"You have told me that Paradise is very beautiful. Is it more beautiful than the land of the musk ox in summer, when sometimes the mist blows over the little lakes in the early morning...and the loons cry very often? Can I see the caribou roam where I look, and can I feel the wind?" -
Saltatha, Dogrib elder
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Inclusion of Virginia Indians in Jamestown anniversary makes history
RICHMOND, Va. - The eight chiefs of the state-recognized Virginia Indian tribes stood in line near the Capitol steps May 3, awaiting the visit of Queen Elizabeth II of England.
The occasion made history since the event, set to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Jamestown's founding, included Virginia Indians as dignitaries invited to meet the queen as well as the state's General Assembly - and marked the first time Virginia tribes were represented in a Jamestown anniversary.
As Queen Elizabeth II approached the Capitol steps, Chief Ken Adams of the Upper Mattaponi Indian Tribe welcomed her.
''Your majesty, the descendants of the sovereign Virginia Indian nations who greeted your people in 1607 extend a warm welcome to you today,'' Adams said. ''We have the profound privilege of renewing and strengthening our common bonds of history. Just as your people recently greeted us with such honor and dignity, we now return that honor with the Virginia Indian Intertribal Drum and dancers' song of welcome.''
After the welcome, the queen shook hands with the eight chiefs. Chief William Miles of the Pamunkey Indian Tribe gave the queen a broche encased in a clam shell. The broche was a replica of one that Pocahontas wore when she visited England.
Want to read the whole story? Click here: http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096415084
The occasion made history since the event, set to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Jamestown's founding, included Virginia Indians as dignitaries invited to meet the queen as well as the state's General Assembly - and marked the first time Virginia tribes were represented in a Jamestown anniversary.
As Queen Elizabeth II approached the Capitol steps, Chief Ken Adams of the Upper Mattaponi Indian Tribe welcomed her.
''Your majesty, the descendants of the sovereign Virginia Indian nations who greeted your people in 1607 extend a warm welcome to you today,'' Adams said. ''We have the profound privilege of renewing and strengthening our common bonds of history. Just as your people recently greeted us with such honor and dignity, we now return that honor with the Virginia Indian Intertribal Drum and dancers' song of welcome.''
After the welcome, the queen shook hands with the eight chiefs. Chief William Miles of the Pamunkey Indian Tribe gave the queen a broche encased in a clam shell. The broche was a replica of one that Pocahontas wore when she visited England.
Want to read the whole story? Click here: http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096415084
Senecas vote to charge toll on cars in dispute with state
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - A month after declaring travel on the stretch of New York State Thruway that crosses its land, an ''ongoing act of trespass,'' the Seneca Indian Nation said May 16 it will charge the state a $1 toll for each vehicle traveling the highway.
The action is the latest in a series by Seneca leaders angry at Gov. Eliot Spitzer's plans to collect an estimated $200 million in tax from reservation sales of gasoline, cigarettes and other goods to non-Indian customers.
The tribe plans to send the state a monthly bill for the tolls based on the state Thruway Authority's usage figures. Seneca leaders looked into buying a set of toll booths that are being removed from a Buffalo highway, but were told they were not for sale.
''If New York state would just abide by their word and leave us alone, I think we'd get along much better,'' J.C. Seneca, co-chairman of the nation's Foreign Relations Committee, said May 16.
Click here to read full article: http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096415093
The action is the latest in a series by Seneca leaders angry at Gov. Eliot Spitzer's plans to collect an estimated $200 million in tax from reservation sales of gasoline, cigarettes and other goods to non-Indian customers.
The tribe plans to send the state a monthly bill for the tolls based on the state Thruway Authority's usage figures. Seneca leaders looked into buying a set of toll booths that are being removed from a Buffalo highway, but were told they were not for sale.
''If New York state would just abide by their word and leave us alone, I think we'd get along much better,'' J.C. Seneca, co-chairman of the nation's Foreign Relations Committee, said May 16.
Click here to read full article: http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096415093
Law officers remember their dead in Artesia
WASHINGTON - On May 3 in Artesia, N.M., for the 16th year, the BIA conducted a memorial service for tribal, state and federal law enforcement personnel killed in the line of duty on federal Indian lands or in tribal communities.
For only the third year since the initial dedication of the Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers' Memorial, no new name will be added to it, no officer having been identified as fallen in the line of duty. BIA spokesman Nedra Darling said that fact offered at least some ground for good feeling at the solemn occasion. The names of 87 American Indian and non-Indian officers killed in the line of duty since 1852 already inscribe the memorial, and the service this year honored them all.
Carl Artman, newly installed assistant secretary for Indian affairs at the BIA's parent Interior Department, served as guest speaker at the U.S. Indian Police Academy in Artesia. ''It is appropriate that we take time each year to remember the men and women who have died while working to protect Indian country,'' he told an audience of mostly BIA and law enforcement personnel and their families. ''We honor their lives and the sacrifices they and their families have made for the good of all Americans.''
Want to read more? Click here: http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096415080
For only the third year since the initial dedication of the Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers' Memorial, no new name will be added to it, no officer having been identified as fallen in the line of duty. BIA spokesman Nedra Darling said that fact offered at least some ground for good feeling at the solemn occasion. The names of 87 American Indian and non-Indian officers killed in the line of duty since 1852 already inscribe the memorial, and the service this year honored them all.
Carl Artman, newly installed assistant secretary for Indian affairs at the BIA's parent Interior Department, served as guest speaker at the U.S. Indian Police Academy in Artesia. ''It is appropriate that we take time each year to remember the men and women who have died while working to protect Indian country,'' he told an audience of mostly BIA and law enforcement personnel and their families. ''We honor their lives and the sacrifices they and their families have made for the good of all Americans.''
Want to read more? Click here: http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096415080
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