to shift consideration of this to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on the ground of NGOs having better access to it, even as the industrial countries try to use the secretive WTO talks to strengthen the rights of their corporations in patenting. The WIPO background paper also carries excerpts from a statement on the above review by a federation of Indigenous Peoples groups on 25 july 1999. In fact, it adds that the statement provides a convenient encapsulation of much of the debate on traditional knowledge. The statement begins with the observation that "Humankind is part of Mother Nature, we have created nothing and so
NATIVE_NEWS: New York Indian Land claim articles
And now:Sonja Keohane [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Syracuse Online has a section of its online edition devoted to Indian land claim issues. Both the Oneida and the Cayauga have made claims on local land. http://www.syracuse.com/features/landclaim/ There is also an online forum http://www.syracuse.com/forums/landclaim/
NATIVE_NEWS: Penn State offers fellowships for American Indian educationprograms
And now:Sonja Keohane [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Anyone wishing more information about Penn State, let me know and I will give you my daughter's address, she is a graduate student there. http://www.navajohopiobserver.com/news4.htm Penn State offers fellowships for American Indian education programs UNIVERSITY PARK, (Penn.) Penn State is offering graduate fellowships to American Indian and Alaska Native students interested in either of two programs: master's level training in special education or doctoral level training in special education or educational administration. Both programs are affiliated with Penn State's recognized American Indian Leadership Program. The fellowships are supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Applications for both programs are now being accepted. For the master's program, previous credentials in education or special education are preferred, but are not necessary. The deadline for submitting applications is Nov. 20 for Spring Semester 2000 and April 20 for Fall Semester 2000. The fellowship includes a monthly stipend of approximately $1,000 per month, tuition, textbooks and relocation allowances. Dr. Anna Gajar, professor of special education, and Dr. John Tippeconnic III, professor of education, are co-directors of the programs. For more information contact Dr. Gajar, 226B Moore Building, University Park, PA 16802, (814) 863-2284; or Dr. Tippeconnic, American Indian Leadership Program, 207 Rackley Building, University Park, PA 16802; or at (814) 863-1626. ---end of excerpt-
