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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.