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NC Breifings
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The Nation
Page 2,
Page 3,
Page 4,
Page 5,
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Northern Cheyenne Face Decision of
Economy or Environment, Page 2.
The Argument For Coal
and CBM Development, Page 2.
Reservation-Wide Primary
Election Results, Page 3.
Winona Laduke
visits Northern Cheyenne Nation, Page 3.
Editor’s note on Tribal Report
and media, Page
3.
Various Agendas from Tribal
Council Meetings, Page 4.
Federal Budget Cuts for
Education in 2008, Page 4.
H.R. 4766: American Indian
Languages Act, Page 4.
Letters-From a “Rezer” to “Others,” From a “Rezer”
to “Other Rezers,” Page 5.
Letter-What is Your Vote
Worth? Page 5.
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The Programs
Page 6, Page 7
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Domestic Violence is not the Cheyenne Way, Page 6.
AIDS/HIV and the Northern Cheyenne, Page 6.
Do You have Diabetes? Are you
at Risk?, Page 6.
Greetings, Update, and Welcome
from the Food Distribution Program, Page 6.
Northern Cheyenne Tribal Services
Update, Page
7.
President to give Keynote
Address at Housing Expo,
Page
7.
Tribal Education Department
Update, Page
7.
Colstrip Steam and Electrical Station
and PPL Honor Graduates, Page 7.
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The People
Page 8, Page 9, Page 10
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A Message From Our
Elders: White Bull Tells of
Sweet Medicine, Page
8.
A Message From Our
Elders: John Stands In Timber
Speaks on the Sacred Arrows, Page 8.
Sand Creek, Washita,
Dull Knife and Thanksgiving, Page 9.
In the Path of Sweet
Medicine’s Arrows Page 9.
Northern Cheyenne Artist wins Award at Plains
Indian Art Exhibit, Page 10.
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Energy Talk: For the
Record
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Wolf Mountains Flats,
N.C. Nation—If approved in November, Coal and CBM development exploration will
likely begin in areas where Cheyennes regularly
hunt, fish, hike, and gather traditional plants and medicines.
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Eugene Little Coyote
[Northern Cheyenne Tribal
President]
My fellow Cheyenne, on the
November 7, 2006 ballot for the staggered Tribal Council elections, coal
and coal bed methane (CBM) will be individual initiative votes of the
tribal membership to determine whether the Northern Cheyenne Tribe develops
these energy resources or not.
The
coal initiative resulted from over 740 tribal members petitioning the
Tribal Council to place coal development to a vote of the people. The Tribal Council did not approve
development; rather they were honoring the petition to put coal development
before a vote of the people. On the
other hand, the CBM initiative did not have a petition. It was proposed to the Tribal Council by
individuals representing the Association for the Advancement of Indigenous
Resources.
Currently
both the proponents and opponents of these two energy initiatives are
actively promoting their positions to the tribal membership by hosting a
number of public forums across the reservation. The potential of developing our energy
resources is certainly controversial and volatile. I feel it's worth noting some of the
provocative issues raised by both those for development and those against
it. First, environmentalists'
primary concern is water and air quality.
We must take into account our Class I Air Quality, the number of
CBM-related lawsuits including, the Otter Creek (coal mine) Settlement
Agreement, and our recently approved Treatment as a State for Water Quality
Standards.
We
must also take into account the traditionally-oriented Cheyenne who talk of Sweet Medicine
foretelling events regarding what has been interpreted to be a warning
against mining. We must account those who discuss coal as a metaphor of
buffalo, the animal that sustained our life, and which had supposedly gone
back into the earth, only to return in the form of coal to once again help
the Cheyenne. Then of course the most popular
traditional topic is the 1971 or 1972 Sacred Arrows Renewal Ceremony in Ashland on James Limberhand's property.
There was another held in 1984 on the Little Coyote property but the
one in 1971 or 1972 was specifically aimed at the coal lease issue. Some say it was to block all coal
development; others say it was to only block the coal leases. But I've been instructed that only Arrow
Men (priests that have gone through the Arrow Renewal Ceremony) truly have
the sanctioned right to speak as the authority on this.
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The political perspective
tells that former Chairman Allen Rowland's administration became very
concerned that 64% of our reservation came under clouded title due to
leases to mining companies, which were engineered through the Bureau of
Indian Affairs. Chairman Rowland
sent a delegation of Chiefs that included Leroy Pine to the Arrow Renewal
Ceremony to ask for help from the Arrow Men on this matter; to ask for
prayers to cancel these leases.
Fatefully, the leases were officially canceled in 1980. The Northern
Cheyenne Tribe vs. Hollowbreast Supreme Court case decision arose from the
coal lease controversy as well.
But
amidst all of this debate, a resounding question needs to be clearly
answered: What exactly are we voting on? The Tribal Council resolutions
basically read identical, stating the intent of the vote is whether or not
to “open the way for development of tribal land for the economic well-being
of tribal members.” Along with this
I have commissioned the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection
Departments to draft and publish a neutral, balanced report of facts
detailing precisely what these types of energy development involve. The goal for the report is to inform the
voting tribal membership of the general good and bad impacts development
would have.
With
strong feelings on either side of the debate on energy development, there
has been a lot of lashing out, misinformation and personal attacks
lately. Yes, when in political
office you're damned if you do and damned if you don't, meaning you can't
please everyone. This kind of energy
development is not in my goals, and I did not propose my goals on the
Council floor. Despite misguided
resentments, if I'm to take responsibility for anything then it is for
allowing the people themselves the right to determine their own destiny
through this vote. It's not solely
up to tribal government. As I've
said many times, the tribe is what you make of it and the choice is now in
your hands. The choice IS yours.
I
want to note that a political forecast discussed in my administration is:
should the people approve any energy development, then opposition to is
likely to challenge it through a formal referendum, as allowed through our
Constitution.
Now as time for the vote draws near,
all eyes are on us: the states, the nation, the energy industry, other
tribes, waiting to see what we will do.
But above all, at this time in our history, our future is not up to
the state or the feds. It is the
providence of the Northern Cheyenne and only the Northern
Cheyenne to determine if we develop or not. I sincerely encourage my fellow Cheyenne to make an
informed decision when you vote on November 7, 2006 and I will stand with
you.
Tribal Report of the Northern
Cheyenne Nation (October 2006 Vol. I No. 10), page 1.
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U.S. Nation Faces “Lame
Duck” Session in Washington,
D.C., While N.C. Nation Gets
a “Dead Duck” in Lame Deer
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L. Jace Killsback [N.C. Tribal Councilmen,
Busby District Representative]
U.S. Congress Faces “Lame
Duck” Session
Due
to upcoming elections this November 7th, the “lame duck” session has taken
full effect on Capitol Hill. “Lame
duck” refers to the session of Congress that takes place just before the
national elections in October and last until January when the new Congress
commences. During this period
members from both the House and Senate who have lost their bids for re-election
make one last trip to Washington
D.C. to cast their final
votes on any issue that is presented.
Hence the term “lame duck” meaning the migration of unseated
Congress members flocking back to the “Hill” with nothing to lose and
nothing to do but hustle votes on issues that will ultimately support and
make into law their own selfish priorities.
Often
these priorities score bonus points for friends and constituents back home
and usually help secure their transition into another political position or
much needed job. Efforts to enact legislation
during the “lame duck” session are deeply rooted in the power struggle
between Democrats and Republicans on whether either party will retain or
give up their majority. The first
sign of the “lame duck” occurs in September when both political parties
sponsor numerous bills that are fast-tracked into approval with little
opposition in order to favor a candidate’s campaign for re-election. However, once October hits the “lame
duck” session is activated and legislation brought forward at this time are
presented as a means to disrupt support and momentum of certain items and
create consent of others.
Indian
Country feels this double-edged sword the most because “lame duck”
officials often deal and trade votes at the expense of Tribes and tribal
sovereignty. This cannot be more
evident than in this years “lame duck” session. Legislation affecting Tribes has
strategically been set aside as “lame duck” worthy and now Tribes linger at
the mercy of current 109th Congress.
Tribal specific bills, amendments-to, and other laws like the Cobell “trust” fund lawsuit settlement, the
reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, the reform of
the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, the authorization of Native language
immersion school funding and the tribal energy rights-of-way issues will be
chewed up and spit out by Congress which is scheduled to begin November
9th.
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By prolonging the Cobell settlement, Congress and the U.S. President are
attempting to lower the estimated billions of dollars down to a mere
millions of dollars. This deliberate
action to push trust reform into the “lame duck” session by Congress is
allowing the federal government to take one step closer to the President’s
goal of phasing out the Bureau of Indian Affairs within the next 10 years,
severing all “trust” liability with Tribes and getting the federal
government out of the Indian business all together.
Another “lame duck” attack
is going to happen with the reauthorization of the Indian Health Care
Improvement Act. This legislation
amends outdated law originally passed in 1976 by securing much needed
funding for basic health care needs and services in Indian County. This critical bill included funds for
traditional healing practices, youth suicide prevention, routine cancer screening,
and facility construction and other priorities specific to Tribes and for
Indian people. However, the delay of
the reauthorization of this bill into the “lame duck” session reflects
Congress’s tendency to put tribal issues on the backburner and deliberately
set them up to fail.
Federal
government leaders have taken the stance in addressing health disparities
experienced by Indian people in claiming that health care is neither a
treaty obligation nor a federal guarantee afforded to Tribes. These are some of the instances of
national politics at work and what Tribes face in the wake of the “lame
duck” session.
Read More, please see Lame Duck, page 2
Tribal Report of the Northern
Cheyenne Nation (October 2006 Vol. I No. 10), page 1.
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Colstrip, MT—Strip
mining north of the Northern Cheyenne Nation has provided jobs for Cheyennes
for the past 30 or so years. Strip
mining is still occurring and there are still a lot of jobs available for Cheyennes
in the mining fields.
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