News from Indian Country
Page 10 Spllyay Tymoo September 15, 2005
Tribes
ATMORE, Ala. (AP)
American Indians axe offer
ing storm assistance to tribes
in Louisiana, Mississippi and
Alabama, but most Native
communities are inland and
appeared to escape the worst
of Hurricane Katrina's
winds and water.
Two families who evacu
ated homes in Louisiana have
resettled in housing provided
by the Poarch Band of Creek
Indians in southwest Ala
bama, and police from tribes
as far as Arizona are helping
assess damage on reserva
tions. Nedra Darling of the
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Judge orders return
HONOLULU (AP) - A fed
eral judge has issued a written
order giving a Native Hawaiian
group until Sept. 23 to return
to Bishop Museum 83 ancient
Hawaiian artifacts buried in a Big
Island cave.
Chief U.S District Judge
David Ezra's 22-page court or
der Wednesday saying the group
Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O
Hawaii Nei must return the ar
tifacts to the state's largest mu
seum. The order formalizes
Ezra's Sept. 2 verbal order.
The burial objects were re
moved from the Big Island's
Mediator says he's done
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP)
Like his predecessor, mediator
John Tabner has reached the
same conclusion that there is
no chance to negotiate a resolu
tion to the 35-year-old Oneida
Indian land claim.
"I think it's going to have to
be resolved by litigation. That's
all there is to it," Tabner told
Tribe uses traditional ways to address
ETHETE, Wyo. (AP) - Two
lines of women sit facing each
other, hidden from the after
noon sun under a tent canopy
behind the Wind River Tribal
College.
The hands of four of the
women swing back and forth in
time with beating drums, fists
closed. Each woman hides a
small stick on one of her hands.
It is up to a player from the
opposing team to guess where
the sticks are hidden, earning
points for her team in a tradi
tional Arapaho hand game called
koxouhtiit
About 100 yards away, under
another canopy, Arapaho adults
step in a circle as drums echo
off the stone of the old mis
sion building nearby. They are
learning traditional social dances,
or nii'eihii ho'eii.
The games and social dances
are not everyday activities for
the Arapaho people living on the
Wind River Indian Reservation,
but they once were. Traditions
as simple as games and dances,
as integral as the Arapaho lan
guage and religion, have fallen
by the wayside in recent decades.
Some tribal leaders, however,
are working to return such
knowledge to their people.
Last month, the college
hosted a three-day immersion
language camp for adults, teach
ing not only language, but also
elements of religion and culture.
"We teach on the protocol of
the religion, the history of the
tribe, wellness and health the
way it used to be compared to
unite on
said Friday all of the tribal com
munities in the hurricane zone
suffered wind damage. But the
Bogue Homa community, the
southernmost of the Mississippi
Choctaws' eight communities,
appeared to be the hardest hit.
"They have roof damage
and minor flooding in homes,"
she said. "They were the closest
to impact."
Some of the Mississippi
Choctaw communities are soil
without power, she said.
Choctaw spokeswoman
Chassidy Wilson said the tribe
is still distributing supplies in
cluding food, but a shelter for
storm victims already has closed
"Many of our tribal employ
Kawaihae Caves in 1905 and
given to the museum, which
then lent the items to Hui
Malama on Feb. 26, 2000.
Hui Malama said it reburied
the artifacts at the cave to com
ply with their ancestors' wishes.
A lawyer for the group said he
would seek an appeal by the 9th
US. Circuit Court of Appeals
in San Francisco.
Ezra said the items face "se
rious risk of irreparable harm"
and that they could be stolen.
He also questioned the circum
stances under which Hui
Malama obtained the items
The Post-Standard of Syracuse
in Friday's edition. . , s -Tabner
has told more than a
dozen attorneys involved in the
land claim that he will not be
seeking another extension when
his latest term expires Thursday.
He was first appointed in May
2002 by U.S. District Judge
Lawrence Kahn, who has ex
now," said Eugene Ridgely, bi
lingual education coordinator
for the college. "This afternoon,
we get into traditional games,
then some social dancing."
Most participants won't walk
away with more than a few
words of Arapaho. But more
important, some will gain a
spark of interest in their culture,
perhaps taking advantage of
language classes offered at the
college or of other cultural re
newal activities sponsored on the
reservation.
The quest is about more than
protecting a dying language and
culture. It's about turning to the
ways of the past to correct
some of the modern challenges
facing the Arapaho people.
"If we had retained the lan
guage like we should have, the
family structure would still be
strong," said Zona Moss,
Ridgely's secretary. "It lies within
the language, within the culture."
Ardeline Spotted Elk, a great
grandmother who has spent her
life on the reservation, spent the
three days teaching about kin
ship, or neito'eino', traditions in
the tribe. Weeks earlier, she
shared her own memories of
growing up and of how the
world has changed in her life
time. "We lived in real old cabins,
with dirt roofs and floors. We
had to get water from the rivet
We had kerosene lamps. Every
thing was gravel," she recalled.
"We learned Arapaho. We never
spoke English until we went to
school at St Michael's (Mission).
Katrina
ees were getting back to their
normal work routine," Wilson
said. "They've done a remark
able job in getting what the storm
victims needed."
The Chitimacha Nation at
Charenton, La., escaped major
damage from Katrina, accord
ing to its Web site. The tribe, with
a reported 400 members who
lived in New Orleans, said it is
housing people from the
flooded-out city.
"Some have been able to get
back to the city to check on
their property and some have
not. Some already know
there's nothing left standing to
go back to," the tribe said in a
statement.
of ancient
from the museum.
But Alan Murakami, a law
yer for the Native Hawaiian
Legal Corp., which represents
the group, said Ezra's decision
conflicts with "the very core" of
Hui Malama's religious and
spiritual beliefs protected by the
First Amendment
"We will have to sit down and
pray and come up with a deci
sion," Hui Malama president
Charles Kauluwehi Maxwell
said about whether the group
would comply with the order.
The order originated from a
federal lawsuit against Hui
with land claim talks
tended his term seven times
previously.
"After review of the position
papers of all parties, it is obvi
ous that little or no progress has
been made," Tabner wrote to
the lawyers involved. "(T)he
position of the parties are so
different that a settlement at this
time, and probably at any time
On the reservation,
people are looking to
different kinds of
solutions: those from
the past.
"It was a real nice, real en
joyable life. We just enjoyed our
lives. There was no alcohol, no
drugs; we just lived a real peace
ful life. The way it is now is a
real terrible life."
Not everyone on the reser
vation agrees that life has
changed so negatively, but some
differences are indisputable,
even if it's hard to pinpoint just
how extreme the reservation's
social and economic problems
are.
The Wind River Indian Res
ervation makes up a big piece
of Wyoming's Fremont County,
though most of the county's
population is white. Fremont
County consistently has the high
est unemployment rate in Wyo
ming, and unemployment is
even higher among American
Indian workers, according to the
2000 Census.
Kathy Vann, who heads the
University of Wyoming Coop
erative Extension Service office
in Ethete, said many men lacked
the education necessary to get
the few high-paying jobs on the
reservation. Most are forced to
choose between travel-intensive
work in the region's oil fields or
staying home with their families.
relief
The Tunica-Biloxi in
Slidcll, La., didn't suffer any
damage from Katrina, but is
housing eight tribal families
from New Orleans, accord
ing to Pat Foster, administra
tive assistant to tribal chair
man Earl Barbry.
About 560 tribal mem
bers from across the coun
try were among 775
firefighters dispatched to
help with the Katrina cleanup
by the National Interagency
Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.
"They have a lot of skill
in debris removal," Darling
said. "They're going to be ab
solutely essential."
artifacts
Malama filed last month by Na
Lei Alii Kawananakoa and Royal
Hawaiian Academy of Tradi
tional Arts two Native Hawai
ian groups claiming the funerary
artifacts known as the Forbes
Caves Collection.
Ezra wrote "that the interests
of justice and the public would
best be served by bringing the
items back to a secure location
at the Bishop Museum" while
14 federally recognized Native
Hawaiian claimants decided the
item's fate through federal legal
procedures.
in the near future, is not pos
sible." .; ;
Tabner, an Albany attorney,
was the second mediator as
signed to the land claim. Ronald
Riccio, a former dean of the
Seton Hall Law School in New
Jersey, spent about 17 months
on the case but couldn't come
up with a settlement.
"I find that a lot of mothers
work, and fathers, it's harder for
me to find jobs than for women
because there aren't that many
jobs," she said. "Men have to
go to the biggest employer, the
oil fields, where they work
seven-on, seven-off."
Even with some men work
ing the oil rigs and making good
money, families in Fremont
County tend to bring home con
siderably less income than those
in other parts of the state, mak
ing poverty a stark reality for
reservation families.
Many families turn to grand
parents for help; American In
dian grandparents are more
likely than any other demo
graphic group to live in the same
households with their grandchil
dren. In Vann's family, for ex
ample, her ironworker sons gave
up traveling throughout the
West for work, and one's family
moved in with her.
"My (surrogate son) moved
out of his mother's house and
couldn't make it financially, so
he moved back in, along with
his wife and three kids," she said.
"My sons got tired of living
in hotels. I don't know if they
thought about getting their own
place. They probably did, but
didn't see why," she said with a
laugh.
A shortage of housing on the
reservation has left some fami
lies on waiting lists for genera
tions. Vann said she believed some
children were being raised by
Colombian town goes
Native, reaps rewards
ATANQUEZ, Colombia
(AP) - Saul Martinez is on his
cell phone to friend, doing his
best to speak a dying language.
But after i few halting phrases,
he has to give up and switch to
Spanish.
Martinez is trying to speak
Kankuamo, the ancient language
of his Indian tribe, and do his
bit for a broader Kankuamo
revival that has as much to do
with nostalgia as with taxpayers'
pesos.
By returning to their roots,
Colombian tribes are cashing in
on hefty government aid to pre
serve indigenous culture. And
for this impoverished farming
town in the Kankuamo reserva
tion 420 miles (680 kilometers)
north of the capital, Bogota,
every little bit helps.
"The reason for this process
is the most pragmatic of all:
survival," says Jaime Arias, chief
of the 12,000-strong
Kankuamo tribe.
Ex-astronaut Herrington joins
commercial space flight company
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Former astronaut John
Herrington, a member of the Chickasaw Nation who was
born in Wetumka, has been hired by Rocketplane Limited
Inc., the Oklahoma company which hopes to offer com
mercial space travel. Herrington, who flew aboard Space
Shuttle Endeavour, was named a vice president and director
of flight systems for Rocketplane.
He will be the pilot on the first test flight of Rocketplane
XP, which is scheduled for October 2006, and will fly the
commercial spaceflights that are expected to begin in 2007.
The company will use the runway at Burns Flat near
Clinton in western Oklahoma for landings and takeoffs.
Herrington, 56, has retired from the U.S. Navy and from
NASA, where he has been assigned since 1996.
"He's the perfect choice at the perfect time," said David
Urie, vice president and program manager for Rocketplane.
"He worked as a test pilot in his Navy service and has been
an engineering test pilot
"When we learned of his intention to retire and go into
private industry, the timing was absolutely perfect for us."
Herrington was the first American Indian to fly in space
when he was a mission specialist on Endeavour in 2002.
modern problems
their grandparents because of
, rampant teen pregnancy and a
culture of drug and alcohol
abuse by parents. Residents of
the reservation say alcoholism
remains a chronic problem, and
methamphetamine use is on the
rise.
"Meth around here is getting
crazy," said Margo Williams,
who, with her husband Brian, is
raising seven children in a
blended family.
But while the numbers are
somewhat worse on the reser
vation, many Arapaho people
said the problems aren't limited
to the reservation.
"I don't know if it has any
thing to do with the situation on
the reservation," Vann said. "I
think, statewide, a lot of com
munities are like that. It re
flects what's going on in Wyo
ming." The difference is that, in a
community as small and tight
knit as the reservation, such is
sues hit every home.
And, on the reservation,
people are looking to different
. kinds of solutions: those from
the past
The Wind River Indian Res
ervation has several programs
to combat its social troubles,
including the Indian Health Ser
vice Center, Bureau of Indian
Affairs Social Services and an
Intergenerational Family Re
source Help Center.
Schools work with these
agencies to provide services for
children, and Arapaho language
is part of the curriculum at
The Kankuamos, Koguis,
Arhuacos and Uiwas all live by
the world's tallest coastal moun
tain range, the Sierra Nevada de
Santa Marta. But while three of
the tribes dwell high in these
remote snow-peaked mountains,
the Kankuamos have always
lived lower down and were so
exposed to outside influences
that by 1900 anthropologists
began referring to them as a
mixed-race tribe.
Their Corpus Chrisri festival
in late May reflects this fusion
- Indian grass skirts and chicken
feathers, African drums, and
dancers being led through the
streets by the town's Catholic
priest In 1991, a new constitu
tion granted land rights and aid
packages to indigenous peoples,
and the Kankuamos set about
qualifying for the aid by dress
ing in tribal garb, reviving their
language and taking up the
chewing of coca leaves, a tribal
custom dating back 5,000 years.
Wyoming Indian elementary,
junior high and high schools,
though tribal elder William
"Icky-John" C'Hair said it's given
too little time in the school day.
He wants to see a new immer- ,
sion preschool program grow,
introducing the language to 3
and 4-year-olds, whose linguis
tic abilities are the most ripe, and
following them through their
academic careers.
This fall, Arapaho Charter
High School will open near the
town of Arapahoe.
Designed to combat high
dropout rates among reserva
tion students, the school will
focus on Arapaho language, cul-" '
ture and values and will use more ,
hands-on and individual teach
ing styles to keep teens interested i
in education.
The Arapaho Council of El
ders also works to educate tribal ;
members about traditional skills,
from radio personality Big Joe's i
daily Arapaho language lessons i
to subsidized courses in language ;
and nearly lost skills such as :
meat cutting.
It's not just about history or
identity, C'Hair said. He said the
Arapaho language and culture
provide a lifestyle guide that can
help stem the tide of social chal-'
lenges.
"We believe, we firmly do
believe, that the language was a
gift from our Creator. As such,
it is sacred to us," C'Hair said.
'Without it, we cannot exist in "
the manner the Creator intended
for us."