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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.
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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