The upper left edge. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1992-current, December 01, 1992, Page 11, Image 11

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S a c re d
E a rth
C o a litio n
a •
j
C uit ure S it oc C Ça fiery
r » • • • * t
P i V i' H m u I r c i ! V c , h >
Il't t l 't i N t
th llm
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'U tiH tl I 't i i n l t il
* « *
mg from the A m erican Indian R eligious
Freedom A ct (A I R I A ) o f 14?« to the
Northwest Ordinance of 1787 A I R F A
pronounced that " I l shall be the p o lic y of
the U S to protect and preserve the mher
ent rig h t o f the freedom to believe, es
lived press, and eserc ise tra d itio n a l re lig io n “
Nevertheless, in 1990. members o f the
N ative A m e ru a n Church lost then jobs
here in Oregon because they look peyote
during a re lig io u s ceremony The U S
Supreme Court ruled that N ative people
are not entitled to freedom o f religion
bec ause religious freedom is subordinate
to the drug laws o f the state o f Oregon
This year. George Bush approved a
B I A p o licy that gives
the governm ent the
rig h t to "te rm in a te " a
tribe whenever they
find it convenient They
*******
I
t IV I
H l N D R E D Y E A R S AG O
Europeans ta ile d io th u (semi
sphere and ila rtc d a genocidal
OMRpaiga against the people » h o
here T o this day. many are try in g io
continue this genocide both p h ysica lly
and c u ltu ra lly To this day. the o rig in a l
people o f this country struggle to keep
th e ir nations and theu tra d itio n s a live
F iv e hundred years ago. o u trig h t murder
wax the chosen method l uropeant fe ll
that ihey had a d ivin e right to cla im this
land and m urder its inhabitants Today,
the connections between E u ro a m e ixa n
p o licie s tow ard N ative Am ericans and
the genocidal results are more covert
D u rin g the I960« and 19"’O». the
Bureau o f Indian A ffa irs ' (B 1 A ) Indian
H c « !± S eneca stehJiced indigence?
wom en w ith o u t their consent or k n o w l­
edge It took an Am erican Indian M ove
m ent ( A IM ) occupation o f the B I A 's
W ashington headquarters in 1972 Io bring
th is genocidal program to lig h t
F urtherm ore, the governm ent has fa
c ilita te d the contam ination o f reservation
lands and waters fro m private companies
d ig g in g fo r coal and radioactive m iner
als The governm ent's ow n energy and
m ilita ry projects have contam inated res­
e rva tio n s w ith the deadly, radioactive
byproducts o f uranium m in in g On the
reservations many are d yin g o f cancer
and many ch ild re n are horn w ith birth
defects A t one p o in t people » mi the Na
va jo Reservation were even given radio
active m ine ta ilin g s fo r b u ild in g mate
ria l
C u ltu ra l genocide is so pervasive that
m any people do not understand how
destructive it is But native people face it
w ith every media stereotype A pp ro p n a
dons o f N ative A m erican culture occur
w ith every sports team named w ith a
racial slur or stereotype Can you image
the uproar over a fo o tb a ll team called the
"T am pa Bay H o n k te i"? N ative A m en
c an cu ltu ra l in te g rity is fu rth e r demeaned
by every car named ’’ C herokee" or
"N a v a jo ” or "T h u n d e rb ird " Have you
ever seen a car named " P ilg r im " o r “ C e ll"
o r “ Scot?” How about "W h ite G u y"?
Even more devastating, cultural geno
tid e is s till the U S governm ent's p o lic y
despite le g isla tive attempts to guarantee
N ative A m erican cu ltu re , attempts rang
F
f»xxl gathering sues such as Mount H»xxl
M eadows o f W y ’ East iM t Hood) are
what brought the Sacred Earth C o a litio n
together Four and a h a lf years ago. bum
M illio n and Sutana Samoa (Tygh Warm
Springs) called ui«m the re lig io u s and
environm ental com m unities to help pee
serve the sac ted lands o f W y'E a st The
C o a litio n has been instrum ental in so far
fo re s ta llin g developm ent in these areas
By o rganising public support, the
C o a litio n and others forced these areas
in to the headlines Other groups filed
several lawsuits regarding these issues
Even though they were throw n out o f
court, they helped to delay and call alien
tn the style o f A rn o ld
Sc h w a rre n e g rr. that
was overt p o lic y 500 to
150 years ago (and is
covert p o licy to this
day ) " T e rm in a tio n "
means that the govern
ment can c a ll a tribe
“ e x tin c t" whenever it
is in the way o f som e­
thing the governm ent
wants, even though
liv in g members o f the
tribe may be there to
contest The legal statue
o f hundreds o f tribes is
“ C r y N o M o re the W in d ,* w a te rc o lo r by Susana Santos
in danger Once legal
status is denied, the
governm ent can also deny claim s to land
I ion to the dec isioiis that the Forest Scrv
benefits, and fish in g rights, as w e ll as the
ice w as liv in g io push through N ow.
trib e 's right to las and regulate b u tt
because of the Confederated Tribes o f
nesscs operating on their land
W arm Springs s involvem ent. C u ltu ra l
N ationw ide, ihe U S Forest S e is in
Impact Statements must he draw n up about
and other governm ent agencies are re
both areas before they can be to devel
sponsible for the devastation o l sacied
oped
lands such as V is io n Quest sites and bur
Furtherm ore, the Ia s i time we spoke
lal grounds These N ative holy places are
to the fo re s t Service about M l Hood
being clears ut and slated for develop
Meadow s. Inc s attempts to develop and
ment in spite o f the Am erican Indian
span»! Hu ir ski rcaort. we were told that
R eligious Freedom A d Ih e U S ,’ u
they w e ii having fin a n cial d iffic u ltie s
preme C ourt gulled ihe A I R I A .p r o ’
and had in d e fin ite ly postponed their re ­
lections fo r sacred sites in 19H0 when it
quest to b u ild a new ski lif t in Heather
decided to allow the N avajo and H o p i's
Canyon W hile this is encouraging. we
Rainbow- Bridge area io be ruined by the
must be persistent We cannot fa ll asleep
construction o f the G len Canyon dam
I f we have had success, n has been
Here m t hcg»>n. struggles over sac red
because many diverse elements have
sites sue h as In o la H ill and over essential
worked on the problem from d iffe re n t
. i l l n ’ til "iu ln mt Jia a 'l < » kip a i.u t «•/
/«.-» h u ttJ i.J H t4 if »•/ h r M t U lt t J t J ,t l» l,iJ it." t
From July thiough September, we
were very fortunate to be able to show the
a rt o f L e o n a rd
P e ltie r and Bob
Robideaux
Both
men have been in
strum enlal in Ihe
slrutrgle for land
rights and native
s o v e r e ig n ty
W ro n g ly
to n
victed of Ihe shoot
mg deaths o f tw o
F B I agents. L e ­
onard Peltier has
been a p o litic a l
p risoner fo r 15
years The mass
media alternates
between ignoring
him and portraying
him as a terrorist
In d isp la yin g his
art. we are ena
b lin g people to see
another dim ension
o f Leonard Peltier, as w ell as a deeper
perspective on N ative Americ an p o litic a l
struggles P o litica l paintings are anespe
tta lly e ffective and appropriate rJuCa
nonal t»x>l because N ative jx-ople have
tra d itio n a lly u se d o ia l and picto ria l ways
o f leaching People com ing to view the
an have expressed much surprise at how
talented Pell i p is as a realist Most people
have no idea that Robideaus and Peltier
are lin e artists, hecause o f the mass
m edia's narrow portrayal
Leonard Peltier has spent 1 5»»(hi« -IK
years in prison M uch like all o l Native
Am erican, who have spent 120 Io 150 of
their last 500 years on reservations What
are you doing rfs iu t the 500 years ’
■
P ^ n e iM f E P fc.<
FSU)M
f? F T U W
OCT " U
.'.I «
•fit >at 11 «'
Sun I.' 5
JIM WEATHERS
'A iW
W
4 3 6 *1 8 8 5
eie I x a to wowewD mauneo
I h i.s i s A m e r ic a , an d y o u r
f r i e n d lia s as much r I g i l t
t o be a h e a th e n as y o u have
t o be C h r i s t i a n a .
- A b i g a i l V an B u re n
N o ve m b e r, 1992
Nearly Normal's
GonzoCuisinc
for
SUNDAY BRUNCH.
W o C .lle i' 753-0701
109 N W IMI» Sheet . C o iv a llts
? \ \ \ \
\ ' V \ s
Cultured Dairy
and Soy Produits
INTEKIOH/EXTEKIOH DECORATION
OF HOME ANO BUSINESS
-----=nT , DE.GDE.
d x - ------------------ 3
P O Box 04»
Cannon Bevu h. OR 971 10
(503) 4 3 6 0 7 3 7
You do n o t le a d by h i t t i n g
p e o p l e ov< r th e head - t h a t ’ s
a s s a u l t , n o t le a d e r s h ip .
- D w ig h t b . E ls e n h o w e r
TX>ugU> i>Wt
llm p fu t C m U
u n iw i
B R E W I N G CO.
M ■ !» .« : h.
H b Hg -••»«- <1
KM / 677 OLK
M k t ia ii M urphy
I M i i r f KrJ
r
Ih ’U-nlou ’t
No iV.uW $to«f
Sea G a rlic
Snuonaf
( 5 0 3 )2 8 7 - 4 7 7 7
D O N A LD LAR SEN
Renewable Energy Inc.
other organic vegetables •
Das id Siegel
Nrahkahnir Orrg--n
503 36« fcZTO
< ___________________
• (x-rtifird Orrinu-
by Oregon Tilth
- >
Sula, f.nrigv
•
• "■ ■ « ,-
•
-,
• inataaaaon A Sooxa
P O Box 10064
Portland, O reg on 97213
• P * ■» >
U m o u s iw m
ta a n
-A -A
h l fcLN
ta-
MIKE'S HIKE.SHOT
(5 0 3 ) 43H 1266
»
H ■ I ’.-«. .5 I
C ome J oin U s
...but fewer
calories.
RELIEF TILES
k
t
angles Governm ent agencies ignore
Native tribes and environm entalists in
isolatum . but w hen they see us united and
persistent, they cannot ignore us
In the past year, the Sacred Earth
C o a litio n has been running the C ulture
Shock Gallery As w ell as being a congre­
gation point C ulture Shock G a lle ry is a
place for disenfranchised artists such
as wcMiicn. gays and lesbians, a itis ls of
co lo r, and p o litic a l a itisls to show and
sell work This 5(g) anniversary year, the
G allery has been focusing especially on
Indigenous artists
Our yogurts & kefirs are as tasty
as "Sugar Magnolia"...
URSULA ULRICH
S l\ e <
J t i t il l i
SMx».w »>,«» t
B / 1 eslie I lemstreet
%*!$»)
«' !
It .O il'll
w». r»’e
i.w m
HI.
319
97 no
MM
A r#r
I t t o o k me a week t o d e c id e .
I ’ ve
a lw a y s been r n . it e r n . t lly o r i e n t a t e d .
In
t o d a y ’ s s o c i e t y , I t ’ s h a rd n o t t o b e .
R e p r o d u c tio n I s n e c e s s a ry l o r s u r v i v a l i
th e g i f t o l l i f e p r o m in e n t ly c h e r is h e d .
Few c o n s id e r b a b ie s a p a r a s i t i c r e s p o n ­
s i b i l i t y , d r a s t ic a lly a lt e r in g a young
w o m a n 's l i f e .
I was p re s s e d f o r t im e .
L i f e was g r o w in g and I had t o d e c id e I t s
f a te .
As I f fro m a f a r , 1 w a tc h e d m y s e lf e n t e r
th e c l i n i c , w a tc h e d s l i g h t l y t r e m b l i n g
ha n d s c o u n t o u t $ 2 5 0 .
1 saw m y s e lf f o l l o w
th e w h i t e - c l a d f i g u r e t o th e s m a ll room
and f e l t my g rueso m e a tte m p t t o r e t u r n
h e r b r i g h t s m ile .
T h ig h s p ro p p e d o p e n , c o ld s t e e l s l i d
I n t o me and e x p a n d e d p a i n f u l l y .
The h o s e
s u c k e d n o i s i l y , w e t l y s l u r p i n g a t ray
In s id e s « ,
l ’ i e r r l n g c ra m p s s l i c e d my b o d y ’
and w aves o f n a u s e a r o l l e d e n d l e s s l y .
Ih e
sound o f th e h o s e t u r n e d h o llo w , d e c l a r i n g
my e m p tin e s s .
The s t e e l , tr a n s fo r m e d i n t o
r a z o r b la d e s , was p u l le d fro m my bo dy and
o o / . t n g ly , i t w e p t.
D iz z y , on weak le g s ,
I w a lk e d fro m th e c l i n i c .
My e m o tio n s
w e re raw an d w a rp e d , y e t I r e c o g n iz e d
th e f a i n t th re a d o f r e l i e f .
I was a b le t o h a ve I t p e rfo r m e d l e g a l l y
and I n s t e r i l e c o n d i t i o n s .
E v e ry woman
s h o u ld ha ve t h a t r i g h t .
No on e s h o u ld be
a b le t o d e c id e f o r me, o r condem n roe f o r
t h e d e c i s io n I m ade.
I c a n do w h a t 1 w a n t
w i t h ray b o d y and I d id t h e r i g h t t h i n g .
G a rn e tt