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Volume 9 Issue 11…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…March
17, 2006
Bit
of History
United
States Indian Removal
Beginning with the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia (1607), it has always been
about land. Native Americans had it and white European settlers wanted it.
Early USA policy to accomplish this end was called "Indian Removal."
William Henry Harrison (9th US President), a veteran Indian fighter, was
appointed governor of Indiana territory to carry out President Thomas
Jefferson's policy of Indian removal. Jefferson demanded Indians give up their
tribal lands and either become settled farmers or migrate west of the
Mississippi River. Harrison used threats, bribery, trickery and other coercive
tactics to force Indians off their land. He made treaties with separate tribes,
then played one tribe off against the other in a divide and conquer strategy.
By
1807, the US claimed treaty rights gave it all of Michigan, Indiana and
Illinois. At the same time, it claimed millions of acres of tribal land in
Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and Mississippi. Forced off traditional hunting
grounds in the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys, Indians united behind Shawnee
Chief Tecumseh, who maintained that since the land belonged to all tribes, no
individual tribe could rightfully cede any of it without the consent of the
rest. After Harrison defeated Tecumseh's alliance at Tippecanoe, it
disintegrated, and they were forced to move west of the Mississippi River.
Another
Indian fighter, Andrew Jackson played a big role in Indian removal. As a
general and president, he continued Jefferson's program. Identified as the
"Great American Desert" by Lewis and Clark and Stephen H. Long, the
land between the Missouri River and Rocky Mountains was considered unfit for
white habitation. The Indian Removal Act 1830 exchanged tribal lands within
southern states (Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee) for land in the
"Great American Desert." The Indian Intercourse Act of 1834 created
an Indian country in Oklahoma and established a string of forts to keep Indians
inside and whites outside. Reminiscent of Tecumseh, Indians resisted (Black
Hawk War) but were slaughtered when they came back across the Mississippi
River. Seminole Chief Osceola, allied with runaway slaves, fought a guerrilla
war for several years in Florida to resist removal. The Seminoles never signed
a peace treaty.
A
civilized people with a written language created by Sequoyah, Cherokees in
Georgia went to court. In Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) and
Worcester v. Georgia (1834), the Supreme Court upheld Cherokee rights to
their land and nullified Georgia laws that sought jurisdiction over them. Like
Harrison, Jackson made treaties with individual tribes that agreed to move and
drove reluctant tribes off their land. In 1838, Jackson marched the "Five
Civilized Tribes" out of the South into Oklahoma on the infamous
"Trail of Tears."
Following
the Civil War, land for railroads, mining, ranching, farming and the need for
timber dictated Indian removal. Wars, slaughter of the buffalo and disease
reduced formidable fighting forces to renegade bands. Reminiscent of Indians
East of the Mississippi, tribal treaties reduced the living space for Indians
to postage stamp-sized reservations.
Dependent
on the Bureau of Indian Affairs (Department of the Interior), Indians were put
on the worst land for habitation. Treaties never gave Indians title to the land
on which their reservations stood. When the federal government wanted the land
or something on or underneath, it renewed its policy of Indian removal. Today,
in 2006, Indian removal is alive and well.
The
Dark Knight-Batman/White Ninja/Zorro is still smarting from last week's
reprimand to watch his language. As a countermeasure, the Dark One/Ninja/Zorro
is exercising his right not to speak. Therefore, he is on a comment hiatus.
Intuit’s Vibe
Trail Of Tears
By sandygram
His face showing years of apathy
his dreams held in limbo for years
remembering generations of mistreatment
his forefathers faced on the Trail of
Tears.
Each line tells of a story of hardship
the hot Arizona sun baked his skin
pride and wisdom has helped him endure
tired, reality is beginning to settle
in
Reflecting a life of a mere existence
he has paid his dues in sweat and tears
recalling long shadows of his yesterday
always stood proud facing his fears
His eyes are the windows to many
stories
many sad tales full of forgotten dreams
a small glint of happiness can be seen
hoping no matter how dark life seems
Ancestral traditions he has mastered
crafting his life through the sun and
moon
yearning to go to the happy hunting
ground
he knows death is coming, coming soon
Déjà
Vu Indian Removal 2006
Most US citizens believe the Indian Wars ended in the late 1800s. Similarly,
they think genocide against Native People is an urban legend. They accept the
notion that Indians were compensated for their land, but squandered the money.
Therefore, they deserve to be poor and live in squalor on Indian reservations.
The flip side of those scenarios is currently playing out in Arizona.
Led
by Senator John McCain (R-AZ), a modern day Indian fighter, Navajo and Hopi
families residing on Big Mountain and Black Mesa in northern Arizona are under
attack. McCain's bill, S1003 "The Navajo Hopi Land Settlement Act
Amendments of 2005," as Public Law 93-531, passed in 1974, will remove
approximately 10,000 Navajo and 100 Hopi from their land. Black Mesa indigenous
people were forced there originally because the federal government believed the
land was worthless. It was only after Peabody Coal Company started strip mining
in this region that the government learned it was worth billions.
The
trouble for Black Mesa began in 1970. Peabody Coal began pumping pure drinking
water from the N-aquifer under Black Mesa to liquefy pulverized coal. A slurry
line moves coal under high pressure through a pipe that stretches from the
Black Mesa mine to the Mohave Generating Plant in Laughlin, Nevada, 273 miles
away. Providing electricity for Las Vegas, Phoenix and southern California,
Peabody Coal drains more than a billion gallons of water per year from the
N-aquifer for the slurry line.
In
the late 1980s, the United Nations described the forced removal of Navajo and
Hopi in the same terms as it applied to the genocide of indigenous peoples in
Brazil and Guatemala, making it one of the hemisphere's most flagrant violation
of indigenous peoples' human rights. Consequently, the US is taking land from
the Navajo and Diné in the same manner as Israelis are taking land from
Palestinians in the Middle East. Once relatively well watered with marshes,
springs and wetlands, the pristine glacial N-aquifer provided drinking water
for Black Mesa's 10,000 Hopi and 20,000 Diné people, their flocks and farms.
The
passage of S1003 would permanently remove families of Big Mountain and Black
Mesa from their ancestral lands and relieve the federal government of any
further responsibility for the displaced people. This will effectively strip
Navajo and Diné of their identity and way of life. Deep in the pockets of the
coal lobby, McCain's bill is a giveaway to Peabody, the world's largest coal
company. Peabody plans to expand its strip mining of American Indian lands, and
its draw down of high-quality aquifer water in the process. Only one thing
stands in Peabody's way: Black Mesa indigenous people living on the land.
It
is not too late for those who believe in human rights to stop another Indian
removal during their lifetime. There is still time to act! Contact your Senator
and Congressional Representatives NOW! Tell them to vote against Senate Bill
1003. A wolf in "George Bush" clothing, Senator McCain is using this
legislation as a way to raise campaign funds and aid the coal industry. A small
window of opportunity still exists to stop this bill in the Senate Indian
Affairs Committee, so email your Senator NOW. For more information, contact tsc@colorado.edu or jacquelinenahee@hopi.nsn.us, or
visit www.blackmesatrust.org.
Cobell v. Norton
In 1887, Congress created a trust to handle royalties on oil, gas, timber and
other resources from Native American lands. With dissatisfaction over its
management growing, Congress ordered an accounting of the Individual Indian
Money (IIM) trust accounts in 1994. Led by Elouise Cobell of the Blackfeet
Indian tribe and others, Native Americans filed a federal lawsuit two years later
to recoup an unknown amount in unpaid royalties plus interest.
When the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) under Secretary
Gale Norton failed to produce historic data and research to document IIM trust
funds, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth found Norton in contempt of
court. The court case has dragged on for ten years with no resolution on the
near horizon. If left to the courts, which have surprisingly ruled in favor of
the Native American class action claims to no avail, the legal process will
continue to delay. At its current pace, chances are excellent all beneficiaries
will be dead before Native Americans receive any compensation.
Unfortunately, with much of the historical record missing, there is no way to
accurately say how much the government owes Native Americans. According to a
panel of negotiators and tribal leaders, the estimated amount ranges from half
a billion to $27.5 billion, which represents about a fifth of the $100 billion
to $170 billion in royalties Native Americans should have received. The
government claims a much smaller amount is owed, but with so many errors in its
data, any number offered by the government would be arbitrary.
With the court case stalled, Congress is seen as the only body that can
equitably settled the matter. On March 1, 2006, a joint hearing was held with
members of Congress, arbitrators and tribal leaders to discuss a settlement for
Cobell v. Norton.
Senator
John McCain (R-AZ), chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and
Rep. Richard Pombo plan to introduce identical pieces of legislation-- Senate
Bill 1439 and House Bill 4322- designed to resolve the impasse. While any
figure Congress offers is bound to be unfair to Native Americans, it will
surely surpass in fairness the impasse inherent in the court process. Comments
by McCain at the hearing, regarding deficits and budgetary constraints imposed
by spending on wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, foreshadowed the likelihood that
Indians will not like the final bill proposed to settle Cobell v. Norton.
Norton:
Unsavory Legacy
Effective March 31, 2006, Secretary of the Department of the Interior Gale
Norton will resign from the Bush cabinet post she has held for five years.
Norton is the first woman to head the Interior Department, which oversees the
management of federal lands, national parks, offshore oil and gas leases and
Indian affairs, including tribal gaming.
Prior to becoming Interior Secretary, Norton worked for the Agriculture
Department, as assistant solicitor in the Interior Department (1985) and
Colorado attorney general (1991-1999). After her 1996 unsuccessfully bid for
the Republican Senate nomination in Colorado, she co-founded the Council of
Republicans for Environmental Advocacy (CREA), a group implicated in the Jack
Abramoff congressional influence peddling and Indian fraud scandal.
According to e-mails obtained by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, Norton
associate Italia Federici helped Abramoff gain access to Norton's former deputy
Steven Griles in exchange for contributions to CREA from Abramoff's tribal
clients. Norton met Abramoff in her office at least once and attended a dinner
at which he was present.
For Native Americans and environmentalists, Norton leaves an unsavory legacy.
She presided over controversial plans to reorganize the Bureau of Indian
Affairs and Cobell v. Norton. She eased regulations to speed approval
of drilling permits, led drives to open Western government lands to more oil
and gas drilling and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil
exploration.
Disgruntled wants to know:
The drumbeat has
begun. George W. Bush's poll numbers are in the toilet. He needs another
conflict to deflect public attention, and the pro-Israel mainstream media are
again cooperating beautifully by singing this incessant chorus about Iran and
its nuclear ambition, which "threatens the US and its allies" in the
region. Much like the propaganda spread in the lead-up to the war against Iraq,
the US public is fed a steady diet of fear laced with mushroom clouds. You hear
it in their voices when they call in to talk shows and regurgitate the Iran war
propaganda. Sad, but true, they hear no dissenting view. Under the
circumstances, one must wonder, will we be hoodwinked again in order to hide
Bush incompetence?
Disgruntled feels:
Censured! Senator Russ Feingold introduced a resolution to censure George W.
Bush. The evidence shows Bush violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance
Act (FISA). Feingold called on Congress to hold Bush accountable.
Unfortunately, the other Senators - Democrats and Republicans - have shown a
great deal of reticence in performing their constitutional responsibilities.
Their cowardice is reminiscent of blackmail victims forced by fear into silence
and compliance with their blackmailer's demands. Self-censored on Bush illegal
acts, the Senate deserves public censure. Feingold is the only one worthy of
being re-elected to that formerly august institution.
Disgruntled says:
In a "surprise" victory for Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Judge
Reggie Walton ruled the CIA must provide Libby's defense team with summaries of
its intelligence briefings. Libby, Dick Cheney's former chief-of-staff, is
charged with lying to the FBI and a federal grand jury investigating the outing
of CIA operative Valerie Plame. Libby's perjury defense is
"preoccupation" with weighty matters, such as what is contained in
those top-secret intelligence briefings. It strains the imagination that he
does not remember talking with reporters during the time the Bush
administration wanted to punish Plame's husband - former ambassador Joseph
Wilson - for criticizing the Bush case for war in Iraq. Requesting the briefs
is a legal maneuver designed to get the case dismissed. In the end, no one
responsible for outing Plame will go to jail. In the unlikely event Libby is
sentenced, Bush will pardon him. White collar crooks take care of each other.
Mailbox:
E-Mails, Faxes & Telephone Calls
E-mail Canilor1@aol.com Call your
Senators and let them know you support Bush's censure. Note that in spite of
Bush's low public support, many Democrats still hide under the bed. Their
cowardice makes them partners in America's destruction!
E-mail fergiewhitney@msn.com United
Arab Emirates is located at the center of an oil-dependent world. This tiny
state forms the promontory that juts out into the famed Straits of Hormuz
through which 40% of the world's oil passes every day. Across the narrow
straits sits Iran, the next victim on the list of "axis of evil"
nations. Any attack on Iran will require that military forces quickly deploy to
Dubai to forestall the closing of the straits and subsequent devastation that
would occur to world oil supplies and financial markets. This is the critical
point concealed by America's diversionary media. This is the reason Bush
continues to support the port plan even though 70% of the American people and
Congress resoundingly oppose it. The importance of the UAE as a staging area
for future hostilities cannot be overstated.
E-mail www.truthout.com White House 'Discovers'
250 Emails Related to Plame Leak*...By Jason Leopold...February 24, 2006...The
White House turned over 250 pages of emails from Dick Cheney's office. Senior
aides had sent the emails in the spring of 2003 related to the leak of covert
CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald revealed
during a federal court hearing. The emails are said to be explosive, and may
prove that Cheney played an active role in the effort to discredit Plame
Wilson's husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, a vocal critic of the Bush
administration's prewar Iraq intelligence, sources close to the investigation
said.
E-mail www.washingtonpost.com Norquist
group faces challenge for Abramoff ties...By Andy Sullivan..March 14, 2006...An
ethics watchdog asked the Internal Revenue Service to revoke the tax-exempt
status of Americans for Tax Reform for helping disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff
secretly fund an anti-casino campaign that benefitted his clients. It also
violated its nonprofit status by taking a cut of the money it handled, said
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW. Americans for
Tax Reform founder Grover Norquist has had a close relationship with Abramoff
since the early 1980s, when they were active in the College Republicans. E-mail
messages released by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee last year show that
Abramoff and anti-gambling activist Ralph Reed discussed passing checks through
Americans for Tax Reform. Those documents indicate that Norquist's group kept
some of the money it handled. Norquist told the Boston Globe last year that he
passed along $1.15 million from an Indian tribe that runs a casino in
Mississippi to anti-gambling groups trying to block a casino in Alabama.
Email www.malaysiasun.com Iran will be
stopped, Cheney vows to Israeli lobbyists. Vice President Dick Cheney vowed
unshakeable solidarity with Israel, and condemned the new Palestinian
government. Cheney made it clear Iran would not be allowed to have a nuclear
weapon, described the Iranian regime as "irresponsible," and warned
the United States had "all options on the table."
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