Quotes

"You have driven me from the east to this place, and I have been here two thousand years or more.... My friends, if you took me away from this land it would be very hard for me. I wish to die in this land. I wish to be an old man here.... I have not wished to give even a part of it to the Great Father. Though he were to give me a million dollars I would not give him this land.... When people want to slaughter cattle they drive along until they get them to a corral, and then they slaughter them. So it was with us.... My children have been exterminated; my brother has been killed." -

Standing Bear - Ponca

Women of All Red Nations

The best-known Native American women's organization of the 1970s was Women of All Red Nations (WARN). WARN was initiated in 1978 by women, many of whom were also members of the American Indian Movement which was founded in 1968 by Dennis Banks, George Mitchell, and Mary Jane Wilson, an Anishinabe activist. (12) WARN's activism included fighting sterilization in public health service hospitals, suing the U.S. government for attempts to sell Pine Ridge water in South Dakota to corporations, and networking with indigenous people in Guatemala and Nicaragua. (13) WARN reflected a whole generation of Native American women activists who had been leaders in the takeover of Wounded Knee in South Dakota in 1973, on the Pine Ridge reservation (1973-76), and elsewhere. WARN, like Asian Sisters and Hijas de Cuauhtemoc, grew out of--and often worked with--mixed-gender nationalist organizations.1

Though both men and women were involved in AIM's activism, only the former were severely punished for their participation in militant acts against federal authorities. Realizing that they were essentially being ignored because they were considered powerless, the women took advantage of their inconspicuousness to create a solid organization to promote the rights of American Indians. The organization focuses on issues affecting American Indian women; however, as local groups began campaigning on behalf of American Indian men, the national agenda of WARN in the mid-1990s also included issues such as respect for American Indian men and their culture in prison.

As one of the most prominent groups representing American Indian women, WARN participates in national conferences and works with other women's organizations, such as the National Organization for Women, on policies important to minority women. WARN's main goals are to improve educational opportunities, health care, and reproductive rights for American Indian women; to combat violence against women; to end stereotyping and exploitation of American Indians; to uphold treaties over Indian lands; and to protect the land and environment where American Indians live. In support of the latter goal, WARN published "Radiation: Dangerous to Pine Ridge Women" (1980) in the journal Akwesasne Notes.2

Check out their website: http://www.americanindianmovement.org/warn/warnhistory.html

Native protest lacks significant impact

By Rudy Haugeneder

Accidentally sending the police an e-mail with details about a planned demonstration at Bear Mountain curbed the event’s intensity.

“It was a unfortunate,” said protest spokesperson Zoe Blunt.

The leak meant the RCMP and media outnumbered the mostly non-Native protesters at what was billed as a First Nations action on Nicklaus Road.

Part of the National Day of Action to draw attention to First Nations issues, the protest was non-confrontational until Bob Flitton, Bear Mountain’s residential project manager, began arguing with Heiltsuk Nation grandmother and elder Mary Vickers.

Flitton told Vickers that Bear Mountain has negotiated a settlement with the Tsartlip band which claim the property as part of its traditional territory, and the land no longer was part of overall Indian land claims.

Vickers, a member of the Coast Salish tribe to which the Heiltsuk First Nation belongs, said the land continues to be part of overall Coast Salish land claims.

Want to know more? Click here: http://www.goldstreamgazette.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=12&cat=23&id=1018103&more=0

Cherokee Nation Offering Tetanus Shots to Flood Victims; Providing Assistance to Local Officials

S. COFFEYVILLE, OK — As part of an ongoing community partnership, the Cherokee Nation is stepping in to assist victims of the recent floods in northern Oklahoma. On Friday, July 6, Cherokee Nation officials will be on hand at the Cherokee Nation Community Building to offer free tetanus shots to residents living in the community. In addition, family advocates for the tribe will be on hand in South Coffeyville and in Miami to help Cherokee citizens apply for assistance and possible home repair.

“The Cherokee Nation continues to be ready to assist our citizens and our neighbors living in these areas,” said Chad Smith, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief. “We are in constant contact with local officials and are glad we are able to work together to help those affected by this natural disaster.”

Cherokee Nation health officials will be providing the shots to residents in the area beginning at 9:30 a.m. at the Cherokee Community Building, located on Oklahoma Street in South Coffeyville. Family advocates from the tribe’s Human Services division will also be on hand to assist Cherokee citizens with basic needs, and representatives from the tribe’s Housing Rehabilitation Program will be available to assist potential applicants in need of home repair assistance. Cherokee Nation Family Advocates and Housing Rehabilitation officials will also be stationed at the conference room of the Peroria Tribal Administration Building.

There's more here: http://www.cherokee.org/home.aspx?section=story&id=soP7YcdpE6s=