8 MARCH 15, 2001
Smoke Signals
Senate wants 'Squaw' Removed from Names of Landmarks
We might not be able
to change our past, but
we can certainly
improve our future.9
Kate Brown
Senate Democratic Floor Leader
SALEM, OR. (AP) The Oregon
Senate has voted to remove the word
"squaw" from the names of landmarks
and public property in Oregon because
it is demeaning to Indian women.
One of two bills approved recently
would urge the Secretary of the Inte
rior, the U.S. Board on Geographic
Names and the Oregon Geographic
Names Board to remove the word from
various geographic areas and sites.
The other would require cities and
counties to eventually rename
streets, public buildings and parks
that bear the word "squaw."
Senate Democratic Floor Leader
Kate Brown of Portland, who spon
sored both measures, said the word
"squaw" is extremely derogatory and
should no longer be used.
"We might not be able to change
our past, but we can certainly im
prove our future," she said.
Senator Roger Beyer, R-Mollala,
who said he thought they would
saddle state and local governments
with unnecessary costs, cast the only
vote against the two measures.
It was the same argument used by
some Republicans in an Idaho State
House committee that killed Senate
passed legislation to remove the word
"squaw" from 93 Idaho place names.
American Indian Groups Celebrate Reclamation of Sacred Mountain
FLAGSTAFF, AZ. (AP) - Joe
Galarza has seen land deemed sacred
by American Indians taken and used
for economic gain before. But recently
he saw something new witnessing
someone giving back that land.
Galarza and about two dozen fel
low American Indians stood on the
snowcapped San Francisco Peaks
and prayed in front of silent tractors
and a 50-foot pile of pumice that was
taken from an abandoned mine in
the mountain. '
Under an agreement approved by
Congress last October, Phoenix
based Tufflite Inc. agreed to stop ex
tracting pumice from the White
Vulcan mine on the slopes of North
ern Arizona's highest mountain in
exchange for $1 million.
"It's pretty big for us because it af
fects all 13 Southwest Tribes," said
Galarza, an Ysleta Indian who drove
from Los Angeles to attend the cel
ebration. "This victory is going to
empower all the people."
Tufflite's agreement allows the
company until August 2010 to use
This is our home and well always fight to
protect it. If we don't fight, then we're submitting,
and that's going to be the end of us.
'-Joe Galarza
the more than 500,000 tons of al
ready mined pumice valued at $12
$15 million. Pumice is used in mak
ing concrete and stonewash jeans.
The company also agreed to relin
quish its 49 mining claims in the area.
The peaks make up one of four sa
cred mountains in the Southwest for
American Indian Tribes, who come
to the mountain to pray.
The Hopi consider it home to spir
its who take the form of rain clouds.
To the Havasupai, the mountain car
ries songs and prayers up to the
higher spirit.
Kelvin Long, a Navajo and repre
sentative of the Native American
Project for Community Organizing,
said Tribes seek out plants on the ex
tinct volcano that can't be found else
where. But he said it's not just American
Indians who come to the mountains.
It also attracts hikers, skiers and bird
watchers.
"People have been drawn to Flag
staff because of the peaks," Long said.
The mountain range will remain
safe from future mining or use be
cause of a 20-year withdrawal period
that covers 74,000 acres of U.S. For
est Service land, said Ken Jacobs, a
spokesman for Coconino National For
est, which surrounds the mountain.
He said the 1872 mining law still
makes land management difficult.
Tufflite operated under the law,
which allows companies to buy land
for as little as $2.50 an acre to mine
hard rock minerals such as gold, sil
ver and copper. Companies are not
required to pay royalties to the gov
ernment for the minerals.
Jacobs said Department of Interior
and Agriculture officials who both
worked on the agreement came to
an important realization about the
cultural and recreational value of the
land that outweighed the worth of
the pumice.
American Indian groups and the
Sierra Club say they will continue to
ensure their hallowed lands remain
free from development.
"This is our home and well always
fight to protect it," Galarza said. "If
we don't fight, then we're submitting,
and that's going to be the end of us."
Bill would
Compensate Tribes
for Missouri River
Losses
YANKTON, S.D. (AP) The
Yankton Sioux and Santee Sioux
Tribes would share nearly $28 mil
lion for losses related to Missouri
River development under legisla
tion introduced in Congress.
It would compensate the two
Tribes for the cultural and eco
nomic losses suffered when more
than 4,000 acres were flooded by
the building of the Fort Randall
and Gavin's Point dams in the
1950s.
South Dakota Senators Tom
Daschle and Tim Johnson and
Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel in
troduced the bill recently.
Daschle said the measure
would create a trust fund of $23
million for the Yankton Sioux
Tribe and $4.7 million for the
Santee Sioux Tribe to offset their
loss of land, the adverse impact
on their communities and the
forced resettlement of families.
Congress has passed similar
bills for other Tribes located
along the Missouri River.
Navajos Welcome Convicted Former Nation President Home from Prison
TUBA CITY, AZ. (AP) - Hundreds
of well wishers lined the muddy
streets here recently to celebrate
former Navajo Chairman Peter
MacDonald's release from prison and
this time they got to see and hear the
man they came to welcome home.
"Not many people know what it's
like behind that wall," MacDonald told
about 200 supporters who jammed the
small Tonanees'dizi Chapter House
and 200 more who listened outside on
a speaker system or pressed their faces
to windows and open doors. "I was
fortunate to come back from that
place alive," said MacDonald. "I would
not wish that on even my worst en
emy what's behind that wall."
MacDonald, 72, led America's larg
est Indian Tribe off and on through
out the 1970s and '80s. The Navajo
Tribal Council removed him from of
fice amid a corruption scandal in
1989, and months later a group of
his supporters stormed the Tribal
headquarters in Window Rock in an
attempt to restore him to power.
Tribal police opened fire, and two
MacDonald supporters died.
MacDonald was convicted on federal
conspiracy charges for inciting the riot
and for taking bribes and kickbacks.
He has maintained his innocence and
resisted making a public apology.
The Navajo Tribal Council par
doned MacDonald in 1995.
Former President Bill Clinton com
muted MacDonald's sentence on
January 20, freeing him from the
Federal Medical Center in Fort
Worth, Texas. He had served over
half his 14-year sentence.
Supporters gathered for a home
coming celebration in Farmington,
N.M., last month, but MacDonald
was unable to attend due to his poor
health. He had a heart attack in the
mid-1990s and underwent quadruple
bypass surgery in 1999.
The gathering in the small reser
vation town of Tuba City, a commu
nity 80 miles north of Flagstaff
where MacDonald now lives, started
with a parade. A smiling MacDonald
rode in the back of a pickup truck
with his wife, Wanda, waving
throughout the two-mile route.
After the parade, the crowd
squeezed into the chapter house and
crowded outside to listen while pre
senters, including Navajo Vice Presi
dent Dr. Taylor MacKenzie, cheered
MacDonald's return.
"It's such a great feeling. It's like,
Yeah! There's a great weight lifted
off your chest," James Bilagody, a
Navajo Councilman from Tuba City
said. "He's home. I've dreamt of this
moment for so many years."
Much of the presentation and dis
cussion was in Navajo, interspersed
with bits of English.
MacDonald shared stories about
waiting for word on his release.
He spent much of his time thank
ing people for their letters, prayers
and support. "It's good to be home.
It's good to be with my wife, my chil
dren, my friends," he said. "I can't
thank you enough for all you have
done to help me regain my freedom."
MacDonald also encouraged Nava
jos to pull together now that his
. prison sentence is over.
"Working together, respecting each
other's dignity, that's what we need
to get to an ever higher level than
we were before," he said.
While MacDonald's troubles have
been a source of great division within
the Tribe, no protesters showed up
during the event.
Vern Lee of Farmington, N.M., who
was active in pushing for MacDonald's
release, said he hopes the Tribe can
reconcile those differences with for
giveness and compassion.
"I tell them, reach out to those guys
who are still angry and hurt," Lee
said. That's (the) Navajo way. Do
your part. We haven't done that for
many, many years."