Smoke Signals
February 1991
page 14
Dumping Grounds(cont)
trucking company involved was under investigation in
Massachusetts for illegal dumping. Friends say Mr.
Gray, who couldn't be reached for comment, was
stunned by the outcome.
The St. Lawrence cleanup drags on. The EPA has
ordered Alcoa and Reynolds to devise a plan to deal
with PCB contamination near their plants; it is expected
to announce soon a decision on a proposed $138 million
cleanup of the GM site.
In recent years, Congress and the EPA have made
provisions for environmental enforcement on Indian
lands, although the EPA is only now preparing its first
detailed nationwide survey of reservation pollution.
Much enforcement responsibility will fall to the Indians
themselves. But only about 30 of 280 reservations have
established environmental offices.
At Akwcsasne, in the bitter aftermath of last spring's
gambling war, a staunch environmentalist chief was
defeated for re-election because of his opposition to '
gambling. In the political purge that followed, the 1
Tribe's primary environmental engineer and its longtime
environmental attorney were fired. Emboldened
members of the Warriors Society have threatened to
occupy factories to stop pollution.
The chaos hasn't deterred waste-disposal companies.
Tribal officials now are reviewing a Montreal company's
proposal to build a tire-recycling plant. "It really doesn't
bother me as long as some people get jobs," says
Veronica Smoke, a single mother who has gone on wel
fare since losing her casino job.
, But Mark Narsissian, who lives in a small cabin near
the GM plant, thinks "people have the false sense that
money will even things out." To him, "if I can't plant in
the ground anymore, what good is it? Will I plant my
coins in the ground and corn will grow?"
"I remember the river when it had a stronger spirit,"
Mr. Narissian adds. "If they stopped polluting today,
the river would heal itself. I know the river still has that
spirit. It is waiting."
So are his Mohawk neighbors. These days, they buy
their fish from New England vendors who ramble
through the reservation in refrigerated trucks.
Courtesy of the Wall Street Journal
1990 Hunting Report
Year to Date: February 1, 1991
Tags Issued YTD:
General Deer Tags: 322
Bow Deer Tags: 26
Bow Elk Tags: 10
Elk First Season Tags: 27
Elk Second Season Tags: 29
Elk ControlDamage Tags: 23
Bear Tags: J
TOTAL: 442
Kills YTD:
General Deer:
Bucks: 82
Does: 17.
TOTAL: 99
Bow Deer: 4
Bow Elk: 1
Elk First Season: 6
Elk Second Season: 2
ControlDamage: 6
Bear: Q
TOTAL: 118
THOSE WERE THE DAYS - This picture of Andy and Bill Riggs was taken in 1948. This picture was
supplied to the Tribes' newsletter office by Tribal Elder Wilmadene Butler and her husband Jim Butler.
: Official Publication of the North American fuhinf CUb
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This magazine from the North American Fishing Club is just one of many magazines offered by the Fish &
Wildlife Library. The library is located in the Tribes' Fish & Wildlife Office. The library offers videos too.