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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (May 18, 2011)
r 1 I More News from Indian Country Pgge 11 Spilygy Tymoo Colville: mining clean-up inadequate WENATCHEE, Wash. (AP) created by Grand Coulee Dam - Five years after a Canadian which borders the Colville In mining smelter agreed in a his dian R eservatio n , the EPA toric settlem ent to assess the found. impact of its pollution in U.S. The June 2006 settlem ent waters, an American Indian tribe betw een the EPA and Teck is calling the effort inadequate, marked the first time a Cana and Washington state officials say dian company agreed to fund they’re not fully satisfied. an analysis of the public and The Confederated Tribes of environmental damage caused the Colville Reservation also say by pollution that traveled from the U.S. Environmental Protec Canada to the United States. The tion Agency hasn’t done its job Colville Tribes, joined by the state to oversee Teck Com inco of Washington, sued to hold the American’s analysis of environ company liable for cleanup costs mental damage in the upper Co in a case pending in U.S. District lum bia R iver and Lake Court in Spokane. Roosevelt. A fter the agreem ent was A company official said the struck, the Colville Tribes said complexity of the study makes it had reservations about letting it difficult to come up with sam the company assess damages. pling plans that please everyone. Now, it says, their fears of in The company’s lead and zinc adequate work are coming true. smelter in Trail, B.C. - about 10 “Teck has delivered deficient miles north of the U.S. border work plans and sampling plans with Canada — dumped millions to EPA, which make it unlikely of tons of toxic slag and heavy that the company can accurately metals into the Columbia River determine the nature and extent in Canada, according to an ini of the pollution in the Colum tial investigation by the EPA. bia,” said John Stensgar, chair Over the course of 100 years, man of the tribal council’s natu some 10 million to 20 million ral resources committee. He also tons o f it ended up in Lake said EPA has not adequately Roosevelt, a 100-mile reservoir enforced the agreement, and the We recognise that the stakes here are significant fo r a lot o f parties, hut in particu lar fo r the tribe. ” tribe has been left out of the decision-making process about the study. Dave Godlewski, Teck’s vice president of environment and public affairs, disagreed. “It’s been a very, very robust over sight process that the EPA is involved in, and the tribes and state are directly paid by us for their participation,” he said. He said the company has spent more than $40 million on the study so far, analyzing 2,400 fish, conducting three rounds of surface water samples and tak ing soil samples from beaches around the 100-mile long lake. L ast year, the com pany re moved about 6,000 yards of material from Black Sand Beach near Northport deomonstrating they’re serious about taking care o f problems they caused, he said. EPA officials met with the state and tribe in Seattle last week. “We recognize that the stakes here are significant for a lot of parties, but in particular for the tribe,” said Dan Opalski, head of EPA’s Superfund Of fice in Seattle. “We’re talking about the health of the environ ment in and around their home land,” where tribal members fish, gather food and recreate, he said. Opalski said a final assess ment will not be finished until 2015 at the earliest. He said the agency w ill not compromise quality in order to get the work done sooner. Mike Hibbler, the state De partment of Ecology’s regional manager for the toxic cleanup program , said the state does share some of the tribes’ con cerns, “We have reviewed every thing submitted to us, and in some cases we had some pretty serious com m ents. In other cases, we found the work was appropriate,” he said. He said he is optimistic after last Friday’s meeting with the EPA. “I felt like we made some progress.” Crazy Horse operations director passes CRAZY H O RSE, S.D. (AP) - A nne Z io lko w ski Christensen, the sixth child o f Crazy Horse M em orial president and chief executive Ruth Ziolkowski and the late sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski, died onMay 6 at her home on the memorial grounds, her family said in a statement. She was 55. Crazy Horse was a famed Oglala Lakota warrior and leader who played a key role in the 1876 defeat of the U.S. Seventh Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in Mon tana. He died a year later af ter being stabbed in N e braska. W ork on a m am m oth mountain carving of him in South Dakota’s Black Hills has been going on since 1948. W hen com p leted, the carving about 10 miles south west of Mount Rushmore will be 641 feet long and 563 feet high. As the director of memorial o p eratio n s, Z io lko w ski Christensen managed the wel come center, Indian Museum of North America and Native American Educational & Cul tural Center complex. She also oversaw visitor education pro grams, arrangements for Ameri can Indian arts and crafts ven dors exhibiting at the site and annual Native Americans' Day activities. The m em orial drew 1.2 million visitors to the south ern Black Hills last year. Z iolkow ski Christensen lived at Trail’s End at Crazy Horse with husband, memo rial secu rity o fficer Paul C hristensen. She and her brother based their herd of cattle near there, and she and her husband cared for a num ber of elderly horses, includ ing retired professional rodeo horses. Her family didn’t give a cause of death, saying only that she died unexpectedly. Along with her mother, she is survived by two step children, Doug and Crystal Christensen; nine siblings; and num erous nieces and nephews. Historic Forth Klamath barracks found KLAMATH FALLS (AP) - Archeologists have used ground- penetrating radar to determine exactly where a Fort Klamath soldier barracks stood in the late 19th century. “It’s a pretty exciting mo ment,” said Todd Kepple, Kla math County Museums man ager. “No trace of this building was visible for the 44 years the county has owned this property. We had no idea exactly where anything was except for the flag pole.” University of Oregon Mu seum of Natural and Cultural H isto ry arch eo lo gists on Wednesday used metal detectors and radar to find where the bar racks stood at the Fort Klamath military post, established by the U.S. Army in 1863 to protect settlers as they settled in Kla math, Modoc and Yahooskin Indian territory. The museum was awarded a P reservin g O regon $10,000 grant to pay for the work. Ar cheologists went over three sites, but found substantial evidence only at the barracks site. “To us, this is wild W est. his tory,” said Paul Baxter, an ar cheologist. “To (tribal members), it’s family history.” The fort was decom m is sio n ed 17 years a fte r the Modoc War, a result o f the U.S. government forcing three d iffe re n t A m erican In d ian tribes to live together on one reservation. A Modoc Indian the Army called Captain Jack led his tribe off the reserva tion and the Fort Klamath cav alry was ordered to bring them back. After a year of battle, Cap tain Ja ck was captured and hanged; his grave is at the Fort Klamath Museum. In 1966, Klamath County acquired 8 acres of the once expansive fort. In its heyday, the military outpost contained 80 buildings stretching from the museum to the town of Fort Klamath. But in the 75 years the fort was under private ownership, buildings were allowed to disin tegrate, leaving nothing but nails and, archeologists discovered Wednesday, a foundation. “(Wednesday) was a banner day for us,” Kepple said. “It was the first time we’ve been able to turn back the pages of his tory and see the fort the way it was 120 years ago.” Guard, tribe receive new ‘Lakota’ helicopters CUSTER, S.D. (AP) _ Of as medical transports. The cer ficials with the South Dakota emony included a Native Ameri National Guard and members can blessing, singing and danc o f the Lakota Nation hope ing, and a commemorative blast four new helicopters will help on the mountain carving of the Lakota warrior. promote unity. "I am proud that we have the A ceremony Sunday at the C razy H orse M em orial National Guard doing something m arked the arrival o f new like this," M aster Sgt. K elly UH-72A "Lakota" helicop Moore said. "This event has ters that the Guard will use brought both the N atio nal for non-combat missions such Guard and the Lakota Nation together to help promote unity." U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem, R- S.D., and South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard both spoke at the ceremony, saying the helicop ters will help strengthen relations with tribes. Charles Murphy, chairman o f the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in N orth D akota and South Dakota, said the helicop ters will honor many. "'Lakota' is a word that will represent all the people in Indian Country, particu larly the seven tribes within North and South Dakota and N ebraska," he said. "And we appreciate that, we really do." The Guard has four of the new helicopters and is scheduled to get two more in about two years. L I li I May 18, 2011 Senecas back in court over cigarette tax plans BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - A state judge has issued a tempo rary order preventing New York from taxing reservation cigarette sales to non-Indian customers. Lawyers for the Seneca Na tion w ent to state Suprem e Court on Tuesday seeking an injunction blocking the tax. The judge gave them until June 1 to make their case that the state adopted the regulations hastily and w ithout required public comment. The state Attorney General’s office opposed the request. The order comes a day after a federal appeals court lifted orders that had been barring the collections on other grounds. The 2nd C ircuit rebuffed New York Indian nations’ argu ments that the taxing system unduly burdens reservation re tailers and interferes with tribal sovereignty. The state anticipates collect ing $500,000 a day in revenues. Some tribes appear to be mov ing toward stocking more In dian-manufactured cigarettes, which remain tax-exempt. Ancient remains found at SD construction site M ITCHELL, S.D. (AP) - Crews building an addition to a home in M itchell uncovered human bones believed to be centuries old. Police Lt. Don Everson tells The Daily Republic newspaper that an archaeologist with the South Dakota State Historical Society determ ined that the bones belong to a female who lived between 800 and 1,500 years ago. Everson says if the remains can be linked to an American Indian tribe they likely will be returned. Absentee Shawnee tribe building Little Axe clinic LITTLE AXE, Okla. (AP) - The Absentee Shawnee Tribe is building a 76,000-square-foot medical clinic near Little Axe that's scheduled to open next March. The tribe's clinic is being de signed by the American Indian- owned architectural firm of James Childers of Fort Smith, Ark. The Oklahoman reports the clinic will include a combi nation of natural stone, brick and glass. Landscaping around the clinic will incorporate native grasses and trees. Tim Tall Chief, the executive director of the Shawnee-based tribe's health services, says the clinic will include 24 examina tion rooms, 16 dental chairs, a physical therapy department, a behavioral science division, a diabetic wellness unit, optom etrists, a pharmacy and a fitness center. The clinic will serve members o f all fed erally reco gn ized tribes. Tall Chief says the tribe hopes to eventually open the clinic to the general public. Tribe gets $1M for enterprise SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - An Indian tribe in Minnesota is giving $1 million to the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe to be used in its Lakota Foods business enter prise. The tribe in central South Dakota sells popcorn and buf falo products produced on its 7,000-acre farm. The grant comes from the Shakopee M dew akanton (mehd'-WAH'-kuh-tuhn) Sioux Com m unity, w hich operates M ystic Lake Casino in Prior Lake, Minn., has other enter prises and runs a charitable giv ing program. The Minnesota tribe also is giving $1 million to the Santee Sioux Tribe in N ebraska for various tribal programs. Indian Country network calls for Geronimo support ALBU Q U ERQ U E, N.M. (AP) - A media network aimed at Native Americans is urging social network users to change their profile pictures to an im age of Geronimo in honor of the legendary Apache warrior. Indian Country Today put out the call to its Facebook and Twitter followers Thursday in response to the U.S. military's use of Geronimo as a code name for Osama bin Laden. It asks followers and others to use the photo for the next two days to "honor the true spirit" of the 19th century war rior. Geronimo profile pictures started popping up at the begin ning of the week, after details of the raid that killed bin Laden came to fight. The code name also prompted statem ents of disapproval from tribes, a call for President Barack Obama to apologize and scores of angry comments on social network sites. At a hearing Thursday, tribal leaders told Congress that com paring Geronimo to a terrorist tarnished the raid's achievement. Hunter sentenced for grizzly shooting BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - A Browning man has been sen tenced to three years of pro b atio n and fin ed $500 for shooting a grizzly bear that scared him while he was deer hunting in northwestern Mon tana. Twenty-six-year-old Joseph Cree Medicine was sentenced T hursday by U.S. M agistrate Judge R. Keith Strong. Cree Medicine told investiga tors he shot the bear when it approached w ithin 20 yards while he was hunting on the
