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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2000)
2 Smoke Signals Archeologists Confirm Antiquity of Prehistoric Indian Canoes TALLAHASSEE, FL. (AP) Ar chaeologists have confirmed the an tiquity of more than 85 Indian ca noes discovered sticking out of a lake bed near Gainesville earlier this year. The discovery of the prehistoric canoes in Newnan's Lake was the largest of its kind in the United States, Secretary of State Katherine Harris said recently in announcing the results of radiocarbon testing. The Florida Bureau of Archaeologi- Navajo Homes OAK SPRINGS, N.M. (AP) - A tour of the area around abandoned uranium mines has revealed high levels of radioactivity in homes known as "uranium houses." Dine College Uranium Education Director Perry Charley led a tour of abandoned mines and some homes straddling the New Mexico and Ari zona border recently. The mines, culled for uranium from the late 1940s through the 1980s, employed thousands of Navajo work ers. Families made temporary homes close to mine entrances. Tour participants included officials from the U.S. Environmental Protec tion Agency, Tribal EPA, and the American Association for the Ad vancement of Science. The group stopped at an inhabited home near the King Tut Mesa mines. The home approximately 40 years old had been constructed from ura nium ore bricks and tailings. Using a micrometer machine Char ley measured radiation at several points on the home's brick walls. Charley described the readings of cal Research confirmed the canoes range from 500 to 5,000 years old, with most built 3,000 to 5,000 years ago. The wooden canoes had remained hidden and preserved at the bottom of the lake for centuries until water levels dropped during a dry spell. High school students working on an environmental project discovered the canoes in April. Archeologists performed radiocar bon tests on 53 of the canoes, while recording their length, width, and depth and where they were found. The canoes, likely used as fishing boats, were up to 22 feet long. Many had rounded sterns and bows. Tests on six canoes showed they were made of pine. After the find was documented, the canoes were reburied in the lake bot tom. If left exposed to the air and sun, they would have crumbled in a matter of days. State Archaeologist James Miller said the documentation will be added to earlier data related to more than 300 canoes, including the oldest ca noe found in Florida, a 6,000-year-old craft. Seminole Indian Chief James Billie said the lake's original name was Pithlachocco, a Seminole word mean ing "place of long boats." "This may have been a factory where boats were made," he said. know about this one." "A survey needs to be done," con curred Stanley Edison, an officer with the Navajo Nation EPA. Andrew Sowder, a Uranium Geochemist with the American As sociation for the Advancement of Sci ence, said the farther a human is from a "uranium home," the less likely the physical ramifications. Human risks involve immediate proximity and prolonged exposure. Many Navajos were raised in tents and wooden dwellings in mine camps, where miners brought uranium dust inside, said Gilbert Badoni. An unknown number of families, looking for permanent settlement, constructed "uranium homes," oblivi ous to the dangers.' They 'received no warnings of radiation dangers from their employers or the govern ment, he said. Badoni is one of the thousands of dependents of uranium workers try ing to gain awareness of exposure issues. "Kids were raised in these homes since they were infants," Badoni said. Near Abandoned Mines Made of Uranium Brides An unknown number of families, looking for permanent settlement, constructed "uranium homes," oblivious to the dangers. They received no warnings of radiation dangers from their employers or the government. 150 micro roentgens per hour as "hot." "I know other areas where people actually continue to live in homes like this," Charley said. He added that prolonged human exposure at that level may have significant impacts on human health. Families still living in "uranium homes" may be unaware of the dan gers from constant exposure to alpha radiation, which is harmful if in gested, tour members said. Charley said there may be as many as 100 such homes spread across the reservation. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, using Com munity Block Grants, has replaced some of the contaminated homes with new ones, Charley said. But he added their continued existence is a prob- Gilbert Badoni lem long overdue to be addressed. Andrew Bain, the U.S. EPA's Re gion 9 Abandoned Uranium Mines Project Manager, said employees within its San Francisco office are identifying remediation issues on the Navajo Nation, including potential ground water contamination. "We are currently looking at risks from the data we collected last year," Bain said. The U.S. EPA's Region 9 is aware of another radiation-heavy home in the Monument Valley, Arizona mine area, and may replace the dwelling, Bain said. Bain could not estimate how many such homes exist on the Navajo Na tion. "Our study didn't take a look at that," he acknowledged. "We didn't Michael Moore is New CEO at Spirit Mountain Casino National search for a new leader at the West Coast's top casino is over. By Brent Merrill The Grand Ronde Tribe's successful Spirit Mountain Casino has a new leader Michael H. Moore. Moore takes over the vacant CEO position and has vowed to hit the ground running. With over 30 years of world-class casino experience, Moore brings a new level of expertise to the job and an abundance of enthusiasm as well. Moore most recently worked for Park Place Entertainment in Beverly Hills, California. Moore was the Di rector of Casino Marketing for Caesar's World Marketing (a subsid iary of Park Place Entertainment). Moore, who started his career in the late '60s as a dealer for Harrah's in Lake Tahoe and Reno, Nevada, has worked in Lake Tahoe, Reno, Las Vegas, Atlantic City and Connecti cut in the gaming industry. After starting his gaming career in Nevada, life went on the fast track for Moore. Promotion after promo tion took him to the top of the indus try and he has worked in the top f '"'""It'.- f t v casinos all the while gaining a reputation for excellence and for tak ing care of his employees. Michael H. Moore Moore has worked for the MGM, the Four Queens, Excalibur, Caesar's Palace, the Golden Nugget and Foxwoods Resort Casino for the Manshantucket Tribe in Connecticut. "I'm very happy to be here and be part of the Spirit Mountain Casino team," said Moore. "I look forward to working with the existing casino staff and building on the success the casino has already achieved. We are all on the same team." Although Beverly Hills is a world away from Grand Ronde, Oregon, Moore said he is up for the challenge and looking forward to building a new family among the employees at Spirit Mountain Casino. Carving Continues on Mountain Sculpture PIERRE, S.D. (AP) More than 15,000 tons of granite have been blasted in the last six months from Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The focus of the project shifted earlier this year from the Lakota warrior's nine-story head to his horse. The carved animal's head will be 22 stories tall. Work on the memorial began June 3, 1948, and the face of Crazy Horse was dedicated in 1998. When finished, the three-dimensional carving will be 563 feet high and 641 feet long, making it the world's largest sculpture. "We've made a very productive start this year on the horse's head, said Ruth Ziolkowksi, top officer of the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation. "Nothing on this scale has ever been attempted, so it presents some ex traordinary engineering challenges," she said recently. "The first step has been creating what will become a network of access roads to the new work areas." Because Crazy Horse Memorial is a private project and receives no state or federal funds, it is impossible to predict when it will be finished, she said. Primarily an admission fee at the memorial finances the work. Mrs. Ziolkowski said a new orientation center opened at the memorial this year. About $1.3 million has been raised so far for the center, but she said $550,000 is needed yet to finish the lower level and furnish the entire facility. Mrs. Ziolkowski, whose late husband, Korczak Ziolkowski, began the mountain carving, said the latest contribution of $300,000 came from a private foundation whose directors asked that its name not be made public. Guided by Korczak Ziolkowski's plans and scale models, his wife and seven of their 10 children continue working on the project. The U.S. Senate recently passed a resolution urging creation of a com memorative postage stamp honoring Korczak Ziolkowski and the Crazy Horse Memorial. The stamp should be issued Oct. 20, 2002, on the 20th anniversary of the sculptor's death, the resolution says.
