DECEMBER 15, 2000 5
Clinton says Hell Decide Peltier Clemency before Leaving Office
KANSAS CITY, MO. (AP) - Presi
dent Clinton said he will consider
and decide on a clemency request
from Leonard Peltier, the American
Indian activist serving life sentences
for the deaths of two FBI agents in
South Dakota.
Peltier, 56, is serving tvo consecu
tive life sentences at the U.S. Peni
tentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas for
the 1975 killings of the agents on the
Pine Ridge Reservation in South
Dakota. A jury convicted him in
1977 in Fargo, N.D.
Peltier has maintained his inno
cence, and his supporters say there
was never enough evidence to prove
he shot the agents.
But courts and parole officials have
repeatedly rejected Peltier's attempts
at freedom. In June, a parole exam
iner recommended his sentence be
66
know it (the case) is very important to a lot of
people, maybe on both sides of the issue. And I
think I owe it to them to give it a good look-see.9
President Clinton
continued until his next full parole
hearing in 2008.
Clinton, in a November 7 interview
on a radio network, said Peltier's re
quest for executive clemency de
served a fair hearing and that he
would decide the issue before he
leaves office.
Peltier's case has become a cause
triggering rallies, letter-writing and
phone-calling campaigns that have
grown larger over the last year.
Clinton alluded to the controversy
in the interview.
"I know it (the case) is very impor
tant to a lot of people, maybe on both
sides of the issue," he said. "And I
think I owe it to them to give it a good
look-see."
Peltier is considered by many sup
porters to be a political prisoner, draw
ing attention from both domestic and
international human rights activists,
including Amnesty International and
Desmond Tutu, retired Anglican
Archbishop from South Africa.
Former U.S. Attorney General
Ramsey Clark said releasing Peltier
would help reconciliation efforts be
tween the government and Ameri
can Indians.
Gina Chiala, co-coordinator of the
Leonard Peltier Defense Committee,
said that Peltier has little chance of
getting his case back into the courts.
She said that the radio interview was
the first time she had heard Clinton
comment on the clemency request.
"It's a major development," she
said. "We didn't know if he was go
ing to go out of office and let it slide
by, or what."
Peltier has suffered from health
problems in recent years, including
lockjaw, borderline diabetes and a
series of small strokes. He also is said
to be nearly blind in one eye.
House Bill Would End Indian Preference Laws
SANTA FE, NM. (AP) A bill in
troduced in the U.S. House of Rep- ,
resentatives could repeal laws dat
ing back to the 1930s that give pref
erence to qualified American Indian
candidates for certain jobs.
The Native American Equal Rights
Act, introduced by Rep. Curt Weldon
(R-PA.) would eliminate the laws
that favor Indian candidates for jobs
with ; the Bureau of Indian Affairs
and Indian Health Service.
The laws permit the Indian Hospi
tal and the Institute of American
Indian Arts to give the edge to quali
fied Indian doctors, nurses and
teachers.
According to Weldon, the laws vio
late the equal-protection clause of
the U.S. Constitution.
Indian-rights groups are mobiliz
ing against the bill.
Keith Harper, a staff attorney for
the Native American Rights Fund,
called the bill "facially bogus."
He said it was a lack of under
standing. It demonstrates a complete lack of
understanding of the history and the
special relationship between the federal
government and Indian Tribes,"
Harper said. "It would essentially
throw up in the air 200 years of well
recognized law and policy. It's asinine."
Last week, Frank Pallone Jr. (D
N.J.) and Dale E. Kildee, (D-MI.)
both members of the American In
dian caucus, wrote a letter urging the
House of Representatives not to sup
port the bill.
"Representative Weldon's bill is
contrary to our deep respect for the
sovereignty of Tribal governments,"
it said.
Kimberly Teehee, the senior ad
viser to the caucus, was confident the
bill would not be passed.
"It is disturbing to find there are
members of Congress who still want
to propose anti-Indian legislation,"
Teehee said.
She added that representatives from
states without American Indian Tribes
propose such legislation because "they
have no one to answer to."
Pennsylvania has no federally rec
ognized Tribes.
Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) and
his staff have not reviewed the leg
islation, spokeswoman Sarah Echols
said. But "on the face of it, there is
little chance he would support it," she
said. ; ;.
The bill, which was introduced in
October, has been referred to the
House Committee on Resources and
the Committee on Education and the
Workforce.
Consider Determining Membership by Blood Degree
FORTHALL,ID.(AP) Shoshone
Bannock Tribal members will vote on
whether to use blood degree to deter
mine Tribal membership.
Currently, Tribal enrollment is de
cided by linear descent rather than
blood degree. To be a Tribal mem
ber, parents must be Tribal members
and residents of Fort Hall at the time
of a child's birth.
All current Tribal members are de
scendants of the first members of the
Shoshone-Bannock Tribe, who were
listed in a census in 1934.
In March, Tribal members wrote a
resolution asking that the Tribe re
quire a 18-blood degree for member
ship. Voters will decide if a blood
degree should be used for enrollment,
and to what degree. If they vote yes,
Tribal members will also choose be
tween 14, 18 or 116 requirement.
In addition, voters will decide how
blood degree will be determined.
Since 1974, only Fort Hall Shoshone
Bannock blood is counted in the blood
degree.
Loreen Chavez, chairwoman of the
Shoshone-Bannock Election Board,
said the issue was important to many
because children with parents from
different Tribes are not always listed
as a full American Indian.
"For the children of the Tribe,
something has to be done," she said.
Although a certain blood degree is
not currently necessary for enroll
ment, proof of Indian blood is required
for things such as health care services
and employment on the reservation.
Native American Religious Leader
Charged with Drug Felonies
Milford High School Nickname comes under New Scrutiny
SALT LAKE CITY, UT. (AP) A self
described Native American medicine
man faces a laundry list of drug charges
stemming from a raid on his church's
headquarters.
In October, law enforcement officers
arrested James Warren "Flaming
Eagle" Mooney, founder of the
Oklevueha EarthWalks Native Ameri
can Church, after officers confiscated
about 12,000 buttons of peyote from the
six-acre complex that serves as home
to the church.
That equates to about 33 pounds of
the hallucinogenic cactus used by some
Native Americans in their rituals.
Mooney was charged with 13 first
degree felony drug charges and one
count of racketeering. His wife, Linda
Mooney, was charged with three drug
felonies and one count of racketeering.
James Mooney has maintained that
he is legally authorized to gather and
distribute peyote.
The church has sued Utah County
prosecutors, claiming the search war
rants in the raid were based on false
information and did not warrant seizure
of the property. The church has de
manded that the peyote be returned.
The suit claims that the seizure has
prevented Moones followers from prac
ticing their religion.
Utah County prosecutors have said
they are concerned about the number
of white members of the church who
have no American Indian ancestry but
partake in the peyote ceremonies.
MILFORD, MI. (AP) A planned di
versity council and a scheduled perfor
mance by a Native American singer are
prompting a new look at Milford High
School's Redskins nickname.
The school cited financial reasons for
keeping the Redskins nickname in 1997,
following complaints by a then-student
who is one-quarter Native American.
Now, officials expect the nickname
adopted in 1947 to be on the agenda of
the diversity council when it is formed
after January. It will probably comprise
district administrators and interested
community members.
"I think without question that the
Redskins name will be addressed by the
new council," said Sam Osborn, the
district's Head of Human Resources. The
issue still exists in the community, on both
sides of the fence, and I do think this is
something the district will face again."
' In the meantime, Native American
singer Rita Coolidge is to perform De
cember 17 at Milford High School's Per
forming Arts Center.
"I would bet that her concert has
something to do with the renewed in
terest," Principal Bruce Gilbert told the
Oakland Press of Pontiac in a report
published recently.
Milford High's literary magazine is
called Tribal Lore, and the school store
is called The Wampum Exchange.
Jill Cadreau, the student who com
plained three years ago that she found
the Redskins nickname offensive, said
she hoped the community would be more
responsive this time around.
"I'm not blaming the students," said
Cadreau, now a junior at Michigan Tech
nological University. "I don't think they
teach enough about Native Americans
in the schools to give them understand
ing. Our history needs to be more
strongly taught."