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News from Incjign Country
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Indian radio stations have source of help
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -
American Indian radio stations
have a new partner helping them
broadcast an eclectic mix of
community programming to res
ervations across the country.
T he C en ter for N ative
American Radio offers 33 radio
stations that serve Indians, help
ing with programming, account
ing, engineering and fundraising,
which is a big challenge for most
o f the noncommercial opera
tions.
A $1.5 million grant from the
Corporation for Public Broad
casting established the center,
which is overseen by the N a
tional Federation of Community
Broadcasters in Oakland, Calif.
America’s 4.2 million Indians
often live on reservations lo
cated far from each other, in
creasing the sense of isolation
for some o f the nation’s poor
est, m ost vulnerable groups.
Radio stations that cater to Na
tive Americans’ interests could
help boost morale, provide net
working opportunities and give
them a sense that they aren’t
alone, proponents say.
“W e’re now this u n ified
group. Before, the stations were
sort of on their own and a lot
o f them felt iso lated ,” said
Peggy Berryhill, director of ser
vices and planning for the cen
ter.
“So now they’re beginning to
see their collective strengths and
share their assets and issues and
begin moving forward.”
The center doesn’t provide
funding, but it connects stations
with people and groups who
know how to find money that’s
available, she said.
Idaho doesn’t have any In
dian radio stations; the nearest
are in Oregon, which has two
FM stations, in Warm Springs
and in Pendleton. There’s also
an AM station in Toppenish,
Wash., run by the Yakama Na
tion Tribe.
In South Dakota, KILI-FM
on the Pine Ridge Indian Res
ervation has been off the air
since an April 15 lightning strike.
CNAPR referred the station to
a consultant who knows how to
write grant proposals, said Tom
Casey, business m anager and
development director.
T he statio n req u ested a
$201,000 emergency grant from
the Public Telecommunications
Facilities Program at the Depart
ment of Commerce in Washing
ton, which could help KILI re
place the antenna, transmission
line and transmitter, and install
a grounding system.
The station has six months to
raise $40,000 to $50,000 in
matching money and is halfway
to its goal, Casey said.
He hopes to hear back on the
grant within weeks.
CNAPR’s help with the grant
was priceless, he said.
The center also tipped him
off about another funding pro
gram to help the station go digi
tal, Casey said.
“We’re going to come back
stronger than ever w ith new
transmitting equipment and new
studio equipment and we’ll be
in good shape,” he said.
Berryhill said strengthening
Indian radio stations helps In
dian communities maintain their
traditions and sovereignty.
“The m ission o f m ost o f
these stations is about cultural
preservation,” she said.
“It’s about economic devel
opment for the reservation. It’s
about having a voice for their
communities, an independent
media.”
Several American Indians seeking office
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - Inter
est by American Indians in state
legislative seats is high this year,
and an Indian lawmaker of 16
years who is not seeking re-elec
tion said Friday he’s encouraged
by the number of Indian candi
dates.
At least 13 legislative candi
dates are Indians; 11 are Demo
crats and two are Republicans.
Rep. Paul Valandra, D-Mis-
sion, said many Indians have
purposely avoided state politics
for years out of distrust of gov
ernment and a belief that little
would be done anyway for In
dian fam ilies struggling with
m eager fin an ces, a h o u sin g
shortage and other pressing is
sues.
“We w ere in an iso latio n
policy with the state of South
Dakota for many years. It was
a cold war of sorts,” Valandra
said.
“Philosophically, it’s a stretch
that we seem to have gotten
beyond with all these candidates
running this year.”
Valandra is hopeful that many
of the Indian candidates will be
successful. In recent years, fewer
than a handful of the 105 legis
lators were Indians.
Jason Schulte, executive di
rector of the state Democratic
Party, said it is no surprise that
most of the Indian candidates
are running as Democrats. The
party has long had close ties to
the Indian community, he said.
“I attribute the large number
o f Democratic Native Am eri
can candidates to two things,”
Schulte said. “One, everyone is
fed up with the lack o f leader
ship and the abusive one-party
rule in Pierre. And two, Native
Americans recognize that the
Democratic Party is inclusive
and committed to solving the
challenges they face on a daily
basis.”
Max Wetz, executive director
of the South Dakota Republi
can Party, said the GOP is an
open party and welcom es all
who wish to join or run for of
fice under the party banner. The
party has worked to recruit In
dians among its candidates, he
said.
“The Republican Party fields
candidates that are good lead
ers and active in their commu
nities,” Wetz said. “When that
happens to be Native Am eri
cans, we happily embrace those
people.”
One of the candidates in a
legislative district that was split
into two House districts in south
central and southwestern South
Dakota as a result of an Ameri
can Civil Liberties Union law
suit over voting rights is an In
dian. District 26A was created
to give Indian candidates a bet
ter chance of succeeding.
Paul A. Joseph of Wood, a
Democratic candidate for Leg
islature in that special district, is
an Indian. He shares the ticket
w ith form er H ouse m em ber
Larry Lucas of Mission. On the
Republican side of the ledger in
that district is Rep. Barry Jensen
of White River; Calvin Jones Jr.
of Rosebud is running as an in
dependent in 26A.
Only one of the Democrats
will advance after Tuesday’s pri
m ary e lectio n , facin g both
Jensen and Jones in the general
election for the legislative seat.
In the state’s only other split
House districts, located in the
northwest, two brothers who are
tribal members are running.
Rep. Tom Van Norman, D-
Eagle Butte, is seeking re-elec
tion in District 28A; he will face
R epublican E verett H unt o f
Eagle Butte in November. Van
Norman’s brother, Steve Emery
of McLaughlin, is one o f two
Democratic candidates seeking
to advance in the D istrict 28
Senate primary; his opponent is
Ryan Maher of Isabel.
Emery is the attorney who
filed the complaint that led to
the district being split eight years
ago.
Forgotten petroglyphs to be studied, displayed
B A LTIM O R E
(AP) -
They’re well traveled for prehis
toric stone carvings, having been
moved from the flood-threat
ened lower Susquehanna Valley
in the 1920s, then to various
sites in Baltimore, ending up on
concrete platforms in eastern
Druid Hill Park, all but forgot
ten in what is now an overgrown
space.
And they’ll be traveling again
to a Calvert County laboratory.
Eventually the more than two
dozen Native American carv
ings, which may be thousands
of years old, will be put on dis-
play.
The carvings are called the
Bald Friar Petroglyphs. They are
older than those of the Aztecs
and include concentric circles,
fishlike designs and shapes that
appear to depict the sun and
humans, The (Baltimore) Sun
reported.
They were rediscovered in
the fall by officials at the Mary
land Historical Trust.
On Thursday, state archae
ologists used chisels and crow
bars to dislodge the carvings.
“They are an attempt by pre
historic folks who lived in Mary
land to communicate with each
other, and they’re still commu
n ica tin g to us today,” said
Charles L. Hall, Maryland’s ter
restrial archaeologist. “These are
expressions of an inner life, a
symbolic life.”
Dig planned along lake
NEW TOWN, N.D. (AP) — A site along Lake Sakakawea
where American Indians camped and hunted ancient bison is
to be excavated this summer by an archaeological team.
The Beacon Island site, estimated to be about 12,000 years
old, was exposed when the lake began shrinking due to re
cent dry years, said Fern Swenson, the state historical preser
vation director. Experts consider it one of the rarest sites in
North America, she said.
Some preliminary tests have been done at the site, said
Fred Sellet, the field director for the excavation, who is now
at the University of South Florida.
“It’s very rare and it’s very exciting,” Sellet said, o f the
site. “These were paleo-Indians and represent some of
the earliest archaeological rem ains in that part o f the
world.”
The petroglyphs arrived in
Baltimore in 1926 after preser
vationists removed them from
the lower Susquehanna Valley to
avoid their being inundated by
Conowingo Dam. The stones
were found in the Bald Friar
area of Pennsylvania.
Because the rocks were too
large to carry, they were blasted
into smaller pieces with dyna
mite. Some were reassembled
like puzzles into concrete that
was ordered from France.
Many of the carvings were
collected by the Maryland Acad
em y o f S cien ces on N orth
Charles Street. When the acad
emy moved in the 1940s, the
rocks, too large to fit into the
academy’s new space, ended up
in Druid Hill Park.
When The Sun reported the
rediscovery of the rocks last fall,
H all and others feared they
might be vandalized or stolen.
Since then, archaeologists have
removed about 26 of the carv
ings, and only a handful of large
rocks remain.
On Thursday, archaeologists
chiseled the rocks free from the
con crete fo u n d atio n s, then
pounded wooden wedges under
the approxim ately 300-pound
rocks to lift them up slightly.
Officials passed ropes under the
carvings and used an electric lift
to transfer them onto a flatbed
truck.
Spily^y Tymoo
June 8, 2006
Opponents of casino
weighing ways to block vote
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Opponents of a proposed
casino in West Warwick are considering legal options to stop
a vote that would allow state residents to approve the plan.
Both the House and the Senate recently approved a con
stitutional amendment that would pave the way for the
Narragansett Indian Tribe and its business partner, Harrah’s
Entertainment, to open the casino.
Rhode Island law requires all lotteries, which include casi
nos, to be state-run. The amendment passed by the General
Assembly would exempt the tribe and Harrah’s from that
constitutional provision, which the state Supreme Court has
cited in twice advising against the casino proposal.
The amendment must be approved in a ballot question in
November.
Gov. Don Carcieri and Johnston Mayor William Macera
_ whose town had a competing casino proposal with Donald
Trump and his business partners _ are mulling legal chal
lenges.
Johnston town officials say the casino should been put
out to bid to get the best deal possible. They might seek an
injunction that would block the November vote.
“We’re thinking about that to prevent (the vote) from going
forward until we have a fair hearing,” Macera told The Provi
dence Journal. “What happened there wasn’t fair at all.”
Carcieri, a vocal casino opponent, has rehired a lawyer,
Joseph Larisa Jr., who has previously kept the casino ques
tion off the ballot.
“The governor’s legal team has identified some areas of
concern,” Carcieri spokesman Jeff Neal said. “I think it would
be imprudent now to go into specifics.”
Attorney General Patrick Lynch is also deciding whether
to get involved. He wants to ensure that any amendment
being presented to voters is constitutional, said spokesman
Michael Healey.
Proponents say a casino would provide the state with mil
lions o f dollars in gam ing taxes and thousands of jobs.
Harrah’s officials have said they will invest up to $1 billion
under their latest proposal and pay a $100 million licensing
fee to the state.
Critics are concerned that existing entertainment venues
and restaurants could suffer a big financial loss if a casino
opens.
Ruling favors Oneida nation
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - A
federal judge on Friday rejected
Oneida County’s efforts to fore
close on Oneida Indian Nation
land.
U.S. D istrict C ourt Jud ge
David Hurd said state and fed
eral laws prohibit the county
from taking the land. H urd’s
ruling was similar to one he made
last year that prevented M adi
son County from taking tribal
land.
Last year, the U.S. Supreme
Court issued a ruling forcing the
Oneida nation to pay property
taxes.
That decision doesn’t entitle
the co u n ty to fo reclo se on
Oneida land, however, and the
county must find other means
to obtain any taxes owed, Hurd
said.
In a separate decision, Hurd
also denied Madison County’s
attempts to decrease the size of
the Oneida Indian reservation.
Eastern Shawnee tribe
presses land claims in Ohio
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Oklahoma’s Eastern Shawnee
tribe has asked a federal judge to allow its lawsuit to go for
ward with its demand for 146 square miles of land in west
ern Ohio as compensation for past injustices.
The tribe filed a response Wednesday in U.S. District Court
to state requests that the lawsuit before Judge James Carr be
dismissed.
The tribe sued Ohio, Gov. Bob Taft and 60 other govern
ment entities and individuals last year after state officials ob
jected to a tribe-owned casino.
The tribe, forced from Ohio in the 1830s, argues that
faulty treaties and land deals legitimize its land claims for the
city o f Wapakoneta, part o f Lima and a rural area near
Bellefontaine and hunting and fishing rights across one third
of Ohio.
The tribe is negotiating casino-resort agreements with a
number of Ohio cities but the deals are contingent on over
coming state and federal objections.
Ohio Attorney General Jim Petrc has accused the East
ern Shawnee of trying to bully its way into a casino.
Arapaho in danger of losing their language
RIVERTON, Wyo. (AP) -
The director of bilingual edu
cation at Wind River Tribal Col
lege says the Northern Arapaho
Tribe should consider putting all
o f its young people into lan
guage immersion programs to
keep the Arapaho language from
dying out.
A recent survey found only
3 percent of the tribe’s 8,000
members, or about 240 people,
could speak the Arapaho lan
guage, according to E ugene
R id gely Jr., who directs the
co llege’s bilingual program s.
Most of those Arapaho speak
ers are at least 45 years old, he
said.
The Arapaho and the East
ern Shoshone share the Wind
River Indian Reservation, and
reservation schools teach both
tribal languages. But Ridgely said
such instruction is limited in its
effectiveness because students
have few chances to practice the
language outside the classroom.
“One o f the biggest draw
backs for those who are learn
ing the language is that they still
cannot talk to anyone except
their fellow classmates and el
ders,” he said.
That’s why he’s recommend
ing an immersion program, in
w hich in stru ctio n w ould be
given only in Arapaho _ no En
glish allowed. Ridgely said im
mersion programs are the most
effective w ay to teach a lan
guage, and that students could
be paired with tribal elders so
they could continue to practice.
A recent pilot program in-
v o lv in g ju st two stu d en ts
showed some success, Ridgely
said. One of the students “was
successful in acquiring semi-flu
ency,” he said. Results with the
other student weren’t as clear.
Ridgely said maintaining the
Arapaho language was essential
to preserving the tribe’s culture.
“Loss of language means loss
o f identity, culture and tradi
tion,” he said. “It should be
avoided at all costs.”
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