8 MAY 15, 2001
Smoke Signals
Gathering of Nations Pow-wow Draws Dancing, Celebrating
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)
Some 3,000 performers dressed in
colorful feathers, beads and buckskin
moved to the sound of beating drums
as the 18th Gathering of Nations
Pow-wow drew to a close recently.
Grand Ronde Tribal member Roy
Track, the event's announcer, said
the three-day event drew dancers
from some 500 to 700 Tribes and cul
tures in the United States, Canada,
Mexico and Polynesia.
Ron Goodeagle, 47, of Flandreau,
S.D., and his wife, Lillian, spend up
to 250 days a year traveling to pow
wows across the country. -
Goodeagle, who is part Sac and
Fox, Osage and Comanche, performs
the dances he has been doing since
he was knee-high.
"We come together, share songs,
dance, make new relatives," Goodeagle
said, his braided hair framing the red
and yellow paint on his face.
He believes inter-Tribal pow wows
are important for "peace and har
mony" among all people.
"This is the first step in bringing
us all together," he said.
The Gathering of Nations is billed
as the largest pow-wow in North
America and had been expected to
attract more than 100,000 people.
Natalie Smith, 13, of Pocatello,
Idaho, said she has been going to pow
wows all her life and has been danc
ing ever since she could walk. She
has Sioux and Assiniboine ancestors.
"It was something given to me by
my people," she said of the dancing.
"I can share who I am, take pride in
my dances."
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Monolith in the Desert -This photo of the Enchanted Mesa in Acoma,
New Mexico is just one of the many unique and beautiful sights in the south
west. The photo was taken from Sky City better known as Acoma. The
Sky City Pueblo is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the United States.
Several traditional events draw visitors to the Sky City Pueblo throughout
the year. Several of these events are open to the public.
For many years, pow-wows took
place only at individual reservations,
Track said.
But American Indians began inter
twining the events, which led to the
creation of the large inter-Tribal
ceremonials that are seen today, he
said.
The pow-wows allow many Ameri
can Indians who may have moved off
the reservations to urban areas to re
connect with their culture, he added.
"Everybody goes home with some
thing and everyone gives something;
whether it's friendship or camarade
rie," he said.
For more information visit the
Gathering of Nations website at
www.gatheringofnations.com.
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On the Inside Track -Grand
Ronde Tribal member Roy Track was
one of this year's Gathering of
Nation's Pow-wow announcers.
Track is pictured here at the 2000
Grand Ronde Pow-wow in Oregon.
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Dancing in the Pit -Traditional dancers from all over the United States
gathered in New Mexico for this year's Gathering of Nations Pow-wow in
Albuquerque. The Gathering of Nations Pow-wow, held in the University of
New Mexico's "The Pit" arena, attracted as many as 25,000 people a day to
this year's event. Dancers from an estimated 500 Tribes participated in this
year's pow-wow.
Former BIA Head Defends Decisions to Recognize Tribes
WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) - In
the face of congressional calls for re
form and investigations, the former
director of the Bureau of Indian Af
fairs has defended his decisions to
give Tribal status to several groups.
In the President Bill Clinton
administration's waning days, Kevin
Gover and his deputy, Michael Ander
son, issued a series of Tribal recogni
tion decisions that critics say were an
abuse of the process and benefited
American Indian gambling interests.
In two cases Gover and Anderson
reversed BIA staff findings Gover
by granting Tribal status to the Chi
nook Tribe in the State of Washing
ton and Anderson by issuing a pro
posed finding in favor of the Nipmuc
Tribe in Massachusetts.
Gover, who practiced law for 11
years in New Mexico, insists he did
nothing wrong. Indeed, the BIA chief
is given the authority to make such
decisions and Gover said in each case
they were in the Tribe's best interest.
The attacks, he said, are part of an
effort to discredit him and indirectly
This is part of the game and that's too bad.
But what's not okay is attacking the Tribes
because it endangers their efforts to at long
last get justice, particularly in the case of the
Chinooksr Kevin Gover
erode support for Indian gambling.
"This is part of the game and that's
too bad. But what's not okay is at
tacking the Tribes because it endan
gers their efforts to at long last get
justice, particularly in the case of the
Chinooks," he said.
The Chinooks welcomed Lewis and
Clark to the Northwest, but BIA staff
said they couldn't show the Tribe
existed in the early 1900s. Gover
drew on two laws passed by Congress
in 1912 and 1925 relating to the
Chinooks as proof they existed and
then opted to "give them a break" in
granting Tribal status.
All of the decisions made by Gover
and Anderson are under review. The
Bush administration is reviewing
Anderson's decision on the Nipmuc
and another Tribe as part of a broad
review of orders issued in the last
days of the Clinton administration.
Interior Secretary Gale Norton al
lowed Gover's decision on the Chi
nook to stand, but it has been ap
pealed by the neighboring Quinault
Tribe and assigned to the Board of
Indian Appeals.
Anderson said the decisions, which
he predicted would be upheld, were
based on the facts after years in the
process and "there was no gaming
consideration whatsoever."
Members of Congress had com
plained for months the Tribal recog
nition process was broken. In Sep
tember, eight Republican represen
tatives asked the General Account
ing Office to investigate the process.
The decisions by Gover and Ander
son have fueled the fire.
Claims of corruption, Gover said,
are designed to intimidate the new
BIA chief.
Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) had asked
Attorney General John Ashcroft to
investigate and advised Norton and
President Bush to pick a replacement
for Gover from a Western Tribe with
no connection to gambling.
Last week, Bush announced he
would nominate Neal McCaleb, a
Chickasaw Indian from Oklahoma
who was the state's secretary of
transportation. McCaleb is unknown
in Indian gambling circles.
On the Net: Bureau of Indian Af
fairs at www.doi.govbia