‎$13,500 to Kill Sacred White Buffalo in Texas—Can This Be True?

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/03/05/13500-to-kill-sacred-white-buffalo-in-texas-can-this-be-true-101355?utm_medium=social&utm_content=13500-to-kill-sacred-white-buffalo-in-texas-can-this-be-true-101355&utm_campaign=fb-posts

OxyContin Abuse Is a Problem in Canada

OxyContin is a powerful and potentially addictive painkiller. As has been noted in a number of other news reports, abuse of this drug is a Canada-wide problem.

In November 2009, the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN), which represents 49 First Nations in northern Ontario (a population of about 45,000 people) declared a “Prescription Drug Abuse State of Emergency.” This resolution notes that prescription drug abuse, particularly of opiods like OxyContin, is an escalating crisis and calls upon both levels of government to immediately enhance community-based programming to deal with it.

By September 2011, police were stretched to the breaking point in many NAN communities with the rise of addictions, and the response from provincial and federal governments is described by NAN as “minimal.”

Another First Nations crisis ignored.

In Canada, most people access health-care services through provincial programs and infrastructure. Status Indians and “recognized” Inuit are a federal responsibility when it comes to health care.

Health Canada provides First Nations and Inuit with “a limited range of medically necessary health-related goods and services to which these individuals are not entitled through other plans and programs.”

Under this Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) program, certain prescription and over-the-counter drugs are covered if the patient does not have private insurance. Only drugs on the NIHB Drug Benefit List are eligible for this coverage.

On February 15, Health Canada announced that all “long-acting oxycodones” such as OxyContin have been removed from the NIHB Drug Benefit List. Only those currently being prescribed OxyContin will be switched to OxyNEO (a supposedly more difficult drug to “tamper with”) via a grandfathering clause, but no new prescriptions will be written outside of exceptional and case-by-case situations. Thus legal sources of OxyContin will become unavailable to all Status Indians and recognized Inuit across Canada through the NIHB. Those who legitimately need this medication will not be able to receive it in the future.

In most of the rest of the country, OxyContin or OxyNEO will continue to be available to those who need them. There are some provincial exceptions.

Prince Edward Island recently instituted similar measures to those taken by the NIHB, pending a review of treatment with oxycodones compared to other drugs. Newfoundland heavily restricts access to OxyContin, but allows at least 15 other oxycodone drugs under its public drug plan.

More worrisome is the example of Manitoba, where access to OxyContin was restricted last year, reserved for patients with specific ailments only. Fears of this leading to a surge in crime was quickly confirmed as desperate people with untreated OxyContin addictions turned to armed robbery—this in an urban center with considerably more addictions resources than isolated First Nations or Inuit communities.

The situation in many NAN communities has been bad enough to warrant the declaration of a state of emergency. Now the NAN is warning of even worse:

“Without OxyContin available, individuals will experience withdrawal. Symptoms may range in severity from stomach upset, muscle and bone pain, anxiety, restlessness, increased heart rate and blood pressure to depression and suicidal ideation.

“ ‘In the absence of any regular treatment, a public health catastrophe is imminent, as there are thousands of addicted individuals with rapidly shrinking supplies—likely leading to massive increases in black market prices, use of other drugs, needle use/sharing, and crime,’ said Dr. Benedikt Fischer, a senior scientist at the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health.”

Health Canada acknowledges that most people in NAN communities are not getting the drug through legal prescriptions funded by the government. How withdrawing OxyContin from the Drug Benefit List will in any way address abuse is unclear. Despite a stated willingness by Health Canada to fund drugs used to treat opioid dependence such as methadone (which is not available in most remote communities) and suboxone (but only on a case-by-case basis), no mention is made of what addictions programming will be put into place to deal with the worsening situation.

Action needs to be taken now to ensure that adequate resources are provided to communities struggling with such severe addictions problems and lack of treatment programs. It is unacceptable that an emergency gone unheeded should be allowed to turn into a catastrophe, yet again.

Chelsea Vowel is Métis from the Plains Cree speaking community of Lac Ste. Anne, Alberta. She lives in Montreal. Her passions are: education, aboriginal law, the Cree language and Roller Derby. A version of this article was published on the author’s blog, âpihtawikosisân.

Read more:http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/ict_sbc/oxycontin-abuse-is-a-problem-in-canada?utm_medium=social&utm_content=%2Foxycontin-abuse-is-a-problem-in-canada&utm_campaign=fb-posts http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/ict_sbc/oxycontin-abuse-is-a-problem-in-canada#ixzz1oHIPPExf

BIA’s Impact on Indian Education Is an Education in Bad Education

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/01/30/bias-impact-on-indian-education-is-an-education-in-bad-education-75083?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=bias-impact-on-indian-education-is-an-education-in-bad-education-75083&utm_campaign=fb-posts

Diane Wilson’s new book, Beloved Child: A Dakota Way of Life

One of the final four Navajo Code Talkers who helped win WWII using their native language dies

By Associated Press  Click on the link below for entire story and photoss.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2083964/Keith-Little-One-final-Navajo-Code-Talkers-dies.html#ixzz1jC3xd2xi

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2083964/Keith-Little-One-final-Navajo-Code-Talkers-dies.html

I hope everyone enjoys good health this coming year called 2012....

Today is the 121st Anniversary of the December 29, 1890 Massacre at Wounded Knee.

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/ict_sbc/confronting-the-past-on-the-anniversary-of-the-massacre-at-wounded-knee-why-it-matters?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=confronting-the-past-on-the-anniversary-of-the-massacre-at-wounded-knee-why-it-matters&utm_campaign=fb-posts

Update on Petition

The following is an email I received from the Whitehouse

Why We Can't Comment on Leonard Peltier

Thank you for signing the petition "Grant Clemency to Native American activist Leonard Peltier without delay." We appreciate your participation in the We the People platform on WhiteHouse.gov.

Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution gives the President the authority to grant "Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States." For more than 100 years, Presidents have relied on the Department of Justice and its Office of the Pardon Attorney for assistance in the exercise of this power. Requests for executive clemency for federal offenses should be directed to the Pardon Attorney, who conducts a review and investigation, and prepares the Department’s recommendation to the President. Additional information and application forms are available on the Pardon Attorney's website.

The President takes his constitutional power to grant clemency very seriously, and recommendations from the Department of Justice are carefully considered before decisions are made. The White House does not comment, however, on individual pardon applications. In accordance with this policy and the We the People Terms of Participation–which explain that the White House may sometimes choose not to respond to petitions addressing certain matters—the White House declines to comment on the specific case addressed in this petition.

Check out this response on We the People.

Stay Connected

Stay connected to the White House by signing up for periodic e

Important Petition please sign....

https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/%21/petition/grant-clemency-native-american-activist-leonard-peltier-without-delay/LLWBZq1S#thank-you=p

Friday, March 11 2011 @ 10:04 AM UTC

Warrior Society Leader of Elder Protest Occupation Illegally Arrested by Oglala Sioux Tribal Police

Porcupine Elderly Meals Building, Pine Ridge Reservation, SD – At 7:30 pm this evening, Strong Heart Warrior Society leader Duane Martin Sr. was illegally arrested by Pine Ridge Oglala Sioux Tribal Police on unknown charges. Martin and the Strong Heart organization were asked by a group of elders to lead the occupation of the Porcupine Elderly Meals Building and protect the elders from further harm. Martin was not told charges while being arrested or transferred to the Pine Ridge Jail.

Warrior Society Leader of Elder Protest Occupation Illegally Arrested by Oglala Sioux Tribal Police, Now Held Without Bond

Cante Tenza Okolakiciye - Strong Heart Warrior Society Free & Independent Lakota Nation
Box 512, Hill City, South Dakota 57745 | 605-454-0449 or 605-517-1547
www.lakotaoyate.net | Facebook “Lakota Oyate” | Twitter @CanteTenza
Strong Heart Internet Radio News at http://audioboo.fm/CanteTenza

MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release: March 11, 2011
Contact: Naomi Archer (media liaison) 828-230-1404 THE ELDER’S OCCUPATION: STRONG HEART LEADER DUANE MARTIN SR. ARRESTED

Arrested Illegally Without Being Told Charges, Jail Refusing to Release Charges to Advocates

Audio interviews of elders and warriors can be found at http://audioboo.fm/CanteTenza

Porcupine Elderly Meals Building, Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota – At 7:30 pm this evening, Strong Heart Warrior Society leader Duane Martin Sr. was illegally arrested by Pine Ridge Oglala Sioux Tribal Police on unknown charges. Martin and the Strong Heart organization were asked by a group of elders to lead the occupation of the Porcupine Elderly Meals Building and protect the elders from further harm. Martin was not told charges while being arrested or transferred to the Pine Ridge Jail.

The police refuse to release what charges, if any, he is being held under at the jail to Mr. Martin’s advocates. Currently he is classified as “unbondable” and allegedly will appear before a judge at a yet undetermined time.

Occupation members believe Martin’s arrest is considered to be a retaliatory move by the tribal government. The peaceful occupation in its seventh day has been protesting elder abuse and corruption in the Oglala Tribal Government’s elderly meals program. The Oglala Tribal Government, that up to this point has publicly denied any allegations of elder abuse, may believe the occupation will end now that the warrior society leader is in jail. Further fanning the belief that the arrest is retaliatory, the Oglala Sioux Tribe has just received a letter from the U.S. Administration on Aging asking for a response to the numerous allegations of elder abuse and neglect, and a specific action plan to address these abuses.

The arrest is also illegal due to Martin’s treaty status. He has publicly withdrawn from the Bureau of Indian Affairs Oglala Sioux Tribe that illegally exists under puppet status to the United States Government in violation of the 1948 United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, the 1969 Vienna Convention on Treaties, and the 2007 United Nations Declaration of Indigenous Rights. He, along with over 250 individuals, have renounced their relationship with the tribal government and are asserting sovereign status as a free Lakota Nation under traditional Lakota customary law. Martin is an official diplomat of the free and sovereign Lakota Nation and is recognized by the League of Indigenous Nations of North America and the International Parliament for Safety and Peace, an intergovernmental organization of States founded in 1975 with over 130 parliamentary and diplomatic delegations in more than 130 Nations.

Information on the elder-led protest occupation in Porcupine can be found at "Lakota Oyate" on Facebook or www.lakotaoyate.net

###

The Oglala Lakota Pine Ridge Reservation in southwestern South Dakota is the size of the state of Connecticut. Due to decades of abuse, corruption and colonial enforcement, Pine Ridge faces epidemic rates of suicide, alcohol and drug abuse, elder abuse, and poverty. Life expectancy for Lakota men is below 40 years of age. Nearly ¾ of the Lakota people have lost their language, and the traditional language is on the verge of extinction in Pine Ridge. The reservation has one of the highest rates of unsolved murders. These unsolved deaths are widely attributed to violent retaliation against those seeking an end to corruption and assertion of traditional Lakota sovereignty.

Cante Tenza Okolakiciye also known as the Strong Heart Warrior Society of the Lakota Nation is an ancient Lakota warrior society as well as a broad-based civil rights movement that works to protect, enforce and restore treaty rights, civil rights, and sovereignty of Native people and their communities across Turtle Island. In addition to activist efforts to protect the land and people, each year Cante Tenza collects and freely distributes shoes, winter coats, school supplies, food, and other support to Oglala Lakota elders, children and families. www.lakotaoyate.net | “Lakota Oyate” on Facebook

      Carver's death a violent end to a tormented life

John T. Williams, shot and killed by Seattle Police Officer Ian Birk, came from a long line of wood carvers. But alcohol and violence also were in his family.
By Lynda V. Mapes
Seattle Times staff reporter

 
John T. Williams poses with a totem pole last summer that he was carving, carrying on a longtime family tradition.


KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES
At Ye Olde Curiosity Shop on the Seattle waterfront, Rick Williams, one of John T. Williams' brothers, stands near totem poles, including those carved by his family. The store owner says his great-grandfather bought carvings from Williams' great-grandfather.


KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Just days after their brother was shot dead by a Seattle cop, Rick Williams, foreground, and Eric Williams carve as officers arrive at a downtown park.


KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Rick Williams, right, holds a totem pole carved by his brother, John T. Williams. This prize piece, kept in the private collection of Alex Castas, left, general manager of Ye Olde Curiosity Shop in Seattle, is not for sale.

Carving is in Williams family's blood

The police officer's bullets tore into his body, taking the last thing John T. Williams had left to lose: his life.

Nothing, in the end, saved him. Not the drugs prescribed for seizures and mental illness. Not the stint at Western State Hospital. Not the skilled staff at the home for chronic inebriates, where he lived. Not the people who fed and befriended him at the Chief Seattle Club. Not the apartment he received in an out-of-court settlement after a driver plowed into him — one of two times Williams was hit by a car while walking, leaving him limping for life.

Not even his brothers and sisters who took him in when he tried to quit drinking — too many times, they say, to keep count.
By the time he was shot, many in his family, including his mother, had long since lost track of him. He has two teenage children, a daughter in Duncan, B.C., and a son, but family members aren't sure where he is living.
Williams had been a chronic alcoholic drifting in and out of homelessness, detox centers, hospitals and jails for decades. From Des Moines to Sedro-Woolley, police officers dealt with Williams time and again. He was arrested and charged more than 100 times in the city of Seattle alone since 1985, for a slew of misdemeanor offenses: disorderly conduct, criminal trespass, drinking in public.

From the record of those offenses, a portrait emerges of Williams as sometimes volatile when drunk, but mostly falling ever deeper into an abyss. By 2006, records show, Williams couldn't reliably spell "Seattle." By 2009, he couldn't always spell his own name.
Williams was shot dead Aug. 30 by Seattle Police Officer Ian Birk, who fired from a distance of about 9 feet on the corner of Boren Avenue and Howell Street, near downtown, after yelling at Williams three times to drop a knife — his carving knife, as it turned out, a legal knife with a 3-inch blade. On Thursday, the Police Department's Firearms Review Board reached a preliminary finding that the shooting was not justified.
Williams' death was shocking — but his troubled life was surprisingly common.

More than alcoholism

On any given night in Seattle and King County, hundreds of people, most of them men, wander the streets, public inebriates carrying far more than a bottle. Typically, they also carry physical disabilities brought by the ravages of chronic alcoholism: seizures and cognitive disorders that make them slow, incoherent and inappropriate in their interaction with other people, said Jim Vollendroff, substance-abuse coordinator for King County

.
While he could not talk about John T. Williams in particular, Bill Hobson, executive director of the Downtown Emergency Services Center, which runs 1811 Eastlake where Williams lived, said residents there typically suffer not only from late-stage chronic alcoholism, but also a whole suite of difficulties, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and the underlying trauma of childhood abuse.
"We hear very sad, tragic stories," Hobson said. "The vast majority [of residents] come from backgrounds of extreme deprivation, frequently characterized by all forms of abuse — physical, sexual, emotional."

Their lives, which start out so badly, often end even worse. At least 14 members of the Chief Seattle Club, which serves Native Americans in Seattle, have died since the beginning of the year — three just since Williams' death. All of them were living in poverty. Most of the 14 died because of issues related to alcohol. One was beaten to death over a beer, said Jenine Grey, executive director of the Chief Seattle Club.

Only one of those 14 deaths made headlines. Not because Williams' death at age 50 was untimely. But because he was shot by a cop — under questionable circumstances.

A 2009 encounter
Birk had encountered Williams at least once before: The police officer showed up on a disturbance call at the facility where Williams lived in June 2009, after Williams grabbed another resident around the neck — laughingly dismissed by the resident as a bear hug, records show. But it scared staff who said Williams had been acting erratically lately, and they called the cops. Birk and another officer arrived to find Williams drunk, slurring his speech, his head rotating backward as he was wracked by a seizure.

In May 2009, he was charged with a felony for exposing himself to a staff member at 1811 Eastlake. In July, he punched another resident in the mouth and was booked for misdemeanor assault. In August, he belted a female staff worker at a Skagit County detox center hard enough to raise a lump on the side of her head. The police arrived to find him in an isolation room, where he had been smashing the wall with a chair. He raved about Nazis and people having their brains removed.

Later that month, he slugged the supervisor at a Seattle sobering center, who had him charged with assault. A Seattle Municipal Court judge in September dismissed both assault charges against Williams after psychiatrists found him incompetent to stand trial. The judge didn't order treatment, finding it unlikely to work.

By the end of July, police were being called repeatedly to take him away from Dick's Drive-In on Capitol Hill, where he was wandering around with no pants, smeared with his own filth.

He had recently moved back in at 1811 Eastlake after another bout of homelessness. Just weeks later, he was killed.

The shooting rocked the community and has tormented Williams' family members, who say John was just walking home that afternoon, carrying his carving tool as he did every day of his life.

He was deaf in one ear, and wearing headphones, family members say, and no threat: He was crippled from a life on the streets, diabetes, mental illness, and likely didn't even hear the police officer, they say. The 27-year-old officer had been on the force about two years and had his police cruiser and backup available, had he sought help.
Instead, less than 15 seconds after ordering him to drop the knife, Birk shot him dead, according to two sources familiar with the investigation. An autopsy report would later show every shot was fired in Williams' right side, raising even more controversy about whether Williams was in any way confronting Birk.

"I would like to know why the policeman shot him," said Williams' mother, Ida Edward, 75, of Vancouver, B.C. "I would like to see that policeman that shot my son to be arrested for murder because that pocket knife doesn't seem like a weapon at all. It was just a little pocket knife that is used for carving totem poles. Not people."

Generations of carvers

The Williams family started selling carvings to Ye Olde Curiosity Shop and other tourist venues in Seattle back when Native people arrived on the Seattle waterfront by canoe to sell their wares.
"My great-grandfather bought from his great-grandfather," said Andy James, owner of Ye Olde Curiosity Shop. In addition to monumental totem poles, the store, founded in 1889, also needed small things for the traveling tourist trade, and so a new genre was born: model totem poles, some shorter than a pencil, carved by the hundreds by the Williams family.
Theirs was just one part of the busy indigenous art trade that once thrived in downtown Seattle. There were leather workers and silver cutters, basket weavers and carvers working on sidewalks, in parks and on public benches. And just about always, there were members of the Williams family, carving totem poles by hand, working with just a pocket knife.

Not long after Williams' death, a "Duck" amphibious landing craft rumbled past Victor Steinbrueck Park near Pike Place Market, as the tour guide bawled over the microphone, "Seattle was named for a real Indian chief!"
And much to the gawking tourists' amazement, bending to their work right in front of them on a park bench, sat two of John's surviving brothers carving totem poles. John T. Williams, a Nuu-Chah-Nulth member of the Ditidaht band on Vancouver Island, belonged to a major carving family, which today continues its tradition.

Rick and Eric Williams still carve on the streets of Seattle, piling up sweet-scented shavings at their feet as they work designs in yellow cedar. "Put this in big letters," Rick said, biting off his words for emphasis. "WE ARE NOT WHITTLING."

Rick Williams, 55, said he has supported himself with his carving all his life, like his father and grandfather before him.
But, "It was never about money," Williams said. "It is to keep tradition alive. I come here to do what I was taught. I am a carver, I tell stories without words. We are carving the history of our people, our heritage, our life."
At day's end, they loaded their tools and totems into backpacks and gym bags, swept up the shavings and headed on the Metro 358 bus to the Seal's Motel on Aurora Avenue North, where they were living, along with Rick's three sons, for the moment — another family tradition.
A violent childhood

The abandoned car out back was good for hiding John as a boy, and so was the closet under the stairs. The attic would work, and the cabinet under the kitchen sink, or under the bed — any place small and dark was best, remembered John's sister Rita Williams, 56, of Vernon, B.C.
As the oldest daughter, she tried hard to hide John from their parents. Because, she said, "When the parents started drinking, someone was going to get hit."

Ida Edward said Friday she knew the abuse took its toll on her children. "Some of them I noticed it affected them quite badly," Edward said. "So I take blame to how they are."

She divorced their father — who is now deceased — 19 years ago. "I am proud of all my children," she said. "They are my lucky charms."
School offered no haven to escape what was going on at home. Nancy Williams, 52, of Vancouver, said she remembered she and John — as the only Natives in their school in Victoria — were whipped on their palms with a quarter-inch thick leather strap by the principal when they arrived late one day. It was done "to make us cry, but it was nothing compared to what we got at home," she said.
"There was no trust for the adults in our life, not the parents, not the teachers, not the principal. We had no chance."
People are too quick to judge someone like John, said his oldest brother, Harvey Williams, 58, of Vancouver. "It is pretty hard to get people to understand where people are coming from, they are judgmental. If they are able to walk in their shoes one day, would they still be standing?"
All the kids left home before they were 15, to escape physical, emotional and sexual abuse, Harvey Williams said.
Most of the kids started drinking like their parents when they were still small — and some kept it up for decades.
"I grew up around it and it just seemed like something that was normal," Harvey Williams said. "When I was in treatment they said I should have known better, but when that is the only view you have in the world, that is the only view you have."

Like some of his other siblings, Harvey Williams eventually attained sobriety, a fight he wages every day.
"I still get flashbacks, frozen tears that come out without crying, because we were told not to cry, it doesn't hurt," he said. "I am still working on that part."

John quit school at the end of second grade, and he left home at 14 to go to Seattle and carve with his father, Ray, living in motels up and down Aurora Avenue.
One of 12 children, John Williams would eventually become the fourth son to die on the streets after a lifetime of drinking — like their father.
Finally at rest
Since Williams was shot, marches, candlelight vigils and storefront memorial placards are testimony to the connection some, especially in his neighborhood, felt with the man they often saw sitting on a bench, carving — and to the outrage many felt over the shooting.
Last month, relatives came from British Columbia to attend Williams' services at the same Seattle funeral home that buried his father.
In the chapel, John lay in a white casket lined with white satin. He wore a T-shirt that said "Free Spirit," his hands clasped together below his chest.
There were several gifts in the casket to take on his journey: an eagle feather. Some fresh wood chips. A totem pole carved by his grandfather and painted by his grandmother.  Tucked in his hands was a small carving knife.

A friend offered a song to take his spirit to the other side. Then it was time, one by one, to file past John's open casket and say goodbye.
Silence weighed heavily as they returned to the pews. Standing to leave, Rick soon broke it: "John wants us to go carve."

Lynda V. Mapes: 206-464-2736 or lmapes@seattletimes.com
Staff writer Steve Miletich and Seattle Times researcher Miyoko Wolf contributed to this report

PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY --->

Cante Tenza Okolakiciye - Strong Heart Warrior Society 

Free & Independent Lakota Nation 

Box 512, Hill City, South Dakota 57745  | 605-454-0449 or 605-517-1547  | lakotaoyate.net 

MEDIA RELEASE

For Immediate Release:  Feb 13, 2011

Contact:  Duane Martin Sr.                   605-517-1547 or 605-454-0449

ELDERS UNDER THREAT: SERIES OF ABUSES, ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES UNCOVERED IN LAKOTA RESERVATION ELDERLY MEALS PROGRAM

Conspiracy of Threats, Physical Intimidation, Tribal Council Corruption Stops Investigations

Elders Fear Retaliation After Coming Forward with Revelations

Porcupine Community, Pine Ridge Reservation, SD – The crisis of elder abuse on the Lakota Pine Ridge Reservation has hit a shocking new low as revelations are emerging about a series of abuses and illegal activities uncovered at the Porcupine Elder Center and the Elderly Meals Program.

On Tuesday February 7th, a group of elders contacted the Lakota Strong Heart Warrior Society with concerns for their safety after being threatened by self-appointed Elder Center leader Winifred Janis.  Janis, and several family members including daughter Geneva Quiver, appear to hold an iron fisted grip over the Elder Center and have threatened elders with violence and assaulted at least one employee to conceal revelations about abuse and illegal activities being conducted out of the center.

Earlier this week, Janis directly threatened a group of Elders, including 91 year old Cecilia Martin, shouting, “If any of you elders talk about me or my daughter, I’m gonna’ hit you in the mouth!”

When the elders asked whom she meant, Janis replied, “Any damn one of you!”

Efforts to get relief from the abusive conditions of the center’s meal program have been obstructed by corrupt officials.  Elder Lorraine White Face said that she had tried to address the lack of nutritional meals and strong arm tactics used by Janis.  She has previously used the center along with her 88 year-old mother, Ester White Face, for meals.

After physically intervening to stop an elder from getting hit in the head by a center employee, White Face was slapped with a restraining order to keep her away from the center.

“She [Winifred Janis] uses her position to go against the real elderly, said White Face, who has been an outspoken advocate for traditional Lakota language and culture. “I mean elders who are 88, 89 and 91 years old – she made them worry every day.  And I am elderly too.”

The elders who use the Porcupine center now fear retaliation as details of the abuses and corruption emerge. Wilson Coleman Jr., an employee of the center, was physically beaten by three members of the Janis/Quiver family after he spoke out about illegal activities including alcohol bootlegging and the selling of drugs out of the back of the Elder Center.

“Elder abuse is against the law,” noted Duane Martin Sr., headsman of the Strong Heart Warrior Society.  He emphasized that in addition to traditional Lakota Customary Law, the Oglala Law and Order Code, the 1948 Older Citizens Act and other laws make elder abuse a crime.  

Martin also detailed how the Porcupine District Elderly bylaws are being violated to prevent Elders from speaking out.  He emphasized, “Immediate action must be taken to remove Winifred Janis and her family or the Warrior Society will act to impose justice through customary law.”

Both elders and activists say the corruption in the Elderly Meals Program is not just confined to Porcupine, but is present through the entire reservation-wide system. For four years Elders have appealed to the Oglala Tribal Court for investigations into Elder Center and Meals Program activities but have been stalled by responses that the investigation is “ongoing.”

“This is going on in all the elderly buildings on the reservation,” said White Face.  “Everyone thinks we are crazy, but we know what’s going on.”

The quality and nutrition of the food being given to the Elders is also a concern.  Elders at the Porcupine Center have been served undercooked meals that have made them sick and served meals that contain only carbohydrates, without protein.  Pictures have been taken to document the poor quality of the food served there.

According to a 2009 Lakota Country Times article entitled Elder Meals in Porcupine, the tribe receives money for Elderly Meals through Federal Title VI grants, South Dakota Title III monies, and National Relief Charities AIRC Food service.  The article noted that meals are cooked at “assembly line speed”.

Enoch Brings Plenty, 67, who was voted by a consensus of elders to be president at the Porcupine Center before Janis assumed control explained, “The elderly should be the number one priority of each reservation. They should be uplifted and treated like an angel.”

Brings Plenty, who served 20 years as head cook for a Rosebud Reservation elementary school, voiced concern the problems at the Porcupine Elder Center have been “going on for some time” and that Winifred Janis has “caused a lot of chaos for the elderly there.”

He added, “The elderly have an awful life here, I have to do something about this.” 

Brings Plenty also shared how is wife Della, who is 67 and handicapped by seizures, was denied meals by Janis while at the same time members of Janis’ family including her children and grand children were fed regularly.

Janis’ name also appears as a contact for the collection of clothes and other support in the name of the Porcupine Elder’s center but the elders have not seen this assistance.  An October 18, 2010 entry for the “Ashley’s Closet” Facebook page reads, “We at Heart Bridge are glad to welcome Ms. Winifred Janis as contact for Ashley’s Closet. You may send items to her at… c/o Porcupine Senior Center 1 Main St. Porcupine, SD 57772.”

Lorraine White Face explained she has twice appealed for help from the Oglala Tribal Council, contacted the Oglala Courts twice, and the Treaty Council three times without any resolution.

Virgil Bush, Porcupine District President, confided that the previous Oglala Tribal Council administration couldn’t deal with the abuses in the Elderly Meals Program because they were not fluent Lakota speakers like many of the elders.  Bush’s admission highlights the large cultural divide between many members of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) tribal government and the traditional Lakota people.

Activists detail how a wall of corruption conspires between families to sideline investigations and create a culture of retaliation for people who try to fight for justice.  For decades this corruption has marginalized native Lakota speakers, traditional people, and others who have tried to stand against those who are exploiting the BIA system of Lakota government for their own gain. 

In December, Strong Heart headsman Duane Martin Sr.’s dog was poisoned and killed for his activism against bootleggers and drug dealers, many of whom are protected by members of the tribal council and tribal law enforcement.  In January, a group of Lakota Elders were pushed and threatened with a gun by Oglala District representative Deborah Rooks-Cook outside of a secret council meeting.  Rooks-Cook has gone unpunished.

### 

Cante Tenza Okolakiciye also known as the Strong Heart Warrior Society of the Lakota Nation is an ancient Lakota warrior society as well as a broad-based civil rights movement that works to protect, enforce and restore treaty rights, civil rights, and sovereignty of Native people and their communities across Turtle Island. In addition to activist efforts to protect the land and people, each year Cante Tenza collects and freely distributes shoes, winter coats, school supplies, food, and other support to Oglala Lakota elders, children and families.

Photos released to protect threatened Amazonians

 Important, please click on or copy and paste link. Indigenous tribe is at risk

  http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110201/sc_afp/brazilperunativerights_20110201110827    

What is needed here is for the young warriors of all indigenous tribes to go to the aid of these people.  There needs to be some well versed war chiefs.  Those loggers and in other places in south and Central America, the gold miners.  Those endangered people will be murdered if they try ans stand their ground and if they are ran off their society will die.  THE INDIAN WARS ARE NOT OVER, I have said that time and time again.  The whole damn thing involves GREED.

Happy New Year Everyone. 

I also hope you had a joyous Christmas no matter how you may have celebrated it. 

There is something I need to bring up no matter what your feelings may be towards the Europeans of this country, of which many of us are part. There is a bigger threat to the The Indigenous peoples of the entire Americas or the world for that matter and that is the threat of Islamic take over. The indigenous peoples of the America's and other Indigenous tribes mostly of the Pacific Ocean Area had no part in fighting either the Christians or the Muslims during the Crusades. We had our share of problems with the white man's religion and I have to say that was primarily the Roman Catholic Church. That doesn;t mean we can be brothers with the Islamic Muslims that the Islamic people that live by the Quran and Sharia Law we are no more than Infidels as we were Pagan's to the Europeans. It is in the Quran that Infidels are to be treated harshly, to smite there heads with a sword. If an Infidel converts to Islam they will be spared. We didn't give up our ways to the Europeans so I don't see us letting that happen under Islamic law. In that case the punishment would be death to all all that practiced the old ways of our people.

Like it or not we need to stand by the rest of the country and take a stand with all American's and be prepared to go to war against Islam. I am a warrior, and old warrior of 65, but a warrior still and I am prepared to die for what I believe and I believe in freedom. I know some will not believe what I say but mark my words there will come a day when either you fight or go down to Islam. If I am still alive then I choose to at least go down shooting....I will not live under Islamic law.



I have gone with the medium plan for About $20.00 a month. I would have liked to go with the top plan but it's to expensive and I would have had to have the membership pay a monthly fee. I didn't want to do that. Tony

On-Q Initiative http://qonq.org/
http://twitwall.com/view/?what=040E090802
ALERT !!! PERUVIAN GOVERNMENT stops at NOTHING in the Name of GREED... Ridiculo el gobierno del Peru.

Night of the Red Sky Native American Metis Prophesy
The Prophetic Visions of 'Grandfather' from Tom Brown Jr.

http://www.wolflodge.org/visibiliti/prophecy/redsky.htm



Tony, (He Who Walks In Fire) Ihañktoñwañna Dakota

Because of some people wanting to play games anyone wanting to join the group will have to be approved by me. I hope they are happy....


Sept 14, 2009 Animals and the Indian got along just fine and lived as nature intended before the white man came and ruined the balance of nature. My answer to the newly opened wolf hunt in Montana and Idaho. The story can be found at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32757255/ns/us_news-environment/ You can also vote whether to hunt or not hunt wolves.

EAGLE FEATHERS

On Wed, Mar 18, 2009 at 11:05 AM, Janet Littlecrow wrote:
I just received this email about the feather busts up in Oregon (an OK Kiowa guy) and Washington. Apparently the Kiowa guy from OK that they caught in Oregon is singing. I know White Eagle PD was taken over by BIA police, but that was several weeks ago. Anyway, I'm forwarding the email. Subject: Feather Busts
This is just a heads up as to potential problems with migratory bird feathers. I have had two e mails today, dealing with illegal migratory feather black market activity. First one - several Indians in Oregon were busted for shooting/killing bald and golden eagles, and selling them to powwow people. The second one was from Florida, where several white boys were caught shooting 15 species of migratory bird feathers - they seemed to have no connection to Native American culture and activities. As a result of the Oregon activity, one of those caught, a Kiowa boy, whom I have personally met, has been "singing" his heart out to the feds. And as a result, I am told, there were busts at White Eagle today, and also up at Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas. In regards to all of this, the BIA has taken over control of the Ponca Indian Police Department, and has started to arrest people with outstanding warrents for anything and everything. They might start showing up at dances to enforce feather laws. With the April Hethushka coming up, you might wish to alert any of your members planning to attend our Spring dance, to be careful with feathers. Just a warning. As I was finishing up this e mail, just had another phone call telling me that Patrick Scott, Navajo fan maker was busted too. Looks like a major sting operation.

This is an email from Willow Jack that made the rounds yesterday.
Hello everyone,
I have been following this since some friends of mine were raided last week. It has been part of an ongoing investigation for two years and anyone, ANYONE who does feather work is being targeted. Other targets are those who trade or give feathers to any of these feather-workers. From what I have noticed, the main targets have been N.A.C. peeps. Now the Eagle Act says bartering of feathers is illegal, so NO-ONE TRADE any feathers. The FEDS are really watching. Don't even openly give away any feathers.
I think those who have been involved need to contact the Native American Rights Fund. This is a form of "policing" how we handle our own sacred items. Now, I am not overlooking the fact that there were some feathers poached by individuals but many of the people targeted don't even kill eagles, they trade.
Whoever 's feathers were with them people caught at the time, HAVE LOST their feathers!!!
Now if the FEDS want us to be required to carry documents, what is happening to our religious freedom and our sovereignty? What is next, peyote? More loss of sacred sites and sacred practices? I really think we should pay mind to things like this because, as one friend said "YOU WOULD NEVER SEE THEM CONFISCATING CROSSES OUT OF A CHURCH".
So if you know of anyone involved, take a stand and perhaps file a class action lawsuit or gather leaders to advocate for their people. We cannot act like this is nothing because the decisions made by the FEDS affect each and every one of us.
THANK god I have papers for my feathers and fans, they all came from the National Eagle Repository, But what about our old old feathers? I know my fam carries a warbonnet from a battle in 1867. How do we protect feathers given to us by our elders or feathers we have gotten from family members who have passed? We don't bury those things, they are sacred and must live on to carry them prayers out.
Anyway, sorry for the rant but so far the case has been building for two years, the FEDS have pics of powwow peeps and N.A.C. peeps. They have someone on their side who knows people and they are keeping tabs through snowballing.
They even have pics of peeps at Denver March last year!
IF YOU KNOW of anyone who has been raided, make sure they take names of officers, ask for a list of items taken and be as careful as they can. I suggest a class action law suit and I suggest action be taken by our tribal leaders. Do not allow the FEDS to tell us how to be, we know how to be and do not need more paternalism than we have as Indigenous people.
Aho,
Willow Jack
Original news story - read the whole story on the link
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1236934512263350.xml&coll=7
Friday, March 13, 2009
BRYAN DENSON
The Oregonian Staff
Federal authorities have charged one man in Oregon and three in Washington in killing birds of prey -- including America's most enduring symbol, the bald eagle -- to feed the black market for raptor feathers.
In July 2007, an undercover agent assigned to the Fish and Wildlife Service, attended the Julyamsh Powwow in Post Falls, Idaho, where he found a man hawking fans of bird feathers. The agent paid the man $450 for three fans.
According to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Portland, the man gave his name, J. J. Lonelodge, and gave the agent a cell phone number.
"I can hook you up with anything you want," the man said. Court documents now identify the man, a tribally enrolled Kiowa, as Reginald Dale Akeen, of Anadarko, Okla.
Federal agents, still undercover, made a series of phone calls to Akeen to buy feathers of golden eagles and other birds. The National Wildlife Forensics Laboratory in Ashland confirmed that the feathers purchased from Akeen belonged to golden eagles, anhinga, and a Cooper's hawk.
In September 2007, according to federal authorities, Akeen brokered the sale of a "black and white" fan on the Warm Springs Reservation.

American Indian activist Robideau dies at 61
The Associated Press - Thursday, February 19, 2009
http://www.grandforksherald.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D96EP0E85
PORTLAND, Ore.

Robert Robideau, an American Indian activist who was acquitted of killing two FBI agents in a 1975 shootout in South Dakota, has died. He was 61.

Robideau had been living in Barcelona, Spain, where authorities said that his death Tuesday may have been related to seizures caused by shrapnel left in his head from an accidental explosion.

Robideau, a Portland native, was the cousin of Leonard Peltier and a member of the American Indian Movement who had occupied the reservation town of Wounded Knee, S.D., for 71 days in 1973, two years before the shootout.

His son, Michael, told The Oregonian that Robideau attended Roosevelt High School and received a degree in cultural anthropology from Portland State University.

The newspaper said that Robideau left for South Dakota in the early 1970s with several family members, including Peltier, to join AIM and its protests against poverty and corruption on tribal reservations.

In June 1975, two FBI agents followed a man wanted in the theft of a pair of cowboy boots onto the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The agents soon came under heavy rifle fire and were killed.

The FBI identified Peltier as a suspect in the shooting and placed him on its most wanted list.

Months later, Robideau was driving Peltier's station wagon through Kansas with other AIM members when ammunition in the car accidentally exploded.

Robideau, who was seriously injured, was arrested and tried for the FBI agent killings, but was acquitted.

Peltier was arrested by Oregon State Police troopers while driving through Oregon and later convicted of the FBI shootings. He is serving two life sentences.

Robideau appeared in "Incident at Oglala," the 1992 documentary about the Pine Ridge shootings narrated by actor Robert Redford and directed by Michael Apted.

Robideau later became a painter, concentrating on tribal themes. He led a committee seeking a pardon for Peltier and served as director of the American Indian Movement Museum in Barcelona, which displayed some of his paintings.

He is survived by his wife, Pilar of Barcelona, Spain; and sons, Michael of Portland and Bobby of South Dakota.
___
Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com