Native News
Smoke Signals
Pre-paid legal service plan
available to members
Tribal members now have access to a new legal
service plan through Pre-paid Legal Services, Inc.
(PPLSI). PPLSI is a large national company and can
provide a large comprehensive range of legal ser
vices to members regardless of where they reside.
Membership participation is on a voluntary self
pay basis. The cost of this valuable service is only
$14.95 per month per head of household. House
hold coverage will include head of household,
spouse, and dependent children. This will cover
non-member spouses and children as well. The
service plan is comprehensive including help with
existing conditions. Just like auto insurance or life
insurance, you never know when you will need
legal services. A Pre-Paid Legal Plan is afford
able peace of mind.
For more information call: Andy Jenness, Inde
pendent Associate, at 1-888-740-7150.
Native American Symphony
seeking musicians
Native Sun Symphony Orchestra, Inc. (NSSO),
announces plans to form a symphony orchestra and
is searching for performing musicians and Native
American composers. This 65-piece orchestra will
consist of Native American musicians from the
Western Hemisphere. Musicians should be classi
cally trained and familiar with contemporary sym
phonic repertoire.
The mission of NSSO is to portray, through non
traditional, contemporary Native American music,
the soul and spirit of the First Nations people; to
heighten awareness and educate the public on Na
tive American culture; and to provide performance
opportunities for all qualified Native American per
forming artists.
Although still in the planning stages, the tenta
tive plans now are for the orchestra to be based in
Connecticut. Future plans also include perfor
mances at the opening of the National Museum of
the American Indian, the next Presidential Inau
guration, Summer OlympicsExpo in Australia, and
a possible national and world tour for the Millen
nium events.
Auditions are anticipated for Spring of 1998. Au
dition sites will be determined by the response re
ceived from Native American musicians.
Inquiries and letters of interest should be sent to:
Native Sun Symphony Orchestra, P.O. Box 112,
West Mystic, Connecticut 06388.
Suicides on reservation sparks concern
0
6S
3
cm
LESS)
FORT YATES, N.D. (AP) Five teenagers have
committed suicid' ace October on the Standing
Rock Indian Reservation, and mental health offi
cials say they are counseling 125 other young
people who are depressed or thinking about kill
ing themselves.
All but one of the suicides was in McLaughlin,
S.D., and officials said some young people were
involved in suicide pacts that pressured their friends
to kill themselves along with them.
Robert Preuss, Director of Mental Services of
the U.S. Indian Health Service, said in a meeting
with Interior Department officials that most of the
suicide victims are 15-year-old boys who were
kicked out of school for behavioral problems.
He linked the suicides to gang activity that is
prevalent on the reservation.
"They do what they want, when they want and
get involved in destructive activity," Preuss said.
Kevin Gover, the Interior Department's assistant
secretary for Indian Affairs, challenged the tribal
leaders to take drastic steps that would include ban
ning the sale of alcohol. Gover, a recovering al
coholic, said teen suicide in gang activity is occur
ring in reservations across the country and
shouldn't be tolerated.
He said the federal government could provide
money for social services that are willing to take
serious measures to curb the problem. He also said
alcoholics may have to be put in institutions to keep
them from bringing a bad influence on the reser
vations. "You are really going to have to make
some tough decisions," Gover said, adding, "We
allow irresponsible behavior. It's becoming a way
of life."
Gover, who toured Standing Rock High School,
said he saw several students who appeared to be
victims of fetal alcohol syndrome the result of
mothers drinking during pregnancy and causes
severe behavioral problems.
"You can walk through the school and see those
kids," he said.
Jicarillas vote to withhold payments to state
DULCE, N.M. (AP) - The Jicarilla Apache
Tribal Council is withholding casino revenue-sharing
payments from the state and wants the Interior
Department to rule the payments illegal.
The northern New Mexico tribe becomes the sec
ond to refuse to make the payments called for un
der a 1997 law that authorized tribal gambling com
pacts with the state.
The Mescalero Apache Tribe refused to make
the first payment due last October and seven other
tribes made payments under protest. The second
round of payments is expected in the state
treasurer's office.
Tribes contend the 16 percent payments, along
with required fixed regulatory fees, are excessive
and may violate federal law.
Jicarilla council members voted unanimously
earlier this month to put the estimated $800,000
payment due next week into an escrow account
and to ask the U.S. Department of Interior to de
clare the 16 percent payments illegal, council Presi
dent Pro Tem Ron Julian said.
"The 16 percent was not negotiated," he said.
"We were taxed."
Julian said the tribe is drafting a letter to the Bu
reau of Indian Affairs, asking that the Interior De
partment rule on the legality of the revenue-sharing
aspects of the New Mexico compacts.
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt last August al
lowed the compacts to go into effect without his
signature. At the time, he expressed concern about
the legality of the payments.
Klamath tribal Elder dies New project to aid eagles
KLAMATH FALLS, OR. (AP) - Chief Reid
David, a Klamath Tribes Elder who occasionally
appeared in western movies, has died. He was 87.
David, who died in Klamath Falls, was involved
in the tribes' culture and heritage program, and
taught the Klamath language.
He performed dedication and groundbreaking
ceremonies for tribal enterprises, as well as the
naming of tribal members during the yearly C'wam
ceremony.
"He was virtually a living tribal treasure," said
Jeff Mitchell, tribal chairman. "He was a guiding
force in preserving the tribes' past. He also made
younger members of the tribe understand what it
means to be a tribal member and what their place
is in society."
David was born January 27, 1910, in Williamson
River. He attended the Chemawa Indian School in
Salem, and later took a job at the Agency Hospital.
He later moved to Southern California and ap
peared in several movies, including "Canyon Pas
sage," which was filmed near Roseburg in 1945.
David served as 1997 grand marshal of the local
Fourth of July parade. He made annual trips to
Anchorage, Alaska, to watch the Iditarod races.
Survivors include his son, Reid David Jr.;
brother, Lawrence David of Chiloquin; two grand
children and a great-granddaughter.
KETCHIKAN, AK. (AP) - Every year, about
30 sick or injured eagles are transferred from the
Ketchikan area to the Alaska Raptor Rehabilita
tion Center in Sitka. Half arrive dead. Ketchikan
lacks a holding site as well as eagle care experts,
so eagles may sit caged at the airport.
Ketchikan Indian Corporation hopes to improve
the birds' survival rate with a new project at its
Deer Mountain hatchery.
Funding fell into place when the Ketchikan Gate
way Borough approved a $60,000 economic de
velopment grant. The center also has received
$440,000 in federal funding and $50,000 from the
state Commerce Department.
The eagle project is modeled after an eagle dis
play at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo. Ketchikan
Indian Corp. employees and volunteers are being
trained at Sitka to handle eagles.
Two flightless bald eagles, currently living in
Anchorage, already have been promised a perma
nent home in Ketchikan. John Brown, Ketchikan
Indian Corp. general manager, said the eagle cen
ter should boost hatchery revenues, but money
wasn't the sole motivator.
"It's more of a cultural thing," Brown said. "The
eagle is one of our most significant cultural sym
bols. We believe very strongly we need to be con
nected to it."